by Joshua Khan
The boy brushed the snow off his grinning face. “I wanna do that again! Can we? Can we?”
Hades shook the snow off himself. He lowered his head so that he and Thorn were eye to eye, and he growled.
“Oh, like it’s my fault you crashed?” Thorn replied. Then he grabbed hold of the big monster’s hairy cheeks and hugged him with all his might.
There was no flying after that. Hades needed food and a sleep, so off he went. Thorn watched him disappear south, heading home to Castle Gloom.
“We need to get moving ourselves,” Thorn said to Alfie. He gestured to a muddy track nearby. “That’ll take us to Malice, right?”
Alfie sat glumly upon a boulder. “We should have gotten Sam, too.”
Thorn pitied the young boy. Alfie had stopped asking about his parents. He must’ve guessed they were dead. But that made his longing for his brother even greater.
Thorn sat next to him. “What do you remember about the attack on your home?”
“I was asleep, till Devil started barking at something on the roof. We didn’t know what was going on…then them spiders started creeping down the chimney. Dad grabbed his ax, and we ran for the forest. We’d just reached the edge of the trees when Tyburn appeared. Webs fell out of the sky, and Sam got caught. Spiders climbed all over Tyburn; he kept on fighting, but you could tell he was getting weak. Mom and Dad, they tried, but one of the big spiders…I saw…blood. Then one bit me, and that was all till you woke me up.”
“We’ll do our best to get Sam back, I promise.” Thorn took the boy’s hand. “It’s getting dark.”
Alfie hesitated. “You think Lady Shadow could do something? Bring Mom and Dad to life if they’re…? People say she’s got magic.”
Thorn tried to smile, but he could see the overwhelming desire in Alfie’s gaze, and he hated being the one to disappoint him. “I don’t think it works like that.”
“Just for a little while? Maybe only a minute. Why couldn’t she bring them back for just a minute?”
Thorn remained silent, not wanting to create any false hope. They walked through Bone-Tree Forest as the shadows grew longer. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and the pair of them quickened their pace. It was dusk when they saw the lights of a town ahead.
“Malice,” said Alfie.
Thorn found the Baker’s Inn. It was the most famous landmark in Malice, and not for a good reason.
It looked out over the stakes where people had once been burned alive.
Lily pointed to the three posts that still stood in the center of a square. Ten-foot stone columns, each with an iron ring at the top.
“They’d manacle the guilty to those. Then a pile of wood would be stacked all around, and the condemned would be brushed with tar so they’d catch fire more quickly. My grandfather Charon used to watch from here while he had his dinner. That’s why it’s called the Baker’s Inn.”
“I had a hunch it wasn’t to do with cupcakes,” said Thorn. Just when he thought Lily’s family couldn’t get any stranger, here was another gruesome story about her ancestors. “But your dad stopped the burnings, didn’t he?”
Lily nodded. “He’d been forced to watch them as a child. He hated it, but Charon wanted him to…I don’t know, learn cruelty?”
Thorn and Lily had met up just after nightfall, Dott greeting him in the courtyard with a bone-crunching hug. Alfie, barely awake by that point, had been fed and put to bed. Lily had then proceeded to bombard Thorn with her news, and Thorn had hit her with his. Now, several courses later and an apple pie split between them, it was time to decide what to do next.
“Sleep,” said Thorn. “My belly feels like it’s gonna burst.” Then he sat up, sniffing the air. “Is that toffee tart I smell?”
“Seriously, Thorn? You want more?”
“Just a thin slice. C’mon, you’re Lady Shadow. Make the most of it.”
“I was trying to be discreet.”
“Then what happened?”
“They recognized me.” Lily gestured at a table at the far end. Three well-dressed merchants were dining, but their eyes were on Lily and Thorn. All stood and bowed.
Thorn peered at them. “Gehenna’s a small place. Everyone knows everyone.” He patted his taut belly. “Anyway, about that toffee tart?”
Lily gave a slight nod to the ever-waiting innkeeper, and the tart was hurried over. It was much more than a thin slice. Thorn smacked his lips.
“Yeah, traveling with the country’s ruler has its perks,” he declared.
“You’re going to eat all that?” said Lily.
“It would be rude not to,” said Thorn. “My grandpa said an empty plate is the best compliment you can give a cook.”
“When you were up in that cloud ship, did you have a good look for Gabriel? A real look?”
“I was busy saving Tyburn!” Thorn complained. “And I was lucky to find him. The ship’s huge. Weaver called it, er, Baofengyu or something.”
“Baofengyu? That means ‘tempest,’” said Lily. “I wish I’d asked Ying more about the cloud ship theft when I’d had the chance.”
Thorn turned to Lily, feeling a mix of admiration and stupidity. “You know Lu Fengese?”
Lily shrugged, as if knowing all the languages of the New Kingdoms was no big deal. “We need to find out who this Weaver is.”
“Mmhf,” Thorn replied. The toffee had glued his jaw together.
“You eat like a pig, Thorn.”
Thorn worked his mouth open. “If you don’t know when your next meal’s gonna be, you eat as much as you can, when you can.”
“Was that what it was like in Stour?”
Thorn didn’t want to talk about it. He’d been hungry plenty of times, but why dwell on it when you had a dessert like this sitting in front of you? “Any idea about Weaver, who he might be?”
“House Typhoon hired foreign sorcerers to strengthen their numbers. Plenty of lesser sons ended up working for them. Men who’d been born second or third or fourth to one of the Great Houses, all with magic in their blood but little else. They wouldn’t inherit any lands or castles, so they took their talents elsewhere, to serve as sorcerers in other realms. House Typhoon paid well, and with so many sorcerers in one place, it was a great opportunity to study magic. My father considered going to Lu Feng, too, once.”
Thorn picked the toffee out of his teeth with his fingernail. “That’s right. Iblis was the second son himself, wasn’t he? Gehenna should have gone to your uncle.”
Lily’s eyes darkened.
“I’m sorry, Lily. Wasn’t thinking.” Thorn moved his attention back to the tart.
Pandemonium Shadow should have ruled Gehenna but for one flaw: he couldn’t cast a spell. Not one. And to rule Gehenna, you had to be a sorcerer. So the kingdom had gone to Lily’s dad.
They’d thought Earl Pan had accepted his lot, but they’d been wrong. He’d murdered Lily’s family in a bid to become ruler. He would have killed her, too, if it hadn’t been for Thorn. That, more than anything, was why he called her Lily and everyone else called her Lady Shadow.
Secretly, Thorn agreed with Baron Sable and pretty much everyone else in Castle Gloom. Lily should have had Tyburn execute her uncle. Instead, she’d merely banished Pan.
He could be anywhere by now.
“You think Pan might be involved in this? That he might have recruited this Weaver?” said Lily.
“Nope. Tyburn seemed sure this Weaver bloke was in it for himself. He wants revenge, Lily. Though I don’t know why.”
“Yes, I think you’re right. When I met him outside the Shadow Library, I felt his hatred.” Lily shook her head. “He’s no mercenary of my uncle’s. And then there are the trolls,” Lily said, moving on. “We should send word to the troll king, tell him that his people have been kidnapped by Weaver, and we had nothing to do with it.”
“I ain’t no troll expert, but unless you’ve got proof, I can’t see how he’ll believe you.”
“We need to find a way to free them
, then. Rescue the trolls, and there’ll be no need for war.”
“Even if I could get back up into that cloud ship, Hades couldn’t carry a troll—way too heavy.”
Lily frowned. She idly rolled a black rose petal between her thumb and index finger. She laid the rest of the flower on the table. “Where do you think these came from? They’re like the ones in the Night Garden, but not quite.”
“Mmph?” asked Thorn, cheeks packed with tart. Again. It was really, really good and he was determined to finish it.
“Someone put them in the revenant woman’s house in the last day or two. And they did it more than once; I spotted some older petals under the table.”
“Why, d’you think?”
“To appease the dead. Tell them they’ve not been forgotten. It could’ve been an attempt to mollify the revenant, but it won’t work. Revenants won’t settle for a bunch of roses, black or otherwise.”
The innkeeper came over. “Is everything to your satisfaction, m’lady?”
Lily smiled. “It’s all absolutely delicious. Isn’t it, Thorn?”
“Mmrph!” Thorn gave him a double thumbs-up.
The innkeeper began collecting the empty plates, then paused. “I can have more roses brought to your room, if you wish?”
Thorn stopped chewing.
“You grow them here?” Lily asked, sitting up and interested.
“Not personally, but I know who does. She only moved here recently, got a house at the end of Cadaver Street. I don’t have much to do with her, but if you like, I’ll ask her for a bunch. If she knows they’re for you, I’m sure she’ll be more than happy to hand them over.”
Lily tugged her collar looser. “What’s this woman’s name?”
The innkeeper pondered. “Hmm, hardly said more than ‘good morning’ to her….What was it again?”
Thorn decided to give the innkeeper some help. “Might it be…Mary?”
“You should go,” said Lily. “By yourself.”
“Nope. It’s the both of us,” said Thorn.
“I should have brought Dott.”
“Again, nope. Somehow I don’t think Mary would be happy about a troll knocking on her door this time of night.” Thorn stopped at a crossroad and held up the borrowed lantern. “Which way did the innkeeper say?”
“Left here.”
Thorn nodded and started along the road. “I don’t know why you kicked her out of Gloom in the first place.”
“I did not ‘kick her out,’” said Lily. “She…left.”
“Why? Mary had been there longer than anyone. She brought you up.”
Why?
Because she’d tried to poison Gabriel but inadvertently killed Custard instead. She’d almost started a war to avenge the death of her two sons, slain in one of the battles between Gehenna, the kingdom of darkness, and Lumina, the kingdom of light.
She betrayed me.
Lily had loved Mary deeply. Mary had raised her and Dante, and Lily had shared secrets with her old nanny that she’d not shared with her own mother. After having lost her own family, Lily understood Mary’s pain.
Still, that didn’t make Mary’s actions right. Lily hadn’t banished her from Gehenna the way she’d done with Pan, but she’d banished Mary from her heart, which was far worse.
One night soon after Halloween, Mary had quietly departed, leaving behind the castle keys, her infamous red ledger, and Lily.
“So what happened between the two of you?”
“It’s not your concern, Thorn.”
He frowned and met her gaze. “You’re a pain in the backside, Lily. And right now you need all the friends you can get.”
They fell into a grumpy silence, and Lily dragged her feet through the mud.
What would she say to Mary when she opened the door?
What would Mary do?
They reached a small stone bridge that crossed over an iced-up stream.
Thorn stopped. “Should I check underneath for trolls?”
“I’m glad Dott isn’t here; otherwise she might pop that empty head of yours right off.”
Smoke drifted out of the chimney of the cottage.
“She’s home,” said Lily. She still didn’t cross the bridge.
I could turn back now.
Did she really need to know the revenant’s connection with her father? What difference could it possibly make? They were both dead.
But not gone. Their ghosts lingered, and that meant there was unfinished business. She put one foot in front of the other.
When they got close to the house, Lily saw that Mary had been busy, as usual. The thatch was new, and so was the wood on the shutters and door. The hinges had recently been replaced, and someone had dug the moss out of the joints between the stonework and filled it in with limestone. The low wall around the vegetable patch seemed newly built. And on either side of the door was a bush of black roses, flowering despite the cold.
Thorn banged on the door. “Mary!”
She’s cooking chicken-and-onion pie. Lily could smell it. Mary had overdone it with the basil, as always.
But Lily’s mouth watered. Her stomach gurgled as if it hadn’t been fed in months. In a way, it hadn’t. When Mary had left, she’d taken her recipes with her, and her great rival, Cook, had her own ways of preparing Lily’s meals.
Life just hadn’t been the same without Mary.
Lily stood farther back. She blew into her fingers. It was colder here than around Castle Gloom, and it had started snowing.
What was keeping Mary? Maybe she wasn’t home. Maybe they should just go, leave a letter instead. Yes, a letter. That would be—
The door opened, and there she stood.
Lily’s heart surged.
Mary hadn’t changed one single bit. Her hair was under a cap, and threads of silver hung over her plump red cheeks. Her apron was white, but Lily didn’t mind because her dress was pure Shadow black. Mary beat her palms on her apron to rid herself of flour.
“Thorn?” She looked confused, then smiled. “Thorn! What are you doing here?”
He kicked his heels and looked back to Lily. “I’ve brought someone to see you.”
“Hello, Mary,” said Lily. She stepped forward and leaned in to kiss her former nanny.
Mary lowered her head, and curtseyed. “M’lady.”
Lily stopped short. She hadn’t expected that. She was angry, with Mary, and herself. At all the things that had changed. “May we come in?”
“As you command, Lady Shadow.”
Thorn stood at the door, arms folded. “You two are as bad as each other.” He snapped his fingers. “Lily, go kiss Mary. Mary, give Lily a hug. And hurry up. That pie ain’t gonna eat itself.”
Mary raised her head and looked Lily up and down. Then, with tears in her eyes, she extended her arms. “Come here, child.”
Maybe some things hadn’t changed after all.
“I hear you replaced me with a troll. Very nice.” Mary lifted the kettle off the fire and poured the tea.
“I did not replace you with anyone,” said Lily. “You left.” She took the cup and added three sugars. “And what are you doing here?”
“Trying to get some peace and quiet. People mind their own business in Malice.” She shook her head as she collected the pie from her oven. “Trolls in Castle Gloom. What would your grandfather say?”
Thorn sniffed the chicken-and-onion pie. “Mmm. My grandpa would say the only good troll is—”
“A dead one?” interrupted Mary.
“—is the one guarding your village from other trolls,” finished Thorn.
How could Thorn have room for more pie? How could she? Yet her mouth watered. Lily kicked him under the table. “Is your grandfather coming here with the rest of your family? I’d like to have a few words with him about his stupid sayings.”
“Nope, he ain’t. You can’t replant an old oak.” Thorn grinned slowly. “As my grandpa would say.”
The cottage was small but comfortable. The
fire burned brightly, and the herbs added a soft, country scent to the main room. A cat lounged at the top of the stairs, watching them with mild interest. The pots and pans and plates were shiny from hard scrubbing, and a broom stood up against the door. Lily guessed Mary washed the floor daily; it practically shone.
Mary sliced the pie. “Who’s hungry?”
Thorn put up his hand.
Lily answered nonchalantly. “I might have a slice. Just to be polite.”
Mary bit her lip, and Lily could tell there was some cutting remark lurking just on the tip of her tongue. Mary put a slice down in front of her, then paused to look her over. “Tsk. What do you comb your hair with, a hedgehog?” She sniffed disapprovingly. “Dressing yourself, I see.”
“Most people dress themselves.”
“Most people dress badly.”
Lily and Mary sat facing each other over the pie.
I miss you.
Lily wanted to say it, but something stopped her. She examined Mary. She saw the wrinkles around her eyes, the brown irises fading with time. The silvery hair drawn back into a tight bun and locked in place with a pair of bone hairpins. Mary still wore the pair of black pearl stud earrings that Lily had given her two birthdays ago.
“What happened to your arm?” asked Mary.
“I got burned.”
Mary’s lips set into a firm line as she examined the crude bandage. “I suppose you wrapped that yourself, too?”
“I did.”
Mary took a box down off the shelf. Tutting loudly to demonstrate her disapproval of Lily doing anything without her, she removed the bandage and chucked it on the fire. She pulled a jar from the box. “Healing salve. It’ll cool your burn, and hopefully you won’t have a scar. The ruler of Gehenna can’t be looking like some clumsy kitchen maid.” She turned Lily’s arm toward the candlelight. “These burns. They’re spaced like…fingers.” She began rubbing the salve over Lily’s forearm. Instantly, Lily’s skin cooled. “What is your business, Lily? It wasn’t to visit your dear destitute nanny, I’m sure.”
“You know about the ghost, Mary. I’m sure you do; I’ve seen the black roses.”