by E. A. Copen
Titania was silent.
Remy looked from me to her. “Grandmother?”
The Summer Queen lifted her chin proudly. “You are not on trial for any of those things,” she shouted above the roar of the crowd. “Do you deny trying to kidnap Remy? Conspiring against me? Bringing the Winter Knight across the border? Corrupting Sir Foxglove and attacking my knight?”
I shook my head. “You’re not listening. A judge with closed ears is just an executioner in disguise, and since you want to kill me so badly, I’ll give you that chance. I demand a trial by combat!”
The shouting silenced. The Summer Knight removed his hand from his sword and looked expectantly at Titania.
She threw her head back and laughed. “That right is afforded only to nobility, and since no court in attendance recognizes your pathetic attempt at declaring yourself king of this Court of Miracles—”
The doors to the throne room suddenly burst open and Noelle charged in, still wearing the ball gown she’d picked out for the masquerade, except it was covered in blood. She walked with two bloodstained blades bared, one in each fist. Soldiers marched in at her side, a dozen strong, armed with swords and spears and wearing sparkling ice blue armor.
Titania’s knights drew their weapons.
“What is the meaning of this?” demanded the Summer Queen.
Noelle stopped halfway to the throne. “I recognize the Court of Miracles.”
“You are not a part of these proceedings!” Titania stammered.
“Unfortunately for you, they don’t agree.” She nodded to her armed escort. “And since I just became their queen, they aren’t going to back down unless I order them to, which I have no intention of doing.”
Noelle matched Titania’s glare with one of her own. The room was suddenly so quiet, you could’ve heard the ice water flowing through Noelle’s veins. Titania was practically steaming.
I smiled and turned back to address the Summer Queen. “So, how about it, Titania? Do I get my trial? Or do my Winter allies get free target practice?”
“Very well, Horseman. You may name your champion.”
Champion? Foxglove hadn’t said anything about a champion. I glanced at William. Titania would almost certainly name her knight as her champion. He was the Summer Knight for a reason. To get a title like that, you had to be the best swordsman in the kingdom.
I looked to Noelle. She was good too. Had to be if she’d served as the Winter Knight, but I had a feeling naming a Faerie queen wouldn’t go in my favor. She’d come to my rescue once already and I didn’t want to owe her. Which left me with one option.
Foxglove had lost weight since getting tossed into prison with me. His face had grown thin. He’d be weak, tired, and sore. But he’d be motivated too. If we won this, I’d be able to negotiate his release. Not only that, but the woman he loved would be watching. If he was the warrior I thought he was, he’d want to prove himself to her, even if he knew she’d never have him.
He shook his head. Foxglove wanted me to name my magic. I could see why. It would give me an edge over William, but only if I could get close. I didn’t know my way around a sword well enough to win that fight. Besides, if I killed the Summer Knight, it’d be one more mark against me. Two knights duking it out with swords was supposed to be more honorable. Wasn’t that what was really on trial? My honor?
I cleared my throat. “I name my knight, Sir Foxglove, as my champion.”
His shoulders deflated with a sigh.
Titania smirked. “Very well. I choose my knight. Clear the hall and arm them. Let the battle begin.”
Chapter Thirty
Titania’s people removed all the décor from the throne room in record time. Some of the curious onlookers left, but most stayed to see how it would go down. Nothing more entertaining to a mob than the chance for blood.
Noelle was given a seat of honor off to the left side of the room and commanded her guards to surround her. Titania’s servants poured her wine and offered her food, but she touched none of it, preferring to sit and brood in the smaller of two thrones in the room.
Foxglove was given a space to prepare nearby, just out of earshot of the new Winter Queen, while I was chained to a heavy boulder Athdar brought in from outside. I looked at him but didn’t say anything. Titania was watching and if she saw us speaking to each other, the jig would be up.
Declan pushed in a big wooden cart with a bunch of weapons strapped to it. Attached diagonally to the back was the iron staff I had asked him to retrieve. I hoped I wouldn’t have to use it, but if my fetch decided to make an appearance, I wouldn’t hesitate.
Our jailor struck off Foxglove’s chains and stormed away growling.
Foxglove rubbed his scratched-up wrists. “You should not have named me, Lazarus. Why didn’t you just stick to the plan?”
“I knew Titania would name William and that I’m not a match for him. Not even with my magic. I’d be dead, you’d be dead, and my fetch would still be running around making a wreck of my reputation.” I gestured to the other side of the room where William was busy adjusting his armor. “You can take him. You’re at least as good as he is. I’ve seen you fight.”
Foxglove grabbed a flimsy looking vambrace and strapped it to his forearm. “William is my friend. A mentor. He taught me everything I know about the sword, Lazarus. Even if I can beat him, I don’t want to.”
The image of Hades staring up at me, eyes wide while I held his soul flashed through my mind. I closed my eyes and shook my head, clearing the image. “Well if you don’t win this, you and me are both dead.”
“It’s you and I.”
“What?”
Foxglove finished strapping on a chest plate with lots of dents. “Never mind. You do realize that even if I win, we might not get out of this alive? Not now that both queens are here. They might erupt into a fight and shatter the very fragile peace between them. This whole kingdom could be at war by the end of this, and we’ll be caught in the middle.”
“Then we’ll just have to make sure Titania and Noelle behave themselves.” I glanced between them. With the looks they were giving each other, that wouldn’t be easy.
“It’s not them I’m worried about.” Foxglove went to the weapons rack and picked up a spear head, examining it. “Your fetch is still around. If you win and he doesn’t get his way, he might decide to cause more trouble. Starting a war to stop you sounds exactly like something he’d do.”
Foxglove was right, but I couldn’t focus on that. My first priority had to be getting free and back to Earth. I hadn’t missed that Noelle hadn’t changed her dress. Maybe there was still time. Time did flow differently in Faerie after all.
Foxglove stopped examining his sword and lowered it. Prince Roshan had stepped away from the line of spectators and was coming our way. That idiot. What did he think he was doing? He’d ruin everything.
“Prince Roshan,” said Foxglove stepping between me and Roshan. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I only came to wish you luck,” said Roshan, “and to give you this.” He held out his hand.
Foxglove took whatever it was, cradling it in his palm for a moment before giving Roshan a questioning glance.
“I apologize for my behavior at the prison,” Roshan continued. “I understand the power rejection holds over you all too well. You don’t have to throw your life away for her.”
Foxglove closed a fist around Roshan’s gift and squeezed. “It would be my honor to die defending truth and justice. We fought alongside each other during the Shadow invasion, didn’t we, Prince Roshan?”
“We did.”
Foxglove turned, picked up a leather helmet and affixed it on his head. “Then I look forward to serving with you again in the future should the opportunity arise.”
Roshan nodded, then glanced at me. “Horseman,” he said in the form of both a greeting and farewell before retreating.
“What did he give you?” I asked once Roshan was out of earshot.
“A note.” He tucked a small slip of paper into his armor. “Titania removed Sir William’s blade and had it sharpened just before. I believe more than an oil and a grindstone have been applied to the edge.”
I surged forward. “He’s fighting you with poison on his sword? Foxglove, you have to call foul.”
He shook his head. “Sir William doesn’t know. If he did, he wouldn’t go ahead with the fight. The man is nothing if not honorable. If I call him out, I’ll destroy his honor. I won’t do that to him.”
“If you don’t, then even one little nick and you’re a dead man!”
“I won’t do it, Lazarus. I can’t. Not to him.”
“Foxglove...” I laced my tone with warning.
He tugged on a pair of leather gloves and ignored me. “I’ll just have to avoid being cut is all,” he said and grabbed both sword and shield before striding out to the center of the room.
I shifted as far forward as the chains would allow, the taste of bile in my throat. Foxglove was good, but he wasn’t that good, not with all that subpar armor and the dull blade they’d given him. William was still dressed in plate and wielding a poisoned sword. This trial by combat was a farce.
While the two met in the middle of the room and listened to one of Titania’s guards read the rules, I scanned the front. Titania caught my attention and smirked. My eyes trailed up to the balcony of the throne room where a line of crossbowmen waited, their weapons drawn and pointed at me.
No matter how this went down, she wanted to make sure I didn’t leave Summer alive.
The guard stepped away, leaving Foxglove and William in the center, facing each other. A tense silence filled the room. I didn’t dare breathe.
Titania stood and raised her arm. “Fight!” she shouted and lowered it.
They circled, muscles coiled beneath armor, swords tense and ready to strike if presented the slightest opening. William’s posture shifted forward slightly, prompting Foxglove to step back. The Summer Knight thrust his sword toward Foxglove in a lunge. Foxglove deflected it with a precise upward strike, but William stepped into it, pushing his shield forward. It cracked against Foxglove’s arm and pushed it aside and exposing Foxglove’s middle, but he couldn’t capitalize on it since Foxglove had pinned William’s sword arm with his own shield. A second of struggle passed, then two, before Foxglove kicked William. William stumbled several steps before he found his footing. He looked at Foxglove, stunned.
“Fight me in earnest,” Foxglove demanded, “or die where you stand.”
William shifted his grip on the sword. “As you wish.”
Metal clashed, sword against sword as the two knights went at each other. Every time William slashed, I forced myself to watch and only remembered to breathe between each clang of the blades against each other or their shields.
William was the first to miscalculate. He backed Foxglove against a pillar and made a wide swing that would’ve sliced open Foxglove’s throat. Instead, Foxglove dropped to the floor and he caught only air. Foxglove lashed out with his shield, sweeping it across the floor and taking William’s feet from under him. The Summer Knight crashed to the ground. He reached for his shield, desperate to pull it on top of his body before Foxglove could get him, but Foxglove kicked it away and stood over William, his blade resting against the Summer Knight’s throat.
Titania shot back to her feet.
I strained against the chain that held me.
“Yield,” Foxglove commanded through clenched teeth.
“Do not!” Titania shouted. “I command you not to yield! Finish this!”
William’s face twisted. His grip tightened on his sword and he lifted it from the ground. Foxglove tried to move, but he wasn’t fast enough. The blade sliced the back of his leg and brought him to his knees with a grunt. William rolled away and collected his shield from the ground.
“Get up,” I whispered. It wouldn’t do any good. If William’s sword was coated in poison like he suspected, Foxglove was fucked. There’d be no saving him. He had every right to lay there and die without taking any more cuts for me.
Foxglove stabbed the point of his sword into the floor and used the blade as leverage to get back on his feet. His left foot shifted forward, leaving a bloody footprint behind.
“Kill him!” Titania screamed.
William lifted his sword and thrust it at Foxglove’s chest with a shout. Foxglove didn’t even try to deflect the blade. He just stood there and let William stab him. The blade went into his stomach as if Foxglove wasn’t wearing any armor at all and sank several inches.
The throne room erupted in surprised gasps.
William seemed just as surprised as everyone else until he shifted and found Foxglove’s sword had found a weak spot in his armor, too, a small gap at the bottom of the breastplate. Foxglove had driven the sword upward and into William’s body at an angle, a fatal blow. The Summer Knight opened his mouth to speak. Nothing but blood came out. He let go of his sword and tried to grip Foxglove by the cheeks, a look of panic on his face.
“I know,” Foxglove said. “I forgive you. We’ll see each other soon.” With a jerk, he pulled the sword free of William’s body and let the knight fall, lifeless, to the ground.
The throne room was deathly silent.
“I claim victory. In accordance with the law, you must release Lazarus at once.” Foxglove teetered and fell to his knees. William’s sword was still in his gut.
Titania gritted her teeth and started to raise her hand, stopping only when Remy stood.
Remy rushed down from the dais to kneel at Foxglove’s side. Her hand closed around the hilt of the sword. “Bring a healer!”
“Leave it!” Foxglove pushed her hand away roughly. “It will do no good. I’m dead already.”
“No.” She blinked damp eyes and gripped him by the chin. “No, no, no! You can’t die. I command you not to die!”
He smiled weakly. “There’s poison on the blade, princess. It’s too late.”
“I’ll go,” Remy promised. “I’ll leave Faerie. You can’t die if I’m not here.” She started to stand.
Foxglove grabbed for her hand and squeezed it. “Don’t. Please.”
Remy nodded and sank back to the floor with him.
I glanced up at the crossbowmen. Once Titania lowered her hand, they’d probably unload on me. She hadn’t yet because Remy could get shot too. I had to get free before Titania decided to open fire.
“This is her doing,” I said loud enough that Remy could hear. “William would never put poison on his sword. He was too honorable a knight. Foxglove even tried to spare him. If she’d allowed it—”
“Silence!” The Summer Queen raised her fingers, poised to snap. “Guards, seize the prisoner.”
One of the guards stepped away from the dais to bow in front of her. “But your majesty, he won the trial by combat.”
“Remy.” I knelt so that we were on the same level. “Please listen to me. I gave up everything to get here to you. He gave everything. Not because we wanted to steal you away or hurt you. Because you deserve a choice. You don’t have to listen to her. Love who you want to love. Live where you want to live. I know you don’t know me but let me get to know you. We can still...” I paused to swallow the growing tightness in my throat. “I can still be your dad. Come home with me.”
She sniffled and pulled her hand away from Foxglove. His arm fell limply to the floor but he remained as he was, upright. He was gone.
“I can’t come home with you,” Remy said. “Faerie is my home now. I can’t abandon it.” She leaned in and kissed Foxglove’s cheek before standing. “But I cannot forgive this. All the half-truths. The manipulation.” She turned toward Titania, eyes overflowing with tears and fists clenched. “The deception. I won’t play your games anymore, grandmother.”
Titania’s eyes flashed. She stepped off the dais and slowly came over to Remy. “Listen to me, child.”
“No, you listen to me! All my life I’ve done everythin
g you’ve ever asked of me and you were willing to trade me away like property. You convinced me that no one loved me but you, that no one wanted me. All this time... You lied to me and it cost two good men their lives.”
Someone clapped on the other side of the room, slow at first and building speed. My fetch stepped through a shadowy door with one last clap. “A moving speech, princess. But it doesn’t matter, does it? You’re still going to marry some kid you don’t give a shit about, and your dad’s still going to die.” He bowed to Titania. “Allow me to execute him personally, highness. My gift to you.”
Athdar broke away from the crowd nearby. He grabbed my chains and, with a mighty yank, broke them from the rock. Roshan pursed his lips and blew a stream of molten fire my way. I held my wrists as far apart as I could and out in front of me, letting the fire pour over them until the metal glowed and weakened. Athdar brought his fist down between the weakened metal, severing the cuffs that bound me. I turned just in time to see Declan pull my iron staff free from the back of the weapons rack and throw it to me.
I caught the staff and spun it, turning back toward my fetch and a very surprised Summer Queen. “Let’s go, asshole.”
Bizarro Laz scowled at me and jerked a sword away from the nearby guard. But he didn’t come at me with the sword. Instead, he marched over to where William lay on the ground, pulled something out of his pocket and sprinkled it over the corpse. Dark, sinister magic swelled and a moment later the Summer Knight’s corpse began to twitch.
Someone in the audience screamed and fainted.
My fetch looked over his shoulder and grinned at me as William’s white-eyed corpse sat up, mouth agape. He’d just turned the Summer Knight into a zombie. “Kill him and anyone who helps him,” commanded the fetch and handed the zombie his sword.
