by J. A. Curtis
“This magic will spread, infecting any it touches—”
“I am more than confident that Queen Morrigan can contain the magic. In fact, we have ensured a report will reach the queen within the next few days.”
She shook her head. “I didn’t agree to this so you can take an innocent—”
“What is more worthy, Fand? Saving one innocent life? Or saving all the faerie’s lives that are lost every year by needlessly guarding a boundary that shouldn’t exist? All so those royals can sit in their castle and pretend like we are all safe. Like this is better than it was before. Does your aunt’s death mean any less than this one? What about those ogres or the dragons or the wyverns we killed? Were they not innocent in their own right? All they wanted was to be free, and yet we killed them for it. Yes, we take an innocent life today, but in the end, if we save lives, if we end this ridiculous fight, is it not worth it?”
His mouth pressed into a grim line, and he drew a piece of paper from his pocket. Fand took it from him. “I’m sorry you have to find out this way.”
Fand's eyes scanned the paper. A gasp and then a cry tore from her throat. “This, this can’t be right.”
“The dragons burned your hometown. There were no survivors. I guess they didn’t take kindly to you killing one of their own.”
Fand sank down to the stone steps, her entire body trembling, her face pale and stricken.
“And so, you see—back and forth we go—when you and I both know it never had to be this way.”
He held the knife out to her, and she shrank back.
“Your hands are already blackened, Fand,” he said. “What are you going to do? Take advantage of others dirtying their hands so you can pretend yours are still clean?”
Her body steadied, and a hard, uncompromising glint came into her eye. Her jaw clenched, and she straightened. “There is the only path forward,” she stated.
Bres held the knife steady. “What are you willing to do to end this injustice?”
She stood and her hand closed around the knife handle. “Anything.”
29
Rank and Title
Mina
“It can be difficult to determine our own motives at times.”—Nana
NIAMH AND I SAT IN the grass together, finalizing our plans. Dramian and Nerime had come back with the layout of the land. I had insisted that the main force of the faeries engage in actual battle as little as possible. Their goal would be to draw out those in the enemy base, so I had the chance of getting in and out without getting caught. I didn’t want any faeries falling because of me.
“Why do you look troubled?” Niamh asked.
“Arius intervened and got the queen to agree that I shouldn’t be the one to go in after Margus and Bres. They want to send Docina.”
Worry crossed Niamh’s face. “But she does not have a faerie guardian that can shape-shift, and she does not know the layout or how to use the gemstone.”
“They have me showing Docina how to use the emerald, and they want me to describe the layout and everything else to her.”
“Why are they doing this?”
“It’s Arius. He thinks all I do is run into danger and try to get myself killed,” I said, my voice laced with bitterness. “He thinks I’m reckless when all I’m trying to do is keep people safe.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I have something worked out. Don’t worry, I’m still going in.”
She looked relieved. “Oh, good. I will tell you something that may help in a dire situation. The yellow stone on your armband will help protect you. All you must do is press your hand over it and think activate. When you do, the stone will unleash a magical force that will incapacitate any near you. But you can only use it once. So make sure it is a dire situation indeed.”
“Thank you.”
Niamh laid a hand on my shoulder. “I believe you can do this.”
It was nice to have someone on my side. With Niamh around, helping me plot our attack, the responsibility pressing on my shoulders no longer seemed so difficult to bear.
My vision from the night before was confusing. After realizing the Otherworld still existed, the vision proved that a dark magic had been released on the Otherworld. But it seemed they had the means to contain it. What was even more disturbing was that the magic was tied to Balor.
“Balor, the leader of the Fomori, was destroyed, wasn’t he?”
“Long ago, yes, by my brother.”
Faeries fell and could be reborn. Balor wasn’t part of the newer rebellious faction seeking to destroy the Otherworld, he was one of the original Fomori. Did Balor have the ability to be reborn like faeries? “Is there any way he can come back?”
Her nose scrunched. “Come back? I don’t think so. Why?”
I told her about my vision. Niamh looked even more confused. “I don’t know. Maybe the power was released as a distraction?”
“Maybe.” But that didn’t sound right. The consequences of releasing the power had disturbed Fand.
The contemplative look on Niamh’s face drew my attention. “Princess, can’t we help you? There must be some way we can free you.”
“I appreciate your desire to help me. But protecting my mother comes first. We can discuss how to help me after the attack is over. I’ve been trapped here for so long that I can wait a little while longer.”
“We will free you,” I promised.
She gave me a slow smile. “I believe you will.”
“DO YOU FEEL THE POWER?” I asked. Guilt burned on my tongue and turned my mouth sour, but I kept my voice steady, my face as neutral as possible. The metal stymphalian birds clacked through the trees overhead.
Docina’s brows drew together in concentration. She wore her deep-brown, curly hair up in a bun, but as usual, a few curls escaped. Her faerie guardian minotaur stood out on her arm. Her hand curled around the green gemstone at her neck. “Yes.”
“Good. Now suggest to it the form you’d like to take.”
Docina transformed into a replica of Margus. It wasn’t exact. His hair had too much gray, and his eyebrows weren’t the right shape.
A movement in the bushes off to my left caught my attention. I glanced that way. Too big to be a stymphalian bird. A person hid among the brush. The guilt flared, but I shoved it down. This was necessary. To protect Docina.
Time to begin.
I folded my arms. “Is that the best you can do?”
Docina glanced down at her transformed body. “Is something missing?”
“Well, you really need more practice.”
“I can try again,” Docina said.
“Who knows how long it will take you to get this?”
Docina frowned. She melted back into her normal form. “Let me try again.”
This wasn’t working. How did I make her upset when I couldn’t lie? She’d actually come quite far in a very short time. She was accessing the power in the stone more frequently than I could.
Thaya stepped out from her hiding place among the bushes.
“Thaya?” Docina said, her eyes wide. Thaya’s faerie woman warrior with wings rose before Docina, her arrow pointed at her.
Docina released her faerie guardian. The bull-headed creature rose on two legs, swinging a wickedly sharp ax. It rushed Thaya’s warrior woman. The warrior woman rose into the air in a vertical lift that brought her above the minotaur’s head. The faerie woman lowered and kicked the minotaur in the back, sending it staggering forward.
Thaya rushed Docina with her sword drawn. A pit formed in my stomach, and I raised a hand, my mouth opening to order her to back down.
“Come on,” Thaya snarled at Docina. “You’ve never had what it takes to defeat me.”
Panic and anger sparked in Docina’s eyes.
“And there it is.” Thaya backed off, pulled her faerie guardian to her arm, and sheathed her sword.
Docina didn’t move, now under Thaya’s control. Her minotaur melted back onto her arm.
My hand fell to my side, relieved, while at the same time, guilt tugged on the pit rolling over in my stomach.
Thaya threw a nasty glance at me. “You claimed you were good at making people mad at you.”
I shrugged, unable to take my eyes off Docina’s passive face. “I guess I’m only good at it when I’m not trying.”
She rolled her eyes. “A sign of true ineptitude. When everything you actually do well seems like an accident.”
I glared at her, and Thaya smirked. Out of options, my faerie guardian had snuck into the dungeons while I met with Docina over the last couple of days. I’d gotten the key from Palon that morning, saying I wanted to hold on to it during the battle.
And I had released Thaya. She’d managed to creep out into the woods behind the burned manor where we had agreed to meet up while I trained Docina.
“You see? That’s how you piss someone off. Tell them a truth they hate about themselves,” Thaya said. “Now, how do you want me to do this?”
“We are going to be gathering soon. Docina needs to make an appearance—acting normal.”
Thaya’s eyes rolled.
I ignored her reaction and continued. “Then right before she splits off from the rest of the group, I’ll—”
“What’s going on here?” I spun around at the sound of Arius’s voice.
He stood there, eyes moving from me to Thaya to Docina. Realization dawned in his angry eyes.
“You’re going anyway.” He swore. “I knew it.”
Air leaked from between my teeth. All that work, even releasing Thaya, and he found out anyway.
I looked to Thaya. “Take Docina to the mines. When she wakes, tell her she is to help Arzon guard the queen.”
“As per our deal,” Thaya agreed. She had Docina climb to her feet, and they walked off into the trees.
I turned back to Arius. He watched Docina and Thaya leave, his shoulders tense. His hands clenching.
He shook his head. “What kind of deal did you make with Thaya to get her to agree to work with you?”
I bit my cheek and grimaced. The deal hadn’t been my favorite—agreeing to release Thaya if she helped me with Docina and she waited to go after Dramian until after the attack on the Fomori was over. I had hoped that would give me time to warn Dramian. I’d left a message with Wolpertinger that he was to deliver on their way back from the attack.
“This is my plan. It’s my call,” I said. “I need to see this through. I will not sacrifice Docina—”
“If you think this is a sacrifice, Mina, then call it off,” he said, those dark eyes sparking in pain and desperation. “I hate this plan. I hate this pretend attack and your obsessive need to go into dangerous situations all alone.”
Why couldn’t he see that I didn’t have a choice? If we didn’t do something, the Fomori would eventually attack and take what they wanted. This way, I could protect the faeries. I could protect everyone.
“I’m going Arius. Even if you convince the faeries of the Haven not to go, I’ll take Dramian and his faeries—”
“I won’t interfere,” he said quietly, “but I'm not going.”
I took a step back. “What?”
“I was going to tell you before now, but...” His jaw clenched. “I’ve given Palon all my orders. He will be your second in command.”
“I need you. I need you to take charge when I—”
“When you abandon us to go risk your life unnecessarily? No. I won’t be a part of that. Palon will lead. He’s proven himself more than I have.”
He couldn’t do this. Not now. Why? Every time—every chance I had given him. The last time, it had seemed like he was finally ready, like he might come back and take the responsibility that I so desperately needed him to take. But he rejected it—even when he knew how much we needed him, he rejected it.
No more. I’ve had enough of this.
“Come with me,” I said through gritted teeth.
He followed me through the trees. My body shook with each step, my anger and hurt and frustration carrying me forward until we entered the clearing with the shell of a manor looming above.
“Everyone gather round,” I shouted, holding up shaking hands.
Arius stood behind me, his eyes on the grass.
Did he know what was coming? Well, I didn’t care. This was long overdue.
Faeries gathered from both sides of the camp, and I dropped my arms.
“For the past couple months, Arius has been on probation. During that time, I have given him every opportunity to step up and fulfill his responsibilities, but he continually refuses my orders. And now, the greatest betrayal of all, he has refused to support us in our upcoming attack. There is no excuse for this. It is time to take the final step I have sought to avoid.”
I faced Arius. He no longer stared at the grass, but stood at attention and watched me with those dark eyes. There was no anger, only expectation swirling in those dark depths.
“Arius of the Ettemarch, Warrior of Thunder, Captain of the Royal Guard, Lieutenant General to Her Majesty the Queen, I no longer find you worthy of your post and strip you of your rank and title.”
The last words fell from my mouth with a finality, like the last gong of a bell.
The faeries stood around, shock and uncertainty on their faces.
Arius didn’t move, his eyes unreadable, but he breathed one word soft enough for only me to hear.
“Finally.”
30
Brothers
Arius
“Forgiveness is earned.”—Nuada
THE SHOVEL CRACKED against a large rock. The metal scraped around the stone as I uncovered it before bending down and prying it up with my fingers. I lifted it out of the hole, heaving it onto its side. Dirt rained down onto my arms and hair. I ignored it, knowing any attempt to brush it off was a practice in futility.
Mina had assigned me to dig the new latrine while she was away. Apparently, after stripping me of my rank and title, that was the only thing she saw me fit for.
She was probably right.
“You should be with Mina,” a voice said.
I glanced up at the boy with the dragon tattoo standing over me, a deep frown on his face.
“What are you doing here, Dramian?” I demanded, apprehension rising within me. “You’re supposed to be on the attack with Mina.”
“Yes. I am. But let's be honest, you both thought there was a chance I wouldn’t follow through. I daresay she prepared for this scenario. But you backing out threw us both for a loop. Why would you let her down like that?”
I didn’t understand why he was standing there. But then again with Dramian nothing was as it seemed.
“Mina needs you on the attack,” I said.
“No, she needs you. She trusts you, Arius. She wants you.”
I stared to the side of him, off into the trees. Was I having this conversation with Dramian?
“I’m not worthy.”
“Of what?”
“Of her. Of leading. Of any of it.”
He waved a hand at me. “So you messed up. We all do.”
“Not like I did.”
Dramian’s body was rigid. He glared down at me, his eyes narrowed. I noticed how his hand gripped his sword and wished I hadn’t left mine back at my tent. The shovel was better than nothing, but it would be hard to fight him from inside a hole.
“I made Iris, my own brother, hate me so much that he was willing to betray me,” he snarled, the words bursting out of him.
Iris was my brother too, but he had grown up with Dramian. The only thing I’d ever known about Iris was that he was a traitor. Seemed like that was the one thing Nuada never deceived me about. When Nuada and Margus turned on both Dramian and me, Iris had helped them. His only redeeming quality was sacrificing his life to save Dramian’s at the last moment.
Dramian pressed the heel of his hands against his eyes, spinning away from me. “He’s gone, Arius. He’s gone forever because I made him think he
had something he needed to prove.” His hands dropped to his sides, balled in tight fists as he turned back to face me. “And I’ve stayed behind because I’m going to make Margus pay.”
I leaned the shovel against the side of the hole. “What do you mean?”
“You and Mina were right to be suspicious. I’ve been in touch with Margus.” He raised his hands at the outrage on my face. “Don’t worry, I didn’t tell him about the attack. But I have a meeting with him, and I wanted to offer you the chance to come with me. To take him down.”
Helping Dramian take down Margus would be an immense help to everyone.
I hesitated. Dramian just admitted he’d been meeting up with Margus behind our backs. Was there a way Dramian could be deceiving me?
“Come on, Arius. None of this was our fault. This was them. Nuada and Margus. They made us like this—you, me, Iris. It’s time to put an end to it.” He reached a hand toward me.
Anger glinted in Dramian’s eye. This wasn’t something he could fake.
Margus was our enemy. Taking him down would help Mina. It would help us all.
I took Dramian’s hand. “I’m in.”
WE FLEW THROUGH THE sky, high on Dramian’s dragon above the clouds.
“I’ll drop you off before the meeting.” He pointed ahead to a large clearing. “We’re meeting there. Sneak up on us. I’ll try to stall him until you get there.”
I grunted. Sounded like a good enough plan to me.
He dropped close to the trees.
“Get ready,” he said. “I’ll tell you when to jump.”
“I don’t need you to tell me when to jump.”
I released my golem up ahead, waiting for the right moment. Right as we came upon my golem, I lunged to the side, off Dramian’s dragon, and dropped the short distance onto my golem’s shoulder. I stumbled, and my golem raised a stone hand to steady me. I stepped into its palm. It lowered me to the ground, and I pulled it back onto my arm. Then I headed for the clearing, a strange sense of recognition playing over me. Last time I trusted Dramian, Margus and he had teamed up on me and I’d gotten sliced through the ribs. That had been five years ago.