Crown of Visions

by R. A. Rock

  “I came here to thank you,” he said, and Tess was completely taken aback.

  He pulled at his collar and glanced away and then back at Tess.

  “Thank me for what?” Tess said, flabbergasted by this turn of events.

  “For helping Lorcan. He really seems to care about this woman he always meets here. You didn’t have to, but you helped him find her. Also, you saved my life in the wyrm tunnels. And well… I wanted to say thank you. For everything.”

  Tess gazed at Nyall and felt like she was seeing the boy she had been friends with once.

  “That means a lot to me, Nyall,” she told him, swallowing a lump in her throat.

  “Well, you maybe aren’t as Dark Fae as I thought,” he said, and Tessa grimaced.

  “Always have to ruin the moment,” Tess said, shaking her head. “See you around, Nyall.”

  “Take care of yourself, Tessa,” Nyall said, taking her hand and pressing a kiss to it. His lips were warm on her hand, but when he released it, she hid her hand in her skirts, wiping it off.

  “You too, Nyall,” she said as Finn walked up to them, a frown on his face.

  “Mr. Noble,” Nyall said, his face turning back to the pompous condescending look it usually had. He gave a slight bow.

  “Nyall,” Finn responded, bowing back.

  Nyall gave her one last nod and walked back into the crowd.

  “That was a lingering kiss,” Finn commented, his face and tone bitter.

  “Not as lingering as yours,” Tess retorted, resentment burning in the pit of her stomach. “And I told you that there isn’t and never has been anything between Nyall and I.”

  “I was distracting Sanndrah so she wouldn’t give us away,” Finn explained.

  “Nice distraction,” Tess said, the jealousy still churning in her guts.

  “Shall we go into the next room? There’s not much time left.”

  The ballrooms were roughly divided by class, and people usually stayed in their own ballroom, though there was no rule saying that they had to.

  Finn held his hand out to her, and she met his eyes, feeling the rift between them and how much it hurt.

  “Certainly,” she said, taking it. What choice did they have? They began to move through the crowd toward the door that led to the hallway. Just then, a burly man stepped in front of them. She could tell he was one of the Guard.

  “Excuse me,” Tess said and tried to go around him. He stepped to the side, preventing her from continuing into the other room.

  “There’s no magical objects allowed at the Hundred Years Ball,” the man said, his voice quiet but unyielding. “You’ll need to hand over the satchel.”

  Hand over the satchel that held the gloves that were their means of getting the crown and the Scroll?

  Not going to happen.

  The guards couldn’t capture them because of the protection spell, but if they got the gloves…

  “Fly,” she said to Finn, and they both transformed into their tiny forms and darted around the guard and into the hallway.

  Well, this was going well so far.

  Chapter 37

  Finn expected a shout to go up behind them as he and Tess flew out into the hallway. But there was nothing. He looked over his shoulder and saw the guards following them like nothing was wrong. He supposed they had orders not to make a scene at the Hundred Years Ball.

  When Tess and Finn hit the hallway, they sped up, moving so quickly down the large open corridor that the doors were passing by about every second.

  Then to his right, Finn was suddenly surrounded by the Guards who had tried to take the satchel. They had taken another hallway and cut them off. Tess and Finn flew around them faster, zooming ahead.

  The guards changed form and flew after them. They caught up quickly, and without warning, one smashed into Finn, sending him jaggedly off course. Tess took a tight turn around a corner, and he followed, careening into the wall but recovering.

  Finn shook himself and focused. The Guard approached again. He could see that Tess was fighting off her own pair, but she seemed to expect their tactics and was evading them with ease.

  Finn darted forward before one of them could hit him again. But then the second one put his hands into Finn’s wing zone, and he suddenly stopped dead. Finn dropped like a stone and landed violently on the floor. Thank the Stars for the Truce spell, or all his bones would have been broken.

  He got up, testing his wings. They felt fine, and he rose into the air. Finn flew more slowly, trying to find where the Guard and Tess had gone. Fortunately, there were no more branches off of this corridor. He flew straight down and found Tessa facing off against three Guards—all of them were full size again.

  This hallway was a dead end. There were no doors, no windows, nothing. They were trapped. Finn flew over to one of the guards, who was getting ready to attack, and landed lightly on his shoulders.

  Finn smiled to himself. This never got old.

  Then he closed his eyes and changed. The guard grunted as he suddenly took the weight of a full-grown Fae man. He wasn’t a very big man, and Finn had the element of surprise. His legs crumpled, and Finn pulled a handkerchief out of his satchel and dropped it on his head, putting the guard to sleep. He snatched up the handkerchief and turned to see what was going on.

  Tess was wrestling with the other guard. Finn darted in and dropped the handkerchief on his head. He slumped to the floor in a deep sleep.

  “Nice,” she said.

  “Thanks,” he said. “But that one’s getting away.”

  “Shadows take me, if he tells anyone…”

  She tore off down the hallway. When Finn caught up to them, they were wrestling, since that was all the Truce spell would let them do. The guard got the upper hand and pinned Tess.

  The guard was on top of her and started punching her face over and over again, without effect. She was laughing, which only enraged him further. It was only a matter of time before he would capture her. Finn dove for him and pulled him off Tess. They rolled away. The guard seemed practically insane, and he landed on top of Finn this time, delivering several hard blows that he didn’t feel.

  Finn could see Tess crawling nearer, trying to avoid catching the guard’s attention. The man continued to punch Finn, and he couldn’t stop him, pinned as he was. It didn’t hurt, but he couldn’t get up, either. Tess reached into Finn’s bag and fished around. When she came out with something that looked like an icicle, Finn smiled.

  Tess stabbed the guard in the back with it, and the man froze in place, his fist two inches from Finn’s cheek. Tess gave a sigh of relief and closed her eyes for a second. Then she pushed him off Finn. He stayed in the exact position but fell to the side, his muscles frozen in place.

  “Are you hurt?”

  He gave her puzzled look. “How could I be hurt?”

  “Good point.”

  “These guards should be out of commission for a while,” he said. “We need to get going.”

  “Agreed,” Tess said. Then she did a double take. “Wait. I just noticed that you don’t look like you’re dying anymore.” She peered at his face. “You look almost normal. Why?”

  “Perdira gave me a shot of magic.”

  Tess lifted her eyebrows, then took his hand, pulling him down the hallway.

  “That’s helpful of her.”

  “It was.”

  “Come on. We have to go. Time is short.”

  “What in the Chasm was going on with that guard?” Finn said, touching his unharmed face. “He seemed totally crazy.”

  “He was on Coguh. He was juiced. Not thinking straight. The Dark Queen sometimes gives it to the troops, and when she does, all they want is blood and violence. It lasts a day or so. She’s probably already had them taking it for once the Truce spell wears off tomorrow. Once the prisoners are transported back to the Direwood, then the bad stuff starts.”

  “Shadows and Chasm,” Finn said, horrified by the thought. It might have been them if Perdira h
adn’t helped. “I thought he wouldn’t stop. If it wasn’t for the Truce spell, I think he would have killed me. He was much stronger than he looked.”

  “He wouldn’t have stopped,” Tess confirmed. “And he would have killed you. The unnatural strength is also from the Coguh potion.”

  Finn took a deep breath, glad that he still could.

  “Thanks,” he said. Then he remembered what she had done, and his face clouded.

  “Look, Finn,” she said, seeming to know what he was thinking. “I know you’re angry about what I did. But we really need to set that aside for now. We have to do this. Then we can figure everything out.”

  “Fine,” Finn said. “Truce.”

  Tess laughed.

  “No pun intended,” he said, with a slight smile. “Speaking of truces, Perdira also gave us a protection spell that will keep us from being captured, but it only lasts till midnight. We have to move.”

  “Let’s fly,” Tess suggested. “I know a way into the ballroom next to the King and Queen’s. That will get us close enough.”

  Finn didn’t answer, only shifted to his tiny form again, and they took off.

  Tess and Finn were dancing, and she tried to memorize what it felt like because it might be the last time. He had his arms encircling her waist, and she had her hands linked around his neck. They were close, swaying to the music. She lost herself in the safe feeling she always got when she was next to Finn.

  Knowing that this might never happen again, made her unbearably sad, and she blinked back tears, not needing to get upset when she was about to do something so important. But the truth was that either she might die or Finn might in the next couple hours. Or they could be captured and separated forever. Or they might succeed, but Finn wouldn’t want anything to do with her anymore because of what she had done.

  She let out a tiny sigh. Finn looked down at her.

  “What?”

  “Nothing,” Tess said, and he simply tilted his head, waiting. “It’s just that this might be the last time we do this. And I guess that makes me sad.”

  Finn blinked as if he hadn’t expected her to say that. He pulled her closer, putting his head down next to hers.

  “We always knew this would end, Tessa,” he whispered in her ear.

  “You mean the Seer? I thought you didn’t believe him.”

  “I didn’t… then.” He lifted his head to look into her eyes.

  “But you do now?”

  “Not long ago, I would never have thought that anything could ever tear us apart. But then, I never thought that you would…” Finn stopped short of stating out loud how she had hurt him. “We shouldn’t get into this now. We have a mission to accomplish.”

  “Fine. But when this is all over—”

  “We’ll talk. I promise. Though I don’t know what there is to say.” Finn looked toward the enormous arched doorway that led from this room into the final ballroom where the King and the Dark Queen were preparing for the last dance, which signaled the end of the Hundred Years Ball.

  The Ball officially ended when they finished dancing, and they always were done precisely as the clock struck twelve. But all the Fae were given until noon the next day to leave Summerswind, before the castle spell would simultaneously end the Truce spell and whisk whoever remained back to where it had found them.

  All the nonsense of dealing with Sanndrah and Nyall and then being chased by the guards had taken nearly all the time. But it was only eleven thirty, so they still had time to do this while the protection spell was in effect. If they went as soon as possible.

  They danced another folk dance, waiting for their chance. Finn saw the King and Dark Queen’s attendants starting to push the rest of the Fae back to make room on the dance floor. Some were setting up minor wards that would keep anyone from getting too close to the monarchs.

  “When this dance ends, we go,” Finn said.

  They touched hands above their heads for the final move and then brought their clasped hands down until they were standing facing each other, holding hands.

  “Got it,” Tess said as the music slowed a little and changed to the song for the next dance.

  “Now,” Finn said softly, tugging his hand away.

  But their hands didn’t come apart.

  “What in the name of Severance?”

  “Don’t draw attention,” Tess said, her smile never faltering. “Maybe we can just dance the next one?”

  “But this isn’t the hand formation for that dance.”

  “Right, let’s get out of here. Try not to look strange.”

  “Our hands are stuck together, Tess. How are we not supposed to look strange?”

  “Just hold me like we’re…”

  “In love?” Finn said, his eyes burning into hers.

  “Yes,” she said. “And like we’ve had too much Elixir already. Nobody will pay much attention to that.”

  He stared at her another long moment, the pain in his eyes taking her breath away. Then he kissed her, hard. When he finally pulled away, Tess was completely out of breath.

  “We are in love,” Finn said, his eyes troubled. “That’s not the problem.”

  Then he dragged Tess across the floor, dancing a little here and there, kissing her a couple more times, and pulling her toward the nearest balcony. He never let go of her hands the whole time, of course, because he couldn’t.

  “Who could have done this?” Tess said when they had made it to the balcony and were standing, holding hands, facing each other.

  At that moment, the curtain covering the doorway to the balcony where they stood was pushed aside with a swish to allow Runa and Lorcan in. When they were through, it dropped back into place, hiding them completely from the rest of the party. Lorcan made to step farther out, but Runa put out a hand to stop him. They stood side by side on the threshold, neither of them moving out on to the balcony.

  “Uh, that would be me,” Runa said, lifting her hand and looking well pleased with herself. Lorcan looked confused and uncomfortable.

  “What are you doing, Runa?” he said, his face troubled.

  “It’s nice to see you two lovebirds again,” Runa said, ignoring Lorcan. “Aw, look at you holding hands. So sweet.”

  “Get us unstuck, Runa,” Finn ground out.

  “No, I don’t think I will.”

  “What do you want?” Tess demanded. They needed her to get to the point. The King and Dark Queen would start their dance any minute, and then their time would be up. When the protection spell ended, there would be nothing stopping either monarch from capturing them. And once the Truce spell ended, they could do anything they wanted to Tess and Finn.

  “Always so direct,” Runa said, holding out her hand with what looked like a… Tess swallowed hard, willing herself not to vomit.

  “Is that an… eyeball?” Lorcan said, and he truly looked like he was about to throw up.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Runa said, her face hardening. “The deal is that either you come with me and I turn you in to Ransetta, or I drop this spell and you both die.”

  Chapter 38

  Tess, Finn, and Lorcan froze at Runa’s threat. Tess wasn’t sure how she could kill them, but there was no doubt that Runa thought that she could. A warm wind blew through Tessa’s hair, ruffling her curls that were starting to escape the hair-do that Perdira’s magic had given her. They all stared at the eyeball on Runa’s palm.

  “This has a transportation spell on it. You don’t want to know where I got it.” Runa told them this with a smirk, as if she had heard Tessa’s thoughts. “It will transport you both to the bottom of the wyrm tunnels. There is a chance that you might not be killed, so the Truce spell will let me do it. I’ve already tested it.”

  Tess pitied the unlucky Fae who had been her test subjects.

  “It likely won’t kill us,” Finn whispered to her.

  “She doesn’t need to kill us, Finn. How long do you think it would take for us to get back up here from the bottom of the wyrm t
unnels, if we do survive?”

  “Shadows and Chasm. We’d be too late.”

  “Already, she’s delayed us too long,” Tess said. “What are we going to do?”

  “Enough whispering, you two,” Runa said. “Let’s get on with it. Will you come with me, or are you planning on dying today?”

  “Runa,” Lorcan said, appalled.

  Tess and Finn exchanged worried glances.

  “Runa, we can’t let you turn us in,” Tess said, trying to appeal to Runa’s reasonable side, if she had one. “We’re trying to end the Severance. You know that. We’re trying to make everything better. Why would you turn us in to the Dark Queen?”

  “Because I need my position back, Tess. I have nothing else. I have worked for centuries to prove myself. And when I had finally got what I’d always wanted, you tore it away from me with that stupid sleep spell.”

  And despite her loathing for Runa, she understood where she was coming from. For centuries, she had lived for the job, too. Then she had met Finn, and everything had changed. She repressed a sigh as she glanced at him, then Lorcan. Her old friend looked deeply displeased at Runa’s words. No doubt, he wished he was more to Runa than just a Hundred Years Ball tryst.

  “So I don’t care how this turns out,” Runa went on calmly, and at that moment, Tess realized that Runa was the most dangerous kind of person—the kind who has nothing to lose.

  “Either I get back in the queen’s good books and regain my position,” she said, her face dead serious. “Or you die and I get my revenge. Both outcomes work for me.”

  “Runa, please,” Finn said. “When we end the Severance, it’s going to be better for everyone. Especially you.”

  “What? Are you crazy?” Runa turned toward him. “It will not be better for anyone who has it good with the Dark Queen. For anyone like me who has a position in the Dark Court, they will be,” Runa dropped her eyes, “lost when the Severance ends and Ransetta no longer has a kingdom to rule.”

  “We still can’t let you turn us in, Runa,” Tess said, and her enemy’s head snapped up again. “I understand where you’re coming from. But this is too important.”