by Skye Malone
Abide
An Awakened Fate Novella
Copyright 2014 by Skye Malone
Published by Wildflower Isle | P.O. Box 17804, Urbana, IL 61803
www.wildflowerisle.com
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this text and any portions thereof in any manner whatsoever.
This book is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and incidents appearing in this work are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
ISBN: 1-940617-26-X
ISBN-13: 978-1-940617-26-8
Cover design by Karri Klawiter
www.artbykarri.com
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Pronunciation Guide
Aveluria (av-eh-LUR-ee-uh)
Dehaian (deh-HYE-an)
Driecara (dree-eh-CAR-uh)
Egan (EE-gan)
Ina (EE-na)
Inasaria (ee-na-SAH-ree-uh)
Jirral (jur-AHL)
Lycera (li-SER-uh)
Niall (nee-AHL)
Nialloran (nee-ah-LOR-en)
Nyciena (ny-SEE-en-uh)
Ociras (oh-SHE-rahs)
Olicia (oh-lih-SEE-uh)
Renekialen (ren-eh-kee-AHL-en)
Ryaira (ry-AIR-uh)
Sieranchine (see-EHR-an-cheen)
Siracha (seer-AH-cha)
Sylphaen (sil-FAY-en)
Teariad (tee-AR-ee-ad)
Tiago (tee-AH-go)
Torvias (TOR-vee-ahs)
Yvaria (ih-VAR-ee-uh)
Zekerian (zeh-KEHR-ee-en)
Chapter One
There was something to be said for getting used to death. For not caring anymore, or maybe just not letting it shock you. It must be so nice to finally grow accustomed to that raw ache of grief inside your chest, pulsing with every heartbeat and returning like an old, unwelcome friend with each new loss.
I was still waiting for that to happen for me.
“Are you listening, Princess Inasaria?”
I blinked, pulling my attention from the doorway to my apartment and the fejeria leaves waving in the current. Two guards hovered outside it; I could see the coloring of their scales when the leaves moved a certain way. They, and others like them, had been there for days, protecting me.
Ever since Dad died.
“Of course,” I replied to Orvien, attempting to give no sign of how I was wracking my brain for the past several minutes of lecture.
My mind was a blank.
The gray-haired and entirely-too-proper palace chamberlain tightened his mouth, clearly not believing a word of my response.
“King Renekialen will lead the funeral procession to the edge of Nyciena,” he continued pointedly, “where your father’s body will be passed through the veil and given to the deep, according to custom. You will not be expected to speak at that point, though the reception afterward will require you to acknowledge the dignitaries who have come to pay their respects. Now, special attention will need to be given to your mother’s representatives from Lycera–”
“She’s not coming?”
Orvien hesitated. “She sends her regrets, highness.”
I looked away. I should have expected it. Mom and Dad… I didn’t think they’d ever loved each other. Not really. Their relationship was a political arrangement. And when my baby sister Miri died at the hands of kidnappers, Dad made the nation of Driecara bleed over it, and everything fell apart…
Mom left. They were still technically married, and they kept things civil for the sake of Lycera and Yvaria, and us too, but Dad’s funeral would be a touchy situation. Show too much grief, people would talk. Don’t show enough, they’d have other things to say. Everyone would be watching her, with a thousand agendas and determination to read into her every action.
So she’d decided to stay away. I understood that. It made sense.
I realized I couldn’t feel my fingers from how tightly they were clenched together.
“Now,” Orvien continued, resuming his formal, emotionless tone. “As for the officials of Ryaira and Teariad, you–”
“I know all this, Orvien, okay?” I interrupted, unlacing my fingers. “Greet the Lycerans before anyone else, and make sure not to spend a second longer with the delegation from Ryaira than the one from Teariad, in case they think we’re biased in mediating their border dispute.” I hesitated, trying to keep my voice steady. “It’s just like any other event.”
His mouth tightened further. He looked like he was attempting to squeeze the blood from his own lips. “Your highness, forgive my impertinence, but this certainly is not. And in any case, the king ordered me to remind you of these matters, as a precaution against grief clouding your–”
“Ren didn’t tell you that. He knows I wouldn’t forget–”
“The king asked me to make certain you were ready.”
I pushed away from the window seat. “That’s not the same thing, Orvien. And I am. I’ll join you and Ren in the throne room shortly.”
The chamberlain was silent. I waited. After decades in the royal service, the old man had to know a dismissal when he heard one.
“Yes, highness,” he said with a bow. “We will await your arrival.”
He swam from the room.
A breath left me and I sank back down onto the stone of the window seat.
I didn’t want to do this. Go down there. Smile and thank people for coming and say nice, diplomatic things.
Admit this was real.
My hands gripped the sharp ledge. Dad was gone. I needed to accept that. He’d been assassinated by Physician Liana, a woman who’d lived in our palace for years and whom we’d trusted completely. She’d poisoned him. My brothers, Ren and Niall, too. Half the soldiers in Yvaria were hunting her down right now.
As was Zeke.
A grimace twisted my face. That wasn’t quite true. He would be, once he got back from helping Chloe get to safety.
Even if, really, he should have returned from doing that days ago.
The grimace deepened. I got why he’d stayed away after escaping the palace. Ren was being stubborn about Zeke’s involvement with Chloe, and wanted to keep him away from her. Considering the girl could be a Vetorian spy – maybe, anyway – it made sense. But Ren would’ve just put Zeke under house arrest again if he’d come back.
Of course, Zeke also could have let Granddad take Chloe to California instead. And Niall could have stayed at the palace rather than go look for them. Then my brothers would all be here and the ones who weren’t king could help me deal with the parts of this that Ren couldn’t be around for.
Instead of leaving me mostly alone for our father’s funeral.
I pushed the thoughts aside. I’d handle it. I’d get through the funeral, Niall would make sure Zeke was okay, and they’d both be home soon. Ren would forgive Zeke for his involvement with Chloe, and he’d forgive Granddad too for helping Zeke hide for those few days. Meanwhile, Chloe and all the chaos around her would be back in California, and my family…
My family would get back to the way things used to be.
Mostly, anyway.
I shoved up from the window seat and headed for my jewelry box, trying to make myself believe that last.
The stone box yielded up a pair of earrings inlayed with black diamonds, while a display next to it supported a thin chain of platinum, interspersed with more of the dark stones. Absently, I slipped the earrings into place and then took up the chain. I fastened the uppermost part around my neck and then strung the length down my torso a
nd wrapped the end around my waist.
My gaze slid to my crown, the slender ringlet of silver with glittering diamonds and sapphires that I wore only on state occasions – of which there hadn’t been many in the past several months. I wondered if it’d be enough, or if Ren would want me to wear something fancier still. It was respectful to Dad, after all. And normally, I didn’t mind dressing up.
Normal had nothing to do with today.
A flicker of light caught the corner of my eye. I turned, looking to the low table on the other side of the room.
Blue-white magic was shimmering inside the foot-tall, oblong ring of gold that formed my personal relay station. On the tripod of its base, gemstones lit up from within, signaling an incoming call from beyond Nyciena.
“What the–” I began, my brow furrowing. Only a few people had the code for my room, but the city was on lockdown regardless. No signal should have been able to get through from the outer world.
Unless they used an emergency override…
I darted toward the relay device, and my heart started to pound when I saw the person on the other end of the connection. “Zeke? What–”
“Ina, just listen to me.”
Ice ran through my blood at his harsh tone.
“Niall…”
I saw him struggling to speak and I lost the ability to breathe. Niall couldn’t be dead. Not him too. He couldn’t have–
“Niall’s a Sylphaen,” Zeke managed. “It was all a setup. He’s the one who killed Dad. Him and Liana. They did it to take control of Yvaria, to scare Ren, and to make it easier to get to Chloe. So you have to go to Ren. You have to make him understand that. And you have to stay away from Niall. Whatever it takes. Stay away from him.”
The words were insane. “Zeke,” I tried, “what–”
“Please.”
I stared at him.
“Just do it, okay?” he insisted. “Please. I… I’ll be home soon. I just have something I need to do first.” He paused. “Love you, Ina.”
The image wavered. “Zeke, I–”
He was already gone.
I couldn’t move. I couldn’t feel my hands or tail and everything had come down to the gold ring in front of me, now empty of magic. Distantly, I could feel reactions bubbling up inside, though none of them made it very far before they lost touch with why they were even there in the first place.
This was a nightmare. Or a trick. Some kind of horrible, sick prank played by someone who just wanted to torture us. Me. I didn’t know how they’d done it, how they’d made it look like Zeke said those things, and I didn’t care.
Niall wouldn’t have done that. Not ever. Not my big brother who’d spent an entire year when we were kids trying to find ways to put squids in my hair. He barely had a serious bone in his body, and cared as much for politics as he did for the landscape of the moon.
There was no way. Just no way.
I wasn’t even sure the Sylphaen existed anymore. I mean, I trusted Zeke, but Ren also said maybe those people were lying. Just claiming to be something that they weren’t. But no matter which one of them was right, that still wasn’t really the point.
Niall wouldn’t join with people like that. And he’d never, ever have hurt Dad.
This had to be a mistake.
The cold, stone floor bumped into my fin and I blinked, realizing I’d sunk to the ground. Flicking my tail, I rose in the water again. I couldn’t handle this right now. Think about this right now. Ren was waiting. My father’s funeral would be held in only minutes.
And I was already late.
I darted back to the shelf to snag my crown and then swam for the door.
Chapter Two
The guards took up positions beside me when I left the room and headed for the main hall.
“Princess.”
I tried not to swear, knowing anyone who overheard would only use it as gossip about my current mental state.
But a slew of choice words presented themselves.
This wasn’t fair, I told the universe silently. Not even a little bit.
I glanced back to see Egan swimming down the hall toward me. With his silver scales, dark eyes, and hair so light it seemed like snow even though he was only a year older than me, he looked like a sculptor’s dream, and just as incredible as ever.
It only made me hate him a little bit more. Killing that damn flutter in my stomach would’ve been so much easier if he was ugly.
Of course, it also meant I wouldn’t have ended up in this situation in the first place.
“Not right now, Egan,” I said tightly.
“I just wanted to see if you were alright.”
A breath left me. If there was a spot on the other side of the galaxy from alright, I was probably there right now.
“I’m fine,” I replied.
I started down the hall again, hoping to escape before he said another word.
“If you need anything,” he called.
“Guys?” I snapped to the guards.
One of them turned to stop Egan from following. I didn’t know if he would, but I also didn’t want to hear his voice – with all its compassion and concern – right now.
I just needed to get through this.
And possibly ask Ren to order Egan to return home. He was only here because his father, the Duke of the Yvarian province of Teariad, was trying to settle a border issue with their neighbors in Ryaira. Egan and his father had been around for the past six months, since his dad wanted this to be a learning experience for Egan, and they showed no signs of intending to leave until the decades’ old dispute was finally settled.
But maybe I could come up with something… something non-personal… that Ren could use to make him go away.
The thought was tempting. So tempting. I’d spent longer with Egan than I had with anyone else – a mistake I wouldn’t make again. But he’d been so kind, and smart, and funny, and just amazing in bed, and everything had seemed like it was wonderful…
Until he said he loved me.
Shivers ran through me all over again at the memory of those words. How could Egan have been so stupid? Why in the hell had he needed to bring that into this?
I didn’t do love. Ever. Not the romantic kind. None of us did. Not me, not Zeke, not Niall.
My thoughts went back to what Zeke said about Niall only minutes ago. With effort, I pushed them away again.
The point was, Egan should have known that. We had fun. Everyone did, from those of us in the royal family on down to the lowest of the courtiers. Parties, sex, hanging out on land, all of it was just fun, so that everything serious in the world didn’t matter and we could all simply have a good time.
Because the serious always managed to come back again, no matter what you did.
I slowed as the lines of courtiers and servants on the first level came into view. The lords wore black bands crosswise on their chests, while the ladies had jewelry of polished onyx. Dark bands likewise wrapped the arms of the servants, and from their red and downcast eyes, I could tell that some of them had been crying.
A steadying breath entered my lungs. With the guard at my side, I kept my face somber and still as we swam along the lines of people, heading for the smaller, side entrance to the throne room at the far end of the hall.
Ren was waiting.
Along with the highest nobles in Yvaria.
I tried not to grimace as I swam over to him. Ren had always sort of looked like a king to me, even when we were kids, as though the eventual transfer of power we all knew would come had been part of his bearing from the moment he was born. He wore the official crown and robe of the position now, the latter of which trailed from the jewel-encrusted mantle on his shoulders to hang in the nearly still water behind him. The nobles formed two rows at his back, dressed to the hilt in their finery out of respect for Dad. The men nearest to Ren had a bier lifted above their heads, and beneath the black cloth wrapped around it, I could see the shape of my father’s body.
My gaze darted away.
“What took you so long?” Ren murmured as I took my place three feet behind him and to his right.
“Sorry,” I managed.
His mouth tightened and his gaze flicked back to me as Orvien moved forward to lead the procession from the room.
“You alright?” he asked in a kinder tone.
“Yeah.”
Beneath the composure, I could see he didn’t believe me, but he didn’t say a word as Orvien motioned to the honor guard to open the main throne room doors.
I drew a breath as the hall came into view. I just needed to get through this. Concentrate and smile and survive the next few hours.
Then I’d deal with Zeke, Niall and the fact there was no way anyone in my family would have caused this. I’d handle it.
Or something.
~~~~~
“–and I can’t even begin to tell you how sorry we are, princess,” Siracha continued with fawning sincerity. “It’s just horrifying. That an assassin could reach the king, even in a place like–”
“Siracha!” hissed her twin sister, Neria.
The blonde girl blinked, seeming thrown by the interruption to her speech.
“My apologies, princess,” Neria tried. “We just feel so terrible for you, and for all the pain your father’s death must be causing your family.”
I managed a polite smile, and used a quick adjustment to my hair to cover my glance to the rest of the ballroom. Stretching fifty yards in either direction and rising over a hundred feet in the air, the room was an expanse of blue marble pillars ringed by secluded grottos. More dark marble formed the distant ceiling, while glowing chandeliers caught the flecks in the stone and made it sparkle like stars in the night sky. An archway several dozen yards behind me led to a terrace overlooking the palace grounds, and between me and that exit, countless courtiers hovered and gossiped to each other in low voices.
And meanwhile, the sisters had cornered me after I finished speaking with the representatives from Lycera. I hadn’t been able to find a polite way to escape for almost five minutes.
“So have they caught the assassin’s accomplice?” Siracha inquired, her face a picture of false innocence. “That horrid little spy Prince Zekerian brought back from California?” She caught herself. “I mean, not that the prince knew she was a spy, of course. The conniving tramp deceived us all.”
