Heart of Fire (33 page)

“Regrettably, yes. I am running out
of ways to distract Prince Erebus. I swear, if he does not stop
petting me like a kitten, I may show him my claws.”

Fynna spit more crumbs out as she
laughed. “I would like to see that!”

“Mark my words, as soon as I become
his mage, I will waste no time making sure he understands his hands
are not welcome anywhere near me.”

“When you become the new mage...”
Fynna hesitated, twisting her toes in the carpet.

“Yes?”

“I would like to be your apprentice.
If you think I could do it, that is.”

“Of course you could do it, but
wouldn’t you rather return home?”

“For everything Sryka puts me
through, I like castle life. At least I like it since you’ve gotten
here.”

Jessalyne was touched by Fynna’s
words. “When I am mage, you will always have a place here. But you
will come and go as you please. None of this asking permission
rubbish.”

Fynna stuffed another biscuit in her
mouth.

“You keep eating those biscuits like
that and you’ll be too fat to fly.” Jessalyne opened the wardrobe
to select a gown for dinner. “How awful is this one?” Jessalyne
pulled out a spinach green sateen gown with mustard ribbons lacing
up the sleeves and banding the waist.

“Must I answer?”

“You just did. Do you think the
prince’s clothier is blind?”

Fynna laughed and set the biscuits
down long enough to lace Jessalyne into the gown. She smoothed her
hair into a simple braid. “All right, I best go. I’ll see you after
dinner. Maybe we’ll play some Fryst when I get back, if you feel
like it.”

“I’ll walk with you. I think cook is
making liver dumplings.”

Jessalyne raised an eyebrow. “And
you’re going to eat those after eating chocolate biscuits? Not only
do I not know where you store all that food, I don’t know how you
keep it down.”

At the bottom of the stairs, Fynna
veered the back hall toward the scullery and Jessalyne reluctantly
took her seat at the prince’s table.

Prince Erebus entered with his usual
pomposity. He wore a purple velvet cloak, trimmed in peacock
feathers and gold braid. A bit much, even for him.

Somewhat distracted by the
extravagant cloak, she at last noticed two familiar faces in the
procession with Prince Erebus. Sryka and Sir Laythan were walking
behind the prince. Sir Laythan’s mouth was crumpled in an unhappy
frown, but Sryka was oddly buoyant even as she leaned on her
staff.Jessalyne tried to catch Sir Laythan’s eye as the party made
its way onto the dais but he didn’t look in her
direction.

At the trumpeters’ final flourish,
Prince Erebus raised his hands to silence the crowd. “Citizens of
Shaldar, visiting nobles and distinguished guests! As always, your
love and affection for me is overwhelming.”

Jessalyne thought she might retch.
Laythan but he still would not look at her. Sryka’s eyes were fixed
on the prince as he continued his address.

“As you all know, I have been
searching for a bride. A woman who must not only serve me as wife
and companion but who must also serve you, the people of Shaldar,
as your queen. A woman who will bear the heirs to Shaldar’s throne.
A woman who most importantly must receive the blessing of King
Maelthorn.”

Finally. The king had blessed Salena
and the prince would leave her alone at last. Great relief swept
through her knowing this would be the last dinner spent fending off
the prince’s advances. Salena preened in the audience, staring at
the prince with a haughty expectance.

Jessalyne felt a hand on her
shoulder and looked up to see the prince. He still spoke to the
crowd. “It is my great honor to introduce you to the woman who will
be my mage.” He gazed at Jessalyne, his smile wide enough to show
his molars. “And in one week’s time, my queen. I give you Jessalyne
Brandborne of Fairleigh Grove!”

Chapter
Seventeen

The visceral howl erupting from
Salena barely registered in Jessalyne’s mind. The room spun as she
gasped for breath. His queen. All sound faded. Lights dimmed. She
clutched for the table, for anything that would keep her upright.
Her knees failed. She grabbed a handful of fabric as she slipped
from her chair.

In her grasp, the prince’s sumptuous
cloak tore loose from its jeweled fastenings at his shoulders and
fell over her. Strangely detached, she stared at the ceiling. The
prince stood above her, his hands on his hips.

He addressed the crowd. “Seems once
again I am too much man for one woman.”

The crowd erupted with cheers and
hoorahs and the prince motioned for his stewards. “Take this girl
to her chambers,” he snapped. “I am about to make her queen and
this is how she reacts? Foolish chit.”

Sryka hobbled up beside Erebus.
“Well done, your highness.”

“Sit.” He ordered. “I will not have
an empty chair at my table.”

* * *

The loud rapping startled Fynna. She
opened the door to find Jessalyne draped across the arms of one of
the prince’s stewards.

“What happened?”

The man barged in and dumped
Jessalyne onto the closest bed.

“She passed out, what does it look
like?” He stomped out without bothering to shut the
door.

Fynna secured the door, then went to
Jessalyne’s side and lifted her head to slip a pillow beneath it.
She felt Jessalyne’s forehead. Not hot. Not cold either. What was
wrong with her? “Jessalyne, can you hear me?” Fynna took
Jessalyne’s hands between her own. “Your hands are like ice! What
happened?”

A quiet moan answered Fynna’s
pleading. Jessalyne took a deep breath as she struggled to sit up.
“I didn’t pass out but I wish I had.”

“I don’t think you should be up
yet.” Fynna gently pushed her back.

Jessalyne moaned again, covering her
face with her hands. “Oh Fynna, it’s just so awful. I cannot marry
him. I will not marry him, I refuse.”

“Marry who? What’s awful? What
happened?”

Jessalyne grasped Fynna’s small
hands and stared into her eyes. “The prince somehow got the king to
bless me as his bride. In one week we’re to be wed and he will be
king.”

“Oh no.” Fynna shook her head. “I
wondered what the noise in the great hall was. This cannot be. We
must find Ertemis now.”

Sitting up, Jessalyne sighed. “I
need Sryka’s crystal.”

Smiling, Fynna reached into the
pouch dangling from her waist sash. “When I was in the scullery, I
heard the servers commenting on how odd it was to see Sryka at
dinner. I made a little visit her chambers.” She pulled out a long
black cord with a single onyx crystal swinging from the
end.

“You got it!” Jessalyne hugged
Fynna. “Thank you so much.”

“How do we make this thing
work?”

“I need a bowl of water sprinkled
with ashes.”

Fynna jumped off the bed and grabbed
the washbasin. “Will this work?”

“It will have to.” Jessalyne cleared
the game table and fetched the water jug while Fynna set the bowl
on the table and scooped some ashes from the fireplace.

Jessalyne filled the bowl then
nodded for Fynna. She sprinkled a small handful of ashes over the
water’s surface. “Enough?”

“It looks right, from what I
remember.”

Fynna clapped the dust from her
hands. “Now what?”

“Now I scry.” Jessalyne dangled the
crystal over the water and uttered the words Sryka taught her.
“With powers of fire and water bound, what is lost shall now be
found.”

They waited. Nothing
happened.

“Maybe I added too much ash.” Fynna
stared into the sooty water.

“Maybe I said it wrong.” Jessalyne
cleared her throat and tried it again.

“I think it moved that time.” Fynna
said.

“That was a breeze from the window.”
Jessalyne shook her head. “I have a feeling we could try this all
night with the same results. It isn’t going to work. It probably
only responds to Sryka.” She handed the crystal back to
Fynna.

Fynna hid her disappointment.
Jessalyne had enough troubles. “It was worth a try. I’ll put it
back in the morning, she’ll never know it was gone.”

Jessalyne sunk onto her bed. “What
am I going to do? I cannot marry Erebus. He repulses me. To think
of him touching me...” She shuddered.

Fynna patted her hand. “Wait until
dinner is over, then go speak with Sir Laythan about the poison
tonic. The prince will probably spend the evening with that tramp
Salena. The guest quarters are far from the king’s, and after the
prince’s announcement this evening, he’ll have to go to her,
because she won’t be coming to him.”

“I should try to cleanse the poison
out of the king’s system. He’s a good man, Fynna. He doesn’t
deserve to suffer,” Jessalyne said.

“The good in this kingdom rarely get
what they deserve.” Fynna tucked her knees up and wrapped her arms
around her legs.

“It doesn’t make sense, though. Why
would Sryka poison the king? When Erebus becomes king, I will
become the mage in power. She stands to lose
everything.”

Fynna shook her head. “Trust me,
Sryka does nothing that doesn’t serve her own goals. How she’ll
benefit from Erebus on the throne, I don’t know but it cannot be
good.”

Jessalyne squeezed Fynna’s hand.
“Oh, Ertemis. Where are you when I need you most?” She whispered
his name over and over while clinging to the pendant around her
neck .

* * *

Jessalyne’s voice ripped through
Ertemis’s mind. He sprung from the pallet, instinctively reaching
for his sword before realizing what had happened. He opened his
mind to her. Desperate unhappiness overwhelmed his senses and he
pulled back, astounded by how much she filled him. It was time. He
tucked the ring beneath his breastplate before waking Brynden. “Get
up. I must leave. I need you in the stables watching
Dragon.”

In truth, Dragon didn’t need
watching. Anyone foolish enough to try stealing that animal would
be soundly dissuaded by a well-placed hoof or sharp bite. But it
couldn’t hurt to make the boy feel useful.

“I’m up. I’m up.” Brynden did little
to hide his disappointment when he saw Ertemis buckling the sword
onto his belt. “I guess you’re taking that with you?”

Ertemis shot him a
glance.

“Well, what if someone tries to
steal Dragon? I have no weapon!”

“You have Dragon. That’s enough,
trust me.”

He grumped, but threw his cloak
around his shoulders as Ertemis did the same. Ertemis flipped him a
silver. “Take your dinner to the stables. Whatever you don’t spend,
you may keep.”

“Thank you!” Brynden’s eyes rounded,
the matter of weaponry forgotten.

“If anyone asks, I’ve off drinking.
If I’m not back by firstlight, tend Dragon, then come back to the
room. Stay here in case I need you.”

“Aye. Good luck to ya.”

“Men like us make our own luck,
Brynden.”

The boy smiled. “I’ll remember that,
master elf.”

As soon as Brynden left, Ertemis
went to the window overlooking the alley and opened it, taking in
the night. Thick clouds allowed only brief glimpses of the waning
moon, darkening the night almost completely.

Celebratory sounds drifted in with
the night air. Focusing, he heard snippets about the prince’s
engagement. Unconcerned with such petty matters, he shifted his
thoughts to finding Jessalyne. He slipped out the window and with
elven agility dropped silently to the ground below, his cloak
billowing out around him. Both directions down the alley were
clear. He tugged his hood up and wrapped the night around him. With
each step, he disappeared a little more into the shadows until he
walked onto the street, completely veiled in the night’s
embrace.

* * *

Fynna returned from her spying
mission. “The hall’s clear. Just a few drunken revelers passed out
by the fires.”

Jessalyne didn’t want to leave the
room but she needed to tell Sir Laythan about the tonic and find
out how she had suddenly become Prince Erebus’ betrothed. “All
right, I’m going. Don’t wait up, I have no idea how long I’ll be
gone.”

Fynna nodded and whispered, “Be
careful.”

Jessalyne tip-toed into the great
hall. Fynna’s assessment was accurate, but she still kept to the
back wall as she crossed to the other side. The castle was so
quiet. Perhaps everyone had drunk themselves to sleep.

The guards outside the king’s
chambers gave her a curious look. The tall one spoke. “The hour is
very late. His highness is asleep, miss.”

“Please, I must speak with Sir
Laythan. It’s urgent.”

They glanced at each
other.

“I’ll be quick and quiet, I
promise.”

The shorter guard smiled. “Miss
Jessalyne, you have yet to be noisy.” He gave her
entrance.