The northern lights painted the sky in green and purple spirals. That had been the only color Aurelie had seen other than that of blood. She found, sadly, that her appreciation for it was little above disappointment. Though, that was her view of the whole world at the minute.
Aurelie sat on the window seat, with her knees raised up to her chest and her hands grasping her ever anxious head.
How could you? The exposure of Leila's lies was easier to deal with when they were laid out before her. Being inside her mind, alone, was another matter.
What could she really do now that she had time to think about it? Execute her? Treat her like they did the man they captured?
Aurelie laughed out loudâthe eerie sound jumped off the wallsâand shook her head. The only thing Aurelie would be able to bring past her heavy heart was an exile and even so, she wouldn't search the land making sure Leila had gone. One thing she feared above all else was forgiving her.
There it was again, another thing she'd have to hide from Kirin. Whatever doubt she had about his actions before, this was as good as written in stone, he would kill Leila for what she had done and he'd have to stand in line behind Orken, Daerious and Shaelyn who had lost both her parents that night.
Aurelie couldn't rid herself of the hollowness that had formed in her stomach. It was the feeling of emptiness amidst a high fall. She placed her hands on her stomach and released a heavy sigh.
There was a moment long ago when Aurelie and Leila sat beneath the moonlit garden of her uncle's cabin. Hidden from the world, Leila took her hand and said, "May everyone be against me but you. And that would be enough."
"What a strange thing to say," Aurelie had replied. She remembered thinking that Leila must have done something wrong. Everyoneâin their livesâmeant Leila's father and her aunt and uncle. Aurelie couldn't think of a single thing for which they would turn against her.
Leila curled her lips to the side. "We can lie to the world but never to each other."
"You've taken quite a grim turn. I've never lied to you before." Aurelie heard an accusation in the statement. She felt the need to declare it otherwise even though she had done nothing wrong.
"I'm just saying. We're not blood, Aurelie. So we have to bind our souls."
Aurelie had never given that moment much thought before. Although it was so strange and oddly timed that she could never forget it.
Consider us unbound.
The mob of maids had not yet come to run a bath or warm her bed. She didn't mind their absence but the hot baths had become the only salvation the Icelands offered her.
She didn't regret saving Leila. But her mind couldn't help traveling to find the exact instances that caused the deaths of so many people. Was it the blind, sisterly trust that was so undeserved yet unavoidable? Or was it her protection of Leila from Kirin's interrogations? The two were so terribly bound. Questions soared and eventually turned into blame. By the end of it, she could no longer stand the nauseating feeling of helplessness and went to lie on the bed.
Just as she was on the verge of sleep, but quite aware still, the door opened and Lukas peered in. Aurelie closed her eyes. There was no knock. It was his castle, so she didn't take it for anything other than a difference in culture.
"Are you asleep?" he asked.
Aurelie remained still, hoping that he would leave. Instead, he walked around the bed and sat at her feet. "Aurelie," he called.
"What is it?"
"Mother and I have spoken. She would like me to express our apologies."
Aurelie sat up. "What for?"
"For catching you off-guard."
"That's funny. It's exactly what you've been trying to do since I arrived, I don't understand why you're apologizing for it."
The shapes in the sky moved and shone a dim light through the window. Lukas smiled. Shadows from a branch raced across his face. "I don't believe that's a bad thing."
He seemed nervous now. As if playing the piano, he tapped the tips of his fingers against his knee. There was a performance late into the dinner, arranged to block out the screams from the delicate ears of the guests. It sounded quite haunting when the two were combined. A post-war song made to be forgotten and replaced by the mention of victory. Aurelie wondered if that was the melody that played in his mind.
"It's not very common, what happened this evening," he said, after a sufficient pause within which he must have realized Aurelie wasn't going to reply to his previous statement. "They're all just frustrated, have been for some time."
Aurelie shrugged. "Aren't we all?"
"Painfully so," he said, searching for something in her expression. There was a reason for his visit. He seemed tense and eager to begin roping her into whatever it was but careful to find some sort of sign that she would be interested first.
"Why are you here, Lukas?" she asked. They had the portal and of course thereby her help. She had not given it to the Queen out of trust but out of frustration. Who knew what Leila was planning next? Would Kirin and the others even be alive by the time she came back? The right to be suspicious of everything was earned by Aurelie long ago. "You have everything you need. Honestly, I just want to get back home and deal with that traitor. The faster your mother stops playing trust games, the faster we can work on breaking the curse and I can leave."
"I suppose it's silly, but I was hoping that we would actually establish trust."
Aurelie laughed. "After one evening? No, that wasn't going to happen."
"We both want the same thing."
"Do we?" Aurelie summoned fire into her hand. She wanted to see his face. The things he said were so ridiculous and childlike that she wasn't sure even he could say it with a straight face.
Lukas's jumped a little at the sight of the fire. "Is it really so wrong of me to believe that our goals are indisputably the same and that an alliance is exactly what our two kingdoms need?"
"You lured me here due to my misfortune, and like a trusty dog, I came running. There is no army for me here. Yours can barely protect the castle. In fact, that was up to me and Alorah. What we have here is not a friendship either. You could say alliance but really it is quite simple; I'm here to do your dirty work and I wouldn't be quite surprised if all of you were planning to kill me after."
"That is not it at all."
Aurelie had to stop her eyes from rolling. "What is it then?" she asked smiling grimly.
"My mother showed you Leila's actions to hurt you. She was showing off but, Aurelie, she's right too because the kingdom's reach is wide. That little mark on Leila's arm, the snowflake, is how we communicate with our people. All she has to do is chant a word or two and they will return to fight, wherever they are. That was the purpose of what you saw this evening and if you had stayed, it would have been made perfectly clear. Every person born in the Icelands, after the curse, is marked like that and you'll never know who they are because it isn't visible until we call."
"Are you trying to intimidate me?"
"No, I'm trying to tell you that my mother has ruled for too long and that she has more power than one person needs. I do want your friendship. In fact, I want much more. If you and I were to unite the kingdoms, we would be unbeatable. I'd share that power, with you."
"Is this a proposal?"
Lukas turned on the bed and reached out to hold her hand. "It can be."
"No, it cannot."
"Why?"
Aurelie slid her hand away. "I'm not that desperate quite yet."
Lukas raised his brow and huffed. Aurelie dimmed the flame so that he could not see her smile. She hadn't felt so good in a long time. How cruel he must have thought her to be. When she roamed the town with her mother, not one boy looked her way. With the shadow of a crown on her head, suddenly every man she smiled at fell hopelessly in love.
"I'd like you to think about it," he said after some time. "You're angry and emotional now. That's understandable."
"Believe it or not, dear Lukas, but I have an exceptional grip on my emotions. I've not been angered, I've been betrayed. Either way, the one has nothing to do with the other. I wouldn't agree on my best day. The fact that I'm here does not mean that I don't consider your kingdom a threat. It just so happens that, at the moment, you're not the biggest one." Aurelie cracked her fingers by pushing every one of them with her thumb. The meaning of his proposition was actually, 'Free my kingdom and then hand yourself over to me too so that I can rule yours', and frankly, Aurelie was bored by it. His eagerness to take over for his mother didn't quite help either.
"What if marriage was the only way to get our help? Would you decline me still?" His eyes narrowed.
"Is it?" Aurelie asked, leaning her head to the side. "I'm not very good with ultimatums. Sometimes, I can even lose my temper. And with being emotional and all, I might find it hard to stop myself before something awfully tragic happens."
"I haven't decided." He put his hand on her leg and moved it slowly upward toward her thigh. "Maybe, I just want to have you now. For the night, like a common whore."
Aurelie clapped her hands and leaned forward in pure delight of breaking through his good-boy armor. "There you go!" She let him slide his hand further up without a single flinch. It disgusted her beyond a measure of words but he would not break her like this. "Lukas, isn't it quite refreshing to be yourself? There's that trust you craved. I trust that you're a spoiled boy that craves the respect and power that you've neither earned nor deserve and now you've led me to believe that you'd even betray your own mother to attain it."
He dug his fingers into her skin and pressed down with an iron grip. "Be careful, you wouldn't want any enemies inside the castle."
"All I have are enemies." She smiled widely.
He released his grip, but only a little. It would be bruised in the morning. "Yes, after tonight, that might be so."
Aurelie leaped forward and stopped inches from his face, standing on all fours. He sprang back but remained on the bed. His breath quickened. "You know what?" The fire in her eyes shone on his cheek and created shadows around his eyes. She bit her lip. "Maybe we should marry."
Aurelie lifted one hand. Fire glided on the tip of her index finger. She reached for Lukas. Moving his head back, out of her touch, Lukas climbed off the bed with his back to her.
"What's wrong? Weren't you going toâ
"Stop!" he raised his voice.
Aurelie sat down. The fire on her finger spread to her palm. She shaped it into a ball and let it drop from one hand to another. "Come sit back down, darling, I don't believe we're done here."
"You're mad." He walked to the door.
"I hope you never find out to what extent," she said between gritted teeth and sat down.
Lukas pulled the door open. Deborah stood on the other side with a candle. She bowed as she saw him, and moved to the side so that he could pass.
Deborah closed the door behind her and carried the candle to Aurelie's bedside table. With Lukas gone, she could no longer hold the shock and angst of what had just occurred. Her leg still hurt where he had grabbed it. Hot tears gathered in her eyes.
"What happened?" Deborah asked. Her eyes grew wide with concern.
Aurelie's bottom lip quivered. "He's horrible." She huffed, unable to breathe through her blocked nose anymore.
"What did he do?" Deborah placed a hand on her shoulder. "Princess, please! You must tell me. Did he force himself on you?"
Aurelie shook her head. "No, but he taunted that he might."
"We must tell Queen Alorah. She did not believe us the last time it happened but she will take your word for it."
Aurelie wiped at her eyes. "It's happened before?"
"Yes, but there was no taunting." Deborah gave her a knowing look. "Please, we must tell her."
Aurelie sniffed and tried to fight back more tears. "No, I've dealt with him."
"What if he seeks revenge? Please, he's not a good man." Deborah lowered herself onto her knees beside Aurelie's bed and stroked her hand.
"He can try. I'll be ready."
"That's what Mina said and she's not been seen at the castle since."
"I'll be fine."
"Trouble is, Your Highness, someone else might not be."
They sat in silence for a moment. Aurelie contemplated whether to go to Alorah, especially after hearing about the other girl.
"Does this mean you won't help us anymore?" Deborah asked, lowering her gaze. "I'm sorry to bring it up, but I can't stomach to think that his actions will damn us all."
Aurelie placed her free hand on top of Deborah's. "No, and when it's done, you're coming with me to Highfire."
"You mean that?"
Aurelie nodded and wiped away the last tears in the corner of the blanket. "I do."