“…Mudder?” Angelina asked in a timid voice.
The woman nodded slowly, tears welling in her eyes. “I’m your mother—Phaenna Ci Té Yule. I put the other children to sleep because I wanted to talk to you.”
“Mudder!” Angelina cried while racing over to Phaenna. Her mother often appeared in her dreams, and she’d wanted to meet her for so, so long. If only Mother had survived, she’d thought countless times. Though part of her had resented Phaenna for leaving her behind, her yearning for her mother had been even stronger. Marfa had told her stories of Phaenna, Kyril had recounted memories of her, and Feilong had sung her lullaby. Angelina had gathered those small fragments in search of the mother she had no personal memories of.
Angelina spread out her arms and tried to hug Phaenna. Unfortunately, her outstretched hands passed through her mother’s incorporeal form.
“I’m sorry,” Phaenna said, looking at Angelina sadly. “I can’t hug you anymore.”
Angelina shook her head and bit her lip. “No, it’s okay! Just being able to see you is enough.”
“Truly. I never expected to hear your voice, either. Is Kyril a kind brother? Feilong might look scary, but he’s not a bad person.”
“Big Brudder’s really nice. He’s cool and smart too!”
Phaenna’s eyes twinkled. “How wonderful.”
“I don’t understand Fodder too well, but I know he’s nicer than he looks.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Does he take good care of you?”
“Yeah, he does!”
Phaenna smiled at Angelina’s confident answer. “Why did you come here?”
“Well, Fodder turned into a child because of time-reversal magic. I came looking for the sheet music so we can return him to normal.”
“What?!” Phaenna exclaimed, her eyes widening. “How could such a thing happen? I can’t imagine Feilong cranking the barrel organ, considering how vigilant he is.”
“Actually, I’m the one who cranked the organ,” Angelina replied. “But Fodder cast a protective spell on me. Then he got hit with the magic intended for me…”
“But why would a Yulan citizen try to curse you? One of our people would never cause you any harm.”
“I don’t know either.” Angelina hung her head. “Other Yulans said the same thing, but apparently, the troupe leader who brought the barrel organ was out to get me. He turned into a wooden doll when Fodder rebounded his magic.”
Phaenna regarded Angelina with a pained expression. She couldn’t reach out and pat her daughter’s head, no matter how much she wanted to. So, instead, she balled her hand into a fist and bit her lip.
“I’m so happy Feilong protected you,” she said. “Angelina… You must inherit the Yulan Secret Arts.”
Angelina cocked her head. “I must?”
“The secret arts are why Yule flourished as a small, frozen country in the far north,” Phaenna responded with a bitter smile. “Yet, in the end, desire for them from both Jinlong and other nearby countries brought about our destruction.”
“Do the secret arts have anything to do with returning Fodder to normal? I only need the sheet music.”
Phaenna laughed softly. “You don’t need them even though everyone else wants them?”
Angelina furrowed her brow, unable to understand the question. “Didn’t you just say that having them caused Yule’s destruction?”
“Indeed,” Phaenna answered sadly, fixing her daughter with a serious look. “You’re very clever, Lina. Perhaps everyone else should have come to the same conclusion sooner. In any case, the time-reversal sheet music is with the Yulan Secret Arts. The secret arts are powerful magic only the queen can withdraw and use. The inaugural queen used this mighty sorcery to drain the lake, cultivate fields in the basin, summon rainfall, and gather sunlight. Surrounding countries sought Yule’s favor in the hopes of studying the magic, and we taught them in exchange for compensation. The magic used in Jinlong today branched off from ancient Yulan sorcery. The Tianshi’s Protective Seal is one of our nation’s first forms of magic. That is how we prospered.”
Angelina looked at the protective seal on her palm. Noticing it, Phaenna gasped.
“Three markings…” she murmured, wrapping her incorporeal hands around Angelina’s palm as tears spilled from her eyes. “Then you had your life stolen three times? How you must have suffered.”
Angelina shook her head. “I’m happy now. Everything’s okay. But if you know about these markings, then…”
“When the Queen of Yule meets an untimely end, she can redo her life exactly three times. The condition for activating this spell is having the Dagger of Mercy. Feilong must have given you the knife, as I told him.”
Angelina nodded. I see, she thought, gripping the dagger tightly. If Father hadn’t given me this knife, I would have died for good at the end of my first life. He saved me even before I ever looped.
“Lina,” Phaenna said. “There’s a path to the Yulan Secret Arts beneath the fireplace. You must go down there. A tianshi sculpture serves as the magical seal for the secret arts. Successive queens have claimed the secret arts by plunging the Dagger of Mercy into the sculpture’s pedestal and pouring their magic into it. That is how the secret arts are passed down from generation to generation.”
“A tianshi sculpture?” Angelina repeated. “Like the character from the shadow puppet play?”
“You know about the fallen tianshi then? That’s correct. I’ve never seen the actual sculpture myself, as Yule fell to ruin before I became queen. From what I’ve heard, everything gained through the Yulan Secret Arts is stored within the sculpture’s drawer. You’ll need to use a secret incantation to open the drawer. The time-reversal sheet music is almost certainly in there as well. If you inherit the secret arts, you’ll probably be able to retrieve the sheet music.” Phaenna used her right hand to point the way to Angelina. “The secret incantation is eas pa vichi.”
“Eas pa vichi?” Angelina repeated.
“Correct. It’s an ancient Yulan phrase whose meaning has been forgotten.”
Angelina stooped down before the unlit hearth and pushed the firewood aside. As a result, an iron trapdoor appeared at its base. When Angelina stuck her dagger into the triangular keyhole, the door opened, revealing stairs leading below. After sheathing her dagger, Angelina turned to face her mother from inside the hearth.
“Thanks, Mudder!” she cried.
Smiling, Phaenna waved back to her enthusiastically. “Thank you for living,” she said, tears sparkling around the outer corners of her eyes. “You make me proud to be a mother.”
A pleasant warmth spread throughout Angelina’s whole body. She’d never expected anyone to thank her simply for living.
“May I ask you one thing, Mudder?” Angelina asked.
“What is it?”
Angelina struggled to find the right words. “Were you… Um, were you happy?”
“I was,” Phaenna replied with a dazzling smile. “Getting to meet Feilong, Kyril, and finally, you, made me so happy. I’m happy now, too. Meeting the three of you must have been why I was born.”
Angelina’s chest swelled with emotion as Phaenna’s smile held no hint of a lie.
“And for that reason, your life means more to me than anything else,” Phaenna said. “Promise me you won’t do anything dangerous, all right?”
“Promise!” Angelina responded energetically, setting foot on the stairs below the hearth. “Be back soon!”
Though the staircase smelled of soot, magical flames illuminated the walls, showing her the way to go. I’ll be able to return Father to normal in just a little while! Angelina thought, descending the stairs on light feet.
✦ ✦ ✦
🐅 🐅 🐅
THE moment Ryuho awoke, his eyes widened. Angelina was nowhere to be seen. “Damn it!” he shouted. “Where are you, Lina?! Liiiiinaaaaa!”
“Nothing will come of making a fuss, Ryuho,” Hisame snapped, bristling with irritation.
“Then what should we do?!” Ryuho shouted. “Do you know where Lina is?!”
Hisame hung his head. “N-No, I don’t know…”
The Andan prince suppressed the urge to cry while staring down at the map. I wanted to stay by Angelina’s side and protect her, he thought. I wanted to make all her dreams come true. But now she’s disappeared without a trace.
“Lina!” Ryuho barked loud enough to draw blood from his throat. “Lina! Liiinaaa!”
Sadness, frustration, and fear overwhelmed the Flame Tiger. Why is my heart racing so fast just because Lina isn’t here? he wondered. I’m shaking like a leaf. He began cleaning his fur to suppress his agitation. Then, he pawed his whiskers, which had become matted while sleeping. If only I were stronger! I should’ve studied harder! Then I would know how to find Lina!
Ryuho bit his lip, frustrated by his powerlessness.
“She must be over there!” Hisame cried, pointing to the hearth embedded in the wall. Flames crackled inside the furnace.
“What are you talking about?!” Ryuho shouted.
“That furnace wasn’t burning when we arrived. Since it’s lit now, something must be inside the fire!”
Hisame ran over to the hearth and blasted the fire with snow. However, the snow only melted, and the flames showed no signs of dying down.
“Gah!” Hisame exclaimed on the verge of tears. “Why didn’t that work?! Go away, flames! Disappear!”
“Get out of the way!” Ryuho bellowed, pushing Hisame aside. He jumped into the furnace, dug up the burning firewood, and pushed it to the side. Sparks popped as fire came into contact with his orange coat. “I found something, Hisame!”
There was an iron door at the bottom of the furnace. Ryuho yanked on the door with all his might, and the hinges snapped off. That done, he threw the door outside the hearth.
“Get over here!” Ryuho urged.
Hisame jumped into the furnace as well. His blue hair sizzled, producing an acrid smell. After clearing away the flames, he and Ryuho slipped into the space beneath the door. Stairs led downwards, and magical flames illuminated the path ahead of them. The shadows produced by the wavering flames writhed around like spirits of the dead. The ghastly sight caused Hisame to freeze in place.
“Let’s go!” Ryuho shouted while bounding down the stairs.
Hisame scrambled after him. We need to find Angelina as soon as possible, he thought. Now’s not the time to be scared!
As Ryuho continued charging forward without fear or hesitation, his orange coat appeared as radiant as the sun. Thus, Hisame continued racing after his back.