Tinderbox Under Winter Stars

by Emma Sterner-Radley

  The Queen smirked. “Well. That was rather rotten luck, tinderbox-maker. I have been down to inspect the royal stables. I sent Adaire back early, and, when I heard her shouts, I had the guards lock the gate.” She sniggered. “You know, your rescuers really should have come at a more convenient time. It all comes down to research and planning. Something I doubt your farm wench is capable of.”

  “I’m capable of planning ten different ways of cutting your air supply, goat-face,” Nessa snapped.

  The Queen bared her teeth. “Not only are you missing the point, you seem to have been infected with Elise’s rash temper. Such a shame. Now, who are all these people in what I assume are stolen uniforms?”

  Björn stepped forward but was pushed away by Ravna.

  “My name is Ravna Sten. I worked for the Viss Embassy as a contact for Joiners Square. Well, until they decided that they no longer needed to communicate or negotiate with the Viss or the Wayfarers, that is. You know, about the same time they chose to bribe the Sund-filled government and make them into puppets? Now I do whatever I can to oppose Joiners Square and those who cooperate with them.”

  The Queen raised her eyebrows. “Lovely speech. Thank you for filling me, in but I am well aware of all Joiners Square has done over on that barren block of ice you call a continent. Better get to the point before the guards and courtiers come out to see what the commotion is.”

  “Oh, I think you’ll find they’re busy with a rapidly spreading fire,” Anja said, crossing her arms over her chest. “It’s just us here, Your Royal Tapeworm.”

  The Queen stared up at the castle and the tendrils of smoke escaping all the windows on the floor where Elise had been kept.

  Please run up there to check on everything. Please be distracted.

  The Queen turned to Elise, her face contorted in a snarl. “What. Have. You. Done.”

  Elise tried to stand tall, not letting the death glare in those dark, regal eyes make her shrink. “I merely thought my room could do with a bigger fireplace. As the daughter of a royal architect, I should be allowed to make one or two improvements, surely?”

  “I will have you strung up by the ankles for a week for this,” Queen Marianna said, her gaze flitting back and forth between Elise and the windows.

  Adaire was only examining the rescuers. “Others will be extinguishing the fire, I am more interested in who these people are and to learn their plans.” She eyed Hunter, who stood closest to her. “Not just anyone can get their hands on those uniforms. Even if you could get a seamstress to make replicas, those specifically engraved white steel knives would be near impossible to recreate. Not to mention how you got free reign to move about the castle.”

  Anja pointed a finger in Adaire’s face. “Well, if your rude monarch had let Ravna finish, she would’ve known that we’re a group made up of Viss, rebelling Sundes, and these three Arclidians you’ve been terrorising. Oh, and me. Who represents the Wayfarers, I suppose.” She turned and spat at the Queen’s feet. “Although I mainly represent people who think you should stop hunting down innocent individuals, like my friend Elise, and spend that time ruling your nation properly, Your Majestic Pain in the Arse.”

  The Queen stepped forward, raising her hand as if to slap Anja, but she was distracted by Adaire speaking again. “I see. Consequently, I gather that you, Nessa, and the young man – Hunter, if I recall correctly from your time here – have arrived to free Elise. Fair enough. Why are the rest of you here? It appears your quarrel is with Joiners Square.”

  Ravna chuckled mirthlessly. “It is. We’ll use the testimony of this young woman to prove that Joiners Square is a corrupt, violent organisation. When she’s spoken out against them, others will dare to follow.”

  The Queen scoffed, making Ravna raise her voice. “Our plan will be helped by the fact that their best strategist and leader is here. Nordhall is below Grand Marshall Karlberg in rank, but in truth, he runs much of Joiners Square. With him still here, or on a ship back, it’ll be easier to begin to reveal and utilize the weaknesses in their organisation. Our goal is bigger than simply freeing this lady.” Ravna drew her blunderbuss and pointed it at the Queen before stating, “So, please step aside so we can leave, or we’ll take you hostage and force your guards to open the gates.”

  Björn placed his hand on the blunderbuss. “Kidnapping the Queen isn’t necessary. After all, she won’t be on the throne for long.”

  Everyone looked at him with confused expressions.

  “What?” Ravna hissed.

  Björn smiled at her. “Surely you’ve heard the rumours going around Viss circles? That the reign of the Arclidian Queen will end soon? I think the plan was that after the fall of Joiners Square, Storsund would team up with the other two continents and force the current queen to abdicate.” He paused to allow the Queen to growl and the others to gasp. “Then they’d place the natural replacement on the throne instead. Instead of bothering with violence and kidnapping, perhaps we should simply speed up that plan?”

  The Queen, Adaire, and the Royal Guards looked as if the ground was crumbling beneath them. Elise heard Nessa whisper, “Hunter, remember what Diinna said about a contender waiting in the wings?”

  The shouts inside the castle got louder, and the smoke now billowed out of even more windows. And yet, the attention in the courtyard was primarily on Björn’s words.

  His smile grew triumphant as he added, “Perhaps the next Queen of Arclid should like to claim the birthright which was taken from her around four hundred years ago? See, I know the history of your violent nation. I’ve read about the War of the Rose and the Thistle.”

  With a start Elise remembered that part of Arclidian history, too. Anyone who had been at court would know it in detail. The War of Thorns. Two houses, fighting for decades over who would rule. The Hargraves with their crest of a thorny rose bush and the Aldershires with theirs portraying a long-stemmed thistle bush. The Hargraves had won and a deal had been struck. The Aldershires would rule with them, but always as monarch’s aides or advisors. Never as spouses or equals. Kept in their place to humiliate them enough not to face the outside world, but in indispensable positions, to make them feel important and loyal.

  Odd how long that worked. Even odder that no one in our generation questioned the arrangement.

  Thinking about it, the Aldershires had been monarchs once, too. They’d be in line for the throne if all the Hargraves were ousted. Elise blinked rapidly. Arclid could have a new queen without battles and endless arguments over which Noble house would take up the crown. They’d all grumble and want their house on the throne, but in the end, no one had a better claim than the Aldershires.

  Elise gaped at Marianna, who stood with her hands balled into fists at her sides and her face turned to her queen’s aide, who, in turn, sighed and intently stared at the ground.

  Chapter 38

  Betrayal

  Marianna’s heart was thudding hard against her breastbone. “What plans to oust me? This is a ploy to distract and sow discontent, is it not? Adaire… answer me!”

  Adaire wouldn’t meet her gaze, could only stare at the ground between them. “My Qu… Marianna. This is not how I wanted you to find out. You must understand that this is for the best. For Arclid.”

  “For Arclid? What are you saying? And why are you saying it in front of these mud-dwellers?”

  “Excuse me! I keep as far away from mud as I can. Impossible to get out of velvet,” the pretty boy behind Elise said.

  Marianna remembered him. The man who had aided Elise and her farm wench in escaping Arclid that evening in Nightport. Had Adaire said his name was Hubert? He would be dealt with later. They would all be dealt with later. These Northmen, these traitors, and that damned fire. All a matter for later.

  Right now, right here, Marianna only cared about the actions of the woman she relied on most. The girl she had grown up with, knowing that Adaire, with her serious eyes and her soft tawny skin, would always be there. By her side on the throne,
by her side in the bed. And now, these people were saying that she was going to usurp her.

  And Adaire wasn’t denying it.

  “Answer me, woman! What do you mean by ‘for Arclid’?” Marianna heard her voice turn to a whine and hated it.

  Adaire shifted her jaw back and forth, as if chewing on the question. Her gaze was glued to the ground between them. “I was raised by parents who taught me the Aldershire role at court: to guide and assist the monarch but never step out of bounds. If you did, only beheading and disgrace awaited.” She sighed. “But behind closed doors, my parents whispered of past monarchs with thistles on their shields. I have lived my life knowing my place but also aware of the royal blood hiding in my veins.”

  She took a shaky breath and then raised her head, meeting Marianna’s eyes squarely. The bottom fell out of Marianna’s world and her stomach roiled. She had seen it before, that look of utter determination. There was no changing Adaire’s mind when that look came into those intelligent eyes.

  “I have loved you dearly, Marianna. I was raised to, and while we grew up, I found the task easy. Our different personalities work well together. Your passion with my patience, your drive with my care, your fire with my ice. We complimented each other, and I adored you. Although, at times, I also loathed you.”

  Something appeared stuck in Marianna’s throat, swallowing would not clear it.

  Why are there so many eyes on me? Stop staring!

  “Ha! You loathed me?” Marianna had aimed for a carefree, mocking tone, but it came out sounding false. Uncertain. Frightened.

  “Yes. I was by your side, watching you steer your nation, our nation, awry. Standing in the way of progress and stopping trade deals to control your subjects. To keep them ignorant, frightened, and beholden to you.”

  Marianna scoffed, but Adaire just continued. “Yet they still planned rebellions, because deep down, they knew that you did not want what was best for them. They saw you claim that taxes had to be raised for the infrastructure, only to spend all the coin on royal weddings, clothes, art, and feasts.” Adaire laughed a hollow laugh, looking to the smoke-filled sky. “And that ridiculous hunt for someone they were told was a traitor. Someone I knew to be a symbol of your vanity and need for validation. You spent night and day trying to find, and then win back, a mere lady-in-waiting,” Adaire spat out the last words.

  Marianna was about to interrupt, but Adaire held up a hand. “No. Let me finish. You chased after an old lover who, while she did not want you, was everything you say you want – high-tempered, passionate, and merry. Everything I am not. You knew that, and you rubbed my nose in it. You made me help you find her and woo her.”

  “Petty jealousy, really?” Marianna asked. “While that could be reason for you to refuse to bed me or to slap my face, I hardly think it is reason to take my throne.”

  Adaire looked her straight in the eye again. “Marianna… My Queen, you are not listening. This is not about Elise. The way you rule – for sport and for self-promotion – that is why I agreed to consider the Viss’ and West Islanders’ suggestion of bearing the crown.”

  Marianna hissed. Again, Adaire ignored her and spoke on. “They told me how they desired to increase trade with Arclid and how you had curtailed that, trading only enough to keep coin in your coffers but not enough to start real alliances. Not enough for our nation to need railways and steam-powered machines for agriculture. Or even more industrial cities. That is why, months ago, I agreed to take the throne.”

  Marianna put her full force into looking scornful and amused. “You and what army, heartling? I only see a handful of Viss and other Storsund outcasts here. No soldiers. Not a single West Islander. I have a whole army. A whole nation of subjects behind me. You do not have a single cannon.”

  “Exactly. I cannot, like other contenders for the throne, attempt to take it by force. However, I will not need to. As queen’s aide, I have heard what the masses shout and what the Nobles whisper. At court, I have subtly suggested myself as leader and gotten positive responses.”

  “What?”

  Adaire once more acted as if Marianna had not spoken. “The people want a fair ruler and the Noble families want a reliable contender with an indisputable claim to the throne. Arclid deserves care and respect. I may not be a perfect leader, but I can at least provide that. Unlike you, my cherished.”

  The ill feeling in Marianna’s stomach worsened. “I have heard enough. I have these miscreants to punish and a fire to put out. I have no more time for your backstabbing. Guard, seize her!”

  The Royal Guard, a senior man of stern aspect, bowed his head. “I fear I cannot. The queen’s aide is right. Everyone at court wants a change. I do not believe any of the guards have been sounded out on the idea of a dethroning, but as one of the highest ranks, I approve. I am sorry, I have served you for decades. Nevertheless, the key thing is that I serve at the pleasure of the queen. And I believe Adaire Aldershire to be the queen Arclid needs.”

  Marianna watched him stand to attention. Then, with gentle hands, he took a solid hold of her wrists. Her bowels turned to water. This was real. This was happening. How could this be happening? Everything had been fine just five minutes ago. Hadn’t it?

  The guard looked to Adaire. “Now what, my Queen?”

  Adaire winced. “Do not call me that yet. We must still deliberate with the troublesome Noble families and announce it to the people, hoping they will not rebel. Then there can be a coronation. To answer your question, find a room far away from the fire and confine her there. Double set of guards. Ones not too loyal to her.”

  The guard took a tighter hold on Marianna’s wrists. “That should not be hard. The Royal Guards’ living expenses and housing have been cut to a pittance over the last decade. They have been riotous for years.”

  Adaire nodded, looking down again. Marianna wanted to scream.

  Face me. Look at me and say that this is merely a jest. Or some elaborate plan your clever mind has concocted to best our enemies. My enemies. Look at me! I love you. Look at me and tell me you are not taking my crown.

  “What of Prince Macray?” the guard asked.

  Adaire cleared her throat. “Macray and his wife can go into exile or remain here if they give up their claim to the throne.”

  Her gaze rose slowly to meet Marianna’s. “Know this, no matter what happens, you are safe. I will not execute you, although I know that is what you would do. I shall keep you in the most luxurious of prisons and visit you frequently. And, if my plan to be queen somehow fails, I will go into exile. Or allow you to kill me if you prefer,” she said quietly.

  Marianna’s eyes burned with tears she would never let fall. Adaire reached out a hand and ran her thumb across her cheek. She had always claimed to “love those sharp cheekbones.” As that cold but gentle digit brushed along Marianna’s skin, the betraying tears fell, meeting the thumb and coating it.

  “I am sorry, my cherished,” Adaire whispered.

  “Not sorry enough,” Marianna growled. “But that will change. When the people spurn you and I get my hands on you, then you shall be achingly sorry. I will cut you open, drain you of blood, and drink it while the nation watches.”

  Marianna spat on her face, wanting to mar the calm, sad beauty of those features. The spittle ran down Adaire’s cheek just as more unwanted tears ran down her own.

  Shock was making Marianna shiver. Anyone else contesting her she could fight, but Adaire…

  It is like being maimed by your faithful lap dog.

  The truth hit her like a surge of cold water. It was all over. No one would choose her over the conscientious, caring, and logical Adaire. Marianna squeezed her jaw shut tight. She was born to rule. Genuine royalty. Arclid would be nothing without the drive and passion of the Hargraves. Without them and their hot, red blood fuelling it, this island was just a bland, little pale-green continent. Impotent and lacklustre.

  “Do you realise that without me, this nation will lose all its drama, power, an
d flare?” Marianna snarled.

  Adaire wiped her cheek and then reached out and wiped Marianna’s. “We will find out. Together. The same way we have done everything since we were children.” She turned to the guard. “Take her away before she breaks what is left of my heart.”

  As Marianna was dragged away, she heard that wretched farm wench ask Adaire if they could help each other. “If you can detain Nordhall for a while,” Nessa said, “giving us a head start to Storsund, we promise to mention you in the trials, complimenting you and pointing out that you support a new Storsund government. We’ll even draw attention to your assistance in beating Joiners Square by letting us go and stalling Nordhall.”

  The last thing Marianna heard before she was pulled into the castle with its shouts about the fire, was Adaire replying, “Sounds acceptable. I shall keep him here, leaving Joiners Square without information or their strongest player. In return, you plead my case to my future trade partners, and of course… take that wretched tinderbox-maker out of my sight.”

  Marianna bit her tongue. How different things could’ve been if she’d let Elise go. How different they could’ve been if she’d kept Adaire happy. She wouldn’t have fretted about the running of the country and the treatment of the subjects then. Right?

  Surely not. Why would anyone care about peasants and silly Nobles?

  The guard tugged on her arm. “Stop dragging your feet, Your Majes… I mean, Milady. The sooner we can get you in a room, the sooner we can put that fire out and then prepare to place a real queen on the throne.”

  Chapter 39

  Leaving It Behind

  Nessa felt light as air as she took long, purpose-filled strides out of the courtyard.

  I did it. I had help, but, in the end, I managed to actually get through with this without my fear buggering it up.

  She hurried her steps. They had to escape Highmere’s court quickly, making the gap between their departure and Nordhall’s as large as possible. The group arrived in Highmere proper and hired the first carriages they could find for their trip to Cawstone.