The Star-Touched Queen (The Star-Touched Queen #1)(28)

11

A BLOOM OF MARBLE

He walked to the center of the room, his hand hovering over the marble tiles. The space around him shimmered. Enchantment suffused the room. The floor trembled and in the next instant, a dusky pillar shot out from the ground. Its column ended in a delicate marble bud fashioned like an unopened flower bloom. He lay one hand against the bloom of stone, tapping his fingers against it expectantly.

“Ruling Akaran is a strange task. In many ways, it is like balancing an illusion. You must separate the illusion of what you see and the reality of its consequences,” he said. “Tell me, my queen, are you ready to play with fate?”

The light in the room dimmed so that the tapestry’s glittering threads were all but faint shimmers.

“Is that necessary?” I asked, waving my hand around the darkened room.

“You will learn to appreciate the shadows here. Better that you become accustomed to them now. The dark is more than just the absence of light. Think of it as a space for your thoughts.”

“My thoughts prefer sunlit spaces.”

“Then your thoughts need an education,” said Amar. “Allow me to enlighten them.”

He thudded his palm against the stone blossom. With a quiver, the marble petals uncurled. At the center crouched a marble bird. Amar tapped the bird once and it trembled, shaking its wings of stone and turning its head to glare at me. A small chain wrapped around its claws, rooting it to the slab.

“How did you—” I started, stretching a finger toward the animated bird when I felt a sudden heaviness in my arm. I turned to see a long sword in my grip. A flash of cold shot through me.

“Go on,” said Amar, gesturing at the stone bird in a bored voice. “It is a mere illusion of marble. Use your sword.”

“And do what with it?”

“What do you think swords are used for?” he asked drily.

I glanced between the bird and the sword. His words were as good as an execution. I cringed. Even though it was stone, a sense of wrongness crept through me. It looked so alive.

“How is this a test?”

“That remains to be seen. Now do as you will.” Amar unfolded his arms and his voice was a dark purr in my ear. “What’s this, my queen? All your vicious speech and you are moved to mercy by a stone bird?”

My grip tightened on the stone. The stone bird hopped a pace. Heat coursed through my veins. I didn’t even feel the weight of the sword in my arm. I raised it over my head and brought it down. Metal crunched into stone and bile rose into my throat. I dropped the sword, shaking. I couldn’t bring myself to look at the remains of the stone bird, but I glimpsed it from the corner of my eye—shards of marble like bone slivers.

“There,” I bit out. “I performed your test.”

Amar considered me for a moment, arms crossed, lips pursed into a thin line.

“No. You failed my test. You sacrificed an innocent thing.”

Nausea roiled in my stomach. “But you said it was an illusion.”

“It is.” He picked up a piece of what once was the stone bird. “Nothing more than stone.” He snapped his fingers and the bird reappeared—whole and animated. Its wings shivered behind its body and it fixed an irritated gaze on me.

“The bird was not the innocent thing. It’s the feeling,” said Amar, dusting his palms. “Preservation is an innocent desire. And you let arrogance compromise that.”

“Arrogance?” I returned, my cheeks burning. “I was showing strength. Strength that I could be—”

“—merciless and thoughtless?” returned Amar. He flashed a vulpine grin. “Kill, if you must. String a garland of severed heads around your waist if you want. I would take you in my arms if you were drenched in blood or dressed in rubies … but think. Impulsiveness is a dangerous thing.”

“You gave me no choice—”

“I merely gave a command. ‘Use your sword.’ You were the one who thought there was only one choice.”

“When I asked what you wanted me to do with it, you … you asked me what swords are for…” I finished quietly. He hadn’t actually said what to do.

Amar picked up the sword from the ground and twirled it against the marble.

“Swords could also be used for freeing. You could’ve cut through the chain around the bird’s foot and set it free. Swords could be used for killing. But it needn’t be the bird. Wouldn’t the more merciful choice have been to use the sword against the oppressor?”

“So run the sword through you?”

“Why not? Everything is a matter of interpretation. And that is how you will rule,” he said, before handing the sword’s hilt to me. “Think on what you’ve seen today. But do not let me influence you. Your will is yours alone.”

I stared at the sword in my hand, still gleaming despite the dark. “I can promise you I won’t forget.”

Amar paused, his voice soft. “Memory is a riddled thing. I would caution you from making promises you cannot keep.”

I moved toward the door, but Amar stopped me with a shake of his head. “Gupta will arrive in a moment to escort you.” He straightened the cuffs of his sherwani jacket. “I myself have a number of duties to attend to, so I must leave.”