An Empire of Stones

by Bella Forrest

  “Commander Varga, what a pleasant surprise.”

  A woman’s voice echoed across the room. Two figures sat on a raised dais, both dressed in light blue robes. Commander Varga bowed down, and after an urging side glance from Varga, I did the same.

  “King and Queen Memenion, please accept my apologies for the intrusion,” Varga said, approaching the couple.

  “Not at all, Varga. We have heard about the fires at Hellswan—a sorry state of affairs,” the king replied, beckoning us closer. As we approached, both of them smiled warmly, and I relaxed.

  “Who is your companion?” the queen asked, her eyes lighting on me.

  “This is Ruby, a human of Hellswan who assisted Ashbik in the trials,” Varga replied.

  “Ah!” the queen exclaimed, her bright blue eyes sparkling. “You are quite popular among my people. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ruby.”

  I smiled back, not really knowing how to address either of them or if I was meant to speak at all.

  “I was seeking sanctuary for Ruby while the fires continue,” Varga explained.

  “Of course,” the queen replied. “Ruby, you are more than welcome to take one of our guest rooms here and rest—I imagine it has been a trying time for you.”

  “That’s very kind,” I replied quickly, before Varga could speak for me again, “but I have to get back to the castle—back to my friends.”

  The queen looked surprised. “You must wait. From what I hear the whole of Hellswan is engulfed in bizarre ice flames! Why not wait a while, and then Varga can escort you back?”

  I hesitated. Getting some rest did sound tempting—it had been a long time since I’d had a full night’s sleep, and if I really couldn’t get in to Hellswan castle, then my options were limited anyway. Varga took advantage of my silence.

  “Ruby, please. It is the best thing you can do right now.”

  All three of them were looking at me, waiting for an answer.

  “Thank you—that would be… great.”

  The queen smiled brightly, and I felt Varga relax next to me.

  “Then it is decided. I will fetch a minister to take you to your room, and then you must join us for dinner—you too, of course, Varga.”

  I felt relieved that he would be staying as well. I didn’t know Varga in the slightest, but I felt safer having someone around who had connections to Hellswan—as strange as that was. I supposed to me, Hellswan was now familiar.

  Moments later, a minister appeared and I followed her from the room, after promising the queen that I would attend the dinner later that evening. I thought it was strange, having a minister escort me – surely it was the job of a servant? Though Memenion’s castle was a lot smaller than both Hellswan and the Seraq palace…perhaps they doubled here. That, or they wanted to keep a close eye on me.

  We entered the main hallway again, but then took a turn which led to a staircase and then more hallways on the second floor of the castle.

  “Are you tired?” the minister asked.

  I was taken aback by the question. I didn’t think a minister had ever asked me a direct question, let alone a question about my personal welfare.

  “Uh…I’m fine, a bit tired, I suppose…long day,” I rambled.

  The minister smiled at me, and I noticed how gentle and soft her appearance was in comparison with the other ministers I’d come across.

  “I can imagine,” she replied. “The things that are happening at Hellswan…they’re terrible.”

  I nodded, not wanting to go into detail about just how bad things were.

  “How long have you worked for the Memenion kingdom?” I asked, attempting to change the subject.

  “Oh, since forever. My family have lived in the kingdom for generations. I’m so grateful that they have.” She glanced over at me. “We’re the smallest kingdom in Nevertide, you know. But I think we are also the happiest, and the most peaceful. The kingdom as a whole tries to stay out of Nevertide politics.”

  “Is King Memenion not running for emperor?’ I asked, curious. I had thought that all the Nevertide royals would be desperate for that title.

  The minister nodded sadly. “Yes, he is. The queen is very reluctant to have her husband take part…but he’s doing it to ensure certain royals stay out of power more than anything else.”

  “Tejus?” I asked. “It seems the whole of Nevertide hates the Hellswan family name.”

  The minister looked at me with a perplexed expression.

  “No,” she replied, “it’s Queen Trina we fear.”

  Oh.

  I felt another pang of guilt for leaving Ash with her, alone. I was about to ask the minister why she feared Queen Trina so much when we turned a corner into another smaller hallway. I took a few steps, and then stopped dead.

  “What’s…what’s this?” I asked, feeling sick.

  The minister’s gaze followed my finger, pointed at the stone tiles on the floor. Each tile was painted with a rune that I recognized all too well. It was far more artfully done, but I recognized the inverted triangle, the snake wrapped around the thick line and the setting sun. The last time I had seen it, it had been scrawled in goat’s blood in a barn.

  I backed away from the minister, but she just looked confused—and embarrassed.

  “Please don’t let it alarm you,” she pleaded. “The rune is ancient history, the symbol of the Acolytes. They were an old cult that worshiped a mythical entity—they used to be heavily aligned with this kingdom.”

  “An old cult?” I asked sharply.

  “Yes, of course, they haven’t been in existence for a long time. Not for centuries.”

  “I’ve seen this symbol recently,” I replied.

  The minister looked genuinely shocked.

  “That’s impossible!” she said. “It must have been a similar rune.”

  I shook my head. “I know what I saw—it was the same one. If this is a symbol of the Acolytes, then they’re very much active. How powerful were they, before they allegedly disbanded?” I asked.

  The minister lowered her gaze to the floor, clasping her hands tightly in front of her.

  “Very,” she whispered.

  Tejus

  It was the middle of the night when I woke. I must have drifted off; the ice fires still blazed in the forests beyond, but far less violently now. I hoped that the end was in sight. The fire we’d built had gone out, and Hazel was sleeping next to me, her head resting against my arm. The feathers behind us were cold. I pressed the palm of my hand against Aria’s chest. Her heart must have stopped beating a while ago.

  Gently, careful not to wake her, I picked Hazel up and moved her away from the bird before placing her on the ground, still wrapped in my robe. She groaned, but didn’t wake. I watched her sleep for a few moments, unable to draw myself away from her peaceful expression in the cold light of the fires. On seeing her pale skin and fragile beauty, I could finally see and believe her connection to vampires—or what I’d heard of them in stories as a child.

  I moved away from her, attending to Aria. I closed the bird’s eyes and stroked the soft feathers of her forehead for the last time. She had been a good creature—brave. Brave and trusting. When we were flying over the cove, the pain had been so bad the bird had wished to dive into the inferno and end her misery. But she hadn’t, flying on till she could get us to safety, holding on for moments longer to warm the woman I loved. A job I couldn’t do.

  “Thank you, Aria. Rest now, be free.” I whispered my short eulogy, realizing that I would need to burn her body—but it would have to wait until I could lower the barriers.

  Hazel murmured in her sleep. I moved toward her as quietly as I could, curious as to what she might say in her dreams…if she was ever haunted by me as I was by her.

  “No,” she moaned, “not…Tejus, leave him alone…Tejus, don’t let me go…”

  What did that mean? I couldn’t quite work out if I was hero or villain in whatever scenario was playing out in her head. I deliberat
ed waking her; the moans were becoming more agitated, a frown appearing on her brow.

  “No!” she cried out suddenly, sitting upright and looking around her wildly.

  “Hazel—Hazel, it’s me, you’re safe.”

  I took hold of her forearms, forcing her to look at me. A second later, I saw the fog of the nightmare fade, and she exhaled in relief.

  “Tejus, I’m sorry,” she gasped. “I think…I was having a nightmare.”

  “It’s all right now,” I replied gently.

  She looked around at the forest and Aria at the opposite end of the boundary. Her forehead creased in confusion.

  “Why can’t I sleep next to the bird…Aria?” she asked.

  “She passed away in the night. She was in a lot of pain—it’s better this way.”

  “Oh.” Hazel took a moment to process the information, her eyes becoming tear-filled as she glanced over at the body.

  “I’m so sorry, Tejus.”

  I nodded. Bereavement wasn’t really something I felt able to share with others, and I felt uncomfortable under her sympathetic gaze.

  “I will always be grateful that she saved me from the Ghouls’ Ridge drop,” she murmured, looking over in the direction of the deep caverns. “Even though riding on her scared the life out of me.”

  I smiled, recalling the first time that Hazel had ridden her. She’d clung on for dear life, every single muscle and sinew in her body tensed to breaking point. I remembered the first time I’d flown Aria—I had spent hours dipping and diving through the clouds, finally feeling free, never wanting to come back to land.

  “What now?” Hazel asked.

  “We wait.” I shrugged. “We can’t be reached by any other creature till the fires have died down. It shouldn’t be much longer.”

  She nodded, wrapping my robe around her more tightly.

  “I’ll light another fire.” She was starting to shiver. Without the bird for warmth, I didn’t know what else I could do to keep the ice flames at bay.

  Once I’d lit a fire, smaller than the last as we’d used up most of the dry branches already, I came and sat down next to her.

  “How are you feeling?” I asked, studying her body to see if it was still shaking.

  “Better.” She smiled back at me through chattering teeth.

  Putting my arms around her waist, I dragged her over to sit in front of me. It was far more intimate than I could bear, but the best way to share whatever meager body heat I had with her. She leant her head back against my chest, so small that I could basically envelop her entirely in my limbs.

  “That’s better.” She sighed contentedly. “You’re warmer than a vampire.”

  “Thanks.”

  She laughed at that, and I smiled involuntarily at the sound of it echoing across the forest.

  “Will you eventually…become one?” I asked, trying to sound offhand.

  “A vampire?”

  “Yes, a vampire.”

  “I suppose so. When the time’s right, I guess. I want to be able to join GASP when I’m ready, and to do that I’d need to become a supernatural. Plus, there are some seriously badass vamp qualities that I’d like to inherit.”

  “Like?” I prompted, assuming by her tone that ‘badass’ was a good thing.

  “Amazing vision. Strength. Speed. Immortality…”

  “You wish to live forever?” I asked quietly.

  She shrugged.

  “As long as everyone I love does, then it won’t ever get lonely.”

  “That’s quite a condition.”

  I didn’t understand the desire for immortality. I had hardly hit the halfway mark of this existence, and already it wore me down. Why would anyone want to continue their lifetime past its expected term?

  “Well, my parents are already vampires,” she replied, “as are my grandparents and a lot of my other friends and family. I love my life in The Shade—it’s so beautiful there, and we all live together, a tight-knit community…it’s something I don’t ever want to lose.”

  I gritted my teeth. Her honest answer, a careless truth to her, brought me physical pain. Clearly she desired for nothing more than the life she had been promised. Had there even been a slight hesitation, an inkling of her wanting more than what she already had, I would have taken it—clung onto it like a lifeline.

  A silence stretched out between us. It grew uncomfortable, and I felt Hazel tense beneath me, as if she wanted to say something, but didn’t know how to get the words out. Eventually the quiet broke her, and she spoke.

  “Tejus, you said before that I should stay away from you—that nothing would ever happen between us. Are you ever going to tell me why?”

  I laughed softly, impressed with her candor, but knowing that now more than ever I didn’t want to give her the choice of staying here. Hazel imagined that she loved me. It wasn’t enough—not when the time came for her to choose between her home and a place she despised, and the possibility that she would have to become a sentry in order to be with me if my enquiries into how I might manipulate the marriage ceremony led nowhere.

  “No, I will not,” I replied, as gently as I could.

  “No?”

  “You should really just take my word for it.”

  She looked up at me, smiling.

  “You don’t know me very well,” she replied. “I’m not going to take your vague answers seriously—you know how I feel about you. I’m embarrassed about it, but there’s obviously no point in hiding it. And I know you feel things for me too…so I’m going to get to the bottom of this.”

  “So you’re not going to trust me?” I asked.

  “Nope.”

  “Even if I tell you that sometimes, love just isn’t enough?”

  Her expression changed from one of light-hearted teasing to solemnity.

  “No, Tejus. I don’t believe that for a second.”

  All of a sudden, I was unaccountably angry with her. How was I supposed to keep my honor, to do the right thing, when she was being so open with her feelings? Didn’t she understand that this was pure torture for me? Knowing that I could return her sentiments, happily, but if I did so I would be condemning her to a life that she didn’t want.

  Of course she didn’t understand.

  How could she? If I wanted to protect Hazel, then I was the one who would have to shoulder this alone—to prevent her from having to make a choice that she would find impossible.

  “You know I’m going to carry on loving you anyway, right?” she asked.

  Her words were painful to hear. I gently kissed the top of her head, inhaling her scent—I wanted to take her, here, now. I had never wanted anything so much in all my life.

  “I know,” was all I said.

  She leaned her head back on my chest and sighed.

  “You’re impossible,” she murmured.

  I held her body tightly, knowing that I had nothing else left to say—at least, nothing that she would want to hear.

  “Distract me,” she said sleepily. “Tell me about the trials—what’s going to happen next?”

  “Well, I think the trials are going to begin as soon as possible. What they will entail, I have no idea. My father’s accounts of his own trials tended to be exaggerated—I doubt there was much truth to them. I suppose it will be the same sort of thing that we saw in the kingship trials. Harder, most likely.”

  “I wish I could be there with you,” she replied, yawning. “And I don’t really understand why they haven’t just appointed someone in the meantime—I mean, if Nevertide is under such threat, wouldn’t the ministers want to do that? To stop the warnings and the entity?”

  “They can’t. They don’t have that power. The emperor has always been chosen by trial. It’s an ancient law.”

  “Huh, more ancient laws. They’re really working out well, aren’t they?”

  I tended to agree with her. Why Nevertide was bound by these laws was a mystery to me also, especially when it seemed like they prevented us from saving ourse
lves.

  “Time is running out. I hope the Impartial Ministers will see that and choose swiftly.”

  “I hope they choose you,” she replied, curling up closer against me.

  “So do I.”

  When I next looked down at her, she had fallen fast asleep. This time, I watched over her till dawn.

  Ruby

  I had tried to rest, but just ended up worrying about Benedict and Julian, so eventually gave up and took a hot bath instead. It was pure heaven to finally luxuriate in a tub of hot water without a team of kids outside needing to get in. I took my time, admiring the elegant décor of the bathroom and the lack of grey stone and vulture heads adorning every available surface.

  My mind drifted to the rune that I’d seen previously. I was absolutely adamant that the Acolyte cult was active in Hellswan, and as soon as I got back to the castle I would tell Tejus and Hazel. If they were responsible for the slain goat, then how many other things might they have been behind—like the faulty disk at the trial? Without knowing what they wanted, or who they were, it was impossible to tell how powerful they were…but if they were once revered enough to have part of a palace tiled with their insignia, then my guess was very powerful indeed.

  As beautiful as the castle was, I was irritated that I would be kept here until the fires cleared. Having dinner with a bunch of sentry royals at a time like this seemed frivolous and pointless. The sooner it was over and done with, the better.

  With that in mind, I exited the bath and wrapped a large towel around myself, not relishing the idea that I’d have to re-wear the clothes I had.

  I stepped out into the bedroom, trying to remember where I’d lazily dumped my stuff, when there was a knock on the door.

  “Um…wait, not dressed!” I called out.

  A laugh came from the other side of the door.

  “It’s Varga. I have fresh clothes for you,” he called through. “I thought you might prefer that.”

  My hero.

  “Thanks! Can you leave them outside?” I asked, not wanting Varga to see me in a towel. Had it been a female minister or a servant I didn’t think I would have minded, but it felt totally inappropriate to let him see me half-naked.