Baron

by Plum Pascal

  “There aren’t any wards in the stone.” He glances up the narrow staircase. “I don’t even sense a door at the top of these stairs.” He faces Cambion. “Only two demon guards and one easily opened lock to ensure the prison of the Midnight Queen?”

  “Either she didn’t prove much of a threat or whoever attempted to rescue her before us didn’t,” Baron responds with a shrug.

  “Whatever the reason, I don’t care. Let’s just get to her,” Cambion answers, shoving past Dragan and starting for the stairs. Dragan is quick behind him and Baron rushes past me as I continue to try and battle the Succubus for control. Allowing the Succubus out was a risky venture and it’s proven near impossible to bottle her back up again.

  The sound of my footfalls echoes through the tower. I’m the last one to take the staircase and Flumph flits around my head. I’m nervous. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because I’m about to meet the Midnight Queen—the woman responsible for keeping me safe all this time. The woman whose voice I’ve been hearing in my head all along. The woman who will be able to answer all the questions I have. I just hope I don’t disappoint her.

  Baron turns around once he reaches the top of the stairs and comes back down, passing me on his way.

  “What are you doing?” I ask.

  “We should have barricaded the door,” he responds. I glance down the flight of stairs to where Baron stands on the ground floor, facing the door. Then I watch him as he reaches inside the leather sack of potions around his waist and pulls out a vial of something I can’t make out. He simply dumps the vial on the door and whatever was inside it singes the stone floor, creating a wall of fog that surrounds the door.

  My heart pounds in my chest as I crest the top of the stairs, Baron, right behind me. Dragan was correct—there isn’t another door at the top of the stairs, just a room. Crimson curtains flutter as the wind blows through an open window. Gilded molding frames the tops and bottoms of the walls, nearly outdone by the beauty of the marble floors.

  The smell of lilies and vanilla tickles my nose as I scan the room, taking in its opulence. Standing against the far wall, with the light of the pale moon illuminating her profile, is a beautiful woman. She doesn’t turn to face us right away, but continues gazing out of her window. When she does finally turn toward us, I’m taken aback by her large and expressive eyes.

  “The Midnight Queen,” someone says but I don’t know who. I can’t concentrate on anything other than this regal figure before me.

  I can’t draw my eyes away from her. Her alabaster skin glistens in the faint light, causing the cascade of dark waves down her back to appear even darker. She smiles at each of the men before her attention falls on me and I feel the weight of her expression crushing me.

  It’s her.

  It’s the Midnight Queen.

  Morrigan.

  I feel myself curtseying in her direction as I catch the light that reflects off her jeweled crown. The jewels are of every color of the rainbow and they sparkle from her crown, somehow paling in comparison to her own beauty. I find myself entranced by her.

  She stands and walks over to me, ignoring the others. The purple, velvet robes that drape from her shoulders reveal a tall, lean body with the curves of a goddess. In comparison to her otherworldly glory, I feel inadequate in my maid’s outfit.

  The Midnight Queen wraps her arms around my shoulders and she smiles broadly, taking me in from head to toe.

  “Eilish,” she whispers. Then she just stares at me and smiles as she holds me at arm’s length.

  “Morrigan,” I say in a such a small voice, I wonder if she even hears me.

  I feel her warmth surround me and I sigh. It takes me another few seconds to realize I haven’t had to fight the Succubus for the last few moments. It’s as though she’s as much in awe by this vision of a woman as I am.

  “I am so pleased to finally meet you, Eilish.”

  ###

  Dragan

  The Castle in the Sky

  It’s been a long time since I’ve laid eyes on the Midnight Queen.

  Years.

  Decades.

  I’ve lost count.

  But, now, as I look at her… I’m not sure how I feel or how I should feel.

  She appears... well cared for despite her status as a prisoner in Variant’s palace. I’m surprised by this and also not surprised. Even if she is Variant’s prisoner, he’s treated her with the respect she deserves.

  I come to stand beside Eilish, and that’s when Morrigan turns her gaze on me. She just stands there for a few moments as she takes me in and I return the expression. Then without any warning, she pulls me into an awkward embrace. Tears sparkle in her eyes and I feel a bitter sense of rebellion in my gut.

  I’m not happy to see her and I don’t share the same joy she does.

  I can’t explain why.

  But, as the seconds tick by, I begin to take more notice of the prison surrounding us. The tower is nothing like the hole in the ground where we found ourselves. In fact, the Midnight Queen has a perfect view of the gardens below her. There appears to be nothing keeping her from escaping. Not even bars on the windows.

  Cambion steps forward and Morrigan immediately envelops him in a warm embrace. He returns it and his smile is broad. I can’t remember the last time I witnessed Cambion smiling. I notice that Revenant remains at the entrance of the room, making no motion to step forward. I glance back at him and realize his jaw is tight. His eyes are even tighter.

  I face Morrigan again.

  “How were you taken prisoner?” I hear myself ask her.

  The Midnight Queen ducks her head in shame as she inhales deeply. “Theren and Variant. They used their magic to bind my powers.”

  “Bind your powers?” Eilish repeats, her expression revealing nothing but concern and empathy.

  Morrigan faces her then and nods. “I have no power left.”

  “Then that’s how Variant has kept you here for so long?” I ask. I can’t help the suspicion in my tone. I just thought it impossible to steal magic from the Midnight Queen.

  She faces me and nods again. “I am kept in this prison with no bars and no locks, save for the one guarding the door. I’m left to overlook the gardens and to dream of escape, but all the while realizing there is no escape when my magic has been stripped from me.”

  “When were you taken prisoner?” Revenant demands from behind me. His tone is similar to mine—only more condescending and more suspicious.

  Morrigan turns her attention to him and her smile is wide. “Revenant,” she whispers and takes a step forward. He holds up his hand to keep her at bay. She appears surprised at his less-than-friendly reaction to her. Her eyebrows arch as her eyes narrow and her mouth tightens.

  “When were you taken prisoner?” he repeats, this time more firmly.

  “Not long after Baron… not long after you were killed,” she answers. “I thought... I’ve thought all of you were dead,” she finishes as she looks at each of us in turn and her expression is one of hope mixed with relief.

  “Dead?” I repeat, unable to shroud my surprise.

  She nods. “I had no way of knowing what was really happening beyond the walls of this… miserable place. Of course, Variant never informed me what the truth of the situation was.”

  “But you knew of Eilish and you were able to reach out to her?” Revenant demands as he walks forward and stands beside the angel. “You spoke to Eilish in her mind, just like you’ve spoken to me, so wouldn’t it follow that you knew none of us was dead?”

  “I have not been able to speak to Eilish for quite a while,” Morrigan answers, her tone suddenly firm. “I worried what had happened to her, just as I worried what had happened to all of you.”

  “Why did you lose touch with her?” Revenant continues, spearing her with his gaze. He wraps his arms against his chest and regards her coolly.

  “I can’t say for certain though I thought Silvanus had something to do with it,” she answers.
>
  “Silvanus?” Eilish repeats but then I watch as she swallows down whatever was about to come out of her mouth. Instead, she glances down at her feet and I have the feeling she’s keeping something to herself.

  “You seem upset with me, Revenant,” Morrigan says as she faces Baron.

  “Upset is an extreme simplification of my feelings towards you.”

  “Out with them then,” she says with a quirk of her brow. “You’ve never been shy about your opinions. No need to start now. I know you must have many questions.”

  “We have no time for a game of questions and answers,” he responds icily before facing her again. “But I must admit there are a few topics I am curious about.”

  “Such as?”

  “Why did you allow Variant to kill me? And why don’t you tell Eilish why you wiped her memory?”

  “Revenant!” Eilish whispers, her eyes becoming wide at Revenant’s audacity. But, he doesn’t seem interested in her surprise.

  “Well, I can tell you that I didn’t allow Variant to kill you,” Morrigan responds.

  “Yet you possess the gift of telepathy?” Revenant asks.

  She nods. “It’s true that I can see the future, but I’m not all-seeing. My prophecies aren’t always clear and they constantly change. I did not know that Variant would stab you, or else I would have stopped it from happening.”

  “And Eilish’s memories?” he demands.

  “I was not the one who took them.”

  “Then who did?” Revenant barks.

  Morrigan shakes her head. “I don’t know, but I hope to help you figure it out,” she sighs as she faces each of us in turn. “Is that why you’ve come here, then? To get answers?” There’s something odd about her demeanor—she seems defensive.

  “No,” Eilish responds as she looks at Morrigan and shakes her head. “We came to rescue you, to free you from Variant.”

  The Midnight queen steps away from us and returns to her position beside the window, where we found her when we first walked into this room.

  Flumph flies up to my shoulder. Surprisingly, I don’t swat the insufferable creature. From my peripheral vision, I can see him scowling at the Midnight Queen. “Why I get the feelin’ she don’t wanna come with us?” he whispers into my ear.

  I nod my head subtly because I had a similar thought. Especially when the Midnight Queen moves to sit on her bed, looking up at us as though we’re strangers.

  “Coming here was very dangerous,” she starts.

  “It was,” Revenant responds.

  She nods and then exhales. “I wouldn’t feel comfortable knowing you made such a sacrifice for me when there’s nothing I can do to help you.”

  “How can you say that?” Cambion asks, shaking his head as he takes a step forward. Morrigan turns to look at him and he stops advancing.

  “You want my help in defeating Variant, do you not?” she demands, her expression harsh. “Putting an end to his reign of terror?” The air of superiority in her tone makes me see red for a moment.

  “Reign of terror?” I repeat. “Then you were aware of what has been happening at Variant’s hands?”

  “As much as I’m able to learn from this gilded cage,” she responds.

  “Then you admit to turning a blind eye to the suffering that’s been occurring in Variant’s name?” Revenant continues.

  “I admit to nothing but survival,” she responds in an icy tone. “You saw the lock on my door, but you fail to see the wards in this room because they were not spelled for your eyes to see,” she insists. “This is a prison of my own making.”

  “How is that?” I demand.

  “Because the very power that keeps me hostage flows in my blood,” she answers and it’s the first time I notice the cold depths of her eyes. “Variant bleeds me of my strength and uses that strength to his advantage. I have no control over it or him.”

  “You are a powerful being,” Revenant begins, shaking his head as if to say he doesn’t believe her words. “You’re able to see the past as well as the future.”

  “Yes,” she nearly interrupts him. “And I’ve seen what Variant has done in snippets, in visions whenever they choose to come to me. I’ve seen the plunder and witnessed it from this room,” she continues as she faces the prison around her with an expression of defeat. “And I’ve attempted to council him, to get Variant to see reason, but he is lost.” She shakes her head as she pauses.

  “And you, of all people, could not help him find his way back to sanity?” I ask, hearing the doubt in my own voice.

  “Variant is not the man he once was. His power is exceedingly stronger—and it grows stronger still as he zaps me of my own.”

  “We don’t have time to discuss this now,” Revenant says. “We’re on borrowed time as it is.”

  “Yes,” Cambion says. “We can discuss this once we’ve safely returned to the Veil.”

  “I can’t leave,” Morrigan says as she faces us each and shakes her head.

  “Can’t leave?” Eilish repeats, her eyes wide pools of confusion.

  “The wards in this room would destroy me as soon as I attempted to escape them,” Morrigan explains.

  “Then you’ve already attempted escape?” I ask.

  She faces me with regret. “Of course, I’ve already attempted it.”

  “Well, we can’t just leave you here?” Eilish asks.

  Morrigan nods but drops her gaze to the floor below her. “Yes, you have no other choice.”

  “We came all this fucking way,” Revenant starts and his eyes are furious. “We risked our lives.”

  “And you continue to risk your lives,” Morrigan fires back at him, her eyes narrowed and angry. “Which is why you must leave as quickly as you can.”

  Eilish moves closer to the mysterious woman and sits beside her, ignorant to the hesitance in all of our eyes. None of us trusts Morrigan—the truth is in our body language, our tone of voice and the way we look at her. But, Eilish does believe her. She trusts the Midnight Queen, though I’m not certain why.

  “There must be a way,” Eilish says.

  “You,” Morrigan says as she gives Eilish a smile. “You are the way, but the way is not ready yet.”

  “I don’t understand,” Eilish says and shakes her head.

  “You are Succubus and you are angel. Light and dark in one vessel,” Morrigan says. I don’t like the term, “vessel,” as though Eilish isn’t a person, but an object.

  “But what does that have to do,” Eilish starts but Morrigan interrupts her.

  “You are the living manifestation of the equilibrium, the balance of all things,” she continues.

  “The balance?” Eilish repeats, clearly lost.

  Morrigan nods. “But, you must maintain that balance.”

  “How?” Eilish asks.

  “If you feed from darkness, then you will become darkness. If you feed from the light, then you will become light. But if one outweighs the other, chaos ensues,” Morrigan responds.

  “We need to leave,” Cambion says and faces me with concern.

  SEVENTEEN

  Cambion

  The Castle in the Sky

  Morrigan looks at me with apprehension in her startling gaze. I remember the last time I spoke with her. It was over one hundred years ago.

  We stood within the Temple of Desolation and drew on the ethers. Even then, Morrigan’s power amazed me. But here in this room, I don’t recognize the being I once looked up to for guidance.

  Morrigan was always a cunning sorceress, a self-proclaimed deity, and she was capable of seeing millennia into the future. Is it possible that my brother and Variant found a way of syphoning the power of the Midnight Queen? Is it possible that Variant and Theren grew powerful enough to usurp control of the Midnight Queen? To force her to bow to them rather than the other way around?

  Yes, I believe it is possible.

  Probable? Not exactly.

  “What happened to Abedon? He was your guard, your right hand,
” I say.

  Sadness creeps into Morrigan’s gaze as she fidgets with the sleeve of her gown. “He was killed.”

  “Killed?” Dragan repeats, disbelief and shock warring in his tone. Abedon was almost as powerful as the Midnight Queen, herself. Thus, Dragan’s surprise is understandable.

  She nods. “Killed by Variant and Theren.”

  “How?” I ask.

  She shakes her head. “I do not have the time to enter into long conversations and neither do you. You are already on borrowed time, as it is,” she finishes but then noticing the question in all of our eyes, she takes a deep breath before responding. “Suffice to say, I will never forgive myself for what has happened to the realms. But I fear without my power, I am useless in this fight. It is best to leave me here.”

  We’re running out of time, but there’s no way we can force Morrigan to do anything she doesn’t wish to do. With or without her power, the Midnight Queen is not a being any of us have the strength to take on and win. Her determination alone makes her dangerous. And we need her as an ally, not an enemy.

  “Morrigan, may I speak with you for a moment?” I ask politely. There was a time when I would have considered her my mentor and my friend. I rely on that old bond now. She nods and leads me to the far side of the room, the side overlooking the gardens below. She pulls the wooden shutters closed, to hide me from view of those below… if there is anyone below.

  Her hands tremble as she takes hold of mine and breathes deeply.

  “When we were at the temple a long time ago,” I begin. “You spoke of a day of reckoning. You spoke of a day you witnessed in a vision. I need to know if that day came on the wings of the war or if that day has yet to come.”

  “There is always a day of reckoning, Cambion,” she insists. “When one day passes, there is another on the horizon shortly after. Destruction and pain is simply a way of life.”

  I frown. “That isn’t an answer and you know it.”

  “Perhaps not, but it’s all I have at the moment,” she replies. “I’ve been in this tower since Baron’s death. I’ve tried to reach those who are able to listen, those like Eilish and Revenant. But I had no idea any of them had truly heard me until I saw Eilish walk up that staircase.” She grows quiet for a few seconds as she eyes the staircase in question. “My power was all but depleted by Theren and Variant,” she says as she looks up at me, her eyes imploring. “But what little strength I still have left is muffled by the wards in this room.” She takes a deep breath. “As much as I wish I could accompany you to freedom, I know I cannot.”