by Kim Stokely
“Please,” I muttered. “Lead me to the perfect place.”A yawn escaped before I tried again. “Please.” I leaned up against one of the ornate posts on the bed frame. It took me a moment before I realized that the gold light shimmering in front of me wasn’t from the fireplace. I blinked and it remained, hovering at eye level, then it elongated into a human form. A broad shouldered man stood by the door. He motioned for me to follow. His voice echoed in my mind.
The Chrysaline.
I retrieved the leather bag from under my bed and took the orb out.
To Josh’s room.
I found the currents and pushed. The gold light came with me through the passage. The fire in Josh’s room had nearly gone out and the cold air woke me up. The golden man sank to the floor.
Here. Along the fireplace.
I got down and crawled toward the light. He pointed to one of the stones, moving aside as I approached. My free hand felt along the hearth until I sensed something shifting underneath it. I pulled out a long, white rock streaked with black and placed the orb in the cubby behind it. I replaced the stone. When I sat up, the man had disappeared.
A huge yawn escaped my throat as exhaustion and whatever Kennis had put in my tea took over my body. I pulled the chair to the side of Josh’s bed, intending just to get enough energy to take the passage back to my room. I just wanted a moment to rest and to reassure myself he was still okay. His steady breathing calmed my nerves. I closed my eyes, trying to picture my new rooms so I could find the passage back.
CHAPTER TWENTY
More Lessons to Learn
“Ally?”
I thought I heard Josh’s voice calling from somewhere as my eyes fought to open. I sat curled in a large wing-backed chair with something soft shoved against my back. A thin beam of sunlight slid in between the crack in the shutters.
“Ally?”
I turned my head and groaned. Every muscle hurt. That is, until I saw Josh sitting up. “Hey! You’re awake!”
He snorted a laugh. “Am I? I thought I was dreaming.”
I tried not to wince as I uncurled my body from its pretzeled position in the chair. I moved like one of the residents of the nursing home I used to volunteer at as I shuffled over to sit on the edge of the bed. “How are you?”
He shrugged a shoulder. “Okay I guess.” He surveyed me. “You look like crap.”
“I feel worse.”
“What happened to you?”
I shivered. “Nothing I want to talk about.”
“Ally?” His foot shifted under the covers until he could tap my leg with it. “What the hell is going on? Your mom tried to tell me some stuff yesterday, but it sounded crazy.”
I grabbed his toes. “It’s going to take a while to explain.” His dark hair poked out around his head like porcupine quills. I patted them down with my hand. He grabbed my wrist and pulled so I fell next to him on the bed. He took a lock of my hair and twirled it around his finger.
“You get extensions?”
I laughed. “Something like that.” My fingers played with the collar of the linen shirt he wore. “What is this?”
“I have no idea. Some guy brought it in yesterday and made me wear it. It’s huge.”
“Yeah?”
“Look!” Josh shifted me so he could pull the blankets down. The shirt reached his knees.
I laughed. “You look like Rip Van Winkle! You’ve got the legs for it though.” I covered him back up. Someone knocked on the door. I swore under my breath. “I gotta go.”
“What?” His voice cracked. I could read the fear in his eyes. “Why?”
“Don’t tell anyone I was here.” I kissed his cheek. “I’ll explain later. Promise.” I found the passage back to my own bed. Rhoswen stood in the doorway, her face flushed. She called anxiously to someone in the other room. “She’s not here, my lady.”
“What do you mean?” Kennis’ voice answered.
The maid wrung her hands. “She’s not in–”
I threw a pillow at her. “I’m right here.”
Rhoswen’s eyes widened. “You . . . you . . . .”
I put my finger to my lips. “I was buried under the blankets.” I tried to signal to keep my secret as Kennis appeared behind her. “You just didn’t see me.”
Her mouth set into a thin line but she nodded. “You gave me a fright.”
Kennis glanced between the two of us, frowning. “I’m sure my niece is hungry. Fetch her something to eat.” She shut the door behind her once Rhoswen left. “You went to Josh, didn’t you?”
I played with a gold thread on the blanket covering my bed but didn’t answer her. She couldn’t know about the Chrysaline, and I couldn’t think of another reason fast enough.
“Alystrine?” Her eyes smoldered. “You cannot behave the way you did in our world. Do you understand?”
I slipped out of the bed. “This whole thing sucks.”
“Alystrine!”
“Well it does!” I put on a robe.
Kennis watched me. “I know this is hard.”
“You think?”
She pressed her fingers against her temple. “Please try and be reasonable.”
“No!” I hated the emotions swirling inside me. I didn’t want to act this crazy but I couldn’t seem to reign them in. “Things happened. Things I never thought would happen to me.” My stomach churned. “I killed two people yesterday. Well, one person and one monster, but still.” I pointed a finger at my chest. “Me! I did it. Me, who couldn’t watch Bambi because I hated the hunters so much. I stuck a knife in the Black Guard’s neck and I . . . I don’t know how I did it but I killed Sigal.” Kennis tried to put her arms around me but I pushed her away. “I have no idea who I am anymore.”
Kennis looked as if I’d struck her. “You’re still Alystrine.”
I swallowed my tears. “But I’m not Ally Foster anymore.”
“No.” She took a deep breath. “You’re not.”
I tried to think back to all I’d learned in Ginessa’s Glade. To hold onto the love and strength I’d been filled with there. But nothing seemed to calm me this morning.
A light knock sounded on the door. Kennis raised her eyebrows. “This is your private chamber. Once you’re awake, you alone give permission for someone to enter.”
I let out an exaggerated sigh. “Come in.”
Rhoswen entered. “I’ve ordered food for you, my lady. Can I get you ready for the day?”
I glanced at my mother. “Can I see Josh again? Please? To try and explain everything.”
“Your schedule is full until this afternoon.”
“What about now? Before breakfast?” She started to argue but I cut her off. “Could he come here?”
Kennis closed her eyes for a moment then looked over at Rhoswen. “Get her dressed as quickly as possible. I’ll bring the boy up here while you do her hair and she eats.”
I ran forward and hugged her. “Thank you.”
“Don’t make me regret this.”
“I won’t.”
I slipped off my robe as Kennis left. Rhoswen brought in a new gown of deep blue silk. I took off my nightgown.
She clucked her tongue. “I hate to see you scarred like that.” She brought her hand to her mouth. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“It’s okay.” I stepped into a cream linen garment with cuffed sleeves, glancing over my shoulder as she fastened up the back. “I don’t care what the others say. I need a friend. You can say whatever you want to me. As long as we’re alone.” I lifted my arms and Rhoswen slipped the blue gown over my head. I could see she wanted to ask me something as she shifted the dress into place. “Go ahead.”
“What?”
“Go ahead and ask me whatever it is.” Doubt shaded her face as she moved behind me again to lace up the back of the gown. “It’s fine. I promise I won’t get angry.”
“This new boy . . . who is he?”
I grunted as she pulled on the strings. “Not so t
ight, please!” My hand rubbed across my stomach. “It’s still tender.”
“Sorry.” She loosened the ties a bit and continued up my back.
“His name is Josh. He and his sister were . . . are . . . my best friends. He’s like my brother.”
“And the other boy. The one that was in prison?”
Tegan. I swallowed the painful lump that rose in my throat whenever I thought of him. “He’s gone. I won’t see him again.”
Rhoswen finished tying off the laces. “Shall I do your hair in the front room?”
I nodded, but gave myself a minute to swallow back my tears. I hated the feeling that I was walking on an emotional tightrope this morning. Ready to cry for no reason. Well, maybe I had a couple of good reasons, but I needed to get a grip on things before I lost it entirely. I made my way to the front room and sat in one of the ornate chairs while Rhoswen readied a ton of hair pins and jewels.
A servant knocked then entered with a tray of food. Kennis and Josh followed behind him.
My stomach growled at the smell of warm bread.
Josh laughed. “I know that sound!”
“I’m starving!”
The servant laid the tray down on a table. “Will there be anything else, my lady?”
I looked over the spread. Something in a bowl that looked vaguely like oatmeal, a roll of dark bread, and a mug of something that may have been milk. “This will be fine, thank you.”
He bowed and left.
I motioned for Josh to sit on the couch next to me. “Are you hungry?” I pointed to the stuff in the bowl. “I’ll share the sticky stuff, but the roll is mine!” I picked up the bread, tore a hunk off and shoveled it in my mouth.
“Alystrine!” My mother chided. “Please use some manners.”
“I haven’t eaten in two days.” I continued to stuff my face. “Sorry.”
Josh shook his head. “I had plenty this morning.”
I found it unnerving the way he watched me while I ate. “What are you thinking?”
He waited until Rhoswen walked into the bedroom before he leaned forward and whispered, “How did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Disappear. From my room.” He sat back as Rhoswen came up behind me with the brush.
“It’s a little difficult to explain.”
“Try.”
Kennis had filled him in yesterday about Ayden and Lord Braedon so I spent the next half hour explaining Portals and passages. Meanwhile, Rhoswen seemed fascinated by my long hair, brushing and twisting it into swirls atop my head. My mother added her own opinion until they finally agreed on a style. By the time the maid finished, I looked like a queen. My hair had been swept up in a collection of braids, pins and jewels complementing the blue silk of the gown I wore.
“Stand up, let’s take a look at you,” Kennis ordered. She gave me a quick nod of approval before turning to Josh. “You need to go back to your room now.”
“Can I walk down with him?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
She frowned at us. “People in Ayden won’t understand your relationship, Alystrine. You must be very cautious.”
I didn’t understand our relationship anymore after the kisses we’d shared at the dock, but I wasn’t about to tell my mother that. I glanced at Josh. He waited to see what I would say. “So that’s a no? We can never walk together again?”
My mother let out a deep sigh. “Along the halls, in the courtyards, as long as you’re chaperoned. Just not right now. You and Josh may spend some time together later, after you’ve finished your duties.”
“Duties?”
She nodded. “The coronation has been set for five days from today. There is a lot of work to do before then.”
“Coronation?” Josh asked. “Whose?”
I let out a groan. “Mine.”
He sat up straighter. “What?”
“It’s a long story.” I took his hand. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay?”
“Ally?”
I squeezed his fingers. “We’ll talk later.” I leaned down and kissed his cheek. “Promise.”
Kennis fumed beside me as we made our way out to the hall. She ordered the guards to take Josh back to his room before turning to me. “That’s the kind of thing I’m talking about. You can’t behave like that anymore.”
“I wouldn’t do it if anyone but you were in the room.”
Kennis stepped in front of me. “Alystrine, you will never be alone again. Not really. As queen, you will always have people watching you, eavesdropping, spying. You have to be conscious of everything you do and say from now on.”
Dread filled my spirit, adding more pain to my aching body. “Great.” I stepped around her. “Just great.”
Kennis escorted me down to a kind of conference room. My father, Devnet and Simon stood as I entered.
Simon stepped forward. “Your Majesty, I am so pleased to see you again.” He held out his hand and I gave him mine. He kissed it before stepping back. He tried to look at me but his gaze shifted quickly to the floor. “I hope you are feeling well this morning?”
One glance at Simon’s grandfatherly face and I knew they’d told him what happened. “Do we have to tell everyone what that bastard tried to do to me?”
Anger flashed in Geran’s eyes. “Do not use such language!”
“You have a better word to describe him?”
Kennis placed her hand on my arm. “Alystrine. Try and behave yourself.”
I couldn’t explain the irritation that bubbled in my blood. I didn’t want to behave. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I wanted to be left alone. I clenched my hands into fists. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m still tired from everything that’s happened.”
“It’s understandable,” Simon said. “We’ll take it easy today, Your Majesty.” He gestured to the sitting area. “Let’s go over the five treaties which help to govern Ayden and the various amendments that have been proposed to them.”
I eyed Kennis with jealousy as she left the room. “Sounds delightful.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Explanations
We discussed treaties until lunchtime. After that, Maris and Kennis joined us for lunch in the library where I spent two hours learning the current members of the Mystic Council and their blood lines back to Gedeon’s wife. My eyes couldn’t focus on another piece of parchment by the time a light tap interrupted us. A page opened the door.
“Excuse me, my lady, but the dance instructor has asked me to tell you he awaits your presence in the ballroom.”
“Who?”
Maris and Kennis both stood up. “There will be dancing at the coronation ball.”
I flopped into the hard backed chair. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Geran stood. “Simon, Devnet and I will wait for the Brethren Order. They are expected to arrive today.”
“Why don’t you have to take dance lessons?”
My father grinned. It was the first smile I’d had from him since we’d come to Ayden. “I already know how to dance.” He leaned down and whispered, “I had to endure the same torture before my marriage to your mother. You will survive.” He gave my shoulder an encouraging squeeze before he and the other men left the room.
I didn’t budge from the chair.
Maris frowned. “You shouldn’t slouch, Alystrine. At least if you’re going to be obstinate, you should look regal about it.”
She looked so serious I had to laugh. I used the table to push myself up. “Can’t I just watch other people dance?”
“Of course not.” Maris locked her arm in mine. “A queen must set the standard for the people. If she doesn’t dance, the rest of them won’t dance, either.” She patted my arm as we made our way down the hall. “You don’t want to deprive the Commoners of one of the few pleasures they have in this world, do you?”
“Nothing like a little pressure. Thanks, Grandma.”
Kennis chuckled at Maris’s surprised face. “In the other world, ‘Gra
ndma’ is often used in place of ‘Grandmother.’ It’s an endearment, I assure you, not an insult.”
We came to the ballroom and the guards opened the doors. A trio of musicians played in the corner; one had a violin, one a recorder and the third a lute. Another man stood in the center of the ballroom with his eyes closed and a wistful smile on his face. Short, with graying hair and a well-trimmed beard, his brows furrowed together when the musicians stopped playing.
“I didn’t tell you to stop!” His high-pitched voice sounded like he’d been sucking on a helium balloon.
I only had time to flash my mother my “you’ve got to be kidding look” before the little man caught sight of me.
A huge grin spread over his face as he glided over. He swept his arm out in front of his body, bowing low at the waist. “Your Majesty.” He snapped up to attention. “It is my honor to serve as your dance tutor. I am Edward Sheerling.” I let him kiss my hand.
He offered my grandmother a short bow. “My Lady Maris. It is good to see you looking so well.”
“Thank you, Edward.”
He turned his focus to my mother then brought his hand up to his mouth. Tears sprang to his eyes. “Lady Kennis? Can it really be you?”
“Yes, Edward, I’ve returned.”
He held out his hand, she placed hers in it. He brought her fingers to his lips for a lingering kiss then raised his eyes. “You are as lovely as ever. All of Ayden will rejoice when they hear you grace our land again.”
My mother looked embarrassed at his compliments. “Thank you. Now I trust you can teach my niece to dance as well as you taught me.”
He let go of her hand and stepped backward with a flourish. “We begin!” He clapped his hands and the musicians started playing.
We danced until I refused to dance anymore. I’d stepped on Edward’s feet for the hundredth time and turned left instead of right during the promenade. I sat down on the marble floor. “That’s it, I’m done.” I crossed my arms and my legs.