My high school years were a living hell. I came out in my teens, and that was just Not Done back then. I didn't have any friends at all until I met Carly.
No. Friends. At. All.
I was so isolated and alone, and I craved companionship, yes, above all, I wanted to be seen.
I doubt that Charaxus has ever wanted that. She doesn't strike me as the type of person who needs human companionship, either. She's standing now with her back poker straight, her arms folded in front of her, her jaw tight as she gazes down the hallway. Her eyes are unfocused, as if she's thinking deeply about something.
Am I really going to bother her now?
Um, yeah. I guess I am. Because I'm suddenly standing beside her, clearing my throat. As if shaken from a trance, Charaxus gazes down at me in surprise, but that surprise lasts for exactly a nanosecond before her all-too-familiar scowl appears.
“Yes,” she says dryly, and it doesn't even sound like a question.
“Nothing,” I tell her with a little shrug. “I was just wondering how you were doing. You looked...worried.” Inwardly, I cringe. Am I really trying to be all touchy-feely with the woman who literally makes the ground beneath her quake when she's trying to make her point?
But Charaxus gazes at me then, and there's bewilderment in her eyes. “I am fine,” she tells me gruffly, though her words are softer now. “Thank you for your concern,” she adds, like she's trying to remember the social niceties for a situation like this, like she memorized them out of a book but isn't used to practicing them in real life.
“Are we ready?” asks Calla, and the knights turn, Kell poised at the door.
Outside, I can hear the banquet hall quieting.
And then...music.
The swell of stringed instruments begins softly but builds rather quickly, as my heart rises in my throat, as Kell's hands tighten on the doorknobs.
“Go out with the other knights; they're going to stand by and keep Calla in their sights. Stay with them, all right?” pleads Virago, hooking her fingers around my elbow and drawing me close—and away from Charaxus. Virago's jaw is tense, and it looks like she wants to say something more as she stares down at me, her bright blue eyes glittering with an expression I can't read, maybe because it's a bunch of things all at once. Trepidation, worry...love.
“I love you,” I tell her quickly, putting my arms around her shoulders and kissing her on the cheek, on the nose, on the mouth, soft, quick kisses that are infused with the million things I'm trying to convey, too.
“My love,” says Virago, leaning back, gazing at me with a small smile, “I'm not going to another world. I'll be right here. Right behind this door.”
“I know. I just...I just love you,” I tell her again, squeezing her hands as I take a step back, as Kell, Alinor and I step closer to the door. Magel, Virago, Charaxus and Calla remain behind as Kell opens the door an inch. Instantly, we're awash with sounds, so many people's voices raised in jubilation, so much music, so much laughter. Kell enters the banquet hall, and then Alinor, and then I turn to look back at Virago.
“I love you,” she mouths to me. I nod, blow her a kiss, and step through the door, too, and Kell pulls it shut behind me.
The dancers from the banquet are here, now clad in more elaborate costumes, ribbons braided in their hair as they leap onto the empty tables in the hall, dancing to the beat of the drums, to the delicate cadence of the stringed instruments. I watch them with unseeing eyes, remaining as close to the door as possible.
There's the queen's table on a dais at the back wall, and the table is covered with a long cloth shot through with strands of silver and gold. Calla's throne has been moved to sit at the center of the table—to elevate her above the crowd, I'm assuming—and in the very middle of the room, the central table has been removed. It looks like a sort of stage has been constructed of several tables pushed together, covered with a cloth. Several of the dancers are leaping up onto that big, center stage now, propelling themselves across it like they have wings on their feet (to my knowledge, none of them actually do, but I'm on Agrotera: I wouldn't even be surprised if a woman leapt by with Hermes-esque sandals sporting little wings).
I'm tense. I can’t actually enjoy this pre-show, because I'm concentrating too much on wishing that I had a sword. It's ridiculous. I'm no expert with the blade, regardless of the fact that I vanquished Cower. That was only luck. Still, I wish I had something that I could use to help the knights.
Because I believe, very much, that something is going to happen soon. I try to take deep, even breaths, as I watch the women dance...
And then, something does happen.
The music stops.
I remember a few days ago (has it really just been a few days? It feels like a lifetime ago), when the music stopped playing in the bar in Boston...a literal world away. Then, it was because Charaxus had stepped down into the bar, wielding a sword, wearing black armor… The scene looked sinister, but it wasn't, really. She just has that aura about her.
But, here and now, something is sinister. Because it's not Charaxus who is causing the music to stop, not Charaxus who is causing everyone to fall silent. Not Charaxus who has inspired a deep, disturbed hush to fall over the people assembled here, ready to celebrate, ready to open the Hero's Tournament with one big party.
A big party that isn’t going to happen, I’m realizing.
Because it’s not Charaxus who changed the atmosphere of the banquet hall.
It’s Charaxus' brother.
Charix, king of Furo, ascends the stage of tables by striding up the small set of creaking, wooden stairs that had been discreetly tucked around the back of the stage. The dancers back away from him instantly. It's pretty obvious that this is not the moment for him to be on the stage, if he was even supposed to go up there at any point in the first place...but when he turns right now, the lone person standing in the middle of that stage, I shudder a little.
He's smiling.
He doesn't look particularly happy when he smiles.
He looks smug. Dangerous.
Evil.
He spreads his leather-gloved hands wide, and the hall is so still that I can hear the leather creaking when he uncurls his fists. Slowly, slowly, he raises his hands, gazing around the room with an expression of supreme disgust. He's not even trying to hide it now.
“People of Arktos,” he says, his voice carrying to every corner of the room like he's shouting into a megaphone—but he's just whispering. “It is...unfortunate,” he says, raising his lips up over his teeth, “that you would imprison our goddess Cower. It is...unfortunate that you dare to defile her by keeping her imprisoned. It is because of this that you will fall today.”
He gazes around the room, his eyes glittering with malice...
And then he disappears.
King Charix completely disappears, disappears without a trace, like he was never standing there to begin with, and I somewhat wonder if he was really there at all. Regardless, the crowd is still silent, still tense, still...waiting.
I move quietly through the press of people, listening now as they begin to murmur, as the crowd starts to mill about, shifting uneasily. That's the best word to describe the situation in the room right now: uneasiness. Everyone's looking around, as if they're waiting for the other shoe to drop, and, honestly, I have no idea what's about to happen. Why did Charix disappear? Why did he make such a ridiculous speech? Was he trying to cause the people of Arktos City to panic? Doesn't he know that they're brave people who can't be scared off so easily?
I move through the crowd, and then I'm at the door I came through, from the hallway where Charaxus, Calla, Virago and Magel were waiting. I open the door, pressing it open amid the murmuring crowd, and slip through it, shutting it just as quietly behind me.
The minute I close the door, I realize that something is wrong here.
At the far corner of the hallway, just around the bend, where I can hardly see them, is Charaxus. She has her arm around the quee
n's shoulders, and she's pushing her through...
I swallow, my mouth instantly dry.
Charaxus is pushing Calla through a portal.
And Virago… Virago is lying in a heap on the ground. Next to Magel, who is also sprawled unceremoniously on the ground, the both of them out cold, like they were clocked over the heads with something heavy.
“Charaxus!” I call out, taking a step forward. I don't know what's going on, but it can't possibly be good, not with Virago and Magel lying there, and with Charaxus shoving Calla through a portal. But Calla wouldn't go anywhere she didn't want to go. She's not a fainting flower; she's a strong woman, a queen. But somehow Charaxus is still managing to push her forward...
Charaxus glances over her shoulder at me at the exact same moment that Virago comes to, shaking her head, reaching up her hand. She grabs the hem of Charaxus' cloak as Charaxus steps through the portal...
And then Virago, Charaxus, and Calla disappear.
They’re gone. The portal evaporates into nothingness.
They're gone.
“Oh, my God,” I whisper, all the blood draining from my face. “Oh, my God,” I repeat, racing to close distance between myself and Magel.
I throw myself onto the ground beside the unconscious knight, and I glance at her hurriedly, trying to see if I can spot any visible injuries. But, no, she appears to be all right: there are no stab wounds, no wounds of any sort. Magel chooses that moment to moan a little, moving her head back and forth, her eyelids fluttering.
“Magel? It's me, Holly,” I tell her, leaning down and nervously tapping her on the shoulder as gently as I can. “Magel, what happened? Where did Charaxus go?”
“Cha—Charax...” Magel manages, her voice low and quavering as she takes a deep breath. Then she coughs a little, rolling onto her side, pushing herself up onto her elbow with great difficulty. I try to help her, but Magel is solid muscle and much taller than me; she’s also covered in heavy armor. She sits up a little, her hand to her head, blinking.
“Where am I?” she asks then, looking around and blinking.
“You might have a concussion,” I say, sitting back on my heels. “Do you remember what happened?”
Magel blinks hazily at me. “No...” she says, shaking her head again. “I was standing here one moment with Virago, Calla, Charaxus...and then...darkness.” She glances around now, her eyes wide. “Did you say that Charaxus went somewhere? Where's Calla?”
“Charaxus took Calla through a portal,” I tell her miserably, “'and I think Virago went with them. She grabbed onto Charaxus, and then she just disappeared. I just don't know where they would have gone.”
“Charaxus took Calla,” Magel repeats flatly, and then she's staggering to her feet, even though it's obvious that she shouldn't be trying to stand. I hook her arm around my shoulder and try to help her right herself, but it's hard; she's still really out of it.
“I don't think you're all right, Magel,” I try to tell her, but she shakes her head adamantly.
“Charaxus knocked me out,” says Magel, gritting her teeth and wincing as she puts one leather-gloved hand to her head. “And she took Calla through the portal, Holly,” she tells me, holding my gaze, “because Charaxus has kidnapped the queen.”
Chapter 14: The Knight, the Witch and the Portal
“What?” I whisper, staring at Magel. And then, taking a deep breath, I blurt it out, not realizing what I've said until it’s too late: “But she wouldn't do that. Charaxus is in love with the queen.”
Magel stares at me, her eyes narrowing, her usually warm, brown gaze now flashing with an inner fire that stops me in my tracks. “What did you say?” she asks me quietly, raw power in her voice.
“I mean...” I blink, licking my lips. “Isn't it obvious? She's in love with Calla. Calla doesn't notice,” I say, shaking my head, “but of course she wouldn't. She's been going through a rough time lately, and she got her heart broken. But I figured that pretty much everyone else noticed...right?” I whisper.
For a long moment, Magel says nothing. And then she shakes her head, her jaw tense. “Charaxus,” she says, enunciating every word, “loves no one and nothing. Least of all our beloved queen. She's from Furo,” she says, spitting the word out.
“Magel,” I say, taking a deep breath, remembering what just transpired out in the banquet hall. “Something very weird just happened—”
And then there's the sound of screaming.
Magel reacts instantly: she's moving away from me, even though she's incapable of walking in a straight line (I really do think she's concussed), and she has her hands on the doorknobs to the hallway, pulling them open.
“We're locked in!” a man is yelling over and over again in the chaos that has erupted in the banquet hall.
The party went from perfect happiness, Magin sloshing out of cups, laughter and merriment everywhere, dancing women moving to bright music—to silence...and then to this.
There is panic in the room, and I can see why now. At the far end of the room is the door leading out to the main hallway of the palace. And that door is locked tight. Kell is at the door currently, and she's tugging at it, putting her weight into it, pulling on the handles with her considerable strength, her arm muscles flexing impressively. The doors do not budge.
She bangs against the door with one massive pound of her fists before stepping back with a growl of frustration that I can hear even here.
“Kell!” shouts Magel, leaping up onto the stage. Kell turns, a deep frown etched across her features, until she spots Magel.
Alinor comes up beside me, shaking her head, running a hand back through her hair. “It's bad, Holly,” she tells me, as Kell makes her way through the crowd, heading toward Magel.
“What's going on?” I ask Alinor, and she still shakes her head, her brow furrowed.
“We are locked in,” she says, gesturing around the hall at all of the shut doors. “I have tried every door. They are sealed with metal, and metal,” she says, her lips downturning, “is impervious to magic.”
“But how...how is that possible? What about the hallway out there?” I ask her, pointing over my shoulder, back the way I came, where Calla, Charaxus, Virago and Magel had been waiting. I can see doors from here, in the hallway, doors that lead out to the rest of the palace. But Alinor's face remains stony.
“I doubt that the doors beyond that hallway will work, either,” she says. “But I will try them.” Then she straightens a little, glancing at me. “Charix has locked us in on purpose. He has staged a coup, and he wants to do this as quickly and painlessly as possible. He has one goal, and one goal only,” she tells me softly, searching my face to see if I understand.
And I do.
“He wants to free Cower,” I whisper, and Alinor nods, her face cloudy.
“Cower will rise,” she says with a small shudder, “and Calla will fall.”
I think about the conversation that Charaxus and Charix had in the hallway a few days ago, a conversation that I shouldn't have overhead but did. I think about how Charaxus reacted to her brother, how it was apparent that she dislikes him. How apparent it is that she loves Calla.
I know I'm not making it up. I'm perceptive; I've seen the signs. Charaxus loves Calla, and I really can't believe, in my heart of hearts, that she would do anything to harm Calla. She came for her, after all, across worlds...
Across worlds.
I turn to look at Alinor, my eyes wide as I reach across the space between us, gripping her arm.
Alinor looks at me in surprise, but I'm spluttering. I don't know how to articulate that Charaxus came to find Calla across worlds. She opened a portal by herself to find Calla… This is not the type of person who then kidnaps the queen to hand her over to her brother.
But I don't know that for certain. I've been wrong before about a lot of things (I mean, look at my history of ex-girlfriends, for example), but I just don't think I'm wrong about this one.
I’m just not sure.
I only know that Charaxus took Calla through a portal before everything went down. And that she took Virago, my Virago, with her.
“Where...” My mind starts to churn at a million miles a minute. “Where's Joy? Can she transport a few of us out of the banquet hall?” I ask Alinor, who shakes her head.
“You can't transport past iron. A binding spell has been put around the entire banquet hall. They're staging a coup, and they want no one to interfere. It's better than bloodshed,” says Alinor quietly, her eyes wide, “but we don't know what he's planning after Charix has released Cower. Bloodshed might be exactly what he has in mind. Keep us all penned in here, like animals awaiting slaughter.” She stands up straight then, tilting her chin. “But if he thinks that's going to happen, he has another think coming—”
My mind is still going, still grasping at possibilities. And that’s when I remember who else I saw here tonight.
“Alinor,” I tell her breathlessly, then, my eyes wide. “Where's Isabella?”
“Isa-who?” she asks, blinking. “Wait, the witch from the tea shop that Calla likes?”
“Yes, that Isabella!” I tell her excitedly, gazing out into the crowd. “She's a witch, right? If Charaxus opened a portal, a portal can be opened again, can’t it?”
“Maybe. I don't know much about portals,” says Alinor with a shrug, but she's beginning to look out through the crowd, too.
“Hey, Magel!” I call to Magel, who's deep in quiet conversation with Kell up on the stage. Magel glances through the crowd and spots me with surprise.
“Can you call out for Isabella?” I yell to her. Magel cocks her head to the side, but she does it, cupping her hands around her mouth.
“Isabella?” she says, her voice ringing through the press of people.
“Here!” says someone, shooting up her hand. I can see her hand in the air, and then I see her cascade of red hair. Yes, it's the right Isabella.
“Over here!” I shout, jumping up and down so she can find me in the crowd. Isabella moves toward me as quickly as she can, and in a few moments, she's standing beside us, breathless.
Date Knight Page 25