The Fiend Queen (21 page)

Ma wilted in Roland’s arms, her life snuffed out by Katya’s words. The edges of the room turned dark.

“No,” Katya whispered, “no, no, no.”

Roland looked down at the burden in his arms. “You did this, niece.”

“No.”

“All your gifts,” Crowe said, “wasted.”

“Katya?” Da asked, and he held Ma’s lifeless body, too. “How could you let this happen?”

Katya tried to look away, but Ma was everywhere: sprawled on the settee, crumpled on the floor, slumped over in the chair, even hanging on the wall. Crowe, Da, and Roland were asking her what she’d done over and over. Reinholt and Maia stumbled over Ma’s body and shrieked in horror. Little Bastian and Vierdrin wept and tugged on Ma’s skirts, asking why she wouldn’t play with them.

Katya tried to run, but her legs wouldn’t obey her. She put her hands over her head and howled.

“Katya!”

Katya kicked up from the floor, pulse pounding in her ears. Her shoulder smacked into the wall, sending waves of pain down her spine. Her wound ached, and her shoulder and hip throbbed from where they’d been resting on the floor. She fought to control her breathing as spots danced before her eyes.

Redtrue knelt at her side, one arm outstretched. “What in Darkstrong’s name is the matter with you?”

“Tactless,” Dawnmother said, glaring at Redtrue as she stepped past. “Can’t you see she’s had a nightmare?” She touched Katya’s shoulder lightly. “Deep, even breaths, Princess. Focus on the now.”

Katya’s dream faded, all but the bodies and the weeping. “How long were we asleep?”

Dawnmother rubbed her arms. “Difficult to tell down here. Long enough to grow very sore. A few hours?”

Katya pushed off the wall and tried to ignore the shaking in her legs. “Let’s get moving.”

Dawnmother and Redtrue shared a glance, but Katya told herself she’d continue even if she had to feel her way in the dark and claw her way out of this place. She would not close her eyes again anytime soon.

Starbride

Starbride sat atop the wall overlooking Marienne, content to watch the city ebb and flow. With the gates thrown wide open, people trickled in and out. A few packed knots of men and women moved with armed purpose, led by a shouting commander. They ferreted out the last of Roland’s troops or patrolled the streets. Most wore the blue uniforms and chain shirts of the city Watch, but others wore the king’s colors.

In the field beyond the wall, darkness reigned. Out among the snowy tents, a few campfires burned low. Einrich himself had yet to reenter Marienne. He seemed content to let his soldiers or those belonging to his nobles make sure the way was safe. Most of the Allusians stayed with him, though Starbride had spotted a few darker faces amongst the crowd. Maybe the bulk of her people felt the Farradains would need time to get used to them.

The city was alive with torchlight, people moving through the night hours, most celebrating, others weeping. A few carts had gone past, bearing heaps of dead. Deeper in the city, she heard strains of music and a few drunken roars.

Yanchasa lounged on the other side of the walkway, his back against a support, one armored leg dangling over the side. “All this could have been prevented.”

“Did you try to convince Roland that there was an easier course?”

“He barely heard my voice, daughter. I could only give him scraps.”

“He always claimed he wanted his people to be happy, that he had a better plan for ruling. Do you believe that?”

Yanchasa crossed to her side of the wall and leaned far over the edge. “I think he believed himself.” He gestured at the battered city. “If he could even understand me, he certainly didn’t listen.”

“But what about—”

“Who’s up there?” someone shouted from below.

Starbride glanced down. Captain Ursula stood below, lifting her torch high as she tried to peer through the gloom.

“The only soldiers assigned to the wall are over at the Dockland side,” Ursula called, “so either get going, or get your ass down here.”

Starbride held her utility hand close to her face, casting pale light over her features.

Ursula’s eyes widened. “Princess Consort?”

“Do I still have to get my ass down there?”

“What are you doing?”

Starbride pushed off the side and dropped. Ursula shouted a warning and darted forward, but Starbride used flesh magic to make the impact ripple through her body as she landed on her feet.

To her credit, Ursula’s mouth snapped shut quickly. “I’d heard you’d changed.”

“Like I’ve developed a sunnier outlook on life? Well, I suppose I have.”

Ursula’s eyes found the pyramid in her forehead and over her heart.

Starbride lifted her hands. “Here, too.”

“So I see.”

“Are you wary of me now, Captain?”

“I’m wary of everyone.”

“I should have expected that answer from you,” Starbride said. “But you know enough to be warier of some people more than others.”

Ursula’s eyes turned to flint. “Ballantine. Is he still here?”

“Don’t know and don’t care.”

This time, Ursula’s mouth stayed open a little longer. “You stepped between us earlier. You do care about him, or I’m the king of thieves.”

“To care is not a crime,” Yanchasa said, “as long as it does not turn a strong heart to weakness.”

Horsestrong couldn’t have said it better. Starbride pictured Freddie sprawled dead on the ground or gone from her life forever. She would miss him, she decided, miss his sense of humor. Of course, he hadn’t been laughing lately.

She’d have to help him remember how. “I don’t want you to kill him.”

“When it’s lawful, it’s called execution,” Ursula said.

Starbride gave her a cold look. “Killing Freddie won’t be lawful while I’m—”

“Are you about to say, ‘in charge,’ Princess Consort?” She cocked an eyebrow.

“The king is in charge. I’m just…” But what was she without Katya?

Ursula stepped forward. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine! Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Your face just, well, crumpled.”

Starbride wrenched away. She couldn’t seem to catch her breath as the world tilted. She sank to her knees as words abandoned her. The ground shifted, or was she falling? Dirt slid through her fingers as she caught herself. Ursula’s voice gave way before the roaring in her ears. She reached for Yanchasa but felt nothing. Abandoned again. All she could see was a vision of the slender bit of metal that marked the place Katya and Dawnmother had died.

She’d died there, too, leaving a power-filled corpse, just like the rest of the remnants.

Starbride slapped the ground, and it shook, the force pulsing from her destructive pyramid reverberating through the street.

Ursula shook her shoulders, shouted in her ear, and Starbride wanted her to stop, wanted it all to stop. The power had seemed like enough, but oh, it wasn’t, wasn’t, wasn’t.

“Enough, daughter.”

The world faded to quiet, and a white void passed over Starbride’s eyes, reminding her of the time she’d been blinded. Katya had taken care of her then. She could live in that memory, let it carry her away.

“Stop.”

The memories of Katya froze and faded until all she could see was Yanchasa. Pain and loss faded to a dull, tolerable ache.

No pity or anger marred Yanchasa’s face, only steely resolve. “Seek your sympathy or your rage elsewhere. Remember what little training the Farradains gave you. Remember what I taught you. Unless you’d rather be alone?”

The pain beckoned again, a world without love; a bleak, purposeless future.

“No!” Starbride grabbed for the adsna and let it flow through her. She fed her emotions into it, letting the river of power carry them away. The white void faded, and she realized she’d folded into a ball.

Awkward hands patted her back in endless little circles. “Can’t leave her alone to go get help,” Ursula mumbled. “Where’s Rhys when I need him? Maybe I can carry her.”

Before she could try, Starbride said. “Did you find Sergeant Rhys, then?”

The motion on her back ceased. “Are you back with us?” When Starbride didn’t answer, Ursula said, “Found Rhys late this afternoon. He’d been hypnotized, but when we broke the pyramid, he came back to himself.”

“Good.” Starbride unfolded and sat up.

“We should get you inside,” Ursula said. “You’re cold to the bone.”

“I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry I called you Princess Consort. I shouldn’t have done that.”

Starbride got to her feet. “Who told you?”

“Rumor. I hoped it wasn’t true, but after I saw that you’re not together, and you…” She gestured to the cracks radiating out from where Starbride had fallen.

“Carry on, Captain.” Starbride strode away, ignoring Ursula’s questions, focusing on Yanchasa’s presence, and letting nothing else enter her thoughts.

*

The idea of sleep bored her, so Starbride strolled through the city. Some voices greeted her, but most gave her a wide berth, especially once they saw the pyramids. A few saw past them and clapped her on the back. One drunk woman swung her around by the arms, and Starbride let herself be pulled into the dance until the drunk woman fell to the ground.

Master Bernard and the few pyradistés left in the city gathered around the academy, clearing the courtyard of rubble and filth. He waved Starbride over and blinked at the pyramids glinting from her skin. Instead of horror, she saw a bloom of curiosity on his face that made her want to throw her arms around his neck.

“Are you planning to work until dawn?” Starbride asked.

“We were just about to call it a night,” Master Bernard said. “There’s nowhere to sleep inside the pyramid, and the dorms might not be safe, so we thought we might go back to the warehouse.”

“The hideout? Haven’t you had enough of that place?”

He shrugged. “We won’t have to be on our guard there.”

Her fellow pyramid users hiding in the dark, afraid of riffraff? The very idea offended. “I can keep you safe.”

“Thank you, my dear, but we don’t need a forest of traps.”

“I wasn’t talking about traps.” She pushed through her flesh pyramid and put out a call. The chill in the air peaked, and she sensed Yanchasa’s children hovering at the edge of the light. “Rest here or wherever it pleases you. You will be guarded.”

Master Bernard and the others glanced around. Whether they could sense the children or not, they would detect the more ominous chill. “There’s something in the shadows,” one of the pyradistés squeaked.

“Guarding, not harming,” Starbride said.

“You’ve
turned
them?” Master Bernard asked.

“Something like that.”

“With?” He pointed to his own forehead and then hers.

She chuckled, and Yanchasa did the same. “Rest now,” Starbride said. “Knowledge comes later.” The pyradistés hurried off to one of the dorms, and Starbride commanded the children to watch over them. “I always liked him. How much can we share with them?”

“Enough but never all, daughter. I learned the lessons of Belshreth, so you won’t ever have to.”

The lessons of Belshreth served her well the next few hours. She settled several disputes, broke up a number of fights, scared away looters, and finished collecting all the remnants. She knew she’d have to do something with the hollow things soon. Their presence disturbed the populace more than it comforted them. Still, they were useful at the moment. She set them to watch the city as they’d done for Roland, only now for Einrich.

“I hope he appreciates you, daughter,” Yanchasa said.

She tried to join in the revelry, but it never seemed to last long around her. Those so drunk they could barely stand welcomed her presence for as long as they stayed awake, but many seemed wary or too curious. She didn’t want to repeat her story over and over.

Soon after dawn, as she lingered near the palace, she spied her opportunity to find out just how much the king had come to appreciate her. Einrich rode into the square with a contingent of guards, several nobles, and a handful of Allusians by his side. He gave the lean numbers that turned out to cheer him a royal wave.

From the steps of the palace, Starbride could read the tension in the line of his back, the sorrow in his shoulders that threatened to stoop with every step of his horse. His eyes softened when they fell on her, and she shifted from foot to foot. She hadn’t realized she was so ready for him to be angry or imperious with her.

“Majesty,” she said as he dismounted. She threw in a bow.

“Starbride.” He grabbed her shoulders, greeting her as a relative even though she wasn’t, would never be.

“Be easy, daughter,” Yanchasa said.

Einrich bent to her ear. “I am grateful for everything you’ve done for me, for all of us, and for my kingdom. Please, always think of me as family.”

Starbride felt tremors begin in her body but could do nothing to stop them.

Yanchasa said, “Focus inward,” just as Einrich said, “I will always consider you a daughter.”

Starbride wrapped her arms around Einrich and pressed him close. She heard the gasps, and the crowd murmured to itself. One did not embrace royalty in public, but she trembled so; she needed something to hold on to.

Einrich hesitated, and she was about to push away, but his arms closed around her, and he patted her back. “There now.”

“Starbride?” several voices asked.

Starbride pulled away to see her parents coming from Einrich’s pack, and there was Brutal, Maia, and Hugo, hope in their eyes. Starbride turned away, letting the adsna flow. She showed weakness, and they were glad of it?

“They will be glad again of your strength soon enough,” Yanchasa said.

Starbride stepped farther away. “Majesty, if you have any need of me, I am here.”

He nodded once, and she thought she saw him tremble, too. “I’d like to see my family.”

The dignitaries and Allusians remained in one of the ballrooms under the watchful eyes of Countess Nadia. Starbride’s parents tried to press toward her, but she hurried away, leading the king along with Brutal, Maia, and Hugo. When Einrich didn’t speak, the rest seemed inclined to silence. Starbride welcomed it and didn’t look at them.