Chapter 108
CHAPTER 108
Caspian
M y mother sits on her throne of shadows, suspended hundreds of feet in the air over the sands outside of Hadria. Beneath her, an army of thousands of skeletons marches back and forth, green inner fire flickering out of their eye sockets and from between their ribs. The walls around Hadria seem but a pathetic obstacle to such an army.
I lick my lips and force my heart to slow. As much as I’d love to believe this is the only path before me, I know there are others. I could denounce my loyalty to the Below, bring my alliance with the Golden Rose out into the daylight. I could run away, disappear into the human realm, and hide under a rock until the sickness takes me.
But instead, I’m doing what I’ve always done. One foot in the grave, the other ready to make a mad dash away. I made a promise long ago to protect both of Aurelia’s daughters and if I’m to uphold that vow, then this is the only path forward.
My thorns arc me up through the air, my hold on them growing thinner and more tenuous as I ascend. Though this power originated in the Above, it doesn’t seem to like being away from the earth. My mother doesn’t say anything as I waver before her, suspended only by my thin thorns. Her long black hair billows in the wind as if it is one of her shadows. She sits stiff-backed, hands digging into the armrests.
I look around. What a strange sight this is: the bright blue sky of the Summer Realm with this horrid splotch of dark shadow clouds. My mother’s macabre throne floats over the sands like some sort of ghoul from a child’s nightmare. If you ask me, the whole thing is completely tacky.
But of course, Sira would never ask me. My opinion has never been as valuable to her as my unquestioning loyalty.
My only hope is there’s still a shred of it to keep me alive for the next few minutes.
“Mother.” I bow my head before her. “Welcome to the Summer Realm.”
She flicks her gaze toward me. On the outside, I’m perfectly still. On the inside, my pulse races. Can she tell how nervous I am? Does she know I was involved in the breaking of the crystals?
Did Father tell her or is this another one of our little secrets?
Her lip curls slightly. “I didn’t expect to see you here. You always seem to be missing when I need you.”
“Apologies,” I breathe.
“Perhaps you can be of use. Sit.” She waves a hand.
I nearly let loose a sigh of relief but keep my face a steady mask. I hate the feel of these shadows beneath my feet. It seems as if I should slip right through, but somehow my weight holds. Though, it’s an always present reminder that anytime she wants, the Queen of the Below could whip them out from under me.
“You’ve brought the Baron’s army to the gates of Hadria,” I say mildly. “Birdy’s plan wasn’t working fast enough for you?”
I looked for my sister after leaving the parade of heroes, but she was nowhere to be found. With Dayton and Rosalina’s mate bond forged, and her plan in shambles, I expect she’s in no hurry to report to our mother.
A twinge of worry and unease passes through me. A desperate Birdy is a dangerous one. There’s no telling what she’s capable of in this state.
Sira doesn’t respond for a long time, her gaze out on the horizon. There’s something different about her face. Her black eyes are shiny …
She’s about to cry, I realize. She’s fighting not to.
My mother, the Queen of the Below, who I have never seen have another expression beyond what I call “intense constipation.”
“She almost escaped, Cas,” Sira breathes. “Where were you last night? I needed you. Everything broke down.”
“I’m sorry, Mother. I was trying to find the Golden Rose.”
She buries her face in her hands. “I am cursed with a flippant son! He leaves me defenseless against invaders!”
I gently place a hand on her arm. She peeks out from between her fingers at me. “I’m sorry, Mother.”
Truly, I am. Even though every word from her mouth is a lie. I have never been flippant. She has never been defenseless, and I am no savior.
I see what mood she’s in. One that strives to guilt and cajole. It still works on Birdy, but I was broken of my sympathy for her after the hundredth beating I received at her order.
In fact, these tears—however real they may be—make me sick. I need to leave, even if I choke on filth from my lungs. I can’t sit here, batting my eyelashes anymore as she sits outside of a city filled with innocents.
But Birdy! What of Birdy girl?
“Those damned High Princes did something,” Mother says. She grabs my hand with both of hers and wrings it tightly as if for support. “One of them got in, I think. Broke your father’s crystals.”
“Did Aurelia escape?” My voice is barely more than a whisper.
“No, of course not.” Mother sits back on her throne. “She won’t leave. I know it, too, but still the thought …” Those tears are back, glistening like oil down her face.
“She’s still imprisoned?” Damn it, Kel! Everything Farron and I risked was for what? For nothing? She’s still there. Rage and grief war up in my chest, and it takes everything I have to keep the gentle smile on my face.
“I’m going to do something drastic, Caspian. I don’t want to. Draining her slowly is so much more effective in the long-term, but they’ve pushed me too far. I’ll have to take all her magic. At once.”
“She won’t survive. You could lose everything if she dies too soon,” I say, fighting my rising panic.
“I know. But there’s always the Golden Rose.” Mother waves a hand as if to displace the bothering thought. “Those pesky princes may have slowed us down, but we’ll remake the crystals. We’ll summon enough magic to turn the pool into a portal to bridge the gap between worlds. Your father will reunite with us, Caspian.” She runs a hand along my cheek, a shaky smile on her face. “We’ll be a family soon. Your father, me, you, and your sister. The four of us will see this world renewed from the ashes of the Green Flame.”
“What a day it will be,” I say.
Plans within plans within plans. My mother envisions a world ruled by the god she worships and the children she’s broken. All while that god intends to use her as collateral.
Her grip becomes more urgent, fingers clawing down my face. Her expression breaks into a pained grimace. “When will you do it, son? When will you take up your father’s mantle? His power flows through you. You have but to step into the pool—”
I grab her wrists and direct her hands away from my face, lest she scratches an eye. “I would not be so selfish as to take a drop of his power while the crystals need to be remade. Let us first work on refortifying. If the princes tried to break Aurelia out once, they will try again.”
Sira gives her version of a laugh. “It doesn’t matter. I could fling the doors wide open and invite them in. Aurelia won’t leave.”
Again, I steady every motion, every tic of my face. Won’t leave. Not can’t . Won’t .
“How are you so certain?”
“Because she is a fool who loves her children,” Sira says sadly, then looks to me. “The one thing we unfortunately have in common.”
An ache I’d long abandoned re-emerges in my chest. Her love may be poisonous, but it does not mean I don’t crave it all the same.
“The most tragic part of this whole ordeal is that I must retaliate,” Sira says, peering down at the army below us. “I don’t even know which damned prince it was who broke in, so I don’t know what realm to obliterate. But figuring as your sister’s been having such slow progress here, and I’ve heard word that Daytonales is stirring up trouble, why, it seemed like the perfect city to make an example of.”
“Tragic because the people won’t swear fealty to you?” I ask tentatively.
Mother rolls her eyes. “Tragic because I was saving this army to bring Frostfang to its knees. Never mind though. I’m sure they’ll make quick work of the peasants here. Then we can march on Winter. We can take Autumn on the way!” She claps her hands. “Perhaps this isn’t such a loss after all.”
My composure begins to ebb out of me. “Or perhaps, there’s another way. Give Wrenley some more time. She’s close to getting the Blessing of Summer. If she takes the rule, then you will have the support of the people by law. Spring has stayed in line because they believe Kairyn to be the rightful ruler—”
“Silence!” Even the clouds ripple with the power and command in her voice. “You children are always making plans and schemes. I’m tired of it. You can have adoring subjects in another realm, Caspian. These fae, I would make an example of.”
“What of Wrenley?” I ask.
“I’ll figure out something to deal with that disappointment.” She stares at me hard. “You’re bothering me now. Not one subject has come to swear fealty to me, and it is almost dawn. Make yourself useful and go kill something.”
I summon my thorns to lift me from my mother’s clouds and give her a deep bow before departing. “My pleasure.”
Then, I descend back to Hadria, panic rising in my chest.
For the first time in my life, I don’t have a plan.