by Nissa Leder
The woman swam to her and placed a necklace made of seashells over her head. Once it was around her neck, the need to breathe vanished. The woman grabbed Scarlett’s wrist and took off toward the bottom of the ocean.
Scarlett kicked her legs as if she was swimming on her own. It probably didn’t do much good, but it felt better to pretend she was contributing rather than being pulled.
Deeper and deeper the mermaid pulled her. She could no longer see the light of the surface, but it wasn’t dark around her either. Did the necklace keep her from needing to breathe and allow her to see in the depths of the sea?
Soon, light below caught her attention. As they drew closer, it became a dome surrounded by coral of many colors, lit by whatever was inside. Closer, she saw there were buildings beneath the dome’s shell.
The mermaid didn’t slow, yanking Scarlett with her as she headed directly for the dome. What would happen if they hit it full force? Scarlett tensed, ready for the worst. But instead of colliding with it, they went right through as if it were air, and she released Scarlett.
Now free to move as she wished, Scarlet treaded in place and looked around her. It looked as if they were in a small room of some sort. Suddenly, the water began draining and before long, she was standing on the floor.
But what about the mermaid? Didn’t they need water to breathe?
When Scarlett found her, she was shocked.
The woman faced away from her as she grabbed something from a hook on the wall. No longer did she have a fin. Now, two legs and a naked butt were in its place.
She slipped the black fabric she’d grabbed from the wall over her head and pulled it down. It was a dress. Then she turned to Scarlett and said. “Welcome to the Underwater City.
“I’m Nelly,” the once-mermaid said in English as she rang the water out of her hair. “You did surprisingly well for your first time here. Most of the time, land creatures scream like babies.”
Scarlett hadn’t expected to hear her native language from the woman and, for a moment, it kept her speechless.
Her soaked clothes clung to her skin. She was going to do her best to dry them by hand until she remembered her magic. She pictured the water leaving her clothes and it did, dripping to the ground.
“Impressive.” Nelly adjusted her dress.
Somehow she’d been pulled deep into the ocean into a seemingly normal city. Under the water. Without needing air. She still wore the necklace and wasn’t breathing.
“Do I need this?” she asked, pointing to the necklace.
“No.” Nelly approached her and pulled it off over her neck.
Scarlett’s lungs began pumping again. Weird.
The room around them was made of different types of stone. The floor resembled marble, while the walls were darker with sparkles in them. Some type of vents lined the outside floor. Was that where all the water had gone?
“This way.” Nelly walked to the door at the far end of the room.
Scarlett followed her down a spiral staircase that had to be the equivalent of three flights of human stairs. At times, she paused. Going too quickly made her dizzy.
When they reached the bottom and stepped out of the stairwell, Scarlett almost couldn’t believe her eyes.
Bright colored buildings lined streets of golden cobblestone. Most of the shops were a few stories tall with unique rooflines. Doors of equally bright colors contrasted against the paint of the outsides. Yellow against blue. Orange against teal. The colors reminded Scarlett of the coral that surrounded the domed city.
People walked down the streets, all dressed in brightly colored fashion. There were tables set outside of restaurants where people ate food and visited with friends. Scarlett overheard a conversation about the night’s event and lucking out to find a seat. A large window showcased mannequins dressed in clothing for sale inside. Despite the more vivid color scheme, the place felt oddly human.
“This place is magnificent,” Scarlett said.
Nelly didn’t turn back, but replied, “Our people aren’t ones for boring.”
“I’ll say.” Scarlett hurried to catch up, constantly catching herself lingering to look around.
They approached a tall, cathedral-like building. Four turrets filled its corners and a large dome sat on its top. Unlike the other buildings which were all painted boldly, this building was the same golden color of the streets. But to keep it from being plain, it was adorned with magenta stained glass windows.
From afar, it had seemed huge. But up close, it was gigantic. The double doors opened as the approached.
Inside also felt like a cathedral. The outside color carried through to the interior. They walked up an aisle with benches on either side and beyond, to a platform area. Instead of a podium that Scarlett would have expected to see if she attended mass, they approached a throne with a man sitting in it.
His cropped, dark hair accentuated his sharp jaw line. A golden crown rested atop his head. He watched Scarlett, tilting his head back and forth as if assessing her. His eyes lingered on her tattoos.
“Ahhh, the land queen,” he said with a nod. “Welcome to our city.”
Scarlett, still in the mortal outfit, bowed. It didn’t seem fitting to curtsy in jeans.
Whatever she was expecting, it wasn’t this. As they’d made their way to the cathedral, visions of a Poseidon-like man had circulated in her mind. Long, wavy hair, no shirt, with broad shoulders and a rippling chest. This king had the flawless features she’d come to expect in the otherworldly creatures she encountered, but his frame was average. Although she couldn’t be sure since he remained seated, she doubted he was any taller than she was. Unlike her predictions, he was fully clothed in a black suit and red bowtie.
“I’ve come—” she started, but he held up a hand.
“Please. We can discuss your reasons later. For now, you need to be cleaned up. That,” he gestured to her outfit, “is hideous. My daughter, Nelly, will take you to find something more appropriate to wear.”
Scarlett wasn’t sure what to say.
“And Nelly, dear, do something with her hair,” he added with pressed eyebrows.
“Of course,” Nelly replied.
“Oh, wait.” He held up his index finger and tilted his head. “What’s your name?”
“Scarlett.”
“Nice to meet you, Scarlett.” He stood, placed his hand on his torso, and bowed. “I will have a dinner prepared for us where we can enjoy our time as we chat.”
“This way.” Nelly beckoned her to follow.
Scarlett, unsure of exactly what she’d gotten herself into, had no choice but to oblige.
Chapter Fifteen
Cade watched the Winter Guard line up in the forest outside of the Spring Court in armor so pale, it almost looked white. Bright green leaves filled many of the trees here. Evergreens mingled with fully bloomed maples, oaks, and other deciduous trees with deeply colored leaves which represented the core of the Spring Court: life.
Behind the Winter Guard, Autumn soldiers readied their bows and daggers in fighting leathers in various shades of the earth.
A warm breeze flowed through the air, blowing petals off of the bushes ahead, outlining the high Spring Court fence. Cade and Poppy stood behind Nevina and Ajax who waited behind the Fates. As much as Cade didn’t want to come, he couldn’t think of a good enough reason for him and Poppy to remain behind. He’d volunteered the Summer Guard to remain further into the forest to protect anyone from attacking from behind, hoping his army wouldn’t need to get involved.
Nevina questioned how anyone could predict where they would go into the forest if they somehow actually got past their attack, but the Fates agreed it was better to be cautious.
Cade kept his breath as even as he could. No one could read his thoughts, but if they listened, they could hear his heartbeat, and he didn’t need any reason for suspicion.
Morta turned and said something to Nevina, who lifted her arm and snapped her finger, beginning the W
inter Guard’s march ahead.
Cade and the other royals waited as the Winter Guard passed them and strode ahead in unison toward the tall iron fence surrounding the Spring Court. Each fence post was adorned with a large gemstone, from rubies to emeralds to topaz, all fortifying the perimeter with Spring magic. Two guards stood outside the gate and, upon seeing the army marching toward them, one grabbed a horn from behind him and blew it.
The guards drew their power from the gemstones built into their armor and threw balls of energy at the oncoming attack. A few of the Winter Guard went down, but there were too many for the Spring guards to handle alone. When the Winter Commander whistled, the front row of the guard all simultaneously shot out strands of ice that crawled up the fence posts straight to the gemstones. After the ice enveloped the gems, the commander gave another whistle and the guards flicked their wrists. A surge shot through the strands of ice straight to the gemstones, which all shattered.
The Spring Court had not been expecting an attack, leaving them grossly unprepared. With the guards distracted, Nevina threw two ice spears directly into their necks. With nothing left to protect the Spring Castle, they attacked.
Breaking through the unguarded gates was easy. The Winter Guard went first, followed by the Autumn soldiers and lastly, the rulers and the Fates.
Cade had insisted Poppy remain close to him. She had rolled her yes, but agreed. He likely needn’t have asked it of her. As much as he wanted to keep her safe, he knew her only priority would be to protect him.
Once they’d passed the gates, they entered a large courtyard filled with flowers. The Autumn Court was the most closely aligned with nature, able to draw its magic from plant life of any kind. Spring, on the other hand, could only use bloomed flowers.
To cut off the courtyard as a power source for Spring, the Autumn soldiers sucked the life from all of the flowers. Their bright bulbs drained of color and withered, filling the soldiers full of magic.
One of the main reasons Cade claimed it was wise to leave the Summer Guard behind was because Summer magic was least effective against Spring. Both warm season courts, neither possessed any strong power against one another. It meant Summer was less likely to harm Spring, making his request an easy one for the Fates and Nevina to agree to.
Once they reached the second border—a half-sized fence covered in now withered morning glory—the havoc began.
Civilian Spring Fae screamed as they ran from the Winter and Autumn soldiers. The Spring guards had been able to sound off the warning horn, but their soldiers hadn’t shown up yet.
At first, none of the Winter or Autumn soldiers paid much attention to the Spring fae retreating back to the castle, but after the Winter Commander gave another whistle, the Winter Guard attacked the civilians.
Horror struck Cade as he looked at Poppy, her face as appalled and full of shock as he felt inside. Even Ajax seemed shocked. Cade waited to see if he would give a similar command, but he didn’t.
Moments later, the Spring Army appeared. Some were decked out in full armor, others wore nothing but necklaces of gemstones. With all the flowers withered, the gems were their only source of magic.
As the Winter and Autumn soldiers fought, Nevina, Ajax, and the Fates continued forward toward the castle. Cade and Poppy followed. Before he and Poppy passed through the gates of the half-fence, something caught his attention.
A Winter Guard lifted his sword above a young fae girl on the verge of adulthood. She held her hands up in desperate defense.
Why were the Winter soldiers instructed to hurt the innocent? It made no sense. They’d come to secure the Spring Queen’s allegiance. Killing civilians was unneeded.
As the soldier struck his sword down, a ball of Summer energy shot from Cade’s hand straight through the soldier’s heart. As he crumpled to the ground, Cade froze. What had he just done? He scanned the area, fearful one of the other soldiers had seen. Thankfully, all the rulers had continued ahead and the guards were all busy fighting.
To his relief, no one else seemed to have noticed.
Except for Poppy, who stared at him, gaping.
“Are you trying to get us killed?” she asked as she grabbed his arm and pulled him forward.
“No. I…” He wasn’t sure what to say.
He glanced at the girl, who looked at him with gratitude in her eyes.
“Run. Get out of here and never speak of this,” Poppy told her.
The girl pushed herself up and, without a glance back, sprinted away.
A loud whistle followed by a horn blast interrupted their conversation.
All the soldiers stopped.
Cade and Poppy hurried to catch up to the other rulers.
Ahead, the Spring Queen stood on the porch of the castle. She glanced around and took in everything that had happened. “What have you done?”
“We warned you,” Morta said as she approached. “There is no way out of this war. You’re either on our side or against it.”
The Spring Queen dropped to her knees and buried her face in her hands. When she lifted her head, tears dripped down her cheeks. “Please stop this. We will join you.” She dipped her chin in fealty.
Morta spoke to the crowd. “The Spring Court is now part of Ankou’s Army. Any who dare defy us will pay. There are no second chances.” With that, Morta created a sword made of shadow and sliced it down through the Spring Queen’s neck.
Her head, now perfectly severed from her body, fell to the ground and rolled. Her once cinnamon skin turned gray.
The Spring Advisor screamed in shock, her aura full of rage.
Within a blink, Decuma evanesced behind her. She wrapped her arm around and, using a small silver dagger, sliced her throat. The deceased advisor crumpled to the ground, wide-eyed. The horror in her stare lived on.
No one dared speak.
There was no room for mistake. If anyone learned of Cade’s lack of allegiance to the Fates or their father, he would die.
Sage had done what she’d needed and warned the Woodland Tribe. Leaving should have been easy, but every step she took away from the campground felt heavy. She knew it wasn’t the tribe itself that pulled her so strongly. Though she cared for all of her sisters—minus, perhaps, Tamara—Vienna called to her the most.
She had been Sage’s first love and that love was what had given Sage the strength to leave the first time. Nothing had changed. There was no hope for them to be together without risk of Vienna’s position as queen being questioned. Sage hadn’t thought anything could have been more difficult than leaving the first time, but somehow, this time was harder.
Tamara had seen them. There was no room for hesitation. Sage could only hope that by leaving, Tamara would follow her orders to keep what she saw a secret.
With a deep breath, Sage pushed further into the forest, back to the portal she’d taken from the Unseelie Court to get there. Unlike last time when she’d left the tribe for the unknown, her family waited for her now.
When the night had almost set in, Sage took the portal back to the world of eternal darkness. Once in the Unseelie Court, she evanesced in front of the palace. Thanks to Aria’s protective spells, only those who had been given permission could evanesce from outside the palace walls. And thankfully, that included Sage.
She went straight to the room her mother and sister had been staying in on the third floor. After being back in the Autumn Forest, the bold decorations of the palace seemed even more odd to her than they had before. The bright colors and perfect, square lines were so unnatural. She preferred the warmth the earth tones offered.
When she knocked on the door, her mother answered. The Autumn Queen pulled Sage into a hug. “You’re back.” She squeezed Sage tightly.
Sage wrapped her arms around her mother and held her. “Of course.”
When she went into the room, she saw Willow and Declan sitting on the couch in the corner.
Willow hopped up and practically leaped to her sister. After they hugged, she return
ed to Declan and said, “He’s healing very quickly. The brownies have been bringing him food all day long. I think they love him.”
The love between the two couldn’t be denied. Their bodies leaned into one another’s, and not five seconds would pass without them gazing at each other.
Her mother sat in a chair with perfect posture as she always did, but instead of the calm, confident aura Sage remembered her mother having before, sadness radiated around her. Her gaze faced downward at her hands folded in her lap. Not only had she lost her husband, but it had been her only son who murdered him. Sage had never been close to Ajax. She saw his rashness and arrogance. What else could have been expected in a court where men were put on pedestals? He was the only real heir to the throne and had been raised to know his importance. But as his mother, the Autumn Queen had always seen the best in him. She’d always encouraged he and Sage to get along.
What did she think now?
As hard as it had been to leave the Woodland Tribe, Sage knew this was where she needed to be. This family needed her.
Willow told Sage more about their time so far at the Unseelie Court. The strange décor and way of life had grown on her. She and Declan would take strolls under the stars in the middle of the day and it seemed they both had the brownies wrapped around their pinkies.
As Willow caught Sage up on everything she’d learned about the Unseelie Court, Aria entered the room with a bowl of herbs. She grinned when she noticed Sage. “Welcome back.”
“Glad to be here,” Sage said.
After leaving the Woodland Tribe the first time, Sage doubted she could ever feel the same feelings she felt for Vienna for someone else. And although she was still getting to know Aria, she couldn’t deny the connection she felt to her.
Willow glanced between them and smirked. “Declan should get some fresh air. Would you want to go on a walk with us, mother?”
“Of course,” their mother said.