She was right, of course. She released my arm and I stood upright, tall, hands at my sides. It pained me to not attend William, but it pained me even more to see a father intent on murdering his own son.
I raised my voice and spoke with the remaining vestige of my strength, giving life to my suspicions. “I know what you are. You should know that your mistress is gone. Forever. The other one you serve remains deep below, and I doubt you’ll receive any reward from him for your actions here.”
The king stared for too long, as though trying to decide whether to admit to the truth—until finally, as I felt Cerberus’s fur brush my fingertips, the king tilted his head back and howled.
The sound was nauseating and inhuman, and when it finally ceased, his grin was full of teeth and his voice was not the voice of the king. “Clever girl. You think because my mistress has been felled that I would cease my doings in this realm? Of course not! That simply means I’m free to have my own fun, without remaining beholden to any other.”
“It is very bold of you to do so in a place filled with the Almighty’s warriors.”
“Filled? Where are they now? Even the righteous can be felled, little girl, and I’ve done it, paving the way for the return of my kind across all corners of the earth. My name will be remembered and revered among all of hell’s dominion.” He tilted his head like a curious kitten and Cerberus tensed beneath my palm, a low growl rumbling in his throat. “Yes, even by you, guardian. It disgusts me to see you here among these, these … ”
His words stilled as the traveling player pushed through our small party toward William. The traveler knelt, pulled the dagger out of the prince’s back, and touched William’s forehead. Then the traveler turned to me with a slight nod, and I nearly gasped with understanding.
I had not been mistaken in my recognition. I knew him. William and I both did.
I needed to distract the false king, the demon possessor, until William regathered his strength. I only hoped we wouldn’t be too late to save Samia afterward.
“Servants of the Almighty?” I offered to complete the false king’s thought. “Friends who trust and are loyal to each other? Things you know nothing of.”
“I know loyalty,” he said. “Look at my many subjects. When I command, they obey, and I have you to thank for that.” I saw William’s eyelids flicker and open. His fingers curled inward, toward his medallion. “You’ll be a useful addition to my arsenal, I think, once properly motivated.”
I might have laughed at the absurdity of such a statement if I hadn’t been so concerned with the safety of those around me. “If you’re threatening my family, it’s already been done many times before, and each time it has failed.”
A flicker of doubt crossed his face. “Yes, it has. But this time is different. This time, I cannot be opposed. This time, I hold rule over the entire kingdom and no one can defy me, lest I command their death. I am the king and all must obey!” His voice surged in triumph, arms spread wide.
William rose to his feet, his medallion glowing with a sudden, brilliant light.
“Not all,” he said. “You clearly have never been a father.”
And then, with strength and accuracy born of his training and upbringing—the care of his true father—William hurled his talisman.
It struck the king in the center of his forehead and an inhuman wail rose from his body. The false king sank to the ground shrieking, the talisman stuck fast as smoky filaments streamed from his orifices, whirling and swooping, reforming into parts of a wing, a claw, a nose, and then bursting into tiny particles that evaporated with the touch of a breeze.
It was an instant that seemed to last for hours, until finally the king’s body collapsed face first into the dirt, spent and yet freed.
I held my breath. He did not move.
William, too, remained motionless. Had he killed his father? If he hadn’t acted, many more would have certainly died, but also … I didn’t want him to bear the burden of kingship so soon.
Though I knew he could do it, if or when the moment called. I’d seen it within him.
The traveler strode forward, ignoring William’s shouts to leave his father alone, and he knelt as he had next to William. He placed his hand on the king’s forehead for a moment, lips moving in silence, and then stood.
The king groaned.
And I knew. I knew. This traveling player was no entertainer at all, but an earthly form of the angelic being who’d come for Samia when we journeyed through the underworld.
It did not explain this, however. And I was tired, so tired, of lacking answers.
“Hey,” I said, and I strode up to him with intention. “Who are you, and why are you here?”
46
The Restoration
“What do you want?” I asked again. “Why are you even here?”
“I suppose the time has come for full truth.” His smile was sad but kind. “I didn’t lie when I told you my story the first time we met—I simply used different details. I’d heard of a pair of faithful, fearsome warriors who traveled these lands hunting demons.” My cheeks grew warm and I said nothing. “I’d also heard that one of these two, a young woman, was not a paladin at all, but one who used ancient, dark powers in the service of the Almighty. A thing unheard of, indeed.”
“But my father—”
“Your father never allied himself with the Almighty’s defenders, and so never warranted notice. I didn’t seek to interfere in coming here, I assure you. Rather, I traveled to your kingdom with the intent to understand your deeds. I’m bound not to act unless in the protective service of a paladin in mortal danger—as you already experienced on your journey. Not that Samia needed protection, mind you. She’s more than capable, but it was her soul I sought to guard from corruption.”
“I know.” I took an unsteady breath, trying to quell the tremor in my voice. Did I truly speak to an angel? “So, it was you.”
“Indeed.”
“Then why didn’t you come earlier? Or save the king when he was first possessed?” The notion set my blood to boil again. “I suspect that happened quite some time before your arrival.”
He frowned. “I’m bound by certain laws, Ellison, to ensure your free will. Think of me as a concentrated dose of the favor carried inside a talisman. I can protect and speed healing, but there are limits. The king was still there, only not in the way you knew him. As are you, if I see correctly. You’re not as you once were.”
I nodded and noted that the talk around us had quieted. “It’s true. I’m no longer Ellison of The Book of Conjuring, nor that cinder-wench Ella, the necromancer.”
He thought for a moment. “Do you want to be, still?”
I knew that answer. “Not at the cost it has taken.”
“You know there will always be evils to fight,” he said, gazing past me. “Not many, if anyone else at all, are as responsible or self-aware as you have been.”
My laugh was harsh and bitter. “I nearly killed the one I love. I brought good people on a selfish quest and they were laid low. My brother has neither mother nor father, all because I sought to complete a task I had no right to attempt.” I lowered my eyes, filled with shame and sorrow. “All because I wanted to see my mother again and tell her I’m sorry.”
“For what?” His tone sharpened. “Your life’s path has been your own. You have nothing to apologize to her for, and I think you’re well aware of that. There’s something else. Speak it.”
Oh, how I wished this stranger was not so perceptive, but there we were, and I was laid bare before him. “I want to say goodbye,” I said. “And tell her I love her, which I didn’t get to do before her life was taken. I tried when she appeared to me two years prior, but the time was too short and she only had a moment to deliver a warning. Just once, I want to see her again. I want Edward to see her, truly her, as she is. Not sick, but well. Not an illusion or merely a voice, but radiant and beautiful as I remember her.”
&n
bsp; He looked to William and the king. To Liesl and Edward. To Cerberus, the hellhound who licked his paws and, according to Edward, had been glad to choose light over darkness.
“I think,” he said, “for all you have endured, you deserve a measure of joy.”
I was not so sure. “So long as Edward remains safe and the kingdom secure, that will be joy enough.”
“Oh, Ellison.” He laughed, but it wasn’t a sound of mocking. “Answer me this. If given the chance, would you like to?”
“Would I like to what?” I eyed him with confusion.
“Speak to her again. You might have torn the veil with your powers and allowed the wrong things in, but now that I’ve seen and declared that all is well here, I’m due to tear the veil to return to the other side. And I may, if only for a moment, allow the right things in for a time.”
I did not understand.
And then I did.
And then as I wept, the very air before me shimmered and glowed. I smelled the scent of lavender and hazel and every good thing, and there she was.
Perfect.
Beautiful.
And at peace.
“Oh, Mother.” I could find no other words, not even as Edward rushed past me in amazement, pausing before our mother’s spirit with a shyness, an uncertainty, a disbelief that she could truly be here. And then she beckoned him forward and he ran and threw his arms around her, and I marveled at the sight.
She kissed his head and looked past to me. I could not move.
“I’m so very proud of you, Ella,” she said, and her voice was as a chorus of angels. “Even when you’re not proud of yourself, your heart is good. Take courage, and never, ever lose your tendency to kindness.”
I blinked through the tears, nodding as I could, and met her gaze as my shame for all I had done evaporated like smoke. I was sorry. I had repented and been forgiven, and no longer needed to be ashamed of who I was at heart. “I love you,” she said, and she smiled for me and only me.
And then her eyes lifted past me and reflected surprise. What could surprise my mother? What could she possibly see?
But when I turned my head, I saw my father. My father.
He walked slowly up the road. A sword hung from one hand, dragging in the dirt as though too heavy to bear, and his face and clothes were streaked with blood.
Red blood, black blood. Congealed and fresh. Some was not his own. A great deal of it was, however, and he left a trail of bloody footprints as he stumbled toward us.
Samia walked behind him, no worse for wear, and I wondered whether the traveler had slipped away to free her or if she’d simply been waiting for the right moment to free herself. I suspected the latter—and that it had been hers and William’s shared secret.
She held out her hands as if to catch my father, should his body give out and pitch into the dirt. He came within arm’s reach of my mother and me and stopped, his breathing ragged and shuddering. One of his eyes had swollen shut, and I saw that he cradled his right hand, from which he had lost several fingers. We waited for him to speak, and when he did my heart broke again, a thousand times over.
“Aleidis,” he said, addressing my mother with such devotion, such tenderness, that my cheeks warmed to hear it. “My love.”
“Yes, Josef?”
He swallowed. Wavered. Only remained upright because Samia gripped his forearm. “It is done.”
I had not a clue, not an inkling of what he spoke, but my mother’s smile turned sad and yet satisfied, as though she had waited many, many years to hear these words. Then she nodded, and my father gave a sigh that was deep and beyond weary.
“You’ve been through much,” said the traveler. “I offered your children the chance to see their mother again, but you … ”
“I’m dying,” my father said, and the matter-of-fact manner in which he spoke made me wish to tear out my heart and offer it to him if it might keep his beating. “There is no healing due to me this time. I know this is the end for me, but I’m ready to face it.”
“Father, no.” My words were breathless, for I remembered—oh, how I remembered—the circle of hell reserved for those who practiced necromancy. He could not go there. I would not allow it. I turned to the traveler. “Please, take me instead. My brother—he cannot lose them again.”
“Your brother cannot lose them … or can’t you?” The traveler knelt in front of me and looked deep into my eyes. It felt as though he searched into the depths of my soul, but unlike with Minos and the Furies, I felt no pain, no violation—only necessity. I wondered, would it feel this way on Judgment Day? Would I be searched and found wanting?
And then he stood and placed his hand out to assist me to rise.
“Ellison, you credit yourself too little, and your father … ”
I felt my father’s hand upon my shoulder. “I’m tired, daughter. My time has come.”
“But father. I saw it. The place where we’ll go.”
He nodded. He knew as well. There were so many things to learn from him, so many questions I had to ask. I wasn’t ready.
“But I am, and you’re more ready than you think,” he said, and I realized I had spoken aloud. “I’m willing to face the consequences of my actions in this life. More than ever, now that I’ve closed the final chapter and seen my Aleidis well and whole in the place where she belongs.”
I fell into my father’s arms and Edward ran to us, and my mother’s presence filled us all with an unquenchable sadness mingled with joy.
“I think,” said the traveler, after too much and yet not enough time had passed, “that neither Ellison nor her father can claim to fully be the servants of darkness they believe themselves to be.”
I turned on him with wide eyes. “What do you mean?”
He shrugged. “Neither of you served evil. All living things, no matter what or whom, will make mistakes and require forgiveness for certain actions. But never did you maliciously use your conjurings in the way those others did whom you saw in the Abyss.”
Liesl, darling Liesl, stepped up to him, finger waving in his face. “Do not give them false hope, sir. I don’t care who or what you are, I won’t allow it.”
He stifled a laugh. “I wouldn’t think of it.” And to us, he said, “I think, perhaps, your father would be more suited to a fate that matches how he lived his life. A chance to repay for wrongs, to work toward redemption?”
I could hardly breathe. “You would send him to purgatory?” I looked between my father and mother and my heart filled so fully and quickly, I thought it might burst. “You would give them the chance to be together again?”
The traveler nodded, and smiled, and suddenly my father went limp in my arms.
I gasped. Samia pressed her hand against his chest and lay him on the ground.
“He’s gone,” she said.
“And so is your mother,” Liesl said.
I looked around. My father was dead, my mother had passed on, and Edward and I were alone.
47
The Healing
I whirled on the traveler. “Is this it? Is this the end?”
“Not quite,” he said, and reached to touch Edward’s forehead. My brother gasped, and laughed, and suddenly pointed toward the king and William, who were speaking to each other in hushed tones. No, not toward them—just beyond.
“What?” I asked Edward. “What is it?”
He looked at me quizzically. “Can’t you see? It’s Father!” But I couldn’t see, not at all.
Edward looked at the traveler. “Why can’t she see? Is this like before?”
The traveler tilted his head back and forth. “Both more and less than before, little one. Instead of being bombarded by ghostly shades from the Abyss, now you’ll see those who have yet to cross to their eternal rest. It’s a great responsibility, though.”
“I can do it,” my brother said. “I see that Father wants to cross over. Am I to help him? To help the ones I see?”
The traveler nodded, and my heart swelled with pride and dismay—pride for my dear brother’s eagerness to help those who needed it, but dismay for our loss. And a touch of it, I will admit, for the passing of duties.
Edward would be the special child now, the one for whom the world was a vastly different place. I felt the loss of my powers keenest in that moment, a sense of uselessness now that I had played out my role to its end. I would not have changed my decision to give them up, however, not for all the gold in the world.
“It doesn’t have to be that way,” said the traveler.
I looked to him in alarm. “How?”
“The end. You don’t have to give it up forever. You know now that your powers are to be a last resort, a final act when all others fail.”
“It cost a great deal to learn that lesson. Too much. But I’ve already given it up, I have my powers no more.”
“Do you still have The Book of Conjuring?”
In surprise, I glanced at William, who nodded. “I know where it is in your house, if you need to retrieve it.”
“You have your answer,” I said to the traveler, whose smile was kind and soothing.
“Then your powers are not gone forever,” he said. “They merely need to be relearned. From the very beginning, yes, and it will be tedious. But you know now how to manage the weight of such responsibility with care.”
I could hardly believe it, was not certain I wanted to believe it, and yet when I looked back to thank him for all his assistance—from now back to that very first day when he came to my rescue on the road, which was likely a very confusing first meeting with the girl rumored to control dark forces—he had vanished.
Edward, Liesl, Samia, William, and I stood on that dirt road with a hellhound and a weary king who looked at each of us with bewilderment, awe, and an undeniable touch of exhaustion. William helped him to his feet and returned to him the crown that had toppled from his head.
Cinderella's Inferno Page 24
