Diadem

by Kate Kelley

  “Terrin believed in me when no one else did. I was a poor commoner from a small village. I taught small children their arithmetic and their letters. It was a school my parents set up before they were killed by the evil sorcerer, Ganymede.” Lyra glanced through the members of the jury to gauge their reactions but so far they all held the same stoic, bored expressions. Her stomach flipped and she summoned what strength she had left. She had to, for Terrin.

  “Ganymede, as many of you well know, killed and sucked the magic from hundreds of magical folk for two thousand years. It wasn’t until recently that he found your secret realm, Eclipsa, and began storing magical folk and using them as familiars--”

  A white-haired god stood, his body long and lean, his eyes yellow. “What does this have to do with anything? The chit is spouting facts we already know.”

  Gaia turned to him and gave him a hard stare. “We let her have her statement. Do not interrupt again.”

  The white-haired god sat back down, eyeing Lyra with full derision. Lyra hoped he wasn’t the god of anything important. She didn’t want him messing something up for her when she returned to Earth.

  “As I was saying, Ganymede used Eclipsa for his own gain. His equally evil and mad son, Techni, locked Iris, the true Queen of Gem Kingdom, in the realm for ten years, and the earth suffered for it. But there was one person who was actively trying to right the wrongs of these evil men. A man who had no obligation as he was not the rightful King of Terra.That man was Terrin,” she gestured toward his stoic form. “He alone held the destruction of the earth at bay. He alone organized a team and sought to unlock the realm and free his sister, Iris. He alone sought to right his brother’s wrongs. And even though I resisted it at first, he taught me my own magic and that I was the key to unlocking the realm. He trained me, journeyed with me, held my hand and jumped into the portal even when he couldn’t see it himself.”

  Lyra closed her eyes and took a deep breath as her courage began wearing off and flashbacks of the day Techni stabbed her came back to her. “When we unlocked the realm and journeyed to find Iris, Techni found us. He killed my great, great, grandmother in cold blood, and ran away. As I spoke to Techni, Terrin resisted hurting him even though he had every reason to. Terrin didn’t hurt him at all, didn’t touch him. Techni stabbed me in the heart, and I died. Terrin blasted him out of the way a fraction of a second too late. The blast caused Techni to hit his head on a rock. The impact killed him. It wasn’t Terrin’s intention to kill Techni. You must understand this. And when I was dying, and Terrin held me in his arms, trying to revive me, I saw his soul. And I’m sure all you can see it now.”

  She looked into each of their eyes again. Their gazes had softened and widened, their brows furrowed as they listened.

  “Look at his soul and tell me it isn’t pure.” Lyra bowed shortly and stood back. Her heart beat out of her chest as silence settled heavily. Lyra dared not peek at Terrin. She kept her gaze level on Gaia. When Gaia turned to Macaria, the two began speaking in hushed tones. Several of them leaned over the table to silently communicate with Gaia.

  Finally, after what had seemed like a lifetime, Gaia stood and opened her arms, her gaze settling on Terrin. She ushered him forward, and he obeyed. When he was standing on the other side of the table, Gaia placed her hand on his head, her eyes taking on an ancient sadness that twisted Lyra’s heart.

  No, certainly they know he’s innocent.

  “The Fae-human is right. I find you innocent and grant your permission into the gates of Vanaheimr when the time comes.”

  Lyra sank to her knees and the breath left her lungs. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she uttered through gasps.

  She stood up and faced them, her hands clasped together. Gaia inclined her head toward her.

  Terrin stood stoically, as if he hadn’t heard the verdict. “I’d like to offer a proposition,” he said, his voice echoing through the fog-swirled place.

  Gaia quirked her head to the side and looked at him. “You are free to go. I will release you two back to where you came from--”

  Terrin held up a hand to stop her. Lyra’s eyes widened.

  “I’d like to trade my freedom for Lyra’s.”

  “Terrin, what are you doing?” Lyra hissed at his back.

  Gaia quirked her head again at him and her eyes swirled with dark, forest green.

  Terrin spoke again, his voice sure. “Lyra has been kidnapped by Ganymede and we don’t know where she is. He plans to harm her and we know not what consequences it will mean for the world. I want to forfeit my freedom in the afterlife for Lyra’s freedom and protection thereafter. Any one of you, release her back to Gem, to Iris’s castle, and I’ll come to your afterlife when I die.” He looked at each deity, their eyebrows raised or furrowed at his proclamation.

  Lyra shouted. “No! Terrin, no.”

  He didn’t turn.

  Gaia stilled when a renting noise burst through the place, the sound like stone breaking apart. A dark figure emerged from the floor of the place like a quickly sprouting tree. He landed behind the table, next to Gaia. Gaia didn’t turn toward the figure.

  “I wasn’t invited to the trial. That’s hardly fair.” The god’s voice was deep and seasoned like an older man’s. The black fog that surrounded his dissipated and he turned his eyes on Lyra. She startled. His countenance was that of an older man, aristocratic with a slightly beaked nose, bright blue eyes in fair, lined skin. His head was bald, and he wore white robes.

  “So this is she,” the god said as he pieced Lyra with his stare. Lyra couldn’t look away.

  The god turned to Terrin then, his eyes bright. “I accept your proposal.”

  Gaia flashed dark eyes at him. “He’s under my authority, and I forbid it. You were not invited to this trial, Orcus, nor do you have any say in the decision.”

  Orcus laced his hand together and turned to Macaria, who ignored him, her face tight.

  “Can’t I say hello to my dearest daughter?” He laid a hand on her shoulder, and Macaria unfolded her wings in a flurry, knocking Orcus away from her. She folded them back calmly, a wayward feather floating down behind her.

  Orcus chuckled and sidled up to Gaia. “I don’t appreciate being left out. Since when do we play favorites?”

  Gaia grew to full height and turned to him. “You are not permitted in this space, Underlord. Go back to your hole.” Her words swirled with the many voices of the universe, and Lyra tried not to fall to her knees.

  Orcus smiled tightly before turning to Lyra. She steeled her nerves against the assault of his eye contact and managed not to startle.

  He smirked down at her as if she were a small dog performing a quaint trick. “See you soon...Darkling, is it? And uh, do tell Gullveig to come on home.” He winked and disappeared from whence he came before Lyra could answer. She laid a hand to her chest to steady her heart as her head spun.

  Darkling...Gullveig? What?

  “You are not permitted to forfeit the decision of your gods, and certainly not permitted to barter with them,” Gaia said to Terrin, her voice less enormous, but still foreboding.

  Terrin backed up a few paces and inclined his head before turning to Lyra. His eyes were lit with a dangerous glint. “ Don’t give up. No matter what, do you hear me? Don’t give in. I will find you.”

  Lyra blinked as a tear escaped down her cheek and she reached for him at the same time he did. Their fingers passed through one another’s before black stole their vision and Lyra sat up in a soft bed with white walls.

  Her hands shook, but not with trepidation. They shook with the shock of renewed purpose.

  For the first time since she came to Ganymede’s castle, she felt her mouth widen and joy filled her heart. She clung to the joy like it was her last lifeline.

  Terrin is safe. He is free. He is alive.

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  “Where did you go?” Iris sat still, watching Terrin as if he were a ghost.

  Terrin breathed in and l
ooked around the mostly empty throne room, gathering his bearings. He adjusted the folded sleeves below his elbows as he watched his sister gape at him.

  “Gaia had a trial for Techni’s death. I was found not guilty.”

  Iris’s face had gone white and she clutched the arms of the throne in a knuckle-blanching grip. “Terrin, I didn’t realize…why didn’t you tell me?”

  Terrin crossed to the bottle of spirits atop a nearby table and poured himself a generous portion. He tossed it back quickly and poured again. When he turned back, Iris was standing behind him.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, her face begrudging the news she hadn’t even heard yet.

  “Gaia called Lyra to the trial--”

  “What? Why would Gaia--”

  “She’s at Ganymede’s castle. She says there are no doors or windows. Ganymede is planning to make her bear him a child. What his plans are for the child or for Lyra beyond that, I don’t know. What I do know is that we need to find her.” Terrin knocked back the rest of his glass and set it on the table before crossing to the window and setting his hands on the sill. He stared into the blackened night, seeing nothing besides Lyra’s tortured face, the trauma in her eyes when she told him what had happened to her. The stone of the window sill cracked under his grip.

  Iris’s voice drifted to him from behind, a tinge of unease in her tone. “Perhaps it’s better this way. She isn’t posing a threat to my kingdom while she’s away. As long as he has her, he won’t attack us--”

  Terrin whipped around to face her and the chill in his gaze frosted the air between the siblings. Iris notched her chin, though her averted gaze shown her trepidation.

  “What is wrong with you?” His fists curled at his sides. He stalked past her toward the doors.

  Iris turned and called out to him, her voice firm and regal, that of a Queen. “We all have to make sacrifices, Terrin. Those of our ilk most of all.”

  Terrin stilled and turned his head so that his profile was outlined by the candelabras shining from outside the door as it opened and Alec entered.

  Alec stared at Iris with darkened eyes. “And what sacrifices will Lyra have to make?”

  Iris’s gaze switched to Alec’s and she held it for a moment before looking back to Terrin.

  Terrin glared at her. “You know nothing of what Ganymede is planning. If the child she bears him..” He closed his eyes and took a ragged breath as if the words had physically pained him. “If the child is somehow part of a larger plan...how many will be sacrificing their lives then? Techni said he was planning something else, something greater. I doubt he will stop at making Lyra his conquest. He wants power.”

  Alec stepped softly into the room until he was next to Terrin. “Did she give any clue to where she was?”

  Terrin’s eyes dimmed. “No. Not much to go on.”

  Iris sighed. “Terrin, let it go. You can’t save the woman.”

  He turned fully toward her. “Yes, I can. And I will.”

  Iris narrowed her eyes. “How? No doors, no windows, no clues to go on--”

  “I’m going to the Fae. Alec can come with me.”

  Iris crossed her arms. “Why? You can’t marry her, and if Ganymede has his way with her, she’ll be tarnished, magically and reputationally. It’s unfortunate, but--”

  Terrin let out a low warning sound that stopped Iris in her tracks. Her nostrils flared as her gaze flicked between Alec and Terrin.

  Alec narrowed his gaze on her and his lips curled back in disgust.. “What is wrong with you, Iris? First, making up lies about Frey, and now this? What happened? This isn’t like you.”

  Iris’s fists swung to her sides and her breathing picked up, her chest heaving. She turned, facing away. “Get out.”

  Alec walked toward her, hand outstretched. “We are not finished--”

  Iris turned, her eyes like fire and voice shrill, “As Queen I order you both to leave! Do I have to call my guards?”

  Two knights fidgeted by the door, hands coming up to cover the swords at their hips.

  Alec smirked, but the coldness of his gaze belied the curving of his lips. Terrin clapped a hand on Alec’s shoulder. “Let’s go. We must travel to Ursa to meet with the Fae.”

  Alec tore his eyes away from Iris’s glower and followed Terrin out of the room.

  ✽✽✽

  Two Weeks Later

  The men took a few seconds to come to terms with their surroundings. The glacial walls were still standing, and to touch their palms to it, was to ensure an icy, chilled hand. They were as frozen as ever. But as they made their way to the castle path, their boots padded across freshly sprouted grass, as green and vernal as spring.

  The ice from Ursa was gone. It was still cold enough to warrant a heavy cloak, but the frozen wasteland had vanished, replaced with a vitality they never thought they would see from the Northern country. The men glanced at each other to make sure they were seeing the same thing as they found the stone pathway to the castle. The castle looked less foreboding as well as they kept it in their collective distant gaze. The chirping of small birds from trees serenaded them as they made their way toward it.

  When they reached the gates, two Fae clad in leather armor greeted them, their swords drawn and glowing an electric blue. As Alec and Terrin drew closer, the Fae guards tensed and held their swords at the ready.

  Terrin stopped and held up his hands and Alec followed suit, although the action didn’t seem to assuage the guards’ wariness.

  “State your names and business,” one of the Fae guards called out, his striking eyes glued to the two human men in front of him.

  Terrin inclined his head. “I am Terrin, Prince of Gem, Brother to Queen Iris of Gem, and this is Alec Addisonia, the Queen’s Mage and Member of the Gem Royal Council, Brother to Lyra Addisonia, and stands in her stead as Royal Ambassador of Gem.”

  The two guards brows were drawn low and their eyes peered out from them to scrutinize the men.

  After a moment of silence, Terrin’s jaw clenched and he shifted on his feet. One of the guards readjusted his hold on the hilt of his sword. “What’s the issue, men? Have we not proven ourselves? Alec is half-Fae. Lyra is good friends with--”

  A blip in the air between the guards coalesced into a tall, handsome Fae man with long, blonde hair. He wore leather pants and vest over a tunic that laced at the collar. The belt on his waist held a long sword and he carried a quiver over one shoulder. The guards immediately stood up straighter.

  “Seamus, I hope to find you well.” Terrin addressed him formally.

  Seamus bid them come, and they obeyed, glaring at the guards as they passed.

  “Excuse the guards. As a newly established queendom, we must be wary of everyone.”

  Terrin shrugged. “It isn’t of any consequence. But may I make a suggestion?”

  Seamus rose an eyebrow but didn’t stop Terrin from continuing.

  “Familiarize your guards with your allies. Such hold ups can cause for great time delays, as we already must travel two weeks to get here.”

  Seamus scratched a clean-shaven jaw. “That would be good advice if we knew who are allies were.”

  Terrin glanced sharply at the Fae man. “Is your position here temporary, then? Or have you decided to turn down my offer?”

  Seamus gave a flat smile and shook his head. “Not at all, Sir. We all were rather convinced Gem had deemed us an enemy for not holding up our end of the deal in the battle.”

  The doors to the castle opened as soon as they reached them, and they passed into the foyer. The place was changed. Mostly white and crystalline still, but there were softer, more intimate elements now--colorful woven rugs and wooden ornamentation and furniture replacing the barren, cold decor of before. Fae and human servants flitted to and fro as they passed through room after room, until they reached a semicircle door at the end of a long, carpeted hallway.

  Vale sat regally on the throne of glass which stood flush against the back of a ruby red wall.
Terrin’s eyes lifted to stare at a massive bear fur, complete with the head attached, pinned to the wall above the throne. At fifteen feet across, it was the biggest polar bear fur Terrin had ever seen.

  Vale wore a midnight blue gown with brown embroidery throughout depicting woodland creatures. The silver crown that sat perfectly upon her head had once sat upon Navi’s.

  Terrin had found out about Navi when he had returned to the castle looking for Lyra. He found the stiffening wolf carcass on the hallway floor, its fur red, and passed over it quickly to bound up the stairs to get to Lyra.

  His chest had been bleeding badly but he had somehow known that Lyra was gone, and his eyes needed to see for himself. He couldn’t have cared less that Navi had died. It rather solved several problems at once. That Lyra had likely done it made no difference to him.

  “You wear it well, Your Majesty,” Terrin said cordially as he bowed low. Alec bowed and greeted Vale appropriately.

  Vale settled her gaze on Terrin, her brown eyes calculating. “For what do I owe the pleasure?”

  Terrin pulled the pendant out of its hiding spot in his shirt and pulled it around his head. He contemplated it for a moment before holding it out. “Lyra wanted you to have this. She said to set it into your crown as a diadem.”

  The warmth from Vale’s gaze dissipated into wariness and her brows lowered in confusion. “Why?”

  Terrin glared at her, wishing for a moment he could shoot aura from his eyes. “Hell if I know,” he growled, “You didn’t uphold your end of the deal and she was captured by Ganymede and resides there now until I find a way to get her.”

  Vale’s brows scrunched further. “How did you speak to her…?”

  “It’s a long story,” Terrin clenched his jaw, his rage coming in waves.

  If they’d helped us fight, Lyra would have had a chance.

  “Tornasuuk proved to be a much harder opponent than we bargained for. It took two days to kill him, our men and women not stopping to sleep. But in the end, we vanquished him.” She pointed to the fur hanging above the throne. “If he hadn’t been set out to destroy us all so violently, we would have been there, fighting with you. I tried to get a portion of my men to the portal but Tornasuuk has minions, multiplying at will, blocking our path. It wasn’t until we killed him that the remainder of his minions died as well. By then Seamus informed us that Ganymede had retreated.”