by Tara Brown
A chill crept up her spine.
Someone in the castle was doing dark magic even back then?
But who besides the scullery maid?
The thought and fear made her want to jump on her horse and ride for the castle at once, but Lenny was certain she needed to be with the brothers.
The sun began to set behind the rolling hills. Ollie came and curled up next to her.
Lenny blinked and realized she was still exhausted and leaned back against the tree more, snuggling into her dogs.
She feared closing her eyes but they shut almost on their own.
Immediately, she was in the hallway.
She turned to run the other way but the hallway stretched in both directions.
“Lenny,” the man whispered to her as the darkness got closer.
“No!” she screamed, jolting awake.
Scar whimpered and nudged her.
Lenny blinked and realized it was completely dark.
The moon hadn’t come out but the stars burned brightly, twinkling in a way that soothed her after the terrifying dream. But it wasn’t a dream, not really. Dreams didn’t unfold in this manner, beginning where they had left off the last time you closed your eyes.
She yawned and realized she was exhausted. She’d slept for days but was so tired her eyes barely stayed open.
As she fought dozing off again, she wondered if she had been asleep at all.
Chapter 16
As she leaned over the calm bend in the river, she splashed cold water on her face, noting the ripples on the reflective surface and the breeze picking up as it crossed the valley. The sky and all its sparkling stars reflected at her. She wondered where Ivor was, and if he’d forgiven her yet for leaving without him.
A noise cracked in the woods forcing Lenny and the hounds to lift their faces at the same time to stare at the dark shadows of the mountains in front of them. The bright starry night and the torchlight coming from the cabin made the mountains seem darker than they were. The air was cool, causing Lenny to shudder. She blinked and tried to focus her eyes through the exhaustion that plagued her. The trees whispered with the wind, their leaves fluttering and branches creaking.
A shiver ran up Lenny’s spine and something caused her to stand up, a sensation she was being watched and not by a friendly set of eyes.
“Don’t move,” Brother Estevan whispered from behind her, causing her to jump, but she managed to avoid making noise. He and a few others crept up close to her, their eyes set on the darkness across from them.
Lenny gulped, noticing how much the wind was cooling off. “What is it?”
“I don’t know,” Brother Estevan muttered. His focus shifted left to right, scanning the valley floor but not stopping on a single spot. Light came from behind as more brothers walked to them, torches in hand. “We must all return to the cabin. That is where we were instructed to wait.” He turned abruptly and hurried to the light of the small cabin. Lenny hadn’t stepped foot inside yet, having spent her time under the large tree.
Scar growled, crouching as if she might pounce any second. Lenny’s hands reaching for the hilts of her swords. She squeezed them, as she scanned the forest, but shadows danced all around from the torches being so close.
She was the last one to make her way to the cabin, glancing back repeatedly to ensure nothing snuck up on her.
Inside, she was surprised by its size. “We will wait here. We are unsure for how long, but however long it will be, this is your room.” Brother Estevan pointed at a small door. “You and the hounds will sleep undisturbed in there.”
“Thank you.” She bowed slightly and entered the tiny room. There was a bed and a window and not much else. It was rustic and reminded her of being in a cabin on a boat. “Brother Estevan, what were you about to show me on the scroll, before the king died?” She’d been meaning to ask him, but it kept slipping her mind. And something about them being alone in the little room made her think on it.
“Ah yes, the prophecy.” He furrowed his brow. “I’m becoming forgetful in my old age.”
“What prophecy?”
“Triplet daughters will be born when the white winter moon sits high in the sky, to a lady of the lake,” he began. “Sisters of the seas, bringing armies of the forgotten to save the lands from a blight of the heart. There is more but I don’t recall it.”
“What does it mean?”
“Well, no one really knows. It’s older than Dahleigh. But I do find it odd that you three are the first set of triplet girls born on the white moon to a lady of the lake. And now one of you lives in the sea.” His eyes widened.
“What lake? My mother never spoke of being from a lake.” Lenny fought a yawn.
“It’s her mother’s maid’s name, Lacuses. A name from this region, near Mudfork Lake but the other side. In Endorean it means ‘from the lake.’ Your mother’s people were from here. Her grandfathers were the lords who ruled the area before the Great War, and afterward they governed for the kings. You didn’t know this?” He narrowed his gaze.
“She never spoke much of her childhood.” Lenny didn’t mention that her mother never spoke much to her at all. “I suspect to keep from us the fact she grew up in the castle as one of Aunt Saleen’s closest friends. She never wanted us to know she’s as highborn as she is.”
“Interesting. And she never acted highborn in Blockley?” This seemed to confuse him.
“No. She was a fairly typical mother.” Lenny laughed and fought the battle of the yawn, losing. “Excuse me.” She covered her mouth. “She cooked and cleaned and mended. She taught us how to sew and darn—well, taught my sisters, but she did try to teach me. I will say, she acted as though she was better than everyone else, but I never really understood why.”
“Well, now you do. She is family to the throne.”
A knock at the door interrupted their conversation.
Brother Estevan gulped, taking a deep breath and giving Lenny a worried stare. “She’s here.”
“Who?” Lenny asked but he ignored her.
The brothers all stepped back as Brother Estevan made his way to the door. Lenny and the hounds stayed in the doorway to the bedroom. Her stomach was tense. She wanted to ask again who was there but knew the answer would be presented the moment he opened the door, though she wished she could ready herself for whatever she was about to see.
Nothing she might have done could have prepared her for who was there.
At first, as the door opened, it was nothing, just darkness. The forest and a bit of mist.
Lenny’s eyes strained as she leaned forward, her mouth dropping open and her chest seizing. Her breath came out in tiny bursts as a monster appeared in the shadows. It was a skeleton—no meat or muscle or flesh, just bright white bones. Walking, moving bones, coming closer. Mist followed it along the dark ground, slithering like a snake.
Brother Estevan dropped to his knees, bowing his head as the skeleton walked closer and the other brothers dropped to their knees and bowed their foreheads to the floorboards as well. “Joro, lady of the afterlife, thank—” Brother Estevan spoke to the floor but stopped mid-sentence.
Only Lenny and the hounds stood, confused and terrified while the skeleton neared. Lenny glanced back at the dogs, pausing in terror when she realized they weren’t moving. They were frozen.
Was it a dream?
She slowly moved a hand, lifting it to pinch her arm. But it hurt and didn’t feel like a dream. Even her worst nightmares couldn’t have conjured the skeleton. As the light hit inconsistently through the trees, the monster changed, becoming a woman. Her body flickered until she was fully in the light and she was more stunning than any woman Lenny had ever seen.
Lenny gasped, unsure if she should run or hide but by the time she processed the thought, the woman’s stare was on her.
Her eyes were dark, no whites at all. Her midnight colored hair looked to be silk. She appeared to be wearing makeup but Lenny suspected that was her natural glow. She moved
fluidly around the room, her dark-blue gown shifting unnaturally like it was made of her skin. She licked her bloodred lips, smirking and revealing stark fangs. Her cheeks flushed with color and life, but Lenny knew it was a lie.
She was too perfect. Her lashes were so inky and thick, Lenny swore she felt a breeze from them when the lady blinked. The dark and endless pools that were her gaze flickered about the room and the frozen brothers before coming back to Lenny.
A slow smirk spread across her red lips as though she knew something Lenny did not. Likely, she knew everything. There was more than mere wisdom in her dark eyes. There was magic. Countless stars lived there in the darkness, twinkling and expanding unnaturally inside the woman’s stare.
“Ilenia, we meet again.” Her words were smooth and accented, heavy as a robust red wine and scenting the air with blackberry mûre as she spoke, “I felt you enter my world and decided to come and see you for myself, as it’s been so long.”
“I’m afraid we have not met, your ladyship. I would never forget a face such as yours.” Lenny bowed deeply.
“You bow to no one, child.” She laughed and crossed the floor in what appeared to be a flash. In a fluid movement she lifted one of her slim ashy fingers, which had a dagger of a nail, under Lenny’s chin, bringing Lenny’s face up to her own. She was so close, Lenny could taste the wine in the air between them. Her breath was sweet and luring. “Of course, you remember nothing. They are not your memories.”
Lenny scowled, unsure of how to answer.
Not one brother stood.
The hounds stayed back in the shadows of the bedroom, peeking from the doorway but not moving.
Only Lenny gazed into the vast expanse of the woman’s stare.
“I’m Joro,” the woman whispered and leaned in, placing a soft kiss on Lenny’s lips. Lenny closed her eyes, letting the woman’s tongue slip into her mouth. It tasted of sugar and spice, and fermented berries. But it was false, Lenny somehow knew this. A mask, like Joro's face. The skeleton was real; the woman was death. They had met before.
Lenny was different then. The memories weren’t hers but she was in them.
She stood on the shores of the southern sea, facing an incoming army. Joro appeared, skeletal and frightening. She whispered something to Lenny, secret words to summon the army of the dead. They fought with Lenny—no, Ilenia. They fought with Ilenia against the army of evil a thousand years ago.
The kiss was cut off and as Lenny opened her eyes, she could smell the sea in the air and the salt on the waves. Her eyes widened as Joro became a skeleton again, only for a flicker.
“Death,” Lenny whispered.
“My old friend. I felt you enter my world the night you woke him.” Joro smiled. “A thousand years I have feared this moment would come.”
“I entered the underworld? Am I dead?” Lenny whispered, both confused and certain.
“Not yet.” Joro walked in a slow circle around Lenny, trailing a long nail along her shoulders and back and chest.
“You mean when I saw my brother?” Lenny recalled the droplets of water and her brother being solid and speaking. “That was the underworld?”
“Indeed. It was the night you woke magic again.” Joro arched an eyebrow, giving Lenny a knowing stare. “All to save a life. Was it worth it?”
“What’s happening?” Lenny shook her head. She was lost in the conversation and the mesmerizing effect the woman had on her.
“You came to my world to see your brother, the night your friend and sister changed. Do you not recall?”
“Of course I do, but I thought the trade was my life forfeited for my sister’s? I didn’t know about the magic.” Lenny wasn’t scared of her or the mist that swept into the room, circling their feet. She trusted the goddess of death but didn’t know why.
“Your life has been forfeited but that was not the cost of saving your sister. The merfolk couldn’t save her without the necessary magic. You had to wake it first.”
“I woke the magic?” Lenny felt sick. “That’s how I went to the underworld?”
“No, you can come and go from the underworld, you have the ability. Like all fae.” She waved a hand as if Lenny was being silly. “You released magic back into Dahleigh, that was the cost of saving your sister.”
“The merfolk needed the magic? They didn’t have their own?” The words felt strange, foreign and nonsensical but she had to ask.
“They spent a thousand years hidden behind a veil, unable to see or be seen by your people. Now that veil has been removed.” Joro sounded disinterested in it.
“If I can enter the underworld, can I go back and see Wilf?” Lenny couldn’t help but ask.
“You can but it’s not safe. The one who hunts you can find you there.” She put emphasis on “hunts,” her eyes widening, drawing Lenny to them.
“The one who hunts me?” Lenny questioned, confused by everything that was happening and being said. “You mean the dream I keep having, don’t you?” Lenny did feel hunted in it.
“It’s why I’ve come. To warn you. He’s been stealing your sleep from you. He wants you weak.” Joro’s eyes widened. “But I’m watching now. I’ll protect you when you sleep.”
“Who is he?”
“Long ago, Princess Ilenia defeated an evil sorcerer named Ryze on the shores of the Rimouby Sea, fighting him with my army. Once he was stopped, she took the magic from these people, in this kingdom, protecting them so they might never wake him again. Because only magic could wake him. And if there was none, your people were safe.” Joro chuckled. “But someone brought magic back into the kingdom, the old veil was penetrated and therefore weakened. And he has been plotting his return ever since.”
“Someone? Who? Gods, was it me?” Lenny panicked.
“No, you were only a babe when it happened.” Joro snapped her fingers, creating a spark. The torches all blew out and she became a bright white skeleton again. But it wasn’t at Joro that Lenny stared. An image came to life in the air in front of Lenny. People made from the smoke, moved around her until the image was clear enough to see what was happening.
A woman, a beautiful young woman, crept as though she was sneaking along a hallway. She held something, a piece of chalk. She drew a rectangle on the wall, then reached in and opened a door where the rectangle was. She brought another woman forth through the door. They hugged each other. Lenny couldn’t make out faces, but she had the strangest awareness of who they were. Wen’s mother, Lorna, and Saleen but as girls.
Lenny’s stomach fluttered as if moths were trapped inside.
The smoke writhed and the scene changed and the girls were suddenly in a kitchen, stirring something. They made a drink, calling forth another girl. She drank the mug of whatever they had mixed. Her body began to shake. She moved violently until she collapsed. They stared at her on the floor. When finally she moved again, they hugged each other. The girl stood as a guard might, at attention. They mimicked commands and she did them. She was under their spell.
They commanded and she began making a recipe too. She stole a baby and put it in the pot, alive. She killed a cat, stabbing it and tossing it in as well.
Lenny gasped.
The skeleton nodded. “Evil and death went into the pot, along with innocence and life.”
The cauldron bubbled and brewed and finally, the girl produced a mug of her own liquid. She handed it to Lorna and Saleen. They each drank from it. Lorna spun in a circle and suddenly she and Saleen were identical.
One of the Saleens attacked the girl. Lenny knew, somehow, it was Lorna. She jumped her, holding her down with something over her face. The girl kicked and writhed and fought but Lorna won. The girl stopped moving.
The real Saleen sobbed. She shook her head, she wanted to leave. Lorna stopped her. She hugged her and whispered things that calmed her.
Once calm, the real Saleen sat as Lorna left the area. She closed the door, locking it with Saleen and the dead girl.
Lorna hurried down the hall to a b
edroom. Another mist shape was formed. It was King Silas, Landon’s father. He was a young man, strong and handsome. Lorna and he made love. Lenny wanted to look away, but she didn’t. She watched the entire act, her cheeks on fire and her eyes wide.
When it was over, Lorna went back to the place where she’d left Saleen and the dead girl locked inside. The women hugged and cried and suddenly Lorna’s belly began to grow and bulge. And eventually, she gave birth. Saleen was the only one there when it happened. And as the baby left her body, she became Lorna again.
Saleen took the baby, and Lorna went to a small house in the city to fetch the tiny son, who Lenny knew was Wen, though it was the first time she had seen him since the story began. Lorna left with Wen and the money she needed to start over. Enough to buy a shop in Blockley.
Lenny’s heart nearly stopped for a second time.
Wen and Landon were brothers.
Lorna was their mother.
Landon was the rightful heir to the throne, but he was also Lorna’s son.
Lenny could almost hear the puzzle pieces clicking into place.
The scullery maid, Lottie, was found dead when Ivor was seven years old, the year Lorna pretending to be Saleen would have been impregnated with Landon. Blackened fingers from the vile magic the poor girl was forced to perform.
Lorna always going off when she got into the grover’s wine, saying how her son was the rightful heir to the throne and she’d had an affair with the king. She never meant Wen.
The queen’s haunted stare when she confessed to having seen magic before.
Her response to seeing Lorna in Blockley.
The sickness inside Landon.
It had come from his mother—not the queen, but Lorna.
She had murdered the scullery maid.
She had taken a life and in her next breath gotten pregnant.
And Landon paid the ultimate price. The cost of the magic.
“And that is how we are here, Ilenia,” Joro whispered as all the torches lit again and she became a beautiful woman. “That bit of magic was the catalyst that led to this, all of this. Your brother and sister and Lorna’s son, Wen. Ryze will return as a result. The result, I believe Lorna wanted all along.”