“What?” I stared blankly. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.” The talisman’s magic had joined me of its own accord…
Oh shit.
Cedar. He’d held the sceptre longer than I had. Our magic had connected—several times, including…when he’d pressed it into my hands in the arena to let me take the power.
Had the fact that we’d both handled it somehow unlocked the magic and allowed me to take it out of the talisman? Viola and I had the same magic, and I hadn’t noticed anything unusual when we’d used magic in sync to break out of jail. No… Cedar and I were compatible—or rather, his own magic was in sync with the magic I’d pulled from the talisman.
I kept my face blank, but a tremor ran through my fingers. She did know magic better than I did. I’d made the mistake of assuming the sceptre worked like any other talisman… and even Cedar had. But it was something else entirely.
She smiled. “You truly didn’t know? I confess it took a while for that small detail to reach me, but Aspen has been most helpful in aiding me in narrowing down my list of potential suspects whose magic enabled you to remove the talisman’s magic.”
My heart beat faster. Cedar.
“For one thing,” she said, “there are only a limited number of witnesses to the stunt you pulled in the Hornbeams’ territory when you took the magic from the talisman and used it to kill Lady Hornbeam. Right?”
“Not really,” I said, with an attempt at a casual shrug. “Their entire family was present, plus people from other families who’d been forced to serve Lady Hornbeam. The thing about coercing people into serving you is that they’re not loyal. You haven’t won them over. And they left, after she died. Lord Hornbeam hardly had an army left. That’s how you overcame him. Don’t think overcoming the main Courts will be so easy.”
“You aren’t curious to know whose magic assisted you?”
“I think you’re talking crap to divert my attention,” I said. “Maybe you didn’t know the sceptre as well as you thought. Or it decided to turn on you for abandoning it here when you faked your death.”
“I think it’s in your interests to cease this petty rebellion, child. I can guarantee you safety in my Court, as my ally.”
“What you’re talking about is a coup, an invasion, and a load of shit I don’t want to be involved with,” I said. “Though I don’t get why you aren’t making more of an effort to be there in person. I thought you thrived on attention, unless you’re scared of getting your hands dirty.”
“You think I merely want the Courts?” She laughed softly. “Dearest daughter, you of all people know there’s more to Faerie than two insular gatherings of paranoid Sidhe.”
My mouth parted. On what planet was taking over two Courts only a small step? What was bigger than that? I couldn’t think straight. Not with the knowledge that what Cedar and I had done… if we could harness the power against her, we could win this fight. But if she guessed the truth first, she’d rip the magic from us while our hearts still beat.
“Whatever you’re scheming, it won’t work,” she said. “I’m currently in possession of a rather dangerous artefact, one I won’t hesitate to use against you.”
“The conduit,” I said. “Who has it, Aspen? I hope you’d have more sense than to let him carry a bomb around. He’s a spoilt brat who’d dethrone you if he had half the chance.”
“He has his uses. Scouting your weaknesses out is one of them. You freed your magic from the talisman using another’s help, and I intend to find out who. I came here to ask you to pick a side. You have my magic. You’ll wield it for me one way or another, but I’d prefer to give you the choice. You chose to step into this world, so the consequences are on you if you pick the wrong one.”
“You’re deluded if you think I’ll come anywhere near your side if not to stab you in the back,” I told her. “I’m staying here. This palace is mine, and so is the magic you thoughtlessly gave up.”
“Very well.” She rose to her feet. “I’d hoped that being in the place you spent your childhood would change your mind, but you’re too set in your ways.”
“I spent my childhood in the mortal realm. That’s who I am.”
“You don’t look human,” she said, tilting her head. “Humans are fragile, beautiful things. You have a heart of stone.”
I laughed. “Says the person who created an ice palace. I don’t suppose you’d like to free those people you imprisoned in the entrance hall?”
“I thought you’d gone beyond setting fragile mortals free,” she said. “Then I’m sure you won’t mind if I extend the same invitation to your father as I just offered to you.”
Dad. “Tell me where he is,” I said.
“The decision is yours, daughter,” said Lady Whitefall. “If the Courts’ peril, the precarious nature of your position and your father’s safety aren’t enough to convince you, then I look forward to seeing you on the battlefield again. I have my own Court to return to, but before I do, I must ask you once again to consider joining me. If not… the consequences will become clear very shortly.”
“You know my answer.”
“Then I will meet you as my equal, daughter, for what it’s worth,” Lady Whitefall said. “If you have a change of heart, seek me in the Grey Vale. The entrance in the dungeon will take you right to my palace.”
I should have known she’d put a sting in the tail somewhere. Not that I had any intention of remaining at the palace knowing the door was there, but it was the ultimate temptation. Walk through the doors to her, and end the war, one way or another.
It’ll never end. Not as long as she lives, and her hunger for power grows.
A scream came from outside the front door, which I’d left open. I tensed, my hand going to my weapon.
She smiled. “I do hope your friends are safe.”
“Oh, we will be,” I said in a low voice. “You picked the losing side, mother.”
Chapter 16
Once outside, I broke into a run. It wasn’t long before I found the source of the screaming—a circle of dead hobgoblins, shot down by Cedar’s arrows. Viola pulled a dagger from one of them. “Little bastards.”
“I expected worse,” I said, spinning around to face the palace again. The gates had shut. “Oh, for the Sidhe’s sakes. She just wanted to lock me out.”
“What’s she doing in there?” Viola asked. “Did she give you any clues?”
“Well, we can’t move back in,” I said. “She told me the Grey Vale entrance leads right into wherever her lair is on the other side. I also have to go there and join forces, or face her across the battlefield.”
“But she gave you the sceptre back?” asked Cedar.
“Almost compensates for her being my immortal enemy.” I needed to tell him about our magic—and what we’d unknowingly done. But if she found out… she’d take him away and lock him into a vow or kill him. I’d never let that happen.
I turned my back on the palace, and we walked back through the forest. There didn’t seem to be much point in sticking around. My mind was made up, as was Lady Whitefall’s. She hadn’t brought up June or Robin, so I assumed she was unaware I had spies on her side yet.
“So she didn’t give you any new information?” Viola asked.
“Nope,” I said. “Not really. She confirmed what we knew, about the conduit, but didn’t give away who’s actually carrying it. Then she suggested I’m better off joining her, because she’ll run me down on the battlefield and swipe my magic from my corpse.”
“So she doesn’t want you as an ally, then?” asked Cedar.
“I doubt it matters to her. If I’m with her, she gets my magic. If I’m against her, she gets it anyway. I’m a stepping stone. She has other plans first. Like the Courts. And unless we get our own army, going into the Vale after her is suicide.”
“Maybe,” said Viola, “but we have an army. Her former army, actually. I reckon we have a shot.”
“About that,” I said. “She must have gathere
d new forces. Where’d she find those half-bloods who attacked last week?”
“She’s raiding the mortal realm?” Cedar suggested.
“I’ve always found it suspicious that none of the other families have challenged us since the Hornbeams,” said Viola. ““I think her half-blood army is mostly defectors from other families who were outcast or killed by Lady Hornbeam. Like the Blackwaters. I haven’t heard a word from any of them since she died.”
“There are others who haven’t been heard of in a year or so,” Cedar said. “We all thought Lady Whitefall died, so nobody would have guessed others would have gone to join her in the Vale. After all, there were no Gatherings for a year, and every family was focused on its own affairs. She duped us without even using magic.”
“Her death was pretty damn convincing,” said Viola. “With witnesses. And knowing what we do—she fled around the time the Courts had started investigating whether any Sidhe had ties to the rogues in the Grey Vale. Which she did. I can’t help thinking it’s partly my fault for not realising she was still alive. Her magic kept the palace standing. I thought it wasn’t affected by her death because the talisman had all her magic in it.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” I said. “She vanished for a year after faking her death. Besides, I wouldn’t have come here if you hadn’t.” A tugging sensation grabbed at my chest, and I stopped. “Shit. I can sense…”
“The vow?”
Blue light shone from my hands. “Not Aspen’s. My sister—she’s back.”
I picked up speed, walking through the trees, following the tugging sensation.
“What do you mean?” asked Viola.
“I told her to come and find me when my mother makes her next attack on the Courts,” I said over my shoulder. “Of course she ordered them to do it while I was at the palace. Couldn’t leave us alone, could she.”
Sure enough, the moment we crossed into the Hornbeams’ territory, my sister ran up to us, eyes wild.
“It’s starting,” she gasped. Her nose dripped red. “She ordered me to fight you. I can’t disobey for long.”
I punched her on the jaw. “Does that fulfil the vow’s requirement, or do you have to hit me back? Was she specific about who to fight?”
She blinked, looking confused, then swung wildly at me and missed. “I guess it does.”
“Word of advice: most vows have a way around them,” I told her. “Hers included. And mine’s the better deal, trust me. Can you tell me where she’s attacking?”
“Her people are inside Lord Niall’s house again. Aspen’s leading the army.”
“You gave him my message, right?”
“He said…” She doubled over, coughing. “He said he’ll come to your doorstep with your father’s head.”
A ringing silence followed her words, reverberating in my chest. Magic sprang to my hands, igniting along my nerve endings. “If he does,” I said, “tell him that his death will last a thousand days, and I’ll make sure he’s begging for mercy every second of them. And if you fight on his side against me, you’ll meet the same end.”
June stumbled back, her face paling. “I—I can’t—”
Her body spun around as though pulled by invisible strings, and she ran into the trees, disappearing out of sight.
“Raine?” Viola said from behind me. “Don’t yell at me, but I think it’s a trap.”
“Of course it is,” I said. “But June’s vow stops her lying to me. She’s telling the truth. And we already knew he was probably in Summer.”
“She’ll be counting on you being desperate enough to fall into a trap,” Cedar said. “I don’t think it’s wise to barge in there, even with security down.”
“I planned to sneak in through the tunnels, actually,” I said. “I remember where the entrance is. If you’re planning a lecture, save it. This won’t stand. I won’t let it.”
She’d done the one thing I couldn’t ignore. Half-blood or not, my father wasn’t strong enough to survive Faerie. She might have cared about him once, but she’d also cared about me. And Aspen wanted nothing more than to punish me.
“Raine,” said Cedar. “If you’re going to do this, we can’t go alone. The two of us against an army, even on the side of Summer—the odds of us getting caught and arrested by our own side before we can deal a blow to the enemy are too great. And I wouldn’t put it past Lady Whitefall and Aspen to play that up. Aspen—he was always cruel, even as a child. This is nothing more than a game to him.”
Yeah, I know. He didn’t just want me dead—that’d spoil the fun. He wanted to humiliate me first, to strip me of all dignity like he had the first time I’d fallen under his control.
“Then you want to bring the army?” I asked.
“Exactly.” Cedar looked at Viola, who nodded slowly. “The Hornbeam family will fight for the Court, if I ask them to.”
“I thought you had no interest in leading an army.”
“I can’t guarantee they’ll all follow me,” he said. “I refused to have them swear vows, so there’s the risk that they might leave, but I never did figure out Lady Hornbeam’s trick to keeping hold of a hundred soldiers’ vows at once. Only a Sidhe can handle so many without letting them slip away. I suspect Lord Hornbeam lost control of so many of his soldiers because he struggled with that very issue. But you were right—they’re the best shot we have at beating her.”
I nodded. “They’re loyal. And if not, it’s okay. The world won’t end if a couple of them run away. They’re scared of me.”
“They respect you,” he corrected.
“I guess they do.” I hadn’t thought about how strange it was. I’d faced envy and anger and fear from other half-bloods before, and outright hostility, but respect… that was a new one.
Unlike my mother, who ruled through fear alone. Not loyalty. The moment she died, her people would scatter. But that didn’t make her—or Aspen—any less dangerous.
When we reached the palace, Cedar strode ahead, where soldiers gathered near the gate. Looked like they’d actually taken my advice and built a wall of iron around the outside of the fence.
“Soldiers,” he said loudly. “Come with me. I’m calling an emergency meeting for everyone able to fight. Come to the front of the palace.”
They came in groups—some archers, some sword-carrying warriors, even the servants. Though of course, everyone here could defend themselves. Their weapons were polished wooden bows and bone-coloured knives that resembled sharpened tree branches, but nevertheless looked deadly enough to put someone’s eye out. The Hornbeams in warrior mode were a sight to behold, and without the iron, the presence of their magic was more obvious, too. A net of green light surrounded the lines of soldiers, and their skin glowed with it as though lit from beneath.
“We’ve received word that the heart of the Summer Court is under attack,” said Cedar. “I believe it’s our duty to defend them.”
“When you say the heart of the Court, you mean the Erlking?” asked one of the soldiers.
“Perhaps,” Cedar said. “The army of the Vale is trying to breach the security around the Summer Court’s centre.”
“Lady Whitefall?” called the silver-haired faerie who apparently didn’t like me.
A dozen heads swivelled in my direction.
“Is she the one who told you?” asked another, with suspicion in his voice. “Because she’s not part of our Court. She might be deceiving you, to make Summer turn against us. They don’t like us, not after Lady Hornbeam angered so many of them.”
“We know because I spied on them,” said Rose loudly. “The Vale faeries stole some talismans from Winter and Summer and plan to use them to attack both Courts. We’ve never fought on Summer’s side before, but there’s a first time for everything.”
I gave her a grateful look.
“That,” said the first speaker, “is because every single time another family from the Summer Court requested our aid in the last Sidhe-knows-how-many-years, Lady Hornbeam declined.
None of us have set foot in there, save for her select few nobles, and…” His gaze lingered on Cedar, probably because he’d guessed he’d been sent in there to steal things. So the Summer Court had requested assistance before, and the Hornbeam Family had ignored it? Or specifically—Lady Hornbeam had. She’d sat in this palace, building an iron army, hoarding all her magic for herself. No wonder the Court hated her.
The real question was whether they’d be willing to put those differences aside and accept help from her former soldiers.
“We haven’t got any time to lose,” I said. “We’ll go first—Cedar and I. We know the way in. I don’t think all you guys should come into the palace the same way. It’s not technically legal.”
“The route only opens to me,” Cedar added. “The rest of you will have to approach from the front and sides.”
He gave them all directions with the expertise of someone who’d done this before. Viola chipped in a few times, too, but it made sense for her to know how things worked, seeing as she’d been part of their army for years. The army divided into groups, ready to spread through the forest as they would during a battle on their own territory. As they organised themselves into lines, I edged closer to Cedar.
“Since when did you know how to direct an army?” I whispered.
“It’s impossible to live in the Hornbeams’ palace and not pick up some general directions. Besides, as I said, I know Summer’s Court. The issue, of course, is that Aspen does, too. And he’ll have received more in-depth instructions than I did. We’re relying on him not knowing we had the audacity to bring an army.”
“He won’t expect it,” I said. “He underestimates us both—you especially. I don’t think he’s said one word about you, not even as an heir. He has blind spots like anyone. I honestly think he forgot all about the Hornbeam family and his old duties the second she took him in. He didn’t know anyone would try to escape.”
“No, he expected to be able to lead them,” Cedar said. “He even underestimated Lord Hornbeam’s ability to keep control of his forces. More stayed than deserted, and it cost him in the end.”
Exiled Queen (The Thief's Talisman Book 3) Page 13