by Linsey Hall
The king and queen nodded briefly, but were clearly bored by her. They didn’t think she was powerful enough to merit attention, if I were reading them right.
Royalty. Blinded by their own power.
“When do you think the darkness possessed you?” I asked. The timeline of this whole thing was confusing. The first Great Burning had occurred thousands of years ago. I’d had a vision of myself walking across the land surrounded by flame. In a previous life, I’d caused the fire to roar across Dartmoor.
But then what?
This darkness had risen more recently, but I could feel that it was ancient.
“I could feel the change shortly before you battled the darkness at the Tor of the Ancients,” the king said. “It grew stronger afterward.”
I thought back. “So it infected you at the same time it went inside of me.”
“It seems that way,” the king said. “One last grasp for power.”
“But things started changing, starting ten, fifteen years ago,” the queen said. “It’s hard to say when exactly, but I remember it.”
I shared a glance with Connor. That was within the time frame of when we’d been forced to leave. Maybe a coincidence, maybe not. But there was a lot more here.
“What do you mean by ‘change’?” I said.
“We became aware of it then,” the king said. “The sun began to shine more dimly here, even at the height of summer. The light left the eyes of many of the Fire Fae after that.”
So the problem was worse than I knew.
“Darkness lurks,” the queen says. “It has always lurked. We have records that say it became stronger several hundred years ago. It grew again ten years ago, enough so that we could actually see the effects.”
“And you told no one?” Iain frowned. “Asked no one for help?”
“At first, we didn’t realize anything was terribly wrong,” the queen said. “Yes, it was darker and people were discontent. It was like a quiet depression that creeps up on you. It starts so subtly that that it seems like nothing. You don’t realize until it’s too late.”
The analogy was a bit apt, except for the fact that this wasn’t sitting on the couch watching the Hallmark channel and eating Cheetos for a month. It couldn’t be fixed with therapy and medicine.
“And who would we ask for help?” the king said. “We are the most powerful in this realm, and we tried to fix it. Our seers tried to address it. But nothing.”
“We couldn’t ask you,” the queen said. “You planned for years to sacrifice our Savior.” She nodded to me.
Iain frowned, but said nothing. We were past that now, but the memory wasn’t a good one.
“And we didn’t know it would become this bad,” the king said.
In a sense, I could see where they were coming from. They didn’t realize that this was the catalyst for the Great Burning. I hadn’t told them that my past self had caused it, and I certainly hadn’t mentioned that the darkness inside me was egging me on to start it again. There were other organizations in the world that would help them—the Undercover Protectorate, for one. But they were unlikely to cross realms to seek that help.
“Do you have a plan?” the queen asked.
“I need the Crown of Truth,” I said. “A seer has prophesied that it will help me banish the darkness and defeat it.”
The king’s frown deepened. “That was stolen from our people long ago.”
“Stolen?” What the hell? “By who?”
“We do not know,” the queen said.
“How did they get it out of the castle? Out of our realm?” I asked.
“Was it an inside job?” Iain asked.
“We have no idea.” The queen’s brow creased. “It was nearly four hundred years ago. We weren’t there.”
“They tried to get it back though, right?” I asked.
The king nodded. “From what I understand, there were recovery attempts. Several. But they never managed, and we now have no idea where it is.”
I looked at Cass and raised a brow. She nodded, then looked at the king and queen. “Your royal highnesses, if you don’t mind me asking a question?”
The king nodded.
“Where was the crown stored? Can I visit that place? There is a good chance that I can track the crown if I can know more about it. Perhaps even see a painting of it?”
Her gift required a bit of gasoline in the form of knowledge.
The queen nodded. “We can take you to the vault where the royal treasures are stored. The pedestal is still there, untouched.” Her gaze moved to me. “But what do you plan to do with it?”
“Put it on? I’m honestly not sure what exactly is supposed to happen, but the seer Aethelred has prophesied that there is meant to be a great battle soon. It will be our chance to defeat the darkness once and for all—but if we want to have any chance of succeeding, I need to see whatever the Crown of Truth is meant to show me. I need to drive the darkness from myself.”
The queen’s lips pinched. “You must be careful if you find it. It is a dangerous object. The truth is not always a good thing.”
“But in this case, I think it’s something we need to face,” I said. “I see no other way.”
She nodded. “I cannot argue with that.”
“This battle,” the king said. “I assume we need to provide forces for it?”
“If it actually happens, yes,” I said. “I hope to stop it, though.”
“See that you do.” The queen’s gaze flicked to the guards who were still asleep on the ground. “When will they rise?”
“Soon,” Connor said. “Less than thirty minutes. There’s a freezing potion on the hallways leading to the main atrium. I can deactivate that at any time.”
The queen nodded. “Do that, and we’ll take you to the vault.”
Iain and Cass stiffened next to me. They were outsiders here—more so than me and Connor, who weren’t exactly the inner circle anyway—so of course they didn’t like the idea of unfreezing all the guards.
The king seemed to notice their irritation. “If you prefer that they stay frozen until you leave, that is an option as well.” He dragged a hand over his face. “Having felt this curse inside of me, I know what we are up against. And I trust Caera. She is here to help, so we wouldn’t betray her. This isn’t a trap.”
Iain looked at me, a question in his eyes.
I pursed my lips, debating. There was so much at stake… “I still fight the darkness within me,” I said. “It’s weaker, but it’s there. You may find that you don’t have the control you think you do.” I didn’t want us to get down into the vault and have the darkness take control of the king again. If his guards were all released from their frozen state, we’d be trapped. Connor’s potion should buy us enough time, but that was no guarantee.
The king nodded sharply. “I understand. We will escort you ourselves. When you depart, you can release the guards.”
It was a good compromise. “Thank you.”
“Come.” The queen stood. “Let’s finish this.”
The king joined her, and the four of us followed them from the room. They led us down the hallway toward the main atrium. I stepped into the huge space. The other four hallways were still frozen, the guards suspended in midair.
“Impressive,” the king said. “We cannot enter those halls?”
“Not without unfreezing them,” Connor said. “Or we’ll be trapped as well.”
“Come, we can go around.” The queen strode toward the main door and out into the cool night air. Stars twinkled above, and the fires burning within the castle walls gleamed a bright orange against the darkness.
She led us down the path that skirted around the castle, taking us to a sturdy looking metal door that was manned by two guards. Each wore a suit of black chain mail and carried a flaming pike. They bowed low, then opened the door.
She led us into a narrow hallway, turning back to explain, “These were once the dungeons, but it’s a cellar now.”
The hallway twisted and turned, snaking deeper below the castle. This far down, the walls were no longer made of flaming glass like the rest of the castle. Instead, they were sturdy black stone lit by sconces burning with faerie light.
At one point, the comms charm around Cass’s neck emitted a muffled voice that I thought belonged to Del. She fell back and whispered into it. A few moments later, she joined me and whispered in my ear. “Nix and Del have alerted as many people as we know and our forces are growing.”
My heart clutched. I hated the idea of a battle to come. All of those people putting themselves at risk…
I steeled myself against the thought. I would stop this battle. It would never have to happen.
Cass whispered low. “They’ve said they are trying to seek the location of the final battle. They want to get the lay of the land. If it must happen, we want to be prepared.”
I couldn’t argue with that. I squeezed her hand. “Thank you.”
A few minutes later, after we’d wound our way deep underground and passed several more guards, the queen stopped at a door that was made entirely of black flame. I was still fifteen feet away, but the heat was so intense that it felt like it burned my face. I winced and backed up a few steps.
The queen continued on, thrusting her hand into the black flames, not even flinching. The king lingered back with us, watching his wife command the door to stop burning.
It disappeared, and the horrible heat died down. She stepped into the room, and we followed.
Magical signatures billowed from the room, all types and strengths. When I stepped inside the circular space, I nearly gasped. The walls were covered in red flame, but it wasn’t hot like the black flame had been. Pedestals were scattered throughout the space, all of them topped with gorgeous pieces of jewelry and weapons. Each was enchanted, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I wanted to have my pick of the lot.
My gaze snagged on a Wayfinder similar to the one that I’d used to find the Daughters of Danu, but before I could stop to inspect it, the queen was gesturing us toward the far wall.
We joined her at a pedestal that was empty. The blue velvet cushion looked new, as if the crown had been put there only last week and stolen yesterday. Fae magic, I was sure.
Cass stepped up to it, then looked at the queen. “May I touch?”
The queen nodded.
Cass touched the velvet cushion, closing her eyes. Her magic flared briefly, and she frowned. “I’m getting a bit of something.”
“Will this help?” The queen thrust a small portrait in front of her.
Cass opened her eyes and looked at it, then smiled. “Could do.”
Cass took the painting. I leaned over her shoulder to look at the woman standing in the portrait. The picture had to be hundreds of years old, from the look of the woman’s voluminous gown and ornate hair. The frame was ancient, the gold dull. But it was the crown on her head that caught my eye.
Delicate and gold, it was studded with small red gems that seemed to gleam with internal fire.
I looked up at the queen. “Is this one of your ancestors?”
“Very far back, yes.”
I looked at Cass. “Well?”
She grinned at me. “I know where we need to go.”
Relief flared inside me. “Perfect. Let’s get out of here.”
“Bring it back,” the queen said. “The crown. If you find it.”
My gaze moved to the lonely blue velvet cushion. It definitely needed its crown back. “I will.”
7
After Cass had collected all the information she could, we left the underground room. When we reached the main atrium, Connor removed the freezing charm. The guards dropped to the ground, shaken and confused, and the king and queen escorted us to the courtyard.
“Where is the crown, exactly?” the queen asked Cass.
“South of here.” Cass gave a weak smile. “On the earthly realm.”
Lying. She was definitely lying. But the queen couldn’t tell. She appeared satisfied.
“We’ll be going now,” I said. “If there’s to be a battle…”
“We’ll be ready,” the king said.
I nodded, then turned. My companions followed, and the four of us left, walking down the path to the portal that led back to the earthly realm. People stared out of their houses at us as we passed, whispers flying. I couldn’t make out the words, but it was clear that people were confused.
They weren’t used to seeing me here.
Get used to it.
When this was all over, I would be free of the burden of fighting the darkness and could return anytime.
We crossed through the portal to the human realm, and I turned to Iain.
He held out his hand to me, and I gripped him tightly. A small shiver ran up my arm, but I ignored it. Cass took Connor’s hand, and her magic flared on the air. Iain’s signature joined hers. As the ether sucked me in, I took one last look at the castle and the village, hoping that I’d be strong enough—smart enough—to save it.
From myself.
I tried to shove the thought away. If all of this went wrong, I’d be the one burning Dartmoor. It wouldn’t matter that the darkness made me do it. Everything would be dead and ash.
The ether pulled me away, spinning me through space and spitting me out at the edge of an old oak forest.
Cass and Connor were already there, and I turned to her. “Where are we, really?”
“You could tell I was lying to the queen?”
I nodded. “You don’t fully trust her?”
Cass shook her head. “She’s probably fine, but there’s too much at stake. We can’t be too careful.”
I nodded. “Couldn’t agree more. So where are we?”
“North Devon, near the coast. The crown is still several miles farther north, I think, but this is as close as I can safely get us via the ether. We’ll need to approach on foot from here.”
Puka appeared a moment later. She tilted her head to the left and sniffed deeply, her black eyes glinting with worry. Something smells off here. Do you smell that?
I inhaled. “No. Everything smells normal. Like a forest. Trees and dirt and all that.”
No. It’s more. Wait here.
She trotted off through the trees, fluffy tail held high, and the others looked at me quizzically.
“What’s up with Puka?” Connor asked.
“She smells something off.”
Cass, who had started to walk after Puka, stopped dead in her tracks. “Off?”
As if to answer her question, a great geyser of steam emitted from the forest floor about twenty feet away. Puka made a yipping noise and jumped into the air, shifting into a white owl. She swooped back to me, landing at my feet and shifting back into her russet fox form.
That’s what I was talking about. Those geysers are everywhere.
“How do we know where to walk?”
She grimaced. You don’t. You need a ride. Someone who knows the area.
A ride? I looked between my friends. We could fly, except that I was terrible with my wings and Connor still didn’t have his. I translated what Puka had said to them, since they couldn’t hear her.
“The ride should be a native to this forest, I assume?” Iain asked.
Yes.
“Yes.” I repeated Puka’s confirmation.
“I’ll see what I can do.” Iain walked slowly to the nearest tree, clearly trying to avoid setting off any geysers. He pressed his palm flat to the bark, closing his eyes. His magic flared on the air, and a breeze kicked up.
It carried with it the scent of the sea, and I looked at Cass. “Are we that close to the ocean, or is that Iain’s magic?”
“Maybe both, because we are quite close to the sea.”
Something rustled in the bushes about thirty feet away, and Puka spun quickly to look, her gaze alert.
I squinted into the foliage, catching sight of antlers sticking up above the leaves. Four stags stepped from the bushes.
Iain removed his hand from the tree trunk and turned to look at the stags. “They aren’t Fae stags, but they know the forest and are willing to help.”
Being able to call stags was a useful Fae talent that I’d never mastered. They were one of the guardian animals of our species, and the connection between Fae and stag was a strong one.
The animals strolled gracefully up to us, their coats gleaming under the moonlight. I walked toward the closest one, holding my hand out so that it could sniff me. The creature snuffled against my palm, then lowered its head for a pet. I gave it a scratch on the top of the head, then said, “Thanks for the ride.”
The stag shifted to stand in front of me, and I stepped on a tree trunk so that I could climb on. My companions mounted their stags, and Puka looked up at me. I’m getting out of here. Too risky since I don’t know the forest well.
“Thanks for spotting the danger, though.”
She nodded, then disappeared.
“The mounts know to head north,” Iain said. “Tell me if I need to give more specific directions.”
“I will.” Cass said. “If I feel a change of course, I’ll tell you.”
Iain gave his stag a light pat on the neck, and the creature began to trot forward. It weaved between the trees, taking a circuitous route that was clearly meant to avoid the deadly geysers. My mount followed, and I hung on tight as it picked up the pace.
Occasionally, the terrain would force us too close to the geysers, and steam would shoot up. As we moved deeper into the forest, more and more geysers shot off, filling the air with hot steam.
Iain frowned. “The geysers are so close together they’re having a hard time avoiding them.”
The creatures picked up the pace, clearly wanting to get out of the forest. I clung tightly, squinting against the steam. The moon had drifted behind the clouds, plunging the forest into near darkness.
The trees grew closer together in this part of the forest, and our mounts had to group together. Cass and Connor’s stags pulled ahead, and mine sidled up alongside Iain’s.