The Gossamer Gate (18 page)

Chapter 1
8

Khiara was relieved to see
a palace in the distance. It had to be Ronan’s. She would not let herself believe it belonged to anybody else. The familiar earthy, dark energy around her had only intensified as she walked. It was Ronan’s magick and it was calling to her.

She walked on, intent on her goal.

As she left Liam further and further behind, she thought she would be glad to be alone. But, no. His presence during her journey had alleviated the loneliness she had felt for so long in the mortal world.

I want him, and I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t acknowledge that.

When she woke in the morning, the first thing she wanted to see was his face. Even when he deceived her, he still came back to protect her, and she appreciated that. He had betrayed her, not to deliver her to Ronan or anyone else, but to stay by her side.

On the other hand…
She sighed.

The thought that his attempts to control her were romantic w
ent against every modern feminist sensibility in her. He had been nothing more than a temporary way to ease her need for companionship. Love was not about controlling or being controlled. It was about showing you cared for a person by trying to make them happy.

Liam doesn
’t want to make me happy
, she told herself
.
She had to accept what she had done with him and move on, back to the real world.

Now she thought she should feel relief to be on her own once again, just as she was in her own world. There was nobody to tell her what to do or how to do it, nobody to try to bend her will in a direction she would never go. But her mind continued to play over everything that had happened; the fact that she had indulged in one of the pleasures of faerie; the fact that she had begun to count on having Liam by her side.

The fact that she
wanted
him by her side…

“I won’t hold onto this,” she said out loud to herself. “I can’t feel guilty about something done out of any sort of unfulfilled need.” She kept walking, focusing on the palace that was getting closer and closer. Her journey could and would end tonight.

She had already decided that how it ended would depend entirely on her.

****

The land sloping up toward the palace was treacherous and rocky. The earth itself showed now more than grass or moss. Everything was brown and pulsed with the dark, cold, smothering energy of the land.

Khiara looked up the hill. It was just one more thing in the way of her going home. The very land itself seemed intent on keeping her from reaching her destination.

“Khiara!”

She turned. “Sean?” she gasped in surprise, looking into the face of her best friend.

He stood at the bottom of the hill looking messy and exhausted, but alive. She took a step toward him, then another.

“Is that really you?” Her voice was full of skepticism.

He shrugged awkwardly with none of the grace of a glamoured fae.

“How did you get here?” she asked, approach
ing him warily. “And why would you be here?”

Sean’s smile faded. “Your friends helped me get here to find you.
  They had a spell that got me into the Otherworld.”

“Why would you do that?” Khira stopped a few feet away from him and stood there staring at him in disbelief. Too many questions were going through her mind.

“Do you really have to ask why?” He reached out to take her hand. “Because you’re my best friend and… Shit, Khiara, I don’t know if I could get used to a life without you.”

“That isn’t exactly my idea of a heroic speech
.” She laughed and squeezed his hand.

“I’m not exactly anybody’s idea of a hero,” he answered with a shake of his head.

She let his fingers interlace with hers. It was such a strange feeling. They had been friends for all this time, but never touched one another. At least, they had never touched in such an intimate way. “Is it really you?” she asked again, feeling certain of the answer in her heart.

“Who else would it be?” He looked confused by her question.

“Me.”

Khiara looked up past Sean’s shoulder. “You’re not welcome here,” she retorted.

Liam stepped up beside her friend. “I know, but you can’t expect to beat Ronan on your own. He’s far more powerful than you are, whether you have faerie blood or not. And as for him…” He gestured toward Sean. “He doesn’t have any magick whatsoever.”

“I’ve done just fine on my own,” Sean responded defiantly.
“After your little trick with the guards, I managed to get out of that cage they left me dangling in, and find my way here.”

“You were in that cage?” Khiara stared at him.

“Hanging over a pit and everything, but I’m here now.”

“So you came to rescue her? By all means, go in there and get Ronan to release her
from his requirements,” Liam challenged. “Tell me how you plan to fight him – with your sloppy sense of fashion or perhaps by rolling a couple of twenty-sided dice?”

“Whoa.” Khiara stepped between them. “I don’t expect anyone to fight for me, but myself. I’m finished with you, Liam. I’ve been enough of a fool where you’re concerned.”

“Are you?” he asked softly. “Do you really think that you can be finished with me?”

She tried to ignore his question, and especially the answer that came immediately to mind when he had asked it.

“Khiara?” Sean put his hand on her shoulder. “We can’t stay here all day. You only have today. We need to get moving.”

She turned her back on Liam and let Sean take her hand. The two mortals started to climb the hill, ignoring the faerie behind them.

Even as they climbed, Khiara could not get Liam’s question out of her head, or the fact that she was not sure she wanted to be finished with him. She hated herself for doubting her feelings for Sean, especially when he loved her enough to move between the worlds to find her. She hated herself for enjoying the thrill of Liam chasing her. And she hated herself for thinking this was the most exciting thing that had happened to her in a long time.

Although she was concentrating on making it up the hill, she couldn’t help but look at all the possibilities before her. Sean was her best friend. She had loved him for the past five years. He had rejected her when she finally spilled her guts, but now here he was – at her side, seeking the gate between the worlds, so that he could take her home. Was he her happily ever after?

At the top of the hill, they took a short moment to catch their breath.

“Are you ready?” Sean watch
ed her as she let her gaze assess the castle looming ahead of them.

Khiara looked back down the hill to see Liam climbing effortlessly, not far behind them. Nothing here had made her feel more sheltered than his presence. The only nights she had slept easily had been the nights he was at her side. Their magick and energy were in sync so comfortably, that everything about being with him felt natural.

Looking into Sean’s hopeful face, Khiara tried to remind herself that this man had never betrayed her. He had always been completely honest with her, even when it hurt her feelings. He had traveled through another world just for her.

Her gaze strayed back to the castle that held her fate. No matter what happened, she knew she would fight for her freedom, whatever the cost.

She heard a low whisper and felt Sean let go of her hand. Turning to ask if he was alright, she saw him crumple to the ground. She knelt next to him and, after a few frantic moments spent checking him for injury, realized Sean was asleep.

“Why did you do that to him?” she growled.

Liam stood between the trees, watching her. “He’ll get hurt if he tries to go in there with you. I did it to protect him.”

R
ising to her feet, she made her way to the bard. “Stop making decisions for others,” she hissed.

She stalked past him and into the
skeletal woods, approaching the castle.

“You have come far and the gate you are looking for
is in there,” Liam said, reaching out to hold her hand firmly in his. “Are you sure you’re really ready to go?”

“
That depends. Is it possible for any person to live between two worlds?” she asked, turning to look at him.

“It is possible, but it isn’t the best idea. When a faerie comes into your world, it is only for short periods of time. When a human comes here, it is all too easy to forget the mortal world they left behind.”

“But what if there might not be anything worth remembering?”

His hand tightened on hers as he responded, “That would be your call.”

Khiara nodded. At times, she had almost given in to the overwhelming beauty of the Otherworld, only to remember her life back home. Now she wondered if somehow she could have misjudged her connection to the mortal realm. There were too many questions in her mind, too much uncertainty and confusion.

“I have to go,” she finally said,
pulling her hand from his grasp.

“At least let me help you this one last time.” Liam
followed her. “You will need someone to fight at your side.”

“I won’t let you get hurt. I can fight my own battles.”

“But you’ll endanger your friend?”

Khiara grimaced. “Sean chose to come after me. He’ll be fine.”

Liam took her hand once more and pulled her toward him. “I chose to come after you too. Why not let me decide which risks I’m willing to take, just as you want me to let you make your own choices?”

She reached up to touch his face. “I know.” She gave him
a kiss. “You’re right. All of us should be free to choose, so let Sean decide too.”

Liam looked at her for a moment, then nodded. “Alright. Ask him yourself what he wants to do.”

Khiara smiled, then turned and hurried back to where Sean was waking from the magickally-induced sleep. “Ready?” she asked as he yawned and stretched.

“As ready as I’ll ever be, especially after that nap. I’ve never felt so good.” He rose to his feet.
 

Khiara glanced back at the woods where she had left Liam, then shook her head.

“What are you thinking?” Sean asked. “Do you think maybe you aren’t ready to leave here after all?”

“No,” Khiara said, reaching out to take his hand. “I’m more than ready. I’m sick of these games.”

Chapter 19

The castle was constructed from an earthy brown stone that looked warm, yet radiated the cold, dark energy that had always both called her to and repelled her from Ronan. It was more fortress-like than the others she had seen, and had none of the ethereal beauty of the Kieran’s palace, or the crystalline loveliness of Titania’s. It was a foreboding citadel in this barren landscape.

“How do we do this?” Sean asked, as they looked at the quartet of guards at the massive front doors.

“I have no idea,”
Khiara answered, then quickened her pace, letting go of his hand. She had gotten no more than a few steps ahead, her foot touching the open drawbridge, when she heard Sean’s yell of surprise.

She turned to
see that the bare land had opened up and he was no longer standing behind her. She ran to the hole to find Sean clinging to a root sticking out of the side of the earth. His other hand was scrabbling at the dirt as he tried to pull himself back up onto solid ground. “Here!” She reached down and grabbed his other hand. With a grimace of determination, she tugged with all her strength. Sean dug his feet into the earth and climbed out of the hole.

As soon as he was back on
the ground, he grabbed her by the hand and broke into a run. The faerie guards tried to stop them, swinging their swords at the humans. Khiara gasped in horror as the blade came arcing toward Sean, but he moved onward as if nothing was happening. The blows did not even come close to touching them.

“Open the doors!” he shouted at her.

Khiara threw herself against the heavy wood doors and pushed with all her might. She could hear the sounds of battle behind her, the clang of metal and a string of swearing from an unfamiliar voice. The doors finally budged and opened enough for her to slip through.

“Sean!” she cried, turning back to reach for him.

His hand pressed into her chest and shoved her through the doors. Khiara pushed at one of the doors as Sean squeezed through the opening and joined her in her efforts. The moment they heaved the door back into place, Khiara groaned with relief.

“Did they hurt you?” she asked, leaning back against the doors and looking at him as she tried to catch her breath.

“No,” he said with a grin, and held a sword before him. “I swiped this from the cave they stuck me in. Found it with a bunch of treasure.”

“You could kill somebody with that!” Khiara cried, her gaze running along the shining blade from hilt to tip.

“That’s kind of the point. Watch me put years of D&D skills to use.”

“
Well…” The guards battered at the doors and Khiara grunted in surprise. “We’re still outnumbered, so let’s haul ass.”

T
hey shoved themselves away from the doors and ran toward the wide hall to their right. The doors burst open and the guards came pouring in, chasing after them.

“Go!” Sean yelled at her, as he turned to face the faeries. “Let me deal with them!”

“You can’t be serious!” Khiara answered, backing down the hallway. “There’s a world of difference between pretending to use a sword, and actually using one.”

“I’m very serious.” Sean clutch
ed the sword with both hands and stared at the guards without moving.

Khiara took a few more backward steps, threw her hands up in a helpless gesture, then turned and kept running.

The hall had a number of doors, all closed. She could not even begin to guess which way to go in the dimly lit fortress. Opening one of the doors, she found only a dark, windowless room without a glimmer of light. She shut the door and tried another. Each room seemed as nondescript as the next, and she wondered how many doors she would have to open to find the gate before the end of the day. The sounds of battle fell far behind her as she ran down the hall, trying to figure out where to go.

With a deep breath, she stopped and took a moment to collect her thoughts. Grounding and centering herself, she first tried to determine the whereabouts of the gate. As she closed her eyes, she willed her elemental fire to drift through the castle halls. Like smoke seeking ventilation, the
powere flickered off her in response to her request that it search for kindred energy. It encountered water here, air there, and still it moved through the castle. The ephemeral sensation of the gate was flexible and flowing, shimmering and soft, like satin. It was to the west, inviting her to pursue the luminescent energy, to follow it home.

She had to run back the way she had come to find it.

Resolved, Khiara turned to follow the flowing energy signature, only to encounter an ornate black door in front of her. “What the fuck?” she gasped. “Where did that come from?” When she turned to look over her shoulder, the hall stretched out behind her, an endless corridor of closed doors.

She turned back to the new door and grasped the skeletal silver handle. It opened smoothly and she stepped inside, into a room that looked nothing like what she expected. The domed ceiling was high and made to filter in the sunlight. There were potted plants everywhere, as if someone had taken the time to bring all the greenery that lacked from the land itself inside the palace. She saw a winding staircase to her left and to her right she saw a round table with a labyrinth on it. At the center of the labyrinth was a castle similar to this one.

She looked down at the scene and saw what looked like a very small person walking through the maze. It was fascinating and disturbing at the same time. Khiara pushed herself away from the table and saw a dark red curtain over the opposite corner. She walked to it and drew it aside.

Behind it sat the woman she had seen after the Red Caps had attacked her. She looked at Khiara with unblinking, beseeching eyes, but neither spoke nor moved.

There was a sound behind her, and Khiara spun around to look. A door under the staircase had just opened and a couple walked into the room. They were dressed elaborately, the woman in an azure ball gown, the man in a red coat and brown breeches. They had no faces, though – just their clothed bodies. Their heads were bare of hair or features, like those of mannequins. Yet they moved and their heads were inclined to one another as if they were holding a conversation.

Khiara backed against the one empty corner, her hands pressing against the wall as she watched the activity in that room. One of her hands felt like it had been plunged into something cold and she quickly stepped away from the wall to look at what she had touched.

There was a painting of boats in a body of water, nearing a dreary port-town. She realized she had put her hand through the painting, into the water. Shaking it off, she took a few steps back.

“What is this room,” she whispered to herself.

“This is where I put everybody who has made me angry.”

She turned,
her heart skipping a beat at the sound of the voice.

Ronan was looking at her pleasantly enough, but his calm expression
did not fool her.

“You see,” he said, “the man in that maze challenged my authority when I told him his beloved was to marry another. She was a high-ranking noblewoman of my lands, and I had the right to give her to whomever I chose. He tried to run away with her, so I placed them both in the labyrinth. She is at the center, and he has been traveling for many months now, trying to find her.”

“That’s horrible,” Khiara retorted, glaring at him.

“Maybe it is, but I am the ruler of these lands. Those people…” He indicated the mannequin-like figures. “They tried to foment a rebellion, to usurp my throne. Now they can neither speak to nor hear other people. They can only share their thoughts with one another. That is how they will remain until I decide they have been sufficiently punished. Needless to say, they don’t get out often.” Ronan’s eyes sparkled at his
own dark joke.

“This harbor is part of my lands,” he said, pointing to the painting. “The people in that town decided not to pay the tribute due to me as decreed by law, so I have frozen their ships in time. I’m curious to know how long they can live without fish for food or trade.”

He reached out and grasped her by the arm, and dragged her to the corner hidden by the red curtain. “I believe you know this lady,” he said. “This is my former wife, who offered you protection through the night. Here she sits all day long, a living doll. This is her punishment for helping you.”

“How dare you!” Khiara cried,
jerking her arm from his grip. “You’re a monster! You can’t just do those sorts of things because people made you angry!”

“Can’t I? I’m the prince. My word in these lands is law.” Ronan shrugged, looking bored and unimpressed with her impassioned response. “When people behave well,
I reward them. When they behave badly, I punish them. It is a very simple rule.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere.”

With a scoff of derision, Khiara turned to leave the room.

“Oh, you can’t get out that way,” Ronan said as she threw the door open.

Khiara was not surprised to find a black brick wall blocking her way. She turned to glare at the faerie prince who, again, shrugged as though bored.

“I was just trying to be helpful.”

She could hear the undertone of ridicule in his voice.

Her anger overruled her desire to get home at that moment, and she reached for the nearest thing – a potted plant – and threw it at him. He disappeared from sight, leaving behind only the whisper of a chuckle. The pot shattered harmlessly on the floor, the pieces scattering in a wide circle. For a moment, the ceramic, plant, and soil sat there on the stone, and then it faded away, as if it were being absorbed into the castle floor.

She could feel the strong earth magick at work and raised her own hands, trying to call forth the power of fire. A feeble spark danced momentarily in her palm, before it disappeared with a sharp crackle.

“Shit!” Khiara cried, throwing her head up to look around the large, empty room. There was nowhere to go, except through the door beneath the staircase, or up the stairs. She chose the stairs, running up them as quickly as she could.

There was a door at the very top. She threw it open and stepped through to find a long, ornate hall. It looked similar to the room below with the sunlight filtering in. There were paintings of very dignified looking people
hanging along the wall, including Titania and Oberon, Liam and Ronan. Only one door stood in that hall, beckoning her from the very end of the corridor.

Throwing all caution to the wind, she strode to it
, opened the door, and looked inside. It seemed like an ordinary bedroom. Still, Khiara walked in, hoping to find something to use as a weapon. She knew her magick would not work here, and it would be useless for her to try again.

She pulled open every drawer, every closet, and looked at everything on the walls, but found nothing useful. “Damn,” she muttered to herself. “How am I supposed to get out of here?”

Turning, she saw her reflection in the full-length mirror that hung on the wall opposite the door.

“What the hell?” she gasped, stepping closer.

Instead of dirt covered clothes and tangled blonde hair, she saw herself wearing a strapless red ball gown with black laces all along the front of the bodice. There were several folds of satin at the top of the dress on the left side, lifted up to reveal a lighter red skirt beneath. On her arms were red sleeves in the same crinkly material, which were puffed at the tops and tapered from her elbows to her hands. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a mass of curls with red and black ribbons woven throughout.

She took a few steps away from the mirror, and then turned to leave the room. When she opened the door, she saw a corridor that looked exactly like the first she had seen – an endless hallway with several doors on either side.

“This is ridiculous!” she cried, even though there was no one to hear her. “Either this is a damn good illusion, or you’re playing games with me. And I’m sure I know which one it is.”

Her eyes went to her messenger bag and she remembered the spell that enabled her to reach into the bag, and pull out anything she needed. “Here’s hoping,” she muttered as she reached into the bag and focused on
her need. The bag felt disturbingly empty, no matter how much she visualized a sword or felt around. Was the spell limited to clothes and shoes? Was it useless here?

“Crap!” She banged her fist against the wall in frustration.

After a moment, she grounded and centered herself again, remembering that she could sense the energy of the gate if she only let herself try. The pull was stronger than it had originally been. She felt it coming from the mirror. Khiara looked up and walked back to the mirror. She felt the wall behind it, but there was nothing to indicate a passage of any type.

Walking around to look at the mirror from different angles, she saw that strange vision of herself once more. She reached out to touch her reflection
with the tip of her finger, and was surprised when her hand passed through the glass, as if it were nothing more than water or air. She extended her arm just a little farther and then stepped forward to pass entirely through the mirror.

She heard a rustle and looked down to see that she was actually wearing the ornate red ball
gown – it was neither a reflection nor an illusion. Her messenger bag was gone, but it had been of no use to her anyway. With a frustrated shake of her head, she looked around the room. There was a banquet table set with a large variety of food, sparkling golden orbs of faerie lights, and a wall of large windows that overlooked the sienna land. Elaborate red, black, and gold wall hangings decorated the walls, and gold chandeliers hung from the ceiling.