Chapter Two

“Did you really think the saviour of Charnrosa would be able to slink back through the forest to Myledene as though she were a nobody?” My sister Essa regarded me in exasperation.

I was pacing the grand chamber I’d been given to sleep in. It was bigger than the hut we’d shared up until a fortnight ago. “I didn’t want all this. I can’t be the Empress!”

“Who is better suited?”

“Anyone!” That wasn’t true. I took a breath. “We have four kings. One of them could do the job.”

“Which would cause inequality by setting one above the others.” Essa sighed. “You are the guardian. You performed the most powerful magic Charnrosa has ever seen. It’s due to you that the Empire has returned to peace so quickly. You really are the perfect person to take the lead.”

I looked at my sister. All my protests fell away and left me with the truth I’d confide to no one else but her. “I’m out of my depth, Essa. I just wanted to defeat the Emperor. I had help with that. And now…”

She set a hand on my arm, sympathy returning. “This is new to us all. You’re doing a great job, Kyann.”

I huffed. It wasn’t new to everyone. Essa’s beau, Lord Hullar, was the head of one of the deputy families. He was used to ruling over a huge swathe of the Empire of Charnrosa. Frankly, I’d be happy to leave him with the whole place, but as the kings pointed out, that would be neither fair, nor wise. We’d just deposed a dictator, now we needed to ensure power was shared.

“You aren’t the scared girl you used to be,” Essa reminded me. Her hand settled on my arm. “I think you’ll make an ideal figurehead.”

I pulled a face. “I don’t want to be a figurehead. I want to be useful.”

“Don’t you think your magic makes you useful?” Essa asked cautiously.

“My magic…” I trailed off, trying to find the words. “It wasn’t really my magic, though. There was so much, it was overwhelming … it must have come from the goddess.”

Essa nodded. “Maybe. And it came to you because you needed it. And you did what you had to do with it. You returned balance to the Empire, and vanquished both the Stalwart Emperor and the soultaker.”

“That was one moment in time. Now I’m just Kyann again, but everyone thinks I’m remarkable. I swear, the castle staff hold their breath when I walk past.”

“That’s because they don’t want to be turned into newts.” Essa tried to joke, but I wasn’t in a laughing mood.

“I don’t want to be special,” I complained. I didn’t like to be singled out. I was better suited to hiding away.

“Conjure me a butterfly,” she demanded, ignoring my angst. I obeyed, blue magic wreathing my fingers, then becoming one of the delicate creatures. I smiled as it fluttered into the air. “You are special, Kyann. The goddess may have lent you the magic you needed to return Charnrosa to peace, but what she left you with was your own magic. You are the guardian, Kyann. Nothing will ever change that.”

“I know. And I don’t want that to make me special. I don’t want the only people who can use magic to be us, hidden away in the Silent Castle.”

“We aren’t hiding. And we aren’t the only ones with magic, Kyann. There are others. The Emperor didn’t kill everyone who could use magic. We’ll find people who hid from him, and children will learn to use the magic that surrounds us.”

“I know we will.” I’d been thinking about that future. And now I knew the kings weren’t going to be leaving Charnrosa any time soon it had come to the forefront of my mind. “They’ll need teaching. They’ll need guidance, or we set the scene to create another Stalwart Emperor.”

“What’s your plan?”

“I want to build a school. An academy for magic, so it flourishes in Charnrosa. So magic is used throughout the land and doesn’t just stay here, in the Silent Castle… What?”

Essa was grinning as though my ambition was amusing. “Well, you ninny, that’s your price, isn’t it?”

“Price?”

“You agree to be Empress – or whatever name everyone wants, provided everyone else agrees that what you’ll actually do with your time is create this academy.” She sat back, awaiting my congratulations.

I folded my arms. I ought to hug my sister, but not when she looked so smug about the matter. “You’re not as daft as you look,” I conceded at last.

She stuck out her tongue.

~

The kings, naturally, were enthusiastic about the proposal. Another staunch supporter came from a quarter I wasn’t expecting.

“I should like to help,” Leea Baloa said. All eyes turned to her. For a moment, she looked as though she would slink back to the shadows and withdraw her support. Then she straightened and met all eyes levelly. “In fact, might I suggest Castle Baloa as a location – for the time being, that is.” Her gaze settled on me. “I should like the castle to be busy and full again.” She swallowed, no doubt thinking of her father and brother, both dead at the Emperor’s hands. “And I have magic. I would like to pass on my knowledge.”

“Thank you. I’d be glad of your help.”

“There are enough books for the school here,” Vashri added. “We have a whole magical library.”

“A library?”

His brown eyes settled on me, shining with pleasure. “Let me show you.”

The library was enormous and echoed with knowledge and the smell of old parchment. I walked up to the closest bookcase and ran my eyes over the spines while my fingers plucked up the courage to touch them.

“This is amazing,” Leea breathed, pushing past me, walking down the aisle between the bookcases, her fingertips grazing the books. “Everything is here.”

“We tried to make it comprehensive,” Vashri said. His gaze met mine and his hand lifted to touch the shelf beside me, our arms brushing. “An academy is a great idea, Kyann. I should have thought of it myself. I look forward to helping share this knowledge with others.” His hand shifted to cover mine. “If you want my help, that is.”

It was hard to breathe when we were so close. The heat of his hand froze me in place. I couldn’t move if I tried. “Of course I want your help.” I wanted… I coughed. “I’ll need all the help I can get,” I said, trying to lighten the moment.

“You only—”

“I’ve found a book on water magic!” Leea rounded the corner, her head thankfully buried in the book, and I sprang apart from Vashri. Heat bloomed in my face, followed by irritation. We weren’t doing anything wrong. What did I care if someone saw me and Vashri holding hands?

But clearly, I did care.

“I used to beg Papa to teach me.” Leea smiled, until the gesture slipped from her face and her lip began to tremble.

“Can I see?” I moved to Leea’s side, craning to look at the book she’d found.

Vashri left us to it.

Leea and I spent most of the afternoon in the library. With a common goal, I found her much better company than she’d been previously. By the time we were done, the table in the middle of the room was scattered about with books, and a parchment sheet held our initial ideas of the topics that would need to be covered at the academy. We tidied the books and left.

I didn’t realise anyone was waiting for me until Rey appeared beside me in the corridor outside. We stopped beside a window that revealed that the day was slipping into dusk. “We need a new building for this academy,” Rey said. “It should be here, in the capital, not out in the wilds.”

“I’ll see you at dinner,” Leea muttered, then hurried on.

I turned from her to face Rey. “Lady Baloa made a generous offer. And Baloa Castle exists already.”

His brows drew together. “The castle was built for a family, and troops – not for education. It wouldn’t be difficult for us to create a new building, purpose-built to have everything a school should. I don’t like the thought of you two days’ ride away,” he confided.

I turned back, to find that he’d drawn closer to me than I’d expected. My back was against the wall, while he stood before me, so close his heat radiated towards me. My gaze hitched on his collarbone, visible beneath the open collar of his shirt. I cleared my suddenly dry throat. “I’d intended the kings to be involved in teaching, if you’re willing.”

“More than willing,” Rey promised, “but how much easier would that be if the academy were close by?” He pointed through the window. “Two magnificent buildings either side of the lake, demonstrating the strength and the magical power of Charnrosa, shoulder to shoulder.”

I nodded, although I wasn’t sure whether I was convinced by his argument, or just by a desire to keep him close by. “I’d like that,” I confessed.

“As would I,” his low voice rumbled. He caught my elbow, his fingers caressing my skin. “You asked if I planned to stay. I do, and I will, but it’s for you, not for the sake of Charnrosa.” His bright gaze shifted to the scene through the window. “I should be ashamed to say that, but I’m not. Charnrosa is not my biggest priority right now.” He looked straight at me, and I was trapped in the intensity of the look he gave me. “You are.”

My lips parted while my brain searched for the words to reply. “I—”

“You don’t have to reply.” Rey stepped back and my vision was filled with the rise and fall of his chest, and the lush pink of his lips. My senses evaporated whenever I was close to the kings. I couldn’t think straight. Perhaps I should run far away from them. But I couldn’t bear that. Rey reached for me, stroking my hair behind my ear and settling his hand to cradle my chin. “You are the guardian, and it’s very clear that you want what’s best for Charnrosa, but you are allowed to think of yourself, too, Kyann. As well as what would be good for Charnrosa, you should consider what’s good for you. What is it you want for your future?”

“You” sprang to my lips. But the word didn’t make it any further. Because it wasn’t only Rey I wanted. Life would be easy if I could pick between the kings, if I had a favourite, but it wasn’t as simple as that. I adored each man. I wanted them all in my life. Perhaps that was another reason I’d hit on the idea of a magical academy. As five of the few people who could confidently command magic in Charnrosa, the responsibility to teach the next generation would draw us inevitably together. Perhaps I couldn’t be intimate with all the kings, but I could work with them all, and spending time with them would ease the pain in my inconstant heart.

I sniffed, fighting the discontent that thought produced. That wasn’t enough. I chided myself. It would be enough. It had to be. What alternative was there?

Rey pinched my chin. “Think about it, Kyann. I’ll support you, whatever you choose.” He walked away. I watched him go, my gaze slipping from his shoulders to his taut backside. I sighed. When it came to the four kings, there was just so … much to think about.