Palace of Moonlight

by Payton Taylor

  The princess who now stood dutifully behind her future husband, her eyes dulled with grief as she stared at the wall across from her.

  The king leaned back in his chair, a pleased smirk on his face. "For all the trouble that savage Airoldi was worth, at least he knew how to train an army."

  Behind him, Leo watched Noelani's throat bob, the only indication that the king's words stirred any emotion within her.

  She still cares for him. She’s a talented actress, but it’s still there.

  Leo's attention was drawn back to the present as Azmodeous stood. "Cerise, call the council members here to my study, I have an announcement to make. Oh, and

  Cassavant," he said, almost as if it was an afterthought, "retrieve Josephine, will you?"

  Leo tensed. He wanted to protest, but that would only draw more attention to himself. Behind the king, Noelani's eyes narrowed. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Leo set off to the princess' chambers.

  As he walked, a state of mild panic set in. He'd avoided Jo as much as possible since she'd accused him of betraying them. Every time he saw her, he remembered the accusation in her eyes and blood on his hands. Every time she saw him, she seemed to have an internal debate over whether to ignore him or murder him on the spot.

  As he walked along the corridors, his footsteps failing to echo off the marble walls and floor, an inner battle raged as he struggled to decide whether or not he should try to explain himself to her. Again. He'd tried several times during the first month after her failed escape attempt to explain.

  He'd tried to explain that it was his fault, but not for the reasons that everyone thought. He'd tried to explain that one of his spiders had been compromised. He'd tried to explain the measures he'd had to take to keep the traitor quiet.

  He'd tried to explain that he'd wanted her to succeed.

  But no one would believe the Shadow.

  His Gift was good for trickery, and that's what people saw him as. A trickster. A liar. No more appealing than the spiders he had been nicknamed for.

  He wanted her to know. He wanted her to believe in him. He wanted her trust.

  She called me her friend.

  Friend. It wasn't a word he was used to.

  For reasons unknown to him, her opinion mattered.

  He wasn't sure why the opinion of a ragtag lost princess mattered to him. Wasn't sure why her disapproving blue eyes were the last image his mind conjured every night before he fell into a fitful sleep.

  He arrived at her door. He had half a foot through the wall before he stopped. She probably wouldn't appreciate his coming in through the wall without knocking anymore.

  Taking a deep breath, he knocked.

  A moment passed before she opened it. When she saw him, her eyes widened, and she took a quick step back.

  Their gazes locked and held. And held. And held. Before she finally cleared her throat and said,

  "What are you doing here?"

  It was the first time she had spoken to him in weeks. She clearly wasn't happy about it, judging by the frown that pulled at her lips.

  Leo couldn't help but take her in. Her long-sleeved, dove grey gown that matched the bags under her eyes. Her dark curls, falling loose over her shoulders. Shoulders that straightened when he looked at them, as if that could stop him from seeing that they were thinner. She was still losing weight. Leo frowned at that before meeting her gaze.

  "The king sent me to get you," he replied before rolling his eyes. "He has an announcement."

  Before, she would have laughed but now she just stared at him like he was some mildly annoying insect.

  "Fine, let's go." With that, she brushed past him and started off down the hall.

  Leo looked to the ceiling and took a deep breath before hurrying after her. An awkward silence ensued as they walked side by side.

  Just say it, he thought to himself.

  "One of my spiders betrayed me," he blurted.

  Now it was Jo who looked to the ceiling, "Oh gods, not this again."

  Leo paused and gently grabbed her satin covered elbow, causing her to stop and turn to face him. She yanked her arm back with a glower.

  "I'm not lying, Seph," he stopped to frown as she muttered a derisive please before plowing forward. "While I was in the king's study looking for Zoe's blood, one of my spiders came in and stabbed me in the back. Literally. He was supposed to be taking care of the Quellers, but instead, he told me he was going to tell the king our plan. I had to stop him, and in our fight, I killed him." Leo looked down. He hadn't wanted to kill him. "I had to get him out of the palace before someone saw."

  Jo was staring at him intently, scanning his face for any sign of deceit. "If you killed him before he could tell the king, then how did Azmodeous still find out about our plan?"

  He ran a hand through his hair in frustration, tugging at the ends. "I don't know!" he growled. "It's been eating me up. Maybe the traitor had a partner, or maybe Noelani and Airoldi's mind shields weren't strong enough and he sensed them. All I know is that I hate not knowing."

  She regarded him quietly before saying, "Show me."

  Leo stiffened, "Show you what?" he asked, though he already knew.

  "The memory. If you want me to believe you're not lying, let me in and show me that night."

  He dragged a hand down his face, "Seph, I-I can't. I can't do that."

  Her face hardened. "Can't or won't?" He sighed. "Won't," he said, voice final.

  "Liar," she spat, "coward. You're a coward, Leo Cassavant. You know, when it comes down to it, you're going to have to pick a side, and I'm afraid you're going to pick the easy side, the safe side. Because when the lines are drawn and the sides are clearly marked, you're a coward, Leo. Maybe you always have been." She was breathing heavily when she finished.

  She didn't believe him. Why had he ever thought she would?

  Leo straightened his jacket and smiled a patronizing smile. "Feel better, Princess?"

  Scoffing, she turned on her heel and stormed away. For a moment, Leo could only watch.

  She doesn’t believe me.

  He debated running after her, demanding she listen to the truth. For some strange reason he wanted-no needed-her to believe him.

  Instead, he let out a resigned sigh and followed slowly after her.

  When he arrived at the king's study, she was already inside, bowing her head and murmuring a demure, "mother," to her sister.

  All of Ettria was talking about it, the king's claims that Eleyna was there, back from the dead. Months ago, when he'd announced Jo as his heir, Azmodeous had told everyone that her mother was dead. Then, after he'd captured Noelani, he'd made another joyful declaration, this time rejoicing in the fact that Eleyna wasn't dead after all.

  No one believed it. Or, at least, not many people did.

  If they did, it was because they didn't know enough about Eleyna and Ettria's history to know the difference. But the Ettrians knew better than to question their king, and anyone who had even thought of questioning his delusion had been killed in cold blood.

  Leo never wanted to find a place to dispose of a body ever again.

  Leo still wasn't sure what to make of the king referring to Noelani as Eleyna. He wondered if Azmodeous truly believed that she was her mother, if he'd actually strayed that far from sanity. Or, if there was a part of him, deep down, that knew that Noelani was not Eleyna, was not the woman Azmodeous had supposedly loved. If it was all an act, the Dark King had a future on screen, because he had everyone who knew the truth believing in his insanity.

  The rest of the council had arrived and Azmodeous stood, clearing his throat, "I'm glad you're all here, as we have an announcement to make." He turned and held a hand out to Noelani-Sunny, Jo called her-who smiled politely and stepped forward to take it.

  Smiling a tight, closed-lipped smile, he continued, "As you all know, we've been planning our Match ceremony for quite some time. I finally have everything I need, and the timing is right, and I am happy to a
nnounce that the ceremony will be held at the next full moon."

  Leo blinked in surprise. He hadn't thought it would be so soon. Not to mention, he'd thought the king would tell him.

  He looked to Jo. She smiled sweetly and clapped excitedly. But her eyes were steely.

  She already knew.

  The room broke into a series of congratulations, which the king accepted with grace and gratitude.

  Renier stepped forward wearing a too-bright smile.

  Ever since the incident with Jo, he'd been much too eager

  to please. He laughed and put a hand on the king's shoulder, the two stumps of the fingers he'd been forced to cut off hanging black and dead.

  "I'm looking forward to the ceremony, Your Majesty," Renier said, his weasel-like mouth twitching, "though I'm sure I'm not looking forward to it as much as you are, especially the night of." He gave a suggestive wink before sliding his eyes toward Noelani.

  The king laughed and there was something in his eye, some gleam of foreboding, that had Leo tensing.

  "Yes, of course I am looking forward to our wedding night. I have a feeling that ours will be more special than most. It is the most important part, after all."

  At his remark, Noelani's face went deathly white and her eyes flew to her sister, who looked equally horrified.

  He was actually planning to-Leo felt sick. Of course he was. His heart began pounding and across the room, Cerise's laughter sounded too loud, as if it were inside his head.

  He began backing toward the door. He had to get out of there.

  Once outside, he leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. Turning invisible, he slid down the wall, putting his head between his knees.

  It threatened to overtake him. The panic. The pure, undiluted terror.

  He could feel his every heartbeat in precise detail, the exact amount his heart expanded and compressed with every rapid thump. He put his head in his hands and his sweat seeped into his palms.

  He could still hear the dull sounds of the meeting still going on in the king's study. The muffled voices and laughter sounded cruel in his hot, sensitive ears.

  His mind circled around the thought of Noelani, bending to the king's will, fulfilling his every fantasy with her mind and body as if she had no choice. Because she wouldn't.

  When it came to Murmurs, there was never a choice. There was only their wants, their needs, their whims, and their victims minds, too unprotected and too easily manipulated.

  Leo had no doubt that Noelani was strong, as strong as Jo even, but Azmodeous was ruthless. He wouldn't be stopped by pleading or appeals to any shred of conscience he had left. Leo had seen it all too many times to count.

  Once Azmodeous got his claws in her, she wouldn't stand a chance.

  *****

  That night, long after even the most committed night owls had fallen asleep, Leo made a call. He had something to do, something important, but first, he needed to make sure his affairs were in order.

  He placed his earpiece in his ear. He preferred to make calls like this as private as possible, no holographs projecting images of people with eyes he would be forced to look into. Too personal. Much too personal.

  His call was answered with the sound of chewing before the person, their mouth obviously half-full of food, spoke. "You just can't get enough of me, can you, boss?"

  Leo's lips quirked in a smile, "The day I get enough of my favorite spider is the day they send my soul to Agares."

  There was the sound of swallowing followed by a derisive snort. "You only say that when you want something. Come on, boss, where's the romance?"

  "I'm sorry, I don't have time for our usual banter tonight, Elara," he told her.

  Elara Black was his hacker, the one he relied on for anything technological. She preferred the title "All-Seeing Eye."

  He'd come across her years ago, a hacker with skills so advanced, so smooth, that Leo knew he needed her on his team. She hadn't come cheap, but he was willing to pay her whatever she wanted as long as it kept her on his side.

  "Sounds serious. Whatcha need, boss?"

  "I need to check on our Pocaean package." "Sure thing," the sound of a wrapper opening paused, and he could see her there in his mind's eye, surrounded by the circular holo screen that circled the perimeter of her office. The way the screen would light up with words and images, her hands typing and swiping them away too quickly for him to read as she accessed what he needed her to.

  "Alright, I'm patching you through. You have two minutes."

  The line shut off before he could thank her to be interrupted by a dull beeping. A moment later another voice filled the line, this one deeper and slower than Elara's rapid chirping.

  "Have you heard anything?"

  "Nothing yet," he told Westin's mother.

  Westin had asked him to relocate his family before his and Noelani's attempt to help Jo escape the palace. He'd wanted them to be safe in case anything happened to him because he knew that the first place Azmodeous would look for him was through them.

  So, Leo had hid them deep in the Pocaean mountains, the place his mother used to call home. He had spiders guarding the safe house day and night and Leo only contacted the Airoldis' every few weeks to check in. The calls were short, routed through half a million different servers to make them untraceable. Elara had rigged it so they lasted two minutes before the line self-destructed, destroying every trace of its own existence.

  Genius. She was a genius.

  Leo liked to think that he was also a genius for hiring her.

  Rowahn and Philip, her husband, each always answered his calls the same way: by asking if there was any news of their son. It had been months-eight months to be exact-and Leo's throat ached a little more each time he had to hear their voices and then tell them that he still had no clue where their son was.

  "Oh. I see." Her voice instantly dimmed, the hope that surged with each call briefly extinguished.

  "How are you? Do you need anything?"

  "No no, sweet boy. We're perfectly comfortable here. The only thing missing is. . ."

  "Is him," Leo finished. Westin. His throat felt tight. "Listen, I don't have much time. I may be going away soon.

  I'm hoping that things work in my favor and I'll still be able to contact you. But if I don't, I need you to know that it doesn't mean I've stopped looking."

  When Rowahn spoke again her voice was pitched low and urgent, "What do you mean 'going away'? Just where are you going? Is it dangerous? I won't have you out there risking your life for something foolish, son."

  Leo almost smiled at the worry in her voice. An image of Jo and Noelani's frightened faces entered his mind as he said, "Foolish it may be, but it's also necessary. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I just wanted to warn you that I may not be in contact as often."

  "Whatever it is you're doing, be careful." Rowahn paused a moment before saying, "The world, no, Ettria, needs more people like you, Leo."

  The line cut off before Leo could reply. Before he could tell her she obviously had no idea who she was talking to.

  He stared at the too-bright screen of his contact for a moment before removing his earpiece. He wondered if Airoldi knew how lucky he was when it came to family.

  Wondered if the general would ever see the people who obviously loved him so much ever again.

  He looked around his rooms. At the dark walls and black, marble floors. The ridiculous amount of pillows on his low, round bed. His clothes, strewn about the place with no indication of what was clean or dirty. His desk, full of false files and reports in case anyone decided to snoop. His vanity, cluttered with jewelry and bottles of cologne. His large black, marble tub set into the floor in the corner of the room. And that was just his bedroom, he cringed to think of the mess he'd left in the privy and his small kitchenette.

  These were the rooms he had occupied since coming to live at the palace after his parent's deaths. It had seemed like too much effort to maintain his family home and also
work with the king, so he had closed up his father's house in favor of the convenience a palace suite offered. He had thought of the palace as his home for the past few decades. Had come to find some modicum of peace, at least when he was surrounded by these four walls.

  But as he thought about it, he realized that the palace had never truly felt like home. It had never brought him the comfort and peace of mind that his family home had inspired during his childhood. Sure, his father's estate hadn't been a land of love and laughter, but it had been safe. Leo hadn't felt safe in a very long time.

  And tonight was no different.

  Not as he made his way invisibly through the palace, his footsteps as silent as a ghost.

  No, the Ettrian Palace hadn't been designed for comfort that was for sure. It was a place where art and terror coexisted in tumultuous accord. It was designed to inspire awe and fear, and the two mixed together in an unsettling way.

  Marble archways topped with ancient stone creatures. Tile mosaics that seemed beautiful at first glance but became increasingly wrong the more he stared at them.

  At last, he found himself outside of the king's study. He didn't know how many hours he had spent in that study, perched in the rafters, listening to Azmodeous scheme.

  Doing nothing as he tortured his citizens, both body and mind. Leo had only watched, a passive spectator to the king's atrocities. There was nothing he could do to stop Azmodeous. Nothing he could say, no lies he could tell to make the Dark King halt in his cruel endeavors.

  Leo swore as he realized Jo was right. He was a coward.

  He had stood by for decades, a servant to a tyrant king. He had scoffed at people like Airoldi, people controlled by the king against their will, as if he was somehow better for knowing something they didn't. For being aware of the king's cruelty, even as he went along with it, waiting for someone else to see it, too.

  Yes, he knew what the king really was. Knew the lies and manipulation that were the foundation of his reign. But he had done nothing with that knowledge other than use it to protect his own self-interest. He told himself it was the smart thing to do, sitting up there, doing nothing.

  Leo gritted his teeth and entered the Dark King's study. Tonight, he wouldn't do nothing. Not anymore.