by Jessa Lucas
“Still sealed with magic. Dammit.”
Magic?
I was feeling faint with claustrophobia, but I must’ve expressed this sentiment out loud with the little consciousness I had left because one of them said, “Don’t sound so shocked, Princess…”
My eyes strained against the will to pass out. The first man, the one with the chiseled jaw and unreadable dark eyes, slammed his palm on the glass above my face, and bent down to my level.
“Do not fall asleep, Saylor. Look at me—”
I did look at him. And for what it was worth, he was beautiful.
One of the guards, a quiet one who hadn’t said anything yet, was coming at the glass with a spear he’d pulled from one of the suits of armor standing guard on either side of the door.
Everything was blurring. I was going to black out again. I welcomed it, if it would take me back to reality. To the bus that was driving me to Los Angeles… to a new future…
The glass shattered at my feet with an awful clashing sound and I closed my eyes, barely registering as one of them muttered, “Far too obvious.”
I felt several pairs of sturdy hands cocoon me as I was pulled from the shards of glass, and then I succumbed to the unconsciousness that I hoped would take me home.
“Wake up, Saylor. You’ve done enough sleeping for several lifetimes.”
My eyes fluttered open and my body immediately went rigid. I was not on the bus barreling towards my salvation. Instead, I was in a bed with the eyes of no less than three men fixed on me.
“Were you watching me sleep?”
“You’ll forgive us. We’ve been guarding you for a long time and want to be certain that you will not fall back into the deep sleep again.” The words came from the dark-eyed one who’d found me. “I’m Syrus,” he said, “and the five of us who live in this tower are your watchmen.”
“What do you mean by ‘again’?” I said groggily, not quite sure I even had much of a grasp on the immediate seconds I was experiencing. I discerned that I’d been relocated, at least— this room was cozier and furniture-filled. There was a bed instead of a coffin, for one thing.
The view outside the window and the chilled, oxygen-reduced air sweeping in from it indicated that we were high up. High up indeed… the mountains beyond wore snow capped hats.
Gotta love the unduly spirit of the subconscious; I’d wanted to see mountains for as long as I could remember.
“You have been asleep in that glass coffin for forty-nine years, Saylor. We’ve been guarding you in the hope that you might one day wake—”
“—Look, I don’t know what drugs the hospital has me on, but this has got to be the craziest and also most cohesive trip I’ve ever had,” I laughed. Even for a dream, I recognized how maniacal that cackle sounded. Like I had actually lost it.
Man, I hoped this wasn’t indicative of my brain if I ever managed to regain consciousness and return to reality.
“Hospital?” Syrus frowned as I peeked under the sheets. I was no longer wearing that preposterous black dress, but was now clad in a silky nightgown. A thrill shivered through me at the idea that one of these men had bothered to take me out of my clothes. Points to them for putting some back on.
“Yeah,” I sighed. “The hospital is where I really am, right? I’m thinking the bus driver from hell got us blown up, and I was rushed to the hospital with some frantic string music playing in the background to really set the emotional tone. At this very moment all the doctors and nurses are crowded in around me to see if I’ll make it, and any second now I’ll make a triumphant come back. Any second,” I added, willing it to happen.
The watchmen exchanged a glance between them.
“What’s that look?” I said, crashing my head back into the pillow. “You can’t judge me, you’re not real.”
“We were not prepared for lunacy,” Dash hissed and the one whose name I didn’t know thrust an elbow into him. I cocked my head over to them, eyes roaming their faces. Dash was all sharp and angular, dark hair and blue eyes. The tawny haired one was scruffy, the stuff of grown-up girl daydreams. And Syrus… well, I didn’t know what to make of him. He was stoic and chiseled, not as conventionally handsome but I felt like my eyes could’ve lingered on him far longer than the others, studying the strange angles and planes of that face.
Damn, my imagination made them good.
“Jude, Dash,” Syrus cautioned them with a hand, his eyes steadied on me, “now is not the time. Your waking, Saylor, is an unexpected turn of events, but a welcome one. We will let you rest in privacy—”
“—Rest is the last thing she needs,” Dash muttered.
“—and you can come find us when you are ready. It seems you may have questions, in which case we will give you whatever answers we can… though we might not have all of them ourselves; the future for both you and the Five Realms is yet undetermined.”
He stood, and Jude and Dash followed suit, exiting my chamber through the door on the other side of my bed.
Syrus turned on his way out, his hand catching the door. “Jabari and Gilles will be stationed outside. Be cautioned that your powers do not work on us.”
“Well that’s no fun,” I crossed my arms behind my head.
Syrus returned my words with a knowing look. No way to tell what kind of trouble a girl with an uncanny ability to seduce could get herself into with five lucky men on the premises.
“Ravish me now, studly soldier,” I purred, a pleasant smile making its way onto to my lips. I heard choked back laughter from the hall. “Come on,” I coaxed Syrus, enjoying the effect I could have now that I wasn’t plagued by the grotesque feeling of manipulating real men. He peered across the room at me with that straight face I sensed he probably always wore, expression not quite twisted in judgement (but almost). I realized he must’ve been right. By whatever warped rules I was required to adhere to in this ludicrous dream, my powers of seduction were defective.
“Nope? Okay,” I smiled to myself. I’d have to get creative then.
That piercing gaze was the last thing I saw as Syrus shut the door, and I was almost certain it had contained the remnants of a smile.
My room was decked out— fit for a princess, ironically. The spires of the four poster bed twined like branches to the tall ceilings, the duvet woven with thick, shimmering fabric. Elaborate rugs were placed all across the polished stone floors. The little rectangle window that tapered to a point at the top sent glimmers of light spilling across me as the beams of sunlight danced through the sheer curtains.
As much as I wanted to applaud this dream’s attention to detail as I moved to the window to watch the sun sink into the horizon and the moon bloom in the sky, a fear was widening in my stomach like the height that stretched down beneath me. A fear that I would never wake up.
A room fit for a princess, sure. For Rapunzel— judging from that distance between me and the ground. Last I’d looked in a mirror though, my hair hadn’t been long enough to use as rope… not that I was particularly willing to use it for such a purpose. The bigger problem was— luxurious dream or not— I was still in it.
I shrugged on the fine gossamer robe that hung from a glistening hook by the bathing room, and opened my door, only to immediately jump back two steps.
I’d forgotten there were enormous, hulking men outside it, both clad to the T in those well-fitted leathers. There was a strange crest on the front which I hadn’t noticed before.
“No need to scare so easily with us here, Princess.” The speaker stood and offered a roguish grin. He was the snarky one, the one I most wished to spar with just to knock him down a few pegs. Bright hazel eyes and tousled dirty blonde hair. If I had to guess, this was Gilles.
I raised my eyebrows at him. “Because you’re such a capable watchman that you required backup while charged with a sleeping woman?” I nodded at quiet Jabari, the one who’d broken me free (evidently the only smart one in the group) who slid his eyes to Gilles with no small measure of amusement
in his gaze.
Before either could retort, I marched off.
“Want a tour so you don’t get lost?” Gilles called out, lazy confidence lacing his tone.
“Nope, won’t be here long.”
Outside my chamber was a long hall which split the tower straight down the middle. I followed the hall to the end, where it became a winding spiral staircase that wrapped around what seemed like the entire circumference of the structure, stepping off to each landing and continuing on. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but I was living in blissful, unapologetic denial. This place couldn’t be real— no way in hell.
I stepped off on the next floor down, peering around. My stomach grumbled, as if to remind me that eating was a thing which normal humans did.
Yes. Dream or not, I could use some food.
As if willed by my need, a rich savory smell began to lure me forward. I followed my nose down more winding halls and swanky sitting nooks, finally turning a corner to—
“We were meant to report back if she ever woke, and here we are lounging around while she what, catches up on her beauty sleep?”
I stopped abruptly, pressing against the edge of the wall right next to the archway which lead, from what I could deduce based on the smell of roasted chicken, were the kitchens.
“There is no precedent for this situation, Dash. This changes everything.”
“It’s about allegiance. We swore an oath to the Crown.”
“She is the Crown.”
“At the very least, we could consult the Reflection instead of sitting here. That is all I’m saying.”
“Sy will be thinking through the implications of such things now, before we reconvene to discuss the proper course of action.”
“Sy? Sy? Who put him in charge anyway?” Dash spat. “We were supposed to be equals. We do the job together, not make our own calls about what to do with her. She wakes up, we report. That was the mission.”
“That was not the mission,” Jude said softly. “You saw her in there. She might not even be in her right mind.” His voice lowered as he said, “There might not even be need to send word.”
Report back? Mission? What the hell were they going on about?
Glass knocked against a wooden surface as one of the men sighed and something sloshed. I heard the creak of a chair whose weight had abandoned it and I sucked in a deep breath.
“I’m going to check in with Jabari and Gilles for an update. Maybe her memories have begun to come back to her,” Jude said.
I looked around for a hiding space, a closet or curtain or anything that might conceal me in the torchlit hallways. There was nothing but flickering flames and cold stone.
Well, fuck.
I turned back to the kitchen hopelessly, just as Jude rounded the corner, and I straightened my spine and looked around as if I’d just arrived upon the threshold, hopelessly lost.
“You’re… up and moving,” he said, stunned. He cocked his head at me, eyes dazzling. “Hungry?”
I nodded and began to step forward as if he were leading me back into the kitchen, but he swooped around me and waved his hand. “You will join Sy for dinner. I’m sure you must have some questions. He’ll be the best one to answer them. Come.”
“So what’s the deal with you guys?” I asked, scurrying along behind his long strides. His tight tush did not escape my gaze, and I lifted my eyes reluctantly.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, for starters, who the hell are you?”
“‘For starters, you’ll want to begin with the question of who you are.”
I stared at the rippling muscles on his back with a pre-eyeroll stare, until it was clear he wouldn’t turn around to receive the full benefit of my sarcasm.
“I know who I am.” I tucked my arms into one another, trying to fend off the chill of this godforsaken place, just as we reached an arched set of doors. Jude wrenched them open to reveal a palatial sitting area with warm toned carpets, plush chairs, and (to my delight) a fire harbored in the most elaborate hearth I’d ever seen.
My shivers rocked through me as if giving it their last go in the wake of all that potential warmth. I sauntered forward to the fireplace, not noticing the eyes that turned to me slowly as I did.
“Welcome. Please, sit milady.”
I turned to the voice, just as the doors thudded shut behind me. It was just me… and the one called Syrus.
I drew my silken robe in a bit tighter, feeling exposed under that unreadable gaze. “I’m not royalty,” I said adamantly as I plopped down in the sofa lounge next to his chair and plucked a grape from the heaping piles of fruit laid out on the table before us. I tried to ignore his gaze on me as I did so.
“You are Airyna Saylorabel Gathrul, daughter to the Iron-Fisted King and heir to the Five Realms.”
“Actually,” I sighed, “no. Once upon a time, I was Erin Saylor Greyson. Not that I don’t appreciate your elaborate interpretation. Like, so close. What was that anyway, Elvish?” I plowed forward without his answer. “Not to be a buzzkill, Syrus of the Watchmen, but unfortunately I’m heir to absolutely nothing. Like, literally nothing. And no offense, but I don’t really like to talk about it all that much.”
I popped the grape in my mouth and, just in case he needed convincing of just how unroyal I was, I kicked up my bare feet and propped them on the edge of the table. How about that for entitled hobo body language.
“This is a nice dream,” I said faintly. “The prince and the pauper. Appropriate.”
“This is no dream,” Syrus scowled. “You are absolutely royalty. You are also a siren, which it seems you managed to remember.”
His jaw tightened as his eyes flitted over my body briefly, and I adjusted myself slightly, used to gazes like that feeling invasive.
“I never had a name for it, but that last bit sounds right,” I nodded, not bothering to swallow before speaking. I leaned in to grab more food, sliding my eyes up to his, which were watching me darkly from beneath thick furrowed brows. He had his two palms steepled and resting against his mouth. “Would you like a plate?”
“No, this is good for me. Look, this is all great,” I said, taking a quick survey once more of the lavish room, “but where am I?”
“You… truly do not know?”
“Dude, do I look like I remember being a princess?” I motioned to, well, the general position of my entire body.
Syrus stared at me intently and I stared back, trying not to shrivel under that gaze and wondering if it was worth it to try one more time to use my charms on him. I slipped another grape into my mouth slowly, not breaking eye contact.
Something strange was forming in his eyes. A fleeting sadness. A strange familiarity. It beckoned to me from memory… but as swiftly as it had come, it was gone. I shook the feeling from my head.
“Syrus— wait, Sy? Which one do you go by?”
“Call me Sy.”
“Good, I like that one better. Sy,” I implored, shifting to tuck my feet underneath my body so I could lean in closer. “I really, really don’t know what the hell is going on, so if you could just fill me in from, like, the very beginning, that would be terrific.”
I’d been so close to adding “and I’ll bestow favor on all your generations to come”… but it felt like a bit much.
I watched Sy’s throat bob as he swallowed slowly, the motion thick with some sort of emotional implication. And then he began:
“Nearly fifty years ago, the queen regent of the Five Realms sent you away on a ship under the pretense of royal training. She assigned seven watchmen to accompany you during the journey and guard you during your time abroad. The queen was your unblooded mother—”
“Wait hold on, sorry,” I held my hands up. “Know it’s anti-climactic to interrupt already, but unblooded as in...”
“Not related by blood.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” I muttered.
Evil-step mother? But of course.
I waved my hand for
him to continue. Sy eyed the gesture warily and then began again. “Those of us in the palace knew, or at the very least suspected, that you had terrible sway over those whom you should not. The guise of schooling was not excuse enough for those who knew you, so the queen claimed for those in the Crown’s circle that your powers had grown so violent that you’d begun to kill.
“Valtronya,” Sy took a deep breath, “Valtronya was a ravishing but jealous queen. From what I understand of her now, she must have resented you from the beginning. Her marriage to your father was one of alliance; her lands, the Dramon Dagma, were the last needed to unite the Five Realms. It was unlikely she loved him as a husband, but even still it was you who received his pride and attention. Siren or not, the man whom you held the most sway over was always the king, as many daughters do over their fathers.”
I tried not to flinch at this massive generalization.
“When you turned sixteen,” Sy continued, “your powers began to manifest. I saw it happen, saw your abilities exhibit themselves on a large scale for the first time. You were an incredible harpist and performed at a welcoming ball for ambassadors from each of our realms, one of which was myself. The memory of it is seared into my mind…” Sy trailed off for a moment, seemingly lost in that very memory. “I had never before seen such power display itself in one so young. Your fingers danced across the strings with expertise and you… you began to sing. The song had the distinct quality of improvisation, as though it had come to you divinely inspired. Your voice fell like a veil over the whole room and the eyes of all men clouded. I perceived that they would do any bidding you wished of them.”
“All of of them except you, right?”
“I realized I was capable of resistance,” he confirmed. “Giving in to whatever enchantment you put, willingly or unwillingly, on the men around me was a choice I was given, not an inevibility.”
“How?” I raised my eyebrows slowly.
Sy leaned back, withholding his answer. I wondered if he even had one.
“As far as I can tell, this isn’t a school,” I said simply as I nodded at our surroundings.