Several of the elders narrowed their eyes as if disgusted, but the oldest spoke again. “You may stay for as long as you wish. You will not change our minds, but we have no interest in driving you from here.”
Oliver’s shoulders slumped the slightest bit, and I could read the subtle signs of relief in his bearing. He had obviously feared we would be unceremoniously kicked back down the mountain the moment this meeting concluded. And he obviously wanted to give us an opportunity to find the object on our own.
“We also request permission to search your village,” he said, confirming my thoughts.
I hadn’t expected such a brazen approach, but his next words explained it.
“We have reason to believe there may be a stolen royal object here in your village, and we would like to search for it.”
One of the elders raised his eyebrows. “A stolen royal object? What sort of object?”
“A mirror.”
Sterling shifted beside us, and I wondered if he was merely surprised or if he was offended at the suggestion. The elders all exchanged looks, before the speaker shrugged.
“We know nothing of a stolen mirror. But feel free to ask our people about it. Perhaps one of them has heard something. We won’t give you permission to invade their homes, however. If you wish to search any homes, you must receive permission from the owner.
I barely suppressed an eye roll at that. If the thief lived here, he was hardly likely to agree to a search of his home. But Oliver managed to thank them in a voice that almost sounded sincere.
Giselle, who had been watching with a blank face, turned to leave, but the elder spoke again, his words stopping her.
“But know this, princeling.”
Oliver’s eyes whipped up to meet his, but the older man didn’t back down. In fact he leaned forward.
“Valley View does not fall under the sovereignty of your family. Here you are not a prince or princesses, you are merely guests like any other. Guests who are expected to abide by our laws.”
Oliver stiffened, and Giselle sucked in an audible breath. Did the man mean to speak treason, or was this village truly so isolated that they no longer saw themselves as part of their own kingdom?
I recognized the fire in Oliver’s eyes and could only imagine how one of my brothers would react to such a challenge. I laid a hand on his arm, gripping hard enough to pull his attention from the elders. He glanced down at me, and I glared up at him.
“Planning on getting caught breaking laws, are you?” I whispered at him.
He frowned at me, saying nothing, but I could read the answer in his eyes. Of course not.
“Then let it go. Unless you want to find yourself sent straight back down to the capital. We have no power here to back up your authority, remember?” I let my eyes stray down to where my hand still rested on his arm.
I felt the release of tension before I heard his sigh. When he turned back to the elders, his stance held the same regal bearing, but his eyes no longer burned.
“We have no desire to break laws—either yours or anyone else’s. We will conduct ourselves with honor while we remain your guests.”
Yes, because we have no other choice, I thought guiltily, remembering that we had certainly contemplated forcing the villagers to assist us. Back when we thought we would have the power to do so.
The elder accepted Oliver’s words with a curt nod of his head, before turning to talk quietly with his colleagues. Clearly we were dismissed. I grabbed both Oliver and Giselle and dragged them away before either of them decided to take exception to their reception and treatment.
When we found a quiet spot between houses, I dropped both of their arms and put my hands on my hips. “Well, that went well. What do we do next?”
Giselle frowned, shooting an angry look back in the direction of the now hidden elders. “What, have they ceded from Eldon and just never bothered to inform us? What do they think they’re playing at?”
I gestured around our small circle. “Take a look at us, Giselle. We don’t exactly have the might of a crown to back us up, now, do we?”
“Still, that’s treason,” said Oliver, his voice tight. “And this is exactly why we rule. Not for our own gain.” He gave a rough laugh with no trace of humor. “I certainly took no pleasure from our hike up here. Did either of you?” He didn’t wait for us to reply. “We rule to ensure that the entire kingdom is cared for and preserved. So no one small group can choose to sit back and watch the rest burn.” He turned and punched the wooden wall beside him.
I sighed. “I don’t think burning is anyone’s problem at this point.” I couldn’t quite keep the bitterness from my voice.
Oliver looked over at me, a frown crossing his face, and I turned away. I didn’t need his disappointment adding to the weight of my own.
“Still, their treason does add weight to the idea that they might be harboring the thief,” he said.
“I don’t know,” I said reluctantly. “To me they looked genuinely surprised by your question.”
Neither of the other two said anything, and I wondered if they were thinking of the same thing I was. The thought I had tried to push away the whole way up the mountain. What if our trip yielded neither the protective object nor the mirror?
But as I stared at the ground, I felt a sliver of steel creep up my spine. I would not sit around and be useless because I no longer had powers. I would prove my worth.
I straightened and looked Oliver in the eye. “They gave us permission to stay and to speak to the villagers. So that’s what we should do. Just because the elders don’t know anything, doesn’t mean no one else does. And who knows, your ruse might even turn out to be right. Maybe we can find some villagers who don’t agree with the elders.”
A reluctant smile crossed Oliver’s face. “I almost believe it’s possible when you say it like that.”
I grinned back at him. “I’m good at saying things with feeling. I have a lifetime of experience making myself heard over six older siblings. But I do believe that if there is anything to learn from these villagers, you’ll be able to search it out.”
“I fear you have too much faith in me,” said Oliver, so quietly I almost didn’t hear his words.
Giselle grimaced sadly. “Normally I’d agree with Celine. Oliver knows our people well. But there’s something different about these people. And I didn’t notice anyone putting much weight in our so-called authority.” She sighed. “But I also don’t know what else we can do but try.”
“Exactly,” I said, trying to put some bracing enthusiasm into my voice. “That’s the spirit.”
She rolled her eyes at me but didn’t actually protest.
“And what will you be doing while we’re convincing people to spill the truth?” asked Oliver.
I looked around, my eyes narrowed. “I’m going to see if I can get a glimpse of this enchanted object of theirs. And maybe find out exactly how it works—if anyone even knows. It would be a pity to hang around here and put all this effort in only to discover it’s not going to help us after all. And if I happen upon the mirror in the meantime…” I shrugged. “They did give us permission to search outside of the homes.”
I could see that Oliver would have preferred to join me searching for the object, but the same weight of duty which had driven him up the mountain drove him now. As crown prince it was up to him to tackle his people. To see if there was any way they would let him save his kingdom—their kingdom, even if they didn’t want to admit it.
We split up, and I soon found myself wandering aimlessly around. For all my confident words, I didn’t actually have the least idea where to start searching for the object. I didn’t even know what sort of object it was. For all I knew, it could be something as small and mundane as a necklace.
As I walked, I began to get a sense of the village. It all centered around the open, grassy space where we had met with the elders, the houses fanning out in circles from there. The outside ring seemed to hold bigger buildings, lik
e the tavern we had passed the night before. Another seemed to be a school—at least that’s what it looked like when I peeked in the window and saw it filled with children and desks.
The baths stood alone, their position dictated by the hot springs, and the back of the valley held the fields I had seen when we first arrived. Large barns formed a barrier between the rest of the village and the fields, an odd layout that suggested something of a communal nature to the work and property of Valley View.
When I had snooped around the entire area, no one smiling at me, but no one challenging me either, I stopped to think. Godmother objects—especially ones with not only deep historical significance, but also current magical ability—didn’t tend to be kept at the back of a drawer or stuffed into a tray of jewelry. So regardless of the object’s size, it was likely kept somewhere in a place of honor.
My eyes briefly skimmed the trees that surrounded the valley before I shook my head. No. Surely the nature of its magic necessitated it being kept in the village itself. I know I wouldn’t take a chance on placing it anywhere else if I were a local.
I surveyed the village again. The elders had met us out in the open, suggesting they had nothing like a town hall. But that didn’t mean they didn’t have a ceremonial building of some kind. Perhaps even a small one built with the express purpose of protecting the object.
My eyes scanned the buildings of the outer ring, skimming over the school, the tavern, and several others of obvious purpose such as the blacksmith’s shed. Finally my eyes rested on one that looked smaller than the others. Smaller even than the houses.
My view of it was partially obscured as it stood some distance across the village, but I vaguely remembered passing it before. Nothing about it had stood out to me, but now that I thought about it, I couldn’t remember seeing much in the way of windows. I had written it off as a storage shed of some type, but it stood on the opposite side of the village to the barns.
Whether my purposeful gait attracted attention or whether it was my close examination of that particular building, this time a man I didn’t recognize approached me. He stood for a while just watching me as I circled the small structure. I had been wrong earlier. It didn’t have any windows at all. I finally stopped thoughtfully in front of the wooden door.
Now that I looked at it closely, I could see intricate carvings on the door itself and around the lintel. Casting a bold look at the watching man, I strode up the three shallow steps and tried to push open the door. It didn’t budge.
I looked back at the man again. “I don’t suppose you have a key on you?”
The man finally stirred, narrowing his eyes, his face twisting in distaste.
“That building is forbidden.”
I looked at him measuringly. “To me? Or to everyone?”
“To everyone. That building is forbidden.”
“I heard you the first time,” I muttered, traipsing back down the stairs. As I made my slow way back to Sterling’s house, I could feel his eyes burning into my back. Only when I shut the door behind me did I feel his eyes leave me.
The house was empty. I sat inside by the constantly burning fire while I considered what to do about what I had found. No immediate ideas occurred to me.
When Oliver and Giselle finally joined me, I could see by their faces that their efforts had been discouraging.
I winced sympathetically. “Don’t tell me. The villagers are all as unpleasant as the few we’ve had the great joy to meet?”
Oliver slumped into a chair without speaking, his eyes on the fire. There was definitely something wrong with these people. I just couldn’t work out what.
Giselle looked from him to me and then shook her head sadly. “It was only our first day,” she said, but I didn’t hear any hope in her voice. She looked over at me. “As far as we could judge everyone seemed genuinely bemused by our questions about the mirror. And they had even less desire to talk about their object, whatever it might be.”
I had no answer for that, so silence fell. After a long moment, Oliver seemed to wrench himself from his gloomy thoughts, focusing on me. “What about you? I don’t suppose you have anything more promising to report?”
“Well,” I said. “I’m pretty sure I found the object.”
Chapter 22
Oliver and Giselle’s excitement quickly tempered when they heard the full story. Neither of them argued about the likelihood of the object being inside the building, but knowing it was in there didn’t do us much good if we couldn’t even peer at it through a window.
I promised that I would focus my efforts for the afternoon on the people rather than the village itself. We agreed to leave any direct questioning about the object for the moment. Instead the Eldonians would focus on asking about the mirror, and I would try to extract information about the forbidden building.
“Where’s Sterling?” I asked, as soon as we had agreed on a plan, however half-heartedly. My rumbling stomach had pushed our missing guide into my mind. “Have either of you seen him today?”
“Not since first thing this morning when we addressed the elders,” said Oliver.
“There are some food stores over here,” said Giselle from a small cupboard on the other side of the room. “I guess he’s left us to make our own meal.”
I frowned. Preparing my own meal didn’t worry me, but something about his disappearance didn’t sit well. When Oliver looked at me questioningly, I smiled and shrugged off the thought. Sterling had been absent from his village for who knew how long. Was it really surprising he had things he would rather be doing than babysitting us?
The afternoon did not go well. I had decided to take the approach of quickly abandoning any conversation that seemed less than fruitful. That way I could speak to more people and hopefully find one, somewhere, who was inclined to be a little less unfriendly. But by the time I returned to Sterling’s house, I felt sure I must have spoken to everyone in the village without finding such a person. For all my hours of effort, I had learned nothing.
Unless you counted that the small windowless building was forbidden. Which I didn’t. That I already knew.
One look at Oliver’s face told me they had fared no better. The darkness in his eyes scared me. I didn’t know what else we could try if this village failed us. And I didn’t know how Oliver would take defeat.
Giselle must have seen the same thing in him. Maybe she even saw something similar in my own face. Whatever it was, she kicked us both out of the house. Sterling had still not reappeared, and she said she would prepare some food but not with us hovering around.
“Go for a walk through the valley,” she commanded. “You look like you need it, and I certainly don’t need you here.”
For a second Oliver looked like he would resist, but then he caught me watching him and shrugged. Why not? his eyes seemed to say. It doesn’t matter what I do, after all.
It broke my heart.
Silently we pulled our jackets and boots back on and ventured outside once again. Only this time we ignored the village itself, striding quickly to its outskirts. I wanted to go back through the thin passage of stone, back to the snow—something I never thought I would say—so that I could feel flame on my skin again. But Oliver led me the other way, deeper into the valley.
We passed the barns in silence, skirting the fields beyond. Young growth appeared in the plowed earth, and the sight was at once comforting and jarring. Life goes on, it said. But at the same time I knew that only here in this valley had spring taken hold. Winter had gripped the rest of Eldon with icy fingers and refused to relinquish its grip. And the aching pain in my healed ankle—absent in all these weeks with my own personal heat source—reminded me of it with every step.
I didn’t even realize I’d sighed until Oliver reached over and took my hand. He had never done such a thing before, and I stared at our entwined fingers for a moment, wondering if I should pull away. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I had thought he was falling apart, and yet a strength see
med to flow into me from his firm clasp.
We walked past the fields and into a small grove of trees tucked up against the surrounding cliffs. Only once we had passed out of sight of the village did he sigh, his body releasing tension I hadn’t even realized it held.
He dropped my hand and I flexed it, hidden within the folds of my jacket-skirt. I had always prided myself on my strength, so why did I feel strangely empty now, and cold, without his warm fingers in mine? I forced my hand to still. I would not be weak. I would not be helpless. I didn’t need my power, and I didn’t need anyone else. I would find a way to save us.
Oliver turned suddenly to meet my eyes, and my thoughts fell away. Fear gripped me. Because I could read too easily the same determination in his eyes. Without thinking, I closed the space between us, grabbing the front of his jacket in both of my cold hands.
“What?” I asked. “What are you planning?”
My words seemed to take him by surprise, and he hesitated for a moment. Finally he reached up to place his hands over mine. I didn’t let go of the jacket.
“We’re not making any headway here. There’s no sign of the mirror, and we can’t even get them to give us any information on their object. Let alone the object itself. It’s obviously a powerful object since it’s nullified your powers, but that means we can’t force them to help us. I’ve been so sure I needed to bring this object back to the palace, but then I realized I was wrong.”
I stared up at him, trying not to allow myself to hope that he’d actually thought of another way. But it wasn’t hope I saw looking back at me in his eyes. It was despair. I trembled, and his hands dropped from mine, circling around me instead in an embrace I barely noticed.
“What do you mean?”
“There’s no reason it needs to be me that brings the artifact back to the palace. You and Giselle could do it just as well I’m sure.”
My mouth wanted to protest, but his eyes silenced me. What is he planning?
“I can understand why the villagers wouldn’t want to risk their object. And they’ve made it clear they feel no loyalty or allegiance to me or the crown. So I need to show them they can trust us. That we will return it. I’ve been wracking my brain trying to work out how to do so, when I realized the answer is simple. I’ll offer myself in exchange. I will remain here—as a hostage of sorts, I suppose—until you return with the object.”
Beyond the Four Kingdoms Box Set 1 Page 72
