Crown of Coral and Pearl

by Mara Rutherford

  He quirked his lips to the side. “Melina doesn’t have friends. But we’re allies, in a sense. We seek a common goal.”

  “For you to be king?”

  “I—”

  Without warning, a man burst out of the bushes behind me. He had his knife to my throat before I realized what was happening.

  “Scream, and I’ll kill you,” he hissed in my ear. Talin’s sword was already drawn, but when the man motioned for him to put it down, Talin warily complied.

  “You might wish to be more careful with the future queen of Ilara,” Talin said.

  I couldn’t see the man’s face, but the hand that held the knife to my throat was filthy, and his sleeve was torn and stained. He pressed the blade into my flesh, just far enough to draw blood, and I could feel the warm liquid beginning to drip down my neck. “I don’t answer to any queen. I was sent by the woman king.”

  “What do you want?” Talin asked, shifting on his feet. “We’re not carrying any money, and we have two Ilarean guards nearby.”

  I screamed as another man ran out from behind a tree and lunged for Talin. I elbowed the man holding me in the ribs and wriggled from his grasp, ignoring the searing pain in my neck as his blade sliced farther into my skin.

  Talin was wrestling with the second man while the other came after me again. I reached into my boot and withdrew the coral knife, slashing at the man who’d tried to capture me. He held his ground, but we both turned our heads at the sound of a strangled scream. Talin lay next to his attacker, gasping for breath. The stranger’s knife protruded from a bloody wound in his own chest.

  I gasped, afraid Talin was hurt, but he rose to his feet quickly. I turned to see the man who had attacked me disappearing into the trees.

  “Should we go after him?” I asked, but Talin was looking at my neck.

  “I’m not worried about him right now. You’re injured.”

  I winced as I touched the wound. “It’s nothing. Are you hurt?”

  “Nothing? You’re bleeding, Nor.”

  The guards stumbled into the clearing just as Ebb and Grig arrived from the other side. “We heard screams,” Grig said, hurrying toward us. “I was afraid for Mistress Ebb’s safety, or we would have come faster.”

  “And where were you?” Talin shouted at the guards. “It’s your job to protect Zadie.”

  “Apologies, Your Highness,” one of them said. “We got lost trying to find you.”

  “Lost? How far could you possibly have gone?”

  I shared his incredulity. Normally Ceren’s guards were so close I couldn’t move without stepping on their toes.

  “Is that blood?” the other asked, pointing to my neck.

  “Of course it’s blood, you imbecile,” Talin growled. “Bring me my water skin and a bandage from my saddlebag.”

  When the guard handed the items to Talin, he brushed my hair away from my neck gently. “I’m sorry. This is going to sting.”

  I smiled and placed my hand on his. “I’m fine. Really.”

  “You don’t have to be brave all the time. Please, hold still.”

  I knew what he would see when he rinsed the blood off my neck, but he was already tipping the water skin. I watched his expression shift like sand under water, from concern, to surprise, to confusion.

  “There’s no wound,” he said, running his fingers over the smooth skin.

  “I told you it was nothing. It must have been the attacker’s blood,” I said, my eyes darting to Ceren’s guards.

  “On your neck?”

  I stepped away from him, dabbing my neck with my sleeve. “Varenians heal quickly,” I murmured. “You must have known that from your mother.”

  “She healed quickly, yes, but not within a few minutes,” he insisted quietly. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

  I could feel the guards pressing in behind us.

  “It was just a nick.”

  Talin waved the guards back. “Get on your horses and patrol the area. We’ll leave in a minute.”

  “We take orders from Prince Ceren,” one of the guards said gruffly.

  Talin’s eyebrows shot up. “You mean your orders to keep Zadie safe? Should I tell my brother how well you followed that command?” Talin crossed his arms and the guards finally turned away, grumbling to each other as they went. “Grig, take Ebb to the road,” Talin said gently. “We’ll be right there.”

  “Don’t be angry,” I said to Talin when the others were gone. I shivered as his fingers brushed the sensitive skin of my neck.

  “I’m not angry. I’m astonished.”

  “I wish I could explain it. It’s just the way I am.”

  He thought for a moment before running his fingers along my jawline and up to my cheek. “If you heal so easily, how do you have your scar?”

  The warmth that had flooded my veins at his touch evaporated. “The scar was from a far worse incident. I was lucky to survive at all.”

  His finger still lingered on the sensitive spot on my cheekbone. No one had ever touched it like this before, with reverence instead of concern. “Will you tell me about it?”

  “About the incident?”

  “Yes. I want to know more about you.”

  I twisted the long braid Ebb had plaited for me this morning over my shoulder. I wanted Talin to know more about me, too, but I’d never told anyone about the incident. Everyone in Varenia already knew. Just thinking about it brought me right back to those awful moments when I’d believed with utter certainty that I was going to die.

  “It’s all right,” he said, sensing my hesitation. He traced a path across my cheek and back down to my jaw, where he hooked one finger under my chin and lifted my head until our eyes met. And as scared as I was, I didn’t break away from his gaze. I wanted to imprint this moment in my mind forever, because I was afraid it would never happen again. He lowered his face to mine, his lips brushing so softly against my cheekbone, I hardly felt it.

  “What are you doing?” I whispered.

  “I’ve been wanting to do that for ages,” he murmured against my skin. “It’s like a tiny star, marking you as something special for anyone too senseless not to know it.”

  I couldn’t believe that anyone would want to kiss my scar. I had imagined that if I left Varenia, I might find someone who could overlook it, but I hadn’t dared to believe someone would ever find it special. “It’s from a blood coral,” I told him.

  He leaned away from me. “What?”

  “The scar. It’s from a blood coral. I hit it when I was saving my sister from drowning. I nearly died from the cut. But somehow I survived, and ever since then I’ve been able to heal almost instantly.” I gripped his hand, squeezing with urgency. “You can’t tell your brother about this. If he finds out—”

  “I would never tell.” He tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “How old were you?”

  My grip softened. Talin’s composure had a way of calming me. “Ten. We were diving for pearls. Our father never said it outright, and our mother wouldn’t have admitted it, since it went against every rule she’d made for us, but we knew it was our responsibility to collect oysters. Father spent most of his time farther out to sea, hunting for bigger fish. We didn’t have brothers who could dive for us, and Mother—whose own mother was also obsessed with the ceremony, and who had plenty of sons to do the physical labor—never learned to dive. One day, Zadie and I found a massive oyster close to a blood coral. We knew how dangerous they were, of course, but the amount of money a pearl from an oyster like that could bring to our family...”

  His hand closed on my shoulder. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea how dire things were in Varenia.”

  I shook my head. How could he have known? “Zadie and I went for the oyster at the same time, and her skirts got caught on a fishing hook. I freed her, but she was running out
of air, and she accidentally pushed me into the blood coral.”

  He touched my scar again, and this time it didn’t feel so strange. “You love Zadie so much. How could anyone think you would want to hurt her?”

  I stared at him for a moment, my eyes welling with tears. How was it that someone I’d only known a few weeks saw me so much more clearly than the people I’d spent my entire life with? I’d always wanted someone to see me for me. What if, against all odds, I had finally found that person?

  And instead, I was being forced to marry someone else.

  He wiped my tears away with his thumbs. “I’m going to do everything in my power to help Varenia, Nor.”

  “But what about your brother?”

  “Damn my brother.” He pulled me to him with an urgency I hadn’t felt in our first kiss, as if with the knowledge that this kiss would most likely be our last. His mouth was hot and rough on mine. I wanted to touch him, to feel his skin against mine, not leather against linen. His hands were in my hair, on my waist, cupping my face, everywhere. As if he couldn’t get enough of me, either. As if even a thousand kisses wouldn’t be enough.

  * * *

  We made good time on the rest of the journey and reached Mount Ayris by sunset. As we began the ascent, I could feel the warmth of our kiss draining from me with each stride. New Castle loomed closer and closer, and we had no idea what would be waiting for us when we got there.

  Talin climbed the stone steps behind me. I felt like a small weight had been lifted, now that someone knew the truth about me. Not just who I was, but also about my scar, my healing abilities, my plans to help my people. There were no secrets between us anymore. Not on my part, anyway. And while it hurt that he didn’t trust me enough to reveal all his plans, I couldn’t help believing that anything Talin wanted was just and worthy.

  Ceren greeted us in the great hall, dressed in a robe the color of a moonless sky. There was no crown on his head, and he looked even wearier than before we left. The king must still be alive.

  “My lady,” he said, bowing deeply. “You’re looking well. How was the market? Everything you hoped it would be?”

  “It was wonderful, thank you. Your men did an excellent job of keeping an eye on me.” I smiled sweetly at the guards. They wouldn’t be able to tell Ceren about the time I spent alone with Talin now, not without making themselves look bad.

  “I’m glad to hear it. The road can be unsafe for a lady without a proper escort.”

  Talin eyed his brother, but overlooked the implied snub. “How is Father?”

  “His condition hasn’t improved, but it hasn’t worsened. He’s lingering. For what, I don’t know. We should see him now. He’s been asking for you.”

  “I think I’ll bathe and change, if that’s all right,” I said to Ceren. “I’m a bit dusty from the road.”

  I followed his gaze to the blood on the linen shirt I wore beneath my corset. “Are you hurt, my lady?”

  “We were attacked by ruffians claiming to work for the woman king,” Talin explained. “The lady wears the attacker’s blood, not her own. We were lucky.”

  Ceren’s mouth twisted with disapproval. “I’d like the full report. Please excuse us, my lady.” He gestured for me to go with Ebb. The hot bath waiting in my room was the only thing about New Castle I’d missed over the last five days.

  Later that evening, after I’d changed and eaten a small meal in my room, I went to see the king. He might be weak, but he had never been cruel to me, and I would be sorry when he died. The king’s physician sat near the head of his bed, checking his pulse. I was glad to see they weren’t bleeding him again, at least.

  Ceren and Talin arrived a moment after I did.

  “Father, Talin and I are here with Zadie,” Ceren said as he approached his father’s bed. “We wanted to say good-night.”

  The king’s eyes fluttered open, and he rasped out a response too quiet for me to hear.

  “No, Father, that’s not your wife.” He said the word with a sneer, as though the taste of it in his mouth offended him. “It’s Zadie, as I said.”

  With a great show of effort, the king raised an arm as slender as a child’s and gestured to me. I glanced at Ceren, unsure.

  “Go on,” he said.

  I perched myself on the edge of the king’s bed, trying not to touch the sheets that reeked of illness. “I’m here, Your Majesty.”

  He held out a hand, and I took it with my free one. “Talia,” he said gently, his watery blue eyes searching for a ghost.

  Tears welled in my own eyes as I saw the love written plainly across the king’s pale face. How could Ceren have been cruel enough to steal his father’s happiness by killing his stepmother? I glanced back at the brothers, who stood watching me like two statues: one carved from marble and just as cold, the other a bronze study of agony.

  I kissed the king gently on his forehead, then rose to my feet. “Good night, Your Majesty.”

  Ceren reached for my hand as I brushed past him. “Shall I escort you back to your room, my lady?”

  “You should stay with your father,” I said. “I can find my way just fine.”

  On the walk back to my chambers, I stopped at the portrait gallery to see Zadie. She smiled down at me, the sister I’d known before the choosing ceremony, when everything changed. The idea that she wasn’t happy now, after everything we’d been through, opened a pit somewhere behind my rib cage. This was the first time since coming to Ilara that my despair threatened to overwhelm me. As frightened as I’d been when I came to New Castle, as much as Ceren repulsed me and the cold and darkness gnawed at my very soul, I’d had a purpose. Saving my people, and Zadie most of all, made my sacrifice worth it. But knowing that Governor Kristos had sent me here, even after Talin’s warning... It was almost impossible to believe anyone could stop Ceren.

  “I miss you,” I whispered to Zadie. “Every minute of every day. I wish they’d chosen Alys, and that you and I were still together now. You could have married Sami, and I would have found someone willing to put up with me, and we would have raised our children together. Boys, maybe, so they never had to worry about their beauty.”

  No, I heard her say. I wanted daughters. Twins, like us. Only I would have raised them both to be as beautiful as you, dear sister, in the ways that matter.

  My vision of her was so strong that I could have sworn I felt her hand on my cheek. Don’t cry, Nor. We will be together again. In this life or the next.

  And then she was gone, and I was left alone in a hall full of ghosts.

  30

  A seamstress came to visit the following day. Apparently Ceren thought I should be fitted for my wedding gown as soon as possible. The seamstress was short and rosy-cheeked, with black hair in a simple braid down her back. From the villages, probably, since she didn’t appear to be of noble blood, and she had too much color in her skin to live in the castle all the time.

  “Milady,” she said, curtsying. “It’s an honor to be fitting you in person. I hope you’ve been happy with my work.”

  I smiled with genuine gratitude. “All of my dresses are beautiful. Thank you.” Ebb helped me remove the gown I was wearing, and I stepped gingerly into the white dress. The satin on the bodice was so old it was beginning to yellow, and it was delicate as a moth’s wings.

  “This was Queen Serena’s wedding gown, milady,” the seamstress explained. “We can replace the bits that are discolored, if you like.”

  I recognized the dress from the portrait in Ceren’s chambers. It was cut low at the neck, and the hand-sewn lace trimming wasn’t quite long enough to cover my chest.

  “You’re a bit more shapely than the late queen, milady,” the seamstress said. “I’ll add more lace here.”

  The bodice was tight but manageable, with glass beads and more lace covering the white satin. There were no sleeves, just little chiffon dra
pes across the shoulders, and the skirt was a frothy mix of lace, tulle, and chiffon, like sea foam, all covered with more of the delicate glass beadwork. It was a beautiful dress, but considering the occasion, mourning colors would have been more appropriate.

  “I’ll let out the hips just a bit,” the seamstress said, “and then I think we should be all set. I’m having some white lace gloves made up as well, if that pleases milady.”

  I nodded and thanked her. “I’m sure it will all be lovely,” I added.

  She smiled and curtsied again before bustling out with the dress form. Ebb helped me change back into my other gown for dinner. Only a few of the most prominent lords and ladies were in attendance tonight, as well as Talin, who was staying at New Castle while the king was ill, in case he should take a turn for the worse. But he had not come to see me since our return, and if there really was a reason for me to remain hopeful, I couldn’t imagine it.

  “How was the fitting today?” Ceren asked as he sipped his wine.

  “It went well. Your mother’s dress is even more beautiful in reality than in her portrait.” He reached for my hand, and I let him take it. I was tired of fighting. Not quite resigned, but tired.

  “I know you’re not yet eighteen, and Father is holding on better than we’d dare to hope. But we’ll need to move forward with the wedding either way. You understand, of course.”

  I nodded. Marrying me wouldn’t do him any good if Talin seized the crown, but knowing Ceren, he had a plan for that outcome, too.

  “I imagine Varenian weddings are quite different from Ilarean ones,” he said as he sawed at the slab of liver on his plate with a knife. “There will be a brief ceremony in the great hall, and once we’re wed, we’ll leave the mountain and go through the nearby villages in a carriage. The people will be out in droves to see their new princess. Or queen, as it may be.” He smiled, but there was something about the way he spoke that unnerved me. “Afterward we’ll have a feast here at the castle, and then it will be our wedding night, of course. I don’t think I need to go into further detail about that—do I, my lady?”