SEVEN
"Something, someone, is here."
Arden's warning rang in my head, over and over, echoing and distorting, stretching and shrinking.
"Are you certain?" I sat up straight in my gold-draped throne, eyes zeroing in on Arden as they stopped a few feet before the dais. I'd been absorbed in their every footstep from the intricate, large doorway, all the way up to us. Each clack of their boots atop the tiled floors made me shudder.
They inclined their veiled head. "I'm certain I noticed a shift in the atmosphere," they lifted an arm in Ossenna's direction, "and I presume she did, too."
I twisted to Ossenna, eyebrows raised. "Is this true?" If she had sensed something, she hadn't said a word. She and I had been in deep discussion with Otho, reviewing the itinerary for Ysac and Jack to follow to gather the princesses. We'd cleared the immense area—no guards lined up by the door, no serving girls coming and going between this room and our meeting room behind us.
Now I wished others were here to witness this revelation. To react in my place, because I...didn't know how to react.
Ossenna flinched, her purple lips slitting...and she nodded. Silently acknowledging that she had indeed sensed something in the air that wasn't right, something that had perturbed her.
And she hadn't mentioned a thing to me.
I tried to conceal my frown, my disappointment. She and I were connected, and yet she hadn't told me she was distraught? She hadn't given me a single hint that something was amiss. That wasn't like her.
But...I also hadn't asked, hadn't really checked on her since we'd left each other's arms this morning. We were both distracted and tired; both charged with worry at our ongoing leaderless situation.
I should have detected that she wasn't one hundred percent herself. I always had, until now. I caught her breaths when they slowed or accelerated. Caught her eyes when they shifted colors. Caught the words she wouldn't speak but kept contained in her head.
Slowly my disappointment drifted towards myself.
"How did it...feel, for you?" Ossenna's voice was more tentative than I'd heard it in a while. She gripped her arm-rests tight, her multicolored nails scratching against the diamond surface as she stared at Arden.
Each of our thrones represented the place we were from. Gold fields of corn and fruit for me, in Club Fields. Sharp gemstones and prisms for Ossenna, in Diamond Valley. Luscious red cushions weaved with vines for Otho, in Hartland. And black coated stone with waves and seashells for Arden, from Spade Island.
Arden took their throne, shuffling once seated to ensure their cloak covered them completely, draping over their used boots. "A massive earthquake," they said, their voice more pinched than usual as they twisted towards Ossenna. "I could barely keep my balance. The entire lair rumbled and shivered, and a blast of air knocked me backwards. It stopped almost as abruptly as it began, and I knew...something was off."
I held in a gasp. An earthquake? Those were rare for Acewood. I'd sensed nothing, and from Otho's empty look, I deduced he hadn't felt anything either.
Ossenna studied Arden, tapping her nails against her gemstone armrests. "Hmm." Her copper-and-green jumpsuit reflected all the precious stones she sat upon, and her dark skin radiated with light. For a moment she was like a mirror-ball dangling from a ceiling; then she leaned forward, and any trace of illumination faded. "No shaking, but I caught a few chills and whispers in the air. I couldn't translate them. They made no sense."
"Whispers in the air?" Otho set one elbow on his armrest, cupping the side of his cheek with his hand. "Last time that happened..."
I groaned. "The riots." I angled sideways in Ossenna's direction, to enter her space. "Is this similar to what you heard before your air spirits warned you about Jack and his brothers?"
She'd been the one to uncover the plots beneath the riots and had shared her knowledge with us immediately. Whatever this was, however...she didn't seem like she'd been planning to tell us.
She curled up in her seat, letting her slipper-like shoes fall from her feet as she pulled her legs under her. "Similar, but not quite the same. There's a difference...like it's a lesser threat. I didn't receive a menacing sensation, but...I was on my guard."
"I disagree," said Arden, sitting stiffly in their seat, staring straight ahead at the doors they'd just come through. "The shaking was violent, for me. A negative energy, for sure. I do worry," they swiveled their head in my direction, "that this could be linked to upcoming rebellions."
Ossenna kicked her feet out and put her shoes back on to stand up. "I don't. It wasn't..." She huffed and turned to me. "This is why I didn't tell you about it when it happened. It was so brief, almost soft on my skin...informative, not dangerous. Conflicting...it was hard to explain, hard to interpret."
I nodded, accepting her veiled apology. She normally told me everything—whether it be out loud, or via our telepathic link. This was the first time in many moons that she hadn't informed me of something triggering her. She had her reasons, and I wouldn't question her. I trusted her unconditionally.
Arden, on the other hand...
"It wasn't triggering," she said, squinting at me, hands on her hips. "I know that's what you're thinking, right now, but it wasn't that." She flipped to Arden. "I don't know why it affected you so negatively, but you and I have always felt shifts differently. Perhaps we're both correct. Perhaps there's truth to both displays of power coming from the atmosphere."
I waved at her to sit down. "If you two are receiving ominous effects like that, then it's only proof that we need to hurry and send Ysac and Jack off on their mission. We need a leader. Someone to quell rebellions or answer questions before these shifts occur in the first place. Someone to occupy the throne while we do our actual jobs. While we're mages."
Grunts of agreement echoed my words. I scrubbed my face as Ossenna proceeded to pace atop the dais, back and forth, back and forth. I hated when she did that—it meant she was far more disturbed than she wanted to show.
I waved at her again, but she graced me with a scathing glare telling me to quit ordering her around. The only place she allowed me to order her was in the bedroom—out here, in front of the other Aces, she was in control, and we were all on an equal level.
"The nobles are restless," said Otho, producing a bowl of grapes from beside his throne. He threw one into his mouth and chewed, slightly cringing at the acidity. The silvery ceilings reflected on the surface of his shiny fruit. "That's the shift I'm feeling, coming from within the city, its surroundings. Emotions are high. Panic is high, too. Our citizens have imaginations that lead them to believe that without a proper ruler, we'll be invaded. By whom, I don't know; we're on peaceful terms with every other continent in Efura, aren't we?"
Arden and I acquiesced. Ossenna grumbled a reply under her breath. She still paced, her rhythm faster; meaning her thoughts were racing inside and she was under high stress.
I didn't know why she wouldn't share her burdens with me. All the things the atmosphere spoke to her, her air spirits, her earth spirits, how they communicated all their troubles to her. Her powers were...unique. I would know, I studied her when she first pledged herself to our cause, to our kingdom. She wouldn't say where she came from, couldn't explain how her abilities developed. But of all four of us, I tended to think she was the most powerful.
She'd never flaunt it. If she didn't have to use her powers, she wouldn't. She'd rather brew teas and herbal tonics and draw flowers and leaves in her notebooks while admiring the sunrise or the sunset. While her exterior was often harsh, hardened, Ossenna was in fact a lovely woman with the kindest soul. Brave, beautiful, and intelligent.
I shook myself out of my admiration for her before I started drooling. No one knew of our deep bond, and no one could know. Relations like this between mages were outlawed, and we knew the risks we'd taken. We'd continue to take them until our last breath.
I love you, Ossenna.
As if reacting to my thoughts, she flinched, then slowed her pace as she came before me. The look we exchanged was enough to remind me to calm down, to better mask my thoughts. Otho had no clue what was going on between us, but Arden...
While Ossenna's background was blurry, Arden's was almost nonexistent. Some thought they didn't even come from this realm. That they'd arrived through some magical portal or had popped into existence and found their way to Acewood. King Hendry was the only one who'd known more, as he'd chosen Arden himself. Whatever he'd gathered about Arden, he'd never shared it with the rest of us.
Arden's abilities were...shady. Shifty. A blend of favorable abilities and some darker, more nefarious ones that might do severe damage in the wrong hands. For the decades Arden had been an Ace, we'd never seen them veer in any direction—not good, not bad—as they opted to remain neutral at all times.
But one misplaced glance between Ossenna and I, and who knew what Arden would do, how they'd interpret our bond. I trusted them not to denounce us publicly without confronting us privately, first...but in such turbulent times, I couldn't be certain of anything.
"Right, so," said Otho, discarding his plate and now nursing a silver goblet near his broad chest, "what's next? We summon Ysac and Jack to finalize the details? If we need them gone by tomorrow, we should probably get things moving." He took a sip, smacked his lips, and sighed. "I think I bumped into Ysac earlier as he was on his way to join Jack in the indoor garden."
"Indoor garden?" Ossenna arched a plucked brow as she finally returned to her throne. "That's an unusual spot for Jack." Her fingers curled into fists, but she lowered them to her lap to hide them. "He's more prone to being found lurking near the dungeons to sniff out more clues about his brothers."
I rolled my eyes, but she was right. Jack was obsessed with his brothers' deaths, though they occurred two years ago, and had been ruled as consequences of the riots. We hadn't been able to pinpoint exactly who had killed them—an enraged citizen or one of our own guards, in defense. But Jack didn't accept our judgment and insisted on figuring it all out himself. He wasn't magical, and his main special skill was tactical fighting. He claimed he had a flair for mysteries and solving them.
Otho scoffed, and I rotated to him in time to see the ghost of a snarl on his face. Like Ossenna, Otho harbored no affection for Jack. He'd disrupted our entire kingdom with his antics, and his brothers had paid the price for his betrayals. Though no one knew exactly which knave brother organized and plotted the riots, since Jack was the only one alive, he often got the blame pinned on him.
He didn't have a choice. A condition of his freedom, granted by Hendry, was to endure the criticism from advisors and the population, and grow from it. Learn from it. He had to continue his services to the crown, and to us mages, until his dying breath. It was his oath—and while I knew he loathed us all, he wouldn't disobey.
"Shall we send someone to fetch them, then?" Arden's black leather bony fingers curved around their arm-rest's edges. If they were bothered by the bulky seashells decorating their throne, they never complained about it. They were antsy, I could smell it; a pinch of irritation resided in their tone, and they were more fidgety than normal.
"No," I said, gaping towards the giant throne-room doors, sealed for privacy. "Ysac knows he's to meet with us shortly. I presume he's trying to talk Jack into accompanying him. You know Jack—he won't want to separate from his investigation for too long, and it'll take a lot of convincing to get him to go with Ysac. But Ysac will bring him here, so we can talk to him." I steepled my fingers. "So, we can tell him he has no alternative if he wants to keep his freedom. Jack will accompany Ysac to retrieve the princesses, and that is final. Are we clear?" All three Aces acknowledged my stern comments. "Swell. Then let's sit back and relax while we wait."
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