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  And thus the general became an emissary.

  His new position was satisfactory until the orders came in from the ruling family. He was expected to train the population to serve their new lords, unquestioningly and at all costs. Though resentful of being given orders, the governor moved the people into slave camps and broke their wills one by one. During this time, he became aware of a way to become true royalty. He did his job perfectly and beat the people into submission, so much so that he gained the king’s trust.

  After a truly devastating rule, the governor was called to sit on the king’s council and provide wise advice for the next war’s campaigns. When he arrived in Arcadia, he was not the angry little man, not the soldier who took orders, not the general who gave them. He was not the governor who ruled in the place of a proper king. Now he was council to the king. A proper gentleman walked through the gates.

  There he met Titania, and devised the plan that would make him king.

  I WOKE with a gasp, not sure of anything except that what I had seen was true.

  “It’s okay,” Hawk said next to me, his words coming vocally and through his thoughts. “I’m here.”

  The memory was slipping away.

  “I saw your dad,” I said quickly, trying to grasp what I could. “I mean Oberon. He was….” What the hell was he?

  Hawk looked at me expectantly, and I did the only thing I could think of.

  I threw my memories at him.

  He blanched as he received a lot more than the dream, but I could feel his mind brace itself as it struggled to grasp what I was trying to show him. I saw the dream through his eyes and remembered it all over again. The images were vague, and it looked like the background changed a lot, but there was no doubt that Oberon was the man in the story.

  “How?” Hawk asked, unsure of anything at the moment.

  “I don’t know,” I said quickly. “Why are the three sisters in fairy tales back home? Why is there a play about your mom and dad? Why do Ferra’s people seem to be waiting for Jesus Christ to come save them when they have no idea who he is? I think this is it.”

  He looked at me completely confused.

  “They dreamed it!” I said, excited. “It’s the tenth realm, the realm that is everywhere. We may be separated by whole realities, but we can see them in dreams, and we may not remember the specifics of them, but what if we remember enough to spark a story? A story of events that happened but were never seen?”

  “Which is why all your stories are wrong,” he said, understanding my point. “Your people have seen parts of it, but not the whole tale.” He began to pace back and forth. “I never knew anything about this. Go back to sleep; see what else you can see.”

  That made me chuckle. “I don’t think it works like that; you don’t get to choose what you dream.”

  He opened his mouth and then closed it instantly. His mind shut down but not before I got a flash of what he had thought.

  You could use your power to make it happen.

  “I didn’t mean that,” he said quickly.

  “You did, but it’s okay. I’m not going to turn on the power unless we need to.”

  He let out a sigh physically and mentally that assured me I had made the right choice.

  We embraced, and I felt our souls begin to mend as we basked in each other’s love.

  After a few seconds he said, “You do know you’re going to have to use it to get us back, right?”

  I nodded but kept hugging him.

  He hugged me back.

  “WHAT DID she do?” Ferra asked as they backtracked to the fabrication floor.

  “It’s a very old story and not a very nice one. Suffice to say she is a bad person and deserves to be locked up.”

  “So how do you know her?”

  Molly said nothing.

  “Molly, how do you know—?”

  And there came the yellow lenses.

  This time Ferra was prepared and quickly grasped Molly’s arms and froze them to her core. Within seconds the clockwork girl’s torso was covered in ice, pinning her arms to her sides. The barbarian gave the voice no time to threaten.

  “Listen to me. I don’t know who you are, and I don’t care, but you are in someone I care deeply about. I will do anything to protect her. Either you vacate her body or suffer the consequences.”

  The male voice was more subdued this time, thoughtful even. “You care for this unit; you will not cause her harm.”

  Ferra locked eyes with the yellow lenses and said, “I will destroy her body to save her soul.”

  Neither of them said anything for several seconds. The two entities seemed to be sizing each other up, testing each other’s resolve. Finally the male voice said through Molly’s mouth, “If you continue to pry into workshop business, you will be designated a hostile unit. She will kill you.”

  Ferra gave him a wolfish smile. “If you could do that you would have already done it. I think you can’t. I think you can’t make her do anything she doesn’t want to. I think all you can do is threaten me, no more.”

  “You will be dealt with.”

  “Not by you.”

  After a few seconds, the lenses rolled back up, and Molly returned. She looked down and saw the ice covering her. “Ferra, what is going on?”

  “Molly, we need to talk.”

  “We can talk without me being iced up.”

  Ferra paused. “I’m not so sure of that.”

  ATER LEANED over the table, looking over the sketch of the castle grounds he had drawn.

  “It can’t be this easy,” he said more to himself than to Kor, who was sitting looking out a window.

  The other elf said nothing.

  “Oberon has something ready, don’t you think?”

  Kor didn’t look back; he just shrugged.

  “If we judge this wrong, we could die. Surely that means something to you.”

  Kor finally looked over and gave Ater a withering stare. “I am dead in every way that counts. Death holds no fear over me.”

  “Oh for the love of…,” Ater growled, slapping the drafting pencil down. “You have to get over this.”

  “Get over this?” Kor said, his voice rising for the first time since they had returned. “Get over this? This is my immortal soul. This is being forced to wander an endless night with no hope of seeing dawn. This is—”

  “My life,” Ater said. “This has been my life since the day I left, and the only person who made it bearable was killed in front of me. I asked you to kill me, begged you to, but no, you refused. At first I thought you were mad, but I realize now you were right. I can’t die yet, not while the true murderer of Pullus is out there. So you can sit there and wallow in your own pity, but I am going to take my pain and fury and deliver it personally to Oberon.”

  Kor stared at Ater as if he were speaking another language.

  “You cannot tell me you don’t want revenge. You cannot sit there and say you are ready to die knowing your brother’s killer is out there.”

  “I do,” Kor said slowly.

  “So then live for that right now. Live to make sure that bastard pays.”

  “And then what? What happens after that?”

  Ater gave him a steely look. “Then you find someone who murdered someone else’s brother and you kill him so no one else has to suffer like this.”

  Kor nodded slowly. “I can see the appeal in that.”

  “Good,” Ater said, going back to the drafting table. “Then tell me, if you were a maniacal fairy king, where would you set a trap?”

  WE APPEARED in the throne room in a flash of light.

  No, my powers didn’t need to make the light, but popular fiction has taught me that appearing out of nowhere should be accompanied by a huge flash of light, so sue me.

  Adamas floated there talking to the witch twins, who glanced over at me with a worried look as they had every other time they looked at me since I gained the World Seed. Demain had given up all hope she could claim the seed
as her own and save her realm. She understood now the only way her people survived meant putting the tree back where it belonged.

  That didn’t make her like me any more than before.

  “My troops are ready,” Adamas announced the second we became solid. “When do we attack?”

  “Where’s Ruber?” I asked, looking around the room.

  “Young man, I am the king of the Crystal Court. My son is not. Those troops are mine to command. I ask again, when do we leave?”

  I felt Hawk shake his head at me mentally, warning me not to take the bait.

  “Soon. Ater is drawing up the plans now.”

  “The sooner the better,” the diamond said, floating away.

  “I thought they judged time differently,” I thought at Hawk. “What’s up his ass?”

  “Nothing good,” Hawk replied. “Can you contact Ruber?”

  “Not without turning on my power again.”

  His thoughts darkened instantly. “Forget it, Ruber will have to catch up if he can.”

  “You do know I am not going to just leave Ruber, right? He is my friend, and if—”

  “He is our friend and I agree, but we can’t be split in focus right now. We need to retake the capitol, and then we can handle whatever nonsense Adamas is dealing with.”

  If I hadn’t just heard him say that, I wouldn’t have believed him, but he thought it at me, so it was impossible for him to lie. He really did think of Ruber as a friend. He really had every intention of finding him when this was done.

  It was just so un-Hawk-like that I kissed him on the cheek.

  He touched lightly where my lips had been. “What was that for?”

  “You,” I said, sending him waves of love that seemed to be bursting out of my chest.

  He was about to respond when Demain called over to us. “We’re not interrupting you, are we?”

  I lessened the enchantment on the seed for a moment. It glowed under my shirt, and I saw her instantly regret her remark.

  “Demain, your mouth is about to write a check your ass can’t cash,” I warned, taking a few steps toward her. “One more snide remark and you and I will have more than words. Do you understand?” She nodded. “I said, do you understand?”

  “Yes,” she said, barely above a whisper.

  I let the seed fade back into invisibility and turned back to Hawk, who was gaping at me, shocked. He thought at me. “You don’t have your powers; you can’t threaten her like that.”

  I gave him a smile. “She doesn’t know that.”

  “You are insane.”

  Before I could answer, Ater and Kor walked in.

  “We have it, we’re ready,” Ater said.

  And so time for loving was over.

  We had to go to war again.

  “In war, there is nothing worse than the

  anticipation of battle. On the field you can

  only die once. In your mind you die a dozen times

  only to be reborn again in doubt.”

  Queen Mus

  Royal Majesty of the Murinae Empire

  Chapter Four

  “I SAID what?” Molly said, shocked.

  “I’m telling you, you are possessed by an evil spirit.”

  Molly’s attention focused on Ferra. “That is clearly impossible as I do not possess a soul. But you are saying I have been speaking in another voice?”

  “No soul?” Ferra asked. “Why do you think you are lacking a soul?”

  “Look at me, I’m not real. I am a construct made by machines to serve man and nothing more. To have a soul you must be born and living and—”

  Ferra leaned in and kissed her.

  Molly froze since it was the first time the barbarian had initiated physical intimacy between them. Her eyes fluttered as the passion of the kiss overcame her. It took her a few seconds to realize Ferra had stopped and was looking at her.

  “A soul is not something that is unique to flesh and blood. A soul is the kindness and love a person feels toward others. It is the ability to laugh and feel the joy life can bring. Souls are possessed by all who can put the needs of others before themselves and can feel the pain others suffer through. Of all the people I have met, Molly, trust me, you have a soul.”

  The clockwork girl was silent for several seconds while she absorbed the words.

  “One, thank you for that. I believe that is the kindest thing anyone has ever said about me. Two, it doesn’t change the fact that I do not believe I am possessed. And three, there is no point sitting here debating it. The answers we seek are in the command pod.”

  The ice began to crack and Molly freed her arms.

  “How?” Ferra asked, clearly startled.

  “I have heating elements in my palms,” she said, holding up her hands. Two circles in her palms glowed bright orange. Molly flexed her index fingers until Ferra heard a soft click. Within a few seconds, the circles faded to the bright brass that made up Molly’s body. “They were designed for massages, but they work equally well at freeing me from ice.”

  “You could have broken free at any time?” Ferra asked as Molly shook the last of the ice off her.

  “Yes.”

  “Then why didn’t you?”

  Molly looked at her and smiled. “You felt it necessary to keep me motionless, so the least I could do was hear your reasoning.” She looked around and started down one of the halls. “This way.”

  Ferra shook her head and mumbled, “No soul? Ha!”

  THE FIRST wave of gemlings teleported into the middle of the courtyard, ready for a fight.

  Nine of them, ambers all, were in a diamond formation, all flanking the spellcasting amethyst in the center. Nothing moved. Still, the gems readied themselves for an attack.

  “Clear?” an amber asked.

  “There is something here,” the amethyst declared, reaching out with her magic.

  Which was when they were attacked.

  Accompanied by bloodcurdling howls, the beasts plummeted from the sky. The ambers reacted instantly, speeding to intercept their attackers even as the purple gem raised protective wards around them. Whatever the attackers were, they moved fast and attacked with savage claws and teeth.

  Which were absolutely useless against the gems.

  “Orders?” the senior amber asked the spellcaster.

  “Wait” was all she said. In the blink of a facet in the sun, she began to glow from within.

  “Away!” she called out and a wave of force radiated from her in all directions. The attackers were blown back and came rolling to a stop on the courtyard bricks. Before they could even stir, she followed her first command with an equally forceful “Caged.”

  Electric-blue energy formed around them, locked them into place, and didn’t give way, no matter what the beasts did, effectively neutralizing them.

  “What are they?” one of the ambers asked.

  “Useless,” the amethyst replied shortly. She sent out a signal, and another portal opened, allowing Adamas and the rest of the forces through.

  Kane was the first to speak.

  “Are those winged monkeys?”

  Hawk looked at the creatures in the cages. “They have wings.”

  “This is our sister’s doing,” Demain said, walking over to the cages. “These beasts serve her.”

  “Glinda is here?” Kane asked with more than a little fear in his voice.

  “That’s not her name!” Olim snapped, sounding just as irritated as her sister was.

  “These aren’t troops,” Demain informed the others after looking at the monkeys in their electric cages. “She wouldn’t leave these behind to fight.”

  “Then what is their purpose?” Adamas demanded.

  “A distraction at best,” Olim replied. Even while speaking, she had been studying the entire area. “Why is there no one here?”

  “Perhaps they have fled before a superior force,” Adamas proclaimed.

  Hawk gave him a sidelong glance. “Hardly. Oberon has his own w
ay of dealing with an assault. If there were troops here, they would have attacked.”

  “Or they are waiting for us in the castle,” Ater suggested.

  “Then the plan stands,” Adamas informed everyone. “We will attack the castle. Get to your tunnels.”

  “This is a little too quiet,” Kane whispered to Hawk.

  Hawk just nodded, alert to any change. He plainly didn’t like what he was seeing.

  “Shall we go?” Ater asked the pair.

  “We play this through to the end,” Hawk said stonily; only Kane knew Hawk’s words were directed at Oberon, wherever he was. “Very well, Adamas, make your assault. We will meet you within.”

  “You heard him,” Adamas called out. “Make a door.”

  As the ambers attacked the front doors with their power beams, Ater, Kane, and Hawk made their way toward the secret entrance to the castle.

  “Sloppy strategy. If your father is in there, that is,” Ater said once they were underway toward Titania’s secret tunnel. “Giving up the courtyard provides us a staging area. He wouldn’t do that.”

  “No,” Hawk said angrily, “he wouldn’t.”

  “So, then, he isn’t in there?” Kane asked hopefully.

  “Let’s hope he is,” Ater answered.

  “What? Why? Aren’t we trying to avoid a fight?”

  “Because if he isn’t there, we have no way of finding my mother,” Hawk said, sounding as though he was ready to scream in frustration.

  Kane said nothing after that.

  JEEZ, YOU try not to read your boyfriend’s mind and end up stepping in a big pile of drama.

  I ignored the fact that my powers would have made everything simpler and focused on keeping up with Ater and Hawk as they tore through the wilderness like they had been born there. This is why I didn’t camp. Or hike. Or generally go outside, to be honest. I hate the outdoors. The ground is uneven and damp, I am pretty sure tree roots get their jollies tripping innocent pedestrians, and every bug within a five-mile radius wants to fly into my mouth like we were dating.