Chapter twenty-five
broken hearts she’s in a foul mood. I don’t know what she’ll do to you. I don’t know what she’ll do to me if she finds me here.”
“You should leave while you can. There’s nothing left for you here.”
I have one thing left , I thought miserably.
“The Truth’s coming. I can feel her,” Darragh muttered. “Get out of here.”
“Come with me,” I begged.
Darragh shook his head. His refusal spiked an uncontrollable rage within me. “That girl won’t come for you!” I pounded my fist on the stone. “You’ll die on this table!”
Darragh said nothing.
“Fine! Rot!” I slammed the door on the way out.
My mind raced as I stormed through the halls. What was so special about this girl? What powers could she possess? Somewhere along the way, my anger disappeared. How had this girl bewitched Darragh so thoroughly that he was going to die for her?
I quickened my pace and hoped no one saw me crying.
For Darragh’s sake, I wanted the girl to return. But for mine…I don’t know what I’d do if I saw her again…
***
Nell
Shadow Peak loomed in the distance.
“I want to show you something.” Brana veered off the path and examined a tree. Shaking her head, she approached another tree. “Aha! This is it.” She scanned the area and knelt by a large rock. “Verata.” Beside the rock, the ground split. The split travelled in a sizeable rectangle and the ground fell away. Dirt stairs led down. “It’s a secret cache,” Brana explained. “If someone needed to hide something and come back for it later, this would be a good place for it.” She fixed me with a pointed stare.
“Got it.”
“Do you remember the password?”
“Uhhh.” I recalled the last minute. “Verada? Veranda? It was a V-word for sure.”
An unimpressed Brana repeated, “Verata.”
The cache closed.
“Verata, got it.”
The cache opened.
“It’s a secret so, don’t say it out loud unless you must. Think the word with the intention of opening the cache, and it will.”
“Okay.” Brana headed back to the path. “I should really write that down,” I muttered.
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing, never mind. So, what happens now?”
“We part ways.”
“You’re not coming?”
“No.” Brana patted her arm. “I need to get this looked at, discreetly. I’ll head to the mountain later.”
I nodded and kicked the dirt. “I, uh… I couldn’t have done any of this without you—”
Brana embraced me in a hug so tight my spine popped in three places. “I can’t guarantee we’ll be friends next time we meet. Watch out for yourself.”
“Thank you for everything.”
“Right, off you go then.” Brana wiped her cheek and started walking toward town. She called back, “Don’t forget to close up when you’re done.” When Brana was nearly out of sight, she waved. I smiled and waved back.
Once finished in the cache, I closed it. During my short trek to the mountain, my mind wandered to Darragh. I promised myself he was okay, and that this would work. I daydreamed of a future together; perhaps we could travel? I’d always wanted to travel. Could Darragh get on a plane? Getting him a passport would certainly be an endeavor, perhaps more stressful than freeing him from the Queen. Maybe we could go to New Zealand. I bet Darragh would love New Zealand. From what I’d seen in photos, the rugged terrain and mountains looked so much like Hiraeth…
***
The great hall didn’t look much different now than it had for the light ball. Dark and grim, I wondered how many spiders lived in the cracks and crevices. The Queen sat on her throne, spinning a monstrous red gemmed ring around her finger. The Truth and Elwyn stood on either side. I’m not sure who looked more furious about my return, the Queen, or her daughter. Arms crossed, Elwyn’s nostrils flared when our eyes met. All around us, the Queen’s guardians filled the hall. So many ladies dressed in dark, flowing gowns. They kept their eyes low, only gazing upon the Queen occasionally.
“Against all odds, you’ve returned,” the Queen spit. I winced, as if her words were a spell meant to strike me. “Well? Where is my necklace?”
“I—I don’t have it,” I mumbled.
“I can’t hear you!”
“I’ve hidden it!”
The Queen’s lips parted, and a ripple of shocked whispers travelled through those gathered. A puddle of shadows oozed from the throne as the Queen asked, “Where is it?” I tried to step back but my feet held firm. I wasn’t going anywhere.
“Let me see—”
The Queen slammed her palm against the throne and cried, “Speak up!”
“Let me see Darragh first!”
Behind the Queen, Elwyn trembled. She looked like a beautiful, cursed doll—ready to attack at any moment. The Queen’s nails scratched the arm of her throne, and her shadows crept closer to my feet. “I could bring you a piece of him,” she growled. “I assure you, it will be a piece you miss. Would that suffice?”
“That depends. I’m sure I could break open the necklace and bring you a petal.”
The shadows touched the tips of my boots and froze. The Queen stiffened and her nostrils flared. Slowly, her lips parted into a smile. It was creaky and foreign on her face. “Fine,” she snarled, “bring him out.” The Queen snapped her fingers and the Truth left. When she returned, five guardians escorted Darragh into the hall.
Disheveled hair hung over Darragh’s gaunt, dirty cheeks. He stared at the ground while he walked behind the guardians. I wanted to run to him—to ask if he was okay, if they’d hurt him. All I managed to do was squeak, “Darragh?”
Darragh’s eyes met mine and a gasp of relief shuddered through him. He shoved his way through the escort and crossed the space between us. I dropped my bag, instinctively opening my arms to him. Darragh clutched the back of my neck and tugged me into a tight embrace. Pressed against his chest, fevered heartbeats hammered my ear. Darragh’s breath carried strands of hair along my cheek as he whispered, “Nell.”
In a room surrounded by people who would have me killed, I felt safe.
The guardians scrambled after Darragh, and he rounded on them. Keeping me behind him, he backed toward the main entrance. The Queen looked mildly inconvenienced, but Elwyn… She wrung her hands, strangling an imaginary foe.
The guardians stalked forward.
“While I breathe, you won’t lay a hand on her,” Darragh seethed.
The guardians exchanged glances. The Queen gagged and muttered, “Surely, that won’t be much longer.”
Darragh flicked his wrist, and the flame from every candle in the chamber flew to him. Tiny orbs of fire surrounded us. A guardian approached and a fiery ball fell upon her. Flames crept up her dark gown and shrill screeches filled the air.
Darragh pushed me and muttered, “Run.” I obeyed as Darragh extinguished the flames, plunging the room into darkness.
In a bored tone, the Queen said, “Leave Jan to put herself out. Retrieve them.”
Up ahead, the path split. I had no idea where I was going. “Which way—”
“ Your left,” Darragh grunted. I skidded around the corner and Darragh shouted, “That door, at the end!” We ran inside and Darragh slammed the door behind us. We’d run into a closet sized room, empty except for brooms and buckets. A small window let a trickle of light in. Darragh ran to the window, unlatched it, and looked out. Darragh hooked his hands beneath my arms and sat me on the windowsill. “Do you see that ledge out there?” Under the window, a tiny rock ledge wrapped along the rock.
“Yeah.”
“Good. You’re going out there.”
“I’m what?” My body stiffened.
“Climb down and get to Senan’s.” Darragh shoved me. “Go home.”
I splayed my arms on either side of the window, gripping it tight. “ I’m not going without you!”
“Yes!” Darragh struggled to pry my fingers from the window. “You are!”
“No! I’m trading the necklace for our freedom!”
“It’s too late!” Darragh continued shoving. “She knows how much you mean to me. The second she has that necklace, you’re dead, if not worse.”
The door opened across the room. Darragh let go of me and slammed his weight against the door. “Nell, please!” He pointed out the window. “Go!”
“No!” I jumped down. Darragh flung his hand out and I launched through the window. “Agh!” I scrabbled at the rock as I fell. My fingers grasped the ledge, and I narrowly avoided the deathly plummet. Above me, shuffling and grunts rang out. Green flashes exploded from the window like bright fireworks. I swung my legs sideways, trying to pull myself onto the ledge. They fell woefully short. “Ugh!” I tried again. My legs were even farther this time. My arms shook and my fingers started to slip.
How was I supposed to get out of this?
A guardian peeked out the window. She gave me a sarcastic smile and offered a hand.
***
I stood before the Queen.
Again.
Darragh was gone.
Elwyn’s hands clenched and unclenched. Her chest heaved as she looked upon me. “Speaking of escapes,” the Queen began drolly, “how did you escape the burrow? No one escapes the creature.”
“You did.”
The Queen’s brows raised, and she half-smiled. While a small part of me thought she admired my petulance, I was quite certain that if I didn’t have her necklace, she’d have killed me right there. The stares the guardians gave me when I spoke to the Queen made me uneasy. Like I was a new student, talking back to a teacher they knew I shouldn’t be.
There was a reason no one spoke back to her.
I picked up the bag I’d dropped and struggled with the drawstring. The rank odour hit my nose and I gagged. I flipped the bag upside down and Jorgen’s head tumbled out. It landed face down on the floor.
“What’s this?” the Queen asked, her tone suggesting I was wasting her time.
“Hold on. Just, uh…” I nudged Jorgen’s head with my foot. It rolled, and Jorgen’s frozen, grinning face greeted the crowd. The mouth contracted, trying to bite, even in death. A chorus of gasps filled the hall. Shock parted the Queen’s lips. All around, the guardians stared, wide-eyed and astonished. Whispers rose amongst them…
“She must be powerful.”
“How did she do it?”
The Queen stood and a tremor shook the floor. Shadows grew behind her, and suddenly, she was as tall as the ceiling. The Queen’s voice thundered through the mountain, “I didn’t instruct you to kill him!”
“I didn’t have a choice!” I shrunk away.
“Someone helped you!” Hardly recognizable, a hellish demon of smoke and shadows replaced the Queen’s weak, gaunt body. “You couldn’t have defeated him alone!”
“You said bring you the necklace! I’ll give it to you. Just let me have Darragh!”
“I instructed you to go alone! You didn’t. Our bargain no longer holds. Tell me where the necklace is!”
“No!”
The Queen huffed as shadows swirled around the hall. Dust and rocks tumbled from the ceiling, nearly crushing guardians who were too slow to get out of the way. The shadow demon loomed above, but I would not falter.
Gradually, the mountain stopped shaking, and the Queen shrunk back to her frail self. She raised her arm and the Truth rose with it. “Take her,” the Queen hissed. And to me: “I will ask you again in a few days.”
Eager to leave the Queen, I followed the Truth. She brought me to a…holding cell? Just a room carved into the rock, with a stone slab sat in the middle, and one chair next to it. I thought of escape for the briefest moment while examining my surroundings. It was just a room carved into stone, there was no escaping it. I tried the door; a powerful shock shot down my arm and I yanked my hand away.
I sat down on the slab.
The exhaustion from the day hit me full force.
I lay back and waited.
***
Elwyn
The moment the Queen left the great hall, I fled. The Truth would be busy with that girl for some time. This was my last chance to get Darragh out. I hurried, walking calmly anytime I crossed paths with a guardian. When I came to the room that held Darragh, I glanced over my shoulder and slipped inside. Darragh stood against the slab, his back to me.
“We need to—”
Darragh whirled around and snarled, “Get away from me!” His face was gaunt, his eyes dark as onyx. I backed away until the cold stone pressed my spine. Black flames surrounded Darragh as he skulked forward. “Why do you insist on affection where there is none? I hold no admiration for you, you’re pathetic—”
“Stop!” I cried. “Why are you doing this?”
Crow’s feet crinkled around Darragh’s dark eyes, and he cackled. The flames rushed across the floor and fire climbed the walls. Darragh’s laughter filled the room, and unbearable heat choked me. I ran for the door, but it wouldn’t open. As the fire consumed Darragh, he shouted, “You should be afraid of me!” Holes burned through Darragh’s cheeks, revealing layers of red sinew and teeth—
“Please stop!” I begged.
The crackling fire died.
Darragh’s burned bones hit the floor, sending up a cloud of ash and dust. I fell and scooped up the ash, which spilled between my fingers. A low, feminine laugh echoed through the chamber and the ash pulled back together. It grew taller and taller until it became a person.
The Queen.
I leaned on the wall and pulled myself up. “Where is he?” I stammered. The Queen waved, revealing Darragh, unconscious on the stone slab. The Queen floated over and caressed his cheek with one sickly hand.
“Please, stop this!”
The Queen flicked her wrist, and the door blew open. She swung her arm, and a force sent me tumbling out. I struck the rocky wall in the hallway and the door slammed shut. The wind knocked out of me, I struggled to catch my breath.
A firm grip wrapped around my wrist and pulled me to my feet.
“Afternoon!” Ophyr chirped.
I tore my arm away and screamed, “Don’t touch me!”
“Or what?” Ophyr slid his fingers under my chin. I jerked away from his touch. He frowned and pointed at the door. “Is he this way, then?”
“Who?” I blanched.
Ophyr gave me a patronizing look. “Your pretty friend.” He placed his hand on the door, “I assure you; he won’t be so pretty when I’m done.”
“Wait,” I started. “Would you like to”—my stomach turned—“go for a walk?”
Ophyr took my hand and pulled me close. “I would enjoy that.” I shivered and did my best not to recoil. “I look forward to a wonderful evening…” Ophyr leaned in, brushing my nose with his. “As soon as I’m finished here.”
He let go and pushed through the door.
“No!”
Ophyr reappeared. “Thank you, by the way. I never would have found him, if it weren’t for you.” He pulled a handful of trinkets from his pocket, analyzed them, and then disappeared.
I slid down the wall and sat on the floor.
I stayed there even after Darragh’s screams started.