The Complete Set

by Ainsley Shay

  I peeked around the corner into the small room with a tub in its center. Adelina lay in a tub of milky water. Her head rested on the edge, her hair flowed down, pooling on the floor. The glass of wine was on a small round table next to the tub. The carving knife was in her hand on the ledge. Her eyes were closed, and her face was more relaxed than when I had seen it last. The smells of lavender and sweet milk and honey wafted up from the steaming water. Rose petals floated on its surface. Backing away from the bathing room, I looked behind the curtain. There was a balcony very similar to the Lord’s. The sun had descended behind the castle.

  Chandler motioned for the servant girl to stay near the door and to be very quiet. She was visibly shaking as she nodded in agreement. He handed his sword to me. I knew he would have no problem killing the witch, but he knew it would give me great satisfaction to end her. He gave me a nod conveying he had full confidence I could accomplish this last task. I took a deep breath and went into the bathing room. Standing next to the tub, I watched as Adelina smiled.

  “Today was not the day I was planning to make you part of my collection,” she said, without opening her eyes.

  “Good, because it wasn't mine either.”

  Her light eyes eased open. “Plans change.” Her hand tightened around the knife.

  Before the Carving Witch had a chance to lift her hand with the knife, the sword was raised, and all of the hatred I had for this woman, came down in a powerful swish of the blade. Her hand holding the carving knife fell to the floor. Blood poured into the tub. Adelina’s screams tore through the small room. Fingers were still curled around the hilt of the knife.

  Yelling, the sound of things being thrown, and crashing were coming from the bedroom. The guard outside Adelina’s room must have heard her screams. Since I had Chandler’s sword, he had to find a way to hold off the guard.

  Adelina spewed curse after curse, but all of them were useless without the knife. Pathetically, she tried to stand but slipped back into the water. She tried again and succeeded. She stood naked and vulnerable in dark water. It was the same darkness as the soft flower petals floating around her legs.

  “I almost feel sorry for you,” I said.

  She cradled her stumped, bloodied wrist. “You never learned anything I taught you. You’re just as weak with emotion as you’ve always been.”

  “You said hatred can crush every other feeling, even love. You’re right, but only if you let it.” I swung the sword around in one sweep. Adelina’s body crumbled. A tidal wave of dark water splashed out of the tub as her body fell. Her head landed at my feet next to her hand. The stone on the tip of the hilt blazed and then went dark. I pulled the vial out of my jeans pocket and filled it with her blood. Chandler came up behind me. He was out of breath as he took the sword from my hand.

  I closed my eyes and silently said a prayer for all of the lives I’d taken.

  “Hey,” Chandler whispered. Without opening my eyes, I turned around, wrapped my arms around him, and cried. “It’s over,” he said.

  I wasn’t sure how long he held me. My eyes stung with tears when I opened them. The room tilted. I felt like I was going to faint. Exquisite crystals of light flashed around the small room. The flame from the candle on the table flickered. I watched as color bled into the flame. It came from nowhere. I stumbled out of the bathing room into the main area. Colors were bleeding into everything in the room. Heat seared my chest. I touched the stone on my necklace, it was scorching. Pain ripped through my skull. I squeezed my eyes shut, grabbed my head, and cried out.

  Chandler called out, “What’s wrong?”

  I heard the panic in his voice, but couldn’t answer. I inhaled and exhaled and tried to focus on gaining control of what was happening to me.

  “Iris?”

  The pain in my head eased away. My chest no longer felt the heat of the stone. Slowly, I opened my eyes, color more beautiful than any nightmare I had ever experienced, surrounded me. Colors, I didn't know all the names of blazed. The curse had truly been broken. “I’m okay.”

  “Are you sure, you kind of freaked me out?”

  I smiled. “Yeah, I’m sure.” My eyes shifted around the room. I looked at Chandler and studied his face. “My eyes are the same color as yours, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Wow, gray can be beautiful.”

  “I get you just sliced off the head of a witch, but you’re acting really weird.” He felt my forehead for a fever.

  I jerked back. “Stop! I’m fine. Better than fine. Everything is in color. It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt or seen before.”

  “Seriously?”

  I nodded and chuckled. I wanted to jump up and down. “Seriously.”

  He hugged me and shook me like a rag doll.

  I couldn’t make the smile on my lips go away, until I walked back into the bathing room. The scene in color was horrific. I hurried to get what I needed and get out. The medallion was on the small table. I hadn’t noticed it before. I reached for the carving knife’s sheath next to it. Without touching the severed hand, I pried the knife from the dead fingers. After sliding the blade into the sheath, I put it and the vial of blood in my backpack. I glanced back at the medallion, picked it up, and wondered what I would do with it. Nothing. I didn’t need a keepsake from this place. I set it down on the table.

  Chandler picked up Adelina’s head by her hair.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Showing the rest of these useless guards they're free to start a life of their own.” He threw Adelina's head over the balcony wall into the courtyard.

  “Was that necessary?” I asked.

  “Yes, it was. They need proof they are no longer under the ruling of a crazed queen.”

  I watched for several minutes as several guards gathered around the head. One picked it up as Chandler had. He held it high in the air. “The Carving Witch is dead!” he roared. Other guards cheered and hollered.

  “Do you think they’ll leave here and make a new life?”

  Chandler shook his head. “No.”

  “Why?”

  “For most of them, Skelside is all they’ve ever known. They’ll choose a new leader and continue on as they have done for centuries.”

  We turned to leave. The guard Chandler had fought was sprawled across the bed. The servant girl was in the corner folded in on herself. I knelt next to her. “You’re free to go home.”

  “She’s like the guards, she won’t leave.”

  The thought of her being in servitude for the rest of her life was more than sad. But, there wasn’t anything I could do. I stood and faced Chandler. “I want to see Blacwin.”

  23

  I followed Chandler out of Adelina’s room and down the hall. Guards ignored us as we passed. We went down corridor after corridor until we walked down a narrow passage and stopped at a door I recognized. My heart leaped into my throat.

  I grabbed Chandler’s shirt and pulled him back. “Are you out of your mind? That door leads to the dungeon. Why are we going to the dungeon, Chandler?”

  “You’re going to have to trust me.”

  “I do trust you. But, I never wanted to step foot down there again.” My pulse sped up to an uncontrollable rate. Sweat beads formed on my skin as chills rippled down my spine.

  “I know.” He squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them. “I’m sorry, but it was the best place for him. And, if you want to see Blacwin, you don’t have much of a choice.”

  “You’re the one who put him down there?”

  “To keep him safe from everyone and to keep him safe from himself.”

  “What do you mean safe from himself?”

  Chandler huffed in exasperation. He turned and opened the door.

  The spiral staircase was just as dank and gray as it had been before. Down, down, down we went. Everything was colorless except when we reached the bottom step. The bright torch flame shone off Chandler's face as he unlocked the gate. The only word to describe al
l the emotion growing at speeds of light inside me was dread. We walked to the end of the hall, to the same cell where I had spent days of my life.

  Chandler stopped in front of the bars. I couldn’t breathe. The courage I had gained over the last couple of days had not prepared me for how he looked. I moved to the cell. Blacwin was lying on a thin layer of straw. He looked as helpless as the servant girl I had just left. My heart wrenched with pain, bile rose in the back of my throat, my hands tightened around the iron bars, as I stared at the man I loved, who lay in the fetal position, crumbled and broken.

  My voice was hoarse and rasped with tears and anger. “Open the door.”

  “Iris—”

  “Unlock this door.” I took off my backpack and set it on the floor.

  Reluctantly, Chandler found the key on the ring, slid it into the lock, and turned it. The door swung open. Gingerly, I went to him. I bent and brushed his hair away from his face.

  “Iris, be careful,” Chandler warned.

  I should have listened to him. The last time I saw Blacwin, he drew his sword and pointed it at my face. But, my heart refused to be afraid of this man. I kissed his cheek. “Blacwin, it’s me, Iris.” He didn’t move. I saw his body rise and fall with breath, so there was a chance he could hear me. I combed my fingers through his hair. “Come back to me, please. I need you.” My voice caught. This was harder than anything else I had done. I couldn’t watch him turn into nothingness. “You just found me again, you can’t leave me already.”

  He never moved.

  “What’s wrong with him?”

  Chandler cleared his throat. “They broke him.”

  Disbelieving that was true, I shook my head. “No! No! No!”

  “Iris—”

  “Don’t! I won’t leave him in this man-made Hell.” My voice was a growl tinged with hysteria.

  I heard Chandler shift. I glanced up to see him sitting on the ground. “I’ve only seen one guard ever go through what Blacwin has and...”

  He didn’t finished.

  Tears blurred my new world of color. Anger surged hotly through me. I did not almost die, or drink blood, or kill, to have it all end up like this. I banged my fists on his arms. “Wake up! Wake up!” I collapsed onto his still body. “Everything is perfect now. They’re all gone,” I whispered. I closed my eyes and cried.

  I felt a muscle spasm underneath me. I pulled back and studied him. Again, his body jerked. “Blacwin, it’s me, Iris. Please come back to me.”

  His arm shot up and knocked me to the side. I hit the wall hard.

  “Iris!” Chandler was on his feet.

  “No!” I yelled. “Stay there. He needs to really see me, so he can remember.”

  Chandler combed his fingers through his hair. “I told you they broke him.”

  He could tell me a thousand more times, but I wasn’t leaving. I wouldn't believe it. I knew I could bring Blacwin back. I could save him like he’d saved me time and time again. “No, he's not.” I refused to let Skelside win after everything we’d been through.

  I crawled back to him. “Blacwin, it’s me.”

  His arm lashed out again. This time I expected the blow and jerked back. He tried to open his eyes. “Look at me.” I moved into his line of sight. His eyes fluttered open. They were as dark now as when I was colorblind. I smiled, grateful I saw them as they really were. “It’s me.”

  Blacwin shot up as fast as lightning. His hand was around my throat. He held me against the wall. From the corner of my eye, I saw Chandler slide his sword free. “Chandler, don’t,” I choked.

  “I told you I would not let you die for him.”

  “Blacwin, please come back to me,” I rasped, with the little air I had. I reached up and touched his face. “I love you. I love you.” My vision started to blur. I felt myself waning. I heard my name before darkness enveloped me.

  Cool water touched my lips. Then, something as soft as a dream I once had touched my cheek. All at once, a thousand memories and images threw themselves into my consciousness. My chest heaved with fear and worry. I was terrified to open my eyes only to see all the colors had been stripped away, or worse, Blacwin lying in a pool of his blood.

  “Baby.”

  A voice as tender as I remembered drifted on air. I smiled, and I opened my eyes. The torch blazed with fire that was not gray. I was still in the dungeon.

  “There you are.” Eyes as black as night stared at me. “I’m so sorry.” Tears filled Blacwin’s eyes. One fell onto my face. He brushed it away with his thumb. His arms pulled me onto his lap and he held me. We cried for a long time before his lips found mine.

  “Is it really you?”

  “Yeah, it’s really me.” He pulled me to him. “I’m so sorry. I would never hurt—”

  “I know.” I grasped his shirt, never wanting to let him go.

  A throat cleared behind us. “Can we please get out of here now?”

  I looked at Blacwin. “I think my brother has a very good idea.”

  “I agree.” Blacwin helped me to my feet. “Baby?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Thank you for not giving up on me.”

  “Never.” I kissed him again.

  Chandler picked up my backpack and the three of us headed for freedom.

  24

  It was early morning when we left. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Skelside behind me; what a glorious sight. The three of us were exhausted, but full of life. We walked over the bridge. Chandler skated across as fast as he could. Blacwin walked next to me. Our hands where braided into one. When I reached the center, I stopped. Blacwin’s hand held firm and he stopped alongside me.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  I wasn’t sure what to say. The creatures below had haunted my dreams. But, I needed to see them in color, even if they were as dark as night. “I need to see them as they really are.”

  His hand tightened on mine. “I think it’s going to be like that for a while. It would be odd if you didn’t want to see and study everything you’ve ever known to only exist in a world of gray.”

  One of the creatures rose out of the water. Water trailed down its back and trickled through its spines like liquid glass. Its eyeless face moved from side to side searching for the source of the new scents. I stretched my free hand over the edge of the rail.

  “What are you doing?” Chandler yelled.

  “She’s fine,” Blacwin argued on my behalf.

  Grateful, I ignored Chandler. The beast rose higher. My hand reached farther over the water. My chest rose and fell naturally with even breaths; fear was once again absent. Tentacles slithered out of the water. Their tips touched my fingers. I didn’t pull away. More of the dark creatures rose up. All of their senses were drawn to me. Refusing every instinct that told me to yank my hand away, I didn’t. Blacwin had let go of my hand. I watched as he followed Chandler to the other side of the bridge. I couldn’t blame him. Kenyon’s brothers reached higher and higher toward me. I wasn’t sure if I was testing the creatures, or myself, but I didn’t move.

  “It’s going to bite you,” Chandler said.

  I didn’t move my hand away. I couldn’t. The fascination of another being was impossibly enticing. I almost felt inclined to know the beast. The creature sniffed my hand. Its mouth opened. Pointed teeth were lined in a perfect curved line from front to back. Again, fear eluded me. From the corner of my eye I saw Chandler fidget and shift foot to foot. “Would you relax?” I told him without looking at him.

  The creature lowered its head and tucked it into my outstretched hand like a cat or dog would. I stroked the smooth dark flesh. It gave a satisfied growl before sliding back into the water. I smiled and wiped my hand on my shirt.

  When I glanced at Blacwin and my brother, they too, had smiles on their faces. Their glorious bright faces. Colors surrounded me and they were in everything I saw. Fear seemed to have disappeared from me altogether, but I worried that all of the amazing colors I saw would disappear, and I would be f
orced back into my gray world. When I glanced behind me at the horizon, all the worry dissolved. It was almost as amazing as seeing Blacwin in color for the first time. I couldn’t wait to touch his face and study his eyes when we were alone.

  I walked toward the two men of my life. “Let’s go get Snow.”

  Kenyon didn’t come out to greet us this time. I hadn’t considered his feelings until now, his heart would break when he found out Adelina was dead, if he didn’t already know. We walked into the forest. The shadows from the trees darkened the path. Blacwin took my hand and guided me forward over ground that was uneven and rocky. Deeper into the thicket of trees and brush we went, until we saw the giant door in the tree. Chandler knocked.

  Nothing could be heard from the other side of the door until the latch was pushed aside and the door creaked open. Kenyon said nothing as he stepped aside and allowed us to enter. Then, he closed the door.

  Chandler was the one to speak first. “We’re sorry for your loss.”

  His words were respectful and heart felt. He may have hated Adelina-the Carving Witch-deBlays, but he didn’t ignore what she may have meant to someone else. Internally, I applauded him for this.

  “Thank you. Although, your words are hollow since you are the ones who murdered her.”

  I was neither surprised Kenyon knew of Adelina’s death, nor that he knew we were the ones responsible for killing her. What shocked me was he let us into his home. I glanced to the corner where I had seen my best friend last. She was still there. I breathed out a breath stuck in my lungs since we’d come upon Kenyon’s home. “Why didn’t you knock over my friend’s statue?”

  Kenyon sat on the long bench where we’d slept, which felt like forever ago. He was still taller than any of us when he sat. If he’d had eyes, I’d swear he was staring at something on the ground. He was most likely thinking of Adelina, how she was kind to him, or what would he do now, without her. “I am not a vengeful creature. As for the pain I feel from my loss, I would not bestow it on anyone. You all have taken from me someone who only showed me kindness. But, as much as I can understand, she was not that way with everyone else.” His words were heavy with sorrow and agony.