Chapter 44
CHAPTER 44
N ear Camelot’s shore, the lake laps heavily against the stone base of Nimu?’s Tower. I climb the stairs into her sanctuary, the dull, rib-deep throb of heartbreak in my chest. I can’t stop thinking about Talan’s agonized look when he realized the truth.
When he learned that I was there to kill him all along.
I want to wrap him in my arms, but that will never happen.
And what did I expect? I did come there to kill him, not something you can fix with a smile and a glass of mead.
I cross the bridge. Fatigue eats at my muscles, and a sharp hunger gnaws through my stomach. Fog billows over the lake, and unease prickles over my skin.
The golden-stone spires of Avalon Tower are dark. Usually at this time of day, warm light slants through the diamond panes, but as I make my way under the arch, I’m greeted by an eerie silence, no music floating from the common rooms or conversations drifting through open windows.
Everything feels deserted.
I’m walking through the skeleton of my former home, and I feel like a skeleton, too, hungry, drained, and clad in a filthy, blood-spattered dress.
A figure shifts out from the shadows, and my heart jolts at the glint of metal. I freeze, wishing I had a weapon.
“Nia?”
I exhale, and relief washes over me as I recognize the voice. “Serana.”
“She was right.” Serena smiles at me in the moonlight. “Looks like Venus in Aquarius took precedence over the sparrows.”
I stare at her. “Venus what?”
“What?” She frowns. “Sorry. Tana’s omens indicated you would return tonight, but Tana wasn’t certain which way you’d come. The birds said one thing, the stars another. According to the flight pattern of the birds, it seemed you might be coming from the docks and Magpie Lane. The stars indicated you’d show up at Nimu?’s Tower, as usual. That’s the Venus thing. There was also some kind of quintush. Or is it quintile? That was a good omen, but the cards were a real mess. One reading foretold you got killed by a large salmon.”
“This is a lot of information.”
“I know, I’m just…I’m really glad to see you.” Her voice cracks. “You look like shit, though.” She flings herself at me and wraps me in a tight hug.
Second hug this evening. The solidity of it is the only thing that feels real and normal.
“Why are you lurking in the shadows outside the tower?” I ask, pulling away at last.
“I told you. Tana said you were coming. Darius went to wait for you by the docks, just in case.”
“In case of what, exactly?”
Her expression darkens. “Because I can’t let you go across the courtyard. The Iron Legion will be patrolling there. We have to take a secret way.”
A chill ripples over me. “They’ll arrest me?”
She slides her arm into mine and leads me away from the courtyard. “Whatever you’re imagining, it’s probably worse. Let’s go.” She takes a few steps, then shoots me a quizzical expression. “I have to ask. Why are you half-naked and covered in blood?”
“I had a bad day.” I sigh. “What’s happening here, Serana?”
“Sir Kay died two days ago,” she whispers, “and with Wrythe in charge, none of the demi-Fey are safe anymore.”
I’m exhausted, but apparently, the only way to get into the room without alerting the Iron Legion is to climb in from the outside. I squeeze between the window and the wall, gripping a gargoyle so I don’t plummet to my death.
I find that the best thing, really, for a post-breakup emotional spiral is a near-death experience.
As soon as I shimmy through the window into my old room, Tana jumps me and pulls me into a hug. “Aw,” she says, squeezing me tightly, “the tea leaves weren’t joking. They did say you’d be filthy. Why are you covered in blood?”
“Most of it isn’t mine, but it’s been a long fucking day. I don’t suppose you have food?”
“Give me a second,” says Tana. “I’ll get you something.”
I strip out of my dirty clothes and go into the bathroom to wash, using a towel and warm water to clean the blood and mud off my aching body.
“What happened today?” Tana calls through the open door.
“Got into a bit of a fight.” My thoughts flick back to Talan, and a lump rises in my throat. “Let’s just say I can’t go back into Brocéliande any time soon. Or like, ever.”
I rinse and towel off, then pull on leggings and a T-shirt. I feel almost normal again, like I’ve slipped back into my old life and body.
I return to the bedroom, and Tana hands me a cup of tea. Serena sets out a plate full of stilton and bread on the table next to my bed.
“What happened to Sir Kay?” I ask, sipping the tea.
“He got sick,” Tana says. “He had a really bad flu, then pneumonia. At least, that’s what we’re told.”
“Wrythe worked him to death,” says Serana, “or worse. Near the end, Wrythe was the only person who went to see him. There’s no telling what happened in those final hours.”
And by the time Sir Kay died, the moth was already gone. Even Mordred wouldn’t know what happened to him.
Darius squeezes through the window, startling me. His face breaks into a large smile when he sees me. Running across the room, he gives me a big hug, nearly knocking my mug of tea out of my hand. “You survived the salmon!”
He releases me, and I set the mug on the table and scoot back on my bed. “I missed you all, but what the fuck is happening here? Why does everything feel so off ?”
Darius plops down on Tana’s bed. “The past few weeks have been a nightmare. Wrythe and his lackeys have taken control of every fucking thing in Avalon Tower. The new cadets are required to have biweekly lessons about the glory of the Pendragon legacy. We’re now heavily censored and aren’t allowed to say anything critical of Camelot’s history, and anyone who suggests we should collaborate with Fey allies will be suspended. Probably arrested. I don’t know how long we have before they start arresting demi-Fey for no reason.”
Serana sighs. “And now, all the demi-Fey have to go through a three-month human loyalty program before we’re allowed back in the field.”
My eyes widen. “I don’t think we can stay here.”
“Last week, Pendragons marched into the archives and systematically destroyed most of the documents relating to demi-Fey accomplishments, training records, everything,” Tana says. “Also, anything Wrythe deemed disloyal or critical of Pendragons.”
The blood drains from my face. I imagine Amon as they destroyed his beloved archives, and my throat tightens. “What about Raphael and Nivene? Didn’t they stop it?”
“Raphael is hardly around anymore. He’s coordinating our war efforts,” Serana says sharply. “But he might be the only reason the demi-Fey are even still here. Also, he stopped Tana’s arrest when she made a prediction they didn’t like.”
“You seriously almost got arrested?” I blink, trying to process this. “What were the charges?”
“They said I was supporting treason. Supporting Auberon. Total bollocks, of course,” Tana says, “but Wrythe claims that trials and due process are no longer possible. He says we’re at war, so the rules don’t apply. He can disappear anyone he wants, whenever he wants.”
“He said fuck the Magna Carta ,” adds Darius.
“Nivene was arrested,” Serena adds, “but she escaped.”
I stare at her. “What happened?”
Serana winces. “The Iron Legion was investigating the assassination failure. They interrogated her, kept her awake for two nights, and apparently, they slapped her. She snapped and broke her interrogator’s hand. She managed to fight her way out of here, but she’s in hiding. She’ll be arrested immediately if they find her.”
Nausea rises in my gut. “This is fucked. I see why we had to sneak in through the roof.”
“What happened the night of the assassination?” Darius asks me. “There are endless rumors here.”
I shake my head. “It was a shit show. They completely got the timing wrong to kill Auberon, even though I know Nivene gave them all the details they needed. It’s like they intentionally fucked it up. And they set off some kind of bomb in Talan’s room with me in it. They knew I was in there—they saw me open the window—then a minute later, BOOM.”
Serena nods. “That’s exactly what Nivene said.”
“How did you survive the bomb?” Tana asks.
I clear my throat. “I had a warning and left the room. With Talan.”
Silence fills the room.
“Why did you take him with you?” Serena finally asks.
I take a long sip of my tea, stalling. At last, I say, “He’s playing a role, just like we all are. He’s also trying to kill Auberon, but he’s also faking being evil. He doesn’t torture people. He doesn’t hate humans or demi-Fey. He has an entire fucking orphanage of human and demi-Fey kids that he protects. He took the blame for his father burning traitors after the eighteenth-century revolution, but it wasn’t him. He’d been in a dungeon during most of the carnage.”
Serena stares at me. “ What ?”
“I’m dead serious.”
Tana nods. “This explains the devil card combined with the reverse moon. He’s an ally.”
I stare into my mug. “Well, maybe he could have been. He found out rather abruptly that I was a spy sent there to kill him, and it did not go over well.” I look up at them. “We got into a literal fistfight, and now I’m back here. An enemy in both worlds.”
“You are the Lady of the Lake,” Tana says resolutely. “You are the bridge between worlds. You belong in both, but you’re still going to have to hide here. Maybe in town somewhere? Lie low, or you’ll get the same treatment Nivene did.”
“I thought the Lady of the Lake thing was a metaphor,” Serana says. “It’s an actual thing?”
“It’s an actual thing,” I say tiredly. The events of the day are catching up to me, and my body feels heavy. “It comes with magic from Morgan and Nimu?, which is how I was able to hold my own in a fight against the Dream Stalker.”
There’s another, longer, silence.
“Okay, but Talan is still trying to take over the entire UK,” says Serana. “We’re still fighting the occupation.”
“Fighting the occupation and fighting a civil war within Avalon Tower,” says Darius. “We’ve got enemies on all sides.”
“How is the war going?” I ask.
“Raphael says it’s not going well,” Serena says. “But Wrythe claims they have a way to win it. It’s bollocks, of course. He’s talking out of his arse to retain his power.”
A sick feeling coils in my gut. “I’m not so sure. I think that he might be telling the truth.”
“That’s what I think, too,” Tana says. “I can’t see anything clearly…but there’s something. Something tiny but large at the same time. Something very dangerous.”
Serena sighs “Here we go again. Tiny but large. I’ve been hearing that a lot these past weeks, but those are the only details we get.”
“Something can be tiny and large,” Darius says. “You know, like sweet and sour.”
“We’re talking about winning a war, not sauce flavors,” Serena shoots back.
“Okay.” I lean back into my pillows, my eyelids heavy. “I need to shut my eyes for a few hours, and then I think we should figure out more about Wrythe’s sweet and sour secret. He hates the Fey to a degree that’s pathological, and we need to know what he’s planning.”
“We don’t know where to look,” Darius says.
“I do.” I pull the covers up. “Just need a few hours. Wake me in three.”
The moment my eyes drift closed, I see Talan standing in the forest by himself, looking perfect and utterly bereft.
His velvety voice rings in my thoughts.
A serpent’s tongue to drain me of light…
She haunts my bones, and I lie hollow, empty as a crown.