Mist & Whispers (25 page)

It was dead.

She had felt it moving about on her tongue only seconds before. Had the Dark Blood been too much for it to stomach? Had the magic killed it? Not wanting to leave it in plain sight, she hid the leech in a trinket box on the dresser.

With Princess Abeytu finally dressed, the women turned their attention and their abilities on their own appearances, readying themselves for Dinner. Anya wondered if they had some sort of special mushrooms growing here in the castle grounds – mushrooms so exquisite they required formal dress to be consumed. Whatever the occasion, she was glad of it. The sisters were busy staring at themselves in the other mirrors set about the room, rather than keeping their hawk eyes on her. It gave her chance to think without the pressure of being watched.

Steph was still on the bed, deep in her own world, and the Princess was still draped over a lounge chair across the room. She couldn’t talk to either one of them, and though they were beginning to settle, the symptoms of the blood switch still had her off point.

She tried her best to focus.
What do I need to do?

She needed to take down the enchantments, but that would have to be done somewhere else, somewhere the eyes of a predator couldn’t bore into her skull. Making a run for it was pointless; they’d know something was going on and they’d have the enchantments back up before Theone could even get his feet wet.

Maybe Lorcan could create a distraction? He was out there somewhere, fighting that dragon. For that to work, she’d have to work out how to speak to him the way Theone and Harrion would speak to her when they didn’t want anybody else eavesdropping. But Theone had only really shown her how to take down the enchantments.
This
she was going to have to figure out herself.

Wanting. Feeling. Willing. Believing
. She inwardly repeated the mantra a few times, then she closed her eyes and pictured Lorcan. She thought about his eyes and how the gold halo that edged the green glowed subtly, like a ring of tiny embers. She thought about how his hair fell, and the little horns that hid amongst it, one to each side. She thought about how his smile made the little flame in her chest burn hotter, and she felt her own cheeks flush as she imagined his voice. His voice had changed since the first time she spoken to him. It was so full of pain then, where as the more she’d got to know him, the more the pain had seemed to ease. The last words he spoke to Theone as he left –
‘I’m not fighting for you’
and the look he gave her. He was so gentle, even with the chance of revenge at his fingertips.

Her mind began to talk, and she directed the words to the image of Lorcan she had conjured in her head.
Lorcan, I need you to create a distraction. I’m on the west side of the castle. There’s a big balcony outside the room. If you can hear me, please hurry.

She opened her eyes and crossed her fingers.

T
HE SOUND OF
wing beats was all the warning she had, and then there he was, hovering over the balcony but for no longer than a second. The Black Dragon, the same beast that had killed Macken, came crashing into him, pulling half of the balcony down with its gargantuan clawed feet.

A fireball erupted from the Dragon’s mouth and it was that moment that two of Eleazar’s daughters began to scream. Orchid and Rowhannah ran from the room, without so much as a look back.

Anya wished she had reacted quicker. She should have, given that she was the one who had called on Lorcan’s help, but watching the dragon collide with him and not knowing whether he was okay caused a momentary lapse in her motor skills.

He’s immortal, you idiot! Pull it together
.

Evarain didn’t leave the room. The happening didn’t have her fazed at all, and she called after her sisters as they fled. ‘Don’t run, it’s only Morcades pet, for the God’s sakes!’ She turned around and flew across to the balcony.

Anya went to Steph and grabbed her hand. ‘Steph,’ she whispered urgently, shaking her arm. Steph looked at her like they were strangers. ‘Steph, we need to get out of here. When I say
now
, you need to run with me, can you do that? Steph?’

Evarain was shouting over the balcony, calling below for someone to get Morcades to take care of his beast.

‘This is her first drink of the Dark Blood, isn’t it?’ the Princess said from across the room. Even her voice was stunning, smooth and soft and sweet, like a peach.

Anya turned to Abeytu and nodded. ‘How do you know?’ she whisper-called back.

‘The first drink is the worst. You lose yourself entirely. I was so withdrawn after my first few drinks, I can’t even remember what happened on those days. It took sometime before I even spoke again.’

Evarain returned ranting, silencing the girls. ‘A dragon – foolish God. A dragon has no business being here at the castle. Clumsy, oaf-like reptile, and all the bloody men are off, drinking in the tavern. Drunks. Defenders of the castle, indeed! Never around when that awful beast makes a nuisance of itself.’ She went back to the mirror, back to perfecting herself for dinner. ‘Looks like my sisters will be eating with the serfs tonight after all, those fawning flakes!’

BOOM.

The dragon was back, falling with much more force than the first time. The horn-ridged back of the creature skidded along what remained of the balcony, and in through the vast, arched doorway, straight to where Evarain was preening herself magically. She fell to the ground along with fragments of wall and furniture, and her head cracked as it hit the marble floor. More flames launched from the dragon’s nostrils as it struggled on its back, and Anya knew it was time to leave.

She grabbed Steph’s arm but she didn’t move. ‘Come on, Steph!’ she yelled.

Anya could feel each of the dragons’s shuffling movements beneath her feet. She looked over her shoulder and directly into the eyes of the beast. The dragon paused for a breath, and then his struggle to get up became more frantic, his sights set on something new; them.

‘Shit, Steph! We have to go now!’ The dragon was almost up, grunting and snarling, his hungry eyes still fixed on the girls. Anya’s gut took over. She grabbed Steph, lifted her over her shoulder and made a break for the door. ‘Abeytu! RUN!’

Luckily, the Princess did as she was told. They darted into the corridor and the dragon, finally on all four feet, crashed after them, walls cracking and crumbling around its titanic body as it forced its way through the castle.

They rounded a corner and heard something collapse behind them, and the dragon let out an almighty roar. Anya turned to see a tsunami of flames hurtling towards them. Her eyes widened and her hand shot up instinctively towards the wave. A purple-white candescent stream flowed from her hand, flooding the space all around her, Steph and Abeytu.

The dragon’s fire rolled on, over them and around them, but it did not break the barrier of light Anya had created.

When the flames died, the girls carried on running, rounding a corner and slipping into a darkened room, closing the door behind them.

‘How did you do that?’ Abeytu demanded of Anya as soon as her breath was caught.

‘I’ll explain later,’ she said, putting Steph down on a bed, much more modest than the eight-poster that was just obliterated in the Queen’s chamber.

‘You can answer me now! Not even Royals have that kind of power. What are you? A witch?’

‘No,’ Anya said, trying to ignore the Princess and recall the countercharm to undo the protective enchantments.

‘I don’t consort with witches, you know. I am the Princess of Virtue, of purity.’

‘That’s nice, now shut up, please. I’m trying to save us.’ Anya looked around at the walls and took a guess that any spot was as good as another. She placed her hands flat against the cool stone. ‘Mihte, sceadwest ús, eac ús béonne, eac ús stand – ’

‘What are you doing?’

Down the hall, the dragon shrieked, and the sounds of further destruction gave Anya’s burning heart a jolt.

Stay Calm.

She shook it off and began again. This might be her only chance, so she had to take it now.

‘Mihte, sceadwest ús, – ’

‘You are obviously moonstruck. There is no way you can take down the castle’s defensive enchantments. They are too powerful, and you are so tiny.’

‘At least I’m trying,’ Anya growled back.

‘Well, it’s hopeless. No one is getting out of here. And anyway, you’re saying it wrong. Continue saying it that way and you’ll protect the castle twice over.’

Anya’s face planted in her palm. ‘I was supposed to say it backwards, to undo it, wasn’t I?’

The Princess’ eyes shrank to slits and she gave a quiet little clap.

Anya pursed her lips and turned her back on Abeytu. ‘Letsac seþ tsellehá, sú tsedlicsá, musærdnoéf marf, sú tsellehá, mulðíneghroef dno mutúrd, aneís á marf. Dnats sú cae, ennoéb sú cae, sú tsewdaecs ethim.’

Nothing happened.

She looked around for a sign, some kind of noticeable difference, but everything was just as it was. ‘How do I know if it’s worked?’

Abeytu rolled her dark, red eyes. ‘I doubt it has – your pronunciation is terrible – but you won’t tell. Not unless someone marches in here, which I can’t imagine happening.’

‘That’s kind of the point, actually. Theone is waiting for me to –’

‘Theone is alive?’ The Princess’s hard exterior cracked at the mention of her brother, and she stood, actually looking at Anya properly instead of just casting her superior eyes over her. ‘Eleazar said they were dead. He said that they had all died during the ambush that day at Silver Forest.’

‘Ambush?’

‘We were racing away from a heard of manticores and as we neared Silver Forest, and something struck me and I blacked out. When I woke, the village was on fire. There were bodies everywhere, burning – the smell,’ she flinched at the memory. ‘Eleazar and I were trapped in the home of the village doctor. My brother had fixed my wound, but he said he wanted to keep me somewhere safe until I came to. He could never have known that we were to be ambushed like that. That’s when Morcades came. He saved us. We were the only survivors. Even Lynessa – pregnant Lynessa and baby Harrion, my little nephew – ’

‘He’s alive too. Harrion is alive.’ Abeytu broke at the news and sobbed. ‘And he is so cool, you have the best nephew,’ Anya reassured her.

A smile emerged on Abeytu’s face. The iceberg was melting.

The hallway outside had turned quiet, an unfortunate double edged sword. It meant the dragon must have gone but equally, it meant that Eleazar or his daughters would be looking for them.

Without knowing if her attempt had worked, there was only one thing they could do to ensure the plan played out right. They would have to dine with their captors.

Anya managed to convince Abeytu to keep quiet about everything she had told her. Abeytu agreed, and Anya was pleased to see a ray of hope breaking through the gloomy grey.

As Anya got Steph to her feet, the door swung open, and in walked Evarain, up and looking fresher than ever; head uncracked and clothes without so much as a hair on them, let alone any dust or rubble.

‘Didn’t wander too far, I see. Good,’ she said, a suspicious eye on Anya. Evarain waved her hand towards her, and every mar she’d picked up during their escape from the black dragon was undone. She was back to breath taking, and a few seconds later, so were Steph and Abeytu. ‘It’s time for dinner.’

THE GRAND HALL
would have been the complete show-stopping room of the castle had it not been the ultimate display of vulgarity and death. Decapitated heads hung from the ceiling on chains, one on top of another, on top of another, strung like beads, the faces abstract and grotesque. Cages were dotted around the laid tables, a naked woman trapped inside each one. Most of them were being prodded or laughed at by the men who lined the tables – big, sweating men with untamed facial hair and stares so lecherous, they rivalled that of the Unrightful King.

One of the women looked at Anya as she followed the Royal precession up to the dais. It was the strangest exchange of human contact she’d ever had, and Anya would never forget it for as long as she lived. The woman, standing where she was, exposed as she was, harassed by the countless men that surrounded her... she didn’t look at Anya like she was sorry for herself, but like she felt sorry for
Anya
. If ever there was something to confirm your impending doom, that moment, that unspoken exchange of sympathy, was it.

Anya and Steph sat down at the head table up on the dais, along with Abeytu and the two of Eleazar’s Daughters that had run away screaming earlier. They still appeared on edge, but whether that was down to the excitement over the dragon crashing into their room, or from a telling off, it wasn’t clear.

Anya wondered where Evarain had disappeared to. She was there with them right up until they had entered the Grand Hall, but now, as she looked around the room, the Royal was nowhere to be seen.

At the centre of the table and right next to Anya’s seat was a throne, though it took a lengthy stare before it computed as one. It was made from severed hands, thousands and thousands of severed hands of all shapes and sizes. Some strong and square and manly looking hands, some old and frail, and some so small and young they had to have been taken from children.

Anya had to look away. The vileness of this room was the last straw. Every possible trace of ice that had riddled her body after the blood transference was gone. Her blood was the hottest she’d ever felt it, bubbling away beneath her flesh. The sheer loathing she felt, witnessing all these sick injustices – she had to close her eyes and concentrate on breathing.

Keep calm. Theone will be here soon.

‘Oh, didn’t you turn out quite the delectable little treat.’

Anya glared at the source of the sinuous voice as it took its seat beside the throne of hands. She hadn’t seen him enter, only appear there, finally free of his face-obscuring robes.

The train of her dress rose from the ground and settled beside her in Morcades hand. He played with the silk between his fingers, and as he did so, the creeping mist that clung at his aura gathered and wove itself into the fabric, darkening the piece he held from holy-white to doomed-grey, and then to black, all the while spreading like spilt ink absorbing into paper.

‘I remember the last girl who wore this dress. Didn’t look half as lovely as you do.’

She turned her head. She no longer felt beautiful. Just tainted. She wanted the dress off. She wanted her own clothes back, her skirt, her trainers, her vambrace
– MY VAMBRACE!
She hadn’t even realised she was without it. Evarain must have taken it with her magic, though, what that meant for it, she had no idea. Was that it, lost for good? The hours Feiron had put into making it, the lengths Harrion had gone to to obtain the mageium. All wasted. Here she was, finally staring the Darkness in the face, and she had no way of defending herself if she had failed to take down the enchantments. Time was running out, and once Theone’s magic was gone, erased from her system by her own body’s doing, that was it. Game over.

The room fell silent, and everyone rose to their feet, including the women in the cages, though they had to bend awkwardly where the wrought iron bars weren’t tall enough to accommodate them comfortably.