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OUR TROOP OF CARAVANS arrive a few at a time in Torrent, so as not to raise any alarms in the nearby domains and possibly warn Hivena. Malala thought that it would be a good idea to stop here first, she has a trusted friend here, and it’s close to Hivena.
Malala and I enter the grand Torrent castle ahead of everyone else and are greeted by the servants and a beautiful petite woman with hazel eyes. Her and Malala embrace each other tightly, like old friends. There’s a sense of emotion and relief between them.
“Zemira, this is Queen Sarabi of Torrent.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Zemira.” She looks up at me in awe.
“Likewise, Your Highness.”
“Sarabi, you look well. I was so worried the last time I saw you.” She smiles and squeezes Malala’s hand.
“According to my servants, I’m well thanks to you. My maid told me what you said about the bracelet, and we were able to root out the perpetrators in time. I don’t know what would have become of me if you hadn’t come to visit me that day.”
She guides us to one of her sitting rooms so we can rest from our journey and Malala fills her in on everything that’s happened in Hivena and around the world. Queen Sarabi nods empathetically.
“Yes, I’ve heard a lot about the commotion in your queendom, as well as how magic users are being mobbed in the streets everywhere. It’s horrible.”
“Yes, The People have to be stopped, and we’re on our way to do just that. We’ve gathered as many magic users and Hivena rebels as we can. As well as an army from the kingdom of Zaphyre.”
Queen Sarabi looks at us in shock.
“Zaphyre! Wow, then you really do have an army at your back.” She looks into space in thought, then nods. “Well, I can’t let you do this alone. If more fire power is what you need, I have a fleet of soldiers at your disposal.”
A look of surprise sweeps over Malala and I’s faces.
“Really Sarabi? I know this war won’t be easy. You don’t have to sacrifice any of your defense–”
“Nonsense! You’ve been a great friend to me, Malala. I owe you my life. There’s nothing I won't do to help. What kind of queen would I be if I allowed an allying queendom to fall when I could have done something about it. And of course The People won’t stop there. They’ve already infiltrated my court once, they won’t hesitate to do it again. I will help. But first, I must introduce you to my younger brother Farid. He’s the captain of the guard.”
She sends a servant off to get him and they return with a young man in a light green uniform. Queen Sarabi introduces him to us as her brother and captain.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Highnesses.” He bows to Malala and I.
We stand to bow back, and as I begin to rise, an intense dizzying wave suddenly comes over me, causing my head to swim and the room to spin.
“Zemira? Are you okay?” Malala tries to ask as I stumble, but I can barely hear her as my heart pounds in my chest and a loud wind fills my ears. It’s almost like someone unplugged something and a rush of energy was released, threatening to overwhelm me. The intense wave of nausea almost causes me to black out.
Then, just as quickly, my vision becomes crystal clear and my surroundings become muted as my mind floods with visions of the Ringmaster.
“It is time, Zemira.” His voice floods my ears as scenes of what looks like his life zip across my eyes one after the other. “You are the new Ringmaster, the beating heart for the Lost Souls.” Knowledge that I’ve never studied before floods my mind as texts from scrolls and books I've never read filter into my brain. “Take care of yourself and the magic users. It’s your responsibility now. You have everything you need to carry out this duty.”
I suddenly feel stronger and clearer than I’ve ever felt before in my entire life. My magic courses through my veins, and I realize, that it’s always been there. I never knew what this subtle underlying feeling was that vibrated through my body, but now I realize... it’s been my magic this whole time!
Without warning, I snap back into myself, gasping for air.
“Zemira! Are you okay?” Malala asks frantically, bending next to me along with Farid.
“I’ll have a servant fetch a doctor.” Queen Sarabi says, but before she can scurry off to the door, I hold up my hand to stop her.
“No. No, it’s fine.” The light filtering in through the windows feels too bright, and my stomach feels sour, but I don’t want them to have to worry about me during a time like this. Plus, I’m almost certain this isn’t something a normal doctor can fix.
I get to my shaky limbs.
“I just need to talk to Rowan.”
“Are you sure?” Malala asks worriedly. I nod.
“Positive. Please finish your discussion with your friend about Hivena and The People. You can catch me up later.”
“Zemira are you–”
I stagger out of the sitting room and go on the hunt for Rowan before she can finish. We all arrived together, but him and some of the other Lost Souls were directed to a different room to rest.
I wind up finding him and Scirocco helping the soldiers carry in supplies from the caravans.
“Rowan, I need your help.” He turns to look at me, and as soon as he sees the look on my face, his expression falters.
“Zemira, are you okay?”
Him and Scirocco each grab an arm and guide me to sit down on a nearby settee sofa. I tell them what happened and he examines me and my fingers, which I didn’t realize have started glowing of their own accord. Then he stares at me hard, before a look of realization settles into his features.
“Oh...it’s time.”
Scirocco looks from him to me.
“Time for what? What does that mean?”
A forlorn expression clouds Rowan’s eyes.
“It means the Ringmaster... is gone. You’re the new Ringmaster now.”
Scirocco’s hands go to her mouth in astonishment. A weight crashes down on me and a swirl of mixed emotions swim through my body. Part of me feels invigorated, like I have all this energy I don’t know what to do with, and the other part feels guilty and scared.
The Ringmaster is gone? Already? I didn’t know this would happen so soon. What right do I have to fill a responsibility such as his? How are the others going to feel about this? The Ringmaster didn’t say anything was wrong before we left.
“Come on. Let’s run some tests.” Rowan says and he takes me to a small training area where I practice my magic. It feels much stronger than it’s ever felt before. Not only that, I can sense magic in others very clearly. I can see varying bits of it in everyone, including “non-magic users''.
There’s some flowing through the servants and guards walking around the castle. The royals have a little more magic coursing through them then most. Malala has more magic in her than the average person.
I can also feel what kind of magic they probably have and what they’re magic can do. The most interesting part is...I can reach out and touch it.
After letting this new information sink in, Rowan gathered the rest of the Lost Souls and gave them this heartbreaking news. I didn’t know what to expect from them. I would completely understand if they were angry at me, but it seems that they were all more prepared for this than I was.
They got up one after the other and showered me with many hugs of support and words of encouragement. It feels bittersweet and I can’t help the guilt that eats away inside of me.
Noticing the look on my face, Rowan stands next to me with a hand on my shoulder.
“Don’t worry Zemi. This is exactly how the Ringmaster wanted this to go. He wanted to make this final transition alone.”
He gives me a sad smile and I nod back. Even so, it’s impossible not to feel guilty.
After convening with the Lost Souls, a day goes by where everyone rests and we wait for the rest of our caravans to arrive. When they do, we all gather in a meeting room Queen Sarabi set aside for us to plan our attack.
I sit in a chair across the table next to Malala, and Kuruk barges in minutes later. His eyes quickly scan the room before landing on me and he strides over, grabbing my face in his warm hands.
“Are you okay?” He asks worriedly, searching my eyes for any sign of distress. Someone must have told him I wasn’t feeling well yesterday.
I nod vigorously.
“I’m alright. Just some new developments in my magic is all.” He continues to search my eyes to make sure I was telling the truth, then slowly nods his head and kisses my forehead before taking a seat right next to me. It brings me a sense of ease.
“So how are we going to get into the castle past The People and their guards?” Scirocco asks as everyone settles into the room.
“Should we use the tunnels again?” Balenda offers. Malala shakes her head no.
“They’ll be more on guard and ready for us this time. I think the only real choice we have left is to fight them head on. If anything, it’ll be hard to sneak everyone into Hivena and get close to the castle. They’ll have a heavy influx of guards at the borders.”
“Do you remember anything about their guarding regime?” Jabari asks, looking between Malala, Captain Maquis, and Lieutenant Rue. Malala shakes her head no.
“I was too out of it to register what was going on around me.”
Captain Marquis nods in agreement. “As soon as we were overrun, many of us were driven out. They had new replacements to guard the castle almost immediately. Not all of them were trained as Hivena guards, so their tactics are different.”
“So we’ll just have to overrun them at the border.” Farid offers. “We need to make sure we have enough soldiers to break through and clear a path to the castle.”
“That would be risky to try and attack on the borders. They’ll have the advantage. Our forces will dwindle considerably before we even get a chance to make it to the castle where I’m sure more guards will be stationed. If we can avoid the extra carnegie, we should.”
“So, you're saying we should get as close to the castle as possible before attacking?” I ask Captain Marquis, and he nods.
“With the resources we have, that would be the best outcome.”
“Unless there are some sort of tunnels that can lead us from outside of Hivena into the heart of it to bypass the borders that we don’t know about, that may be difficult. I’m sure the traitorous Hivena soldiers will become alarmed as soon as they hear word of an army from Zaphyre and Torrent are approaching their borders.” Farid cautions.
He’s right, and we all go quiet. I catch Balenda and Madame Rosely looking at each other out the corner of their eyes, then they look from Farid to Malala. Balenda looks reluctant, but finally relays her thoughts.
“If it’s someone who would be skilled in knowing the ins and outs of Hivena is what we need...I think I know someone who could help.”
*****
QUEEN SARABI HAS AN obscure carriage prepared and Malala, Balenda, Rowan, Captain Marquis and I sneak into Hivena into a neighborhood I’ve never seen before.
Even though multiple people in our group volunteered to come along, it was best to bring as few people as possible so as not to raise suspicion. The guards wouldn’t recognize Rowan, and thanks to Madame Rosely and her potions, we were able to be temporarily invisible as we entered the queendom. Nonetheless, Kuruk was not too happy to learn that he couldn’t tag along.
As evening approaches, we stop in front of a nice house and put on our hoods as we walk up to a brown door decorated with a small stained glass window.
Malala knocks, and after a couple of minutes, I’m startled, and a little taken aback, to see Mrs. Rendezvous answer the door in a robe and slippers. I feel like I’m being catapulted back in time seeing my old school teacher in such a normal setting.
I look to Malala with shocked eyes.
“I know.” she whispers. “Shocked me too the first time I saw her.”
Mrs. Rendezvous is also startled to see us. She takes one ghastly look at Malala and Balenda and quickly ushers us into the house hissing.
“Do you want to get me killed?! If someone sees you, that's the end of me.”
“We’re sorry to disturb you Mrs. Rendezvous, but we greatly need your help.” I offer.
She looks up at me scrutinizingly, then her eyes slowly widen in astonishment.
“You...you're alive?! H-how is this possible?” She looks from Malala to Balenda questioningly and we all look at each other sheepishly.
“It’s a long story.” Balenda says. Mrs. Rendezvous scoffs.
“Of course it is. Why am I not surprised to hear that from you, Balenda.”
“That’s not important right now.” Malala interjects. “What is important is that The People and their leader Obediah have taken over Hivena, and their doctrines have spread across many dominions across the region. It’s causing mayhem. Subjects have taken to killing magic users in the streets. We have to stop it. We have a way and we’re planning to siege the castle. But we have to figure out a way to get our soldiers into Hivena without warning The People beforehand. We were hoping you knew of some way we could do that.”
She stares at us intensely. I almost wondered if she’d decide to give us a seething scolding before kicking us out of her house forever.
Suddenly she turns and walks briskly down the hall with her cane, and we follow. We enter into a small study full of aged papers and maps that look like they haven’t been touched in years.
Mrs. Rendezvous turns to us.
“This was my husband's study. He used to work as a war general for the crown.” Her face hardens as if consumed in a painful memory. “There should be something here to help you.”
She looks through the belongings, and as I gaze around at all of the detailed maps and strategies about Hivena, I can see why Balenda thought bringing us to Mrs. Rendezvous would be helpful.
“Ah, here we are.” She presents an old map of Hivena that someone wrote all over. “When my husband was originally hired, he was to assess Hivena and all of its geographical weak points to strengthen them from the inside out. We can use this to figure out a route to get your army to the castle by surprise.”
Captain Marquis steps over to the desk and scans the document, his eyes going wide in hope. “This could work.” He breathes. “This may be exactly what we need to form a plan.”
Balenda sighs in relief and turns to Mrs. Rendezvous.
“Thank you, thank you.”
“There’s no need to thank me. Although this is not how it’s usually done...” She gives a pointed look towards me. “The People can’t rule. This is not their land, and we must fight to get it back. Do not disappoint me, Dwarf Queens.”
With that we nod in gratitude and leave her home, drawing our hoods. As we head back to the carriage, Rowan calls out.
“What is that?” He breathes, looking towards the sky.
We look up to see a massive dark cloud staining the horizon. It stretches and bubbles almost as if it were living and trying to escape itself. It’s unlike any storm cloud I’ve ever seen.
“No!” Malala whispers under her breath. “That’s it...the Queen Eater.”
Chills shoot down my spine as we watch the unsettling and unnatural cloud coming in from the west, a dark omen of what’s to come.
This time, Malala speaks with conviction and finality in her voice. The People have proved that they’re more than just talk. We have to prove that we are too.
“Within a week's time, we will attack.”
