The carriage fell silent while Katrinka and I absorbed the full weight of what happened. News may have never reached Heprin of this war between pagan witches and the Crown of Nine. I wished I could ask my father about it. Wished I could read his face and see if he was as heartbroken over the loss of lives and the loss of relationships as I felt now.
I thought about how much the people of Blackthorne must have suffered as prisoners in their own country. And how many lives were lost not just during the battle but in the time since then? How many families died off over that time, ending their lineage?
Outside of Heprin, magic was becoming a very real thing. Even in the safety of the Castle Extensia, I had grown up knowing magic was banned. But not why. Nor at what cost.
“You feel the pain of this land,” Ravanna noticed as green grass began to appear and pale barked trees could be seen in the distance. “It is not just speculation for you. You feel it here.” Her hand pressed against her heart, pale, porcelain skin against the black of her feathered corset. And her black eyes were on me.
“How could I not? There was not a victor in such a war as this. Whether the witches removed the magic or simply hid it, too many lives were lost for the pursuit of greed.”
“You think the Seat of Power should have given up the Crown of Nine?” Her tone sounded genuinely interested in my opinion for the first time since I’d known her.
So I chose my words carefully. “I think there is never a reason to justify so much bloodshed. And I think unlimited power is only useful when it is useful for all people. I don’t know all the facts, but I do know that my ancestors turned their power on people they were meant to protect and lead. Whatever the reason the pagan witches had for moving the magic must have been significant enough to go to war.”
“You side with the witches?” Ravanna sounded as if she could not believe me.
“I side with those I feel have been wronged.” I gestured out the window. “Your kingdom has been wronged. No one should have to live like this. No one should have to fear the land they come from.”
Ravanna turned to Katrinka. “And what do you think?”
Katrinka nibbled on her bottom lip and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose as she thought over her answer. With a nervous glance at me, she said, “My sister is right. We are missing facts. But the Crown was forged for a reason. Many, many people already died to build the Seat of Power. The witches seem to have sought to undo all the good that had been done. I cannot say for sure, but surely, they brought some of this on themselves. The innocent lives lost both then and since then are on the pagans’ hands. Not the Allisands.”
Ravanna’s lips twisted into a sneer. “You’re right, Katrinka. The witches did bring the war here. And they are the ones who cursed their own land.” Her focus fell to me and stayed there. “But you are right as well, Tessana. The Seat of Power had grown ill with greed. And it remains that way to this day. Unlimited power can only corrupt. And this is your first lesson of being queen. You must face the corruption and decide to work with it or succumb to it. Your days of good deeds and kind thoughts are coming to an end. There are many problems in the realm such as this one, and not one has a clear, happy solution. To rule over many is to know that you must sacrifice some. So ask yourself now, Tessana Allisand, future queen of the realm, how many pagans are you willing to martyr for the greater good? How many kingdoms are you willing to let curse themselves as they try to protect themselves from you? When will you decide enough is enough? When the world has been crushed beneath your boot? Or when someone asks you nicely to hand the power over to them? There is hardly any middle ground between the two. As you well know.”
I tore my gaze from hers and looked out the window, watching the scenery change and evolve into something ethereal and wild.
The rest of the drive to Ravanna’s home, Fenwick Keep, Katrinka asked Ravanna questions about the Blackthorne people, but I could not look away from the splendor of the land. The Blessed Road, which Ravanna told Katrinka was the official name for the highway, did not pass any towns or cities like she’d said. Instead, the land rolled with untouched forests of White Oaks and glistening lakes. Flowers as purple and pink as the most vibrant fabrics crawled over the ground instead of grasses or crops, making a contrasting blanket of beauty against the stark whiteness of the short, twisty bleached trees.
The road remained rough and bumpy, but I stopped paying attention to the way my body bounced around the carriage as I desperately tried to drink in as much of Blackthorne as possible.
Ravanna explained that the people here lived together in territories instead of villages. It was still a struggle for her as queen to get them to communicate. Skirmishes often arose between the territories, and she was called in to mediate.
That was what called her away those months before. The faction from inland had started using land near the Serpent’s Sea to harvest an algae known for its healing powers. But the territory that controlled the beach wanted to trade for it instead of letting the inland territory simply take it. Neither side had been willing to compromise and had gotten to the verge of war. Ravanna had stepped in and helped the inland territory see reason. Now they traded algae for a rare flower that does not grow near the icy sea with its tempestuous weather.
As we neared Fenwick Keep, the landscape changed again. From clear lakes and white-capped rushing rivers to marshes and swamp land. The crawling flowers from nearer the Barstus border faded away, and pale-pink vines covered the landscape instead. I found it fascinating to be in a place where humans truly had not touched it. The wild was everywhere. Even here on the road, now that it was no longer cursed land. The uneven, poorly made Blessed Road became almost intolerable as the vines stretched over the highway itself. More than once, we had to slow to a stop, and the guards would get out to lift the carriages over particularly thick obstructions.
And then there was the Keep, rising from the flattened landscape. It was shocking obsidian in a world of white and pale pink.
The outer walls and battlements were as smooth and glossy as the Marble Wall had once been. A burbling moat of mossy swamp water left a wide berth between the castle and the rest of the land. And as we drove over the drawbridge once it had been let down for us, I noticed the stillness of Ravanna’s home.
There was no hustle and bustle of servants as we arrived. No royal guards or military to salute us as we pulled up in front of the massive castle proper with its pointed center and imposing outer towers. It reminded me of a crown, a perfect circle with evenly spaced points.
Yet there were no people anywhere to be seen.
Now that I thought about it, I realized that Ravanna had no people with her. No maids or courtiers. Not even footmen to help her down from the carriage.
We’d traveled in her carriage, but it had been Elysian guards that had escorted us and driven the caravan. The only maids belonged to Katrinka and me.
The door to the carriage opened, and the footmen released the stairs. I waited for a servant or an advisor to greet us, to show us inside, but Ravanna led the way. And as we marched away from the carriage, up an endless set of obsidian stairs so steep and smooth I worried I would slip on them and fall to my death, our own servants and guards disappeared into their duties so that Katrinka and I remained with Ravanna alone.
A whisper of fear curled through my belly. My head was still sore from where Caspian had tackled me to the ground to save my life. Had his bravery been for nothing?
What was more was that there was no furniture either. No sideboard tables holding lit candelabra. No overstuffed chairs or elegant rugs. No paintings of old, dead people decorating the walls. Or tapestries hanging from the ceilings. The inside of Fenwick Keep was as stark and black as the outside. The only light filtering in through the long narrow windows spaced evenly apart.
Ravanna did not explain. She simply moved forward at a quick pace, leaving Katrinka and me to hurry after her. I started to worry we’d have to sleep on the floor and make our own supper when Ravanna pushed through giant black doors four times the size of any entrance at Extensia and led us into the throne room.
I was relieved to find a throne in the room. Although it sat alone, in the center of the hexagon-shaped space. There was a rug beneath it, feathered like everything else Ravanna wore. And overhead, a wide chandelier in the same shape as the room held half-burned candles, their dried wax running down the iron sides of it.
Ravanna paused in the center of the room, remembering we were with her. Turning slowly, she glanced at the chandelier over our heads and said, “You may take the evening to refresh yourselves. Your maids should have your things in your rooms. I will summon you for supper but expect it to be after sundown. The days are longer in Blackthorne and the nights much shorter. It will take some adjusting, but I have no doubt you girls will manage.”
