The Consort

by K. A. Linde

  Her life was never that easy.

  She trembled as she neared the strange doorway. When she had first glimpsed it, she had been too afraid to really see what she was looking at. She frowned as she got closer, careful not to touch anything in case it made the vision do something else…like suck her in or kill her. Then, she watched the image ripple before her.

  Something about the rock that had built the hallway felt familiar. In fact, the brackets even felt familiar. She narrowed her eyes to look at the door at the end of the hall.

  Have I seen that door before?

  Then, the handle turned, and she jumped backward.

  “Hurry! There’s someone at the door!” Cyrene shrieked.

  Then, as the door opened and a figure dressed in all black with midnight hair appeared, the vision shook and then vanished. Cyrene gasped, falling backward at the sudden loss of the barrier between her and the other side of the room. She had just been about to see the person in the door, to identify who was there, but it was gone.

  “What in the Creator’s name was that?” Cyrene gasped. Her eyes were wide with wonder and terror. She felt both excited and sick to her stomach. Whatever she had witnessed was beyond anything she could have ever thought possible.

  Matilde grasped the coin between her fingers and shook her head in disbelief. “A portal.”

  “A…a portal? What does that do?” Her hands were shaking, and she tucked them into the folds of her dress.

  “The talisman opens up a passage to a portal.”

  “It can take you anywhere?”

  “No,” Vera said. “Talismans are limited. Each portal has its own talisman that allows people to move from one portal to the next. From Eleysia to Eldora, for instance. But this one is an independent talisman, though they were few and far between, even in the magical heyday. It can transport you from a portal to anywhere in the world and then back to any portal you choose.”

  Cyrene was gaping at them. “You mean, wherever that hallway is…it’s a real place?”

  “Very,” Matilde said.

  Avoca looked shaken. “I’ve seen the portal at Eldora. Mother said all the portal doors were closed after the fall of magic.”

  Vera nodded. “Yes, that was my understanding. It seems…someone has opened them again.”

  “Who?” Cyrene gasped. “Who could do that?”

  “Did you not recognize the hallway?” Vera asked.

  Cyrene racked her brain. It had looked familiar, but she didn’t know where it was. But, now that she realized she had been looking at a real place, she knew why it had looked familiar.

  “Byern,”

  “Yes,” Matilde said. “That was the portal door in the Nit Decus castle.”

  “So…someone opened the portal in Byern,” Avoca said.

  “Kael,” Cyrene said at once. “Kael opened the portal. That was who was in the doorway. But why?”

  Matilde and Vera were silent. Their eyes were sad, as if they had already put the pieces together and she was too far behind.

  Cyrene glanced from one to the other and then Avoca. What am I missing?

  “Maelia had the coin, Cyrene,” Avoca whispered.

  Cyrene stumbled back and took a seat. Her chest ached. “No, you don’t think…” She trailed off, unable to say the words clouding her mind. It couldn’t be true. It just…couldn’t.

  “Kael gave the coin to Maelia. He used it to reach her,” Cyrene said.

  Matilde nodded.

  “Do you think he…controlled her? Do you think he’s the reason she killed the Eleysian monarchs?”

  Vera stood and placed a gentle hand on Cyrene’s shoulder. “If it fits together that easily, it is likely the truth.”

  Cyrene thought of all the times that she had seen Maelia and Kael together. In the gardens back in Byern when she had come across them, unexpected. Maelia had said that she could handle herself. That wasn’t true. Then, Maelia had spent all that time with him in Aurum. He’d collected her at Strat, and she’d been in the Aurum capital with him for so long before Cyrene rescued her.

  Creator, had any of it been real? Had Kael planted Maelia there that next morning in the Vines to direct me to see Kaliana? Had she been there, waiting for me to get there, knowing I would need directions? She didn’t want to believe their friendship was false, but it could have started on false terms. And ended because of him, too.

  “He’s the reason for her death,” Cyrene gasped. “He forced her hand. Made her kill them. Who knows his reasoning for it all? How could he do something so horrible and then take me back to Byern and pretend to be my ally? My friend? To love me?”

  Avoca reached for her in the bond, and Cyrene felt so connected to all of them at once that it was almost too much. She shoved to her feet and pushed away from everyone. Her anger grew and grew and grew. All the pain that she had felt all those months. All the anguish.

  And she had been content to be around the one person who had caused it all. The person who had shattered her happy life. Who had demanded her return and then made her feel as if she was somehow responsible for what had occurred.

  Her fingers and hands twitched as magic burned and ignited through them. All she felt was the rage and betrayal. She had actually felt bad for leaving Kael behind in Byern. She had thought that, deep down, he always really wanted her for her. He was the only one who never really feared her magic. Who had embraced her as she was.

  But she was wrong.

  So wrong.

  Utterly and unequivocally wrong.

  She had sung to his tune. Fallen right into his trap. And been perfectly fine to stay in that state. To even learn magic from him.

  “Cyrene!” Avoca called out to her.

  She glanced up and realized that they were all trying to reach her, but she had erected some kind of involuntary barrier between her and them. She had shrouded herself in silence and anger.

  It hurt that much worse from Kael because he had tricked her. Tricked her into feeling for him. Tricked her into believing in him.

  How could she have thought for one minute that she was a child of darkness? There might be darkness in her soul that rattled around like a caged bird. But she was a child of the light.

  So, perhaps Kael was right.

  They were a matched set.

  The Heir of the Light and the Heir of the Darkness, drawn to each other like magnets. Destined to battle at the end.

  And she was going to make damn sure that she won.

  Cyrene dropped her barrier. She felt a considerable drain on her powers. She had been using anger, the remnants of her blood magic.

  “Are you quite through?” Matilde asked.

  “You’re only going to hurt yourself if you continue to use your energy in that way,” Vera said softly.

  “I’m fine. I realized why the prophecy is a prophecy,” she muttered. “Destiny has a way of catching up with you.”

  Just then, the door flew open, and Ahlvie and Orden traipsed into the room. They both stopped when they saw all of them standing in a circle around Cyrene with the room a disaster area.

  “Uh…did I miss the party?” Ahlvie asked.

  “Something like that,” Cyrene said.

  “We’ve found a way out of Tahne,” Matilde said, straightening her skirts.

  “The front door?” Orden asked.

  Vera sent him a disapproving look. “We’ll need to leave as soon as possible.”

  And that ended the conversation.

  Their bags were swiftly packed, and their horses were removed from the stables.

  Cyrene was still in a mood when they rode out of the gate and left the city of Tahne behind. She had barely seen anything in the city itself, and for once, she was grateful. Staying any longer than necessary in a city usually meant trouble. She’d had enough of that for one day. Between being awoken from bed by an Indres and finding out that Kael had sent Maelia to her death, she was glad to not run into any more trouble.

  It was leagues of silent seethi
ng before Matilde and Vera gestured for them to move off the road. Cyrene had been so lost in her own head that, if Ceffy hadn’t been doing all the work for her, she never would have followed in line with everyone else.

  “Can someone explain what is going on?” Ahlvie asked finally.

  “Oh, you want answers?” Avoca snapped. “Perhaps you would get them if you gave them.”

  “Avoca,” he murmured, “please.”

  “No!” She held her hand up.

  “We’re going to use the coin,” Vera said to end the argument.

  “You figured out its use?” Orden asked in surprise.

  “Quite by mistake.”

  Matilde held the coin in her palm. “I think I’ve corrected it.”

  “Corrected it?” Avoca asked.

  “Rerouted the end destination,” Matilde said.

  “Everyone stand back,” Vera directed.

  They all moved into a single file line, facing an open field.

  Matilde took a deep breath and then channeled her energy into the coin. Cyrene could see it flare to life before her eyes, burning red hot. Then, Matilde directed its energy at the open field. Out of nowhere, the field disappeared, and in its place was an empty nothingness.

  “What the…” Ahlvie demanded.

  “What kind of magic is this?” Orden asked. He didn’t sound frightened, just interested.

  “Portaling. The talisman allows us to move to any portal in Emporia,” Vera explained.

  “And from any portal to anywhere we choose as long as we know our destination,” Matilde added.

  “That looks like we’re walking into darkness,” Ahlvie said.

  “Thank you for pointing out the obvious,” Avoca muttered.

  “It’s dark because the place we are traveling to was destroyed long before we were born,” Matilde said. “Now, move through before I break the connection.”

  Vera used her magic to light a Doma Fire and then moved her horse through the open portal. As soon as she was through, the portal revealed a large moss-covered room.

  “It appears deserted,” she called to them.

  One by one, they moved through the portal. Cyrene lit her own Doma Fire and then went in second to last. As she stepped through, she expected some resistance, like a barrier, but there was nothing. It felt exactly the same as if she had just stepped into the field beyond.

  Finally, Matilde entered through the portal, whispered a few words, and then closed her fist over the coin. The open field with Tahne off in the distance disappeared from view, as if they hadn’t even been there.

  Cyrene glanced around the room. It was even worse than what she had witnessed in Aonia. The place was caved in and had been in such a manner for so long that nature took back over the ruins. The room smelled moldy and stagnant, and she could hear water drip, drip, dripping in the corner.

  “This way,” Vera whispered, guiding their horses to a closed doorway.

  She didn’t bother trying to wrench it open. She pried it open with her magic and guided her horse out into the sunlight. They moved out into the open and found themselves at the crest of a hill, surrounded on all sides by an unruly forest. Even in daylight, the trees and forest creatures seemed to lean in to see who their unwelcome visitors were.

  “Where are we?” Cyrene whispered.

  But it was Avoca who responded with awe in her voice, “The lost Leif city of Isola.”

  Eleysia was a wasteland.

  Dean’s heart plummeted at the sight of his once prosperous and flourishing home. It was hard to reconcile the ruins he had seen in Aonia with his home here.

  After trekking by horse down to the Keylani, he’d hopped on a Tiekan fishing boat traveling to Albion. From there, he’d found a merchant who agreed to take him as far as Aurum. There, he’d paid to sail a boat into Eleysia. No one would charter into the city. And Dean could see why.

  He’d seen it in his vision in the Mirror, of course, but it was entirely different in person. It was desolation and destruction and despair. The buildings were rubble, and the waterways were nearly impossible to wade through. At least one of the districts was still burning.

  He finally made it to the heart of Eleysia and to the Lombardy Palace.

  His home.

  His sanctuary.

  Destroyed.

  It had taken a direct hit to its structure, destroying the palace and bringing the whole thing to the ground. Anyone who had been inside, including all eleven of his sisters, would have been trapped and killed.

  He got out of the boat and searched through the wreckage for a sign of life. But there was nothing. Either everyone was truly dead or no one lived on the Eleysian capital island any longer.

  Being here was somehow worse than the vision. That horrible vision.

  What had compelled me to look in the Mirror? It was foolish, but he’d had to know. And he’d learned more than he’d ever wanted to. Learned beyond the imagination.

  But that wasn’t for the here and now.

  As the last living heir, he needed to claim the birthright he never thought he would come close to. Though Eleysia was a queendom, without the presence of a female monarch, a male could take the throne as regent until such a time when a queen was crowned.

  With a wistful glance at the home he was leaving behind forever, he set his sailboat back onto open waters. Sasra was the closest major Eleysian city to the capital, and he assumed the majority of the survivors had gone there. It was closer than Rasine, though less defensible. Something they’d rarely had to think about until now. Sasra had never been a target before. An army would have had to go through Eleysia, and up until recently…they hadn’t believed that to be possible.

  It was a short trip into Sasra, but he didn’t arrive until late.

  Dean could tell immediately that the city was in upheaval. Signs all over the city claimed to have no vacancy. All the inns were full. Food hadn’t yet come in to feed the larger population, and prices were astronomical. All for people who had nothing.

  He tugged his cloak tighter around him, not wanting to draw any attention to his fine clothes. A hungry crowd could turn into a mob quickly if they were desperate enough.

  He turned into the first inn he could find that offered food for good coin. Taking a seat in the dining room with his back to the wall, he observed what had become of his country. The main area of the inn seemed like any other tavern he’d ever been to. Men flirted with the barmaids, loud boasts came from a corner of the room, a handful of men were playing a card game he’d learned in his youth, and a doxy or two roamed the room, hoping someone would have enough coin to pay.

  One approached him, dropping her foot on the stool next to him and adjusting her slipper so that he could glimpse up her nearly sheer Eleysian gown. He was more concerned with how thin she was. He could see her ribs, and her arms were beyond frail.

  “Need a companion for the night, sailor?” she asked.

  Dean flipped her a few coins. “Get some real food and a night’s rest.”

  She trailed her hand down his front. “And what do you want in return?”

  “I want to know everything that has happened since the capital was bombed.”

  She batted her eyelashes. “We can have more fun than that.”

  “Answers. Now.”

  She narrowed her eyes and glanced around. “That’s it? Really?”

  “Yes. And be quick about it.”

  “Well,” she said, taking a seat next to him, “after the warships blew up the city, ships were sent in to defend the capital, but there was nuthin’ left.” Her thick Eleysian accent spilled out of her words when she wasn’t trying to seduce him. “There was nuthin’ to do but round ever’one up and take ’em here. I know some got through to Rasine, too. But, mostly, we don’ have enough food or money or liquor for all the new people. Lot of people are tradin’ services for goods.”

  “I see that,” he said. “What about the royals?”

  “There ain’t no more royals,” she
said with a grating laugh. “Ellison family was wiped out, and they moved court to Rasine.”

  Dean grunted irritably. Rasine was another day’s trek.

  “Who is ruling then?”

  The girl shrugged. “Don’ know. Some say Anders, and some say Mayhews.”

  Dean nodded and tried to reel in his anger. Anders and Mayhews. As if either had a right to the throne.

  He tossed the girl another coin. “Thanks for all your help.”

  He disappeared into the night and found his boat exactly where he’d left it. It would have been nice to have another pair of hands, but he’d have to make do. He’d been taught to sail alone if need be, and he was grateful for all his training at this point.

  Dean pushed off and traveled farther north. He knew that he probably should have slept through the night in Sasra while he could, but he was too anxious to reclaim his birthright. Eleysia was in desperate need of help.

  He docked his boat later the next afternoon, bone-weary and falling over. Making the voyage had been a bad idea. He’d get nothing accomplished in his state. Luckily, he knew Rasine better than Sasra and remembered an inn he’d been to before. Half-delirious, he located the inn, paid the exorbitant price for a room to himself, and promptly passed out.

  Dean woke to the sound of the gulls calling and the smell of the salt and sea lingering in his nostrils. The night before came back to him with a sigh. He was not looking forward to what he had to do next.

  He stretched and rolled over onto his back. Then, he opened his eyes to face Rasine, ready to take on the city. But he wasn’t alone.

  Dean swore as filthy as any sailor and sat up. “Darmian!”

  “Morning,” Darmian said with a grim smile.

  Dean’s jaw was hanging open. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Darmian was his guard, his best friend, the man he would do anything for. He’d had to leave Darmian behind when Avoca threatened Darmian within an inch of his life, but Dean had always worried about his safety. In fact, Dean had worried that Darmian was dead.

  “I have never been so glad to see you.”

  “And I, you, sir.”

  Dean grabbed his shirt off the floor and threw it back on over his head. He reached out and grasped forearms with Darmian, and then he drew him into a hug.