by Alexia Purdy
Shade turned to meet our sister’s gaze as Anna approached them. She gave Shade a tight hug and pulled away, peering lovingly into her eyes with her own tears blossoming.
“It’s okay, Shade. I won’t let you part from your love. It’s my duty as your only sister to take your place. I read the rules of Faerie. Let me do this.”
“What?” Shade’s eyes widened as her confusion morphed into horror. “What do you mean to do, Anna?”
Anna turned toward Oran, who was watching her curiously. He seemed impressed, if not just a bit stunned. Apparently, he’d not looked at Anna as a possible choice in marriage and appeared just as confused as the rest of us.
“I’ll marry you, Oran, but I’m not of faery blood. Still, I share blood with the Seelie queen of Faerie and am next in line for this throne as the only other female in our family. Therefore, I have the authority to accept your hand in marriage to fulfill the truce and satisfy the requirements set by Faerie. Leave my sister be.”
“Anna … no! I won’t allow it.” Shade stepped forward, tugging on Anna’s dress, but she already held out her hand to stop Shade.
“Let me do this for you,” Anna said. Her eyes pleaded with a sorrowful smile as she stepped closer to Oran.
“Anna!” I hollered across the room, staring up at Seritus while I narrowed my eyes. “Move out of the way, Elder King. Do not cross me again.” I shoved at the guy, but he didn’t budge. He didn’t fight back, either, so I gave him another good push, making him move a couple inches back, but he didn’t relent. It made me angrier, my blood boiling as I got ready to light his ass on fire, when someone tapped me on shoulder.
“Benton … here.” Nautilus handed over my sword, and the room erupted into chaos as the Unseelie realized he’d broken their ranks with weaponry. He barely got to hand Paki a sword before the group was upon us. My Empyrean blade ignited, and a few Unseelie screamed as the fire penetrated their armor and burned through their clothes like rice paper. I was grinning ear to ear, loving the feel of my blade and more than ready for the fight.
I scooted around Seritus—who was now pulling Seelie warriors off him like spiders—getting closer to Oran and my sisters. Dylan was already behind Shade, handing her a sword as the room roared to life. I didn’t get why the Unseelie would want to face these kinds of odds. They were terribly outnumbered but overly confidant. It made them careless and overzealous as I pummeled through them like soft cheese.
I managed to stab one winged Unseelie in the jaw, feeling his head knock about before a dark green blood spewed from his mouth. He dropped like a bag of bricks, and another replaced him. It was taking me too long to get to my sisters, and I yelled out in frustration. It was a struggle to get a good view of where the royals were at the moment.
Finally, the crowd parted, and I could see Shade arguing with someone while Dylan fought back a growing line of Unseelie. They weren’t trying too hard; all Dylan had to do was swing every now and then to keep them back. I think they were more of a defense for Oran, who was standing next to Anna, whose tears streamed down her face. He avoided touching her, but seemed as annoyed at the fighting going on around them as everyone else.
What the hell?
“Get out of my way!” I hissed at another guard who had jumped into my line of vision and decided he could swipe at me with a short sword. I backed up enough for it to breeze right on by. “Dude, really?” I shook my head, smirking, before I thumped him in the nose with the palm of my hand, making it crack and explode in a splash of red, oozing blood. The guy wobbled away, clutching his face before I finally got through to my sisters.
“Get away from my family! I won’t allow this. Anna, get over here right now!” Shade was practically turning purple in the face and reached out toward our younger sister, but Anna stepped farther away, out of Shade’s reach.
“You know I have to do this. It’s the only way.” Anna’s tiny voice felt like a stab in the heart.
Shade’s shoulders slumped.
“Oran, stop this insanity,” I said. “If you care enough for a truce, make your troops stop fighting, or we’ll all be dead and Faerie will be at war forever.”
Oran’s eyes hardened as they focused on me. I matched it with a mocking glare. I didn’t want to set him off, but I couldn’t help myself. Shade threw me a dirty look before her eyes widened. I’d forgotten how I must’ve looked like hell with my disgusting torn-up and bloodied clothes because even Anna sent a horrified look my way.
“Benton! Are you all right?” Shade reached out for me, and I groaned as her magic spilled straight into me to check on my injuries. She immediately retreated, baffled as to why I looked so bad but was fine and healed inside. Satisfied I was as healthy as a horse, her magic let me go.
“I’m fine, but this guy …” I pointed at Oran who furrowed his brows with a scowl on his face. “He needs to get the hell out of our territory.”
Oran wasn’t one bit impressed. He shook his head, frowning further before he held up his arm and turned his wrist in a circular motion.
Time froze. No, really. Everyone stopped moving, and the room was just a display of characters locked in their last positions of fighting. There were bodies everywhere, midair, along the floor, in mid-move while they fought to the death. Everyone was deathly still except for the five of us in Oran’s bubble.
We peered around, shocked to find the palace eerily silent and still, like someone had hit pause on a DVD player.
“What have you done?” Shade’s voice quivered, and I soon realized that she, along with the rest of us, didn’t truly know the extent of Oran’s powers. They would have amplified with Aveta’s death since he was now one of the last descendants of Arthas. An Ancient’s power was equally divided amongst their descendants. When there were many, they were weaker than if there’d been only one descendant to contain all the power at once, like Shade had with Kilara’s power, the summer Ancient who was currently MIA. With Aveta out of the way, how powerful had he become?
“I have no quarrel with the Seelie court, Your Majesty. I do, however, accept Anna’s proposal to become my wife. May our union serve as a truce between our courts.” He looked tired. “May we leave now?”
This couldn’t be happening. No, no, no.
“There’s no way my sister is going to marry you.” I grabbed Oran’s shirt, balling it in my hands and glowering at the Unseelie king.
“Benton.” Anna frowned. She stepped closer to us, placing a hand on mine and zapping me.
“Ow!” I released my hold and rubbed furiously at my skin. It buzzed like a swarm of ants were stinging me. “What’d you do that for?” Obviously she’d been studying different types of magic since I’d last seen her.
Anna frowned. “You don’t know him, so don’t go judging who people are before you’ve spent a significant time with them.”
“Neither do you!” I wanted to reach out and shake her.
“I know this is right.” Her voice sounded more grown up than I’d ever heard her, and my hope of convincing her washed away with it.
“But you’re too young. You’re sixteen and … and …”
“I’m seventeen now.” She jutted out her chin in defiance, and I realized that I’d missed her birthday while on the hunt for Oran.
Well, crap.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for your birthday. But come on, this guy? Really?”
Anna pressed her lips tightly together. She managed to keep quiet and crossed her arms, standing her ground. If my mother had been alive, she would have been be all over this place, hollering like nobody’s business. It might have been a good thing that she wasn’t.
“Anna?” Shade laid a hand on Anna’s shoulder, pleading with her eyes. I could tell there was no going back from what had happened. It was a done deal. My heart felt slashed open and poured out a deep, aching need to smack the living crap out of Oran. After almost killing me, he had the gall to come to my sister’s kingdom to steal my blood away with him to the Unseelie Castle, of
all places.
“Shade …” Anna took Shade’s hand into hers and gave it a good squeeze, a sad smile gracing her lips. “Let me do this for us. It will be my pleasure to keep the peace between our courts. Besides, I have family there, too; Evangeline and Jack are there to help me out whenever I need them, right? I’ll be okay.”
Shade nodded, though I could see silent tears spilling down her reddened cheeks. She couldn’t say anything, though, and looked like she was choking on her sobs.
“Hey,” I said, letting Anna reach over to pull me into a tight hug. “So how does this work anyway? Doesn’t the Withering Palace only obey its chosen?” I pointed toward Shade. “Shade was chosen after Aveta died. How does she give you that power?” I was definitely curious and wondered how Anna would control the Unseelie palace without Shade.
Anna peered at Shade, and our sister reached out to hold both of Anna’s hands in hers and let out a long, exhausted sigh.
“Anna, my dear little sister. I, queen of the Seelie Scren court, hereby transfer the power of the Withering Palace to you and you alone.” She glared at Oran, spiting him with these words. “May the Land of Faerie witness this gift and bind it to its rightful wielder forever.”
Just like that, it was over. No fireworks, no sparks or rumble of earth. I was a bit disappointed with the lack of a show, but Anna was beaming as she turned back toward Oran, a guy she didn’t even know, and gave him a sweet smile. He actually smiled back.
Creepy.
I shook my head, still unhappy with her decision. The bodies around us were still in suspended animation, and I waved toward them.
“Hey! What are you going to do about them?”
Oran waved his hand in the air again, and the warriors all dropped to the ground. They peered around the room, shocked and confused.
“Enough! The truce has been made. No more fighting.” His voice boomed across the room, and Shade turned to walk toward her throne. As she silently sank back onto the seat, her glum face met Nyol, and a silent order passed between them. Nyol kept his reaction under control and turned toward the troops, signaling them to stand down.
The soldiers stared at one another before retreating to opposite sides of the room, picking up their fallen as they separated into two groups, Seelie and Unseelie, two opposing realms in one room, forced to accept one another. Regardless of whether they liked it or not, we had a truce, and there would be no more fighting in the palace.
Faerie was at peace. But for how long?
Chapter Twenty-Five Murky Future
Murky Future
Leaning over the banister, I watched the procession leaving the Scren Palace. I didn’t want to wave goodbye to Anna anymore. She appeared happy, sitting on her own horse next to Oran, waving out to the crowds of familiar faeries. There’d be less familiarity at the Withering Palace, and I wondered what the dark power of the Unseelie Realm would do to my beautiful sister. How naÏve she was to think this would turn out well for all of us. This was the first time our family would be split up permanently, and I wasn’t the only one taking it hard.
Shade had retreated to her room with Dylan and was probably watching the procession from their balcony overlooking the main road to the palace. James was the only one left downstairs in the throne room, flanked by the royal guards Nyol and Nautilus. He stayed to watch his sister go and had hugged her tightly until the guards were forced to pry him off of her. She’d then hoisted herself up on her favorite horse, one she’d keep with her at the Withering Palace. A land far, far away.
That’d been my cue to retreat to my room to sulk in seclusion.
Exhaustion flowed through my body like an old friend, familiar and annoying, but reassuring me that I was still alive. Still breathing, still whole. Even so, the flickers of the early morning light made my eyes burn. The events of the night made me want to slam the doors to the balcony shut and bury myself under a heap of blankets and pillows. I badly needed a bath, and the days stuck to me in grit, dirt, blood, sweat and tears.
Closing the doors to the bathroom behind me, I launched myself into a semi-robotic routine to get myself cleaned up to feel human again. I scrubbed the layers of battle, fighting and loss surrounding me right off my skin until I emerged feeling brand new but still hollow.
The emptiness inside from losing my sister to a sinister foe remained, like a black pit of regret leaching off my energy as I dropped onto the massive bed in my rarely used bedroom.
Before drifting off to sleep, I was thankful for the potion Braelynn had given me earlier to keep the nightmares away. All I wanted was the bliss of dreamless, restful sleep where there was no fighting, no sorrow. Even if it was temporary, I didn’t want to awaken for at least eight solid hours.
***
I awoke before dinner, when the sun was still hanging over the mountains and the palace was busy, abuzz with people. I dressed and packed my pack, strapping it onto my back as I peered around the room one more time. It was homey and restful, but I rarely stayed there. I didn’t know why Shade insisted I have a permanent room at the palace. It never had felt like home. I had a feeling Shade would leave Anna’s room intact for a very long time.
Heading to get a bite of food since I hadn’t really eaten much the past few days, I wished I was back at our home in the forest near Portland. I wasn’t cut out for royal life. All around me were familiar faces, but I wanted the quiet of my childhood home. It was basically mine anyway. No one would be returning to it, and it needed a defense against other magical beings since the family Pyren was hidden there. I thought about moving the Pyren to the Scren Palace but immediately realized that the Land of Faerie wouldn’t be happy to have such human elemental magic within its boundaries.
Back home it was. I couldn’t wait, even though I’d miss Shade and James. Still, seeing Anna betroth herself to the Unseelie leader made my anger surge. I’d falsely believed they’d be safe in the Scren Palace, in Faerie. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Now Anna was gone from us forever, and there was nothing any of us could do about it.
Nothing.
The dining room was already bustling with servants rushing about and Shade’s advisors lined up in their chairs, looking joyous with the announcement of the truce. It all looked mighty official, but I couldn’t join in the fun. How could they feel so excited with peace when my family had just paid a hefty price for it? I just slumped on in and slid into a chair next to Shade and across from Dylan.
Sometimes it was good to have the Seelie queen as your sister, especially when it meant you were served ahead of everyone else.
Immediately my plate was piled high with eggs, fruit, bread and syrupy sweet cakes alongside a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. I felt spoiled getting served, but I let them do their jobs. The servants looked happy to do so, and the positive energy floated about the room turned out to be highly contagious. I even met Shade’s smile with a rare one of my own.
“Heading out again?” she asked. This time she was too tired to lecture me about leaving. Or maybe she felt it was futile to attempt to have me stay.
I nodded. “You know me. Restless. Besides, the Pyren can’t stay unguarded forever.” I took a swallow of juice, enjoying the faery magic tainting it. Nothing tasted as good as faery food, and I would definitely miss it when I left. “There’s still Unseelie to round up, too.”
She fingered her goblet of juice as she zoned out, momentarily pensive. “There should be tons of them returning now that an Unseelie is back on throne. He’ll probably pardon them all.”
I laughed. “Guess we’ll just have to see how it goes. The prospect of some peace around here is very appealing.” I was still chuckling, but I felt like a fraud, saying words that didn’t settle well with me.
Shade frowned, folding her hands into her lap. “It’ll go fine. Don’t ever think otherwise.”
“I know. It’s just …” I leaned forward, wishing for more privacy. “You know how it always goes wrong, right? You of all people should know how wrong it al
l can turn.”
“Yes, I know.” Shade’s tight-lipped expression returned, and I felt bad for ruining her meal. “Still, I’m hopeful. Never lose hope.”
I lifted my drink for a toast. Shade and Dylan followed suit. “Never lose hope,” I said. “I’ll drink to that.”
The glasses clinked like tiny bells ringing, heralding the future.
Chapter Twenty-Six Sweet Surrender
Sweet Surrender
“You’re really leaving again?” Sary walked briskly next to me as I made my way through the gardens of the Scren Palace. I was leaving and had run into her exiting the palace. Seeing her was bittersweet, both exhilarating and sorrowful at the same time.
“Yep, really leaving.” I shifted my pack on my back as I peered around the shrubs. I decided to take a long walk around the palace grounds before leaving, just to take it all in, hoping to relax the tension in my body. It helped, but I hadn’t expected to run into Sary as I roamed about.
“You don’t have to.”
I stopped dead and turned to face her. She was beautiful. Her bright red hair looked like the fire that flickered along my Empyrean blade, and her green eyes were something I’d dreamt of many times. The thought made me blush, so I looked away toward the ground.
“I have to go. There are things I need to do. I’ve still got this mission to clean up the world from the escaped Unseelie who’ve not returned under Oran’s rule. Plus, our Pyren is unprotected. If anyone got hold of the magic there, it could devastate my family.”
Her eyes glistened with unshed tears, and the guilt ripping through me was just too much. “There’s no reason for me to stay here. I’ve got to go.” I gave her a slight smile. If only she’d give me a reason, any reason to stay, I’d consider it. “See you later, Sary.”