The Golds sat on the floor of the huge kitchen of the Meadow meeting hall, in a narrow corridor between two shelves of food. Light filtered in through a few dirty windows. Tavi locked eyes briefly with each member of the group, then whispered, “I’m proud to be here with you all.”
In response, she received sober nods and a few hushed expressions of agreement. Then the room was silent.
Early that morning, before the sun rose, they’d all crept back to the tailor shop. Evitt had used his gift to usher the whole group, two or three at a time, from the tailor shop to the kitchen. Now they’d been sitting here an hour, and it would be another hour before the rally started. Tavi watched as a stream of spilled something oozed off the edge of one of the shelves. Every few minutes, a drop of the substance hit the floor. Time moved even more slowly than that dreadful drip.
After a few more torturous minutes, sounds reached them from the hall beyond. Soldiers were arriving early, vying to be close to the stage where their queen would speak. The Golds stayed quiet, and Tavi closed her eyes, using breathing exercises she’d learned from Nadine in Oren.
At last, Sanno looked at his pocket watch and murmured, “It’s time.”
All the relaxation Tavi had just achieved burst apart, covering her insides with anxious debris. She stood, along with Evitt and Ash. They would watch the proceedings from within the hall, protected by Evitt’s magic.
Tavi had insisted on being in the hall so she could step in with strong magic if anything went wrong. Ash had asked to come along because he, more than any of the others, was eager to sacrifice himself if necessary. And if Tavi, Ash or Evitt needed help, Tullen was just a room away, listening with gifted ears. He could send any of the other Golds into the hall.
Her arm around Evitt’s invisible waist, Tavi whispered, “Let’s go.” She, Evitt, and Ash made their way out of the kitchen and entered the great hall. They stood several feet away from a set of three stairs leading to the stage. A guard stood in front of the steps. It felt so strange to stand in front of the guard while his eyes looked straight through them. Tavi tried to reclaim her calm as she examined the stage.
Six people were arranged along the back of the stage: two royal guards and four soldiers. They stood in twos, each pair in charge of one hand cannon. Konner was on the far side of the stage, his chin raised and hands clasped behind his back. Every line of his face and form spoke of confidence. At the center of the stage stood Relin and Camalyn. Relin wore a military uniform, and Camalyn radiated beauty in her loose, purple gown. A middle-aged man and a younger woman, both in military uniforms, stood on the side of the stage closest to Tavi. That must be the colonel and the general.
Tavi let her gaze wander over the room. It was packed. Tables had been moved out to fit the entire army. This was the first time Tavi had seen the soldiers in daylight. The large windows of the hall let in plenty of light, which shone on faces and bodies that were far too thin. It had indeed been a difficult winter.
The room quieted abruptly, and Tavi looked up to the stage to see that Camalyn had stepped forward and was holding her hands up. Her beautiful smile seemed to bring even more light into the room.
“Good day,” Camalyn began.
Many in the crowd returned the greeting. In the front row, one soldier bowed, and the gesture spread through the ranks.
“Please rise,” Camalyn said. When the soldiers were all upright again, she spoke. “I cannot tell you how honored I am to stand before this group of brave Corminians.” Camalyn’s voice had no trouble filling the large, silent room. “What you hear today will change the course of our nation. We are moving into a time of great strength, and your bravery will be the key to our victory.”
Tavi smiled. Every word out of Camalyn’s mouth met Konner’s expectations. What he didn’t realize was that Camalyn’s idea of victory differed from his. She meant to send the soldiers not into battle, but back to their homes, where they would share the news of the fall of the monarchy.
Camalyn continued, “In a few minutes, I will introduce you to a man who has influenced our country in immeasurable ways.” She gestured to Konner, who gave her a closed-mouth smile, dripping with arrogance.
“First, however,” Camalyn said, “I would like to talk to you about another force which has transformed our nation: gray magic.”
Tavi’s breaths grew shallow. Camalyn had told them that soon after she brought up gray magic, she would speak the words, “This is the entire truth.” At that point, the guards would arrest Relin and Konner.
But as the queen spoke about the rise of gray magic, Tavi noticed Konner looking toward one of the room’s walls, nodding at something. She followed his gaze and gasped.
Rond, the man they’d tried to abduct, was running gray, glowing hands along the wall. But why? Konner expected Camalyn to use her gift for this address; she couldn’t do that if Rond’s protection was active.
There was no time to figure it out. “The magic quencher!” she whispered to Evitt. She prayed Rond was just beginning his circuit around the room, not completing it.
“What?” Evitt asked.
“Kitchen!” Tavi said, pulling him and Ash that direction.
They made it two steps before Tavi’s fear became reality. Before her eyes, Evitt and Ash snapped back into visibility. That meant everyone could see her, too. Several nearby soldiers gasped.
“Go!” Tavi urged. She released Evitt’s waist and ran.
Konner, his voice full of angry authority, bellowed, “Stop them!”
Fear and hope gave Tavi speed. The door of the kitchen was just ahead, but soldiers seeking a better vantage point had filled the intervening space.
Tavi wouldn’t be stopped. Her slight form inserted itself into a gap between two officers’ uniformed arms. Then another gap, and another. When the spaces were too small, she widened them with her shoulders and hips. At last, she found herself at the kitchen door. She took one more running step across the threshold, relief washing over her.
Her body jerked to a halt. No! She pulled against the rough hands that had grabbed her from behind, but they were too strong. Powerful fingers gripped her arms, then threw her to the floor. As she screamed, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Her mind barely had time to discern what it was: the butt of a hand cannon, swinging toward her head.
I have to go.
Ellea didn’t know where the thought had come from, but she knew it was as true as the hardness of the chair she sat on and the softness of the baby she held.
She had to go to the rally.
When Camalyn revealed her plans, Ellea had attempted to hide the extent of her joy and her fear. But she’d also felt relief. When she was assigned to Camalyn, Ellea had decided to help the resistance from there if the opportunity arose. But she wouldn’t have to. Her precious Golds and the queen she’d come to love would do the difficult, dangerous work. Ellea had never wanted to be on the front lines fighting the Grays. Words were her weapons.
Now, however, something deep inside her insisted she must act, despite the tight knot in her gut, despite the dozen valid reasons she had to stay at the house. After taking a deep breath, she lay the sleeping prince in his cradle and walked out the front door.
Eight men and women still guarded the house; Camalyn had insisted on it.
“Ma’am,” a guard said, “can we help you?”
Ellea kept her head high and her voice calm. “I must ask the queen a question about her son.”
“We were told you’re supposed to be watching him,” a second guard said.
“He’s sleeping, and I’m quite certain with the eight of you here to protect him, he will be safe for a few minutes.”
“I think the queen is busy,” the first guard said. “Can this wait?”
“Do you think I’d be interrupting her if it could? And do you think she’d be happy to hear you’re delaying me when I have a question that affects her son’s health?”
The guards exchanged glances. One of th
em shrugged and opened the gate for Ellea.
When Tavi opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was darkness, and the first thing she felt was dizziness. She gasped for air and blinked, the blackness quickly replaced by blurry brightness. But oh, she was so nauseated. And her head, she’d never had a headache like this. Why was she standing when she felt so dreadful? She fell to her knees.
Or tried to, anyway. Something was keeping her upright. She pulled, but she felt fingers on her arms tighten. She tried to pull her hands apart and discovered they were tied together. When she attempted a kick, she found that her ankles, too, were tied.
“Hello! Waking up, are we? Can she hear me? How hard did you hit her, man?”
A strong hand grabbed Tavi’s chin and yanked it up, sending additional spears of pain into the entire right side of her head. She continued blinking. The blurriness cleared, and she found herself staring into a smiling face. Konner Burrell.
In an instant, she knew where she was, and she remembered what had happened. She opened her mouth, and all that came out was a high moan. She closed her eyes, breathing deeply, just trying to survive her head pain.
Konner laughed in her face, and the sound intensified her pain. She kept her eyes closed, embracing the blessed darkness. Konner spoke again, from farther away. “Don’t feel sorry for her,” he said, his resonant tones meant for a crowd. “This young lady epitomizes all that is weak in Cormina.”
After a pause, Tavi heard Relin’s voice. “I know you’re all wondering what just happened. I’d like my chief minister, Konner Burrell, to explain.”
Konner began to describe Tavi to the crowd, making her out to be a villainous traitor. Hearing his words, which somehow gave her both more and less credit than she was due, Tavi forced her eyes open. But she couldn’t bring herself to look at Konner’s smug face for long. Still trying to clear her head, she shifted her vision away from Konner. She was on the right side of the stage, and her eyes locked on the person directly across from her.
It was Camalyn. Someone had bound her mouth tightly with a strip of cloth, a move that struck Tavi as excessive and petty at a time when no one could use their gifts anyway. A grim-faced soldier held Camalyn’s arms from behind.
Relin stood several feet away from his wife, his eyes on Konner. Tavi spotted the dead or unconscious bodies of two guards behind them. She released a sigh and continued to examine the others onstage. But moving her eyes set off explosions of pain in her head. Another moan escaped her lips.
The next person her gaze landed on was Evitt. Then Ash. Then—oh Sava, no—Tullen. They were all restrained just as tightly as Tavi was. Ten soldiers stood at the back of the stage, in pairs, weapons and matches at the ready.
Tullen’s face crumpled in grief when her eyes met his. She wished she could reach out and grab his hand, tell him everything would be all right. But she couldn’t touch him, and clearly nothing was all right. She tried to pull away from whoever held her, though she knew she was in no shape to fight back.
“Stop squirming, or I’ll tell a soldier to hit you again.” The voice was female and spoke directly into Tavi’s left ear.
Curious who was holding her, Tavi turned her head. The movement was excruciating. She came face-to face with General Talger, who was using both hands to hold Tavi’s left arm. That meant someone else was holding Tavi’s right. She somehow managed not to vomit as she turned her head the other way. Her second captor, a bored-looking soldier, returned her stare.
Konner was still talking to the soldiers in the crowd. “This young woman has been scheming for years, attempting to weaken our great land. She has not, however been working alone.
“I know it shocks and grieves you to see your queen arrested. I am filled with sorrow to share the truth with you.” Konner took a moment to glower at Camalyn before turning back to his audience. “Our queen, the woman we have all trusted to lead our country with wisdom and strength, desires instead to bring us back to a dark time. A time before Sava gave us gray magic. A time before we had a strong army, ready to defend our freedom!
“And how do we know this? Men and women of the army, you serve a king with integrity and strength. When he overheard his own wife discussing a plot to bring down the monarchy, he knew such an action would bring pain and harm to his new son and to all children of Cormina. And so King Relin ensured his wife would be stopped.”
Konner let his statement sink in. Tavi watched Camalyn, who turned her head to stare at her husband. He wouldn’t look at her.
“Camalyn’s mouth is bound,” Konner continued, “because frankly, I am tired of her lies, and I do not want you, my people, subjected to even one more of her words.” He took a deep breath and smiled. He was in his element, every person in the room captive to his words. “I’m sure you’re wondering who the other traitors on this stage are.” He gestured to Evitt. “This is my gardener. Why he ever thought he was strong enough to fight his king, I will never know. Next to him is a man named Ash. But you may call him the wife-killer. That is all you need know about him. Lastly, we have a vacuous young man named Tullen. He probably could have escaped, had he not run in to try to save Tavi.”
Tavi turned pained eyes on Tullen, trying to ask him a wordless, “Why?” He watched her, his expression unreadable.
Konner wasn’t done. “Brave soldiers of Cormina, I would like to ask you, have you ever seen a more pitiful, powerless group?” He gestured at all five captives and laughed. Some of the crowd joined him. But it sounded forced; the room was full of tension.
“There’s one thing I haven’t told you about Tavi.” Konner strode to her and lay his strong arm across her shoulder, laughing and squeezing harder when she tried to shrug it off. “Sava inexplicably chose to give this plain, unremarkable girl some quite impressive gifts. I have asked her to use these gifts in our country’s service, but she selfishly refuses to help Cormina.
“I think she’ll change her mind today, however.” Konner gave Tavi one more squeeze, then let go and crossed toward the back of the stage, all the way to Tullen. Fear and pain caused Tavi’s breathing to quicken, and her lightheadedness worsened. She tried to take deep, slow breaths. It didn’t work. Konner turned and caught her gaze in his own. She couldn’t look away.
“The last time I was in a room with you and Tullen,” Konner said, “your relationship was a bit rocky.” He gave her a look of mock pity. “Perhaps things have improved. Today, he ran into this room in a feeble attempt to save you, just as you once did for him. So what do you say, Tavi? I’d like to free your friend here. I’ll send him home, back to wherever it is he came from.
“All I ask is that you join your king as one of his most valuable servants. You’ll be gifted with gray magic. You’ll go to war with us, and you will at last live up to the potential I see in you. You will serve your fellow Corminians, just as you were always meant to do.”
“No,” Tavi said, the word scraping against her dry throat.
Konner’s face compressed in rage as he turned again to the crowd. “Did you hear that? Each one of you has willingly given up your home, your family, your comfort, for the sake of Cormina. I ask this girl to join us, to be selfless for once in her life, and she says no.”
He crossed to Tavi, close enough that his hot breath fell on her forehead. His voice was quiet, meant only for her. “I thought you’d say that.”
Then Konner walked behind Tavi and returned with a hand cannon. “I hoped this would not be necessary,” he said.
Another quiet, desperate moan emerged from Tavi’s mouth. She watched as Konner took a small bottle out of his pocket, priming the weapon’s borehole with black powder.
He gestured to a soldier standing at the back of the stage. “Bring your matches,” he said. “Keep them at the ready.” The man obeyed. Tavi tried again to pull away from the unrelenting grip of her captors.
Konner laughed. “The weapon’s not for you, Tavi!” He took a few steps and pressed the end of the hand cannon directly on Tullen’s foreh
ead. With a smile, he looked back at Tavi. “Your choice. Show loyalty to your nation, or live your entire life knowing the person you care for died because of you. What will you do?”
Tears flowed down Tavi’s cheeks. Her head pounded, but that was mild compared to the fiery pain in her stomach. She would die for Tullen, but Konner wasn’t asking her to do that. No, Konner wanted her life for himself, so he could twist it and use it however he wished.
She’d faced this choice before. But that time, she’d had magic. Her all gift had saved them both. Today, she was powerless. She could stop this. Stop it with just a word.
“No, Tavi.”
She couldn’t believe how strong Tullen’s voice was, even with death pressed against his brow. Konner increased the pressure of the weapon, tipping Tullen’s head back.
“Perhaps you don’t believe I’d do it,” Konner said. “Shall I prove it? How about we start with my gardener, another young man you’ve pulled into your web. Is he your friend too, Tavi? He’ll be the proof of my resolve. After that, I hope you’ll reconsider, because this will be the only practice run.”
Tavi continued to cry, silent sobs shaking her. Behind her, Talger said, “Shut up. Stop that.” But Tavi couldn’t. She watched as Konner strode up to Evitt and repeated what he’d done with Tullen, pressing the barrel of the hand cannon against the young man’s forehead. The man holding Evitt ducked to protect his own head. A soldier stood next to Konner, matchbox in hand. And as Konner looked back at Tavi, his expression told her this was no idle threat. He would kill Evitt, and he would enjoy it.
Tavi couldn’t watch. Evitt wasn’t as important to her as he’d once been, but she didn’t want to see him die. She turned her head away, the action causing a fresh explosion of pain. Her gaze swept over the assembly. Every person there was watching the happenings onstage. It was eerie, seeing over a thousand pairs of wide eyes locked on Konner and his weapon.
But there were two exceptions: a man and woman at the edge of the crowd. They both faced away from Tavi, toward the wall. They were gesturing, engaged in urgent conversation. Then the woman turned and looked toward the stage, and light from the window fell on her face.
Facing the Fire Page 43