The Impostor Queen (The Impostor Queen, #1)(24)
A tear falls from my eye. I’m supposed to buoy their spirits. I would do anything to give my people that confidence. But these two acolytes are speaking as if I’m a hunk of bear meat and nothing more. As kind as they are, I know they’re full of doubt, and it echoes in the hollow place inside of me, filling my chest with painful pressure as it joins with my own fear that I am failing everyone.
Meri pulls me to the left, guiding us down a dark corridor with a single lit torch at the end of it. “Did you hear about the fight at the thieves’ caverns? Armo was telling me earlier.”
“I heard the same rumor—that two miners were burned.”
“Wielders?” I whisper. Do the elders know there might be wielders in the outlands? I want to ask, but the one word I’ve already said has drained all my energy.
“More likely, one of those sons of weasels tossed a shovelful of flaming pitch at the miners,” Kaisa scoffs. She squeezes my arm as we reach the end of the corridor, and her voice softens. “But even if there was a fire wielder in the outlands, he will be no match for you once you find your magic, my Valtia.”
Kaisa and Meri escort me into a chamber with a long wooden table along one side. Stars, it smells of blood in here. But then again, that might be coming from me.
“Whether it’s a wielder or not,” says Meri, “the people need reassurance now.” There’s a pause, and though I don’t raise my head, I know both of them are looking down at me. I’m what the people need. As soon as I find my magic, I’ll settle the issue in the caverns and rid that place of squatters so our miners can do their work. Determination flutters beneath all the doubt. I will not give up yet.
We leave the chamber and proceed down the long, wide tunnel that leads to the dock. Kaisa lets Meri hold me up while she pushes open a rusty metal door, bathing us in the chilly night air. The sound of the Motherlake lapping at the dock is like coming home. It finds me within my shell of pain, my core of numb, and I take a deep, shuddering breath.
Meri strokes a hand over my hair. “Valtia, we’re almost there,” she says softly. “You’ve been so brave, but you will need more than that now. Please.”
She and Kaisa carry me to the waiting boat. “Do you want us to accompany you, Elder?” Meri asks when we reach it.
“No,” snaps Aleksi. “We’ll manage this by ourselves. Wait for us here.”
I hiss as Kaisa accidentally touches my back, and she jerks her hands away. “Apologies, Valtia,” she says, her blue eyes full of regret. She steps back as I sink onto the floor of the boat. It’s of middling size, with two sets of oars and a large, heavy object sitting at the prow. In the shadowy night, the moon covered over by clouds, I can’t quite make it out.
The elders are grim and quiet as they push off into the lake. They don’t bother with the oars—Aleksi raises his arms and the boat slices through the water as if blown by a steady wind. Leevi sits next to me. “I’m sorry the last trial didn’t help you,” he says. “But this one . . . It has more urgency to it. We think it will work.”
“Good,” I mumble. Because I need my magic. I need to heal myself. I’m certain that my back is a mess of welts and gashes, and my whole body is racked with pain. I’m too hurt to cry now, too tired to fight. Magic is the only thing that can save me now.
We reach a spot where the water is inky and smooth. Leevi drops an anchor, and the three elders take me by the arms and lead me to the front of the boat. Metal clanks softly, and Kauko raises a lantern.
In front of me is a bronze cage attached by a thick chain to a boom and winch that’s bolted to the deck. Aleksi pulls the door open and gestures inside. “When you’re ready, Valtia.”
It’s as if he believes I’m doing this on purpose, and he wants me to suffer for it.
As I remember Meri’s small kindnesses, I will also remember Aleksi’s cruelty. Forever.
I try to stoop to get into the cage, but the pull of fabric against the wounds on my back sends me to my knees with a shrill whimper. Leevi and Kauko pick me up and help me into the tiny prison, so cramped that I have to draw my knees to my chest and bow my head over my legs. My back is screaming. Leevi turns the crank on the winch, and my cage is lifted into the air. Aleksi slams the door and latches it.
“You could freeze the surface of the lake before you fall in,” Aleksi says as my teeth begin to chatter. “Or you could grow an ice platform from the lake’s floor to lift you out of the water. Conversely, you could use fire to evaporate the water around you and hold it back. There are so many ways to use the magic, Valtia.”
Kauko grips the bars. “Trust your instincts. Don’t force it. Just let it come to you.” He reaches into the cage as far as his arm will allow, and his fingertips brush my knee. I know I should grasp his hand, but I’m shaking too much to control my fingers. “We need your magic to survive. Please. We’ve been waiting so long for this. Remember who you are,” he says, his voice harsh with desperation.
I almost laugh. I used to think I knew exactly who I was. Now? I have no idea.
My breaths are ragged and fast as they swing my cage out over the Motherlake, dangling me like bait over her frigid waters. Leevi releases the chain, and my cage plunges into the water. The blast of cold shocks my vision white. I’m no longer on fire—now it’s the cold’s turn. Frozen blades of pain stab into every inch of my skin. An icy noose pulls tight around my neck.