Uprooted

Agnieszka sits in Alosha’s metalsmithing forge. She tried to explain to Marek that even if the prince did kidnap the queen, he was infected by the bestiary and not in control of his actions. Marek does not care, however: He plans to declare war on Rosya instead of sending troops to fight the Wood. Disheartened, Agnieszka says that she will return home with Kasia and that they will raise what support they can. She asks if Alosha can help. Alosha presents the sword blade she is forging, explaining that she has been making it for 100 years. She started it the day Sarkan went to the tower. It is now more magic than metal and will be able to kill anything, though it will not last longer than a few blows.

Later, Agnieszka and Kasia watch as the queen speaks with the royal council. She speaks with ease and moves with powerful grace. Agnieszka knows that something is wrong and that she has made a mistake, though she is not sure what yet.

Agnieszka and Kasia return to Agnieszka’s room. Agnieszka creates an illusion of Sarkan’s library, and suddenly Sarkan is there, speaking to her. He explains that the Wood is trying to take the village of Zatochek and that he does not have long. She tells him about the situation. He is shocked that the queen spoke and suggests that torture and manipulation can twist the mind: The Queen may be helping the Wood willingly. Then he breaks the spell.

Agnieszka recalls the bestiary still in Ballo’s possession. Ballo was meant to destroy it but said he wanted to show it to the king first. She and Kasia run to the king’s chambers and hear screams: It is a monster from the bestiary with a dog’s head, six legs, and a single eye. The guards and Marek fight it. Agnieszka shouts the rain spell she saw earlier. Lightning streaks through a nearby window, and she throws it at the monster, killing it. She lies on the ground, momentarily stunned and blinded. When she recovers, she finds the bestiary on the floor and the king dead.

Agnieszka sends Kasia to find Alosha. Then one of Ballo’s assistants accuses Agnieszka of being corrupted and giving the book to Ballo. The guards are about to attack her when Alosha comes to her defense, taking the bestiary to a fireplace to burn. Agnieszka hums along to offer her more power, and they destroy the book.

The royal council interrogates Agnieszka but finally accepts her explanation. Marek demands that the troops ride toward Rosya at once, but Sigmund looks uncertain. However, when the queen orders Sigmund to lead troops toward Rosya while Marek stays to defend the capital, no one argues against her. Agnieszka tries to object but collapses, her magic overspent.

Agnieszka wakes in her room but refuses to rest. She and Kasia find Alosha in Sigmund’s chambers. Sigmund is preparing to leave with the army. His wife and their two children watch. His son, Stashek, wants to go with his father, though he is only seven years old. His daughter, Marisha, is too young to understand what is happening. The princess says she will take the children to the ocean port town of Gidna, where her parents live. Sigmund asks Alosha to protect his family and then leaves.

Agnieszka and Kasia sit in the prince’s chambers with Alosha and the children. Still drained, Agnieszka sleeps. When she wakes, Alosha is sitting by the fire sharpening her completed magic sword. Agnieszka explains that she and Sarkan suspect the Wood might be controlling the queen despite the tests. She wishes to perform the Summoning spell, which should reveal the truth. She asks Alosha to perform it with her, but Alosha refuses, saying she must save her strength to protect the children. She suggests that Agnieszka ask Solya or Ragostok instead. Ragostok is her great-great-grandson and will do it if she orders him.

Alosha explains that her mother was enslaved and brought to a neighboring country. When Alosha displayed power, she was freed and trained. She has lived a very long time. Her husband has been dead for over 140 years. She has little left to live for and loves nothing, but she respects the kingdom of Polnya. She will do everything she can to support it, especially Sigmund, who will be a good leader. Agnieszka is horrified by the thought of living so long that she has no family or loved ones left.

Agnieszka leaves to speak with Solya. She finds Solya and Marek watching a battle through a large mirror. She tries to convince them that the Wood may be in control of the queen. They remind her that all the tests proved otherwise. Then, in the mirror, a general appears. He announces that they have won a skirmish along the border but that the Rosyans laid a trap, killing Sigmund.

Marek is momentarily stunned. Then he and Solya make plans to shift the royal council’s support away from Sigmund’s heir, Stashek. Agnieszka flees the room, certain that this is part of the Wood’s plan. When she reaches Sigmund’s chamber she finds men already there, setting fire to the room. Alosha is badly injured, and the princess is dead; Kasia stands beside her body with a sword. Though the men are dressed in Rosyan uniforms, Agnieszka can see the Wood in their eyes. She shouts a spell, killing them.

Kasia opens a large wardrobe, revealing that the children are alive. Alosha pulls her magic sword out of thin air and gives it to Agnieszka, ordering her to take it and the children and run. The castle is not safe; the Wood is in control.

Agnieszka leads Kasia and the children out of the castle. They reach the river outside the city, and she builds a boat out of reeds and magic. However, soldiers chase them, and eventually, the reed boat collapses. On the riverbank, she gathers mud and forms it into oxen; she also makes a cart out of sticks. At first, she does not know where to go. She considers heading toward Gidna but fears the Wood can reach them anywhere. Finally, she decides she needs Sarkan and heads for the tower.

For days, they travel across the countryside and into the mountains. Soldiers constantly chase them. As they go, Kasia asks Agnieszka to make her a sword. Agnieszka does not want her friend to become a warrior but knows they need to protect themselves, so she makes a weapon out of bits of metal and magic.

When they reach the Yellow Marshes just beyond the borders of the valley, they run into a large group of soldiers, with Solya at the front. They run until the mud oxen fall apart. Agnieszka can just see the tower, at least a day away, and makes the illusion spell again. Though she knows Sarkan is in Zatochek, she pictures him in the library. Suddenly, he is staring at her, shocked. She shouts for his help and pushes Stashek toward him. Somehow, Stashek steps into the illusion. Behind her, Kasia fights off several soldiers. Agnieszka turns to help her, but Sarkan pulls her and Marisha through the portal just as it collapses, leaving Kasia behind.

Agnieszka tries to conjure a spell to save Kasia but is shaking with exhaustion. Sarkan stops her, frustrated, and speaks his own spell. Kasia stumbles out of the air and into the library. Agnieszka looks at Sarkan, who is thin, disheveled, and dirty. Then she sees a large man standing beside him. Sarkan sighs with resignation and looks out a window to see Solya and Marek leading an army to surround the tower.

The big man is the baron of the Yellow Marshes. He received word of Sigmund’s death and was ordered to arrest Sarkan as a traitor. He took his men and traveled to the tower, but instead of arresting Sarkan, he told him that “some kind of corrupt deviltry [was] going on in the capital” (339), and they worked to fortify the tower together.

Sarkan suggests they fight through Marek’s siege and run, taking the children to Gidna. Agnieszka refuses. He tries to reason with her, acknowledging that she might be bound to the valley but saying that the connection is no reason to argue now. Agnieszka angrily points out that the Wood could reach the capital over a week’s ride away. There is nowhere they can take the children where they will be safe. Instead, they need to raise an army and attack the Wood, ending it now. She suggests that they try to persuade Marek to work with them instead of against them.

The baron’s troops surround the base of the tower while Marek’s men encircle them. Kasia takes the children to hide in the cellars, promising to protect them. Marek announces that the inhabitants of the tower are traitors, accused of murdering the king, Ballo, and the princess and of kidnapping Stashek and Marisha. Agnieszka notes that they list Alosha as a traitor as well, giving her hope that the woman survived.

Agnieszka uses her magic to make dough, which she molds into a model of the tower; she then molds a tall wall around the tower, positioned between the baron’s men and Marek’s. She asks Sarkan to help her, and as they build up the spell, the ground outside shakes and lifts into a real rock wall around the tower.

That night, Agnieszka speaks with the baron’s men, trying to learn their names and stories. Sarkan tells her it is a waste of time. Angry with him for not understanding, she asks if Sarkan has any family left. He explains that he was a three-year-old beggar child when he first showed signs of magic 150 years ago. He does not know if he has any surviving family. They stand together at a window. Agnieszka is torn between her anger with Sarkan and her desire to embrace him. She tries to speak, but he tells her to go rest and leaves.