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CERYN PROTESTS SLIGHTLY, but Everleigh insists that her hair is washed, her nails are cut, her clothes are changed. “I don’t care if you want to dress like a boy, but you must dress like a clean boy.”
“I don’t want to dress like a boy.”
Everleigh, Addyson and Della raise sceptical eyebrows at her. “Fine – I do, but only because it’s more practical. I’m sorry, but in my normal life, when I’m not trying to steal your mad brother’s crown, I ride, I hunt, I fight. I can’t do any of those things easily in a big frouffy dress.”
“Frouffy?”
“Yes. Petticoats and corsets, and layers and layers of frill, silk, velvet. You must be so hot all the time.”
“Maybe, but all I do is sit and sew, so it doesn’t matter.”
They all smile, but at least now Ceryn’s boyish clothes are clean and don’t smell.
They are ready to head to the great hall.
Ceryn keeps a hand on her sword as they make their way through the hallways. With many of Millard’s men dead and most of the others having run away, the castle is still quiet.
“We really need Weaver to hurry back with an army for you.”
“It’s so quiet.”
“Too quiet. If there are any of Millard’s men left and they’re planning something, we’re down to two men now. Not sure how much use Archer and me will be on our own. He’s still not back on top form.”
He fought pretty well yesterday, but Everleigh knows it pained him.
They pass the teacher on the way to breakfast. “Good morning. How was your fresh air?”
“Fresh. But I am ready to eat. I’d like to know your intentions for me then, Everleigh. Do you need me; would you like me to stay?”
“Yes, please. I’d love you to stay. I am lacking in experienced advisors. I don’t want to mess this up. Will you stay and help? Not forever but for a while?”
“I’d be delighted to. But I would appreciate more comfortable quarters than I enjoyed last night. I am old, you know.”
“Absolutely. I feel like the castle is a safer place today than it was yesterday. But I won’t put you at risk. I’ll put you, Will, Archer and Finn in together and us girls will stay together.
“Where’s Ginata? I wanted to ask her about some of the berries I found growing in the garden. How she uses them.”
“She’s gone to her rooms. She doesn’t seem herself.”
“I’ll find her later. For now, let’s eat.” The teacher bows low to Everleigh and follows her into the great hall. They all take their seats at the dais, even Archer and Ceryn. They want to stand guard but Everleigh convinces them to eat first.
She calls a little maid over. “Where’s Molly? I want to talk to her.”
Molly had risked her life to help Everleigh on two occasions; once when she drugged Millard’s guards and tried to kill him and again when they tried to rescue Lanorie from the tower. Everleigh wants to thank her.
“Missing. We’ve not seen her for a few days.”
Everleigh thanks the little maid and sends her off to the kitchen. “Did you hear that?”
Archer shakes his head. “Sorry, what was it?”
“The little maid that helped us, Molly, is missing. No one’s seen her for a few days. I bet Millard’s done something. Oh, Archer, will this ever end?”
“Yes, I promise.” He touches her cheek with his fingertips. “You will be Queen and the next time any one of us sees your brother, he will die.”
“Is it worth it all? The death, the pain?”
“Absolutely. You were born to rule, born to be Queen. You have to believe it. You will be a good Queen, a kind Queen, a fair Queen.”
“And you will be by my side?”
“For as long as you let me.”
Once they have all eaten Will tells Everleigh that he wants to visit his father, check up on him. Della and Addyson decide to go to Everleigh’s room and sew bunting for the coronation. Finn says he’s going to see his friends in the village, and seems even grumpier than he was the day before. Della shrugs when Everleigh gives her a questioning look and Everleigh puts him out of her mind. Archer and Ceryn head off together to take stock of the castle’s weaponry, suss out what guards are left and familiarise themselves with the castle layout, to better plan against attacks.
Everleigh falls into step beside the teacher. “I’d like some help, please?”
“Of course.”
“I know I have this magic in me, but I don’t understand it or know what to do with it. Do I control it or does it control me? What’s it good for?”
“Ah, magic. Magic is a funny old thing. Let’s go inside, where we know we’ll be safe.”
They head to Everleigh’s room, lock the door, and take seats away from Addyson and Della, who are deep in conversation.
“Magic is elusive. We don’t know where it comes from or why it manifests itself in some people and not others. You have magic because you’re born to rule, but you also had the magic of the Kingmaker in your blood, just because of who you were born to. I have some magic and yet I am not royal. Halfreda was the same. And Ginata. I cultivate my magic and sharpen my skills. I can use spells. You won’t need spells; you are the magic. I can train the magic in the air, rein it in and use it, but it comes from outside of me. It’s as though the magic knows I can understand it and comes to me willingly. Magic likes to be used, wants to be useful. You have magic that you never knew existed until now. What can you do?”
“I can talk to the animals, without words. I can steer a stone or an arrow off course. I can make it rain, or make lightning.”
“So, you can control the entire Realm. If you can speak to animals without words, you have the power of the mind. If you make objects move you have the power of all things. If you can control the weather as well, you have more magic than I have ever seen. How do you feel when you use it?”
“Powerful but concerned. I don’t feel like I’m in control. Like what if the rain brings the lightning and the lightning makes a fire, like it did yesterday when I made the hanging tower go up in flames, what if the flames grow and attack a person?”
“Can you make a flame without lightning?”
“Yes. I forgot, yes. I made a fire to burn Lanorie and Brett’s bodies, so the animals wouldn’t eat them.”
“Show me.”
They walk to the grate and Everleigh stares at the kindling. In seconds a flame sparks and grows.
“How do you do it? Do you think about fire or silently ask for a fire to start?”
“I just think about fire. I imagine the flame in my mind and then it appears.”
“Can you put it out?”
She tries and the flame splutters to a stop and then goes out, a thin wisp of smoke all that remains.
“Again?”
Everleigh starts the fire again.
“Now can you grow it and shrink it back down? Ask it to spread and then control it?”
“I’ll try.” Everleigh stares at the flames and they grow, and then she shrinks them back down to a small spark. “What’s the point though?”
“There’s no point, really. Magic is just a part of you, something to cultivate or ignore if you’d rather. I imagine it could be helpful to you. If you were attacked, for example, you could send a chair flying at someone or shoot a ball of flames at them. You don’t have to use your magic at all, Everleigh. It’s just something you have, like dark hair or blue eyes. You mustn’t fear it, or feel guilty if you don’t remember to use it. It’s a skill, so the more you use it the more manageable it will be, the more refined. If you choose to do nothing more than make it cold when you’re feeling too hot, that’s your prerogative, but the magic you have could be helpful to you, useful. Not just to attack people but to help people.”
“I feel like I have a strange disease or something.”
“It’s not a disease, certainly. It’s a blessing. But it’s yours. You do not have to use it, like it or understand it. It can be something you put aside. You will be Queen, Everleigh. You will do as you please and no one can stop you.”
“That sounds nice.”
“What do you please?”
“I would like a happy, healthy Realm, where people are good and kind and have all that they need.”
“That sounds nice. What about bad people? How will you punish them?”
“I have no idea. I have so much to think about, don’t I?”
“So much. But you have a good team in place and I, as well as they, will do anything I can to make it easier for you.”
“Thank you.”
He takes Everleigh’s hand and kisses it. They sit in front of the flames, until they gutter out completely.