by E. A. Copen
I put my hands on Emma’s shoulders and pushed her back.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Is it the sunburn?”
I sighed. “I don’t know you.”
“Of course you know me. I’m your wife.” She tried to kiss me again.
I pushed her back a second time. “Maybe you’re some Lazarus Kerrigan’s wife, but you’re not mine. I haven’t married my Emma yet, as much as I want to. I’ve been too busy trying to stop monsters, gods, and Titans from destroying the city we both love. Where I’m from, I have a daughter named Remy who’s the queen of the Summer Kingdom in Faerie. My best friend is a medical examiner. My Emma used to work homicide. She collects doilies, likes spicy food, and old video games. I’m sure you’re great, but I’m not supposed to be here. I need to go home.”
I turned away and started toward the door while she picked up her robe.
“You’d rather go back to that existence than stay here with me?” she called after me.
I stopped with my hand on the sliding glass door. “No. To tell you the truth, I’d much rather stay here. This is what I’ve been saying I wanted for years. Always wishing I’d never taken the Horseman job, that I’d never even bothered learning magic. But I did. Everything I thought made my life harder really just made me who I am, and I wouldn’t be happy if I got everything I really wanted. Without all the rough stuff, the peace and quiet don’t mean much of anything.” I looked over my shoulder and smiled at her. “Besides, there are people counting on me to come back and help them. What kind of friend would I be if I just left them hanging so I could have something that’s never really been mine from the beginning?”
A tear slipped from her eye and trailed down her cheek. “I don’t understand.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t be who you think I am.” I opened the door.
The beachfront no longer waited on the other side, but bright light. I hesitated. Did that mean I’d passed or failed the test? No way to know except to step into the light and hope for the best. I closed my eyes and stepped forward, sinking into the warmth of the light.
When I opened them again, I was back underwater. Air burned in my lungs, begging to be expelled and pain seared my muscles from the effort of keeping myself afloat. A strong current suddenly swept me up from where I was floating. I bobbed to the surface and gasped in a deep breath. Hands grabbed me and dragged me from the water onto a stone floor where I bent over, coughing.
“Welcome back to the land of the living,” boomed the queen’s voice. “Congratulations on surviving.”
“Wasn’t that tough,” I wheezed out and stood. “I knew something fishy was going on after a few hours. Didn’t take long to figure it out.”
“A few hours?” Remy let go of my arm. “Father, you’ve been gone for three weeks.”
Chapter Sixteen
I blinked and pushed wet hair out of my eyes. “Three weeks? I’ve been in some sub-dimension inside Faerie for three weeks?”
When Remy had been left in Faerie for two weeks, she aged almost twenty years. I looked down at my hands, turning them over and breathing a sigh of relief when they weren’t gnarled and wrinkled. I didn’t look like I’d aged thirty years.
I lowered my hands. “Where have you been?”
The answer was clear even before they gave it. Remy and Finn were thin and filthy, their faces even paler than normal. Black chains, the same as those that bound everyone else in the High Court, adorned their wrists and ankles.
“They petitioned the crown for the chance to return to Earth,” said the queen from her throne. “Their request was denied. And since I could not have hostile foreign monarchs roaming my lands unchecked, they were given suitable accommodations.”
Finn took a step toward the throne. “We were tossed into a dungeon, tortured, and fed once a day. There was nothing suitable about that.”
Sir Braes stepped away from the edge of the room and backhanded Finn hard enough he crumpled to the ground. “You’ll speak to Her Majesty with respect!”
Remy pulled free of her guards and rushed to Finn’s side to help him up. He was bleeding from the corner of his lip. Finn wiped the blood away with his wrist and looked at Braes with the promise of murder in his eyes.
“I survived your little test,” I shouted at the queen. “I believe that entitles me to any one thing I want.”
She conceded with an incline of her head. “That is true. But choose carefully, King Lazarus. You have been granted one boon and one boon only.”
Remy’s head snapped toward me. “Remember why you came here. Don’t let her threats distract you. We—”
The queen extended her hand toward Remy and sent a spray of black sludge from her fingertips, sealing both Finn and Remy’s mouths closed. “Silence. The prisoners are not permitted to speak. Now, King Lazarus, ask.”
I clenched my fists and bit my tongue. They had my daughter. Mask had my daughter, and he’d torture her to get to Finn so Finn would give up the other two Speaking Stones. I could free her with a word, but doing so meant leaving Finn and the final Speaking Stone behind. Saving my little girl meant giving up the only weapon we had against Mask. But if I took the stone, I’d be leaving her there to suffer.
There was no good answer. No way to win.
Remy gave me a pleading look.
I squared my shoulders and faced the queen. “The last time Remy was in danger, a fae queen died. Are you sure that’s the card you want to play?”
“You have no choice,” Braes sneered. “You can’t have Queen Remy, King Finn, and the stone. I told you it was a mistake for all three of you to come.”
“Without Finn, the stones are useless, and I’m not going to leave my daughter to suffer at your hands.”
Remy made a muffled sound and shook her head.
I ignored her pleas. “I want the Speaking Stone handed over.”
The queen nodded to Sir Braes, who lifted a glowing blue medallion from around his neck and placed the stone in my hand. I had to work to keep from cringing as an electric shock of power struck my palm and flowed up my arm.
I shifted my grip to the chain. “Now let’s talk about my staff. Since it’s rightly mine and I didn’t willingly surrender it, you need to return it. That’s not going to count as my boon either. That’s my badge of office as the Pale Horseman and removing it was disrespectful, for which I demand recompense.”
“How dare you!” The queen rose out of her throne.
I shrugged. “You insulted me by putting your slimy hands all over my stuff. Not my fault you didn’t learn how to share in fae kindergarten. As payment, I think I’ll take my daughter home with me. Release her or I’ll consider it an act of war.”
“Your pathetic army doesn’t frighten us,” Braes growled.
“No?” I snapped my attention to him. “How about the fact that I’m a one-man army? Ask Finn. He was at the battle between Shadow and Summer. Ask anyone. Between Foxglove and me, we can smoke every fae in the kingdom with one arm behind our backs, but I won’t just bring Foxglove back with me. I’m on good terms with at least one Titan, a reaper, several gods…And oh yeah. Bet the Shadow fae are going to be pretty pissed you’re torturing their king. I think that makes my army bigger than yours.”
The queen clenched her fists, fuming, saying nothing.
I raised an eyebrow. “Does the High Court intend to release Queen Remy, or will there be a war?”
Sir Braes drew his sword. “Let me kill him. We’ve made no vows of safe passage.”
“Wanna try me, buddy? You’ve still got a soul I can rip out and feast on. I hear that’s not a good way to go.”
The queen raised her hand. “Enough!” She turned and grabbed a long, cloth-wrapped package from beside the throne and tossed it to me.
I unwrapped it and found my staff. Groovy. They’d kept it in good condition for me while I was away.
“Release Queen Remy into King Lazarus’ custody,” ordered the queen. Her guards struck the chains off Remy’s wrist
s and ankles.
Remy tore the black goo from her face and threw it to the ground before rushing to my side. “I’m unarmed,” she whispered.
“You’re never unarmed when you’ve got magic,” I whispered back.
The queen pointed at me. “Take your offspring and return to your city. Death awaits you there, Horseman.”
I raised a finger. “There’s just one more thing I want to do before I go. This belongs to me now, right?” I lifted the stone.
Sir Braes wrinkled his nose. “For now.”
“Good. That means I can do whatever I want with it. And what I want to do is…” I crossed the room and slapped the stone into Finn’s hands. “Give it to this guy.”
Finn looked down at the stone, looked at me, and a wicked grin spread over his face. “Thanks.”
“Kill him!” the queen cried. “Execute them all!”
I turned with my staff in hand and struck the closest fae. His head made a very satisfying clonk as it met the end of my staff and he crumpled. “Finn, get behind us!”
One of the guards charged at Remy. She sidestepped his charge and grabbed him by the back of the neck with her left hand. A pulse of dark magic exploded from her palm and he fell over, dead. That was enough to make several others think twice about coming after her, but only for a second. I knocked the legs out from under one of them and shoved my hand into the other one’s chest to grip his soul and yank it free. Remy ducked the sweep of a blade and delivered a knockout punch to the attacking guard before dropping into a roll to retrieve the discarded blade of the dead fae. She went to one knee and thrust the sword into the last guard’s stomach right at the bottom of his armor.
The doors crashed open and dozens more guards poured in, surrounding us. The dark creatures of the Nightlands crept out of the darkness, hovering at the edge of the light with screeches and hisses. The queen floated down from her throne toward us, picking up a blade herself on the way.
“Now?” Finn asked.
“Not yet.” I pressed back toward Finn, pulling Remy along with me.
The queen closed, her eyes burning, teeth gnashing.
“Now?”
“I said not yet!”
The queen lifted the sword in one hand and readied a swirling black spell in the other.
“Now, Finn!” I shouted and covered my eyes.
Even with my hands over my eyes, the flash was so brilliant it was nearly blinding. The only thing that even came close to that level of brightness in my experience had been the one time I’d mistakenly looked at an angel’s soul. The flash exploded, bathing even the darkest corners of the room in pure, white light.
All the hissing and spitting turned into pained screeches of the dying. The queen cried out, the sound lost in the shouts of all her guards as the light overtook them.
I waited until there was absolute silence to open my eyes. Everything was still white, so I blinked, trying to clear my vision. I still had to squint. Of the monstrous beings from the Nightlands, nothing remained but piles of ash at the edges of the room where they’d been standing. The queen and her guards lay on the ground. Some of them were groaning and holding their heads. Aside from the few Remy had killed with her magic, they all seemed alive.
The queen sat up, rubbing her eyes. Her crown had been knocked to the floor when she fell and she turned, searching for it.
I lifted my staff, ready to fight.
She found her crown and pulled it into her lap, staring at it wide-eyed as if she’d never seen it before. The black tarry goo that had been dripping from it before was gone, leaving the crown a shining white gold.
Sir Braes groaned and slowly got to his feet to look around, stunned. “What…What happened here?”
“That depends.” I inched closer to Finn. He’d fallen over shortly after finishing his spell. “How do you feel about Mask?”
“Mask?” he blinked at me before focusing on Finn. His eyes narrowed. “You.” Sir Braes picked up his sword and stepped toward Finn.
“Stop!” shouted the queen.
Braes froze mid-stride.
The queen stood. “If you hurt him, Sir Braes, you’ll be harming the man responsible for our freedom.”
“You’re no longer under Mask’s control?” I shifted my attention from Braes to the queen.
She smiled and shook her head. “I’m free. We’re all free.”
Remy shook her head and rubbed her eyes. “But…how? I thought you needed all three Speaking Stones to do that, Finn?”
Finn sat up, sweat dripping from his forehead and uncurled both hands. Three stones—red, blue, and green—shone in his palms. He grinned. “Grabbed them from the nearest shadow. Told you I had them somewhere safe only I could reach.”
The High Queen slowly came to stand before me. I took a step back, still worried it might be a trick. She sank to one knee in front of me, head bowed. Sir Breas hurried to mimic the position. One by one, the high fae who’d recovered knelt and bowed their heads.
“I owe you a great debt,” said the queen. “Name it, and it’s yours.”
“Uh…” I rubbed the back of my head. “Right now, I really just need to get back to Earth to help the people there. Your court wasn’t the only one infiltrated by Mask. Summer and Winter have been taken over as well. Don’t send any of your people to either court or they might not come back.”
“Of course.” She rose and folded her hands in front of her.
Remy elbowed me. “We’re going to need an army to retake Summer.”
“What she said.” I jabbed a thumb toward my daughter. “After we kick Mask out of New Orleans, we’re coming back to Faerie to free Summer and Winter. We could use your help. How about it?”
The queen nodded. “You shall have it. Consider it done. You need only send word when the time comes.”
I clapped my hands together. “Great. Now, if you don’t mind, we’ll be on our way. Finn, mind taking us back to Paula’s?”
Finn shook his head. “Using the stones takes a lot out of me. I don’t know that I could transport myself right now, let alone the three of us.”
“Don’t trouble yourself,” said the queen. “We were the first to leave your realm and come here, and as such, we are afforded a special relationship with your world. One of the gifts of the High Fae is our ability to open portals between Faerie and Earth.”
She turned toward the throne, extending both hands out in front of her. The air bent and warped, twisting into a spinning green portal with purple sparks. When she was finished, she stepped back and gestured to the portal. “This will take you back to New Orleans.”
“Thanks, Queen…? I’m sorry. I don’t know your name.”
She smiled warmly. “Everleigh. Queen Everleigh.”
I didn’t know what else to do so I bowed. A handshake hardly seemed appropriate when meeting a queen for the first time.
Introductions and promises of aid completed, I slung one of Finn’s arms over my shoulder and we walked to the portal.
“Three weeks,” I muttered, standing in front of it. “It could’ve been thirty years at home.”
“Or ten minutes,” Remy pointed out. “Time isn’t consistent.”
Finn shrugged. “Or three hundred years. We could walk through this portal and age to dust as soon as we’re on the other side. Well, me and Remy won’t, but you could.”
Remy pinched Finn’s ribs. “Not helping.”
“There’s only one way to find out.” I shifted my grip on Finn’s arm and stepped through the portal.
Chapter Seventeen
We came out near the center of Lafayette Square and scared a little old homeless lady who was sleeping on a bench. She screamed and fainted. I had to check to make sure she was still breathing. Other than being startled, she seemed fine, so we hurried out of the area, just in case someone decided to call the cops.
The sky was bright and pink in the west, which meant sunset. It had been early morning when we went to Faerie, so we’d lost at least a day,
probably more. The first order of business was to find out what day it was. You’d think that’d be easy. On a normal evening in New Orleans, there were stands open everywhere near the square. Hot dog stands, beignet stands, falafels, empanadas, French fries…If you wanted it and it was bad for you, you could buy it on the street near any city park.
Except none of the stands were around, nor were there any people other than the little old lady we’d encountered when we first arrived. Trash blew around in the street and overflowed from uncollected garbage cans. The horse-drawn carriage that was normally in high demand sat at the curb without any horses. It’d been sitting long enough that a spider had built a web over the driver’s seat. Cars lined either side of the road, all of them empty. It looked like we’d just walked into a post-apocalyptic version of New Orleans.
I checked my cell, but the water had ruined it. We’d have to find some other method of contacting Emma…If Emma was even still around.
Don’t think like that. You don’t know anything yet. Anything could’ve happened. I wandered out into the street and paused when a newspaper page blew up against my leg. “Guess it’s our lucky day.” I peeled the paper free and straightened it so I could read the front page.
Remy leaned in closer. “What does it say? What’s the date?”
“October 15th,” I read. “That would’ve been three days after we left. We don’t know if that’s today or sometime in the past, but look?” I held the paper so she could read the headline. In bold letters, it read CITY UNDER MARTIAL LAW, QUARANTINE ENFORCED BY NATIONAL GUARD.
“Damn,” Finn muttered and took the paper. “What’s a containment zone?”
“Probably an area several miles wide around the city,” Remy said. “They would’ve evacuated it to slow the spread of the disease. It’s exactly what I first tried when the Blight started. It didn’t work for me, and it won’t work for them.”
“So is everyone left in the city sick?” I scanned the street again for any sign of life and found none. “Or just hiding?”