Laurel held her breath, waiting for Jamison’s answer.

“I did not,” Jamison said, the words loud, almost echoing off the trees.

“You lie!” Yuki yelled.

Waves of earth came quickly now, emanating from Yuki in circles that tossed clumps of dirt and threw Laurel to the ground, where she clung to the grass to keep from being swept away. Even Tamani had to relinquish his hold on Klea to keep from being thrown.

“Yuki, stop!” Jamison said sternly, and the earth stilled. Jamison was on his feet now, leaning heavily on his ebony cane, staring down at Yuki with fire in his eyes. “I did not vote for Callista’s exile.”

“They told me the vote was unanimous,” Klea shouted, rising to her knees before Tamani could grab her, her face screwed up in fury. “You knew I was no Unseelie – you knew it! And you still voted to let them sterilise me and send me through the gateway.”

Laurel gritted her teeth. She couldn’t imagine why Klea would lie about this, but Laurel hated hearing that Jamison had voted in support of such a thing – Jamison, who had always supported both her and Tamani, who had welcomed her human friends to Avalon, and had always treated Tamani – a Spring faerie – with dignity and respect.

“Every vote of the Council is unanimous,” Jamison said quietly, turning to Klea. “It is one of the secrets of our power; our united front. Behind closed doors, majority rules. But once it has, our vote is declared unanimous. I stood against Cora and a very young Marion for hours.”

But Klea was shaking her head, making her way slowly towards him. “I don’t believe you.”

“That you do not believe does not change the truth.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” Klea said, producing another knife from her seemingly endless supply and pointing it accusingly at Jamison. “Vote or not, you stood by and let it happen.”

“And I regret that every day of my life,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

Yuki’s eyes widened and time seemed to freeze as Jamison and Klea stared at each other, now almost close enough to touch. Laurel held her breath, watching them, waiting for . . . she didn’t even know what. Beside her, David lowered Excalibur. Even Klea’s strange underlings seemed transfixed by the scene.

“It’s too late for that,” Klea said at last, and she raised a hand to strike. As Tamani moved to tackle her, Laurel felt the strong hands of one of Klea’s guards lift her off her feet and she shrieked in surprise, the sound drawing Jamison’s attention from Yuki for the briefest of instants.

No! Laurel bit off the scream, but it was too late. The log Jamison had been sitting on bucked and spun, sending him sprawling to the ground. Laurel winced as his head connected with a branch that threw him to the side of the road. He did not rise again.

Tamani spun from Klea and struck the guard holding Laurel square in the face; the black-clad faerie relinquished her easily. But the damage was done – Jamison lay powerless on the grass, his body restrained by a network of roots. Laurel slid to the ground and tore at his bonds with her fingernails, but they only seemed to pull tighter.

“Now, we finish him!” Klea screamed at Yuki, one arm cradled against her chest, her other brandishing her knife.

Yuki raised her hands but Laurel could see them shaking. The young faerie’s chest heaved and her breathing was loud and laboured as she tried to force herself to act. Laurel flung herself protectively over Jamison’s fallen form, though she knew it wouldn’t do much good against Yuki.

Tamani threw himself in front of Klea as Yuki seemed to gather her nerve. “Yuki, don’t do it, please!” Tamani gasped.

Klea leaped at Tamani, full of crazy rage. He caught her knife arm and attempted to throw her to the ground, but she used her momentum to reverse the throw and bring him down instead. The point of her knife plunged straight towards his chest.

“No!” Yuki screamed, and the earth between Klea and Tamani ripped upwards and drove them apart, tossing Tamani on to the ground and raining soil over Laurel and David. “You promised! You said he wouldn’t be harmed. You swore!”

“Shut up, child!” Klea hissed. “There are bigger things at stake than your petty crushes! Kill them all!” she yelled.

At the loud command Klea’s soldiers sprang to action again, their impassive faces taking on life almost as one.

“No!” Yuki yelled again. This time she reached through the air towards the men who were grasping for Tamani. In a flash of green and brown, thick, leafy vines burst from the ground, winding themselves around Klea’s soldiers from their ankles to their necks. “I have done everything you asked me to do and this is the only thing I ever asked for in return and I will have it!”

Laurel watched, stunned, unsure what to make of Yuki’s sudden change of heart, as the young Winter faerie ran to Tamani, who had managed to rise to his knees. She laid her hands on his shoulders.

“Tam, he was right, I—”

“Ungrateful brat!”

David lunged to disarm Klea, but his blade slid off her as she plunged the long, thin knife through the centre of the rumpled white blossom on Yuki’s back.

“Yuki!” Laurel cried, horrified, and tried to rise but David stepped in front of her.

“Stay back,” he whispered.

Tamani lunged at Klea as Yuki collapsed to the ground with a cry of pain. Klea thrust her knife at Tamani’s chest; he sidestepped and caught hold of her broken arm, forcing her toward him with a stifled whimper. Then he spun her round, bringing her knife hand up, and pressing her own weapon against her neck.