Diadem

by Kate Kelley

  She was wholly different now. Her muscles toned, her mind stronger, her soul forever changed. She threw on her chemise and tunic, vest, and pulling up her leather pants. She was through with trifling with dresses. It was a new era again, and she was determined to allow herself to fully transform this time. She’d managed to ruin every single friendship she had made here--Terrin, Oriel, and Poppi all disliked her.

  At least she still had Alec. And Freydis, for as long as she would stay. Even still, at the end of the day, all she had to rely on was herself. It was time she started trusting in her instincts.

  Lyra braided the upper sides of her hair close to her scalp so that the hair stayed out of her eyes and face, letting the rest fall loosely to her lower back. She scoured through her vanity drawer until she found the bit of wet charcoal Poppi had gotten for her. At the time, Lyra thought it vulgar, something only actresses used. But today was a new day. She carefully lined her top lid close to her eyelashes with the charcoal, delighted when her thumb couldn’t smudge it. It made her lashes look thick and bold. And It made her stand out. If they were at war, then this was her war paint.

  She left the room, her strides strong and sure. Sharp glances whipped her way and whispers sounded behind delicate hands as she continued on, gaze steady in front of her until she reached her goal. The throne room doors were closed, four knights guarding. Silo stood in front of them, and his eyes narrowed as he took in her appearance.

  “Do you have an appointment with the Queen?” he asked.

  “No. I’m looking for Terrin.”

  “That’s Prince Terrin. And he isn’t in a meeting with the Queen right now.” Silo nearly hissed, his oblong face scrunching around the eyes until it resembled a diamond shape.

  “Step aside, Silo.” The deep voice grated on Lyra’s nerves.

  Silo’s eyes widened as he looked beyond Lyra. He signaled for the guards to step aside and gestured for Terrin to enter. Lyra stepped in but Silo caught her arm, his wiry fingers wrapping tightly. “You do not have an audience with the Queen. The insolence from you has gone far enough--”

  Lyra tugged her arm away but not before Terrin grabbed his throat and lifted him like a sack of potatoes. The skinny man gasped and raised his hands in surrender. Terrin crowded his face close to Silo’s. “If you want to keep your job, I propose not insulting a member of the Queen council again.”

  He dropped Silo just as his face was turning blue, and strode on toward Iris without a backwards glance.

  Iris narrowed her eyes at her brother. “Really, Terrin? You show up here after an attack on the castle and then choke my Chamberlain.”

  Terrin stilled. “So the rumors are true.”

  Iris bristled and sat down on her throne before flicking her other council members away, much to their obvious dismay. Alec, Freydis, and Oriel stayed.

  “Four trolls, one giant, and a man on a giant raven stormed the castle last night,” Alec informed him, hands clasped behind his back.

  Terrin seemed unalarmed at the amount of magical creatures had been involved. “Who was the man?”

  “Edwin,” Lyra said, choosing to volunteer the information herself rather than cower from her past.

  He didn’t look at her but a muscle in his jaw bunched. “What did they want?”

  “Lyra,” Oriel said grimly.

  Terrin stilled again, a preternatural quality that irked Lyra. “I see they didn’t get what they wanted,” Terrin commented, “Why?”

  “Edwin wasn’t quite forthcoming with that information, as I’m sure you’ve guessed,” Lyra told him, eyeing him closely. He still wouldn’t make eye contact with her.

  “I was sliced open and almost burned to death, but I’ll be okay. I killed the troll that did it,” Lyra blurted, hoping to startle Terrin into looking at her.

  It worked, and his eyes glued to hers. His gray eyes looked black in the dimmed room.

  He looked away just as soon as he had, and scanned her form.

  “It was dark magic, and I’ll have a scar, but otherwise I’m fine.”

  He nodded faintly and turned to the rest of the group. “So the portal is open?”

  “Yes,” Lyra replied.

  He gave up avoiding her gaze. “Edwin tell you that?”

  “Yes. And thanked me for it. They came here with the magical beasts in order to capture me and bring me to Ganymede, which Edwin said I would be grateful for. Edwin was not ‘allowed’ to touch me, and I got the sense that he didn’t particularly like that rule.”

  “So, the portal is open, and Ganymede and Edwin are gathering magical folk back over to earth through it. Ganymede wants you for some reason and you aren’t to be harmed--yet.” Terrin stroked his jaw.

  Iris stood and gathered their attention. “I propose we send Lyra off to a remote location, somewhere they can’t find her to keep her and the rest of the castle safe. After all, we did have casualties last night.”

  Lyra felt a stab of guilt. “Iris is right. I should get away from here before more people get hurt.” Her mind fell through a tunnel of despair at the thought of leaving.

  “No,” Terrin said, his voice forceful. “We need to know why he wants Lyra and we won’t find that out unless she is with us. It is my duty to eradicate the threat of Ganymede against the kingdom.”

  Iris opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again. “But don’t you think that--”

  “No,” Terrin replied, ending the conversation.

  Iris inclined her head. “As head of the militia you are free to make those decisions. But I hope you know what you’re doing.”

  “Head of militia?” Frey blurted, her brows lowering. “You weren’t even here when we were attacked. Alec, and I killed the giant and two of the trolls for you. Where were you?”

  Iris’ eyes bulged from her head and her color rose at the remark. She was probably inwardly reeling at the lack of respect.

  Terrin turned to Frey. “I was assisting my people who needed help clearing debris on the other side of the island. On my way back, I heard many rumors of magical creatures, giant men, great winged creatures. The people are in a panic. I got here as fast as I could, not stopping to sleep or eat.” He turned to Iris. She bit her lip, her eyes unsure for the first time Lyra had met her.

  Oriel spoke up, his voice gentle. “Perhaps it is time to end the secrecy on magic. The people will find out anyway if Ganymede keeps bringing them out of Eclipsa, and they need to be prepared if they have any chance of defending themselves.”

  Terrin shook his head. “They won’t be able to defend themselves. I’ll send troops out to every village--”

  “It won’t be enough. They need mages,” Oriel said more firmly.

  Terrin scoffed, waving him off. “Well, that’s not an option we have. We only have fifty mages--”

  “No,” Oriel said, eyeing each person in the circle, “we have a list of dormant mages in each village. If we could get to them, perhaps we could reawaken their magic.”

  Alec bristled. “Dormants don’t just start using their magic, Oriel. That’s why they’re called dormants.”

  “How many dormants are there?” Lyra asked. When her eyes met Oriel’s, she knew he was thinking of Poppi too.

  “About forty percent of the population of Gem and Terra are dormants.”

  Lyra gasped. “And you think we can awaken their powers? How?”

  Iris shook her head, her expression piqued. “You’re spouting nonsense! Dormants do not awaken their powers.”

  A flash of green stopped their conversation, and Terrin pushed Lyra behind his tense body. She peered around him to see Poppi, standing tentatively in the middle of the room, her face flushed, her hands raised with glowing green aura. “It can be done,” she breathed.

  “My gods!” Iris exclaimed, clutching her throat. “She’s Navi’s sister, yes?”

  “Yes,” Terrin said slowly.

  “If she had had magic her whole life, Navi would have used it. That family doesn’t waste an ally,”
Oriel said with a quirk of an eyebrow. He watched Poppi with a small smile. Lyra felt his pride.

  “How did you do this, Oriel?” Iris asked, walking slowly toward Poppi as if she were a strange specimen. Poppi lowered her palms, the glow fading, and curtsied.

  “I didn’t,” Oriel said with a bigger grin,“It seems to have been a result of strong emotion.”

  “Oh, but you did, Oriel,” Poppi said with a scowl. Oriel’s smile faltered and a blush stained his cheeks.

  Terrin’s brow lowered and he glared at Oriel like he would like nothing more than to strangle him like he did Silo, except not stopping when his face turned blue.

  “So how are we to awaken these powers in these dormants?” Alec asked Oriel, taking measure of Poppi. He grabbed her hand and turned it over. Poppi smiled up at Alec shyly.

  Oriel advanced, gently taking Poppi’s hand from Alec. “Crystals. We will have our fifty mages working night and day to awaken the dormant magic.”

  “It’s never worked before,” Alec said with a frown. “I’ve never heard of a dormant reviving their magic.”

  “We’ve never tried,” Oriel countered. “The kingdom has been keen on letting magic go, not bothering to prevent the banishment of magical creatures over the last five hundred years, and keeping the very existence of magic a secret to the common people. Why, to keep the royal family in power? Perhaps. To prevent uprisings? Very possibly. Of course dormant mages haven’t tried to awaken their magic. They don’t even know magic exists.”

  The silence was so pure that the wind shushing against the window was loud in comparison.

  “Fine,” Iris said, nodding her head to herself, “Send the mages out into Terra to gather any dormant mages from the villages. We will send Knights and a personal decree from me, demanding they come to defend the Kingdom. We will have ships sent along to bring them back to Gem, and the mages will work with them on reviving their magic.”

  “Where will they all stay?” Alec asked, glancing to Iris.

  “The estates will be freed up tomorrow,” Terrin chimed, “The land is revived, the tenements and houses in town are in repair. The dormants can stay in the estates. We can free up rooms here in the castle for those who are successful in reviving their magic and are proved to be trustworthy.”

  “Good,” Iris said with a nod. “And what of Ursa mages?”

  “Navi seems to recruit them into her army. Beyond that, I know nothing,” Terrin said.

  “Is that still happening?” Alec asked with a baffled grin.

  Terrin smoothed out the frown lines on his forehead. “King Titus it dead. Navi is desperate to ally herself with a royal husband.”

  “Keep that door open, Terrin. We don’t need two armies busting down our door at once,” Iris said.

  “They might anyway, if Navi is working for Ganymede as I know she is,” Lyra said with a mirthless smile.

  Iris pinned her with a narrow stare. “That’s quite a claim.”

  “Poppi, would you care to inform our queen of what your sister has been doing over the years?” Lyra said.

  Poppi avoided her gaze but nodded. “Permission to speak, your Majesty?”

  Iris nodded reluctantly and sat in the throne, her attention rapt.

  “My sister has used me as a slave for menial tasks my whole life. When I got older, she made me spy on people acting as their slaves. My father long ago gave me a pendant that allowed me to sometimes read her mind. I only caught snippets, but the few times I heard her thoughts, it was focused on a dark sorcerer, whom she only ever called “Master.” She made me come into this castle as Lyra’s lady’s maid to spy on her and intercept the letters from Edwin--to what end, I do not know. Apparently I failed at that job and she locked me into the tower with no food and only an ice block for water.”

  Lyra peered at Iris, whose face had considerably paled during the story.

  “What’s more, Ma’am, is that she--she gave herself to someone. Techni I believe, to be made into an Adlet. She continued rituals of all sorts, I believe praying to Tornassuk, the Ursa god.” She glanced at Frey, who leaned against a wall with her arms crossed.

  “Then perhaps this master is merely her god Tornassuk, and not Ganymede,” Iris replied.

  “But why would she have Poppi spy on me?” Lyra asked frankly.

  “She claimed it was jealousy, as Lyra and the King were close,” Poppi said, her face flushing again. Iris’ eyebrows rose and her eyes shifted between Terrin and Lyra as if seeing them for the first time.

  “That’s unfounded, Ma’am,” Lyra mumbled.

  “In any regard, the accusation of her working for Ganymede is largely unsubstantiated,” Iris concluded, rising to her feet. Poppi lowered her head, schooling her features into submission. Annoyance raked through Lyra.

  Iris stabbed her with a look. “I thought you’d be better at shielding your aura by now,” she said in a cool voice.

  Lyra shut it down, embarrassed.

  “I want you training every day,” Iris said, “all my mages are to train daily.”

  “I’m not a mage,” Lyra mumbled.

  “What was that?” Iris snapped.

  “I said,” Lyra began calmly, “I’m not a mage. I’m Fae. Half Fae..”

  Iris opened her mouth to form a response but Alec beat her to it. “Which begs the question--would mere mages--fledgling mages-- be any defense against whatever manner of wild creature Ganymede and Edwin bring to the castle?”

  “You and Freydis and Oriel held your own,” Iris replied, hand on her hip.

  Alec gave her a look.

  “Oh. Right. Most of you are Fae,” she mumbled.

  “And, honestly, your Majesty, I do not believe I could take down a giant,” Oriel said, humbly.

  “So what do you propose we do?” Iris asked, hand on her head, all pretense gone.

  “We take a page from Ganymede.” Lyra peered up with a smile, “Recruit magical

  creatures.”

  “Too dangerous,” Terrin said swiftly, his gaze on her throat.

  “I’m Fae would-be royalty. Alec is too. Freydis is Fae. We can start with them.”

  Iris wrung her hands, her gray dress swishing frantically as she paced. “Fine,” she barked, “You and Freydis go to Eclipsa to recruit the Fae. Alec, Oriel, and Poppi, you round up the mages in Gem and journey to the Mainland. Gather as many dormants as you can. I’ll have knights and ships sent your way within the hour. Terrin, you stay behind as head of militia. Send in my council to write up a decree for the dormants.”

  “Before Lyra and Freydis go, we have duty to attend to on the other side of the island. I can gather the mages who live there,” Terrin told her.

  Iris waved a hand at him while making her way to her goblet. They took it as a dismissal and wasted no time obeying that order.

  “Lyra,” Terrin called behind her.

  She turned and he met her gaze for a moment before averting it.

  “We’ve had word from Terra about your village.”

  Lyra rushed forward. “My aunt?”

  “Unharmed. House is intact. The school--”

  “What?”

  Terrin swallowed. “It was destroyed in the winds.”

  “No,” Lyra whispered. “My parents school is gone? Was anyone in it?”

  Terrin shook his head. He continued looking at the ground but clenched his fists tightly when he heard her sniffle.

  Lyra breathed out and wrapped herself in her arms as a tear made its way down her cheek. She wiped it off quickly. It was her parents’ dream, their legacy, and now it was gone.

  She started walking away dumbly when Terrin called her name again.

  His face was shut down, a torment in his eyes. “I’m having it rebuilt as soon as possible.” His words came out in a rush as if he hadn’t meant to say them.

  Lyra stopped, watching him stare at the floor. Before she could say thank you, he stalked past her and out the door.

  Chapter Fourteen

  They rode by
carriage for an hour until it abruptly stopped like a ship that had struck land. Terrin sat across from her in the cozy, dark car, their knees touching lightly the entire way. Oriel rode next to her, his thigh touching hers lightly.

  Lyra was ready to jump from the carriage as soon as it stopped. She thrust her head from the window to pull in a steadying breath. They were in a forest with flooding up half the trees. The foul odor of rotten eggs staunched her breath. She pulled back in.

  “I thought you said the flooding was gone?” Lyra sought Terrin’s elusive gaze, and didn’t find it.

  He stood and exited the carriage. He’d been avoiding her the entire trip. In fact, none of them spoke to each other, even when they stopped to speak to the mages along the way. Oriel’s aura was angry and melancholy but he didn’t try to speak telepathically with her. She knew he only wanted to convince her to not break the bond, and she also knew that Oriel would stand by his word, which led him to keep silent.

  “It’s a swamp,” Terrin said dryly, as if just remembering to answer her. He didn’t extend a hand to help her down so she jumped, her boots splattering the watery, grassy marshland. The water rose to mid-sole, which was manageable as long as they didn’t have to wade through deeper swamp water. The air was muggy, seemingly unconcerned that it was mid-November. She eyed the dull green surface of the forest floor, like a blanket of thick phlegm over the stale water. She almost gagged at the thought.

  They slushed through the waterlogged ground until they came to a wooden bridge hovering over a sea of algae and lily-pad ridden water. Terrin went first, followed by Lyra, then Oriel, their weight bending the wood with each step. Lyra made the mistake of grabbing hold of the railing--her hand came away thick with slime.

  The air was dense with mosquitos, attacking their skin in an incessant search for blood. Dragonflies and water striders skimmed the surface of the waters while frogs jumped soundlessly to and fro.

  It was five times darker in the alcove of the swamp forest as if day had turned to evening. What looked to be dying, pale trees reflected dully off the murky water. The croaks of hidden bullfrogs, at once deep and sharp, sounded continuously. Crickets, owls, and slow running water melded together in the symphony of the quagmire. Once, Lyra saw a thick movement of long, bumpy creatures melding into the water with barely a ripple. Alligators. She picked up her speed.