“Why did he take her from the start?” Rissine’s voice answered. “She makes him stronger.”
A chill crept up Elmerah’s spine. When Saida had met them in the hall, she didn’t have the circlet. Without it, she would be powerless to escape Malon.
Alluin’s hand found hers. “We’ll get her back.”
She couldn’t think of anything to say in reply. Malon had taken Saida into an unknown realm, and she hadn’t been wearing her circlet. She would be entirely dependent on him for survival.
Alluin dropped her hand and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. “We’ll get her back,” he repeated.
A comforting lie, and nothing more.
And in the more rational part of her mind, she realized something else. Malon had abandoned their army. What might the clan leaders do when they were told that he had run out on his promise?
What would become of the Capital when the only hope of restoring order had just fled through a portal?
What would she tell Ivran when he asked what happened to the daughter she had promised to return to him?
Saida
Saida’s hands met with cold, smooth marble as she staggered forward. She braced herself against the pillar, letting it cool her cheek as she regained her senses, then pushed away.
Malon’s light had blinded her, and she was forced to blink for several long moments before she could see her surroundings. Tall, white pillars stretched on into the distance, lit by the purple light of dusk.
“You don’t have the circlet,” Malon’s voice sounded behind her.
She spun around to face him. Beyond him, a lush mountain range blocked the view further into the distance. She did not recognize the mountains, nor the surrounding pillars rising up from the cracked tiles beneath her bare feet. “What have you done? Where are we?”
He glanced around. “I’m not sure.”
She choked back tears. “Why did you bring me here?” She clenched her hands into fists to still their trembling.
He turned back to her. “I apologize. I know I have broken your trust, but your trust is not worth dying for. Your friends see me as a threat, and nothing more. Despite all we have accomplished, I am still a traitor.”
She took one quavering step toward him. She had been so close, so close to seeing her father. Everyone was going to be safe, including her. And now they might very well be lost forever. “I would have protected you.”
“You would have tried.”
“Why did you bring me here? If you wished to leave, you could have left on your own. I could have fulfilled our promise to the Makali myself.”
He closed the distance between them, reaching out his hands to lightly grip her arms. She flinched at his touch, and his expression fell. “We will get to that eventually, although it will be difficult since you left your circlet behind.”
She stepped out of his reach. “Why did you bring me? Why are we here?”
“Egrin made a portal to bridge the space between life and death. I thought you might like to see your mother again.”
Her blood went cold. “T-that’s not possible. You’re mad.”
He shrugged. “Perhaps. But we are here now, it couldn’t hurt to take a look.”
“The portal closed behind us. We could be trapped here forever, just as good as dead.”
She didn’t notice the satchel he carried until he tugged it forward from his shoulder. He reached inside and withdrew a leather-bound book, then a small canvas sack. He extended the book toward her. “Really, I was surprised that no one thought to investigate Egrin’s private study. Everything we need to know to open a new portal is in there.”
She took the book with numb hands, quickly skimming the pages. It was filled from start to finish with Egrin’s words. “But he needed all of the gathered magic and the cauldron to open the portal.”
He bounced the canvas sack in his outstretched palm. “I gathered what remained. Along with the power of the Crown of Arcale, it should be enough.”
She clutched the book to her chest. “Then prove it to me, right now. Create a portal and take us back.”
He smiled. “Not yet. There’s something we must do here first.”
“Which is?”
He gestured toward the book in her hands. “It’s all in there. Egrin Dinoba did not only hope to bring back his lost love. He wished to find the other lost relic of the gods. A third circlet. He believed it was in this realm.”
“A third circlet?” she gasped.
He nodded. “The Crown of Ilthune, the goddess of the underworld.”
Her mouth went dry. The Crown of Cindra granted life and healing. The Crown of Arcale granted fire and destruction. “You want to control death itself.”
His smile broadened. “With the power of the two circlets, we had the strength to conquer the Empire. With a third circlet, we would be unstoppable.”
“You’ve lost your mind.”
“You said it yourself, there was no going back to the lives we lived before. And so we will create a new world. A better world.”
She stared at him as he turned away and started walking. Had she been blind to his madness all along? When he didn’t look back, she hurried after him. He might be mad, but he was her only hope of returning to her realm. But she’d be cursed before she’d let him control another circlet.
She would kill him herself if she must.
Epilogue
Elmerah sat on the edge of her bed, staring down at the circlet grasped in her hands. She had found it in Saida’s room not long after Malon had pulled her through that portal. At some point the sun had risen. She wasn’t sure how long she had sat there, contemplating the circlet.
A knock on the door drew her attention. It opened before she could say anything, revealing Alluin and Isara, their arms full of old books.
“We grabbed anything that might be of use,” Isara explained, walking across the room to dump the books onto the bed beside Elmerah. “If there is a way to open another portal, we’ll find it.”
“And if there is not?” she asked numbly.
Alluin set his books on top of Isara’s, then moved to sit by Elmerah’s side. He took her hand. “Malon would not have gone into the portal without a means of escape.”
She believed him, but that still left the question of why he went in. What he wanted in there. She was sure it was nothing good.
Alluin and Isara exchanged a meaningful look.
“What is it?” she demanded.
Alluin sighed. “We did not want to trouble you with this until you had time to recover, but we think we should search for the Fogfaun. They transported Isara and Daemon here from the island. They might be able to help us locate Saida should we fail to open another portal.”
Hope stirred in her chest. “But how will we find them?”
“The Makali scouts have reported sightings of demons lurking outside the city walls. We believe more portals are opening. The Fogfaun will want to close them.”
She let go of Alluin’s hand, then stood. “You both can read the books, I’ll go after the demons. I will find the Fogfaun.”
Rissine strolled through the open doorway, followed by Zirin, Celen, and Killian. Her sister stood a little hunched from her wound, but appeared steady on her feet. “Not without us, you won’t.”
Elmerah looked to each of them, then down to Alluin still seated upon the bed.
He nodded at her silent question. “We’ll get her back, together.”
“Together,” Isara agreed. “It can’t be anywhere near as difficult as defeating a demon emperor.”
No one said what they were truly thinking. The demon emperor had been bad, but perhaps, a power-hungry elf with the magic of the gods was worse.
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Empire of Demons (The Moonstone Chronicles Book 4) Page 19