A Crown of Echoes

by Brindi Quinn

  “Delagos!” Albie clapped him back. “It’s been too long, old friend.”

  “No, four years would have been too long, but we had to go and double it! I hope you’ve still got a stomach for dragon-fired whiskey,” said Delagos, “because I’m breaking out the special reserve tonight!”

  Albie grimaced in my direction, embarrassed for me to see another side of him. “Oh, surely don’t stifle your inner desires on my behalf.” I fanned at the Captain.

  Besides, I already knew that Albie very much enjoyed dragon-fired whiskey by the fire late at night when he thought no one was watching.

  “May I present My Queen, Merrin of the Crag,” said Albie, ushering me forward on the veranda like a proud father.

  Delagos bowed. “A lovely queen for a lovely queendom, just like her mother.”

  Oh? Albie hadn’t mentioned that the Captain had met my mother.

  “Charmed, Captain Delagos,” I said offering him a queenly smile. “I cannot wait to hear stories of Albie’s younger years.”

  “No, no. There’ll be none of that,” huffed Albie.

  Not if I could help it.

  “Our traveling companions, Rafe and Windley,” I introduced the guards.

  Delagos nodded toward them but stopped upon setting sights on Windley. “A Spirite lad, eh?” he said, surprised. “Haven’t seen one of those in… Wait a sec…” A look of realization passed his gray brow. “This ain’t the same one, is it?”

  It was my turn to be surprised. Firstly, it seemed I had just discovered Windley’s unknown race—Spirite, though I had never heard the word before. And secondly, the Captain of the Cove knew him?!

  Windley gave the Captain a small salute before folding his arms and turning away. “Shall we get to that supply run?” He took Rafe’s sleeve, and the two of them absconded down the palace steps before I could so much as catch his eye. That stinker! He had been to the Cove before and hadn’t said anything the whole way here!?

  “We can reminisce about all of that later, Delagos.” Albie took a gander in my direction nervously. “What’s say we get our queens together at last?”

  Albie was a stinker too. Clearly, he was hiding something, and clearly it involved Windley. I wasn’t worried, though. I would get it out of one of them.

  I folded my hands and prepared to meet a new queen. It did seem a frivolous task, knowing that Beau was out there somewhere, under the confines of thugs, but I trusted that Albie would use the time wisely to prepare for our journey into the southern wilds.

  Even if he was keeping secrets.

  Chapter 7

  A Spider’s Tea

  The interior of the Cove’s castle was unlike anything I had expected. And not in a good way. I had visited five other castles in my life, each different from the next, and each fit for a queen in its own way. You could tell a lot from a ruler by her castle, I had come to learn. For instance, the castle of the Canyon was rustic, with the court’s favorite goats roaming the halls. That was because Queen Ashwind was bored easily and found solace in the unexpected. The Clearing’s castle was elegant and romantic and everything you would expect of a feminine queen like Beau. She kept a tidy palace because it satisfied her need for control. The castle of the Crystalline was the most extravagant, with crystal-embedded walls and sparkling chandeliers. Queen Esma was a lover of fine things and surrounded herself with lovely baubles to keep from feeling lonely.

  If each of these castles told something about its queen, then I demurred to learn what sort of vixen dwelled here.

  A stark contrast to the warm and animated city lying just outside the gates, the castle of the Cove was dark, vampiric and cold. Based on the exterior, I had expected an oceanic theme of sand and shells. Instead, expanses of glass and ironwork crawled through long, lonely halls with hard obsidian floors that reflected the domed ceilings, making it seem like there was an entirely second castle, underworld. Sharply pointed lanterns provided dull light through glass stained auburn. All was quiet, save for the hard echoes of our footsteps on the sleek floor.

  Captain Delagos pulled the latches of the throne room’s reluctant doors to reveal a long skinny chamber with a rib vaulted ceiling and arched windows with frosted glass. A spider’s lair, I was certain. At the back, roared a fire, illuminating the silhouette of a spired throne with a black velvet cushion, upon which sat the spider herself.

  Spider or not, she was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen, with shimmering silver hair that fell over her shoulders and to the ground in glossy strands like a shroud. Her skin was dark and even, her eyes piercing even at a distance. As we approached, I saw that they were icy blue. She wore a fitted gown of black lace and had long, pointed fingernails adorned with black lacquer and bits of crystal. Her lips too, were painted black with sparkling bits of crystal in her pout.

  “I present Queen Sestilia of the Cove,” Captain Delagos bellowed, throwing his hand out to show her off. It was unnecessary; Queen Sestilia was entrancing all on her own.

  By contrast, I felt severely underdressed and rather shabby. Thank goddess I had taken time to wipe the dirt from my cheeks. Just as proud as ever and not taking note of how underwhelming I was in this new queen’s presence, Albie took his turn to present me, to which the queen rose from her velvet pad.

  “Queen Merrin, I am thoroughly delighted to meet you.” She smiled beautifully.

  “And you as well,” I said, trying not to gape at the exquisite creature before me that was vastly different from the assumptions I had made upon first entering the Queendom of the Cove.

  “How about we leave the men to their diversions while you and I get acquainted?” she said dazzlingly.

  Delagos looked as though he had been waiting for such an invitation.

  “Yes, please go, and enjoy yourselves. I’ll be fine, Albie.” A bold-faced lie. The truth was I felt extremely uncomfortable in the spider queen’s presence, and I had no idea what I was to talk about with a girl of such clearly differing taste.

  “Come for tea in the library,” she said. “Do you like tiger spice? I’ll have it prepared.”

  “I’ve never had tiger spice, but I haven’t met a tea I didn’t like,” I said. Another brazen lie. There were many flavors of tea I disliked—tomato mint, cloudberry, and a weird concoction Beau once made out of acorns.

  With lace train dragging along the black mirrored floor, Sestilia led me to her library. I was naïve to have expected a messy, well-lived hovel like Mother Poppy’s. Sestilia’s was of similar fashion of the throne room, with vaulted ceilings and vampiric tendencies. Towering shelves sported rows of neat tomes and grimoires that appeared unread. Most peculiar was a large picture frame missing its portrait in the center of the back wall.

  Sestilia situated herself at a wrought iron table where a maid had set out tea and cakes.

  I handled the painted teacup and took an inhale of the aromatic fumes. I couldn’t place the scent nor the taste. “Mmm. Nippy. And sweet?” Whatever it was: “It’s good.” This time, I was telling the truth.

  “Isn’t it?” Sestilia clinked her long nails against her glass and bored her striking eyes into mine. “I really am delighted to have you here, Merrin, even if only for a night. You’re the first queen who has come to visit since I took the throne.”

  “I don’t imagine it’s for lack of want,” I said. “It’s only because your queendom is a far journey for most. We’re always sending others to do our bidding.”

  “Indeed,” she said, taking a sip of her tea. She managed to do so without disrupting the crystals stuck to her lips. “Delagos tells me you’re on an excursion to find wares for an upcoming festival?”

  That was the cover anyway.

  “Yes, an annual celebration of the gilded moon. It’s a substantial affair in our realm. My guards and I are out procuring trinkets to sell at the queens’ tent.”

  “Charming that you’ve deigned to do so yourself.” She took another sip of her tea.

  I wasn’t positive, but I sen
sed a bit of snark in that last comment. But when I studied her further, she shot me a dazzling smile.

  “Tell me something, Sestilia. Your castle seems of a different bravura than the rest of the city. Is there a reason for that?”

  “Goodness yes! Thank you for noticing. I have been doing my best to fix the wretched thing. Once I’m finished, I’ll move on to the city.”

  I nearly choked on a mouthful of tiger spice. The city was not the thing in need of fixing.

  “You see, I’m trying to undo my predecessor’s poor taste.” She motioned to the empty portrait frame on the wall behind her.

  “Your predecessor decorated with empty frames?”

  She let out a laugh like windchimes. “Goodness no! I suppose you wouldn’t know, but that is where her portrait once hung, my sister, the trueborn heir.”

  “Oh, did something happen to her?” It must have for Sestilia to have ascended the throne.

  “She plummeted from her bedroom window and landed on the sharp spikes below.” The beautiful girl took a sip of her tea as though she had just told me what her favorite kind of flower was or the name of her favorite pet.

  “I-I’m sorry?”

  Her teacup scraped against its saucer as she set them both down. “Don’t be. She was, quite frankly, a bitch.” And there was that goddess-damned diamond-like smile again.

  “Oh, if she was a bitch, then I suppose it’s okay,” I muttered into my tea. That was sarcasm, of course, but Sestilia didn’t read it as such.

  And that would turn out to be a lethal misunderstanding.

  “Splendid!” She stood and clapped. “You understand! So few do. Ah, Merrin. I feel that we shall become great friends!”

  No. No, no, no, no, no. That was the opposite of what I wanted to happen, actually.

  From there, it only got worse.

  After tea, the spider queen escorted me for a tour of her entire web, looping her arm through mine and resting her head against my shoulder at will. I did my best to make small talk, but it was challenging amidst the signs of lunacy that began to reveal themselves at an alarming rate. “I really enjoy the imperfections in the paint. See it there? How the droplets look like blood?” Or: “Have you ever killed anything, Merrin?” And even: “Isn’t it lovely to watch things crackle and burn? When I burned my sister’s portrait, it was almost as if she were in the flames herself.”

  Sestilia didn’t pick up on sarcasm, and my mistake was continually offering it until she thought I was as sadistic as she.

  After an hour of this, I had heard enough to know that this excursion was a waste of effort. There was no use fostering relations with a mad queen.

  I regretted the lost time that could have been spent pursuing Beau and only hoped that Albie would be able to make up for it by securing intel from the Captain.

  Through the dark stretching halls, I prayed for an interruption, something or someone else to divert the mad queen’s attention. Alas, the guards and maids scurried when they heard us coming, leaving only the rebound of their shoes against the polished floor.

  “Ugh. They’re so annoying, aren’t they?” Sestilia chimed in my ear. “Like rats.”

  “Yeah, not like real people with thoughts and feelings, huh?”

  “Exactly.” She giggled.

  Goddess save me.

  I had told Albie to go off and enjoy his time, so he and Delagos were likely deep in a barrel of reminiscence. Wherever Windley and Rafe were, they were taking their sweet time too. With each pass of the main hall, I hoped for salvation.

  At last it came, but not from any of my guard. One of Sestilia’s handmaids mustered the courage to approach. “I have prepared rooms for our guests, My Queen. On the fourth floor.” The maid didn’t meet her queen’s icy gaze.

  I didn’t blame her.

  Sestilia took my hands. “Isn’t it wonderful? Queen Merrin and I have become the best of friends.”

  Untrue. That title was reserved for Beau. The maid judged me up and down warily, as I pled silently with her not to associate me with her ruler’s psychosis, but it was no use. Surely, I was doomed to be marked a mad queen too.

  “Additionally,” the maid continued, “the Queen of the Crag’s guard has returned and await you in the foyer.”

  Thank heavens. I could have run and embraced the both of them as they perused the vestibule’s eerie appearance, toting satchels of supplies. At the same time, I wanted to smack the both of them for taking so long while I struggled alone in the spider’s lair. I brisk-walked up to Windley and whispered between my teeth: “Never leave my side again.”

  The corner of his mouth twitched into a grin—most likely reveling in my discomfort.

  Ass.

  But then he placed his hand on the small of my back in a way he never had before—a way that felt a bit forbidden. I shot him sidelong glance and he smiled to himself before letting his hand fall away.

  Was he dallying with me?

  Upon Sestilia’s grand entrance, however, his interest shifted from one queen’s turmoil to another’s perfect lips and silky stole of hair. She made for a stunning sight.

  Before I could even introduce them, Sestilia clasped her hands below her chin with obvious glee. “You have a Spirite? How delightful!”

  There was that word again: Spirite. Was Windley’s kind actually common down here?

  That aside, she phrased it as if he belonged to me. As if Windley would ever allow anyone to own him. The devil himself didn’t acknowledge the comment but took a bow, as was expected when greeting royalty, though he didn’t take a particularly deep one. The bare minimum was his style unless he was playing at garish.

  Sestilia turned to me, imploring, “Might I borrow him tonight? To play with?”

  Play?

  Windley didn’t move, only slipped me an oblique look and waited for me to answer on his behalf. Nothing out of him? He wasn’t going to take every opportunity to ‘play’ with a girl as beautiful and forward as she? Probably because he could sense the danger underneath.

  Given who we were dealing with, the spider queen could have meant two things by her proposition—one pleasurable, one painful. Or a combination of the two.

  Most likely a combination of the two.

  If I wanted Windley alive and unscathed for our early morning departure, I had better dissuade her. “I’m afraid that isn’t up to me. He’s on loan from another queen,” I said.

  Sestilia swooped her laced gown and marched up to us. She took the scarf around Windley’s neck and used it to tug him forward. “That means it’s up to him,” she said, inching her face close to his before abruptly stopping and turning to me: “Unless you intend to? Do you like to play with him, Merrin?”

  Had I anything in my throat, I would have choked. “Yes! I definitely do. Both of them, actually. And probably too often.”

  Her smile started small, a diamond missing its shine, before creeping slowly into brilliance across her face. “You and I are practically the same person, Merrin!”

  A horrible judge of character, but at least she felt validated in her own right. Her ego protected her from seeing the truth that we were, in fact, nothing alike.

  “You three must be tired,” said Sestilia, giving up on pursuing Windley. “Why don’t you go and get settled? I’ll have the help fetch you when dinner’s ready.”

  A thousand times, yes. We wasted no time departing.

  Up the stairs, Windley trotted to my side, the tips of his hair beginning to shift from sunny yellow to russet. “How was your time with the queen?” he said.

  “Besides the fact that it was terrifying and I’m pretty sure she heaved her own sister over a balcony?” This, I said quietly so as not to give any gossip to the steward leading us to our rooms. Somehow, I had earned the mad queen’s favor, and I intended to keep on her good side, lest I find myself heaved from a balcony of my own.

  The theory was enough to pique even Rafe’s curiosity. “Is that what she told you?”

  “In not so m
any words.”

  “I can see it,” said Windley. “It seems you may have found a bigger, badder lion than yourself, Queen Merrin. Careful to not get bitten.”

  Good, he was back to himself. And good on him for seeing beyond a beauty that was the epitome of skin deep.

  “I’m pretty sure if anyone’s getting bitten here, it’s you,” I told him, relieved that he wasn’t still upset with me from our moment outside the mercer’s shop, and for lack of a better term, that he was in a playful mood. “And I’m not even sure she’s a lion. Something deadlier. Something that hides its fangs.”

  “Too bad you came to my rescue.” Windley licked one of his own fangs. “It was certain to have been either the best or worst night of my life.”

  “I can still arrange it if you’d like.”

  He rested his elbow on my shoulder in the way he liked to do. “Yeah, no. I’m good.”

  In truth, this was all a lovely distraction from the real reason we were down in these parts, and now that we were away from the spider queen, that fact began weighing on me. “Hey, Windley?” I said as we continued to our rooms through the hellish castle.

  “Mm?”

  “You know the widowbirds we sent to the Clearing for backup?” I said.

  “Mm-hm.”

  “They probably would have arrived that first day, right? And the cavalry would have set off immediately. Even if we stopped here or there, they would have continued on, right? So even if we… I mean, a stop like this… There are others that may reach Beau first.”

  Windley removed his arm from my shoulder and peered at me with traces of sorrow in his eyes. “Yes, the others will ride through the night and search high and low until they find the lost queen. Even if we fail, they will succeed.”

  Good. That was exactly what I needed to hear. My uncertainty turned to resolve. We weren’t doing nothing. There were other forces out in the world seeking to find her too. Lovely, perfect Beau was too valuable to hurt or kill; and one night in the spider queen’s lair wouldn’t determine her fate.

  “Hear that, Rafe?” If I didn’t make a conscious effort to include him, the unsocial guard would stay silent for hours until we forgot he was even there. I offered him a hopeful smile over my shoulder but was surprised to see him donning an expression similar to Windley’s. “Rafe, are you upset?”