by Elly Blake
I blinked at the sobriquet of sweet girl and said, “I believe I know quite well who I am.” But the assertion came out hesitant. I’d had too many surprises to be sure of anything.
“You are my niece,” she said, blinding me with her smile. “My own flesh and blood. Your mother was my dear younger sister.”
EIGHTEEN
MY VISION NARROWED AND MY VOICE sounded strangely wispy and distant. “That’s not… possible.”
I heard the scuff of feet and looked up to see that Kai had leaped over the lava. He put an arm behind my back and I leaned against him because it was either that or topple to the ground.
“Your Majesty, she has had an exhausting few days,” he said, his hand on my shoulder as he looked at the queen. “With your kind permission, I’d like to escort her back to the castle.”
“Indeed,” she replied. “How can I find fault with a display of husbandly concern for your bride-to-be?”
He took my hands, but I resisted his efforts to pull me away. “My mother wasn’t even a Fireblood.” I hadn’t made a conscious decision to speak, but I couldn’t seem to keep the words in. “There’s absolutely no way that I could be related to you. With all respect—”
Without warning, the queen’s hands rose and a geyser of lava lifted from the river and came soaring at me. Kai jerked back, then started to move in front of me, but the lava stopped in midair, hovering over us like a frozen wave. In the breathless moment that followed, I realized that my own hands were raised, my palms aimed out.
I stole a look at the queen. She had an expression of terrible concentration. The muscles in her forearms flexed and the lava moved a few inches toward me. I groaned and focused on it, pushing at it with my mind the same way I would if I were manipulating fire. The wave twisted and roiled in the air before slamming back down into the river. Drops of lava sprayed through the air, sizzling audibly against stone and clothing. One drop landed on my arm, making me gasp with pain.
I stared, incredulous, at the queen. She had controlled the lava. She had tried to hurt us with it. And I—I…
“Do not tell me you are not my sister’s daughter,” the queen said, the triumph in her eyes nearly feral in its intensity. “She was the only other person alive who could bend lava to her will. I began to wonder when Master Dallr told me that he’d watched your first trial from the openings that lead to the surface, and he was certain you’d halted the flow of lava. However, I wasn’t ready to believe. I thought of you as an outsider, someone I could use against the Frost King. I didn’t allow myself to believe you were my niece until after the second trial. I visited you while you were delirious with poison. You sang a song that my mother used to sing.”
“A Sudesian lullaby,” I said weakly, remembering how I’d dreamed of my mother, then the queen, at my bedside. “Surely every child born here knows it.”
“My sister and I made up our own verses, and you sang those, too. Only she would have known that song and must have sung it to you. That was the moment I could no longer deny the truth.” Her eyes, dark and full of such intelligence and determination, held me spellbound. “You are my niece. And so, I have my heir.”
She glanced at Kai. “Take Ruby home and make sure she rests.” She turned and strode proudly to an opening on the other side of the lava stream, her skirts swishing like retreating flames, the masters following quickly at her heels. From somewhere in the dark, I heard her voice. “We will announce your engagement tomorrow. The wedding will take place in a week.”
I didn’t even realize the jagged sound I heard was my own breathing until Kai said, “Shh, Ruby. Come. We’ll talk soon, but not here.”
We stumbled back through the tunnels, or rather, I stumbled, and Kai kept me upright with a hand on my wrist. I wondered vaguely which alternate route the queen had taken and whether that way was more fitting, somehow, for royalty. Perhaps it was lined with fine carpets and trays of food were offered at intervals by attentive servants. If so, I should have gone that way, too. After all, I was her niece.
I giggled hysterically and Kai pulled me along a little faster. “Keep it together.”
I pressed my free hand against my mouth and continued on.
Kai didn’t speak until we stood in a veritable wasteland of black rock about halfway back to the school. And then, only because I pulled free and said, “Stop. Here. Talk.”
“Not yet,” he said irritably, reaching for me.
“Now.”
“You look ready to swoon. I don’t want to carry you all the way back to the school.”
“I’m not some delicate court lady who swoons at everything. Do I look like I’m ready to faint?” It was a relief to bicker, to fall into our pattern of attack and defend. I could push away the shock of the revelations for a few more minutes.
“Yes.”
I took several deep breaths. He wasn’t wrong. I felt as if I’d been punched and pummeled, instead of passing the third trial so “easily,” as the queen had said. “I don’t even know where to start.”
“Keep walking. I mean it when I say I don’t have the strength to carry you. Not today.”
“Then talk while we walk. There are things I need to know.” I took a shuddering breath.
We continued on. Carrion birds wheeled overhead and a breeze scoured the plain with humid, salty air.
“I don’t know all the details, but I’ll tell you what I know,” he began. “Queen Nalani’s sister and her baby daughter disappeared seventeen years ago. No warning. They were just gone. Foul play was suspected, of course. Kidnapping, perhaps, for ransom. But no ransom demands ever came. King Tollak sent soldiers and spies all over Sudesia, Tempesia, and as far as the Coral Isles, but they found no trace of the princess or her baby.
“Princess Rota had grown up sailing, so eventually it was thought she could have taken a boat. One of the vessels was missing from the king’s fleet of pleasure boats, and it was a tiny craft, small enough to be piloted by one person. Not large enough to travel outside the islands and definitely not capable of crossing the sea. Finally, with no other information, they had to accept that Rota and her daughter had been lost at sea. They held a funeral and mourned the lost princesses and that was that.”
“You grew up hearing the stories, I suppose?” I pictured the princess and her daughter, but in my mind, they looked nothing like my mother and me.
“Of course. It was a great tragedy. Made greater when years passed and it became clear the queen could not have children. There are cousins, of course, and other relations to the royal family, but the succession isn’t clear. The rules in Sudesia are complicated. Noble rank has often been awarded based on one’s gift. And no one’s gift, not even her close relatives’, rivals the queen’s. No one else in Sudesia has the ability to manipulate lava. No one could truly fill her shoes.”
I tried to ignore the way my stomach was tying itself in knots, and just focused on putting one foot in front of the other. “I see how that ability is symbolic of the royal house, but does it really matter that much?”
“Of course it matters. Mount Sud erupts every decade or two, sometimes with little warning. Not to mention the smaller volcanoes and those on surrounding islands. The queen has saved hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lives. Her abilities allowed evacuations that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.”
“She can do that? Stop eruptions?” I couldn’t imagine any of the ladies of the Frost Court actually doing anything to help anyone, least of all something so dangerous.
“Perhaps not stop them, but slow the lava, at any rate, long enough to save many people. We’ve come to depend on that ability.”
I trudged along silently for a few minutes. I couldn’t wrap my head around these revelations, so I let my mind wander to safer topics. Perhaps I’d have to revise my assessment that Queen Nalani was just as bad as King Rasmus. She used her powers to save the lives of her subjects, while he had used his to instill fear and terror so he could expand his kingdom. He hadn’t been beloved
by anyone, aside from his brother. And perhaps Marella.
“So the queen has no heir,” I finally prompted when I was ready to hear more.
“Had no heir,” he corrected.
I stopped cold. “Wait a minute. This isn’t a surprise to you, is it? You knew when you came to Tempesia?”
“I didn’t know… but I did wonder. I heard the stories of the Fireblood girl who destroyed the throne and I contemplated the level of power required for such a feat. It was a reasonable theory.”
“Did anyone else wonder if I could be the princess? Did the queen?”
“Perhaps she did, secretly. Maybe she didn’t dare hope. We didn’t discuss it. In any case, she decided you would be a valuable ally and sent me to… come to terms with you.” He paused and added in a more subdued tone, “She trusted me for the task, despite my failure of the trials. I never once defied her or spoke against her, even after she took my family’s island away.”
I wanted to ask why he hadn’t defied her, and if he’d wanted to. What did he wish he could have done? But I had other more pressing questions. “So you heard about the ball and decided to pretend you belonged there.”
“It didn’t take too much convincing to get the dignitary to let me go instead and to provide the necessary proof of my identity.”
“You did look very at home at the ball.”
“Not my first ball, I assure you. The only shock was when I saw you.”
I jerked my head up to look at him. “Why was it a shock?”
“Well, you were practically coated in powdered sugar, for one thing. I’d expected you to have learned at least some basic manners.”
I jabbed his middle with my elbow and he laughed as he pushed me away. “Actually, I saw the resemblance to your mother. There’s a portrait of her in the queen’s castle, painted when she was about your age, I would say.”
“I never thought I looked much like her.” Pain lashed through me. I wished so much that I could look at her right now, that she was here to discount these claims, to tell me what to do. How had she hidden her gift so well? Why hadn’t she instructed me on how to master mine, and instead seemed nervous, almost ashamed, of my gift at times? And worst of all, if she’d been a Fireblood, why hadn’t she defended herself when the soldiers came? I couldn’t bear to think she had hidden a gift that could have saved her life. I couldn’t bear it.
The obvious answer was that Mother hadn’t been a Fireblood at all, which meant she wasn’t the lost princess. She was just a simple healer who preferred solitude. My grandmother certainly hadn’t been a queen. I could still remember every patch on her colorful cloak, which she’d repaired with whatever scrap of fabric was at hand as she traveled the world. She was an eccentric wanderer who blew in and out of our lives as the whim took her.
Relief washed away the pain and doubt. That was the simplest explanation. Resemblances happened all the time. It didn’t have to mean anything. Let Kai think what he wanted. I knew the truth. They had made a mistake. I wanted to argue it out with him, but then he might have some counterargument that might make me doubt myself again.
And then my whole identity would go spinning into oblivion. I wasn’t ready for that. Instead, I asked him how he’d managed to agree to the engagement when he’d left me late the previous night.
“They came for me this morning,” he said, peering up at the cloudless blue sky. “Well before dawn. I’d barely slept because I was worried about our third trial. When Master Dallr brought me to the throne room, and the queen said I merely had to give her the right answer to a question, I was relieved. After all, I wouldn’t have to hurt anyone I cared about.”
“Until you found out she intended to foist a fate worse than death on you,” I said, attempting a light tone.
“I don’t know that it’s worse than death. I did point out that my second chance was contingent upon you passing the trials and that you hadn’t passed yours yet. She said, ‘Her success depends on yours. You can both pass, or both fail. Your destinies are intertwined.’”
I gave a half laugh. “How you must have loved that. Being told I’m your destiny whether you like it or not.”
“Then she asked if I would marry you, and I thought at first she was making a joke. But she had the same look in her eyes as she had when she ordered me to execute Goran. Utterly serious. So I said yes.”
“So marriage to me is like an execution.”
“Better than an execution, I hope.” He grinned and waited, but when I didn’t smile back he added, “It was unexpected. And I know you didn’t expect it, either.”
“No.”
We were silent for a long time. The hill leading to the school came into view and he said casually, “Not that I hadn’t considered the possibility. But I didn’t think it would be so soon.”
I stumbled and Kai righted me. I turned to face him. “What?”
He didn’t quite meet my eyes. “It’s not unthinkable. The idea of us being married.”
“Not unthinkable. What a ringing endorsement.”
“I’d considered it, that’s all I’m saying. For a very distant future. After several hundred liaisons with—”
“A hundred other girls.” I flapped a hand at him. “The only reason you considered marrying me is that you’d be sitting on the throne one day.”
“Well, now that you mention it”—he rubbed his chin thoughtfully—“that would be a benefit.”
“I’m glad you think this is funny.”
His smile disappeared. “I don’t, actually. I’m merely relieved the trials are over. You do realize that we’ll both be initiated as Fireblood masters now? That’s something to celebrate, surely.”
“Is that before or after the ceremony that chains us to each other for eternity?”
He put a finger to his chin. “Probably after. It’s going to be a busy week planning a wedding on such short notice.”
My instinct was to hit him, but if I started, I might not stop. Kai had either lied or lied by omission about so many important things. How could I ever trust him again?
“I’m tempted never to speak to you again.”
“That might make the wedding rather awkward.”
I forced myself to take a deep breath and think reasonably. No matter what he said now, he was not the marrying type. “You must have a plan to avoid it.”
“I don’t have a plan.”
“Well, make one.” My temples began to throb.
“If you can think of something, by all means. My plan is to get my island back and give the queen lots of grandnieces and grandnephews in gratitude.”
I wheeled on him. “I’ll stab you in your sleep first.”
“Now, that’s a little extreme.”
“Kai.” I grabbed the lapels of his tunic. “Be serious for a minute. How are we going to get out of this?”
We had reached the foot of the hill. For once, he didn’t complain that I was mussing his clothes. He just kept his hands by his sides and stared at me. “I don’t know.”
I let him go and we continued up the hill, my mind in turmoil. The queen had me cornered, and if there was one thing I hated, it was feeling trapped. I had come here to find a way to destroy the Minax I’d released, not to have my life upended. I’d seen the trials as a way to prove myself, to master my power, and to gain access to knowledge. I hadn’t realized the cost. I knew I’d have to take vows to become a master, but I hadn’t expected them to include wedding vows.
I also didn’t know what to make of the fact that it had been I, not Sage, who had stopped the lava. If that were even true. I didn’t know what to make of the lullaby. I didn’t want to think about those things at all. I was feeling more and more like the queen’s plaything. The walls were closing in and I needed to find a way out.
Kai seemed too willing to accept the queen’s manipulations. I wanted him to be as angry as I was, and the fact that he wasn’t made him seem like another adversary. I knew that wasn’t fair, but I couldn’t help it.
When we reached the carriage, I said, “I’m going to walk.”
His voice held surprise. “It’ll take you over an hour to walk back.”
“Good,” I said, turning away. “I need time alone.”
NINETEEN
THE NEXT DAY, I STOOD ON THE queen’s whitewashed stone balcony overlooking the castle grounds. The hum of an excited crowd floated up from an open area below. This was where the queen addressed her subjects during festivals or other formal occasions, and it seemed like the whole island had shown up for today’s announcement.
My legs began to tremble with the urge to run, to escape their stares. It was nothing like the arena, I told myself. No one was howling for my death.
Behind me, the doors to the throne room had been flung wide, letting sea-salted air circulate among the chattering courtiers like an uninvited guest. The nobles stood in groups, peering at me from behind fans or openly staring with a mixture of doubt, shock, and fascination. I tried to look demure and royal, since that was my role today. But sometimes I couldn’t resist staring one of them down until they shamefacedly looked away. After all, I outranked everyone but the queen—supposedly. And I was angry enough at the way I’d been backed into a corner to take advantage of that fact.
I knew I didn’t look my best. I had dark circles under my eyes after a sleepless night. Every time I’d fallen asleep, I’d dreamed of the Minax hovering over me, its black tendrils reaching out to feather across my skin in a possessive caress. I’d jerked awake, staring wildly at the shadows gathered in the corners and wondering why it felt so real. After the third nightmare, I’d given up on sleep. I lit a candle and listened to the wind rattling the casement as I tried to come to terms with the queen’s claim that my mother was her sister.
I couldn’t accept it. It was impossible.
So I’d moved on to thinking about what I needed to do next: get through the initiation ceremony, which the queen had informed me was in two days. Then I could figure out how to destroy the Minax. Then focus on finding a way to escape the madness of this engagement to Kai. For now, I had to play the queen’s game. This wasn’t King Rasmus’s arena, but I was here to perform.