by Casey Bond
It was over. If I’d known the storm would stop so soon, I wouldn’t have knocked. Maybe they didn’t hear the rapping at all. I made my way down the stairs. At the bottom, the cool fog licked at my ankles and curled around my calves as if it was pulling me toward it. A crow cawed loudly in the trees beyond. When the door swung open, I turned to apologize for disturbing them... but no one was there.
“Hello?”
I turned back toward the maze, but then behind me, I heard footsteps. I whirled around and couldn’t help the gasp that slid out when I saw the boy from the alley. His unruly dark hair fell across his unusual eyes, but what took my breath away was his smile. I hadn’t seen it before now… “What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I could ask you the same, but my guess is that you were seeking shelter. That was a terrible storm. Ruined some of the maze. The Queen will want the hedges replaced, and we’ll have to plant new roses. Red ones. The color is red, you know,” he chatted companionably as he walked up to me and offered his arm. He seemed awfully comfortable here, for having just arrived a few days ago.
Or was I in the forest longer than I thought?
“Well, are you coming inside?”
My brows pulled together. A tightness began to squeeze my chest and prickles ran up my spine, eliciting a shiver. This felt off.
“You’re freezing,” he observed. “You should dry off. I’ll make a fire for you and you can warm yourself by it.”
“Do you live here?” I questioned.
“I do the Queen’s bidding,” he replied simply.
“The Queen? Is this where the man in the purple coat took you?”
“I’m a hard worker,” he declared, proudly puffing out his chest.
Something was different about him. The genuineness I’d felt in the few minutes spent outside the tavern was nowhere to be found. It disappeared along with the ground fog. Was it all an act, or did I merely imagine, or hope, it was there all along?
“Come along,” he prompted. “The Queen loves guests.” He placed his hand at the base of my spine and propelled me forward. At his touch, the pain in my ankle completely faded away. Weak and worn out, I let him lead me up the steps and into the castle. He seemed hospitable enough. Getting dry, warm, and fed would certainly be nice. Once I rested up, I could leave this evening.
“So, you became comfortable here fast,” I remarked, trying to make small talk.
He didn’t even respond.
As soon as we crossed the threshold and the door closed behind us, the young man changed. His dark hair turned stark white, and his clothes transformed from the simple mud-stained ones he’d been wearing outside the tavern to much finer garments. The man standing before me now wore a vibrant waistcoat with tails in a color that would put the brightest ruby to shame. The tips of his ears shifted from curved human ears to sharp fae ones.
“Who are you?” I breathed.
He wiggled his nose like... a bloody rabbit. “Come, now. You’ve been trying to catch me for hours. Now that you have me, you want to turn and run back into the forest? How long will you last? Your lips are cracked and blistered, and I bet your tongue feels like a tuft of cotton. You need water and food. My queen wants to help you.”
“Why would she want to help me?”
“Because that is what good rulers do,” he explained, pulling a pocket watch from the vest inside his coat. The watch was bizarre, with white numerals against an ebony clock face and hands that spun so quickly, my eyes couldn’t keep up. “We mustn’t keep her waiting.” With that, he strode across the black and white checkered floor and turned a corner ahead.
“Wait!” I cried.
But just like in the woods, right when I caught back up, he snickered and sped up his pace. Wisps of the man’s pale hair curled back toward me as he rushed ahead. I was in trouble. The fae were real. Oryn’s magic dust was entirely rinsed away, and he would never find me here. I wasn’t even sure where here was.
“Why are you running?” I struggled to keep up.
“We’re late!” he yelled. His spongy voice echoed over the arched ceilings and slithered down the walls. The worn-out soles of my boots squeaked with each step as I chased him, leaving a squishy trail of water in my wake.
He weaved his way back and forth down long hallways and past rooms whose doors were closed, and others that slammed shut just as I tried to peer inside, always turning left. We were going in a circle, or maybe a spiral, because the turns became tighter and the man more desperate. He kept glancing at his watch worriedly. Beads of sweat formed on his brow.
What will happen if we’re late?
When we had gone as far as we could go and there were no more turns to take, the harried man stopped. Here, no windows spilled light into the space. Instead, there were strange torches of blue-black fire that cast macabre light and shadows against the walls.
Two guards dressed in matching bright red suits stood guard at a set of intricately carved, golden double-doors. They stepped forward menacingly, aiming their spears at our throats. My heart leapt into mine, choking me from even whimpering as they stepped closer and closer until the metal spear tip bit into my tender flesh. I let out a whimper when my skin broke beneath the pressure. The coppery tang hit my nose just as I felt the warm trickle of blood slide down my wet skin. I fought the urge to swallow, my breaths coming out in shallow, shaky puffs.
In my periphery, the white-haired man was quivering. From his knees to his lips, he shook like an autumn leaf in a winter wind. “You are late,” the guard in front of him warned.
“There was an incident,” he explained in a thin, reedy voice. “You have to let me in. I’m bringing the girl the Queen wanted.”
The girl she wanted? What the hell is going on?
“You think she’s your saving grace? If you escape with your skin, I’ll be shocked,” the guard muttered before removing the spear from his throat. The other spear tip retreated from my flesh and I took a deep breath to try and calm myself. The guards looked like twins, from their rouge skin and the crimson sludge coating their hair, to the soles of their shoes, which were the same alarming shade of red as the rest of their attire.
Each put a hand on the door and pushed. With the warm welcome we’d received thus far, I didn’t have a chance to study the door. Now I chanced a look, seeing it was engraved with an enormous human heart, each chamber slowly pulsating in a rhythm all its own. The doors parted the organ, revealing a grand room where everything gleamed and sparkled. The cavernous space had vaulted, spider-webbed ceilings held up by a vast array of golden columns.
The rabbit man urged me to follow him, and when I couldn’t stop gawking at all the gold, a fraction of which could alter my family’s fate, he grabbed my wrist and tugged me hard toward the center of the room. From there, we jogged to the far end where a raised dais overlooked the checkerboard floor.
He deposited me on a large white tile, smeared with what looked like blood. The water still dripping from my dress pooled on the dried smears and the rust came alive, swirling within the droplets.
The rabbit man stood a few feet away on an equally large black square of tile. If we were late, so was everyone else, because we were the only two in the enormous room. I almost felt bad for him. He was quaking so hard beside me that unless I was imagining it, the floor trembled. The vibrations traveled through my boots and up my calves as if they were fleeing from him and hiding behind me.
The vast room was hollow and empty, unadorned by windows, only accented by gold ceilings and walls. The sole piece of furniture sat on the raised dais before me; an ornate, golden throne with a swooping, whimsical carved back. The sight of it certainly didn’t produce the tangible fear the man beside me felt, which terrified me. Could he see something I couldn’t? I was all too aware that things in the fae realm weren’t as they seemed.
“Is the Queen coming?” I whispered.
He wiped his brow and nodded quickly in response, fear shining in his beady eyes.
“Why are you so afraid of her?”
Without looking at me, he shushed me as a trio of horns began to play from somewhere behind us. When I turned around, I didn’t see any musicians.
The man’s shaking became worse.
As if conjured by magic, an impenetrable wall of soldiers appeared around us, each brandishing their own spear, spears I knew were sharp and deadly. One thrust, one well-placed jab, and I’d be dead.
My eyes flicked down to the blood on the floor that the water hadn’t absorbed, the smears that told a story that hadn’t been cleaned and buffed away. My heart thundered as I swallowed my fear. Maybe I was the one trembling.
The guards shifted, turning as one toward the throne and holding their spears so the tips pointed toward the ceiling.
Seated on the throne was the Queen.
CHAPTER FIVE
ARABELLA
The Queen was younger than I thought she would be, with raven-colored hair and flawless skin. Everything about her was unblemished, from her perfectly coiffed head to the last layer of her red gown. Matching the hue of her guards’ ensembles, the Queen’s skirts weren’t made of plain fabric. Each layer was a slightly different shade of crimson and boasted a different pattern—stripes, spots, vines. Some were embroidered so their patterns stood out. Others glittered.
The bottom of the gown was so wide, the seat of her throne could barely contain it, but her waist was tiny and she sat perfectly upright, like she had a rod in her spine preventing her from slouching. Her hair was a glossy dark brown that was pinned elegantly at her neck. The crown she wore was golden, but also not plain. There were tiny engravings in the metal. Words, if I was right. I wished I could read them. When I tried, they disappeared.
When I looked down, her eyes were waiting.
They were hawkish, scanning me from the tip of my head to the soles of my boots. A cold chill worked its way up my spine as the silence thickened between us. The man next to me was quiet, so I heeded his cues and kept my mouth shut.
When my fingers trailed to the still-stinging wound on my neck, the vibrations coming from the rabbit man became violent. My eyes trailed from him to the Queen. If I could feel it, so could she. My eyes flicked to the white-haired man.
What the hell is happening?
He rattled violently beside me, whimpering and panting as if he was in pain. By the time she finally opened her lips to speak, the man beside me was breathing so hard, I thought he might faint. She finally tore her gaze from me and turned it on him instead.
Slowly, she eloquently proclaimed, “You’re late.”
“She was slower than I expected, my queen,” he blubbered, jabbing an admonishing finger in my direction.
He’s blaming this on me?
“You set the pace, rabbit,” I snapped. If this was a life or death trial, I wouldn’t allow him to throw me into the fire. My blood wouldn’t smear the tile if I could help it. I was as keen on saving my skin as he was.
The Queen smiled cruelly. “You led her through the woods.”
He answered shakily, “The storm you sent was more violent than I anticipated, my queen. Lightning struck a tree just outside, and we would have been here earlier if it wasn’t for that. It destroyed the hedge and she lost sight of me for a few moments. She, a frail human, had to recover from such a frightening event, Majesty, and I didn’t dare reveal my form until we were closer to the castle. She is as untrusting a human as I’ve ever seen. It wasn’t my fault. I’ve only ever been your faithful servant,” he groveled.
“Was it your fault, girl?” the Queen sneered.
The hair on my arms raised and a tense energy filled the air. “No, it wasn’t,” I affirmed, turning to the coward beside me. “If you were truly trying to lure me here, why couldn’t you turn back into a man and throw me over your back? You looked like a human in Brookhaven.”
The man tensed.
“Brookhaven?” the Queen queried with an eerie lilt. “When were you in Brookhaven without my permission, Glenlyn O’Hare?”
“O’Hare?” The name slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it. O’Hare raised his chin a notch, but kept his beady eyes on his queen. The Queen didn’t acknowledge my presence at all, too focused on the man beside me.
His nostrils flared rapidly as he tugged at his collar. “I was on leave and simply ventured out to visit the tavern, my Queen. I enjoy taking trips to observe the humans. It was completely harmless.”
“You’re a liar!” I exploded. “You sold my brother some sort of glittery faery dust. I don’t know what he gave you in return, but Oryn bought it from you. I know that much. I watched you give it to him when you met him in the tavern.”
The Queen became very still and the entire room and everything in it felt as if it was collectively holding its breath. Slowly, she asked a single question. “You’ve been selling faery dust to humans?”
O’Hare began to blubber, and beads of sweat sprang out across his forehead. “I would never…”
“Glenlyn O’Hare, choose your words wisely, for they may be your last. Lie to me, and I’ll eat your tongue.”
He wringed his hands on his fine coat, crinkling the cobalt fabric. “Only this one time, my queen. The human and I got to talking, and he explained that he was a hunter and wished for something to keep him safe while in the woods. So, I gave him a little faery dust. Just a touch, mind you.”
“Dust you stole from me,” she elaborated.
“Stealing is such a harsh word,” he simpered. “And I did not take from your stores, Majesty, but rather from my own allotment.”
“It wasn’t the first time you’d met my brother,” I interjected.
“How do you know this?” the Queen demanded, somehow managing to sit up even straighter.
“Because my brother drew a rabbit in the earth outside the tavern. That was some sort of signal for you, wasn’t it?”
O’Hare’s cry echoed across the ceiling as he lunged for me, but right before he reached me, an invisible wall appeared between us. One he couldn’t claw his way through or find a way around.
“You know the rules, and you know the punishment for treason, Glenlyn O’Hare.” The Queen flicked her wrist and the guards began marching toward him. Like the coward he was, O’Hare tried to run for it. He was fast, able to jump out of reach before the nearest guards could catch him, but he wasn’t fast enough to outrun them all. He was apprehended before he reached the door and dragged back in front of the Queen. She scolded him for his cowardice before bellowing her order: “Remove his head!”
My mouth hung open as two guards pulled me away from O’Hare’s side. A golden sword appeared in the hand of one of her men, and with one fell swoop, O’Hare’s head was chopped from his body. It landed with a dull thud on the floor as golden fae blood sprayed and gurgled out of the stump that used to be his neck. The guards who had been holding his body upright released it and let him fall carelessly to the ground.
My heart thundered.
If I would have known that selling faery dust was punishable by death, I would’ve kept my mouth shut.
“Your heart is troubled,” the Queen remarked casually. “Why do you feel guilt when he was clearly trying to blame you for his tardiness? He would have been glad to see your head on the floor in place of his.”
“Why is tardiness such a crime?”
“Because my time is precious, girl.”
I could see O’Hare’s head in my periphery. The tang of his blood filled the air, and I could taste it on my tongue. Fae blood wasn’t metallic like human blood, but sickly sweet like honey mixed with sugar, so saccharine it turned my stomach.
Closing my eyes, I tried to wake myself up. This had to be a dream, a nightmare.
The Queen clapped her hands l
oudly and my eyes opened. She stood and straightened her piles of skirts before carefully descending the golden steps that led to the dais. Crossing the tile with a click, click, click, click, she stopped before me. “Would you like to join Mr. O’Hare?”
“Are you asking me if I want to die?”
“That’s exactly what I’m asking.”
“No,” I choked out. “I don’t want to die.”
“You were chasing my hare,” she accused. “You were going to kill him, to skin and eat him. Were you not?”
“I didn’t know he was yours. I didn’t know he was fae.”
“Things are rarely what they seem,” she responded casually before pursing her heart-shaped lips together. “I sent him to you, you know. I knew what your needs were, and I sent him to tempt you. But you are to blame. You chose to be tempted. You chose to follow him.”
“Why would you do that, and why would you be angry with me for doing exactly what you wanted me to?”
“Anger doesn’t need reason, girl. It just is. And to answer your question, I found you because your presence is needed here. I was going to ask you to participate, but now you must play if you want to live.”
“Play what?” I scoffed.
“A game, of course,” she answered ominously. “You will have a teammate. You must work together to solve the clues I give you every day for five days. If you die during the course of the game, your partner will be put to death. Conversely, if your partner dies and you manage to somehow survive, you will be executed. Survive together until sundown on the fifth day, and I will give you what your heart desires.” She closed her eyes for a brief moment and then opened them, a smirk forming on her lips. “I see trunks filled with riches. Is that all it would take to fulfill you? Gold and gems?”
“It would help,” I rasped. “Do I get to choose my partner?”
One side of her mouth curled up. “You do not. I have already chosen him. More correctly, his heart chose you. And yours chose him as well.”
