Love and Tenacity

Chapter 7

The five women gathered around the kitchen table, four of them eager to hear what Ella had to say. She didn’t waste any time.

“Oliver is King,” she began, and both Desiree and Ember swore. Quinn bowed her head at the implication that her father had been killed, pushing aside the feelings to be dealt with later. Juvenis didn’t say anything, but her expression hardened even further and her eyes narrowed.

“He took his oath two nights ago, and he’s moved the capital to Rowland Castle while Mulciber is being rebuilt. Gods know why he’d even want to rebuild the damn thing, obviously it’s too exposed, but that’s the rumor. Most of the nobles escaped, though the staff of the castle took a huge blow. Most of the maids were crushed by the collapse of the coastal wing.” At this, Desiree bowed her head with Quinn. She had not been close with her sister, but the knowledge that she was the last in her line made her heart feel like it was being squeezed inside her chest. To her surprise, she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Ember giving her a sympathetic look.

“What’s happening with the Guard?” Quinn asked.

“Sir Desmond, the Battlemaster, was killed fighting attackers on the beach,” replied Ella. “One of the younger knights took over his role. Simon Watson, maybe?”

“It’s Scott,” Quinn said, relieved. She and Desiree slumped back in their seats, a huge weight lifted off their shoulders. They knew that Scott would keep an eye on Oliver, even if he couldn’t attack him, and the knowledge that they hadn’t lost all of their allies was comforting.

“Ella, I’m afraid that I haven’t introduced you to our guests,” Ember said, drawing Quinn and Desiree back to the present. “This is Annabelle Quinlan Lee, presently known as Quinn, former Princess of Artemae, and her friend, Mary Desiree Brogan. Ladies, Ella Harding, our protégée.” Ella’s eyes lit up at the introduction.

“I knew you were the princess,” said Ella, quietly thrilled. Quinn nodded at the blur with the blond halo. She was still having trouble focusing her eyes, but Ember had assured her that they would have many more healing sessions.

“You understand that their presence here is not to be known by anyone, correct?” Ember warned.

“Of course!” exclaimed Ella. “Not a soul will know – nobody saw them come here, and I told only my brother that you had visitors. Don’t worry, Seamus is trustworthy,” she said in reply to Desiree and Quinn’s startled looks. “He’s the local blacksmith and weapons maker; Ember’s teaching him everything she knows.”

Her voice was full of pride, and Quinn found herself liking the tiny girl.

“How old is your brother?” she asked kindly.

“Twenty-two,” responded Ella immediately, “and I’m sixteen. I’ve been helping Ember and Juvenis out with little things since I was six, though. When they go away, I look after the cabin and the barn. Sometimes they send me out looking for information because people don’t usually notice me, and sometimes Juvy even teaches me combat skills!” she said excitedly. She didn’t seem to notice that she was rambling, and she would have continued if Juvenis hadn’t put a hand on her shoulder, silencing her.

Ember turned to Desiree and Quinn. “Looks like your old plan is in tatters,” she said. Desiree and Quinn had no response. “You can’t kill him now – it’ll cast suspicion onto you and he’ll already have named another heir, probably someone just as corrupt as him. Alsius is going to get whatever it wants.”

“Who is up there?!” exclaimed Quinn, slamming a hand down on the table. They all jumped; even Desiree rarely heard the princess raise her voice. “I have become desperate enough to be willing to murder people from my own family to prevent this person from letting us be raided and weakened, and I don’t even know who they are or what they want! My father knew, I KNOW he did, but he never let anything slip in front of me, and now I have no way of finding out. How do I fight someone when I don’t even know who they are? My people are afraid, and I can’t protect them!”

Quinn ran a hand forcefully over her face and sighed harshly. Desiree wanted to comfort her, but she was distracted by Juvenis. The dark haired woman was staring at Ember with a disturbing amount of intensity, and Ember held her gaze evenly. They seemed to have a brief, silent conversation, before Ember huffed and appeared to give up.

“Do you know who the King of Alsius is?” Ember asked Quinn.

Quinn nodded. “It’s King George, but he is only a figurehead. I met him once, and there’s no way he is smart enough to manage a network of underground deals and deception.

“I agree, he isn’t at the root of the problem, but I know who is. Did you happen to meet his wife as well?”

Quinn thought for a moment, and then nodded slowly. “I think I did, though I can’t remember her very well. I believe her name was Morgan or something similar. It was when I still had my sight, but all I remember is that she had dark hair, pale skin, and was rather pretty. Too pretty for King George, at least. He was old twelve years ago.” Desiree snickered, remembering the old man with the scraggly beard and hair growing out from his ears.

“Her name is Morana,” said Ember seriously, “and the reason that you can’t remember her is not that you have a bad memory. She’s a sorceress, a powerful witch, and she emits a fog of psychic magic around her that slows down people’s minds and makes her seem forgettable and ordinary to strangers. She is, in fact, quite powerful and equally insane. I believe that she’s the one who is targeting Artemae. We are a powerful country, but we are nowhere near as strong as we once were. She knows this, and I think that she wants to absorb us into Alsius and use our diamond mines to increase her own wealth and power. She conned poor old George into marrying her about fifteen years ago, and she’s been using her powers to muddle his mind and keep him alive ever since. You both must understand, Morana is very, very dangerous. She will achieve her goals, sooner rather than later now that Oliver is in charge.”

There was a moment of silence as the women absorbed the information. Quinn felt dread creep into her soul at the thought of a power struggle with a sorceress. Assassinating her cousin had been a disturbing thought, but it was relatively simple. Now, however, Quinn realized that even if the original plan had worked, it would have only delayed the inevitable. Morana was hungry for power, and sorceresses didn’t like not getting their way.

“When were you going to tell us this?” asked Desiree, with muted resentment. Ember folded her arms and sat back in her chair.

“I didn’t see the point of troubling you with it last night, or at any point before we learned whether or not there was still a shot of your original plan working. No one wants to be told that their enemy is more powerful than them.”

“So how do we stop her?” asked Quinn, looking imploringly at Ember. Ember held eye contact with Juvenis again, though Quinn wasn’t aware, and then replied, “Honestly, Quinn, I don’t know if we can. She has the Army of Alsius, our Royal Guard, and the bounty hunters under her thumb, and we have no one. The only people who actually know who Morana is are Oliver, the nobles she’s seduced or paid into sympathizing with her, and us. The only thing that may present some small threat to her is a massive revolution.”

“Who would revolt?” questioned Ella. “Ember, Juvy, you’ve travelled, you’ve seen the state of our people. The Watchers do what they can, but bounty hunters are terrorizing anyone who questions the monarch. They don’t even hunt real criminals anymore, they just attack whoever they please. The people can’t do anything.”

“The people are frightened, yes, but they are not powerless. There are more citizens than there are bounty hunters, and they are paralyzed only because they do not have a uniting force. If one central person organizes them, a person behind whom they can put all of their power, they could change everything. I have seen the fear, of both raids and our own government, but I have also seen anger, and anger breeds rebellion,” argued Ember.

“The people may very well have help,” broke in Juvenis. “There are knights in the Guard who are still loyal to Quinn, and Sir Watson being in charge gives us some sway. He can’t be too obvious about being disloyal to Oliver, but we can depend on him to back us up if a revolution happens. Many of his soldiers are loyal to their country, not their King. And the bounty hunters are not as strong as they seem. The faction led by Caleb Meyer is formidable, but I’ve heard rumor that his brother, Jude, is not so quick to misuse power. I’m not saying that he’ll help us, but we may be able to use him.”

Quinn nodded thoughtfully. “A division in the bounty hunters would be very helpful to us. Have either of you met Jude Meyer before?”

Ember and Juvenis pulled a face. “Neither of us has actually spoken to Jude, but we would recognize him on sight,” Ember replied. “Whether or not he decides to help us depends entirely on how loyal he is to Caleb. If Caleb finds out that Jude has spoken with us, there may be violence.”

“What does Caleb know about you two that would cause that kind of resentment?” Quinn asked curiously, and both Ella and Ember turned to Juvenis.

“He and I have had… disagreements in the past.”

“He’s tried and failed to kill Juvy on several occasions,” Ember supplied. “Before I met Juvy, she wasn’t doing much to please the law.”

Quinn frowned. “What do y-“

“What about the nymphs?” Ella interjected. There was a moment of stunned silence from Quinn and Desiree as Ember and Juvy shot Ella grateful looks.

“…I don’t think any human has been on speaking terms with a nymph in about one hundred years,” said Quinn. “I’d nearly forgotten about them. They live mostly in the dense forests near the coasts, do they not?”

“They do, but Ella has a point,” Ember replied. “We’ve left each other alone for many centuries, but nymphs are incredible creatures. The only reason that they don’t give us more trouble is that they’re still satisfied with the amount of land they have to themselves, but I doubt that Morana is going to respect that. If they find out that the entire country is being physically threatened, I don’t think they’ll lie down and let it happen.”

“The question is whether they will actually be willing to cooperate with us or whether they’ll act independently,” said Juvenis. “Perhaps if you promise them the safety and possible expansion of their land under your rule, Quinn, they’ll help us overthrow Oliver as well as keep Morana’s forces at bay.”

“If they help us, I will give them all the land they want,” said Quinn darkly. She steepled her fingers together and rested her chin on them, lips pursed. “Do you all mind if I talk to Desiree alone for a moment?”

“Of course not,” Ember said graciously, and nodded her head toward the door. “Juvy, weren’t you talking about working on throwing knives with Ella?” Juvy nodded, and Ella looked excited as the three women headed outside.

Quinn waited until their voices faded into the distance. Desiree had been silent for several minutes now, and it worried her.

“I’m so sorry about Abby,” Quinn said. Desiree sighed.

“I didn’t think that she had survived. I still don’t know for sure that she’s dead, but I saw the servants’ wing collapse on itself. I can only hope it was quick.”

There was another silence. Quinn didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t like Desiree to be quiet, and she didn’t want to press her, but she had to know Desiree’s opinion before she made any plans toward reclaiming the throne and dealing with Morgan. They had been close for as long as she could remember, and even though Desiree was technically her maid, she never made a decision without considering the redhead’s opinion.

“You’ve got to do it, Quinn,” said Desiree, finally raising her head to meet Quinn’s unusually focused eyes. “My entire family has now been killed by raiders, and it never would have happened had it not been for Morana. You’re the only one who can unite Artemae, and I can’t bear to watch it fall to pieces. If you don’t do it for your people, do it for me.” She was slowly shifting back to her southern accent, pushing words together and relaxing her mouth. It was a minor thing, but it made Quinn remember that Desiree was far more than a maid; she was a citizen of Artemae, the last of a large family, and she had her own dark memories that ate away at the back of her mind. She masked all of her troubles so well for the princess’ sake that it was sometimes easy to forget that she had once existed outside the castle walls. Quinn wondered how she had ever considered Desiree a maid more than a friend.

Desiree’s quiet, desperate plea shifted the weight in Quinn’s mind. She stared down her best friend, still awestruck at the cloud of curly orange hair that she could finally see again after all these years, and made a decision.

“I will die as the People’s Princess or I will triumph as the People’s Queen. Artemae has not fallen yet.”