Chapter 34
34
I didn’t realize I needed a date for the Coronation Eve Ball until Lucas mentioned it the day before. After we left Althea’s trial and the calesa brought us back to the palace, he took his leave, saying he wanted to check in on his men and how they were doing with the search for Fortunada. “So, um, about tomorrow night,” he said, with a strange look on his face.
“What about it?” I asked him.
“Do you need an escort, maybe?”
“Are you asking if you can take me?” It was the furthest from my mind after the shock of Althea’s sentence. But the gears of the coronation kept turning—no matter what happened, I still had to participate in all the festivities that would ultimately see me crowned queen. (Or not.)
“Do you want me to?” He had his hand on the carriage door, and he looked so nervous I didn’t feel like teasing him anymore.
“I would love it,” I told him. “Thank you for asking.”
In answer, he took my hand and pressed it to his lips once more. “It will be my honor.”
“Okay! You guys can find a room!” Nix interjected. “Third wheel here!”
We laughed.
“It’s okay, Nix. I can take you, too,” he said with a wink.
“You sure will! I’m not going in alone!” she threatened.
***
The next evening when the door opened and Lucas walked in to escort me and Nix to the Coronation Eve Ball, I could not have been more nervous than I already was. Jinky had styled my hair into an elaborate French chignon, and this time I wore the gold circlet that marked me as the princess of the Sirena Court. I wore a gold-and-ivory dress embroidered with sampaguita flowers, with stiff butterfly sleeves and a deep V neckline, and carried a matching fan.
Lucas bowed when he entered. He was so dashing in a black barong Tagalog, his dark hair slicked back from his forehead.
“Wow,” he said when he saw me.
I flushed with pleasure. “You look wow yourself.”
“Ahem!” Nix said, clearing her throat.
“You look good, too, Nix.” He laughed.
“Why, thank you, kind sir.” She batted her eyelashes. In honor of the event and her heritage, Nix wore a red qipao, a tight-fitting silk dress with a mandarin collar, along with a beautiful pair of jade-and-diamond earrings. “My mom’s,” she explained. “And we wear red for celebrations.”
“Shall we?” Lucas held out an arm for each of us. “It’s a long walk to the other side of the palace.” The ball was being held in—where else?—the ballroom.
It was off the back of the palace, an airy dome with floor-to-ceiling windows and French doors all around, leading out to the gardens.
“Dang,” Nix said when the room opened up in front of us. The decorators had outdone themselves. It looked like the gardens were brought inside. Walls, ceiling, everything but the floor was covered in greenery and florals, all white and shades of purple and pink. There were gold chandeliers and candelabras and tall centerpieces on the tables, and staff dressed in white serving fizzy drinks in delicate flutes. The place settings were white with pale-pink stripes and thin gold trim, just like a play set I had as a kid. Ayo had coordinated the entire thing, going so far as to track down a special variety of pink roses that the Court of Lambana’s master florist had bred to bloom with white polka dots. It definitely made up for all those formal dances I’d missed out on in the midst of constant moves. If only my mom could have been in the room, it would’ve been perfect.
One of the gloved footmen at the door announced our arrival. “The crown princess of Biringan and her guests, Sir Lucas Invierno and Phoenix Xing.” To avoid the chances of anyone from Jade Mountain discovering Nix was in Biringan, Nix agreed to be announced but demanded she wear a “disguise”—which meant wraparound shades. I didn’t think it would truly hide her, but there was very little chance anyone from Jade Mountain was in attendance.
It was all very impressive, and I was more than honored, not to mention extremely lucky to be standing in the ballroom at all. Except.
As soon as the string quartet had finished playing their first song, Lucas could tell I had something on my mind. To his credit, he didn’t let on until we were alone. Nix said she wanted to go grab some sweets, and as soon as she’d walked away, he turned to me and said, “Out with it.”
“What do you mean?”
“What’s wrong? I can tell you’re upset about something. But trying to hide it. And doing an awful job, by the way.”
I didn’t respond immediately. I looked over his shoulder to the landscape outside. “Lucky to have such beautiful weather for this special evening,” I said.
Lucas huffed. “Nice try.” Then he got serious: “Look, by the time you’re crowned tomorrow, nothing will matter. You’ll have the entire power of Biringan at your fingertips. Fortunada won’t be able to touch you.”
Tomorrow. It’s tomorrow. At that point, it wouldn’t even matter, because there would be much bigger problems in Biringan. “No,” I said quickly. “I mean, it’s not that. Not completely.” Even if the witch wasn’t an issue, I was still the problem.
“All right,” he said. “Then what else...”
“Well, it’s sort of that. Just not directly.”
He waited for me to say more.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I almost said it. The actual truth. But the words wouldn’t come out. “It’s Amador,” I blurted out of nowhere, even surprising myself a bit. The thought went straight from my mind to my mouth before I had an opportunity to censor it.
“Ah,” he said, nodding and glancing out the window. “I should have known.” He looked down and then back at me. “I told you, she’s nothing to me.”
I had only said her name because I couldn’t bear to confess my real secret. But now that I had mentioned her, I couldn’t help but notice her presence. Amador was across the room; as a lady of the realm, she had to be invited. She was standing with the other courtiers from Sigbin. She looked spectacular, wearing a tight-fitting gown made of silver scales.
“She told me you guys were betrothed as children. Why would she do that?” I asked him.
He shrugged. “No idea. I told you I thought you were joking.”
“What if she knows something you don’t?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Impossible. Stop worrying about it. Like I said, if there was some kind of arrangement, why would Elias let me court you, anyway?”
Because he wanted me to keep you close, in case you were a traitor, I thought, but didn’t say. Elias was wrong to doubt him, though. Lucas could only be himself, and I had seen his heart. He could never betray me.
Nix returned then, saving me from the awkwardness. “Want one?” She held out a chocolate truffle.
I shook my head.
“Did I interrupt something?” She looked at Lucas and then back at me. “Are we fighting?”
“No,” we both said together. But Lucas was right. Something was bothering and had been bothering me for weeks. I needed to tell them; they were my friends. My witnesses. My allies. I needed them.
“You guys, I’m a fraud.”
“Of course you’re not!” Nix said. “You’re just nervous.”
I shook my head. “No, you don’t understand.”
They both stared at me. It didn’t matter anymore. They would know within the next twenty-four hours regardless. “Let’s go over there,” I said, motioning to a quiet corner away from the guests gathered around the sparkling fountains.
We huddled there, and Lucas said again, “Out with it.”
“Yeah, before someone starts eavesdropping. My dad used to say, ‘If you want someone to hear you, then whisper,’?” Nix said.
Okay, here we go. Time to confess. Okay, here goes nothing, literally. “I don’t have magic,” I said.
“What are you talking about?” Lucas frowned.
“Talent. Power. I don’t have any.”
“Be serious,” Nix scoffed. “You’re the princess! The heir to all of Biringan!”
“And I’m half-human. I think my human side beat out my encanto side.”
Nix stared at me. “You’re really serious?”
I hung my head. “Yeah. I’ve... I’ve been trying to figure out what it is, but I’ve got to come clean. I’ve got nothing.”
Lucas shook his head. “No, that’s not right. You just haven’t found it yet.”
“No, I don’t think so,” I said. I’d thought it would make me feel better, admitting it. But I only felt worse.
He took me by the arms and looked directly into my eyes. “You are your father’s daughter. I believe that. You should, too.”
I stared at him. He believed in me. I wished I did. But it was overwhelming. I knew I was going to disappoint everyone, him most of all. I shook him off me. I couldn’t bear his care for me right then.
Nix grabbed my hands. “It doesn’t matter! It’s going to be fine. We’ll think of something. Just act normal and enjoy the night in the meantime.”
I nodded, my eyes watering.
Servers began gathering at the door. It was time for dinner.
“Come on,” said Lucas. “Let’s go. Like Nix said, we’ll figure something out later.”
We all went and sat at the head table: me, Nix, Lucas, Elias, and some of the councilors, whom, according to Elias, I should bestow some advance favors upon, in order to guarantee their loyalty.
“Professor Manatubay wasn’t kidding. Check out all the forks,” I said, trying to make light of everything and change the subject.
“You’ll have to remind me which is which so we don’t spark an inter-court incident ,” Nix responded. “Speaking of incidents, maybe after dinner we can sneak away and try to find a solution to your... you know.”
“Yes, good idea,” I agreed. We’d found so many secrets in books before; perhaps there was something in the library that could help this, too.
I spotted Amador all the way on the other side of the room, as far from my table as possible, with her back turned away from me. We were betrothed as children. We are engaged to be married. What if she wasn’t lying? Lucas swore it wasn’t true. But still I wondered. I tried to enjoy the night; after all, Lucas was next to me. He was courting me. He’d chosen me .
Eat your heart out, Amador. It was a far cry from when she tried to lure me into the incineration room or trick me into eating rice and making myself a prisoner in my own realm.
As servers began to bring out trays of food and drinks for every table, a steady stream of well-wishers filed past the royal table on their way to sit, to say hello, give congratulations, and offer their loyalty to the crown. “It’s a little embarrassing,” I said to Nix when there was a short break in the line.
“Nah, everyone’s just excited to get a new queen,” Nix said. “Enjoy it.” She looked up at someone. “Here comes another,” she said. Then she twisted around in her seat to speak to me more privately and whispered, “What is her problem?”
I thought she meant Amador, but when I looked, she wasn’t even paying attention to us.
“Who?” I asked.
Nix motioned in the other direction with her eyes. I followed and saw one of the maids standing near the doorway, holding a tray, the white hood of her uniform pulled up. “I think she’s just confused,” I said. “She looks like she doesn’t know what she’s supposed to be doing.”
Lucas stood. He picked up his fork and tapped it against his crystal goblet.
“And what’s he doing?” I whispered to Nix. She shrugged.
The room got quiet. He tapped his glass again so everyone would look at him. “Thank you,” he said. “In honor of this monumental day and before we are all wrapped up in the ceremony and celebrating our new queen, I wanted to take a moment to honor her myself and pledge, in front of you all, my fealty to Her Highness, as a knight of the Court of Sigbin, but also as a defender of all Biringan, no matter what the future may bring. We are, indeed, one people, encantos, no matter which court we call home, and I hope that moving forward we can continue to exist in peace and harmony for many more generations.” Everyone clapped.
Except Amador and her table. She pursed her lips and glared at us.
As soon as the applause petered out, there was a loud crash. Glass shattered. All heads turned to the noise at the back of the room. The new maid was standing on a chair, staring at us from beneath her hood. Her arm was shaking slightly. The front of her dress was wet, and broken glass spread around her feet. She’d dropped her tray.
“Enough!” she yelled, and was met with shocked silence. I realized she hadn’t dropped the glassware. She’d thrown it. “Enough of this kalokohan!” Enough of this nonsense.
A chair scraped against the ground, and a horned elder from the Court of Lambana, whose hair and beard were long and white, stood up. His legs were hooved, like a centaur’s, but he only had two, not four. “Hoy!” he began, his voice deep and booming. “What is the meaning of this?”
“Guards!” Elias shouted from a few seats away. He stood up and pointed. “Arrest this woman.”
“I’m not going anywhere!” she screamed, so high-pitched that those around her flinched and covered their ears. The hood fell back around her shoulders.
It was Fortunada.
I didn’t want to believe it, but it was true. Fortunada was the mambabarang.
There was some clanking from the hall outside the ballroom, and then guards started marching in. But they weren’t from the Sirena Palace, or even Biringan City.
They were wearing Sigbin uniforms, midnight blue with silver epaulets.
A couple of them even looked familiar... “What is this?” I asked Lucas, my heart pounding.
“I have no idea.”
We both knew what was happening, though. We just didn’t want to say it out loud. It was an insurrection.
A Sirena guard, a stout man, started toward Fortunada then, but she lifted her hand in his direction, and he flew backward as if he’d been shoved. More gasps; some guests shouted out in surprise. The other Sirena guards, who had been moving from the perimeter of the room in that direction, stopped, unsure what to do. There were a few seconds of utter confusion as everyone tried to work out what was happening.
Lucas moved toward the front of the room, toward the guards from Sigbin. “What is the meaning of this? What are you doing here?”
There was a loud popping sound—familiar, almost—followed by a strange, wavy mirage. I remembered then—the popping sound at school before the assassins appeared, and the wavy mirage when the door materialized. And that was why I recognized a few of the Sigbin guards—they’d been among the munduntug warriors at school that day.
This was it—the insurgents—showing their hand at last.
The Court of Sigbin!
Except...
“Who are you?” Lucas demanded, when he reached them. “You’re not my men!”
The popping sound continued, and when it stopped, Fortunada, or the person I thought was Fortunada, was no more. The woman standing in front of us was much older, with the same unkempt hair and a similarly dated dress, only her hands were longer and thinner, and her face was worn and wrinkled. She looked ancient, and that was when I knew. This person had never been Fortunada. Fortunada was only a mask she wore. A cover. A disguise.
This was Lady Elowina herself.
I heard someone shout, “Aswang!” Shape-shifter.
I wondered why she had rescued me that first day, when Amador had tried to get me to fall into the refuse room. Maybe it wasn’t enough to just push me into the void—Elowina wanted this . She wanted everyone to see what she could do. Spectacle. A display of her power.
“Traitors!” Lucas brandished his sword, and the munduntug warriors attacked, converging on him. But he took them all on, cleaving them one by one, mowing them down in a whirl of speed and metal.
Multiple people screamed, and there was a flurry of chairs being pushed out and people standing to flee; meanwhile, Elowina put her hands up into the air, and some kind of energy reverberated around the room, like a magnetic pulse. It made me sick to my stomach, and presumably everyone else felt this, too; the guests sat back down, clutching their heads and bellies. The Sirena guards stood at attention but looked frozen. Amador still tried to make it to the door, but Elowina did to her what she’d done to the guard: She flung her hand in Amador’s direction, and the duchess stumbled forward and hit the ground, twisting in pain.
“Now that I’ve finally got your attention!” Elowina shouted. There were moans, but no one spoke again.
Except Lucas. “Beware, witch!” he warned. He was the only one standing. He’d taken care of the insurgents all on his own. They lay in a tangled heap at his feet, blood seeping out from their armor, wings severed. He was breathing heavily, and there was an ugly cut on his cheek, but he was otherwise unharmed.
Now he started for Elowina.
But a knight, even as brave and true as Lucas, was no match for a dark witch.
I wanted to yell out, to warn him. But my words were caught in my throat, and it was no use anyway.
Elowina’s hand flung out once again, and Lucas fell to the floor. I watched him struggle, writhing, his eyes nearly bulging out of his head. I wanted to run at him. To help. He started coughing. Retching.
To my horror, something even worse happened then.
Beetles.
A swarm of black beetles crawled out of his mouth.
This time, I did scream. I looked at Nix—she was on the floor now, too, squirming, clutching her stomach—then back to Elowina, the traitorous witch, the mambabarang. Her hand was lifted in our direction, pointed at us. She was concentrating hard. She looked very, very angry.
Then I realized why. It was because I wasn’t reacting. I was calm; I wasn’t panicked or fearful. I stood my ground.
Some others started to notice, too. Their eyes pinned on me.
“Do you know who I am, Princess?” she barked. She began strolling from table to table, idly picking things up and putting them down, curling her finger around a ringlet of one woman’s hair. “Of course you don’t, because you’re not from here. You’re a pretender. But everyone else here knows who I am, even though they tried to erase me from the history books. Isn’t that right, Elias?”
Elias was paralyzed like the rest of us; he couldn’t speak.
But she was wrong.
I knew who she was.
I knew I had seen those jewels before. In the portrait of King Paolo and his sister. It was a gift from her brother, she’d said, when I complimented her on the pearl-and-diamond bracelet.
The jeweled clips. The brooch. The ring.
They were royal jewels.
“Hello, Auntie,” I said coolly. “Or should I say, Grand-Auntie?”
“Ah, so you do know who I am,” Elowina said with a smile of satisfaction. “It was my book you and your little friends were reading, was it not?”
I tried to keep all emotion off my face. I didn’t want to give her anything, not even the smallest flash of surprise or recognition. That was what she wanted—a reaction. Empty and blank would confuse her.
“Why did you do it?” was all I said. In truth, it was all I wanted to know. This woman had destroyed any chance of a normal family life I could have had; she had been the cause of my parents’ painful separation and eighteen years of a life on the run. My own kin.
“Jun wasn’t supposed to have children,” she spit.
I felt my knees weaken. “You are the Babaeng Pinuno of the Kalahok ng Mambabarang. You made him sign that agreement. He didn’t know it was his own aunt who demanded it.”
She cackled. “It was the only way to stop the war.”
“That you started.”
“You’re mistaken, Princess. War is what we do here in Biringan. The kingdoms have always been in opposition to one another. The truce barely holds. It barely holds now. All I did was seize an opportunity.”
“But why?”
She sneered. “Your father was a fool to marry your mother. He sullied the bloodline by marrying that human whore. For that, I would never forgive him. I am the last full-blooded encanto with a claim to the throne. And I intend to take what’s rightfully mine.” She kicked over a chair, laughing when the man nearest to it flinched and covered his head to avoid being hit.
She spun around again and narrowed her eyes at me, then started up another rant, directed to me but also everyone else in the room. “I am the last of the true line of Queen Felicidad. The princess will surrender the crown and pledge loyalty to me. Or else she will be responsible for the deaths of each and every one of you. And lastly, her own.” She reached out then, and as if on cue, thousands of black beetles came out of the walls.
So many screamed. The rest cowered in terror.
I stood there, silent, with my shoulders pushed back, projecting confidence; all the while, my brain was swirling, still trying to come up with a plan. Lucas lay unconscious on the floor. Elias was paralyzed. Nix was knocked out cold.
I was going to have to do this alone. I reached up and put my hand over the anting-anting amulet hiding beneath my gown.