Chapter 41
People stopped and stared. I knew what I must look like. I was wearing the same breeches and tunic Cor had given to me in the tunnels. My face was clean, at least. But what the villages were used to seeing was a pampered princess in a gown with long dark hair and a smile on her face. I wasn’t smiling.
The people joined our procession as we walked toward the palace. Eudaimonia had changed. Of course it had. Their king was dead, and their princess had disappeared. Their queen had been accused of horrendous acts.
I was the queen now.
It still felt hollow inside me. My mother was and should be the queen. I didn’t even know if she was alive. I assumed she was. It was a childish fantasy, but I really believed I would know if she was dead.
Parisar had coached me on what to do next. I needed to establish my rule. I needed to let the people know they were not alone. I needed to let them know we were at war.
Our kingdom had never been to war in my lifetime. None of the inhabitants had experienced war. Tense trade negotiations, yes, but never war. Fernweh had been at peace since it had been split between the five siblings.
At least that was what we had all believed.
But was it really true?
What of Werifesteria? What had really happened there?
By the time we reached the palace steps, a silent crowd had gathered. I climbed the stairs, and when I was halfway to the top I turned and looked out over them. My people. Some of them I recognised. Some of them I knew by name. All of them were my responsibility now.
‘I know what you’ve heard,’ I said, my voice carrying across the eerie silence. ‘I know the lies you have been told.’
There was a soft murmuring, and I waited.
‘I was not kidnapped,’ I said. ‘My mother did not kill the king, and she did not try to kill me. The mirror does not declare who is the fairest in the land.’
My statements were met with scepticism.
‘The mirror is magic. A relic from the ancient past. My mother and I are descendants of a magical line.’ More murmuring. Louder this time. ‘But we are not the only ones.’
Silence.
I had thought about this over and over. Elil had to be descended from a magical line as well, or at least be very close to someone else who was. It was the only way he could have bewitched me. It was the only way he would have been able to wield the crown.
And if Elil had magic, what of the other princes? What had happened in Werifesteria should be proof that they at least had magic. It stood to reason that each of the kingdoms had a magic relic, perhaps from the original princes.
‘Querencia killed the king. Querencia tried to kill me.’
The crowd swelled with sound. I raised my voice to be heard over it.
‘We are officially at war with Querencia.’
Silence, and then an outcry. I didn’t know if they were protesting the declaration of war, or if they were crying out in support of it.
‘The king is dead. Long live the queen.’ Parisar’s voice rang out across the courtyard.
‘Long live the queen.’ The reply came from Tain and Cor and Sim and Weylei and Zeyr.
‘Long live the queen,’ the crowd responded and then again, louder. ‘Long live the queen!’
The phrase was repeated like a battle cry, and I turned and walked into the palace, taking deep breaths to calm the nerves that were buzzing in my stomach and making my blood twitch.
There was so much to do. We needed to meet with the nobles. We needed to make plans. We needed to reinforce our borders. We needed to contact the other kingdoms and garner their support before Elil turned them against us.
Parisar took my elbow and guided me into a small, dark room. He helped me sit and then knelt before me.
‘Breathe, Snow,’ he whispered.
I closed my eyes and dragged in a deep breath.
‘I can’t do this,’ I said, the reality of it all crashing down on me. ‘I’m not a queen.’
‘You can, and you are,’ Parisar said gently.
‘I don’t know how to rule a kingdom,’ I protested, hysteria rising within me again. ‘I don’t know how to…’ I flapped my hands around helplessly. ‘I don’t know how to lead an army.’
‘That’s why you have me,’ he said. ‘And my father, and the other nobles, and the generals. You do not have to do this all on your own. You are not alone, Snow.’
I looked at him and tried to absorb the confidence he had. If I could have even just a small amount of it, I would be able to get out of this chair and walk into the throne room and take my place as the queen of this kingdom.
‘No. You are not alone.’
I startled at the voice.
‘Lord Adryon?’
I had never liked the man, but now I was inordinately glad to see him. He was the closest person to my father—apart from my mother—and he knew everything about the kingdom and the king’s plans.
‘My queen,’ he replied, bowing low.
I looked at Parisar and then back to Lord Adryon.
‘I sent a message,’ Parisar said. ‘I let him know what was happening.’
I didn’t know how or when Parisar had managed to do that. I probably should know, but right in that moment I was just happy it had happened. There would be time later to figure out Parisar’s spy network.
‘Everyone is assembled,’ Lord Adryon said.
‘Everyone?’ I asked.
‘The lords, ladies, and generals,’ he clarified. ‘But first…’
I frowned. ‘First?’
Lord Adryon and Parisar shared a look. It was Parisar who spoke.
‘The mirror,’ he said. ‘You need to look into the mirror.’
I hated the mirror.
Would any of this have happened if it didn’t exist?
It was supposed to show me the future, but what was the point? The last time it showed me anything, I saw myself in a glass coffin. The same glass coffin Elil had reportedly carried me into the Querencia palace in. So it told the truth, but what of it? Knowing the future and changing it were two very different things. Despite my mother’s and Parisar’s best efforts, I hadn’t been able to change the vision. How could it possibly help me now?
Parisar brushed the back of my hand, and I turned it to grip his. I did not want to do this. I did not want to look. What if it showed my mother’s death? What if it showed mine? Or Parisar’s?
‘I…I can’t do this,’ I whispered.
Parisar squeezed my hand. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t tell me I had no choice or tell me I would be fine. He didn’t insist I be brave and step into my legacy. He just stood beside me, holding my hand. His silence told me everything. He would be beside me whatever I decided to do. He would support me in whatever way I needed.
A small part of me wanted him to say something, to tell me he would do it for me. But that was the old me. That was the me before, the naive me who had stayed purposefully ignorant so that I wouldn’t have to deal with the responsibilities of my birth.
If I had been more proactive in my life before, could I have saved my father? Could I have prevented the series of events that led up to his death?
Could have, would have, should have. They were not the thoughts of a queen. They were not the thoughts that would free my mother and protect my people.
I stepped away from Parisar, keeping our hands joined until the very last moment, and I approached the mirror.
It was taller than I was. The frame was intricately carved and gilded, although the gold was worn with age. It was beautiful…and terrifying.
I avoided the eyes of my reflection, looking at my feet in the mirror. I still wore the boots and breeches I had walked into the palace in. They were scuffed and dirty, and the sight of them gave me strength. I was no longer the princess in silk and satin. While not yet a warrior, I was no longer helpless.
I took a breath and straightened my shoulders before raising my eyes to the face that looked back at me. The Snow in the mirror smirked, judging me, before the image swirled and was replaced by another young woman. She slept on a bed of roses. Her hair was long and tangled around her like the cocoon the silkworms wove. The image swirled again. Another young woman sat by the fire, her face dusted with ash as she swept the hearth. She was replaced with another young woman, her red hair floating around her brown face as she was suspended beneath the surface of the ocean. And yet another woman, this one in a tower, her golden tresses cascading through the window and almost reaching the ground.
I stumbled back from the mirror, and Parisar was there to catch me.
‘What is it?’ he asked. ‘What did you see?’
I shook my head slowly. I didn’t know. I didn’t understand. Who were these women? Why had the mirror shown them to me?
I turned to Lord Adryon. ‘Is the mirror always like this?’
‘You are the only one who can see what the mirror shows,’ Adryon said.
‘But…it doesn’t make sense. None of what the mirror showed me made sense.’
‘What did you see?’ Parisar repeated. ‘Is it your mother?’
I shook my head. ‘No. I saw…I saw four women…’
‘Who—’
Adryon cut off whatever Parisar was going to say. ‘The sleeping princess, the ash princess, the sea princess, and the tower princess,’ he said.
I nodded. ‘How did you know.’
‘Your mother saw them as well,’ he said. ‘When she was looking for a way to save the king, all the mirror would show her were these princesses.’
‘What does it mean?’
‘Does the mirror want us to find them?’ Parisar asked, looking at his father. ‘When the queen saw Snow in the glass coffin…did she see the others as well? Are these four princesses in the same danger as Snow was?’
I looked at Parisar. Why would he say that? Why would he link those things together?
Adryon nodded slowly. ‘It was one of the theories the queen was considering.’
‘But who are they?’ I asked.
‘The sleeping princess,’ Parisar mused. ‘Could she be from Werifesteria? There are folktales that talk about the curse putting the entire realm to sleep.’
‘That would mean the sea princess would be from Thassalonia,’ I said. ‘There are rumours about them living in the ocean.’
Lord Adryon nodded, his finger tapping his chin. ‘Perhaps.’
I looked at Parisar and then at Lord Adryon. ‘Please tell me you don’t think we should be trying to find these princesses. We are about to go to war with Querencia. My mother is still a prisoner in their dungeons. Why would we even consider saving these other princesses when we can’t even save ourselves?’
‘For that very reason,’ Lord Adryon said. ‘We need allies. We need to reach out to the other kingdoms. If Querencia had the audacity to try to steal Eudaimonia, then do you think they won’t try the same thing with the other kingdoms?’
I looked at Parisar, expecting to see the same disbelief I knew was on my face. He looked thoughtful instead.
‘Surely you don’t agree with this?’ I asked.
‘Out of all the visiting princes, and apart from Elil, who did you find the most…friendly?’ he asked.
‘What?’
‘You spoke with all of them. So, between Prince Granger and Prince Char, which do you think would be more amenable to an alliance?’
‘Char,’ I replied without thinking. ‘But I still—’
Parisar was nodding when Adryon said, ‘Kairos. They share a border with both us and Querencia. If nothing else, they would be good to act as mediators.’
I looked between the two men. ‘What are you talking about? We need to rescue my mother and protect our borders from an invasion.’
‘I don’t think Querencia are going to be marching on our borders any time soon,’ Parisar said.
‘How do you know that?’ I demanded.
‘I don’t think Querencia has the funds or the manpower,’ Parisar replied. ‘I also don’t think the king is as supported by his subjects as we were led to believe.’
I opened my mouth to argue, but then snapped it shut. Parisar was right. I hadn’t noticed when I was in the castle, but once we were escaping and I was no longer under Elil’s spell, I got an entirely different view. The people were hurting. The country was suffering.
I took a breath. ‘Okay. What do you think we should do, then?’