I repeat what will probably be my mantra for the coming weeks as I take care of my capital and country. “I can do it.”
“Yes, I believe you can.” Father starts arranging folders and paperwork in the cabinets on the right wall. He tells me what is what. It’s a long hour with no time to interrupt about firelight, Adraa, or Jaya. I try to concentrate. After everything has been pointed to or addressed, Father leans back to gaze at his wall of work. Or now,mywall of work.
He clears his throat. “I’m sorry I couldn’t introduce you to Adraa properly. It will have to wait until I get back.” He pauses as he contemplates the calendar on his desk. “She’s delivering firelight in two weeks. I’ll have to write to cancel.”
“I can handle that without you.”
He raises an eyebrow at me. “If you are sure.”
I don’t want Adraa to feel like I’m avoiding her like she’s probably avoiding me. “We need the firelight, right?”
“Yes, but the meeting is more so I can talk to her.”
My stomach clenches and my throat tightens. She’s more of a daughter to him than I am a son. Maybe we should letherrun the palace for the next few weeks.
“Don’t worry. As long as no one gets slapped in the face it will be an improvement. Besides, I know you’ll like her.”
How does he know this? How does he know what I find attractive? He doesn’t know me, not truly. Jaya pops into my head and this time I don’t smash the image away.
“May I ask you something?” I ask.
He is so overwhelmed with the situations at our borders I can pretty much ask anything. I could probably even ask about Mother. “Always,” he says, verifying my theory.
“I want to know more about the Vencrin.” It’s been running through my head since getting back, how much I don’t know about Belwar’s troubles. Seeing the girl again reminded me of my ignorance. Adraa sent Jaya here to talk to my father about the Vencrin firelight problem, but I wasn’t included in the meeting. And I need to know, especially if Adraa is coming and might expect an update.
“The Vencrin? Adraa wrote to you about it?”
My father severely overestimates the substance of our letters. “No, I heard about it in the village.”
He rubs his chin. “How much do you know?”
“Only that they’re criminals in Belwar who sell drugs to the Belwarians.”
“And Naupurians too. We are affected as well. Just in the capital at the moment, but it’s enough to make anyone concerned.”
“Why wasn’t I made aware of this, then?”
Father frowns. “I thought it would interfere with your studies. Knowing something bad is happening and not being able to do anything, that’s practically torture. Besides, the Belwars have helped. Especially Adraa, she wants to get to the bottom of it. It’s more in their territory, their domain.”
I pause.Especially Adraa?She never bragged about this in any of the letters. She didn’t even mention her role in firelight. What else was everyone keeping from me? “I want to help too, or at least know everything there is to know,” I say.
Father assesses me. Only for a second, but it’s a second Adraa Belwar probably never had to endure. “Recently, Adraa discovered the Vencrin are no longer dealing in drugs only. They’re also buying up firelight. I think they may be doing so under Maharaja Moolek’s instructions.”
“Uncle Moolek?” I say, too loudly. First the skirmishes and now I learn my uncle is tampering with my fiancée’s invention. “What would Moolek—”
“I just think that itlookslike Moolek is involved. I suspect he wants firelight to replicate or destroy. Firelight has made Belwar less economically dependent on Moolek. It is also an insult to the Moolek ideology. Firelight lets any commoner with no skill in red magic wield fire and light. Meaning wizards and witches who are not blessed by the four main gods, or even the Untouched, are able to grasp that power and be equal to others. What if Adraa invented a green spell that could let anyone prosper in the fields, or a yellow spell that allowed anyone to fly a skyglider? Your uncle’s control would collapse.”
“You’re right.” I sit down with a thump. My father doesn’t need to explain further. Moolek’s social hierarchy is built on taking advantage of those with less magical ability and crafting barriers and stereotypes around certain colors so that they remain inferior to the original elemental types. All of that makes sense to me—how could I not have seen it immediately? In the carriage Jaya said the theft of firelight felt personal against the Belwars. She sensed it, then.
“It’s still only speculation. When I visit the border, I hope to meet with Maharaja Moolek. Currently we are in the middle of everything, both geographically and as the country with plans to unite with the girl who created a spell that threatens Moolek’s way of life.”
Holy blood! “Maybe I shouldn’t marry her.” It’s a bad joke that hits too close to my true thoughts.
Father goes quiet, painfully so. His next words are whispered harshly. “Jatin, if I’m correct about your uncle’s motives, he will try to control Adraa somehow. And that would be an alliance that would break our land in two. He would have her power, her brilliance, and her firelight.”
I don’t know what to say. Never have I imagined how political my marriage might be. Yes, fulfilling family expectation, and yes, an alliance with Belwar, those were given. But now? I run my hands through my hair. Does the whole world revolve around the fact Adraa invented a fire spell? Feels like it.
“And if I hate her? Or she hates me?” Maybe I should tell Father about our letters. Because I think she does hate me a bit. She’s not avoiding me because she’s shy.
