6
The stranger kneeling before me set off a chain reaction across the room. Witches dropped from their bar stools to kneel on the floor before me. A crowd formed around me, witches on their knees with their heads bent. Tess came up behind me, squeezing my arm, a smile in her gaze. Tears stung the back of my eyes, but I blinked them away.
I had no idea there were witches in Istmere who knew who I was before I even did. That Osiris had a daughter, the true heir to the throne.
“Allow me to introduce myself,” the stranger spoke, reaching out to clasp my hand in his. His eyes were a soft blue with faint wrinkle lines creasing his skin, his hair a salt and pepper grey. “My name is Isaac. We have been waiting for you for a long time, Diana.”
“How do you know who I am?” My voice sounded small in my own ears.
Isaac stood and the rest of the room followed, all eyes still glued on us.
“We all know who you are.” Isaac smiled down at me, his eyes traveling over our group. “The resistance has been waiting for the daughter of Osiris to come forward for over a decade. We always knew you were out there, and that your time would come.”
I could sense a familiar energy emanating from Isaac, one I recognized from my own magic.
“Are you—” I started, my gaze meeting his, my breath caught in my throat.
“A Stormshade? Yes. Not many here are, but there are a few of us that lingered in Istmere after the war. Constantly moving to avoid Donika’s watchful eye. This isn’t all of us, this is only one safe house of many. The resistance has healthy numbers. I think you will be pleased. We have a council that leads us in your stead. Liss and I are only two of the members who have done work in your name in your absence. We strive to bring freedom to the Shades in Istmere, to end the oppressive rule of the Black Heart.”
My mouth fell open, so many questions at the tip of my tongue. I had vowed to take back what was mine, to burn Donika’s empire to the ground, but I hadn’t realized there were so many Shades ready to fight with me. So many people whose lives would be in my hands.
Isaac was a Stormshade, the first one I had ever met. I knew there had to be others like me out there, but I never imagined one standing here before me. I had unanswered questions about my magic, but Liss interrupted before I could begin to ask them.
“Diana needs her rest. We have had a long journey from Akra. She will need to build her strength before we can discuss any strategy. Donika was not kind to her in the Stormvault,” Liss said as she parted the crowd, nodding for us to follow.
Isaac nodded with a soft smile, allowing us to pass. As we walked towards the back of the room, all eyes remained trained on us, whispers following our trail. There, in the back of the long room, we found a narrow staircase that led upwards towards a second level. This wasn’t any sort of establishment I had ever seen before. It appeared to have once been a house that had been modified to suit the needs of the resistance.
The first floor had a bar top with seating, but it also had a kitchen with a long island covered in beakers and vials of colorful liquids and potions. The windows were covered in cobwebs, cream candles melting onto the windowsills. Feathers, crystals, and ink pots were scattered across a number of surfaces about the room.
We followed the staircase upwards, the long hallway branching off in two directions. The doors were old and worn, painted a chambray blue, the paint chipping off from years of use. Despite its odd setup, it was warm and inviting. Liss led us into a large room with a fireplace and couches. It was set up as a common room, with doorways branching off to separate bedrooms and washrooms around the main space.
“I’ll leave you to it,” Liss said as she moved towards the door. “I will have fresh clothes and food brought up for you.”
She slipped through the door and disappeared down the hallway, leaving Tess and me alone with Puck and Nik for the first time.
The sight of the chaise lounge pushed in front of the fireplace made my head feel very, very heavy. I had known I had been tired, but now that we had time to rest, the fatigue settled deep into my bones. I imagined Tess felt the same. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do first…bathe, sleep, or eat. Those things were such a luxury to us now, ones we hadn’t been able to indulge in for quite some time.
“How long?” I asked, my voice a husky whisper.
“How long, what?” Puck asked, throwing himself down on the leather couch and propping his feet up on the ottoman.
“How long were we in the Stormvault? What month is it?” I asked, turning towards Nik.
He held my gaze but said nothing. An awkward silence fell, and I wasn’t going to be the first one to break it. I had asked a question, and I expected an answer. Puck swallowed hard, glancing once at Nikolai before answering.
“It’s the end of April…”
I bit my lip hard to stop the tears that threatened to fall, blinking rapidly. I tilted my head to swallow them back.
Three months.
We had been locked in the Stormvault for three months. What was my mom thinking? That I had simply disappeared? I would need to get to her as soon as possible, to explain everything that had happened. Once she knew I was safe, knew what had happened, I needed to confront her about the secrets she had been keeping. I needed to ask her about my true lineage, and if she had known all this time.
But not like this. I couldn’t let her see me like this.
“I’m going to wash up,” I announced, moving towards one of the bedrooms with an adjacent washroom and slamming the door behind me.
I sat at the edge of the claw-foot tub and, now that I was alone, released the tears I had been holding back all day. I stifled my sobs with the back of my hand, the tears running down my cheeks to soak through my dirt-stained shirt.
I was strong and unbreakable…but I was human. The events of the past few months came rushing back, threatening to consume me in a swell of emotion. I was unbelievably thankful to be safe, but I was also unbelievably angry that Nik had put me in this position in the first place.
I ran the hot water and filled the bathroom with steam as I shirked out of my dirty clothes, kicking them aside. I never wanted to see them again. I wiped the tears from my cheeks, grabbing a washcloth and soap from the shelf and slowly lowering myself into the tub.
The sensation of hot water against my skin was the most incredibly decadent thing I had ever experienced. I took the washcloth in my hand and gently scrubbed my filthy skin as the tears continued to fall. I desperately wanted to see my mother again, but with that realization came the fact that the other realm wasn’t my home anymore. I felt as if I was grieving my old life and my time in the Stormvault all at once. My emotions were all over the place, and I was utterly exhausted.
It wasn’t long before the bathwater turned brown with dirt and blood, and I had to drain the tub only to refill it again. I washed my hair and scrubbed my skin clean, but I still didn’t feel any better. I didn’t think I would until Donika was dealt with. As soon as I was well enough to travel, I needed to return to the other realm to handle things with my mother and retrieve the grimoire. I needed to know what was in that book of shadows that Donika was willing to kill me in order to get.
I wanted to wash away all the anger, all the sadness and betrayal, but all I accomplished was scrubbing my skin until it was pink and raw. There was no dirt under my fingernails for the first time in months, and I emerged from the bath smelling of vanilla and lavender.
I wrapped myself in a fresh bath robe, a pang running through me at the memory of the last time I had put on a robe. We had been at Eight Bells, and Nik had his hands all over me. His mouth. I bit back a scream of frustration as I stared at my reflection in the cracked mirror.
My once brilliant blue eyes were dull and sunken, surrounded by dark purple bags. My cheeks were hollow. I had lost the natural roundness of my face. My auburn hair was dull and lifeless despite it being freshly washed. I gripped the sink with both hands and hung my head, biting my lip to distract myself from the emotions twisting inside of me.
Would I ever feel normal again? Would I ever quench these emotions running rampant through my mind? I dreaded returning to the common room in a robe, but I also refused to touch the dirt-stained clothes I had worn in the Stormvault ever again.
I reluctantly gripped the door handle, steeling myself with a deep breath. When I returned to the common room, Tess was freshly bathed as well, wrapped in the same white robe. She was curled up on the couch with a plate in her hands.
“You have to try this, Diana,” she said around a mouthful of food. She brought the chicken leg to her mouth despite not having swallowed the bite she was currently chewing. Nik and Puck were nowhere to be seen.
“They went down to the first floor, to speak with Isaac and Liss,” Tess said as she saw my eyes search the room.
I exhaled a sigh of relief. I felt, for the first time since leaving the Stormvault, as if I could truly relax without the sense that I was being watched. As if my every action was being scrutinized. I was a leader to these people…but I didn’t feel like much of a leader at all right now, let alone a queen.
There was a spread of food laid out across the ottoman. Juicy and brined chicken legs, mashed potatoes, fresh vegetables, and bread. I cringed away from the bread, pushing it away, though I was sure it wasn’t stale like what they had fed us back in Akra. The smell had my mouth watering immediately and I dove in, the chicken bursting with flavor I had long forgotten. My eyes lit up and Tess let out a soft laugh.
“This feast is fit for a queen.” She winked as she took another bite.
“Don’t remind me,” I groaned, propping my feet up and sitting back with my plate.
“There are two bedrooms, one for us and one for the boys,” she announced, reloading her plate with food.
I was relieved at this. Despite having not been alone in the last three months, I didn’t want to be alone. Not tonight. I wanted to stay with Tess.
“And Nik and Puck will be staying with us?” I asked, “with the resistance?”
Tess nodded. “They are with the cause. They’re friendly with Isaac from what I’ve gathered before I went to wash up, and with Liss. She was an important factor in our prison break, apparently. She has lived in the castle for a long time. They befriended her months ago.”
“Did they say anything else?” I asked around a mouthful of potatoes.
“No.” She shook her head gently. “We will regroup with Isaac and Liss once we have rested and gotten a full meal in our bellies.”
“That shouldn’t be hard. This is the best chicken I have ever had in my life,” I said around a mouthful of food.
“Are you sure you aren’t only saying that because we have been locked in a prison since January?” Tess asked with a shake of her head and a roll of her eyes.
My eyes met hers, a laugh in them. I appreciated her sarcasm, and I was glad we could joke about it, despite how fresh and angry my emotions were, warring inside of me.
As we finished our meal, my eyes grew heavy. I was bloated with the amount of food we had consumed. I was glad that the boys hadn’t returned and we could go straight to bed.
I wasn’t ready to face them again.
Part of me wanted to rake my fingernails down Nik’s face, the other part of me wanted to thank him for risking his life to get us free of Donika. He betrayed her, and there was no going back for him now. He would be hunted as fiercely as I was. I was glad that the safe house was spelled, but I was still unsure if it was enough to keep us safe from Donika’s spies.
Tess led me towards one of the bedrooms, and a wave of exhaustion rolled over me as I spotted the comfortable-looking bed. The room was small and cozy, with a cast iron bed pushed into the corner of the room against two large windows that overlooked the cobblestone streets below. Lit candles were scattered across the floor, and a lush, dark carpet covered the space. I crawled into the bed first and closed the blinds tightly against the light of day. The room was plunged into darkness except for the soft glow of the flickering candles.
Tess climbed in after me and we pulled the lush blankets over us.
“I have to explain things to my parents,” Tess said as she turned towards me in the dark.
“I know.” I swallowed hard. “I need to confront my mother. And retrieve the grimoire. But I need a few days to eat and rest.”
Tess nodded, grabbing my hand beneath the blankets. Her skin was cold and dry against mine.
“We will plan to go back next week, then,” she replied resolutely.
“But I am coming back here. You don’t have to come with me, if you don’t want to. But Istmere is my home now. This is where I belong. This entire life was taken from me, and I am not going to give it up now. I need to see an end to Donika’s reign, and I don’t expect you to join me.”
“Are you serious?” Tess’ expression was furious in the darkness. “How many times do we have to go through this?”
“Through what?” I asked, confused.
“I’m with you, no matter what,” she said sternly. “If your home is in Istmere, then my home is in Istmere. If you are going to defeat Donika, so am I.”
I couldn’t believe how lucky I was—to find a friend like Tess. She was fierce and loyal. Funny and witty. She was stubborn, just like me.
A hot tear streamed down my face, and I wiped it away quickly. This was a tear of happiness. A tear of thankfulness. I couldn’t imagine what I had ever done to deserve a friend as steadfast as Tess.
“Have I ever told you that you’re the best?” I asked quietly, a small smile on my face.
“All the time, babe. And don’t you forget it.” Tess laughed as she fell back against the pillows. “Now get some rest before we have to deal with all of this.” She waved her hand in the air vigorously to mimic ‘all of this’ and I let out a soft laugh.
“Thank you, Tess.”
I gave her shoulder a squeeze before closing my eyes. Sleep took me quickly, but it wasn’t the empty, hollow sleep I had hoped for. I had felt this sensation once before, and immediately recognized it.
I was dream walking.