Heirs of War, Crown of Flames

by Mara Valderran

  “You're overreacting,” he said, as if that might help calm her down. “I don't panic when I don't see you for days.”

  She grimaced with guilt. “About that . . . sorry, I've been busy, that's all.”

  “Actually attending your lessons from what I understand. I feel like congratulations are in order. What else has kept you from visiting a friend?”

  “Just my usual sneaking around.” She didn't want to admit that she had been spending most of her free time working in the leigheas.

  “Ah! There she is,” Cedwen said with an air of 'I told you so' as he gestured across the room to Ellowyn.

  Zelene crossed her arms over her chest when she spotted Ellowyn. The long brunette locks of hair that Zelene had grown so accustomed to seeing were now tucked back underneath the uniform head wrap of the Tainted. She lifted her sad eyes to find Zelene standing across the room wearing a scowl. Ellowyn's posture grew rigid with fear, her movements clumsy and her hands trembling against their work.

  Temper getting the best of her, Zelene made her way over. As she opened her mouth to speak, Cedwen spoke over her, obviously sensing the danger in letting Zelene speak her mind.

  “Your master has summoned you to her chambers, Ellowyn,” he said. “I suggest you head there immediately.”

  Zelene allowed him to guide her out, his hand on the small of her back until they were safely in the empty hallway, and then she rounded on him. “What the hell was that? Her master?”

  “Yes,” he whispered, placing his hands on her shoulders and pushing her away from the doors to the washroom. “If I hadn't spoken up, you would have made yourself known as her master, revealed your disguise, and gotten her into a heap of trouble. I just did you both a favor.”

  As much as Zelene wanted to be mad at him, she couldn’t be. “You're right. I'm sorry.”

  He pulled to a stop, the surprise evident on his face as he gave her a puzzled look. “I am?”

  “Yes,” she said with more annoyance at herself than him. Cedwen had never been anything but nice to her and she was constantly pushing him away. “Thank you. And I'm sorry. I know you've been trying to help me. You're always trying to help me and I should . . . be more appreciative of that.”

  “I understand, Zelene. You've been through a lot. I am here, as ever, as your friend. And possibly one day your husband,” he joked with a wink, deserving the punch in the arm she gave him. “Ouch! Or your sister's,” he added with a laugh and dodged her next blow. “Come on. We can wait for Ellowyn in your room.”

  Ellowyn didn't make them wait long. When she arrived, her demeanor still told Zelene that something was wrong. Ellowyn kept her head bowed and her gaze downcast as she wrung her hands together and addressed Zelene. “You called for me?”

  Zelene threw her hands up in the air. “I was standing right there, Ellowyn! Yes, I called for you. I've been looking for you for days. Do you have any idea how worried I've been? At first I thought you were just busy with the Tullia people coming, but then I still didn't see you. I thought the Duillaine Banair had sent you away. Where have you been?”

  “I'm sorry,” Ellowyn whispered. She still refused to look up from her twisting hands. “I've been very busy and I know you have had much to do and I just . . . ”

  Zelene softened with Ellowyn's obvious distress. “What's wrong, Ell? Did someone say something to you?”

  “No,” Ellowyn said with a little too much force and then shook her head frantically. “It's like I said, I've just been very busy. We're preparing for the arrival of the Tullians and trying to keep everything in order.”

  Zelene didn’t buy a single word of it and a quick look to Cedwen said that he wasn't either. “Then why are you wearing that ridiculous thing on your head again?”

  “You're wearing one too,” Ellowyn argued quietly.

  Zelene tugged on the edge of the cloth wrapped around her head, letting her red hair fall free to her shoulders. “There.”

  Ellowyn stepped back. “I don't want to,” she finally managed in a strangled voice.

  “We're all friends here, Ellowyn. You don't have to be like this around us,” Cedwen assured her from his seat in the corner.

  “Yeah, and you have the best hair out of all of us,” Zelene remarked in an attempt to lighten the situation. “I say you show it off.”

  “She's right,” Cedwen agreed. He rose from his chair and approached Ellowyn, then used his thumb to wipe a stray tear from her eye. “I say we even the playing field and then we can move past this.” He pulled at the edge of the cloth before Ellowyn could argue, and it unraveled onto her shoulders, though no locks of dark brown hair followed.

  Both Cedwen and Zelene stared at Ellowyn in horror as her tears began to spill hard and fast. The only hair remaining on her head was in tufts that barely lifted from her scalp and surrounded by bald patches and scrapes. Someone chopped off all of her hair, and they hadn’t been gentle about it. Ellowyn clapped her hands against her face, shaking her head.

  “I am so sorry.” Cedwen placed his hand on her shoulder. “I wouldn't…I would have never…I am so sorry, Ellowyn.”

  Zelene was less than apologetic as she glared at the patches of hair. “Who did this?” she asked in a dangerously low voice. She waited for an answer, but Ellowyn was in hysterics, unable to speak. “Who did this to you, Ellowyn? I want to know.”

  Cedwen ran a comforting hand up and down Ellowyn’s back and answered for her. “It would have been the gardach, Zelene. He's the man you've seen down in the washrooms inspecting the workers. Do you want me to wait here with Ellowyn?”

  “No, I need you to go get Terrena.”

  He bowed his head, accepting the mission she had given him. He gave Ellowyn's shoulder a squeeze before turning around and leaving without another word or question. Ellowyn tried to wrap her head back up but Zelene stopped her.

  “Please,” Ellowyn begged her and reached for the cloth Zelene held. “Please, Zelene. I don't want anyone to see me like this.”

  “We aren't leaving you like this,” Zelene assured her as she tossed the cloth onto her bed. “Why didn't you come to me about this? Is this why you've been avoiding me?”

  “I didn't want you to see . . . ”

  Zelene walked over and wrapped her arms around her, holding her tight and assuring her that everything would be okay. “Just so we're clear, you are my absolute best friend, Ell. There's nothing you can say or do that will change how I see you. You could dye your skin purple and we would still hang out like nothing is different.” Zelene pulled back, placing her hands on Ellowyn’s shoulders as she looked into her tear-stained face. “And that also means that there is nothing that I wouldn't do to help you or protect you.”

  “There's nothing you can do,” Ellowyn said. She hiccupped and placed a shaky hand on her head. “He did it in front of everyone,” she sobbed, “so they could see the punishment for being like me.”

  “What do you mean? Tell me exactly what happened.”

  Ellowyn calmed herself down enough to relay her story. “The gardach told me weeks ago that I had to wear the wrappings again and accused me of defying the ways of the Tainted. I told him that you ordered me to take them off and others agreed. They were there last time you got mad at me for wearing it.” Even though she was distraught, she still beamed at Zelene with pride. “You've given them hope.”

  “I'm sure your boss loved that.”

  “He was very angry. He's not one of us, just meant to oversee us and keep us in line,” she explained. “The others like me have become restless, I think.”

  “So he used you as an example,” Zelene finished morosely. She couldn't help but feel responsible for what had happened. Terrena had warned her that Ellowyn would pay the price for being treated different, but Zelene hadn’t listened.

  Ellowyn bowed her head, fresh tears filling her eyes. “He called us all together and told us that the elements have judged us to be unworthy of their touch and others must be made aware of this. Then he
forced me onto my knees and he . . . he . . . ”

  “We're going to fix this,” Zelene assured her friend.

  Ellowyn shook her head angrily. “There's nothing you can do. Don't you see? He shamed me in front of everyone. He's won, Zelene.”

  Zelene straightened with determination when Terrena came into the room. “We'll see about that.”

  Terrena was aghast as she stared at Ellowyn. “Blessed mothers, what happened to her?”

  “Your world's stupid rules,” Zelene answered coolly. “I need you to grow it back.”

  “I'm sorry, you need me to what?”

  “Grow it back,” Zelene repeated with impatience. “Look, you can grow skin back right? Help it knit back together when someone gets cut?” She pressed on when Terrena nodded. “Well, hair is really no different. The outside is dead cells, but the inside is still living. Tap into what's there and make it grow just like you do with skin.”

  “I'm not sure I know how to do that,” Terrena answered hesitantly, turning the idea over in her mind.

  “Well, figure it out,” Zelene snapped. She closed her eyes, trying to will herself patience. “I'm sorry. Just . . . try. Please.”

  “What are you going to do?” Terrena asked.

  “I'm going to suit up. It's time to play princess,” Zelene said darkly, then she opened the door to her closet and stepped inside.

  Less than an hour later, Zelene emerged from the dressing area completely changed. She wore a black dress with red lacing up the sides. The sleeves were long and tight against her arms, the material falling well over her hands and coming to a point over her middle knuckles. The belt and the trim, which lined the seams of the sleeves and the scoop neck that exposed her flushed chest, were a gold, red, and green pattern of leaves. A deep red bodice with the same trim and a gold circlet completed the look, both of which she held in her hands.

  Her dark mood lifted when she noticed the hair hanging over Ellowyn's shoulders, and sighed with relief as she watched it continue to grow. Terrena's face screwed up in concentration with both of her hands on the girl's scalp. It finally reached down her back and Zelene wanted to let out an exuberant cry at seeing her friend reverted back to her true form.

  Ellowyn brightened significantly once her hair began to grow again. “That's good, Ainnir Terrena. Thank you for what you have done for me.”

  “Just call me Terrena,” Terrena said warmly. “I am so sorry that this happened to you, Ellowyn.”

  “It won't be happening again,” Zelene announced as Ellowyn came over and helped her with the bodice. Once she was laced in, Ellowyn placed the circlet on her head and then Zelene turned to her cousin. “We're getting ready to go pay a visit to the gardach.”

  Ellowyn lowered her head, clearly still terrified as she walked over to the bed to get her headwrap.

  “You won't be needing that,” the Fire Duillaine Ainnir said. “When I'm done, no one will ever have use of those things again.”

  ***

  Curiosity got the best of Terrena, and so she decided to follow Zelene and Ellowyn down to the Tainted quarters. She expected Zelene to pitch a fit and demand vengeance for how her maid had been treated. Zelene took everything with the Tainted so personally, and at first Terrena thought that it was because Zelene herself had not yet been able to touch the elements. But after seeing her with Ellowyn, Terrena knew Zelene’s attitude had more to do with Ellowyn.

  Zelene defied all of Terrena's expectations and assumptions that night. When Zelene said that she was getting ready to play princess, Terrena didn't have any idea how naturally the role would come to her young cousin.

  Zelene didn't storm inside and demand to see the gardach. She entered the Tainted quarters calmly and with a regal air. “I would like to see the gardach,” she announced. “Would one of you fetch him for me, please?”

  The man came bustling out of his room, still pulling his shirt over his fat belly. “Ainnir Zelene, Ainnir Terrena! What a pleasant surprise. How may I be of service to you?”

  “I'm here to relieve you of your duties,” Zelene said. “You punished my maid, Ellowyn, for obeying direct orders from me. You ridiculed her in front of her peers and took delight in torturing her by shaving her head. Someone like you, who takes pleasure in the pain and suffering of others, should never hold a place of power. Pack your things and leave.”

  “You . . . you can't do that,” he stammered, his face reddening.

  “I can, and I have. I am one of the Duillaine Ainnir, which means you will obey me or face the consequences.”

  “They need a leader,” he pressed. “Someone to keep them in line and keep them in their place.”

  “They have a leader,” Zelene said, her head held high. She looked out at the crowd of Tainted servants gathering around. “You have me. From this day on, all of the Tainted will report to me directly. That means that each and every one of you is now in my care. No harm will ever come to you for what you are again. Take off your headwraps.” She paused, waiting while some did and others placed their hands protectively on their heads in fear. “Never again will you be viewed as any different from those around you,” she had said in a loud and commanding voice. “You might not be able to control the elements like others can but that does not mean that the elements have forsaken you. They touch you every day in the air that you breathe, the food that nourishes you, the water you drink, and the heat of the sun on your faces. They have not turned their backs on you and so we will not turn away from you any longer.”

  Terrena was floored, and the first to applaud her speech. The Tainted soon joined in. Only the gardach stood still, quietly fuming. Terrena followed Zelene and Ellowyn out. She didn't even realize that she had followed Zelene to her room until her cousin turned to her challengingly, clearly expecting a lecture.

  “I'm sorry, I was just thinking about what just happened,” Terrena explained, still awestruck. “What you did in there . . . that was . . . it was . . . ”

  Zelene eyed her with mistrust. “Terrible? Irresponsible? What?”

  Terrena shook her head. “No, dear cousin. It was amazing and inspiring. You are a true leader, and right now I couldn't be prouder of you.” She kissed Zelene's cheek and beamed at her. “Good night, Zelene.”

  She left Zelene with her jaw hanging open, and for the first time since her young cousin's arrival, Terrena actually looked forward to the day when they would rule together side by side.

  ***

  Zelene tossed and turned in her bed trying to sleep, but having no success. She was still ramped up from her confrontation with the gardach earlier that day. She replayed the events over and over in her mind, relishing in the satisfaction she felt from her actions even though sleep continued to elude her.

  She sat up, staring around her dark room, her mouth twisted in thought. She knew there was really no chance she would be able to sleep and decided that she would be better off exploring. She flopped happily out of her bed and reached under the mattress to pull out her clever disguise.

  It was then, as she stared down at the head wrap clutched in her hand, that she realized her disguise wasn't exactly a clever one anymore. By freeing the Tainted of the wrappings that marked them as less than worthy of being looked at, she had also removed the invisibility she had taken advantage of by posing as one of them. She pouted to herself, seeing the selfish flaw in her plan.

  She walked over to the full-length mirror in her dressing area, the wrapping in hand, and began to experiment with different ways to wear it that would help her to remain unrecognized but also prevent her from defying her own orders. She tried just draping it over her head, but it slid off too easily. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and wrapping the cloth around her head, letting the ponytail poke through the back of the wrappings. That looked too close to how the Tainted were forced to wear them before. She finally settled for wrapping it around the front of her head multiple times like she had seen people back home do when they had tried to turn scarves into headbands
. Her auburn locks were still obvious, but hopefully the headband along with the burlap dress would be enough to keep her from being noticed.

  “It'll have to do,” she muttered to herself, wrinkling her nose at the reflection in the mirror.

  She crept silently out of her room, careful to make sure the coast was clear before fully emerging. Usually Ellowyn served as a lookout for her, but after the trying day she had had, Zelene had insisted that she go to her actual room and get some sleep. Her feet carried her to the same place they usually did when she wandered the grounds—to the leigheas. She lowered her head to avoid the attention of the guards outside Isauria's room, and then ducked into the room of one of the new patients from the fighting ring.

  The young man was sitting up in bed, his blond head in his hands. Zelene had just met him the night before when he regained consciousness with no memory of who he was.

  Bianca had left them with strict instructions not to tell him anything for fear of interfering with any memories he might recover naturally. She had worked her magic on him, quite literally since she used her connection to the Earth element to heal, and so his face was now almost back to normal. The swelling around his eyes had disappeared completely and the bruises on his cheeks faded to a light green with only hints of the purple that was there before. His skin was a cream color with pink undertones that surfaced when he was embarrassed. He had full lips and a narrow nose framed by well-defined cheekbones and a rigid jaw line. The angles of his face might be hard, but his eyes changed the entire package. They were soft and kind. And right now, they were full of sorrow as they met hers.

  “Hey you,” she greeted softly and with a timid smile. “What's wrong?”

  “I had . . . a dream,” he said with uncertainty.

  She walked into the room and sat down on the edge of his bed. “Tell me.”

  “I was fighting this man. But I didn't want to fight him. He was a friend but yet we were both fighting as though we wanted to kill each other.”