Cradled

by Christina Bauer

  “He’s not here as an invader.” Rowan’s voice was a low rumble. “Two warriors isn’t enough.”

  “Agreed,” I said. “He’s here to scout our realm. Plan his attack, whatever that is.” The moment I said attack out loud, the word reverberated across my nerves. My brother Viktor had all but eliminated any mage with power. If someone decided to invade us, we could be rather easily defeated.

  “Not our realm,” countered Rowan. “You.”

  My eyes widened. “Why do you say that?”

  Rowan counted off his observations on his fingers. “Kronos knew your name before he arrived and took care to misspeak your title. Then he mentioned your parents, testing to confirm his suspicion that you didn’t like them.”

  I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to process this information. “Do you think Kronos is somehow in league with my parents?”

  Rowan’s intense green gaze locked with mine. “I don’t know, Elea. He could be. It’s too early to tell.”

  I scrubbed my palms over my face. “We need to see if Amelia has discovered anything about Kronos. She was assessing him as they walked away. Perhaps she’s detected information that may be useful.”

  Rowan nodded once. “One way to find out.”

  We didn’t require further discussion. Moving in unison, Rowan and I crossed the clearing and made our way to a back door for Jiwe La Moto. Amelia was waiting for us inside.

  “Your five minutes are long over,” my friend announced. “He is not happy.”

  No question who he was in this statement. Kronos.

  Rowan tilted his head. “And what does he plan to do about it?”

  “Cast a transfer spell to wherever you are.” Amelia gestured toward me. “Or to be accurate, to wherever Elea is. You’re the one he’s here to see and I don’t like that.”

  “It’s not my favorite thought, either.” I rested my hand on my stomach. I’d only known about my pregnancy for less than an hour, and already I was worrying how anything might affect the baby. Interacting with Kronos seemed dangerous with a capital D. “Let’s hurry to the central feasting hall.” I shivered. “I don’t want to confront Kronos in a random corridor.”

  “Good thinking.” Rowan leaned over and kissed the top of my head. Like always, his gentle attention made me blush. As the three of us began our march toward the central feasting hall, Rowan focused on Amelia.

  “You were observing Kronos before,” my husband asked. “What have you discovered?”

  “Kronos is a machine who was purposely designed,” answered Amelia. “Every line of that man was assembled from custom parts. He’s what I call a control module.” Amelia then went on to explain in detail about her theories on control modules. I wish I could say I found the conversation invigorating, but instead, my need for sleep came back with a vengeance. Before I knew it, Amelia was finishing up her speech. “Kronos is intelligent. A problem solver. He was created to monitor something mechanical and crucial to infrastructure.” She tapped her chin. “Like a train crossing or a dam, something along those lines. That’s the key thing.”

  Amelia slowed her steps and I realized that we’d turned down the access corridor for the central feasting hall. There wasn’t much time left.

  “What have you discovered about the Oculus Warriors?” I asked.

  “Up close, they seem jammed together from spare parts or something,” answered Amelia. “If Kronos is a command module, they’re built to be mechanical muscle. Not a lot of brains paired with tons of brawn.” She tapped chin. “As a matter of fact, I have some more books in my lab that might be helpful. I could do some quick research.”

  The doorway to the central feasting hall opened a few yards ahead. The three of us paused and I turned to Amelia once more. “Please check out your library,” I said. “And thank you for all your help.”

  “Are you kidding?” Amelia set her fists on her hips. “For the record, any time mechanical people are involved, I want part of the action.”

  I couldn’t help but smile. “Request noticed.” Leaning in, I gave Amelia a quick hug. Touching was something that Necromancers discouraged, but Creation Casters expected it. To acclimate to my new role as Genesis Regina, I was trying to work embracing into more of my interactions. So far, I was good at hugging Rowan and Jicho a lot, and Amelia just a little bit. I quickly stepped back from the embrace. “Let us know what you discover.”

  “I will.” Amelia rushed off in the direction of her lab. “Good luck.” She called over her shoulder.

  With Amelia gone, Rowan and I marched inside in the central feasting hall. The space was large, made of red stone, and lined with heavy tapestries. Great oak beams crisscrossed the vaulted ceiling. I frowned. This chamber was filled with shadows, even on sunny days. And all those beams overhead? They were some of Jicho’s favorite places to climb. How could I have forgotten?

  I carefully scanned the oak planks above me, but it was too dark to see clearly. Had Jicho snuck into this room?

  Rowan leaned in to whisper in my ear. “I’m thinking the same thing, and I don’t see him.” No question which him my husband was talking about, either. Jicho.

  “Do you think our wards will keep him in his chambers?” I asked.

  “Kade’s got extra guards all over this castle,” answered Rowan. “If Jicho goes anywhere, someone will notice.”

  Rowan made a good point. We’d seen Imperial Guards throughout our walk here. Kade had them deployed everywhere. And in this chamber, a solid line of them encircled the walls. Plus, Kade himself stood at attention just inside the doorway. Some knots of worry loosened inside me.

  Kade had this under control.

  In fact, the only place where guards weren’t standing was before the main hearth, which was a sizable structure as tall as Rowan. A fire roared inside it. Before that fireplace, there stood Kronos, his body as still as a metal statue. Shifting flames highlighted the many cords of bronze wire that made up his body, suit, and skin. Behind Kronos there stood his Oculus Warriors. Firelight accented the identical goggle-like eyes of their matching helms.

  As Rowan and I approached, the metal king didn’t so much as flinch, let alone look over in our direction. With every step, my pulse sped. Something about this mechanical man set my nerves on edge.

  Oh, yes. That would be the fact that he’s here for me and—to make things more complex—I happen to be pregnant.

  Rowan and I paused near the hearth.

  “You wished to talk,” said Rowan. “My queen and I are listening.”

  “Quetum is a clockwork world.” Kronos’s voice was a melodic tenor. “Beautiful. Precise. Imbued with purpose. As a rule, we don’t allow those with corruptible flesh to enter our realm. But your parents entered my world without a plan or permission. But you knew that already, didn’t you?”

  The way Kronos asked the question, it was clear that the mechanical king already knew the answer.

  “You sent your parents off into exile,” continued Kronos. “And you didn’t particularly care which planets received their, ah, magnificence.” The way Kronos said the word magnificence, it was clear that he thought my parents were a menace.

  Sadly, he was right. My parents were a menace.

  Guilt settled on my shoulders. In all honesty, I hadn’t considered where my parents had gone once they went into exile. Suddenly, that seemed like a rather foolish oversight. What had the Sire of Souls and the Lady of Creation done to Quetum? Nervous energy moved through me in waves. Before I knew it, I was talking again.

  “We were in a battle,” I said quickly. “My parents were trying to kill me. Sending them off into exile was a matter of self preservation. Life and death.” The moment the words left my mouth, I wished I could take them back. Talking about my parents was making me lose control. I was here to gain information, not blab every concept that fell into my brain.

  Rowan gently rested his hand on my shoulder. His touch was all things reassuring. Without saying a word, Rowan told me that everything would
be all right.

  We were together.

  We could do this.

  Reaching up, I laced my fingers with Rowan’s. He gave my hand a gentle squeeze and that was all I needed to keep going. Taking in a deep breath, I refocused on Kronos. “What do you want?”

  “The Sire of Souls and the Lady of Creation are criminals,” said Kronos. “Your parents stole magick from the engine that runs our planet. They emptied it out entirely. In doing so, the Sire and Lady turned our beautiful and bright world into a dead clock. And once they had what they wanted, your parents went into hiding. I’ve been hunting them down ever since, but to no avail.” He gestured sadly to his Oculus Warriors. “Even my finest fighters have come up empty.”

  “Hold on, now.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You say that my parents stole magick from your planet?” I shook my head. “That doesn’t make any sense. Those two had so much magickal power, they were worshipped as deities in this realm. They didn’t even need to pull in power, it simply was them. Why would they want to steal your energy?”

  “I assume exiling them meant blocking their access to this world?” Using his walking stick, Kronos gestured around the chamber. “And if they ever wished to return, I would guess they’d need a little extra energy?”

  How I hated answering these questions. “That’s true,” I replied.

  Kronos pointed the end of the walking stick in my direction. “Touch this moonstone and willingly give me the energy your parents stole. Then, I’ll be on my way.”

  I took a half-step backward. “You can’t be serious.”

  “I’m as serious as a doomsday clock.” Kronos jabbed the end of the stick in my direction. “This is no ordinary walking stick. It’s called the Bezel Wand, and it powers the entire engine for my home planet of Quetum from the Bezel Tower. Power it up. You owe me.”

  Now, I hadn’t been queen and tsarina for a year without learning that everyone has claims. In fact, Rowan and I sat over claims court once a month. Which peasant owns what plot of land, that kind of thing. Verbal claims were as common as raindrops and as easy to wash away with a truth spell.

  “If you’re telling the truth,” I countered, “then it will be easy to provide us with proof to substantiate your claims. Once we have that, then we can discuss what to do next.”

  Kronos lifted his chin. “I don’t have proof on hand. I came here to parlay in good faith.”

  Rowan lifted his right hand. “We can cast a spell to conjure up your evidence. I’d like to see a vision of the Sire and Lady stealing your magick.”

  “I refuse to debase myself with such nonsense.” Kronos waggled the walking stuck—what he’d called a Bezel Wand—once more in my direction. “Touch it. Power it up.” He gave me a sly smile. “Or you could try to take it from me.”

  All the air seemed to get pulled out from my lungs. What game was he playing at?

  In a protective move, Rowan stepped between me and Kronos. “Elea isn’t doing anything of the kind. Leave.”

  “Then I’m afraid we’re at an impasse.” Kronos set the Bezel Wand onto the floor and rested his gloved hands atop the moonstone top.

  All of a sudden, Jicho dropped down from the rafters to land beside me and Rowan. The sight of his little body in Seer robes made me gasp.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  “I knew about the wards spells, so I never went to my rooms.”

  “Jicho,” said Rowan in a warning tone.

  “No, you have to listen,” cried Jicho. “Kronos is about to cast a spell; I just saw it in a vision!”

  My blood iced over with fear. Jicho’s visions were rarely wrong. Looking over, I saw Kronos had gripped the middle length of his walking stick with both hands, raising it high. The moonstone atop it now gleamed with power.

  Oh, no.

  Jicho was right.

  Kronos was about to unleash a spell.

  On reflex, I gripped Rowan’s hand, ready to share our magick and do a casting of our own. As his Caster energy flowed into my body, one thought overtook my mind.

  Please, let this work.

  What happened next took a matter of seconds, but it felt as if a slowness spell had been cast over the chamber. Kronos slammed his walking stick down onto the ground. A great wave of bronze power slowly streamed from the impact point to roll out across the floor. I’d seen that kind of casting before.

  It was a transformation wave.

  This kind of spell was mostly invisible, unless you knew what to look for. If you stared closely, the air would shimmer with the barest bronze light. It always reminded me of how summer heat warped the air, only with a tinge of color thrown into the mix. In reality, the atmosphere was charged with magick. And that spell would change everything it came it touch with. Already the floor around Kronos was turning bronze. There was no question what he planned to do: transform everything and person around him into metal.

  In this case, that meant Rowan, Jicho, Kade and our Imperial Guards.

  Not an option.

  While Kronos released his spell, I gripped Rowan’s hand more tightly. My husband’s red Caster power mixed with my blue Necromancer energy, creating violet light that shone out from our arms and chests. Rowan and I didn’t discuss what spell to cast, but then again, we didn’t need to. Transformation waves had only one counter-spell. We called out the incantation in unison:

  “Preserve. Hinder. Fight.”

  Violet light poured off our palms. A wave of energy rolled out from our bodies to meet Kronos’s spell. The two castings slammed into each other, making the ground shake with the force of their contact. Kronos’s spell exploded into a million tiny bits of bronze shimmer.

  Kronos slammed his walking stick onto the ground again. “Contain!” he called. Instantly, the tiny bits of bronze reformed into a large metal bubble that surrounded me, Rowan, Jicho, Kronos, and his two Oculus warriors. We were imprisoned.

  We couldn’t run away now, even if we wanted to. Jicho gripped my waist and buryied his face against my side. “I shouldn’t have come here.”

  When I spoke, I took care to use my most calming voice. “Everything will be fine, Jicho.” After that, I looked to Rowan and said three words. “Gateway. Stone serpents.”

  There was no need to say more; Rowan knew exactly what I meant. He and I needed to open a gateway to Quetum and fast. Once the portal the other world was in place, we could cast stone serpents in order to herd Kronos and his buddies right through it.

  And speaking of those Oculus Warriors, the pair were now twitching and making clicking noises.

  I didn’t take that as a good sign.

  Kronos raised his Bezel Wand above his head once again.

  That was an even worse development.

  Rowan gave my hand another squeeze. “Serpents first,” he said. Jicho gripped my waist more tightly. The thought occurred that I had both Jicho and my baby relying on me now.

  This had to work.

  “Let’s cast,” I said.

  Once again, Rowan and I didn’t need many words to get in sync. Our first priority was getting that Bezel Wand out of Kronos’s hands, and stone serpents should do the trick..

  Still holding hands, Rowan and I released our next volley of power. Violet-colored mist sped out from our free palms. As the magick left our bodies, we spoke the spell together.

  “Fang and stone,

  Bring us menace full grown”

  On the floor before us, the mist of our spell congealed into the form of dozens of writhing vipers. Although they moved like regular serpents, each of these snakes would be stone hard to the touch. Rowan then pointed to Kronos and the Oculus Warriors. “Serpents, bring us the walking stick. Take them all down!”

  Jicho peeped up from his spot by my waist. His eyes were all-black. The veins in his neck and chest had all darkened as well. That could only mean one thing. His Seer powers were active.

  “I had another vision.” Jicho’s voice came out with a low, dream-like quality.
“Watch for the round gateway; it will bring you the lightning goddess and her consort. They must bring fire swords to the windings. Only then will you and Rowan kill Kronos.” Jichoo blinked hard as his eyes and skin returned to normal. “But it should only be you, Rowan, the lightning goddess, and her consort. Promise me you’ll remember.”

  “I won’t forget,” I said quickly. Lightning goddess. Consort. Fire swords. That was the kind of prophecy that stayed with you.

  A chorus of hisses broke up my thoughts. Our stone serpents were now speeding across the floor, heading right toward Kronos and his Oculus Warriors. My pulse sped.

  This was it. Our counterspell.

  For his part, Kronos simply folded his arms across his chest and lifted his chin. I frowned.

  Kronos is calm. That’s unexpected.

  I couldn’t see past his reflective glasses, but somehow, I was certain that the mechanical king had closed his eyes. Then he moved his lips, no doubt speaking the silent words to a spell.

  And he’s casting again. That’s ominous.

  A moment later, Kronos’s entire form shimmered with bronze light. All the many wires that made up his body glowed. With a series of small pops, some of the metal cords lifted up from his limbs and clothing.

  I blinked. Hard.

  Were the wires of Kronos’s skin really popping up? Indeed, they were rising. A moment later, all the cords contorted into the same insect shape.

  Spiders.

  Jolts of worry moved down my back. Dozens of mechanical spiders had appeared on Kronos’s body, each one as large as my palm.

  I’ve never been squeamish about spiders, but then, I’d never encountered ones that were both mechanical and suffused with magick. Who knew what these things were capable of?

  Moving together, the spiders crawled across the floor to engage our stone serpents in battle. Our snakes squeezed the spiders until they snapped, or bit the mechanical insects into useless scraps of metal. For their part, the mechanical spiders wound the serpents into heavy metal cocoons, the webbing so thick that the snakes could barely move, let alone escape. All the while, Kronos watched the battle and grinned, his metal teeth shining in the firelight.