Chapter 37: Queen

Shiori barely stayed conscious as the Duke’s spell broke. She swayed on her feet and gasped, but the sound was muted by the Anchor collar that bound her voice and power.

As Shiori refocused her eyes, she saw the Stain removed from every surface in the room. With the Stain gone, beautiful furnishings looked worn and threadbare.

Her opulent prison had been a lie too, which seemed fitting for the Duke.

The Duke had covered his eyes against the light. Although his clothing had lost the Stain, his skin looked the same.

The Stain on the Duke himself remained despite exposure to true light. The Stain lived in him, and even light couldn’t burn it away.

“Thou art a burdensome guest,” he said, then his eyebrows knit together. “But thou are not a foolish one. What be the purpose of this distraction?”

Shiori bundled her hands into fists. “I’m distracting you while Symphon of Felthal breaches your defenses safely.”

The Duke couldn’t hear her because of the Reverse Mirror. She figured he couldn’t read lips in Japanese.

The Duke smiled genuinely at her joke. “That collar hast sabotaged me as well.”

Every second she distracted the Duke meant a stronger advantage for Symphon. Meanwhile, she opened her connection to Symphon and tried manipulating the pain in his broken arm.

Symphon winced through the connection as she manipulated that pain. She wasn’t an expert, but she’d seen Motohara and Duke Praetor heal themselves.

There had to be a reason Symphon hadn’t healed himself yet. Perhaps that ability was limited to Speakers with the right powers, training, or bloodline. She hoped that being a Princess qualified her heal at a distance.

She focused on harmonizing their connection. With a spike of pain, she could felt Symphon’s broken bone mend. Her soldier didn’t seem to mind the pain.

Shiori smiled. This plan might work.

The Duke narrowed his eyes and looked to the door. “Dost thou have allies coming?”

Shiori frantically thought of something else to distract the Duke. She hoped Symphon would signal when he was ready.

Then the roof of her small tower room was blown off in a single sweeping strike. It was like a giant had swung a bat at the tower and knocked off the entire top layer.

That would serve as an indication that Symphon was ready to fight.

Shiori felt the disturbed sections of Symphon’s power from the gargantuan spell. She ignored that the blow to the tower hand knocked her off her feet.

She had a role in this fight, despite being gagged, weak, and untrained. Even as she fell, she focused.

She reached out to the roiling power Symphon had used. It would take minutes to calm unless she intervened.

She calmed Symphon’s source of magic. It was hard, and at first she likely made things worse. It was like juggling or riding a bike: a matter of split-second balance.

Shiori hit the floor, too focused to put up a hand to slow her descent. Just before impact, she felt Symphon’s power snap back into usable tranquility.

Symphon rejoiced his power returned. He appeared behind the Duke in a pop of displaced air and impossibly fast movement. With unlimited power, he was practically unstoppable.

With a sweeping kick, the Duke flew through a stone wall. Shiori couldn’t see much from her position on the floor, but she felt the tower shake.

Symphon used his power recklessly, and just as quickly Shiori restored it. He depended on her. This plan could work.

The tower shattered as if every stone had lost connection with its neighbors. Shiori tumbled into a grinding turmoil of stones as the tower collapsed.

Then Symphon had her. He landed on a patch of grass, holding her like a princess. Shiori blushed and tried to speak, but the Reversed Mirror stole her voice.

Symphon looked at the collar in surprise. “That’s how he kept you from…”

Symphon didn’t finish. Shiori was knocked from his arms as the Duke struck.

Shiori landed next to The Last Word, which Symphon had somehow grabbed from the collapsing tower.

She looked up to find Symphon transfixed on the Duke’s arm. The Duke’s skin had turned nearly black, as if the Stain had penetrated deep into his skin and spread. He had grown claws like an Umbrae shadow.

With those claws, he had stabbed his arm straight through Symphon’s stomach.

Duke Praetor held the rescued Barren Draught in one hand and laughed. “So nearly I had lost this game.”

Both Symphon and Shiori were stunned by the pain, but Symphon acted. He Spoke and lightning struck both the Duke and himself.

Shiori broke the connection as her hair started to stand on end. Everything in the courtyard crackled with power.

Symphon meant to use all his strength to take the Duke with him.

Shiori screamed for him to stop, but it was too late. If the Reversed Mirror hadn’t swallowed her scream, the thunderclap would have drowned it out anyway.

The light and sound were blinding.

She felt Symphon dying through their connection. The pain blinded her and for an instant she was sure she could pass out.

“Symphon!” she tried to scream, but no sound came out. She tried to heal him, but he wouldn’t respond. His power and life faded away. Attempts to heal his wounds were like trying to hold a river in her hands.

Tears streamed down her face as she tried and failed to stand.

She saw the Duke rise. He had been thrown away from Symphon by the lightning struck. “What troublesome children,” he said as his body healed in a red aura.

Shiori’s throat pain reassured her she was crying as hard as she could, but there was no sound. Her ears rang. Tears blurred her eyes as she felt Symphon dying nearby.

The Duke approached her, looking down at her and the Barren Draught in his other hand. “Now, Princess, I have a present for you to drink.”

He tilted his head at The Last Word on the ground. “I should rid myself of this troublesome Grimoire of yours.”

That had been the last two parts of Shiori’s plan. She hoped to realize her true name and use the Reversed Mirror to bring Motohara, who held the other Mirror, back from the Deep.

But her plan had failed. Her Grimoire kept her name secret from her as much as from the Duke. Motohara would die in the Deep. Symphon was dying nearby. She would languish as the Duke’s puppet.

She looked at The Last Word as she struggled to rise to her hands and knees.

The Duke laughed and grabbed the book.

Shiori had a crazy thought.

Only she could read The Last Word’s cover. What if the title was a hint? Maybe it wasn’t about the last Princess’ failed spell that cursed the Realms of Nyx.

As the Duke picked up the book, she reread the cover: The Last Word by Kawamura.

As she thought of the name Kawamura, it seemed like gravity lost its hold on her. She had never considered Kawamura might be her true name.

But she was adopted. Honjou wasn’t her original name.

The Duke dropped the book in anxiety. “What?”

Kawamura. Her true name. Shiori floated above the ground. With an act of will she floated upright. No, Kawamura was only part of her true name.

Nyx had been cast into darkness a century ago, but time flowed faster here. Kawamura, a Nyxn historian, knew much about this world. Kawamura was her mother. And Shiori was Royalty.

“Stop this!” the Duke said, panic evident in his voice as Shiori floated and began to glow with a sparkling pure light.

SHIORI KAWAMURA!

The thought echoed in Shiori’s head. Instantly the Stain disappeared from every visible surface. Trees bloomed in the courtyard. Flowers sprouted from the ground. The tower rebuilt itself. The Sun shone with true light.

Shiori felt the Stain lifting from the valley. A Royal had returned to Nyx.

“NO!” the Duke screamed. He dropped the Barren Drought and trembled as the Stain boiled off him. Tears streamed down his face. “I beg you!”

The Duke had said Shiori’s eyes resembled those of the last Princess. She should have realized what that meant and why her mother had hidden her in the real world, away from the dangers of the Realms of Nyx.

Shiori wanted the collar to leave her neck, so it shattered and fell to the ground. Now that she knew who she was, the Reversed Mirror could not limit her power.

The Realms of Nyx were hers, by birthright. She was the returned Royal, and she knew her name. As she spoke it, light filled the courtyard.

“QUEEN SHIORI KAWAMURA!”