by S. M. Boyce
Mostly there was gold. Jewelry, goblets, and piles and piles of gold coins. There were chests overflowing with riches, so Victoria understood why the crime boss Drefus would want to come here. Whoever had this much wealth could live like a king. Hell, they might even be able to overthrow a king.
She shuddered at the thought of the crime boss ruling Fairhaven.
To occupy herself Victoria looked in every chest, but found nothing fun—just more of the same. When she had gone through them all, she studied the wall display. Even though she didn't understand what any of them did, she could at least appreciate what they were. Necklaces. Earrings. A few crowns and tiaras. Little white figurines like the ones Audrey had bought in the marketplace. Swords. An axe. She ran her finger along the dagger in her arm.
The seconds ticked into minutes, and the minutes ticked into hours.
“How much longer, Diesel?" Victoria asked eventually.
“I'm almost done. I'm writing as fast as I can, darling.”
“Stop calling me—ugh.” She didn't bother finishing her sentence.
He grinned.
“Did you find anything that can give me strength yet?”
With a shake of his head, Diesel tapped his finger on an empty pillow. “Some fruity lord has it. We would have to kill him to get it.”
Victoria sighed. Not a chance. She wouldn’t be like Luak, killing others to take their power.
Too bad.
Voices filtered in and Victoria's heart leapt into her throat. She ran to the door, summoning her sword just in case, and peeked into the passage.
Empty.
She let out a slow sigh of relief and nodded to Diesel to indicate everything was okay. He resumed his note-taking, but the voices grew louder. She recognized one of them.
General Cato.
Styx fluttered beside her, growling again as he heard the man's voice. Victoria needed to know what he was saying. If it set her otherwise happy-go-lucky pixie on edge, it couldn’t be good news.
“Diesel,” she whispered.
He looked over, and she gestured for him to join her.
“I'm not done yet,” he said, pointing toward the Artifacts.
“This is more important.”
He sighed wistfully, looking at the Artifacts for second before joining her. “What is it, my dear?”
Victoria suppressed her usual groan. She needed to focus, even if he wouldn't. “What are they saying?”
Diesel stared at the wall, his eyes going out of focus as he listened. His ears twitched a little, and he nodded to himself. “The general is saying that the king favors Audrey. He's considering adopting her as his heir, because she's powerful and has so much potential.”
A pang of loss hit Victoria hard in the chest. In this country, Audrey would be a princess. Talk about temptation!
She swallowed hard, wondering if she could in good conscience ask her friend to give that up. Victoria didn't want to lose Audrey, but she didn't want to stand in her way either.
“The general says they've traced her lineage to some war hero. Even though it's not true the public would believe it, and that would solidify Audrey's rule when she took over.”
“Wow,” Victoria said softly, running her hand through her hair.
Diesel bristled, face distorting with anger as the men in the next room continued to talk. “Those bastards.”
“What?”
“They just want her to rule because she can be controlled. This is the general's attempt to take over the throne. They're saying that the human genes reduce willpower and allow the Atlantean within her to run the show. He's going to control her like a puppet.”
Victoria balled hands into fists. “That asshole!”
“Shit,” Diesel said.
“Fuck, there's more?”
“He's going to tell her to kill us.”
Victoria shoulders drooped. “Awesome.”
“They're going to give her some special Atlantean Artifact that allows her to change shape, and they’re going to make her stay in that form forever. Apparently we make her weak. She’s not supposed to treat us as equals, and he thinks her affection for us is holding her back.”
“This is bad,” Victoria said, pacing the small hallway.
Diesel nodded. “We have to get out of here.”
“Let's find Audrey and get out. Tonight. Finish up what you’re doing, but we don't have much time.”
“How about we, shall we say, make free with some of these Atlantean Artifacts?" He flashed her a dazzling grin.
Victoria stood a little taller, looking him in the eye. These assholes were not only planning to manipulate and control her best friend, they wanted Victoria and Diesel dead. They had immense power, an entire army on their side, and an intuitive knowledge of a kingdom Victoria barely knew. She needed every advantage she could find, and while she believed in doing what was right, she also wanted to live. Besides, she didn't care much about stealing from someone who wanted to force her best friend to murder her. “Take whatever you want.”
CHAPTER 23
“Whenever you're ready, Audrey,” the king said.
Audrey took a deep breath, but she wasn't nervous. She had spent so much time practicing with the instructor in the gardens that she didn't question the magic in her blood anymore. She knew it would do what she wanted it to do when she wanted it to do it.
The question was merely how much she wanted to show.
For the king, she wanted to give a special performance, provide proof that the time and money he had spent on her while she was a guest in his home had been well worth it. She had mastered the bolts of energy, but there was another technique that took more effort and attention. One that took more skill.
With the artifact in her left hand, she raised her right and summoned the white light from within the stone. It pooled and shimmered in her hand before slowly crawling upward as gentle and elegant swirls of light that she could control. They wafted from her, spinning like ribbon dancers through the air. She was careful not to touch anything with them since they would ignite whatever they touched, just let them be a beautiful display of her power.
The king clapped his hands, a broad smile on his face as he watched the show. “My dear, you have far surpassed what I expected. I am so impressed!”
Audrey smiled, grateful for the recognition. “Thank you for the opportunity to learn.”
He caught her eye and beamed like a proud father, which made her stand up straighter with pride. “Audrey, the queen and I have something we would like to share with you tonight. Please be ready for a dinner in your honor and some incredibly exciting news.”
“Can you tell me now?" she asked with a mischievous grin.
He chuckled. “I'm afraid not. We will see you tonight.”
With that, he bowed his head slightly toward her and exited the throne room, leaving via the route she had seen him and the queen take whenever they left. Their quarters were probably in that direction, but Audrey didn't dare follow.
After all, she was only a guest here.
She headed toward her room, mind buzzing with ideas about what the king and queen wanted to share with her. He had said that he was impressed by her skills, and everyone she spoke to acted like she was here to stay. The thought of her leaving seem to fill them with horror.
After all, she was one of them, and an Atlantean’s place was in Atlantis.
When she reached her bedroom, she threw open the double doors and inhaled the sweet air. It was like summer and Christmas rolled into one, and she tasted happiness every time she stepped into this room. The open balcony ushered in another fresh breeze, and she stood on it, hands on the railing, as she stared at the beautiful kingdom. Its lakes glistened in light she still didn't understand, and she had to confess something difficult to herself.
She loved it here, and she didn't want to go.
Audrey fetched her hairbrush from the silver vanity, but her reflection caught her off-guard. Her long dark hair now had the
same silky shimmer as every other Atlantean in the kingdom, and though they had only been here two weeks, it had grown a foot. Smiling, blissfully happy, she wove her hair into the same braid she had seen the queen wear and tied it off with a silk string from the vanity.
The door slammed.
Audrey jumped, heart hammering in her chest. It wasn't until she saw Victoria pressed against the closed door that she was able to calm down.
Victoria, however, looked panicked.
“What's going on?" Audrey asked.
“We have to get out of here,” Victoria said.
“Why?”
“Diesel and I overheard some dark stuff, Audrey. Our lives are in danger, and we need to go. We need to leave now.”
Audrey opened her mouth to speak, concern burning through her at the thought of her friends’ lives being in danger. Her instinct was to trust Victoria, since she knew without a doubt that Victoria always told the truth.
But the voice deep in her core disagreed.
She's jealous.
She wants what you have.
She’s a threat to everything you’ve built here.
And the voice was loud.
Torn, Audrey fiddled with the crystal in her pocket, and the more she touched it, the more her initial instinct to trust Victoria faded. It was like something took her over, and she believed without a doubt that Victoria was simply wrong.
“I think you made a mistake,” Audrey said calmly.
Victoria's face scrunched in confusion. “Diesel heard them talking, Audrey. They want to manipulate you. They’re trying to control you.”
Audrey shook her head, biting her tongue even as a wave of resentment swamped her. “You didn't hear it for yourself?”
“Well, no. I don't know Latin, or whatever they speak here,” Victoria said.
Audrey crossed her arms. “And it never once occurred to you that perhaps you shouldn’t make assumptions when you yourself didn't hear what happened?”
“Audrey, I'm serious. This is real, and you're in danger. We all are. We have to get out of here.”
Yet again, the instinct to trust Victoria blipped to life in Audrey's chest. She took a step back, trying to make sense of the warring emotions in her body, but in the end her inner voice won the battle. It was as though something came over her, something uncontrollable, and Audrey snapped. “Or maybe you're just tired of not having your own Royal Suite. Maybe you're tired of them mistaking you for a servant. I'm sorry they don’t treat you with respect, Victoria, but maybe this isn’t about me or Cato or the king. Maybe you're tired of me having the time of my life.”
“Audrey, what—”
“You said it yourself that you don't like being here! And yet here I am, finally finding my roots. Finally discovering who I am and what I can do and why I’m powerful, and you want to leave? You want to take that away from me?”
“I'm trying to save you!”
“No, you're just tired of playing second fiddle to me! You think they're treating you like a second-class citizen, Victoria, but that's how I feel every day. No one sees me. No one acknowledges me. No one says anything about what I do to help you. You're the hero, Victoria, and I'm the sidekick. Maybe I don't want to be the sidekick anymore!”
Victoria pointed a finger at Audrey as she closed the gap between them. “You’re not a sidekick, Audrey, and you know it.”
“Aren’t I? I’m ignored back in Fairhaven, but here I'm treated like royalty. Why would I ever leave?”
Victoria's mouth dropped open and she didn't say anything. Neither of them moved for several moments and Audrey's shoulders ached from tension, but she swore to herself she wouldn't back down. She had said what she had never felt safe to say, but now they had emptied their purses on the floor.
Time to see what Victoria would do.
“Fyrn was right,” Victoria said softly. With that, she left. The door clicked shut behind her, and the room became painfully silent.
Audrey backed up slowly until she hit a wall, but she still couldn't quite process what she had just said. She almost couldn't remember it, like it had come from someone else. She tugged on the ends of her silky dark hair, baffled by what was going on and simultaneously not wanting to challenge it.
After all, she had a home here.
The impulsive anger faded, replaced by comfort and calm. It felt as though everything were suddenly fine. The memory of her fight with Victoria began to blur, and she couldn’t remember anything that had been said. Victoria had been upset—that was all she could recall.
“No,” she said, pacing the room. “I want to remember.”
Everything is fine, the voice in her core said.
“No it's not!" she said loudly.
Everything is fine, the voice repeated.
Audrey shook her head, still pacing in circles. This wasn’t right. It wasn’t fine. Panic and guilt blurred until she couldn't tell one from the other, and she knew she had to find Victoria. They needed to make this right. Something was happening to Audrey, and she could finally see it. She could finally feel it, and she didn't like it one bit—whatever "it" was. Something was happening to her, and it was more than just her skin shimmering and the silky sheen of her hair. There were other changes going on within her, and those changes would be the death of her if she wasn't careful.
Something clicked for her, and she stopped dead in her tracks.
She and Victoria didn't just need to make things right. They needed to leave.
EVERYTHING IS FINE! the voice shouted within her.
The voice within her was so loud it took her to her knees. The overwhelming sensation of anger was like invisible hands pushing on her shoulders, trying to pin her to the floor. She fought it, tears burning in her eyes, but her very core shook with fear. Audrey reached out to balance herself, but her palms slid on the polished white marble. Her long dark hair fell onto the cold floor, and she heaved as she tried to catch her breath.
EVERYTHING IS FINE!
The words were a deafening roar both in her ears and in her body. They consumed her, controlled her, taking over every ounce of her willpower and sense of self. They weren’t comforting or soothing anymore. Whatever this voice was, it was assaulting her. She had to fight.
And she was losing.
EVERYTHING IS FINE!
Within Audrey, something clicked back into place. It was as though a thought pattern had been corrected, or puzzle pieces had been put in the proper order. She stilled, her heart slowing as she tried to remember what she had been so upset about.
It was all fuzzy.
She held her hand to her head and leaned her back against the wall, staring at the ceiling as she tried to make sense of the last few minutes.
She couldn't.
She stood, and suddenly the only thing she could remember was that the king wanted to have dinner with her tonight. Enough nonsense…it was time to get ready. She toyed with the brain in hair, but a worrying sensation pulled on the back of her mind. Something was wrong, but for the life of her she couldn't figure out what.
“How strange,” she said softly, the words eerily familiar. She didn't like the sense of déjà vu that came with them, and she wondered what would happen if she ignored the sensation.
***
At dinner, Audrey found it difficult to eat. She found herself poking at the food with her fork.
“Are you all right, dear?" the queen asked from her seat across the glass table.
Audrey nodded and did her best to smile, but it didn't last long. “I'm fine, thank you. I appreciate you having me for dinner.”
The king smiled from where he sat at the head of the table. “I'm sure you're wondering what we want to tell you.”
“I'll confess an interest,” Audrey said with a chuckle.
The king stood, meat and potatoes still on his plate, and gestured for her to come. She and the queen followed him toward a tapestry behind the table, and he lifted it to reveal a door. It swung inward as they approached,
and he led them down a long staircase.
On either side of the stairs were mountains of gold, mainly coins, but also the occasional string of pearls or gemstones. They glittered in the light from the wall sconces, but the king barely seemed to notice them. He led Audrey and the queen toward the bottom of the stairs, where a pedestal awaited them. On the pedestal lay a royal-blue silk pillow with a silver tiara nestled on it, a glimmering clear crystal embedded in its tallest point.
