The Impostor Queen (The Impostor Queen, #1)(18)
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.