by Maggie Platt
“No. I haven’t found him yet.”
“Let me make sure I’m understanding. You believe in an invisible god who’s going to pop out of nowhere when he thinks you’re good enough to deserve it? Has it ever crossed your mind that it could all be made up? Or that there once was a man named Adwin, but he is long gone now?”
Tovi’s eyes narrowed. “I believe there might be a defeated king who has hidden himself so that he doesn’t have to take responsibility for what he has done. If he exists, I will find him.”
Calix whistled and sat back against his elbows. “King Damien doesn’t hide, and he’s incredibly powerful,” he gushed. Tovi’s eyes were drawn to a dark vein in his neck that began to visibly pulse.
He suddenly changed the subject again, giving her a soft, melting look. “You know, Tovi, I bet you don’t even know how pretty you are. It was no accident that I was here today. I’ve seen you many times, and something about you kept drawing me back. Today was the first time I had the courage to come out and speak to you.”
Between the warmth of his words and the closeness of his face, Tovi found herself lost and befuddled.
“If it was just that I thought you were pretty, there is a chance that I could have forced myself to move on without approaching you . . . but there was something more. You always look so deeply sad. Why is that?”
“I’m not sad.”
“Are you sure?” he prodded.
“Sad isn’t the word I would use for it.”
“How would you describe it then?”
She was silent, not ready to share her secrets with this stranger.
“If I took a stab at it, I would say you feel lonely, not because there is a lack of love in your life, but because there is a lack of true love. You are looking for something deeper than they can give you. Your family can’t give it to you. Your friends can’t. This hidden Adwin definitely can’t give it to you. But it’s out there, and when you came here this morning, you felt that this love was getting so close that you could feel it.”
By the end of this speech, Calix’s face was so close to hers that she felt she should back away. Instead, she sat very still, entranced by the danger of their proximity and the way his voice caressed the words.
Tovi had never thought any of those things about romantic love before. In fact, Calix’s words weren’t true in any way. Yet, they were hypnotic and found a way to connect with her yearning spirit. She whispered, “How did you know?”
“I have felt the same for a very long time,” he whispered back. “I’d really like to see you again, but we might have to keep it a secret for a while.”
“Why?”
He scratched his head, looking frustrated, and then dropped his hand into his lap. “Your people are afraid of anybody from the mountain. They won’t understand our . . . friendship . . . at first, so we will have to be careful.”
He jumped to his feet, startling her again. He held out his hand, and she instinctively reached out with her own, allowing him to help her up.
“Well, Tovi, I’d better get going. I’ll make sure we see each other again soon.” He squeezed her hand and shot her one last brilliant smile before striding along the ridge. Tovi stood speechless.
Before he was out of eyesight, the bushes behind her rustled and Silas stepped out into the clearing. In the distance, Calix turned around. The two men made eye contact, and Tovi’s gaze bounced back and forth between them. There seemed to be a spark of recognition, or at least there was something that held their attention. Calix was smiling, but in a dangerous way. Silas had neither a smile nor a scowl. He was just very, very serious.
When Calix turned and disappeared into the forest, Silas looked at Tovi with the same intensity and hard-to-interpret expression that he had given Calix.
Tovi crossed her arms and pursed her lips. She was under no obligation to tell Silas about her new acquaintance. He had no right to tell her who to befriend or how to live her life.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
It wasn’t at all what she expected. “That’s really what you’re going to ask right now?”
“What else would I say?”
“I don’t know. Something about him,” she said, jerking her head and shoulder toward the place where Calix had made his exit. “Or a lecture about my decisions.”
“We have been friends all of our lives. When have I ever lectured you? When have I ever been concerned with anything but your wellbeing?” he asked, undertones of anger slipping through. “If you’re feeling guilty over who you spend time with, that’s a totally different discussion. All I asked is if you’re all right.”
“Guilt?” she spat, and walked away from the edge, closer to him, looking him square in the eye. “Guilt? I don’t feel any guilt. Why do you feel like you can say things like that to me? I’ve done nothing wrong.”
Silas held her gaze. “You’re right, you haven’t done anything wrong. And I ask you again: Are you all right?”
“Stop accusing me!”
“I just said you haven’t done anything wrong,” he said, nearly yelling.
“But you, but your tone, but . . . ” She let out an aggressive, frustrated growl and stomped her foot. “You just don’t understand.”
“You cried into my shoulder in this very spot, just yesterday. And today you act as though I have some agenda, some motive, behind my concern for you. What changed between last night and this morning?”
Tovi wanted to cry out, “I don’t know! Help me!” Instead, as she always did, she buried her desperation beneath the rubble of her anger and independence. She marched around him, skirting the edge of the cliff, and left him there. She heard him following, but her stubbornness kept her from turning. If he really wanted to continue the conversation, she knew he was more than capable of catching up to her.
When she reached home, she went inside and slammed the half door.
“Well, good morning to you, you bundle of sunshine and rainbows,” Ganya greeted. “What happened? Are you all right?”
Tovi had already made her way back to her bedroom and was throwing a few of her belongings into a small satchel. “Why does everyone keep asking me that? I’m fine!”
“Yes, clearly.”
Tovi paused long enough to frown at Ganya, who now stood in her doorway, and then continued packing.
“Where are you going?”
Tovi sighed. “I need to get out of here for a few days. I’m going to go search some of those caves that Tali and I found a year or so ago.”
“Have you forgotten you promised to help Granny Leora with her berry picking and pie baking for the festival?”
Tovi threw down her bundle and said several nasty words. Ganya bit her lip, but a few chuckles escaped. Tovi was not amused.
“I guess I’ll just be gone for the day. I’ll be back tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest.” Tovi picked up the satchel and left the house, irritated to see Silas waiting on the porch. Before he could say a word, she said, “I’m going to look for Adwin. Don’t follow me. I want to be alone.”
He seemed like he wanted to say something, but he nodded and remained quiet, a shadow of sadness and exhaustion shrouding his usually-twinkling eyes.
As Tovi ventured into the forest, the vision of the woven trees over the water came back into her mind. She turned completely around, heading southwest, away from the mountains. She, Tali, and Silas had been back to their magical little hideaway many times as youngsters. Even though it had been several years since she last visited, it was easy to find.
The stream that used to meander between the trees had run completely dry, its bed now a dusty, rocky path. She ducked under the lowest branches.
She stood motionless, taking in the beauty that she found. The entire floor of the enclosure—once just water, roots, and mossy banks—was completely covered in the dark blue flowers she had seen at the ridge. There were hundreds clustered together so tightly that she couldn’t see the ground. The brief sparkles of sun that used to reflect on
the water now danced across the blooms.
She climbed onto one of the branches. She was high enough that she could not reach the flowers, but low enough that she could smell their sweetness and see the details of their orange pollen and green ruffled leaves.
Tovi allowed her mind to roam from question to painful question. Most of it was the same as always, a constant cycle of Tali, parents, Avi, Tali, parents, Avi. This time, however, there was a new part of the mix. Just as she began to despair, she would see Calix’s face, and for a moment she would be distracted from it all.
Calix. She thought about his words and his smile. Her heart raced with the excitement and danger of it. What would the other Adians think of it? What about Ganya and Avi? What would Tali think? Her heart constricted, and the cycle began again: Tali, parents, Avi. Tali, parents, Avi.
CHAPTER 10
“You finally talked to her?” Rhaxma asked, her tone a bit too casual, her yellow eyes a bit too severe.
Sitting in one of the chambers in the palace, Calix reclined on the sofa opposite her, his arms behind his head, staring into the distance. He was always the first to arrive for these Council of Masters meetings with His Majesty, so he always had to wait. His punctuality was well known, and he suspected that this was why Rhaxma frequently appeared just a few moments after him. She knew she would have a few minutes of Calix’s time to herself.
“Answer me,” Rhaxma pouted. “Did you talk to her today?”
Calix turned his head and looked at her. He had done too good of a job with this one. He could see the hunger in her eyes and the carefully-disguised desperation in her actions. He hadn’t worked on her in years, yet she still pathetically clung to him and their past. It was he who had made sure the mark of Adoration—a crown—was etched into her back. She had also earned her rose—the mark of Pleasure—in their time together. It was when he took his attention away from her that the heavy chains appeared on her skin, showing she had learned the lesson of Wisdom.
“Yes, I talked to her,” he answered, keeping eye contact and monitoring the emotions on Rhaxma’s face. Her feelings amused him.
“Did you kiss her?”
“Not yet.”
Rhaxma swallowed hard. “Do you love her?”
Calix snorted. “Love? Of course not. It’s just part of the game. I intend to win, and I’m getting close.”
This seemed to mollify Rhaxma, and a coquettish smile raised the corners of her mouth. She rose and slowly crossed the space between them, and he noticed the way she let her hips sway. What was she after?
She sat on the edge of the sofa next to his outstretched legs and leaned in toward him. “When you are King of Adia, you will need a queen,” she said, her face so close that Calix could see the tiny black veins in her eyes. He pushed her away.
Feigning nonchalance, she sat back and crossed her arms. “I suppose I won’t tell you what Leeto discovered yesterday.”
“Fine, don’t tell me.”
She narrowed her eyes, letting go of any pretenses. “I have information that will help you win. You need me.”
Calix sat up so quickly that Rhaxma didn’t have time to react before he grabbed her chin between his thumb and finger, squeezing hard. “I do not need you. If you want to help me, so be it. Tell me your secrets. But don’t make the mistake again of thinking you can control me with your information. Or your body.”
“The heirs are alive. The conquerors in the prophecy,” Rhaxma hissed, smiling smugly when Calix’s face registered his shock. “And Leeto knows how to find them.”
Calix dropped his hand, which had left red imprints on her skin, and thought through the implications of this news. If it was true, Leeto could use this information to gain tremendous leverage. This could not be.
The door swung open, and Eryx, Leeto, BiBi, and Megara entered, stealing Calix’s opportunity to ask more questions. That would have to come later.
Rhaxma rose from the sofa and spoke with the other ladies in a corner, occasionally glancing in Calix’s direction. Leeto plopped down on the sofa recently vacated by his sister.
“Any news?” Calix asked.
“No, nothing out of the ordinary yet,” Leeto said cheerfully, although his eyes had been darting between Calix and the finger marks on his sister’s face. “How are you doing with your Adians? Any headway?”
“Just some slow progress, nothing substantial,” Calix answered. So this is how they would play it. Neither willing to tell the other how close they were to gaining power and control.
A butler came to usher the group into the throne room. Calix always tried to be first, and he slipped his way to the front of the line. He wanted His Majesty to see his face first, a sign that he was the most loyal of them all.
“What news do you bring from Adia?” King Damien asked from his golden throne, eyeing each as they entered. This time he was flanked by Ajax and Jairus.
The meeting was short. No one gave a report worth noting, and Calix wondered how many of them were hiding something as important as Leeto’s secret. The king did not seem at all pleased with the lack of progress, and he informed them that his patience was growing thin.
Calix’s mind whirled with thoughts of Princess Helena, whom he grew up calling Lena, and the unnamed baby. If he could collect them for himself, there would be no end to the favor he would receive from His Majesty. He resolved that he must get behind the curtain and learn more about the conquerors.
King Damien rose and led the weapons toward his formal dining room. Calix’s brain worked quickly to create a plan. “Jairus,” he called, not even bothering with the prince’s formal title. They had been boyhood friends—practically brothers. “Could I please speak with you for a moment?”
Blond-haired, violet-eyed Jairus gave a curt nod and stayed in the room rather than following his grandfather. When they were alone, he asked, “What is it?”
“I received some information that I want to share with His Majesty, but I don’t want to bother him if it is not true.”
Jairus’ handsome face looked bored and annoyed. “How am I supposed to help you?”
“If I could take a look at the prophecy behind the curtain, I could check to see if my information is accurate.”
“Fine. Guards, let Calix through the curtain.” Jairus turned back to Calix. “Anything else?”
“N-no,” Calix stuttered, unable to believe how apparently easy this was going to be. Jairus left the room without saying farewell, and the guards parted to allow Calix behind the curtain. He stepped through with disbelief and trepidation. Only royal eyes had ever seen what was behind the throne room wall. But he would be royalty soon enough.
It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He had always believed the curtain hid just a small portion of the throne room’s wall, that once the curtain was parted, he would be facing a small expanse, approximately ten feet across. Instead, he was overwhelmed by the long passageway that stretched before him. He glanced along the wall, hoping it would be obvious what he was looking for. He passed many different scenes painted on the stone, but few made sense.
He recognized several portions of the mural as places he had seen on the mountain, including the palace and the courtyard. Various events and activities were taking place in the pictures; some he understood, some he didn’t.
He was shocked to see so many of the scenes set in the dirty streets of the Bottom Rung. How could that trashy, dishonorable, and disgusting neighborhood be worthy of space on these sacred walls? There must be something he was missing, for he knew His Majesty would not waste so much of his precious time worrying about the happenings there. Surely there was a different part of the mural that concerned the king.
Throughout it all, in almost every picture, there was a man with sky blue hair and matching eyes. Calix took several minutes to examine this man who seemed like a very important character in the drama. He had seen these odd color traits just twice before—on a man that lived in Adia, and in the mirror when he was
a small boy. Before Calix’s hair and eyes had turned black, he had light blue hair and perfectly matching eyes. No one knew for sure why colors changed over the course of their lives, but Calix was proud that he had changed to match His Majesty.
Just as there were thousands of people with black hair and eyes, he was sure that these light blue colors could belong to many people as well. But it still gave him the shivers. Each time he looked at this man’s painted face, he was sure that it was the Adian that he had seen on several occasions before, and this confirmed for him some theories that had been stewing in his mind. He continued down the wall, growing more and more uncomfortable with each sighting of that man.
There it was. Four warriors atop the mountain, leading a large band of followers. He stepped closer and his brow wrinkled in concentration. This had to be the bit of prophecy that so many spoke of. This had to be the part that concerned His Majesty.
Jairus was one of the four, although his colors were all wrong. Jairus had been born with hair that was half brown and half maroon, with light brown eyes. These were the colors in the mural, and it seemed to be Jairus’ face. But, Jairus’ colors had changed long ago to match his sister’s. When he was only a child, he had taken on Lena’s colors, and later his girlfriend, Xanthe, took them on as well. Lena, Jairus, and Xanthe all had lemon-yellow hair with an aqua stripe. Their eyes were purple. However, the mural showed Jairus with his original colors.
Next to Jairus was a woman with yellow hair and violet eyes. Surely this was grown-up Lena. The face did not seem to match Xanthe.
The next form was not someone Calix recognized. She had long wavy brown hair with thick golden streaks and baby blue eyes. The face looked familiar, but he couldn’t place it.
His heart jolted and his head spun for a moment when he took a closer look at the final member of the conquering party. No longer did Leeto have the upper hand. Calix had just made a discovery that made Leeto’s information seem trivial. There was no denying it—the fourth conqueror was alive. Calix had seen this man before.
A man with navy blue hair and brown eyes.
