My leg is only slightly weaker than before it was wounded. As we walk down the hall toward the treasury, I think of exercises I can do to improve it. It’s still tender, but strong enough for me to get back into things. Stretching it out with a walk feels good.
My guards surround me, Julina currently leading the way and Nash beside me. I haven’t said a thing. I don’t want anyone to get more suspicious than they already are about our relationship. Besides, my heart is sore from the blow he delivered to it.
I never thought emotional pain would be as bad as torture, but love is a different sort of torture all its own. It’s not like I can exercise my heart, to make it stronger.
Our group comes to a stop outside a pair of grand doors, two guards on either side. The doors are intricately carved, gleaming under the torches lining the hall. Although it's daytime, they are needed here. There are no windows along this long corridor, which ends at the treasury and has no other halls branching off it.
One of the guards stationed by the treasury entrance pulls a torch off the wall. “Would you like me to accompany you inside the vault, Your Majesty?”
“No, thank you. My Head Advisor and I will be fine examining it on our own,” I say. “My lady-in-waiting, Jem Surah, should be here shortly. Please allow her entrance when she comes. No others are allowed.”
He gives a brisk nod. “You will be needing this.” He hands me the torch, and another guard hands one to Nash. They station themselves back at the sides of the doors.
I pull out the key I got from Timit from around my neck. As Head of the Treasury, he is in charge of it, which makes me leery, but we’ll see what’s inside. He wanted to come with us, but I insisted Nash and I could do it on our own, and I’d decide if Jem would join us. It took a lot of persuasion, and in the end, I had to use my position as queen. Someday, I’d like to go over its contents with Timit, but right now I want to see its value for myself, untainted by his thoughts.
The key is thick and heavy, with lots of notches at its end. I use it to open the door, only to find a second set of doors. Nash and I move into the room and close the outer doors behind us but don’t lock them. I unlock the second set with a different key and push it open.
A gasp escapes me.
Gold and gems are heaped all over the room in huge amounts. The smallest stack is more wealth than I’ve ever seen in one place before, and there are dozens of piles. I take several steps in. The doors close behind me. Nash must have followed me in.
I walk through the mounds that are taller than I am, making little walkways through the room. As I stare in awe, I realize there’s a pattern. Around the edges are the biggest stashes. Medium-sized stashes encircle a sort of hallway. Pedestals containing smaller treasures are clustered together by in groups or scattered throughout in twos and threes.
The biggest group of pedestals hunker in the corner, surrounded by gold and gems with barely enough room to walk between them. They are about waist high and have different types of crowns and tiaras on them, ranging from overly thick with a multitude of jewels to a simple band of silver with three diamonds in the center.
As I continue to roam, I find more and more treasure, my awe growing by the moment. Most of the riches are in gold coins or gems, but here and there are piles of silver. The metal and precious stones sparkle under my torchlight.
I focus on the pedestals as I stroll through the room.
There are all sorts of interesting items. A stack of scrolls bundled together. A lamp of clear, colored glass, tall and beautiful. A strange thin needle with a bottle of what looks like ink and a bowl next to it.
I’m particularly drawn to one item, though I can’t understand why. It’s a simple wooden ring. Without thinking about it, I place it on the thumb of my right hand. It fits perfectly. My thumb feels warm.
“Interesting choice,” Nash says, startling me.
“It’s not often someone can sneak up on me.”
“Today’s a good day for it.” He gives me a faint smile.
I peruse the dull wood on my finger. What draws me to it so? I’m reluctant to take off the ring, even if I don’t understand why. Nothing about it appeals to me, visually.
“You can keep wearing it if you want,” he says.
“I’m not sure I should.”
“It belongs to you.”
I shake my head. “It belongs to the people.”
Still, it stays on my hand.
“I don’t think anyone will care if you wear a plain ring taken out of the treasury.”
He’s right. I want to keep it, and it’s nothing big. It won’t hurt. “Very well.”
Together, we walk. He slips his hand in mine, and I pretend everything is all right between us.
And then I see a necklace with a green jewel.
I gasp.
“What is it?” Concern laces his words.
It’s the First Queen’s necklace. I’m uncertain about touching it, a feeling holding me back the same way something wanted me to take the ring. Perhaps it’s reverence for the First Queen and all that she’s done for me. Guiding me through this job as queen, listening to me, and being there for me when I needed someone.
Nash looks from me to the necklace. “Ryn?”
“Sorry. I’m just surprised.” Do I tell him about the First Queen? I shouldn’t; I don’t want him to think I’m crazy. Then again, this is Nash. I don’t want to lie to him or hide things from him. Maybe I should have told him sooner. “This necklace belonged to the First Queen of Valcora.”
He furrows his eyebrows. “How do you know? I didn’t think anyone knew much about her.”
I lick my lips. “I’ve seen her. She comes to me, in something similar to a dream, ever since I first drank the Mortum Tura.”
His expression remains so neutral, I can’t tell what he’s thinking.
“Do you think I’m crazy?” I ask.
He glances around the room as if to make certain we’re alone. “No. I think you’ve been touched by powerful magic.”
He believes me.
A rush of relief floods through me. He believes me. “That’s what she said. Well… not powerful, but she said it was the magic of the Mortum Tura that allowed me to speak with her.”
He runs a hand through his hair. “Ryn, I haven't heard of anything like this. If the country found out…”
“What?”
“I don’t know how they’d react. It’s either brilliant or dangerous.”
A chill permeates the air. “How could it be dangerous?”
He takes a step closer, lowering his voice. “Magic is uncommon in Valcora.”
“I know, but why does that make it dangerous?”
“Maybe it doesn’t. Maybe I’m wrong. But sometimes people react poorly to things they don’t understand.”
It is true that I had a hard time with my first experience with the First Queen. It’s easy to see how others would have a difficult time with it, especially since they can’t interact with her. “That’s part of the reason I never told anyone about her. I’m not always sure I haven’t gone crazy.”
“You’re perfectly sane. No one understands much about the Mortum Tura. I’m not surprised it does more than we first suspected,” he says. “What is she like?”
“She’s wise, most of the time. Sometimes helpful, but often leaves me to figure out things on my own. She says she’s here to guide me. To keep me from wanting…”
“Wanting what?”
I don’t wish to tell him, but his expression is so earnest. “To kill myself.”
His eyes widen slightly, but otherwise he doesn’t react.
It feels strange to tell someone, even if that someone is him, but I need to show him I can open up. “You know some of what I went through with Daros.”
Daros. What would he think of this treasure? He’d love to get his hands on it. I force myself to stay focused on the conversation. “It was hard, for lack of a better word. After I left, I kept thinking about all I did for him. The people I killed. The blood on my hands. I couldn’t take it anymore. I wanted to end my life.”
“Oh Ryn…” He gives my hand a gentle squeeze.
If I stop, I’ll never get it all out, so I continue. “I never mattered to anyone other than for what I was worth as an assassin. For once, I needed to matter. To be the focus. What better way than the Mortum Tura? Only I didn’t count on the fact that the drink only chooses a queen who doesn’t want to be queen.”
He raises his eyebrows. “What?”
I nod. “It’s true. The queen is someone who doesn’t wish to be queen. Who doesn’t want power. Which is one reason why the First Queen left her essence in the potion. She knew most of us girls who became queen would be desperate and need guidance and help.”
“What an awful plan.”
I bristle. “Why awful? I thought it was smart to have only someone who didn’t want to be queen make it. Less power-hungry rulers that way.”
“That’s true, but what a horrible experience for all those girls who simply wanted to be queen, and instead died a horrific death.”
The First Queen’s presences feels close, as if I’ve drawn her attention. I find myself wanting to defend her. “It was the only way the potion would work.”
“Maybe. But it doesn’t lessen the lives lost.”
“No. It doesn’t.” It’s uncomfortably hot in here, the chill gone. The summer sun must be shining down on this part of the building. I have to change the subject. I can’t abide talking about death any longer. “This is why I don’t have nightmares anymore. The First Queen stops them.”
“Wish she could stop them for me too,” he mutters.
“I wish the same.” It’s my turn to give his hand a squeeze. “Will you do me a favor and keep her a secret?”
“I will.” There’s a note of hesitancy in his voice, but I don’t push it.
“Have you ever seen anything like this?” I whisper, waving at the room around us.
“Never.”
“We could use this for the country. There’s plenty here. We can feed the people and build things that they need.” I raise my voice with excitement, but I don’t care. “Jem should be here soon to help us know how much value these things have, but even without her, I can tell there’s more than enough.”
Nash scans what we can see of the room again, his enthusiasm reined in. “We could feed the people, but you have to remember you’re ruler over an entire nation. This may look like a lot of money—and make no mistake, it is—but with a whole country to take care of, the gold would go fast.”
My shoulders drop. “You’re right. Of course you are. I only hoped…”
“I know.”
Another thought perks me up. “If we can’t give it to them outright, we should be able to invest it back into them.”
“That is an excellent plan, only how will you go about it?”
“We can use it to buy a mine, like I talked about before, or on other projects to need done. Create jobs and make a better life for everyone. I’m sure we can think of something.”
I stare at the piles of treasure surrounding me. We’d better be able to think of something.