by Sarina Dorie
Odette’s lips pressed into a flat line. “Fine. I agree.”
“Make it a binding oath,” I insisted.
Her eyes narrowed. I could tell she didn’t like that.
“Very well.” She drew buttery light into the air, “I, Odette Thatch, solemnly swear I will not harm, taunt, curse, kill, or attempt to make contact with the woman inside. I won’t come here again, nor will anyone in the Raven Court.”
Odette was older than I was. Surely she had made more bargains. She must have thought of a thousand ways to get around the stipulations.
I said, “Promise the Raven Court won’t harm, curse, or kill my fairy godmother.” Nor did I want them to taunt her or manipulate her into going with them . . . like they were with me. “And they won’t make contact with her in her home.”
I expected her to refuse. It was unlikely she had the power to command an entire Fae court and make them do her bidding. Yet she repeated my words and added them to our contract.
“They will never come here to her home or seek her out in the Morty Realm,” she said.
I couldn’t tell whether I’d missed a stipulation or she truly was willing to agree to anything to get me to come with her.
She held her hand out to me. “And in exchange for this, you will come with me to the Raven Queen.”
I extended my hand. “I agree to these terms.” I prayed I wasn’t making a mistake. “And you have to agree the Raven Court won’t do anything bad to her ever. Anywhere.”
She arched an eyebrow, her face resembling Thatch’s. “You are pushing your luck.”
I opened my mouth, about to argue. I would not let a loophole endanger the woman who had raised me.
“Clarissa,” Mom called out the back door.
“Go down the street,” I said, shooing Odette away. “I don’t want anyone to see you. I’ll meet you over there.”
She turned on the fence and slid into the neighbor’s yard. I prayed she didn’t do anything to hurt anyone not covered by the bargain.
I turned back to find my fairy godmother silhouetted in the light of the kitchen door. “What are you doing out there? I heard voices.”
“Talking to. . . .” I considered saying neighbors, but I didn’t want to lie. I retrieved the basket with a measly collection of lavender, unable to meet her eyes. “Thatch’s sister.”
“Oh?” Mom asked. “I didn’t know he had a sister.”
“Yeah. He doesn’t talk about her a lot. I’ve only met a her a few times.”
I hurried into the house and closed the door behind us. If I told Mom the truth, she would try to stop me from leaving. That meant I had to mask the panic inside me.
I cleared my throat. “I have to go. Felix’s sister is here to take me with her.”
“Did Mr. Thatch’s sister say why he was late?”
“Yes, a meeting. I have to go. Sorry.”
I looked around, searching for anything that might be of use in my meeting with a Fae. Electronics were forbidden and would be confiscated. Plus, what did I have besides a vibrator? I had planned on taking the brownies and cookies back to school to share, but I left them on the table. I started toward the front door.
“Not so fast, young lady.” Mom handed me the foil-wrapped packages and kissed my cheek.
“Thanks. I love you.” Tears filled my eyes. I turned away quickly so she wouldn’t see how afraid I was. “Be careful, Mom. Don’t talk to strangers.”
She chuckled at that.
I forced myself to walk calmly out the front door and down the street. Odette waited in the shadows of the neighbor’s bushes for me. The power lines didn’t bother her like they would have with someone who wasn’t a Red affinity.
She eyed the foil, her smile amused. “How quaint. A homemade gift for the queen.”
That was right. Fae liked gifts.
She took my arm, pulling me against her. Wind sucked away the air from my lungs. My body went light and felt insubstantial. For the briefest moment, I thought I was being drained, then I noticed Odette disperse like mist.
Vertigo washed over me, and I wobbled. The transportation spell was like Thatch’s, only colder. My mouth tasted like bitter almond and simultaneously saccharine.
My eyes adjusted as I became solid again. My knees buckled, and I grabbed onto the nearest surface. My hand slid across a black wall, icy and slick. The bumpy surface looked like it was covered in dark tree sap dribbling downward. I gazed up at the structure. From where I stood, the palace resembled a Satanic version of a Gothic church, every wall and window painted black. A crescent moon shown above turrets, its silvery light reflecting across towering windows. From the spindly trees incorporated into the architecture to the lack of light coming from within, everything felt gloomy and ominous.
Odette ushered me inside. My eyes had a hard time focusing on the walls. They shifted like shadows dancing in the light of flickering flames. Only there was no light source that I could place.
I had always imagined the Raven Queen’s lair to be full of spiderwebs and crumbling architecture, looking somewhere in between a haunted house and a cavern with stalagmites and stalactites. It was neither, but the interior was just as creepy as the outside. Red velvet curtains and rich brocades decorated stone walls. Odette led me through a room filled with ornate carpets and natural wood furnishings. It was classy in a Count Dracula kind of way. Giant runes decorated a polished obsidian ceiling, the writing shifting as we passed underneath. Candles dripped from candelabras. Servants wearing all-black livery shuddered back and bowed as Odette passed. She paid them no mind. She walked with her head held high, like a princess in her castle.
We climbed up a flight of stairs and through a gallery that smelled cloyingly sweet and putrid with rot. On the floor above, arches decorated the hall. In each arch hung a human-sized cage with a creature crammed inside. Skeletal bones protruded from some. From others dangled emaciated limbs. Someone moaned. I halted and stared at a gaunt face peering down at me.
“Come along,” Odette said. “You aren’t going to be able to help anyone here.”
I couldn’t take my eyes from the small skeleton of what looked like a child.
“Why?” I asked, my voice coming out a whisper. “Why would she do this?”
“One who lives forever must amuse herself somehow.” She grabbed my arm and forced me forward. “Come along. The queen will be in her receiving room.”
In the next room, we came to an indoor courtyard. The dome of the glass room was covered in wrought-iron bars sealing us within. Along the edges was a small jungle of plants. Fireflies lit the ceiling of the room, bouncing off panes of glass and delicate filigree. It was humid and warm enough that I considered removing my coat.
The structure of the space reminded me of a birdcage. I felt like a trapped bird. I remembered Priscilla, Thatch’s other sister, and what the Raven Queen had done to her.
The air was thick and heavy with the perfume of exotic plants. I recognized nightshade as we passed it, as well as opium and oleander. Many of these had been the plants in the bouquet that had arrived at the school. I had assumed my secret enemy had been the Princess of Lies and Truth. Now I wasn’t so certain.
Leaves rustled, but I felt no breeze. Shadows shifted and danced in my peripheral vision. The moment I turned, the plants were still. The way the twigs popped and leaves whispered sounded like talking, but I couldn’t make out the words. Chills skittered down my spine.
Somewhere up ahead, a man and a woman spoke quietly.
Around a bend in the stone path, we came to two lean figures seated at a table decorated with a crocheted tablecloth and set for tea. Thatch stood the moment he saw me, his face a mask of nothingness.
He was alive!
The Raven Queen folded her hands before her. She was clad in her gown of feathers, wearing her jagged crown that reminded me of black icicles. Her crimson lips were stained the shade of fresh blood.
Delight sho
wn in her all-black eyes. “Splendid. I knew you would succeed.” A touch of a foreign accent laced her voice, the cadence lyrical, unlike the halting monotone of Thatch’s. I had once thought the way she said her words might have been French, but now that I’d studied French, I realized it wasn’t quite the same. Just like Elric’s wasn’t quite Welsh.
“Your Majesty, it is an honor to serve you.” Odette bowed to the queen.
I looked to Thatch, who stood rigidly beside her. I couldn’t tell whether he was pleased to see me or angry. He didn’t appear to be in imminent danger as Odette had suggested.
Odette shoved me hard so that I fell to my knees. “Bow to the queen. Didn’t they teach you manners at that school?” She took hold of my hair and forced me into a pose of supplication.
The uneven stones of the floor bit into my legs and my forearms. I bowed, the foil-wrapped cake and cookies dropping onto the ground. I hoped I hadn’t committed too big a faux pas by not curtsying of my own volition.
“Ma chérie Odette,” the Raven Queen said. “Felix was just telling me how lacking her education has been. Let us at least get to introductions before you start insulting my guest.”
I had already met the queen once before—years before at Oregon Country Fair—but I suspected this occasion in her castle warranted more formalities.
Odette released me and bowed. “I beg your pardon, Your Majesty.”
Shakily, I got to my feet, crouching to pick up my damaged offerings.
Thatch bowed his head to the queen. “My liege, this is Miss Clarissa Lawrence, current arts and crafts teacher at Womby’s School for Wayward Witches, and daughter of Alouette Loraline.”
“An art teacher? The dark arts?” Her voice was unusually deep for a woman’s, sultry and sexy. It dripped with dark chocolate and promises of bittersweet desserts.
The whispers of the leaves died away. The silence prickled my ears.
Thatch cleared his throat. “I’m afraid not, Your Majesty. She is a fine arts teacher.”
“Drawing, painting, and ceramics.” I looked to him, uncertain how to take his calm.
Thatch gave me a stern glare. Perhaps I wasn’t allowed to speak.
“Clarissa Lawrence, please allow me to introduce my fairy godmother, Queen Morgaine, in some circles known as the Queen of Pain and Pleasure, Ruler Over Ravens of Day and Night, Mistress of Darkness and Forbidden Delights, and sovereign of the Raven Court.” Thatch spoke in a bored monotone.
This was the first time he’d ever spoken her name, other than when I’d asked him about it after Khaba had given me the letter where her name had been referenced. I had once read of a Morrigan in Irish mythology. She was an ancient Irish war goddess. I thought I remembered something about her name being related to nightmares. Then there were the unrelated Arthurian legends with Morgaine le Fay. I didn’t know which myth she resembled more, a queen of nightmares or a Fae sorceress.
Queen Morgaine stared at me through heavily lidded eyes. “A pleasure to meet you formally.”
I didn’t offer her my hand. Hers were tipped with long black talons that didn’t exactly entice handshakes.
I clutched the foil to my chest and curtsied. “Nice to meet you.” Etiquette was everything. I tried to think of something else to say. I couldn’t thank her for her hospitality because it was bad to thank a Fae. Not trusting my mouth, I held out the brownies and cookies. “They’re organic.”
“I see you’ve brought a gift for the queen. It seems you paid attention in some of your lessons at least.” Thatch’s voice was bored, indifferent. “Aren’t you fortunate you shan’t have need to give the queen an eye or a finger as tithe.”
His spine was rigid. He spoke more formally and with less expression than usual. I searched his eyes for some sign of what to say or do. I placed the package on the table, bowed, and then backed away from them both. I wanted to believe Thatch was here against his will, not as the queen’s guest and special pet. Currently I couldn’t guess his motives.
Queen Morgaine waved a hand at Thatch, who performed the honor of opening the package. Chocolate instantly greeted my nose, momentarily overpowering the perfume of flowers. If my stomach hadn’t been churning, my mouth might have watered. Instead I felt sick.
The Raven Queen frowned. “It isn’t a human heart, but it’s . . . something.”
“Would you like me to test it for poison or curses?” Odette asked.
“No. You may take it away for another time. We already have other delectable items on the table.”
Odette wrapped the foil back around the desserts and retreated.
Thatch held out his hand. “Do you have my pocket watch?”
The question was so incongruous with the moment, I just stared at him. We were prisoners of Queen Evil, and he wanted to know about his watch?
He repeated himself more impatiently.
I dug it out of my coat pocket and handed it to him.
He turned back to the Raven Queen. “This is what I was talking about. She’s far too naive and trusting to be of any use to us.”
It was the way he said “us” that chilled me. He was including himself?
He hooked the end of the chain to the breast pocket of his vest and tucked it away. In its place he held a wand. He pointed the twisted length of black wood at my feet. A bright light flared and shot toward me.
I jumped back. The place where I’d been standing exploded into sparks. My leather shoes smoked. His laugh was cruel and humorless. Hers was a cackle that rivaled that of the Wicked Witch of the West.
Their voices echoed unnaturally in the domed room, sounding like dozens of people laughing, not just the two of them.
I stared at them dumbstruck. This wasn’t Thatch. He wouldn’t ever try to hurt me like that. Unless this was who he truly was, a spy and loyal servant of the Raven Queen.
I tried to remember what Thatch had told me long ago. He was just pretending to work for the Raven Queen. He needed to keep up the guise or else she would know his integrity had been compromised. That was what I kept telling myself. I tried not to think about what would happen to me if Khaba and Josie were right about Thatch. There had been so many times Elric had given me examples of all the ways Thatch had deceived me and intended to harm me.
The doubt that was surely crinkling my brow was a good thing. The Raven Queen would think I was confused and frightened.
Also, I was frightened.
I wiped my pink sweaty hair out of my eyes and removed my winter coat. It only made me feel slightly better. She couldn’t do anything to me, I told myself. I was allied with the Silver Court and under their protection. Only, I didn’t know what that actually meant. I resisted the urge to touch the amulet at my throat.
The Raven Queen poured tea into dainty cups that looked like something my grandmother might have owned when she’d been alive. I hadn’t been to a tea party since I was ten, and those were with my older sister and my dollies. Never had I imagined I’d be having tea with evil someday.
Thatch nodded to the empty chair on the other side of the table. I scooted farther from him, uncertain I could trust him. He only sat once I did.
“Sugar?” she asked.
I stared at the cloudy red mixture that was supposed to be tea. It smelled like raw meat. Perhaps it was blood. I tried not to think about whose it might be.
I stopped myself from saying, “No, thank you,” uncertain whether that counted as thanking her. “Sugar is unnecessary.” No way was I drinking that brew with or without sugar.
She poured tea for Thatch. He didn’t drink his either.
“Now, Miss Lawrence, I must profess. I’m quite disappointed,” Queen Morgaine said. “I’ve extended numerous invitations to you. From the way you’ve declined, one might think you’re ungrateful for all I’ve done for you. Rude even.”
“Ungrateful?” I asked.
“She doesn’t know,” Thatch said. “I never told her.”
The Raven
Queen pointed a talon-tipped finger at him. “You can be so wicked, Felix.”
“Tell me what?” I asked cautiously.
“I’ve gone to all the trouble of ensuring you have a proper tutor and become educated in pain and pleasure magic, yet you didn’t know it was all my doing?”
He was my mentor because of her? I thought of all our lessons learning my affinity. Had his love for me been a sham?
“Oh. Um, right,” I said, uncertain what to say. I fought the urge to thank her like my polite upbringing had taught me.
“I was being practical,” Thatch said. “Had I told her I was in your employment, it’s unlikely she would have consented to your educational plans. As it is, I’m going to have to erase her memories, probably with an amnesia potion. And it isn’t as though I just happen to carry all the ingredients around in a cauldron at my disposal to brew the moment I have need of them.”
I couldn’t tell how much of his loyalties lay with the Raven Queen and what was a façade. I didn’t want him to erase my memories and to be oblivious to what had just happened.
She waved a hand at the shadows. Melting out from the dark depths under a plant, one of her attendants stepped into the light. I hadn’t even seen the man there. I jumped at the sight of him. His body was that of a man, but in the place of his face was a bird’s head. I glanced at the other shadows, wondering if there were more creatures hidden away.
“Fetch a vial of my finest amnesia potion,” the queen said. “And don’t get it mixed up with the Venus tears this time.”
Khaba had tested me before for memory-erasing spells. When I returned to the school—if I returned—he would find me with missing memories and a potion in my system. He would blame Thatch. I didn’t know if that was good or bad. No matter how this turned out, there would be problems.
The queen eyed me, her gaze probing me. I couldn’t have felt more vulnerable if I’d been naked. “Such lovely magic inside her. She has recuperated splendidly from being drained, no?”
I couldn’t very well pretend not to have magic as I had when I’d visited the Silver Court. If only Thatch had prepared wards to hide my energy.
