by Marisa Mills
I’d lived in worse conditions. The room was quite large actually, bigger than the bedroom I’d shared with Briar. Thinking of my brother nearly brought tears to my eyes, but I blinked them away. I was done crying. I was going home. Back to Briar and Sterling. I just hoped it would be in one piece.
I hadn’t wanted it to happen like this, but it was almost a relief to have everything out in the open. I’d never belonged here anyway. I hated the idea that Jessa and Tatiana, and everyone at school, would think I betrayed them, and that my affections for them had only been a rouse. But I knew I wouldn’t get the chance to explain; the king would never let me see them again. Viviane had turned me in. Alexander couldn’t save me from his father. Their lives would go on without me. Maybe they’d even get married, after all, as long as people continued to believe she was Eleanor’s daughter and a legitimate heir of Rosewood.
Dorian had denied any involvement in the scheme he’d orchestrated, but that was no surprise. I felt a sharp pang in my chest when I thought of him. Really, I should’ve expected this. I had expected this. From the beginning, Dorian made it clear that he wouldn’t take the fall for me if I was caught. I hadn’t been careful enough. I’d put myself here, and I couldn’t depend on anyone else to get me out of this. I was completely alone.
You aren’t alone, Lucian murmured. I felt something soft brush against my hair, and I turned to see Lucian standing behind me, in human form. He was semi-translucent, in the thin light coming in from a single barred window. I grabbed the ledge and pulled myself up to look outside. It was evening, and the sun was setting over the horizon. I must be on the edge of Reverie, but I couldn’t look directly down at the Lower Realms beneath us.
“I’m surprised you still…” I trailed off, unsure how to complete the thought.
Care? Lucian asked. You think I’d abandon you now?
“You should,” I said. “Everyone else has.”
Lucian sighed. You’re just upset about losing your nobleman, because despite it all, he seemed to care when you were hurt. And that was something your uncle never did.
“I knew he wouldn’t help me, though,” I said.
Yes, you knew, but you hoped he would stand up for you. Fight for you, even. If it’ll make you feel any better, I’ll help you escape, and we can set him on fire.
“There’s no point in trying to escape,” I muttered. Lucian’s joke had gone stale, and I wasn’t in the mood to make light of the situation.
“Maybe you were right all along,” I said flatly. “Mages can’t be trusted.”
You don’t mean that.
“Yes, I do,” I said. “You told me not to trust anyone here, and I didn’t listen. Now, look where I am. Sitting in prison because I wasn’t careful enough around Viviane. I trusted her enough to break into the palace with her. And I really did think that Dorian might help.”
Wynter—
I shook my head. “I thought he was…forgiving. I made mistakes, and he didn’t cut me or beat me. And I thought that was—I don’t know—evidence of some affection, I guess. But you’re right. He was just protecting an investment, and now, he’s going to cut his losses.”
I don’t think…Wynter, don’t think about him. That’s only going to make you feel worse.
“Does it matter?” I asked. “What’s coming won’t be good. Why not prepare myself for the disappointment?”
It isn’t your fault—
“You keep saying that,” I said, “But I really think it is.”
Wynter, it’s not over yet. Who knows what they’re going to do to you?
I shivered and pulled my knees up to my chest, as if that would ward away the ice in my blood. What were they going to do to me? The penalty for all this—lying about where I came from, cheating my way into the Academy, and talking to demons—must be great. Especially if the king was determined to blame me for the demon attacks. But I wasn’t a stranger to scars. A few more wouldn’t ruin me. I saw a flicker of blue flame as Lucian zipped through the walls, and then the door, before hovering near the window.
The walls are reinforced with solid lead. We can’t go through them. But I think the sigil will let you pass through the bars of the window. You can use my wings again. It should be easier without the princeling weighing us down this time.
The shadows shifted beside me. There was something comforting in the way they stretched over the bleak, stone wall. It reminded me of home.
“When I lived in the Scraps,” I said, “I always looked forward to Uncle’s punishments. When I did something wrong, he wouldn’t always punish me right away. And that was the worst thing, because I never knew what he’d come up with. I preferred him to be quick with it.”
I traced a finger over the scars on my arm.
“He used to tell me,” I continued quietly, “that if I was a bad girl and tried to run away, a powerful mage would kidnap me and enslave me. Potentially eat me. The story depended on his mood.”
And did you believe him?
“Sometimes,” I replied. “I thought I was going to faint when I met Dorian. I might’ve even thought about throwing up on his shoes. I can’t remember.”
Throwing up on him?
“To make myself seem undesirable,” I said. “That’s a bit of advice someone told me once. Claribel, maybe. Yes, I think it was her. If a man wants to buy you or indenture you, you make yourself seem unattractive. Claribel always said wealthy men are dangerous.”
She was the closest thing you had to a mother, wasn’t she? Lucian asked.
I nodded. “I wish I’d…been able to do more for her. She’s been sick for so long, and I don’t even know what she has. Maybe it’s something treatable.”
I still think you should try for an escape, Lucian said. You don’t have to let this happen.
“And then, what?” I asked. “What future do you see for me? The king would hunt me down. I couldn’t put my friends at risk by having them hide me in the Scraps.”
The world is vast, though, Lucian murmured. You could go somewhere else. Spirit away Sterling and Briar and go…somewhere else. Beryl, Aubade. There are more places beyond the horizon.
“How?” I snapped. “I’ve no money. I don’t know what Sterling and Briar have. And if I returned for either of them, my uncle would know. He isn’t going to be feeling merciful after I fled again.”
So kill him, Lucian growled.
“I don’t know if I could,” I said.
I’ll kill him.
“He’s terrible,” I said softly, “but he’s still family, Lucian. They’re all I have left now. And the Scraps are becoming more and more dangerous. Better the enemy I know than the one I don’t, right? I can predict Gabriel, at least. He’s angry and violent, but he isn’t conniving. He protected us in his own way. Without him, the Scraps would just be non-stop fighting between rival gangs.”
I think, Lucian said slowly. You might be a match for him, now.
“Maybe,” I replied. I’d have to deal with Gabriel eventually, but I couldn’t think about that now. So much depended on what the king decided my punishment would be.
Lucian sighed. There’s really no way I can persuade you?
I lowered my forehead to my knees and shook my head.
“I’m tired of fighting, Lucian. And if we run now, the king’s guard would never let me go. Sterling, Briar, we’d never be safe. I’ll accept my punishment, whatever it is, and move on.”
Until Reverie falls and kills everyone you love.
I sat up suddenly. There was a violence in Lucian’s voice, and it was so sudden it made the hairs on my arms stand up.
“We don’t know that’s what’s going to happen,” I said.
It’s obvious someone is plotting against Reverie. Will you really abandon your mage friends to deal with it? Jessa, Tatiana?
“That’s not fair,” I said. “Whatever this is, it has nothing to do with me.”
You know more about what’s going on th
an anyone in the kingdom, Lucian said. You could say that thousands of lives hang in the balance, both human and demon. If they die, the blood will be on your hands.
My eyes burned. A tear slipped down my cheek, tracing a path to my chin.
“Free them yourself then,” I snapped. “If I’m such a coward. I gave you your freedom. Why are you even here? Why don’t you go home to your own family?”
I can’t! Lucian said, practically shouting. The force of his voice seemed to make the room tremble, and a sudden flash of blue light illuminated the anger in his face.
“Why not?”
Because, he said, I don’t know how to get home.
***
“What are you talking about?” I asked. A storm was brewing in the distance, and the cell was mostly dark apart from the steady, glowing outline of Lucian’s form and the occasional flash of lightning, followed by a rumbling thunder that seemed to shake the very foundations. My breath was hot against my legs, stifling and uncomfortable, but I still didn’t move.
Lucian crouched in the corner, settling into the shadows until I could only see his eyes, gleaming in the darkness.
Demons come from another dimension, Lucian said slowly. And the best way I can describe it is…maybe a dreamworld or a mirror. We have no floating cities, but I think there are similarities in the Lower Realms. It’s difficult to say.
Lucian shifted to the ground, leaning against the floor with his arms crossed.
I was—I’m young for my kind. My family lived by a purple sea and made our nest in the towering cliffs. I think it might be like the coast around Aubade. I’ve never been there, but the description matches. I took you there once.
Yes, I remembered. In a dream. There had been a beach and trees.
There’s a lot of stone, too, Lucian said. We could use our fire to manipulate the rocks, so we made them crystals. We liked pretty things, and in the morning, the sunrise would sparkle through the faceted stone, creating rainbows and prisms. The light would dance over the ocean waves and the bodies of the fish and the dolphins jumping in the water…they were beautiful, and delicious.
I almost smiled at the abruptness with which he said it. The scene was so vivid, I wondered if Lucian was pushing memories into my mind.
I’d rather eat mages, Lucian said, but there are none in our world. At least, there aren’t supposed to be.
“Are there any humans?” I asked.
No, Lucian replied, although some demons take human-like forms. One day I went to play in the sea. My mother was watching from the shore. I heard her scream, and that’s when I saw the man. Until that day, I’d neither seen a mage before. We had stories about monsters that once came and imprisoned our kind, and a great battle that nearly destroyed our world, but those were centuries old. I never thought anything of them.
I frowned. “Like the stories I was raised with,” I said.
Our stories weren’t supposed to frighten anyone into submission. They were simply our history, Lucian replied, or perhaps, our legends. I don’t know that anyone really believed them. My mother tried to protect me, and he killed her for it. We fought for days. I tore his skin with my talons, but I was young and he was powerful. For a long time, there was nothing, except the feeling of being trapped behind panes of glass, alone with my reflection.
“I’m so sorry,” I said.
Then I was put in your sword. I gained some awareness. I could hear and feel people around me, but I couldn’t see them. I screamed and raged, but no one could hear me. Until you.
And I’d been so terrible in the beginning. It had only been when I’d faced my own death that I’d been willing to release Lucian.
Don’t be angry with yourself for that, Lucian said. You did the right thing. Eventually.
“But it took me so long, and even then, I did it mostly because I’d hoped you’d save me,” I said. “It was wholly selfish. I can—I can dislike the mages and their politics, but…but really, I’m not that different from them.”
You’re nothing like them, Lucian said. You’re kind and honest. You’re so much better and worth so much more than most of these mages put together.
“Do you remember your family?” I asked. “Are they still there?”
My parents loved one another. I had a sister, Lucretia. She was adored for her beauty and size.
“Her size?” I asked.
In my particular breed, female demons are larger than males, Lucian said. My sister was exceptionally large. She had a magnificent wingspan, too. I used to be terribly jealous of that, especially because I’m younger than her. She had gorgeous wings, and I was just growing mine in.
I thought of the black wings that Lucian had lent me when I’d fallen from Reverie. It hadn’t occurred to me that he had wings that looked like that; I’d just assumed he’d used a bit of magic that I was unfamiliar with.
It was peaceful, sheltered even, Lucian said. I never knew anything of the cruelty I found in this world.
“You should try to find them again,” I said.
I should, Lucian conceded. But I can’t do it alone. I don’t know what magic the mages used to portal into my dimension. I had hoped to meet the mage who tore me from my family, Lucian murmured. I thought… if I stuck close with you, I’d find the one who kidnapped me, and I could demand that he bring me home. So far I’ve had no success.
I sighed and leaned my head back against the wall behind me.
“I don’t know how I can help you, Lucian. I’ve ruined everything. Even when I succeeded in things—like in stealing Nick’s journal—I only made them worse. Who knows how much Dorian knows now? Who knows what he’ll do with that information?”
You shouldn’t blame yourself for being deceived, Lucian said. Besides, at the time, giving him the journal made sense. We didn’t know what was going to be in it. We still don’t.
“But what if he’s trying to summon more demons?” I asked. “What if he knows how to access your realm?”
He’d never reveal it willingly, Lucian said. And I still wouldn’t leave you. Not now, after everything we’ve learned. Who knows what these mages intend to do to you? The king may send you home, eventually, but you know that won’t be enough. They’re going to make an example of you first.
“I know,” I said.
So why don’t you try an escape? Lucian asked. We could steal the journal from your nobleman, and the brooch from the king.
“We tried that already, remember?” I asked.
We could free the demons in the chamber.
“And destroy Reverie,” I said.
Nothing they don’t deserve, Lucian grumbled.
I shook my head. “You mean well, Lucian,” I said, “But it’s too much. I appreciate your loyalty, but I don’t deserve it. And I don’t want you to throw your life away for me.”
Lucian sighed. I raised my head, suddenly.
“How long ago were you captured?” I asked.
Decades, I think, Lucian replied.
“Recently then,” I said. “That means, the mage who captured you could still be around. He must know how to access your realm. Do you remember what he looks like?”
Not clearly, Lucian said. But he resembles your princeling.
“Alexander?” I asked. “But he couldn’t have, he’s too young.”
One of his brothers, I suspect. Lucian said. I cut him to the bone, three slashes across his upper arm. If we can find the man bearing those marks, I’ll know he’s the one who killed my mother, and I’m going to kill him. But not before he shows me how to get home.
I shuddered, picturing what Lucian would do to the mage when he found him. The door banged nearby suddenly, making me jump. Lucian vanished, hiding in the folds of my dress as footsteps resounded in the hallway outside. I tensed and dug my nails into the palms of my hands. In the fairy tales, imprisoned heroes were always strong and defiant, but I didn’t feel like that. I felt shattered in a million different pieces, and
I wasn’t sure I could ever put them together again.
A guard stopped at the entrance of my cell, and it took all my willpower not to shrink back when he opened the barred door.
“Get up,” he said gruffly. I slowly raised myself to my feet.
“Where are we going?” I asked. The guard locked chains around my wrists, then grabbed my arm, his fingers scraping over the scars Gabriel had given me years ago.
“To the forum for your punishment.”
A day’s ride, then. It was going to be the longest day of my life.
Twenty-Two
THE PARLOR WAS WHITE AND gold, pristine and luxurious. It seemed like such a strange place to await punishment for my crimes, especially after I’d spent so long in a prison cell. I’d been allowed a quick shower, and prompted to change into a simple white dress. It was thin, but clean. I wished it covered more skin; my arms and shoulders were bare, revealing me for what I was. Broken, marred. I ran my fingers over the scars on my arm, wondering what punishment awaited me. The guards had barely spoken to me on the journey, and after reaching the center of Reverie, we entered the forum through the back door.
I shifted in my seat, a creation of gold filigree and crushed velvet. The guard by the door narrowed his eyes; he kept his hand on his sword, as if I presented a threat. I wondered which version of the king’s truth he’d been told about me. That I was a fraud and a thief, or a rogue mage. A young girl who survived a fall from Reverie and whispered with demons. No wonder he was afraid.
A knock on the door drew the guard’s attention. He opened the door, and a few words were exchanged with someone I couldn’t see. Abruptly, the door opened. My eyes widened as Jessa and Tatiana walked in, with Alexander a few feet behind them. Jessa held her cane still, but she seemed to be leaning on it a little less. She hobbled towards me and then pulled me into a tight hug, before moving aside to make room for Tatiana.
