by Marisa Mills
I picked up Celeste’s severed hand and worked off the first ring as quickly as I could. It was slick with blood, and my fingers slipped as I tried to grasp the sleek metal. Francisca crouched beside me.
“I’ll get them off,” she said quietly.
“What does it matter,” Alexander said. “It’s too late. Reverie has fallen.”
“It’s not too late for them,” I yelled, pointing at the smoking settlements on the horizon. The Scraps and the Gardens would be devasted, along with everyone still in Reverie, when the falling kingdom hit the ground. And it was picking up speed.
“We just need more power,” Viviane whispered.
More demons you mean, Lucian said.
I looked around at the smoking battlefield, my eyes widening. Among the fallen soldiers and mages were countless enchanted artefacts.
It’s no use, Freya said softly. They won’t help you.
But I had to try.
“Do you remember the dance in my father’s journal?” I asked, turning towards Jessa and Tatiana.
“Yes,” Jessa nodded, “but we need three people.”
“Teach the others,” I said. I pawed through the pile of melting flesh that used to be Celeste, her clothes drenched in blood and gore, until I found the golden device she’d used to free the demons.
“What are you doing?” Dorian asked.
“We have to open the portal, or they’ll destroy everything. Maybe we can lure them away from the city.”
“What difference would that make?” Tatiana asked, her eyes watching the falling continent nervously. I could barely hear her above the hiss of screaming demons, like a hive of angry bees.
“Reverie is falling,” I said. “But I’m going to catch it. Everyone, I need your rings.”
My friends offered them, and I slipped them on my fingers. When I turned back to Francisca, she handed me Celeste’s rings. I plucked them from her bloody palm and put them on quickly. Energy crackled and burned around my fingers. There was no pain. There was nothing except magic burning down to my core. Lucian sprang forth from Alexander’s blade and spread his wings, his energy renewed with mine.
Let’s go, he said.
“Not yet,” I said. I clutched the king’s device in one hand and my mother’s pendant in the other, blue and gold arcs of raw magic blazing over my head and twisting around my body. I felt the device charge, and it began to spin and glow. I tossed it towards the battlefield and watched it explode, casting a powerful pulse that knocked everyone off their feet.
The roar of freed demons filled the air, and the entire earth seemed to shake and vibrate.
“You are free,” I yelled, letting my voice carry over the battlefield, “but you are not home. We can open a portal so that you can return to your realm, I only need one small favor.”
I didn’t wait for an answer. I latched the necklace around my neck and pulled myself onto Lucian’s scaled back. He spread his wings and launched himself upward. I clung tightly to him as rain cascaded down. Thunder cracked, and lightning split the sky.
I’d never felt such power before. My body hummed with energy, as if lightning crackled beneath my very skin. When I looked at my hand, it seemed to glow and shine with supernatural brightness. I felt invincible.
I could understand why Dorian hadn’t wanted to give even half the rings to me. I could understand why my father hadn’t freed these demons. This kind of power could destroy kingdoms.
Freya, Nyx, Hyacinth, and Sibyl—followed by the others—streamed through the air by my side. One was a dragon like Lucian, another a wolf, a large reptile, and a strange blending of human and beast. Their power surged through me, and the air rippled around us. I landed on the edge of Reverie, turning to see the ground rushing up towards us.
I reached both hands into the air, casting loops of magic in every direction, anchoring me to the smooth crystal surface. I gritted my teeth and leaned back, as if I could hold the whole kingdom in the air. I felt my father’s demons grip the edges, lifting them up to slow our descent. Gradually, more demons joined us, clinging to the underside of the jagged rocks like bats, flapping their wings like a hundred moths. I groaned, leaning to the side, steering the entire continent away from Plumba and out over the forests.
We smashed into the ground like a ship, plowing up the ground and sending a torrent of dirt and trees in every direction. I could feel Reverie’s jagged pieces scrape against the bedrock, carving into the earth. I barely managed to stay on my feet as we rumbled to a stop, just at the edge of the battlefield where I’d stood moments before. Behind me, the crystal spires shone brightly against the clear blue sky.
A thousand demons whispered over my shoulder, and there was a pregnant hum as they turned to face the battlefield. My sword was flaming in my hand and I could feel Lucian’s dark black wings latched to my shoulder blades. I stepped off the ledge, now the cliff on the edge of a newly created mountain range, and fluttered down to the ground amidst the armies of Aubade.
A volley of arrows filled the air, but everything seemed to be moving so slowly. I raised my hand. The air moved in ribbons of color and light, and the arrows faded into ash and dust.
Aubade’s army stared at me with horror on their faces. I rolled my shoulders back and tipped up my chin. The air shimmered as I approached, my red dress fluttering in the wind. I could be a queen with this power, greater than a queen. I could be the most powerful mage who’d ever lived. I could remake the world in my image.
The two armies bowed before me, their enchanted weapons useless without the demons that had powered them. A ripple spread out around me as they bent the knee. On the other side of the battlefield I could see my friends, and my family.
“Gentleman,” I said, slipping off the rings carefully. “This war is over.”
Twenty-Six
THREE DAYS LATER, THE DEMONS my father once commanded grasped Aubade and slowly brought her to rest on the ground, in the forests close to the ocean. It was one of the terms of surrender we’d reached after long days of diplomacy between Alexander and the newly elected Chancellor. Once both kingdoms were safely on the ground with minimal injuries. Dorian used Eleanor’s blood to open Aubade’s chamber, and I’d used the king’s device to free their demons with the same promise.
Opening the portal to the demon realm had been a little tricky; the dance required careful steps and at least three powerful mages, but I’d given the eight rings to my friends and family, and together we opened a portal in the quiet place in the woods by the lake. It tore a rift in the sky above the forests, allowing the thousands of freed demons a passage home. Not all of them chose to take it.
“Are you sure about this, Lucian?” I murmured. “As far as we know, this is your only chance for returning to your own dimension.” I trailed my fingers over the blue gem of my mother’s pendant and watched the way it caught the light of the campfire and the stars.
I know, Lucian replied, but some knowledge is better off lost.
I pulled out my father’s leather journal and tossed it into the fire. I placed his remaining rings on the ground before me and called up Sibyl’s decay. The rings shattered, releasing their demons. They shot into the starry sky like fireworks.
I took a deep breath and placed my mother’s charm on the ground with trembling fingers. I knew what I was giving up. The chance to heal, but also destroy. Someone had to stop the cycle of violence. Powers like this had a cost, to both mages and demons. It had already cost me both my parents, and now my aunt.
I let decay once more spread through my fingertips. The blue spinel in the center of my mother’s charm cracked in half. Two foxes—one dark blue and the other silvery-white—burst forth and vanished into the night.
Thank you, Freya whispered, her voice like the wind in the trees.
My knees shook, and a hand touched my shoulder.
Alexander smiled at me. “Let’s go home,” he said.
I was too tired to argue, a
nd I wasn’t sure where else I would’ve gone anyway. I’d been holding myself together with adrenaline and the powerful energy from the enchanted objects. Without them, I felt suddenly empty and overwhelmed with exhaustion. Anxiety crept under my skin: where exactly was my home now?
We joined the king’s caravan, a mixture of the crown’s advisors, servants, guards, and scholars, and traveled slowly back to Reverie. Alexander put me in a horse drawn carriage and shut the carriage. I spent the first day sleeping, lulled by the gently clapping of hooves, and when I woke again I was ravished. I’d never felt so drained before.
On the second day of traveling, I realized Du Lac was with us. He must have been involved in the fighting as well. The few times we exchanged eye contact, he glared at me. It seemed that even saving two kingdoms wasn’t enough for him, although that wasn’t surprising.
The third day, we arrived at the edge of the Reverie. While most of the kingdom was sitting on top of a large, rocky tableau, closer to the palace the land sloped downwards, creating a walkable entrance. Steep steps had been carved up the sides, and already the mages had erected a tall metal gate. A bridge was lowered over a newly constructed walkway, just wide enough for the king’s entourage.
Dorian accompanied Viviane and me to Frederick’s estate. It was nice to bathe after spending days covered in dirt, blood and stiff leather. The cool fabric of the yellow dress Viviane had picked out for me was soft against my skin. When I entered the living room, Frederick turned towards the window, but not before I saw his cheeks were wet. Dorian must have already told him about Eleanor, and how she’d sacrificed herself to save Viviane. Dorian sat on the couch, smoking a cigar with a glass of cognac in his hand. It was jarring to see him in a fine black suit, only a few days after our battle with Celeste.
Most of my friends had returned to the Academy, which was presently serving as a shelter to those with nowhere else to go. The next day we visited Alexander at the palace. He introduced me to nobles I’d never met. They whispered behind my back, and it didn’t escape my notice that Kit assigned extra guards outside my room. Apparently, he was the king now, as he had only one older brother remaining who had abdicated the throne.
When I requested to visit the Academy, Kit insisted on escorting me himself. I remained mostly silent as we crossed the kingdom, watching as Reverie repaired itself outside the carriage window. There was crystal to be swept off the ground and roads to be rebuilt, and without the enchanted objects, the work was slow. And yet, Kit’s carriage was met with cheering crowds as we passed.
“When we started falling,” Kit said slowly, “it was chaos. Demons were everywhere, people were running and screaming, but there was no where to hide. Alexander tells me you saved us. All of us.”
“I couldn’t have done it alone,” I said quickly.
Kit cleared his throat.
“Still, I suppose it’s time that I ask for your demands.”
“Demands?” I echoed. Hadn’t we covered all that when we negotiated peace with Aubade’s new chancellor?
“These changes you’ve made are going to take a while to negotiate,” Kit said. “You must realize that all the mages in Reverie aren’t going to suddenly abandon the old way of doing things because I demand it. Presently, the only nobles who’ve agreed wholeheartedly to my propositions are the Count of Rosewood and the Baron and Baroness of Sherrinford. I suspect the Duke of Northcutt will agree, but that’s likely because he hopes I’ll agree to marry his daughter. The Council has yet to reach a united statement, but I expect them to be apprehensive about the situation, too. You’ve created a storm.”
I bit my lip. “I made the demons a promise,” I said. “I will not break it.” The demons supporting the city were gone, as well as most of the weapons from the battlefield, but there were still hundreds of artefacts in private possession.
“I know,” Kit said. “I didn’t mean to imply that you should. But there are still dangers. Already, the Council and the aristocracy were fighting one another. Already, there were rebellious factions in Reverie.”
“Those mercenaries—” I began.
Kit sighed. “Were released,” he said, “because I had sufficient reason to believe they’d been tortured and coerced into attacking you and Alexander. But that doesn’t mean the dangers don’t exist. With changes this dramatic and this sudden, people will want to grab power, and not all of them want the best for this world you’re creating.”
“Should my demand be that you don’t have me whipped?” I asked softly.
Kit shook his head. “I’d sooner be struck by lightning,” he said. “I do think that the common people will be very fond of you. To them, you’re a miracle; a girl from the Scraps who caught a kingdom with her army of demons. You make the nobles nervous, but once everyone understands you’ve saved Reverie, I think I might be able to turn a few of them. What I’m asking for, Wynter, is a unified front. What demands must I fulfill for you to give me that?”
My first instinct was to insist that I had none. I just wanted to return to the Academy and study. Maybe to have that vacation with Alexander, the one that he’d promised me so long ago. I squeezed my hands in my lap, furrowing my brow.
“You shouldn’t take this question lightly,” Kit said. “Royalty seldom offers favors.”
“Don’t execute my uncle?” I ventured. “Are—are his debts still cleared? Will they still be cleared if he released the demons held in the Rosewood vault?”
“Your family and friends are safe,” Kit said.
That was the main thing. Still, I fidgeted with the skirt of my dress, thinking. I didn’t want to make decisions for anyone else. On the other hand, my friends had been through hell to support me, and I needed to make sure they’d be okay.
“How many demands may I have?” I asked.
Kit arched an eyebrow. “As many as you like.”
“I want Jessa’s parents to receive a full pardon,” I said. “Jessa will keep her position at the Academy and in Reverie, provided she wants them.”
“Consider it done,” Kit replied.
Would it really be that easy? I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.
“I want a formal apology to Tatiana and her father Oberon for all the years of ridicule,” I said.
“That’s fair,” Kit said. “Next?”
I narrowed my eyes, unsure. I wasn’t used to being given what I wanted like this. In my experience, favors came with strings.
“Frederick will have his debts cleared, and regardless of…any revelations, Viviane will remain a noblewoman. I also want Briar, Sterling, and Claribel to be given a place to live in Reverie, so they don’t have to go back to the Scra—to Plumba.”
Kit smiled, seemingly amused. “Is that it?”
I bit my lip. “I…I want for Dorian to be able to marry Francisca without having to sacrifice his title or estate. And I think that’s it,” I said.
“Those are all favors for other people,” Kit said. “Isn’t there anything you want?”
“All I want is the world my father envisioned, a world where demons and mages can live together in harmony,” I said, “without the Lower Realms bearing the brunt of the consequences.”
“I’ve every intention of working towards that,” Kit replied, “but surely, there must be something you want, after everything you’ve done? I can give you a title or a pension. An estate of your own.”
When the sights became familiar, I knew we were nearing the Academy. I bit the inside of my cheek as I considered my last request. When I thought of home, I didn’t think of a big, fancy building. I thought of Alexander. My cheeks blushed as Lucian started laughing.
Go ahead and ask, he said, his voice equal parts frustrated and fond. If this king says that you aren’t good enough for that pampered princeling, I’ll set him on fire.
Was that encouragement?
More or less, Lucian said. If you’re asking for my blessing, I’ll happily grant it. If
Alexander makes you happy, I’ll learn to tolerate him. For you.
“May I…have permission to court Alexander?” I asked.
“Just permission? I could give him your hand if you wanted,” Kit replied.
“I know, but if I can’t win Alexander’s love myself, maybe I don’t deserve it. I just want permission to try.”
Kit inclined his head. “I wish you success, then,” he said. “Last I heard, he was at Rosewood, awaiting you. After I stop at the Academy, I’ll have my driver take you there.”
My heart raced.
“I’ll walk,” I said. “I want to visit someone first, and maybe change into something.”
The dress I’d borrowed from Viviane was bright yellow, trimmed with floral puffs of fabric. It was too bright, after everything we’d lost. We’d decided to celebrate Eleanor by not wearing black for her; Dorian said she’d spent far too much of her life in black and it would make her happy to see us in bright colors. But Viviane’s dress felt too much like her, and not enough like me.
“I imagine so. A beautiful lady must always look her best,” he said, winking. “Shall I send a lady to help you?”
Warmth flooded my face. “I wouldn’t want to inconvenience anyone,” I said.
“It would hardly be an inconvenience.”
The carriage came to a stop. Kit exited first and offered me his arm. He was dressed in black pants, a gold vest and coat, and a tall hat. He looked every bit the modern gentleman, unlike the cruel king his father had been.
“Tell Lord Rosewood that Wynter will come to call later in the evening,” Kit told the carriage driver.
“Until next time, Wynter,” Kit said, tipping his hat.
I curtsied. “Thank you,” I replied.
I crossed the Academy grounds alone. My stomach lurched as we entered, but the Academy looked as if it had been entirely untouched by war. The blood and broken concrete and shattered crystal were gone, along with the bodies that had littered the floor the last time I’d been here. A handful of statues had been knocked over like pieces on a chessboard, but the exterior buildings were mostly intact.
