4. Chapter 4
four
Despite Lily’s warning to get rest, I couldn’t resist the urge to pull my stack of Fae textbooks toward me and read late into the night. Silas sat beside me, reading his own materials quietly, until he yawned so big, so long, I reached over and took the book out of his hands.
Even after he’d fallen asleep, I continued to read as the candle by my bed burned down to a nub.
The more I read, the more I worked at it, the clearer the Fae texts came to me, just as I’d discussed with Lily.
I had now accepted that conquering the three trials wasn’t an immediate influx of power.
It might have opened the channels between my me and my ancestors, but I still had to work to get the magic to flow, and I could feel with every page I read, that the text came easier and easier to me.
As I’d gone through book after book, I’d meticulously combed each page for information pertaining to the Darkest Lord or the rituals surrounding his spirit army.
There was very little information to be found.
As I’d noted before, the Fae books favored themes of healing, harmony, and peace, and held very little content about destruction.
I’d also studied any mention of the wards, as well as anything surrounding the topic of spirits—especially any notes that might be useful to Lily as she crafted her potions.
When I’d exhausted the pages of each and every book, scouring for any tidbit of information, I finally allowed myself a moment of respite to look up information on a lighter topic: the coronation ceremony.
Ironically, the coronation ceremonies of previous Fae Queens were much better documented than anything else I’d researched.
Within the pages of my books, I discovered detailed descriptions of previous events: gorgeous illustrations of queens receiving their crowns, magnificent dresses, courts turning out in huge numbers to celebrate the changing of power.
I read about the giving of the heartbeat, how the very essence of it required mutual sacrifice.
It wasn’t a mere ritual, but the creation of a bond that would connect me with my court for the rest of our lives.
They’d support me for my reign, and in turn, I would protect them until my own dying breath.
I must have fallen asleep at some point, drifting off to pictures of queens in gorgeous gowns happily ruling their courts.
But my dreams weren’t filled with the same glamour and glitz.
The terror of sleep yawned wide, consuming me.
I hadn’t even realized I’d fallen asleep until I felt a chill as nightmarish spirits lunged from dark waters and smoke monsters becoming tangible horrors.
I woke feverish, tangled in blankets, with Silas shaking me gently awake.
“Alessia,” he murmured, “it was just a dream.”
“Last time I had a nightmare,” I said breathlessly, “I was dragged to the ocean floor and woke up soaking wet in the third trial.”
Silas kissed the top of my head. “You’re done with your trials. This was just a nightmare.”
“But what if it’s another sign?”
“From the Darkest Lord?”
“It felt real,” I gasped, as I described the monstrous sensation of spirits becoming flesh in my head. Silas listened carefully, then gently repeated, “It’s just a dream. You have heavy burdens. It’s not surprising that you’re plagued by nightmares.”
I nodded, shivering, though doubt lingered.
Liza had spoken of her mother delivering messages through dreams. Were these violent visions also warnings?
I tried to shake it off. I didn’t need to focus on the what-ifs when it came to my nightmares.
I had a lot of real, tangible issues to focus on in the present.
Still, my legs prickled with goosebumps as I tried to fall back to sleep.
When I couldn’t drift back off, I finally rolled out of bed and opted for a shower. I found Silas waiting for me when I finished, dressed and ready for the day. The sun was just beginning to rise as we brought breakfast into the garden and lingered over fresh cups of piping-hot coffee.
“Are you ready?” Silas asked, glancing over the steam of his cup at me. “For today?”
“As ready as I can be.” I hesitated. “Will there be a lot of people at the ceremony?”
“Yes, I imagine so. Out of excitement and obligation and duty and curiosity, I’m sure. But don’t worry, nearly every Ranger on staff will be there as a security measure. They’ll ensure no harm comes to you.”
“What if nobody shows up?” I cupped my hands around the warmth of my cup. “What if people refuse to participate in the giving of heartbeats because they don’t believe in me?”
Silas gave me a kind, slow smile that burned bright like embers. “You don’t have to worry about that, Alessia. There will be people there.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I am.” His voice held quiet certainty. “We should be going, though. We need to meet back at the castle for a briefing, and then I’m sure the Rangers and Dr. Lewis would like some time with you.
Lily has made me promise to have you back a few hours before the ceremony so she can work her magic on you—her words, not mine. ”
With a plan in place for the day, we made our way to the castle where others were already gathering to regroup after yesterday’s meeting.
Millie was there already, flitting around and pouring tea.
She’d brought in fresh flowers as a centerpiece for the dining table.
Plates were waiting, laden with fresh fruits and biscuits and cream.
I took a seat next to Silas, picking aimlessly at a few grapes as the rest of the group filed in.
Rangers, Lily, Atlas. Atlas wandered in last, of course, sleepy-eyed and disheveled looking in a GQ model sort of way.
He sat on the other side of me. I felt a little awkward being flanked by the two huge brothers, one all hulking darkness and the other easy golden light.
“Tell me the truth,” I said to Atlas. “Do you believe it’s possible for a mortal to visit the underworld?”
Atlas choked on a sip of his coffee, which led to a violent cough attack. “Please tell me you’re not still considering that as an actual option.”
“I just want to know if it’s a possibility.”
“Possible? Yes,” he said after some hesitation, and with a furtive glance at his brother, who was obviously eavesdropping. “But incredibly dangerous. You’re asking for trouble if you keep up with this line of investigation.”
“I know you guys are exchanging looks with your eyes that say things behind my back,” I said to the brothers. “I’m right here. I’m simply asking questions, and let me remind you that it would be my decision anyway if it were something I chose to attempt.”
“True,” Atlas conceded. “But it’s my brother’s decision whether he tries to murder me if I help you get to the underworld.”
Silas smirked faintly, the brothers sharing rare agreement. The delicate family dynamics weren’t lost on me. I didn’t want to cause further tension by causing a rift between them, so I decided not to force the issue now. If necessary, we’d revisit it later.
We wisely changed the subject to safer topics, wherein Lily eagerly explained that she’d made a breakthrough with her potion. She’d tested it last night on a Smoke Stack after I’d left, and it had worked flawlessly, just as she’d planned.
“I’ve got samples here for you all. I’m calling it a Blood Moon Martini,” Lily said, and at her words, Millie appeared in the doorway holding a silver tray like a cocktail waitress.
But instead of sparkling champagne, she carried squat-shaped potion vials filled with a shimmery golden liquid that churned inside each one.
“Thanks, Millie. If you could distribute one to everyone, that would be ideal.”
Millie walked around the table, plunking down the vials in front of each person like an expensive hors d’oeuvre.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Lily said to Atlas, who had already uncorked a vial and taken a sniff. He looked like he wanted to toss the whole thing back like a shot of vodka. “This is meant to be used on the spirits.”
Lily looked as beautiful as always, but while I watched her explain how the potion worked, I noticed her cheeks had a slight hollowness to them, and there were traces of violet shadows under her eyes. I doubted she’d slept more than a couple of hours.
“This is great,” Atlas said. “It’s like a freeze ray. We douse the spirits with this and then…what? We smack ’em? Vacuum them up?”
A soft laugh dominoed around the table.
“For a Titan like you, a good, solid smack might work,” Lily said with an amiable grin.
“And I know you don’t know how to use a vacuum, so I won’t even address that comment.
As for the rest of us, it will probably require a spell or a potion of some sort if you’re wanting to counterattack.
But when I tested it last night, some of our basic weapons worked on the Smoke Stack when it was frozen. ”
“What if you do nothing?” Silas asked. “If you were to just leave them without an attack, would they return to their spirit form?”
“Yes, exactly. They would become what they originally were,” Lily said.
“This only pauses time for them for a moment. It freezes them, solidifies them just enough so they become susceptible to more mortal attacks. Now, I doubt all mortal attacks will work exactly the same as they do on our kind, but it should be effective enough to destroy some of them, or weaken them significantly.”
A collective nod came from around the room. A few people tucked their vials into travel belts or carrying cases. I left mine on the table, transfixed by the swirling gold inside. It was fascinating to me to see how different magics manifested.
While Lily and Millie’s forms of magic had seemed similar to me in some ways last night, the outcomes were so completely different that it was startling.
Millie ended with a loaf of bread. Lily, a potion that could freeze spirits.
Millie fed people, warmed them, calmed them.
Lily’s end result was tiny vials of potions that could heal or hurt, wound or kill.
Our meeting continued on for nearly an hour.
We discussed Dr. Lewis and my work with the wards, the impending coronation ceremony as well as the security around it.
The upcoming blood moon, and the research that the Rangers had been working on, while promising, hadn’t yielded much in the way of concrete, helpful information just yet.
As we were wrapping up, with Atlas informing us that Olympus was still keen to watch from the sidelines for now and not interfere, Ranger X turned to me.
“Dr. Lewis has made some progress on the next prototype,” he said. “He’d like to see you after this if you’re willing.”
“Of course,” I said. “Does he think he’s got something that’ll work?”
Ranger X tilted his head to the side. “I don’t know, Alessia.
After yesterday, I’m not sure there’s a man or woman in the world who can create a crystal strong enough to hold your power.
And like he mentioned multiple times, he doesn’t exactly have much to go on.
There’s no blueprint he can follow. Unless you have other ideas? ”
“No, I’m sorry. I don’t know anything about science. Well, the magical side of it.”
“No, but you are the Fae Queen, and it is your magic,” Ranger X said. “If you have any ideas, this is not the time to be shy. We’re willing to try anything at this point.”
“I don’t have any ideas, but I’ve been making progress with my manuscripts, and I’ll look again tonight for any information on the wards I might have missed. If I come up with something, I’ll let you know.”
“Anything,” Ranger X said. “Because you never know what could be useful.”
“Of course.” I glanced around the room. “Hypothetically, let’s say a few days pass.
We’ve completed the coronation ceremony.
I’m Queen of Isles, whatever that entails.
But also, we haven’t managed to put up wards effective enough to stop the Darkest Lord, and he’s able to create an army of spirits. What does that situation look like?”
“You’re saying the worst-case scenario,” Lily said. “The Darkest Lord breaks between realms with a full spirit army.”
I hadn’t meant to silence the room, but that was the effect of my statement. Anyone who had been smiling or laughing fell quiet. Heads dipped toward plates piled high with food that suddenly nobody wanted to eat.
I waited several minutes. There was a lot of shuffling, the occasional sip of tea. When nobody chimed in with an obvious answer, I couldn’t help but expel a breath.
“It’s that bad, huh?” I murmured. “Do we even stand a chance at defending the island?”
“Olympus would likely get involved at that stage,” Atlas finally said, resigned. “Depending on the circumstances, I think that’s a reasonable assumption. Though whether it would be too late to stop the Darkest Lord’s plans”—he paused, shrugged—“I don’t know.”
“And if Olympus is getting involved,” Lily said, “you know it’s bad. They don’t usually care much about whether we live or die on our island over here.”
“So if the Darkest Lord gets a foothold on The Isle,” I wondered aloud, “that’s it?”
“There are ways we’re preparing to defend ourselves,” Ranger X said quickly. “We have task forces of Rangers, scientists, strategists, weapons masters, all of them working on ways to defend our island in the event of something catastrophic.”
“What else can we do to prepare?” I asked. “I just feel so helpless, like there has to be more that we can do.”
“I’ll tell you what,” Ranger X said. “Let’s give it another day or two.
In that time, Lily may have made progress with her potions.
Dr. Lewis and you may have found a solution for the wards.
The Rangers could locate the Darkest Lord’s scientists here and interrupt the flesh-weaving before it happens.
However, if none of that happens over the next night or two, we’ll sit down and talk about a more drastic solution as the blood moon approaches.
Evacuation, closing portals, things of that nature.
“I think that’s fair,” I said. “Thank you.”
We all stood and dispersed then, everyone notably taking their golden vial with them, tucking it close to their bodies. We couldn’t hide from the ugly truth that we—everyone on this island—were in danger. And no one knew when that danger would strike hard and fast and deadly.