Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
I glanced at it. Grown into the tree, it seemed like a living thing. The branches wove together to provide a backrest. Leaves rustled as I approached, but when I reached out, no voice from the tree answered me. If it had a spirit, it was deeply buried.
Taking a seat on the throne, I leaned back. Nothing happened.
“Parker of No Court,” the Winter King said, his voice dropping the surrounding temperature. “Do you pledge neutrality in all issues in which we ask you for judgment?”
If I pledged neutrality, it bound me to that promise. The Summer Queen could twist all she wanted and she couldn’t break this promise I made. I would at least be free that much.
“Yes,” I said. “I pledge to be neutral in my judgments.”
The room seemed to shake, a layer of ice shooting out from the Winter King’s throne. It hit the tree, and the tree absorbed it. The King was binding himself to my judgments.
“Parker of No Court,” the Spring Queen said, her smile blossoming into a grin. “Do you agree with this rank, all ties and obligations will be severed and no new ones shall bind you? You will enter your potion as Windrose free of all debts to fae or humans?”
I thought of all the promises I’d made. I owed so many people. The Summer Queen had an obligation, Malik had a promise, Nick was just someone I wanted to help. I even owed Jeffrey rent. Did that count? Or the retribution I owed Derek McCallum?
There was no way I could make her that promise.
Then my brain caught up with her words. She wasn’t asking for a pledge, she was asking for permission.
I looked at her face, the spark in her eye just as bright as what blazed in the Summer Queen’s gaze.
I’d taken her for the simpler of the monarchs, but she was trying to wrest control of me out of the Summer Queen’s hands.
I nodded.
“I agree with my assumption of the role of Windrose, all ties and obligations will be severed. And no fae or human can bind me as long as I keep my position.” I watched as the ice receded and flower petals fell from the air, blanketing the dark wooden floor.
Her magic was a warm bath that enveloped the tree and me in it.
It brushed against me, a warm tide washing away footsteps in the sand, taking with it all the debts I carried. I no longer owed the Summer Queen my life. My promise to Malik was no longer a tug on my heart. I was free.
Still, I could feel a few left. What I owed the tree, what I owed whatever ancient spirit lived in San Amaro’s ground, those were still there.
Then again, they weren’t human or fae. I looked at the Spring Queen who perched on the edge of her seat, a smug smile on her lips as she turned to the Summer Queen.
Lilacina sat utterly still on her throne, lips pursed and eyes narrowed at me. If she was breathing, her chest barely rose and fell. She must have felt it when the Spring Queen wiped away the obligation binding us together. Her hands tightened to fists on the armrests of her throne.
“Do you pledge to fulfill this role until you are dead, until your spirit is released from your body, until you no longer draw breath?” She hissed the words, as though she was enjoying imagining my corpse.
The idea brought me up short. Did I want to promise to keep this role until I died? Malcolm had been old, although with the glamor he wore, it would be impossible to tell how old.
Was I comfortable being neutral for that long? Being unable to stab the Summer Queen through the heart the way I wanted to?
“I pledge to fulfill this role until another, one who is more capable, will accept the mantle,” I said. “I pledge I will not shirk my duties and will fulfill them with my whole heart until that time.”
Snorting, she gestured a hand, and a warm summer breeze blew away the colored petals, leaving a dry heat in its wake.
“Parker of No Court,” the Autumn King said. “Do you vow to protect fae life, regardless of what court or circumstance they come from? Do you promise under your watch, fae will be safe no matter where they roam?”
Frowning, I tried to see the thorns in his pretty speech. His hand clenched tight around Tim’s pendant, the chain dragging over his knuckles.
“I vow I will fight for all fae, regardless of their circumstance. Under my watch, I will do my all to keep them safe no matter where they roam.” Clauses inside clauses, just enough to give me wiggle room.
No one could promise them safety, but the role of Windrose was more than judge and I would have to fulfill it.
Gaining my freedom from the Summer Queen was enough to make me willing to pledge that and more.
The Autumn King’s magic was a crackle of dried leaves, billowing up with a gust of wind. As they flew past me, I felt his magic tie me to my promise.
The four monarchs had bound themselves to me. They would accept my judgement and my words would be law. But it wasn’t a one-way promise. If I broke faith with them, it would shatter the ties that kept my judgments followed and me safe.
I was free from the Summer Queen, but I’d just exchanged one prison for another. My chest felt tight, iron bands binding me to this new role.
“So it is agreed,” the Winter King said. “We welcome the new Windrose. Stay true, for the consequences for all are dire if you do not.”
A rush of unfamiliar magic hit me. It felt old, older than any of the monarchs’ magic. It tasted like aged liquor and burned as it raced down my spine. I’d never felt anything like it, even when I was practicing witchcraft with Shannon and Laurel.
The room hummed with magic, and then it discharged, a clap of thunder so loud it shook the tree.
“As your first task, you will find the one who murdered your predecessor,” the Winter King said. “Do not call us until you do.”
He swept out, his fur-lined cloak spinning as he returned to his realm. The Summer Queen stood, stalking through her own doorway, without a backward glance towards me.
I smirked. Oh, how losing me must burn her. They had given the pawn a position equal to hers, and now not only would she have to obey my rulings, she’d have to see my face and know it was her fault she’d lost the upper hand.
“Let me know when you have found the one who murdered my... Timothy,” the Autumn King said. “I would have his killer’s judgment found in front of me.”
The King peered at the Spring Queen, who remained in her throne. Her fingers were steepled in front of her mouth and she nodded at him as he departed.
I waited, but she was silent, assessing me. Finally, I asked, “Your Majesty? Was there something you wanted?”
“I am glad to hear you still hold some fondness for the late Summer Queen. Her passing greatly unbalanced the Far Realm for some time, and it was only through the steady hand of the Windrose it did not end in all-out war.” She raised an eyebrow.
“I am glad you were willing to be freed of your obligations. There are some who are more attached to their chains than to freedom.”
Uncertainly, I nodded. I wasn’t sure how to tell her my “fondness” for Queen Aster was a show to bother Lilacina. She didn’t seem to need to be told.
“As you are now at your own liberty,” she said, “I suggest you limit who else you make promises to. The other monarchs are not as sensitive as I am, and may have missed an obligation entirely, but they will be watching you with avid attention, now. Your judgments should be above reproach.”
Her gossamer gown moved like flowing water as she stood and turned. “Congratulations on your freedom, Parker Ferro.”
After she left, the portals vanished, and the thrones faded. I stood and watched the tree disappear until all that was left was the walking cane. Picking it up, I hefted the thing. It was still heavy.
I walked back to where Malcolm’s body was, but there was nothing there. It was as though he’d never existed. The unfamiliar magic I’d felt during the ceremony must have been him. When I’d inherited his job and his magic, it had left nothing behind.
Shaking my head, I brushed my palm across the smooth wooden floor. I made a fist and thumped the floor twice, hissing out a frustrated breath. For a moment, I rested there on the floor.
I ground my hand into the floor and pushed myself up.
Being free of the Summer Queen had been my goal for three years.
Now, the reality of it came at a greater cost. The role of Windrose was a trap and though I’d left room to free myself, until I found someone else to take the position, it was my weight to carry.
Looking around, I could tell the house was larger than I’d first assumed. A set of stairs showed a second story, and there appeared to be a deck outside the kitchen. Then there were the strange doors leading out of the entryway.
Curious, I opened the first, seeing the street I’d seen from the windows. It was empty, and the porch overlooked the spread of San Amaro, the ocean in the distance. I was in the Hills, where all the rich people lived to keep themselves away from us peasants down below.
Closing the door, I opened the second and blinked when I saw my hallway. My apartment door was only a few feet away, the flickering of a fluorescent light making it feel like home.
The third door opened at the oceanfront. It looked like it was one of the abandoned fisheries that were being torn down and turned into expensive apartments. No one walked by, and I closed the door.
Approaching the last door, I felt a sense of dread. When my hand closed on the door handle, I saw what I’d taken for a doorknob lock was actually a small round dial. It didn’t have numbers, rather there were inscrutable symbols around it.
I left it in its position and turned the doorknob. It opened into the Far Realm, I knew that immediately. The magic was soothing after the day I’d had, and I wanted to step through and enjoy it, but I didn’t dare in case I couldn’t get back.
Closing the door, I studied the other symbols, but didn’t turn the dial. I’d have to do more research to find out what all of it meant. The sun had set in the windows, and I checked a clock on the wall, unsurprised to see it was nine o’clock.
My stomach rumbled and while the kitchen here looked good, I hesitated before stealing a dead man’s food.
The fastest way to get home would be through Malcolm’s door back into Las Vistas, but then getting back would be the issue.
Making another trek up to the oak tree was possible, even if the idea made me exhausted just thinking about it.
A heavy metal thunk sounded behind me. Turning, I saw a set of keys, four of them. My backpack, which I’d accidentally left at the oak tree, was there, too.
“A sentient house?” I said. “No. No! Nothing this complicated with this many pieces could have a spirit.”
I felt the irritation but didn’t hear a voice. The floor swallowed my stuff. Holding out my hands, I said, “Okay. A sentient house. Do you have a name?”
It came to me instantly. “Silverwood,” I said. “Okay, Silverwood. I can use the keys to get back in?”
After a long beat, the keys and my backpack reappeared, the floor smoothing out.
I reached out with my magic, but couldn’t get any voice, just a presence.
It felt like being next to a whale at an aquarium, something massive and silent that could swallow you whole.
The feeling was the sort that made small animals stand very still, so they wouldn’t be noticed.
Silverwood had noticed me, though. It knew who I was and the position I had inherited. Whatever its feelings on Malcolm’s death were, it wasn’t going to lock me out.
Scooping up the keys and my backpack, I tossed them in the air. “I’ll be back, okay?”
I exited into Las Vistas and walked down the hall to my door.
Compared to Silverwood, my own apartment felt barren.
If Malcolm had lived in his house for long enough, then he could have imbued it with a spirit.
Maybe all of the Windroses had lived in the house, maybe it went back aeons.
If it was that old, though, it should be speaking to me.
Shaking my head, I dug my keys out of my backpack and unlocked my door.
“Parker,” someone said behind me.
Turning my head, I saw Nick and smiled. The expression was automatic. He was one of the few people who cared about my well-being right now for wholly unselfish reasons. He looked ragged, and he didn’t have a bag.
“What happened?” I asked. “Come in.”
We trooped inside and I dropped my backpack under the desk. He closed the door behind us and stood nearby, arms at his side. His gun was still in his holster, and he was watching me with a frown.
“Are you okay?” I asked. “You look terrible. Do you need water or something? I actually have juice, if you want it.”
“Parker, I need you to not lie to me.”
My eyebrows went up. “What are you talking about, Nick?”
There were so many lies right now. I couldn’t tell him about my new role without revealing I was fae.
I couldn’t tell him about how I’d gotten away from the SoPa pack without revealing I’d promised to betray him.
I couldn’t even tell him how I’d gotten the list of students in Woolworth’s class without revealing I’d broken into his office.
“I need you to tell me what you took from the crime scene. And then we need to go down to the station,” he said.