“But my treasure! You have to look for it.”
Lily thought for one crazy moment about flinging herself into the water to keep Mother quiet. At least she’d be able to see her Prince. Maybe that would heal her? But she was too sick. Going into the water like this wouldn’t heal her. It would kill her. If she wanted to see her Prince, all she had to do was slip back into the forest.
“Tomorrow,” said Lily, her breath short now and a stabbing pain taking up residence deep in her chest. “If I’m well.”
“You can’t be sick. What will I do if you’re sick? What will your father do?”
Lily had no energy to answer.
“You need to get better.” Mother swept from the room, leaving Lily to wonder if it mattered if swimming would kill her. She was certain she was dying anyway.
But then Mother flew back into the room and pointed to the cup of water beside her.
“Drink it,” she said. “Your father went to the trouble of leaving it there for you when he visited earlier.”
Lily took a few sips of water, then her coughing resumed as she remembered how her real mother had cared for her as a child by placing a cool cloth on her forehead and rubbing her back until she fell asleep. Maybe if she closed her eyes, she could pretend her mother was caring for her now.
“I’m going to tell you a story.” The uniquely high pitch of Mother’s voice made it impossible to pretend she was anyone else. Her beautiful mother hadn’t talked like that. “Stories make me feel better. It will work on you, too.”
Lily closed her eyes and waited to see what would happen. Mother had never told her a story before. No doubt it was going to be the story of Ella and the wicked stepmother, although with a dark-haired Prince in place of the one with golden hair that Lily had substituted him for last time.
“Once upon a time…” Mother paced the room, not seeming to know how to continue.
Curiosity got the better of Lily and she fought the urge to slip back to her forest.
“Once upon a time there was a girl,” said Mother. “She had one brother and a father and her mother was dead.”
Lily’s ears pricked up. This wasn’t a story she knew.
“The girl’s house was ugly, her clothes were ugly and everything in her life was ugly, too. But she longed to be beautiful. She wanted hair that grew so long it hung to her waist and to have jewels everywhere, just like the ones she’d fossicked for as a child.”
Lily peered out from underneath her blankets.
Mother clapped her hands. “She wanted jewels on her hands, on her dresses, in her hair, on every wall of her house. She wanted to see beauty everywhere she looked. It was my greatest wish.”
Lily wondered if she realized the story had just slipped into first person. Now, at least, she knew where this story had come from. She was hearing the story of Mother’s life. Lily hadn’t really thought much about what her life had been like before she’d become the Queen. Had she really been a Fossicker?
“The girl grew into a young woman and learned that the new King was looking for a bride. And more than anything in the world, the girl wanted to be the Queen. It was her greatest wish.”
It seemed to Lily that the girl had a few greatest wishes, but she knew better than to point this out. The forest was beckoning her to slip back under its canopy and she fought back, having never heard the story of Mother’s life before. This may be her only chance to find out what events had turned her into the selfish Queen she was today.
“The girl knew the King would never love a girl as plain as her, but she went to the castle anyway, just like Ella in your story.”
Lily opened her eyes now, hanging on Mother’s words. So, this was why Mother loved the story of Ella and the Prince so much. And why she’d always seen herself as the Princess rather than the wicked stepmother. Given the King had dark hair, it was also why she’d insisted the Prince in the story had the same.
“The girl did her best to look nice. She’d brushed her hair and borrowed a dress from a friend that wasn’t quite as plain as the ones she owned. And her brother spent all his savings on a necklace for her with a jade stone tied to a leather cord. The girl went to the castle and was upset to see all the other fancy girls in the line. It wasn’t fair! Her friend’s dress may be better than the ones she owned but it was still ugly. And the necklace her brother had given her was hideous in comparison to the sparkly treasures the other girls wore.”
Lily was unable to suppress the cough that rattled through her chest. How horribly ungrateful of Mother. It sounded like her brother had given up everything for that necklace.
Mother paused her story while Lily coughed, tapping her foot on the floor. Lily only hoped she continued with the story, keen to learn how the King came to choose her for his bride.
“As the girl got close to the front of the line, she saw something most unusual,” said Mother. “The King was holding a purple amethyst in his hand and one of his guards was passing a second identical amethyst to each girl as she reached the front of the line.”
Lily coughed again, but this time out of surprise. There were two amethysts! Never had she imagined there was more than one. But how much of this story was truth and how much was embellishment? Perhaps when she was better and had a clearer head, she’d be able to figure that out. It was taking all her energy right now just to listen.
“As each girl was handed the amethyst to hold, the King would look at her and call out for the crystal to be passed to the next girl in line. So, the girl in our story got to the front of the line and the guard handed her the amethyst. She turned it over in her hands and felt its warmth. And then the strangest thing ever happened…”
Mother paused. It was the longest pause in the history of pauses and eventually Lily found the energy to speak.
“What strange thing happened?”
“And that’s the end of the story,” said Mother, clapping her hands, her face pale and her eyes darting around the room.
“But it didn’t end,” said Lily.
“It’s a story! I don’t know how it ends, just like you’ve told me before.” Her tone was harsh, back to the way she normally spoke, instead of the sing-song voice she’d used while she’d been telling the story.
“You said a strange thing happened,” said Lily.
“This wasn’t a good idea. You’re better at stories than I am.” Mother left the room once more, leaving Lily in emotional anguish as well as physical.
What strange thing had happened when the King had given Mother the amethyst? And were there really two identical stones? If so, where was the other one? Did the King still have it?
It was all too much to try to figure out right now. What she needed to do, was make sure she remembered these details for when her fever broke. Because she wasn’t sure what Mother had just told her or why, but she was certain that it was important.
She closed her eyes and slipped back into a sleep so deep the forest couldn’t be found amongst the black fog that surrounded her.
RAPHAEL
THE BEFORE
Raphael’s eyes sprang open and he drew in a sharp breath as he sat up. Where was he?
“It’s about time you woke up,” said Micah looking surprisingly well as she approached his bed. Was it a bed? He was lying on some kind of shelf dug out of a wall made from sand.
“Are we underground?” he asked.
Micah nodded. “Cool, hey? Apparently, you walked all the way down here, climbing into that very bed yourself. Don’t you remember it?”
“Just the vaguest of memories. Give me time.” He lay back down and smiled. His sister, Jasmine, had been to the Colony and told him all about it. An underground oasis in the middle of the desert. The people were protected by the harsh elements down here and had access to fresh water in some kind of underground river.
“We only just made it.” Micah brushed the fabric of the trousers she wore. They were different from the ones she’d arrived in, as was her shirt. He looked down to see
that he was wearing the same loose-fitting trousers and was bare from the waist up.
“Where are our clothes?” he asked.
“Torn to shreds in the wind.” Micah shrugged. “Thankfully, they didn’t replace mine with a dress.”
“And my elixirs?” He’d carried a bag of oils to aid them on their journey. Not that they’d been much use in the end. The elements had been far harsher than he’d expected.
“They’re over there.” Micah went to a table where a familiar hessian bag sat on top. She picked it up and set it down next to him on the bed.
“How did we get it all so wrong?” he asked. “I thought you said Jeremiah whispered for our safe arrival?”
“He did.” Micah laughed. “And here we are, safely arrived.”
“We should have listened to Jazz,” he said. His sister had warned them of the treacherous journey, suggesting they travel as a larger party with more supplies, like she and Ari had done when they’d made the journey to that fateful wedding all those years ago.
“We should’ve,” Micah agreed. “But we thought we knew everything. We thought a whisper and a bag of oils were enough. This is why I’ve been thinking…”
“About what?” he asked, cautious of Micah and her ideas.
“What if a healer comes with us?” Her eyes burned with enthusiasm.
“Comes with you where?”
Raphael sat up quickly again at the sound of a stranger’s voice. There was a woman with dark hair and eyes like night standing in the doorway. Although, somehow, she wasn’t a stranger. Had he heard her voice while he’d been asleep? Had she been the one to heal him?
“To the washroom,” said Micah, glancing at Raphael, seeming to be trying to tell him something with her eyes. “We need you to come with Raphael to the washroom. I’m afraid I’ll get lost if I take him.”
The woman smiled, despite not seeming to believe Micah. “I’d be happy to take you, Raphael. I’m pleased to see you awake. I’m Azrael, I’m one of the healers.”
“Did you heal me?” he asked.
She nodded and smiled. “Mostly you healed yourself, but I did help you along the way.”
“Thank you.” He reached into his bag for an elixir to clear his mind. It was all so confusing right now. Coming here had either been the biggest mistake of his life or the best thing he’d ever done. He’d thought he might have dreamed of Lily while he’d been asleep but he’d not had a single vision of her since he’d left Wintergreen. Had something happened to her?
He found the bottle he was looking for and waved it under his nose.
“May I?” asked Azrael, reaching out her hand.
He handed her the bottle and she held it to her face, breathing in cautiously.
“It helps you think clearly,” he said. “It has rose and lemongrass and cedarwood. A few other things too, but I won’t bore you with that.”
“Raph,” laughed Micah. “I don’t think there are too many rose bushes out here. Or lemongrass sprouting out of the sand. I doubt you’re boring her.”
“Oh.” Raphael felt heat rise to his cheeks. “Of course not.”
“It smells beautiful,” said Azrael. “I’d love to go to Wintergreen one day.”
“You’d be very welcome at our apothecary any time,” said Raphael. “If Grimm doesn’t burn it down while I’m gone. Not sure it was such a good idea leaving him in charge.”
Azrael’s brow wrinkled ever so slightly. “What’s an apothecary?”
“That’s the place where we make the oils,” he added, realizing if she didn’t know what a rose bush was, she was hardly likely to have heard of an apothecary.
“Why did you come here?” Azrael looked from Raphael to Micah, seeking an answer. “Nobody comes here without a reason.”
“It was my idea,” said Micah, letting out a long sigh and sitting down on the edge of his bed. He shuffled over to make more room for her, happy to let her speak for now. “I wanted to see where my niece went missing.”
Azrael nodded. “I can take you to the place as soon as you’re well enough. But why now, Micah? Lily went missing years ago.”
“Well, you see, Raph and I have both been having visions of Lily. She’s sitting on the bottom of the ocean clutching—”
“A purple stone,” finished Azrael.
“You’ve seen her, too?” asked Raphael, unable to stop his jaw from gaping.
“Yes,” said Azrael. “That’s what you were talking about just now, wasn’t it? You’re going to look for her and you want me to come with you.”
“We need a healer,” said Micah, glancing at Raphael. He nodded, letting her know he agreed it made sense to convince Azrael to come with them. Especially if she’d had the same vision they’d had.
“We don’t know what state Lily’s in,” continued Micah. “I don’t feel confident we have the powers to bring her back on our own. Our journey here proved that. Will you come with us?”
“To be honest, I wondered if you were going to ask me to come with you,” said Azrael. “Our kingdom let Lily down in the worst possible way. We failed to look after her when she was here as our guest. Instead of the kingdoms uniting in the way they were meant to, her disappearance sits between us like a wedge. Your brother and his wife can never forgive us, and nor should they.”
“Does that mean you’ll come with us?” asked Raphael, a lightness sweeping through him. They had a much better chance of succeeding with Azrael on board, not just for her healing but it seemed her intuition was finely tuned as well.
“I’ve been thinking about it and admit that I’m tempted,” she said.
“You must come,” said Micah. “We need you. It’s so important you say yes.”
Raphael smiled. He’d been on the receiving end of Micah’s begging before. It was far more amusing to watch from the sidelines.
Azrael sighed, seeming to be wavering to the side Micah was trying so hard to push her to.
“You said yourself that your kingdom was responsible for Lily’s disappearance,” said Micah. “This is the perfect way to earn the forgiveness of the other kingdoms.”
Raphael coughed, trying to warn her that she was now pushing too hard.
“It wasn’t The Sands of Naar’s fault,” he said, when she failed to take his hint. “They weren’t the ones who took her.”
“But they can be the ones to help get her back,” said Micah. “You’re a healer, Azrael. You help people. Isn’t this what you do? Please say you’ll come with us. We’ll be so much stronger with the three of us.”
“Do you think that maybe there’s someone missing?” asked Azrael.
“Yes… Lily’s missing,” said Micah. “I don’t understand.”
“No, someone missing from our search party,” said Azrael.
“She means The Bay of Laurel,” said Raphael, certain he knew what she was getting at. “If Azrael comes with us, we have a Whisperer, an Alchemist and a Healer. We need a Guardian as well.”
“Not a Guardian.” Azrael held up her hand. “The herbalist. I can heal people when they get sick, but what if they were so healthy, they didn’t need healing in the first place?”
Raphael let out a long breath as he processed this, shaking his head as he realized she was right. One of their herbalists would be far more useful than a Guardian.
“We can travel to Feldspar via The Bay of Laurel,” said Micah.
“But how do we know we’re going to Feldspar?” asked Raphael. “We don’t really know where Lily is. That’s why we came here, so we could pick up on her trail.”
“I’ve stood in the exact place she was last seen many times,” said Azrael. “I’m certain that’s where she was taken.”
“That’s what I think, too,” said Micah. “She has to be there.”
“I still want you to show us where she disappeared,” said Raphael, not willing to agree just yet. It’d been dangerous enough journeying to the desert, a place of peace. Crossing the sea to go to one of their enemies was far more perilou
s.
“Of course,” said Azrael. “And if we all agree, we’ll go to talk to the herbalist. If she refuses to go with us to Feldspar, I’m certain she’ll give us some tonics to strengthen us for our journey.”
“So you’re definitely coming with us?” he asked. It sounded like she’d made up her mind.
She nodded. “Micah’s right. I took an oath to help people and Lily needs my help.”
“The herbalist will feel the same way,” said Micah, leaping to her feet and pacing. “She’ll come with us. She has to.”
“Nobody has to do anything,” said Raphael. “That’s the whole point of this. Lily was taken against her will. We’re here because we chose to be.”
“I didn’t mean we were going to force her.” Micah rolled her eyes a little more dramatically than Raphael thought was necessary. “I just meant we’ll convince her how important this is.”
“Who’s their herbalist?” asked Raphael. “I thought she was an older woman.”
“That’s right,” said Azrael. “But she no longer works alone. I believe she’s training Princess Philippa in the hope she’ll take over one day. Either one of them would be a suitable choice.”
“Philippa?” asked Raphael, having trouble placing that name.
“Also known as Pip,” said Azrael. “Sister to King Tate.”
“Right,” said Raphael, certain that name sounded more familiar.
“It’s meant to be!” Micah clapped her hands. “We’re all siblings of a monarch.”
“I’m not,” said Azrael.
“I thought the Empress was your sister?” Micah seemed puzzled. “I heard someone say something like that.”
“We’re sisters in our hearts,” said Azrael. “We’ve been through a lot together.”
“Were you there when Lily went missing?” asked Micah.
“I was.” A darkness crossed over Azrael’s eyes. “I can show you the exact spot.”
“How about we start with you showing me where I can clean myself up?” asked Raphael. “I smell like some kind of elixir gone wrong.”
The Kingdoms of Evernow Box Set Page 95
