Covack also used his own magic to light some of the torches along the tunnel walls, and we continued forward. The tunnel widened from three feet to four feet, and we moved quietly down it, pausing frequently to listen for footsteps, voices, or even breathing—anything to indicate another presence under the castle with us.
“Lily.” A female voice spoke from the shadows, and Lily automatically turned toward the sound.
“Who goes there?” I stepped in front of her, my sword ready as Theund raised his hatchet beside me.
Dahlia stepped forward into the light, her dark hair tangled and her gown ripped and covered in dust. She carried a dagger in her hand. Beside her was Garon, her husband, who always looked deadly even though I saw no obvious weapons on him. As a former assassin and the leader of the Ravens, he was definitely not a man I wanted to fight.
“Dahlia!” Lily said, starting to rush forward, but then she stopped herself. “I’m very happy to see you, but before we go any further, you need to prove it’s you. We can’t trust anyone with Riala’s illusions in the castle.”
Pride and love for Lily swelled again. “Ask her something only Dahlia would know.”
Lily nodded “What did you give to Rose before she married Raith?”
Dahlia smiled faintly at the memory. “Your mother’s wedding gown.”
Lily rushed forward, and the two women embraced. “I’m so relieved to see you alive,” Dahlia said. “Riala has told everyone you are dead.”
“We tricked her into believing that.”
Dahlia patted Lily’s cheek. “Smart. I’m so proud of you.”
“What are you doing here in the tunnels?” I asked.
“We managed to evade capture and were on our way to our tower to plan what to do next and to gather reinforcements,” Dahlia said, before turning back to Lily. “Riala is holding your sisters captive in the throne room and plans to crown herself queen within the next hour. We must hurry.”
“I’ve sent word to my Ravens, but I don’t know whether they’ll be able to organize an attack in so short a time,” Garon said.
“We’ll have to rely on the small force we have,” I said. “We need a distraction to delay the false coronation so we can enter the room unnoticed and stop Riala.”
I looked around the gathered men, seeing determination written across each of their faces. This was the moment that would prove their loyalty to Lily and maybe even determine their continued existence. I didn’t want to think of it in such terms, but it was a very realistic possibility that we might not all survive. Riala was a very powerful wizard. I clamped down on another shudder. I didn’t want to leave Lily when I’d only just claimed my place at her side.
“We’ll do it.” Vasso spoke—the first words I’d really heard from him since his injury. “We’ll create a distraction.”
Lasloe nodded. “Yes, we can cause a disturbance while you and your guards can position yourselves to defend the castle. You know the layout the best, and really our only advantage is that there are seven of us with differing skills that they won’t expect.” He glared around the gathering of lords like he was daring them to disagree.
“What can we use as a distraction?” Hirth looked at Danzin. “Is there anything you can do with your herbs?”
Danzin shook his head. “Not from this range. Even if I had enough to grind to a fine powder, I have no way to disperse them into the air in the throne room. There are sleeping draughts but, again, the delivery is a problem.”
Covack yawned as he learned against the craggy wall. “I can start a fire, I suppose.”
“There is a tunnel that leads to the throne room,” Garon said. “I will guide your group there.”
“Good. Let’s go.” Theund signaled to Vasso and they walked up the tunnel first, wielding their weapons.
“You go ahead.” Dahlia stepped closer to us. “Lily, I need you to come with me for a moment. It’s important.”
I hesitated, almost unwilling to be parted, even though I trusted Dahlia. “I’ll take the guards to prepare for the attack.”
“I’ll be there soon,” Lily said.
I gestured for them to follow the lords as I wrapped my arm around Lily and surprised her with a kiss, lingering over her lips and trying to tell her everything I needed to say in case I didn’t get to say it again.
Thirty-Three
Lily
As Keane followed his men, Dahlia watched me, a faint knowing smile on her lips. “I doubted whether even seven suitors would be enough to show you the way of your heart.” She took my arm and drew me toward her. “We haven’t much time. Riala means to be crowned queen before the night is over.”
I quickened my steps, hurrying after her into a maze of tunnels I hadn’t ventured into before. They were dark, but Dahlia held a flickering torch in front of, casting a faint glowing light over the packed earth floor, the stone walls, and the spiders that scuttled quickly from our intrusion.
She led us into a cramped tunnel, and I stooped a little to walk down it. The air was stale and musty, and the stone walls crumbled in parts. I brushed my fingers along one, and dust fell to the floor under my touch. As we walked deeper in, the air grew damper and the smell of mold became stronger.
“Where are we?” But familiarity seized hold of me. I’d followed Dahlia down tunnels like this once, just before Rose left to marry Raith.
“Somewhere long forgotten.” She stopped and touched a seemingly random spot on the wall.
I stepped back at the sudden grating of metal and stone, my heart pounding at the unexpected sound. I’d lived in this castle my whole life and until recently had no idea this tunnel even existed.
“Are you sure Father didn’t know about this?” I asked.
Dahlia glanced at me with a touch of sadness in her eyes. “If he did, I very much doubt he knew it held the things I never wanted him to find, the things your mother left to me for safekeeping. Like the wedding gown I passed to Rose.”
At the mention of my mother, a shiver passed up my spine, and I calmed a flicker of excitement in my chest. I ducked under the entrance to the hidden tunnel and followed Dahlia as she inserted a wrought iron key into a wooden door.
The door creaked as she pushed it open and we stepped forward. Dahlia quickly moved about inside, lighting torches on the wall, until I could see the room full of treasures—and some things that looked distinctly not like treasures as they lay discarded and covered in cobwebs on dusty shelves. The old silver sword inlaid with the star ruby and a bow etched with silver runes were exactly where they’d been the last time I was in the room, but Dahlia reached for the cobweb covered box that had a faint glow to it.
“Your mother left this for you,” she said.
A spider ran across the box, and I withheld my shudder. Of course the secret treasure meant for me would be covered in cobwebs and things that crept about on eight legs. I couldn’t just have one of the already gleaming things on the shelves. Still, I trusted Mother and her prophecies, and she’d meant for me to have this. My heart tightened as Dahlia passed me the box, and I swept my hand across it to clear the sticky webs before blowing leftover dust from the top. Nerves and anticipation fizzed in my stomach, and I looked at Dahlia, meeting her level gaze.
“Fellina knew what to leave for each of you,” she said. “She saw it in the fortune runes.” Then she squeezed my elbow in comfort, and I drew strength from her touch. “Don’t doubt the magic. Your mother had the gift of prophecy. She saw each of your paths and she prepared well for your futures.”
I straightened, standing taller at her words. Since opening the door of possibility to my own magic, I had complete faith in Mother’s and in her wisdom. She had been a powerful wizard.
And I was her daughter.
I swallowed a whisper of fear at the enormity of confronting my future before carefully pushing the lid up. A gasp forced its way from my throat even before I’d fully recognized what Mother had left for me. Her crown nestled in a bed of ice blue silk, an i
ntricately crafted, delicate piece that looked as though it had been created entirely from frost. It shined like snow in the sun, sparkling as snowflakes seemed to dance through the icy design, and I shifted my hold on the box to touch it, my fingertips grazing across the points and crystalline tips.
“It’s amazing.” I’d never seen something so beautiful, and my breath seemed trapped in my chest the longer I looked at it. I had no memory of my mother wearing this crown, but she’d died when I was so young, I barely remembered her at all.
“This is Fellina’s gift to you,” Dahlia said, her own gaze focused on the crown as if she could see all the memories of my mother that it held. “It has the ability to protect against magic.”
Tears filled my eyes, but I blinked them back. Mother was protecting me, even from her grave.
Aware of the seriousness and significance of the occasion, even in the most unlikely of spaces, I lifted the crown carefully from the box and secured it on top of my head, effectively crowning myself Queen of Talador.
The position had been mine from the exact moment of Father’s death, my birthright making it so whether I’d wanted it or not. I’d tried to delay it as long as possible, telling myself I wasn’t ready, making excuses for why I couldn’t wear the crown, but no longer.
As Mother’s crown settled on my head, a wave of calm and acceptance washed through my whole body, and my entire life and purpose clarified on one single point. Like my mother, I was both queen and wizard.
I was the Wizard Queen of Talador—and I was ready to take back my kingdom.
Thirty-Four
Lily
We ran along the tunnels, Dahlia’s confidence at moving through them keeping me from stumbling or hesitating. My crown glowed with a soft light of its own, reminding me of the constant presence of my mother, and some of my fear at facing Riala melted away.
“We won’t go through the same way as the men,” Dahlia said. “I know another way. One that doesn’t involve emerging from a tunnel in your crown.”
“Or into fire and fighting, if the men have done their jobs,” I replied.
Dahlia made a sharp right then dodged left until we arrived at a door. She opened it, pushing most of a bush aside with her arm as we emerged at the side of the castle. She turned back and drew the door closed, waiting for the click before she allowed the bush to fall back into place. There was no handle on the outside of the door, so no one could help themselves into the tunnels underneath my castle. I needed to get Dahlia to show me the secrets of the tunnels once everything quieted down.
Under the cover of thick trees and snow, we ran swiftly along the back of the throne room, a great hall which housed the Frozen Throne. Dahlia paused outside and her nose twitched.
“Something’s gone wrong.” She kept her voice low.
The distraction must have failed. There was no smell of smoke from the fire Covack had said he would conjure, and neither was there the sound of fighting.
We moved to one of the huge windows at the back of the hall, where we could see the back of the Frozen Throne and most of the large room. My hand flew to my mouth as I tried to stifle my gasp.
Riala stood in front of the throne, and my sisters were each sitting in chairs in front of her, although whether they were there with or without magical restraint, I couldn’t tell. My suitors had all been dispatched. Vasso lay on the floor, his arm crooked at an awkward angle, his eyes closed. Theund was also knocked out and had a gash across his forehead, while Hirth looked as though he were asleep on the great stone steps, a huge pool of blood underneath him. Garon sat a short distance from him, his face drawn and pale, his wrists and ankles bound, but he shot regular concerned glances in Hirth’s direction. Danzin, Gusten, and Lasloe were bound by his side, also slightly bloodied.
I couldn’t see my other guards or Keane. Hopefully Keane had them somewhere else and they were plotting how to imprison Riala and free the lords.
A movement next to Riala attracted my attention, and I glanced over to see Covack standing at her side. For once, he didn’t yawn, and had no weariness or boredom in his eyes. Instead, a wicked smile crossed his lips as he offered up a crown of silver and glass that looked as though it had been crafted from the broken shards of one of Riala’s mirrors.
That traitor. Seeing Covack alongside Riala flooded me with levels of fury I’d never known before. Like her, he was from Korelan, and she must have corrupted him early. I would bet my crown that his sleepiness had been a ruse to get us to dismiss him, so he could listen in on all our conversations and report back to her everything she said.
I blazed with anger, every instinct in me screaming to stop Riala and her ceremony. Without needing to draw runes in the air, I blasted ice through the window, shattering it in an instant. My sisters screamed, both at the sudden noise and then at the unexpected sight of me, charging forward with a glowing crown on my head and frost on my fingertips. I unleashed everything I had, more than I’d learned from Mother’s book or from Rose. It was like whatever was tethering my magic deep inside me had finally come loose, and I could let it flow freely for once.
A barrage of sharp icicles flew toward Riala, but she simply laughed and brushed them aside with a wide sweep of her arm. “Oh, little princess. Such talent, but so raw and untrained.”
As her mocking laugh filled the throne room, a league of shadow men formed behind her before marching toward me. They were the exact same illusions she’d sent to attack me in the forest when Keane was with me. But as they swarmed forward, Keane and the soldiers jumped into the fray, taking out the guards at the throne room doors and rushing inside. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dahlia dart forward toward Garon, using her dagger to cut him free.
As some of the shadow attackers moved toward my guards, I swirled a blizzard around them, then rained down hard chunks of ice. Every time something hit one of the shadows, it disintegrated, becoming a fine mist that simply dissipated into the air.
“I’m a quick learner, Riala,” I shouted, over the sound of ice striking the stone floor. “And I won’t let you take what’s mine.”
“It’s time you learned your place, stepdaughter.” Riala faced me, her eyes sparking with magic, and opened her palms toward me. Lightning flashed from her hands, crackling toward me, but my crown glowed brightly and seemed to suck up the magic into itself.
Mother’s protection had kept me safe.
I turned my own magic into an almost impenetrable ice shield as I moved toward Riala, while my soldiers fought all around me, and Dahlia and Garon freed my sisters and the lords.
I thought Riala would attack me again, but instead she moved quickly, grabbing Iris from her chair roughly. She walked them backward away from me, using my sister as her shield. Riala held one hand on Iris’s throat, and my ice storm stopped. I couldn’t target Riala without hurting Iris.
At first Iris’s eyes widened in disbelief, and then they narrowed into a scheming expression I’d seen on my sister many times before. And on a twelve-year-old, that meant nothing good.
But Riala stared at me over Iris’s shoulder, with no idea as to the strength and goodness and moral fiber of the person she held in front of her. Her grip tightened around Iris’s neck, the tension in her fingers a note of worse to come. “Give up your throne to me, or I’ll kill her.”
“Your own daughter?” I asked. “Truly you care more for her life than for the crown?”
Riala hesitated at that, and I wasn’t sure she would really do it. Without warning, Iris threw up her arms, her fingers flicking as she drew runes faster than I believed possible, the imagination of her youth bringing creativity and subtle difference to each one.
Wild bolts of lightning ricocheted around the throne room, leaving scorch marks and smudges of soot over the pristine white stone surfaces. Riala gasped, and surprise loosened her grip on Iris. My sister broke free and ran toward me, as our other sisters gathered behind me, seeking their safety in the protection I could provide with my ice shield.
/> Iris’s eyes widened and she ran as fast as she could to close the distance between us as I caught her in my arms. But I didn’t have time to hold her when Riala looked at me, her eyes full of malevolence and bad intent.
I shoved Iris behind me just in time to take the full force of Riala’s lightening magic, but again the crown on my head warmed, emitting a bright light as it absorbed the energy, leaving it to wash harmlessly over me.
I fought back, sending an icicle the size of a spear toward her with as much force as I could imagine. She gasped as it pierced her through her chest, and a deep red stain bloomed across her as blood poured from the wound. She fell to the floor, her eyes wide, and lay there motionless.
Shock reverberated through me as I realized what I’d done. I turned to Iris, unsure what to say. I’d vanquished my enemy and reclaimed my rightful position as queen, but I’d also killed her mother. Iris threw herself into my arms and sobbed into my chest, and all I could do was hold her. Then our other sisters joined us, all of us joined together in one big group as we cried and held on tight.
Around us, the fight continued. As if mobilized by the loss of their leader, the guards who’d been watching the shows of magic between Riala and me moved forward under the guidance of Covack. He formed a fireball in his hand, but I saw him out of the corner of my eye and drew a rune quickly, until all he held was a block of ice that burned his palms with cold.
Keane hurried along the edge of the throne room freeing suitors and pulling others to safety as my royal guard fought those still loyal to Riala. As Danzin bent over Hirth, his face paled, but I ripped my attention away to focus on the threat Covack still posed. He was throwing fire wildly now, his magic clumsy and easy to block, and I met Keane’s gaze as he edged back around the throne room. I only had to maintain Covack’s focus, while my injured suitors escorted my sisters from behind me and into safety. Even though they moved as quietly as possible, I almost felt each one leave, knowing when I finally stood alone.
Kiss Of Snow (Royal Hearts Book 2) Page 17
