The King led her to the back garden that was situated near the river. It was not the flowery type of garden but one that held rows of trees. There was no pattern to it, or purpose as far as Aurelie could tell.
"This is your mother's tree," the King told her once they had stopped at a blooming cherry blossom tree.
Aurelie's insides twisted uncomfortably. She had heard of the Southern tradition of planting trees above the corpses but had never come across such a sight in her life. In the North, they burned their dead in fear of the necromancers' curse.
The tree gave off a very sweet smell. It was both eerie and pleasant.
"Did she choose the tree?"
"No, her mother did."
"Is she . . ."
"The young blossom to the right of your mother's."
The tree looked to be two years old at the most.
"Your mother always joked about wanting a cactus. She didn't want the birds to sit on her. Hated the bloody things ever since she was attacked by a turkey as a child."
Aurelie smirked. "How come you didn't plant one?"
"I wasn't in the right state to plan the funeral, as I'm sure you can imagine, so your grandmother took over." He sighed heavily. "But that's not what we're here for. I meant to give you this when you arrived but I decided to keep it for your birthday." The King held out a rose gold necklace with a large purple stone for a pendant. "This was your mother's favorite necklace. She never took it off.
Aurelie turned to Emile Dranoir with an affection she would have never believed could exist between the two of them. Wrapping her arms around him, she pressed her head into his chest. "Thank you."
"Happy Birthday, my darling."
Aurelie stepped away, rubbing the smooth stone. The talk of her mother brought Elizabeth to mind. She never considered asking the King before even though she had been curious. How could she have stayed in the castle knowing exactly how Elizabeth died? What if it had really been by his hand? "What happened to Elizabeth? I can't believe that he would stay here if you were responsible for her death." She wanted to ask Kaiden this question, but his mere presence still enraged her.
"Your Orken was once a prisoner here. Has he told you this story?"
Aurelie nodded warily.
"She was a smart one, Elizabeth, but stubborn when it came to me. She hated me since we were children. I can't say that it was all without reason. Kaiden tried to calm her for weeks, trying to explain what happened but she wouldn't believe either of us. Just like when we were children she thought that he was blinded by me. As it turns out, the food that she had been ordering to her chamber were the ingredients of blinding spell. We haven't had witches at the castle for years, so nobody suspected it. When her Jilpod seed ran out, she destroyed one of the walls as a decoy. When the guards came in, she used that potion on them, ran to the herbalist and threatened him for a Jilpod seed. It killed her."
Aurelie bit down on her cheek until she felt the flesh tear and tasted the sweetness of blood. "She didn't want you to have her magic."
"No, she didn't."
"If only I were there."
There was so much death around them. With the Icelands' forces gathering on their borders, she didn't understand how the King could sit around and play house. "I can't watch my Kingdom bleed," she said.
The King opened his mouth to speak. Aurelie held her hand out to silence him. "I have to wed. I have to. They are gathering at our borders. We hardly know who is on our side, or at least, I don't."
"I don't want you bothered with this."
"What else is there? Planting flowers with Clemson, reading, sowing? What? Just let me do this. Put out the word and have someone organize a ball. If I don't find someone suitable, I will stop bothering you. This is the only way I can think of helping for now."
"And the child?" he asked, they stared at each other, neither moving. "Would you truly have it be a hushed bastard under some bought man who never treats it as his own?"
"It doesn't have to be for long. We can find the priest who wed me and Kirin," she stopped mid-sentence, her own eyes widening like her father's
The King's hand flew past his head in exasperation. "Wed? You mean for me to marry you off while you are already married? Aurelie, do you understand the danger you'd be putting us in? Even if that helps us in the current fight, we'd be setting ourselves up for another. Our Kingdom would never be trusted again."
"Who would know?"
"What?"
"And when Kirin comes back? What will he say? What will he think of this?"
"He'll think that I did everything in my power to save us."
"Perhaps you don't know him as well as you think. No man, no matter the circumstances, would ever think that way about his pregnant wife marrying another man. Your child will never be safe if you do this."
"With a family of Dranoir Dragons and Valice steps away? The first man that nears my child and so much as winks beside her will be fed to Valice as a weak little lamb."
The King gave a small laugh. "Donahue's going to have a field day with this." He leaned against the tree, his head bowed over. "Your mother should have been here for this."
"Call for a ball, father." Aurelie didn't take a break from speaking. The King was about to give in. "You know we need this."
Grunting, he pushed himself away from the tree. "No, Aurelie. This will ruin you. This will ruin Kirin and the Kingdom. I cannot allow it."
She was about to argue but a dozen or so footsteps matched toward them. Aurelie's heart dipped as the King held his hand out behind him to keep her from following, and made his way toward the men to hear what was going on.
A head guard, distinguished by silver armor instead of black, met him at the entrance, a deep frown on his face. He leaned in, scoping their surroundings, and spoke to the King in a low voice.
The King turned and waved her forward. The frown seemed contagious. His hand fluttered faster making Aurelie break into a run.
"What is it," she asked as she reached him.
Reaching around her waist the King, led her out. "The town square has been attacked."
Aurelie had to break into a semi-jog to keep up with him. About twenty guards waited outside of the stable, surrounding them in a tight circle. Their shields formed a roof over their heads. The center stank of metal and sweat. A stale odor mixed in from the breaths of the guards in the inner circle, once they broke into a run.
"Who attacked?"
"I don't know yet."
"Have they reached the castle?"
"Aurelie!" he snapped, raising his voice. "I don't know."
Her shoes caught onto the skirt of her dress. She tumbled down. The King caught her by the arm, pulling her up before she hit the ground. The guards bumped into them from behind and stopped. Aurelie grabbed the skirt of her dress and wrapped the fabric around her fist to pull the skirt up further. With her free arm, she held on to the King.
"Sorry, go," she said and they moved again.
They took the back entrance through the herbal quarter, walking past large sheets of glass that were to be refitted. The guards spread, moving out of the way of the door and pushing them through the arch. The broken statue had been removed and the area cleaned.
The King didn't stop to inspect their surroundings or, unlike Aurelie, gather his wits. He was through the arch before she could properly assess what had happened. Following him, Aurelie's mind briefly passed her suspicion onto Orken. She wondered if the King shared her thoughts, hoping he didn't.
Orken wouldn't risk it. Not now. The old fool was certainly capable of organizing, if not being the only participant of an attack, but the timing didn't fit. Unless he was prepared to leave them behind and wander off alone as Daerious would certainly not leave her. Aurelie, with certainty, believed that it was not him.
"Father," she said, following him like his little shadow, "what are we going to do."
The King stopped, turning. "I'm going to call the council and you're going to find your friends and make sure that they had nothing to do with this."
"They wouldn't," she said only to receive an unyielding glance. Their arrival was followed by an attack on the city; she was silly to try convincing him without having any solid proof. The coincidence was far too large. "I'll find them."
Aurelie ran toward Revin's quarter, Daerious and Orken now lived on the same floor, but she wasn't looking for them, not yet. She wanted to see the city from the vantage point of their balcony. There were no guards on duty at the steps, which gave Aurelie an eerie feeling of emptiness.
When she arrived at the balcony, four people stood near the balustrade looking out on the smoke that rose into the sky. Daerious' elbow pressed against the white stone, his chin resting on the open palm of his hand.
"Princess," Niedry announced her presence. Aurelie turned in her direction. She sat at the table, looking awfully bored, with a glass filled to the brim with wine. Shaelyn sat on her right, averting her eyes. That girl was coming very close to hearing exactly what Aurelie thought of her childishness. If Aurelie hadn't kept her out of the battle, she'd be dead. Wizards who were one hundred times more experienced and powerful than she had all crumbled to the King's army.
The sun was setting; leaving a darkened orange glow in the sky as if it too had caught fire. Revin turned with a sigh, his own glass empty. Dipping it in Aurelie's direction, he left the gloomy company to sit at the table.
"Hard times," he said, and poured himself another glass.
Aurelie walked up to Daerious and Orken. His hand, as if by habit, wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer. Aurelie rested her head in the pit of his shoulder.
The glass of the cathedral had been cracked and in some places altogether gone. Smoke billowed through the gaps. The paths around it were littered ash and rubbish. Long strips of paper hung burning on the trees.
Guards had taken to the streets, trying to bring about order. Screams reverberated. Fires rose out of nearby houses. Some people ran with buckets, putting out fires, and others fetched whatever could be salvaged out into the streets.
"Do they know who is responsible?" Orken asked.
"No, the King did mention you though," she said, glancing his way to note his reaction.
Orken hit his fist against the balustrade, strangely astounded that he was even thought of. "Why would I go for the people when I can go straight for the King?"
Aurelie didn't think that it was a good idea to mention that she too thought he might be guilty when she first heard the news. It wasn't long ago that four of them rampaged through a village to find one man. The fire rose from the buildings just like it did this evening. Aurelie had grown numb to destruction. More was to come. She knew that this was only the beginning.
"Lukas will be looking for allies, we should too. The witches have turned their back on us, and rightfully so, but I want you to go to Sasha's sister and make them join us, beg if you have to and I shall do my part too."
"How am I going to convince her?"
Aurelie raised a shoulder. "I don't know, but if anyone here can, you know that it's you."
"Aurelie, I'm not even sure that I want to be a part of this. You seem to have forgotten what he did to us."
Aurelie twisted out of Daerious' grip, hearing him sigh at the sound of an ensuing argument. Bless him; he tried to stay out of these unless either of them came close to killing each other. Though, it happened more often than she cared to admit. "Who are you kidding?"
His head twitched back, accentuating the thick layer of his double chin. "What's that supposed to mean?" He rocked back in his step.
Aurelie turned away, resting her arms on the balustrade. The chill of the stones crept through the fabric of her dress. "We both know that you won't leave me. I'm not trying to sound arrogant, Orken," she exhaled tiresomely, "but this is our home now, and I know that you know this. Have your outrage; take time to hate yourself for even being here. God knows I have. But return to me with a clear mind when you come to terms with who we are now because I need you." Aurelie faced him, her whole face stressing the word. "This isn't just the gathering of a small rebellion. Look out there!" She pointed a finger toward the town, "While we've sat bickering, being of no use to anyone, they're ready to attack."
Orken's drained, wrinkly eyes fell. "I don't know if I can serve him after what he did to usâto her." The King was his Lukas, and she was asking Orken to be his loyal servant to the man who killed Sasha. It wasn't right, nor was it fair, but the walls around them were crumbling.
"If you decide that you want to join the witches instead of serving the crown, I will understand that too." Her hand rested on his shoulder.
Tears filled his eyes, one slipped out and rolled down his withered cheek. Aurelie was reminded of her own sorrow, dreading to think that he felt the same way too. Not Orken. Not her rock. It couldn't be...
It was hard to watch him cry. His tears were contagious, but she had learned to hide her own too well by now. Pulling him to her chest, she cradled his head. When she disappeared into the darkness of anguish the whole world faded. Almost as if she had forgotten that others around her lived and felt too. Now, Aurelie slowly found pain on every face.
"Just remember," she said, adding one last thing before she'd leave him to make up his own mind, "we're not doing this for him." His freedom was his to do with what he liked, but that didn't mean that she wanted to let him go.
Daerious hand fell back onto her shoulder. He seemed incapable of letting her go whenever they were near each other. Shaelyn's dark eyes gawked at them as she attempted to hide her tight fists underneath the table. "We're all that's left now, Orken. If Aurelie wants to stay here, we stay." That's all he added, but Orken didn't need much more.
With a heavy sigh and a heavier heart, he said, "I'm not leaving you, Aurelie. But that doesn't mean that I don't want to kill that bastard."
Aurelie looked toward the table to see if any of them heard him. "You can't say such thing in the castle, Orken. I don't want to be burning down your noose." She pressed her mouth closer to his ear, and whispered, "If we don't like what he does once the war is over, your hand can hold the knife that slits his throat."