Flooded Flames

Part Three of Six

A cool breeze drew Talia’s attention to the window as dawn’s light trickled into the room. The soft breathing of the woman next to her soothed her, but not enough for her to sleep more than an hour. The dark blue-haired woman pulled her hand from hers as she turned away from her. She felt the absence of Wisp’s hand instantly.

She cursed herself for her weakness. She learned quickly not to get attached to Wisp’s ancestors of secret keepers. Their lives were too short compared to hers. To keep them at a distance, she forbade generations of secret keepers and guards from talking to her. All these years in this tower for her protection, for her people’s protection, took a toll and froze her heart. When the last sliver of it was about to freeze over, Cosma, Wisp’s great-grandmother, was born.

Cosma had differed from the keepers before her. She was the first born with dark blue hair, the sign she had royal blood. As soon as she could talk, she questioned why Talia had ordered them not to talk as when she brought her food or bathed her. She didn’t care about any punishment she received for talking. She only cared about the loneliness in Talia’s eyes. So, they talked—a lot. And that last part of Talia’s heart cared about her—a lot. It hurt when she died, but her daughter was already by Talia’s side, then her granddaughter, and now Wisp. All with dark blue hair, and all with Cosma’s caring heart.

Talia’s thoughts drifted to the red-haired man in the dungeon. He was so infuriating. She hadn’t expected him to answer her questions without encouragement, but his defiant and sarcastic attitude boiled her blood. She let out a heavy breath as she felt heat rising in her cheeks.

“Your Highness?” Wisp said in a raspy, sleep laded voice.

Talia only made a noise affirming she was awake.

Wisp turned and laid her head on Talia’s chest, tucking her arm around her. How many times did she do this as a child when she had a nightmare and climbed into Talia’s bed instead of her mother’s?

“You didn’t sleep, did you?” Wisp asked, looking up at her.

“I did, but only for a short time. It was enough…Thank you,” Talia said, the words fighting not to leave her mouth. As Wisp frowned at her, Talia added, “The sooner that man is dead. The sooner I’ll be able to sleep.”

“Shall I bring us breakfast?” Wisp sat up, already knowing the answer.

“Please,” Talia said, sitting up.

Wisp had already grabbed her robe and was holding out Talia’s for her to take. Talia wrapped her robe around her as her thoughts returned to the red-haired man.

“Wisp,” she called out to her. Wisp stopped at the door and looked back at her, smiling. “Can you also have food brought to Ash—the man in the dungeon?”

Wisp’s smile brightened, and she lowered her head, receiving the order.

* * *

Talia ran her finger along the scene of cherry blossoms on a cliff overlooking a beach with sea turtles on the back of her mirror before picking it up. She looked at her face and frowned at the whiteness of her skin. She’d like to tell herself the whiteness was from the icy power in her veins, but she knew it was because she never left the tower.

She quickly returned the mirror to the table. Why did she care how she looked? She was going to question the prisoner in the dungeon, not go to a ball. Most days she had no reason to dress in more than something a bit better than a nightdress, but today she wore a gown. She only dressed in gowns when the generations of keepers and personal guards changed.

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Talia took a deep breath as she stood. She dressed in another gold-trimmed dark blue gown, but this one covered her more. She didn’t miss that the red-haired man’s eyes went to her chest as soon as she walked into the dungeon. Slipping a foot into one of her shoes by the door, she paused.

First tip, rethink the shoes.

Her blood boiled as she flushed. Deciding to go barefoot, she slipped off the shoe. Making her way through the tower she caught a group of guards by surprise when she rounded a corner. She chuckled, watching them squirm, but she hated that the red-haired man was right.

She slowed as she stepped from the stairwell into the hallway leading to the dungeons.

“Thank you, Wisp.” Asher’s voice floated from the dungeon ahead.

“Don’t call me that!” the usually calm Wisp snapped. “Only the queen can call me that!”

“Sorry, I thought that was your name,” Asher replied.

“Her name is Whisper,” Talia said, walking into the dungeon.

Wisp, on her knees reaching for a tray with a plate and a glass on it floating across the narrow moat, bowed her head. Asher, who was sitting on the bed, leaned back on his elbows.

Wisp picked up the tray and looked at Asher. “If you thank anyone, thank her. She’s the one that ordered me to bring you food.”

Talia smiled at the glare that Wisp gave him. “That is enough, Wisp.”

The dishes on the tray clinked together as Wisp stood. “If you need anything else, let me know,” Wisp said, before walking out of the dungeon.

Talia turned her attention to Asher, who was staring back at her, confused.

“You asked her to…” His voice trailed off as his eyes drifted down her gown to her bare feet. His lips twisted into a smirk. “That’s why I didn’t hear you.”

The sooner this man was dead, the better. She glared at him, feeling herself flush.

“I hope you found your breakfast acceptable,” she said through gritted teeth.

Asher jumped to his feet. “It was delicious. As expected from this wonderful establishment I find myself a patron of.”

She considered the smug man. She guessed he liked to act in control despite being the prisoner. Two could play that game.

“Perhaps I’ll join you for breakfast tomorrow.” She stepped up to the edge of the moat around the cage.

She could almost feel the fear and disappointment that flashed across his face before he pulled his lips into a pout. “Tomorrow? But you promised you were going to execute me today.”

“That’ll depend on our conversation.”

“Something I’ve been breathlessly waiting for.” The water under him splashed as he walked up to the bars between them. He dipped his hand into the flowing water of the waterfall. As he did, Talia must’ve had a puzzled look on her face, because he explained, “Cleaning my hands after breakfast.”

She watched him dry his hands against his tunic. “How are you so insufferable?”

“A natural gift,” he replied.

“Who sent you to kill me?” she asked, feeling her patience running thin.

“Right to it, I see. Is the executioner scheduled to come, or can we take our time and talk?”

Ignoring him, she asked again, “Why did you try to kill me?”

His eyes locked on hers. He opened his mouth to say something witty, she assumed, but he closed it again. “To end your bloodline.”

“End my bloodline, why?”

Worry filled his eyes.

A crack in that armor of his, she thought.

He took a breath and said, “I didn’t have a choice.”

“A choice? Who ordered you? Those in control in the Fire Kingdom?”

He nodded. “I made a deal with them.”

“What deal?”

“They have my sister. If I end your bloodline, she’d be let go. If I died trying to end it, she’d be let go.”

Talia’s chest tightened. He was doing this for his sister? The truth of what he was saying was clear in his eyes. “That’s why you want to die?”

He stared at her with a puzzled wonderment in his eyes before as he looked away from her.

“You’re nothing like we were told,” Asher muttered as he stared at her.

“What were you told?” she asked.

“You’re an evil queen with a frozen heart. Breed and raised generation after generation to be even more ruthless than the one before. That’s why I needed to kill the princess, too.”

“Princess?” Confusion flashed in her eyes before she shook her head. “Right, my daughter.”

He stared at her, taking her in. “You’re only a little older than me, right? Twenty-three or twenty-four?”

The question caught her off guard. “Does it matter?”

“It doesn’t make sense.” Asher said slowly, as if he was figuring something out. “The announcement of the birth of the princess was over ten years ago.”

“Enough!” Talia exclaimed. His thoughts were heading down the path it shouldn’t.

“You would’ve been around thirteen…” His eyes widened. “There’s either no princess or you’re not the queen.”

There was no use in hiding it. He wouldn’t be alive much longer anyway. “The announcement was a lie. There is no princess.”

“Why would you lie about that? What is the Water Kingdom hiding?”

Talia narrowed her eyes and turned to leave.

“Wait!” he called after her. “When you kill me, please make sure they know. I don’t want them to think I ran away.”

Dread filled her as she faced him. She shook her head. “I can’t do that.”

His eyes shot to hers, and the pain in them stung. “W-why? They’ll kill her!”

“If we announce your execution, regardless of the reason for it, the Fire Kingdom will have an excuse to attack.”

He looked at her in disbelief. “Shit. That’s why it didn’t matter if I succeeded. They just wanted to start a war.”

“One where many people in both kingdoms will die.”

He stared at her, trying to process what he was learning. “Why would they—”

“Because the Fire Kingdom won’t let go of its grudge.”