And the girl and her lover rode into the town together on horseback, unknowing of all the horrific events in front of them.

Julietta and her Lover by Harriet Justine

Adelina Amouteru

It is Magiano's whispering voice that wakes me.
"We're here, Adelina," he whispers. "Wake up."
I jolt out of my confused dreams and wake up, slumped against the horse's neck. Magiano is watching a satisfied innkeeper walk away with a jingling bag filled to the brim with coins, as the merchant's daughter I once was. My father is dead now. Nothing will bring him back, and I don't want him to come back. I am perfectly happy as it is now.
"Did you book an inn?" I murmur. It seems like I have only returned to the mortal world a few minutes ago. I must adapt to it before I can move around freely, without any sign of weakness.
Magiano nods. "Can you walk?"
"I think so." I sling one leg over the horse's back and attempt to slide off. I crumple to the ground, my breathing shallow, my vision blotting red.
"Still weak," I hear Magiano chuckle, and I have a sudden flashback of Dante and Gemma advancing on me during my training as a Young Elite. What wolf? She's a little lamb. Dante's voice reverberates in my head.
Far from infuriating me, it makes me feel homesick for my days as an Elite.
What are you thinking about, Adelina? a small, irritating voice whispers in my ear. You almost went insane. Why do you crave the days when you were racked by so much pain?
I feel Magiano's arms slide under me and I feel a sudden rush of dizziness as the ground leaves me. My head lolls as my vision blurs.
"Easy," I hear him whisper.
Sleep attacks me and I succumb to the waiting darkness.

I wake in a lit bedchamber. Nothing special - just a wooden dresser drawer, a white lamp and lavender candles here and there and of course the bed I am lying on.
The door to my bedchamber creaks open and Magiano steps in, holding one thick white letter in his hand.
"Morning," he says easily. "I got a letter from Lucent and Queen Maeve."
I try and sit up. I succeed. A cold, wet cloth falls from my forehead into my lap, and as I stare at the water from it slowly seeping into my sheets, turning them dark, a blot in an endless field of white. Magiano rips the envelope open.
"They're in the Sunlands, securing Violetta's rule in Tamoura." Magiano frowns. "I have bad memories about Tamoura."
I don't respond. Staring at the letter in Magiano's hand, I feel a sudden sense of loss, a sudden sense of betrayal.
"What? Ate a bad cheese clump? That happened to me once. The pains in my stomach, seriously . . ."
"No . . . it's not that." Tears threaten to overwhelm my eyes. "Did Violetta write?"
Magiano's cheerful mood subsides. "Hmm?" he asks, absentmindedly pulling his lute out of his khaki pack and strumming a few chords, hoping that his playing will change the subject.
"Did Violetta write me any letters?"
My voice is firm, smooth, commanding, betraying none of the growing anger and rage in the pit of my stomach. I remember this voice, it was the voice of a once-upon-a-time-Queen-of-the-Sealands when she ordered the public execution of a non-marked. "Surely my sister would have believed you would have returned to her with me," I say. "Well? Did she?"
Magiano flinches at the sudden ruthlessness and harshness in my voice. "None so far. If she has sent some, they haven't arrived yet."
I open my mouth to scream with rage, but Magiano puts a gentle hand on my mouth and I collapse back on my pillows, weak with hopeless longing for multiple things. To scream, to sob, to kiss, to cling. "I want to see Violetta again so badly," I whisper.
"I know," Magiano whispers back, his voice soothing, gentle. "I miss her too."
"Magiano," I whisper, and he looks at me.
"Yes?" he asks, humming and strumming his lute.
"How long will I be able to sit with you, to talk with you, to be with you? How long will I be able to remain in the mortal world?"
Clearly, this question has been bothering Magiano too. He shifts, suddenly uncomfortable, and says, "I don't know, mi Adelinetta. I don't know."
We remain like that for a few more seconds, each seeking comfort and shelter in the other, each taking in and enjoying each other's being there. Then Magiano stands up.
"Are you fit to move?" he asks. His eyes pierce me. "Answer honestly this time."
I shake my head weakly. I can barely speak, much less move.
"Then you'll have to lean on me," Magiano says, his eyes twinkling. "I need to gain more information about the Queen of the Sealands."
"Violetta?" I whisper.
"We need to go to her." Magiano's tone is light, but that conceals a darkness, a deep darkness. "In Violetta's protection is probably the only place where we'll ever be safe."
"Do you think she'll give the throne back to me?" I whisper, my voice cracked.
Magiano shifts, his pupils suddenly darting all over the place, and if I was still an Elite, I would have said that his energy shifted from easy casualness to anxious uneasiness.
"Because I don't want it."
My voice and words, clearer and sharper than the blade of a knife cutting through the air, reverberate through the room - or maybe that's just me. Either way, my words have an effect on Magiano.
His eyes twinkle like the stars of my constellation. "Very good, mi Adelinetta. You've improved."
"Help me up." I stretch out a hand, and Magiano takes it at once, pulling me up, but not roughly.
"You're a mess," he teases slightly. "What will I look like, supporting you through the market?"
I laugh. How good it feels to laugh. "Where are we?"
"Somewhere in Dumor." Magiano passes a hand over his eyes, and suddenly I realize how hard it must have been for him, plodding on all these days while I slept. "Let's go."
I lean on him and we walk out of the inn and into the busy streets.
At a glance, I can tell that these streets are very festive. It must be a time for celebrations in Dumor. Colourful silks hang from building balconies and everyone is laughing, exchanging talk and drink. Lamps hang from arches above the cobblestoned street, and a group of dancers are performing in the square, their colorful silks flying in the wind like birds' wings, their sparkly golden jewelry glinting in the light of the sun like a thousand stars.
The colorful dancers remind me of the time when I first met Magiano, after the Daggers cast me out, when we were seeking to build a society of our own. He had made me a deal: if Violetta and I stole the Night King's diamond pin before him, he would join our society. We had disguised ourselves as dancers to get inside the palace. That was so long ago, when I still had desires for the throne of Kenettra, and yet the memory is clear and free from imperfections, clearer than the note from a crystal bell.
"Where should we go?" Magiano whispers in my ear.
I wearily lift my head. "Is there a bar around here? Bars would be the perfect place to exchange gossip."
Magiano shrugs. "I don't know. I can ask around."
"Please do." I don't know why I still feel this weary. Three days have passed since I came down from the stars. My exhaustion usually vanishes after a day and a half. The gods help me get used to the mortal world. Are they forgetting their debt? Is that why I still feel so weak and helpless, like a kitten with its eyes still closed, trying to make sense of a world it cannot see and understand?
We pass a gambling stand. Two men, one tall, one short, are hiding in the shadows, watching the gamblers call out their numbers and talking amongst themselves of the new queen's rule.
Violetta.
I hear Magiano draw a sharp inhale. "Hear them?" he asks.
I shake my head. "Can you edge a little closer?"
Pretending he was interested in the gambling, Magiano scoots closer. I remember that he was once the operator of one, and a smile touches my lips.
"Any news from the new queen?" the tall man asks. He has a rather hunched frame, and he has a sallow, pockmarked face with sunken eyes.
The shorter man shakes his head. He has a double chin, a rather round belly and pudgy, baby-like hands, with short fingers. "Nah. But this new queen - Vanessa or something - has got to better than that last one - what was her name? Angelica?"
"Adelina," the tall man says impatiently. "And the new queen's name is Violetta. But do you have any news of her rule? What of the Inquisition?"
The pudgy man shakes his head, making his chin jiggle like a plate of jelly. "I'm not too sure, but I think Valerie -"
"Violetta!" the tall man corrects impatiently.
"Heh, knew it was something of that sort. Anyway, I think Violetta disbanded the Inquisition."
My eyes widen in shock. Violetta, disband the Inquisition?
Well, it is the kind of thing she would do. It's not that I feel sorry for the Inquisition. Just . . . it's been around for so long, during the king's rule and Giulietta's rule and my rule, that the prospect of it suddenly gone stuns me. I feel Magiano stiffen against me, and we both cling tighter to each other, as if we would turn invisible to everyone around us if we just hugged.
Fear pounds its steady drumbeat in my ears, drowning out all other noise. My heartbeat speeds up, and I feel dizzy and feverish.
"Good riddance," the tall man says dispassionately. "The Inquisition Axis was just a bunch of rats, poking their filthy little noses in where they don't belong."
It surprises me to hear anyone talking about the Inquisition Axis with such open dislike. Before, the king would have their head. Or the queen. Two queens, Giulietta and I.
"Do you want to hear more?" the pudgy man asks.
The tall man's face stretches into a gruesome grin. "Louis, you're like a information paper - always caught up on the latest gossip."
"Thanks, Paul," the man named Louis chuckles. "Well, some people say that the Elites are gone."
"Yea, haven't been seeing them around a lot. But how did they disappear?"
"No one knows, Paul," Louis says, rubbing his huge chin. "Some say that they sank into the earth and never came back."
The two men walk away, chatting amongst themselves.
I open my mouth to give an exclamation, but Magiano puts a finger to my lips. "Hush, mi Adelinetta," he says. "Don't trust them too much. Since when have fat little dwarven men been correct?"
A silent laugh bubbles to my lips. But concern lingers in my eyes. "The part about the Inquisition Axis being disbanded . . . I think it's correct, or reasonably accurate. Violetta seems like the person to do that, after the Inquisition has caused so many people so much trouble. But who will peacekeep instead of them?"
"A good queen doesn't need peacekeepers," Magiano whispers. "If she is a good and kind queen, no one will rebel."
I know he doesn't mean it like this, but his words still stab my heart. It's not my fault I was an evil, selfish queen when I ruled. I was under the influence of my powers . . . darkness . . . insanity . . .
Magiano seems to sense the double meaning he didn't mean to put in his words, and he quickly reaches out and brushes my cheek. "Hey, I didn't mean it like that."
I brush it aside. "I'm fine. We need to go and get some more information, though. Violetta's location would be nice."
"Yes, and if she's moving anywhere in the next few days." Magiano shudders. "I hope she's not. I've been gone a year. She might have sent out search parties, or she might have started searching herself. It would be a big pain if we had to track her down all over again."
A pang of guilt stabs me in the heart, and I look down. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" Magiano tilts his head curiously.
"For being so useless. For being an extra piece of luggage." At that moment, I make a silent vow to myself. I make a vow that I will push myself harder to become more of a use. To be less of an extra piece of luggage.
Magiano laughs mockingly. "Is it your fault that you are tired? Did you think, during your time as a constellation, that you wanted to feel really exhausted and weak when you come back to earth?"
I shake my head, but I feel as if a block of iron has been lifted from my lungs, allowing me to breathe freely once again.
"I thought so." Magiano smiles. "C'mon, let's go see if there's a bar around here."