by Hannah West
“I require a small fee for my services.”
“Um,” I said, my hand shaking as I brushed a loose lock of hair from my face. “Mercer, hand me the…”
He shoved the jug of brandy into my arms. “Brandy,” I finished, cringing as I offered it.
She snatched the jug from me, uncorked it, and inhaled its aroma. “I accept this as partial payment. But I want something else.”
Mercer tugged on my arm. He assumed we’d completed the trade. The far reaches of the sky hinted at a rose-gold dawn, but the sun wouldn’t rise quickly enough to usher this bizarre creature back to the underwater caverns and forgotten sea bottoms before I had paid my fee in full.
She fastened her gaze on me for what I hoped would be the last time. “I want your fondest memory of the beauty of the land above. Not of the shore or the surface of the sea. Nothing I can see with my own eyes.”
Relieved, I closed my eyes and reached inside. The first memory that emerged was of crashing through the forest with Ander and Ivria, pinning myself to trees and crawling in the undergrowth as we hid from one another. Afterward we had plopped down to eat plums on a luscious grassy knoll. The palace was just a blot in the distance. Juice trickled down to our elbows and dried like baked sugar in the noonday sun.
The second memory was from my journeys with my father in the mountains. I was packaged in furs upon furs as we stood on a lonely peak overlooking a snow-dusted pine forest with no end.
I could surrender neither of those. I summoned another memory of Calgoran’s majestic beauty, one untethered to someone I’d loved and lost. “I’m ready,” I said, and felt her fingers touch my temples. I focused only on that memory, hedging out the more precious ones, until it faded away.
“I was one of the witches who struck this bargain,” she trilled, releasing me. “An elicromancer had heard a great sea legend, how our mothers once tamed a terrible god of the deep by placing him in a deathlike slumber within a sea cave. The elicromancer summoned the witches—a few of my sisters spoke their language back then—and asked if they could create such a spell to tame the Lord of Elicromancers. My sisters told him it would require blood and suffering.”
“How does the spell work?” I asked, breathless.
“When our mothers tamed the sea god, they chose someone to sacrifice. The chosen one suffered much and deeply, for her guts had to be strewn out and tied in knots while she was alive. The greater the evil, the more knots one must tie to trap it. They tied only one for the sea god, as he was a mere beast. Then one feeds the knots to the quarry. This is simple with a sea beast who eats without thinking, but not so with a clever man with many enemies he fears might poison him. I warned the elicromancer of this before we drew up this contract to trap the Lord of Elicromancers in his domain.”
I hadn’t imagined magic more viscerally revolting than the mutilation of the poor sea maiden, but I was wrong. I choked back the taste of bile again and asked, “Who did the elicromancers sacrifice?”
“They had one of their own.”
“So you provided the magic needed for the ritual, and they chose one of their own to sacrifice. But you said it was a bargain. What did they give you in return for helping them?”
“In order to trap their enemy with our magic, their kind would cast a spell hiding sea-dwellers from land-walkers. That way they could no longer hunt and kill us.”
“Why did you make the contract breakable? Why not just agree upon those terms in perpetuity: the safety of your people for the safety of theirs?”
“Nothing is eternal,” she said, gripping the rocks with clawlike fingernails. I imagined those nails dismantling prey and had to force myself not to balk. “All sea witch magic must be written as a contract, and every contract can be broken. Even the sea beast will rise one day, when tales of it are forgotten. Anyone could read the runes etched on hidden surfaces in the deep and unravel the blood magic.”
“The contract has been broken. That means the Lord of Elicromancers has risen?”
“That is what we warned your kind would happen. We told the elicromancer to guard the contract and revere its power.” She unlatched her claws from the rock, signaling that our time was limited. “But the lives and memories of humans are brief, and their legends become twisted and forgotten.”
The sea witch dipped underwater with her spoils. Her torn flukes surfaced with a quiet splash, and then she was gone.
Dawn sketched a glowing ring around the edge of the world. As I glanced at the tablet halves, the runes arranged themselves into words that made sense, reflecting what the sea witch had said.
“Can you read it now?” Mercer asked.
From shoulder to fingertip, my arms began to tremble. The moist air suddenly seemed scarce and incompatible with my lungs. My mind dove into dark recesses, into the waking of a loathsome, undead being breaking free from newly opened depths, tearing its age-old, decrepit body from the shadows, ready to avenge its fall from power.
I gathered up the broken contract and stood, a queasy weight tossing in my stomach. When I could no longer abide it, I bent double and vomited on the sand.
Mercer gathered my sweat-dampened hair until I finished. I washed out my mouth with salty water and haltingly explained to him what the sea witch had told me. While he listened, he looked out across the sea as though he wanted to toss himself into the waves and let them carry him away.
“I wonder…I wonder if you were intended to be the sacrifice,” I muttered, reaching out toward him. I stopped short of touching the soft fabric of his tunic and instead plucked the tablet halves out of the sand.
“They must have succeeded in sacrificing someone else,” he said. A burst of growing daylight lit his eyes, turning them to burnished ocher.
“Perhaps you got caught up in this bargain somehow, trapped through time.”
“I don’t know. I only know we have to tell the Realm Alliance. We have to make a plan. We can’t let it be like last time.”
Though nearly blinded by the array of colors at the horizon, I noticed the sea maiden on the seaward side of a dune near the palace steps leading to the ballroom. In the shadows, she twisted and writhed, grappling with the change the elixir had initiated. From tendrils to pelvis, her shimmering tail ripped clean in two as though following a seam. She had no voice to scream, but I could see silent agony as her scales became bleeding scabs and flaked off to reveal milk-white skin. At the end of it all, she was naked, and quite human, with only her silver hair to cover her body.
She climbed to her feet, wobbling, then stumbled just far enough to drape herself at the base of the steps leading from the beach to the palace veranda, in full view of servants and guards.
I jolted forward, but two guards in green had already noticed her and hurried to assist. Soon after, Fabian started across the veranda above, his hair messy and his banquet clothes rumpled.
“Mercer?” he yelled, traipsing out to the balustrade and squinting at the rock formations. “Valory?”
“Why is he looking for us out here?” I whispered.
“When I needed his help getting the contract, I implied that our ‘research’ was just an excuse to get you alone,” Mercer explained. “I told him I was meeting you on the beach.”
“Someone said there’s a naked girl out here,” Fabian called out. “You two can subject the gulls and fishes to your naughty acts, but my guards deserve more respect!”
I started to emerge—I couldn’t let that rumor spread unchecked—but paused as I considered what would follow the telling of our tale. Yes, we had obtained information that would help the Realm Alliance. But would anyone believe us? Or would they suspect us of lying, plotting in secret? Mercer had stolen the contract, albeit with Fabian’s help, and that would diminish any trust the Realm Alliance had in him.
In the light of a new dawn, one that heralded my departure, even Queen Jessa’s demonstration plan seemed tenuous—it meant revealing to my enemies that I had defied orders and practiced my magic, and that Br
andar had not fulfilled his duty. If the Neutralizer’s loyalties were called into question, it might bring Nissera’s leadership to doubt both King Tiernan’s and Queen Jessa’s loyalties as well, and would endanger my most precious secret: that Brandar’s gift could not be used to restrain mine.
“We have to change our story,” I said. “To something more believable.”
Mercer blinked at me, incredulous. “We can’t sully the truth with a single lie,” he said, stressing each word. “I came out of nowhere and the Realm Alliance already has reason to mistrust me for that.”
“I’m not going to be punished for doing something that’s actually helpful.”
“This message is too important for you to muddle it just to avoid a slap on the wrist!”
“A slap on the wrist? Half the Conclave wants to throw me in prison! If I stroll in and tell them that I meddled and used my magic to obtain a sea witch’s help, I might as well put the manacles on myself!”
“And you fancy your fate more important than the whole of Nissera?” he demanded, securing a grip on both halves of the contract. He was strong enough to pry my hands off, so I tore the object out of his reach, nearly toppling to the uneven rocks underfoot.
I felt a strange sense of loss at the idea of him thinking me a horrid person, yet I remained committed to my argument out of self-preservation. “I’ve no idea why I’m appealing to you for mercy! You risked my life. That sea witch could have taken anything from me, anything at all, and you encouraged me to make the bargain regardless.”
“Because I knew everything was going to be—! Argh!” His explanation devolved into a gnarl of frustration, but the commotion from the veranda drew our attention. Fabian had noticed the nude woman at the base of the stairs and was in the midst of shrugging off his rumpled tunic to cover her, murmuring gleefully that she had saved him from the flood. Through the ballroom windows, a maid spotted the two of them and clunked down a tray of dishes to untie her starched apron. She hurried to meet them and arrange the pristine fabric over the sea maiden’s bare skin. As she whisked the creature away for the sake of propriety, Fabian watched in awe, sifting a hand through his thick, dark hair.
Before I could insist that we hide the contract, Mercer ripped the halves from my hands and started toward the steps. With a small shriek, I balled my hands into fists and hurried after him.
“There you are,” Fabian called as we approached the veranda, me glaring at Mercer’s broad back. The prince clapped his hands down on Mercer’s shoulders. “Did you see her? The girl who saved me?”
“If that was her, then yes, we saw plenty of her,” Mercer replied with the hint of a mischievous chuckle. He was like a flag flapping in a vigorous breeze, displaying a new side every time the wind changed. Had I seen his true crest and colors in the dark of the night?
“I must ensure she receives a proper welcome,” Fabian said, but rushed footfalls made him trail off. A guard sprinted through the ballroom, dodging displaced chairs and maids collecting used plates and goblets.
“My prince,” the guard said, without the usual song and dance of begging for pardon. “You’re needed at the front gates. Urgently.”
Wide-eyed, Fabian pursued the guard. Mercer and I shared an uneasy glance and followed. My bare foot and sandal alternately smacked against the marble as my heart quickened. Did yet another disaster await us? Would I hear that Arna had burned to ash and its people with it, or that a blizzard of such strength had swept over Darmeska that even its ancient ramparts couldn’t stand against it?
Once we’d crossed through the palace to the front entrance, we jogged down the steps and darted across the courtyard toward the open gates, where a throng of servants and guards waited, parting as the prince approached. Fabian stopped suddenly before we reached the center point around which everyone coagulated. I smacked into Mercer, nearly slipping on a pool of liquid underfoot, and gripped him by the elbow to regain my balance. His muscles went rigid under my touch.
I took a step back, my bare foot squelching as I peeled it away from the slick courtyard stones. When I managed to peer around Mercer’s shoulder at the spectacle ahead, I issued a horrified gasp.
A man lay on the ground, his face mutilated with gashes. The skin of his chest and legs had been clawed to ribbons. His clothing dangled off him in bloodied tatters. The wet substance underfoot was his fresh blood.
I might have failed to recognize Brandar if not for his cloudy gray elicrin stone.
HE Neutralizer drew ragged breaths. His end approached.
Fabian froze, but Mercer shoved the tablets against my chest before dropping to his knees beside Brandar.
“Is there a Healer?” I yelled at no one in particular, my voice sounding distant.
“We’ve sent for her,” a guard said.
After a protracted breath that I thought might be his last, Brandar fixed his blue eyes—one of which blossomed red with burst vessels—on Mercer, then rasped out, “Trap…they’re coming for you.”
A torrent of terror rushed over me. I wanted to ask what he meant, but Mercer clenched his jaw and scooped a supportive arm under Brandar’s back. He didn’t beg for clarification. He must have understood the warning. “Go in peace,” he whispered. “Portil waena fir sironoell.”
Someone pushed past me, their soles sloppy on the wet tiles. The Healer knelt over Brandar, her elicrin stone shimmering with white light, but she was seconds too late. A haze had passed over his eyes. His lips hung slack after ejecting a final breath.
Sharp tears burned the bridge of my nose. No one deserved to die in such agony.
“What’s happening?” I asked Mercer as he pressed Brandar’s eyes closed.
“It was a materialization trap.” Mercer stood and attempted to clean one grimy palm on the other, to no avail. “I’ve seen wounds like this. This is one of the Moth King’s tactics to isolate elicromancers from one another. It worked before.”
I shuddered as I thought of that mysterious between-place that elicromancers could step across to reach their destinations. It was common knowledge that highly skilled elicromancers could create barriers to block access to certain places, or to designate paths within that unseen stratosphere. But I hadn’t known they could set deadly traps. As I dared to study Brandar’s lifeless body lying at the foot of the open metal gates, I noticed a pattern among his wounds: they were all lacerations slicing in one direction.
“The traps catch victims in the midst of materializing,” Mercer said, as Fabian and I ripped our gazes away from the gruesome sight to listen. “The only way to escape is to materialize away, and depending on how you’re trapped…” He shook his head. “I’ve seen elicromancers cut to bits after materializing out of snares or cages. There’s no way to know what paths they intersect until someone’s been caught in one.”
“Warn all elicromancers in the city not to materialize until further notice,” Fabian called to a guard, his commanding tone teetering on the edge of hysteria. “We’ll send missives to Arna and Pontaval as well.”
I hoped my family would receive word in time. I couldn’t ponder the idea of my mother or Ander meeting the same fate as Brandar. “Who’s coming, Mercer?” I asked.
“The Moth King’s servants must have heard about my talk with the Realm Alliance,” he said, removing the tablets from my grasp. “They’re going to want to stop me from spreading word about Valmarys’s return while he gains a foothold. We have to act fast.”
Rayed emerged from the crowd and strode toward me, casting a watchful glance at Mercer. The mixture of sand and blood rubbed gritty between my toes as he pulled me aside. “You need to leave now,” he said. “Lie low. Don’t go to Darmeska.”
“But I—”
“Brandar was one of the only people capable of controlling you, Valory, and now he’s dead under suspicious circumstances.”
The implication hit me with the weight of a cliffside crumbling. “Are you saying the Realm Alliance might think I…I killed him?”
�
�No one’s going to believe this violence was perpetrated by an ancient dead tyrant when you’re right here, flesh and blood—not to mention the rumors that you’re defying orders by practicing magic.”
“But I haven’t hurt…” I sputtered. “I would never—”
“Don’t you see?” Rayed growled, baring his white teeth. “Whoever killed Brandar wants to cover their own tracks by making you look guilty, and they might succeed if you don’t escape. It seems the Lorenthis inspired a far more dangerous person to emulate their tactics. And I would bet my life that someone is standing here in this courtyard, a wolf in sheep’s clothing giving the orders.”
“Mercer was a victim of the Lord of Elicromancers,” I insisted, my eyes charting a course to his grim face. “If he could just explain—”
“Did he encourage you to use your magic?” Rayed asked.
“He…” Again, my gaze found its way to the mysterious boy from the past. He crossed his arms with the seriousness of a commander ready to deploy his restless army for a long-awaited battle. “Jovie Neswick did too, and Queen Jessa….”
I regretted the words even as they spilled out. Jessa had asked for my discretion and I’d blurted out our secret at the first opportunity. “We can explain everything,” I finished.
King Tiernan would tell the Realm Alliance that I had no reason to murder Brandar, seeing as the Neutralizer couldn’t actually neutralize me. Perhaps disclosing this terrifying truth would be the only way to secure my freedom.
“Please, Valory,” Rayed begged, shaking me by the shoulders. “If you trust me in the least, flee before one of the Realm Alliance leaders who suspects you of wrongdoing has you arrested on suspicion of murder.”
The thought of Glend Neswick’s adamant pursuit of justice made me turn and hurry across the courtyard, shoeless and ragged and stained with a dead man’s blood.
* * *
The curtains were drawn around Kadri’s bed. Glisette slept on a sofa, her face and arms still gleaming with smeared cosmetics. As I stuffed my belongings into my satchel, Calanthe plodded at my heels, panting in anticipation of her early-morning sprints across the palace yards.