Stained Glass Monsters

by Andrea Höst

"Time to meet your Queen."

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  It happened far too quickly. The demon walked around the edge of the room's big central square so that he was opposite Rennyn, putting the Black Queen's focus well out of her reach. Kendall made one last attempt to wriggle free of Sukata's grasp and the other captives exchanged urgent, impotent glances as the heaviness turned suffocating, and all the mage glows dimmed.

  The whole room shuddered, and she heard panes of glass crack. All the edges went off the sounds, drowned out by a thrumming which filled the air, crushing Kendall's ears, her chest, her bones. The whole of the heaviness over Falk was squashing down into this one space.

  The black square became a pool, a pit and all the room was tipping into it. Kendall found herself tilting forward, but was held upright by Sukata. She could hear more glass breaking, but it was far away, outside this heavy, dark world–

  Light. Bright, painful, stabbing into the eyes. Kendall flinched from it, and found that she was sweating, shaking, but no longer crushed. She took an overwhelmed breath and stared at the crystal sun which had taken over the room.

  For some reason she'd thought that Queen Solace's new focus would be black like Rennyn's, but this was clear and bright like those that ordinary mages wore. It was just – big. Twice the height of a man, floating in the centre of the room, shining brighter than any of the mage glows. The air still throbbed with power, but it was more contained and less painful.

  The huge focus rose slowly toward the big vaulted ceiling of the room, and there on the floor was the White Lady again, just as Kendall had seen her in Falk. Feet neatly together, hair spread out in a great fan to the tips of her fingers, beautiful dress shimmering. But this one's eyes were open.

  The woman sat up, moving very slowly. She wasn't more than average height, but it felt like the floor quaked from her weight, leaving Kendall dizzy, small and scared spitless. Lieutenant Danress had been right about the pointlessness of attacking the Black Queen direct. There was so much power in the room, swirling around and through everyone like a live thing, as obedient to the Black Queen's will as the Kellian. Casting a spell, drawing a weapon, making any kind of attack would be suicide. Only the Kellian might have the speed to succeed, and they were on the wrong side.

  "Your Majesty," said the demon prince, and bowed extra-deep, before offering her his hand.

  The Black Queen stood up, her long fall of waving white hair swinging to her knees. She didn't seem awkward getting up off the floor, wasn't in a hurry, acted totally in control as she gazed round at them all. The smaller focus detached itself from the demon's wrist and moved to hover at her shoulder like a glass courtier. Tyrland's new Queen.

  Kendall became a little tangled over whether it was right to call her the new queen or the old queen. Either way, the haughty, disgusted look she suddenly fixed on Queen Astranelle, like she was some bug crawled from under a rock, left no doubt over how she felt about anyone else holding the title.

  "You descend from the Pretender?" Her voice was strong and commanding, and colder than the Hells.

  "I am a successor of King Eliathas, yes." Queen Astranelle stood steady, not moving even when Princess Sera was unable to hold back a hiccupping sob, burrowing her face into Prince Justin's side.

  The Black Queen's lip curled, surveying the small royal family. "You claim a right to this land?"

  The menace in her words hung in the air, a sword ready to fall at the wrong answer. Tyrland could not have two queens. But Queen Astranelle wasn't about to swear fealty to the Black Queen, no matter the consequences.

  "I have accepted a duty to this kingdom," she said, with quiet pride. "I will not turn my back on it."

  Other than that she wasn't a friend of the Kellian, Kendall didn't know much about Queen Astranelle, but she had to like her for standing there so calm. Chin up in the face of death. She liked Lady Weston even more for stepping to the Queen's side, a show of support from a mage who couldn't even cast.

  The Black Queen's eyes narrowed, but then she glanced away, and Captain Faille moved, faster than fast. In a breath he was standing before Rennyn and one of his hands rose and fell, and left a line across her shirt. A choked gasp broke from Rennyn's lips, and she moved like she wanted to clutch her side, but couldn't because Captain Illuma still held her arms. He'd cut her open. Those nails were every bit as much a weapon as a sword.

  As everyone stared in confusion, Captain Faille reached out his long, pointed fingers and actually stuck them into Rennyn's side, which made her turn very pale and writhe rather. Blood was streaming down from the cut, a bit below her ribs on her left side, but it didn't look like the wound was too deep. When he drew back his hand he was holding a familiar black sphere. Rennyn's focus.

  "Did you imagine such a simple ruse would overcome me?" the Queen asked, sounding genuinely curious.

  Rennyn didn't answer immediately, watching Captain Faille hand the blood-slick focus to the demon prince. The demon held up the necklace with its identical black stone, then dropped the necklace on the floor and pocketed the real focus. Only then did Rennyn turned her attention back to the Black Queen to say, "May I ask you a question?"

  "Traitor's child, do you hope to postpone your death or hasten it?" But behind the Black Queen's dry words Kendall glimpsed suddenly sharpened attention. Captured and bleeding, her focus taken from her and facing a mage as powerful as the gods, Rennyn Claire still managed to act like she was the one in charge. Did she have a plan, or was this just Surclere arrogance?

  "Are you able to withdraw from the Kellian?" Rennyn asked, completely ignoring the Black Queen's comment. "Your presence is killing them as people."

  This brought scorn. "The golems will not fail their purpose."

  "I suppose not," Rennyn said, with a distant note in her voice. "But that wasn't quite the point, was it?"

  Captain Faille backhanded Rennyn across the face. Again, the suddenness of the move made all the captives flinch, and Kendall sobbed beneath her breath. Even though she knew that it must be at the Black Queen's orders, it still felt like Captain Faille had turned on them. It was one thing to think him a scary man, but it was purely horrid to have him act like it.

  "Who do you think you are talking to?" the Black Queen asked, picking out each word.

  Rennyn didn't immediately respond, but then she straightened, looking unhappily at Captain Faille. She had this trick of ignoring the Black Queen – of both queens, really – which almost made it so they didn't matter, for all their power. The mark of Captain Faille's hand stood out white, with a thin red line at the centre, and already one eye was starting to swell. Yet she lifted her head as high as before, not quailing in the least.

  Rennyn had to be bluffing. Ignoring the Black Queen to keep her attention fixed and wary. But her skin was grey from the effort of staying upright, the whole of her front slick with blood now starting to pool around her feet. Even if she didn't provoke the Black Queen into killing her, she couldn't last much longer.

  A flicker of movement at the door betrayed her into another glance, but it was only the Kellian again, carrying more people. She stared at them, then closed her eyes, looking deadly tired.

  "Still hoping for rescue, cousin?" asked the demon prince. "Perhaps your brother found a...wiser course of action."

  "You shouldn't judge Seb by your own standards," Rennyn said.

  "Enough of this," said the Black Queen, and Kendall quailed because she knew this meant that Rennyn was about to die and then probably the rest of them.

  But Rennyn nodded. "Yes," she murmured, as if she were sorry or glad. "Enough."

  Kendall didn't see her do anything, and the thorny bracelet meant there was no way Rennyn could cast, but suddenly all the Kellian started glowing. Not gold or white like they did in strong sun and moonlight, but with an angry ripple of dark rainbow tints which heralded a gust of power so strong it set Kendall's teeth to aching. Sigils began writing themselves up each of the columns and across the ceiling, and the
Black Queen staggered as if a crushing weight had been set on her shoulders.

  "Three hundred years," Rennyn said, stepping away from a frozen Captain Illuma to stand shakily unsupported. The floor washed black, as if someone had poured a bucket of ink across it. "We had time to plan for many contingencies."

  Kendall realised Sukata's hold had also relaxed, and pulled free as something stung at her arms. The Kellian girl didn't even notice, standing paralysed as tiny little lightning-bolts played over her skin. The air smelt of storms. Beneath their feet the blackness kept spreading out from the central square to cover the floors and climb up the walls, dousing the mage glows as it went. Even the Black Queen's focus dimmed, and below it they could see pinpricks of lights clustered together in the dark, rapidly growing smaller and then fading away.

  "What is it?" Kendall whispered, awed, as a round shape came into sight. Most of it was black, but there was a long band along one side which was blue and green and brown and there was a kind of halo around the whole thing. It shone like a jewel suspended in the floor below them, slowly growing smaller.

  "All the world," said Rennyn unsteadily. "And more. How beautiful." She had her own faint halo, and her hair was moving gently though there wasn't any wind.

  The Black Queen was having almost as much trouble staying on her feet as Rennyn, shuddering like she was holding up a mountain, power pouring off her in an ever-increasing wave. "Kill her!" she hissed urgently at the demon.

  "Useless spite," Rennyn murmured, glancing up. If she'd seemed calm before, now she acted like someone who'd finally reached the top of a hill and had no further to go.

  "Quickly!"

  None of the Kellian moved: they were statues beneath purple lightning crawling about so you could hear it fizzing on their skin. But the demon prince hadn't been effected by the spell. With an odd smile he started forward.

  "Don't even–!" shouted one of the wakened prisoners, and leapt to intercept the smaller man. But the prince caught him and with a sound of tearing cloth threw him straight at Rennyn. They both went down with a horrible thud.

  "Ren!"

  Sebastian came running out of nowhere. He stumbled to a stop by his sister as the nobleman scrambled awkwardly off her, slipping in the pooling blood. Rennyn didn't move.

  "The late-come hero," commented the demon prince, who actually seemed to be enjoying himself, not showing any concern for his mother. He reached casually down and scooped up one of the abandoned Sentene weapons, then threw it at Sebastian.

  Kendall reacted without thinking, pushing with all her might. The sword twisted in mid-air, jerking off in a completely unexpected direction. The demon laughed, and with a gesture lifted a dozen swords from near the sleeping guards, all of their points lining up at Rennyn and Sebastian.

  And then the Black Queen's focus exploded.

  -oOo-

  Kendall fell over before the blast of power, curling into a ball as the side of her face and arm were stung by glassy wasps. Her ears rang and echoed before settling back to normal, and she lifted her head warily. She couldn't tell how long it had been and all the light had gone out of the room so that there was only a bit of brightness through the doors and windows; no good to see by.

  A faint crunching of crystal, eerie and directionless, made her heart jump. Where was the demon? But nothing leaped on her, so she shifted and found she was lying on someone's legs. Sukata. Sitting up, she pulled at the girl, who didn't resist or react. Kendall wasn't even sure she was breathing.

  Light flared, and Kendall looked hastily around for the demon. Nowhere. The only people moving were the small clutch of wakened prisoners, dusting off shards or picking them from their skin as they climbed to their feet. All of the sleeping guards stayed where they were, still under the spell. None of the Kellian were standing.

  The light was a mage glow conjured by Sebastian, but his attention was all for his sister, not for little matters like monsters. He pulled off his jacket and wadded it against Rennyn's side. The nobleman who had been thrown at her made a pad for her head out of his own jacket, but then picked up a pistol and stood.

  "It can't have gone far," he said, with an urgent glance from the centre of the room to Queen Astranelle. "Your Majesty–"

  The Queen, bleeding from a cut above her eye, cut him off with a gesture. "The thought does you credit, Tassin, but none of us are equipped to fight that creature," she said and looked at Lady Weston, who nodded in agreement. They both ignored the centre of the room, where bits of white hair and dress poked from beneath of a pile of crystal.

  Queen Astranelle turned to Sebastian. "Child, can you break this sleep spell?"

  But Sebastian didn't even seem to hear her, eyes only for Rennyn, who didn't respond when he called her name and didn't react when he tried to straighten her.

  Before the Queen could speak again there was a sound at the west door. A Kellian blurred into the room, slowing from top speed to a frozen full stop as she looked around the room. Out of uniform, Kendall barely recognised her as Lieutenant Faral, and didn't know if it was the right reaction when the nobleman called Tassin raised his pistol at sight of her.

  Lieutenant Faral saw it, and there was a faint flicker behind her eyes as Kendall thought about just how dangerous Kellian could be. But then two other Kellian followed her blurring entrance, and she sounded as proper and correct as ever when she said: "My Lady, there are fires in the city."

  "Fires?" Lady Weston looked briefly puzzled, then said: "Of course. A city asleep where it stands. There are bound to have been injuries and accidents. Muster what you can and bring in the fire crews from outside the main circle. But set a small force to locating Helecho Montjuste-Surclere."

  "Yes, My Lady." Lieutenant Faral saluted, and added a tidy little bow in the Queen's direction before sending the other two Kellian speeding back out of the room. She made a second, more thorough survey of the room, lingering for a moment on Kendall, who had propped Sukata on her lap in an effort to try and work out if she was alive. And then Rennyn, all bloody and broken.

  Swiftly, she crossed to the two Claires and knelt on the other side from Sebastian. Taking hold of both his wrists, she said: "Stop panicking."

  This at least made Sebastian look at her, though his eyes were so full of impending loss that Kendall wasn't sure he understood what she'd said.

  "Your sister needs a healing mage, Sebastian," Lieutenant Faral said, thin voice very clear and steady. "And quickly. You need to wake one up." She let go of his wrists and pressed lightly on the bloody coat. "I'll look after Lady Rennyn. You help Lady Weston with a healer."

  Sebastian stared at her, then nodded jerkily. "Yes. Of course." He took a deep breath and pulled himself together, turning to Lady Weston.

  With that settled, Kendall shifted her attention back to Sukata, who wasn't burned and felt properly warm and alive, but didn't wake even when Kendall pinched the skin on the back of her hand. Her chest did seem to be moving, but it wasn't something as simple as sleep, or surely she'd react a little. Kendall stared from Captain Faille's body to Rennyn. This was what she'd been hiding? The price of killing the Black Queen?

  Lieutenant Faral had finished checking over Rennyn's injuries, and stopped to smooth strands of hair off her face. The movement was very tender, like a mother with a new baby, not revealing any anger underneath. But probably she didn't know what Rennyn had done. Used the Kellian to win.

  Painfully unhappy, Kendall focused on picking bits of crystal out of Sukata and her own skin. Everyone in the room had been peppered, but most of the pieces were small and at least no-one seemed to have been hit in the eye.

  It didn't take long for Sebastian to find a way to wake people up, though he could only do it one by one. But once he'd woken a couple of mages who didn't have bracelets, and shown them what to do, things really started moving. The room grew confusing and Kendall lost sight of Sebastian until he showed up trailing a tall, thin woman with a long neck who took over Rennyn, freezing Lieutenant Faral out
with a cold stare.

  "Let me look after her now," said a deep voice, and Kendall looked up at Captain Medan.

  "She won't wake," Kendall explained, closing her fingers tighter around Sukata.

  "I know." Captain Medan looked calm, but Kendall could see he was upset underneath. "But she's not going to get better lying here on the floor."

  That was hard to argue with, so Kendall let her fingers relax. The big Sentene mage lifted Sukata easily, nodded, then carried her away.

  Kendall almost followed them, but then she saw Sebastian walking after Lady Weston and changed direction. She needed to hear what he knew, needed to know if using the Kellian was what he and Rennyn had planned all along.

  "Lediage Sorathar is the Queen's own healer," Lady Weston was saying, leading Sebastian deeper into the palace. "Your sister could not be in better hands."

  "I'd still rather stay with her," Sebastian said, but in the resigned tone of someone who knows he's lost an argument.

  "Soon enough. You know very well this explanation cannot wait."

  The Queen had lost patience with the Claires carrying out their plans without telling her anything, Kendall bet. From a room ahead Kendall heard Princess Sera's voice in very definite, determined tones. It sounded like she didn't intend to miss the explanations either. Kendall shook her head. She mightn't like the princess, but no-one could say she didn't bounce back quick from being scared half out of her mind. Or that she didn't know how to get her way.

  The room was some kind of sitting-room, all brocaded chairs and glittery ornaments. Princess Sera, having won her argument, was enthroned on a couch all to herself being fussed over by a lady in a long white apron. Prince Justin was picking some more crystal out of his hand. The Queen's dress was blood-specked, but she looked a lot tidier and more regal now. Two of the nobles who'd been in the room, the man called Tassin and a sleepy-looking woman, shared another couch and even though this made it a lot of people, Kendall abruptly realised that it was probably far less than usual for an audience with the Queen. They were all still wearing the horrid bracelets, and there weren't any guards or servants other than the nurse. Most of those who had been woken couldn't be spared from trying to fix the mess caused by an entire city sleeping all at once. Fires. People who'd been standing at the tops of flights of stairs. Holding babies. People on horses or driving carts. Had the animals fallen asleep as well? Would birds have just dropped out of the sky? Kendall hadn't even begun to think through the implications.