“Too pretentious for you?” she said. “Must be unbearable.” She sat on the edge of one of the armchairs.
Finnegan sat across from her. “All right, Aurora,” he said. “You wanted to negotiate, so negotiate. What made you decide you need my help after all?”
She sat up straighter, considering her words. “You know the situation in Alyssinia, I assume?”
“I heard you burned a village to the ground.”
“I heard I burned several villages to the ground. You should not believe all you hear.”
“Not all that you hear, no. But there’s a grain of truth in there somewhere. There almost always is. And I’ve seen what you can do.”
“You’ve yet to see me burn down a village.”
“But I’ve seen your magic before,” he said. “I believe you’re powerful enough for the rumors to be true.”
“Alyssinia is in trouble,” she said. “There are soldiers all over the kingdom, tearing towns apart. Homes are burning, there are riots in the capital. The king has been burning villages, just so that he can blame the destruction on me.”
“And you intend to stop him?”
“I do.”
“And you think I’m going to help?”
She leaned forward. “I know you want me on your side,” she said. “I know there’s something you need from me. You knew about my magic before I did; you came to Alyssinia because of it. You need me. So why don’t you tell me what you want?”
“Oh, there are so many answers to that question, Aurora.”
She tightened her grip on the arms of the chair. “Let’s start simply, then. Why did you come to see me in Alyssinia?”
Someone knocked on the door.
“Come in,” Finnegan said.
A servant appeared in the doorway, carrying a tray of cakes and a bottle of wine. He poured them both glasses before bowing his way out of the room again. Finnegan sipped his before continuing.
“I was intrigued.”
She waited for him to elaborate. He didn’t.
“Intrigued?” she said. “By what?”
“Wouldn’t you be intrigued if someone who had been asleep for a hundred years suddenly woke up? I wanted to see what you’d be like, if only to confirm my suspicions.”
“Did I meet your expectations?”
“Oh, not at all,” Finnegan said. “I would have stopped talking to you long ago if you had. I figured you’d be stuck-up like Iris, or else weak and dull like Rodric. The truth was far more entertaining.”
She leaned forward. “You’re lying.”
“About Rodric being dull? I assure you, it’s true.”
“About being intrigued after I awoke. You were in Alyssinia before I woke up. Not in the castle, not part of the ceremony, but close enough to appear within days. You wouldn’t travel so far, before the ceremony even took place, on a whim.”
“Perhaps I was merely traveling, Aurora. I have interests other than you.”
“You weren’t merely traveling,” she said. “You were preparing. If you think so little of Rodric, you can’t have expected his kiss to wake me. But you needed to be there, just in case. I want to know why.”
“Perhaps I was a jealous suitor, hoping to whisk you away from your true love.”
She stood. “We could play like this for hours, Finnegan. But I’d rather not waste our time. I’m offering you an alliance that you clearly want. So answer my questions, and then we’ll see if some sort of agreement is possible between us, or whether I should head elsewhere.”
He continued to sit, his face tilted to look at her. “Do you think you could keep up?”
“What?”
“If we played for hours. Do you think you’d last?”
“You wanted to cause trouble in Alyssinia,” she said. “You wanted me to run from the palace, to be on your side. You knew about my magic, or at least suspected. Tell me why.”
“If you sit then I will.”
She stared at him for a long moment, her knees inches from the edge of his chair. Then she stepped back, still refusing to break eye contact, and sat, smoothing her skirts around her like she had seen Iris do a hundred times. “I’m listening,” she said. “Tell me.”
Finnegan leaned closer. “You have to understand Vanhelm first,” he said. “Then I think it explains itself. You saw my kingdom on your way here, I assume? What’s left of my kingdom?”
“Yes,” she said. “I saw.”
“The dragons appeared out of nowhere fifty years ago, and burned the whole kingdom away. Most people didn’t escape. Everything was gone. Not good for us, I’m sure you’ll agree. The only thing that keeps my city safe is the fact that dragons will not cross water. If that changed . . . it would not end well. And that’s not all. This city is small. It feels large, but we can only build buildings so tall; we can only squeeze so many people into this space. We’re running out of room.”
She dug her nails into her palms, fighting to keep her voice steady. “So you want my kingdom? Or do you expect my magic to fix things somehow?”
“The former, initially. I was only teasing you at first, you know. About your magic. I didn’t know about it when I came to the castle. I thought to take advantage of the unrest in Alyssinia, get the promised princess on my side . . . combined kingdoms, more space for us, more technology and advancements for you . . . not a terrible plan worth crossing the sea for, just in case you woke up. But Alyssinia is a little backward for my tastes. And then my jokes turned out to be true. How’s that for accidental insight? Once I realized what you were, I knew I had it all wrong. Vanhelm needs to be free of these dragons. And I think you might be able to help.”
She could not have heard him correctly. “You think I can rid you of the dragons?”
“You have magic,” he said. “You can control fire. The first glimmer of power in Alyssinia in almost a hundred years. What else could take on a dragon, if not that?”
“Water magic?”
He laughed. “Good point. But there isn’t much of that around. There’s no magic, except for you.”
She shook her head. He could not be sincere. And not just sincere, but excited. “You’re basing all this on the fact that I can create fire, and dragons create fire too? That’s it?”
“It was only a suspicion, in the beginning,” Finnegan said. “A hope, perhaps. No one knows why the dragons returned, and if you awoke too, if you had fire . . . it was an interesting proposition. But I have more proof now.” He leaned over and caught her dragon pendant between his fingertips. The red eye gleamed. “On the day of your wedding, when you made that fountain explode . . . the dragon glowed. Didn’t you feel it?”
“Yes,” Aurora said. She resisted the urge to clutch the necklace too. “And?”
“You have no idea what I gave you, do you? That pendant has dragon’s blood in it. Why do you think the eyes glow red like that? And it responded to you. The dragon’s blood magnified your power. There’s a connection between them and you, Aurora. And if you learn to control your magic, to really control it, I think you might be the help we’ve been looking for.”
She slid the pendant out of his grasp. The metal was warm, but that was just from Finnegan’s touch. There was no connection there. “I left Alyssinia because they had impossible hopes about my magic. What makes you think I’ll respond any differently to you?”
“Because I want what you want. I want you to learn how to control your powers. You can be safe in Vanhelm. You won’t have to run; you won’t have to keep your magic a secret. You’ll have time to figure it all out. And once you’ve helped me, I can help you. I can help you get rid of King John.”
“But only after I get rid of the dragons. You want me to kill them.”
Finnegan shook his head. “Some people say the dragons can’t be killed. And I can believe it. The dragons slept beneath the stones of the mountain all of these years. Perhaps you can convince them to sleep again. Or to go elsewhere, so far west that they won’t trouble us.”
“A
nd you’ll help me practice my magic? Tell me all you know, cooperate with me.”
“Of course,” he said. “And then, what? You intend to use it to take the Alyssinian throne? Kill the king, become the conquering queen?”
“Not kill him,” Aurora said. “But people want magic. They are obsessed with the hope of it. If I can provide it . . . he’ll lose support. I can replace him, or support a better choice.”
“A better choice? Like Rodric?” Finnegan laughed. “We both know he doesn’t have the guts to be king.”
“Me, then,” Aurora said. The words were bitter in her mouth, but she had to say them. She did not want the responsibility of ruling, she did not want more expectations weighing down on her, not when she knew so little about this time, about the kingdom’s needs. But people believed in her still. That baker had believed in her. They deserved a better ruler than John. She needed to do something to help.
“You’re naïve, Aurora,” Finnegan said. “You will not be able to get rid of the king without killing him. He will not back down without a fight.”
“We shall see.”
“Yes,” he said, and he almost sounded sad. “I suppose we will.”
She twisted the dragon pendant in her hands, contemplating his words. His intentions seemed good. And even if they weren’t . . . well. As long as she had safety, and a space to learn how to control her magic, she could give every appearance of compliance, and take everything she needed in return. It would be easy to accept his support and then fail in her seemingly honest attempts to help him, to ensure that he did not gain any power he should not have.
But something about his words was intriguing too. Dragon magic, dragon fire. More power than she could imagine. If he was right about the connection, the blood in the necklace could have increased her strength that morning in the village, could explain why it was so out of control.
“All right,” she said. She stood and took his hand to shake it. A shiver ran up her arm. “Yes. It’s a deal.”
“Excellent,” he said. “Then we’ll begin tomorrow. A trip into the waste, to see them up close.”
She let go of his hand. “Are you mad?” she said. “I can’t go get rid of the dragons tomorrow.”
“I don’t want you to face them tomorrow. I just want you to see them. See what you’re dealing with. Consider it the first step in your research. Who knows what you might learn about your magic out there?”
She wanted to go. But the risk . . . “Is it safe?”
“Of course not. But what is?” He grabbed her hand, pulling her closer. His green eyes seemed to burn into hers, dancing with excitement. “Come on, dragon girl. Have a little sense of adventure.”
“All right,” she said, before she could stop herself, before doubt could take over again. “Show me.”
“Until tomorrow then,” he said. “Then it will all begin.”
FIVE
FINNEGAN KNOCKED ON HER DOOR AT DAWN. AURORA yanked it open before he had a chance to rap more than twice. She had been awake for hours, thinking of Celestine, thinking of dragons. Anticipating the adventure, the danger that waited across the river.
They walked out of the palace, nodding to the guards as they passed. Only a few people were about. Some hurried down the roads, while others were already absorbed in work, unlocking shop doors and setting up stalls for the day. Finnegan led her a couple of streets away from the palace and then stopped on a large star embossed on the road.
“What are we waiting for?” Aurora asked.
“You’ll see.”
A few minutes passed before a bell pierced the air. People who had been walking in the middle of the road darted aside, and one of them bumped into Aurora. She grabbed Finnegan’s sleeve to stop herself from falling.
“It’s all right, little dragon,” he said, with a grin. “I won’t let it hurt you.”
She released his sleeve as quickly as she had grabbed it. A strange contraption of metal and glass hurtled toward them. It was like a huge carriage, powered by its own will, its wheels rattling along.
Finnegan stuck out his arm, and the carriage stopped in front of them. Finnegan stepped aboard. With a nod at the driver, he dropped two bronze coins into a slot and gestured for Aurora to go past him.
“What is this?” Aurora asked, as she settled onto a hard wooden bench.
“A tram,” he said. “It’s the fastest way to get around the city. There’s no space for horses here.”
“And do princes of Vanhelm often travel like this?”
“Not always.” He sat on the bench beside her. “But I like the tram. And my mother’s less likely to find out what we’re doing if we don’t involve any guards.”
“Won’t your mother notice that you’re gone?”
“We’ll be back by the end of the day,” he said. “I’m sure she’ll just assume I’m doing something unsavory and think no more about it.”
The wheels screeched beneath them, and Aurora’s teeth rattled as the tram sped around a corner, tossing them all sideways.
“How does it move?” Aurora said. “It can’t be magic.”
“See how it’s fastened to the cable above?” Finnegan said. “That pulls it along.”
“And what pulls the cable?”
Finnegan laughed. “Magic,” he said.
“Finnegan—”
“Our version of magic,” he said. “We’ve been without your kind for a thousand years. While your kingdom relied on magic and panicked when it lost it, we actually used our brains. Figured out how to live without it. And so Vanhelm is like this, while Alyssinia . . . well. You’ve seen Alyssinia.”
“And yet apparently you need magic from me.”
“True.” He smiled. “Perhaps there’s a use for both after all.”
The tram jerked to a stop. Through the window, Aurora glimpsed a mishmash of stone buildings that looked far older than the towers around them. A sign above one of the doors declared it The Vanhelm Institute.
Another man climbed aboard the tram. He was elderly, seventy if he was a day, with a wiry mop of white hair and dark skin that had wrinkled from an excess of expressions. When he saw them, he raised one arm in a wave.
“That’s Lucas,” Finnegan said. “Our guide for the day.” Lucas bowed as he approached, but Finnegan laughed and shook the man’s hand instead. Then he gestured to Aurora. “This is Rose, Lucas,” he said. “She’s the one I was telling you about. She has quite the passion for dragons.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, miss,” he said, shaking her hand. “Any dragon enthusiast is a friend of mine.” He sat beside Finnegan. His weathered hand clutched the pole in front of him.
“Lucas is the best dragon expert we’ve got,” Finnegan said. “He was on the ground when they returned, and the first to realize that water was their weakness.”
“I was a bit younger back then,” Lucas said with a chuckle.
“And still the man who knew the most.”
“I studied dragons before anyone knew they were real,” Lucas explained. “Pretty useless field of study, until suddenly it wasn’t.”
The tram screeched around another corner and continued along the road beside the river. The ruins across the water were obscured by the haze.
“What’s the plan once we get to the waste?” Aurora said.
“Walk,” Lucas said. “As far as it takes. The dragons rarely come close to the water.”
“And when we find them?”
“Don’t let them find us.”
“We’ll settle down in some ruins,” Finnegan said. “And then we’ll wait. But we have to get there first.” He stood and gestured for the driver to stop. Once they had stepped off the tram, Finnegan steered them along the river and onto a small dock. Only a few boats were tied up here, and most of the space was filled with stacked boxes of netting and fish. A young girl with frizzy red hair marched toward them.
“Ready to cross?” she said. “We might as well get this over with. This boat here, if you pleas
e.” She gestured to a midsize wooden boat with three benches. It bobbed in the water.
Finnegan waved Aurora forward. “Ladies first.” Aurora stepped into the center of the boat. It rocked underneath her, and she stumbled. Finnegan grabbed her arm. “Careful, little dragon,” he said, as he squeezed past her. “Don’t want you falling in.”
He sat on the farthest bench and pulled Aurora down beside him. Her knees crashed into his.
Once they were all seated, the red-haired girl climbed in and cast off.
The details of the other shore became clear as they approached. It was scattered with stone that had been scorched black. Some of the buildings looked intact, worn but functional, but then the boat moved, revealing the melted roofs, the fallen walls. The town was nothing but jagged remains.
The boat came to shore in a small inlet, near a structure that might once have been a dock. Charred pillars of wood stuck out of the water. Distorted stone buildings slumped around them.
“People hid by the docks,” Lucas said. His voice was rough. “Waited for rescue here. Thought they’d be safe near the water. Wasn’t near enough.” He laughed, the scratchy sound of someone too used to horror to do anything but find humor in it.
The laugh echoed off the ruins as Aurora stepped out of the boat. The mud on the shore clung to her shoe, holding her foot in place. She yanked it free. When she looked up, Finnegan was smirking.
The girl in the boat leaned forward. “Everyone have your charms?”
Aurora frowned. “Charms?”
“No one leaves my boat without one.” She pulled a small packet from her pocket and tossed it to Aurora. It was a water skin, decorated with runes. Aurora moved it closer to her face, trying to recall the meanings from her books. Protection, one said. Courage. And water, water, water, over and over, in every color thread, over every inch of cloth. “I hope it keeps you safe,” the girl said.
“Thank you.”
The girl nodded. “I’ll collect you when I see you raise the flag.” She gestured to the building a few paces away. A red flag waited there, attached to the side of the building by ropes and pulleys. “You know where the flares are, in case the fog comes in?” Lucas nodded. “But if the fog comes in, you better race back here. I can’t be responsible for you if I can’t see you, right?”
Kingdom of Ashes Page 4
