Chapter 18
TRUTH OR DARE
Ibolted from my seat, blood turning cold. I wasn’t ready for this, but no matter. At least I could give the journal to Ahav and prove—the tome vanished from my grip.
Breath abandoned me. No invisible person was hiding the tome; it was hiding itself.
“Oracle.” the captain prompted.
“One sec.” I marched to the bookshelves, hoping to find the journal but... no. Nowhere.
Fine. No showing it to Ahav. “Before we go,” I told the soldier, “you should know. If there’s one scratch on my monstra when I return, the perpetrator will die in agony.” I tapped my temple. “I’ve foreseen it.” Because I was imagining it right now.
“You should run now,” Kevin announced.
The captain flinched but stood his ground. “Let’s go.”
Doing my best impression of a seer confident in her ability, I picked up the backpack, glided to Jasher, and set it at his feet.
Maybe this was foolish. I had no idea what the stones did, but if we were to build any kind of trust, we had to start somewhere.
If nothing else, the stones could be used as weapons against any soldiers who dared approach him.
Although, considering the damage he could do with his shadow, he wasn’t exactly helpless.
I wondered… Did the shadow siren employ a similar trick?
“Why?” he asked me, confused.
“I meant what I told you. I care.”
Both he and Kevin watched me with narrowed eyes as I sailed past the pensive captain. I felt the heat of Jasher’s gaze boring holes into my back. I wasn’t sure what Kevin was thinking.
Three other guards waited in the stone corridor outside the room. One kept a hand resting on the hilt of his sheathed sword, leading the charge while the other two remained behind, at the door. Captain Rourke followed me, staying three steps behind.
My nerves intensified as we navigated winding hallways into an unfamiliar area of the catacombs. The damp unleashed a tide of unease.
The room itself appeared chiseled from volcanic glass, its vaulted ceiling disappearing into darkness.
A polished obsidian floor mirrored the surreal glow of the space’s centerpiece: a rainbow-shaped stream of fire that stretched from one side of a raised dais to the other.
The flames burned in unnatural hues of sapphire and violet, swirling in mesmerizing patterns but casting no heat.
Thin ribbons of white smoke coiled upward, twining with thrums of power, the two twirling through the air in a slow, reverent dance. Shadows moved along the towering black walls, stretching and twisting like spirits. How I tracked them when they were the same color as the stone, I did not know.
King Ahav and Queen Sandrine stood on the other side of the circle, both cloaked in purple fur coats and grim-faced. And yet, seeing my parents together after learning of their love story awoke the little girl in me, who only wanted hugs and smiles.
Ten soldiers fanned out at their sides. No sign of Ian. I probably should’ve cared about that, but I couldn’t get past the beauty of the royals. What a power couple.
How different would my life have been if I’d been born here, with them, raised by him and known by all as Princess Moriah Ori’Emet?
Not that I could ever regret my years with Daniel Shaker. He was and always would be my person. But here, now, a single mistake could cost me everything.
The flames drew my gaze once again, a force I couldn’t resist. “Where did this come from?”
“No one knows,” Ahav replied. “It was discovered twenty-five years ago, when Ian’s father restored the catacombs.”
This might be the very room Morris had stored Andrea’s coffin. If the legend the Guardian had shared was real. “Are you sure it’s not the Ember of Everlight?”
Mom flinched at the mention of the much-desired treasure. Did she fear the curse?
“The Ring is not the Ember,” Ahav said, “but perhaps the two hail from the same world. We placed a captured monstra within the flames, and it did not crystallize.”
Good to know. “Have either of you entered?”
My mom pressed a hand to her heart. “My mother-in-law, the former queen, had me tossed inside to test my feelings for her son—” Ahav winced, and she paused to pat his chest. “It’s not pleasant.
I have vague memories of screaming. And I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but there’s something about you.
” She frowned, her voice trailing off, then she shook her head and rallied.
“Ahav pulled me free before I answered any questions.”
My eyes widened. I loved that Mom seemed to recognize me, but hated what she’d experienced. And at the hands of my grandmother, no less. “And where is the former queen now?”
“Dead,” he said, looking beyond me. Eager to see my opponent?
A plan formed. I’d wait for Ian’s arrival to issue my…retraction. No, not a retraction, I decided, but a request for more time. Time to interpret what I’d seen in my vision, just in case Ahav was right, and I’d missed vital details.
“Majesty.” A soldier stepped up to my side, inclined his head in deference to the royals, and announced, “We are unable to locate Guardian Ian.”
Ahav went still. “Find him. Now.”
“Yes, majesty.” The soldier hurried out of the room.
Ooooh. Plot twist. If Ian bailed rather than face me…
Relief poured through my veins. A turn in my favor.
Minutes passed. When the soldier returned, he came alone and red-faced.
“My deepest apologies, Majesty, but Guardian Ian is nowhere to be found. His mount is missing as well.”
Fury flashed in King Ahav’s eyes, tinged with hurt.
“There’s more,” the soldier added with a quake. “He left a message.” Trembling, he unrolled a scroll.
“Read it,” Ahav barked.
“Majesty.” The man cleared his throat. “If you haven’t guessed, I won’t be attending.
The oracle spoke accurately. The monstra are mine.
They always have been. Their purpose predates your crown and will outlast it.
When my letter concludes, you will order searches, interrogations, and perhaps executions.
And you should. But they’ll change nothing.
Every action you take from this moment forward will be a reaction.
Measured, anticipated, and already countered.
I will remove you at a time of my choosing.
Not publicly, not gloriously, but so quietly your people will wonder if you failed or abandoned them.
Expect pain. And when the kingdom falls, I’ll step in to stabilize what remains.
Fear is more reliable than loyalty. Until our next meeting, Ian. ”
Anguish stormed across Ahav’s features. My chest squeezed with compassion.
“He is mad,” my mother breathed out.
“He hates me,” Ahav stated softly.
Yes. But why?
The king fisted his hands. “Guardian Ian is now a traitor and an enemy of the crown. Send out my best troops. Find him and bring him to me. Dead or alive. Preferably dead.”
“Yes, Majesty.” The soldier marched off a second time.
“Alive,” I called. “Only alive. Remember what I said,” I snapped at the king. “Believe me, just this once.”
He scowled but nodded, calling, “Alive.”
Thank the good Lord. I nearly collapsed with relief. But sadness for Ahav soon crept in. His world had just been turned inside out. Now, at least, the real work could begin. We had a chance of saving the kingdom.
Speaking of. “I can find the Ember of Everlight,” I blurted. Uh. I can? I’d intended to help him search, not flat-out state I could do what no one else had done.
He jolted, as if I’d hit him with a cattle prod. “Do you know where it is?”
The Ring’s flames hummed, a call answered by the marrow of my bones. “Mount Emerald.” I rubbed my temple and nodded, an odd certainty sprouting. “Yes. We’ll recognize the Ember at Mount Emerald.”
He stood still for a long while, then worked his jaw. “We leave for Mount Emerald in one hour. Be ready.”
Exactly what I’d hoped for. But tremors paired with flutters, threatening my composure. “Tinman comes with me, and that’s non-negotiable.” It was time—past time—I set him free. If he hurt our cause, he hurt it, but I couldn’t carry the guilt of his imprisonment any longer.
“Agreed.” My father raised his chin. “I want him as far away from the palace as possible.”
In other words, get the monstra away from the pregnant queen. And maybe Jasher would choose to stick with us. Aid us. Maybe not. But either way, I wouldn’t change my mind about granting his freedom.
Mom’s gaze remained on me, intense and probing. “I’ll escort our honored guest to her quarters so that she may prepare for the journey,” she announced. “With my guards close, I’ll be perfectly safe.”
Before the king could refuse, I echoed, “She will be perfectly safe.” I was certain of that, too, because I would let nothing happen to her. But after reading that last journal entry, I had questions only my mother could answer.
The king opened and closed his mouth as if warming up a refusal, but in the end, he nodded and said, “Do not enter the room or near the creature.”
“Yes, my love.” She kissed his cheek and strode around the flames with the escort of ten on her heels. Upon reaching me, she wound her arm through mine and led me toward the exit.
As we entered the hallway, I nearly cried with happiness. Look at me, arm in arm with my mother. Her beloved honeysuckle and jasmine scent enveloped me, a comfort I’d missed with every fiber of my being after her disappearance.
“There’s something so familiar about you, Oracle,” she said, leading me slowly. So slowly. We passed other rooms in the catacombs, opulent areas with servants hard at work. “I think we’ve met before. Have we?”
Rather than answer flat out, I repeated her question. “Have we?”
“Hmm. The puzzle pieces are there but scattered,” she muttered.
I tamped down the urge to lean my head on her shoulder, tighten my hold on her, and spill every secret I’d ever kept from her.
But I was set to leave in an hour and hunt down the Ember able to save her.
Making such a life-altering announcement could derail those plans.
I mean, really. Surprise! I might be the baby in your belly.
“Perhaps we met before King Ahav found you.” I could think of no better way to introduce the subject. “The time before you lost your memory.”
Stiffness invaded her limbs. “Perhaps.” She didn’t elaborate, as I hoped. “Tell me about the monstra you came with.” The command of a royal assured of her power.
I flowed with her. “His name is J—Tinman.” I wouldn’t break my promise to him, even though she was my mother. “He saved my life more than once, and now I’m trying to save his. Along with finding the Ember and saving the kingdom, of course.”
“I’m still reeling over Ian’s betrayal,” she said and sighed, slowing our pace even more, drawing out our interaction. “I’m having trouble reconciling the evil Ian you painted, the very one who sent that atrocious note, versus the honorable guardian I’ve known these past two years.”
In this, I could be totally transparent.
“He’s very good at pretending. But if he has his way, he’ll kill you and the king and rule in your place, using the people’s fear of the monstra to maintain strict control.
” Mandatory decapitations for the smallest of crimes.
“What reason does Ian have to hate King Ahav?”
“I can think of none.” We reached my chamber door and stopped. Facing me, she clasped my hands in hers. Concern etched her delicate features. “His father worked for Ahav’s father, so they grew up together. They share interests, histories, and hopes.”
Had he concealed his wickedness all along, playing the long con, as my dad accused Jasher, or had something changed him?
Unwilling to let this moment end just yet, I probed deeper. “Anything else you can tell me will only help our quest. Details about your time before Ahav. Memories of Ian, his father, the renovation of the catacombs. Tidbits about the Ember, King Morris, or Andrea.”
Her nose crinkled. “I’ve tried to remember my life before Ahav.
Nothing has helped. He believes I come from the otherworld, and maybe I do.
But I’m a citizen of Hakeldama now. I told you everything I know about Ian.
His father and the renovation unearthed only a handful of murals Ahav’s father destroyed.
Talk of the Ember, King Morris, and Andrea has always made me uneasy, so we do not discuss them often. ”
A new question to add to my growing list. Why had my grandfather destroyed the murals?
“Just…promise me you’ll guard my Ahav,” she beseeched. “Besides my baby, he’s all I have. My only family.”
Pangs threatened to rip me in two. “I promise, I’ll do everything in my power to keep him safe.” I hoped the truth of my words gave her comfort. Honestly, I would die before I allowed harm to come to him, and thereby my mother.
“Thank you.” She squeezed my hands. “He’s precious to me.” Love glowed in her eyes when she smiled and rasped, “I cannot lose him as I lost—” She frowned, shook her head. “Someone. Who?”
Was she starting to remember?
Before she could stop me, I hugged her, clinging to the mother I loved and missed.
She’d told me the last time we were together, I’d confessed the king would die if we failed to find the Ember. This time, I swallowed the warning. Nothing would stop me from finding it, so, there was no reason to worry her.
Instead I simply whispered, “Be well, Sandrine.”
After a short hesitation, she hugged me back. Clinging as if she knew who I was, deep inside. “You, too, Oracle.”
When I could stand the emotion of it all no longer, I fled into my room. Maybe nothing had changed. Maybe everything had. But I had a purpose now, my goal clearer than ever. Fix everything or die trying.