The Unseen Tempest (Lords of Arcadia) (27 page)

“Thank you, Milo. Try to keep her busy. I’ll be along.”

The rabbit nodded and backed out of the room.

“Wait, is he your rabbit?” I asked her.

She gave me a Mona Lisa smile. “Milo is a very well-placed operative. I know both my sisters well. Neither one of them has had an original thought in centuries.” She got up. “Obviously she has to believe I am on her side, so I must return to her before she starts looking for me. Everything I have told you, Kane, is true. You are going to have to make that choice sooner or later.”

I didn’t look at Hawk, and I knew he wasn’t looking at me either.

She walked over to the door, paused, and looked back at us. “I’ll have someone come for you later.” She left, closing the door quietly behind her.

The door hadn’t even clicked shut before I turned to Hawk. “What was that supposed to mean?”

His thoughts were dark, but I could feel his anger and frustration nonetheless. “Did I misspeak? Tell a falsehood? Is there any doubt what world you would pick?”

“Why would I pick another one? She just got done telling me the realms are dying because the tree is in the wrong place. Am I supposed to decide to plant another one in your world just because you want it that way?”

“What about my people?” he demanded.

“What about mine?” I shot back. “I know you have a low opinion of humans, but I happen to care a lot about them.”

He recoiled as if I had slapped him.

“I do not have a low opinion of any human,” he said quietly. “While you think my people are shallow and cruel, so of course you’d punish them for that.”

I opened my mouth to continue the argument, but Ruber stopped me.

“Both of you shut up.”

Hawk and I looked up at him in complete and utter shock.

“Kane, Hawk is simply saying what anyone would think if presented with the news Olim just gave us. My first thoughts were of my realm and people. If I didn’t know you, I would have supported my father if he had chosen to take the world tree to Djupur Byrjun for safekeeping. Most flesh-based beings I have met are fiercely aggressive. Before meeting you, I wouldn’t have trusted them to make the right choice.”

“And now?” I asked, realizing that Ruber spent an awful lot of time not sharing his thoughts, which made this moment kind of special.

“Now? Now I know you personally, and I can’t think of anyone else I would trust to make a choice like that.”

I felt humbled by his words.

“As for you, Hawk, you know as well as I do your people are preoccupied with their own self-interests. Do I need to remind you that you gave me to Kane like a possession even though you knew I was sentient?” I could feel the shame in Hawk’s thoughts. “So both of you get past this already! We need to make a plan.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, feeling like an ass. I reached out to Hawk’s mind at the same time I spoke.

“Not as much as I am,” Hawk answered, giving me a small smile. His relief that the quarrel was over was almost as deep as mine.

“I won’t just let your people die,” I said, hugging him. “I promise.”

He hugged me back, and I could feel our selves squeeze even tighter. “I trust you.”

It was a pretty sappy moment, but I liked it.

Which was when the door burst open and Ferra, Molly, and Caerus rushed into the room. “There you are,” Ferra said, concerned. “Come quickly. Something is happening outside.”

Chapter 13

“Nothing in the realms happens

by chance. The worlds are just

gears in a machine of the gods.”

Kadara

A
TER
AND
Titania got to one of the guests rooms before the guards caught up with them.

Pushing the queen into the room, the dark elf stood in the doorway and barred their entrance. “Open the passage. I’ll hold them off,” he called out to her.

“What passage?” she asked as the first guards got to him.

He didn’t bother to answer as he parried the first sword thrust. Normally such a small space would put his fighting style at a disadvantage, but with his leg hurt, this was the best of a bad situation. No more than two foes could attack him at a time, which made their superior numbers useless. Grabbing a handful of oeil powder, he threw the pollen into the other guard’s eyes.

Instantly, the man dropped his weapon and clawed at his face as the pain began to throw him into shock. The other guards tried to pull him out of the way, but he was thrashing around too violently for them to move him. “The tapestry,” Ater screamed. “Pull it off the wall.”

Titania yanked down the embroidered rendition of the castle, revealing a small panel built into the wall.

“How did you know this was here?” she asked, pushing the panel in, revealing a small passageway that led downward.

That was when Ater knew his doubts hadn’t been simple paranoia.

He took his dagger and plunged it into the remaining guard’s thigh and spun him around toward his allies. Pushing him into the crowd, he tried to close the door.

Oberon’s voice echoed from down the hall. “Put down your arms.”

Ater ignored the command as he tried to push the guards out of the way so he could close and lock the door.

“Guards, put down your arms and step away from the prisoners.”

Ater paused as the guards looked to their leader and back to the dark elf in confusion. One by one they sheathed their swords and stepped back from the door, allowing Oberon to pass. “There is nowhere to run, assassin. You have to know that.”

“Get down the tunnel,” Ater called out to Titania, who was staring at him, frozen.

“B-but, where does it lead?” she asked hesitantly.

Oberon was seconds away from the door.

Ater slammed the door shut and hobbled across the room to her as fast as he could. The door splintered as the king kicked it open. Ater moved past Titania for a moment, as if to examine the passage. Once behind her, he slapped her sword down and put his to her neck. Looking Oberon directly in the eyes, the assassin said, “One more step, and I slit her throat.”

Oberon paused, holding his hands out to halt him. “No,” he cried out. “Do not harm her.”

That was when he realized he had been right.

His hand began to move, pressing the knife into her flesh as he cut, when a piercing whine filled the room, followed by a burst of light.

Kor and the gems appeared in the middle of the room.

Though the elf seemed winded, the diamond was not. “Guards, shield us.”

The ambers put a field between the door and them.

“Ater, are you okay?” the gemling asked.

“What are you doing here?” the assassin asked Kor, confused as he had ever been.

Kor gave him a small smile. “We weren’t done talking.”

Oberon interrupted them. “I don’t care how many people you bring, there is no escaping the castle alive.”

Kor looked over at the fairy king. “Don’t bet on that.” And he pulled his bow back. “Where to?” he asked Ater.

“We need to get to the boys, but before you cast it—” he started to say when Adamas spoke up.

“Ruber is with them. Save your strength, elf. I can get us there.”

The dark elf pushed Titania away and called out, “Wait, don’t take—”

And they dropped through the ground and out of the realm.

F
ERRA
AND
Molly were following Caerus as she tracked her brother’s location.

Most of the inhabitants of the castle seemed to be intelligent animals who didn’t question where the strange trio was headed. They had just reached the fifth floor of the castle when people began to panic on the floors beneath them, and several folk sped past them, spreading the fear. Guards made out of living ice began to assemble downstairs. From what the women could make out, something had just appeared unexpectedly in front of the castle.

“That cannot be good,” Ferra said as another squad of ice men passed them.

Caerus seemed lost in thought. “He can’t be here,” she said to herself, turning back toward the stairs and hovering in place for five seconds before catching up with Ferra and Molly, just as they opened the door of the boys’ room.

Ferra burst through the door and saw Kane and Hawk sitting on a bed with Ruber hovering above them. “There you are! Come quickly. Something is happening outside!”

Both boys got to their feet as one. “What now?” Hawk asked, grabbing his pack.

Molly began to explain as they made their way out; the gemlings stayed back to talk.

“Father is here?” Caerus asked Ruber.

“I sense him too,” the ruby admitted as they made their way down the stairs. “He never leaves the court.”

Pushing past the assembled troops, they were able to see two human figures on the hill outside the castle, with a squad of floating gems around them.

“That’s my mother!” Hawk cried out in excitement. “And Ater! He rescued her!”

The prince got two steps out of the castle when Ater plunged his sword into the queen’s gut, its point bursting out her back as it passed completely through her.

There was no sound save the twin roars, Hawk’s and Kane’s, one signaling a battle cry seeking revenge on his mother’s murderer and the other echoing it. Hawk pulled his sword and attacked.

I
KNEW
something was wrong the moment the door opened.

Maybe it was the look on Ferra’s face or the way Molly hovered just outside the door, like she was ready to run at a moment’s notice. I can’t tell you what it was, but I felt my stomach lurch when they told us something was going on outside.

He followed them, of course, because saying “Guys, I have a bad feeling about this. How about we just sit here and wait for the moment to pass?” wasn’t part of his script.

Scores of ice warriors were lining up in groups seven wide by seven deep in the courtyard, and I wondered exactly how large Olim’s army was. We pushed our way through them until both Hawk and I could see Ater standing on the low rise with Hawk’s mom in front of him and another guy on his left. I had to assume that the giant diamond floating on Ater’s right was Adamas. Ruber had once told me his father never left his realm, but the amber guards flanking him told me things had changed.

The instant Hawk saw his mother, there was an explosion of light and joy in his mind, and I felt myself choke up from the emotional echo I could feel through him. He wasn’t the prince of Arcadia, heir to the throne, or any of that; he was a child who wanted very badly for his mother to tell him everything was going to be all right.

I knew just how he felt.

Hawk took a step toward them, and again I felt that same dread in my heart. I wanted to grab his arm and tell him to stop, but there was no reason to, other than my own paranoia. Maybe I was just going crazy? So many things had happened in such a short time, was it just possible I assumed the worst no matter what? I mean, his mom was here. That was a good thing, right?

Which was when Ater ran his sword through Titania.

It sounds stupid, but if that sword had hit me, it might have hurt less. Not only was I shocked, but I felt Hawk’s heart breaking as he watched his mother’s body fall to the ground like a sack of flour. There was no sound, nothing save the pounding of Hawk’s and my hearts. I don’t know how long we stood there, watching our life burn away in front of us, but it felt like forever.

We both screamed in thunderous rage as we swore vengeance.

I could hear him say a spell to lighten himself as he summoned Truheart and leapt at Ater with intent to kill. The person standing next to Ater saw Hawk coming and brought his bow up to aim at him. The guy yelled something that sounded like “pressure” and a magical arrow hit Hawk square in the chest.

“
No
!” I screamed. The power in me lashed out wildly as Hawk went flying back behind me toward the castle. I reached out with my mind and grabbed Robin Hood and the earth beneath him. The ground formed into a fist and encircled him instantly. I could feel him squirm as if the hand was my own, and I squeezed tightly.

He let out a piercing scream as bones began to break. I didn’t care.

Ater’s hand moved, and something hit me between the eyes. My concentration shattered as I went stumbling backward. There were screams all around me, but I didn’t care anymore. Too much had happened too fast, and I was done with everything. I could sense the dark elf moving toward me, and I realized I could sense reality around me. It was like there was this field around everything, and I could just see it move without my eyes. I’m pretty sure the entire universe was made up of this energy, and it simply molded into different things we called real.

If I hadn’t been berserk, I would have guessed this was a lot like using the Force.

I looked up and locked eyes with Ater. I could see he was afraid. I smiled at him because he should be. I grabbed a handful of the reality around me and threw it at him. As it left me, it began to solidify and change. By the time it hit him, it had turned into the one thing that would hurt him the most.