Crown of Coral and Pearl

I rushed back into the throng of people and stalls, afraid I was moving too slow and Talin and the guards would catch me, or that I would get lost, or that I’d miss Sami. It was possible he wouldn’t even make it today, and all this had been for nothing. I twisted and turned between the rows, growing more and more convinced that I was lost, when suddenly the kite seller’s stall appeared in front of me.

The man behind the stand was stooped with age, and a few strands of silver hair poked out from beneath his flat gray cap. The stall itself was a shabby wooden thing, with smaller kites laid out on the table in front and others tied to the frame of the stand. There were no customers, and the man was watching me expectantly, perhaps hoping to make a sale to a wealthy lady. I should have asked Talin for some money before coming. The sun was high overhead, but Sami wasn’t here, and I might only have a minute until the guards came.

“Can I help you?” the old man asked, gesturing me forward.

“I’m just...looking,” I said. “You have beautiful kites.”

“Perfect for a day at the seashore,” he said, turning to look at something down the row of stalls. I followed his gaze and gasped. There, at the far end of the row, I could just make out a sliver of turquoise winking in the sunlight. The ocean.

My knees started to buckle when I felt an arm at my waist. A lump formed in my throat at the realization that Talin had caught up to me, that I hadn’t completed my mission after all. I wouldn’t be able to warn Sami, and by the time of the next market, Ceren could have many more of his breathing devices.

Worst of all, I would have to marry him, possibly this very week.

“Nor,” said a familiar voice at my side, and the lump in my throat turned to a sob.

“Sami?”

My friend pulled me into his arms and held me against him, and I let myself go. I knew I didn’t have time to waste on tears, but the relief at seeing a face almost as familiar as Zadie’s overwhelmed me. He smelled like home, like saltwater and the spices we used to cook our fish, and the flowers his mother sometimes bought at market, perfuming their house until the blossoms dried out and she could use the petals for tea.

“You made it,” I whispered against his neck.

“I would have come every month for a hundred years if that’s what it took.” He stroked my head and smiled. “But I’m not too ashamed to admit what a relief it is to see you.”

I laughed through my tears and leaned back so I could look at him. He was wearing a rough tunic and a hat similar to the one the kite seller wore. “This is your disguise?”

“It’s never failed me before. But if people see us together they might start to wonder.” He led me toward the back of the kite seller’s stall. There was a small tent behind it, and he ducked under the flap as though he’d done it many times.

“Who is he?” I asked, referring to the old man.

“He’s one of the people I trade with. Don’t worry, he’s a friend. We can trust him. Now,” he said, taking a seat on a wooden stool. “What in Thalos’s name are you wearing?”

I glanced down at my dusty riding leathers. I was so used to being stuffed into dark, restrictive clothing by now that I’d forgotten how strange I must look to him. “We came by horseback from New Castle.”

“New Castle?”

“The mountain where the castle is. It’s a long story, Sami, and we don’t have much time. How is Zadie? Are you married yet?”

The look on his face told me he’d been dreading this question.

“What happened?” I asked, a note of anger in my voice. “Please tell me you’re at least engaged.”

“I’ve barely seen Zadie since you left,” he said. His scowl was so full of resentment it reminded me of my mother. “My father has forbidden it.”

“What? Why?”

“Because after you left, Alys’s mother turned the entire village against your family. She insists that her daughter was cheated out of her place in Ilara, and she’s demanded that I marry Alys as recompense.”

“You haven’t agreed to it, have you?”

“Of course not!” he exclaimed. “But I can’t very well marry Zadie, either. It’s a mess, Nor. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but it’s the truth.”

“At least tell me Zadie is healed.”

His face softened. “She’s doing much better. The scars aren’t as bad as we’d feared, and she’s able to walk and do some diving. But your father isn’t catching enough fish to make up for the lack of pearls. He’s been going farther out to sea, to dangerously deep water, and the traders refused to sell them drinking water last week. They’re hungry and thirsty. We all are.” He lifted his tunic, revealing the lines of his ribs.

“Thalos, Sami,” I breathed. “How did it get so bad so quickly?”

“My father has insisted that all the families bring their pearls to him. The profits are now being divided evenly among every family. He thought he was making things more equal, but the families who were working harder to bring home more pearls resent those who don’t pull their weight, and this past month they made a point of diving less. So now we all suffer. I give whatever extra I can get at the port to your family, but as I said, I’m not allowed to see Zadie. We meet in secret sometimes, though,” he added, blushing.

“This is all my fault. I should never have allowed any of this to happen.”

“It wouldn’t have changed anything if you’d stayed. My father is the one who needs to stand up to Ilara, and he won’t.”

I shook my head. “You don’t understand. It’s not the king.” I took a deep breath, prepared to tell Sami everything I’d learned in my weeks away as quickly as possible, when he placed a hand on my arm.

“I already know.”

I released my breath. “What?”

“I already know that Prince Ceren is the one using the pearls. My father told me everything.”

“Wait, your father? What are you talking about?”

Sami stood and began to pace the tent. “When the emissary came to Varenia, he tried to warn my father about Prince Ceren. He told him Ceren was the one devaluing the pearls, giving us less for them not only so we would be forced to harvest more pearls just to make enough money to survive, but also because the king’s coffers were getting low.”

All this time, I’d wondered if I could trust Talin, and he had been trying to help the Varenians all along. “He wasn’t an emissary, Sami. He’s Ceren’s half brother, and he has as much claim to the crown as Ceren if the king dies before Ceren’s twenty-first birthday. The king is dying, and Ceren is afraid he will meet the same fate. He eats the pearls, Sami, to try to escape from whatever hold the mountain has over him.”

Sami’s brow wrinkled in confusion. “He eats the pearls? I don’t understand half of what you’re saying, Nor.”

“Just listen. He’s created a device that enables people to breathe underwater for extended periods of time. He’s planning to force all the Varenians to dive for him.”

He stared at me, horrified. “Are you sure?”

“I’ve seen it with my own eyes. He’s the one who cut off my family’s water supply, and he’s threatened to do it to all of Varenia. If your father doesn’t believe me, he’s going to find out for himself soon enough.”

“Gods, Nor. This is so much more horrible than I’d feared.”

“It gets worse. The last Varenian queen is dead.”

“What do you mean, dead? She’s still so young.”

She was, I realized. My mother’s age. “She was murdered years ago, most likely by Ceren. I don’t think there’s anything he won’t do to become king. And if he does, you need to make sure the Varenians are prepared. Talk to Elder Nemea. She’s on our side. If you can convince her, perhaps she can persuade the rest of the elders. Your father can’t refuse the will of the entire council.”

“I’ll try, but you know how my father is. He won’t listen to anyone.”

I took Sami’s hands in mine and squeezed them. “Then make him.”

“I swear to you, Nor, I will do everything I can.” He sat down again. “And what about you? If the king dies before Ceren’s birthday, what will happen?”

“I don’t know. I assume Talin will challenge him.”

“No, what will happen to you?”

I wiped my sweaty palms on my thighs. If Ceren won, he would marry me, I assumed, to strengthen his lineage. And if Talin won? What would become of me then?

“Don’t worry about me,” I said. “Just please take care of Zadie. And talk to the elders.”

“I will.” He studied me for a moment. “You look well, Nor. You look beautiful, actually.”

I met Sami’s warm brown eyes. I didn’t feel awkward around him the way I had after the ceremony. Instead, I felt the same brotherly love for him I’d always felt, before everything fell apart. “Thank you, Sami. I miss Varenia more than I can say, but I’ll be all right. Will you give my love to Zadie? Tell her that I’m healthy and happy.”

He eyed me skeptically, but he nodded. We both turned as the tent flap lifted and the kite seller ducked his head inside.

“What is it?” Sami asked.

“There are soldiers outside, and they’re looking for the girl.” He gestured toward me.

Sami’s eyes darted to mine. That greedy jewelry seller had probably told them where I was. “Stay in here,” I told him. “Don’t leave until the men are gone.”