A Blade So Black

by L. L. McKinney

No bright light, no soft bells, not a thing.

  Alice glanced back and forth between Odabeth and the shards. “Is that it?”

  “I-I-I don’t know,” the princess stammered.

  Alice did not like the sound of that. “What do you mean you don’t know?”

  “I don’t know!” Odabeth slammed the drawer shut, her face red. “The last time I saw my grandmother use the Eye, it wasn’t shattered into several pieces. The Verse I know is for a whole Eye, not this.” She flung a hand out, indicating the fragments.

  Fire burned through Alice, anger ready to fling itself at the princess. After everything—traveling to Legracia, being attacked by Fiends, Xelon being bitten, Chess being taken—this is where it ended? But none of this was Odabeth’s fault; it was hers. It was always hers.

  “The important part is we have the pieces,” the Duchess said from the doorway, surprising everyone. She made her way over to the dresser and lifted one of the shards to examine it. “In the morning, we can journey to Legracia to ask the Queen.”

  “No, we can’t.” Alice wanted to sink into the floor when Odabeth and the Duchess turned twin expressions of confusion her way. Not looking at either of them, she launched into the story of what happened at the school, how the Black Knight ambushed them, took Chess. “He stabbed him in the heart with the Vorpal Blade. He won’t reverse it unless I deliver the Eye by sunrise.”

  Xelon, the Duchess, and the princess all stared at her, their expressions ranging from shock to disgust. Alice knew it was aimed at the situation, but the guilt roiling in her stomach said she deserved it, too.

  “This is unfortunate.” The Duchess stroked her chin as she paced the small space.

  “That’s an understatement,” Alice bit out.

  The Duchess paused, blinking at her. “Of course, but we must keep cool heads about this.”

  “Cool heads? That asshole has my friend!”

  “I understand how you feel, Alice, believe me I do. I had comrades captured during the war that I would’ve given anything to save, but making rash decisions won’t help anyone.” She set a hand on Alice’s shoulder, squeezing. “We need to think this through. Besides, we don’t have a fully assembled Eye to give to the Black Knight or be used to seek the Heart, so there’s not much we can do either way.”

  The Duchess was right. About the Eye, not about there being nothing they could do. They could go find that Black Knight bastard and beat the shit out of him, but that was one of those rash decisions the Duchess was talking about. Chess would likely get caught in the middle.

  Alice curled her arms around herself, shuddering at the thought.

  The Duchess went back to pacing.

  “Are you cold?” Odabeth tugged at the boa-like scarf around her neck. “Madeline was gracious enough to give this to us. It helps. You can have it.”

  Alice started to protest, when she spotted something bright against Odabeth’s chest.

  “Your necklace.” She pointed at where the scarf fell away from the princess’s neck. Something glowed beneath her collar.

  Odabeth blinked, tucking her chin to peer at her chest, then reeled the jewel up from beneath the fabric. The star pulsed as it had last night, growing brighter until it blazed. The mirrors caught the light and burned with it, a white-hot glow spreading out from the reflective surfaces. They lifted from the dresser, hovered a moment, then shot through the air like bright bullets. Everyone dropped to the ground as the shards circled the room, then darted out the door.

  Odabeth squawked when the necklace tried to follow, dragging her with it. She flailed in an odd stumble that was more her trying to dig in her heels than walking.

  Xelon pushed from the bed to go to her aid, but the Duchess intercepted her. “Let it lead you, Your Highness.”

  “What?” Odabeth shrieked, dubious.

  Alice took her by the elbow. “Follow it. I’m with you.”

  The princess looked reluctant, but stopped fighting and started walking. Now her stagger was more from being hauled forward. Alice moved with her. The Duchess and Xelon trailed behind, with the sharp clap of boots and the slap of bare feet.

  They rounded a corner, and a perplexed-looking Maddi, with an armful of vials, shifted aside for their little parade.

  “Do I wanna ask?” Maddi blinked her sleepy eyes, her head cocked to the side.

  “The Eye,” Alice said as she escorted Odabeth into the main bar area, then called over her shoulder, “I think.”

  Out in the bar, Dem and Court stood near the bar. They wore similar looks of confused shock, their attention fixed on the six shards—still glowing—that hovered midair, circling one another slowly.

  “Alice!” Court hurried forward. “What the hell is going on?”

  “I don’t know, but—”

  The mirrored wall behind the bar shifted. The shelves and bottles disappeared, but there was no picture or scene this time, only swelling, swirling, glinting waves, like a silvery sea. One by one the shards dove into the mirror, vanishing from sight. Then the star dragged a screaming Odabeth toward the bar.

  “I got you!” Alice took hold of the chain and yanked. The links snapped. Free, the princess dropped to her knees, and the gem shot straight into the mirror.

  Odabeth rubbed her neck, a red line visible on her brown skin. Xelon moved to her side, and together the knight and Alice got the princess to her feet.

  Everyone crowded in around them.

  Alice eyed the fluctuating surface of the massive mirror, struck by the oddest sense of déjà vu. She’d seen this somewhere before, the silver tossing, roiling. An image flashed through her mind of her hovering, water rippling beneath her feet. The longer she watched the water, the more she could make out an image waiting on the other side.

  On the other side … Alice stepped forward, her hand extended.

  “Don’t,” Court protested somewhere behind her, followed by Maddi’s voice urging everyone to stop, wait.

  Alice gazed at what should have been her reflection but instead was a distorted vision of something else, something … more. She faltered for just a second, then pressed her palm to the mirror.

  The stirring waves stilled, flattened, and solidified into a crystal-clear image. The room was reflected back at her, including everyone’s shocked faces. The mirror was back to normal, except Alice’s reflection.

  Her reflected self held something in her hands. It was a crystal, braided with twists of gold and silver curling around the elliptical face. The setting held the same shape and pinkish color as the jewel, only larger, the entire thing dazzling. Reflection-Alice held it out in offering and whispered, “Take it.”

  Alice’s fingers shifted, and the surface of the mirror wavered beneath her hand with a gelatinous feel she knew would give if she pressed hard enough. She took a deep breath and pushed.

  Her hand plunged through the mirror. The sudden shock of cold against her skin made her gasp, and her entire body jerked. It burned, so much so that she nearly snatched her arm free. The silver swallowed her arm clear up to her elbow, and the pain traveled even farther. She fisted her other hand, her knuckles popping with the strain, and bit down on the inside of her jaw to keep from crying out.

  Her fingers brushed something solid and the pain vanished, all at once. Chest heaving, she curled her fingers around whatever it was and pulled. Inch by inch her arm withdrew.

  Reflection-Alice wavered, washing out completely as more of actual Alice’s arm emerged. The watery surface faded, solidifying into a regular mirror along the wall. The bottles and shelves gradually reappeared. A faint tingling peppered Alice’s skin as she gave a tug.

  Her hand finally came free.

  Twenty-Six

  THE EYE

  The jewel Reflection-Alice had been holding rested in Alice’s palm. The crystal sparkled. The gold and silver shone. She turned it over in her hands, careful, gentle, mindful of squeezing too hard or doing something to break it.

  It’s beautiful, Alice mused, until a gro
an grabbed her attention. She turned to find the Duchess straightening from where she’d sunk against a wall, a hand pressed to the side of her head. Maddi, Odabeth, and Xelon looked to be equally shaken.

  “What happened?” Alice moved to help the bartender to her feet, Court and the twins helping the others. “Are you guys all right?”

  “The Eye,” the Duchess said. “The power it possesses, the link to our world, I could sense its awakening.”

  “We all did.” Maddi thanked Alice and shook her head, crossing her eyes briefly. “You don’t fire up a hoodoo that powerful and not feel it. Like the shock wave of some mystic bomb.”

  “Do you think the Black Knight felt it?” Alice asked.

  “Perhaps, though I imagine proximity is a factor. He could be completely unaware.” The Duchess straightened her shirt, brushing herself off before fixing her eyes on the jewel. “I never thought I’d lay eyes on this again.”

  “It’s been so long.” Maddi’s gaze shifted to the Eye as well. Something like awe mixed with fear played across both of their expressions.

  “This really is it, then?” Alice asked.

  The Duchess nodded.

  Finally, something had gone right. Alice dared to hope, to believe everything would be okay, or at least better than it had been. She nodded. “How do we use it?”

  “Only a carrier of royal blood,” the Duchess said. “The princess must be the one. Madeline, let us check on Addison. I’m certain he felt the effects of the Eye’s assembly as well.” The Duchess headed for the hall.

  “I’ll let you know how he’s doing,” Maddi said to Alice before following.

  “Let’s do this.” Alice carefully handed the jewel over to Odabeth, who held it out slightly, like it might bite her.

  Clutching it to her chest, the princess took a slow, shaky breath. “Be with me, Mother.”

  “I don’t like this,” Xelon murmured, her fingers curled into fists at her sides. She would have looked more imposing in something other than a large Chococat sleep shirt. The two must have borrowed clothes from Maddi.

  The princess trailed her fingers across the jewel’s surface, then pressed the back of it against her bowed forehead, over the smaller gem already centered above her brow.

  The same light from before flared anew, and Odabeth jerked with a gasp. The Eye remained fixed to her forehead as her hands dropped away, growing brighter and brighter. Light burst forth from her eyes. It filled her mouth when her lips dropped open in a scream, the sound mixed with a crack of thunder.

  “No!” Xelon reached for her, but Alice caught her around the waist.

  “Don’t.” She held on, despite the knight’s struggles.

  Odabeth’s body jolted as if struck by some outside force, but she stayed upright, nailed to that spot on the floor. Gradually, the light filled all of her. Her arms and legs went white. Her body lifted from the floor, hovering in the air, her hair floating around her. The glow intensified, like in the parking lot. Alice had to turn away.

  When it died down, Alice blinked to clear her eyes. Everyone else did the same, and one by one they came to stare at Odabeth with various expressions of shock. Everyone except Xelon, who sagged in Alice’s hold, her face drawn up in a mix of concern and amazement.

  “Your Majesty,” the knight whispered.

  Odabeth stood on the ground again. Her skin had gone white, a webwork of gold veins glowing from within. Pools of white light took the place of her eyes. Her hair caught on the very air, white strands flowing and waving as if she was underwater. She blinked, lids falling over those shining orbs. “What?” When her lips parted, the same light poured from behind them. She lifted her hands, gasping as she caught sight of her flesh, running her fingers over her arms. “Oh.” Her head lifted as she jumped, glancing around at each of them. “Oh heavens.”

  “What is it, Your Highness?” Xelon pulled toward Odabeth.

  Alice let her go, but the knight stopped shy of touching the princess, hands lifted.

  “I can see,” Odabeth whispered.

  “See what?” Alice asked.

  “Everything.”

  * * *

  Hatta sat on a barstool, leaning heavily against the counter, his expression a storm on his face. Maddi stood just behind him, peering over his shoulder with wide, surprised eyes. The Duchess stood directly in front of Odabeth, who still glowed like some sort of Wonderland fairy godmother. Alice had gone to Anastasia after Odabeth’s change. Hatta, more himself, insisted on joining them.

  “Incredible,” the Duchess murmured. “And you feel all right?”

  “I feel amazing.” Odabeth laughed the words, her voice taking on a faint echo. “And I can see the Heart.” Her white face scrunched. “I think.”

  “Show us.”

  “This is still a horrible idea,” Hatta muttered as Odabeth moved behind the bar. She pressed her hand to the mirrored wall. Like before, the surface rippled before fading to black, like a dead screen. Odabeth grunted in effort, and an image of the Glow flickered to life. The woods blazed radiant in the dead of night, but their light soon faded as the scene transitioned to the main road that led to Ahoon. It followed the road away from the village, passed the turnoff to Legracia at the edge of the Blind Thief’s Forest, and continued on. The landscape changed along the way, rolling into rocky crevices and cliffs dotting sweeping gold plains. Eventually, the path met a stone bridge collapsed over a rushing river, the purple waters blazing in the moonlight.

  Across the bridge another forest waited, this one a tangle of vines and thorns. The image lifted into the air then, gliding over a span of meadow, all of it nothing Alice had ever laid eyes on before. The meadow gave way to marshes, glistening and crystalline, lilies sprouting along the waters. A single road stretched across the vastness, gated at one end, lined with stone columns topped with arches. Another castle waited beyond, this one not quite as tall as Legracia, but it stretched wider, solid and firm and just as breathtaking with its crimson overlay that burned in the twilight.

  “Castle Findest,” the Duchess whispered.

  “Castle where?” Alice asked.

  “The Red Palace,” Xelon murmured, her eyes moving between Odabeth and the mirror, her brow furrowed. “Home to the Red Queen before she vanished. Now it’s known as the Royal-less Palace.”

  “The Heart is here,” Odabeth said.

  “That’s impossible.” The Duchess shook her head. “We’ve searched Findest many times over the decades. Turned over every stone in that blasted place.”

  “You mean Romi and Theo searched,” Hatta corrected. Alice recognized those names. Romi, the eastern Gatekeeper in Tokyo, and Theo, the southern Gatekeeper in South Africa. She’d never met either of them, but Maddi and Hatta had spoken of them on occasion. “They could have missed something,” Hatta continued.

  The Duchess grumbled in Russian as the mirror zoomed in on the castle. Everything was gray stone lined with gold and red trappings, solid and thick, far less delicate than Legracia. The mirror finally settled on a lengthy throne room, empty and somewhat dark, where curtains had been drawn. A golden throne sat desolate.

  “Somewhere in this room.” Odabeth withdrew her hand, and the mirror returned to normal, bottles and all. She reached to set both hands on either side of the Eye, where it glowed at the center of her forehead. “Sleep now,” she whispered.

  The light in the Eye faded, and with it whatever had illuminated the princess from within. Eventually, the jewel was little more than that, catching the glow of the lights overhead. When Odabeth lowered her hands, the Eye came away from her forehead, leaving the much smaller gem behind.

  “A-ah.” The princess faltered, falling to her knees. Xelon was across the room in an instant, her arms around Odabeth, holding her up.

  “Princess?” Xelon pressed her fingertips to the side of Odabeth’s face.

  The princess blinked up at her knight, blue eyes slightly hazed with fatigue. “I’m all right.” She set her hand over Xelon’s. “Just
tired.” Her other hand kept hold of the Eye, fingers curled around it.

  “Well done, Princess.” The Duchess knelt beside them and took up Odabeth’s hand, pressing it and the Eye to her chest. “Your mother would be proud.”

  Odabeth smiled, bright but with a tired edge.

  The Duchess stood and snapped her fingers. “Mal’chiki, help the princess to her room.”

  “No.” Xelon slipped her arms beneath Odabeth and with a brief wince playing across her face, lifted the princess as she stood. “I’ll look after her.”

  Odabeth gazed up at Xelon before resting her head on the knight’s shoulder as she carried her down the back hallway.

  “That is the most romantic damn thing I’ve seen in a long time,” Court said from where she was seated with the twins at one of the tables across from the bar.

  “Yeah.” Alice smiled, her stomach all fluttery. It jumped when a hand came down on her shoulder.

  Hatta stood at her side, looking less pissed but not pleased. His expression softened as their eyes met, his dulled but not black. The Madness was clearly taking a toll.

  “We need to talk.”

  Twenty-Seven

  FAMOUS LAST WORDS

  Alice stood in Hatta’s room, tilted against the closed door, rubbing her palms together.

  “How was your mother?” Hatta asked, back in bed at Maddi’s insistence. She’d have a few potions to help him get back on his feet for a short while, but they weren’t finished just yet.

  She snorted, shaking her head. “Fine.” Livid, and probably going to kill her when she woke up to find Alice gone, but she couldn’t worry about that now. She could be dead later, after making sure Chess wasn’t.

  “Good, good. So. The Eye has been restored and the Heart located.” Hatta patted the bed beside himself.

  Reluctant, Alice moved to sit. “Somewhat.” They’d been shown a room, after all, not the Heart.

  He rubbed slow circles into his temples. “Not surprising. It takes a disciplined and practiced mind to master the Eye fully.” He looked at her, his eyes still dim. “Seems we’re moving along with this plan of yours.”