In a way, Scarlett’s anger was a relief, because it took from the sea of grief filling the rest of her. Unlike the grief, her rage was a practical outlet. It burned through her apathy for the future and grew her desire to take her seat in Parliament. She wanted nothing more than to see the look on Moira Ashworth’s face when the border legislation passed. It would make both of Scarlett’s parents proud, wherever they were. Her father’s death wouldn’t have to mean the death of his dreams. She could end the isolationism of Soleil and thus reduce bigotry toward other countries like Clair de Lune in his honor. It was what her parents both would have wanted.
She shrugged, her barely-there patience wearing thinner by the second. “Like I said, you’ve caught me at a low moment.” She waved her hand toward her father’s casket. “Your timing is incredibly bad.”
“I suppose I should have known you’d be like this, given your mother was forest trash from Clair de Lune.”
The comment was so venomous it stunned Scarlett, and her lips parted.
Moira took two steps away, paused, and came back. Her glare was angry enough to startle Scarlett even in her current state. “Take care, Scarlett. I hope it’s all worth it. I’d hate to see you end up like your father.”
“I’d rather end up like him than end up like you,” spat Scarlett, her voice raised.
“That can easily be arranged.” Moira walked off without another word.
Scarlett’s eyes widened.Did she really just say that?She was sleep-deprived, and her brain was full of fog, but Moira’s partingthreat pierced through her and shook her to the core.
CHAPTER
FIVE
Two days after the funeral, Scarlett stepped out of her palatial family home and onto the dock that extended out over the sparkling Sapphire Canal. One of their security guards was waiting on her family’s speedboat with their driver, Charlie. Another guard followed Manon. Sick of watching the news, since there’d been no update in the investigation into her dad’s death, Scarlett had decided to act on the feelings that had been simmering since the funeral. She was going to the Soleil courts to apply to join Parliament early.
Once she and Manon were seated in the boat’s enclosed cabin, Charlie pulled out into the waterway. They sped down the canal and under the numerous footbridges connecting the northern and southern halves of the city. The view of the morning sun on the water in front of the palazzo-style residences was as dazzling as ever, and it was a relief to Scarlett to know she could still find the Sapphire Canal beautiful in spite of everything.
Her feelings were all over the place as they rode into town. There was the ever-present omnipotent sorrow for her dad. She was also silently mourning the loss of her year abroad, which made her feel guilty. Because she shouldn’t care. But she did. She’d give up the travel, though, for Soleil. For the greater good.
Hadrian’s Roundabout came into view. The statue of the long-dead Emperor Hadrian at the center of the three-lane circular waterway towered over her, as it always had. Even through the lens of grief, these familiar sights remained the same. It made sense life would go on, but the change within Scarlett was so enormous she almost expected the world to look different too.
The traffic was as busy as ever as Charlie maneuvered the speedboat through it. Scarlett stared up at the lofty statue as they passed. She’d always loved the look of Hadrian’s Roundabout. It marked the beginning of the grandiose buildings of the city center, where large plots of land that held the Soleil train station, Parliament, and the University of Soleil sat within a grid of canals. It also reminded her of Soleil’s colorful past. Founded two hundred years ago, Soleil was one of seven countries created when the empire spanning the continent of Hieratia disbanded after the Great War. Soleil had the legacy of a thousand-year reign of emperors and the promise of a modern new beginning now that they were on the cusp of reintegrating with more of the world. Or at least it had seemed that way before her father died. Scarlett hoped Soleil’s promising future wasn’t lost with him. That was why she was going to the courts—to do everything she could to make the future bright.
Charlie pulled the boat up to Prince’s Street Dock. It was almost always heaving with people, given the huge dock was the main access point to the city center from the residential canals on the western side.
Scarlett stepped out of the cabin. “Thanks for the ride, Charlie. It may be several hours. I’ll call when we’re done.”
“Sounds good, kid.”
The security guards made to follow her and Manon. Tired of the constant presence of near strangers, Scarlett spun toward them.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but the Soleil Bureau told meyesterday there’s now a low security risk for my family. I think we all know your days of being assigned to us are numbered. Would you mind giving me some privacy to run this errand?”
“Scarlett, anytime you begin a sentence with the phrase ‘I don’t mean to be rude,’ it’s common knowledge you’re about to say something rude,” said Manon.
The guards chuckled, and Scarlett’s mouth quirked up in a half-grin as warmth crept across her cheeks.
“Sorry for being short,” she said. “It’s been a rough few days.”
“It’s fine. We understand,” said one of the guards. He glanced at his partner, who shrugged, then turned back to Scarlett. “We’re here for your safety until otherwise assigned, but we can follow from a distance if you’d prefer.”
“We don’t have to go inside a civic building with its own security,” said the other.
“Great. Thank you.” With a wave, Scarlett led Manon toward the courts.
Their security dipped into a café across from the courts, so Manon and Scarlett were blissfully alone as they walked up the steps into the Court of Soleil. The imposing gray limestone building sat just up the canal from Parliament. Recognition flickered across the face of the clerk who greeted them, and they were quickly shown to a private office and asked to wait.
“Are you sure about joining Parliament?” asked her grandmother for the third time. “You know it would be okay to still take a year off while you’re mourning. You never know. Maybe Elestine Spencer will manage the border on her own.”
“But I told you what Moira said.Sheclearly didn’t want me to join now, which means the head of the Goldenrod Party thinks I can make a difference. I have to do this.” She looked down at the table in front of them. Scarlett was resolved but still wished the responsibility wasn’t hers. Then she glanced up and noticed a framed poster on the wall. It was old. Probablya hundred years old. The slogan read, “Stronger Without It! Magic Is a Blight!” The illustrated graphic showed a clean-cut-looking woman and her children—obviously Soleil citizens—turning away from a sinister-looking man whose clawlike hands shot bolts of lightning at them. The caricature made Scarlett wince, but her resolve also strengthened. Her country needed to move on, and she would help them do it.
A woman in a brown tweed suit greeted them warmly as she stepped into the small room. “Good morning, Lady Heroux. I’m Shannen, an officer of the court.”
