All of the memories of her reign came swirling up unbidden, and she felt her scar burn on her chest. For a brief moment, she felt panicked, desiring to flee, but her will forced her to stay.
Deutzia’s branches encircled the Wysterians, creating a wall of wood and leaf that blocked all view to the outsiders. Particles of light like dust rose up off from her stems, filling the air like a gently spinning whirlwind of fireflies.
Ash giggled and cooed, clapping his hands.
The Queen glided forward, her every movement the ideal of picturesque dignity. “State your name,” she said in her commanding voice.
Alder knelt down on one knee. “Alder Bur…I mean, Forsythia. First Husband of my Matron.”
Alder blushed at his mistake. The Queen nodded graciously, pleased with the way it sounded.
“State your name.”
Unable to take a knee, Privet instead placed his hand over his chest and leaned forward in a bow. “Privet Tamarack, Second Husband of my Matron.”
Beneath her calm exterior, Athel felt the familiar pang of guilt at his condition. Her scar burned even hotter.
“State the child’s name.”
“Ash, of the Forsythia household.”
Without being asked to, Ash copied his daddies, bowing his little head. It was so cute Athel wanted to squeal, but she maintained her composure. She wanted this to be special for Alder.
The Queen turned around to where her staff lay against Deutzia’s trunk, still wrapped up from before they had left Wysteria. For a moment she hesitated, as fearful of the thing as if it were poison. When she thought of what it had done to Alder, her scar burned so hot it nearly made her gasp.
Pushing though her fear, she unwrapped the symbol of her authority, the beautiful carvings gleaming in the firefly light around them. She held it cautiously, terrified that she might accidentally let slip some power and hurt her husband’s further.
She turned around slowly, as if handling explosives. She looked at Alder. His eyes were so full of esteem, so brimming with love and confidence, it reduced her fears, and she found the courage to continue.
Cradling her staff properly, she lifted it up before Deutzia, who reached inside a knot, and withdrew a single drop of glowing amber with the tip of a leaf. It hummed as it moved through the air, like a tuning fork.
As much light as encircled them, it didn’t seem things could get any brighter, but the drop of amber managed to outshine even that. The gentle light played on their faces, reflecting in their eyes like the morning sun.
The Queen held her staff before her. “Ash, of Forsythia, I hereby anoint you as my rightful successor and heir. When my time to return to Milia comes, you will inherit all my titles, lands, authority, and possessions.”
She tilted her staff forward and the drop was applied to the baby’s forehead. The baby giggled happily as it glowed even brighter and soaked into his skin.
“May you defend the honor of our house, from now until the breaking of time,” the Queen concluded.
“Until the breaking of time,” Alder and Privet chanted.
For a moment, they all struggled with the fact that such an end could only be a few weeks off.
The lights flickered out one by one, and Deutzia raised her branches, revealing the Wysterians once again to the crew.
The sailors all glanced at each other, unsure of what to do next.
Mina turned around and rolled her eyes as she perceived their thoughts. “Yes, you can start drinking now.”
The crew cheered loudly. A few threw their hats into the air. Fresh kegs of ale were opened, courtesy of a cargo ship that had the misfortune of stumbling onto the Dreadnaught the previous day.
As the press of bodies queued up before the kegs, Mina hid her face in embarrassment.
The ceremony concluded, the Queen became Athel again, surprised at how exhausted she felt. She took the cloth and quickly wrapped up her staff, quietly wishing she could just toss the thing overboard.
She felt a gentle hand on hers, and looked up to find Alder smiling at her. “May I?”
She looked down at the rough and jumbled mess she was tying up, and realized how disrespectful it must have seemed to him. “Y-yes, of course.”
Privet took the baby and wheeled him around the room, Ash shrieking with delight and waving his arms, asking for his dad to go even faster.
While the crew drank and sang, Athel watched as Alder returned with a piece of blue velvet. She thought to ask him where he had acquired it, but decided not to. He was so focused, she didn’t want to interrupt him. She watched as he carefully laid out the fabric, smoothing out any wrinkles until it was perfectly straight. Then, he took the staff and began polishing it, meticulously buffing each curve and carving. The winged serpents from Tanabori, the waves of the great river from Snakecharmers, the totem owl of wisdom from Grendelabra. Even though it was a complete break from tradition to do so, he had adorned her staff with items from all her favorite books, because he knew she would like it that way. She watched as he polished each feature, till it was as smooth as mirrored glass, then set it down in the center of the velvet, and began folding.
He treats it with all the care and attention as he does our son, she thought. He’s always been like that. If something is important to me, it becomes precious to him. She felt her heart groan in her chest. I love him so much it hurts a little. I want to care for him as well as he cares for me. I wish I could…no, I want to find a way to make him as happy as he makes me…as happy as he deserves.
When Alder finished, he tied the velvet wrap in place with a beautiful silver cord. It looked immaculate, like an artifact from a museum, protected to ensure its beauty for all time.
He handed her the wrapped staff and she looked at it sadly. “I’m sorry that it is just a gesture at this point, Aldi. Since I no longer have a throne or a household, there’s really nothing for Ash to inherit.”
Alder sidled up next to her and rested his head against her. It was an unusual gesture for him, considering the public setting, but if felt right. “No, what you did meant more to me than all the gold or jewels in the world.”
Athel wrapped her arms around him. “I’m glad. At this point, I really don’t have anything else to give you besides gestures.”
“No, you’ve given me more than you can ever know.”
Despite the noise in the room, Athel closed her eyes and drank in the sweet sensation of Alder leaning up against her. It made her realize how tired she had been. Pain has a way of draining your strength. She felt old, far older than she really was. But, being with Alder made her feel young again, even if just for a little while.
Alder stirred, and she panicked for a moment when she though he had drifted off to sleep. Her head jerked down, but then relaxed when she saw his eyes open. It occurred to her, in that moment, that she would always worry whenever he was asleep.
Alder’s voice became quiet. She knew this tone. It was the way he spoke when he was struggling to say something he had been trained not to say.
“I’m not as good as you think I am,” he confessed. “When I was a boy, I had a dream.”
Athel held him closer, knowing how difficult this as for him. “Go on, I’d like to hear it.”
Alder hesitated. “Madam Bursage taught us that it is sinful for men to have dreams. Even to this day, I have trouble admitting that I defied her.”
Athel ran her hand over his head soothingly. “I’d give you my leave, but that would mean you need it to have a dream in the first place.”
She leaned back so she could look him in the eyes. “You shouldn’t need anyone’s permission to have a dream, Alder.”
The worry left his face. “Thank you. Privet told me how you stood up for the men back on Wysteria. I wish I could have been there to see it.”
Without realizing she was doing it, she ran her fingers o
ver her scar. “There wasn’t much to see. I failed everyone, and now our forest will soon die.”
She tried to shake off dark thoughts clouding her mind. “Will you tell me about your dream, Alder?”
Alder nodded, his eyes becoming distant. “I dreamed of a forest where our men and women worked together in peace, side by side. I dreamed of a forest where little boys weren’t afraid to grow up and be sent to the fields. I dreamed of a forest where there were no matrons and no servants, only families. Where everyone would be free, and no one would ever have to grow up to be a slave ever again. I dreamed of songs our men and women could sing together.”
Athel thought long and hard about his words. “Other islands have such songs, but we don’t. Our men and women never sing together. You know…it’s funny. I never realized it till now. How strange that we never sing as one.”
Alder looked up at her. “I think a song like that would be lovely. Don’t you?”
“Yes I do.”
They sat there quietly in each other’s arms, watching as Rachael challenged some of the sailors to a drinking contest.
Athel hugged him warmly. “You have a beautiful dream, Alder. Thank you for sharing it with me.”
“You’re welcome. I know it seems a little silly, but I would like to see that world. I would like to see our sons grow up in it. I would like to live in a place like that.”
Alder looked up at her. “Do you have a dream?”
Athel felt her eyes watering up. She looked away, trying to clamp down on her feelings. It had been so easy just a few minutes before, but now she couldn’t hold them back.
“Please tell me what you’re feeling,” he bade. “I want to help.”
Athel chuckled, wiping her cheek. “I told you not to hide things from me. I guess I can’t really keep things from you without being a hypocrite.”
She didn’t want to answer, but the honest devotion in his eyes compelled her.
“Alder, I feel like I lost all my dreams…”
He looked at her, giving her time.
“I…I know I had some once. Things I wanted to do, places I wanted to see…I used to write them down in a special journal under my pillow. Pages and pages of them. Whole chapters…a list I would spend a lifetime checking off, one by one. But I…I can’t even remember what they were now. There’s nothing I want from this world anymore. I feel...hollow. The only thing that matters to me now is keeping you safe. You and the others.”
Alder knelt on the floor before her. “Well then, you can have my dream.”
“Alder, you can’t just give someone your dream.”
“Well, why not? Everything I have, I gave to you. That should include my dreams as well.”
Athel felt like her heart would overflow. She loved him so much it made her body feel weak.
He took her hands compassionately. “Everyone needs something to live for,” he added, looking at her with his beautiful eyes.
She squeezed his hands back and forced herself to smile. “All right. You keep your dream, but I’ll help you. I’ll find a way to heal our forest and reunite our people. I have no idea how, but I’ll find a way. So our sons can live in a place like in your dream. So our family can live in a place like that. I swear it. You just hold on and take it easy, okay? Because that dream won’t mean a thing if you aren’t there with me.”
“All right, I promise.”
She squeezed tighter. “Swear it to me! I can’t lose you again.”
He placed his hand over his heart and bowed formally.
“I swear it.”
Athel breathed a deep sigh of relief. She knew he meant it. “Thank you.”
From above, a woman’s voice rang out. “Um…HO?”
Everyone looked up, unsure what it meant.
“Um, ho…Land!” Margaret shouted again.
Captain Evere’s black orbs rolled inside his sockets. “It’s Land-Ho! Gerstun.”
“Oh yeah, right. Um, Land-ho!”
Everyone ran to their stations. Before them was a misty land rising up out of the sea, jagged volcanic rocks sticking up out of the earth like daggers, many of them shaped like dragon heads.
“The Dragon Isles,” Athel breathed to see it.
“Something’s wrong,” Margaret said. “Last time, I couldn’t use my magic this close to their territory.”
“It’s different now, lass?” Captain Evere asked, extending his spyglass.
Margaret nodded apprehensively. “I can feel the spirit of the winds before us, even over the island. Nothing’s blocking my power.”
Evere lowered his spyglass.
“That’s not good.”
* * *
Spirea could not recall ever feeling so peaceful as she faded back into existence. She was in a deliciously soft bed, with silken sheets and a warm cozy nightgown. The air was spiced, her skin clean and fresh; a midnight sparrow cooed sweetly from outside in the night air.
She felt so nice, it instantly made her worry that something bad was about to happen.
She opened up her eyes but did not move. This had happened before. She was alive. She was actually in her body, not just peeking out from within it. She dared not move for fear of waking up the Queen, but something around her was moving on its own.
Her panic rose as she heard distinctive clicks and clacks, and a tugging of the necklace around her neck.
Her heartbeat pounded as she realized someone was in her bed with her.
A man. She knew that wonderful scent all too well. It was Tigera. She could feel the warmth of his body like a scrumptious hearth. She could feel her treacherous heart getting excited despite her orders for it to remain calm.
She blushed brightly. His strong body was spooned up against her, the hair on his chest tickling the nape of her neck.
As his strong hand reached over her from behind, her eyes went wide with fright.
Is he going to…?
But instead he grabbed one of the cracked and crumbling animal teeth on the necklace, and replaced it with another, fresher one, a quick snap of smoke rising up when the magic engaged.
She breathed a sigh of relief. Much to her dismay, she realized that a part of her was actually disappointed that he had not done what she had been anticipating. That made her angry. She felt betrayed by her own feelings.
He paused, and for a horrifying moment, she realized that he had heard her sigh.
He knows I’m awake!
He reached for her mouth and she tried to spring free, but he held her tight, one hand over her face, the other wrapping around her waist.
“Don’t scream,” he whispered into her ear.
She kicked and bucked wildly, her yell muffled by his rough, rugged hand.
“Don’t scream, you’ll wake up the guards,” he ordered again. Something about the tone of his voice pacified her. She grew calmer, her struggles subsiding as he held her. He was so strong, so overpowering, she felt her body submitting to him in spite of herself.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said soothingly. “I know who you are. I’m here to help you.”
Her defiant eyes told him that she would scream if he pulled his hand away. He looked around in concern, aware of the fact that the guards were near.
“Look, I was hired by Athel to help you,” he whispered. “The afet I put inside you on Thesda, it interfered with the heritage curse. It’s the reason you weren’t completely consumed by the dirigina that possessed you.”
Her eyes became confused, trying to process the information.
“Athel hired me to come and use this,” he said holding up the cracked and faded necklace around her neck. “It’s been slowly weakening her and strengthening you. Surely you’ve noticed.”
She slowly became still, her breaths becoming calmer.
“I’ve put the Queen into a d
eep sleep for a few hours, but if you scream, the guards will come in here and find us.”
He waited till her eyes told him she understood.
“Now, I’m going to take my hand away. Are you going to scream?”
She shook her head.
“All right.”
He removed her hand and she broke free, scooting away from him and pulling her nightgown tightly around herself. “What are you doing in here?”
“The Queen brought me here.”
Her eyes became terrified. “Did we…?”
“Look, I know you’re scared, but we don’t have much time. Is there any way we can get a message out before the Queen wakes up?”
Spirea shook his head, her mind reeling. “No, after the last time I woke up in her body, she puts up a void barrier around her bed every time she goes to sleep. It won’t let me leave.”
“Can you bring it down?”
“What? No, of course not. I don’t know void magic, she does.”
“But you are her.”
This offended her deeply. “No, I’m not. Don’t say that.”
Tigera shook his head. “Ugh, language is so imprecise. If only you were a true animal I could communicate with you purely.”
“Well, excuse me.”
“Look Spirea, the heritage curse was sabotaged. The persona of the Queen was built from you, it came from within you.”
She drew her sheets closer. “No.”
“She’s a reflection of you, a part of you. You should be able to...”
Spirea covered her ears. “No, don’t say that. I don’t want to hear it!”
Her eyes became pained. “Don’t tell me that monster is me.”
Tigera backed off, realizing he was upsetting her.
Spirea’s lip quivered. “Do you know how many people she’s killed? Do you know how many evil things she’s done? And you tell me I am her? You make me feel like I am responsible for her crimes? Do you have any idea how cruel that is?”
Isle of Wysteria: Throne of Chains Page 20