by Jarica James
“What if it actually is just leftover remnants of a spell?” Jacob’s voice rises a few octaves, the news sending him into near hysterics and from his shallow breathing, I can see he’s seconds away from a full-blown panic attack. For once I have no words of comfort, I’m freaking out beside him already. My hand squeezes his and he finally takes in a full breath, looking over at me. We don’t say anything, just offering silent support we both need to process this mindfuck.
“Will it hurt them? Will they freeze to death out here?” I ask as I shift my gaze back to Gerwyn. My white haired knight looks about as shaken as we are, but from the shadows in his eyes I can tell I won’t love his answer.
“Not if we manage to free them in time. I assume they’re essentially in a frozen sleep state, the cold won’t affect them. The magic is gone now, except what is holding them like that. It was a single use defense. Leave them here, just put a protective bubble over them, much like you did for Allwyn," he advises. “It’ll help our worry if nothing else.” I flinch at the mention of the traitorous bastard, but don’t hesitate to draw power into my fingertips.
When I raise my hands to start the process, I hesitate. What if they’re like coma victims and can hear and see, but are paralyzed by the magic? Swallowing hard, I search for comforting words to say.
“I love you and I will be back to free you, my sweet knights and friend," I say confidently, while I hold back the sobs that are threatening to break free.
“I love you, Andras," Jacob says as tears stream down his cheeks. I focus on making a quick, protective barrier around our friends, to keep the cold and any enemies away. The magic surrounds them, the snow deflecting on the small bubble like an inverted snow globe. Satisfied, I turn to Gerwyn for further directions. I’m thankful at least he was with us, since he knew the most about this land and magic.
“We have to get past them, whatever you do, keep as much distance as you can. The walls and ground are curse free now, I can’t feel the magic anymore,” he promises. Nodding, I follow his lead as he squeezes past them, barely breathing since it’s a tight fit.
When we’re all three on the other side, I give our men one last glance before turning to the town that stretches out in front of us. There’s a renewed determination in me now, one that promises retribution to the person who put our men in harm’s way.
Chapter 5
The town is in complete ruins. The courtyard that lies between the walls and the castle isn’t going to be easy to cross. What looks like it used to be a large merchant bazaar or open air market was now a pile of torn tents and splintered wood. The canopies discolored from time in the elements, the shreds flapping in the winter wind.
The walls themselves were crumbling in places, windows blown out, the large shards no longer visible in the dusting of snow. The war clearly came directly through the town. This wasn’t a testament of time, but of violence.
“Not the home I envisioned,” Gerwyn says with a defeated sigh. “I knew that there was a skirmish here, but this…”
“I don’t think this was the war,” Jacob notes. We both turn to see him standing directly in the middle of the courtyard, spinning slowly. “It’s almost like one concentrated blast that started here.”
“You’re right,” Gerwyn says in shock.
Everything is thrown away from Jacob’s spot, leaving a perfectly empty circle where he stands. It’s almost like a magical tantrum, if that’s even possible, since there aren’t any scorch marks for it to be a bomb of some kind.
“I’m going to try again,” I tell them. They both tense as I bend down, taking my glove off so I can connect with the land again.
Even though I’m braced for it this time, the assault on my psyche is enough to make a normal person crazy. The images are impossibly more jumbled and confusing, flashes and sounds that make no sense. The red and black swirl in slow motion, almost like a lava lamp. Screams and garbled yelling echo in my ears, so loud I have to yank my hands back before it causes physical harm.
“It’s so much worse here. I think what I’m getting is whoever cursed the gates,” I tell them. “That’s the only thing that makes sense. I can’t even sense Faerie at all.”
“That’s not comforting,” Gerwyn sighs. “Let’s hope it’s not as bad as we’re imagining.”
“Oh, it will be,” Jacob counters. This time I don’t bother to say anything optimistic, my mind just as dark as his at the moment.
“The greenhouses are broken. How would anyone have survived? There’s no way food grows easily in this cold,” I point out when I notice the broken remnants of greenhouses on the roof of the walls. We couldn't see them from the outside thanks to the slope and how far they’d crumbled.
“There’s another in one of the castle towers. You can’t see it from this angle,” Gerwyn says, staring up at the monstrous structure.
“The King clearly had a complex," Jacob says dryly as he stares up at it. “This castle screams small dick energy.”
The castle is extravagant, and not in a good way. Knowing that he lived in such luxury and his people lived smashed together within the walls that surrounded the city, was just sad. We may not have seen the inside, but from everything we’ve heard so far, I can only imagine what it’s like.
“He thought of himself as the most important fae in the realm. The setup here wasn’t just for our protection from the cold, he wanted to lord his power over the town, showing he was the one we should fear and bow down to. He ordered the death of anyone who didn’t show him the respect he thought he deserved," Wyn grinds out through a clenched jaw.
“Man, your grandfather was an awful man,” Jacob notes. I wince, not having really put the connection together before. I knew I was born from the Sprint Court Princess and Winter Court Prince, but all I heard about the King was awful. I don’t want any association with him.
“No wonder they ran,” I say as I glance up at the castle. For a moment it looks like a white figure stands in the window, my mind and the cold playing tricks on me. Or perhaps it’s my Winter powers coming through. “He’s gone now anyway.”
“That he is, and the realm is better for it,” Gerwyn says. His voice is tired and I hate that his home harbors so many awful memories. Then again, it would be impossible to forget the atrocities of a magical war.
“Should we go to the castle now?” I ask gently, laying a comforting hand on his arm. His gloved hand rests on top of mine as he takes a deep breath, letting me give him strength for a change.
“Yes. But we’ll have to go through one of the wall passages. The front gate is blocked," Jacob points out. Glancing over I see what he’s referring to, there’s a huge pile of rubble and stones blocking the front doors. They look way too precise to be anything but purposeful.
“That looks like the work of someone hiding away,” I add, glancing warily up to the castle again. It’s impossible to know who or what awaits us, but I do not have a good feeling about this journey. But with the others frozen, I have little choice but to find them and end this curse.
We all wordlessly turn to the walls and search past the rubble for an opening that works. Half of the doors have shattered, meaning it would take brute force to enter and we currently lacked that. Eventually I find one not far from the outer gates, the door slightly ajar, but the dark room beyond it gave little away.
“Found one,” I call without looking away. I’m almost afraid if I do that something will jump out of me, boogeyman style.
“Where’s a flashlight when you need one?” Jacob mutters as he walks up next to me.
“I am a flashlight,” I joke, producing a small ball of light. It’s a condensed version of the one I conjured for us in the well in Spring.
“Let me go first,” Gerwyn offers, pulling his sword from his sheath. I have a feeling our magic would do more, but it seems Emrick’s relentless battle teachings have gotten to him.
My heart stops as he walks inside, the door pushing open without a protest. When nothing happens, he beacon
s us forward. I let out a long breath and follow him in. The warmth of being out of the Winter wind is enough to make me want to cry.
I’m surprised to find a long stone hallway on the other side, illuminated by torches. The fire is slightly brighter than normal fire. When I raise my hands to warm them, I realize it gives off little to no heat.
Doors branch off of the hall much like a dorm, but much further apart, likely meaning more space for the families of Winter. The hallway isn’t as tall as the building looked from the outside, so there must be an upper floor to the homes.
“I have to see inside,” I say, the cold forgotten as my curiosity takes me over. Jacob is just as nosy so he’s right behind me as I go into the closest one.
The inside of the home is eerie. It’s like a time capsule of a Winter family and I feel like I’m stepping on someone’s grave. Cobwebs and dust form a layer on nearly everything. Food, clothing, books, tools, pretty much anything they used in everyday life is left out like they would be coming right back to it at any moment. I expected to see more devastation in here from the war, but I guess if the king was the catalyst for the war like I suspect, then it makes sense that it wasn’t fought here.
“I feel so weird looking into these homes. I’m not a creeper," Jacob whines and turns around. I can’t disagree, I’d wanted a glimpse inside but this just feels wrong.
We don’t detour again as we head further into the walls, our footsteps echoing ominously in the silence. This feels more like a ghost hunt than anything.
Finally, we reach a door on the back wall with writing above it that I don’t recognize.
“Barracks," Jacob reads easily. I guess the fae language lessons Andras has been pushing him to take have paid off. Andras wanted to teach the kids and humans to understand the fae written language and pronunciations, I just wish I’d had the chance to attend more than a few classes. But once the realm is safe, I’ll have more time for things like that.
“This should lead to the castle. I’m not familiar with the layout, so it may be a bit tricky," Gerwyn explains as he delicately eases open the heavy wooden door. He’s cautious after watching his brothers turn into ice. When nothing happens as he steps through, we all let out a collective sigh of relief.
The barracks are a confusing maze of corridors, connected rooms, and doors. The first door we try is a standard office, with a plain wooden desk and a conference table. The next few rooms are clearly soldier’s quarters, with thin beds and small chests at the end for belongings. It’s odd that unlike the homes, nothing here looks lost to time. The beds are meticulously made, but half the chests are open and empty. Not a single thing is out of place in the offices, in fact they’re just as barren as the barracks themselves.
“I’m so ready to be out of these creepy walls. No one warned me Winter would be this creepy,” Jacob mutters.
“Hopefully not much further.” Gerwyn sounds as tired as I feel. But I know we can’t just give up or turn in for the night. Not when they’re out in the cold.
We finally find what appears to be the Guard Captain’s office. It’s bigger and fancier than the rest. Large war maps line a tall table in the back. Small figurines are placed on the top map as if they were working on their strategies. Little good it did them since they ruined the entire realm in the process.
There are several bookshelves lined with fae tomes and bronze knick-knacks. Even the desk is ornate and over the top, with stacks of parchment and documents lining the surface. The desk chair is a plush, blue velvet. Apparently he treated his officers well, which is kind of a surprise for me, I’d pegged him as a narcissist.
A large metal door takes up a chunk of the far wall and I make a beeline right for it. The entry to the castle being protected by the highest ranking soldier makes sense.
“Do we think this is warded as well?” I ask the others with a sigh. I’ll never be able to walk through a gate or door again without panicking. At least not in Winter.
“I’ll try it. If I’m frozen as well, you still have a chance. You need Bella’s magic and Gerwyn knows this place better than we do," Jacob says in a determined, don’t argue with me, tone. I can see a bit of unease in his gaze, but it’s also full of the fiery stubbornness that I love.
“Jacob.” Failing to find the right words, his name is all I can mutter as a tear leaks down my cheek. I can’t watch someone else fail, but he’s right. I’m not sure what caused his moment of courage, we’d let Gerwyn lead us this far, but this door just seems different.
When I fail to find better words, he simply crushes me in the perfect, best friend hug.
“Don’t fight me, it has to be this way. I’m sure it’s fine," he whispers reassuringly. I nod, even though I know it’s probably a lie. When he pulls away I feel the loss, an ache forming in my chest.
“I love you, bestie. If you end up frozen, I’ll find a way to fix it," I give him a look of equal determination. I won’t let my best friend and only family become a frozen statue forever.
He walks hesitantly toward the door and I watch in horror as his hands tremble. He reaches for the handle, both Gerwyn and I holding our breath as he turns the knob. An audible click thunders through the silence as he disengages the lock, causing us all to jump. Pushing slowly, the door creaks open. Just as he takes a hesitant step forward, I notice an odd noise and look up to see a glint of metal sailing toward Jacob. Without thought or reaction I lash out with my magic, shoving Jacob through the door with the force of the blast. Missing him by a fraction of an inch, a set of metal spikes unsheathe themselves from the door frame with a metallic thud.
“Jacob?” I call through the gaps in the spikes. I try to peek through but I can’t make out anything beyond the grid of metal teeth.
“I’m okay. That was one hell of a save, Queenie," his voice is strained and wheezy, like my magic winded him. I’ll take winded over dead any day.
“How do we get through?” Gerwyn is already studying the spike trap and doesn’t hear my words. I don’t push further, letting him try to find a way around this. Patience isn’t my strong suit, not with Jacob vulnerable on the other side and after a good ten minutes I can’t take just standing around. Instead I go to the desk and pull out the chair. Even the scrape against the stone floor doesn’t disturb Wyn. There has to be some sort of trigger somewhere, and the desk seems the obvious place. I run my hands along the bottom and down the sides, even in the top of the drawers. They’re filled with documents and a few office supplies, but nothing that will help me free Jacob.
The main bookshelves are taller than I am, so I go to the low hanging shelves and pick through them. More of the same random junk, dusty books, ceramic vases, and a small box with military pendants inside.
“I don’t see any sort of mechanism here to get through," Gerwyn finally says, sounding defeated.
“If it was a fail-safe for breaking into the castle, it wouldn’t be right next to it, or too obvious. It seems more mechanical than magical, so I’m looking for some sort of switch. They wouldn’t want it easily accessible in case of an attack," I point out without glancing up, too busy with my search. Desperation has me checking every book, knick-knack, and crevice, but keep coming up empty handed.
Gerwyn follows my lead and starts checking behind the canvases on the walls. I move on to the last piece of furniture, which is an ornate cabinet that matches the desk. Nothing can ever be easy, I internally rage when I realize it’s locked. I’m too far past subtlety, so I use my magic and send a jolt of ice through the lock. When that fails, I use the jewelry box I found earlier to smash into the lock mechanism, finally crushing it in enough to let me open the door. The inside is lined with intricate silver swords and daggers. A few bows and quivers of plumed arrows are tucked into an indention in the doors. Clearly these are not weapons of war.
Ripping them out one by one, I throw them unceremoniously on the floor. When nothing pops out at me, I run my hands slowly over the black lined interior. I’m not usually willing to stick my han
ds in dark corners of abandoned furniture, but desperate times and all that.
Elation and relief flood me when I feel a tiny notch hidden behind the lining just under the top shelf. As my fingers brush it, it seems to move slightly, so I give it a push until it lets out a click. The clink of metal tells me I’ve found our mark. I look over to the door in time to see the spikes receding back into their hiding spots and my Jacob grinning on the other side.
Gerwyn grabs my hand and rushes me through the doorway. “Just in case it doesn’t last,” he points out. As soon as we step through, Jacob pulls me into a hug, and I squeeze back harder when I realize he’s shaking.
“Bella," his voice sounds hushed and fearful, and I immediately know somethings wrong. My heart pounds as I glance around, expecting to find the fae who cursed our men. Instead, I spot a glowing, shadowy fae walking towards us. The specter would be so much less terrifying if it weren’t for the lack of facial features, just a void in its place.
“Fear not, that is not an angry spirit. It won’t be able to communicate with you, just let him pass," Gerwyn’s soothing voice eases some of my worry, but I can’t stop my heart from practically beating out of my chest as the spirit comes closer. It glides by and I hold my breath as it passes, half expecting it to turn toward us and attack. Can spirits even attack? I shudder at the thought and push it away, not wanting to think about it any longer.
“That was the scariest freaking thing I have ever seen. I think I just peed my pants," Jacob whispers, unable to be serious even after seeing a ghost face to face. I give a weak chuckle, but that’s all I can muster, my heart is still working overtime. That spirit was terrifying and I pray to the Gods that we don’t meet an angry one.
“Well, we survived, didn’t we? Let’s move on to finding a way to unfreeze our guys," I say in a shaky, false confident voice. “Wait, how did Jacob see it?”
“Jacob’s fae side is a product of your magic and determination. I’m assuming he’ll have a slight affinity to all of your abilities, though much weaker. Only time will tell the extent of his abilities, though. Faerie works in mysterious ways.”