Wicked As You Wish

by Rin Chupeco

  “You’re not that at all,” Tala quickly assured her. “You were, ah, amazing back there, with the ice wolves. Like a female Indiana Jones. You, uh, know who Indiana—”

  “Of course, silly,” Nya said, grinning. “We still had television and films a dozen years ago.”

  West had volunteered to scout ahead, shedding his clothes rapidly before assuming the form of a large eagle to survey the area before them. West, Loki explained, had a finer grasp of direction once he was in any other form but human. He returned within the next hour, shimmering and changing the instant his feet touched the ground.

  “We’re getting closer now,” he reported, wrapping his cloak around him. His face however, was troubled. “You’ll be able to see it once we’re over that hill.”

  “See what?” Ken asked, but a profound change had come over Nya’s face.

  “Maidenkeep,” she said simply.

  Ken stared at her, his face conflicted between anger and grim determination. “So we’re finally gonna see what those cold bastards did to the place, huh?”

  Zoe seemed sad, and Loki resolute. Cole’s gray eyes were as hard as ever, but there was a strange blankness to Alex’s expression, as if he was forbidding himself from feeling anything.

  “What are we going to see?” Tala asked with some trepidation.

  “You’ll know soon enough,” Loki told her, guiding their horse up the hill West pointed out, near the edge of what looked like a sheer vertical drop, and the others followed closely behind.

  Tala found herself staring down at a low, expansive valley. Directly below, frozen swampland stretched on for several miles, an ugly greenish-blue birthmark amid the small patches of ice. Farther beyond that was the faint outline of a large city, a collection of rooftops no bigger than dolls’ houses from where she stood.

  But it was neither the swamps nor the city that caught her attention. Farther in the distance, still within Lyonesse’s territory, lay what Tala could only describe as a tall shimmering peak, rising above even the tallest of the frost-tipped trees that hid most of it from view. Even in the dusk, it shone, catching the last rays of sunlight on its numerous surfaces. Pointed ridges stuck out at odd angles every several feet. It was a captivating, almost haunting sight, but there was something about it that struck her as being unnatural, like it was made out of…

  “Ice,” Nya breathed, completing her train of thought. Her brown and gold eyes looked awed. “I’ve never seen it before. Not like this.”

  “Maidenkeep was hit hardest by the frost,” Zoe said quietly. “We’re finally here.”

  “And we’re gonna take her back,” Alex added, a rigid cast to his jaw. “You hear me, you bloody ice witch? We’re taking my kingdom back!” His voice rang across the plains below them, like he was calling on the Snow Queen herself to defy his words, and several miles away the castle gleamed brightly, as if in challenge.

  26

  In Which the Marsh King Chooses a Wife

  The marshlands were a brittle miasma of stunted growth and frigid decay. The only signs of life were the dark indistinct figures that slithered underneath their feet as they carefully picked their way through the frozen ice. The mist hovered low, limiting their sight to no more than several feet. The only vegetation around were several sickly looking reeds and dead tree stumps, and what brief view they had of the sky soon faded, obscured by forbidding-looking clouds; the harsh light that remained, rendered irrelevant somehow.

  A constant hissing and bubbling noise, muffled but still apparent, seemed to saturate the air. Tala had a sick, unshakable feeling that beneath the thick layer of ice separating them from the murky bog below, something was following them. Other than that, an eerie silence had descended on the place, blocking out every other noise.

  “You’re the expert here, Loki,” Zoe said, shivering. “What do you suggest we do now?”

  “We don’t have much of a choice. This is the only way to get to Maidenkeep. The only other option is to retrace our steps and take a longer, circular route that’ll add at least a month to our time. I’ll go ahead; stay on the same path I take, and keep the firebird inside the sack. Fire here could literally burn the place down. Ken, tell the horses not to stray.”

  At their advice, everyone slid off their mounts. The area stretched on to the foreseeable distance, unmarked by any visible landmarks. One wrong step could mean stumbling into odd pockets of a viscous mud-and-snow mixture not unlike quicksand, as Ken, cursing, found out when his right foot stepped onto an innocent-looking mound only to sink right through it.

  Alex kept a careful watch on his pet, but the firebird was listless, barely stirring. Its unusual lethargy worried Tala. Living weapons of destruction weren’t supposed to act like this.

  “Nya said Ikpe’s tower was enchanted to repel magical beings, even if they aren’t nightwalkers,” Zoe said, watching it lie sluggishly inside the saddlebag, its beak the only part protruding out. “It might be a while before its effects wear off.”

  “Aren’t there rumors about this place?” Ken was talking faster than was normal, even for him. “About people who went into the marshlands but never came out, and about the marsh king that lives in the swamps, eating anything that moves?”

  “The what?”

  “The marsh king. Mum used to tell stories about him when I was a kid. Branches for arms, rules underneath the swamps, snatches babies, and eats travelers up? Eyes of flame, whiffling through tulgey woods?”

  “That last part wasn’t even the marsh king, that was the jabberwock,” Zoe said. “You really need to pay more attention in class, Ken. There are bolotniks in Avalon swamps, and they’re toad-like spirits. The marsh king’s an urban legend. Like Bloody Mary and alligators in the sewer and Paul McCartney being dead since the sixties. A singer from the United Kingdom, West,” she added hastily, before West could open his mouth. “The legend about the marsh king is that they catch unwary maidens and drag them to their burrows in the deep to be their brides, but that’s ridiculous.”

  “Still a pervy little twonk,” Ken muttered.

  Nya made a face. “I’ve heard stories about that. We’ve never had much reason to explore these parts, but I’ve known a couple of scouts of ours who’d set out here but never returned.”

  “Do you have any information about this place you think we should know?” Zoe asked her.

  “They used to make small offerings along the shore,” Alex said unexpectedly. “On the Lyonesse end of this swamp. My father did it himself every year, before and after the winter season set in. He said it was to commemorate our ancestors, some who were Slavic, who may have inadvertently brought the bolotnik curse to Avalon when they first came here to live centuries ago. He’d send a basket full of sweet treats made up to resemble people, so that the bolotnik would go after that instead of his subjects. He brought me here when I was three. I was watching the basket when it floated out, and I swore I saw it sink down abruptly, like something had reached up and grabbed it from below.”

  “Alex?” Tala asked, because he was struggling not to cry.

  “I’m fine.” Alex glanced at the solid-looking frozen ground and took a deliberate step forward. “We don’t have anything to offer it now, and it’s been twelve years. Best to get through this place as fast as we can.”

  “So, we’re walking through the territory of basically a huge-ass frog with a sweet tooth, hoping we don’t wake him.” Ken was dripping in sarcasm. “Fan-fucking-tastic.”

  It looked to Tala like the marshlands were more than capable of hiding hundreds of marsh kings, lying in wait for careless travelers to pull down into its depths. West pulled his cloak tightly around him, and Zoe’s eyes were glued to her mare’s hooves, observing every spot and patch the horse treaded on, on the lookout for partly frozen quicksand.

  Tala found herself walking beside her best friend as they led their horses through some of the narro
wer, less stable areas Loki directed them to. A couple of times she wobbled, unsure of her feet and worrying that every foothold might turn out to be an unexpected sinkhole. Each time, Alex reached out without thinking and steadied her before she could stumble.

  Dinner that night was a quiet, dismal affair. Loki decreed one generous patch of ground to be safe, and Nya made small attempts to sweep their camp free of loose debris, before giving up a half hour later when more snowdrifts piled up on her efforts. They ate more adobo (courtesy of Alex), ekwang (Nya), and peanut butter burgers (Loki, to everyone’s morbid curiosity, then intrigue, then seal of approval) and huddled in small groups to compensate for the lack of fire, while Ken took first guard. Cole settled down at a spot farther away, ostensibly to conduct his own watch.

  “Now I know why Uncle Hiram never had many visitors,” West said.

  “This place was a city once,” Alex said, still in that place farther away than from where he stood. “There were so many names for it. That it was part of Camelot, where King Arthur ruled until he was killed by Mordred. Or that it was a city called Tír na nÓg, led by King Fionn and his followers, the fianna, until his son, Oisin, disappeared, and the fianna grew corrupted. Or that it was the first city to be named Everafter, where Avenant Charming, the Three Great Heroines, and their descendants battled Koschei and the Snow Queen. Maybe it was abandoned and Lyonesse founded nearby because it was cursed with endless-seeming cycles of heroes fighting evil and dying for their troubles. All I know is that nothing grows here anymore.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?” Tala asked, tentative.

  Alex looked at her, and then back at the lifeless, frozen swamp. “Why?” he asked. “What’s the use? They’re all dead and gone.”

  “What was that?” Nya cried out, pointing a trembling finger into the mist, where a faint glow of light ebbed back and forth across the bogs.

  “Marsh lights,” Loki guessed. “Will-o’-the-wisps. My dad said some forms of fungi can combine with marshland gas to glow in the dark. It’s nothing to be afraid of.”

  “I’m not afraid,” Nya said, shivering. “Although this wasn’t what I had in mind. Grammy made it sound like I’d be getting into swashbuckling fights and meeting more royal princes and finding caves of jewels like in the history books. Not freezing in a marshland in the middle of nowhere, waiting for something to crawl up and kill me. Reality’s a lot harder than it looks.”

  A peculiar sound echoed across the open air.

  “Okay, tell me that was just the bogs settling,” Ken said. “Because that sounded a lot like someone screaming.”

  “Are you still all right?” Loki asked Nya. “Do you want another cloak?”

  The girl flashed them a wan smile. “I’m fine. It’s just…water ought to be clean and clear. Like the ocean. I’d always wanted to see that one day. Not like this.” She looked back at Loki. “You seem to know your way around these parts.”

  They shrugged. “My father was of the fianna sciath.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Rangers, scouts, warriors dedicated to the defense of Avalon. Only the very best are chosen. There’s usually thirteen honors at any one time—thirteen groups of thirteen soldiers, each with specialized training—and each honor led by a high lord, in turn led by a wake.”

  “Was?” Tala asked.

  “Father had to leave after he was exiled, but they extend invitations to all fianna’s children regardless. They’ve been inactive the last dozen years for obvious reasons, but I’m planning on following in his footsteps and joining up once they’re officially reinstated.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Tala interrupted. “I know nothing about this. Exiled?”

  Loki coughed. “Some of King Ivan’s councilmen were…not very happy about my fathers’ romantic preferences.”

  “Are you kidding?” Tala exploded. “Isn’t Avalon more progressive than that?”

  Loki coughed again. “It’s complicated. My dad, Anthony Sun, was a high lord of the fifth fianna, but my father, Thomas Wagner, was seventh in line to the Avalon throne and betrothed to a princess.” They grinned. “They exiled Dad in an attempt to dissuade Father from marrying him, but he didn’t care.”

  “You say that like it’s not a big thing,” Nya marveled. “I would be furious in your place.”

  Loki shrugged. “We’re not very big on regret. You let go of a lot of unwanted baggage that way. And if things didn’t happen the way they did, I might have never been adopted by my fathers, so I’m grateful.” They squinted up at the sky. “Everyone best get some rest; according to the count’s map, we’ve got a couple more days to go before we reach the marsh’s edge.”

  “A couple more days too many for me,” Zoe murmured softly, hugging the pouch the witch gave her against her chest.

  The mist had barely lifted when they started out again the following day. They talked little as they led their horses, and then in only mute whispers. Loki halted every now and then to take stock of their surroundings, studying what little of the landscape they could see to keep moving in the right direction. With great care, they navigated around large bogs capable of sinking both person and horse if they hadn’t been frozen.

  “Watch out for thin ice,” Loki warned. “The patches bluer in color are the safest to tread on. Gray means it’s at its thinnest and should be avoided.”

  “Easy for you to say,” Ken grumbled. “Everything looks like cold mud to me.”

  It was roughly a few hours after noon the next day when Loki gestured again for a halt. They walked several feet away, bent down to study the soil in front of them with a puzzled expression. “I think we have a problem.”

  “That is not what we want to hear while stuck in a place like this, Loki,” Ken said.

  “I know.” Loki rubbed at their temple, a frustrated, slightly bewildered look crossing their normally placid features. “Don’t you see anything strange about this?” they demanded, pointing at a small, desiccated, partly frozen tree stump close by.

  “Other than it being the closest to a living thing in this otherwise frozen bloody circle of hell? Nothing much, really. Why?”

  “We passed that very same trunk only an hour ago,” Loki said. “And an hour before that.”

  “Are you sure?” Ken sounded unconvinced. “They all look the same to me.”

  “I can tell the difference. Trust me, we’ve gone through this path before.”

  “Have we been going around in circles?” Zoe asked, concerned.

  “Not exactly. I still recognize a few landmarks.” Loki frowned. “I must have gotten my bearings turned around, but I don’t see how I could have.”

  “What does that mean?” West asked from underneath the fur cloak now draped over his head, his voice muffled.

  “It sounds ridiculous, but I think something’s been moving this trunk and a few other things around to confuse us.”

  “So you’re telling us we’re lost,” Alex said, brittle fury in his voice. “You got us lost.”

  “I’m sure I can find a way out before—”

  “My father was sure he could protect Avalon too, and look where that got him,” the prince snapped. “We’ve had to fight our way through shades and ogres and Deathless to pick up a witch”—Nya opened her mouth to protest, but Alex barreled on relentlessly—“only to get stuck in wasteland, and now you’re blaming your failures on a dead tree. I can see why your father didn’t last long as a high lord.”

  Loki blinked. “I…”

  “What is wrong with you?” Tala shouted at him, finally losing her temper. “We’ve all tried to give you space because we know this is bringing back awful memories, but you have no right to go and take out your pent-up frustrations on them when they’re trying their best to help!”

  “Try?” Alex shot back. He stretched his arms out on either side of him. “This is what trying got me! A
dead kingdom, dead parents, and dead magic! You’re not here to try to protect me, you’re all here to prove why the Cheshire sent you! All you need to do is get me to Maidenkeep, and I’ll do the rest! Maybe he should have sent people who actually know what they’re doing!”

  “You don’t let them help you! All you’ve done is push people away! You refuse to tell me what’s been up your ass, you won’t talk to anyone else, you’re mad at Zoe because she’s dating your ex.” Zoe gasped, but Tala was too pent up to shut up. “And I know there’s some dangerous spell you’re keeping from me, and it has to do with the firebird. And not just here in Avalon, but ever since you came to Invierno. If you won’t let anyone get close to you, even someone you consider a best friend, then how the hell do you expect anyone else to help?”

  Alex’s eyes blazed. “You don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

  “That’s exactly the point! I don’t! Because you’re not giving me anything to go on!”

  “I don’t need anyone else! All I expect you to do is to get me out of this wasteland—”

  He stopped, the color slowly leeching from his face, as the stump behind him began to shudder, rising slowly until it loomed several stories above them, small spindly branches strung out on either side of its ice-encrusted, gnarled body. Now at its full height, it no longer resembled a tree trunk. Instead, a large toad crouched before them, thinly camouflaged in mud and reeds. Dead bramble and branches settled on its head like a distorted, withered crown.

  The great bubbling noises of the marsh grew louder, issuing out from the frog’s mouth that opened to reveal a dark empty cavern, a foul stench emanating from within. Two yellow eyes regarded them, malevolence overshadowed by a dreadful greed.

  A tongue, dark and stained by the colors of the swamp, lashed out quickly from that deep, black hole, missing Alex by a few feet, to wind itself around a stunned Zoe’s waist.