by Linde, K. A.
“Lorian, please,” Helly said, appearing swiftly across the sand-strewn arena. “Do not be too hasty.”
“Hasty, Hellina?” Lorian snarled. “After what you allowed to happen at the last tournament? This will not stand. There will be rioting in the streets.”
“Is that a promise, Lorian?” Bastian asked carefully.
Lorian glared back at him. “Not at all, Bastian. I am merely stating that a repeat of last tournament’s events will result in similar complications.”
“She was not a competitor!” Layla cried again. “She is not qualified.”
“I was not a competitor,” Kerrigan said, meeting all of their eyes. “But if you’d just let me explain.”
“Explain what?” Lorian asked. “I’m sure we’d all love to hear your rehearsed gambit for how you got a dragon, but we have no interest in it. We will hold a council meeting to decide your fate.”
“I, for one, would like to hear the girl’s story,” Sinead said calmly.
“As would I,” Helly said.
“Go ahead, Kerrigan,” Bastian said encouragingly. “We all need to know what exactly happened.”
“This is preposterous!” Lorian said.
Helly nodded at her, but Kerrigan could see the worry and fear in her expression. She wanted to tell Helly about the vision that had led her here, but now was certainly not the time.
“When all of this started, I met with Gelryn, and he tested me.”
A gasp went up by a few of the members present.
“He said he’d been waiting for me. Afterward, he said that I’d passed through. I didn’t think anything of it. I wasn’t actively competing.”
“Because you’re not a competitor,” Lorian grumbled.
Kerrigan’s cheeks heated. “Then, something called to me to join in the final task. I was spirited away to the Noirwood Forest, where Fordham and I barely managed to escape an ambush engineered by Darrid. When we got to the mouth of the cave, he was there again and prepared to kill us both. I held him off so that Fordham could enter, but Darrid ran me into the cave with a battle axe.”
“Gods,” Sinead breathed. “The competitors aren’t supposed to try to kill each other.
Helly’s face paled considerably. “No, they’re not.”
“From there, well, you all know what happened. I went through the final task and arrived in the room. It sealed itself behind me, and the Dragon Blessed confirmed that I was a competitor because the room accepted me. Then, Tieran chose me, and we were bound,” she said, rushing over the lie at the end.
“That’s incredibly dangerous, Kerrigan,” Helly said gently.
“Preposterous! The entire thing is outlandish. She was called to the tournament? She cheated. We cannot let this stand,” Lorian argued.
Suddenly, another round of cheers erupted from the crowd. Kerrigan turned with Tieran to see a bright purple dragon soaring in the skies.
Evien, Tieran said.
Kerrigan had always loved Evien because of how much she just adored flying. Not just because she could or had to, but because she wanted to. She’d had many a late-night encounter with Evien, who took her out into the night sky. She’d thought she’d never do that again.
Evien pulled up a little too quickly and landed a few yards away from them. But it was clear who her rider was as soon as her lithe form dropped on the sand—Audria.
The three adjudicators left Kerrigan with Lorian and Helly as they went to congratulate Audria on her success. But as soon as they were done, she rushed over to where Kerrigan stood and threw her arms around her.
“We did it, Kerrigan. We’re both in the Society.”
“Not quite,” she muttered, breaking from her embrace.
“What? What do you mean?”
She gestured to Lorian. “He doesn’t think I qualify. He wants to hold a council meeting about it.”
“No,” Audria gasped. She pushed Kerrigan behind her as if she could keep her safe from Lorian’s attacks. “I vouch for Kerrigan. The room picked her. It wanted her to be in the tournament, and she was tested.”
“A council meeting will be held to decide that,” Lorian said. “She doesn’t qualify. She has no tribe, and we have never had a half-Fae.”
“You never had a human before either, and you let two compete last time,” Audria shot back.
“And look at how that turned out,” Lorian snapped.
“Just because there are a few loud bigots doesn’t mean that we should go backward! We must stay the course or else people will think that all they have to do is cause enough fuss and we’ll take away other people’s rights. That is not the Kinkadia that I know and love. And I won’t stand by and let you use your prejudice against her.”
Kerrigan wanted to duck out of sight. She’d never had someone like Audria, who was so full of privilege, so very Bryonican royalty, stand up for her… to completely defend her. She barely even knew her.
Lorian opened his mouth to object again, but Audria barreled forward.
“And on the second account, my mother and I have agreed to select Kerrigan into Bryonica under the House of Drame.”
Kerrigan’s stomach flopped. Even though she had known Audria was going to do this, everything had changed. Before she had been running away from the people who had abandoned her. Now, she had just faced March and realized it was the very last place that she wanted to be. But she couldn’t say no. Not when her entry to the Society was on the line.
More applause from the crowd revealed a bright red dragon on the horizon.
Netta, Tieran said.
Netta was such a good flyer. She took tight corners and swirled through circles better than any other dragon Kerrigan had flown with. She and Kerrigan had always gotten along because they were both mischievous. Truthfully, she’d hoped to have Netta for herself. But when Netta landed, she couldn’t be happier to see Fordham drop from her back right next to her and Audria.
“Congratulations, Fordham,” Bastian said, holding his hand out.
Layla looked irritated but not as much as she had been with Kerrigan. “You’ve earned your spot.”
The implication was clear: Kerrigan hadn’t.
Fordham shook hands and then pressed through the crowd that had formed between them and to Kerrigan’s side. “You did it. I can’t believe it, but you did.”
Audria huffed, “We’re still working on that.”
“What’s going on?” Fordham asked.
“Lorian wants to hold a council meeting. He doesn’t think Kerrigan qualifies. Even though I just told him that Kerrigan is now a member of Bryonica.”
“She is?” Fordham asked in alarm.
“Yes, she is. So, she qualifies,” Audria said defiantly.
Lorian ignored her as he held conference with the adjudicators and Helly. More and more Society members were stepping onto the sand to meet the new members and their dragons and were getting sucked into the debate about Kerrigan.
Fordham tugged on her arm to draw her aside. “I thought you didn’t want to go back to Bryonica.”
“I don’t,” she admitted solemnly.
“Then don’t.”
“What other choice do I have?” she demanded. “Lorian doesn’t want to let me in. He’s only considering it with the other Society members right now because Audria stuck her neck out for me and said that I was Bryonican. If I don’t have tribe backing, there’s no way he’s going to allow it. He’d send Tieran back before letting a half-Fae with no tribe enter his Society.”
“That’s ridiculous. There has to be another way to fix this.”
“I don’t see one, and I’m queen of finding another way out of things. But I don’t think there is here.” She swallowed hard. “And worse yet, my fear in the faerie illusion was returning to Bryonica. I don’t want to do it, but I’ve faced it once. I can do it again.”
“This isn’t another test, Kerrigan. This is your life. Forever.”
“I know,” she snapped. “Find me another way because I j
ust don’t see it.”
Fordham sighed and released her as she brushed past him. Noda and Roake landed next in the arena, releasing the adjudicators to give their round of congratulations. Festivities would begin soon, starting with a parade for the winners of the tournament. But Lorian was still busy arguing his case to the rest of the Society members present.
Finally, it seemed that something had been settled. Lorian strode to where she stood with Fordham and Audria behind her. Helly and Bastian followed him close behind.
“We have come to an agreement,” he said bitterly. “If you have the backing of tribe Bryonica and can show proof of your testing and entrance into the tournament, then the council will convene to determine your fate.”
Kerrigan wasn’t relieved by that ruling, but it was better than nothing. At least she could argue. She was good at that. She had no other choice about Bryonica. “I accept.”
Audria jumped up and down. “Yes! I’m so excited.”
“Wait,” Fordham snapped from her right.
She looked at him in confusion. “What?”
“You said if she had the backing of tribe Bryonica, but what if she had the backing from any tribe?”
“Any tribe will do,” Bastian agreed.
Helly furrowed her brow. “Why do you ask, Fordham?”
“A thousand years ago, the twelve tribes and the Society sealed my people away and named us the Dark Court. We claimed House of Shadows for ourselves. Under the ruling of the council, the House of Shadows was recognized as a tribe of Alandria.”
“So?” Lorian asked impatiently.
Fordham looked directly at her as he said, “Then, Kerrigan can join the House of Shadows.”
Kerrigan’s mouth hung open. Was he offering her a way out? Through his tribe? It didn’t make sense. She’d never thought he would give her something like this.
“No half-Fae would ever join the House of Shadows,” Lorian said with a laugh.
“It wouldn’t make sense,” Audria agreed. “Bryonica is safer for her.”
Bryonica didn’t see her. Fordham saw her. And Fordham was risking the wrath of his own people by making her one of them. He was doing it for her and no other reason. The out she needed to step away from her own worst nightmare.
“I accept,” she said.
“Kerrigan, no,” Helly gasped.
“I urge you to reconsider,” Bastian said. “You don’t know what those people are like.”
“I know what Fordham is like,” Kerrigan said. “And that’s good enough for me. I’m joining the House of Shadows, and I will bring my proof to the council meeting. So, be ready.”
Kerrigan felt powerful as she made the utterance, sealing her fate with Fordham’s, but then she smelled the smoke and heard the screams that filled the air.
52
The Smoke
“It’s begun,” Lorian said with dread in his voice as he stared at the skyline.
Kerrigan whipped around and saw the waves of smoke coming off the south side of the city.
“That’s the Artisan Village!” Audria cried next to her.
“What’s happening?” Sinead gasped.
Kerrigan narrowed her eyes. She knew what was happening. The same thing that had happened five years ago at the end of the tournament—riots. Red Masks had gotten emboldened and flooded the streets, murdering innocents. There had been nothing she could do then, but that wasn’t the case anymore.
“We need to go help those people,” Kerrigan said. “Now!”
“You won’t do a thing,” Lorian said. “You aren’t a Society member yet. The Guard and the Society in the city can handle this.”
Kerrigan glared at him, straightening. “I might not be a Society member, but I’m never going to stand by and watch my city burn to the ground because you didn’t want me out there.”
Then, she nodded her head at Fordham and Audria. Noda and Roake looked on, aghast, but hastily jumped back onto their dragons when Audria snapped orders at them.
“We’ll swing in from the riverfront,” Audria yelled at them, taking command with ease. “We’ll bring in as much water from the river as we can and douse the buildings. Let’s figure out what we’re dealing with and go from there.”
Kerrigan nodded, and Tieran lifted into the air, heading directly for the river. They passed over the Artisan Village. Kerrigan’s eyes watered at the sight of one of her favorite parts of the city on fire. Audria swooped in over the river first, drawing water toward her with her magic. Fordham went in next, and Kerrigan flew in tight behind him. She pulled on her reserves and drew and drew and drew water to her, as much as she could manage. She had her sights on the opera house when Tieran headed back toward the city.
“The opera house,” she yelled over the wind whipping in her face.
Tieran dove low over the village, and with a deluge, she released the water magic over the burning opera house and nearby buildings. Other Society members had taken up the call. Dragons filled the air, heading for the river.
Kerrigan’s eyes searched the ground for the rioters who had started this.
And as Tieran began to bank away from the river, she nudged him forward. “Straight ahead.”
I see them.
Tieran came in low, and just before he reached the wide city street, Kerrigan dropped off his back and landed heavily on the ground. She winced at the pain that flared up her knees. She was going to need to work on that. She’d never made a landing like that before, but she had no more time to consider it. She took off at a run, straight for the line of people in black robes and red masks, who were dispersing back into their hidey-holes now that the Society had been called in to break up their fight.
It should have felt just like any other fight she had ever walked into, but it felt like more. It felt like every Red Mask who had beaten her that night almost exactly five years ago. She couldn’t let them get away with this. She couldn’t let their leader go free.
Footsteps sounded behind her, and she didn’t have to turn her head to know that Fordham had followed her into the mayhem, as he had been doing for weeks. She didn’t slow. He would catch up to her. She kept moving forward, glad for those hours and hours of running so that by the time she reached the first line of Red Masks, she wasn’t winded.
Kerrigan used her wind magic to bowl through the first group, and they hastily fled. But she could see the leader up ahead. Their leader was holding up a large, swirling gray orb, much like the amber one Basem had used against her.
This was her chance to get revenge for what those people had done to her. This was her chance to end it. No longer would Red Masks walk her streets. No longer would they terrorize humans and half-Fae. No longer would they try to take away their rights. It could end right here, right now.
The crowd had cleared enough for Kerrigan to slow as she approached the leader of the Red Masks. He turned to face her. He was a large man. The black robes barely covering all of his bulk. His hand held the object aloft, and she could see the thick veins where he gripped it in place. The red mask obscured his features, hiding who he was.
“This ends here,” Kerrigan shouted at him. “Drop the orb, and no one gets hurt.”
A sharp laughed resonated through the stone path. “Is that what you think?”
Kerrigan tried not to let her shock register, but she couldn’t completely mask it. “Basem?”
“Who else, leatha?”
Basem was the leader of the Red Masks. Her stomach tilted and gurgled in disgust. Of course, it made sense. She had wondered how he had so much power. Money alone wasn’t enough, but a cult following of like-minded bigots to spread his hate speech? That would do it.
“It was you all along. You’re the leader of the Red Masks. You killed Lyam. You tried to kill me. And now, when I’ve exposed who you really are to the Society, you burn down a part of the city and riot against it? You’re a monster.”
“A monster I might be, but no one ever gets anywhere without breaking a few rules. It’
s just me and you, Red.” He held the gray orb aloft. “I almost killed you once. Are you ready to see if I can do it again?”
“You can’t beat me without your bag of tricks,” she spat.
He shrugged. “Then, there’s no reason to fight fair.”
And at that moment, he thrust the gray orb toward her. Lightning shot out of the eye of the storm. She yelled and threw her body out of the way of the lightning bolt that would have electrocuted her. Fordham dove the other direction, just barely missing being singed, but another building took the brunt of the attack and went up in flames.
“Come out, come out wherever you are,” Basem taunted.
“There’s something you don’t know this time, Bruiser,” she yelled back.
“And what’s that?”
Kerrigan looked to the skies and grinned. “I have a dragon.”
Tieran burst through the open alleyway that Kerrigan had cleared for him, and before Basem could get another shot off, Tieran slammed his bulk into Basem. He flew backward twenty feet and landed on his back with a crunch, continuing to roll a few times. The gray orb shot from his hand and skittered harmlessly against the cobblestones.
“The orb,” she shouted at Fordham as she jumped up and ran for Basem.
Fordham was already on his feet, running to grab the weapon Basem had been wielding. Kerrigan dashed for the man who had done so much damage in her life. She scooped him off the ground with a burst of air magic, cocooning him in a tight cyclone as she wrenched his arms back.
Basem’s mask had fallen off in Tieran’s attack, and a cut at his eyebrow was dripping blood into his eye. “This… isn’t… over!”
“I think it is,” she spat at him as Society members flooded the street. “I think it’s finally over.”
“We can take it from here,” a guard said, stepping up to her and putting a hand on her shoulder. “You can let him go.”
Kerrigan hadn’t realized how tightly she’d been holding on to her magic until she was told she could release it. She set Basem back down onto the ground and took a step backward. A pair of Society members rushed forward, shackling him with magic-dampening cuffs.
