“This was supposed to be your prison,” she croaked.
“Too bad. Our brother’s dead—did you know? Where have you been all this time?”
She staggered to her feet. “You can’t beat her. The Courts will never help you.”
“Like I ever thought they would.” I watched her, but she didn’t move closer to the iron. “Tell me why you’re here. You need the palace. To bring in a legion of Grey Vale beasts, right?” The other, secret, dungeon had only one entrance—a narrow tunnel in the back of Lady Whitefall’s old wardrobe. I’d need to triple-check it was sealed, but if my mother could bring whatever monsters she liked along for the ride when she crossed realms, we might be screwed either way.
Or maybe she can’t. Maybe there is a limit to how many people she can bring. Her allies were outcast for a reason.
“You know her plan,” said my sister. “She told you.”
“I think I wrecked her last one when I got half her army killed, freed her prisoners and gave her best soldier a public thrashing.” I’d left so much chaos behind, I hadn’t realised how many of Lord Hornbeam’s former soldiers had managed to escape back to their own territory. She had fewer allies than I’d initially thought. But if she’d been walking around handing out talismans to the likes of my sister, I could only assume she’d changed her plans.
June scowled. “She held back on you. She didn’t wish to harm her own flesh and blood.”
“Yeah, she did call me her favourite.”
I was rewarded by a blank look of shock. “You’re lying.”
“Nope,” I said, my grin widening. “She preferred me to all her other children. Did you know I actually lived here in the palace when I was a kid?”
She launched to her feet, tripped over the ice binding her ankles together, and hit the cage bars. A shriek of pain escaped as the iron connected with her bare skin.
Cedar stepped forwards. “June, tell us what you know and we might show you mercy.”
“I—can’t.” She choked on the words. Damn. Her vow must be strong. I needed to be more specific. It didn’t matter if I told her my guess, because Lady Whitefall hadn’t exactly been subtle with her latest scheme.
“I know she’s after talismans,” I said. “The usual. Steal talismans, amass power, and screw everyone over.”
“The Sidhe deserve it,” she said. “You know they do.”
“Yeah, but the humans and half-bloods don’t. I’ll bet she won’t think of the collateral damage. What did she steal from Summer?”
“Only what was rightfully hers.”
“Rightfully hers?” Wait. “You mean Lady Hornbeam—she stole from Lady Whitefall? Seriously?”
She laughed bitterly. “You walked into the middle of an ancient feud, you stupid girl. You should have stayed in the mortal realm.”
“I don’t know, ridding both realms of Lady Hornbeam did everyone a favour.”
“You’ll fail,” she said. “You’re mortal. This realm was made to be ruled by true immortals, but they’re dying out. Our mother is one of the last of them.”
“She’s no immortal,” I said. “The Sidhe aren’t, none of them. You can call me weak all you like, but you’re the same. They all are. And she doesn’t give a shit about you.”
“You’re lying,” she spat. “You’re a liar.”
“No, she is,” I said, my voice dropping. “Her promises are lies. Her favours are illusions. Every word she says is calculated to ensure obedience. She doesn’t need you. She needs soldiers who will obey her without question. So I guess my question to you is… would you continue to serve her of your own will, not under hypnosis but out of choice, because you can’t think of anything better to do with your life?”
“I’d serve her till my death, as I vowed.” She looked at me defiantly.
“Then there’s nothing I can do to help you.” I stepped away from the cage. “I might come back later. I might not.”
She lunged forwards, but stopped short of the iron bars. I gave her a smile and turned to Cedar. He’d stepped back into the dark, holding the sword with gloved hands. He picked it up. An unexpected current of jealousy slithered through my chest, but I clamped it down.
I led the way upstairs into the entrance hall. The trapdoor disappeared at a wave of my hand, and I conjured up the door to my mother’s suite. It remained locked, suggesting my sister hadn’t been inside—but it’d been less than a day since the Grey Vale army had attacked, and my mother had apparently been busy raiding Summer instead of gathering her forces.
The door to Lady Whitefall’s room opened when I touched it. The wardrobe was sealed, too, the way Viola and I had left it. I couldn’t hear anything moving behind the doors. Hopefully it didn’t mean there was a wraith hiding underneath the palace. I didn’t plan to actually stay here, but the secret entrance to the Vale was just one more strike against me in the eyes of the Courts.
Cedar gave me an unreadable look. “Are you sure she has more information?”
“No,” I said. “I can’t tell how much of what she says is brainwashing rather than ambition, and if I found a way to turn her in, the Courts would follow the trail right back to me. She’s half-blood. No chance of a trial.”
Cedar fell silent, lips pressed together as though thinking. “I’d suggest transferring her to the prison on my own territory, perhaps, but that wouldn’t take care of the sword.”
“No. I wish I’d left it with the Little People,” I said. “What do you want to do with it?”
Cedar turned the sword over in his hands. “Leave the fake one here, as we planned.”
“Watch out,” I warned. “It nearly killed me for picking it up. I know it’s hers now, but its magic isn’t like the others’.”
“I don’t think we should take it to the Hornbeams’ territory,” Cedar said. “But here’s about as safe a place to leave it as you can get. It can’t damage the palace. Is there an ideal room to leave it in?”
“I’ll find one.”
Once we’d left my mother’s room, I locked it behind us and opened another door, into a small cloakroom filled with dust and not much else.
“Leave it in here,” I said. “If she comes back, she’ll search every room anyway, but it’s as far from the dungeon as possible.”
Cedar threw the sword into the room. “I don’t think this is a permanent solution.”
“It isn’t, but I don’t want you to get hurt carrying it.”
There was a pause. Then it hit me what I’d said, and how he might have read it. But hadn’t I all but admitted I cared for him already?
I closed the cupboard door, waved a hand, and it vanished. “Done.” I drew the fake sword from where I’d sheathed it at my side, opened a door into the weapons room, and left it in a prominent place amongst the other weapons. The lightning bolt on the hilt gleamed just like the real thing.
“So,” I said. “You can make killer plants appear on an enemy’s territory, glamour random objects to look like genuine faerie talismans that can fool even the Sidhe, and move whole trees around. I don’t know if I should be impressed or worried about what else you’re keeping quiet.”
He gave me a smile. “Probably less than you’d think. Would you prefer to stay here? Because leaving the palace unattended might invite your mother to come back.”
“She’s coming back anyway. I don’t know what she was thinking leaving my sister in charge.” I closed the weapons room door and made that one vanish, too. “I didn’t tell Viola I was coming here. She’ll be waiting to nag me back on the Hornbeams’ territory. I think that works as a better safe house. This place still belongs to her, after all.”
Outside the palace, the evidence from Cedar’s fight was gone, but I still felt like I was being watched. I locked the palace doors and walked to the gates, my weapons out. When the gate closed behind us, Cedar drew his crossbow, eyes trained on a nearby tree.
Tentatively, a person came out from behind it, hands held up in surrender. Robin.
&nbs
p; Chapter 7
Robin looked like he’d been sleeping rough under a troll’s bridge for a week. His cornflour-coloured hair was matted and grimy, and dirt streaked his angular features. Mostly, exhaustion was etched into every line of his face, like the end of a performance week minus the high. Of course, that might be because for most of the time I’d known him, he’d been feeding off the energy of my magic.
“Robin,” I said coldly. “If you’ve come to collect your little friend, you’re too late.”
His throat bobbed as he swallowed. “I—I can’t stay long. I’m not here for her.”
“Not for Lady Whitefall?”
He shook his head miserably. “You know how powerful she is. But I had to find you.”
I took in a deep breath, fighting to find calm underneath the torrent of emotions he’d stirred up. After we’d broken up three years ago, I’d hoped he’d at least have the decency to stay the hell out of my life. Instead, he’d played messenger boy for the Hornbeam family, and then I’d found out he’d been stealing my magic throughout our entire relationship. And thanks to him, I’d bet Lady Whitefall knew all my weaknesses.
“Robin,” I said. “You have ten seconds to give me a reason not to kill you and bury you beneath the snow like the last collection of rogues your boss sent after me.”
He took a step back, his face ashen. “I—”
“Better hurry up.” I called magic to my hands, the air freezing underneath my touch.
“I can tell you her plans, Raine, I swear.”
“Way ahead of you.” But I lowered my hands. “You’re vow-sworn to her, right? That means you can’t answer all my questions.” I wasn’t as clueless about vows as I’d been when I first came into this realm. I knew, at least, that you could tell more from what a person didn’t say than what they actually said.
“I can still tell you—important things.”
I considered his words. “She has everyone else under her control? Not just vows?”
He gave a hesitant nod. Gotcha. She’s still hypnotising them.
“You’re immune,” I told him. “Aren’t you.”
The word was barely a whisper. “Yes.”
“So,” I went on, “it might be possible you overheard something while you were close to her. She’s looking for talismans. You knew?” If I told him what he already knew, it should be able to get through the vow. That’d happened for Viola, anyway.
He gave a short nod, but didn’t speak.
“You can’t say which.” Obviously. If Lady Hornbeam had robbed my mother in the first place, maybe petty vengeance was first on her list… but it didn’t mean Lady Whitefall didn’t have her eye on more difficult targets.
“Has she any interest in taking back the talisman she intended to use to kill me? Is that one next on her list?”
He shook his head jerkily. Okay, that’s weird. Why target Summer first? She should know her own Court better, right?
“Then…” I stopped. “Is it her former Court?”
“No.”
“But definitely a Court.”
He dipped his head.
“Okay, that means it’s Summer by default.” Maybe she was after another talisman that either originally belonged to her, or belonged to someone who’d wronged her.
Robin said hesitantly. “You know her other goal.”
“Conquer the Courts?” Cedar suggested.
Robin nodded frantically.
“Wait, she’s making an open bid for power? Now?” My heart sank.
“No.” Robin looked down. “She once said to me… it wouldn’t be a war or an invasion. She’d just walk in.”
“So whatever she’s after will allow her to do exactly that,” I said. “She’s planning to steal something from Summer which will give her direct access to the Court?”
There was a sharp intake of breath from Cedar. Then Robin jumped. “There’s—ah.” He stumbled to the left, moving jerkily as though yanked on an invisible string. The vow.
“Don’t tell her you spoke to us,” I said unnecessarily. He’d die if he did, and it wasn’t like he’d told us anything useful anyway.
Cedar, however, started to walk away.
“Wait.” I hurried after him. “What do you think her plan is? She’s not going to kill the Erlking, is she?”
“She can’t,” Cedar said. “But if she’s planning to steal a talisman to allow herself into the Courts—that limits the possible talismans it might be. She’s already attacked Summer in the last twenty-four hours, so for her to attack again means she must have set up a trap.”
I stared at him. “Damn. That doesn’t make it safe for us to go in there, right?”
“No,” he said, picking up speed, “which is why we need a plan.”
Damn right we do. But Cedar gave no more clues as to his potential theory before we reached the Hornbeams’ gates.
I found Viola in the grounds with Rose, practising throwing knives. While Viola looked entirely like a Winter princess even when she didn’t use magic, Rose had leaves and flowers braided into her curly dark hair, and her sun-kissed skin gleamed underneath the shadowy tree branches. The other soldiers milled around, none standing too close to them. Possibly because Viola was a ridiculously good shot.
Viola threw her knife, which embedded itself in the centre of the target, and whirled to face me. “I can’t believe you went back to the palace. I’m assuming she wasn’t there.”
“Not her. June, my sister.”
Her eyes widened. “Shit. Are you okay? You were with Cedar, right?”
“Yep. He’s gone.” I waved a hand vaguely. “But I’ve heard from a reliable source that Lady Whitefall’s going to target Summer next.”
“Again?” Rose put her knife back in its sheath. “Better not talk about it here. There are enough rumours going around as it is.”
Viola retrieved her knife from the target. “Yeah, the others wouldn’t be pleased to hear about the attack. Some of them suspect we were involved in the last one, though we’ve been here the whole time.”
“That’s a bit unfair.”
With Volt the sprite hovering over her head, Viola led the way to the palace’s side entrance, Rose just behind her. They dropped their knives off in the weapons room, where a few soldiers stared at me. Not hostile, more curious. I held my head high, knowing I couldn’t expect them to trust me right away. Not least because I didn’t trust them. We might have fought alongside one another against the Vale faeries, but one battle didn’t make us allies. I doubted they’d made an alliance with a Winter family before. Those who openly supported Lady Whitefall would probably have stayed with her—unless there were spies.
Viola beckoned us to follow her through a door into a cafeteria, where she pointed out a table in the corner, too far away to be overheard.
“Is this really a good place to talk strategies?” I whispered, sitting opposite her.
“I wanted to show them we’re allies,” said Viola. “Besides, I’m starving.”
So was I. Thanks to Faerie’s time-skipping, I didn’t know what day it was, here or in the mortal realm. I loaded my plate with a selection of food—skipping the weird-looking spiny plants—and returned to the corner with Viola and Rose.
“They don’t mind that you’re here?” I asked, jerking my head towards the other soldiers.
“They’re more bothered by you,” she said in an undertone. “You’re a Sidhe, in their eyes.”
“I’m not…” I trailed off, glancing around. Several soldiers made unsuccessful attempts to pretend not to look at me. I tensed, expecting accusations to fly, or them to blame me for Lord Hornbeam’s death as well as his wife’s. But nobody made a move to talk to me.
Can they actually be afraid of me?
Oh shit. They might have been half-awake for their capture, but they remembered I’d hypnotised them. They knew if they attacked, I could stop the whole room in its tracks. Yes, they were absolutely shit-scared of me. A hundred trained soldiers were too frighte
ned to look me in the eyes. I couldn’t wrap my head around it.
I looked back to see Viola raise an eyebrow at me across the table. “Well?”
“I think they’re a little unsettled,” I said.
“That’s the thing.” She shovelled food into her mouth. “We don’t want our allies to be frightened of us. And there’s no way we can take her army down without their help.”
I had to admit she had a point. Unless I tapped into the most dangerous side of my magic and potentially got killed in the process, we needed an army, one that wasn’t dependent on the whims of the Sidhe.
“They don’t have a leader,” I whispered.
“Sure they do,” said Viola. “Lord Hornbeam wasn’t their commander. Half their commanding officers died or defected, but there are a few high-ranking soldiers left. And me.”
“You?”
“I nearly made high rank,” she admitted. “That’s why they were so reluctant to let me go. I haven’t outright asked to return to my former position, but when I left, I was in charge of a whole unit. Some of the kid recruits still call me by my former title. It’s weird.”
“She was known as Soldier V,” said Rose, with a wink. “It’s catchy.”
“It’s annoying,” said Viola, but she smiled. “Apparently they haven’t forgotten respect. All they need is to know they have a Sidhe at their head, and they’ll follow you.”
I shook my head. “Not me. I’m from another family.”
“So am I.”
“And I can’t lead an army for shit,” added Rose. “You’re more qualified than I am.”
“I didn’t live here,” I said. “I’ve never belonged to their Court. If Lord Hornbeam’s supporters blame me—”
“No, they don’t,” said Rose. “You’d be surprised how many of them are grateful for your helping them escape the Vale. Didn’t you see how they declared themselves on your side against Lady Whitefall?”
“I guess they did,” I relented. “But what about the part where I’m wanted by their Court for murder?”
“Most of Lady Hornbeam’s most vocal supporters left,” said Viola, “and most of the remaining ones serve whichever leader takes charge. Talk to them. They’ll come around.”
Exiled Queen (The Thief's Talisman Book 3) Page 6