Tied to the Crown

by Neha Yazmin

  Suddenly, the drumbeat stopped and so did the flute and its companions. Everyone that had been going around in circles halted immediately. Just as she was about to ask the stranger beside her if everything was alright, the flute started up again and the women on either side of her let go of her hands. The ring broke up. Everybody turned on the spot until they were facing the men—they were facing them. Aaryana copied the movement, and when the two groups stretched out their right arm, palm facing forward like they were saying “stop”, she copied them, too.

  Confused and a tiny bit amused, she searched the group of men for Wyett, deducing that it was this portion of the ceremony that he disliked most. Before she could locate him, though, everything went dark. The lanterns had all gone out. Well, not all of them, but enough that it was impossible to see the men ahead of her. If the women around her weren’t so calm, Aaryana would have turned to the watching crowd and asked what was happening.

  She waited for the music to stop or speed up, but all she heard were footsteps around her. The women had started walking. It sounded like they were walking towards the men. She thought she heard the men walking towards them, too.

  A few moments later, someone bumped into her from behind. Aaryana turned around. “Sorry!” she said. Her voice was loud in the dark.

  “Oh, Lady Aaryana!” The words were a loud whisper.

  Aaryana recognised the speaker just as easily as the speaker had recognised her voice. “Lady Erisa, I’m sorry, I didn’t—”

  “You don’t know what to do, do you?” Erisa asked in a low voice.

  Aaryana’s eyes had adjusted enough to the dark that she could make out that Erisa’s hood was up and it seemed to be falling over her eyes, acting like a blindfold.

  “We’re supposed to walk towards the men as they walk towards us?” Aaryana sounded as uncertain as she felt.

  “Yes,” Erisa chuckled. “And dance with the first person whose hand touches ours. Pull on your hood, keep your right arm outstretched, and carry on walking towards the unclaimed men. The person you end up dancing with tonight could potentially be… Well, you and Wyett are just taking part in the ceremony for show, aren’t you?”

  “So are you, I think.”

  There was an intake of breath but nothing more. Erisa walked around Aaryana and headed towards the men. Covering her hair and the top half of her face with the hood, Aaryana twisted around and started walking. She might as well carry on. If she tried to find her way back to Jeena and bumped into more people, she’d only disrupt the ceremony.

  What if everyone was taken by the time she got to the middle, which must be where the unclaimed men and women met and started dancing? She didn’t remember anyone counting whether there was an equal number of men and women on both ends of the clearing. If her hand didn’t meet anyone else’s and she ended up reaching the trees, would she have to take another turn with the people that were going up next? Or would that mean that she wouldn’t find someone to love?

  Luckily, she didn’t have to find out the answer to that—she felt a warm hand on hers a moment later, and the impact made her halt. The other person stopped, too, his fingers somehow perfectly aligned with hers. How could two people walk in a straight line, in the dark, and still manage to touch hands like they were touching their reflection in a mirror? The man—her partner tonight—was probably a similar height to her or had held his hand out at an angle that was right for her.

  In one synchronised motion, they threaded their fingers through each other’s and were holding hands. Instinct made her step forward and reach for her partner’s shoulder with her other hand. She felt his elbow and slowly moved her hand up to rest it on his shoulder. Yes, he wasn’t much taller than her.

  He found her waist and put a warm arm around it before pulling her closer for the dance. I hope it’s Wyett, she thought.

  If she could get Wyett to marry her. If she was the wife of the next King of Roshdan. If she took on the Fresdan name. If she became Princess Aaryana Fresdan. She could return to Adgar and challenge her sister for the Crown that was rightfully hers. There would be no one, no law, that could stop her. Her father, when he’d banished her, his words had become law. His exact words were: “Aaryana Vijkanti can never return to Adgar. Aaryana Vijkanti is an exile now. Aaryana Vijkanti can never be Queen of Adgar.”

  Aaryana Fresdan on the other hand could enter Adgar alongside her husband as a free woman, as a Princess of Roshdan, and she could claim the Throne she was born to ascend. The Contest may be over, but one rule applied to all Islands regardless of how they chose their next monarch: Kill the person on the Throne and the Kingdom is yours. That’s why marrying Wyett was so important. Wyett is the key.

  How ideal would it be if the man she was dancing with now was the Crown Prince? If she could take this opportunity to get close to him? Too ideal. Too good to be true.

  Why wasn’t this man saying anything, though? Were they not meant to speak? If the whole point of this ceremony was to potentially meet your husband or wife, then what good would it do to dance in the dark in utter silence?

  A mid-tempo song was playing—it sounded like the King’s orchestra—so she couldn’t hear if the other couples were getting acquainted. And of course, she couldn’t see anything. There was no moonlight, no lit lanterns nearby; the hood of their cloaks had been designed to blind them, anyway. She could tilt her head back and try to shrug it off, but it would be considered cheating, and Aaryana was no cheater.

  She was in a stranger’s arms, though, still holding his right hand. It didn’t feel uncomfortable or bad in any way, but the Island was under the impression that she was Wyett’s new love... It would send the wrong message if she appeared to be interested in this man.

  “I’m sorry, kind sir, but I cannot dance with you any longer.”

  There was no response from her partner. No loosening of his hold on her. Perhaps she’d spoken too quietly? She stood on her tiptoes and leaned her chin on the hand she had on his shoulder, thinking it would be close enough to his ear.

  “I didn’t know much about this ceremony before I got roped into it. Had I known what it would entail, I would have sat it out.”

  Still nothing from him. But she knew he could hear her.

  “I’m afraid I’m not here to find a partner. My heart belongs to another, and I shouldn’t be dancing with you tonight. I apologise.”

  Aaryana removed her hand from his shoulder and took a step back. The man only gripped her right hand tighter, kept his other arm around her waist.

  “Oh, I’m not supposed to leave until the song is over?” she wondered out loud.

  In reply, the man pulled her back to him. She took that to mean yes. When she placed her left hand back on his shoulder, he loosened his hold on her right hand, but didn’t let go.

  “Are we supposed to dance in silence? If so, it doesn’t make sense.”

  The man kept quiet.

  “No, I think people are meant to talk, get to know each other, without faces and figures getting in the way.”

  She understood now, why the unclaimed were dressed in black. The full-length robes camouflaged them with the night, hiding their size, shape, and most of their face, not letting one’s appearance influence the way their dance partner interacted with them.

  “But you’re not trying to connect with me at all,” she babbled on. “Maybe you’ve already given your heart away. That, or you really don’t like the sound of my voice.”

  A sarcastic laugh, deep and breathy.

  “Finally, he speaks!” she announced dramatically. “Well, he makes a sound, if not words. Why so silent, kind sir? Am I not to your liking or do you like another? It’s really quite alright either way. Like I said, I long for another. I shouldn’t have—”

  “The one you long for, he longs for you, too?”

  Wyett.

  She almost said his name out loud. Her hand slipped off his shoulder in surprise. She opened her mouth to apologise—though she wasn’t sure what she was
sorry for—but he quickly followed up his question with another.

  “You must be confident that he does, otherwise you wouldn’t be rejecting the person that the Sea Goddess has found for you.”

  Aaryana wasn’t sure if she’d heard him correctly—what did the Sea Goddess have to do with this? And why was he acting like he didn’t know her? Erisa had recognised her voice immediately. Did he think that Aaryana hadn’t figured out it was him? Well, she had yet to inform him that she knew his identity. He hadn’t let her. Hadn’t let her respond to his words.

  With a jolt, she realised that he wanted her to pretend, too. Wanted them to be two strangers in the dark and get through this ceremony without arguing or being hostile towards each other. Fine. She could do that.

  “The Sea Goddess found you for me?” she asked sceptically.

  “They say that if their offerings please her, the Sea Goddess guides the unclaimed towards their true love during the finding ceremony.” He spoke politely, respectfully.

  Aaryana frowned. “I thought she was the god of the sea, not the god of love.”

  “You speak as though you don’t know her story,” he murmured. His voice was much softer than she was used to, much more relaxed. “You mentioned earlier that you didn’t know much about the ceremony. How can that be?”

  “I’m not from around here.”

  “Well, where are you from, then?” he asked as though he didn’t believe she wasn’t a Roshdani.

  “Somewhere far less magical than Roshdan.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Tell me about the Sea Goddess and how she helps us find true love.”

  “Everyone knows that story.”

  “Pretend that I don’t,” she suggested. “Just pretend I don’t know anything.”

  Wyett sucked in a long breath and told her about the godlings three, how they were responsible for the world they lived in now. It was almost identical to the account that Quin had given her. Then, he moved onto the finding ceremony.

  “Eena, the Sea Goddess, the Queen of the Deep, Mother of Water, whatever you call her, she loved Ooshma very much. Despite all her offspring—her sea folk children—she missed Ooshma terribly. And even the fire angel. She longed to see them, but she knew she couldn’t.”

  Aaryana nodded. She could sympathise and emphasise with that. “The godlings three were a family,” she whispered without meaning to. She swallowed, cleared her throat, and added, “They had their fights, but they were a family. It hurts to be away from family.”

  “She couldn’t stand the pain,” Wyett continued as though Aaryana hadn’t interrupted. “If she cried again, the world would drown completely. So, she turned her heart into stone, ripped it out of her chest, and threw it as hard as she could. It flew out of the ocean, soared into the sky, and stayed there.

  “Some believe that she meant for her stone heart to become the moon, to keep Ooshma company at night. Some say she had no idea that her heart would do that.”

  “Her heart didn’t become the moon and the fire angel didn’t breathe out the sun,” Aaryana scoffed.

  “You’re a sceptic.” He sounded intrigued.

  “I don’t understand how the sun and moon came to be,” she confessed, “but I don’t think the godlings three had anything to do with it.”

  “Careful, you don’t want to anger the Sea Goddess,” Wyett warned, half-serious, half-joking. “Lest she steals you away from your true love.”

  “And how does she do she that, exactly?”

  “Like I told you: If your offerings make her happy, she guides you to those who will claim you. Legend has it that if she likes a lover’s offering enough, if it melts her stone heart, that man or woman’s love will be blessed by her and will last forever.”

  He was referring to the second gift Jeena had rebuked Aaryana for not bringing for the Sea Goddess.

  “If the offering of someone that is looking for love melts the Goddess’s heart, she will guide them towards their true love during the finding ceremony and bless the couple so that they will never part.”

  “If the moon is her heart,” Aaryana said, “what happens when it melts?”

  “Nobody knows,” he replied. “I don’t believe anyone’s managed to melt her heart yet.”

  “I didn’t make a single offering tonight,” Aaryana said with mock disappointment. “Does that mean my love is doomed?”

  “If that angered her enough, then yes.” He sounded smug.

  She shook her head and laughed. “I think that you may have angered her, too, kind sir. Well, you couldn’t have pleased her, that’s for certain.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “The Sea Goddess guided you to a person that has already pledged themselves to someone, didn’t she?” Aaryana giggled.

  Wyett just exhaled loudly. He may have shaken his head, too.

  “If she liked your gift, she would have matched you with someone that was attainable.”

  “What makes you think that I made an offering for love?” he asked pointedly. “You don’t know if I’m hoping to find someone or if I already have a lover.”

  “Why would you take part if you already had a lover?”

  “You did, didn’t you?”

  “I didn’t know what I was getting myself into,” she reminded him. “You did.”

  “True.”

  “So, you’re courting someone and still participating in the finding ceremony?” She made herself sound appalled.

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “It’s alright if you are,” she assured him. “That’s what the Crown Prince is doing, isn’t it? He’s courting that insufferable Adgari girl and still taking part in the finding ceremony.”

  She shook her head in disapproval even though she didn’t know if he’d see it.

  “The Crown Prince has to take part,” Wyett said, his tone a little sharp for the first time since they’d started dancing. “He’s the Heir to the Throne. He has to show the people that he’s willing to find and take a bride, produce offspring in order for his bloodline to carry on. Even though he absolutely hates being here, he does it every year to please the people.”

  “He will be a great King one day, if he’s already making sacrifices for his people. But…”

  She contemplated for a moment whether or not to say what she was thinking. Shrugging, she decided to let loose and say it. It was his idea to pretend to be strangers for the night.

  “What will his people make of the fact that he’s participating in the finding ceremony when he’s already found his true love?”

  After a significant pause, Wyett said, “You’ll have to ask them.” Surprisingly, he didn’t seem hostile.

  Aaryana had been so ready for the backlash. This game was becoming rather fun. “And what will the Adgari make of it?” she asked. “Will she see it as a betrayal?”

  “You’ll have to ask her.”

  “She’s taking part, too, you know. Do you think the Prince is feeling jealous of the man she’s dancing with?”

  “You’ll have to ask him.”

  “I will if I get a chance.” She shrugged as she dared to say, “Who knows, perhaps they found each other tonight?”

  “Good for them if they did. Now can we stop talking about them?”

  “Of course,” she agreed immediately. “Let’s go back to talking about you. Before we changed the subject, it sounded like you were saying that you’re searching for love but couldn’t be bothered to make an offering to the Sea Goddess?”

  “I wasn’t saying that.”

  Aaryana shook her head. “What were you saying, then?”

  “Nothing.” She felt him shrug. “You’re the one that accused me of angering the Goddess.”

  “You accused me first!”

  Wyett laughed. She gasped. She hadn’t heard him laugh like that before. Genuinely amused, uninhibited, and youthful. It was a most lovely sound.

  When he stopped, she told him, “You have a great laugh, kind si
r.”

  He stiffened. “Don’t let your lover hear you say that.”

  “He’s not my lover,” she mumbled. “I don’t think he ever will be.”

  “Because you’ve left him in the land that is far less magical than Roshdan?”

  Aaryana wrinkled her nose. Was he bringing Rudro into this again? This Prince was obsessed with her former Combat Master. She supposed she deserved this comment. Hadn’t she insinuated the other day that she still loved Rudro? I wish I hadn’t said all those things.

  “No, I wasn’t thinking of him,” she found herself saying dully. “I wasn’t thinking of him until you mentioned him. I told you that I loved someone else because I didn’t want to dance with a stranger.”

  “I don’t understand…”

  But of course, he did. He must have known from the beginning why she’d tried to escape from dancing with him when she was under the impression that he was a stranger.

  “Can I tell you a story, kind sir?” she asked to change the subject.

  “About what?” he asked curiously, even eagerly.

  He was happy to move on to another topic, too. But she didn’t get to tell him any story, because the next second, three things happened in unison and rendered her speechless and rid her mind of all thought:

  The sound of hooves filled the air.

  The musicians stopped playing.

  The clearing somehow became even darker—every lantern must have gone out.

  And then, screams rang in her ears, and over the din, she heard someone shout, “The rebels are here! The rebels have come!”

  Malin had been unable to stop wondering why the two versions of the Sea Princess’s tale varied in certain places. Nor had she been able to recall why the name Nayn Rametti felt so familiar. Both mysteries were like itchy scabs you couldn’t stop scratching, even as the healing wounds reopened and blood oozed out. In fact, the blood only made you want to scratch harder, made you reckless.