Smoke and Mirrors (19)

Nineteen

The King, the Princess, and the Bodyguard

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Kaeil and I returned home after that. When we made it inside the castle and into the hall where my room was, he turned sharply to me.

“It would have been nice to know we were visiting your deranged aunt! We could have been hurt!”

I shrugged and scratched an old scab on my thumb. “We’re fine though, aren’t we? Besides. I promised--”

“Yes, Your Highness. You’d cover for me. But how are you going to cover for me if you’re dead?”

“Alright, I’m sorry. I know I put you at a lot of risk pulling what I pulled. Thank you for going with me.” I turned to my bedroom door and opened it. I looked back at him. “It didn’t really take us long though, did it?”

He pursed his lips as I closed my door.

***

Later, father and I sat beside each other on our thrones, alone. Which meant this was as good a time as any to pull the whole, “Please let my deranged aunt out” question, right?

I sucked in a breath. “Father, I need Seraphina. Your guards haven’t found the unicorn horn, and if something doesn’t happen soon, I don’t know what people will say about me. Not to mention all the people who can’t get their own powers fixed.”

As if to punctuate my point, I sneezed. Water poured down as if from nowhere, and yet everywhere at once.

He quickly snatched his papers off the table and held them under the desk until the water stopped.

He sighed. “To be honest Tessa, I’ve already been debating it. She knows she has the upper hand right now--as long as she has the horn, she can get whatever she wants. I don’t want her to think she holds that power over us.”

I sighed. He was right, but so was I. “That may be, but if we don’t do something, what about all of the children born with powers? It’s not just me we have to worry about. It’s every child who has yet to settle their magic.”

He snorted. “It’s not ‘magic’, Tessa. That’s an Otherworld term. Our powers are linked to the Maker. He is responsible for creating everything Earth is. The children. . . they definitely need the horn as well, or things will get out of hand, just like it used to be when our ancestors walked these lands.”

I blinked. “The. . . Maker? Okay, if he’s responsible for creating everything, then what about our powers? Why make it where we have to use some animal’s horn to fix them?”

“I--I don’t know. There are some things we’ll never know.” He inhaled and squared his large shoulders. “But you’re right. We need the horn or everything will fall apart.”

“So. . .? What do we do?”

He waved his hand over the desk and the water flung away. He replaced his papers on the dry desk. “I guess we let her out and talk to her. She says she won’t comply as long as she’s in prison.”

I didn’t blame her. That place was a nightmare for any heat-wielder.

***

“Nice place. Of course, anything is an improvement on that ice house you put me in, but still. Nice.”

Seraphina sat in a chair with her hands locked and drenched in the pale, glowing light of mermaid’s tears. Her hair still had pieces of snowflakes in it from father transporting her to our castle.

“Where is it, Seraphina? Where did you hide the unicorn horn?” Father looked more than intimidating as he clasped his large hands behind his back and stood over Seraphina.

Her lips were like slivers of ruby gemstone as they curled upwards. “Let me ask you a question, Alon.” She leaned forward, her eyes glinting as their golden warmth began to return. “How many people does it take to capture a world?”

He squinted. “What do you mean?”

She leaned back. “Paint me as the bad guy. Go ahead. But I’m the only person who knows the truth. Adara knows it, too. More than she’d like to confess.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked. “The truth about what?”

“Everything!” She locked eyes with me. “Haven’t you ever wondered what it would have been like? What if things had never changed from the old ways. We were never meant to be so limited, Tanwen.”

I shook my head. “The name’s Tessa now. Just answer the question, okay? If you ever had a shred of decency, you’ll tell us where it is.”

She snorted. “Haven’t you ever wanted a taste of power, Tessa? Raw, unfiltered power?”

I gritted my teeth. “All we want is the horn.”

Father shook his head. “Talk, or we’ll take you back to the prison.”

“Fine. You want to know where it is?” She turned to me. “I already told you where to go. If you’ll let me go and listen to what I tell you, I think you might have better success than staying here and letting your guards do the work for you.”

Father and I looked at each other.

Groaning, he turned back and faced Seraphina. “Fine. I’ll contact the kingdoms. If they agree, perhaps we can move you.”

The color in her eyes seemed to strengthen at his statement.

***

We held a meeting the next day. Rulers from all over the Inside world gathered to decide how to handle Seraphina’s request.

It was agreed upon to release her, but she was going to be under close observation inside her own castle, and if she slipped up at all, she had to go right back to the ice prison.

She seemed happy enough with the arrangements.

When we returned to the castle, I was just about to head to my room and sort out my plan for getting Sterling, a guard, and I to the Mirror Kingdom when the doors to the throne room burst open.

A man about my own age walked in. His hair was as dark as burnt caramel, and his eyes were unmistakably golden. Fire danced along his skin and then disappeared when he stopped before us and bowed.

“Adrian--rise, my boy.” Father’s tone held a note of surprise. He turned to me and, in a hushed voice, said, “Tessa, this is your cousin Adrian. Seraphina’s son.”

My eyes widened and I glanced back at the boy who was my cousin. We looked nothing at all alike, but his features obviously came from Fire. He looked like a younger, male version of mother and Seraphina.

“Hi!” I offered a small wave, but he didn’t return or acknowledge it.

He looked at father. “Why did you release my mother, Your Highness?”

Father blinked. “I’m sorry? You mean you want her locked up?”

He bowed his head. “Forgive me, I’m sure that sounded wrong.” He looked up. “Mother is planning to turn everything back to how things used to be. Before our ancestors began using the horn. She doesn’t want anyone finding it, so why release her?”

Father cleared his throat and leaned forward. “The kingdoms made a deal with her, son. I’m sorry that this upsets you, but truth be told, I am rather surprised you’re not. . .” He trailed off.

“What, happy? How can I be happy about her release when she plans to destroy us all?”

I sneezed and fire shot out around me, leaving scorch marks on my throne that would have to be scrubbed off again. Father raised a shield of water to protect himself. “Sorry!” I cried.

Adrian blinked and finally looked at me. “You--you’re Talent is fire.”

I grinned sheepishly. “Yeah. I guess.” To be honest, I wasn’t sure that anyone should be calling it a talent. So far, it seemed more like a curse.

He raised a dark eyebrow, but said nothing. “My mother can’t get away with this. She’ll ruin everything.”

Father stroked his beard in thought. “Adrian, Tessa needs a bodyguard to go with her on her trip. Your mother has instructed her to go to the Weeping Stones in the Mirror Kingdom with her Betrothed. Would you be willing to escort her?”

I turned sharply. “Father!”

He looked at me. “I have known Adrian since he was a boy. I trust him--even if I don’t trust his mother.”

I swallowed and looked back at my possible bodyguard.

He looked strong. But I didn’t know him at all, and I would be trusting him to protect me from any of Sterling’s possible attacks.

Could I trust him?

His eyes must have been as wide as my own as he looked at me. “Her? And a Betrothed?! No way. I’m not touring a pair of star-eyed love birds across the country. I’ll find the horn myself if I need to.”

I snorted. “I promise you, our relationship is anything but star-eyed and lovely. I need a bodyguard that can protect me from him. See, he’s actually tried to kill me a few times.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Wait, who are you betrothed to?”

“King Sterling of the Mirror Kingdoms,” Father replied for me.

Adrian whistled. “He sounds just like his father.”

I tilted my head. “His father? What do you mean?”

He ignored me, but turned to father. “I’ll think about it, Your Highness. How long does she have?”

Father nodded. “Thank you, son. She needs to be going as quickly as possible if she’s going to find the horn. Every day matters. If people begin marrying without fixing their powers, we are going to have a generation of children that are just like our ancestors.”

I inhaled as the realisation of that hit me. I had guessed it, but somehow hearing it made it scarier.

I had been here less than a month and I had seen how powerful people could be with just one or two powers. More?! It would be a mess!