Heirs of War, Crown of Flames

by Mara Valderran

  “No. I mean, I have. But every time I need something, they go and get it for me.” Isauria inhaled sharply when she realized Bianca's point. “You think . . . you think I'm being held prisoner in here?”

  Bianca rushed toward her panicked friend and put her hands on her shoulders. “I don't know. We can't jump to conclusions. We need to be calm and to be strong. For Ariana's sake. There's no need to lead the Duillaine to think that you are turning against them too.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Zelene and Rhaya are the ones that found your father. Zelene . . . attacked Sylvanna. I'm afraid tensions are very high,” she explained shakily. She tried to still her trembling hands. “I don't want them looking at you any more than normal.”

  “Do you think they'll hurt Zelene?”

  Bianca really didn't know what to think anymore. The Duillaine had always run Anscombe in a fair and orderly fashion since she arrived here several years ago, but their actions with Arland and their inactions with Ariana shed a new light on them. And it wasn't very favorable. Bianca hated to think about it that way. She had thought she was aiding the side of right and good when she came to Anscombe, especially after the devastation her people suffered from the Cahirans shortly thereafter. But now she feared that there was no good side in this war.

  “I don't think the Cynewards will let the Duillaine hurt Zelene or Rhaya. I've spoken to Liam and Raemann—”

  “You've spoken to Liam? He never comes to see me anymore. He used to just slip in, but…”

  Bianca walked back over to her and ducked her head to meet Isauria's lowered gaze. “Izzy, there are guards posted at your door and the only time Cynewards are supposed to be interacting with you is when you are in trouble. He had little choice before in the distance he was forced to keep from you, and believe me when I say he has no choice now. And I know how much it must be eating him up inside.”

  “Sorry, you're right. Perspective.” Isauria paced around and then turned back to Bianca. “We need to know what the Duillaine are up to, right? I mean that's the thing. No one knows their side. All we know is what they've done or not done, but no one can say why.”

  “I suppose that is the problem, but they refuse to even tell the Duillaine Ainnir anything. How can we possibly hope to get their side of the story when they remain so tight-lipped?” Bianca hated to say it, but she started to think Zelene had been right not to trust them.

  “We don't need them to talk to us. We just need to catch them talking, which I would bet they are doing right now.” Isauria grabbed Bianca's hand and closed her eyes. “Come on.”

  Before Bianca could question Isauria's meaning, the woods around her faded and a large bedroom came into view. Solanna sat in a chair, staring out of the window, while Meridel was on the bed with her arms hugging the large bedpost. Sylvanna, completely recovered from her encounter with Zelene, paced the floors, anger radiating with her every step.

  Solanna turned as Sylvanna made another round in front of her. “Are you planning to tell us why you called us here, Sylvanna? I’m afraid Meridel and I lack the ability to read your mind, and your pacing is trying my patience.”

  Sylvanna stopped, eyes narrowed. “You know very well why I've called you here, Solanna. We must discuss the actions that took place today and how the girls must be punished for defying us.”

  Meridel's head snapped up at this. “The girls? Surely you don't mean Rhaya as well? She isn't responsible for Zelene's actions. Her only crime is being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  “Are you forgetting that Rhaya threatened you, Meridel?” Solanna shook her head to halt her sister's protests. “It doesn't matter. We can't punish them at all.”

  “We have to,” Sylvanna, determined. “They defied the Duillaine Banair! Our very laws dictate that they must be made to pay for their crimes. And they must be made to understand that we are to be obeyed.”

  “And what would you have us do, Sylvanna?” Solanna gripped the arms of her chair tightly, her fingers digging into the elaborate carved pattern of moon and stars. “Would you have us put the Duillaine Ainnir—the prophesied saviors of the worlds—in the stocks for the day? Have the villagers pelt rotted fruit at the heads of the hope personified?”

  “No,” Sylvanna snapped back. She twisted her hands and resumed her pacing, “of course not. It obviously cannot be something so public.”

  “Oh,” Solanna said with a dry laugh. “Well, perhaps we can lock them away in the dungeons for a time and hope that word doesn't spread. It worked for Arland. At least if we have them all locked in there, I won’t have to constantly expend my energy trying to block Isauria from seeing them, like you had me do with Arland.”

  “Arland was out of line!”

  “Arland did what any good father would do,” Solanna shouted, her usually soft voice echoing back from the high ceiling. “He was doing what Nandalia would have done. Or have you forgotten about our fallen sister so easily?”

  “I have forgotten nothing,” Sylvanna snapped. “Do not act as though you are the only one that feels her loss, Solanna. We all mourn her. And that is why it is imperative that we teach Zelene, so that she does not end up sharing the same fate as her mother. It is up to us to guide them, to shape them into the leaders the worlds will need them to be.”

  Solanna shook her head softly, her red hair spilling over her shoulders. “You don't understand, Sylvanna. The whole point is that we are not the leaders the worlds need. If we were, then the fifth would have been born to us, to our generation. We should not be guiding them, but we should let them guide us.”

  Meridel also stood up. “She's right. It is as the Mhathair Mhor has been warning us all these years, Sylvanna. We must allow the Prophecy to unfold on its own. If we try to push them to be anything other than who they are, we risk changing the fate of the worlds. One wrong move could cause us to lose everything. Isn't that what we've been talking about since their arrival? Why we haven't gathered our forces and stormed Cahira to rescue Ariana? Because she warned us. If we act, we threaten the survival of the worlds.”

  Sylvanna dropped into Solanna's chair and hung her head. “And yet if we do nothing, we risk losing the faith of our people. How are we supposed to run things when this Prophecy ties our hands at every turn?”

  Meridel claimed the seat next to her and turned her body to face Sylvanna's. “I know you are afraid, Sylvanna, but it is for the wrong reasons. The girls aren't here to amass a rebellion against us. They are here to lead us.”

  “Yes,” Sylvanna responded with exasperation, “right to the Cahirans. How can we expect them to end the war when they speak just like them? Zelene might as well have been raised by Kellen for all the things she spoke yesterday. Equality for the Tainted? The survival of our connection to the elements depends on the eradication of all those not touched by the elements. If they spread, we will end up like Dhara. And I don't need to explain to you what that means.”

  Isauria turned to Bianca. “What does that mean?”

  Bianca took advantage of the Duillaine's heavy silence to answer. “It would mean the death of every being who depends on that connection to survive. The Donnfay, the Baiul…all the races that have the power of the elements woven into their bodies will perish.”

  “They are only doing what they think is right,” Solanna said. “The world they were raised in is so much different from ours. We can't expect any less.”

  “Perhaps I was wrong to send them there,” Sylvanna admitted, sinking further into her chair. “Perhaps in doing so, we've only ensured that the Cahirans have won.”

  “You did what had to be done, Sylvie,” Meridel assured her. “What the Great Mother herself ordered us to do. The girls weren't safe here, and they are alive today because of the decisions you made then. It's a miracle that Terrena survived in Estridia for as long as she did.”

  “In truth,” Sylvanna said with reluctance and regret, “I believe that was only because Kellen had risen to power and had her own sch
emes concerning the girls.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Sylvanna looked between her fellow sisters in power like she was trying to decide whether or not to explain. “Do you remember when Terrena was attacked not long after she truly began to come into her powers?”

  Meridel shivered and hugged herself tight. “I'll never forget it.” She looked up at her younger sister. “The look on your face when you told me . . . I thought she was dead, for certain.”

  Solanna walked over and hugged her sister. “I did too.”

  Bianca hadn't heard about this attack before, and so she turned to Isauria in question. “Do you know what they're talking about?”

  Isauria thought this over and then nodded. “I think so. I remember seeing Terrena and Kenward talk about it. She wanted so badly to use her abilities for good, so she started volunteering as a galena and trying to secretly heal people. She brought a man attacked by a bore back from near-death, and people figured out who she was. Word got back to the Cahirans, and they found her not long after that. Kenward killed them all. That's why they had to go to the Western regions after that. They needed to get as far away from the rumors about her as possible.”

  “They never would have found her if her Cyneward had kept a tighter hold on her,” Meridel said angrily. “Allowing her to use her gifts of healing like that . . . word was sure to spread, and people were bound to realize who she was.”

  “In all fairness, I don't think Kenward knew what she was doing.” Solanna shifted her attention back to Sylvanna. “Why do you bring this up?”

  Sylvanna sat forward on the edge of her chair. “The pattern started then. The Cahirans didn't try to kill her. They always tried to take down Kenward, even though there were plenty of openings for them to kill Terrena in the process.”

  “Aren't you forgetting that they nearly gutted my daughter before she returned to us?” Meridel asked incredulously.

  “No, I'm not. She was attacked almost at the same time as Zelene, Ariana, Isauria, and Rhaya.”

  Solanna seemed to be following her line of thought. “She wanted them all to be taken out at the same time. But why?”

  “I don't know,” Sylvanna answered. She paused, massaging her temples to help ward off her headache “I just know that it cannot be a coincidence that she tried to assassinate them all at the same time that she was taking Ariana into her possession.”

  “Do you think she did something to Ariana?” Meridel asked in a choked voice.

  Sylvanna lifted a shoulder sadly. “Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing. We all know that she is powerful enough to take down one of us. How else could she have gotten close enough to Nandalia to not only kill her, but torture her first? The truth is that she is a much more formidable foe than we had given her credit for. And this young man traveling around with Ariana—we have no idea who he is nor whose side he is truly on.”

  Solanna shook her head. “I believe he is on Ariana's side. I've seen them together and he is so . . . tender with her. Don't forget that he helped her escape from Kellen.”

  “Or she allowed them to escape,” Meridel reluctantly pointed out.

  “You can't be serious! You think she staged the whole thing with the boy? Why?” Solanna asked.

  Meridel looked as though she might be sick when she answered. “Do you remember what happened to the people on Seirbigoine? If Kellen managed to do the same thing to Ariana in her time there, then she could easily wipe out both Duillaine Banair and Duillaine Ainnir alike, possibly even our entire bloodline.”

  Isauria turned to Bianca, who had stiffened at the mention of Seirbigoine. “What happened to them?”

  Bianca opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to form the words caught in her throat.

  Isauria put an arm around her shoulders. “We've heard enough. Let's go.”

  Bianca nodded shakily, new fears and concerns mingling with the scars of old. “The Duillaine had received word that the Cahirans were planning to court the people of Seirbigoine as allies in the war since they were known to produce some of the best healers in all the lands. They had sent peace messengers to them in order to sway them to the side of the Duillaine Banair. They offered them protection in return for their best healers and they had agreed. The Duillaine Banair then sent them an army to protect the tairseach and they sent their best healers to Estridia to be trained. Not long after the exchange, the tairseach lit up and a single child came through.” Bianca swallowed the bile building in her throat. She didn't realize she had balled up her fists until Isauria took her hand. “She was native to Seirbigoine but had been missing for almost a year. The people rejoiced at her return, but it wasn't long after that the people began to get sick. The child had brought with her a plague that touched only those from Seirbigoine. The best healers of all the worlds were there working on the problem and were unable to find a cure, each working well into their own infections and straight up to their deaths. The only Seirbigoinans alive today were the ones that were sent to Anscombe twelve years ago.”

  “Bianca . . . ”

  “Thanks to the Cahirans,” she said, her lips quivering. “I am one of the last of my people. There's only a hand full of us here now. The only reason we know is because there was a small group of Baiul visiting at the time. The plague didn't touch them. The Duillaine cut off Seirbigoine and no one has been there since.”

  Isauria wrapped her into a tight hug. “I am so sorry, Bianca.” She pulled away. “What can I do?”

  “There’s nothing to be done now, Izzy. They’re already dead. But thank you.” When Bianca looked around again, she noticed that they were back with Ariana. “She still doesn't look well.”

  Isauria agreed. “Do you think . . . do you think they're right? About Kellen having done something to Ariana?”

  “I'm not sure. I'd like to say no . . . but I can't be certain of what's been done to her without examining her. And you did say that Kellen had done something to Ariana before that had incapacitated her.”

  Isauria shook her head. “It was the same thing she did to my mother when she killed her. I think she was just trying to hurt Ariana. Aside from burning her and torturing her, I don't know when Kellen would have had the chance to turn her into some kind of walking contagion.” She watched her sister. “We can't sit back and do nothing because there's a chance that Kellen did something to her. If we do that, we're just like the Duillaine. You heard what they said. They're afraid to go after Ariana because of the Great Mother and her stupid Prophecy.”

  Bianca gripped Isauria's hand. “Tell me what to do, Izzy. I'm so lost as to what the right thing is anymore.”

  “Tell Zelene and Rhaya. It's up to them. There's nothing I can do from behind guarded doors,” Isauria said sadly. “And then tell them to find a way to get me out of here so we can rescue Ariana.”

  ***

  Zelene made her way back to her room feeling significantly lighter than she had before and feeling more confident in her decision to rescue Ariana on their own. Her light steps faltered when she noticed Varrick pacing outside of her room. Her heart seized in her chest. Had the worst happened with Ariana? Was she beyond rescue now? She rushed over to him, eyes full of concern and then confusion as anger reflected back through his.

  He pointed to the door leading to her bedroom. “Inside. Now.”

  She swallowed nervously but obeyed. She sat down into the chair he dragged across the room for her. She glanced to Ellowyn, who sat in the back of the room bouncing her legs. Yup, this was bad. Had Varrick found out their plans to rescue Ariana? And if so, how? She silently cursed her own stupidity, realizing she'd announced her intentions in front of her brother.

  “That tattle tale,” she muttered to herself. “Okay, Varrick, I get it. I'm in deep. I pretty much got that with you risking all those ridiculous rules to have the chance to lay into me. So let's have it. Tell me what an idiot I am and how it's reckless and dangerous—”

  “You're damn right it was dangerous,” h
e shot back, his Scottish accent thick with his anger. “Pitting yourself against the Duillaine Banair like that was incredibly dumb. You could have ended up exactly like your father! They threatened to do the same to you and I'm not convinced that they've decided not to. You have already been on thin ice with them just because of your attitude and then this?”

  Zelene tried to hide her relief that Varrick was still in the dark about her intentions with Ariana. “I know, I know. But I couldn't just leave him there, Varrick,” she gestured angrily in the direction of the dungeons. “What would you have had me do? Isn't he supposed to be your best friend?”

  “Cynewards don't have friends, Zelene,” he reminded her coolly, “and we certainly don't have best friends. We have wards that tend to get themselves in trouble.”

  “Don't give me that crap,” she shouted back. “I've seen how you are with my Dad and I know you care about him. So don't stand there and act like you aren't glad that I got him out, even if it means pissing off Sylvanna.”

  “Yes,” he admitted with a growl. “I am glad Arland is okay. But I don't expect this sort of behavior from you, Zelene. Ariana? Yes. She doesn’t think; she just acts. But you always kept your head down.”

  “That’s because I was afraid of getting it knocked off by Nora. I am tired of keeping my head down,” she said through a clenched jaw. “Keeping my head down got me nowhere, Varrick! I was still completely powerless no matter what I did but that has changed now. I can do some good here. And I am not going to just sit back and watch people be treated like that. If that means I'm making your job harder, I'm sorry. But that's how it's going to be.”

  He pinched the bridge of his nose as her tirade came to a close. “I'm not saying that I'm not proud of what you did, Zelene. But could you at least give me some warning when you're planning on doing something that might get you hurt?”

  “How much notice do you need exactly?” she asked before biting her lip innocently. At his look of exasperation she held up her hands in surrender. “Kidding! And anyway, aren't you supposed to be able to sense danger?”