by S. M. Boyce
She crept across the white marble floor, careful not to make a peep. The whole point of this exercise was to show the queen how close she could get without killing her outright.
A show of force. A creepy show of force, maybe, but it was the only way she would get the truth out of this woman.
From the head of the bed, Victoria slowly circled it. She was less careful to be quiet now that she was where she wanted to be.
When she rounded the headboard, the queen’s eyes were already open. The regal woman watched Victoria, body tense even though she didn’t move a muscle. They studied each other for a moment, each waiting for the other to strike. Victoria was prepared to summon her shield if need be, since she had no intention of hurting the queen.
Victoria was merely here to talk.
“If you’re going to kill me, let’s get on with it,” the queen said.
Victoria almost laughed. “Do you want me to kill you?”
“Of course not, but that’s why you’re here. Let’s not drag it out.”
Victoria shook her head. “I won’t kill you unless you make me.”
The queen let out a dry laugh. “What do you want? Money? Was the Rhazdon Artifact not enough for you?”
“You and I both know I don’t have it yet. You sent me to kill that sphinx without everything I needed. You lied to me about the one thing that would have truly helped.”
Queen Angelique raised an elegant eyebrow. “And that was?”
“The testimony of the person who came back from an encounter with the sphinx. The one person who knows why it needs the dark magic so badly.”
The queen sat up in her beautiful bed, but she didn’t speak. Victoria remained tense and ready to deflect a blow if she had to.
“It’s you, isn’t it? The survivor?” Victoria pressed.
At first the queen didn’t move, but slowly she nodded.
“Why didn’t you tell me? All you had to do was talk a little more. You had shared so much already.”
The queen cast her gaze briefly to the floor, and the sudden realization sank in so deeply it almost hurt.
Victoria clenched her fist, thoroughly pissed off as she put the last piece in place. “You thought it would kill us. It was your own version of an execution, except with no blood on your hands.”
“It gave the people hope,” Queen Angelique said softly.
“Just tell me how to kill it and they’ll get more than hope. They’ll be free.”
“Will they?” The queen glared at Victoria, her demeanor shifting to righteous anger. “You’ll come back, Victoria. You’ll want someone to sacrifice to merge with it. And why stop with one soul when you can take them all? Strength of body. Strength of heart. Strength of mind. Getting that Rhazdon Artifact will make you invincible, and being a Rhazdon host will make you bloodthirsty. No, it was better that the sphinx take you, even if it meant we were trapped longer. Even if it meant we were trapped forever.”
“And those packs you gave us? Was that to allay suspicion?”
The queen’s shoulders drooped. “More like a way to assuage my guilt, honestly.”
“Oh, now you’re honest.”
The queen glared at Victoria, taking the bait. “Why wouldn’t I be? Only one of us is leaving this room.”
“I won’t attack unless you do. I’m not here to fight you, Angelique. I’m here to make a point.”
“It’s Queen—”
“I don’t give a shit about your title.”
The queen frowned but didn’t speak, instead resting her hands in her lap as she calmly waited for her execution.
Victoria resisted the impulse to pace the room to vent her anger. “I won’t call you ‘Queen.’ Not right now. Not when you’re in your nightgown, wondering if you’ll survive an encounter with someone—something—you were raised to hate. Whether you like it or not we’re equals, if only for the moment. And my point is this, Angelique… I could kill you. I could destroy everything you love. I could let the dark magic in my Rhazdon Artifact corrupt me, let it rule me, but I don’t want to. All I’m trying to do is protect my home, same as you. Even if you hate what I am, can you at least meet me halfway and see what I’m trying to accomplish?”
Angelique’s red lips parted slightly, and she seemed to struggle to speak. “What kind of Rhazdon host are you?”
“The best kind,” Victoria said before she could help herself. She could never resist snark when someone lobbed a stupid question at her. It was too easy.
Angelique slipped out of bed, cautiously standing as she studied Victoria. “You’re right. Back when my elder sister was alive and I could be reckless—back when I didn’t ever expect to need to stay alive to rule—I went on the hunting party that mapped the safe tunnel to the inner lair, but our party was ambushed by that thing. It broke down the passageway’s walls, which I didn’t think was even possible. Nothing should be able to break the charms on our tunnels, not even centuries of neglect and a powerful sphinx.”
Victoria nodded, thinking about the hole in the tunnel where she had wounded the sphinx. It made sense now—that was an old hole, likely the one through which the beast had attacked Angelique’s group. “How did you survive?”
“Talent and stubbornness. I pretty much crawled back with my injuries, but I hurt the monster enough to get away. Its eyes are its weakest point.”
Victoria shook her head. “I disagree. It’s the neck.”
Angelique’s eyes widened. “You saw it again, didn’t you? You faced it and lived?”
“Three times now,” Victoria said, putting a hand on her hip to drive home the point.
To her credit, Angelique smiled. “You keep surprising me, Victoria.”
Victoria gave a mock bow, not wanting to take her eyes off the monarch in case it was a ploy to get her to lower her guard. “I still need to know why it craves the dark magic in the Rhazdon Artifact.”
“Fuel,” Angelique said without pausing this time, evidently more willing to open up now that she and Victoria had been talking for a while. “It’s our theory that the dark magic provides the power it needs to create the confusing hellscape of the inner and outer lairs. Without the Rhazdon Artifact nearby, it effectively has no home in which to hide.”
“And we can flush it out,” Victoria finished.
Angelique nodded.
“Good. I think I have what I need. Thank you.” With that, Victoria headed for the door.
“Just like that? You’re leaving?” Angelique asked.
Victoria hesitated, eyes darting between the door and the monarch as she tried to find what she was missing in the situation. “Yes?”
“You break into my room and finally give me the missing pieces of the puzzle to kill this monster, and you think I’m not going to take my army to finish the job?”
Victoria stood up straight, not entirely sure if she liked the idea of a woman she didn’t fully trust fighting with her. However, more soldiers were always welcome in a fight against something as massive and deadly as the sphinx.
It was a toss-up, really.
The queen arched her back. “We have two hours until morning. I’ll ready my soldiers by then, and we’ll meet you in the tunnels outside the city. In the meantime, I suggest you get some sleep.” The queen paused, eyeing Victoria. “If that’s something you Rhazdon hosts do.”
Victoria huffed and left the room without another word, not entirely sure if her plan had worked successfully or if she had merely complicated things for herself.
In the end, all that mattered was she had gotten the information she needed. So, a win I guess?
Ugh.
When the door shut behind her, she scanned the empty hallway in search of her friends. She panicked for a moment, wondering if the guards had found them, but she knew better. They were cloaked in one of Fyrn’s spells. She gave the thumbs-up, their signal, and all three of them appeared, seemingly out of thin air. Styx flitted down to her from the ceiling, his wings humming as he neared.
&nb
sp; “Well, things just got interesting,” she confessed.
Chapter 23
“What part of ‘she’s going to kill me, damn it’ aren’t you getting, V?” Audrey paced the tunnels outside of Lochrose City proper, hand in her hair as she tried to process this latest turn of events.
Diesel had taken the opportunity to go resupply, and gluttonous little Styx had joined him. Victoria had urged them to return quickly in case they wanted to move without the queen and her army.
As it stood, they had yet to decide on a plan.
Victoria groaned and leaned against a nearby wall. “That thing has nearly eaten us three times now. We need the help. Can you shift, at least until the fighting starts? I doubt they’ll notice your tiara in the heat of battle.”
“They’ll notice,” Fyrn said in his gravelly voice.
“Thanks. Big help,” Victoria said dryly.
Fyrn shrugged. “It’s the truth. When we face the sphinx, we must be focused on the fight with it and not turn on each other. If they see an Atlantean suddenly in their midst, they will attack first and ask questions later. Everyone will die.”
Audrey sighed. Fair point. She continued pacing, mind racing for answers.
In her peripheral vision, something darted across a wall of gemstones. She hesitated, watching out of the corner of her eye, and a second figure temporarily blocked the glow from the stones. The shadows crouched as though trying to remain unseen, and Audrey stiffened.
Victoria seemed to notice a shift, as did Fyrn. All of them tensed, and Audrey reached a hand into her pocket. If she had already been spotted by the Lochrosian army, shifting now wouldn’t do any good.
She cursed herself. In her attempt to preserve her energy, she had waited to shift until the last moment. Rookie move. She should have shifted the moment Victoria told her what had happened, should have…
Well, she hadn’t. Only that mattered, and now she had to face the consequences, whatever they were.
Something in the tunnel roared, familiar and yet out of place at the same time. The sound struck an almost nostalgic chord in Audrey’s heart, and it took a moment to recognize the sound.
The roar of an orc, a sound she had often heard on the Berserk field.
Out of the shadows stormed at least a dozen elves and orcs wearing the dark uniforms Audrey had seen on a few of the mercenaries who now enforced Luak’s growing rule over Fairhaven. They raced toward the small group, the Light Elves’ skin glowing with runes as they prepared to attack.
“I guess they want to die today,” Audrey said, grip tightening on the crystal.
Audrey didn’t wait for Victoria or Fyrn. She lifted her hand and fired a bolt of brilliant white light at the ambush, frying two of the mercenaries mid-stride. White light haloed their bodies as they hovered in midair, locked in place by her magic. When she released them they fell over, smoking.
The second wave of fighters charged.
Idiots. They hadn’t even looked at their fallen companions to realize what would happen to them.
As the white light burst from her body, Audrey savored how easily it came. The more she practiced, the less of her own energy each bolt took. She was grateful to have the upper hand for once and not be at an attacker’s mercy like she had been with General Cato.
Never again. Not her.
She shot a final bolt into the chest of the last orc, who froze and fell over backward as though he had been tazed.
“Help! Stop this! I command you to stop!” a woman screamed from nearby.
Audrey’s ears perked as she tried to find the sound, only to realize it came from behind them. She spun to find a lone Light Elf with a woman in his arms, his glowing hand pressed to her head.
Queen Angelique of Lochrose. She wore black leather armor and a golden cloak, her hair braided and pinned behind her head. Hands raised and eyes wide, it seemed like she had been caught completely off-guard.
“Fuuuuuck,” Victoria said under her breath.
“Move one inch and she dies,” the mercenary spat. He wrestled to get a better grip on the woman in his arms, careful to use her as a shield to protect his body.
“What do you want?” Victoria asked.
“You and her.” The Light Elf nodded toward Audrey.
“No,” Victoria said flatly.
The light in the elf’s palm grew brighter, and the queen winced. He sneered. “Try your answer again.”
Fyrn shifted his weight, his hands wrapped around his staff as he eyed the mercenary.
“Don’t think about it, old man,” the Light Elf said.
Fyrn merely narrowed his eyes in warning. Whatever happened, this would not end well for the mercenary.
Audrey scanned the area behind him, wondering if he had more backup. It seemed as though his force had separated at some point to attack from both sides, and corpses lay along the floor behind the Light Elf. Victoria and Fyrn had covered their attack and come out on top.
A familiar face lay among the dead mercenaries, but it took a moment for her to recognize the wizard she had once met on top of the Fairhaven palace’s balcony. “Is that—”
The Light Elf chanced a quick glance to the side, and his wicked sneer widened. “The late, great King Bornt.”
The king sprawled on the ground, the veins in his face bright purple as he stared vacantly at the ceiling. Instead of his usual cloak and elegant clothes, he wore only a brown tunic and tattered, stained paints. Blood trickled out of the side of his mouth.
“Victoria, you killed the damn king!” Audrey shouted.
“It wasn’t me!”
“Shut up, both of you!” the Light Elf snapped.
“What did you do to Bornt?” Victoria demanded.
“You’ll find out if you don’t come with me, girl.”
As he shifted his weight, hand still sizzling against Queen Angelique’s temple, Audrey got a clear a shot at his head. He seemed more focused on Victoria and Fyrn and kept slowly shifting toward them.
Big mistake.
Audrey had a good chunk of his exposed head to aim at, and her aim had improved significantly since her target practice in Atlantis. She gently lifted a finger in such a way that it would be hidden from the mercenary until the last moment.
As the queen’s struggling eased, her gaze rested on Audrey. It flitted from Audrey’s face to the tiara on her head, and her eyes widened instantly with recognition.
Audrey had a choice, and she didn’t like either outcome. Either she let the Light Elf kill the queen, which would mean an army came after them for vengeance, or she would kill the attacker and probably die instantly regardless because she was Atlantean.
She sighed. Damn ethics.
Quick as a whip, she fired a white bolt of light at the mercenary. The queen screamed, but the jolt of energy sailed like a bullet clear through the elf’s skull.
Still tense with fear, the queen swayed as the Light Elf fell to the ground in a sizzling heap.
Queen Angelique swiveled her head from the Light Elf to Audrey and back as though unable to process what had happened. “You saved me.”
“You’re welcome,” Audrey muttered, ready to run if she had to. Victoria tensed as well, and Fyrn lifted his staff to show he, too, was ready for battle.
“But you’re Atlantean,” Queen Angelique said softly.
“And you were supposed to have fighting skills,” Victoria interrupted, likely to change the subject.
Not that it would do any good.
Queen Angelique blinked herself out of her reverie and shot a stern look at Victoria. “I’ll have you know the ‘mind meld’ spell is exceedingly difficult. It takes years of mastery, and yes, perhaps some of my other skills have suffered. I don’t see you reading minds, Host. Besides, I came to see if you were ready to leave for the sphinx, not to engage in a battle outside my front door!”
“Don’t you have guards?”
“Killed by those men who no doubt chased you down here, so watch your tone! Those were good wiza
rds with families! With children!”
Victoria’s shoulders relaxed, and her expression softened. “I’m sorry you lost some of your own. We would have helped if we could.”
“I know.” The queen absently adjusted her armor, taking a step back as she glared at Audrey.
“Are you going to kill me?” Audrey asked, ready to fight if need be.
The queen hesitated as if considering the option. “Not today.”
“Not ever,” Victoria barked. The queen straightened and opened her mouth to protest, but Victoria didn’t let her say a word. “If you attack her, you attack me. And I promise you, Queen Angelique, you do not want to attack me.”
To Audrey’s surprise, a small smile played at the queen’s lips. “You’re right, Host. I don’t.”
With that, the queen turned toward one of the disguised side tunnels and disappeared into the rocky wall.
Seconds later, Diesel popped out of the same tunnel and stopped dead in his tracks, eyes scanning the bodies littered across the ground. “What did I miss?”
Chapter 24
Victoria walked shoulder to shoulder with the queen, but she couldn’t help feeling that the tense alliance might backfire at any moment.
Audrey walked ahead of her, with Diesel and Fyrn behind her to protect her back—not that it stopped the glares. Victoria was fairly sure the soldiers scowled at Audrey with all the hatred they could muster. She imagined they all wished they could unsheathe their wands and rip her apart.
Over Victoria’s dead body.
The thought of dead bodies reminded her of the king’s corpse among the others, and suddenly the saying had more meaning. He had probably tried to flee during the battle, and the mercenary had stabbed him in the back.
Alone, scared, and lost. What a horrible way to go.
Victoria shook the thought from her mind. They were on a warpath, and she needed to focus.
As was typical for the wizard tunnels, Victoria felt as though she blinked and they were suddenly at a second entrance tunnel to the inner lair. This one was supposed to be better than the last, with a more secure vantage point.
