by Nina Smith
Clockwork nodded. “He’s going to war. On everyone.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
She spent the whole day hiding out with Clockwork in the old fig tree, giving Fangs all the attention she could take. They fed her bits of fig, leaves, bugs, anything she would eat. Hippy cleaned down the hacked out scales while Clockwork came up with fifteen different ways to kill the muse king, each one more gruesome than the last.
It was a good day, but when the sun started to go down Hippy knew it had to end. She cast frequent glances at the lengthening shadows. Clockwork fidgeted with a dead leaf.
“You don’t have to go in,” he burst out.
“Yes I do.” Hippy pouted. “But I don’t want to.”
“Then don’t!”
“If I don’t, he’ll send someone looking and they might find you and Fangs. He brought someone new to the castle last night. I didn’t like him at all.” Hippy chewed on her lower lip. “You have to stay hidden. Promise me.”
“What about you? What if they try something?”
“I’ll break teeth. He’s not going to hurt me. At least-” Hippy considered. “For another three days.”
Clockwork chuckled. He already knew about the fairy dust on the wedding dress. He leaned toward her and kissed her on the lips. “Be careful. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Promise me you’ll stay hidden. And look after Fangs.”
“I promise. It’ll be me, Fangs and my shiny axe, right here.” Clockwork pointed at the double-headed axe, which was wedged into a branch above his head.
Hippy had deep misgivings, but it was almost dark. She dropped from the tree and walked slowly around the castle, resisting the urge to glance back. The windows felt like eyes.
She tip-toed into the big entrance room. Voices murmured from somewhere in the belly of the castle. Not the dining room or kitchen, they were cold and empty. Her misgivings turned into great cold wedges of dread. She walked softly up to the room where she’d found the empty vibe glasses the other night. The door was ajar.
She stopped just outside, protected by the shadows, and looked in. A single candle burned at the table where Pierus was seated, his long coat flowing out around him. He strained green liquid into two glasses. Nikifor was curled up on the ground opposite him.
“Come now Nikifor.” Pierus’s voice was smooth and mildly amused, as though he spoke to a recalcitrant child. “You know you want this.”
Nikifor shook his head, but otherwise did not move.
“You prefer death?”
Again, he shook his head.
Pierus pushed one glass toward the edge of the table. “I knew from the moment I first saw you amongst your books you were too weak to be the champion. It’s no wonder your father couldn’t stand the sight of you.”
Nikifor flinched.
“I’m only saying it for your own good. I have plans for your future, my dear boy, but you must correct your faults. Overcome your fears. There’s only one way to do that.”
“My king.” Nikifor’s voice was muffled. He lifted his head and looked out through strands of dishevelled hair. “I do not doubt your words. Not one of them. But I do not like what the vibe does to me.”
“I’m not interested in what you do or do not like.” Pierus sipped from his own glass. “You’re a coward, boy, and a coward is of no use to me. Now get up off the floor and drink.”
“And then?”
“And then what?”
“Then what nightmare will you force on me next?” Nikifor’s voice trembled, but with an edge of anger, not fear.
Hippy’s eyes widened. Yeah!
Pierus drained the rest of his glass in a single breath. Then he slowly rose to his feet. “If I didn’t know better, Nikifor, I would almost swear you just showed disrespect to your king.” He paced to the other muse and curled his hand into his hair. “Did you?”
Nikifor stayed perfectly still. “No, my king.”
“Are you loyal to me?”
“Completely, my king.”
“Then do as you are ordered. Drink.” His hand tightened. Hippy couldn’t tell if Nikifor rose of his own volition, or if Pierus dragged him by the hair.
“Drink.” Pierus’s voice softened. “Drink, Nikifor. Then show me what kind of muse you really are.”
Nikifor’s eyes fixed on the glass. He reached for it, his fingertips trembling.
He wanted it. Even Hippy could see that. He wanted it as badly as he was repulsed by it.
“Everything you want is right there, in this glass.” Pierus had let go of his hair. He spoke straight into his ear. “It’s so much easier to give in, my boy, you know it is. Be the muse I want you to be.”
Nikifor picked up the glass.
“Don’t do it,” Hippy breathed.
Nikifor raised the glass. Then he flung it against the wall with a motion so violent it shattered into tiny pieces. Green drops stained the stones.
Pierus’s laughter rolled around the room. “Oh Nikifor,” he said. “You never did know the right time to show courage. But you’ll learn.” He grabbed the pitcher with one hand and Nikifor’s hair with the other. He propelled him to the wall, yanked his head back, pinned him there with one knee and poured the contents of the pitcher over his face. When Nikifor closed his mouth, Pierus pinched his nose until he gasped for air, then tipped more vibe into his mouth. Nikifor choked and spluttered. Pierus shoved him to the ground.
Hippy smothered a squeak of dismay, but too late.
Pierus turned toward her. “What an unexpected pleasure. Do come in, Hippy.”
She would rather have run, but she had an idea it wouldn’t get her anywhere. She took a hesitant step into the room.
Pierus went to her, put an arm around her shoulder and propelled her all the way in. He rather forcibly assisted her into a chair at the table. “My dear girl, how long were you standing out there?” He didn’t give her a chance to reply. “It wouldn’t have been all day, by any chance? I was so terribly perplexed when I couldn’t find you earlier. I hadn’t expected my lovely bride to be to spend all day hiding from me. I’m not that frightening.” He bent down and eyeballed her. “Am I?”
Hippy looked away. “I was thinking about this wedding thing,” she said. Then, in a burst of inspiration, “If I’m to be married, I want my sister here. Let me send her a message.”
“No.” Pierus paced around the chair and leaned his hands on the back of it. His breath on her neck made her skin crawl. “I won’t have two Bloody Fairies in my castle,” he said. “Or really–” he traced a fingernail down the line of her neck “–should that be three?”
Hippy stiffened.
Pierus curled his fingers around her shoulder. “Tell me where you’ve been, Hippy Ishtar.”
“Out.” Her fist curled in her lap. Her eyes narrowed.
“I keep asking myself why I had to choose the stupidest Bloody Fairy in Shadow,” he said. “Or then again, perhaps it’s not so bad. For me, anyway. I enjoy our little altercations. Do you, Hippy? Have you learned yet that the muse king knows all? The muse king sees all?”
Every hair on her spine stood on end. Clockwork. He knew about Clockwork. She snapped her fist backward into Pierus’s face and made contact with his eye socket.
Pierus stumbled back, clutching his face. “Nikifor!” he roared. “Get that fairy!”
Hippy bolted for the door, only to find it barred by the tall stranger. The mask was gone, but his face was buried in the shadows of his hood. He made two lazy sidesteps to block her attempts to get past him.
“I seem to recall warning you this would happen, Fairy,” he said. “You do make some poor choices, don’t you?”
Hippy took rapid backward steps, away from the stranger, away from Pierus. She backed into a corner across the room. Her frozen brain finally decided to work. “Rustam Badora!” Her voice was little more than a squeak.
“I thought I told you to keep the mask on,” Pierus said.
The vampire king shrugged. �
��She knows who I am anyway. I’m rather interested to see what progress you’re making on this little fairy problem.” He dropped into the chair Hippy had vacated, sniffed the empty glass there and chuckled. “What a hotbed of vice this is.”
“As a matter of fact,” Pierus said, “It seems my fairy problem is not so little, Badora.”
“Oh?” the hand playing with the glass stilled.
“There is an intruder in the grounds. I want you to find him.”
Badora rose to his feet. “He’s not one of your fairies then?”
Pierus made a dismissive motion. “She’s the only fairy I have any use for. But considering it’s unlikely any more will stray in here, don’t kill him right away. Ration yourself.”
Badora disappeared in a blur of motion.
Hippy screamed the baddest word she knew and raced after him.
“Nikifor!” Pierus yelled. “Get after her! Now!”
Nikifor was on her before Hippy had gone ten feet from the room. His hand closed around one wrist with a grip like stone.
Hippy struggled against his hold until she saw the pleading in his eyes. Yes, he was in the grip of the vibe, but something of Nikifor remained this time. He was terrified.
Hippy let out a yell of frustration, stopped struggling and sat down on the flagstones. She glared every kind of hatred she knew at Pierus.
“Nikifor my boy, you’re learning.” Pierus stooped, grasped her other arm and dragged her to her feet. “Come along my love, I have something to show you.”
Hippy allowed them to escort her up the stairs in this undignified way only because she didn’t want Pierus to hurt Nikifor again. He’d been through enough tonight. When they continued all the way to the third floor, however, she knew that had been a mistake. She resisted the pull when they approached the door of the laboratory. “No. I don’t want to go in there!”
“Really? You didn’t seem to have a problem this morning.” Pierus yanked her through the door.
Hippy closed her eyes and thought about her green-haired daughter and how she was going to kill Pierus until he was really, really dead.
Then she looked over to where the eggs had been. Now, little grey winged shapes dragged themselves about. Globs of yolk clung to their scales.
“Do you like them?” Pierus closed the laboratory doors. “They grow fast. They’ll be adults soon. I used your dreadful little pet’s scales and blood to replicate each one of them. Then I improved on them.” He gave a thin smile and replaced the screen. “But that’s not what we’re here for. Nikifor, watch carefully. I’m going to teach you how to control a fairy.”
Hippy snapped to attention. She regarded Pierus with every burning inch of hatred she felt. “I’m going to kill everything you create.”
“No, you’re not.” Pierus prodded her toward a table on the far side of the room, near the skeleton and the Apple of Chaos. The curtains were open.
“I’m going to tell the forest people you have one of their skeletons,” she said.
“They already know. I told them I wouldn’t use the skeleton to create any nasty diseases if they stayed out of my way.”
Hippy took a deep, shaky breath. “I’m going to make you sparkle. Just like a vamp. I’m going to play kick with your petrified corpse ash.”
“Really?” Pierus grinned and kissed her on the cheek. “I’ve seen my death, my love, and it’s not at your hands. In fact, it’s entirely preventable. You wait and see.”
One hand went involuntarily to her belly. He didn’t miss the move, but he just raised an eyebrow and said nothing. He picked up a little glowing ball from the table and put it in her hand. “Here. This is what I wanted to show you.”
Hippy looked at it. Ordinarily she’d have been delighted to play with it for a while. It was very shiny, but right now she just wanted to smash it into Pierus’s face. She shrugged and threw it over her shoulder. “What are you showing me that rubbish for?”
“Because you are what humans would call my lab rat.” He handed her a crystal. “How about this one?”
The crystal was shinier still. The gleam was enticing, but she still felt none of the usual fascination. An idea slowly dawned in her mind. She kept her eyes down to hide it from Pierus. The child she carried was part muse. She must be shielding her from whatever Pierus was trying to do.
She dropped the crystal. “No, that one’s no good either. Next?”
Some of the smugness dropped from his expression. His mouth tightened. He picked up a bowl that glowed with light from some hidden source within.
Hippy peered in. Then she tipped it upside down. Something rolled out and clinked across the floor. The glow disappeared. “What was the point of that one?”
“Here.” Pierus handed her a box.
Hippy opened it. Little lights danced around inside. So pretty. She wanted to touch.
She tore herself away and closed the box. “Boring.” She pointed at the Apple. “What are those lights? They’re shiny.”
“These?” Pierus motioned to the cage. “You like electricity?”
“I do.” Hippy moved toward it and reached out.
Pierus caught her wrist. “That’s dangerous, my love.”
She pouted. “Why? What does it do?”
“It fries little fairy fingers.”
“How does it work?”
“I know what you’re trying to do.” Pierus drew her away from the Apple. “Which is why I have one more shiny thing to show you.” He threw aside a curtain and thrust her toward a light.
Hippy’s eyes widened. She tilted her head. What a pretty, pretty light it was. It was just small, about the size of her hand. Little sparkles floated around it, danced, made rainbow trails. She giggled. It was so pretty it made everything warm and bright and shiny again.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Intense fury seared every brain cell, rolled through her blood like thunder. Hippy slammed her fist into the nearest target.
She yelled in pain and hopped up and down. She’d just punched a stone wall. Tears sprang to her eyes. Where had her shiny thing gone? It was all dark and cold and she’d been in the nicest–loveliest–she dropped her aching hand and said a very bad word.
A flame hissed into life across the room. The glow of a gas lantern lit up the space around Pierus’s shadow. The white dress shone like a ghost. The light grew to encompass the whole bedroom.
Pierus took a few steps, stumbled, then fell to his knees in the middle of the floor.
Hippy backed away from him. She wondered if the door was locked. She’d rather chance an encounter with Badora than listen to another one of his depressive episodes. She pressed her back into the wall.
“Pandora,” he said
Too late, there he went. She edged along the wall.
“Pandora, I’m afraid.” His voice was hoarse.
“You could try smacking your head into the wall. I hear it works.” Hippy brushed past the wedding dress. Her insurance. If anything had happened to Clockwork she was going to have trouble deciding whether to use it to smother the vamp king or the muse king.
“Every time I look at her I’m afraid,” he said. “From the first moment I saw her, it was you come back to haunt me. I had to have her. Now I have to kill her. Only then will you be dead to me.”
Hippy picked up her pace and pushed at the door. It was locked fast. Great. She wondered if Pierus had any idea at all what he was saying, or to whom. She asked the first question to pop into her head. “Well then, why haven’t you done it already?”
“And waste an opportunity?” He curled up and clutched his stomach. “Oh Pandora my love, you were always simple.”
“Opportunity?” Hippy continued to push at the door. Just in case.
“Oh yes. She was so perfect. I knew I needed a fairy to get the Apple of Chaos, and then to start another war to keep the irritating creatures busy for a few more years. Decimate their numbers still more and turn them against my enemies, all in one stroke.”
Hi
ppy felt sick. “What war?” she whispered.
He laughed. The gravelly sound descended into a coughing fit. “Kill her. Blame Fitz and Ana Falls. The fairies go to war on the forest people. And on the Invisible Army. If I play the right cards the Bloody Fairies will declare war on the Freakin Fairies too, and there will be a decade of chaos while they all kill each other off. When I offer law and order the rest of Shadow will fall in behind me.”
Hippy tried to control her breathing. And her fists. He was right, she knew he was. If her family was told she’d been murdered by forest people, Invisible Army or not, they’d go to war. It was required. “But why marry her first?” she whispered.
“There are muses who work against me,” Pierus said. “There are always rebels and dissidents and traitors. They pretend loyalty and then say behind my back that I’m mad. But if my enemies were to murder my wife, then they could not refuse me. They must fight for their king. Oh Pandora, I promised you one day I would make you a queen. Why did you leave me?” He arched his back and raised himself up on his arms.
So she was safe, at least until the wedding. Hippy flattened herself against the door. He got to his feet and turned in a slow circle. When he finally saw her his eyes were vacant. The Pierus she knew and despised wasn’t home.
“Pandora.” He reached out a hand. “Come to me.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Pandora.” His voice developed an edge. He stalked toward her, curled his hand into her dress and pulled her against him. Then his fingers were in her hair. They squeezed her scalp. He put his mouth on hers.
Hippy pushed against him. This wasn’t a kiss. The familiar cold seeped into her toes. She hooked her nails into his arms and dragged them along his skin. When he flinched away she broke free, balled a fist and punched him in the face.
He dropped like a stone.
Hippy scowled, kicked him in the ribs and went to bed. It was going to be a long day tomorrow.
It was hard to wake up the next morning. Her eyes felt like they were glued shut. The bed was warm. Too warm. A weight pressed her down.
Hippy forced her eyes open. Pierus’s arm laid across her shoulder and one of his legs was tangled with hers. She didn’t know whether to laugh or throw up. He had two black eyes.
