Page 47 of Kingdom of Flames & Flowers
I was still mulling over my schedule for the day when I pushed open the door to my suites. I expected to hear the chattering of the other three girls, or at least for one of them to scold me for leaving in the middle of the night again. Surely, Freesia wouldn’t miss a chance to rub my mistakes in my face.
And yet, there was silence.
“Leilani? Azalea?” I raced to our rooms, but the four extra beds were empty and tidied.
“FREESIA!” I raced to the other side of the suite, but Freesia’s bed was just as neat and unused as the others.
My heart sank in my chest. I checked the bathroom, the balcony and even looked in the closets and under my bed.
They were gone.
“No, no, no …” I’d give anything to see even Freesia’s smug face again. This couldn’t be happening. This was all my fault! I shouldn’t have threatened the queen—clearly, this was her retribution for being an upstart. She’d taken all my friends in the middle of the night and had them killed! What if I had been there as well? Would I have died too? I—
“Ah, I thought you might be here.”
I whipped around, only half-surprised to see a twin standing behind me. “Why are you so goddamnquiet?” I demanded. Were they constantly stalking me?
His silver-green eyes twinkled at me with a genuine, fearless smile. Zariah, then.
“Dragon powers.” He shrugged and put his arms around me.
Automatically, I relaxed against him, taking in his scent as he nuzzled against me. He was so different from Zion; it was jarring.
“Zariah, where are the others? I think your mother might have—”
“Zion ended the contest early this morning. It’s for the best, all things considered.”
All things considered?
“But where are they? What has your mother done with them? She hasn’t … She hasn’t …” I couldn’t finish the rest, not able to bear the thought of Leilani or Azalea’s white faces as fireguards led them to their deaths. I doubted the queen would harm her precious mini-me Freesia.
Zariah’s grip on me tightened. “They’re fine, Mari. I told Zion to ensure they were taken care of. Now that the competition is over, they are free to be courted by the other nobles. They’ll be set for life.”
My fingers dug into his forearm as though through him I could keep a grip on reality. “Oh, right. Sorry.”
He gazed down at me fondly, wiping away a tear with his thumb. “These rooms are yours now. Was Zion able to answer your questions?”
That chased away the lingering sorrow and panic, quickly warping them both into anger.
“No,” I said, letting my frustration seep into my voice. “He was as helpful as the fireguards who watched those girls drown in the bathing halls.”
Zariah let go of me, flinching backwards as if I’d struck him. I didn’t feel a twinge of remorse. He’d stood there just like the rest of them.
“Mari, please understand. My mother is the queen and runs every aspect of the kingdom. She had explicit instructions that—”
“Why?” I interrupted, my voice sharp.
Zariah gaped at me. “Why what?”
Was it really such a mystery to everyone in this perfect little city on the top of the hill, with enough food and water that they questioned nothing around them?
“Whydon’t you simply refuse? Why don’t you stand in opposition to her? These … games have been going on for decades, haven’t they? And Zion made the ridiculous claim that he is supposed to run them!”
Zariah sat down on a couch. I noticed numbly they had laid a breakfast spread out, but less than before.
Since my friends were gone.
Zariah snagged a pastry and took a bite, thinking. “It’s hard to explain. As far as I know, fireguards have gone into the other quarters and rounded up eligible girls to parade in the Seat for over a hundred years. You’ll see your friends at the closing ceremonies feast this week. It’s a win-win.”
