Chapter 30
30
Our engagement feast had become a citywide affair.
Once people returned to their homes after the battle and repairs were made to rebuild the city, a celebration was in order. The banners that had hung for Qian and me had been replaced with the colors of Sirena and Sigbin.
The only person who protested was the most obvious one: Amihan. Amador’s mother could be heard bellowing from the grand hall. As I walked toward it, I knew that Elias was getting an earful. When I rounded the corner, I saw her and Elias in the midst of it. He was sitting at the table, and she was standing, leaning close into his face, but he refused to lean back.
Obviously, she didn’t want to wait for me to arrive before she tore into Elias.
“We were promised an engagement!” Amihan spat. Elias seemed to be doing everything in his power not to flinch at the spittle flying out of her mouth. “Their betrothal was signed, sealed, and sworn! My daughter was to marry Sir Lucas! Where is the crown’s promise? Are contracts worth nothing to you, to the queen?”
Her beautiful face had become a mask of fury and wild-eyed desperation when she screamed. I’d remembered what Amador had said about her family. That her father had made some bad investments, and they were going to lose their house and titles if Amador didn’t marry a preeminent member of Sigbin Court. She’d been a political pawn. It seemed like her mother was more upset about losing the promise of better standing than losing Amador.
Elias sounded bored. I think he’d heard enough. “As far as I’m concerned, the agreement is legally null if one member chooses to terminate it. And, correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe it’s your own daughter who submitted the request.”
“She what ?”
Elias noticed me coming, and his eyes pleaded for this conversation to end. “I apologize, Amihan. I’ll repeat myself for your sake. Your daughter—the grand duchess, if you need a reminder—called off the engagement. It would seem that she has changed her mind about it. She hired a specialist to nullify the oath of devotion. I know no more than that.”
That had mostly been my doing. I’d put her in contact with Gani, who was able to lift the oath of devotion for Amador and Lucas. He had been pleased to learn I’d been able to get rid of my curse and applied his own expertise to setting Amador and Lucas free of their own.
“She wouldn’t do that to us!” Amihan shrieked. “She knows what’s at stake!”
Elias held up his hands. “It’s beyond my authority to bind her to a contract that she does not agree to. I am simply a humble councilor to the crown. You may take it up with Her Majesty if you so wish.” Elias gestured to me, and Amihan realized I had entered the room.
All etiquette called for her to curtsy, but the moment she saw me come in, her fury turned on me. I tried to keep my face neutral, to be regal, but I felt a pang of sympathy. This was what Amador had had to endure her whole life? No wonder she had been so mean to me at school.
“You,” Amador’s mother said, pointing a finger at me, “the aswang queen of Biringan! You owe me what is mine.”
“You mean Sir Lucas?” I asked.
She stamped her foot so hard, I wondered if she would snap her heel on the marble floor. “You broke a sacred promise! Is this the kind of precedent you want to be setting? After you nearly got our city destroyed?”
I put a hand to my chest. “I assure you, Amihan, I would never force two people to be married if that’s not something they wish. I am a queen, not a despot.”
She bared her teeth at me, much like an animal would. “Sir Lucas and my Amador are to be wed, or else you will regret ever crossing me.”
I glanced at Elias, who looked tired and frankly over dealing with her. He just shrugged.
I turned my attention back to Amador’s mother and said with all the sincerity I could muster, “I understand the hardship that’s befallen your family. I will ensure that you can remain in your palace, that your husband can keep his position in the court and all his titles, so long as you heed Amador’s wishes not to marry Lucas.”
Amihan stared at me, her eyes so round and her jaw so set, I wondered if she was trying to summon her magic. But I stood before her, head held high, confident that I was right. Amador didn’t deserve to be used this way, and neither did Lucas. It was my responsibility, not just as a queen but as their friend, to see that they were both happy.
“You will regret this,” she said, pointing her finger at me again. “I swear it. You will rue this day.”
“You’re welcome,” I said, putting on my best smile.
That seemed to make her even angrier, and she swelled up like a helium balloon.
“Is that all?” Elias asked with eyebrows raised.
Amihan huffed loudly and tugged on her skirt, straightening it out of frustration, before she stomped out of the room.
“You’re learning how to play politics,” Elias said, amused.
I leaned on his chair, resting my chin on the back of it, and sighed. “Yeah, well, it only took nearly destroying the city.”
“Welcome to being a queen,” he said.
It was a position I was quickly getting used to. I hadn’t heard from Qian since he had nearly tried to kill me that day. I doubted I’d ever see him again, and frankly, I was okay with that. I’d made a lot of enemies, but I guessed that came with the territory.
Elias asked, “And where is your mother?”
“She’s organizing the wedding festivities. She’s going to make it a night to remember.”
My mom had come back to Biringan City shortly after the battle. I had a lot to fill her in on. Admittedly, I was just glad I could hug her again. “I think she’s going to turn the whole palace into a party.”
“As it should be,” Elias said.
It was strange having the palace back. It had taken time to rebuild, but doing it for a wedding lifted everyone’s spirits. I had a lot of reasons to celebrate. There had been so many chances for people to turn their backs on me, and they hadn’t. I was grateful I was getting another chance to be queen.
Elias inspected me and my well-worn Arnis uniform, an eyebrow raised. “And shouldn’t you be getting ready for your wedding as well?”
I pushed off from his chair and gestured to my outfit.
“The wedding isn’t for a few months. There’s plenty of time,” I said. “But I’ve got more training to do first. Isn’t that what you always wanted?”
Elias simply shook his head as I left the room, a slight spring in my step.
I was totally free of the manananggal curse. Gani had visited shortly after the battle to check me over, assuring me that there was no sign of corruption in my body. I had been right in figuring out that I was doing it to myself. It had been a self-fulfilling prophecy the whole time. The manananggal had been a part of me from the start, and the only one who could have broken the curse was me.
Though, if I hadn’t had my friends around me, who had never given up on me, I wasn’t sure I would have made it that far. Yara hadn’t had anyone.
One of the first things I did after the battle was make sure that her name was reinstated in the archives. I made sure that she would never be forgotten again. I even erected a new statue for her in the garden.
Rumors spread about the lady of the mountain appearing all over the island, green and new growth following in her wake. I hoped she could find some peace now, too.
The palace was bright and airy while servants and attendants swept through the halls, decorating for the big celebrations. Parades were being planned, along with feasts in our honor and even a tournament—this time without the threat of a monster swooping in to attack anyone. There were no more surprises lurking around every corner, not even when I stumbled upon Nix and Amador, lips locked while they embraced each other in the middle of the hallway.
“I figured you two were long gone by now,” I said.
My voice startled them apart. “MJ!” Nix gasped, then smiled.
Blushes colored their cheeks, but their eyes were bright. They both looked happy, and that was all I could have ever asked for.
“Is my mother gone?” Amador asked.
“She’s lurking the grounds, no doubt,” I said. “How did you know she was here?”
“Her voice carries,” she said with a shiver.
“You better make sure she doesn’t see you. Is Romulo waiting for you?”
“Yes,” said Amador, “we should go soon, or he might set sail without us.”
She squeezed Nix’s hand and hurried off to a pair of backpacks on the floor, checking that nothing had been forgotten. I think this was the first time I’d ever seen Amador not in a Maria Clara gown or something just as fabulous. She and Nix were both dressed in brown linen shirts and pants, the uniform of sailors.
Once her engagement to Lucas had been called off, Amador said she needed to disappear for a bit, go where no one would find her, at least until her mother calmed down, and asked Romulo for a spot on his ship when he went on his next excursion. When she told me that she had planned an escape consisting of hard manual labor and no doubt treacherous seas, she’d said it was time for a little change. I knew exactly what she meant.
Nix, of course, agreed to go with her, claiming it was an opportunity to test her healing abilities on the high seas, but the truth was obvious. It was hard for them to do anything separately since the emperor had let Nix stay in Biringan City. They were often sneaking into quiet corners of the library or the garden, spending private time with each other. Even now, she stared longingly at Amador, although they were only a few feet apart.
“So you’re officially dating,” I said to Nix, failing to suppress a smile.
Nix’s own smile appeared, crinkling her eyes. “Yes.”
“How does it feel?”
“Amazing,” she sighed dreamily.
I knew that feeling all too well. “I’m so happy for you.” My chest filled with warmth seeing how full of life she looked, and I grabbed her into a hug, holding her tight. “You promise you’ll come back, right?”
“Of course,” she said. “We’ll be here for your wedding. Besides, Biringan City is my home! Anywhere you are is home.”
I squeezed her and let her go. I was so glad to call her my best friend. Even though some things had changed, at least others stayed the same.
“Go on,” I said, giving her an encouraging nudge. “You two have a boat to catch.”
Without further delay, hand in hand, Nix and Amador ran down the hall and disappeared from view.
If I lingered any longer, I was going to be late, too, so I made my way through the garden, past Yara’s new fountain statue and her warm smile, and went down the trail to Sirena Village. The day was bright, the air briny with seawater. Merchants and sailors shouted to one another in the market below, a sign of Biringan City returning to normal.
And I had a feeling he was around here somewhere…
I turned down a corner, onto a side street, and heard footsteps behind me.
I ducked into an alcove and pressed my back against the cold stone wall, holding my breath.
The sound of the footsteps grew louder, the soles of boots crunching on gravel, and then silence.
I waited, listening, smiling. He was right around the corner. All I had to do was be patient. Like a predator.
But he always knew when danger was close.
I raised my knife and leapt out, but—of course—Lucas caught my wrist before I could get him.
“Got you,” he said, smiling.
I couldn’t help smiling, too. “Got me.”
I pushed him, and he laughed as he stepped back, light on his feet, and struck out at me with his own knife. I sidestepped and spun, moving in close to him, so when I was right up against him, our faces were inches apart.
“Good,” he said. “Wouldn’t expect anything less.”
I stole a kiss from him, and he laughed against my mouth.
“Is that your strategy? To kiss your opponent?”
“It’s not working?” I asked.
With a smirk, he closed the distance between us, and we held each other tight, hidden away in our little alcove, our own world, where we could be together. At last.