As Inkga gets ready to roll me into the dining room, I want to tell her to take me anywhere but here. I know the council and court need to see me, and I need to be strong for them, but in a day or so, I’ll know if I can defeat the First Queen and be able to come out among them.
Only I don’t believe it’s going to happen. Not with me. Perhaps Nash and the others will figure it out and defeat her eventually, but the spell seems too difficult for me to carry it out. Though if I can, it will take a single swipe from Nash and Jaku’s swords for her to be gone forever. I need to focus on that, and not the negative.
But in case I don’t survive, I should spend one last night with the court. “I’m ready.”
Servants open the doors, and Inkga wheels me in. The sight before me is like many I’ve seen before, though this time, someone seems to have paid attention to how much food we serve. There are no obscene mounds of it, like there were in the past, for people to gorge themselves on. Modest amounts are spread across the tables—still probably too much, but not so that I worry we’re taking food away from those who need it the most.
Everyone stands as Inkga rolls me forward toward the only setting without a chair. Nash stands on my left, Jaku on my right with Jem next to Nash. I wonder how they pulled off not sitting in the seats protocol dictates. It doesn’t matter, though; I’m grateful they did it.
Once I’m rolled to my place, the others take their seat, and people start chatting. There are many sideways looks at me. I smile and pretend there’s no pounding in my head or fear in my heart. That everything is as it should be.
Silence once again spreads through the room. What is going on? I glance around to see Inkga bringing me the Mortum Tura.
Oh no.
I can’t drink it. If I do, Androlla will have even more power over me. Her strength will increase while mine decreases. There’s no saying I’ll keep myself from drinking it if it gets near me. She will likely take over and drink it for me, and who knows what announcement she’ll make then?
I breathe slowly, trying not to let my panic show. Nash must see it, because he whispers, “It’s all right.”
It’s not all right. It’s all wrong.
The pounding in my head lessens as Androlla laughs inside. She revels in my fear. I have to work past it. Inkga’s almost here. What do I do? It’s not like I can accidentally knock it over; it’ll refill itself.
Inkga reaches me, and her huge grin dims when she sees my faces. Still, she holds the tray out to me.
“Do you need help?” she asks when I don’t grab it, concern lacing her words.
I’ve gotten more mobile and I’m able to move my upper body some, but have yet to drink without spilling. Perhaps she thinks I’m worried about embarrassing myself.
“Drink, Your Highness,” a male voice calls out. “We want to see the glory of your glow shining over us.”
“Yes, drink,” a female yells.
“I can’t,” I whisper.
The ground begins to shake. The tremor is faint at first, but soon it’s rolling. Nash grabs one of the handles of my chair. People scream. Things go crashing to the floor. The platters are shaking and clanking together.
How long has it been since I last drank the Mortum Tura? Is that why this is happening?
Everything sways beneath me. I’ve brought my country to their knees because I won’t drink. Androlla’s tinkling laugh becomes louder in my mind. Either way, she’s won. The city will continue to deal with this earthquake, and she’ll still take me over. I’ll drink, and she’ll be that much closer to getting what she wants.
“Drink it,” someone hollers.
Soon, everyone is yelling it, adding to the chaos of the ground shaking and things falling. The chandelier in the middle of the room sways dangerously, like it’s ready to fall. The people at the tables beneath it scramble to get away from it.
There’s no time to waste. I’ll have to deal with the consequences later. “Help me, Inkga.”
She doesn’t hesitate. She reaches for the cup, but before she gets to it, the floor shakes harder than ever. She staggers, and the cup falls to the floor, its juice splattering across the wood.
“Get it,” a woman calls.
“For the queen. Get the Mortum Tura.”
“The Mortum Tura.”
“Get it before we all die.”
The voices overlap, so I can no longer make out words. People are hurrying to get the cup, but it rolls away in the heaving of the earth. While Nash helps me move toward the cup, Jaku jumps into action, joining the others trying to grab the fleeing object.
Finally, Jaku gets a hold of it. Liquid sloshes everywhere, but he’s not close enough in this wavering world. “I’m going to throw it,” he says.
Good thing it refills itself.
“I’ll catch it,” Nash hollers.
Jaku swings his arm back and then forward, and the cup goes sailing through the air toward us. Nash reaches out with one hand and catches it midair. He says, “I’m so sorry.” And then he brings it to my lips.
I swallow, hating the sickly-sweet taste of it.
The shaking stops, the room going deathly quiet. Until Androlla’s tinkling laugh fills the air.
No, I scream in my head. I slam against her, trying to regain control. Nash must know that’s not my laugh, because he pushes me toward the closed door.
“What’s going on?” people ask.
“Where’s he taking the queen?”
“What just happened?”
“Are we all going to die?”
The questions keep coming, but Nash ignores them as the tinkling laugh stops. She’s going to say something, and I’ll regret it. It will be a taste of what’s to come—one that leaves me with a foul feeling. Someone’s hand slaps across my mouth before Androlla can speak.
Jaku opens the door, and Nash races me out. It’s his hand on my mouth. Him protecting me from the First Queen.
Behind us, I hear Jaku yell, “We’re securing the queen after this earthquake. There’s no cause for alarm. Jem, please see to the room.”
Behind us, voices speak all at once. Androlla tries to bite Nash’s hand, but he keeps a firm grip on her. I’ve never been as grateful to have him around as I am in this moment.
Jaku races ahead of us, clearing the way of both people and debris. Voices sound about both Nash’s and Jaku’s actions. I shove myself against Androlla’s presence, vying for a way back to myself. A way to stop this chaos.
But nothing.
Suddenly, Androlla relaxes. Nash doesn’t move his hand, but as he hurries down the hall, he asks, “Are you back, Ryn?”
She nods, while inside I’m screaming. What is she doing? What is her plan? And then I sense it. She’s going to act crazy when we next see someone. Have me declared incompetent, which will bring my death and a new life for her.
I can’t let that happen.
I fight against her, trying to get her to focus her attention on me. She doesn’t react to me or Nash, just continues to sit quietly.
Nash slowly takes his hand from my mouth. I hope they don’t kill him for touching me because everybody saw. No. I won’t let that happen, and Jaku will help keep him safe. I need to focus on getting my body back.
“You all right, Ryn?” Nash asks.
“Shaken,” Androlla says.
Is that something I would say? Will Nash believe her?
“It’s all right,” he says. “We’ll be somewhere safe soon.”
What does he mean by safe? Nowhere is safe.
Inside, she’s laughing. I do my best to knock with force against her. She trembles and the laughter stops, but she doesn’t give me control.
Will she ever, or am I permanently stuck here? I thought I would have more time. At least, a little.
Jaku bounds ahead, and I realize we’re not headed toward to my room. Where are we going? Outside? It'd appear safer, after the earthquake, but that's not the danger we're facing now. Outside, Androlla will have a bigger audience.
Footsteps echo behind us. Androlla hears them too because she speaks nonsense about magic. That’s how she’s going to bring about my downfall—with talk of the mystic.
Nash says something under his breath but doesn’t clamp him hand over my mouth. Does still he not realize it’s not me? Doesn’t he get that Androlla is playing him, using my body to betray us all?
“There are others coming,” Venda says from behind. “We must move quickly and get her out of earshot.”
I relax for a brief moment. No wonder Nash wasn’t worried. He probably knew it was Venda the moment she started after us. Androlla isn’t so happy; she lets out a piercing scream.
Nash clamps a hand over my mouth again as Jaku looks back at us, a crease forming between his eyebrows.
“Almost there,” he says.
We’re not in a part of the palace I’m familiar with, but we were heading toward the outside wall. When did that change? Probably when I was too busy fighting the First Queen. I give her another good lashing, but she goes on screaming underneath Nash’s hand. It leaves me mentally exhausted and doesn’t seem to do much to her.
Jaku opens a door and disappears into the room. A moment later, he pops back out. “It’s clear and looks sturdy, even after the earthquake.”
What’s going on? Where are we?
I can feel Androlla’s curiosity, though she keeps up the screaming. Nash wheels me into the room. A passage is open in the far wall. He goes into the dark passage, slowing as he goes, but not taking his hand off my mouth.
After a brief moment, the darkness deepens as someone closes the door to the passage. We travel a ways. Androlla stops screaming, but Nash won’t be fooled a second time. He keeps right on blocking her from speaking.
I continue struggling, though I don’t know what good it does. It seems like whenever I gain govern of my body again it’s because she loses control, not because of anything I do.
A faint light appears and grows as we continue on. We come to the end of the path with a door that has light shining through its edges. Nash reaches over me and shoves the door open. He pushes my chair into a room lit with candles, like it was waiting for us. And then I see why—Julina steps out from the shadows.
“What’s going on? Are you covering Ryn’s mouth?” she asks.
“I’m afraid Ryn isn’t herself,” Jaku says from behind us.
“So you’re restraining her?” Julina takes a step closer to me, rage filling her expression.
Nash pulls my chair back. “I promise you this isn’t what it looks like.”
She folds her arms. “Then what is it? Because from my vantage point, it seems like you’re kidnapping the queen and having me help you do so.”
I hope they can get her to understand. I should have told her sooner. She’s close enough to me she might have accepted that I’m not crazy. Now, though, things look bad.
“Ryn is inhabited by an ancient queen, bent on taking over every queen’s body and ruling the country,” Nash says.
“R—right.” She takes a step toward the door across the room from us. The room is bigger than I first thought, but Jaku beats her to the door, blocking her way out.
“It’s true,” he says. “I know it sounds crazy. I know magic seems far out there, but that’s what’s happening. The Mortum Tura causes this and has for a thousand years. Think about it. The queens always end up ruling with a cunning and harshness that doesn’t always mirror how they first act.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. The queens are women who have drunk the Mortum Tura and lived. They don’t get some entity in them through magic, just the glowing power that makes it known they’re the queen.”
“That’s what this evil queen wants you to think. But it’s her, not Ryn. I swear to you on my life and on Ryn’s life that what I say is true,” Jaku says.
“And I add my word to his.” Nash’s hand is still over my mouth.
“As do I.” Venda steps out of the passage we went through and shuts the door.
Nash takes his hand off my mouth, but the First Queen doesn’t do anything. She just sits there.
“Is this true, Ryn?” Julina asks.
“Of course not.” Androlla’s words make me cringe.
Julina takes a step closer, and Nash wheels me into the corner, by a table with a lit candelabra on it. He steps in front of me and says, “I know this is hard to believe, but think about Ryn’s behavior recently. Think about the lighter color of her hair and the green of her eyes. She’s done and said things very un-Ryn-like. She wouldn’t do anything like send me and Jaku to the dungeons. And if she did, why would she turn around and let us back out? Why would she appoint someone she doesn’t know to be her Head Advisor? A man who tried to kill her? It makes no sense, unless you know someone else is behind these actions.”
“All right.” Julina takes a step back and grab the door handle. “I need to run and get something. I’ll be right back.”
Nash, Venda, and Jaku jump at her. They’re fighting against her, struggling to restrain her with their hands. I want to tell them to stop fighting each other—that we’re going to have to get along to defeat this. I want to tell Julina the story myself. If she hears it from me, she may change her mind. But I can’t. I’m stuck in my own body more than I was ever stuck in this chair.
Androlla stretches my arm, fighting against the weakness, while the others try to subdue Julina. What is she doing?
She snatches the candelabra off the table and tips it onto my lap. My arm slouches to the side after the hard job. I scream at her to pick the candelabra up. To get it off my lap. To tell someone what happened.
She doesn’t.
The material of my skirt goes up in flames.
She’s trying to kill me.
And it’s going to work.
If only one of the others would look my way…They don’t, though. They’re so absorbed with stopping Julina. Androlla uses my other hand to shove the candelabra to the side, where the flames tickle my chair until it too lights up.
I’m going to burn alive.
I don’t feel pain yet, but then, I don’t have control of my body. The fire licks up my chair, and soon the whole corner is on fire. Nash notices. He races toward me, but hands reach out to stop him.
I can tell they’re talking, but I can’t hear what they’re saying over the crackle of the fire. Venda rushes to a stand that holds a water jug, several cups, and a platter of food, grabs the jug, and throws the water on me. It barely douses the flames, which grow bigger, now taking up half the room.
Jaku pulls off his cape and throws it on me, though he has to step inside the flames to do so. Nash follows suit, and they both try to put out the fire while being engulfed themselves.
Venda pulls them back, swatting at Jaku’s sleeve that’s been lit up.
“Can’t we use magic?” Nash yells.
“I don’t have any anti-fire enchantments,” she says.
“We can’t just leave her.”
The room above their heads and to their sides has now caught. The wall of flames is thick between us.
They won’t be able to reach me.
Androlla has won.
“We have to go,” Jaku yells.
“I won’t leave Ryn,” Nash hollers back.
From my mouth, Androlla’s tinkling laugh fills the room with the crackling fire.
Nash continues to fight against them, but Jaku pushes a pressure point on his neck, and Nash falls to the ground. Jaku scoops him up and yells my way, “I’m sorry, Ryn. I promise we’ll find a way to defeat her.”
They are out the door, and I’m left alone. Burning.