Helka rubs her palms on her skirt. “Forgive me for saying so, but it had to happen sometime.”
My Valtia sighs. “I suppose so. But apparently there’s a very large cave system in the south that has been left untouched, and now a horde of bandits has decided it would be an ideal place to squat for the winter.” She gives me an uneasy sidelong glance. “A group of miners confronted them this morning. It turned into a fight.”
“And now the miners want you to take action,” I guess.
She nods. “The elders are concerned that if I don’t, the miners will petition the city council to raise a militia.”
“Without giving you the time to consider the best way to handle it?” After all the magic wielders of the temple have done for the Kupari, it strikes me as ungrateful.
The Valtia’s soft hand covers mine, sending warmth radiating up my arm. “They are frightened, Elli. And between the bandits in the caves and the Soturi who are now to our southeast, I can understand why they feel that way.”
I scowl. Mim told me how the Soturi crushed the city-state of Vasterut a few months ago, how it’s now part of their barbaric empire. “Vasterut is not Kupari. Its people are not blessed, and they had a king.” My voice rises with every word. “They did not have a Valtia.”
She squeezes my hand. “Exactly.” She lifts my fingers and lays them against her cool, hollow cheek. “Now let’s allow our handmaidens to do their work, so we can calm all our people’s fears today.”
I nod. This is my responsibility too, and I’m eager to do my part. As our maids mix the vinegar and white lead powder, I breathe slowly, willing myself to be calm. Mim moves her hands to my waist, and I lift my arms so she can draw my simple red gown off. This is a dance we do every day, as she cares for my body as if it were her own. Next to us, the Valtia and her handmaiden are doing the same waltz, their movements perfectly synchronized after years of practice. As the creamy material slides off the Valtia’s slender frame, I spot the bandages in the crooks of her arms, each dotted with blood.
My throat tightens. “Valtia, are you ill?” I manage to whisper.
She folds her arms across her chest. “I’m fine. But Elder Kauko’s been helping me maintain the balance I need in preparation for the winter to come.”
The elder downplayed the presence of magic in the blood, but it sounds like the opposite is true. “How exactly does bleeding help you maintain the balance?”
The air around us cools enough to raise goose bumps. “It siphons some of the fire magic that’s lain dormant during the hotter months.”
I silently resolve to be a lot more persistent in my questioning during my next lesson with Elder Kauko. The Valtia’s eyes narrow as she takes in the hard set of my mouth, and then she looks down at her bandaged arms. “I trust in the wisdom of our elders, Elli. When your time comes, you’ll need to do the same.”
I lower my eyes, my cheeks hot despite the cold room. “Of course, my Valtia.”
A warm breeze tickles the back of my neck, the Valtia’s tender caress, and it draws a relieved smile back to my face. “Look at me, darling,” she says quietly. When I do, she adds, “We rely on the elders. But always remember—you’re still the queen.” Then she winks, and my spirits rise like the sun.
I close my eyes and listen to Mim cracking eggs and mixing the yolks with the vinegar and white lead paste, her brush scraping the bottom of the stone bowl in rhythmic swishes. When the people look at me today, I want them to see their future queen, the one who will keep their crops growing and their bellies full, the one who will keep the enemy from our shores. The most powerful Valtia who ever existed. I want to look like I could become that person. I stay perfectly still as Mim brushes the snow-white liquid onto my face. Its astringent fumes burn my nose, but I don’t even flinch. From this moment until Mim bathes me late tonight so I can dine privately with the Valtia, I cannot move my face, cannot smile or frown.
Helka finishes with the Valtia and takes her behind the screen to be dressed. The Valtia is silent now, like me, unwilling to damage her perfect exterior. When Mim’s covered my face, neck, and chest with the pure white paint, she uses her tiny brush to slick the bloodred stain over my lips. Next she dusts copper powder over my eyelids and temples, holding the thick paper pattern against my skin to get the dots and swirls just right. While she does, I think of copper, and how it defines us, and how I always assumed it was as infinite as the Valtia’s magic . . . until today.
“You are a living treasure,” Mim says, interrupting my thoughts. “Are you ready to be dressed?”