Chapter 3 Loose Strings #2
The audience watches me, stunned. I laugh at their stupid faces, then choke on the liquid. Doubling over, I cough, spitting up alcohol. No one moves as I crash to the floor, sitting on my ass.
Leiana pulls me to my feet before I realize she’s taken the stage. I sway as I rise, her hand a vise around my arm. “My son is not in his clear mind,” she announces with a smile. “We cannot trust the word of a drunk man.”
Small whispers cascade through the room.
Shaking away from Leiana’s grasp, I nearly fall. She grabs me again.
“I rescind my claim.” My voice sounds funny—fuzzy. Leiana holds me tighter. “Ask me again when I am sober, and my word will be the same!”
A small chuckle escapes the Queen. “Perhaps we shall—“
“It’s the prince’s word!” one of the men who questioned me earlier shouts. “If he does not want the throne, then we do not want him on it.”
Leiana stares directly into the eyes of the Folk man, and he cowers.
“Your Majesty,” he adds, offering a weak bow, but it’s too late. Leiana raises a finger, and guards from either side of the room cut through the crowd to grab the man by the arms. His imminent death sobers me.
“It-it wasn’t,” he stutters. “It was only an observation!”
The guards drag him across the room and into the tunnels, the crowd wordlessly parting for them. His cries echo back at us.
Then they cease.
I know what Leiana would have done to him in the past. Now, I fear Lilac will take her place.
“Kai will take both thrones, then,” says King Easton of Folkara—Kai’s father—standing beside Labyrinth, who clutches his silver staff as if for life. “It seems the most apparent way to unite the universe.”
An obvious power play, one that Leiana will never allow. At least I tried to break these strings. Perhaps I’ll remember this day for the rest of my life as the last time I tried to enact my will and failed. It was a valiant—drunken—effort, yet an effort nonetheless.
I reach into my pocket to spin the silver wolf, but my pocket is empty. The world around me blurs as I try to remember where I’ve placed it. I can’t recall a thing—yet I feel a sharp ache, like a missing limb—
Leiana’s voice cuts through the room. “An excellent idea.”
I look in her direction. She sways—or my eyesight does—as she turns to me. My heart hammers as Leiana’s smile curls sharper. I know what comes next, and yet I am helpless to stop it.
With her gaze on me, she says, “And Princess Lilac will take both thrones with him.”
“No.” I shake my head. “That isn’t—”
“It’s settled then!” Her lips twist into a cruel shape. “Lilac and Kai will be the new queen and king of both Ilyria and Folkara, in six years’ time.”
“No!” I shout. “You can’t do that to her.”
“To her?” Leiana asks. “Or to you? You’re the one giving up power.” She turns back to the audience. “Tell us, do you bear regret? Is that the depth of your soul—a desperate longing for power?”
My mind sputters—too much alcohol. What have I done?
What have I done to Lilac?
“You can’t,” I whisper, utterly defenseless.
Leiana continues to face the audience, her smile as bright as the moon. She inches toward me.
In my ear, she whispers, “I can do anything.”
?
Hours later, I’m escorted through the corridors of Ilyria, my words still echoing in the halls. I haven’t been allowed to leave. Leiana kept me locked in a room until Calista, Kai, and Lilac arrived. It seems they’re here.
My head pounds—the alcohol exacting its toll, and my foolishness settling heavily in its wake. For hours, I’ve told myself I can find a way to save Lilac—the way I couldn’t save Azaire.
The guards escort me to the throne room and swiftly take their positions outside. Leiana offers me a sharp glare, while Labyrinth avoids eye contact as I sit opposite them.
“Please,” I say, “listen. Lilac doesn’t want this.” Neither of them says a word. “She’s your daughter.” It’s a plea I’ve made many times, and it’s scarcely ever had an effect.
Moments later, the door swings open, and Lilac, Calista, and Kai step in.
Lilac’s gaze finds mine immediately. “Lucy?” Her eyes widen, her jaw softening. “What have they done?”
“It’s what your brother has done,” Labyrinth mutters solemnly, staring ahead, unable to meet his daughter’s gaze.
“Lucy?” she asks again.
Calista stands close to Lilac, her fingers twitching at her sides as if longing to reach for my sister.
I shove my hand into my pocket, searching for the wolf. But it’s gone. My head spins as I try to remember the last place I had it, where I could have left it—
“Sit,” Leiana instructs. “There’s been a progression.” The smile she offers is wicked.
Without another word, the three of them take their seats. My hand exits my pocket, empty. I forget what I was trying to grasp.
Kai gives me a glance, his eyes wide—more worried than antagonistic. If it’s for me, it won’t last long. He’ll soon think me an idiot.
I’m far worse.
“Lucian has made a proclamation to your people,” Labyrinth says to Kai and Calista. They both straighten their spines. “Easton and Melody agreed.”
“What is it?” Kai asks.
“You and Lilac will take both the throne of Folkara and Ilyria,” Leiana says, addressing them diplomatically, though she can’t keep the pride from her tone.
Kai and Lilac barely shift. They stare at Labyrinth and Leiana, at a loss for words. It’s Calista who turns to face me, her breath shallow, chest rising and falling rapidly. The tip of her nose twitches, small tears forming at her waterline.
She says nothing.
“Li,” I whisper, shaking my head softly. “You don’t have to—”
“All right.” Lilac’s words are hollow.
At last, I meet her gaze; tears form in her eyes. She nods, silently telling me it’s okay. I don’t deserve it. Her chains will grow heavier because of me.
“I’ll take Folkara,” she says. “When will I begin attending their meetings?”
It’s very Lilac—to shoulder the responsibilities with a strong facade. But beneath it, I imagine she’s shattering. She never wanted the throne. She wanted a better world, and if she couldn’t have that, then to get as far away from this as possible.
What have I done?
Finding Leiana, I silently beg her to look at me, to let me take this back. I have to save Lilac, like I always promised. Only this time, I’m the one who put her in peril.
“Please,” I whisper. “I’ll do it all. Every task. Every terrible thing. I will be your puppet, the way you always trained me to be.”
I feel Kai, Calista, and Lilac, their gazes burning into me. Yet Leiana doesn’t so much as glance in my direction.
She answers Lilac, “As soon as possible.”