Once we’re settled into a dark corner, away from prying eyes or listening ears, Silene says, “It makes sense with everything we’ve heard that the King is stockpiling thayar in the Northern Mountains, despite intense political pressure about declining supplies. I overheard my parents discussing plans with another noble house to coerce him into restoring their stores. He doesn’t often deny them something like this. He’s got to be planning something big.” We sit in silence for a few moments, lost in our thoughts. “So, here’s what we know,” Silene starts. My lips quirk up in a smile at what Fionn and I tease is her catchphrase. When she faces a problem she can’t sort through, she goes back over the facts methodically. “We know supplies of thayar in Arnia are limited. We know the nobles are pissed about this.”

“Because they are impotent, sniveling rats who rely on its magic-enhancing properties to stay in power and oppress the people of this kingdom,” Fionn interjects.

“Yes, Fionn, we know how you feel about the noble houses. Your commoner birth is showing, and you’re not helping,” Silene remarks, then sticks her tongue out at him.

He gestures in mock offense. “Just trying to add to the list of things we know. We know the nobles are losing their shit because they know what will happen if the people see how weak their magic has become from centuries of inbreeding.”

“As I was saying,” Silene continues as she tucks an unruly coil of hair behind her pointed ear, “the nobles are pissed, because they need the flower supply to maintain control.” She gives him a look that says, Satisfied? He nods. “We know the story being told in Arnia is that the imports are being diverted to the Nivan Desert. We know the Nivan Desert is also seeing fewer and fewer thayar shipments, which they need to power their air channelers to ship goods across the desert. And we know most of the desert merchants believe the thayar is being secreted away to the Northern Mountains…” She fades off, stopping where we always stop.

“He has to be stockpiling it for a magical purpose, right?” I say. “Maybe another one of his experiments?”

“That is one big fuckin’ experiment,” Fionn adds. He’s not wrong. The amount of thayar that’s disappeared could power the kingdom’s trade for centuries.

“All we can do right now is wait for more information to reach us,” I finally say. “With the upcoming Forum, what my father negotiates with Thayaria and the other kingdoms will be illuminating. Until then, we sit tight.”

They both nod their agreement while I push down my feeling of uneasiness for what must be the tenth time today alone. I need to do something to stop my father. And soon.

Laurel

The Prophecy of the Thayarian Queen has many variations, though the most common reads as follows: