by Amber Jaeger
She nodded numbly as he finger flew over the parchment.
“We unite here, just inside my borders. From there, it is easy.” He sat back, a satisfied smile on his face.
“What, exactly, is easy?” she asked through numb lips. From the vague nods around the large table, she could tell she was not the only one wondering.
“We take your kingdom by force, invade the castle and remove Sula from the throne. Among other things,” he added under his breath.
“Just like that?” she asked sharply. “You think there will be no resistance? No lives lost?”
“Who is there to fight against us?” Christopher asked. Her opinion of him sank.
“Surely some will chose to fight for the queen,” she said, trying not to glare.
“And they will die,” Lian responded, completely assured of himself.
“I will not allow my people to die for such a queen,” she snarled, standing to her feet. “My people are loyal to the kingdom, they will not know if you are attacking her or the land.”
“Easy,” Valanka said, reaching out a hand to her. “Your king has planned for such. A large contingent has been assigned to inform and protect your people. They will not join the fight, they will not be harmed.”
Ignoring his comforting words and touch, Katiyana turned back to Lian. “Please,” she begged under her breath. “Think this through. It cannot be so easy or you would have already done it. You are blinded by rage, it will ruin you.”
He gave the same easy smile that was so frequent on his face in recent days. “Katiyana, walk with me. I need a break.”
Surprised by his response, she accepted his arm and let him lead her out of the hall. When the door shut behind them, he turned to her. “I know you are nervous but please trust in me. I will handle it all and you will be on the throne faster than you can blink.”
Anger surged, surprising her. “I do not want throne. I want those I care about, all of those I care about, to be safe. This is not the way to ensure it.”
Another door slammed further down the hall and the scent of roses wafted over her. Shaking her head to clear, she clamped her arms over her chest and stamped her foot.
Lian merely chuckled and pressed a kiss to her hair. “I will take care of everything. Everything will finally be resolved.”
“This is not the way,” she said, digging her nails into his arm. “Please, I have such a terrible feeling about it all. This is not the man you are. Look at the risk you are taking with these lives. Do not let your anger drive you.”
His eyes darkened but she did not back away. When he spoke it was in a low growl. “I will have my revenge. I will avenge my family. And I will become the man worthy of the Sun Throne and of you. You are a little girl from the woods, let me handle these matters. Then you may rule as you wish.”
Anguish washed over her. She did not want a war, she wanted peace. And as much as she wanted it for herself and her people, she wanted it for him more. “Please Lian, just think about this. People will be hurt, they will die. You have already claimed her blood on your hands. What good can it do? So many are already against her, she cannot stand. Please, release your anger and think with your mind.”
His eyes did not harden as she expected. Instead, he smiled and dipped his head to hers. “My anger will only be quenched with her blood. And then the debt will paid, then vengeance will have won out. Do you not see it, little one? This is the way it must be.” He slipped the jeweled stick from her hair and unwound the knot. His eyes softened as he ran his fingers through her waves and pulled them over her shoulders, gently caressing her neck. She closed her eyes, trying to focus on what was most important, and he took it as an invitation. With one rough finger he stroked her throat and she dipped her head back, letting him take her mouth with his. Again she was struck by how perfectly they fit together as he palmed her neck and pulled her closer, teasing her lips with his. Breathless and confused, she broke away from him. He let her, only holding her elbow to steady her. She could not bear to look up at him, knowing he would be wearing his teasing smile.
“Lian, just please do not do this,” she whispered, her eyes shut tight.
“You do not like my kisses?” he teased. “I am afraid I have grown quite fond of yours. And once Sula is swinging from a rope, we will have plenty of time for them.”
Her mouth watered with sour saliva and her stomach lurched. Sure she was going to be sick, she turned and ran.
“Think on it,” he called as she rushed up the stairs. “You will see that everything will be made right.”
In her room, she slammed into the small table near the door in her haste. Her hip throbbed painfully but she ignored it, more concerned with her painfully clenching stomach. She dove to bend over the basin just as stinging bile rose up her throat. She swallowed against it, praying it would return to her stomach. When it did not, she emptied out her hollow insides and collapsed to the cold tiles.
Her head throbbed painfully and she pressed it the coolness. When she sat up to quench her burning throat, the spinning made her stomach heave again and she collapsed back to the floor. Exhausted, she let herself lie there. She knew she was not truly sick, it was fear that was tormenting her.
The sun sank again below the windows and she watched from the floor without interest. Her king was losing himself in his rage and there was nothing she could do.
Some hours later the scraping of the window against its sill woke her. The stiffness in her neck made her groan and she pulled herself up to sit. Shadows shifted against the wall and she held her breath, slowly pulling a knife from her sleeve.
Fabric shifted against the window and she silently moved to crouch next to the tub, putting the blade at her side to jab up with. A blinding white reflection flashed in her eyes and she ducked.
“Katiyana?” came the frantic whisper.
She blinked furiously, not lowering her weapon. The room seemed open, not hiding an intruder.
“Who is there?” she called before rolling to the doorway.
“It is me!” came a harsh whisper. “You know…” then a soft swear.
“No name?” Katiyana called softly, bewildered by this new circumstance.
“Yes, me. Now put that sword away,” came the condemnation.
Still uneasy, Katiyana tucked the blade back into her sleeve. “Where are you?”
“By the bed. You know, I have always hated your obsessions with weapons.”
Katiyana grinned into the dark at that. “That obsession kept you fed,” she teased.
A grunt by the bed led her to the pale girl. She was curled around a stolen pillow, her pale hair trembling about her shoulders.
“What are you doing here? How did you even find me?” Katiyana asked, pulling her up into an embrace.
“I have to tell you something,” she mumbled into her shoulder.
Katiyana pulled away, pushing the girl’s hair from her elfin face. “Are you all right? The other girls? Are you hungry? Cold? I can give you anything you need,” she promised. “Well, Lian can.”
“Yes!” the girl with no name gasped. “Him. You must save him, I have seen it. You must save them all.”
Katiyana’s nausea returned in a second and she pressed a hand against her stomach. “You dreamed of him? Of me?”
“No,” the girl said, grasping her arms so hard they began to go numb. “You, him, everyone. You must go, tonight, to the woman that looks like you.”
“Sula?” Katiyana asked, her heart splintering.
“I do not know her name. But she resembles you, dressed in gaudy gowns. She will offer you an apple and when you bite it, all the nations rise instead of fall.”
Her heart was falling. The girl had never been wrong. Sometimes she wondered if she was really a girl at all.
“Did you hear me?”
“I heard you,” she said woodenly.
“Then who is the lion?” the girl asked. “He stalks my dreams. I fear him almost as much as the wicked queen.”
“Oh, do not fear him,” Katiyana murmured, wrapping her arms around the girl again. “He is a good man.”
The girl nodded against her shoulder. “Then go to her and eat her apple. If you do not, he falls as well. With everything else.”
Katiyana gasped and forced her bile down. “Lian dies if I do not go?”
“Yes, they all do.” The girl rubbed at her temples. “I do not understand any more than that, it hurts my head to have this knowledge inside.”
Katiyana rubbed her shoulders reassuringly. “Do not worry, I will take care of it.”
“Wait, one more thing,” she moaned. “You have something, a jewel? A light? I do not know, it shines so brightly I cannot see it. Give it to her before you eat her fruit and…”
Katiyana shook the girl and she slowly came to again. “What were you saying?” she demanded.
“I do not know,” the girl moaned, clutching her head in her fists.
“Go back to Cidra and Adora,” Katiyana commanded as she released her to pack a bag.
“I cannot. The queen will be looking for me. I must press west.”
Katiyana stopped her panicked packing. “She will live?”
“She will but her strength will be gone.” She moaned again but Katiyana had to ask one more question.
“And me?”
“I only see you eating an apple. Surely a fruit cannot hurt you,” she said, rubbing at her temples. She missed the look on Katiyana’s face.
“Right, it is just a fruit,” she repeated, her voice hollow. “But you cannot go west. Time has moved on there.”
“I know,” the girl sighed. “But there is a man that can protect me.”
“There is no magic there, it has all died. Who knows what you will find,” Katiyana pleaded.
“I will find him, I have to. I have no future if he will not shelter me.”
Clothes forgotten, Katiyana dropped to the bed next the petite girl. “What are we to do?” she asked brokenly.
The girl with no name turned to her and clenched her hands. “Go to the queen. Save your king and your people. Give her what she wants. I cannot see far, but I know things will be fine.”
Katiyana gave her a wan smile. “And you?”
“Keep my secret,” the girl begged. “The lives of many ride on it.”
“I will,” Katiyana promised and hugged her before she crawled nimbly out the window.
“Wait!” she called. “What do I tell Lian?”
The girl hesitated. “I know you love him. If you know what you want to say, write it now. Otherwise, get to the Queen or all is lost.”
And with that, the girl was gone and Katiyana was alone.
She looked over her room and all the fine things in it. She thought of her king, planning his revenge floors below. But it was all ash if she did not listen to the nameless girl. She had never questioned her visions and never suffered for it.
There were so many things she wanted to tell Lian and they all floated through her mind as she moved about the room and packed. She would have loved to say goodbye, to tell him how she felt, but he would have never let her leave and all would be lost.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
As quickly as she could, she changed into the clothes she had worn to the Fire King’s castle. She filled her pockets with everything she needed to survive and then snuck down to the kitchen.
She could almost envision Valanka busy in the cooking and then shook her head. She pulled meat down from the hooks, pulled cheese from the cold storage and grabbed every loaf of hard bread she encountered.
With a thin pack on her back, she snuck to the stable. Snowflake whinnied as she entered and she almost jumped back as the horse lowered her nose to her chest.
“Yes,” Katiyana said softly, pulling out the pilfered carrots. “I have a treat but I must also ask a favor.”
The horse turned its enormous eye to her, as if it could understand her words.
“Do not ride so fast I fall off and die,” Katiyana prayed solemnly.
Snowflake let her climb on and she clung to the horses back with her pack cinched tight down.
The mountains fell away as she dug her fingers into the horse mane and her pelvis soon grew numb as she bumped along. After many miles she relaxed and let the horse move under her, the miles disappearing under Snowflake’s hooves.
Though her eyes burned, she kept them wide open, afraid that she would sleep and fall from the beast’s back if she relaxed for even a moment.
As the sun rose, it illuminated the lands around her. With the mountains to her back and flat land far to her south, she could barely make out the shadow of the forest in the far off horizon. Her stomach grumbled but she ignored it. If it was time for breakfast, then Lian would soon know she was gone.
Guilt twisted her stomach. She should have left a note, she should have told him how she felt. Instead she spurred the horse to move faster and hung on for dear life.
When the sun was at its apex, she finally stopped by a spring to let the horse rest and drink. Climbing down from Snowflakes back was a painful exercise and she fell to her backside in the dirt, her legs useless jelly.
The horse whinnied and she scowled at it. “If you were not so useful at the moment, I would turn you loose to find your way home right this moment.”
Her words sparked an idea and she gasped, sitting up straight. Digging through the pack, she found the parchment and pencil she had shoved in at the last moment.
Chewing the nub, she thought carefully while the horse nosily slurped up water. Finally she set the pencil to paper and wrote.
My Dearest Lian,
I am so sorry to have left with no word to you but I was afraid you would have stopped me. What I go to do is much more important than my own small life, I hope you will realize that in time.
With Sula gone, please do your best to find peace. I love you and I wish we could have our lives together. But we cannot. Please do not let your anger consume you, your people need you.
With all of my heart,
Tree Girl
Sad but satisfied, she folded the paper and tucked it under the horse’s bridle before securing it with a bright ribbon. She prayed Snowflake would find her way back and the note would be discovered.
Swearing and sore, she managed to pull herself back up on the horse and continued her journey. The day was cold and her fingers grew more with each passing mile. The warmth of the animal beneath her was some comfort and she dug her hands in the mane after pulling up her cowl.
She reached the woods just as the sun was setting. The beauty of them put tears in her eyes that she could not stop. Allowing the horse to slow to a walk, she took in as much of the forest as she could in the fading light.
Cold, sharp pain pierced her chest as she realized this was last time she would be in her beloved forest. She had seen Lian for the last time, Cidra and Adora as well. Even though the nameless girl seemed to think things might end well, she knew they would not. Lian had suffered so from one single drop of juice. If she had to eat the fruit, she knew she would die.
Determined not to lose her courage, she thought of all the things she loved best. Memories of her father made her smile and she wondered if she really would see him again soon. She thought of her time in the hut with the ‘dwarves’, remembered her surprise when she discovered they were not really little men at all. She left the painful memories of Lian for last. For just a moment, she had really thought she could be queen and save her people and go on to have a life with her fiery king.
“Foolish girl,” she muttered to herself. All she had managed to do was prolong the inevitable. Sula wanted her dead. Seven years would not change that.
When her childhood castle finally came into view, she pulled Snowflake to a stop and slid down, careful not to let her legs drop her. Reaching into her pack, she pulled out the last withered carrot and smiled as it disappeared with one crunch.
“Thank you for your help, my friend,” she whispered, rubbing h
er cheek against the animals. Snowflake whinnied again and Katiyana shushed her. “Now you go back home, okay? You are a smart girl, I know you can find it. Go on.”
The horse stood still despite her shooing and finally she just turned her back and walked away. She took care to stay away from the village and any buildings and snuck up to the castle on the far side that was surrounded by apple trees.
No one disturbed her though she could hear guards making rounds and talking quietly amongst themselves. Grateful she had worn dark clothes, she began climbing the wall to the balcony far overhead.
As she reached her goal, she peeked between the stone railings and spied a faint light. She tried to remember which room it was and could not.
Before she could lose all courage, she swung herself up and over, landing lightly. Taking a deep breath, she eased the door open and stepped into her childhood home.
Her blood ran cold as she saw she had stepped into a sitting room, complete with Sula perched on an ornate chair in the center. The blaze in the fireplace behind her crackled menacingly.
“Katiyana, what a surprise,” her step mother said flatly. “I thought you had died giving birth to your illegitimate child.”
Katiyana did not rise to her baiting. “What do you want from me, Sula?” she asked, her own voice just as flat.
“Your death. I thought you knew that so many years ago. Pity you could not obey me even back then.”
“I have not harmed you, I have taken nothing from you—”
“No,” Sula hissed. “Your father did. And I promised him, as he was dying, that I would have your life as well as his.”
“And then you will be satisfied?” Katiyana asked wearily, letting herself slouch to an ugly velvet settee.
Sula turned primly to her, her frothy pastel gown crinkly obnoxiously. She had the same razored hair as before and the years had been surprisingly kind to her. But no amount of beauty or perfection could offset her cold, hard stare and the evil emanating from her. Katiyana wondered how she had missed it as a child.
