Heir, p.1
Heir, page 1
part #5 of Ressaline Series
Ressaline Heir
Hands held me, many hands. They bore me backwards, to the floor, to rough mats on the floor. There were stakes waiting, and ropes, and the hands bound me. I tried to cry out, but I couldn’t. The hands withdrew, and I craned my head, looking around.
The light was poor. There was a dim fire, some paces away, the sole source of light in the room. Everywhere were shadows, but I knew I was in a large, rough hut.
There were people in the shadows, all women, all watching me.
Someone approached. I couldn’t see her at first, but I felt her coming. She threw a leg over me and then sat down on my hips. I didn’t immediately recognize her, but she smiled down at me. “I’m going to love having the Crown Princess of Flarvor as my slave.”
I tried to protest, but I couldn’t get any words out, only a little whimper.
She reached with a hand and stroked my face. “You’ll be making different noises soon.” I tried to pull away from her hand, but I couldn’t. I froze where I was, staring up at her, utterly frozen to her touch. She smiled. “That’s better.”
Then she leaned down, laying atop me, settling her mouth over mine. She kissed me, and I felt magic begin to wrap around me.
That was when I realized I wasn’t lying on a bed of mats; I was in a shallow pool of blood-red water. That should have bothered me, but it didn’t.
She kissed me, and while she kissed me, she spoke into my mind. “I’ve wanted you for a long time, Princess. This was my plan all along. Lady Olivia and I discussed it from the very beginning. I gave myself to her, and now she’s giving you to me.”
She finished kissing me and leaned up. I recognized Allium Cuprite, father’s Ambassador to Ressaline. She smiled down at me, and I realized she had won. “Kiss me again,” I asked. Ah, that I could say.
“Of course.”
She lowered herself, but it wasn’t Allium who was kissing me; it was Lady Olivia herself. I moaned again and struggled with my bonds, but she whispered soothingly to me. “This is what you’ve wanted, Ahlianna. I saw your pleading eyes the day we met.”
And I knew she was right. I moaned again.
I didn’t see how she did it, but somehow she entered me, and I moaned again. I looked up at Gionna and moaned her name. “You will be mine,” she said. “You’ve wanted me since Allium introduced us.”
“Yes,” I agreed as she began moving over me.
She leaned over me. I looked into the eyes of a woman Mother’s age, but I could tell this was Gionna’s mother. “The magic clouds your mind,” she said. “Can you feel the resin encasing your body? Do you want me to stop?”
“Never.”
“I know.”
But I thrashed, and I moaned.
“Ahlianna.”
“Yes,” I whispered.
“Ahlianna.”
There were hands on me, hands shaking me.
“Ahlianna!”
* * * *
I woke, panting, my heart pounding. There was movement beside me, and I turned, shocked. “That was some nightmare,” said my little sister.
“Darfelsa,” I whispered, my voice rough.
“Want to talk about it?” she asked me.
“No!”
“That bad, huh?” she asked.
Quite the opposite. In the dark, I felt myself blushing, but I certainly wasn’t going to admit that to my little sister. Nor was I going to tell her she’d dislodged my hand, but I was pretty sure where my fingers had been.
“Roll over, and I’ll scratch your back,” she offered.
“What are you doing in my bed?” I asked.
“I’m hurt,” she said. “You invited me.”
“You’re right,” I said, remembering. “I’m a little out of it.”
“Do I need to go?”
“No,” I said. I rolled over, offering my back, and after a moment she began lightly scratching through the thin material of my nightdress. “That feels nice,” I told her.
“Are you scared, Ahlianna?” she asked. “Is that why you had a nightmare?”
I wasn’t sure it was a nightmare. In fact, I knew it wasn’t. “Nervous,” I admitted.
“They’re good people,” she said. “I’m sure of it. I wish Father would let me go with you, though.”
“I do, too,” I admitted.
“Really?” she asked. I couldn’t tell if it was hope or disbelief in her voice. “Allium will take care of you.”
“Really,” I replied. “My right hand.” The scratching paused, then continued. “But you have a girl-crush on Allium.”
She gave me a little push. “I do not.” But then she went back to scratching. I didn’t say anything. She scratched slowly, the way I liked, and then she said, “Maybe a little.”
“Only a little?” I prompted. “And how do you feel about Gionna?”
“Please don’t tease.”
“I’m not trying to tease,” I told her. “I’m trying to talk to my sister.”
She said nothing for a minute and then admitted, “I’m just a kid.”
“Nearly an adult, and acting more and more like it every day,” I replied. “Tell me about Charth.”
“I’ve told you four times.”
“Five is the magic number.”
She gave a little laugh. “There’s no palace or castle. It’s a walled city surrounded by farms. Why would they have a wall without a castle? Walls are for keeping people in or keeping people out. Who would they have been keeping out?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But it’s an old city.”
“Not as old as Barrish, and we don’t have a wall.”
“Yes, we do,” I said. “We have the walls around the palace.”
“But that’s the palace.”
“It’s the original settlement,” I pointed out. “Barrish built up around it. Don’t your tutors teach you anything?” As we’d had the same tutors, I was pretty sure she should have known that.
“I suppose,” she said. She scratched for a moment. “There’s no palace. They have a place called Government House, but no one lives there.”
“Olivia has a house,” I prompted.
“It’s not as big as the palace. Charth was the capital of a country nearly as important as Flarvor.”
“They didn't have a king or queen,” I pointed out. “They had a council of ministers. Here, the palace serves as home for us and Government House in one.”
“True,” she agreed. “I suppose if each of the ministers had a house like Olivia’s, and you pushed them up against Government House, the total would be bigger than the palace. It’s a pretty nice house, as houses go.”
“I imagine she took the best when they invaded,” I pointed out.
“The embassy is pretty fabulous, too,” she said. “It’s just a house, but it has a ballroom. It’s not as big as the one here, but it’s big enough.” She gave a little laugh. “Allium told me she was going to make you sleep in my room, but I bet if you ask for your own, you could.”
“Was that a hint?”
“A hint?”
“That you don’t want me using your bedroom?”
“Oh.” She paused. “I wish I were going.”
“You said that,” I pointed out. “I tried to get Father to change his mind.”
“I hope you didn’t try too hard.” Father didn’t like being pushed too hard once he’d made up his mind. He’d listen to all the talk in the world before that, but once he decided something, it was very, very difficult to get him to change his mind unless you could provide fresh information.
I hadn’t had fresh information beyond my own desires. His reasons for keeping one of us here were better than my desire to have my sister with me, and I didn’t even try talking to Mother about it.
She’d been mother-henning all over Darfelsa since she got back.
Her hand stilled, and behind me, she settled in. But she kept her hand on my back, and the touch was comforting. We lay quietly, both lost in our thoughts, and I wondered if she was falling back asleep. Then I barely heard when she asked, “Are you asleep?”
“No,” I whispered back. I rolled over to face her.
“I tried to get them to let me watch,” she said. I knew exactly what she meant. “Allium wouldn’t budge. She’s at least as stubborn as Father.”
“I suspect this time it’s better to say she’s as stubborn as Mother. She’s the one who thinks you’re still eight years old.”
“I suppose. Ahlianna, I didn’t get to see that part, but I got to see some of the aftereffects. I only saw Allium as a slave once.”
In the dark, I smiled. “What did you think?”
“She looked good,” Darfelsa said. “Some of the others in the embassy came home as slaves. They tried to hide it from me.”
“But like a good little sneak, you probably saw everything.”
“Not everything,” she said. “It’s not like I listened at keyholes. If Mother saw, though, she’d wonder why she couldn’t do something like that when we were growing up.”
“I’m fairly certain that’s not what Mother would be thinking.”
“Okay, maybe not exactly like that,” she said. “But… neither of us was perfect.”
“Speak for yourself.”
“You’ve had your share of fights with Mother,” she pointed out.
“I suppose I have,” I admitted.
“Slaves don’t argue,” she said. “Well, Bee and Dee don’t really seem like slaves. I couldn’t really figure them out. But the other slaves… Mother would have loved if we’d been that obedient for her.” She gave a little laugh. “I wonder if I’d have liked brown peas if she’d made me a slave and made me like them.”
“Probably not even then,” I said. “You know, you used to love them.”
“I never loved them.”
“You did,” she said. “When you were really little.”
“You’re making this up.”
“I’m more than willing to tease you, but I would never tell you ‘I’m telling the truth’ and lie to you. I’m telling the truth.”
She hesitated then asked, “What happened?”
“You got really sick.”
“From eating too many brown peas?”
“No, I think just sick, but you’d had quite a few, and…” I made a face. “You made quite a mess. You’ve hated them since.”
“Oh,” she replied. “That’s just eww, okay?”
“You asked.”
“You brought it up.”
“Uh-uh,” I said. “You mentioned them.”
“I suppose I did. Ahlianna?”
“Darfelsa?”
“Am I making the right choices?”
I understood her question. “That has different answers,” I told her. “Are you picking the right goals, or are you pursuing them most efficiently.”
“I suppose,” she said. “Both.”
“All right,” I said. “Have you asked Father?”
“Not really.”
“You should ask him.”
“I’m asking you, Big Sister.”
“I suppose you are,” I agreed. “Goals. Supporting Father instead of being a good princess and getting married off to someone horrible.”
She snorted. “Way to offer a balanced viewpoint. And not just Father.”
“He’s going to be king until we’re doddering ourselves,” I declared. In my head, I knew that wasn’t true, but in my heart, I knew what would have to happen for me to become Queen, and frankly, I wasn’t interested in that sequence of events.
“Ahlianna,” she said. “Please. Answer honestly.”
“Right,” I said. “How much have you thought this through?”
“How much have you?” she countered.
“That’s a fair question,” I admitted. “Probably not completely.”
“You’re going to have to marry someone,” she pointed out. “How do you feel about that?”
“Father married Mother.”
“What does that have to do with it?”
“He’s older.”
In the dim light, I saw her eyes widened. “He is,” she replied slowly. I saw her teeth as she grinned. “You’re going to wait a while?”
“That’s my plan.”
“You can’t wait too long.”
“No, but I can wait ten years and then find a cute, young stud. He’ll have one job.”
“Ahlianna!” she protested.
“You asked.”
“I suppose I did.”
“Of course, the longer I go, the more pressure there will be on you.”
“I’m not marrying some stud!”
I laughed. “What’s your plan?”
“I don’t have one.”
“Liar.”
“Fine. I have a stupid plan I’m not going to tell you.”
“Yes, you are.”
“It’s stupid,” she said.
“Does it involve anyone I know?”
“I’m not answering that, either.”
“Gionna or Allium?”
She rolled away from me, and for a moment I thought she was going to climb out of bed and run, but I put my hand on her shoulder and stopped her. “I’m not trying to tease you, Sister.”
“I’m just a stupid girl,” she muttered.
I moved closer. “You’re not a stupid anything,” I said. “And you’re nearly an adult. Most of the time, you act like one, too.”
“This time, I’m being a stupid girl.”
“Because you like another girl?”
“I like about six girls,” she admitted.
“Those two and four others?” She nodded. “Who is at the top of the list?”
“I’m not answering that!”
“Do I know the other four?”
“No.” She curled up a little. “I’m just a kid,” she said again.
“I wish you would stop saying that.”
“I’m not an idiot.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Gionna came for you. I’m an afterthought.”
“I’m not sure that’s fair.”
“None of this came up until it began approaching your eighteenth birthday,” she said. “And the invitation to visit came from you. No one even talked to me about it until after we learned she was coming.”
“I will point out she didn’t come until she was an adult by our laws.” Darfelsa said nothing about that. “Didn’t she treat you like a friend once you reached Charth?”
“It was different, but probably for a lot of reasons.”
“Like?”
“We weren’t living in the same house,” she pointed out. “And I had duties.”
“And, from what you’ve said, a significant social life of your own. How was that?”
“That part was pretty good,” she said. “In fact, of all our differences, that part’s the best. I could go practically anywhere and it wasn’t some huge thing that required turning out half the royal guard.”
“Did she continue to act like a friend?”
“Yeah,” Darfelsa replied. “But she spent more time with Allium.” She paused. “I’m so jealous, and I hate that!”
“Do you know which one you’re jealous of?”
“Both of them. Technically, Allium is old enough to be my mother. Probably not yours, but mine. And it’s not like she’d ever see me that way.”
“Because you’re just a kid.”
“Because I work for her, and she’s quite proper with all her staff. She goes away for dinner and doesn’t come home until the next day. I’m pretty sure I know why.” She gave a groan. “I’m so stupid.”
“No, you’re not. You’re figuring things out.”
She rolled back to face me. “I don’t want to marry some boy, Ahlianna. Will Father make me?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “So you hope to marry Allium?”
“That’s a pretty ridiculous hope. But I did tell you there were four others.”
“Have you…” I trailed off.
“I’ve had a few kisses, but that’s all.” She gave a little laugh. “More than a few kisses, but not more than kisses.”
“I don’t think you should talk to Mother about this any time soon.”
“Because she’ll be appalled I’m kissing girls?”
“Because she thinks you’re eight.”
Darfelsa snorted. “True. You haven’t answered me.”
“All right. Goals. Do you know what you want?”
“No.”
“It’s hard to set goals if you don’t know what you want. What do you know?”
“I know I don’t want to marry some boy and have my only job be to look pretty and attend the theater.”
“Mother does more than that,” I said a little sternly.
“I’m not talking about Mother. I’m talking about me. But if I were picking, I’d want Allium’s life before Mother’s.”
“Allium’s life has been a whole lot harder than I think you realize. She wasn’t born Ambassador.”
“I know,” she said. “And I’ve heard things in Ressaline City weren’t very good. People starved to death.”
“I know,” I replied. “Gionna and I talked about it one night.”
“How does that even happen?” she asked. “I mean… I know it’s about not having any food, but how does that happen?”
“Gionna said they don’t have farms in Ressaline City.”
“Then what do they eat?”
“She tried explaining. I didn’t really understand. But she said it’s better now, a lot better.”
“They ship food from Charthan,” she said.
“Right. But that means Lady Olivia grew up in a city where starving was common.”
“Is that what it takes to be someone like them?” she asked. “You have to grow up watching people starve to death, or whatever happened in Allium’s life you’re not telling me?”
“I don’t know of anything specific in Allium’s life, but I’m just saying she wasn’t born in a house like the embassy. And I don’t know, Darfelsa.”
“I don’t want to be them,” she said, “But is it wrong to want to be like them?”
“It’s not at all wrong.”
“Is that what you want?”
“I want to be a proper queen, which is confusing, because I’m going to be doddering by the time it happens. But I want to be the sort of person that can be a proper queen.”
