by H. D. Gordon
He felt very exposed in such a position, but he supposed he had no other choice now but to trust the Halfling girl. If he could get a little closer, he might be able to surprise attack his brother, take him out before he had a chance to know what hit him.
Michael was stronger with the magic, had honed his use of it over the years, but Charlie was a stronger physical fighter. The element of surprise was key here, as was making sure he didn’t hesitate.
A sigh. “I’m sorry, my heart,” Michael said. “But if you didn’t free him from the vines, who did? One of the children?”
“The children would do no such thing… No, it had to be someone else.”
“It had to be someone Fae.”
A moment of silence. Then: “Yes, it must’ve been, but none of my people would betray me.”
“Oh no?” Michael asked, a playfulness in his tone now that made Charlie’s gut clench in revulsion. “You’ve made no enemies?”
“I’ve made plenty. Just not any who’d dare challenge me.”
Aria’s hand tightened around Charlie’s, almost tight enough to hurt, and he watched as her free hand slid a small iron blade from her boot.
Black Heart said, “You sound mighty sure of yourself, dear heart, but the fact remains, someone with Fae blood set my brother free. The Forest would not have allowed it otherwise.”
Aria inched closer still, and Charlie followed right beside her, the conversation growing louder with each inch, their distance decreasing while their heartbeats increased.
A third voice broke into the conversation, one unfamiliar to Charlie, and male. “Your majesty,” said the unidentified speaker, “pardon my interruption.”
Charlie and Aria couldn’t see very well from where they were, but Charlie surmised this newcomer must be one of the Fae Warriors, one of Tristell’s personal guards.
“There’s been word that Dagon visited Sorcerer Territory,” said the guard. “But no word of his return to the Underworld.”
There was a moment of silence as this new information was absorbed.
A cold sweat broke over Charlie’s brow, the air suddenly harsher in his lungs. His heart sank in his chest, which was still pressed against the floor of the forest.
Dagon had visited Sorcerer Territory. Surah had threatened to remove his head and tongue if he did so, while the Dark Lord had threatened to rape Surah.
Charlie cursed the heavens that he was away from the woman he loved. Gods only knew what the hell was happening to her right now.
His eyes narrowed and his hands clenched into fists, squeezing Aria’s hand too tightly without intending to. A hot, terrible hatred swirled in him toward the Fae Queen and Black Heart, for putting all of this into play.
He had to trust that Surah could handle things without him for a little longer. He had his own affairs to settle first.
They were only twenty feet away now.
“Why would Dagon have moved ahead of us?” Black Heart snapped. “We were supposed to attack together.”
“Perhaps the little Sorceress Queen provoked him,” Tristell answered with a titter. “Perhaps Dagon has already killed her, and the throne waits open. This news is not necessarily bad news.”
Clearly, the Fae Queen was excited by this turn of events, the intensity in her high voice picking up a touch. Charlie had not been aware a female could repulse him as much as this crazy bitch.
“Only a fool would underestimate Surah Stormsong,” Black Heart said, his voice as dark as his soul. “Especially when she has possession of the Black Stone.”
A cooing, birdlike sound issued from the Fae Queen. “Michael said using too much black magic could crush a soul,” she trilled. “The amount of black magic to kill a Dark Lord? Do you think the little Sorceress Queen could stand that?”
There was a moment of silence as everyone listening considered this. Charlie could feel his heart beating in his throat. Up until this moment, he had not given the Fae Queen the credit due her for her cleverness.
She had set up the board so that it would take a miracle to beat her in the final matches. In order for everything to turn out all right, the love of Charlie Redmine’s life not only had to defeat a dark Sorcerer and a crazy Fae with an army at her disposal, but a Dark Lord and his denizens as well.
And if Surah managed to do all that, she would still need to overcome the black magic that would have had to grip her in order for her to have even gotten that far. She would have to defeat those opposing her, and then defeat her own worst nature.
That last part alone was more than most people would be capable of.
“It’s time to move,” said the Fae Queen, breaking into the avalanche of thoughts tumbling through Charlie’s head. “Take this and lead my guardians into battle, I will open a portal from the Underworld and unleash the Dark Lord’s Demons. The plan is still intact!”
There was a rapid clapping sound and her voice reached a level of excitement usually reserved for small children.
Charlie shot to his feet, knowing if he didn’t make his move and take out his brother now, he may never get another chance. His blood felt afire with adrenaline as he dropped Aria’s hand and broke cover.
His brother’s back was to him, and his muscles pumped, carrying him forward, breaking through Aria’s attempted restraint, knife clutched tight in his hand.
Black Heart was kissing the Fae Queen, but her eyes were open, and they remained unalarmed as she watched Charlie approach his brother from behind.
Black Heart finished his kiss and portaled out of there just seconds before Charlie could reach him, none the wiser that his brother had nearly plunged a knife into his back.
Charlie howled with rage as the hand holding the blade swiped open air. Tristell used her powerful wings to flutter back from him several feet, a wicked grin on her face.
“Ah, there you are, Michael’s brother,” she said. “We thought we’d lost you. Do tell me how you came to be free of those vines. I’m absolutely dying to know.”
“I came here to kill him,” Charlie answered, his voice flat, blade still held tight in his fist. “But I’ll settle with killing you first.”
From the trees, a dozen Fae Guardians emerged, spears in hand, surrounding Charlie and Tristell in the clearing. They began to tighten their circle, and Charlie came to the sudden realization that he’d completely botched this mission.
The Fae Queen grinned, her sharp teeth poking out over her full rep lips.
“As if you could, Sorcerer,” she laughed. She took to her wings and shot up into the air, her long, flowing dress billowing out around her. “Seize him,” she said, and the Fae Guardians began to move in.
Then Aria flew out of a tree like a monkey, landing on the Fae Queen’s back and holding an iron blade to her throat. There was a struggle as the two hit the ground, and miraculously, Aria kept her hold of the Queen, though the fall had surely knocked the wind out of her.
“Call the Guardians off, Tristell,” the Halfling girl said, her voice colder and flatter than Charlie had ever heard it, the words coming out between clenched teeth.
Aria pressed the blade against the Fae Queen’s neck, where the iron sizzled the skin, making the queen grimace in pain.
To her credit, Tristell did not cry out, though the iron was clearly burning her. She nodded once, and the Fae Guardians who had been closing in on Charlie halted in their tracks.
Aria’s mouth was a tight line, a look of vengeance in her green eyes.
“Good,” she said. “We’re gonna have us a little chat.”
Chapter 36
Surah
They were coming.
She could practically see the whole thing playing out before her, could smell the storm on the wind. She looked up at the vast sky above her, stretched out endlessly in every direction.
Clouds had moved in, blotting out the sun, turning the day from a warm, golden yellow to a somber, foreboding steel. It was as if the land itself, the very atmosphere, was aware of what was com
ing.
Her thoughts, much like the sky, were stormy, thunderheads rolling in and dousing out the sun.
Surah Stormsong was distantly aware of the lack of light within her, but could not find it in herself to care.
In her once-violet eyes, inky black sickness continued to swirl.
Her right hand tightened around the Black Stone hanging about her neck. She could not afford to take it off during such times, and so she did not dare.
She needed the protection of the Black Stone. Her people needed its protection. It had aided her well thus far. Better than she’d anticipated, even. She had everything completely within her control.
“Your majesty?”
Surah’s head turned in the direction of the voice, her eyes flashing darkly. She sighed with annoyance as she saw it was only the Warlock, Bassil.
“What is it?” she asked, turning back toward the city.
This hill, where Dagon had challenged her, was a perfect spot. It amazed her that she hadn’t spent much time here.
Bassil’s tone was wary, hesitant. “Are you all right?” he asked.
“Of course I am,” she said. When he didn’t leave, she turned her gaze on him once more, eyebrows raised. “What do you want? I’ve got work to do.”
“I want to know what work that is, your majesty,” he answered.
Anger surged through Surah, hot and lightning fast. Her hand rose into the air, lifting the Warlock off his feet without touching him. Her fist clenched, and he began to clutch at his throat, the air cut off from his lungs.
“That’s no concern of yours,” she said, but the voice coming out of her was not her own. It hummed with a dark power that vibrated in the bones.
Opening her fist, her hand dropped to her side, and the Warlock dropped to the ground along with it, hitting the hard earth with a thud.
He coughed, staring up at her with wide eyes, his hands still holding his neck.
“Is there anything else?” she asked.
The Warlock shook his head, scrambled to his feet, and retreated, nearly tripping down the hill on which they stood in an effort to return to the castle. Where she’d told him to stay.
Where she’d told Theo and Lyonell and Noelani to stay as well. And now they were dead. They were dead because they hadn’t listened to her.
And now lines had been crossed that could not be retreaded. Now there was no going back, but only forward. Forward and through, by whatever means necessary.
She lifted her hands over her head, the Black Stone around her neck glowing darkly. Using the magic, she would address her people. The Black Stone had more than enough power for her message to be heard all throughout her Territory.
She could have settled for a written message, but she wanted her people to see the resolution in her eyes. She wanted them to understand what she was doing for them. They had been so quick to turn against her, so fast to condemn Charlie.
They were ungrateful, undeserving people… and that was not something that could be accepted any longer, now that she was their queen.
The image of her appeared in the air before everyone in the Sorcerer Territory. The hillside on which she stood, the capital city to her west, the country spread out beyond it.
Surah Stormsong was not aware of how she came across to the people that day, of the picture she painted by using her dark magic to reach them.
The angry sky rolled behind her, the wind picked up the edges of her fine cloak, which was darker in some spots where the Dark Lord’s blood had sprayed her. Some of the black, sticky gore was smeared across the creamy skin of her forehead, a small spattering of it on the left side of her chin, which was held royally high.
Her lavender hair curled wildly around her smooth face, the insistent wind lifting the purple locks off her shoulders.
Her stained hands were clenched into tight fists. The Black Stone pulsed and glowed below her neck. Ebony swirled in the purple of her eyes, leaking out into the whites at the edges, writhing as if something alive.
“People of the Sorcerer Kingdom,” she began, her voice calm and steady, eerily so, considering the circumstances. “I address you now as your queen, Surah Stormsong, daughter of our late king, Syrian Stormsong, the last of my name…
This past week has been a challenging time for our kind, and the losses we’ve faced have been felt by all. I stand before you now having been accused of treachery, of putting the needs of royals before those of the common Sorcerer people. These lies offend me. Those who have spread them are my enemies, and as such are yours as well. As your queen, I can assure you that those who have brought us misfortune will pay in full for what they’ve done.”
The wind picked up around her, blowing her hair around her face, cooling her hot skin. All throughout Sorcerer Territory, royals and common people alike were watching the projection of their queen with rapt attention and alarm. They had never seen a Surah Stormsong like the one they were seeing now.
“I won’t lie to you. I never have, and in this troubling time, I won’t start now. We are under threat from the Fae, who have aligned themselves with both the Dark Sorcerer known as Black Heart and a Dark Lord by the name of Dagon. Dagon is no longer a threat, but I suspect a few of his Demons may find their way here in the very near future.”
She paused. She could not see all the people she was addressing, but she was right in giving them time to absorb this. Had she been able to look at their faces, she might have taken note of the horror dominating their expressions. As it was, she might not even care.
Why should they not be terrorized? She’d spent the last month being so.
Surah continued on in that same calm, resounding, and deceptively cool voice. She wanted to make sure they heard every word.
“Along with the Fae army, and one of our own, these creatures will be coming for us. The magic protecting the borders will hold for sometime, but not forever. You will have noticed that I’ve divided the Hunters, sent them to protect you.
This means I stand here unprotected, along with the castle my family has so long called our home. I hope you feel safer knowing the Hunters are at your side.”
She paused once more, feeling the truth of her words deep down in her soul. She knew speaking to them all in such a raw, bare manner was unprecedented, but honestly, what did she have left to lose?
“I’ve never held myself above you,” Queen Surah Stormsong said. “Those of you who’ve met me personally know this. I can’t speak to how other royals behave, but I can tell you that they are receiving the same amount of protection right now as you.”
She took a deep breath, lying the last of the cards upon the table, where everyone within Sorcerer Territory could see.
“As for the matter of Charlie Redmine… It’s true that he’s the brother of the treasonous Sorcerer Black Heart, but the truths of the allegations against him stop there. He has done nothing to aid his brother in his plots against the crown, and he is not an enemy in the eyes of your queen, but an upstanding citizen in the Sorcerer community. This is my word, and those who would deny it are traitors to the throne.
Now… as for what’s coming next. I invite you to take cover and wait out the storm, to stay close to the Hunters who’ve been sent to protect you… and to watch closely what happens next.”
A smile came to Surah’s face, and throughout her kingdom many people felt a chill sweep through their bones.
“I’m not a queen who speaks but does not show. I’m not a coward, nor someone who fears the battlefield. I invite you to use whatever magic you possess to watch what happens next, to watch your queen, the woman who stands accused of putting her needs above yours, sacrifice everything to maintain your safety.”
The smile upon her face slipped away, and the look of a warrior replaced it. “I invite you to watch as I slaughter every Fae, Demon, and Sorcerer who would stand against us… Don’t worry about the magic around the borders, where many of you live. It will hold.”
Surah raised her hands into the air,
Dark magic sparking at her fingertips, inky black swirling in her eyes much like the thunderheads in the angry sky above.
The air above Surah’s head began to turn like a vortex, the colors mixing like wet paint. The wind picked up to a near gale force. The Black Stone glowed and throbbed at her neck.
“It will hold,” she said, “because I’m going to open the portal right here, so that anyone trying to force their way into our Territory will come straight to me, and I can show them what becomes of those who threaten our kind…
Please, if there are young children among you, send them to another room. It’s their innocence I’m really protecting, my soul I’m trading for theirs.”
All throughout Sorcerer Territory, the magic image of Queen Surah Stormsong blipped out of sight. People gathered their crystal balls, their potions, their special stones and whatever other materials they needed to tune into the show.
Mothers covered the eyes of their children, whole families trembled in their hiding places while doing whatever they had to in order to see the battle that was coming.
They were scared, many of them were more scared than they could ever remember being. Not only was their homeland under attack, but their queen was clearly in the throes of very bad magic, so no matter what came next, things were going to be messy.
Very messy, indeed.
Chapter 37
Charlie
The tension in the forest was thick enough to slice, the silence heavy in the green air.
Charlie stood at the ready, his muscles coiled and prepared for attack. All around him, still maintaining their tight circle, Fae Guardians stood in much the same manner, spears and bows and arrows poised, waiting for the moment to move.
Aria was still pinning the Fae Queen to the ground, holding her wings and arms to her sides while pressing the iron blade to her throat.
It was an intimate, awkward position, but Charlie could see that it was nearly the only way to keep the bitch restrained, and a newfound respect for the Halfling girl filled him. She was a ballsy little thing.