“My lord, people have arrived. They have come from the sea. It’s Prince Fern. He wishes to see you.”
“Of course,” said Accolon, flying past the small man and nearly knocking him over. The five left in the room looked at each other. Vezzet was so pale Anna thought he might pass out. Tomasso, his brow creased in thought, was looking at his hands where they lay in his lap. He looked up suddenly right into Anna’s eyes, and she blushed, glad he could not know what she’d been thinking. She didn’t know what she saw in his eyes—something fierce, and it scared her a little. She looked at Vezzet, and despite his pale colouring, he gave her a reassuring smile, and it made her feel better.
“What the hell is going on?” she hissed to Luca under her breath.
He shook his head and spread his hands.
“But are they serious?” she pressed. “Are they actually saying that gods and angels are real? And that humans are capable of attacking them?”
He shrugged.
“But does this mean that these gods just rule Paragor, or do they rule Earth too?” Anna asked. “What’s everyone going to say when we get home and tell them the truth! They’ll be furious! Do you think they’ll believe us?”
Luca reached out and put his hands on Anna’s shoulders. “An, calm down. I don’t know. We’ll just have to wait and find out. Try not to let it worry you. Let’s go see who this Prince Fern is.”
Anna nodded mutely and followed the others out of the room.
As Luca entered the entrance hall ahead of Elixia and Anna, he stopped dead, a gasp escaping his lips. There stood Jane, and Luca rushed to reach her first, taking her in a huge embrace and kissing her on the lips. She gave a shocked, breathless laugh, clutching at him tightly. After a moment he stepped back that the others might greet her too.
A very, very tall, handsome man stood protectively behind Jane and stared at Luca with hard eyes. Luca wondered, bristling, who he was.
Another man and woman stood with them. The man had dark skin, was very large, and looked surly under his tattooed face. The woman was lean and muscled, and almost like a cat in the way she moved.
Then they stepped aside and Luca saw that another person stood behind them all.
Looking at the girl, Luca felt his heart clench. She was real. And even prettier than she had been in the water of the basin.
He waited for somebody to introduce them.
“This is Ria del Torr.” He looked into her eyes, and having her acknowledge him for the first time, he felt a little out of breath.
“Are you well?” she inquired worriedly.
He realised that he had been staring dumbly. Lowering his eyes he murmured an apology, wondering where his ever-present composure had gone. But he saw that she was smiling.
He was then introduced to the other two people. The woman’s name was Fey, and she was the Queen of the Amazonians. The man was Saish, Ria’s servant.
Accolon clasped hands with the man who had been standing behind Jane.
“Prince Accolon,” the man said warmly, a brilliant smile on his face. “It’s good to see you again. It’s been too long.”
Accolon nodded his head and said, “Prince Fern.” Too long indeed. Your presence here is certainly very welcome, and happens to come at a very timely moment.
So this was Prince Fern of Cynis Witron. Of course it was. Who else could it possibly have been? Even Luca, newly arrived, an entire country away, had heard about this man. This beloved man, the noblest warrior prince in the world. Even the people of other countries loved him, admired him, sought his approval, but never thought to come as close as that. He was a figurehead. A symbol. And here now, in front of Luca, behind Jane, and that meant so much. Everything was happening so quickly. It was hard to take it in, to make sense of what was plain and clear in front of him.
There it was—the way the prince was touching Jane’s elbow, as if in protection. Intimate, and personal.
Luca couldn’t help the surge of jealousy that seethed through him. Without thinking about it, he reached forward and took hold of Jane’s hand, drawing her a little closer to him. Jane smiled and squeezed back, but Fern just looked at him, at the two of them.
Though the prince must have only been a couple of years older than the Strangers, he was well muscled, and graceful beyond measure. His grey eyes stared at Luca with more than a little wariness, and Luca didn’t have to be too clever to guess why. There was a long straight sword at Fern’s waist. It was carved, but Luca was not close enough to make out the patterns. He was clad very lightly due to the hot weather. There was a silver band around his upper arm, and Luca wondered bitterly how it was not broken by the size of his muscles.
The two princes stood opposite one another and the rest of them could see that they were very different. One tall and graceful as a dancer, with laughter in his eyes. The other short and stocky, and no mirth in him at all. And yet there was something similar about them both. They were of an age, Luca realised, and perhaps it was their youth that made them seem similar.
Looking from one to the other, Luca felt a sense of insignificance. He looked at Jane, and for the first time in his life, did not feel close to his best friend.
Was that the power that Paragor had over them? To change everything that they had known and make them feel lost?
***
Jane felt happier than she had in a long time. She had finally found her friends.
“Oh, An! I’ve missed you so much!” she laughed, hugging the girl tightly. Luca still hadn’t let go of her hand.
“I know!” Anna squealed. “We thought we were never going to find you! Have you seen the others? Jack and Mia?”
“No. I’ll explain about that later. Where’s Harry?”
“He’s not far away—I think Accolon said he’d be able to come back into the city once he’s been crowned.”
Jane felt a surge of disappointment. “I was really looking forward to seeing him. But how have you both been?”
Luca and Anna exchanged a look. “Really good,” Anna said quickly. “We woke in a room in this palace, and we haven’t gone far since! How amazing is all of this!”
“Too amazing,” Jane agreed with a shake of her head. “I’m so glad I found you—if I had to spend one more moment alone, I would have gone crazy!” She threw a sideways glance at where Fern was still standing with Prince Accolon. He looked at her in the same moment and flashed her a grin.
“Where have you been?” Luca asked, giving her hand a squeeze.
“I woke up on a cliff face!” Jane laughed. “I was about to fall off! Then we had to get to the bottom of this huge mountain, and we came across this horrible battle, and then we went to the Elvish ice castle—”
“Who is ‘we’?” Luca asked, interrupting her tirade.
“Oh,” Jane smiled, a little flushed. “Fern and I.”
“The prince?” Anna gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. “You’ve been hanging out with the most famous,” here she paused to look at him, “gorgeous man in the world?”
Jane frowned. “I didn’t know he was a prince when I met him. He just happened to be on the cliff, and offered to help me.”
“Oh, Jane, you are so lucky,” Anna sighed.
“It’s not like that,” Jane said quickly. “He’s a bit of an idiot, actually. And engaged.”
Prince Accolon walked over and introduced himself to Jane. Luca reluctantly let go of her hand so that Accolon could shake it.
“Welcome to Amalia,” he said. His face seemed fixed in a permanent frown. He led them into a large room where they could sit down and talk. It seemed they had arrived just in time for a wedding and a coronation.
“Don’t tell me you’re going to rank higher than me!” Fern said, giving his younger sister a hug. She laughed. Elixia had the most enormous green eyes and Jane couldn’t help but stare at her youthful face.
“It’s nice to see you again, Jane,” the girl said to her. “I hope my brother has been taking care of you?”
“Jane doesn’t need looking after,” Fern muttered. “She’s a terror.”
“Are you honestly going to be the High Queen after tonight?” Jane asked Elixia.
The younger girl shrugged. “It seems so.”
“But ... you are so young!”
Elixia smiled. “We are all servants of duty. It cares not for our lost youth.”
“There is a matter,” Accolon said loudly, breaking into their conversation, “that will need addressing first thing in the morning. I invite you all to discuss it, for it involves every country in Paragor. I only wish there was a representative from Tirana.”
“Saish is from Tirana,” Ria cut in.
Accolon frowned. “He is a servant. He cannot be present for a council.”
Saish cleared his throat. “I think it may be time for me to tell you who I really am.
“I have been travelling through Cynis Witron under a false name. I have my reasons for this, and I would rather not explain them all now and waste time, but know that my true name is Liam, eldest son of Darknor.”
Accolon and Fern stared at him with wide eyes.
“Then you are the Emperor of the Sands of Anuk?” Fern asked with the tiniest hint of child-like awe and Jane gave him a surprised smile. He noticed and rolled his eyes at her.
“I am,” Liam replied calmly. He no longer seemed at all slow. He turned to Ria and said, “I am sorry to have deceived you. It was not the way a true friend acts, but you must believe that I now consider you to be exactly that, and I hope you feel the same about me. I only did what I did through necessity.” He paused for a moment, and seemed to struggle for the right words. “There is a bond between us after seeing the things that we did, and I will never be the one to break it.” There was more than one raised eyebrow after he said that, and though Ria blushed, she was evidently touched.
The emperor turned to the group and continued. “The Kabduh from the Sands of Anuk have a seer. Each year, and only once a year, he will tell us if the year to come will hold peace or war. After such a long period of peace, we were shocked to find that the coming year would bring the most destructive war Paragor has seen for thousands of years. That is all we were told. I needed passage to Uns Lapodis and Cynis Witron to see what I could learn of this war. I played servant for Ria because it allowed me to travel widely and learn of the coming trouble. I had no idea that I would be so fortunate as to come across Prince Fern and arrive at a war council. Now that you know who I am, I would ask to be present at your meeting in the morning.”
Accolon and Fern crossed the room and bowed in front of the emperor.
“We would be honoured to have you there to help guide our decisions. The gods know we have many to make,” Accolon said heavily.
He then turned to the rest of them and said, “The ceremony starts in a few hours. Elixia, you will need to get ready. I will say again, I hope you will all join me here in the morning for a council of war. Now if you will excuse me, I have a wedding for which to prepare.” He turned to leave, but just as he was about to walk from the room, he froze.
A tall, beautiful woman stood in the doorway. Her shoulders were tensed, and her arms hung limp at her sides. Locks of thick blonde hair fell down her back and framed a face that held bright blue eyes.
Accolon took three steps but stopped just short of her. “Satine ... I...”
“I am here to lend my help with the council. I had thought you might already be crowned. But as it isn’t until tonight, I will leave—”
“No! Don’t go. Please stay here for the night.” There was hopeless devotion in his eyes.
After scanning the room quickly, Satine said, “I cannot stay. I am not even supposed to be here.”
“Satine, this is ridiculous. I will be king in a few hours. There will be nobody to overrule me. The country owes you a debt. You must allow us to repay you.” He came a little bit closer to her, but she took a step back.
“They tried to burn me.” Her voice was not sure and steady as before.
“Gaddemar is dead,” Accolon said.
“I only came because I thought that you would already be king. I am not safe,” she said.
“Satine, nobody wishes you any harm. Stay,” Accolon said.
The sound of feet could be heard pounding along the hall and Harry careened around the corner and stopped.
“Satine, what’s wrong?” he asked breathlessly.
“I am fine,” she replied brusquely, then side-stepped Accolon and walked further into the room.
Harry spotted Jane and hurried over to embrace her. “Thank God you’re okay!” he whispered to her and they grinned at each other. The conversation continued around them.
“Who is it that you are to marry, my lord?” Satine asked.
Elixia walked gracefully to Accolon’s side.
“This is Princess Elixia from Cynis Witron, daughter of King Cornelius,” he said stiffly without taking his eyes off Satine.
Satine studied Elixia and then said to Accolon, “You are a lucky man, Accolon. She is beautiful.”
Satine was, perhaps, the loveliest woman Jane had ever seen, but standing next to this girl, this child with the huge eyes and the brown hair, she seemed older.
“I am honoured to meet the Princess of Lapis Matyr, and the famous spy. I hope I can count on you for guidance in days of hardship, my lady,” Elixia said.
Satine looked at her for a moment, and then she nodded. “Of course. And I, you.”
Accolon finally turned to the rest of the room. “For those of you that don’t yet know her, allow me to introduce Princess Satine of Lapis Matyr. She has been working for us as a spy against Leostrial for seven years. Thanks to her we have acquired much knowledge. In fact, she has given us the piece of information that has enabled us to prove what Leostrial is doing.”
“You have discovered what the scrolls represent?”
“Yes, but we can talk about this in the morning at the council. Fern, will you invite your father?” Accolon asked.
“I will. But you both really need to go and get ready.” Fern looked pointedly at the door, and Jane remembered that it was his sister who was being shunted to the side in all of this. He must be worried about her. Jane laid her hand on Fern’s arm, thinking to try and comfort him a little, but he quickly pulled away, not looking at her. Jane turned away from him, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.
Accolon looked towards Satine again. Their faces were expressionless, but their eyes seemed to communicate with each other.
“I need to speak with Satine first,” he said.
Satine gave a small, stiff nod, and they left through the door.
Elixia looked around, and then asked, “Where am I to ready myself?”
“In all the names of the gods,” Fern swore feelingly and shook his head—his sister, the woman who was to be crowned, was being ignored.
“I’ll help you,” Anna said quickly and the two girls left the room.
“Is everything all right?” Jane asked uncertainly, gesturing to the door where the girls had disappeared.
“I don’t know,” Luca said, “I think there are more things going on than we can understand. Best to leave it to them, I think.”
“She is the best spy in the world, and there is but a handful of people who know,” Fern said quietly, then shook his head. “To have spied on the most devious man in the world for seven years and not be compromised is no light thing. She has my admiration.”
“Mine too,” Harry put in. “She gave herself away just to get me out, and she almost got killed because of me. I owe her my life.”
“Why can’t Accolon change the rules so that they can marry?” Jane asked. “I mean, that’s what was going on, wasn’t it?”
“Accolon is marrying Elixia so there is a tighter alliance with Cynis Witron. It’s what we all need if we are to go to war. He cannot marry someone from a hostile country.
Once he could have, perhaps, but things have changed because of Leostrial,” Fern said. “More importantly, he has made a promise to my sister, and must honour it.”
There was silence in the room for a moment, none of them wanting to get on the wrong side of the prince.
“Are we going to war then?” Ria asked eventually.
“I don’t know. Things will be clearer in the morning. There are dark times ahead.” Fern murmured.
“Ahead and behind,” Fey murmured.
Chapter 19
Accolon led Satine into a small room off the main entrance hall and turned to face her.
Satine felt tired. Tired of life, tired of the mess she found herself in. “It is all right, Accolon. We could not have been together. You are doing the right thing.”
He closed his eyes and said, “I’m not doing the right thing by my heart.”
Satine sighed. He was not going to make this easy.
“We can’t always have everything we wish for. You must understand that.” She was thinking about when she had come to realise this herself—on the stake, about to die. “It is time for us to grow up.”
“No. Surely we are not just here to do what is expected of us, and live in pain?” His eyes burned with determination.
“That is true. But why are you telling me this? You are resigned to your fate. You are only making it worse for both of us,” she said in the same deflated voice.
“I need you to know how much I love you.”
“Why? So that you can have a clear conscience? So that when you think of me, you may have an easy heart, knowing that I understand?”
“It’s not like that. I’d be with you forever if I could.”
Satine frowned and shook her head.
This was not the boy she had fallen in love with. Once upon a time he had spoken of big, grand ideas, ideas for change, for living differently and outside the oppressing rules of the court. But now he was different. He followed those same rules he had once abhorred. He was not strong enough even to take what he wanted from life. He was about to be king, and he was letting fear rule him.
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