Chapter 49 Esmeray
Chapter forty-nine
Esmeray
Sparrow, Lenna, and Laurent rejoined us after an hour. Lenna was positively beaming with pride as she confirmed the mind projection worked, and she felt confident enough to do it on a larger scale.
Merrick had forgiven me for slipping off, although I think it had more to do with the fancy new jewelry adorning his finger.
I presented Sparrow, Laurent, and Lenna with theirs, the latter titillated that one had been made for her.
I watched as she slid it onto her finger, next to a gold wedding band that seemed to draw a scowl to her lips for a beat.
For the next hour, we tested out the rings’ capabilities, memorizing what gem got through to whose mind.
If I got any solid sleep tonight between my Adara problems and Sparrow’s incessant tapping of my golden gem on her ring, I would fully consider it a miracle.
Now, Laurent stood in the center of the living room, crafting the portal that would take us to the Opal Palace.
I had only ever heard rumors of his magic, and was intrigued to see a portal’s creation.
The give and take process of the fae feeding out bits of his acat to weave into the bobbing and twisting smoke was breathtaking.
Sparrow kept one eye on the back of Laurent’s head, while engaging in conversation with Merrick, who stretched out his legs next to her and lazily rested his arm above Sparrow’s shoulders against the back of the couch.
I knew my friend well. If she’d convinced them both to come to bed with her, I wouldn’t have been surprised.
But the awkwardness Merrick exuded, even though I could tell he was trying to be so smooth, made me believe the offer had been given, but the two males were still thinking it over.
Sparrow didn’t have a mate, but that never stopped her from taking home her fair share of partners–usually rotating between a couple of them at a time.
I asked her once why she never chose one sole partner and settled down, and the answer I thought I would get was not the one she supplied.
It’s difficult to choose–like there are two parts of me that each needs different things, she’d confessed.
I hoped to be far away whenever she got it on with Merrick and Laurent.
Lenna, to my left, was deep in the Prism, slack jawed and dazed as she practiced filtering back to the memory of my parents’ murder in anticipation of finding it quickly when the time was right to project it to the court.
Adara set us up nicely for that part, unbeknownst to her, by forcing so many beings to attend her farce of a full moon celebration.
Instead of just snagging the minds of the assembled court, Lenna would be able to push the memory into the minds of the court and all families with a titled bloodline in the Opal Kingdom.
Couldn’t get more of a credible witness pool than that.
I sent a prayer to Carra, asking her to watch over Keerian in these last couple days before I would see him again.
Going this long without him had pushed me past my breaking point, fracturing and reforming me all over again, casing my heart in rough stone that wouldn’t crack until I was once again in his arms. I could tell by the ease I killed Adara’s warriors that I was ready to wreak havoc on anyone who dared to keep us apart.
Interrupting my contemplative silence, Sparrow asked quietly, as if the words were too heavy to speak out loud, “Have you decided what to do about Adara?”
Keeping my eyes focused on the portal, I found myself unable to take in Sparrow’s expression. I kept quiet.
“You are going to kill her… Right?” Merrick tuned in on our conversation. “She’s too dangerous to keep alive.”
Flicking my eyes up to Merrick, I gave him a slight nod, which Sparrow spied immediately. “No,” she snapped, “if you kill Adara, how are you any better than she is? Killing and taking over the throne?”
I inhaled sharply through my teeth as my temper slammed its horns deep within my flesh.
“I’m already better than her,” I growled at Sparrow.
She glared at me, the rage in her blue eyes cutting me to my core, before she rose in a fluid movement, storming out of the house.
Merrick frowned, brow furrowing, torn between following her or staying in the living room.
I jerked my head towards the front door and silently, he strode after Sparrow.
Brooding, I sipped my drink, not tasting the bitterness of the red wine.
“It’s none of my business,” Laurent said lightly, causing me to startle. Not taking his eyes off the portal he continued, “but you will never be able to please everyone when you take the throne.”
“I’m beginning to notice that,” I mumbled, leaning my head against the back of the couch. Defeat swirled around me, threatening to hang its heaviness around my neck as I pushed it away, burying it deep beneath my hardened heart.
The portal started hissing and sizzling, the white and grey smoke turning a viscous, poisonous green.
Laurent’s hands trembled with the strain of controlling his magic.
The mist turned into a sludge–sticking to itself and slowing down.
Laurent’s face screwed up in a snarl, his teeth flashing as he grunted, the soft blue magic at his fingertips pulsing at a furious rate as he drained himself.
I was on the edge of my seat, hovering, worried and unsure how to help until Laurent huffed, “I’m fine.
This was expected.” Sweat dripped down his face, soaking the neck of his pale orange robe.
“I must build the portal past Adara’s wards, and there’s a lot of them.
Seems she found a trick or two in that spell book to make it near impossible to break through. ”
The toxic color must have been visible out the front window, because Merrick rushed back into the room, Sparrow close on his heels.
Her eyes were wide with fear as Laurent calmly explained what he was doing and the complex wards.
Sparrow gently touched Lenna, and the Oracle gasped, her eyes rolling back into her head as she arose from the Prism’s depths, quickly assessing the scene around her.
I heard Sparrow quietly filling Lenna in as vivid green light bathed the room in a venomous glow.
“Impossible?” Lenna blurted out, eyes wide as she gripped onto my arm, shooting her gaze to the thrumming portal.
“Near impossible,” Laurent chuckled, the sound falling flat as he winced with pain, a silent curse appearing against his curled lips.
His hands shook more, the thick green smoke bucking and fighting against the command of his power.
The plant pots on the bookshelf behind the portal began rattling.
Books thumped off the shelves. My magic rose in my veins, ready to attack an invisible foe.
With a strained growl, Laurent slashed his hands at the portal and… .
The smoke sped up, and the poisonous hue dissipated, leaving only white light behind.
“Whew,” Merrick breathed, plunking back down by Sparrow on one of the poufs. “That was intense.”
“We’re through the wards. The ride may be a bit rough to get there, though.” Laurent’s concerned eyes met Sparrow’s, and she fluttered her eyelashes at him in return.
“Nothing we can’t handle. Rough is fine,” she said innocently. Laurent audibly swallowed. Merrick glowered. I assumed him trailing off after Sparrow hadn’t gained him any favor with her.
I cleared my throat, the apology I owed Sparrow anxious to come out.
Sensing my intentions, Sparrow stepped forward, interrupting me.
Her eyes were soft as she looked at me, and somehow that hurt worse.
She already forgave me, and I hated that the pity reflected in her eyes was directed at me. “I have news.”
“You were on the front porch with Merrick for ten minutes, how did you get news?” Laurent asked, his eyebrows notched with confusion as he looked from fae to gargoyle.
Sparrow flicked her eyes to me. I knew how she got information, but if she wanted to keep her powers a secret, I wouldn’t rat her out.
“Through the grapevine,” she hedged, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, before taking up residence on the arm of the couch. Her blue eyes were solemn, immediately putting me on high alert. “Townsfolk in the Opal Kingdom are disappearing.”
“What do you mean…disappearing? What townsfolk?” I questioned, a hollowness filling my chest.
“Here and there, a few at a time. But those numbers are adding up to a glaring issue. Beings are being taken. By something.”
“My guess is by Adara,” I clarified, feeling my magic thrashing under my skin.
Merrick hissed low. Next to him, Lenna looked petrified, clutching the Prism tightly to her body.
“We don’t know if it’s Adara,” Sparrow corrected.
“I’m not ruling her out,” I replied abruptly, the bite in my words meant for my twin, though Sparrow cringed, immediately making me feel like the shittiest friend ever.
I needed to get out of this house, needed to expel this pent-up frustration.
Every time I turned around, something was altered–wrong.
Just this morning, Sparrow mentioned Adara closed the borders of Irridessen to diplomats from the Larimar Islands to “focus on strengthening our own lands,” and I had almost thrown my coffee mug against the wall.
I frowned at my nails as they grew back into daggers, now fashioned out of black diamond. Infinitely stronger–and much sharper. Cupping my tattooed hand, I willed a ball of golden light into my palm, the power pumping and whining to be unleashed. I squeezed my hand into a fist, and it disappeared.
Soon.
Soon these nails would be wrapped around Adara’s pale throat.
And it would take all my concentration to not rip it out.
Without meeting anyone’s eyes, I acquiesced, “I will not kill Adara until we know for certain there are no catastrophic spells in play to be triggered upon her death. The dungeons underneath the Obsidian Palace are where I’ll put her. For now. Until we learn more.”
Sparrow inclined her head towards me, as if my words were more apology than information.
Which–they were. She knew me better than anyone.
For Lenna’s benefit, Sparrow added, “The first ruler of the Obsidian Kingdom was the Witch Queen, Queen Minerva. This was, of course, long before the fall of the Witch Covens. But while in power, Queen Minerva ordered her Coven to etch runes into the caverns below the Obsidian Palace. Though the witches have been banished from these lands, the runes remain. They nullify all fae magic, making them an excellent way to imprison beings with powerful acatis.”
“If we imprison Adara there, it will give us time to figure out what she’s been up to this past year. If she has anything to do with the missing beings, we can decide what to do with her…long term.” I picked at my nails as inklings of a solid plan formed in my mind.
Merrick grunted his opinion of what I should do, miming a knife sliding across his throat and silently pretending to gag and slump over, dead. Sparrow shot him a look that would have faltered the gods themselves, though the gargoyle only smirked and shot her a wink.
If Adara had been capturing beings for some nefarious purpose, I did need her alive to question her. I felt restless without the backing of a court, of a Kingdom–adrift. There was nothing I could do to protect Irridessen except survive until I could rip Adara from the throne that I never wanted.
Until now.
Pivoting to the Oracle, I pulled out two daggers I unearthed from my bedroom in Sparrow’s house, items that Keerian had left behind when we returned to the Opal Palace.
Swallowing against the lump in my throat, I tapped each blade against my horn–the tink they made confirmed they were deadly and perfectly sharpened.
Lenna looked at me in shock as I presented them to her.
“You’re going to want these.” I pushed the hilts into her palms, avoiding looking at the daggers themselves, one of the only material things I still had of my mate’s.
Keerian would’ve made the same decision if the roles were reversed, I reminded myself.
He would never send someone into battle unarmed.
“I’ve never used a dagger before. I’ve used a bow and arrow hunting but that’s…about it.” Her face blanched as she eyed the blades.
“Hopefully, you won’t need to use them at all. Between the lot of us, you only need to draw these if we’re all dead but… I don’t want you to go in unarmed. If it comes down to it, aim for the throat.”
Lenna let out a hoarse whimper as I demonstrated a few slashing and parrying moves that she could practice. I prayed she would never need to use them. I prayed our plan would go off without a hitch.
I prayed Keerian knew I was coming for him.
I was doing way more praying these days than I had in my entire life. And it made me feel completely helpless. If these damn gods were any good at their jobs, I wouldn’t be in this mess to begin with.