The Glass Scepter

by Bekah Harris

  “Do you love them?” Ivy asked.

  “Of course,” Ardan said. “They’re perfect.”

  Never one to waste any time, he took both mugs and washed them out in the bathroom sink before reappearing and pouring them both a cup. Ivy joined him at the table, pulling on her fleece robe, one piece of the human world she insisted on bringing to Faerie after moving out of the dorm.

  “Don’t misunderstand, the Winter Castle certainly has its perks, but I do miss the scandal and intrigue of sneaking into your dorm room each night.”

  Ivy giggled. “Same. I can’t seem to feel at ease here, no matter how hard I try.”

  “It’s difficult to feel at ease in a place where danger lurks so close. In the human realm, everything seemed so distant. Here, the threats are only breaths away.”

  “Don’t remind me,” Ivy groaned, thinking about the poor butterfly that thrashed wildly against the pins holding it in place. How could someone do something so cruel to a butterfly? To an innocent creature, guilty of nothing other than beauty? The thought sent a chill down her spine. It was a threat. One meant for her. Trying to shake off the thought, she poured cream into her coffee and stirred. Then, she settled into her chair beside Ardan and looked out the window at her mother’s ice gardens. The snow had thickened when she had returned from the human realm. Ivy could barely see beyond the patio fountain. Ardan was staring in the same direction.

  “I have something to tell you that you are not going to like,” Ardan said.

  Ivy’s heart quickened. She had grown to love Ardan, and she trusted him with her life, but when it came to her heart, she was still a bit skittish. Knowing Ardan’s background and experience with other females, when he began conversations like this, the insecurity she had been fighting so hard to snuff out came rising to a boil in her chest. Unable to speak, Ivy raised her eyebrows in silent question.

  “After the unfortunate gift at your graduation revel last night, I took it upon myself to pay a visit to the Seelie Court.”

  Ivy nearly choked on her coffee but managed to swallow it down without a visible struggle. The subject of Prince Barrett was a sensitive one for obvious reasons.

  “And what did Queen Endellion have to say about our suspicions?”

  Ardan stood, walking to the window. He turned his back to her. So he had spoken with Bear. And he wasn’t comfortable talking about him with her. When Ardan had asked her to marry him, he had also asked her to leave Bear behind. Though it was painful, Ivy had agreed, and she had been good to her word.

  “I spoke with Barrett,” he said, bringing his coffee to his lips. “Endellion still suspects that Slaine and Teagan plotted their end game with their mother before her most unfortunate demise at your hands.”

  “And…Prince Barrett?” Ivy tried to keep her voice as even and formal as she could. Still, she could see Ardan’s shoulders tense before he answered.

  “Slaine is only a couple of months away from delivering their child. He says she never leaves the castle, and his mother has every guard in the castle keeping tabs on her daily routine and her correspondences. If she has been in contact with Teagan, he doesn’t see how. But he also didn’t deny that she was capable of being complicit in such a conspiracy.”

  Ivy nodded, struggling to swallow down another sip of coffee. Her throat felt dry and thick as she fought off the emotions that tightened her chest. Bear had agreed to marry Slaine to save Ivy’s life. If her suspicions were correct, Slaine had conceived their child while he was being held captive at Nan’s house after he had fought so hard to save Lyric. He had even put himself at risk to help wake Lyric from the Magi’s spell a few months ago. All he had done, Ivy knew, he had done for her. Even though the price of Ivy’s life, her happiness, had been his own misery.

  “So will…he…question her? Or will he involve Endellion?”

  Ardan turned, facing her. She tried to wipe her expression clear of emotion, but she wasn’t sure if she had succeeded or not.

  “He said he will get to the bottom of it,” Ardan said, “and if he finds that she has been conspiring with her sister, he will turn her over to the courts.”

  Ivy nodded. Bear had hurt her once, and it had been enough to freeze her heart. Ardan had been the only one to reach her in that way again, but she knew Bear cared about her, and she knew he would be good to his word.

  “So, what will we do next?” Ivy asked. She put her coffee on the table and stood, walking toward him until she could wrap her arms around him. “I have my morning meeting with my mother in an hour. I probably need to have a plan to present.”

  “I could think of several ways to spend an hour, but none of them involve planning…or talking.”

  Ivy stretched up on her toes, ready to kiss him, when there was a knock at the door. Ardan groaned as Ivy turned from him. Madra opened the door and stepped inside. When Ivy gestured for her to approach, she saw that the Brownie was carrying a tray that bore a sealed envelope.

  “From the Summer Court, Your Highness.” Madra bowed and hurried on her way.

  Ivy smiled. “I know exactly what this is.”

  Sure enough, when she tore open Damarion’s royal seal, she unfolded a wedding invitation. “Violet and Damarion are finally getting married,” she said. “How do you feel about being my date?”

  Ardan smiled. “Of course.” Then, he held up his mug. “My wife is hotter than coffee, after all.”

  Chapter Ten

  At first, Jules didn’t remember where she was.

  She had been having a strange dream when she opened her eyes to the pitch black room. There was no light streaming in through the window—no stars, no moon. But just as she began to panic, her heart thrashing wildly, her hand gripped the soft velvet of the bedspread, and she felt the comforting weight of Padraic’s body next to hers. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.

  “Way to overreact, dumbass,” she scolded herself.

  Ordinarily, she preferred to sleep in a dark room, but this kind of darkness, Unseelie darkness, was going to be an adjustment. When she and Ivy were in sixth grade, Kingston Academy had done a field trip at a local nature reserve. They had gone spelunking in one of the caves. When they had reached the darkest part, their guide had turned off his lantern to show them what pure blackness looked like. The total absence of light. Jules remembered feeling the same sense of panic. She hadn’t even been able to see her hand in front of her face, so she had reached for Ivy’s hand and held on for dear life. Their connection was the only thing that had kept Jules from having a complete breakdown.

  You’re losing it, Jules.

  With another deep breath, Jules pulled the covers more tightly around her and snuggled closer to Padraic. In his sleep, he draped his arm around her, pulling her into his body. There. That was exactly what she needed. Soon, her heart rate slowed to a steady rhythm, and she could breathe again. Threading her fingers through his, she thought of their night together, of all that had passed between them. The memory of his kisses, the gentle nip of his sharp teeth, the sound of his voice as he whispered promises. So many promises.

  “Your thoughts are deafening, Juliet.” His voice was gravelly from sleep. “Anything interesting you’d like to share?”

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  “I’ve been awake for quite some time,” he said. “It’s already morning.”

  “Not that you could tell,” Jules grumbled.

  Padraic’s chest vibrated with laughter. “Not a fan of our realm’s perpetual darkness?”

  Jules didn’t answer for several moments. Finally, she felt Padraic let go of her to prop up on an elbow.

  “Hey,” he whispered. “Tell me. Are you homesick already?”

  “God, no!” Jules shrieked. “It’s just that…you’ll laugh at me.”

  “Never,” he said. “You can tell me anything.”

  “Well, I’ve always been…afraid of the dark.”

  Padraic didn’t laugh, but h
e didn’t respond immediately, either.

  “I mean, I’m not afraid of the dark in the traditional, monsters under the bed kind of way, but total darkness…like this, where I can’t see anything. I find it…unsettling.”

  Still, Padraic didn’t respond. “You’re laughing aren’t you?”

  “I would never laugh about something your fear, Juliet, though I was beginning to think you weren’t afraid of anything.” He took her hand and brought it to his lips, his touch sending electric thrills rippling over her skin. “Let me get this straight. You are afraid of the dark, yet you agreed to come stay with me in the land of endless night?”

  “Yes.” Jules had considered every aspect of her decision at least a thousand times.

  “So, what on earth made you agree to this?”

  Jules shrugged, turning toward him. “I weighed my options. I decided the pros definitely outweigh the cons.”

  “Just out of curiosity, what, exactly, were the pros you considered?”

  “Besides the possibility of waking up next to a hot Unseelie Prince of Darkness? Does there need to be more?”

  His chest shook again with laughter. Then, he reached across her to turn on the lamp. Dim light illuminated the room. She blinked against the brightness, and when her eyes finally focused, she smiled up at Padraic, his eyes sparking gold as he watched her. His chest was bare, revealing the vine-like tattoos that marked him an Unseelie royal. She had studied them in great detail the night before. She smiled, tracing them with her index finger, as she admired his inky black hair, which stuck out in all directions.

  “You have magnificent bed head,” she said.

  The corner of his mouth quirked up as he looked down at her. “I could say the same about you,” he said, “but you are changing the subject.”

  “I would never!” Jules flashed a wicked smile as she leaned toward him and nipped at his lower lip. But he wouldn’t be distracted.

  “Why are you afraid of the darkness?” he asked. “Didn’t your parents ever tell you darkness is nothing more than the absence of light?”

  “My parents weren’t known for their comforting dialogue,” Jules said. “I wasn’t allowed to be afraid of the dark when I still lived with them. I’ve basically been on my own since I was eight.”

  “So, if you didn’t fear monsters beneath your bed, what did you fear?” he asked.

  Jules swallowed back the nerves that squirmed in her belly, as she recalled the night she first realized Ivy was more than human.

  “At the end of the first semester of my freshman year, Ivy and I were in the library studying. She left to go to the dining hall. Nan used to come to eat with her once a month. Usually, I went too, but that night, I decided to stay and study. Finals were coming up, and my AP Bio class was killer.”

  Padraic watched her intently, as if hanging on every word. The panic began to build as she recalled the awful night, and she could feel the tears sting her eyes.

  “I left about an hour after Ivy, so it was around seven. I was planning to dump my books in my room and then see if I could make it to the dining hall in time for dessert. I was in a hurry, so I went around the back of the library, instead of down the front steps to use the sidewalk. I was thinking about cell division and mitosis when the ground disappeared beneath me. It felt like I was falling forever. The farther I fell, the darker it got. I don’t remember hitting the bottom. I don’t remember screaming. I just remember the blackness. Because when I woke up, I thought I might be dead. Even though I was awake, I couldn’t see anything.”

  Padraic’s brows wrinkled with concern, he stroked the side of her cheek with the back of his hand. “What happened? Where were you?”

  Jules shook her head. “I had no idea at the time. I tried to put the pieces together, but I couldn’t figure it out. I never even cried for help. That was the bad part. I was so terrified of the dark, so disoriented from the fall, that I couldn’t even speak, let alone yell. Ivy was the one who found me. At the time, she couldn’t really explain it. She said she had dreamed the night before that I was falling and surrounded by darkness. After Gran had left, she went to the library to find me. When I wasn’t there, she went to my room, but it was locked. All she would say is that she just knew where I was. She had seen it in the dream.”

  “So, Ivy went for help?” Padraic asked.

  Jules nodded, feeling a tear slide down her cheek. Padraic wiped it away with his thumb. “She said the security guards wouldn’t listen to her at first, but the headmaster overheard the conversation and revealed that there was an old well on campus that had been boarded up years ago. That’s where they found me. They sent a fireman down to extract me.”

  “And so you’re afraid of the dark now,” Padraic said. “You have every reason to be.”

  Smiling down at her, he waved his hand, a dark ribbon of magic twisting through the air. Torches that Jules had thought were only decorative, illuminated as the magic whisked across the room. Then, he turned from her, reaching into the drawer beside the bed. Taking her hand, he placed a large, cool stone in her palm. Flat and round, it was a silvery color that shone with prismatic colors in the dim light.

  “What is it?” Jules asked. “It’s beautiful.”

  “It’s a moonstone,” Padraic said. “It was harvested from the mines beneath the castle. Before she died, my mother enchanted it with magic. If you ever find yourself alone or in the darkness, squeeze it in your hand and think of a burning candle. It will light up so that you can see your surroundings.”

  “Seriously?” Jules had seen magic a thousand times since she had gone searching for Ivy last year, but for some reason, she was still skeptical of magical objects.

  Padraic shrugged. “It wounds me that you don’t believe me. See for yourself. Try it.”

  Jules stared down at the beautiful stone and closed her fingers around it. Closing her eyes, she pictured one of the taper candles from Padraic’s massive dining table. She concentrated, picturing the wick igniting to flame. Then, she opened her eyes, as well as her hand. The stone was glowing with white light so bright it hurt her eyes.

  “Frickedy Frack!” she said.

  “This is the realm of perpetual night,” Padraic said, closing her fingers back over the stone, “but you never have to be in the dark again. You never have to be alone again.”

  Then, as the torches flickered, casting moving shadows across the room, Padraic leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Before long, Jules had left her rising fears behind her. In the past, where they belonged.

  Chapter Eleven

  Teagan released a shaky breath, bracing herself on the large vanity that stood in the corner of Odhran’s room. Her wrist throbbed where King Fhaescratch had fed on her. Though she had cleaned and dressed the wound, her flesh pulsed where his fangs had pierced her vein, throbbing with an unsettling mixture of pleasure and pain. She had fought with all of her strength not to cry out as he had drank from her. The pain had streaked through her like blades, but at the same time, it wasn’t altogether unpleasant. The longer he drank, the more she wanted him to continue.

  “Vampire venom,” Odhran said. “It will wear off in a day or two, though you were foolish to go into the caverns alone.”

  Teagan fought the urge to roll her eyes. The former king slid behind her, slipping his arms around her waist to plant a trail of kisses down her neck.

  Her heart quickened as she recalled the other condition of her dark union with the Laltogs and the Brags. King Fhaescratch would need a Court and a castle. Though Teagan had originally promised to give Odhran his kingdom back once she had properly disposed of Padraic and his insufferable human consort, she knew now there was no way Odhran would ever sit on his own throne again. If she wanted to defeat Seelie and the self-righteous presumptuousness they stood for, she needed her dark alliance. She was fond of Odhran, just as her mother had been, but when the lines were drawn, she needed Fhaescratch more than she needed Odhran.

  Smiling, she turned toward him,
taking his face in her hands, and pressed her lips to his. As he lost himself in their kiss, clearly hungry for more, she wound her arms around him, trailing her fingers down his back. She allowed his hands to explore, too, and when he was thoroughly distracted, she pulled the dagger from the sheath at her thigh. Continuing to kiss him, she pulled him close with her left hand, raising her right high in the air. She pulled her lips from his, exposing her neck to him. He pressed his lips to the sensitive skin there. She sighed, almost regretting what had to be done.

  Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath.

  Then, she plunged the dagger into his back, the blade finding purchase between two ribs.

  With a shocked gurgle, he inhaled sharply.

  “I’m sorry it had to be this way,” she whispered.

  She pushed him away. Odhran stumbled back, his accusing eyes finding her own, his face twisted in the shock of betrayal.

  “Why?”

  It was the only word he uttered before blood filled his lungs and whatever else he planned to say was cut off by a raspy gurgle.

  “I really did care for you,” Teagan said. “Really, I did.”

  Still staring into her eyes with a pained look, he stumbled back into the wall and slid down until he slumped over, his life extinguished.

  Once she was certain he was dead, Teagan tiptoed across the floor and pulled the dagger from his back. She wiped the blade on his shirt before sliding the knife back into its sheath. Reaching in her pocket, she pulled the vial that Fhaescratch had given her and collected Odhran’s blood—the only proof the Laltog king needed. He would taste the nobility, the royalty, in Odhran’s blood. Once the vial was full, she corked it and placed it back in her pocket. She would deliver it later. First, she would have to make sure the rest of her plan was falling into place.