89. Tressa
“You have been released from your post.” The Guardian pulled the top off a crystal decanter and poured a generous serving of amber liquid into a glass. Her movements were slow and casual, like the words she’d just uttered weren’t threatening to upheave Tressa’s whole life.
It was late; usually Tressa would already be in bed by now snuggled into Ren’s side, but tonight the Guardian’s men had summoned Tressa to the Guardian’s chamber.
Surely Tressa had heard wrong. The fourth trial was in two days, and the Contestars were expected to steal from a colony of felidras. The Contestars were going to need her magick now more than ever.
“But the trial . . . the Contestars?” Her words felt jumbled and clumsy in her mouth, as her brain floundered around the Guardian’s incomprehensible words.
“You will stay through the fourth trial, but you are to head home to your mother by the end of the week.”
“That . . .” Tressa swallowed hard. “That wasn”t the agreement.”
“No,” the Guardian snapped, finally turning around to face Tressa, her yellow eyes as sharp as broken glass. “The agreement was that you would be here, serving as my primary healer until the end of the Choosing in exchange for my soldiers defending your border and my support for your family. But apparently your mother doesn’t need my protection anymore. She broke the agreement.”
The words made her feel like the floor was falling out from under her. “No. No, you’re wrong. My mother wouldn’t do that.” Tressa’s voice shook as shock and fear rolled down her throat and into her stomach. “She knows we won’t survive.”
The Guardian sneered and pointed to a letter that had been left opened on the table. “Read for yourself.”
Tressa tried to keep her hands from shaking as she picked up the creamy envelope. She read the letter inside once, twice, and then a third time just to make sure she had truly read it correctly.
Send my daughter home and get your soldiers out of my Realm. Our agreement is over.
-Abebe Eluvan
Queen of House of Life
Life Magick was a beautiful, wonderful thing. It was by far the worst magick when it came to defense. The Guardian’s men were the only thing securing the border between Lyondrea and the House of Life. The Guardian’s support was also the only reason other potential ruling families hadn’t challenged her and her mother for the crown. As much as she hated the Guardian, her support was the only reason Tressa, and her mother were still alive.
“I’m so sorry. She is still grieving over the death of my sister. She doesn’t know what she’s saying,” Tressa said, hating how she sounded so close to begging.
The Guardian smirked at Tressa, that maternal figure completely absent now.
Instead, a foreign cold thing lay behind the Guardian’s eyes that made a shiver run down Tressa’s spine.
“I don’t care. The agreement is over. Pack your things; you will stay through to the next trial, or until the next team of healers I’ve hired arrives, and then you will be on the first wagon home.”
Tressa opened her mouth to argue, to ask what had changed, and maybe even to plead that she would change her mind, but the Guardian waved her hand in the air to cut her off.
“The decision has been made.” She turned toward her soldiers at the entrance of the room. “Escort the Princess back to her quarters, or to the mess hall. Just somewhere away from here.”
Two of the Guardian’s soldiers came up and grabbed Tressa’s shoulders. She struggled against them, but they were stronger. “You can’t dothis. You know we won’t survive.”
The Guardian shrugged as she moved her attention to the small water fountain bubbling up in the center of her room. “I will leave this world in a few months, and I will not be the one to feel the fallout of your mother’s idiocy.”
The soldiers dragged Tressa away, not caring that she was kicking and screaming the whole time.