Chapter 24 Rose
As Shen led them through the Palace of Eternal Sunlight, Rose couldn’t help but marvel at the beauty around her. The pale marble floors, the red and gold gilded walls, the intricate carvings of suns and moons across the ceilings. And it wasn’t just the palace that stole her breath. She couldn’t stop looking at Shen. She loved seeing him walk with such purpose, with such a sense of place in his own palace, his own kingdom.
‘This way,’ he said, guiding them back outside into another, smaller courtyard that was hemmed in by the palace itself. He paused at a wall of feathergrass, pushing it aside to reveal a narrow wooden door, and ushered all three of them inside.
The armoury was even more spectacular than Rose remembered. It was lit by everlights, and the weapons shone in the flickering light. Overhead, axes and swords hung from the ceiling. Whips and staffs lined the walls, and there was an entire section for bows and arrows. In the centre of the room was a large table displaying impressive daggers of varying sizes.
Rose knew from her previous visit that the drawers under the table held smaller, more discreet weapons that were no less deadly.
‘Oh, I like this room,’ said Anika, gazing at a mace with a shimmering diamond head. ‘A lot.’
‘I remember Lei Fan saying that the blacksmiths of the Sunkissed Kingdom take great pride in their work,’ said Rose. ‘They believe that in battle, as in death, there must always be respect.’
Shen caught Rose’s gaze. ‘I’m surprised you remember that.’
‘I remember everything I’ve learned about your kingdom,’ said Rose, softly.
‘Did you learn precisely what kind of weapon can take down an undead evil witch?’ asked Anika.
‘The older the better, I’d guess,’ said Celeste, tracing the golden hilt of a dagger. ‘Looks as if we’ll have no shortage of choice.’
‘Then let’s take as many as we can carry,’ said Anika, eyes gleaming.
‘It certainly won’t hurt our chances,’ said Rose. She gazed at the table full of beautifully crafted weapons. Which would be the one to destroy Oonagh?
In the flickering everlights, one blade seemed to shine brighter than the rest. A medium-sized dagger with a glimmering golden blade and a ruby-encrusted handle. Rose felt drawn to it in a way she couldn’t explain.
‘May I?’ she asked Shen, gesturing at the dagger.
He smiled at her. ‘Please.’
Rose reverently picked it up, and as she did she felt the magic thrumming inside it. ‘Oh!’ she breathed.
The sharp end glinted in the light, and she knew that it could pierce anything.
Even the heart of Oonagh Starcrest.
‘You’ve chosen well,’ said Shen, his smile growing. ‘That dagger is called Daybreak.’
‘Daybreak,’ Rose repeated, and the hilt buzzed in her hand in answer.
‘Grandmother Lu showed me this dagger when I first returned to the Sunkissed Kingdom,’ said Shen. ‘It belonged to my mother. My father gifted it to her, as his father had given it to his mother. Legend says it was forged by the Sun himself and left behind as a gift for Eana, his greatest love, so that she would think of him and be strengthened, even in battle.’
Their gazes locked.
‘I think my mother would want you to have it,’ he said, quietly.
‘It would be my honour.’ Rose looked down at the dagger, at Daybreak, and she felt with a sudden surety that she had found the weapon she was looking for.
Rose turned her gaze back to Shen. ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘For this. For everything.’
The moment around them seemed to swell, and then Anika cleared her throat.
‘Our turn to choose! Celeste, come and look at the archery section with me,’ she said, slipping her arm through Celeste’s and leading her away. ‘I think you’d look very fetching with a bow and arrow.’
Celeste laughed. ‘I do have excellent aim.’
Shen glanced sidelong at Rose. ‘Seems like Celeste is smitten.’
‘So it does,’ said Rose, watching her friend laugh with Anika. ‘I’m pleased for her.’
‘How do you think they’ll make that work?’ he pondered. ‘It’s a long way from Eana to Gevra.’
‘Celeste will find a way, I’m sure of it,’ said Rose, hoping it would be true. ‘I’ve never seen her so bewitched. If Anika wasn’t Gevran, I’d swear she had cast a spell on her.’
‘Well, it seems Anika is just as taken with Celeste,’ said Shen, his smile twitching. ‘Love is certainly in the air tonight.’ Rose blushed as he caught her hand and kissed it. ‘If Celeste and Anika can find a way to be together, then surely you and I can figure something out,’ he went on. ‘After all, the desert is not so far from Anadawn.’
‘I wish it were closer. I wish …’ She sighed. ‘Oh, never mind.’ There weren’t enough hours left in the night to unpick her desires, her dreams for the future. And even if there were, it was not the right time. ‘Let’s focus on the bigger problem for now. Perhaps after Oonagh is no longer a threat, we can find a way for us.’
‘To be … what?’
Rose gave him a smile. ‘To be together, of course.’
Shen’s eyes danced, and Rose suddenly wished that it were just the two of them. Alone. And that they only had each other to think about, not worrying about finding weapons and preparing for war. She imagined Shen clearing the table of daggers, laying her down upon it and—
Suddenly a scream of pure terror rang out, followed quickly by another. Shen whipped his head around, as an entire chorus of shouts erupted. They were coming from the main courtyard. ‘Something’s wrong.’
And then the very ground itself began to shake.
Celeste and Anika stumbled from the shadows of the archery cabinet, eyes wide with fear.
‘What’s going on?’ said Celeste, who was clutching a beautifully carved bow, and had a quiver of arrows slung on her back.
‘I don’t know. But we need to find out,’ said Shen. ‘Grab your weapons.’
Anika hoisted a slim battle axe over her shoulder. ‘I’m glad we came via the armoury.’
Rose slipped Daybreak into its sheath and ran towards the screams.
Rose had seen her fair share of horrors. But as they rounded the corner on their way back to the courtyard, she skidded to a stop, gasping as she beheld the monstrosity that stood before her.
It was a creature of bone and shadow. At first glance, it looked like a horse, but it was something else entirely. Smoke poured from the gaping holes of its long white skull, and it possessed a wide mouth full of needle-like teeth. The rest of its body was made of jutting bones and writhing darkness, and its hooves were thick and smouldering.
Rose’s heart thundered as she snapped her chin up. There were hundreds of them stampeding through the courtyard, and down the alleyways. They looked like smoke, but Rose felt the ground tremble. She saw how they were knocking down anything and anyone in their way, kicking up dust and sand as they went. These creatures were smoke made flesh.
Nightmares made real.
While Shen scanned the stampede in mounting horror, a creature bolted from a nearby alley and careened straight for him. Rose pulled him out of harm’s way and all four of them flattened themselves against the wall, narrowly avoiding another hundred or so that went thundering past.
Revellers screamed as they ran, taking cover wherever they could. Those that couldn’t reach the palace in time scaled the walls instead, finding refuge on the roofs. Others dived into the bushes and trees, hoping the branches would protect them.
And still the creatures came.
Once he caught his breath, Shen drew his weapons and jumped into their path, his daggers slicing through the air, but the blades found no mark on the creatures. It was as if he were cutting smoke.
Anika pulled Celeste into a nearby alcove while Rose summoned a gust of wind, hoping she could blow them back, but it only seemed to enrage the beasts further. When some of them broke off from the herd and came for her, she had to clamber up a nearby trellis to safety.
‘Let them pass!’ cried a hoarse voice. Rose looked up to find Grandmother Lu shouting down from a nearby roof. ‘Let them pass!’
And so they did. The creatures thundered through the Sunkissed Kingdom, leaving a cloud of destruction in their wake, and then, as swiftly as they had arrived, they were gone.
The ground stopped trembling and, at last, silence fell.
With remarkable speed, Shen scaled a nearby wall and stared into the distance. ‘They’re gone,’ he said. ‘Towards the east.’
Rose’s legs shook as she climbed down from the trellis. Shen jumped down to help her.
‘What were those awful things?’ said Celeste, stepping out of the alcove. All around them, people were peering through windows, checking to see if it was safe to come out. The palace attendants emerged one by one, stepping over cracked tiles and broken statues as they surveyed the damage.
‘Wraith horses!’ Grandmother Lu’s voice rang out as she hopped down from the roof, landing easily next to them. ‘They come from the sands. They’re a warning from the desert itself.’
‘That didn’t feel like a warning,’ said Anika, shaking the dust out of her gown as she joined them. ‘It felt like attempted murder.’
Shen’s brow furrowed. ‘I never believed such a creature even existed. A silly superstition, surely …’ He trailed off. ‘And I’ve certainly never heard of an entire stampede of them.’
Grandmother Lu clucked her tongue, as she leaned on her cane. ‘A wraith horse appears when death is near.’ She turned her sharp gaze on Rose. ‘It is no coincidence that they showed up just after you arrived.’
‘And not just one,’ said Celeste, uneasily.
‘What could that mean?’ said Rose.
‘Grave danger,’ said Grandmother Lu, darkly. ‘Death is coming to Eana.’
‘You’re not wrong, Grandmother Lu,’ said Shen, dropping his voice. ‘Eana is in grave danger.’ The old woman leaned in as he told her about Oonagh Starcrest.
When it was done, the old woman’s voice hardened, and in it, Rose heard the words of a seasoned warrior. ‘You must not wait for death to come to you, Queen Rose. You must meet this danger head-on and fight it with all of your might.’
‘We will,’ said Rose and Shen together.
‘Too much time has already passed. Find Oonagh and face her,’ said Grandmother Lu. ‘These wraith horses are a warning to us. A gift, not a curse.’
‘Tell that to your broken cobblestones,’ muttered Anika.
‘Hush now,’ Grandmother Lu scolded her. ‘They are telling you to act. To strike while you can.’
‘I want to,’ said Rose, gripping her new dagger so hard, her hand ached. ‘But we don’t know where Oonagh is …’
‘Then look to the skies,’ said Grandmother Lu, waving her cane upwards. ‘It appears the wraith horses are not our only visitor tonight.’
When Rose looked up, the sky was full of starcrests. The flock was so large, they lit up the night, casting their glimmering silver light over the ransacked streets of the Sunkissed Kingdom.
‘This is no coincidence,’ said Shen, marvelling at the sight.
‘No,’ whispered Rose, who was grateful to see so many after the skies of Anadawn had been empty of them. Even if she couldn’t divine the message they carried.
For Rose, the seer gift remained the most elusive of the five strands of magic. She had imagined that once the witches’ curse had been broken and she had gained all five elements of her power, she would simply be able to look up at the starcrest birds at night and see entire visions in their movements, her future at last made clear. But whenever she watched the starcrests, scouring their patterns for clues, she only ever experienced a faint pull towards a certain idea. Sometimes, despite her best efforts, she felt nothing at all.
‘I’ve never seen so many starcrests,’ muttered Celeste, her eyes glazing as she watched them. Unlike Rose, Celeste had been a seer her whole life, even if she hadn’t quite known it. When she watched the starcrests, she said it was like falling into a trance – that one moment she saw birds and the next the sky danced with images, showing all kinds of future possibilities.
‘What do you see?’ Rose asked her now.
‘Danger,’ she said, slowly. ‘There is danger ahead …’
‘We know that!’ said Rose, trying not to be frustrated.
‘Could they be a little more specific?’ said Shen.
‘Shh,’ said Celeste, who was still watching the sky. The birds were flocking, making a new shape. Rose bristled, feeling a sudden coldness prickling in her cheeks.
Shen frowned. ‘Why does it suddenly feel like winter to me?’
Celeste pulled her arms around herself. ‘What is that?’ she murmured. ‘It’s right on the edge of my mind …’
‘I KNOW WHAT IT IS!’ screeched Anika, startling them all. ‘I recognize that shape! It’s a place!’ She burst into laughter. ‘It’s Carrig!’
‘Carrig?’ Rose repeated. ‘Anika, you’re not even a witch. You can’t just—’
‘See how the north-east curves like a snow leopard’s tail?’ she went on, triumphantly. ‘And there, the southern peninsulas look just like the jutting fangs of a wolf!’ Anika clapped her hands, delighting in their confusion. ‘Carrig is a remote island off the coast of Gevra. More beasts than men roam there. It’s where Captain Iversen hails from!’
There was a stretch of stunned silence.
Shen was the first to break it. ‘Well, that would explain the sudden chill in my toes.’
‘Are you sure?’ said Rose, dubiously. ‘The starcrests aren’t usually so … well, literal.’
‘Surer than sure.’ Anika flashed her teeth. ‘My father made my brothers and me study maps every evening when we were children. He said every great leader should know their own land, and that of their enemies. The shape in the sky is Carrig. I would wager my best tiara on it.’
‘She’s right,’ murmured Celeste, who was on her feet now and tracing the birds’ movements with her finger.
‘Clever girl,’ said Grandmother Lu, gently bopping Anika on the head with her cane.
Anika glowered at her, but remarkably, held her tongue.
Celeste went on. ‘But there is a warning in these skies, too. Blood. Bones. Death.’ She looked to Rose. ‘I don’t know if it’s a good idea to traipse across the sea to search for Oonagh in a land we do not know.’
‘It’s better than waiting here,’ said Rose, recalling all too well the terror of seeing Oonagh in her own bedroom. ‘We must attack her while we have the advantage, Celeste. If we wait for her to return at full strength, with an entire army of undead beasts, we will be at her mercy. But if we sneak up on her when she’s not expecting us, then we can catch her off guard.’
‘Rose is right,’ said Shen, joining her side. ‘In war, the strongest weapon is the element of surprise.’
‘Now you sound like the king of the Sunkissed Kingdom,’ said Grandmother Lu, proudly. ‘A true warrior, and a true leader.’
‘I know Carrig,’ said Anika, eagerly. ‘I visited it many times as a child. My father had a great interest in the wranglers who live there. I imagine it is not much changed. It’s the kind of place where time stands still – this little land of beasts and hills.’
‘And Oonagh,’ added Shen, darkly.
‘We must go now,’ said Rose.
Shen gripped his daggers, squaring himself to the task. ‘Grandmother Lu, I’m trusting you and Lei Fan to watch over the Sunkissed Kingdom in my absence. Can you do—?’
She tsked and bopped him on the head with her cane. ‘Of course I can.’ Then she shooed him. ‘Now go, before another stampede comes and destroys my herb garden!’
‘What about Wren?’ said Celeste. ‘Won’t she want to join in the capture of Oonagh?’
Rose shook her head. ‘Wren is too weak. She would want us to go on.’ Even as she said the words, she knew her sister wouldn’t want her to leave Eana without her, but Wren had left Rose behind plenty of times before. She would understand. The sooner they stopped Oonagh, the sooner Wren could recover in peace, and then the sisters could finally focus on ruling together. The way they were always meant to.
As the last of the starcrests scattered into the night, Rose smoothed her gown. She realized that it had stopped glowing at some point in the evening but she couldn’t quite remember when. Magic could be unpredictable like that. She sighed. The dagger, witch-made though it was, might not be enough.
If they were going to face Oonagh, might for might, they needed another seasoned warrior on their side. And Rose knew who the best one was.
‘Shen,’ she said. ‘Is that cousin of yours still in the dungeons?’