Seeker of the Crown

by Ruth Lauren

  Anatol stares for a few seconds longer. Sasha touches my arm.

  “I’m just on edge,” I say. “I want us to find … something.” I shake my head. I can’t be any clearer than that. No one questioned the decision to do this, but now that we’ve been walking for at least two hours, and maybe more, all based on an old map and a feeling I had, I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve done the right thing.

  Sasha touches my shoulder and nods ahead of us. “We’ll find out soon enough. Look.”

  I turn back the way we were heading, and see that there’s definitely a patch of light ahead.

  “Come on, Valor; we’re almost there,” says Feliks.

  I take up my position at the head of the line again. We walk for a long time, the light getting brighter only by tiny increments, until it gradually becomes enough that we can douse our torches. We tuck them away against the wall of the tunnel for later. Sasha looks a little pained, and everyone blinks after such a long time underground. I hadn’t realized my chest was so tight, but I feel like I can breathe easier the closer we get to the light.

  The smell of the sea drifts into the air, and the river gets wider. We no longer have to walk single file, and the smooth path starts to break into rougher rock beneath our boots.

  “This is it,” says Anatol beside me. His face is expectant—wary and worried and hopeful all at once.

  I hope for his sake that this isn’t another dead end.

  A faint sound comes from outside the tunnel, and we all pause. It comes again, far away but unmistakable—a man’s voice. We’re almost at the tunnel’s exit now, and the river pulses forward and out into the open air. I motion for the others to fall in behind me as we reach the end, but as we see what lies in front of us, we all just stand and stare. There’s no room for thought of anything else.

  The river rushes straight into the middle of a tightly curved horseshoe bay. Jagged black cliffs hem it in on either side. The odd stunted pine tree weighed down with snow juts from the rocks high above us. On the ground ahead, slick black rock shows through the snow. But it’s what’s out on the storm-gray water that renders us all silent and horrorstruck.

  Tossing on the choppy waves is a warship, its mast high, dark sails unfurled, cannons showing through the rows of portholes lining the side of the ship. Beyond it is another, identical to the first, and beyond that another and another—a whole fleet of warships, ready to launch.

  CHAPTER 19

  I feel my knees start to give and reach out for the rock. On either side of the river, smaller boats are moored, and on the ground beside them lie saws and hammers and great stacks of felled trees, giant coils of rope, planks of wood, and huge barrels.

  The underground river from Pyots’k is only a trickle in places, barely big enough for barges, but certainly big enough to carry tools for shipbuilding. Anastasia has used it to smuggle in the materials to do … this.

  “They must have been working at this for weeks—months, even.” Prince Anatol’s voice is faint. All I can do is nod.

  Beside me, Sasha’s hand is pressed over her mouth. “We must go back. Someone has to tell Father, get him to sound the alarm. We have to stop them.”

  Feliks’s eyes are wide, staring at my sister. “Pyots’k is going to war?”

  She nods. “Queen Ana would never have let them use our harbors to launch their fleet, but they’re doing it anyway.”

  “The sails are all unfurled.” Katia stands behind me, worry etched all over her face as she looks out to sea.

  Nicolai nods his agreement. “It’s too late. They’re launching now.”

  “Then we must launch Demidova’s fleet against them,” says Sasha.

  Anatol and I whip around to face her at the same time.

  “That’s an act of war,” I say.

  But even as I say it, we all know there’s no other way to stop the Pyots’kan fleet now—Katia’s right; the sails are set.

  “It’s not too late,” says Feliks. “We can run back.” He looks doubtfully at my sister. “Well, those who can run will run, and the rest—”

  I step forward with a gasp that cuts Feliks off. Little figures run around on the ships, some clinging to the rigging, some working on the sails or on the decks. On the ship closest to us, anchored before all the others that spread like a plague over the water, is a small figure whose long dark hair whips in the breeze. She stands at the side of the ship, a telescope held to one eye, pointing straight at us.

  “Anastasia!” I say.

  Anatol steps forward, his body instantly rigid. “Then Mother is here. We can’t go back. We must rescue her.”

  “But the ships—” says Katia.

  “Some of us must stay, and some must go back.” I look at my sister. We all blurt out ideas, everyone on the verge of panic. Anatol wants to stay, and it’s clear from the pained look on Sasha’s face and the way she’s keeping her weight on her good ankle that she can neither run back nor run forward.

  I tear my gaze away from Anastasia and the crewmembers who pile into a smaller boat as it’s lowered into the water and turn to my friends.

  “Feliks, Katia, you have to get to my father. You need to—”

  From the gloom of the tunnel behind us step six cloaked people, every one of them armed.

  The six of them span the width of the tunnel in a V, daggers glinting in their hands. At the head is a figure in a dark cloak who steps forward.

  “You,” I say.

  Facing me is the spy I followed into the Great Library, and she’s flanked by Inessa’s other spies. Her hard gaze settles on me. I was seen after all—seen and followed. Inessa has beaten us at our own game, and I’ve led her spies straight here.

  “I thought I’d planned everything.” The words come out of me unbidden.

  A nervous titter of a laugh comes from inside the tunnel. “Not carefully enough,” Inessa says as she steps into the light, her usual beautiful dress exchanged for black boots and a cloak. She walks around her spies until she stands just behind the leader, whom she peers around. She looks over my shoulder at the scene in the harbor and smiles. “My, what a predicament you find yourself in.”

  I glance behind me. Nicolai’s hand is on his sword, but he hasn’t moved, his face twisted in indecision. Beyond him, Anastasia’s rowboat nears the shore.

  Inessa’s laugh bubbles up again. “You are a picture,” she says. “Stuck between sea and stone; a rock and a hard place indeed. What are you going to do now, Valor?”

  I tilt my chin up. “What are you going to do, Inessa? Anastasia’s helping Pyots’k wage their war. What do you think she asked for in return? She wants the Demidovan throne, and she kidnapped her own mother to get it. Do you think for a moment that she’ll stop just because you hold the seat now? If I were you, I’d be running back to the palace to sound the alarm, because once those warships reach Saylas and start their raids, what do you think will happen?”

  Sasha steps up next to me. “Why do you think Queen Ana wanted so badly to prevent this very thing from happening? She wanted peace, not for Demidova to be caught up between Pyots’k and a revengeful invading army. Our lands lie between the two—there is no way for you to keep your throne and the peace unless we stop this fleet from launching.”

  Inessa titters again. “What makes you think I want the throne of Demidova?”

  She touches the shoulder of the spy in front of her, who flicks her cloak aside and draws a second dagger. All the others follow suit. Feliks sucks in a breath, and I edge closer to Sasha.

  Behind us I can hear Anastasia’s crew making their way up the rocks, and my heartbeat accelerates until I just want to run. Sasha’s fingers reach for mine, and I grasp her hand. Nicolai has a sword and I have my crossbow, but everyone else is unarmed—unarmed and outnumbered and surrounded. Feliks and Katia press close behind, Anatol and Nicolai on either side.

  Inessa claps her hands. “Oh, look how close you all are. Like a pack of curs.”

  The spy in front of her raises
both daggers.

  I pull my bow from my back and aim it at Inessa. She lets out a noise and cowers behind the spy. Three of Inessa’s spies advance. Nicolai’s sword rings as he pulls it from its scabbard.

  “Now, now, Valor, when will you learn to play nicely with others?”

  I take a few tiny steps back and edge to the side, Sasha and the others turning with me. Anastasia stands with her crew behind her and smiles her cat-that-got-the-cream smile. But it’s not aimed at me. Not at any of us.

  “Cousin.” She nods to Inessa, one hand at her waistband, her shoulders thrown back and her hair blowing unbraided in the breeze.

  “Dearest cousin,” Inessa returns, a self-satisfied smile mirrored on her face as she peeks out from behind her human shield.

  They’re not pitted against each other at all.

  They’re working together.

  I heartily wish that I had more than one bolt in my crossbow.

  “I must say, cousin,” says Inessa, “you were right about Valor’s face when she gets caught. It’s worth the hours I’ve spent trekking through this tunnel just for that alone.”

  Anastasia laughs. “I’m glad you enjoy it. But of course it will pale into insignificance next to your real reward.”

  Inessa’s high-pitched laugh flits out again, as though we’re all at court and not watching as the final preparations are made to launch the Pyots’kan fleet.

  “What reward?” I ask, at the very same time Anatol says, “Where is Mother?”

  Inessa and Anastasia share a delighted glance that makes my heart sink even more.

  I aim my bow at Anastasia, and Anatol takes half a step forward, then bites his lip, looking from me to his sister and back again.

  Anastasia smiles. “You’ll never find out where the ex-queen is if you harm me, Valor. And that really is the very best part of all this. Inessa’s done a fine job of keeping you busy running around the city looking for Queen Ana. You and your precious family have been distracted, wouldn’t you say? We’ve been building this for weeks.” She sweeps her arm back over the bay, full as it is with dark sails. “I’ll have the throne of Demidova, just like I told you I would. And once the Pyots’kan fleet returns victorious, we’ll take Magadanskya and put Inessa on their throne.”

  “You can’t,” says Sasha, breathing hard. “It won’t work.”

  “They only have a steward,” says Inessa. “Lady Olegevna has no real claim. I’m of royal lineage.”

  “You’re fourth in line and a usurper,” says Anatol hotly.

  She tilts her head up. “Anastasia explained it all perfectly, and I would think that you of all people would understand, Anatol. I’m fourth in line, and not even the first daughter in my own family. How would I ever have anything if I didn’t take it for myself? But look where I am now, thanks to your sister. I’m currently your queen, and I think you should try to remember it.”

  “My mother is my queen, and everyone else’s.” He’s furious now, his gray eyes full of fire and his jaw set. “Where is she? Release her at once.” He pushes forward and then straightens, frozen. Inessa’s spy presses her dagger into the back of his cloak.

  “Control yourself. She isn’t even here,” says Anastasia.

  Inessa lets out a loud, dramatic sigh. “I made her promise that Aunt Ana wouldn’t be harmed, Anatol. I do care for her. I wouldn’t let anything happen to her.”

  Anastasia’s face flashes with barely concealed annoyance at her cousin.

  I grip my crossbow tight, still pointing it at her.

  Anastasia’s attention returns to me. “I know what you’re thinking, Valor. We’ve been here before, haven’t we?” She pouts mockingly. “Now you won’t believe me. You’ll think I have her hidden on one of my ships. But that’s exactly why I wanted you here, far, far away from the mountain pass. So far, in fact, that you have no hope of getting there before Queen Ana is handed over to Queen Lidiya of Pyots’k.”

  “Why would you—” I open my mouth before I stop to think. Sasha makes a little noise that tells me she worked it out before I did.

  A gloating, triumphant smile spreads across Anastasia’s face. “Come on, Valor. I know that between the two of you, Sasha got what brains there were, but you can figure out why I did this, can’t you?”

  Feliks tenses, his hands curling into fists. I stick my elbow out and press it against his shoulder.

  Anastasia wanted Queen Ana elsewhere while her little puppet Inessa made sure I was here. If Inessa hadn’t trapped us, we could make it back to the city and at least try to launch the Demidovan fleet against Anastasia and Pyots’k, or we could head to the mountain pass to try to rescue Queen Ana before she’s forced through it into Pyots’k and is lost.

  I can’t do both.

  “There we go. The coin has finally dropped.” Anastasia laughs. “This is for your own good, Valor—so you see you can never cross me and get away with it. I’ve covered every outcome. I’ve thought of everything.”

  She’s right. It makes me sick, but she’s right. Even if we weren’t being held at knifepoint, even if we were free this second to rush away from here, which way would we go? We’d have to go back to the city and find Father. Only he would have any chance of making the military leaders listen.

  But then what about Queen Ana?

  “Face it,” says Anastasia. “There’s nothing left for you to do but watch.”

  She turns toward the fleet, raises her arm up high, and brings it down sharply in an arc. Glints of light, like sun reflecting off glass, wink out on each ship. Someone on each of them was watching this scene with a telescope.

  She looks at me over her shoulder. “In case you can’t work it out, that was the signal to raise the anchors.” This is it. The fleet is about to leave, and I should have done something about it before Anastasia could ever give that signal. Desperation rises in me like a tide. I lunge forward and grab for Anastasia. I catch her around the neck and drag her back against me, pressing my crossbow into the hollow above her left collarbone. Then I swing her around so we’re facing both Anastasia’s crew and Inessa and her spies.

  “If anyone moves, I’ll shoot her,” I say.

  Inessa lets out a squeak.

  “Don’t listen to her—she won’t do it,” snaps Anastasia. “Help me.”

  Nicolai raises his sword against the spies and backs up so he’s between them and me. But on the other side, Anastasia’s crew shifts, eyeing one another. I don’t have much time.

  “You’ll be very sorry if you don’t listen to her.” Sasha steps to my other side, and we all start edging away, out onto the rocks that line the bay. “Do you know who she is? Do you know what she’s done? This is Valor Raisayevna, and she escaped from Tyur’ma.”

  The crewmembers look at one another, and a couple of them mutter something.

  “She’s an excellent shot even at exceptional distances, so make no mistake: she would not miss or hesitate.” Sasha sounds so undeniably certain. “And what’s more, she’s my sister, and she won’t ever give up, so you’d better stay back.”

  My heart swells even though my hand is shaking. I dig the point of my bolt into Anastasia’s neck until she yelps, and we all continue walking backward, my arm tight around Anastasia, my feet feeling their way behind me on the rocks.

  “Where are we going?” hisses Katia.

  I don’t know. We can’t get back down the tunnel now, and we’d never get away if we tried. I twist around, trying to see a way out.

  Anastasia shakes under my arm. I hold her tighter, but she’s not shaking from fear. She’s not even trying to get away.

  She’s laughing.

  The others are looking around now too, scouring the bay for an escape route. We keep moving back toward the cliff, but that’s all there are: cliffs. All the way around the bay. The only way in or out is the tunnel, which is why this was the perfect secluded spot in which to build a fleet. Anastasia’s right—she’s thought of everything.

  But Sasha’s right too—I a
m Valor Raisayevna. And I escaped from Tyur’ma.

  “Up,” I say.

  Nicolai turns to look at me and lowers his sword for a moment. Anastasia wrenches herself away from me, and though my finger is on the crossbow’s trigger, I hesitate. I wait a second too long, and she’s gone from my grasp.

  “Run!” shouts Anatol. Feliks doesn’t need to be told twice. He shoots away like a mountain goat over the rocks to the base of the cliff. I sling the crossbow onto my back, grab Sasha’s hand, and we follow Feliks, dashing as fast as we dare. Behind us the spies and the crew rush forward.

  I look up as I run. The cliffs cut jagged black lines through a white sky. My heart leaps into my throat, the bitter taste of fear in my mouth. But I hurl myself at the rocks and start climbing after Feliks. I scramble up until I reach the cliff face.

  I throw a frantic glance over my shoulder. The spies are close; the crew is behind them; and Anastasia and Inessa stand together, their cloaks snapping in the wind. Inessa wrings her hands, and Anastasia gives her an unmistakable look of scorn.

  “Climb!” I’m not sure if I’m entreating the others or myself.

  Nicolai sheathes his sword, and Sasha grits her teeth. I can’t see Anatol or Katia, but I know that if I keep checking on them, I’ll do so at the risk of losing my own grip. This is something each of us will have to do alone.

  I step up, find a handhold, and pull, pressing my cheek to the cold rock in front of me. Up, up I go, until I can take it no longer and have to look back to see who’s following us. The Pyots’kan crewmembers have returned to Anastasia. They’re heading back to the ships.

  Already the ground is far away. A wave of dizziness hits me, and I have to cling there, unmoving, for long seconds.

  “Valor, keep going.” It’s Feliks’s voice, coming from above me somewhere.

  I reach up, then move my feet to another foothold.

  I pull harder, climb faster. I want Anastasia to know that when I stop this—and I will stop this—it was me who did it.

  My breath comes in labored gasps, and my fingers start to cramp and go numb. I see a ledge above me to my right, and I focus every ounce of energy I have left on reaching it. The pain in my hands increases, and the whole world narrows to that one ledge. I can’t see anything else, can’t think about anything else. I’m so close, so nearly there.