Knight's End: A Reverse Harem Fantasy (Tangled Crowns Book 3), page 16
The pupils of their eyes were blown out, the iris void of all color. Undead eyes were a black circle floating in whiteness. Their skin was a dusky green white, scarred and whipped by the sandstorms in the desert. Some of them, those who had been undead the longest, were missing skin in places: the edges of their mouth, their eyelids, their fingertips. The places that were used most. The undead army marched, patrolling the beaches of Gitmore, keeping intruders from invading the shore. Their stiff bodies moved north as the waves crashed to shore behind them. Row after row after row, it seemed like all of Gitmore had joined the army of the undead.
Donaloo and Dini both gave a little squeal when they spotted Posey, emerging from underneath the water, walking calmly toward the shore and joining the undead in their march, unaffected by the seaweed that clung to her shoulder and the water that dripped down her soaked clothes.
“She’s made captain!” Dini’s leaves went to her stamens. “Our little girl made captain.”
Donaloo’s voice got husky. “Always bright as the sun, our sweet little shining one.”
Their daughter was taller than most of the other soldiers. As she shook her head to remove some of the seawater, I realized she had petals instead of hair, a collection of wide purple petals that framed the top half of her face as they dried. The back of her head was green as a stem. Instead of fingers on her hands, she seemed to have curling green shoots. Her face was human, and more horrific than most of the other undead soldiers, her lips were half-gone and her teeth were exposed. Her eyes were the same inhuman white and black as all the undead. But she marched proudly at the front of a column. Her back was straight, and she called out an order as her eyes scanned the churning sea for ships. On her chest, pinned to a ragged yellow band embroidered with Gitmore’s griffon, a captain’s star gleamed.
“I’m happy for her. Congratulations to the two of you,” I commended, uncertain what else to say. Dammit all. I needed Connor in situations like this.
I forced my polite court smile to stay in place as Donaloo moved the picture closer to her.
Posey turned to a fellow captain and her skeletal mouth opened. “The sea is awake. We need to let the queen know.”
Dini sighed. “She always was so aware of her surroundings. It really did make her an excellent soldier. Well, now you’ll know her when you see her.”
The image on the scrying stone started to go black but I held up a hand.
My stomach fluttered as I asked, "May I see Avia?" I held my breath, hoping.
Dini and Donaloo both turned their faces toward me.
"I want to know what she looks like now. I don't want to accidentally attack her. When she was here, she always looked human,” I rushed to explain.
The memory we’d seen from the maid who’d be present at Avia’s “birth” had explicitly said that Avia would appear human. If Avia was truly part sprite, she wouldn’t appear fully human. Not if she was anything like Posey. I needed to know what she looked like. All the practical reasons I gave Donaloo were true. But I also just missed her. We’d hardly reconnected when she’d been taken from me. I needed to know she was safe. I wanted to know that Avia was okay. And if I figured out her location and could send some troops to bust her out and save her, all the better.
Dini nodded furiously. "That's a very good idea."
Donaloo chanted and swirled his hand over the scrying stone again; slowly Posey’s image faded. An underwater cave appeared. A shaft of blue sunlight filtered down from an opening in the rock above. And a beautiful, ethereal creature —who looked more like a fairy than anything else—fluttered in the water. She had a human body, but her sides were lined in multicolored fish scales. Her hair was no longer brown but golden. Avia’s smiling brown eyes had turned lavender. And they were sad and mournful as she floated in the water. Her wings stretched behind her; they were translucent with streaks of orange and purple, and they reflected the weak sunlight. They looked almost like beta fish fins as she floated in the sea. Avia wore a short dress that was purple on top and faded to burnt orange. She shuddered as an ashray swam past, its glowing eyes lighting up the cave.
“They’re guarding her with sea ghosts,” Dini clucked her tongue. “Idiots. They need to keep them back or that water will get too cold.”
My eyes glanced up at her flower face, concerned. “What do you mean?”
“Even sprites need warmth.” Her petals drooped. “Maybe they’re keeping her cold to keep her compliant.”
Fury made my insides as hot as a blacksmith’s anvil. I pressed my lips together. I wanted to forget everything else and go yank Avia out of there. “Mayi is her mother! She’s treating her own daughter like a prisoner?”
Donaloo let the scrying stone fade to black as Dini said, “Well, now. Her daughter was raised by strangers. Mayi happens to be in a war against the kingdom that raised her daughter. I can see how she might not know where Avia’s loyalties lie.”
My nostrils flared. “If the bitch had come to me and told me what my mother had done, this war could have been preven—”
“Be careful of could haves, should haves, too. They can wrap you up in wondering, when there are things to do.”
I could have punched Donaloo—that snoutband. My fingers were curling into fists when shouts came in from some of the guards on the parapet behind us. I looked up.
"Messenger on a pegasus, Your Majesty," one called down to me.
I made my way to the drawbridge to greet the messenger. Donaloo and Dini trailed behind. I hoped it wasn't bad news, but my stomach sank when I saw Connor come out onto the drawbridge as well. He’d abandoned his meeting with Fer.
“They spotted one of my fathers through the looking glass,” Connor stated, watching the winged horse gently come to a landing in the field in front of the castle.
My eyes widened when I recognized the man dismounting. "Michael!" I ran forward and embraced one of Connor's fathers. My best friend hugged his father as soon as I let go.
Their hug was long and spoke volumes. Bad things were afoot.
Michael let go first and turned to me. "Your Majesty," he started to bow but I hit him in the shoulder.
"You aren’t allowed to kneel for me."
He smiled, but it was a thin, wan smile. It didn't meet his eyes, which were lined with worry. It was the kind of smile one gave to a dying person, a lie that said everything would be okay, when it most definitely would not.
"What happened?"
"Your Majesty, we are under attack."
I nodded and tried to keep my face neutral. Dammit all! Quinn and Blue hadn’t noted any attacks going on near Connor’s family! I would have yanked them all back to the castle if we’d heard hide or hair of this sort of attack.
I hated that I had to ask, "Which country is attacking you?"
Michael shook his head and ran his hand through his grey hair. "That's the thing. I'm not certain. We're under attack from a rainbow."
Chapter Sixteen
I yelled to Quinn in my head. Tell Ryan there's an attack in Kycee’s province. We’ll need gargoyles. I'm not sure what else.
What kind of attack? Quinn asked me.
Magic.
I turned to look at Donaloo and Dini. "Any ideas what it could be?" I asked the pair.
Dini bobbed her flower head. "Water fairies."
I rubbed my brow. "Has every magical creature in the damned universe suddenly decided to fight us?"
Dini responded, "At least now you know where Isla was. She was probably under the river, meeting with them."
Fury surged in me. Gods, I hoped that Dini was right, and Isla was with them. We needed to take her out.
Declan and Ryan must've been nearby, because they landed on their gargoyle just minutes later. Blue and Quinn said they’d meet us in the air.
We took to the sky together, following Michael. I didn’t even take the time to change out of my ruby red dress. I just shoved my skirts aside as I straddled Pony and took to the sky.
Ryan had a group of soldiers fly with us on gargoyles. My knights wanted me to stay behind with Dini and Donaloo, but I refused.
"I can use my peace magic to stun some soldiers into lethargy. And I need to see if Isla is there." I didn't say it aloud, but I wanted to be the one to end her. It was a selfish desire. A foolish one, probably. But the woman had walked into my castle, intending to betray me. She'd turned some of my own nobles against me. And now she’d attacked Connor’s family. She more than deserved death at my hand.
The cold winter air stung our eyes as we flew quickly to the south. There was a river there and an inlet, that Kycee and her husbands used for trading. I assumed that the water fairies had come from the river. Typically, the tiny fairies completely hid themselves from humans. I was surprised that Isla had gotten them to meet with her. But perhaps having a sea-sprite on her side had swayed them.
When we got close to Connor's childhood home, a manor house that was not far from the harbor, I saw exactly what Michael meant.
A rainbow stretched across the sky. But unlike a natural rainbow, this one wasn’t a thin arch. This rainbow was like a blanket that spread across the sky and hung down over the little port town. From above, I watched as patches of the rainbow suddenly dropped out of view. Entire legions of tiny fairies dove to the earth to attack my people.
One would think that tiny fairies could have no effect. One would be wrong. The fairies didn't even have to touch my soldiers. They simply stopped midair in front of my soldier’s faces. The fairies used the bubble of water that surrounded them to encompass my soldiers’ noses and mouths. The wicked creatures drowned my men where they stood. They drowned my men as sunlight glinted off their water bubbles in a beautiful array of colors.
Death had never been more gorgeous and horrific.
How the sarding hell do you kill a water fairy? I asked Quinn.
His answer made my insides as cold as my surroundings. I don’t know. Fire?
Ryan didn't have the same question I did. Or perhaps he and Declan had already talked about the fairies on the flight over.
“Blue and Declan—watch my back,” he yelled.
Then my giant knight flew in front of us, raised his hands, and sent a blast of yellow power through the sky.
I gasped and choked and clutched onto my gargoyle. The sky was suddenly parched. Air wheezed through my lungs. It was so dry that it felt like the sky was scratching my throat. My eyes squinted against the desiccation. But I didn’t blink. I watched as the rainbow below me rippled and faded, and the water fairies shrieked and dropped from the sky like a swarm of dead insects.
Ryan struggled to restore a bit of water to the sky around us as I glanced around.
“It can’t be that easy, can it?” I wheezed; my throat still dry as a bone.
That’s when the first winged bear barreled into us. It smashed into Declan from the side and he was nearly knocked off his gargoyle. I dove on Pony to rescue him and shove him back upright.
“It was a lure,” Declan coughed when I’d righted him on his mount. “Get out of here.”
But it was too late.
Winged bears surrounded our force and clawed at us from every angle. Above, below, behind. My gargoyles were nearly indestructible. But my soldiers were not. And Isla’s warriors knew just how to attack. Their bears swooped and latched onto my soldiers’ backs, lifting them from their mounts and throwing them aside—their screams were horrid, piercing shrieks as they fell to their deaths.
I blasted peace at the nearest bear and his rider—bloodlust surging through me as I saw the pair drop like stones. I turned to blast another.
Declan’s face screwed up in concentration beside me and I watched one of the bear-riding soldiers deliberately nosedive his bear into the trees below. A sickening thunk made its way back up to our ears moments later.
Ryan blasted the air again, but I think he was disoriented by the two bears swooping with claws aimed for his head. His yellow blast of power soaked us all with water but did little more than make the battle become filled with shivers as we sought to destroy one another.
To my right, I saw a twist of navy smoke appear and Sultan Raj appeared in midair, behind several bears.
Blue saw him too.
Ryan lifted his arms and shot out another jet of yellow light—just as Blue let out a war cry and dove at his father.
His father disappeared in a puff of navy smoke just as double the number of bears and riders appeared.
Sarding wish magic! I thought-yelled.
One of the new bears had a clear shot at Ryan’s side, the spot Blue had abandoned now open.
It swiped at him, raking his side and leg.
My giant cried out in pain.
Terror filled me. I trembled where I sat. The world turned slow as my hand reached out. I blasted everyone and everything around me with peace magic. My arms shredded. Two bears flying at me were slit down the middle, their blood hovered in midair a moment, a sacrifice for my magic, before bear and rider tumbled to the earth below.
Everyone within twenty feet of me appeared dazed. Everyone but Connor, who was used to dealing with emotions that weren’t his own. Used to fighting them off. Connor shook off the lethargy of my power and made his gargoyle dive toward Ryan. He extended his hands and pink healing light erupted from them.
Ryan moaned, “Slower.”
Connor tried, but the bears and Raslen soldiers were shaking off their daze. The rest of our force moved to protect them, and as they did, I saw an odd-looking soldier in the back.
He was a non-descript, bland-faced soldier. I might never have noticed him, except for the fact that the rest of them seemed so practiced. This rider’s bear just moved slightly to the side, in a way that seemed unpracticed and unintentional.
I shot a jet of peace in that direction, and immediately, two soldiers sprang up in front of the bland soldier, blocking my magic.
“It’s Isla!” I cried. “In a disguise spell!”
My eyes flew to Ryan’s but he shouted, “After her!” and waved his arm.
I didn’t second-guess him. I shot forward, urging Pony to bowl over the bears in front of us.
The bland-faced soldier turned his mount and shot off through the sky.
Fighting erupted behind us, but I ignored it. I urged Pony to go faster and faster. We gained slowly on the bear, which had more training. I heard shouts behind me but didn’t turn to see what was happening. Every piece of me was focused on the queen in front of me.
The chase seemed endless. There was no way to trap her in the sky. There were no barriers. No roadblocks.
But I had one thing in my favor that she didn’t. Gargoyles didn’t tire.
Eventually, her bear started to huff. I saw its wings drag as it struggled to stay airborne. Isla kicked at the beast, but there was nothing she could do.
I could taste victory on my tongue. It had a raw, metallic taste, like blood. A harsh smile curved my lips.
I raised my arms, ready to blast Isla and her bear. It wasn’t the death I wanted to give her, but it would have to do.
But then, an entire legion of soldiers on flying bears rose out of the trees.
And I realized we’d flown right to Isla’s castle.
Shite! I screamed in my head, as the bitch turned to smirk at me. She knew I wanted her. My fingers flexed on Pony. I started to shake, not out of fear for my own situation—which was dire—but out of pure fury.
Don’t move, Bloss! Quinn commanded in my thoughts.
I froze.
And then suddenly, the entire line of soldiers dive-bombed at once, suiciding themselves.
Isla’s smiling expression turned to frightened shock.
And a dark piece of my heart lit with black fire. That’s right. You think you know what magic we have. But we have more than you’ll ever know.
Tell Declan excellent work, I thought.
Then Pony and I shot forward toward the bitch queen.
“Bloss, wait!” I heard Connor shout behind me. So, my knights had followed.
But I was too attuned to the hunt, my prey just beyond my jaws, her scared scent in my nostrils.
Isla’s bear dove onto a balcony on the third floor of her palace. She yanked at the doors as I grew close. They were locked.
I chuckled, easing Pony down. I debated whether she deserved to be doused with peace before I shoved her off the balcony or if I wanted Pony to rip her limb from limb the way her bears had tried to kill my Ryan.
I got close enough that I could see the whites of her terrified eyes.
And fate be damned, someone unlocked the door for her just as I swooped down.
“Arrrgh!” I growled in disappointment as Pony and I rose back up in the air, out of the reach of Isla’s bear. It was too exhausted to fly after us, but not too exhausted to swipe at us and defend itself.
I took a moment to evaluate her palace.
The palace was huge. It was three times the size of mine. That wasn't because Rasle was wealthier. The palace was larger because it was necessary, so giants and part-giants could fit. Each stone block that made up the walls was as tall as I was, and probably twice as wide. They were a dull blue grey.
I scanned the palace. There didn't seem to be many sentries about, but perhaps the line of soldiers that Declan had killed were the ones set to guard the palace just then.
As I circled, I felt a change in the air beside me. I looked over to see my knights and several riderless gargoyles.
My eyes flew to Ryan. “Are you alright?”
Ryan gave a stiff nod.
Declan spoke before I could question Ryan any further. He leaned toward my giant. “Remember our practice on stones?”
Ryan nodded and raised his hands. Yellow reduction magic lit the front wall. The blue stones turned a dull green.
