Kamo looked at the stand where Gobi, Rolin, and Serenne were seated. Then, she looked at Elesun, confused.
“As it happens, Fiona and Phabian both completed the second task. I don’t know how to put this more discreetly,” he paused, “but after careful observation, we have determined that they cannot rescue someone from the stake, as they would be rescuing one another.”
Kamo looked at them. Phabian reached for Fiona’s hand and kissed it. She stepped closer to him and smiled. They both looked at Elesun.
“And so,” he waved his hand again, and the bonfire disappeared, “we have chosen to adapt an older tradition. In the past, when the challenge has come down to two competitors, we have allowed them to duel. In this case, there are three, but it hardly seems fair to send Miss Linema into the fight with an obvious alliance against her. And so, we now offer Miss Linema a chance to invite one Fire elf into the arena with her to duel the other champions. For fairness, we ask that she choose the elf she cares most about.”
Elesun glanced at Rolin.
Kamo froze as the crowds cheered. She looked at Rolin. He stared at her, the look of determination plain on his face. He seemed calm, and even peaceful.
She looked at Gobi. His face was set, determined like Rolin’s. She looked at Serenne, and he beckoned her toward him.
“Do I have a moment to decide?” Kamo asked Elesun.
“You may discuss your decision for three minutes, no more.”
Kamo ran to the stands as Serenne, Gobi, and Rolin ran to meet her.
“I’ll do it, Kamo,” Rolin said.
“What?”
“I’ll fight with you.”
“He’ll die.” Serenne’s voice was urgent and desperate.
“What?” Gobi and Kamo said together.
“He’ll die,” Serenne said again. “Once Phabian and Fiona see that he is not an elf of nobility, once they see that he is not Fire wielding, they will go after him full force, and he will die.”
“But I thought you said they didn’t duel to the death,” Kamo whispered.
“Not magic wielders,” Serenne answered, “but the commonwealth is used as fodder, collateral damage in these types of noble displays.”
“You couldn’t bother telling us that before all this?” Gobi asked.
Serenne shrank. “It didn’t seem relevant at the time.”
Rolin looked from Serenne to Kamo.
“I’m still willing to try,” he said.
“I won’t let you.”
“You have to win,” Rolin said earnestly, “It’s the only way into the palace. Without the win, it ends here and now.”
A thought stirred at the forefront of Kamo’s mind: Vengeance is not worth the price you must pay. A single tear rolled down her cheek, and she blinked the rest away.
“Then it ends.”
She turned to Elesun. “I withdraw,” she shouted. “I withdraw as a challenger. The duel can commence without me.”
The crowd gasped, and even the crown prince rose to his feet, staring at her.
“Fiona and Phabian may be willing to risk their lives for one another,” she said, “but I cannot ask anyone I love to do the same for me.”
She looked at Rolin. Sheelo, Morro, so many others had died for her to be here. She wouldn’t let it happen again. Not when she could save him.
Rolin stepped close to her and swept her into his arms. “I promise you, we will find another way,” he whispered.
He released her, and he, Serenne, and Gobi took their places in the stands once again. Kamo walked down to the arena floor.
Elesun’s beady eyes followed her, and she looked at them to see if she could find a hint of the kindness they had shown once before, but to no avail.
She walked past him. She shook hands with Fiona, then with Phabian, and wished them well.
She turned to the royal family. She looked at the crown prince, the queen, and then at the king, her father. She bowed deeply.
“Thank you for the opportunity, your majesties,” she said quietly, and she turned to go.
Silence overwhelmed the arena. Thousands of pairs of eyes were on her back. The ground was warm under her feet. Her legs still ached, and her arms felt heavier with each step. As she reached the exit, she breathed in the soothing, warm air. She paused only for a moment and stepped outside.
“Wait,” she heard a faint voice behind her. “Wait!”
With the sun glaring down, she couldn’t tell who was coming after her. She turned, expecting to see Gobi or Serenne.
“Why did you do it?”
The crown prince joined her in the daylight.
She bowed, almost instinctively. “Your highness.”
“Why did you do it?”
“Why did I withdraw?” she asked.
He nodded.
“Would you risk the lives of those you love most?”
“Yes,” he replied without hesitation, “if the reward warranted it.”
“Well, then I guess I should say that this reward does not.”
He looked amused. “The potential for power and influence,” he said, “the chance to elevate your family name, to grow close to royalty and never have to prove your honor ever again—those things are not worth the life of one common man?”
Kamo studied him. He couldn’t be more than fifteen years old. He was stout and polished. Kamo imagined the life he must lead. Tutors surrounding him, courtiers doting on him.
“Not to me.” She curtsied and walked away.
Emotions flooded through Kamo as she reached Serenne’s shop. She breathed them in and out. She gripped the shop door, letting each emotion fill her. She ducked inside the shop and stopped to admire the torch ginger.
“I’m sorry,” she said aloud.
She stared at it for a few minutes, occasionally reaching out to stroke its delicate petals.
I’m sorry. I can’t lose Rolin. If there were another way, I would take it.
She walked away, taking the stairs slowly to the parlour. She fell onto the couch.
I’m sorry, Pacha. Sheelo. Morro. Her eyes brimmed with tears, but she didn’t bother stopping them now. She cried, long and hard. Her cheeks were raw, her eyes puffy and swollen. She hid her face in a comfortable pillow and fell asleep.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Gobi, Rolin, and Serenne joined her several hours later in the parlour.
“Who won?” she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
“Fiona,” Rolin said, “but Phabian came awfully close to taking her down near the end.”
“She’s nimble and quick,” Kamo replied, “she just had to dodge him long enough and aim well.”
“I don’t know,” Gobi said, “Phabian is more agile than he looks. They were pretty evenly matched.”
“I have to know, could I have taken them?” she asked, smiling sadly.
Rolin glanced nervously at Serenne. Gobi found a sudden interest in the ceiling.
“I see,” she laughed. “Well then, perhaps this turned out for the best.”
Rolin walked over to the couch and sat next to her. “Don’t get me wrong,” he said, taking her hand, “you’re good. They’re just more refined. More educated.”
Gobi took a seat on the other couch. “If you were allowed to wield water, you’d win every time,” he said.
“He’s right,” Serenne said from behind his desk. “If your encounter with the pond is any indication of how well you wield water, your magic alone would have the upper hand in any duel.”
“You should have seen the fountain she summoned in the canyon,” Gobi said, turning to Serenne. “She saved Rolin’s life.”
As Gobi recounted the events in the canyon, Kamo heard a soft knock on the upstairs shop door.
“Are you expecting anyone, Serenne?” she asked.
He shook his head. “But people have been complimenting me all day,” he said, “it’s probably just a friend coming to talk about the Ring of Fire. I’ll be right back.”
S
erenne shuffled up the stairs, and Kamo heard a bell tinkling as the door opened. A moment later, she heard Serenne’s muffled voice and two sets of feet in the stairway.
“Miss Linema, the esteemed Advisor, Elesun would like an audience with you, alone.”
Serenne stepped from the doorway, and Elesun stepped into the parlour behind him.
Kamo jumped to her feet. “Elesun, I—”
“I’m afraid time is of the essence, Miss Linema,” he said. “Please invite your companions to leave.” His voice was stern, but Kamo caught a glimpse of the kindness she’d seen in the arena.
She nodded to Rolin and Gobi. “I’ll be alright. Wait for me upstairs, please.”
Rolin and Gobi stood reluctantly and walked up the stairs. Serenne bowed to Elesun and followed the men, closing the parlour door behind him.
Elesun spoke softly. “Tell me quickly, for your life may depend on it. Are you, or are you not Kamo Rana, lost princess, daughter of his majesty the king.”
She searched his eyes. “I am.”
“And why did you choose to come here now?”
“I wanted to meet the king. I want to know if he’s responsible for the death of every single person I care about, every single Sea elf, but me.”
Elesun crossed the room and stood close to her. “And if he is?”
Kamo paused. “Then, I’ll kill him.”
Elesun sighed and collapsed onto the couch. He seemed small and tired, sinking into the cushions.
“So much death,” he said slowly. He put a hand on his temple. “But there’s no time.” He stood from the couch. “Listen to me.” He grabbed her arm. “The king gave the order. He believed the rumors. He sought out the Sea elves responsible for Mara’s death, and when he couldn’t find the guilty party, he condemned them all.”
“Then he deserves to die!” Kamo said, trying to wrestle from his grasp.
“I’m not finished!” Elesun bellowed. “He was mad with grief! He loved Mara passionately. When the rumors started, he chased them. Finally, he had something, someone to blame, someone to punish.”
Kamo wrestled again, and Elesun released her arms.
“Then his punishment will be just,” Kamo said.
“You foolish girl,” Elesun spat. “Can’t you see? The rumors.”
“What about them?”
“A duchess started the rumors. A duchess from the house of Alessi.”
Alessi. Fiona. Red, silver.
“You don’t mean—”
Elesun nodded his head almost imperceptibly. “The queen.”
Kamo stared at him, breathing hard, fire tickling her fingers.
“So the duchess lied to him and seduced him to elevate herself.” she said slowly, “It doesn’t matter. He still gave the order. He still deserves to die.”
“You would place more blame on a grieving husband than on the woman responsible for manipulating his grief into genocide?”
Kamo breathed. His words pounded in her ears. “I don’t know.”
“The king fell victim to the duchess’ beauty and wit. He became a slave to her will. If she had asked him to murder his own son, he would have done it.”
“Or daughter?”
Elesun winced. “Perhaps. He would pursue any course of action she recommended. Officially, the order came from the king’s lips. But there’s no doubt in my mind she drove him to it.”
Kamo’s knees buckled under her, and she fell onto the couch. “The people, the commoners, they don’t know the extent, do they?” she asked. Elesun shook his head. “Why hasn’t anyone stopped her? Why hasn’t anyone confronted the king?”
“I tried,” Elesun sat next to her. “I tried for years. But he wouldn’t listen. And then, she began threatening me, just subtle things, little threats. She silenced me, but I remained at the palace, hoping for an opportunity.”
“So you didn’t warn me about the king, at the challenge,” Kamo said, “you warned me about the queen. If she saw me wielding water and fire, she’d know who I was.”
“And you’d be dead.”
Kamo closed her eyes. “The king loved Mara. Wouldn’t he be glad to see me? Glad to know I’m alive?” she asked.
“I’m afraid I don’t know,” Elesun said, “perhaps if you could show him who you are, if you could prove you have both magics in you, that you are Mara’s daughter, it might be enough.”
“Might?”
“The queen is cunning,” Elesun said, “she can twist your words, explain away your actions and your magic. If you haven’t earned any real affection from the king, he’s likely to go on trusting her, bowing to her.”
“How do I do that? I assume Fiona got the invitation to reside at the palace,” Kamo said.
Before Elesun could answer, she heard the shop door open above them.
Moments later, Gobi appeared at the door clutching a white envelope in his hand. Rolin and Serenne rushed in behind him.
“I’m sorry, your grace, but we had to interrupt. For you!” he cried, thrusting the envelope into Kamo’s hands. “From the crown prince!”
She examined it closely and saw the royal seal. She ripped the envelope and turned the letter over in her hands.
“Your presence is requested by His Royal Highness, Prince Aden II, at the palace for the duration of the season,” Kamo read aloud.
“What did you tell him at the arena?” Gobi asked.
Kamo looked at Rolin. “I told him the truth,” she said, “that one man’s life wasn’t worth the victory.”
Rolin smiled weakly. “So I was right.”
“Right?” she asked. “How so?”
“Well, I said that you’d find a solution that they hadn’t thought of, and I was right. Here you are. No win, no honor from the festival. But with an invitation to the royal palace.”
Kamo smiled at him, then turned to Elesun. He stared at her, a small, sincere smile on his face.
“Well, then I guess I’d better pack,” she said. “I’d hate to keep the prince waiting.”
Acknowledgement
The biggest thank you to my husband Ryan, for giving up his wife for an absurd amount of time while I wrote, and agonized, and edited. To my father in law Bruce for being the first person ever to read the raw, unedited first draft. Thank you for sticking with it, and reading it several more times. To my friend Christina, who was the second to read the raw, unedited first draft. You have been the most supportive friend and wonderful teacher through this whole process. To my sisters, for giving Kamo the fondest memories of her sisters. A huge thank you to my editor and proofreader: Josh Vogt with Eschler Editing, and Lee Anne Campbell at Salt and Sage. You took my little manuscript and polished it in a way that I certainly could not. To my beta readers- my mom, Julie, my mother-in-law, Nancy, Nettie, Jocelyn, Rene, Eden, Maddie, and anyone else I may have forgotten. You are all fantastic. I loved your feedback. To Leslie, for answering the social media call. To Becca and Becky, thank you for keeping me sane during the whole “what to do about the synopsis” fiasco. To all future readers, to all my friends and family, and my Heavenly Father, thank you.
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