Page 47 of Tales of Fire and Embers

A gush of light branded me and forced my eyelids to move rapidly and clear out the pain. The next time I opened my eyes, the trees looked different and Vikramlet go. We had arrived in the Earth Kingdom.

Memories of the first time I’d been here came rushing back, my mind inundated with the excitement and need to find my prince. A very different sentiment from what I was experiencing now, which was dread, a panic swirling in my stomach at the fear that the queen might reveal a lie. That she would give me no hope.

I didn't have time to recover from the shock of being transported into the unknown twice in one evening when Vikram’s hand grabbed mine and squeezed it tightly once again.

I looked at him, but instead of finding relief and hope, tension sculpted his dark features. He looked like a warrior preparing to go into battle, with not much hope of returning.

“Are you okay?” I asked in a low tone, afraid that the trees surrounding us might discover my presence earlier than needed. The last thing I wanted was to get him in trouble.

He looked at me for the first time, like he just remembered I stood by his side and grabbed my hand even tighter in his. Not in a pleasant, friendly greeting but a desperate and hurtful connection.

I grimaced and wanted to retract my palm from his, but as soon as I made my intention known he jerked me closer to him, making the right side of his body press into mine.

“They will not dare harm you if you are by my side,” he muttered. Yet, as he did so, his left hand grabbed the hilt of his sword in preparation for a possible attack.

“Okay,” I murmured, coming to realise my precarious condition. He had brought me into a kingdom that branded me an enemy, that blamed me for their young prince’s passing, and who would not hesitate to kill me and claim revenge for the loss they had suffered.

The fact that Vikram willingly put himself in the position of having to defend me and fight his people if it came to it, both shocked me and gave me hope. I did not want to cause any more trouble and least of all, I did not want him —or anyone else for that matter — to get injured. Buthe was willing to do it, which made me realise that Rhylan’s words had to be true. That he would not risk it lest he thought Ansgar could truly be alive. And I was the way to get to him.

To my surprise, Vikram did not hide me as we walked into the kingdom. Coward that I was, I thought he would disguise me and take me through some kind of corridor or secret passageway to avoid all the staring and threats. Instead, the commander adopted his usual royal stance and kept me so close to his chest that I could barely walk without stepping on his feet or stumbling across the stone-paved patio.

Thankfully, after about forty minutes into the mini-marathon, we made it out of the forest, across a town square with various imposing buildings and an array of market stalls, where people snarled and cursed at me. We made it through the palace doors and passed the garden where Ansgar’s party had been held.

It looked so much bigger now, without the space being crammed with thousands of people and tables, it might have been the size of an entire football stadium including the stands, shops, and parking. It plastered the way to the palace entrance and the huge carved wooden doors I passed through during my first visit.

The castle was built of some kind of shining stone, which made it gleam in the moonlight and the floors and columns wore marble decorations.

Several faeries came to meet Vikram and stopped paralysed when they saw their prince holding me just as tightly as he did when we arrived. Which meant the danger hadn’t passed.

“The Queen?” he asked abruptly and harshly, without offering the staff a minute longer to gaze at me.

“In the Western Dining Room, my prince,” a tall dark-haired male quickly responded, just as he bowed low for Vikram, who only nodded and proceeded to push me towards what I could only imagine to be the dining hall.

Still holding my hand in his, the prince dragged me along, without looking back or preparing me for what was to be a very graceless encounter. We strolled past rooms and draped corridors, climbed stairs, and passed several halls until we reached another set of wooden carved doors. Only this time, the markings evoked grapes, platters of fruit, and several other types of food that I quickly recognised. We had arrived.

It was only then that Vikram turned to me, slight anguish in his eyes. “If the queen orders you harmed, there is nothing I can do.” He pointed his stare to mine, making sure I understood that entering that room meant risking my life.

I nodded, struggling to swallow a massive lump in my throat, then ushered him to open. I had come so far, there was no turning back.

“Mother, father,” the prince greeted as he stepped inside the room, his body blocking my presence entirely, a deliberate move I understood and appreciated. “Damaris, sister,” he added to the list. The following name made me shudder. “Ansgar,” he greeted and my bones chipped away inside my body from the emotion that rushed through me.

I could not contain myself and had to see, I had to know. So I shifted from my hiding place and made my silhouette appear from behind the prince’s heavy armour.

To see a child, no older than a few months in the loving embrace of his mother, the kingdom healer. They had chosen to honour the name for another generation, not ready to let their young prince go. Realising what I’d done and judging by the reaction on their faces, I had to quickly do something to turn away their anger and desire for revenge.

So I took the hint from the staff member who received Vikram into the castle and bowed as low as I could, reciting their titles and shifting direction as I spoke, in such a way that my lowered head reached all of them. “King Farryn,” I shifted towards the mountain of a male sitting at the head of the table, “Queen Bathysia,” I turned my head towards the other end and bowed even lower for the queen and then proceeded to greet the heir and his family, sitting on the right side of the table. “Prince Damaris, Princess Takara, Prince Ansgar,” I muttered but as I said it, the emotion threatened to run through me.

“What is this human doing here, son?” the Queen pressed the words through her tight jaw, without shifting from her seat at the table while the King remained silent, awaiting an explanation.

“She has new information about Ansgar, and willingly risked her life to come see you and ask for council,” the prince explained, his tone royal and determined, without stumbling on a single sound. It only made me nod quickly, in support of what he had just said.

“We are not interested in whatever it is she has to say,” the female responded, her adamant features darkening like a storm covering a sea at night. Impossible to counteract and lethal. The Queen looked different to the proud mother I had last seen at her son’s marking celebration, all of them did. Faces grimmer, eyes that did not embrace smiles to their fullest any longer, because, just like me, they had lost a part of that joy.

I knew the sentiment very well, spending each day with a person you would always think would be there, only to lose them so abruptly. I had gone through it with Erik, and just when I thought my heart could never recover or I could never truly smile again, there Ansgar came.

“Please, my queen,” I wanted to say but the king’s voice quickly dismissed me.

“She is not your queen, she is only queen of the earthlings, a race you do not belong to.” His words cut through me like a hot knife through butter, his intent clear and unmistakable. My last chance to leave before the order would be given. The chance to escape a traitor’s fate.

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