Page 12 of A Traitor Sister (Remnants of the Fallen Kingdom #2)

12

RENEL

M y face is calm, placid, the face of a perfect king. Inside, my stomach turns and turns, dancing to the rhythm of my berserk heart. I sense the eyes of the counselors watching me rather than the knight. They’re always watching, searching for the fissure through which they’ll break me.

The knight gets up and says, “A wall in the keep was destroyed, and a cell opened. The enchanted giant is gone.”

I swallow, waiting for him to mention my brother. My hands feel cold even if they’re getting humid, but I can’t wipe them here.

He continues, “All signs point to a giant attack.”

“Signs? Were there any survivors? Were they questioned?” My tone is haughty and annoyed, as the occasion demands.

“All the guards survived. But they were enchanted, and don’t remember anything. We would like to know how to proceed.”

“Where are the guards?”

The knight lowers his head. “Restrained and brought back. They’re in the Jewel Prison.”

I was going to pretend to think there were no prisoners in the desert keep, but then realize there was no reason for me to know that information, so I ask, “Who’s watching the prisoners in the keep?”

“It was empty, your highness. That prison hadn’t been in use for years.”

“I see. You’re dismissed for now.”

Empty. It means nobody was found—or killed. My breath leaves my chest in a whoosh. I think I’d be dead by now if they had killed my brother, considering it would be my fault, considering my deal with Marlak.

The giants either freed or captured him. Freed, most likely, or they would have sent us a message or something. Great. Now he’s conniving with giants. My only solace is that they can’t cross the Charmed River.

The knight leaves the room, and I look at the members of the Council, waiting for their reaction.

I always wait, let them speak, let them voice their obvious conclusions, let them come up with suggestions, most of them moronic. All I do is stir the direction of these suggestions—when I care. Sometimes I just let them decide whatever they want, or else argue with each other until their throats are sore.

This was the first thing Zorwal told me when I assumed the throne. Keep the counselors happy, and you’ll keep your position . This line of thought likely explains how he rose from mere healer guild representative to leader of the council.

Sometimes I feel useless here, but more often than not I feel that at least I’m keeping the kingdom from tearing itself apart, and keeping the most bloodthirsty members of the council from wrecking havoc in the Crystal Court.

The council has nine members, all from old, affluent, powerful families. When I first came to power, my instinct was to dissolute or reform the council, but Zorwal told me that this was just theater meant to keep those families happy, to make them think they have a say in the dealings of the kingdom. As long as they believe they’re getting their way, they’ll support me. If they feel their power threatened, they could try to assassinate me, question my claim, or even worse, turn their forces against the kingdom. Of course I don’t want any of that, so here I am, trying to make sure all these snakes walk out of there satisfied with whatever decision is made.

I’m also hoping they won’t realize there was a prisoner in the keep.

Zorwal doesn’t give any indication he suspects me of wrongdoing, and addresses the five members of the council. “What do you say?”

“I always said we couldn’t trust the giants,” Tuela says. She’s an older fae with a round face. Her family has a lot of influence in the Jewel City, and for some reason, she’s always afraid of everything. Her suggestions for safety always involve some kind of violence against the lower fae.

That said, this time I agree with her. Making a deal with the giants was madness, and wasn’t something I supported, but I can’t say I told you so to the council. Well, here we are.

Claus taps on the table. He’s from a family of merchants originally from the south and always finds a very logical justification for violence. “Perhaps they changed their mind about their deal, and now wanted to rescue their kin.”

He means the enchanted giant, who perhaps wasn’t enchanted at all, but I don’t want to bring that up.

“That’s possible,” Silvan says. He’s ambitious and dangerous, and always says whatever will get him the most support. “But backing on a deal is an affront.”

“Destroying the prison is an affront!” Tuela says. “It’s an attack on the Crystal Court. Next, they’ll be marching upon us.”

Kilmar, a young counselor who never seems to care about anything, stifles a snort. “They still can’t cross the river. Let’s not be hasty.”

“What if they can?” Tuela bangs a fist on the table. “This is a declaration of war! We need to get to them first.”

“We could,” Claus agrees. “Before they have time to make a bolder move.” He turns to me. “Let’s assemble our army, march to the Shadow Lands, and destroy the giants.”

Unhinged. They’re always unhinged—and yet I nod as if he’d given a very sensible suggestion.

Silvan, the bootlicker, straightens on his chair, likely sensing an opportunity to come up as a leader. “We could expand the kingdom to the Shadow Lands.”

Exactly. Insane. I wait for one of them to mention the obvious fact that we have no chances against the giants in their own land, and minimal survival chances north of the Charmed River.

Instead, Tuela nods. “Yes, and get rid of their threat.”

I’m positive she thinks that even her shadow is a threat.

Claus smiles. “If we take control of the Shadow Lands, we’ll be on both sides of the Fae Territories. We could… It would be good.”

The implied suggestion is to take over the fae territories standing between us and the Shadow Lands. They’re absolutely deranged today.

Tuela places a strand of hair behind her ear. “Fighting the giants is dangerous. We’d face many losses.”

Finally someone utters something mildly rational.

“We can send an army of lower fae,” Claus suggests.

“Where would we gather that many of them?” Nora asks. She’s one of the youngest members of the council, with long brown hair framing a thin face. Mild-mannered and quiet, she has flirted with me quite a few times. She claims to love the lower fae and that she wants to take care of them, but the truth is that her family is the one with the most enchanted servants in the entire kingdom, most of them coming straight from her “charitable” orphanage.

“Oh, there are lower fae everywhere,” Tuela says. “They’re hanging around, threatening us. This would be a great chance to conscript them, get rid of their menace.”

The discussion is getting out of hand, and I have to intervene.

“Each of you has made wonderful points, and came up with great suggestions.” I didn’t say when. “The giants can be a threat, no doubt, but if they think they can trick us into attacking them in their territory, where they’re strongest, they’re wrong.” My voice has the confidence and command of a king. “If they want to threaten us, they’ll pay for that. But not on their terms. On ours. If they do cross the river and march south, they’ll first reach the other fae courts.” I smirk. “Let them reach them. We’ll be forewarned and will secure our borders. For now, what we can do is set some watch up north. Let’s watch the giants, see what they’ll do next. They won’t take us by surprise again.”

Tuela stares at me with wide eyes. I think she’s even trembling. “What if they’re in league with some fae courts?”

I refrain from rolling my eyes, but then again, if giants can rescue Marlak, what else can they do? “We’ll surely notice if giants cross the river.”

She shakes her head. “We need to prepare an army. Let’s gather all the free lower fae.”

“That’s horrible!” Nora yells.

Claus grimaces. “We can’t simply gather all the lower fae at once. They’ll revolt.”

“There’s no threat of war yet.” Zorwal’s voice rises in the room with all the authority even I fail to have. Sometimes, I almost think he uses some strange form of compulsion that works on the higher fae.

He continues, “And no reason to believe the giants can or will cross the river. Our king is wise. Let’s double our watch and wait.”

Tuela raises her hands in the air. “Waiting, waiting. We’re always waiting to be attacked.”

I can sense the uneasiness in the council. They want action, blood, revenge, as if they had to do something to mend their wounded pride. Most of them would love an opportunity to attack the lower fae.

Zorwal then says, “We need to consider what to do with the Desert Keep guards.”

Claus shifts in his seat. “Interrogate them until they tell us what happened.”

At this point, only blood will appease them, and I think I know what to do.

“They have told us what happened,” I say. “And yet the truth is that they failed. Our guards should protect our kingdom with their lives, and they clearly did not do that. My suggestion is to sentence them to death.”

Claus nods. “A public execution would set a good example.”

Nobody protests, and I sense that they all like the idea. Well, I hate it.

I keep my voice level. “Public executions are spectacular and exemplary indeed, but they can also incense the lower fae, and worst of all, create martyrs. We wouldn’t want that. Our guards are the ones who need to learn a lesson. Whispers and secrets have a way to spread further and make a bigger impression than announcements. Let them know how we deal with traitors. We can order the guards from the desert keep to be executed tonight, in the dungeons of the Jewel Prison. Let only our army know about it. They’re the ones who need to learn from the example.”

Nora shakes her head. “I disagree. My family could take these lower fae?—”

“As if you needed more enchanted servants!” Claus says.

“To protect them!” Nora yells.

“Your heart is in the right place, Nora.” Meaning in the middle of her chest. I guess I can be manipulative, because I know exactly how to look at her to get her to acquiesce. “But setting an example is important. It’s the honor of the Crystal Court at stake.”

She nods.

I stare at everyone. “Is anyone against this decision?”

Tuela huffs. “We still need to prepare an army.”

I pretend to consider her words. “We can discuss this later, for sure. And keep watch.”

My thoughts spin as they call back the knight and Zorwal relays him the orders. I’m surprised that none of the counselors wondered what the giants wanted to do in the keep, that none of them wondered if there was some secret prisoner there. Zorwal might have noticed, though, and I have to keep myself from trembling when considering our debriefing in a few minutes.

Those debriefings terrorize my sleep. Zorwal always finds something wrong, something I could have done differently. I learned to ignore his tauntings, ignore his criticism. If I can cool down the council and quash their maniacal suggestions, I feel that I succeeded, no matter how much pain Zorwal makes me endure afterward. This time, of course he’ll notice I didn’t mention the biggest issue, didn’t pry on the reason the giants attacked the keep. As long as he doesn’t suspect me, I can deal with physical pain.

And then I wonder what exactly the giants wanted with my brother. Some kind of deal? Would they rally behind him? But why? It doesn’t make sense. And then there are the poor keep guards. Really, how could anyone expect them to face giants, of all creatures?

When the meeting ends, I rush upstairs to the training grounds by the Royal Terrace, where Azur tends to spend his mornings. No sign of him. Zorwal will expect me in ten minutes, so I have to be fast. I rush down two flights of stairs to the lower tier area, which houses the fae taking care of the servants, and where Azur has his secondary bedroom, other than the one beside mine.

The reason he chose a room down here puzzled me for a long time, until I realized that it’s probably so that he has some privacy for his dalliances, which is fair. It must be nice to have privacy, unlike me. In my case, everyone knows exactly who sleeps in my bed—or how empty it’s been lately.

I knock on his door, hoping he’s here—and alone.

In a few seconds, the latch clicks, and then the door opens just wide enough for me to see Azur’s face, looking startled for some reason.

“The meeting’s over?”

“Yes. I need a few seconds.”

He hesitates, then steps aside and opens the door. “Come in.”

I never understood why he keeps this room looking so drab and simple. At least this time he has some books on his table. A quick glance surprises me. Soulmates I trust her. Why would I be jealous of her? Of you, of all people? Cherry Cake, on the other hand, is not my wife, as any person with a minimum brain would know.”

Ziven frowns. “Cherry Cake? That’s the legendary unicorn’s name? Totally not a pet, no. I see.”

“He doesn’t mind the name.” I sigh. “This is not going to work.”

He smirks. “Marrying Cherry Cake? I’m sure not.”

“I should encase you in ice again and leave you here. Or perhaps make you pass out.”

The prince steps away from Cherry Cake. “I meant no offense. And I didn’t know you’d be upset that I petted him. I still want to help you, Marlak.”

Even his use of my name like that, as if we were the greatest pals, annoys me, and I need a deep breath. “Why do you even care?”

His expression becomes serious, earnest. “Perhaps I’m looking forward to being useful once in my life. Listen, I know you don’t like me. I don’t like you either, so I think we’re good. But I can help, and I want to.”

“You still didn’t explain why.”

“Fine. Humiliate me. I have nowhere to go. What am I going to do? Sit and depend on the charity and goodwill of strangers? If I can be useful, I can find a place for myself, have some hope. So yes, I’m the beggar here. Make fun of me as much as you want.”

“There’s a chance you’re wrong, and I won’t need you to access that tower.”

“I know. But there’s a chance I’m right. And I can help you on the way.”

“Then don’t annoy me.”

He shrugs. “What did I even do?”

I roll my eyes but decide to leave it. I touch Cherry Cake again, telling him where I’m going, and asking if he can help. The answer I get from him is better than I expected.

I turn to the prince. “Cherry Cake will take us to the shore of the Icy Lands. He’ll fly over the ocean, to avoid the Spider Court. We could reach the Blue Tower by nightfall. You don’t mind flying, do you?”

The prince smiles. “It’s not like I have a choice.”

“Why do you always look like you’re joking?”

“I can’t help it. My survival depended on not being taken seriously.”

“You do an amazing job of that. I’m just not sure if it helps with your survival, considering it makes me want to ditch you on a desert island somewhere.”

The prince laughs. “Different effects for different people, I suppose.”

I nod, unwilling to push this discussion any further. If I’m lucky, there will be a lot of wind and I won’t hear the prince’s voice anymore.

I point at Cherry Cake. “Let me saddle him.”

Closing my eyes, I focus on the saddle from the royal treasure. When I open them, the saddle is resting on top of Cherry Cake, with a little rope ladder for the prince to climb.

“The front’s for you,” I say.

He gives me a huge smile. “What an honor.” I don’t know if he’s being sarcastic, but I decide I don’t care.

What matters is my sister. I mount on Cherry Cake, and then my one-horned friend takes to the skies. We’re soon above clouds, moving faster than the fastest boat can move, faster than most birds—on my way to the Blue Tower.

After all these years, I can finally rescue my sister. I think I would have felt something if she died, so I expect to find her alive. I just hope she didn’t suffer too much.

Of course she did. The thought squeezes my chest.

And then I have to hope there won’t be too many traps. I have to survive and go home. Astra’s waiting for me.