by Ward, Tracey
Kian’s eyes went wide. He shook his head quickly. “No, Anna. She’s not with them. She’s… I don’t know where she is, but she’s not with them. I promise you.”
My shoulders relaxed as I slumped into my chair.
“Oh, thank the stars,” I muttered.
“Why would you ask if they’d taken her?” Bronwyn asked slowly.
“Because I have it on good authority that they wish to take me.”
The silence in the room was human. It lived and breathed along with us, its life spanning out before me in perfect, full clarity. And when Roarke spoke, it died.
“What authority is that?”
“Don’t worry,” I smirked at him. “I haven’t been speaking to the birds. Or fish.”
No one laughed.
“Who told you The Saints want you, Anna?” Kian pressed.
My humor faded as I felt the weight of the situation sink in. “Prince Frederick.”
Kian cursed under his breath. Bronwyn swiped a hand over her eyes.
“Have you set a date for your marriage yet?” Roarke asked quietly.
“No,” I said, shaking my head at him. “I told you, I don’t want to marry him.”
“Yes, but what you want has never mattered to your father and it certainly doesn’t matter to your Saints.”
I continued to shake my head. “Frederick told me to tell my father that I’ll die an old maid. I think he’s refusing to marry me.”
Roarke frowned. “Since when?”
“Since the accident in The Shallows.”
Kian met eyes with Roarke. He nodded. “They’ve told him.”
“Will they let him refuse? Could it be so simple?”
Kian shook his head. “I doubt it very much. They’ll force him, they’ll find a way. Either that or the King will marry her himself.”
“What?!” I cried. “I’ll be married to King Phillip?”
Kian nodded. “They need you as their Queen.”
“They cannot possibly need me that badly. He’s old enough to be my father.”
“Age doesn’t matter. The King doesn’t matter.”
“Why? Why do they need me?”
There was a silence, long and painful. When Bronwyn spoke her voice sounded tired.
“Because they’ve chosen you. The Saints.”
“Chosen me for what?”
“For payment.”
We were getting somewhere now. Frederick had mentioned payment as well.
“Payment for…”
“Safety.”
I snorted a laugh. “Whose safety? Who on this island is safe? Between The Shallows and the storms and whatever happened to Frederick—“
“Hubris,” Roarke muttered.
“Whatever the danger may be, there’s plenty of it. What exactly are we being protected from?”
“The unknown.”
I looked at all of them in sheer frustration. Kian saw it, saw my mounting annoyance. He raised a hand to slow me.
“I understand we’re talking in riddles to you, Anna. I’m sorry. For it to all make sense, we have to start at the beginning.”
“I’m going to put on some tea,” Bronwyn said, suddenly rising.
The scrape of her chair against the wood floor made me jump.
“Alright then,” I said to Kian, steeling my nerves. “Let’s have it. What’s the beginning?”
He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.
“The beginning is older than time. I don’t know when the deal was struck, but I do know it’s ancient. That it was done before time was even recorded. Back in the untethered days when man simply was. Back then, the kingdom of Kilmarnock was just a tribe of people. One much smaller than what you see today. Probably smaller than our village now. But the outside world was basically the same.”
“The fighting?” I guessed.
“Yes. Wars were fought on every continent. Land was destroyed, entire races were wiped out. They were terrible times. Even in our history we hear about them and the devastation they brought to us. Of the lengths we were willing to go to in order to ensure our people survived.”
“You’re getting off topic,” Bronwyn said softly, her back to us at the stove.
“Yes,” he replied, lowering his head for a moment. “I guess I am. This island was small and in a strategic location being so close to the large nation of Perth. The wars hit it hard with invaders looking to sack Perth. They used this island as a way station. The people were brutalized. The land was too. People were made slaves, the land was farmed to within an inch of its life to sustain the overpopulation from all of the outsiders. It was too much. The people were sure they would be wiped out eventually, so they made a deal.”
“A deal with The Saints?” I asked.
Kian chuckled softly. “A deal with the devil.”
I frowned. That’s not how I knew the story. Anyone who had ever been to church on Kilmarnock knew how the wars were destroying the world and luckily the people of Kilmarnock, known for their grace and kindness, were approached by The Saints. They offered to hide us away, to save us from the outside world and all of its dangers because they saw such good in us. Such hope and possibility. Something worth saving.
“Why would you say it like that? They saved us.”
“At what price?” Roarke challenged.
“I don’t know anything about a price. I’ve never heard anything about a deal.”
“Frederick has,” Kian said. “They’ve made him aware, that much is for certain.”
“How could you possibly know that?”
“Because he knows the terms now.”
“And he isn’t willing to pay,” Bronwyn said, bringing us all tea in brightly colored mugs. “Not with your blood.”
“Not with your soul,” Roarke said darkly. His parents looked at him sharply, but he shrugged at them. “Maybe he’s a better man than I thought.”
I swallowed hard, looking at my mug and wanting nothing to do with it. I felt sick all of a sudden.
“The deal is for safety. And the cost… the cost is me? That doesn’t make sense.”
“The cost is the Queen of the island,” Kian told me grimly.
I took a shaky breath, nodding my head. I kept my eyes trained on my mug. It was yellow, like sunshine.
“The Queen’s Curse.”
“Yes. She’s made an offering to The Saints. She’s the payment for the continued shelter from the outside world.”
“Every Queen is made sacrifice?”
“As far as we know, all but one. A hundred years ago a Queen was spared. Your King genuinely loved her. He wasn’t willing to give her up. It angered The Saints. The storm that night was your punishment. A reminder of who your people were dealing with. A reminder of the Saints power.”
I looked at Kian then, at his golden skin and foreign, wondrous eyes. I smiled slightly.
“They didn’t count on you, did they?”
“No,” he replied with a similar smile. “They didn’t plan on us.”
“Either that or we were part of the punishment,” Roarke said, also ignoring his tea.
Kian sighed. “We don’t know that for sure.”
“It would make sense,” Roarke insisted. “They were being punished for not holding up their end of the bargain so The Saints gave them a taste of what the world would be like if they didn’t hold up their end either. They brought the outside in.”
“I think you’re giving them too much credit,” Bronwyn told him. “I believe we were an accident.”
“I think you’re underestimating them.”
“Hold on!” I exclaimed, putting my hands up between them all. “Just wait. Let’s go back. Back to the part where they take the Queen. That’s going to happen to me? I’m supposed to marry Frederick so The Saints can have me?”
“That’s the plan, yes.”
“But why? Why make me Queen first?”
“It’s an honor. It makes you mean more to the people than an anonymous, obscure citizen. If you’re Queen,
you’re known and probably beloved by almost every member of the kingdom. It makes you more sacred. A more worthy sacrifice.”
“What if I’m absolutely horrid?” I asked, attempting levity I did not feel. “What if I make them hate me?”
“They chose you when you were born,” Roarke told me, not smiling in the slightest. “They’ve watched you your whole life. They won’t be discouraged. Besides, I don’t believe there’s a soul on earth who has met you and didn’t love you.”
I chuckled. “Are you forgetting my father? Wait, does he know about this?”
Kian shook his head. “I don’t believe so, no. Only your High Priest and the Royal Family.”
“Well that’s something, isn’t it? He’s not actively trying to get me killed. Not yet at least.”
“Not that it would stop him,” Roarke muttered.
“Ro!” Bronwyn scolded.
“No, he’s right,” I told her calmly. “He wouldn’t care. Not as long as it got him what he wanted. Money. Power. Status. It’s why he married my mother. She didn’t know then, didn’t know any better. She was young and he was charming…”
“I met him once,” Bronwyn said with distaste. “I didn’t find him particularly charming.”
“Well, that’s because you can see him,” I said, looking at her pointedly.
Bronwyn blinked in surprise, but she didn’t deny it. I appreciated the candor.
“Your people are magic,” I insisted, looking at each of them. “Don’t tell me you’re not because she’s read my bones and I was just walked across the entire island through an orchard no one has ever heard of on a journey that should have taken the better part of an hour. How long did we walk, Ro? Twenty minutes? Twenty five?”
He shrugged. “I wasn’t timing it.”
“You’re all magic.”
“It’s not magic,” Kian said, sounding wary. “Not exactly.”
“Well, it’s the closest thing I’ve ever seen and I’ve watched a man’s face melted off by seawater. So don’t tell me there isn’t something different about you all. Especially you,” I said, looking straight at Bronwyn.
She grinned faintly. “It was the night I touched your cheek, wasn’t it? I wasn’t very careful to hide my reaction.”
I nodded. “You knew. I could see it on your face. You knew he had broken that bone.”
“What bone?” Roarke asked, catching my eye. “Who broke what bone?”
I took a shaky breath, but I didn’t look away. This was my truest friend, my greatest ally and my only love. If I couldn’t tell him, who could I tell?
“My father. When I was eleven I made him angry. It wasn’t hard to do. He hit me over and over so hard that he fractured a bone in my face. You thought I was sick with a fever.” I smiled at him, trying to soften the angry look in his eyes. “You gave Mrs. Pomphel wild flowers to deliver to me. They were beautiful. They made me smile every time I looked at them.”
“Did that hurt?” he asked gruffly. “To smile with your face broken?”
My smile disappeared. I nodded minutely, unable to lie to him.
This new silence wasn’t silence at all. It was a void. A vortex of Roarke’s rage that sucked the life and light from the world and dimmed it to darkness.
Chapter Fourteen
Roarke stood abruptly, never looking away from me. His hands shook at his sides, the sight of his angry fists a stark reminder of the ones that had done me so much damage. But I refused to flinch from them. He stepped toward me jerkily, not entirely in control of himself. I heard him inhale sharply, release the breath slowly, then he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead.
Then he was gone. Out the door and into the night.
“Go after him, Anna,” Kian told me, rising as well. “I’ll show you where he’s gone.”
“Won’t he want to be alone?” I asked, feeling unsure. I had never seen Roarke so angry before.
“He’ll want to see no one but you,” Bronwyn assured me. “Go. Talk to him. About everything.”
“What do you mean by everything?”
“I think you know,” she replied with a grin.
Kian showed me a ladder that led up the length of a tall tree at the back of the house. It was shrouded in darkness, not lit warmly as the rest of the village was. Had he not shown me the way or the ladder, I’d never have found it. Under normal circumstances I wasn’t afraid of heights. I was a rather fearless child, in fact, so climbing had never bothered me. However, since my experience on the cliff with Frederick, I had misgivings. I made slow progress and was just beginning to wonder how far up I had to go when I heard his voice from above me.
“Do you want help?”
“No,” I answered stubbornly.
He chuckled. “Of course you don’t.”
Feeling braver now that I was almost there, I gathered my skirts high in one hand and took the remainder of the ladder in quick sure movements. It wasn’t dignified, but it was exciting. I’d take that over dignified any day. When I reached the top, I found that the ladder ended on a narrow platform. Roarke was sitting in the branches but he moved to make just enough space for me to join him. When I sat, our hips, legs and shoulders were pressed firmly together. My heart immediately began to pound in its erratic way. The way it always did when he was near.
“Why did you come up here?” I asked him softly.
“For the view.”
I hadn’t looked up yet. I’d only been looking down, thinking about the return climb to earth. Now I raised my eyes and gasped.
This tree, standing at the edge of the village outside its lights, offered a clear view over the kingdom of Kilmarnock. The fields rolled lazily nearby, the moonlight reflected off the perfect calm surface of the lake and the castle—oh the castle!—looked like a dream of dark stone and warm lights speckled across its surface like stars.
“It’s so beautiful,” I whispered, amazed.
“From a distance, yes,” he agreed, his voice low and so, so near.
“Most things are beautiful at a distance,” I agreed. I glanced over my shoulder, peeking behind us at his village. “What about your home? Is it as perfect as it seems.”
“Right now? In this moment? Yes.”
I snorted. “You are such a talker.”
He chuckled beside me, his shoulder shaking mine. “It’s a gift.”
“I’m sure it’s one you’ve used to your advantage. How many innocent girls in this village have fallen victim to your smile?”
“Not as many as I’d like,” he muttered.
I shook my head, smiling. “You’re disgusting.”
“Yes.”
“Aren’t you curious how many men have fallen victim to my charms?”
“No,” he replied firmly.
“Why not? Not curious? Not jealous in the least?”
“No. Not worried.” He grinned at me. “You’re not that charming.”
I shoved him with my shoulder. “You’re such a cad.”
We fell into an easy quiet. I can’t express the simple joy I felt simply being near him again. I wanted to say so many things, ask so many questions and fill the space that had been left between us for too many years. Instead, I chose to drink in the heat of him beside me. To measure my breaths until they fell in line with his. To enwrap myself in his scent until I knew I’d smell it days, months and years later.
“Were there many?” I asked, the words bursting from me.
“Many what?”
“Many girls. Have there been many?”
He paused, or hesitated, I’m not sure which but they are not the same thing. One is reflective, thoughtful. The other is uncertain and usually precedes a lie, or at the least a half truth. As far as I knew, he’d never lied to me. I prayed he didn’t start now.
“A few, yes,” he finally answered.
I smirked at him, ignoring the pinch in my chest. “Just a few?”
He shrugged. “I was ruined at a young age.”
“You look all righ
t to me.”
“I thought I was a bread baking baby snatcher.”
“You know what you are,” I told him softly, admiring his profile. He was aware I was watching him but the scrutiny didn’t bother him in the slightest. Yes, he knew very well what he looked like.
“Maybe. It doesn’t matter. They didn’t matter.”
“Why not?”
He looked at me then, his blue eyes catching the light and my breath.
“Because they weren’t you.”
I sighed lightly, unable and unwilling to look away from him. This moment, the question building in my chest, had been a long time coming. I’d wondered it, felt like I knew, but wanted it so badly I doubted it. Now I felt relieved that it was finally here. That I’d finally know in my head what I’d always known in my heart.
“Do you love me, Ro?”
He nodded once, no pause. No hesitation. “I do.”
I nodded as well. “I love you too. I always have.”
“Then why are you crying?” he asked, lifting his hand to gently wipe an errant tear from my cheek.
I wasn’t crying, not really. The tears were falling but I felt steady inside. Strong.
“Because I have to marry a prince.”
“No you don’t.”
“Of course I do. People will die if I don’t. It’ll be the storm that killed hundreds all over again. I couldn’t live with myself knowing I’d cost so many lives.” I shook my head, frustrated. “I just don’t understand. How they can pack us into the churches, put us through the ceremonies and the rituals and the prayers, when all of it is a lie? They aren’t benevolent, kind spirits that chose us to be their children and keep us protected. They’re angry, vengeful… what? What are they? Devils?”
“Not exactly. They’re Elementals.”
“What’s an Elemental?”
“It’s a type of spirit or god. There are four different kinds, each with a specific type of power. The ones you worship are Sylphs and Salamanders. Air and Water Elementals.”
“I thought a salamander was a lizard.”
“It is, it’s just a name. You call some lizards ‘dragons’ but they aren’t actually dragons. They don’t fly and breathe fire.”
“I suppose so. But if that’s what we worship, what type do you worship?”