56. FIFTY-SIX
FIFTY-SIX
Mina
Get up. I will my body to move, but exhaustion is a thick spider web I cannot break free from. Even my breaths are a pained effort.
Was this the state Mother put herself in to help me escape? Her storm was cataclysmic compared to mine, yet I am utterly spent. If she hadn’t summoned a storm to save me, would she have had the energy to fight? To get away? How did she do all that with a wound?
My mind races with what-ifs, and the room starts to tilt on its axis. I squeeze my eyes shut, taking shallow breaths.
Alexi crouches next to me, knife in hand, his other arm wrapped around my shoulders. His grip is crushing, but I welcome the contact. It grounds me, keeping me here when half my mind is lost in the past.
The other half of my focus is on processing the explosion. No. The attack.
There’s no way this tragedy is a simple accident.
Such a disorganized strike seems out of character for Zala. He stole Kalisham with the precision of a butcher, and a malfunction-disguised attack does not guarantee results. This has to be someone else.
I press my forehead into Alexi’s chest. The pounding in my ears and eyes is enough to upend the room again.
“I am so sorry,” I whisper into his shirt.
“For what?”
“For putting you in a position to choose.”
Darius and Alexi are brothers, and I forced them to face off against one another. Alexi pointed a blade at someone he loves because of me. I peel open my eyes and find Alexi smiling at me.
“He’ll get over it. Besides, technically I was following his orders to keep you safe.”
A cough chokes my laugh, burning my throat as I force the words past. “Thank you. I wouldn’t have been able to stop the fires without you.”
I move to get up, but the world sends me spinning back into Alexi’s side.
“Rest, Mina. You’re no use to anyone in this state.” He shifts us around so that his lap acts as my pillow. “I’ll wake you when Darius gets back.”
My mind’s too alive with assessments, memories, ghosts, and grief. Sleep will not find me for a long while, but at least the spinning stops when my eyes are closed. It hardly counts as resting, but the longer I lie here, the more my energy mends itself. Slowly but surely.
Alexi’s even breaths cease as footsteps echo down the hall. He pulls me up silently and prepares for an attack. He tucks me behind him, knife at the ready.
The footsteps end right outside our position. I hold my breath, hoping that Darius returned to us early.
The door slides open slowly, and Lord Weisman peeks his head around the frame. His hair and face are streaked with ash, a stark contrast to his yellow smile.
“Queen Mina. Thank goodness you’re alright.” He shrugs off his coat and holds it out to me, but I decline. “I’m to escort you to the emperor. He’s gathering the others to discuss our next move.”
Alexi remains a wall between the two of us. “The emperor gave me instructions to keep her here until he retrieves her.”
Lord Weisman presses his cracked glasses up the bridge of his nose. “That was before he saw the damage,” he snaps. “He said that he wants his queen’s council on how to proceed. We all would after the display we witnessed. How else would I know where to find you?”
I suppose my powers are no longer a secret to anyone smart enough to pair my actions with the sudden storm. Darius and I planned to keep them hidden, but maybe the reveal happening in a helpful way will quell some of their fear of the unknown.
Lord Weisman doesn’t seem ready to string me up at least. He smiles and motions for us to step out of the closet.
Alexi might as well be glued to the floor. “You’ll just have to tell the emperor to retrieve us himself.”
Lord Weisman sneers, making sure to address me directly. “The emperor has already started the meeting. The more time we waste here, the more people we lose.”
There were so many people on the beach. The phantom smell of burnt flesh makes my stomach roil. The pressure to do something, anything, to help is almost too much to bear. Going with him is a risk, but one I’m willing to take if it means saving even one more life.
My muscles protest as I smooth out my dress and step around Alexi. “Give us a moment,” I command.
Lord Weisman hesitates for a moment, eyes scanning the small closet before he finally closes the door.
“Absolutely not,” Alexi whispers immediately. “There’s no way Darius would send that guy.”
“I agree, but even if he didn’t, we can’t stay in this closet,” I whisper.
I don’t need to explain to Alexi that a cramped space with only one exit is a logistical nightmare to defend. All the enemy has to do is block the hallway on the other side of the door and we are as good as dead. This was supposed to be a hiding spot at best.
“If Darius does need us, then at least we will get there in a timely manner.”
“He doesn’t,” Alexi says with total confidence.
I nod, keeping my voice low. “If this does end up being a trap, at least we can defend ourselves and escape a lot more easily from another location. We go.”
Alexi’s purple eyes darken in irritation, but he offers me his arm. “I don’t like this.”
“Neither do I.” I lean against him, needing the help to walk for now.
I push open the door, and Lord Weisman smiles at us expectantly.
I flash him an easy grin. “Lead the way.”
“We are still calculating the casualties and structural damage. Many of the buildings closest to the explosion were reduced to ash.” Lord Weisman graciously keeps the pace slow as we retreat farther into the estate.
“What of Lady Elena?” I ask.
“We’re still searching, Your Majesty. Many guests ran off in a panic even after the fires went out. Word is slowly spreading, and a census is being set up.”
A spark of hope remains for Elena. Please be alright.
“Here we are, Queen Mina.”
Lord Weisman opens a heavy wooden door, revealing a stuffy room with a round table lit only by a single lantern and the light from an open window. At least there’s a secondary exit.
Papers and books litter the walls and table, but no one else has arrived yet. I search for the next door that will lead us to where Darius is leading the supposed meeting, but I know in my bones that he isn’t here.
The door slams shut. Alexi reacts a half a second before I do, putting his blade to Weisman’s throat. I’m ready to demand an explanation, but the need for one dies as three bodies slip into the room from the shadows outside.
I grab the back of Alexi’s shirt, a silent order to stay still. The rough fabric bites into the small burn on my palm.
“If they wanted to kill us, we’d be dead already,” I say.
Alexi’s blade bites deeper into Weisman’s neck until Weisman's whimpers are the only noise in the room.
I turn to address our cloaked guests. Black hair and golden-brown skin peek out from behind their hoods. Fear crawls up my throat, but I swallow it down.
“I assume you have a message from Zala,” I ask as one might greet an old friend.
They keep to the shadows by the window, neither advancing nor retreating. “We’ve come to escort you home,” the middle cloaked figure explains.
“Let me guess, dead or alive?” Alexi spits.
“No need. Queen Mina will come willingly with us. This place is clearly not safe for her.”
The confidence in their voice makes me shiver. If Zala wants me alive, then he wouldn’t risk the skyflame explosion. He can certainly capitalize on it though.
“Your queen was my mother,” I bite back. “And unless you have Zala’s head as a wedding gift for the emperor and me, then I won’t be going anywhere with you.”
Alexi strikes Weisman unconscious. He turns to glare at the three shadows, daggers poised to throw. “I’ll handle these three. You find Darius.”
All three shadows laugh. “Such a confident child.”
My fist is still bunched in Alexi’s shirt. I summon what little strength I have left and let go. “I am not leaving you. You are the best in Veloria, but even Darius and I would struggle against three shadows.”
He never takes his eyes off the threat, but I can sense his frustration. Alexi doesn’t like the idea of being weaker than our opponents any more than I do, but in my exhausted state, I’m not sure we can take them.
I force myself to relax and smile at the shadows. “Please inform Zala that I decline his offer. Veloria is my home now, and I have no intention of leaving it behind.”
The resulting sigh from the left shadow freezes my blood. My hair stands on end as he slides a blade free.
“As we said, you will come willingly. Zala made sure of it.” He raises the blade not to strike but to reflect the lamplight backward toward the window.
I am too weak and far too slow to stop the arrow that flies through the window and punctures Alexi’s leg. He cries out but stands his ground, gritting through the pain.
“Stop!” I shout, placing myself between my friend and any more arrows.
“We will if you come with us. We have an archer watching the emperor as well. You should know that only one arrow will be fired anyway.”
No. I risk a glance backward. Alexi is already sweating from the poisoned tip. I whip back around toward the shadows. “Give me the antidote now.”
“As we said, you will come with us willingly. Only then will your friends be safe.”
Alexi grabs my dress. His lips are starting to pale, and each word is a labored breath. “Don’t. You. Dare.”
I ignore him, willing my voice not to shake as I address the shadows.
“Fine. I will return with you after you give him the antidote. You have my vow.”
Alexi’s protest is cut off by his cough. Blood stains the side of my dress and my heart stops. He falls to his knees, and I follow him down.
“You are going to be fine. You will not die, you hear me.”
I pull him into a fierce hug, committing his warmth to memory. He’s alive. I won’t lose him like Fareena.
I kiss the top of his shaggy black hair, then strike him unconscious. Tears burn down my cheeks as I stand, nodding to the shadow closest to me. He walks forward and pushes a thin needle into Alexi’s neck.
I want to fight back, but the archer is still outside, and Alexi cannot handle another dose of poison.
My muscles quiver as I head toward the window. One of the other shadows offers me a hand, and I bury the urge to cut it off. I let them drape a cloak over my shoulders and help me walk, letting them think I am compliant and weak.
I glance back at the main estate only once, praying for Alexi and Darius to be safe. For all my friends to be alright.
It’s not hard to slip out unnoticed among the chaos. Fear and uncertainty weigh down my steps as the shadows lead me into town. I expected us to head for the water to escape, but maybe the relief efforts on the beach are a deterrent.
I cough and pretend to lose my footing. One of the shadows catches me as I stumble to my knees. My braid hits the stone path as I dry heave.
The shadow produces a skin of water, and I drain it, washing the stale taste of smoke from my mouth.
“Thank you,” I bite out.
“Of course, Queen Mina. It may not seem like it now, but we are here to help you,” she says.
They waited until I was drained from the storm to make their move, knowing I wouldn’t be able to fight back. They targeted the people I love, knowing I would put them first.
Zala predicted my reactions perfectly, so I’ll return the favor. He wants me alive, which means so do my escorts.
“You’ll forgive me if I have to disagree,” I say.
She laughs and helps me to my feet. We continue down one of the side roads to the east, and it takes all my resolve not to glance back at the gold clip I let fall from my braid.
Once my strength returns and we are far away from the people I love, I will remind these shadows exactly who they are dealing with.
I am not the same naive princess from before.