Descent

  Mia felt the wind against her skin. It brushed her hair from her face and made the tears on her cheeks cold. She closed her eyes, feeling that same wind flow inside her, through her.

  Tye spread his hands wide, but she didn’t see. ‘Forgive me,’ she heard him say. ‘I didn’t tell you because I thought it would be easier for you. I didn’t want you to feel pressure, or pity. Please try to forget I said anything.’

  ‘Tye...’ she whispered, opening her eyes. ‘No more forgetting.’

  A memory was in her mind, clear and vivid. The words Sharif had said in the tent before she even knew about Samaraq. Nayana fell in love with the wrong person.

  How could she have forgotten? Their’s was a love that had an entire people banished from existence. A love that went deeper than anything Mia had ever hoped to know.

  So there it was—why she had never truly been able to feel anything properly. It was because of this man, standing before her. A man who’d taken all of her heart for himself, and was now stripped from her memory.

  He smiled sadly. ‘Truly,’ he murmured, ‘there is no fault here, certainly not your own.’ It was so clear now, the pain in his eyes; how could she have been so callous not to have understood?

  He turned to leave, but panicked, she called out, ‘ Wait!’

  Slowly he looked at her once more. ‘Please,’ he said. Only that. It floated over the wind to her and after a long moment, she nodded, letting him go.

  Mia stood for such a long time that her limbs became stiff with cold. Far into the early morning, she made her way back to her room and sat down on her bed. Claudia and Gwen were waiting for her.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Gwen asked sharply.

  A few words tumbled from Mia’s mouth, awkward and stumbling like her heart.

  ‘The part of me that I’ve always felt was missing?’ she whispered. ‘The emptiness? What do you do when you find that it’s been waiting for you inside someone else?’ She paused and looked out the window, desperately seeking an answer.

  ‘What do you do when your heart lies inside someone you cannot remember?’

  Harry woke in a cold sweat and sat up in bed, the woman’s face hanging in his mind for a second before vanishing with sleep. He’d dreamt about her most nights since he’d heard of Luca’s torture, a nameless woman whose face felt unnervingly familiar.

  Reaching for the cup of water next to his bed, he drank thirstily and looked out his window at the rising sun. Already he was feeling the need to get back out to the watch-tower and help once more. The few nights he’s been there had been gruesome and gruelling and he’d seen far more men die than he’d been prepared for. Now he felt guilty being in the palace.

  Just then there was a knock at the door, but before he could react it was thrown open and Satine flew into the room, a long cloak swishing about her feet. Her blonde chaos of hair whipped about her shoulders as she stopped, towering over him.

  ‘What—?’

  ‘Harry,’ she breathed, her face agonised. ‘Get up! We’ve a fight on our hands!’

  ‘I can’t bear it anymore, Anna. I can’t sit here doing nothing.’

  Jane sat on the grass with her friend just outside the boundaries of the city as the clear morning sun warmed them into a sleepy state of contemplation. They had been in Sitadel for a few days. It had been a week since Luca’s torture, and he was not in any way improving. He may not ever, Jane acknowledged, but only to herself.

  ‘What do you mean?’ Anna asked, pulling out a handful of grass and throwing it into the air.

  Jane winced and spat a piece out of her mouth. ‘All this fear. It’s horrible. We have to be able to retrieve some semblance of a life.’

  ‘And how do we do that?’ Anna murmured. ‘Trust me, Jane, we’ve been trying for a very long time.’

  ‘I want to know why Accolon is ignoring all of it. I want to know why everyone’s just been sitting around, accepting the fact that these things are ruling our lives.’

  Anna frowned. ‘Some of us haven’t been just sitting around accepting it.’

  ‘Oh, An, I’m so sorry,’ Jane sighed. ‘I didn’t mean you. What you’ve been doing is really brave, and more than I could ever imagine being capable of. But surely you’ve noticed that Accolon is ... behaving strangely?’

  Anna nodded. ‘We all have. He has a one-track mind. He refuses to think about anything other than the slave trade, even though it is a small concern in the face of everything else. He’s putting less and less money into the defence force, so his men aren’t even armed properly. They’re being slaughtered.’

  Jane nodded. ‘That’s what I mean.’

  ‘But what can we do? He’s the High King.’

  Jane frowned and draped her arm over her eyes.

  ‘How is Fern?’ Anna asked suddenly.

  ‘A mess. Of course. He blames himself, as he does for everything. He’s not going to get over it any time soon.’

  ‘But you’ll be there to look after him.’

  ‘If he lets me. He hasn’t spoken to me since it happened—I’m not his favourite person at the moment.’

  Anna paused. ‘Why didn’t you tell us, Jane?’

  Jane shrugged. ‘I was embarrassed. Ashamed of myself. I thought you’d all think badly of me.’

  ‘Jane! That’s just stupid! Of course we’d never think badly of you, and you know that.’ She shook her head. ‘I can’t believe ... I mean, I never thought he would actually marry her. Not after you and he—’

  Jane propped her head up on her elbow to look at Anna with a helpless shrug. ‘Yeah, well, guys really are idiots, aren’t they? If I’ve managed to learn anything here it’s that women are so much smarter.’

  Anna met her eyes and they both burst out laughing. After a while Anna lay down on the grass and looked up into the sky. ‘Does that mean things are over between you two?’

  Jane felt the laughter seep out of her. She gave Anna a weary, sad smile. ‘I don’t know what will happen. But what I do know is that when you love someone, when you love them properly ... you love them until you bleed, and then you love them even more.’

  ‘Doesn’t it hurt?’ Anna whispered.

  ‘Of course it does,’ Jane murmured, feeling the wind brush against her skin.

  Just then there was a tap at Jane’s senses and she felt Harry’s clumsy contact. Opening her mind, she allowed Anna to hear the conversation too.

  Jane, Harry said breathlessly. Something terrible is happening.

  Not again! Jane thought. What now?

  It’s Accolon—he’s deranged or something! He’s back from Lapis Matyr and he wants to take the dream protectors off Amalia!

  What? There was a second of silence in their three minds, and then a barrage of confusion and panic.

  Why would he do something like that?

  I have no idea—I think he’s lost his mind!

  Jane could have wept with exhaustion and the unjustness of it all. It just kept getting worse.

  We’ll be there as quickly as we can be, Harry. For now—do everything in your power to stall him. No matter what it takes, I don’t want those protectors coming down. Do you hear me?

  I hear you, he told her, and in his voice there was a new determination. They won’t be coming down, even if it’s the last thing I make sure of.

  ‘I’ll take Locktar and leave now,’ Anna said, as they ran back towards the castle.

  ‘It’s nearly night, An. You can’t go now.’

  Anna felt the first ugly grip of fear take hold of her, but gave Jane a wild, reckless grin. ‘I dare the Valkyries to try and catch me.’

  For a moment Anna thought she was about to have an argument on her hands, but Jane’s face broke into an identical grin. ‘I feel sorry for whatever goes up against you, woman! Help Harry stall. I’ll get Fern and Altor and meet you there.’

  ‘How will you make it in time?’

  ‘I have a way,’ Jane assured her. They stopped briefly to give each other a hug, and then went thei
r separate ways.

  Storming into the palace, Jane asked for Fern and Altor to be found and to join her in the meeting room.

  ‘We have to leave right now,’ she told them. ‘Accolon wants to take down the dream protectors in Amalia.’

  ‘ What?’ Fern exclaimed. ‘That’s insane!’

  ‘He’ll get everyone in the city killed,’ Altor said flatly.

  Jane nodded. ‘We have to stop him. Come with me.’

  As they flew through the hallways, Jane stopped briefly to knock on a door. Captain Bayard opened it and smiled at her.

  ‘My lady, how are you?’

  ‘Captain, we’re headed to Amalia,’ Jane replied without preamble. ‘Something bad is happening. We need your help. Bring Luca, and get aboard a ship for Uns Lapodis as fast as you can.’

  She knew she was being selfish—it would be dangerous in Amalia, especially for someone who couldn’t protect himself—but she couldn’t bear to leave Luca alone.

  ‘Why, Jane?’ Bayard asked.

  Jane looked at him. ‘I fear,’ she said eventually, ‘that the High King has betrayed his people.’

  Up on the roof, Jane let out a piercing whistle. Fern had his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, and Altor had his arms folded tightly. Both of them looked murderous.

  ‘I knew there was something wrong with the way he’s been acting,’ Jane said. ‘But why? Why would he do something like this?’

  ‘He might have been compromised.’ Altor said, his voice dark.

  ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘His dreams. They might have gotten to him in his dreams.’

  ‘Who have you told to come, Jane?’ Fern asked quickly.

  ‘The Captain.’

  ‘Is anyone coming with him?’ The Elf’s voice was strained as he stared at her intently. The dark circles under his eyes had not dissapeared since he’d learnt of his wife’s death. He looked haggard and worried.

  ‘He’s bringing Luca,’ Jane said. ‘Maybe this will snap him out of his stupor.’ Fern’s jaw clenched. ‘Why, Fern?’

  ‘‘We may need fighters—real ones—and as many as we can get.’

  Jane and Altor looked at him, feeling cold.

  And then, for the first time, the right question was asked. ‘What is making the Valkyries do this?’ Fern said, his voice raw.

  The unicorns appeared in the sky and landed on the roof, and the three of them mounted the beautiful creatures. Then they set off, bound on a desperate rescue mission for the people of Amalia, not knowing what they would find when they got there.

  Part 6

  Jack

  ‘Are you insane?’ Jack yelled, dismounting his horse and handing his reins to Luca who was on the horse next to him. ‘I told you to stay at home!’

  The girl with the red hair ignored him, as she usually did, and walked straight ahead.

  ‘Lina!’ Jack shouted. ‘A battle is no place for a woman! Go home!’

  Lina only tossed her brilliant mane and smiled charmingly at Luca, who was watching on with exasperation. Jack knew the look on his face. It was the look that everyone gave them when they fought. Which happened a lot. She was just a girl, an infuriating, headstrong girl from the house next to his—why wouldn’t she listen to him?

  Jack stalked after her on the dirt road, his jaw clenched. ‘Besides which, you are far too young to even think about becoming a soldier!’

  ‘If you’re old enough, Jack darling,’ she murmured mildly, ‘then I fail to see how I’m not, since I’m two months older than you.’

  ‘Jack, we’re late as it is,’ Luca called. ‘Bring her along if she wants to fight so much.’

  ‘Quiet!’ he hissed over his shoulder at his friend. Lina was right—Jack and Luca were too young to be joining the army, but they’d lied about their ages in order to fight for their country. It was war—they had to fight.

  Lina turned and gave Luca a dazzling smile. Funny how she never gave that smile to Jack. ‘You know, Jack, you might want to listen to your friend—he’s a lot smarter than you. And a lot prettier.’

  ‘Gods, girl,’ Jack sighed in frustration, shaking his head. ‘Why do you make things so difficult? You can’t come, and that’s that.’

  ‘Tell me, when was it decided that you’d be my keeper?’ she hissed. ‘I can do whatever I want! I never asked you to take me with you! I’m making my own way there!’

  ‘On foot?’ he yelled. ‘You won’t make it to the next town before you turn back to your maids and your cooks!’

  ‘How dare you?’ Lina screamed, her famous temper always as quick as lightning. ‘You think you’re so brave and noble, but you’re a fool, Jack! You’re a stupid, juvenile fool who doesn’t know the first thing about fighting!’

  Jack threw his pack on the ground and stormed over to her, grabbing her arms roughly. ‘I know that when your army captain calls you, you go. You don’t waste time fighting with silly little girls.’

  ‘I agree,’ she hissed at him. ‘Let go of me. Now.’

  ‘Are you going to make me?’ he said, his voice low. That’s when she smiled. Her dazzling smile that made her eyes light up. He was a fool for that damn smile.

  ‘Of course I am,’ she murmured, her voice husky, and then she kissed him.

  ‘Oh for gods sakes,’ he heard Luca swear. ‘I’ve just about had enough of you two. Hurry up!’

  Jack grinned and continued to kiss her. ‘If you weren’t going to be my wife next summer,’ he said, pulling away, ‘I’d definitely be drawing my sword right now.’

  ‘The sword you have no idea how to use?’ she teased, smirking. ‘Go on, I dare you.’

  ‘I’m serious, Lina. You have to go home. Your father would kill me if he knew I’d let you come.’

  ‘I do as I want.’

  ‘Then, please, can’t you just “want” to go home?’ He hated pleading with her. But this was something he was not willing to risk. If it was between his pride, and her safety, the latter would always win, no matter how much he wanted to throttle her sometimes.

  Lina tossed her red hair again. She squinted into the sun. Then she shrugged. ‘Fine. I’ve changed my mind. It’s too hot to go traipsing around in the country.’

  And with that she turned on her heel and began walking back the way she’d come. He waited for her to stop as he knew she would, and then he ran to catch up with her, putting his arms around her.

  ‘You know what I want to hear,’ she said, not returning the embrace. Jack sighed, pulling back to look at her.

  ‘Clearly,’ he said, looking into her eyes. ‘I love you, Lina. You are the best part of me.’

  ‘Thank you,’ she purred, her smile making his insides turn to jelly. ‘You’re right. I am. Now give me a kiss, off you go and please do try not to die. I really don’t want to be a widow before I’m even married.’

  He kissed her deeply, feeling in her response the true way she felt about him. He knew her well enough to know that her feelings weren’t in her words, but in her eyes, and her touch. Just then she clung to him in a way she’d never done, and he realised this had never been about her wanting to come, but about not wanting to let him go.

  ‘I’ll try,’ he whispered into her hair, holding her for a moment longer before letting her go.

  She stalked away without a backwards glance and after he’d watched her disappear, Jack turned and mounted his horse once more.

  ‘You do realise she’s got you in the palm of her hand,’ Luca told him.

  ‘Don’t say another word,’ Jack warned sharply. Luca just smiled and the two of them spurred their horses on, down the path to where their leaders were amassing the army, to where they would fight the darkest, mightiest force Paragor had ever seen.

  Chapter 35

  She had been at death’s door. She had known, with certainty, that she was going to die. And yet, here she was, still alive, her cancer having somehow cowed back into remission. Anna didn’t understand it. Perhaps it had been the fear, the shock of learn
ing about Luca. Perhaps it was the physical strain of the journey to Karangul, but whatever it was, a day after her arrival, she was back to the state of limbo she had spent the past two years in.

  As she flew through the air, her body flattened against her beloved dragon, Anna tried to think of what she would do when she got to Amalia. They’d all noticed the changes in Accolon. But they’d done nothing about it. Not one of them.

  ‘Faster, darling,’ she whispered to Locktar. She felt his pace quicken and glanced down at the dizzying drop to the ocean.

  ‘Please don’t let them come. Not tonight,’ she muttered, urging the dragon on. They flew into the darkness, Anna’s heart thumping heavily. If they could just make it without being spotted, then maybe she could get there in time to help.

  But her fear must have been like a beacon for the creatures, because sure enough, coming into the home stretch, Anna heard a sound from behind her. Glancing over her shoulder she felt a chill creep into her bones.

  There was not one, not two Valkyries chasing her. There wasn’t even a score. A score she could have handled—had indeed handled before. But coming up behind her, close on her tail, must have been fifty of the deadly creatures. They swarmed the sky, filling it with shadow, gaining on her and her dragon.

  Anna felt a tremble of terror and clutched Locktar tighter, urging him on with everything she had left. Locktar saw the threat, felt her panic, and he began to fly faster, faster than she’d ever expected him to be capable. She couldn’t fight that many. If they caught her, it would be the end.

  ‘Something’s wrong,’ Mia whispered.

  ‘What is it, highness?’ Tye asked her as she stared out the window, wrapping her arms around herself.

  ‘I don’t know. Something very bad is happening. I can’t get through to any of them. I can only feel their panic.’

  He looked at her, wishing he could do something to help, but not knowing what to say.