by Walker, Nina
I jumped out of the desk chair and brushed myself off. Get a hold of yourself, Lucas.
I opened the door and found Sasha peering up at me.
“Prince,” she said, motioning to the guards standing watch at the door, “can we go somewhere private?”
I looked around, confused. Wasn’t the empty library private enough? She moved over to a desk, grabbed a paper and pen, and scribbled: I don’t know who could be listening nearby. Let’s go outside.
I should have seen that coming. Reed always seemed to be lurking nearby these days. I thought back to all I could have possibly said inside these walls that was incriminating. Except for my conversations with Jessa and Sasha, I’d kept everything locked in my head or hidden in my private study. I should be okay.
“Sure, let’s get out of here.”
As soon as we were out of the palace, we walked into a thicket of trees to conceal ourselves. Sasha pulled a nearby blue flower from its roots. The color quickly left it and she maneuvered it into a shield of sorts around us.
“There, now we can talk.”
“How did you learn to do that?” I asked.
“I can’t seem to master listening in on people, but I have been working hard on creating privacy for years. Lucky for us, I think I got it down.”
“And you think people are trying to listen to us?”
“Not entirely. All I know is what my handler told me. Apparently, they got this information off Richard’s slatebook directly. They’ve been looking for more and more blue alchemists. Listening in on conversations? That has to be one of the reason’s why.”
“Who’s your handler, Sasha?”
“You already know that’s not up to me to say.”
I wanted to push the issue more. I had to protect myself. But I knew Sasha was protecting herself, too.
“Okay, but tell them to make contact soon, or I’m done with this.”
She grimaced and nodded. “An assignment is coming for you. Soon. Right now the important thing is that we have your back.”
“I sure hope so.”
Her smile faded. “Lucas, this is nothing. Things are going to get a lot more intense. Richard started another round of testing.”
Another round? In the past he had pulled so much color from the land, that he had killed it. Stripped it down to nothing but gray. But that wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was when his alchemists started turning their powers on people. They pulled color from their bodies or pushed mass amounts on them. Most often, it ended in death. I knew it was happening, but I still wasn’t sure why Richard was doing it. Only a handful of alchemists were involved, so far.
“I have a lot at stake here. If I am caught working with you, I don’t know what my father will do. We both know what he’s capable of. I’ll help you, but please don’t put me at risk unless you’re willing to bring me in on your plans,” I said.
“What have we asked you to do that was so risky?”
As if this entire conversation couldn’t have us both killed. I laughed. “Are you serious? Have you forgotten how we met?”
Recognition lit her eyes and she smirked. It wasn’t all that long ago that we’d met each other in that dark closet.
“Oh, right. Thank you for that. It’s been a world of help to us.”
The person who’d informed me about the Resistance had agreed they would help me stop my father. My only condition was that everything must happen nonviolently, to which they had agreed. So far, I still believed them. I’d heard of nothing that would spark my father’s suspicion or temper. Which was good news for them, considering that he was the kind of leader who ruthlessly squashed opposition.
“We need to tell Jessa what’s really going on.”
“We’re not sure she’s ready.”
“She can be trusted.” Admittedly, I didn’t know if it was the truth, but everything inside me wanted to tell her all my secrets. I was still worried how she would react to the news about red. But if I could tell her who Sasha really was to me, maybe she wouldn’t hate me so much. Maybe she’d join our side.
“She can help us,” I added.
“Are you sure this isn’t about your crush on her?”
“I don’t have feelings for her like that.” The lie fell flat. “Okay, fine. I don’t know what’s going to happen there. But I do know we’re friends. The point is, she’s powerful. It’s time we get her on our side.”
“Everyone knows she’s powerful. The Resistance already knows that. That doesn’t mean she could handle the truth yet.”
“But what about the red? She used red alchemy again, Sasha. No one’s been able to do that before. I can only keep her quiet for so long. What if she gets swayed by Faulk or Reed or someone else?”
“Jessa is not the only one who’s ever accessed red.”
“Well, I figured as much when you told me what red can do. I’m assuming one of your people figured out how to do it. Or is there something else?”
“One of ours used to. But I came to warn you. We think someone is using red on your mother.”
“How can you be sure?”
She bit her lip. “We’re not sure. But it fits, right? With what you told me.”
“You still don’t know who it could be?”
She shook her head.
“So you came to tell me that someone is using mind control on my mother, but you have no idea who. And that my father is starting more rounds of testing that will essentially kill innocent people? Great. Anything else?”
Sasha put her hand on mine. “I know it’s a lot to take in, Lucas. I’m sorry.”
“I feel like I don’t even know him. That I never really did.”
She sighed. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, I never knew my father, either. Not really.”
“How come I don’t remember you?” I had thought about it several times, but I couldn’t seem to place her anywhere in my childhood, or in the alchemists I encountered.
“I was always really shy. But, anyway, I was moved to another facility when I was still a child. This is the first I’ve been back here in a very long time.”
Another facility for training? I frowned. She must have already been a member of the GC, initiated as a child. That was practically unheard of. Most didn’t qualify until their teenage years.
“You’re very strong,” I said, meaning it.
“So are you.”
“I’m sorry you didn’t get to have a childhood.” We started walking back to the palace, the blue sound-shielding magic now dropped.
“Don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault. And anyway, I barely remember my birth family. It’s all in the past now.”
“Like I said, you’ve become strong.” I admired her attitude. But still, I felt sorry for her. There was something underneath her demeanor today, a hidden pain that was just now coming to the surface. It actually made her prettier. More human and less mysterious.
“You want to know what was hard for me?” she asked, stopping. “It was where I was placed as a child. I was sent up north, Lucas. I saw it for myself, what they’re doing out there. I participated.”
I couldn’t understand how my father managed to keep something so big hidden from the people. More alchemy? Just the very fact that it had been kept quiet, that there weren’t massive protests and rebellions, was perplexing. That must have had something to do with red. How else could he control that?
“It was you who used the red, wasn’t it?” It wasn’t an accusation. If she had been up there as a child, there must have been a solid reason.
A single tear rolled down her cheek, a silent answer to my question.
“Lucky for me, that…talent…is gone now. It disappeared when I got older. I think I repressed it somehow. Please, don’t say anything. Trust me, I learned my lesson. I can’t use red anymore, and I need to make sure that nobody else ever does.”
Dinner with my parents was mandatory. It was also incredibly unbearable. Tonight was another one for the books.
What bothered me was that I was expected to be here, to sit and listen and only speak when spoken to. I was eighteen years old, but they still treated me like an insolent child. It was called “being supportive,” or at least that was what my mother had begun to say in recent years. Richard was happy to have me add something to the discussions only when asked.
Tonight, the topic of discussion was about lending more resources to the southern region of New Colony. Spring storms had been exceptionally bad this year and had damaged most of the local crops.
“Whom do we have stationed out there?” he asked. “Anyone good?”
“Sir, the only healing alchemists there aren’t capable of handling that many crops,” Royal Officer Thomas said, scrolling through a slatebook as he looked up the information. “We’ll have to rush someone down there right away.”
“Should we send Jasmine?” I interjected. “She’s the best healer we’ve got. I’ve seen her work during our trainings with Jessa. She’s impeccable. She could heal those crops. I’d be happy to go with her.” I felt excited at the idea of being able to do something useful. I knew it was one of the poorer areas of the kingdom, and they’d need our support.
“That’s not a possibility,” Richard said, taking a large bite of food and slowly chewing. “We need her here.”
Thomas paused. I was sure he was going to agree with me. Maybe he could convince Richard. Thomas had been with us for years, and there was a chance he could get through to my father. Those people needed Jasmine’s help. After a moment, Thomas kept scrolling through a list, rattling off other names as possibilities. No one could do what Jasmine could do. We all knew that.
Am I the only one who will stand up to Richard?
“Why is she needed here?” I asked, but he just ignored me. I already knew the answer. He kept Jasmine around as a precaution. She was our own personal insurance policy. Not only had she healed many people—she’d healed the worst of the worst. She had the capacity to fix injuries that there was no coming back from. He didn’t want her away, just in case he needed her for himself. He could argue that he kept her around for Natasha, but I was convinced that my mother was hardly a priority.
“Hundreds of people will be without jobs in that area. Thousands will be affected by the food shortage. You know that’s not how New Colony operates. We always take care of our people. I’m sure we can spare Jasmine for a few days. She’s the only one with enough talent to be able to fix this quickly.”
“That’s enough,” my father bellowed, putting down his fork and wiping his face with his linen napkin. “Don’t argue with me, Lucas. It isn’t your place.” He got up from the table, kissed my mother on her cheek, and left in a flash. The advisors and royal officers scurried out behind him. The room fell silent.
“Why is he like that?” I asked my mother.
“You and your father are so different, Lucas. Don’t try to understand him, because you never will. Just support him. That’s all we ask.”
I laughed. She expected me to sit back and allow his choices to let an entire geographical region of his country go hungry? No way.
“I should support him even when he’s wrong?”
“You’ll have your turn. He’s been giving you a lot of responsibility lately. Be grateful. Don’t ruin your chance to make him proud.”
“Are you angry at him or me?”
“I’m not angry,” she said, her pale face turning blotchy. She rubbed her temples and closed her eyes. Had someone recently gotten to her mind again?
“The old you would never have stood for this.”
“Please, Lucas. I’m doing the best I can. I’ll talk to him, okay? I’ll see what I can do.”
I nodded, knowing it was all I was going to get. I didn’t know where to go from here. I thought about questioning her headaches, but thought better of it. She never seemed to have an answer. So I changed the subject to one I knew she relished; my love life. “You know I’ve been dating that alchemist Sasha for a few weeks now, right?” I said, plopping a piece of bread into my mouth.
She eyed me warily. “Oh, Lucas, I hope it’s not serious. She’s hardly the stuff of royalty, being an alchemist and all. Though she is lovely.”
There was nothing mean-spirited about the way she said it. In her mind, she was merely stating the facts. I laughed. Apparently, her candor hadn’t gone away. “All right, then. What is the stuff of royalty?”
She flashed me a genuine smile.
“You surprise me, Lucas. I hardly thought we’d be having this conversation already. Eighteen is old enough, I suppose, but far younger than I thought for you. You’ve always been so independent.”
“What do you mean…having what conversation?” I asked, teasing.
“The one where you are already thinking about your future queen.”
I burst out with laughter. “Don’t worry, Mother. I’m not planning on getting married anytime soon. Can’t a guy date around here?”
“Well, you brought up the alchemist girlfriend. Not me.”
“What’s so wrong about alchemists marrying royals?”
“The color guardians are not meant for leadership. They’re unpredictable and dangerous. Not to mention, what they do is unnatural. We can’t give them any more power than they already have.”
“Unnatural?” I asked. I’d always thought the opposite. Had my mother always felt this way? I had never known her to be cold. Something about her tone bothered me. She sounded like a puppet, mimicking the ideas of my father. Or was it someone else?
“Anyone with that much power needs to be controlled, darling. We can’t have them running the country. They’re not royals. They couldn’t be trusted to do both jobs. I’m sure you agree.” She returned to her meal.
I’d been around plenty of alchemists throughout my life. Sure, they could be dangerous. But they weren’t the ones abusing power. How could she not see what I saw? It was Richard, her husband, who needed to be kept in check.
We finished our dinner in the usual silence.
“Excuse me,” I said, getting up from the dinner table. I needed to find Sasha and convince her to get Jessa on our side immediately. And if she wasn’t going to agree, then I would have to do what I thought was best without her support. I strode from the dining room, cool and collected, ignoring the hollow knot in my stomach.
Sasha was in one of the guardian training rooms. A small crowd of young recruits were busy practicing with some plants.
“Hello, Boyfriend,” Sasha said when she saw me, mockingly batting her eyelashes and fanning her face. A gaggle of preteen girls erupted in laughter at her antics.
The whole training room was crowded, but mainly with young kids. Still, I needed to talk to her privately. The palace had been busy all day, and the gardens were especially teeming with people. They were preparing for some political brunch that would be taking place the next morning. I was sure I’d be expected to attend it, whatever it was.
“We need to talk privately.” I pulled her into a hug and whispered in her ear. “The gardens are out of commission right now. Where can we go?”
“You tell me. This is your house, isn’t it?”
That gave me an idea. I’d always made it a point to take my girlfriends to other areas of the palace or even out into the city. But I had never taken someone to our private living quarters.
I knew my father. Despite his ruthless tactics, he was proud to a fault. Very few people were allowed to go into our wing of the palace. He liked his privacy. There was no way he’d allow any spies in his own home. It was the one place that was nearly always empty. Because that was what our area of the palace was: our ho
me.
I took Sasha’s hand, knowing if we were going back there, for all intents and purposes, it had to look like we were up to something more predictable than plotting against my father.
We headed out of the training room, several watchful eyes following us. A few older girls glared at her and turned to whisper to each other. Sasha didn’t care about that. In fact, it was probably better for our cover.
“Where are we going?” Sasha played right along and squeezed my hand. Then she weaved her fingers into mine and giggled, kissing my cheek.
I laughed and raised my voice, “Somewhere we can be alone.”
We continued through the GC areas and out into the main corridor of the palace. It took us ten minutes to walk from that side of the palace to the other. All along the way, people stared at our unabashed public display of affection. I was used to nosy stares. I didn’t let it bother me.
I could admit to having a reputation with women in the past, but my relationships had always been fleeting. I’d never found any one girl to be interesting enough to actually want to be with her for more than a few dates. And anyway, everyone knew that despite being the most eligible bachelor in New Colony, there were very few women who would ever be permitted to seriously date me. I was “Prince Lucas,” and not even I could change that.
I suspected that my parents put up with my antics because they assumed, in the end, that they’d be the one to choose my queen. And even though I didn’t want to be forced to marry for Richard’s political gain, a big part of me was sure that one day, he’d find a way to make it happen.
When we reached the set of large wrought-iron doors, flanked on either side by palace guards, I caught a glance at Sasha. She was pale, and her hands were shaking. For her, this was probably like walking into enemy territory.
“There aren’t listening ears in here,” I whispered.
She straightened up and walked through heavy doors and into my home.