Academy of Falling Kingdoms Box Set

by Marisa Mills

  “When was this?” Tatiana asked.

  “Years ago now,” Eleanor said. “Our sister Gwen used to…” Eleanor trailed off. “She…”

  “Had an affair,” Dorian said, “and she used to meet her lover in the forests of the Lower Realms. Not that far from here, actually, I think.”

  “Bout a day’s walk,” Sterling confirmed.

  It seemed so strange to think of Gwen and Nick, meeting in the woods to free demons almost two decades ago. If Nick was telling the truth, King Gregory had killed Gwen and Eleanor told Nick never to return. I bit the inside of my cheek. Both were dead now, and I hadn’t had time to get to know either of them. How different my life could have turned out if the mages weren’t so ruthless.

  “Anyway, Fran and I decided to follow everyone at a distance, so we could help if things went badly.” Eleanor’s face softened. “Once you’d all left, there was nothing keeping us in Reverie.”

  I felt a tinge of guilt but couldn’t make myself apologize for leaving the Rosewood estate under the cover of darkness. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. Suddenly I remembered the note, and the dress Dorian had left for me. Had he even meant me to follow him, or had his warning been genuine?

  “What happened to you, Dorian?” I asked quietly. “After you left, how did you end up in Aubade?” All eyes turned to me around the campfire. I wondered if he’d already shared this story, but I’d missed it somehow.

  “The king’s plan was for us to ambush Aubade’s forces through the subway,” Dorian said. “Which was why we went through Plumba. The ancient tunnels, they’re really quite vast. We walked for days, right underneath Aubade’s forces. But then, somehow the tunnel we were in collapsed.”

  “It must have been during the last earthquake,” Tatiana said. “The guards in Argent said large boulders had fallen.”

  Sterling snapped his fingers. “I saw a bunch of Gabriel’s men digging out in the woods, but the stones was too thick.”

  “I’m surprised Gabriel made that much of an effort,” Dorian replied.

  “I think he wanted your swords,” Sterling said.

  “Ah well that makes more sense.”

  “How many of you were there?” Alexander asked.

  “A dozen,” Dorian said. “But most of them were young mages with little battle experience. One hadn’t even left Reverie before.”

  Viviane covered her mouth with her hands. “But how did you find enough food for twelve mages underground?”

  “We didn’t, dear,” Dorian said. “Plumba isn’t known for her abundance of food, as is. We survived off rats and spiders. Sometimes, we ate dirt for the nutrients.”

  Viviane shuddered, but Dorian’s eyes lingered on me. I wondered, when we met, if Dorian had been able to tell that I’d lived mostly off rats and bony birds. Real meat like rabbits were too valuable at the market for Sterling to keep, and I rarely went into the woods without him.

  “Of course, we’d never eaten that way before, so many of us became ill. Others died from monster poison or contaminated water. I was lucky, but I suspect that’s only because Gwen’s charm,” Dorian said, flashing the sigil on his wrist.

  “How did you get out?” Alexander asked quietly.

  “We finally dug our way out, those of us that were left, but we had no food. None of us wanted to go back below ground, so we headed towards the forests. When Celeste came we were too weak to fight. She slaughtered the others and took me prisoner. I’m not entirely sure why.”

  “She needed your blood,” I said. “The demon chamber in Reverie, Nick fixed it so it needed his blood and Guinevere’s. That’s why mine worked.”

  Dorian looked pained. “Maybe. If King Gregory had known, he probably would have sent someone else for this fool’s mission. Once I arrived in Aubade and met the Chancellor, I thought I might be able to win his trust. I had as much reason to hate Reverie as he did. I didn’t know it was Nick at first, but I had my suspicions, even before he revealed himself.”

  “And Nick let you join him? Just like that?” Alexander asked.

  “I was very persuasive.”

  “But that doesn’t sound right,” Alexander said. “The senate would’ve protested, and surely, the chancellor would’ve still been suspicious of your motives.”

  “And there are some things better left unsaid, Your Royal Highness,” Dorian replied. “This is one of them. Let’s just say I did something… to prove my loyalty.”

  A shiver passed through me, and somehow I knew the knife wound I’d given him was only a scratch compared to all he’d suffered since leaving Reverie. There was a pause, before Sterling brought the conversation back to something he’d obviously been mulling over.

  “Ain’t there some sort of—uh—magic you can use to make things safe to eat?” Sterling asked. “Or create more food?”

  It was the kind of question I would have asked when I first got to Reverie. Thankfully, none of the mages gathered around the small fire laughed at him.

  “Magic doesn’t work like that,” Tatiana said gently. “Mostly, it moves energy around. It can transform matter, combine it or loosen the bonds, but it can’t create out of nothing.”

  “I could make crops grow faster,” Jessa offered. “But I’d only be pulling out the seeds already in the soil.”

  “It’s strange, actually,” Dorian said, “but even basic magic doesn’t appear to work like it should in Plumba.”

  “What do you mean?” Tatiana asked.

  “Certain sigils don’t appear as effective,” Dorian said. “That’s why we couldn’t escape the tunnels. I have a theory that—what is it that you call them, Wynter? The place where Reverie dumps her trash?”

  “The Dregs,” I replied.

  “Right,” Dorian said. “Over time, enchantments on objects weaken and break down, so we discard them. I suspect that, perhaps, these weakening enchantments have impacted the local wildlife and given them…a sort of magic. Or an invulnerability to it.”

  “That don’t sound good,” Sterling replied.

  “I suspect it’s not. I think that’s what the monsters are, too. I think they’re demons that have been weakened and released,” Dorian said.

  “Those monsters have been in the Scraps forever,” I said. “They’re dangerous, and you think—you think—”

  Heat rose in my face. The mages were responsible for the monsters that had always plagued Plumba? I felt as though some strange energy had curled up inside me, and now, it desperately begged to be released.

  “And y’all just let them wander around?” Sterling snapped. “Well, I guess if it ain’t your problem, you don’t care, huh?”

  “Some of us care,” Dorian replied quietly.

  “Well, clearly, it ain’t enough!” Sterling retorted.

  “You can’t blame us for a centuries’ long problem,” Eleanor said, a flush spreading to her face. “Reverie’s people have dumped their refuse into Plumba for centuries. Neither Dorian nor I made that decision, and—”

  “Y’all sure ain’t done nothing to fix it either, have you? And you!” Sterling exclaimed, pointing at Alexander. “You’re a prince, and you ain’t done nothing!”

  “I didn’t know,” Alexander said. “Weren’t you listening? This is just a theory. He doesn’t know for sure either, and if we have damaged Plumba.”

  “But it makes sense,” Tatiana said. “And it might not be just the wildlife. It might be the water, the air, the people—”

  “Then if Celeste frees the demons,” I said slowly, “it’s not just Reverie in danger. They’ll stick around, settling into the cracks of the world, seeping poison and madness.”

  “That’s why we kept them locked up dear,” Eleanor said. “They’re dangerous.”

  Part of me expected a witty comeback from Lucian, and the silence that followed was physically painfully, like a boulder had been lifted on top of my chest.

  “They ain’t all bad,” Briar mumbled. “T
he monsters I mean. Just trying to survive, same as us.”

  “You spent your life in the Dregs,” Viviane said, “and you turned out fine.”

  “It can take years to build up,” Dorian said. “Claribel’s illness, for example…”

  “Well, that’s just peachy, ain’t it?” Sterling snapped, his fist clenched around the knife he’d been using to slice off bits of jerky. Claribel put a hand on Sterling’s shoulder.

  “He’s just one mage,” she said. “And a better one than most.” With an awkward smile, she rolled up the hem of her trousers, exposing a flower-like mark carved into her ankle.

  “I’m glad he healed you, Ma,” Sterling glowered, crossing his arms, “but that don’t make it right. What about Briar,” he said, pointing across the fire with his knife. “Drank so much monster blood he gets nightmares. Who knows, maybe Gabriel wouldn’t have been such as asshole if he hadn’t grown up in this shithole. Maybe all those chunks out of Wynter’s arms are your fault too.”

  My skin bristled, and I wrapped my arms tighter around myself, thinking of all the times Gabriel had hurt me. I’d always thought violence and anger was a natural part of the Scraps, but now I wondered. All those times Sterling and I had crept through the Dregs, getting shocks from lingering bits of mage tech. We’d been careful to avoid monsters and take precautions, but I knew not everyone had been so lucky.

  “Is this something that can be fixed, Alexander?” Viviane asked.

  “I don’t know,” Alexander admitted, “certainly not without a good deal of effort.”

  “But you’re a prince, aren’t you?” Sterling sneered. “I would have thought a royal like you would know how to clean up his own mess when he takes a shit. Or do you pay someone to wipe your ass for you, too?”

  Fury spread across Alexander’s features, and he reached for the hilt of his sword, but I caught his eye and shook my head. He grumbled and settled back again, ripping off a chunk of bread and stuffing it in his mouth.

  “I’ll look into it,” Dorian said, “once we’ve returned to Reverie. Perhaps, with my resources and Alexander’s help, we will be able to figure out a solution. That’s assuming, of course, that King Gregory doesn’t find a reason to execute me.”

  “Or that Celeste doesn’t destroy Reverie first,” Alexander said darkly.

  “But you didn’t…” I trailed off. I’d been going to say you didn’t do anything wrong, but I knew it wouldn’t matter. Gwen hadn’t done anything wrong either, she just got in King Gregory’s way at the wrong time. Besides, from Sterling’s dark look I knew he didn’t believe Dorian and Alexander. It was just more mage promises; illusions like their magic. A temporary distraction to blind from more pressing matters. And even if they were well-intentioned, they were just two mages out of thousands. The other mages would never agree to free the demons beneath Reverie and evacuate the kingdom. They certainly wouldn’t bother repairing the damage they’d caused here.

  People were dying, because mages couldn’t be bothered to properly dispose of their trash. I glanced over at Briar, studying his pale skin and unnaturally black eyes. Claribel’s mysterious illness, poison in the water—how many others had the mages hurt unintentionally? It didn’t matter that they weren’t doing it on purpose. Pain and suffering was just a natural byproduct of the health and happiness they enjoyed on their floating kingdom. As Du Lac had said once in class, all magic has a cost.

  “These are large decisions,” Dorian said slowly, poking the fire with a stick. “And we’re all tired. I think we can agree, that for now, the cataclysmic destruction of both Reverie and the Lower Realms takes precedence over garbage disposal. Rest up, we’ll head out at dawn and figure out a way to stop Celeste.”

  “What difference does any of it make?” Sterling asked. “Kill one mage, another will take his place. Destroy one Float to save another. It’s all just mage games. Nothing’s ever gonna change, not for us.”

  Sterling abruptly stormed off and towards the entrance. I watched him go and thought of following, but Claribel held her palm against my arm and I knew she was right. Sterling was hot-headed. He just needed to blow off steam.

  Viviane sighed and rubbed her temples. “I don’t suppose you brought any potions with you, Mother? I have a dreadful headache.”

  “No,” Eleanor said, “and you need to stop drinking them so often.”

  “I haven’t had one since we arrived in Plumba,” Viviane said defensively.

  “Then, it’s a perfect time to quit,” Eleanor said. “I should’ve never…I should’ve never encouraged you to drink them.”

  “I just hate being weak,” Viviane replied. “I barely did anything against Celeste.”

  “You were great, Viv,” Dorian said softly. “Honestly, who would have thought a handful of Academy students would get further than twelve battle-mages?”

  “We didn’t actually accomplish much,” Alexander said. “We never got into Aubade’s demon chamber.”

  “You did much more,” Francisca said. “You destroyed the capital building, their seat of power, and assassinated both their sitting Chancellor and his right-hand assistant; two of the greatest mages in the Kingdom.”

  “We didn’t kill Nick,” I frowned. “And Celeste is still alive.”

  “They don’t know that,” Dorian said. “I’m sure they’ll blame me, mostly, though I’d expect the rest of you will be labeled dangerous traitors in Aubade, and heroic rebels in Reverie.”

  Jessa shifted uncomfortably, and my heart sank as the mage tech shimmered along her spine. I wondered if she regretted not staying up on Aubade with her family. Then I realized, her parents were still the king’s prisoners in Reverie. She had as much to lose as any of us.

  I remembered what Elaine had said about the mages being trained not to listen. Maybe they were trained to ignore the voices of those in the Lower Realms as well; the ones who got sick and died, a consequence of their polluted and unnatural magic. Did the mages deserve to be saved, even for a little while?

  Twenty-One

  I RETREATED ONCE MORE TO my corner, but despite my best efforts, I couldn’t sleep. I remained awake, watching and listening. Francisca had returned and Dorian took up the watch. I’d caught the soft words passed between them, and in the darkness, I’d seen Francisca hug Dorian so tightly that for an instant, I thought she might not release him. A while later, Claribel followed Dorian out. She never returned, so I assumed they were still talking.

  Everything hurt. I rolled onto my side and found Briar, sitting upright in the darkness, the coals of the fire reflecting in his dark eyes. I glanced around at the others, looking for Sterling, but his space was empty.

  Briar offered me an awkward smile. “I’ll go talk to him. You need the rest more than I do,” he said. My body throbbed. I did need rest, but I had a feeling I was going to get precious little of it. Briar limped towards the fire, selecting a burning piece of wood. Guilt struck my stomach, the pain as sharp as a knife.

  Without saying a word, I rose to my feet and followed Briar through the rusted remains of what seemed to be a vast vessel, its metal hull glinting against roots and rocks. It had been broken up into segments that stretched through the woods, floors exposed to the elements. We slipped quietly through the darkness, guided only by the flickering of Briar’s makeshift torch, until we reached a wider section with the remains of a spiral staircase, sweeping up towards the exposed sky and stars.

  I wouldn’t have even seen Sterling if not for the tiny glow of his hand-rolled cigarette. I nodded at Briar and he faded back, leaving us alone. I sat next to Sterling in the darkness for a few minutes, breathing in the familiar scent of burning burdock root and the earthy breeze of the dense forest.

  “I hate them, Wynter,” Sterling said finally, his dark features brooding between huddled shoulders.

  “Sometimes, I do, too,” I replied.

  “Just sometimes?” he asked.

  “You’ve traveled with us,” I said.
“Can you honestly say they’re as bad as you expected?”

  Sterling scowled. “Maybe Tatiana and Jessa ain’t so bad. I feel kinda bad for Jessa since she’s betraying her family and all. Alexander’s an obnoxious twat, though. And Dorian…” Sterling trailed off.

  “Healed your mother,” I replied.

  “It’s a drop in a bucket compared to the rest of the crap he’s pulled,” Sterling said. “I still ain’t forgiven him for taking you away from me, and I ain’t gonna.”

  “I don’t know if I’ve forgiven him for that either,” I admitted.

  “I was so mad at you,” Sterling said quietly, clenching his fists into hands. “I pictured you all comfortable, prancing about in dresses, stuffing your face with pie while I looked after Briar.”

  “It wasn’t like that,” I said, linking my arm in his. “You have no idea how much I missed you. The both of you.”

  Sterling looked down at my arm, and finally gave a shuddering sigh.

  “I know,” he said. “Mom said something after you left. I blew it off at the time, but now I think it might be true.”

  “What was it?” I asked.

  “I said the Floats was gonna change you. She said you were too strong for that, and you’d find a way to change the Floats instead.”

  My eyes watered, but I bit my lip.

  “I’m not that strong,” I said. “You saw Jessa’s back, right? That happened because of me. Alexander and Jessa were both injured fighting off a demon Celeste had planted.”

  “Still…” Sterling said, trailing off. “I ain’t too happy to admit when Mom’s right, and I ain’t, but she had a point.”

  I laughed. “You’re never happy to admit when you’re wrong,” I said.

  “Yeah, well,” Sterling said, “maybe it ain’t so bad to have a girl from the Scraps being the niece of a count. I don’t expect Dorian to do nothing, but maybe you could.”

  Guilt ate into my stomach. This whole time in Reverie, I’d only been trying to survive. Sure, I was hoping to give Briar and Sterling a nice apartment in Argent, but even that seemed selfish now. The Reverie and the Scraps seemed bound in a vicious cycle that nobody could stop. All I wanted to do was get off. But I hadn’t considered that—maybe—I could do something as a noblewoman. As a Rosewood heir, for the first time in my life, I was in a position of power. And I had friends. I wouldn’t have to do it alone.