***
Louis stood by the arched doors. He sneered when he saw me. I jumped off my horse and onto the courtyard. I rushed toward him, anger lacing my every word. I didn’t care who saw us. “You are committing treason, you vile, pathetic excuse for a man,” I spat between gritted teeth. “You are destabilizing your own line of succession by trying to topple me from mine.”
Morgana hurried to my side. She tried to grab my arm, but I pushed her away. My voice went up a whole octave. “If you think you’re safe because you’re of royal blood, then you are wrong!”
“I would say the same to you,” he spat, disgust twisting his mouth. “Your own court is turning against you.”
I called over three guards who were hovering nearby. “Arrest him.” My heart pounded as I waited… waited to see if they were loyal to me or to him. I breathed relief when they hesitantly took him. He shouted at them, cussing as he was stilled.
“You just signed your own death warrant!” Louis shouted as he fought against them. “Vahaga told us you killed King Amos!”
Gasps escaped those around us, and my stomach knotted. “That’s a lie.”
He scoffed. “Maybe we were wrong, and it wasn’t Berovia who took Vahaga but you!”
I swallowed thickly. “Take him to the west wing. Lock him in the tower room.” He wouldn’t be placed in the dungeons under the castle but in a room that was befitting to his station, at least until I could figure out what to do with him.
Hushed chatter and suspicious glares showed me the waning loyalty of the Court. Morgana matched my pace, and Adius walked behind us with Florence and Nissa.
“You have control as of this moment,” Morgana whispered. “Use it. Do not lose that control. If the guards turn on you, it’s over. You need to act now.”
“Bring Abor and Edur to me. Have Gregoir arrested,” I told Adius, glancing over my shoulder. Guards accompanied us to my office.
“Right away, Your Majesty. If you need me, I’ll be here.”
I couldn’t have Penelope arrested for telling a secret, but I would have her sent home, disgraced, later—if things settled. “Florence, Nissa…” I waved for them to continue following me as Adius walked in the opposite direction. “You both will come with me. I need people I trust.”
We reached my office. The city looked calm through the lead crisscrossed window, but a storm was brewing, and I hoped I could stop it before it got too bad. “Morgana.” I took the seat behind my desk. “You will go and begin working on our other problem.”
Nissa arched an eyebrow. “Is it something we can help with?”
“No. Morgana has it handled.”
Morgana gave me a curt nod and left the room. I didn’t want to give any more bad news, so it was best the truth about the necromancer remained under wraps with everything going on. I already looked incompetent to many. I stood, feeling the crushing weight of my circumstances on my shoulders. Rolling them back to relieve a fraction of the aching, I looked down at the papers stacked on my desk. I had to think fast and show strength. I was their leader, and this was a test. I couldn’t fold under the pressure, else I didn’t deserve the crown on my head.
“Nissa, you will send word to Mai to rejoin us and have a letter written to Blaise explaining what’s happened.”
“Is there anything else we can do?” They both leaned in, pressing their hands on my desk. “We want to help.”
I tried to hold my threads of thought together as I looked at each of them. My gaze flitted to the globe, then at the empty armchairs and fireplace, remembering an easier time. “Word is already spreading through court about the spirit realm. How many know?”
Florence answered, her violet eyes brighter when she looked at me. “The entire court has heard the rumors, but most don’t know what to believe.”
“About the ancestors?” I asked.
“No. About whether or not you’re saying what they believe to be sacrilege. None believe the truth about the spirit realm.”
Nissa interjected. “It’s difficult to persuade people to believe something when the lie is so much more comfortable.”
I nodded, pacing my way to the window to look out over my kingdom. “It is a comfort to them, but many of the poor do not own staffs. Ancestral magic has benefitted only those who could afford it. I saw it firsthand when I went into the city and towns. The homeless did not have staffs. When I went to a tavern once, none of the working men had staffs, come to think of it.” I didn’t elaborate on when, as one of the times was when I had fled after killing my father. “I understand why now. The high priest was rationing magic, by keeping it out of the hands of half the lunas by pricing the staffs at a cost they could not afford. That’s why staffs are burned when the owner dies. It’s so they couldn’t be passed on.” I scoffed. The roots of his treachery were deep. As I said it all out loud, it made more sense.
Nissa cleared her throat. “If I may, I would advise, for now anyway, that you say the lords were lying and Penelope made it up. The people aren’t ready to hear the truth yet. We must gather evidence of it first.”
Florence tsked in her direction. “Meanwhile, André and others we lost suffer? Winter’s doing the right thing by bringing it to light. It needs to be destroyed. Magaelor survived without ancestral magic once. They used the element of spirit. I know my history. It just wasn’t as strong because it didn’t have souls fueling it.”
“You’re both right in different ways, but I’ve made my decision. I’m going to tell the court the truth and offer them to go into the forest to find out for themselves.”
“The lords’ men are guarding the forest,” Nissa replied.
“Which is why I need you to get word to the city and people in the surrounding towns and villages. They need to know everything, because I may need to call on them.”
“Call on workers?” Nissa raised her eyebrows.
“If the guards turn on me, then yes. I have to look at this from every angle.” I sighed. How had everything gone so bad so fast? I had overlooked so much. “Florence, you know Lord Edur well, yes?”
She nodded. “What do you want from him?”
She knew me well. “We need his backup. I need you to tell him the truth and what you saw. He might believe it if it comes from you.”
“I’ll go to him now.”
“Tell Adius to get his men together once he’s done arresting Gregoir,” I said before she left. “I’m going to hold a speech in the courtyard in two hours where I will be divulging everything, so if you can both go and do what I asked.” I paused. “Have Adius release my mother too, but quietly. She can’t be seen in public until they’ve been told the truth, else they’ll believe I released a heretic and believe Louis before I get a chance to explain.”
“We will go now.” Nissa shot me a watery smile. “We will fight for you.”
Worry pinched a pain through my head, tearing my eyes. “I know.”
Florence gave me a sympathetic look before walking out with Nissa, leaving me alone with nothing but my faded reflection in the window.
THIRTY-SEVEN
I struggled to end the building panic attack that had me hyperventilating as the nobles and households of the Court were gathered into the courtyard. I paced my office, stopping to calm myself every few minutes, but anxiety forced me to keep moving. Standing still was worse. I could feel every sensation. My skin crawled, and waves of numbness swept from my head to my toes, convincing me I was going to pass out. Every part of me screamed I was dying, but I knew better. I’d survived each time, and logic begged for me to listen, but each time an attack came up, it felt different.
Scenarios flashed in my mind of my head bouncing from the side of an axe, with crimson liquid spraying a jeering crowd. I prayed it wasn’t foresight and merely my own anxiety forming the visions. It was hard to tell the difference. The slight chance that it could be truth turned my panic attack into something far more monstrous. I could swear I couldn’t get enough air. My lungs felt half-full with each g
ulp, and dizziness swirled me on the spot. I leaned over, gripping the desk. “Calm.” I gasped between breaths. “I have to calm.”
I had never felt more alone. A knock sounded at the door. I rushed to it and locked it.
A guard’s voice sounded. “We are ready for you.”
My hand shot to my mouth, silencing my panic. I managed to shake out a half-convincing “thank you” before hurrying back to my armchair. I needed Morgana… or Blaise, someone to help me and tell me what was best, but I only had myself to rely on. Needing to realize my own strength as queen, I forced myself to breathe slower, even though it went against every instinct in my body. I went over the breathing techniques the elf Birch had taught me what felt like lifetimes ago, and I felt myself come down.
Usually, I needed time to recover, to sleep, after an attack passed, but I couldn’t. My people were waiting for me, and as much as I wanted to hide away, I couldn’t. Going out there and telling them everything opened me up to vulnerability. If I didn’t convince them, I’d be removed from the throne and the Court would revolt, and if my guards turned, I was done for.
I tried my best not to think about how this could end with my head on a block and unlocked, then opened the double doors. I held my breath when I reached the arched doors leading to the courtyard. I heard the rising chatter through the thick wood and stone. I closed my eyes, finding solace in the darkness, and stepped out into the cold, ash-tinted air.
The crowd reached the entirety of the courtyard. A block had been raised for me to stand on. People continued to join the swelling crowd surrounding trader wagons that had been left discarded by the tall walls.
Nissa, Florence, Adius, and Morgana were not there, from what I could see. They had to still be carrying out their tasks, and for the first time, I was without friend or family, standing alone with only a court of people I’d shared pleasantries with on occasion. I barely knew any of them, but they all knew me and stared up with anticipation on their faces. In front of me, guards stood along with my new general. This could get ugly, fast.
I moved my gaze over my people. I may not have had personal relationships with them, but they meant a great deal to me. Every person there was a part of a kingdom that embodied strength and courage. Mangaloreans were known to every kingdom as being hardworking, to fight for what they believed in and so much more than their magic. They were innovators, always booming new trade into the markets when it had barely touched other lands.
I stepped onto the erected steps and onto the wood box. It was far sturdier than it appeared. I cleared my throat, projecting my voice. “I thank you for gathering with me today.”
Silence befell them, and pricks of cold ran through me.
“Magaelor is such a beautiful kingdom, filled with hardworking, honorable people of every birthright.” I looked over the wall at the city in the distance. “We have undergone many trials, battles, and wars. We have emerged stronger each time. I could not be any prouder to be your queen and a luna.” Ferocity kept me upright as I spilled more words. “For those of you who have fought for Magaelor or have lost your loved ones to it, I am grateful for your bravery. I say all of this today, for I have come to give news that will be painful for many of you to hear.” I took a couple of deep breaths in, glancing out over the crowd, my eyes falling on everyone and no one. “We have been betrayed.”
Many gasped and turned toward each other. I cleared my throat again, projecting my voice over the whispers.
“Our high priest lied to us.”
I waited a couple of minutes for the crowd to settle. I parted my lips, hoping I was saying the right words, the ones that wouldn’t lead to utter carnage. “I understand this is difficult to hear. It was equally as heartbreaking for me, but we are more than our magic,” I explained. “We have been told, as have our loved ones and the ancestors before us, that we are given power from the spirit realm.” My stomach dipped. “When the matter of truth is we have, unknowingly, been stealing it from the souls of those who have passed on. Every time we use magic, the souls of the people we love are in suffering. They are trapped in a realm built by the elder ancestors so they could remain immortal and kept hidden by high priests and kings before me. I didn’t want to continue their legacy and protect myself.”
Shouting erupted. Some were angry, other questioning, and many rushed toward me. Some stood stunned to the spot. The guards took our their swords, and the general stood at my side. I stepped back as one man tried to force his way through.
A common man, a trader it seemed, stood in front of my guards, next to him, a few more stood, creating another barrier ahead of the guards, protecting me.
“She’s right.” The trader man shouted. “I could feel it too!”
“I implore you to find out the truth for yourself!” I shouted as loudly and clearly as I could, earning some silence among the front rows. “Go to the river in the sacred part of the forest and speak to the ancestors yourselves.”
The statement was enough to calm most of them. I should have led with it. Some still shouted, but as word traveled back, many dispersed. A few threw things in my direction, one calling me a heretic and a false queen before leaving.
I was escorted back inside but looked over my shoulder before I did as the masses walked away from the castle in the direction of the forest. Only a few stayed behind, seeming to take my word for it, and from what I could see, a small group had gathered at the back, including the man who’d called me a heretic.
Adius finally appeared, rushing toward me, and tried to catch his breath. “Your mother is being kept in your room, as many wouldn’t think to look there.”
“Good thinking.” I said and walked beside him. “I told the people. It went as well as it could go, I suppose. Most of them have gone to the forest. Adius, you need to tell the general to go with his men to filter them and to go back against Louis and Gregoir’s soldiers who are guarding the entrance.”
“He won’t have enough to fight them, but Florence is talking to Lord Edur. Still, even with him and others on our side, there’s simply not enough of us.”
I swallowed hard. Lifting my chin, I marched in the direction of a man who could potentially help: Lord Abor. A mad scream erupted behind me. I turned and watched one of the guards fall, blood seeping through his uniform.
Behind him, a young man with flour on his neck and cheek, wearing an apron, was wrestled to the ground. In his hand, he held a knife. “This is for the ancestors. She needs to die. The heretic must be killed.”
My heart pounded when I saw the determined glint in his hungry stare.
Adius wrapped his arm over my shoulders and forced me away from the scene. “This way. We will need to keep you safe until we can secure the castle.”
“Secure it? With what men?” Tears pricked my eyes. “I can’t hide away and wait for someone believing they’re doing the ancestors’ bidding to come and drive a knife into my back. I must find Lord Abor. He’s the only chance we have at fighting back. He has influence. Once the soldiers at the forest learn we’ve arrested their lords, there will be only more uproar.”
He relented, looking up and shaking his head. “He’s in the banquet room. I will have him brought to you. Go to my chambers. No one will think to look for you there.”
“With a target on my head, Adius, you should get my mother away from my room too. They will go there now just to find me.”
He nodded and walked away as the other two guards looked at each other, then escorted me to Adius’s room in the east wing.
***
Florence’s clothes were strewn over the backs of chairs and the bed, and her pearls and earrings shone from the dresser. It may have been Adius’s chambers, but Florence had taken it over. I cleared an ottoman and sat on the silver plush, under an arrow of yellow light gleaming in through the top window. I had been in there for an hour, and Lord Abor still had not come. The anticipation of what was happening out there was killing me. My anxiety remained spiked, swirling nausea in my st
omach as I waited. The final glows of sunlight poured in. I loved sunsets, but it only brought more worry as day fell into night. People felt braver under the cover of darkness, which only made me more nervous.
Finally, the doors swept open, and Adius marched inside with Florence. Her blonde waves had been pulled up at the back of her head. She wore dark-green pants with a sheath on her belt and a dagger with an emerald-embedded handle. Her white top was tucked into her pants, and her boots were laced up at the fronts. Adius wore armor and had his battle sword in his scabbard.
“This isn’t good. Where is Lord Abor?”
Florence exhaled shakily. “He’s gone, but it’s more than that, Winter.” Her eyes glossed over as she trickled her gaze over me, searching my expression. “Half the court went to the river and—” She teetered on the edge of words.
Adius blew out a tense breath and continued her sentence. “They died.”
I shook my head twice and blinked disbelief. “They died?” I must have heard him wrong.
“There was a man there, and he killed them all. He had powers unlike anyone has ever seen.”
My stomach knotted. I knew exactly who it was.
Florence sighed, tight-lipped. “Many are saying you sent them to their deaths on purpose.”
“I would never.”
“We know you wouldn’t,” she said, interrupting. “But rumors are dangerous, especially now. Truths are emerging.”
I pressed my hands together, pressing the point of my fingers against my lips. “Where’s Nissa?”
“She’s on her way. People have lost all civility in the castle. It’s why we took so long to get here. Some are out for blood. Accusations are flying left, right, and center. There are many who believe you too, but the divide between them and those who believe it heresy is deep, and they’re not afraid to kill for what they believe in.”
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