Mother crossed the room in three angry strides. Her face was beet red as she thrust it into Zwaantie’s.
“How dare you. That is a high prince from Stella, and you...you...” Spittle landed on Zwaantie’s face as Mother struggled to find the word.
“I rejected him, Mother. I’m sorry. You said I didn’t have to marry anyone I didn’t want to. He repulses me.” It was a lie, but she needed to be dramatic for her mother’s sake. Zwaantie kept her voice deliberately calm. Mother lost her temper occasionally, and if Zwaantie yelled back, it would just make things worse.
Mother’s face softened, and she sank down on the edge of the bed. “Did you not hear your father? You don’t have to marry him.”
“But you were so excited by the things he had. I’ve never seen you look at a prince like that. How long will it be before you decide he’s a good match?”
Mother stroked Zwaantie’s cheek. “Oh dear girl. I don’t want you to marry him. Not at all. We do need the things Stella can give us though, and this is the first time in centuries that we’ve had an open conversation with any member of the royal family. This will be a good thing.”
Zwaantie relaxed just a little. “Thank you, Mother.”
“But it is rude that you walked off like that. Especially after your father completely shut him down on his proposal. If perhaps we could announce your engagement, then Prince Leo will understand and be more open with our agreements.”
“To who?” Zwaantie didn’t want to think about this. She couldn’t even wrap her mind around marrying someone. She was quickly falling for Phoenix, but marriage seemed so permanent. Especially since she’d never be allowed to marry him.
“There are four eligible princes. Pick one.”
“What? Mother, no.” She didn’t know what she’d been expecting to hear. But she hadn’t expected her mother to have an answer ready.
Mother’s face hardened. “Zwaantie, I don’t get it. What do you want?”
“To not think about marriage for a long time. Then in five or ten years, I want to marry for love.” Zwaantie thought about telling her about Phoenix, but she could still see the fire in Mother’s eyes and knew she’d never go for that.
“Fine. Then you will be Prince Leo’s escort while he is in town. Show him the villages. Be good company. He plans on staying for two weeks. You may rest until dinner, but then you will come and be pleasant.”
“Why? I don’t want to.” Everything about this prince made her nervous. She wanted to stay as far away from him as possible.
“Because after you left, he requested you to show him around. I think he thinks if he can spend time with you, you will choose to marry him even though your father said no. This is important.”
Zwaantie gripped the sheets in her bed. Perhaps Mother and Father would force her to marry him in the end. He was from Stella though.
Mother left with one more disapproving glare.
“Luna, would you go find me some medicine? Something that will make me sleep.”
“Of course.”
A half hour later Zwaantie was lost to dreamland. No more thoughts of darkness and a loveless marriage.
Chapter 17
The Wall
A hand roughly shook Zwaantie out of her peace.
“Zwaantie, wake up. Wilma needs you. Now.”
Zwaantie jerked awake and stared into the fearful eyes of Luna.
“What time is it?”
“Four-thirty. Come quickly. I have your brown dress ready.”
Oh. No. The brown dress could only mean one thing.
“But I’ll miss dinner. Mother is going to kill me.”
“Well, then she is going to have to kill you. Wilma needs you. Perhaps you’ll be done by seven. You’d be late for dinner, but you’d still make it.”
“You know as well as I do that babies aren’t born in three hours.” But Zwaantie dressed quickly and followed. They found Wilma in her cottage bustling about gathering materials.
“Three women,” she shrieked. “Three decided to have their babies now. I don’t have six arms. How do they expect me to do three?”
“I’m here, and so is Luna. We’ll both take someone.”
“No, I want you girls together. Another midwife agreed to help too. She’s already on her way to the VanDykes. You will take Mrs. Jacobusse. She’s already had four babies. This one should come out easy.”
Zwaantie had helped deliver Mrs. Jacobusse’s last baby two years ago. She was quiet. Zwaantie liked that in a delivery. The problem with Mrs. Jacobusse was the distance. She lived out by the wall. They’d never make it home in time for dinner.
The delivery went fast. The baby popped out just after nine-thirty. Still too late for dinner, but Zwaantie could make an appearance and appease Mother.
Luna followed Zwaantie to the door of the small house.
“Are you sure you can clean up on your own?” Zwaantie asked.
“Of course. Will you be okay walking by yourself?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
Luna shrugged. “Because you’re a princess. It’s rare for you to be on your own without me or a guard. Or Phoenix.” She smirked.
Zwaantie ignored the remark. “Exactly. I’m not by myself often. I’ll enjoy the walk. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
There weren’t many houses out this far. Zwaantie stepped out of the stifling house, and she glanced at the inky blackness of the border between Stella and Sol. Stars, it was big.
Instead of walking toward the castle, she felt drawn to the wall and its whispers. She stood about twenty feet away and listened. The whispers were fragments of conversations and thoughts with no coherency whatsoever.
“The cow, he ran away. I swear it.”
“My love. She died.”
“What happened to the food? We had so much a few days ago.”
Zwaantie didn’t know what to make of the conversations. She took a few steps closer and listened some more.
“The pain. I just want it to go away.”
“It’s so hot.”
“I didn’t mean it.”
A few steps more, and the Voice began its coaxing.
Get closer. You know you want to. Add your own voice to its whispers.
Zwaantie stopped abruptly. “You’ve always told me to stay away from the wall.”
That was before. This is now. Go, step into the darkness, and you will hear them all.
The breeze shifted, and her hair fluttered in her face. She brushed it away and took a few steps closer. “But that would be suicide.”
Maybe, maybe not. But don’t you want to know what the whispers are saying? Don’t you want to understand?
Not really. She also didn’t want the wall to grab her, steal her memories, and spit her out in a permanent state of amnesia.
Zwaantie couldn’t figure out why the Voice was now encouraging her to go inside the swirling depths.
Go. See what it will tell you.
Zwaantie shook her head and closed her eyes. “No. I will not.”
Yes, you will. Go now.
Zwaantie’s head pounded with the disobedience. She took a few steps back from the wall. Tendrils of smoke reached for her. One encircled her wrist, and she heard a small child crying. Its cry was soft at first and then turned to a wailing. Zwaantie jerked her hand back, and the smoke withdrew into the wall.
GO NOW. WALK INTO THE WALL.
Zwaantie clutched her head. “NO! I WILL NOT!” She screamed louder than she had ever screamed before. The Voice went silent. She let go of her head. That had never happened before either—the Voice going silent. She stood tall and looked at the wall defiantly.
“You lose,” she said.
She trudged to the castle, tired, and arrived home just after eleven. She’d missed dinner.
The whole exchange with the wall made her wonder what the Voice was up to. Why would it coax her into the wall instead of warning her to stay away? Where the Voice came from was a mystery. She’d asked her mother whe
n she was child, but Mother only responded that the Voice was Sol, telling her to be a good girl. Zwaantie doubted Raaf even knew.
Perhaps this was what Mother meant about Zwaantie not being able to escape her duty as queen. Did Sol know she wanted to abdicate and decided to put an end to her before she could do any more damage? Did Sol sense the intent of her heart?
No, the Voice couldn’t do that. It could only react to spoken words or actions.
Zwaantie stopped just outside the palace door, realization dawning. She had spoken the words out loud. She told her mother she didn’t want to be queen.
Chapter 18
The Surprise
Bright light hit Zwaantie’s eyes, and she blinked a few times.
“Seriously, can’t I sleep in?” She rolled over and tugged her duvet over her eyes.
“Not when there is a prince from Stella here. You’ll just have to get used to the idea. I managed to smooth things over with the queen last night, but she said that you will be showing the prince around Sol today.” Luna pulled the cover down.
“Thank you for helping me.”
Luna sighed. “I’m used to it. What happened last night anyway? I made it home before you did, and I know for a fact you weren’t with Phoenix because he was with Raaf until late.”
“I got distracted on my way home.” Zwaantie’s stomach clenched. The Voice tried to kill her last night. This was the third time someone tried to take her life. At first she had thought it was a fluke with the guard, but now she was thinking it might be more than that. Maybe the slave girl was poisoned, and that poison was meant for Zwaantie.
She shivered and looked at Luna. She wanted to talk to someone, but didn’t know who she could trust. She wasn’t sure she could even speak the words out loud. Especially if it was the Voice who wanted her dead. She brushed her hair out of her eyes with shaky hands and tried to act like everything was normal.
“What’s on the schedule for today?” Zwaantie asked.
Luna bustled about, seemingly unaware of Zwaantie’s worries. “You are taking the prince for a walk around the village to show him how we live. Your mother made me promise to talk to you about being charming and not obnoxious.”
Zwaantie stuck her tongue out at Luna.
Luna laughed and continued to blather. Which was fine, because as long as she talked and didn’t notice Zwaantie was still in bed, the longer she could lie there. If she just stayed here, would she be safe. Was anywhere safe?
Luna threw off the duvet, and Zwaantie curled into herself. “It’s cold.”
You must get up. You have work to do.
“The water in your tub is hot. Go.” Luna pointed to her bathing area. Zwaantie sighed and shuffled to the tub and sank into the steaming water. While Zwaantie soaked, she heard Luna rustling through something. She poked her head around the shade.
“Why don’t you wear one of the dresses the prince brought you?”
Luna held up a short yellow dress that wouldn’t go farther than mid-thigh. The skirt flared out and had something underneath that made it puffy. The top of the dress was even less sensible, with a neckline that plunged and sleeves that would barely cover her shoulders. While it was pretty, there was no way in the dark that she would put that on.
“You are joking, right?”
She wiggled her eyebrows at Zwaantie. “Phoenix would choke if he saw you in it. Maybe then he’d actually kiss you.”
Zwaantie splashed water toward her. “How do you know these things?” Zwaantie’s face burned. She did want Phoenix to kiss her, but she didn’t realize Luna knew.
Luna ignored the question. “Start your scrubbing. I’ll try to find something more suitable for you to wear.”
“Something not out of that trunk.”
Luna dug around the trunk for a while, gave up, and pulled out one of Zwaantie’s yellow dresses. She’d always liked it because it felt sunny.
After dressing, Luna braided her hair, and Zwaantie ate a quick breakfast. Then they went down to the entrance hall.
The prince was already there, dressed exactly like he had yesterday, except he wore flimsy shoes that left most of his feet bare. Crazy boy. Didn't he know that his feet would get soaked in shoes like that? The streets were always wet. Not to mention the dirt and filth. Eww.
Zwaantie kept her eyes trained on the people around her. Could the gardener want to kill her? Or the maybe the woman out beating her rugs. It could be anyone. Except the prince. He’d arrived after the guard had tried to kill her, so it couldn’t be him.
He bowed, and Zwaantie inclined her head.
“Princess,” he said, taking her hand. “You look lovely this morning.”
“Thank you,” she replied. She thought about giving him the same compliment, but didn’t want to encourage him. Though she was certain he didn’t want to kill her, she still didn’t want to marry him. They left the castle via the front door, Luna and Hunter following a few feet behind.
As they meandered down the road to the village, Zwaantie wondered what he thought of their town. Was it different from his?
“Your mother tells me that last night you helped deliver a baby, and that is why you missed dinner.”
“Yes.” Zwaantie noticed everything about the village. The small houses, the cobblestone streets, the slaves and guards who hid just out of sight. What if another guard tried to kill her? Would someone stop them?
“Why do you deliver babies? Isn’t that what healers are for?”
“In Sol we believe in being productive members of society even as royalty. My mother likes to sew, my father is an expert with a bow and arrow, Raaf cooks. I decided to train as a midwife. I find the work quite rewarding.”
She wished the world was different. That she could be a midwife for real. What a simple life she’d live.
“I would imagine it would be frightening.”
“How so?”
“You don’t have magic. Don’t some women die in childbirth?”
“Sometimes, but with the magic potions we get from Stella, we have less death then we used to. Do your women ever die?”
“Rarely, though occasionally a woman will give birth after midnight. Most of the time they are safe, but every once in a while, one dies. We consider it a great tragedy when that happens.”
Zwaantie creased her eyebrows. “How is midnight different in Stella? Here the Voice turns off. But you have no Voice.”
“Our magic disappears. It’s quite frightening actually.” His hands were in his pockets, but his shoulders were tense.
“Then I suppose it’s not that much different from Sol at night then.”
He gave a tight smile. “Sort of.”
This early in the morning, there were slaves everywhere. They were picking up the trash, sweeping the cobblestones, and cleaning windows on the shops. Zwaantie probably should’ve waited a few hours before venturing out. She wanted to show the prince what it was like when everything was sparkling and brilliant. Not half done.
Each person they passed stopped whatever he was doing and bowed.
“Are your people always this respectful?” Leo asked, watching a slave to his left.
“Yes. Aren’t yours?” Quite frankly, it was annoying. Just once she’d like to be able to walk down the street and not have everything stop dead.
He hesitated for a second, like he was debating whether to tell her. “No, they only bow when they come to the castle. Out on the street we are just like any other person. I like it. I can go to the store or a club without being harassed. I usually take Hunter with me for safety, but most people treat me normal.”
Zwaantie didn’t know how to respond. No one, except for Luna, Phoenix, and Wilma, had ever treated her like a normal person. Most wouldn’t even talk to her. Even when she was delivering their babies, they are all “Sorry, Your Highness.”
“Must be nice,” Zwaantie said.
“It is.”
A slave dashed in front of them to pick up a piece of discarded fruit. Zwaant
ie hadn’t been paying attention and tripped over the slave. The prince caught her, and Zwaantie couldn’t help notice a whiff of citrus and coconut. He smelled like summer.
In a flash, Luna had the slave by the ear and dragged him to the edge of the street. She would give him a tongue-lashing, and he would never step in front of royalty again.
The prince stared at Luna and the slave for a moment with a frown. Zwaantie wondered what he was thinking. They walked on and passed the bakery with an incredible aroma of bread and cakes floating out.
“Does your village look like this?” Zwaantie asked.
“We call it a city, not a village. It looks nothing like this. Our buildings are tall with bright lights. And there are many more people than here.”
They walked in silence for a few moments, and Zwaantie reflected on how different this felt. She had never taken the time to get to know any of the other princes. She didn’t want to. A breeze blew, and Zwaantie noticed that Leo’s hair didn’t move. It was so strange, spiky like that.
“Tell me more about this prince that you’re going to marry,” he said.
“I haven’t decided who I’m going to marry yet. Honesty, I’d rather not marry at all. I keep telling Mother that, but she doesn’t listen.”
But you will marry. Soon.
Zwaantie paused. She almost told him that she didn’t want to be queen, but she wasn’t about to say that again for fear of what would happen. The Voice was in her head again, after the wall, like normal. For some reason that brought a strange comfort to her. She wasn’t sure she’d like it if the Voice disappeared altogether. Even if she was afraid it was trying to kill her.
She glanced over at Leo, surprised at how comfortable she was talking to him. Perhaps it was because he was temporary. Someone who would disappear in two weeks and take her secrets with him.
“I want to marry for love. The princes are not looking for love. They are looking for a princess. They don’t see me. And not one of them has ever even been interested in me for a moment. Including you. You pranced into our palace and announced your intentions without even so much as a glance in my direction.”
Stella and Sol Box Set Page 11
