I reeled back at the sight of bared teeth in Chesh’s angry face. It reminded me of Raven’s fangs, though he’d never looked so fierce. “He’s a monster. They’re all monsters. They’d feast on us all if it wasn’t for—”
“For who?” I demanded, rounding on him.
“For the fact that they need us to keep producing, to keep their source of fresh blood available.”
“Pragmatic monsters, then?” I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. Then I saw the tight set of his face and reminded myself that he was mourning a friend. I took a deep breath and dropped my hands to my side. “I’m sorry. I know you’re upset about Oscar.”
Chesh turned away, shaking his head.
“I just don’t understand why you’re so fixated on the vampires. What if it’s not them?”
“What if it is?” Chesh spun around.
I threw my hands in the air. “What if it isn’t?”
Chesh shook his head again, then stepped forward to grasp me by the shoulders. “If I’m wrong, then we will have locked up a few vampires for a few days. If I’m wrong, we’ll let them out. If I’m right, more people will die while we investigate far-fetched theories and non-existent patterns. Who else has to die before you’ll see the truth in front of your face? Remember the vampire that attacked you in the alley two weeks ago?”
I shivered as the memory of his desperate face flashed into my mind. I pursed my lips but nodded. “That’s what they’re like when they need blood. That’s why they’re doing this.”
“It doesn’t make sense,” I started, thinking of how Raven had helped Wit’s patients. Then the memory of the vial of black market blood entered my traitorous mind. Where had it come from?
“It makes perfect sense to me,” Chesh retorted.
The fight went out of me, like a hiss of steam, and I sank back onto the cushioned armchair in the corner of the room. I thought about Raven—about the glimmer of the candlelight against the darkness of his hair, about the touch of his lips against mine, about the way he smiled at me with the sparkle of hope in his eyes. Then I remembered the secrets he’d held, that he still held, and wondered whether Chesh was right—was I seeing just what I wanted to see?
Two nights ago, I’d felt perfectly safe in Raven’s arms. I remembered the dreams I’d had about him biting my neck. The other night, in his arms, I’d thought I’d been dreaming about him kissing me, but maybe I’d been right in the first place. Maybe my dreams were trying to warn me away from his charming demeanor. Perhaps, he liked to play with his prey. Perhaps, he was enjoying some sort of elaborate game, to lure me into a place of trust, before he drank my blood.
I shook my head, pushing away the memories. Raven had, had many opportunities to attack me if that was what he wanted. He might have secrets, but that didn’t mean he was a killer.
Chesh knelt down in front of me, a frown lining his face as he gazed up at me. He put a hand on my skirts.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I know you think you’re in love. I wish I didn’t have to tell you, but if you were to go to your mother or sister, they would give you the same advice.”
“What advice is that?” My voice cracked as I choked out the words.
“A romantic relationship between a young woman and a vampire man? It’s just not…possible. Not in The Forge. Nobody would accept it. It’s like a marriage between a beautiful person and an unbeautiful one. It just doesn’t happen.”
A lump formed in my throat. I looked outside at the bustle of people on the avenue in their bright, fashionable clothes, with their tall hats embellishing perfect hairstyles, and their servants hurrying behind laden with bags full of more purchases of more clothes and hats and other beautiful things.
They didn’t seem beautiful to me now. It was grotesque.
It was wrong. All of it.
“Perhaps it’s time The Forge changed,” I whispered.
3
28th August
I charged into Alice’s chambers. “Mother?”
In my hands, I held a piece of paper with the scribbled notes I’d been preparing all through the night, after I’d left a grieving, angry Chesh at his house. I hadn’t been able to convince him, but I was determined to convince Alice that the time was right, finally, for The Forge to change.
In my room, I’d sat at my desk, pushing aside the parts of my latest pocket watch as I tried to gather my arguments in writing. Mostly I’d screwed up balls of papers as I tried to marshal my whirling thoughts into a cohesive petition that Alice could consider. Every time I read over my efforts, I discarded them with growing frustration. Eventually, but only after the candles had burned down to stubs, had I reached a draft that I was happy with.
At the doors to her chambers, Jack tried to stop me, but I strode past him and pushed open the doors. I gripped my notes in my fingers, with such force that I was worried I’d tear the paper in half.
I glanced down at the words I’d written, suddenly full of doubts. Would it be enough to change her mind? Or would she dismiss me like Chesh had?
When I looked up into the room again, I came up short. Alice wasn’t alone.
She was with Princess Gaia and her bodyguard, both of whom I’d met at Wit’s rooms.
Alice’s back was to me, but I could tell from the tense set of her shoulders that something was wrong.
“Mother?” I asked.
Alice turned slowly around. In her hands, she held a handkerchief. Her eyes were red, and her cheeks wet from crying.
“Mother? Is something wrong?” A terrible heavy weight dragged on me. “Has Pearl suffered a relapse?”
Alice shook her head. “Pearl is fine.” Her eyes filled with tears again as she looked at me.
I nodded towards Gaia and her guard. “Have they upset you?”
Alice sniffed, then covered her face with her hands. Gaia put her hands at her shoulders and urged her to sit down in an armchair.
“Take your hands off my mother,” I said, gritting my teeth.
The guard stepped in front of Gaia. He said nothing, but he would not let me come any closer.
“There’s no need for this, my love,” Gaia said, coming up behind him to put her hands on his arms. I guess he wasn’t her guard after all unless it was customary to call guards love in Badalah. By the way he looked at her with adoring eyes, I doubted their relationship had anything to do with custom. She beckoned me forward. “Your mother has something to tell you,” she said. Then she reached out a hand and guided me to sit down in an armchair opposite Alice.
“Mother?” I asked.
Alice glanced at Gaia, who nodded. Alice took a shuddering breath, and new tears sprang to her eyes.
“I’m sorry, Ivy, I should have told you this a long time ago.”
I pleated my fingers into the fabric of my skirts, waiting. The papers I’d prepared were scrunched in my lap. “What is it?”
“You’re not my daughter,” Alice whispered.
There was silence for a beat. Then I started laughing. Gaia and her companion exchanged a look. Alice looked stunned.
“What are you talking about? Pearl looks exactly like you. Even if you wanted to disinherit us, nobody would believe we’re not blood relations.”
Alice folded her hands in her lap. “You don’t understand. Pearl is my daughter. You are not.”
“But we’re…” Twins. Non-identical twins.
“I know that’s what I told you. I wanted you to feel like you belonged to us. I didn’t want you to feel different from your sister. I loved you—both of you. I still love you as though you were my own.” Alice reached out a hand to me.
I stared at her, shrinking away. “Pearl isn’t my sister? You’re not my mother? But…” Words failed me. I didn’t know where to start. I stared at Alice, seeing her tear-stained cheeks and downturned mouth, but couldn’t comprehend it. I started shaking my head, waiting for them to tell me I’d misheard. I glanced at Gaia, who was watching me carefully.
“This can’t be…” I sta
rted. Then I closed my eyes and put my hands over my face. The faint ticking of the Pinnacle clock filled my mind and steadied the whirl of disconnected thoughts.
“Ivy?” Alice reached out for me.
I dropped my hands from my face and clasped them in my lap. “Where did I come from?” I asked her, then glanced at Gaia again. “What are you doing here?”
Alice cleared her throat, looking over at Gaia, as though she suddenly remembered that she hadn’t made a formal introduction.
“I’m sorry, Ivy. Please allow me to present Princess Gaia and Genie of Badalah.”
“Ivy and I are acquainted already, Madam President,” Gaia interrupted smoothly. “She is the reason I sought you out. You see, I believe we are somehow related.”
“A connection?” I blurted out. “Between you and me?” I turned to Alice. “If Pearl and I are not sisters, what makes you think I’m related to a distant princess?” I stood abruptly. “None of this makes sense. Nothing makes sense!” I looked from Alice to Gaia and back again, then whirled around with the intention of leaving.
“Ivy, sit down,” Alice said, “please.”
I stopped, looking over my shoulder to see Alice coming over to me. She took me by the shoulders and turned me to face her. Then she took my face in her hands. “Please, listen to me. I will explain everything.”
I let Alice draw me over to the chaise. She sat next to me and held both of my hands in hers.
“Pearl is my natural born daughter. As you say, we look very much alike. On the night she was born, an old woman came to my door, holding a baby. You.” Alice smiled, and there was a dreamy, faraway look in her eyes, as though she was watching the memories play out in her mind. “She asked me to take you in.”
“Was she my mother?” I asked.
Alice frowned, as though trying to remember. “I don’t think so. I believe she was the midwife.”
I stared at her without really seeing anything. I felt heavy, as though a weight pinned me down so that I was unable to move, but at the same time, it was as though I’d been set adrift. Floorboards creaked as Genie moved closer to Gaia, placing a hand on her shoulder. A bunch of red roses was like a bloodstain on the side table by the wall. The curtains fluttered lightly next to the open window.
“What happened to my mother?” I heard myself speaking, though my voice sounded strange to my own ears.
“She didn’t say. She only said you needed a new home, and that it was imperative for the peace of The Forge—for the Twelve Kingdoms—that I take you in.” Alice smiled. “In any case, I couldn’t have refused. The moment I set eyes on you, I decided you would be the sister that my Pearl would never otherwise have. I decided I would love you and treat you as my own.”
“You were a beautiful baby, Ivy. Your eyes had an unusual gold ring around the iris—they still do.” Alice blinked and then reached out to stroke my cheek. Then she turned to look at Gaia. “As do Gaia’s eyes... It’s so rare. I wonder if you two are sisters.”
Gaia walked up to me, staring at me. We looked nothing alike. Nothing at all. Where I was fair with green eyes and blonde hair, Gaia had dark skin, brown eyes, and black hair. She was a couple of inches taller than me. Looking at her, I didn’t see any resemblance at all. I looked more like Pearl than the princess, but there was no denying the gold ring around her irises. It was identical to mine.
“Did you grow up with our mother?” I asked Gaia.
She shook her head. “I was brought up as the daughter of the King and Queen of Badalah. The midwife brought me to them, as she brought you to Madam President. I loved them, though—I still do. They are still my parents.”
I looked at Alice, who had tears streaming down her cheeks once again. She reached a hand hesitantly toward me. “I love you, Ivy. I hope you always know that.”
Tears prickled at my own eyes, and a lump formed in my throat. I couldn’t answer her. I nodded as the tears spilled over. I reached over to grip her hand, as though it were a rope, a lifeline. Alice pulled me to her, and tears racked my body as I leaned my head against her shoulder and cried, as she stroked my hair and whispered my name, over and over.
“There are others,” Gaia said. “Like us.”
I frowned. “What do you mean, like us?”
Gaia and Genie looked at each other. “Ivy,” Gaia came to sit on the couch next to me, on the opposite side to Alice. I turned my body so that I could look at her directly. “Have you ever noticed anything different about yourself?”
I burst out laughing. “Many things,” I replied.
Gaia elegantly raised an eyebrow. “Such as?”
“I don’t seem to fit in here—in Melfall. I don’t take the aesthetic stipend. I don’t spend enough time thinking about beauty and fashion. I spend far too much time making watches, tinkering with machines, and solving puzzles.”
“That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind,” Gaia replied.
“Do you care to be a little more specific?”
Gaia held up her hand, as though she was pointing a finger towards the ceiling. Then, as she watched me, the tip of her finger burst into flame as though her finger was a candle.
“Magic?” I asked.
Gaia flicked her fingers, and the flame went out. “I have an affinity for fire,” she shrugged. Then she pointed to her eyes. “Alice has already noticed the similarity between our eyes. I believe our other siblings will have similar eyes.”
“Siblings?” I gasped. “I have other brothers and sisters, too?”
Gaia nodded. “There are at least five of us, so far.”
“So far?”
“Strange things have been happening across the Twelve Kingdoms. In Badalah, peace came to our kingdom eighteen years ago. My parents married, and they did much for the poor people of the kingdom. Then, recently, things started to change. My father, the king, started to forget who he was. My mother didn’t recognize him anymore. Nobody remembered who he was anymore. Then he disappeared and started living like a street urchin, as he had been doing before he met my mother. The reason I came to The Forge was to try to find a potion to bring back their memories.”
“The Queen of Hearts disappeared eighteen years ago,” I whispered.
“She died,” Alice said, closing her eyes and going very still.
Gaia raised an eyebrow, looking at me.
“It’s possible, but her body wasn’t found,” I cleared my throat. “I heard she was—or is—a vampire. If that’s true, she would not have been easy to kill.”
“Has anything strange happened here recently?”
I looked at Alice, who was rubbing her temples. Outside, the clock chimed, and I noticed the pink and purple hues of sunset splashed across the sky outside. I was suddenly reminded that I’d planned to go to see Raven this evening at sunset.
My breath caught in my throat as I felt myself pulled in two directions. I wanted to get to know Gaia, especially if she might be able to help me understand the puzzles that had been plaguing me for weeks. On the other hand, I remembered Chesh’s friend, Oscar. Raven might be able to tell me what had happened to him. I was still trying to decide whether to excuse myself when Alice stood.
“I think I will leave you two to get to know each other better. I would like to check in on Pearl. Please excuse me, Princess.”
“Please, call me Gaia,” Gaia replied, but Alice was already out of the room.
When the door clicked closed, Gaia turned to me. “I take it that strange things have been happening in The Forge as well?”
I nodded, turning my body towards her again as I made a decision. Starting at the beginning, I laid out the events of the past couple of weeks and detailed the puzzles that had been worrying me: the Pinnacle clock, the Hearts, the problems at the blood banks, the missing people.
“I can’t make sense of it,” I said as I finished the story. “Do you know what’s been happening here?”
Gaia looked at Genie then, gently, she reached over to take my hand. “I think it’s related t
o what’s happened in the Badalah, and other kingdoms. I can’t tell you much more than that, though. I have too many unanswered questions myself.”
I sighed as the Pinnacle clock struck the hour once more.
4
29th August
Sunlight streamed into the tall windows of the breakfast room. Gaia leaned over the speckled weeper set into a vase in the middle of the dining room. “Everything is so different here.”
A red bird was perched on the mantel. It squawked loudly as Gaia reached out to touch the brightly colored petals of the flower.
“Don’t get too close,” I warned her. “That plant is not only poisonous, but it eats flesh—it will take the finger off your hand if it catches you in its trap.”
Gaia straightened, her eyes widening, and she took a big step backward.
I looked at her, noting the way the light material of her robes flowed and her bangles and necklaces jingled as she moved. The silky darkness of her hair fell in braids down her back.
“I’ve never been out of The Forge,” I admitted. “I’ve never even been outside the walls of Melfall. Is Badalah very different?”
Gaia smiled, and the act lit up her face with joy. “Very different. Our weather is hot, but also very dry. The buildings in our city are not made of grey stone but of red mud-bricks. There are market stalls on every corner, and the air smells like spices.”
“Do you miss it?”
The smile didn’t leave Gaia’s face, but she looked suddenly sad. “I miss my parents. I know they are not my real parents, but they raised me and loved me. I don’t like to see my father homeless and forgotten—not after spending so much of the last eighteen years improving the lives of the poor people in our kingdom. Now that he’s forgotten, my kingdom seems to have forgotten everything that happened since he took the throne. My people have forgotten their hearts. They don’t care about each other anymore. I love them all, but I don’t want to see my home like this. That’s why I came here—I need to find a way to help my parents and my kingdom get their heart back.”
Ivy: Daughter of Alice Page 20