Chapter Seventeen #3
I trudge back to the starting line, passing Briar, who moves back one—onto the golden square. Her face breaks into a soft grin, and despite what this will mean for Benji and me, my chest feels lighter as she moves four steps forward, now standing where I was, in front of Lila.
I reach the starting line, where the Unluckie and Benji wait. He shifts, not looking at me.
“I haven’t seen you fight in a long, long time,” he says after a moment.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
The boy shrugs. “It’s okay.”
Then he yelps, flying forward onto the fourth square once more, the black one. My jaw clenches. Under the tent, Dominik grins. Picking himself up, Benji retreats to the starting line once more.
“You okay?” I ask.
“Asshole.”
“Don’t say that, they might hear you,” I scold. “Where did you hear that word, anyway?”
“Around the Nest.”
“Be careful about—”
“Jae-jae is dead,” he says flatly. “You are gone, and I am an Unluckie.”
“I’m not gone,” I say. “I’m right here—”
“I don’t care.”
My heart splinters at his hopelessness. It was supposed to be different for him, I think, blinking back tears. Jae gave so that it would be different for him. So that he would have a chance.
Lila advances in the lead, and Carter lands on Briar’s square.
“Another match-up!” the executioner shouts. “My king, will this fight include magic?”
“Yes.” He waves his hand.
A bucket of water plops down between them. The sun presses against my neck, my hairline growing damp.
“You may begin!”
Carter holds up his hands while Briar flicks her fingers. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna hit an older—hey, ow!”
He grabs his cheek, his palm coming away with a line of red. The sliver of ice drops to the grass as Briar lowers her hand.
She smiles. “For a boy, you’re pretty slow.”
“I’m not a—planes.” Carter steps away, shaking his head. “Respect.”
She laughs, giving him a pat as he walks away. Although Carter should seethe, should rage, he just continues to shake his head, joining the king. After all, he only has four rings total.
After Eli’s turn, Kassandra rolls, and I feel the pull on my wrist again.
“I’ll see you at the center, Bee,” I say.
“Whatever,” he says. My throat tightens, but before I can say more, Kassandra’s unseen hands lead me to the silver spot right before my superior.
“That was quick,” I say to Briar. “You were quick.”
“Of course I was.” And there’s a sparkle in her eye.
During Dominik’s turn, Benji moves forward onto a silver square.
“The child will switch places with Lila,” Dominik announces.
“Lila’s on a red,” Maxian shoots back, his voice tinged with tension. “She’s immune.”
“Fine—with the Healing faerie, then.”
Benji is dragged across the lawn. I bristle, balling my fists, grinding my teeth. There is no point in interfering. Benji is now second behind Lila, followed by Briar, then me, then the Unluckie, and the Healing faerie in last place.
When Kassandra comes to me between rounds, I tell her: “My lady, place your big bet on Benji. Dominik is using both pawns now for a greater chance at winning.”
She glances at the center of the board. “And why should I bet against myself?”
My blood burns with fury. “Then win with him.”
“Didn’t you listen to the rules?”
“Whichever High Fae can get their faerie of the same House. You and Benji are of the same House, technically.”
She twists the parasol. “Why him and not yourself?”
“Because look at him.”
Kassandra does. She stares at his limbs for a long time.
“I tried to revoke the complaint,” she finally says to my shock. “The one about destruction of property. But I’m only allowed to file complaints, not retract them. Dominik can retract them, and he will not. I pleaded anyway, but he never listens.”
Powerlessness chokes me. Something small and bright dims inside me, and only then do I realize it was ignorant hope. It’s time to lay my only card on the table. For Benji, and his spirit. He needs that golden coin.
“If you win with Benji, I will tell you a way around the oaths,” I say.
Kassandra whips to me. “There’s no way around the oaths.”
“Then how do the rumors always slip out?”
“Are you mad?” Her nails sink into the flesh of my forearm. “There is no way around the oaths.”
I swallow. She has never touched me with her own hands before. The daggers of her nails nearly break skin.
“You would have a double-sworn faerie, able to witness the secrets of two Houses—and relay it back to you.”
She shakes her head. “This is—No. I will win this fairly because I can, and I will use the hundred thousand to bargain more financial freedom. I do not need to resort to treacherous things.”
Your brother always acts in treachery.
“One more minute!” the executioner calls.
“You’re a fool, you know,” she seethes. “Most High Fae would have you killed for such talk.”
But not you, I think. Instead, I say, “I would not risk my head for a lie.”
“Shifty thing.” She glares at me, but her grasp on my arm gentles.
Then she is gone.
I rub the crescent moons imprinted on my arm. Will my gamble work, or will it backfire?
As the sun climbs higher, the High Fae drink and laugh, and we sweat and shuffle around the board. Only one match-up occurs, between Briar and the other Healing faerie, where Briar wins again, eliminating Healing from the game altogether.
There are no gold squares in the final spiral. After an hour, I stand just two turns over from the Pith. Before me is Lila, and several squares behind me is Briar. Benji and the other Unluckie are behind her, on the previous leg of the board.
The High Fae use only one die now. Dominik rolls, and the Unluckie takes the lead. Benji remains where he is. Dominik has chosen the other faerie to be his winner.
Before the next round, Kassandra darts straight to me. “It would pass the rules. I asked Death. But the consequences will be great.”
Lila takes the lead back, turning a corner. Her eyes gleam as she lands on a silver square. Maxian orders House of Death to move backward next round. Briar moves up onto a red. I stay on mine.
Benji moves backward—on a black square.
The child lets out a sob. A groan ripples through the lawn.
He shields his face as he trudges back to the starting line. Flopping down, he weeps the uncontrollable shudders of a child.
Again, Kassandra returns to me first. “I’ll do it. I will win with the child. But you’ll have to force Dominik’s hand to get Benji back on the board again.”
“How?”
“You’ll know,” she says.
Lila has to move backward this turn, a previous request.
Kassandra rolls. I take two spaces forward—and bump right into the Unluckie. The phantom hand from Kassandra drops.
No, I think. Not this.
As the Unluckie turns, he startles—and so do I. It is the Unluckie I gave High Fae food to, only weeks ago.
“You,” he breathes.
The blood drains from my face. “I—”
“Where have you been?” he gasps.
“Please,” I whisper. “Not here.”
The executioner declares a match between us. The Unluckie just stares, limbs long and collarbone jagged under inked skin.
“Why wouldn’t you meet me? Rats had gotten into the sack you left two weeks ago. And then last week, there was nothing at all.” His voice cracks. “Do you know how hard it is to stomach the food now that we know it’s rotten? Do you know what it’s like to see rats eat better than you?”
Kassandra declares the use of magic in this fight.
“I can explain,” I say, but really, I can’t.
Do less alone, Jeremee had begged, and I thought at the time it was selfish to pull others into my thieving. I have done what the High Fae do; I centered myself instead of the people in need, and now my work of the past few years disintegrated on a whim.
The executioner begins the countdown.
“I’m not ready,” I say.
“So?” the Unluckie snaps. “Someone has to take the coin.”
The coin.
Oh planes, if I lose, so will Benji. If I win, I will screw over this Unluckie. How can I levy someone’s pain against another’s? We fight over so little when the High Fae have so much.
The whistle blows. Time is up.
I send a request along the plane to a sharp rock at my foot. The rock declines, silent and stubborn. My genius pushes downward, finding a small root whose origins I do not have time to discover. Nature accepts this time, letting my energy collide with its own.
Hello, the root seems to say, and my genius sings in recognition.
Power floods me in a torrent stronger than any I have ever known.
The Unluckie lunges.
I sidestep, flicking my wrist.
The root shoots up from the ground like an extension of me, scraping against the Unluckie’s ribs. He thuds to the grass, scrambles, and stands. He reaches for me again, but the executioner is whistling once more.
We glance down at ourselves, each other. A small dot of red stains his thin shirt. There wasn’t even a fight.
“No,” the Unluckie says.
The power fades, the root returning to its rest once more. I feel cold in its absence.
“Illusion has won the match-up!” the executioner shouts.
Dominik yells something crass. A glass breaks. He has lost out on a hundred thousand debt rings, unless he wants to use his other player, Benji.
“No,” the Unluckie grits out again, shaking. “But you have so little debt compared to me!”
My throat thickens. “I’m sorry—”
“This isn’t fair,” he moans, tears streaming down his exhausted face. His eyes flick to the gold coin in the center.
He leaps forward, shoving me to the ground. Shouts erupt across the field as the Unluckie sprints to the Pith, diving for the coin. He lifts it up, crying out in joy, like a starving male who finally found a grape to savor.
The king reaches him a moment later and waves his fingers. The faerie flinches, opening up his empty palms to the sun. He drops to his knees once more. Sobs bubble up as he rakes into the ground with bony fingers.
“Where is it?” he wails. “Where is it?”
Tears roll down my cheeks. Someone sniffles beside me.
“Where did it go?” the male croaks. “It was right here!”