The Crystal Heart

by Sophie Masson

  ‘Come with me now, Izolda,’ he said, and his tone implied there was no point in protesting. I didn’t for I, too, knew there was no point. I would have been in despair if I’d believed what he said about Kasper. But I knew it could not be true. Whatever story my love had spun to come here safely, it was only a veil for his real purpose. I knew that as well as I knew the beating of the blood in my veins.

  Kasper

  I could see the Marshals eyeing me with suspicion and distaste. Traitors might be useful but nobody likes them, and there I was in the belly of the beast, bearing gifts for our enemy. They had brought me to wait in a chamber, and they watched me as though at any moment I might sprout wings and fly away.

  I had never seen such a city, with its looming crystal skyline in the golden cave-light, bound within its own strange nature. Yet the wonder of it did not eclipse my sense of sordid familiarity. Feyin or human, we are all the same: all about buying and selling, about getting an advantage, of doing down your enemies by any means and betraying your friends. The things I once believed in – trust and love and honour – were just words to these people. It was a bitter knowledge but it drove away my fear. Once, I would have been awed, frightened even, of the giant Marshals with their threatening presence. Now, I saw them just as differently tuned versions of Krainos soldiers, who do as they are told without hesitation or mercy. Once, I thought I could never be like that – that I would always think for myself. But that path led only to misery and despair.

  I’d come to understand what peace it was to be a Marshal or a warrior of Krainos, to only follow orders as I must now follow mine. I was where I wanted to be and I did not care what would happen to me after I had done what must be done. All is well. All is as it should be.

  Yet, if that were so, what was this feeling that gripped me like a vice? Ever since I was swallowed by the Lake and spat out into Night, I have felt it deep in my guts. Emerging dazed but unnoticed into the shadows behind the Crystal Fountain, I had stumbled to my feet and found a quiet spot in which to hide till I could catch my breath. Taking out the package of papers from my shoe, I had checked that they had not been damaged. They had not, for the oilskin they’d been wrapped in had held well. I had looked around me, dazzled for an instant by the beauty I’d heard so much about, followed by the pain of why these streets were familiar to me, like a half-remembered song.

  Enough! I had told myself, shaking the weakness away as a dog shakes water off his coat. I had then nosed my way into the city, taking on camouflage as though I were hunting in the woods. I had aimed to pass as an Outlander, whose dialect was similar to that of my region. Armed with local coins I had filched from a too-trusting woman, I bought bread and a room. In an evil-smelling old shop, I purchased a medal stamped with the insignia of the Lion Knights and labelled ‘Genuine antique originally from the late Princess Irina Leonska’s ancestral domain’. Genuine or not, it would fulfil the purpose I intended for it. If I could not get close to the Prince while I showed him the papers, I planned to ask him to examine the medal.

  The Lord Chamberlain watched me unblinkingly, his flat eyes reminding me of a cunning old toad’s. I could not guess how old this creature was, but in our world he’d be judged to be in his seventies. What was certain was that he did not trust me an inch, though he knew what I had brought was worth an audience with his master. When I took the roll of papers from my shoe and showed it to him, his small eyes had widened. He had waved away the Marshals and beckoned for me to follow him. We made our way through the gates and across a grand square, in the middle of which stood a large statue made from crystal and opal. It depicted a man on horseback, so delicately and perfectly carved that I could not help a small movement of pleasure as we drew near it.

  ‘I’ll wager you have never seen anything like this in your scrubby little country,’ the Lord Chamberlain had said, haughtily. ‘This is feyin art of the highest kind, as removed from the crude efforts of your kind as the moon is from the earth.’

  ‘Ah, but in my village we once caught the moon in a net, my lord.’

  The Lord Chamberlain shot me a black look. ‘You are not to speak thus in front of the Prince. You are to address him as “Sire” and you are to bow three times when he enters the room. Upon the third bow, you must go down on one knee and rise only when he tells you to do so. Is that clear?’

  ‘Yes, my lord,’ I said mock-meekly. I cared not for making friends. I only need a buyer – the Prince. I needed him to buy my story, and I would find the right moment soon enough for the needle, which lay in my pocket, along with the crystal shard. Suddenly, it pulsed, sending a shooting pain down my leg. ‘Ouch!’

  The Lord Chamberlain frowned. ‘What is wrong with you?’

  ‘Nothing – just a pain from sitting so long.’

  ‘Be quiet, Krainos scum, or I will get the Marshals to give you something to really complain about,’ he snapped.

  ‘And here I was thinking you feyin were renowned for your good manners towards guests,’ I said.

  ‘You’re no guest,’ he spat. ‘You’re a creature, and for two pins I’d have you shot for insolence.’

  ‘Ah, but I think the Prince would not be happy with you if you did that, for what I have brought him is a prize far beyond the value of rubies. Don’t you find that ironic, my lord?’

  He gave me a look that was way beyond black, and hissed, ‘Well, it’s all in blood, I suppose, and nothing to be done about it. It is so plain to me now that even a trace of feyin blood can redeem that coarse human strain, for your friend is nothing like you, but respectful and gentle-mannered, just as it should be.’

  My stomach lurched. Was he speaking of the Princess? Surely not – he would never refer to his master’s daughter in such a familiar way. ‘I don’t know what you mean,’ I growled.

  The Chamberlain smiled nastily and gestured to a Marshal. ‘Fetch our guest.’ Then he turned his back to me and didn’t speak again till we heard the heavy tread of the Marshal outside. An instant later the door opened, and there, large as life and just as incomprehensible, was Amadey.

  For a wild moment I thought it was a trick. This is feyin country, after all. Magic runs through it like the veins of crystal and opal in the caves. Why should they not then be able to plunder your mind and conjure up walking visions from your memories and dreams?

  Amadey came towards me. He looked almost as startled as I was, but there was leisure in his eyes, and relief. ‘Oh! Vazi– I mean, Kasper, I’m so pleased that you are safe and that –’

  ‘Stop,’ I said. ‘What did you just call me?’

  He looked anxious. ‘Kasper. Was I not supposed to?’

  ‘They told you,’ I said. ‘They told you who I was.’ I looked at him, at the expression in his eyes. ‘Why don’t you hate me?’ I said slowly.

  ‘Hate you? Why should I hate you? You’re my friend. Oh, I see.’ His face cleared. ‘You think I believe you’re a traitor. No, Princess Izolda told me the truth. Oh, my friend, I am so glad for you, so glad for you both! I –’

  ‘Shut up,’ I said harshly, my guts in a dreadful knot of pain, my chest burning with wild feeling. ‘Shut up, you ridiculous fool. You have no idea what you’re saying.’

  ‘But, Kasper –’ His face was twisted in hurt puzzlement.

  ‘How did you get here?’ I said, cutting him off.

  Amadey shot a glance at the Lord Chamberlain. ‘I – I didn’t tell you … I have a secret. To cut a long story short, my mother was a feyin.’

  I stared at him as dark suspicions crowded into my mind and ate into my soul. ‘You were tasked to spy on me,’ I growled.

  ‘Spy on you? No, Kasper, I swear –’

  ‘Don’t lie to me.’

  ‘I’m not lying!’

  ‘How did you get here then, eh? Tell me the truth!’

  ‘Same way as you did.’

  ‘You followed me.’ I remembered the sensation I had of being watched in the caves, of the pebbles tumbling down before the shaft had closed.
‘I guess you used feyin magic. Well, I hope you’re proud of yourself. You sure had me fooled. I thought you were my friend.’

  Amadey looked at me, stricken. ‘But I am! I truly am your friend.’

  ‘More fool you, then,’ I hissed. ‘You’ve taken up with a double-dyed traitor.’

  Amadey shook his head. ‘Don’t say such things. Don’t punish yourself for things you did not do. The Princess told me the truth, Kasper.’

  There was a pity in his face now that I could not bear to see. ‘Why do you think I’m here, you fool?’

  ‘For her,’ Amadey replied, simply. ‘Because you love her.’

  I gave an angry laugh. ‘What kind of dream world do you live in? I have come here to sell secrets to the Prince. The secrets of Krainos, Amadey.’

  ‘I don’t believe you,’ he said, white to the lips.

  ‘Ask him,’ I said, gesturing to the Lord Chamberlain. ‘He will tell you I am a traitor, one who will deliver his land to the highest bidder for sweet revenge. Love? What do I care for love? It is nothing but a poisonous lie, and if you …’

  I broke off, for I heard an intake of breath behind me. I turned to see her framed motionless in the doorway, the Prince of Night by her side. Never before had I seen such an expression as I saw on Izolda’s face then. As our eyes met, the pain in my chest that had been building all day became a crushing agony beyond all telling. Then she was gone, fleeing as though pursued by demons, followed by a grey-faced Amadey.

  But the Prince of Night did not flee. ‘Well, Kasper Bator,’ he purred, advancing towards me, ‘Lord Parigan tells me you have brought something useful. It had better be so, if I am to overlook the shock you have just given my daughter.’ He gave a smile that would make one’s blood run cold.

  ‘I think you will be pleased with what I have brought you, Sire,’ I said. ‘But I warn you, it does not come cheap.’

  ‘How dare you speak thus …’ spluttered the Lord Chamberlain, but before he could say any more, the Prince cut him off with an impatient gesture.

  ‘We will agree upon a price when I see what you have,’ the Prince replied, his eyes never leaving my face. ‘If you are lying about your purpose here and you have, in fact, come for my daughter, then I will show you no mercy. Your life was spared before; it will not be so again. Is that clear?’

  ‘Crystal,’ I said, with a twist of the mouth. ‘You may be sure I have no such designs. The past is dead to me – and buried.’

  His eyes searched mine, and I looked back at him without flinching. ‘Very well,’ he said at last. ‘Come with me. We will speak alone.’

  As I followed him down the long corridor, I could feel the pressure of the needle case in my pocket. I had to be strong, to do what must be done and meet my fate. Yet in my mind’s eye, all I could see was her face, and I wished I were dead already.

  Izolda

  ‘These are just words, my lady. Actions speak louder than words. The truth is that he is here, that he has risked everything to escape and come here. He was not a traitor before. You told me so yourself. He could not be a traitor now.’

  I knew Amadey was just being kind. I had seen Kasper’s eyes – there was no love there. Eyes of stone, the barmaid had said. I had thought her a fool; now I knew it was I who was the fool. My father had been right. Kasper was not what he once was.

  How could I have ever imagined that it would be the same as before? How could I have been so naive as to think that imprisonment would not have changed him, would not have eaten at his very soul? Those eyes like stone in a face hollowed by suffering – the scars near his mouth, the harshness of his prison haircut, the wary way he carried himself – everything spoke of cruelty inflicted upon him, of pain endured, of endless desolation. The careless bright hopeful youth of the woods had gone forever, replaced by a hard-faced man, and who was to wonder at it? Spat on as a traitor by his own people, ignored and abandoned by mine, he had held out as long as he could, for my sake.

  I knew that, because I knew how long the light in the crystal had lasted. He must have had hope then. Hope that I would save him, as he had saved me. Hope that I would have the courage to defy my father and come to his aid, despite the promise I had made. Yes, I had given my word that I would not try to contact him, had given my word that I would forsake him if his life were spared. Why had I not broken it? Why had I not left this place long ago and moved heaven and earth to find him? It wasn’t just for fear of what my father might do, I knew that now. It was pride – an unforgivable pride that thought the honour of a word more important than love. I am truly my father’s daughter.

  ‘You are right, he is not a traitor,’ I said. Amadey’s face lightened at these words, only to fall again when I added, ‘It is I who am the traitor.’

  ‘My lady!’ protested Glarya. ‘You must not say such things. You, a traitor! Why, you are the finest, kindest, sweetest, bravest –’

  ‘No, Glarya. I am a heartless coward,’ I said. ‘I knew they could not be trusted, yet I still allowed myself to believe them. And when he was most in need I did nothing.’

  ‘That is not true! Without you, he would be dead,’ cried Amadey. ‘They would have hung him if you had not interceded and given your word of honour!’

  ‘I spit on my word! I spit on my honour! I betrayed our love,’ I cried. ‘I let them turn him into this … this man of stone. If I had only –’

  ‘If you had only what, Princess?’ Amadey said sharply. ‘What could you have done? Storm the prison? Force the Council to give him up? How? With what army? Even if you’d been able to get out of here without your father knowing – even if you’d got within just a hundred miles of that prison – do you really think that they would not have known about it? Do you think they would have allowed him to live, then? He is only alive because you have kept your word, not in spite of it.’

  ‘What Amadey says is absolutely true,’ Glarya added, anxiously. ‘You did all you could, my lady. You gave him the crystal. It gave him hope. It gave him light. And it has brought him here at last.’

  ‘Too late,’ I whispered. ‘It is too late for both of us.’ I wept, the sobs tearing out of me like the sharp claws of goblins. In my mind came the memory of the song I’d heard in my dream, long ago in the Tower, the sad song I hadn’t understood then but understood all too bitterly now.

  If only I’d listened,

  if only I’d cared,

  if only I’d spoken,

  if only I’d dared.

  Then things would be different,

  and all would be fine.

  If only I’d done it,

  what joy would be mine!

  ‘It is never too late,’ said Amadey, fiercely. ‘Never, while you and he still draw breath. And while the lady Glarya and I are here to help you.’

  ‘Oh, yes!’ broke in Glarya, fervently. ‘I will do anything, anything for you, my lady.’

  ‘I ask for nothing, for there is nothing to –’ I began, but Glarya broke in.

  ‘Please, my lady. You spoke of pride preventing you from seeing truly. Isn’t this just another form of pride?’ She added, a little anxiously, as if afraid she’d gone too far, ‘I don’t mean to be rude, but I just want to say I think – I think you should accept the help of true friends.’

  ‘I do not deserve what you offer,’ I murmured, with a lump in my throat. ‘But, yes, then I gladly do ask for your help. But what am I to do?’

  ‘You cannot change the past, but you can still determine your future,’ said Amadey. ‘It is simple. You are the Princess. You can take your fate in your own hands.’

  ‘So simple!’ I said sarcastically. ‘And what would you have me do, exactly?’

  ‘Go to Kasper,’ said Amadey. ‘Tell him that you love him.’

  ‘But he does not love me …’

  ‘Whatever his lips said, is not the truth of his heart.’

  ‘And you know this how?’ I asked. ‘Even the feyin do not have the skill of mind-reading.’

  ‘I am a sim
ple man, my lady,’ said Amadey, ‘but I do know one thing: true love can never be torn out from the heart.’

  I could not speak for an instant. The hope I thought had died had rekindled at these words, and I could not say anything for fear of bursting into tears again. And then something odd happened. Glarya, who had been gazing at Amadey with a wistful longing she no longer bothered to conceal, murmured, ‘My lady, the Erlking and his son will be here in three days.’

  I swallowed. ‘Yes, I know. The Erlking will be angry and so will my father. But I cannot marry the Erlking’s son. Even if … even if Kasper no longer cares for me, I cannot.’

  ‘No, you cannot, my lady,’ agreed Glarya.

  ‘But he will be angry. So angry! Twice this family has rejected the Erlking’s kin. He will not forgive us.’

  ‘Not usually he might not,’ she said. ‘And that is why I think I must send word to the Erlking myself.’

  Amadey and I both stared at her. ‘You?’ I managed to say. ‘Whatever do you mean, Glarya?’

  She flushed. ‘Nobody here knows this, but I am related to the Erlking and I know something of his ways. He cannot simply be told that you will not marry his son, or he will indeed be very angry and there will be enmity between your country and his. But if he himself frees you from the engagement, then it is a different matter. The only way the Erlking will understand is if he is told by his kin.’

  I looked at Glarya with new eyes. Those lords and ladies who looked down on her, those snooty staff who snubbed her – if they had known of her blood line, however distant …

  ‘I did not want anyone to know,’ Glarya said, with a shy shrug. ‘It is not your blood that determines the person you are, but what you do in your life.’