by Anya Bast
When his eyes had adjusted to the brightness of the room, he saw Ronan and Bella beside him. Charlotte and Emmaline were a little bit behind, walking side by side, Kieran not far behind. Aislinn was in front, leading them all to the Summer Throne, because, of course, that was where Caoilainn would be spending her last bit of time in Piefferburg, reliving the glory days.
This place was nothing like the small, friendly room where Aislinn received people. This was a cavernous chamber with broad, tall pillars scattered throughout, a cold marble floor, and gorgeous, elaborate frescoes painted over the arched ceiling. This was a room meant to awe the visitor, make them feel small and put them on edge.
All it did was piss Niall off.
“Why should I let you live?” asked Aislinn in a steely voice. It echoed through the chamber.
As Niall rounded a pillar, he finally caught a glimpse of the Summer Queen sitting on her cushioned rose quartz throne. Like Aislinn, she looked like the loser of a prize fight. Her gold and white gown was smudged with grime and torn in numerous places. Soot marked her cheeks, lips, and forehead, and her hair had half come down from its formerly tight coif at her nape, the gold pins once securing it hanging free on tendrils of loose blond hair. One of her diamond earrings was missing.
“You won. Leave me alone,” she snarled.
They all stopped at the foot of her throne. “Sorry,” answered Aislinn. “We can’t do that. We don’t know what else you might have planned, and, after all, you already brought down the Black Tower.”
“Gideon, that spawn of the underworld, he did that, not me.”
“I was there,” Aislinn snarled with sudden and surprising vehemence. “You did it together—the Summer Royal standing side by side, allied, with the archdirector of the Phaendir. I saw it, and so did many of the other fae.” Aislinn shook her head. “You’ll never survive this, Caoilainn, no matter how much magick you wield. It doesn’t even matter that you probably helped the Phaendir create Watt, this action alone wins you a death sentence.”
Power swelled in the room, bigger and stronger. The room went so cold that frost gelled on the marble floors, made their breath turn white in the air. Niall pulled Elizabeth toward him, suddenly worried something was coming—something big. Something he couldn’t protect her from.
“Your subjects have deserted you, Caoilainn,” Aislinn continued. “They’ve come to me for guidance and direction, the Shadow Queen.” She motioned at one of the roaming sluagh. “And your shield won’t hold forever. Eventually it will break, and the sluagh will devour you. It’s over and you know it. That’s why you’re sitting here all alone. This is the end.”
“It ends when I say it ends!” the Summer Queen roared, her tense white hands gripping her throne and her face going red with rage.
The building began to shake. Harder and harder. The pillars started to break free of their moorings. One of them began to crumble. A moment later, it fell, crashing onto the floor. A crack appeared through the fresco above their heads.
All of them retreated toward the door. The Summer Queen had gone completely insane. It appeared she was going to take down the Rose Tower, too.
“Don’t do this!” cried Bella, her breath showing white in the chilled air. She and Aislinn had grown up in this court. Ronan was pulling her back toward the exit, but she was fighting him. “You may be tormented, but leave the Rose alone!”
Caoilainn stood, managing to look regal despite the wreckage of her dress and hair. “I am the Rose,” she bellowed. “If I go down, so does this tower!”
Another pillar crashed to the floor, splitting open. Razor-sharp shards of rose-colored marble slid across the glossy floor. Charlotte turned to run—what they were all doing now—and slipped on the floor that had become icy from the Summer Queen’s fit of emotion. Niall grabbed her before she fell and righted her, helping her and Elizabeth out of the room.
THIRTY-ONE
THE corridor beyond the throne room shook as if experiencing an earthquake. Huge fissures cracked the walls, snaking over the ceiling and floor. Behind them, nipping at their heels, came the incredible cold radiating from the Summer Queen, freezing the walls, paintings, statues, and furniture, and turning the marble floor to a sheet of ice. The evidence of the Summer Queen’s despair froze the skin of their heels, the backs of their legs, and tipped their hair with frost.
They ran flat out down the corridor with the fingers of winter grasping at them and the fist of destruction closing all around them.
Niall had Elizabeth’s hand, Emmaline beside him. In front of them ran Charlotte, Kieran, and Aislinn with Bella and Ronan. The tower was literally coming apart. Bits and pieces of the ceiling fell, crashing around them. When a chunk seemed aimed straight for Bella’s head, Niall yelled, “Amanthrall!” and knocked it off course. But it was hard to catch all the debris, and by the time they reached the front doors of the tower, they all had minor, bloody injuries.
They ran out of the tower and as far into the square as they could. They didn’t look back as the now-familiar screeching, crumbling, whining sound of a building collapsing echoed behind them.
Beside him, Elizabeth tripped, and he went down with her. They rolled onto their backs and watched, stunned, as the Rose Tower collapsed to a rubble heap. Now the Rose was part of a matched pair with the Black. Niall’s heart missed a beat.
And there was a true end to Piefferburg.
“It’s over,” whispered the Shadow Queen above him. He could barely hear her over the tumult in the square.
He looked at Elizabeth. Dust and soot marked her face and hair. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the wreckage of the building they’d been standing in only moments before. She turned and looked at him, forehead creased, breath coming fast. A tendril of hair had fallen over her mouth, rising and falling with her inhalations.
He reached out and smoothed it behind her ear. “All right?”
“No,” she breathed.
He leaned in, pressing his mouth firmly against hers and tasting dust, teardrops, and a little blood. “It will be,” he murmured against her lips.
She stood and held out a hand, helping him to stand. They remained for a long time, surveying the settling rubble as the wind and the snowflakes cleared the dust away.
Elizabeth turned to Aislinn. “Do you think she stayed in there? Do you think the Summer Queen is really dead?”
Aislinn narrowed her eyes at the structure. “I don’t see the sluagh, but that doesn’t mean she’s dead. With Caoilainn you never can tell what’s illusion and what’s truth. It’s possible she really did let the building come down on her head.” She paused, then shrugged. “It’s also possible she just very stealthily staged her own death, escaped out the back door, and the sluagh followed her. Personally, I’m betting on the latter. And if anyone can find a way to give the sluagh the slip, it’s Caoilainn.”
“One day I have a feeling we’ll find out.”
“If she is still alive,” answered Aislinn, “we’ll know soon enough. She won’t be able to hide her light under a bushel for long.”
Elizabeth let out a short, surprised laugh. “That’s for sure.”
“Well,” said Niall, pulling Elizabeth back against him, “I love to see you two bonding, but, in case you weren’t aware, the walls of Piefferburg just fell. Maybe we should, oh, I don’t know, reenter the world?”
All of them went very still and silent.
“Gabriel is already out there,” Niall added quietly.
Aislinn cleared her throat. “I know. So are the rest of the Wild Hunt, the sprae, and probably half the inhabitants of Piefferburg by now.” Pausing, she swallowed hard and then offered her arm to Bella, her best friend, who had come to stand on her opposite side. “Shall we?”
“I think it’s way past time, don’t you?” answered Bella, smiling up at Ronan, who’d come to stand beside her.
Kieran and Charlotte stood watching them, their arms slung around each other’s waists. “I can’t wait to show you a
ll everything about the human world that you’ve missed,” said Charlotte, beaming. She nodded at Emmaline. “She can help me with that.”
“I miss going to the movies, especially for the popcorn,” answered Emmaline. “I can’t wait to take Aeric.”
“I can’t wait to take Kieran anywhere,” replied Charlotte. “Even if it’s just to the grocery store.”
“We’ll have to teach them how to use cell phones.”
Charlotte nodded. “And computers, oh, and—”
Niall cleared his throat. “Okay, already, can we go now?”
“Wait,” said Elizabeth. “I can’t leave. There are people in the Boundary Lands I need to help, take care—”
“It’s done,” said the queen. “I already sent a contingent of Shadow Guard to go to their aid, Elizabeth. They’ll be fine. I promise.”
Elizabeth studied the queen suspiciously for a moment before asking, “Why?”
“Guilt,” Aislinn answered right away. She offered a trembling smile. “Those people I threatened will be taken care of for life. Trust me.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s my way of making amends.”
“Okay, now that that’s settled. Charlotte and I will take my cycle,” said Kieran, grinning. “See you guys on the other side.” They turned and walked into the smoke.
The rest of them found Niall’s SUV where he’d left it on the far side of the Black Tower. It was covered in dust and rubble, and had a dent in the passenger side door, but was otherwise uncrushed. He climbed in the driver’s side and Elizabeth gave up the passenger seat to Aislinn, out of deference to her rank. Elizabeth, Ronan, Bella, and Charlotte piled in the back—Bella on Ronan’s lap.
“Say good-bye to Piefferburg,” said Niall as he started the engine.
The vehicle was quiet as it rolled slowly through the streets of the city. The fighting had given way to celebrating. Those fae who didn’t have cars were traveling by foot in laughing groups.
Niall wasn’t sure what they’d find when they reached the gates. The Phaendir weren’t an issue any longer.
But what about the military?
The U.S. soldiers had held their ground, fought the fae when all the hell had broken loose. He’d seen the military shoot fae in the middle of the street firsthand, yet they’d seemed to stand down toward the end, some of them had even joined in the festivities.
As they approached the gates, he’d half expected to find a war zone. If that happened, of course, the military wouldn’t be much of a match for the fae—not without the Phaendir to back them up. Niall thought the humans were intelligent enough to realize that.
When they reached the end of the road they found the gates thrown open and the fae streaming out. The soldiers stood to the sides of the road, armed, looking a bit nervous in some cases, but noncombative.
Niall stopped the vehicle in the middle of the road, hands tight on the steering wheel, taking it all in. The entire car had gone silent. For all of them save Charlotte, it was a surreal sight, previously only viewed in their imaginations.
He remembered his arrival in Piefferburg. He’d been sick as hell with Watt Syndrome. Couldn’t even move. They’d just thrown him past the warding and left him for dead. He’d woken in the forest, rolled over, and looked up through the tree limbs at the blue sky beyond. The sunlight had dappled through the green leaves. All around him the breeze had rustled the tree limbs like a lullaby and birds had been calling to each other. Breathing shallowly, his lungs on fire, he remembered he’d thought the place was pretty.
Pretty.
That had been the fever talking, or maybe he’d just been happy to have survived the journey. Those first years had been hell. After the fae had stopped trying to break the warding and had accepted their situation, little by little they’d cleared some of the trees, built a shantytown, then, eventually, built a city. He’d been there to see every brick and stick of that city go up.
Now he was leaving it.
The car behind him honked, and Niall realized he’d been sitting there, remembering, and not moving. The fae wanted out, and he wasn’t going to be the one to stop them.
Elizabeth put her hand on his forearm. “Are you all right?”
He looked over at her. The rosy first fingers of sunlight breaking through the cloud cover were reaching through the windshield and caressing her cheek. She looked concerned for him, tired, and grieving—but she was the most beautiful woman in the world to him.
And she was his.
He smiled. “Baby, I’ve never been better. I love you.”
She smiled. “I love you, too.”
The car behind them laid on the horn, and he waved a hand back at them. “Okay, okay, I’m going.” He paused, then looked over at the Shadow Queen. “We’re going.”
“Yes,” she whispered, gaze focused straight ahead. “We’re going.”
He smiled. “Okay.”
He drove past the gates of Piefferburg and into a burst of sunlight.
EPILOGUE
ELIZABETH sat on the balcony of their Parisian hotel just around the corner from the Champs-Elysées, one bare foot dangling off the side, staring at the Eiffel Tower not far away. The spring sky stretched above, a brilliant shade of blue, a fresh baked bit of French bread, already nibbled, lay on a plate at her elbow next to a small, yet potent, cup of coffee.
Even better? She wasn’t alone.
Niall stepped out onto the balcony wearing only his robe. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he leaned down and kissed her cheek, then sank into the opposite chair to enjoy the view. Sunset swirled the horizon in a tumult of oranges, reds, purples, and pinks. The sun caught the tower and it glinted, just for a millisecond, like a star.
It was one of those perfect moments, the kind that are remembered and cherished forever. She and Niall had been having lots of those since they’d decided to travel the world. They were busy seeing all the places the Phaendir never hoped they’d set foot. Every time they landed in a new country, Niall saluted Gideon Amberdoyal in hell with his middle finger.
They’d been to Australia, China, and Russia and were now making their way through Europe. They were saving Ireland for last, thinking they just might settle there. Lots of the fae had already. Ireland wanted their fae back. So did Wales, Great Britain, Germany, Scandinavia, and the Brittany region of France.
“Had an e-mail from Ronan,” Niall commented once the sun had sunk low in the sky, dragging most of the light with it. He said e-mail a bit uncomfortably. Neither she nor Niall were fully comfortable with computers yet.
“Mmm?” she answered around her last bite of breakfast.
“They’ve nearly got the fae court arranged in Dublin.” Since the Summer Queen had offed herself—well, maybe—and taken the Summer Ring with her, Aislinn held court for both the Seelie and Unseelie. Of course, not everyone was happy with that. Some of the Seelie had already formed a splinter group, and everyone was certain there would be a new Summer Queen soon, Summer Ring or no.
She brushed the buttery crumbs from her fingers and sighed contentedly. “The troop are there, too?”
“Being welcomed with open arms in Ireland, at least.”
The goblins and some of the other more nightmarish fae had disappeared into the uninhabited places, in just the same way as they’d lived before Piefferburg. They wanted little to do with humans, and the feeling was reciprocal.
The HCIF, Humans for the Continued Incarceration of the Fae, had gained membership since the fall of the walls, and were trying to raise a human army against the fae.
Luckily, their flip side organization, the HFF, Humans for the Freedom of the Fae, were all over that and were helping the fae wage a successful public relations campaign that seemed to be winning over the hearts and minds of humans all across the world. It helped that many of the fae had grown incredibly wealthy over the centuries, Niall included, and were helping to foot the bill.
“What else did Ronan say?” she asked.
Nial
l looked over at her. “He wants us to come to Dublin soon.” He paused, then broke out into a huge smile. “Especially since Bella is pregnant.”
“What? That’s incredible!” Beaming, she clapped her hands together. “You’re going to be an uncle!”
“I know.” His lips quirked. “How strange.” The goddess Danu had suddenly decided to grace many fae wombs with children. It was a literal baby boom in the fae community, whereas before and during Piefferburg, fae pregnancies had been very rare.
“Of course,” she said, tipping her head to the side and smiling a little, “uncle isn’t all you’ll be.”
She laid a hand on her stomach.
Dear readers,
Curious where Piefferburg is located?
Visit my website for an interactive map:
www.anyabast.com
GLOSSARY
Abastor The mystic black stallion that leads the Wild Hunt.
Alahambri The language the goblins speak.
Black Tower A large building on one end of Piefferburg Square that is constructed of black quartz. This is the home of the Unseelie Court.
Book of Bindings Book created when the Phaendir and the fae were allied. The most complete book of spells known. Contains the spell that can break the warding around Piefferburg.
bosca fadbh Puzzle box consisting of three interlocking pieces. Was an object once owned by both the Phaendir and the fae, back when they weren’t enemies. When all three pieces are united, they form a key to unlock part of the Book of Bindings.
Boundary Lands The area where the wilding fae live.
ceantar dubh Dark district. This is the neighborhood directly buttressing the Black Tower.
ceantar láir Middle district. Fae “suburbia,” it also borders a mostly commercial area of downtown Piefferburg where the troop live and work.
charmed iron Iron spelled to take away a fae’s magick when it touches the skin. Used in prisons as handcuffs and by the Imperial and Shadow Guards, it’s illegal for the general fae population to possess it. Charmed iron weapons were a major reason the fae lost in the war against the Milesians and Phaendir in ancient Ireland.
