by Janeal Falor
“Never met someone from Faner before. Tell me, what’s your country like?”
Her expression goes blank, not revealing anything to him. “Different.”
He takes a piece of fruit from the plate she had set on the table in front of her. “Different how?”
“This has gone far enough, Daros.” Jaku takes several steps toward him, only to stop when Daros lifts a hand to stop him. Jaku takes another step when Daros speaks.
“You’ll find I can do whatever I want.” He pops the fruit into his mouth.
A chill creeps over me.
He continues. “I have all the power here since I know how to get rid of Androlla. So if I want to come and talk with everyone, I can.”
“That’s all you want to do? Talk?” There has to be more.
“Is that so wrong?”
I take a closer look at his fraying clothes and sunken cheeks. Though I know he’s still powerful and not to be trusted, I don’t fear him. He’s a shadow of who he used to be. Why? He’s practically a free man. What has forced him to go through such a transformation from when he was my boss? Not worth worrying over.
Everyone is silent.
Jaku looks at me, and I shrug. We could keep working on spells since he knows about them anyway, but part of me is reluctant to do that.
Jem discreetly puts down the mortar and pestle and stands in front of them while Daros is looking at Puneah.
“What does this creature do anyway?” he asks.
Inkga shifts to uncover a corner of the table, exposing the basil. There’s a tension in the air. A feeling that something is going to break any moment. But it doesn’t.
“She bites people who attack me or those I care about,” I say.
Puneah continues to ignore him, choosing instead to purr under my hand.
Daros bursts out laughing. “Classic. It’s the perfect animal for you, girl.”
Jaku looks like he wants to lop off Daros’s tongue, but he doesn’t say anything.
“And you will address the people around me with courtesy and respect.” I won’t budge from this. If I gave him a little, he’d take me for everything he could.
He glances around the room as if noticing the tension for the first time. He nods and takes another piece of fruit from Venda’s plate. She picks up the plate and hands it to him. “Put some meat on those bones.”
Though she’s thinner than is fashionable in Valcora, and I’ve wondered if that’s how all people from Faner are, she must see what I see. Daros is a hollow man, living only because of the information he can give me.
It’s quiet as he finishes off the food and hands it back to Venda. “There’s a good person, then. You can put that away.”
I’ve never seen him like this before. It’s almost as if he wants to… make friends? That can’t be. If he did, he wouldn’t choose this group to try it with. What is he playing at?
“So, Queen Ryn,” he says, the words sounding sarcastic from him, “how’s your magic coming along?”
I glance at his guards, who have spread themselves out at the walls of the room. They remain stoic, like they hear this type of thing every day. For all I know, maybe they do.
“How are your guards working out, Daros?” I ask.
“What?” He looks around the room. “Oh, them? They’re fine. Not chatty people, but there, nevertheless.”
What happened to his ruthlessness? His cunning? Unless he’s hiding it well—and I mean, really well—there’s something odd going on here.
“What’s happened to you?” I ask.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His gaze evades mine.
“Why have you lost so much weight? Why are your clothes tattered? The Daros I knew would never have worn something so unfashionable. What’s changed?” I don’t expect him to answer.
He sniffs. “Someone had the gall to run away from me. Took away my business when those who hired me realized the Shadow Wraith no longer worked for me. No one cared about my other people, and as I lost jobs, they all abandoned me.” He sneers, his haggard skin crinkling. “No one wanted my skills. Said they weren’t as good as yours—like they would know. Money goes quicker than I thought, without an income.”
I was the one funding him the years I was the Shadow Wraith? If I knew that, I might have had the oomph to run away sooner. Of course, if I’d left sooner, maybe Daros’s skills would have stayed sharper.
It’s still so strange that he let himself go instead of working harder to become the man he once was. Time and age can change a person, I suppose.
“This is all your fault, you know,” he says. “You should have never run away, and if you still chose to, you should have let me tell you how to be a queen. Things would be so much different if you had.”
Things would be worse, but I don’t want to argue with him. It does no good. “What is it you want, Daros?” I ask.
“To figure out if you’re getting this magic down. We all know you don’t have much time left.” There’s a hint of the old Daros I knew.
“What does he mean, Ryn?” Inkga asks.
I stare Daros down, waiting for something else to come out of his mouth. He grins. He’s missing a tooth. Not in front, where it’s obvious, but a little to the side.
I’m about to ask him about it, when Monkia comes in the room, gaze searching until it lands on Inkga.
“There you are, darling girl. I know you’re serving the Queen, but I heard you wanted to talk with m—” She stops as soon as she lays eyes on Daros. Her face goes pale. “What’s he doing here?”
Unlike her, his expression seems to gain life. He stands and walks over to her, to whisper something I can’t hear. Next to me, Jem shifts from foot to foot. I exchange glances with Jaku. Something really strange is going on. Do Daros and Monkia know each other?
Though I still can’t hear what they’re saying, the discussion becomes heated, Monkia’s face turning red.
“You can’t,” she shouts.
“I’ll do whatever I like.” He whips out his dagger and drags Monkia into a corner. She’s facing us, and he has his back to the walls while his dagger is at her throat.
My heart stops. Is he going to hurt her? Kill her? If he does, it’ll be on me, for not taking care of him in the first place.
The guards step closer, but Daros pushes the blade harder against her, stopping them in place.
“Tell them,” he yells.
“Daros, put the dagger away so we can talk about this,” I say in my calmest voice, though I want to scream at him.
“No. She’s going to tell you what I want you to hear because no one can hurt me anymore. I’ve got the power here.”
Has he gone mad?
“Please. We can talk about this,” Jaku says. “You do have the power, and we respect that, but you don’t have to bring Monkia into this.”
“Of course, I do. She’s the one who betrayed you. She’s the one who should be going to prison.”
“My mother wouldn’t betray anyone.” Inkga’s face is scrunched as if in pain.
“She would,” Daros says. “She would do whatever I told her to.”
“You manipulated me.” Monkia sounds calmer than most would under the circumstances.
He jams the blade harder against her throat, making a line of blood appear. “No. You were a part of this all along, and I’m sick of hiding it. I want everyone to know what you’ve done.”
She thins her lips. Daros presses the dagger in deeper.
“No,” Inkga calls out.
Monkia whimpers. Is this to be the end of her? If only I could throw one of my daggers.
As if my dream comes to life, a dagger flies through the air and lands in his eye. He drops the blade and falls to the ground.
Jem stands firm, hand still in suspended in midair from where she flung the dagger that just killed Daros.
Chapter 30
I'm unable to process what just happened. Is Daros really dead? After all this time of him tormenting me
and playing games with my mind, am I finally free of him? And am I lost to Androlla, never to be free of her clutches? I don’t know whether to be elated or mournful. Mostly, I’m confused. “Did you throw a dagger at Daros?” I ask Jem.
She puts lowers her arm, standing tall. “I did.”
“Well done.” It’s all I can think of.
“I’m sorry, I know you needed him, but I didn’t want him to take another life.” Jem sounds panicked, as if finally realizing what she did.
“We’ll figure this out.” Though I don’t know how. Daros may have been malicious and heartless, but Androlla is downright evil. She’s going to take me over and rule the country with her iron fist.
I’m shaking. Whether it’s from shock or fear, I don’t know.
No one moves. They’re either staring at Daros’s still form or at Jem. I have to take control of this situation, even though I’m falling apart on the inside. “Inkga, please get someone to clean up this mess. Jaku, secure the area. Monkia, are you all right?” I want to ask her what Daros was talking about, but a few things need to happen first, to make certain everyone is all right.
Inkga and Jaku spur into action. Monkia dabs at the line of blood on her neck before nodding.
“Venda,” I say, “would you please look over Monkia? Jem, sit down before you fall.”
As the rest of them move, I twist my fingers in Puneah’s fur and try to ignore the body in the room. What am I going to do? I’ll never defeat the First Queen now. She’s mocking me, singing a song of victory inside me, knowing she won’t be stuck there long.
I make Monkia stay as they take away the body. The others choose to stay as well.
I still can’t believe he’s gone. Daros, my most hated master, is dead. Dead dead. As in not coming back to haunt me—not ever.
Jem moved across the room from the rest of us a while ago, and now she keeps shifting from standing straight and tall, like she’s glad for what she did, and twitching nervously from foot to foot, which is easy to tell even with her dress on.
Inkga is speaking with her mother in a corner. They’ve gone from hugging to crying to wiping away tears and back again. Nash, Jaku, and Puneah are close by my side while Venda stays on the couch.
“I think it’s time we discuss what happened,” I say. I want to get over the shock and understand.
Everyone faces me. Jem goes back to holding her head high, as if she thinks I’ll be angry, despite my telling her she did good. Am I mad? It’s difficult to tell. The fallout with Androlla will happen because of her actions, but I’ll deal with that after I’ve taken care of my friends. “Jem, why did you kill him when important information was about to be revealed?” I didn't mean to snap, but it’s too late to take it back.
Her bottom lip quivers until she purses her lips. “I’m sorry. I thought he was going to kill Monkia. I couldn’t let another person I know die because of his actions, especially not in front of me.”
“How do I know you weren’t trying to silence him?” I’m pretty certain she wasn’t, but I have to ask.
She straightens. “I would never trust what that scum would reveal about another person, after all he’s done. He knows too much.”
I know the feeling. It’s not something I ever wanted to do. The man was ruthless and cunning, and would do anything to further his agenda. “You did what you needed to. None of us were sure if he was going to kill Monkia. It certainly looked like he was, so you did the right thing.”
Her gaze jumps around the room. “But you needed him alive.”
“Others are more important than my needs. You did the right thing.” Even if the good of the whole country might suffer, I can’t imagine watching Daros kill Monkia, though it looked like that's exactly where he was headed. “Besides, it was a very good shot.”
She finally looks at me, a timid smile forming. “It was?”
“Very, very good.”
She dips her head. “Thank you.”
I turn my attention to Monkia. “It’s time you tell us what was happening.”
She goes pale. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Daros alluded to your knowing things that he thought we should know. As your queen, I would like to know what those things are.”
“He was crazy. The man didn’t know what he was raving on about.” She won’t look at me.
I soften my voice, but take on a warning tone. “Monkia, I know there was something going on. You must tell me, and you must tell me now.”
She breaks down sobbing. Inkga puts a hand on her back. “Mom?”
“I refuse to tell you while my daughter is present,” Monkia says between sobs.
Inkga jumps back like she’s been burned. “I’m not leaving. I will hear what you have to say.”
“I can’t tell you. I can’t.”
What do I do? Do I force Inkga to go? She has a right to be here, a right to hear this, but if Monkia won’t speak in front of her, what do I do?
“You have to, Mom. I’m going to find out, one way or another. I’d rather hear it from you.”
“You’ll hate me.”
Inkga sighs. “Maybe, for a while, but you’re my mother. I’ll always love you, even if I’m upset with you.”
Monkia sniffs. “All right. I’ll say what happened.”
Guess that settles that problem. I can’t think of what she’s going to say, but I can’t imagine it’s going to be good. Not if it has to do with Daros.
“It started many, many years ago.” She takes a shuddering breath. “Inkga, at least go sit on the couch. I can’t do this with you standing next to me.”
Inkga hesitates but makes it over to the couch next to Venda.
Monkia looks straight at me, as if she’s ignoring everyone else in the room. “You have to understand, Your Majesty, I was young and stupid. I didn’t know what I was doing. I was already married by this time, but it was a marriage arranged by my parents, to make my life better. They wanted me to live here, at the palace, where there was food to eat, so they found a young man working in the stables, who agreed to marry me.”
I didn’t know Monkia and Inkga’s father had an arranged marriage, but I suppose since they don’t live together and seem happy with the arrangement, I shouldn’t be surprised.
Monkia goes on. “While I was out one day, I met a charming young man. He swept me off my feet. I returned to the palace, thinking I would never see him again. Except next time I went out, he was there. He courted me over the course of several months.”
I don’t see this ending well.
“After a time, he convinced me that he loved me, and soon after, I got with child,” she says.
Inkga gasps, and Venda puts an arm around her.
Monkia continues as if she didn’t hear anything. “I didn’t know what to do. I was torn between my duty to my husband and my love for a man who I thought loved me back. I didn’t see the man for some time. It was like he disappeared. After I determined for certain I was pregnant, I resolved to find him. I knew it was his child, and I wanted us to run away together. He was rich enough that he could afford to feed and take care of both me and the baby.
“It took some time to find him. He was never at any of the usual places we met, but I eventually tracked him down. He was not who I thought he was.” Her voice cracks. “He said he didn’t care about me, but he’d take the child. Only, while I was there, I saw another little girl. She was quiet and sad, and after his treatment of me, I knew he must not be kind to this girl. That was when I decided to keep the baby as if it were mine and my husband’s.
“The man was Daros, and he said if he couldn’t have the child, then he would tell everyone what I had done—that I had broken my vows—and he would take me away from my life at the palace I had grown to love unless I did what he said. I promised, as long as he would have nothing to do with my child.”
Inkga is sobbing, but I don’t dare drag my gaze away from Monkia, afraid it will break her concentration and she’ll
never finish the story that should have been told years ago.
“As the years went by, Daros didn’t ask much of me—just a few small favors that ended up helping me get higher up in the palace until I reached the position of Head of Staff. After that, he had me doing all sorts of dirty work for him. Changing my vote on the council. Helping his people in and out of the palace. Things like that. He’s used me my entire life, and I hate him.”
“You’re the one who snuck him into the palace disguised as a healer,” I say.
She looks down. “I did.”
I want to ask why she didn’t come forward then, since her word would be better than Daros’s at that point, but I know better. He had that type of control over people. He knew their weaknesses and how to exploit them. And he could send forth someone else in his place with damning information about her. Someone who we considered trustworthy.
It doesn’t excuse her actions, though.
I clench my jaw so I don’t end up saying something I’ll regret. Because of her poor choices, she risked many lives and was the reason others were lost. She’s the one who brought him here, causing Wilric’s death. She might not have stabbed him, but she brought Daros. Instead of telling someone, anyone, about her indiscretion, she chose an eviler path.
Is she the person who told him how I could get to Queen Deedra’s room so I could kill her? It wouldn’t surprise me. The only thing that does surprise me is that it’s taken so many years for her deception to come to light.
“Does Dad know?” Inkga asks. Tears stream down her face, but her sobbing has subsided.
“He doesn’t know the details, but he knows I betrayed him. It’s why we never fought harder to live together or cared that we couldn’t be together. But he was a good father for you. Never question that.”
Inkga jumps to her feet. “My father was a brutal man who you should have never even looked at.” She runs out of the room.
Monkia moves to go after her, but Jaku stops her. “I don’t think so. I believe the council will be having words with you.”
“They will,” I say. “You are stripped of your position as Head of Staff and are to remain on the palace grounds with guards, until your fate is decided by the council.”
