Yew Queen Trilogy

by Eve A Hunt

  “But you’re the badass mage who freaked out the pool of creepy-ass water.”

  “Indeed, but I remain painfully ignorant of how to use my awesomeness.”

  She threw an arm around my shoulders. Kaippa was right. She did smell like wheat. Why was I thinking about Kaippa? He wasn’t a friend. Sure, I didn’t want him to die horribly at the hands of evil supernaturals, but…

  I pushed the internal conflict aside and focused on what Hekla was saying.

  “…and don’t worry, Coren. We’ll figure it out.”

  I turned to see Lucus placing a palm against the smooth trunk of a beech tree. His eyes shuttered, and his fingers bent like he wanted to claw the tree open to search for his brothers. God, I was a shit for not giving him more love right now. Even though I was still confused about us and how much I could really and truly trust him to continue ignoring the fact that I was a mage and his enemy, he was in a strange land and his last two family members were missing. He hadn’t even asked for anything. He’d been completely focused on me and helping me rein in my power.

  “Give me a second, okay?” I asked Hekla.

  Her dimples appeared as she grinned kindly at me, then glanced at Lucus. “I’ll head back and tell the Binder guy you’re almost ready.”

  I joined Lucus at the beech tree and put a hand on his lower back, his soft cloak gathering under my palm. “I’m going to practice some of this crazy casting business. You okay?”

  “They must be here. The boundary would hold them.” He spun to face me. “I think Arleigh has them just as she has Kaippa.”

  I swallowed. If she did, there was a good chance they weren’t getting a big fae hug. “What do you think she would want with them? I mean, I know now what she wants with me, but with more fae?”

  “Entertainment, if I had to guess.” And the look on his face said he knew Arleigh wasn’t entertained by nice pastimes like poetry and dancing.

  “If she has them, she’ll show off her control tomorrow at the feast.”

  His hands fisted, emerald light sparkling over his knuckles. But the light wasn’t as bright as it usually was. At least he wasn’t passing out or anything. “Go,” he said quietly, encouraging me. “The more capable you are with your magic, the better chances we all have of escaping Arleigh’s designs.”

  A question burned through my thoughts. I knew I shouldn’t poke the bear, but I couldn’t help asking. “How are you feeling about siding with me, Nora, and the Binder against your own kind? I can’t imagine that was ever a life goal.”

  He chuckled quietly, a bitter tone leaking into the noise. “If I saw any other way to do this, I would explore it.”

  “But you trust me, right? Even though I am who I am?” As a fae, he couldn’t lie, and I needed to know when push came to shove that he’d have my back. Or not.

  He gave me a smile that was half frown. “I don’t fully trust you.”

  A feeling close to fear slithered down my spine, but I smoothed my features of that and the pinch of disappointment. “It’s not a surprise, but I was hoping I was wrong. I don’t blame you. We’ve only known one another for a week or so, and I am your greatest enemy’s descendant.”

  “But you are also Lucilla’s kin.”

  “Oh, wow. I didn’t process that before now.” He’d slept with my great-great-great-whatever. Okay. Trying to let that one go. He was immortal, after all. Living forever threw some ideas of right and wrong out the window.

  Lucus’s eyebrows bunched. “I want to trust you completely. It will come in time.”

  “If we get the time. Hey, do you find it odd Arleigh and company encourage us mages to train when they obviously are not big fans?”

  “Given what Nora explained earlier, I assume the most accessible and controlled your power, the better a sacrifice you are to the Yew Bow.”

  “Oh, that’s right. Got it. Like feeding a cow all the nice things before you steakify it.”

  “Steakify?”

  “Are you going to come back with me to watch me train? Might be a good peek into how your enemy mages operate?”

  “I have plenty of experience with that, thank you,” he said, his tone cold as a gravestone. I grimaced. Guess I’d said the wrong thing. “I’ll stay here, searching,” he added more softly. “Call out when you are finished for the day.”

  I nodded. “I hope you find your brothers.”

  His eyes grew distant, burning with intensity. “Oh, I will.”

  I left him in the trees and headed for the Binder. It was time to level up, bitches.

  Chapter 13

  Hoping we truly were far enough away from the fae’s main hangouts, I threw my hands wide at the Binder’s shouted directions and inhaled the honey scent of crushed linden flowers and the musky aroma of roses currently rising around me like a beautiful storm cloud.

  “Bring the mage lightning out of the center of your power! Do you sense it? Can you feel the fire of your magic below your sternum?” He was like a yoga instructor gone wild.

  “I do!” I shouted back, trying to be a good student.

  And really, I did.

  The power inside me blazed in pulses, and I almost felt like I was fighting a fever. My cheeks were flushed, but I didn’t have the dragging fatigue that came with illness. Instead, my limbs surged with strength, and my mind was incredibly alert. I sensed every thread of my magic as it danced through me and in the world around me, felt the thrum of the bond with Lucus—though I had my eyes closed, I knew he had returned—and I was acutely aware of every person standing around me, their level of energy and their general attitude of passiveness or aggressiveness.

  “Cast the spell!” The Binder’s face had flushed, and his hair jutted up in places as if the energy inside him were reacting to my own.

  I recited the recipe—ur, spell—he’d taught me. “Rise, light. Rise and break and burn!”

  My lips, palms, and forehead tingled as I mentally sparked the magic inside me and urged it to roll down my arms. The crackling electricity scratched a burning trail through my shoulders, over my biceps, and along my forearms before I threw it at the sky so as not to fry anyone.

  The sky exploded into a tree made of amethyst branches of lightning, and there was a collective gasp at the echoing thunderclap.

  Hekla’s mouth hung open, the bag of herbs she’d been holding dropped beside her woolen clogs.

  Lucus’s gaze felt as hot as my magic. “Well done, Coren.” The pride in his voice was unmistakable.

  I tried to be ticked that he thought he could be proud of me, wanted to remind him that he didn’t own me in any way no matter what this fated magic bond demanded. But honestly, the heat in his eyes and the way his fingers flexed like he was imagining his hands on my body had me biting my lip like a lusty tavern wench. Whatever, man. I tried. He was just so damn delicious and such a good guy behind all of his scary awesomeness.

  The corner of his mouth lifted like he knew what I was thinking.

  The Binder rushed forward and gripped my arm.

  Lucus was there in a second, a growl building in his throat. “Coren, do you need me?”

  I shook my arm free. “I do not. But thank you. What is your problem?” I said to the Binder. “I thought I did pretty well.”

  “Pretty well?” The Binder laughed. “That was…you are incredibly gifted. I can’t think about what this might mean.” He whirled and walked off muttering.

  Nora took his spot. “Coren! Do you realize how powerful you are? You only tried that three times, right? Never before you came here?”

  “No, just the three times.”

  Hekla was clapping, apparently recovered from my freaky storm skills. “Kickass.”

  Nora put her hands on her head and exhaled in a gust. “We have to use this. Now. Before they ruin you.”

  “And before they kill you,” I added, glancing at Lucus and Hekla to see if they also thought it was odd Nora wasn’t overly worried about that bit. Hekla didn’t seem to notice, but Lucus look
ed at the ground and shook his head. Maybe during his war with the Mage Duke, he’d seen prisoners act like this, as if their lives were already lost and there was no use in fighting to save themselves or to even mourn the impending loss. It was so sad.

  “I mean we need to act tomorrow night,” Nora said. “During the feast.”

  The Binder stalked over, his scarecrow frame casting long shadows over the knee-high grass and touching the outer edges of the henge. “She’s right. We work during tomorrow’s feasting. The entire court will be in attendance, which means no one overly powerful will be watching your vampire friend, possibly Lucus’s brothers, and my son in their drop cells.”

  “Drop cells?” I did not like the sound of that.

  Nora took the bag of herbs from Hekla as she answered my question. “Non-mage prisoners are held on an outcropping. Every cell has a floor of spelled vines and…” She swallowed, sweat beading on her upper lip as she glanced at the Binder, who was wringing his hands and whispering as he began pacing again. “If Arleigh is angered, she draws the vines away, and the prisoners who caused her wrath plunge an unmeasurable distance to the valley below.”

  Hekla drifted closer and took my hand, her fingers tight on mine. I squeezed her hand back. Courage, Coren, I told myself.

  “Don’t all her fae prisoners have wings?” I mean, Kaippa did too, so maybe he would be okay if that happened.

  “The unseelie fae enjoy beating their prisoners before shutting them in the cells,” the Binder said. “After the beatings they usually receive, I don’t think most would have the ability to fly even if they were freed.”

  Had they shredded Kaippa’s wings? I shuddered. “Well, I am about to electrocute the shit out of this nightmare, and we’re going to get our people the hell out of here.”

  The Binder’s shirt billowed as he ran over and pressed a finger to his lips. “Don’t be foolish. Yes, the fae allow us to practice and don’t suspect we could ever overcome them, but there is no need to shout our plans to rebel. Surprise will be key.”

  “Of course. Can they hear us out here?” There were no guards present, so I’d thought we were good for now on that front.

  Lucus pointed at the trees where he’d been searching for his brothers, then he gestured at the ground. “If Arleigh decided to spy on us, she could use the trees’ roots. It’s a tricky thing, but it’s been done by other alpha fae.”

  “You’ve done it?”

  “I have. I should be able to tell if she is listening. She might not have the capability, but if she does put that magic to use, I will smell it.”

  I wrinkled my nose. “Like how?”

  “That particular magic smells of fire,” Lucus said. “It’s not beneficial to the trees, using them in that manner, and they give off an alarming scent to dissuade fae from enacting that particular magic.”

  The Binder swallowed, grimacing as if he’d tasted something foul. “Coren, you should be able to summon your power without the use of herbs now. Once you’ve worked it with the earth’s energy, your body will remember the feel of the casting.”

  “So what is our plan here? How are we going to get everyone free and break the Yew Boundary?”

  “I can break the Yew Boundary.” The Binder’s voice was so quiet that I had to strain to hear. “If you get my boy, if you can keep him safe…” He swallowed, going even paler. “I can distract Arleigh and pretend to…” He muttered and chewed his lip. “Ah. I will test Nora’s power for the upcoming sacrifice. The fae will like that. It will be a distraction and a reason for me to use magic and begin calling up the energy I’ll need. Then when I break the Yew Boundary, you can portal us out of this kingdom. With portalling, we don’t have to worry about passing through the pool. But…” He shook his head of wild hair. “When Arleigh sees me working the spell, her guards will strike immediately. There will be no safety for my son. It’s impossible.”

  “I thought you were getting more positive about things?”

  “Your power is impressive,” the Binder said. “But still. There are so many of them.”

  He meant the unseelie, and he wasn’t wrong. It was probably suicide, but we had to do something.

  I forced a hopeful tone into my voice. “We can at least try. Do you really want your son to live out his whole life here in captivity? What kind of life is that?”

  He dragged his hands down his face. “When they threaten to release him from the drop cells or hold him up with a knife to his throat, I can’t make the decision to let him go. I can’t.”

  Hell. I touched his shoulder. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make things worse.”

  “No. You’re right.” He sounded like he was being turned inside out. “If my son stays here, locked away, what good is it? He isn’t playing or learning or even able to visit with me. We’ve been here for so long.”

  He’d been working for Arleigh at least since Nora had arrived in 1936 or whatever it was. How was his son still young? I was a mage, and I’d aged like a regular person growing up. Lucus had mentioned mages’ lifespans were far longer than a human’s. The length of life depended on the magic one used, but one thing seemed to be consistent: Most mages’ aging slowed dramatically when they hit maturity. “Is your son a mage? Did he get the magic from you?”

  “He has very little power. His mother wasn’t a strong mage either, and they also shared the same blue eyes. She was imprisoned here.”

  Oh, shit. Had he been forced to choose between his lover and their child? I rubbed my stomach, feeling sick. No wonder he had no hope. He’d been broken in ways I could never have imagined. God above, that was just awful.

  “Fuck this Arleigh bitch.”

  The others blinked at the hiss in my whispered words, but they needed to get fired up.

  “I’m taking her ass down.” I fisted my hands, loving the sparking sensation of magic curling across my knuckles. “Now, this is what we’re going to do.”

  Chapter 14

  “We have to go to the feast tomorrow. We’d be missed if any of us didn’t. But you know what folks do at a party?”

  “Get drunk.” Hekla was nodding slowly.

  I pointed at her. “Exactly. We wait until everyone is good and sloppy, then Lucus, Hekla, and I slip away to free Kaippa and the Binder’s son.”

  Hekla frowned. “Why me? I mean, I’m up for whatever, but dude can fly and you’re all magical. What do I have to offer?”

  “My plan is for Lucus to come up under the cells, cut the vines, and help each of them get back to solid ground safely without the guards even noticing. We’ll be there to keep an eye out for the guards and for backup in case things don’t go as planned.”

  “Why can’t Lucus control the vines?” Hekla asked.

  “Remember what happened when I tried to use my fae magic last time?” Lucus pursed his lips.

  Hekla sighed. “Oh, right. Buried alive. Got it. No fae magic, then. So we’ll just use knives? I haven’t seen any around here except the one Nora was using on those leeks.”

  Nora pulled said knife from her bag. It was a pretty thing, golden in color and glittering like it had magic too. “It’s a fae knife. Made of amber and set with copper touched by fae magic. The magic isn’t active though, so it’s just a basic tool at this point.”

  “See?” I said. “I think that’s what will work here. Arleigh won’t expect non-magical attacks, right?”

  “Perhaps she’s on to something. I doubt it, but I’m willing to keep listening,” the Binder said.

  “Lucus can help the boy and Kaippa to solid ground where we’ll be watching for incoming guards. If something happens with Lucus and his ability to fly, I’ll climb the cliff face under the cells and do it myself. Hekla will help me look for a good path if it comes to it. She’s a star at that.” I faced the Binder. “What is your boy’s name?”

  “Oliver.” The way the Binder pronounced his son’s name cracked my heart. He was gripping his shirt like his life depended on it, and his eyes had closed. Would he be
able to keep this whole thing under wraps? If we secured his son, he could probably keep his cool. We’d have to show him the boy as quickly as possible if we were going to get him to try to break the boundary. Even then, this whole thing could blow up in our faces.

  “We need to try to get your Oliver out of here.”

  “If you fail and are caught, I will not move to save you unless it helps my boy survive,” the Binder said.

  “Noted.”

  “Once you deliver my son, and I have a chance to hide him, or you manage to do so, I’ll crack a hole in the boundary, and Coren can portal all of us out of the kingdom. We will need to be fast. So incredibly fast.”

  My chest tightened at the thought of portalling everyone. Sure, I’d done it once, but I’d had a powerful spell book at my fingertips. “I’ll need to practice portalling.”

  Nora glanced over her shoulder like she feared being overheard. “We can help you, but we’ll have to keep it secret. Portalling is the one thing Arleigh doesn’t allow us to practice. If we keep it to our own camp and beyond the henge, we should be fairly safe.”

  “What has she done to mages caught practicing portalling?” Hekla asked.

  Nora wrung her hands. “Arleigh took one mage’s ear.”

  My hand went to my ear as my stomach twisted.

  “And she had Corliss hang another from a tree,” the Binder said. “Oh, and there was the mage who lost his hands for trying to portal.”

  I traded a look with Hekla, who mouthed Holy shit.

  “Asher. Yes, I remember him.” Nora squeezed her eyes shut.

  “You can’t take the boundary down completely?” Lucus asked the Binder.

  “No. It is made of both fae and mage magic. I don’t know how Arleigh managed it in the beginning. I can create a small opening for us to portal through. I will only be able to keep it open for a few moments, but with the power Coren has with portalling…” He whirled and began pacing, muttering to himself. “No, no, no. It won’t work. Her portal was a fluke.”