Heirs of War, Crown of Flames

by Mara Valderran

  Rhaya looked perplexed, barely even hearing the Cyneward. “She was . . . different.”

  “That's better than before though, right?”

  She shook her head. “I don't know, Varrick. There were moments of sadness and anger. Guilt. It was like a roller coaster with dead spots. But it's more the way she was talking.” She lowered her voice and lifted eyes that were oceans of worry and pity to the warrior. “Do you know that saying, the one about how you should only worry when you start answering the voices in your head?” She paused when he nodded. “Well, I think we should start worrying about Zelene because I'm pretty sure she's answering the voices.”

  Raemann stepped closer. “You think Zelene is going crazy?”

  “Could you blame her if she was?” Rhaya retorted. “Look, all I know is that sometimes it didn't seem like she was talking to me. She flinched too, like someone hit her. It was weird. And me saying that something is weird is saying a lot.” She turned to Varrick. “Isauria mentioned this to me before everything happened. She said she was worried about Zelene because she was talking to herself a lot. What do you think? Have you ever seen her act like this before?”

  He blew out a slow breath. “Yeah, I have. Solanna’s already aware of the problem, but I can’t say more.”

  Raemann couldn't believe what Varrick just said. “You've been talk to Solanna again? You're asking for trouble.”

  “Solanna is a friend, Raemann. And she came to me, what was I supposed to do?”

  “Not expect to get away with as much as you did before you had two wards. Two wards that find themselves in a lot of trouble, I might add.” Raemann held his hands up in surrender at Varrick's glare. “Arland might still be your friend, but Nandalia is not here to overrule Sylvanna anymore, and Solanna has proven that she won’t either.”

  “I know that,” Varrick said through gritted teeth. “And like I said, she came to me. As does Arland. It would be disrespectful not to answer them.”

  Rhaya groaned in frustration. “These rules are so stupid. You guys were fine to raise us but now…ugh, never mind. Solanna told you not to worry?”

  “And I’m telling you not to worry, Rhaya,” Varrick said. “I know what is going on with Zelene, as does Solanna. She is watching her carefully, I assure you.”

  “Well, Solanna will just have to forgive me for not trusting her or the Duillaine to judge what we should or shouldn't be concerned about. Don't worry, I'll figure out what's wrong with Zelene on my own.”

  Raemann cut an accusatory glare to Varrick. “See? This attitude? I blame your ward for this.”

  Rhaya rolled her eyes. “Oh, no. I think this one is on you, Dad. You’re the one who always encouraged my curiosity.” She turned a sweet smile to Varrick. “But Zelene has taught me not to take no for an answer. Fortunately for you, I have a lesson with Terrena that I am now late for.”

  “Terrena is still teaching you how to fight then?” Varrick asked with warning in his tone.

  Rhaya started to turn away and then shifted her attention back to them. “Yes, but you already knew that, and you already knew why. Ariana's still out there, and we're still going to find her,” she promised him. “Feel free to tag along, of course.” She winked and left them with a skip in her step.

  Raemann shrugged. “No one can keep a secret around here, it seems.”

  “Some people can,” Varrick muttered before resuming his post across from Zelene's room. “There's still too many for my liking.”

  Raemann nodded, unable to argue.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Ariana stared out the window from her seat at Lara's table. She idly stirred the porridge the woman made, her thoughts elsewhere. Another week had gone by without any sign of rescue. Ariana wanted to be angry, but all she felt was disappointment, fear, and the sting of rejection. She didn't know why her sister had abandoned her, or even if she really had, but that's always where her mind went when thinking about her current situation.

  “All right. I'll do it,” Lara announced. Her spoon clattered against her bowl and she sat back in her chair. “If it’ll get ya eating again, I'll do it.”

  Ariana turned to her host, having no clue what Lara was talking about, but well acquainted with her dramatic outbursts. The first time Ariana was introduced to Lara's theatrics, Lara dropped a dish she had been holding and exclaimed that they needed weapons. Ariana and Alec thought that they were under attack and it had taken a good ten minutes for Lara to finally explain that they were not, in fact, at that moment under attack but that it was only a matter of time.

  “You'll do what?” Ariana asked in a soft and defeated tone.

  “Help you get to the tairseach, love,” Lara answered like she thought Ariana was an idiot. “You can stop your hunger strike. I'll help ya get home.”

  Ariana knew she should be excited, but she didn't even know if she had a home to go to. What if the reason no one had come for her was because they didn't want her in Anscombe? “Thank you, Lara. I appreciate the offer, but I don't want to risk your life. If Kellen finds us, she'd kill you.” She turned back to the window. “She's killed other people we’ve come across just for being with us.”

  “Let her try,” Lara spat out. “I'm tougher than I look, and I bet we could get the others on our side. Not like they don't know who ya are by now.”

  Ariana whipped back around. “What? How? I thought you said I'd be fine to pose as your sister.”

  “Well, that was before the tailor saw your mark when she was fitting ya for your dress, now wasn't it?” Lara shook her head. “Nobody's gonna say nothing. Most people are too afraid to go anywhere near one of Kellen's people.”

  Ariana shivered in understanding. “They're not wrong to be afraid of Kellen.”

  “It's not just Kellen they're afraid of, girly. It's that pet Athucrean of hers, too. He's almost as bad as Kellen.”

  Ariana tilted her head, recognizing the word, but unable to place where. “Why are people scared of this Athucrean? How can he be anywhere near as bad as Kellen?”

  “She's trained him, ya see. He knows the proper ways to hurt a man and how to really drag out the kill.” Lara placed a hand over her fearful heart. “My heart's a-pounding just thinking about him. Tell ya what, you better hope it isn't him out there hunting for ya, or your Alec will be a goner. And not in a pleasant way, either.”

  Ariana leaned forward, intrigued. “Has he killed many people for Kellen?”

  “Oh yes. Heard about some of his handiwork in a few of the nearby villages. All's been quiet concerning him for a while now, but most people think he's off doing Kellen's bidding somewhere else.” She scooted her chair closer and rested her arms on the table, lowering her voice to a whisper of warning. “Ya best be on the lookout once you get to Anscombe. Be wary of those around ya.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I hear that he's a Cyneward, or supposed to be one, but he turned his back on his calling in favor of Kellen and her evil deeds.”

  Ariana swallowed hard and tried to cool her panic. Lara couldn’t be talking about Alec, even though alarm bells were ringing in Ariana’s head. She felt dizzy with the thoughts flying at her. Thoughts of Kellen referring to Alec as her pet. Remembering how Alec spoke of turning his back on his destiny. And hadn’t Kellen told him that it was in his blood to want to protect Ariana, just like it would be for a Cyneward? “Y-you . . . you think he's supposed to be a Cyneward. So he'd be really young right?”

  Lara sat back again and contemplated this. “Bout your age from what I've heard. But that only makes sense. Ya see, the Cynewards are taken away to train after they're called. But they don't get assigned a Duillaine until the current generation has children. Makes no sense for them to be the same age as your mother or aunts.”

  Ariana wasn't paying attention to the explanation. She didn't want to believe it, but it all made sense. Alec said he had been with Kellen since he was young, he knew more about her and her family than she did—even going so far as to admit that
he had seen her twin before—and Kellen had been all too insistent that they remain together. Was it all some kind of trick? Some sick game that Kellen was playing with her? Or was this some elaborate scheme meant to lure the Duillaine here?

  “You all right there, Ariana?” Lara asked suspiciously. “You turned a bit green. Like ya might be remembering this fella.”

  Ariana quickly stood up. “I am. I didn't know who he…but I know now.”

  “Nothing to get all shaken up about now,” Lara assured her. “Why don't you go have a lie-down for a bit? Think happier thoughts. Then we'll talk about getting you home.”

  Ariana nodded stiffly and rushed into the room she shared with Alec. She closed the door and leaned back against it. She pulled in several deep breaths, all thick with the air around her, which she now found to be suffocating. She clutched her chest and choked back a sob. Alec had deceived her from the very moment they met. He truly was Kellen's pet, and Ariana's stomach turned at the thought of what they had planned for her.

  She needed to get as far away from him as possible, but without using any magic. Or maybe she could, she thought to herself. She walked away from the door, thoughts racing through her mind. If Alec was really a spy, then that meant Sheridan might be part of the plot too. Kellen knew that Ariana possessed a formidable power within her—she coveted Ariana's power so much that she would tear worlds apart just to get it. So it made sense that Kellen would have her daughter try to dissuade Ariana from using it.

  Ariana flopped down on the bed and clutched her head in her hands, overwhelmed by fear, confusion, and the ache of betrayal. She only wished she could speak to Isauria again, but she still didn't know how to recreate that connection. She closed her eyes and concentrated on Isauria. She could feel her older sister there with her and tried picturing her face. It was almost as if Isauria sat beside her, and Ariana shifted her body in the direction of Isauria's presence. Keeping her eyes closed tight, she reached her hand out, imagining she could touch Isauria's shoulder. Surprisingly, the link between them ignited and Isauria began to take shape in front of her. And then, just as suddenly, Isauria faded away and Alec's face appeared in her place.

  Ariana leapt back on the bed, trying desperately to get away from him. She scrambled across the mattress and fell onto the floor. She stood up, leaving the bed between them even though she knew Alec could move faster than she could react. He didn't move, though. He stood completely still, unmoved by the fear reflecting in her face.

  “I heard Lara explain everything to you,” he said quietly. His shoulders were slumped and he didn't look up when he spoke. “I've thought about telling you myself, but I couldn't bear the idea that you would look at me differently. I can't bare it now.”

  “Yeah, well, maybe you should have thought about that before agreeing to be Kellen's errand boy,” Ariana shot back, her voice quivering. “What's your mission with me, huh? Lure the others here?”

  “I haven't had a mission in a really long time.” His tired eyes lifted to hers. “Not since I was sent to kill Zelene.”

  Ariana clamped her hand over her mouth and shook her head, unable to picture her sweet Alec trying to harm her twin. “That's how you knew what she looked like.”

  He nodded and sat down on the edge of the bed. “I came to Kellen as a boy. I longed for freedom, and she promised me that. She told me that she would free me from being a Cyneward. She told me that she would find a way to free me from the magic binding me to the Duillaine, but that it would be painful and that she would need my help in return. I agreed,” he said regretfully. “And it did hurt. She redefined the idea of pain for me. She would take me to the very edge of myself, and then yank me back. This went on for a few years.”

  “She tortured you,” Ariana summed up. She knew that already, but hearing him talk about it like this was different.

  He didn't acknowledge or comment, or address the conflict in her voice as she fought the sympathy she felt for him. He continued with his story as though talking to himself. “When she first offered me a job, I leapt at the chance, if only to escape the pain. It was simple. She needed something stolen, and she needed someone who was fast to do it for her. I succeeded, and she resumed her tests on me, assuring me she was close to severing my ties to the Duillaine. This pattern continued for a year or so. She'd torture me and break me down in the name of my freedom, and then she would reward my strength and patience with a mission. Little things at first, but after a time she asked me to kill someone. She told me all about the man she wanted me to kill, though now I have no idea if any of it was true. I was convinced I was killing a bad person, someone who was a threat to the Cahiran cause I so greatly believed in at the time.”

  “Did you kill him?” Ariana whispered the question, unsure as to whether or not she really wanted to know the answer.

  “Yes, and many others after that,” Alec answered. His voice broke and he took a moment to compose himself. “I suppose it was only a few years ago when things changed, maybe less. It's hard to keep track of time in the dungeons.”

  “What changed?” Ariana prompted him when he drifted to silence.

  He looked up at her now, his gray eyes watery. “Your sister. Kellen found all of you, and she wanted to take you out. I was supposed to kill Zelene first, then Rhaya, then Isauria, and then travel back to Estridia to find and kill Terrena. In the meantime, she was going to acquire you.”

  “Why? I mean, why not just kill me too?”

  “She thinks that when the others die, their powers will be passed to you, and then she can take that power for herself.”

  “So what happened with Zelene? Did our Cyneward stop you?”

  “No,” he said, his brows furrowed. “I never came across your Cyneward. He would have recognized me for what I was. I only saw Zelene, and followed her for a day or so. She never did anything that made me think she was evil, or a threat. I never once saw her use her powers, though I did see her argue with someone over their treatment of one of the small children she lived with. But I had my mission, and I knew I had to follow through. I followed her home and waited outside after dark until everyone went to bed. I planned to sneak in and kill her then, but something happened. There was all this yelling and commotion, and I could hear her screaming in pain. Moreover, I could hear how she struggled to keep her cries in, to stay quiet. I don't know why I did it, but I burst inside and I pulled the man off of her. He was beating her with a rolling pin. There was blood on the side of her head and I thought . . . I thought he might have done the job for me. I was scared that she was dead. It didn’t seem right. She was so small, and helpless against that man. So I grabbed her and I ran.”

  Ariana eased closer and wrapped her arm around the bedpost, longing to believe his story. “Where did you go?”

  “I didn't know what to do,” he said, the fear he felt evident in his helpless gaze. “I knew very little about Dhara, only the basics of what I would need to know in order to get from the tairseach to my targets. I remembered passing through a marketplace full of people and the strangest shops I'd ever seen. I took her there and told people I found her lying on the road.” He shrugged. “Crowds gathered, people talking of summoning what I hope was a healer.”

  “An ambulance?”

  Alec's face momentarily lit up with the joy of a long asked question being answered, but he quickly deflated. “Yes, well, when he showed up, he took great care with her and then put her in the back of a wagon of sorts. I melted into the crowd and then disappeared. I came back here and I told Kellen what happened. I told her that I didn't think you girls were the enemies, but more that you were also victims of the Duillaine's cold and distant way of dealing with matters. She wouldn't hear me, and she locked me away as punishment. And then . . . my eyes were opened. I began to question everything, and Kellen stopped using pretty words to ease my doubts. But she did continue to torture me in the name of freedom for the Cynewards, though I'm sure she had other motives for that as well.”

  There
was one giant hole in his story that prevented her from trusting him once more, even though her heart leaned that direction. “Why did you think we were on Cahira? I mean, if you've been traveling around doing her bidding for years, you should have known where we were.”

  “I assumed. Kellen wasn't settled in Cahira when we met. I would have never fled to Cahira no matter how desperate I was. We met on a world called Fuamnach. It is an impoverished world full of outcasts and outlaws . . . when I defied her, she sent me away from Fuamnach. I assumed that she was sending me to Cahira, but as we have learned since you talked to your sister, that isn't the case.” He turned to her pleadingly. “Please believe me, Ariana. I could never hurt you. I love you.”

  Her heart jumped into her throat, and her knees buckled, forcing her to sit down. “I thought you weren't capable of falling in love.”

  He shifted closer and let his fingers brush against hers. “I thought you believed I could.”

  She pulled her hand away. She noticed it shaking and tucked it underneath her thigh. “I don't know what to believe right now.” She didn't know whether she wanted to cry, or throw up, or wrap her arms around him and tell him everything would be okay. “I think I need some space.”

  He rose from the bed and bowed his head. “As you wish, Ainnir Ariana.” He turned and left the room without another word.

  Ariana threw herself onto her pillows and wept. Her heart was shattered into a million pieces and she longed for this nightmare to be over with. She lifted her head and searched the room around her, hoping to see her sister. “Please, Isauria,” she sobbed. “Please save me.”

  ***

  Alec gave Ariana the space she required. She stayed up most of the night thinking about everything. She walked to her window, wondering where Alec had gone. It was still dark outside but she could see the morning sky already making its appearance in purple tones on the distant horizon. The crickets still chirped loudly, not yet ready to turn the stage over to the birds with their morning songs. Everything around her seemed somehow at peace. She closed her eyes, hoping the sensation would wash over her.