Conquering Fate

by Jennifer Anne Davis

  I pulled the hood low on my head, hoping if anyone saw me from afar, they would assume I was Morlet and leave me alone. I entered the servants’ stairwell. If I could just make it through the castle without running into any more soldats, I’d be happy. I almost laughed imagining what Anders would do in this situation—probably walk right out the front door. He had said sometimes the easiest way was the most obvious way.

  A tinge of regret pierced me at the thought of leaving him here in the dungeon while I left the castle. But I wasn’t leaving permanently. I just wanted to be in the capital with my people. I never thought I’d miss the smells, the noise, and the towering buildings. But I needed to prove to Morlet that he didn’t control me. I also needed to gain the citizens’ loyalty so that after the curse was lifted, I wouldn’t have a full-fledged rebellion on my hands at the same time the borders reopened.

  Exiting the stairwell, there was nobody in sight. Standing tall and pretending to be confident, I strode through the great hall toward the door. The cape billowed around me. Voices came from the corridor on the right. Nearing the exit, I knew there would be two guards outside. I opened the door and kept my head angled down so they wouldn’t see my face. I strode right past them, not bothering to utter a single word. Neither guard spoke nor did they attempt to stop me.

  At some point, a soldat would ask where I was going. Nearing the drawbridge that covered the moat and lead to the gate in the wall, I pulled on my power and tried something I had never done before. I willed my power to make me invisible. My head pounded and my limbs tingled. I could still see my body so I wasn’t sure if it worked or not. Nearing the soldats stationed at the gate, no one said a word or even looked my way.

  The gate was closed. How could I open the gate without anyone knowing I was passing through? As I walked toward it, my feet felt as if they were sinking in mud. Moving became difficult. I didn’t want to use any more power, but I needed to get past the gate. I was so close. I didn’t have my bo staff, but I felt the power within me surge, wanting to be released. Hopefully, Morlet didn’t sense me—I’d forgotten to use a shield. Focusing on the iron gate in front of me, I envisioned the chains being pulled and the gate lifting. My vision blurred, my hands throbbed with pain, but I didn’t stop. Lift, I thought.

  The gate started to rise. Several guards ran to the chains to see who was making the gate go up. When they didn’t see anyone around, they looked at one another, confused. The gate was half-way up. I ran and ducked under it, my vision starting to blur. Once on the other side, I sprinted until the gate was out of sight. When I was far enough away, I dropped my invisibility and collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.

  Excited voices whispered all around me. Lying on the ground, everything started spinning. Desire filled me. I wanted nothing more than to sink into the world, becoming part of it. Hands slid around my shoulders, my stomach, and my legs. My vision blurred.

  “Kaia!” Morlet yelled. “What have you done?”

  “The world wants me.” I laughed. “It’s taking me.” Let it take me, then this will be over. I won’t be queen, I won’t be the savior to these people, and I won’t even exist anymore.

  Morlet’s magic slammed into me, surging through my body. My chest heaved. Hatred coursed inside of me, seeking out my power and squeezing the life out of it. The voices screamed, loud and grating on my ears. I thrashed around.

  What was happening? My body stilled and then floated into the air. My vision cleared, and I could easily breathe again. Morlet’s magic abruptly left me, and I gasped.

  I was lying on the ground staring up at the night sky. Taking deep breaths, I sat up, trying to reorient myself. I must have used too much power and Morlet somehow counteracted it. He had saved me. Again. I was getting tired of him constantly saving me. Rolling over, I scrambled to my feet and glanced around. No one was about. I needed to get into the cover of the city before someone spotted me. I only had an hour or so until curfew went into effect.

  Damaris had taken me to a tavern on the south side of the capital. I headed in that direction, keeping the cape tucked around my body. Soldats stood guard on most of the street corners watching as people hurried home from work. I avoided the street where I had passed out the food and was indirectly responsible for hundreds of deaths. What had become of the bodies? Did those families hate me? Shivering, I continued, keeping my eyes downcast, trying to remain insignificant so no one would pay me any heed.

  The cold air was refreshing although the smell of body odor mixed with a tang of something I couldn’t place, hung heavily in the air. I neared the building where the tavern was located. I didn’t know the secret knock nor did I know the password to gain entrance. A man approached the door, and I hurried to join him.

  He glanced at me. “You don’t live here,” he said, tucking his hands under his armpits, trying to stay warm.

  “No,” I replied.

  Shock flitted across his face. “Who are you?”

  “A friend.”

  The man eyed me suspiciously before knocking on the door. A moment later, a plank of wood slid to the side, revealing a man’s eyes. I couldn’t hear what the men said to one another. The plank slid closed. The door did not open.

  “What’s going on?” I asked. I didn’t like standing out here in the open.

  The man peered up and down the street and then took a step toward me. “He’s checking your story.”

  “And what story would that be?” I asked.

  “That you’re a Kriger and the queen,” he whispered, as if afraid of being overheard.

  My skin prickled not knowing if that made me a target or not. Did he hate me for marrying Morlet? For tying myself to a monster? For causing the near riot which resulted in hundreds of innocent deaths? “What do you believe?” I asked, paying attention to my hands in case they started hurting, alerting me to danger.

  “I stopped believing in anything worthwhile a long time ago.”

  My heart ached for this man because I understood how he felt. It was so easy to give up when surrounded by such hatred and poverty. The plank slid open, and two bright blue eyes shone through it.

  “Hello Vidar.” I smiled. The door opened, and I entered.

  The second I stepped into the dark room, Vidar wrapped his arms around me. “Damaris said you’d made it safely back to the castle, but Anders had been captured.” He held me at arm’s length, searching my face.

  The man squeezed past us and went inside the tavern, leaving me alone with Vidar. I quickly told him everything that happened since the last time we saw one another.

  “Have you seen Anders since Morlet awakened you?” Vidar asked.

  “No. But I plan to find him. We can’t kill Morlet until he wakes Anders up.” I knew Vidar would argue this point with me. To him, the cause was far more important than each of us. He’d sacrifice his friend if it meant saving his kingdom. I learned that when Norill had taken Anders last time.

  “I’ve been searching for the last piece of the sapphire,” Vidar said. “You have until we find that sapphire to convince Morlet to wake Anders up. Understood?”

  I tried not to laugh at him ordering me around. Not only did I outrank him now, but I would never go through with killing Morlet until Anders was out of the magic state he was locked in. Not in the mood to argue, I replied, “Understood.”

  He opened the door to the tavern and we went inside. Boisterous noise greeted me along with the smell of bread and ale. The tavern was just as I remembered it.

  “Kaia!” a voice boomed. Henrik shoved people out of his way in his haste to reach me. He wrapped me in a hug and spun me around. When he set me on my feet, he patted my head. “It’s good to see you. Come and sit with us.” In the corner of the tavern, several tables had been shoved together, the Krigers sitting around them.

  They were here. All twelve Krigers were together in the capital. Hope bloomed inside of me. We were really going to go through with this. The end was near.

  As I approached, th
ey raised their mugs in salute. Stein stood and kissed my cheek.

  “Glad the lot of you is in one piece,” I said, taking a seat.

  Vidar sat next to me, grabbing an empty mug and filling it from the pitcher on the table. “Here, drink up.”

  “What are we drinking to?” I asked, taking a sip.

  “The end,” Vidar said. The Krigers raised their mugs. “The end of my home, the end of our training, the end of Morlet. Basically, the end of an era.”

  “I’m sorry about the treehouse.” I still couldn’t believe it had been destroyed.

  Vidar waved his hand. “It doesn’t matter. In a couple of weeks, I’ll be back in my castle, where I grew up, where I belong.” He finished off his drink and refilled his mug.

  Leaning closer to Stein, I asked, “How long have you been here?” I suspected Vidar was slightly drunk. I rubbed my face. If Vidar intended to live in the castle, and I was still queen, how would that work? Would he start pressuring me to marry him again?

  “We’ve been at the tavern for a couple of hours.”

  “Where do you plan to spend the night?” I hoped they intended to remain in the capital.

  “We’re staying in an apartment upstairs. The rebels have been feeding and hiding us.”

  Then this really was the end. I needed to find a way to save Anders before we faced Morlet. “What’s the status of the sapphire?” I asked. In other words, how much time did I really have?

  “Vidar spoke with some miners, but that’s all I know.”

  Henrik and Vidar stood arm in arm, swaying back and forth while bellowing out a song about hunting.

  “The two of you need to go to bed to sleep this off,” I exclaimed.

  Vidar knelt before me. “I didn’t think we’d see you tonight.”

  What did that have to do with anything? “So it’s okay for you to drink yourself silly if I’m not around?” I glanced at the other Krigers. Most of them were talking in groups of two or three, not paying any attention to Vidar. Henrik was busy singing to one of the serving women.

  “Oh, Kaia,” Vidar murmured, staring at me.

  “Where’s Damaris?” I asked, wanting to take Vidar’s attention off me.

  He shrugged. “She’s been busy.”

  “Doing what?”

  “Preparing for your binding ceremony.”

  He swayed on his knees and I grabbed his shoulders, steadying him. “You know,” he slurred, “if you’d chosen me, it could be us being bound. No…that’s not right. We wouldn’t need to be bound with magic. We’d bed like normal humans.”

  I abruptly stood, my face flaming red with embarrassment. “I’m going.” The Krigers looked at me. Did they expect me to save them; to lead them? I had no idea.

  “I’m sorry,” Vidar said. “Don’t go.” He stood and hugged me.

  Marius came over, peeling Vidar’s arms off me. “I’ve got him,” Marius said. “He hasn’t been sleeping lately. So not only is he drunk, he’s been awake for almost forty-eight hours.”

  “Why?” I asked. Now that I was paying attention, I could see the dark circles under Vidar’s eyes.

  “He’s been meeting with different rebels,” Marius said. “Trying to figure out what’s going on in the mines.”

  “Any luck?” If we didn’t find that last piece, we couldn’t end this.

  “A group of miners that had been harvesting the Heks magic that seeped from the earth were all executed.”

  “All of them?”

  He nodded.

  I closed my eyes. Morlet had been busy. Why would he order the men to be killed? Was there something else I didn’t know?

  Vidar started singing again and Marius shoved him in the corner, sandwiched between Gunner and the wall. “Don’t worry about Vidar,” Marius assured me. “There are eleven of us here to help him.”

  I turned to leave.

  “I’ll walk you back,” Stein said, joining me. “Are you returning to the castle?”

  “I am, but you don’t have to walk me. I can manage on my own.”

  “I know. But I want to.”

  We headed toward the exit when the door flew open and a man stumbled in. “I have it!” he shouted.

  24

  The man held his hand in the air, a large smile plastered across his face. When I moved to go around him, Stein grabbed my wrist, stopping me. “He’s a rebel.”

  The man had black soot on the side of his face and he smelled like the mines. Vidar ran over to him and clasped the man’s shoulders. “Is it in your possession?” he asked.

  The man opened his hand, revealing a sapphire the size of an egg.

  The tavern went silent.

  “How?” Vidar asked, staring at the sapphire.

  “The king came into the mines and offered a large reward for anyone who came forward with a sapphire. After he left, I told everyone that you needed it to overthrow Morlet. I told them you promised to pay twice what the king offered once you were on the throne.” He handed Vidar the sapphire.

  Vidar looked at me. “We can destroy the sapphire once and for all.”

  It didn’t feel real. Somehow, I’d always had a seed of doubt that it would be found and this nightmare would end. The sapphire started glowing, and people gasped. High-pitched voices sang all around me, begging for me to touch the sapphire. I leaned forward.

  “Kaia,” Stein said, “are you okay?”

  An intense need to touch the sapphire filled me as I reached for it.

  “Grab her,” Vidar ordered.

  Stein wrapped his arms around me, pinning my hands down. The voices grated on my ears, angry. I had to acquire the sapphire and get out of here. It was mine. “Klipet leovi!” I screamed, knowing the words from the old language meant release me. Power flowed into me, making me stronger. I threw my arms out, and Stein lost his hold on me.

  “Get it out of here!” Vidar said. Marius darted forward and grabbed the sapphire, running from the room.

  I shrieked and sprinted after him. Henrik tackled me, knocking me to the floor. “Deep breaths,” he said. “Let it go.”

  “What have you done this time?” Morlet snarled in my mind.

  “Get out of my head!” I thought back to him.

  “I’m coming with a squad of men. I can sense exactly where you are.”

  With the sapphire gone, reason gradually returned. I had to warn the Krigers that soldats were on their way. “I’m okay.”

  “You sure?” Henrik asked, still on top of me.

  “Yes. The compulsion is gone.”

  He rolled off me and helped me to my feet. “I’m sorry.” He smiled sheepishly at me.

  “Have you been experiencing similar episodes?” Vidar asked.

  “When I use my magic,” I revealed. “I actually came to ask you for the medallion.” In all the chaos of the night, I’d forgotten about that.

  “Is that wise?” he asked.

  The small piece of the sapphire in the medallion never called to me. Perhaps Grei Heks had cast a spell on it to ensure it only protected from magic and never called it. “Yes,” I assured him.

  He hesitated and then removed the medallion, handing it to me. I took hold of it and placed it around my neck. I sighed. It seemed as if I’d been riding atop a wild horse through a storm and now I was inside a warm cottage. The comfort the medallion brought was immeasurable. With my mind once again clear, I said, “Everyone needs to leave. Immediately. Morlet is on his way with soldats.”

  “How do you know?” Henrik asked.

  “When I reacted to the sapphire, we connected. He told me he’s coming, and he knows exactly where I am.”

  The man standing behind the bar cursed. Vidar started ordering everyone out of the tavern.

  “Where will you go?” I asked.

  “We have plenty of safe houses. I will take the Krigers to one on the other side of town. If you can, try to stall Morlet to give us more time to escape.”

  “I can do that.” Hiding the medallion under my shirt, I lef
t the tavern and headed in the direction from which Morlet would be coming.

  I turned the corner. Morlet, along with at least two squads of soldats, filled the street. The king stood perfectly still, his face concealed by the hood of his cape. Clouds hid the moon making the streets dark. Although a few of the soldats carried torches to light their way, no lights shone in the hundreds of windows that overlooked this street. Most people covered their windows with fabric or boards so no one would see inside their homes. Glancing up, I had the distinct feeling we were being watched.

  “Shall we return to the castle?” I asked, my voice echoing between the buildings.

  The soldats stood at attention, waiting for orders from Morlet. Only, he didn’t speak. I moved toward him feeling that something was wrong. When I reached the first soldat, I asked, “Why are you all standing here?”

  “His Highness told us to halt,” he replied, glancing back at Morlet. “We’ve been standing here for five minutes.”

  I slowly approached Morlet. Peering under his hood, I tried to see his eyes. Nothing. Reaching out, I slid my hand down his arm until I found his hand, holding onto it. “Are you okay?” I asked.

  He opened his eyes and the piercing blue shone in the dark. “I…feel like I am being pulled into the world.” His hand shook.

  Being near the sapphire had caused the same sensation for me. Glancing around, I wondered where the Krigers had gone. If they were close by, maybe Morlet was feeling the magic of the sapphire calling to him.

  “What about now?” I asked, squeezing his hand tightly. The protection of the medallion should extend to him since I was touching him.

  “The sensation is gone.” His shoulders relaxed, and he took a step closer so our chests were nearly touching.

  I needed to make sure we stayed connected until the sapphire was far enough away from him. “Let’s go home,” I said.

  “I came here to kill your companions,” he said, gripping my hand tighter.

  “I’m alone.”

  “Who did you come here to meet?” He glanced around, searching for someone.

  “The castle became too stifling,” I lied. “I came out here to get some fresh air and to be alone. This is where I grew up, where I feel at home.” Even though we were nearing the end, I didn’t want him to know the Krigers were in the capital. Just because he couldn’t kill them, didn’t mean he couldn’t hurt them. And if we were to win this, I needed them strong and in one piece.