Valarya de Mertaire

The world either got really wet, or I was somehow dead. Either one didn't sound too good. Heaving my lids open, I realized I was sitting in a tub of water.

Steam came up from it. Stone lined the sides of the hot spring, along with colored art scribbled all over the clay walls. The place looked ancient.

Maybe I was dead. Lifting my wrinkly hand up, I gave it a slight pinch. I was definitely not dead. Where the hell was I?

"You're awake."

Jumping from the hot spring, a woman was seated on a clay and wooden chair, maybe throne, on a dais a few steps away from me. "Where am I?"

"Where do you want to be?"

"Are you a poet?" I muttered, stepping out the hot spring. I quickly felt a breeze touch my bare body. "How long—"

"You've been conscious for weeks, but we needed to give you multiple sedatives. You were a bit"—she gestured in my direction—"hard to tame. You threatened my ladies with death."

"Well, if you drug someone, you're bound to have some protest." I snatched a towel off from the hot stones by the door and wrapped myself around it to shield her gray eyes away.

She chuckled. "You begged us for the drugs, Valarya. Don't you remember?"

"I'm not an idiot."

"Are you sure? Because you seem to have forgotten the pain you've put us through."

Throwing myself down on a chair, I collected whatever memories I could. Nicholyn wasn't here. I remembered yelling for him and a crowd of women rushing by me. I remembered the ship. Cadice.

"I pity you," the lady spoke, interrupting my train of thoughts. Pity? What pity could she possibly be talking about? "Your country is as good as ruined."

"I recall you saying you didn't know who I was."

"News travels fast. For example, did you know Prince Thresan was the one who killed your beloved Manea? Tragic."

It didn't take an idiot to piece together the clues. Why else would Ilias wanted to marry me? After betraying me and sticking by Zian's side, only an idiot wouldn't suspect him of not trying to usurp the throne. "What do you want?"

She shrugged and placed her head onto her folded hand. "Nothing. I'm concerned on how you ended up in the other side of the world."

"The other..." I shot up from my chair and went to the balcony. The infrastructure was unfamiliar. This wasn't Thaeleck, and this also wasn't Entorre. Though I'd never been to Kandose, I highly doubted a country that far north would have so much sand and clay. "What country am I in?"

"You're not too far from home. Just a few days on a ship."

"I didn't ask how far."

"Same thing." She noticed my foot twisting in annoyance as she added, "Torth. You're in a territory of Torth."

Of course Cadice would try to get me in his home country, but why? I could understand him wanting me to be away, but why have me end up in Torth?

As if she could read my mind, she corrected herself and said, "I said a territory. You're not in the actual country of Torth. That would be much closer to Entorre."

"And who are you? The parrot for the king?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"You speak," I grounded, stepping up on the dais, "like you know what you're talking about. Are you the king's parrot?"

She smiled and glanced around like she was making sure no one else was in the room and whispered, "The queen is currently running a meeting. I'm the commander of the guard."

"That's really funny." I sent her a crooked sort of look. "Commander of the guard my ass."

"The queen said I needed to look after you since you were aggressive."

"You stole me—"

"We saved your life," she retorted, the calmed tone of her voice only angering me more. "Be grateful we didn't throw you back into the water."

I debated hurling a stone at her, but if she was the commander of the guard, I wouldn't stand a chance. Unless I used whatever magic I had; I never did that before. I couldn't risk it after what happened with Cadice.

For now, I would comply. "Come with me."

I forced myself to follow, taking the surrounding into account. There wasn't anything wrong with my memory, yet everything felt like a blur. Even now, the fight with Cadice was a faraway dream, and the only thing reminding me that it happened was the absence of Nicholyn.

Absence—or death.

Nicholyn couldn't die. He was Ashe Knightley. He had faced worse. He had blown up ships, cascaded buildings, escaped a maximum security prison—he was not dead. Impossible.

But not completely impossible.

"How did you get shipwrecked?" the woman asked.

Did I need to lie or be honest? Neither would've helped me. "I got attacked."

"And the attack split the entire boat in half?"

"It was someone who hated me."

"So your entire country?"

She was so lucky I was too tired to grab onto that floating, invisible thread by her heart. Just one tug and she would be as good as a rock. "Where are you taking me?"

"Your friend was asking for you."

Nicholyn.

"Where is he?"

It didn't take a genius to know, though. There weren't many buildings nearby. The one down the path was the only one it could be.

Without another word, I jogged toward it and creaked the door open. A body laid on a cot at the corner of the room, face invisible under the blanket. A woman nearby made a quick exit after receiving a pointed glare from me.

"Nick," I whispered, pulling a chair next to him. I knew he wasn't dead. Nicholyn could never die—not like this. Sliding my hand onto his shoulder, I sighed. "Knew you weren't dead, you idiot."

He released a soft groan.

"You're so stupid. How the hell—"

He snorted. "Sounds like Nick all right."

I yanked my hand away and nearly toppled off my chair. That was not Nicholyn. Where was my Nicholyn?

"Sorry to disappoint, Princess." The body in the bed shifted. Caramel hair and hazel eyes pierced out. "Wait, where's Nicholyn?"

Should I have been relieved? Relieved to know I wasn't alone? No. Where was Nick? "I..." A sob attempted to squeeze its way out my throat.

Rysdan blinked and shifted again. "He's not here?"

My mouth went dry. Seeing his face was like a knife to my heart and soul.

When I didn't say anything, he sat up and rubbed his stomach. "What the hell happened, Val? I asked them for weeks and couldn't get an answer."

Saints, Nicholyn could not be dead.

"Valarya, answer me." Someone else must've walked in because he pointed a firm finger at them. "You. Answer me or I'll—"

"I don't know," the woman, confused as ever, said. "You just washed on the shore."

He blinked and flung his blanket off. There were burn marks all over his body, some older than others. "Where's Ashe?"

I wished I knew.

Rysdan groaned and threw himself onto a chair. A newspaper was folded on the table next to it; probably some ridiculous Entorrean tabloid that never got tired of rumors.

Curiousity got the best of me.

King Lius Issues Decree To Find Intruder of Auction

He hasn't changed one bit.

"Get whatever queen you have in this room," I told the woman. "And quickly." She nodded and left the room.

Rysdan's eyes narrowed at every angle of the room. His usual cheerfulness subsided, and his jaw tensed as he spoke. "Whoever did this..."

"Cadice," I admitted, shoving my face into my palms.

"The man died ages ago—"

"Just... This is hard to talk—"

"Seriously? I nearly died, and you talking about how this is an inconvenience to you?" he snapped, his face abnormally red. "Give me an answer or you can stay here by yourself."

"Are you serious?"

"Do I sound like I'm fucking joking?" he yelled.

Our gaze locked for a split second. The silence in the room was deafening. Breaking eye contact, I said, "He took control over Ashe's body somehow. I don't know how or why. He sank the ship."

"Trying to kill you?"

"I don't know. But obviously I'm not dead." But he could be. "I don't know what's happening, Rysdan. I can hardly think anymore."

His breathing was sporadic and rushed, almost like he was holding himself back from completely collapsing on the ground. With one hand, he unwound his bandage, and the other grabbed the alcohol on the table and splashed the wound.

"Talk to me." Because if he didn't, I would go insane.

"What do you want me to say?" He hissed and wiped the extra alcohol from dripping down his leg. "We've had better days. Things like this shouldn't be happening, obviously. I don't know what to say."

"Do you know what we can do?" I asked, folding my arms to control my shaking.

He shook his head. "If I did we wouldn't still be here. If Ashe really isn't here, then we need to go back to Thaeleck."

"How? I highly doubt they'll give us a boat."

"No shit they won't. The bitch that controls this place has a vendetta."

Wait, what? "You know her?"

Now he was laughing. With a swift step, he was by the cabinet and covering his wound again. "Of course I know her. Remember the clock tower explosion a few years ago in Entorre City?"

The clock tower explosion. It killed hundreds of people and demolished a quarter of the city. King Lius was practically begging my father to help pay for reconstruction. "Yes, I'm aware."

"She's the one responsible for it."

Saints, now my hope completely shattered.

"She's crazy. A complete lunatic. Nicholyn and I spent years trying to catch her, but then one of our friends aided her escape and almost killed Zian. Fuck, Val, if she's here we're as good as dead."

"Don't scare me—"

He shot me a warning glare. "Don't you dare try to get close to her."

He didn't need to tell me twice. "Who was your friend?"

He scoffed and shoved the cabinet shut. "Doesn't matter. He's locked in the Entorre Palace prison. Cadice himself couldn't get him out."

"Saints, Rysdan, what the hell happened?"

"Did Nicholyn not—"

The door flew open. In came a trio of armed guards, each one bigger than the other. My gasp was delayed as a short woman walked in. Her bronze skin contrasted her dyed, short, red hair. Slim eyes assessed both of us.

"Sorry for the suddenness. My assistant informed me that you were... sane enough. Are you?" Her words came out with a thick Entorrean accent.

Rysdan was the one who answered. "She's not talking with you."

"I wasn't asking you, Selorn," she quipped.

"Don't you dare talk to her."

"Oh, so I suppose he told you, did he?" She crossed her arms and gestured her guards out of the room.

"He did," I claimed, making sure she knew my alliance, "now get out."

"You aren't willing to hear me out?"

The look I sent her was enough to reject. Standing up, I took Rysdan's side and said as firmly as I could, "No. We want a ship."

"You expect me to just hand over a ship?" Her toying smile was ruthless as she spoke. "I don't think so."

I could've played this out better. Grimacing, I peeled the newspaper off the table and tossed it to the garbage bin next to her. "Then get out."

"Oh, I won't do that either." The woman took a single step forward. "I'm willing to make an offer, Valarya."

That was enough for Rysdan to wedge himself between her and I. "You are in no position—"

She effortlessly stepped past Rysdan and stopped in front of me. "You don't have much to give me, but you might want to hear me out. Especially you, Rysdan."

"You—"

"Valarya," she began, her smile still plaster on her face, "stay here and arrange a diplomatic meeting with us in Thaeleckean court. In return, I'll grant you however many ships you want."

"Go to hell," Rysdan bit out.

"Don't make me drag you out," she mumbled back to him.

"I don't need all those ships," I responded, ignoring their rebuttals.  "That's hardly good enough—"

She had a necklace dangling on her finger now. Color-changing gem, silver chain... "Does this convince you?"

"How the hell do you have that?" Rysdan was about to grab it off her finger before she shoved him over.

"You and Nicholyn are so easily fooled. And anyway, this offer isn't for you." Her smug grin turned Rysdan's face a deeper shade of scarlet. "The Amulet of Torth is connected to you, Valarya. It seems pretty important if Nicholyn was trying to get ahold of it. Are you going to throw my offer away?"

"Dialynne, I will kill you—"

"Don't bother." She returned her attention back to me. "I'll give you time to think about this. Have a good afternoon."

Rysdan was about to throw himself on her before her guards walked in and held him back.