Marzanna almost melted under it. Almost leaned on her.
But she didn't.
They played this game. It was always a secret stare here and there. Voice of concern, an act of kindness. Friendship.
But never touches.
No, Khione wouldn't want Marzanna to lean on her for anything. She cared, of course she cared, but it would never be the way Marzanna cared. Never more.
There were so many unspoken words between them. But, how to unravel it all? Where to begin? Now, that was the question.
Marzanna put on her brightest smile. "Perfect. Now, what's this about a vision?"
"Walk with me," Khione's voice came out clipped, professional. Their time for "affection" was over.
Marzanna no longer felt any emotion from her.
Even though Marzanna had longer legs, she still struggled to keep up with Khione's brisk pace.
They walked through the halls of the Viannese castle. Photographs of the military, dating all the way back to the year 1000, lined the bright, blue walls with matching white trim and doors every few feet, leading to the guard's quarters. Where Seren, Kian, and Kian's Match, Zahra, stayed.
Zahra, a Siren, with voluptuous, dark curves, and a beautiful voice to match, had come storming into the castle shortly after Noelani had run away. She and Kian had immediately wanted to leave Vianna, head back to The Lorlean Lands, and forget all the drama that had happened. But, Seren hadn't wanted to. He said Sunny and Jo were his friends and that he felt a loyalty to them and would not leave them behind.
Kian and Zahra, unable to tell Seren no, had agreed to stay and help. However, that didn't mean that Kian didn't grumble and complain whenever he had the chance.
When they reached his room, Seren was humming and bouncing on the balls of his feet while Kian and Zahra were paced back and forth.
"We need to leave now," Seren said immediately.
Marzanna took in her three nervous friends and an uneasy feeling sparked in her chest. "Okay. . . why? Where are we going?" Marzanna asked.
"Seren had a vision," Zahra said at the same time Seren said, "The forest a few miles from the Ettrian Palace.
Khione stared at them a moment before sighing, "Listen, Seren, I believe you, but we can't get that close to the palace without bringing an army."
Seren closed his eyes and shook his head rapidly. "NO! In the vision, it was just the five of us. We must pick them up from the Ettrian forest. They manage to escape. I didn't see that part. All I know is that when they escape, the five of us MUST be there!"
Silence rang out, and they all shared a look.
And then Kian spoke, his jaw set in fierce determination. "Well, you heard him. Let's go. It sounds like there's no time to waste."
"Waste," Seren said with a grimace, "No, not yet."
When he realized everyone was staring at him, he started moving his fingers like a drum against his thumb at a rapid pace while whispering what sounded like a catchy song.
Finally, Seren picked up a bag she had just noticed was there. "I'm leaving. See you all when you get there."
Kian pinched the bridge of his nose, and Marzanna looked to Khione to gauge her reaction.
"Wait," Khione said, "You're going by yourself?" "No, you guys are coming, and Jo and Noelani will be there," Seren said as he walked out the door.
"Seren's visions are never wrong," Kian muttered.
Khione shrugged, "Well, okay then. Hope you guys have everything you need. Looks like we're going camping."
Chapter 6
Jo
Writhia, 5220
Ettria
Tonight’s the night, Jo thought bitterly as she awoke from a restless sleep. It seemed that not a single night had passed in the last eight months without her waking periodically throughout the night, her nightmares jolting her awake.
The servant who had awakened her yanked the curtains open, the bright morning light momentarily blinding her. When her vision returned to normal, she looked to her nightstand.
There it sat.
The pastry.
Almost every morning, Jo woke to find some delicious baked good sitting there on her nightstand. Some days it was cupcakes, others brownies or fruit tarts. Today, it was what looked like a chocolate eclair.
She didn't know who made the treats; she had questioned the servants, and each had denied having anything to do with the mysterious baked goods. They said the treats simply appeared on her breakfast tray each morning before they brought it into her room
She gingerly picked it up and took a bite. She bit back a moan.
Holy crap, that’s a good pastry, she thought as she took another bite.
She couldn't help but eat them each morning, despite their suspicious origins. They were too delicious. And some days, most days, it was the only food she felt like eating.
All too soon, it was gone and she heard a knock at her door. Sensing who it was, she jumped up and ran to answer it.
On the other side of the door stood her sister and a dozen servants. Her mind flashed back to a similar scene on the night of her and Sunny's debut ball all those months ago. However, this time, instead of grins and laughter, she and her sister submitted themselves to the servants with a grim expression.
Tonight, her sister would marry a dark, evil man.
She would marry a man who was losing his mind to madness. Each day he strayed further from sanity. And with madness came anger, and Jo had started to realize how the word "mad" had come to mean both insane and angry all at once.
The servants began by taking Sunny to the large tub, scrubbing her and pouring scented oils into the water.
Prepping her for that monster, whispering about the "wedding night."
Sunny glowered and pushed their hands away, telling them she could do it herself. At last, they relented and let her finish her bath in peace.
We have to get out of here, Jo thought. If they didn't, they were going to die there.
As if reading her thoughts, the servant doing her makeup pushed a little too hard on the brush, the fading bruises on Jo's neck ringing with pain in response.
The bruises were Sunny's punishment for offending the king. Sunny and Jo still weren't sure what she had said to set him off, but the next thing they knew, Cerise was there behind them, her hands wrapping tightly around Jo's throat. She hadn't let up until Jo was unconscious.
"Oh, miss, you look lovely for your big day," one of the servants said a while later, and Jo turned to find Sunny in her wedding gown.
White gowns weren't a tradition in Ettria, or Writhia for that matter, so instead, Sunny wore a gown that was more representative of the Ettrian colors. The dress had a sweetheart neckline and flared out at her hips in typical ball gown fashion. Black lace covered the corset and skirt, a silky champagne-colored material visible through the lace. Her blonde hair was left down and curled in a beautifully chaotic style that looked almost exactly like their mother's hair. A gold and black crown sat atop her head and a golden choker wrapped around her throat.
It reminded Jo of a collar.
"You look like Mom," Jo whispered, unsettled.
Sunny usually favored Eleyna quite a bit, but now, she could pass for her twin. The differences in their features were subtle, but they were there, and Jo zeroed in on them, using them to push her mother out of her mind. The way Sunny's nose was slightly larger, her chin a bit squarer. Features she'd inherited from her father, the belated king of Vianna.
Sunny's face went pale at Jo's words. "Yeah, well, that's the point, right? Can't break the illusion." Her words were light, but her voice was hard. She looked like she might be sick at any moment.
They had tried and tried to come up with a plan of escape. However, though their Gifts were getting stronger every day, they still weren't strong enough to escape on their own. They needed help, but at the moment the only people they could trust were the dead, and Gordo wasn't strong enough to lend them his strength to hold physical weapons for long periods of time.
>
Perhaps, if Zoe hadn't run away, they could use her help, but she hadn't been seen since the night of their failed escape. The king still had soldiers out searching for her.
Half of Jo's nightmares revolved around the little girl. In her dreams, Azmodeous found Zoe and killed her to keep her from helping Jo and Sunny to escape.
Leo could help, her mind whispered.
Yeah, ask for his help so he can betray us again?
No thanks, she thought back.
He says it wasn’t his fault, her conscience insisted, and despite herself she hesitated. For some reason, she wanted to believe him. She wanted to trust that he was the man she had befriended, the one who had cheered her up and made her laugh.
But he’s not.
With a huff she shoved her chair back, waving off the man who was putting the final touches on her hair. She turned to see herself in the mirror and screwed up her face at what she saw.
She had thought the king was kidding when he'd asked her to officiate the "Match" ceremony.
He hadn't been.
So, here she was, decked out in priestess robes, lines memorized, ready to marry her sister off to a tyrant so that he wouldn't kill them both.
She hated it all. From the dove grey color of the robes to the black diamonds sewn into intricate patterns along the belt and sleeves. She even hated the silver circlet that sat above her brow, a giant black diamond shaped like a crescent moon in the center.
She turned to her sister. "Well?"
Sunny snorted, "If you're going to an evil wedding, it might as well be as the goth version of that priest from The Princess Bride."
Jo snickered, "At least he got a cool hat." Her expression sobered. "I'm going to get us out of here, Sunny. Someday, somehow. I'm so sorry," her eyes filled with tears.
Sunny's did as well as she reached out to take her hand, and the makeup artist rushed forward, trying to blot them before they could mess up her eyeliner.
"GET BACK!" Jo snarled, and she shrank away, true fear flashing in her eyes.
All of the servants were afraid of her and Sunny.
They'd had to do cruel things, gruesome displays of power, in order to keep the more devious members of the king's court from harassing them. Her mind flashed back to a man's screams, his hand laying on the floor in a puddle of blood. His punishment for thinking he was entitled to a maid's body.
That one she didn't really regret.
She only regretted that she didn't regret it. She'd become a different person since she'd been kidnapped. A stronger person, sure, but a darker one as well. Sometimes she even scared herself.
"Meet me in the privy."
Jo started at the whispered words which seemed to come from nowhere, dropping the glass of wine she'd been gulping down.
Leo, she thought, sending a glare in the general direction she sensed he was lurking in.
Sunny looked at her in alarm as the servants began to clean her mess.
"I'll be back," Jo told her, "I need a moment."
She rose with as much dignity as one could after practically throwing her wine glass across the room and went to the privy.
Once inside, she whirled around to scowl at the room. "What do you want?"
Leo appeared, leaning against the wall, closer than she'd anticipated.
She resisted the urge to take a step back. Leo's eyes traveled over her ridiculous robes.
"That's quite the look."
She crossed her arms over her chest, "Sorry, my kidnapper didn't dress me to your standards."
His face fell. "Right. Sorry." He shook his head, "I have something I need to show you."
He took a step closer, close enough to touch, and his scent washed over her. Expensive cologne and something else, something unexpected.
Is that cinnamon?
She forced her attention back to the matter at hand as he pulled out his contact.
He held it out and a holographic image sprung to life, showing Jo what looked like an old, leather-bound book.
"I went snooping through the king's study the night he announced the date of the ceremony. I found this book." Leo met her eyes, "Seph, it's not good. The book is full of blood magic and rituals, including what I think he has planned for the ceremony today."
Jo's heart picked up its pace as he swiped through images before landing on the one he wanted to show her.
She gasped, her hand flying up to cover her mouth. She read through the notes scribbled in the margins, but it was hard to concentrate. Hard because her eyes kept flicking back to one of the images, the final step in the ritual
She finally forced herself to focus and as she finished reading there was no doubt in her mind. This was what Azmodeous had planned for Sunny. This was how he planned to bind her to him.
Her stomach churned and bile rose in her throat. She had expected something cruel, but seeing it there in front of her, drawn out in specific detail, was almost too much.
She swayed on her feet.
Leo grabbed her shoulder, steadying her. The heat of him was comforting somehow. Solid and warm.
She looked up at him.
His eyes were full of grief and terror.
He's afraid.
The thought jolted her. Jo had called him a coward, but she had never actually seen his fear for herself.
"We need to get her out. I need to stop him. . ." she trailed off, looking desperately around the room. The porcelain toilet and silver shower fixtures offered her no answers, no solutions.
"I have a plan. Something I've put into motion. I just need you to trust me."
Jo looked back to Leo and hesitated. Her certainty that he had betrayed them warred with what he was showing her now. His dark eyes were steady on hers.
Unwavering. His hand was still on her shoulder, a surprisingly reassuring pressure.
"Please, Seph. Just trust me. I can get you out. I can get her out. I just need you to trust me. Please." There was something in his eyes she couldn't place. A desperation that seemed to go deeper than simply wanting to help.
Jo bit her lip.
"Don't betray me, Leo. Just. . . don't." He relaxed a bit. "I won't."
A knock sounded at the door. "Jo? Are you alright?" It was Sunny.
Jo closed her eyes. How was she going to tell her sister just what Azmodeous had planned?
Leo shifted, causing her to open her eyes. They realized at the same moment that his hand was still on her shoulder. He looked away and removed it.
"There's more I need to tell you, more from the book. But it can wait until you're safe." His jaw flexed. "Just wait for my signal."
And then he was gone. Turning invisible, she felt him move away from her, first from the privy and then from her suite altogether.
Jo took a deep breath and opened the door. Her sister stood on the other side.
Jo met her eyes. There's something I need to tell you.
She replayed her conversation with Leo in her thoughts for Sunny to see. Watched her sister's face grow pale as the blood drained from her cheeks at what she saw.
Jo took her hands tightly in her own. Do you think we can trust him? she asked silently when the replay was over.
Sunny blinked a few times as if trying to focus on Jo's words. She finally looked to Jo, I don't think we have a choice.
*****
After a while, it was time for Jo to take her position at the altar. Her hands felt cold as she was forced to release Sunny's and she followed the guards sent to escort her to her place.
She entered the large atrium from the side, avoiding the two aisles that began at separate doors and met in the middle in front of a black altar.
Snow swirled down against the glass walls of the atrium and the giant pine trees outside waved gently in the wind. The mountains in the distance were white with fallen snow and the sky was a deep purple-blue as evening descended.
Ettria was a beautiful place, and Jo thought that it was a place she could have loved if she hadn't endured so many horr
ors there.
Whispers rose among the crowd as she took her place behind the altar and gently arranged the knife and cup that sat on it. Nausea roiled in her stomach as she finally understood what they were for.
The whispers grew and grew until she was fidgeting, mixing with the thoughts of the guests that echoed in her brain until she thought she might scream.
QUIET!
She sent out the mental command and the crowd quieted immediately. She sighed in relief.
Once, a command like that would have weakened her, causing her nose to bleed, maybe even causing her to faint. Now, she felt no more exertion than it took to blink her eyes.
Maybe I am ready, she thought. I can do this.
Music started and her head jerked up, her gaze going to the two large sets of doors at either end of the south wall. They opened in sync, and the king stepped through one as Sunny stepped through the other. The king looked gleeful in his black dress clothes, his onyx crown perched on his dark hair.
Sunny looked. . . alright. She wasn't gleeful, but she had forced a small smile onto her face. Her knuckles, though, were white as she clutched the bouquet of pale, golden crims in her hands.
As the two made their way slowly down the aisles to the altar, she scanned the crowd and found Leo in the second row, his gaze focused intently on her. She hated herself for noticing how handsome he looked in his fitted burgundy tunic, how nicely it looked against his deep olive skin.
She looked to Sunny, whose eyes held stark terror in them as she finally reached the altar.
Her eyes found the king. He gazed at her with a loving expression that made her sick.
Yes, she could do this. Her shoulders straightened.
Jo forced a smile to her lips and spoke. "Welcome, all!" She scanned the crowd and let her eyes linger a fraction of a second on Leo. She hoped he saw her hope, her desperation. Hoped he saw how she was clinging to this notion of a plan and that it would be enough to keep him honest. To keep him from betraying them again.
Jo continued, reciting the lines her father had given her. "Matches are a sacred blessing. To have a Match is to be blessed by Liebbe herself. To be blessed by all the gods. The two people in front of me are extremely lucky to have been blessed."
Palace of Moonlight Page 6