Everafter Song

by Emily R. King

  troops and send them northward to meet them.”

  Queen Aislinn paces away from the table in a haste of rustling satin and petticoats. “She’s a sorceress! She should be hanged!”

  “There’s more,” I say, speaking over her. “The merrows from the

  Land Under the Wave have invaded our seas. The legends are true.

  Merrows sing to lure men into the water and drown them for sport. No one along the coastlines is safe.”

  “Preposterous,” scoffs the queen.

  “Perhaps not,” replies the admiral. “One of our ships was found

  abandoned at sea this morning. All the men are missing. We thought

  they had been taken by pirates.”

  “I’ll speak with the merrows.” I don’t know yet how I will convince

  them to leave our world, but I will. “In return for my help, you will remove the watch guard from Lord Callahan’s manor and turn your

  attention to the merrows and giants, or Wyeth will fall.”

  “You dare threaten us?” Queen Aislinn demands. “Your father

  would never disrespect the council.”

  231

  Emily R. King

  “You will not speak of my father.” I lean across the table toward

  the queen, my grip tight on my sword. “Anyone who knew Brogan

  Donovan remembers an honest, faithful husband and father. Don’t trust me, trust the man who raised me. My parents were good people, and so was Holden O’Shea. I loved my uncle and could never hurt him. He’s

  dead because of Killian Markham. All the pain you want to punish me

  for was caused by him.”

  A messenger hurries into the room and bows before the general.

  “Sir, we’ve received an urgent report from the north. Giants are attacking the northeastern villages. No word yet on how many casualties.”

  Several gazes fly to me.

  “Is that all?” the general asks the messenger.

  “No, sir, the Black Forest is gone.”

  “Gone?”

  “Torn apart.”

  The general blusters out another inquiry. “Is there anything more?”

  “I’ve news for the admiral,” replies the messenger. “Reports are

  coming in from all along our coastlines. Husbands and sons are miss-

  ing. Their wives and daughters recall hearing melodies in the middle of the night. Their men went out to investigate and haven’t returned.”

  “Don’t send any more men to the coast,” I tell the admiral. “Bring

  in your fleet and evacuate the coastline until I tell you it’s safe.”

  To my, and probably everyone else’s, surprise, particularly the

  queen’s, the admiral nods and the messenger rushes off to deliver the orders. The council begins talking all at once. I could slip out now, but I have one last issue to discuss.

  “Secretary Winters, I require a word with you on the matter of my

  husband. Jamison only lied to protect me.”

  “He hid a sorceress,” Queen Aislinn hisses.

  “I’m no more a sorceress than you are a proper queen.”

  “You’re a debased Child of Madrona!”

  232

  Everafter Song

  I remove the daisy from my hair and slam it down on the table. “Do

  not speak ill of the Mother of All or I will tell everyone the real reason you want Killian Markham found.”

  Queen Aislinn sets her jaw and sits down in her chair.

  “I wil turn myself in,” I say. “After the merrows and giants are gone, I’ll surrender. In return, you must pardon Jamison and all the names on this list. They’re good people who were only helping me.”

  I pass the paper to the secretary. He opens the list of names: Laverick Driscoll, Claret Rees, Vevina Laurent, Dr. Alick Huxley, Quinn Huxley, and every servant of Elderwood Manor.

  “Whose word do we have that you’ll return?” snipes the queen.

  “The word of a Donovan and an O’Shea.” I back away from the

  table. “Deploy every man you can spare to the Black Forest by noon

  tomorrow.”

  “We cannot move our army by then,” replies the general.

  “Killian Markham murdered my family in cold blood. If your men

  aren’t in place by that hour, he will slay yours as well. Don’t be late.”

  I slash my sword at the sky, opening a portal, and take my leave.

  233

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  None of the lights are on inside Elderwood Manor. The windows are as dark as the night that has fallen. I plod up the steps to the front door, keen to go inside and rest, brush my hair, exchange my stockings for clean ones, kiss Jamison, eat a meal, drink a glass of whisky, and shed some of the tension from my travels. I might even put on that silk robe.

  Stopping on the stoop, my gladness to be home mingles with a

  sobering thought. I have lost all the homes I have had. Each one was taken away by the same person. I stare up at the manor, and resolve sets my jaw. Markham will not take away this one.

  A thudding noise sounds nearby. I glance over my shoulder and go

  still, my clock heart skipping a beat. The soldiers have gone. I didn’t think of it before, but it’s too soon for them to have received an order from the general all the way in the city.

  The thuds approach the manor. I back into the doorway and draw

  my sword.

  A giant lumbers around the side of the house from the back, drag-

  ging a mace alongside him that rips up grass and gravel. I quietly open the door behind me with my free hand. The giant sniffs the air, and his head jerks toward the front of the house.

  “Hello, rabbit.”

  I back into the manor and slam the door. Hurrying across the foyer,

  I call up the stairway. “Jamison? Laverick?”

  Everafter Song

  Thudding comes closer, rattling the chandelier. I run up the stairs

  and down the corridor to Jamison’s room. The place is empty.

  More stomping shakes the house. A shadow fills the window and

  falls over me. “I can smell you, rabbit.”

  I sink to the floor and crawl for the door.

  His mace crashes through the window. I scream and scramble out

  the door. In the hallway, I stay low on my hands and knees and start back to the stairwell. Windows smash behind me. The mace demolishes

  room after room that I pass. At the last room—my room—the giant’s

  hand bursts through the window, stopping just shy of grabbing me.

  I hunker in the stairwell, glass shards covering my clothes and hair.

  Nothing moves in the quiet except for my ticker.

  The giant kicks the front door open. I scream as he shoves his big

  shoulders through, mangling the entryway as he pushes himself inside.

  He straightens in the two-story-tall entry hall. From the top of the stairs, I am level with his face. Ropes of bushy hair hang about his hulk-ing shoulders, his expression mangled in a ferocious sneer. My every instinct shouts at me to run.

  I lift my sword at him. “Get out of my house.”

  “The sword of Avelyn,” he rumbles.

  “I’m the Time Bearer. The hallowed sword chose me.”

  The giant roars, rips the banister from the floor, and throws it at

  me. I duck as the banister crashes through the wall behind me.

  “Father Time betrayed us!” he growls. “He defended the weakling

  humans that stole our world.” The giant bares his big, square teeth. “So we will eat you like the scared little rabbit you are.”

  “I’m not running.” I slash the sky between us in big, wide arcs.

  The giant swipes at me, and his arm goes through the portal.

  “What is this?” he growls.

  I run down the stairs and cut more arcs between us, closer to ther />
  floor. The giant pulls his arms out of the portal and chuckles. “Stupid rabbit.”

  235

  Emily R. King

  He steps forward, and his foot goes into the opening of the portal.

  He teeters half in our world and half in the portal while I slide behind him.

  “You belong in a pile of rubbish,” I say. “I hope you like the pixies’

  treasure trove.”

  I stab the sword into the heel of his foot. He howls and pitches

  forward, falling through the portal. One moment, he’s here, and the

  next, he’s gone.

  My hands are covered in scratches. I sink against the wall, winded.

  Jamison appears at the front door, squinting into the shadows and aiming his musket inside.

  “It’s me,” I say.

  “Evie?” He lowers his firearm and maneuvers around broken glass

  and wood. “I heard screaming—and roars.”

  The manor will need repairs, but our home is still standing. “I had

  to show an uninvited guest the door. Where is everyone?”

  “We needed to move. The manor is too big of a target. Even the

  soldiers abandoned their posts. The giants are all over the countryside.

  I was keeping an eye out for you, but apparently not a close enough

  one. Come on.”

  Jamison lifts the musket to his shoulder. We check that our path

  is clear outside and then dash across the greenway. He directs me away from the carriageway and the manor, and down to a corner of the property I haven’t been to before. Through the leafy trees, a pond glimmers in the moonlight. Crickets chirp in chorus, tucked in beds of grass, and an owl hoots from somewhere in the treetops. We turn away from the

  water and head into the brushwood. A wooden shack with a sod roof is hidden in the foliage. Jamison knocks three times in quick succession, then twice slowly.

  Alick yanks the door open. He lowers his pistol and lets us in.

  236

  Everafter Song

  Everyone is crammed into the small space, all of them except Quinn

  carrying a loaded firearm. Claret and Laverick are together, and across the room, Vevina sits with Quinn and the lass’s cat, Prince.

  “What is this place?” I ask.

  “My father’s hunting cabin,” Jamison replies. “It hasn’t been used

  in decades.”

  “It smells like old potatoes,” Quinn mutters.

  Jamison pulls up an empty ammunition crate and sets it out for me.

  I don’t get the chance to sit. Alick notices the scratches on my hands and begins cleaning them with a cloth and a bottle of whisky. He tends to me while Jamison informs me about what I’ve missed.

  “Osric has come and gone. He wasn’t optimistic about convincing

  Neely and Mundy to join the battle, but he went anyway. He said he

  would meet us outside the Black Forest tomorrow at noon. How was

  your visit to the palace?”

  “Queen Aislinn was her usual delightful self, but the council was

  more receptive than I anticipated. They should be sending troops, but it depends on how quickly they can get here. I made them a promise,

  so I have one more place to go tonight.” Before Jamison can offer to come along, I hedge, “I need female volunteers.”

  Quinn’s hand shoots up. “Me. I’ll go. Take me, Evie.”

  “I don’t know,” I say. “This will be dangerous, Quinn.”

  Alick finishes wrapping my hand with a bandage. “What’s this

  about, Everley? Where are you going?”

  “I need to speak with the merrows. I told the council I would send

  them back to where they belong.”

  Claret sinks lower in her seat.

  “I’m sorry, Evie,” says Laverick, sliding her arm around Claret.

  “We’re not going with you this time either.”

  “No,” the Cat replies. “I want to go.”

  237

  Emily R. King

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Laverick touches her knee in an

  offer of support. “I know you want to put what happened with the

  merrows behind you, but it may be too soon.”

  “I’m tired of being afraid. Even the pond out there frightens me. I

  don’t want to be fearful of water for the rest of my life.” Claret pushes to her feet. “I want to do this, Lavey. I need to do this.”

  Laverick’s gaze darts across the cabin to Vevina. “Are you going? The three of us should stay together.”

  Vevina gives a look of surprise, and her lips slide upward. “I

  wouldn’t let my darlings go without me.”

  “Now I have to go!” Quinn exclaims, setting down her cat and rising. “You cannot let me be the only woman left behind.”

  I open my mouth to object that we aren’t leaving a woman behind,

  but Quinn isn’t a lass any longer. She has grown up right before my

  eyes. “All right, Quinn. You can come, but I’m going to need the pearl brooch back.”

  The ladies check their firearms and hike up their petticoats for

  travel.

  Jamison pulls me aside, over to the corner. “Do you think now is

  the right time to go off and do this?”

  “Now is the only time.” I kiss his cheek. “We’ll be prompt.”

  I face the middle of the room and strike out with my blade several

  times. Lines shimmer where I cut slits, more visible in the dim cabin than in daylight. I extend my hand to Quinn, and we link hands. The

  rest of the women join us, the five of us forming a chain. They tense for the jump, but no one balks as I lead us into the portal.

  We land hand in hand. I glance down the row of women. Quinn’s

  eyes are wide with wonder. Vevina has hers shut tight, and the Fox and the Cat are surveying our surroundings. A silver trail of moonlight

  shimmers across the inky sea. We let go of each other, except for Vevina, whose grip remains firm on Laverick’s.

  “My hand, Vevina,” she says.

  238

  Everafter Song

  “We’re here already?” Vevina pats the side of her short hair, collecting herself. “Is that all portal jumping is? I was expecting more fanfare.

  Sliding down rainbows or riding on comets.”

  “Maybe next time,” I say. “Let’s spread out.”

  The women venture down the rocky shoreline past piles of seaweed

  and mounds of driftwood. I climb onto a rock raised over the tide line and scan the watery horizon.

  “Now what?” Vevina asks.

  “Shh,” says Quinn. “Do you hear that?”

  A merrow serenades the night, her enchanting melody meant to

  summon us to slip into the sea for a deadly swim. Whereas Jamison and Alick would be waist deep in the waves by now, women require more

  than one merrow’s voice for their song to persuade us into the water. I spot the creature singing just off the craggy rocks. She side-winds closer, her body from her chin down concealed below the surface.

  “We wish to speak to Princess Nerina,” I say.

  “My princess isn’t here,” the merrow replies. “But you can come for

  a swim with me. The water’s cool and welcoming.”

  Laverick levels her pistol at the merrow. “Go get your snotty little princess or I will shoot you in the gills.”

  “Vicious beast,” snaps the merrow.

  “You’ve no idea,” retorts the Fox. “Your kind enslaved my compan-

  ion. Be glad we need you or you’d be a floating corpse already.”

  The merrow hisses and dives underwater.

  “We have pearls!” I call after her. “Tell Nerina I’ll wait!”

  All of us stand poised on the shoreline for several minutes, scour-

  ing the water f
or movement or any sign of the merrow’s return. Time

  chugs onward in my chest. Maybe this won’t work. Maybe this wasn’t

  the most ideal time to come. Maybe reasoning with a merrow is lunacy.

  A head rises in the water near my rock. Just as I hoped, the merrow

  princess cannot resist pearls.

  239

  Emily R. King

  “Hello, Nerina,” I say, crouching down closer to the surface.

  “Remember me?”

  “Do I remember you?” Her voice arches to a screech. “I was stuck

  in your wretched body for a whole night. Have you fixed that pathetic clock heart of yours?”

  “As if you care.”

  She feigns a yawn. “What do you want, woman? I have men to

  summon.”

  Quinn lifts the pearl-and-diamond shell brooch above her head so

  the merrow can see it. The princess’s eyes glitter hungrily.

  “I want you to deliver a message to your father,” I say. “Tell King

  Dorian to evacuate your kind from our world and leave us alone.”

  “You don’t tell the merrow king what to do,” Nerina rejoins.

  I lift my sword for her to see. “Your father returned the sword

  of Avelyn to me because he sensed Avelyn was bound for war. Prince

  Killian has dethroned his sister, Queen Imelda, and awakened the

  ancient giant warriors from the triad war. The Land of the Living is under attack.”

  “Are you fishing for sympathy?”

  “I expect your caution. This turmoil will only worsen, especially if the giants are successful in usurping our world. King Dorian would be wise to stay far away.”

  “We aren’t threatened by your war,” the princess says proudly. “We

  merrows can summon giants into the water the same as your men.”

  “Not these giants. They’re twenty feet tall and mean as sin. They

  would snap your neck and slide you down their throat like a sardine.”

  The princess narrows her eyes. “Above all else, your father longs for more time with his deceased wife. I cannot give him that, but I can

  send him away with his daughters where you will be safe and far away from Eiocha’s wrath.”

  “You don’t belong here,” Claret says, her pistol steady on the prin-

  cess. She bites her lower lip to hide the slight tremor. “Leave us alone.”