by Dyan Chick
Cormac's lips parted and his eyes softened. A small smile played on his lips as he walked right past Ethan to me.
He either didn't notice or didn't care that I was naked in Ethan's bed. Cormac swept me up in his arms, lifting me off the bed in an embrace that took my breath away. He buried his face in my hair, warm breath against my ear. "I'm so grateful you're safe."
All the awkwardness of being in Ethan's room vanished. I let go of the blanket and wrapped my arms around his neck, breathing in the scent of him. Tears blurred my vision and I blinked them away. Cormac let me go and helped tuck the blanket up around me.
"Dane is well," Cormac said, as if realizing I'd want an update. "I was sent at the Queen's behest. She's requested your return to court. Something terrible has happened."
Ethan walked over to us, my dress in his hands. He'd pulled on a pair of trousers and a loose fitting tunic that was open in the front revealing most of his chest. I clenched my thighs together, feeling a surge of heat between my legs that had been stirred by our interrupted moving interlude.
Ethan handed me my clothes, then turned back to Cormac. "What is it?"
I tugged the tunic over my head, then stood to pull the skirt over my hips. "What happened?"
"The trial has been compromised," Cormac said. "Several of the candidates were given false trials and they didn't survive."
"What do you mean by false trials?" I asked.
"The last trial had a travel enchantment," Cormac said to Ethan.
"Cassia told me about it," Ethan said.
"Of course," Cormac said. "She was fortunate. Several of the messages were altered and the candidates were sent elsewhere."
My stomach twisted into knots and I backed up to the bed, sitting down as numbness worked its way from my chest down my arms and into my fingers. My mouth wasn't working as the conclusion formed in my mind. It was sabotage. And I knew it was aimed at me.
"We're not sure who got to the letters, but we think they intended to change all of them and were interrupted," he said. "It's pure luck that Cassia got one of the correct letters."
I shook my head as I forced myself to push back against the numbness. I wasn't helpless, I needed to say something, fight against this. I knew this was my fault. "Someone wanted me dead bad enough to endanger all of the candidates."
Cormac was silent, but I watched as his temples bulged when he tightened his jaw.
"How many?" I asked, my voice small.
"There are only four of you left," he said.
A chill ran down my spine. Only four of the letters had been left untouched. "All the candidates who received the false letters were killed?"
Cormac nodded. "They were sent directly in front of a tear to the Under. They never stood a chance."
"Tiana," I said. "It was Tiana. She probably knew her way into wherever they kept the letters. She's working with the Under. She wants me dead."
I had hoped she didn't want me dead bad enough to sacrifice all the candidates for the trial, but I was wrong.
"I believe she's the culprit," Cormac said. "The Queen doesn't want to believe it, but I think she's coming around to the idea."
"What happens if the candidates are all killed?" I asked. "Who then becomes Queen?"
"That's never happened before," Ethan said. "I'm not even sure of what the rules dictate in that situation."
"I wondered the same thing," Cormac said. "I asked the Council the same question."
"And?" I asked, holding my breath as I waited for an answer.
"The Queen's next of kin gains the crown until a new Trial can be organized," Cormac said.
Ethan blew out a breath. "And only a Queen can call for a Trial. If Tiana gets the crown on her head, she's not taking it off."
"We can't let that happen," I said.
"I know. That's what I need you for, Ethan. We are going to find Tiana and stop her before she can do any more damage." He held up a scroll and unrolled it.
I noticed the wax seal on the bottom of the paper and then read the words. It was a declaration of authority for Cormac, giving him permission to serve as executioner if he captured Tiana.
My throat tightened. I knew Cormac was often given the task of hunting monsters, but Tiana was something worse. Not only was she a monster, she could control the monsters.
"You can't go," I said. "Have them send someone else."
"You know we have to go after her," Cormac said. "She's not going to stop until she kills you and we swore to protect you."
My brow furrowed and I scrambled to think of anything that might keep them here with me, but I knew nothing was going to convince them to stay. "Then I'm going with you. I can help."
"No," Cormac said. "They have determined to run the last trial. You have to finish this or all those other candidates died for nothing."
Chapter Twenty-Three
Cormac reached into his tunic and pulled out a small envelope with my name scrawled across the front in large, curving letters. "After you pass the last trial, you can return to the Autumn Court. As long as you pass, you're in the final four since there are only four of you left. You're nearly there. Once you're back at the Autumn Court, we can protect you better. Dane's waiting for you there."
I took the letter from him and stared at the wax seal holding the envelope closed. What could they possibly ask of me now? There was so much danger. So many terrible things. Tears in the Under, Tianna openly opposing the throne, all the candidates dead without a chance to experience the rest of their lives. How could they possibly want this to continue in the midst of everything else? I took a deep breath, knowing that things were different for the Fae. They didn't cry over a little bloodshed the way humans did. For all I knew this sort of thing happened every time Queen's Trial happened.
I could feel Cormac and Ethan's gaze upon me as I stared down at the final trial. I traced my fingers over the wax as I gathered my strength. I had to do this. I had to prove myself worthy even if most of the competition had been eliminated. Becoming Queen wasn't what I had set out to do, but when the alternative was Tiana, what choice did I have?
I looked up at the princes. "I suppose I might as well get started."
I slid my finger under the seal under the wax to break the seal but Cormac's hand came down on top of mine. "We can't be here for this one. You had help on the first two, the final trial must be completed by you alone."
He looked over at Ethan. "We are to return to the palace and begin the search for Tiana. The Queen has requests for help immediately."
Ethan's brow furrowed. "That leaves her unguarded."
"I don't like it either,” Cormac said. “But I don't want her to lose her chance to become Queen, do you?"
Ethan frowned, then nodded. "Be careful, Cassia. We'll meet you back at the Autumn Palace as soon as we can."
"Dane is already there," Cormac said. "They told me you'd end up there when you finished. When you get back, find Dane and don't leave his side."
I nodded. My throat felt dry as I watched them leave the room, giving me the privacy that was requested for me to complete the final trial. I wasn't sure I was ready, but I knew I had to do this. And the sooner I got it finished, the sooner I'd get to Dane where I would feel safe again.
Sasha's warning about my death during the trial echoed in the back of my mind. But I couldn't focus on that now. Once I returned to the Autumn Palace, maybe Dane could take me to his home to wait for the next stage of the Trials. Unless that was the part I was to die in. I shook my head, realizing that there was a reason why Tristan had kept some things from me. Worrying about what was to come wasn't going to help me survive right now.
There wasn't much of a choice. Before I could lose my nerve, I broke the wax seal off of the envelope and opened the letter. Before I even got to read the contents, I was pulled away, sliding through the void wherever the third trial was. I tried to steady myself, taking calming breaths. I'd expected it this time, but it was still just as startling as the first time I sl
id. As the darkness closed in on me I reminded myself that all I had to do was pass this trial and I was in the next round.
I needed to do this and I needed to do it well. And this time, I knew I couldn't ask for help from anyone or offer to work together if I happened to run into one of the other remaining candidates. This had to be all me. I’d had a feeling I was going to be forced to work alone at some point, but I still didn't like the idea of being so isolated.
As my feet touched down, I managed to maintain my balance as the darkness faded from my vision. I blinked, expecting sunlight, but there wasn't any. I could hardly see in front of me at all. Shivering once again, I wished I would've thought to grab a cloak or something to keep myself warm before I opened the envelope.
It had been morning when I left Ethan's, but wherever I was, it was no longer daytime. The moon shone down from the sky illuminating icy snow under my feet. I took slow careful steps, and managed to stay on top of the crusted snow without falling through. It was more like ice at this point and I wondered exactly where I was.
The snow wasn't fresh, it had been there a while, likely thawed and refrozen several times to create this type of surface. Sparse trees scattered across the landscape offered little in the way of cover if anything attacked. Moving forward and getting this over with was my only option.
Thankful for the light of the moon and the snow underfoot to help everything look brighter, I hesitantly moved forward, testing each step before I put my full weight on my foot. Once when we were children, Rose had stepped on what she thought was just snow, but it turned out it was covering a rather large puddle. When she stepped on the surface, she broke through the snow and the ice underneath, falling into the small pit. Thankfully, the water only went up to her mid-calf and it wasn't anything she could drown in.
I still remembered the look of surprise on her face and the pain she was in from the contact of the cold water on her skin. Her screams were so loud that I was terrified she was going to die. She recovered with dry clothes and a warm blanket by the fire but for a few minutes, I was worried I was going to lose her. All because we didn't watch where we put our feet.
I didn't know where I was or what was under the packed snow and I couldn't afford to make any mistakes. My movement was cautious and slow. I did my best to keep my steps silent, but the sound of crunching snow still caught me off guard every few steps. Each sound seemed to echo through the expense of landscape around me, alerting anything or anyone that was nearby of my presence.
I stopped walking and took a few deep breaths. I needed to figure out what my task was so I could create a plan. I wished I'd had a chance to read the letter.
I close my eyes for second and felt for my magic, hoping that if there were something magical nearby I might be able to detect it the way I had in the last trial. My heart jumped as I felt the familiar pulse rise up to greet me. Something outside of me was sending a magical signature similar to mine.
Hope flickered inside me, intermingling with desperation. I moved closer to the sense of magic, hoping whatever it was, it was the thing I was supposed to find or do to complete the trial. I had a feeling it wasn't going to be as easy as the last two. I'd shown I could ask for help and shown that I could detect magic. This trial would probably require that I use magic. My stomach twisted in anticipation as I crept closer to the source. I still had no training on how to use magic. I hadn't had a chance to talk to Tristan about any of it. All I had to do was pass this trial, but what if I couldn't do it?
Thoughts of Tristan clouded my focus, momentarily making me forget the weight of the trial at hand. He was dealing with a war right now and all I had to do was get through some silly test. It made what I was doing seem unimportant and foolish. I should be helping him, but I got so swept up in my reunion with Ethan that I didn't consider how much danger he was in. Was he safe? Had he already completed his fight? Had he rescued Nani and Jaya?
I wondered if I would feel a sense of danger or pain if he was injured. I hadn't felt any major disruptions that made me fear for Tristan’s safety. Hopefully that meant everything was going well. We shared a mating bond and even though I hadn't had a chance to discuss it with him, I think he knew it too. Was that the big thing he'd been keeping from me? Why did he do that? Was he hoping I'd come up with it on my own or that it would go away?
I shook my head, refocusing on the trial. I knew I couldn't lose sight of my purpose. The sooner I figured this out, the sooner I'd return. Then, I could find out what was going on with Tristan and with Tiana and with everything else that seemed to be falling apart.
In the distance, a green light started to flicker, pulsing in time to the magic that was flowing through my veins. Whatever it was it seemed to be calling to me. I picked up my pace, not as cautious as I had been, hoping I wouldn't encounter any surprises between now and the time that I reached the green light.
I reached the light sooner than anticipated, the lack of challenges on my route was making me feel uncomfortable. Unease weighed heavily on me as I approached what appeared to be a green lantern suspended in the air.
This couldn't be it; it couldn't be this easy. Granted, the lantern was several body lengths above me, making it difficult to reach. Was that the goal? If I retrieved the lantern, would the trial be complete?
I stared at the light, breathing in time with its pulse as I contemplated how I could reach it. Behind me, someone laughed. A horrible crackling sound that made my skin crawl. Feeling chilled to the bone, I turned to see who could possibly be standing behind me making that kind of noise. Tiana was still laughing when my gaze met hers.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Tiana didn't laugh long. Before I could fully grasp what was happening, she charged me, wrapping her arms around me and knocking me to the ground. She stood quickly, slamming her foot on top of my chest, pinning me in place. I heard something crack and sharp pain splintered through me. I screamed as my vision blurred, the pain threatening to take away my consciousness.
Gasping for breath, I struggled to roll away from her, grabbing her foot and lifting it so she landed on the ground next to me. On all fours she sneered at me, showing pointed teeth. "No one's coming to save you this time."
I pushed myself to standing and backed away from her. She shouldn't be here. Ethan and Cormac were trying to find her and the council had been made aware of her plan. Surly, she couldn't alter the trials twice?
Realization made my eyes widen. Somehow she had tricked Cormac into coming for me. "You sent Cormac."
"I was Cormac," she said, shifting into the familiar form of the Autumn Prince before my eyes. "You need to learn to be more aware of your surroundings." The words came out in Cormac's voice, not hers. But now that I was aware of her trick, I could tell there was something that wasn't quite right. I should have noticed before.
My nostrils flared and I clenched my teeth, furious at her deception. "What did you do with him. And what did you do with Ethan?"
Last I'd seen them, they were leaving me alone in Ethan's house.
She melted back into herself. "Cormac doesn't even know you're here. Nobody does. As far as they know, you're tucked away in the Winter Court."
"What did you do with Ethan?" I repeated.
"He'll wake soon," she said. "Not soon enough to save you, but he'll live."
"If you hurt him..." The threat hung between us, empty words that I wasn't even sure I could deliver.
"You really should be worrying about yourself right now," she said.
My magic roared to life, clawing at my insides, desperate for release. I had to defeat Tiana. I had to save myself, find Ethan, and keep her from ever hurting anyone again.
Tiana smiled, a wicked grin. "I can feel your magic. So you want to play, do you?"
Behind Tiana the green lantern pulsed above her, then it started to crackle and sputter. I took my eyes off of my opponent to look up. Green sparks shot out from the lantern, small at first, then growing larger until some of them reached down to th
e ground below like sickening green lightning.
Tiana laughed again and I tore my gaze from the light back to her.
"You are such a fool," Tiana said. "Even if you knew how to use your magic, you still wouldn't stand a chance. In just a moment my creatures will come, you can't stop us. You can't stop me."
"You can't possibly think anything is worth letting those creatures into this world," I said. Desperate for any kind of distraction as I channeled all of my magic to my hands. I still wasn't sure what I was going to do, but I let instinct take over, sending my magic to a point of contact so I could release it at her.
"Oh but it is, because I won't just rule this world, I will also rule the Under," she said.
My heart thundered in my chest as magic sent heat through my veins until it burned in my palms. I wanted to take Tiana down more than ever.
Whatever was coursing through me was hot and dangerous and I knew it was my best chance. I released the magic, turning my palms out toward Tiana pushing everything I had in her direction.
The magic came out white-hot. My hair stuck to my sweaty forehead and I felt beads of perspiration slide down my back. Exhaustion began to set in as I sent the glowing light current toward her. It was more intense than the usual white light I sent out. This was hotter and instead of hanging in the air blinding us, it traveled in a stream of concentrated light that was aimed right at Tiana.
Finally, breathing heavy, I relinquished the magic. My arms dropped to my side and my shoulder sank. Whatever I had done had taken most of my strength. In front of me smoke rose from the ground and I hoped whatever I had done was enough. As the smoke began to clear my heart sank. In front of me, seemingly unharmed, was Tiana.
"Still trying to depend on your light magic," she clicked her tongue. "I was hoping to see you come up with something new."
I was too tired to speak and I knew I needed to save my strength so I glared at her with the most defiance I could muster. Behind her, the lantern sputtered and the green light faded. The moon once again our only source of light. My breath came in clouds, the cold of the night returned in full force now that the light was gone.
