ridiculous, about a treasure-filled kingdom rumored to exist within the clouds, only touching the ground once every hundred years. “Come in.”
The door cracks open, and tears fill Mother’s eyes the moment she sees me. Though I know it’s from relief, the fact that she even had to worry about the execution stings. She crosses the floor and practically throws her arms around me, pulling me tight to her body. In her nightgown, she’s frailer than she appeared when I last saw her in the throne room, her bones sharp and delicate, as though she’ll snap if I hug her too tightly.
“Oh, thank the gods. You did it, then?”
I draw back to get a better look at her. Either I was too distracted during the council meeting to notice the heavy shadows weighing her eyes and the sharpness of her cheekbones, or her handmaiden is incredibly skilled at masking them. Mother doesn’t look as though she’s been eating.
Day by day it’s becoming harder to look at her. Because when I do, I think of Father.
Mother’s skin would still glow if he were alive. Her cheeks would still be healthy and full.
But I took him away from her.
As much as I scrutinize her, she does the same to me. I’ve not slept for at least a full day, and my eyes are heavy and bloodshot. I don’t need to see my reflection to know there are likely bags beneath them, and that the color is slowly being leeched from my skin.
“Shanty really came through.” I try to ease away from her scrutiny, focusing instead on the flicker of movement over her shoulder. Aunt Kalea steps into the room and shuts the door behind her. Her arms are folded as though she’s hugging herself, lips pressed together and her head dipped like a scolded pup, uncertain if she’s welcome.
The muscles in my neck tighten as she approaches. Since her betrayal last summer, our relationship hasn’t been the same. It’s not for the lack of effort, or for my lack of desire of wanting things to go back to how they were, but my trust in her has shattered.
Kalea was meant to hold off on selecting her magic until I claimed my title as heir to Visidia’s throne and proved myself to the kingdom. But instead, she learned enchantment magic, making herself ineligible to even attempt becoming the future animancer in my place. Because of her, I thought I’d had no other choice but to go on a journey to save the kingdom. Because of her, I lost my magic.
Because of her, Father is dead.
I clench my fist as she hesitantly steps forward, digging my nails into my palm to steady myself. For the sake of our family, I do my best to keep things civil around her. But even now I find myself gripping the pages of the tome too fiercely, creasing them.
What would have happened last summer, if only she’d kept quiet and never revealed her secret to me? If she hadn’t put the pressure of the entire kingdom upon my shoulders, would I still be trying to carry the weight of the crown today?
“We wanted to make sure you were okay.” Aunt Kalea’s voice is low and cautious, and for Mother’s sake, it’s all I can do to bite down my bitterness as it bubbles to the surface. She doesn’t need any more pain where pain can be spared.
“No one suspected a thing,” I tell them both, drawing slowly away from Mother and easing her arms back to her sides. “But it’s not a farce I’ll be able to keep up forever. What we have is a bandage, not a solution.”
Mother draws my hand into her own, nodding softly. “We’ll find a way to get back your magic, Amora.”
“Or maybe you could learn a new one,” Aunt Kalea offers. She stiffens as my eyes find hers, likely oozing with every ounce of anger and resentment I feel. “The laws are different, now. You could learn a new magic; show the kingdom you’re just as strong and capable with something that isn’t so … vicious.”
The anger can no longer be swallowed down. My tongue is a poisonous, acidic thing. “You’d know all about that, wouldn’t you? How dare you say that to me, after everything you’ve done?”
I refuse to feel bad for the way her face crumples. The only sliver of guilt I feel comes when Mother sinks into the cushions, a shadow of the woman she once was. Tension swells around