“I don’t think you’re in a position to bargain.”
“Don’t you?” she replied softly, and I heard the threat beneath her words. She had a plan. I started to feel uneasy.
“What do you want to know?” I asked, testing the waters.
“The human—I want to know if you’ve fallen in love with her.”
What?
This time my laughter was genuine. We were in a life-or-death situation, and all Queen Trina was concerned about was petty jealousies and slights. She was insane.
“Yes,” I replied simply.
A look passed over Queen Trina’s face, so quickly I couldn’t catch what it was, but when she looked back up at me, her smile was once again fixed and her eyes shone brightly.
“So you decided to be selfish and put yourself first – before the needs of your kingdom?”
I frowned, wondering what she was getting at.
“I did.”
“Shame on you, Tejus of Hellswan. And what a pitiful fool you are. It’s futile—she will die. She will die in Nevertide, and it will be all your fault.”
I kept my hands at my sides, but my body was starting to shake with the effort of keeping my emotions in check.
“I doubt that will be the case,” I replied quietly.
“My master is rising,” she spat. “There is nothing that you can do—there is nowhere that you can hide. A new dawn will be brought to Nevertide, a future beyond your imagining, and that human soul will be torn to shreds—returning to ashes and dust, gone.” She clicked her fingers, her eyes boring into mine. “What will your world be like without her, Tejus?”
“Are you so sure of this?” I snapped. “Because I don’t see the entity here. I see a half-completed job, and a wretched queen sitting in a grain shed, trying to bargain with me.”
“He is coming,” she repeated again, her smile returning.
“Tell me about the Acolytes,” I said, trying a different tactic. “I know you lead them—what are you doing for the entity?”
“You know all you need to about us.” She dismissed the subject with a wave of her hand. “We are his faithful servants, and I will benefit greatly from the new world order. If you’re lucky”—she smirked—“I will keep you on as a personal slave, a position you are perhaps better fit for than you were king.”
If Queen Trina believed that she would benefit so greatly, I wondered why she bothered to involve herself with the trials at all. What was the point?
“So why did you put yourself in the running for the imperial trials?” I asked through gritted teeth.
She shrugged. “It always helps to eliminate the competition. I honestly thought it would be quite fun.”
“Fun? Ash says you almost died during the last trial.”
Trina pursed her lips.
“That’s enough questions for today,” she purred. “Just know that I never wanted you to be hurt in all this, which is incidentally why I was such a huge fan of Ashbik winning the trials…but, alas, you persevered, and you have interfered. And now it is too late.”
“Too late for what?”
Her eyes rested on the door behind me, and I spun around. The door was how I’d left it, still closed, without a sound coming from outside. I turned back to face her, confused. The moment our eyes met, I heard the loud bang of wooden planks falling backward onto the earth. The door was ripped open—along with the rest of the shed wall. I spun around to see a group of hooded figures who could only be Acolytes standing, silent, in front of the exposed shed.
Before I could move, an agonizing pain ripped through my skull. Stunned at the immediacy of the effect, I stumbled forward. Through fast-graying vision, I watched as Queen Trina rose from the floor, her eyes alight with victory.
“You should have chosen me, Tejus,” she murmured as she walked past.
“If you touch her—if you EVER touch her, I will end you,” I hissed as my knees collapsed beneath me, sending me sprawling to the floor. The pain only intensified, and I grunted in pain, writhing on the ground as the group of black-hooded Acolytes slowly backed away with their leader. The motionless bodies of the guards lay in the grass, as helpless as I was to stop them.
Queen Trina walked free.
Hazel
Abelle had somehow managed to cart what looked like an entire apothecary with her to the palace. She was sitting in the middle of hundreds of glass bottles, each filled with dried herbs, petals, unassuming-looking sticks, and some liquids that I wasn’t too eager to look closely at.
“Come and sit, Hazel.” She patted a cushion next to her. “Don’t worry about the hunger—we’ll soon get that fixed.”
I glanced over at Ruby, who smiled reassuringly and sat down on the other side of Abelle.
“This all looks amazing.” Ruby picked up one of the bottles, holding it up to the fire that was blazing in the hearth. “What is this?”
Abelle glanced over. “Oh, that’s Surdi Ossa. You don’t want to touch that. It confuses the senses, hearing in particular…it’s not nice.” Ruby hastily placed the bottle back down, and shoved her hands under her thighs.
Abelle started opening more bottles and jars, dumping their contents into a small iron pot. It wasn’t a million miles away from what I’d seen Corrine do, and the familiarity of her actions encouraged me to take a seat next to the woman.
“Are you a…witch, Abelle?” I asked, stumbling over my words, worried that I might offend the woman.
“Oh, no, there’s no such thing here, dear,” she replied in an off-hand manner.
I shot Ruby a meaningful look, but she just shrugged. I presumed she’d had a similar conversation with the woman before, as Abelle’s answer didn’t seem to come as a surprise.
“Right. But you do, err, magic?”
Abelle laughed loudly. “Nonsense! I just work with herbs, with nature, I suppose, to make remedies.”
Right.
She seemed to be witch-like to me, but maybe Nevertide didn’t really have a concept of magic—Tejus had thought that vampires were mythical creatures, and clearly this was a dimension that hadn’t been exposed to this species.
“So, what is this?” I asked, moving back to the concoction that Abelle was creating.
“This is something that will dull the hunger—but I’m afraid it will dull everything else too, all the power you may be experiencing in your sentry form. But after a while, once you learn to control the hunger, you can take less and less of this.”
I nodded, thinking that I didn’t mind the exchange too much. Better that I could be around my family and friends without wanting to suck them dry, than remain a liability with powers that I still didn’t know how to use.
“How will she learn to control the hunger?” Ruby asked.
“It will just come with time—time and repression of your instincts. Most sentries feel the hunger, especially around humans; it’s such a pure form of mental power that it’s hard to resist…but we manage, and we learn over time to keep it under control.”
This was sounding more and more like vampirism; perhaps my condition wouldn’t be too hard to deal with. I supposed it was somewhat similar to the future that I’d envisioned for myself anyway…just in a different form. I started thinking about Tejus. How hard it would have been for him not to syphon off me all those times we were together, especially in the beginning. How, for the most part, he did it gently, rarely causing me any pain. I had a lot to thank him for.
“It’s almost ready,” Abelle announced. “I just need to boil it for a short while.”
Picking up the pot, she placed it on the side of the fire. Flames snaked up the side of the iron. Ruby shuddered.
“Bringing back memories?” I asked her quietly, observing her reaction to the flames.
“Yeah. Being in that castle—it just felt so claustrophobic, like we’d never get out…and then when Benedict rushed back toward it…” She shook her head. “It was horrible.”
“You know, I have memory herbs. They can hel
p you forget unpleasant things—things you’d rather not remember?” Abelle suggested. I hadn’t thought that she was listening, and her offer took me by surprise.
“No,” Ruby replied hastily. “I’m okay to remember it. I’ll probably just become a fire alarm Nazi or something—it’s a good lesson.”
“Suit yourself,” Abelle replied. “Just remember the offer is always here.”
“Thanks,” replied Ruby, sounding like she wasn’t sure she meant it.
“The elixir’s ready!” Abelle took the pot off the fire and started pouring it into yet another glass bottle. Its liquid was a dark, sludgy brown—not the most appetizing thing I’d ever seen. Abelle held it out to me.
“Just one sip, twice a day,” she instructed, smiling at me.
“Okay, thanks.”
I took the bottle. The liquid was still warm, and I clutched it in my fist, hesitating before drinking it. Something was holding me back—I didn’t know if it was because I wasn’t that well acquainted with Abelle, or that the loss of power she warned of was more troubling to me than I had first assumed, but something just didn’t feel quite right.
“It doesn’t taste as bad as it looks,” Abelle said, observing my reluctance with a small smile.
“Maybe think about hugging Benedict? Or you know, someone else?” Ruby added with a wink.
I rolled my eyes at her, but her comments had the desired effect. I removed the lid and held the bottle to my lips. On the count of three, I took a small sip of the foul-smelling stuff.
“Ugh!”
It doesn’t taste as bad as it looks? She had to be kidding me.
“Sorry.” Abelle shrugged. “I didn’t think you’d do it otherwise.”
“Thanks for the warning,” I muttered. It tasted like soil and boiled cabbage. I was sorely regretting my decision when I started to feel the potion taking effect. A warmth spread across my body, and the hunger that had been my constant companion over the past few days—with the exception of when I’d syphoned off the minister—started to vanish. I sighed with contentment.
“It works,” I announced dreamily. “It actually works!”
It was such a relief to finally be free from my never-ending hunger that I sank back onto the stone floor, lying with my eyes closed and letting all the tension drain from my body.
“Hazel, are you okay?” Ruby asked, peering down at me.
“Better than okay,” I replied. “Much, much better.”
“Did she take too much?” Ruby asked Abelle. “She looks kind of weird.”
“It’s just because it’s the first time,” the sentry replied calmly. “The more potent effects will wear off—the absence of hunger is quite powerful if it’s been a constant thorn for a while. Don’t worry.”
The two women fell silent, and someone cleared their throat.
“It looks like I’m interrupting something.” A stern, very familiar voice seemed to float over from the doorway.
“Are you okay?” Ruby exclaimed, rushing to her feet. Dazedly I sat up—what was wrong with Tejus?
I looked over to the doorway, seeing him slumped against the frame, his face pale and perspiring. I tried to stand up, every bone in my body feeling like rubber, and the ground moving when it shouldn’t have been.
“What’s wrong with her?” Tejus demanded, striding over to me.
“An elixir to repress the hunger,” Abelle snapped at him.
“I’m fine,” I interjected, finally standing up. I clutched onto Tejus’s arms, trying to get him in focus.
“You’re clearly not,” he muttered.
“What happened to you?” I persisted, desperate for him to stop analyzing me for a second.
“Queen Trina happened to me,” he replied with a deep scowl. “She’s gone—the Acolytes attacked, they’ve taken out five guards. Ruby, will you go and tell Ash? I couldn’t find him.”
“Of course.” She moved hastily toward the door. A moment later I could hear her footsteps running along the marble tiles.
Queen Trina had escaped. This didn’t bode well at all.
“And I would like to be alone with Hazel,” he said to Abelle, “so can you take all this with you?”
Abelle didn’t reply, but I could tell by the brusque nature of her movements, the rattling of the glass bottles as she packed them up, that she wasn’t happy about being ordered around by him.
“Let me know if you need anything, Hazel,” she muttered, glaring at Tejus before she left.
I pulled at his arms, wanting him to sit down by the fire with me—I was still feeling woozy and standing was an effort. Tejus didn’t look like he could hold out much longer either. Why hadn’t he asked Abelle to give him something?
“What were you doing with Queen Trina anyway?” I asked when we were both seated. I realized, happily, that I could be as close to him as I liked without any unwanted side effects.
“I was questioning her. I thought she’d be more inclined to give me answers than anyone else.”
“Because of your history?” I asked quietly.
“Yes. Our ancient history.”
“Did you find out anything useful?” I asked, trying to hide my smile at his emphasis on the word ‘ancient’.
“No, not really. The entire exercise was futile—her master will rise, he will kill us all, etc. etc. And now she is gone. My only saving grace is that I believe it would have happened whether or not I had gone to speak with her. It might stop me from getting beheaded by King Kitchen, at the very least.”
I leaned my head against his arm, disappointed that we didn’t know more, but very glad that I could once again be close enough to Tejus, smell his distinct musk and feel the warmth of his body against mine.
“I love you, Tejus,” I whispered.
“Is this the potion talking, or you?”
“Me.”
“After everything, still?” he asked, uncertainty creeping into his tone.
“Still… Always.”
He turned toward me, cupping my jaw in his hand. His lips grazed mine in a soft kiss. He moved away, leaning back down on the floor and motioning me to follow him. I slid into his outstretched arm, our bodies lying side by side in front of the fire. My hands ran across the hard muscles of his chest, and I was just grateful that I could be touching him like this, feeling nothing else but the hot prickles of desire flooding my body.
“Can I try to mind-meld with you—give you some of my energy?” I asked.
“You can try, but it doesn’t seem that strong. What did that fool crone give you?”
I tutted at his mean assessment of Abelle—she was only trying to help. Without her, none of this would be possible.
“So, let’s try,” I encouraged.
Tejus smiled down at me, the tender, loving gaze quickly becoming something else entirely.
“I have a better idea.” He smirked, running his thumb along my temples and down to my lips. I didn’t argue. Moments later Tejus had locked the door and I was a million miles away, sinking into Tejus’s soft caresses.
Ash
“Dammit!” I swore, kicking the chair.
“Are you angry at Tejus or the furniture?” Ruby replied, cocking an eyebrow at me, clearly unimpressed.
“Tejus,” I snapped. “Tejus and Queen Trina and this entire situation. I think it warrants some chair-kicking.”
I was beyond furious. Ruby had said that Tejus was overpowered by the Acolytes, but even so, the warning of Memenion rang in my ears. Had Tejus been lenient on her, let her escape because when it came down to it, he wasn’t able to kill her? I couldn’t afford for Tejus to have that kind of weakness—what I had in mind for him wouldn’t be possible if he couldn’t protect us all, put Nevertide before his own feelings.
“I don’t think he could have done much to stop it, Ash. Keeping Queen Trina hostage was a mistake. She was always going to get out eventually, surely you could see that?”
Great.
As if I didn’t have enough worries, it now fel
t like Ruby was questioning my ability to make sound decisions.
“We needed the information,” I said.
“I know.” She sighed. “But we still need to read the book—we just need to find a way for you to become emperor. Maybe then we’ll get some real answers.”
She was right about that. I didn’t want to delay the trip to seek out the Impartial Ministers a moment longer. At dawn tomorrow we’d leave to find them—I just hoped that Tejus had some idea as to where they might be. The ministers had kept their abode secret for centuries, and I didn’t know of any non-minister who had ever visited them.
“All right. We’ll leave tomorrow. In the meantime, I’ve asked the guards to take turns in keeping watch, and I’ve put barriers up around the palace. It will have to be enough for now—hopefully Queen Trina will be busy recuperating and not planning a return.”
Ruby nodded.
“You should get some rest,” she replied.
“I know.”
I was so short-tempered that even Ruby was irritating me. I let out another breath, looking around the empty ballroom. The meeting with the guards hadn’t gone particularly well—if it hadn’t been for Ragnhild, I doubted that a single one of them would have listened to what I had to say. It didn’t exactly make me feel spectacular.
“So, where do we sleep?” I asked tetchily.
“Jenney and the kids are sleeping together in one of the upstairs rooms. We could join them, there are enough beds up there.”
“Fine, let’s do that.”
We left the ballroom and walked up the main staircase. I felt like I hardly had the energy to reach the top—every single part of my body felt like it wanted to give up, to just slump on the marble floor and let someone else take over for a while.
When we reached the kids’ room, I could hear laughter coming from inside—the sound of the kids squealing, and Benedict arguing with Yelena.
I stopped at the door, holding it shut when Ruby tried to open it.