by Jarica James
“Let’s go," Emrick says, giving us an exasperated look. “I will never understand you two.”
“That’s so sad for you, we are fabulous together.” Jacob gives him a look of pure pity before he starts belting out the words to Tainted Love. I join in as we all march up the nearest staircase.
The halls may be empty of spirits since the king died, but that creepy feeling remains. Jacob’s antics keep it from being overwhelming. I’ll need a bit of his sunshine if I’m going to be near the king’s private quarters. Any time I have to hear or see something that reminds me of him, my mind wants to start pulling me back to those awful memories.
When we finally reach one of the upper levels, I stop the group. “I’m going to see if I can detect anything so we don’t exhaust ourselves.” My words are enough to stop them, though they all stay in their protective stances. Standing too close to them will cause my magic to get lost in theirs, so I step a few feet away before sending out my radar again. This time I feel a faint pulse coming from above me and further down the hall. The fact it’s a bit hard to detect, tells me we need to go at least two more floors up. This feels like the magical version of the hot and cold game.
“I think we have a bit further to go, but we are closer. It’s definitely in the castle.” My voice is much brighter now. It’s easier to feel optimistic with a trail to follow.
We reach the end of the hallway and the only way to go higher is through a tower door. It’s a large metal door, the wall curving around it like someone cut off the hall and stuck the tower right up to it.
Walking up to the door, I try to pull it open, but it doesn’t budge. So far nothing in the castle has been locked, so I wasn’t expecting such a mundane obstacle.
“I think it’s locked," I grunt in a ridiculously undignified way as I try to open it with every ounce of strength I have, which is silly when I’m surrounded by a bunch of muscle clad men.
“Calm down, killer. You have four strong men. Just stop before you hurt yourself," Jacob says, pulling me away from the door.
Gerwyn steps forward and inspects the door for several minutes. As he straightens back up to face us, I notice he looks confused, which isn’t a look I see on him often.
“There isn’t even a visible lock," he says as he gestures to the door in question, like it offended him.
Magical locks are the only other kind I’ve seen, so I used my magic on the door, trying to locate the source of the lock. The magic emanating from the door is faint, as if the spell is old. But I have no clue how to diffuse a curse, and the last time we found one, my men ended up frozen for months.
“Wait, what’s this," Maddox states, pointing to an indention next to the door. If he wasn’t actively searching for the lock, it would have been impossible to see. It’s a circle, big enough to fit a hand comfortably. It’s only about a quarter of an inch deep and appears unassuming... which means it could probably kill us.
“It’s definitely spelled," Gerwyn mutters, reaching for the circle like a moth to a flame. Panicking, I snatch his hand away, which gets me several looks of shock. It was a total Emrick move, but who cares?
“Sorry, Wyn. Despite your knowledge, this one’s mine. If it’s meant to detect the royal family, I should do it. I don’t want to set off a trap or something," I reason, reaching out with my hand before anyone can stop me.
As soon as my hand makes contact with the stone, the bitter sting of cold hits me… then it changes. My hand sinks into the wall like quicksand, the wet feeling of clay is so cold my skin tingles. I try to pull my hand away again, but the wall hardens immediately trapping me there.
“Stupid fucking castle! I can’t keep anyone safe when every single thing is a fuckin’ trap!” Emrick starts muttering behind me, punching the wall to emphasize his anger. When he’s done freaking out, I can hear his heavy footsteps stomp up and down the hallway to try and calm himself, knowing the others will come to my aid.
Gerwyn rushes forward first, pulling on my arm until I cry out in pain. It feels like he’s trying to rip it off. He quits, realizing he’s hurting me and his actions aren’t going to fix anything.
“Damn it, Bella. What were you thinking?” Maddox scolds me. He opens up his mouth to protest further, but Jacob cuts him off, karate chopping his hand through the air to emphasize his point.
“How is that going to help? You forget that she is the queen, you don’t get to lecture the girl with her hand stuck in a stone wall. She wasn’t reckless, her point was valid," Jacob scolds, and Maddox immediately looks shocked and apologetic.
Meeting his gaze, I give him a reassuring smile. “It’s okay, we all act out when we’re frustrated.”
“Some more dramatically than others,” Jacob supplies unhelpfully, Dormy squeaking his opinion along with him.
“I can fix this,” I reassure them. They start to argue, but I close my eyes and focus on the lock.
The spell is so faded that it’s hard to locate the exact location, but it’s there, embedded in the stone directly behind my hand. Clearly someone with strong magic formulated this spell, and it will require a decent amount of magic to make a difference. Something I have plenty of.
Of course, every time I try to push my magic into it, I’m met with a barrier. My magic slams into an invisible shield, but I can’t push through it. Each tactic I try is another failure, from trying to freeze the spell to slowly overloading it.
Then it hits me. His magic was always so volatile and corrosive, so much so I’ve had to heal plenty in Winter already. Maybe I can do the same here.
Instead of fighting against it, I weave my magic around it. My magic settles over the old spell like a cloud, twisting the old magic until it melds with mine.
Ha, I’ve done it. Once again, my magic outsmarts the king.
Thinking I solved my problem, I try to move my hand out of the stone and it still won’t budge. Apparently, making my magic equal isn’t enough. Damn! Maybe I can try to push my magic into it until it overtakes the old spell now that they’re merged.
This time as my magic pushes into it, there’s no barrier. The spell recognizes my magic as its own, but instead of fueling the curse, it breaks it. As the magic disappears completely, the door swings open.
The ominous creaking of the door echoes in the hallway, silencing their arguing. Their heads all swivel my way, relief and shock on their faces. If I wasn’t so relieved, I’d be annoyed that they were always so shocked when I did something badass.
“You’re one impressive little Queen," Bowen remarks.
“Little?” I snort, “Is that a short joke?”
“Absolutely it is,” he laughs, pulling me into a hug.
Gerwyn studies me with an intense fascination, finally speaking his mind when Bo releases me. “What does it feel like when you use your magic? Most fae have basic skills with their court elements, and some have an affinity. You seem to be able to bend magic to your will, it's unlike anything I’ve seen before. Even Maddox said you were able to repair Lilly with your magic instead of the healers having to stitch her. That shouldn’t be possible."
“My magic is stored somewhere in me, like a well. When I need to use it, I bring my magic to the surface then I direct it. I focus on the task then my magic just sort of does it. It requires a lot of concentration and I have a fairly good imagination so maybe that helps. But the cleaner the picture in my mind is, the better it performs," I try to explain. “It sounds crazy I know, but that’s how it works for me.”
“You’re a mind bender," Bowen says in awe. I raise my eyebrow at him. That’s a new term for me.
Gerwyn answers my internal question before I can voice it. “It’s an incredibly rare affinity. Mind benders are exactly as they sound, they use their mind to bend their magic to do what they choose. There is very little they cannot do with magic, and no elemental barriers stand in their way. If you have it and are bolstered by each of our magical essence as well, you’ll be the most powerful fae that has ever existed," Gerwyn sound
s positively giddy at the thought. He’s even looking at me like I’m an intriguing research study, and I don’t like it.
“Rein in that nerdiness Wyn, you’re freaking me out," Jacob jokes, though I could tell from his tone it isn’t really a joke.
“I’m sorry, it’s just unheard of. Not only do you get all of that, but you may get some of our magic as well. For example, you communicate with your mouse already, that’s a Spring specific skill," he gushes in excitement.
“I can’t believe we didn’t realize this earlier. How many small tasks has she done right in front of us," Maddox says, clearly bothered he hadn’t realized. I just thought I was doing what they instructed, not anything special.
“We just accept her and aren’t surprised when she does new and impressive things anymore. She’s full of surprises and has been doing magical feats since we met," Emrick says it so matter-of-fact, clearly not seeing it as a big deal like the others because he already thought I was so special. I don’t think he even realizes how damn sweet that is.
“Emrick is a closet romantic and doesn’t even realize it," Bowen rolls his eyes at his friend.
“It was super romantic. Bella, I’m impressed. You get a little bit of everything in this little harem of yours. Tell me, which one is the dominant?” Jacob teases.
“I guess we do have a bit of a harem," I crack up at his comment, loving how it sounds. He looks at me expectantly and the others all look away in embarrassment. Leave it to Jacob to be forward. I discreetly nod at Gerwyn and Jacob loses it, which makes me laugh even harder.
“Can we move on, now?” Maddox grumbles.
“Don’t be embarrassed Maddox, you probably have the biggest d…” I cut Jacob off with a jab to the ribs. He wheezes at me and glares.
“Stop it or I’m going to tell them about that time at the bar, with the...” He clamps a hand over my mouth before I can spill his embarrassing story.
“You promised," he says in horror. The pointed look I give him has him holding up his hands in defense. “Fine, fine. I’ll behave," his voice is pained at the thought of behaving himself, which has Bowen snickering at his expense. Jacob better watch it, I’m pretty sure Bowen can give him a run for his money.
“I’ll need to know that story," Bowen says, looking between the two of us. “You two are already out of control, I’d hate to see what embarrassing looks like.”
“I think we have a stone to find, don’t be childish," Jacob chides, giving me a wink that Bo can’t see as he walks past. It takes everything I have to not laugh and give him away.
“Is he fuckin’ serious?” Bowen whispers, a look of pure indignation on his face. I keep my face blank as I enter behind Jacob.
“Yes, let’s go. We have a realm to save, Bo!” I say with impatience. A chorus of confused grumbling comes from behind us. Jacob and I look at each other and barely hold back laughter as we walk up the winding staircase to the room above.
They seriously need to figure out sarcasm.
The room we enter is a trophy room. The rounded walls are decorated with mounted heads, war maps, and an oversized portrait of the king himself. As we step further into the room, a fire roars to life in the fireplace, casting a warming glow across the room.
We thought we’d found his room before, but this is obviously where the king escaped to. The entire space is a creepy den of inequities and I hate everything about it.
A huge red carpet lines the floor, somehow clean after all this time. Yet another high-backed armchair sits in front of the fireplace, apparently he had a collection of them, one for each space he occupied.
It would be cozy if not for the pompous chair and creepy decor. Hundreds of mounted creatures line the walls, mouths contorted in various degrees of pain and outrage. There’s dried blood on the fur of some, like he left it there as a reminder to his alleged prowess.
“Well, that was a cool trick," Jacob gestures to the self-lighting fireplace. “Magic is so badass." I nod in agreement.
“It’s a bit gruesome in here." Bowen sounds equally as disgusted as he steps into the room.
“Whoa," Emrick says in awe. Bowen, Jacob and I all turn to him and he shrugs, unapologetic. “What? The number of beasts up there would take a whole lot of work and skill to kill.” I wrinkle my nose at him but don’t say anything more...out loud. Did he just compliment the fucking King of Winter?!
“Knowing the asshole king, he probably froze them first. Hardly impressive," Jacob frowns at the thought.
The only other thing in the room are more stairs winding up the circular walls. From the looks down here, there’s no hiding place for the stone of power, so that means we keep going upward.
Maddox leads the way to the top of the tower, rushing forward before I can. I don’t bother to fight him, I’ve walked into enough danger lately.
The lower level might have been a lounge and trophy room, but this was his war room. A giant wooden table sits in the middle of the room, with a large map of Faerie spread out in the middle. There’s a carved wooden desk sitting in a corner, similar to the one in the king’s office. Four large windows that seem to be carved out of the stone with no glass to protect from the elements, are the room’s only light. There isn’t a fireplace to keep it warm in here, so he must have liked to make his top guards suffer as well.
“It’s a bit frigid in here. Why was this king so sadistic?” Maddox asks, each word punctuated with little puffs of steam.
“Let me try something so we can focus.” Using my mind to picture balls of fire dancing in each open window, I push my magic into the image until I hear the others sigh in relief and feel the warmth of the fire kiss my skin. Opening my eyes, I glance over at my newest creation to see bright blue flames flickering in the windows, not daring to move out of their designated spots.
Magic is so fucking cool!
“It has to be here,” I say now that I can focus without chattering teeth. Closing my eyes, I do a quick sweep of the tower. The brush of ancient magic against mine is immediate. As soon as I latch onto it, the essence pulls me toward it. My outstretched hands hit a solid wall, someone stopping me before I can run into it. Opening my eyes, I frown at the plain, empty wall in front of me. I study it carefully, but I can’t see anything, not even a blemish or crack in the stone to show it hidden inside.
“It’s right here!” I protest, throwing my hands up. The others all crowd around me and inspect the wall. Anger and frustration war inside of me. I’ve never lied to myself, I knew these journeys wouldn't be easy, but haven’t I suffered enough? Can’t we catch one fucking break?
“Outside? Is that even possible?” Jacob says as he inspects the nearby window, squinting as he tries to see through the fire.
“It looks like there is roof access in the corner over there," I point out. The hesitation is clear in my voice… I feel like I would have known if the stone was out there.
“If it were outside, how would he be affected by it?” Maddox points out. He makes a good point. Thank the Gods, I didn’t want to crawl around on the roof. Ice and spire rooftops sound like a recipe for certain death.
“Valid point. Maybe it’s like in the lock outside of this tower?” Gerwyn muses as he studies the wall closer.
“Don’t do it," Emrick grunts at me. I only smile over my shoulder at him. He knows me too well already. Carefully, I reach my hand out and trace it over the stone wall. Nothing happens.
Dormouse starts to squeak at Jacob to be put down. Smiling, I reach up to Jacob’s shoulder and place him on the floor. He squeaks and takes off around the room. I guess he was tired of being cooped up in Jacob’s pocket. Plus, he’s never gone far from us, so I trust that he’ll stay nearby.
“Any other ideas?” I ask, the desperation clear in my voice. There’s nothing on the ceiling or higher on the wall. No rug at our feet it could be hiding under either. It literally has to be behind this wall… but how?
“You don’t think he ground it into a powder, do you? Had the masons put it int
o the walls?” Maddox suggests tentatively. My mouth falls open in horror at the suggestion.
“What would we even do?” I wonder aloud, real worry settling into my stomach now.
“That’s ridiculous, the Spirits would have known," Gerwyn waves it off.
“Look!” Jacob shouts and points at the floor. I look down just in time to see Dormy disappear into the wall. A tiny hole sits against the base of the wall, I never would have realized it, if he hadn’t run inside.
“Oh no! Dormouse come here, baby,” I call out as I drop to the floor, settling onto my stomach so I can peer inside, I don’t see anything other than pitch black on the other side. “Guys, I can’t even hear him anymore. Why would he run off like this?” My heart clenches at the thought that I might not be able to find him if something happens. Gerwyn must have realized that I’m trying not to freak out, sitting next to me on the floor. He rubs my back as I try to see anything in the inky black hole.
“I need a light," Gerwyn announces. I hear footsteps disappear for a few minutes before Bowen returns with a torch in hand. He holds it above our heads, the light helping enough that I can see something shiny through the hole now.
“There’s gold on the other side," I announce. “Maybe his private treasury is on the other side? If so, there has to be a way in.”
“The king liked his secrets, just look at the lock downstairs. It makes sense he’d keep his gold and treasures near. Maybe a hidden mechanism somewhere?” Bowen suggests, running his eyes over the other walls. Jacob walks to the window to inspect, and I pull the fire back for a moment while he looks.
“I can’t see it clearly, but it does look like that wall goes out further than the other walls," Jacob announces, pulling away from the window and walking around the room to inspect.
“Everyone look for some sort of trigger. Downstairs I found a trigger in the back of the weapon cabinet," I call out. Between all of us it should be an easy find. We fan out to different parts of the room, leaving no stone unturned. We’ve all come too far not to figure something out.