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At that moment the carriage shifted and Camille peered out into the evening street. “We’re nearing the palace. ” She smoothed her skirts and pulled out a compact, peeking into the mirror to make sure her makeup was set.
“Me, too?” Not for the first time, I wished I could check my own damned makeup, but that wasn’t ever going to be a reality, so I sucked it up and asked for help. She leaned close, brushing my face with a quick sweep of powder.
“You’re good to go. You look great. ” She winked. “Not that the Queen’s going to care, but…”
“But it isn’t politic to visit royalty looking like a slob. ” The carriage lurched to a stop and the door opened, the driver reaching in to help us down. “I guess we’d better see what bad news is in store for us now. ”
“I don’t even want to know. ” Camille flashed me a wry grin as the driver put his hands on her waist and swung her down from the carriage step to the rain-slicked path below. “But I guess we don’t have a choice. ”
Once Delilah and the others stood next to us, Trenyth led us into the palace to meet the Elfin Queen.
Overhead, the stars glimmered. They were beautiful, but all I ever saw were the stars and the moon and clouds against the night sky. Sometimes it seemed like sunlight had become a myth—a dream I’d once had, a dream that was beautiful but fleeting. For me, only the starlight existed.
The palace of the Elfin Queen rose in gleaming alabaster. Simple, elegant lines mirrored the symmetry of the city in general. Amid a flurry of gardens, the royal courts were clean, quiet, and decorous. They were nothing like the Court and Crown of Y’Elestrial—our home city-state, which was a hotbed of lush opulence and debauchery.
The cul-de-sac ended in front of the entrance to the palace, and as we quick-stepped up the path behind Trenyth, Camille sighed happily.
“What is it?”
She clasped her hands under her chin and whirled around, her skirts swirling in the breeze. She stared up at a tall tree. The faintest hint of green leaves were beginning to show among tiny starlike white flowers that covered the branches.
“The scent of the untahstar tree…we’re really home. ” A catch echoed in her throat as she gazed up at the vine-laden tree that grew only in the northern reaches of Otherworld. I could see the war waging within her. She loved being Earthside, but this was her home. She was more wistful now than ever, since Father had exiled her from Y’Elestrial.
Delilah followed her gaze and smiled softly. “It smells like childhood, doesn’t it?”
Our father’s home—the house of our youth—had two untahstar trees growing in the front yard. Their branches had wound together and Mother used to joke that the trees reminded her of their marriage. Two trees, on opposite sides of the path, reaching together across a void.
I allowed myself a quick breath. I didn’t have to breathe and by now I was out of the habit, but when I wanted to smell something, I could force my lungs to take in air, to hold and catch the scents riding the wind.
The spicy floral fragrance swept me back through the years, to days long gone and dreams that belonged to my former life—the one I would never, ever be able to reclaim. Disconcerted, I shook them off, not wanting to be caught up in memories. Memories were dangerous for me, even now.
Trenyth motioned for us to get a move on. We followed him into the alabaster palace, leaving old dreams and lives behind.
Asteria, ancient queen of the Elfin race, wore the tire tracks of age on her face—which meant she was probably older than anyone we would ever meet with the exception of the dragons, or the Hags of Fate.
She had been queen before the Great Divide, before the Great Fae Lords split the worlds apart and Otherworld was forcibly shifted away from Earthside. She had been old when Titania and Aeval were young and new to their thrones. As she swept into the throne room, she ignored the throne hewn of oak and holly and crossed to a marble table standing to the side. As we waited, she gave us an impatient look and motioned for us to join her.
Trenyth’s mood had gone somber. It was clear we weren’t here for a potluck or a game of Monopoly. Something bad had gone down, and whatever it was, the fallout filled the throne room.
Camille gave me a cautious look. She shook her head and mouthed, Bad.
Delilah edged her hand into Shade’s as they glanced around the room. Trillian, Vanzir, and Rozurial moved in closer. Even Chase seemed ill at ease. As for me, the tension set me on edge to the point where my fangs descended in a rush, in auto–defense mode, breaking the skin of my lip.
Camille curtsied while the rest of us bowed. “Your Highness, we came as soon as we received your summons. Something is wrong, isn’t it? What happened?”
Asteria looked at us, one after another. Tension rode her face. Even in the darkest circumstances, I’d never seen this much stress on the Queen’s face before.
“Sit. There is much to discuss and we have little time. ”
As we slid into the chairs around the table, Trenyth motioned to one of the elfin guards who’d been standing nearby, holding a long scroll. He brought it over and rolled it out on the table. A map of Otherworld, it filled the table, and we rolled it out and held it flat as Trenyth picked up a long pointer. Serving maids quietly offered us food and drink—they’d even filled a goblet with blood for me, though the girl’s nose wrinkled as she handed it to me.
Head down, Queen Asteria closed her eyes, her arms crossed across her chest. She looked like she was gathering courage.
After a moment, she looked up and said, “We have dire news. ”
Delilah let out a little gasp. “The spirit seals are missing, aren’t they? We feared—”
But before she could get out any more, Camille silenced her. “This is worse, isn’t it? This is far worse. ”
Inclining her head slightly, with a pained voice, Asteria answered. “Yes, far worse. Although, it does have something to do with the spirit seals. At least, the two that Shadow Wing has managed to steal away from you. ”
Silence followed as we waited for more news of death and bloodshed and panicked plans to descend. We’d been embroiled in this war for months now, going on a year and a half, and there was no easy way out.
“Telazhar has returned to Otherworld, the first time since we exiled him. And he’s brought the war with him. ”
Her words hung like crystal in the air, then shattered into a thousand shards, raining down on us.
Telazhar…the ancient necromancer who had led the Scorching Wars up from the Southern Wastes against the northern cities. Telazhar, who had been banished from Otherworld to live with the demons in the Subterranean Realms. Telazhar, whom we had done our best to kill, but who had slipped through our fingers. And now, he was here. Back in Otherworld.
Everybody started talking at once, but after a moment, I jumped up on the table and, putting my fingers in my mouth, let out a shrill whistle.
“Shut up! It’s not going to do any good if we all talk at once. ” In the lull that followed, it occurred to me that my spiked heels might not be the best thing for the marble table, but the queen gave me a soft smile as I leaped down and took my seat again. “You know this for a fact?”
“Thank you, my dear. I’m too weary to whistle and shout on my own. And yes, it’s true. Shadow Wing is behind it. Telazhar, wearing one of the spirit seals, has been spotted in the Southern Wastes. From what our informants say, he’s inciting the sorcerers to align with him. He’s rallying them to war. ”
“The Scorching Wars. ” I stared at her, barely able to comprehend what this meant for Otherworld, beyond one hell of a bad party.
“Yes. He seems to be planning to create another series of wars as bad as—or worse than—the Scorching Wars. Only this time, the sorcerers have a Demon Lord at their back. While Shadow Wing can’t gate over here, yet, Telazhar can raze half the world for him and then open up the portals if he can get hold of the spirit s
eals we have hidden here. I’m afraid that, very quickly, Otherworld will be embroiled in such turmoil to make the recent battle in Y’Elestrial look like chicken scratch. ”
We sat, silent, digesting the news. This was far worse than what any of us had been imagining.
Camille shifted. “Will the sorcerers follow him? Do we know the extent of his influence?”
Queen Asteria moved back and Trenyth took over. He pointed to the city of Rhellah, the last city before a long stretch of desert in the Southern Wastes, where rogue magic played free and easy on the winds, bonding with the grains of shifting sand.
“We’re readying a trio of spies. They’ll head to the south, first to Rhellah to discover what’s actually going on. From there, they will infiltrate the desert communities. The cities farther south—down in the heart of the Southern Wastes—are dangerous and wild and filled with slavers and sorcerers. We don’t dare just barge in. Our spies must proceed carefully. They can acclimate to the weather in Rhellah while planning out the next step. ”
“How long have you known about this?” If this had been going on for a while, then we had wasted valuable time.
Trenyth looked straight at me. “Lady Menolly, we first learned about this development four days ago. We dispatched a runner to check out the rumors at their source—over in Dahnsburg. The rumors are true. And our runner was caught. He managed to escape and made it home. Missing an arm, his tongue, and one eye. ”
I shut my mouth, suddenly pissed at myself for questioning him. Although we couldn’t accept things blindly and we had to question, I also needed to remember, the elves were on our side. We were all in this together. Queen Asteria wouldn’t have stirred this in her cup for weeks before summoning us. No, if anyone was to blame for anything, this was our fault. We’d let Telazhar—and another spirit seal—slip through our grasp.
Delilah must have picked up on what I was thinking, because she leaned her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her hands. “We’re to blame. We didn’t take him out when we had the chance at the Energy Exchange. We failed. ”
“Bullshit. We were overwhelmed and, if you’ll remember, Gulakah, the Lord of Ghosts, just happened to be there. Along with Newkirk and all of their cronies. ” Vanzir slammed his chair back against the wall and rested one ankle across the other knee. He pounded the table with his fist. “We did what we could. Nobody’s to blame except Shadow Wing and his fucking delusions. He’s fucking insane. ”
“Vanzir is right. ” Camille cleared her throat. “We simply didn’t have the manpower to take them all on. And we aren’t going to do anyone any good by moaning over what we did—or didn’t—manage to accomplish. We have to focus on now. On what’s going on this instant. ”
“Well said, my wife. ” Trillian slid his arm around her waist and kissed her brow. They made a striking couple, and when her other two husbands were in the picture, a formidable quartet.
“Then, the question becomes, what do we do next?” Rozurial said, playing with the belt on his duster. He had an armory stashed in his coat and was forever delighting in finding new toys to replace ones he grew tired of. He made Neo from The Matrix look like an amateur.
Queen Asteria crossed to the throne. “That’s where our spies come in. I want you to meet them, because you will be working together from now on. You must exchange every scrap of information that you have about Telazhar. They will remain in contact with you while on their mission. ”
As she settled into the chair, the queen arranged her skirts and let out a sigh that I heard halfway across the room.
“You’re tired, aren’t you?” I didn’t mean to speak aloud, but my words cut through the room and I cringed, realizing what I’d done.
Asteria merely crossed her hands in front of her. “Yes, young vampire. I am weary. But that does not negate my power, nor my determination. It merely means that I wear my crown a little heavier now, and lean on my staff a little harder. ” She motioned to the serving woman for a glass of wine. “War is thirsty work. ”
“Have you any allies here? Besides us?” Trillian let go of Camille to take a closer look at the map. “Have you talked to King Vodox?”
“As asked, so answered. As I prepare my armies for war, so do my allies. King Uppala-Dahns of the Dahns unicorns and Tanaquar have pledged to arm their soldiers in my service. I have sent messages to King Vodox, and to the kingdom of Nebulvuori. We wait for their response. And…another ally has pledged her service. Derisa, the High Priestess from the Grove of the Moon Mother. ”
Camille nodded. “Truth. My order would be obligated to join you. The sorcerers and the sun god are our nemeses. I wonder…will Telazhar approach the temple of Chimaras? The sun brothers are still looking to start it up with the Moon Mother’s Grove, from what Shamas tells us. ”
Queen Asteria brushed the gnarled arms of her throne. “Shamas? What does he know of this?”
We had protected our cousin’s secret since he told us the truth a few weeks ago, but now, any information he had might come in handy. “Shamas was studying with a sorcerer in the Southern Wastes. A Tregart named Feris, who was bent on waging war on the Moon Mother’s Grove. Shamas spilled the beans on him at risk of his own life. ”
“Tregarts? The Tregarts were over here a year ago? Why did no one inform me of this?” Queen Asteria leaned back against her throne and cast a long look to Trenyth. I had a feeling there was a discussion going on to which we were not privy.
Trenyth sprang into action. “We have no time to spare. We must send our spies out in the morning via the portals. They can travel as far as Ceredream and from there, walk afoot to Rhellah. ” He moved to the side door and opened it.