I couldn’t help wondering if it would ever lessen.
The little girl pulled back, looking at me with wide eyes. “Really? You lost her too?”
“I did.” I nodded sadly. “Now, I bet your mother is really worried about you. Why don’t we go see her?”
She nodded hurriedly, looking guilty, and I knew her poor mother was probably dealing with enough already without her child taking off. I had the little girl lead me back to her house, and she brought me to an apartment building where several adults, including one distraught-looking woman, were talking outside.
“Annika!” the woman cried as she spotted us, running immediately in our direction. The little girl took off, launching at her mother like a cannonball and making me smile softly. Pain wracked through me at the sight, right alongside my happiness at seeing them reunite.
“You were not supposed to take off on me like that,” her mother cried, clutching her tightly. “I told you that we had an important job to do?—”
“I missed daddy.” The little girl interjected fiercely, making the woman’s face crumple. “But it’s okay, I found Lady Jacinth! And she told me she lost both her parents, not just one, and she’d do anything to see her mother again, and then I felt really bad.”
The woman looked equally exasperated and fond as she listened to the child’s babble, stroking the girl’s hair as she calmed down from her fright.
“Ah, I see you did indeed find her.” The woman’s opal eyes locked on mine, and I realized then with a start that they must be the Takara family. The little girl didn’t exactly do as she was supposed to, but shedidfind me.
“Lady Jacinth, thank you so much for returning Annika.” The woman rose and came to take my hand, squeezing gratefully. I assured her it was nothing, but she smiled knowingly. “Come in, I believe there’s something you need.”
I followed them inside, Annika grabbing my hand and leading me along. Her excited bouncing was so at odds with the tears she couldn’t stop earlier. I noticed the tea set out and realized they must have been expecting me. Azurill had certainly crafted quite the operation here.
“Please, have a seat.” She smiled, pouring me a cup. “I’m Mica Takara, by the way. High King Azurill mentioned you needed something from me in order to win, but he didn’t elaborate on what it was,” she said as she sat down across from me.
She took a sip of her tea, fiddling with her cup nervously. I took a sip of the tea myself, gulping down more than was polite, only now realizing how thirsty I was. Let alone how hungry. I’d been at this trial all day, after all, with nary a minute to slow down and eat or drink.
“For our trial, we were told we each needed to bring back an item that will be given as tribute to the gods,” I explained, taking a deep breath. “I was told I needed to get a ring from you. A golden ring with diamonds studded around it.”
The woman gasped, lifting her left hand as her fingers went to twist her wedding ring around. A golden band…with diamonds surrounding it.Fuck. My heart fell into my stomach as my eyes widened.
“Your wedding ring…” I whispered, trying to come to terms with the idea, but it wasn’t happening. The woman’s eyes watered as she looked down at it.
“Celadon and I met when we were young.” She said quietly, her eyes stuck on the ring. “Our parents both worked at the market, and their stalls were next to one another. We fell in love so slowly over the years, that I never even noticed it happening. But Celadon, he saved up for years for a ring. He told me he knew I was it for him the day we met, but I never believed him, not until he asked me to marry him, and showed me this beautiful ring that he’d only been able to get because he spent all those years saving for it. All because he thought that I deserved the best.”
Tears fell down her face as she spoke, and moisture formed in my own eyes in sympathy as I grabbed at my chest over my heart, unable to believe that Azurill could ask me to do this.
“It’s the same reason he joined the army.” She sniffed, trying to stem her tears, looking so much like her daughter despite their different coloring. “He wanted to provide the best for me,forus, and the army paid more than any other job he could get. But there was an attack on the city. One of the lesser-known pirate families are apparently trying to make a name for themselves.”
Mica’s eyes closed in pain, and I bit my lips, trying to stop myself from making a sound and intruding on her pain.
“He went to help. To protect the city. To protect us. But he never came home. Leaving me and Annika on our own.” She gasped for breath lightly. “If it weren’t for the High King’s support afterward, we would never have managed.”
She went silent for a moment before opening her eyes. I could see the struggle in them, looking between me and the ring from the man she loved since childhood.
“Celadon hoped the ring could be passed down to Annika, but if the king needs it, I have to imagine there’s a reason of some sort, even if I can’t see it yet.” Her face crumpled as she moved to take the ring off her finger, but before I knew what I was doing, I was reaching out and grasping her hand, stopping her.
Mica looked up at me with wide, surprised eyes, “Lady Jacinth?”
My hand was shaking as it held hers still. My whole body might have been. My entire future rested on taking this ring. The ring would be the tribute to ensure my reign as queen was blessed. It was the only way to win and evenbecomequeen.
The only way to marry Azurill.
My heart felt like it was splitting in two. I wanted nothing more than to win and marry him. I could admit now, even if only to myself, that I had somehow fallen in love with him. Despite everything, I yearned for Azurill with a ferocity that I’d never felt for anything besides vengeance in my entire life.
But I looked at the trembling hand covering Mica’s, where the bracelet my own parents had passed down still circled my wrist. I needed that ring, but how could I take it from Mica? From Annika? Only a monster could take such a precious item from a grieving family.
“I—” My breath stuttered, “Ican’t take it.”
“But Lady Jacinth,” Mica shook her head in confusion, “You need it to win.”
