by Nina Walker
“Good show tonight.” The familiar stagehand’s voice carried through the space. Toby.
I’d worked with him just over six months ago, but now those memories felt like they’d been years ago. Another Jessa. Another life.
“Another great performance,” he called again, down a set of stairs. That meant the dressing rooms were down below—a common set up. I slipped further into the shadows, pressing myself against the wall and praying with every fiber of my being that Toby wasn’t about to find me. He was the ballet’s light guy, a ruddy character with a thick mustache and a round belly. I liked him; he always had a smile on this face. But that didn’t mean I could trust him now. Heavy footsteps clopped across the stage and his familiar round outline protruded into my sightline, followed by the rest of him. He ran a finger and thumb down his peppery mustache as he hummed to himself.
Same old Toby.
Madame Silver had said others in the ballet company’s management agreed to help me and Dad, but I didn’t know if that included Toby. Nor did I know if things had changed since Lucas’s reported death. No, it was Madame Silver who I needed to find first. I couldn’t expose my presence to anyone but her. Everyone else was too much of a risk.
Toby strode across the stage again, a satisfied grin flashing from under his bushy mustache. The urge to run and enfold him in a hug overcame me. Instead, I held my breath and clenched my hands into fists. The velvety maroon curtain was down, its bottom barely brushing the floor, and most of the area back here was shadowed in inky darkness. I hoped it would stay that way. But Toby walked up to a light on the far side of stage right and started flipping a row of switches.
No! I stumbled along the wall, darting for the closest hiding place. The plywood scenery piece was my only shot. It hid me, but only barely. It wasn’t very large, the shape of a shrub, and there was nowhere for me to go from here. I crouched and watched Toby carry a ladder to center stage and begin setting it up. Either he was adjusting some lights for tomorrow’s performance, or he was collecting a few things before the company moved on to their next location. I wished it was the second option—that meant I could hitch a ride back north. Maybe.
I’d be one step closer to finding out if Lucas was really dead.
Grief threatened to overtake me. It would claw at my every thought if I let it, so I pushed it aside for the matter that was right in front of me, for what I could try to control. Where was Madame Silver? I had to find her. It was possible she’d already left, but knowing her, that wasn’t likely. Always the professional, she liked to see to it that all the dancers were out of the building before leaving herself. Were things different on tour? Perhaps this wasn’t like dancing back in the Capital. I didn’t know, and I hated that. I rolled my eyes and bit my lip, coming to grips with my desperate reality. Just as I was debating the best way to go about finding her, realization hit me. How had I been so stupid as to overlook it before? The solution was obvious.
It lay in the purple and gray stone warming my neck.
Madame Silver, I called out through our telepathic connection. Can you hear me?
I slunk even further behind the scenery piece and waited, grateful I had this magic tying me to her. It’s me, Jessa. I’m here and I need your help.
Still nothing.
My head dropped into my cold palms. Overwhelming fear poured down my entire body, sinking me deeper into the floor. What if I was stuck here in Marthasville? What if coming back for Lucas had been a terrible mistake? Maybe I should have gone with my sister. I could be reunited with my family right now. But then, wasn’t Lucas my family, too?
Jessa? Is that you? Our connection flared to life, like a lighted match dropping into a stream of gasoline. I gasped and slapped a hand over my mouth as the relief roared through me.
Yes, I’m here in the theatre. I’m backstage. My words would be flowing through her mind just as hers were in mine.
What are you doing here? We’ve been worried sick about you. Your father is gone now; I hope he’s safe. We thought you’d be with him after your disappearance. Her words rushed at me, the flood of worry overflowing in her tone. At least you’re alive, she added.
I smiled wider, once again filled with awe at this magic. Lucas’s white invisibility would’ve been really handy at a time like this, but purple’s telepathy was just as good. I rubbed the necklace around my neck, grateful for all it provided. But also, a little worried about where I’d find more purple once this stone was used up. It was almost gone as it was. There wasn’t time to be concerned, I’d deal with it as soon as I had the chance.
Where can I meet you? I begged. I need your help.
Use the stage right stairs and head down to the lower level. I’ll be in the first room on your left. Be quick. I don’t know how long this hall will be clear.
Toby is up here right now.
She paused, as if talking to someone else for a moment. Unease rolled in my belly, but I reasoned that Madame Silver had always done right by me. She had saved my father’s life, after all. And I hated that she was all I had. I was asking for her help, help that put her and many others in danger.
Madame Silver?
I just sent someone up to fetch him. The moment they head down the stage right stairs, you need to bolt for the left stairs and beat them down here, then hide in the room on your first left. I’ll meet you there.
My whole body tensed. If I ran into anybody here, red alchemy would be my only saving grace. I didn’t want to risk that. I couldn’t risk that. Not on these people. They’d once been my second family.
“Hey Bossman, we need another pair of hands downstairs for a bit. Can you take a break from this?” A young man ambled up the stairs, dressed head to toe in black. I flashbacked to the Guardian uniform and shuddered. But no, this was just typical stagehand dress, nothing about this was formal, nothing about it spoke to the authority that had ruled my life these last months.
The kid had shiny blond hair and a youthful sureness to his stride. He must have been assigned to an apprenticeship under Toby. I didn’t recognize him; he must’ve been new. Possibly as new as this tour.
“All right, Kenny,” Toby replied. “But help me out here first, will ya? I’ve almost got this unscrewed. I’ll pass it down.”
Toby carefully lifted a large stage light from where he balanced near the top of the ladder, moving it into Kenny’s upstretched arms. My heart raced when Toby leaned a tad too far for my comfort, but Kenny secured the light in his hands and strode back. Toby righted himself with the ease of a master.
“There you go,” Toby said cheerfully, stepping down the rungs of the ladder.
I moved into a runners pose, calling on the yellow to flow through me. The second these two were out of view, I’d make a run for it. With the magic, I had no doubt I’d beat them downstairs.
“Whoa,” Toby’s voice ground out just as Kenny snapped, “Careful!”
But it was too late.
Toby slipped. It was his job not to slip, not to have an accident. And yet…
He crashed to the ground, the ladder rocking and toppling in the other direction with an ear-splitting shatter.
“No!” Kenny yelled. Another, smaller crash echoed through the area. The light was in pieces on the floor, an arc of glass around it, and Kenny was already on his knees in front of Toby.
I stared, horrified. Toby’s body was bent at an awkward angle. An unnatural spread of limbs. He screamed out in pain, the sound so wild and guttural, that I jumped up.
I ran, all thoughts fading away. I slid next to Kenny, falling to my knees and running my eyes up and down Toby. I reached out, green magic flowing from my fingers in strings of effervescent light. The one measly stone on my necklace might not be enough for an accident this bad. I suspected his back was broken.
“Hurry,” I said to the kid. “Can you find me a plant?”
“Don’t touch him,” he challenged, eyes drawn in confusion. “I need to get a medic. His back could be broken.”
“I said get
me a plant! I don’t think I have enough with just a stone.”
I widened my eyes at him, and his eyebrows drew in. Confusion and then recognition and then something like horrified-awe spread over his face. He nodded and sprinted off.
Toby’s eyes were squeezed shut in two deep lines sunken into his reddened face as he howled in pain. I pushed the magic into him, feeling it work through his broken pieces. It would find the source and begin healing immediately, but I needed to act fast to mend bones properly. At least he hadn’t snapped his neck because then he’d be dead right now. There were some things even magic couldn’t bring people back from.
“Jessa!” Madame Silver ran onto the stage, her dark hair streaming behind her, her eyes round and frantic. “What are you doing?”
Her face drained of color as she took in the gruesome scene. Then she too fell to her knees beside me, her black skirt tucking against her thighs. “Is it working?” she asked, voice turning eerily calm. “How much longer? We have to get you out of here before anyone else sees you.”
“Too late. Kenny already did. He went to find me a plant. I need more green.”
Toby was whimpering now; I felt terrible that I hadn’t been able to completely numb his pain. I whipped my head from side to side, I searched, needing to get my hands on some more green. Where was that kid?
As if on cue, Kenny stumbled back onto the stage, footsteps hollow in the vastness of the theatre. “This was all I could find,” he said, dropping a bouquet of fresh-cut yellow roses into my lap. I eyed the stems and leaves, and inhaled the scent of performances gone-by.
“Thank you.” I pressed one hand into them, avoiding the thorns as much as possible, and held the other hand against Toby’s arm. His flesh was warm and sweaty under my palm. At least he wasn’t cold. “This should be enough.”
I concentrated and sent the green magic flowing into Toby. After a long minute, his eyes fluttered open. His body relaxed. He shifted his head to one side, moved a hand to rub his head, and then slowly, he sat up. Bewilderment filled his entire expression as he blinked at me. I threw a worried glance at Madame Silver. “Jessa,” he breathed. “I thought that was you. What are you doing here?”
Before I could answer, he added, “You saved my life.”
“Your guy Kenny found the green,” I supplied lamely, my cheeks heating. Kenny sat across from us now, equally shocked by everything he’d just witnessed. He stared at me like he either wanted to get my autograph, or run away. Either way, it was not a good sign. My heart sank.
“Please don’t speak of this,” I begged of the men, looking from Toby to Kenny. My voice trembled. “Please don’t turn me in.”
“We’d never.” Toby smiled, eyebrows drawn in concern. He took my hand and patted it reassuringly, like a father would to his daughter. He helped me up and my heart rose with it, hope, foolish hope, filling me.
I stood wearily, shaking out my legs and getting ready to make a run for it, despite the pulse of a headache forming between my eyes. Maybe this had been a huge mistake. But as I turned around, fear slammed me, rooting me to the spot.
Streaming from the staircase was a crowd of familiar faces. The entire crew of dancers and staff must have had heard the commotion upstairs, and now, they were all gaping in my direction. Equal parts fascination and fear lined their features as they stared at me, the girl they all knew, the one who had been lost to magic. The one who was a wanted woman, a bounty on her head. My eyes burned. Dread washed through me. I stumbled backward.
Were they more shocked at seeing color alchemy in action? Or was it my presence that alarmed them? I was the runaway queen. And yet here I was, randomly showing up on their stage, once again disrupting their lives.
“Please,” I croaked, my voice not sounding like my own. “Please don’t turn me in.” I stepped back, panic building.
But then, one by one, they did the strangest thing. The thing that I would have never expected: they lowered their heads and bowed.
“Your Royal Highness,” someone called from the back, “you’re alive!”
My heart exploded in a flurry of shock. Yes, I was very much alive. But with this many people privy to my whereabouts, there was a real possibility that I’d be dead by morning.
The train rumbled beneath me, a steady vibration that should have rocked me to sleep. But sleep wouldn’t come. Not for me, not at a time like this. My guard was up, and I wasn’t planning on taking it down. I couldn’t.
I rested on the hard bed of the sleeper train, my back pressed against the cool wall, going over everything again and again. After explaining myself, the entire company had sworn to protect me. That was the part I hadn’t seen coming. And still, I questioned if I was safe. I knew I wasn’t, but I was also out of options.
When the crew had finished cleaning up and we’d loaded the train, I’d taken the offer to stow along. I desperately needed to get north, needed to find out the truth about Lucas. The train was the only way I knew how to make that happen. My connections with the Resistance were lost since being dropped off at Taysom’s farm.
I could do this. I could make this work.
A light tapping pulled me from the bed. I stood and brushed past the paneled wall, opening the pocket door. Madame Silver waited on the other side, her downcast gaze sending a fresh panic through me.
“We need to talk,” she said.
I ushered her inside and closed us into the tight space. “I’m not safe, am I?”
“I don’t know.” Her makeup now washed clean and hair brushed loosely around her shoulders, she looked older and younger at the same time. She sat down on the bed and patted the spot next to her for me to join. “Probably not for long. You can trust these people, but there’s just so many of them, and that’s what worries me.”
“Me too,” I agreed. “A few could have been locked down, but that was what, like forty people? Fifty? It’s dangerous and not just for me. I keep thinking that every minute I stay with the company is another minute I put everyone at risk, including you. Especially you, given our history.” My voice cracked on the last part as guilt swelled.
She sighed. “We’ve agreed to help you. That’s already done. What you do next is up to you.”
But what could I do?
“I’ve come to show you something,” she said, slipping her slatebook from her silky pajama bottom pocket. “There was another broadcast earlier tonight. I think you need to see it”
I stilled, something deep within me knowing that the broadcast was about me. I took a deep breath and forced the tears burning in my eyes away. She fiddled with the device and then passed it to me gently. The screen lit up, basking the room in a blue glow, and King Richard filled the screen.
I recoiled, struck by his appearance. He was more worn down than ever, with dark circles under his eyes and a grim line to his lips. Even his hair looked to have grayed another shade since I last saw him a few weeks ago. None of that stopped me from hating him.
“Dear citizens, as you already know, my son has been murdered.” His voice was as strong as ever as it boomed out of the slatebook speaker. “We believe a West American assassin is responsible. We’ve gone over everything from that night, and the startling truth is, one of the most trusted members of the palace was the assailant. We have him detained and a public execution is scheduled for tomorrow.”
Richard hadn’t named me as Lucas’s killer? The stark realization allowed me to release the breath I’d been holding tight in my gut. The camera flashed from Richard to a man’s photo. I squinted in disbelief.
“That’s not Lucas’s killer,” I gasped. “That man has been in prison for weeks.”
It was the same man I’d interrogated with Lucas, the one whose wife had been related to the gunman from Queen Natasha’s funeral. I highly doubted he was a West American assassin, not when I’d used magic to question him. He was just someone caught in the crosshairs, someone who’d known too much.
“They’re using him as a scapegoat.” The truth hit me
hard, like whiplash, throwing off everything else Richard had told the press. My eyes widened. Hope burst into flame within me. Did this mean Lucas wasn’t dead? Or did it confirm the opposite? It was confusing, but I was leaning toward the former. Madame Silver sat still as a statue next to me and didn’t offer a word.
“Because of the horrible murders that occurred during my wife’s funeral,” Richard continued. “I have decided Lucas will be buried in private. Thank you for understanding. I am burdened with more grief and anger than ever. I will stop at nothing to defeat our enemy and avenge not only my wife and my son, but also my daughter-in-law.”
“What?” I sputtered. “Avenge me?”
“Just watch.” Madame Silver squeezed my shoulder before resting her arm around me.
“We believe that our newest princess was kidnapped from her wedding bed. It happened the very night her husband was murdered, possibly before her eyes. Now that we’ve had more details come to light and a chance to interrogate Lucas’s killer, we know the assassin wasn’t acting alone. Princess Jessa Heart has been kidnapped. It is very possible she is still in New Colony. Please, if you find her, or know of any information leading to her discovery, call this number immediately and report it to the proper authorities.”
A number flashed across the screen as dread prickled up and down my entire body. This wasn’t good news for me.
“It is my belief the princess is being held against her will and is in grave danger. Help me in returning her to her rightful place, if not for me, do it for the prince you loved dearly. My son never would have wanted his beloved wife to be in such danger. Please, bring our princess home. A reward will be offered to anyone who can help us in this most important endeavor.”
My image filled the screen along with a startlingly high reward price that flashed across the top. In the photo, I was standing next to Lucas at our wedding reception, smiling from ear-to-ear, happiness radiating from my eyes.
Madame Silver gently pried the slatebook from my shaking hands, but my eyes followed the image of Lucas’s handsome face until she shut it off.