The Empty Crown

by Georgina Makalani

  ‘How did you find this place?’

  ‘Who are you?’ Ana asked more firmly.

  There was no reply, and Ana huffed out a sigh of frustration.

  ‘Dray!’ she cried.

  There was nothing. No echo, no hint at the size of the space around her. ‘Ende?’ she tried. But she knew she was alone. And she was certain that whatever lay ahead of her, it was for her to deal with alone.

  The idea of the woman returned. She was unknown, yet Ana knew her. Had it been as simple as her mother had left them? The lord had hinted that something had happened to her, and that she might have been responsible. If her mother could simply leave, why hadn’t she taken Ana with her?

  She longed for a flame, but she wasn’t sure what that might show. Another world, another time? And would it answer her questions or give her more? She thought she could smell smoke, bitter and eye watering, yet she continued towards it.

  As she grew closer, or as the smell grew stronger, she thought she could see a small flame in the distance. She hurried towards it. A large bowl reflecting the firelight acted as a beacon. But as she neared it, she stopped. The world around her smelt of herbs and something she couldn’t quite place. She could see nothing but the bowl, not even the fire that was reflected on its surface. She stepped forward slowly and leaned over it. Her green cloak, the one she had missed so desperately in the mountains, was neatly folded in the bottom, burning—and yet it wasn’t. The acrid smoke curled upwards in long red tendrils, and she waved her hand through the smoke. Images appeared as the smoke was moved around, of the Lord’s Seat and the mountains it was nestled in.

  Someone was looking for her. Someone with magic was trying to find where she was. ‘The mage,’ she whispered, and he came into view, working around a messy, cluttered space. Papers and debris covered the surfaces, the walls lined with shelves filled with bottles, pots and more papers. Boxes and books were scattered amongst them, and the smell of the room took her breath away.

  She put her hand to her mouth as she watched him work, pulling bottles and strange dried things from the shelves before crumbling them into another bowl. Some bottles he opened and then closed again, others he sprinkled the contents. One small bottle, filled with a blue liquid so bright it might have been a summer sky captured, he dropped in completely.

  Ana stepped back. Was all of this to find her, or was it a way to kill her? He had come so far, and then all he had wanted was her death. Did he see the same danger Ende had seen? Would this man want to save the king from her, or did they want to use her to end him?

  She wanted desperately to lean over the bowl to learn what he did, but she didn’t understand any of it. It wouldn’t matter if he were able to describe to her in detail what magic he worked. She would never be anything but a maid.

  The old man scowled into the bowl. Then he blew a long slow breath over the top of it. Another cloud of smoke moved over the bowl, very different from the one with her coat not burning away. It twirled up and around and became a woman, the shape of her clear. Ana was mesmerised at how beautiful she was. Even though there was little detail other than her shape, there was a sense of her in the pale smoke. Her long hair blew out behind her as though she stood in the wind, but her dress didn’t move, and then Ana realised she was holding something in her hand. She couldn’t move, desperate to know what it was. The woman raised her hand and Ana recognised the crown, which she carefully placed on her own head.

  A smile broke the image, a scary smile that made Ana shiver.

  ‘No!’ she cried out, and the world was dark again.

  Chapter 21

  ‘Have you seen Ana?’ Ed asked, finding Drayton looking very lost in the middle of a hallway.

  He nodded and then shook his head.

  ‘Recently?’ Ed tried. He had been thinking about her all morning, and although Belle was good company, he was frustrated by their time in the castle. He wanted to talk with Ana about how she thought they might be able to get the lord on their side. And what exactly they were asking him for, as the little man didn’t appear to have much to offer other than words.

  ‘She was just here,’ he said, turning back to the wall.

  ‘Which way did she go?’

  He pointed at the wall. Ed looked from it to him and back again. ‘What happened?’ he asked, trying to maintain his calm in the face of the nervous soldier.

  ‘She needed to get out, walk a bit,’ the man said, not looking at him.

  ‘And?’ he prompted.

  ‘She was standing in the window.’

  ‘What window?’ Ed asked louder than he should have. The soldier looked at him with a scowl, as though he was dim.

  ‘The one in her room. She was standing up on the ledge, the window wide open, and I thought she would fall.’

  Ed felt his stomach drop.

  ‘I thought she needed the distraction, and we were walking and exploring and then…’ He pointed to the wall.

  Ed waited. When Drayton said nothing further, he stepped forward and put his hand to the warm stone. There was something very special about the girl, but for her to just disappear was odd in itself. Although there was something very odd about this castle.

  ‘She disappeared through the wall?’

  ‘There was a door,’ he said absently.

  ‘A door?’ Ed asked slowly.

  ‘Yes,’ the soldier snapped. ‘A door, plain and old, and I couldn’t see it until she put her hand to it.’

  ‘You didn’t follow her?’

  ‘I thought I did, but it was dark and I heard a woman call for her, and then I was standing here and she was gone and so was the door.’ His words became more urgent, and he took Ed by the shoulders. ‘It was the same with the house in the mountain. I couldn’t see it until she touched it. Ende understands. We need Ende.’

  ‘I haven’t seen him. But he has been with Ana a lot. Perhaps he is in her room.’

  ‘Can we find this place again?’ The captain looked around. Ed thought he was trying to take in other features of the hallway so he could find the wall again, but there was nothing to focus on. He studied the man before him, usually so strong and determined, now looking like a lost boy.

  He still wore the dark armour of the King’s Men, although given what he had done, he would never be one of them again. Unless Ed managed to regain his crown, and then he could raise this man to be whatever he wanted to be. His hand rested on his sword, and he was sure Dray carried more weapons on his person than Ed could identify.

  ‘Do you have a dagger?’

  He looked at Ed for a moment and then drew a narrow blade from somewhere.

  ‘Mark the wall,’ Ed directed.

  Drayton scratched the fine blade across the stonework, once and then again to make a small cross. From a distance it might almost look like a natural mark in the stone. Closer it would be clear. As Ed nodded and the soldier appeared to relax a little, the mark disappeared.

  ‘Try here,’ he suggested, pointing to another part of the wall further from where Dray had indicated the door was.

  He scratched the same perfect cross, and they watched as it too disappeared.

  Across the hallway was a large window, the small panes of glass held together with lines of lead. ‘May I?’ he asked, holding out his hand for the dagger. He strode across and, without hesitation, broke a single pane near the bottom corner of the window with the handle of the dagger. A light breeze blew gently through the gap. They stood and stared at it for some time, but it didn’t miraculously mend itself.

  He handed the dagger back to Dray and headed off towards their rooms. Ende would know what to do.

  Unfortunately, Ende was nowhere to be found. At least not in Ana’s room. Ed grumbled something under his breath as he pulled Ana’s door shut, and they walked back into the hallway to find Belle standing in his doorway watching them.

  ‘It is unusual that she would say anything to upset you,’ she said, her voice quiet and a little glint of something he hadn’t seen
before on her face.

  ‘She isn’t there,’ he said.

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘She’s missing,’ Dray answered for him as Ed tried to work out just what Belle might be thinking. ‘Have you seen Ende?’

  She shook her head. ‘Could she be exploring?’

  ‘That was the plan,’ Dray said. ‘It might be what she is doing.’ His voice and face seemed more hopeful as he turned to Ed.

  ‘But in a way we can’t find her, in a place we can’t reach?’

  ‘It might be worth looking in the main rooms. Perhaps she is talking with the lord,’ Belle offered.

  They walked in silence towards the main rooms, where there was no sign of any other visitor to the castle. Ed thought it strange that there appeared to be so many of an evening and yet they were unable to find anyone of a day. The room where they met to eat was empty of everything as he pushed open the doors. Even the tables were missing, and he wondered just what this place was.

  Dray grumbled something under his breath. Belle looked around the room as if she too found it strange that it was so empty, yet she seemed somewhat bored with the search for Ana.

  ‘Would you like to return to the farm?’ Ed asked her, and she looked across at him with surprise.

  ‘You want me to leave? I thought I was to be of use.’

  ‘Ana thought so,’ he said with a sigh.

  ‘Then let us try the other room. I’m sure Ana knows best.’ Belle swung around and marched out of the room, and Dray gave Ed a frustrated look with a shake of his head.

  Ed wasn’t sure what the girl was for. Or what she was thinking. He had been fascinated by her earlier, but she just seemed so disappointed with life lately that he sometimes wanted her far away.

  Pushing the door open, he found the plump lord sitting on his pseudo-throne. Ende stood off to the side, his features dark, as though his whole body exuded his anger. Ed paused.

  ‘It is so disappointing,’ Lord Welcott said, his body lounging to the side, relaxed as though he were in the room alone. ‘Your ward is not what I hoped she would be.’ He sat forward, his elbow on the arm of the large seat, and rested his chin in his hand. ‘Or at least, I think she could be, but she isn’t quite as willing to work with me as I thought. I imagine there are others hoping for the same thing.’

  Ed knew in that moment that they were not amongst friends. He opened his mouth just as Ende raised his hand, and he closed it quickly.

  ‘You have already sent word,’ Ende said, his voice low and deep and dangerous.

  ‘They would hope that I had. But as yet, I still want to see what she can do for me. The mage, I’m sure, will have worked it out. My only curiosity is how you managed to drag the young king into this, and what his uncle will say when he discovers him here.’

  ‘Very little,’ Ed muttered, striding forward. ‘What do you want with Ana?’

  ‘The Lady Anaise,’ the lord said. He sat up as Ed approached, but he still didn’t show the deference he should to his king. ‘The Lady Anaise is sure to be as wonderous as her mother. And yet she fails to show me just what she can do.’

  ‘If you were to bring her here, I am sure she would be too happy to convince you of her skill.’

  ‘I’ve seen it,’ he said, standing, ‘and I’ve felt it. Pushing at my walls and unlocking doors. But she is not sharing, you see. She must share.’

  ‘Why must she?’ a quiet voice asked from the doorway, and Ed turned to Belle. ‘What can she do?’

  ‘So much more than she even knows she can. You have not helped her,’ he said angrily, turning to Ende. ‘Therefore, she will stay here with me.’

  ‘She can’t,’ Ed said for him.

  ‘You will all stay until I have what I need.’

  ‘What do you need?’ Belle asked.

  ‘I want all of this to be real,’ he said, moving his arm around in a wide arc. ‘It is all glamour, and I’m tired of it. With her powers, she can give me so much more. She can make it all real.’

  ‘Where is everyone else?’ Belle asked, taking a tentative step forward.

  ‘There is no one else,’ Ende said.

  ‘Have you told them of me?’ Ed asked, unsure what his uncle would say or do if he had even noticed that he was no longer in the capital.

  ‘Told them? No. I don’t want the King’s Men turning up here, making a ruckus, upsetting the way of things. No, you shall stay here for the time being. At my hospitality,’ the lord said slowly. ‘Your company may entice the Lady Anaise to assist me.’

  Chapter 22

  The man shifted uncomfortably before the regent, his jaw opening and closing without making a sound. Salima hugged the wall in her spying spot, still unseen. It was the only way she could find out what had happened to her friend. It surprised her more and more that she appeared to be the only one who had noticed his disappearance.

  ‘When was the king last seen?’ the regent asked in a sharp tone, which made the man quiver and Salima hold her breath.

  ‘It appears some weeks.’

  ‘Weeks!’ he bellowed. ‘How in the name of the gods has he been gone for so long without anyone noticing?’

  I noticed, Salima thought, and it had been more than weeks.

  ‘It was thought that he was unwell.’

  ‘Why was it thought that?’

  ‘One of the…’ The man looked about. ‘A maid…’

  ‘Are you telling me that a maid helped the king run away?’

  ‘No, I’m not,’ he said too quickly. ‘He was ill. One of the maids reported to the kitchen that he hadn’t eat his meal, and that he was complaining of illness. Another servant checked when he dropped the next meal to see if he needed a cleric, but he said he wasn’t ill enough for that, just not well enough to be up from his bed. It was reported to the tutors and they left him to rest. The time passed before the tutors realised they had not heard after his health.’

  ‘And yet not one of them did anything about coming to me, or checking on him.’

  ‘It appears not, Your Highness.’

  ‘Send for them, now. Leave the swords man; he at least raised the alarm. And find the maid. I want to know why no one noticed he hasn’t been eating for several weeks.’

  ‘They may have assumed…’ His voice trailed off.

  The regent stood slowly from the throne and stepped forward. The man before him flinched. ‘What might they have assumed?’ he asked, his voice kind and coaxing, and Salima knew he was anything but.

  The man before him dropped to his knees. ‘That you might have been caring for him yourself,’ he said quickly.

  The regent allowed a frustrated sigh. ‘In the dungeons?’ he asked.

  ‘In the royal chambers, Your Highness. He is your blood, your nephew and king. Why would people think you have locked him up?’

  Half the kingdom, if they had any sense, knew just what the regent had done to maintain his place of power. Salima tried not to huff. Although Ed hadn’t seemed to want to retaliate or help himself in any way, and then he had disappeared. At least she could be sure the regent was not behind the disappearance, given his behaviour over the last few days.

  He sat slowly on the throne as the man ran from the room. As he smiled a little to himself, Salima wondered if she was mistaken and he was behind it. Or was he just relieved that Ed had disappeared and he could use that in his favour? Why hadn’t Ed told her where he was going? She had thought they were friends.

  The mage appeared from the shadows, and Salima pulled back. If anyone were to discover her, she would be in serious trouble, and the only one likely to catch her was the mage.

  He whispered something over the regent’s shoulder. Salima closed her eyes and focused on his voice.

  ‘If he doesn’t return, it may solve all your problems.’

  ‘Unless the little scoundrel has managed to impregnate some maid or the like,’ the regent returned in barely a whisper. ‘Would he be man enough for such a feat? Would he have had the opportunity?’

 
‘I don’t think so,’ the mage reassured.

  ‘Could we spin this into treason?’ The regent tapped his fingers on the arm rest and leaned back. ‘That might not be hard to do. The boy hardly showed any love for the kingdom. He hasn’t fought for the crown. In a way, he willingly asked me to take over. And his running away only proved further that it was not what he wanted.’

  Would the people really turn on him in such a way? Salima wondered, missing what they said next, although she thought the mage murmured something about magic.

  With the sound of approaching voices, the regent sat straighter and the look of anger returned. The mage disappeared back into the shadows, and Salima wondered if he had been there the entire time.

  The tutors filed nervously into the room. Four men bowed low before the regent, and the young maid tottered along nervously behind them. She curtsied so low Salima thought she might sit down.

  He waved her forward first.

  ‘You saw him in his rooms when he told you he was unwell?’ he asked kindly, and she bobbed her head. ‘Tell me how he looked.’

  ‘Just as he always has,’ she said quickly. He waved his hand to encourage more detail, and she glanced at the man who had fetched them before looking back at the regent. ‘Tired, as though he doesn’t sleep, his fingers covered in ink and his clothes too big for him. He eats,’ she added quickly, ‘but he hasn’t filled out like a man.’ She looked at him with wide eyes for a moment, as though this was not the thought to have of her king. ‘But he didn’t look unwell.’

  ‘Yet you reported it to the kitchen.’

  She nodded quickly. ‘I had to explain to the cook why he didn’t eat her pie.’

  The regent nodded and waved her to the side. ‘Now, gentlemen. Exactly how long did you wait before you checked on the health of your king?’

  ‘Too long,’ one of them said, still looking down at the floor. ‘There have been times, Your Highness, when the boy—excuse me, the king—does not wish to take his lessons. We try to encourage him, but he will feign illness. We find that if we give him the space and time he requires, he is more focused when we resume.’