“What do you mean?” Ash asked with a yawn.
“Ragnhild—you sent him because you couldn’t go?” I repeated.
“No…no, I didn’t.”
“Oh.”
Maybe I misunderstood what Ragnhild had said?
“I thought you did,” I replied quietly.
When I looked up to share my concerns with Ash, he was already fast asleep. Maybe the lieutenant was another sentry that we needed to keep an eye on…
Jenus
Nymphs.
I snorted in disgust. I had just seen another one dancing through the trees in one of the courtyards of the Seraq palace. It was the third I’d seen during my exploration of Queen Trina’s domain. It didn’t really surprise me that she associated with such pointless, irritating creatures. Tejus and Varga had often laughed about the goings-on at the palace, but had never been explicit about their nature…just enough to whet my appetite as a young man, to make me jealous beyond all reasoning, as if I was missing out on the true wonders that Nevertide had to offer. It had been infuriating. And I had hated them both for it.
The castle had very little to offer in the way of interest. It was undoubtedly beautiful, far superior than Hellswan and some of the other royal abodes I had visited with my father, but I was interested in the darker side of Queen Trina—and so far, I had witnessed nothing but potted plants, parrots and indulgent, lavish luxuries.
There was only one room that piqued my interest.
I stood outside it, listening to the sounds of the palace, ensuring that no one found me here. I was a few doors down from what I assumed was Queen Trina’s main chamber, and her office next door. The door to the room was locked, and when I tried to use True Sight to see what lay within, I’d been unable to…which meant that she’d put a barrier around it. To maintain that barrier while she was absent from the castle itself was impressive, doubly so because she was currently at the Imperial trials. I would have imagined that she would need all her powers centered and focused to overcome whatever the doddering, foolish Impartial Ministers threw her way. It made the room, and its contents, extremely interesting.
What are you hiding?
I would find a way into that room eventually.
Dusk had settled, and I couldn’t imagine that the queen would be too far away. The best hope I had of finding out whether or not the barriers to the room had any weaknesses was to keep a close eye on it.
The door faced the main hallway that ran through the center of the palace. On the other side the wall was absent—only columns stood, opening up the view to yet another verdant courtyard. Stepping out into the cool night air, I looked around for a place to hide.
Directly facing the locked door were three large clay pots containing zest trees. Crouching low behind them, I had a clear view if anyone entered or left the room. The only flaw in my plan would be if Queen Trina or one of her imbecilic ministers were to enter the courtyard from the other side. Worse would be if I was approached by a nymph—short of running away, I would have very little control of my actions if one were to speak to me directly. I could only hope that for once, fortune would be on my side.
It was a while before I heard footsteps approaching. For extra precaution, I had focused my mind on accelerating the growth of the zest trees so that their leafy branches now provided more camouflage for my presence.
Shortly, Queen Trina appeared at the opposite end of the hallway, accompanied by two of her ministers.
“All went according to plan,” she said. “The fools told, as I hoped they might. Has there been any news?”
“None, your highness,” a female minister responded. “We do not understand, but perhaps the vessel failed to complete the task.”
“And they have him now, at the castle?”
“Yes.”
“That is inconvenient,” Queen Trina hissed. “Tomorrow morning I want the healer. Don’t take no for an answer.”
“Yes, your highness,” both ministers chorused.
“You are dismissed,” she replied airily.
I watched as the queen continued along the corridor. As she approached, a small twist of amusement played at the corners of her lips.
Does she know I’m here?
I didn’t make a sound as she drew closer. A second later, I put my fears to rest. The queen didn’t so much as look in my direction. She stood outside the locked door, pausing for a few moments, presumably removing the barrier that she’d placed there. When finished, she sighed with contentment, and, removing a large key, she unlocked the door. To my frustration, she opened the door so it was only ajar, and slid herself inside—completely preventing me from seeing what lay within.
Curse the woman!
If I wanted to barter my way back into Hellswan, I would need more than a description of a locked door.
Dare I try to open it now?
The thought was tempting but perilous. I couldn’t afford to become an unwanted guest within the Seraq kingdom. After Queen Trina had offered me a place to stay, I had started to hatch a plan—a plan that I was determined would see me return to my rightful place within Hellswan.
I tried to use True Sight again, hoping that she hadn’t reinstated the border. I failed. She had instantly put it back up, which at once made the room even more tempting…but also near impossible to enter.
Or do I play the innocent?
That was a more likely alternative. I was perfectly capable of pretending that I had witnessed her go into the room, and merely wished to speak to her…perhaps divulge some of my own kingdom’s secrets in return for some of hers…
Resolute, I stood up and approached the door.
I knocked once, softly. A few seconds later, Queen Trina’s laughter emanated from the room within.
Is she laughing at me? I raged suddenly, believing she thought me a fool. I was about to use True Sight again to check when the door swung open.
My rage disappeared. I blinked once, twice, unable to comprehend the sight that greeted me.
Queen Trina stood before me, smiling broadly with one hand resting lightly on the frame of the door. She was completely naked but for a thick, black tar-like liquid that covered her entire body from neck to toe. It ran down in thick globules, the shiny surface catching the light of the torches in the hallway and glistening—undulating across her skin like the tar itself was alive.
What is this?
I continued to stare at her, too shocked to say a word, my plan running off into the ether as fear penetrated my body. There was something so repellent about it—the coquettish smile on her face, the dark, unnatural liquid that swarmed over her as if to consume her.
“Jenus, what a pleasant surprise,” she murmured, indicating that my presence was anything but a surprise. “I had hoped you would visit me here. This”—she gestured to the oozing liquid—“is a gift from my master. An incredibly generous gift. It has the most miraculous healing properties. You look as if you could benefit from it—would you consider joining me?” She stood aside, revealing the interior of the room. It was completely bare, save for a large pool in the center of the room—there the repugnant black liquid bubbled and burped like some giant sprawling creature.
“Allow yourself this gift, Jenus,” she whispered, turning her back to me and slowly walking back to the pool. She stepped up onto the edge of the marble rim, and then slowly lowered herself back down.
She laughed again, beckoning to me.
“Jenus, come,” she purred, “there really is no need to be afraid.”
Rose
We traveled as slowly as we could along the portal that led to the supernatural dimension, waiting for Nuriya to indicate where we should ‘turn off’ for the In-Between. I felt weightless within the misty blue walls of the tunnel, my hand clutching Caleb’s as we tried to keep as close to the walls as possible.
Up ahead, Corrine, Mona, Aisha and Horatio followed Nuriya, the witch using her magic to prevent Caleb and me from being sucked downward by the vacuum. Behind us, Yuri, Claudia,
Ashley and Landis followed. The jinn started to slow down, and Nuriya pointed off into the swirling mists. Corrine and Mona again assisted us with their powers, allowing us to follow the jinn’s lead, and we started to pass through the walls. Blanketed by vapors, I felt like I’d stepped into a dream-like snowstorm. The nothingness of the portal wall, the complete and utter silence of the blanketing mists started to get to me. I wanted to yell out—to make some sort of sound—to end the deafening silence. But as we passed through to the other side, it had only just begun.
A noiseless, star-studded eternity surrounded us. I saw what looked like planets far off in the distance, glowing. We moved slowly, drifting downward. I glanced over at Caleb, smiling—we had often wondered what the In-Between would be like after hearing my brother’s experiences with it. He was as amazed as I was, his brown eyes widening as he peered into the great abyss of stars.
The jinn suddenly vanished us all, and the next thing I knew, we had traveled far away from the portal and were hovering above a star. Not one of the brightly glowing ones, but a dull sphere that looked dark and gloomy and unwelcoming.
Nuriya cleared her throat, beckoning us to follow her. Without me doing anything, I felt my body changing trajectory, moving toward the jinni. Soon, all of us were gathered around her, floating gently in the air.
“Before we arrive, I need to tell you about the Shadowed. They are the creatures that guard the stones. They won’t harm us, but stay out of their way as best you can,” Nuriya informed us.
“Wh-What kind of creatures?” Claudia asked, taking the words right out of my mouth. Nuriya hadn’t mentioned anything about ‘guardians of the stones’.
“You will see,” she replied.
I gulped. I didn’t much like the sound of that.
“How do you know all this anyway?” Aisha grumbled, looking toward the planet with trepidation.
“My grandfather,” Nuriya replied with a regal swipe of her hair, ignoring Aisha’s tone. “He brought me here when I was little. The In-Between was an old, forgotten land that our people used as a dumping ground…it was a point of interest in the history of our kind.”
Without warning, the jinni jolted us down to the surface of the planet—one moment we were suspended in mid-air, the next, my feet were on solid ground. Looking around, I saw that Nuriya had placed us on a large, volcanic rock that jutted out from the earth. Beneath us, and for as far as I could see in the distance, the rest of the planet was covered in dull stones, small and perfectly round replicas of the one that had shot out from the portal.
“This place is weird,” Aisha whispered, shivering at the sudden drop of temperature. I agreed, but I didn’t think that ‘weird’ covered it—this place was isolated and bleak. I wasn’t in any hurry to spend any more time here than we absolutely had to.
“Let’s collect the stones—”
I broke off as I saw Caleb pointing, his gaze fixed on an approaching figure in the distance.
“Shadowed?” he questioned Nuriya.
“Shadowed,” she confirmed, nodding grimly.
The figure loped toward us. Its movements were heavy and slow, at odds with its almost ghost-like appearance. As it got closer, I saw that the creature had been drained of all its color, making it look more like a negative photo of something that had once been and now no longer was. The most shocking thing, the part I hadn’t expected, was that the figure looked like it had once been human, or close to it. Yet it couldn’t be an actual ghost, for we could see it.
The jaw of the Shadowed hung open, its gaping mouth nothing but a black hole from which a low, guttural moan emerged. Catching sight of us, but unable to reach the top of the rock from where it stood, the Shadowed started to roar, its expression growing confused and angry.
“Shadowed!” Nuriya called down to it. “We mean no harm—we pledge to protect the integrity of the stones. Leave us.”
The creature abruptly stopped groaning, its jaw now hanging slack and useless. Its shoulders hunched over, and it slowly turned around, moving back the way it had come.
My first reaction to the Shadowed was revulsion, but now it was pity.
“Those things remind me of the mindless humans at Murckbeech,” I muttered with a shiver. “What are they anyway—or were they?”
“You won’t like the answer,” Nuriya replied sharply. Her pillowy lips pursed. “It is best left unsaid.”
“Nuriya,” Claudia and Corrine pressed.
The jinni sighed, taking out the felt bag that she had brought along for the stones. She handed it to Aisha, and the younger girl opened it up dutifully. I waited for Nuriya to continue, knowing that the woman, being jinn royalty, didn’t take kindly to being prompted.
Impatient, I took out the gloves that we’d all packed for the stone collecting. If one stone could have the bizarre effect it had on Corrine, then I didn’t want to take any chances when we were faced with an entire planet of them.
I spied more Shadowed approaching in the distance. They didn’t seem to be in any hurry to reach us, as they watched us from afar with their silent, open jaws. It gave me the creeps.
“The fae created the Shadowed,” Nuriya replied eventually. “The story goes that when the fae heard of the jinn dumping stones in the In-Between, they panicked. It was impossible to remove them all, so the fae used this planet as a punishment for their people…any fae banished from one of their four planets was sent here. They soon realized that the fae who remained on this planet had their minds addled—the stones took their effect, sending the banished fae into madness.”
“That’s barbaric,” I breathed. “How could the fae do this?”
“The fae can be cruel,” Nuriya replied with a shrug. “I don’t pretend to understand their ways.”
We all looked at one another. I supposed we already knew very well that fae could be ruthless—going by what Sherus and his comrades had done to my brother, hoodwinking and kidnapping him to The Underworld along with countless poor disembodied souls.
“We need to have a word with Sherus,” I concluded. “The Shadowed should be removed from this land. It’s horrible.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Mona replied, shaking her head. “We should at least give them the chance to try to be healed. I don’t know if they’re too far gone, but maybe with fae powers…I don’t know.”
“I think this is enough,” Nuriya interrupted, holding up a bag filled to the brim with the dull stones.
I nodded, adding a few more that I’d just picked up.
“Let’s go,” I replied.
As Nuriya jolted us back up into the starry galaxy, I vowed that we would speak to Sherus soon. If we were helping the fae with their request, then they needed to be mindful of the fact that the whole reason for GASP’s existence was the protection of those within the supernatural and human worlds—this included the mysterious world of the “In-Between”. Barbaric treatment of undesirables would not be tolerated… My father was not going to be pleased when he heard about this.
Ash
I left Ruby fast asleep in the cramped single bed that we’d shared. I dressed quickly, careful not to wake her. I wondered how long it had been since she’d had an uninterrupted sleep without being plagued by the worries of where her friends were, if they were safe or if she was safe. The danger was far from over; if the entity was free to rise, then none of us knew what the next few days would bring—but at least for the moment, she could rest knowing that everyone she loved was alive.
Leaving the room, I shut the door quietly behind me and went to the kitchen to grab something to eat before I left for the Fells. I wanted to get there early, hopefully without the ministers joining me, and see if I could speak to Memenion before the trials began. If he was as determined to bring down Queen Trina as I was, then perhaps we could come up with a plan. If the Acolytes were the worshipers of the entity, then once it had risen, I didn’t know where that might leave the queen—by then she might be untouchable.
The kitchen was bare
except for a basket of bread on the table. I walked over and took what I could carry. I was starting to feel the effects of being unable to syphon off Ruby before the trials, and food was the only option I had for keeping up my energy levels.
“Hey.” Ruby’s sleepy voice came from the door.
“Why are you up?” I asked. “You need to go back to sleep—it’s hardly dawn yet.” Her hair was mussed, and I could see slight creases on her cheeks from where she’d lain on the blankets.
“I wanted to wish you good luck.” She smiled, yawning. “Can I get you anything?” Ruby looked around the kitchen, frowning slightly as she saw how empty it was—and belatedly realizing she wouldn’t know how to get me anything.
“I don’t need anything, Shortie.” I grinned and held up the bread, noticing the quick flash of relief on her face.
Moved by the fact that she’d bothered to get up and wish me well, I suddenly had an overwhelming urge to gather her up in my arms and return to my room—but I knew where that would lead, and as much as I wished I could spend the day ignoring the rest of the world with her, it just wasn’t possible.
“I’ll see you later.” I walked up to her, kissing her briefly on the forehead.
“Wait, Ash.” She hesitated briefly. “I just wanted to say that we’ll find a way—to be together, I mean. Whatever happens.”
I tugged at a strand of her blonde hair, wanting to say so much more than I was about to. “You can count on it, Shortie,” I replied. “I’m not letting you go anywhere.”
She smiled up at me. “Okay. Deal.”
We shared a brief hug, and then I made my way to the courtyard, still hoping that neither Lithan or Qentos would be ready yet.
My heart sank as I opened the side door of the castle and saw Lithan up ahead, cooing to a vulture. My blood boiled as I surveyed him.
Treacherous coward.
How dare he even show his face here? When I thought about how long he must have been playing a double game, throughout the emperor’s rule, through the kingship trials and now the Imperial trials…It made me sick.
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