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I reached for it, but she pulled it back. “Nothing foolish now, Prince Lennox?” A sternness entered her voice and her eyes sparkled with a promise of magic she’d call on.
I bobbed my head and took the knife. She tapped her finger to show what I should do, and I drew in a breath as I pierced the blade against the pad of my finger until blood welled up.
“Now,” she said, “think of a memory and focus on it like you’re infusing your magic into it as you touch your blood to the top of the globe. Then we can see the memory you’ve added.”
Oh God.
Do not think of her son naked and wrapped around me.
Do not think of her son naked and wrapped around me.
Panic caused my heart to race. My god, I was going to remember some incriminating memory of her son, and this was going to humiliate both of us. She’d talked about my mother, though. I winced as I remembered her blood splattering the ground. If I had a memory I could save, it would be from time with her.
One came to mind and warmth filled me. I clung to the memory, leaned into it, and pressed my finger to the top of the globe which pulsed with sapphire light.
The Maharani snatched the knife back then gestured her hand towards me. “Now, if you offer another drop of blood, your memories stored here will show.”
I squeezed another bead of crimson onto the smooth surface of the globe and the Maharani offered me a cloth which I pressed against my finger to staunch the bleeding.
The globe pulsed again, and blue illumination swept around the room, overtaking the window light, as an image appeared. Mother smiled down at me, her golden hair framing her face. She twisted us faster, and the ballroom blurred until I giggled. “Mummy, stop. I’m getting dizzy.”
She halted us and pressed a hand on my shoulder to steady me. The memory was more than an image, the feelings lingered in it, rushing through me. “Ooh, I’m dizzy too.” She giggled. “You, Lennox, are going to be a fine dancer one day. You’ll have fairies lined up to have a turn, my handsome child.” She pressed a kiss to my forehead.
“Will you dance with me first, though?”
“Always.” She patted my cheek.
When the memory faded tears stung my eyes. I’d remembered the moment, but not in such clarity. It made me ache for her. Within months of that memory, she’d use dark magic and leave me forever. She’d never dance with me again.
The Maharani pierced her finger, added two drops of blood, and offered another drop before her memory flashed to life.
The view was from the room we stood in, but the other direction, like she sat on her throne.
Mother walked in. She looked so similar to how she did in the memory I’d shared, her hair framing her face, a velvet jacket pushed up on her arms like she was too warm here in the Prasanna lands with their endless summer.
“Queen Carrington, to what do I owe this honor?” asked the Maharani.
I knew this memory. It was the same one the Naga had shown me. Mother echoed the same request to use dark magic to conceive another child. It ended the same as the Naga’s vision, with the Maharani sighing. It was slightly different, though as a tinge of unease wove through the memory.
Another bright pulse radiated from the globe, and the scene switched. The view was the throne room again, but the light was different, darker, and candles gleamed against the walls. The doors burst open, and a woman rushed in before prostrating herself against the floor. “Forgive me, Maharani. I beg of you.”
The angle changed. The Maharani must have stood as her guards shuffled forward. “What is it?”
“She claimed she had your permission. I told her it was dangerous.”
“Who, child?”
“Queen Margaret.”
The Maharani released a gasp likely too quiet for the guard or the woman who still stretched herself out on the floor could hear. “You attempted to heal her?”
“Yes, Maharani. I swear she said you approved. She claimed she had a ward to protect her that would save her from the risks.”
“Something went wrong?”
The woman didn’t answer but her eyes filled with tears.
“What must we do to heal her?” The Maharani's words were almost breathless.
