I step out onto the streets of Rivis.
I keep my cloak covering my head. I don't speak to anyone. I don't look at anyone. People rush by me, but they never bump into me. They are all graceful in the way they squeeze past me.
I'm relieved.
I make my way down the street, turning left, and then at the end of that street, I take another left. I only stop when I am in front of the tavern. The cool night breeze sways the sign in the air, but I can make out the worn painted tankard on it.
I look down at my wrist.
The black jade bracelet clings to my arm. I rub my finger against it for a second before I head inside. It isn't too busy inside. There's a handful of people at the bar and only a few spread out at the tables.
I take a seat at the back.
The tavern workers don't acknowledge me. It is as if I hadn't entered. None of them rushes to take my order.
I remove a gold coin from my pocket. I let it rest in my palm before moving it between my fingers to amuse myself. I don't usually wait this long.
Ten minutes pass.
Just as I am starting to give up, a man falls into the seat across from me. His face isn't covered. His skin looks flushed in the tavern lighting. Sweat falls down his face. He's been running.
"You're late," I speak to him in Rivisian.
The man doesn't react to my words as he digs through his jacket pocket. He only drops an envelope onto the table.
I eye the seal on it, but I cannot make it out.
"I am a busy man, Your Highness." His heavy eastern mountain accent always catches me off guard.
"Jyn… Should I march to the palace and find out if you're betraying me? You wouldn't do such a thing, would you?"
Jyn shifts uncomfortably across from me. He glances around before he whispers. "I would not recommend that, Makaio… You and the prince would never get along."
I smile. "Jyn, you didn't answer the question."
He pushes the envelope towards me.
"I am not betraying you. Some things are simply out of my control."
I stare at him without blinking.
Jyn isn't an ugly man. He's a year older than I am and very easy on the eyes. I might lower myself to admitting his attractiveness firsthand if he weren't friends with Prince Runo of Rivis.
I grab the envelope and stuff it into the bag.
Jyn eyes me from across the table. I can see my reflection in his dilated hazel orbs. His palms are sweating. Jyn is never nervous. This is a first.
"Has something happened?"
"The letter will explain it. You should be careful tonight."
He tries to stand up, but I reach across the table and grab his arm. He falls back into the wooden chair.
"I would rather hear it from you than a letter."
Jyn's lips turn downwards. "Why do you keep meeting with me, Makaio? You hate Rivis and our people."
"You know why."
Jyn exhales heavily. "Read the letter. Return to Cila."
I don't stop him when he stands up this time. He leaves before I can ask him any more questions. The tavern door bangs behind him as he walks outside.
I stare down at the jade bracelet on my wrist. I count the passing minutes in my head. I only stand up once I reach ten.
I venture out onto the streets of Rivis again.
There aren't many people on the streets now. It is late, much too late for the smallfolk. I shove my hands into my cloak's pockets.
The lack of people makes it easy for me to notice them.
Three people are trailing me. They make sure to stay over twenty paces behind me, but I know they're there. So I don't stop walking. I tread on. I need to get them away from the houses. I can't confront them where I am without bringing attention to us.
It doesn't take them long to realize I am leading them nowhere.
"You there!" one shouts.
I stop. "What business do you have? It is late."
One has his hand on his sword. He is the brave one to step forward. "You have been summoned to the palace by the king."
"I assure you I have not been."
The men rush at me. I side-step his first attack. I place my hand firmly on his shoulder. My fingers carve themselves into it.
A ripple of pain shoots through him and brings him to his knees. Blood seeps from his eye sockets. Then he is back up on his feet. Except this time, he isn't swinging at me.
The other two people with him watch in horror as he slashes and rushes at them. They parry his attacks.
I twist my fingers throughout the air like I am controlling a puppet on a string. I can feel the blood running through his veins. It's a constant push and pull. His veins yank back against me.
He is resisting.
I force his blood into obedience.
"Stop!" The man screams.
It doesn't stop his friend's attacks.
The controlled soldier plants his sword between his ribs. He doesn't heed his friend's words at all. Blood tears stream from his eyes. He fights harder against my control.
I can't hold my magic against him any longer.
He breaks free.
"Bloodweaver…. You monster."
He doesn't turn his rage back on me, though. Instead, he plants his sword into his own chest.
"Who sent you?"
The last man drops to his knees. His sword clatters to the side. He bows his head and begins praying to the gods to save him. Coward… Of course, he is a coward.
"I ask again, who sent you? Answer me."
He looks up at me. "Prince Runo."
I remove a dagger from my side. It's swift. It's quick. I stab him through the neck. He doesn't suffer or resist.
I clean the blade on my cloak and return it to my sheath. I look down at my fingertips. They're turning black. My ring finger is almost entirely engulfed in blackness. I shove them into my pocket.
I turn and run from the scene.
I rush through alleyways. Bells begin ringing out—smallfolk rush out of their houses. Panic rises in me. My palms are sweating. My magic gets weaker the further I am from home. It has its limits.
"They only ring those bells when something bad has happened."
"What could have happened?"
I rush into an empty alleyway.
I slice my finger open on one of the rings on my hand. Blood escapes. It runs down my fingers and palm. I quickly draw a circle on the ground with it.
A portal forms in it as soon as the lines connect. Relief swarms me. I jump into the portal.
I am no longer on the streets of Rivis.
I am back in Cila. I am standing in my bedroom. Hurriedly, I yank my cloak off my body and toss it into the chair. My weapons are removed just as quickly.
The noise wakes the person in my bed.
"Makaio…" He runs a hand through his golden hair. "I fell asleep waiting for you to return. You were gone longer than usual."
When we were children, nobody could tell Meric and me apart. Our father swore our yellow-haired differed, but I have my doubts. The only real difference is the shade of blue our eyes are. His eyes are darker. Most people don't get close enough to us both to notice.
"Sorry…" I offer.
Meric's eyes dart to my blood-splattered cloak. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
Meric yawns and falls back down onto my bed. I wrangle the letter from the envelope from my letter. I force the seal open. My eyes scan the letter.
He knows, Makaio. Runo knows that you are looking for the Moon Stone Rune. I won't be able to meet with you again. Stay out of Rivis for a while. I'm sorry.
-Jyn
I press my lips together and crumple the letter.
"Fuck."
Meric stares at me from my bed with curious eyes. He watches me closely as I toss the letter into the fireplace. I know he can see my black fingertips too.
"Who did you anger tonight?"
"Prince Runo."
Meric laughs. "Father is not going to be happy to hear about this. Velor will make sure Father knows you have angered his son."
My blood runs cold at Meric's reminder.
"Father has always thought me to be too unwilling. I'm nothing like Ryn. Ryn is his perfect son and heir. My ambitions are a little too large for his taste."
"He says something about you changed when you went into the forest. I don't know what you saw in there, but it wasn't anything like my experience."
Meric emerged from the forest different too. His shy, fearful nature was washed away that night when he challenged the forest spirit. Father doesn't see the change, though.
"What happened during your Stardust Ceremony?"
Meric may be my twin brother, and we share everything, but we have never spoken about our twenty-four hours in the forest.
"We are not supposed to talk about what happens in the forest."
"I want to know."
Meric sighs. "It was like the forest spirit embraced me. She made me feel warm and happy. She played me a tune until my voice sang the same as hers. You know the rest."
The forest gave Meric the ability to convince anyone of anything through talking or singing. I have always found it a useless power. It's nothing compared to mine.
"You returned covered in blood and gashes. The real question is what happened to you."
"I fell into a lake of blood. I guess it started as water."
Meric's mouth hangs agape. He doesn't believe in me.
"The forest did not embrace me. It was a bloody fight, and I refused to submit. I would not settle for anything less than I deserved. I wanted power."
Meric throws a pillow at me. It hits me like a rock.
"Don't speak like that. You sound insane."
"For thinking you, Ryn, and Father chose the weak path?"
Meric climbs out of my bed at that. He fixes my quilt and hugs me. He only speaks once I am trapped in his arms.
"Stop hurting yourself for this."
His words feel like a knife. It twists in my stomach. It carves me like a hog.
He leaves after that.
* * *
My father sends for me first thing the next morning.
I take my time buttoning my jacket. The servants brush through my hair five times before I am satisfied. I slide a pair of gloves on before I walk out of my room.
Ryn is in the hall.
He looks just like me and Meric, except much older. He's leaning against the wall with his arms crossed across his chest.
"Father is not happy with you."
"When is he ever?"
Ryn is our father's pride and joy. Meric is the one our mother doted over, so now our father feels like he has to. I am neither. For all the love he has for them, I am the thorn piercing his hand, while Meric and Ryn are the roses.
"You are being difficult." He pushes himself off the wall.
I don't say anything. I walk towards our father's study with him close behind me. He isn't going to give up his pursuit.
I don't make it very far until I collide with something invisible.
I turn and glare at Ryn. He stands behind me with a sly smile. His hands are behind his back as if he didn't do anything.
"Promise him that you will not go back to Rivis. Promise that you will stop looking for the stone. Mean it, Makaio. Put an end to all of this before he has to chain you to your bed," Ryn says.
He has me trapped in a box of invisible walls. It is hard to refuse.
"Fine. I will."
He raises an eyebrow, not convinced. "You're lying to me."
I sigh. "Of course, I am lying to you, Ryn. I cannot make such a promise to you or him. The people of Rivis hate us. I hate them just as much. They killed our mother. I want the Moon Stone Rune because we are owed it. It is the only thing that can save our magic."
Ryn's walls fall at the reminder of our mother. I take the opportunity to leave him there in the hall.
It takes ten minutes to make my journey across the palace to my father's study. His guards open the door for me. I take a deep breath before I walk in. I know how this will go.
"Makaio."
I go ahead and take a seat across from him.
"You went to Rivis last night. You slaughtered three of the palace guards. All for the Moon Stone Rune."
I finally look at him.
His blonde hair has long greyed. There are wrinkles around his eyes that aren't nearly as blue as they used to be. His magic earned from the forest has also faded with his age.
"I had to," I say.
"You are giving Rivis a reason to attack us. I am trying to work out a treaty with Morvos, and you're trying to start a war with Rivis!"
I flinch as he raises his voice. "Morvos's queen is married to Velor's brother. They will never ally with us. They will always choose Rivis. This is a waste of your time."
My father's pale face turns red at my words. My hands clench around the arms of the chair.
"I will break your legs myself if you go to Rivis again."
"And what will we do when the forest dies? It gives us our defined magic, but it also gives our people basic abilities. Why must they suffer alongside us?"
My father slumps in his chair. "The forest is a living being and the heart of magic in Cila. Every living being dies. That is nature."
Standing in the forest had been exhilarating. It's a feeling I have been chasing for five years. I know he felt it too. I don't understand why he won't fight for it.
"I will not settle for that."
My father's eyes fall to my hands wrapped around the chair arms and the gloves.
"Remove them."
I shake my head. "I am not removing my gloves. You are being unreasonable."
He rings the bell on his desk. The door bursts open instantly.
The guards make a lot of noise when they enter the room. It's hard not to. They're covered in royal armor. The plates of metal rub together so loudly I barely make out my father's next words.
"Restrain him."
The guards grab hold of my arms and force them upwards.
"Remove his gloves."
"This is unnecessary!" I shout.
My father doesn't hear me. The guards don't answer to me. They roughly take the gloves off my hands. My father stares at my black fingertips and the cut along my finger.
"You will lose your hand if you keep testing your limits."
"A hand for the stone would be worth it. They will fade back to normal in a few days. They always do."
The guards place my gloves on my father's desk and release my arms. I hide my fingertips in my lap. He's already seen them enough. He doesn't need to look any further.
"You have grown too comfortable with the pain."
My eyes fall to my lap.
The first time I had used my magic, it had been excruciating. The first time I had tried to control someone… It had felt like my veins themselves were being ripped out.
There is no power without sacrifice.
"It doesn't hurt anymore. I don't feel it. I am not a child who fears it anymore. I am willing to fight. Why is nobody else?"
My father frowns.
"Your mother asked me to look after you on her deathbed. She was terrified of what your magic would do to you."
I don't want to listen to his words. He cannot use her against me like this. He always tries to. It works on Meric and Ryn. It doesn't on me. I know what our mother's last days were like.
I remember how she returned from Rivis.
"She never woke up after she returned from Rivis."
I stand up from my seat. I am no longer interested in speaking with my father. He also stands. He chases me across the room as I approach the door. He grabs my arm before I can walk out.
"Makaio…"
"Magic is everything to our land and people. The forest is what gives our land life. You are a coward who sits on a throne."
I jerk my arm from his grip and walk away.
Ryn is in the hallway. His mixed expression tells me that he had heard the argument. His eyes fall to my hands. I didn't retrieve my gloves from the desk.
"You controlled someone… You know how that takes a toll on you." Ryn is quiet as he speaks.
"It was that or be dragged to the palace to Runo."
Ryn looks like he might understand, so I leave him there.
It is much too early for all these arguments. I haven't even had breakfast yet.