And that's what made Sunny force her tears to stop.
She didn't know where she found her strength, but pulling from deep within, she straightened her shoulders and mustered up a small grin.
Her rage tried to surface and spill out of her voice when she said, "It's okay. I know I shouldn't test you, yet I did. I'm sorry. . .my king." She hoped he didn't hear the slight hesitation in her voice.
He didn't.
Instead, Azmodeous smiled what was probably as close to a genuine smile as he was capable of, and she wondered again how he could look at her like that one minute, then abuse her the next.
This is what insanity looks like.
"There's my girl," the king said with false tenderness. Nothing like the tenderness Westin had had on his face in her dream.
As he slowly lifted his hand, Sunny forced herself to remain completely still when it came to rest on her cheek. "So soft," he whispered.
Trying not to let her fear show, she leaned into the touch and closed her eyes. Behind the black of her eyelids, she pictured Westin's face instead.
Westin. Her Match. The man who had risked everything to help her.
The thread of their Match bond was spread thin, a faint pulse.
But it was still there.
When Sunny focused on their bond, feelings of being trapped mixed with despair and loneliness washed over her.
The thought of Westin experiencing those feelings was enough to bring her back to the present. Lingering on their bond would only send her down the long and lonely road of self-hatred, and she couldn't afford any more than she already had at the moment.
Opening her eyes, she said, "I should probably go find Jo now; we need to get started on ceremonial plans."
The king frowned, "No, you will not go find Josephine right now. It's the middle of the night, and we're going back to sleep."
This wasn't the first time this had happened. Sunny woke up almost every night because of nightmares. Though they usually weren't bad enough to warrant a beating from the king.
What a great way to wake up. A nice big cuddly slap from a maniac, Sunny thought sarcastically.
"My mistake, I thought it was morning already," she gave a soft laugh, and then got under the covers and acted as if she was going back to sleep.
Maybe I should've set out to become a famous actor.
I could've won an award for my performance tonight.
The king's mind probed hers a couple of times, and she felt his eyes on her for a long while before her acting skills paid off once again and he thought she was asleep. He had so many Quellers around, and since Sunny was a Thief, he couldn't enter her mind as thoroughly as he liked. He finally lay down beside her and it took a while longer for his breathing to even out. She brushed against his mind to make sure he was asleep.
What the king didn't know, was that she and her sister were getting stronger every day. The Quellers' Gifts were not affecting them as they once had.
Sunny didn't dare enter his mind, but she could be sneaky enough to brush against it to make sure he was sleeping without being caught.
After a couple more minutes of faking sleep, Sunny heard the voice she'd heard every night for the last eight months.
"The coast is clear. Your sister's waiting," Gordo, the ghost, said.
Sunny soundlessly got up from the bed. Azmodeous moved, and she stilled, holding her breath. Then he snuggled closer into his pillow and sighed.
Sunny stared at him for a moment and considered killing him. Again.
The first week she had begun sleeping in his room she'd waited patiently every night for him to fall asleep and would try to find a weapon of sorts to kill him. Every time she'd been about to make a move he awoke, grabbed her, then punished her. Or worse, punished Jo.
Gordo's voice interrupted her thoughts, "You know he'll wake up if you try it."
He was right. It was as if something or someone alerted him when Sunny was feeling murderous. So, Sunny just nodded and silently made her way to Jo's room.
Gordo followed her noisily, but she was the only one who could see or hear him.
"Oh, by the way," he said, "I got you something."
Gordo was an adolescent boy who the king had murdered to serve as punishment for his rebellious parents. He had dark skin, warm brown eyes, and a mop of dark brown curls that Sunny liked to ruffle. He was the same height as Sunny with that skinny teenage boy look.
After frantically patting his pants and breast pockets, as if he had lost whatever it was, he finally found it in a pocket he had already searched.
A golden ring glinted in the light as he handed it to Sunny with a sheepish smile.
Sunny's eyes bounced back and forth from the ring to Gordo's face. "Um. . . Gordo. . . are you proposing to me?"
"Proposing?"
"Yeah, you know, like how sometimes people give their significant other a ring and ask them to marry them."
Gordo's eyes widened, "Ew, no, gross! You're like my sister."
"Then what's with the ring?"
"Necromancers can put their essence into certain objects." He tapped the ring with his finger before placing it in Sunny's hand. "As long as you're wearing this, I'll be able to follow you wherever you go."
Sunny stopped walking and a warmth filled her chest. Gordo was about ten years younger than her; at least, that's what it looked like. But he had been dead for fifty years. His mind would always be that of a teenager, but going through what he had gone through, and seeing the things he saw in the past fifty years. . . it made him wiser than most kids his age.
"Are you sure you'd want to come with me?
"Of course I would! I've been trapped in this palace forever. I don't want you to leave me!" His lip quivered as he spoke.
Sunny couldn't deny that she had bonded with the kid. Touched, she put the ring inside the bra of her nightie.
Gordo raised a brow in question.
"You think Azmodeous wouldn't notice that I suddenly started wearing a ring every day? For now, it will have to stay hidden." She laid a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you, Gordo."
Gordo smiled brightly, and they continued to Jo's room.
When they arrived, Jo instantly took in Sunny's swollen, puffy face and red-rimmed eyes and gave her a hug. There were no words needed. They'd become used to this kind of thing. Besides, Jo had her own bruises and scars from the king marking her own body.
"Hi, Gordo," Jo mumbled against Sunny's shoulder.
Jo couldn't see him physically, but she saw him through Sunny's mind.
"Hi, Jo," he said in a voice that cracked a little. Sunny was pretty sure he had a crush on her.
Pulling back from Jo's embrace, Sunny bounced on the balls of her feet, her whole body letting out a shudder as if she could shake the filth off of her. "Okay, I'm ready to rumble. Where are the others?" She looked around noting they were the only three in the room.
Gordo followed her gaze, "I don't know-they should be here by now."
They arrived as she was tying Jo's short, silk robe over her skimpy nightgown.
The ghostly soldiers filed in one by one, their swords clinking lightly in their scabbards. The swords would be all Jo could see until she fused her mind with Sunny's.
Altogether, there were thousands of ghosts in the castle, a silent, hidden testament to the king's endless brutality. Sunny's first day in the castle had been quite a shock when she'd awoken to find ghosts everywhere.
She had been even more shocked when she'd been alone in the king's bedchamber and in had strolled a teenage boy on the cusp of puberty, as confidently as if he owned the place.
She'd watched open-mouthed as he had sauntered around, pretending to talk to the paintings of long dead royalty before his attention had been snagged by the black onyx box on the king's bureau. Before opening it, he peeked over his shoulder to check on Sunny, who hurriedly pretended to be asleep. He then proceeded to open the box and take out the king's dark crown, which he placed upon his mop of dark cur
ls, muttering, "Madow's wind, Azmodeous has a small head."
Alarmed, Sunny had sat bolt upright. "What are you doing? Do you want him to kill you?"
With a shriek, the boy had whirled around, the crown flying off his head. With another shriek, the boy reached out to catch it, but it bounced off his hand before he clumsily caught it with the other.
"Y-you can see me?" he had stammered looking as pale as, well, a ghost.
"I see you acting like an idiot!" Sunny chastised, surging forward and taking the crown so she could place it perfectly back in its box. She anxiously looked around, making sure nothing else was out of place.
When her attention was back on the boy, it was then that she had noticed a red bloodstain on his gray, long- sleeved shirt, and then her mind had gone to another place.
Another time. Of Azmodeous stabbing Gordo through the heart while his parents watched.
"Are you a Necromancer?" the boy's hopeful tone had brought her back from the vision.
Sunny had smiled warmly at him as her heart lurched in grief, replying, "A Thief."
His eyes had gone huge, "No way!" Sunny had grinned, "Yes way."
After that, Sunny and Gordo had formed a pretty solid friendship. She had learned that he was a Necromancer, meaning he kept his Gift even after death, which gave him the ability to touch objects and gave Sunny the ability to use his Gift to see him.
It had been during a casual conversation when Sunny had mentioned to him that she wished she and Jo were better fighters and had more training. Gordo had told her that there were many dead soldiers still hanging around who he was sure would be more than willing to help train them.
And so, there they were, eight grueling months later. Every night that she was able to escape the king's chambers, she fled to Jo's rooms where she and her sister trained under the watchful eye of the dead. Of course, one ghost stayed behind to watch Azmodeous as he slept to serve as an alarm if the king should happen to wake up.
Now, one of the soldiers tossed Sunny a sword while another tossed one to Jo, who was caught a little off guard since she hadn't synced her mind with Sunny's yet. However, she still managed to catch it by the hilt.
The mind sync, as Sunny and Jo had taken to calling it, was something that had taken them weeks to master, but now when they merged their minds, the melding was absolute. Their minds were one, there was no second-guessing. What Sunny saw, Jo saw. What Sunny felt, Jo felt, and vice versa. This was what allowed Jo to see the ghosts she was fighting, rather than just the floating swords which they were able to carry, thanks to Gordo's
Necromancer magic.
Janna, the de facto leader of the ghost soldiers, started them off by taking them through warm-up stretches while Byron, her makeshift second-in-command, talked them through clearing their minds and finding their centers. After that, they practiced drawing their weapons. Haiden, the oldest of the ghost soldiers, told them repeatedly that a soldier could lose precious seconds if they had a slow draw.
Then it was time for the hard stuff. Janna had Gordo tie blindfolds over Sunny and Jo's eyes and took their swords. Though they couldn't see, they could hear the distinct scraping of furniture across the floor and Sunny had to remind herself once again that with Jo's Gift no one outside of the room could hear anything that was happening within. Jo had sent out a mental command to the guards on her floor not to notice any strange noises; this was just a normal night.
Though Sunny and Jo's powers had grown stronger since the night of their escape attempt, they still weren't powerful enough to take on both the king and his army on their own.
As the scraping ceased, a tense silence filled the air with a sense of anticipation. Janna's voice rang out, counting down from five. When she reached zero, Sunny and Jo ripped off their blindfolds, eyes blinking rapidly to adjust to the sudden light, before immediately jumping back to avoid getting impaled by one of the ghosts.
The sisters instantly stood back to back, their connected minds giving each of them a three-hundred-and- sixty-degree view of the room. Sunny thought it was like having eyes in the back of her head.
As they avoided blows from the ghosts, they took stock of the room. The furniture had been piled in a haphazard way around them and they were surrounded by armed ghosts on all sides. Through Jo's eyes, Sunny saw that their swords had been placed on the other side of the room.
While Sunny was distracted by looking for her sword, a foot came from out of nowhere and swept her off her feet. Her back slammed against the marble floor, knocking the wind from her lungs. Before she had even a second to catch her breath, a sword was sweeping down toward her chest and she quickly rolled out of the way, the sound of metal on stone reverberating behind her.
Springing into a crouch, Sunny launched herself at the nearest ghost's legs, knocking him to the floor. Before he could hit the floor, she grabbed hold of his jacket, using it as an anchor to pull herself up and around so that when they landed her knee was pressed against his throat.
Grabbing his upper arm and pressing hard against one of the pressure points Janna had taught them about, the soldier let out a grunt before his weapon clanged on the ground.
Lunging forward, she grabbed the sword, her weight carrying her into a somersault as she rolled to her feet, letting out an, "AH HA!"
Hearing someone approach from behind, Sunny made to turn toward the noise, but she wasn't fast enough, and a boot connected with her lower back, sending her forward to land flat on her face. She felt the cool kiss of steel as a blade was placed gently against her neck.
She recognized Haiden's gravelly voice from above. "For you, arrogance is a tougher opponent than your actual enemy, kid."
Rolling her eyes, Sunny took his hand as he helped her up. "You told us to have confidence in our abilities."
Haiden shook his head. "Confidence and arrogance aren't the same."
The clang of metal sounded across the room and Sunny turned to see Jo in a defensive stance, a sword in each hand. She was surrounded by soldiers, but so far, she seemed to be keeping them all at a distance. At first, she had struggled, unsure of how to train her body for violence. Now, however, she was more comfortable with a blade in her hand than Sunny was.
She had never thought she would see the day when Jo had muscles. Sunny's lips pulled into a proud smile as Jo took a deadly swipe at Byron, her sword point only narrowly missing contact with his skin.
Her smile was short-lived, though, as their lookout came running into the room shouting, "The king's awake! The king's awake!"
Sunny's body was moving before her mind had even processed the ghost's words, shedding the robe she wore and darting over to grab the glass of water she kept on the stand by the door.
Sensing Jo's panic, she sent her the briefest of messages before hurrying from the room, Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.
Once outside of Azmodeous' door, she stopped to take a steadying breath before pushing the door open quietly as if she thought Azmodeous was still asleep. He must have been about to open the door because she only took a single step before slamming into his chest, some of the water spilling out onto his expensive, silk robe.
They spoke at the same moment:
"Where have you been?" "You're up!"
Before he could bark another word, Sunny forced a bright smile onto her face. "I just went to get a glass of water and I had the best idea! Crims!"
The king stared back at her, his expression wavering between anger and confusion. "Crims?"
"Yes, crims," Sunny said, referring to the Writhian flower that was similar to lilies. "I could have them in my bouquet! Isn't that great?"
Azmodeous regarded her suspiciously. "Why are you sweating?"
Sunny froze.
I messed up
She struggled to keep her smile from faltering, "I got so excited I ran back to tell you. I guess I don't get as much exercise here."
Without another word, she felt his mind dive into her thoughts, sifting through the ones she kept outside o
f her shield. Panicked at the thought of him seeing her shield and knowing she was hiding things from him, Sunny quickly stood on her toes and pressed her lips to his smooth, pale cheek.
Azmodeous' entire body stiffened.
Taking advantage of his distraction, she gently laid her hand on his arm before saying, "I can't wait to be your Match." She almost choked on the words.
But Azmodeous was smiling now, patting her hand on his arm. "I'm glad you said that, love, because I'm moving the ceremony up to the next full moon."
Sunny's smile froze on her face. "What?"
"That's right, love, in twenty days we will be united as one."
Chapter 3
Leo
Writhia, 5220
Ettria
"Cassavant, progress report on the Viannese," Azmodeous ordered without looking up from the papers Cerise had handed him.
Cerise, his second-in-command, stood off to the side, looking through reports. She had looked up when Leo had entered, smiling her bright red smile. If Leo never saw that shade of red again, it would be too soon.
At the request, Leo's eyes flicked over to the Viannese princess standing subdued behind the Dark King. Her eyes were blue fire as she glared back at him. She still blamed him for her position there.
Leo looked back to the king. "The fighting to the west has gotten worse. The Viannese are pushing the Ettrian troops back, but Captain Han has called for reinforcements and they'll arrive this evening. After the firebomb you dropped in the east there were few Viannese survivors and the team you sent in had little trouble dispatching them." He hesitated, eyes glancing to Noelani before saying, "They're all gone."
It had been brutal. Devastating. The firebomb, a new type of bomb designed to absorb the Gift of Fire Elementals and multiply it a hundredfold, had completely obliterated the Viannese trying to fight their way north of the border.
The king had ordered his scientists and alchemists to work double-time, developing new weapons and spells. He said they would be needed soon, but he wouldn't reveal for what. All that had been left behind was seared land, blackened metal, and the charred corpses of the soldiers who had fought to return Princess Noelani to her home.
Palace of Moonlight Page 3