by Joshua Khan
K’leef furrowed his brow. “What about the executioner? Did you see her?”
Thorn shrugged. “Kali wasn’t with them.”
“Did you have a good look?”
That wasn’t even worth answering. K’leef had sent him ahead to do some scouting from the air, and now he didn’t trust his word? Thorn drew his bow and twitched a string. “I could go back and put a few arrows among them, if you’d like.”
K’leef’s gaze darkened. “I am not having you shoot my sisters.”
“No harm in scaring ’em a little. The Six know our little party will only make ’em laugh.”
It wasn’t much of a procession, hardly the glorious march of a victorious new ruler. Behind them were a few ragged-looking riders on salamanders leading three weary mules and a wagon.
Thorn still wasn’t happy that Kismet had invited herself along. He was even less happy about the way she and Lily had been talking together the last few nights, switching to Djinnic whenever he tried to sit nearby and listen. Something was brewing between the pair of them.
He grimaced, looking back at the wagon. “Kismet should have stayed back at the camp. Dragging a newborn across the Shardlands is not right.”
“Kismet knows what she’s doing,” said Lily.
“Yeah, I bet she does.”
Lily shot him a cold glare but stayed silent. They’d been arguing about Kismet for pretty much the whole journey back.
Ah, well. What did it matter? He could smell the salty sea air. K’leef had promised them his very best ship, and in a few days, they’d be riding the waves and Kismet would be headed back to her tribe.
Comet lit the dawn gray with blazing colors. She swooped and spun overhead, and Hades growled as she drew close. The bird replied with a petulant shriek but flew off a few dozen yards.
The two of them, Comet and Hades, kept a wary distance from each other. Comet—young, excitable, eager to show off and fill the sky with her bright flames—would circle the grouchy bat, wanting to play. She’d singed his fur on a couple of occasions, and the last time, Hades had chased her through the clouds and buffeted her with his giant wings, almost putting her out. Comet had learned her lesson. For a day or two at least.
“She just wants to be friends,” said Thorn.
Hades sniffed. Clearly he was too old and proud to indulge in the phoenix’s silly games. Still, Thorn noticed how the bat watched the bird from the corner of his small eyes. Even with his poor eyesight, it was impossible for him to miss the blazing Comet.
So here they were: a peasant boy, a princess of darkness, a brand-new sultan, the idiot son of Duke Solar, and a bunch of nomads, about to take on all the princesses of House Djinn. Thorn twirled a shaft between his fingers. He toyed with the idea of “accidentally” loosing an arrow toward them but then realized Lily was watching him.
“No, you don’t,” she warned.
“You’re no fun at all,” said Thorn.
“Nothing’s going to get resolved with us just watching. Come on.” And with that K’leef dismounted and walked toward his sisters.
Lily followed and, after returning his arrow to the quiver, so did Thorn.
The battle for the Sultanate was about to begin.
If Ameera was afraid or impressed, she didn’t show it. The other sisters whispered and pointed at the phoenix until Ameera snapped at them. Then they all stood in tense silence.
Ameera met them halfway between the two parties. She looked at Thorn and Lily indifferently. Nobles were good at hiding their feelings. She smiled at her twin brother. “So? Shall we fight now, K’leef?” Flames licked her fingers.
“Where’s Kali?” Thorn asked. He could imagine the executioner hiding under the sand, daggers at the ready.
Ameera stared hard at Lily. “Your necromancy transformed her into a crippled old woman. She left—I don’t know where.”
Thorn relaxed a little. With Jambiya, Pan, and now Kali out of the picture, maybe he could finally stop checking his back.
K’leef gazed past her. “And what of our sisters? Will they join in?”
“They are all sorcerers, too,” she replied. “If they wish to fight by my side…I will not stop them.”
“K’leef has a phoenix,” added Thorn. “He won the trial by fire.”
Ameera shrugged. “The trials are a foolish old tradition. He caught a phoenix. So what? Does that make K’leef one inch the better ruler?”
“It proves he has courage and knows what it is to defy death. You done anything like that?”
He didn’t bother listening to whatever she had to say.
Ameera’s sisters watched them. Some looked anxious; some looked ready for a fight. They’d picked her side and didn’t expect any pity or mercy.
The lava crown was a bloody piece of headgear. How many were already dead because of it? And how many more might find themselves on the funeral pyre before the day ended?
“I don’t want to fight you,” said K’leef. “You’re my sister.”
Ameera sneered. “Then what? You’ll give me the crown?”
“No.”
This was a different K’leef. This one had some steel in his spine.
So there would be a battle. There was no other way to end this. Ameera’s ambition was too great, and she’d committed too many crimes to just give up.
Thorn settled his grip upon his bow. The arrows rested in the quiver, but he could sense the journeys ahead of them. Two or three might make enough mischief among the other sisters to force them to back off, perhaps just enough to tip the balance in K’leef’s favor.
“You must pay for what you did to Sa’if,” said K’leef. “And Lily.”
Ameera lowered her gaze. “I thought only to weaken Sa’if, not rob him of all his magic. It was only meant to be a little crack in the mirror.”
Her remorse seemed sincere, not that Thorn cared.
K’leef folded his arms. “And what about Lady Shadow?”
Ameera’s eyes hardened. “You should have been my ally, Lily. But when you refused our offer, I knew you were too dangerous, to all of us. I had to destroy you for the good of the Sultanate.”
And yet, you didn’t destroy her. Ameera had no idea that the dead of Necropolis had given Lily their blessings, and she was more—much more—than she had once been.
K’leef spoke. “The people will not forgive you for what you did to Sa’if.”
“The people?” Ameera sneered. “They will get on with their own lives. They will forget.”
“But will you?” Lily asked. “Or will Sa’if’s murder haunt you every day of your life, and beyond?”
Ameera grew pale. “What’s done is done.”
Lily wasn’t finished, and there was a cold smile on her lips that Thorn, if he didn’t know her so well, would have found frightening. “We went to Necropolis,” said Lily, drawing closer to the Djinnic princess. “The city of the dead. There were ghosts, ghuls, specters, and creatures whose names we dare not say out loud. But they spoke to me, Ameera. Do you know what they said?”
Ameera tried to back away, but Lily grabbed her wrist.
Was it his imagination, or had the air grown colder?
“Let me go….”
Lily didn’t. Instead, she pulled Ameera toward her. “You killed your brother. Someone who loved you, sheltered you, honored you every day of his life. He went to the Far Shore. I saw him leave. But do you know where you are destined for?”
“Let me go!” But Ameera couldn’t get free.
“I shall tell you.” Lily whispered in the princess’s jeweled ear.
Thorn couldn’t hear Lily’s words, but even he shivered as Ameera’s eyes widened and a deep moan escaped her lips. She began to tremble.
What was Lily saying to her?
He really didn’t want to know.
Ameera broke free with a scream. She fell to her knees, sobbing.
K’leef stared at his crumpled sister. “What did you tell her, Lily?”
“You d
on’t want to know.”
The other sisters were terrified, having seen their leader fall. They didn’t dare approach.
Like Thorn, the princesses had been raised on horror stories about House Shadow. They’d been warned of the nameless, terrible deeds the Shadows would perform on children who had not been good.
And here stood such a Shadow, and they had been far from good.
The Shadow name held a dreadful power.
“What have I done?” whispered Ameera.
Lily crouched down beside her. “As you said, what’s done is done. But you can make amends.”
“For killing my own brother?”
Thorn hadn’t been there when Pan had sacrificed himself for Lily, but they’d talked about it one night. Lily was convinced that Pan had finally made restitution for his crime. Her eyes had shone with starry tears when she told Thorn, “I know Dante and my mother will welcome him.”
Lily helped Ameera up.
All the princess’s defiance had fallen away. Ameera cringed as she looked up at her brother and asked in a desperate voice, “What must I do, K’leef?”
He smiled at her. “Do something that would make our brother proud.”
“But what is that?”
“That is for you to find out, Sister. But the answer is not in Nahas.”
“Exile, then?” she asked, shocked.
“Freedom,” K’leef replied.
The old Ameera reasserted herself. She drew herself up straight, raised her head, and wiped away the tears. “Very well.”
How could she be so calm all of a sudden?
He’d never understand nobles.
But he didn’t want to. Only one noble mattered to him.
Lily caught his glance and smiled.
Did she know how he felt about her? He wished he had pretty words like K’leef’s, but Thorn was just a simple peasant boy more used to wrestling sheep than swapping feelings with princesses.
All he knew was that nothing made his day more complete than being with her at the end of it.
Ameera returned from saying good-bye to her sisters. “What will happen to them? They are all sorcerers, K’leef. The old law—”
“Is the reason for all this suffering,” said K’leef. “Women will practice magic freely in the Sultanate.”
“You really mean that?” asked Ameera. It looked like she didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. “Of course you do. It’s a matter of honor, isn’t it?”
“Ruling a kingdom is a tricky business. I shall need all my sisters to help me.”
Comet circled overhead, shrieking and spilling flames from her wingtips. She flew over the heads of the princesses, and all of them ducked. Except one.
Comet flapped down and settled on Sami’s outstretched arm. She giggled, clearly entranced—and unharmed—by the fiery bird.
K’leef smiled wryly. “And perhaps I shall need Sami’s help most of all.”
FIFTY-TWO
“K’leef won’t last a week,” said Thorn.
“Hmm?” Mary stood in the center of the room, surrounded by trunks and crates, hands on her hips, doing that rocking thing she did when she was thinking. “Did you say something?”
“K’leef’s head is in the clouds. Bet he won’t last a week.”
Mary laughed. “He’s survived this long, Thorn. That young man may surprise us yet.”
The ships were loaded with stores, goods, and zombies. Baron Sable was down by the quay making last-minute preparations for their dawn departure. This was Thorn’s final night in the Sultanate, so he’d thought he’d make the most of it and stay at the palace. One more night sleeping on silk before two months in a ropy hammock.
He picked a chair that wasn’t covered in clothes. “Where’s Lily?”
Mary shrugged as she searched through a pile of dresses. “No idea. But you’d better go find her. I need to tick off all the gifts before I pack them.”
Thorn set off.
Lily was probably with Sami, thanking her for the presents. By now, he knew the palace well. He could take a shortcut across the courtyard to the women’s quarters.
Turned out he didn’t need to. Lily was in the courtyard, tending Hades.
This time of night the place was quiet except for a pair of sleepy guards at the gate.
The bat looked down at him and burped. Thorn patted the swollen belly. “Stocking up for the journey, eh?”
Lily pulled some stringy fat from the monster’s chin. “He’s getting a taste for camel.”
Thorn looked at her. “Can’t wait to be off.”
“I miss Gehenna so much, Thorn.”
“It’s your home,” said Thorn. “It’s where you belong.”
“Until this trip, I’d never been out of Castle Gloom for more than a week.” She sighed and looked north. “The leaves will be gold by the time you return.”
“Good, I can’t wait for winter. I tell you, I’m going to walk barefoot in the snow. It’ll be great to be cold again.”
“You squires still have your snowman contests?”
Thorn brightened. “Of course. Mine was taller than nine feet last year. And also I’ve got, y’know, Mom, Dad, and the rest waiting for me.”
“Did you miss them while you were here?”
“No.” Thorn met her gaze. “Not when I was with you.”
Lily shook her head. “This is going to be hard, Thorn.”
“The sea voyage? Maybe you won’t get so seasick this time around.”
“No, not that.” Lily looked down at her feet. “I wish you hadn’t found me. I left you a letter.…K’leef was going to give it to you tomorrow.”
Thorn lifted her chin, his heart pounding. “We are going home, Lily. You, me. All of us.”
“No, Thorn. Not all of us.”
Thorn felt rage rising in his chest. “This has to do with Kismet, don’t it? What rubbish has she been telling you?”
“Not just her, but the dead. That there is—”
“The dead?”
“Yes, and the dead don’t lie, Thorn. The ghosts in Necropolis knew of the high queen. Of there being a seventh sorcery.” Lily’s eyes grew bright with excitement. “We know she was real, Thorn. And there may be a way to learn her magic. To weave spells that haven’t been used in thousands of years.”
“But you’ve got your magic back, Lily.” He spoke carefully, trying to mask the pain in his words. “Why do you need more?”
“I’m the witch queen, Thorn. And K’leef has brought an end to the old law. Women can now practice sorcery here without fear. This is the beginning of something…something great.” Lily turned toward the gate. “There are lands I must explore beyond even the Shardlands. Realms the high queen once ruled.”
There was no point arguing. “All right, if that’s the way it’s gonna be.”
“Don’t be angry, Thorn. I’ll be back as soon as—”
“Let me grab some more arrows, and we’ll be off.”
“Wait. You’d…you’d come with me?” Lily stammered.
“I thought you knew me by now.”
She jumped forward and trapped him in a tight embrace, one her troll friend Dott would have been proud of. Thorn felt his ribs squeeze in, but he didn’t care. Lily trembled for a moment, and he thought he heard a sob, but it couldn’t be. Not Lily. He knew she didn’t feel that way about him, even if he wished it otherwise.
This was the way it should be, Thorn and Lily, side by side. He felt ready to take on the Six Princes.
“Why do you stick with me?” she whispered.
“Because I…” Thorn swallowed. He wanted to tell her why, but the word, that short word, just couldn’t be pushed through his lips. If he told her how he felt, actually told her, there’d be no taking it back. He could take on manticores, efreets, and phoenixes, and people thought his courage had no limits, but it did. He couldn’t admit how he felt to Lily. “Because I serve you, Lily.”
Lily stepped back, and slowly her hands slipped down until she he
ld him by just his fingertips. “I’d like you to come with me, Thorn. I’d like that very much.”
“Good. So just let me—”
“But I can’t take you,” she said. “I need you to go back to Gehenna.”
He stared. Thorn’s throat constricted, and he was barely able to drag out enough breath to speak. “Why?”
“It wouldn’t be fair, Thorn. This is a search for magic, the magic of the high queen, and I couldn’t bear to put you in any more danger.”
“I’d do it for you, Lily. I would.”
“I know. And I can’t allow myself to be that selfish. I want you to come, but that’s unfair.” Despite her smile, her eyes were sad. “Go back to Castle Gloom. Keep an eye on Mary. You know how…attached to me she is. And you must continue your training with Tyburn.”
“When will you be back? How long will it take?”
“You know I can’t answer that, Thorn.” She kissed him. “Good-bye, my dearest friend.”
The night breeze grew colder, and the darkness around her thickened. Thorn sensed the Veil opening, the barrier between this world and the lands of darkness. How far was she going?
“It don’t matter where you go,” he said. “I’ll be right behind.”
“Thorn…”
Tears swelled as he spoke. “You can’t get rid of me, Lily. I’ll follow you.”
“I’ll be going places even Hades can’t reach.”
“I’ll find a way. I always do.”
She looked at the gathering darkness, then back at him, scowling. “You are very irritating.”
“Then I take that as a yes?”
“Traveling through the Twilight’s not like traveling on Hades, Thorn.”
He stared. “We can’t leave Hades behind!”
Lily threw up her hands. “I don’t believe it! Anyone else you want to bring along?”
Thorn looked back at the old bat. “Nope. I think Hades will be enough.”
Hades rubbed his chin on the top of Thorn’s head; the sharp bristles scratched his forehead. The bat’s rough tongue licked him.