33. When You Lie On Your Resume
33
When You Lie On Your Resume
Aliza
S now drifted from the sky. Or was it ash? I knew I should care, but I was numb, inside and out. My eyes drifted in and out of focus as I followed somebody through the snow-blanketed grounds. They might have said something about a healer. I couldn’t remember. Didn’t care.
Ahead of us, a long, low building with a roof of thick snow drifted through the shimmering haze. Its walls were made of brick rather than ice. If I set it aflame, I wouldn’t be able to melt my way out. Despite that distant knowledge, I wandered inside obediently, allowing my unknown companion to steer me into a chair.
People rushed back and forth. Lots of people. I blinked, and they came into slightly clearer focus. A small child sat in a chair beside me as a male wrapped a bandage around his head. The little boy lifted his eyes, catching me watching. I couldn’t muster the sense to look away.
“Why is that lady dirty?” he asked, his voice shrill but clear.
A female, probably his mother, said “Hush now. Where are your manners? That is the Human Queen.”
Queen .
A hoarse huff of laughter rasped from my throat, dissolving into a cough. What sort of queen burnt down her ally’s palace, endangering countless lives? The boy grinned at me, as though we’d shared a joke.
I looked away . I was a joke. It would be best if I gave up my foolish notions of bettering the world. Clearly, I wasn’t cut out for it. The throne would just have to choose somebody else. Somebody worthy. Somebody who had the slightest clue what they were doing. At least it made my choice easier.
A female approached me, words spilling from her mouth. I could tell by the tone that it was a question, but my brain was muddy, and nothing made sense anymore. She touched my cheek, tilting my head this way and that. I didn’t resist, and when she pressed a finger to my lower lip, I opened my mouth.
“Take a deep breath for me, Your Majesty.”
It took a moment for the words to sink into my consciousness, but when they did, I obeyed and promptly succumbed to a fit of coughs as my throat tightened around the breath.
By the time they subsided, my new companion had procured a bowl of water. She dipped a cloth and wiped it over my face, paying particular attention to my nose and mouth. My eyelids fluttered, itching to close.
The female pressed her hand to my chest, and gentle warmth, nothing like the heat that had raged inside me, spread from her touch, sinking inward. The tight band around my chest loosened, and when I took a breath, the air was cool and soothing rather than hot and dry. The oxygen seeped into my brain, driving the fog to the very edges of my vision.
The female smiled. “How does that feel? ”
I nodded. “Better. I can breathe.”
“Always a good start. You’ve taken in a little too much smoke, but I’ve eased the damage. You need rest and plenty to drink, but you should feel better in a day or two.”
A day or two. Assuming anything was left of Tir o Gaeaf by then.
“Any news?” I whispered, conscious of the little boy close by.
“They’ve pulled the water wielders back into the palace grounds. They’re trying to bring the fire under control as we speak, but the tower and some of the upper floors are lost.”
My shoulders hunched. What had I done? I didn’t want to think about it, never mind talk about it. “And the battle?”
The healer’s face tightened. “All I know is, they’re trying to repair the wards. If they can get those back up…”
She didn’t need to finish. With the wards back in place, Tir o Gaeaf would be protected from further waves of attack, leaving us to deal with only those already across the border.
“How did they fall?”
“I couldn’t say, Ma’am. They’ve stood for centuries, withstanding attack after attack. Maybe they lost strength over time.”
Or maybe it had something to do with Maelgwyn and his dealings with the gods. I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself. If he’d found a way to take down wards created by both witch and fae, nowhere would be safe. My only consolation was that it was still early in the day. Unless Maelgwyn could control the sun, there were hours left before night fell and the shades swept through the city. The shadow monsters were all but impossible to fight. Only lightning could defeat them, and I hadn’t seen a whisper of Idris’ violent light.
“I’ll send for some tea. ”
The healer disappeared, leaving me alone with only my dismal thoughts and roiling stomach for company.
Idris
Anarchy reigned in the streets of Tir o Gaeaf, even here, away from the thick of the fighting. Panic-stricken citizens streamed down the broad walkways, trampling the snow as they rushed for the safety of the palace.
“This way!” I yelled over the ruckus, waving my arms. “Over here!”
The palace gates were closed with more than half the population still trapped on the wrong side of the walls. These people would find no shelter on their chosen route. Instead, I diverted as many as I could away from Rhewlif Palace and out of the confines of the city. I wasn’t alone. Several teams had been sent to round up the citizens and direct them to the caverns below the lake. There, they would be hidden. There, they might stand a chance at survival. Anwir was among us, too cowardly to fight when using his water magic would have his lies crashing down around his ears.
I was no better.
My swords remained sheathed across my back, and the absence of their weight in my hands had my magic itching under my skin. To be defenceless, to be little more than a glorified steward, herding the masses, when I could be doing something worthwhile …
The man who had murdered my child was somewhere within this city. He drew breath while Taryn did not. I should be hunting him down. I should be searing him from the inside out. Cooking his flesh as he had done to Aliza. Boiling his blood. I had never streamed my lightning into someone for long enough to know what would happen under prolonged electrocution. Would the damage reach the surface? Would the burns form the fern-like patterns that had marred Aliza’s chest? What if I didn’t stop? Would those lines spread, webbing over every inch of flesh?
The desire for those particular answers thrummed in my blood alongside my power, but I fought it down, down, deep inside. Long ago, I’d given up all claim to my true self. I could not reveal it with a show of magic, and that was why I was here, waving aimlessly, shepherding people who cared little if I lived or died. Who had done nothing when my son, a helpless, innocent child, was slaughtered. Who had done nothing in the centuries since.
Aliza claimed I would make a better king than Anwir, but I wasn’t so sure. These people were nothing to me, contrary to my actions. I wasn’t here for them.
I was here for her.
She had suffered enough at Maelgwyn’s command. I would not let it happen again.
Fuck it all.
I didn’t need magic to fight. It didn’t matter that I’d be facing down impossibly powerful opponents, their magic enhanced by whatever my uncle had done with the gods. What mattered was fighting for Aliza. To protect her, where I had failed everybody else .
Abandoning my post on the street corner, I stalked against the rushing, bleating crowd. When I reached over my shoulders, whipping my twin blades free, the people parted for me, leaving a clear path. Nobody tried to stop me as I went against the tide. They didn’t care if I threw my life away. They didn’t care that I headed into the fight without a scrap of armour to my name. They had never cared.
Aliza did.
That knowledge was a talisman glowing in my chest, warming me against the frigid air. Warding me against fear. I would allow no harm to come to her. I would fight like a mortal, and if that wasn’t enough, I would unleash my power. Fuck Anwir. Fuck our lies. I would not let this happen.
I would not let her die a second time.