Page 148 of The Mad King and the False Queen

“I did not.”

“You did too. We all know it’s the only reason I’m the guardian. I can’t fight like you, Ishani!”

“Girls!” Queen Sanyal quieted her two daughters. “There are many reasons as to why the Flaustran trials went as they did, and that conversation is not for today.” Queen Sanyal walked behind her desk, her fingers clasped behind her back. Then she let out a deep sigh. Her voice was laced with anger toward Magda as she said, “I intend to send a message to your mother via the Scribestone, telling her that you are safe and sound in Flaustra.”

“What?” Magda let out a gasp. Her mother would not be happy when she heard the news that she wasn’t in Ilusauri about to be married to King Claude.

“Magda, what were you thinking?!” Queen Sanyal yelled forcefully, slamming her hands down on the desk. “It’s dangerous out there. I told you not to come.”

“You weren’t giving me any answers, and my mother wasn’t letting me leave the fortress!” yelled Magda. “The only way I could convince her to leave was by faking a marriage to Claude.”

Ishani scoffed, and Kiran shot her a glare.

“I don’t believe that’s true.” Queen Sanyal shook her head.

“I came directly to the palace, and I wasn’t let inside.”

“We’ve put up more protections since the assassination attempts,” offered Kiran. “There was no way the officers would let you in even if you were one of the gods themselves.”

Queen Sanyal threw up her hands, disregarding Kiran and continuing to yell at Magda, “You are a disgrace to the guardians—you could have put everything in jeopardy if something happened to you!”

“And that’s why I had no choice but to come to you,” said Magda, on the verge of tears once more. “I have no idea what it means to be a guardian. I’ve been utterly and hopelessly lost since my dad and brother died, and I don’t know where I’m heading. All I know is that you are the only person that might have one answer for me. And I’m begging you to be honest so I understand the real danger we are in!”

The words came out in a forceful yell, and Magda stopped suddenly. She instantly felt ashamed for screaming at the Queen of Flaustra, but she didn’t know who else to turn to. If she didn’t get answers soon, she feared as if she would break down completely. And time was not on her side.

Kiran scooted closer to Magda. “Don’t worry, we’re here to help. We’re all in this together.”

“What does that mean?” Magda persisted.

Queen Sanyal took a deep breath, before taking a seat at her desk.

Sanyal began, “All the guardians have the same mission. Guardians have existed since the beginning of time. They take care to protect their sacred form of magic, and tap into the winds and the earth to keep our connection with the magic that flows through this land. Without the guardians as vessels to channel the magic in our world, nothing would exist. Crops wouldn’t grow, water wouldn’t flow down from the glaciers, mathematical theory couldn’t hold true, and the sun wouldn’t rise each day.”

“So we are like scholars, destined to understand and connect with nature,” said Magda.

“In some ways,” said Queen Sanyal. “Your father was responsible for understanding the natural balance of water, from the oceans to the rivers to the atmosphere. So much so that he could channel the power of water himself.”

Magda asked, “If guardians hold the land together, why are assassins trying to kill them? Surely killing a guardian and ruining the land would be bad for humanity.”

Kiran leaned closer. “Do you know the tale of the five?” she asked.

“Yes,” Magda answered. “There were five siblings—the original guardians. The oldest brother was excluded from the trials because he was more powerful than all the rest. In turn, he destroyed his siblings. It’s a schoolyard story, meant to teach children to stop bullying each other.”

“No,” said Queen Sanyal firmly. “The Blaide family was real. They guarded the fifth branch of magic we no longer have today, and their oldest brother wielded powers unlike anything recorded in our entire history. The First Prince, unlike his family, had the ability to control all elements of magic: Life, Soul, Mind, Spirit, and the Void.”

Magda gasped. There was a person in history that wielded multiple forms of magic? What did that mean?

Kiran continued the story, “But the other remaining families of guardians feared he was too powerful, so they destroyed him.”

“They didn’t destroy him,” Ishani corrected the princess, her tone cold.

Queen Sanyal nodded. “He was too powerful to be killed, so the remaining guardians trapped him in a tomb, sealed with four magical locks that are each controlled by the current kingdoms. The lives of the guardians today are connected to those locks. As long as the guardians live, the tomb cannot be opened.”

Magda couldn’t believe her ears. Suddenly, she was scared to reveal to Queen Sanyal and Princess Kiran that she had Soul magic. Did that mean all the Life Guardians were dead and that lock her family had been protecting was broken? Regardless, how was the First Prince in a tomb and no one had told her about it?

“Where is this tomb?” asked Magda. “Is it actually a physical tomb or is it abstract?”

“No one knows,” said Kiran with a shrug, and somewhat of an eye-roll. “Apparently, the guardians destroyed all records of its location.”

---