The Angel of Elydria (The Dawn Mirror Chronicles Book 1)

by A. R. Meyering

  THE WALTZ OVER, Penny wandered around the ballroom, her head reeling and spinning as she meandered through the sea of cackling party guests. She squeezed through a particularly large group and popped out the other side, colliding with someone so hard she fell to the ground as a deafening crash echoed throughout the ballroom. With a rush of horror Penny realized she had run straight into the angry-looking man who had been shouting orders at the cooks earlier. Scattered around her on the ground were the remains of a food tray that had been on its way to the buffet table. She choked as she scrambled to her feet, apologies flooding out. The man steamed with anger.

  “Do you know how long it took me to make those?! Ruined, ruined! All ruined!” he raged, looking at the destroyed food.

  Penny knew she was blushing again, but this time it felt painful. “I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t see you there, I swear! Please, forgive―”

  “Sorry does not get back the hours of back-breaking work, does it?” he shouted, anger staining an otherwise handsome face.

  Penny opened her mouth to beg for forgiveness again and felt a heavy hand land on her shoulder. She glanced back to see a man standing behind her, looking at the mess with a raised eyebrow. She wondered if she was in even more trouble as he surveyed the scene.

  “Flynn, what’s all this about?” he asked. Penny guessed from his fine attire that he was a ranger or military officer high up in the ranks. His voice was pleasant: husky and low, soft but domineering. The disgruntled cook ran an olive-toned hand through his dark curls.

  “This guest just destroyed my wine-steamed kelru, that’s what,” he snorted, though he sounded less spiteful now.

  Penny was about to explain herself when she got a good look at the military officer. He was stunning; handsome and well-groomed, with rich blonde hair and eyes the color of the sea in the morning. Behind him stood a much taller unsmiling man clad in the same impeccably clean military uniform, with tawny skin and dreadlocks tied back by an elegant gold chain.

  “Flynn, you’ve gone and upset this Little Miss. It was an honest mistake,” the golden haired man soothed, looking over Penny with kindness.

  “Chivalrous as always, Noah,” Flynn sighed to the golden-haired man.

  “Won’t you please excuse his behavior? He’s under a lot of stress…it’s no easy task to manage the kitchens,” Noah requested.

  “Of c-course,” Penny stammered, her eyes transfixed on the alluring man, feeling that whatever he asked of her she would agree to. He extended a muscular arm to Penny and took her hand in his, exacerbating the dizzy sensation flooding her.

  “It is truly a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Noah said with a bow, kissing her hand. “Might I ask your name and whom you are here with?”

  “U-um, I’m Penny. Well, actually it’s Penelope, but Penny―well, most people call me that, you see…erm….” she stammered, wanting to slap herself in the face. Get a grip, Penelope. He’s just a guy. “I’m here with Annette Deveaux. We were introduced as her entourage, I think.” She smiled, making an attempt at humor.

  Noah laughed; it was a heartbreakingly perfect sound.

  Flynn rolled his eyes and collected his fallen tray, leaving the scene as he shouted at several palace servants to begin cleaning the mess. Noah pulled Penny away from their work with genteel assertion, the silent man in the military coat following.

  Penny could not take her eyes off the gorgeous Noah as he led her away while asking questions about where she was from, why she was in Iverton, her age, and her thoughts about the party. She answered each with as much truth as she could, lying here and there to avoid sounding insane. Penny joked with him in an attempt to diffuse the questions—his laugh was so pleasing to the ear.

  Noah was not detained for long. “Now, I didn’t want to say anything, but did you say you were here with Annette Deveaux? Do you mean to say that you know her personally?” he asked, looking a shade impressed.

  Penny smiled, feeling a bit braver. “Yes. In fact, I’m staying as a guest in her house right now,” she revealed, trying not to sound like she was bragging.

  Noah contemplated this. “I wonder…if you aren’t otherwise engaged with your entourage duties, would you care to join me outside? I’d be thrilled to show you the view,” he offered in a way that suggested he knew she would not refuse him.

  “Oh, that sounds wonderful, but Annette needs—” Penny stopped, confused as the man who had been trailing behind them laid a hand on Noah’s shoulder and gave him a warning glance.

  “We’ll only be on the balcony, Damari. If I’m needed, I’ll only be a moment away,” Noah promised.

  Damari considered this for a moment, and then nodded and stalked away, shooting suspicious glances at Penny as he went. Noah looked back at Penny, his gray eyes reiterating his prior request. She knew she had to protect Annette, but couldn’t refuse Noah.

  Penny flashed a quick glance back to see Annette at their table, surrounded by Hector, Gavin, and Simon. Convincing herself that Annette would be safe enough with them, Penny nodded. She stiffened as Noah led her through the ballroom and toward one of the doors that led to another part of the castle, concerned she would lose sight of Annette.

  Noah ushered her through the doors with a hand on the small of her back. Beyond the doors was the promised balcony. Outside it had stopped drizzling and the air was filled with a brisk bite and a dusting of mist. From the balcony’s leafy railing Penny could see the city stretched out underneath the midnight sky. She floated to the edge, spotting the Grand Cathedral, the Airstation, and the Sophotri Stone in the center of the Business District.

  “The city looks so different from up here,” Penny said, enthralled. She had come to love the city of Iverton, and being able to view it with such mysterious and charming company was nothing short of exhilarating. Noah stepped beside her and leaned over the balcony.

  “Indeed, it does,” he agreed, looking over the vast cityscape. “If I might ask…how is it that you know Miss Annette? I hear she’s something of a recluse.”

  “Oh, I—” Penny’s mind raced as she thought up something plausible. “I’m—I’m teaching her Elvish. She wants to go on a tour to the Nation of Elves—you know how popular Mr. Aldridge’s plays are there.”

  Noah’s eyebrows raised and he looked at her with sparkling eyes. “You speak Elvish?”

  Penny laughed, her cheeks growing hot as she pushed her hair behind her ear. “Oh, my dear sir—I can speak pretty much every language in the world,” she said, trying to channel Simon’s flirtatiousness, doing her best to be alluring and sound Elydrian at the same time. It seemed to impress Noah, though he remained skeptical.

  “Ah, is that so?” he tested and Penny detected his voice speaking in Elvish.

  “Quite so,” she answered him back in the same language with confidence. Noah nodded at her and continued his test, not satisfied until she had demonstrated fluent Fae, Gobblish, Therosian, and Old Andronian. Awed, he burst into applause.

  Their conversation took off as Noah asked Penny about her education and roots, and she answered everything to the best of her ability, inserting scraps of truth wherever she could. They shared opinions about favorite foods, styles of music, and talked about the books Penny had been able to read while she had stayed at Annette’s house. Noah seemed to be drawn to Penny’s unbridled passion for Elydrian culture, oblivious that her enthusiasm stemmed from having just been introduced to what she thought of as exotic wonders.

  Penny found herself quite enjoying the conversation despite the frequent lies, but her heart dropped when Damari appeared from within the ballroom and whispered something in Noah’s ear. Noah nodded and turned to Penny, looking a little disappointed.

  “Duty calls. It was enchanting to have met you, Penny Fairfax,” he said and kissed her hand. “I hope you won’t think me rude if I come by Annette’s home at some point in the future to visit you both? I should very much enjoy seeing you again.”

  Once again his words sounded like more of
a statement than a request. Penny blinked. “You know Annette? Why didn’t you say so?” she mumbled, surprised.

  He laughed and let her hand go. “You are quite a funny one, indeed,” he repeated and disappeared into the ballroom, melting into the crowd. Penny stayed motionless on the balcony for a long while, looking off in the direction Noah had left. She was almost sad when she thought of Noah dropping in on Annette only to find Penny had left for Hulver, but forced those thoughts away and looked back over the city, her heart pattering with contentment.

  She only remained a moment longer before rushing back to the ballroom to find Annette. Penny was eager to tell Annette what had happened and ask her questions about the mysterious Noah.

  Back in the ballroom the party was still effervescent with activity. The dragon called Farful swung around the middle of the dance floor, his tail often smacking into guests. Penny peered around the room, realizing with a start that she could not see Annette anywhere. She circled the ballroom until she spotted Hector, Simon, and Gavin at the table where she had left them. Penny slammed her hands down on the table, jarring them from their conversation.

  “Where’s Annette?” Penny cried. Gavin looked back at Annette’s group of theater friends as if expecting to see her. He went still.

  “She was there just a second ago! I literally just saw her!” Simon insisted, panicked and getting to his feet.

  “She’s not in the ballroom, I’ve looked it over three times,” Penny said, attempting to restrain her panic. They all exchanged fearful glances.

  “I don’t see Valentine anywhere, either…” Gavin breathed, his gaze jumping from face to face.

  “Come on, let’s spread out and find her! She can’t have gone far! Hurry!” Penny yelled as she rocketed away from the table toward the ladies’ restroom. She pushed her way inside and called out Annette’s name, but the only answer was a rhythmic dripping of water. Penny sped back outside, sick with guilt and frustration at the horrifying notion that her frivolous time with Noah had endangered her friend.

  Penny bumped past two faeries as she made her way toward the exit. Seeing no one in the hallway leading to the main gates, Penny turned back toward the ballroom to face the multitude of guests. The loud music and tramping of feet on the dance floor flooded her mind and hindered her concentration. Her focus flicked over different things―a feathered fan, a tall pinstriped hat, a grinning face, a sloshing drink, a swatch of black silk, the chandelier, the―

  Wait! Penny thought, her eyes flying back to the black silk dress she had seen. Sure enough, it belonged to Valentine.

  Valentine was sauntering out of a side room Penny suspected wasn’t intended for guests. She shut the door behind her, taking care to see that no one was watching. Penny hid behind a nearby column as she watched Valentine sidle through the crowd until she stopped behind a man in a white coat with long hair tied back into a ponytail. Penny saw the patch over his eye and her heart plummeted. It was Deimos.

  Am I too late? Penny wondered, shuddering under a wave of icy horror. With a quick glance back at the door that Valentine had snuck out of, Penny slunk toward it, weaving between the swarms of people. A moment later her hand was on the knob and she looked through the crowd to confirm that Valentine was still in deep conversation with Deimos, completely oblivious to Penny’s actions. Knowing she might only have seconds, Penny grabbed the handle of the door, gritted her teeth, and slipped inside.

  She shut the door behind her and spun to face the rest of the room, coming face to face with a dead eye and a slack expression. Penny gasped and leapt back, fear coursing through her. The man with the chain around his neck stood before her, still as a statue and unblinking.

  “I-I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to barge in here like this, I was―I was just―” Penny’s stream of frantic apologies slowed in bewilderment when the man made no movement whatsoever. His one organic eye had not so much as twitched. Penny caught her breath and took a quick look around the room. It was a simple sitting room with a mundane set of sofas and a small wardrobe in the corner, and a wide window on the far wall. Not seeing any sign of Annette, Penny crept toward the man, her body braced and ready to run.

  “Can you hear me at all?” she whispered, not sure if she expected him to answer. His skin was the color of ash and he had dirty, unkempt black hair. Penny noticed for the first time that he had no eyebrows and more of the glowing blue lines were traced in angular patterns on his face. His left arm was made of a strong but thin metal, ending in a razor sharp set of claws. Penny’s eyes wandered over his organic arm and she noted with shock that an eidolorbe hung from his motionless hand, the string woven around his fingers and wrist. With a start, she remembered Madam Elise had told her that this was the object that, if abused, could create a wraith.

  Horror exploded in her chest when she heard voices, hurried and low, approaching the door. The handle jiggled and without thinking she sprang across the room, threw the wardrobe door open with trembling hands, and dove inside.

  She shut the door to the wardrobe just in time. Penny put her back up against the wood, bracing her shoulders so they would not shake. Through the tiny hairline opening between the wardrobe doors, Penny watched Valentine tromp inside with Deimos and the group of whispering goblins Penny had seen earlier.

  “Hurry! Get inside!” Valentine hissed, gesturing for them to file in faster and closing the door with a snap. Deimos and Valentine faced each other, both looking edgy. There were three goblins; two awaited further orders, while the third went up to inspect the chained man just as Penny had done.

  “This is a strange human, isn’t it, Lorn?” the goblin commented in its native tongue.

  The goblin called Lorn gave the other one a smack on the head and snarled. “Don’t touch it, idiot. Can’t you see there’s something wrong? That’s obviously defiled magic,” he grunted back in Gobblish, eyeing Valentine with suspicion.

  “Shut it, all of you,” Deimos snapped at the goblins, his one good eye blazing.

  Lorn frowned, showing off his crooked, needle-like teeth. “Then let’s get on with what we came here to do. We’ve been standing around all night,” he responded. Deimos’s eye narrowed to a slit and he stalked out of Penny’s vision.

  “We’ll start soon enough,” Valentine cooed. “And all you have to do is stand around. That shouldn’t be hard too hard, even for a goblin.”

  The goblins shared a short, irate glance. During the long silence that followed, Penny could barely keep her terror contained. She was frantic to escape, to find Annette, but all she could do was force her breathing to stay quiet. When it began to seem as if Penny would be trapped there for an eternity, a loud rap sounded at the window and Penny almost jumped.

  “He’s here,” Penny heard Deimos’s stark voice, followed by hurried footsteps and the sliding of glass. Several more loud bangs and grunts trailed and then a hurried puffing of breath.

  “Sorry, brother. It took longer than expected. Everything proceeding well here?” It was Phobos’s voice, high and whiny.

  “Yes, but we’re cutting it close,” Deimos worried. There was a flurry of movement and all of them formed a ring in the middle of the room, sharing the same identical expression that was a cross between deliberation and dread. Phobos took up the chain that bound the chalky-faced man as Deimos started to speak.

  “All right now. This needs to go flawlessly, otherwise we’re all better off dead, understand? Phobos, you take Cyrus and the goblins to the hall, yes?” Deimos gave him a hard look as if to say something more than words could express. Phobos seemed to get the message and smiled.

  “Once you are ready…Valentine and I will grab the actress and bring her here. Phobos, you’ve got to get back quickly, understood?” Deimos ordered.

  Penny’s heart pumped with a mixture of fright and relief. Annette was still safe―but not for long. Deimos approached Phobos swiftly and whispered into his ear. Penny caught the word names and in an instant made the connection, the realization hittin
g her like lead bullets.

  Of course it’s them, of course they’re the ones making wraiths. Phobos obviously knows how to do it and they’re using that man…that thing…to help them. They called him Cyrus...Why couldn’t I have seen it before? He’s going to turn those goblins into wraiths…

  Phobos moved toward the door with the three goblins, jerking the chain around Cyrus’s neck, whose dead arms and legs shook into an unnatural, shuddering motion, his head lolling and bobbing as he moved. Penny wanted to jump out of the wardrobe screaming and warn the goblins, to try and stop the plan from going into motion, but she knew revealing herself would mean certain death. Time stretched by, second after agonizing second.

  “How will we know when?” Valentine breathed, looking tense. Deimos turned his head, the corners of his mouth twitching up into a malicious grin as a terrified scream pierced the air, audible even from within the wardrobe. Penny jumped, but Valentine and Deimos were too absorbed to notice. This first scream was followed by another, and another still, increasing until a cacophony of terrorized voices resonated throughout the entire palace.

  “Now!” Deimos commanded, pushing the door open and charging into the screaming mass of bodies with Valentine behind him. Penny kicked open the wardrobe door and caught a glimpse of people trying to escape the ballroom beyond. The lights were flickering now, adding to the catastrophic events. Penny could see strobing images of people getting knocked under the feet of the stampeding crowd and bursts of flame shooting from the dragon Farful’s mouth. She watched through the open door as the dragon rocketed off the balcony and away into the night. Witchy moans and screeches emanated from the hall at the end of the ballroom—sounds Penny recognized as the voices of wraiths.