House of Winter

Chapter 4, Part 2

L U M I

Empress Kiyo didn't look up. "Prince Taikku, please continue with your statement."

Tai could barely contain the grin on his face, but he managed to arrange his expression into something resembling sombre pity. "I'm sorry, Lumi. I know it must be hard for you, being back here, when you were so in love with Prince Raphael."

"I wasn't-"

"Lumi was like a little lovesick puppy," Tai said with a smile. "It was very sweet to see. But of course when tragedy struck... I'm afraid she hasn't been the same since. On the ship on the way back to Singtsu she spent the whole time pacing. At night I heard her calling out Raphael's name..."

"Tai!" Lumi snapped.

Tai sighed. "It's devastating. But I'm sure in a few years she'll be of a healthy mind again. She needs rest."

"Please, Prince Taikku, continue."

"The Lombardian prince, Raphael, was killed by the Vastien girl, as I said. It was clearly a targeted attack led by the Vastien rebel leader, Pythos Savvas."

"The kinncharger?" a Sredsibirsk councillor asked. "Why is the kinncharger leading an attack?"

"Clearly he has decided that kinncharging is not dangerous enough for him," a Lioahuan councillor said snidely. "He thinks politics can be won like a charging match."

Lumi bit her lip, and looked at her grandmother. "Grandmama," she said quietly. "Please, listen to me. I don't think Pythos Savvas ever meant to start a war. Ariane Domez certainly didn't mean to hurt Raphael. King Matthias Stone has declared war against Vastier for no reason. But we need to help stop the war, before people are hurt."

For the first time, Empress Kiyo looked up and into Lumi's eyes.

"The girl is troubled," the Empress said. "She has had a long journey and she has lost her betrothed and her kinntiger. She needs rest. Take her to her room."

"No!" Lumi shouted. "I should be allowed to testify! Tai is lying! It was Tai's plot to start the war!"

There were murmurs around the council, but no one stepped up to help Lumi as two amy officers stepped forward. She screamed out as they grabbed at her arms.

"Don't touch me!" she yelled, but they pulled her away from the table.

"Grandmama!" Lumi screamed. "Don't listen to Tai! Don't believe him! He's just like his father!"

The door slammed behind her and the guards continued to direct her forcefully down the corridor.

Lumi struggled but could not free herself. She saw Auntie V standing with her white tiger just outside the door.

"Auntie!" Lumi cried. "Auntie, please!"

"Don't touch her like that," Auntie V said sharply. "Stand down."

The two army officers instantly let go of Lumi.

She clutched her hands around herself, disturbed at the way the two of them had held tightly onto her arms.

"My love," Auntie V said. "Let's go to your chamber. You can have a hot bath and I'll brush your hair like I used to do. We'll order sweet pastries and you can finally sleep. I know you didn't sleep well on the ship, but you'll sleep better in your own bed. In the morning, I promise, everything will look a little better."

"I don't need you to treat me like a child, Auntie V. I need you to treat me with respect," Lumi said. "I am not the little girl who left this palace. Lombardia made me stronger. And I won't stay quiet and let Tai speak over me. I need to go back and have my voice heard by the council."

"The Empress has expelled you from the council room, my love," Auntie V said. "You can't go back. Why don't you get some sleep? In the morning I will join you at breakfast with the Empress and I'll make sure she listens to what you have to say."

Lumi knew that no one would take her seriously if she barged back into the council chambers and demanded to be heard. She needed her grandmother to listen to her, but her grandmother had always respected tradition and rules.

"Shall I stay with you and brush your hair?" Auntie V asked, as they finally reached Lumi's chamber.

Lumi shook her head. "You should be with your daughter," she said, somewhat spitefully. "I'll be fine."

Auntie V tried to hug Lumi, but Lumi pulled away.

She locked herself in her chambers, which suddenly seemed so much smaller than she remembered. She looked out the huge windows towards the statue of her father and the army training grounds. She could see the monkeys in the trees. She was home, but she didn't feel at home.

Lumi dismissed the servants and locked the doors.

It was only when she was truly alone that she stripped out of the clothes she'd been wearing on the ship.

Lumi stared at her pale body in the reflection. The sharpness of her hip bones, which jutted out like fins on a dragon. Her knees, knobbly. Her collarbones exposed as two lines under her neck. And the intricate stars blooming like flowers along her thighs and arms.

Lumi let a finger trail along the scars of her inner thighs, feeling the flesh mottled and drawn beneath her finger. Then she lit a small fire in her palm and watched it burn.

She couldn't control the people around her. She couldn't control Kiyo or Virani or Tai, but she could control herself. She needed to practise discipline. She needed to be stronger. She needed to be louder. She was frustrated that she had acted so childishly, again, and made the councillors think of her as weak and pitiful. She was a fire princess, she thought, as she burned the fire into her thigh. Fire princesses could tolerate pain. Fire princesses were strong.

She inhaled deeply, letting the pain of the burning soak into her. Her blood seemed to pump faster through her body. Her cheeks flushed and she gritted her teeth. All her life, she had felt this pain and she had endured it. She had enjoyed it, even. She was stronger than anyone knew. No one had seen just how strong she could be.

The burns would help her remember.

Tomorrow morning, she would talk to Empress Kiyo, and the fresh burn on her thigh would serve as a reminder that Lumi could be strong, could be fearless. She was unafraid of fire, and she would fight for what she believed in. She would go back to Lombardia to save Jinni, and she would stop the war. She would make King Matthias see sense, or she would at least make sure that Ari was not imprisoned for a crime she was not guilty of.

Lumi breathed out, and let the fire die.

Controlled breathing. She inhaled again. Then exhaled. She was in control. She would be in control. She would remain in control. She promised herself.

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elle xx