Chapter 16
Chapter
Sixteen
EVIE
O wyn and I rushed forward, far away from the threshold.
Right as we passed the edge of his property, marked with red vases and potted plants, the heat finally let us go.
My blue tendrils vanished a moment later.
I let go of Owyn’s hand and collapsed to my knees right there in the middle of the scared crowd. I let out a bone-chilling cry as the pain finally caught up with me.
Everything hurt.
My shoulder, my legs, my lungs.
But nothing compared to the burning in the soles of my feet.
Adara rushed forward and tore what was left of my cloak from my body, stomping on it; I hadn’t even noticed it had caught fire.
“Get back, let them breathe,” Adara roared at the crowd.
I gulped breath after harsh breath, my lungs constricting.
The pain was unbearable–but if I could feel, I was alive.
I grit my teeth to keep any more cries from slipping past my lips.
The Blood Brotherhood abhorred weakness and half of the Capital had gathered around us. The wedding had already made me seem helpless, nobody would see my tears.
I forced myself to calm down through sheer stubbornness and propped myself on my good elbow.
Owyn cooed at his daughter, who’d stopped crying. The flames still devoured their home, but they didn’t dare pass the threshold of his property.
Dark, dark magic.
Adara crouched beside me. “What did you do?”
Why did she sound horrified? “I protected them.”
I made the mistake of touching my feet to the pavement.
Searing pain blasted through me. I threw my head back, barely managing to bite back a scream.
You’re alive, you’re alive, you’re alive.
I clenched my jaw. My gaze wandered down my sooty body slowly, as if afraid to see the damage. From my knees down, the fire had eaten straight through my pants, leaving behind charred, blistered skin.
But my feet…my agile, soundless feet were destroyed.
The soles of my shoes had melted into the scorched flesh barely clinging to my bones. Bile rose in my throat. A chunk of my big toe had been burned off, razed from my bone.
Dread settled in my stomach.
How would I be able to climb now?
“The Blood Brotherhood healers can do wonders,” Adara said slowly.
If Adara was getting sentimental, the situation was dire.
“We survived,” I croaked. “That’s all that matters.”
Owyn and his daughter hugged in the middle of the street, their backs illuminated by their burning home.
“We’re safe, bunny. We’re safe,” Owyn kept whispering.
The little girl pulled back from the embrace, red eyes wide. “We didn’t save ma-ka!”
My heart seized.
She twisted from her father’s grasp and ran back toward the house.
Owyn grabbed his daughter from behind and hauled her back. But he’d stepped just beyond the perimeter flanked by the vases. A fresh coil of flames burst toward him, emanating from underneath the left window.
Owyn flinched back just in time.
The flames retreated to the same spot.
“Never, ever do that.” Owyn hugged the girl tighter, voice rising. “Promise me. Never!”
She began crying again. She couldn’t have been more than five years-old, too young for such chaos.
“Was someone else in there?” I finally mustered up the courage to ask.
No. Please, please, please–
“No. My wife died three years ago, may the gods cradle her beautiful soul,” Owyn said, instantly easing the tension in my chest. “Anya sleeps with the last painting of her. Well… slept .”
I sighed in relief. Then narrowed my eyes at that damn window.
“When did the fire start?” I asked.
“Not ten minutes after I got home,” Owyn said. “I was tucking Anya into bed when I noticed the flames. It was sudden.”
Too sudden.
The murmurs around us began to grow louder. Bolder. Thanking the gods in one breath and cursing the fire in the next.
“Why didn’t Phoenix Peak come?” a raspy, old female voice slid through the crowd. “The gates opened.”
“The prince and his army left today,” Owyn bit out. We exchanged a knowing glance.
“But the advisors were left in charge…” that same voice trailed off.
Silence, heavy and accusing, settled over the crowd.
Out of the tense stillness, a crystalline voice echoed. “The Blue Queen came to our aid!”
I allowed myself a small smile.
Leesa, working her own brand of magic. She might not have been Clan, but she definitely knew Clan ways.
“She was the only one to hear our cries and come to our aid!” Leesa went on. Judging by the muffled voice, she was in the back of the crowd. Infiltrated. “May the gods bless her with a long life, so she can protect us.”
Once I could move both my arms properly, I was going to hug her. Right now, I couldn’t move in any dignified manner, anyway.
The fire had been a message.
I’d heard it loud and clear–and I had a message of my own to send.
Fully aware of all the eyes on me, I ignored the sudden itch to hide, and raised my palm, fully ignoring the disapproving stare Adara was giving me.
I checked the pocket inside of me–dregs of power remained.
Impress. Just for a moment. And don’t drain me again.
Blue jets sprung from my hand toward the sky, higher and stronger than the raging smoke. If the advisors were watching, they couldn’t ignore it.
I would protect my people from them.
If they ended up loving me through it, like I’d threatened him , even better.
“For the good of the Blood Brotherhood,” I yelled as loud as my aching lungs allowed.
“May the gods bless the Blue Queen!” another voice bellowed. One I didn’t recognize, younger, greener.
A few more voices joined the chant. Most stayed silent, but it was a start.
The same red-haired woman from before approached slowly, carrying a jug. After getting a curt nod of approval from Adara, she handed it to me.
“Thank you…?” I didn’t wait for her name as I gulped down the fresh water like I hadn’t drunk a sip of it in weeks.
“Eryn,” she said. A necklace with a fang pendant hung from her neck. Her sweat-soaked clothes had a coarse, rugged air to them, unlike the glossy finish the Capital civilians preferred on their fabrics. She was one of the civilians who’d taken refuge here. “You are not like the rumors we have heard.”
I didn’t stop my drinking as I nodded. Of course the advisors’ poisoned lies had traveled beyond the city.
“We will tell tales of your bravery, Blue Queen,” she said as she retreated. “Thank you for helping us.”
Before I could thank her again, she’d vanished in the crowd. This Eryn woman was fast, too.
Even through my exhaustion, the water soothed me enough for a plan to bloom in the back of my mind.
I needed these civilians gone to do it, before I passed out.
“Dissipate the crowd. Gently,” I muttered to Adara, who nodded and rose.
“Alright, everyone. Enough gawking, more sleeping,” she bellowed. “You are safe for tonight. Form two straight lines and return to your homes.”
So much for gentle–but Adara’s instructions were effective.
Once she’d chastised and chased off the stragglers, only the five of us remained in the eerily quiet street.
With the fire now gone, I forced myself to rise on my knees and struggled forward, using my good arm. I must have looked deplorable. I hoped no curious eyes stared at me through the windows.
I hesitantly passed the perimeter of the vases.
No flames burst toward me.
Owyn and I exchanged another knowing glance as he rocked his sleeping daughter.
I crawled straight to the window. I narrowed my eyes at the charred wall.
Stone didn’t burn and fire didn’t fucking chase.
Beyond the ash, I made out the remnants of a red mark, a circle crossed by jagged lines. Paint or blood, I couldn’t tell.
It looked menacing, like a knife had made the stone bleed.
I’d never seen anything like it–but if it had been used, someone, somewhere, must have.
“Leesa,” I called out, not taking my eyes off the mark. “It’s safe, come here, please. I need your help.”
Her small feet shuffled hesitantly behind me. “Yes?”
“Can you sketch this symbol? I want you and Goose to study it.”
“Of course,” she said, surprised.
“Thanks for the support.”
“Always. In this life and beyond.”
“Let’s make sure that beyond is a long way away. I want to ask you something else.” I turned to look at her. “I need new lessons.”
Leesa’s wispy blonde eyebrows furrowed. “I think we’ve covered all the etiquette training we could…given the circumstances.”
The circumstances of being the second choice in a sham marriage, yes. With the sudden eagerness thumping in my heart, the grief and despair dulled the tiniest bit.
I’d lived on scraps, I could do it again. This time, for the right cause.
My lips twisted in a triumphant grin. “I want you to teach me everything you know about political strategy.”
I finally knew how I’d get my revenge.