Gambit of the Gods Read online

  Where am I?

  Mah’ue hesitates. You are in the Queensrealm. Whisker brought you to a massive building under cover of night and gave you to a woman. She had others put you in this room. They locked the door. There is another female youngling locked away here as well, across from this room. I do not recognize her, he adds when I picture Shy Mouse.

  Artan and Shy Mouse escaped your captors, but a youngling named Fiery Grace from your Village found them. She shares a mind with Bu’a, one of our kind who seeks to enslave your race. Thunder Echo, Song at Sunrise, and Spark are with them—

  Someone pushes a tray of food through a small door in the bottom of the cell door. I hear them giving the other girl a tray of food through her door, as well. Curious about what kind of food they eat in the Queensrealm, I investigate. There’s some kind of yellow fruit I don’t recognize, a container of water, and something tasting similar to but lighter than the bread we make from ground corn. It’s gone in moments. I feel much stronger, afterward.

  Pushing the tray back through the door, I hear a muffled voice. Lifting the door slot and looking out, I see the other girl doing the same thing from across the way, her brown hair cascading across her face. She shoves it back impatiently and calls out to me in the Common Tongue, her words strangely accented.

  “What is your name?”

  She looks to be of an age with me. After all I’ve been through, I’m afraid to trust anyone, but I feel an immediate connection with her, somehow. I’m sure it’s just because we’re both prisoners here.

  “I’m called Little Squirrel,” I reply, my voice hoarse from disuse.

  “You’re of the People, aren’t you?” There is awe in her voice. “I’ve never met one of you before. But why are you here?”

  I pause for a moment, trying to put my thoughts in order.

  “My brother and I were put on trial and found guilty of using Outsider magic to attack one of the Dark Lady’s followers, even though in truth, he attacked us, and we merely defended ourselves. We were to be punished by the Dark Lady here in the Queensrealm, but fortunately, my brother escaped just before we arrived. What is your name, and why are you here?”

  She looks sad. “My name is Kella. Why I’m here is…very complicated. My understanding is that there are some invisible beings who eat emotions, and they convinced someone to betray us so they would have more negative emotions to eat. I know it sounds like a story, but it’s true.”

  I shake my head. “It’s not a story. I have one sharing my mind. He’s on our side, though.”

  Kella makes a face in disgust. I don’t blame her; that’s how I felt when Mah’ue first suggested our joining. I open my mouth to explain the situation to her, but Mah’ue breaks in.

  The woman I told you about is coming.

  “Someone is coming, he says,” I tell Kella, and let the slot in the door fall abruptly. I hurry over to the bed and sit down on it with my back against the wall. Scanning the room for a weapon, all I find are a chair, a small table, the bed, and a bucket in the corner. The chair looks solid, but maybe if I struck it against the wall…

  Soon, I hear footsteps outside. The door to my cell rattles and a woman enters, closing the door behind her. Her dress is black. She has long, dark hair and blue eyes with dark circles under them. She places a candle-lamp on the table and sits in the chair, facing me.

  “Greetings, Little Squirrel,” she says in the Common Tongue, her voice low and pleasant. I sense nothing from her.

  “Are you the Lady?” I ask, shielding my own emotions.

  The woman looks surprised, though she hides it quickly.

  “No. Do you need anything? A blanket, more food, more water? If you need to relieve yourself, there’s a bucket in the corner that my servants will replace twice a day, and there are new clothes under your bed. If you’d like to wash, I’ll have them bring up a warm bath and my best soap. I’ll also bring more candles so you don’t have to sit in the dark.”

  I don’t know how to respond. After considering a moment, I answer, “Yes, a blanket and more water would be welcome.”

  She smiles. For the first time, I sense an emotion from her: she is genuinely pleased. How strange. I decide to try to get more information from her.

  “I was told that I would be punished for using Outsider magic. What will my punishment be?”

  She shakes her head firmly.

  “Let’s not speak of that right now.” She hesitates. “I’ll just say this: I will argue for your life.”

  I sense fear from her for the briefest moment before she shields it from me. I don’t think she’s afraid of me…fear for me? Fear of someone else?

  “Why would you do that for me?” I ask, knowing I shouldn’t push, but desperate to know what I’m facing.

  The woman smiles again. “Because you are my daughter, Little Squirrel.”

  She watches me as I absorb this news in silence. When I open my mouth, someone knocks on the door.

  “I must go now. We’ll speak again soon.” She opens the door, and another woman enters.

  “You may go now, Malisanth,” my new visitor says. The woman in black scuttles out the door, leaving us alone.

  The young woman staring at me from across the room looks familiar. When our eyes meet, I feel a shock of recognition, as if I’ve known her for a long while. But she and I have never spoken to one another.

  “Your name is…Fiery Grace,” I say slowly, dredging her name from a memory.

  “That is one name I go by.” She gives me a mirthless smile. “Others call me the Dark Lady. I can feel you waking, Niabi,” she adds, seating herself in the chair. “I know part of you recognizes me. We were sisters once, after all. The heart never truly forgets.”

  “Niabi?” The name, too, seems familiar somehow. “Sisters?” So this is the Dark Lady. My mind struggles to make sense of her cryptic words. When she said the word “sisters”, two little girls in matching blue dresses flashed before my eyes, gone before I could hope to place them.

  “Yes, you and I were sisters,” she nods, the confusion on my face making her smile widen. “Surely you remember Lykos, at least? Why did you always want what was mine, Niabi?” Her last words crack like thunder, her eyes hard.

  Is she mad? What is she talking about? Yet, when she mentioned Lykos, a face floated up within my mind’s eye: a handsome young man with an engaging, ready grin. The image changes slightly, and suddenly it’s Spark’s face staring back at me now, with the same grin…

  “Spark,” I whisper, not meaning to say it aloud. Fiery Grace leans forward, no longer smiling.

  “Yes, Spark. Your memory is returning, but you always need some prompting at first. Let me tell you a little story, Niabi. When the Creator made this world, he peopled it with spirits who live several different lifetimes before finally finding peace. Each lifetime takes us a step closer to who we are destined to become. A few of us are born with a special purpose, and that’s where you and I join this story. We, and a few others, were born to balance the adama, the scales of time. Good and evil, love and hate, light and darkness…both are necessary. Last time we danced, you tipped the scales. Now, it’s my turn.” She shrugs, as if explaining how the sun rises and sets.

  “In our last life, we were sisters, though in lives past we’ve been friends, enemies, or even strangers. I was born first, as I always am, then Lykos, then Yanu, who you know as Artan, then you.” Seeing me frown in confusion, she sighs. “I’ll call them by their current names to help you understand.

  “Spark and I were engaged to be married. He and I had a fight, and in a fit of pique, I called off our wedding. You always want what is mine, so you comforted him.” The look she shoots me is full of venom. “He’s always been attracted to you first, I won’t deny it, all down through our lives. But he belongs to me, and eventually, he comes to realize that.

  “When I found the two of you together, I flew into a rage and threatened to kill you. I didn’t really mean it, of course. The two of you fled, with
the help of Artan and Kella, taking refuge with the Guardians. I followed with Ellarin, just wanting to reason with Spark.” She shakes her head wryly. “He’s always been so stubborn.

  “He wouldn’t leave you, no matter how hard I coerced him, so I did what I had to do. I’ll admit it...I shot at you. You took what was mine, Niabi, just like you always do, so I tried to take it back. But Spark jumped in front of you and took the arrow I’d meant for you, the fool. Kella called down lightning and killed Ellarin and me. So this time around, I made sure to secure the two of you before you could come between me and Spark again.”

  Another flash…the boy with Spark’s smile lying on the ground, gripping an arrow through his chest. Arrows raining down all around us. The girl kneeling beside me, crying, with Kella’s eyes. She screams, an arrow piercing her hand, and lightning arcs down as we turn and run. We don’t look back…

  “You kept shooting at us,” I whisper, “and Donta was wounded…I mean, Kella…”

  “Yes, Donta was her name then. You see, Niabi, you’re waking up at last.” Her eyes glitter in the light of the candle, watching me.

  Other images float up out of memory now: our mother, Tasia, tucking us into bed…our father, Jerend, scolding my sister for forcing me to destroy my own toys, and later, for coercing Lykos away from me…

  “One thing you’ve told me isn’t true,” I say slowly. “I didn’t take what was yours. He loved me first.”

  Fiery Grace rises from the chair, her eyes frozen, and stalks over to stand in front of me. She slaps me, hard, before I can move away. Mah’ue syphons away the pain, but my heart squeezes with an old ache.

  Bending down so we’re eye to eye, she grates, “He is mine. You’ve never understood that, Niabi. Now, I will have my revenge, and my mind-mate will make sure that when you’re born again many years from now, you never take him from me again.”

  She crosses the room, her back stiff.

  “Taini!” I cry. She looks back at me. “We were sisters once. Kill me if you must, but please, let the others go.”

  Her teeth flash briefly. She’s savoring my defeat. “Oh, Niabi. You’re the one who dooms them, every time. You draw them to you somehow, and they all die, fighting for you. Their blood will always be on your hands.” The door closes behind her.