by Payal Doshi
“Baba? Who?” Rea knitted her brow in confusion. A strange feeling passed over her. It was cold and hollow with edges so sharp they scraped her insides. A deep, dark well with no way out. The emptiness wounded her. The more she tried to soothe it, the more it deepened. When it subsided, she raised her eyes to the petal.
“I better tuck it away safely,” she said and put the petal carefully inside her pocket.
“You are a brave soul, Raelia of the House of Flur.”
“Aw, thanks Floo,” said Rea. She was confused as to why everyone was behaving weirdly. But she didn’t care. She had found the petal and Rohan would be saved at last.
“Do you mind if we see the petal again?” Xeranther asked, the veneration in his voice palpable.
Rea cradled the petal in her palms, and they marveled at it, its glittering blue glow brightening up their faces.
Chapter 27
The Most Trusted Aide
The meeting had ruffled Razya. For the first time in years, her rule over the kingdom had turned fragile. As had her nectar. She felt it leaking away, drop by drop. The only thing she had left was the power of the crown. With the crown on her head, she didn’t need anyone. Its power soothed her. It fueled her desire to live.
Beauty was transient and love was meaningless; it had betrayed her brutally. Some say it’s why she destroyed her family. The crown made her feel superior, important... worthwhile. Without it, she was no one, nothing.
Razya felt herself slipping, slipping towards the edge of a cliff. She was calling for help but no one turned. A tear slipped from her eye. She felt as she did when she was a young woman. Not good enough for Mother or Father. Not matching up to her sister’s goodness. Not being loved by the man she would’ve left everything for.
Razya burned the tear before it slid off her cheek. As Queen, she had made sure her ministers were well looked after. The poor might have suffered,but her council got rich, their clothes grand, their properties large, and their bud-bozans greater in number. But they were turning against her, thinking the bleak chance of power was theirs to claim. Well, all except one.
“I’ve been waiting,” she said. She was sitting in the castle’s reading room, which she used for private consultations.
“Forgive me, my Queen. I couldn’t risk raising doubt amongst the ministers. They need to believe I’m part of their circle.”
Razya faced Ekimmu Welt, Minister of War, and her most trusted aide. Her eyes travelled over his towering stature dressed in robes of silk and horn which covered the crocodile scales on his skin. His shaved head glinted and his pale eyes glowed.
“You barely spoke in there. Didn’t even touch your food. Did you think I would poison you?”
A muscle in his forearm flexed. “My Queen, I must play the part. I’m sure the goose-duck was as delicious as it looked.”
So, it was true. The ministers believed they could be poisoned and standing so close to victory, didn’t want to take a chance.
“Eki, the boy must be killed after the ceremony. I will not have it any other way. His presence in the kingdom is wearing me down. I feel it draining my powers.”
“Consider it done, Your Extreme Greatness. I will arrange for the dwarves to carry out the orders when the time is ready.”
“What about the revolts? The villagers have been quieted for now. What if they rise again? I can’t simply turn them to cinder.”
Ekimmu moved closer. “The Night of Nilaya has impassioned the people but it will pass. Once you reclaim the throne, the boy will be forgotten. Things will return to the way they were. Don’t forget the army you are building. The weapons you are forging. The dwarves have been loyal.”
“When will the army be ready?”
Ekimmu held her look and she felt a strain at the back of her neck.
“We need more time.”
She dropped her defenses, and confided in him about the missing petal. “If the girl fails to find it, I fear the people will know the petal disappeared because I took the throne...”
“Now, now, my queen. If the girl fails, feign surprise when the sacred flower rises with three missing petals. No soul will suspect a thing. When the boy’s blood is sacrificed and the flower does not lose another petal, the people will sing your name. They will see you have saved them. We won’t let them forget it.”
His way with words eased her. Razya smiled. “You are right, Ekimmu. This is why you are my most trusted minister.”
Knock!
Ekimmu stepped aside and Razya hid her twitching fingers under the folds of her gown.
“Enter,” she said and Urdaag framed the door. “Is there news of the girl?”
The Sirion spoke in squawks and guttural sounds, and Ekimmu watched as pet and master communicated in a language of their own, perfectly understanding each other.
“Excellent,” she said. “You have done well.”
Urdaag’s face swelled with the unexpected praise.
“The girl has found the petal by seeking Oleandra’s aid. That silly fool, I knew she couldn’t refuse a child’s plea.”
Ekimmu’s face lightened. “That is wonderful.”
He kept his words brief. Razya liked that. Shouting requests to enter the room, Torgar squeezed past Urdaag and hurriedly bowed before his Queen.
“What on Delphinus is the matter?” she said.
“Your Extreme Greatness,” he wheezed loudly. “The boy bees threatening to poison hisself.”
Chapter 28
Sour Berries
Roiling nimbuses gained speed. Winds keened. Thunder clapped. Rea and the others found themselves on the edge of the woods, across the bridge from Oleandra’s house. They looked at each other in relief. They had made it through.
Rea reached into her pocket and pulled out the petal, making sure it was still there. Suddenly, it vanished from her hands and reappeared a few meters away, twirling as if caught in the wind.
“Excellent work, little niece,” the Queen said, stepping out of the shadows.
An eagle-like man-bird emerged from under a welter of branches and Rea stared in shock. How had she found them?
Without warning, the Queen swept past Rea and stood before the petal.
“WAIT,” Rea cried. “You promised to release Rohan first.”
The Queen ignored her. She slipped a nod to the man-bird and said his name like an order, “Urdaag.”
As the Sirion spread open his massive wings, Rea ran forward and grabbed the floating petal from under the Queen’s gaze. She hurled a look at Xeranther and Leela.
“RUN,” she yelled.
Flula, terrified at the sight of the Queen, darted into the trees. Xeranther and Leela sprinted towards Rea, and the three of them ran like the wind, making their way through the woods. They dodged trees and jumped over logs, pushing their legs as hard as they could.
Rea had never run so fast in her life. She had no idea where she was going or if the petal she had stuffed in her dress was crushed—all she knew was the Queen could not get her hands on it. She debated taking a sip of the potion, but she couldn’t see Leela or Xeranther. What if they didn’t drink their potion in time and the Queen got hold of them? No, she couldn’t risk it. Rea ran as wildly as she could. Only once did she turn to see the Queen. She was right behind her, walking serenely as if taking an afternoon stroll.
With a flick of her aunt’s wrist, Rea’s legs and arms stiffened. No matter how hard she pushed or kicked, they didn’t move. She shouted soundlessly, trapped inside a prison of air. Moving her eyes to the side, she saw Xeranther and Leela, both trapped in frozen bubbles like she was.
“If I may?” the Queen said and slipped her fingers into Rea’s pocket. With the flourish of a magician pulling a rabbit from a hat, she brought out the petal. Her eyes glittered. “Oh, how I’ve longed to hold you,” she whispered to it.
A smile snaked across her face. “Alas, nature daren’t win against me either.”
The spells around Rea, Xeranther, and Leela broke,
and they toppled to the ground. Rea found herself staring at a giant claw, clenching into the dirt. She looked up in horror to see the Sirion staring down at her.
“Lock them in the Cellars,” the Queen said to Urdaag and with a smirk, she disappeared in a puff of smoke.
“Spread out,” Xeranther shouted, jumping to his feet. “He won’t know who to catch first.”
They ran in opposite directions and Urdaag hesitated for a moment. Then, he made a beeline for Rea.
“Drink the potion!” she yelled to the others, trying to outpace the giant bird-creature. But in one swoop, he hooked his talons into her petal dress and dragged her off the ground.
Leela ran toward her, but Rea held her hand to keep her away.
“Go, save Rohan!” she cried, knowing she couldn’t escape the taloned grip.
Tormented, Leela rushed towards Xeranther and before Urdaag got to them, they drank the potion and melted into the ground. With a howling screech, Urdaag and Rea soared into the sky.
Rea was back in the hideous castle that Razya called home. Urdaag had dropped her like a carcass onto a narrow rampart where she was met by Dalric and a blue-skinned lizard spriggan, who had a crossbow in one hand and a spiked hammer in the other. Pretending he had never laid eyes on her or saved her friend’s life before, the dwarf wordlessly led her down the rampart and into the belly of the castle, the very one she had seen in the Queen’s orb. The corridors here coiled and bent under black metal arches and curved around teetering mezzanines. No railing or banister ran along its edges and Rea almost wobbled off balance.
“Bees careful.” Dalric’s face curdled in the ghastly-green light. “We bees entering the Cellars.”
Rea wanted to remind him who she was, but her mind was heavy like molasses. A fusty smell weighed thick and she gagged, burying her nose in the crook of her arm.
“Wait here,” he said, inserting a key into the lock.
Opening the jail cell, he pushed her inside. Rea stood still, numb and dazed, as Dalric secured heavy chains around her ankles and wrists. Without a word, he turned and locked the cell behind him. Green flames burned along the walls and the air was stuffy as an old winter coat. Rea stood there, listening to the quiet sounds of the Cellars.
Suddenly, brisk orders echoed in the corridor and harried footsteps followed.
“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?” The Queen stormed toward the cell diagonal to Rea’s, her cloak swinging like a cape. Torgar scurried behind her. “Threatening to poison yourself, are you?”
“Finally,” a voice replied. “I’ve been waiting for you to show your face in here.”
Rea’s breath caught in her throat. Pulling on her chains, she raced to the front of her cell. She knew the voice. It was dry, cracked, and a little grown up. She opened her mouth to call out his name when—
A shadow emerged from the back of the cell. When it came under the bleak light of the window, Rea saw him. He looked worse than when he’d been paraded on the streets.
“ROHAN!” she cried out, clutching the bars. “IT’S ME, REA!”
But it was as if her words had fallen on deaf ears. Rohan didn’t acknowledge her. She waved her shackled arms, banging them against the metal bars to get his attention when the spriggan growled in her face.
“ROHAN, LOOK HERE,” screamed Rea, not caring about the spriggan. He should have been able to hear her. They were not that far apart. What was going on? In despair, Rea realized why Rohan couldn’t see or hear her. She glared at the Queen. Shadow Magic, there was no other explanation.
“He bees refusing to eat, Your Extreme Greatness,” Torgar said. “Or d-drink.”
“He bees expelling it out!” wept Dalric.
Rea glowered. The dwarves were just as two-faced as Razya.
The Queen flicked the cell door open and glided towards Rohan, her fingers shaped in a claw about to rip open his throat.
“Disobeying my orders is high treason, young man.”
“Try your tricks, but I’m not giving in, Auntie Razya.”
Auntie? Rohan had figured it out! Well, she shouldn’t be surprised. In more ways than one, he was smarter than her. A prick of jealousy stubbed her. NO. That was the old her. She was going to be better than that.
“I’ve chosen to die before you steal my blood,” declared Rohan.
Rea blanched at his words.
“See this book?” It was the one he had thrown in frustration when the Queen had conjured the orb for Rea to see him. “I take it that you keep the Covenants of Astranthia to remind the prisoners about the laws they have broken to warrant their capture. So I read the book from front to back and I know it is my blood you need for the ceremony on the Night of Nilaya. I realized it when your soldiers showcased me like a caged animal to the people of this land.”
The Queen smirked. “I was beginning to think you were the dim-witted one in the family. Sitting here for days not realizing why you had been captured. Especially with these mumblers around.”
Dalric’s hands flew to his throat, thinking she was going to strike him, and his keys fell to the floor with a massive clank! Horrified, Torgar, seized them and hid them within his sleeve.
“If we are related and I’m the heir to the throne, that would mean I’m in line to be King and it should be my line of predecessors sitting on the throne. Yet neither my mother nor father are. Their names are written differently in the book, but it says my grandfather and father are dead. That is true of my family too. My grandfather passed before I was born, and my father died many years ago, but my grandmother and mother are alive, only they’re in a different world. While here you are, reigning as Queen.”
The Queen’s lips uncoiled into a smile.
“I’m afraid you get no applause for your powers of deduction. The realm knows who you are and more importantly they know what my powers can do. You’d be wise to fear them, too.”
Rea couldn’t believe Rohan had figured all this out by reading one book while being trapped in a cell. The Queen’s gaze turned wicked and lightening sparkled from her fingertips, forming a ball of white-blue electricity.
“You will NEVER have my blood,” yelled Rohan and Rea shouted to warn him against testing the Queen’s power, even though he couldn’t hear her.
“Gather yourself, boy. If you must, rage against your mother and grandmother. They’ve lied to you about who you are, your true home, your inheritance. That’s familial love for you. Personally, I was never a fan.”
“I don’t believe you. And even if they did, they would’ve done it to protect me.” His eyes blazed.
Rea felt her ribs squeeze. She had fallen for the Queen’s words and turned on Amma and Bajai in an instant. She felt a pang of guilt, but they had lied to her, hadn’t they...?
“They knew I’d be coming for you and what did they do? Nothing!” laughed the Queen. The cell danced in electric light. “I shan’t complain. It made kidnapping you rather easy.”
Rohan bared his teeth.
“If you think I’m going to help you after what you’ve done to my family, you’re mistaken. You stand here as the Queen of Astranthia, but you are in my hands—the hands of your kidnapped nephew, begging him to do your bidding.”
Razya grimaced. The ball of electricity shot from her hands and Rohan flew backwards. Ropes of current sizzled around his neck. Rea screamed, and the spriggan spat on her, demanding silence. The skin on her wrist split beneath her chains. Pain bloomed over her eyes.
“The Ceremony is tonight,” hissed the Queen. “You can starve and parch yourself, but you will still be alive. It takes more than a few hours to perish. As for your threats, come up with something more believable than poison.”
“If it’s s-so unbelievable, w-why did y-you come to see m-me?” Rohan coughed as more jolts shot through him.
Narrowing his eyes, he slid a steely gaze towards the book.
“Last n-night, I came upon the c-case of Crowley Weedly, a serial seed stealer, n-notorious for stealing banned and p-poisonous s
eeds,” he said. “No doubt you remember his p-punishment...”
The Queen’s expression faltered. Rea could tell she was nervous for what Rohan was about to say.
“What about Weedly?” the Queen snapped, and the grip of electricity fizzled.
Rohan fell to the floor. He rubbed his throat, his body still jerking from the residual current.
“Well, his punishment was death by poison: the very poison from the berries of the seeds he had stolen—Moonfire berries. The book says, if you eat five, you’ll die within a day.”
A wild look entered his eyes, and he opened his palm. Five black-colored berries splashed in pink dots lay on it.
Rea stared in horror. No, no, no. Don’t do it, Rohan, PLEASE!
Razya lunged for the berries, but Rohan thrust them into his mouth. Swallowing quickly, he stuck out his tongue to show her they were gone. The Queen screeched, and Rea wept.
Rohan had signed his death sentence.
“If you could help me...” he said, turning to the dwarves and they rushed to push his cot away from the wall.
A single stemmed sapling, green with leaves, growing from a hole in the floor came into view. Beside it was a shard of ceramic stone stained in blood. Rohan mimed hitting the spine of the book against the sanitation pot, which had a large chip in it the same shape as the shard.
The Queen seethed.
“It was an experiment to test my so-called ‘powers,’” he said with a manic look in his eyes. “I dug a hole with that shard and then cut myself to see what feats of magic my blood could achieve. Pouring my blood into it, I thought of the Moonfire plant. I bled for hours. Right when I was about to faint, a tiny shoot wiggled from the floor. My heart lifted but my eyes closed. When I woke up, it had grown three inches. The more blood I shed on it, the more it grew. This morning, it grew berries. I thought you’d like to see them.”
The Queen snarled and Torgar and Dalric whimpered in fear.
“The irony is, I sacrificed my blood after all. But this way, I get to stop your lies and deceit.”
“Uproot that plant! NOW!” screamed the Queen.
