Magic and Shadows: A Collection of YA Fantasy and Paranormal Romances

by T. M. Franklin

  “Daughter,” he said. “This isn’t your fault. Don’t you believe for a moment that this was your fault. You claim Nathaniel attacked you, and I believe you.” Layni curled in on herself. Her father tilted her chin to make her look at him. “You should have defended yourself. I’m proud of you for that. Nathaniel got what he deserved. I know that — you know that — but no one else is going to believe it.” The king looked pained. “The servant who found you with his body has started talking. The staff was happy to keep you a secret when it was of no consequence. But now? Now people are talking. People know about you. I can’t hide you anymore.”

  “I never wanted to be hidden.”

  The king deflated. “I thought I was doing what was best for you.”

  Layni said nothing. Clearly, she disagreed about what was best for her, but she wasn’t about to pick a fight with her father now. It seemed too late for that. She licked her lips. “May I have a favor?”

  “Anything.”

  “When the borders close, will the ambassadors be allowed to leave?”

  The king tilted his head, not understanding his daughter’s train of thought. “Yes. There will be a small window of opportunity for ambassadors and their families to leave if they wish.”

  “The ambassador from Barune, Elias? I want to go with him.”

  “With him? As his wife?”

  Layni nodded. “He knows who I am. He visits me often. He — he cares about me. I know he will be willing.”

  The king stroked his chin, deep in thought. “They will be looking for you.”

  “Yes, they will. Here. But if I can get across the border with Elias, I can spare you the embarrassment.”

  The king’s eyes flashed. He looked like he wanted to say something, but didn’t know how to say it.

  “Will you do it?” Layni asked.

  “I will have the minister draw up the wedding papers and administer a passport. If that’s what you wish, I will do it.”

  Layni nodded. “Thank you,” she said.

  The king pulled Layni into a hug. Her eyes widened in pain, but she hugged him back. Tears streamed freely down her face. It was a long hug, a meaningful embrace, perhaps the first one of its kind between the king and his daughter. When the king released her, Layni held her side with her good hand and tried not to show the pain.

  “You will need a name,” the king said.

  “I have a name.”

  “Oh?”

  Layni tilted her chin proudly. “My name is Ariana,” she said.

  15

  Elias dropped his bag beside the door and hurried into Layni’s chambers.

  “Close the door behind you,” she said.

  Elias obeyed, giving her a questioning look. Layni never closed her door. Probably hoping, I realized, that someone would want to visit. Layni sat on the chaise lounge, holding her side. She no longer wore her usual beautiful, flashy attire. Instead, she wore the humble clothing of a servant. Elias clearly noticed the change, but said nothing. Ariana stood behind Layni, braiding her hair. Her hands trembled.

  “I’m so sorry,” Elias said before Layni had a chance to speak. “The king will not be swayed. Only my immediate family is allowed to join me across the border. I have to leave.” Elias looked beseechingly at Ariana. “I have failed you both. I hate to leave like this, you know I do.”

  “I have something for you both.” Layni held up a decorative scroll. Elias took it and unrolled it. I already knew what it was, so I watched his reaction as he read it. His mouth fell open. His eyes widened.

  “Layni,” he said. “Ariana,” he said.

  Ariana tied the end of Layni’s braid. “What is it?”

  “It’s a marriage certificate.” He raised his eyes to Ariana. “For us.”

  “What?!” Ariana side-stepped around the chaise lounge to read it for herself.

  “According to that marriage certificate, you two have been married for several weeks now, long before the war was declared. Now you can leave with him.”

  “But I can’t leave you here!”

  “There’s something else.” Layni reached for a small, folded page of parchment. “This is also for you.” She handed it to Ariana, who unfolded it. “I’ll be leaving with you,” she said. “In every way that I can.”

  “Princess Ariana?” Ariana read aloud. “Layni, what is this?”

  “I told my father my name. He granted me a passport to leave the country with my husband.” Layni met Elias’s gaze. Elias was quiet, processing the news. “Ariana, you can’t stay here. The witch knows where to find you now. As soon as those borders close, you’ll be trapped in this land. It will only be a matter of time before the witch finds you.”

  “But what about you?” Ariana asked, her voice barely a whisper.

  Layni shook her head. “Even if I tried to leave, I wouldn’t make it.” She pulled her hand away from her side. It was bloody, right through the bandages. “If my illness doesn’t kill me, this cut will. The bleeding won’t stop, the skin is decaying. That was no ordinary knife. That dagger was meant for you, but it found me instead. So I’ll be you, and you be me.”

  Ariana’s lips trembled. “Layni, I can’t leave you here to die.”

  “I’ve been dying for a long time. I don’t have enough energy to fight about this. Take my identity, escape this land, and live the life I never got to. Very few people know my face. Dressed like this, I will be an anonymous servant, unaccounted for. You’ll get away with it. And when the war is over, you can come back if you choose. Actually be the princess. The healthy princess. My father will be surprised, but he’ll get over it. Make him proud like I never could.”

  “No.” Elias finally spoke up. “We can’t, Layni. I know you mean well, but we can’t just steal your life like this. We can’t leave you behind.”

  Layni waved him off. “Stop it, both of you. I have made up my mind. It’s too late to reconsider. I drank hemlock before you arrived.”

  “What!?” Ariana and Elias both rushed forward, but Layni held up her hands.

  “Like I said, it’s too late.” She smiled weakly at Ariana. “Remember when I told you my chef is very loyal? It comes in handy. He brought me the strongest poison he could find at my request. I know I’m dying, but I’m not letting a lifelong illness or this blasted dagger decide how I go. I own my death now. I’m going to die for a purpose. For you.” She looked into both of their faces. “You two are my only friends. You are my life. Ariana, it is my honor to die so that you can live. Elias, you gave me a name. And you both gave my inevitable death a purpose. Please go. Let me die with dignity. Get out of here while you have the chance.”

  Her energy spent, Layni crumpled onto the couch, wrapping her good arm around her stomach. Ariana knelt beside Layni and smoothed her hair out of her face.

  “I will never forget you, Layni,” she said. “I promise. I will tell my children the story of the Hidden Princess who gave me her life. I know you, Layni.”

  Layni smiled. Ariana kissed her on the forehead.

  “Elias,” Layni said. “You take good care of her.”

  “I will. I promise.”

  Elias squeezed her hand. They all lingered for a moment. Then Layni murmured, “Please go,” and closed her eyes.

  Elias and Ariana left, holding each other.

  Layni rolled onto her back with a sigh. “I am the master of my own fate,” she whispered to the empty room. She had no way of knowing that I was listening, but I felt her words were meant for me.

  She fell asleep with a smile on her face. She would have a long, miserable night ahead of her as the poison coursed through her system, racing to kill her before the witch’s magic could. But for now, she was calm. Maybe even happy. She was at peace with her death.

  As the view of Layni’s deathbed melted from sight, I sensed that I was no longer alone. I turned to face Spirit, who hovered in the space between water and sky.

  “I know who you are,” I said.

  Spirit lowered to the surfa
ce of the water, standing on it just like the Wandering Man had before. She said nothing, just waited.

  “I know you, Layni.”

  16

  The mask and tattered robe vanished, revealing the petite frame of the Hidden Princess in her usual Horrid attire. Her skin was no longer plagued by the sallow, yellow tint, and the rash was gone from her face. Her hair was braided neatly down her back. She looked healthier than I had ever seen her. In fact, she was radiant.

  “I am,” she said in a voice I now recognized. “I am the Hidden Princess of Horr.”

  “You died for her.”

  “Yes. And I would die for her again if I could.” She sighed. “Alas, my options for intervening on her behalf are dwindling. I killed Nathaniel to save her. But I’m no longer alive to kill you.”

  “Thank the gates,” I said.

  Layni grinned. “Even sick and tiny, I was formidable. I had to die four deaths to truly be defeated. It took the combined efforts of disease, dark magic, a dagger wound, and poison to finally off me. Were I still alive to defend Ariana, you wouldn’t stand a chance. Unfortunately, I don’t think Ariana will be so hard to kill. That dagger knows her name. Just a nick, and she’ll be gone.”

  I shuddered.

  “Look at you. You’re not a killer. It repulses you to even think about taking her life. Let her live.”

  I stepped away from the spirit. “This isn’t your choice to make. It’s not just my life I have to think about. My sisters are relying on me. One life for four. That’s more than fair.”

  All around me, the clouds darkened from a misty pinkish purple to gray. Thunder rumbled in the distance. I felt the tension of electricity all around me, making the hairs on my arms stand on end.

  “Fair?” Layni’s braid whipped around her as the wind picked up, echoing her emotions. “What about those of us who have already died to save her? Do our lives not balance the equation?” Her voice choked with emotion. “My nameless body was tossed in an unmarked grave. I lived as nothing, and I died as nothing. Ariana is my only legacy. She is me. She was supposed to tell her children about me. If you kill her, you kill me, too.”

  “If Ariana wanted to live happily ever after, she never should have associated with the witch in the first place.” Poor, precious Ariana. I was so sick of feeling inferior to this woman. “It’s not my fault that the witch is hunting her. I’m a victim in this mess as well. I never asked for the witch’s curse!”

  Layni’s voice was surprisingly calm. “Do you really believe that this story has a happy ending for you? You died the moment you made that deal with the witch. You belong to her now. You’ll accomplish this task, and then she’ll give you another. And another. Deal after deal after deal. She will never set you free. That’s not how she works. This never was a fight for your life. This is a fight for your soul.” The fierce winds died all at once, leaving me breathless in the silence. “Watch closely. This story isn’t over yet.”

  Layni snapped her fingers. The misty realm faded away.

  I stood on an empty stretch of road. I saw no signs of civilization in any direction. No cities, no farms, just a long expanse of hard-packed dirt road. In the distance, I saw what I believed was the Forsaken Woods. Everything else was rolling hills speckled with a few trees. I figured I must be standing in southwest Barune, near the Horr/Barune border. This was the path Ariana and Elias would have taken.

  Time skipped. The sun jumped down toward the horizon, from noontime to evening in the blink of an eye. I was suddenly surrounded by people, though none of them noticed my presence. Seven people knelt in a row with their hands behind their heads. Four heavily armed men paced, flashing their swords and knives. They were dressed in armor that bore the seal of Sydna’s royal family on their chests.

  Ariana and Elias were among the seven captives.

  One of the men addressed the kneeling travelers. “We heard a rumor that the Hidden Princess escaped from Horr out the western border. Do any of you know anything about that?”

  They were faced with stony silence.

  “You are the only people who have left Horr through the western border all day. For some reason, you were let out of the country even though the borders are closed. Why? We thought, that’s probably the princess escaping. Turn her over to us, and the rest of you can live.”

  Elias cleared his throat.

  “There’s been a mis—” The Sydnian soldier standing closest struck him with a gauntleted hand. Elias made a strangled sound of pain and covered his face with his hands.

  “Did I say you could speak?”

  “Do you want information or not?” Elias shot back, his voice slightly muffled behind his hands.

  Two of the soldiers exchanged a glance. “Stand up,” one commanded.

  Elias stood. The soldiers drew their weapons. Elias held up his empty hands. “I am an ambassador sent by the council of the royal family of Barune. I was allowed to leave Horr with my staff when war was declared. We mean no harm. We are just trying to return home.”

  “Do you have papers to prove your claims?”

  Elias reached into his coat and withdrew a packet of papers. “Yes. We all have passports. You will also find the king of Barune’s letter of assignment and the king of Horr’s letter granting us permission to cross the border.”

  The soldier took the packet and rifled through the contents, then nodded at another soldier.

  “We’ll need all of your passports.”

  Elias’s staff obeyed. Ariana hesitated. Her passport would identify her as the princess they were looking for. If they saw her passport, she was done for.

  As one of the soldiers collected the passports, another continued to question Elias. “Do you know anything about this Hidden Princess who allegedly murdered Prince Nathaniel?”

  Elias opened his mouth to speak, but Ariana interrupted. “Don’t lie to them,” she warned.

  “What?” Elias stammered.

  “That one. There.” Ariana pointed with her elbow to the only soldier who hadn’t spoken. He was a large man who wore an eyepatch over one eye. “See the patch? That’s a talisman. Magic. It sees lies.”

  “This one’s got a good eye,” the nearest soldier said. “And she’s right. If you lie to us, we’ll be able to tell. There’s no reason to keep a liar alive.” He rested his hand on the hilt of his sword to emphasize his point. “So I’m going to ask my question again. Do you know anything about the Hidden Princess?”

  Elias swallowed and licked his lips. “Yes,” he said. “I knew her.”

  The Sydnian soldiers leaned forward with interest. Elias was likely the first person they’d spoken to who could confirm that the princess had ever existed.

  “Did she kill Prince Nathaniel of Sydna?”

  Elias looked over at Ariana. Ariana stared straight ahead, trying not to draw attention to herself. The soldiers seemed to have forgotten that they hadn’t collected a passport from her.

  “She did,” Elias said.

  “Did you help her escape from Horr?”

  “When Barune hears that you detained an ambassador—”

  The bearded soldier held his sword to Elias’s throat. “Answer the question.”

  What was true? Was the Hidden Princess of Horr dead? Or was she kneeling beside him? Was it Layni or Ariana? If he said the wrong thing, would the man with the eyepatch declare him a liar? Would they all be killed?

  The soldier lowered his sword, waiting for Elias’s answer. Elias took advantage of the soldier’s lowered guard and punched him in the face. He stumbled backward. The other soldiers shouted. Two of the travelers stood and drew their own weapons.

  “Run!” Elias yelled.

  Ariana leapt to her feet and fled. The man with the eyepatch tried to chase her, but Elias threw himself in the way, his own sword drawn.

  Elias was a terrible swordsman. Alistair beat him every time they dueled. Even I could beat him in a duel, and I had never been trained. The scene began to fade as the fight intensified and A
riana fled, alone.

  “Wait! What happens next!?” I tried to grab Elias, to make him stay, but he faded away into mist.

  “If anything went wrong in their escape, Ariana was told to meet Elias at the Mejor Estate.” I heard the voice of the Wandering Man before I saw him. When he appeared, he was standing directly in front of me, where Elias had just been. His face was still concealed by his mask, and his voice still had that odd echoey quality Spirit’s had had before I identified her. “Ariana did as she was told. She arrived several days ago, and Micah hid her while they waited for Elias to arrive. He never did.”

  “He didn’t make it,” I said. My chest tightened. All this time, I had wondered where Elias was, agonized over his absence, cursed his selfishness for leaving his family with his mess. Never once had it occurred to me that he was gone. He hadn’t stopped the witch because he couldn’t stop her. Layni wasn’t the only one who had died defending Ariana.

  “I know who you are,” I whispered.

  The Wandering Man said nothing. Just like Spirit, he waited, silently, for me to identify him.

  I had a hard time speaking through the lump in my throat. My wonderful brother with a heart of gold. How had I not recognized him? How had I not known right away that he would reach out to me? My eyes stung with unshed tears. Rain began to fall from the gray clouds, creating ripples on the water. I flinched as the cold drops hit my skin. Hugged myself, I gazed at the gold and red mask concealing the Wandering Man’s face.

  “You’re Elias,” I said.

  17

  I expected the Wandering Man’s mask and tattered cape to fade away, showing me the form of my brother. Instead, the Wandering Man twitched, flickering in and out of existence.

  “No,” he said. The clouds behind him darkened.

  No?

  “You aren’t Elias?” I didn’t know whether to be relieved or horrified. The Wandering Man flickered again.

  “NO!” Lightning flashed across the sky. “You weren’t listening!”