I thought about what Ruby had said, about trying to keep the monster on our side, and tried to still my temper before it got the better of me.
Attempting to appear normal, I approached the courtyard. My feet crunched loudly on gravel, and the minister turned. As soon as he recognized his intruder, a look of fury flickered across his expression before he reverted it to a mask of polite indifference.
“You’re up early, your highness,” he announced in greeting.
“As are you,” I replied.
“I wanted to ensure all was ready.”
I nodded, not believing the sentry for a second.
“And where is Qentos?” I asked.
“Already at the pavilion. I believe he wished to discuss a matter with the Impartial Ministers.”
Interesting.
I wondered if Qentos was just as embroiled in the Acolytes as Lithan was. Qentos had always seemed the lesser of two evils, but maybe that was just a ruse.
“Take this bird, your highness,” Lithan continued, standing back from the vulture. “One of the stable hands is bringing me another.”
“I can wait,” I replied. I didn’t want to fly on a bird that Lithan had been whispering to for however long.
“It’s no trouble,” he insisted. I didn’t know if it was my imagination or not, but I thought I could detect the gleam of malice in his eyes. Now I was in a tricky situation. If I protested again, I risked Lithan thinking I didn’t trust him…but if I didn’t, I questioned my chances of getting to the trials in one piece.
As quickly as I could, I called to Tejus’s bird. I didn’t know if it would respond to me—his previous one had been exclusively loyal to her master, but it was the only bird that I knew I could trust. The only one Lithan and Qentos wouldn’t dare go near.
“Please, your highness.” Lithan bowed deeply, gesturing to the creature.
I was about to come up with some meaningless reason to return back to the castle for a moment when a loud squawk and heavy flap of wings broke through the stillness of the morning.
“Tejus’s vulture?” Lithan questioned as he looked to the sky, his tone clipped.
“Tejus’s vulture,” I repeated. “The ex-king has been very accommodating.”
“So I see.” Lithan nodded, a venomous smile erupting across his features. “Very well then, we shall depart.”
The vulture settled on the stones of the courtyard, waiting patiently for me to climb onto its back. I grinned back at Lithan.
“Let’s go.”
We set down a few yards from the pavilion. We were the first to arrive—the ghostly white of the crumbling structure was only just beginning to be soaked in the morning light, making it look even more ancient and decrepit than usual.
“I can’t see Qentos,” I commented, feeling vaguely uneasy that I was alone in the Fells with Lithan. If Queen Trina arrived early too, then I would be surrounded by the enemy.
“Perhaps he is on his way here with the Impartial Ministers.” Lithan shrugged. “I am not his keeper.”
I resisted the urge to snap at him, and instead petted the neck of the vulture, beyond grateful that I had not been left at Lithan’s mercy.
“Queen Trina arrives.” Lithan delivered the news with glee, looking off into the distance behind me. I spun around. Sure enough, I could see the distinct formation of three birds of prey soaring through the sky toward us.
This doesn’t look good.
Would Queen Trina dare to harm me before the trials had even begun? I realized, with a sinking feeling, that she would.
I buried my hand in the feathers of the bird. If I needed to make a quick escape, I could. There would be no bravery in trying to battle Queen Trina with only her cohorts around me. I had seen what she had done to Hadalix, and most likely Varga…I didn’t want to end up the same way.
“I wish you to locate Qentos,” I improvised. “He has something I need.”
“Now?” Lithan retorted. “The trials will commence shortly—I tell you, he is with the Impartial Ministers.”
“Now—and that’s a command, Lithan.”
I stared the minister down, noting with satisfaction the blood rising to his cheeks at the shame of receiving a direct order from the ‘kitchen boy’. He grunted, jumping up onto his vulture.
He slammed his heels into the bird viciously, and it squawked in pain, but flapped up into the air as it had been commanded. Lithan’s teeth were clenched with barely concealed frustration, and with one last, lingering look at Queen Trina’s approaching entourage, he flew off in the direction of the forest.
The second he departed, I heard the sharp pounding of hooves emerging from the western point of the pavilion. Using True Sight, I saw Memenion approach with his ministers, his gaze fixed up in the sky while he spurred the heard of bull-horses and their riders onward, evidently not wanting the queen to outrun him. The king could obviously see that I would be left at her mercy were she to arrive first, and as he sped on his horse, any reservations I still had as to whether I could trust Memenion or not disappeared.
Queen Trina landed, but only a few seconds before Memenion emerged from the thickets of the forest, his bull-horse grunting from the exertion. Trina scowled, disembarking from her bird as she looked warily from me to the approaching king. I grinned at her.
Better luck next time.
She turned away in disgust, speaking in hissed whispers to her ministers.
I walked swiftly toward the pavilion, hoping to have a word with Memenion before others arrived. The king caught up with me as I entered the dome of the structure, and, nimbly ascending the steps, he greeted me with a warm smile.
“That was a close call,” he said.
“I can’t thank you enough—I thought it might be my body tied to the arches this time,” I replied with grateful relief.
“Any news? How’s Tejus?” the king asked, solemnity returning.
“He believes the entity is now released. The stones from the castle have been taken to the temple of the Acolytes, and the human boy, Benedict, doesn’t seem to be under possession any longer…”
“But there have been no further signs?” the king deduced.
“None. Not that we know of, anyway.”
The king nodded.
“Then we wait,” he replied.
I nodded. I also needed to tell him about Varga’s letter, but I wondered if its contents should wait till after the trial. If Memenion knew about his son being a member of the Acolytes, he would no doubt be devastated, potentially distracting him from whatever the Impartial Ministers had in store for us. But he had a right to know.
“Spit it out, boy,” Memenion commanded, observing my hesitation.
“Varga’s letter,” I replied, looking around us to make sure that there wasn’t a soul who could overhear.
“Ah, I did wonder what that would contain. We found it tucked beneath the saddle of his bull-horse—the creature was wandering the Fells in a sorry state. Was there anything helpful?”
I nodded, hating what I was about to do.
“Varga was, in the past, a member of the Acolytes.” I paused as Memenion’s face drained of all color, but the king allowed me to continue without interruption. “He was silenced by their threats, and never told Tejus or anyone outside the cult what he was. In his letter, he divulged two members he knew were active. One was Lithan—”
“The swine!” Memenion bellowed. “He should be hanged for his disloyalty—though it comes as no real surprise. He was always a master manipulator, and I warned Tejus of this.”
“The second…the second was your son, Ronojoy.”
I stared at the floor, not wanting to see Memenion’s grief. A long silence passed. I could hear the movement of the evergreens in the breeze, and the cooing of birds back where Queen Trina and her entourage were standing. When I looked back up at Memenion’s face, he looked like he had aged a hundred years.
“It is my own fault,” the king whispered. “I should have known. I belie
ved Ronojoy to be discontented, but I didn’t take the time to ask why—or take an interest in his life beyond him being taught in a manner which I thought was appropriate. I abandoned him. His faults lie with me.”
“It’s not your fault,” I replied earnestly. “The Acolytes turned Varga—I know he was your friend. They are obviously able to be…tempting.”
The king shook his head.
“I was a bad father, and I know it. Don’t try to alleviate my blame, Ashbik. It is mine to suffer.”
I realized that I wouldn’t be able to say anything that would make this better for him, and that the kindest, most honorable thing I could do was remain silent and allow Memenion to grieve. I just couldn’t get my head around the fact that the king could have a son who would turn to something like the Acolytes. How had the boy not wanted to grow up in the footsteps of his father?
Before I could say another word, the Impartial Ministers appeared at the edge of the grassland. Lithan was among them. I scanned the group for Qentos, but I couldn’t see him. Perhaps Lithan had purposefully left him behind at the castle, but I didn’t have time to question the snake—the trials were about to begin.
Benedict
It took me a moment to work out where I was. I had been expecting to see the rune-covered walls of the temple and the eerie green glow that seemed to constantly seep out of its walls, no matter what time of day it was…but when I first opened my eyes, I could see gray walls and light streaming through a window.
Yelena.
She was sitting on the opposite bed, a cushion clutched to her stomach and her red hair looking like it was on fire as it caught the light.
“Benedict?” She called my name softly, staring over at me, and I noticed how dark the shadows were under her eyes—she looked even smaller than I remembered her. Still, I didn’t think I could remember ever being so pleased to see anyone in my life. If she was here, it meant that I was in the castle, I was safe, at least for now, and most importantly, I hadn’t done anything to seriously harm her.
“Hey,” I croaked. My throat felt like sandpaper. “How did I get here?”
The last thing I could remember was being in the temple, talking to Hazel and Ruby through the wall…and Julian? Had Julian been there? I couldn’t work out if it was wishful thinking or not.
“You collapsed at the cove—when the entity left you, apparently.”
I’m free?
“Was Julian there?” I asked.
“He was.” She nodded. “Queen Trina had him in a dungeon, and then Ruby was put there too, and Ash went to rescue her…only to find them both!”
I gulped.
“So Queen Trina is bad news?” I asked, thinking that I’d been a massive idiot to trust her at all.
“Really bad news,” Yelena confirmed.
I sank back into the pillows. I was glad that Julian was safe, but hearing that Queen Trina had something to do with it drove me crazy. If I’d told Hazel earlier about all this, then Julian never would have been imprisoned—or at least he would have been rescued earlier.
“So what’s happening now?” I asked. “Those stones…how much damage did I do?”
Yelena’s face fell a fraction, and I braced myself for bad news. I had known all along that those stones were dangerous. I shouldn’t have been going anywhere near them, but I had felt powerless to stop myself. Every morning I’d wake up in the temple, only having vague flashes of images from the night before. I would find more stones dancing in the grooves on the table, and I knew that I’d somehow collected more of them in the night.
“It’s not your fault, Benedict—you weren’t in control.”
“Just tell me,” I replied. “I need to know. And I’d rather hear it from you than anyone else.”
She twisted a strand of her hair, uncomfortable with my searching gaze. I sighed. I wasn’t so sure I liked it when Yelena pitied me, as she so clearly did now. It was better when we were arguing and she could happily tell me to go to hell without treating me like I was some poor invalid that she had to protect.
“Yelena,” I prompted, irritated with her silence.
“Okay. But don’t go blaming yourself for any of it. It’s the entity, not you. And the stupid queen, and the acolytes. And the stupid ministers.”
“Yeah, sure,” I agreed dryly, “everyone’s fault but mine.”
“Do you want some water?” she asked brightly.
I rolled my eyes, and picked up the full glass that had been left by my bedside.
“I’m good—get on with it.”
She mumbled something under her breath that I couldn’t hear, and then started to tell me what had happened since the night I left Hellswan. She jumped off the bed, pacing up and down the small room as she spoke, gesticulating wildly and occasionally going off on rants about Trina and the ministers—even the rest of the kids in the living quarters weren’t immune to her scorn.
“Ash is king?” I interrupted when she mentioned he was at the Imperial trials.
“Oh, yeah—he’s king.”
“What about Tejus?” I asked, stunned.
She waved her arms around. “Oh, he got wounded in a trial, I think, and then decided to do the honorable thing—honestly, I think it was to impress your sister anyway.”
That made no sense whatsoever, but I chose to ignore it—I could ask Hazel about that later.
“But everyone’s safe for the time being?” I asked.
“For the time being, yeah. Everyone’s happy you’re back—though maybe you need to be careful walking around. You kind of syphoned off a lot of ministers and guards…I think they’re a bit afraid of you.”
I digested the information. It didn’t actually bother me that much…
“But you’re not, right?”
“Afraid of you?” she scoffed. “No!”
“Good,” I replied curtly.
Her face reddened a bit, and I knew that she was holding back on me. I could remember flashes of Yelena lying down on the floor, looking almost dead with her face as white as a ghost’s. Of her screaming, crying out for me to stop—and me not stopping.
“I’m so sorry,” I murmured. “I didn’t—”
“How many times do I need to tell you? I know you didn’t do it!”
She was starting to get angry now, so I kept my mouth shut, feeling sick with guilt. Maybe there would be some way I could repay her…but I doubted it. It wasn’t like I could protect her from the entity when it finally rose—I’d had the thing inside my head and still didn’t know anything about it, or what it actually wanted beyond the stones.
“Where is everyone, anyway?” I asked, changing the subject.
“I don’t know.” Yelena shrugged. “Hazel’s probably still sleeping—she’s had it rough the past couple of days.”
“What do you mean?” I asked sharply. She hadn’t mentioned my sister being in any danger.
Yelena visibly winced.
“What?” I snapped at her.
She took a deep breath, and then mumbled something under her breath, sounding like, ‘blah, blah, sentry, blah’.
“Yelena—what?”
“I said,” she yelled, “your sister’s a sentry now!”
“A what?” I replied, wondering if I’d just gone deaf, because it sounded like Yelena had just told me that my sister was a sentry.
“Oh, my God—you heard me. She’s a sentry, and she’s having a really difficult time controlling her powers…and keeps syphoning off everyone by accident. Tejus can handle it a bit, but the rest of us can’t—she is super strong.”
“Did Tejus do this to her?” I asked, still not really understanding what the hell had happened—how in the world could Hazel become one of them?
“Umm…sort of, by mistake though,” she added hurriedly.
“How?”
Yelena’s cheeks went crimson and she snickered, avoiding meeting my eyes.
“What? I don’t….oh.”
Oh.
Eugh.
It must be a stupid love thing.
“Don’t even tell me—GROSS!” I exploded.
How could she?
Yelena laughed at me, but her blush intensified.
“They’re in love, stupid. I wish a man like Tejus would love me that much,” she replied dreamily.
I snorted with derision.
Whatever.
Yelena could be such an idiot sometimes.
Rose
We emerged from the portal onto the snowy whiteness of Mount Logan. Nuriya clutched the bag of stones tightly to her chest, looking sidelong at Corrine.
“I’m not going to touch them,” the witch mumbled.
“Make sure you don’t,” the jinni replied. “None of you—until we’re doing the spell.”
“I don’t want to lose time,” I sighed, knowing that my dad needed to be told about the Shadowed. I didn’t want him putting his or anyone else’s lives in danger for the fae if they were behaving in such diabolical ways.
“Let me go and speak to the council,” Caleb replied. “You don’t need me for the spell. I’ll make it back as soon as the portal is opened—just let me know and I’ll get one of the witches to transport me.”
“That would be great,” I said. “Hopefully it won’t take long.”
“It will take as long as it takes,” Nuriya interjected. “Don’t hope for a quick miracle—that portal is ancient, and I’m not sure this is even going to work.”
“I know,” I replied quickly. “But I’m still hopeful. It’s the only chance we have right now…it’s got to work.”
“Let’s get back to the rest of the group,” Corrine asserted. “They’re going to be wondering what the holdup is.”
“Okay,” I said, glancing at my husband. “Will you take Caleb back and then we can all go together?”
Corrine nodded.
“Be careful,” Caleb said, clutching my hands. He knew I could be as reckless as he could, especially when it came to protecting someone I loved.
I nodded and kissed his lips. Then in the next moment, both he and the witch were gone.
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