Isle of Wysteria: The Reluctant Queen (41 page)

Mina looked at him in shock, her mouth open.

“What’s wrong, woman?” Evere yelled, “have you gone deaf?!”

Mina blinked. “N-no, you just...seem so manly right now.” Mina’s lavender eyes filled with admiration. “I like it.”

Slowly, a playful smile crept across Mina’s lips. “Okay, you're the Alpha, so I'll follow your order and give my opinion.”

Everyone breathed a sign of relief.

Mina sat down. “My guess is that the times and locations of the ruper spice pickups are going to be very closely guarded information, probably only known to the top people in any Guild.”

Mina turned her head towards Privet and grinned. “And it just so happens that we have a former Guild Master in our brig who owes one of us a debt of honor.”

Privet opened his eyes. “What? Me?”

* * *

Privet opened the heavy door to the brig and walked in holding a couple of plates. He found Setsuna reclined up against the wall of her cell, painting her toenails green to match her hair. Her broken arm was in a cast and sling, her broken ribs bandaged up.

“I heard you broke Griffin’s nose,” Privet mentioned.

“Your ship’s doctor was very...grabby.”

“Oh yeah? You'll want one of these,” Privet mentioned, tossing her a badge through the bars.

“If injured, do not send to Dr. Griffin,” Setsuna read aloud.

Privet could not help but look over her fit, athletic body. “Where did you get that paint?”

“It’s nail polish, dummy,” Sestuna taunted. “And it got it from your Captain’s quarters.”

“Right,” Privet said dubiously. “Look, I brought you some dinner...”

Suddenly, she appeared right next to him. She snatched the tray out of his hands, then appeared back in her cell.

It all happened so fast he barely had time to blink. “Okay, well it’s obvious you can leave at any time, so why are you still here?”

Setsuna batted her long eyelashes innocently and chewed on her green painted lips as if she were an adorable little girl. “I’m still here because you said I was a beautiful woman.”

Privet raised an eyebrow suspiciously. “Uh, huh. Anyway, I had Alder make you a bunch of different things. We're not sure what you Senndaisians eat.”

“Oh, you know, the usual,” Setsuna explained as she painted her nails. “Flies, stinkbugs, that sort of thing.”

Privet twisted his lips. “Really?”

“Oh yeah,” she teased, popping a strawberry in her mouth. “Can’t get enough of the stuff.”

“Right,” Privet said.

“If we fought again, I’d kill you,” Setsuna said as she chewed, suddenly deadly serious.

Privet stood motionless for a moment, as if waiting to sense her intentions. “I know,” he admitted.

Setsuna turned her head, her large green pigtails flopping about. “You do?”

“Oh yeah,” Privet said, pulling up a chair. “The only reason I beat you was because you were sloppy and angry. Had you been focused, had you not allowed me to goad you into getting so upset, I wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

Setsuna looked him over carefully, her long, pointed ears twitching. “You know, you're not what I expected.”

“I get that a lot,” Privet admitted, tapping his hands together.

“You're the first foreigner to win a duel against a Gatemaster in centuries. I would have thought you'd be all cocky about it.”

“Am I really?”

“Yes!” she emphasized, sitting forward. Her body flinched from a sharp pain in her side and she carefully lay back down.

“You should be careful, your wounds will reopen,” Privet cautioned.

Setsuna nodded closed her eyes from the pain. Her breathing was sharp for a few moments, then she was able to open her eyes again as the sting faded.

“I like that you’re not prideful about it,” she admitted as she picked up an apple. “So you have my permission. You can fall in love with me if you want.”

Privet threw his head back and laughed.

“I’m serious,” Setsuna maintained as she took a bite. “A guy who can beat a Gatemaster doesn’t come along every dynasty. Not even a sloppy, angry Gatemaster. And it doesn’t hurt that you’re built like a freaking statue of Cinuous.”

“Who’s he?”

“The god of bodybuilding.”

Privet laughed again. “Well, thank you for the compliment, but what I really need is some information.”

“Oh yeah?” Setsuna asked, looking at him lengthwise with her beautiful, almond-shaped eyes.

“Yeah, the others sent me down here and told me to find out from you when and where the spice gets picked up.”

“Really? That’s quite a big secret. What are you going to do to make me talk?” Setsuna flirted. “You gonna tie me up and spank me?”

“Not my style,” Privet said, shaking his head.

“That’s a shame.” Setsuna studied him for a moment, then popped a cherry into her mouth. “Sure, I'll tell you.”

Privet nearly fell out of his chair. “Just like that?”

She shrugged. “Just like that.”

Privet scratched his neck. “Why?”

“Because you didn’t try to threaten me or trick me, and I find that refreshing,” she said with a wink. “All Guilds pickup their ruper spice from the same place. The Dragon Isles.”

“No one goes out to the Dragon Isles.”

“That’s what makes it such a good spot. Now, I don’t know about the other’s timetables, but the Egress Guild always picked up a huge shipment on the first day of every third month. Bring me a chart, I'll show you where.”

“That doesn’t give us much time,” Privet surmised, doing the math in his head. He stood up and pumped his fist into his palm. “Well...thank you, I guess. That was a lot easier than I thought it would be.”

“Was it?” she asked, playfully kicking her toes to dry them.

“Yeah, somehow I figured I’d have to trade in the honor debt you owe me or something.”

Setsuna’s sculpted eyebrows went up. “Trade it in? I’m not sure you Wysterians have the same concept of honor that my people have.”

“Maybe it doesn’t translate well into common.”

“Seems like it,” Setsuna admitted, taking another bite. “You don’t seem to understand that I was impelled to answer your question.”

Privet slanted his eyes in confusion. “Really?”

Setsuna nodded. “Mmm, a wife has to do what her husband says, after all.”

Privet froze. “Wife?”

Setsuna laughed. “Of course, silly. You won my honor, you forced me to yield. That means you won the privilege of being my husband.”

“I WHAT?!”

* * *

Over on the other side of the ship, Alder walked into his shared quarters carrying a hairbrush and ribbon.

“I swear, if you are here to ask me to braid my hair again I'll have you keel-hauled,” Athel warned from where she lay on their bed, reading.

“Pardon?” Alder looked down into his hands. “Oh, no, I was just finishing Miss Bubbles’ coiffure.”

Alder set down the hairbrush and ribbon and sat down at the edge of the bed and looked at her reprovingly.

“I know Deutzia needs to be planted soon,” Athel admitted, without looking up.

Alder looked at her patiently.

“I know I’m being selfish and irresponsible,” Athel conceded.

Alder looked at her tenderly.

“I know the safety of Deustzia and our daughter is a serious issue, and not something to trifle with,” Athel acquiesced.

Alder looked at her lovingly.

Athel threw down her book. “Yes, I know that I am not fulfilling my duties as a Matron. Look, if it helps calm your nerves, Wysteria is our final destination, okay? We just have to make a couple of stops along the way.”

“I’m glad you understand those things,” Alder said tenderly. “In fact, I am proud to see how much you have grown. The ability to step outside yourself and recognize your own emotions objectively is an essential skill for any Queen.”

“That is not a compliment.”

“But even though you understand these things, you are still not doing them, and I do not understand why.”

Athel sat up and brushed some of her frizzy red hair away from her face. “Fine, I'll tell you. Do you know what is the cruelest thing that can happen among royals?” she asked, rather cryptically.

“I do not.”

“When the throne is passed to the second child,” Athel explained. “You see, I wasn’t supposed to be the heir, Solanum was, so I was raised as a normal child for a while. Then, when the crown passed to me, I could still remember what it was like to be a real person. Now, a firstborn groomed from day one doesn’t really know any different, so it feels more normal to them, but I knew what it was like to actually live before the instructors took me.”

Alder listened hanging on her every word. His eyes offered sympathy, not solutions. Athel found it completely disarming, and she began admitting things she had never said to anyone.

“Even though I abdicated the throne, I am still the heir to the forest of Wysteria,” Athel said quietly. “That will never change.”

“What do you mean?”

“The forest must have a Queen or it will slowly die. She is the lynchpin that makes the song of the forest possible.”

“Lynchpin?”

Athel waved her hand around. “Anchor...foundation...key element...however you want to say it. The Queen harmonizes the hearts of the people and the trees, like a symphony conductor. It’s kind of hard to explain with words, I could show you easily enough if you could link with the trees, but you can’t.”

“My apologies.”

Athel picked at her fingernails. “It’s not something just anyone can do. It takes years of preparation, the right bloodlines, the body has to be altered, and a dozen other things. When my mother is no longer able to maintain the harmony, I will have to take her place. When that happens, I will become the Queen, and cease to be Athel.”

Athel looked up, her eyes defiant. “So yes, I am going to resist that day. I am going to fight it, dodge it, evade it prolong it, anything I can do to avoid it!” Athel dropped her hands to her side. “What else can I do?”

Alder leaned forward and embraced his wife compassionately. “My Lady, before I met you, I had heard many rumors about you amongst the Bursage family. I would not be exaggerating to say you had something of a reputation. Do you know what was said?”

“I really don’t think I want to know,” Athel chuckled.

Alder placed his hand over his heart. “It’s not as bad as you might think. You were rumored to be stubborn and obstinate.”

Athel slammed her palm on the bed. “And how is that not as bad as you might think?”

“Because it is a correct observation...”

“Are you trying to pick a fight with me?”

“Allow me to finish. It is a correct observation, but unfairly labeled. You have a strong heart, stronger than you even know, and the resolve to stand your ground, even if you have to do it alone. It is one of the qualities that most attracted me to you.”

Athel scratched her pointed ear. “All this time I thought it was the red hair.”

“I am immensely fond of red hair,” Alder admitted with a grin. “Even when it is frizzy.”

“Hey, you try having long hair while the wind is blowing it around all day on the deck of an airship and see what happens,” Athel defended.

“Well, it would be protected from the elements if we braided it,” Alder pointed out.

The mirth drained from Athel’s face and she looked at him coldly.

“That was a joke,” Alder explained.

“Uh huh.”

Alder scooted in close to her and took her hands in his. “What I am saying, is that your strong heart can at times make you defiant, or make you stubborn, but I am willing to wager that it is also a key ingredient, even an essential ingredient, to what makes you uniquely qualified to be Queen of the forest. Athel, there is so much about you which is admirable; when others see your strength they will follow you anywhere.”

Athel looked at him. “Would they still feel that way if they saw me give up the fight and pitifully surrender to my fate?”

“I am not asking you to give up your strength. I am trying to expand your vision of how strength is used.”

“And how is that?”

“I can think of nothing more difficult than to give up the thing you want most in life, and instead do what is right. To set aside your own dreams and do what is necessary. It requires immense strength of heart, and there are few who can do it. But the fate of the world is shaped by those who have the strength to do it. You have that strength.”

She placed her head on his chest. “The strength to sacrifice my own heart? Who would want that?”

Mandi leaned back in the leather- bound wooden chair, letting off a long, satisfied sigh. “That was the best shower I've had in a long time,” she expressed, adjusting the towel wrapped around her head.

“You were in there forever,” Molly said as she sat happily on the floor next to the chair, coloring.

“Well, I had to get the glitter out of my hair,” Mandi explained.

“You were a good unicorn,” Molly giggled.

“Well, of course,” Mandi boasted as she unwrapped her blonde hair and began drying it. “I am your ‘magic kitty’ after all.”

Molly picked up her picture and held it up to compare it to Mandi. Molly’s face dropped to a frown. “I can’t draw you now, I don’t have any more yellow, can you make your hair pink?”

“Seriously?” Mandi scoffed.

Molly nodded happily.

Mandi sighed. In a heartbeat her blonde hair dissolved into ash and a fresh head of bright neon pink hair sprouted from her scalp and grew down to her shoulders.

“Thank you,” Molly said as she put down the paper and continued to draw.

Mandi sat back and twirled her pink hair with her fingers. “I feel like some strawberry shortcake, do you want some strawberry shortcake?”

“I don’t know what that is,” Molly said.

Mandi chuckled and leaned her head back. “I remember the best strawberry shortcake I ever had. It was at this little villa I found out in Chidd. They have the best shortcake there. I mean, strawberry shortcake is good pretty much anywhere you go...except for Ronesia, theirs is terrible. They put a layer of bean paste in it. I mean, yuck, right? Why would you do that? Anyway, the villa on Chidd is just incredible. I don’t know what they do differently, but it is just amazing.”