Suddenly some cramping in my stomach brings me to my knees. At first I think maybe it’s what I’m supposed to be experiencing from the tonic. But it doesn’t feel the same as a natural cramp. Instead it feels like something inside me is fighting to get out.
Like a kick.
“No,” I choke out. It isn’t possible. I lift my top and gasp when I see it. A bruise. I can’t even try to guess what it might be from. Or, rather, I don’t want to.
I heave forward and vomit into the sink. “No, no, no.”
“Kara?”
I turn to look at Kol standing in the doorway of my bathroom. “It didn’t work, Kol.” I whisper.
“What?”
“It didn’t work. It’s still in there. It didn’t work.”
“It hasn’t been a full twenty-four hours yet, Kara.”
“It doesn’t matter. It didn’t work and it’s not going to.” I shout. “There’s only one thing left to do.”
“Kara,” Kol says nervously.
“I can’t have this baby, Kol. I won’t.” My eyes search the bathroom for something, anything I can find to end this. When my eyes see the dagger tucked into a holster on Kol’s belt I react without thinking.
I grip the hilt of the dagger tight and push. I don’t know much about anatomy, but I know where to push to miss any major organs, and still put an end to the life of the monster growing inside me.
Kol screams out, but his voice is muffled by the pain, hot and bleeding, surging through me like a cancer until I turn numb. I pull the dagger out and I hear it clatter to the floor. My body gives way beneath me and I crumble to the floor beside it. Kol catches me, softening the blow. His shaky hands lower me to the floor, leaning me against the bathroom counter as he screams for help.
My vision spirals out of control until all I can see are shapes. Kol’s form joined by another. I suspect it’s the guards posted outside my chambers until I hear Theon’s voice.
“Put pressure on the wound.” Theon’s voice is faint, but firm.
The pressure Kol puts on my stomach makes me gasps out weakly. “We can’t let her die, Theon. We can’t.” A more self-assured girl might not question his motive for keeping me alive, but I do, even as consciousness slowly slips from me.
Theon grabs towels off the rack and kneels in front of me, pressing them to my stomach. “Kara, I need you to stay awake, okay?” Theon pleads.
My body won’t listen. My eyes shut and I lose myself in the blackness.
I dose in and out for what feels like a millennia and when I finally come to I see Theon sitting in a chair by my bed. On my other side Kol does the same, only he’s slumped over, asleep.
“Theon?”
He raises a hand to silence me. “Don’t.” he says, in a voice so dark it sends chills through me.
“Theon, I—”
“This ends now, do you hear me? The last time you were stabbed you were devastated with the idea of living without the baby your attacker took from you. This time it was to rid yourself of a baby you don’t want. One of these days you’re not gonna come back, Kara. Zodiacs are strong. We are not invincible.”
“I wasn’t trying to kill myself. I—”
“I don’t care.” he sneers. He does his best to temper that Serpentarian rage inside of him and looks to Kol, to change the subject. “That boy hasn’t left your side since I brought you here. He refused to heal you, which either means he’s still in love with you, or there is something you’re not telling me. Either way, I expect one hell of an explanation when I return. Try not to do anything reckless while I’m gone.”
When we’re alone I reach over and cover Kol’s hand with my own and he stirs. “Kara,” He shifts forward, taking my hand into both of his. “You’re awake. How do you feel?”
“Like I just stabbed myself.” I say.
“What the hell were you thinking?”
“You don’t know what I saw, Kol, when Clea took me to see Reverie.” The image still haunts me, Amara’s eyes a ghastly gray blue color, staring up at me. A chill shudders through me. “She showed me a vision she had, of what will happen if we let those babies live. I saw Amara. Kol, she was dead.”
“Sweetheart, you can’t always trust those visions. Visions are not prophecies. They aren’t always accurate.”
“Look at me and tell me you wouldn’t choose Amara over two unborn, nameless babies?” He can’t and he knows it. He drops his eyes from mine, afraid of what I might find there. “That’s what I thought.”
Clea comes flying into the infirmary then, rushing to my side. “Kara, hey, are you okay?” Her warm fingers curl around my wrist, blue eyes wet with tears. I keep denying the truth, that my friend is back, but her tears don’t lie. Maybe I should let her in. Maybe I should accept the comfort.
“I’m fine, Clea.” I say to her.
“Kara—”
“I know it was stupid. I—”
“No, Kara…” Clea presses, her tone leading.
“Don’t, Clea.” Kol warns.
“Don’t what?” I ask. “What is it?”
“It—Kara, it didn’t work.”
“What didn’t work?” I ask, but the two of them just look at each other. Realization hits me like a fireball, singeing every nerve ending in my body in its wake. “Are you saying…are you saying that I’m still pregnant?”
“I’m so sorry, Kara.”
“No, that’s…impossible.” I stand and tug up my hospital gown where I have only a pair of white underwear underneath and pull the bandage back, ignoring the shouts of protest from the two of them. I see the stitched up wound. “That thing cannot still be alive.” I look at Clea as she replaces the bandage. “It can’t, Clea. I killed it. It’s…it’s fucking impossible.”
“That’s correct. It is.” Taya says, entering the room with Haydan at her side. “Those fetuses should be dead, but their hearts are even stronger since last night’s incident.”
“What does that mean?” I breathe.
“Theon has never had any children in the thousand years he’s been alive so we have nothing to compare it to, but we’re thinking he passed something down to the fetus responsible for its resilience.”
“Resilience?” I fight to keep my temper in check, but it’s a losing battle. “Whoever attacked me at the Limacoran palace killed them once. Aaric brought them back by healing me.”
“They were barely the size of a grape then. We’re running on theories at this point, but if I were to guess I’d say because they were so underdeveloped then they didn’t have the presence of mind to fight back.”
“You’re saying my fetuses are fighting to stay alive?”
“I think that’s pretty clear, Kara.” Kol says.
“What I don’t understand is how this kind of thing is possible.” I’m painfully aware of Haydan’s presence. The only person in the room who hasn’t seen me naked. I tug my nightgown down self-consciously. “There are six elements, none of which allow this kind of black magic so how is it he has power outside of the elements?” Kol seems to pale at the question, like he might lose his lunch. “Kol,” I prod, surprisingly calm. “What is it?”
He swallows hard. Try as he might, he has trouble gaining back his equilibrium. “It’s really just a legend. I—I don’t know how much faith I would put into it.”
“Kol, speak.” I hiss.
“Well, Pisceans’ ability to cast spells and enchant objects and create potions, it isn’t in the realm of elemental ability. And yet they can do it all, with practice, and so there are many who believe those abilities come from an ancient species called Mages. Mages were said to have all of those abilities and more, but they utilized a very dark, very unpredictable magic called arcane magic. Over the years as they procreated with Zodiacs their bloodline became more and more diluted and so did their magic. The only traces of that magic survived in Piscean blood, giving them their extra abilities.”
“What does any of that have to do with Kara’s babies though?” Haydan asks.
“They’re scheduled to be born in December. They’ll be Serpentarians, not Pisceans.”
“It’s not about the Pisceans.” Kol’s eyes flick back to me. “It’s about Theon. He’s a thousand years old, which is about the time the Mages are said to have surfaced.”
Clea catches onto what he’s implying while I pretend to stay blissfully ignorant. “We don’t know much about our mother. She died when we were very young. I—I guess it’s possible.”
“I suggest you heal me, Kol.” I warn.
“Why?”
“Because it doesn’t much matter now. These babies can’t be killed and I don’t wanna rip my stitches while I beat Clea’s ass!” I shout, inching closer toward him.
Clea swallows hard. “Kara, now, you know you’re kind of…infernal and getting upset, it isn’t—”
“Good for the baby?” I exclaim. My skin prickles with heat, ready to explode into flame any minute if need be. “Is that what you were about to say?” No one speaks. They’re all too afraid to. I drop both hands to my stomach. Underneath my shirt the bruises throb. “That’s alright little hellbaby. You’re dead the moment you come out, but you…” I point at Clea. “You I can kill now.” I start toward her, but Haydan jumps in front of me while Kol tugs Clea out of my reach.
“Can you explain to me what arcane magic really is?” Taya asks.
Haydan makes a face before he begins. “Arcane, not much is known about it. The word arcane quite literally means understood by few, mysterious, secret. It is a cold and intellectual magic that warps time, space, and is extremely volatile. Arcane is so similar to an element it might as well be one. It is darker than dark magic. It’s black magic.”
“And you said there’s a prophecy about a child with arcane magic?” Kol asks his brother.
“It doesn’t mention arcane magic by name, but it references a dark and twisted magic. I suppose it makes a lot of sense it would mean arcane magic.” Haydan explains. “I can find out more. I might just need a few days.”
“Find our whatever you can.” Kol looks back at me and very delicately takes one hand in mine. “We’re going to figure this out, Kara.” He says it so sweetly it makes me want to trust him, even though every fiber of my being is telling me that I can’t.
Even though we’ve all been working together over the past few months—Clea, Kol, and I—I still don’t trust him. He betrayed us once and despite his change in attitude, he’s still working to get Amara here. And as much as I want Amara out of the hands of that Vakrovian king, I don’t want her here. Leaving one cage for another and another and another, it’s no life for anyone.
My wound stings as Kol begins to heal it. I can feel the skin molding back together, twisting the way his magic demands in order to correct it.
“That’s all very sweet, but that baby growing inside her is destined to kill our best friend.” Clea reminds us.
“We may not be able to kill it now, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to live.” The thought makes my stomach clench. “Once it’s born it’ll be at its most vulnerable. After I deliver it we’ll just…take care of the problem.”
“Whoa, Kara…” Taya objects. “It’s one thing to take care of the problem while it’s still inside you, but it’s something very different to murder a newborn in cold blood.”
“This isn’t a joke, Taya. We’re talking about Amara’s life. If Theon knew what that baby is destined to do to Amara he’d agree. Kol, tell her.”
“She’s right, Taya.” Kol says. “What the prophecy says this child is supposed to do, it isn’t something you want. Amara aside, it’s dangerous to let it live.” Kol peers back at me. “I’ll do it. It’s my fault any of this happened to begin with. I’ll be the one to do it.”
“Thank you, Kol. But what do we tell Theon?” I ask. “He wants answers to what happened here tonight. What am I supposed to tell him?”
“Not the truth. We’ll come up with something to tell him. Haydan—”
“I’m on it. I’ll find out everything I can about this prophecy.” Haydan vows.
“What should I do?” I ask, feeling helpless.
“Lie.” Clea answers. “And pray they don’t catch up to us until it’s too late.”
—CHAPTER TWENTY TWO—
AMARA
PROPOSITION
“What’s your proposition?”
Her proposition is obsolete. This trip was never the one that was going to spell my freedom. Not without Haven. I’ll never leave her behind. I don’t know what Bastian will do to Limacore if she leaves, but that hardly matters to me. Still, Katania may be able to keep Haven and me both.
“I have no interest in an alliance with Vakrov.” the queen begins, now on her feet, pacing the length of the large sunroom. “However, I do want one with Llìria.”
“Why?” It’s an honest question, but something about the way I ask it makes the queen laugh.
“Llìria is not the abandoned, haunted country everyone thinks it is. It’s strong and grows stronger every day, even in your absence. Amara, I know you don’t want to be queen, but that is exactly the reason you are made for the throne. Decide today that you will assume the throne when the time comes and I will help you win it. All I need you to do is go back to Vakrov, assume the same role you’ve been playing.”
The thought makes my stomach clench. “To what end?”
“There is an impending threat much bigger than Bastian Beaugrand and Theon Beleros coming our way and answers to that threat can be found in Vakrov.”
“What kind of threat?”
“One that may very well end our world as we know it.” She settles back into her chair, inching closer to me. Her hand catches mine and I’m locked into her emerald stare. “Amara, you can save more than just your people. With a little help, you may save us all.”
It’s a big decision, one that requires much sleep. Maybe some coffee. But I don’t waste her time or mine. This is what my life has been building toward all this time, even if I’ve only just gotten on board with it. I can deny it all I want, but it’s time to admit who I am. Amara Boudelaire, lost princess of Llìria, heir to the Serpentarian throne. All I have to do is say the words.
“I’ll do it. I’ll be your queen.” It feels like a betrayal to my brothers, but Kat is right. I will win the Monarch Trials if forced to compete for this throne. “But a lot of changes are going to have to be made once we win back my crown.” She knows exactly what I mean.
“I look forward to hammering those changes out with you.”
“What if I don’t get another chance like this to escape after I’ve done whatever it is you need me to do in Vakrov?”
She stands, crossing the room to refill her glass with the dark liquor from one of the decanters. “We’ll keep the peace with Vakrov. I’ll send Grayson back with you, under the guise of an alliance and when you complete your task he will get you out.”
“I won’t leave without Haven.”
“Haven,” she says the name like a curse. “You’re talking about the Limacoran princess.” She doesn’t even try to hide her hatred for my home. I suppose it hadn’t occurred to me that she might hold some resentment for Limacore, given the Limacoran court is where my mother, her old friend, decided to run to when fleeing Zakaria. Another unanswered question I remind myself to ask later.
“Yes.” I say simply. I won’t let her hatred for my country affect me. It is still my country. Whether I am Llìrian or not. I am Limacore-born. I am Limacoran at my core. Theron made many mistakes, to be sure, but he still tried to protect me, in his own way.
“I know why Bastian craves an alliance with me. He wants the old ways back as badly as I do and he thinks I can use his help to achieve that goal, but what I don’t understand is what Bastian could possibly want with Limacore?”
“I think it was the other way around.” I come back. Kat raises her eyes to me, pressing me to go on. “Limacore is a small country, with an even smaller army, and with Theon looming Theron knew he needed to make
an alliance with a country who could spare the men.”
“An alliance goes both ways, Amara. Bastian has to be getting something out of it.”
“Haven.” I say. “Bastian’s goal is to reinstate the old laws. He wants only Aquarians, Geminis, and Librans in is ranks, air users. Haven is a Gemini. With Haven as his queen he’ll have two out of three. If he has his way the Limacoran royals will just fade into Vakrov.” Kat’s only response is a prideful smile and I understand immediately. “But you knew all of that. You just wanted to see if I knew it too.”
“Do you see what I mean, Amara?” Kat settles back into her seat. “You were raised a commoner and yet you instinctively know how these royals think. You’re going to be a great queen. I’m sure of it. You can have your princess. When it’s time to free you of Vakrov I will allow you to take your princess with you.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“You’re welcome, Your Highness.” She winks at me. I grimace at the title. “You’re going to be queen one day very soon, Amara Boudelaire. You might as well get used to the title.”
I look up at her warily. “When I get back to Vakrov, what would you have me do?”
“There’s a man you need to go see, in the capital, his name is Talvinder. Find him. He’s known for writing prophecies. I don’t know if he’s responsible for writing this particular one, but he’ll be able to give us some more information on it.”
“What prophecy is that?”
“It tells of an incredibly powerful baby born of magic we’ve never experienced before, magic powerful enough to rewrite the world in his image.”
Kat gauges my reaction, which I suspect is a little shock, a lot annoyed. As if we don’t have enough problems already.
“And you think this…Talvinder is going to help us?”
“He has an odd fascination with pocket watches. Give him this.” She dangles before me a white gold pocket watch with intricate carvings on the bottom and top. “He’ll tell you anything you want to know once you do. Bring Grayson with you on this errand and he’ll relay the information back to me.”
Savage Reign Page 25
