Chase was the first to speak. “I admit, when I was first called into service in the Keraastar Knights, I was devastated. But I’ve had time to adjust. I’ll stand with you…Your Majesty.”
I held his gaze. He meant it, I could see that in his eyes. He meant every word and he would back me up to the end. Chase might not have been happy about what happened, but he would be my staunchest supporter now that he was involved.
“Chase speaks for all of us,” Luke said. “We stand at a crossroads in history. Whatever we can do to help, we will.”
They knew what we were up against.
Shadow Wing was the Demon Lord ruling over the Sub-Realms. He had been waging a war against the portals for the past few years now, attempting to break through so that he could take over both Earthside and Otherworld. My sisters and I had found ourselves on the frontlines of the war. Recently, we had lucked out, managing to gather all of the spirit seals.
We also had others on our side, including Trytian—a daemon—and his father’s army, who also were moving against Shadow Wing. But in the end, the only thing that mattered was that we stop the Demon Lord in whatever way possible, as quickly as we could.
I looked at each of my knights in turn, holding their gazes. They stared back steadily, unblinking, willing to follow me into the depths of hell if necessary.
“That’s it, then. Tomorrow, we leave for the Golden Wood. The ritual must take place under the new moon, which falls two nights from now. We only have a short window of time before then.” I turned toward Myrddin. “Would you take over?”
“We’ll be making for Erastel’s End,” the Merlin said, spreading out a map of Otherworld on the table. He pointed to the Golden Wood, which lay north of Y’Elestrial, my home city-state.
“Erastel?” Chase asked. “Who or what is that?”
Aeval fielded that question. “Erastel fought against the demon hordes in the long past. She was one of the ancient Fae. Actually, one of the Great Fae warlords. She was a warrior queen during the Great Divide.”
The Merlin nodded, using a pointer to tap a place on the map.
“Aeval is correct,” he said. “Erastel was the one who insisted that when the Spirit Seal was broken, the pieces be given to the Elemental Lords. As time went on, she saw that they were losing track of the seals, and she undertook a vision quest. She foresaw the rise of Shadow Wing and what would transpire, should he manage to get his hands on the seals, and he would break through the portals. The other Fae Lords laughed at her fears, so she acted on her own.”
Titania cleared her throat. “After the Great Divide, Erastel left the cities and went to live in the Golden Wood. Erastel’s End was her fortress. She lived alone for the most part, though her descendants still walk those forests. She had three children, and they spread out, uninterested in keeping up her lineage.”
“What happened to her?” Amber asked.
Aeval frowned, shaking her head. “Without the other Great Lords to stop her, over time Erastel fashioned a spell. She had grown strong with her magic, strong enough to bind time and history with her weavings. She created the spirit of the Keraastar Knights. She then sought out the center of the seal—which wasn’t considered one of the nine stones. The diamond was the stone that connected all the others, but its power was focused on binding things together, and Pentangle had taken possession of it at that time. Pentangle listened to Erastel’s concerns, and she agreed that the vision was real, and gave her the diamond.”
“Pentangle is the Mistress of Magic,” I said for the benefit of those who might not have heard of the Elemental Lady. I had met her several times and each time, she had left me speechless with her power. She was magic incarnate.
“Erastel bound the diamond to the spirit of the knights, then wove the gem’s destiny tightly to the other seals, uniting them all into a single focus. When she was done, she fashioned two scrolls—the Maharata-Verdi and the Maharata-Vashi. Both were created to guide a future Fae Queen to the diamond, which she hid in the Tygerian Mountains. Erastel entombed herself with it. She never really died, but faded into a ghostly guardian. When Queen Camille faced her, she won the gem and became the long-awaited warrior queen.”
I caught my breath. I hadn’t known about the background of the diamond, or how everything had fit together. The gem and the scrolls had been in hiding for thousands of years.
“Erastel’s End is what remains of her home. The ruins are all that’s left. Once a year, on the new moon nearest the autumn equinox, the stars align and it’s said that she returns to her home to see if anyone has come to claim the destiny. And once the Fae Queen arrives on that day, the final knight will come forward.” Aeval fell silent.
I looked at the calendar. “The night after tomorrow is the new moon. We have to leave at daybreak, and travel through the portal that stands on the outskirts of Erastel’s land. Smoky will come with us, as will my sister Delilah and her fiancé, Shade. Menolly won’t be able to, given we’re traveling in daylight. I don’t know how long the ritual will take, or how it will unfold, but we’ll return once we’re done.”
Amber frowned. “My daughter—I don’t want to take her into danger. She doesn’t have to come, does she?” Amber had been pregnant when she first had found her spirit seal, and the magic had changed the child’s DNA, though in what ways, we weren’t sure of yet.
“No, the nursemaids will take good care of her while we’re gone.” I held Amber’s gaze for a moment, and she nodded. “Are there are any other concerns?”
“Is anyone else coming with us?” Delilah asked.
“I will not, since I am pregnant,” Aeval said.
The Merlin cleared his throat. “I’ll be coming along. Since I was able to translate the scrolls, I might be of use if you find anything else there that needs translating.”
There were no other questions, so after a long discussion on what to pack and what conditions we’d be facing, we adjourned.
Chapter 3
DAWN HAD BARELY as we started for the portal. I hadn’t even known this one existed, but it was hidden deep in Talamh Lonrach Oll, behind a cedar grove used for seasonal celebrations.
As we headed toward the grove, the guards followed in back. Smoky and Shade walked together, and Merlin was leading the Keraastar Knights. I looped my arm through Delilah’s as I glanced at the early morning sky.
The day promised to be cool but clear, and the sun was streaking the sky with faint streaks of lemon that filtered in long fingers across the pale blue. Wispy clouds would burn off, but before long, the autumn rains would come and sunshine would be a distant memory. The Seattle area was well known for its gloom-and-doom cloud cover, and with good reason. While we had an occasional heat wave, most of the year tended to be cool and damp.
“So, are you ready for the trip?” Delilah was dressed in a tunic and trousers—clothes she had brought over when we first came Earthside. She was wearing a pair of Doc Martens and had her dagger strapped to her side. A pack slung across her back made her look like she was ready for a day hike into the mountains.
I envied her. While I had tried to get away with wearing the cat suit I had adopted for when we took trips, my maid had been adamant and refused to let me out of the Barrow without wearing a calf-length skirt, a strikingly embroidered bustier, and my crown. Apparently, going around crownless was a big no-no for Fae Queens.
“I think so. I have no idea what’s going to happen, but I’ll figure it out. I’m looking forward to getting away from the Barrow for a few days, though. I’ll tell you that.” I lowered my voice. “Playing queen isn’t nearly as fun as you might think. I was ready for some tough challenges, but I wasn’t prepared for the sheer bulk of bureaucracy that’s involved,” I grumbled. “I know that this is what I’m supposed to be doing, but honestly, Kitten, I miss living back home. I miss Maggie, and I miss my old life, where I didn’t have to answer to anybody.”
“You always had to answer to the Moon Mother,” s
he said.
“True, but…”
Delilah laughed. “You remind me of Menolly. You were always so stern about us doing our duty, but right now, you sound exactly like her. At least you’re a queen. She’s stuck with being a princess.”
At that, I snorted. Using the words “Menolly” and “princess” in the same sentence felt like an oxymoron. “True, and at least I don’t have to live around a bunch of vampires. Living with Menolly? I had no problem with that. She’s our sister. But I don’t think I’d fare well living at Roman’s.”
“At least Nerissa takes it in stride.” Delilah fell silent for a moment, then let out another laugh. “I just thought of something—you’re part of the Triple Threat now!”
I groaned. “Don’t remind me.” I had come up with the term years back, when our distant cousin Morgaine had joined Aeval and Titania as the Queen of Dusk and Twilight. But now that she was dead and I had taken her place, the nickname didn’t seem quite as funny as it had.
“Your Majesty, can we carry anything for you?” Luke asked as he and Amber passed by. They were walking with Chase. The other knights were also strolling along. None of us were in a great hurry this early in the day.
“No, but thank you. The guards have my things.” I waited until they were out of earshot. “Chase is adjusting remarkably well. There are a lot of babies for Astrid to play with and they seem to be accepting her without a problem.” I paused, wiping my hand across my eyes. “I would have done anything to spare him this. The seals change you. I’ve seen it in the others. He’ll change, too.”
Delilah hung her head. After a moment, she said, “You did what you needed to do. What destiny intended. Chase was always meant to be one of your knights. Maybe…this will help him and Sharah be together, after we knock down Shadow Wing. If Chase is more than an full-blooded human with a long lifespan, then maybe the elves will allow him to join her on the throne.”
Sharah was queen of Kelvashan, the Elfin lands. She had been forced to move back to Otherworld—to Elqaneve—when the old queen was killed. It had torn her and Chase apart, and she had been forced to leave their daughter with him as the rebuilding of the war-torn lands continued. It had been harsh on both of them, and there were no easy answers to solve their situation.
We rounded a corner and were coming up on the portal ahead. Before we arrived and the others could hear, I decided to ask the one question that I had deliberately avoided asking.
“Do you ever regret breaking up with Chase?”
Delilah pressed her lips together for a moment, then shook her head. “No. I loved him, and I still do—as a friend. But he needs a wife like Sharah. For all that she’s a queen, at heart she’s still a maiden who was looking for her knight. I could never be as gentle as she is. I will always intimidate Chase. Shade and I are a good match. We fit together. He adores me, but he doesn’t hesitate to call me out on my bullshit and I need that. We make each other stronger.”
“I won’t ask again,” I said. “I just needed to know you’re happy. I need to know that you’re on the path you want to be.”
She rolled her eyes. “Face it, we’re all destiny’s pawns. Look at you. Look at Menolly. We’re all facing a future that was laid out for us without asking for our input. But we accede gracefully. Not just because we have to, but because it’s the right thing to do. You’ve told me that often enough. Even if I had the remotest inclination to run away with Chase, and I don’t, I wouldn’t. I’ve come to believe that you have to embrace your fate in order to be truly happy.”
And with that, we joined the others.
The portal was waiting. It was a wide one, large enough for two to go abreast. Two of the four guards went first to make sure everything was clear on the other side. When they reported back that it was safe, I sucked in a deep breath and—holding hands with Delilah—stepped through the portal, back home to Otherworld.
STEPPING THROUGH THE portal was like being sucked into a crackling force field. I felt twisted around, stretched and elongated, then splintered into a million atoms. Before I could panic, a magnetic force drew me back together, snapping me like a rubber band through to the other side. Jarred, with every nerve singing, I caught my breath, then moved to the side with Delilah to wait for the others.
When the Merlin came through, I was surprised to see Áine with him. She had been the Merlin’s love back before the Great Divide, and she had been a dragon shifter. She was now permanently stuck in dragon form, a beautiful serpent with vestigial wings. Her body was sea green, streaked with an icy blue. A rare mix, her heritage placed her as both green dragon and blue dragon—earth and water. Áine wasn’t exactly a baby, but she was young for her kind.
Smoky and Shade came through, followed by my knights, and finally, the two other guards.
We were just east of the Golden Wood, near the road leading to the Silver Falls—not the Silver Falls of the afterlife. The weather was cooler here, with temperatures in the low forties. We weren’t anywhere near the Northlands, but the difference between here and Y’Elestrial—our home city—was like the difference between being in Seattle and mid-California.
The portal on the Otherworld side was unattended, buzzing between two oak trees. There was no way of telling how long it had been there, but by the look of the trees and the strength of the portal, I had the feeling it was old. There were no bigger cities around here, only small villages along the way. No city owned this area, no government claimed it. The land here was untamed. The swath that passed for a road was wide and worn down, but even the compacted dirt had weeds growing through it. Travelers took turns rooting out the worst of the overgrowth, I guessed, but it was still bumpy going.
We were facing east. The Golden Wood stretched as far as we could see, spreading out to the north and south. We weren’t far from Silver Lake and the falls, but to get there, we’d have to climb. The road ran north, leading to a steep incline. I wasn’t looking forward to the hike, even though it was mostly over dirt and grass.
In front of us, in the distance to the east, we could see the foothills of the Silver Mountains. Constantly swathed in mist at their base, the peaks rose in a slow, graceful curve, but up close the forested slopes were intimidating. They were far steeper than the road we were near, which had a treacherous grade. Most caravans turned back at this point, dropping travelers off to make their own way up the slope.
“Are you ready, love?” Smoky wrapped his arms around me. One of the guards scowled but said nothing. I leaned back against my dragon shifter, breathing deeply.
“I guess we’d better get moving. We want to be at Erastel’s End by dusk.” I pressed my lips to his chest, then stepped away. It was time.
Smoky moved to one side, and we cleared away from him. In the blink of an eye, he shifted form, turning into his dragon self. He was huge—massive compared to Áine, who was still impressive. His scales shimmered under the light. Journeying by dragon back would be quickest and safest.
Shade took his place near Smoky and he, too, shifted into dragon form. Shade was a shadow dragon, with a massive skeletal body, his brown bones creaking as he walked. Áine swept past, over beside Smoky. I realized that she, too, could carry people—at least a few. She would be harder to ride, but for those with good balance, it should be all right.
We divided up. I motioned for two of my guards to join me, along with Tanne, Lisa, Bran, and Clyde. We fit comfortably on Smoky’s back, as Smoky shifted a little, helping us settle in.
Delilah, the other two guards, Chase, Venus, Luke, and Amber rode on Shade’s back, squeezing themselves between his vertebrae. I wasn’t sure what he’d have to do if he needed to move his neck, but he had probably already worked that out. The Merlin swung over Áine’s sinuous form. Once we were settled, Smoky launched himself into the air and we were flying toward the top of the peak, with Shade and Áine behind us.
Chapter 4
THERE WAS NOTHING quite so amazing as being airborne on the back o
f a dragon. It was simultaneously scary and breathtaking. Smoky was a good flyer, and he was careful not to dip too suddenly, or to tilt his wings too abruptly. We had lashed ourselves to his back with crude rope harnesses. The worst that could happen if one of us fell was that we’d dangle below as he flew. That in itself could be a problem, but if he swept down near the ground, it was easy enough to unknot the fastening and drop the few feet to the ground below.
As Smoky rose up over the side of the cliff, we could see the Silver Falls in all their glory. And they were beautiful. Silver Lake and the river feeding into it spread over the plateau with a beautiful blue sheen that was so calm, it mirrored everything around it. But the lake in turn fed into a narrow channel before the edge of the cliff, and from there, the water thundered down, churning at least two hundred feet to the valley below in a billowing cloud of mist and fog.
To either side of the river and lake was a wide valley, lush with knee-high grass that waved in the constant wind. The forest stretched along the western edge of the cliff, and then, across the falls, to the east. I wasn’t sure where the woodlands led. While I had been up to the Northlands a couple of times, they were a long, long way from here. I had no idea how far the mesa stretched, nor who lived up here. In the distance, mountains rose, cloaked in fog. Bigger and grander than the Tygerian Mountains, they eclipsed even the Tygerians’ tallest peaks.
Behind me, Tanne gasped. “This is so beautiful. I never knew it would be like this.”
“Not all places are this lovely, but yes, there is a great deal of beauty in Otherworld. Sometimes, I forget how much I miss it.”
In a secret space of my heart, it hurt to know that I would be forced to remain Earthside for most of my days. But then, a quiet voice inside reminded me, “You never know what’s going to happen. Don’t mourn the future—it’s always up for grabs.”