As soon as Una’s voice gave out, everyone in the room experienced a single moment of silence as all heads turned to look at Gloriana, pushing herself up by both arms. Even the Queen herself appeared shocked and amazed.
But the moment did not last.
In the very next instant, everybody in the room converged on Una, but she had already taken advantage of their momentary pause. Although there was something different now. Something else was controlling her, working through her, as if her magic had once again gained sentience and had wrestled itself away from her own control.
And yet its will was also her own, as if she were two people with one purpose. She pushed out again with more power than she had ever wielded in her life. Nothing could stop it.
The knights of the Faerie Queen not only flew backward, but many did not get up again after they crunched into the stone walls and pillars. Gloriana resisted the attack, but she was on the defensive now, she could not fight back.
For a moment, Una considered the possibilities. She could eliminate the Faerie Queen right now. She could end this unrighteous influence upon the land.
Gloriana met her gaze, her eyes shining with power every bit as real as Una’s magic. Those eyes passed an understanding between the two of them. Gloriana could not stop Una, but Una was reminded of the Faerie Queen’s words from just moments ago. If she were to kill the Faerie Queen, she might properly open the doors of the Otherworld in a way that they would never be shut again. The relationship between Una and Gloriana was over, but there was one thing that Una knew: The Faerie Queen still fought against the forces of darkness, and her death would spell disaster, not only for the islands of Britain, but the entire world.
No, she had to let Gloriana live. They had a common foe, and while in this case the enemy of her enemy was not her friend, Una would be wrong to fight her. She could not undermine the Faerie Queen's authority and create a losing side through infighting. But she was not about to let Gloriana do anything more to stop her or her friends from doing what they thought was right.
Una saw only one path forward, one where she ended this conflict once and for all, one where she negated all need for the Faerie Queen to want her dead. Once she was finished, she could finally turn her attention to Gloriana and force the woman to leave her life in complete peace.
Una shot skyward through the hole she had created earlier. She rocketed nearly a mile into the sky before she even realized how fast she had traveled.
Orienting herself, she sped off towards the north of the Forest of Arden, towards the castle where she, Brit, and George had stayed not long ago. If her friends were in danger, she would find a way to rescue them. According to the Faerie Queen, they were in the clutches of one of the Sins. With the magic coursing through Una’s veins, tingling the ends of her fingers, she knew now that she was among the most powerful beings on earth. She could handle one, even several of the Sins at once.
Though if she was this powerful, then she must be wary. Her father would be even more powerful. And though she was not okay with the Faerie Queen's extreme measures, she would have to be careful moving forward.
Yet the other side of her, that other will that seemed to guide her magic, did not seem to hear her reasoning. It propelled her forward, hurling her at breakneck speed towards the castle, so fast she thought her hair might fall out of her head from the way it whipped behind her.
Her final thoughts before lashing out at the dark powers ahead of her were of George. Where was he in all of this? He hadn’t been among the guards of the Faerie Queen’s palace. She hadn’t seen him at all since they last parted a day after leaving the dark castle. What would the Faerie Queen do to him now that Una was a proper fugitive from the Queen’s brand of law? Would he even be allowed to continue as Gloriana’s knight, given his connections to Una? Or would the Faerie Queen use him against her in some way.
That last thought seemed more likely, and it only caused Una to double her speed. She had to end this conflict quickly, or George, Guyon, and all those she cared about would be at risk.
26
Britomart struggled against her bonds, having not slept a wink during the night. They had no windows to judge the time, but she expected it was early morning by now, though she could be wrong. She was busy trying to escape. After all, that idiot knight Guyon, and his wild woman Belphoebe, were doing nothing, which left her doing all the hard work. Typical.
That Duessa woman had left, and Brit did not know if she still resided in the castle, or if she had left completely. From the sound of things, she may have gone off to find Wrath. Oh how she would love to get her hands on Wrath, to wring his neck until he choked, or until she severed his spine. The moment she was out of these bonds, she would find him, and she would make him pay for all the taunts he had leveled at her. With renewed vigor, she began working at the bonds again, their sound jangling through the dungeon halls.
"You know that's not going to solve anything?" said Belphoebe.
"Neither will sitting around like a frog on a log," Brit bit back. Where had Guyon picked up this forest flower? She seemed of little use, and only cared about finding her sister. So what if she was the Faerie Queen's daughter? Brit judged people by what they could do, not the legacy of their parents. Besides, she wasn’t sure she liked the Faerie Queen anyway, given the instructions she had received to kill Una should the need arise.
Belphoebe stayed silent, as did Guyon. Brit simply went back to her work. If she just had a little more room, she could take the shackles off her hands. A thought occurred to her, a memory of when she had suffered a sporting injury when she was a small girl.
Back then, while playing with a leather ball among her friends, she had fallen forward, caught herself on the rock with her hands, and the impact had resulted in a sprained thumb. Or at least she thought it was a sprained thumb. Upon closer inspection, her nursemaid Glauce informed her that she had dislocated the appendage. Moving it back into position had been one of the most painful experiences Brit had experienced up to that point, but it had taught her an important lesson about pain, and about endurance.
But what spoke to Brit now was the memory of how misshapen her hand had looked. With her thumb dislocated, she could, in theory, move her hands through the restraints.
Brit steeled herself, gritting her teeth as she prepared to push her thumb forward at an unnatural angle.
"Do you all hear that?" said Guyon speaking for the first time since Duessa and Envy had left.
Brit paused, her thumb still intact. There was something out there. A mild rushing sound, like the cascading of a distant waterfall, or of a great bonfire.
Belphoebe was on her feet in an instant. "Someone is using magic."
"Are you sure?" said Guyon, "I thought you had no magical abilities?"
"None as you think of them," clarified Belphoebe. "My skills are generally…softer, more in-tune with nature than with actual power. But I can, at times, sense a strong presence. Before, it took my mother or one of the Sins to create a force powerful enough that I could sense it. But this…this is something greater.”
The rushing sound crescendoed to a roar and Brit startled as the ground shook ever so slightly.
"Could it be?" Guyon whispered, as if to himself.
"This castle is under attack," said Brit.
All three of them were on their feet by now as another tremor shook the castle. Brit tried to make sense of the commotion. Were the Saxons attacking? Perhaps they had great trebuchets or other war machines. Or perhaps a great sorcerer had arrived, which would explain what Belphoebe felt, if her senses were to be trusted at all. But surely this was an army, not one being.
Shouts and screams came from overhead, the clink of armor, and the great tumult as more stones fell to the ground.
"There’s someone else out there now," said Belphoebe, pressed against the bars of her cell. "This power feels…ill.”
“That must be Envy," said Guyon. "I think I know who is attacking the castle."
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"Who?" Brit began, but at that moment a crash bigger than any that had come before shook the very bars of their dungeon. If the three of them have not been clutching those bars, they might have been thrown off their feet.
"By Jove," said Guyon in a hushed whisper. "I never knew she could do this."
"Who?" Britomart repeated. "One of the Sins?"
"No, it's…"
The door to the dungeon burst off its hinges. Bits of rock and splintered wood peppered them, and Brit held her bound arms up to cover her face.
Then a coarse wind swept through the place, instantly clearing the dust and leaving them free to see who would emerge from without.
Envy came first, but it was not the Envy they had seen before. She did not walk but floated with her arms raised straight on both sides, as though she were suspended by two large cords attached to each appendage. Her face was a mask of defiance, though she hung helpless. She floated forward until she lay before the three of them.
Behind her, walking confidently with one arm outstretched towards Envy, was Una.
“Thank the Faerie Queen,” said Guyon. Brit did not look at him as he spoke. She was too busy staring at Una in amazement, conflicting emotions bubbling up inside her.
“Do not thank her,” Una barked with some force. She was no longer the calm, level-headed woman Brit remembered. Her face was flushed with effort and anger, and her eyes were dark. Brit found herself swallowing. The Faerie Queen had warned her that something might go wrong with Una. Could this be what she meant?
The shackles around each of their hands broke apart like they were made of clay, and the bars of their cells were pulled this way and that, creating three mangled openings large enough for them to step through. The look on Una’s face made it clear she was behind the supernatural occurrences.
Brit swallowed again. She knew Una was powerful, but she had expected nothing like this.
“I don’t know you,” said Una to Belphoebe. “What are you doing here?” There was a danger that hung in the air, a threat to Belphoebe should her answer not be to Una’s liking.
“She’s with me,” said Guyon, hastily. “The Faerie Queen sent me to rescue her. She’s her daughter.”
A fire flashed before Una’s eyes, but it was quickly gone. “Is that so?” she said in a low tone. “The Faerie Queen and I have recently had a...falling out. Is that a problem for you?”
“All I want is to find my sister,” said Belphoebe, staring Una down with a level gaze. “I blame no one for distrusting my mother.”
“It has gone far beyond that, I’m afraid. But you can tell me of your sister later. You all know Envy, one of the Sins?”
The three of them nodded, and Una began lowering Envy to the ground. Once the Sin’s feet hit the stone, she was forced down to her knees by additional power. Britomart caught Belphoebe giving Guyon a look.
“Right now,” Una continued. “You are going to tell me everything you know.”
Envy smiled up at Una. “You should just kill me.”
“That would be too easy, and too much of a mercy on you. You are alive only because of what you know.”
“Then you give me no reason to tell you anything.” Envy snarled.
Una closed one fist, and Envy gasped, bending lower to the ground and clutching at her throat. A vein pulsed in her head and there was a hint of color on her pale face.
“Una…” said Guyon, his voice hesitant.
Una did not acknowledge him. Instead, she continued the pressure on Envy until the latter was gasping for breath, her normally chalk-white skin turning pink.
“Una!” Brit shouted. This was getting out of hand.
Una paused, and Envy gasped for air. Una spared Brit a glance before returning her attention back to the Sin. “That was a taste. Tell me what you know about the other Sins. I want to know their whereabouts, their plans. Resist me and I will prolong your death.”
“You don’t have to kill her,” said Guyon. “You can cut her off from her magic like you did with Acrasia.”
“That will hardly make up for all the evil this woman has done. Even with her wings clipped, she still needs to suffer for her crimes.”
They were interrupted by the sound of laughter. Envy had thrown back her head and great, maniacal bellows poured out of her throat. She looked like a mad woman.
“Beating me, with such power as you possess, is easy,” she said when she had regained some composure. “But you are dull if you think you have a chance at defeating the others.”
“I didn’t ask you how to beat them,” Una said through clenched teeth. “I asked you where they were, and what they were planning.”
Guyon spoke up hastily, as though trying to calm Una down. “Duessa was here earlier tonight. She wanted to know if you were with us but left when she found you were not here.”
“Why would she want me?” said Una to Envy, never even glancing at Guyon.
“I suspect you will find out soon enough.”
Una’s lips compressed, and Brit thought she might end Envy right then and there. Instead, she asked, “And where is Duessa now?”
“She is in the Shadow Realm, attending to a certain...guest.” With that, Envy shot a glance not at Una, but at Belphoebe. The woman understood the knowing look and took several large steps, passing Una until she could grab a handful of Envy’s hair. The Sin let out a laugh of delight as her head was wrenched backward.
“What have you done with Amoret?” she yelled with a fury that rivaled Una’s. Even Guyon seemed taken aback.
“Foolish girl,” said Envy. “By now, there is likely nothing left of your poor little sister.”
“What do you mean?” said Una, darkly.
“The girl is being groomed to, shall we say, take the place of one of our less fortunate sisters.”
“Acrasia,” said Guyon, and Una nodded.
“I knew they would try to replace her eventually. I only severed her connection to her power, I did not remove that power entirely. I’m not sure anyone can.” Her attention turned back to Envy. “And where is Wrath?”
“He has lost his way,” said Envy, “though I suspect Duessa has found him by now. Perhaps he has been forced to join her, to spend some time in the Shadow Realm, away from people like you for a while, to clear his head.”
“And what of the other Sins?” Una probed further. “Gluttony and Sloth.”
“We hardly keep records of each other’s comings and goings, but Gluttony will not be hard for you to find if you spend any time looking for him. Sloth will be harder. He never has been one to draw attention to himself.”
“And how were you planning on bringing Cernunnos into this realm?”
Brit furrowed her brow in confusion, and the reactions of Guyon and Belphoebe showed they were equally confused. Who was Cernunnos?
But Envy’s reaction told them much. Her malicious smile fell, and she showed signs of true fear on her face. “How did you learn that name?”
“Never mind where I heard it. What was your plan?”
Envy remained silent, apparently stunned. Then Una tightened her fist and a compressive force seized upon Envy. She choked. “We don’t know!” Una paused so Envy continued, panting slightly. “Duessa is the mastermind, she alone knows the full plan. We only do what we’re told. We prepare the way, gather followers. Duessa only told us to remain near the breaches, so we could come swiftly once it was time to greet our master in person.”
Una held Envy in a stare that seemed almost magical, like she was trying to pry information directly from the Sin’s brain. Eventually, Una spoke. “You really know nothing, do you?”
Envy began choking again as a force seized upon her. Brit watched, stunned into inaction as the Sin writhed beneath Una’s magical torture.
“Una, please…” said Guyon. He was drawing nearer, as though he was preparing to pull Una away.
“Wait...wait!” Envy gasped. She inhaled sharply as the power released her, and Una folded her arms, waiting fo
r an answer.
"I know that you were important,” said Envy in a rush. "I was to hold your friends so that we might gain the upper hand.”
"This I already knew,” Una tapped her fingers on her arms in impatience. "Tell me something I don't know, or I will ensure you never tell anyone anything again.”
Envy’s eyes were wild, and she looked around the room as if searching for something, anything that would help her. Una raised one hand again just before Envy sputtered out a reply. "I can help you! I can keep you safe in the Shadow Realm, and you can destroy Duessa and Wrath, the two most powerful among us."
"I have been to the Shadow Realm,” said Una, calmly. "The laws of magic work differently there, so how can I be sure I will have any power over them?"
Una had been to the Shadow Realm? Certainly a lot has happened since Brit and Una were separated. Now she better understood the Faerie Queen's guidance to remain with the girl. That short time alone had changed Una, and changed Brit as well, though Brit had to hold out hope that she did not need to do as the Faerie Queen advised. She was not even sure she could kill Una, given the power she was displaying. Could anyone?
"Duessa and Wrath will be weaker in the Shadow Realm too," said Envy hastily. "It is different for all of us, but I am the sin of Envy. I desire power. The Shadow Realm is the closest I get to receiving that power, it reflects our desires, our fears. If you let me go, I will use that power to ensure Duessa and Wrath cannot fight back."
"And how will I know that you won't turn on us the moment we enter that place?"
"Because of who I am," Envy had a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "Because you know as well as I do that I want the others dead so I can take their power."
Una regarded the Sin, but before she could reply, Belphoebe surprised them all by speaking next. "I say we do it. They have my sister there, and if we can destroy Duessa and Wrath along with any hope of the return of the Sin of Lust, then we should take it. Kill three birds with one stone."
"You haven't seen the Shadow Realm,” said Guyon, his face grave. "And there is too much at stake."
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