Dreamless

by Jenniffer Wardell

  Ariadne flinched at that, the reaction too sharp and immediate to be successfully hidden. It took a few extra beats for her to respond. “Does it matter?”

  Next to Elena, the burst of her mother’s tension felt like the moment just before a lightning strike. “How dare you say those words to me after everything that’s happened between us?” the queen snapped, rising to her feet. She didn’t shout, but each word still seemed painfully loud. “As if the last eighteen years were nothing more than a messy technical detail you didn’t want to bother explaining to a client.”

  Ariadne didn’t answer, her head still bowed. Elena tensed, torn between shaking some kind of response out of the woman and staying silent, letting her mother keep the reins of the conversation.

  A second later, her mother decided for her. “Ariadne!” The pain in her voice scraped at Elena, who pushed it deeper under the cold. “Answer me!”

  Her aunt jerked upright as if yanked, and for the briefest second the look on her face was as naked and bloody as an open wound. “I thought she was dead!”

  The silence that fell after that was so thick that Elena could almost feel the weight of it. She glanced over at her mother, who was staring at Ariadne as if she’d never seen her before, then met Cam’s eyes before she’d even realized she’d done it. He gave her an almost imperceptible nod, as if saying he was ready to follow whatever lead she chose to give him.

  It was, Elena would reflect later, far more reassuring than it probably should have been.

  She stood, attempting to project command with every line of her body. “Explain.”

  Ariadne’s gaze snapped to Elena’s, a dozen different emotions chasing each other across her aunt’s eyes. Then the older woman clamped them shut, once again forcing her control back into place. “The curse was designed to slow down a person’s bodily functions to a point near death. In an adult, the result would be a timed coma. In a child that had only begun his or her development, however, it seemed likely that the effects—” The word caught, ever so briefly. “that the effects would be fatal.”

  “They nearly were,” Illiana bit out, the words icy enough to burn. For her mother’s sake, Elena hoped no one else had recognized the faint tremor behind them. She knew she should be horrified by the implication of what had almost happened to her, but she was cold enough now to be numb to anything.

  Ariadne flinched again, her newly-regained control already cracking and breaking. She took a step forward. “Ana, I—”

  Everything happened at once. The queen flinched at the pet name, recoiling as if she’d been physically hit. Elena stepped forward, wanting to deflect Ariadne’s attention away from her mother. Cam’s arm shot out to block Ariadne’s path, suggesting he’d do far more if she tested him. Her aunt whipped her head around to glare at Cam, her anger flaring wildly, and Elena started gathering her magic for a protective strike.

  Ariadne’s gaze snapped back around to face Elena, and she realized that the older woman had sensed the beginning stages in the spell. Elena stared her down, keeping the magic ready in a clear sign that she was more than willing to strike, if necessary.

  “How much training have you had?” Ariadne asked.

  It was such an absurd question, given the situation, and Elena could practically feel the anger rise up from both her mother and Cam. The chill inside her own chest, however, simply wanted all of this to be over. She needed this woman away from the people she cared about. “Why were you remotely accessing the spell?”

  It was easier for Ariadne to regain her control, this time. “I only recently returned to this region, and it was soon after that I discovered you were still alive.” She kept her gaze fixed on Elena, her voice as devoid of emotion as she could make it. “As time passed, I became more and more convinced that I needed to at least attempt to undo what I had done. Since I doubted I would be allowed access to you, I attempted to work remotely.”

  Elena knew the story couldn’t really be that simple, but the truth was that everything Ariadne said was suspect. “How do we know you’re not going to simply cause more damage if we give you access to the curse?”

  Ariadne hesitated, as if her voice had failed her. “What further harm could I do?” Then she took a deep breath, slowly letting it out again. “I allowed your soldiers to bring me here because I need assistance. I didn’t build a solid foundation for the curse because I never meant for it to be undone. The calculated instability of the curse was another defense—if someone tried to untangle it, it would collapse and cause even more damage. I need as many skilled hands as possible to help me hold everything together while I unwind it.”

  Elena watched her, thinking about her mother’s reaction to Ariadne’s attempts to manipulate the spell. “Did you know that breaching the shields would make you sick as well?”

  For a second, it looked as though Ariadne was going to argue. Then she bit the words back. “No. I hadn’t known.” She sounded tired now, which Elena trusted more than the guilt. “I need both of you for that reason alone. There are no records of curses set through the blood bond. No precedents. If all three of us aren’t in the circle when we break through into the heart of the curse, I truly don’t know what will happen.”

  That seemed like a truth that was impossible to doubt or argue with. Elena glanced at her mother for confirmation, then spoke for them both. “Fine. We’ll work together to clean up your mess, but know that you are here as a prisoner, not a guest.” When Ariadne opened her mouth to speak, Elena lifted a hand to stop her. “Once everything’s been prepared, we’ll set up the spell circle. It will include the three of us, as well as another sorcerer and one of the original magic mirrors. Before that happens, you will give us all the information you have on the curse’s construction and your plan of attack. We’ll have them independently verified before we hold the circle.”

  That wasn’t precisely true. Braeth was better at looking for magical traps than the rest of them, but what she really wanted him to do was help them understand the situation from as many angles as possible. She profoundly disliked surprises, and knowing all the possible alternatives would make it less likely that something would rise out of the darkness and bite her. Or, more precisely, yank her back down into the darkness with it.

  It took a moment before her aunt responded. “I’ll do what I can. I work more by instinct than specific procedure, so I unfortunately can’t make any assurances on how comprehensive my initial round of notes will be. My documentation process has always been haphazard, at best.” She paused. “If I could take another look at the curse to refresh my memory—”

  Elena cut Ariadne off with a shake of her head. They had accepted that this was the wisest course of action, but they weren’t about to trust her yet. “We look together or not at all.”

  Ariadne hesitated, as if weighing further argument. Next to Elena, the queen’s fingers clenched. “Do not test us on this, Ariadne.”

  Her aunt’s expression went blank again, and after a single frozen heartbeat she lifted her bound hands. Her gaze stayed firmly away from her sister’s, as if catching even a glimpse of the queen would somehow be fatal. “It’s difficult to write like this.”

  Elena motioned to Cam, and he used a key to unlock the connector between the two cuffs. Ariadne’s hands could separate now, but the cuff around each wrist would still keep her from using magic. “We’ll remove the cuffs before we cast the circle,” Elena said. “Until then, keeping your magic locked away is the wisest course of action for everyone.”

  Ariadne hands never moved to her newly freed wrists. Her every movement was careful, as if designed not to startle. “Everyone?”

  Elena kept her voice even. “It removes any temptation you might have to cause us concern. If you have any value for your continued health, you’ll agree that this is the wisest course of action for you as well.”

  Rather than seem at all threatened, Ariadne gave her a t
houghtful look. “I have a feeling you would have made a magnificent evil sorceress,” she said, her voice carrying shades of fascination, pride and even wistfulness. “I suspect I would have enjoyed training you.” Then, knowing the value of a good closing line as much as any evil sorceress, she turned to Cam. “I presume it’s your responsibility to show me to my room?”

  Cam’s gaze went to Elena, making it obvious that he wasn’t about to go anywhere without word from her, and she nodded. He hesitated for a beat longer, worry for her shining in his eyes, then he turned and ushered Ariadne out of the room. Slowly, Elena and her mother sat down.

  Bishop was the first to break the silence, resting a hand on her mother’s shoulder. “I take it Braeth completed the containment spells on her room last night?”

  At the contact, the tension in the queen’s body eased ever so slightly. “He used his entire repertoire, three of which are no longer approved by the Council.” She lifted a hand to cover Bishop’s. “I told him the Council would never have to know.”

  Elena closed her eyes, wondering if she should put in some deliberate effort to try and push the cold aside. Even as she had the thought, a part of her knew it wasn’t practical—she would need it again the next time they spoke to Ariadne. It was one of her strongest defense mechanisms, and her body had decided it couldn’t be lowered yet. It made sense to listen to it, even her fingers felt cold.

  “Elena.” Her mother reached across the space between them, hand wrapping around her daughter’s as if she had somehow heard that last thought. “Forgive me. I should have never put you in that position.”

  “As if I would have left you to deal with her alone.” The warmth from the contact seeped into Elena, almost too much. But she clung to it. “There’s something she’s not telling us.”

  The queen’s expression darkened, making it clear that she had recognized the same thing. Then she shook her head. “It doesn’t matter,” she said firmly, lifting her daughter’s hand to press a kiss against it. “I would make a deal with a castle full of devils if it would mean saving you.”

  Elena squeezed her mother’s hand, something hot and painful moving deep in her chest. Even the chill inside her couldn’t seem to touch it. “As if I would leave you alone to deal with them, either.”

  Memory

  Early winter, 19 years ago

  “I know you feel like you need to be thorough, Ana, but this is getting ridiculous.” Ariadne threw her hands in the air, giving them an extra little flourish for dramatic effect. Her tower was far more of a mess than it had been, now that Illiana was no longer here to clean up after her sister. “Just grab the man’s blood and let me finish this! I’ll curse him before he has any chance of catching you.”

  Illiana’s hands were held tight behind her back, though it was entirely possible Ariadne wouldn’t have noticed the way her fingers were clenching. She had been reporting by mirror for a month now, hoping to delay this particular meeting for as long as possible. Unfortunately, no delay tactic lasted forever. “It’s more complicated than that, Ari. There are a lot of factors I need to account for.”

  Ariadne made an exasperated noise, pushing through the papers on a table as if looking for something. “You don’t always have to double check everything, Ana. You’ll never make a proper evil sorceress if you insist on obsessing every single little detail.”

  That hadn’t been what Illiana meant, but she’d known her sister would interpret it like that. It wouldn’t have occurred to Ariadne that her studious, obedient little sister would do anything that might be worrying enough to spy on. It was trust, in a way, and more than Ari gave anyone else.

  Thinking of it twisted Illiana’s stomach. But the thought of Thomas, the animation in his face shut down by her sister’s curse, broke her heart.

  “Besides, the client keeps coming around asking me how far along we are, and there are only so many times you can threaten a man.” Her nose wrinkled briefly in distaste. “If he comes around again, I’ll have to turn him into a frog and lose the commission on principle.”

  Illiana leapt on the comment, crossing her sister’s workroom as she spoke. “Actually, that might be a smart idea. You’ll get the reputation as being ruthless, and if we tell King Randall what the cousin was planning he’ll probably pay you double.”

  She’d tried to keep her voice as calm and disinterested-sounding as possible, but Ariadne’s gaze snapped to Illiana. Her older sister narrowed her eyes. “Where is this coming from?”

  Illiana froze in place. Nerves caught in her throat, but she forced her breathing to stay slow and even. “It just makes sense.” She’d worked through a dozen different possibilities for this conversation, and this was the only one that hadn’t ended in complete disaster. “An evil sorceress of your caliber shouldn’t have to put up with a client annoying her like this. If we get King Randall to reward you, you’ll teach your old client a lesson and still get paid.”

  Ariadne straightened, turning to face her sister fully. “I don’t get rewarded. I take what I want.”

  “Then we won’t bother with King Randall.” Illiana said each word with careful precision, as if they were runes she was inscribing in a circle. “Just turn the client into your animal of choice and take his money. If you wanted to, you could even turn the curse back on him.”

  Ariadne seemed to actually consider this, but then she shook her head. “No. It’s unprofessional.” A gleam lit in her eye. “Besides, a king is a far more worthy target for my skills than some ridiculous second cousin. Anyone and his troll can curse a pathetic hanger-on.”

  Panic pushed her further than her normal caution would have allowed. “We can find you a better target! Thomas’s kingdom is so small it’s hardly worth worrying about.” She took a step toward her sister. “Please, Ari. Let’s find you something better.”

  Ariadne stared at her little sister in complete astonishment. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you be that passionate about anything,” she said, surprise melting away into interest. “Once we’ve finished this, maybe we can—”

  Suddenly, Ariadne cut off whatever else she’d been about to say. Silence fell for a full thirty seconds, just long enough for Illiana to realize the mistake she’d made. When Ariadne spoke again, her voice was ice cold. “You called him Thomas.”

  The knot inside Illiana’s stomach tightened to the point of pain. But her sister clearly wasn’t in the mood for mercy. “That’s his name.”

  “Which you hadn’t used at any previous point in the conversation.” Despite the chill remaining in her voice, anger was a simmering heat in Ariadne’s eyes. “You were trying to con me, sister dear.”

  “No, I was trying to find a way out of this for all of us.” Illiana took another step forward, no longer trying to hide the plea in her voice. “I didn’t want to just throw myself at you sobbing. But there are options—“

  “I have tried for ages to get you more involved in the work. Ages.” Ariadne’s anger had a hard edge to it, meant to cut, and Illiana took a step back without even realizing she’d done it. “I sent you out alone on this assignment to prove how much faith I had in your abilities.”

  “You sent me on that assignment because you hate doing the grunt work.” Hearing the resentment in her own voice, Illiana pushed the feeling aside as quickly as possible. “I’m not asking you to abandon the case, Ariadne. Just change it!”

  “Why? Because you’ve taken pity on some stupid helpless puppy of a king?” Ariadne’s fingers moved, and Illiana realized to her horror that her sister was gathering magic. “Do you really think he cares about a little mouse like you? He’s a noble, just like Mother and Father! You know as well as I do you’ll never be enough for any of them!”

  The words gouged, just as they undoubtedly meant to. “You don’t know anything about him!” she snapped back, gathering her own magic. “You just decided he should be hurt because some sniveling li
ttle client came along and waved visions of glory in front of your face!”

  Ariadne’s eyes widened, full of shock and betrayal. “I’ve told you about those visions for years! How dare you suggest that little toad had anything to do with it!” Rage flared, along with a faint glow around Ariadne’s hand. “I refuse to let you ruin both our lives just because your useless heart has finally figured out how to overpower your mind. Now go back there and get me the blood I need!”

  When Illiana didn’t move, Ariadne lifted her hand as if ready to throw the spell at her. Her own magic flowed around her, ready and waiting, but there was no spell strong enough to get through to her sister.

  Powering down her magic, Illiana turned and left the tower.

  ~

  Back in her room at the castle, Illiana stared at the collection vial sitting on her desk. Her options were painfully limited. More argument would only make Ariadne angrier, maybe even to the point of pushing Illiana away for good. Worse, it would do nothing to save Thomas—Ariadne would simply collect the blood another way.

  If Illiana gave in and obtained the blood herself, she would at least get to keep her sister. This was her first real attempt at defiance, and Ariadne would probably prefer to forget it had ever happened. As long as it ended quickly, all would eventually be forgiven.

  If she told Thomas what was happening, she would lose them both. But it was the only way he wouldn’t be left helpless and in his enemy’s hands for a century. Could she live with herself, knowing she’d let a wonderful man be sacrificed?

  Could she slam the door on her sister, the only person who’d ever made room for her?

  She was spared from answering either question by a quiet knock on the door. Wiping her eyes, Illiana hurriedly dragged her composure back into place. “Come in.”

  To her surprise, it was Thomas who opened the door. When he saw her, the worry on his face sharpened. “Are you all right?” When she stood, he moved towards her. “I saw you return this afternoon, but you barely spoke to anyone.” He took her hands in his. “I know that look on your face. Tell me what’s wrong.”