The King's Gate

by K T Munson

Maris answered slowly. “Let’s go back inside.”

  Troy nodded and let himself be led toward the compartment. He froze when he saw the big man sitting where Maris was leading him. When he turned his head, Troy could see his skin was just a little too red.

  “Maris,” Troy said, which caused him to stop. “There’s a demon.”

  Maris looked startled as Troy started to backpedal. Before he could get far, Maris grabbed his arm and held him in place. “Troy, that’s Katallan. He’s helping us get to Loveday.”

  “Loveday?” Troy asked, his head pounding.

  “The village where Clara is,” Maris said. “Have you forgotten again?”

  Troy’s head came up at that. “Again?”

  Maris nodded. Troy’s legs buckled before they made it. Maris caught his arm and hauled him into one of the benches. People gave them startled stares and moved away. Troy couldn’t find the will to stand.

  “Burtri Port ahead,” the ferry master called.

  “That’s our stop,” Maris said. He and Katallan each took one of Troy’s arms, and together they carted the young Gate Guardian from the ferry. He clung to what he knew in his bones—that he was the Gate Guardian of Hystera. The world was a haze and he was lost, floating through memories and shedding them as though they’d never existed. Through the miasma of confusion sanity was only maintained by the single reminder of his truth, that he was a Guardian.

  When he awoke again, it was to the sound of voices. Troy tried to make his body move. It protested, but eventually he was able to roll over. He was in some kind of wagon, lying within the bed of it. The demon and Maris were on the bench out front.

  “The boy is getting worse,” the demon said, and Troy struggled to grasp his name. Like it was on the tip of his tongue just a moment before but now it was lost.

  “We are almost to Loveday,” Maris responded, when he shifted Troy could see the worry in his features.

  “What if Clara won’t take the mantle?” Katallan asked—his name coming to him like a whisper in his mind.

  There was a long pause, and Troy felt himself dozing off. He was nearly asleep when he heard Maris’s response. “She will take it. One way or another.”

  Chapter 37: Lyreane

  “It’s too much of a risk,” Malthael replied. “Too many variables, too many people going too many ways, means someone is going to get hurt.”

  “We can’t all stay together,” Ki replied. “It would be too hard to get everything done.”

  “It would be best if Elisabeth and I faced Arawn while you all rescued my brother,” Ethandirill added. “Nanette can use the watch to lead you all to the King. Now that she is blood of my blood, she is his kin as well.”

  Selene watched as Nanette blushed at the words. Everyone knew Ethandirill and Nanette were formally together—for life, it seemed—but Selene liked that Nanette still reacted that way. How lucky they were to have each other and to know they were together. Elisabeth and Ki were still dancing around the idea of a relationship. And as far as her own relationship went, Selene didn’t even know if Kerrigan reciprocated her feelings. Yes, they were friends, but for Selene their friendship wasn’t just platonic; there was a deeper connection.

  “Nanette can lead Ki and Malthael to King Nauberon, while Ethandirill and I keep Arawn distracted.” Elisabeth touched Ki’s arm. “I know you will protect her.”

  “With my life,” Ki confirmed.

  “Once King Nauberon gets the cure, you will ensure he recovers enough to regain his crown,” Elisabeth said, her eyes pinning Malthael to the wall. “If Ethandirill and I are able to defeat Arawn, we’ll use Ethandirill’s connection to Nanette to find you.”

  “Since he cannot hurt you,” Ethandirill said to Elisabeth, “there’s a higher possibility of victory.”

  Elisabeth nodded and turned to stare out the window. Selene wondered if her face had always been that sharp. She knew what had happened to Elisabeth, understood living in horror every day and trying not to let it affect who and what she was. It made her feel closer to her cousin.

  “Elsa, this is not a good plan,” Malthael pleaded to his daughter as she continued to gaze out the window of the cottage.

  “It is a good plan,” Elisabeth said, turning around, her arms still clasped behind her back. “If Ethandirill and I should fail, King Nauberon must be freed.”

  The silence that filled the room was palpable. Fear and worry were bad enough, but Elisabeth had addressed the one thing no one in the room wanted to discuss: failure.

  “Hope for the best and plan for the worst,” Selene said. “My father always used to say that was true for everything, and that is true here, too.” It wasn’t that Elisabeth thought they were going to fail, and Selene understood her desire to have a plan just in case.

  All eyes turned to her, but it was Elisabeth who spoke first. “I like that. Your father is a wise man. I’d like to meet him one day.”

  “When this is done,” Selene replied, “I’ll take you to meet your aunt and uncle.”

  Elisabeth laughed. “It is hard to imagine that I have an aunt and uncle. We should get you back to them. Relocate you and them to a place that is not so dangerous for those like us.”

  Selene was stunned. “I’m not coming with you?”

  “There is no reason to put you in harm’s way,” Elisabeth said. Though it made sense, it still hurt.

  Her eyes immediately went to Kerrigan, who also looked disappointed not to be going. Kerrigan was a Gate Guardian now, so she would be guarding the gates while Troy and Malthael were away. Ki was working on getting the front door to act as a portal, but right now it only worked for Kerrigan. While testing her newfound abilities, Kerrigan had walked through a portal she created, she ended up back at the cottage. No matter how many time she tried, they would end up at the proper place, but she could not join them. Even more curious was that when Kerrigan walked through the cottage door, she only had to think of a planet for others to be able to walk through a portal to that location. It had something to do with the fact that Kerrigan was bound and that there wasn’t a dial like at the other gates. Her gate also hadn’t appeared on the dial, but she could sense when someone wanted to return to the cottage while at another gate and she simply opened the cottage door like a gateway.

  “I’ll be staying here,” Selene said, “with Kerrigan.”

  Everyone went quiet, and Selene met Kerrigan’s gaze. Whatever it was between them, Selene wanted to stay to find out. The other girl smiled at her, her cheeks turning red. Selene felt her own do the same.

  “Good,” Elisabeth said before going to the kitchen and retrieving a slip of paper. “Then this belongs to you.”

  It was narrow and tri-folded. There were old creases, indicating that it had once been a minuscule square. When Elisabeth held it out, Selene hesitated. She didn’t know her cousin that well and given everything that had happened, she even a paper could be dangerous. She took it carefully and turned it to read it. DEED was stamped across the front. The ink was faded and old, and the rubber stamp had had a nick at the time of stamping.

  “I don’t understand,” Selene said, looking up at Elisabeth.

  “The cottage is yours,” Elisabeth said, opening it to show Selene’s name written next to Elisabeth’s. “So you may always have a home.”

  Selene’s mouth dropped open. “I don’t…” she struggled with her words, “I don’t know what to say.”

  Elisabeth tenderly hugged her. Selene just sat in shock. “You are family. Family matters.” Her eyes slid over to Malthael a moment before bouncing back to Selene. “My mother would want her sister to have a home. If Kerrigan agrees, bring your parents here, where they can be protected and can stay with you.”

  Selene started crying. It was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her. Elisabeth was providing a home for her and her family. She was telling Selene in her own way that she was accepting of whatever was happening between her and Kerrigan. More than all of that, she was giving Selene a
place where she wouldn’t be hunted.

  “You may want to warn your parents about this place,” Elisabeth told her. “It’s going to be an adjustment.”

  Selene felt strange imagining being close to her family again. After years of being separated, she wasn’t sure how to react. “It will be different.”

  “Also, you’ll need these,” Elisabeth said, pulling unclipping additional papers from the deed. “They are stocks in companies I purchased in Ashlad.”

  “What are stocks?” Selene said, holding the papers up.

  “They are a form of money,” Elisabeth explained. Selene just stared at the papers hoping they would tell her exactly what they were because her cousin description wasn’t enough. “I put money into a company, and then I own a portion of their company. Some of these were ventures I invested in. It is how Malthael and I made our money. I invented a few things and sold them to companies, and in return some gave me these, which are called stocks. You take them to any bank in Ashlad and tell them my name, and you will have money to live on. I’ve already put your name on the accounts.”

  “What does that mean?” Selene asked, pointing at a line on the paper that Elisabeth had called a stock.

  Elisabeth leaned forward. “It is the value at the time of purchase, which may increase or decrease, depending on how the business is doing.”

  “How much gold would I get for this paper?” Selene asked. How would she know if it increased or decreased? None of this made sense. They didn’t have anything like it in Lyreane.

  “Roughly two hundred and thirteen pieces,” Elisabeth replied calmly.

  Selene felt her eyes bug out of her head and she suddenly held the paper in reverence. “From just this one piece? That is enough for months and months of food and clothes!” It was surreal.

  “Yes.” Elisabeth smiled before turning to Kerrigan. “I need to speak to you.”

  Kerrigan nodded and Elisabeth began leading her into another room. Elisabeth took Ki’s hand as she passed him, and she tugged him along. Everyone watched with surprise. It wasn’t like Elisabeth to exclude anyone.

  “What was that all about?” Ethandirill asked.

  “Elisabeth never leaves anything to chance,” Malthael responded. “She is putting her affairs in order.”

  Selene felt her stomach fall. Malthael’s face was grim, as were Ethandirill’s and Nanette’s. There was a chance one of them might not make it back. Worse, perhaps none of them would. Selene swallowed and focused on the closed door where Kerrigan, Elisabeth, and Ki were meeting. It was impossible not to wonder who Selene might never see again.

  Chapter 38: Morhaven

  Ki did his best not to glare at the mirror. He didn’t trust Valentine or Ishtar, but Elisabeth seemed to. As long as she did, Malthael begrudgingly agreed with her. Ki was relieved to see that the rift between Elisabeth and Malthael was mending. She no longer left the room when he entered, and she would actually talk to him. Though Malthael’s betrayal had cut deep, she was coming to terms with it. She was healing, in more ways than one.

  “Valentine,” Elisabeth said, and the entire group held their breath. “Valentine, Valentine.”

  There was a cackling sound before hands reached out and took hold of Elisabeth’s arm. Ki reached protectively for her an instant before he felt a hand clasp on his arm and he was sucked through. It felt like being pulled through a narrow, brisk waterfall and he didn’t like it one bit. Before he could protest, he was on his knees on the other side. Elisabeth was standing over him, her smile warm as she helped him to his feet.

  Malthael was deposited next, followed by Ethandirill. When Nanette came through, she stumbled to the side and heaved up her food. Ki was thankful he wasn’t entirely mortal. He felt woozy, but his food would stay where it was. Elisabeth took a step toward Nannette but then stopped to let Ethandirill take care of her. Once they were through, Valentine returned into the mirror.

  “Elsariel,” a gravelly voice said.

  An older woman atop a tree stump approached them. The roots of the stump carried her to them, and Ki wasn’t sure where the woman ended and the tree began. The Dusky Woods housed some of the most terrifying creatures within Morhaven, but none were as terrifying as her. With a single word she could rewrite everything—the Black Council had warned Ki never to confront a female Det Morian because although the men would change the present, the women of the Det Morian clan could write the future.

  Elisabeth stiffened. “Babayaga.”

  “Relax, child. Our interests align,” Babayaga replied, but it did little to relieve the tension in Elisabeth’s shoulders. “This is my sister, Yubaba.”

  One Det Morian was bad enough, but when the second one rode over on a massive turtle, Ki grimaced.

  “Charmed.” The old woman was almost a perfect copy of her sister, save for the ancient milky eyes.

  Malthael stepped forward and asked, “What is our way in?”

  Babayaga seemed to ignore him, her entire attention on Elisabeth. There was a long pause where they all stared at Babayaga except for Elisabeth, who instead was sizing up Yubaba. Ki glanced back and forth between everyone, trying to figure out how best to resolve the stalemate.

  “Congratulations, Ethandirill,” Babayaga finally said, turning toward her grandson as he steadied Nanette. “You’ve finally taken a bride. Even if she is mortal and married already.” Yubaba cackled.

  Ethandirill took a menacing step forward, but Malthael put a hand on his shoulder. Babayaga seemed sated that her barb had caused such an effect. She turned around and started off, leading them deeper into the woods.

  When no one moved to follow her, she called back, “Come along.”

  Elisabeth was the first to go, and Ki didn’t hesitate to follow her.

  “Beware the Jubjub,” Babayaga said with a cackle.

  Ki’s gaze wandered up to the massive tree—admiring its deadly barbs and wicked birds. Each Jubjub bird was the size of a horse and had a long snakelike body. One lifted its head from where it was wrapped around the tree, its six eyes watching them with interest. Its nearly black feathers glimmered with tinges of red and orange.

  Ethandirill kept a protective arm around Nanette as they passed by, but Elisabeth stared up at it without fear. She had always been inquisitive, and Ki was thankful that the quality hadn’t been lost. He loved her curiosity and the wonderment that used to fill her eyes. She hurried toward Babayaga and bent to ask a question.

  “You should see them when they molt,” Babayaga said, lifting a hand toward the bird. “They are as bright a red as poppies for a week. If they live long enough, the red dilutes, and they become bright pink. I much prefer the red, but the pink is a sight to behold.”

  “They are most deadly when they are older,” Yubaba added. “The pink is a warning.”

  Ki sincerely hoped they were close. The Dusky Woods felt like eyes were everywhere. In all his years, he had never strayed from the safe path through the Woods and found he did not like wandering aimlessly. It felt as if the trees themselves were alive. Every sound and every shadow that moved put the killer in him on edge. Babayaga and Elisabeth continued to talk in hushed tones as Ki kept a close watch on their surroundings.

  It wasn’t long until they saw an open field and a small village. There were guards at the entrance, and as Babayaga drew close they waved to her. When she growled at them, they quieted. One saw Elisabeth and immediately dropped his spear. His mouth dropped open and his arms moved back and forth in a strange flapping fashion. Ki recognized him as a member of the camp from the planet his soul had been trapped on. Strange that Babayaga had kept them safe—they would be nothing more than play things to her. Then again perhaps she saw them as pets. A sobering thought.

  “It’s…” the guard stuttered but couldn’t finish.

  The other guard sputtered as well but kept hold of his spear. “It’s our savior!” he exclaimed, pointing at Elisabeth.

  “I can understand you!” Elisabeth said back. “How?”
/>   Babayaga sighed. “Easy enough to do now that they are in the Netherworld. I kept my end of the bargain, I expect you to do the same, child. Come along, I don’t have all day.”

  One of the trees on the edge of the clearing suddenly rolled out of a hand stand, one leg and then the other, to reveal a woman. She was completely black from head to toe. The whites of her eyes seemed to glow against the blackness of her skin, which was darker even than Malthael’s. Malthael paused and seemed at a loss for words.

  “The Golden Demon speechless?” the woman said as great black wings spread out from her back. “Never thought I’d see that day.”

  Ki nearly didn’t recognize what she was because of her dark skin. She had a moment ago been a dark and dying tree, but now she was a woman. She had to be a half-breed—a Dryad. Rejected from the Divine Court and likely abandoned by both parents, all unclaimed Dryads lived within the Dusky Woods.

  “Atlanteia,” Malthael finally managed.

  Atlanteia put a hand on her hip and jutted her chin out. “It is good to know you remember my name.” Her words sounded embittered. “Since it shall be I who leads you to the Divine Court.”

  “No,” Malthael replied without hesitation, startling the rest of their group. His gaze sharpened into a glare as only Atlanteia, Babayaga, and Yubaba remained unfazed.

  “How exciting,” Yubaba told her sister. “You always bring the best drama.”

  Babayaga’s eyes glittered with amusement; as a Det Morian, Ki knew she thrived on balance and chaos. “She was once a caretaker, and the Elementals will remember her.”

  “She is a betrayer,” Malthael insisted. “She loves only power and herself.”

  “You may have grown older,” Atlanteia said, walking around him, her hand running across the old demon’s back, “but it seems you have not forgotten me.”

  “Papa,” Elisabeth asked and Malthael’s head snapped around. “Babayaga would not lead us astray. If Atlanteia is our way in, her past does not matter to me. Too much is as stake.”