by Day Leitao
“Are you happy with your plans?”
Sian nodded. “Yes. Everything went a lot smoother than even I expected. Plus, I’m here, and you’re here.”
“Well, that’s great, but stop it, then. We don’t know what’s going to happen when the forces from the north return. There could be a conflict.”
“We’re letting them come slowly. So far everything has been going better than expected. I didn’t even use the kyons. We’re in peace, Karina. Trust me, please.”
She had to worry about what mattered. “What about that staff? And the smaller staff, and whatever else you have from Darloom? See? That might be the thing that’s allowing them to come through.”
“Not really. I’ve realized that Darloom has been influencing this castle for quite a few years, and I only got the staff a few days ago. If anything, it might allow me to fight it.”
“Well, but those creepy winged creatures only crossed now. Something is opening.”
Sian took a deep breath, then stared at her, and asked, his voice soft, “What do you want me to do?”
“Step down.”
Sian snorted. “How is that going to help?”
“You’ll have a more experienced queen who knows more about magic, and a kingdom that’s not in a civil war.”
Sian took a deep breath and held her hands. “I’ll tell you what I’ll do: I’ll let all the Whyland forces return, I’ll let Lylah return, and then I’ll speak to her and negotiate our terms. If she really needs to go back to the throne, for the wellbeing and security of Whyland, I’ll step down. Does that solve your problem?”
“It’s not my problem. Maybe you should put that staff back where it belongs.”
“I’ll research about it and see if it’s better to keep it or not. If something’s really coming through, I might need it.”
“Why do you want to be king, though? Why do you have to do it?”
He stared at her for a long moment, let go of her hands, and got up. “You want me to step down regardless of what might happen, right? This isn’t even about whatever is threatening us from another dimension, is it?”
Karina got up as well. “I was against your plan before even knowing about Darloom and its threat, so yes, I would like you to step down regardless, just because this is wrong.”
He stared at her, then took a deep breath. “I’ll consider your request, I will. Just give me some time. I disagree with your idea of wrong here, Karina, I really do, but I’ll consider what you’re saying.”
Again, Karina was stunned. She hadn’t expected it to be so easy. But then, he hadn’t promised anything, he’d just said he’d consider it. Perhaps it was just one more of his verbal traps, where he says he’ll consider her request knowing well what his decision was going to be. That said, he was civil, he was sweet, and he was looking at her as if they’d never broken up. Karina was wondering if it was worth being mad at him for some internal political squabble she had no hand in.
Well, she did have a hand, or rather, a friend. “What about Cayla?”
“Didn’t you say I should step down? She’ll go back to her privileged position.”
“I mean if you don’t step down.”
“You’re considering the possibility?” Sian shrugged. “She can come, be princess and live in the castle for all I care. My brother can go back to his post in the army as long as he doesn’t conspire against me. But you said I should step down, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Then there’s nothing to worry about. It’s upsetting that you think they’re worthier than me, but I’ll take it.”
“It’s not about being worthy.”
“What is it about?”
“You took this by force. Small force, but it was by force. It wasn’t the right way, Sian.”
He rolled his eyes. “Not sure if you remember, but the current queen also took it by force.”
“She took it back, though, and life in Whyland has improved a lot since she assumed.”
“But it’s not going to get worse with me. Do you think I’ll persecute poor villagers? That was a stupid waste of time and resources. I’m not a monster.”
“I know you aren’t. Or I wouldn’t have—” she was going to say come talk to you, but she didn’t want to ruin the way he looked at her. “—come back to you.”
“We’ll sort it all out, I promise.”
He hugged her, and it felt so good to lean against his chest and feel his arms around her. She hugged him back, and felt again that amazing feeling of being squeezed, as if he didn’t want to let her go. He smelled a little less soapy than usual, but his smell was still inebriating.
“I missed you,” he said.
How she needed to hear those words, perhaps hear any words confirming he felt something for her. Karina decided to let go of the chains she’d been used to lock her heart. “I missed you too.”
One of his hand caressed her forehead and hair. She looked up. Their eyes met, and it was this amazing connection, as if she could see his soul, and there was nothing she didn’t like in it. Before she knew anything, their lips were locked, and it was like a few days ago, when she felt as if she were floating, and all her body tingled.
He stopped suddenly, stepped back, and touched his lips as if he’d tasted something odd or had a hair in his mouth. He stared at, a look of disbelief in his face. “Who did you kiss?”
“What?” She couldn’t believe he was asking this question.
He still touched his lips, in a concentrated face as if he were trying to figure out the answer. “You kissed someone.”
Technically she had kissed someone, but it had been awful, so it didn’t count. “I didn’t.”
Sian looked as if he’d seen a ghost. “Liam.”
Karina was taken aback. Was it really possible that he could find that out? Well, there was a lot of magic she didn’t understand in Whyland. Either way, she didn’t think it was right for him to blame her. “What if did? Last time I saw you, you had a manacle around my wrist and told me I was your enemy. And I thought you had another queen.”
He stared at her, as if frozen, then it was as if something clicked in him and he looked away and snorted. “You do move fast.”
“How can you even know who I kissed? Do you go around kissing people and listing the people they kissed before you?”
Sian rolled his eyes. “Go around kissing people! I’m not you.”
She pointed a finger towards him. “You have no right. You have no right to judge me.”
His voice was cold, and he sneered. “Who’s judging you? It’s just an observation.”
“You’re acting as if I’d done something wrong.”
Sian snorted. “Just curious, Karina, just curious.” He shook his hands. “Did he also handle you?”
“You have no right to make assumptions about me or to shame me because you happened to handle me.”
He blinked as if surprised. “You think I have a problem with what we did?”
“You’re assuming I’m doing it with everybody.”
“Not everybody, just Liam, and I’m not assuming, I’m asking. It was a question, Karina. You forget I also know Liam, I know how he is, and I’m not even assuming half of what I should assume. I was just curious about you.”
Blood rose to her head. “You have no right to be curious about what I do or don’t do when I’m not in a relationship with you.”
“You were still my queen!”
“Because of some stupid rule! It’s meaningless and you’ve told me so. Plus, until now, I had no idea I was queen because you didn’t bother telling me.”
“I told you. Not only told you, you made me spill out what I think about you on that bridge—for you to turn around and kiss someone else less than a day later.”
“One, I had no idea you were talking about me. Two, before that, last time we saw each other you made it very clear it was over between us. Plus, you told me you wanted me only if I were your queen, that you didn’t want me
otherwise. What did you expect?”
“Well, if I was going to be king, what should I want you as? My mistress? My one-week fling? What, Karina?”
“That’s not what it sounded like.”
“You were leaving me.” He stared at her, eyes narrowed. “You didn’t come back to me, did you? You only pretended to come back to try to trick me into stepping down, didn’t you?”
“Not trick you. I just came to talk to you.”
He laughed. “And I listened to your every word.”
“They were true! That’s the thing, you have no right to say you shouldn't have listened to my words just because I happened to kiss someone when I thought we had broken up for good and you had someone else.”
Sian rolled his eyes. “I had someone else! That’s absurd and you know it.”
“That’s what I thought. And making me queen without my knowledge doesn’t make me your property.”
Sian stared at her, jaw set, then he raised his hands and shrugged. “You’re right. You’re not my property and you can kiss anyone you want. Sorry for my curiosity. Go. Go to your beloved.”
“He’s not my beloved.”
“Or stay. It’s also your castle.”
He turned around and walked out of the room. Part of her wanted to rush to him, say she was sorry, explain, but that would mean humiliating herself. He had no right to judge her after declaring she was her enemy, after saying he didn’t care about her. And why was he even angry? But then had he really been angry? He’d looked quite calm and composed when he left. His issue was probably some nonsense about her being his queen. Well, she wasn’t his property. What hurt more was the way he’d come into the room, with bright eyes and looking at her almost as if he’d really missed her because he liked her.
Part of her did regret having kissed Liam, though. It wasn’t as if she’d been in love with him or anything. It was ridiculous that those horrible, disgusting kisses should break her and Sian apart. But then, again, she wasn’t sure if whatever Sian felt was even real. It looked real, it felt real, but then he turned around and acted as if it had been some kind of joke.
Karina realized something: for good or bad, she’d brought the staff for Sian, she had told Cayla and Darian about what he was doing, and she had even talked to Sian. Perhaps Whyland still had struggles ahead, but did she really have any part in it? As long as she was deemed queen, it wouldn’t make any difference where she went. Perhaps she could come later, find the Light Gardens, and ask about being a guardian. Later.
Home, her real home was calling her, and that was the only thought in her head. Her time in Whyland was over. She could probably use the tower by the river; teleport there, and from there, go home. The idea of being able to go, of not needing any help, was freeing. All she had to do was tell Cayla and Darian, and go. If truth were to be told, this time she’d caused more trouble than helped. Maybe things would sort out without her there. Maybe it would be better if she left. Maybe. Either way, she was leaving.
Sian looked around and realized he had no idea where he was in the castle. His head had a strange buzz and he could still feel Liam’s kiss on in his lips, with the horrible feeling that a snail had been in his mouth—her mouth. He could see him kissing her, or more like furiously pressing his mouth against hers, not as someone who’s enjoying the moment, but rather as if he were hungry for something more. Shut it down, put it away. Sian knew how to lock up his feelings, but it was odd to do it with images and taste. Plus, he couldn’t understand how he could feel, see, and taste a kiss. What a horrible type of magic, if that was what it was. More like a curse. Shut it down, put it away.
He was actually way down, near the storage room and pantry. Where had he been going? He remembered how he’d walked away from the meeting like a fool.
Whatever. Joel would figure something out. Darloom, he had to deal with Darloom, as he’d postponed it long enough. He needed to close that door and understand if something wrong was happening. He headed back to his private room on the third floor, where he kept his staffs.
Sian walked in, closed the door and took the small staff. He banged it on the floor three times. There was nothing to see, except that the air seemed to be getting thicker, with an acrid smell. Then he heard that voice.
“I thought you were never going to contact me.”
Sian sat down in the only armchair there. “I keep my word.”
“So you say,” said the voice. “I guess you have everything you wanted, don’t you?”
“Absolutely. Your advice was precious. I am king, Karina is queen. That’s pretty much what I asked, right?”
The voice laughed. It likely delighted in how poisoned his part of the deal turned out to be. “Of course. The only funny thing is that you never told me your little queen was a guardian. Funny detail you kept.”
Sian shrugged. “How was I supposed to know you wanted to hear that detail? You never asked.”
“True. I never asked, did I? Now tell me something; how is it that your queen goes around kissing other people?”
Put it away. Sian shrugged. “Got a problem with that? Kissing other people doesn’t make anyone less king or queen in Whyland.”
“Interesting customs. Whyland, the land of the cuckold kings.”
“And queens. The last king married twice, and yet his first wife remained being deemed queen. What can I say? We’re open-minded people.”
“And what advice do you require now?”
“None. This is over.”
“Is that so? I see your heart, young king, and I see its cracks.”
“I’ll be sure to call you if I need a doctor.” He touched the floor three times with the staff and the voice disappeared.
Sian sighed. Until then he’d had a sense of control. That voice had guided him through the magic of the Darloom castle. Of course, it also wanted something. It thought Sian was going to open the portals for him. Stupid voice. Sian should perhaps destroy the staff, except that he wanted to make sure that destroying it wouldn’t accidentally unleash that thing.
His com beeped in his pocket. Sian had blocked all frequencies, except for emergency from Joel. There used to be a time when Liam would also have access to that. Not anymore, though, and good riddance.
“Yes?”
“Lylah is here to see you.”
Hold on. How? “Where is she?”
“Meeting room five.”
Sian didn’t think that having someone with such powerful magic within his doors was a good idea. “Who brought her in?”
“She showed up directly there.”
“I’ll be there in a minute.”
Why was it that all the meetings he’d been expecting and dreading had to happen at the same time? True that contacting Darloom had been his choice. As to the other meeting, he’d carefully locked away all memories of it. He hadn’t expected to see Lylah so soon, though. And what terrible timing.
31
Odd Request
Sian entered meeting room five with a big smile. “To what do I owe the honor?”
Lylah had been staring at a wall and turned to see him. “Politeness. I came to greet Whyland’s new king.”
Sian took in her appearance, and his first feeling was of disappointment. He’d always heard that Lylah was magnificently beautiful, and yet, what he saw was an older version of Cayla, bony face and all. She didn’t have an eternally sour expression plastered on her face, though, so that was an improvement. Lylah chucked.
Sian sat down. He wasn’t going to stand before her. “Great. Now I know you’re polite. What else would you like me to know?” She just stared at him, and Sian then realized that she was slightly transparent. “A projection? Neat trick.”
“Not a trick. Old technology. This room has it.” She smiled at him. “I’m glad to finally see you. Last time I saw you, I had to clean up your poop.”
What? Was she trying to disconcert him? Anyways, no chance. Sian smiled and gave a short nod. “You’ll be pleased to hear that I�
��ve learned to do that myself since then.”
“That’s exactly what I’m counting on, Sian.”
Well, he had heard she was weird, so he shouldn’t be surprised. “Wonderful.”
“Did you know you’re my spiritual son?”
“What?”
“Like a godson. That’s one more reason I’m happy to finally see you.”
Was she going to go around in circles like that? Sian shrugged. “Well, here I am.”
“When you were born, I had a vision about you. I saw you here, as king. I’ve had moments when I doubted it, and I thought I was mistaken, that it was your brother. But no, it was you. Now I’m sure. I’m glad it isn’t Darian.”
Weird, weird, and weirder. Sian couldn’t hold his puzzlement. “Why?”
“You need a hero’s heart, and heroes don’t live long.”
Hero? The woman was completely gaga. “At least it’s not boring, is it?”
“No, it’s not boring, Sian. So, are you happy now? You did it just for the dare, didn’t you? To know you could do it.”
“What difference does my motivation make to you?”
Lylah looked at him for a while, then shook her head. “No difference. But I came to ask you something.”
Right. She was about to try to negotiate or intimidate him, and he wasn’t about to allow her. “I don’t care what happens to Whyland, what threat looms over it, I don’t care. I’m not stepping down from the throne.”
He wouldn’t give his brother, Cayla, and her that satisfaction.
Lylah smiled. “That’s wonderful! It’s exactly what I came to ask you. I need you to remain king at least until this threat is over.”
Sian leaned on the seat, as if he hadn’t been surprised or puzzled. “Well, you didn’t have to come and ask for that because I plan on remaining king.”
“I guess I assumed incorrectly. Well, I’m sorry. It’s just, you see, I thought you hated being bored, and being queen—or king—is quite boring. You know, there is paperwork, taxes, requests, requests, and oh, so many requests. But I’m glad you’re interested in it, Sian, I’m truly glad.”