by E. A. Copen
Hours passed. It felt like days. Foxglove occasionally tried to talk to me, but my head hurt too bad to answer, so he gave up. Eventually, I slipped into a twilight sleep where I was able to close my eyes, but stay aware of my surroundings. It wasn’t a restful sleep, but it was better than nothing.
Footsteps awakened me. They echoed into our prison cell from somewhere beyond, getting louder.
“It’s the jailor,” Foxglove whispered and rushed to the end of his chains.
I pushed myself up to stand.
Keys jingled. Door hinges groaned loudly and dim light flooded the room, forcing me to put my hands over my eyes.
“Oh, awake, are you?” The jailor’s voice made my skin crawl. It was familiar. Too familiar. “I’ll let Her Majesty know you didn’t die. She’ll be eager to fix that.” My fetch chuckled and moved into the light.
I lowered my hand and squinted into the light. “Why don’t you come over here and say that to my face?”
He stepped forward, holding two steaming bowls. His nostrils flared as he inhaled the steam. “Leftover stew today. I had some yesterday. Not bad at all.” he said and lifted a wooden bowl, holding it out toward me.
The scent of food, however awful, woke me. My mouth watered. I shifted forward, hands out.
He waited until I had come to the end of my chains before turning the bowl over and dumping its contents on the floor. “Oops. Butterfingers.”
“You son of a bitch,” I growled.
He smirked. “If you get down on your knees now, you might be able to lick some of it up. I promise you, it’s to die for. How about you, Foxglove? Want some stew?”
Foxglove flexed his fingers into fists. “I demand to speak to the queen.”
“Too bad. You only get to speak to me from now on. Queen doesn’t want me upstairs. Says it’ll upset Princess Remy.”
“Then I demand a trial by combat,” shouted Foxglove. “It is my right!”
Bizarro Laz sat down on the floor just out of reach and tipped some of the stew into his mouth. “Oh, this really is good stew. And you must be so hungry after being down here so long. And thirsty.” He put the bowl down out of reach and pulled a flask from his pocket, chugging its contents loudly.
I licked my lips. “What is it you want from us? You’ve won. You get everything. Remy, Emma, my whole life is there if you want it. Why the hell are you down here torturing us?”
He screwed the lid back onto the flask. “Torturing you? I’ve barely had to lift a finger. You do enough torturing to yourself. All that guilt you drag around. Woe is you, the poor little necromancer who ruins everybody’s lives.” He launched to his feet and grabbed my chin, squeezing hard. “If you’d pull your head out of your own ass long enough to see things for how they really are, you’d have killed Loki a long time ago. How many times has he been within your grasp? All the opportunities to kill him and you didn’t. You know what your problem is? You care too much.” He let me go and paced away.
I opened and closed my jaw a few times, trying to work out the pain. “If you’re such a badass then why haven’t you killed him yet? In fact, what have you done other than send a few minions after me? You don’t even have the balls to take me on yourself, do you? Coward.”
He stopped with his back to me and rolled his shoulders, bristling.
“You want my life?” I continued. “Fine. Have it. My life sucks and you’re not making it any better. You think it’s easy being the Pale Horseman? Think again, asshole. In fact, I’ll be grateful to be rid of all that stress. So come on. Kill me. Walk away from Faerie and just take over being me. No one is going to know the difference.”
He scowled at me. The silence hung between us, palpable.
“You can’t, can you?”
“I can kill you just fine.” He gritted his teeth. “It’s taking over your life on Earth that gets complicated. You did something, something that changed things on Earth. Whatever you did, I can’t step foot in New Orleans without it feeling like my skin is disintegrating. Don’t you worry though. Once Titania invades your precious city and claims it for Summer, none of that will matter.” He gripped the door and yanked it open. “Enjoy your stay.”
The door slammed closed behind him, sealing us in darkness.
At least his visit hadn’t been in vain. I’d learned something valuable. Something I had done in New Orleans made it painful for him to be there, preventing him from completing his goal to take over my life. I’d accidentally saved the city and ended his reign of terror. No more kidnappings and zombies. Too bad I’d doomed myself in the process.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Bizarro Laz came and went several more times. There didn’t seem to be any pattern to how often he came to taunt us. I guess he just came when he got bored. Usually, he’d bring food down and eat it in front of us, or a bottle of some fae wine. He’d always offer us that. I was thirsty enough I had to bite my tongue near in two to keep from accepting it. Once I drank the fae wine, I’d be trapped in Faerie forever according to legend.
Without anything to eat or drink, and no reliable rest, both Foxglove and I were exhausted and weak. We stopped talking to each other even when my fetch was gone. I shivered so much that my teeth hurt from all the chattering. The headache got so bad I wished they’d just come in and kill me.
Then he didn’t come for a long time. Oddly enough, I found myself missing the bastard. At least when he was there, it gave me something to do. Dying was slow, boring work. Coming up with creative insults for my fetch was pretty much all that kept me going.
After an absence that seemed to stretch for days, the door opened. I expected my fetch to come in holding leftovers from the night before as usual, but instead a young man with curly dark hair stepped in. His once handsome face bore three scars across the bridge of his nose from when Kellas had clawed him. He’d tried to hide them by growing his bangs out over one side of his face, but it just made him look even more like a broody romance hero.
“Declan?” I rasped, my voice raw. I hadn’t seen him since I was the Summer Knight. I’d made him my squire and he’d helped me prove Kellas was the assassin. When Titania threw me out of Summer, he was the one who wrote a letter and had the dryad staff delivered. He was a good kid, if a little naïve.
“Yes, sir,” he said and produced a canteen from under his cloak. “It’s water.”
I seized the canteen and chugged from it, pausing only once I heard Foxglove’s chains rustle off to the side. “Here,” I said and held it out to Declan. “Give some to him.”
Declan nodded and passed the canteen to Foxglove who drank it dry. “We have to be quick. The queen doesn’t know I’ve come. It took me days to slip away.” He pulled a loaf of bread from his pocket, broke it in half and passed one half to me.
I grabbed it with shaky hands and tore into it like an animal.
“She means to pass judgment on you tomorrow before the wedding,” Declan said.
I licked crumbs from my fingers. “What wedding?”
“Titania is forcing Princess Remy to marry someone from the Court of Light. Prince Roshan’s younger brother, I believe. She wants to make sure the monarchs from the Court of Light are here to witness your beheading. You’re supposed to be the princess’ wedding present.”
Foxglove swallowed his last mouthful of bread. “And what of the trial by combat I requested?”
Declan shook his head. “I’ve heard nothing of that, sir, but I don’t imagine she’ll be inclined to give it to you unless one of the other courts recognizes your Court of Miracles. Summer is refusing to.”
“Declan, is Roshan coming?” I asked
He shrugged. “I suppose so.”
“I need you to get a message to him, and to Athdar. Make sure both are present when we’re brought into the throne room for sentencing. Can you do that?”
“I can, sir. What’s the message?”
I told him.
Declan’s eyes got as large as William’s shield. “Are you sure abou
t this, sir? They might not go for it.”
“Roshan’s been the laughingstock of his court for years, especially now that his younger brother was found a more suitable groom for Summer than him,” I said. “And he was invited here so that Summer could rub it in. He was angry enough to attack Summer when he got rejected last time. And Athdar sort of owes me. Trust me. They’ll go for it.”
“I’ll try, sir,” he said nodding.
“You’re not going to ask me to join my court?” I meant it in fun, but Declan’s expression remained grave.
“No offense, sir, but why would I join a court where the king and his knight are both in prison awaiting execution? You’ve been good to me, and I do hope you manage what you say you’re going to, but Summer is my home. I can’t just leave. Besides,” he said, fidgeting, “I’ve met someone.”
I grinned and patted his arm. “Declan, you dog. Who is she?”
He flushed red. “She’s handmaiden to Princess Remy.”
“Do you think she’d help us?” Foxglove asked.
Declan’s answer was a shrug. “I’ve told her about you, about the fetch and all of that. She’s a good woman, but I don’t know she might help. She used to work with the blacksmith. Maybe he’ll forge a sword for you? Is that what you want?”
“No, but I have something on Earth I need you to get for me.”
“I do,” Foxglove piped up. “What’s a knight without a sword?”
I nodded. “Can you do all this, Declan? I know it’s a lot to ask.”
He nodded. “You were good to me. Gave me a chance when no one else would. Both of you. And I’ve seen how Titania’s been these last few years. Once the princess sees what’s really happening, things will change. She won’t let Titania harm you.”
“I hope you’re right,” I said and patted Declan’s shoulder.
“I’d better get on those errands.” He stepped back. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to come back. Just in case...” He sighed, shook his head and rushed forward to squeeze the life out of me in a hug. “That’s as close as I can get to thanking you.”
“All right.” I patted his back and pushed him away. “You’d better hurry. Don’t let my fetch see you.”
Declan nodded to me, then to Foxglove, and hurried out the door.
“Do you think he can do it?” Foxglove asked once Declan was gone.
“If anyone can, he can.” I sank back into my corner to wait.
MY FETCH DID NOT COME to collect us the next day. It was William and a troll jailor with big tusks and fingers the size of sausages. Rather than undo the chains around our wrists and ankles, the troll simply ripped the chains out of the wall and walked us like dogs on a leash.
I fought against his grip to look William in the eye. “You know this is wrong.”
William avoided my gaze. “The prisoners will remain silent or they’ll be gagged.” He pushed me out the door. “Titania and her audience is waiting.”
The Summer Knight and the jailor led us through opulently decorated halls with lavish tapestries, huge stone arches, and climbing ivy. I stole a glance over at Foxglove who’d sprouted some shaggy facial hair that made him look like a madman. The pronounced limp, baggy eyes, and unkempt hair didn’t help the look. He caught me eying him and gave me a nod.
This is it, I thought, directing my attention forward. By the end of the day we’d either be dead or free. There could be no other outcome. I supposed I’d be free either way. At least I wouldn’t have to wear those chains anymore.
Declan waited next to the throne room doors in a red tunic, a gold belt, and brown cloak. He gave me a subtle nod and reached to open the door. I hoped that meant he’d succeeded in his missions. If he had, I needed to remember to do something amazing for him provided we survived.
The throne room was full of people, all crammed to either side of a red carpet. Titania and Remy stood at the front of the room on a dais. Titania wore a huge fluffy dress of emerald green with a high collar and a sparkling golden crown. I’d always thought she was pretty, but standing next to Remy in her dazzling white dress, she looked like a pig. She was beautiful, my daughter. Stunningly so. I almost missed a step when I saw her. It still hadn’t hit me that this was really her, the baby I’d held in my arms just a week ago.
Another teenaged girl with freckles and fiery red hair stood beside Remy in a dress of deep emerald green. That had to be Jessica. Wow, Nate’s little girl had grown up too. He was going to freak when he saw her.
Off to the right stood an aged king and queen with glowing crowns. A teenage boy, probably sixteen or seventeen, stood in front of them in a white feathered cape. The royalty of the Court of Light.
Wood creaked in the back row as we passed. I turned my head and stared into the eyes of an eight-foot-tall sentient tree. Athdar. He drew his bushy eyebrows together and nodded solemnly.
Roshan stood at the end of the row in the front, his intense glare fixed on me. I tried to get a reaction out of him by meeting my eyes, but he just kept staring. Guess I wouldn’t know if he was with me or not until the last second. Not that it changed the plan anyway. I wasn’t going to just stand there and let Titania shout “off with his head.”
The troll jailor kicked the back of my knee, forcing me to kneel just before we got to the dais.
Someone handed William a scroll. He unrolled it and read, “For crimes against the Summer Court, I present the Pale Horseman and former Summer Knight, Lazarus Kerrigan.”
“You’re missing a few titles there, buddy,” I spat. “I’m king of the Court of Miracles, father to the Summer Princess, and—”
William backhanded me so hard he knocked me to the floor. I lay there, blinking away dancing stars.
Titania folded her hands. “Neither the Summer Court nor the Court of Light recognizes your Court of Miracles, Horseman, and the princess is insulted enough to share your blood, don’t you think?”
I sat up and spat blood onto the floor. “Yeah, let’s talk about that.”
Her smile was venomous. “Let’s not. The punishment for your crimes is death.”
“What crimes?” spat Foxglove.
Remy lifted her chin. “Treason.”
I pushed myself up on shaky legs. “I’m not beholden to your court. I’ve made no oaths and owe you no loyalty, so tell me how I could’ve committed treason?”
“You struck me.” My daughter’s brown eyes glowed with hatred. “Then attempted to kidnap me using Sir Foxglove as bait. Not to mention you brought the Winter Knight into Summer and then attacked the Summer Knight before somehow seducing Foxglove to work for you.”
I shook my head. “I never struck you,” I said gently. “That was my fetch, a creature Titania constructed to—”
“Enough!” Titania’s voice boomed through the throne room. “Your sentence has been passed. The punishment for treason is death!” She gestured to William who put his hand on his sword and stepped forward.
Remy stepped down off the dais and turned to face Titania. “Do you deny his accusation, grandmother?”
All eyes went to Titania. Her jaw shook with the effort of trying to speak a lie. She couldn’t, no matter how badly she wanted to. “We can talk about this after.”
“We’ll talk about it now,” Remy said. “You’re about to behead my father and the man I...” She stopped and looked over her shoulder at Foxglove. “The man who protected me for years. My closest confidante and the man who gave me life. Is life not something this court holds sacred?”
A murmur of agreement went up from the crowd at my back. I had to hand it to Remy. She knew how to give a speech. Go, kid.
Her heels clicked as she stepped up to the bottom stair, looking up at her grandmother. “If life is sacred, then we must not throw it away until all other avenues have been explored. Don’t you agree?”
Titania gritted her teeth. “There were extenuating circumstances, Remy. This is not the time and place for—”
“Do I mean so little to you, grandmother, that y
ou would deny me the truth on my wedding day?”
Titania shifted her weight. “There is a fetch, but it changes nothing. He still attempted to kidnap you. This man is a murderer!”
“It’s true,” a man I’d never seen before shouted from the crowd.
“He conspired with the Winter Knight!” shouted someone else.
“He murdered Princess Odette!”
The chains around my wrists clinked as I turned to address the crowd.
“Lazarus, don’t,” Foxglove growled under his breath. “Stick to the plan.”
I ignored him. It was one thing to call me a killer. At least that was true, even if not in the sense that she meant it. It was an entirely different thing to insinuate that I had murdered the woman I once loved the same day I was defending their ungrateful asses from Shadow.
“I saved you. All of you,” I shouted. “When the armies of Shadow were on your doorstep, ready to rape, murder, and maim all of you, I charged out to meet them! Not her, me! I should have let you all die. I should have let Kellas and the Shadow army murder every one of you!”
The crowd rumbled on the edge of transforming into an angry mob. Shouts rose above the grumbling, calling for my execution while the ladies of the court gasped and feigned surprise.
“Order!” Titania demanded, stomping her foot. “I command this court to come to order! Watch your tongue, Horseman, or I’ll have it pulled out of your head!”
I turned back to her, sneering. “Go ahead. That way, no one can hear me remind them of how you cowered in your tower in Summer’s hour of need. It was your betrothed who nearly brought this kingdom to its knees, your consort who murdered Odette, not me.” I stepped forward, expecting William to block me, but he remained where he was. “And when I took my daughter back to Earth with me, you made no move to stop me. You sent no support, no protection, no help. I cared for her alone, Titania. I dressed her, woke with her at three in the morning, changed her diapers, sang her to sleep, and fought to keep her safe. And while I was fighting for my life, trying to get back to her, you took her away from me. Do you deny it?”