Iron Crowned (18 page)

Kiyo was already searching bodies and soon found a key. We opened the cell, but Jasmine didn’t move. She didn’t look too worse for the wear, but I knew some of the most terrible behaviors rarely left a mark. There was a small tear in her dress and a bruise on her arm that looked like the signs of a struggle, probably during her initial capture. I also noticed they’d left the fine iron chains on her that Girard had created to stunt her magic. My own safeguard had undoubtedly been useful for her captors.

I gestured to the door, uneasy about what Imanuelle had said about an alarm. “Jasmine, come on. It’s us. Me and Kiyo.”

“And by me,” said Kiyo, pointing in my direction, “she means Eugenie.”

Jasmine hesitated, looking between our faces. “How is that possible?”

Imanuelle, who’d been watching the hall’s
entrance, turned hastily toward the cell. “How do you think? With magic. Look at yourself.” Jasmine’s features rippled, and soon, we were staring at another Rowan soldier. Jasmine studied her hands in astonishment. The illusion showed no chains, but she would still be able to feel them.

“Your iPod’s playlist sucks,” I said when she continued to hesitate. “Would a gentry guard say that?”

“Come
on,
” urged Imanuelle. She’d been confident she could get herself out of any danger here, but those odds were better if she wasn’t in a hall that could easily be blocked off if a regiment came tearing toward the entrance.

Jasmine must have decided this new development could be no worse than her present fate. She jumped up and left the cell, following as the rest of us made for the stairs. We reached the main floor without opposition, but once there, all was chaos. Soldiers were running in the direction we’d come from, and I wondered how long it’d take them to realize we were the only ones
not
going toward the dungeons.

Except … it turned out that wasn’t the case. In the confusion, no one stopped us from exiting the front door, but the inner grounds were packed with soldiers. They were cramming terrified refugees into one well-guarded section, and the gates in the outer walls had been shut.

“Fuck,” I said again. It still seemed like the only adequate way to sum up this situation.

“We could jump to the human world,” said Kiyo. “Imanuelle can get out on her own.”

I considered this. It was true. Imanuelle could
change into a peasant or whatever and escape detection until an opportunity for escape popped up. Kiyo’s abilities allowed him to transition with relative ease through the worlds without a gate. I could do it—but not without difficulty. And I needed to use an anchor to draw me back. I had a couple back in my home, but Jasmine had nothing like that. She probably couldn’t jump at random from the Otherworld. I wasn’t even sure if she could with an anchor—and the iron chains made it worse. We could both end up doing serious damage to ourselves.

“We can’t,” I said. “We’ve just got to hide out.” I turned to Imanuelle. “How are you doing? Can you turn us all to peasants again?”

She nodded. “We’ve got to get out of sight, though.”

Her confidence was a small blessing, at least. Imanuelle was keeping up four illusions now, and her strength had been a concern in all this, that and someone who would be able to see through—

“It’s her! It’s the Thorn Queen!”

The shrieking voice that suddenly drew all eyes to us didn’t come from the soldiers. It came from an old woman among the huddled refugees. She reminded me of Masthera, with white hair and wild eyes. She was pointing at us, and there was something in her gaze … some piercing quality that made me believe she could see straight through the illusions to us.

“Damn,” said Imanuelle. There was both fear and hurt pride in her voice. Although this had been a possibility, I knew she’d secretly felt her
powers were too strong for detection. Maybe the four of us had stretched her magic thin.

Honestly, I wouldn’t have thought that one shout would be enough to pull attention to us, not in the chaos out there. Yet, the woman’s voice brought silence to those nearby. They turned to stare at us, and soon, others who hadn’t heard her noticed the reactions and fell quiet as well.

“Hush,” snapped a guard, finally breaking the confused silence. He was one of the ones keeping the civilians out of the way. “We have no time for this.”

The old woman shook her head adamantly. “Can’t you see? Can’t you see them? It’s the Thorn Queen and her sister! They’re right there!”

The guard’s face darkened. “I told you, we—”

His jaw dropped because that was when the guards who’d been on gate duty earlier approached. They came to a standstill, staring at us in complete shock. If we hadn’t panicked over the alarm, one of us probably would have thought to change the illusion so we looked like the unconscious soldiers, not the ones we would have to pass by again. It was a bad, bad oversight, and now everyone could see us and our mirror images.

The guard yelling at the old woman might not know what was going on, but he knew
something
was going on. “Seize them,” he said. He glanced uneasily at his true colleagues and decided to cover his bases. “Seize them too.”

Other soldiers moved toward us unquestioningly. I sized up the numbers. We were good, but
I didn’t think Kiyo and I could take that many in melee. Jasmine came to that same conclusion.

“Blow them up,” she said. “We can blow our way out of here.”

By ‘we,’ she meant ‘me,’ and I knew she was talking about storms, not explosions. Some part of me had already known that was the answer. Barely even realizing it, I summoned all my magic, making the beautiful, sunny day in the Rowan Land quickly fade. Black and purple clouds tumbled across the sky at impossible speeds, lightning flashing so close to us that the ground trembled. Humidity and ozone filled the air, wind rising and falling.

It had come about in a matter of seconds, and the approaching soldiers halted. The old woman’s crazy claim was no longer so crazy in light of that magic. They were all realizing that no matter what their eyes said, the possibility was now very good that Eugenie Markham truly stood before them. And I might be a wartime enemy, one they needed to capture, but I was also Storm King’s daughter, and that was not a title taken lightly. They knew what I could do, and it was enough to freeze up years of training.

“Let us pass,” I said. I began slowly moving toward the gate, my three companions following a moment later. “Let us pass, or I’ll let this storm explode in here. It’s already on the edge. One breath, and I can let it go.” Thunder and lightning crackled above us, driving home my point. There were small screams from some of the crowd. “Do
you know what that kind of storm will do in an area this small? To all of you?”

“It will kill them,” a voice suddenly said. “Horribly.”

I looked over toward the castle’s entrance and saw Katrice herself standing there. Guards hurried to flank her, but she held up a hand to halt them. It had been a long time since I’d seen her. All of our antagonistic contact had been through messenger and letter. She looked like she had at our last meeting, black hair laced with silver and dark eyes that scrutinized everything around her. She was in full regal mode too, in silver-gray satin and a small jeweled tiara. But no … as I studied her, I saw a slight difference. She looked older than the last time we’d been together. Leith’s death and this war had taken their toll.

I stared her straight in the eye, my adversary, the cause of so much recent grief in my life. I needed no storm around me because one was breaking out within, winds of fury and anger swirling around and around inside me.

“Drop the spell,” I said to Imanuelle, without looking at her. I wanted to be face-to-face with Katrice, and honestly, it wasn’t like my identity was a secret anymore. I felt another tingle, and a few gasps told me I wore my own form now. A small, tight smile crossed Katrice’s lips.

“Yes,” she continued, “you could unleash a storm here. You could destroy a large part of this wall, this castle. You could most certainly destroy all these people—which is what you’re good at, right? You put on this lofty pose about protecting
lives, yet somehow, death always follows you. You leave it in your wake, just as Tirigan did. But at least he had no delusions about what he was doing.”

The comparison to my father increased the anger in me. The weather mirrored my reaction, the sky growing darker and the air pressure intensifying.

“Go ahead,” said Katrice. “Show me your storm.”

“You don’t have to kill them,” said Jasmine beside me, voice low. “Just her.”

Was she right? Was that all it would take? I could kill Katrice, no question. One unexpected bolt of lightning, and she’d be gone. If memory served, her magic was similar to Shaya’s: a connection and control with plant-life. As a queen, someone with the ability to conquer a land, Katrice possessed that power to levels that dwarfed Shaya’s. It was probably why the trees and plants here were so beautiful. It was also probably why we hadn’t been attacked yet. This inner courtyard around the castle was cleared land, hard-packed dirt that facilitated travel for guards, merchants, and other visitors. If we’d been outside the walls, I would have likely had a forest marching on me by now.

“You can do that too,” said Katrice, still trying to bait me. I couldn’t tell if she was simply attempting to prolong her life or trying to catch me off guard for some other attack. “Kill me in cold blood. Just like you did my son. It’s in your nature.”

“It’s not cold blood in wartime,” I growled. “And
your son deserved it. He was a weak, cowardly bastard who had to lie and drug women to get what he wanted.”

This made her flinch slightly, but she didn’t hesitate to return the arrow. “But he
did
get what he wanted. He got you. He couldn’t have been that weak.”

Those words stung, but before I could respond, a young man slipped into place beside her. His resemblance was so strong to her and Leith that there could be no question of his identity: Cassius, her nephew. The rage within me doubled. Seeing him reminded me of what he’d most likely done to Jasmine. My reason was slipping, replaced by pure fury.

“You should have let this go,” I told Katrice, my voice perfectly level. “You should have accepted Leith’s death as punishment for what he did. An even slate. Lives have been lost because of you. More will be now.”

One bolt. One bolt, and she was dead. Hell, I could probably take out Cassius with it too.

“Eugenie,” said Kiyo. “Don’t. Don’t do it.”

“What else am I supposed to do?” I breathed, out of the others’ earshot.

“I warned you before there would be consequences. Please listen to me this time,” he begged. “There will be again.”

“What do you expect me to do?” My voice was louder. I didn’t care who heard. “This is wartime. I kill their leader. I win. Otherwise, I let hell loose in here, and these people die. Which do you want, Kiyo? Pick—or else find another way.”

He didn’t respond, but Katrice’s tight smile grew at seeing dissent within my ranks. “No options but death. You
are
Tirigan’s daughter. I’m glad now that Leith didn’t get you with child. His plan seemed wise at first, but it’s better my exalted bloodline isn’t mingled with yours—though the gods know how much Leith tried. He told me about it. Often. Ah, well. I suppose we’ll know soon how Cassius fared …”

Her gaze lingered slightly on Jasmine beside me. Imanuelle had dropped all our disguises.

“Eugenie—” Jasmine tried to speak, but I didn’t want to listen.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” I demanded of Katrice. Each word was harsh, almost impossible to get out. I was changing my mind about the lightning. I was remembering how I’d killed Aeson, literally blowing him apart by ripping the water from his body. There were so many ways to kill her, so many ways to bring about humiliation.

Katrice gave a small shrug, and despite that smug attitude, I saw a pang of regret in her eyes. “I have a feeling I’ll die one way or another today. I just want everyone to know the truth about you before I do.”

I froze. I’d told Kiyo to give me another option, and he’d had none. But there was one other.

“The truth,” I said slowly, reaching toward my backpack, “is that you aren’t going to die today. But you’ll wish you had.”

I can only assume what happened next was born out of pure emotion, out of the anger and
despair her words about me and Jasmine had evoked. Situational adrenaline probably played a role too, and … well, maybe there was something in my genes after all.

I pulled the Iron Crown from my backpack. Katrice turned white, all cockiness gone. Those who recognized the crown displayed similar fear, audible and visible. Others just stared curiously.

“No,” she gasped. “No. Please don’t.”

I think until that moment, she hadn’t truly believed I had the crown. I also think that had I demanded it, she would’ve named whatever terms of surrender I wanted. But I didn’t want simple surrender. I wanted suffering. I wanted her to suffer, just as I had.

So many ways to bring about humiliation …

I placed the crown on my head, and somehow—maybe it was part of its magic—I knew exactly what to do. The iron athame was still in my hand, and I crouched down with it. Katrice dropped to her knees too, but it was in supplication.

“Please,” she begged again, tears in her eyes. “Anything. I’ll do anything you want.”

“You’re right,” I said. “You will.”

I slammed the blade down—and pierced the land’s heart.

It really felt like that, like I was killing a living thing. And in a way, I was. I was destroying the land’s connection to Katrice. The land and its monarch are one. Kind of an esoteric concept … but, well, the truth. I’d certainly felt it in the Thorn Land. It was why I couldn’t ever stay away from that kingdom for very long. It called to me. It was part of me.

And so, I was essentially cutting a living thing in two. White-hot power burned through me as I did, the crown’s magic connecting with my own and pouring into the dirt below. I had little sense of my surroundings, save Katrice screaming. Below me, in a spiritual sort of way, I could feel the land resisting at first. It didn’t want to break its ties. In the end, it had no choice. The crown’s magic was too strong. Seconds, minutes, hours … I don’t know how long it took, probably hardly any time at all. But suddenly, it was done. The crown’s power faded from me, and the land lay there open and unclaimed. Raw and wounded.

As the magic’s haze wore off, the rest of the world slowly shifted back into focus for me. I stared around at the gaping faces and at Katrice, huddled and sobbing. I thought she’d aged before, but it was nothing compared to now. Being ripped from the land had devastated her. Her dark hair was almost all gray now, her face gaunt and lined.

And all around … all around, the land was restless. I could feel its energy, calling out … reaching out … yearning for a new master. Hardly any of the people gathered showed any recognition of this. They were still watching the drama of me and Katrice. A few spectators had puzzled looks on their faces, as though they too could hear the land.

It was because they were powerful enough to take it, I realized. The land was already seeking those who possessed the strength to join with it, and looking up, I saw from Cassius’s face that he could sense that. Katrice’s son hadn’t had the power to claim a kingdom, but her nephew did.

So, for my next impulsive act of the day, I stuck my free hand into the ground. Just like the last time, soil that started off hard and ungiving soon grew soft and warm. My hand sank into the earth, and I was welcomed, as though someone were clasping my hand in return. Warmth filled my body, a comforting warmth very different from the crown’s searing heat. I closed my eyes, striving to stay with that connection, to show I was worthy. Part of me was already given over to the Thorn Land. I had to fight to claim this land as well.

Then, I felt it…. I felt the land accept me. And
as it did, the ground began to shake. At first, I thought it was just some aftereffect of the magic, but then I remembered what had happened when the Thorn Land had bound itself to me. The land took on the form that spoke to my soul, that was natural and right to me. Aeson’s former kingdom had shaped itself into the Sonora Desert, the land of my birth. The Rowan Land was trying to do the same thing.

No, no!
Not again. A semi-tropical kingdom transforming into a desert had wreaked havoc on its residents. We’d faced starvation, drought, poverty…. It was only recently that the kingdom had gotten on its feet again, becoming prosperous and self-sustaining. I wouldn’t go through that again. Frantically, I tried to think of some other form. But what? I hardly ever left the southwestern United States. A quick image of the Catalina mountains flashed into my mind, the slopes snowy and pine-covered like the day Kiyo and I had fought the demon. I could feel the land start to grip that picture, and I yanked it away. This kingdom had some small mountains, but that was a tiny percentage of its terrain. I couldn’t turn this place into Switzerland or Nepal.

Stay the same, stay the same,
I begged the land. For the sake of its occupants, I needed the landscape to remain unchanged. It was difficult, though. The land wanted to bond to me, to what was ingrained within my soul. Thinking back to the journey here, I tried to picture the rows and rows of cherry trees along the road. I remembered the sun shining through other deciduous
trees and flowers growing in clusters. I thought about the stretch of rowan trees.
Stay the same, stay the same.

Gradually, the earth around me began to slow its shaking and finally stop—except for one spot. Not far from where I rested my hand, the ground cracked open and leaves and branches burst through. I scurried back, watching in as much awe as I had the first time a magical tree burst forth, growing and unfurling its leaves to full-size in seconds. I held my breath, wondering what it would be, this tree that dictated my new kingdom’s nature.

It was … a rowan tree.

I wasn’t the only one who thought this was weird. “Didn’t you claim it?” asked Jasmine, puzzled. I rose to my feet beside her, brushing dust off of my jeans.

“I …” Had I? That was a rowan tree, making this—by all Otherworldly reasoning—the Rowan Land. Which is what it had been already. Maybe it hadn’t worked. Maybe the crown hadn’t done what I expected it to. Maybe Katrice had won it back somehow.

But, no. There it was. I
felt
it. The land. The earth. The rocks. Every leaf and flower. The scents, the colors … they were all sharper and more intense. If I opened myself up, I could feel every single piece of this land. It hummed. It buzzed. The energy was dizzying, and I forced myself to shut it out for a moment.

“No,” I told Jasmine, wonderingly. “It’s mine.” I stared at the rowan tree, more perfect than any real
one could be, its orange-colored berries bright against green leaves swaying in the breeze. I reached out and stroked one of the leaves, vaguely aware of Katrice still sobbing. A tingle of power ran through me. “It’s still the Rowan Land … except, it’s my Rowan Land.”

Things were a little awkward after that.

The soldiers were no longer trying to imprison me, but they also weren’t ready to jump at my every order. My companions were of little use. Imanuelle, per her nature, was content to sit back and watch the mess I’d stumbled into. Kiyo wore a disapproving look on his face, and I feared I’d have a lecture coming later. Jasmine still seemed to be in shock. The only time she came to life was when I debated what to do with Katrice and Cassius. Unsurprisingly, Jasmine’s suggestion was to kill them.

“Confine them to her rooms,” I ordered, hoping someone would obey me. “Guard them with …”

I was kind of at a loss. Theoretically, gentry knew how this worked. Whoever controlled the land ruled, but I wasn’t entirely sure the guards around here would be so keen about imprisoning the woman who had ruled them ten minutes ago.
Volusian,
I thought. Now that I was in control, I could summon him without fear. Then, I realized I needed him for more important things. I looked pleadingly at Kiyo, needing no words.

He nodded. “I’ll watch them.” He turned
abruptly, urging the former royalty inside with a couple of guards who’d decided to get on board with me right away. Kiyo being on guard served two purposes. I could trust him to do a good job—and, the longer he did, the longer I was safe from his disapproval.

I then spoke the words to bring Volusian to me, the sight of him further frightening those who already watched me with terror. I’d let the storm dissipate, but darkness still seemed to wrap around my minion as his red eyes assessed me, the Iron Crown, and the tree.

“Unexpected,” he said.

“Go to Rurik,” I told him. “Explain what happened and have him bring an occupying force here immediately.” I didn’t know what that meant exactly, but I did know military control took precedence here if we were going to secure the land. Rurik would know what to do. Governing would come later. “And then …” Now I hesitated. “Have Shaya contact Dorian about what happened. Then return to me.”

Volusian paused, waiting for anything else I might add. When nothing more came, he vanished, and the sun seemed to shine a little brighter. It was all a waiting game now, and I glanced around at the Rowan Land’s still-stunned residents.

“Well … that’s it. Carry on as usual. Guard the gates. No one leaves. And you … go get your soup or … whatever you’re eating.” That was for the civilians. When no one moved, I hardened my expression and repeated my orders more loudly.
Fear flashed across the Rowan citizens’ faces, and they sprang into action.

This inner courtyard was huge, and I spotted an unoccupied spot near some carts that must have delivered supplies earlier. I walked over to them, Jasmine following, and sat on the ground. It was a weird spot for a queen, I supposed, but I wanted to rest while waiting for Rurik. Plus, it still let me keep an eye on this delicate and dangerous situation. The bulk of the guards were out here, and I didn’t think mutiny was out of the question yet. People were moving after my commands, but it was mostly to gather in anxious clusters and discuss what had happened.

Jasmine sighed and leaned her head back against the wall. “I want to go home,” she said.

“We will. As soon as Rurik gets here, we’ll head back to the castle and let him deal with this.”

“No.” Her voice was small. “My other home. The human world.”

I turned to her in astonishment, dragging my gaze from some peasants who were begging the guards to let them out. “What? But you hate that world. You always said this is where you fit in.”

“It is,” she agreed. “But I just want … I want to get away from all this for a little while. From magic. And castles. And … whatever. I want to watch TV. I maybe want to see Wil. I want to charge my iPod. And my playlist
doesn’t
suck.”

I couldn’t help a laugh. “I kind of want all those things too. We’ll go soon. We’ll … we’ll cut those chains. I-I’m sorry I don’t have the key with me.”

She shrugged. “It’s fine.”

“Kiyo’s going to be upset about all this,” I murmured, surprised to be confiding in her.

“You did the right thing,” Jasmine said. “I mean, aside from not killing Katrice and Cassius. But you can still do that.”

Any residual smile left on my lips vanished. “Cassius …”

“They were lying,” she said bluntly. “He didn’t do anything.”

“Jasmine …”

“I’m serious.” She looked at me, her blue-gray gaze level and steady. “He talked a lot of talk when he came to see me … touched me a little. But that was it. I think they just wanted to scare me.”

She didn’t elaborate on the touching. I didn’t ask. I was just relieved she hadn’t gone through what I had. “I’m sorry,” I told her. “I’m sorry I didn’t protect you better.”

Now she smiled. “You did fine. And hey, you ended the war, right? You won.”

I turned away, staring off into space. “I guess I did.”

We didn’t talk much after that. I was tired, exhausted from all the magic. Apparently, using an ancient, powerful artifact wasn’t as easy as it seemed. Neither was proving your dominance over a large piece of land. I’d felt wiped out last time but had gotten out of the Thorn Land as quickly as possible. Now, sitting here, I was stuck in the Rowan Land, still acutely aware of its every sensation. That intensity would fade, just as it had with the Thorn Land, but for now, it
was like a hammer banging inside my head, demanding attention.

I practically flew to the gate when Rurik arrived. Once admitted, he and the force behind him paused. Studying the situation, he had a reaction similar to Volusian’s.

“Really?”

“Things happened kind of fast,” I admitted.

“It was well done. Possessing this land was a much better idea than simply defeating Katrice in battle.”

I scowled. “Well, can
you
possess it for now?”

He grinned. “Gladly.”

Turning from me, he fixed a hard gaze on those gathered. “You’re all now subjects of Queen Eugenie, daughter of Tirigan Storm King,” he barked. “Kneel.”

I looked on imperiously as they obeyed. I knew this was necessary to establish our control. No weakness, no hesitation. We were conquerors. I’d long since taken off the Iron Crown but wished I’d brought my normal one of authority. Oh, well. It wasn’t like I could’ve foreseen this when packing.

Everyone in the keep fell to their knees, heads bowed. We let them stay like that for several seconds while my stomach sank. Finally, they were allowed to rise, and Rurik kicked into full martial law mode, demanding an assessment of all soldiers and issuing rules for servants and refugees. He had a few tasks for me—more actions that made me seem queenly—before finally declaring I could leave.

“I’ll sort out the immediate problems,” he told
me in a low voice. My own soldiers were now out and about, establishing order. “We’ll lock this place down, start scouting the immediate area, sifting out those who can be trusted.” He paused eloquently. “I’ll probably have to throw a large part of their military into the dungeon.”

“Do what you have to do,” I said. I had a feeling he’d eventually want to talk executions but was holding back for now. I imagined I looked as tired as I felt.

“And you simply want to imprison the former queen for now?” he asked.

“For now.”

Jasmine scoffed beside me, and Rurik’s expression showed he shared her opinion.

“Well, don’t stay away long,” he said. “You need to make your presence felt. And you need to connect with the land.”

“I know, I know,” I grumbled. I’d avoided the Thorn Land before, but it had kept calling me back. “I know how this works.”

He arched an eyebrow, that sardonic smile of his returning. “Do you? Do you know what’s happened?”

I threw my hands up, gesturing around. “I got stuck with another kingdom.”

“Do you know how many other monarchs control more than one kingdom?”

I shook my head, presuming whoever did must live far from me.

“No one,” said Rurik.

“I … What? No.” Dorian had mentioned conquering more than one land, making me think it
must happen now and then. The Iron Crown’s purpose suggested as much. “There must be someone else.”

“No one,” Rurik repeated. “You’re the only one. The only one in ages … well, except for Storm King.”

The world swayed around me again. I once more just wanted to go somewhere and lie down. My reaction brought a bigger smile to Rurik’s face, but I swore there was a little sympathy in his eyes too.

“Congratulations,” he said. “Congratulations, Eugenie—Queen of Rowan and Thorn.”