Inherent Fate

by Geanna Culbertson

  Daniel put his sword back in its sheath. “I think you already know the answer to that. Besides, they’re my friends too. And we’re not going anywhere without them.”

  I nodded in agreement.

  “So what’s it going to be, princess?” Arian called down. “Nadia grows impatient.”

  I looked straight into his shadowed eyes.

  “We wouldn’t want to keep the queen waiting, would we?”

  ased on size alone, I figured my current transport had been intended to hold a goat. The ripe smell and the few animal hairs I discovered on the floor only confirmed the theory.

  As the carriage rolled along the sands of the Valley of Strife, I found myself wondering what had happened to him—the goat that was this crate’s previous passenger. Probably the same thing that was going to happen to me: slaughtered and then forgotten.

  Great. Something to look forward to.

  Fidgeting in my prison keep, my thoughts drifted to Daniel. His designated form of incarceration was likely no better than mine, but I couldn’t know for certain. He had been shoved into a different crate on a separate carriage.

  The opening at the rear of my crate had been bolted closed from the outside. My sole source of light and connection with the outer world was a small barred window behind me. It faced the passenger cabin of the carriage. The only thing I could see through the barred window was the back of Arian’s head.

  Talk about a room without a view.

  The ride across the desert was taking forever. I didn’t know how far away Nadia was located, but if she was the queen of Alderon, I figured we were headed for the kingdom’s capital. It was called Valor, if I remembered correctly.

  And yes, I did appreciate the irony of that.

  Between the wait, the cage, and the shackles on my hands, I was growing restless with the whole situation. My wand—still disguised—remained hidden beneath my shirt. But I wasn’t about to try and escape until Daniel and I found our friends, otherwise there wouldn’t have been a point to surrendering in the first place.

  Might as well try to make good use of the ride. And given my current options, that means irritating Arian as much as possible and maybe gathering some information from him.

  “I’m not sure if you realize this, Arian, but running from you can be a bit rough on the calves,” I said as I shifted to a position where I could better see his face. “If you had my friends, you could’ve just opened with that and saved us both a lot of cardio.”

  Arian gave me a bored glance. “Capturing you in the lamp was preferable because I thought we could better contain your magic that way. Luckily your ineptitude extends to that part of your life as well. You may have magic, but you have no idea how to use it, do you?”

  I didn’t respond.

  Arian huffed, amused, so I decided to wipe the smirk from his face.

  “Changing the subject,” I said. “Tell me something, Arian. I’ve been wondering . . . is shameless, barely competent, evil henchman like a day job for you? Or is it more of a full-time career?”

  This time he didn’t respond.

  “And how exactly did you get into this line of work?” I continued. “I mean, did you aspire to be the right hand man of a ruthless leader when you were a child? Or maybe you attended a special trade school for it like us princesses do. I bet that’s it, isn’t it? Hmm, I wonder what your curriculum must be like. ‘Immorality 101’? ‘Introductions to Arrogance and Arson’? Oh, I’ve got one! ‘Quit While You’re Ahead: A Beginner’s Guide to Knowing When You’re Beaten.’”

  “Do you ever shut up?” Arian scowled.

  Bingo. Bait accepted.

  “That’s not really my thing,” I went on obnoxiously. “So as I was saying, do you enjoy this profession? Does it have a lot of advancement opportunities? And how good are the benefits? I’ve been thinking about changing character archetypes myself, so I’d love to know—is villainy really its own reward? Or do you have dental?”

  “The rewards will come when my job is done,” Arian said flatly.

  “Well I guess that’s soon given that you’ve already got me.”

  Arian turned to look at me. His face was separated from my own by a mere six inches. Staring into his dark eyes at that proximity, I felt colder than when I’d been in that Stiltdegarth’s wintery death world at Fairy Godmother Headquarters.

  “You’re not the job, princess,” Arian responded. “Like I told you in the Forbidden Forest, you’re just a side issue that needed taking care of.”

  “Still, it’s gotta be pretty annoying having to chase someone all across the realm like that. You must be glad it’s almost over.”

  “I wish. Compared to the hunt to come, capturing you was barely a warm-up.”

  “That’s a bit of an exaggeration.” I pretended to be insulted. “I made you work to catch me. You’ve had to follow me through, like, five kingdoms and a ton of magical, unpredictable settings.”

  “That was child’s play. The Wonderlands are nothing but magical, unpredictable settings. Tracking down Paige Tomkins will be close to impossible, especially now,” Arian complained before he realized he was telling me more than he should.

  I raised my eyebrows. “You mean because I destroyed the magic mirror?”

  Everything had been happening so fast that I hadn’t had the time to properly think about the information I’d acquired about Arian and his mission. Now, with nowhere to go and nothing else to do, I finally started to process what it all meant.

  I’d known since the bunker in Century City that Arian’s band of antagonists wanted to eliminate the ex-Fairy Godmother called Paige Tomkins. She had been a friend of my godmother Emma and had been missing for some time. But it wasn’t until right then that I put two and two together.

  Targeting Paige was why Arian’s purple-hooded accomplice from my dreams had broken into the Treasure Archives at Lady Agnue’s. Arian had told me that they hadn’t originally meant to use the magic mirror from Beauty & the Beast nor Aladdin’s genie lamp on me; they were tools for capturing their “more important target.” And if that were Paige, I understood why.

  As I’d mentioned to Daniel, I’d learned from Harry the White Rabbit that the Wonderlands consisted of a lot of realms—Oz, Neverland, Limbo, and countless more. If Arian and his boss Nadia were targeting Paige and she was hiding somewhere in the Wonderlands, then locating her really would be close to impossible without the use of a magical aid like the mirror. Which meant that when I had shattered it on Adelaide I’d not only slowed them in their pursuit of me, I’d seriously hindered their hunt for her too.

  I’d also inadvertently helped protect Paige by getting rid of the genie lamp. Paige was a Fairy Godmother, which meant she was full of magic. That’s why Arian wanted the lamp in the first place. It was specifically designed to contain magical creatures. If he found her, he could just as easily trap her like he had me. But now that I’d thrown it in the lava, Arian could no longer capture the missing Godmother in this way. He would have to contain Paige by some other means.

  “The loss of the mirror was a setback,” Arian admitted after a long pause. “But we’ll still find our target regardless of what you’ve done. You certainly couldn’t hide forever, and neither can she.”

  “Maybe, but I’m guessing you’re gonna have a heck of a time catching her without that lamp, aren’t you?” I asked in an attempt to confirm my theory.

  He narrowed his eyes and glared at me, suddenly realizing that he may have told me too much. “I didn’t need it to catch you in the end.”

  “Maybe not.” I shrugged. “But keeping me in your grip . . . that’s a different story.”

  Arian studied my poker face through the bars of the window. The crescent scar I’d given him at the capital was hardening around his eye. A smirk appeared on his lips.

  “Such a brave little princess,” he mocked. “Here you are facing imminent doom and still you make-believe like you have a chance. I have to say, the lengths you’ll go to fool yours
elf and others really is remarkable.”

  I was not even remotely perturbed by his comment. Instead, I smiled. “You’d like to think so, wouldn’t you, Arian?” I said calmly. “You’d like to think that this is all some act for my benefit. Well, I have news for you. This ‘little princess’ isn’t pretending to be brave; she’s just being honest. I’m not beaten yet. Put me in your tiny cage, clamp on your giant shackles, do whatever else you’ve gotta do to make yourself feel better. But deep down, you and I both know I’m not so easy to contain.”

  “That kind of overconfidence can get a person killed, you know,” Arian scoffed.

  “Then it’s a good thing I’m already headed that way.”

  Arian shook his head in an amused manner that made me both annoyed and nervous. “You know what, Knight,” he said. “I’m glad you’ve got so much spirit. In fact, I hope you hold on to it.”

  “Oh yeah, and why’s that?” I asked.

  “Because believe me, you’ll need it when you find out what’s really coming for you.”

  didn’t mean to fall asleep. It’s not exactly a good idea to lose focus when the dude who’s been trying to kill you is only separated from your face by a few inches of metal. But sleep came nonetheless. Well past midnight, my crate was pitch black and I was incredibly tired. I drifted into dreamland without even realizing.

  Lena Lenore’s silhouette appeared. After a moment her features sharpened, as did the setting around her. The Godmother Supreme was sitting in her office and was dressed in a fitted, silvery pantsuit. Her flowing dark hair was partially pulled up in a half ponytail and her lipstick looked freshly applied.

  She leaned back in her chair. In her right hand was one of those compact mirrors with “Mark Two” engraved on the back. Her compact was bright silver; its sheen (like that of her outfit) created a glare. Lenore had the compact open toward her, so I couldn’t see whom she was talking to. But I did get a name.

  “Liza,” Lenore said. “I know she has Pure Magic. I’m not a fool. I just need you to confirm it so I can deal with her properly.”

  “Are you planning on dealing with her the same way you dealt with me?” the woman at the other end of the compact asked. The voice sounded kind of familiar but was warbled by static. I wasn’t sure if that was the compact’s fault or mine for not getting better dream reception.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Lenore responded. “You are an exception.”

  “She could be too.”

  “Please, you’ve met her. Defiant, headstrong, disrespectful—that girl’s heart was meant to turn dark even without the extra push. I will not humor her, or you, by pretending otherwise.”

  “Well, you’re going to have to for the time being,” Liza responded. “Because I’m not going to give you the confirmation you’re looking for. And without solid proof, you’ll have to leave her alone.”

  Lenore’s face sunk into an irritated glower. “Liza . . .”

  “Save your threats, Lena,” Liza interrupted. “You need me. And there’s nothing more you could possibly take away from me that wouldn’t backfire on you.”

  Lenore released a deep, frustrated breath. The sound was so bitter I imagined it would cause flowers to wilt.

  “Fine,” the Godmother Supreme responded. “Protect her if you want. It is only a matter of time before I have the proof I need. Then she goes to Alderon like the rest of them.”

  There was a pause.

  “Lena,” Liza said after a moment. Her voice was gentler, calmer, but still earnest. “You can’t do that. I told you what I’ve seen of her future. I read you her prologue prophecy. Sending her to Alderon won’t solve anything; it’ll only push her closer to the less desirable of her two Inherent Fates. I know you don’t want to believe it, but I think for all our sakes it would be wiser to bet on her than against her.”

  Lenore tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and looked seriously at the mirror. “Liza,” she said. “I don’t bet on wildcards.”

  A sudden bump in the road jarred me awake. I rubbed my eyes as I came to my senses. Tiny streams of light entered through hairline cracks in the crate. It was morning. I shuffled around awkwardly and managed to activate my Hole Tracker. The map I brought up did not display any holes in the area or any other useful information. I only knew we were on the far southeast side of Alderon.

  The carriage came to an abrupt stop. I hit my head on the side of the crate and quickly turned off my Hole Tracker. Outside I heard voices and the clattering of footsteps. The door of my cage snapped open.

  After riding in the confined darkness for so long, the sunlight burned my pupils. An arm abruptly reached out of the brightness and grabbed me by the collar. In one terse movement, I was yanked out of the crate and thrust onto the sand.

  I coughed from the sudden impact. Dry air hit my face and the warmth of the sun beat against my hair. The brightness overpowered my senses. I shuddered at the familiarity. This was the last of the visions I’d had the night Daniel and I spent in Germany’s Black Forest.

  Déjà vu.

  Or, I guess, Dreamjà vu.

  I felt a large hand on my shoulder. It pulled me to my feet. I staggered and rammed into the crate behind me as the guards snickered at my disorientation.

  The world was starting to come into focus. It took me a few more stiff blinks, but soon I was able to make out the surroundings. Once I did, I was nothing short of amazed.

  Valor, Alderon’s capital, was unlike any city I’d ever seen. The buildings were constructed of gleaming copper, dried tar, and glass. Stained glass to be exact. It was dark at its core, but I could see mutations of gold, black, crimson, and opaque silver depending on which way the light hit it. The palace, constructed of the same materials, loomed before me in all its grandeur.

  Such a castle had no precedent—its graceful malevolence was unparalleled. Each tower was sharpened to perfection, but the turrets were twisted like towels being wrung out to dry. The main door and balconies were the same rich copper color that edged the other buildings in the vicinity. The angle of the sun reflecting off the door made the entire front gleam, highlighting the colors in the stained glass.

  Honestly, had the city not been my designated point of execution, I would have liked to marvel at it a bit longer—the unique architecture demonstrated such an extraordinary equilibrium between hardened intimidation and complex beauty.

  Alas, sightseeing was not in the cards. I was shoved forward by another guard. Like all the others patrolling the area, he wore a black uniform with dragon-scale sleeves and a red insignia shaped like a phoenix on the chest plate. It was the same insignia embroidered on the flags waving from the castle’s towers and hanging above the grand door. These flags were deep red and the phoenixes a livid gold.

  At that point I noticed two things. Other guards were maneuvering my former prison transport next to the palace where a row of carriages was parked. They were empty, but several had mighty black stallions attached to them, ready for a quick departure.

  The other thing that got my attention was Daniel. He was getting out of his own prison crate. His escorts began steering him toward me. Relieved to know he was safe, my eyes drifted over the citizens of Alderon. There were many of them, this being the capital of the kingdom and all. Their faces were angry, their were eyes cold, and even their posture was crone-like.

  I didn’t know if it was something in the water, but everyone appeared to be afflicted by some kind of viral discontent. More unsettling was the fact that all their negative energy seemed to be converging solely on me. People (antagonists, as it were) had stopped in their tracks at the sight of my shackled person. They booed and hissed and stared daggers as the guards pushed me past them.

  Nice welcoming party. I guess they all saw Arian’s little newspaper post.

  The antagonists looked like they wanted to kill me. And I understood why. Protagonists were their enemies, but being trapped in this forsaken kingdom kept them from ever acting out any form of revenge. And he
re Daniel and I were on their turf, two main characters that they could finally channel all their animosity toward.

  In hindsight, it was surprising that at least one of them didn’t try to murder us on sight. The way they glared at us like a pair of defenseless minnows passing through a school of sharks certainly suggested that they wanted to.

  “Any thoughts on a plan yet, Knight?”

  I turned my head and found Daniel on my right. He and his escorts had caught up with me and mine. His hands were shackled and his sword had been taken from him. We entered the palace’s foyer side by side.

  “Plenty of thoughts,” I whispered. “But I wouldn’t exactly say any of them are plan-based. At least not—”

  “No talking,” one of the guards snapped.

  I rolled my eyes—a gesture that Daniel mimicked. Without calling further attention to myself I studied the palatial surroundings, memorizing every bit of the layout for tactical advantage.

  The interior of the palace featured bold tapestries, dozens of suits of armor, incredibly high ceilings, and the unstable glow of flickering chandeliers.

  You know, the usual.

  But beyond that, I noticed there was an additional thematic layer to the décor that was quite unique. I wasn’t sure whether it was more disturbing, distasteful, or morbid. However, deciding which adjective best suited the circumstance was not important. All three applied.

  While it was pretty commonplace to have one’s palace decorated with tapestries, statues, and other fine artwork, the ones in this place were of a dark nature. The pictures woven into the tapestries, for instance, depicted grotesque scenes of witches, monsters, and dark knights violently assassinating their prey. Meanwhile, display pedestals featured miniaturized models of various demon species, including ogres, Magistrakes, and other creatures I didn’t recognize.

  The base of each onyx candelabra was crooked like the nose of a hag. The suits of armor appeared to have aged bloodstains on them. The most benign decorations were the life-size bronze animal statues that lined every corridor like a petrified zoo.