by Skye Horn
The wings felt heavy on her back, but she could nearly touch the ceiling now. She stared down at the man who called himself her father and then at her love as he stumbled into the clearing below her. His wings did not move behind him. Instead, the feathers stuck out at odd angles and their core bent unnaturally in different directions. Thea saw the pain on his face as he tried to stand straight and face the king, but she didn’t have time to go to him—Morrigan had returned. She headed straight for Thea, whose distraction cost her the balance she’d fought to establish. She dropped a few feet in the air, fighting to keep herself airborne as she dodged the raven.
Below her, a soft glow traced the edges of the spilt bubbling liquid. It sent a blinding light into the air, throwing Thea painfully against the wall. She heard nothing break, but her body ached from the impact as she fell to the bloodied ground and attempted a clumsy roll back onto her feet. The tornado of wind stopped as soon as she lost her focus, and she found herself surrounded by dead bodies, mostly humans who had died fighting for her.
Thea raised herself up and found Kieran, who now stood staring at the strange place where the goblet had spilled. Her father was on his hands and knees beside the glowing crack in the floor board. Thea pictured the crack in the hillside that Kieran had come through with dread.
The king wore a smile of triumph even as blood oozed from a gash in his side. The shadows had deserted him, leaving him defenseless in his weakened state, but Thea knew it wasn’t over yet.
“What’s happening?” Thea asked. Kieran also didn’t stand in his usually erect form. Many humans and Fae had fled the dining hall when Thea’s tornado hit, and none returned now. Thea imagined they were not far away, though.
“I think it’s a portal,” Kieran said. His voice cracked and blood dripped from his lips. Thea saw the paleness of his skin and the way his sweat-soaked hair clung to him. He appeared to be going into shock.
“A portal to where?”
Kieran was about to reply when the ground began to shake and the king’s laughter filled the air. Morrigan had landed at the portal’s edge, and with one triumphant look at Thea, she stepped into the liquid, disappearing through it.
“What—” Thea took a step forward, but Kieran collapsed beside her. “Kieran!”
“She will rise, despite this silly game you two have played,” the king said with amusement. “And he will die, because you are too weak to save him.”
Thea pulled Kieran into her arms, staring at the place where Morrigan had disappeared and then down at Kieran’s barely breathing body. Ainé had given her these gifts, all of these powers, and she still couldn’t save the one she loved. She’d come here to stop her father, and yet he was about to win. As she tried to think of what to do, movement came from behind them, soldiers trying to get back into the room. She turned just as the doors were opening and screamed, her hand flying up and flames shooting toward the incoming crowd. It felt like her world might explode with the intensity of that fire.
She was going to die here with Kieran, because no one was coming to save them.
The flames she’d conjured engulfed the doors of the dining hall. Untamed, they climbed the walls and blazed dangerously toward the three of them. The shaking of the ground had stopped as soon as Morrigan had disappeared into the portal, but now the heat of the fire brought a sweat to both Thea and her father’s brows. She laid Kieran’s unconscious form gently onto the floor, kissing his forehead one last time, and then stood between him and the portal as a hand reached out, covered in a black slime.
The hand was hardly a hand at all. It looked more like bones with translucent skin attached to them. The nails were long and curled, and it clawed at the ground to pull whatever body was attached to it out of the portal. Thea clutched the two daggers she’d secured during the fight, squaring herself for whatever would come, and the king crawled closer to the mangled hand. He stared at it, transfixed and adoring. It made Thea feel sick to her stomach to see his devotion.
“My queen,” he cooed, reaching for the grossest excuse for a hand Thea had ever seen. However, just as his hand reached out to her, another rose from the small portal. Thea jumped a little in surprise upon seeing it. It was clean, almost human-looking, aside from the fact that it was emerging from a magical portal. It wrapped tightly around the wrist of the mangled hand, and what sounded like a scream erupted from the portal. The sound was deafening. It shook the air in the room and made Thea’s hands fly up to cover her ears. The king, standing so close to the portal, fell to his side with a cry of pain. Blood spilled from the corners of his eyes and ears as his eyes bulged with agony. As soon as he was writhing and distracted, the first hand reached out to grab the king’s shaking body, and before Thea could even move from the shock of what was happening, something dragged her father into the portal with a cry of despair.
Only seconds later, another body rose, climbing its way out.
This body wore no clothing, but the same black goo that had coated its hand covered the rest of it. Thea could tell it was a woman. The tips of pointed ears were visible beneath the hair that reached to the lower part of her back and covered her breasts. Her red eyes glowed beneath the liquid on her pale skin, and she smiled, showing a row of pointed, razor-sharp teeth.
“Morrigan,” Thea said, trying not to recoil from the sight of the Goddess of Death. “What have you done to Ainé and my father?”
Thea’s eyes flickered to the portal, whose light was dying now. She knew it had been Ainé’s hand who had tried to hold Morrigan back, but something had happened when Malachi went into the portal. The smile on Morrigan’s face told her that something had not been a good thing.
“They are dead,” Morrigan said, slowly, like she was trying to remember the muscles used to speak. She laughed, a high-pitched laugh that twisted Thea’s stomach into knots. She continued to stare at the Goddess of Death, her wings twitching behind her and folding against her back. She didn’t know if she believed Morrigan about the death of Ainé, but her father’s death seemed probable by the amount of blood on the floor where he had moments ago lain crumpled in pain. A small part of her grieved his disappearance, while a larger part felt a relief fill her body. He was gone, which meant he couldn’t hurt her or anyone else anymore. However, the threat that now stood in front of her seemed far worse.
Morrigan took two unstable steps toward Thea, her eyes sparkling, but Thea did not move away. She saw the effort it took Morrigan to move and wondered just how strong she was now. There was no way of telling, but if she was going to die anyway, she had nothing to lose. She held up her daggers, digging her heels into the ground so that she would not stumble from the impact. She glanced at Kieran one last time, wishing he was awake to say goodbye to.
Morrigan slashed out with her long, talon-like nails, and Thea dodged. It was all the energy she had left. She struck her dagger out at Morrigan and missed, but Morrigan clicked her tongue against her teeth with a mocking smile. Thea kept herself between Morrigan and Kieran, never letting her eyes leave the Goddess’. As they danced and blocked, Thea controlled her breathing the way Kieran had taught her to. She desperately wished for his help now, but there was nothing that could be done for that.
Thea choked on smoke as it saturated the room. She heard fighting through the kitchens, where the humans held off any of the king’s remaining army, and knew she had one shot at this. With a deep, steadying breath, she threw herself at Morrigan, lifting the dagger into the air, and grazed the Goddess’ shoulder. Both she and the Goddess let out a yelp of surprise at the contact. Thea glanced at her own shoulder and saw a thick trickle of blood dripping down her arm. It took her a moment to register it before her eyes met Morrigan’s, and she saw the surprised look reflected on her face.
“Interesting…” The Goddess spoke mostly to herself. She smiled, but no longer looked triumphant as her hands lowered to her side.
“How is that possible?” A loud bang sounded behind Thea as the door crumbled beneath the fire sh
e had started. Thea spun to see the mob of creatures charging through the smoke. She readied herself for them, knowing her chance had ended. She crouched beside Kieran and looked them in the eyes as they came.
“Enough!” called a voice from behind her. She’d turned her back on the Goddess who now strode forward holding her hands up to the oncoming army. They stopped instantly, every single one of them kneeling to the ground. “She is now under my protection.”
Thea looked at Morrigan in disbelief, her breathing heavy and uneven. Blood coated her body and clothes, tears stung her eyes from the smoke, and her entire being felt like it was on fire from an overexertion of magic, but nothing compared to the confusion she now felt. Every enemy had stopped in their tracks looking just as confused and anxious. Thea pushed herself up into a standing position and felt a wave of dizziness threatening to end her consciousness. She fought it with great effort.
“But, my queen—” The centaur who’d fought Kieran earlier was bleeding from his brow, but his voice was cut short by an outstretched shadow wrapping around his throat. It had come from Morrigan’s fingertips and sent a chill down Thea’s spine. The centaur coughed thick crimson liquid, sputtering and begging, until his eyes bulged nearly completely out of their sockets and he fell limp to the floor. Everyone else’s eyes lowered.
“Until we meet again, child,” Morrigan said, her tongue clicking again as she glanced over her shoulder at Thea. The hair on Thea’s neck rose, and she raised her dagger. “Don’t be stupid, or I’ll take him.” She looked at Kieran. Thea stepped to block her view and glared.
“Why are you doing this?” she demanded, but Morrigan was already halfway out of the room. Thea, panicked and unsure of what might happen next, threw her dagger as hard as she could at the Goddess’ back. She knew it was cowardly to fight an enemy from behind, but they had taken so much from her that she didn’t care. Morrigan needed to die, and if Ainé was gone, then Thea was the only one with the power to do any damage. The dagger stuck into Morrigan’s back and Thea fell to her knees in pain.
There was a sharp pain in her back, as if someone had stabbed her as well.
Thea heard Morrigan mutter a few insults as she jerked the dagger out of her own flesh, but Thea could hardly see past the blinding pain. A soft buzz vibrated against her eardrums and her vision blurred as she crumpled onto the floor. She heard the distant sound of voices in the hall but could not distinguish friend from foe—all she saw was darkness.
Chapter 24
Thea awoke in her bedroom in Ivandor. She sat up quickly, wincing with every inch of movement her body made, and found her arm in a sling. Her wings were twisted uncomfortably beneath her and felt the same way an arm did when she slept on it incorrectly. She tried to stretch, but every move she made hurt worse than the last.
“Sleeping with wings is difficult. It took Kieran quite a while to figure it out,” a familiar voice said from the corner of the room. Thea turned her head, a bit too quickly, to see Ethel. Her cheeks were rosy, and her eyes looked painfully red.
“Ethel!” Thea nearly fell out of the bed trying to get to her. Her legs tangled into the blanket, and she grimaced, wrapping her free arm around Ethel’s small frame. “Thank the Goddess you’re okay, and here, and—”
“I can’t breathe, Thea,” Ethel said through a laugh that didn’t really touch her eyes. Thea looked at her, kissing her forehead and brushing her curly hair back.
“Is Iris here as well? Did Amara find you?”
At the mention of Amara’s name, Ethel’s eyes darkened and Thea felt a familiar dizziness taking over. Ethel must have noticed because she hastened Thea back to bed, insisting she stay seated.
“Yes, Amara found us, and yes, Iris is here as well.”
Thea studied Ethel’s face, trying to understand the conflicting emotions showing there. She grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly in her own, and breathed in her familiar scent, enhancing her own senses in the process. Despite her soreness, Thea felt rejuvenated. The magic she’d used during the battle had drained her. In fact, she’d thought it would kill her, but somehow it hadn’t.
“Morrigan—”
“Has disappeared and taken the king’s army with her, although none of us knows why,” Ethel said quietly. “Your father is gone too.”
Thea hesitated a moment. No one besides herself had heard Morrigan say that her father and Ainé were dead. She didn’t know if it was true, but if she was thinking logically, her father had disappeared into a magical portal and could be dead. She had no proof of either death though, and didn’t feel ready to discuss what her father’s death might actually mean to her, so she just looked down.
“I should have been strong enough to stop her.”
“You were alone, and you expected to defeat a king far more experienced than you in magic, an army of dark magical creatures, and a Goddess of Death? Alone?” Thea didn’t miss the anger in Ethel’s voice and winced at what she knew was coming next. “You practically got yourself killed because you didn’t think to talk to us first!”
“I was just—”
“Being selfish? Stupid? Arrogant? Naïve?”
“Okay, okay.” Thea let go of Ethel’s hand and looked away, tears stinging her eyes. She’d nearly died and didn’t feel like being scolded. She’d lost another father. Despite how much of an evil bastard he was, it still hurt. She wanted Ethel to hug her and tell her she was glad she’d survived, but maybe that made her naïve. “Where’s Kieran?” Thea asked, suddenly needing his reassurance that she was not a complete idiot once more.
A knock sounded on the door and Iris poked her head inside before Ethel could answer, but that didn’t keep Thea from noticing how the younger girl would no longer look at her. A heavy weight settled in the pit of her stomach as Iris entered the room, looking worn and sleep-deprived.
“Oh good, you’re finally up,” was all she said.
“Nice to see you too,” Thea mumbled, causing Iris to roll her eyes. “Sorry, I might be a little grumpy.”
“Understandable for a girl who’s been through what you have. How’s your arm?” Thea, momentarily forgetting her endless list of questions, remembered the pain in her shoulder that had made her pass out. She still felt a dull ache there, but nothing like the pain she’d felt before.
“It seems okay.”
“Mirielle worked her magic on you.” Iris smiled, but like Ethel’s, it did not touch her eyes.
“Mirielle is here too? Is Mica here, then?”
Iris nodded and sat beside Thea on the bed. Ethel shifted from one foot to the other and glanced toward the door. No one said anything else. Instead, they stared uncomfortably at each other until finally Iris wrapped her arms around Thea and pulled her into a tight hug. She rubbed Thea’s back, careful of her bandages, as all the emotions bubbled to the surface.
“You saved her,” was all Iris said as she stared at Thea with tear-filled eyes. She didn’t need to say anything else; Thea could see the gratefulness and the way the worry had lifted off her shoulders. She could see the unconditional love of a mother who hadn’t even known her own daughter still shining brightly within. It made her heart ache for her own mother, or mothers.
“Where is she?”
Thea wanted to talk to her half-sister. She didn’t trust her in the slightest, and the closer she stayed, the more comfortable Thea would be. However, the aversion of both Iris and Ethel’s gazes made Thea sit up a little straighter. She looked between them both without a word, trying her best to summon all the “queen-like” features she could, but this was Iris and Ethel—this was her family. She could not be a queen with them. She could only be Thea. The silence was deafening between the three of them, though, making Thea’s heart thump a little faster and the twisted knot return to her stomach.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
“Amara is with Kieran,” Ethel said finally. Thea felt a little of the weight lift off her shoulders. Of course Amara was with Kieran. Kieran would never have let Am
ara anywhere near Thea while she was not at full strength. He had no idea what had happened, besides whatever Amara had told them, so, of course, Kieran would make sure Amara was watched. Thea smiled a little, but then faltered because Iris was not meeting her eyes. Instead, she’d taken a small folded-up piece of paper from her cloak and was shifting it between her fingers. Ethel suddenly burst into a sob and ran from the room without another word.
“What is that?” Thea asked in a small voice. The door slammed behind Ethel loud enough that Thea’s arm ached from the vibration. “Iris, what is it?”
“Kieran is gone, Thea. King Aragon asked for volunteers to reach out to our neighboring kingdoms, and Kieran volunteered.”
Thea looked up at Iris, confused as the first three words repeated over and over in her head. She reached her hand slowly forward, holding her palm out for the letter.
“He left without saying goodbye… with Amara?” She refused to allow the anger she felt turn into tears, but her voice sounded completely hollow. “But, why?”
“He explained it all in this,” Iris said, placing the note onto Thea’s palm. “I’ll give you some time to read it, but we need you to come to the council hall within the hour.”
“We?” Thea asked, her fingers closing around the thin piece of paper. She blinked up at Iris in confusion as the older woman stood up. Iris looked more withdrawn than usual, but Thea couldn’t make herself understand why. All she could think about was what this note might say, what Kieran could possibly have said to make leaving okay when he’d promised to remain by her side.
“With King Malachi missing, we’ve formed a council with King Aragon’s help. It comprises the few surviving elders from Ivandor. Not all of them escaped into hiding when your mother was murdered, but we summoned those who were left to meet their future queen.”
The word queen reminded Thea of the reason she’d done all of this. She’d come here to protect her people. She’d come here to stop a cruel ruler from terrorizing the innocent. She’d come here to be a queen, and yet, all she was thinking about now was why her boyfriend, if that was what he’d been, had just up and left her after she almost died to save his life. Her heart, broken and aching in her chest, was not the most important thing right now, but her people were. She closed her eyes, inhaling, and then set the letter on her nightstand. Iris watched her with a curious gaze.
