by SJ West
"No," I said. "Sora is not going to sacrifice me in front of so many witnesses, and I refuse to run away like I'm scared of them. We will leave tomorrow morning. That will be soon enough."
"Then I plan to stay right by your side until that time comes," Fallon told me. "We are not taking any chances with your life."
"Agreed," Dracen said. "What's the point of saving Vankara if you're not there to lead it afterwards?"
"Well, I'm not leaving your side either," Inara announced with a stubborn set to her jaw.
"You can all stay in my room with me until we leave, if that would make you feel better," I said. "But you’ll have to promise to keep your voices down. My head still hurts and yelling does nothing but aggravate it."
"Could her headache be some dark magic spell?" Inara asked Dracen.
Dracen shrugged his shoulders. "I have no way of knowing. It's not like I have a magic detector inside my head, Inara."
"Let's just stick to the plan we have and leave in the morning," I said. "Right now I just want to go and make my appearance to the Kamorans. They deserve our thanks for helping us."
"And afterwards," Fallon said to me, "we're finding one of their healers to help you get rid of your headache."
"I wholeheartedly agree to that plan," I said, raising a hand to massage my aching temples.
Fallon held out a crooked arm for me to take, acting as my escort once again. Arisu was true to her word and waiting for us out in the hallway. As she escorted my friends and me to the location of the celebration, Aurora rubbed her smooth little head against one of my cheeks in an attempt to bring me what comfort she could.
With each step we took, the pounding inside my head just seemed to grow exponentially worse and a respite from pain seemed far away.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The festivities started out with a royal banquet in the grand dining hall. Two very long, low to the floor tables were situated on either side the ornate room with the royal family separated from the rest of the guests on an elevated platform at their own table. As we entered the room, my gaze was immediately drawn to the ceiling. It was made entirely out of glass giving the space an open air feel even though it was completely enclosed.
I was invited to sit between my uncle and Sora at the royal table while the rest of my entourage was asked to sit among the other guests. Neither Fallon or Inara cared for this seating arrangement, but they didn't make too much of a fuss since their assigned places had them only five short feet away from me. I felt sure that if something dire were to happen one of them would be able to reach me in record time. Inara would probably sprout wings if the situation called for it.
We were served an elegantly prepared seven-course banquet. Sora and my uncle both made small talk with me during the meal, but it was the emperor who kept drawing my attention. He sat on the other side of Sora and ate his meal as if he were simply going through the motions. I’m not even sure he could taste the food. His expression never changed, and he seemed to act more like one of the automatons in Iron City than a living human being. In fact, I felt sure an automaton could have shown me more emotion than my grandfather did that evening.
Aurora remained strangely quiet during the meal. I fed her some of the raw, sliced fish that was served on small dollops of rice during one course. She seemed to enjoy them, and I silently thanked her for her restraint in not speaking to me and aggravating my aching head.
By the time dessert was served, my headache had reached monstrous proportions, and I felt the distinct heat of a fever raging throughout my body. I was so hot in fact that I visibly began to perspire. My friends kept an ever-watchful eye on me, and I saw Inara make to stand from her seat and come rescue me. I discretely shook my head at her, which made Inara reluctantly stop her progress. I was determined to make it through this meal one way or the other. I could rest tomorrow while we travelled to the dragon island.
When Sora and my uncle would speak to me, their words sounded like miniature cannons going off inside my head. Thankfully, my uncle noticed my discomfort and sent one of his servants for some medicine. She brought me back a dram of sweet tasting elixir in a small blue vial.
"Thank you," I told Ren. "I haven't been able to shake this headache since my meeting with Sora."
"Really?" He asked, disturbed by this news. He leaned over to me and asked in a whisper, "Did you eat or drink anything while you were there?"
"The tea of course," I whispered back.
I got the distinct impression from the look of suspicion on my uncle's face that he thought perhaps something nefarious had been done to the tea I was given. If the woman who prepared it poisoned it in any way, I seriously doubted I would be able to pinpoint when it was done.
"Well, hopefully the medicine you just took will help ease the ache some," he said, still looking nervous over my welfare. "If it doesn't, let me know. We'll get one of the royal physicians to examine you."
"And what are the two of you conspiring about?" Sora asked, looking over at us with an imperiously raised eyebrow.
"I still have that headache from earlier," I said, watching Sora’s reaction to this news closely to gauge her knowledge on the origin of my discomfort.
Sora's eyebrows lowered, and I saw a look of genuine concern cross her features before she hid them behind a look of indifference.
"I'm sure it will pass," she said with a casual wave of her hand, dismissing my distress as something that shouldn't be worried about. "Perhaps the amusement I have orchestrated for our entertainment this evening will help take your mind off of your weakness."
I bristled at her use of the word. Being weak in Sora's eyes was not something I intended to be.
"Do you really think that's appropriate now?" My uncle said to Sora in exasperation. "I don't think the noise will help Emma's headache any, do you?"
Sora seemed to consider Ren's words before raising a hand and snapping her fingers. A servant girl rushed over and knelt down beside her queen. Sora whispered something to the girl that immediately sent her scampering out of the room.
"I think I have something that will do so you can still enjoy what I have planned," Sora said to me confidently, as she stood from the table.
"Now, if the two of you would excuse me, I have some things to take care of before the night's entertainment can begin."
Sora walked out of the room.
"What does she have planned?" I asked my uncle.
"Oh, I would hate to ruin the surprise," he said with an easy grin. "I seriously doubt you've seen anything like it in Vankara."
A few minutes later, the serving girl Sora gave instructions to rushed back into the room and knelt down beside me. She bowed her head and handed me a pair of black fur earmuffs.
"Thank you," I said to her as I stared at the earmuffs in my hands, not completely sure why I would need them.
"They will muffle the noise of Sora's surprise," my uncle told me just as the lights in the room dimmed to almost nothing. "I would put them on now if I were you."
I placed the earmuffs over my head just as the first loud crack and colorful flare of a firework lit the sky above the glass ceiling in the room. All eyes, including mine, were drawn to the black canvas of the night as it was lit by one dazzling firework after another. Each one was more intricate in design than the last. One blossomed into the shape of a green lotus flower and was made even more spectacular by the introduction of two blue, glowing dragons shaped much like Sora's mechanical ones. They began to soar through the air like ghostly figures, weaving their way in and out of the petals of the lotus before it faded from sight. It was a magical illusion that reminded me of the cobra I saw when I departed Sora's mountain sanctuary earlier that day.
Had she simply been practicing illusions for the entertainment this evening? Perhaps what I saw wasn't an indication of dark magic at all, just a rehearsal for tonight’s revelry.
Unfortunately, I wasn't given time to ponder this possibility for very long. The slow burning fever I had bee
n experiencing most of the evening suddenly became unbearable. I pulled at the front of my kimono in a vain attempt to loosen it a smidge and cool off, but nothing short of completely stripping out of my clothing would work that blessed miracle. It wasn’t until I reached for a glass of water sitting in front of me that I noticed what was really happening.
My hand looked like it was being set on fire. Tendrils of tiny flames slipped out from underneath the edge of my sleeve setting my hand ablaze. The flames didn't seem hot enough to burn me, just make me uncomfortable from their warmth.
I heard my own sharp intake of breath just as the yellow-orange flames, which quickly covered my hand, soon enveloped my entire body. I quickly stood to my feet and backed away from the table. Only my sudden, unexpected movement was able to draw everyone's attention away from the spectacle of the fireworks show. From the middle of my back, I felt something tug forcefully on my dress. I turned my head to look behind me just as two large, fiery wings unfolded from the back of the kimono, stretching out to their full length on either side of me.
Everything after that seemed to happen in slow motion. At least that's the way my mind was processing the information it received. I could hear Inara and Fallon shout out my name just as the wings began to sweep back and forth, lifting me into the air.
Aurora flew up beside me, but she wasn't able to stay in the air for very long before falling back to the floor. She simply wasn’t old enough to remain in flight for an extended period.
“Aurora, what’s happening?” I asked, completely frightened by the circumstances I found myself in.
She didn’t answer. She didn’t even seem to know I had said anything to her.
As my body was lifted higher into the air, I saw Fallon reach up to grab one of my ankles, but he immediately pulled his hand back from the heat of the flames, helplessly watching my continued ascent. Inara was shouting out my name in a powerless cry. Just as the wings on my back continued to propel me towards the glass ceiling, I caught sight of Dracen. His expression was one of murderous intent as he watched me fly further away.
I'm not sure what happened to my friends after that because my gaze was diverted to the quickly approaching ceiling. The heat from the flames surrounding me melted a spot in the glass as I drew closer, weakening the ceiling just as the wings quickly thrust me towards it. I lifted my arms to protect my face as the ceiling shattered around me, showering those below with lethal shards of glass.
The cool wind blowing outside the palace was a welcome respite from the flames covering me, but it was far too little to be of any real help. As I soared through the sky to some unknown destination, I felt my consciousness begin to slip away. Darkness shrouded my thoughts as I fell into a deep sleep.
"Queen Emma?"
I heard my name said but simply couldn't find the strength to lift my eyelids and view the person who had just spoken to me. Nevertheless, I knew who it was even without a visual confirmation.
"Arisu?" I asked, my speech slightly slurred because my body felt weak and my thoughts were still clouded by sleep.
"Yes, Queen Emma. Don’t worry. It won't be long now."
I forced my eyelids open just enough to see Arisu. She was smiling down at me like a heavenly angel, but I knew she was anything but.
"What did you do to me?"
"Only what my master wanted, Queen Emma," Arisu said, as if this was explanation enough.
"Sora?"
I heard an urgent, muffled cry come from somewhere in the room.
Arisu’s attention was drawn away to a point behind me. She scowled at the person who made the racket.
“I would be quiet if I were you, Queen Sora,” Arisu said, much to my surprise. Arisu shook her head at Sora in disappointment. “He won’t like it if you continue to struggle and disrupt his work when he gets here. He’ll make your death less painful if you simply cooperate. Otherwise, you’ll end up begging him to end your life to escape the agony he can inflict.”
“Who?” I asked Arisu. If Sora was a prisoner too, who was Arisu working for?
Arisu looked back down at me but didn’t answer my question. She simply walked away to the other side of the room. I followed her movements and took in the rest of my environment. We appeared to be in a small one-room cottage. Arisu approached a worktable with various tools lying haphazardly across its surface. She remained there for a long time staring down at something.
I could still hear Sora grunting behind me as she struggled against whatever binding was holding her prisoner. Since she was only grunting as she fought against her bonds, I also had to assume she had been gagged. She would be of no use in helping me escape my predicament. She couldn’t even seem to help herself. If I was going to find an escape of my own, I needed to take stock of my own situation.
I was obviously lying on something cold and hard. My wrists and ankles were fastened to it by what felt like strips of leather. I flexed my fingers against the surface and felt the rough texture of stone. My heart suddenly went cold inside my chest as realization hit. It was probably the same stone Able saw in his vision of my death.
The flames that once surrounded my body were no longer present. Neither was the headache I had suffered through during the afternoon and most of the evening. Yet, there was heat present in the room, but its origin wasn’t me. With a little effort, I turned my head to the right and saw that the warmth was coming from a roaring fire blazing in a nearby hearth. A small wrought iron spit hung above the flickering flames of the burning logs.
"Where are we?" I asked Arisu, turning my attention back to her.
Arisu turned away from the table she was facing and looked at me. I almost wished I hadn’t addressed her when I saw what she was holding in her hands. The sharp edge of the knife she held glinted in the light of the dimly lit room.
"We're at Queen Sora's sanctuary," Arisu said, walking over to me.
"Arisu, you don't want to do this," I told her, knowing exactly what her intent was because Able had already told me how I died in his vision.
"I have to get started,” Arisu said like she was simply going through a checklist of things which needed to be done instead of ending a person's life. “Otherwise, he'll be disappointed in me, and I simply can’t have that."
"Who are you talking about?" I asked. "He who?"
Arisu didn't answer and walked up to me, grabbing the wrist closest to her while she pushed up the sleeve of the kimono to my elbow. I felt the first slice of the blade’s tip as she pierced the skin at my wrist and ran it halfway up my forearm.
"Arisu! Please stop!" I begged, trembling from the pain her mutilation was causing.
But she didn't stop. She simply walked around the table to do the same thing to my other arm.
"Why?" I cried, unable to hold back my tears against the pain as I felt my life begin to trickle away.
"Because he needs you. Once he has you, nothing can stop him."
"Who are you talking about?"
"I'm afraid she's talking about me, dear niece."
My gaze was diverted towards the now open door of the cottage where Ren stood. I heard Sora's muffled, angry protests behind me as Ren walked further in and closed the door.
"Why?" I asked him, not seeing any method to his madness.
"It's simple really," he said, looking me straight in the eyes with no show of pity for my situation. "I want power."
"How does killing me give you any more power?"
"Oh, to the world you won't appear dead, Emma. Otherwise, how could I use you to take control of Vankara for myself?"
Ren walked over to the table I was laying on and looked at Arisu's handy work.
"Very good, Arisu," he praised, awarding his accomplice, perhaps even his apprentice, with a smile. "I couldn't have done it better myself."
Arisu grinned and bowed to Ren. "Thank you, master."
Ren ran a hand over my body, and I felt as though he was pulling on the strings of my very soul by the simple action.
"Wha
t are you doing to me?" I asked as I felt the essence of life slip through my fingers.
"I'm going to kill you and then take control of your soul," Ren told me, no malice in his words just a simple statement of his intentions.
You would think after making such a declaration there would be a glint of madness in Ren's eyes. Yet, he looked in perfect control of his faculties. He knew exactly what he was doing, which made him even more frightening. Anyone who could be in so much control while performing murder was not someone I would be able to reason with.
"What will that gain you?" I asked. “I’ll be dead.”
Ren smiled. "The world will see you as you were, not as you are. Once I have control over your soul, you’ll simply be another puppet I can add to my collection. I just hope it works out better on you than it did with my father. But, I think I know what went wrong when I tried to do the same thing to him."
"Why didn't you just kill him?" I asked, feeling myself become lightheaded from the loss of so much blood. "You're his only heir. You would have been given the throne as your birthright."
Ren’s gaze lifted as he looked behind me to Sora.
"And have her fight me at every turn?" Ren asked shaking his head. "There was no way she would quietly relinquish her power. And she has far too much sway over the generals of our army. That’s why you coming here to ask for our help was so fortuitous for me. I can kill two birds with one stone now. I had planned to take control of you on my planned visit to Vankara. But you were kind enough to come to me instead. I'll simply have you blame Sora for kidnapping you and attempting to use dark magic to control you. After you weep and weave a tale about how you had to kill her to escape her evil plan, the people of Kamora will accept your explanation of the events without even asking any questions. After you tell them that my father is simply a walking corpse, the people will demand that he be laid to rest. Then, I will be asked to step up and take my rightful place as King of Kamora while having the queen of the most powerful nation in the world in my back pocket, as it were. Once we help you drive out the Fae from Vankara, you will announce a wedding between the two of us to strengthen your position and make me King of Vankara as well."