When She Reigns

by Jodi Meadows

  “Just ash,” I whispered. “Seven gods.”

  “At least five thousand more were injured, but most of them should make it. Healers have been working day and night to treat burns and injuries from collapsed buildings. And again, it would have been much worse without you and Aaru.”

  The numbers swarmed around my thoughts. So many people dead because of one man. “And Paorah?”

  “He wasn’t on the ships.”

  I swore.

  “I know.”

  “And neither was your mother, I’m afraid.”

  My throat went dry. I wanted to ask more questions—like if anyone from the islands knew where Mother was—but I didn’t dare. If she was dead, I didn’t want to know yet. If she was alive but Paorah had her . . . I didn’t want to know yet.

  “I’m sure she’s fine,” Ilina said.

  “She always is.” The words felt wispy and uncertain, though.

  My wingsister joined me at the wardrobe and pulled out the first thing she saw. “It sounds like they intended to catapult one noorestone into the city, then send their demands to the empress, with the threat of another attack. But Aaru silenced the rest of the noorestones on their ships, and the harbor guard subdued them quickly. There were mutinies and arrests, and it turns out Paorah is still on Anahera because he’s an absolute coward who won’t fight his own battles if he can talk someone else into doing it.” She thrust a dress at me. “Put this on.”

  I shimmied out of my nightgown and stepped into the dress, half wishing I had time for a bath. But I had to speak with Apolla. Now. About the dragons, what she’d seen me do, and what she intended to do with the people who’d come from the Fallen Isles.

  What if she planned to punish everyone on behalf of Paorah?

  “Empress Apolla sent the ships she’d promised,” Ilina continued. “Even with the attack, she made sure to keep her end of the bargain, and she expects you to keep yours as well.”

  Heal the dragons with the giant noorestones? Impossible. But I put that worry aside for now. “When will her ships reach the Fallen Isles?”

  “They should arrive along the eastern shores of Darina any day now. From there, they’ll spread out among the islands and search for survivors. But I have no idea how they’ll persuade everyone to come aboard when we’ve always hated the empire, or how they’ll choose who gets to come on and who doesn’t.” She shivered. “I can’t believe that we’re here, surrounded by all this, and everyone at home is just waiting to be next.”

  “They must feel so alone.” I closed my eyes, wanting to pray, but not sure how to do it around the fear that Darina or Damyan might have been the last one to rise.

  Ilina hesitated. “There’s more.”

  I didn’t think I could take any more, but I nodded for her to say it.

  “The islands after Idris were Bopha and Harta.”

  My heart sank. “Do Chenda and Hristo know?”

  “They were present when the news came. They know.”

  I didn’t ask if they were all right.

  Ilina motioned toward the washroom. “I’ll tell Alusha you want a meeting with Empress Apolla, and you take care of yourself in there. You may have needed four days to recover from that noorestone, but it didn’t do your breath any favors.”

  I winced, but she was right. My mouth tasted disgusting.

  After following Ilina’s orders, I headed into the public parlor, where Aaru and Hristo sat on a bench, both dragons playing between them. In the entry hall, Ilina spoke with someone in low, urgent tones.

  At my entrance, Hristo and Aaru stood. My guard hugged me first.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I just heard about Harta.”

  He gave me a squeeze and nodded, and then Aaru’s arms were around me.

  “I heard it coming.” He drew a heavy breath. “The noorestone.”

  Of course he had.

  “I should have silenced it right away.”

  Oh.

  “You couldn’t have known what would happen.”

  “I did know. I just couldn’t. It was so loud I couldn’t—” His face twisted with pain.

  I understood. And I couldn’t reassure him, because three thousand lives had been lost. It didn’t matter that they belonged to the Algotti Empire, that they were supposedly our oldest enemy, or that we’d recently thought they’d quietly conquered the Fallen Isles. They were people, like us. They’d been attacked. And we hadn’t been able to save them.

  Reassurance would only feel like saying that the ones who died didn’t matter, and they deserved more than lies we told ourselves to feel better.

  “How did you finally do it?” I asked.

  “You.” He licked his lips. “I knew what you were doing. I knew if I didn’t help, you might not survive.”

  “Thank you.” The words were inadequate, but I didn’t know what else to say.

  “Mira?” Ilina started in from the entry hall. “Empress Apolla is ready to see you.”

  Before I could go, though, Aaru took my hand and squeezed. He didn’t speak aloud; his warning came quickly against my fingers: ::Careful. I overheard what she said while you were unconscious. She knows about your dragon soul.::

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  EMPRESS APOLLA WASN’T IN HER THRONE ROOM.

  Instead, I was escorted onto the imperial barge, surrounded by a small army of the empress’s personal guards, and taken up the River Akron. It was faster than the carriage had been and offered a different view of the mansions and courtyards of Sunder. It had no view whatsoever of the damage done by the giant noorestone.

  From here, Sunder was still the portrait of beauty, wealth, and elegance. Even after the attack, Apolla wanted to impress me.

  Or remind me of her power.

  While I waited to arrive, I was given a lavish breakfast of sausage, eggs, orange slices, and tea thick with honey. I ate everything, hungry after sleeping for four days, but tasted very little. No matter how Apolla tried to win me, I couldn’t forget that she was an empress first. She commanded armies and conquered kingdoms. If she knew about my dragon soul, as Aaru believed, then surely she would seek to use my ability the same way the Luminary Council had used my voice.

  I would not be her weapon.

  On the western horizon, black clouds rolled over the ocean. Lightning shot through the sky, illuminating the shapes of the billowing, boiling storm. With every flash of light, the back of my throat tingled, and a thread of excitement skittered through me. Dragons loved storms, and this one promised to be incredible. Though still hours off, it would be a drenching downpour when it arrived—a deluge that the city of Sunder did not need right now.

  “We’re almost there,” said the lead guard as the barge servants cleared away my tray. “Just a few more minutes.”

  I thanked him, but I could already feel the dragons’ proximity.

  And the noorestone.

  It was a grating, scratching noise in the back of my head, hot with unstoppable power. When we reached the dragon park, it was the first thing I saw. Even though I was prepared for the size—I’d seen them before—it still shocked me.

  It was huge—as big as a small house—and its glow rivaled a summer sun. Fourteen imperial soldiers stood at attention around it, though they kept their backs to its impossibly bright shine.

  In the cool blue-white light, the scorch mark that covered the ground was perfectly black. I followed the shadow of the Drakontos celestus from the noorestone to the keepers’ building, then to the river where one wing extended, and then on past the mound of unconscious dragons.

  And there, waiting by the dragons, stood Apolla. As always, she was resplendent in gold and white, with a stiff brocade cape that trailed after her. Boots peeked out beneath her gown—white, of course—but perhaps mages had woven sigils of repelling into all her clothes, because the fabric was spotless.

  I approached, flanked by the guards she’d sent along with me.

  “Mira.” Her tone was cordial, pleasant. “You
’ve awakened.”

  As though this meeting were a surprise. As though her people hadn’t been listening to every word uttered in the suite she’d generously given us.

  “Yes.” The dragons—their slow breathing, their walled-up minds, their slide into death—made me keep my own tone level. No matter my anger, my fear, I needed to keep it separate from them. They didn’t deserve to feel any more negativity than they were already suffering. “I’ve been told your personal doctors and healers saw to my recovery. You have my gratitude.”

  She smiled—a polite, practiced expression. “You and your friends are the most valuable guests I’ve ever had the honor of hosting in the imperial palace.”

  Her words sent a shiver through me. Valuable. The Algotti Empire had listening sigils, healing magic, the power to make ships cross the ocean in mere days—but they didn’t have someone whose shadow separated from her to search for survivors; they didn’t have someone who could make crops grow with only a thought; they didn’t have someone who could silence entire cities to allow only one voice to be heard.

  We were valuable. And Nine had warned us when she’d said Apolla found our gifts fascinating.

  Of course, after the Great Abandonment finished, those gifts might be gone forever.

  “So valuable I needed an escort this large.” I motioned toward the men and women who’d come with me on the barge. They’d stayed a respectable distance away, allowing Apolla and me to talk in relative privacy, but I had no doubt they were straining to hear every single word.

  “Yes.” She stepped close, as though imparting a secret. “In difficult times, such as those following unprovoked attacks, otherwise civilized people can become violent. Would that I could vouch for every one of my citizens, but I’m afraid there may be some who will see you no differently than they see those islanders who attacked the city. Protecting you is among my highest priorities.”

  A slow ache pounded through my head, but it wasn’t mine; it belonged to one of the dragons lying nearby. “I was not told that I would be leaving the palace today,” I said, keeping my tone neutral. “Otherwise, I would have asked my personal guard to accompany me.”

  It wasn’t that I needed Hristo immediately. With the giant noorestone buzzing darkly in the back of my mind, I was more than capable of defending myself. Where there were noorestones, I was powerful.

  That was why neither Hristo nor I had been informed of the location of this meeting. It was a show of control. A reminder that I needed her.

  Apolla simply nodded. “My apologies,” she said, without a trace of sincerity.

  I smiled, as though I accepted, and moved on. “What of the people who came aboard all those ships? Are they being guarded as well?”

  “Yes.” Apolla motioned for me to walk with her around the mound of dragons. They didn’t notice our presence, and the burned ground crunched under our shoes. “My harbor guard is protecting the island fleet from anyone who would unduly harm the people residing there. Many of them seem to be merchants or bankers, tradespeople with no ability to defend themselves.”

  “Paorah wanted to bring wealth and skills of the Fallen Isles.”

  “In the coming days, we will determine who was complicit in the attacks on Sunder. Already, several arrests have been made—those of notable rank aboard the ship that fired the noorestone into the city. They’re being questioned and awaiting trial.”

  “Trial?” I raised an eyebrow. “They’re citizens of the Fallen Isles.”

  “They’re refugees seeking shelter in the Algotti Empire, per the agreement I made with High Magistrate Paorah.”

  “Which he violated.”

  “Shall I have the violation clauses brought up?” Her words were clipped. “I assure you, the results would not be pretty.”

  “The agreement you and I made supersedes the one you made with him.”

  “We haven’t signed anything.”

  “Nevertheless,” I said, “you agreed to it. And no part of our agreement gives you authority over my people.”

  She shook her head slowly, continuing to glide around the dragons as though we were taking a leisurely stroll together. Her tone turned gentler. “And how will you impose your authority? Will you take them back to the Fallen Isles for judgment?” She looked at me askance. “I know you wish to maintain your independence, but you’re already dealing with significant problems. These people hurt my city. My people. Allow me to take the burden of pursuing the truth and meting out suitable punishment. You would, of course, be consulted.”

  “I cannot give you the burden of judging my people.” My words came sharper than I intended. “You are correct in that the Fallen Isles already have heavy troubles, and that it will be difficult to bring the attackers to justice, but they are still my people. If you want to pursue an agreement between the Fallen Isles and the Algotti Empire regarding this matter, Chenda would be delighted to begin that process. But I’m afraid I cannot allow you to move forward with a trial until an extradition agreement is formalized.”

  “I don’t understand this hostility,” Apolla said. “I thought we were friends.”

  “You and I don’t have the luxury of being friends.” I smiled, for real this time, though it was a sad sort of expression. “I think we could be, if not for our titles.”

  She just nodded. “I’ll have an extradition agreement drawn up and sent to Chenda this afternoon.”

  I relaxed—only slightly. It wasn’t that I even disagreed with her—not really. The crime had been against her people, and on her land. And we had gods rising and people evacuating. The Fallen Isles were in no position to hold a trial.

  But.

  If we let her do favors like that. If we let her take the burden of governing. If we let her help without formal agreements.

  She may as well have conquered us already.

  She knew it.

  I knew it.

  Neither of us needed say it out loud.

  “What of High Magistrate Paorah?” Apolla asked, a little more cautiously than before. “He committed crimes against both the empire and the islands. He violated the agreement we made in good faith.”

  “He’s still on Anahera.” I turned my eyes to the dragons, barely moving as the sun reached upward. “He will be tried and punished for what he’s done to the Fallen Isles, and if our agreement is approved then you’ll have a chance with him, too.”

  “You could leave him on Anahera and let him die as his god rises.”

  My gaze cut to her. That was cruel, albeit no crueler than what he’d done to the rest of the Fallen Isles and the dragons he’d captured. “It isn’t my place to cast judgment, so I won’t speculate, but when the people learn of what he did—creating a lie out of the Mira Treaty—there will be backlash. When they find that his actions may have hastened the Great Abandonment . . .”

  “He will be lucky to survive until his trial,” she agreed. “Such betrayals from those entrusted with power bring out the worst in people.”

  Together, we completed one transit around the unconscious dragons. They were breathing, but when I let my mind drift around theirs, the starless walls had returned. Anything I’d managed to give them four days ago was gone, and they once again balanced on the edge of death.

  “I appreciate you, Mira. You stand your ground without attempting to take what isn’t yours.”

  Unlike her?

  “Now, as I’m sure you realize, I wanted to meet you here for this.” She motioned to the great noorestone, not averting her gaze, but unable to keep from squinting at its radiance.

  I gazed into the blue-white depths as easily as I looked at the sun. The noorestone buzzed louder in the back of my mind, now that I was actively aware of it again, but I pushed past the din as I stared into the center of the stone at the bright spark that was the fire of Noore. It flickered and crackled, bending in a way that smaller noorestones didn’t.

  That was the instability. That flicker.

  I tore my eyes from the noorestone to
find Apolla watching me. “I had it brought over last night.”

  Then it had been casting its unstable shine on these poor dragons for hours. Washing out starlight. Ringing in their ears.

  Apolla didn’t notice my concern. “Originally, the ship we took it from had three of these. One landed in my city. I thought it only right to take this one to heal my dragons.”

  Her dragons.

  My chest went tight, but I bit my tongue. We were already at odds, and she already knew too much about me, and she already had all the leverage. Besides, I was going to have to disappoint her again, and I needed to measure my words carefully.

  “Are you ready to heal them?” Apolla’s face was gentle as she gazed up at the noorestone-lit dragons. “I’ve been told they don’t have much time.”

  A telltale knot of anxiety tightened around my heart, but I had to tell her. “Your Eminence, I’m afraid I cannot heal them with this noorestone.”

  Her eyebrows raised. “I can have a second brought immediately, if that’s what you need.”

  I shook my head. “That’s not it. The problem is the giant noorestones themselves. They’re too unstable. That’s why Paorah wanted to use them as weapons: he’s already destroyed one of our own ocean-crossing ships in a test of their destructive potential. One of your spies told me that.”

  “You said you needed to wait for the giant noorestones to get here before you could heal the dragons. Now you say the giant noorestones will not work.”

  “I thought they would.” I closed my eyes and exhaled. “Until the other day, I believed a noorestone was a noorestone, unstable or not. But these are different. They’re noorestones, but wrong.”

  “How?”

  How could I explain the not-quite dissonance to her? The way I’d known the moment I felt the fire that they would never heal the dragons? The sight of that flicker deep within the heart of the crystal? “Imagine you needed water, but the only water available was salt water. Ocean water. Would you drink it?”