The difference was in their auras, and Emily’s aura had been magically altered to protect her. Sophie went to the enchantresses. “Can you do some temporary aura tweaking on all of us?”
“Of course,” Amelia said, sounding almost insulted.
While the enchantresses did their magic, Sophie employed fairy magic to adjust their glamours, putting them all in the images of royal robes. When Amelia and Athena indicated that they were done, Sophie had the group of redheads mingle, mix up, and then line up, their backs to Niall.
Without facing him, Sophie called out, “Can you find my sister in this group?” At her signal, they all turned to face him.
Sophie couldn’t remember if Emily had ever been identified to him as her sister, but he must have been the one trying to draw her back into the Realm before he switched to Jen as a backup plan. For most humans, spotting the sisters in the group would have been easy, in spite of the drastic height difference between Emily and Sophie. Their faces were almost identical. Emily often joked about Sophie being her “Mini Me.”
But Niall frowned at the lineup. Emily started humming the Jeopardy theme under her breath, and Sophie had to restrain herself from shooting a glare at her sister, for fear that a scolding big sister would give away the game.
A soft rumble from the crowd suggested that they were getting restless. At the very least, they were bored and were talking among themselves. Sophie wondered if the boredom would count against her—for coming up with a boring puzzle—or against him—for taking so long to solve it.
Tallulah finally stepped forward and said, “Time is running out. Should we give him a hint? Or perhaps pose an easier question? This will not count as solving the puzzle, but can you tell which of these women is the true queen of the Realm—at least, until the challenge is concluded? If you can find the queen, that might help you find her sister.”
Niall pondered for a long time. At last, he pointed to Nana and said, “This is the queen.”
“She is in the royal lineage,” Tallulah admitted, “so you are at least partially correct. But now, can you solve the puzzle that was posed to you?”
With the air of a man making a wild guess, he pointed to Sophie. “This is the sister.” It actually wasn’t a bad guess, since Sophie looked more like Nana than any of the others did, but it was still wrong.
Sophie dropped the glamours and stepped out of the lineup. “Sorry. You got the second queen, not the sister.”
He turned to Tallulah in dismay. “Is this a trick? They’re lying!”
She shook her head. “No, you were wrong. I can verify which is the sister. The queen has won this contest. Your majesty, the next challenge is yours.”
It was the final contest, and if the score really mattered at all, Sophie and Nana were ahead. Still, the final challenge needed to be something so definitive that it would make the final vote an obvious choice.
“The next challenge will be a contest of mastery over the Realm,” Sophie said as the solution came to her. “After all, the true ruler should be able to sense the power of the Realm and use the fabric of the Realm.”
“And how do you propose to test this?” Tallulah asked.
“A race to the real palace and back. Each contestant must bring back a rose from the palace garden.” Sophie wasn’t even sure why that popped into her head, but the more she thought about it, the more right it was.
Of course, she’d need to get there before Niall did, but she thought she could manage that. While Tallulah laid out the task and the rules, Sophie reached out to the sense of the Realm that constantly verged on her awareness. A tweak here and an adjustment there created a detour or two and a few good obstacles. For good measure, she added a loop, like a metaphysical roundabout with a hidden exit.
When Tallulah gave the starting signal, Sophie grabbed Nana’s hand and stepped out for the palace. They arrived across the river from the drawbridge, where Sophie had first seen the palace when it was covered in thorny vines like something out of a fairy tale. “Okay, let’s get that rose,” she said, heading for the drawbridge.
Nana grabbed her wrist, pulling her back. “Wait. I presume you bought us some time?”
“Of course.”
“Good girl. Then I think I should go through the trials for the throne.”
“I already did that. That’s how the palace woke and the Realm was restored.”
“Just in case, I think it’s a good idea that both of us meet the requirements. Both of us competed in this contest, and if I didn’t really qualify, he might try to use that loophole against us.”
“Okay, I guess. It shouldn’t take long since I know how it works now.” Sophie raised her voice and said, “I call out for your aid again.” She hoped the little fairy creatures would be there this time. Turning to Nana, she added, “We’d also better make sure Niall doesn’t meet the requirements.”
“Then maybe we shouldn’t have sung the song in front of him.”
“That’s if he recognizes it for what it is or can figure it out. I gave each verse to Maeve as we went, and she still failed all the tests.”
Much to her relief, the ground was soon alight with the little creatures. “Why, they are like in the storybooks!” Nana exclaimed.
“You might not want to look too closely at them,” Sophie said with a wince. “But they’re very helpful.” She sang the relevant verse of the song: “If she can cross not wetting her feet, then she will know the way to my heart.” The lights flowed into the river, and a giant lily pad appeared near the shore. “After you,” Sophie said.
Nana stepped gingerly onto the lily pad, and a second pad appeared. She grew steadier and more confident as she crossed. Sophie came behind her, and when they were both on the far shore, the lily pads and the lights in the water vanished.
The gate opened easily for them, and as soon as they were inside, Sophie reached out in her mind to cast the spell that would hide the palace. She didn’t know how long it would be before Niall got there, and she thought it was only fair that he get the full experience.
They crossed the garden path of mixed stones and shells, the little creatures clearing the way so Nana could follow the instruction not to step on a shell. That brought them to the rose garden. Nana sang that verse softly to herself before picking up an older bloom that was fully opened and darkened to a red so deep it was nearly black. Sophie couldn’t help but smile at the sense that Nana was doing all the right things. She supposed she shouldn’t have been surprised, considering that Nana was the one who’d taught her.
The hedge opened to reveal the maze ahead. “I suppose I need to complete the maze instead of us just running back with the rose,” Nana said.
“I haven’t noticed any sign of Niall,” Sophie said, looking behind them while also sending out her magical senses. Where was he? Even with the obstacles she’d set in his path, he should have been here by now. He might not deserve the throne, but he was still a powerful fairy ruler centuries older than she was and with far more experience in the Realm.
The maze wasn’t particularly complicated, since the song gave the directions: all left turns, aside from one final turn to the right. That brought them to a door. “It will take blood to open it, won’t it?” Nana said.
“That’s how it worked for me,” Sophie confirmed.
Nana ran her thumb across a thorn, then pressed it on the door frame. The door opened, and Nana glanced back at Sophie. “That should do it, then.”
“Wait, one more thing. The crown.” Sophie had almost forgotten that she still wore it. It was surprising how quickly she’d become accustomed to its weight on her head. She reached up and removed it.
Nana took off her hat so that Sophie could place the crown on her head. When the crown touched her, Nana’s eyes glazed over slightly, and Sophie hurried to steady her. She remembered what it had been like when she’d first been crowned. It was like plugging her brain directly into some kind of fae database. She’d been sitting on the throne at the time, so
she didn’t know if Nana was getting the full experience, including the flashback to the story of their ancestor, the last queen of the Realm, but she could tell that something big was happening to her grandmother. It also looked like the crown wasn’t rejecting her. That was a good sign.
Eventually, Nana’s eyes came back into focus. It might have been Sophie’s imagination, but she was pretty sure she looked even younger. Her hair was darker and redder, almost Emily’s color, her eyes were brighter, her skin smoother, and her posture straighter. Sophie had never realized that her grandmother was actually taller than she was. “Your majesty,” she said with a smile, dipping a slight curtsy.
“Oh, none of that,” Nana said, reddening slightly. “We should get back and win this contest once and for all.”
“Not so quickly.”
They both whipped back around at the sound of Niall’s voice. He stood insolently inside the doorway, a red rose tucked into the buttonhole of his lapel.
If Sophie had spoken, she would have stammered incoherently, so she kept her mouth shut and hoped her glare spoke volumes for her. Her self-control was tested when Maeve joined Niall. “Hello, your majesty,” she said, her voice laden with sarcasm.
Sophie was so surprised that by the time she sensed the darkness closing in around her, it was too late to stop it.
Forty-two
The Throne Stone
Meanwhile
The fairies might not have had much sense of time, but Emily sure did, and she was getting impatient. Sophie and Nana had been gone far too long, and Emily didn’t trust what Niall might do out of sight of the rest of the Realm. Why had Sophie come up with such a silly test? It was like she’d deliberately created her own trap and walked into it.
Emily tugged at Michael’s sleeve. “How long have they been gone now?”
He checked his watch. “It’s only been about twenty minutes.”
“That’s way too long, isn’t it? Sophie can get entirely across the Realm with a single step, so this thing should have taken five minutes, tops. A step or two to get there, grab a rose, a step or two back, and boom, done!”
“Remember that time is weird here. That twenty minutes on my watch may not mean anything.”
“Don’t tell me you’re not worried.”
“I suspect Sophie’s up to something, and you know her, she has it all under control.”
“I imagine your grandmother is is being qualified to take the throne,” Amelia said. Athena punctuated that with a reassuring pat on Emily’s back.
“Oh, right!” Emily said, suddenly feeling a lot better. “That’s what they’re doing. They’ll want to run through all the tests in that song. And, bonus, if Niall doesn’t do that, then he’s not up to par. Okay, doing all that stuff might take a little time, even if they already know what to do.”
But although Emily now knew what might be taking so long, the rest of the crowd was getting restless. They may not have measured time in the human way, but they did get bored easily. A party had broken out, with music and dancing. In another part of the gathering, there were a few fights going on, with spectators wagering on the outcome. On the other side of the field, a big group was playing a game that looked like a psycho cross between baseball and rugby. If the royal contestants didn’t return soon, their kingdom would have forgotten why they were there. Emily wondered if that would help or hurt Sophie’s claim.
Michael was the next one to grow anxious. He checked his watch again and said, “Now it’s been half an hour. That’s more than long enough. I don’t think it took this long the first time around when there was a battle going on and Maeve was using you as a hostage.”
Although Emily had been all for being zen about it, the moment Michael admitted to being worried, she was ready to jump. Turning to Eamon, she said, “You need to take us to the palace. Sophie might need help.”
He paused, considering. At last, he said, “It has been a long time, I believe, and I am concerned that neither has returned.”
“Awesome. So, who’s with me?”
“We’d better come,” Amelia said. “If they’re in trouble, they’ll need magical support.”
Emily turned to Michael. “You in?”
She could read the conflict in his eyes. He was worried and probably would have insisted on going at any other time, but he’d just found his wife and stood with his arm around her. She didn’t look at all happy about the idea. “I’m not sure how much help I’d be,” he said. “Maybe I’d better keep an eye on things here.”
“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” Emily said. “What if they come back the moment we leave? Which, knowing Sophie, is entirely likely.”
He still didn’t look too happy, but he did look relieved. “Okay. Be careful,” he said. “She’d kill me if I let you go into danger.”
“Yeah, she’s probably had her fill of rescuing me.” She handed over Beau’s leash. “You can dogsit.” The sleeping bulldog didn’t even seem to notice he’d changed hands.
Eamon was already holding Amelia’s hand, and Amelia held her sister’s hand. Emily took her spot on Eamon’s other side, and as soon as their hands were clasped, they all stepped off.
It wasn’t the quick trip Emily expected. There seemed to be a sideways step, and for a moment she felt like they were walking in circles, but when the long stride ended, they were right in front of the palace. “What was that?” she asked when she caught her bearings.
“I believe I fell into one of your sister’s traps,” Eamon said. “Once I noticed it, I was able to untangle it, but she initially detoured us to the other side of the Realm.”
The palace looked pretty much the same way it had the first time Emily saw it, like Sleeping Beauty’s palace while she was asleep, thorny vines obscuring everything. “Shouldn’t the vines be gone if they succeeded?” Emily asked, now starting to feel fully justified in her worry.
“The vines appear to be your sister’s work,” he said after staring at the palace for a while. “She may have tried to block Niall’s way.”
“Oh, then that’s a good sign,” she said, but she was still worried. Something about all this felt wrong.
They were on the right side of the river, though, so they didn’t have to worry about lowering the drawbridge or getting through the gate. They just needed to get through the throne room doors, which was going to take some work, since vines were blocking it off. That was if they wanted inside. If Sophie and Nana had been going after a rose, they’d be in the garden.
“How did you get in the last time?” Emily asked the enchantresses.
“We followed your sister,” Athena said.
“But you went in through the garden, right? Do you think you can do it again?”
Instead of answering, Amelia took off around the edge of the river that acted as a partial moat. There was a small pedestrian gate next to the closed drawbridge. Vines twined around the gate’s metal bars, but Amelia cleared those with a wave of her hand. The gate unlocked easily, as well. “Enchantress magic doesn’t seem to be blocked at all,” Amelia said.
Emily didn’t wait to discuss the finer points of magic. As soon as the gate opened enough for her to pass through, she ran. The rose garden should be straight ahead, as she recalled. It was right where she remembered it, nearly head-high bushes laden with roses that perfumed the air.
But there was no sign of her sister or her grandmother. She ran around the rosebushes, making sure no one was lying on the ground behind any of them. By this time, the others had caught up. “They’re not here!” she cried out.
“Maybe they went back already, like you told Detective Murray,” Athena suggested hopefully.
“No, something is wrong here,” Eamon said. His eyes had gone a steely gray, which gave Emily the impression that he was worried, indeed.
“Okay, then, what would they have done next if they were working their way through the song?” Emily said, thinking out loud. “How does that stupid song go?” She hummed the melody to herself, b
ut while she could remember most of the verses, she couldn’t remember the right order.
“After the rose garden, there was the maze,” Athena said. “I believe the opening was about here.” She pointed to the wall of greenery ahead of her. “But the last time, it had already been opened.”
“And, like last time, we’re not worried about winning a crown. We just want to get there,” Amelia said. She raised her right hand, pointed her index finger, and blasted a hole through the greenery to reveal the maze. Next, she blasted a path straight through the middle of the maze. They all ran through, coming up to the last hedge, which remained intact. Amelia held them up there. “We should perhaps get a better sense of the situation before we forge ahead,” she whispered.
She and Athena stood still, their eyes closed and their hands held palm-up out in front of them. They looked to Emily like they were calling up spirits from the ether. She glanced over to Eamon, ready to make that joke with him, but he, too, appeared to be in a magical trance. Emily strained her ears and tried to peer through the leaves. Now would have been a good time for any latent magical powers she might have to kick in, she thought, but she didn’t seem to be accessing anything but her ordinary human sensory input.
“I don’t sense them,” Amelia said after a long moment, her voice sounding strained.
“Me, either,” Athena chimed in.
“I know only that something is as it shouldn’t be,” Eamon said.
While they were getting mystical, Emily found a slightly bare spot in the hedge—probably from where Amelia had blasted it the last time—and through it she spotted two figures lying on the ground. “Oh my gosh! There they are!” she hissed at the others, gesturing for them to join her, even as her stomach knotted with tension. She didn’t think motionless bodies were a good sign.
To Catch a Queen Page 24
