Heirs of War, Crown of Flames

by Mara Valderran

  “Only when you're actually afraid,” he corrected her impatiently. His anger melted into heartfelt concern and he clamped his large hands down onto her shoulders. “I didn't know you were in trouble because there wasn't a single second when you were in with the Duillaine Banair, or even rescuing Arland, that you felt any fear. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing yet.”

  “Some might call it brave.”

  “I'm proud of you for being so brave, but it's not really a surprise to me. You've always been one of the bravest and strongest kids I've ever known. Just don't add stupid to that list too.”

  Zelene watched him leave and groaned with annoyance. “Can you believe him, Ell? I bust his best friend out of jail and he tells me I’m an idiot.”

  “Don't look at me,” Ellowyn said and shook her dark head. “I still think what you did was both brilliant and insane.”

  “Damn, is it lecture Zelene day and I missed the memo?” Zelene remarked and pulled out her disguise from beneath the mattress. “I need to go check on my patient. You coming?”

  Ellowyn tried to suppress a teasing smirk. “No, I think you are doing just fine with him on your own.”

  Zelene sneered at her, ignoring the tongue sticking out at her in retaliation, and then disappeared into her changing area to gear up for her alter ego.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Ellowyn bowed in greeting after entering Terrena's chambers. Her nerves were so on edge that she nearly tripped. She had no idea what Terrena might want with her, but after what happened between Sylvanna and Zelene, she knew to expect just about anything. For all she knew, she was about to be sent away by the friendliest face the Duillaine could muster. “You wished to see me, Ainnir Terrena?”

  Terrena was seated on the chaise by the window. Her room overlooked the courtyard and gardens below. She could see a young couple taking a stroll through the sculpted trees and bushes. They ducked behind the topiary shaped like a lion to get a secluded moment alone. She turned her attention away from the romance blooming below and focused it brightly on Ellowyn. She patted the seat beside her, gesturing for the young maid to join her. “You can call me Terrena when no one's around, Ellowyn. We're friends now.”

  Ellowyn hesitantly sat down beside her and stared at her hands. She knew Terrena was more traditional than the other Duillaine, but she had been so kind to her after the incident with her hair. “May I ask a question?”

  “You don’t have to ask permission, Ellowyn. Tell me what’s troubling you.”

  “You said we’re friends now. But why? I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but you’ve been very adamant that Zelene shouldn’t treat me like a friend. But now you act as though…you treat me as though I am a person now instead of just one of the Tainted. I just don’t understand.”

  “You are a person, Ellowyn. I’ve never thought any different. I simply worried that Zelene’s…nontraditional attitude towards you and the Tainted might bring negative attention to you.”

  “You mean like it did with the gardach. How he tried to make an example of me.”

  Terrena nodded. “I want you to know that I don’t agree with what he did. Yes, you are different. But that doesn’t make you bad. I should have made that clear and helped Zelene to protect you. I should have known better. All my life, I've watched Kenward be shunned, treated as though he was less than, because of what he was. People can sense it, you know.”

  “Sense what?”

  “We can sense the elements in others. I don't sense anything with you, but with an Athucrean, we sense only Earth, because that is their element. They're different, but that doesn't make them wrong or any less than the rest of us. But in a world where the power structure is based on the strength of your connection to all the elements…”

  “I think I understand,” Ellowyn said. “But what made you change your mind?”

  “Zelene,” Terrena answered, the shock in her voice evident. “I expected her to throw a tantrum like she always does. Honestly, I've been too busy getting annoyed by her outbursts to actually listen to the words she's been saying. I'm listening now, and I'm hearing other things as well.” She shifted to face Ellowyn. “Something happened today, but no one will tell me what. I can't find my sister anywhere. Zelene is in the leigheas, and I can't exactly steal her away from there without ruining her disguise.”

  “You want to know what happened?”

  “I know bits and pieces. I know that something happened between the Duillaine and Zelene, and that Arland has appeared in the leigheas not long after. But he was supposed to be on an errand for the Duillaine, so I don’t understand what one has to do with the other.”

  Ellowyn hesitated. She could get into serious trouble for making accusations against the Duillaine Banair if Terrena chose to turn against her. Looking into the Duillaine Ainnir’s eyes, she felt like she could trust her. There was loneliness so evident in the Duillaine Ainnir, which was something Ellowyn understood. Before Zelene, she had also felt it. She still felt it sometimes, like she was an outsider. Terrena looked like she felt the same way, and Ellowyn could see why.

  “Please, Ellowyn. I'm so alone and in the dark.”

  “I’m not sure you’ll believe it, but I swear to that what I am about to tell you is the truth. But I fear it isn’t the worst of what is to come.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I think Zelene is about to need you a lot more than she realizes.” Ellowyn knew in her heart that what she was about to do was the right thing. She also knew Zelene would vehemently disagree, but she could only hope Zelene would come around eventually.

  ***

  Rhaya sat in front of a big table with several books and maps spread out before her. The one she held had nothing to do with her research goals, but she found the topic of runes to be fascinating. She looked up from her book and heaved a sigh when Tate entered.

  “Any luck?” he asked her from the doorway of the library.

  She dropped her head onto the table, her hands gripping her hair. “No,” she groaned. “Isauria said it wasn't a big river that they traveled, so that rules out these two,” she said and pointed at the stack to her right without lifting her head. “But these three over here,” she said, now pointing to her left and finally raising her head, “don't have mountain ranges anywhere near a river, big or small. And they didn't travel that far from the river before hitting the mountains. It doesn't make sense.”

  He walked over and leaned against the table beside her. “Do you think the guy lied about the layout to throw us off? Maybe that's why the Duillaine Banair haven't done anything yet.”

  “I don't think he's lying. I think we're wrong about something somehow. Is it possible this world has more than one tairseach? All of these maps show only one, but if there's two then that would explain it.”

  “The only world with more than one tairseach is the one you're in. And if they were here, Varrick would know it. He can't track her between worlds, but as long as he is on the same one as her, he can find her.”

  “Way for the Mhathair Mhor to think that one through,” she grumbled to herself, feeling the inconvenience of this little flaw with the Cynewards.

  “I don't think she ever expected the Cyneward to be separated from his ward. So it can't be that we're looking at the wrong worlds if that guy is telling the truth. Maybe they didn't travel the wider parts of the river. Maybe it could be one of the two that you ruled out already. So it would be down to two.”

  “Or maybe the mountains aren't as close to the river as they think, which would rule these back in,” she said with a sweeping gesture to the other stack. “It's all just guess work. There has to be another way to find them.”

  “What else has she given you to go on?”

  She pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to him. “Bianca drew this. She said she's seen these flowers around a lot.”

  “This is a meadow saffron and it's pretty common. It's even on Dhara.”

  “I thought
it looked familiar.” Rhaya rubbed the back of her neck and then leaned back in her chair. The pressure was definitely on to find the youngest member of their little crew, but she kept coming up short. “We're never going to find her this way.”

  Tate pulled a chair beside her and dropped down into it. He stared at the maps spread out around them and clapped her on the back encouragingly. “We'll find her. Let's think back to what else we know about where she is.”

  “Isauria told Bianca that the people Ariana and Alec camped with had sort of Australian accents. Or possibly Austrian. Bianca couldn't remember and was pretty busy. Do you know what that means?”

  “Is that like Sandy from Grease?”

  She stared at him slack-jawed for a moment. “You like Grease?”

  He shrugged defensively. “I'm a sucker for musicals. And it's Ariana's fault.”

  She stifled a giggle. “You probably should have gone with the whole 'It's Ariana's fault' argument first. Back to the point though, do any of these worlds have accents like that?”

  He flipped through the maps, pulling out two and setting them to the side. “All but those. What else do we know?”

  “Oh! The war bird thingies! Where would those be?”

  “Anywhere with an army. But that doesn't mean she hasn't seen something else useful,” he said quickly as she started to look defeated again. “Anything else?”

  “That dragon-like thing.”

  “A laghairtean?” he asked, pausing when she nodded. “That we can work with. I know they're only native to certain lands, I just don't know which ones off the top of my head. To the books?”

  “To the books,” Rhaya agreed with a raised finger. An hour later, they flipped through the pages of the last books they could find on the worlds they had narrowed it down to. “This always looked like so much more fun on TV,” she pouted. “You find anything yet?”

  “No,” he mumbled grumpily as he closed the book he was working through. “There's no mention of it in this one.”

  “We've got it narrowed down to three then. If we think the mountains might be further away and the river might be bigger.”

  “So it still isn't anything solid. Have you reported any of this to the Duillaine Banair yet?”

  “Not yet,” she answered and slid down in her chair. She wasn’t sure she should report anything to the Duillaine about Ariana at this point. She didn’t trust them not to bomb whatever world Ariana turned out to be on.

  “Come on, Rhaya,” Tate said. He slid his chair closer to hers. “I know there's more going on here than what you're telling me. I might not be an empath but you are a terrible liar.”

  She rested her head in her hands, rubbing her temples. The idea of being a spy was much more exhausting than she had imagined it would be, and much more of a pain. She knew with all her heart that Tate was trustworthy and would help them in any way he could, but she also knew she couldn't risk being wrong. She had already risked enough just by involving him this far. “I can't tell you. I'm sorry, Tate.”

  He pulled back to give her a hard look. “Let's get something straight, Rhaya. I'm not an idiot. I know you're planning to rescue Ariana. Anyone who really knows you and Zelene should have pieced that together already. And I also know that there is no way I am not going with you. Which means you might as well spill it all to me now or I'm going to have to just start following you around until you make your move. Spill, or get stalked. Your choice.”

  She blew out a slow breath as she contemplated him. “You drive a hard bargain.”

  “What’s the plan?”

  “There really isn’t a plan, per se,” Rhaya admitted slowly. Zelene hadn't really mentioned a plan so much as just declared that they were going after Ariana, and that was while they were rescuing Arland. Even still, Rhaya knew she had been serious. And after seeing what the Duillaine were capable of doing to their own family for the sake of the ‘greater good,’ Rhaya didn’t doubt that it would be up to them to get Ariana back. “At first we were just trying to find her, you know? And then we were going to let the Cynewards go after her if the Duillaine didn’t do something first.”

  “That’s what they’re planning too. Raemann told me.” Tate shook his head sadly. “But after what happened with Arland, I’m not sure that’s the best plan.”

  “Why?”

  “Look, a Cyneward’s duty is first and foremost to the Duillaine he is blood bound to. Varrick going would be one thing since Ariana is his charge. But so is Zelene. Raemann and Liam following? They’d be deemed traitors for abandoning you and put to death.”

  Rhaya shivered, certain her father would probably volunteer to swing the proverbial axe. “We can’t let that happen. We can’t let any of this happen anymore.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I feel like the Prophecy has made it pretty clear that it is up to us to right these wrongs. And the Duillaine Banair have done nothing but prove to us that we can't trust them. I hate saying that because that’s my mother . . . but just because she is my mother doesn’t mean I can trust her.”

  Tate nodded. “I hate to agree, but I’m with you. Things on Dhara were much simpler. I mean, Dhara has its own problems, but sometimes I think the people there are leaps and bounds ahead of us.”

  “Exactly. What I don’t understand is why Sylvanna seems to be running the show here. I mean, isn’t my mother just as powerful as her? But yet she just sits back and lets everything happen. And so does Solanna, even though she doesn’t seem to agree. Why don’t they do something?”

  Tate tapped his finger against the table in thought. “Unfiltered opinion?”

  “That’d be nice.”

  “Just because someone is born as a leader doesn’t mean they are born to be a leader. Does that make sense?”

  Rhaya nodded sadly. It was the problem with monarchies of old. Just because you were born a prince didn’t mean you were fit to be King. The same thing applied here, and she worried it might also apply to her. Zelene turned out to be a natural leader, but Rhaya didn’t feel the same. She was more of a follower. Making big decisions, taking risks and sacrificing . . . she wasn’t sure she was cut out for any of that.

  “We need a solid plan,” Tate reminded her, stirring her from her thoughts.

  “I know. And keep the Cynewards from intervening and stopping us.” The problems just kept stacking up against them. Rhaya shook her head, warding off any defeatist thoughts. She knew in her heart that they had to do something, and that it had to be them to step up. They couldn’t leave it all to the Duillaine or the Cynewards or whatever army they managed to muster. It had to be them.

  “Let me worry about the Cynewards.”

  “We can’t risk involving them directly, Tate. Not if they might get killed for helping us. But we still need them. They're sort of our ace in the hole. If we get Varrick on the same world, he can track her.”

  “Only if Ariana is afraid,” he reminded her. “I hate to say this, but we might need Izzy too.”

  Rhaya didn’t like the idea, but she knew he had a point. She knew that Isauria was theoretically supposed to be just as powerful as her, but she still wanted to keep her safe. Izzy had already been through so much, and there was something so innocent about her. Rhaya didn’t want to see that change if they ran into trouble. “You’re right. We need Isauria.”

  “She’s tougher than you think,” Tate said, seeming to read her thoughts.

  “I hope so. We’ll need Bianca too.”

  “I’m not sure about that. Bianca is a risk. We don’t know where her loyalties lie.”

  “I do,” Rhaya said with certainty. “She’s loyal to Izzy. We can trust her.”

  “I trust your judgment above anyone else’s, so I’ll take your word for it.” He turned back to the maps again. “We still need to find Ariana before we can do anything.”

  “And hope she doesn’t get caught again before we do,” Rhaya added. “Terrena was right. We’re no match for Kellen and her army.”

&nbs
p; “No, but the Cynewards would be. By the time they knew they were under attack, Varrick could already have grabbed Ariana and run.”

  “If she gets caught again,” she reminded him. “And we're hoping she doesn't.”

  “I'm glad you finally told me.”

  “Me too. I think we’re going to need all the help we can get.”

  “You’re not wrong,” Tate agreed heavily.

  ***

  Raemann waited patiently outside the library for Tate to leave, and then ducked into the stairwell ahead of him. Tate followed nonchalantly, though Raemann was certain he had seen him.

  “What did you find out?” he whispered to the treior.

  “That spying still makes me feel dirty as ever,” Tate said and squared his shoulders. “Rhaya still hasn't narrowed it down any, and I'm not sure what else I can do to help her since I’m not even supposed to see her outside of lessons, thanks to Sylvanna. If I start asking around about the worlds we have narrowed it down to, then the Duillaine are bound to hear about it.”

  Raemann had been hoping for better news. “And we can't afford to go check them all out ourselves.”

  “Be realistic, Rae. You can’t afford to go check them out at all.”

  “Pfft . . . we’ll be fine.”

  “No, you won’t,” Tate insisted. “Look, after what the Duillaine did to Arland, we can’t assume that they wouldn’t execute you for treason if you leave the girls behind.”

  Raemann sighed, knowing Tate had a point. “What do you expect us to do? Leave Ariana?”

  “No, I think you need to let the girls do what they’re destined to do. To lead.”

  “We can’t risk them, Tate. Even if it means risking our own lives. Trust me, it will all work out, and the girls won’t get within ten feet of Ariana until Ariana is here, in Anscombe. We're going to make sure of that.” Raemann turned to leave, but Tate grabbed his arm and stopped him. He looked down at Tate’s hand and lifted a brow. “Yes?”