03] ES) Firestorm (21 page)

Fiametta reached out and carefully took the paper from me. Her blue eyes darted as she skimmed the page. “Where did you get this?”

“It does not matter. This is law, regardless what family I would stand in.”

Fiametta lifted one hand and the lines of red flowed up her arms as she called on her element. Before she could burn the paper, I snatched it away.

Her eyes bugged out and the struggle on her face was momentary. “Come with me. Now. The rest of you wait here.”

She spun on her heel and I followed her out of sheer curiosity if nothing else. Why hadn’t she just allowed us to switch places?

Fiametta led me to her personal chamber, and when Peta moved as if to follow me in, the queen stopped her. “This is not for you, familiar. I see your hand in this; you took her to the library, giving her access that only Loam had.” She pointed at the paper I still clutched.

Peta tipped her head to one side. “You are not my queen any longer, Fiametta. I obey Larkspur, no one else.”

Fiametta’s hands clutched at her side, the only indicator that Peta’s words affected her at all.

I put a hand on Peta’s head. “Wait for me. Please.”

Peta nodded and sat on her haunches. “I will come if you call.”

Fiametta swept into her room and again, I followed. The door slammed behind me seemingly of its own volition.

“You are going to get us all killed, you idiot,” the queen snapped at me, all pretenses apparently dropped.

“Actually, I’m doing my best to get my people out of here.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Do you not wonder why there are so few Salamanders awake? Has it not crossed your mind that perhaps your friend’s life is a miniscule drop in the scheme of things?”

How in the goddess’s name was I supposed to know any of that? “Why did you bring me here?”

She began to pace, her power zipping along her arms and over her body as her agitation increased. “There are at least two more traitors within my home, Terraling. You found one, I want you to find these other two. If I have you in chains, I can hardly use you to ferret them out. And if you don’t manage that . . . those threatening me and my people have made it very clear they will wipe us all out. You and your friends included.”

This was not what I expected but I would use it to my advantage.

“And if I do? Will you let Ash go?”

“No.”

I burst out laughing; I couldn’t help it. “That doesn’t make me want to help you at all. If Ash will die either way, what does it matter to me if
you
survive your traitors?”

Pausing by the bed, she stroked the sheet with one hand and flames licked along it, but didn’t burn it. “The traitor has been leaving me notes, breaking into my room and taunting me while I sleep.”

A shiver ran through me. “As bad as that is, it has nothing to do with me.”

“That’s what you think.” Her eyes lifted to mine. “His words lead me to believe you are also a target seeing as he is encouraging me to wipe out the three Terralings in the Pit. You, Ash, and my Cactus.”

I swallowed hard. “Charge me with the deaths of the Enders, and allow me to go on trial. That gives me a reason to be in the Pit longer.”

“No.”

Anger sliced through what was left of my reason and I took hold of the power of the earth running through me. I softened the ground under her feet and sunk her to her neck in a split second. She gasped and stared up at me. “You would dare attack me?”

I crouched in front of her. “I am not attacking you, Fiametta. I am stopping you from doing something foolish. If I must, I will fight my way out of the Pit. Do you understand? I will pull this wyrm-ridden mountain down on your head. I will keep those who are mine safe, no matter the cost.”

Standing, my heart beat with fear as much as anger. I knew I was playing a dangerous game. “Do you think the traitor will leave you alive if I don’t let you go and he finds you imprisoned like this tonight?”

“My Enders will—”

“They will do nothing when they see a proclamation of release written on your paper.” I walked to her desk and opened the drawer, pulling out a thick piece of parchment. “Will they?”

“Terraling—”

“My name is Larkspur.” I corrected her as I laid down the paper and picked up the pen.

“I will hunt you to the ends of the world.”

“Not if one of the traitors kills you first. Which I’m banking on.” I scratched a few words on the paper as Fiametta struggled. With her arms pinned to her sides, it would take her time to blast her way out.

“I will . . . negotiate.” She bit the words out and I turned to see her eyes blazing and the lines of power running along the tops of her shoulders. She was fighting to get out and failing.

I swallowed hard and realized the anger had fled me and I couldn’t connect to the earth. “Worm shit.”

“Let me out, Terra—Larkspur. We will negotiate when I am free.” She tipped her head back as if she could look down her nose at me while imprisoned.

“Peta,” I called out, and she burst through the door a second later. Lowering her body to the floor, she crept toward Fiametta.

“Lark, what . . .” she stood and looked at me. “What has happened?”

“I need you to get Cactus. Hurry.” Peta gave a quick nod and bounded away without another question.

Fiametta struggled against my bonds and I felt them crack, lava pushing through the rock I’d ensconced her body in. “Terraling, if one of my people sees me like this I will kill you.”

I dropped to a crouch in front of her, feeling the heat through the earth as she tried to power through the rock. I had to have a reason to call Cactus, or she would see my weakness. “Fia, can I call you Fia? There is a problem. I don’t trust you to keep to your word.” I patted her on top of the head and for just a moment I thought she might snap her teeth at me.

A breath went out of her. “You are . . . not what I would expect from a princess of the Rim. Or an Ender from the Rim. Or really anyone from the Rim.”

“Why? Because Cassava told you we were weak?”

Fiametta laughed, and I had to hand it to her. She handled things like a queen. Calm, cool, and reasonable. To a degree. Not to say I trusted her by any stretch of the imagination.

“That. And I have seen your father deal with people. Even Cassava who he should have killed, yet only banished.”

I swallowed hard. “Yes, I agree.”

Fiametta nodded at me. “Who is the heir to the Rim?”

Shrugging, I looked over my shoulder to the door, hoping Peta could find Cactus quickly. “I don’t know.”

Fiametta leaned her head back. “You are powerful enough to be the heir, yet you are not a full Terraling. You don’t have the look. So that would make you a half breed. Like Cactus.”

“Yes.”

“What is your other half?”

I clamped my mouth shut and shook my head.

Fiametta’s eyes narrowed and she stared hard at me. “No fire runs in your veins, no water either. Perhaps Sylph? You have the height for a wind walker, but not the temperament.”

“I favor my father’s side,” I said softly.

Her eyes didn’t waver and for just a second I met them. I didn’t want her to guess my other half, didn’t want her to know I could manipulate Spirit. And it hit me in that moment I could have forced her to agree with me.

“You’ve thought of something, Larkspur.”

The door behind us creaked open and I twisted on my feet. Cactus stepped into the room, followed by Peta and . . . Brand.

Brand’s eyes widened and he pulled a crossbow from his back, had the bolt set and aimed at me before I could even stand. “Terraling, you go too far.”

I slowly held my hands up. “She and I are negotiating. As two royals houses do from time to time.”

Fiametta snorted. “Shoot her, Brand.”

His finger hovered over the trigger and I tensed. “If I move when you shoot, you will hit your queen.”

Brand wavered, his bow dipping. “My queen, she is correct.”

“I just need witnesses to this negotiation,” I said. “The queen is letting Ash go. In return, I will search out the remaining traitors within the Pit.”

Peta cleared her throat. “And then we will leave without pursuit. Make sure you add that in.”

I glanced at the big cat. “Yes, there will be no punishment or pursuit regardless of how I find the traitors. Regardless of who I may have to injure or even kill to do as you ask.”

Fiametta growled under her breath. “Fine. Let it be done.”

I stood and rubbed my hands together. “Bring her out, Cactus.”

Cactus gave a start. “Me? You put her in there, you pull her out.”

Glaring at him, I pointed at Fiametta. “Pull her out, or I’ll leave you behind when I go.”

“Damn, you’re cranky when you haven’t had breakfast.” He dropped to his knees and pressed his hands into the stone, softening the rock around Fiametta. Brand rushed forward and helped his queen out of the stone. She whispered something to him and he spun, the crossbow flying toward my head.

I ducked, but the bow still hit me, slamming into my shoulder. I stumbled backward and went for my spear as Peta leapt in front of me. A ring of fire burst up around us, like a cage that increasingly shrank.

Fiametta stood over me. “These two men are loyal to me, you didn’t really think any negotiation we made in front of them would hold, did you?”

Pinned to the ground, Peta laid her body over mine, protecting me from the heat, I stared up at Fiametta. “You know, I’m beginning to think the rulers of all the families are assholes.”

The door swung open with a bang behind us but I couldn’t see who it was. However, the voice, when I heard it, made me want to weep with relief.

“That’s my sister you have unlawfully restrained.”

Belladonna had arrived.

hings moved quickly after that and not in the direction I’d been hoping for. Manacles were clamped onto my wrists and I was dragged to the dungeon along with Peta and Ash. The steam filled, gloomy rooms were almost a relief to the constant dry heat of the rest of the Pit.

Strung up by my wrists, Ash was on my left and Peta was chained in her leopard form by the neck on the right. I leaned against the wall behind me. “I’m beginning to think this is our thing.”

Ash gave a low grunt. “What do you mean, our thing?”

I tugged at the chains, knowing they were more than just metal and actually blocked our ability to reach our power, not unlike our own cells at home did. “This is the third dungeon we’ve been in together. Think we can make it four for four?”

He rolled his head toward me. “Are you trying to be funny while we’re locked up waiting to be pushed into a bubbling pool of lava?”

I shrugged. “Maybe. You aren’t laughing, so I’m guessing—”

“Lark, stop it. We aren’t going to survive this. I thought I could at least get you out of here and now you’ve gone and screwed that up.”

“What?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Are you serious?”

“One thing, I asked one thing of you—to go with Brand and save your own life—and you couldn’t even do that.”

The disappointment in his voice cut through me like a knife, reminding me of just how many times I’d disappointed my father and those around me. I turned my head away, letting my hair fall forward to hide the tears that fell. Peta gave a soft cry and tried to reach me but we were too far apart.