I shake my head, dismissing her excuses. The fact is, I can no longer trust Imogen. She should have told me this long ago. And what’s she’s done … it’s unforgivable. “None of that matters. I hereby order you discharged from service to our cause. Leif is bringing Caleb here in a moment. You will take the boy and leave immediately, bound for somewhere safe, outside of the Bastion, until this is over. Caleb is in great danger here. If anyone found out, about what he did—” My voice fails, the impact of what could befall the boy, if he was discovered, makes my throat close up with horror.
Imogen’s jaw is rock-tight. She speaks through clenched teeth. “You can’t do that.”
“I absolutely can. It’s already done.”
“What’s done?” I jump at Leif’s voice behind me. I turn around to find him standing with his hand on Caleb’s shoulder. His cousin.
“Imogen is taking Caleb from the Bastion. She’s been dismissed.”
Confusion crosses Leif’s face. “What do you mean—dismissed?”
“Imogen’s services are no longer required.” My voice is hard.
“What are you talking about?” Leif continues, his voice rising. “We need Imogen! She can’t leave! Look—Caleb’s safe now. He’s with us. We can’t do this without Imogen. We—”
I take a step closer to Leif. “Are you defying me too?”
He looks down at the ground for a moment, then back up at me with pleading eyes. “No. No, m’lady, I … it’s just. You gave me a second chance. Why not Imogen? We all … everything we’ve done is for you. For Nadir.”
“I know that Imogen helped the Queen in having me captured me last year … and convinced you to set me up as well. It was her idea all along. That is what I can’t forgive. And then she’s gone and poisoned old Araroa, and now his son! Without telling me!” My voice is rising too, and I take deep, even breaths to calm myself. “I have no idea who she’s willing to sacrifice next. And for that, she must go.”
I watch Leif’s jaw working. He pushes Caleb gently toward Imogen. She looks down at the boy, as if she doesn’t quite know what to do with him. He’s been more of a minion to her than a son.
Leif gives me one more unreadable look, opens his mouth to say something, then shuts it again. He spins on one heel and marches away without saying a word.
Later in the afternoon, Cecil confirms he saw Imogen and Caleb to the underground tunnel where they left the Bastion together. Two of his cats will track them, to make sure they get away safely. Before she’d left, I’d given Imogen back her sword. I’ll find another. Besides, every time I look at it, I’ll just be reminded of her dishonesty.
Seems to run in the Phineas family.
I don’t see Leif for the rest of the day. I don’t look for him either, figuring he needs time to cool off. I’m sure he’ll understand why I did what I did … eventually.
The Palace is dark and quiet after sunset. Only a dozen Hunters remain posted in front. No doubt those inside are busy nursing Dominic back to health. As much as I want to see him leave the Palace, I don’t wish for him to do it in a coffin.
But the fact is—despite how vehemently I disagree with how it was done—right now Dominic is in a drastically weakened state.
Right now might be the perfect opportunity to take the Palace.
We could storm in—I know all the hidden entrances now, thanks to Caleb. Forcefully throw Dominic out, declare him too weak to rule. I could claim the throne. Finally.
We’ve got the perfect opportunity.
Imogen would know how to plan it all—but she’s not here.
I kick the stone wall next to me. A piece of mortar falls; I pick it up, then throw it as hard as I can. It crashes to the stones, shattering in a thousand tiny pieces.
“Everything all right?” It’s Tui’s voice behind me.
I spin around, breathing heavily. Tears are pricking at the corners of my eyes.
Tui’s holding a wooden staff in one hand and wiping beads of sweat off his forehead with the sleeve of his other arm. “Sorry, just got done training. I heard you yelling—wanted to make sure you were all right.”
“Was I yelling?”
“You were.”
“I think I screwed up, Tui. Big time.”
“Do tell.”
I fill him in with what I’d learned over the past few hours. When I tell him I discharged Imogen and Caleb, his eyes go wide and his mouth falls open.
“Did you … really?” he asks, incredulously.
“Yeah, I really did. She’s been lying to me all this time. What else has she been lying about?”
Tui says nothing. He runs a hand through his tangled black hair, scratches his scalp.
“Might I suggest, maybe, sending someone to bring them back?”
“NO!” I practically shout. “Sorry, no. I can’t go back on my decision now. What’s done is done. Even though it may have been stupid …” I kick a loose stone on the ground with my boot, sighing.
Tui places a large hand firmly on my shoulder. “Don’t sweat it, Raven. We can make a plan without Imogen. We can finish this off without her.” He gives me a gentle tug and I give in, practically falling against his broad chest. I bury my face, close my eyes, breathe in my friend’s musky pine scent. As always, images of our childhood in Baldachin fill my mind’s eye: green leafy trees, cool river water flowing over my bare feet, crisp apples, my mum’s voice calling us up for lunch.
Suddenly, my heart wants to go back there so badly my chest truly hurts. I let the threatening tears fall. No reason not to.
“I want to go home, Tui. I don’t know what I’m doing here anymore,” I mumble into his damp shirt. I feel one of his hands smoothing down the back of my hair comfortingly.
He leans down, resting his cheek on the top of my head. “I know, Raven. I do too. And we will.”
I lean back, then look up at him with furrowed brows. “Really?”
He grins. “Yeah, after the throne is yours.”
“What about Leif?”
“What about him? He got a problem with your decision?”
“A little.”
After I tell Tui about this part of the situation, he’s just shaking his head.
“Where is he now?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, go find him. Explain yourself. The longer he fumes, the angrier he’ll get. Believe me, I know.”
I consider this briefly, then have to acknowledge to myself that he’s right.
Before I can respond, Tui adds: “Then you need to find the captains, make a plan to take over that Palace over there.”
I smile up at him. “Thanks, Tui.”
“No problem, Raven. Glad to offer my advice anytime.”
I give Tui a quick hug and take my leave.
I wander around for a few minutes, then find Leif near the kitchen area, tucking provisions into his pack.
“Where do you think you’re going?” I say to his back.
He spins around, his mouth hanging open. A rare moment of speechlessness.
“We need to talk. I won’t let you run away,” I say.
“I’m not running. Imogen might need my help, that’s all. Clearly you don’t.”
I don’t acknowledge his words, only turning to walk to a private area behind some tents. I can hear his footsteps behind me.
Once we’re hidden, we stand there, looking at each other in the little bit of lamplight that reaches us. It feels as though minutes tick by.
“I had to do it, Leif,” I finally say. “I had no choice.”
Leif snorts. “Of course you had a choice.”
“No, I didn’t. Imogen lied to me. Outright lied! How can I possibly trust her with anything? It wasn’t just a tiny lie. She murdered”—I lower my voice to a barely audible whisper—“she murdered my father. The King.”
Leif runs his hand over his whiskered chin, a motion I’ve seen Nile do many times. He lets out a long breath before he speaks. “She did it for you, Raven. So the throne would finally be yours! Y
ou should be thanking her, not punishing her. More importantly, she did it for Nadir, for all of us. To have you as our Woman King.”
I stare at Leif, my face a stone mask. I get the feeling he’s speaking for himself too, not just Imogen. “That may be. But she had no right to do that. Not without asking me first. Look—she’s welcome to return to the Bastion, with Caleb, if—no, when this is all over. When Dominic and his cronies are gone. When the Palace is ours. But until then, she needs to keep Caleb safe, and I won’t have her as my commander. Not anymore.”
Leif’s nostrils flare; I can tell he’s trying to keep the words in that he really wants to say. “I’m sorry to say this, Raven. But you’re making a huge mistake. Imogen’s my aunt, I know her. I know she wants only one thing—the same that we all want, and that is to see you crowned, Woman King of Nadir. Besides, whatever it is she’s done, well, it’s certainly no worse than old Araroa has, or his Loyalists.”
“Leif! That doesn’t matter! The whole point is, we’re far better than old Araroa, or Dominic. We don’t lie to people to get ahead, or trick them, or—good gods—kill them! I’m sorry, but for me to sanction the things Imogen has done, regardless of her intentions, for me to just look away, that makes me no better than any of the Kings of centuries past. No, Leif. I’m better than that, I’m a better King than that.”
“I’ll put it to you bluntly then: as King of Nadir, you will have enemies. You will always have enemies. And sometimes you will need to take action against those enemies. Even if you don’t like it.”
“I don’t agree with that.”
Leif takes a step back. His face is drawn; there’s something in it I’ve never seen before.
Disappointment.
“I think I do need to leave. Tomorrow. Go find Imogen, and my papa. Make sure they are safe.”
I know I should tell him that I need him, that I want him to stay, to stand beside me. That this whole thing with Imogen will pass. That Nile and Catriona will return soon.
But I don’t.
“Be careful,” is all I say.
“You too,” is all he says.
Leif turns, and starts walking away. He pauses for just a instant, then continues until he disappears into the dark.
I stand there, watching him go, seething in fury. That those I’ve trusted most—Leif included, if I’m honest with myself—betrayed me. Seething that Leif refuses to stand by me.
I sleep alone in the tent that night. A deep, heavy, dreamless sleep.
Sometime in the early morning I’m woken by a strange noise.
It’s coming from just outside of the Bastion: a rhythmic noise, like drums beating.
I listen. It is drums beating, and the sound is indeed growing louder.
I pull on my boots and jacket and run outside to where others have already gathered. We train our ears toward the sound, which now clearly includes chanting.
Suddenly, Tui appears next to me as if out of nowhere. He puts a firm hand on my arm. I listen again. I pray that what I’m hearing is what I think it is. Or who.
“Come with me, Tui!” I grab onto his hand and I run toward the eastern gate, the one that faces the port. Together we dart through the dark and empty Bastion streets.
The drums grow louder, the chanting more fierce.
The gates are still closed when we reach them, but what’s on the other side fills my heart to bursting.
Four muscled men are holding spears at the throats of the Hunters standing guard at the gate.
“I think you’d better let us in,” an ancient voice, calm and sure, suggests.
The Hunters are dragged away, and a white-robed man comes into view. He gives me a warm, toothy grin when he sees me clinging to the other side of the bars.
“Oh, is it ever good to see you my dear, Our Majesty Raven,” Sufa says.
Chapter 20
I order the Hunters to unlock and open the gates—and with spears at their throats, they comply immediately.
I rush toward Sufa, pulling him into a big embrace, as if to convince myself that he’s really here. My Governor General of Nuimana seems a bit shorter than I remember.
Releasing him, we grin at each other for a few moments, then I scan the crowd of Nuimanians.
“Is Marina with you?”
Sufa’s grin slowly fades. “No, m’lady. She stayed behind on Nuimana.”
My heart jumps in my chest. I know what that means: Sufa probably said goodbye to her forever when he left to sail back to Nadir. The trip is arduous and I doubt Sufa would undertake it again. “Will she …”
Sufa shakes his head. “No, m’lady. Marina wishes to stay on her beloved island. She’ll not be joining me in Nadir.”
“Well, I’m so happy you came, Sufa. Did you—”
“I did. I received your letter, Raven,” Sufa says. He reaches inside his robe and pulls out the paper I recognize having written on months ago. It’s now very worn and stained. “The answer to your question is—”
“Hold on! Please, come to the square where my people are waiting. We’re calling ourselves the Treasoners … although I don’t think that name will be necessary much longer.
Sufa grins again. “Ah! Very clever. No, you’re right, m’lady. No Treasoners, unless they stand against you.”
I smile at him, then introduce him to Tui, who gives Sufa a deep, reverent bow in greeting. I take Sufa’s wrinkled, papery hand in mine, and we start toward the square.
The drums begin again as we march. The booming, rhythmic sound echoes throughout the Bastion, a sound never before heard here.
With each step, I feel more hopeful that this will actually work.
The Nuimanian warriors storm into the square, with Sufa and me leading. The Treasoners stand watching, rapt.
I hold up a hand, asking for quiet so I can speak. With a thunderous conclusion, the drums fall silent.
“Please welcome my friends from Nuimana! They have come to help us.” A raucous cheer goes up into the air.
Sufa tilts his head toward me, whispers: “May I speak?”
To him, I say, “Certainly.” In a much louder voice, I introduce him to the Treasoners.
“Thank you, Raven Araroa, our Woman King of Nuimana!” His ancient voice is surprisingly loud in the square, and reverberates clearly. “I have come a long, long way, many weeks over the sea”—I swear he sways a little as he says this—“and I come bearing two gifts for our beloved King.”
Sufa holds out his hands, and someone places a long, silk-wrapped object into them. “When we had the original made for you, we ordered two.” He winks, handing the object over to me.
The weight is utterly familiar, and I instantly know exactly what I’m holding.
I slowly peel the silk back, and sure enough, a glittering silver sword appears. It is decorated similarly to Fortissima, but even more beautiful, what I’d never thought possible.
I look back at Sufa, brows wrinkled. “How did—what is—” I shake my head, confused.
Sufa places a hand on my arm. “Our dearest Raven, the sword of a Woman King is whichever sword she may hold. Fortissima was destroyed all those many years ago. But what cannot be destroyed is this: the power and beauty of our beloved Woman Kings. We did make the sword, just for you. But when you claimed her as your own, you became a true Woman King.”
“But, her power, the strength she gives me, how did you make that?”
Sufa’s belly shakes in a silent laugh. “The power does not come from your sword, Raven. It comes from inside you. It always has. Go on, try this one. Her name is Glissanda, the new sword of Woman Kings.” He nods his head at the beautiful sword I’m cradling.
I let the silk fall away, grasping my right hand onto the sword’s grip. The sensation is so familiar, one I never thought I’d feel again after Dominic destroyed my original Fortissima. Lifting her up in front of me, I nearly gasp at how perfectly balanced she is, how light. I feel the strength I know so well, flowing up my arm: the power of the Woman Kings. Then sudde
nly, it’s as if Fortissima never left my side.
I hold her up high.
“Fortissima lives!” I cry out. The crowd explodes, as if they were all holding their breaths.
When the noise has died down, someone presents me with a new sword belt, helps me buckle it on. I slide Glissanda inside the smooth leather sheath, and rest my hand on her grip in one smooth, familiar motion.
I look at Sufa again in wordless anticipation.
His smile grows even wider, his eyes crinkling with mirth. “As to your question, the one you wrote in the letter you sent to me via Captain Stone, the answer is yes.” That’s when I notice a cloth satchel hanging by his side, the strap snug across his body. He unbuckles the leather clasp with his weathered fingers and reaches inside it.
He pulls out a book.
It’s covered in red leather, ornately decorated with gold. Sufa offers the book out to me.
My hands are shaking as I accept it. Unlike Fortissima, this object is so heavy, I grasp onto it tightly so as not to drop it. It smells of musty, ancient paper, and the leather is nearly worn through in spots.
“I thought it was a long shot, when I wrote to ask you if you knew of this book’s existence,” I tell Sufa. “Is this real?”
Sufa nods, still smiling. “This is very real, dear Raven. This is the book that is proof of your claim to the throne of Nadir—one of the original books of Diuturnal Law. We took it with us when we escaped to Nuimana all those years ago. And while the Kings of Nadir since have denied its existence, we have continued to follow it. Now, it has returned to Nadir, and no longer will any male be able to deny the throne to their true owners—Woman Kings like you.”
I look down at the book I’m holding. With trembling fingers, I open it up at the page marked with a faded red silk ribbon. The letters shimmer before my eyes, as if they were written in enchanted ink: The firstborn royal daughter shall be heir to rule Nadir. If any male relation dares to harm, or merely threatens to harm, a female descendent to the throne, he shall be stripped of all nobility and exiled …
“Thank you, Sufa. Thank you for everything, for coming all this way, for bringing these to me. How did you hear about Fortissima being destroyed?”
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