A knock on the door makes me jump, and I’m surprised by the movement. How did that happen? Deep inside, I must have the energy to move my body. I hope. A servant enters, and Venda, Inkga, Nash, and I stare him down.
He bows. “Your Majesty, forgive me, but an emergency council meeting has been called. They are requesting your presence and that of your Head Advisor, Nash Zorris.”
I glance at the clock. It’s almost dinner time, the part of the day the council loves to eat. It must be an emergency indeed if they called a meeting now. Have they heard about Daros’s pardon and release and are angry at me over it? I try not to worry about it. “Thank you. We will be there shortly.”
Once he leaves the room, I tell Venda, “Thank you for your assistance. It is invaluable. Would you come again, to teach us more?”
She lowers her bald head. “It would be an honor.”
“I assure you, the honor is ours,” I say.
Nash takes her hand and bows over it. “We owe you more than words can say.”
Venda flicks her gaze to me, before turning it back to him. “I will delay my return home to help you in this matter.”
“Thank you,” the three of us say as one.
I glance at Inkga, and we both giggle, though it doesn’t feel like the best of times to laugh.
We give our goodbyes, Inkga says she’ll be ready with my dinner when I return, and Nash takes me out. With my guards surrounding me, I’m wheeled through the halls until we reach the far-off council room.
When we enter, all faces turn to us as the council members stand around the table. Their expressions are a mix of solemn and worry.
I swallow my fears as I’m rolled into place at the head of the table and Nash takes his place at my side. “Please, be seated,” I say. Once they’re settled, I ask, “What was this meeting called for?”
“A problem has been brought to our attention,” Timit, my Head of Treasury, says. “The Kurah are refusing to sell their goods until taxes have been lowered.”
I don’t know whether to be relieved it’s not about Daros or furious that the Kurah have gone this far. “They can’t do that.”
“They can, and they have,” Timit replies.
“I’m afraid it’s true,” Mina, Head of Foreign Relations says. “They're quite insistent. We must give in, or all will suffer.”
There has to be a way around this. “How will anyone get what they need if they are refusing to sell? Won’t they be affected just as much if they don’t sell their goods?”
“It’s not that simple,” Timit says. “They are trading with each other for the supplies they need.”
“So the Medi and Poruah will be the ones to pay.” How can anyone do such a thing to another person?
“We need to act fast, whatever we decide,” Nash says.
“Agreed,” Jaku says. “We can’t let the majority of people suffer because a small group is hoarding their resources.”
What do we do? I don’t have the answers. There has to be something. If I don’t act on this, I’ll have the Medi and Poruah fighting against me as much as—if not more than—the Kurah. The country will be thrown into even greater chaos, and the threats on my life will increase, as will the assassins coming for me. I won’t have someone else die in my stead, and I refuse to go, so I have to figure this out.
“Any suggestions?” I ask.
The room is silent. No shuffling papers by the advisors. No one taking notes. Just the sound of my own breathing. Gah. This is as useless as I am.
I can only think of one thing. “Bring all the Kurah you can to the throne room tomorrow afternoon. I will speak to them. If they have a spokesperson, they may bring them.”
“Forgive me, Your Majesty,” Timit says, “but what is speaking to them going to do?”
“We’ll find out tomorrow.”
I’m exhausted. I spent all night running in my First Queen dream—running because I could and because she was there. No matter how far I went, though, Androlla was always there, hovering.
Inkga helps me get ready through my sleepiness. A healer comes in to help move my limbs, to keep my muscles active. Then a servant picks me up and puts me in my chair. Inkga wheels me into the sitting room, where Nash and Venda are sitting with a big pile of books. Nash is holding one open partway through.
“What have you there?” I ask.
“Wula brought them in while you were getting ready,” he says.
It’s so good to see him up and about, without having to request his presence. I hate that it’s because I was poisoned, but some good seems to have come of it. “Wonderful. I want to try the luck charm again, but afterward, I’d like to read through some of those books and see what we can find before I have to go to my meeting this afternoon.”
“Sounds like a good plan.” Nash puts his book down and gets out the supplies.
Inkga places me by the table and then takes a seat next to Venda, eagerly watching Nash’s movements. Would other people be this excited for magic, or would they really cower in fear of what it could do?
I’m not sure I’m brave enough to find out.
It doesn’t matter, anyway. I need the magic. The country needs it, to get out from under Androlla’s control. I don’t have to force it on anyone, but it still has to come about. The fingers of my left hand twitch, and I realize I’m trying to twist the wooden ring I found in the treasury on my right ring finger. At some point it became a habit to twist it, and I didn’t know it.
Nash brings the urta bark, rosemary, and mirror to me. While he holds the mirror with one hand, he uses the other to help me grasp the ingredients. I crunch it, working to squeeze my hand together over and over again, chanting like Venda did last time. It doesn’t take long before my muscles grow sore and my fingers tremble under the strain, but I am moving them, which is more than I did yesterday.
“Is that enough?” I ask Venda.
“If you have placed some of yourself in it, then yes. Otherwise, you need to keep going.”
Everything else was so hard, I forgot to put some of me in it. I concentrate on the words on making them feel as if part of me is coming out on my breath and onto the plants while I speak. I don’t know if it works or not, but it feels good enough and my fingers are giving out, so I stop crunching but continue chanting.
Nash assists me, moving my hand to a pebble. I press the mixture into the rock, imagining the little part of me I put into my words going into it. I press as hard as I can, my arm shaking, even with his support.
Nothing happens.
Androlla is laughing at my efforts.
“This is pointless.”
Nash puts everything down and cleans my hand with a damp cloth. “The Ryn I know is a fighter, not a whiner.”
I clench my teeth. He’s right. I have to work harder.
“It will not come without practice,” Venda says.
My exhale is louder than I mean it to be.
“Do you want to try again?” Nash asks.
If I must. “Yes.”
We attempt it three more times. By the end, I can barely move my hand, and there’s still no glow on the rock. “I think I’m ready to do some reading.”
Nash nods his approval. “I made something for you. One of us might still have to turn the pages for you, but it should allow you to read for yourself.”
Which will not only be quicker but nice to not have to rely on others as much. I’ll have to work on turning pages myself, though there’s no telling if I’ll ever be able to do it.
He goes out of the room and comes back carrying an odd contraption. It’s a stand, but it has a length of wood sticking out at a ninety-degree angle that stretches across, parallel to the floor. He sets it next to me and swings a part of it like a stand over my lap. Inkga hands him a book, which he opens and places on the stand.
“Do you like it?” There’s a note of hope in his voice.
“Like it? I love it. Where did you get the idea for such a contraption?”
“They have something similar in some libraries, but without the bend for sitting. I got a hold of one and adjusted it for you.”
“You’re more accomplished than I could hope for.” I long to give him a hug and kiss, to let him know how much this means to me. Both it and the chair with wheels have far exceeded my expectations.
Inkga clears her throat, and I realize I’ve been staring at Nash a little too longingly. She says, “I’ll try with the magic while you read. If you don’t mind my chanting while you do so, that is.”
“I don’t mind at all.” I focus my attention on the book in front of me even if the words are blurry for the moment. Anything to get my attention off Nash.
Venda helps guide us as we try magic or find something in a magic book, and Nash and Inkga flip pages for me.
After three hours, it's almost time to meet. “What have you found?” I ask after a particularly trying round of attempting to enchant the pebble.
“I found a spell for giving someone warts.” Nash sounds frustrated, but I can’t help but laugh, along with Inkga and Venda.
“It’s funny,” I say. “I came across everything from destroying an object to beautifying.” Both seemed surprisingly easy. Destroying an object only required the object and beautifying only required the petal of a daisy over what you wanted to enchant.
“I found one that helps you amplify your cleaning tools, such as a broom,” Inkga says. “That’d be useful.”
“All those spells are simple enough, if you believe,” Venda says.
Is that really all it takes? Believing in the magic? There are spells with ingredients difficult to find or chants that look hard to pronounce, like uni’plifnuo, but otherwise they seem straight forward.
I look over more books while the others eat lunch. My excitement has overshadowed my hunger.
When Inkga goes to tell a servant we’re finished with lunch, I say to Venda, “We have a necklace we know is magic. Could you tell us what it does?”
Nash stands, pulls out the necklace we confiscated from Daros, and hands it to Venda.
“I can try.” She threads the necklace through her fingers, closing her eyes.
Several moments pass in silence. Is she going to find something, or will Daros’s magic stay hidden? It would be nice to know he can enchant items for his own use. It would confirm he knows what he’s speaking of.
“Indeed, it has magic. It is a charm of stealth.” She hands the necklace back to Nash. “Quite a strong one. You may wish to use it, Nash.”
That makes perfect sense. I should have guessed something along those lines. It’s a wonder we were able to catch Daros. “Thank you,” I say.
“I must go. I will be back to teach you more later,” Venda says.
“I look forward to it.” And to her company.
After she leaves, it’s time to meet with the Kurah. I hope I can express what I need to.