by Bridie Blake
“He didn’t look trapped to me,” she snapped.
“My nephews are blind where you are concerned. But I see you. Make no mistake, my lady, you will not sit beside him on the throne. I will not allow it.”
“I don’t appreciate being threatened, Prince Hallam.”
“Think of it more as a warning,” he said. “A Kalaowin will not be queen.”
“Well, make no mistake,” she said as she walked up to him. “You will not come between us.”
He laughed at her. “And what will you do? Seduction will only get you so far, and once my nephew turns his back on you, any standing you had here will be gone.”
“Tempani.” Teddy’s voice was tense as he walked in. “Nic asked me to escort you home. It seems he’ll be longer than expected.”
Hallam laughed and grabbed her hand, bringing it to his lips. “Always a pleasure, Lady Tempani,” he said before sweeping from the room but not before rubbing Teddy’s hair on his way out.
“I hate that man.”
“I saw him come in here and thought you might need rescuing.”
“You thought right.” She squeezed his arm. “He doesn’t want me to marry Nic.”
“Come with me,” he said as he walked towards a different door. “I want to show you something.”
She followed him through the door and across the ballroom. She had never seen it empty before. It wasn’t as grand without the people and decorations. There was a door tucked away in the corner that she had never noticed before.
“Not many people get to see this room.” He ushered her through and closed the door quietly behind them.
The room was dark but with a flick of his hand, he lit the candles and cast the room with an eerie glow.
“Show off,” she muttered.
“It runs in the family,” he whispered. “Take a look around.”
She moved slowly, her eyes falling on swords, bows, tomahawks, headdresses, diamonds and gold.
“We like to display our conquests,” he said bitterly. “All of this was taken from the Kalaowins.”
Paintings of creatures she’d only heard of hung on the walls. Wyverns, unicorns, minotaurs. Alongside them was a portrait of King Raleigh, mighty in stature, holding Kalaowins away with his sword as they were tied up.
She winced when she realized she was biting her bottom lip. She shuddered as she turned away.
“Reminders of what is bad in this kingdom. This is what you’re up against.”
She shook her head. “Nic won’t keep this room when he’s king. He wouldn’t do that.”
“And your father probably didn’t think my father would either,” he said. “From all accounts my father was a good man when he was younger but power has a way of changing people. If Nic continues to surround himself with people like my uncle, then he will go this way too.”
“You said yourself, your brother is a good man,” she said. “He wants to marry me and I’m part Kalaowin.”
He rubbed her arm. “I just want you to be careful. If my family thinks there’s a threat, they will eliminate it.”
Was he seriously worried that something would happen to her? Her father was close friends with the king, her mother had been the queen’s best friend, she was friends with Lord Darby and Teddy. And then there was Nic. Nothing would happen to her. But she had to admit this room was unsettling. If she were even to consider marrying Nic, things would have to change around here. The attitude towards her people would be top of the list.
“Come on,” he said as he blew out the candles. “Nic will be looking for you.”
“Teddy?” She reached out and took his hand. “I know you worry about the influence power may have on you but you needn’t. You don’t have a cruel bone in your body. You really put us all to shame.”
“I have seen the downside of power. I know the darkness it can create in someone, and I don’t want that life.”
She squeezed his hand. “And you won’t.”
—
Colbert was restless as he lay in bed. This was the third night in a row that he had not been able to shut off his mind and sleep.
“Go and have some warm milk. It will help you sleep,” Leandra murmured.
“Yes dear,” he whispered and crept out of their room. And this was the third night in a row that Leandra had booted him out of their bed. He couldn’t blame her though. Pregnancy tended to make women more tired than usual, and she refused to allow Colbert to keep her up as well.
He sat with a thud on the chair and buried his head in his hands. He had been worried about Tempani since that day she used her Power. He had been hoping she would come to him and ask for help. He waited each day, but she had yet to appear. Colbert had thought that maybe he should seek her out, but he was advised against it. He had been assured that she was indeed asking questions about what had happened. Whether she believed any of it was anyone’s guess.
They had a group on standby for when Tempani decided she was ready to set out on her path. They were growing impatient though. They had thought that after what happened with the old man she would not be able to refuse her calling. And they were beginning to fear that she was running from her destiny.
He had voiced his concerns to their unofficial leader, but he had told the group to be patient. Tempani had to come to the realization on her own. She could not be pushed into learning about her destiny. But he knew time was running away from them. Colbert had received messages from all over the kingdom. People could feel her magic, and they were ready to join her. Colbert was doing his best to keep them at bay, but he couldn’t hold them off for long. They wanted this too much to sit by and wait.
And Colbert wasn’t going to sit around and wait anymore either. It was time he did something about it. He wrote a quick note to Leandra and then set out on foot to talk his plan over with another member of their group. He was sure that she would help him for it must be harder for her, being in such close proximity to Tempani and not being able to tell her.
—
“I understand you are familiar with the tale of the First Council of the Great Gods?”
Tempani had rushed to Darby’s manor as soon as she had received word that he had returned from his trip.
She nodded. “What does it have to do with what happened with Tritus?”
“Trust me. It all matters.”
“You sound like Mother Chennai,” she said. “Before I left the convent she made me recite the story and then told me of a part I’d never heard before.”
“The prophecy.”
“Yes. She wanted me to leave with a sense of hope. To see the good in our kingdom.”
“I believe she wanted you to hear the tale and the prophecy. She wanted you to have that knowledge so you would understand when the time was right.”
She watched him as he paced, and the unease she’d felt since her last talk with him intensified. “It’s not me,” she whispered. “I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not. It can’t be.”
“Why not?”
“The riots,” she said quickly. “If they think I’m their savior why riot against my union with Nic?”
Darby shook his head and looked at her sadly. “They rioted against him. Not you. When they heard of his pursuit of you, they panicked. They believed you would turn your back on your destiny.”
“It’s not me.”
“And then you joined them in their fighting. You saved those men from being hanged. You sent Lindow into the city with money. They saw what could be, and they stopped rioting. They saw their future.”
She sank into the chair, shaking her head. It was all too much.
“It is you, Tempani. You need to believe it is.” Colbert’s voice made Tempani jump.
“Colbert, what are you doing here?” Darby asked. “We have our rules in place for a reason.”
“I made sure I wasn’t followed and used the hidden entrance.”
“People know she is here,” he said through clenched teeth. “She is being watc
hed everywhere she goes. If anyone saw you, we are done.”
“We’ll be done anyway if we don’t get moving soon. We really can’t wait anymore.”
“We can’t force this on her Colbert. I have explained to you that she needs to come to the realization herself,” Darby argued.
“We don’t have time to wait. They’ve started coming forward,” Colbert whispered, his voice was thick with panic.
Tempani got to her feet, questions flying from her mouth. “What are you doing here? How do you two know each other? What’s coming forward?”
“We will explain all,” Zadi said as she appeared at Colbert’s side. Her voice trembled with excitement, and her eyes were wide with hope.
“Zadi? I don’t understand,” Tempani muttered and sank once more into the chair.
“Tempani, the prophecy is about you. You are the one who will unite us all and end the suffering that this kingdom has endured for generations. We’d hoped you would come to understand this in your own time, but after what happened the other day, there isn’t enough time. The day you sent that man to Tritus, all throughout the kingdom women with the Power felt your strength. They want to come here and learn from you,” Colbert explained quickly.
“I have nothing to teach them. I don’t have magic beyond healing,” she muttered anxiously.
“Yes, you do,” Zadi said. “When you get angry the room heats up, doesn’t it?”
Tempani shook her head. “Coincidences,” she said.
“It is you. ‘And the Goddess in a way very few will see shall mark her as The One’. I have seen your birthmark,” Zadi told them.
“Loads of people have birthmarks. There is nothing unusual about it,” Tempani argued.
“Do loads of people have the sign of the Goddess on their hip? The horseshoe is her sign. You can’t ignore that,” Zadi said.
“They will kill me,” Tempani snapped. “If they hear of this, I will be killed.”
“We won’t let that happen,” Colbert said.
“It won’t happen because it’s not me,” she cried and stalked past them.
Colbert tried to follow, but Darby grabbed his arm and held him back. “Let her go,” he said quietly. “We have pushed her too far.”
Tempani sat by the pond where she had first spoken to Darby. Had he known that day? Is that why he befriended her? And Colbert? Did they all just pretend to be her friend so they could push her into this? She had thought she was so lucky because these people had seen past the color of her skin and had seen her for who she really was. But that wasn’t the case. They had never seen her as more than a pawn in their game. They wanted her to risk her life for them. She was just a girl after all. Easily dispensable. Once she was killed, they’d probably just find another girl to befriend and trick into believing she was special.
But she wasn’t special. She was just a seventeen year old girl, who should be thinking of nothing but finding a husband. She had Nic. He was a good man. He would love her and treat her well. Yet something was holding her back from accepting his hand. Maybe part of her did believe she was destined for something else.
Parts of the prophecy did suit her. She did have her feet in both worlds. The blood that pumped through her veins was Kamari and Kalaowin. Her Kamari friends were both noble and common. She could heal, but was there a chance she could do more? Help more people? Could she stop the riots and free all those enslaved? Could she unite them and demand freedom? She still wasn’t sure, but she had to try didn’t she?
She sat by herself for a long time, watching the sun go down as she wrestled with her mind. When she finally returned to Darby’s manor, she found them still there. Waiting for her. They watched her with a mixture of concern and hope, and she knew that they had already committed themselves to her.
“Were you ever my friend?” She asked when she returned to Darby’s manor. “Or was it all just a means to an end?”
Darby rose and held the girl’s hand. “It was because I was your friend that I tried to prolong you finding out,” he said. “We wanted you to keep your innocence for as long as possible.”
She nodded, choosing to believe him. “What now?”
“We leave Fenella and get you the guidance you need.”
“The Black and White Woman?”
“Yes, how did you know?” Colbert asked.
“My mother came to me in my dreams and told me to find the Black and White Woman. At the time I didn’t even think to connect it to the prophecy,” she confessed.
“You saw Hamalia?” Darby whispered. “You spoke to her?” His eyes glistened with tears at the memory of his late friend.
“The Goddess sent her to me,” she said. “She was as beautiful as I remembered.”
“We must get moving quickly.” Colbert steered them back to their task at hand. “I can have everybody ready to go in two days.”
“What will I tell Nic and my friends? Papa?”
“Tell them you are going on an exploration with me. We can say that the scholar I was visiting told me of ruins from before the Grand War that were found in the south, and we want to see them.”
“I guess they will believe that,” she said slowly.
“You accept it then?” Colbert asked.
“I accept it.”
Colbert rushed over and scooped her up in a friendly hug.
“We must get organized,” said Darby. “Colbert, have our group ready to leave at dawn the day after tomorrow. Make them understand that we can’t take them all. Just enough to get there safely.”
“Understood,” he said and rushed out the door.
“Zadi, pack your things and Tempani’s as well. Try and rustle up some breeches for the two of you to wear. Don’t look at me like that Tempani. You can’t ride as far as we’re going in a dress,” he ordered. “Rando!” The man came around the corner. “We’re on the move. Make your preparations.”
“He knows also?” She shook her head. “You’re not a chaperone are you?”
“Far from it,” he growled. “I’m to protect you.”
Could she really do it? Or was she setting them all up for failure? She didn’t even know how she was going to do it. Should she have a plan? She’d only just found out about the prophecy, and now all of a sudden she was leaving - leaving everything that was familiar.
Was it too late to change her mind? Surely they could find someone else? A girl would come along in another generation and be more than willing to jump straight in. But at what cost to the kingdom? They were already on the brink of ruin. She had to do it.
She looked up at Darby and found calmness in his wise eyes. She wouldn’t be alone in this. He would be there to guide her and show her the answers.
“My Lord, I have a slight problem,” Zadi whispered. “Last night a woman from the city came to me and said she felt the call. I told her we weren’t ready yet, but she refused to leave so I’ve been hiding her. I think we will need to bring her with us.”
“Only if she promises to pull her own weight.”
Zadi nodded and fled to attend to her duties.
“Tempani, I will tell your father where we are going. You just have to tell Nicolass and your friends,” he said, putting his hands on her shoulders. “Try to be convincing.”
“Are we doing the right thing Darby? All this secrecy?”
“I wish we didn’t have to keep it a secret, but we are defying one of the crown’s laws. For us to succeed we need to keep this quiet until you are ready. So many things could go wrong so we have to be careful.”
“Is it all right to be scared? Because I’m terrified,” she said in a hushed voice.
“So am I. We just have to remember why we are doing this. If we succeed, we will have a united kingdom once more. It is in our hands,” he said, tears swimming in his eyes.
She leaned forward and kissed his rough cheek. “We will succeed.”
Tempani’s friends believed her story of visiting ruins with Darby. They didn’t question it, and she felt a gr
eat sense of relief. When she told them she would be gone for a few weeks, Nic did object to the longevity of their exploration but was silenced by Chae, who knew that Tempani would not take his objection lightly. So Nic was silenced, and they left her to prepare for her trip.
News of Tempani and Darby’s trip spread like wildfire through the palace. At dinner it was all anybody could talk about for they couldn’t believe that she would leave Nic at court without a sign of commitment. With all these ladies residing here, each with a secret longing to be queen, they thought she was crazy to leave her beau here alone.
Hallam took this trip as an opportunity to drive a wedge between his nephew and Tempani. He approached Nic at dinner and let it drop that he thought it was inappropriate for Tempani to be travelling alone with an older man, who may take advantage of her innocence. But Nic didn’t buy it.
“Darby would do no such thing, and you know it. What is this really about Hallam?”
“Fine, you caught me. Remember that this is just my opinion but don’t you think it’s a bit strange that she is so keen to leave you for who knows how long?”
“Well, I have to admit I wasn’t happy when I heard how long she would be gone, but I’m not going to interfere. She is looking forward to seeing the ruins,” Nic said.
“I’m sure she is. You obviously know her better than I do. It’s just, if I was in your position I wouldn’t let her leave without promising that she will be your wife when she returns. A promise like that would mean that she would have to behave herself.”
“I trust Tempani. She wouldn’t betray me,” Nic argued.
“No, of course she wouldn’t. But you can’t tell me temptation won’t be on the road with her. Surely Darby is taking his men-at-arms to protect them right? Those men will be lonely on the road, and while she may not be interested, they sure will find her attractive,” Hallam said and took a sip of wine.
“I have nothing to worry about.”
“Of course, you don’t Nicolass. I’m sure she is completely devoted to you. All I’m saying is that if it were me I wouldn’t be able to help feeling slightly jealous. Maybe she should think about your feelings before she runs off and leaves you here by yourself,” he said and left Nic with ideas of Tempani betraying him running through his head.
