by Jordi Burton
“During his time as an apprentice with the Royal Guard, William shielded Princess Anastasia from harm. He was the first to go after Lord Joseph when he was kidnapped by the Shadows, and he was part of the rescue team that found the royal family when they were taken captive by the coward, Adrian.”
Anastasia shivered, remembering the way her family had looked when Valdon and William brought them back from the Shadow universe. Her mother still hadn’t recovered from the months of torture, which explained why she was presiding over the trial instead of Anarose. Anger boiled through her. She wanted to tear Adrian apart for what he’d done to them. And yet, instead of going after him, instead of focusing on finding him and stopping the Shadows’ reanimation, they were squabbling about deserters.
How did that make any sense?
“William Dinas and Christopher Woodsman are exceptional warriors that simply made a mistake. But their mistake saved the lives of the royal family, and that of countless warriors, Nadmilise and others, alike. All I ask is that you see these men not for this one indiscretion, but for who they are.”
Representative Sirren frowned. “And just who are they, then?”
“Two men who disobeyed orders for the sake of saving millions of people.”
“Don’t make this sound so dramatic, Kalgess.” Representative Zand chortled. “These two broke the law, and as a result, must face punishment for their actions.”
Anastasia worked to keep from frowning. She didn’t like the edge to Representative Zand’s voice.
“We do not know what may have happened had they not disobeyed orders,” he continued. “For all we know, they could have saved more lives. And you, yourself, mentioned that this is not the first time William Dinas has disobeyed orders. He was still an apprentice, and on probation, when he broke the law for the second time.”
Silence grew through the room. Anastasia covertly watched William out of the corner of her eye. He remained stoic, unmoving, his eyes trained on the ground. Everything about his posture screamed passivity, but Anastasia could see the defiance in his eyes. If he had to, he’d do the same thing over again, dash the consequences. Together, they’d faced a kraken, a madwoman, threats from the Fairy Queen, and countless Shadow attacks. They had made it through. Anastasia had no doubt they would make it through this, too.
Representative Sophine broke the silence. “Do you have any further remarks, Mistress Follant?”
The Head Warrior Master of Jacqueline pursed her lips. “We can play a game of what-ifs, if it would please you. But the bottom line is that William Dinas and Christopher Woodsman are exceptional warriors. Yes, they broke the law. But their punishment for their actions should be one of lenience.”
Was that it? Anastasia tightened her grip on the throne. Was that all Mistress Follant could say on their behalf? How was that supposed to get them out of this mess?
And yet… Just one hole in her carefully concocted story could lead them to the alternate universe, to her grandmother, to the premonitions, to the Shadows’ plans of bringing all the universes together. And those were secrets better kept from the people. But was it worth keeping the secret if it meant ruining William’s and Chris’s lives? Could she live with that on her conscience?
William shifted in her peripheral vision. Glancing over at him, she found he was staring at her. Warmth flooded her body as she stared into his familiar hazel eyes. As though he knew her thoughts, he gave her an imperceptible nod. Her heart broke.
Representative Sirren got to his feet. “The votes shall be cast. Representative, if you please.”
Anastasia hardly dared to breathe. The Representative of the city Menen got to her feet. Looking out across the room, she nodded once. “Guilty.”
The other Representatives fired off their guiltys and not guiltys until, at last, Representative Zand got to his feet. “As a warrior, I understand the struggle to keep the balance between duty and love. But in times of war, they must be one in the same. Guilty.”
Anastasia’s heart sank. The “Guilty” had the majority. Even if she voted in their favor, they would still be held guilty. Gods and Angels, how had this happened?
“Your Highness, if you please,” Representative Sirren interjected. She looked at him, confused. He wasn’t supposed to speak after his vote had been cast. “We ask that you punish these men to the fullest extent, Your Highness. If you cannot depend on a Nadmilise to defend their home against the Shadows, our greatest foes, then you can count on them for naught. This is the highest affront to the Crown, and to the realm.”
Mistress Follant frowned. “Does it matter not that William was the one to rescue the royal family?”
“Yes, how did a boy of seventeen manage to find the royal family and rescue them from a Shadow compound? Isn’t it peculiar that Dinas was also one of the warriors to rescue the Lord Joseph from a similar compound six months prior, even though, as an apprentice, he was not to be on active duty?”
“We are not speaking of conspiracies, Representative.”
“I should hope not, Kalgess.” Representative Sirren turned to face Anastasia. “Your Highness, we request to try William Dinas separately from Christopher Woodsman.”
Keeping her expression blank, Anastasia looked over the Representatives. William had already been found guilty of desertion. At the least it meant imprisonment. But she knew the Representatives wanted to try them to the fullest extent. What else could they possibly be charging him with? What else could they want to punish him for?
“What do you charge him with?”
Representative Sirren’s expression grew grave. “Conspiracy to commit treason.”
Gasps erupted through the room. Icy dread dripped down Anastasia’s spine. Conspiracy meant they could gray William out, and throw him in prison.
She shook her head. “With what proof?”
But too late she realized the Representatives had already planned this. She saw the look of resentment flash through their eyes as they glanced up at her. She wasn’t there to cast a vote, but to make a point to her family. She wasn’t in charge of this any more than William was. They’d made her a figurehead and had run off with their own plot from the beginning. Could she really step in and stop it now? She shot Valdon a panicked look, finding that he, too, understood what had happened.
Valdon held her off with a barely perceptible shake of his head. But how could she remain calm? William could face the death penalty.
No one gave her an answer.
The Representative of Menen got to her feet. “Guilty.”
In a line, the Representatives cast their votes. Only Representatives Sophine and Zand cast not guilty. Anastasia’s throat constricted. Gripping the throne, she struggled to hear past the intense ringing in her ears.
“Your Highness?” Representative Sirren prompted.
With only two not guilty votes, Anastasia knew what the law commanded. But she couldn’t bring herself to say the words.
William met her eyes. She wished for all the world she could have seen this coming.
“Christopher Jay Woodsman,” she heard herself say as though from far away. “The Representatives of the realm of Jacqueline, and the Crown, find you guilty of desertion. As punishment for your crime, you will be fined one-thousand fisas, and are sentenced to prison.”
Her throat burned as she turned to William.
“William James Dinas. The Representatives of the realm of Jacqueline find you guilty of desertion and conspiracy to commit treason. As punishment for your crimes, you are sentenced to prison, and are hereby stripped of your position as a Warrior Apprentice.” She swallowed bile. “You will both serve out your sentences as long as the Shadows remain encased in stone.”
Ignoring the murmurs of the people, Anastasia got to her feet and fled the room. Hot tears burned behind her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She just sentenced William and Chris to prison. She took away William’s chance of ever becoming a warrior. Just like that. And she could tell herself all she wanted
that her hands had been tied, that there was nothing else she could’ve done. But that didn’t change the fact that her words had been the ones to sentence them.
Gods and Angels, what had she done?
CHAPTER TWO
A nastasia sat at her mother’s desk in the Queen’s study. She refused to think of it as her desk, even though she had taken it over for the last two months. Parchments and scrolls covered the surface, begging her attention, but she simply stared at the far wall. A portrait of her grandparents sat in a gilded frame. They were young, a few years older than Anastasia, and illuminated with happiness.
Studying her grandmother’s face, Anastasia frowned. Analie had already given birth to Anastasia’s aunt Calla by then, and hidden the baby away with the mysterious father. This young Analie, even with her premonitions, didn’t see the terror that would be brought into that baby’s life, and the repercussions it would have for them all.
Leaning back in her chair, she brushed her fingers over her moonstone pendant. She was seventeen-years-old, just six months past her coming of age, and already she ruled over her realm, and presided over the High Council. But the only thing that seemed to matter was William’s face as she declared him guilty. His expression, and the small gasp that had left Chris’s lips, were burned into her senses. How could she move past this? For she would have to, in order to keep the realms afloat in the aftermath of the Shadows’ Chaos.
Settling back in her seat, she closed her eyes and centered herself. Taking deep, even breaths, she focused on William’s face, in the familiar turn of his mouth, and the deep color of his eyes.
The uneasy, gut-wrenching feeling of a premonition flooded through her. She gasped, as pain roiled through her stomach, clutching the edge of the desk. Holding onto the image of William’s face, she pushed outward with her mind, and let the premonition overwhelm her:
I stand in the middle of a circle drawn in the dirt. Six identical copies of myself stand around me on the line of the circle. They’re dressed strangely, in anciently-fashioned clothing, but that isn’t even the strangest thing about them. No, they’re all wearing my pendant, but the stones are different colors.
Blinding light surges around us. When I open my eyes, there are two rooms reflected as though on opposite sides of a window. Three of my doppelgangers stand in the Sehirian throne room on the left, while the other three stand in an ancient throne room, complete with a checkered floor and pale red walls. I’m in the center of it all, as though I am the window.
As one, the doppelgangers grab their pendants and smash them. The beautiful stones shatter, sending flecks of colored gemstone skittering across the floor.
Magic explodes forth, engulfing us. As it dissipates, the doppelgangers freeze like statues. Stone rises up their bodies, like that of the Shadow statues. They stare straight ahead, even as the blue-eyed sorcerer from my previous visions swoops in and gathers all the shards of gemstone.
I break free of my window and charge him, managing to take the shards back from him. Whirling, I drop them into a goblet of blood and shout words in a strange language. Light surges, once again, and the Sehirian throne room disappears, leaving us all in the ancient throne room. But when I turn, my doppelgangers are gone. It’s just me, holding the six repaired pendants. But I’m unafraid by the sudden loneliness. Somehow, it gives me hope.
Anastasia jolted awake, gasping for breath. The deep colors of her premonition saturated her vision; the strange detachment of emotion clung to her.
This premonition left her even more confused than her previous ones. Why were there doppelgangers of her? And why all the different pendants? Did it have something to do with her premonitions? She had been trying to see a future containing William, and instead she’d been brought to some strange duality. Did that mean there was something wrong with her visions? And why had everyone turned to stone?
A knock sounded at the door. Anastasia didn’t bother to look up as someone entered; anyone that came to the Queen’s study just dropped some papers on the desk and left.
“Anastasia?”
The familiar female voice set Anastasia on edge, making the vestiges of her premonition fade. She turned, glaring at the young woman in the doorway. She’d grown even rounder in the month since Anastasia had last seen her, her pregnant belly swelling beneath her loose-fitting Viirean gown. Her curtain of dark hair, usually loosely strung with tiny bells, was twisted back in the Viirean fashion. She offered a timid smile.
Anastasia turned away from her, pretending to be engrossed in the papers on her desk. “What do you want, Ostana?”
“I wanted to see how you were.” When Anastasia didn’t respond she continued, “Vlad and I are staying with Mohan until things die down with our families. I can’t quite believe my dad tried to arrest him for desertion—”
“King Tamo did arrest Mohan,” Anastasia icily intoned. “You did us a great favor by ending Anistes Droun, Ostana, and if I haven’t already, I thank you for it.”
“You’re welcome—”
“But we are not friends. Your actions caused the death of my husband, your brother. You sided with a man who kidnapped and tortured my family.”
“I am so sorry, Anastasia. You can never know the remorse I feel. I can’t have you hate me.”
“I don’t hate you; I just don’t trust you.”
Turning her back on the young werewolf woman, Anastasia ended the conversation. Ostana hesitated a moment, clearly wanting to say something else, before she slowly exited the room. When the door closed behind her, Anastasia let out a breath, slumping in her chair. It had been easy to hate Ostana before, back when she’d been a spy for Adrian, and had been the one to poison Anastasia and cause her premonitions to temporarily disappear. But now she was pregnant with Vlad’s child, and had been instrumental in stopping the Shadows.
Did that really make up for what she’d done? Aatu was dead. He was never coming back. And his sister was the reason. And yet Anastasia kept Ostana’s secret. She still hadn’t told anyone that Ostana was the one who had let the werewolves into Sehir all those months ago. And why not? Because Ostana was pregnant?
Gods and Angels, she just wanted an easy answer for once.
Tiredly running a hand over her face, she looked down at the papers on her desk. The register of Nadmilise refugees sat on top, organized based on city of origin. But it was already two hours old, and therefore void. Everything moved so quickly, she didn’t know how to get a grasp on it.
Beside it were the plans for construction projects through Sehir, and a rough map of the Shadows’ positions throughout the realms. Lists of resources and requests for supplies were stacked a few inches high. Realm Guard deployment scrolls sat in a neat pile, alongside information about suspected deserters, criminals, and traitors. Somewhere in there was a blueprint for some gallows, the idea of which made Anastasia shudder.
Signing her name at the bottom of a grant for the Realm Guard, she sealed it with her mother’s violet wax. She hesitated for the briefest of moments before stamping it with the royal seal.
“Lili?” she called
A moment later, her handmaiden stepped through the door, carrying a pile of scrolls and parchments. Just two years older than Anastasia, Lili looked as bewildered as Anastasia felt. But she was strong. She’d soldier on.
“Please make sure this gets to the Realm Guard outpost in the Wetland Line.”
Lili curtsied. “Yes, my Princess.”
When Lili hesitated, Anastasia frowned. “What is it?”
“You asked me to tell you if there was any change in your mother’s condition.”
Alarm shot through Anastasia. “Is she all right? What’s happened?”
“She’s fine, my Princess. But—well, she’s fallen unconscious again. Mistress Miglune is concerned. She insists you take the signet.”
Anastasia narrowed her eyes. “She insists, does she?”
Lili didn’t respond. Anastasia slammed her hand on the desk. She was the Crown Princes
s, yet everyone made demands of her, made decisions without her, just as the Representatives had done that morning with William’s sentence. Just as the High Council glossed over the fact that Tamo had mutinied and left the realms to die, imprisoning his own son, and declaring Mohan a traitor.
But none of that was the cause of her mother’s illness. No, months held prisoner with the Shadows, tortured by Adrian, had done that. And Anastasia had been too focused on finding her grandmother, on saving the realms, to go and find her family.
She could never repay William and Valdon for rescuing them.
“I’ll go and see her,” she murmured, resigned.
Lili hesitated again. But this time, she took Anastasia’s hand and squeezed. “She will be fine, my Princess. And so will William. He’s strong.”
“Thank you.”
Curtsying again, Lili left. Anastasia pushed back from the desk and paced around the room. Feeling restless, she marched through the antechamber—where Lili had a small desk—and into the hall. Her guards, Gath and Mortam, immediately took up positions on either side of her, their bronze weapons glinting in the torchlight as they moved.
Collecting her traveling cloak in the foyer, she made her way outside. The warm summer sun conflicted with her stormy insides. All around her, people were rebuilding their homes, their lives, while hers just felt like an unsalvageable wreck.
Mortam and Gath didn’t ask where they were headed, and she didn’t offer. They skirted the marketplace and residential areas, heading eastward. After a short trek, they came upon a pale green light. Anastasia let out a slow breath, looking up at the Earth Lake of Sehir. An emerald green waterfall cascaded over thick gray rocks, the top obscured by a canopy of vines and flowers. Dragonflies leisurely flitted about, touching down on the field of wildflowers circling the embankment of the shimmering waters. A large oak tree stood off to the right, vibrant with bright green leaves, thick sage vines, and soft pink summer runas flowers.
Anastasia reached out a hand. The nearest branch of the tree swung out to meet her, lifting her out over the water. Pulling herself up, she straddled the branch, settling back against the earthy trunk.
