“Careful, Gatekeeper,” said the first Aes Sidhe. “You’ll face a reckoning for your crimes at our Lady’s hands, make no mistake.”
“I can hardly wait.” I folded my arms across my chest. “Get out or I’ll be forced to call for reinforcements to chase you down. You should also know that since this path falls on the border of neutral territory, both Summer and Winter can kick you out.”
The Aes Sidhe’s eyes gleamed with hate, but he ignored my words. “You have been warned, Darrow. Betray us again and you will face death at our hands.”
He and his companions turned and walked away down the path, vanishing from sight among the trees.
I turned to Darrow. “Lady Aiten is already suspicious about the deaths during the second trial. They aren’t going to Half-Blood Territory, are they?”
“No, but the longer I spend there, the more my presence will put the others in danger,” he said. “I should have stayed in the palace.”
“You should have stayed at my house,” I corrected. “We have spare rooms, you know. Three generations of Lynns lived there once.”
He shook his head fiercely. “Hazel, don’t ask me to risk your family’s lives.”
“Have a little faith in me, would you?” I said. “Mum would have it a lot easier if she decided to leave the Lynn house, but she stayed for my sake. Because we care about one another. Same as I care about you. Ignore the bullshit I said yesterday. I know you’re not only here because you’re avoiding Etaina.”
His mouth tightened. “Hazel, you should go to the palace. I’ll handle the Aes Sidhe.”
“Uh, no,” I said. “There’s a time and a place for heroics, and this isn’t it. Stick to your word and come back to help me deal with the Seelie Queen, and if the Aes Sidhe do attack Summer, you won’t be blamed for conspiring with them.”
Raised voices drifted through the trees, followed by screaming.
Darrow lifted his head. “I believe we’re already too late, Hazel.”
Crap. I about-turned, heading down the path towards the palace. The sounds resolved into the clashing of weapons, and panic spiked, driving me forward. Darrow ran on my heels and overtook me at the palace entrance, his hands alighting with magic.
A sluagh reared above us, its semi-transparent form undulating like a giant shadowy serpent. Darrow’s attack slammed into it, knocking it into my talisman’s path. Turning it to dust without breaking stride, I kept running through the gate and into the grounds. Outside the palace, Coral stood arguing with Lady Aiten.
“Whoa.” I skidded to a halt beside her. “What happened now?”
Coral met my gaze, her eyes wide with terror. “The Seelie Queen’s forces are decimating ours. My mother is injured, and she’s locked herself in her palace so nobody can get in. We’re all going to die if the Summer Court doesn’t help us.”
11
I caught my breath. “The Seelie Queen sent her armies underwater?”
“Wraiths and sluagh don’t need to breathe, do they?” She gave Lady Aiten an imploring look. “They’re overwhelming the Sea Kingdom. Most of the sea fae have never seen one before.”
Oh, damn. I turned to Lady Aiten. “We can spare some people, right?”
“Certainly not,” she said. “The next monarch of Summer will be chosen after the final trial. It cannot be delayed.”
“They’re dying,” I said. “I’m going with Coral. There’s several hours until the trial starts, so nobody has to stay here.”
“The Sea Kingdom is the heir’s responsibility.” If I didn’t know better, there was triumph in her expression, as though she was pleased Coral wasn’t around to draw away her daughter’s attention any longer. “We have no armies to spare, given the imminent threat to the Summer Court.”
Cold air whispered across the garden, bringing the stench of decay. Several sluagh drifted into view, warping into grotesque shapes as they did so. Coral cursed under her breath. “They followed me here.”
Lady Aiten’s face became a furious mask. “Get them away from the contestants.”
I resisted the impulse to thwack her over the head with the talisman and headed towards the attackers. The sluagh slithered through the air, forming transparent beasts with sharp teeth and deadly claws. With a wave of the talisman, I sent them reeling backwards, their insubstantial bodies collapsing in on themselves and disappearing into a haze of shadows.
Darrow caught up to me. “Where are they coming from?”
“They must have followed me through the portal I unlocked in the pond,” Coral said. “It’ll close when I go back through. Can one of you tell Willow I’m okay? I think she’s worried about me, but I don’t have time to run back to Half-Blood Territory.”
“Wait,” I said. “I can’t dive into the ocean without a breathing spell, but I meant it when I said I’ll help you. Darrow, can you watch the portal while I go back to the Lynn house?”
Darrow reached into his pocket, then his hand brushed mine. “I’m going to warn the half-bloods and ask for their help on the Sea Kingdom’s behalf, then I’m coming after you. Take this.”
He pressed something into my hand, and then he vanished, striding out of the palace entrance.
“Dammit, Darrow, I told you not to run off alone.” I glanced down at my palm. “Berries?”
“For breathing,” she said. “Where’d he get those?”
“Half-Blood Territory,” I said. “Maybe he thought we might go to the memory-eater’s place again.”
Not that there was anything left of it, in all likelihood. When a Sidhe died, everything that was left of them disappeared. Even wraiths did, in the end.
I wouldn’t let the same happen to Coral’s home. Not on my watch.
Shoving the berries into my mouth, I chewed, grimacing at the soapy taste. Wearing my thick armoured clothes would slow me down, as would my iron weapons, but speed had never been my strong point and at least it’d be harder for the Vale beasts to claw at me with little bare skin on display.
I swallowed the berries. “Where’d you come in?”
“This way.” Coral indicated the pond in the corner of the garden. “Hazel, please be careful. I know you have that talisman, but she means to drive us to extinction.”
“I bet the Seelie Queen never intended to show her face. I can deal with her army.” Gripping my staff in both hands, I followed her to the pond.
The surface churned, dark and murky, and the smell of saltwater rose from within. Then a wave cascaded over my head, sending me plunging into the ocean’s depths.
The shock of the cold on my skin drove the breath from my lungs, while my clumsy limbs kicked and flailed. My heart lurched against my ribs, my hands clutching the staff by sheer instinct. Blinking against the stinging in my eyes, I followed Coral’s tail, and we descended into a battleground.
Dark shapes moved beneath the water, sprouting limbs, warping from one shape to another. Armoured merpeople did battle with them, wielding shields and swords, while selkies either fought in the shape of humans or used their seal forms to create a barrier preventing the enemy from getting into the village’s houses below.
But it wasn’t enough. The village hadn’t been put together to withstand a siege, and while stones were piled in the windows of the houses, they couldn’t keep out the dead. Sluagh floated around, shape-changing at will, while wraiths drifted through the middle of the village in clouds of malevolent magic.
Ice flew from one wraith’s hand, forming a spear that caught a merman in the throat. His blood darkened the water and his limp body floated beside his stricken companions.
I raised the talisman and took aim. Clouds of shadows whipped through the water and dissolved the wraith on contact. The merpeople and other fighters backed away from me, allowing me a clear path into the village.
“I have to find my mother,” Coral said in my ear. “We need to deal with the armies, but I don’t know where they’re coming from.”
“There must be a doorway open somewhere.” I blast
ed another wraith with shadows, clearing the way for me to swim up to the other selkies. “Did any of you see where the army came from?”
A selkie shifted into the form of a frightened-looking young teenage girl. “They came from the land. The coastline is just over that way.”
“Damn.” I’d need to get out of the water to close the doorway, which would leave the village undefended. “Hang on. I’ll take care of these bastards first, then I’ll close that doorway.”
Clouds of darkness swirled around the staff, disposing of any wraith they touched. When the path was clear, I swam out into the gloom, unable to see any signs of the coast. I didn’t know what the time limit on those berries was, and they didn’t come with buoyancy or the other effects of the spell I’d used last time. Or night vision, but I had an alternative.
I tapped into my Gatekeeper’s powers, the circlet’s glow bathing the waters in an eerie light that made everything look twice as creepy but at least let me see more than a few inches in front of me. Swimming with the staff slowed me down even with its comparatively light weight, and the armoured clothes I wore didn’t help, either. Ragged breaths escaped with every kick, and when my head broke the water’s surface, the sunlight blinded me for an instant. Salt stung my eyes and caught in my throat. Where’s that blasted doorway?
I trod water, my gaze snagging on the waves lapping against a beach on my right. I let the currents’ momentum carry me over to the beach, depositing me on the shore.
Without a wet suit, my soaking clothes clung to my skin and left me shivering and salt-sticky. The briny smell of the coast filled my nostrils, and my limbs felt clumsy, weighted by more than just weapons. I used the staff as a walking stick to cross the beach, feeling more like a weak human than I had in a long time.
There it is. The doorway into the Vale lay open, a jagged slash against the sand. I shuffled towards it, limbs numbing with cold. Even in June, an unforgiving breeze swept off the coast, freezing the salt to my lips and seeping under my clothes. Gritting my teeth, I reached out and pulled the threads of the doorway together, erasing it from view.
Now all we had to do was get rid of the rest of the Seelie Queen’s army.
Teeth chattering, I waded into the shallows, wishing I could shapeshift into an aquamarine creature just to make swimming bit easier. Not so much as a splash disturbed the ocean’s surface, and a chill settled over me. Where had the Seelie Queen gone? Had she abandoned her armies, or directed them at the Summer Court instead?
I swam into the sea with strong kicks that propelled me into the path of a large wave. Despite the shock of submerging myself in the cold water again, I adjusted to the temperature quicker this time, moving with the currents instead of against them until I found myself pushed towards the darkness of the village below the water. I needed to find Coral so I could get the hell out of here and back into Summer before the Seelie Queen interrupted the third trial and declared war on everyone.
Even with my Gatekeeper’s light, finding my way down was tough going, and it took several confusing minutes to realise I’d somehow bypassed the village altogether and was swimming above the Sea Queen’s palace. Coral should be down there, so I descended over the hulking shape of the giant abandoned ship.
“Coral?” I called out, touching down on the bed of sand outside the door. It hung off its hinges, and there was nobody around. Had the Sea Queen been attacked and fled the place?
“Coral?” I called, louder.
I pressed on the door with my hands, pushing it inward. Movement stirred the waters, then a pale hand reached out of the shadows. The Sea Queen’s fingers closed around my ankle, pulling me after her into the gloom of the abandoned ship.
12
“Ow!” I kicked out, but her nails dug in, sharp as iron, her free hand slamming the door behind me. “What the hell are you doing?”
With difficulty, I angled my talisman so that its shadowy magic came within inches of touching her. The Sea Queen released me at once. “You’re the one they’re after. You’re the reason my people are dying.”
Her hands reached for my throat, and I swung the staff at her, hitting her in the forehead. She fell back, her head bleeding, her eyes dazed.
“Watch it,” I warned. “I’d rather not have Coral lose another family member. Why the hell are you attacking me? Who’s after me?”
“Who isn’t?” She gave a brittle laugh. “One wants your blood, the other wants you at her side, the others want you dead or a pawn, or both.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” My gaze went to the dark shape of the throne at the back of the hall. “Where’s your talisman?”
“Gone.” She let out a hiccoughing sob. “They took it.”
“What?” I swam over to the throne, but her claw-like hand caught my ankle again, bringing a fresh bite of stinging pain. “Ow! I’m not your enemy. If the Seelie Queen has your talisman, I can get it back.”
“It is not she who concerns me, and she’ll be dead before she can use it.”
I gave another firm kick, and her grip broke, her mad eyes staring into mine. I thought her son stopped poisoning her. I tasted bile at the back of my throat, mingling with the salt taste of the water. “What do you mean?”
“I told you,” she croaked. “The false Queen wants you because she cannot undo your curse and guarantee her safety. The other Queen wants you to disappear because she knows what you are, what you may become. She saw to it, after all.”
“What the hell do you mean?” I leaned away from her mad eyes. “The other Queen? Are you talking about Etaina?”
Questions swirled around my thoughts like the water currents, and I became aware of a mirror standing against the wall that hadn’t been there before. The shimmering glass reflected my face back at me, and the glowing light of the Gatekeeper’s mark on my forehead made me look like a ghost.
“I’m sorry you were attacked,” I said, through gritted teeth, “but if you don’t want the Seelie Queen to use that talisman to kill half the Court like she did to the Erlking, you have to let me go.”
“She won’t, and it’s not hers to claim.” A bitter smile tugged at her lips. “I am not long for this realm, Gatekeeper, but both you and that talisman you carry have the power to turn the tides of the war, and I will not allow either of you to leave.”
Damn her. Not only did she want the talisman away from the warring queens, she wanted to keep me locked up in here so the Seelie Queen couldn’t claim me.
“Yeah, no thanks,” I said. “Where’s Coral?”
“My daughter is fighting the invaders,” she said, in dismissive tones. “I never wanted her to rule, you know. She’s too soft-hearted, as kind as my son was foolish and self-centred. I made a mistake in not raising them myself, but I always knew my own end would spell the closure of our rule over the kingdom.”
“If you want me to end you myself, just say so.”
Shadows swirled around the staff’s hilt. Her gaze followed the movement, her eyes sad, clouded. “That weapon should never have been allowed to endure.”
“Believe me, if I ever get a spare moment, I’m going to find out if there’s a volcano I can toss it into,” I said. “Despite everyone wanting to get their hands on it, including Etaina. You do know who Etaina is, don’t you? How? I thought you’d been stuck down here for decades.”
I’d also thought she was half or quarter blood, close enough to human to live a normal lifespan, but surely that made it impossible for her to have known the leader of the Aes Sidhe back before the Courts had split several hundred years ago.
“The Lady of Light craves the power she felt she was denied.” The Sea Queen gave a coughing laugh. The water reddened around her. “She sees the talisman as her right, the fool. Of all of us, she was the hardest for Oberon to contain. Harder even than her sister, if possible.”
“You’re older than you seem, aren’t you?” I said. “You’re not really half-blood at all. Are your children?”
She began to cry.
Tears mingled with the water on her face, and the blood blooming around her mouth. She’s sick. Really sick. But if she was full-blooded fae… she couldn’t lie.
“I could not have children of my own,” she whispered. “I adopted Coral and her brother and loved them as my own. After all, if I did not produce an heir, those hateful merpeople would claim leadership over the kingdom again upon my demise. I did what was necessary to secure my position. And now… now it seems we must die out after all.”
“You can’t have children,” I said. “That’s not an uncommon issue with the Sidhe, is it? Could the Erlking?”
“This is our curse,” she said. “The curse of eternity has taken our lives one by one, and now we suffer and die for it. And you carry a curse of a different kind entirely, Hazel Lynn.”
Damn. No wonder the Sidhe were sore about losing their immortality, if none of them could have biological children with one another.
The door opened with a clicking noise, and Coral swam into the hall. “Mother!”
“I don’t know what happened—she’s dying.” I kicked back to give her space as she swam to her mother’s side. “She was like that when I came in.”
“She—she poisoned herself. I smell it in her blood.” Coral pressed her hands to her mouth, a sob escaping.
My throat closed up. “Did you—did you hear? What she said to me, I mean?”
She nodded mutely, and shifted into her seal form, releasing a howl of anguish. I trod water on the spot, my thoughts whirling. Coral knew her mother hadn’t been her biological parent. She knew she wasn’t the heir. Not by blood, anyway, which didn’t matter when there were no other contenders—but would the rest of her Court see it the same way?
Several figures swam through the open door of the palace. Most were merpeople, with seaweed-like hair and gills rippling on their necks.
The Gatekeeper's Trials: The Complete Trilogy Page 55
