Chapter 4 #2
Dani’s expression hardened. When the letter had arrived, Dani had demanded immediate action.
Those present had proceeded to talk over one another, their words and demands blending together and becoming incomprehensible.
With a slam of her cane against the dais, the Queen had silenced them all, demanding everyone return to their beds and ending the conversation for the night.
"According to Myra, this has been Domitius' ultimate goal the entire time: to give powers to the giftless."
The center of Terin’s forehead creased as his brows drew together. "Domitius did say something to Graeson on the day of your wedding. I had thought nothing of it then, but…"
"What did he say?" Kallie asked when his words trailed off. The beat of her heart was a thunderous roar as she considered the possibilities. Fear welled up inside her, and she struggled to get ahold of it.
"He said something about being a collector of useful things and that Graeson would be a valuable piece in his collection." Terin held his head between his hands as if it was too heavy to hold up on its own. "I-I didn’t even…I hadn’t known what he had meant, but if what you say is true, then…"
Terin and Kallie exchanged worried glances, their thoughts no doubt aligning.
If Domitius got his hands on Graeson, neither of them wanted to think about the fatal consequences that would come about.
But even Domitius, who had trained Kallie and was a force to be reckoned with, wouldn’t have been a match for Graeson.
Kallie knew that like she knew the back of her hand, and yet…
"Prepare the warriors, Cetia," an older woman said, calling Kallie’s attention back to the present.
"Grandmother is right," Medenia said.
Grandmother?
Kallie’s mouth fell open as she gawked at the woman, realizing who she was.
Loralaine Perseianes was one of Tetria’s first queens when Vaneria separated into seven kingdoms. Kallie had read so many stories about her—stories Domitius had failed to keep away from her.
Loralaine was among the first Tetrians who had stepped onto the battlefield and one of the last to leave it.
Her aim was one of the deadliest of her generation, not only in Tetria but all of Vaneria.
She was legendary. Loralaine’s hair was now as white as salt, her skin thin and nearly translucent, the small blue veins beneath predominant.
The Great War had happened one hundred years ago, which meant that Loralaine must have been—
"Don’t do the math," Terin whispered in her ear as if hearing her thoughts. "It will give you a headache."
Kallie’s cheeks reddened, and she snapped her jaw shut.
"When we agreed to attend the royal wedding," Medenia said, forcing Kallie’s attention away from the former queen, "we put ourselves at risk of being in the middle of whatever came after. We must lie in the bed we made."
"Spoken like a true queen," Loralaine said with pride.
Medenia beamed at her grandmother’s appraisal, but it was short-lived.
"You are not a queen yet, Medenia. If war can be avoided, we must consider it," Cetia said.
"A war has already been declared, Mo—" Medenia cleared her throat, noticing Cetia’s fingers flexing around the emerald orb atop her cane. "Your Majesty."
"We can still end it before it begins," Cetia said.
"Domitius' plan is set into motion. Words will not stop it," Medenia argued.
"But her words could."
Every head turned toward Kallie, and she tried not to shrink back into her chair at their renewed interest in her.
"I—" But Kallie didn’t get much farther than that before Dani interrupted.
"She has no power. She is no queen."
Cetia hummed. "She may not be a queen, and in normal circumstances, her word would barely hold any power because of her title."
"Which at this point is questionable," Dani mumbled.
"Dani," Terin chided.
"What? She’s not Domitius' daughter."
"But she is my sister." Terin’s gaze connected with Kallie’s. His expression was soft and serene and too painful to bear. "She is and always has been the Princess of Pontia."
"I do not…I have no right," Kallie whispered, unable to accept the title.
Dani muttered an agreement.
Cetia waved her hand dismissively, as if to bat away the conversation. "Her title—or lack thereof—is of no importance to me. Titles are only a small part of who we are, and these are not normal circumstances. You are not normal, Kalisandre. Your word is power."
Kallie pushed her back into the chair, her heart beating even faster.
This was not the plan Kallie had come to discuss.
Yet her gift stirred in her stomach as if begging her to reach for it.
It buzzed inside her, thrumming in her veins, eagerly and excitedly.
But beneath the excitement and the golden haze that often accompanied her power, a darkness hummed.
It stirred in the darkest corners of her, ominous and daunting.
"My ability is a curse. It is the reason we are here today.
It is the reason…" Kallie’s words trailed off as thoughts of Fynn surfaced.
Tears sprang to her eyes, but she blinked them away when she made the mistake of glancing at Dani, whose hand had fallen to her stomach.
"To command someone is to bend their will to my own.
It is a violation of the vilest kind. I made a promise to myself I would never use it again. "
Cetia wove her hands together beneath her chin.
"You are correct. The gift you bear, the one that the gods have given you, should not be taken lightly.
For years, you have been forced to do unspeakable things, to use your words to betray and to kill.
But right now, Kalisandre, you have the power to do good.
You have the power to end this war before any blood has been shed. "
"I-I’ve never manipulated Domitius. I—" Kallie choked on her words. She twisted her mother’s gold ring around her finger. "I don’t know if I can."
"You do not know if it is possible because you think he cannot be manipulated or because you do not know if you can betray him?"
There was no judgment in the Queen’s expression, only curiosity, yet Kallie could sense the ridicule from the others around her. The mistrust and suspicion. She didn’t need to have Myra’s ability to notice the way the council members’ eyes narrowed or the way the ones closest to her shifted away.
Even Ellie looked at Kallie with a questioning gaze, as if trying to see if Cetia’s work had failed somehow. As far as Kallie knew, it hadn’t, yet she hesitated all the same.
"I hold no loyalty to Domitius," Kallie clarified, forcing some of the strength back into her voice.
"Yet you hesitate," Cetia stated.
Despite the lack of criticism in the Queen’s voice, heat crept up Kallie’s neck. Kallie wanted to deny Cetia’s claim. She wanted to be as strong as the two queens sitting at the table. But who was she kidding? Kallie was not one of them. She was never meant to rule or be a queen.
Her eyes slid to the others in the room—to Medenia and Ophelia, to Ellie, to Terin and Dani, and to the strangers who surrounded her. Kallie came here to prevent those she cared about from getting hurt. She came here because she finally wanted to take hold of her fate. Why, then, was she trembling?
"You are riddled with fear, child," Loralaine said.
Kallie blinked. She tried to speak, but she could not form the words, her mouth too dry.
The former queen nodded. "Good. You should be."
"Loralaine," Cetia called out.
Loralaine held up a hand. "No, I will not lie to the girl. You were not alive during the last war. Were you, daughter?"
Cetia pursed her lips, the first visible sign of her frustration.
Loralaine leaned forward, and the guard beside her shifted, as if expecting the woman to break if she moved too fast. But when the former queen spoke, there was no questioning the power that remained within her bones.
"My memory might be frail, and when it comes to the war, some things are foggy at best. But I recall many things. I recall the bloodbaths that soaked the earth, the violence that ran through the streets, the innocents who suffered.
"War is not for the faint of heart. War is brutal and cruel. The battle forces us to turn into the worst versions of ourselves in order to survive. We have to block out our emotions. To keep on fighting, we must become shells of ourselves to deal with the death that surrounds us. We’re told that fear will cripple us, that it will only get us killed.
But the truth is, fear reminds us we are human.
"So you should be afraid, Kalisandre. Kage Domitius is not a man you should go running toward without some semblance of fear and wariness within you.
" Loralaine paused, inhaling a deep breath, and it seemed everyone around her did the same, concern restricting the flow of oxygen as if this was the most she had spoken in a while.
"But what will get you killed—and what might get us all killed—is if you fear yourself.
Do not cower from who you are or who you may become because of the gift inside you. Only you have the power to control it."
Loralaine’s words weaved their way into Kallie’s mind and reached the deepest parts of her soul—the insecurities and doubts, the shame and self-hatred.
Loralaine was right; Kallie was afraid of her gift.
She could not recall a single time when she had used her gift for a purpose other than promoting Domitius' goals.
It was not her gift, but his prize. Something he had taken from her and molded.
Even when it called out to her now, Kallie shirked back, afraid of what would happen, of what twisted horrors she would enact.
Loralaine might have believed Kallie was the one in control of it, but in truth, it controlled her.
Beneath the table, a hand landed atop hers. Terin gave her a weak smile. "No one can make you do anything, Kallie. It is your choice what you do."
Her choice.
She wondered if she really had a choice, though. If she said no, what would those in the room do? Would they prepare for a war? Didn’t she want to stop Domitius and prevent further catastrophe and death? Wasn’t that the whole point of her being here?
If she did what they were suggesting, she wouldn’t need an army. No one else would have to get hurt.
A honeyed warmth filled her veins as her gift danced in her core, eagerly waiting as if it knew the answer before even Kallie did.
"Fine," Kallie gritted out, her nails biting into the flesh of her palms. "I’ll do it. I’ll manipulate him."
Loralaine grinned, and that small twitch alone did something to Kallie.
Loralaine didn’t know Kallie. She shouldn’t have had any faith in her at all, and maybe she didn’t.
Either way, a terrified yet fervent energy zipped through Kallie’s bloodstream.
Yet before the feeling could fill her entire body, a voice ripped through the room like a thunderous crack.
"You will not use her as a weapon."