The Gargoyle Gets His Girl

by Kristen Painter

  Willa put her hand on his arm. “Nick, remember we’re joining them. Let’s not antagonize.”

  He nodded, understanding it was all part of her plan. Whatever it was, he was willing to trust her. They started moving. He paid close attention to their surroundings, keeping a map in his head in case they had to return this way. They were headed down, which wasn’t the way they’d arrived. Perhaps they were going through the mountain. The hall was wide and well ornamented, and plenty of fae passed them, staring at them with great curiosity.

  Willa ignored all of them, holding her head up in a good imitation of Kyanna’s posture. Whatever she was playing at, it was very convincing.

  The downward grade leveled off and, after fifty yards, started a gentle slope up. After a few more yards, they went through a set of double doors and out into a courtyard. Nick squinted against the sudden brightness of the sun.

  And realized they were standing outside of the castle.

  “Keep moving,” one of the guards behind him growled.

  Willa turned and pinned the guard with a look. “Watch your tone. I am not only a citizen of the realm but the eldest sister of the All Seer and about to become her right hand. You don’t want to make an enemy of me, understood?”

  The guard gave a short nod. “Yes, my lady.”

  “I expect that courtesy be extended to my personal guard as well.” She rested her hand on Nick’s shoulder, giving it a quick squeeze.

  Nick dug his fingernails into his palm to keep from grinning.

  Willa shifted her attention back to the castle and started moving toward it like she knew where she was going. Maybe she did.

  Nick fell into step beside her, wishing he could tell her how impressive she was, but he didn’t want to undermine whatever it was she was setting up. If he was supposed to be the dutiful personal guard, controlled by her lapidus powers, he could do that.

  Especially because it was pretty much the truth.

  Willa hadn’t been in the castle since her seventh birthday, after she’d been tested and discovered to be lapidus. She’d been presented to the court and her life pledged to serve it. Gifted to the court was the common phrasing, but really she realized now that was a nice way to say her parents had done what was required of them.

  She understood they’d had no choice. There would have been some kind of punishment if they hadn’t. But once the testing was done, there was no hiding who she was. The choice of presenting her to the court or not was out of their hands at that point.

  How had Shay made it through the testing undiscovered? Their parents must have coached Shay on what not to do and how not to react. It couldn’t have been easy. Not to mention the risk if they’d been discovered.

  That sacrifice only added to her turmoil about them.

  She glanced over at Nick. His words had gone a long way toward softening her feelings about her parents, and the realization that they may have been unable to help her made an impact, too. Forgiving them wouldn’t be the easiest thing, but she was getting there. Especially as the bulk of her anger was now focused on Kyanna and her greedy plans. Still, Willa couldn’t think about her parents without feeling sad and disappointed. She wasn’t sure those emotions would ever go away.

  The great hall opened before them. It was just as grand as Willa remembered. Its gilded ceiling still glowed with the soft aura of the gold and silver leaf covering it in a pattern of tiny, painstakingly applied squares. Tall arching windows held a multitude of precious stones set among the crystal panes of glass. They spilled streams of clear and colored light onto the long rows of polished bleached wood benches and tables.

  Chandeliers of crystal and mixed metals hung at regular intervals leading up to the king’s dais. Throughout the space, workers cleaned, while other fae gathered in small groups to talk. Children ran through, playing games. The great hall was open to all, except when closed by the king’s decree for special events.

  Nick didn’t seem to be paying much attention to anything but what was directly in front of them.

  The king’s throne was empty as expected, but Zane lounged on the edge of the platform like he’d been sitting there for hours waiting on them. He waved away a serving girl with a tray of drinks as they approached. “Took you long enough.”

  “It took us exactly as long as it needed to.” She was done with her brother’s attitude. Nick came to a stop beside her. “Where’s Kyanna?”

  “Waiting for you in the king’s private quarters.” He stood. His frown seemed permanently affixed, but then Willa was about to take his place, wasn’t she? And she might not be more powerful than Kyanna, but she was definitely more powerful than Zane.

  “Let’s go then. I’m ready to do this.”

  His frown flattened into a thin hard line. Had he expected her to change her mind? He lifted a finger at Nick. “The gargoyle stays here.”

  “Like hell he does.”

  Zane sighed indifferently. “Whatever.”

  He started walking toward the far end of the hall and an entrance protected by more guards. She and Nick kept pace with him. “You don’t seem pleased with my decision.”

  He turned to look at her. “Should I be?”

  “We’re family, aren’t we? Or doesn’t that matter to you?” She suspected she already knew the answer.

  He snorted out a breath. “Of course it matters, but you might as well be a stranger to me. I never knew you growing up. Just the shadow of you. You were always Willa, the one who ran. And now here you are, the prodigal child returned home to—”

  “The prodigal son came home on his own.” She glared at him. “You kidnapped me.”

  “So you wouldn’t be here any other way?”

  She glanced back at Nick. He shook his head, confirming her thoughts that answering that question truthfully would do her no good. She chose another route. One that could test his loyalty to Kyanna. “Aren’t you upset that I’m about to replace you as Kyanna’s right hand?”

  He laughed. “You’ll never really replace me.”

  She pushed harder. “I’m sure you’ll always have some kind of job in the kingdom, I just thought—”

  He spun around, eyes glinting with anger. “Why do you want to join us? Don’t you have a life worth fighting for back in that crazy human town of yours?”

  “I do. But this is such an…interesting opportunity.”

  With a snarl, he stopped at the doors and jerked his head at the guards. They opened the way and stepped back. Zane went through, Willa at this side and Nick behind her.

  She glanced at her brother. “Don’t pretend like Kyanna would have just let us go if I’d refused.”

  He nodded but didn’t look at her, his gaze straight ahead and icy. “I won’t. Because she wouldn’t have. Kyanna gets what Kyanna wants.”

  “And so here we all are.” It occurred to her that Zane was not a hundred percent happy with his place in court and that chink might be widened. Maybe not soon enough, however.

  “Indeed.” He smiled, but it seemed forced. “And isn’t life grand?”

  She didn’t answer, just kept walking. The hall they were in was much quieter, and perfumed with sweet smoke and flowers. The stone was carved into intricate patterns with more gold leafing and gemstones set like mosaics. She trailed her fingers along one wall and picked up a scattering of emotions: happiness, misery, pride, duty, complacency, love and hate. All jumbled together and all fitting, considering where they were.

  She dropped her hand from the wall, the onslaught of so many feelings unsettling her. She didn’t need help in that department.

  The king and his court traveled this hall. And now she was walking it. Headed toward one of the most dangerous decisions she’d ever made outside of running away all those years ago. At least this time, she had Nick at her side. Hopefully, this decision would also lead to freedom. For her and Nick. And Shay and their parents.

  The hall joined another, and they went right, past a second set of guards who nodded at Zane. Roya
l purple silk carpet spooled down the length and led to another pair of double doors with a third set of guards. These doors were burnished silver trimmed in gold with carved amethyst handles. At the side hung a small bell of pure crystal on a braid of violet silk cord.

  The guards were dressed to match in purple and gold with crystal buttons.

  The king’s personal guard outside his personal chambers.

  Her pulse kicked up a beat, urging her to turn and run. She hated confrontation. Hated the way her mouth went dry and her knees weak. But there was no way out of this situation except forward. The direction she was facing. She reached out, gave Nick’s hand a quick squeeze. He squeezed back, reassuring her.

  Zane jangled the bell.

  A servant girl answered the door a second later, like she’d been waiting. She bowed and ushered them in.

  Kyanna stood beside the king’s chair, a massive ornamented seat three times the size of the man sitting in it. King Edwyrd looked much older than Willa remembered, but then she’d only seen him once, when she’d been presented. He was gaunt and pale with illness, but sat straight and stiff on his chair.

  Her parents stood several paces back and to the side of Kyanna. At the same distance on the other side were the king’s people. A steward, the king’s master at arms and his personal counsel. Their eyes held the kind of appraising gazes that said they didn’t much care for any of this. Perhaps they disagreed with Kyanna. If that was true, Willa might find allies amongst them.

  She fixed her gaze on the floor and bowed her head. “Your Highness.”

  “Willa Iscovian. Sister to my All Seer.”

  Willa straightened at his acknowledgment. It wasn’t a question, but she nodded anyway. “Yes.”

  “Lapidus,” he whispered. Then he lifted a hand to point at her. “I remember you. You were presented to the court, but…”

  He either didn’t remember the details of her disappearance or was offering her a kindness. She didn’t want or need it. “I ran away.”

  He nodded, mouth pursed and drawing lines in from his cheeks. “Yes.”

  “But I’ve been summoned back and asked to join my sister and brother in service to the kingdom.” No telling how much the king knew about her arrival here. She was guessing not much.

  His pale gray eyes brightened. “And you’ve decided to join them. That’s very good. It means you will become the next All Seer when your sister becomes queen.”

  Sorrow dimmed the brightness in his eyes. “I have no children who can wear this crown as I’m sure you know.”

  “Yes, Your Highness. My sympathies. However, I’ve come before you for a slightly different reason than becoming my sister’s All Seer.”

  She took a breath, the moment of her decision upon her quicker than she’d anticipated. Details presented themselves individually as time slowed. Kyanna’s nearly blinding smile faltered, while Zane’s frown deepened. Her parents leaned forward, eyes clouded with concern. Somewhere in the gardens beyond the king’s chambers, birds sang and insects buzzed and the fae kingdom was as unchanged as the day she’d left.

  Willa lifted her chin, her body numb and alive at the same time. “I have decided to challenge Kyanna for queen.”

  Nick’s military training kept him from reacting to Willa’s announcement. At least on the outside. On the inside, he was losing it.

  His gut instinct was to shift, grab her and fly them the hell out of there, but they’d have to get past a lot of guards who would try to stop them and running wouldn’t do anything to protect Shay.

  Plus, he’d told Willa that he trusted her, and acting against her wishes would be a violation of that trust.

  So he did nothing but stand there and watch, because it was clear Kyanna and Zane did not have the benefit of his training.

  Zane had begun laughing uncontrollably while Kyanna looked like the top of her head might blow off in a cloud of steam and spite.

  The king seemed oblivious to the machinations going on around him, then proved Nick’s theory true by clapping and nodding his head. “Very good. It’s been too long since we’ve had a challenge. And between two lapidus! Excellent.”

  Willa’s back was ramrod straight, and her hands were at her sides. The slightest tremble shook them, so subtle he doubted anyone else had seen it. She was nervous, but controlling it. “Thank you, Your Highness. I look forward to it.”

  “Yes, yes, very good.” He nodded some more, and his burst of good cheer diminished the pallor of illness surrounding him.

  “No, it’s-it’s not good,” Kyanna sputtered. “She isn’t a citizen in good standing.”

  The king turned, his hand gripping the arms of his enormous chair with such force his knuckles had gone white. “She came back to the kingdom of her own free will.”

  “Yes, Kyanna.” Willa’s voice held a clear challenge. “That proves my heart is in the right place and if that’s enough for the king, then it should be enough for everyone.”

  Kyanna fumed, but she didn’t reveal the truth, so obviously, kidnapping Willa and forcing her to return would not have played well with the king. Nick smiled. Willa was brilliant. He couldn’t figure out her end game, but so far he’d put her in the lead.

  Kyanna huffed out a breath, her jaw tight with anger. “Yes, I suppose it should be.”

  The king clapped again. “It’s settled then. The challenge will take place tomorrow in the great hall.” He gestured to one of the fae who’d been standing near the back of the room. An older man with patrician features and purple trimming on his clothes. The king’s right-hand man, whatever that position was called. “Gerard, arrange this challenge.”

  Gerard bowed. “Yes, Your Highness. With pleasure.”

  The king’s smile faded as tiredness slumped his shoulders. “I must rest, but I shall see you both at noon in the great hall. I look forward to it.” He paused and looked at Willa. “You have a place to stay, I assume?”

  She nodded. “With my parents, Your Highness.”

  “Very good.” He raised a hand and dismissed the audience before him.

  Willa bowed and stepped back, putting herself even with Nick. Before she could say anything, he grabbed her hand. “You sure about this?”

  “The challenge?”

  “That and staying with your parents.” Jarrel and Melinna moved toward them, looking slightly shell shocked.

  She turned to look at them and nodded. “They want to help me? Then they’ll go along and put us up for the night. Because we’re not spending another second in that dungeon.”

  As if sensing they were no longer required, the guards who’d surrounded Nick and Willa on their trek up from the bowels of the kingdom suddenly dispersed. Willa’s parents took the guards’ place, herding Nick and Willa out the door and down the hall.

  They were silent but curiously happy, greeting everyone they passed with bright smiles and nods of their heads. That strangeness held until the four of them were through the courtyard and inside her parents’ house, one in the very first circle of homes surrounding the castle. It proved their status as parents of the All Seer and was almost as nicely appointed as the castle had been.

  “I see you’ve moved,” Willa said. She looked around the home. “Does this mean you’re in Kyanna’s pocket after all?”

  “No,” her father said as he shut the door. “But she wants us close.”

  Nick glanced around. Stairs led to higher and lower levels. “How secure is this place then?”

  “You mean are we being monitored?” Jarrel asked. “Kyanna’s power doesn’t extend that far.”

  “That you know about,” Nick replied.

  Willa looked around. “Since my parents haven’t challenged Kyanna yet, she has no reason to be suspicious of them. I doubt she’s monitoring them at home. I’m sure we’re safe here.” She shrugged. “At the least we’ll be able to get a decent night’s sleep.”

  Her mother made a noise that sounded like disapproval.

  Willa shook her head and looked
at Melinna. “You said you wanted to help. You allowed us to come back here with you.”

  “We do want to help.” She glanced at Nick. At the bracelet on his wrist. “It’s just that…Jarrel.” Melinna shot him a look.

  Jarrel started toward Nick. “Of course we want to help. We can start by getting that bracelet off you, son.”

  Nick kept his arm firmly at his side. It was a kind offer, but Willa had a plan and Nick didn’t want to deviate from it. “No, it’s Willa’s. It stays on.”

  Willa opened her mouth to say something, but Shay’s cry of joy interrupted her.

  “Willa! You’re here!” She ran to Willa and hugged her, then peered around Willa’s body to look at Nick. She blinked up at him. “Hello.”

  He nodded at her. “Hello, Shay.”

  She looked up at Willa. “Is he your boyfriend?”

  Willa’s grin lit up the room as she glanced at Nick. “Yes, he is.”

  Melinna sucked in a breath and Jarrel cleared his throat.

  Nick grinned back. He knew they were a long way from home, and a long way from being safe, but at that moment, none of it mattered so much as Willa’s claiming him.

  Shay’s gaze returned to Nick. “Are you going to marry my sister?”

  He snorted, half because of her question and half because of the stunned expression on Willa’s face. “We’ll talk about that later.”

  “Shay,” Melinna said sternly. “Enough questions for now. Is your reading done?”

  Shay’s lids fluttered with consternation. “No.”

  “Please go to your room and finish it.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” With an exasperated sigh, Shay went.

  Melinna watched the child go, then wrung her hands together and looked back at Willa and Nick. “I imagine you’re both hungry after being in the dungeon.”

  “Starving,” Willa answered.

  “I could eat,” Nick said. And he and Willa needed to if they were going to have enough strength to deal with whatever came next.

  Melinna nodded. “I’ll have a meal together shortly, then you can both rest. Tomorrow’s challenge will be draining. Willa, come help me in the kitchen.”