Lucien can screech at the top of his lungs as much as he wants. No help is coming. And even if it did, none can save her now. Necromancy, while possible, isn’t an art form they practice here. And if he was foolish enough to taste such forbidden magicks, he’d destroy her soul in his efforts to bring her back. Rhiannon would be the least of our problems if he defied the natural laws of this world.
Burying his head back into her bloody chest, her ruby life force soaking into his clothes and even his hair, he mutters under his breath. In this position, I can’t hear what he’s saying, but there’s sincerity to his tone. It leads me to believe it’s his declaration of undying love. Pitiful, but justified. Then, quite out of the blue, Lucien raises his head. The stare in his eyes is unwavering, a determination to his irises I’ve never seen him wearing before.
I don’t know what he thinks he can do because there’s nothing he can do. Snow White is dead once more. The news will spread among those closest to her, but the risk of Rhiannon returning has disappeared. Glaw’s right: this is what Snow wanted. This is why she died in the first place, so that we might live free from the reign of the most ungodly of souls. If her memories had been intact, I’m certain Snow would have begged Glaw to do this. Maybe she’d have asked for a less brutal death, but she’d have pleaded for its release all the same. Lucien’s problem is how blind he is to reality.
Tilting my head to one side, I almost laugh at how peaceful Lucien looks in his resolve. It’s amusing how he thinks he can save her now—
What is he doing?!
To my horror, Lucien presses his lips to Ebony’s. Their mouths meet to create a perfect seal. The way he kisses her isn’t tender or filled with innocent love. It’s violent. It comes from a mix of anguish and passion, neither emotion more powerful than the other. As I watch their lips crash together, the whole building begins to shake. It starts off as a low rumble, but soon the foundations are shaken to breaking point, bits of stone flaking off under the might of its quake.
Sparks fly from between them, their white hue turning crimson then black. As the magic fractures the security of our world, every candle is snuffed out, replaced with a solid black flame. The black flames cast ghostly shadows along the walls and across Ebony’s face. Her delicate features are thrown into doubt under their dark contours. She’s raped of her innocence right before my very eyes.
There’s a final tremor right before a loud bang. It bounces off of the stone walls, almost splitting my head open with its ferocity. The wards have been broken. Every charm extinguished.
Rhiannon comes for us. Her return has begun. Casting a quick glance at Lucien, I pray he understands the gravity of what he’s done. His naive heart has damned us all.
23
Ebony
There’s only pain. If my body still exists, I can’t sense it. A blanket of Stingtail Nettles, sharp blades, and poison is wrapped around my brain. Forming simple thoughts is excruciating.
Breathe. If I’m still alive, I need to breathe.
I open what I think is my mouth and inhale. Air burns my lungs. It feels like tree bark in my throat. I cough violently. Pain explodes once more and then everything goes dark.
“Snow?” Someone calls. It takes my mind a few moments, or maybe hours, to string together each sound and locate the meaning of the word. Snow? I don’t understand.
There’s a smacking sound on my left. It sounds like a building is coming down around me.
“What was that for?” the same voice snaps.
“Don’t call her that,” another voice warns. Both voices are male. I can tell by their tone and pitch that they’re trying to speak softly, but they may as well be screaming right in my face.
“I don’t think she can hear me either way,” the first voice says.
“Did you see that?” A third voice, also male. This voice is softer, less abrasive than the others. It doesn’t hurt as much to listen too.
“What?”
“She moved.”
“No, she didn’t. You’re just seeing things,” the second voice says dismissively.
“You’re not even watching her. You’re too busy antagonizing Lucien,” the third voice replies.
Lucien. I know that word, I think. It’s a name. Never-ending waves of pain crash over my body, halting my thought process.
“I’m the one antagonizing him? He called her Snow!”
“Both of you, please shut up,” the first voice, the one belonging to Lucien, drawls. I hear Lucien moving closer to me. “Seth’s right. Look, she’s reacting to noise.”
“Which means we should be quiet,” Seth says in a hushed tone. Even whispers sound like papery moth wings flapping against my eardrum.
Something washes over me like a sheet of feather-light energy. My skin tingles. It feels like a thousand needles.
“Lucien, what the hell are you doing?”
“Checking her heart,” Lucien explains. “It’s beating faster. She’s coming back to us.”
“We should leave her alone to wake up naturally,” Seth urges. “Don’t you agree, Gabriel?”
“She’s in pain,” Lucien cuts off Gabriel. “I can feel it reverberating through my own magic.”
“What should we do?” Seth asks.
“Ease her pain, of course,” Lucien replies. “Easy, Gabriel. I know what I’m doing.”
Warm energy flows over my body like water. Slowly, the shooting pains and dull throbs ebb away. I can feel my limbs once more. Forming thoughts doesn’t feel like slamming my head between two doors now. Breathing comes easier to me.
After a few moments, I can open my eyes.
Lucien stands over me on my right, his hand wrapped around mine. Seth and Gabriel are on my left. Seth’s hand hovers over my body like he wants to touch me but isn’t sure if he should.
“Hey, Ebony,” Seth grins.
“Hi.” My voice is dry and raspy at first.
“Here.” Lucien brings a tin of water to my lips and helps me drink. “You need to be able to talk.”
“What happened to me?” I ask after managing to take two small swallows of water. I feel it running down my throat and pooling in my empty stomach.
“You were severely injured,” Gabriel explains. “You were dead for a few moments.”
“Dead?” I choke on the word. Lucien takes my hand once more.
“You’re all right now,” Lucien tells me. “Your wounds are healed. You’ll be allowed to leave the infirmary now that you’re awake.”
“I don’t understand. How did I die?” I ask.
“You fought Professor Glaw,” Gabriel replies. “You were run through by an enchanted weapon.”
“I don’t understand,” I say again. My throat tightens and tears well up in my eyes.
“You don’t have to understand it all right now,” Seth kneels beside the bed to be on my level. “What matters is that you’re alive and you’re going to stay that way.”
“Where’s Ivora?” I ask. She’ll tell me the truth no matter what, even if we aren’t best friends right now.
“She’s talking to the nurse,” Lucien explains. “They’re working out the best way to care for you.”
“Why do I feel like you’re not telling me everything. Why did Professor Glaw try to kill me?” I look at Lucien. “You kissed me. I remember it. Why did you kiss me?”
“You don’t need to worry yourself over things like that right now.” Lucien reaches forward to touch my hair, but I shrink away from him. The movement hurts every muscle and joint in my body, but I don’t care.
“No! Tell me this instant! I have a right to know what happened to me!” I shout.
I throw my upper body forward gracelessly in an attempt to sit up. None of my muscles behave the way they’re supposed to.
“What are you doing?” Lucien places his hands on my shoulders. He struggles to hold me still without gripping me too tightly.
“Going to find someone who will tell me the whole truth,” I snap.
“Get he
r back in the bed,” Gabriel orders through clenched teeth.
Something snaps in me. Hot anger rushes through my veins, pushing out the pain. Raw, dark energy flows from every pore. A shimmering second skin, black as onyx appears over my body. My aura.
Using my anger, I harness my aura and project it outward. I feel the souls of all three men. I take them in my dark grip and squeeze.
“You will tell me what I want to know.” My voice sounds different, like a thousand voices of the dead layered over each other.
“All right,” Lucien cries out. His hand is at his throat, clawing as if there’s something there that he can pull away. “I’ll tell you.”
“Lucien,” Gabriel warns. I focus more energy on Gabriel. His knees buckle underneath him.
“I won’t stop,” I warn.
“We’ll tell you.” Seth’s voice is still soft. When I look into his eyes, I don’t see the fear I see in the others. He trusts me not to hurt him.
I loosen my hold on them and allow my aura to fade away.
“What the hell was that?” Lucien rasps.
“Isn’t it obvious? That was her dark magic. She’s awake now. There’s no point in hiding anything from her.” Gabriel gets to his feet, his expression stormy.
“First, why did you call me Snow?” I demand.
“Because that’s your name,” Seth says.
“It was your name,” Lucien clarifies. He sits on the edge of my bed. “One thousand years ago, your name was Snow White. You were the most fearsome warrior in the realm. You fought for good, for justice, and for light. When people saw your face, they knew everything was going to be alright.”
I open my mouth to speak, but I can’t find the right words. Lucien waits patiently for me to decide if I’m going to talk or not. I close my mouth and nod for him to continue.
“There were seven of us that served you. We were your most trusted allies in battle.”
“You knew me?”
“We did,” Seth says.
Gabriel nods. “We were the seven princes of the realms. We dedicated our loyalty to you.”
“But why?” I lay back against the pillows. My head spins as I try to take in all of this new information. I want to accuse them of lying, but they’re magically compelled to tell me the truth.
“We united to fight the realm's biggest threat, the demon Queen Rhiannon. She nearly had her victory when you made the ultimate sacrifice to stop her. You knew a spell powerful enough to seal her away from this world. However, she took you in the iron grip of her power before you could complete it.”
“What happened?” I ask.
“You ran yourself through with your own blade so we’d have enough power to finish the spell for you,” Seth finishes. “I relive that act every night when I lay down to sleep.”
“As do I,” Lucien echoes.
Gabriel nods in agreement.
“You’ve been reincarnated several times over, but this time was different,” Seth explains. “You didn’t have your powers this time. Once they started to show signs of awakening, Cordelia brought you to the academy.”
“She knew?” I gasp. I’d heard her call me Snow before, I just never thought anything of it.
“We all thought that if you learned how to control your magic, you’d be safer. That’s not the case, I’m afraid,” Lucien says.
“What do you mean?”
“Rhiannon’s back,” Gabriel says. “When you were injured, your blood was used to bring her back.”
“What?” I cry out.
“Don’t worry,” Lucien tries to calm me, but I won’t be calmed. “We’re going to figure something out.”
“What’s going on?” A bell-like voice calls from the far end of the infirmary.
“Ivora!” I call.
“Ebony, I’m so happy you’re awake.” Ivora rushes to my bedside. She pushes past Lucien and throws her arms around me. I hug her back with all my might, pain be damned.
“What’s that in your hand?” Gabriel asks.
Fear clenches in my stomach. I’ve already been killed once. Who’s to say someone won’t try to do it again.
“Oh, this?” Ivora holds up a square glass bottle filled with shimmery blue liquid. “The nurse and I cooked this up. It should speed up Ebony’s recovery. Ivora turns to me. “Want to try a sip? I tried to make it as tasty as I could. It’s got toadstools in it, though. I’m good for you, but I can’t make toadstools appealing.”
Despite everything, I laugh. I missed Ivora’s friendship more than I realized. She pours a capful for me, and I drink it. She’s right. Toadstools taste like brackish water, and she's tried to mask the taste with sweet flowers.
“Thank you.”
“Of course! What are friends for?” Ivora winks.
“You should’ve checked with us before giving her anything,” Gabriel snarls.
“Excuse me?” Ivora narrows her eyes.
“How do we know what you put in there?” Gabriel goes on. “How do we know it’s not going to do more harm than good.”
“You can’t be serious,” Ivora snaps.
Just like that, the temporary reprieve from the shock of what I’ve just learned is gone. Lucien and Seth weigh in on the building argument between Ivora and Gabriel, but I’m not paying attention. The reality of Lucien’s words crashes into me. There’s no buffer or distraction to stop it.
Hidden in a dark dungeon, a demon Queen lives and awaits her opportunity to attack. She’s killed before, and she’ll kill again. She’s coming for me. I know she is.
I can’t remain here, weak and defenseless. I have to think. In my panic, I can’t string logical thoughts together. I have to get away.
Away. Away. Away.
Magic swirls within me, drowning out everything else in its roar.
I wish I could get away.
Just like that, I vanish from my bed.
24
Ebony
How could they keep this from me! For all this time! They knew what I was, what I could become, and they’d whispered amongst themselves, leaving me to bumble around in the dark. How could they do this to me!
Hysteria threatens to break me. My mind reels from learning about a life I never knew I’d lived. All the while, they knew I was helpless. Unable to capture those memories without their assistance. Had they come to my aid? No. They’d conspired among themselves to leave me in the dark. And why not? After all, they knew best. Funny thing is, their best is how we ended up in this mess.
Betrayal. Lies. Despair. Loss. We’re drowning it, I’m drowning in it, all because they thought they knew how to manage me better than myself. I’d hate them all if I didn’t love them so much.
Squeezing my eyes before opening them, I’m startled to find myself in the stacks at the back of the library. Of course, this is where you come to get lost. When you visit the stacks, you can go missing for days. There’s an overflowing fountain of knowledge hidden back here. The ineluctable power of knowledge can suck you in and never allow you to leave. It’s the ideal hiding spot.
Now to restore what’s been cruelly withheld from me.
Willing my environment to bend to my needs, the books vibrate into life before whizzing off the shelves towards me. Dozens of them whip up a frenzied hurricane of inky pages. Their bindings struggle to deal with the strength of the gust compelling them to move. I tell myself that I shouldn’t like this newfound power, that it comes with great cost… But as I watch the books fall open to every page my heart desires, I find myself in love with the influence I wield. There’s so much I can do with strength like this. So much of the world, I can shape.
Surrounded by an arsenal of books, I skim the pages to learn more about who I used to be. Much of what the boys said matches up with what I find: Snow White sacrificed herself to stop the evil Queen. I read the same details again and again, but none of it feels real to me. This happened 1,000 years ago, just as the boys told me, yet I don’t feel any connection to what I’m reading. Nothing inside o
f me is reacting to what I’m learning.
It’s a tragedy what happened to this Snow White. In that, the books and I can agree. The poor woman stood no chance in stemming the tide of evil without giving up her own life. It was a bold move, one the Queen couldn’t predict. I can admire a raw, self-sacrificing act like that. It’s similar to the admiration I have for my own new-found strength — I know that I’m stronger now, more than ever before. But does that mean I’m not the same Ebony I was a couple of hours ago?
A snap of someone’s fingers leads me to peek behind the stacks. As if she’s been lurking there the whole time, it's Berwyn. Recalling her “stories” drawn from first-hand knowledge about history, Berwyn’s the perfect person to help. It’s like she knew to come to me.
“What are you looking for, Snow?” Berwyn asks. There’s that same wise old sage aura about her; Berwyn has seen more than she lets on. This woman knows a great deal, has power untold, yet she looks like an unassuming older woman.
I pout at her. “All these books mention Rhiannon, talk about sacrifice, but what has it got to do with me? I don’t understand.” My pout grows as I sit back and sulk. Berywn chuckles to herself.
“Ah, my sweet girl. You’re asking the wrong questions — it’s not what it’s got to do with you, it’s about you.”
“Then who is Ebony Black, really? I mean, what’s the point of all this,” I look around the room for dramatic effect. “If she’s a lie and nothing more than a coverup, why didn’t anyone let me in on that secret? Everyone meant to protect me. Instead, they left me alone to figure it out myself, and it nearly killed me.” She's not the one I’m upset with, but my rage knows no bounds as it bubbles inside of me. Resentment seeps into my bones. It grafts onto them, becoming the only friend I can rely on.
Berwyn sigh’s, though her wise eyes still hold the glimmer of hope she’s always possessed. “I always find that people are much better resources than dusty tomes in a dank library.” I go to interrupt, but she gives me a tight-lipped smile. “A lot of people have changed the hands of fate, Snow; I’ve seen so many of them do it. And because of this dramatic change, people aren’t always who they say they are, or even who they think they are.”
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