by Elle Cross
I hear the murmurs of Sitara's advisors, scoffing and doubting. Mainly just complaining. "This is a trap. There's nothing down here but death. We need to get rid of him before he drops us, too."
At that, Sitara stops and pokes the one who said it—the green, toad-like man who’d tried to stop me from entering her chamber—in the chest. Her nail digs into his sternum, probably hard enough to draw blood.
"Galog, that is the last gods-be-damned straw. I’m done with your endless complaints and reprimands. If you say one more thing—one more—I’m going to make sure you’re left behind to get eaten by that psychobitch. The rest of us are sticking with Raze because he says he can get us out of here alive."
He opens his mouth to protest and she digs her nail in even harder. “Not one more word.”
I clear my throat. "Technically, I only promised to get you out of here alive, so if they want to stay alive, too, then they're on their own."
She just cocks her brow in that way of hers and glances at the lower-tier advisors who were also grumbling. "You hear that?" She releases the chief advisor and nods at me. "Keep going, Lord Raze."
Even without that stone in her hand, I would have obeyed that command.
We skitter through the dark. The courtiers don't use their light, in order to stay hidden. I don’t need the light to see.
We pass what was once my cell.
I always thought that my cell was the end of the road. Turns out that it's the start. Whenever I get to the point where I'm not running for my life from a mad queen filled with chaos, I'll figure out if Bramb had a purpose for keeping me here.
"The path should be direct, but it's far. Easily a few miles, and that’s if we keep to the route and pray to all the gods we know that Acanthe never finds her crown."
"And what if she does? How will we know?"
"When she ascends, the entire court will yield to her. Trust me, we'll know, even while in the bowels of this castle. Let's move out. We need to go fast."
Though I have the map memorized, I check my bearings against the streams of power that ebb and flow in this darkness. I drink it in, feeling refreshed and energized. Those have to be the ley lines. No wonder the king was able to change the court to suit him. Wielding his kind of magic while channeling a power source this potent would barely need an effort of will.
I lead them deeper down into the pitch-black madness of the oubliette. When I see the ground leveling off, I decide it's a good enough place to stop and catch our breaths. I have to give this court some credit. I expected more complaints. Perhaps it's the shared desperation of escaping that keeps their thoughts to themselves.
"Let's get some lights over here. Only enough that we can anticipate a surprise attack. We don't want to attract anything that might be roaming here," I tell them.
Plus, the light will help keep the feel of oppressive darkness at bay, especially for nobles from the light courts.
Orbs of light appear in a circle around us, hovering about knee-height. "Will that work?" Sitara asks.
"Perfectly."
Sitara looks past me to take in the high walls and ceiling. "How is this possible? This space alone can fit two of Thorn's castles, at least!"
I grin. "Magic?"
She puts her hand on her hip, narrowing her eyes at me in a gimlet stare as she walks past me. "Haha. But seriously, what possible reason is there to—" The end of her sentence is swallowed by a gasp.
Lyser is at her side, sword drawn in a heartbeat. The rest of her courtiers draw in closer together, the other guards forming a perimeter.
I see what startled Sitara. The skeletal remains of something big. I crouch down and observe the skull. Whatever it was, it had large tusks and horns.
“Are you all right, lady?” one of her attendants asks. The others flutter around her like nervous hens.
"It's fine, it's fine," Sitara says in exasperation. "I wasn't expecting it, that's all. Shall we continue, please?"
I look at her over my shoulder and nod. We continue along the path, keeping a brisk pace.
Lyser addresses me, his voice pitched low so it doesn't carry to the rest of the group. "What's on your mind, mage?"
I spare him a glance. He's not the type to chat with me. I'm pretty sure he doesn’t chat with anyone but his queen. "Why do you ask?"
"You were thinking about something back there with the skeleton."
Sitara's luminous gaze sharpens, glancing between us. "What is it? Should we be worried? Do you know what that creature is?"
I shrug. "That thing back there could have easily been as much predator as prey. It's hard to tell. This was Bramb's playground, and he was very hard on his toys. Especially his favorite ones."
"I hate this Dark court shit," Sitara mutters. "Why can't you all be normal?"
I want to put her in her place, but something echoes from the tunnels ahead.
Sitara cocks her head, listening to the repetitive taps. "Is that...knocking?"
Knocking? "Shit and shadows," I moan, "there are tommyknockers up ahead. They're gonna cause a cave-in if they keep this up."
I surge forward, not waiting to see if any of the group are with me. Tommyknockers are usually more mischievous pranksters rather than downright evil, but they are still annoying. When especially peckish, they’ve been known to overtake larger creatures simply by their greater numbers.
I wonder if they were the ones who ate that large creature whose skeleton we stumbled upon.
I pause, waiting for Sitara to catch up. The tommyknockers range along the walls, banging their pickaxes at supernatural speeds. Though they're barely two feet tall, they have rows of sharp teeth and run at blurring fast speeds. The knocking intensifies.
Sitara appears at my side. "What do we do?"
"When I drop my shields, I want you to shine your light, as bright as you can, all over them. The weakest ones will be knocked out by that alone. Any of the stronger ones will still have trouble moving toward the light. That's where Lyser and I come in. We'll strike them down while they're all stunned."
"Okay, just tell me when." Sitara readies her stance, her fingers wriggling in anticipation.
I gesture a countdown—three, two, one—and drop my shields as dramatically as if tearing back a heavy curtain.
Starlight pours forth from Sitara's hands with the intensity of a supernova. All but a few resilient tommyknockers fall from their wall perches. Before they recover, Lyser and I make quick work of cutting them down.
In a few moments, they are all dead.
"Good work," I say. "Let's hope there aren't going to be many more of these obstacles or we'll never find our way out of here."
We make excellent progress. I double back a couple of times to make sure we aren’t being followed or to avoid something we needn’t face. The fewer encounters we have, the safer we will be.
We are more than halfway through the dizzying tunnels when the ground beneath us begins to quake.
Shit and shadows.
"Keep moving!" I spur them on until we all are sprinting, even the advisor.
"What's wrong?" Sitara asks.
"Everything."
An eerie hush descends around us. "Don't stop! Keep moving."
Sitara’s insistent. "What is it?"
I stop running to look at her, and her face echoes the dread I feel.
"She wears the crown of the Court of Thorns now, doesn't she?"
I nod. "We need to move."
Long live the queen.
The chant of the entire court echoes even here.
"Fuck. We have to keep going. Now. Run!"
Thirteen bells. That is the span of time we will have. Afterward, the power and magic of the Court of Thorns will be Acanthe's to command. She will know everything that every sovereign before her knew, and will acquire the knowledge of the ages.
The first of the resonant bells sound, the ominous tones shaking down into the foundation of the court.
No one speaks. The grim reality that we may
not make it spurs us on and keeps us focused.
I just pray the tunnels either take a while to respond or that they remain stubborn and ignore any commands.
Or that Acanthe doesn’t know about the tunnels.
Being trapped here forever isn't an option.
I won't allow it.
There are eyes everywhere, and Acanthe's spies will come eventually. We're down to the last few bells, and already some of the passageways have shifted. "Not fair," someone mutters.
"We need to double back to the last turnoff," I command.
We get there as the final bell tolls.
"There's no reason to stop, let's keep going," I urge.
And then we hear the low-pitched grind of bones crunching.
"What kind of creatures did you say were down here?" Sitara asks.
"Mostly horrors," I say with a deadpan tone. "Although I did read somewhere that some of the first endlings that Bramb collected were dropped off here and allowed to roam loose."
"Something tells me you aren't talking about stray kittens."
"Depends. If by kittens, you mean creatures that are large, strong, and usually have a desire for fresh meat, then yes."
There is a snort, followed by a growl and a clattering of hooves. Because of the cavernous echo of where we are, it is impossible to guess where the noise is coming from.
"Back to back," I call out. "We need to see where it's coming from."
The pounding hooves get closer.
"I think it's originating from there." Lyser gestures down the length of the dark tunnel.
We’re preparing for a faceoff when the ground shakes again. The tunnels shift and reveal a huge pit—one that we’re standing on top of. We tumble down and find ourselves in a different section of tunnel.
Except I can see all four sides of it. It's like we’ve been dropped into a room. The tunnels have a mind of their own, shifting according to their own whims as much as their sovereign’s. There’s no telling when they will shift, and if they do, whether they will shift in our favor.
As it is, I hear something prowling outside of the enclosure we find ourselves in. The wet, slurping sounds of smacking lips and splashing blood tell me that we want to avoid whatever it is.
“What the hell is that?” Sitara whispers.
“I think from now on, we can agree that anything we find in here is something that would be happy to eat us.”
Faster than I can blink, Lyser slams me against the wall and rams his forearm against my throat. “What are you playing at, mage? Has this all been some sadistic ruse to capture us for your queen?”
"She’s not my fucking queen," I growl through my teeth.
Lyser has one of his wicked blades at my throat, glaring down at me, but he’s not the only one with weapons. I delve into my void magic and whip a shadow around his windpipe, pressing hard.
Mottled fury darkens his face.
"This solves nothing," Sitara says.
Neither of us moves.
"Why do you still wear her charm?" Lyser nods at the necklace. "Is that not a way for her to spy on you? Communicate with you? Why else have a charm that is twin to her own?"
Twin charms. Something about the way he says it brings a random line to mind. Two sides of the same coin.
I release my void magic, and that, coupled with something in my expression, makes Lyser retreat, giving me space to take off the necklace with which Acanthe ensnared me. It feels like a lifetime ago, when it’s been mere days.
I inspect the ochre-yellow charm inlaid with lines I can’t read. If they are sigils, I am not familiar with them.
I pull Acanthe’s necklace from my pocket and check it as well. Comparing the two, they seem to look the same. Though this charm is old, the copper gleams as if new, setting off the yellow stone at its center.
Two sides of the same coin.
I bring them together and feel a snap as they form a whole. The pendant glows in my palm, emanating mystical light. The illumination that it casts throws the eldritch script on my skin into high relief. Curious, I slip it around my neck.
The tunnels are ablaze with glowing red spells. As far as I can see, every inch of the caverns is covered with them. I can sense that the tunnels are restless again, are gearing up to shift again. The monster on the other side, who is now aware of our presence, seems eager to join us.
"Whatever you're doing, can you do it faster?" Sitara asks.
I place a hand against one of the walls, and I know exactly the right combination of spells to open a portal. Shit and shadows, this has been hiding in plain sight this whole time.
Lyser looks at the black abyss suspiciously. “Where does that lead?”
The walls quiver as the tunnels begin to move again, and not in the way we want. The monster on the other side notices and sniffs at the ever-increasing opening. Claws longer than my arm slide in.
“Away from here, is that good enough for you?” I reply.
A snarling snout pushes through the gap. The reek of rot and gore steams from its mouth.
“Anywhere is better than here,” Sitara says. “Move!”
I wait for the group to rush past me, and then I push through the portal, the heat of the monster’s breath sticky on my neck before I’m enveloped by cool air.
We walk behind the veil of spells that wards this maze. It shields us more thoroughly than a glamour. It’s like we are literally walking in a different realm of time and space.
“Are we close?” Sitara asks.
“To the exits? No. But we’re not going that way.”
“Well, then, where are we going?”
I honestly don’t know, but I sure as shit am not going to admit that and get another knife to my neck. “We’re following the ley lines. They will lead us to their source. A well of power.” One that I suspect fuels this court.
“Why haven't you mentioned this well before?” Lyser asks.
I sigh, tiring of his suspicion, even if it is his job. “Because it seemed impossible to get to. There are stories that tell of all the people who have tried to find it and died.”
“What makes you so sure that we’ll be able to find it now?” Sitara asks.
"Can't you feel it, Your Majesty?"
"Feel what?"
"Magic."
Her face clouds over. I take her hand and dip it into the flickering current of light. The power feels like a gentle pulsing. "Can you feel that?"
Her eyes round and she nods.
"That’s the magic. The tunnels were built along these ley lines. That's what is flowing here.” I shake my head. “I always thought the shifting power came from Bramb. You know, royals are always lying to make themselves seem more powerful than they are," I say. Then quickly add, "Present company excluded.”
I follow the flow of magic until we reach our destination. We don’t encounter another creature or monster along the way. Finally, a little bit of luck.
The press of darkness has lessened, and it’s as if I can breathe easier now. A comforting light blooms before us, and we rush to it.
Even now, I can feel the ley lines that spring from the pool of power, calling to me like a siren’s song.
Power and freedom.
Acanthe was right about that. Those are the only things that are important to me.
What will happen when the creature inside of Acanthe discovers this place?
I look into the well and see a vast cosmos interconnected and aligned atop a backdrop of stars. “All right, this is our exit.”
"You want me to jump in that? You must be joking." Sitara looks at the well in both horror and awe.
Her disbelieving face is comical. "This is the only way out that won't deliver us guaranteed death. Don’t tell me you’re too prissy to get your hair wet."
She lifts her brow. "It’s not the water, you ass, it’s the thought of possibly drowning in a dead end. There’s nothing to guarantee that this is even an exit. We might die."
I look her dead in the eye.
"Every moment, every choice we make, is a chance of death. Besides, what do you have going on in your life at this moment that you're thinking, 'Hmm, maybe I shouldn't do everything in my power to get the fuck out of here?'"
She rolls her eyes. "Oh, for fuck’s sake. Just tell me that you know the course of these ley lines. I don’t want to waltz in there and end up getting spat back into Acanthe’s throne room.”
"You won’t if you do this right, so pay attention. Put your finger in the well."
She doesn’t hesitate. She puts her finger in the pool, the liquid galaxy there rippling. She glances up to me, waiting.
"Tell it where you want to go."
"Home. Take me home." The shimmering galaxy aligns like true stars, and then opens a portal of sorts.
"What are you waiting for, Your Majesty? Ladies first. Long live—or maybe die?—the queen and all that.” I shrug at the look she gives me.
With a deep breath, she steps into the well, followed immediately by her bodyguard-slash-lover. The rest of the court shoots through the well one by one and I follow. We all come out on the other side along the ley line.
I stand under the black blanket of night and just breathe. My fate is mixed up with this young queen, but already, the geas of Acanthe's words melts away as the water from the well flows off my skin.
I look around at the bewildered faces, some still gasping for breath. Eventually the shock wears off, and they break into equal parts crying and laughing as if they can’t believe that they survived. They marvel at being free after that nightmare.
They don't know the half of it.
Chapter Sixteen
Sitara
I emerge from the well gasping. It takes a moment for me to get my bearings and realize that wherever we are, it’s not home. The well’s power must be bound by the ley lines’ course, and they obviously don’t stretch all the way to the other side of Inara. There’s no sign of my court or even the filigreed celestial gates that mark the entrance to my queendom.
