by Megg Jensen
Mark motioned for me to join him in the other room. I patted Hanne’s knee and stood up. Krissin nodded at me, and she stood up too. “Can you stand, Hanne?” She asked as I walked away. After being tied up all day, Hanne would need some time to get used to using her legs again. Her muscles were probably sore and stiff, not to mention dehydrated. She would need more water and food before she felt good enough to go back to the palace.
“What’s in there?” I asked Mark, angling my head towards the doorway. I’d believed Alia last time we were here and hadn’t seen the tables and maps Mark had seen.
“Looks like the same stuff as before,” he said, “but I think we should take a look at the maps more closely. If they’re planning something it might help us know how to fight back, or at least defend ourselves. I wouldn’t put anything past them after seeing what they did to Hanne.” Mark kicked the door open with his foot. “How could he do that to his own wife?”
“I wish I knew,” I said. “Reese had been kind to me when I arrived. I never would have suspected him of this before we overheard him talking to Alia.”
Mark turned, putting his arms around my waist. He pulled me close. “You know I’d never do anything like that to you, don’t you? I could never hurt you.”
I leaned in and kissed him. I didn’t think I needed to answer with words.
“Okay, break it up you two,” Ace called from across the room. Krissin helped Hanne walk around the room and regain her footing. “I know everyone’s excited we found Hanne, but they could come back at any moment. How long do you think they were planning on leaving her alone here? Not long, I’d bet.”
Mark grabbed my hand and pulled me into the back room. “Carry as many of these as you can.” He bent over the table cluttered with maps and rolled them up. I grabbed a nearby box and we tossed as many maps as we could into it. Within minutes we’d cleared the table. Mark hefted the box into his arms and I held the door open for him as we joined the others.
A portal shimmered in the cottage.
“It’s linked to Reychel’s room,” Krissin said. “I want Ace to go in first and make sure everything is clear for the rest of us to come through.”
Ace unsheathed a knife from his boot and twirled it in his fingers, a grin spreading across his face. “See you on the other side,” he said and jumped through the portal. A moment later, an orange tumbled through the portal.
“That’s the signal,” Krissin said. “We’re clear.”
She held tight to Hanne’s hand and stepped through. I smiled at Mark and we followed them through. As I got into my room, I realized Jada’s room wasn’t the only one that had been torn apart.
“What were they looking for?” I asked, stepping through the clutter on the floor. Books strewn across the room, clothes pulled out of the wardrobe, I had no idea what they’d wanted from me. Everyone here had seen me as a prophet and it wasn’t something I could have hidden in my room.
“It doesn’t matter,” Krissin said. She pushed more off my table onto the floor. They fell, their pages fluttering open and landing askew on the floor. My mouth dropped. All of those old journals treated like they were nothing more than crumbs after a meal.
“What?” Krissin asked. “Everything in those journals was a joke. Now that we know the truth who really cares how they’re treated?”
She was right. Zelor lied to everyone, to seven generations of believers. He no longer mattered and it was time to prove that to myself and everyone else.
Krissin, Mark, Ace, and I grabbed maps and unrolled them on the table. Hanne lay down on my bed and within moments she fell asleep. We kept our voices quiet until we realized nothing short of a bomb would wake her up.
“What are we looking for?” I asked, scanning my map. I didn’t recognize anything on it and wasn’t sure I was any help at all.
“We don’t know,” Mark said as he smoothed out his map. The edges crinkled and snapped back on him. He grabbed a cup from the floor and placed it on the corner. “Anything unusual like something handwritten or circled. Something that looks like it doesn’t belong on the map.”
I scanned the parchment, noticing mountains, lakes, rivers, towns. Everything seemed normal, as it should be. Near the top I saw my old home, Keree. I traced the dot with my fingertip, wondering what had happened there since I left. Did Ivy still remain in prison where Kandek had her thrown during their wedding ceremony? I shuddered, thinking of what must have been going through her mind while she sat staring at the blank walls.
I’d only spent hours in the dungeon, but to spend days there? I couldn’t even imagine how Ivy handled it. She thrived in the outdoors and frequently reminded me what I had been missing while I was cooped up in the castle. Everything I knew about nature, I knew from her stories of the outside world I’d so longed to enter. Now our fates were reversed.
“I think I found it,” Krissin squealed. I edged closer to her and Mark and Ace crowded around us.
“What is it?” Ace asked. He pecked her on the cheek and tossed his arms around her for a quick squeeze. He picked up the map, holding out for all of us to see. Krissin pointed to a black circle just outside the town. While the Sons remained concealed behind the mountains to the north, this circle was to the west, on the other side of an inlet to the ocean.
“There can’t be anything out there,” Ace said. “My men secured that port last year. We’ve been controlling it for months now. No one can get in or out of there without my permission.”
“When’s the last time you heard from them?” Krissin asked. Mark set the map down and walked over to the window, gazing out at the mountains.
“I should have heard something in the last couple days, but I’ve been here at the palace helping you out.” He pivoted around, placing his hands behind him on the windowsill. “I’ve heard nothing this month. No report and as far as I know, no one from our camp has ridden out to give me any messages.”
“Then it’s possible they’ve taken the port back,” Krissin said. “We need to assume we don’t have control anymore. How long does it take to march from the port to the palace?”
Mark looked at Ace, whose hair had fallen in a curtain around his face. His narrowed, dark eyes gazed at us from inside. “Two days?” Mark asked him.
Ace nodded. “I haven’t heard anything in a month. If they did take back the port then they could be here at any time.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
“We still don’t know what Jada, Reese, and Alia are working towards,” I said. “If we could find out then we’d be closer to knowing how to defend ourselves.
“Then we need to find them,” Mark said. He glanced out the window at the dark night sky. “We don’t have much time left.”
A scream broke the silence and Mark ran to my door. He threw it open, finding Alia on the floor writhing in pain. Her body contorted into unimaginable positions, her arms folding backwards behind her legs. Her bones cracked with each movement. “Help me,” she whimpered. “Jada.”
Krissin held out her hands over Alia. A bubble formed around Alia until her body stopped jerking. Krissin’s shield held as Ace picked her up, carried her into my room, and placed her on a chair. Hanne was still lying in my bed, sleeping, and even though Alia had been in obvious pain none of us were ready to trust her yet.
“Jada can manipulate people’s bodies,” Krissin said as Alia whimpered on the chair. “You saw her do that to me the first day you arrived, Reychel. She clamped my mouth shut so I couldn’t talk. I’ve never seen her use her gift like this before, though.” Krissin shook her head as she stared at Alia. “What do we do with her?”
Alia stared at us, her eyes wide and filled with terror. She shrank back into the chair. “Please don’t hurt me,” she begged us.
Krissin rolled her eyes. “We’re not going to hurt you. Well,” she paused, “we might if you don’t tell us where Jada and Reese are right now. We want to know what they’re planning.”
“I don’t know a lot,” Alia babbled. “Th
ey made me serve Reychel. They wanted to know more about the prophecy she’s going to make tomorrow. They’re convinced she’s been lying to everyone, that she really has had a vision. They think you told her not to tell anyone.” Alia pointed at Krissin.
“That’s ridiculous,” Krissin snarled. She crept closer to Alia, who shrank further into her chair. “I’ve shared everything with them the last couple of years. They’re the ones who’ve been holding back from me. Tell me everything you know.”
Before Alia could answer, Krissin’s body rose in the air and flew backwards against the wall. Ace ran to the door, tackled Reese, and shoved him to the floor. Jada stood behind Reese, her arm raised in Krissin’s direction. Krissin struggled against Jada, but her muscles were no match for Jada’s gift.
Ace held Reese to the floor. Though Ace was younger, Reese was stronger and he bucked against Ace, tossing him to the floor next to him. Mark tackled Reese, held his shoulders down and punched him on the jaw. Reese’s head cracked backwards onto the tiled floor and his head lay limp to the side. A pool of blood spread on the floor, flowing from the back of Reese’s head.
“Is he alive?” Ace asked, placing his fingers on Reese’s neck. We waited while he felt for a pulse. Even Jada, who still held Krissin against the wall, stared at Reese’s limp body. Mark still straddled Reese, but he didn’t move. He stared at me, his eyes wide with horror.
Ace pulled his hand back. “He’s gone.” I broke Mark’s gaze and looked at Jada. A single tear fell from her eye. Her arm fell to her side and Krissin slumped to the floor. Jada’s palm rested on her stomach, just above her waist.
“No,” she whispered. “He can’t be dead!” She ran into the room, pushed Mark to the side with her gift and knelt at Reese’s side.
“You have no right!” Hanne yelled. I’d forgotten about her during the commotion. Two women in love with one dead man. Hanne covered her face with her hands and ran from my room. I would have gone after her, but I couldn’t. Three traitors, Reese, Jada, and Alia, demanded my full attention.
Ace grabbed Jada’s hands and held them behind her back. “Can she use her gift now?” he asked Krissin.
“I don’t think so, but don’t let down your guard just in case.” Krissin walked to Jada and stood nose-to-nose with her. “What have you done?”
“It wasn’t me,” Jada simpered. “It was her.” She pointed at Alia who still huddled in the chair Ace had placed her in. “She did all of this. She’s the beast, Krissin. You have to trust me. How long have we known each other?”
“Oh, about as long as you’ve known Hanne and Reese! How could you tear them apart like that?” Krissin slapped Jada’s face. A drop of blood dripped out of Jada’s mouth.
Mark snaked his arm around my waist. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered in my ear. “I didn’t mean to kill him.”
“I know,” I whispered back, leaning into his embrace. I wanted to hold him, to comfort him, to tell him I understood, but I couldn’t. Not yet.
“I’m just a slave,” Alia said. “How could I do anything?”
Krissin spun around, her hair flying and slapping Jada in the face. She stomped to Alia’s chair, her eyes beginning to glow just like they had earlier in the day.
“We know you’re lying too,” she growled at Alia. “We know you aren’t being forced to do anything against your will.”
“Don’t make Krissin angry,” Jada screamed. She struggled against Ace, but he held her arms firm behind her back. Years of swordplay strengthened him; Jada didn’t stand a chance. “I told you what she’s capable of!”
Krissin spun back to Jada, her hand outstretched towards Jada’s heart again. “You told her? Did you tell her you witnessed my gift once? The day I killed the last ruler? Did you tell her how I poisoned him only so he wouldn’t feel the terrible pain my gift causes? Did you tell her how you stood by while I unleashed my gift and killed him? DID YOU?” Krissin screamed.
Jada’s eyes rolled in the back of her head and she fainted against Ace as Krissin’s eyes changed. Krissin’s pupils grew until the whites of her eyes were entirely black. I reached out to grab Krissin, but Mark held tight to my waist.
“Don’t,” he said.
I struggled against him, but he wrapped his other arm around my waist. My feet slipped on the floor as I thrashed against him. I pounded on his arms with my fists, but he didn’t waver.
“Let me go!” I screamed. “Ace! Stop her! Talk her down. Do something!” I begged as tears streamed down my face.
“She’s pregnant, you know,” Alia said. She’d gotten out of the chair while all of our eyes were trained on Krissin. “With Reese’s baby. Hanne could never give him children. We made sure of that. Breeding with Hanne wouldn’t have given us the results we wanted. He needed to breed with my sister.”
“Your sister?” I asked. “Jada is your sister?” They looked nothing alike and had never acted like they even knew each other.
Krissin’s hand wavered. She shook her head and turned her murderous eyes to Alia.
“You Serenians have waited centuries for that,” Alia pointed at me and laughed, “but we all know how useful she’s been. No visions. No useful prophecies. Nothing. You’ve all placed your trust in something that never came to fruition. And in the meantime we Malborn have been planning for this day.”
“You’re not full Malborn,” I argued. “You’re gifted, like me. Don’t let centuries of hatred and lies cloud your vision.”
Alia laughed again. “I am nearly all Malborn. I’ve been bred for this. An army of us has been bred for this day. We have the gift, yes, but the spark has been buried deep in our blood. It doesn’t shine for us like it does for you. No one can detect us. We’ve been walking among you for years, plotting our final takeover. We will obliterate your gifted people and finally this land will be totally ours.”
Alia shot a bolt of light out of her hand, hitting Ace on the shoulder. He fell backward, releasing his grip on Jada. Before Mark could get to her, Alia grabbed Jada and opened a portal. “Oh, and Krissin, thanks for the gifted bubble that protected me not just from Jada’s magic, but from yours.”
They slipped through the portal and it closed behind them with a small explosion. Portal destroyed.
Krissin slumped to the floor and I ran to her while Mark ran to Ace’s side. I held her in my arms, stroking her hair like Ace had done earlier in the day when she’d nearly lost control. “It’s okay,” I whispered in her ear, cradling her head in the crook of my arm. Her eyes closed and I prayed to Eloh that her blue irises would overtake the black magic that had consumed her eyes.
“Is he okay?” I asked Mark, looking at Ace.
“I can speak for myself, thank you,” Ace groaned. “I don’t know what kind of firepower that girl hides in her palm, but that really hurt.”
Steam billowed up from a tear in his shirt and the smell of burnt flesh crept around the room. He pushed himself up to sitting, shrugging off any help Mark offered him.
“I’m going after them,” Ace said. “I’ll head out to camp now and take a few of our men with me. We’ll ride to the shore and we’ll find them.”
Mark nodded. “I need to stay here with Reychel. I hope you understand.”
“I do.” Ace reached out, clasping his hand in Mark’s. “And you’d better take care of Krissin too. Just don’t tell her I said that. She doesn’t like to know anyone is protecting her.”
I looked at Ace and tried to smile, but it wouldn’t come. “Thank you,” I said.
He turned and ran out the door.
“I changed my mind,” I told Mark, still stroking Krissin’s hair. I would hold her all night if I had to. “I’m going to give a false prophecy tomorrow.”
“Reychel,” Mark started. I held up my hand, cutting him off.
“You didn’t mean to kill Reese.” I willed myself not to look in the direction of his limp body. “But it happened while protecting the people you love. If I have to lie to protect the people I love, then I’ll do it.�
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Chapter Twenty-Four
The next morning, Krissin stepped on the dais, her golden hair shining in the sun, her violet silken dress sparkling as the rays of the sun hit it. I watched from the side, awaiting my turn, my big moment of glory, the moment I dreaded.
A cheer rose for Krissin as the Malborn flag flew above her, held high by a guard. I’d been told all the guards on and surrounding the dais were loyal Serenians in case violence broke out after her announcement we would all be protected. Krissin and Nemison had replaced the guards over the years, leaving Serenians or sympathetic Malborn in their place.
I looked out into the sea of faces, many confused and worried. There hadn’t been an official announcement made by the princess since the day their ruler had died five years ago. I could see the confusion as the crowds milled restlessly and whispered to each other in hushed tones.
Their eyes rested upon me and when I’d feel their gaze and look to them, they’d quickly turn to a neighbor and whisper. I was a curiosity since none of them had ever seen me before. I stood in my disguise, the wig hiding the truth of who I was. My scalp itched, a feeling that had once receded as my hair had grown out, but now, with my head freshly shaved and so tender, my fingernails yearned to scratch the top of my head. Instead I stood with my fists clenched. My nails dug into the cuts I’d sustained the day before in the cave.
Krissin held up her hands and the crowd quickly quieted down.
“Thank you for coming out today.” Her voice echoed over the milling crowd as a gifted slave knelt in front of her and magnified Krissin’s voice. It was a handy trick I’d never seen done before. Apparently he could magnify anyone’s voice to carry over distance. I was impressed and curious to learn more.
“I am your Princess, am I not?” Krissin boomed. The crowd went wild, chanting her name over and over. A smile spread across Krissin’s face. She loved the accolades, that wasn’t a façade. After last night I feared I’d never see a smile cross her face again, but when she woke up this morning she felt fine. She didn’t ask what happened after she’d passed out, but we’d have to fill her in soon. I didn’t need her to gloat about my decision until after I’d followed through with it.
