by Megan Linski
“Hey, guys. Look at this.” Emma stood behind the oak desk. “I found it in a secret compartment underneath the drawer.”
In her hands was a necklace. The chain was made of black lace, an obsidian medallion in an oval shape dangling from it. She held it out to us, and I took a step back.
That medallion seemed like it was sucking me in. A rotten feeling emanated from it, twisting my innards and siphoning all the air out of the room. It was like I could hear an eerie chant humming from the object— something grotesque and foreboding. Emma took a step forward, and I cringed. I wanted her to get that necklace the hell away from me.
Kiara put a hand to her throat. “That’s Unseelie magic,” she whispered.
“Put it back,” Odette hissed, clinging to Delmare.
Emma ignored her. She held it up to me to see. “Will this be enough to prove Korva’s a murderer?”
I shook my head. “No. And if it was, you’ve just put your fingerprints all over it.”
Emma scowled. “Well, I’m not leaving here empty-handed.”
She pocketed the necklace. There was a tap on the glass outside, and we jumped.
Alexei and Theo had lost the guards. They were hovering by one of the large picture windows. We unlocked it, and pushed it open. Theo asked, “What did you find?”
“Tell you in a minute,” I said. I opened the window wider. I helped Kiara onto Alexei’s back, and Odette onto Theo’s.
Stefan was sitting on the roof. He curled his neck over and poked his head into the room. “Hop on, babycakes. I’ll give you a ride,” he said to Delmare.
“As if.” She pushed his head away and got onto Theo’s back, behind Odette. I helped Emma clamber onto Stefan’s head, then pulled myself onto the dragon behind her. I made sure to close the window behind me before we took off.
Theo, Alexei and Stefan flew us above the royal grounds so there’d be a better chance we wouldn’t be spotted. After we’d touched down in the woods outside Arcanea University, the five of us put our feet back on the ground while Theo, Alexei and Stefan changed back.
“So? Did you guys find anything in there?” Stefan asked.
The girls glumly shook their heads, and I added, “Not anything that proves Lady Korva has something to do with the attacks.”
“Great.” Theo sighed. “I risked getting arrested for no good reason.”
“Oh, it was an adventure, anyway!” Odette said optimistically. “And so fun, too.”
We began the long walk back to the university. “Well, that was for nothing,” Delmare said in defeat. “Looks like Lady Korva can continue her killing spree in peace.”
“Not for nothing. We found this.” Emma showed her the obsidian necklace. “Kiara’s right. It’s definitely dark magic. I can feel it.”
“Yeah, but not enough to prove Korva’s got any sinister motives. Possessing an object from the Unseelie isn’t even a felony. It’s a minor offense,” Kiara stated.
“Depends on how powerful it is,” I said. “But Lady Korva could just buy her way out of a sentence like that, anyway.”
“Doesn’t matter. I don’t think something like this should be in Korva’s hands,” Emma finished. She placed it back inside her pocket.
There were muted murmurs of agreement. I kept quiet, but secretly, I had a bad feeling that necklace shouldn’t be in Emma’s hands, either.
Chapter Sixteen
Emma
“Pick up the pace, ladies! This is basic magic!” Lady Korva barked at the head of the classroom.
Illusion was still proving to be my least favorite class. Today, we were learning how to transfigure our appearance. Beside me, Kiara scrunched up her nose. She turned her hair pink, then blue, then back to black again.
I tried to make my hair purple, but only the roots changed. I checked the mirror on my desk again to see if I’d managed to make my freckles disappear, but no go.
Lady Korva stalked around the room in a mood more sour than usual, which was entirely impressive— even for her. She’d been in a bad way for days. She obviously hated that her necklace had turned up missing, but no reports of a break-in at the Zlodia mansion had been reported, nor had there been any gossip on the grapevine that a thief had taken something from Lady Korva. It confirmed my suspicions that the necklace was something she wanted to hide.
I didn’t want to get rid of the necklace. Ethan had already assured me something powerful like that couldn’t be destroyed by students at our level, and I didn’t know or trust any other sorceress to ask them to destroy it for me. Lady Magdalina could, I was sure, but then she’d question where I got it, and I wasn’t sure if I’d be in trouble when I revealed that I’d stolen it from Lady Korva.
I worried if I tried to get rid of that someone else would find it, and we’d end up in a worse situation later one. So I threw it into a dresser in my dorm and tried to forget about it, though the necklace was still at the back of my mind.
Across the room, Gabby was working on shrinking her nose. She’d accomplished making it a smaller size. Beside her, Morgan worked on making her boobs larger. They were so ridiculously big that they seemed comical on her small frame. Beside her, Melissa attempted shrinking a few pounds off her figure. It didn’t work, and she frowned as she looked into the mirror.
“Changing your appearance is vital when blending into a crowd,” Korva announced. “The illusion won’t last forever, but a skilled sorceress will be able to keep up a disguise for at least the span of a few hours— if not days.”
Morgan waggled her huge boobs at Gabby. Gabby rolled her eyes and leaned closer to the mirror, continuing to change her nose to find one she liked.
“Plastic surgery is way cheaper when you’re an Arcanea,” I said to Kiara.
“Wouldn’t you change yourself if you could?” she asked. Kiara changed her skin so that it was one even dark color instead of differently-toned.
“No,” I said. “I like the way I am.” What I wanted to change about myself, magic couldn’t fix. There was no spell alive that could cure my disease.
“I think I look better this way.” Kiara turned to me. She was searching for approval, but I wouldn’t give it. She was beautiful the way she was. She didn’t need to go changing herself.
“I don’t like it,” I said. “You don’t look like you.”
“No. I look normal.” Kiara lifted the spell, and the patches on her face reappeared. She sighed. “Too bad it doesn’t last forever.”
I successfully managed to turn a streak of my hair purple by the time class ended, but that was as far as I could go. I left it in as I walked down the hallway to my Monarchy class, passing by the Observatory as I went.
Odette came bouncing to my side. “Did you hear?” she squealed, appearing like an excited, frantic puppy.
“What is it?” I asked, wondering what could possibly provoke Odette into this kind of excitement— besides literally everything.
“Gabby just bonded yesterday. With Eli,” Odette whispered.
“What the fuck?” I looked ahead. Gabby had left class before me and was cuddling up to a brawny dude at the end of the hall. He had hooded eyes and was kissing Gabby for the entire hall to see, as if bragging that he’d found a mate.
I knew him. Elijah Zlodia. He wasn’t in any of my classes, but it was no secret he and Ethan didn’t get along. He was Lady Korva’s son.
“Oh, that’s not good.” Kiara narrowed her eyes. “He’s definitely going to compete in the King’s Contest now.”
My eyes caught Ethan’s form stomping down the hallway. He had a book at his side, his knuckles white as he crushed the spine between his fingers.
I went to speak. “Ethan, did you—”
“I heard.” Ethan’s tone was dark, and his face was shadowed. He was obviously pissed that Elijah had bonded. He refused to look at either of them as they continued making out along the wall.
His eyes briefly scanned me as he passed. The look in them… it was as if he was trying to make up his min
d on an impossible decision.
Once Ethan was out of earshot, Kiara said, “Ethan better hurry up. Time’s running short. If he doesn’t pick a mate soon, they won’t let him into the Contest.”
“Yes, but how can you possibly pick a mate if you’re not bonded? How do you know you’re making the right decision?” I said.
“He doesn’t have time to dawdle. If he wants to be king, he has to make up his mind,” Kiara pointed out. “The ball’s only a few weeks away.”
“Ball?” I asked.
“The King’s Ball. It’s a party before the King’s Contest begins,” Odette clarified. “Everyone who’s anyone will be there. Each competitor has to announce their mating bond to the entire city, as well as declare their allegiance to a certain god or goddess at the Choosing before the party begins. It’s there that all potential queens are presented.”
“Thank the gods I’m not participating.” I’d go to the dance, but no way would I want to be shown off to all the Arcanea like some sort of trophy.
“Well, Gabby is,” Kiara said with a sigh. “Here’s betting she’ll do nothing but go on and on for the next few weeks on how she’s going to have the best dress.”
“Yeah, well, maybe she’ll decide on a nose by then.” I checked my watch. “We’d better hurry, guys. Class is starting in a few minutes.”
The three of us had to jog to make it to class on time. Introducing the Monarchy was held in a large classroom that had high ceilings about fifty feet tall, and arched windows along the stone walls. Most of the class was here already, and was a mixture of both Marked and Companions.
“What took you guys so long?” Delmare asked as we slid into our seats near her desk.
“Busy talking about Gabby and her prince charming,” I said scathingly.
“Oh, yeah. Zlodia’s a real prick.” Delmare pointed to her mouth and pretended to gag before a sly smile lit up her face. “Good thing you’ll give Gabby a run for her money, huh Em?”
“What?” I let my textbook fall open with a flop. “Hell no. You’re not suggesting what I think you are.”
“That Ethan’s going to pick you as his mate for the Contest? Obviously,” Kiara said.
I made a skeptical sound. “In your dreams.”
“Or in yours,” Odette piped up, and Kiara giggled.
“Oh, don’t bullshit us, Emma. That boy has the total hots for you,” Delmare said. “Ethan’s definitely got some nasty sex fantasies when it comes to you and him.”
“Don’t make me barf.” I shook my head. “Really, you guys are hilarious. Ethan and I are just friends. If we were anything more, we would’ve bonded by now, and nothing’s happened.”
“Doesn’t matter. Bonded or not, Ethan has to pick someone, and you’re the only girl he likes,” Odette sang.
“Bonding doesn’t work that way, anyway. It takes time, and is permanently forged by a decision. He has to ask, and you have to accept,” Kiara said. “Who’s to say he won’t pick you?”
“Don’t you want to be a princess?” Odette squealed.
I went to bite back, but Lord Lucien walked to the head of the classroom, and the conversation died down. As he gathered his papers, Delmare showed me a quick stick-figure drawing she’d done. It was obviously supposed to be me and Ethan in a very sexual position.
“Fuck off,” I whispered, and I threw my pencil at her.
“You guys are totally gonna do it,” she hushed back, before Lord Lucien started writing on the chalkboard. All fell silent as he turned around.
“Modern Malovian history,” he began. “For the majority of this semester, we’ve been focusing on studying great kings and queens of the past— those who have led Malovia to become the great country it is today. However, today we’re going to focus on something a little different. In light of our nation’s recent loss, I believe that this class would be best spent focusing on the accomplishments of King Lycus Nowak.”
A few hushed whispers broke out. I immediately became interested. Nobody talked about Ethan’s dad. It wasn’t exactly forbidden, but everyone seemed more or less scared to bring him up— as if they’d raise a ghost.
Lucien raised his hand. A spell sprung forth from it. Fog filtered out of his fingertips and created a circular sphere. Within the sphere came the likeness of a man— early fifties or so, a gray beard and long gray hair disguising soft wrinkles.
He looked ridiculously noble, like a king should. I didn’t find many traits in him that were Ethan’s except his amber eyes. Ethan must look like his mother.
“King Lycus took the throne nearly thirty years ago, during very dark times for our country,” Lucien began. “Ten years after his reign began, there was an uprising in Dolinska like none had ever seen before. The Black Claw extremist group had gotten out of hand. Their numbers ranked in the thousands. It was a very real fear among the Arcanea that they would take over the city— even the monarchy, and eventually, the country.”
Lucien waved his hand, and the fog changed to reveal an image of Dolinska burning. Black Claw tributes moved throughout the streets, killing any who got in their way. Some Arcanea ran— some chose to fight. Bodies began piling up on the streets, and blood poured down the cobblestone from all the fallen Marked and Companions. The skies darkened with clouds of black smoke that rose from the burning buildings. It was like watching an incredibly gory movie, except a knot formed in my throat when I realized that this wasn’t fiction. What was happening before us had been real.
“The scene you see is from my own memory,” Lucien said. “Eighteen years ago, there was a crisis in Dolinska unlike any other. We called this day Palennoc, otherwise known as the Night of Burning Skies. Thousands of Arcanea perished on this night. The Black Claw swarmed into the city and began slaughtering thousands in a sacrifice to the dark god Droga. It is only due to the work of King Lycus that the Black Claw are no longer here today.”
My eyebrows scrunched together, confused. Lucien was talking like King Lycus had eliminated the Black Claw altogether. That might’ve been true, for a time, but they were back now. Certainly not in as great of numbers as before, but they were still lurking around.
“King Lycus gathered the greatest of the Arcanea warriors and led an attack on the Black Claw,” Lucien said. “There was a great battle in the city square. Both sides suffered heavy losses, but in the end, King Lycus was able to kill or otherwise eliminate those within the Black Claw’s ranks. Those who fled the country were found later and executed.”
Images of Lycus’ funeral popped up within the fog. I immediately spotted Ethan among the crowd, sitting in a wheelchair. Ethan must’ve not had his prosthetic yet. A woman stood behind him, her hands on his shoulders. I took her as the queen.
Ethan’s face looked so hollow. It was clear he blamed himself. I wanted to reach through the fog and touch him— bring him some sort of comfort. It was horrible seeing him like that. It carved a pit in me that I didn’t know existed. That pit went far down, to a place where it was so dark I was sure the sorrow never ended.
“King Lycus was one of our country’s greatest protectors. He eliminated a huge threat to our kind and ensured our race would have a future in the world we inhabit,” Lucien said. “Whosoever succeeds him by winning the throne in this year’s King’s Contest will have high expectations placed on their shoulders.”
The funeral scenes changed, and the fog dissipated. Delmare raised a hand. Lucien pointed at her. “Yes, Miss Delmare?”
She leaned forward. “I heard that there’s more to the story. That the Black Claw was looking for someone that night.”
Lucien seemed slightly uncomfortable. “There is an old legend. A rumor. But it’s never been confirmed, and this is a history class. I prefer to tell facts over fiction.”
“Myths and legends can be history. They’re part of our lore,” Odette said. There were murmurs of agreement around the room, and everyone gave the professor a curious stare.
Lucien sighed. “Very well. If you insist.”
He put his hands behind his back and began walking around the room slowly. “As you all know, the Black Claw worship Droga. There is a very old story among them that Tomir, the King of the Gods, and Droga, his brother, waged war for possession of our home world, Edinmyre, and that is why the fae came to live on Earth amongst humans. During the war, Tomir ended Droga, and brought him to Earth, imprisoning him in a stone grave somewhere in Malovia.”
Lucien paused, as if considering how much to reveal. “Prophecy is considered a dark art by Arcanea, gifted by evil forces to Black Claw tributes wishing to foretell the future. The… prophecy goes that there is one whose blood can bring Droga back to life, and release him from his tomb prison. There is no other explanation of who this person may be, except that they will be known as the Worldweaver.”
I felt the color drain from my face immediately. The entire room turned cold, and my hands started to shake. I pulled them underneath my desk and bunched them in my skirt to hide it.
“Whosoever kills the Worldweaver and brings their blood to Droga’s throne will receive great power from Droga, after he is resurrected,” Lucien explained. “From then on, the Dark God will rule over this world. He will gather an army to challenge his brother Tomir once again in Edinmyre’s lands. It is said that the Black Claw were looking for the Worldweaver on Palennoc, to find them and sacrifice them to the Dark God.”
I had to take deep breaths to prevent myself from throwing up. Delmare raised her hand and said, “That means that the Worldweaver is still alive, right?”
Lucien shrugged. “It is merely a story, fabricated by fanatics. If someone with extraordinary magical power beyond normal Arcanean capabilities existed within our ranks, they certainly would’ve been found out years ago.”
The class uttered mumbles of agreement. I popped right up from my desk. “Lord Lucien, may I be excused? I’m not feeling well.”
Lucien’s mouth hung open for a moment. “You… are looking a little green, Miss Sosna.”
“Thank you.” I gathered my things and ran out of the room. Everyone turned in their seats to look at me as I hurried past.