Before Beauty

by Brittany Fichter

  “That was amazing though,” Isa could only bring herself to whisper. “Garin, what are you?”

  “Just a simple servant, my dear.”

  “But–”

  “There is no one servant more important than another. My purpose is simply a bit…different than that of the others. But we don’t have time for this kind of talk. We need to be off, and it is getting late.”

  Before he was finished speaking, however, Isa was already heading back towards the street, thankful that Megane had escaped. He caught up with her easily, and in silence, they walked as quickly as they could back to Isa’s home.

  Instead using the front door, however, Isa went directly to the stables.

  “And where do you think you’re going?” Garin asked as Isa led her father’s horse from his stall.

  “I am going back. The princess is attacking tonight.”

  “And how do you know this?”

  Isa gave an impatient huff as she began to saddle the horse. They didn’t have time for this. “The Caregivers have arrived in town, more than I’ve ever seen before. I was told that they are planning to take the kingdom by force. They’re clearing the streets first, however, by offering to save those of us who want to escape.”

  “And you think that I will simply allow you waltz off into the arms of the enemy?”

  Isa stopped and looked straight at him.

  “We can help Ever.”

  “Absolutely not!” Garin fired back. “You are coming with me. We’re leaving this place, just as Everard instructed! If something happened to you, your blood would be on my head! Do you remember a word I said about what they will do to you?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” Isa shook her head and climbed up onto the horse. “He needs me.” As she spoke, thin blue flames licked the reigns, making the horse whinny loudly. “I am going back, Garin, and you are welcome to come with me if you so desire.”

  “And what makes you so sure you can help him after what happened last night?”

  “Last night, I didn’t understand. I couldn’t see that because the Fortress has chosen me, it will give me the strength that I need to bear the burden.” She hoped he wouldn’t see how her hands were trembling as she waited for his answer.

  Garin stood with his arms folded, watching her with an unreadable expression. Finally, a smile slowly spread across his face. “Very well.” He bowed his head in concession.

  “You mean you won’t stop me?”

  “I mean you are ready.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Willing

  “Please!” Ever’s shout echoed both up and down the tower as he slammed his fist on the stone wall of the tower passage. “Come back to me! I am doing all I know how!”

  Instead of answering, however, the Fortress stayed silent, and Ever felt his heart beat once, twice out of rhythm, just enough to bring him to his knees. As he knelt to try and catch his breath on the winding steps, he went over the night before for the thousandth time. What had gone wrong?

  If Garin had been there, he would have said that Ever needed to just trust the Fortress. But really, Ever wondered, what could possess him to trust the very force that had stolen the life from his body and leave him alone and cursed?

  He had hoped that Isa could be made ready by a speedy marriage. It had been the perfect plan, the answer to the riddle. The ring would focus her strength, he had assured himself countless times before. It would make up for whatever control she was still lacking. But when the time came, the ring had done no such thing, and at the moment when he could have tried to pick up the pieces, his straying senses had picked up the sound of damnation. Nevina’s battle horn had sounded.

  It had taken all of Ever’s willpower to harden his face as he exiled the girl he loved. Not that it would help in the end. His enemy was brutal and cruel, and he knew it was only a matter of time before she turned her rage on Isa when he was dead and gone. Nevina would hunt her down. Sending Garin with her was the only way he could think of to give her with any shred of hope.

  As they had prepared her to leave, the girl sobbing the entire time, a small voice in his head had whispered that he could heal her as a parting gift. But no, he had thought. That would have taken all of his remaining strength, and without his strength, he would die.

  You’ll die anyway, his conscience had prodded.

  If I’m dead, he’d snapped at the annoying voice in his head, who will be here to guard the kingdom one last time? And so he had sent her away to her doom.

  The look on her face had been heartbreaking, the same expression she’d worn as a small child when he had broken her the first time. Only this time, breaking her had felt like crushing a piece of himself. She hadn’t seen it, but tears had run down his face as he’d watched her coach race off into the evening light. And now, there was nothing left for him to do but beg and plead with the Fortress that had long since abandoned the prince it had once loved.

  “I don’t understand!” He shouted up at the tower’s peak above him. “Isa had a new strength!”

  But she didn’t stay, the voice of reason whispered in his head.

  “She brought healing!” he argued.

  But she didn’t heal everything.

  “What about me?” he pleaded desperately. “I was strong, and I have been willing to die. My whole life I have been willing to die! How many times have I gone into battle and risked my life?”

  You don’t seem ready to die now.

  No matter how much he begged, the Fortress itself remained cold and silent. There was no comforting presence, no gentle peace that he had once taken for granted. Beaten, he stood painfully and slowly climbed back up thte steps and into the tower. Leaning hard on the stone wall balcony, he leaned over to see Nevina’s army’s progress below.

  They would be at the gates within minutes. The halls were silent beneath him, as he’d given the servants instructions to hide as best as they could. Deep down, he knew that the hope he had given them was vain. He hadn’t told his loyal friends how their enemies would silence them forever, how the Tumenians would break their bodies and their spirits. Instead, it was easier to force a smile and tell Gigi that she and the others might make it if they stayed quiet for long enough. But at his core, he knew that even if he had retained his strength, he could not fight an entire army on his own. His men were still statues on the field.

  Anger boiled within him as he thought about how the Fortress was no longer even protecting those within its walls. He could feel the emptiness in the air. The presence that had once guided and guarded him seemed content now to watch from afar as they all burned.

  Ever drew his sword from his sheath, as he’d done so many times, but this time, he did so knowing it was pointless. He could see it now, how he had strayed, how he’d forgotten the straight path that he had run so confidently as a boy. It was too late to fix that, but perhaps, his broken heart hoped, at least he could leave this world with some honor. The Fortress wouldn’t strip him of that as well, would it?

  He stood with the sword at his side as the Chiens did the Tumenian’s dirty work for them. Smoke made the air putrid and thick as they began to set his beloved world ablaze. Ever imagined the intricate tapestries and exotic, crafted rugs going up in flames, the very ones he’d played upon as a child.

  Behind the Chiens followed the men Nevina had managed to lure into her rogue forces. Their footsteps echoed up the stone stairs as he turned to face the door. A minute later, soldiers burst through.

  They were far from Tumen’s finest, just common hired swords who happened to stumble into the wrong part of the Fortress. And yet, there were at least a dozen that had come up together. Upon seeing him, they froze.

  Ever knew that despite their princess’s assurances of his weakness, they must still be afraid of the Fortiers’ legendary blue fire. Some of them had probably seen it in battle with their own eyes. When he produced none, however, they began to hesitantly advance towards him.

  His sword was much heavier t
han it had ever been before, even when he had first received it as a boy Still, somehow, he was able to throw his weight into the first swing. Small traces of blue flashed as he met his attackers. They came at him cautiously at first, one at a time. As he fought more and more like a man, however, instead a the legendary warrior, the soldiers became more confident in their strikes.

  Sweat poured down Ever’s temples, and his fingers trembled as he willed them to keep their grip on the sword’s hilt. His bones jarred with each clash, and along with smoke, the stench of blood filled the air. Ever fought instinctively, without really knowing what he was doing, and as he moved, he wondered at the fact that none of them had managed to kill him yet. Even one of his newest soldiers would have gutted him by now.

  The world had begun to blur when a sultry voice interrupted his desperate attempt to focus. “Well, you’ve certainly held your own. I didn’t think you would last this long.”

  Nevina stood at the door of the tower, stepping daintily over her soldier’s bodies as she made her way towards Ever. It was only as he turned to face her that he realized the dozen men lay at his feet, the stench of death suddenly making the air noxious. A burning wave of dizziness set in, and Ever fell to his knees with a sickening crack on the hard stone floor. Gasping, he tried to raise himself off of all fours. He hadn’t succeeded though, by the time cool fingers moved gently through his hair before grabbing a fistful and yanking back so that he had to look up.

  Nevina’s captain walked through the door. As always, he said less than his mistress, but excitement burned brightly in his eyes. His dark cloak trailed over his men, but he didn’t even attempt to avoid their corpses as the princess had.

  Ever tried to ready himself for his death. They wouldn’t make it easy. The princess was too ambitious, and her father had trained her well in the ways of torture. Her victory wouldn’t be as rewarding if she didn’t make him suffer first. The keen enthusiasm in her eyes made that clear.

  Despite Ever’s weariness, the small smile on the captain’s stone face sent a chill through him. Would they use fire? His own hearth was still lit, the poker resting temptingly beside it. The hawks were also an option, as the balcony outside would provide ample space to watch the princess’s beloved pets tear him to pieces. He also knew from the battlefield that she was particularly fond of eyes. Then, of course, there was Nevina’s wicked knife, the crooked one that never left her side. But nothing he imagined prepared him for the words that came from the captain’s mouth.

  “The girl has arrived. She will be up here in just a moment.”

  Ever panicked. He should have known she would try something like this. Isa was hot-tempered and stubborn. Where, he wondered, was Garin? Of all the people to get her out of the kingdom, it should have been the steward. What had possessed him to allow her to return?

  Or worse yet, he thought with horror, what might have kept him from his duty? While Ever understood little about the true nature of the steward, the idea that the enemy’s dark forces might have been able to thwart Garin terrified the prince more than anything.

  As the captain had predicted, he could hear Isa’s uneven footsteps on the stairs. He tried to call out for her to run, but Nevina jerked his head back even harder, and the captain kneed him in the chin.

  Ever was still gasping and spitting out blood when she walked in. Her eyes went wide as soon as she saw him, and they glazed over when she saw his captors. As she gaped, the captain walked over, grabbed her, and held her tightly. She tried to struggle, but his arms, nearly as thick as her waist, might as well have been bonds of steel.

  Nevina let go of Ever’s hair and left him kneeling on the floor. Walking over to Isa, the princess softly tucked a stray lock of copper hair behind Isa’s ear. “Really, Everard,” she murmured, “I know I was never your first choice, but you chose this over me?”

  Ever gritted his teeth as the princess lifted Isa’s crooked wrist. She held it for a moment between two fingers as if it were a dead fish, then dropped it. “You’ve changed, my dear prince. You have grown soft. Your father at least had the good sense to see that a life with me would have been preferable to this kind of end. And what was it truly for? She lacks the strength you so desperately counted on.” Nevina turned and gave a pointed look at Isa. “It’s a good thing she didn’t take my deal. Now I won’t have to find a new way to get rid of her.”

  She walked back over to Ever and kicked him in the ribs. “Such a waste.” As Ever coughed up blood, he saw a brilliant flash out of the corner of his eye.

  Isa’s eyes suddenly burned with a ferocity Ever hadn’t imagined her capable of. A bolt of blue shot out of her right hand and traveled up the captain’s arm. With a cry, he let go and stumbled backward. Isa turned to run to Ever, but Nevina quickly grabbed her by the left wrist and yanked hard. The blue fire ceased as Isa let out a cry of pain, and Nevina expertly twisted the girl’s hand.

  The captain was quick to get up, his eyes bright with an eagerness Ever wished he could beat from the vile man’s face. “No, Your Highness,” the captain said to his mistress, “I don’t think there will be any wasted time here.”

  Ever watched in horror as he took Isa from Nevina’s arms. Nevina smiled and drew the knife from her belt.

  “I have always wanted to plunge a knife into your heart,” she told Ever. “Now I get to plunge one into your soul.” Without pause, she buried the blade deep in Isa’s chest.

  Ever didn’t hear his own scream. He no longer smelled the smoke that was beginning to make the air in the room unbreathable. He didn’t notice when a soldier stepped in to tell the princess that the Fortress steward was making trouble downstairs. All Ever saw was the blood that stained Isa’s dress as she lay on the floor where they’d let her fall. Slowly, he crawled over to where she lay. With a shaking hand, he tried to wipe the tears that ran silently down her face.

  “I couldn’t leave you here,” she whispered.

  “Hush.” He gently cradled her face in his hand. Though she tried to smile at him, he could see the shock all over her face. “You have endured far too much pain at my hands to be forgivable. And yet,” he coughed, “I must ask of you one more thing.” Isa still watched him, but her eyes were beginning to look glassy. He didn’t have much time left. “I simply ask you to remember me not as the monster I was, but as the man you taught to love.”

  “Why?” Isa whispered. “What are you saying?”

  “I’m going to fix everything,” he promised softly.

  Her eyes grew a bit wider. “Ever, what are you doing?”

  “What I should have done long ago.” His hand quivered as he pulled the crystal ring from his pocket and placed it on her bloody hand. Tenderly, he rested his lips on her forehead as he felt the strength within him begin to bleed out.

  Garin had been right. The Fortress had never abandoned him. Rather, he had chosen to go his own way. To truly serve his people, he had to be willing to give it all, and to trust that the Fortress would make it right. But the vanity of who he was and what he was had kept him from acknowledging that truth. There was only one thing in the world that could break him of that pride. His men hadn’t been worth such a sacrifice of self in battle. Not even Destin had been worthy. But the Fortress had given him Isa, and Isa was worth it.

  As he pushed the power from his body into hers, he could hear the bones in her wrist reset, and then in her ankle. Her breathing began to deepen again, and he knew her wound had closed.

  As Isa opened her eyes, they once more burned blue, and Ever smiled as his own eyes closed. He felt the peace of his beloved Fortress cradle him as he welcomed death. He was willing.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Queen Alone

  Isa had never felt such pain in her life. Not when Ever’s power had first touched her, nor when the horse had broken her wrist and ankle. Even the flaming arrows singeing her skin and the bird of prey gouging her leg couldn’t compare.

  She could tell immediately that the blade Princess Nevina had thrus
t into her chest was no ordinary blade, its dark power beginning to poison her blood as soon as it broke her skin. An icy fear seized her, and she couldn’t think through the fog that suddenly clouded her vision. As the dark princess let her fall to the ground, her mind ran in circles. Ever was dying. She had seen it as he’d knelt on the floor just a few feet away.

  Despair had taken her until she became faintly aware of a pleasant sensation on her face, a familiar one. The touch helped clear a way for her thoughts through the ringing in her ears. He was asking forgiveness. He was promising to make the pain go away.

  The seconds had seemed like eternity, but finally, Isa was able to open her eyes. Princess Nevina was shrieking as she ran towards them, but she stopped short. A blue cocoon of fire had encased both Isa and Ever. Looking down, Isa realized she was gripping Ever’s arm tightly with her left hand, something she’d not been able to do since she was nine.

  For just a moment, she felt nothing but bliss as he softly kissed her face. His lips were still on her brow, but the longer he held on, the more she could feel him slipping away. Finally, he slumped limply to the floor, and she didn’t have to touch him to know that he was gone. The chill had touched his lips just as he had let go.

  “No!” Isa screamed.

  The blue shelter that had hidden them dissipated, and its protection with it. But that didn’t matter. Isa rose slowly, and for the first time in fourteen years, stood erect. She hardly noticed though. Nevina and the man beside her watched, their mouths agape and their hands slightly raised. The agony of loss washed through Isa like a raging flood, and blue flames tinted her vision as anger followed the pain.

  Nevina’s captain made the first move. Without hesitation, Isa raised one hand, palm out. Before he could take two steps, a bolt of blue lightning threw him backwards against the wall, knocking him unconscious.