by Grace Martin
He shook her arm, rougher than I’d expected. ‘What have you done with her?’ he demanded.
Aoife positively smirked. She put her hand up to her throat and drew out a locket on a gold necklace. No, not a locket ‒ a tiny cage. There, in that tiny cage, was a tiny Lynnevet, holding the bars and looking around frantically. When she saw me, she pressed her face against the bars and screamed, ‘Emer, help me! Help me!’ I could barely hear her.
‘I will kill you,’ I said. ‘You give her to me, or I swear I won’t even wait three days, I’ll kill you today.’
Caradoc shook Aoife again. ‘Do it,’ he gritted.
Aoife’s hand closed around the cage. Lynnevet’s tiny scream was muffled so much I couldn’t even hear it anymore. ‘All I have to do is squeeze,’ she said. ‘Or trip. Anything happens to me and Lynnevet is going to be a small stain on my hand. So, get your hand off me, dog.’ She shook her arm. Caradoc let go, his face pale.
‘Don’t do it, Aoife,’ he said. ‘Maybe this is your last chance not to be a monster.’
‘That’s where we’re so different, dog. I don’t care if I’m a monster. I only care if I win. Now, you and Emer take a few steps back. Yes, that’s right. You’re going to let me go now, Emer. And you’ll be coming with me.’
‘No!’
‘No!’
Cuchulainn and I both cried out at once.
‘So, I guess it’s decision time,’ Aoife said. She shook Lynnevet’s cage ‒ only slightly, but it knocked the tiny form to the floor of the cage and it didn’t get up. Aoife peered at the still little figure. ‘Now it’s decision time for you, I guess, Caradoc. Who will you save? Who deserves it most?’
Cuchulainn’s wide blue eyes flicked from me to Lynnevet. I was slightly behind Aoife. I held his gaze and gave a tiny nod.
He shook his head like he was trying to clear water out of his ears. ‘Aoife, no, please, just kill me. You hate me, you hate Emer. Just kill me and let that be the end of it.’
‘There will never be an end of it!’ she shouted, driving her hand downwards with so much force that the chain around her neck snapped. Lynnevet would surely be killed. ‘Choose, dog. Bark for your mistress.’
His thin, pale face was drawn into lines of despair. For a moment I was afraid he’d turn away from us both and cast himself off the spire as I had once done. Before I could stop myself, I said, ‘Cuchulainn, no.’
Aoife looked like she was holding her breath with anticipation. Cuchulainn looked like he might never breathe again. He closed his eyes. ‘You have to understand, Emer,’ he whispered, his voice deep and rough. ‘She’s only a little girl.’
‘Fine,’ Aoife said. ‘You can keep her then.’ She raised her arm and flung the tiny cage as far as she could. In the same instant, Cuchulainn turned himself into a hawk and flew after it, claws extended to grasp the cage out of the air.
Aoife grabbed me. The moment she had her hand on me, she changed me to something small, the world flickered to an insect’s vision and everything seemed to grow impossibly large.
I changed myself back and flung lightning at her. She brought up a shield and the lightning curved around her. I charged at her. She had plenty of magic, but she’d been expecting a magical attack, not to feel two hands around her neck. The shock of it knocked her to the ground.
Someone grabbed me by the back of my tunic and lifted me away from her. I had such a good grip on her neck that I even managed to lift her off the ground for a moment until another Dragon Mage came to separate us. A dragon swooped overhead and deposited another score of guards. Every moment, more and more of them swarmed across the ropes that connected the guardhouse to the other spires.
One of them brought a featherskin and Aoife clothed me in it, tossing it over my shoulders and smirking as the feathers slipped over my skin and inside my clothes to cover every part of me. The guards rounded up my friends, even Cuchulainn, with Lynnevet limp in his arms. Sparrow was beside him.
The guards shoved us together. Sparrow’s feathered hand slipped in to hold my own feathered fingers.
‘Load them onto a dragon,’ Aoife ordered. ‘And keep them separated. I want the fatter featherskin separated from the others and surrounded by guards. I want a dozen guards in the cabin with the other ones. If anyone makes a move, slit the throat of the little girl.’
A wave of despair washed over me. With Aoife as Empress of the Thousand Counties, atrocities like that would soon become commonplace. The world would never recover from my failure.
‘Where are you taking us?’ I asked. ‘As long as I live, I swear to you, Aoife, I will never stop fighting you. There is no one in the world now who doesn’t know my name. Sooner or later, I will break free and I swear I will kill you and take the throne your mother gave me. What a shame you can’t just go back and change that.’
‘Oh, but I can,’ Aoife said. ‘I can send you back through the Portal, back so far that you would have to wait a hundred years before your grandmother was born. If you go back far enough, you won’t live long enough for my mother to name you Bach Chwaer. That title will be mine and you will be erased from history.’
‘You wouldn’t!’ I cried. I had to exclaim something to hide my excitement. If I could just get to the Portal, I could fix this. I could change everything. I wasn’t sure how, but in the Poral lay my only chance of saving the Thousand Counties from the ruin I’d brought upon them. ‘Let my friends go ‒ they aren’t a threat to you.’
‘No, I don’t think so,’ Aoife said. ‘I plan to line them up and murder them in front of you before I shove you through the Portal.’
I raged, because that was what she wanted to see. When the guards shoved Cuchulainn so hard he stumbled and nearly dropped Lynnevet, it was a real cry I made.
The guards stayed very close to me all the way to Cairnagorn. Soon, soon, I consoled myself. Soon I would be back in the past. Cairnagorn would be whole and I could begin fixing things.
I couldn’t use my magic under the feathers and I had no hope of physically overpowering my guards, so I was docile and obedient, letting them lead me along the streets towards the Library.
The Great Doors were already open. The last time I was here, I hadn’t bothered to close them behind me after killing Maldwyn. Aoife went ahead of all of us. ‘Well, would you look at that,’ she said, stopping when she came to Maldwyn’s shattered body. ‘I wonder who’s responsible for that.’ Her gaze sought out Cuchulainn. ‘Maybe that was why your precious Emer was so ready to murder me? She’s murdered before. Maybe she found out that the women in our family have a taste for it. Did you find that, Emer? Did you enjoy it?’
How many times had Caradoc and I argued over whether or not Maldwyn ‒ as a boy who had not yet committed any crimes ‒ should die?
‘You didn’t,’ he said, looking at the broken body.
I stood straight and met his eyes. ‘I did,’ I said. ‘And you’re right, Aoife. It was sweet like honey in my mouth.’
Cuchulainn looked away. My gaze slid past him to my Sparrow. Her eyes were fixed on what remained of Maldwyn. Her body was tense and she didn’t look away until a guard shoved her forward. I couldn’t tell her expression beneath the feathers.
When we reached the room where the Portal stood, there was a low murmur from the guards. I thought it was awe, but I hadn’t spent enough time out in the world yet. When I checked their expressions, I realised what I was hearing was anger. These were the guards who led children to their deaths for having magic. These were not people who would be impressed by the obviously magical nature of the Portal.
At Aoife’s gesture, the guards holding me pushed me forward and us the stairs until I stood a hand’s breath from the swirling surface of the Portal. They turned me around so I could see around the room. I was tense, poised. I needed to take my friends with me ‒ I couldn’t leave them to Aoife’s unpredictability. I had no idea what she was going to do.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Aoife lined them up facing me. She walked
back and forth in front of them. ‘Which one shall I kill first?’ she asked. She pointed at my Sparrow.
I couldn’t help the ‘No!’ that rose to my lips. The guard pushed Sparrow forward. Then Aoife pointed to Lynnevet, now standing on her own two feet and glaring at me.
‘Caradoc made his choice,’ Aoife said. ‘Now it’s time to make your decision I’m going to let you save one sister. Make up your mind which one you want.’
I knew how Cuchulainn had felt. And, like Cuchulainn, I knew how each of them would feel when I made my choice. Sparrow would want me to choose Lynnevet and Lynnevet would never forgive me if I chose Sparrow. But there was more than the two of them here. Aoife could be safely relied upon for nothing. If she said she was going to save someone, I had to believe she would kill them.
I smiled at my Sparrow. I saw her smile in return when the feathers flexed around her mouth. I looked at Lynnevet and let my face harden. I had to break her heart to save her life.
‘You have been a thorn in my side ever since I found you in the Portal,’ I said. ‘How could I possibly choose you over the sister I would gladly give my life for?’ I looked at Aoife. ‘I choose Elisabeth. It’s always been Elisabeth.’
‘Very well,’ Aoife said. She took Sparrow by the hand and led her up the stairs towards me. Lynnevet was looking madly from me to Aoife and back again.
‘Emer, please, don’t let her do this!’
Aoife smiled, a baring of her teeth. ‘I’m not going to kill you, Lynnevet. I’m going to give you a chance, the best chance of anyone in this room. You’re going into the past. You’re going to spend three hundred years waiting for us to come back to you. When you grow up, you will adopt two little baby girls. You will be my beloved stepmother. But it would do you well now to learn never to trust anybody ever again.’ She swung Lynnevet across the dais, still holding her hand. When Lynnevet hit the rippled surface of the Portal, Aoife let go.
Lynnevet vanished.
I tried to shove past Sparrow, who tried to stop me. Time flowed so quickly inside the Portal ‒ Lynnevet would be three hundred years in the past before I could even grab her hand. The guards pulled me back by the shoulders.
Aoife smirked. ‘And you chose Elisabeth?’ she asked. ‘Very well. I said I would give you everything you deserve.’ She put one hand on Sparrow’s shoulder and smiled into my sister’s eyes. I didn’t notice her other hand until the light from the Portal glinted on the blade of the knife.
Sparrow fell against Aoife, her arms going around Aoife’s shoulders in a mockery of an embrace. Aoife withdrew the knife and this time the pair of them jerked with the force of the stab. I screamed. There weren’t even any words, just an animal sound ripped from the heart of me. I couldn’t move. The guards held me tightly as my scream went on and on. There, at the Portal of the river of Time, time slowed down.
Sparrow slumped against Aoife. The White Queen withdrew the knife and Sparrow fell.
Then there was a burst of light from Umbra, as bright as any lightning I’d ever seen. In the burning light before everything was enveloped in whiteness, I saw another flame as Cuchulainn grabbed Kiaran’s arm.
He ripped power from Kiaran so quickly that it was like the pair of them were enveloped in flames. The force of the theft made them both reel, but Cuchulainn was in complete control. Even as they spun, he stretched out his other arm and lightning arced from all of his fingers. Every shot found a mark and felled a guard.
I’d forgotten, in getting used to seeing him as an old man, that he’d spent his whole life training to be a warrior. As he and Kiaran completed a full circle, spinning around each other, a guard stepped forward. Cuchulainn let go of Kiaran, who stumbled towards the steps and collapsed.
Cuchulainn sent the guard flying backwards with one blow, and as the man fell, Cuchulainn snatched the man’s sword from his scabbard, spinning to confront the guard holding Rhiannon.
‘Come to me!’ I shouted. Come to the Portal!’ Maybe if I could get Sparrow to the Librarians in the past, they would be able to heal her ‒ it was her only chance now.
Aoife rushed towards me and shoved me backwards. I stumbled and fell, and she landed on top of me. She grabbed my shoulders and lifted me up only to slam my head back down. I was at the edge of the dais, so my head went back the depth of a step before cracking into the stone. If I hadn’t been on the edge my head would have cracked like an egg.
As it was, I was dazed and flooded with pain, but no pain could compare to the painful dread I felt at the thought of losing my Sparrow. I managed to roll away from Aoife and tried to return the favour, but she was on her feet in a moment. She was faster than me and her heavy boot found its way into my side. I was sure I heard my ribs crack.
Cuchulainn and Rhiannon were bounding up the stairs, a shield of lightning extending out behind them, the sword still bloody in Cuchulainn’s hand. Kiaran was crawling towards the Portal.
Rhiannon knelt next to Sparrow. She shouted something to Kiaran, inaudible under the roar of thunder ripping through the cavern. They manoeuvred Sparrow between them and rose, supporting her on their shoulders.
Cuchulainn came towards me. I was still grappling with Aoife. In a single smooth movement, he slid the sword into her body. He grabbed her shoulder so she was pulled backwards to fall against him. He bent his head to growl into her ear. I was so close I heard what he said. ‘Every dog has his day, my Queen.’
He withdrew the sword. Aoife jerked. Blood was already blooming from her belly and spilling over her white gown. She clutched at the wound, bending over it like she could hold her body together.
The shield of lightning that held the guards at bay suddenly crackled and disappeared. The guards rushed towards us. Cuchulainn took my hand and thrust the sword into his belt. I gave my other hand to Rhiannon who had Sparrow and Kiaran on her other side. Linked together, the five of us stepped into the shimmering surface of the Portal.
I concentrated on forging a path through the colourful river of Time. I was determined to control our journey through the flow, but I was distracted.
Aoife appeared out of nowhere. She tried to grab at me, wrapping a desperate hand around my waist, holding me tightly, her face pressed against my shoulders.
I shouted, ‘No, damn you!’ and kicked, but one hand was holding Cuchulainn and one hand was holding Rhiannon. If I let go, they might be lost for centuries. We were so close to the exit point. I couldn’t afford thoughts of Aoife.
She pulled harder and the featherskin came away from me, drifting off through the water.
Cuchulainn reached across me and pried Aoife off me. As he pulled her away, she grabbed Kiaran with her other hand. He let go of Sparrow, spinning away, pivoting on Aoife. Aoife gripped Cuchulainn’s hand viciously and he couldn’t free himself of her. He turned to me and I saw despair in his eyes.
Suddenly, he pulled himself towards me and placed the briefest kiss on my brow.
‘I love you ‒ always,’ he said.
And then he let go.
I cried out as the river pulled them away from me. I stretched towards him, but he was falling away from me faster than I could reach. He kept his eyes fixed on me until he was hidden from my sight.
We were already at the point where we had to exit the river. I couldn’t sacrifice everything now, not even for Caradoc. He had offered me this chance. I was going to take it.
I pulled us forward and we stepped out of the Portal. It was Time.
<<<>>>
Stay tuned for Resistance, Book 3 in The Umbra Chronicles, coming soon! Click here to pre-order it today!
A Note from Grace
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Grace.
EXCERPT
An excerpt from A Game of Starlight and Secrets, available now on Kindle and in paperback.
Tethia woke up as the stretcher was being pushed into the back of a van. She kept her eyes closed so the people murmuring around her didn’t realise that she’d woken up. She didn’t know why she was on a stretcher. She had no medical conditions – at least, none she was aware of. She had no recollection of being in an accident. There was a pain in her temple – that was new. She listened, eyes closed, to the hushed voices.
‘Everything will be better in the morning.’ It could be a man. It could just as easily be be an unTied person. Given the professional tone, it was unlikely to be a woman. The motion of the stretcher stopped.
‘Checkpoint.’ Tethia recognised the bored voice of the guard. She passed that checkpoint every day. They were at the gates of the Special Services division of the Imperial Military Services. She listened closely. After a moment she heard what she’d been listening for: the double thump of the stretcher wheels going over the security grid. Were they taking her back to her quarters? Did that make sense?
‘Wait – I think she might be waking up.’ That was a different voice. A familiar voice. Tethia carefully kept her features lax but inside she was seething. The next time she saw Tannep she was going to castrate him.
‘She won’t wake up.’ The androgynous voice was soothing. ‘I assure you, we’re very good at what we do.’
Not good enough, Tethia thought smugly.
Tannep spoke again. ‘What if someone tells her she’s been Re-Educated?’
The stretcher stopped. Tethia’s blood ran cold. Keeping her face still and relaxed, she frantically searched her mind. Why would they have taken her to Re-Ed? She’d done nothing wrong. She spent most of her life not only following the rules but making sure others followed them, too. She hadn’t done a single thing to earn her a visit from an Auditor.