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37 THARAN

Tharan kneeled before a small statue of Illya in his study, Trinity let her be alright. Let her be safe. Tears welled behind his eyes. He should have protected her. Should have known they would come for her. His heart ached, and rage boiled in his veins. Whoever took her would pay dearly.

His ears perked and he cracked an eye.

“Do you have news, Hopper?”

Hopper’s mouth flattened into a straight line.

“Yes,” he sighed. “Caiden has not returned to the Woodlands.”

Tharan got to his feet, wiping any dirt from his pants.

“I was really hoping it wouldn’t come to this.”

“As was I.”

“Call the others in. Let’s make a plan.” He took a drag off his cigarette.

Hopper nodded and turned to leave.

“Oh, and Hopper?”

“Yes?”

“Fetch a scholar who is familiar with the Court of Screams.”

Hopper bowed and excused himself.

Tharan flicked the butt of his cigarette out the window into the last remnants of snow before taking a seat at his desk.

Amolie and Roderick entered, holding three mugs of spiced cider.

“Thought you could use this,” Amolie said, setting the copper mug down on Tharan’s desk. The aroma of apples and cinnamon filled the room.

Tharan smelled the intoxicated elixir before taking a sip. The taste of brandy danced on his tongue. “Just what I needed.”

He went to speak but Hopper entered with a scholar from the Ruskan Library and Sumac in tow.

Tharan stood, and the scholar bowed. “King Tharan, how may I be of service.” The sylph man with dark hair and skin wore rounded spectacles and a brown robe with twenty bars on the hood—a sign he’d been studying for two hundred years.

“Thank you for coming, Grand Master…”

“Marcus, your grace. Grand Master Marcus, but just Marcus is fine.” He clutched a tome in his hand.

“Very well, Marcus. I’m assuming my associate, Hopper, told you why we’ve invited you here?”

“He has, your grace. If I may…” He motioned to Tharan’s desk and Tharan nodded for him to proceed. The tiny man laid the large, leather-bound book on the desk and cracked it open.

The smell of old parchment and dust tickled Tharan’s nose and he sneezed.

“Excuse me, your Highness, this book is very old.”

Tharan took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his nose.

The scholar continued.

“The Court of Screams is a court in name only. No one has entered from a Wild or Council Court since before the Sylph and Elven War and maybe even before that.”

Tharan rubbed his jaw nervously.

“So, are they sylph? Elf? Something else?” Hopper asked.

Marcus sighed.

“They used to be sylphs. What they are now, I cannot say. They turned away from the Trinity a long time ago. They worship a god called Algea. In the old world before the Trinity, she was the goddess of pain and suffering. The Court of Screams takes that seriously, believing pain and suffering brings you closer to Algea.”

“I’m surprised the Trinity let them live,” Roderick chimed in.

“The Trinity did their best. A deal could have been struck. They could have strayed from the path of righteousness. We will never know.”

Tharan’s stomach hardened. Of course, the Trinity would hide their most valuable possession among the wildest of the courts.

“Hmmm…” Tharan said, his mouth twisted into a straight line.

“Yes, my King?” Marcus asked.

“It’s nothing. How would one go about getting into the Court of Screams? Is there a leader of sorts?”

Marcus’s brows knitted.

“My King, why would you want to go there? Only death could await you there. They are hostile to outsiders.”

Because the love of my life is there, and I will set the entire court ablaze in order to get her back.

“It’s a hypothetical.”

“Ah yes, in that case… Anyone can enter the Court of Screams. Whether you get out is another thing entirely.” He ran a nubbed finger over the page. “It says here the last person to make it out did say they had a king. But that was over five hundred years ago.”

Tharan took a breath.

“Alright. Anything else we should know? What is the terrain?”

“It looks heavily wooded with some mountains, but who can say for sure.”

Sumac stepped forward, examining the scholar’s book. “What of weapons? If they’re sylph, they’d have a gift from Illya.”

“Primitive would be my best guess. I don’t think they’ve got a contract with the Highlands or the gnomes of the Cheyne Mountains. But you could ask for their records.”

Doubtful either would give him information.

“Thank you, Master Marcus, that will be all.”

The scholar bowed. “Any time, your Highness.”

After he’d gone, Hopper said, “We obviously can’t let you go to the Court of Screams. You’re much too valuable. And we don’t even know that’s where they’re taking Aelia.”

“I’m almost certain that’s where they’re taking her.” Tharan took a swig of his cider, trying to still his nerves. He knew his friends would try to stop him, but there was no changing his mind. He would not fail Aelia again.

“Why would the Trinity hide one of their Wells in a place that doesn’t even worship them?” Amolie wondered aloud.

“Sounds like the perfect place to hide one,” Roderick said. “Think about it. They don’t worship you, so they’d never go looking. And neither would anyone else because they’d be risking their life.”

“So what are we going to do?” Amolie looked at Tharan.

“Hopper, send a raven to the king . See if he’ll grant me an audience.”

“I don’t even know where to send the bird. There is no castle. No town that I know of.”

“We could go to the border,” Tharan suggested. “See if anyone knows anything. Surely, the Court of Honey or the Court of Whispers must trade with them. Even if it’s off the books.”

Roderick rose.

“I’m from the Court of Honey. It would be my pleasure to have you as my guest. I am friendly with their queen.”

“Very well then, send a raven,” Tharan said. “We’ll leave as soon as we get word.”

“If I may, your grace,” Roderick said. “I think it would be better if I carried the news. Amolie and I can go ahead and ask in person. They have a portal here that we can use. It’ll be faster than a raven. Amolie will portal back with news.”

“Very well,” Tharan said. “We eagerly await your return.”

Amolie and Roderick said their goodbyes and went to prepare for their trip.