Descent (20 page)

Fern rounded the corner at a breakneck pace, having just returned from the watch-tower and heard the news. Gods, could that woman never stay out of trouble?

He skidded to a halt upon nearing Jane’s door, for there was a boy standing in front of it. He was of medium height, with dark hair and nothing particularly distinctive about him. That was, until he turned his gaze. Fern’s curiosity flared as the boy’s darkness unfurled before him, like a chasm dropping away into nothingness.

‘Greetings,’ the boy said softly. ‘Would I be correct in assuming you are the famous dead prince?’

Fern’s eyebrows rose. ‘You would be. Forgive me—I know not your name.’

The boy smiled crookedly. ‘I’d be very surprised if you did, since the last time you were alive I was only seven years old and we did not once meet. Prince Altor, at your service.’

Fern stared at the boy, the truth dawning on him. He couldn’t help but grin. ‘Death has certainly brought me into a life full of surprises.’

There was ice in the boy’s eyes. ‘Indeed. I’ve heard many stories about your deeds, highness, and not all of them good,’ Altor said, and Fern stared at him, surprised.

‘Well, I’m glad to see I’ve left behind something worth remembering,’ he said lightly.

Altor did not laugh. ‘I never thought, in this lifetime, to be faced with a miracle. But then, I suppose I have only to look at myself to see the unnatural.’ His frown suddenly deepened. ‘However I may have to reconsider my assumption that rebirth is a miracle in your case, prince, if you’re referring to your treatment of a particular woman as ‘worth remembering’.’

The sting in the words was far from subtle. Suddenly Fern was angry. Who was this boy to be talking to him in such a way?

‘Save your words for those who need them, boy.’ Fern’s tone was flat. There was no change in Altor’s expression. If Fern hadn’t been so travel weary, he might have admired the boy’s courage.

‘Step aside,’ Fern said.

‘She doesn’t want to see you,’ Altor replied firmly.

Fern frowned. ‘What gives you the right to decide as much?’

‘She told me herself,’ he said simply.

‘Look,’ the Elf snapped. ‘I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but I need to get in there and see her.’

‘It’s no longer your place to do so, highness.’

Fern could not believe what he was hearing. The presumption of it! This boy was actually trying to bar him passage into a room in his own palace!

‘You’re brave, boy,’ Fern said finally. ‘But you are out of your depth. Even had these walls not belonged to me, even had I no care for the woman in that room, I would still have the right to command you out of the way.’

‘And what gives you that right?’ Altor asked softly. There was something in his gaze, something that looked almost like ... admiration? But how could that exist alongside the disdain the boy seemed to have for him?

‘I have battled with a god for some years now,’ Fern said quietly. ‘I have powers in me that are not wholly human.’ He let his eyes blaze with fire, feeling the sharp pain as the flames licked at his sockets. Altor drew a breath, but Fern was surprised to still see no trace of fear in the young boy.

‘I know who you are,’ Altor said. ‘I know what’s happened to you. I can only imagine what you are capable of. You have my endless loyalty and admiration for what you have done. But here, within these realms, you have no more power than any of us.’ He shrugged and spread his hands wide. ‘She doesn’t want to see you, Fern, and I promised her. It’s that simple.’

They stared at each other. But what would have happened next neither of them would ever know, because the door opened and Jane’s head popped out into the hallway.

‘I can hear you arguing about how good you both are from inside,’ she said. ‘And it’s not worth so much stress. Come in if you have to, Fern. Altor, I appreciate your help, but I think you’re fighting a losing battle.’

Altor looked between the two of them, then he shrugged and walked away, whistling as he wandered down the hall.

‘He’s a piece of work, isn’t he?’ Jane said, grinning, as she sat down next to the window. Fern was about to reply when suddenly he looked at her, silhouetted in the setting sun, the ice sparkling around, and the words died in his mouth. Suddenly, it was hard to breathe.

‘What’s so urgent, Fern? Why are you here?’

‘Because you are,’ he replied simply, pulling a chair so that he could also sit next to the wide window. ‘I heard you were hurt and needed to check—’

‘It’s not your place anymore, Fern,’ she said mildly. ‘I’m fine. You have someone else to worry about now.’

‘I don’t want you to feel like you’re alone.’ Suddenly it seemed like the most important thing in the world for him to tell her he loved her. It should have been the first thing on his lips, every time he saw her.

‘I’m not alone,’ she exclaimed. ‘I have my friends. I did exist before I met you, Fern.’ There was something hard in her voice. She didn’t look at him.

He leant forward, wanting to reach out to her, to bring her back to him in some way. He hated the distance between them—it felt unnatural. ‘No matter what I do I’m going to hurt two women I care about,’ he said.

In an instant her eyes darkened. She tried to cover the jealousy but he saw it clearly before she turned back to the window.

‘That’s not what I meant. You know there is no comparison between how I feel for her and how I feel for you.’

She shrugged. ‘I also know there’s no comparison between having a fling and marrying someone.’

‘You think you and I were just a—fling?’

She glared at him. ‘I’m sorry—have you forgotten what you said to me on the boat? That you didn’t love me, and that you just wanted to have some fun? Or is there no sincerity in a single word you say?’

He shook his head angrily. ‘We already talked about this! I had to say the only thing I could think of that would make you not want to be with me.’

‘I can’t believe you would be so arrogant as to think it was your choice whether or not I loved you! I have a mind of my own, Fern. I don’t need you looking after me all the time!’

‘Fine!’ he snarled. ‘I won’t bother anymore!’ He stood up and started to pace the room. Suddenly he stopped and spread his hands wide. ‘You were gone!’ he said desperately. ‘She waited for me for years!’

‘So did I!’ Jane yelled. Quickly she stopped, shaking her head.

He wanted her to rage at him, wanted her to hurt him back. Instead all he got was remoteness.

Just when he was about to give up, her soft words swept through the air, freezing him in place.

‘From the moment you and I met on the cliff, even though I didn’t let myself acknowledge it for a long time, I was secretly imagining something. And deep down, I believed that somehow, some way, it would happen.’ Jane turned to meet his eyes. ‘I saw us together forever. I saw the two of us sharing everything, moving through everything that life could throw at us. Stupid, I know. But you’ve always tried to separate us. You’ve always thought that we’d be better off alone.’

Her words cut into him, searing hot. Like shame.

‘Even through all of that,’ she went on, ‘I still thought that one day we’d make it right. One day you’d realise and we’d be fine, the two of us.’ Jane paused. ‘Don’t you see? You having a wife means we can never be together. I don’t know what that means to you—maybe you’re fine with it. But for me ... well, I’m not just losing a person, Fern. I’m losing a whole life.’

His hands were shaking. Anything he could say to stop this mess was not allowed. All the words that were desperate to pour from his mouth were forbidden.

‘But,’ she said, her tone changing, a false smile at her lips, ‘I’m being stupid. You and I were never even a real couple. You always had a fiancé. I should have respected that, and I guess this is just fate’s way of punishing me.’ She shrugged carelessly. ‘We can be friends. It’s not the end of the world. People break up all the time. Right?’

He stared at her, not knowing what to say.

Jane turned back to the window and the darkened sky again.

Fern’s shoulders slumped as he realised that not everything can end the way it should. Sometimes there was just no way to make things right. Sometimes it can just be ... the end.

Fern drew himself up once more. ‘If you will allow it, Jane, I would say one more thing.’ Still she didn’t look at him. ‘Without sarcasm, or insincerity, without jest or agenda, I would tell you that I am ... sorry.’

He thought he saw something cross her face then, but it was gone in an instant, and she was smiling gently again. ‘Thank you,’ she murmured. ‘But it’s unnecessary. I hope you two are really happy together—she’ll be a good queen for you.’

Fern frowned, stunned by what she seemed to think—that he could be happy with another woman. Didn’t she understand anything? Didn’t she know that he was barely a real person without her, and that loving someone else was a complete impossibility? It wasn’t in him to explain it to her just then. So he left.

Jane sat next to that window a long time. Long after he left, and long into the night, thinking about Paragor as a land of words, so often beautifully used. They were skilled, these people, in using language to make you feel exactly how you did not want to feel.

Fern lay in the bed of ice that would have frozen any other. He shivered though, and she knew that this was the human side of him. She placed a blanket over him and he smiled faintly.

‘I only feel the cold sometimes,’ he explained softly and she nodded. She knew it only happened sometimes. When he was grieving the most.

Princess Athena of the Elves was well aware that her husband’s heart did not belong to her. She didn’t have a clue who he had given it to, but it was a pain she could
hardly bear. She was of the ancients, though, a race of people so proud that the thought of telling him how she felt did not even cross her mind.

She was much older than him, and she felt it in that moment.

‘Will you age like I do?’ she asked, standing next to the bed.

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I could not have done this to you otherwise.’

‘Done what?’

‘Married you.’

Athena struggled to keep her face passive. ‘You say it like it would have been a punishment. But I would have chosen human life, if it meant I could be with you.’

Fern sat up and put a hand on hers. ‘I feel as though something is waiting to happen. I fear ... so much.’

She thought about this. ‘The Elves were not so much part of the war all those years ago. Perhaps we will be not be a part of whatever you think is coming.’

‘Perhaps. It broke my heart to see mortal men dying in the battle, but it is a thing not meant to be that the ageless children are slaughtered. The sight of them being herded to their death...’ he shuddered, and Athena did not want to move, lest she break the spell. He had never spoken to her of the battle, and his death.

‘I just ... I
needed
it to end, so I charged in there and did something utterly foolish.’

‘Foolish?’ Athena repeated. ‘Your bravery was a far cry from foolish, Fern!’

Fern shook his head stubbornly, his eyes distant and haunted. ‘It wasn’t bravery. It was just the opposite.’

Then he kissed her lightly and rolled into sleep, leaving her to lie awake a long time and wonder what he’d meant. And she knew, somehow, that he wasn’t even really in the room with her.

‘But where will our food come from, if we cannot trade? And what on earth
could
we trade?’ Mia asked, a deep crease in her forehead. ‘Sand?’

‘We used to grow our own crops, and import only the grain. We will see if we can work out a deal with the Emperor.’

‘But how can you grow crops in the desert?’

‘We have always lived here. There are ways. There is water everywhere, even here. You just have to be able to find it. There are those among us skilled in doing so, and I will send for them to begin their work. In the meantime, I have summoned the Emperor to discuss a treaty, and sufficient supplies for the winter.’

Mia had forgotten, again, that it was winter. Here in Tirana, it was hotter than any weather she had ever felt on Earth. It had been only a day since she arrived, and she was already being thrust into the semantics of ruling. ‘What can we offer him?’ she asked.

Tye smiled. ‘You have trained a very good army, my lady. One of the best. We will offer him use of it, whenever he needs.’

‘Good. Then the most urgent problem is sorted?’

‘It should be, highness. If Liam agrees.’

‘Is there anything else?’

‘There is always something else, majesty, but for today you have done enough.’

‘I haven’t done anything except discuss things and order people around,’ she exclaimed. Surprisingly, she had found issuing orders and commands a lot easier than they should be.

‘That is what you are here for, highness,’ he said, shrugging.

‘Could you please stop calling me that? It’s just Mia.’

Tye looked at her, and she fidgeted uncomfortably. ‘You must understand, to me—to all of us—your name is Nayana. Calling you something else is strange. It feels like a betrayal of sorts. And it reminds me that things have changed. That some things are gone.’

Just then Liam entered and bowed his head. Strange, that she was suddenly on the same level as him. ‘Hi,’ she called out across the room. Every room, she had discovered, was huge in this palace. It still hadn’t sunk in that it was
hers.

The Emperor smiled and came over to join them at the table. Tye immediately stood, walked a few steps away and folded his arms, a distant look on his face—the pose of a servant.

‘Tye! Sit down, you loser. I need you here,’ she said firmly. The dark man’s eyebrows rose. He hesitated but did not argue, sitting down as he had been told.

‘Well you certainly seemed to have found a place.’ Liam grinned and she couldn’t help but return the smile.

‘Crazy, huh?’

Liam shrugged. ‘Sharif saw something in you. He would never have given us the clues if he didn’t know you were important to this place.’

Mia beamed. ‘Now, down to business. I have invited you here, Emperor Liam, to ask you something.’ The words were as Tye had instructed. ‘We would like to make
a treaty with you and your people. The Kabduh have always been friends to the people of Samaraq, and we want this to continue. I need food supplies from the other countries, and I need you to bring them to me until I can arrange for a truce or treaty or something to be drawn up between Samaraq and the High Country. In return I will let you have full use of my army, any time you need it, plus a monthly tithe.’

Liam’s eyes narrowed. ‘Your army is still trained? After all this time?’

‘Samaraq was lost outside time. Nothing has changed. My army is as good as it has always been. They are hard, well-trained men and women, and they are at your service, if you want them,’ Mia said simply.

‘How do
you
know this?’ Liam asked, and Mia flushed.

‘I just do,’ she said firmly. ‘Whether I remember or not.’

The Emperor shrugged. They discussed further terms and conditions at length, which was far more complicated than Mia had expected. Eventually Liam smiled. ‘I accept your treaty. Where do I sign?’

Tye handed him a scroll of parchment and a pot of ink. And that was that, Mia thought, immensely proud of herself. She had just negotiated her first treaty.

Liam excused himself and promised to join them for the banquet before he departed.

‘What banquet?’ Mia hissed after he had gone.

‘The banquet being organised in your honour. This is a time for rejoicing, my lady—we are free!’ Tye said with such happiness that Mia laughed.

‘You know, maybe the fact that I was born on Earth is why I don’t remember?’

‘Possibly. It is a strange thing to have happened. I wonder why the goddess made it this way.’

She frowned. ‘You think this has to do with the gods?’

‘What else would it have to do with?’

Mia shrugged lightly. ‘I don’t know much about religion, but I know that I don’t believe in gods.’

‘And yet you tell me your friends battled with them only two years ago.’

‘I didn’t explain very well,’ she murmured, trying to order her thoughts. All the stories, everything that Harry had told her about that war ... Mia shook her head. ‘I mean that I don’t believe in the
power
of the gods,’ she said flatly. ‘It might have been different once upon a time, but right now it sounds to me like they care too much about alliances within themselves and power games than about anything to do with mortals.’

Tye cocked his head. Then he smiled.

‘What?’ she asked, feeling abashed.

He shook his head quickly. ‘Nothing, forgive me. I was only thinking that in some lights of the sun, you seem a great deal like a woman I used to know.’

Which, strangely, thrilled her no end.

‘Mia, you may be right about the gods,’ he said pointedly. ‘But you must not have that attitude towards religion in general. All belief is sacred. If only for that hope it brings people, it must be honoured. Our own, here in Samaraq deserves a little more respect. Wait until you have learnt a little about our own goddess before you decide you don’t believe in her.’

She blinked. At first there was an apology on her lips, but she held it back for some reason she was not entirely sure of. Instead she looked at her hands. ‘You’re right,’ she said firmly. ‘Of course I’ll try.’

Tye grinned and nodded. ‘Good. I can help you by showing you a few things.’

‘What things?’

‘Traditions that Samaraq regard very highly, and may help to convince you of the power of faith.’

Suddenly Mia felt uncomfortable. Why did she always feel uneasy around the important stuff? She knew it was stupid, but every time she was faced with something that carried any kind of weight, a conversation that held the slightest meaning, she wanted to crawl into a hole.

Like religion, and trade agreements, and armies and economics. How could she possibly be equipped to make informed decisions that would affect an entire race of people? Luca and Anna were the ones who knew about this stuff. They watched the news, had discussions with their parents, and actually listened in school! All Mia had ever been interested in was parties and her boyfriend.

If only she was older she might know a bit more about the way the world worked. As it was, she was going to have to rely on this man.

‘How was it that I saw you in the pool?’ she asked quickly, changing the subject.

‘I’ve been waiting for you. Tye shrugged. ‘Now I think it’s time you started getting ready for the celebrations tonight. I have sent ladies to your rooms to help you.’

‘Oh, thanks, but I have some ladies who came here with me. Send for them instead.’ She’d been far too tired the night before to even remember Claudia and Gwen, but she was sure they had been taken care of in the palace.

‘As you wish,’ he replied and smiled, leading her back to her gigantic chamber. At the door he said, ‘I have had some food laid out for you in your room—you must be starving.’

‘Thanks—I am, actually.’ Something occurred to her. ‘Tye, there’s no meat, is there?’

‘Yes, why?’

‘I don’t eat meat.’

He looked at her, frowning. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I ... I don’t eat it because I don’t like the thought of animals being slaughtered.’
Stop feeling embarrassed,
she told herself.
It’s perfectly normal not to eat meat.

Tye was staring at her. He opened his mouth, then thought better of it and shrugged. ‘As you wish,’ he said again.

She entered her room and was amazed again at what she saw. Like the rest of the palace, her room was marble, but black marble rather than white. The sun shone through a huge window on the south wall, creating dazzling patterns of light on the walls. A balcony overlooked the city, and beyond that, the desert for miles. There were marble pillars, and green plants, and she could not even guess where these might have come from. Wall hangings adorned her walls, and her large bed was canopied with cloth on all sides. There was even a fountain, trickling cool, calming water.

Claudia screamed in excitement when she saw Mia, and ran over to hug her.

‘Are you well?’ Gwen asked worriedly, following Claudia into the room.

‘Yes, yes I’m fine. A little shocked,’ Mia laughed.

‘Imagine that! You are the queen of the lost city! Why did you not tell us?’ Claudia asked.

‘I didn’t know! I still don’t remember! I’m only going on Tye’s word and some painting of me!’ Mia exclaimed.

‘Is that wise?’ Gwen asked sharply.

‘I trust him ... strangely.’ Mia shrugged.

‘I thought he must have been the king!’ Claudia sighed. ‘I thought you two might have been...’

Mia blushed. ‘So did I at first,’ she admitted. ‘Thank god it’s not the case though—I have enough to worry about beyond forgotten love affairs.’

‘We’ll have to find you a handsome nobleman, or prince. Perhaps one of the Kabduh!’ Claudia offered.

‘Claud, I don’t need to go and pair myself off just because I have a high-powered job.’

‘If anyone could be the lost queen of an ancient city, Mia, then it is you, without a doubt,’ Gwen murmured.

‘It’s because I’m bossy, isn’t it?’ Mia said seriously. Her two friends looked at her then burst out laughing.

When they’d calmed down, Mia rubbed her eyes tiredly. ‘I’m going to have to work so hard to keep this place afloat. To keep
myself
afloat,’ she said faintly. ‘I don’t know what I’m doing!’

‘I’m sure it will all sort itself out, my lady,’ Claudia said. ‘You should just concentrate on getting your memory back.’

‘Thanks, Claud,’ Mia smiled gratefully.

‘What on earth should you wear?’ Gwen asked practically. ‘We have no idea of the fashions here!’

‘I think we should put you in white—it seems to be the colour here, and it will set off your hair—’ Claudia began, but Mia interrupted her.

‘No, I don’t want to wear white. Everybody wears white here. Black. Find something black,’ Mia ordered. The chests were full of white, but when they looked underneath, there was a whole drawer of brightly coloured sashes and drapes.

The ladies helped Mia to wrap a black cloth around her. She had it done so that there was no skin showing.

‘But you will look out of place if you are too conservative,’ Claudia protested.

‘I don’t care. I’m the queen, I can look any way I want, and the last thing I want is for ... the men here to find me attractive,’ Mia said uneasily. ‘It’s difficult enough to get respect without looking like a hussy.’

‘A what?’

‘Never mind.’

Her eyes were painted in bright red, as were her lips, to match her hair. She had sparkling diamond jewellery at her ears, neck and wrists, and when she appeared in the dining hall and stood on the dais, there was a silence from her guests that she did not quite understand.

Mia knew she was not exactly pretty—not like Jane. Her features were too blunt for classic beauty, but that night, as she stood in front of her people, she appeared one of the most startling women anyone had ever seen.

The crowd sank low in a bow to their returned queen. Mia sat down on her tall throne and they resumed their standing positions. A long carpet ran down the middle of the room, and people gathered on either side. Tye stood in the shadows behind the throne, dressed as he always was, staring straight ahead, his face expressionless, his stance relaxed and alert.

Mia’s throat felt dry, and her jaw seemed to have seized up. What everyone perceived as strength in her stature was actually a kind of rigor mortis born of terror—she could barely move she was so nervous. ‘Good evening,’ she managed to rasp. Somehow she knew she had to hold it together, realising that if there was ever a moment in her life in which she had to step up and take control, then it was now.

‘I am ...
so
happy to be here,’ Mia said, her voice soft and barely audible. Looking out over all the beaming faces she realised it was true.

It had seemed to her that she should tell them the truth, be completely honest about what had happened to her. But looking at the joy and hope in their eyes as they stared at her, Mia realised something. Being a leader must be like being a mother. You protected your children, even if it meant keeping the whole truth from them. What was best for Samaraq, right now, was for its
people to feel safe and familiar, steady and constant. For them to feel like they had someone they could rely on.

‘A terrible thing has happened,’ Mia began clearly. ‘A horrendous act of injustice and cruelty.’ She gazed around at the crowd. ‘But we will not allow it to change us.’ Her voice held a new strength now. ‘Everything will be as it was. We will
not
be cowed into changing who we are or what we believe in. We are stronger than that.’

An eruption of cheers filled the hall and Mia felt a thrill of triumph. Quickly she motion for Tye to come forward. ‘Yes, highness?’ he asked in a whisper.

‘What should I do now?’ she hissed into his ear and he smiled.

‘Ask the herald to call them forward one at a time so that you may greet them personally.’

‘I don’t know who they are!’ she muttered, but turning back to her people she said, ‘I want you to come forward, each in turn, to speak your name and profession so that the gods might know that we are back, and we are here to stay.’

The herald began calling out names. Couples or single people would walk down the long carpet and bow low to the ground before her, then introduce themselves and what they did in the city, their voices ringing through the hall with pride.