Chapter 43
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Thick liquid sloshes inside the small barrel I’m carrying. I glance down at it, worried that the movement alone is going to set it off. Since I have never even seen, let alone handled, this kind of substance before, I have no idea how sensitive it actually is.
“Are you sure this is safe?” I ask, glancing over at Kath instead.
She and the other human rebels are all carrying small barrels as well.
And so are Isera, Alistair, and Orion. Kyler and Peter are walking on either side of Kath as we sneak through the streets and towards the Ice Palace above.
The only other human I met from their group who isn’t here this time is Ami.
Apparently, she died along with Hector in the rescue attempt last year.
“Yes,” Kath replies. With a jerk of her chin, she tosses her red hair out of her face while hoisting the small barrel into a better position in her arms. “It’s safe to transport. Just don’t come near it with any sort of fire.”
Isera, Orion, and I all turn to look at Alistair.
Our snarky fire-wielder starts in surprise and then draws his eyebrows down in an attempt at an offended scowl. “What? I haven’t done anything.”
“Yet,” I say with a teasing smirk.
Orion arches an eyebrow at him. “Need I remind you that you blew up part of my court?”
“It was one building,” Alistair huffs. “And it was an accident.”
“Sure.” Isera’s eyes gleam as she slides him a knowing look while adding, “Flambé.”
An amused breath escapes his mouth before he tries to scowl again, which works poorly when he’s still fighting a smile. “Shut it, ice lady.”
“What even is this anyway?” I ask Kath while nodding down at the barrel in my hands.
“It’s sap from a really strange type of tree that we found growing along the foot of the mountain,” she replies. “At first, we thought it might be edible. But then when some people tried to cook with it…” She grimaces. “Well, boom.”
“But more importantly,” Kyler begins next to her. “How do we get it inside?”
We all trail to a halt as we reach the end of the street. Ahead, the path that has been cut into the mountain stretches up towards the Ice Palace. I tilt my head back and stare up at the massive ice walls that surround it.
The soldiers might have all left, but there are still people milling about up there on the mountainside. Probably the normal civilians who work as servants and messengers.
I adjust the small barrel in my hands, bracing it partly on my hip bone, while I consider our options.
Fighting our way inside would be problematic.
Both because Alistair won’t be able to use his fire magic without the risk of the barrels blowing up, but also because all the humans we have with us are so fragile.
If they get hurt, it takes them a very long time to recover, and some wounds don’t even heal properly for them.
“You can show people someone else’s memories,” I begin, glancing to Orion.
It’s more of a statement than a question, since I’ve experienced it more than once, but he still nods in confirmation. “As long as they’re physically close.”
“There must be lots of people here who have bad memories from…” I hesitate, casting a quick look at the rebels around us, “when the humans attacked the castle last year. Can you show those memories to the people up there now? Preferably in short but repeating flashes, so that they think it’s happening right now.
And then I can amplify that with my magic. ”
He stares at me, eyebrows raised. “That’s… actually very clever.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Wanna try that again without the tone of surprise?”
A short laugh rips from his throat before he snaps his mouth shut. Cocking his head, he levels a sly look on me and clicks his tongue. “Careful now, or I might actually start to think we’re friends.”
“I thought we already were friends.”
He blinks, looking genuinely caught off guard. I just look back at him with my eyebrows slightly creased in confusion, since I did mean that sincerely.
“Did you seriously think we’re not friends?” Alistair presses, a scowl on his face. “Now, I’m actually insulted. Why else do you think I’ve been giving you ridiculous nicknames like squeamy? I don’t do that for just anyone, you know.”
“Uhm…” is all Orion manages to reply.
He looks from me to Alistair, and his black and silver eye is wide with both disbelief and a heartbreaking sense of hope.
And I know why. I remember him telling me earlier that he has never had friends before.
Since his goal was always to claim and then keep the title of Unseelie King, he has never been able to trust anyone.
Orion has never trusted anyone else before.
Isera has never trusted anyone else before.
Alistair has never trusted anyone else before.
And no one has ever trusted me before.
But after everything we’ve been through, we have somehow all come to trust each other.
“I hate to interrupt what sounds like a very heartfelt moment,” Kyler drawls in a voice that suggests that he isn’t really sorry at all. “But these barrels are getting heavy. You said you had a plan?”
Orion quickly wipes the expression off his face and clears his throat. Then he shoots Kyler a haughty look and declares, “One does not rush a king.” After clearing his throat yet again, he seems to finally compose himself fully. “But yes, we have a plan. I need to be closer, though.”
“Alright, so we start moving to the different underground tunnels you mentioned,” Kath picks up. “We need to split up anyway to reach them all.”
I nod. “Alistair and I will—”
“No,” Orion interrupts. His gaze is hard as he sweeps it over me, Isera, and Alistair. “The four of us do not split up.”
“Why not?” I ask, perplexed.
“Because Draven begged me to keep you all safe.”
“You mean he ordered you,” Isera adds, a sly smirk ghosting across her mouth.
“He said please.”
“No, he didn’t,” Alistair comments. “I was there too, remember?”
“Fine. But he did ask. Which, coming from Draven, is practically the same as begging.”
“Uhm…” Alistair tips his head from side to side. “Not sure he even asked either.”
“Regardless,” the Unseelie King grinds out, and pinches the bridge of his nose for a second as if trying to hold on to his patience. “We do not split up.”
“Fine,” we all agree with a half sigh, half amused breath.
I turn to Kath and the other humans. “The four of us will handle the archives underneath the castle, since that’s the biggest space anyway.
You can split the hidden tunnels between all of you.
And we’ll also create the distraction, so once you see them all start running away in panic, make your way inside. ”
She nods. “Remember to stick the rope firmly into the liquid.” Shifting the barrel to one arm, she reaches her other hand into her pocket and draws out a small watch.
“Here. Set the rope on fire at exactly fifteen minutes before the hour is full. With the coating it has, it will take fifteen minutes for the flame to travel to the liquid. That way, everything explodes all at once.”
“Yeah, and I probably don’t need to say this,” Kyler adds, sweeping his gaze over us. “But whatever you do, make sure you’re out well before then. Because when this all goes kaboom,” he nods up towards the massive castle above us, “that is all gonna come crashing down all at once.”
I swallow as a hint of worry flits through me. There can be no mistakes now. We need to time this perfectly, or all of us are going to die.
“Noted,” Orion says drily. Then he turns to me. “Well then, shall we?”
After giving him a nod, I turn back to Kath, Kyler, and the others. “Good luck.”
Kath grins. “Let’s bring this son of a bitch down.”
The other humans let out dark chuckles, full of wicked anticipation. Then they all spread out, taking off along different paths up the mountain to reach their respective spots.
My friends and I exchange a glance. Then we start jogging up the slope as well.
The liquid sloshes against the sides of the wooden barrel as I run up the path with Orion beside me.
Isera and Alistair took the lead, and they start pulling ahead slightly since both of them are more physically fit than I am, and Orion is wearing his impractical royal garments and shoes instead of proper fighting gear.
I scan the massive ice walls up ahead while the side gate draws closer. If there is a guard left there, he will spot us soon.
“Are you ready?” I ask Orion over the sound of sloshing liquid and my own breathing.
He gives me a long and far too knowing look. “Are you?”
A jolt shoots through me when I remember that he witnessed my horrible breakdown in the Seelie Court yesterday. Clearing my throat, I draw in a deep breath both to refill my lungs and to brace myself.
“Yes,” I reply. “Draven and I found a… solution.”
“Good.”
My heart skips a beat. That’s it? No other comments? No remarks? No pressure to explain what the hell I was thinking or what kind of miraculous solution we found to solve such a devastating problem?
But when I look at him, I realize that there is absolutely no judgement on his face.
In fact, there never has been. The Unseelie King has a reputation for being cruel, but he is actually one of the most accepting people I’ve met.
He sees people exactly for who they are. Not for who he wishes them to be.
A small smile blows across my lips. He and Isera really would be good together.
“Thank you, by the way,” I say, holding his gaze.
He raises his eyebrows in surprise. “What for?”
“All of it. For what you did for me in your dungeon. For what you offered me afterwards. For giving me time to try to handle it on my own without telling anyone. But also for actually going to get Draven yesterday. I needed help. But I was too desperate to ask for it. So thank you.” I smile. “For getting me the help I needed.”
His features soften for a moment in a way I have rarely seen. “You’re welcome.”
For a few seconds, we just continue running up the slope. I have to adjust the barrel several times as my muscles begin to tire.
“Will you tell them?” Orion eventually asks with a nod towards where Isera and Alistair are running a little ahead.
I consider in silence for only a moment before replying, “Yes. Yes, I will.”
And just speaking those words out loud lifts the final remnants of that heavy weight I’ve been getting crushed under all this time.
I’m no longer ashamed. Addictive pleasure is a side effect of my magic.
No matter what I do, it will always be there.
There is nothing I can do to change it. Having to deal with those difficulties doesn’t make me weak.
They don’t make me a burden. Everyone struggles with something.
And just like my friends lean on me, I need to remember that it’s okay for me to lean on them too when I need help.
So yes, I will tell them what I’ve been struggling with all this time. And besides, I kind of need to explain to Alistair that I’ve already killed some of the people that he said he was going to ask for Isera’s help to kill.
“Who’s there?” a man’s voice suddenly yells from the side gate up ahead.
“Selena? Pretty boy?” Isera calls back to us over her shoulder. “Any time now.”
I look to Orion again and give him a nod. “Let’s do this.”
A villainous smirk spreads across his lips, and his eye begins to glow as he channels his magic.
Summoning my own, I throw it out across the entire Ice Palace in search of yellow sparks of panic. It connects to a mass of flames now that Orion is flashing nightmares through all of their minds. With a shove, I blow those flames into wildfire.
Chaos erupts across the castle grounds.