The Crown of Embers

In response to my silence, he adds, “The prison guards say it was a man. Tall, cowled. He only stayed for a few hours before being escorted away by the Royal Guard.”

“Yes, that’s an accurate description.” My mind races. What to tell him? The truth will only lead to more questions about where the Invierno came from and what I want with him. I’m not ready to reveal the cavern beneath the Wallows or the fact that I’m using Storm to learn more about the Godstone.

Which leads me to the disconcerting realization that I do not trust Conde Eduardo, that my distrust goes well beyond that of mere political machinations. He is my own Quorum lord, a man who was a great ally during our war with Invierne. But my every instinct screams caution.

“Your Majesty—”

“Eduardo, obviously there are things we must discuss, but I’m afraid a quick jaunt through the hallway will not do justice to all I have to tell you.” I give him my winningest smile. “Do you think we could call a special Quorum meeting soon? Maybe two days hence?”

He frowns. “That’s the day of the Deliverance Gala.”

I feign surprised disappointment. “Of course. Thank you for reminding me. And everyone will be exhausted from the festivities the day after. So perhaps four days from now?”

I’ve trapped him neatly. He can’t push without seeming desperate or impolitic. Still frowning, he nods and says, “I’ll let everyone know and make arrangements.”

“Thank you, Your Grace.”

“One last thing before I leave you to your errands.”

“Oh?” What now? I slow down, realizing I had unconsciously increased my pace as if to get away.

“Lord Liano has expressed a strong desire to see you again. I would take it as a personal favor if you would grant him a dance or two at the gala.”

I school my features into perfect pleasantness and say, “I would be happy to.”

He bows. “Until the gala, Your Majesty.”

I incline my head, and he strides away.

All my breath leaves me. I hadn’t known I was holding it.

“That was well done,” Hector whispers once we are a safe distance away.

Strange how I can brush off Ximena’s praise as the ravings of a madly affectionate nurse, but kind words from Hector feel like drops of water in the desert. “Thank you. But Hector, four days. That’s how long we have to come up with something plausible.”

“We’ll do it. Somehow.”

“You and I should meet with—” My Godstone turns to ice.

“Elisa?”

“Hector! Something—”

He whirls with lightning speed, placing himself in my path, as an arrow meant for me impales the back of his shoulder.

He gasps. The blood drains from his face.

Heedless of the shaft sticking from his flesh, he grabs me, pushes me against the wall. “To the queen!” he yells, and my guards hem me in on all sides in a smooth maneuver that comes only from long practice.

Hector turns to face whatever is coming, sword drawn, and now I see that the arrow is lower than I thought. Below his shoulder blade. In his ribs. Bright blood spreads across his tunic. Oh, God.

An arrow whistles down the corridor and clatters harmlessly against a forearm shield. Another thunks into a guard’s calf muscle. He cries out but does not break formation.

More arrows spear down the corridor from the opposite direction. We are trapped.

“Should I pursue?” a guard asks. “See if I can break through?”

“No!” Hector says. “They’re trying to lure us into doing exactly that. Stay tight. They may not attack openly.”

So we wait. Hector’s back is to me, and I am lodged between him and the wall. Sweat breaks out at the nape of his neck. His skin is as white as an Invierno’s.

Please, God, I pray furiously, my fingertips to my navel. Not Hector. Keep him safe. Keep all my guards safe.

A crazy thought occurs to me. “Hector, shouldn’t we yell for help?”

He actually laughs. “Yes, yes of course!”

So we do, every single one of us, and my voice soars over them all.

In moments, I hear running footsteps, the clang of steel on steel. Someone comes to our rescue.

The blood from Hector’s wound drips to the floor now. My head swims at the sight. Don’t you dare faint, Elisa.

Then something about the smell, metallic and hot, snaps me back to myself. It’s familiar.

It’s war.

I know exactly what Cosmé would do. “Hector, I need to break off the arrow shaft.”

“Wait . . . what?” His voice is breathy with pain. I hope the arrowhead has not embedded itself in bone.

“You may need to use that arm. Can’t risk the shaft getting knocked around. Please.”

He twists to give me an easy grip. “Hurry.”

Though I watched Cosmé do this a few times in our rebel camp, I never did it myself. My teeth are chattering and my hands shake, from the icy Godstone or from fear I cannot tell as I wrap both hands around it. Cosmé always braced the body part, snapped hard and fast.

He hisses from pain. “Snap lower,” he says. “As close to my ribs as possible.”

I move my hands until one rests against his back. The sounds of fighting come closer. Don’t think, Elisa. Just do.

With a grunt, I snap the shaft in two. The jagged end snags my palm, drawing blood. I toss the shaft to the ground and wipe my hand on my skirt.

Hector sways on his feet. Instinctively I wrap my arms around his waist to hold him up. He leans against me a moment, then straightens, breathing hard. “It’s all right. I’m all right.” But I’m not so sure. I know he can handle the pain, but his body could go into shock.

A flurry of bodies approaches. I see glinting blades, swinging limbs, a wooden shield. “To the queen!” calls a voice I recognize.

It’s Conde Tristán. He works his way toward us, accompanied by men dressed in the sky blue and ivory of Selvarica. The assailants are no one I recognize. I count five, but in the chaos I can’t be sure. They’re dirty and unshaven and clothed in little more than rags, but they wield quality blades and bows.

Tristán cuts through attackers with astonishing speed, a short sword in one hand, a dagger in the other. His fighting style is beautiful, almost like a dance. He and his companions give no quarter, and the attackers cannot draw their bows.

Now that we have reinforcements, Hector gestures for three guards to investigate the opposite end of the corridor, and they take off running. The wounded guard is swaying on his feet, and Hector yanks him back toward me, saying, “Don’t engage. Defend the queen.”

Only two attackers remain. Hector lunges at one and pierces him cleanly through the breast. Tristán leaps, whipping his sword around toward the other as I yell, “I need him alive!”

The conde adjusts midair, lands easily, sends the hilt into the attacker’s temple. The filthy man crumples to the ground. The Godstone’s ice fades and is replaced by soft warmth.

My guards, Hector, Tristán, the men from Selvarica all look around at one another, in that shared moment of relief and triumph I’ve seen a dozen times before. Bodies litter the corridor. Tristán nudges one with the toe of his boot and watches for movement. Nothing.

“Mercenaries?” Tristán says.

Hector nods. “They fought poorly, and their attack was ill conceived. They might not even know their employer.”

I point out, “There’s no way men dressed like that can afford weapons like those.”

“We’ll need to question the one His Grace conked on the head,” says Hector. “But he may not be able to tell us . . .” He sways.

I jump forward, lodge myself under his armpit, and wrap his arm around my shoulder. Blood soaks his shirt. It smears all over the skin of my neck, seeps into my bodice.

“Find Doctor Enzo!” I say to no one in particular. “Tell him to meet us in the commander’s quarters.”

Hector is almost limp in my arms. Fear stabs at my gut.

“Conde Tristán, can you escort us to the barracks?”

“Of course.” He gestures to one of his own men. “Stay with the unconscious one. Tie his ankles and wrists. Roll him onto his side in case he vomits.”

And we’re off, down the corridor toward the barracks. Hector sags hard against my shoulder, and his feet drag. My thighs burn with effort as each step pounds a prayerful rhythm through my head: Not Hector, not Hector, not Hector.

Chapter 14

HE is passed out by the time we reach his quarters, and Conde Tristán supports most of his weight as we drag him inside. The other guards help us lay him gently on his bed.

Doctor Enzo rushes in, followed by two assistants in gray frocks. “Too much blood,” he murmurs. “Roll him onto his side and cut off his shirt,” he orders one assistant. “And you,” he says to a guard, “get me hot water and clean rags, as many as you can find. We need to clean him up so I can see exactly where he’s bleeding from once I push the arrow through. Your Majesty, please step back.”

I realize I’m hovering, but I don’t move. “Is he . . . will he . . . ?”

He whirls and pushes me back by the shoulders until I hit the wall. “I suggest you start praying,” he says.

Staring at Hector’s pale form, I slide down the wall to the floor and pull my knees to my chest. Tristán settles beside me. He grabs my hand and says, “You care about him very much.”

I nod. “Hector is . . . he’s one of my dearest friends.”

“Then I’ll stay here and pray with you for a while.”

“Thank you,” I whisper. It’s no use telling him I’ve prayed for people I care about before, that it didn’t help.

Doctor Enzo yells at an assistant to light a fire in the hearth and heat the poker.

As Tristán murmurs a prayer beside me, my hand clasped in his, I can hardly focus on the words. I can only stare, horrified, as Doctor Enzo takes what looks like a man’s razor with a long handle and begins to cut around the arrowhead.

“Interesting,” the doctor says. “Very interesting.”

“What?” I demand, interrupting Tristán’s prayer.

“It almost split the rib,” he says. “Right on the lung, so I can’t push through. I’ll have to pull it, but the arrowhead is scored. It will do some damage coming out.”

But Hector’s skin is too blanched, his breathing too shallow. Sweat sheens his cheeks. I don’t know that he can survive more injury.

I find myself praying anyway; I don’t know what else to do. I close my eyes, lean my forehead against Tristán’s, and pray in earnest, letting the Godstone radiate its deceptive calm throughout my body. I refuse to cease praying, to open my eyes, even when Hector’s unconscious grunt tells me Enzo has yanked the arrow out. Even when a hot poker hisses against flesh and the scent of burned blood fills the room.

The doctor and his assistants are cleaning up, removing blood-soaked rags and mopping the floor near Hector’s bed when Tristán shakes my shoulder gently. “I must see to the man I knocked on the head,” he says. “Find out what he knows.”

I had forgotten about him. “Oh, yes, please do.” He rises and heads for the door. “Tristán?” He turns back around. “Thank you. For coming to our rescue. For staying with me.”

He bows low. “Is it all right to leave you here?”

“I’m safe in the barracks of my own Royal Guard.”

“Of course. By your leave.” And he exits Hector’s quarters.

Hector’s quarters. I’ve never been here before. I look around, unsurprised to find it austerely beautiful. His bed, his wardrobe, even the undyed woolen rug at my feet speak of elegant simplicity with their clean lines and subdued colors and perfect craftsmanship. On one wall hangs a painting, the only splash of true color in the place. It’s of a vineyard, and rows of grapevines heavy with bloated grapes scallop over golden hills, fading into the sunset. Several manuscripts, even a few books, are piled haphazardly on his nightstand beside a half-melted candle—the only bit of disorderliness.

This is where Hector sleeps. And judging by the manuscripts, where he spends what little free time I allow him. I breathe deep. The place even smells of him—leather oil and aloe shaving jelly and a hint of sweat.

The doctor and his assistants head toward the door, arms laden with bloody rags. “Your Majesty, I need to see to the other guard. I hear he has a leg wound?”

“Wait. Tell me about Hector.”

“He lost too much blood, and the arrow nicked his lungs. I couldn’t keep him from going into shock. He is unlikely to survive, even with my considerable skill.”

My vision tunnels and my bodice is suddenly too tight and hot.

“Are you staying awhile, Your Majesty?” he asks in an uncharacteristically soft voice.

“Yes,” I hear myself say.

“In that case, I’ve left devil’s nettle tea on the hearth. Make him drink it, in the unlikely event that he wakes. It will help the blood clot and relieve pain. I’m leaving orders for no one else to enter this room—he needs perfect rest. If you must leave, ask the guard outside to sit in here quietly to mark his . . . health. I’ll return later to check the stitches and bandages.”

I hardly notice when he closes the door behind him. I’m staring at Hector’s face, at the eyelashes curling against his cheeks, his slightly open mouth, the dark stubble along his jawline.

My skin is flushed, from the still-glowing hearth, from the Godstone’s responses to my prayers, from fear. He is unlikely to survive. I crawl to his bedside and kneel there. I reach for his hand and clasp it tight. He does not stir.