Elf Doubt

by Bryant Reil

Queen Titania flew into the belfry and sat on the lip of the central bell. The Three Bells rang every year at the anniversary of her and Oberon’s coronation.

  Forgive me, Oberon.

  She regretted not being able to tell him what she was about, but he would have stopped her.

  “You wished to see me, Your Majesty?” Aethelwyne flew into the room, also in her smaller size. Fairies and sprites were similar in stature, but Aethelwyne was short and only came up to the Queen’s shoulder. She sat too close and smiled too broadly. Titania couldn’t understand why Imel had always insisted she was to be heir, so she acted on faith.

  Titania nodded her head toward the archway that overlooked the Elvish district of High Haven. “The shell is breaking.”

  Aethelwyne followed her gaze. “I see. A failure in the spell? I will alert High Wizard Lest.”

  “He died this morning. Found cold in his bed, though no one has been able to tell me the cause.” Titania already suspected the cause, of course. “That will have to wait. None of the other wizards know this magic as well as I do. It is not a failure in the magic.”

  “What is it, then? An attack?”

  Titania looked at her and nodded. “Likely, yes, though I have no word of an army. Someone is doing this from afar. Or, perhaps, from within the Palace.”

  “Who would be powerful enough to do such a thing?”

  “I was hoping you could tell me.”

  Aethelwyne’s face went pale, and Titania could sense her heart pounding in her chest. She wasn’t as confident as she made herself out to be.

  The fire sprite shook her head. “I’m afraid not. I have studied the magical barriers, but as you know, I am not trained in that sort of magic.”

  “I see. Regardless, as a matter of security, I should like to have you examined. Will you submit to an interrogation by the High Seer?”

  “Of course. There is one thing, perhaps, you should look at before we go. A young messenger gave me this and asked if I could deliver it to you.” Aethelwyne pulled the scrolled parchment from her bosom and handed it to the Queen, who unravelled it.

  As soon as the parchment was open it began to blaze. It was a magical fire and gave off no heat. It was simply a threat. Yet if there was one sort of magic Aethelwyne knew, it was fire, and she could turn this harmless illusion into a deadly blaze.

  The Queen scanned the letter twice. A Declaration of War. Sventali was one of the signatories. That would explain his previous visit to see Aethelwyne. But why would Aethelwyne expose her own treachery like this?

  Pride, perhaps. Malice. Aethelwyne grinned, and the illusory flame blazed and ignited her hands. Though Titania had expected it, panic overtook her, and she screamed as the fire climbed her arms, and she tossed the parchment away and flew from her perch on the bell. Aethelwyne shot a blast of flame at her wings, and she spiralled to the ground as they curled and melted in the heat. She wanted to scream again, to call for her guards, but she gathered her courage. For whatever unforeseeable reason, this was the way it had to be.

  Aethelwyne fluttered to the ground and stood over her. Her arms were crossed, almost proudly, as she watched Titania burn.

  It pained Titania to leave her people under the rule of Aethelwyne. She would be a malicious Queen. But Imel said…Titania trusted Imel. This was the way it had to be. Wasn’t it? To save…

  ***

  Aethelwyne prodded Titania’s charred corpse with her foot. She had expected more of a fight, but the Queen had been true to her faith in Imel.

  Too bad it had been misplaced.

  ***

  It was a long ride, broken by brief rapids. Kyla, having ridden the magma rivers before, felt more comfortable than Zen appeared to be. He sat in the middle of the deck holding his hair across his mouth with his right hand and spinning a lockpick in his left.

  “I’ve been down here before,” Kyla assured him. “Not this river, of course. A different one. Not so bad. You just have to watch for splashes. They’ll burn you right up.”

  Zen, his skin white and beading with sweat, nodded. “Yeah. These straight-ways are fine. Just not keen on falling off in the rapids.”

  Kyla looked over the side. “That would be terrible. But if you fall I’m sure Herleif will freeze you in time.”

  A low voice rumbled from behind. “Red goo not freeze. It very hot.” The ogre was sitting at the front of the boat next to his Captain.

  Kyla smiled and nodded. “Right. My mistake. Anyway, Zen, we can talk about something to keep your mind off it.” And with Hajar gone, Kyla needed her own distraction to keep her mind at peace.

  Of course, she knew she had to be careful. He was planted here by Sophrosyne. But it couldn’t hurt to get him talking. “You already know my first name’s Kyla. My family is Nim. From Aspengrove. I mean, we’re the only Nim’s in Aspengrove, but it’s where I grew up.”

  “Yeah. Sophie told me a bit about you. I’m from Monarch. Family name is Purim.”

  “Sophie? You mean Sophrosyne? And you’re from Monarch? My dad and brother went there during the Long Night to help after the attack.”

  “Yeah.” Zen’s voice trailed, and he looked away, chewing on his hair. A disgusting, but she supposed forgivable, habit.

  Judging his reaction, Kyla supposed Zen had lost someone during the assault, and didn’t want to press him on it, so decided to lighten the conversation.

  “We could sing, if you like. Do you know The Ballad of Kinsel King?”

  There was a groan from Herleif.

  Zen shook his head. “No. Do you know Saira sono Avidiril Par?

  “No. You can sing it for me, though.”

  “I don’t know. Not much in the mood.”

  “It’s okay. You don’t have to, if you don’t want to. It might help you relax. I have a friend named Hajar. She’s a xana. She has a magical singing voice, and if you have a righteous heart, it makes you feel peaceful and relaxed. But if you are wicked, it’s torture. You should listen to her, next time we see her.” Kyla was curious how he might react.

  Even more so, she was curious how Sophrosyne might.

  ***

  Saul looked around his cell, which proved fruitless as it was too dark to see anything. He waited several minutes for his eyes to adjust but they did not.

  “Hey,” he called in a hushed whisper. His cellmate didn’t respond. “Hey! You! How long have you been in here?”

  Again, no reply.

  “How often do the guards bring food?”

  Still nothing. Saul was going to follow up by asking if they allowed them to use a latrine, but judging by the odor in the cell, they did not.

  He twisted his wrists and ankles in their manacles. There was little give, but he supposed he might be able to squeeze his left hand out. He pulled his hand toward his head and stretched his neck to press his horn against the base of the iron-wrought clamp. A few inches too short.

  Maybe some sweat would slick his skin enough to slide out. He began moving his arms and legs. The chains clanged and clattered. A raspy voice fought its way through the clamor.

  “If they hear you, they’ll punish both of us.”

  Saul stopped moving. “You’re alive!”

  “Yes. But don’t. Save energy. Little food.”

  “So? Doesn’t matter if I starve to death fast or slow. But I bet we can figure out a way out of here.”

  “No. Alarm goes off, we die. Painful, burning death.”

  “They’ll torture us to death?”

  “No. Alarm sets off Breakers.”

  “Breakers?”

  “Flaming pellets. Follow you around. Can’t avoid them, once they see you. Crawl into your skin and burn you from the inside.”

  Saul’s head lolled back against the stone wall. Alarms, locks, metal doors, stone walls. The demons weren’t making this easy. “Still sounds better than starving,” he decided.

  Of course, even if Saul freed himself from his chains, there was still the matter of the door, and getting past the guards
, and through the city, and finding Lili, and convincing her to go back to the surface, and then not getting caught, and then possibly living on the lam forever.

  One step at a time: how could he get his arms out of these chains?

  ***

  Kyla jolted upright as something struck her in the arm. Herleif leaned over her, drawing his foot back for another kick.

  “I’m up, I’m up!” She stood and stretched. Zen was still sitting in the middle of the deck, chewing on his hair, and the ogre still sitting on the bow.

  Herleif pointed to a string of red lights ahead. “Went through a checkpoint while you were asleep. Froze the guards, no problems. But that dock? I think it’s the city, and they may have spotted us before I could freeze them. On the edge of my range. See those halberdiers? I think they’re waiting for us”

  Kyla glared ahead in the darkness, thought couldn’t make out much detail in the dark cavern ahead. Lines of glowing magma formed an uneven grid, and she could see piers extending into the magma, but no cityscape or people were visible from this distance in the darkness.

  “They’re frozen, though, right? We’ll walk by.”

  “Not freeze,” the ogre mumbled. “Bery bery hot.”

  “Can’t freeze the whole city. And they’ll likely have an alarm.”

  A low sing-song erupted from he ogre, who wandered to the back of the boat and began rummaging through one of the metal boxes and pulling out tools.

  “We fix, we fix, we fix my friends,” the ogre sang. He turned to face Kyla with two hammers, a saw, and a wrench clutched to his chest.

  Kyla held up a hand. “Yeah, we don’t need those. Herleif can fix them as soon as we get away from the boat.” Kyla furrowed her brow and turned back to Herleif. “Do you have any idea where we’re going?”

  The gray elf shrugged. “The stone we seek is likely in the palace, though it will be in a private vault. Likely hidden. I’m pretty sure it’s going to take some convincing to pry its location out of Lord Sventali.”

  “Ah. Well, Any ideas, Zen?”

  He looked up at her, his face still pale, but then stood. “What has she gotten me into?” he muttered.

  “Oh, Sophrosyne? Yeah, she always gets me into these sorts of pickles. You’ll get used to it.”

  As the boat crept through the bay, she could make out the line of armed guards, frozen in position so they looked like giant toys. Many had crossbows pointed into the bay of magma.

  “They knew we were coming.”

  “Yes.” Herleif spat in the magma as they pulled up to the pier, the spittle sizzling as it hit the molten rock. “I told you.”

  Kyla popped her lips. “Yup. You did.”

  Zen, wearing a frown and downcast eyes, cast a rope at a pillar protruding from the nearest stone pier. Kyla smiled and gave him a friendly pat on the arm. He looked at her but said nothing.

  “Do you know where the Royal Palace is?” she asked.

  “When do we fix friend?” the ogre interrupted.

  “Just-just wait here, okay? They’ll be fine in an hour or so.”

  The ogre stood, looked at her, and stuck his finger in his mouth.

  Kyla sighed. “Take a nap or something. They should be fine when you wake up.”

  “Okay I can do dat. I am good at dat but when I sleep on da boat sometimes da Cap’n yells at me but right now he’s broken so maybe if I take a nap it will fix him.”

  “Yup. Maybe. Give it a try.”

  “Okay I will try dat.”

  Kyla watched and waited until the ogre lay on the deck and closed his eyes before turning back to Herleif. “Anyway, the palace?”

  “You see those twin falls over there?”

  Kyla’s eyes followed Herleif’s finger. It was obvious, now that she saw it. A pair of magma waterfalls, high above the rest of the glowing red lines, tumbled from above into what appeared to be the center of the city. Though the shape of the building was invisible in the darkness, she now noticed the silhouettes of towers and walkways against the glowing backdrop. It was going to be a bit of a walk. Through a crowded city. Of people who looked ready to kill them.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Prison Breakers

  Marik stifled a sigh as he saw Aethelwyne sitting in his chair.

  She idly flicked flames from her fingers as she spoke. “I have another assignment for you.”

  Marik sighed. “Already?”

  “Don’t give me that. Besides, this should be fun. Turns out some elf jumped from Aeolis and vanished right before she hit the ground. A girl, with short brown hair.”

  “Kyla, probably. And?”

  “Yes, Kyla. And then a pair of elves were spotted at the gate of Devil’s Bastion and POOF! Gone.”

  “And?”

  “She caused a stink at some wedding. Something about Erebus, and a black stone. Look, I don’t feel like you are giving me the proper deference.”

  Marik already regretted his service to Aethelwyne. “My apologies, Your Majesty. I thought we didn’t need to worry about titles until after your coronation. Is there something specific you would like me to do?”

  “Yes, now that you mention it. A good friend of mine has a similar stone. I believe Kyla is heading for it and may have some answers about these silly rocks. I’d like you to go down to Ja’ava and find her.”

  Marik had never been to the demon city and had no interest in going now, but Aethelwyne’s hands burst into little balls of flame.

  Marik swallowed. “How might I track her down?”

  “Glad you asked! I shall send you directly to the palace. Take this letter.” Aethelwyne handed him a parchment marked with a red and black seal. “You’ll need this. Ja’ava is currently under martial command and arresting all foreigners. This is an exemption from Lord Sventali himself. And here is a map to the stone.”

  “So, you want me to what? Steal it before she does?”

  “No, idiot. Find her and take her to it. She won’t make it without your help.”

  “Will do, Your Majesty.”

  Aethelwyne shrank and flew off.

  Marik rubbed his pendant in regret of his rejection of Sophrosyne. Oh, well. No matter whom he served, his true loyalty never wavered.

  ***

  Zen helped Kyla position the glider on her back so it wouldn’t twist up in her purse strap.

  “I could carry some of that, if you like,” he offered.

  “Nah. I’ve got it.” She beamed at his gentlemanly offer but wanted to show him she could manage herself.

  Herleif hissed at them to hurry.

  The streets were filled with demons and demonesses frozen mid-step. Most were soldiers, or wealthy-looking sorts surrounded by guards. Kyla only spotted a few children on the streets, though she peeked into a few windows as they passed and saw more inside their small, tightly-packed homes.

  Zen tapped her on the shoulder. “What are those?”

  Kyla looked up and to the right, following Zen’s eyes. “Those glowing things?”

  She rotated her head. Whatever they were, they hovered far overhead and looked like a night sky of red-hot stars.

  “I don’t know. I didn’t notice them before.”

  “Don’t have time to look at the scenery,” Herleif called back.

  Kyla scuttled ahead. “There are plenty of guards and soldiers by the docks. Why not just grab one of them for questioning?”

  “What would they know?” Herleif snorted. “Need to question a palace guard. Sventali’s personal guard, more like: vault is probably secret.”

  “So, we’re going to question Lord Sventali? Or capture one of his personal guard.” Kyla knew little of Lord Sventali, but in most stories, demon lords were powerful. What if Herleif’s time-freezing wouldn’t work on him?

  Herleif shrugged. “My job was to get you here. Your job is to find the stone. And get back out, I suppose.”

  Kyla cast her eyes at Zen. “And what is your job?”

  He shrugged. “I dunno. Eye candy, I g
uess.”

  She giggled. This earned a stony glare from Herleif.

  “These stairs look like they head toward the palace. Come on.” The gray elf pointed up a long stairway as broad as two streets. It was filled with pedestrians, all frozen in time, most wearing armor or fancy robes that Kyla took for government vestments.

  Zen was still transfixed on the glowing balls that slowly surrounded them. “I think they’re getting closer.”

  “Oh? Hard to tell.”

  “Yeah. Could be tricks of the light. Gonna keep an eye on them, though.”

  “You do that. I guess that’s why Sophrosyne sent you with us. Keep an eye on those little floaty balls. Couldn’t do it without ya.”

  Kyla had meant this in jest, but Zen’s serious expression didn’t break, and his eyes never dropped.

  She stopped. “Hey! Herleif! Hold on! I know her!”

  Kyla trotted toward one of the armored figures. Frozen mid-step with three other soldiers stood Lili. Kyla peered at her face. Was it really her? It seemed so unlikely to run into her way down here.

  Herleif walked up behind her. “Friend of yours?”

  “Friend? Well, I wouldn’t say that. I’d say she’s the girlfriend of a friend. Just didn’t expect to see anyone I know here.”

  “Will she talk to us if I unfreeze her?”

  Kyla shrugged. “I don’t know. I thought we didn’t need a regular soldier. She’s not even that. Just a reserve, I think.”

  “She still may know something useful.”

  “I guess, if you want.”

  Herleif nodded. “Might as well see if she knows something, since it’s becoming more obvious that you don’t.”

  Lili lurched forward, her right foot hitting the ground and her body colliding into the soldier in front of her. She fell back onto the street and looked around, rubbing her head. She balled her fists and bared her teeth as she frantically looked about at the people around her, frozen in time. As her eyes fell on Kyla, recognition slowly crossed her face, and her expression shifted from confused to pleading.

  “Kyla! You need to save Saul.”

  “Oh. Oh? I mean, sure. It’s just, don’t you have any questions as to why I’m here, and why everyone else is frozen?”