Gods of Shadow and Flame

by M. H. Johnson

"Put them on," she demanded, words cool as ice. "You will feel their prick, their pain serving as a constant reminder, and a connection. So long as you wear them, you will be connected to me, and I to you. No arrow will find its mark, should enemies approach you. No woodland path shall be hidden from you, and no tree will hesitate to give you shelter or sustenance." She took a deep breath. "I will maintain it as best I can. It should last at the very least until you are all safely ensconced back in the walls of your capital, with your artifact in hand. May it protect your land and those you love from the ravages of war to come, and may your ruler have the grace to show mercy and forbearance to those he would oppose in turn.”

  Jess gazed at the speechless trio. “Night falls, and even now the moonlit bridge forms once more. Go the way you came. You shall be safe, I promise you. This night presages many great and terrible things, and your gambit is but one of many. The royal cavalry will have far more important things to tend to than worrying about a few noble souls wishing a peaceful moonlit walk. Your rings will guide you to your ivy exit, packs waiting, and the shelter of the woods beyond.”

  Dumbstruck, Rulia raced toward Jess, unable to help herself. “Jess, please, don’t let it end like this! I beg of you, come with us. You would be a hero to us. Come with me! For gods’ sakes, you don’t have to stay here!” Rulia blinked back fierce tears. “Angels above, Jess. Don’t leave me again, so soon after I found you!” She couldn’t hold back the sob of regret wracking through her as she gazed into the eyes of the girl she loved. “Please, Jess. I know you feel about me the way I do you, else why would you have done so much to help me, to save me, to save my country?!”

  "No! Back away!" Jess's cry was desperate, and Rulia couldn't help but respond, her heart freezing her in her tracks.

  Jess smiled through her own bitter tears. "Oh gods, Rulia. I love you too. But that shield spells my doom. I can feel it from here. If I go with you, somehow, some way, that shield will be my end. As long as I stay here, as long as I keep my distance from it, I am safe."

  Rulia shook her head sadly, grimacing at the terrible irony of it all. “Angels above. Just like a faerie tale.”

  Jess laughed in bitter commiseration. “Just so, my love. The cost of our prize is our hearts, the love we could share.” Her gaze became one of tender affection and complete understanding. “I understand, dearest Rulia. And please, no need to look at a moonlit sky and pine for what could have been. This goes far beyond an angel's voice for the loss of sight, or being able to bargain for anything you need, save a lover's heart. You have a kingdom to save, and all her people. Let go of me. Forget me. If this is the cost of the Faerie Queen’s gift, if our sacrifice will repair the gateway to Faerie that I sense has already been closed too long, it is a choice well made. A price well paid.”

  Jess's gentle smile pierced Rulia's soul. “Take the shield, Rulia. Save your people.”

  Rulia fell to her knees, feeling the tears flow. “Oh gods, Jess. I want to hold you with my all my heart! To hell with this shield.”

  Jess's hand reached out, as if to stroke her lover's brow one last time. “I am sorry, my dear sweet Rulia. But we both know we must say our final farewells, or never have the strength to part again.”

  With that, Jess blew a tender kiss, the rose petals alive once more and sailing through the air, a magical rose soon forming, made out of crystalline moonlight and petals of sapphire and gold. Julien's awe-filled gasp could be heard throughout the vast arboreal cathedral. "What a wonder!"

  Rulia closed her eyes upon bitter tears, smiling bravely only for Jess, Kissing the rose and gazing at the woman she loved with all her heart, and must forever let go.

  “Farewell, Jess. I will hold you close in my dreams, I swear it.”

  Jess’s tender gaze met her own. “Farewell, my love. May the rings guide you safely home.”

  And the rose petals swirled in a mad profusion of color once more, the air alight with the honey-sweet perfume of love and loss only to settle moments later, Jess nowhere to be found.

  19

  The entire college was in an uproar that night over the brilliant ribbon of moonlight and wonder seeming to ascend from Jess's sacred rose maze to the very heavens themselves, hushed whispers declaring that the bridge to Faerie had formed once more, the impromptu dining area at the atrium of the maze absolutely packed with nobles gazing in awe and wonder at the spectacle before them, more than a few anxiously expecting the return of the crown prince himself.

  All this Jess could sense from the heart of her maze, even as she squeezed her own ring tightly in her fist, blood trickling between her fingers, a sacrifice to the plants that had given her so much, even as she sensed her beloved Rulia at last safely beyond the periphery of her Domain, swallowed up by the primeval forest no patrol dared explore too deeply. They would be safe. Of that, Jess was strangely certain. She then opened weary eyes to gaze upon the handful of supplicants kneeling before her, some dressed in peasant's rags, other far nobler attire.

  And all gazed upon the Queen of the Garden with desperate hope in their eyes.

  Jess, naked save for a dress of swirling rose petals and a crown of flowers, smiled gently down upon them.

  Jess said the words she knew must be said

  “Consider a land ruled by a ruler just and fair, forthright and wise. A ruler deemed virtuous enough to be granted the Magic of Primacy, to be forged anew as the King of Kings. Would you swear fealty to such a hero without reservation?”

  As one, the small crowd solemnly nodded at Jess's description of the perfect king, and Jess smiled with bittersweet satisfaction, sending no doubt or disdain from any. Her promise to Ulric honored, for all oaths were sacred within this garden, she stepped aside and presented with a single regally raised arm the magnificent glowing bridge she knew had formed behind her, sparkling like a sea of diamonds and starlight, soaring to the heavens, promising adventure and endless wonder.

  Amazed expressions interspersed with smiles of relief and joy, the group of supplicants began their procession up the shining steps even at that moment playing a triumphant air as the maze filled with the music of the ephemeral bridge linking their mortal world to Faerie. Every step was another sonorous note as the travelers ascending the stairway went from a solemn procession to an exhilarating race, Jess imagining she could hear their excited cries of wonder as they faded to the smallest glimmers in what seemed the blink of an eye.

  For an endless time Jess stared at that bridge of starlight and wonder soaring to the heavens high above, her familiar gently kneading her with his paws, her hand absently stroking his soft, silky hair of starlight and void, lost in sad dreams of wonder and reverie, of endless adventures and laughter and sweetest bliss she feared she would never know again, imagining glorious castles with pennant laden towers standing tall and proud amidst the backdrop of a clear blue sky, valiant knights questing for glory and wonder in lands beautiful and mysterious, with sweetest tales to share one day as they were greeted with endless song and pageantry. Such was the perfect beautiful world that Faerie could be.

  Everything Jess had secretly hoped would be hers as a valiant knight, dreaming childhood dreams of sweetest reverie, before life's harsh realities and Eloquin's relentless training had forged her into the weapon she was today, hardened in the crucible of darkest Shadow, honed to a deadly edge with every foe vanquished, every struggle overcome.

  A well-trained killer, never to be allowed too far off her leash.

  Her garden as much a prison as her beloved home.

  Even now she ached to join those souls ascending the bridge of their hopes and dreams, to flee into Faerie, and never return.

  Yet in that moment, lost between wakefulness and dream, she knew she was the linchpin, an anchor that must never be unmoored.

  It didn't even matter if she perished in Shadow or Dawn, her soul tied to realms hard and bitter, lest dreams of reverie and wonder float endlessly away. Faerie alone, sweetest of dreams, was a destination she had been allowe
d to embrace only once, to assure the well-being of both their realms. And Rulia, the woman of her dreams, had been the key desperately needed to unlock Faerie's potential once more.

  Trapped in that strange, bittersweet reverie, Lilith's horrific machinations were all too clear to Jess, seeing the holes of treachery and destruction that her creatures had wrought to the mystical connection between Dawn and Faerie, having damaged the bridge between their realms in ways Jess could barely fathom even now, despite all that Jess had done to stop them.

  For all that, the power of Rulia's act, the purity of their combined sacrifice, had been enough to repair damage done through avarice and treachery, even as Rulia made her own fateful choice. For reclaiming that shield had opened the pathway to Faerie once more, but the cost had been their love. For the artifact was fated to consume Jessica utterly, one day.

  Of course Rulia had understood, gazing into the Mirror of Truth, thrusting her hand within its surface, the cost of her reclaiming the sacred artifact that had been sworn to her, fated to protect her kingdom in times to come.

  For just as Jess must now flee her lover's presence until her final hour, Ulric Trueblood, now consort to the Faerie Queen herself, was free to return home.

  And there Jess knelt, before that bridge of starlight and dream, awaiting the man who would rule over her, haunted by tears and bittersweet reverie, even as she stoically kept her vigil, knowing her pain, the sorrows of her heart, made her connection all the stronger, her sacrifice all the greater.

  And as the crimson rays of first light caressed her garden, the pathway to the stars above faded to dream and reverie.

  Not a soul had stepped off the bridge in all the hours Jess waited in silent vigil, yet Jess knew that Ulric had come home.

  20

  As Jess made her way from the maze upon feet drunken with fatigue, stumbling as if in a dream, a hand reached out to steady her.

  Jess froze her clenched fist, blinking up at gentle hazel eyes gazing carefully at her, making out the stern yet strangely gentle countenance of none other than Lieutenant Alben. Captain Alben now, fully kitted in half helm, light gambeson and mail hauberk, saber and steel buckler both upon his belt, as was the case with the half dozen men seated at one of the many well-lacquered hardwood tables.

  Though the tables were presently bare of anything save the occasional mailed fist, Jess well knew that come first light they would be covered by tablecloths of fine linen, silverware and goblets full of wine, heaped with plates full of pastries and meats. All made ready for Erovering's nobility to wile away their day in comfortable splendor, conversing about cards, horses, and politics, their every indulgence attended to by servitors happy to work in such beautiful conditions, surrounded by as glorious an atrium of rose laden trellises and topiary adjoining the sacred maze as one could wish for, a true paradise from the bitter cold beyond the boundaries of Jess's domain.

  “Lady Calenbry?” Alben's words held a clipped intensity, for all that his gloves held her so softly, rubbing naked shoulders despite himself. He blinked and gave a wry shake of his head. “You appear in a daze, Lady Calenbry. Please, allow me to escort you to quarters.”

  He adroitly removed his tabard, swirling it about her naked form, even as he gently took her hand and led her back to the central building, his men a discrete handful of paces behind them.

  “A very interesting night, my lady,” he said, gazing about at signs of festivities not yet cleaned away as the atrium had been.

  Jess smiled. “It was indeed.”

  Alben caught her eye once more. “Is there anything you can tell me?”

  Jess gave a thoughtful nod. “The consort of the Queen of Faerie has returned to claim his throne, and shower our ancient land in blood and glory once more.”

  “My lady,” Alben hissed, squeezing her hand with abrupt tightness, causing her to wince. “Watch what you say.” His eyes were dangerous, even as he held her steady with a strange tenderness.

  Jess blushed, even as her lips pressed firmly together. “I am sorry, Alben, but the realm I communed with is a place of truths. I could not lie at this moment, even if I wanted to. But to address your question, the one you ache for an answer to, to vindicate and justify the horrors we have all witnessed, the sacrifices made, madness unveiled, lives lost... yes. Ulric Trueblood has come home.”

  Alben closed his eyes tightly, nodding to himself, honey brown locks free of his helm blowing gently in the breeze. “I am more relieved than words can say to hear that, Jessica. It puts all the horrors of these past few weeks in fresh perspective, vindicates your cause, your family, as nothing else could.” He broke into a smile then, as genuine as any that Jess had seen in quite some time.

  She felt her cheeks flush, forcing herself to look away.

  Handsome as the man was, her heart ached for the beautiful girl she feared she would see again only in sweetest dream.

  “Lady Jess?”

  Jess smiled, finding Alben's concern rather endearing. They had fought in common cause, after all, against the serpent in their midst when he had finally revealed the true depths of his depravity with Jess's acquittal, having nearly butchered all of Alben's men before Jess and her shieldbrother had put an end to Franken's plans, forever.

  “There was a cost to repairing that bridge, Alben. One I am still paying, I fear.”

  His eyes lit up in concern. “Do you need for us to head to the healers, then?”

  Jess gave a firm shake of her head. “No, Alben. My own quarters are fine.”

  Alben nodded, his gaze turning grim. "It seems that you have been forced to bear the costs of all too many burdens, Jessica de Calenbry; forced pay for the foolish missteps of others, to the benefit of others still. Do not think I am unaware of the sacrifices you have made."

  Jess shrugged. “What matters is that my garden is safe, my students prosper, and my family is, I hope, secure once more. If I have to bleed to assure that outcome, well, I was trained for sacrifice all my days at Highrock, taught to take out as many pieces as I can, even at the cost of my own.”

  Alben's smiled. "I have no doubt that our crown prince and the king himself appreciate the sacrifices you have made, Jessica," he said as they stopped before Jess's quarters. "It is my hope that your piece can now sit secure in your fortress of wood and vine, dutiful to your king, beloved by those who serve you in turn."

  Alben then knocked on the door to her suite, her mother quickly opening and gazing at Jess in anxious relief, even as she curtseyed before Jess's chaperone.

  “My thanks to you, Captain Alben, for finding my daughter. I had worried as only a mother could, Jess only being recently recovered from her latest ordeal.”

  Alben gave a solemn nod.

  “I perfectly understand, Baroness. With luck, your daughter shall never feel the need to put herself in harm's way without proper escort in the future, and it is my most sincere hope that we shall all soon be recipients of most welcome news.”

  Agda gazed intently at the captain before giving a quiet smile. “That, dear Alben, would be most wonderful news indeed.”

  Alben dipped into a graceful bow. “It has been a pleasure, baroness. I shall leave your most precocious daughter under your care.”

  With that, Alben and his men made their exit, even as Agda pinned her daughter with her most intense stare.

  “Jessica?”

  So much said in that one word.

  Jess felt her heart race as she forced herself to meet her mother's too probing stare. She sensed a curious Apple entering the room, gazing intently at her.

  “It was more than mere whim that kept Ulric from returning home, Mother. For the very bridge to Faerie had been broken.”

  Agda paled at those words.

  “There were more gateways than simply my own sanctuary,” Jess said. “Many of the most sacred spots in the known world were blessed with such otherworldly paths, and each and every one of those sites that our enemies could find had been deliberately sullied and blaspheme
d.”

  Apple looked sickened. "Jess, by the gods! Does that mean that Franklin was a part of that... plot, that conspiracy?"

  Jess gave her sister a solemn nod. “That's right. Inquisitor Franken had every intention of burning me alive for Ulric's disappearance, while secretly doing all he could to make sure Ulric never returned, conniving with numerous other players to damn and curse every bridge to Faerie that had ever formed. His vile ceremony alone had been successfully intercepted, an act which earned me his undying hatred, even as he did everything in his power to make us suffer.”

  “But... why?”

  Jess gazed almost sadly at her sister. “Franken and his cabal of associates were commanded to.”

  “Commanded to?”

  Jess nodded. "Together, Dawn and Faerie are stronger than they are divided. Our people are gifted with hope and inspiration, and history suggests that periods of enlightenment often follow the formation of such bridges." Her gaze turned dark. "Yet such vile masters as Franklin worshiped revel in human misery and suffering. Divorcing our connection to Faerie would hurt our people as a whole, just as finding pretext to persecute our family for my daring to cross these cultists in the past would serve to cow and intimidate others who might oppose their growing influence. Rest assured, Apple, no matter how insane Franklin appeared, his every move was deliberate, calculated, and as malicious as you could imagine.”

  Agda paled and swallowed. "To hear you speak of diabolists so casually. Worse, to hear that they are more than nasty rumor, more than twisted figments encountered in your terrible journeys through otherworldly realms shadowy and foul, but actively working to influence events in this day and age... horrid. Absolutely horrid."

  Jess nodded grimly, even as a tentative Apple's lips pressed tight, and Jess could well imagine the ugly memories haunting her sister even now.

  “But Jess, how do you know that?” her sister whispered.

  Jess smiled sadly. “The same way I know that Ulric is coming home.”