Kingdom of Ash and Soot

by C. S. Johnson

  “Halt!” A guard blocked me, but I skirted around him. For all his armor, he moved slowly, and I was able to dodge him much more easily than I anticipated.

  I came to a stop before King Ferdinand and Empress Maria Anna, before I bowed. At that moment, I gave them the full view of the purple blade in my hand.

  There were whispers and shrieks behind me, but I ignored them as I waited for the king’s response.

  I felt rather than saw Lady Penelope as she came up behind me, shielding me from the others’ scrutiny.

  “Your Imperial Highnesses,” I said. “I will need a private audience with you. And quickly,” I added, daring to look up. “Everyone here is in danger.”

  After he exchanged a quick glance with his wife, King Ferdinand ducked his head toward mine. “Come ... with me,” he stuttered.

  Immediately, several guards beckoned me toward a large tapestry. Behind it, I saw there was another hidden hallway. I thought briefly of Ferdy, desperately afraid I would never see him again all of a sudden.

  I barely noticed Lady Penelope had made her way to my side.

  “What happened?” Lady POW hissed beside me. “There’s no need for you to reveal yourself to an entire ballroom of guests.”

  I gritted my teeth as I told her what had happened. “The other guests did not see my face, and it was important to get here as quickly as possible. I don’t know how much time we have.”

  It disturbed me that Lady POW went quiet all of a sudden.

  “Please tell me you have a plan,” I whispered back. Hearing my voice was an attempt to hold onto my sanity. We were likely moments away from disaster, and I had no way of knowing if I would make it out alive or not.

  “Are you worried for your life?” Empress Maria Anna turned around to face me.

  “No,” I lied. But I thought of Ferdy again, and I decided I could die happy knowing he was safe, even if he hated me. Even if he would never believe the truth about me.

  “I see.” The Empress’ dark eyes glittered, and I thought I saw a hint of Karl as she smiled.

  The room we came to was open and large, almost like a hidden coronation room. There was a pair of thrones at the forefront, and I tried not to fidget too much while King Ferdinand and Empress Maria Anna sat down.

  Why do they still worry about all these formalities at a time like this?

  “Now, what is all of this?” King Ferdinand asked me.

  I took off my hood and pulled down my mask. “Your Imperial Highness. I am sorry to report this, but you must order everyone out of the castle at once. There is an assassin here who prepared an explosion in the wine cellar. This wing of the castle will be likely destroyed, and all the people in it could suffer greatly.”

  Lady Penelope nudged me. “Show him your dagger again, Eleanora.”

  I reached out, but King Ferdinand waved it away. “Eleanora?”

  “Yes, Majesty. I am Eleanora Svobodová, of Bohemia.”

  “Adolf’s daughter.”

  It felt strange, hearing my father’s name, but I nodded affirmatively, praying the king would not go into a lengthy dialogue of my father’s deeds or something similar.

  I was surprised when he chuckled. “What is it?”

  “You’re the one my son is in love with.” The king’s small chuckle blossomed into a throaty laugh.

  “I understand he has feelings for me,” I said slowly, “but this is not the time to discuss it. We have to get everyone out of the castle now.”

  “I will send the guards.” The king clapped his hands. “But you must go and retrieve my son for me. I know he was upset about something. He is likely moping around the library in the east wing. Go get him, please, Lady Ella.”

  Lady Penelope stepped up beside me. “There is no need to worry about him, sire. I saw him follow the Duke of Moravia when he left earlier.”

  “I know Karl wanted to talk to him about his engagement to the Duke’s daughter,” I said. “So he is safe. There was an assassin dressed in black running around the castle earlier, but Karl left before the assassin made his way to the wine cellar.”

  “Karl?” King Ferdinand repeated. Then he laughed. “No, not Karl.”

  “What?” I frowned. “What do you—”

  Before I could finish asking him, a strange look suddenly appeared on the king’s face. It was a look I recognized, and instantly I could see it all once more inside of my mind. I remembered my father’s funeral, when the king had experienced a seizure, and I saw him beginning to flail back and forth.

  “He’s having a spell,” Empress Maria Anna cried. “Come help, quickly, Heinrich.”

  “Yes, Your Imperial Highness.” A tall attendant appeared at the king’s side as the other guards were dismissed to carry out the king’s orders. Lady Penelope took off after them.

  “Eleanora,” Lady Penelope hissed, pushing me out the door. “You heard the Empress. I will alert Amir and help the other guests evacuate.”

  But I stayed where I was, watching the attendant as he tended to the king, much like the other two assistants had all those years ago, trying to give him medicine and pinning him down to the chair while the spasm continued.

  It suddenly struck me as very odd that the king had brought two young assistants with him to my father’s funeral. They would not have been able to keep the king pinned down while he had an episode.

  I remembered the dark gaze of the one boy as he glared at me, telling me in his own way to mind my own business while the king was experiencing an episode.

  Karl.

  “Oh.”

  The king continued to fall apart before me as I stood there. Empress Maria Anna took charge. “Heinrich, please call another guard, so we can escort the king out of the castle,” she said. “Lady Eleanora, I must ask you to go and retrieve my other son. His father is right; he is likely in the library further down toward the east wing. He has recently come home from Silesia to celebrate with us, but he does not enjoy social events.”

  I could only nod, already hurrying off.

  THE POUNDING IN MY heart might as well have been a doomsday clock of sorts as I hurried through the complicated maze of hallways around the castle. With each moment that passed and I found myself not only still alive and the castle intact, I found reason to hope.

  As I made my way in the direction of the east wing, all I could think of was Karl and the king.

  Karl had been at my father’s funeral. He would have known who I was, and he would have recognized my name when he was introduced to me. The king remembered my own father well enough, and the Empress had met with my mother at least once, to the point where my mother knew she was pregnant with an heir.

  Or another heir, I thought, as the focus on my memories shifted to the other little boy who attended the king at Táta’s funeral. He had been shorter than Karl, I remembered, and his hair was more brown, and he had different eyes.

  It was so hard to remember that, but it had been over ten years since that awful day. And it was not like I wanted to remember that day so well in the first place.

  I turned down another hall and saw a door ajar. A light was on, and I could see glimpses of bookcases inside. That must be it.

  As I watched, a young man came out of the room. He was about the same height as Karl, with brownish hair. As I got closer to him, he jumped in surprise, and I could see freckles dotted his cheeks.

  That must be him, I thought, suddenly realizing I did not know the other prince’s name. “Your Highness,” I called, waving my dagger high, hoping he would recognize it.

  He apparently did not, because he pulled out his sword a moment later.

  “There were rumors that there was an assassin dressed in black in the castle,” the man said. “I see they were correct.”

  “Your Highness, please,” I said, skidding to a stop. “I am not the assassin, that was—”

  “No one would admit to being an assassin.” The man lunged at me with his sword.

  I almost smiled. In many ways, the y
oung man reminded me of Alex. I ducked and jumped, landing a quick blow to his knee. He yelped in surprise, before I punched him across the face and elbowed him in the side.

  “Oy!” He fell back against the wall, gripping himself, winded from his injury. His sword fell out of his hand as he fell over.

  Certain I was safe, I hurried over to him and quickly bowed. “I’m so sorry, Your Highness,” I said. “But we must go. I was sent here by your mother, Empress Maria Anna. I am a member of the Order of the Crystal Daggers. I’m here to protect you.”

  “I’m—”

  “I’m sorry,” I said again, as an expression of pain flashed across his young features. “I promise we can get some bandages for you if you need it. I have a friend who’s really good at fixing people up.”

  The man shook his head. “I’m not ... ”

  “Not what?” I asked, starting to get irritated. I quickly sheathed my dagger and tried to pull him upright.

  It was only when he stood that he took a deep breath and tried again.

  “I’m not the prince,” he said.

  My mouth dropped open. “You’re not?”

  “No, he’s not.”

  The voice behind me was too familiar.

  While everyone was clamoring to safety outside, I had been sent to find the king’s second son. Little did I know, I had already found him.

  I had already found him, and I had already fallen in love with him.

  And when we finally met this time, I found myself staring at him, unable to take my eyes off him, as he held a sword up between us. His silver eyes no longer gleamed with stars, but instead held a dangerous mix of lightning and sadness. The light of the grand hallway teased out the copper-colored undertones in his chestnut hair. He stood prepared to fight, the princely attire no longer a costume he wore but a sign of his true self.

  I could only stand there, as my mind put it all together. The Hapsburg features, the straight nose and the defiant chin ... I had seen Karl’s sharp features transform into the face of a prince, and this time, it was even harder for me to acknowledge my ignorant blindness.

  “Ferdy.”

  His name was a whisper on my lips, but I knew he heard me; he flinched and faltered in his stance ever so slightly.

  “Ella.” I could tell from the grim look on his face that he was deadly serious. The sword held steady. He glanced at the dagger I had at my side. Recognition flashed through his eyes, but his gaze only hardened. “You’ve already managed to wound me enough tonight. There’s no need to try to kill me, too.”

  “I’m not here to kill you,” I said, trying to regain my focus. It was hard to move; of all the surprises I had faced in recent weeks, I had never imagined this one was possible. “I came to save you.”

  Ferdy arched his brow. “And why should I believe you?”

  It was the wrong thing to say.

  “Excuse me?” I snapped. “You’re the one who always insisted he was the better liar between us. And clearly you were telling the truth about that, Your Highness.”

  “There’s no need for formalities,” Ferdy muttered as a small blush came over his cheeks. “I am a prince in name only.”

  “Just like your brother?” I asked, my voice even more acerbic.

  “Exactly,” Ferdy said. “Although I am the one who is more content to keep it that way.”

  I took a step toward him. Beside me, the servant I had initially mistaken for the prince stepped back.

  “Philip,” Ferdy called. “Stay where you are. There is no trouble here.”

  “You’re wrong,” I said. “We have to leave the castle. You are in danger here. Someone is trying to destroy the castle.”

  “Oh, is that so?” Ferdy narrowed his eyes. “Who is it? Would it be Karl? Do you really think he would go so far as to claim the throne from our cousin?”

  “I’m not sure about him,” I grumbled, tightening my grip on the hilt of my dagger. “You’re the one who’s been carrying around an assassin’s handkerchief. For all I know, you could be behind everything.”

  “You really think so poorly of me?” Ferdy asked, genuinely surprised.

  “You lied to me about being a prince!” My hands were suddenly shaking as I relived every interaction I’d ever had with him, trying to figure out how I had missed something as important as this.

  Every single encounter only proved to make me more frustrated with myself. I saw Ferdy as a young boy, not even a year younger than Ben, at my father’s funeral as he looked over at me, staring as he tried to control his father’s seizure; I heard him speaking fluent Arabic to Amir in the streets; I saw the quickly borrowed footman’s clothes at the Hohenwart Ball; I felt the learned grace of his dancing from back in Prague Castle’s ballroom.

  How did I miss so much?

  Ferdy lowered the sword to his side.

  I looked at him now, realizing this was who he truly was. He was a prince.

  I tried to shove my memories aside, but seeing the distrust in his eyes, I found myself unable to bear his derision. But I did not want to admit how deeply he still affected me.

  Lying to me would not have been so bad, if I had not fallen in love with him.

  “Surely lying about being a prince is different from lying about being an assassin.” Ferdy met my gaze with a challenge, much as I had done to him the first time he had seen me.

  “That’s not the only thing you’ve lied to me about.” I put my hands on my hips. “You never told me that you saw me at my father’s funeral.”

  Ferdy frowned. “I’d rather not discuss that. Obviously, falling in love with you was a mistake, and at this point, I’m allowed to keep my pride.”

  His words were sharp, like a slap to the face.

  “Especially if you’re going to stand there and accuse me of being a killer,” he added, seemingly out of spite. “We’ve heard the rumors of an assassin running around in black.”

  “I’m not the assassin,” I nearly shouted. I held out my dagger. “I am a member of the Order of the Crystal Daggers, and I have pledged my allegiance to your protection.”

  “You freely admit to being part of the Order?” Ferdy arched his brow. “That gives you even less credibility. From what I know, they’ve done more than their own share of murders.”

  “That’s not true,” I said, but my voice was suddenly much weaker. I did not know much about the Order, other than what Lady POW had told me. It was not enough to deny such charges, and I felt, impossibly, even more foolish.

  “Are you going to kill Karl, too?” Ferdy asked.

  “Right now, you’re the one who is putting us in more danger,” I shot back. “You’re standing here, arguing with me, when we could be escaping the castle.”

  “You’re not answering the question, I see.”

  “Sire,” Philip, the servant behind me, spoke up. Both Ferdy and I seemed to jump at his voice; it was clear we had both forgotten the servant who was watching us.

  “Perhaps she is right, sir,” Philip said. “Maybe we should leave, especially if your life is in danger as she says. There is an assassin that is rumored to be here, after all.”

  “Yes, thank you!” I grumbled, before turning back to Ferdy. Immediately, I started planning on how to forcibly remove him.

  “I do not fear death,” he said. He walked up to me and looked me directly in the eye. “Or little girls, no matter what weapons they might wield against me.”

  “So far I have only managed to wound you with the truth,” I said quietly. “It might not have hurt so much, if you had simply given it to me earlier.”

  We stood inches apart, while there were so many worlds between us; but even in that small moment in time, I felt as though I had the faith to bridge the distance, if only he would meet me in the middle. As we stood there, face to face, unable to ignore the truth between us, I silently begged Ferdy to trust me, to let me keep him safe this one last time. As much as I knew we could never be together, I knew I still could not imagine a world without him.
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  I could not stop myself from gazing at his mouth, remembering the soft texture of his lips against mine. “Please,” I whispered, suddenly unsure of what it was I was asking of him.

  As if he sensed my thoughts, Ferdy relented. “Ella,” he murmured, so softly only I could hear.

  There was a rumbling noise behind us, but I was already lost.

  The explosion behind us began to crescendo. A storm of breaking walls and crashing stones exploded behind us, rippling into a tidal wave of sound and wind.

  In those precious seconds, I launched myself into Ferdy, grasping onto him tightly. No matter how much he had hurt me, no matter how much he had lied to me, I was still determined to protect him.

  We were thrown back at the impact. Seconds passed before I realized I had screamed.

  I felt a sharp pain against my head before everything started to slip away.

  In those moments, I felt the entire kingdom’s heart break along with my own. I screamed and yelled, even as I was jolted and pressed on all sides. The power from the eruption burst out like a tidal wave of stones and dust, stripping me of the last of my illusions and innocence, crashing down all around me before burning up into piles of ash and soot.

  In the last seconds of my consciousness, I thought I heard Ferdy call to me again.

  I did not know if I responded or not.

  Everything, I thought as darkness fell, everything had been a lie all along.

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  Dear Reader,

  Welcome to another new world of mine. Once more, it is a world that has stewed inside of me much longer than it would have liked, and like a demon being exorcised, I am relieved to finally have freed it for you.

  Freedom really is at the core of this novel, and will continue to play out as a core part of the series. As it is in real life, it is an idea that is bound to much more than itself. Ella wants to be free, but under her stepmother’s authority, she really has no idea what it means to be free. Under the state, she has no certainty of maintaining freedom. Under the Order, she has the tools to fight for it, but they are given to her in exchange for responsibilities.