Rose's posture stiffened as she regarded her father's fury. “His name is Ragan and he's your grandson. He is loved by more than just me, and all I ask if you allow me to take him home alive. My companions and I were not brought to the Faelands by our own free will, and all we wish to do is return home.”
“The gladiatorial execution is too honorable for your bastard abomination, but our dear King wants to make a show of it.” Spittle flew from Rosnar's mouth and landed upon his beard. He scowled as he stepped off the dais and circled us. He stopped in front of me and his vertical pupils constricted. “Adolescent Satlan human, dragonbound with recent scarring across your cheekbone. You must be Tessen Lim, the child who bested the legendary Foxfae champion Morenno. You are known throughout this realm. Perhaps you should have died on the plains like you were meant to.”
Rosnar slunk to my right to regard Iefyr. “Half-elf. You must be the red-haired archer my eyes in the wilderness told me about. And your little friend here, a gnome is she? No, not a gnome. Worse. Halfling. Strange to see a female away from her nest. I was led to believe a halfling female's only purpose was to birth more of her vermin kind.”
“I do what I want, cat man,” Nador said, her hand on her hip. She smirked and shifted closer to Iefyr.
“Mouthy little rat, aren't you?” Rosnar circled us again, then paced behind the Silverwind elves. “Mountain elves. You are not the same elves as those who originally traveled with this wretched horde. What is your purpose here?”
Kemi swallowed, then said, “We have come to ask for Ragan Vale's life to be spared.”
“The abomination is no concern of yours. Stop meddling and return to your own realm.”
Kai spun on his heels to face Rosnar. His head barely reached the Faeline's chest, so he had to arch his back to look him in the eye. “I am Prince Kailandrian Lightborn, Silverwind of Anthora, and I beseech you to release Ragan Vale to us and allow us safe passage out of the Faelands.”
King Mirabreln threw back his head and laughed. “Liar! Seventh Prince of the Moonlit Peaks, you have no power here. This is my country, elf, and you are trespassing far beyond your bounds. If you are who you claim, your presence here along with that of this kissing whore I assume is your sister constitutes a hostile invasion. Lord Chancellor, as an elected leader this city is under your governance. I have already decided the abomination is to die in the arena tomorrow, but I am leaving the fate of the rest of these intruders to your discretion. What say you, Chancellor? What shall we do with the human-lover and her tiny friends?”
“Let me fight in Ragan's stead. Please,” Rose cried, but neither Rosnar nor the King acknowledged her plea. Tears streamed down her face and she made no move to wipe them away. “Please. Please let him go. If you want blood, take mine. His life is my fault, not his own. Don't punish him for the choice I made when I was nothing more than a child.”
Rosnar stood before us, his back to Rose and his fingertips pressed together in front of his lips. He smiled, flashing his pointed teeth, then turned to face the King. “Your Majesty, there is only one suitable punishment for trespassers such as these. The human-loving mother of abominations and the slayer of Fae are the worst offenders, of course, but the others have harbored and enabled them so they are not innocent, either. They will all fight tomorrow, all six of these, plus the tiny dragon and the abomination. They will face a selection of my champions, for your great honor and entertainment, My Liege. They will certainly all perish, of course, but any who survive will be free to go.”
Pain gripped my chest. I couldn't breathe. Separation pain merged with my own fear to create a maelstrom in my heart. This wasn't what I expected to happen, not at all. I thought the worst possible outcome would be them saying 'No' and executing Ragan. Now they meant to kill us all.
“Excellent,” the King said, his ears rippling. “Give them beautiful deaths. I look forward to the event. I'm especially eager to see the little human fight. He doesn't look like much, a simple flea, but he must be something special if he defeated Morenno. Allow them their own weapons tomorrow, Rosnar. I want to watch a good, bloody fight instead of the usual quick massacre you insult me with.”
“Very good, Your Majesty. You will not be disappointed,” Rosnar said with a bow and a sneer. He straightened his back and held up his staff. “Guards! Take them to the final night gladiatorial chambers. Toss the human-loving whore in with her vile creation so she can explain to it exactly why it deserves to die, and arrange the others as you wish. Riddia, have the attendants feed them and clean them up. Then see if you can find the requisite garb to fit them, especially that insolent little rat. Ask around, perhaps the pysakees have something.”
“Father...” Rose kept her head low and made no move to approach Rosnar. “Don't put them in the arena. Just me. I will fight. Let the rest of them go. Father, please...”
Rosnar spun around and slapped Rose's face, leaving behind a wide purple welt. “How dare you address me like you mean something to me! You died the moment you decided to fornicate with that human boy. I should have killed you then, but misguided mercy told me to leave you there to rot. You are nothing but another pretty lantern to hang in the city I've spent the past twenty years elevating from the vulgar decay forced upon us by the elven monsters of Anthora. You are shame incarnate, and your death tomorrow will bring me nothing but relief.”
A sharp pain exploded in the back of my neck. My knees wobbled and gray spots zipped through my vision. I needed to remain upright or my weakness would be on full display.
Iefyr gripped my elbow and inched closer to me. Kemi slipped a honeyed leaf into my hand. It barely touched my tongue before the gray became black and the floor dropped out from beneath my frigid feet.
Chapter 42
“Tessen? I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm sorry. That didn't go as planned. We pleaded with him more after you fell, but he refused to listen. He's going to commit an act of war for his own entertainment.” Kemi was next to me, close enough to my ear that I felt each of her words as a puff of wind.
I couldn't move or open my eyes, but I was blissfully numb. My heart was steady and neither the pain of being separated from Serida nor my latest fight-to-the-death sentence mattered. I was warm, there was a pillow beneath my head, and everything smelled of jasmine and gardenia. I could die right there and not care.
“What did they shoot him with?” Kai asked. His voice echoed more than it should have.
“A dart, some sort of tranquilizer. I heard one of the guards say to shoot him before he could put up a struggle, and then he went down. I thought he was fainting again until I saw the dart in his neck. They're afraid of him. They should be.”
“Leave him alone until he wakes on his own. If they used a sleepweed tincture he probably feels wonderful.”
“And if it's nocturne vine, he's having nightmares. I think you're right, though. His body is too relaxed for it to be anything but sleepweed. There has to be ice lichen mixed in with it because he's freezing. Get on his other side and help me warm him up,” Kemi said near my ear. A shift in the warmth and pressure along my left side made me realize that she was already lying next to me.
I couldn't understand why she said I was cold. I was warm enough, almost too warm. The lumpy mattress sagged as Kai laid against my right side.
“You're right, he's freezing. Ice lichen and sleepweed. He's in dreamland and can't feel a thing. Lucky. I hope they overdosed him so he sleeps through his own execution.”
“I don't think they did. He twitched when I said his name. He'll probably wake soon, and the pain is going to bury him again once the ice lichen wears off.”
Kai's chest heaved through a sigh. “Well, at least the dragon will step into the arena oblivious. Our dragons already know. Do you hear them screaming out there?”
“Yes, I hear them. I feel them even louder.” Kemi reached across me to touch Kai's shoulder. “No matter what happens tomorrow, we're going to fight and we're going to survive. We have to. If we
die, he's going to–”
“He's been waiting for an excuse to go to war, and this is more than he needs.”
“I know. I don't want it to be our fault.”
“I don't either, but you know the prophesy. It was never our fault, but we were always the catalyst and now he has the Spellkeeper. Eclipse Spellkeeper. I don't think he knows where the others are, but that doesn't matter because he has the most important one. You know what could happen if he finds the others, if he bring them together...”
“I didn't think it would be this soon, if at all. I thought we had more time before–”
Back to sleep, back to the dream. Grass, just grass, blowing in the breeze and tickling my fingertips. Sleep and forget, sleep and feel nothing, sleep and wake somewhere I belong.
∆∆∆
The pain woke me what felt like a short time later. Kai and Kemi were still at my sides and the heat they radiated sent sharp tingles flying down both of my arms and into my fingertips. My chest and shoulder joints were on fire. How was I supposed to survive tomorrow when I could barely breathe or move my arms?
The answer to that question was easy. I wasn't supposed to survive. None of us were.
I slowly opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling. I was on my back on a mattress set directly on a stone floor. There was no other furniture in the stucco-walled room and no adornments aside from a brass chamberpot in the corner and a small humanoid skull serving as a lantern above it. A barred slit of a window was cut high into the wall above my head. The light was low and tinted pink and orange. Sunset. This day was nearly over. I hoped the slit window would allow for enough moonlight to connect with Serida one last time. I wasn't giving up and I would fight until I couldn't anymore, but I didn't think willpower would be enough to save any of us.
Kai's back was to me and his long hair tickled my bare arm. I'd lost my jacket somewhere between the audience chamber and the stark cell, and I didn't see any of my belongings in the room so I assumed it had been confiscated with the rest. Lumin was curled into a tight ball between my feet. I wiggled my toes, brushing them against his flank. My feet were bare and my boot knife was gone.
“This is nicer than Ragan's cell. Less moldy,” I said. My voice was distant and hollow.
Kemi startled and Kai sat upright. He pushed his hair behind his ears and said, “You're awake. I don't know if that's good. How do you feel?”
“Like my ribcage got stepped on by an Elefae.” I bent my knees but remained on my back. “Such a strange pain. I know I'm not injured, but my heart is screaming that there's something wrong.”
“They took the lemon balm. I'm sorry.” Kemi made no move to sit upright as she shifted her hand from my shoulder to my heart. “I can still work spells on you, but they won't be as effective.”
“I think I'm starting to get used to it.” I winced as a lightning bolt zapped my sternum, then dissipated into a nondescript ache before condensing and rising again. “No. Never mind. Where is everyone else? Do you know?”
Kai shook his head. “Rose is with Ragan and I think Iefyr and Nador are together, but I don't know where any of them are. They were going to put you by yourself, but I convinced them to put the three of us together. I told them it was the only way you'd be able to fight like you did on the steppes, and that's what they want to see. They can't figure out how you did it.”
“Sheer luck.” I pulled my arm away from Kemi so I could stretch my arms toward the ceiling. The tiny jolts in my shoulder joints reverberated through my upper arms, but it was tolerable for the moment. Kai twirled a strand of hair between his fingers. If we were going to die anyway, perhaps it was time he told me the truth. “Are you really a Lightborn or was that some desperate attempt to sway the Fae King?”
Kai let go of his hair and rubbed the back of his neck. “We're Lightborns. Silverwind is a title, not a name.”
“So you lied to me before? You are Liantor's children?”
Kemi sat fully upright but kept her hand on my heart. “No. He's our brother. Our parents are Nylian and Lyssandra, same as his.”
“Your father is the High King?” I asked. After noting Kai's strong resemblance to Liantor, I had no reason to doubt them. I'd suspected they were more closely related than distant cousins, but I hadn't expected Kai and Kemi to be children of the High King himself.
“Yes,” Kemi whispered. Her fingers trembled against my chest. “Our proper names are Kembriana and Kailandrian. Our father has younger children with his other two wives, but we're his youngest children by Queen Consort Lyssandra, their eighth and ninth. We didn't want to tell you before because we knew you'd trust us even less, but we're running out of time.”
“You're risking your lives because you wanted to help a stranger you've never laid eyes upon. I trust you, even if Iefyr still doesn't.”
“That stranger may still have a part to play in this world.” Kai stood and looked up at the window. “There are stories in the archives that are either history or prophesy, or possibly both. As the silver stars fall from the sky to incite war, a child of two worlds ignites the eventide beacon, signaling the end of this age and the foundation of the next.”
“Well, even if it's prophesy, that could be almost any of us, or none of us.” I pressed my palms into the lumpy straw mattress and sat forward. My head wasn't as unstable as I expected and the ache in my neck lessened. “Ragan, Iefyr, Shan, my baby sister Zinnia—all half-bloods, all children of two worlds. My other sister, Yana, is an Uldru born underground and now growing beneath the sky. Rose was also born in one world and came of age in another. Nador chose to leave halfling customs behind in favor of creating her own path, so in some ways she's of two worlds. Serida and Lumin are being raised by people instead of by dragons. Hell, I fit the description, though not as well as the others. I'm the son of a lower caste orphan and a merchant class mercenary. I've always felt like I don't belong to my own world, and even more so now since I'm trying to reconcile my expectation of being an average, boring silversmith with this new reality of being dragonbound.”
Kemi's eyes widened and her vertical pupils dilated. “You're a silversmith?”
“Apprentice. I had two years left in my apprenticeship, but it doesn't seem like I'll be able to finish it. Even if I survive tomorrow, I don't think I'll be able to go back to the Jade Realm. Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Gold is the dragon and silver are the hands . . . damn it, I can't remember the rest of it.”
Kai's posture stiffened as he continued to watch the clouds shift across the fading light. “Gold is his dragon and silver are his hands, and silver is the rain that drips from the moon to run down the mounts, and red is the blood at his feet. Light fades with the night and gold is the dawn rising from beneath. At kingdom's death comes new dawn's light, when children of silver and children of darkness take flight.”
Kemi pursed her lips and glanced at the wall. “That's it. I couldn't remember it properly. It's part of The Sibyl Augury. Other things in the book have already come to pass.”
I yawned, then said, “Maybe that's because history goes around and around in circles because people never learn from their mistakes. Maybe the events only appear to line up because the descriptions in the book were vague enough to apply to almost anything. 'Child of two worlds', for example. Maybe the book is only a collection of fanciful prose written by a poetic fortuneteller.”
“Perhaps.” Kai turned his head so he could meet Kemi's eyes, then he arched his back and returned his attention to the window. “The dragons will fight with us tomorrow. That may improve our chances. Kemi and I are trained in combat, and I know you and the others are, too. There may be a chance some of us will survive this.”
“If we work together, maybe we all will.”
Kai buried his face in his hands. “Rose told us you were habitually optimistic. It's irritating. Be realistic, will you?”
“I–”
The door swung open before I had the chance to tell him that my optim
ism was based in reality and not fanciful hope.
Four Butterfae crowded into the cell, buckets and cloth bundles in their arms. Their antennae twitched and colorful wings drooped from their bare shoulders like diaphanous capes.
The largest Butterfae set down her bucket and crossed her arms over her ample chest. “We're here to give you a proper cleanup for the tournament. Struggle and you will be punished. Cooperate and we'll bring you a hearty meal when we're finished.”
Lumin growled, then scurried into the shadows behind the chamberpot. A second Butterfae dropped her cloth bundle next to him and produced what appeared to be a toolkit.
The third Butterfae knelt next to Kemi on the mattress. She ran her fingertips along the length of Kemi's hair, then reached across Kemi to touch mine. “They do have lovely hair, don't they?”
The large Butterfae uncrossed her arms and tapped her foot on the floor. “The artisans will make good use of it. Maybe they can combine the black with the red and silver from the other two we cleaned. Wouldn't that be lovely? Combined it would make a striking woven locket or bangle.”
The Butterfae tittered in agreement.
Kemi stiffened and held her breath. She must have figured out the same thing I just had. The Butterfae were going to cut off our hair. It would be far worse for the elves than it was for me. An elf's long hair was a sign of status and even lower class elves kept their hair long to emulate the aristocracy. That was why Daelis returning from the underground with short hair and then choosing to keep it short caused such a stir among the Jadeshire highborn. He was abandoning an ages-old tradition and the elves viewed it as nothing short of a scandalous rejection of his own heritage.
Kai sighed deeply, then sat down in front of a Butterfae. He shook his head as he fixed his half-closed eyes upon Kemi. “Don't fight it. It will grow back.”
“Not if you're dead,” the large Butterfae said, giggling. “Last bath, last sleep, last meal, and away you go into the hells beyond this life.”
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