Two Worlds of Oblivion

by Angelina J. Steffort

  “Your Royal Highness,” he started, eyes darting back and forth between her and Jemin and Heck. “You are aware that we don’t know who in the palace we can trust, how we have been keeping you a secret even from the servants…”

  “Especially from the servants,” Heck inserted. “They gossip more than anyone.” His amusement was once again wiped from his face.

  “Well,” Scott’s face turned pinkish as he was searching for words.

  “Spit it out.” Maray lost her patience and was immediately shamed by Scott’s taken aback look. “I’d like to know what’s going on, Commander.” She softened her tone. It kept slipping her mind that Allinan, this world of magic where she had royal blood, worked so entirely different from what she’d been struggling to grow into for sixteen years in the other world. Heck chuckled behind Jemin, obviously having gained back his humor at her slip.

  “Someone leaked the information that you have returned—that you exist at all.” Scott seemed to shrink as he was delivering the news.

  “And what does that have to do with Unterly?” Jemin inquired as he was ready to shake the information out of the commander if he wasn’t going to speak.

  “Unterly is the one person we know for sure has been conspiring with Rhia and Feris—” Corey flinched behind Maray, “—and now that the news is spreading through the palace like wildfire, Unterly has gone missing.”

  Maray’s chest tightened. She had been exposed. She had been relying on her mother’s word that she would have some time to adjust to Allinan culture, to learn about customs—at least try the dumplings once…

  “The gossip won’t stop here in the palace.” Jemin was furious. “Soon all of Allinan will know about her.” His eyes flickered toward Maray, more than just the anger about the leak darkening his face. There was a sense of finality radiating from him, and Maray could only guess what it meant. Their grace period was over. No matter how much she wanted to tell Jemin she returned his feelings, all of them and more, now she would be forced to keep silent in order to make her transition into the new role as smooth as possible. It didn’t matter that those feelings might never go away—

  “Your Royal Highness,” Scott called as he led the way to the princess’ chambers. Maray’s stomach tightened, reminding her of the stab wound.

  Corey had used a moment while Scott had been busy yelling at Heck and Jemin for being so reckless and at Wil for not sending Maray straight home the second he spotted her to heal Maray. But the sour taste of pain and guilt didn’t vanish. All the disappearance of the wound did was free up even more capacities to worry about her parents’ reaction.

  Scott went at a steady pace, ignoring the stares of the palace guards as he led Maray past them. Maray wasn’t as gifted with ignorance. She felt their eyes heavy on her face even when she focused on Scott’s balding head and the reddening of his neck as he flushed with stress.

  “I found her,” he half-yelled as he approached the open double-doors.

  Her mother’s reaction was imminent; a sound of relief followed suit by a tirade of accusations.

  Maray wished Scott had let the others come, but he had insisted they return to their own quarters and freshen up. Now, it was just her, Scott, and her mother, together in a room filled with guilt and accusations. But this was nothing compared to what she would feel like once her father joined them. Her eyes brimmed with tears.

  Blue was all Maray could see. A blur of blue. The tapestry in her room had blended into the blue wall together with her mother’s disappointed eyes.

  “Honestly, what did you think was going to happen?” Laura finally turned away and started pacing. “You are a Princess of Allinan. Princesses don’t wander off into the woods alone… especially not if someone is threatening their lives.”

  “I wasn’t alone, Mom,” Maray defended herself, knowing that it was no use. As loving as her mother was, she was just as unforgiving when it came to pointing out Maray’s mistakes. With over five years of hating and looking back on her in nostalgia, Maray had to get to know her mother again; not the mother from her childhood but the mother who was soon to be Queen of Allinan. “Corey and Heck were with me from the beginning… and Wil.” She swallowed the tears of guilt. “You sent Wil to find Jemin, and he was there from the moment we entered the tunnels.”

  Laura stopped and turned. “As if that makes it any better.” She gestured at Maray as though what she meant was obvious. “Look at you—” She returned to the spot where she had started pacing and grabbed Maray’s hands. “You were hurt. Burnt.”

  Maray followed her mother’s eyes and noticed the singed parts of her cloak for the first time. She had been so busy ignoring the pain in her side that she had hardly noticed anything else—and naturally Jemin. From the moment he had entered that room in Neelis LeBronn’s safe house, Maray’s universe had narrowed to his eyes, also blue, the thought of them fitting perfectly into the blur of her vision.

  “Your father warned me something like this might happen…”

  “Maray?” Laura was cut off by Gerwin’s voice echoing along the hallway, announcing his arrival before he burst through the door, arms wide and face twisted in a familiar expression—he’d been anticipating the worst of outcomes and readied himself to deal with it. He always did. Usually, he was just so much better at hiding it.

  He didn’t stop but pulled her right into his arms, not a single accusation, not a question or comment crossing his lips, and Maray gratefully leaned into his shoulder.

  “I’m sorry, Dad,” she sobbed. She didn’t need to defend her decision with him. He knew her. Unlike Laura, he wasn’t a childhood memory on a pedestal in addition to a nostalgic reunion after five years of hatred. He had been the constant in her life. Even now, in this new, petrifying setting, he was there.

  Gerwin just patted her back. “I understand.” He pulled Maray with him and sat both of them down on two of the blue brocade armchairs.

  As Maray told the story of what had happened in Langley’s hideout, about Neelis LeBronn, the Yutu-shifters, and how they had helped her escape—and saved Jemin—both her parents united in a silent wall of parenthood, horror on their faces and then gratitude for having their daughter safely delivered back to them.

  “Please, don’t ever do this again,” Gerwin finally said, not scolding Maray but asking her like he was speaking to a grown up rather than his daughter. Laura joined him behind his chair and gave her a warning look that made it clear she wouldn’t hear any other answer than words of agreement.

  Maray didn’t have them. So she nodded, instantly consumed by a new wave of shame as she knew she wouldn’t be able to keep such a promise when it came to Jemin.

  Corey

  Recharging bracelets was boring—and necessary. Not at all the excitement she had felt in the underground system. The rush of magic, when released the way Maray had done, was indisputable—not that she would dare to ever discuss it with anyone.

  From across the room, she could see Jem’s eyes were reading her curiously. He had changed a lot since the beginning of November—since Maray had entered his life… all their lives—and not for the worse. His emotions weren’t all bottled up, and he appeared seriously shaken by the events—something he’d never have cared to admit before—if he’d let anyone get close enough to notice.

  “You’re thinking too much, Corey,” he said with a half-smile on his lips. Once she’d thought his were the only lips worth kissing in this world, but things had changed—for her, too.

  “About what, specifically?” She winked at him. Friendship for Jem came easily these days; especially when Wil’s knightly shape moved in her peripheral vision, making her heart flutter. And she was certain it wasn’t because they had just barely escaped with their lives. It didn’t give her the flutters for Heck.

  Jem beckoned his head toward Wil discretely, making her involuntarily grin. Corey was used to guys staring at her from a distance; some because of her curves, some because she was a devil child, some because of both.
But Wil was different. He never grazed her body with his eyes the way others did—even Jem and Heck sometimes couldn’t help it—but his gazes were hidden, cautious. His cheeks flushed as frequently as she caught him peering into her eyes. She was glad that her dark skin didn’t show her own blush the same way. Wil was kind, gallant. Not brooding Jem, not immature, perma-grinning Heck.

  “I am not thinking.” She waved Jem off and focused on the bracelets on her table. “I am merely making sure I do everything right this time.” With one hand, she held up Jem’s bracelet.

  “You do everything right every time.” Wil joined their conversation, oblivious to the fact that he’d been the subject of it. “Your spells are more than perfect.”

  Heck’s suppressed laugh sounded from the shelves where he was leaning against a dark wooden book case.

  Corey ignored him. “Thanks, Wil.” She felt the heat in her cheeks yet again.

  It had been a day since they had returned from their rescue mission, and it was about an hour until the emergency meeting they had been called to by Princess Laura. She didn’t know how she felt about being summoned by the princess, but she could sure tell that both Jem and Heck were thrilled to go.

  “What do you think they’ll want to talk about?” Corey asked into the room. Her eyes flickered over the shelves off books and ingredients as she wondered if she should pack anything, just in case. She was a warlock, not a politician or a soldier. Her power was in her knowledge of magic. Maybe the book Feris had asked her to browse through before he’d disappeared…

  “Heck, pick up ’Laws and Rituals’ from the shelf behind you.” She nodded at the place where Heck’s back was resting against the wooden boards, and he moved with a grin.

  “Haven’t read that one in ages.” He lifted the heavy leather-bound book easily and flipped it open to a random page, his brows knitting together as he read. “Anything specific you’re looking for?”

  Corey shook her head. She wanted to be prepared in case they needed anything in the meeting. “Just bring it over.” She fastened the silver band around Jem’s wrist without taking her eyes off the book as Heck sluggishly made his way to the table.

  He dropped it onto the wood between her hands and waited for the effect of the sound in the room, looking disappointed by Jem’s tightened gaze of disapproval and Wil’s sigh at his childish demeanor.

  “Thank you, Heck.” It was as clear as day that neither of them had overcome the events of the day before. Her thoughts about Wil were more to distract herself from the obvious—Maray had magic more powerful than she could have ever imagined; and she needed Corey to learn to deal with it. But Corey was afraid. After all the years of being taught that type of magic—her type of magic—was the work of the devil, of demons, she had learned a certain level of self-loathing that shared one chest with the surge of a thrill when she used her magic—her real magic. Observing Maray burn down those tunnels had been a rush stronger than anything she had ever experienced; a rush of fear, too, and that fear had lingered. She was afraid of what would happen if she unleashed her own full potential—and now she wasn’t only thinking about healing but real battle magic, the type Gan Krai had damned in his book.

  She flipped the book open and browsed for nothing in particular, just to keep herself busy after recharging the boys’ bracelets.

  “Don’t you think it’s weird Maray hasn’t gotten in touch?” Heck asked and propped himself up on the table.

  Jem eyed him as if Heck had just hit him in the face, looking very little like the boy she remembered; all of the stone-hard facade had crumbled, and there was true pain in his eyes.

  “Her parents probably have her on lockdown until they figure out how to deal with Unterly blowing the secret,” Wil suggested, and Corey couldn’t help but notice a certain camaraderie between them.

  “I heard people in the streets talk about her—” Heck threw in with a frustrated grin that only Heck could pull off.

  “They are talking about her already?” Jem clenched his fingers into a fist, his knuckles turning white.

  Heck pushed away from the table and strolled around the room. “Unterly did a fine job spreading the rumors.”

  “They are not rumors,” Corey reminded them, thinking of Maray’s lapis-lazuli eyes and how she hadn’t believed it could be possible. The similarity to Queen Rhia’s young face was unquestionable. But anyone who spent more than five minutes with Maray would be convinced she wasn’t the queen but the nice girl she actually was.

  And Corey remembered that most of the people didn’t see Rhia for who she truly was. They wouldn’t see a difference between Maray’s innocent smile and Rhia’s plastered facade if their lives depended on it—because they didn’t want to.

  “Wil?” A thought had come to her mind, and she knew if anyone could help it would be Wil.

  The ginger-haired young man gave a sound that informed her he’d heard her.

  “How do the revolutionaries recruit new followers?” Corey earned there confused gazes but didn’t let any of the boys shake her confidence about this.

  “Among circles of trusted where they see the mindset is similar enough that they can reveal the truth—” Wil said, obviously wondering if Corey had zoned out from their prior conversation.

  Corey didn’t care what anyone thought right now but felt, for the first time since Feris’ had fled, like she actually had something to say that might make a difference. “Just wondering how many of the people here in Allinan would believe the truth about Rhia.”

  Jemin was the first to join her train of thought. “You mean, if people believe supposed rumors about a long-lost granddaughter who looks just like the queen, they might believe anything?”

  Wil’s face lit up. “Maybe it’s time to go out there and test the theory.”

  “Wait until after the meeting, though,” Corey warned. “Who knows what Princess Laura and the ambassador think…”

  “And Scott,” Heck added.

  “Sure.”

  Maray

  Maray didn’t cry. After long hours of discussing the situation with her parents, sobbing through the facts, she was now empty. It was as simple as they had said: Jemin was safe. Langley was dead. Rhia and Feris were still out there. And then there was the necessity to present her to the Allinan people before the rumors could undermine the standing of the royal family. Maray hadn’t argued about that. She knew there was no way around it—unless she ran. But where would she go? Back to the other world? And wait for a Yutu to get her or Rhia and Feris to find her? Or stay here in Allinan and hide in the forests where Langley’s misguided followers would hunt her until she was no longer a threat?

  She hadn’t even started thinking about what her outburst of magic meant for her own safety and the safety of the people she loved. If it was uncontrollable the way she thought it was, then she might do everyone a favor if she stayed far away from court; the curtains and furniture would burn like straw if she ever lost control in there. And then there was Jemin—

  A distant noise caught her attention. It was the sound of voices; many of them, repeating something she couldn’t understand.

  Maray got to her feet and padded to the window. She was wearing the set of clothes she had brought from the other world. Somehow, the fabric of her former life consoled her even if it wasn’t exactly comfortable compared to the Thaotine clothes she had in her wardrobe. Nothing beat the texture of Thaotine… maybe Jemin’s lips, but besides that—

  As she peeked through the lace curtains, Maray could see the outline of a small crowd at the main gate to the yard. They were chanting something. It sounded peaceful but demanding.

  “Ignore them.” Gerwin’s voice startled her, and she turned around, finding her father standing at the door with a smile.

  Maray was relieved he wasn’t upset with her any longer for sneaking out, but the guilt had remained. How many people had she killed with her magic? She shoved the question aside. It hadn’t led anywhere last night, and she wasn’t going
to start the discussion again. Her father would repeat the same thing he’d reassured her with before. It wasn’t her fault. She hadn’t known what she was doing.

  Maray had a different opinion. She had done it, so she was responsible even if she hadn’t intended to do it. With a frown, she turned back to the window and studied the slowly growing crowd. “Who are they?”

  Her father’s footsteps crossed the room as he joined her. “They are the envoy of Unterly’s betrayal.”

  Maray knew what that meant. People of Allinan who hadn’t known until a day ago that Allinan had another princess, and now they were probably curious over whether or not the rumors were true. “Are they upset?” She pulled the curtain aside an inch to have a clearer view of the spectacle, but they were too far away to make out anything that would allow her to know.

  “Not yet.” Gerwin laid one hand on Maray’s shoulder. “They are curious to see their new princess.”

  Maray grimaced. She wasn’t ready at all. She didn’t even know the functions in the monarchy, let alone how to walk and talk and sit and eat like a princess. “Not much to see so far.”

  Gerwin chuckled and picked up her uncombed hair from her shoulder. “I know there will be a handmaiden soon,” he said with a fatherly smile, “but I can help you with this today.”

  Her father had braided her hair before she’d been able to do it by herself. Today, she felt more like that little girl than she had in years. She nodded. “Thank you, Dad.”

  He combed through the dark strands with his fingers and separated them into three thick ropes. “Do you remember when you wore two braids all the time?” He laughed at the memory. “You must have been seven or eight.”

  “Mom got tired of braiding,” Maray remembered.

  “So I took over.”

  He always did.

  “As you did when she left us.”