The Shadow Queen (Ravenspire)

by C. J. Redwine

  Your mother and Leo? he asked, though he could already see the answer.

  She nodded, and they sat in companionable silence listening to the ebony boughs creak gently while somewhere in the distance an owl hooted. Finally, she stirred restlessly, and he could already see the plans taking shape in her mind. Wake Gabril. Pack the tent. Destroy the intersection and spread the damage wide enough to prevent anyone from traveling to the capital until the road was repaired.

  Before she could say the words, he stood and leaned down to offer her his hand. She took it and allowed him to pull her to her feet.

  I’m glad we’re friends. Her tone was serious, her smile shy.

  I am too. He watched her turn back toward the tent and let the warmth of their friendship push against the whispers that wanted him to destroy her.

  THIRTY

  IT WAS TIME to make her next move against Irina. Lorelai’s pulse raced, and her stomach ached. Just days earlier, she’d provoked Irina by using magic and had nearly died, pinned underwater by a statue sent by the queen to kill her. There was no telling what spell would lash out or what creature would awaken and submit its heart to Irina’s this time.

  Maybe the queen had been so weakened in her battle with Lorelai for control over Kol that they were no longer in danger from her. Or maybe she still had enough strength left for another terrifying fight.

  Lorelai needed to be ready to defend herself and the others. She needed to be ready to run if necessary. And she needed Kol and Gabril to be ready to do the same.

  Which meant she had to win an argument that had been simmering for almost two weeks.

  “Before I destroy the roads, I’ve got one very important thing to take care of.” Lorelai locked eyes with Gabril as he hoisted his travel pack onto his back while Kol finished rolling up the tent in the silvery light of the stars.

  “What’s that?” Gabril asked.

  “Your leg.”

  This should be interesting. Kol raised a brow and shoved the tent into its sack.

  “I told you, you aren’t wasting your energy on me when you need it for Irina.” Gabril’s voice was firm, and a spark of anger flared in Lorelai’s chest.

  “It wouldn’t be a waste of energy at all if I didn’t have to overpower your stubborn heart.” She stalked forward and stood toe-to-toe with him.

  “How do you know that?” he demanded. “Every time you’ve healed someone, you’ve fallen into a deep sleep for hours—sometimes days!”

  “Not when I healed Sasha.”

  Hearing her name, Sasha swooped out of a nearby tree and perched on Lorelai’s shoulder. Stubborn human. Limp, limp, limp.

  I’m trying to change that. Lorelai glared at Gabril.

  Bribe with treat? Mouse? Rabbit?

  No bribery. He’s going to bend to my will one way or the other. Lorelai lifted her chin and said to Gabril, “This is a stupid argument to have. I’m healing your leg.”

  He stepped back. “No, you aren’t.”

  “Gabril—”

  “What happens if using magic on me incites a response from Irina, only you’re unconscious and can’t defend yourself?” He matched her glare with one of his own. “I’m not going to be the reason you die.”

  “And I’m not going to be the reason you die!” She lifted her hands, and magic was already stinging her palms. “When I destroy those roads, Irina will attack. I have no idea what weapon she’ll use, but we have to be ready to fight or to flee. You can’t run, and I can’t be distracted worrying about you.”

  “But—”

  “This makes the most strategic sense.” She took a deep breath and forced herself to sound calm. “If you submit to me, the cost to my body should be minimal. If Irina attacks after I heal you, and for any reason I can’t defend myself, Kol can get me away from here.”

  I don’t really think he’s going to like the idea of sending me off alone with you. He sleeps with a sword between us, you know. I’m not high on his list of people he trusts.

  This isn’t about trusting you. This is about him trusting that I understand my limitations and my power.

  You should tell him that. Kol hefted the tent’s pack onto his shoulders and nodded toward Gabril.

  Gabril took a deep breath of his own. “I appreciate your concern, Lorelai, and I love that you want to help me. But even if I submit to this, and even if it doesn’t cost you physically, there’s a chance that Irina will realize you’ve used magic, and that she’ll retaliate before you’re able to destroy the roads. What then?”

  She held his gaze. “Then I’ll use magic to destroy both the roads and whatever she sends at us. Or, if that’s not a possibility, we’ll flee and regroup, and I’ll find another way to do what I’ve set out to do. Either way, your leg will be healed.”

  “Lorelai—”

  “You need to trust that I know what I’m doing.” Her voice was firm. “If you can’t trust me in this, how can you trust me to face Irina or rule an entire kingdom?”

  Good point, Kol said quietly.

  Gabril remained silent for a long moment, his expression as stoic as ever, and then he wrapped his arms around her. Resting his chin on her head, he said, “You’re right, and that scares me more than I care to admit. I’m used to being the one who looks out for you, and knowing that I can’t help you win this fight is hard to swallow.”

  She returned his hug and then stepped back, her hands wreathed in brilliant white light. “You’ll help me by being at full strength. And by trusting me to know what I’m capable of.”

  He met her gaze and slowly wrapped his bare hand around hers, barely flinching as her magic licked his skin. “I trust you.”

  “Then come on. We’re going to do this beside the intersection so that I can send your injury into the ground and give the command to destroy the road at the same time.”

  Together the three of them left the copse of ebony trees behind and walked across a field of brittle brown grass with clumps of bushes that smelled like rot. Sasha flew overhead, scouting the immediate area for travelers, though few would use the road at night when visibility was so poor.

  The road was wide and paved with stones worn smooth over time and constant use. It cut the field into four equal squares and met in the middle. Lorelai led them across the point where the roads intersected and into the southern half of the field.

  She looked at Gabril and tried hard to sound like she wasn’t shaking inside at the thought of what Irina might send after them. “I’m going to take your injury into myself and then put it into the road. The second your leg is healed, I want you to run across the rest of the field into the Hinderlinde Forest. Kol and I will meet you there as soon as I’ve destroyed the roads.”

  “I’m not leaving you.” There was no room for argument in his voice.

  “Kol isn’t going to hurt me. Since we can communicate through our mental bond, he’ll be able to fight as an extension of myself. I don’t know what’s coming for us, or if I can convince the land to submit to me when it’s been owned by Irina for so long. If I can’t fight, Kol is faster than a human and—”

  “This has nothing to do with the boy.” Gabril held up their joined hands, and his eyes glistened as he looked at Lorelai. “I can’t stop you from taking risks, and I don’t want to. This is what you’ve been working toward for years. But I’m not leaving your side, no matter what it costs me.”

  You aren’t going to win this argument. Kol’s voice was steady, but she could see his fear of Irina’s tactics in the way his thoughts skipped from one awful possibility to the next.

  I want him to be safe.

  He’s your protector, and you’re his queen. You asked him to trust that you know what you’re capable of. Do you trust him the same way?

  She did. This wasn’t about trusting Gabril—the man who’d sacrificed his time with his family, his leg, and his safety to protect the prince and princess. To raise them to be just, loyal, and able to fight for what was right. This was about doing everything s
he could to keep the last person she loved alive.

  The ache of missing Leo became a sharp pain at the thought of losing Gabril as well. Her breath lodged in her chest like a stone, and a tremor shook her as she stared at the road before her and considered her choices.

  She could walk away. She’d be safe, and so would Gabril. They could leave the country. Maybe go to Eldr and meet Brig. Stay at the castle with Kol. Forget Irina and all the pain that lay in the past like so much wreckage.

  But if she did that, she condemned the people of Ravenspire to a terrible fate. She left Leo’s death, her father’s death, and Gabril’s sacrifice unanswered. And Kol would still be bound by a collar Lorelai couldn’t remove. He’d still be missing his human heart. And Lorelai would live the rest of her days knowing that Ravenspire’s pain, Kol’s pain, were a responsibility she’d left behind.

  Slowly, Lorelai straightened her spine and squared her shoulders, tightening her muscles until she no longer trembled at the thought of moving forward.

  She could choose a different fate for herself, but she couldn’t live with the consequences. She’d face Irina, no matter the sacrifice. She’d take the hit, fight the battle, and do her part to isolate and weaken the queen. And she’d do it even though it might cost her the last person she loved.

  She was so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn’t been paying attention to Kol’s, and she jumped a little when he slid his hand into her free one and twined his fingers through hers.

  Thank you, he said simply, but she could see behind the words. She could see the future he wanted for himself, the kind of king he wanted to become, and how none of it was possible if he was forever chained to Irina.

  She squeezed his hand and let go. Turning to Gabril, she said, “No matter what happens next, you stay alive. I don’t care what you have to do to accomplish it, but you still stay alive. That’s an order from your queen.”

  Without waiting for a reply, she knelt, pulling Gabril down with her, their hands still joined. “Ready?”

  “Ready.” Gabril sounded confident.

  Ready.

  Lorelai’s magic burned against her palms, and she felt Gabril’s heart surge to meet it. “Nakhgor. Find the bone that broke and mended poorly. Kaz`prin. Heal the break and send the damage through me and into the ground.”

  Instantly, Gabril’s heart submitted to hers. Her magic pierced him easily, flooding his body and racing through his veins with the barest push of effort from Lorelai. When it came to the swollen knot of bone on his left thigh, light surrounded his leg, and there was a sharp crack as the bone straightened. Gabril cried out and slumped forward, but the pain was already rushing out of him and into Lorelai.

  She clenched her teeth as his agony exploded into her body. It was a sharp, searing pain that left her skin clammy and sent her stomach crawling up the back of her throat.

  Let it out now, Lorelai. Kol’s voice was firm—a lifeline in the midst of the pain that was tearing into her. Gabril’s leg is fine. You did it. Put the wound into the ground.

  She tore her hand from Gabril’s and slammed both of her palms onto the gritty surface of the road. The pain poured out of her and into the ground, and the stone beneath her hands cracked in two, revealing the ground beneath it. She pushed her hand into the crack, ignoring the sharp fragments of stone that scratched her skin, and pressed her palm against the dirt.

  “Please lend me what strength you can,” she whispered as her magic sank into the ground and waited. Her throat tightened, and her chest ached as she silently pleaded with her kingdom to recognize its true queen. “I seek to stop the one who abuses you. Will you help me?”

  The heart of Ravenspire’s land reached for her, tangling with her magic, but there was a taint to it. A streak of resistance that felt less like the ground and more like . . .

  “Irina,” she whispered as the threads of her power reached a web of magic that waited beneath the fallow ground.

  She’s already fighting you? Where? I don’t see anything.

  She has a trap laid beneath the ground. That means this place is important to her. And it means her response is going to weaken her. She looked up into Kol’s amber eyes. It also means we’ll have to move fast, because the second I speak an incantor, her spell is going to react.

  I’m ready.

  “Pros`rashk!” Her voice rang with power, and magic exploded out of her palms and into the ground, wrapping around the weary heart of Ravenspire and merging until they were united. “Scatter the stones that built this road and crumble them into dust.”

  For a moment, the ground resisted, the taint of Irina’s magic pushing against Lorelai’s. The princess’s heart raced, and anger fanned to life in her chest. She wasn’t losing this battle. She wasn’t going to back down. Irina had controlled Ravenspire’s ground for nearly a decade. It was time to sever those ties.

  The princess threw her head back and yelled, “Pros`rashk!” Power flooded her body, a fire lit from the inside and poured into the ground.

  The field shuddered and heaved. The stones that paved the road cracked and crumbled, scattering dust and bits of rock into the brittle grass. A ripple began beneath Lorelai’s hands and quickly sped along the roads leading east to west, leaving destruction in its wake.

  Lorelai closed her eyes and pushed the magic, pushed the ground to go as far and as fast as possible. She needed the ruin to be widespread. She needed the capital isolated.

  Power thrummed through her veins and roared in her ears, and then Kol had his arms around her waist and was hauling her to her feet.

  Her eyes snapped open as he yelled, Get away from the road!

  She stumbled back a step, and the ripple of destruction on the road disappeared into the distance. What are you doing? I wasn’t finished!

  Listen.

  Gabril said, “We need to leave. Now.”

  She concentrated on hearing more than the thunder of her heartbeat, and nearly fell as the field twitched and bubbled like a pot of water left over a fire. Beneath the ground, something skittered and hissed, growing louder and louder until the grass trembled and cracks began splitting the land into pieces. The skittering and hissing poured out of the cracks, and Lorelai’s throat closed in horror as swarms of beetles, spiders, and centipedes gushed out of the ground and raced toward her.

  “Get to the forest,” Lorelai said, and they ran south, leaping over cracks and crushing bugs beneath their boots.

  They’d traveled half the distance between the ruined road and the forest when the ground in front of them disappeared, sinking out of sight and spewing a horde of insects the size of Lorelai’s hands with long pincers that clacked and snapped as they crawled toward the princess.

  Oh skies, we’re surrounded.

  Lorelai whirled to find the ground behind them had disappeared as well. She stood with Kol and Gabril on a slender circle of dirt surrounded by swarms of spiders and beetles that chittered and clacked as they raced forward.

  It was Irina’s favorite trick—dominating the hearts of multiple creatures so that there was no way Lorelai could overpower and subdue them all before being overcome.

  Something crawled over Lorelai’s boot, and she shook her foot as Gabril cursed and began stomping the ground. Kol stomped as well, but for every bug they killed, another five took its place. Sasha screamed in fury and dove, but she couldn’t do more than sweep a few bugs away with the power of her wings, and more were already swarming to take their place.

  A spider climbed over Lorelai’s boot and onto her leg, and she slapped at it, but her boots were already overrun with multilegged centipedes, spiders in every size, and those awful huge beetles who chopped other bugs in half as they advanced on the princess.

  She needed something to fight with—the heart of a living creature capable of defeating an insect horde. She needed a stone to crush them. A flood of water to drown them. A ball of fire—

  Use me. Kol’s hand wrapped around hers, and his dragon heart—vicious, powerful, and
begging for blood—slammed against her magic and took hold.

  Can you stay in control if we use your dragon heart? she asked, but she was already choosing her incantor as she used her free hand to shake off a centipede that was skittering over her bare arm. A sharp jab of pain pierced her heel as one of the monster beetles skewered her boot with its pincers.

  I’ll do my best. You can help me if I lose myself, but we’re going to be eaten alive or dragged into the depths of the ground if we don’t do something.

  “Lorelai!” Gabril grabbed something off her back and threw it in the teeming mass that covered the field.

  The ground beneath them heaved, sending them to their knees. Instantly, the bugs converged, swarming over them, biting, clawing, and skittering over the top of one another until the three of them were covered.

  Lorelai shuddered and lost her grip on Kol. Flinging her arms out, she swept at the creatures crawling toward her face and then fell forward as another wave of enormous beetles gushed from the ground and raced up her body.

  Pain lit into her in tiny, jagged pieces as pincers and fangs tore at her skin. Dimly, she heard Gabril cry out, but the whisper-hiss of hundreds of legs scrambling over the dirt, over her clothes, over her drowned out everything else.

  They were tangled in her hair. Clawing at her stomach. Crawling up her neck toward her mouth.

  She pressed her lips closed and struggled to find her footing amid the piles of slippery bodies that covered every inch of the trembling ground.

  I’ve got you. Kol’s hand found hers, and together they pulled themselves to their feet. Gabril was doubled over at the waist beside them, frantically trying to dislodge centipedes from his neck and back.

  The ground beneath them was disappearing rapidly. If Lorelai didn’t act now, they would be buried alive and then consumed.

  Kol’s hand gripped hers, and magic stung her palm. “Kaz`zhech. Bring his fire into me and punish those who harm us.”

  Violent heat surged through Kol’s veins and into hers. She screamed as it gathered in her chest, a molten ball of fury and destruction that felt like it was turning her blood to vapor and her bones to dust.