It felt good to lose herself in the game and she tried not to think that it was probably the last game they would play. They had each lost a scholar, a centaur, and three pawns, and Rom was on the attack, trying to trap Eliza’s queen, when the King of the Faeries stepped through the wall.
~
Nia was awake and on her feet instantly, the tiger growling, hackles raised. For a long moment the Sorceress and the King of the Faeries stood frozen like statues, their eyes locked. Nia was the first to gather her composure and speak, in the Old Language of the Faeries. Eliza flinched at the faint scurrying and swarming that started up deep in her ears and brain. Whatever the Oracle had stuffed in her ears back in the Hall of the Ancients was still at work.
“Malferio,” Nia said lightly, “I would have tidied the place if I’d known you were coming. I must say, I’m rather surprised to see you. I thought you were too much a coward to keep in touch with old friends.”
She smiled one of her wondrous, irresistible smiles, but the King of the Faeries did not seem at all tempted to smile back. He nearly flinched at the word “coward,” and his eyes wandered briefly to the growling, bristling tiger.
“I apologize for coming unannounced and uninvited,” he said with a slight bow. “Ordinarily, I would never be so bold. But these are rather extraordinary circumstances.” He cast a look so full of hatred towards Eliza that her skin prickled.
“Do tell,” said the Sorceress with a broad gesture. At once the five of them were seated in plush, comfortable chairs in a room made entirely of glass, suspended in a black starlit sky. Ringed planets and bright moons hung outside the glass walls, giant globes among the myriad stars, and galaxies swirled and flowed through the emptiness of distant space. Eliza and her father forgot to be afraid and gazed in awe around them. Even the tiger looked down through the floor curiously. The other two were less impressed. Rea curled into a ball in her chair, hiding her eyes, and the King of the Faeries twisted his lips in what was almost a sneer.
“There’s no point putting on a show for me, my dear,” said the King.
“I do it for myself,” said Nia, piqued. “To alleviate the boredom.”
“Naturally. Your love of yourself always outstrips whatever dim feeling you might have for any other being. I remember that quite stingingly, as a matter of fact.”
“I see you haven’t forgiven me. Nor have I forgiven you. But let that lie, for I’m simply dying of curiosity... What extraordinary circumstances have brought you to my humble prison?”
“I have been compelled,” said the King of the Faeries with a tight, bitter smile. Nia looked stunned for a minute, and then she laughed.
“You’ve fallen low since the last time I saw you,” she said scornfully. “Who can compel the King of the Faeries?”
“You will be unsurprised to know that you have few friends among the great beings of Tian Di. The Mancers have joined forces with Swarn and the Oracle, and together they have demanded that I relay a message to you. They wish to make a bargain, and I hope you will accept, for both our sakes.”
“Go on.”
“Your immortality has been bound to mine since we were married,” said the King of the Faeries, “when you were mortal, human, only nineteen years in the world and yet more full of life and certainty and beauty than any being I had ever seen in all my thousands of years.”
Eliza’s mouth fell open in amazement. They were looking at each other with such a fearful sort of longing.
“Who is that?” her father whispered to her.
“The King of the Faeries,” she whispered back.
“Is he here to help us?” her father asked hopefully.
“I doubt it,” whispered Eliza. “He tried to kill me before.”
“Oh.” Rom put his arms around her protectively and scowled.
“I still wear the pendant you gave me,” said Nia.
“Out of necessity, of course,” said the King cuttingly. “And there is something else around your neck that was not given. Something you stole.”
Nia touched the vial of brilliant liquid and smiled.
“The pendant cannot be taken from you or destroyed unless I am destroyed,” he continued. “And this can be done only by the most terrible Magic. Immortality for me is only natural, and your death would not bring about mine. But you are bound to me and your immortality is borrowed.”
“Given,” said Nia fiercely. “You cannot break that bond.”
“Except by my death,” he said. “If I die, you are mortal and will be as you should have been centuries ago. Dust.”
“Then it’s lucky for me you cannot die,” said Nia, frowning.
The King of the Faeries laughed bitterly. “Don’t you understand? They will kill me. They have turned my own people against me. They will take my life, and so yours, unless you agree to their terms.”
Nia backed away, eyes wide and angry. “I don’t believe you,” she said. “It’s impossible. They would have killed you already if they had the power to do so. They would not try to make deals.”
“But you still have the Shang Sorceress,” he said. “Killing me would be a time-consuming project, and they fear that in the meantime you will kill the child. She is important to them, the Ancients only know why.”
“She is not important to Swarn or the Oracle,” shot back Nia. “Why have they agreed to this?”
“The Oracle goes on about the girl’s destiny, and Swarn wants to save her friend’s daughter. You know how they are.”
“I think you are lying to me,” said Nia. “They cannot kill a Faery. They would not dare.”
“All of them together? With the support and consent of my treacherous people? The Faeries have not forgiven me for our marriage. I appreciate your faith, but it is unfounded. Nia, my dear, they will kill us both.”
“And what do they want? The girl? They will not spare me if I give her over to them. If the Faeries have truly turned on you, then as soon as she is safe they will do whatever they can to destroy us. She is my only safeguard!” Nia paced up and down the room, mistrustful but alarmed.
“They will strike a bargain according to the Oath of the Ancients. You know this oath, of course?”
Nia laughed joylessly. “By reputation. I would not strike an oath that would bind me so.”
“It binds you only to give up the Shang Sorceress. That is all that is required of you.”
Eliza leaped to her feet, startling everyone.
“There cannay be any deal that doesnay include my parents and Charlie,” she burst out. “And the other humans, too, everyone she’s kidnapped.”
Rom Tok gaped at Eliza. “Do you know what they’re talking about?” he asked her, but Eliza didn’t answer.
“Her parents?” asked the King of the Faeries, looking at Rom and Rea for the first time. He looked back at Nia in amazement. “That is Rea? She is alive?”
Their eyes met, and Eliza felt the brief struggle between them. The air tensed and then gave way. Although she didn’t know what was happening, a chill ran down Eliza’s spine.
“I think you are lying to me,” Nia said softly, her eyes locked on the King’s. “I think this is a performance you and the Mancers have prepared between you. I never thought to see you acting as their trained monkey – you, the King of the Faeries! And yet this pretense of yours is not beyond the realm of the possible, Malferio. You would be wrong to think you have nothing to fear from the Mancers. I have learned that much.”
The King of the Faeries did not reply to this, but his face flushed.
“Do they think they can give you orders?” she pressed on. “If such is their arrogance, what will they think they can do next? It is dangerous for you to let them think they are your equals. But we can turn this to our advantage, Malferio, protect ourselves, that this imaginary threat of theirs may never become a real one.” Nia turned to Eliza with a brilliant smile. “Well then, Smidgen, as a very particular favor to you, I’ll include your parents, all the humans, and the Shade too. I
think that earns me some goodwill, don’t you?”
“Yes,” said Eliza, trembling with a hope she could not let herself fully believe in yet.
Nia turned back to Malferio and her voice took on a coaxing tone. “Tell the Mancers I will return to them their Sorceress and all the kidnapped humans.”
“And Charlie!” cried Eliza.
“They don’t want him,” said Nia. “But yes, he can go too. In return, they must never make an attempt on your life. Also, I am to keep the Book of Barriers. The book is non-negotiable. Be sure to mention that.”
“Those are your terms?” asked the King. He glanced at Eliza and smiled grimly.
“It protects you too, Malferio. Tell them that if they do not agree then they will have to try to kill you, if they can, and I will kill their little Sorceress far faster than that.”
“I will relay the message.” The King of the Faeries stepped through the wall, into black space, and vanished. Nia stood still in the middle of the room with an odd little smile on her face. She looked enormously pleased with herself and Eliza felt a gnawing anxiety. Her expression was not that of one who has just conceded defeat.
“What’s going on?” asked Rom.
“The Mancers have come for us,” said Eliza. “I think.”
Soon the King of the Faeries returned, appearing suddenly through the glass wall. He held a glowing ball of light, which he tossed casually to the Sorceress. She caught it in both hands.
“It is agreed,” he said. “The Oath of the Ancients will be struck. This Oath is unbreakable by even the Greatest Magic and will bind those who strike it until their deaths and beyond. State the terms.”
Nia used the Language of First Days this time, and besides the meaning imparted to her by the Oracle’s nasty scuttling spell, Eliza understood a few words here and there.
“I, the Xia Sorceress, Nia, will hand over to the Mancers the Shang Sorceress, the Shade in my employ, and all the humans I brought here against their will and hold in my Illusion. In return, no Mancer will ever make an attempt upon the life of Malferio, King of the Faeries.”
Kyreth’s voice tolled like a great bell inside their glass room and Eliza looked around wildly. She could not see him. In spite of how much he had always frightened her, she felt nothing but gratitude now for the Supreme Mancer.
“I, the Supreme Mancer, Kyreth, hereby swear that no Mancer will ever make an attempt on the life of Malferio, King of the Faeries. In return, the Sorceress Nia will hand over to us the Shang Sorceress and the humans she has kidnapped.”
Nia’s expression darkened almost imperceptibly. “There’s a voice I have not heard in a long time,” she said softly.
“The oath is struck and is inviolable,” said the King of the Faeries.
Nia closed her hand over the ball of light, which disappeared. “Well, Malferio?”
He bowed stiffly. “This is farewell.”
“Not so. I will see you again soon.”
“For my part,” said the King, “I hope this will be the last time.”
Nia smiled and shook her head. “It won’t be. You know me better than to think these barriers can hold me for long. I will come for you, Malferio.”
“And when you come,” said the King, suddenly velvet-voiced, “will it be for revenge, or a second chance?”
Nia half-whispered the word: “Revenge.” She touched the pendant at her neck again and added, almost unwillingly, “But I did love you once, Malferio.”
“Whatever you mean by that, it is not what a Faery calls love,” he said. “You made use of me. Perhaps that is all love is to you.”
Nia looked wounded by this and did not reply. Instead she said, “Take them, and go.”
General Malone stumbled into the glass room in a defensive half-crouch. His eyes widened at the scene around him: the wheeling galaxies outside, Nia and the King of the Faeries, Eliza and her parents. Cherry Swanson, the ballerina, the jockey, the magician and the contortionist followed, without the blond actor Nia’s sea-monster had taken. They looked very frightened and clustered together in a little knot behind the general. A swirl of darkness dropped from the ceiling and became Charlie in human form. So relieved to see him once again in solid flesh, Eliza leaped forward and threw her arms around him. Charlie hugged her back tightly.
“You’re still alright,” he said joyfully.
“The Mancers have come for us,” Eliza told him in an excited rush. “They’ve made a deal, aye! We can go!”
Nia pointed at the glass wall and a narrow opening appeared. Through it Eliza saw the white Arctic plain and the Mancers in a row, waiting.
“Wait,” said Nia. She was coming towards Rea with a glittering blade in her hand. It happened so quickly, and everybody in the room found themselves briefly immobile. Nia caught Rea by the wrist and deftly sliced off the little finger on her left hand. She tucked the finger into a pocket that appeared conveniently in her dress. “A souvenir,” she said.
Rea was bleeding badly. They all remained frozen with shock for a moment. Then Rom tore a strip off the bottom of his shirt to bind around her hand. Eliza clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle the cry that burst out of her, and Charlie put his arm around her shoulders.
“It’s all right,” he whispered. “She’s all right. We’re getting out.”
The King of the Faeries gave Nia a nauseated look. “I don’t even want to know what that’s for,” he said. Nia smiled sweetly at him.
Having bound her hand firmly, Rom lifted Rea into his arms and said to Eliza, “Stay close. We’re not out yet.”
“Go on, lead the way, General,” said Nia to General Malone, saluting him mockingly. He nodded gravely at Eliza and followed the King of the Faeries out into the snow, the celebrities filing after him. Charlie looked past them at the row of Mancers apprehensively.
“Ever heard the expression, out of the frying pan, into the fire?” he asked Eliza.
“Hurry, before I change my mind about you,” Nia said to Charlie, arching an eyebrow. His eyes widened with fear, Eliza gave him a push, and he hurried after the celebrities. Rom carried Rea close behind him and Eliza stuck right at his side. As they passed through the opening and Eliza felt the icy blast of the Arctic wind, the Sorceress Nia grabbed her by the hair, yanking her back and forcing her to the ground. She screamed and Rom spun around, but before he could make another move the glass wall and the stars had closed over his horrified face. Eliza and the Sorceress were alone in the room, suspended in space. Eliza fought free of the Sorceress and threw herself desperately at the wall where her parents and Charlie had gone. It was solid and she fell back, stunned.
“You swore that oath to let me go,” Eliza cried.
“I promised them the Shang Sorceress and all the humans I brought here,” said Nia. “There was no mention of you in particular, as a matter of fact.”
And then Eliza understood. Nia had returned one Sorceress and kept the other, and the King of the Faeries had let it happen.
“I was sorry to have to let her go,” said Nia. “But I was very nearly done with her and she’d long since stopped being any use as company. Besides, I did at least get a lovely finger.”
Ever since the Mancers had torn her away from her happy life on Holburg, Eliza had been struggling to be brave, to be strong. This mad attempt to rescue her father had nearly killed her half a dozen times already, and yet she had found him, and her mother too, and she had come so close to freedom from this place, had seen it, before it was yanked away from her again. Truly alone, at last her strength and her courage gave out. She let herself fall to the floor and wept with such abandon that she thought she might never be able to stop.
“Stop blubbering, Smidgen,” said Nia irritably. “It’s just you and me now. Time for a bit of fun.”
~ Chapter 21 ~
“Eliza!” shouted Rom, running back the way he had come. Charlie followed him, becoming an Arctic tern, circling rapidly. But the room was gone. There was only the fierce wind and the ice
and the sky. The Sorceress had snatched Eliza back to the heart of her Illusion, shutting the rest of them outside. She was here but invisible, unreachable.
“Come back while you can, you fools!” the King of the Faeries shouted. “You are within her barriers!”
Rom’s face was a twisted mask, and he did not hear the Faery’s words. Still holding Rea in his arms, he shouted into the wind, “I beg you, give her up! Take me and I will do anything, anything!” His voice cracked with despair. There was no reply but a gust of ice wind. Rea fought free of his arms, struggling until he dropped her. She fell to the ground and tried to drag herself towards the King of the Faeries and the Mancers with what little strength she had. This seemed to rouse Rom from his delirium. He scooped her up and carried her at a run to the edge of the barriers.
“Where is Eliza?” thundered Kyreth. “Nia cannot break the Oath of the Ancients!”
“She did not,” said the King of the Faeries, his face tight and pale. “It is trickery.”
“Use your Magic,” said Rom to Kyreth in a tone of absolute command. “Find my daughter. Do it now.”
Kyreth was about to reply when he saw the woman in Rom’s arms and fell to amazed silence. He reached out and gently took Rea from Rom into his own arms. The thin strip of Rom’s shirt wrapped around her hand was already entirely soaked with blood.
“How can this be?” he whispered. “Is it you, my child?”
“Unless you want the humans to freeze to death in the next minute or two,” said Malferio, “I recommend you get them inside. It’s as cold as the Horogarth’s breath out here.”
Kyreth nodded to the Emissariae, then turned and strode with Rea towards the shelter. The cluster of celebrities followed gratefully.
“You’ve lost her,” Malferio said to Rom. He did not speak a language Rom knew, but he had the power of the Faeries to make himself understood when he wished to be. “And you’ll soon be dead if you don’t come inside. It is warm over in the shelter. Consult with your Mancers.”
Rom stood as if rooted to the spot, unable to walk away. Malferio shrugged and left him there, sauntering after the Mancers. The white tern went unnoticed by all of them, and for a moment the bird looked poised to fly away. It looked at Rom several times, hopping this way, then that. Then it became a gryphon, swooping around in an arc and snatching Rom up in its talons. He soared over the heads of the Mancers and deposited Rom at the entrance of the shelter, becoming a boy again.
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