“Are you saying we need to go through the worm’s lair to get out of here?”
“This is the only way,” he said, “other than the main gates, and those are teeming with guards. Oh, and my mother… who came herself.”
“Eleanor is here?” Now Dianthe’s expression filled with fear. “Aborella must have tipped her off!”
“It’s the only explanation. This is tantamount to declaring war. She wouldn’t risk it if she didn’t think we were here.”
Dianthe’s face twisted, but she moved forward, her boots making a suction sound with every step. “Brave face and onward. I’d rather face the worm than your mother.”
Sylas smiled. The fairy expression “brave face and onward” was something teachers in Everfield usually said to fairy children who didn’t want to practice their numbers. He found his wife’s use of it incredibly endearing.
“If we weren’t knee-deep in shit, I’d take you in my arms right now,” Sylas said.
She passed him a pitying glance. “If we weren’t knee-deep in shit, that would be romantic.”
Tobias groaned. “Wonderful to hear that you two have made amends, but we have a decision to make.” He paused at a branch in the tunnel. “Right or left?”
But Sylas never got to answer because at that moment, Dianthe toppled.
Dianthe welcomed the vision like an old friend. She hadn’t realized until then how much her soured relationship with Sylas had been affecting her sight. The energy flowed into her unfettered. It flooded her with awareness until her skin prickled with energy. She knew how far they were under the earth. She knew exactly where the hornworms were. She could feel the Obsidian Guard like a dozen pinpricks of light, populating the woods above their heads.
Sylas caught her before she hit the floor of the tube. Thank the goddess. The last thing she wanted was to fall face-first into festering worm shit. The vision was so strong all her muscles had seized, even her lungs.
When she came out of it, she gasped, pulling the foul air deep into her. “I know the way.”
Sylas positioned her back on her feet. “You had a vision?”
“A strong one, Sylas. My sight is back, stronger than ever. I can lead us out of here.”
He kissed her thoroughly until Tobias cleared his throat. “Again, congratulations on your reconciliation, but a little help here.”
“Left,” Dianthe said.
After they’d walked for some time, Tobias broke the silence. “I thought you couldn’t have visions about yourself. How is it you had this one?”
She could hear the worms moving past them in alternate tunnels above and beside theirs. It gave her the creeps, but she kept going, navigating the way she’d seen in her vision. “It’s not that I can’t see a future with myself in it, it’s that the closer something is to me personally, the harder it is to see. I don’t have an emotional connection to these tunnels, so it really isn’t that surprising I can see the way through them, but it would be rare for any seer to see herself fall in love, have an accident, or even die. Which means even though I can see which way to go, it’s very possible I wouldn’t see myself being eaten by the worm. Visions of a personal nature are extremely rare.”
“Hmm.” Tobias adjusted Sabrina in his arms. “That’s inconvenient.”
“Agreed.”
The entire tunnel rumbled, and a piece of mud fell from the ceiling between them—a worm passing over them. Dianthe shivered. Screams followed the rumbling sounds.
“I think the worms have developed a taste for dragon,” Sylas said, looking up toward the surface. “I hope the poor thing doesn’t get a black-and-red uniform caught in its teeth.”
Dianthe grunted. “Am I imagining it, or can you hear the crunch of bones?”
“You’re not imagining it. I fear those men didn’t think to shift as I did. How much longer?”
“This way.” Dianthe hung a sharp right and climbed a ramp of rising earth into a dense clump of trees. She looked both ways. “We’re alone. I don’t see any guards.”
Sylas took her hand. “You did it,” he whispered, then planted a kiss on her cheek.
There it was. The way he used to look at her was back, but she didn’t think it was because of the worm tunnels. The way he looked at her, it was like somehow, last night, they’d healed each other. The doubt was gone, but then it hadn’t actually been doubt at all. It was fear. And last night they’d made a pact to protect each other. He was her partner again. Whether through their physical connection or their emotional one, after Sylas had shared his secret, all the walls between them had crumbled into dust. How could she have ever believed they were insurmountable?
“I suppose I owe both of you another note of thanks for saving my life yet again,” Tobias whispered.
“Both of us?” Sylas shook his head. “I can’t take the credit for this. Dianthe showed us the way out. If it had been me leading the way, we’d likely be worm fodder. And she was the one who saved you from the sprites as well. I can’t take credit for that one either.”
Tobias’s low chuckle came over Sabrina’s sleeping body. “No, I mean from before, how you warned the rest of us that Eleanor was coming to London with the shadow-mail candle.”
Dianthe exchanged a glance with Sylas, who shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. How would I know Eleanor was in London? It’s true Nathaniel gave me a candle, but I have never used it.”
Tobias looked utterly confused. He adjusted Sabrina in his arms, and she released a broken snore. “The shadow-mail candle that Nathaniel gave you was used. Someone sent Nathaniel a message that said, ‘She’s coming. Run.’ That’s why we all left for Aeaea together when we did. Nathaniel assumed the message came from you. He said you told him you’d be there.”
Dianthe watched the exchange between the brothers, trying to remember what the shadow-mail candle even looked like. “It wasn’t me,” she finally said, shaking her head. “I don’t even know what a shadow-mail candle is.”
“The silver candle I brought home after Nathaniel rescued me. I kept it on the bookshelf.” Sylas tipped his head in her direction. Everything about that emotional time was a blur. They’d spent so little time together with Aborella in the house.
“Our bookshelf? I hardly remember it.” She tried to picture it in her mind and couldn’t.
“What are you saying? If neither of you sent it, who did?” Tobias squinted. “That message likely saved our lives. Nathaniel received word from his oreads that Eleanor had all but destroyed Mistwood Manor looking for Charlie. They missed us by a matter of hours.”
Dianthe could not imagine who had sent the message or how they’d accessed the candle until a thought wrapped around her heart and squeezed. All the blood seemed to drain from her face, her cheeks growing cold, and she felt like she might be sick. “It was her.”
Sylas shook his head. “Her who?”
“Aborella.”
Tobias made a noise like a snort. “That would be the day. Why would Aborella warn us Eleanor was coming? She’s helping Eleanor.”
A strange tingle started at the back of Dianthe’s skull. “No, she’s not. She’s pretending to help Eleanor, but she’s really helping us.”
Dianthe’s vision had shown Aborella helping the rebellion. How she would help was open to interpretation. “It was her. I know it was,” Dianthe said. “My vision wasn’t wrong, Sylas. She went back to Eleanor, but she hasn’t been helping her; she’s been thwarting her.”
Tobias shook his head. “No way. That fairy is evil to her core.”
“No one else had access to the candle. She must have taken it. She must have sent the warning.” Dianthe was sure now. She’d been right about Aborella. She’d just misinterpreted the details.
Sylas gave a slow and reluctant nod. “It would explain why the Obsidian Guard raided the Empyrean Wood instead of coming directly to our cottage. Eleanor probably knew a fairy had helped Aborella but didn’t know who. Perhaps her spies saw her leave the kingdom.�
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“Eleanor must have sent the Guard to search the Empyrean Wood rather than Solaris Field based on a false tip from Aborella,” Dianthe said. “She’s telling Eleanor half-truths, bringing her close to her goal but not close enough to be successful. Even her attack on Aeaea was late. Eleanor came herself. If she’d had time to plan, she would have brought the Obsidian Guard with her.”
Sylas winced. “The night Aborella left and I confronted her about possibly joining the rebellion, she said something that has always confused me. When she was about to leave, she said, A seer is never wrong, but a picture only shows part of the story.” A low growl rumbled in Sylas’s throat. “I hate being wrong about this, but I have to admit it’s possible. It makes sense. She is the only one who could have used the candle.”
“But the Obsidian Guard is here now,” Tobias pointed out. “If your theory is true, how does Eleanor know we’re here?”
“When I saw Mother at the gate, Aborella wasn’t with her,” Sylas said. “When was the last time you saw Eleanor do anything without her? She used to bring her everywhere.”
Understanding dawned as if the light was shining directly on Dianthe’s face. “Aborella is a powerful seer. Her visions are usually of the future,” Dianthe said. “She would have seen us collecting the orb from Demidicus last night. The fact that Eleanor is here today and not yesterday means Aborella is delaying information. Maybe she thought we’d be gone by now. Maybe…” Dianthe closed her eyes as if she were in pain. “I have a terrible feeling about this. If Aborella isn’t here with Eleanor—”
Dianthe’s eyes rolled back in her head and her body went stiff. She felt Sylas steady her.
“She’s having another vision.”
Images flooded her mind, and she rattled them off as they came to her. “Silver wings nailed to a wall. Blood. Aborella in chains.” Tears cut trails down Dianthe’s cheeks. “Oh goddess. I see her. I see her, Sylas. Eleanor is torturing her. Aborella is trying to help us, but she can’t hold out much longer. It’s too painful. She’s a prisoner in the palace.”
Dianthe snapped out of it. Sylas’s face had gone pallid and slack, horrified. All at once, she sensed he was back in Eleanor’s ritual room. His mother knew how to cause pain. If she was torturing Aborella the way she’d tortured him, the fairy would eventually crack or she’d die. Dianthe cradled his face. “Come back to me. I’m here. You’re okay.”
He blinked rapidly at her. Some of his color returned.
Tobias cringed. “I can’t bring myself to feel sorry for Aborella, but even I know we can’t leave her in the palace if this is true. Aborella is a strategic weapon. She may be trying to help us, but her visions are still deadly in Mother’s hands. Eleanor will use her magic to wring every last drop of information out of the fairy. The resistance needs to either abduct her or kill her.”
Kill her! Dianthe couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “My vision was accurate. Aborella is on our side. We can’t leave her in Eleanor’s clutches. We have to try to rescue her!”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Dianthe understood that what she was asking of Sylas was too much. After what he’d told her the night before, intentionally journeying to the Obsidian Palace to try to rescue the fairy who’d enabled his torture wasn’t likely to suit his fancy. But everything inside her told her it was the right thing to do. Tobias was right—Eleanor could and would use Aborella like a weapon. How long could the fairy be expected to withstand that kind of torture?
As expected, Sylas shook his head. “I agree that leaving Aborella in Eleanor’s hands is risky. She is a weapon, and Mother has a way of forcing others to do her will. But we don’t have the firepower to get her out. We’re not ready to face Eleanor.”
Dianthe’s eyes narrowed as her brain turned over a new idea. “There is one way.” He wasn’t going to like this, but she had to say it. “We know exactly where Eleanor is at the moment, as well as the majority of the Obsidian Guard. She’s here, herself, and she’s going to search every corner of the Palace of Nightfall trying to find us.”
Tobias grunted, then turned deadly serious. “She’s right, Sylas. This is possibly the only time you’ll ever have a chance of getting in and out alive. If Eleanor is here, she would have left only a skeleton crew behind. I can’t believe I’m suggesting this, but maybe we should send Dianthe and Sabrina to Aeaea with the orbs and try to rescue Aborella while we can.”
Sylas remained silent for a long moment, his face impassive. Dianthe waited for him to decide. Would he risk entering the Obsidian Palace again? If they waited, it would be too late. The opportunity was now.
“No,” he said.
Dianthe’s heart sank into her stomach. That was that. They’d all be going back to Aeaea.
“I think you and Sabrina should take back the orbs. Dianthe and I will get Aborella.”
What? Dianthe couldn’t have heard him correctly. Did he say he wanted to go with her?
“Dianthe can see what’s coming, and Aborella trusts her. Our chances of success are better together. Return to Aeaea and tell the others what has happened. If we’re not back in twenty-four hours, we’re either dead or imprisoned. Do what’s best for the rebellion.” Sylas adjusted his pack on his shoulders as if it had just grown a tad heavier.
Tobias scowled. “What’s your plan for getting through the wards?”
Dianthe thought for a moment—she didn’t need a vision to guess what might work. “We can steal one of the mountain horses while the guards are distracted inside. They all have the seal of the palace on their bridles. If we disguise ourselves, I bet we can pass through the gate undetected.”
The way Sylas looked at her was a cocktail of fear and admiration. “It’s possible.”
“All we need is possible,” Dianthe said softly. With any luck, it would be enough.
Sylas took his pack off his back and dug out the Everfield orb. He added it to Tobias’s pack for him, alongside the red orb from Nochtbend. “Will you be okay?” He tipped his head toward Sabrina, still sleeping in his arms.
“I’ll use my invisibility and fly her out of here, as far as I can go. We should be fine once I put a few miles between us and the Palace of Nightfall. We’ll travel all night. Should be back on the island by daybreak tomorrow.”
Sylas slapped Tobias’s shoulder. “Good luck, brother.”
The blond dragon shook his head. “You too. You’re going to need it. I don’t need to tell you what you are about to try is certifiable.”
Dianthe waited for Sylas to deny it or at least respond with a snappy retort, but he simply nodded in agreement. Tobias turned invisible, and a rush of air brushed over her as he took to the skies. Sylas took her hand.
“Are you sure about this? He could be right, you know,” Dianthe said.
He gazed down at her, his face unreadable. “He could be. But I trust my mate. She’s a powerful seer, and her instincts are rarely, if ever, wrong.”
Warmth bloomed behind her breastbone, and she threaded her fingers into his. “I can’t tell if you truly believe that or if you’re simply trying your best to, but either way, I love you for it.” She pressed her lips to his.
“I love you too. More than you could ever know.”
Getting into the palace proved easier than Sylas had expected. Eleanor had left her home poorly guarded. Sylas wasn’t sure what to think of that. Either she was so haughty as to believe no one in the five kingdoms would dare invade Paragon, or she’d used her magic to set a trap for anyone who dared. As he rode past the checkpoint at the gate, he couldn’t help but think they were mice heading for the cheese, unaware of where or when the deadly snap would come.
He waved to the boy in the guardhouse. Boy was the only word for the youngster who barely filled out his uniform. Disguised as a random guardsman he’d seen near the mountain horse they’d stole, Sylas was relieved when the youth didn’t stop him or ask any questions. With one hand on Dianthe’s waist, he kept her invisible, but it meant holding the reins at
an odd, uncomfortable angle.
An experienced guardsman might have noticed. Dragons lived in a world of magic and illusion, and Paragon’s soldiers had once been trained to question anything out of the ordinary. But that was when Scoria was doing the training. The now deceased captain of the Guard had been a force to be reckoned with. It appeared Ransom was far less regimented with his men. Perhaps he didn’t need to be, considering Eleanor’s significant gains in power.
“We need to go on foot, through the gardens,” Dianthe whispered. “I saw her imprisoned in the back tower.”
Sylas dismounted outside the stables and helped Dianthe to the shelter of a nearby hedge. “I can’t leave the horse. It would be a dead giveaway that something was amiss. Wait here. I’ll be right back.”
“Be careful, Sylas.”
He almost laughed at that. If anyone was in danger, it was her, who would be without invisibility until he returned to her. He kissed her lightly and then walked the horse into the stable and found an empty stall. With a bit of effort, he pried the seal of the palace off the horse’s bridle and tucked it into his pocket. He couldn’t pass up a chance to steal a free pass into the palace for the resistance.
He removed the bridle and saddle as a guardsman would, but just as he was leaving the stall, a young girl dressed in red and black appeared in front of him. Stable girl.
“You’re back early. Has Nochtbend fallen so quickly?” The girl stared at him with far more suspicion than the boy at the gate.
“No. I came back to perform a task for the captain.”
“What task is that?” she asked brazenly.
He narrowed his eyes. Clearly the girl was smart. What would a guardsman say to such an inquiry? “Mind your own business,” he said gruffly, “and do your job.” He thrust the saddle into her hands and tossed the bridle on top.
He heard her grumble as he exited the building, but she bothered him no more. He found Dianthe where he’d left her. Relief filled him as he took her hand in his and they both blinked out of sight.
Hidden Dragon (The Treasure of Paragon Book 7) Page 17