“He especially doesn’t like to boss me around,” she continued. “It was the source of many of our arguments as kids, you see. So we’ve developed a system of signs by which I can understand him. Thing was, I wasn’t paying attention to him at supper.”
The Water Princess was wearing a thoughtful frown. “I guess if it works for you. You two have known each other for a while?”
Kiona nodded. “Ever since my father perished saving his life,” she confirmed. “We were eight and ten, and he has no idea where he came from. When I opened my box and proved to be my father’s heir, they offered the other box to him, since he was of appropriate age and none of the other boys could get it open. I hated him.”
The Water Princess snorted. “Really?”
“Oh, yes,” said Kiona. “He used to really abuse his gift, especially on me. Don’t give me that look, Stephan. You were a terror and you know it. It was a good thing that he didn’t understand everything since he could have caused some pretty bad problems for Rizkaland. Fortunately, the Bookholder took him aside and taught him the value of silence. By the time we were officially Tied together on my sixteenth birthday, he was actually a decent fellow.”
“I’ve only known the Fire Prince a few weeks.”
Andrew closed his eyes and inwardly groaned. She would take the conversation this direction, wouldn’t she?
“Yes,” said Kiona. “You mentioned something to that effect when you told the story about how you came to be the Water Princess and Fire Prince. But you seem to be working things out quite nicely between yourselves. I guess that comes of being older, though.”
Andrew shared a glance with the Water Princess. “But we still hardly know each other,” he admitted. “I mean, I still can’t make heads or tails out of her most of the time.”
Kiona and Stephan laughed, clearly amused by the statement.
“She’s a girl, Fire Prince,” Kiona explained, with an amused shake of her head. “You shall never make sense out of her so long as you know her. Just stop trying now.”
Andrew glanced at the Water Princess, who gave him an impish grin. He sighed and shook his head. “Well, we still haven’t known each other very long.”
“But someday you shall, and that’s what matters,” said Kiona, nodding as though she knew what she was talking about. She was quiet a moment as Stephan signed something to her, and then she nodded. “Yes, you’re right, it is getting late. Come along. They should have your rooms ready for you.”
Rooms. Plural. That sounded encouraging.
Kiona and Stephan showed them through more halls to a set of rooms, that, like the ones they’d slept in the night before, were side by side and had a door joining them. The Water Princess locked this door immediately.
Andrew wondered if he dared mention to her that he could easily unlock it from his side – and that the same was true of their rooms back at the Kastle. It probably wasn’t worth it. Let her think that locking the door would keep her safe from him. He had no intentions of violating her privacy.
Clara woke up early the next morning, as usual, but the girl who got her ready for the day wasn’t Jasmine. Instead, it was an older elf woman who was very quiet and efficient.
Clara couldn’t wait to get back to Klarand. She missed Jasmine’s chatter, and Kiona wasn’t quite an acceptable replacement. She knocked on the door to Andrew’s room, exchanged crownings, and then went back to her room to wait for someone to tell her where to go. She had already been struggling to cram the Kastle into her memory. Loray was beyond her.
At last, there was a knock at the door, and it was Kiona. A glance out of the corner of her eye showed that Stephan was fetching the Fire Prince.
“Do they only use the two of you for errands?” Clara asked, raising an eyebrow as the men joined them.
Kiona sighed and nodded. “Oh, yes, that’s our lot in life. Run errands for the other kings and queens when they’re too busy. And they’re always too busy. I would think that they’d be nicer about it, given that someday we’ll have the opportunity to treat their children the same way, but…”
Stephan cleared his throat.
Kiona sighed. “They’d like you to come to the council room where we can discuss sending you back with the men, and which of us get to go with you.”
“Sounds fun,” said Clara.
The council room was not far away, and, within, they found King Tyrus, Bookdaughter Tnika, Bookholder Artin, and a few other people that Clara hadn’t bothered to memorize the night before, all waiting for them.
“So, who gets to go to Klarand?” Kiona asked as soon as they entered the room.
King Tyrus sighed and shook his head. “Have patience, child, lest I regret our decision. Artin and I spent quite some time last night in discussion, consulting the Book, and we have determined that yes, you and Stephan shall go to Klarand.”
“Oh, thank you!” Kiona cried, clapping her hands together.
“Hold off on on your gratitude until after the war,” said King Tyrus. “The two of you will go now and see to the finer details with the Wind Prince and Leaf Princess – and please, don’t embarrass yourselves. I shall be following tomorrow to help keep you out of trouble.”
“Well, I suppose going alone was too much to hope for,” said Kiona. “You do have to keep your eye on us, after all.”
“Yes, indeed. We will also be sending Bookdaughter Tnika and her husband, Upsilon,” King Tyrus continued. “Alith wishes to remain here, and we must return a Bookdaughter to Klarand. I would have preferred to send one of her aunts, but they are busy with other missions at the moment. Tnika has been confirmed, however. Do you accept the help we send, Fire Prince and Water Princess?”
“Uh, yeah, sounds good,” said the Fire Prince.
“Confirmed?” Clara repeated, not recognizing the term.
“It means that I Speak true,” Tnika explained. “I’ve Spoken a short-term prophecy, and it has come to pass. That’s how they know that Alphego does Speak through me. If it hadn’t, then it means that I spoke it of my own power, and then they couldn’t trust me.”
“Oh,” said Clara, nodding slowly. “Okay, then, so when are we going to go back to Klarand?”
“At once, if you’d like,” said one of the other queens, the one of Michelle’s line if Clara remembered right. She wasn’t certain because the woman hadn’t been at supper the night before. “Roland and I restored the Hill last night, spent a lovely evening with the Wind Prince and Leaf Princess. It almost made me wish that we’d been chosen to go help with the war, though,” she shuddered, “I really don’t care for that sort of thing.”
“Okay, right, good. Then let’s go.” Clara glanced towards the Fire Prince.
“I second the motion,” said the Fire Prince.
“Well, then,” said King Tyrus, standing up. “Follow me.”
More halls and passages, and they were led outside. Loray was a donut-shaped castle built around the real Alphego’s Hill. It was before this Hill they now stood.
It was big. Impressive. Alive. Like the replicas, it was a perfect circle – though much bigger – with a perfectly flat top. It was about twice as tall as Clara, with four sets of golden stairs cut into the sloping, grassy sides – the first bit of living green plant-life that Clara had seen in Rizkaland.
Tnika and the elven man that Clara assumed was Upsilon ascended the nearest set of steps, followed by Kiona and Stephan. King Tyrus nodded for Clara and the Fire Prince to follow, so they did so.
If Clara had thought the energy of the replica Hills was intense, they had nothing on the real thing. Here it was that Alphego had stood to make this world, and it still trembled from the memory.
Upsilon began to speak. “Alphego, we come before you to ask for safe passage to Klarand. They need aid in the fight against Amber, and we must return their Water Princess and Fire Prince.”
Clara’s mind wandered as the man continued. Had they come out here merely to ask for safe passage
? That was a bit … anticlimactic.
At that moment, the energy of the Hill rose to an even higher pitch, and the air began to glow with a golden light. It swelled, brighter and brighter, until it was all that Clara could see, although it wasn’t painful at all. She couldn’t see anyone else, but she didn’t feel alone. Alphego was there. She wasn’t sure how she knew it was Him, but she could feel His presence. It was … an interesting feeling.
Chapter 8
The light acquired a purple tinge and dimmed until it was the same as the glow of the room in which Andrew and the Water Princess had been Tied in. In fact … they actually now stood in that very room.
“Oh,” said the Water Princess, meeting Andrew’s eye for a moment, and instantly looking away. “That’s what Jakob meant when he said that the Hills could be used to travel between the islands.”
“Ah, there you are! What aid does Rizkaland send?”
It was the Leaf Princess, standing at the base of the hill just inside the doorway. The Wind Prince stood beside her.
“Are you the Leaf Princess and Wind Prince?” asked Kiona.
“That we are. I take it you’re Queen Kiona? You look young enough.”
Kiona nodded. “I am. Did Cousin Elaine tell you about me?”
“Yes, dear,” said the Leaf Princess with a nod. “Now, what aide does Rizkaland send? Elaine didn’t tell us that. I don’t think that it had been decided on yet.”
“Our entire standing army of seven thousand men,” said Kiona. “If we can find anyone else who’d like to go, though, we’ll send them just as soon as we can.”
“Ah, but we’re grateful for them,” said the Leaf Princess, nodding. “Every single man helps.”
“King Tyrus will begin sending them within the hour,” said Upsilon.
“Good,” said the Wind Prince. “I’ll remain here and wait for them while the Leaf Princess shows you guys to the council room.” He turned to Kath. “Sound good to you?”
“Oh, that sounds just fine,” said the Leaf Princess. She turned back towards the door, motioning for the others to follow her. “Come along, the Lords await you. Ah, but it’s good to finally get things moving again. We’ve been idle for far too long.”
They followed her. “The Lords,” Andrew repeated. “I take it that there are more than just Lord Abraham and Lor’Son Jakob here now?”
“Of course, and young Karlos has been sent home for his safety,” said the Leaf Princess. “With the Hills activated, we began at once to gather people here. Upper and Lower Klarand were already prepared for us, and Ea Klarand had already begun organizing. I’m afraid Wea Klarand has sent very little aid, nor do I expect much from them. The Lady Dragon has terrorized their part of Klarand the most thoroughly, so they have very little to send. As far as I’m concerned, they’ve done their part, though, putting up most of the fight these last fifteen years.”
“I don’t see why you guys had to wait for us,” said the Water Princess. “You’ve done a fine job of assembling people to fight the Lady Dragon without our help. Really, would it have been so difficult to begin the fighting sooner? Then maybe Wea Klarand wouldn’t be in bad shape.”
Kath shook her head. “I don’t know why we weren’t allowed to fight, but it was Alphego’s plan.”
“It’s a stupid plan if you ask me,” the Water Princess growled. She’d clearly not woken up on the right side of the bed that morning. “You wait fifteen years to do anything about the Lady Dragon. Meanwhile, she’s turning everyone into ice.”
“We’ve been doing things, preparing,” the Leaf Princess said, defensively. “We just couldn’t put anything into motion until you two arrived. Trust me, Klarand could be in a lot worse shape.”
“But no thanks to you,” the Water Princess spat out. “You two have been hiding in this Kastle the last fifteen years. You’ve not done a thing to protect your people.”
“It was what they were told to do.”
It was Laura, who had somehow joined the party without anyone noticing her.
“And everyone here just does what they’re told to do, no questions asked. No arguments given. You have a Dragon in your front yard!”
“Amber doesn’t do what she’s told, and you see the mess that we’re in?” said Laura. “No, there was a reason Klarand was told to wait for you. Amber is not an easy person to send back to her island. I’ve done it once, and it was difficult indeed. She would not fall for my trick a second time. The Leaf Princess and Wind Prince were not given the tools necessary. You and the Fire Prince were. Besides, Amber was promised fifteen years off of her island this time, and she would have been very upset if they’d been cut short.”
“What tools were Andrew and I given? Our swords? What’s so special about the two of us that everything hinges upon us?”
Laura shrugged. “Alphego chose you. Alphego gave you the necessary tools. I cannot say, however, how you are to win. This is not the time, nor the place. But you will win, and you will win together.”
“Oh, together, that’s how it always is,” the Water Princess growled. “We had to get through the Mountain together. First thing Kath and Rich did when we get here? Tie us together. Does it occur to anyone that we might not even like each other? He’s a great guy, I’ll give him that, but I barely know him. He’s not my type. And now I’m stuck with him.”
“Clara, I don’t think that now is the best time for this outburst,” Andrew spoke up, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder.
She jerked away and glared at him a moment before she took off running down a random passageway.
“Oh, my,” said the Leaf Princess. “Do you think you should go after her, Andrew?”
Andrew glanced back at her. “I, uh – she’s been in a testy mood all morning…”
“But surely—”
“No,” Laura spoke up, with a shake of her head. “You should, Kath. The Fire Prince doesn’t know the passageways of the Kastle, and the Water Princess is going to get herself lost – if she hasn’t already. Besides, it’s you she’s angry with, not him. You need to talk with her. Go. I’ll make sure the rest of them make it to the council room.”
The Leaf Princess didn’t move, just stared after the Water Princess. “But I…”
“She misses the best friend you once were to her,” Laura continued. “Go, be that friend. But … don’t follow her too closely. She’s going to need a few minutes to think things out alone.”
The Leaf Princess sighed and nodded. “Yes,” she said at length. “I guess I should.” And then she walked down the passageway that the Water Princess had taken.
“Who are you?” asked Kiona. “You don’t look like an elf, though you talk like one.”
Laura laughed and turned to her. “But you certainly look like Queen Kiona of the line of Violet, and you talk like her. No, I’m no elf, though I’ve known many, even called one sister. I even know some elves from other worlds that are very different from those in Rizkaland. I am Laura the Doorkeeper.”
“Oh!” gasped Kiona.
“The Doorkeeper?” said Tnika. “Really? Truly? Then these are significant times indeed. Oh, to think that I might become part of one of the legends!”
“One of the great ones, at that,” Laura confirmed.
Clara regretted the decision to run away as soon as she realized that she was lost.
“Me and my melodramatics.” She glanced over her shoulder. She had no idea how to get back to the others, nor was she sure that she wanted to.
Instead, she ducked into the next door she saw, into a large room lit by large stained-glass windows. Clearly a ballroom. For a moment, she wondered why they hadn’t been shown this room on the tour, but then she decided that she didn’t care. She flopped down in a corner and folded her arms against her chest, trying hard not to cry again.
“I want to go home,” she muttered, then frowned harder. Kath was in her own world, the same way she was now, though she’d at least look the correct age. “Why
do I have to have such a complicated life? I didn’t ask for any of this.”
A thousand what-if scenarios played through her head, which only made it all the worse. If only they hadn’t chosen to go diving that morning. If only she had come down with a cold instead. If only Kath and Rich hadn’t had their hang glider crash the year before. If only they’d decided to skip the course entirely.
If only the Fire Prince wasn’t such a great guy. Perfectly wrong for her and at the perfectly wrong time. What would her parents say if they knew about him? About the fact that they were now Tied together. Somehow, she wasn’t sure her mom would mind, and even her dad … well, he’d at least pretend to mind.
They’d been married when they were scarcely older than she was now.
The whole world was against her, shoving her into the arms of the Fire Prince, and she wasn’t ready for it.
She closed her eyes and hugged her knees to her chest. She didn’t need him. She could stand on her own. But they wouldn’t let her.
And even worse, there was a large part of herself that wanted to lean on him. It happened without her thinking – it was just so natural to accept his arm when she thought she was going to fall. It was just so easy to let him do the talking. And it wasn’t fair to him. He didn’t need her hanging on him like a weak girl. They were the Water Princess and Fire Prince. They had Klarand to rule. Together.
Muddling through these miserable thoughts, she didn’t realize that she wasn’t the only person in the room until she heard a cry, and Jill Anna was crouched in front of her, an Ia beetle skewered on her knife. She wasn’t wearing a dress like Clara was used to seeing on her – but rather the dress and leggings like Clara was wearing. Like she’d see on Sarai.
The girl narrowed her eyes as she wiped the bug off into a pouch she wore at her waist. “What are you doing in here, Water Princess?”
Clara hugged her legs tighter. “Thinking.”
Jill Anna’s lips formed a hard line. “Oh. Would you like to talk about it?”
“Why do people always assume that if you’re thinking, you’d like to talk about it?” Clara asked, more harshly than she intended. “Maybe I don’t.”
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