Page 23 of Queen of Ever (Curse of Fate and Fae #2)

Chapter 23

Tarian

M y footsteps echoed through the hallway, timed against a pounding refrain in my head. Find her, find her, find her. I’d tried. I’d taken to the skies on Melaie, tried to follow my instincts and the thread between us in a clear direction, but it was faint and the choking dread that had clamped around my throat made it almost impossible to focus on. My sense of Imogen, of where she was, seemed to dip in and out, leading me to a stretch of land in a fork in the Sunder that I’d circled over and over again, seeing nothing that suggested she was anywhere nearby, or ever had been.

I needed help.

The door crashed open as I surged through it into the late afternoon, eating up the ground with long strides. I’d only gone back into the crumbling old castle to see if there had been any new information on the attack while I’d been gone. From what I could gather from Eochaid—who I’d descended on in a whirl of agitation, firing half a dozen questions at speed and getting only stuttered confusion and head shakes in response—a great deal of nothing had been done to figure out where the fuck the furies had come from and why they had spirited Imogen off into the night. Which didn’t surprise me. The High Council and the courtiers had likely all been too busy trying to blame each other for the whole calamity to do anything useful.

‘For crying out loud, Tarian, slow down!’

I’d become aware that Ves was trying to chase me down a little while back. But whatever he wanted me for, I was positive it didn’t warrant me slowing my pace. I had no damn time.

‘I know you want to find her, but—’

I turned on him fast enough that he almost skidded to a halt, hand clasped to his chest as he caught his breath. ‘What?’ I snapped. ‘You know I want to find her, but what? Do you have something to tell me that will help me or were you about to follow up that comment by saying something about how I have other responsibilities, because if it’s the latter, I’m going to punch you.’

‘You wouldn’t land it,’ he panted, steadying himself against the castle wall. Straightening up, he pushed his dark hair back from his face. ‘And I actually do have something useful to contribute, so thank you for your monstrous assumption that I’m not prioritising her safety.’

I took a breath. Released it. ‘What do you want to tell me?’

‘That I spent a lovely evening with a halfling nymph a week ago who was complaining that she couldn’t get her hands on any sorrowroot for love or money.’

I blinked. Frowned. ‘Which interests me because?’

‘Because sorrowroot is harvested only on a few of the isles of the Sunder, and the reason she can’t get any is because said isles have been infested by furies who set upon anyone who gets anywhere near them.’

At least that supported the sense I’d had that Imogen was on that island. But where? There’d been nothing there, just bristly shrubbery and craggy rocks. ‘Alright, that’s useful.’

‘And?’ he prompted, turning his head as though to hear me better.

‘Thanks.’

‘There, see? That wasn’t difficult, was it? Now next time I bring myself to run after you, you’ll know you should stop and listen to me.’

But as grateful as I was for the information, that didn’t mean I was going to stand around listening to him as he entertained himself with the sound of his own voice. ‘I don’t know when I’ll be back. Can you try to hold the Unseelie delegation together until I am? I don’t want the queen getting involved because her advisors have gone flapping home to complain that I’ve abandoned them.’

Ves’ mouth stretched in a pointed smile. ‘It would be a pleasure to keep them entertained.’

I didn’t ask how he intended to do that. I didn’t want to know. It probably involved a game of playing them off against each, along with a heavy dose of misdirection and manipulation.

‘Oh, and Tarian?’ he continued as I turned away. I paused. Glanced behind me. ‘I think the Seelie King is pretty eager to speak with you, too.’

Then my focus fixed on the sight of Solas striding through the same door I’d recently passed through, along with a few of his advisors and Eochaid. He quickly picked me out.

‘You’re not going anywhere,’ he said, like it was a command, which really tickled my rancour, so much so that I strode out to meet him. ‘I know you think the act of ruling a kingdom is some kind of hobby you can pick up and drop when you feel like it, but I have a rebellion to put down, so you’re not leaving until the amendment is signed,’ he said as I approached, but he seemed to realise I was a smouldering edifice of rage and he was a perfect outlet, because he took a step back.

‘I’m signing nothing ,’ I snarled. ‘And I dare you to try to keep me here.’

‘If you think—’

‘Imogen was taken, Solas.’ The rage was rising, all heat along my neck and shoulders that contrasted starkly with the cold magic stirring in my hands. ‘Carried off before our fucking eyes. Shouldn’t you care ? All that bluster in parading her about like you want her for yourself, and now you’re worried about your fucking amendment while we don’t even know what’s happening to her?’

‘This is why you’re not fit to be a king,’ was the response he decided to go with. ‘You don’t understand the sacrifices, the way the needs of the few—’

He never got to finish issuing that little gem of wisdom. Because I drew my fist, swung my arm and punched him in the jaw. And it was so fucking satisfying. His head snapped back, and with a burst of movement and cries of alarm, his advisors surged forward to catch him as he stumbled, blinking in shock, touching fingers to his split lip. And that was exactly as much time as I was going to give him. I was already storming away, shaking out my hand, knuckles smarting, ignoring whatever they were shouting behind me. Ves gave me a two-finger salute from amidst a fit of laughter as I passed him and headed for the little hillock beside the castle that hid the cavern where I’d stashed my oracle.

‘Haddock,’ I called before I even reached the base of the stairs. No reply. I tried again, louder this time, my voice echoing off the walls. Still nothing. Where was that useless satyr? He was supposed to be down here. If he’d left without telling me, without solving his reading, and when I needed him most, I would hunt him down and string him up by his hooves.

When I reached the base of the stairs and entered the cavern, it only took me a moment of searching to find him curled on his side amongst a mess of papers covered in sketches and scribbled notes. He was snoring, ears flicking as he slept, a bottle of liquor he’d swiped from who knew where clutched in his hand.

He jerked awake when I shook him, cringing away from me, rubbing his eyes.

‘I need your help,’ I said as he shook his head rigorously, like he was shaking sand from his hair. ‘Imogen’s gone.’

‘Gone! Not again.’ He hiccupped, touching a hand to his mouth. ‘Forgive me, your lordship, but you need to keep better track of that girl.’

‘Are you drunk?’

‘I may ‘av had a few sips. You know, for creativity.’

Grabbing him by the scruff of the neck, I pulled him to his feet. ‘You’d better sober up fast. I need your help to find her.’

He waved a hand at me. ‘Oh, don’t you worry, your royalness. Give her a bit and she’ll come trotting right back. If I had a coin for every time my Agnes has gone running—’

‘No, Haddock.’ I shook him a little, frustrated. Why did he have to get himself drunk ? ‘We were attacked by a whole tempest of furies. They took her.’

‘Furies,’ he repeated, squinting. Then his eyes widened and he smacked a hand against his forehead. ‘Oh, I know what they are. Wings and fiery eyes and vengeance. I met one at a pub once. She liked to sing. But shouldn’t sing.’

Releasing him to support his own weight on wobbly legs, I looked around, fixing on the pool. Maybe a quick dunk in cold water would sober him up.

‘They’ll have taken her to the lesser fae court,’ he continued, hiccupping again. ‘They’ll be wanting her pretty bad.’

The last statement caught me. I turned back to him. ‘Why?’

‘Oh. Well, it’s, ah, let me see.’ He crouched down, losing his balance and catching himself with a hand on my leg.

I immediately drew back at the contact but replaced the support with a fist on his shirt when he wobbled again. ‘For fuck’s sake, Sloan, get yourself together. I don’t know if it came across when I said Imogen was taken by furies, but we need to find her now.’

‘This’ll help. Trust me,’ he slurred, patting the air where my leg had been. ‘See, it was just here… ah!’ He pulled a rumpled piece of paper from the flurry on the ground and held it triumphantly aloft.

I took it. ‘You’ve handed me a drawing of a circle.’

‘Or an egg,’ he corrected. ‘Or a seed… I’m not right sure, to be honest. There’s another…’

‘What does this have to do with finding Imogen?’ I snapped, thrusting the paper back at him.

‘Her stars, your greatness. I’ve been reading them, as you said. Not an exact science, that, but the same imagery sort of keeps coming up.’ He picked up more pages and handed them to me one at a time. There was a lotus, a spray of dots, a spiral, a repeating design of interlocked circles and crescents, twin stars joined at the points.

‘Haddock, if you don’t explain to me what this is about right now, you’re going to be seeing stars again,’ I growled. Maybe I should just leave him behind, try to find her on my own. But he’d been able to use our bond to find her once before, and if I couldn’t focus on it alone, surely he could.

‘Magic!’ he burst out. ‘The symbols. Took me a bit to sort out what it all meant, but they’re creation symbols! That’s why they want her.’

I pinched the bridge of my nose. ‘Imogen wields water.’

‘No, no, she creates water. But she could create more if she directed it right and saw it for what it really is. And it’s creation magic. Just like—’

‘Oberon,’ I finished for him, stunned into a stillness that barely even registered Haddock was clutching at me for balance again. Creation magic. It was madness. Impossible. But if it wasn’t… No, there was no point even considering it. I wasn’t going to put a revelation like that down to the word of a sober Haddock, let alone a drunk one.

‘Creation magic? What are you talking about down there?’ The words were echoed by a familiar voice behind me, and when I turned it was to find Ethan scampering down the stairs, staring around him with raised eyebrows. When he caught my eye, his expression changed to one of irritation, mouth curling down at the corners. ‘Do you have any idea how hard it is to chase after you when you’re off winging your way around the countryside?’ he said, pausing at the base of the steps with a hand on his hip. ‘Imogen was my friend before she was your mate, you know. I want to find her too. And you just took off without even a word. And now I find you in some cave, not even looking for her, hanging out with—’ he turned his gaze to Haddock, who wobbled again.

‘This is Haddock,’ I said bluntly. ‘He’s an oracle.’

‘His lordship’s personal oracle,’ Haddock slurred, finger once again waving through the air. ‘We’ve an alli… an allian… an oath.’

‘A drunk satyr,’ Ethan continued. ‘Imogen was taken . What the hell are you going to do about it?’

‘I’m fucking trying to figure that out,’ I retorted, fear and frustration cracking my composure. ‘I don’t know where they’ve taken her. Hence, the fucking oracle.’

‘Oh please, don’t yell at me,’ Haddock moaned, sinking down onto his heels with his hands over his head. ‘Erryone’s always yellin’ at me.’

‘I’m not yelling at you.’ I took a breath, hauling Haddock back onto his feet, before turning to Ethan again. ‘He thinks she’s been taken by the lesser fae rebels.’

‘Creation magic,’ Haddock mumbled.

‘And he’s about to tell me where the lesser fae court is.’

‘I don’t know it,’ Haddock interjected. ‘And if it please you, sir, I’d rather not be looking for it. The wards on that place. I’d melt my brain in me head even trying.’

‘That explains the furies,’ Ethan said, his face clearing. Then he moaned, head dropping back. ‘Well this has all gone to hell in a handbasket. Those reckless idiots. I’ll bet it was Cassian’s idea.’

‘Who’s Cassian?’

‘It’s a long story.’ He heaved a heavy sigh. ‘But you don’t have to melt your oracle’s brain. I can show you the lesser fae court.’ With that, he turned around and began to pick his way up the stairs.

‘Wait, you can?’ I chased him after him as Haddock called out after us.

‘It is heavily warded, though,’ Ethan said over his shoulder, unfaltering in his climb. ‘We’ll have a hard time getting in.’

He rounded a bend into a piercing shaft of sunlight where the doorway was, illuminating swirls of floating dust in the dank old cavern. We stepped out into the daylight together and I glared at the sun, its path through the sky only indicating to me how many hours had passed since Imogen had been taken. It was sinking towards the horizon. She’d been gone a whole night and a day. So much could have happened to her in that time. So much could have been done to her. Magic was churning through me, rising with my anger and my fear, eating into the rock when I placed my hand against it to steady myself, spilling down to the ground to shrivel a patch of bluebells.

‘Whoa, whoa, stop that,’ Ethan said as he caught sight of the shrinking plant life. ‘Don’t you go losing your grip and catching me in the crossfire. I saw what you did to those furies. And some of your own who were in the wrong place. Do you know there was an arm amputation to stop the spread of magic right there on the throne room floor?’ He shuddered, jiggling his shoulders as though trying to shake off the memory.

‘I’m trying to keep it together,’ I said through gritted teeth. ‘It’s not easy when I don’t know what’s happening to her.’

‘Look, don’t get twisted up. She’s okay. I don’t think they’ve taken her because they mean to harm her. The Un-queen is sensible. All Imogen will need to do is tell them she’s mated to you and they’ll probably set her free on the spot. Between the destruction magic, the royal bloodline and your reputation for being a hot-headed grouch at the best of times, you’re not the sort of enemy a group of rebels in hiding wants to make.’

‘And how do you know so much about what they want and how they think?’

‘Well,’ he rubbed the back of his neck, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, ‘let’s just say I was in that world for a while.’

‘You were a rebel?’

‘Sort of. I guess. It was more of a family inheritance thing than something I chose. I got out a long time ago and took off to the Human Realm, so don’t start thinking any of this has any connection with me whatsoever.’

If there was a time to pick him over for that, this wasn’t it. I was scanning the skies, looking for Melaie, when the door opened behind us again, and Haddock came panting up the stairwell, clutching his chest.

‘Too fast… some of us… hooves and stairs, you know…’

‘Hang on, you aren’t planning to ferry us all about on your griffin, are you?’ Ethan demanded, staring at Haddock as he seemed to realise the satyr was coming with us.

‘Do you have a better idea?’

‘Yeah, a few. The first being we take a portal. There’s one near where we’re going.’

‘The nearest waystation is miles away. We’d still have to fly.’

‘Did you not see that dirty great pool of water down there?’

‘We don’t have anyone to open it.’

‘Isn’t goat legs there an oracle?’ He jabbed a thumb in the direction of Haddock, who had now slumped to the ground to sit in the grass, struggling still to catch his breath. ‘Can’t oracles work portal magic?’

I considered this. It would be a lot quicker to travel by portal, and speed was what I wanted most. ‘Alright,’ I agreed, turning back to the door. ‘But if we come out on the other side missing limbs or on some other plane entirely, remember it was your idea to trust the drunk satyr to work a portal. Come on, Haddock.’

Haddock blinked up at me as I hauled the door open again. His gaze darted between me and the stairs, before he hung his head with a moan. ‘We’re climbing all the way back down?’

‘Yes. All the way back down.’