Crown of Visions

by R. A. Rock

  “Then you will die,” she said and, without another word, tossed the eyeball up in the air. Their heads went slowly up and down in sync as they traced the path of the eyeball.

  Tess wanted to close her eyes as it began to fall, but she forced herself to watch. She would not go to her death a coward. And she would probably die as a result of this. But even if she didn’t, she might as well have if she couldn’t accomplish her goal.

  Nothing mattered but ending the Severance.

  The eyeball fell in slow motion, rotating so that it seemed to be looking at Tess every second or so.

  Then, surprising them all, Lorcan stepped forward and neatly caught the eyeball before it could hit the balcony. He held that hand out away from himself and pressed his lips together, closing his eyes for a moment as if he was trying hard not to puke.

  “What in the Chasm are you doing, Lorcan?” Runa said, furious.

  “Stopping you from doing something you will definitely regret,” he said, moving closer to her but keeping the hand with the eyeball far away from both him and her. “And I want you to know that you do have something else, someone else.”

  “Lorcan, don’t,” she said, never tearing her eyes away from him. “All we have is the Hundred Years Ball. Nothing more.”

  “Let me finish, Runa,” he said sharply, and she subsided. “It could be more. You have me. And I care about you.”

  “Please, don’t,” she said, as if his words pained her.

  “Tess and Finn are going to end the Severance, making a world where you and I could be together. For more than only a week every hundred years.”

  “Lorcan…”

  “And that’s why I’m going to do this. I hope you’ll forgive me the next time you see me.”

  “What?” Runa’s forehead wrinkled in confusion.

  Lorcan dropped a handful of sand on her head, and she slumped. He picked Runa up with one hand under her back and one under her knees. Then he stood holding her as if it was nothing.

  “She is going to be so mad when she wakes up,” Tess said, her eyes wide. “What was that spell?”

  “The sands of time,” Lorcan said. “It slows your metabolism down so much that it’s like time stops. I’ll keep her out of your way while you break the spell. I’m hoping that the next time I see her, she’ll have got over it.”

  “Good luck with that, Lorcan,” Finn said, clearly sympathetic to his plight.

  “I know,” Lorcan said, a rueful expression on his face.

  “May the Stars shine their light upon you, Lorcan. And thank you for all your help.”

  “I wish you well, Finn. Tess, you be careful.”

  “I will, Lorcan,” she said. “I appreciate your help. More than you know.”

  He gave a nod and strode off the balcony out into the room. There was murmuring, and Tess heard him saying something about fainting. Tess and Finn’s eyes met again, and time seemed to stop for a long moment. Then they sprang into action.

  “What are we going to do about our hands?” Tess said, trying to focus.

  “I’ve got a spell disruptor in my satchel,” Finn said. “It’ll work on this.”

  They worked together to get their hands into the bag. Then they tried over and over, scooping out an object and checking if it was the right one and then dropping it back in with a clink of glass and trying again.

  Finally, they retrieved the Disruptor spell. As soon as Finn activated it, their hands came apart.

  “How much time do we have?” Finn asked. “There’s a pocket watch somewhere on your person. Perdira had it.”

  Tess realized that she did have pockets in this gown, thanks to Perdira’s ingenious magic. She pulled out the watch and felt a stab of fear.

  “Ten minutes to twelve.”

  “Let’s go,” Finn said, heading for the curtain. “We’re running out of time,”

  As they entered the royal ballroom, the crier announced the final dance of the evening. The King and Queen’s waltz. Finn held out his hand as Tess put on the gloves.

  “Will you do me the honor, Tessa?”

  She pressed her lips together, her eyes bright with tears she wouldn’t let fall. As she took his hand and he pulled her close, she whispered in his ear.

  “This is the strangest battle I’ve ever fought.”

  He smiled and spun Tess around and around, bringing them ever closer to the warded circle where the King and Dark Queen danced. As they got closer, he saw that Ransetta was frowning and gazing over the crowd.

  “She’s looking,” Finn murmured.

  Tess pressed her face to his chest, and he tucked their hands against his shoulder, putting his head to hers. They moved closer and closer. When they were in range, Tess activated the gloves, and they started to glow slightly. They were drawing attention, but it no longer mattered.

  “It’s time,” Tess whispered.

  “As soon as we have them, we get out of here.”

  Tess gave one nod, her big blue eyes serious.

  He felt her hands leave his neck as she aimed the gloves at the King and Dark Queen. He lifted his head and looked back over his shoulder to see what was going on.

  The Crown of Visions was lifting off of Ransetta’s head and floating toward them. At the same time, the Scroll had struggled its way out of the King’s shirt and was also heading their way.

  It was working.

  They were going to do it. They were really going to end the Severance tonight.

  The objects floated closer and closer. The entire room was silent and had stopped dancing, watching this strange occurrence.

  The King and Dark Queen were frozen, staring at their precious objects floating away. Then they unfroze, and the Stars went dark as they unleashed their power on the room.

  Chapter 39

  The King swept his arm in a full circle and the entire ballroom full of Fae was turned into statues. The sudden change from people talking and laughing to complete silence was chilling. Tess could tell they were still conscious though, because their eyes were moving.

  The reason Tess could see what the whole room was doing, of course, was because the Dark Queen had her hand palm up and was lifting Tess with magic. She wasn’t hurting her because the Truce spell wouldn’t let her, but it was terribly uncomfortable. Tess only just had enough air to breathe, her throat almost closed off but not quite. The Dark Queen clearly knew exactly how far she could push the Truce spell.

  “What’s this?” Ransetta said, surprised. “Has someone been playing faerie godmother, putting a protection spell on you that prevents you from being captured?”

  Tess fought the queen’s magical grip, but it was no use.

  “And…” The queen went on, closing her eyes. “It ends soon. Midnight probably. All the faerie godmother spells end at midnight. They love the drama.”

  The queen gave Tess a smirk.

  “I guess your little protection spell doesn’t consider what I’m doing capturing, though. Such pathetic magic.”

  Tess glanced at the clock, and a spike of fear shot through her. She realized the queen was right. It was almost midnight, when Perdira’s protection spell would wear off. They were running out of time. She almost couldn’t breathe, and she struggled in the air, trying to get away from the Dark Queen’s iron grip, but the ancient Fae was much too powerful. The more Tess tried to get away, the tighter her magical bonds became, as if her struggle was making them stronger.

  The King made a beckoning motion with his hand, and the crown and the Scroll returned to the King’s hands. Tess would have made a distraught sound, if she could have made a sound at all. Her heart broke seeing all their hard work and sacrifices gone once again with a wave of his hand.

  Ransetta smiled as she rotated her other hand with a vicious movement. Finn was turned upside down in the air. His body twisted like the Dark Queen was wringing out a dishrag as far as it would go. Tess could tell that he wasn’t actually in pain, but he was awfully uncomfortable, his muscles and tendons stret
ched to their limit. The Dark Queen knew the spell she and the King had created, and she was using it to her benefit. Apparently, the protection spell didn’t consider this being captured, so it wasn’t coming into effect. Everything was going wrong. What could they do?

  “Nice try, you two,” Ransetta said, her tone patronizing. “But we all knew you were never going to end the Severance.”

  “It was a very good try,” the King agreed in a condescending tone. “But if Ransetta and I can’t end the Severance, even though we want to, no minor Faerie is going to do so.”

  Tess huffed out her breath. Minor Faerie. An instant later, she found that her arms were pulled behind her as far as they would go. It didn’t hurt, though the discomfort was almost unbearable. But the queen carefully kept her at the edge, just this side of pain.

  “If you really wanted the Severance to end, you would let us go,” Tess said.

  “Of course, we want the Severance to end,” the Dark Queen said. “But the way you were going to do it would kill us all.”

  “That’s not true,” Tess said, not sure if she knew what she was talking about. She addressed all the Faeries who were watching. “The King and the Dark Queen don’t want to end the Severance. If they did, they’d let me. They don’t have your best interests at heart. They only want to hold on to their power.”

  “Oh, and you have their best interests at heart, Callahan?” Ransetta said with a sneer. “You? The traitor to both your monarchs? And how did you get those magical objects that belong to us? Oh, right, you two stole them. I’m sure a traitor and a thief have the people’s best interests at heart. Those sorts of people always do.”

  The sarcasm oozed from her voice as she mocked Tess.

  “I just want us to be free,” Tess said. “I want it to be the way it was. I want our people to be reunited.” She felt as though it was all slipping away and she couldn’t stop it.

  Finn was being held by the Dark Queen too, and she couldn’t count on him to help her. No one could move, so of course no one could do anything. But even if they could have, Tess wasn’t sure they would have come to her aid. No one would try to stop the King and Dark Queen. Of course not. No good could come of going against the two powerful Faerie monarchs.

  Tess was on her own. But she couldn’t think. Couldn’t figure out a way around this. The clock was ticking down. Ransetta would hold her here, and as soon as the protection spell ended, she would be able to capture Tess. Then when the Truce spell ran out, the Dark Queen would hurt her. There would be no end to the pain she would inflict on Tessa. She was powerless, and that filled Tess with fear. She was so scared of what the queen was going to do to her.

  That was when she remembered what Izzie had said about the small advantage they could have over the queen.

  What was it exactly? He said that her power was fear-based and anyone courageous enough could loosen the Dark Queen’s hold over them. The key was to not be afraid of her.

  Tess had always thought that she was brave, but she had only been putting a brave face over her deep fears. She realized at that moment that she had always been afraid. Of everything.

  And when she had gone to the Dark Court, she had shoved that fear down, and she had done what she had to do. But it was always there. Always hiding behind a little smile. Always there at night, in her dreams. Holding her back. Keeping her trapped.

  Izzie had said that if she could accept her fear, then she would conquer it. He had said that courage wasn’t not being afraid. It was being afraid, accepting that, and then taking action anyway.

  Tess decided to try. It couldn’t hurt. And there was very little time left. She closed her eyes and paid attention to her inner state. Shadows and Chasm, but it was a mess in there. She was sad, hurt, disappointed, angry, frustrated, and yes, afraid. She was afraid of so much. Her first instinct was to push it away. She didn’t want to feel afraid. A warrior was never afraid.

  But instead of pushing it away and burying it like she usually did, she opened herself to it. She felt it fully. And the fear filled her and became all that she was. Every cell in her body felt replete with the terror she was experiencing. The magical cords holding her in the air tightened so much that she couldn’t move a muscle, couldn’t blink an eye. And she knew that her fear was feeding the queen’s magic, making it stronger.

  The fear was completely overwhelming, but Tess didn’t fight it. She was drowning in the feeling, and she knew in her heart that she would be consumed by it.

  And then she felt a shift.

  The fear was there, but it was not all she was. She could sense her Starlight underneath and around the fear, holding it.

  She felt herself physically drop lower, and her arms loosened a little. Tess lifted her eyes to the Dark Queen, who seemed surprised.

  It was working. She could hardly believe it.

  She held the fear in the light of acceptance and felt her Starlight grow stronger. Tess dropped a little lower. Ransetta frowned.

  “What are you doing?” the Dark Queen said, but Tessa didn’t answer. Instead, she focused within, accepting the fear completely and totally. Her feet gently touched the floor, and she stood, feet apart, ready for anything.

  The Dark Queen flung her hands at her, but Tess easily sidestepped the magical bolt.

  “What?” the King said, confused and perhaps intrigued.

  Tess wrenched her arms back into a normal position at her sides, and the queen blinked, taken aback. Tess lifted her hands, which still had the gloves, and activated them, pulling the objects to her. They floated into the space between Tess and the King and Dark Queen.

  Ransetta’s face turned red, and she made a grabbing motion with both hands. The crown and Scroll flew back to her. She smiled in satisfaction.

  Then the clock began to strike midnight.

  “Your little protection spell ends in a few seconds,” Ransetta said, her voice hard. “Then I will capture you, Callahan, and you will never end the Severance. Because you’ll be in a thousand pieces at the bottom of the Broken Seas.”

  Tess felt a fresh wave of fear, and she accepted that too. Her Starlight increased. But in a moment, the protection spell would end, and Ransetta would blast her with so much magic, she would never ever get away.

  Finn suddenly appeared beside her.

  “How’d you get down?”

  Finn shrugged. “Izzie told me about a weakness in the Dark Queen’s magic.”

  “Oh, he told you, too?” Tess said, keeping her eyes on the King and Dark Queen.

  Finn nodded. “Yes. And it works. But now we have to get out of here.”

  “Uh, no kidding,” she said. “How?”

  “No idea,” Finn said. “Perdira’s plan didn’t include an exit strategy, other than grab the stuff and get out.”

  “Shadows take me,” Tess spat. “We should never have trusted her.”

  “What choice did we have?” Finn said as the clock finished striking, and it became absolutely still in the room.

  He was right.

  There had been no other choice.

  “Tessa Callahan,” the queen said into the quiet. “Prepare to die.”

  The ancient Fae lifted her hands, and Tess realized that they hadn’t won. They had only delayed the inevitable. The Dark Queen was going to capture her now and kill her tomorrow. She was terrified to die, being tormented until her Starlight was completely gone.

  But there was nothing she could do about it.

  She shoved Finn to one side as the Dark Queen’s magic hit her, filled with power from Tessa’s terror.

  “Tess,” Finn yelled.

  But Tess was once again lifted into the air. She writhed in agony as pain crawled over her like worms. How was the queen hurting her with the Truce spell activated? Then Tess realized that the pain wasn’t real. It only felt as though it was. Ransetta was creating a powerful illusion that Tessa’s mind believed, but not hurting her actual body and thus circumventing the Truce spell.

  Ransetta curled her f
ingers and twisted her hands. Tess screamed as she felt her bones twisting inside her.

  “Stop,” Finn yelled, running toward the queen. But she flung a hand out, and he flew backward, slamming into the wall. He got up unhurt because of the Truce spell but found himself frozen by the Dark Queen’s magic.

  Ransetta swept her hands in a circle and blew across them. Tess burst into flames. She screamed, knowing that her body wasn’t actually burning, but feeling the magical fire as if she was. Tess could hear Ransetta’s laughter through the sound of the flames crackling.

  Tess felt the fear and helplessness

  She could do nothing.

  It was all over.

  Everything.

  For real this time.

  She would never end the Severance now.

  Because soon, she would be captured.

  And then she would be dead.

  Chapter 40

  Tess struggled to get free of the magical bonds that were causing her so much pain, but the queen was far too powerful. And yet, Tess could feel the cords of magic that bound her, and the fire was like a rope around her as well.

  She could only think of one thing to do. Cut the magic away from her. But for that she would need the Unity Blades.

  Perdira, she thought in her mind, Please part the wards for me so I can get the blades.

  Of course, Perdira hadn't helped her before. Why would she help now?

  Problem was that she couldn’t move because the Dark Queen’s magic had a stranglehold on her. Tess knew what she had to do, but she wasn’t sure she could. She wasn’t actually being hurt, so the Truce spell couldn’t protect her from this onslaught. And Perdira’s spell had worn off at midnight, meaning that Ransetta could hold her and capture her.

  Tess writhed, unable to get away. Unable to unpin her arms from where they were stuck at her sides. Unable to think as the pretend pain destroyed her as surely as if it was real.

  Was this really how it would end?

  “Tess.” Finn’s voice came to her through the sound of the flames, through her mental anguish. “Have courage.”