Kingdom of Sea and Stone

by Mara Rutherford

  A battle unlike anything I’d ever seen raged below me. Massive cannons fired at the mountain itself, and I gripped the railing to keep from falling again.

  Ceren’s soldiers were lined up on the field, easily identified by their black armor, but they didn’t move. Feebly, I tried reaching out through the web to find their minds, but there were too many of them. I turned around suddenly, realizing that I had no idea where Ceren had gone.

  Talia’s army was advancing toward New Castle, the cavalry riding out first. I couldn’t spot Talin from this distance, but knowing him, he was out in front of his troops. What must he be thinking, knowing that I was inside? Was he planning some foolish rescue, or had he decided his mother’s cause was more important than one life?

  My eyes darted to the stone steps leading down the mountain. I could leave right now and rescue Father later. At least then Ceren wouldn’t be able to use me to get to Talin, assuming he was still willing to risk everything for me.

  But it was more important that I stopped Ceren from reaching his troops. There were thousands of them, far more than Talia had, lined up like statues before New Castle, and I suspected Ceren had more elsewhere. Talia might manage to win this war, but not without losing hundreds of lives in the process.

  And if Ceren wasn’t leaving New Castle through the main doors, that meant he had found another way out.

  I turned and ran back inside, calling out to the nearest guard. “Where did the king go?”

  He raised an arm and pointed, deeper into the castle.

  Cursing my stupid gown and slippers, I broke into a run, following the outstretched arms of guards as I passed, all pointing in the same direction. It was a strange feeling to have complete control over them, coming so easily it would have disturbed me had I stopped long enough to think about it. A part of me could understand why Ceren enjoyed this so much; he was that broken child again, surrounded by toys. Only now, no one could refuse to play with him.

  It wasn’t until I was lower in the castle that the guards began to seem more alert. Ceren must be attempting to control them as he passed. At least that meant I was getting closer.

  “No one goes down to the mine,” one man said, stepping in front of me.

  The bloodstone on his neck was pulsating in time to my heartbeat.

  Let me pass.

  Wordlessly, he stepped aside.

  Exhilaration coursed through me. A man who could have taken me down with one blow had moved out of my way without argument. I hurried past him and down the dark, dank corridors. I could smell the underground lake before I neared it. The lunar moss torches were glowing fairly brightly, but as I approached the entrance of the cave, I could feel my breaths starting to come more rapidly. My body would always remember everything that had happened here: the first time Ceren had nearly caught me spying and had brutally killed the salamander; the fight with the giant monster, Salandrin, that had nearly cost me my life; and my desperate escape after Ceren impaled himself on my knife. I closed my eyes and tried to slow my heart rate.

  As I entered the cavern, I saw someone emerge from the water on the other side in the glow of the torches. Ceren was taking the route I had used to escape, which led to an exit on the side of Mount Ayris.

  I stopped, unsure what to do. I had promised not to leave this mountain without Father. If something happened to me out there, would anyone be able to get back into New Castle to rescue him? Would they forget he was there, suffering? But the farther Ceren got, the greater the likelihood of him attacking, and the smaller the chance of my plan working.

  With a silent prayer that Father would understand, I shed the red gown like a creature emerging from a shell that no longer fit. I took a deep breath and dove into the lake. This time, I was the one in pursuit of Ceren. I saw him turn as I rose for my first breath, and I was glad he knew I was coming. Let him experience being the prey for a change.

  By the time I reached the small opening leading outside, my shift was partially dried. I stumbled into the sunlight just in time to see Ceren mounting his black horse. As I had suspected, there were thousands more troops waiting, though these weren’t wearing the black armor of his trained soldiers. They were villagers, I realized, like Jerem had been before he was conscripted. They carried everything from rakes to shovels to scythes, and every one of them wore a bloodstone at their throat.

  “Please work,” I whispered as I removed one of the golden pins from my hair. It was in the shape of a swallow. I knew Ceren well enough to know that he had given me bird-shaped hairpins for a reason. He had called me a little bird in the dungeon, when he caught me in his arms and told me I was trapped.

  I understood why Talin’s arms had felt like a cage these past weeks, why the idea of being constrained by a person, a place, or even a corset, was so intolerable. They were all a reminder of the powerlessness I’d felt as Ceren’s prisoner. But I wasn’t powerless anymore. I tore a piece of cloth from my hem and stepped onto the field.

  I might not have the kind of control Ceren had with the bloodstones, but I could still feel the link between the two of us as strong as ever. I screamed his name through the bond.

  He turned to face me, and the confusion I saw there made it clear he had not figured out what I had. He may have created a blood bond between us, but he didn’t know how to break it. Why would he have concerned himself with that, when this bond was what had given him everything he ever wanted?

  I dragged the sharp edge of the swallow’s wing across my forearm, deep enough to draw blood, and quickly tied the strip of cloth around the broken skin.

  If my guess was correct, I didn’t need Adriel for this. I didn’t need anyone.

  If I really had Ceren’s blood in my veins, then maybe, just maybe, I had enough magic to cast a spell.

  I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to remember the words Adriel had read to me—it had only been once, and I had never considered repeating them myself—but I felt something rise up from deep inside, and the words fell from my lips as easily as a lullaby.

  “‘Two hearts beating now as one; the bond must break to come undone.’” I untied the bandage from my arm and gripped it between my fists. “‘Free them from the spell they’re under; what was made now tear asunder.’”

  I ripped the blood-soaked fabric down the center as I spoke.

  Nothing happened, and for one heart-stopping moment, I doubted everything. Who had I thought I was, to cast a spell? I wasn’t a witch like Adriel or a healer like Elder Nemea. I had never been chosen, the way Zadie was. I was just a girl with a scar from a tiny village in the middle of the sea.

  In that moment, I realized that Adriel was right. I hadn’t just been judging myself by Ilarean standards of beauty; I had been judging myself by the opinions of people who didn’t even know me, let alone care about me. I always tried to see the best in the people who had wronged me, but I never saw the best in myself.

  I had learned to look in the mirror and accept myself, scars and all, but I hadn’t done that for the scars I bore on the inside.

  Bonds of blood will not be broken, ’less the blood spell...

  What had Adriel said the rest of the line was? My hold on the bloodstone began to slip as I tried to remember the rest of the words. Ceren began to move toward me on his massive stallion. What was the rest of the line?

  Twice is spoken. It was as if Adriel had whispered the words into my ear herself. I repeated the spell, knowing if it didn’t work, it would be too late. Ceren was nearly upon me.

  Pain radiated through my skull, as if a piece of me really was being ripped apart, and I fell to my knees, a wave of loss unexpectedly rushing over me.

  I watched as the veins in Ceren’s neck bulged, his face contorting in a combination of agony and rage, followed by what looked strangely like relief. A howl eerily similar to the one he made when I stabbed him erupted out of him.

  By some m
iracle, the spell had worked. It was a lucky guess. Adriel said I needed Ceren’s blood in my veins for a bond to form, and though I hadn’t believed her then, something about Ceren saying he would give me the blood from his veins had sparked a memory.

  The liver stew he’d given me in the dungeon. It had revolted me at the time, but I’d forced myself to eat it to regain the strength lost in the bleedings. The metallic taste had been overwhelming; Ceren could easily have mixed his own blood into the stew without me realizing.

  The feeling of loss was subsiding now. I hadn’t realized how much the blood bond had taken from me, but I felt stronger and more alive than I had in months. I watched, breathless, as one by one the people on the field awakened. Some screamed, some collapsed, and others stared at the weapons in their hands in confusion.

  Ceren was riding among them, barking commands, but no one obeyed him. Instead, many turned to look at him, and there were hints of recognition on their faces, of memories coming back from the last moment of clarity before they put on the bloodstones. First one man raised a pitchfork over his head and sprinted toward Ceren, then another, holding aloft a scythe.

  Suddenly realizing that he was surrounded by thousands of armed men he had forced into submission, Ceren fled.

  I couldn’t imagine he would get very far, with his body weakened by the broken bond and both Talia’s army and his own after him. My priority had to be making it clear to everyone that the fighting could cease. I would send someone to free Father and the other prisoners soon after.

  Still clad in my slippers and shift, I found a horse wandering riderless among the turmoil and climbed into the saddle.

  The battlefield was chaos, with a vast majority of the people present not entirely sure what they were doing there. The last thing they remembered was Ceren putting a bloodstone necklace on them, and now they were awakening to find themselves in combat. Fortunately, the confusion allowed me to make it to Talia’s side of the battlefield.

  It wasn’t hard to spot Talin. Xander was massive, and there was a wide swath of clear ground around him. I was relieved to see he had stopped fighting, but there were men and women still going after Ceren’s guards, who had continued to fight even without their master’s command.

  When Talin spotted me, he screamed my name, and I dug my heels into the horse’s sides. We flew toward each other, both dismounting simultaneously. This time, when he pulled me into his arms and held me, as if he never wanted to let go, it didn’t cause my chest to tighten with dread.

  “Thank the gods you’re all right,” he breathed against my hair. His face was streaked with dirt and blood, but all I could see were his ocean eyes, searching mine.

  “I broke the blood bond. Ceren fled. We need to tell your mother right away.”

  He nodded and kissed the top of my head. “Of course. Let’s get you back to your family.”

  “My father,” I said. “He’s still in the dungeon. Someone needs to free him.”

  “I’ll see to it as soon as we’re back at Old Castle.”

  “No, it can’t wait that long.”

  “Nor.” He smoothed my hair from my face. “You’re trembling, love. You’re in shock. Your father will be all right for a little while longer. Right now, we need to take care of you.”

  I was too exhausted to argue. I let him lift me onto Xander, and when he climbed up behind me, I slumped against him, struggling to remain conscious. I was asleep before we left the battlefield.

  * * *

  I woke in the room I shared with Adriel.

  “Nor.” Zadie rose from a chair and hurried over to me. “Thank Thalos you’re okay.”

  “Zadie.” We hugged each other tightly. There were a few candles lighting the room, but it was dark outside. “What’s happening? Where’s Talin?”

  “He found his mother. She brought her troops back to Old Castle for the night. Tomorrow we’ll assess the damage.”

  Memories of the battlefield rushed in. “Has anyone seen Ceren?”

  “There are people searching for him, but so far, he hasn’t turned up.”

  I shouldn’t have been concerned. Ceren was weak and alone, vulnerable outside the shell of the mountain. But the thought of him creeping about like a pale spider made me nervous.

  I glanced down and realized I’d been changed into a clean shift. “How are Mother and Father? Can I see them?”

  Zadie nodded, gently urging me to lie back against the pillows. “Everyone is fine. You’ll see them in the morning, after you’ve had some rest.”

  There was a light knock on the door, and a moment later, Adriel entered.

  “You’re a sight for sore eyes,” she said as she came to give me a hug. “I heard you broke the blood bond all on your own.”

  I smiled sheepishly. “You don’t sound particularly surprised.”

  She shrugged and sat down on the opposite side of the mattress from Zadie. “I always knew you had an affinity for magic. You just needed to realize it for yourself.”

  I told Zadie and Adriel everything that had happened in New Castle, ending by showing them the bloodstone pendant still around my neck. It felt like nothing more than a cold piece of metal and stone.

  “Will it still work?” Zadie asked.

  “The stone? I don’t think so,” I said, though I made no attempt to test it out. “I think whatever power made Ceren and me capable of wielding the stones was lost when the bond broke. Something about our combined blood must have made them work.”

  “The combination of royal blood and witch blood, if I had to guess,” Adriel said.

  My eyes widened involuntarily. “Witch blood?”

  “Call yourself a healer if that makes you feel better.” She stared at me with those unnerving eyes. “Either way, you’re one of us now.”

  “Really?”

  She nodded. “You have a great deal of potential, Nor, but you have a lot of studying to do as well.”

  Zadie squeezed my hand, sensing I was becoming overwhelmed. “You should get some more sleep. I imagine tomorrow will be a big day for everyone.”

  I nodded and nestled deeper into my pillow. I hoped I would feel relieved, but Ceren’s scream still echoed in my ears when I closed my eyes and fell into a deep, blessedly dreamless sleep.

  31

  I woke to a scream so primal and desperate I bolted upright in bed, my heart pounding, convinced I was back in New Castle—or perhaps I’d never left. But then Adriel sat up in her bed, immediately lighting the candle on her nightstand.

  “What was that?” she asked, getting out of bed and padding barefoot to the hall.

  I shook my head and joined her. As we peered into the hallway, we heard people shouting in the distance and heavy footsteps pounding down the corridor. We ducked back as a soldier ran past our room. Fear crept over my body like frost, making my exposed skin prickle. Ceren shouldn’t be on my mind anymore. The bond was broken, and he was gone. But as I dressed in a tunic and breeches, the looming dread that chased me into sleep returned.

  “Where are you going?” Adriel asked as I entered the hall and headed toward Talia’s chambers.

  “To see what happened.”

  She sighed, reaching for me. “Can’t you stop being a heroine for five minutes? Whatever it is, someone else can take care of it.”

  But I evaded her grasp and darted into the hall, my pace quickening as my worry grew. There was a commotion coming from Talia’s chambers, and no one stopped me from entering. I found Talia weeping in her son’s arms, inconsolable. Seeing the warrior queen crying and desperate made me feel sorry for Talia, something I hadn’t thought possible.

  “What happened?” I asked Talin as he passed his mother to the waiting arms of the nursemaid.

  “My sister is missing,” he said quietly. “We’ve searched the entire castle grounds, but Mother is certain Zoi wouldn’t have left on
her own.”

  “She’s a curious little girl. It’s possible she decided to go exploring,” I said, but even I wasn’t convinced by my words.

  Talin shook his head and lowered his voice. “The guards would have seen her if she’d gone anywhere.”

  “Assuming they’re loyal.” I hadn’t meant to say the words out loud, but Talin’s eyes flew to mine.

  He pulled me aside so his mother couldn’t hear us, though I doubted she was aware of anything beyond her own wailing. “Why would you say something like that?”

  “I’m sorry. It’s just that your mother conscripted people who had no interest in fighting a war, Talin. She tore people away from their families, and some of them probably lost loved ones in the battle yesterday.” I softened my tone, not wanting to hurt him. “Besides, anyone can be bought if the price is right.”

  His brow furrowed, first in doubt, then concern.

  “You have to admit it’s possible,” I pressed.

  After a moment, he turned to Osius, who had just entered the room. “Did you find anything?”

  Osius shook his head.

  Talin nodded, setting his jaw. “Round up everyone on duty tonight. I want each of them searched and questioned.”

  “Of course.” Osius nodded and left immediately.

  Talia looked up from the nursemaid’s shoulder to address Talin. “You don’t really think one of my men had something to do with this.”

  I didn’t want to be the one to mention his name, but someone had to. “Ceren is still on the loose. If he was able to bribe one of the guards, someone could have taken Zoi to him.”

  “Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Talin said, but Talia was already drying her tears with a handkerchief and ushering everyone out of the room.

  “Perhaps Nor is wrong, but the longer we wait, the farther away Zoi might be.” She ordered a maid to fetch her clothing, and I headed to my own room to prepare for a search. By the time I was dressed in my riding clothes, the sun was beginning to rise, and Osius had called Talin, Talia, and me to join him.