by James Tate
"Your Highness," he gasped, dipping a much deeper bow than the one he'd initially given me. "I'm so sorry, I didn't see you come in. I'll be going."
What in the name of...
"What do you mean?" I demanded, frustration rising up inside me at the kid's blank expression. "We were just speaking."
The boy shook his head slowly from side to side, his eyes wide with fright. "I'm sorry, Highness. I don't know what you're talking about. I should go."
While I stood there frozen in confusion, the kid pulled open the door and hurried out with his laundry basket ahead of him.
It wasn't until the door was closed once more and I’d run through the whole bewildering conversation in my head that I realized something. Right then, when the kid had looked at me like I was a crazy person, when his eyes had widened with fear and caution... they'd been green, not blue.
"Fuck," I cursed, kicking myself for not sensing magic at work sooner. Groaning, I shoved the conversation aside and hurried to dress in my royal uniform. Whoever had just offered me an impossible choice... it sure as shit wasn't a kid from the housekeeping staff.
Chapter 23
ZARINA
"Wait," I said, squinting at Ty as he loosened the buttons of his stiff uniform shirt and rolled up the sleeves. "So he just throws down this totally bullshit chance to save your life, then when you said you'll think about it... poof?" I snapped my fingers, indicating that whoever had been using the kid's body had just disappeared that quickly.
"Pretty much," Ty replied, giving me a tired smile. "But I guess he'd given me all the info I need. If I want to go through with the offer, I should visit the temples of the gods and find the priest who can... fix me."
I scowled, furious at whoever was messing around in an innocent servant's mind and making totally unsupported, totally ludicrous offers with major consequences.
"Well, obviously the answer is ‘none of the above,’" I snapped, folding my arms over my chest in a huff. "I don't believe for a damn second that those are your only choices, and I'm sorry, Ty, but I refuse to lose you. Not to a magical mind-erasing spell and certainly not to a slow and painful death."
A small, bemused smile touched his lips as he gazed at me. His emerald-green eyes seemed to sparkle in the dim light, and for a rare moment, he was full of vulnerability. "What if there are no other options, little one? I can’t bear the thought of your pain as you watch me die."
My breath caught in my throat, and I swallowed a couple of times to hold my panic at bay. "Who says that's what will happen, anyway? Once Lee has more time to research—"
He cut me off with a sad headshake. "I think he was telling the truth," he admitted. “I hadn't even come to terms with it myself, but here in our safe place with no one else to hear me, I can finally say it.” He sucked in another deep breath, blowing it out in a sigh. “I think whatever this is" —I indicated to my chest, where the black scar ached with dull pain— "it's killing me."
His words seemed to echo in the empty room, and I shook my head in denial. I couldn't believe it. I wouldn't. Knowing what I now knew about the gods, I no longer believed in fate. "No," I said, stubborn and determined. "No, we will find another way to heal you. Fuck the gods, they can go rot in their own dimension for playing with our lives like this."
Ty gave a half smile, tilting his gorgeous head to the side as he watched me. "I don't know if it works like that."
I raised my brows at him. "It definitely does. Sorry, but you need to make a sacrifice to change your fate? Bull. Shit. If dear old daddy Sal or any of the other gods have the power to heal that mark on you, then they can damn well do so without any sacrifice at all. This is just a power play."
Ty stared back at me for a long moment, no doubt taking in my flushed, angry face, the stubborn set to my jaw, and the determination in my eyes. Finally, instead of arguing, he just reached out and took my hand, pulled me to him, and kissed me with total devotion.
"I love your fire, little one," he whispered when we broke apart. My knees were on either side of his waist and my fingers linked together behind his neck, like if I could hold him tightly enough, all of this crappiness would just go away. "But what if you're wrong?"
Anguish clenched my heart, and I saw the choice clear in his eyes. He would rather lose my love than make me live through his death, then mourn his loss forever. If I were a bigger woman, I'd make the same decision.
But I wasn't. I wasn't selfless or compassionate or any of the things that made a good ruler. I was just a greedy, scared little girl from the Pond. I'd grown up with nothing and no one. The small scraps of love I'd had from Magda on her more lucid days didn't hold a candle to the inferno I felt for each of my princes. I knew it made me selfish, but I refused to give up even one part of that.
"I'm not wrong," I insisted, pressing my forehead to his. "Even if it means working out how to cross into their realm myself, I'll hunt one of those magical bastards down and make them heal you." I paused, dropping my voice to a whisper. "I won't lose you, Ty. Don't ask me to."
He didn't answer me. Not with words, anyway. But the way he kissed me, the way his hands slowly, lovingly stripped my clothes from my body and laid me down on the chaise lounge. The way his lips worshipped every inch of my skin as I writhed under him... it smacked of sadness and sorrow.
He didn't believe that we could beat this thing on our own, so it was up to me to prove it to him.
When he joined me in an achingly perfect orgasm, I made a silent oath to him that I'd do whatever it took to see him healed and keep our love.
Magic swept over my body in a shudder, adding to the intensity of my climax and dragging a low, drawn-out groan from my throat. It was done.
* * *
Some time later, after Ty had gone back to his room looking worn out and pensive, I went back down to my mother's vault under the sanctuary floor.
Despite all my promises to Ty and my utter insistence that the boy had lied about him dying... I was worried. He'd admitted to feeling pain and weakness, and it hadn't even been a week since he’d gotten the injury.
"Okay, Ophelia," I whispered into the darkness of the vault. "What do you have for me that could help Ty?"
I stood there a few moments, genuinely hoping something would catch my eye the way the owl had the last time I'd been in the vault. When nothing conveniently jumped out at me, I heaved a sigh and headed over to the huge table where Ophelia had been sitting in my vision.
Placing the lantern down on a free patch of table, I sat down in the chair and opened the huge book that still sat in the same place it'd been for countless years. This book... it’d been important to Ophelia. She'd been reading from it in the owl's vision, so it must have been guiding her on how to create those little memory pockets.
If it could do that... who knew what else it could teach.
"It'd help if I had any clue what language this was written in," I murmured, turning the brittle pages slowly, fearful that they might tear or disintegrate at any moment.
The book was filled with cramped writing, sketched pictures, and countless symbols. If there was ever a book on magic and spellcraft, this was it for sure.
"If it's in another language, and it’s not a language even Zan recognizes with all his worldly knowledge of things... then where the hell did Ophelia come by it?" Flipping another page, I found a delicate drawing of what seemed to be a portal into another world with a woman standing on the edge of it looking in.
As I stared at it, my lantern spluttered and died, leaving me in pitch blackness.
"Great," I groaned. "If there was ever a time for a mutant beast to leap from the shadows and tear me to shreds, this is probably it." My shoulders tensed, waiting for something to happen.
Nothing.
Sighing, I scooped the book up in my arm, then grabbed my dead lantern and headed up the stairs. It was late, and if I was going to stare at a book I couldn't read, then I might as well do it on a more comfortable chair than what Ophelia had placed
at her table.
Once back in the main sanctuary, I pressed the little lever in the wall to hide the staircase once more and made my way over to the chaise lounge that was quickly becoming a favorite of mine. I parked my dead lantern on the low table in front of it and sank into the soft velvet of the couch with the huge book on my lap.
"Well, that's a relief," someone said from directly behind me, and I shot out of my seat with a small scream of fright. "I worried someone else might have gotten their greedy fingers on that book after your mother’s tragic demise." The terrifying, mysterious, nameless god gave me a toothy grin before returning his attention to the book clutched to my chest. "It was smart of her, creating a vault for all her magical treasures. Not even I could get to you down there." He tilted his head to the side, pondering. "I wonder if that applies to all gods or if it can be bypassed with an invitation."
"Keep wondering," I snapped at him, recovering enough from my fright to find my spine. "And quit pretending to be a god when we both know you're not."
The powerful being just raised one inky eyebrow at me, his face amused. "Are we not? We're more powerful than the people of this world. More magical. Stronger. Faster. We cannot die. We hold the power to influence their short lives for better or for worse, depending on our whims. What else makes a god in your opinion, Queen Zarina? That certainly sounds rather godlike to me."
I clenched my jaw, refusing to give in to the fear rising up in me with his every word. God or not, he was right. And a huge part of me suspected this particular one could be the most dangerous of all.
"Did you find anything interesting in there?" The god—for lack of a better word—asked me, indicating to the book I held to my chest. "There are many, many interesting things in there if you know what to look for."
I glanced down at the book, then back up at him, suspicious. "I think you already know the answer to that question."
A sly grin spread over his face. "Oh, I see. You can't read it yet."
I glared. "What do you mean, 'yet'?"
He gave a cavalier shrug. "An adventure for another saga, I suspect. Don't waste your time looking for answers in a text you're not ready to read, little queen. Time is short, and the climax to this sordid tale is almost upon you."
"What in Zryn's balls is that supposed to mean?" I was angry enough that I forgot my own determination to stop using the gods’ names so casually.
The scary one threw his head back with laughter. "Oh, I so love that phrase. I bet Zryn is just positively ecstatic to hear his balls referenced so often."
My cheeks heated as I realized how frequently I used to reference gods’ genitals without really thinking about what I was saying. It gave those curses all new meanings when the gods became real, sentient beings.
"Keep that book safe, little queen," the scary god ordered me, when his laughter subsided. "I went to great lengths to obtain it for your mother, and I can’t think of another god alive who wouldn't murder half this kingdom to claim it for themself."
I opened my mouth to ask more questions, like why he'd gone to so much trouble to hand the book to Ophelia or what significance it held to the gods. But just like that... he was gone.
Chapter 24
The last day of "peace" seemed to roll around faster than I could blink, and as I sat cross-legged on a fluffy purple stool in the sanctuary, I was practically buzzing with tension.
"I think we fucked up," I said finally when none of us spoke immediately. The princes and I had all gathered in the sanctuary at first light, despite not having discussed it prior. We all just kind of gravitated toward each other like four parts of one whole, coming together.
"How so?" Zan asked, propping a foot up on the coffee table and giving me a serious look.
I toyed with the amulet around my neck—the one Lee had filled with his healing magic—and my knee bounced with nervous energy. "Well, the chamber test is tonight," I started, meeting each of their gazes individually. "And we have spent all week working on what happens after the chamber without really focusing on what happens in the chamber." I paused, sucking a deep breath. "What happens if I don't make it through? What if Agatha or Hazel... or hell, even Sagen emerges marked as the crown’s consort?"
None of the guys dismissed my fears as irrational panic, and I appreciated that about them. Instead, they considered what I was saying.
"Do you really believe that is even a possibility?" Zan responded, his tone calm and soothing. "Knowing what we all know, about who you are and what you're destined to do, is there even a scrap of doubt that you won’t make it through?"
"I don't believe in destiny," I responded with a sharp frown. "It’s just another word for fate."
"I think the point Zan is making," Lee offered, "is that no matter what this chamber throws at you, you can handle it. No one is better qualified to win the Royal Trials than you, Zarina."
"Not that you should have to," Ty muttered, "but seeing as the oaths are still binding, we’ll play along."
I bit my lip but nodded. They were right, of course, but I’d needed to hear it out loud in order to ease my worried mind. "We should test this out," I said, lifting the blue amulet from my chest and holding it up. "Lee put some of his magic into it the other night. Has anyone got a knife?"
Ty scowled. "What for, little one?"
"Um." I flicked a glance to Lee, who gave me a small headshake. Not wanting to lie, I gave Ty a sheepish smile. "So I can cut myself and test Lee's healing magic."
"Absolutely not," he declared, glowering at me as he folded his arms over his chest.
I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Don't be stubborn, Ty, just—"
"Ouch," Zan murmured.
"Zan!" I exclaimed, horrified as he placed his own dagger down on the table and held out his bleeding palm. "What were you thinking?"
"Well." He cringed. "I was thinking that my blade wasn't anywhere near that sharp last time I used it, so I possibly cut a bit deep here. Mind helping me out, beautiful?"
"Oh my gods," I grumbled, shaking my head and wondering how in the name of magic I had thought I could handle not one, but three bullheaded princes in my life.
Gently as I could, I placed one of my hands under his, feeling the hot, sticky spill of his blood drip into my palm while I wrapped my other hand around the amulet.
"Okay, now all you need to do—" Lee started to gently coach me, but I closed my eyes and smiled.
"I think I've got it," I replied, feeling the warmth of healing magic shift into my hand then travel through my body—like I was a pipeline—then out of my other palm. My eyelids cracked open just in time to see a warm glow surround Zan's injured palm, then just like that, the magic was gone again.
"Impressive," Zan commented, holding up his unblemished hand. "She even cleaned up all the blood, too. How come you don't do that, Lee?"
Lee's brow was furrowed, but in a fascinated way. "She didn't clean it," he replied. "She put it back where it belongs—inside your hand."
I cringed at the mental image of this, but all three guys seemed fascinated.
"Well, that was easier than anticipated," I said, clearing my throat and rubbing my thumb over the shiny surface of the blue jewel. "I'd sort of planned for this whole epic, frustrating session where I needed to learn how to access my magic or something. But that was just... I don't know. Natural. Instinctive."
"Makes sense." Lee nodded, then reached out to take the amulet back in his palm.
His eyelids closed briefly, then the warm glow brushed my skin as he refilled the amulet with his magic. Once it was done, he sat back and gave me a secretive smile.
"I think I liked how we did it last time better," he murmured, and my cheeks heated instantly. But he wasn't wrong.
Ty reached out to me next, indicating I move closer so he could add his own magic to the necklace. Then Zan did the same.
When all three were finished, I sat back and looked around the room. "Okay, so who's interested in helping me test this all out? I've got the he
aling thing down, but I should probably test out battle magic and mind control... right?"
"I call dibs on working with your battle magic," Ty announced, sticking his hand up in the air. "Mind control is fucking creepy."
I gave Zan a quick look, and his answering smile was all mischief. Somehow, I got the feeling that Ty would be our primary test subject.
* * *
For the next few hours, the princes put me through my paces. For the first time since meeting the three of them, I sort of wished they would treat me like more of a damsel in distress rather than their equal.
"I hurt all over," I moaned, flopping onto my back in the middle of the padded floor we'd been working on. We were still in the sanctuary but had cleared an area and laid down training mats that Ty had borrowed from the guards’ gym.
Lee stood over me, offering his hand to help me up. "So heal yourself," he suggested. "You've got the ability."
Ability, sure. Brainpower to remember I could do that? Not so much.
Ignoring his hand, I lay there a moment longer while tapping into the magic of the amulet, then shivered as Lee's healing magic rolled through my body.
"I think we should call it a day," Zan announced, sitting on the mat near my head and leaning his back against the wall. "If we do much more, you'll be too exhausted to do anything, let alone survive a night in a magical trial chamber, then come out the other side to kick some serious ass at the ball."
"Agreed," I replied, stretching my arms over my head and smiling when Zan caught my fingers in his. I was fully healed, but still exhausted. Somehow I doubted the magical trial chamber contained a big old bed for me to sleep in all night, so I needed to nap solidly for the rest of the afternoon.
"Where are we at on plans for the Golden Ball?" Lee asked his brothers, sitting down cross-legged on the mat beside me when I made no moves to get up. "Is everything in place?"