The Impostor Queen (8 page)

The words hit like stones in a pool, sending ripples of misgiving along my limbs. “Elder,” I say in a hoarse voice. “What's wrong with me?”

Kauko takes my arm and helps me step off the stone slab. My stockinged feet are soaked and aching, no longer numb. In fact, my whole self hurts. I feel like I've been trampled by a horse. My red gown is damp and stained with sweat. Surely I'm the most bedraggled Valtia that ever was.

“I'm sure nothing is wrong with you, my queen,” Kauko says quietly as he guides me out of the chamber and toward the steps. Aleksi mounts them ahead of us, and I wonder if he's going up to make sure I don't have an audience as I'm led to my bedchamber. “I think the strain of witnessing Sofia's final moments has jarred you. It was a mistake to allow you to see her that way.” His grip on my elbow is steady and comforting as he takes me up the stairs.

“I insisted,” I say, rubbing at my throat, raw from my cries of grief. “It wasn't Leevi's fault.”

“You are generous, Valtia.” His frown is so deep that it looks like someone's carved a divot from the corner of his nose to the edge of his jaw.

I pull my gaze away from it, because it stirs up uneasiness within me. “I'll rest,” I tell him. “I'm sure that in the morning, I'll have recovered.”

“I have no doubt.” He puts his arm around my back as we stride through the domed chamber and into the Saadella's wing. “You'll stay in your old bedchamber tonight while we ready the Valtia's quarters for you.”

While they scrub scorch marks from the ceiling and floor, while they scour her blood from the stones, while they mop up the icy water and toss the burned mattress in the refuse pile. Bile rises from my stomach. I'm not sure I could ever sleep in that room. “Will we have a funeral?”

One of the few memories I have outside this temple is of the last Valtia's funeral, her white body covered over with coppery gauze and bedecked with spring blooms. It was the day before I was found. My mother took me to the docks, where she lifted me in her arms so I could see between the shoulders of the other citizens who'd come to bid the queen farewell. The dead Valtia had looked perfect and unmarred. I remember thinking she would sit up and wave as they slid her boat into the waters of the Motherlake, as it silently carried her from our shore. I remember being horrified when tongues of fire raced up the sides of the pyre to devour her.

I remember screaming.

I also remember the new Valtia,
my
Valtia, standing on her paarit at the end of the main dock, her arms raised. At the time I didn't know that she was the one who moved the boat into the deep waters, that she was responsible for the fire. I only knew it scared me.

“The elders will meet to discuss it,” says Kauko as we reach my wing. “There are complications.”

My stomach convulses again. Complications. Like the fact that she was torn and burned to pieces. She could not be a pretty, peaceful corpse. For all I know, she's nothing but a soggy pile of ash. “Oh, stars,” I moan, doubling over to retch.

“Elli!” Mim calls down the hall. Her hands are on my waist a moment later, and she presses a dry cloth to my mouth.

Kauko clears his throat. “You are not to call her by that name ever again, handmaiden,” he says sternly. “She's the Valtia now. Show respect.”

Mim steps back and bows low. “My Valtia.” Her voice reeks of tears. “Let me take you to your chamber.”

Kauko releases me. “We'll come for you tomorrow.” He rubs his hand over his bald head and looks me over. “You'll be better then.”

Mim raises her eyebrows as he turns his back and stalks toward the domed chamber. She leads me into my quarters. “Why did he say that?”

“I can't, Mim. Just clean me off, please?” I whisper. It's bad enough that I couldn't light the flame. If I have to tell her about it, I'll shatter into a million shards of sorrow and shame.
My Valtia.
I put my hand on my chest.
Please don't be disappointed.

While Mim bathes me, handling me like a living doll, I concentrate on finding the magic inside me. Is it in my gut? My heart? Deep inside my bones? Just behind my eyes? Why can't I feel it? Why is it hiding from me? I expected it to come bubbling forth like a spring of icy water, to evaporate on my fingertips in a cloud of steam. I expected it to fill me to the brim, to make me what I always should have been, to be so thick and shimmering that I would feel nothing but confidence. But all I feel is . . . emptiness.

Mim tucks me into my bed and spreads extra blankets over me. “Tonight I'll sleep at the foot of your bed instead of going to my room,” she says. “If you need a single thing, water, a cool cloth, a hot stone for your feet, just say my name. A mere whisper will draw me to your side.” She smooths my hair from my brow. “I know you weren't eager for this day to come, my Valtia, but you were born for this. I'm proud to serve you.”

I am so lost and desperate for comfort that I almost ask her to lie next to me, to allow me to press my face to her neck and coil my arms around her. But I remember that moment on the balcony earlier, when I realized she only remained close because I commanded it. So I shut my eyes as she withdraws, readying myself for what comes next. Kauko warned me of the dreams, and with the way Mim is coddling me—even more than she
usually
coddles me—I suspect he warned her as well.

The breeze from the Motherlake slips through the open balcony door and cools my face. I dwell in the darkness, relaxing into it. In my silent sleep, I wait for the dreams that come with powerful magic.

They never arrive.

A warm hand caresses my cheek. “Valtia, the priests have summoned you.”

Valtia?
My eyes flutter open. Sunbeams filter through the balcony doorway, filling my chamber with warm light. For a moment, I'm all confusion. What time is it? Is it harvest day? But as I sit up, the truth winds around me like a rope. My Valtia is gone, and I'm the queen now.

Mim gives me a half smile. “You slept like a stone. From what Kauko described, I thought you'd be thrashing all night!” She takes my hand and pulls back the blankets before helping me to stand up. “Though I suppose the strongest Valtia in all of history would weather such things with grace.” She grins. “As she always has.”

I force myself to smile back. I had no dreams. All I had was darkness as deep as the Motherlake, as empty as a cavern. “I am eager to learn the extent of my powers today.” I am ashamed at the quaver in my voice, but Mim merely nods.

“I have some information before you go, if you want it,” she says.

I step forward to allow her to pull my nightgown over my head. “About the Soturi?”

“No. They are not the only problem in the outlands, and now that their invasion has been repulsed, the city council and the elders will turn their attention back to the bandits. Especially after what happened yesterday.”

“What?” I ask, my heart beginning to pound.

“That fight the Valtia mentioned as we prepared you for the harvest ceremony. A group of miners took it upon themselves to clear the cave system they plan to mine.”

“The one where the bandits are squatting.” And the one Aleksi said might hold the last unmined copper on the peninsula.

She nods. “I got more details early this morning. Two miners died of their injuries.”

I want to bury my head in my hands, but I stay completely still. This is my responsibility now, and I will deal with it as a queen should. “When I meet with the elders, we will discuss it, and I will decide how we will proceed.”

She bites her lip. “There's more. The miners who died . . . they were burned.”

My brow furrows. “Burned with what?”

She leans forward, nearly bursting with her news. “The rumor is that it was magic.”

I sit down on the bed like my legs have been swept from under me. “A fire wielder in the outlands?” The priests scour the city and the homesteads for magical children every month, and it is considered a great privilege to live in the Temple on the Rock, so their families give them up readily. And the only people in the outlands are criminals who have been banished from the city. “That seems unlikely, Mim. Besides, a torch could do the job just as handily.”

“I said the same thing to Irina, the scullery maid who told me, but she said there have been whispers about rogue wielders for years, Ell—” Mim presses her lips shut and gives me a sheepish smile. “My Valtia.” Then she claps her hands and pulls me to my feet again, like she is about to give me a special treat. “Now that you are the queen, you can find out for sure instead of relying on me for gossip! And then you can deal with any rogues who threaten our miners. Or anyone else, for that matter.” She's almost glowing now, and it makes my stomach hurt.

While Mim clothes me in a simple red gown and plaits my hair down my back, the feeling only intensifies until I finally recognize it as hunger. “Can you get my breakfast for me, Mim?”

Her smile falters. “The priests said I am to give you nothing. But . . . I'm sure that after you meet with them, we can order you a fine spread from the kitchens.”

“Water?”

She bites her lip. “They forbade it, Valtia,” she mumbles, her glow dimming quickly.

“Since when do the priests overrule the Valtia's wishes,” I snap. When I see her blanch, I realize I've put her in a terrible position. “Never mind,” I say, squeezing her hand. “I'm not thirsty anyway.”

I'm parched, but I care about her too much to say so. I walk to the door with my head held high. Today will be the day I show the elder priests the magic inside me. I'll make them quake with the certainty of it, and then I'll deal with the bandits and any rogues hiding among them. Today I begin my reign. “Where to?”

“The catacombs,” Aleksi says as he enters my chamber. “Good morning, Valtia.” He bows. As he raises his head, his dark eyes sweep up my body, as if he expects me to have transformed overnight. “I hope you were able to rest despite the dreams.”

I bite the inside of my cheek. “Thank you for your concern, Elder Aleksi. I'm quite well rested.” A splinter of doubt pierces my determination. Too well rested, perhaps.

I keep my back straight and my head high as we descend into the catacombs. I wish I could face all this in the daylight instead of in this cold, dank tomb. This is the realm of the cloistered acolytes, the ones who are not chosen as apprentices and live in seclusion after they reach the middle of their third decade. They live together, one united community, completely hidden from the distractions of the world above, devoting themselves to the Valtia's magic. I have always wondered how pale they must be after years without sunlight, but whenever I asked, Elder Kauko merely chuckled and reminded me that some of them wield fire—they do not want for light or heat.
And I will be able to wield fire now too. Starting today. Starting now.

Veins of green and orange copper glint in the torchlight as I follow Aleksi past the Stone Chamber to another circular room. This one is larger, with four tiers of wide, steep steps leading down to a small arena that looks more like a pit from where I stand. Sitting on the steps are the priests, thirty of them in all. No acolytes or apprentices today. Elder Aleksi takes me to a set of shallow steps that lead to the bottom. “Take your place in the arena, Valtia, and we'll begin.”

My heart thuds, and again I feel it reverberate within me. When I reach the flat, slippery stone floor, I turn in place. Aleksi is sitting down with Kauko and Leevi, our three elders, on the lowest tier of this arena. If their robes weren't so long, from this vantage point I'd be able to see what hides beneath.

“After the events of last night,” says Leevi, his voice filling the chamber, “we wanted to make sure you are ready before we proceed with the coronation.” He smiles at me, but between his gaunt face and his jutting brow, it looks more like a grimace. “We know you have always been an obedient and loyal Saadella, if a bit too inquisitive.” He pauses, as if to make sure everyone notes that fault, before continuing. “But you have always respected the role of Valtia. Therefore we expect you to understand the crucial nature of what we ask.”

I clasp my hands in front of me. The feel of my own clammy fingers sends a chill down my back. “Of course, Elder. At a time like this, having lost their beloved queen, the people need to know they're secure and protected.”

Kauko nods his approval. “Well said, my Valtia. This could not be a more critical time for that. Now, all we ask is that you practice your ability to wield ice and fire. As soon as you complete these simple manipulations, we'll proceed with your coronation. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes.”

I swallow, but my mouth is so dry that it hurts my throat. “What would you like me to do?” I say, my voice pitifully soft in this roomful of staring priests. I wonder if Sofia had to go through this. I wonder how she felt.