by M. J. Scott
She felt herself sway slightly and took a half step before Cameron caught her arm as Domina Francis snapped, "Someone bring the girl some water. Aristides, you won't get yourself a queen if you kill the child with fear."
Sophie lifted her head at that, though she had to close her eyes again, as the room whirled around her.
Someone touched her arm softly. "Lady Scardale," a man said.
She thought it might be Jean-Paul. Not Cameron. Cameron was snarling something at the emperor.
"Lord Scardale," Aristides snapped. "I appreciate that you are under some strain, but do not overstep your limits."
"Cameron, Sophie needs you." Imogene's voice.
"Lady Scardale, you need to sit down." It was the domina again.
Her immediate instinct was to resist, but she wrestled it away. This wasn't Domina Skey and the temple here in Lumia had left her alone
Until now.
Until she was being pushed to a point of no return, perhaps. She opened her eyes, looked at the circle of concerned faces around her.
"Sit," Jean-Paul said in a tone of unmistakable order. She sank into the chair that had appeared behind her and closed her eyes before the room could start spinning again.
"Perhaps Your Imperial Majesty could clear the room for a time?" Domina Francis said in a steely tone, and Sophie heard the emperor give the order. Though none of the people closest to her moved to obey him.
"Drink something," the domina urged, pressing a glass into her hand.
Sophie raised it automatically and sipped water. It steadied her, easing the dizziness. She took another sip, blinked, and then opened her eyes.
The Domina was crouched by her chair, looking up at Sophie's face with worried eyes. "Are you well, child?"
"Yes," Sophie managed. Well enough, at least. Eloisa was holding her family to ransom, and she would happily set cities on fire to relieve her anger. Or perhaps collapse into a weeping heap until she knew her family was safe. Either way, far from normal, but she could think again. Her family needed her to think. To keep them from paying the price for her choices. Though she had no idea how she was supposed to make that happen.
She stared down at the glass of water, her knuckles white where she gripped too tightly. What she wouldn't give to be able to see her parents now. To tell them that she was...she was...she didn't know what exactly. The light shining off the water turned its surface a strange shade of blue for a moment and the color caught her eyes and pulled her under before she could blink.
A whirl of images rolled through her mind, blinding her to anything happening in the room where she sat. The palace at Kingswell, still shattered and broken in part. The throne room there filled with smoke. Chloe, her face twisted in anger in a way that Sophie didn't think she had ever seen in real life. Her mother sitting on the floor in an empty room, pressed into a corner, her face tear-stained and exhausted. And then, as Sophie began to try to pull herself out of the vision, to get away from the images before they broke her, she was dragged even deeper. Around her, the vast tree began to grow, the enormous trunk rising only a few feet from her face, the light on her face shining dappled green through its branches. For a moment hope flooded her. The tree seemed healthy. Thriving even. But then the light began to darken, and she was yanked down, down beneath the earth, faced again with twisted blackened rotting roots and Eloisa's dead face lying so still. Until it turned toward her and smiled, showing teeth and bone through rotting flesh.
"No!" Sophie threw out a hand as though to ward Eloisa off, and the vision broke and shattered, dissolving before her eyes in a thousand sparkling shards. Leaving her staring into the domina's deep green eyes.
Nobody spoke at first.
The domina cleared her throat. "Lady Scardale, forgive my bluntness, but what did you just see?"
Sophie blinked and swallowed, wondering how she could avoid answering. She went to lift the cup to her lips and realized she no longer held it. Instead, her shoes were wet and the glass lay several feet away on the thick blue carpet.
"I—"
"I know the look of a vision, child," the domina said sternly. She looked back over her shoulder at Aristides. "You didn't tell me she could scry."
"I was unaware that she could," Aristides said. "Imogene? Did you know about this?"
"She's a water mage. Some of them can scry," Imogene said defensively.
"Lady Scardale is newly come to those powers though, is she not? I thought that scrying took training?" Aristides sounded displeased.
"It does," the domina agreed. "But the training for those who have the ability to learn control. And that didn't look particularly controlled to me." She peered up into Sophie's face. "So, child. Tell me."
Sophie hesitated. She didn't want to talk about what she had seen. Not with Aristides standing there, looking for any excuse to invade Anglion. But she had seen the same horrifying vision of Eloisa three times now. Seen the rot and decay surrounding her.
She had to ask someone about it. But only once she had decided who she could trust. And when she had time to come to terms with what had been in the queen's letter. Right then she had no idea about who to choose for the former and no idea about how she would do the latter. She needed a way out.
"I—" she broke off, flailing for an escape route. Recalled the image of her mother sitting in the corner, crying and tearstained and afraid. "I saw my mother," she said and let all her fear and anger and grief loose, bursting into tears.
It was a successful ploy. Though once she'd started, she lost hold of any intention to cry prettily and be excused. The sobs rushed through her. Choking and uncontrollable. Cameron and Imogene and the domina hovered around her, trying to soothe her and offering more water and handkerchiefs. None of it helped.
Eventually Cameron picked her up bodily out of the chair and then sat himself, holding her in his lap so she could cry on his chest while he murmured soft words that she didn't really hear until the tears started to dry up and she hiccupped and sniffed her way to silence, face buried in Cameron's chest.
Which left her tear-stained and soggy, her eyes and throat on fire from the weeping. Mortified that she had lost control so badly. She didn't lift her head.
"Lady Scardale appears overcome," the domina said. "Perhaps we should continue this conversation tomorrow, Aristides? The Scardales have heard the news from Anglion, they are aware of how the situation has changed. They need some time to deal with what has happened."
"I am not unsympathetic," Aristides said. "But time is also of the essence."
"If the queen was going to kill their families, they would be dead already." The domina's voice was blunt and Sophie flinched into Cameron. "Eloisa wants Lady Scardale to return, she's not going to overplay her hand early."
Meaning that the domina thought Eloisa might overplay it later on? It wasn't outside the realm of possibility. Eloisa wasn't acting entirely rationally. But, no. Best not to think about that. If Sophie started to think, she was going to start crying again.
"Lady Scardale," Aristides said. "I understand that this news is distressing for you and that you have been dealing with all manner of unpleasant things since you came here. I also appreciate that my proposal to you in relation to the Anglion crown is something you view as one of those unpleasant things, but this letter from the queen has done nothing to change my mind. This threat is not a rational action. She knows she doesn't have the power to compel you and that she is outnumbered if she chooses a war."
"By threatening your families, she wants to force you to return home. But she can't imagine that I will allow you to return on your own. Therefore she is asking for a war that she is unlikely to win. One that I am not certain her nobles would support her in. One that doesn't make sense. All to secure your return. When you are far less of a threat to her here, in Illvya. With you here, no Anglion would contemplate that you might be scheming to take her throne. No one who is—how do you Anglions say it? 'Thinking straight?' at least. Which makes me question, ye
t again, whether she is rational."
Sophie lifted her head, rubbing her stinging eyes. She didn't want to dissolve into tears again. It would achieve nothing. "You are scheming to take her throne," Sophie pointed out. Her voice rasped, and she sipped more water.
Aristides made a dismissive gesture. "Only because of how she is behaving. The sanity, or lack thereof, of the Anglion nobility has not been of concern to my family for several generations now. We had an understanding of a kind between our realms. But if your queen is not rational, if she will do this, then I am forced to consider that such an understanding no longer holds."
"She is the queen," Sophie said. "Her subjects will be loyal to her." Her throat burned with each word. She had to convince him.
"She is a new queen," Aristides said, shaking his head. "Her father was loved and respected, but she has come to power in a difficult time. If she falters, it would be easy enough for them to turn from her. If presented with a palatable alternative."
"With all due respect, Your Imperial Majesty, there is no way that to the average Anglion I would be considered a palatable alternative. I have a sanctii. I have broken pretty much every taboo our temple holds. I broke some of them before I even arrived here. On the day of my Ais-Seann, no less." She stopped, realizing that not everyone in the room needed to hear chapter and verse about what had happened between Cameron and her on the day of her twenty-first birthday. "You will not be able to convince them that I am a suitable queen."
"Maybe, maybe not." Aristides said. "But would you leave them to be ruled by madness?"
"I'm not convinced Eloisa is mad," Sophie said. Then shivered. Maybe not mad, but if her visions were anything to go on, the queen had to be in danger, at the very least. Worse, if she took the vision literally.
"If she is not insane, then she is taking bad advice or letting some other emotion guide her actions," Aristides said. "And to me, a young queen who will not be guided wisely is just as dangerous as a mad one."
Sophie stiffened. "Is that what you expect of me, if I agreed? That I would be a compliant young queen who you could guide as you saw fit?"
Aristides's eyes narrowed at her. "Not as I saw fit, but I would hope that you would take my counsel, and that of others you respect. I would hope that your country and my empire could enjoy a more fruitful relationship than has existed between us."
"You hope that we would join your empire," Sophie said. "In which case you don't need a queen. Why not take Anglion for yourself? Install a governor."
Aristides sighed. "Because that is not the best way. My empire has moved to a stage where it is mostly peaceful. Where people have accepted that we are better as one—or most of them have. But the Anglions have fought fiercely for their independence all these years. I do not think they would accept my rule so easily. I would rather work with your country than against it."
Sophie didn't think it could be quite that simple. Aristides sounded benevolent, but there had to some benefit to him from his plan.
"Perhaps this is a conversation for the morning," Domina Francis said, rising to her feet. "Lady Scardale needs time to consider. You have made your position clear, Aristides. She understands what you are offering her. You cannot expect her to decide here and now."
The emperor's mouth twisted. "That is fair. But, as I said earlier, there is a timetable in play here. You must understand this, Lord Scardale. I'm sure the Red Guard have to take hostages from time to time. You know how it works."
Cameron nodded. "I agree. There is a time limit to how long we can stall, but we do need time to consider." He turned to the domina. "I don't suppose you could raise a convenient storm or something that would mean that the Anglion ships would need to stay in the harbor a few days. That would buy us more time."
"Sorry. Magic of that kind may be within the realm of the goddess, but it's not something I wield." Domina Francis smiled wryly. "But I would like to help you in this choice, if I can. Offer such guidance as the goddess may have. We should speak further. Come and see me in the morning."
Chapter 14
They had barely walked through the door of the Academe when Mestier Allyn, the Master of the Ravens, stepped out of one of the doors into the entry hall. He halted at the sight of Sophie, a smile crossing his face.
"Lady Scardale," he said. "I thought you weren't returning for another few days."
"Her Grace was recalled to the city," Sophie said, trying to sound normal. Her throat still hurt, and she hoped her eyes weren't as red as they felt. She didn't want to deal with any well-meaning questions. But if her face still showed any traces of her emotion, Mestier Allyn didn't comment.
"I'm pleased," he said. "Tok has been fretting. I was starting to worry. But I can go and let him out now. He'll be happy to see you. Hopefully that will bring back his appetite."
Sophie's heart wrenched. She hadn't let herself think about Tok since they'd left Lumia. She hated the thought that he'd been in any distress because of her. She'd caused enough pain. "I'll come with you," she said.
"Sophie," Cameron said.
"What?" She turned back to him, ready to fight. "This is something I can do. A hurt I can prevent here and now."
"Are you going to take him as your familiar then, my lady?" Mestier Allyn asked, his voice cautious.
"Yes," she said. "I am."
Cameron made a soft noise. She glared.
He held up his hands. "Do you think that wise?"
"I don't care. It is right," she said. "I already have a sanctii, a petty fam can't possibly make the situation any worse." They hadn't yet spoken, but there was no way they could get away now. Not with their families hostage.
Bonding Tok could do no harm. Only good. Whether or not Cameron accepted her point or was simply unwilling to carry on this conversation in public, she didn't know. And she wasn't inclined to particularly care. This one thing was her decision.
"Let us go to the tower," she said to Mestier Allyn, not stopping to see if Cameron followed.
The climb to the tower didn't take long. As she stepped through the door to the rookery, there was a frantic cawing and the sound of something banging against metal echoed across the room. Behind her, Cameron made a startled noise, but Sophie was looking for Tok.
"Hush now," Mestier Allyn said, crossing the room and pulling back a curtain to reveal a large cage, where Tok was perched on a branch, banging a small metal tin against the bars. "Stop that fuss. Yes, yes, she's back. I will let you out if you can behave."
Tok cawed again, his bright eyes meeting Sophie's. She hurried over to the cage while Mestier Allyn opened the door.
"I don't like to confine them," he said. "But this was for the best. He tried to get out of the building. I'm not sure what he would have done if we'd left him free. Taken off after you, I suspect."
"How would he know where I'd gone?" Sophie asked as Tok leapt to balance on the small wooden stand by the door.
"They have their ways. Of course, no guarantee he'd survive a trip. Plenty of predators out there." Mestier Allyn stood back from the cage.
Tok launched himself toward Sophie with a final squawk, swooping up into the air to circle her head—so close she heard the air rustling through his feathers—before he landed on her shoulder and delivered another loud caw in her ear before rubbing his beak on her hair.
"What's this nonsense about fretting?" she said, reaching up to stroke him.
She looked back at the Master of the Ravens. "Do you have anything I can give him to eat?"
"Yes, I have food." His face turned serious. "But if you're not going to bond him, my lady, then you need to let me know. I'll send him away to one of the other towers before it's too late for him."
Sophie shook her head, resisting the urge to pluck Tok from her shoulder and cradle him to her chest. She doubted he'd appreciate it. "No, that won't be necessary. I can't do that to him."
Tok made a distinctly satisfied grumbling squawk.
"In fact," Sophie said. "I'll take him to Mada
me Simsa now. I assume, she can tell me what I need to do to arrange the bonding?"
Mestier Allyn nodded. "She can, my lady."
She blew out a breath, relieved. She didn't want any more trouble, so she needed to do this correctly in the eyes of the Academe.
"Are you sure about this?" Cameron asked. Sophie turned. He was still standing by the door.
"Yes. This is my choice." She knew she was being unfair. None of this was Cameron's fault.
"Then I will meet you back at our rooms. I have to speak to Henri. Bring him the emperor's message," Cameron said.
Chloe. Sophie's heart clenched. Someone else caught up in the trouble that she had caused. Henri would be furious. And heartbroken. All the things she still felt. But, as she listened to Cameron's footsteps descending the stairs, she knew she couldn't help Henri. Or Chloe. And thinking about that might drive her mad.
But she could help Tok. Could give him what he needed to be safe and happy. "Mestier Allyn, let's see if we can get Tok some food."
"Yes," Mestier Allyn agreed. He crossed to a metal cabinet, unlocked it, and withdrew a plate of meat scraps, holding it out to Sophie. "He'll want more later. Make sure you send him back here. Or ask the kitchen for some raw meat if he won't leave you. I'll send them notes on what you'll need."
Madame Simsa's apartment wasn't far from the Raven Tower, but Sophie's progress was slower than usual thanks to Tok. Full of energy after scarfing down the meat Mestier Allyn had provided, he kept launching himself into the air, circling her wildly before landing back on her shoulder, as though he couldn't quite make up his mind where he wanted to be. Repeated entreaties for him to behave didn't seem to have any impact. He was nibbling her hair when Madame Simsa opened her door.
