by Louisa Lo
I put a hand on both Gregory and Pedro, waking them up from the attack spell they were caught in. Alina zoomed out of hiding, conjuring a roll of bandages, and quickly patched me up before moving on to Pedro.
Gregory helped Pedro to his feet.
“M’lady. Queen Deirdre is foretold. There’s no disputing that.” Trust seemed unfazed by my outburst. “Her reign is meant to be violent. Fortunately, it’s also supposed to be short-lived. Her destiny was to be in captivity for the rest of her days.”
“What?” Gregory, Pedro, Alina, and I all said at the same time.
Trust blew mist from his nose, and when it reached Deirdre’s wrist, it twisted into rope and bound her.
“I was the advisor for fourteen Dualsingian monarchs.” Trust stood tall and proud, stretching to his full size. “I have lived for a very long time and there is still life left in me to serve this kingdom yet. I intend to—”
“You’re going to rule Dualsing yourself, aren’t you?” Gregory guessed.
“Will anyone allow me to finish my sentences?” Trust sighed. “No, boy, I’m not going to rule this kingdom. He will.”
Trust pointed at Pedro.
“Me…me?” Pedro stuttered.
Trust turned to Alina. “How’s the wound on his arm?”
“It healed itself. It went shallower before my very eye, then it was gone,” Alina whispered, a strip of bandage still clutched in her fingers. “How did you know?”
“He’s the true heir to the Dualsingian throne,” Trust said simply. “He’s almost unkillable now that he’s stepped onto our soil again.”
I tried to remember Trust’s exact words to me earlier, realizing he must have misled me on purpose.
“Things are happening as it was foretold. Just as Queen Deirdre was foretold. The true ruler of the changelings must be allowed to rise to the challenge and lead us out of the rubble of the past.”
Trust never actually said Queen Deirdre was the true ruler of the changelings, now had he?
“I’m the true ruler of Dualsing.” The words from Pedro came out as a half-question.
“Yes, you are.” Trust nodded at Pedro. “And your reign is going to be a long and prosperous one. I have waited many years for your arrival, your majesty. You’ll guide our people on to a new and different path, one that moves away from the nasty business of switching out children. Times have changed. As a people we must develop a new identity. We need a self-sustaining modern economy and something distinctively ours that we can offer the world. And we need allies that are not only friendly because of our stolen information. You’re the key to this renaissance.”
“Why me? I’m not even royalty.” Pedro frowned.
“Precisely. You were born a commoner, without the conniving nature bred into the changeling nobilities. You were nurtured in love and raised with the vengeance demon’s sense of right and wrong. You are well versed in modern day science and technologies. You’ll be a fair and wise ruler, and I would be honored to be by your side.” Trust bowed to Pedro.
Maybe that was what Alina meant when she said that Pedro smelled like a Dualsingian with a hint of vengeance. Maybe being raised in such a manner had made him a vengeance demon in all the things that mattered.
Pedro paused, a look of wonder crossing over his face. He smiled tentatively, the first real smile he had since arriving at Dualsing. He might have resigned to stay on this plane out of obligation, but now he had something to look forward to, a way to change the very things he dreaded in his own race. He said to Trust formally, ruler to advisor, “The honor would be all mine.”
He then turned to me and took my hand in his. A warm sensation spread through my body, all the way down to the tips of my toes, repairing the tendon in my ankle in the process. My bandage fell away from me. Pedro stared at it and whispered, “I knew how to heal you. Somehow, I just knew.”
I flexed my ankle in wonder. “Thank you.”
“Serafina”—he dropped my hand gently—“would you think it strange if I tell you that a small part of me isn’t surprised at all? About everything?”
“It’s meant to be.” I felt it deep in my heart.
“No switching practices from now on,” Pedro vowed, clutching his fist to his heart.
“Countless families will thank you,” I said.
“It’s the least I can do given the sins of the past. It’ll take time for my people to find that new identity Trust mentioned.” Pedro thought for a moment. “You probably won’t hear from the changelings for a very long time. As a people we have a long way to go before finding our new place in the Cosmic Balance.”
“I’ll help.” Alina drew close, though she seemed a little in awe to be in the presence of the new ruler, the heated towel she used to wipe his face just moments ago dangling awkwardly in her hand.
Pedro grinned at her. “I’m counting on it. I’m going to need to hear from representatives of the other races in Dualsing. We have to work together to survive, and that means listening to voices both big and small.”
Alina beamed at her new monarch.
Trust coughed. “Lady Serafina, please apologize to Prince Eldon on my behalf again for misleading him. I didn’t have the vision about King Pedro until you left Dualsing. Working on only partial information, I spent years grooming and encouraging Prince Eldon to be the ruler he’ll never be. By the time I found out about King Pedro, Prince Eldon had become far too ambitious, and I was afraid of telling him the truth.”
What Trust didn’t say out loud was that he was afraid Eldon would’ve tried to kill Pedro in order to secure his throne. Remembering the old Eldon, the one who was willing to trap his own twin sister on the vengeance plane and never allow her to know her true heritage, I knew Trust wasn’t entirely wrong in his reservation. I might’ve done the same if I was in his position.
“Don’t worry about it. Eldon has come to see the damage of that ambition in himself. He’ll understand,” I reassured the dragon.
“I would sincerely hope so,” Trust said.
“Goodbye, your majesty.” Gregory offered Pedro a bow.
“Goodbye, cousin.” Pedro pulled Gregory into a hug instead.
“We’re not really related,” Gregory reminded Pedro.
“And you’re not really my subject,” Pedro retorted.
Both guys smiled at each other.
Alina gave my shoulder a fierce hug. “I’m going to miss you, Serafina.” She sniffled.
“Me, too, I hope we’ll see each other again.” I, too, would miss one of the only friends I’d ever had on this plane. But knowing she would no longer be under the reign of Deirdre did give me hope that I’d left her in a good place.
“So, are we ready to go?” Gregory asked me.
“Yes, we are,” I said. I retraced my steps to where we were before Deirdre’s interruption, with the hundred dots representing the kidnapped children overhead and Pedro psychically connected with them again. I sent out my request to the Molten Amber; and all the kidnapped children teleported to the Observatory.
Kids from a wide range of ages filled the room, each of them an untapped well of supernatural power. They were all understandably frightened by their new surroundings, and it took a bit of time to calm them down. Once they did, Pedro and I sent them to a day care center on the vengeance plane that Gregory had made arrangements with. They would be safe and cared for there until we could deliver them to their real families.
Once the kidnapped children exited Dualsing, another set of kids immediately teleported into the Observatory. There was a little guy in a full green hat and suit, clearly a leprechaun, and a troll in brown rags that reached almost to the ceiling of the dome.
The changeling children had come home.
Some of them bore similar physical appearance to supernaturals that could be found on the vengeance plane, others were enchanted to blend in with whatever races they were assigned to. Their bodies were covered in illusions such as wings, horns, hunchbacks, crocodile-like skin, and in
one case, even gills and fins.
These children were more badly shaken by the transition than their counterparts. Not only because their connections with Pedro were across greater distances and thus less clear on what to expect, they also weren’t aware of the switching practice as their counterparts who resided on Dualsing were. On top of that, the persistent tremors on Dualsing didn’t provide a very warm welcome.
The child with the gills and fins, a changeling assigned to the underwater-witch tribe, started hyperventilating like a fish out of water. She had gone into shock over being in a non-aqueous environment even though physically her changeling body was perfectly capable of it. There was no reasoning with a lifetime of conditioning, though, and in the end Trust had no choice but to look her in the eye and place her in a suggestive trance, convincing her brain that she was still under water.
Part of my heart went out to the young girl, and all the other children; but another part was terrified of what might be happening to Eldon as more precious time had come and gone.
When Pedro and I finally tried to close the Council’s portal, it didn’t go smoothly. The opening on the vengeance side might be at a defined point of space, but that wasn’t the case on the changeling side.
Because it had been formed without Eldon’s consent or the use of jewels such as the Eye of Sebille, the portal was not stabilized. It sought to lock a location at Dualsing to establish a two-way network, but couldn’t, and the entire changeling plane suffered for it. It was like a tornado that was constantly on the move, coming close to touchdown many times but never quite landing, leaving damage in its wake. How could one close a passage that wasn’t technically opened on this end?
One cannot neutralize something that wasn’t there for one to neutralize.
Pedro offered his hands and I clasped them in mine. Using the subtle patterns of the tremor, we tried to pinpoint the ever-shifting “twister” that was pressing itself into the very fabric of this plane. It proved to be evasive, until suddenly there was a push from the other end of the twister itself, compelling it to face us head on.
It was likely an attack from the Council, but also an opportunity.
Despite being hurled onto the ground by the force of that energy blast, Pedro and I threw everything we had at it, finally sealing the portal.
When the seismic activity on Dualsing ceased, we knew we had been successful.
We said our final goodbyes to Trust, Pedro, and Alina. It was time to leave Dualsing. While it took work to get into Dualsing, returning to the vengeance plane was just like any other regular teleporting. Gregory and I arrived at the outer boundary of The Tree. Fir, the Off-Blacks, Esme, and Sui-Ling were waiting for us at the pre-designated spot.
“Where’s Megan?” Gregory and I asked at the same time.
“She’s still in there,” Esme replied. “We think something’s wrong and we’re going back in.”
My surprise at seeing Sui-Ling must have been obvious, because Fir shrugged and said, “She’s the real deal, and she decided to help. Common enemies make strange bedfellows. Right, Sui-Sui baby?”
Sui-Ling gave Fir the death stare, which was totally lost on him as he was too busy leering at her bosom. “Bed has nothing to do with it.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The Double Dare
“WHY?” I ASKED. “WHY did you want Serafina to come rescue Eldon?”
“Megan.” The high judge tsked. “If we tell you everything, then what’s the challenge?”
Before we could continue our good-guy-versus-bad-guy confrontation like in any self-respecting B-rated human movie, the portal overhead winked out of existence.
Just like that. For something that twisted and untwisted six ways from Sunday, it was anti-climactic. One moment there was a vortex of warped space, the next everything was back to normal, as if the passage had never been.
So much for the Council’s attempt at reverse psychology; Serafina followed their advice and eliminated their handiwork.
I barely had time to appreciate the irony before a strong shockwave lifted me off my feet, knocking me to the floor like a bowling pin.
“How do we know when Serafina begins reversing the passage on that side, without us being able to communicate?”
“You’ll feel it. The vibration being imposed on Dualsing is going to start bouncing right back to the vengeance plane.”
The expression on the high judge’s face as he picked himself back up was thunderous. The rest of the Council looked just as dour and bitter.
Despite the trap I found myself in—and the return of the heaviness in my chest as I got up—my face split into a triumphant smile.
“What have you done?” High Judge Advocatus bellowed.
“What do you mean?” I asked innocently. “I’ve been here with you the whole time. That wasn’t me.”
“Serafina.” Realization dawned on the high judge’s face.
Time for some more distraction. Help might just come in time if I dragged this out long enough. For the first time since stepping into the room, I felt a glimmer of hope.
“Okay, let’s just say for argument’s sake that it is Serafina. That would be rather disappointing, wouldn’t it?” I grinned, my eyes sweeping across the other Council members, hoping to engage more people to talk to me. “If she’d come here as you had hoped, what is it that you’d intended to accomplish with her?”
No one answered. These guys obviously hadn’t watched enough human movies, where the bad guy always reveals his plan to the trapped heroes in a grand show of miscalculated arrogance.
I addressed Gregory’s father directly. “Minister Sumpsi, what about it? What’s the end game here? You can tell me. It’s not like I’ll be able to repeat it to Gregory. You know, your son? The one who happens to be a mercenary?”
That did it. Macallister Sebastian Sumpsi’s eyes flashed, the mention of his illegitimate son a sore point. Good. “He’s not my son. No child of mine would behave so shamefully.”
“The half-ass tattoo on his chest says otherwise,” I countered. “So kill me. Or not. But just tell me what the heck you were hoping to achieve. Let me know why I’ve been running around like a dog chasing its own tail for the last few days.”
Minister Lawrence Harrison Lex—father of Madeleine Abrianna Lex, my nemesis from Demon U—stepped from the back of the crowd and considered me for a minute. Unlike the others, he was deadly calm, showing none of the anguish of having their grand plan derailed. I knew without a doubt that Minister Lex had already considered me dead. A chill came up my spine, and I forced myself to straighten it. “If Miss Advocatus had come here, we would have liked her to revive the changeling, for one. He seems to be in some kind of coma. Also we had hoped that she could help strengthen our passage.”
“You mean your former passage? How did that work out for you?” I gestured to the ceiling, which was now normal. I knew I shouldn’t push my luck, but I couldn’t help it.
A muscle jumped on Minister Lex’s face. “Don’t be coy. We graciously answered your question. Now it’s time for you to fulfill a request of our own.”
“Is that what the high judge meant when he said earlier that he needed both Serafina and me? Alright, so what is it that you want me for?” I asked.
“Our request of you has always been the same, young lady,” Minister Lex explained.
“Are you still on the whole getting-your-boss-out-of-eternal-prison business? Haven’t you learned anything from Enid and Damarion’s failure? You remember Enid, right? My mentor from Demon Co-op who tried to get me angry enough that I would open the portal to ultimate annihilation? I’m not about to fall for the same trick twice, so where do you go from here?”
High Judge Advocatus tilted his head as if he was receiving some news that pleased him immensely. He then smiled. Like a pack of wolves, all the other Council members did the same. An icy feeling hit my guts.
One collective snap of fingers from the Council members and Serafina, Gregory, Fir, the
Off-Blacks, Esme, and Sui-Ling stood before me. Pedro wasn’t there, but I assumed he was kept somewhere safe until we could fulfill our promise to him.
“Look who we’ve found wandering above our headquarters.” Minister Lex chuckled.
Serafina cried out when she spotted Eldon, unconscious on the slab. She tried to run to him, but Esme and Sui-Ling grabbed hold of her. Those two, with their combined professional vengeance training and familiarity with our governing body, were the quickest to act as they read the situation in front of them with troubled eyes.
High Judge Advocatus was ever helpful in clarifying the Council’s intention. “Well, Megan, let’s see if we can get you to change your mind about releasing our master after seeing all your friends being tortured to death.”
“Releasing your master?” Esme frowned. “The only masters that would need Megan’s releasing are the Absolute Good and Evil. But that would mean you’re the…the...no, it can’t be!”
Comprehension dawned on her face, and she wasn’t the only one.
“Wait.” Bonaventure the Third laughed, gesturing at High Judge Advocatus. “He’s one of them?”
“I’m afraid so. The entire Council is,” I muttered.
Serafina gasped at High Judge Advocatus.
“Uncle Edbert.” Serafina shook her head in disbelief. “How could you be involved with the Greys? I-I just can’t imagine.”
“I can,” Gregory hissed, glaring at his own father.
The older man glared back. “I wish I’d never allowed your mother to keep you. Stupid girl.”
“Don’t you dare call my mother names.” Gregory started toward Minister Sumpsi, then the mercenary was clawing at his own throat, his face turning blue. He fell to a kneeling position. I ran to him and cradled his head in my middle.
I chanted the counter spell to Minister Sumpsi’s magic, and Gregory coughed, breathing heavily. I helped him to his feet. I might’ve won this battle, but I was so screwed in the war.