by Alexia Purdy
It was a vegetable platter, slathered in gravy, with homemade mashed potatoes and pinto beans. It was better than nothing and would provide sustenance. Who knew how long she’d have to wait for the next meal?
Rowan watched her suspiciously for several minutes as Shade devoured her meal, as if waiting for her to keel over. Shade gave her a wide, food-filled grin and continued to eat. “It’s safe. Trust me.” She paused and eyed Rowan suspiciously. “I thought you Ancients don’t need to eat.”
“We don’t. It’s still mighty pleasurable, though…fills da empty. Ya know dat guard? He’s new. Da food is usually enchanted fer da ’umans. Ya shouldn’t eat it,” Rowan whispered as she crept up to her tray and pulled it back toward her spot against the wall, stuffing some bread into her mouth even more quickly than Shade had.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Shade finished off her meal and took a swig of water, listening to Rowan gorging herself in the darkness.
After minutes of chewing, Rowan stopped and slumped against the wall, sighing happily. “Ya know, Aveta an’ Arthas will die. I saw it.”
Shade shifted to lie down on her side of the gritty floor. It was hard, and the scant bunches of dirty straw offered no comfort, but she was exhausted, the food already working on her stomach. “I know.”
“How do ya know?” Rowan shoved her tray away and laid down much the same way Shade had, facing her in the dim twilight.
“I’ll destroy them. I’m destined to.” How sad it sounded, to finally admit it, accept it like a fate worse than death.
Rowan cackled softly, which normally would’ve enraged Shade, but she felt much better having eaten and was too tired to argue. The laughing Ancient was almost amusing now.
“Ya think ya know it all, don’ ya? I seen da future an’ da past. All da Ancients mus’ fall ta win this war.” She said it like it didn’t matter that she was included in this dismal outcome.
“Why do they all have to fall?” Shade inquired.
Rowan turned toward the wall, hiding her face from Shade’s studious stare. “The ol’ ways are dun. Dar is no place fer us ’ere. We should’a withered long time ago.” In her quiet voice, her accent faded slightly, as if her wild personality was ebbing away and leaving her more serious cousin in its place. “Yu’ll be da death of us, Shade.”
Shade barely heard the last bit and shivered at the Ancient’s omen. What if it was true?
“Ya’re da blessed one o’ Faerie."
The tremble in Rowan’s voice captured Shade’s attention, and she turned away from the window to study the fair beauty. The Spring Ancient’s wild eyes were back on her and dug into her like daggers, her insanity apparent in the infinity of her eyes.
“Why is that?”
“’Tis fortunate ta be mortal, ta live one rich an’ vibrant life. Ancients cannot wither, we can nev’r die.” She let her long tresses dangle over her face as she glared at the grimy stone floor, tracing a finger along the cracks between the stones, gunking up her already filthy nail. “Even if we wanted ta, we’re da true immortals an’ we’ll nev’r understand da pleasure o’ growin’ ol’ an’ watchin’ da lives ya touch flourish ’til yer dyin’ day. Time’s a vacuum ta us, takin’ those we love, those we cherish, away from us, an’ it lasts a torturous eternity.”
Shade didn’t move from her spot. Rowan’s ominous words made her stomach twist, and the food sat in it like a rock, souring at her words. “What does that have to do with me being the death of you and the other Ancients?”
Rowan’s soft breathing was the only answer. She’s asleep again. Great!
Shade let out an exasperated breath, disappointed at the sudden end of their conversation. She rolled onto her back and stared at the dark ceiling above, still seeing movement on the wall. Were the bricks sliding about? No… that can’t be right. She’d never heard of anything that strange about the Withering Palace. Then again, the last time she was there, she spent much of it unconscious and under torture. It wasn’t hard to miss things when one was in mortal danger.
She closed her eyes. The night wore on, and she hoped she’d wake in the morning, back in her room in the outskirts of Portland, tucked away and warm with her mother and her siblings just down the hall in their own soft beds.
Chapter Seventeen
Evangeline
EVANGELINE STUDIED THE horizon and smirked. The Guildrin Seelie Court was just beyond the boundaries of the Haunted Forest, and she was anxious to get her grip on the underground palace as soon as possible. If Guildrin fell, a good portion of Shade’s allies would be destroyed, and the pendulum would swing in favor of the Unseelie for once. Aveta and Arthas would be pleased with her, and she’d get them off her back.
Thinking about the Unseelie royals made her skin crawl. They were cold and unfeeling by themselves, but together, Arthas and Aveta had turned into quivering maniacs, making rash decisions that weren’t good for the overall strength of the Unseelie armies. Corb’s abandonment of the court had also delayed their movement into the Seelie kingdoms.
Where the hell has that man gone? She loathed him with every cell of her body, but he’d been an excellent commander and had controlled the Unseelie armies well with but a look or a flick of his fingers. Without him, she still had control, but it was strained and had used up many of her resources. She’d had to do things she otherwise wouldn’t have had to if Corb was still around, like kill those who’d defied her in the most treacherous ways she could think of. It chilled her fire elemental faery blood and made her shudder at the deeds on her hands.
She sent the shudder away with a shake of her head, pushing the thoughts deep where they could be dealt with later, if at all. Times like these, no one was untouchable. It made her wonder if she wasn’t either. Straightening, she walked past the bundles of soldiers huddled around the roaring campfires, roasting the local wildlife which had the misfortune of crossing the army’s path. Her own stomach lurched at the thought of eating. It was so wound up tight, she doubted she could get anything more than a bit of bread into it.
Marching swiftly into her tent, she dropped onto the sofa inside, relieved to be resting her aching muscles. She flicked her fingers and lit every torch inside the tent and lit the hearth in the middle of the room. The smoke tendrils snaked their way up and out of the vent hole at the top of the tent. She closed her eyes, meticulously undid the leather ties holding her armor on and slowly slid it off. The armor dropped off piece by piece into a growing pile on the floor. It was exhausting wearing it for days on end, and she needed a good scrub.
Once she had dropped the last of the armor into a pile on the floor, she pulled off the dark linen shirt plastered to her back and peeled off her leather pants. She yanked the curtain aside which led to her bathroom and filled the tub, dropping essential oils into the bubbling water. Slipping down into the tub, she closed her eyes as the water poured over her skin. Every ache in her muscles melted away, and she felt ready to nod off right there and then.
After she finished scrubbing the dirt off and washing her hair, she let the dark water drain away and refilled it again with clean water to soak for a while longer. The cold of the night didn’t invade her solace; her fire powers kept the chill at bay. Just as she was about ready to dry off, a cold metal object pressed against her neck.
Her eyes flew open, but she couldn’t turn to see her assailant without the blade slicing into her throat. “Who are you?” How could she have not heard them? It was so unlike her to lose sense of her surroundings. She’d let her fatigue overtake her and had let her guard down far too much lately. A fatal mistake.
“Still love those lavender oil baths, I see.”
His voice…. She hadn’t heard it in so long, a flicker of unwanted memory hung in her head. The last time she had, she’d been fighting him in an old abandoned building when Shade had shown up out of the blue. It was a voice embedded in her memory more times than she cared to admit, surrounded by passionate nights and pure, unbending pain.
> “Jack.”
“Vange. It’s been a long time.”
“Not long enough.” She didn’t move, but she felt the water going cold, her skin wrinkling, making her want to get out. “It’s a bit rude to catch a lady indisposed.”
“Sorry, I couldn’t risk an assassination attempt if I’d caught you with a weapon.”
Evangeline chuckled and risked moving forward to snatch the towel on the chair sitting next to the tub. “If you don’t mind, I’d rather not heat up the water myself. I’m done.”
“Please do.” Jack stepped back and eyed her, not with lust or longing, but with beady eyes to make sure she didn’t have any tricks up her sleeve. “You really should get more rest. And eat a bit more. I don’t remember you being so waif and birdlike.” His fingers never left the hilt of his blade, and an ever wary look lingered in his eyes. This woman was the Unseelie lieutenant, even if she’d once been his.
“Life is hard. Times are not as they once were. Eating isn’t so much of a luxury anymore. I tend to forget to nourish my war-torn body, things have kept me busy.” She turned, letting the towel open enough to let her assets peek out at him. “Other things are considered rare amenities during war.”
Silence permeated the air between them, but Jack did not waver. He motioned her toward the pile of clean clothes still on the chair, previously hidden by the towel. It angered her to be ordered around, but she’d rather fight with her clothes on. She complied and slipped them on, painfully slow, hoping it would irritate him or arouse him to distraction as he watched, but it didn’t faze him.
“Sit.” He pulled another chair from beside her bed to sit across from her near the tub. She slid down into the chair and studied her fingernails as if she was bored out of her mind.
“How did you get in here without my army roping you up and drawing and quartering you on the spot?” Flicking her eyes up toward Jack, Evangeline made it obvious how much she loathed him. In return, she met an overly enthusiastic smile expanding up to his twinkling blue eyes.
“I have many ways around things. Including your precious army.” He leaned forward, the wooden chair beneath him creaking under his weight. “You’re not invincible, nor is your army indestructible. I came here to speak with you about the terms of your surrender.”
She laughed and almost choked as she gasped for breath. “You must be joking. In fact, I think you should be begging for your life right about now.” She held out her arm and summoned her sword, which had been leaning against the bed. It slammed into her hand right before it clanked against Jack’s sword, both already on their feet and locked in a deadly stare down.
“I won’t back down, Vange. I didn’t come here to fight or take you prisoner. I need your help.”
“What makes you think I would help you?” she grumbled through her teeth. The strain of holding him back was silently edging its way into her voice. “You are nothing to me.”
“I was once. I know now why you left, and I think you should hear it directly from the culprit.”
“You mean you?” she spat and pushed at him, giving her room to kick him in the thigh, sending him spinning before he recovered. Their swords met again, grinding the blades in a hair-raising screech.
“I never told you the words. It was never me. You thought I ended us, but it was actually Darren. He had Soap take on my image and trick you. He’s a shape shifter; you know this.” It was his turn to swipe his foot under her feet, sending her crashing to the floor and pinning her under his legs, the sword already at her throat.
“Liar.” Her teeth were grinding, tears of fury blooming in her eyes.
“I swear it.” Jack’s blue eyes were full of regret, full of things he’d wanted to say but had choked down for far too long.
“Lies. There was nothing real between us, ever. Just enchantments from a faery. Nothing but lies.”
He remained, pressing his weight on her, but the strain was making him sweat. She was strong, and her magic pushed back at him like a thousand-pound bodyguard attempting to throw him off her. He held his ground, even when she sent small shocks spiking into his skin. A normal faery would be in agony, but his Teleen blood kept him safe from any electrical shocks. They felt like tiny pricks of a needle, easy to ignore, and leaving them at a standstill.
She’d forgotten how useless her lightning magic was against him and sighed, letting her head drop back. The tears made their way down her face, wetting her long black hair. Outside, the clouds gathered. A thunderstorm provoked by her elemental lightning magic began dumping rain onto the campsite, sending the entire army into their tents to stay out of the downpour. The water was loud enough to stifle their argument from the others, so she kept her mouth shut.
“What do you want, Jack?” Her voice came out calm, defeated.
“I want to reconcile.”
She flicked her eyes back to his, searching them in disbelief, certain of treachery. But he couldn’t lie, and there was none of that in them. He wasn’t part human like she was and was bound strictly to such rules. She could lie all she wanted to without repercussions. Was that why she’d left so many years before? Was that why she hadn’t waited to question him further about his acidic words and the reasons he’d given for not loving her anymore? She’d pushed the conversation from her head ages ago, but now, the scenes rushed back to vividly replay in her mind like some sick, horror picture show. It only brought more tears to her dark brown eyes.
She should have questioned it. But she hadn’t. Why had she run—so far, so fast—from him? It had been more than his words, it had been the utter fear that she wasn’t deserving of him. Why had she been so unaware of the consequences?
Gulping, she flicked her gaze over to the cracked porcelain finish on the tub she’d just bathed in. Her long hair was sitting under her, tangled, still soaked and wetting her shirt. “Why? Why would you want to again?”
“I love you, Evie. I always have. No matter what has happened since then, no matter how much time goes by. There was always only you. I don’t care that you joined the Unseelie army, I don’t care about any of that. You can still come back. You can always return with me, take back what we had. You only have to say yes.”
“But all I’ve done….” The tears added to the sopping mess of her hair, and she dropped her blade beside her. It was useless to fight the flood of pain seizing her.
“It’s nothing. I need your help to make it all right. It’s bigger than you, than me, than us. If we don’t stop this, our worlds will fall apart. Shade needs you, she’s your blood. You can’t deny her your love, she needs your help.”
Evie closed her eyes, the hot tears dripping back into her dark tangles of hair and sliding down the strands, like promises lost.
“I’ve failed her already. Her and my sister, Jade. They don’t need me.”
“Yes, they do. You’re all Shade has besides her siblings. They don’t have their mother anymore. Jade is gone.”
This made Evangeline flip her eyes open to focus back onto Jack’s. “What did you say?”
Jack blew out a breath, leaned back and dropped his sword to his side. “Jade was killed in the battle at Scren Palace. The army got to her, and they broke her neck before Shade… Shade found her.”
Shaking her head, she felt her fingers tremble under his weight. “No. You’re wrong. I would know. We had a bonding spell over us. My mother cast it prior to her death. We were bound forever, by blood, so we’d know if the other was in dire need or in trouble.”
Jack got off her and sat back on his legs. It hurt to tell Evie that her precious sister was dead. It stung almost as much as losing her. “I’m sorry, Evie. She died. Maybe she secretly broke the spell without your knowledge, before it happened. She had to protect her family.”
Still in disbelief, Evie pulled herself up, sitting against the tub for support and hugging her knees to her chest. She rested her head on them, burying her face under her tangled locks. “Why would she do that? I could’ve helped her, saved her. Why w
ould she cut me off? I’d never hurt her. I kept the army away from her as much as I could. I did what I could….” Her body shook with violent sobs as she let her pain engulf her. Breaking their bonding spell was something Jade would have done, especially if she’d found a way to do it without Evie knowing. Why would she do that though? They’d agreed to do it, to make sure each was safe. Unless….
Unless Jade had felt it was too dangerous to remain connected to Evie.
The horror of knowing her sister had felt Evie had been too lost to her to remain connected made her heart break even more. Now Jade was dead, and it was all Evie’s fault, no matter which way she looked at it.
“What about Shade? Her brothers… and Anna? Are they safe?” She glanced up, her eyes red but her stare hard and hopeful.
“They are fine. I can’t tell you where Shade is. No one can know, at least not until we return to Guildrin together and Ilarial and Queen Zinara say it’s okay to speak of our plans.”
“Why? Is she in danger?”
“You could say that, but she’s a strong girl. She’ll be okay. I’m positive.”
Evie nodded, feeling the knot in her chest loosen at the mention of Shade. He was right. Shade had evaded them for so long. Even after she’d been captured, she’d escaped. Not once had she ever needed Evie’s help. Not once. It made her proud yet somewhat saddened that her niece hadn’t needed her all these years or would never think to come to her for help. It made the pain resurface, but she shoved it back down. She had to keep a clear head and fix things.
Maybe Jack was right. It was time to return to the Seelie Court and rectify what she’d done in all those years of being lost and full of hate.