The Unseen Tempest (Lords of Arcadia) Page 17

  Ater stumbled because his leg refused to support his weight. He thought about cursing at the men as they walked away but thought better. After all, what was there to gain from it?

  “Which one are you?” a female voice asked. Ater looked up and saw Titania locked in the cell across from him. Her dress was filthy and her hair matted down, but even covered in grime, she carried herself like a queen. “I’m sorry, but all of you assassins looked the same in your armor. I was never able to differentiate among the three of you.”

  “I am Ater, Your Majesty,” he said, pulling himself over to the cot.

  “You’re the First,” she said smiling. “Did they not capture your partner, then?”

  The pain in his leg momentarily lessened as he felt Pullus’s loss. “No, it is just me, Your Majesty.”

  She waved her hand at him. “Oh, stop it. We’re both locked down here together. I think we can dispense with the titles. The only majesty right now is my lord Oberon.” Her voice was bitter with emotion as she spoke of him.

  “That is not your husband,” he said, trying to get up and failing. He fell toward the bars and held himself up. “That is the changeling Puck masquerading as him. The creature is after the secret of ascension and will stop at nothing to get it.”

  She looked at him with an odd expression. “I’m afraid that isn’t Puck.”

  “It is, Your Majesty,” Ater pleaded. “You have to believe me. I was foolish enough to listen to him and almost killed your son because of it. He is capable of anything.”

  “Not anything,” a voice croaked from the far cell. Ater looked over and saw the beaten and bloodied form of Puck lying on the cot, his limbs obviously broken in several different positions. “For example, I am incapable of getting out of this cell, so that’s one thing.”

  Ater could not believe his eyes. “Puck? But if you’re here….”

  “That is Oberon,” Titania confirmed, her voice cold with anger. “And he is going to kill us all.”

  WE WALKED over toward Molly, who, with help from Caerus, was loading Ferra into a sleigh that would have put Santa to shame. This thing was huge, and if I hadn’t just seen it fly, I would have sworn it never would be able to.

  “How is she?” I asked Molly, ashamed I had forgotten her condition during my little spaz.

  Molly watched the sapphire float Ferra gently into the back. “Better. She doesn’t seem to be in pain anymore, and it looks like she is healing.”

  “Of course she is,” Demain said, taking the reins from Milo. “Her people came from this realm. Its energies are restorative to any and all ice creatures.”

  We sat in the backseat, because I didn’t trust Hawk being that close to Demain without hauling off and popping her one. Ruber, though, had no such hesitation and floated next to the queen. “The Friguses are thought of as just another barbarian tribe on Faerth. How do you know they originated here?”

  Demain glanced at Ruber as she signaled the reindeer to take flight. “Cut open any barbarian you want, gemling, and you will find blood. However, if you cut one open and find ice, they can trace their lineage back to Niflgard.”

  We took to the sky before anyone could answer.

  From up there I was startled by the view below. I had assumed all I’d see would be snow, and how exciting was that? Look, kids, white on white with just a touch of ice. Bleh. But what I saw was something completely different.

  Below me and stretching beyond the horizon lay an entire world carved out of ice. Roads made of ice blocks that led to small towns that looked like they were made of glass, inhabited by blue-skinned people who, I had to admit, reminded me of Ferra’s folk. Animals walked around with the blue people, walking on two legs and wearing clothes, which didn’t shock me as much as I thought it would.

  The sleigh flew over fields and fields of different-colored ice structures that made me think of an ice farm. “What are those?” I asked, pointing to one of the fields.

  “At your core you are an animal, dear Kane. I mean your species, of course.” Demain gave me a smile that told me she in no way was talking about my species. “That means you must eat other animals to gain substance. The people of Niflgard in their core are ice, so they require ice to sustain them. They cultivate over nine thousand different types of ice here, each one as unique as your own fruits and vegetables.”

  “What about the animals?” I asked as we left the fields behind. “Do they eat ice?”

  Demain gave me a look. “You can eat ice all you want, dear boy, but all you will end up getting is cold. The refugees from the Willows and the Wolflands raise their own crops to survive.”

  I looked to Hawk to ask him what she was talking about, but I got the mind-whammy shortcut instead.

  The Willows was a world where there were no humans, and animals were the intelligent species, walking and talking and wearing clothes, kind of like Milo. The Wolflands was a world a lot like Faerth, with a ton of magical creatures, but was ruled by a maniac called the Wolf King. From what Hawk sent me, a majority of the talking animals had come from these two worlds when, I guess, it was easier to get from one realm to another. When the realms were separated, some beings became marooned in the other realms.

  That is what Demain meant by refugees.

  Those animals were stuck here the same way I was, with no way home. I leaned back in the sleigh, knowing how they felt. Okay, I know that wasn’t exactly true. I’m sure I could get Ruber or his people to send me home, but I couldn’t leave Hawk to fight Puck all by himself, so I might as well be stuck here. Hawk grabbed my hand, and I felt him send me hope, which had to be hard for him considering all he was dealing with.

  I leaned against him and sent hope back to him. As we flew across the ice fields, we basked in the small but powerful glow it made.

  KOR CAME back to consciousness but kept his eyes closed.

  Though not as intensively trained as Ater, he had his own share of experience, and he knew better than to give away an advantage when he had one. He could feel his bow wasn’t on him, which was bad because his magic was severely limited without it. All his spells came through the weapon, which meant he needed to find it as soon as possible. That most likely meant opening his eyes at some point.

  A female voice interrupted his thoughts. “If you are thinking I cannot tell if you are awake or not, you’re mistaken.”

  Kor cracked one eye opened and found an amethyst floating above him.

  “My name is Silica Appolonia Medens, and I am your healer. You’ve recently had your jaw broken, so try not to talk as it mends.”

  He moved his tongue around in his mouth, and he could feel soreness but nothing that would indicate a broken jaw. He opened his mouth to speak, and his face exploded in pain. All he got out was a mangled scream.

  “When I said you should try not to talk, that meant not talking.” Her tone was as sarcastic as it was dismissive. “Now I will admit you are the first elven subject I have had time to study, so I have some questions. Please answer by nodding your head for yes and shaking it for no. Speech is not required.”

  Kor glared at her but said nothing.

  “Good. Your bone structure is notably different from humans. Are you considered a normal elven male?”

  Kor nodded.

  “Excellent. And you are fully grown as opposed to being an adolescent?”

  This creature was a healer? He nodded.

  “Then you would say you possessed all of your adult teeth?”

  Possessed? He searched his mouth for gaps.

  “Your teeth?” she asked again. “You had all of them?”

  He nodded, worried because he couldn’t find a missing tooth.

  “Let’s move on to your reproductive organs.”

  “You’re dismissed, Silica,” a commanding voice called from across the room. Kor recognized it as belonging to the diamond that had knocked him out.

  “Sir, please, you know I had no time to examine Ater, and he was quite firm about refusing me the right to
examine the corpse of his partner.”

  Kor felt his blood go to ice as she mentioned his brother.

  “Go. Now,” the diamond ordered.

  She flew off without another word.

  “I am Lord Adamas, ruler of the Crystal Court and king of the Underworld. The rune you used belonged to a man who saved my son’s life. So we are going to have a conversation about how you came to possess it. If at the end I do not like your reason, my healer will have a fresh cadaver from which to learn all about elven physiology.” He floated closer to Kor’s face. “Do you understand?”

  Kor understood all too well.

  “HOW DID your husband get you down here?” Ater asked as his hands worked on the manacles.

  “You can thank that one,” Titania said, nodding to the changeling. “He lured me down here and then locked me in this cell.”

  “I wasn’t aware a lord of Arcadia could be held by simple bars,” Ater said, dislocating his thumb. He hissed in pain as he slipped his hand free.

  “Did you just break your own finger?” Titania asked, shocked.

  There was a pop as he slid the finger back into place. “Our hands are broken when we join the assassin core and forced to heal so they can be popped out of place like that,” he explained, slipping his other hand free. “It’s painful but useful.”

  “It’s barbaric,” she retorted.

  He tossed the manacles behind him and began to examine the cell lock. “So how is the cage keeping you powerless? I thought you could bend all of reality around you.”

  “The cell was constructed on a slab of cold iron. The ley lines actively move around it. In here I am powerless.”

  “Handy to know,” he remarked, reaching into his boot.

  “You imagine we will live long enough for that information to be useful?”

  He twisted the lockpick twice, and the locking mechanism clicked open. “All information is useful, Your Majesty.”

  She did not look amused.

  WE LANDED in front of a castle that was made of a pale blue ice, making it look like polished stone. It was a huge place, like if Iceman had been crowned a king and he built his own cozy palace. A mass of people bustled around inside the courtyard. From what I could see as we descended, some kind of market had been set up.

  “What is all that?” I asked Demain as we came in for a landing.

  “It’s a bartering fair, where people can trade goods they have in excess for things they need.”

  “Doesn’t your sister have some form of currency for that?” Hawk asked.

  “We found over the centuries that money just makes people greedy, because they cease to look at what is needed or not and end up believing the monetary cost equals the value, which it rarely does. Trading or bartering for goods actually leads to people getting more of what they truly need than they normally would.”

  Hawk muttered, “It also prevents them from moving out of their economic caste.”

  Demain turned around to look at him as the reindeer jogged to a halt. “Very well, young prince, tell me. How many members of the Dark have accumulated enough money to become actual citizens? Any? Or did they simply use their acquired wealth to lord it over their own kind because the Arcadian system doesn’t allow people to change their status at all?” Hawk said nothing. “Oh please, educate me on how best to rule people, Hawk’keen. I am always willing to learn.”

  Hawk’s thoughts darkened as a pair of blue-skinned men began to remove the harnesses off the reindeer.

  “That’s what I thought,” she said, getting out of the sleigh. “Try to remember that when you criticize, it helps to actually have some experience in it beforehand.”

  “How did you become queen?” I asked her. I saw her pause for half a second. “You were freely elected by an overwhelming majority of people because they loved you and supported your way of governing, right?” She turned to me, and I could see hatred in her eyes. “You in no way simply took over the realm using your incredible magical powers that allowed you to change people after they have been flipped, right? That was what the loaf of bread was crying for—he wanted you to turn him back, and you refused.” I leaned toward her. “Please, educate me, Your Majesty.”

  She began to open her mouth to respond when a woman wearing a gown of woven ice came out of the castle, flanked by two huge guards carved out of ice. “Demain? Is that really you?”

  Her parting glance said this was not over.

  She turned and held her arms out to embrace her sister. “Olim!” she exclaimed. “You look ravishing.”

  The ice queen hugged her back, but the embrace and their expressions looked as insincere as the smiles on the faces of two drag queens who wore the same thing seeing each other for the first time. I shook my wariness off before Hawk and I helped Molly and Caerus lift Ferra out of the sleigh.

  “Milo said you had an injured half-breed?” Olim asked.

  “An ice barbarian from a tribe in Faerth. It looks as if you have a lost tribe somewhere.”

  “I’m not surprised,” she said, walking over to us. “After all, not everyone was ready for the realms to be so far apart. Sometimes I feel we have more talking animals than people.” She looked at Hawk and smiled. “And you must be what all this fuss is about. A pleasure to meet you, Prince Maragold.”

  She didn’t really bow; she more just leaned forward. Hawk did the same, and I got the impression it was the proper gesture between rulers, which meant she was acknowledging his title. That was a good thing. “This is my karus, Kane from—”

  Olim reared back, a look of complete shock on her face as she gaped at me. “In the name of the light.” She made a gesture like an ankh across her chest.

  I felt Hawk’s anger explode as he stepped between us. He was seconds away from summoning Truheart.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, not taking her eyes off me. “You took me by surprise.”

  “You’ve never seen a human before?” I asked, knowing that couldn’t be it.

  “No,” she said, drawing her cloak of ice around her, trying to regain her composure. “You look exactly like your mother.”

  That was when I felt my world fall out beneath me.

  Chapter 11

  “Everyone has a secret self.

  Most refuse to ever look it

  in the face.”

  Veritas Speculum

  YOU HAVE no idea what it’s like to grow up never knowing your mom.

  Well, that’s not true. You might know exactly what that feels like, so if you do, you understand what I’m going through right now. My mom is to me like Santa Claus is to some kids—someone you’re told again and again is real, but the older you get, the more you doubt if that was ever true. There was never a time when I thought my mom was real. No matter how many times my dad told me about her, it just never really stuck with me. No one could have been so beautiful, kind, and loving as this person my dad talked about, so I just assumed he was telling me a nice story to fill the gaping hole in my heart where a mom was supposed to be.

  And now, a million miles from home, her ghost haunts me again.

  “What did you say?” I asked, not quite sure if I had heard her correctly or was dead from a fiery impact because reindeer can’t fly and we crashed a while ago.

  Olim shook her head quickly and whispered, “Say nothing in front of her.”

  I had no idea what she meant until I saw Demain walk up to us. “He looks like who, now?”

  The ice queen’s eyes locked with mine, and I knew she was serious. “She said I look like a bother. I am sorry, Your Highness, but that is rude.”

  I saw the corner of her mouth twitch upward into a smile as she barked at me, “You both look like you’re going to be more trouble than a bother, but I guess there is nothing we can do now.” She looked over to Ferra. “Yes, that is one of mine.”

  Molly looked up at her. “She claims her power comes from Logos.”

  Olim gave her a look. “People can say anything they want. That doesn’
t make it true, my mechanical friend.” She looked over to the animated ice. “Take her to the healing ward and tell them to begin work.”

  The statues both nodded and picked up Ferra like she weighed nothing.

  “Go with her,” Olim said kindly to Molly. “She will need a friendly face when she wakes up.”

  Molly looked back at us, and Hawk nodded to her. “It’s okay. Caerus, can you accompany them?”

  The sapphire bobbed in midair, the Crystal Court version of bowing.

  As they walked away, Olim asked Hawk, “You don’t trust me?”

  “I trust nobody in power,” he replied. He sounded flippant, but both she and I knew he was serious.

  She barked out a laugh. “Spoken like royalty.” Turning toward the castle, she called to us over her shoulder. “I am going inside. You’re welcome to wait out here with the sleigh if you don’t trust that either.”

  I thought to Hawk, Is she on our side or not?

  He shook his head as he thought back, I have no idea.

  We followed them into the castle, my mind completely focused on the thought of my mother.

  ADAMAS SAID nothing after Kor explained why he had been carrying the stone.

  His jaw was still sore, but the pain was fading fast. “So, Your Majesty, I need to get back to Ater as quickly as possible,” he concluded.

  The diamond floated around the bed, the gemling equivalent of pacing, he assumed. “Coober.”

  Kor wondered if the monarch was cursing for a moment.

  Across the room, a perfectly smooth black opal faded into visibility. In a gruff voice, it responded, “Yes, sire.”

  “Trace the passing stone back to the origin of this elf’s trip. Give me a reconnaissance report.”

  “As you wish,” the stone said, bobbing once and taking off out of the room in a blur.

  “He will be walking into a massacre,” Kor warned Adamas.

  “Then it’s good he is well versed in the art of espionage, isn’t it?” Adamas answered. “I assure you, my people have centuries of experience observing humans without being seen. He’s in no danger.”