Chapter 24
24
Nix picked up the doll because I couldn’t.
“Let’s get out of here,” Lucas said.
I made my legs move. Someone—a mambabarang, an evil, dark witch—was definitely trying to kill me. I wanted to scream, but I didn’t. I was too shaken and scared into silence. Numb.
We heard stomping overhead. It shook me out of my stasis. The guards were probably on the move. We’d been in there longer than I thought. “Hurry,” I urged. The fear in me was starting to change, starting to morph into something else. Anger.
Nix was already starting for the door. “Hold on!” she said, stopping before crawling through. “What if the witch is out there?”
“Then we’ll handle it,” I said impatiently. “Come on, Nix. You’re a resurrectionist. How can you be scared of death?”
She turned to me, shock on her face. “You knew?”
“Duh, it’s in your name. Phoenix? And you can make wilted flowers bloom? And heal dying animals?” Plus, I was tired of cowering in the dark, and while Nix might have the power to resurrect things, I was the princess. And I was furious. Someone out there was definitely trying to get rid of me. Well, good luck with that. I wasn’t going to be a sitting duck.
Once we were finally out of the room, Lucas pushed the door into place, and we all huddled together and made our way back through the dark passageway.
Somewhere inside the palace, the stomping continued as the guards made their rounds. They turned off down a hall leading away from where we were; we could hear their collective footsteps fade away.
“Come on,” I said. “They’re getting close to the queen’s chamber.”
We hardly spoke the rest of the way, other than the occasional “What was that?” when one of us heard a creak or a drip. I was positive the mambabarang would appear at any second, imagining their long, gnarly fingers reaching out of the darkness to wrap around my throat. But not if I strangled them first.
Finally, we slipped back out of the passage, one by one.
The guards were stomping toward us now. They’d come around the corner and run right into us unless we made it around the turn before them.
“Don’t they follow your orders?” Nix asked me. “Why are you afraid of them?”
“I’m not afraid of them. I’m afraid of Elias deciding I need a shorter leash.”
The three of us scurried through the hall. Thankfully, we made it back before they did, collapsing onto the oversized chairs in my sitting room with relief. “I guess I’m not going to visit Althea anytime soon,” Nix sighed. Her hair was sticking up all over the place and dusted with gray. We all had dirty hands and streaks on our clothes.
“Yeah, that place was creepy.” I shuddered.
“I have to admit I was getting a little nervous back there, too,” Lucas told us.
“A little?” I teased him. With the threat of imminent danger (hopefully) behind us, we were slightly giddy.
“Mostly, I was nervous for you two. Clearly, I can defend myself, but you would be in trouble.” He gave me a mischievous half smile to let us know he was joking.
I grabbed a toss pillow and threw it at him in mock outrage. “What kind of knight abandons a damsel in distress?”
He raised his hands in defeat. “You have me there, Princess.” He put his hand over his heart. “In truth, I would never break a vow so solemnly sworn.”
“Good.” I nodded, satisfied. I felt like kissing him. Again.
“Now, who are you calling a damsel in distress?” Nix muttered, rolling her eyes.
“I was kidding! Anyway, can we talk about what the heck was going on in there—and how much danger we’re in on a scale of ‘a lot’ to ‘the most’?” I asked. “Do you still have the doll?”
Nix nodded. “I’ll put it in the fire. That’ll cleanse it of any dark magic that’s imbued in it.”
We watched as Nix tossed the doll that looked too much like me into the fireplace. It was made of wood and burned quickly until it was nothing but ashes. I exhaled.
“Okay,” Lucas said. “Here’s what we know: There’s a mambabarang on the loose, and she—”
“Or he,” I interjected.
“Or he,” Lucas corrected, “is responsible for the death of the kitchen page and, judging by the presence of black beetles at each of their deaths, my father and King Vivencio, too.”
“ Phew , that’s a lot! But why?” Nix asked. “What’s the connection?”
I told her our theory, how Lucas’s father had discovered something, and that my father was killed before he could act on it, while the page was killed because she had found my father’s body and knew something about his murder.
“So who are our suspects?” I asked.
“First off, Jinky,” Nix said.
I was offended. “Jinky?” Nix and Lucas looked at each other. They were in agreement, then.
“She has full access to the palace, and to you,” Lucas pointed out. “Even the king’s chambers. And knows the secret passageways.”
“Exactly!” Nix exclaimed.
Once again, I didn’t have anything concrete to refute their claims. All I could say was “Ridiculous.” I thought about how much Jinky worried about me, what a rule follower she was.
“Think about it,” Nix said, keeping her voice low. “How much do you really know about her?”
I didn’t say anything, which was admission enough. Nothing. I knew nothing about her. And it was true: She had access to me, the palace, everything—and I wasn’t tracking her movements. At that exact moment, I had no idea where she was. One more strange thing stuck out at me, too; all those times I snuck out and thought I’d escaped detection, sometimes by a hair. Maybe I didn’t get away with it at all. Maybe she just allowed me to. Killed two birds with one stone: I wasn’t watching her, and I was making myself vulnerable. I was gone when the page was murdered. And the killer made a fast escape, going unnoticed in the palace, or else sneaking through all the various passageways.
Again, though, my gut refused to believe it. “What would she gain?” I asked. She didn’t want for anything, nor did she seem particularly interested in advancing herself.
“Maybe she’s an insurgent,” Lucas said gently.
My stomach sank. “No! I can’t believe that. If Jinky’s a suspect, then everyone in the palace is. Even Ayo. I can’t believe they would all turn against my family. Ayo loved my father, and everyone here has worked for the royal family for generations.”
“Okay, so if not Jinky or anyone in the palace staff, who, then?” Nix asked. “If it’s not Althea, and we all know it’s not. She’s human and unable to wield dark magic.”
Nobody spoke. We were all lost in thought and our own personal theories, none of which connected the dots, or else we would have offered them up.
“Speaking of insurgents, Elias recently traveled to Paulanan,” I said pointedly.
Lucas frowned. Paulanan was in Sigbin territory. “What are you insinuating? The Court of Sigbin is loyal.”
“Really?” My voice was cold. “They welcomed me to Biringan with the threat of usurpation. By Amador of all people.”
Nix considered this. “Maybe when the insurgency didn’t pan out—they weren’t able to get to you—they went to plan B, scare you off the throne. And since that didn’t work, they’ll do to you what they did to Lucas’s dad and your dad.”
Lucas threw his arms up in annoyance, but Nix kept going. “You said it yourself, Lucas, that Marikit’s death might be a warning to the future queen.”
“But not from the Court of Sigbin!” Lucas roared. “You are talking of treason!”
“But how can you be so sure it’s not Amador?”
His face screwed up with disgust. “Excuse me?” he exclaimed. “You think Amador is the mambabarang?”
Did I? “Not necessarily, I’m just saying, no stone left unturned...”
He crossed his arms and looked up to the ceiling, shaking his head slightly. “Like I said, the Court of Sigbin is a faithful subject to the Sirena throne. When the council ratified your ascension, there should have been no doubt as to where our loyalties lie. Perhaps House Oscura did mean to frighten you off your position at first, but when it was clear you would take on your father’s mantle, they withdrew their opposition in order to keep the peace.”
“There could be other reasons,” said Nix, looking meaningfully at me, “for Amador to want MJ out.”
“What reasons?”
Nix crossed her arms and stuck her face in his. “Boys! They’re always the last to know!”
Lucas threw his hands up in defeat. “What do you mean?”
“She means...” I hesitated. “Amador hates me.”
“Amador doesn’t hate you,” Lucas said.
Nix looked from one of us to the other and coughed. “Um, I... Excuse me,” she said, and ran off to the powder room, leaving us alone to have it out.
Were we really fighting about Amador?
Here I was thinking we made such a great team, and yet I had accused his kingdom of insurgency while he refused to believe his not-girlfriend could possibly be evil. Which was what she was. Evil.
“She doesn’t,” Lucas insisted. “Hate you, I mean.”
I closed my eyes. Guys could be so clueless. Did he actually believe that, or was he just trying to convince me? I looked directly at him. “Yes, she does, because she thinks... I mean... Well, to be honest, she told me about your engagement.”
“Our— what ?” Lucas sputtered. I was even sure I heard Nix drop something in the powder room. Then he started laughing so hard he doubled over. I sat, stone-faced, and waited for him to recover. Finally, he straightened up and wiped his eyes. “Wait, wait. She told you what? That we’re engaged ?”
Now I was mad. I crossed my arms, too. Amador had made a fool of me. “She said you were betrothed as kids.”
“Betrothed as...” He started shaking his head. “Did she really? You’re not teasing me? Playing a joke on me?”
I shook my head.
“Why did she—” He clenched his fists, then smacked them back down on his thighs. “You know what, forget it. It doesn’t matter.”
“Well, are you?” I demanded.
“Am I what?”
“Engaged to her?”
“No! Of course not! I told you, she’s not even my girlfriend! And if I was engaged already, why would Elias let me court you?”
“You’re courting MJ?” Nix squealed from the other room. She ran back inside. “Well? Are you?”
I flushed, but Lucas only grinned. “Yeah, I am.”
“I knew it!” Nix crowed. “I knew you liked him!”
“So, you like me,” he teased. “Do you?”
“Not really,” I teased back. “Not a lot, in any case.”
Lucas laughed. Then his face turned serious. “Look—I know you don’t like Amador, but her family is a loyal ally to the throne. She would never do something like that. The Court of Sigbin can be disorderly and chaotic like you said, but we aren’t traitors.”