Smoke and Mirrors (51)

Fifty-One

Dirge for a Queen

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When Seraphina’s body hit the ground, two things happened:

Sterling’s men began to pour into and around the People’s tower.

And part of me died.

I didn’t feel the bullet that hit Seraphina, but I felt the aftermath. A piece of me tore itself away entirely. I can’t really describe the agony I felt. It wasn’t like a physical pain—or even emotional, although that did play a part in things. This pain was sharp and threatened to swallow me alive.

A cheer rose up for the dead queen, but it quickly turned into shouts and questions as the people noticed Sterling’s men.

Adrian threw one look at his mother, then turned and hurried away.

I laid there for a while as chaos erupted around me. My thoughts were hazy and slow, and it became harder and harder to focus on what was going on around me.

I barely realised when a set of arms scooped me up and held me close.

“Tessa. Tessa is that you? I have you. You’re safe.”

I knew that voice so well. Shivers went up my arms and the warmth I felt from the person carrying me suddenly seemed so much nicer.

The world blurred until I could no longer comprehend what was going on, and I let it. I was safe.

***

When I awoke, I was faced with twenty mirrors all staring back at me with my own eyes.

I was tucked in a warm bed. A glass of water was on a table near me. The room was covered in mirrors. Sterling was asleep on a chair at the foot of the bed, his head draped over his arms, which were crossed and propped on my bed.

I sucked in a breath as warmth filled my cheeks. Hesitantly, I touched a dark lock of his hair.

He inhaled sharply and sat up. Wrinkles from the blankets lined his cheek with red. His eyes widened when he looked at me.

Neither of us said anything for a moment. I just stared at him, drinking in the sight of his eyes.

“You’re alive.” He shook his head. “I thought they took you from me.” His voice was gruff, deepened by sleep.

I sniffed and pulled my hand back from his hair. “I didn’t know I was ever yours.”

Something flashed in his eyes. In a moment, he stood over me and braced himself against the bed, placing his other hand in my hair and holding me close.

His lips met mine.

My heart began to thunder in my chest. Warmth spread across my cheeks, touching my ears. I hesitated only long enough to realise what was going on, then kissed him back. A thrum of electricity hummed beneath my skin, circling my heart.

This felt so right. So very right. A wall had finally broken between us—something that both of us had tried to keep in place. A flood of emotion was rushing past it.

I pulled away and rested my forehead on his, then smiled into his face. His eyes sparkled like the moon.

“Think you could be mine now?” he asked.

I planted a kiss on his forehead. “Only if you’ll be mine.”

He grinned. It was nice to see him grin—it brightened his eyes.

“I think I can do that.”

He sat next to me and I hugged him, my cheek against his chest.

“This is nice,” I said.

He chuckled. I could feel it rumble in his chest. “I agree.”

I looked up at him as memories began to hit me. “Seraphina. . . she. . .”

He hugged me a little tighter. “I know. I know. We tried to get her out—we didn’t make it in time.”

So he wasn’t trying to kill Seraphina. “How did you know they were planning on executing her?”

“Adrian announced it. I think he hoped it would allow the people to see him as a separate ruler from his mother. A ruler who would lead them into an entirely different future.”

A tear slipped past my eye. “I never would have expected that from Adrian.”

He looked down at me and wiped the tear with his thumb. “I know. That’s how you are—you love people. You’re always trying to find the best in them.” He swallowed. “You and my sister are alike in that way.”

I frowned. “You have a sister?”

“Had. Her name was SIlverlace.”

I inhaled a sharp breath. “Oh. I’m sorry.” A memory surfaced—Sterling calling out Silverlace’s name in Wystilor. She must have been his hallucination.

He didn’t say anything for a moment, then, “There’s something you should know about me.”

I slowly pulled away from him, but my arms were still loose around his. “Hm?”

His forehead creased. “I have a lot of things in my past. Things I’m not entirely healed from yet. I—I’m not what you need.”

“I’ll decide what I need, thank you very much.” I inhaled, a smile pulling at the corner of my lips. “We’ll take this slowly. When you’re ready to talk, I’m here.”

He swallowed. “Thank you.”

I nodded, then added, “This is totally changing the topic here, but what are we going to do about the Guardians now that Seraphina is. . .”

“About that.” He inhaled. “Do you remember the mirror that Lord Reflection gifted us for our wedding present?”

“What about it?”

“Well, Adrian had been taking counsel from the Guardians unknowingly. That man that was with Adrian? He was one of the ring-leaders in your mother’s group.”

I sucked in a breath. “Did he escape? What happened?”

“No, he did not escape. One of my men captured him and I had the man locked inside the mirror from Lord Reflection. After you blacked out, my men came to the castle to try and stop Seraphina’s death. We were too late, as you know, but we managed to capture several other Guardians as well.”

My eyes widened. “Seriously? That’s great! If we can capture them all like that, our troubles will be solved!”

He shook his head. “Not exactly. There’s still the problem of the unicorn horn. Seraphina died without giving up its location.”

I pursed my lips. “Actually, I know something about that.”

“Really? What?”

“The unicorn horn was never real. You see, there’s a whole other Talent that the Guardians have been trying to keep a secret. Seraphina was one of them. This Talent can take Talents from people and give them to others. I had this Talent too. . . which is how I killed that Shade Bandit back in Rafforun.”

He stared at me, puzzled. “What do you mean ‘had’?”

I looked down. “Seraphina took my Talents right before she died. She didn’t want the Guardians using me the way they used her.”

He hugged me. “I’m sorry.”

I shook my head against his shoulder. “Don’t be.” I forced a chuckle. “It’s going to be nice to sneeze without scorching an outfit.”

He sighed. “You don’t always have to pretend things don’t hurt.”

I didn’t say anything.

He cleared his throat. “So as long as the guardians exist, this. . . new vein of Talent is in danger?”

“It’s not new,” I said, “It’s just been hidden. But yes. As long as the Guardians are free, they will keep trying to find and use these Talents for their own selfish gain.”

“Then we’ll have to make sure they don’t stay free.” He kissed me on the cheek and I grinned.

“Y’know, a few months ago I would have slapped you for that,” I commented.

He raised his eyebrows. “I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t do that a few months ago then.”

I chuckled.

***

Seraphina’s funeral was shameful.

Not a soul knew who she truly was, and honestly, I feared what people would do if I dared argue her innocence.

She was buried like a traitor. There was no headstone for her grave, no memorial to proclaim the great deeds she’d done in her life, and no grand speech of how much her people would miss her.

She was buried as if she were a stranger in her own land.

The sky was bright that day, shining over the land as if it didn’t notice her absence.

No one cried, no one pretended to miss her.

Her own son wasn’t even there.

It almost felt as if she wasn’t there.

There was a ceremony, but few words were spoken before they began burying her casket. It was over quickly.

If their goal had been to create a forgettable funeral, they’d succeeded.

She deserved so much more.