Chapter 17 Not So Happily Ever After
Not So Happily Ever After
I was wrong.
Posey was wrong, too.
There are lower places than Rock Bottom.
Consider, for example, the dungeons of this manor, carved deep into the mountain below, so far down that all sound is swallowed, and it’s as cold as winter.
Oh and also, my dress is getting ruined by all the dirt and grime down here.
My breath comes out in clouds. I half expect to see frost on the walls, and snow falling from the ceiling.
“Hey!” I exclaim as one of the guard lions rips my gloves off my hands with a flash of golden magic.
Well, there goes any hope of escape. I can’t do anything to fight it.
All their magic is surrounding me, keeping me in line as they lead me down the row of cells.
Instead of walls or doors, there’s just a sheen of glittering magic surrounding each tiny room, keeping the prisoners in while casting an eerie light through the corridor.
And the prisoners…
They’re mostly enchanted creatures. Horses, chimera, elk…
they look just like the animals from the ball.
Some are still dressed in their finery, though now the fabrics are worn and covered in soot, as if they—like me—were also taken during one of the lord’s many parties.
None of them looks monstrous or dangerous, like the lord did without his crown.
And none even looks our way as we pass, as if utterly dejected. Hopeless.
There are even a few lions. “You imprison your own kind?” I ask the guards.
Stop talking! One of them roars right into my head.
But I don’t plan to stop at all. I will not go quietly. Because I was so close to getting to the end of this, and that lord is a jerk, and—
When I open my mouth again… no voice comes out. The lions’ magic has taken it away.
I utter a noiseless scream as I’m thrown into a cell at the very end.
I push off the ground and whirl around, about to make a run for it, when a sheen of magic ripples across the threshold.
I collide with it, then fall back again, right into a puddle.
The dirty water splashes across my dress.
My enchanted paint starts to smear, the designs bleeding away.
The lions just look at me with contempt. You won’t see daylight for a long time. The lord will ensure it.
Then they turn and stride back down the hall.
Wait! I think, rushing up, banging against the glittering gold. But they keep going, until I hear the distant sound of a closing door.
No. This can’t be happening.
I slam myself against the shield over and over, trying to wear it down. But it’s no use.
When I finally stumble back, exhausted, all I’ve managed to do is tire myself out. I slump against the ice-cold stone and slide down to the floor. A few rats scuttle nearby, but before I can try to talk to them, they escape through a tiny hole at the bottom of the wall.
The knot in my chest tightens. I swallow, my throat sore from my silent screaming.
Even Robin couldn’t find me here, assuming she could leave the mists without the necklaces.
Robin. Once again, at the lowest depths, she comes unbidden into my brain, just as she did at Rock Bottom. I wonder how she must feel about what I’ve done. I asked her about Dreamland. She must have known I would be heading there.
And, if she’s visited these lands in the past… she would know how dangerous they can be. Now, finally, I understand why the mists were necessary, for dangers just like this evil lord. And I ignored her warning.
She must be so worried.
Is—is she looking for me?
A new thought has me grasping the floor in panic.
Is she currently in danger because of my recklessness?
I wrap my arms around myself, but my skin prickles with cold.
This is already miserable, and I’ve only been here for a few minutes.
The rest of these prisoners… it looks like they’ve been here for years.
How have they made it down here this long?
What did they do to be imprisoned in the first place?
If the lord is really as monstrous as he seems… then they’re likely innocent.
Maybe they don’t belong here at all.
This is definitely worse than Rock Bottom. At least there, I had company. At least I could talk. At least magic eventually worked, and—
Posey.
Suddenly, I remember what she said, about the place she was from… She said it was dark, and lonely, and that she was trapped…
Come to think of it, some of those winged beings from the ball resembled her.
My chest tightens. Is this where she escaped from? Was she also imprisoned here?
My biggest regret is leaving without taking everyone with me…
All at once, I feel a purpose take root within me. This isn’t just about me getting out of here. This isn’t just about getting the key.
Maybe I can do some good in this journey, I think.
And just like that, I start to formulate a plan.
A few hours later, a plate of food is roughly shoved through the shimmering barrier, which ripples closed again before I can even think of escape.
My voice is still gone. But in my mind I say to the lion guard, Why do you follow Lord Evernight’s rules?
The guard doesn’t even look at me. He turns to go.
Wait! What did these other creatures do to deserve imprisonment?
No response. He begins to walk away.
They didn’t do anything, did they?
He makes it halfway down the hall.
I knew it! They didn’t!
Finally, a roar rips through my head and says, They spoke out against Lord Evernight. They deserved their sentence. Now quiet!
I frown. Imprisonment… for speaking?
Silence.
You don’t actually believe that’s just, do you?
The lion’s step falters. And I know this is my chance.
Why do you fear him?
The fact that I sensed his fear seems to surprise him, if his slight pause is any indication. Then he keeps walking, and my heart sinks. He won’t answer.
But, when he’s almost all the way down the hall, his booming voice rips through my mind again.
The lord and the crown are a deadly combination, he says. He feeds off its power and uses it to make others powerless. That is why we’re forced to listen to him.
I strain against the iridescent gold barrier, fighting to see the lion through its glimmer. But you all have magic—magic that isn’t dependent on anything else. You’re stronger than him. Why don’t you rise up? Revolt?
Stop talking! he demands. Your words are treasonous.
I’m already in a cell, I respond. What is he going to do? Put me in a deeper cell?
The lion pauses for a moment as if weighing my words. I push onward. I can help you! I can take the crown far away from here, forever! I can help stop him!
I think I may have finally reached the lion when his voice, sounding almost haunted, finally says, Lord Evernight is capable of far worse than imprisonment. No one can stop him. Anyone who’s tried has ended up here. Or worse.
The barrier rattles as he slams the dungeon door closed.
I’m back in Heartland.
I blink and—I’m home.
In a rush, I stumble out of bed, my sleep-tired legs nearly buckling as I hurry to my mirror.
I look just as I did the day before Boxing Day.
The ceremony, the journey… that vile prison beneath that manor…
It was all a dream.
No. Impossible. I rub my eyes, look around, and—yes. I’m here.
I peer out of the bathroom. Where are Misty and Bonbon? They should be here already, unless… I woke up too early?
My gaze finds the stained glass windows… but there’s no sun streaming through them. They’re dark.
Is it really the middle of the night?
I creep back toward my bed, confused.
Then a flush of relief washes over me, that I’m safe, and home, and that… it seems I never left to begin with.
I’m not sure why that thought leads to a pinch of disappointment. I should be happy none of those things—becoming Fateless, being trapped in Rock Bottom, being imprisoned—actually happened. I am happy, I think.
A high-pitched noise sounds outside, making me jump. The birds? Did they sense I’m awake? My door flies open under their enchantment.
But it isn’t Misty and Bonbon, ready to turn my hair into a braided crown, holding a cup of steaming tea.
These are bats.
I gasp, ducking as they rush toward me, their wings as sharp as blades, their mouths peeling open to unleash another ear-splintering sound.
My room has gone dark. Everything is gray, just like the color of that dream I had before Boxing Day, and—
This is the dream.
I gasp awake, jolting, only to find myself still in this cell. Still imprisoned.
Only the golden cell barrier gleams through the dungeon’s darkness. My cheek is pressed against the dank ground. I have no sense of how long I slept, of whether it’s day or night. My entire body is sore from banging against the invisible wall earlier, trying to break free.
I squint through the barrier. Someone is outside, staring at me.
Smiling wickedly.
Lord Evernight.
Has he been there the whole time? Watching me toss and turn in my sleep as I saw those bats in my head? Did he drop that nightmare into my mind?
I glare at him. With effort, I lift off the floor, refusing to wince even as my every limb aches with the strain. I get to my feet and straighten, chin high, as if I’m not currently imprisoned.
What do you want? I think, assuming he can be inside my mind like the other enchanted creatures. I saw his other form: He might fool everyone else by relying on his crown for magic, but I saw what lies beneath that power.
His voice rings through my head. You’re awfully confident for a prisoner.
I step toward the barrier, filling myself with strength, clawing for it through all the hopelessness and despair. And you’re awfully smug for a monster, I think back.
Lord Evernight narrows his eyes at me. They’re a soft brown right now, a color I can see in flashes through the shimmering wall, but I saw the deep crimson before. I remember the way he yanked his crown from those lions, and the utter ruthlessness of his expression.
I would ask why you’re here, but I already know, so I’ll skip the boring part and get right to the point. I know you possess a key to your land.