by K. A. Linde
“I love my son, but I will not risk my country for him,” the Queen said. “And that’s final. I will write to King Edric and inform him that you will be returning to Byern promptly. Since we are not sailing out of the harbors in the next week, due to the Bride of the Sea ceremony, you will have a few days to settle your affairs here. But I can offer you nothing further.” Queen Cassia nodded her head and then left the room.
As soon as the door closed behind her, Cyrene thought the room might return to an uproar. But Brigette didn’t say a word. She just left. Alise shared a look with Robard that turned Cyrene’s body to ice.
In fact, after her afternoon on the beach, she could feel her body temperature dropping as her magic filled her. It had been weeks since her magic had gotten out of control. She realized she was shaking.
“Did you do this?” Cyrene asked Alise.
Alise just smiled. “Do what?”
“Did you?” she demanded. “You’ve hated me since the moment I walked in here. You’ve tried to get rid of me, and now, you’ve succeeded.”
“I’ve no idea what you’re talking about,” Alise said as she breezed past Cyrene to Robard.
Cyrene clenched her hands into fists. “You’re messing with people’s lives, and I’ve never even done anything to you!” She reached out and roughly grabbed Alise. Robard unsheathed his sword, but she didn’t even look at him. As if a sword would scare her after what she had seen. She knew Alise had something to do with this, and she wanted her to confess. “Just tell the truth.”
“You’re hurting a princess of the realm,” Alise said with her nose in the air. “If you want to leave here on good terms, I’d suggest you unhand me.”
“Cyrene,” Dean whispered, “just let her go.”
Cyrene threw Alise backward and had to catch herself from using her magic to do it. “I know you did this.”
“So what if I did?” Alise asked. “However it happened, you’ll be out of here in a few days.”
Every fiber in Cyrene’s body made her want to lunge forward and throttle Alise, but she resisted the urge. It wouldn’t help anything at this point. She hated letting Alise get away with this, but she needed to figure out how to stop it…not kill the person who had started it.
“Fine,” Cyrene said with a shake of her head.
Robard sheathed his sword and then followed Alise out of the room.
That left Cyrene completely alone with Dean. She nearly crumpled as the realization of her circumstances fully hit her. If she didn’t find a way out of this, then she would be leaving Dean and be on her way to Byern.
“Is it true?” Dean asked when she finally faced him again.
“Is what true?”
“Were you involved with the King?”
“Where did you hear that? Was that in the letter?” Cyrene asked anxiously.
She shouldn’t have felt nervous about this line of conversation, but the unease on Dean’s face didn’t calm her nerves.
“What does it matter? Is it true?” Dean sighed and ran a hand back through his hair. “Of course it’s true. Why else would he send an army to collect you…twice?”
“It doesn’t change anything. I’m not with him now, and not that I should have to explain my previous…relationships to you, but we were never really together either.”
“Cyrene, this changes everything.”
“Why? Why does it have to change anything?”
“Because you’re leaving!” he cried, finally loosening the anger he had been holding tight like a whip. “Because he’s coming to claim you.”
“Well, I’m not going back! I left the country for a reason, and anyway…I’m with you,” she said softly. Her blue eyes were pleading with him. She reached out and placed her hand on his arm. “I’m with you.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“About Edric?” she asked.
He cringed at Edric’s name. “Yes.”
“I didn’t think it’d matter to tell you the truth.”
“It matters.”
“Why?” she demanded. “Why does my past change anything about you and me?”
“Do you love him?” Dean asked. He looked like her answer could plunge a knife through his chest.
“It’s complicated, Dean,” she said.
“So, you do.”
Cyrene sighed. How can I explain Edric to Dean? She had never wanted to have this conversation. What she’d had with Edric was completely separate from what she currently had with Dean. Thinking about them as a comparison felt wrong. And, at this point, she wasn’t even sure how much of her time with Edric had even been real.
“No,” she said finally. “No, I don’t.”
He pulled her against him and buried his face in her hair, breathing her in. “I can’t lose you,” he said softly.
“You won’t. I promise.”
She hoped that was a promise she could keep.
Daufina walked briskly from her chambers and down the back hallways that led between her and Edric’s rooms. Ever since he had gotten that blasted letter from the Eleysian Princess, claiming that Cyrene was in their country, he had lost himself in the hunt again. Daufina couldn’t believe it when she’d read a copy of the letter Edric had sent her.
An army!
He was amassing an army to send to Eleysia to retrieve one girl. Daufina wanted to bury her face in shame for what was happening to her country. How could he be so stupid?
In the time that Cyrene had disappeared off the face of the map, she had seen Edric become renewed. He had been somber about her disappearance, but the news that Kaliana was pregnant had brightened his mood. It was treason to even think about what Kaliana had done to get the baby, but Daufina couldn’t deny that she had been happy with the results thus far.
Edric had been acting like a doting husband. Perhaps not loving, like he had been with Cyrene, but still, he had been taking his marriage seriously once more. It had made all the difference, and they had even announced Kaliana’s pregnancy to the entire country at the Eos holiday.
All of that for nothing.
“You’re truly sending an army?” Daufina called, barging into his war room.
Edric stood before a large table scattered with maps, measurements, paperwork, supply readouts, drawings of new techniques and maneuvers. Merrick stood just to his side. His right-hand man. He was whispering something into the King’s ear. Poison.
“Hello, Daufina,” Edric said coolly.
“Edric, be reasonable. Send an envoy to collect her. Think of diplomacy, for Creator’s sake. We can reopen trade negotiations with Eleysia. If Cyrene has been there, then we could use her knowledge of the country to acquire an ambassadorship. This could open up Byern to a world of new possibilities.”
“Diplomacy,” Merrick spat. “It is past time.”
Daufina drew herself tall. He could not speak to her like that. She was Consort after all. “Captain, perhaps you should remove yourself while I discuss this with His Majesty.”
“No, stay,” Edric said. “I’ll need your views on how best to infiltrate their defenses. We don’t have a detailed map of the islands surrounding the country, and with so few ports, we’ll have to be cautious. Their navy is supreme if we have to engage on water to get there.”
“Edric! Are you listening to yourself?”
“Enough!” he yelled. His blue-gray eyes were molten. “They took her, Daufina. They are holding her. I have given them a sufficient amount of time to return her, but if they do not, I need a contingency plan. And I will follow through on my statement. It was not a threat to Eleysia; it was a promise.”
“You would go to war for her.” It was a statement.
Daufina always knew that he would. For her. She’d known it the day he sent troops into Aurum. He would do anything for her.
Edric’s eyes softened for a moment. “I would go to the ends of the earth for her.”
“Can you not wait a few days for a reply?”
“It costs money and
time to mobilize an army. That, I cannot wait for if they refuse,” he told her stiffly.
“I know the cost of war. It’s that very thing I believe you are overlooking.”
“Do not belittle me, Daufina,” he growled. He flicked his hand at Merrick, who bowed and retreated from the room. Clearly, whatever he wanted to say, he preferred to be in private.
“I am not belittling you, Edric. I am thinking past Cyrene. I’m thinking of the country, of the land and the people. War is blood and sweat and tears. It is tragedy and heartbreak,” Daufina said, hoping that he would understand where she was coming from. “It is lives lost…and over what?”
He shook his head and looked away from her. He seemed lost in thought, and she almost spoke but waited for him to address her again.
“Do you know that it has not rained a single day since she has been gone?”
“What?” Daufina asked.
“I spoke with one of the High Order about weather patterns. We’ve been having issues with crops. He said that it had not rained a single day since Cyrene had been kidnapped and dragged out of our country,” Edric told her.
“I don’t…you think that is somehow related?” she asked warily. “When I hear that…all I think is that you want to send good soldiers…good men to war during a dry season when the crops aren’t growing. You are sending them to fight for you while the countryside is already bleeding.”
“There is something about her, Daufina,” he said. He held his head between his hands.
He looked pain-stricken. I want to go to him, but what could I do to cure what is ailing him? Nothing.
“She is calling to me, pulling me toward her. It’s like I can still feel her. Here.” He grasped at his chest. “It’s faint, but I cannot escape her.”
“Edric,” she whispered.
“I sound mad. I know. Believe me, I know.”
“It is obsession. You feel tied to her in some way because of something you had for such a short period of time. Then, she was taken away from you. It is no more than that.”
Edric sank down into a chair behind the table. He looked worn, as if Cyrene’s absence had hollowed him out. Daufina had thought that Kaliana’s pregnancy would revive him. She had believed it was in the process. But it was just a patch for the wound. She saw that now. He would not rest easy until he had Cyrene back. That desperation made him very, very dangerous.
“All those months ago, you told me to make my country whole again,” Edric told her. “I cannot see a way to do that without bringing Cyrene back. And I will…by whatever means necessary.”
“I have exactly three days to figure out how to fix this disaster.”
Cyrene stared around the crowded inn suite. A sense of urgency lit up the room. She couldn’t believe this was happening, and after her conversation with Dean, she was more determined than ever to fix this.
She knew that she couldn’t get a letter to Edric in time before Queen Cassia shipped her out of the harbor. And what would I even say in the letter anyway?
Sorry, I wasn’t kidnapped. I had to go chase down a pair of two-thousand-year-old Doma who your ancestors had forgotten to murder.
She didn’t think that would go over well.
“How did Edric even find out you were here?” Ahlvie asked. He was kicked back in a chair with his feet up.
Eleysia had been good to him, she could see. It was strange to think about how much she had missed him now that he was in front of her. He and Maelia had been her constant companions for so long.
“Yeah. It’s been months,” Maelia said.
“Someone must have leaked the information,” Orden said.
Then, his eyes traveled around the room, as if he was trying to figure out which of them had done it. But how can I blame anyone in this room?
“What about Ceis’f?” Ahlvie asked.
“No,” Avoca said automatically.
“It’s plausible,” Orden said. “He has motive.”
“Ceis’f would never betray me.”
“Well, I’d bet he’d think he was only betraying Cyrene,” Ahlvie said.
“Same thing!”
“He doesn’t think like that though, Avoca. You know he doesn’t. You are Leif. We are Other.”
She sighed and rubbed her face. “It’s a possibility.”
“I don’t want to think that Ceis’f would do that, but it’s not ruled out. There is another option though. Dean’s sister Alise has been plotting to get rid of me,” Cyrene said. “So, it could have been her. And, as much as I would love to get back at her for her ridiculous, petty sabotage, I need to figure out how to stay first.”
“I hate to say this, Cyrene, but maybe we should just go,” Avoca said. She had her arms crossed over her chest, and even in the dark purple Eleysian gown she was wearing, she looked like a warrior.
“We came here to find Matilde and Vera, and look,” Ahlvie said, gesturing to the two women who had thus far remained silent by the door, “there they are.”
“I know, but—”
“As much as I like Eleysia, I wouldn’t mind a change in scenery,” Orden said.
“Yes, but—”
“There’s nothing tying us to Eleysia now that we have what we were looking for,” Avoca continued. “It would be reasonable to just take the news that we have been asked to leave as a sign and disappear before anyone knows otherwise.”
“I understand what you’re saying, but what will happen to Eleysia if they don’t hand me over?” Cyrene asked.
Orden stroked his beard and tipped back his big, floppy hat. “Diplomacy. They would say that you disappeared, and Edric would send a small group to investigate, but it would be the truth, so it would blow over.”
“No way,” Ahlvie said. “Edric isn’t thinking clearly right now. It would be war before he’d act diplomatically to someone taking Cyrene. Are you all forgetting Aurum?”
“And what about Cyrene?” Maelia said from the corner.
She looked even paler and smaller than normal. Cyrene had thought the weather would raise her spirits and give some color to her, but it seemed to have had the opposite effect.
“Yes, what about me? Um…what about me?”
“Dean,” she filled in.
“Oh.”
“And Darmian,” Maelia added. She coughed twice and then looked away. “My apologies. I’ve been a bit under the weather.”
“I know this doesn’t pertain to the entire group, but Maelia is right. I’m not willing to leave Dean.”
“You would go back to Byern instead of fleeing for this Prince?” Orden asked.
“I understand how you feel about him, Cyrene, but it’s not reasonable,” Avoca said practically.
“Then, there has to be another way. I don’t want to leave Dean. Maelia doesn’t want to leave Darmian. None of us want to split up, except Ceis’f, who abandoned us and maybe sold us out!” she grumbled. “Yet I’ve been summoned home. What do we do?”
“Perhaps I could offer a third scenario?” Matilde said with a wry smile.
“Kathrine,” Vera said softly, “you’re not honestly suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, are you?”
“What’s life without a little risk?”
“A big risk.”
“It would work.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Could you perhaps fill us in on what you’re considering?” Cyrene asked. She was desperate enough to try anything.
Matilde explained what she had in mind, and by the time she finished talking, everyone was staring at her, slack-jawed.
“You want us to do what?” Cyrene asked.
“I know it sounds risky,” Matilde began.
“It sounds like suicide,” Avoca said.
“It just might work.” Ahlvie nodded his head. He had always liked his plans to have a little bit of insanity to them.
“It is never going to work,” Maelia said. She pursed her lips and looked like she might pass out.
“Do you need
someone to look at you?” Cyrene asked.
Maelia shook her head. “No. I’ve done what I can. It will pass.”
Cyrene frowned but nodded. She wouldn’t push Maelia. “I’ve no idea what is going to happen in the next three days, but if you think this will work…if you think I’m ready for this, then I’m in.”
The rest of the room agreed with her.
Matilde stood up a little straighter. “Just like old times, right, Mari?”
“I hope it doesn’t end up like old times.”
“We’re older and wiser. Plus, I’ll let you do all the real planning.”
Vera rolled her eyes. “Of course you will.”
Two days later, Cyrene was standing on the docks at First Harbor with her heart in her throat. She could barely see the outline of Ahlvie and Orden in the torchlight. She couldn’t believe they were actually going to go through with this. She couldn’t believe she was actually going to go through with this. It felt…crazy. And maybe it was, but it was the only way, and she would do it. She had made a promise to Dean.
“You have everything?” Cyrene asked.
Ahlvie patted his shirt pocket. “All here. Are you going to tell me what the letter says?”
Cyrene shook her head. “It’s private, but if talking to Edric doesn’t work”—and she didn’t think it would—“then give him the letter. That should settle things.”
“I can’t believe, after all of this, I’m on my way back to Byern.”
“I know. Maelia is in position to make sure no one knows, not even Darmian, that you are leaving tonight.”
“Good. You know I’ll do what I can to get this all straightened out.” His eyes drifted upward, searching out Avoca.
Cyrene knew Ahlvie hated leaving Avoca behind, but she needed Avoca to get through this.
“And you’ll return to me safe and sound and in one piece,” Cyrene instructed him. She reached out and touched his arm. “And to her.”
“Is she coming?”
Cyrene was glad for the low light. She could normally sense Avoca when she was near, but she didn’t feel a thing. Cyrene had expected her to be here, but her mood had been so sour after they had finalized their plans that Cyrene also wasn’t that surprised to find that she was gone. She had already lost Ceis’f. Even if they had fought all the time, she hadn’t actually wanted him to leave. And she definitely didn’t want Ahlvie to leave.