by Elle Cross
The assembled guests are already muttering about acknowledging Acanthe as ruler of this court. I’m not sad to have arrived too late to participate in that.
The final chime rings and Acanthe’s high priest steps forward. Standing on either side of him are two additional priests. One holds her wicked-looking scepter and coronation robe, and the other a silk cushion, on which her coronation crown awaits.
Thus far, I have only seen her wear the golden tiara with the vines and thorns. This new crown is far larger and more intimidating. Five matte-black spires rise from the base, each ending in a deadly, spear-like peak, and the points are connected by a circlet of sculpted thorns that rests atop them. In between rise smaller spikes, each topped with a huge onyx. The entire affair is etched with thorny vines, and a fat black fire opal dangles from the very middle of the base, waiting to rest neatly on Acanthe’s pale brow.
The head priest launches into the ceremony, reading from an ancient book much as he did earlier today, at King Bramb’s funeral. I wait, listening to him drone on, until he calls Acanthe forth to kneel and receive her vestments.
As soon as her knees hit the floor, I fling the pebble toward the dais on which the priests stand. Stars shimmer forth, temporarily blinding everyone but the members of my party, who know to close their eyes. I leap from my seat and launch myself at the priest with the scepter. Shoving my hand forward, I grasp for the floating stone. There is a split second of resistance, which nearly stops my heart, and then the star stone on my necklace swings out, attracted like a magnet.
It’s as if my own pendant urged its compatriot to come with me, because the resistance melts away and Acanthe’s star stone is fast within my grip. I whirl and jump down, letting the scepter clatter to the floor. I grab Lyser’s hand and shout at my party.
“Go!”
I’m already running, seeking out Raze in the crowd. If we’re caught now, it will be the end of us all. I finally spot him and yell, spurring us all to escape this nightmare once and for all.
Chapter Thirteen
Raze
The dazzling light show stuns the crowd of fae nobles. If I hadn’t been watching Sitara, I’d have been blinded as well. As soon as she rose to her feet and pulled back her arm, I shielded my eyes.
The other attendants weren’t as lucky. Now they're scrambling blindly away seeking shelter.
Lightning arcs wildly out of Acanthe's Thorn Scepter. A lucky shot hits the ceiling and debris rains down on top of the gathered folk. A particularly large piece blocks the only exit.
Fuck.
We all need to take cover.
I know that Sitara was successful when my skin tingles, pulsing heat rippling over me. My body no longer feels separate from me; rather it feels whole again. In another setting, it would be a damned near pleasurable sensation, but as it is, it's distracting.
I concentrate and open the void magic within me, letting out a shield to hide me from prying eyes while I try to connect with Sitara.
She nearly made it out, would have had it not been for the rockfall. Surely she is fine.
Acanthe lashes out at the priests on her dais.
"Useless!" she cries as she takes the thorn scepter and directs it toward them.
The priests freeze where they stand. Thorny vines erupt from the floor, wrapping their feet and up their bodies. Soon their feet resemble thick roots. Screaming in fear, the priests are slowly changed. Bark begins to take over their skin, closing their eyes and sealing their mouths. Eventually, the thorny vines encapsulate them.
Even without the star stone, the Thorn Scepter can still channel her will. She directs the wild magic into the crowd. Some get struck down, and meet the same fate as her priests.
I finally see the Court of Stars pinned down behind a fae noble-turned-tree. As I edge closer to them, Acanthe strikes the end of her scepter on the floor. The earth shakes in answer before a bellowing cry fills the air. She is calling for her guard, all of them. Soon they will bar the exit.
I call to Sitara, but my voice is lost among the wind and rain that howl inside the throne room. It's impossible to hear anything. Acanthe's wild magic is as unpredictable as a storm.
I upend a table and toss it toward where Sitara and her people are taking cover. Her head whips around, savage fury in her eyes. I drop my shield, and I can feel the relief that is writ on her face. I gesture for her to fucking move.
The first wave of redcaps streams into the room, blasting through the piece of ceiling that blocked the door as if it were water. They immediately start taking hits, collateral damage as much as anyone else. One of them breaks ranks when he sees easy prey.
I'm still weak from the physical torments I endured while under Acanthe's control, but I push out as much magic as I can and direct it to the first redcap I see, clearing the way.
"Sitara!"
I make her move and she pushes her people ahead of her, though her bodyguard stays at her back. In the meantime, I scrawl protective glyphs on the floor to buy some time. It uses less energy than trying to create a shield that can cover us all.
When there is another clear opening, they finally reach me.
Dirt and grime speckle Sitara's face. If it is possible, it makes her look even more desirable. "You have the stone, I assume?"
She nods. She doesn't show it to me, but I feel its presence on her. After a millennium being warded in my cell by its magic, I can pick its energies out anywhere.
Though it's the same star stone, it feels different somehow. No longer do I feel a prickling sensation against my skin. Now I just feel warmth. I put it from my mind.
"In less than a minute a contingent of goblins will barricade this place. Lead your people to the dungeon before you're cut off. I'll be right behind you."
She gives me an incredulous stare. "How in the stars are we supposed to find our way to the fucking dungeons?"
I dig into my pocket and take out a scrap of vellum scroll. In one of my trips to the storehouse, I managed to capture the map of the secret tunnels from the grimoire, in case I needed it. "Take it. Meet me here." I point to the spot where my old cell is. "Especially with that stone, you should be safe. I won't be long."
"Where do you think you're going?" she says.
"I'm going to try to buy time. Once Acanthe is crowned and accepts the weight of the court, she will ascend to be its sovereign. When that happens, everything in the court—from the castle itself to every last speck of dirt—will respond to her will. And I don't know about you, but I don't feel like being crushed under a few tons of mud. The only thing that's saving us now is the fact that she doesn't know what will happen. That will change once she becomes the recognized sovereign of the court."
"What are you going to do?"
"What else? Get that crown. Right now she's too busy trying to fuck shit up to realize that she hasn't ascended yet."
Sitara huffs. "I wish you would have told me that from the beginning. I could have made a grab for both. They were close."
"First, I didn't think of it until now, and second, there would have been a greater chance that you would have gotten caught. It was risky enough just trying to get the stone."
My answer seems to mollify her. "Okay.” She takes the scroll, looks at it, and slips it into her pocket. “We’ll go.”
"How do you know we won't just leave you behind now that we have this map?" the bodyguard asks.
I don't look at him, instead turning my attention to Sitara. "Because you'll do the right thing knowing that I'm extending rare trust to you," I enunciate carefully. "And besides, it will be the only way you will ever know if this was the only star stone lying around the Court of Thorns or not."
She holds my stare and then nods. "You have my word."
We wait for another clear opportunity, and they leave. I feel energized once more, and I'm confident that my shields will hold until I'm close enough to take the crown. The cataclysm that Acanthe has unleashed into the throne room makes it difficult to walk silen
tly, but my footsteps are disguised by the wind.
I spy the crown: it fell from its cushion and now rests on its side just below the dais. As Acanthe moves out among the fray, I draw nearer to it.
A loud cry explodes behind me as a redcap howls its victory over its fallen prey. Horrible timing, since the noise also draws Acanthe's attention. Damn her, she sees through my shields.
"Where do you think you're going, Dark Mage?" Her voice slithers up my spine.
I run to the crown. Just as my fingers graze it, an elemental blast knocks it from my grasp. It shoots up and back over the dais.
Bitch.
"You're mine, Lord Raze. Body and soul." Acanthe hurls a blast from her scepter. Time seems to slow as I see the electricity gather at the end of the staff and fly toward me. I open my void magic.
When the elemental blast hits me in the chest, I stagger back, but don't fall.
Surprise mars Acanthe's face. It is almost comical, especially since she looks at the end of her scepter as if it is broken.
Over the fray, I meet Acanthe's gaze and hold it. There is a moment, in this shared space, where the human she once was—and the prisoner she has been since—regrets the slave that she has made of me. Regrets all of this.
But then the moment passes, and all that she ever was disappears under the weight of the oppressive chaos that lives within her now. The being that craves experiences and wonder and a beautiful desolation.
That being now hardens her features toward me. It would love nothing more than to skin me alive and open me up just to see how I work.
If I feel that I owe Acanthe nothing, then I owe this thing less than nothing.
I gather the energies I absorbed from her blast. "I belong to no one but me, bitch."
The blast I deliver hits her hard, and she flies back into the brick wall. Her guards rush to her aid before I can finish her off, and I don’t want to waste time trying to find the crown in the debris.
The necklace that Acanthe wears has fallen off, and I retrieve on my way out, slipping it into my pocket. One fewer magical item in her arsenal.
Without the star stone fueling her power over me, she’s cut off from using me as a weapon. She has enough of a growing weapon inside of herself, though, especially being crowned the Queen of Thorns and inheriting the sovereign powers of a court.
I just hope I bought us enough time.
Chapter Fourteen
Sitara
By some miraculous turn of events, the entirety of my party made it out of the mayhem that was once Acanthe's throne room. We moved like game afoot, leaping over falling bodies and twisting around newly formed branches and vines.
But exiting the room was merely the first step; there's still the rest of the palace, swarming with redcaps and pookas and those insect guards from the first night. There's the thorn forest outside and whatever lurks amongst its trees.
We are far from safe.
I yank out the map and unfold it, trying to figure out the safest, most direct route. “Which way do we go?” I’m doing my best to fight the panic that wants to rise in me like nausea.
Lyser extends a hand. “I can navigate.”
I shake my head. “No. You’re our best fighter. I want you focused on our surroundings, keeping an eye out for anything coming our way. I can do this. And there are plenty of others who can assist me.”
He nods and gestures to his guards, who fan out to the four corners of our party. Meanwhile, I drag Galog up to the front with me. He’s an advisor. It’s time for him to advise.
“Help me with this map,” I command.
He just stares at me. “Do you not see how far we have to go? We have to work our way through two wings and down into the dungeon. We’ll never make it, map or no.”
I flare my nostrils and set my jaw, trying to rein in my temper. “We’re doing this. If you want to stay here and try to negotiate with the redcaps, be my guest.”
“I see your point.” He takes the map from my hand, needing no further encouragement. "We must go through the east corridor. But it would help if we had some sort of concealment glamour.”
"Hold on," I mutter. I work a quick spell, pulling the darkness of the night sky around us. It won't camouflage us completely, but it's better than nothing. Within the shroud, I launch a tiny ball of starlight, with just enough glow to keep us from crashing into one another.
"We have to move!” Lyser announces, and I see a contingent of redcaps coming around the corner.
"Come on!" I give Galog a nudge and we all swing to the right, heading for the appropriate hallway.
It’s not as straightforward as the map would suggest. On any other day, perhaps it would be, but the entire castle has been enveloped in bedlam. Massive thorn trees have sprouted in the middle of passageways, contingents of guards flow through the arcades like water, and in some places the marble itself has collapsed like rockslide. We race down the corridors, zigging and zagging, sliding around corners, backpedaling when we collide with an obstacle.
"How much farther?" Lyser demands. He’s not even winded.
Galog consults the map. "We're getting close. The mage told us to meet him at his old cell, correct?”
I nod.
“Good.” He points to the map. “The entrance to the dungeon is just around this corner. All we have to do is go through this door and down several flights of stairs.”
He leads us around another bend and we all skid to a stop.
My heart thunders against my chest. I have seen a number of horrors since we came to this place, lost a number of comrades on this journey. I have experienced resignation, outrage, concern, and consternation.
But this is true fear.
At the entrance to the underground tunnels stands an immense Jack-in-Irons.
“Now what?” Galog asks.
I double-check our surroundings, but there’s no way around the giant. “Give me the map,” I say. There has to be another entrance.
I’m still scouring it, desperate and growing hopeless, when Raze appears. He careens around a corner and races down the hall. I have no doubt guards will appear behind him any second.
I fling the blanket of night around him, both to conceal him and to reveal our presence.
“He made it,” I whisper, unable to keep the wonder from seeping into my voice. Between Acanthe and her goblins, it really is astonishing that he got away.
He slides to a stop in front of me, panting. “What are we waiting for?”
I gesture at the colossus blocking the passage.
"Fuck. Acanthe's mount," Raze mutters under his breath.
I don't bother to ask how or why the Mad Queen mounted a five-meters-tall giant. Her proclivities are of no interest to me.
Fortunately, my spell holds, keeping us hidden by shadows.
Unfortunately, the Jack doesn't hunt by sight. It can smell us.
A low growl emanates from its jutted lips, and its hot, fetid breath washes over us. The stench of decomposing flesh nearly knocks me on my ass.
He takes a thundering step forward, and the floors beneath us vibrate from the impact. Its chains rattle, and the skulls that hang from them knock together with dull clunking sounds.
"What do we do?" I ask Raze.
"How the fuck should I know?" he hisses back. "I'm not an expert at hunting giants."
"If I may?" Lyser steps between us, gaze fixed on the Jack.
"No." I shake my head. "It's suicide."
Lyser grins at me, a feral gleam in his amethyst eyes. "You have so little faith in your bodyguard, my queen?"
It isn't that. Not at all. I have more faith in Lyser than just about anyone. But in all the years he's been guarding me, he's never had to go up against anything like this.
He grabs my shoulders and whirls me to face him. It's as if he can read my mind. "Sitara, you forget how old I am. I had twenty centuries of battle under my belt when you were born. I have fought in more wars than you've read about in your history books. Trust me."
He kisses me hard and fast, a hot promise that he will survive this and come back for more.
And then he's running, powering through my blanket of blackness and straight for the giant.
I spin, eyes fierce as I address my people. "Whatever magic you have, throw it behind him. Make a shield and protect the captain of the guard," I order.
Lyser is a pure-blooded noble, same as I. I have a more than passing familiarity with his body, and thus I know that he does not have wings or the ability to fly. All the same, it's as if he hovers and floats. Whereas the Jack is all dull force, plodding and powerful, Lyser flits about him, easily dodging the stomping feet and swinging chains.
His sword is a mere flash of light as it slices through the tendons in the Jack's legs. Before the Jack can fall, Lyser is running up his body, bouncing off the Jack's hipbone and landing on his shoulder. The sword flashes again, slicing the carotid, and Lyser is on the move again, landing atop the monster's head. Twin daggers wink in his hands before he buries them to their hilts, one in each eye.
The entire affair takes less than a minute.
The Jack manages a bellow of pain before its legs give out; we all leap out of the way as the mountain collapses in the corridor. Blood spurts sluggishly from its neck, but somehow Lyser manages to avoid it, wrench free his knives, and alight neatly on the floor next to me.
He gives me a saucy grin and gestures to the door the Jack had been guarding. "Shall we?"
I grin back and then turn to our guide. "Lord Raze, if you would be so kind, I would very much like to get the fuck out of here."
Chapter Fifteen
Raze
I race along a darkened path, down to the oubliette. I told myself I would never return.
Never say never.
In my studies, I discovered that this place is so old, no one remembers that it was installed first, and the castle built around it. It has to do with the ley lines of power that run through Inara. There is probably more to it, but I didn’t have enough time to learn the court's many secrets.
