A Faerie's Curse

Chapter 20

Twenty

The open doorway on the other side of the fountain gives us a glimpse into a ballroom filled with masked fae, twirling dancers, magnificent gowns, and floating platters of exotic delicacies. “Good luck, everyone,” Gaius says, his voice as clear in my ear as if he were standing right beside me. “And remember, if anything goes wrong, get out of here. We can reassess on the outside and make another plan, but we’re useless if we all get caught inside the palace.” He and Ana pull their masks down over their faces and disappear into the crowded ballroom. I let go of the illusion disguising them, focusing now on keeping the rest of us invisible.

“We need to head inside,” Lumethon says. “Find that passageway with the unicorn tapestry.” The invisible person in front of me—Elizabeth, I assume, given that I’m holding a gloved hand—veers to the left toward another room leading off this courtyard. It’s open and airy with twisting branch-like banisters on the stairway and scenes of magical creatures carved into the pillars on either side of the room. Looking out to the right, I see lawns and rosebushes, statues and fountains, and the side of the ballroom. No glass covers the tall windows, and sounds of laughter, music and chatter reach our ears. “We should probably head down that passageway first,” Lumethon says. I don’t know where she’s looking, but there’s only one passageway leading off this room, on the far side behind the stairway.

“I agree,” Kobe says. “It’s unlikely the entrance will be upstairs, considering the prison is below us.”

I hang onto Elizabeth’s hand and let her lead me through passages, around corners and across courtyards as I remain focused on the thought of empty space wherever we happen to be walking. When Gaius’s friend was brought to the dungeons here, he was taken through an outside entrance some distance from the actual palace. But when it came time to leave, the guards accompanying him were in a hurry. They brought him out through a door within the palace itself. A door hidden behind a tapestry of a unicorn in a corridor with stars and moons painted onto the walls.

“Any luck yet?” Gaius asks. “My friend said he passed the ballroom on his way out, so I imagine you won’t have to go too far.”

“Nothing yet,” Lumethon tells him. “Everything okay in the ballroom?”

“The Queen isn’t here yet,” Ana tells us, “but I saw Princess Audra just now. She was dancing with someone, and at least six hundred guards were standing on tiptoe, trying to keep her in their sight.”

“Exaggerations,” Gaius mutters.

“Well, this is completely boring. I wish we were also searching for Chase.”

“Everyone has their part to play tonight, Ana,” Lumethon says, “and this is yours. So stop complaining and pay attention to whatever’s happening in the ballroom.”

“Shh, here it is,” Elizabeth says. I look around as we walk out of a small sitting room and into a passageway painted midnight blue and sprinkled with stars and moons. The stars are specks of twinkling yellow light, and the moons glow silvery white, possibly painted with moonlight itself. The passage curves around, keeping us from seeing further than a few paces ahead.

“I’ll go around the corner and look,” Lumethon says. I hear and see nothing, but I assume she’s walking away. A few moments later, she says, “I’m back. I saw the tapestry. A guard is stationed beside it, so we may need an illusion to distract him. Perhaps the fainting one we discussed.”

“Let me try first,” Elizabeth says. “If I can’t persuade him to leave his post, then Calla can project something into his mind.”

“Have you ever been unable to persuade someone?” Darius asks.

“Hmm.” Elizabeth releases my hand. “Chase has been oblivious to my powers for years, but men in general don’t have the mental strength required to resist my persuasion.”

“Brilliant,” Darius mutters. “I’ll try to remember never to piss you off.”

“A wise move,” she whispers, becoming visible as I adjust the picture I’m seeing in my head. She walks around the curve in the wall, swaying her hips and slowly pulling one glove off.

“Don’t hurt him,” Lumethon murmurs as Elizabeth disappears from our sight.

“Just a precaution,” comes her answering whisper. Seconds of silence pass by. Then I hear her sultry voice as if she were right next to me, and a deeper, male voice, further away and hard to make out. She tells him how beautiful the gardens are tonight. She tells him he wants to find the nearest window and stare out of it until the sun rises tomorrow morning. Then she says, “All clear.”

I glance around to make sure we’re still alone before dropping the illusion so we’re all visible once more. “You’ll hide somewhere out here, Calla?” Lumethon says to me.

“Yes.” I don’t want to, of course. I want to go into the dungeons with them. I want desperately to be there for the moment they finally free Chase. But everyone agreed during the planning stages of this mission that I should hide somewhere on my own, keeping my mind clear of distractions and ready to force an illusion onto someone at a second’s notice. “If you need me to imagine something, give me as much detail as possible.” She nods. “And be careful, please. All of you.”

Lumethon, Darius and Kobe hurry around the corner. I follow just far enough to see the tapestry and watch my fellow team members pull it aside and slip through the door behind it.

When the tapestry slides back into place, I lean against the star-studded wall and close my eyes. Exhaustion settles over me. Heavy limbs and sluggish thoughts. It’s terrifying how quickly it’s happening now. With shaking fingers, I reach inside my jacket for the bottle. I take a sip, give myself another minute or two, then push away from the wall. Though it hurts my head to picture it, I conceal myself once again as I head back toward the ballroom, my teammates’ whispered commentary filling my ears.

“Oh, man, the stench is bad.”

“Why aren’t there more guards down here?”

“I don’t think it’s the kind of place you break free from. They probably don’t need many guards.”

“If you do come across a male guard,” Gaius says, “Elizabeth must try to get information about Chase out of him.”

“I know, Gaius. I was there for the planning meeting.”

“Oh, hell, there’s a guy coming toward me with his hand out,” Ana says. “Calla, make him go away!”

“Seriously?” I ask, pausing in the room with the stairway.

“Yes! I can’t—Uh … Hi, hello. No, no thank you. I … I don’t dance.”

Darius’s snort of laughter fills my ears.

“Would you shut up?” Elizabeth whispers fiercely. “Can you see where we are right now? You should not be laughing.”

As I cross the lawn toward the outer wall of the ballroom, Lumethon describes the dungeon in low whispers. Dark, cold and pieced together from uneven stone bricks. Thick metal gates and chains. The air thick with the stink of urine, blood and feces. Some cells are empty, while others contain bloodied, tortured fae, some moaning and crying, others silent and barely breathing. It’s the kind of place I’d expect to find beneath Velazar Prison or perhaps the Unseelie Palace, not here beneath the blossoming flowers, bubbling fountains and merry chatter of the Seelie Court.

“No sign of Chase?” Gaius asks.

“Not yet,” Lumethon says.

“The Queen still isn’t here,” Gaius adds. “Seems strange. Why would she miss her own daughter’s birthday party?”

“You don’t think she’s down here, do you?” Darius says.

“If she likes witnessing torture, she very well might be,” Elizabeth murmurs.

The team falls silent for a while. I seat myself within the shadow of a rosebush beneath one of the ballroom windows. With a sigh of relief, I let go of my invisibility. I wrap my arms around my knees and listen to the music and laughter. As a headache begins to throb near my temples, I consider taking another sip from my bottle. I should probably save it, though. If I’m this weak already, I’m going to need a major boost before we leave—

“Oh no,” Gaius mutters. “Someone just recognized me. An old client of ours. She’s coming this way. Calla, can you—Oh, hello, Madame Marlize.” Gaius laughs nervously. “However did you recognize me beneath this sparkly monstrosity of a mask?” As Gaius pauses for Madame Marlize’s response—which I obviously can’t hear—I stand up and peek over the window ledge into the ballroom. My eyes dart over a waterfall gown, a rainbow floating above someone’s head, a skirt covered entirely in red roses, and dozens of other outfits before I manage to spot Gaius. “Ah, yes, well, I’ve had some dealings with the Seelie Court, believe it or not,” he says to the large woman in the yellow feather adorned dress standing in front of him. “All confidential, of course, but let’s just say I managed to earn myself an invitation with my exceptional services.” He adds in another awkward chuckle, growing quiet as he listens to Madame Marlize, now pointing somewhere behind her. “The princess?” Gaius says. “That’s very kind of you to offer. I actually haven’t been introduced to her yet. I fear I’ve been somewhat … distracted since I arrived here tonight.”

Right. A distraction. That’s what I’m here for. I ignore my pounding head as I concentrate on the feathers hanging from the bottom of Madame Marlize’s dress. I imagine them catching fire, the flames spreading rapidly up the skirt. “Oh, goodness me,” Gaius says, stepping hastily backward. Madame Marlize might be halfway across the noisy ballroom, but I have no trouble hearing her shriek the moment she notices the flames. She grabs a drink from the hand of the nearest guest and throws it at herself. I let go of the flame illusion and instead picture smoke rising from the feathers.

“Excuse me?” Ana says. “What do you mean? Of course I’m on the list. You’re the one who let me in here.”

Oh no. I search the crowd, but I can’t see Ana.

“What’s going on?” Gaius asks, swiveling around.

“Shh,” I say. “Don’t panic. I’ll fix this.”

“Go with you where?” Ana demands, and finally I find her. She’s standing near the back doorway in front of the guard who ushered us through the archway toward the ballroom.

“Don’t panic,” I say again. “I’m thinking, I’m thinking …” And my head is pounding and the only thing my body wants to do is lie down.

Focus! I yell at myself. “Okay, I’ve got it,” I say.

It’s dangerous, terribly dangerous, but I picture Princess Audra herself. She slips into the ballroom through the door behind the guard and grasps Ana’s arm. “There you are!” she says. “I’m so glad you could make it. I feel like it’s been forever since I last saw you.”

The guard immediately straightens, his arms going rigid at his sides. He tilts forward in a quick bow, then says something to the imaginary princess. Something that I, of course, can’t hear.

“She’s quick, that’s how,” Ana says with a laugh, answering whatever question the guard must have directed at Princess Audra.

Another voice sounds in my ear—Lumethon, I think—but I’m too focused to pay attention to it. “I have to be,” my imaginary princess says, “if I hope to greet everyone tonight. And we have so much to catch up on.” She smiles at Ana, then sends a somewhat annoyed look in the guard’s direction. “That will be all, thank you.”

He bows again before marching hurriedly away. Instead of vanishing suddenly into nothing, I imagine the princess slipping back out the door before I let go of the illusion of her.

“That was awesome,” Ana says. “I thought I was going to be whisked into a hidden room and never seen again.”

“You’re welcome,” I mumble as I sink onto my knees in the shadows, my eyes sliding shut.

“Lumethon, is something wrong?” Gaius asks. “You called Calla’s name just now.”

Crap, have I managed to mess up already?

“It’s fine, we made a plan.”

“A guard saw all of us,” Darius says, “but he’s now locked in an intimate embrace with our half-siren accomplice. I think he—Ah, the intimate embrace has come to an end.”

“Shut up,” Kobe growls.

“Do you know what I heard?” Elizabeth purrs, presumably to the guard she just had to make out with. “I heard there was a very special prisoner being kept down here. A prisoner more important to the Queen than any other. Do you know who I’m talking about?” Silence fills my ears as I wait for Elizabeth’s next words. “Yes, that’s exactly who I mean. Would you perhaps consider telling me all about him? I’d love to hear everything you know.”

The silence stretches on after that as we wait for Elizabeth to relay whatever the guard is telling her. I slouch against the wall, listening to the chatter and laughter, the swish of ballgowns, and the joyous lilt of the music. With my eyes closed and the irresistible pull of exhaustion tugging me toward sleep, I’m barely conscious by the time Elizabeth swears loudly in my ear. “Chase isn’t here.”

Her words shock me into sitting up. “What? Where is he?”

“This useless guard doesn’t know. He said no one went near Chase for almost two weeks. Then a few days ago, the Queen … she …” Elizabeth’s voice falters. “They began torturing him.” Nausea overwhelms me. “He was moved either today or yesterday. The guard doesn’t know because yesterday was his day off, and he only began his dungeon rounds this evening.”

I breathe deeply past the nausea. “Do you think … are we too late?”

“He must be here somewhere,” Lumethon says, her voice wobbling just a little bit. “We need to find the torture rooms.

“Keep looking,” Gaius says. “We’ve still got time. This party will go on all night.”

“I’m coming to help,” I say, cloaking myself with another illusion before standing. “I can’t—”

“No, Calla, we need you focused,” Gaius says.

“I’m focused on rescuing Chase! We should all be underground looking for him. Why do we need you guys in the ballroom anyway? You’re just—”

“Something’s happening,” Ana says, speaking just as the music changes. “I think the Queen’s here.”

I look back through the window. Sure enough, everyone stops dancing and turns to face the dais. It’s a wide platform with several thrones upon it. The center throne is, of course, the largest, and it’s this throne that the woman sweeping out of a side door heads toward. She stops in front of it and remains standing, looking around at the various royals who walk out of the crowd and seat themselves upon the smaller thrones. Then she faces the rest of the ballroom. A serene smile settles upon her face. Her dress—black lace over bottle green fabric—is exquisite, and her hair is twisted into an elegant knot. Her personal guard—men and women dressed in a dark plum-colored version of the Seelie guard uniform—line up in an arc behind her throne.

The Queen spreads her arms out toward her guests and speaks. “Welcome. It’s an honor to have you gathered here tonight to celebrate my daughter’s birthday.” She looks to her right where Princess Audra sits upon one of the smaller thrones. “I have a gift for you, my darling daughter.” Turning again to her guests, she continues. “There have been rumors in recent years, whispers of enchanted storms and a power that should have ended a decade ago. Tonight, I shall lay the rumors to rest.” She pauses before delivering her final shocking statement. “Lord Draven did not die ten years ago.” Gasps and whispers ripple across the gathering like waves. “But,” the Queen adds, her voice ringing out above the murmurs, “I have him in my clutches, and my gift to you, dear daughter—” she holds her hand out toward the door she entered through “—is his head on a platter.”

The world tilts. My legs weaken. I blink and grasp the window ledge to keep from falling. My team members’ voices clash against my ears, but my brain makes no sense of their words as I struggle to figure out what this means. She didn’t … she wouldn’t … but we’ve heard nothing from him in days, so …

“Here, for all to see,” the Queen shouts, “is the once-powerful Lord Draven.”

I see him then, finally, not a head on a platter, but a whole person. Dirty, bloody and bound in chains, but alive nonetheless. My utter, all-consuming relief clashes with the horror of the state he’s in, sending my head spinning once again. Guards drag him into the ballroom and dump him on the dais. Every royal except the Queen and Princess Audra bolts from the platform.

“Calla! CALLA! Can you hear me?” I finally become aware of Gaius’s fierce whisper in my ear. “You have to do something. I don’t know what, just something. Distract the Queen while we try to reach Chase. Bring a dragon flying through here if you have to, but—”

“You can see Chase?” Elizabeth asks.

“Calla!” Gaius repeats. “Can you—”

“I—I’m here,” I whisper. “I’m thinking. I’m …”

“He will no longer threaten our rule,” the Queen says. “He will be gone for good, and one day when the time comes, you, my daughter, will safely ascend the throne.”

Think, I tell myself. THINK! But I’m so tired and shocked and—

“Not so fast, mother dear.” I assume at first that it’s Princess Audra’s voice ringing out, but she’s looking confused—looking up—and the guards are shouting—and a flash of silver is falling from the domed ceiling—dropping from a rope—landing on the throne—shrieking and swinging back a mighty sword and—

—a spray of blood—

—a scream of horror—

A moment of absolute silence.

The Seelie Queen’s head strikes the marble floor. Her body crumples beside it. Her emerald-studded crown rolls off her head, comes to rest, and shrinks to the size of a bangle.

“Holy crap, Calla,” Ana whispers. “That was some illusion.”

“I—I—” I’m so horrified I can barely speak. “I—That wasn’t me.”

“What’s happening?” Elizabeth demands.

A piercing scream issues from Princess Audra’s mouth. The plum-clad guards, however, are frozen as still as statues. Princess Angelica leaps off the throne and spins around, her sword slicing cleanly through the air and then through her sister’s neck, cutting off that chilling scream in an instant. A woman stalks up the right side of the dais, and another on the left. They seem almost to glide in their dresses that billow and curl about them like smoke. Even without being close enough to see their depthless black eyes, I know exactly who they are. As every remaining guard in the ballroom rushes toward the dais, the witches throw their hands out. Brilliant, blinding light fills the ballroom for a moment. When it subsides, a translucent layer, glowing faintly silver, surrounds the dais and those upon it.

Angelica bends and picks up the crown. At her touch, it expands to its original size. With magical strength, she stabs her sword into the platform and leaves it standing there. She raises the crown with both hands and places it on her head. “Behold,” she shouts, “your new Queen.”

The madness that follows is almost comical. The screams, the running, Gaius and just about every other member of my team shouting at me to project something! Save Chase!

But the fatigue is finally too much to bear. Perhaps that last illusion pushed me over the edge, or perhaps it’s my close proximity to the witches, but it’s all I can do to remain conscious. As my legs give in and I drop onto my side behind the rosebush, I fumble with the zip of my jacket. My shaking fingers find the bottle of Elizabeth’s tonic. I screw the lid off as the world around me begins to blur and Angelica’s wicked screech of a laugh echoes in my ears. I raise the bottle to my mouth, and I think I’m drinking the contents, but I can’t quite tell because I’m falling, falling, falling into darkness …