by H. D. Gordon
Yes. That was it. And somehow, these thoughts combined with the rebel call of my people and brought a sense of glorious purpose to fill me up from the inside out, a sense that I thought had been lost to me when my sister had stepped through a portal to another world.
I had been wrong. It was not lost. No, it was right.
Good News
King William was on his way to the third city on his to-do list, but he would not arrive there until night fell tomorrow, as the entrances to the Silver City were the farther away than the others of the five cities. He and his Warriors were taking one of the underground passages that King William had built over three centuries ago to ensure that safe travel to all of his territories was always available to him. The tunnels had taken years of slave labor to build, and millions of dollars in equally stolen money, but they had been essential. No one knew about them save for him and his personal guard, and he had combed all of their minds frequently enough to know that that was still true.
Now, however, he and some seven thousand Warriors were passing through the tunnels. Though he wished that this didn’t have to be, he knew that he could not afford to travel lightly these days. He could feel in his old bones that the Sun Warrior was up to something; that she would not be able to wait long before making a direct strike against him, and he had to be ready. Just one Sun Warrior was worth two hundred of his best men, even those that he had managed to get the Lamia blood to soon enough. As far as numbers went, this still put him at an advantage, and after he was finished eliminating all of the traitors, that would be even more true.
But yesterday, when he had arrived at Running Waters, he had not failed to notice that the crowd of people who gathered outside of the Council Building was smaller than it should have been. And by the end of that day, Andre had confirmed what he had known. Some had not shown up. Some had escaped. Only three hundred or so, while Running Waters’ population numbered over eight-thousand in all, but that was three hundred too many.
It seemed that those stupid little girls were building an army. King William wondered how many would be unaccounted for when he reached Silver City tomorrow night. He was starting to wonder about a lot of things.
So when the news came, it was so welcome and wonderful that a terrible smile pulled up his old lips, and his fangs bared a gleaming white that was stained in the cracks with the black blood of the Accursed, which had been the King’s sole diet for these past few days.
Andre said, “I have good news, my King,” and handed a folded piece of paper over.
King William snatched the letter up between his fingers and flipped it open, his cold gray eyes scanning the words as his mouth lifted in that ugly smile. He brought the small ring on his left pinky finger, the simplest of his jewelry—just a band of black diamonds—up to his mouth and gave it a kiss.
“This is good news, Andre,” he said. “This is very good news, indeed.”
His most trusted Warrior nodded once, and though no smile ever touched his lips, it was present behind the black of his eyes. “Yes, my King. It seems that the Sun Warrior and her sister are not as well loved as they think.”
King William laughed now, an ugly sound that rebounded off of the stone walls of the underground tunnel and circled the heads of all like a hungry hoard of bats. “So it would seem,” the King said. “It looks like our side is not the only one that has its traitors.”
Part II: Any Other Way…
Nelly
“I demand that you let me out of here right now.”
“I’m afraid that I cannot do that, Night Child.”
I paced back and forth in the whiteness, and it seemed to be filling my head and leaving no room for rational thought, but I fought against it with all of my power. I needed to think, and to think hard. I was only just gaining control over myself, just able to stand and wipe my eyes and halt my screams so that I could come up with some way to stop the thing that I saw coming. The thing that I could not bring myself to think outright, but instead allowed it to be sucked up in the whiteness. But it seemed only to swirl around the drain, over and over, and would not go down.
Alexa’s death.
It was unfathomable. Unacceptable. I think that the only way for me to maintain my sanity was to convince myself that I could find a way to stop it. There was just no way, no way at all I could sit here and let Alexa take my fate for me. I felt incredibly stupid, almost at a wonder at how I could have allowed Alexa to talk me into leaving her at such a time as this. Stupider still for not figuring out that I was the prophesized Savior. And worst of all, I felt betrayed by my sister, who had lied to me about the consequences of me coming here, even though I knew that I would have done the same thing for her had I been in her position. I promise, Nell, she’d said, and I had believed her wholeheartedly without even considering the idea of Searching her to determine its truth. Alexa had never made a promise to me that she didn’t keep. Never.
And that is what she’s doing, a voice whispered in my head, bursting into the whiteness there like an unwelcome caller in the middle of the night. I shoved it away, but it kept coming back, leading trails of thoughts behind it. She’s ensuring that she can protect you. She’s taking care of you and your problems, same as she has always done. She is keeping her promise. Oh, boy, is she.
“Stop it,” I said, out loud, but only in that silent way that this world had.
The Seer’s hand, where it held the white paintbrush to the wall, stopped mid-stroke. “You are having trouble accepting what I have told you, Night Child.”
I considered rushing him then. Tackling him or kicking him in the head or something of that sort that was far more my sister’s forte. But something told me that that would do me no good, or maybe even do me some bad. Time wasn’t up yet, the clock was ticking, but time wasn’t up yet. I had to try and play nice. If that failed, then I really would resort to a few kicks to his head.
“No shit I’m having trouble accepting it,” I said, realizing that this was also an Alexa-response. “You bring me here, tell me that my sister is going to give her life to save mine and then tell me that I can’t leave. What the hell do you think my reaction would be? You have to see that this isn’t right. You have to know that helping someone steal someone else’s fate when it ends in death is as heinous as murder. That’s what you are if you won’t let me out of here; a murderer. Don’t your kind know compassion, sympathy, love? Or are those things beyond you?”
“You know nothing of fate, Night Child. You haven’t even begun to understand. Even for all your power, there is so very little that you actually know about. And I would say that it is your kind that is said to know no love. You should not speak to me of love, and you should not speak to me of fate.”
I laughed now, and the sound was cold and hard and sharp in my head. “You really don’t, do you?” I said. “You really never have felt the kind of love that my sister and I have for each other, and you’re jealous. You deal in death and backhanded agreements. You’re no better than some self-righteous Mafioso.”
Silence. The white hand began stroking the white wall with the paintbrush again. “Perhaps I am jealous of such love, Night Child, but it is not yours alone that I envy. You think you are the only ones who have shared a love so great, but there have been others, countless others that have come to me out the same love, and I do not wish to destroy or steal such a thing…inevitably, it destroys itself. Rather lovely, really.”
I gritted my teeth. I hated being talked to in circles, like I was some idiot. “Fine,” I said. “You like to make deals. Let’s make one. You let me out of here right now,” I swallowed, “and you can have my soul.”
A laugh. “You people are always so quick to offer your souls, as though they were nothing more than rusty pennies in your pockets. But, as much as your…unique being would be a wonderful addition to the army, I am afraid I cannot. I have already made a deal for your sister’s soul, and the Keeper is looking forward to delivery. It is funny that you, of all people, c
annot see the beauty of the sacrifice the Sun Child is making for you. You must go on, Night Child, as your love for your sister must go on. What is it that the humans are so fond of saying? Love makes the world go ‘round.”
I was seriously going to kick this fucker right in the head. And then bite the stump. “You are a demon,” I spat. “If there is a hell, you are going there for this.”
The Seer placed the white paintbrush on the floor and found his feet in one smooth movement, though I couldn’t be certain at all that they were feet, because his white robe covered him from top to bottom. I stood staring at the back of his hooded head. His voice was just a touch weary when it sounded in my head.
“Would you like me to help you understand, Night Child? Do you want me to show you the future if both you and your sister are allowed to go on living in this world? Is that what you want?”
My breath caught. Somehow, that seemed like a cosmically huge question whose answer I didn’t have even close to the amount of time needed to consider–not in this lifetime, or the next. But my lips parted and the words came out before I could stop them, and immediately, I wished that they hadn’t.
“Yes,” I said. “Show me why you think you know what’s best for the world, Seer. Show me why you think you have all the answers.”
The Seer turned. Its face was powder-white and creaseless, like the porcelain of an unpainted doll. No nose, no lips, only eyes. Three of them, as milky white as a fresh snow. “Look into my eyes then, Night Child. Look and I will show you this future you want so much, and then if you still wish to leave, I will let you do so.”
I took a deep, shuddering breath. And I looked.
Alexa
Things had to be moved along quickly now. Not only was my sister stuck in the White World until this was all over, but Tommy’s father’s life was on the line. I had never been fond of Lord Caslon, but Tommy had done more than enough for Nelly and me in the time that I’d known him that I was willing to…well, propel myself and these people into battle. That made me feel a little bad, so instead of listening to the thought, I listened to the sound of the phantom clock that had seemed to make a home on my forehead. Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
They were ready to fight. I had seen that on all of the faces in the crowd. Now, I was once again in the sitting room of Silvia’s cottage. There were only a select few people with me. The rest of the people had dispersed throughout the city to await the battle plans. Malcolm was leading the discussion, of course, and pointing down at several maps that were spread out over the coffee table. I felt like I had stepped into a war movie, sitting in a general’s tent somewhere plotting over how to take down the empire. In fact, it was very much like being an actor, because as far as warfare went, I didn’t know the first thing about strategy. How could I? I was only eighteen years old, damn it.
Olivia sat next to Malcolm, nodding at almost everything he said. Kayden and Tommy sat on either side of me, both of their bodies held tight with tension. Gavin and Patterson stood nearby, looks of hard concentration on their faces, and Camillia stood in over by the long windows with Silvia, sipping a cup of tea. I was trying to pay attention, but my mind kept wandering back to Nelly, wondering what she was doing right now, and listening to the sound of that awful clock.
In front of me, Malcolm held up a creamy-white piece of paper with black script and King William’s seal posted on it. “This list says that the Silver City is his next stop,” said Malcolm. He set the paper down and pointed down at one of the maps, which looked nothing like any maps that I had ever seen. “This is Silver City. All of its entrances are at least half a day’s travel from the Outlands, and that’s if the person is moving quickly. With a thousand-plus people to have to get along, it will probably take us until tomorrow to get there.”
I glanced down at the flier that had the list of cities on it, and back at the map, at the huge white section of land marked the Silver City. “Then we won’t make it in time,” I said, and I could hear Tommy’s teeth click together. I stared down at the map, trying to make sense of a landscape that made no sense to me. “What path did you plan to travel to get there?” I asked.
Malcolm bent over and traced a finger over the map. “These blue areas here in between are all human territories, so any supernatural has free pass there. To get to the Silver City we would need to travel around the Great Lakes, here, through these mountains, and then cross here to enter the Silver City on its western side.”
“That means we would have to go in a huge semi-circle.” I shook my head; we didn’t have time to take the long way around. I pointed to the wide expanse of land that was painted green and labeled in a text that meant nothing to me, but had a sinuous, almost creepy scroll to its letters. This green land was the only thing in between the Outlands and the Silver City. “This is the way we have to go,” I said, tracing a finger through the green. “What is this land? Who does it belong to?”
Malcolm shook his head in return. “We cannot pass through that way. That is the Fae Forest. Restricted territory. If we tried to pass there, we would find ourselves in a very…unpleasant situation.”
I cursed under my breath. Then an idea struck me, and I hopped up from my seat. “What if I could get us safe passage?” I said. “What if we were given permission? Could we go then?”
Everyone was silent for what seemed like a long time. Malcolm took his black-rimmed glasses from his face and began polishing them on his shirt, studying me through squinted eyes. “It’s never wise to ask a favor from a Fae, Warrior.”
Yeah, and don’t make deals with Seers or piss off Sorcerers. I think I got it. “How long would it take us to reach the Silver City if we cross through the forest?”
Malcolm sighed. “Not even half a day.”
“Well, that’s a hell of a lot better than a whole day.”
“Yes, but Warrior, you really don’t want to—”
“I don’t want to what, Searcher?” I snapped, cutting him off. “What the hell difference does it make? You think I’m going to regret taking a favor from a Fairy sometime in the future? Tell me, what fucking future would that be?”
I strode over to the door and nodded at Kayden so that he would follow me into the hall. When we were out of earshot of the others, I pulled him to me to whisper in his ear. “Stay here with them, Kayden. Don’t let any of them leave that room. I’ll be right back.”
Kayden nodded. “You’re going to see Arrol.”
“Yes.”
He kissed my forehead, making that fluttery feeling in my chest come alive. I smiled. “Okay,” he said. “Be careful, Alexa.”
I nodded, then turned and headed down the hall to the glass door that led outside. It was still dark out, but morning was only hours away. I hoped that after this I could go back to the room and get some rest, because it seemed very much like I was going to need it. And I still wanted that damn cheeseburger.
I realized only as I stepped onto the red path that I had no idea where Arrol lived, or how to find him. After a moment’s hesitation, I began heading toward the silver lake, figuring that was as good a place to start as any. As I walked I found that I was really grateful to be out in the open air, away from that stale war room. The stars overhead were making me feel very small in a very good way.
I didn’t have to go to the lake. Arrol found me. He dropped onto the red path in front of me, making me reach back for my Gladius out of impulse. His black wings flicked once as he set his bare feet on the ground, and them laid themselves down on the skin of his shoulders and back and melted back into black tattoos there.
I raised an eyebrow at him, my hand dropping from my sword and falling to my side. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you that it’s not good to sneak up on a Sun Warrior?”
Arrol laughed, his silver eyes twinkling. “I’m just pleased that I could sneak up on a Sun Warrior,” he said. “You in particular.”
I licked my dry lips and glanced around. “I’m starting to think that you just hang around waiting for me,�
� I said. “You seem to appear at very opportune moments.”
The Fae’s head tilted and he quirked an eyebrow. “You were looking for me, no?”
I nodded. “How did you know that?”
Arrol’s smile grew sly. “I am a Fae,” he said. “Fae always know when someone wishes to ask them a favor.”
I pushed my hair out of my face and rubbed my temple. “Yeah, and in return you want, what, my unborn child?”
Another laugh. Arrol reached up and stroked the backs of his smooth fingers over my cheeks, a heated look appearing behind his silver eyes. “Why Sun Warrior,” he said. “I would be honored.”
While most of time I found that I enjoyed this banter with the strange Fae man, I just didn’t have time for it right now. “I need permission for me and my…army to past through the Fae Forest,” I said.
Arrol’s hand dropped to his side, and the smile slipped off of his handsome face like melted snow. “I can’t help you.”
I bit my lip, my heart sinking in my chest. Before I could stop myself, I reached out and grabbed his hands. “Please, Arrol,” I said. “There has to be a way. I know you don’t owe me or my people anything, but there just…has be a way. Please.”
Arrol was silent for a long time, and I could see so many things passing behind his eyes. Just when I was about to give up, he said, “What do I get in return?”
My heart leapt. “Anything. Whatever you want,” I said quickly.
He quirked an eyebrow, a crooked grin pulling up one side of his lips. His eyes ran the length of my body. “Anything?”
I blew out a frustrated breath. “Anything but that,” I said. “And not because you’re not…appealing, but because I’m taken.”