Chapter 17
“Right.” The Golden Beacon’s whole body had already been drawn into taut lines of anticipation. The moment Lorelei finished speaking, he dropped his sword and plunged his right hand into the pool, ready to crush the giant’s hidden heart on her direction.
“Wait!” Lorelei latched onto his big arm with both hands, so driven by panic and instinct that she barely even noticed the muscles flexing against her grip. “Not yet.”
“Not yet?” His eyebrows soared as he stared down at her, but he was too much of a gentleman, even now, to shake her off. “You want to wait for him to arrive and crush you instead?”
“Crush us,” she said impatiently, “but, Gerard…” Desperately, she cast about for a reason, any reason that made sense. “Don’t you remember that basilisk, the first day? You spared its life. Can’t you do that again?”
He let out a huff of disbelieving laughter as the loud splashing sounded closer, the giant already almost halfway across the lake.
“That basilisk was rendered utterly harmless. Killing it would have been cruel and unnecessary. This time, it’s a matter of self-defense.
He will kill you if I don’t stop him—and apparently, this is the only way in which he can be fought. ”
“But—”
“Lorelei,” he bit out, “take one look at that creature’s expression, and you’ll know it to be true. He cannot be reasoned with.”
The giant’s next wordless roar was so powerful that it buffeted the hair on her head, even from halfway across the lake; she gritted her teeth as she waited for the sound to end so she could finally answer.
“Of course he can’t, because of this!” Still restraining Gerard with both hands, she jerked her head towards the egg lying at the bottom of the pool between them.
“He traded away everything soft and compassionate inside him because he thought he had to, to stay safe. Doesn’t that remind you of anything—or anyone? ”
Gerard’s amber eyes widened. “Good gods. Do you actually imagine this creature to be anything like you? I’m sure you must have had to harden your own heart to become an effective queen, but—”
“Don’t be ridiculous! I was talking about you.” Her heartbeat thundered in her ears as the giant splashed towards them, ready to trample all over everything—just as the man before her would trample over everything she loved in this coming year if she didn’t find a way to stop him.
There had to be a better way than killing him—killing either of them!
Gerard was still staring at her in disbelief as flecks of spray landed on his hair from the giant’s path. “You think of me as a wordless, feral monster driven by rage?”
“Of course not. But I do think you’ll follow Otto’s orders, no matter how terrible they may be, because you don’t think you’re allowed to have real feelings of your own anymore—much less listen to them when they contradict your orders!”
His arm stiffened into the solidity of rock between her hands as he bit out his response. “Not everyone can or should allow their feelings to drive them wherever their latest whim takes them, Your Majesty. Some of us are sworn to serve a higher duty than our own personal desires.”
“And you think I’m not?” She could have laughed at the sheer irony of that statement—but an incoming tide of cold lake water splashed over them both, leaving her dripping wet, coughing, and glaring at him with her hands still clenched around his arm.
The giant’s next roar sounded so close, it shook through her body, but she didn’t let go or drop Gerard’s furious gaze as she waited for her opportunity to speak again.
“Come now, you’re meant to be the most brilliant strategist the Empire has ever seen.
Can you really not think of any way to defend us without killing him? ”
More water cascaded over them. In the corner of her eyes, she could see the giant’s outline …
And Gerard wrenched his arm free of her grasp to scoop the egg from the bottom of the pool.
Lorelei cried out in protest, but the sound was lost in the din as the giant surged towards them, his shadow casting darkness over both of them. Water surged over their heads.
Spinning around to face their opponent, Gerard pulled back his right arm and hurled the egg through the air to crash hard against the giant’s massive, bare, blood- and excrement-smeared chest.
The shell of the egg split.
A blinding red glow filled the air …
And the giant’s roar abruptly ceased.
In the shock of that sudden cessation, Lorelei stumbled back a step, her own harsh breaths suddenly shockingly loud in her ears. Blinking lake water from her eyes, she watched the giant reel backwards in open-mouthed silence.
Shattered pieces of eggshell fell to mix in the water with all the other debris …
But that red glow remained fixed on the left side of the giant’s chest for a long moment.
At last, it faded away. The giant shook himself hard, scattering even more water across the lakeshore.
Lorelei braced herself, casting out her senses to hunt for any useful strands of pondweed in the lake beneath him that she could use to trip him up. Beside her, Gerard set his hand on the hilt of his sword.
Neither of them would be able to slow that huge creature for long—but at least anything they did could potentially affect him, now that his heart was back in its rightful place.
Lorelei held her breath.
The giant’s face contorted in horror as he stared down at his own bare stomach, covered in filth. One massive hand splashed water at his skin in a desperate attempt at cleaning; the other clapped against his head and tangled in the foul mess he found there.
He let out a moan of pure despair, backing slowly away from the lakeshore.
… And Gerard’s voice snapped through the air with cold command: “Hold!”
Even the giant stilled for an instant at the force of that command—but it hadn’t been aimed at him.
The last partnership of competitors, the same pair of hobgoblins Lorelei had taken note of yesterday, had crept stealthily along the grass behind them and aimed their sharp throwing knives directly at that retreating figure, while the archers at the other side of the lake had drawn their bows.
Amateurs! Lorelei might have struggled to contain a giant with mere pondweed, but her competitors were no challenge at all.
Both sets of bows and arrows across the lake withered into limp husks of wood and twine at her command.
At the same moment, roots from deep underground lashed up through the dirt to fasten around the hobgoblins’ ankles and yank them waist-deep into the earth, knives falling hopelessly out of their reach.
“Apologies, darling!” Lorelei called out to the giant, stepping forward.
His bloodshot gaze had widened with new outrage at the sight of that failed assassination attempt, but she waved gaily to distract his attention from the hobgoblins scrambling uselessly to get free.
“This was all due to a terrible misunderstanding. You see, you actually attacked several of our companions here only a few minutes ago, when you weren’t yourself. ”
“I…?” The giant’s voice was a low, hoarse rumble that sounded horribly pained. Of course. Poor thing—no doubt his throat was raw from all that earlier roaring. He shook his massive head in confusion, his matted beard and hair scattering gore with every move.
“Behind you?” Lorelei pointed helpfully at the bodies floating limply in the water behind him …
or, at least, those bodies that were left.
The first partnership had been snapped up by the time they’d arrived, but truthfully, she was relieved to see four bodies left on the water’s surface. The lake beast must be a slow eater.
Following her gesture, the giant swiveled around—and let out a hauntingly mournful groan at the sight of the remaining floating bodies and the broken castle behind them. His gigantic body hunched over as if he had been struck a mortal blow at last. “I … Did I—?”
“You don’t even remember, do you?” Sighing, Lorelei gave up on negotiating from a distance and waded into the water towards him.
“Lorelei!” Gerard’s voice was a furious snap, but she ignored it as she hurried forward, letting the strips of her dress rise to float around her in the dirty water.
“It’s all right,” she said softly as she approached the giant’s hunched figure from behind. The water was nearly as high as her chin by now, but she didn’t allow that to slow her down. “We all know you didn’t intend any of this.”
He didn’t answer in words, only in a choked sob that sent a responsive pang through her chest.
“It’s not your fault.” Carefully, she set one gentle palm against the smeared blood and filth of his skin just above the waterline, as high as she could reach.
He gave a convulsive jerk at her touch.
“That’s it,” Gerard growled behind her. “I’m coming in to get you.”
“Don’t you dare.” Lorelei kept her voice calm and her hand held out in offering as the giant lurched back around, sending another wave cascading over her.
Swallowing and blinking more water from her eyes, she tipped her drenched head back all the way to meet his anguished gaze, so high above her.
The stench that surrounded him was nigh-on overwhelming, but she refused to allow her nose to crinkle.
“This is the fault of the one who tricked you,” she said steadily. “You did not choose any of it.”
No, that fault lay with whichever fae noble in her mother’s court had taken this innocent creature and turned him into their pet monster for their own malicious entertainment.
In that moment, Lorelei made a vow not to her own patron goddess, Sylvana, but to Divine Elva, the mother of all wild and magical nonhuman creatures: she would find out who had mistreated this one so badly … and she would exact revenge.
But she kept her fury locked safely inside as she crooned, “You have your heart back now, my dear. You’re finally free. You can let all of this go, I promise. You are not to blame.”
For a long moment, silence hung over the lakeshore. Even the hobgoblins trapped in the dirt behind her stopped struggling as they, too, waited for the outcome.
Then a giant, open mouth erupted up through the water’s surface just beside her, rows upon rows of teeth wide and waiting for Lorelei as a dozen thick tentacles lashed out to drag her down.
She didn’t even have to shift out of its way. The giant grabbed the lake beast before it could touch her, holding it back like a nobleman restraining an overeager hunting hound.
“No,” he growled. “No more. Never again.”
Shoving the creature back into its watery domain, he turned his big back on Lorelei and strode across the lake with determined, splashing steps.
He didn’t aim for the shattered castle walls.
Instead, he moved from one floating body to another, gathering them all up in a pile in his arms before bringing them back to lay them all gently—apologetically—on the lakeshore where Gerard stood.
“Free,” the giant rumbled.
The ground shook as he stepped out onto dry land beside them. Water spattered like a sudden storm as he shook himself.
Then he strode away, trampling elegant topiary with every step as he left the prison in which he had been trapped.
Lorelei could have wept with the force of her emotions. Instead, she tipped her head back to smile triumphantly at Gerard as she emerged from the lake, too. “You see? I knew we could work out a better way together. Are you ready to praise my wisdom and good sense now, partner?”
He shook his head at her with what looked more like furious disbelief than the wonder she certainly deserved. “You…!”
Before he could say what he thought of her brilliant actions, the air rippled around them.
The lake and the broken garden disappeared.
Lorelei and Gerard stood on the tournament field once more, surrounded by their surviving competitors … and for the second time that day, there was no applause for the end of the trial. A tense, watchful silence filled the open air, prickling with warning.
Oberon didn’t even try to hide the hatred that twisted his face as he glared at her from the autumn throne. “How very disappointing.”