“Why did you do that to him?” she growled.
Liam stood between the trees, watching her. “He’ll get hurt if he tries to go in there with you. I did it to protect him.”
Rising to her feet, she made her way to the bard. “Stop making decisions for others,” she hissed.
She stalked past him and into the skeletal woods, approaching the castle.
“You have come far and the gate you are looking for is in there,” Liam said, reaching out to hold her hand firmly in his. “Are you sure you’re really ready to go?”
“That depends. Is it possible for any person to live between two worlds?” she asked, turning to look at him.
“It is possible, but it isn’t the best idea. When a faerie comes into your world, it is only for short periods of time. When a human comes here, it is all too easy to forget the mortal world they left behind.”
“But what if there might not be anything worth remembering?”
His hand tightened on hers as he responded, “That would be your call.”
Khiara nodded. At times, she had almost given in to the overwhelming beauty of the Otherworld, only to remember her life back home. Now she wondered if somehow she could have misjudged her connection to the mortal realm. There were too many questions in her mind, too much uncertainty and confusion.
“I have to go,” she finally said, pulling her hand from his grasp.
“At least let me help you this one last time.” Liam followed her. “You will need someone to fight at your side.”
“I won’t let you get hurt. I can fight my own battles.”
“But you’ll endanger your friend?”
Khiara grimaced. “Sean chose to come after me. He’ll be fine.”
Liam took her hand once more and pulled her toward him. “I chose to come after you too. Why not let me decide which risks I’m willing to take, just as you want me to let you make your own choices?”
She reached up to touch his face. “I know.” She gave him a kiss. “You’re right. All of us should be free to choose, so let Sean decide too.”
Liam looked at her for a moment, then nodded. “Alright. Ask him yourself what he wants to do.”
Khiara smiled, then turned and hurried back to where Sean was waking from the magickally-induced sleep. “Ready?” she asked as he yawned and stretched.
“As ready as I’ll ever be, especially after that nap. I’ve never felt so good.” He rose to his feet.
Khiara glanced back at the woods where she had left Liam, then shook her head.
“What are you thinking?” Sean asked. “Do you think maybe you aren’t ready to leave here after all?”
“No,” Khiara said, reaching out to take his hand. “I’m more than ready. I’m sick of these games.”
Chapter 19
The castle was constructed from an earthy brown stone that looked warm, yet radiated the cold, dark energy that had always both called her to and repelled her from Ronan. It was more fortress-like than the others she had seen, and had none of the ethereal beauty of the Kieran’s palace, or the crystalline loveliness of Titania’s. It was a foreboding citadel in this barren landscape.
“How do we do this?” Sean asked, as they looked at the quartet of guards at the massive front doors.
“I have no idea,” Khiara answered, then quickened her pace, letting go of his hand. She had gotten no more than a few steps ahead, her foot touching the open drawbridge, when she heard Sean’s yell of surprise.
She turned to see that the bare land had opened up and he was no longer standing behind her. She ran to the hole to find Sean clinging to a root sticking out of the side of the earth. His other hand was scrabbling at the dirt as he tried to pull himself back up onto solid ground. “Here!” She reached down and grabbed his other hand. With a grimace of determination, she tugged with all her strength. Sean dug his feet into the earth and climbed out of the hole.
As soon as he was back on the ground, he grabbed her by the hand and broke into a run. The faerie guards tried to stop them, swinging their swords at the humans. Khiara gasped in horror as the blade came arcing toward Sean, but he moved onward as if nothing was happening. The blows did not even come close to touching them.
“Open the doors!” he shouted at her.
Khiara threw herself against the heavy wood doors and pushed with all her might. She could hear the sounds of battle behind her, the clang of metal and a string of swearing from an unfamiliar voice. The doors finally budged and opened enough for her to slip through.
“Sean!” she cried, turning back to reach for him.
His hand pressed into her chest and shoved her through the doors. Khiara pushed at one of the doors as Sean squeezed through the opening and joined her in her efforts. The moment they heaved the door back into place, Khiara groaned with relief.
“Did they hurt you?” she asked, leaning back against the doors and looking at him as she tried to catch her breath.
“No,” he said with a grin, and held a sword before him. “I swiped this from the cave they stuck me in. Found it with a bunch of treasure.”
“You could kill somebody with that!” Khiara cried, her gaze running along the shining blade from hilt to tip.
“That’s kind of the point. Watch me put years of D&D skills to use.”
“Well…” The guards battered at the doors and Khiara grunted in surprise. “We’re still outnumbered, so let’s haul ass.”
They shoved themselves away from the doors and ran toward the wide hall to their right. The doors burst open and the guards came pouring in, chasing after them.
“Go!” Sean yelled at her, as he turned to face the faeries. “Let me deal with them!”
“You can’t be serious!” Khiara answered, backing down the hallway. “There’s a world of difference between pretending to use a sword, and actually using one.”
“I’m very serious.” Sean clutched the sword with both hands and stared at the guards without moving.
Khiara took a few more backward steps, threw her hands up in a helpless gesture, then turned and kept running.
The hall had a number of doors, all closed. She could not even begin to guess which way to go in the dimly lit fortress. Opening one of the doors, she found only a dark, windowless room without a glimmer of light. She shut the door and tried another. Each room seemed as nondescript as the next, and she wondered how many doors she would have to open to find the gate before the end of the day. The sounds of battle fell far behind her as she ran down the hall, trying to figure out where to go.
With a deep breath, she stopped and took a moment to collect her thoughts. Grounding and centering herself, she first tried to determine the whereabouts of the gate. As she closed her eyes, she willed her elemental fire to drift through the castle halls. Like smoke seeking ventilation, the powere flickered off her in response to her request that it search for kindred energy. It encountered water here, air there, and still it moved through the castle. The ephemeral sensation of the gate was flexible and flowing, shimmering and soft, like satin. It was to the west, inviting her to pursue the luminescent energy, to follow it home.
She had to run back the way she had come to find it.
Resolved, Khiara turned to follow the flowing energy signature, only to encounter an ornate black door in front of her. “What the fuck?” she gasped. “Where did that come from?” When she turned to look over her shoulder, the hall stretched out behind her, an endless corridor of closed doors.
She turned back to the new door and grasped the skeletal silver handle. It opened smoothly and she stepped inside, into a room that looked nothing like what she expected. The domed ceiling was high and made to filter in the sunlight. There were potted plants everywhere, as if someone had taken the time to bring all the greenery that lacked from the land itself inside the palace. She saw a winding staircase to her left and to her right she saw a round table with a labyrinth on it. At the center of the labyrinth was a castle similar to this one.
She looked down at the sce
ne and saw what looked like a very small person walking through the maze. It was fascinating and disturbing at the same time. Khiara pushed herself away from the table and saw a dark red curtain over the opposite corner. She walked to it and drew it aside.
Behind it sat the woman she had seen after the Red Caps had attacked her. She looked at Khiara with unblinking, beseeching eyes, but neither spoke nor moved.
There was a sound behind her, and Khiara spun around to look. A door under the staircase had just opened and a couple walked into the room. They were dressed elaborately, the woman in an azure ball gown, the man in a red coat and brown breeches. They had no faces, though – just their clothed bodies. Their heads were bare of hair or features, like those of mannequins. Yet they moved and their heads were inclined to one another as if they were holding a conversation.
Khiara backed against the one empty corner, her hands pressing against the wall as she watched the activity in that room. One of her hands felt like it had been plunged into something cold and she quickly stepped away from the wall to look at what she had touched.
There was a painting of boats in a body of water, nearing a dreary port-town. She realized she had put her hand through the painting, into the water. Shaking it off, she took a few steps back.
“What is this room,” she whispered to herself.
“This is where I put everybody who has made me angry.”
She turned, her heart skipping a beat at the sound of the voice.
Ronan was looking at her pleasantly enough, but his calm expression did not fool her.
“You see,” he said, “the man in that maze challenged my authority when I told him his beloved was to marry another. She was a high-ranking noblewoman of my lands, and I had the right to give her to whomever I chose. He tried to run away with her, so I placed them both in the labyrinth. She is at the center, and he has been traveling for many months now, trying to find her.”
“That’s horrible,” Khiara retorted, glaring at him.
“Maybe it is, but I am the ruler of these lands. Those people…” He indicated the mannequin-like figures. “They tried to foment a rebellion, to usurp my throne. Now they can neither speak to nor hear other people. They can only share their thoughts with one another. That is how they will remain until I decide they have been sufficiently punished. Needless to say, they don’t get out often.” Ronan’s eyes sparkled at his own dark joke.
“This harbor is part of my lands,” he said, pointing to the painting. “The people in that town decided not to pay the tribute due to me as decreed by law, so I have frozen their ships in time. I’m curious to know how long they can live without fish for food or trade.”
He reached out and grasped her by the arm, and dragged her to the corner hidden by the red curtain. “I believe you know this lady,” he said. “This is my former wife, who offered you protection through the night. Here she sits all day long, a living doll. This is her punishment for helping you.”
“How dare you!” Khiara cried, jerking her arm from his grip. “You’re a monster! You can’t just do those sorts of things because people made you angry!”
“Can’t I? I’m the prince. My word in these lands is law.” Ronan shrugged, looking bored and unimpressed with her impassioned response. “When people behave well, I reward them. When they behave badly, I punish them. It is a very simple rule.”
“You’re disgusting.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere.”
With a scoff of derision, Khiara turned to leave the room.
“Oh, you can’t get out that way,” Ronan said as she threw the door open.
Khiara was not surprised to find a black brick wall blocking her way. She turned to glare at the faerie prince who, again, shrugged as though bored.
“I was just trying to be helpful.”
She could hear the undertone of ridicule in his voice.
Her anger overruled her desire to get home at that moment, and she reached for the nearest thing – a potted plant – and threw it at him. He disappeared from sight, leaving behind only the whisper of a chuckle. The pot shattered harmlessly on the floor, the pieces scattering in a wide circle. For a moment, the ceramic, plant, and soil sat there on the stone, and then it faded away, as if it were being absorbed into the castle floor.
She could feel the strong earth magick at work and raised her own hands, trying to call forth the power of fire. A feeble spark danced momentarily in her palm, before it disappeared with a sharp crackle.
“Shit!” Khiara cried, throwing her head up to look around the large, empty room. There was nowhere to go, except through the door beneath the staircase, or up the stairs. She chose the stairs, running up them as quickly as she could.
There was a door at the very top. She threw it open and stepped through to find a long, ornate hall. It looked similar to the room below with the sunlight filtering in. There were paintings of very dignified looking people hanging along the wall, including Titania and Oberon, Liam and Ronan. Only one door stood in that hall, beckoning her from the very end of the corridor.
Throwing all caution to the wind, she strode to it, opened the door, and looked inside. It seemed like an ordinary bedroom. Still, Khiara walked in, hoping to find something to use as a weapon. She knew her magick would not work here, and it would be useless for her to try again.
She pulled open every drawer, every closet, and looked at everything on the walls, but found nothing useful. “Damn,” she muttered to herself. “How am I supposed to get out of here?”
Turning, she saw her reflection in the full-length mirror that hung on the wall opposite the door.
“What the hell?” she gasped, stepping closer.
Instead of dirt covered clothes and tangled blonde hair, she saw herself wearing a strapless red ball gown with black laces all along the front of the bodice. There were several folds of satin at the top of the dress on the left side, lifted up to reveal a lighter red skirt beneath. On her arms were red sleeves in the same crinkly material, which were puffed at the tops and tapered from her elbows to her hands. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a mass of curls with red and black ribbons woven throughout.
She took a few steps away from the mirror, and then turned to leave the room. When she opened the door, she saw a corridor that looked exactly like the first she had seen – an endless hallway with several doors on either side.
“This is ridiculous!” she cried, even though there was no one to hear her. “Either this is a damn good illusion, or you’re playing games with me. And I’m sure I know which one it is.”
Her eyes went to her messenger bag and she remembered the spell that enabled her to reach into the bag, and pull out anything she needed. “Here’s hoping,” she muttered as she reached into the bag and focused on her need. The bag felt disturbingly empty, no matter how much she visualized a sword or felt around. Was the spell limited to clothes and shoes? Was it useless here?
“Crap!” She banged her fist against the wall in frustration.
After a moment, she grounded and centered herself again, remembering that she could sense the energy of the gate if she only let herself try. The pull was stronger than it had originally been. She felt it coming from the mirror. Khiara looked up and walked back to the mirror. She felt the wall behind it, but there was nothing to indicate a passage of any type.
Walking around to look at the mirror from different angles, she saw that strange vision of herself once more. She reached out to touch her reflection with the tip of her finger, and was surprised when her hand passed through the glass, as if it were nothing more than water or air. She extended her arm just a little farther and then stepped forward to pass entirely through the mirror.
She heard a rustle and looked down to see that she was actually wearing the ornate red ball gown – it was neither a reflection nor an illusion. Her messenger bag was gone, but it had been of no use to her anyway. With a frustrated shake of her head, she looked around the room. There was a banquet table set with
a large variety of food, sparkling golden orbs of faerie lights, and a wall of large windows that overlooked the sienna land. Elaborate red, black, and gold wall hangings decorated the walls, and gold chandeliers hung from the ceiling.
“This is what I can give you,” Ronan said from the shadows in the corner. “I can give you such beauty as you have never seen before in your life. You can have wealth and comfort, the best food, the most beautiful clothes you have ever imagined, and anything else your heart desires. You will have a horse to ride through the countryside, a library filled to the ceiling with all the books you want. You can have true power – your faerie magick, which is useless in the mortal world.”
He approached her, looking like a shadow himself, dressed in black from head to toe.
“I am the ruler of this land and, by my side, you would be its princess. I only ask that you stay here and love me, do what I ask of you, and I promise you will find that you are happier than you ever thought you could be.” He extended his hand to her. “Princess Khiara, we belong together.”
Khiara looked at the hand, before moving her gaze and thoughts over everything he offered her. “This is an illusion,” she answered softly, raising her eyes back to his. “It won’t last.” Her expression challenged him to prove her wrong.
“I can make it anything you want it to be,” he said. “Your dreams can become reality here, if only you want to let them. If you obey me, you will have everything.”
She considered his words as she looked up at him. “To what extent would you rule over me?” she asked, her voice quiet.
“What I say, I would expect you to do.” His hand dropped to his side as he approached her. “That means if I tell you to wear something, you wear it. If I tell you never to speak with my brother again, you never speak to him again. If I demanded that you fall to your knees, I would expect you on the floor before me. If I commanded you to serve my every whim, you would do it.”
“Or be punished.” Khiara spoke with quiet certainty. “Like your subjects or your former wife.”
Ronan smirked as he reached out to caress her face. “Punishment can be fun,” he purred. “If you disobeyed me, I would find far more interesting ways to discipline you.”
The Gossamer Gate Page 16