Chapter 34 Lily
THIRTY-FOUR
LILY
We ran along the tunnels, Dahlia’s confidence at moving through them keeping me from stumbling or hesitating. My crown glowed with a soft light of its own, reminding me of the constant presence of my mother, and some of my fear at facing Riala melted away.
“We won’t go through the same way as the men,” Dahlia said. “I know another way. One that doesn’t involve emerging from a tunnel in your crown.”
“Or into fire and fighting, if the men have done their jobs,” I replied.
Dahlia made a sharp right then dodged left until we arrived at a door.
She opened it, pushing most of a bush aside with her arm as we emerged at the side of the castle.
She turned back and drew the door closed, waiting for the click before she allowed the bush to fall back into place.
There was no handle on the outside of the door, so no one could help themselves into the tunnels underneath my castle.
I needed to get Dahlia to show me the secrets of the tunnels once everything quieted down.
Under the cover of thick trees and snow, we ran swiftly along the back of the throne room, a great hall which housed the Frozen Throne. Dahlia paused outside and her nose twitched.
“Something’s gone wrong.” She kept her voice low.
The distraction must have failed. There was no smell of smoke from the fire Covack had said he would conjure, and neither was there the sound of fighting.
We moved to one of the huge windows at the back of the hall, where we could see the back of the Frozen Throne and most of the large room. My hand flew to my mouth as I tried to stifle my gasp.
Riala stood in front of the throne, and my sisters were each sitting in chairs in front of her, although whether they were there with or without magical restraint, I couldn’t tell.
My suitors had all been dispatched. Vasso lay on the floor, his arm crooked at an awkward angle, his eyes closed.
Theund was also knocked out and had a gash across his forehead, while Hirth looked as though he were asleep on the great stone steps, a huge pool of blood underneath him.
Garon sat a short distance from him, his face drawn and pale, his wrists and ankles bound, but he shot regular concerned glances in Hirth’s direction.
Danzin, Gusten, and Lasloe were bound by his side, also slightly bloodied.
I couldn’t see my other guards or Keane. Hopefully Keane had them somewhere else and they were plotting how to imprison Riala and free the lords.
A movement next to Riala attracted my attention, and I glanced over to see Covack standing at her side.
For once, he didn’t yawn, and had no weariness or boredom in his eyes.
Instead, a wicked smile crossed his lips as he offered up a crown of silver and glass that looked as though it had been crafted from the broken shards of one of Riala’s mirrors.
That traitor. Seeing Covack alongside Riala flooded me with levels of fury I’d never known before.
Like her, he was a fae mage from Korelan, and she must have corrupted him early.
I would bet my crown that his sleepiness had been a ruse to get us to dismiss him, so he could listen in on all our conversations and report back to her everything we said.
I blazed with anger, every instinct in me screaming to stop Riala and her ceremony.
Without needing to draw runes in the air, I blasted ice through the window, shattering it in an instant.
My sisters screamed, both at the sudden noise and then at the unexpected sight of me, charging forward with a glowing crown on my head and frost on my fingertips.
I unleashed everything I had, more than I’d learned from Mother’s book or from Rose.
It was like whatever was tethering my fae magic deep inside me had finally come loose, and I could let it flow freely for once.
A barrage of sharp icicles flew toward Riala, but she simply laughed and brushed them aside with a wide sweep of her arm. “Oh, little princess. Such talent, but so raw and untrained.”
As her mocking laugh filled the throne room, a league of shadow men formed behind her before marching toward me.
They were the exact same illusions she’d sent to attack me in the forest when Keane was with me.
But as they swarmed forward, Keane and the soldiers jumped into the fray, taking out the guards at the throne room doors and rushing inside.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dahlia dart forward toward Garon, using her dagger to cut him free.
As some of the shadow attackers moved toward my guards, I swirled a blizzard around them, then rained down hard chunks of ice. Every time something hit one of the shadows, it disintegrated, becoming a fine mist that simply dissipated into the air.
“I’m a quick learner, Riala,” I shouted, over the sound of ice striking the stone floor. “And I won’t let you take what’s mine.”
“It’s time you learned your place, stepdaughter.” Riala faced me, her eyes sparking with magic, and opened her palms toward me. Lightning flashed from her hands, crackling toward me, but my crown glowed brightly and seemed to suck up the magic into itself.
Mother’s protection had kept me safe.
I turned my own magic into an almost impenetrable ice shield as I moved toward Riala, while my soldiers fought all around me, and Dahlia and Garon freed my sisters and the lords.
I thought Riala would attack me again, but instead she moved quickly, grabbing Iris from her chair roughly. She walked them backward away from me, using my sister as her shield. Riala held one hand on Iris’s throat, and my ice storm stopped. I couldn’t target Riala without hurting Iris.
At first Iris’s eyes widened in disbelief, and then they narrowed into a scheming expression I’d seen on my sister many times before. And on a twelve-year-old, that meant nothing good.
But Riala stared at me over Iris’s shoulder, with no idea as to the strength and goodness and moral fiber of the person she held in front of her. Her grip tightened around Iris’s neck, the tension in her fingers a note of worse to come. “Give up your throne to me, or I’ll kill her.”
“Your own daughter?” I asked. “Truly you care more for her life than for the crown?”
Riala hesitated at that, and I wasn’t sure she would really do it. Without warning, Iris threw up her arms, her fingers flicking as she drew runes faster than I believed possible, the imagination of her youth bringing creativity and subtle difference to each one.
Wild bolts of lightning ricocheted around the throne room, leaving scorch marks and smudges of soot over the pristine white stone surfaces.
Riala gasped, and surprise loosened her grip on Iris.
My sister broke free and ran toward me, as our other sisters gathered behind me, seeking their safety in the protection I could provide with my ice shield.
Iris’s eyes widened and she ran as fast as she could to close the distance between us as I caught her in my arms. But I didn’t have time to hold her when Riala looked at me, her eyes full of malevolence and bad intent.
I shoved Iris behind me just in time to take the full force of Riala’s lightening magic, but again the crown on my head warmed, emitting a bright light as it absorbed the energy, leaving it to wash harmlessly over me.
I fought back, sending an icicle the size of a spear toward her with as much force as I could imagine. She gasped as it pierced her through her chest, and a deep red stain bloomed across her as blood poured from the wound. She fell to the floor, her eyes wide, and lay there motionless.
Shock reverberated through me as I realized what I’d done.
I turned to Iris, unsure what to say. I’d vanquished my enemy and reclaimed my rightful position as queen, but I’d also killed her mother.
Iris threw herself into my arms and sobbed into my chest, and all I could do was hold her.
Then our other sisters joined us, all of us joined together in one big group as we cried and held on tight.
Around us, the fight continued. As if mobilized by the loss of their leader, the guards who’d been watching the shows of magic between Riala and me moved forward under the guidance of Covack.
He formed a fireball in his hand, but I saw him out of the corner of my eye and drew a rune quickly, until all he held was a block of ice that burned his palms with cold.
Keane hurried along the edge of the throne room freeing suitors and pulling others to safety as my royal guard fought those still loyal to Riala.
As Danzin bent over Hirth, his face paled, but I ripped my attention away to focus on the threat Covack still posed.
He was throwing fire wildly now, his magic clumsy and easy to block, and I met Keane’s gaze as he edged back around the throne room.
I only had to maintain Covack’s focus, while my injured suitors escorted my sisters from behind me and into safety.
Even though they moved as quietly as possible, I almost felt each one leave, knowing when I finally stood alone.
I rained balls of hail around Covack, mostly to distract him.
His jaw tightened and he gathered a huge ball of fire in his palms, but then Keane leapt on him from behind, drawing his sword across the man’s neck in one fluid motion.
Covack gurgled his last breath and fell to the floor, the fire vanishing.
As the battle ended, I glanced all around the throne room at the bodies scattered across the floor. Riala’s. Covack’s. Hirth’s. Many soldiers on both sides. So much death, and it was all Riala’s doing. I’d never wanted bloodshed, but I was willing to do whatever it took to fight for my kingdom.
Keane moved to the front of the crowd and dropped to his knee in a deep bow. “Long live Queen Lily, the rightful ruler of Talador!”
My remaining suitors dropped to their knees before me too, as did the other guards in the room. My sisters looked on with awe and pride, with Dahlia and Garon by their side. I realized everyone was waiting for me to make my move.
I adjusted my crown and then sank down on the hard crystal seat of the Frozen Throne, taking my rightful place as Queen of Talador.