Fate and Destiny (The Fated Series, #2)

Chapter 90 - Branka - This Is Gonna Be Fun

"I need a nap."
"Naps are for the weak," I snap at Ascian. We stayed up all night dealing with the committee, securing the castle, and putting the crown back on his head. The committee members are currently locked up in the dungeons along with whatever wives tried rescuing them. They weren't counting on a woman with magic to be watching their every move.
The castle was an easier obstacle. That man we met in the hallway during our little coup, Raoul, was their Captain of the Guard. He and Ascian were old friends, hence his hesitation in the halls. He got the guards to stand down, along with turning off the wailing alarm.
I heavily suggested that they get that thing fixed. A.S.A.P.
The rest of the night was filled with getting the word out that Ascian had returned and reclaimed his throne. Rina helped on her way up to the castle. She sent word through anyone who had ears that would listen. Within a few hours, the city was wide awake and making its way to the gates.
Despite my anxiety about time management, I let him go and present himself to them. I thought the alarm was loud, but that crowd's cheer could be heard for miles and miles on end. Apparently, no one liked the committee.
After he waved his hand and the people set out in celebration, we went back in and started looking at their numbers.
The committee, at least, had doubled their force while Ascian was away, and their original numbers are large as is. They've been in seclusion for far longer than Thralia has, and our own population got crazy when we did cut ourselves off from the world. It's no surprise that they have so many people with nothing better to do than train for a threat that never came. Until now.
Whereas the armies everywhere else would have numbers anywhere between fifty thousand to a hundred thousand, Andraste has eighty-thousand foot-soldiers, but that's not all they have. Andraste takes pride in their bows and arrows. I've seen the damage Ascian can do with his single bow and the strength he can use to throw a man's body back some ten-plus yards. Now imagine a whole additional army that could do just that. A whole army that has accuracy beyond my own skill and eyes.
Forty-thousand. Forty-thousand men and women who can knock the heavier arrows and fire them to the edge of even my eyesight. From what I know about the kingdoms of Ker, all have similar strengths as far as navy or military, but the Andrastrian archers lined on the walls of the battlefield...it's making me giddy.
It took all night though to figure out a way to gather the massive numbers into at least reasonable sections. Since my mother and I won't be joining the fight tonight, we'll have to keep ourselves busy and mist as many as we can onto ships today. Svenja has ships scattered in the waters, so it should be easy enough to mist those closer to the continent to get filled as much as possible.
We have a full day ahead of us, and I'm excited and packed with way too much energy for someone who spent the last twenty-something hours opening a barrier that has never been opened, traveling through a whole ass city on foot, raiding a castle, and pulling an all-nighter. I'm pretty sure I'll be pulling another one tonight, but I'm not dreading it.
Yet.
I want to go home. I want to see family and tell them all about the shit I've been through. Not to mention show off the archers. I mean who wouldn't want to?
We have a few things left to take care of before I can mist us back to the ship that should be waiting on the shoreline, and I keep glancing at the sun knowing that my sisters will all have misted to Cadorelin already, the eight other kingdoms with them. They'll be wondering where the fuck am I.
If only they knew.
"You need a shower," Ascian says as we walk through the many, many halls of the palace. I haven't been paying attention to the layout of the castle, so I have no idea where we are and trust that he does.
"You really know how to make a woman feel pretty, don't you?"
"He hasn't had much experience," Rina tells me. She has yet to leave her half-brother's side, not that I'm complaining. She beats him up just as much as I do, and we've bonded rather nicely through it.
"Trust me, I know."
Her eyes go wide and her mouth drops open. "How-"
"We are not talking about this," Ascian tries ordering.
I pretend to obey, staying quiet for all of three seconds before turning back to her. "We shared a naked bed."
"We were sharing body heat, not a bed."
"Without clothes," I point out.
"They were soaked from the storm."
"He's a cuddler," I whisper to her. He makes a frustrated cry and starts walking faster, muttering those curse words again. Rina and I smile and laugh. She starts asking questions about the Blight and more details on how we met. I promised her answers, so I give as many of them as we can before Ascian finally stops walking and opens a pair of double doors.
It's a bed chamber. A rather large and fancy one.
The bed is big enough for five people, the windows flanking it as tall as five more men stacked on each other's shoulders. It's decorated in white and gold, two colors that are so beautiful but so easily ruined. I suddenly feel all of the dirt and travel-worn muck coating my body.
"The shower is that way," Ascian says, pointing to a doorway at the left of the bed.
"Shower?"
"To clean yourself."
"You mean a tub?"
"There is a...tub as well if you prefer that." I squint at him, wondering what on earth he's saying. It's a funny word, "shower." I've never heard it before, but they seem to use it a lot here. Maybe it's a sink or something else that's fancy.
"Saints, Ascian, you really are an idiot, aren't you?"
"Is that a serious question?" I ask his sister. She smiles knowingly at me before turning him around and pushing him back into the hallway.
"Leave us. I'll tend to her while you tend to your own foul stench."
"I don't smell-" she slams the door on his face before he can finish, locking the door with a click.
"We're going to be good friends, you and I," I tell her.
"Come on," she grins, walking towards the bathing room. "I'll show you where the shower is."
Curious, I follow her past the bed and nearly trip when I enter the second room.
It's just as big as the first, only the "tub" which is normally a metal bowl, is actually a small pond. It's formed entirely by crystallized rock that casts the water in a teal blue, with the sun reflecting off of its coloring from the whole wall of windows at one end of the chamber. Steam rises from its surface, warming the room but not overheating it.
The sound of rushing water draws my attention away from the pond, and I turn to find Rina twisting several nobs attached to the wall, and a fucking waterfall spouting out from the damn ceiling.
"There," she says, stepping out of the slightly lowered stone floor. "You can use any of the shampoos, conditioners, soaps, and oils on the shelves there. The towels are in that basket, and there are fresh clothes back in the closet in the bedroom. It's the other door with the gold handle."
She's saying something else, but I'm trying to figure out how those nobs made water sprinkle out of the ceiling like rain. It's literally fucking raining inside. And what's shampoo and conditioner? Soap and oils, I understand, there's just so many bottles there.
Where is the water coming from?
"You've never seen a shower, have you?" I hear awe and teasing in her voice, but I ignore it.
"What gave it away? The gaping or the part where I thought your brother was pulling my leg?"
"The gaping."
I reach towards the water, feeling it fall on my hand as rain would, only the water feels just as hot as the pond looks. "How does it work?"
I turn and twist my hand through the waterfall, not sending a lick of magic within it.
"There's a whole system of pipes that run throughout the castle, each leading to a faucet, bath, shower, or anywhere where the water is needed. The nobs control the temperature of the water. Left for cold, right for hot, and the center controlling how much water comes out of them."
"How do you get the hot water?"
"Heaters warm gallons of water at a time and pump them through the same systems, just in different pipes so it doesn't cool until they merge into one just before it reaches you."
"Pipes..."
"Tubes," she explains. "Metal ones. They're built in between the walls so you can't see them."
"Showers...pipes...I've been living under a fucking rock my whole life."
Her laugh echoes against the walls, and she walks over to the shelves with the shampoo and conditioner and other stuff and pulls a few of them. "Here, you can use these. These two on the left are for your hair. The clear one you use to scrub your scalp and the roots of your hair, and the opaque one you use for the ends of your hair. I assume you know what soap is?"
I give her a bland look, knowing full and well that she'll hold this against me like she does most things with her brother.
She smiles and heads for the bedroom. "I'll let you situate yourself then and come to grab you in an hour. Try not to slip and fall!"
The front door unlocks and closes shut, and then I'm left alone with the indoor pond and waterfall. I glance back up at the falling water again. "Why would I slip and fall?"
Two minutes later after shucking off my clothes and weapons and stepping onto the lower flooring, I get my answer.
"Son of a bitch!" My foot slipped on the slick floor and I went flailing to the ground, hitting it rather hard. Water runs over every inch of my body and blinds me as I try to stand up again. I slip a few more times before I'm able to walk out of the pouring water and wipe it out of my eyes.
I can already feel bruises blooming on my elbows and knees. I am so not telling Rohana about this part.
I walk back beneath the water, feet spread and knees bent, and I marvel at how it feels. A bath is nice and all, but this...this is heaven if I've ever seen it. It relaxes my muscles and calms my thoughts. For a long moment, I just stand there and lift my face to it, embracing the feel of it rushing over me. It feels like rain, only warm and without the foreboding feeling that something bad is about to happen. Like a hug.
It feels like a nice, warm, relaxing hug.
I don't want to, but I set about putting the things in my hair, following Rina's instructions with the first two, then scrub the filth of the Blight off of me before rinsing it all off. I have to go in one more time with everything before all of it actually comes out. Then I lay on the floor like a starfish and enjoy the shower some more.
I don't know how much time passes, but soon my energy returns thanks to the magicless miracle waterfall, and I stand. After another five minutes of twisting the three knobs furiously, I finally get the water to stop running. I hope I didn't break anything. It was beginning to frustrate me, so I just turned them all randomly until it worked.
I dry myself off and dab a little of the oil on my skin, then walk back to the bedroom and open the door with the golden handle.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me."
This isn't a closet, this is another whole ass room. Dresses line one wall, shoes another, shirts, coats, and folded pants adjacent to that, and then one just full of drawers that I obviously open and rifle through. Some have jewelry and things to decorate your whole body and hair with, others with more clothes. The largest ones at the bottom pull out to become full on seating areas.
I go through every piece of clothing, pulling out things that seem the least expensive and resemble clothes from back home the most. Which is very little.
Black leather pants, a navy silk shirt, a leather jacket, and my old boots that I took to the bathroom and scrubbed off so that they look at least semi-compatible with the rest of the outfit.
I brush my hair for about two minutes before saying 'fuck it' and dump some oil in it that smells like grapefruit. I don't know if that's what it's supposed to be used for, but it makes pulling out the tangles ten times easier. Once it's brushed I twist it into a braid down my head and over my shoulder. A few strands escaped, framing my face, but I leave them. I've never been good at braids, but it passes as stylish in the mirror.
I put all my weapons back on me, finishing just as Rina walks back in, showered and redressed herself. She has a far better fashion sense than me with her cotton turtleneck red long sleeve, brown pants, fur stuffed boots, and a thick coat on her arm. A knife hangs from a belt at her hip, along with another's handle peeking out of her boot.
I just reverted to my basic choices. Black and blue with boots.
"Where's your brother?" I ask her, picking up my bag that I earlier threw on the ground, and head for the door.
She follows, her boots clicking on the floor while mine stay silent from trained feet and worn soles. "He's finishing up with the last of the generals and will meet us in the gardens."
"Why the gardens?" I slow my pace and let her lead, now marking the passageways and faces that pass us.
"There's someone we have to speak to before we leave."
"Who?"
"Our uncle. He's the only other living family we have, so he'll be Regent while we're away."
"Can he be trusted?" I don't want to have to come all the back up here to yet again get Ascian's crown back. One time was enough, and I'll be too lazy once this war is over.
Rina answers quickly though, which means she trusts him enough. "He's old and never wanted the crown to begin with. He took more interest in the written word than the Court and it's people. He's only doing this because Ascian asked him. They're like father and son seeing as Ascian's own father would only talk to him to teach him how to one day rule a kingdom, and our uncle has no children of his own."
"And what of the committee?" We turn down a hallway and I lean over the stone ledge to look down. The garden sits at the bottom, three stories down. There's not much to it, but it's still beautiful. A few trees, benches, a pond with large, bright fish swimming beneath lily pads, and a small force of the royal guard standing behind an old man who sits on the bench.
"He looks like the wind could blow him over," I tell her.
She peeks over herself, instantly finding her uncle. "He's got some life in him."
We make it to the stairs and descend them. I suddenly take notice of the lack of guards not trailing us. "Why don't you have a guard with you?"
"I'm a bastard's daughter," she states, unbothered. "The only royal blood I have is that of which Ascian and I share through our mother, and here the Queen holds little power as is. Nothing happens if I die, and no one would bother trying to kill or kidnap me when they know no ransom would be paid."
"Surely Ascian would kill whoever harms you."
She shrugs a shoulder, taking the last step and heading towards another hall and the garden. "Maybe, but I'm not as defenseless as you may think."
"You're used to the weight of the blade at your side, there's callouses on your hands, the handle on the knife in your boot is worn from use, and your eyes haven't stopped checking every corner we walk past." She gapes at me, almost running into a column because she's not looking. "I know you're not defenseless, I was simply wondering why the women here aren't so highly held in a place that seems to treat them so equally in the city."
"I...I never really noticed it, I suppose. I mean, I have, I just-"
"It's your society," I tell her. "What it says goes, and whatever it wants, you want. It's not your fault, it's just the world. Trust me, this isn't the only kingdom that degrades women."
"And does yours?" She asks, stopping under an archway at the edge of the garden.
I look around at the green and the barren trees, remembering what Thralia looked like before I left and it was burned. "I come from a kingdom where King and Queen were one and the same. Where women fought alongside the men in our ranks and were chosen over the men to be in the royal guard. We weren't forced to stay home and care for the house and children and heed our husband's every beck and call. Sometimes it was the men who took the motherly role and the women who made the money.
"The Queen I now serve has a heart of gold and a mind of steel, and the King is just as strong and formidable as her and all the willing to let her lead us while he stands at her back. They're the ones we go to join, and they'll cut off a man's balls before letting them insult or harm another woman or man. Trust me. You're going to love them both."
"I hope so because we're giving them a whole lot of our own." We both turn to find Ascian striding down the hall, Raoul and the Royal Guard on his tail, and servants with luggage behind them. He doesn't seem to like their company, and I refrain from telling him that he can just order them away. It's fun seeing him uncomfortable.
"He's by the koi," Rina informs him, stepping onto the grass.
"Likely picking which one he'll take to his estate," he tells her.
They share a smile, and I keep my mouth shut while judging his outfit. He's not necessarily ready for a ball, but I'm assuming that outfit is being packed and readied for a later time in one of those trunks the servants have. Right now he looks like a privateer, which is odd seeing as he earlier stated that he doesn't have any interest in sailing on a ship. I told him that he wouldn't be, that it'd only be for twenty minutes max, but he still didn't warm up to the thought.
"Uncle Pierre." Ascian greets his uncle, switching to their native language. The old man has a scruffy voice that scratches as he leans on his cane to stand. The wind could definitely blow him over.
I leave the three of them to converse, walking to the water's edge to glance down at the fish he was admiring. They're freaking huge, and beautiful. They seem like peaceful beasts, easily swimming around without a care for one another. Some are orange, others white or yellow or all black. Most have a mix of them though, each patterned differently. I've never come across them before, but I can see why the old man would want to take one home.
"So you are the woman who has returned our dear Auzzie to us," the old man calls, hobbling over next to me.
I give Auzzie a look that tells him I'm going to greatly enjoy the new nickname. He doesn't look happy about it. "I am."
"I know that there are places you must be and more important matters at hand, but I have to ask. How did you do it?"
I look to Ascian again, wary of giving away a secret better kept to the two of us. I know why he asks, but there are things in that forest better kept sealed inside than let out.
Ascian nods, so I turn back to his uncle and expose my palm to the sky between us. Slowly, crystal forms in its center, shaping itself to resemble the fish in the pond and coloring itself like one. Pierre takes a shaky step towards it, the Royal Guard shifting uneasily.
"It's called void manipulation. Creating matter out of nothing, or doing the opposite and..." The crystal koi disappears from my hand before once more returning. I offer him the small figurine, and he takes it in a shaky hand. "The barrier was harder to manipulate, but I managed to hold open a tear long enough for us to get through."
"Is it still there? The tear?"
I shake my head. "No. It sealed once we were through it. As far as I can tell, the barrier is still fully intact and not happy about our escape. I don't think it'll be so easy for me to do it again."
"But you could do it again," he pushes.
"It drained her the last time she did it, Uncle," Ascian tells him. "She was unconscious for hours before she woke, and even after that she could barely walk."
"I'm not sure if it's possible," I rephrase, glaring at Ascian for making me look weak. "All I know is that the barrier has a mind of its own, and if I try again, I can't promise that it'll do what you're likely hoping I can help you with."
"Come, Uncle. We must leave for the central continent." The frail man stares at the crystal koi, turning it in his hand. The subject has clearly stirred something that the man had taken some care into trying to forget.
He pulls his mind away from his thoughts for a moment, giving me a small smile. "Thank you for returning him to us. Andraste is in your debt."
I bow my head as he takes his nephew's offered hand. They don't go far, settling on the bench and once again returning to their first language. Rina takes his place by me, watching the two men.
"His wife was thrown in the Blight, that's why he asks. It's been sixty years since he's last seen her, and she was everything."
I nod, knowing what everything being taken feels like. My sister isn't stuck in a forest though, she's gone for good.
"Is there no way-"
"Not right now," I tell her gently. "When the war is over and we have time to do further research, I'll see what I can do for your aunt, but right now I have family waiting for us to arrive, and as much as it pains me to say it, they need me more right now."
"I know," she concedes. "It's just been so hard to watch him sit on his balcony, waiting for her to come walking back up those steps every day."
"It was his house you led us to yesterday."
She nods, and I don't ask any more questions. I can't imagine how it must feel to watch your family lose a part of themselves.
I could actually. I imagine it's what the Principe feels when he looks at his sister and Darius and tries to find the mating bond that was once there. I never got to really find someone to settle down with, even if it was just for a few decades. Romantic relationships don't tend to come with the full-time job of protecting elemental rulers. I envy Kathika and Tsillah for what they found, but I don't mind it entirely.
I have my mother and Rohana and all my sisters, and they're plenty for my lifetime.
Ascian stands, leaving his uncle to rejoin us. The Royal Guard and servants follow, making a half-circle around the three of us.
"You're sure that they'll be waiting for us?" He asks me.
"They may be pirates, little Auzzie, but they stay true to their word." His eyes roll at the new name that I rather like using. I chuckle to myself and adjust my bag so that it sits across my chest. "Alright. Everyone hold each other's hands. You know you wanna," I tease.
Rina takes mine with a chuckle herself, holding her other one out to the guard behind her. He mumbles something that has Ascian snapping back at him. The guard walks off, joining Pierre's guard. He orders something to the next guard who takes her hand without an issue.
The rest slowly follow suit, and I wiggle my eyebrows at Ascian, awaiting his hand to my other.
"I do hope these sisters of yours are nothing like you." He takes my hand, and I glance around one more time before slowly pulling up the mist. Everyone but Ascian and I all try to avoid its touch, but it just wraps around their legs and slowly rises for my dramatic pleasure.
"They're not," I tell him. "Some of them are worse."
The mist snaps to life around us, then disperses the next second as the sound of crashing waves and salt kissed wind welcomes us. All ten of the guards fall to the sand, the four servants tripping over the trunks and bags, and Rina saved by my grip. Ascian is the only one who stays standing as I do, though I think it's because nothing fazes him anymore. That or his leg muscles are extremely strong.
We both look out to sea, and I smile when I spot a ship exactly where it's supposed to be, the familiar flag with a skull with devil horns billowing in the wind upon the mast. "Her name is Bone Heart, steered by Captain Crawford. She's one out of one-hundred and seventy-five ships that currently sail the seas on our behalf."
"A hundred and seventy-five of those are yours?" Rina squaks, her eyes scouring what it can see of it. Ever the scholar studying what she can.
"Well, technically, they belong to Svenja Catarribera, the woman who commandeers the Devil's Pride Fleet, but she's on our side."
Everyone rejoins hands, though they all seem to spread their legs a little further and bend their knees. I mist us quickly, and despite their preparation for a mist, they were not prepared for the ground to sway and all go tumbling back to the floor. Rina, I still keep standing, but I let Ascian go and happily watch him frantically find something to steady him.
"If it isn't the little lass." I eagerly spin around and run when I spot the haggard captain. He catches me when I throw my body at him, lifting my feet off the deck before setting them back down. "I see you've found the lost city."
"You won't believe the shit I had to go through to do so."
"Yet here you stand." He lays a hand on my shoulder and inspects me for injuries. My heart gives a clench at the gesture.
"Well I couldn't just very well die, now could I?"
"Indeed not." A pointed cough pulls our attention back to the Andrastrians. They're all standing, but you can see their clear struggle to keep their balance.
One of the male pirates is looking at one of the guards up and down with a confused look. "I thought they'd be taller," he pouts.
"They're taller than you, you rumpus ass," another scolds him.
"Yeah, but they lived in there. You'd think they'd be a little less disappointing." The guard he had earlier studied narrows his eyes at him. "What 'we you lookin' at? Ye may be tall but I'll dance the hornpipe over ya grave you salty, feckless baffoon."
"What did he just say?" Smiling at the man's threat I walk back to Rina's side. They're speaking in the common tongue, but they don't make much sense sometimes.
"They're harmless," I tell them.
"They don't look harmless."
I look around at the crew, all of which do look a little questionable. "Yeah, but they're efficient."
"Are introductions no longer a thing?" Captain Crawford asks.
"Right. Sorry. Uh, Captain Crawford, this is King Ascian Basilius of Andraste and his sister Rina."
"Your Highness." Crawford sketches in a low pirate-flared bow. "Welcome aboard the Bone Heart and the mightiest crew you'll ever meet."
A hearty cry rings out through the crew, gruffs and pride echoing around us before settling once more. Ascian lowers his head to the captain in thanks, and I roll my eyes knowing full and well that his kingship doesn't know how to respond.
"Shall we be off then?" The captain asks me. I raise an eyebrow to Auzzie who glances nervously around one more time and nods.
"Hang onto something!" I yell, giving them only a few seconds warning before black fog bursts from my hands and encompasses the whole ship.
There's no need for hand-holding, not when my feet touch the ship's frame as does theirs. So long as they don't go jumping overboard, we'll all get to Astoria Cove perfectly fine.
The large ship takes all of my concentration to hold, and I don't bother thinking on it too much and just let my power do the work. It pulls on my energy and has my hands cramping with the force, but it's quickly over with and the bustling of a port fills our ears. Another cheer rings out with the crew, instruments being pulled out along with the rum and whatever else they've stashed away. A few of the smart ones toss ropes over the side to the docks and release the anchor.
"That sure is a special gift you've got, little lass."
"I envy yours for the sea," I tell him, admiring the dancing of his men and women. He motions for us to follow him to the starboard side, snatching a bottle from the hand of a man with shoulder-length black hair on the way. He drains the rest of it, then tosses it to the side and wipes the rest off of his mouth with his arm.
Two men lower a gangplank onto the dock, bowing as their captain did earlier before running off to join their crew.
I nod to Ascian. "Go ahead. I'll be right down. Try not to slip and fall." Rina casts a glare at my repetition of her warning and is the first to step onto the wide piece of wood and make her way down. I'm half tempted to rattle the slab as I watch them all put their thighs to work to make sure they don't fall into the water below. I don't think the King would appreciate all of his packed belongings falling to the bottom of the ocean.
"Where to now, little lass?" Crawford asks when they've all made it to the more stable wood.
I look southwest, to the bustling traffic of the port and the screams of merchants from their tables about the so-called great deals on their goods. Beyond that is what I really see, however. "Fernweh, for an hour or so."
"I thought the ball was further south, in Cadorelin."
"It is, but I go as far as Fernweh, for now. One of my sisters will meet us there and take Ascian and his escort to the city for the ball."
"You won't be wearing a pretty dress and dancing the waltz?"
I smirk at him, knowing full and well that he's picturing me doing just that. It's my own fault really. I don't remember much of the nights on this ship some days ago, but I do remember the crew asking me to show them that hip dance again in the mornings after. From the attempts they made at duplicating the move, I don't think I want to remember what kind of hip dance I did in a drunken stupor.
"Let's just say that if I go to that ball, the underworld will surely be unleashed." He grunts, glancing over the other ships docked around us. They're pretty, but I don't think their crew is having as much fun as ours. "I don't suppose you have a quick way to get a hold of your Comandante?"
"Nothing faster than you and your magic," he says, confirming my thoughts.
"How about a list of your biggest passenger ships?" I ask hopefully.
He shakes his head, dampening that hope. "Not on paper. I only know of some anyways, but I don't know where they currently sail. That lies with the Comandante, herself. She may trust us, but she doesn't trust anyone with those kinds of papers. Those will be on her own ship."
"I figured as much."
"Is there really that many of them?" he asks, gesturing to the Andrastrians below.
"You see those bows they carry across their backs?"
"Mighty large ones."
"And there's twenty-thousand men and women who can shoot as far as that church tower in the distance, along with four-thousand foot soldiers to be rallied on this shoreline in a cycles time."
His eyes bug out of his head. "You're pulling my leg."
I shake my head. "We won't take the entirety of their numbers, but the King has graciously given us a great portion of it. My mother and I will mist them all out of their continent this afternoon, but we can't just mist them from there to here. We need a shorter distance, that way we can take more people."
"That's why you need the passenger ships."
I nod, watching as a glass bottle goes flying overboard and shatters at the Andrastrian guard's feet. I'd say from all their scowls that they're not happy about it. I should get them out of here before one of them tries to start a fight with pirates who know no rules.
"I should go." I step onto the gangplank, already dreading all the misting I'll have to do later when the Captain's hand lightly catches mine.
"A word of caution, Branka of Thralia. While we were sailing in the waters to await your arrival, we came across beasts in the water that could easily tear our ship in half."
"Did they attack?"
He shakes his head, and I would've preferred a nod if only to soothe my worry. "They seemed dormant, but if there's anything I've learned in my years of coming across the beasts of the sea, it's that no beast lies dormant. Not for long."
He's right. If they didn't attack then that's because they plan to do so later. Where is the question, along with when? "You should stay here for the time being. I'll send word in the morning if anything's changed."
"Then best of luck to you, little lass," he says, tapping my hand before making his way into the center of his hearty crew.
I think on his words as I walk down to Ascian and Rina, then toss them away when my feet hit the dock.
"Everything okay?" Ascian asks, glancing back up to the ship.
"We're in a war with demons and monsters, Auzzie. Nothing will ever be okay again."
I take both of their hands and take us to Fernweh.
We appear in the Healer's Tower, right where my mother and Siscilla sit at a small table sorting through various colors of tonics, serums, and salves. My mother notices us instantly, standing from her seat and beaming as she makes her way over.
I smile widely myself and return her firm embrace. Her calendula scent fills my nose instantly, nearly making me cry. I missed that scent all too much while being stuck in that damn forest. I missed her.
She pulls away and takes in my appearance, brows twitching downward when she sees the clothing. "You've had everyone worried all day. Rohana nearly cut off my head when she came to retrieve her armor and didn't find you waiting in yours."
"They're all here then?"
"Them and every kingdom in Ker." She looks over my shoulder at Ascian then. "Well, almost every kingdom of Ker."
He lowers his head to her in greeting. "Maa'am"
"Mother, this is King Ascian Basilius of Andraste. Ascian, this is my mother, Willa."
"It is certainly a pleasure to know that there is life behind that forest after all, though I'm not entirely surprised that it was my daughter who found it."
"Technically, I found her," Ascian points out.
My mother raises an eyebrow at me, and I stutter for a response. "If you were there you would've been just as lost as I was."
"Then I suppose you'll have to tell me all about it later." She kisses the top of my head and wraps her arm around me. She'll be doing it all day when she gets the chance, but I don't mind it. Not when I'll be returning the gesture to make sure she's still there herself.
"Are you just going to have them stand there all day?" Siscilla yells from the table. "Whoever taught you how to host royalty clearly didn't do a fucking good job of it."
"That would be Siscilla," I tell them. "She's the head healer here in Vandaria. This tower belongs to her and her healers."
"You gave a whole tower to your healers?" Rina asks, stretching her neck to look up to the high ceiling.
"With all the room you have in your own castle, you didn't?"
"Saints you're an asshole." I step out of the way of the Anevay's path, wanting to shove her over for the insult. Too bad my mother's right there, or else I'd do it. "You'll have to excuses the young girl, she's as crude as her mother."
"Hey," my mother and I protests
"What's that saying?" I ask my mother. "Respect your elders."
"Some shitty, not-so-wise elders you two are."
"You should listen to your healer." I go to tell Ascian where he can shove it, but a familiar feeling tickles my chest just before a black mist bursts beside me. Arms fly around me before the mist can go away. "Hello, Vanya."
She releases me from her grip, only to shove me into my mother. "Where in ten hells have you been? You were supposed to be here hours ago. We thought you were dead or trapped or - oh. Hello."
I roll my eyes at her and her easy quick change from mad and raging to sweet and cute when she spots Ascian. "Ascian, Vanya. Vanya, King Ascian and his sister Rina. Of Andraste."
I'm beginning to get tired of these introductions.
"You found them?" She switches into Thralian, her colder tone back. "What the fuck took you so long then?"
"An enchanted forest that doesn't let you out, things that wanted me dead, and time which passes at a greatly slower rate when you enter it."
"Oh, well...you could've at least gotten here earlier asshole. We've been going crazy wondering where you've been and if you'd even make it today. It's the last thing we need with everything that's already going on." She mumbles the last sentence, rubbing her eyes and then running her hands through her hair that looks as if she's been doing it a lot.
"Come on," Siscilla says to the Andrastrians. "They won't bother switching back to the common tongue. I'm sure you're hungry, and we just had breakfast brought up."
Rina follows without much more of a motivator. I should've thought of food before leaving. Ascian looks at me again, and I wave for him to go. He does another double-take before waving his guard on.
"What was that about?"
"What was what about?" My mother gives me a look that tells me I've missed something clear as day again.
"Forget Branka's new toy, we need to talk." I want to argue that Ascian is not my new toy, but I push it aside for now and take in her nervous stature.
My mother moves to stand between the two of us, closing the circle. I glance over my shoulder just to make Ascian and Rina are eating and then turn back. "What's wrong?"
"Well, there's good news, bad news, and then undecided good or bad news. Which one do you want first?"
"Good news," I answer. Better to get that out of the way first.
"Kietha, Linnaea, Sylvaine, and Melinoe have all agreed to join us. I'm assuming the big hunky hot guy is a sign that he's agreed to do so too?"
"Don't call him 'the big hunky hot guy,' he has a name." She shrugs a shoulder, telling me she has no intention of doing as I ask. "Yes. He's given us forty-thousand-foot soldiers and twenty-thousand highly skilled archers. That's only half of what he carries, by the way."
"Well, fuck me, Branka. How have you not slept with the man? Or is that how you got that many soldiers?" I gape at my mother.
Why does everyone think we're sharing a bed? And yes, I'm highly aware that I hinted to his sister that we did just that two hours ago.
"Just tell us the bad news already, Vanya."
"No one else has. It's been two hours and not a single other kingdom has sent word of their decision. We can't run off of only half of Ker. He'll use the other half against us to overwhelm our fronts and take us out. We need everyone."
"Then Darius and Clarice will have to find a way to change their minds at the ball," my mother concludes.
"Yeah, about that..." She sighs long and loudly, walking to one of the beds and falling onto it. My mother and I share a concerned look as we follow her. "Something's...up with Clarice."
All my senses gone in on her next words, "What do you mean, 'up with Clarice?'"
"We don't know," she vents, frustrated. "One second she was laughing and smiling, and the next she looked like she just watched all of us get killed right in front of her, and locked herself in the tent. She won't let anyone inside. Víđarr and a whole pack of wolves guard the entire circumference of the tent, and every time we try to mist inside, we're instantly thrown back out. Literally."
Well, that explains why she's got dirt all over her. "Why would she do that?"
"We don't know. She won't talk to anyone. Not us, not Kat, not Darius, not her brother - Saints, she won't even talk to Will, who did a rather poor job of trying to do so. We tried every one, and the last person we could think of was you, but-"
"I can't go into that city, Vanya."
"Yeah, I know, and if there's anyone here who knew her, she doesn't know them, so..."
So right now everything's hopeless, and we have no way to know what's going on with Clarice and whether or not it's a good thing, or a bad thing. It sure doesn't feel like a good thing, that's for sure.
"Run us through what happened," my mother tells her. "From everything before to the moment you noticed a difference in her, and through the part where she locked herself in a tent."
She takes a seat on the bed opposite Vanya. I sit by her side, that way I can keep an eye on the Andrastrians too. At least they're all eating and I was right about us all forgetting that we didn't eat this morning.
Vanya tells us detail by detail everything that happened. She was literally playing around and then did a random one-eighty.
"She said something before she ran, but by then the wolves were howling and rushing to her, so none of us heard what she said. We tried to touch her but she stumbled away from us like we were Xaxias before turning and sprinting into the tent. She had tears in her eyes, her hands were shaking, and she looked like she couldn't breathe. When we tried to follow her but Víđarr and twelve other wolves forced us back.
"Anyone who gets too close has them bearing their teeth and giving warning growls. Any closer and they start to snap at you or swing a paw. No one's gotten hurt, but we think that with them acting the way they do, that she's not okay."
No, she's not okay. It's completely unlike her to lock herself away and not let anyone see her. I didn't know her for long, but I know her well enough to know how to make the decision. I can't go to her to help, and neither can my mother without Xaxias acting out. The kingdoms of Ker will be the victims of it. Them or the innocent people still in the city.
"Do you think she'll be okay by tonight?" I ask.
"I don't know, but she better be. If she doesn't then I don't think we'll be getting any other kingdoms to agree to join."
"Then we need to find a way to reach her," my mother determines. "Wait here. I have a few ideas."
Sighing, I stand up and stretch my limbs. My earlier energy burst is beginning to dwindle. It's making me mad.
I start walking to where the Andrastrians still pick at some food. The smell of bacon makes my own stomach bubble with yearning and pushes my feet faster. The sound of Vanya's jog catches up to me, making me wonder where my armor is? It's been years since I've worn it, and I left it in Thralia before I made my grand exit.
I miss the comfort of it and knowing that it won't even scratch at the kiss of another strike. Saints those were good times. Training in the lightweight metal, making bets on who could get it to crack or break. It never did, and Nilsa won every time. It's why she's so fucking rich now.
"I'll be right there," Vanya tells me.
"Where are you going?"
"To find something to calm Rohana's nerves." I don't bother asking for further explanations, knowing full and well that Ro will literally explode before she calms down her nerves and anxiety.
I follow the scent of bacon and push through the Andrastrian guards to grab a few. I take some sausage too, my stomach thanking me for the much needed deliciousness. Rina laughs at my side, and I turn to find her laughing at me. I just shove the rest into my mouth before grabbing more. She laughs harder. A light feathery thing that echoes off of the walls.
"Everything okay?" Ascian asks, coming up by my shoulder.
I swallow my mouthful before answering, "Not really."
"What's wrong?" his sister asks, her smile and laugh now gone.
I chew on some bacon angrily. I want to go to Cadorelin and help her, but I can't. I'm useless, all because my stupid father is, well, stupid. "The Queen of Thralia has confined herself in seclusion and won't let anyone get close to her, or speak to her. None of her friends or family have been successful in trying to reach her, and I'm one of the last ones that could try, but I can't go."
"Why not?"
"Because I can't go into that city," I remind Ascian. I haven't told him why, just that I can't go. He's going to find out sooner than later, though, so I mind as well just let it be now. "The man who wants to take over the world? He's my father, and he thinks I'm dead. If he finds out I'm alive then he'll kill everyone to get to me."
"Why?"
"Because in order to get the power he wants, he has to kill me to get it. It's a long and rather sad story, but in shorter terms, he killed my younger sister thinking that he could spare me death to get said power, but it didn't work. Not entirely, at least. When I found out, I faked my death and hid for forty-two years to keep him from that power. If he finds out I'm alive he'll do anything to get me back. I can't risk it, especially when there are twelve world leaders currently in that city and you're headed there yourself. I won't risk it."
"But you want to go," Rina says.
"I was the one who was with the Queen while she was being tortured, beaten, and forced to go through extreme pain while my father stole her memories of everyone she ever knew and loved. We spent two months together in that room. I know the difference between her screams, and I am the only one who knows every insight into her mind. She's not just a Queen I serve or a friend I made. Of course, I want to go see her."
"I'm sure she's perfectly fine, Branka. She just needs a moment to herself, that's all." I return Rina's smile, if only to attempt at convincing myself that the statement is true.
Vanya walks back with two small brown pouches in her hand and tosses one to me. I catch it and smell its contents. Lavendar, lemon balm, and valerian. "Thought you might need it."
"You thought right." I thank her and put it in my pocket, already feeling the lavender do a little bit of work.
My mother mists in just then, along with Aracely, a dark-haired middle aged woman, and Claritia. "Take them with you," she tells Vanya. "See if they can't reach Clarice or get something out of the wolves."
"Looks like I'm taking all the freaks."
"Weren't you earlier calling him 'the big hunky hot guy?' One would think that'd make you the freak," I remind her in Thralian. I still don't want Ascian thinking he has a chance in making me Queen. I haven't forgotten about that.
"More like a woman with good eyesight. Maybe you should get some glasses." I toss a piece of bacon to her, and when she reaches up to catch it I punch her playfully in her side where the armor ends. She gets a hold of my arm, so I spin out of it and get a hold of hers, but she moves just as quickly and we separate once again.
"You've gotten slow," she teases.
"And you fat."
She throws me a middle finger before turning to the three women and my mother. She somehow ends up getting a smack from the witch and a laugh from my the dark-haired woman.
"I'm beginning to regret our decision of coming here," Ascian tells his sister. "There's two of them now."
"Nine, actually," I correct him.
"No going back now," Rina snarks.
"You should get going. They'll have a tent waiting for you and your servants, and I have to get your army here while you enjoy a party."
"I don't think there will be much partying happening, but I thank you for getting us here safely." She takes my hands in hers and kisses my cheek. "À fevjóir, Branka."
She walks over to where Vanya and the other women stand, joining whatever conversation they're quietly having. I shake my head when my sister turns around and gives me the 'help me' look. Apparently, she's getting scolded again.
I turn back to Ascian who watches his sister, something like guilt and regret standing in them. I let him think his thoughts and eat some fruit out of a bowl already half gone. I want to tell him that he's got nothing to worry about. That my sisters, the Bhaltayr, Darius and Clarice will all make sure they get back okay, but I'm no seer, and I don't even think Dee can see which one of her pathways is the one that will come to pass.
"You better be wearing a crown tonight," I finally tell him. It pulls him away from his thoughts and he gives me a weird look. "What? You're a King, you wear a crown. If I'm going to be stuck doing boring things, the least you could do is put on a crown and grant me image of you looking completely and utterly miserable."
"What makes you think I'll be miserable?"
"Oh, please. Have you met you?" I start to walk to Vanya when his hand on my arm stops me.
"This Queen Clarice of yours, is she kind?"
I'm a little taken with his question. I don't know where it came from nor why he felt the need to ask it, but I have no reason to lie or try to soften him up. He's here and he's given us sixty-thousand of his people to fight alongside us. Lives that are his to care for and who belong to families left to wonder what happens beyond their borders.
And I trust him.
"Among other things, as is King Darius and his people. I trust them all with my life. You'll be perfectly safe with them, and if anything goes too wrong for them, then my mother and I will be there in a heartbeat to help, and you'll be here where he nor his demon mutts can reach you. The castle is thickly coated in protection wards that won't let a single thing through. You'll be fine."
He nods, but something in the way he does so makes me think that that's not why he was asking. I want to ask what made him ask me his question, but I let it go and step to the side to let Vanya pass. She takes Rina and Aracely's hands, and the chain starts to link up through the Andrastrians and two other women.
"Try not to have too much fun without me," I tell both her and Auzzie.
"Try not to go sick with worry," my sister responds.
"You know I can't promise that."
With a wink she and everyone else is gone, and I'm left with that worry already pulling my hair. I pull out the small brown pouch Vanya gave me and pull out stalks of lavender and valerian, and twist them with the lemon balm leaves. I tie it all to a string hanging off of the end of my jacket.
"I would've thought you wouldn't need it for another few hours," my mother says as I put the makeshift necklace over my head.
"I have another string here if you want one." I gesture to the loose strand by my hip. She doesn't answer and just stares at me amusingly.
I know that look in her eye. She's memorizing every feature on my face and the sound of my voice and the way I stand. She's committing it all to memory, afraid that it's all just a dream and I really was ripped away from her forty-two years ago. Afraid that if it's not all a dream, that I could be taken just as easily and quickly as I had faked it, and that there's nothing she could do to prevent it.
I love my mother, and I do the same in turn to her, gazing upon the only blood family that I have left in this world. My father is gone, his blood running black instead of the pure red it once did. I don't have anyone but her, and that's a hard thing to come to peace with.
After a moment she holds out her hand, and I smile while making a secondary necklace. She throws it over her head and pulls her tight braid out of it before throwing her arm around my shoulders, and leading us out of the Healer's Tower.
"So. What is our next mother and daughter adventure looking like?"
"Nothing you're going to look forward to."
"A good one, then."