by K. A. Linde
Eren dismounted and then eased Rhea from her seat. “I couldn’t let you rot away in there. When I went to Caro, he already had a plan in place to get you free. Having my help only assured it.”
“What they did to you was not right,” Master Barca agreed.
Eren pulled her slightly aside. “After seeing what happened in Eleysia, I couldn’t stand back and do nothing. It’s wrong, what they did to you. It’s wrong, what happened in Eleysia. I never thought it would go to such an extreme.”
“You’ve had a change of heart,” she said, her own heart swelling.
“Yes. I know that I am proud of my country, but I can’t stand by and watch them conduct themselves in such a manner. And I could never leave you behind.”
“But I thought…we were…over. I mean, not that we were together, but…” Rhea trailed off as she realized she had been rambling.
Then, Eren moved his hands up into her dark red hair and pressed his lips to hers. She was so caught off guard that she gasped and opened her mouth to meet him. Butterflies flittered in her stomach. Her body seemed to melt at his touch. All the worries and fears she’d had disappeared. It was just Eren and his lips and the enormity of what this all meant.
“I love you,” he whispered against her lips.
“You do?” she asked in shock.
“I have for so long. I should have told you instead of pushing you away. Can you forgive me for making you wait so long to know my true intentions?”
She nodded, tears slicking her cheeks. “Yes. Yes, of course. I…I love you, too.”
“Music to my ears.”
She laughed. “Mine, too.”
“I should have said it better…and at a better time.”
“No, this is perfect.”
He kissed her once more. “I have to get back to the castle. They’ll notice that I’m gone, but I’ll come back for you. I’ll get away as often as I can.”
“Okay,” she said. “I wish you could stay.”
“Me, too. Just know that you have a special place with me, and we’ll be together when the time is right.”
“Yes,” she agreed in earnest.
He finally released her and reluctantly strode back to his horse.
Master Barca appeared then, looking almost a bit sheepish for having intruded on the moment. “I also have to go back with the young High Order. I hate to leave you here, but suspicions will be high when they find you are missing. And everyone believes me too senile to mount any real escape plan.”
Rhea laughed and pulled her Receiver into a hug. “I always knew that you were more than you seemed.”
“I am everything I seem, and I prefer to be that way.” He pulled back and held her at arm’s length. “You should learn to accept that for yourself. You are brilliant. The daughter I never had, and I am so proud of you.”
“But I created those bombs.”
“You do not get to choose how your creations will be used. You did not ignite them on a city. You simply had the genius to create them. Do not ever stop creating. You were born for it.”
“I will miss you.”
“And I, you.” He hugged her one more time. “Go inside. One of my contacts is waiting. He is expecting you. Boss him around a bit. He could use it.”
Rhea grinned. “Where have you left me?”
“A house. Find a way to make it a home.”
He squeezed her shoulders and then mounted his horse. He and Eren waved farewell one more time and then disappeared around the corner. That meant that she was all alone once more.
She stared up at the derelict building and wondered where Master Barca had brought her. Who could he trust so much to drop her on a doorstep?
But she trusted him. So, she would find her own way.
With a gulp, she moved to the door and knocked. A minute later, the door swung inward, and a man stood, blocking the doorway. His figure crowded the space, and his broad shoulders nearly touched either side. He had the appearance of someone who knew an honest day’s work but had the mischievous look of someone who also knew how to squander it. His hair was close cropped, but he had a bit of a beard, as if he couldn’t decide whether to fit into society or buck standards. His mouth turned downward, but his eyes were alight. He seemed to be a walking contradiction.
“Hello,” she said confidently.
“You must be Rhea.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Well, what are you standing out here for? Get inside.”
She scurried past him and into the building. It looked like a hovel on the outside, but the inside was well maintained.
“Your bedroom is the first on the left. You’ll find everything you need in there. Meals are at six, noon, and six. If you’re hungry before or after that, sorry.”
The man turned away from her, as if that was his entire speech.
“I’m sorry,” she said quickly, “but who are you?”
“Oh, right. Introductions.” He brushed his hand over the back of his neck. “I’m not that great with those. I’m Fenix.”
He held his hand out, and they shook. His hand dwarfed hers, as did everything about him. She quickly retrieved her hand.
“Nice to meet you, Fenix. Um…what exactly do you do here?”
“Caro didn’t tell you?”
She shook her head. “We were on a tight schedule.”
“Ever heard of the network?”
“No.”
“Good. That’s how we like to keep it.”
Fenix turned and strode away from her then, leaving her puzzled and excited. What is this new life?
“How are you so big already?” Kaliana cooed to her little baby girl.
“She’s a healthy weight, Your Majesty,” Davila, the nursemaid, said.
“They grow up so fast.”
“Indeed.”
Kaliana sighed when she reluctantly gave Alessia back to Davila. She still hadn’t gotten used to leaving her. Though all of the nurses had told her that her attachment was perfectly normal. But she knew that she should never truly attach herself to a girl. They only ever sent them away. Kaliana herself was living proof of that.
“I wish we could move her to my rooms,” Kaliana said.
Davila looked scandalized and then quickly masked it. “She’s best in the nursery, Your Majesty. You let us look after her. She’ll be the perfect little princess.”
Kaliana nodded sadly. “She already is.”
Then, she turned and fled the nursery before she could take her child and remove her from anyone else’s hands. She had this deep gut-wrenching urge to raise Alessia different than how she had been raised. To refuse to listen to tradition and what all these wet nurses said and raise her daughter how she saw fit. Of course, she couldn’t. Not as queen. Even the maids could raise their children how they saw fit but not the queen. Creator forbid!
She tried to push all of that out of her mind and focus on what lay ahead.
Edric.
The throne room.
He had taken to sitting in there and celebrating in his victory over Eleysia. A sneak attack in the dead of night that had decimated their capital. Not an honorable battle if they asked her.
But they didn’t.
In fact, she was even more invisible now than she’d been before she had Alessia. She had been so determined to be included and feel wanted then. Now, she wanted to get through the parade of activity and get back to her daughter.
Not to mention, she was picking up extra slack since there was no consort for the king. Or at least all the work that his new pet didn’t want to do.
Kaliana stepped into the throne room and found Elea resting on a divan between Edric and Kael. Pet. That was all she could think of when she saw her. Young, innocent, and utterly stupid.
Cyrene had been a threat because she was intelligent and bold. Her sister was a threat for her eagerness and blind trust.
Kaliana had once hated Cyrene. But she understood Edric’s infatuation at least. When she looked a
t Elea, she felt none of the rage or envy. Only pity.
Kaliana walked up to the front of the room and took her empty seat next to Edric. Kael was doing parlor tricks and making Elea giggle. He’d taken to doing that every time he had an audience now. Somehow, so quickly, he had gone from being shunned to people accepting what he could do. She knew it had to be because Edric was backing him. Also, fear.
The fact that he could do magic…that he had leveled a city was terrifying. If she had been in Edric’s place, she would have put Kael down like a lame horse before giving him as much power as he was allowed.
“Hello, Kaliana,” Edric said with a bright smile. He’d had a smile for her more and more frequently since Eleysia. “How is our daughter?”
Kael’s juggling fireball fumbled, and he nearly caught the divan on fire. Elea shrieked, but he smothered it with air before it even singed the fabric.
“Alessia is healthy and strong, husband,” she said with her own smile. Alessia was the true joy in her life. “We should visit her together tomorrow.”
Edric nodded. “Yes, I’d like that.”
But, as another person entered the throne room, his attention diverted from Kaliana, as if he had never been talking to her. She was used to it. She held her head high and endured the court politics. Perhaps, after an hour or so, she could claim to have some duties for her Affiliates and leave.
“You summoned me?” High Order Eren said once he reached the front of the room. He bowed deeply and then kept his easy smile about him.
Kaliana had always liked him. He was one of Edric’s closer friends, especially since he had come back from Trinnenberg as an Ambassador. Eren was steadfast. She felt like he was the right kind of man they needed in their court at the moment, as it was devolving into debauchery.
“Yes,” Edric said. “I have a question for you.”
Kael patted the top of Elea’s head, as if she were a lap dog, and stood to stride around the room. He moved like a predator stalking his prey. Every step important. A current of energy seemed to emanate from him, and Kaliana shivered under the intensity.
“Yes?” Eren asked.
“Where were you last night?”
“I retired to my rooms early after dinner and slept through the night.”
“I see,” Edric said. He nodded his head at Kael.
A blast of energy smacked Eren in the back and sent him sprawling on the ground. His knees hit hard, and he coughed as he tried and failed to right himself. The room fell silent all around them.
Kaliana held her tongue, but she wanted to scream at them. Tell them no. They couldn’t do this! Not to Eren! He was a good man. A good person. This wasn’t right.
But she did nothing.
As always.
“Are you aware that Rhea has gone missing?”
“No,” Eren said through gritted teeth. “You know that I ended my friendship with her.”
“I see,” Edric said again. “Then, why did a guard report seeing you leave on horseback with a woman under a riding cloak?”
Eren paled. “I didn’t want to concern you. I’ve been…having a dalliance with one of the local maids.”
Kael laughed. “You don’t have it in you.”
“Truly, Eren, can you not come up with a better lie than that? We all know that you do not sleep around.”
“She’s special,” he said.
Kaliana gave him points for having a backbone. Not many could stand up to Edric, especially not with him working with Kael.
“I’m sure she is,” Kael muttered.
“Unfortunately for you, I think you’re lying,” Edric said smoothly. “Tell me where you took her, and I will spare your life.”
“I didn’t take her!”
“Make this easy for me, Eren. We have been friends for a long time. Where is Rhea Gramm?”
Eren’s eyes darted to the ground and then back up to Edric. Kaliana could see the wheels working in his mind. How she wished that she could reach out and tell him not to give in. But she wasn’t strong enough, and she watched in horror with the rest of the crowd.
“In the city,” Eren finally said. “I took her to a building off the Laelish.”
“What did it look like?”
“Run-down, two stories. I don’t know. I’d never been there before. I just dropped her off.”
Kaliana narrowed her eyes. There was something in his face that said he was lying. She grinned. Clever. She hoped Edric didn’t notice.
“Wonderful. That wasn’t so hard,” Edric said. “Help him up.”
Kael released whatever powers he’d been using to hold Eren down. Then, he walked before Eren and held out his hand. Eren reluctantly looked up at him but put his hand in his. Kael easily lifted him to his feet. Eren dusted off his black pants.
“We’ll send someone down to collect her now,” Edric said.
He snapped his fingers at Merrick, who had been watching the display with bottomless black eyes. He retreated to a slew of guards and started giving out instructions.
“Thank you for telling the truth,” Edric said, drawing Eren closer.
“Of course, Majesty. It was the right thing to do.”
Edric tsked. “I have no need for traitors in my midst.”
Kael drew the flaming blade that Cyrene had used in their ballroom battle. It had become a bit of a signature for him.
“Edric?” Eren asked with wild eyes.
Then, Kael thrust the blade up into Eren’s heart. Kaliana covered her mouth with her hands as her favorite High Order was murdered in front of her. Kael took a deep breath and seemed to be drinking in the madness.
“Someone, clean up this mess,” Edric said irritably. “And bring back the music!”
Kaliana watched wildly as everything went back to normal. As if a man hadn’t just been killed in front of them. As if a life hadn’t been snuffed out. As if they weren’t all murderers and accomplices for these outrageous events. But she found no welcoming eyes when she searched for someone who could see how horrible this all was.
Am I the only one who saw the throne room for what it had become?
A trial, court, and execution.
“I am freezing my ass off,” Ahlvie grumbled.
He blew into his hands and shook on his horse as they passed through the Taken Mountains. Cyrene cringed at the statement. He was cold because of her.
“If Cyrene will just concentrate, we can all be warm,” Matilde said snappishly.
She had become more and more irritable, the farther they’d walked through the mountain pass. Snow had started falling on the third day and had been coming down steady ever since. The weather was about as opposite from Eleysia’s temperate climate where snow didn’t even fall in winter.
“I am trying,” Cyrene said.
Matilde humphed.
Vera gave her a sympathetic look.
Everyone else just looked like they were freezing.
And she was trying.
She proved that she was able to conjure all four elements, and now they’d set her to more difficult tasks. Not to mention, they had gone back to the slow and steady approach.
No anger. No fear.
If they sensed even a hint of irritability, they’d cut off all training.
She understood their concerns. No one wanted her to give in to the anger the way she had. To use her magic for evil rather than good. To let that side of herself fuel her powers. Blood magic came with a price, and they weren’t sure if she had completely paid it yet.
“Why was this so much easier when I could just imagine Maelia’s death?” she muttered under her breath.
“Because you were harnessing your energy at a much faster rate. You burned through your powers,” Vera explained for the tenth time. “Using your magic incorrectly comes with side effects—headaches, nausea, depression. When you use your powers properly from your core, you can control it instead of it controlling you. The path of least resistance is not always the correct one.”
“I
beg to differ,” Ahlvie grumbled. “If you ever decide to get angry again, Cyrene, feel free to channel some of that into warming us all up.”
Cyrene frowned and glanced down at the open book in her saddle. She’d had all of those side effects. She knew how bad it had been for her. Yet it had been so easy. So, so easy.
“Release from your center,” Avoca said again. “When your powers are concentrated and you are in tune with your body, then your powers will energize you, even as they’re depleting.”
“And they’ll run out at a slower rate,” Matilde added.
Cyrene nodded. “Got it. The three Cs—concentrate, control, core.”
“Now, please, try again,” Vera encouraged.
“Okay.”
Cyrene closed the book and pushed it back into her saddlebag. It had gone tumbling twice before, and the brutal verbal lashing she’d received from Matilde made her more aware of what she was doing with the two-thousand-year-old book.
She closed her eyes, and then she reached into her center and gathered her magic. Fire was still the most difficult to draw forward, but she knew that was normal. Most people weren’t ever completely proficient with fire.
With a sigh, she raised her other hand and conjured a flame in her palm. She opened her eyes and grinned. Flame, check.
She closed her eyes again and imagined taking the warmth and energy from the flame and amplifying it beyond her hand. Making it from the small ball of fire that gently heated her hand to a radiating heat for the entire party.
Cyrene pushed out all the extra thoughts and cluttered memories in her mind. She let herself become one with the flame in her hand. She brought her other hand up to meet the glow and stretched them further apart. The fire itself remained the same size, but the energy within it grew to the size of a carriage wheel.
This was the tricky part. She’d gotten here before. Getting the energy past her fingertips was the challenge.
A bead of sweat collected on her forehead as she heated all around her, and her concentration narrowed to a tight focus. She took an easy breath and then released the energy out further and further until it encompassed her entire body and Ceffy below her. The air around her was warm enough now that it was melting the snow as they walked.
