by Elly Blake
Though, perversely, some part of me wanted these spectators to like me. No one here hated me for my gift. In fact, judging by many rapt and smiling faces, they seemed more than ready to embrace me as the lost heir. As I absorbed their unabashed approval, I was overwhelmed with painful longing. If things were different, this could have been the home I’d always wanted. For the first time, I contemplated how much it would hurt to leave Sudesia.
I smoothed clammy hands over my skirts. My gown had once belonged to the queen but had been altered to fit me. Embroidered roses, leaves, and vines trailed over the crimson fabric in a masterpiece of gold thread. Each stem sported perfect little thorns that looked so sharp, I was almost afraid to touch them lest they draw blood. A thick gold necklace had the appearance of lace. Several bracelets clanked together as I moved, and a gold filigree crown—a humbler version of the queen’s—was pinned in my upswept hair.
Kai stood next to me wearing a doublet that matched my gown, red with gold thread. White cuffs peeked out at his wrists, and black breeches blended with polished black boots. A ruby earring winked from his ear. Queen Nalani and Prince Eiko stood to his right.
At the queen’s signal, Kai squeezed my arm and drew me forward to the railing. Queen Nalani addressed the crowd. “My loyal Sudesians, seventeen years ago, I lost my younger sister. She left our kingdom with her infant daughter, never to return. I have been searching for my niece since that day. A few weeks ago, our loyal friend, Prince Kai of Isle Tuva, found my niece and brought her home.”
She held out a hand to me and I curtsied as gracefully as I could. She smiled approvingly and turned back to the crowd.
“You may have heard the hardships she faced in Tempesia, how she was imprisoned, how she fought to survive in the Frost King’s arena, and how she ultimately prevailed and melted their throne, the symbol of Frostblood tyranny. I am proud, so very proud and happy, to welcome my sister’s child back home again and to reward her sacrifices. Not only has she returned, but I’m pleased to announce she has passed her trials and will be initiated as a master.”
A cheer went up from the crowd.
The queen smiled beatifically. “I invite all of you to welcome her and to treat her with the same warmth and loyalty you would show to me. I present to you Princess Ruby Otrera Elatus, daughter of Rota, descendant of Tollak, and my dear niece and heir.”
Another cheer erupted from the crowd. I flinched unconsciously. All those voices joining to create a buzz of noise that couldn’t be shut out. I itched to put my hands over my ears.
Kai seemed to sense my discomfort. His hand came to my lower back, his shoulder pressed against mine. He leaned down and whispered in my ear. “Smile.”
I took a shuddering breath and did as he said. The cheer swelled. I finally looked at the people, saw them as individuals rather than a mass of spectators. Babies were cradled in arms and small children sat on the shoulders of their parents to better see us. Some people waved colorful scarves. There was an air of real celebration. Joy. Something inside me softened and lightened. They were genuinely happy because of me, because of my presence, my existence. I blinked away moisture as the image blurred.
Then I saw a familiar face and my smile became wide and genuine. “There’s Aver,” I told Kai, waving frantically. “And Jaro!”
“I see them,” he said in a kind but rather dampening voice that made me realize maybe a princess wasn’t supposed to flap her hands in such an undignified manner. I settled for nodding and grinning at them instead.
“It is my greatest hope,” the queen continued, “that our princess finds happiness in her new home, and that one day, she will rule in my place. To that end, she will need a partner who was raised in our ways, and who will guide her as she learns her new role. I am overjoyed to announce that I have given Prince Kai permission to ask for my niece’s hand in marriage. And she has joyfully accepted.”
As the crowd sent up yet another cheer, my eyes were drawn to the queen. She looked genuinely happy. No, not just happy. Elated.
No wonder they adored her. She was all beauty and strength, lovely strong features and perfect dark skin, her eyes and teeth gleaming with health, her crown sparkling gold in the sun. Her expression was a blend of affection and mischief as she said, “Prince Kai, give the people what they want. Give my beautiful niece a kiss.”
“As my queen wishes,” said Kai with a crooked grin, his hands curving about my waist as if we were preparing to dance a waltz. It wouldn’t be our first kiss, but it made my heart jerk unpleasantly to think of this as being part of the performance. I shoved my misgivings aside to be sorted through later.
He raised a brow in silent question and I tipped my chin up in answer. He pulled me close and his warm lips met mine in a thorough kiss. Despite my nerves, my skin heated, my blood rushing in my veins. It seemed that he was showing the crowd that he meant it, that he wasn’t unhappy about the marriage, that he wanted me for my own sake and not just for my crown. Well played, I thought dimly.
When he pulled back, I realized one of my hands had found its way to his nape. He turned back to the crowd, grinning at their jovial hurrahs.
As I came out of my stupor, my attention was drawn to a tall, hooded figure, clearly a man by his size, that moved against the crowd. While everyone else jostled to get closer to the balcony, he was carving a hurried path through the tightly packed bodies in an effort to get away. There was something fierce, almost desperate, about the movements.
I stared at his coarse cloak and hood. It was a warm day and most people were dressed lightly. There was no need for either… .
Someone screamed. Heads jerked toward the sound and shock rippled through the crowd. Kai stiffened and the queen leaned over the balcony for a better look. In the voice of a seasoned general, she ordered her guards below to calm the crowd. Meanwhile, the screams spread like a contagion, passing from one person to the next.
What was causing this reaction? The memory of the scorpions had me clutching my arms.
Then I saw it. The ground was turning white. Frost crystallized as it spread, a growing spiderweb of shining pinwheels that reached for each other with spiny tendrils, joining into a crocheted white blanket that covered the grassy slope. People behaved as if the ice were a deadly poison, slipping and falling and shoving each other out of the way in their desperation to retreat.
“Frostblood!” a woman screamed, and then the shout was taken up by the guards, who struggled to move toward the hooded figure everyone else was trying to escape.
“Don’t hurt him!” I tried to shout, but my voice was hoarse with fear. I knew who it was now, I knew why he’d caught my eye, the familiar breadth of shoulders and the proud angle of his head. The thought of what these Firebloods would do to a Frostblood—him in particular—was terrifying. He was at the edge of the crowd and nearly to the wooded area that covered the hillside when the first guard reached him.
“No!” I cried.
Kai’s hand fell on my shoulder. “Ruby, what—”
I turned and gripped his arms. “It’s Arcus!”
The guards converged on him and he was lost from view.
TWENTY
ARCUS KNELT BEFORE THE QUEEN’S throne. Not that he’d had any choice in the matter. Guards surrounded him, two on each side and four at his back. He hadn’t resisted, at least not since they’d steered him through the doors and pushed him to the floor. I had a dizzying recollection of the moment I’d first been made to kneel in front of King Rasmus, and the comparison made me sick to my stomach.
I stood inside the balcony doors, my heart trying to beat its way out of my chest. Kai stood a little farther in, his face inscrutable. The queen sat on her throne and Prince Eiko occupied the smaller throne next to hers.
They’d thrown Arcus’s hood off, and I couldn’t help worrying that he must feel exposed. When I’d first met him, he’d kept his scars covered at all times. When he’d been crowned king, he’d dispensed with the concealment, but what would it feel
like to have his hood torn away by a group of hostile guards in a land that hated him?
However, he showed no signs of being cowed or embarrassed. His chin jutted high, his face blank but somehow radiating careless defiance. I’d never seen this side of him. If I didn’t know him, I’d peg him as an outlaw, hauled before the queen for his heinous crimes. His worn and tattered hood covered a travel-stained blue tunic and loose black breeches in modest fabrics. There was nothing to indicate who he truly was.
“Who are you?” the queen asked in clipped, accented Tempesian. I stared hard at Kai, willing him to be silent. But my hopes were dashed when Arcus spoke.
“I am King Arelius Arkanus, son of Akur, ruler of Tempesia and the frost throne.” His chin rose infinitesimally and his voice, deep as oceans, so dear and familiar, was at the same time so cold and distant that shivers traced my skin.
The courtiers, who had been muttering nervously, were stricken into sudden silence, as if an axe blade had severed all threads of sound. The air had been sucked from the room, and now it resided in the bursting lungs of twenty or so nobles who collectively held their breath.
“If you were any other Frostblood,” the queen enunciated rigidly, “I would inquire what unfortunate mishap of fate had deposited you in the land of your enemies. But I must assume, as ruler of a land that has murdered my people”—her voice shook as she pounded her fist on the arm of the throne, then stood, rage suffusing her face, heat radiating from her whole body, until even members of the court gasped at the onslaught—“that you have come with some fatally misguided intention to harm myself or those close to me!”
“Harm you?” he said with angry confusion. “I came at your summons. I received a letter just after Ruby departed, demanding my presence here. It contained veiled threats that implied she would be in danger if I didn’t come immediately.”
“I sent no such letter!” she said impatiently.
“It bore your royal seal.”
“Impossible! Can you produce this message?” She gestured to his cloak.
“I don’t have it with me.”
“How convenient.”
“If harming you were my intention,” said Arcus with icy calm, “would I not send an assassin? Why would I risk myself?”
“Indeed, if you are foolish enough to come willingly into my domain, you may be foolish enough to risk anything. Let me assure you, you have made a grievous mistake.”
“I would agree, Queen Nalani, that I was a fool to come here,” Arcus said. A muscle jerked in his jaw. His refusal to look at me spoke volumes. If he was merely angry, he might have glared or curled his lip. Instead, he stared stonily forward with a cool, metallic disdain. His expression bore no hint of his feelings, aside from that tiny muscle in his jaw that he couldn’t control. He’d seen the announcement, the kiss—everything. I closed my eyes as a rush of regret surged from my throat to my stomach. He must be hurt and furious.
Then again, he knew me too well to think I would promise myself to someone else within weeks of parting from him. Even if his initial reaction had been shock, he would soon realize that I’d been maneuvered into this. He had to understand.
The courtiers seemed to realize that they needed, at some point, to breathe. The chatter started up again, quiet but fervent, until it sounded as if the throne room teemed with whispering mice.
“Get out, all of you!” the queen railed, waving a hand toward the door. The exiled court removed themselves in short order, the scrape of their feet sounding much like the scuttle of frightened rodents.
Only Kai and I remained. No one seemed to notice, anyway. Certainly not Queen Nalani or Arcus, who were locked in a battle of eye contact that neither was prepared to forfeit.
“How many?” the queen demanded.
Arcus waited. When no clarification followed, he asked, “How many what?”
“How many ships? How many ships and how many soldiers are en route to attack my kingdom?”
“None. None are on their way. I came on a single ship as you instructed. In your letter.”
She scoffed. “You insult me.” She stepped forward. “And I do not let insults go unanswered.”
She pulled back and slapped him across the face with the back of her hand, her rings slicing his cheek with thin ribbons that welled with blue blood.
“No,” I cried, rushing forward and falling to my knees next to him. His head had barely moved when the queen struck him, but now he reared back as if my very nearness lashed him with a burning whip. He kept his head and eyes forward, not acknowledging me at all.
“Arcus,” I breathed, and reached toward him. Could he really blame me for all this?
“Clearly there has been some… mistake,” he said. “I will leave by dawn, and as compensation for my unwanted presence, I will leave behind many treasures from my kingdom, which I’d intended as gifts. I hope that will be acceptable to you.”
“That will not be acceptable,” the queen replied scathingly. “You will tell me how many ships and how many soldiers are on their way to invade my kingdom. Your crew will be questioned. And one of them will die every day that you do not reveal this information to me.”
“There are no more ships,” Arcus said, less calm now that she’d threatened his crew. “There is no planned invasion, no act of aggression of any kind. I came here virtually alone, with only enough sailors to crew the ship.”
“Because of my letter, which I didn’t write, and you cannot produce.”
“Forget the letter,” Arcus said angrily. “Clearly your seal was used without your consent.” He turned his head to look at Kai with a narrowed, speculative expression.
Queen Nalani laughed bitterly. “My seal remains on my finger at all times.” She held up her hand to show a heavy gold ring. “And what tale will you feed me next? That you had an irresistible impulse to explore? Perhaps you indulge a hobby as a cartographer and wished to fill out your maps? By all means, tell me. What nonsense do you expect me to swallow?” She resumed her seat, tilting her head to one side in a mocking imitation of an interested listener.
“Perhaps we could speak privately—”
“The only private audience you will enjoy with me will be in your prison cell, where I will employ some ancient but very effective means of extracting information from your lying Frostblood lips. These are my close and trusted family members: my husband, my niece, and her husband-to-be.” I didn’t miss how Arcus’s eyes narrowed at the word niece and his nostrils flared at husband-to-be. “It does not get any more private than this.”
“Then I respectfully decline to answer any more questions until you’re willing to listen to reason.”
“There is nothing respectful about denying me,” she replied. The blood drained from my face as she continued. “Speak or die now. I may as well cut your invasion off at its quite literal head. I don’t believe there is a clear heir to your throne, is there? Your death will throw your court into chaos. I’d like nothing more than to watch the wolves tear each other to pieces without the leader of their pack.”
Arcus took a steadying breath. “My death could lead to the very thing you and I would both like to avoid.”
“And what is that?”
“War.”
“And who said I wished to avoid it?” Her voice and the expression in her eyes was so magnificent and terrible that I had to look away. “I relish the opportunity to avenge my fallen people. Bring war now or later. We are ready.”
Her demeanor was so fierce, I wondered again if the Minax could be present and I was unable to sense it.
“That is brave talk,” he replied, “but neither your navy nor your army is a match for my own. Not that it matters, as I have no wish to challenge you or your authority in your kingdom in any way. I merely wish to leave peacefully.”
“The only way you’ll leave here,” she said, leaning forward, “is on a funeral boat that has been sent out to sea. And I wouldn’t give any Frostblood that honor, least of all you.”
“You seem to hold me responsible for the death of Firebloods in Tempesia. You must know that none died by my hand or my order during my first rule or my current one. It was my brother, Rasmus, who gave orders for the butchery of Firebloods in Tempesia. I am not Rasmus.”
The queen made a show of glancing around. “Do you see him here? Shall I punish him instead?”
“My brother is dead,” Arcus stated.
“Indeed. And so, the burden of reparations falls to you.”
“Tell me what you need, then. What reparations will satisfy you?”
“Your death.”
His mouth firmed. “Be reasonable.”
“Your brother was not reasonable. Why is it required of me?”
“Because you’re better than he was.”
She threw her head back and laughed. “Now you truly do amuse me.” She made a sharp gesture to the guards. “Take him to the prison. Lock him up in the smallest, most ill-favored cell you can find. Don’t bother to clean it first.”
“You’re being completely unfair!” I cried, pushing to my feet. “He told you he’s not responsible for the death of Firebloods and he’s not lying. He rescued me from prison—”
“That’s enough,” the queen snapped.
“—and then he organized a rebellion that ended in his brother’s death and the destruction of the throne. With me. He was my ally!”
“Enough,” she said tightly, and then to the guards, “Take him.”
“If you take him, take me, too.” I put my wrists out to the guards, but I looked directly at the queen. “Shackle and chain me next to him. If you value me so little that you ignore my heartfelt plea for fairness, then I have no desire to be your heir or to serve as one of your masters. I hereby abdicate my right to succeed you as—”
“I said enough!” the queen all but screamed. “Do you think I won’t put you in prison beside him?”