by SJ West
"Greetings, your majesty," he said, before standing back up to his full height, which was quite formidable to say the least.
He was at least six and a half feet tall with black hair and dark brown eyes. Everything about the admiral seemed large, even his hands. They dwarfed the bicorn hat he held within their grip.
"Admiral Edeson, how are your men doing?" I asked him.
"As well as can be expected, Queen Emma," he said with a deep sigh. "I'm only sorry that we weren't able to stay and defend Vankara from the Fae. Their dragon corps was simply too strong, and their attack on us was fast and fierce. It was the most well-coordinated assault I've ever seen. It was almost as if they knew exactly what all of our vulnerabilities were. They tore apart and burnt our ships with such efficiency I worried none of us would make it out alive."
"How much of the fleet was able to make it to Kamora?" Fallon asked.
The admiral looked down and tapped his hat against his right leg. I began to wonder if he was ever going to answer Fallon's question when he finally admitted, "Only half."
"Those poor men," I said, feeling the loss of so many souls in a war none of us saw coming.
"And do the ships you were able to bring here need any repairs done before they can return to Vankara?" Fallon asked.
"Yes, the ships do need some repairs," Admiral Edeson said hesitantly, as though there was something else he needed to say on the subject but wasn't quite sure if he should or not.
"What's wrong, Admiral?" I asked, gently prodding him to speak his mind.
Admiral Edeson looked around us like he was searching for an eavesdropper among the well-tended bushes in the garden we stood in, but, to my eyes at least, we appeared to be completely alone.
"Queen Sora said she would send us supplies and craftsmen to help us with the repairs right after we arrived," Admiral Edeson said in a low voice. "But we haven't been given either. If we could just get the supplies we need, I feel confident my men and I could do the repairs ourselves."
"Has a reason been given for the delay?" I asked.
The admiral shook his head. "No, your majesty. I've made inquiries every day since we've been here but have yet to receive a real answer to explain the holdup."
"I will ask Queen Sora about it this afternoon when I have tea with her," I tell him. "And don't worry, Admiral, I will get you and your men what you need. You have my word on that."
Admiral Edeson bowed to me again. "I have no doubt that you will do as you say, my queen. Honestly, I'm just happy you made it out of Vankara safely. We were all worried about your well-being and that of the princess."
"My daughter is safe and well," I assured him. "And there is no need to worry about either of us. Vankars are survivors which is something Queen Nuala should have considered before invading my country."
"Have you heard about our plans to go to the dragon isles?" Fallon asked.
"I've heard rumors among the locals in town. There's even a wager on whether or not you will succeed, my queen," Admiral Edeson said with a lopsided grin.
"And how are my odds?" I asked out of curiosity.
The admiral looked rather sheepish before saying, "The odds are a hundred to one...against you securing an alliance with the dragons, your majesty."
"Then do me a favor," I told him, holding my head up a notch higher. "Place a wager on my behalf because I don't intend to fail. If the Kamorans are foolish enough to bet against me, we might as well take their money for their lack of faith."
The admiral chuckled. "Yes, your majesty. I will do that as soon as I leave here."
"Good," I said, smiling at the admiral. "Now, go back and tell your men that they will be receiving the supplies they need before we leave for the dragon isle. They have the word of their queen that it will be taken care of."
"I will give them your message, Queen Emma." Admiral Edeson looks over at Fallon. "If you don't mind me saying so, I'm glad to see you chose to become the Queen's Marshal, Fallon. If ever there was a time we needed someone like you, it's now."
Fallon tilted his head forward with a small, pleased smile on his face at the compliment.
The admiral bowed to me and then turned on his heels and left.
I heard Fallon begin to chuckle. I turned to look at him and found him looking at me with amusement dancing in the light of his eyes.
"And what do you find so humorous, Marshal Fallon?" I asked, unable to suppress a smile of my own in the face of his mirth.
"It's just that Emma never would have done such a thing," he said with a small shake of his head. "Placing a bet on herself wouldn't have even crossed her mind."
"Did I make a mistake?" I asked, worried I might have done something so out of character for the queen that I may have cast suspicion on myself.
Fallon shook his head. "No, most definitely not. It made the admiral more at ease with you, which is important in a time like this. He needed to feel your confidence in order to make it easier for him to regain his own. I know Oliver well. I'm sure he feels an enormous amount of guilt over the loss of so much of the fleet. He's one of those rare commanders who takes a personal interest in his men. You did well, Sarah. You gave him a reason to stay hopeful about us winning this war."
"And what do you think?" I asked. "Do you think we can drive the Fae out and take our country back?"
Fallon sighed heavily. "I think we can... as long as Queen Sora gives us her troops, and we can forge an alliance with the dragons. The Fae's ability to attack us from the air gives them an enormous advantage. We have to be able to counteract it if we're going to have any hope of winning."
"Unfortunately, I can only guarantee one of those things," Aurora tells me.
I can feel Aurora's confidence that her kin will accept our plea for help and aid us in our fight against the Fae. I just hope she's right.
"If Queen Sora doesn't help us," I said, "there is always Aleksander's bargain to fall back on."
Fallon's expression turned from amused to troubled.
"His semi-veiled attempt at blackmail should only be considered as a last resort," he said. "You shouldn't have to trade yourself to him just to gain his help. No self-respecting man would do such a thing to a lady much less a queen. He's basically asking you to prostitute yourself out to him, and I won't stand idly by and let you do that when there are other options still available to us."
"But time is one of our enemies as well," I reminded him. "The longer we wait to flush the Fae out of Vankara the more lives we'll lose. Between the plagues and this war, the people of Vankara have lost enough because of Nuala. If it is within my power to ease their pain and prevent any more lives from being lost, I'll do whatever I have to."
"You sound almost resigned to that fate," Fallon said.
"Not resigned," I assured him. "But, there is nothing I wouldn't personally sacrifice in order to win this war. And if that means marrying Aleksander to secure his troops, so be it."
"Then I will do whatever I have to do to make sure you don't have to marry a man like that. He isn't good enough for you. I hope you know that."
As I looked at Fallon and take note of the grim determination on his face to make sure I didn't have to marry Aleksander to save Vankara, I began to wonder if Inara's observations were correct. Could Fallon harbor feelings for me, the real me? Or did he still see the woman he loved once upon a time standing in front of him?
The way he was looking at me now seemed to indicate that he might actually see the real me. But, what exactly did I feel for him? Could I trust my feelings to be my own, or were they simply being influenced by the remnants of Queen Emma's love for Fallon?
"He does truly care for you," Aurora said to me.
"But is it me he sees, or does he see Queen Emma?"
"I have no way of knowing that," Aurora admitted. "But it's you who is standing in front of him now, not her."
"Who do you see when you look at me like that, Fallon?" I asked, not seeing any reason not to get clarification. I needed to
know the answer, and Fallon was the only one who could give it to me.
"Like I told you before," Fallon said in a low voice, taking one-step closer to me so that only inches separated us, "I see you, Sarah."
"But how can you see me?" I whispered. "How can you see past what I look like?"
Fallon kept his gaze locked with mine. "There's something in your eyes that's totally different from her. I don't want to speak ill of the dead, but Emma always had a coldness, an aloofness about her that kept her separated from others. She never truly let anyone inside her heart except for Dena. Emma never allowed any man to claim her. I think she felt like she couldn't afford to as queen and still retain who she was... who she needed to be."
Involuntarily, I lowered a hand to my abdomen and wondered about the baby growing inside me. Who actually fathered the child? A small part of me wished it belonged to Fallon, but I knew that would have to be a miracle to be fact. Queen Emma and Fallon hadn't seen each other in years before the day she died.
If the child growing inside me did in fact belong to Aleksander...
"I feel sure he isn't the father, Sarah...." Aurora grumbled after reading the train of my thoughts.
If the child belonged to Aleksander, then I might not have a choice in who I married.
"What happens if this child is in fact Aleksander's?" I asked Fallon directly, needing to know the consequence of such a connection between the Queen of Vankara and the King of Chromis, and needing to know what Fallon thought about me having another man's babe within my womb. "Considering it's a boy, will Aleksander expect me to marry him so he can legitimize his son and make him his heir?"
"You are not obligated to marry anyone," Fallon said emphatically. "Aleksander can claim the child as his own if that's what he wants to do, but you don't have to marry him to make the child legitimate. You are the queen of the most powerful nation in the world. You don't have to do anything you don't want to."
Fallon lifted his right hand and gently cupped one side of my face.
"What is it that you want to do, Sarah?" Fallon whispered. "What is your heart telling you it wants?"
I felt confused and found it hard to think straight with Fallon's penetrating gaze searching for an answer within the deepest recesses of my soul.
My heart wanted to accept what Fallon seemed to be offering, but my mind warned against it. There were too many unknowns to face, too many variables to know exactly what the right path to take was. And I knew, if I followed my heart in that moment, I would simply throw my arms around Fallon's neck and kiss him passionately to relieve its ache.
Fallon's heart seemed to be on a parallel path with my own. He lowered his head as if he intended to kiss me, and I simply stood there, breathlessly waiting, doing nothing to stop him.
Someone cleared their throat beside us and broke the bubble of intimacy surrounding us. We both realized we weren't alone but neither of us made to move away from each other quickly. Finally, Fallon took a step back from me and moved his hand away from my face to drop it back down to his side.
I turned to find Arisu, Queen Sora's servant, standing a few feet up the stone path from us.
"Please excuse my intrusion, your majesty," Arisu said bowing to me at the waist, looking completely embarrassed that she interrupted us. "Queen Sora sent me to help you dress for the tea ceremony. She expects you there shortly."
I looked back at Fallon, but saw that his emotions were closed off with the appearance of Arisu, and that we were back to our parts as queen and Queen's Marshal.
"Thank you, Arisu, I would appreciate your assistance," I told her.
Fallon turned to the side and held out a crooked arm for me to take, keeping his gaze averted from mine for some reason.
As we followed Arisu back to my room in the palace, I felt a tenseness in Fallon that wasn't there before. Perhaps I shouldn't have been so forward with him, but I needed to know what his feelings were towards me.
"They're quite obvious now, if you ask me," Aurora said. "The only question is...are you brave enough to acknowledge that you have feelings for him too?"
"I'm not sure," I admitted. "And I'm not sure I have the luxury of time to decide one way or the other."
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
I was grateful for Arisu's practiced assistance in dressing me appropriately for the tea ceremony with Queen Sora. I wasn't accustomed to wearing such fashion, but she made quick work of getting me into the kimono she herself made for me. After I was properly attired, Arisu escorted me out of my room where I found my small contingent of friends awaiting me in the hallway.
"Is everyone going?" I asked them. "I assumed this would be a private affair."
"It is," Fallon said, looking troubled. "We just wanted to wish you luck in your dealings with her."
"And don't take any crap from her, Em," Inara said fiercely. "She might think she has the upper hand but don't give in to her demands too quickly. We're not beggars here."
Silently, I had to disagree with Inara. We were beggars here. We were begging for the Kamorans help in a war we couldn't win on our own.
"Just do what needs to be done, within reason of course," Dracen advised sagely. "You will know in your heart whether or not her demands are just or simply ones born out of her own greed. Like any good bargainer, she will start out asking for the moon. It will be your job to bring her back down to earth for a reasonable offer."
I looked at Able as he stood silently by Inara's side and could tell by the way he was biting his lower lip that he desperately wanted to tell the others about the prophetic vision he saw. Ever so slightly, so as not to be noticed by the others, I shook my head at him.
He stopped biting his lip and nodded imperceptibly.
"Niece!"
I looked behind me and saw the king's only son, Ren, approaching us. He had an easy smile about him as he strolled up the hallway towards us.
"Uncle," I said in return. "What brings you to us?"
Ren stopped in front of me. "I thought I would escort you to Sora." Ren briefly glanced in Arisu's direction, and I saw a faint blush redden the other woman's cheeks. "I thought it might give us a chance to catch up with one another."
"Of course," I said, hoping Ren didn't expect me to remember the last time we saw each other. It had to have been at the funeral of his mother, Queen Emma's grandmother.
I turned to my friends. "I'll see you all when I return," I told them, noting the worry in each of their gazes, especially Dracen, as if I was about to walk to the gallows instead of to a negotiation.
I quickly turned away from them before their worry could infect my thoughts and began to walk down the hall with Ren at my side. Arisu followed behind us at a discreet distance.
"Why don't you tell them what the boy saw?" Aurora asked me as we walked further down the corridor. "Surely you would be safer if they knew what to look out for."
"I will tell them later," I assured her. "If I tell them now, they won't let me go to this tea ceremony with Sora alone. In fact, I have a feeling Inara would physically hold me down on the ground to prevent me from going at all."
"Maybe that's a good thing," Aurora said. "Maybe you shouldn't be alone with her. We already know she's vile. She could be dangerous too!"
"Perhaps," I agreed. "But I don't need for her to know we suspect her of anything nefarious. If she does, she might ask us to leave and not offer us her troops. There are far too many ‘ifs’ at this point to make a rational decision. Let's learn all we can first before we make any rash assumptions and let our emotions rule our actions."
"I don't like it," Aurora huffed, curling up on my shoulder with her head turned away from me. "I don't like it one bit."
There wasn't much for me to do to ease my little dragonling's worries. I simply had to follow what my heart was telling me to do, just as Dracen said I should.
As Ren and I walked through the palace, I said, "I assume you don't just want to chitchat, Uncle."
Ren grinned. "Smart as ever, Emma. N
o, I don't want to have a simple chitchat. I want to warn you about Sora. Don't trust her."
"I think it might be more helpful if you told me something I didn't already know," I chided good- naturedly. "But, what exactly are your reasons for telling me that?"
Ren placed a hand on my arm to bring me to a stop.
In a whisper he said, "There have been rumors that she practices dark magic. I believe she's using this magic to control my father."
I felt Aurora lift her head and look at Ren, forgetting her pout considering this new revelation.
"That could explain the strangeness about the king I sensed," Aurora said.
"Do you have any proof?" I asked Ren.
Ren sighed heavily. "No, I don't have any yet. Nevertheless, I have spies working on the matter. If I can prove she's practicing dark magic, I can have her executed and hopefully break whatever hold she has over my father."
"I didn't realize you killed people for practicing that sort of magic."
"Once someone turns to the dark arts," Ren told me, "there's no saving them. It's better for everyone if they’re put to death quickly like any rabid dog. Their soul is eaten up by darkness, and they can't be saved. While you are with Sora today, would you mind doing me a favor?"
"And what would this favor involve exactly?"
"While you're with her, look for any clues that she's using dark magic."
"I'm not sure I would know it even if I saw it," I confessed.
"I believe you're smart enough to pick up on such things if you see it, Emma. Dark magic can manifest itself in many different ways. Just be mindful of things around you while you're with her."
"Do you think she would try to use her powers on me?" I asked.
Ren shrugged. "I have no way of knowing for sure, but I wouldn't put it past her. Just be careful, Emma. And for goodness sakes, don't trust a word she says."
I nodded, having already decided that very thing.
Ren and I continued to walk, but I had no idea where he was taking me until we reached the landing area where my airship was moored.
"Why are we up here?" I asked.
