Chapter 36

S trength depleted, Ember fell back onto the moss, her breathing ragged and tired. She thought she might have cracked one of her ribs in the vicious beating she had endured. Half-dazed, she thought she heard a rushing of wind through branches and wondered if the forest had come to life again to swallow her up. Surprisingly, she found she didn't care at all. The rustling noises separated themselves into a babble of voices and a horrified screeching. Something grabbed her and jerked her to her feet. She cried out in pain, and then her knees collapsed.

There was no guard safely cradling her in his arms now. Two guards on either side forced her through the forest, yanking her to her feet every time she stumbled, hustling her without mercy. She sobbed under her breath, wanting to wipe her streaming nose, but they had her arms in too firm a grip, and she couldn't. Along the corridors they went as passing fae stared and whispered.

They dragged her through a doorway and forced down onto her knees. She looked up, tangled hair dripping around her face, eyes streaming with pain and humiliation.

Cole sat on his throne, his face drawn and paler than usual. He looked diminished somehow. Rage and disgust oozed from every pore, and the grey shadow around him pulsed and vibrated ominously.

"What have you done?" he said, his voice barely controlled.

For an instant she thought he was referring to her painting of Ashe, but he surged to his feet and shouted, "You have murdered my champion!"

The unfair accusation straightened her spine, and she looked him full in the face. "I did not."

"You have killed her, my Lissa, my chance, my rulership, you have killed her, you have killed her for him!"

He was incoherent, gibbering in his rage, and the shadow gathered force, billowing forward to engulf her. She choked on it as it surrounded her, but apart from the smell, like rancid clothing and wet rotting food, it didn't hurt. She'd expected her flesh to peel back, her bones to crumble, but there was nothing.

It withdrew, and with its absence, she became aware of another presence standing beside her. Alena. She looked as matronly as ever, clad in her usual shimmering green, her skin glistening as though wet, but there was a heat rolling from her, a tangible aura that Ember recognised as power, in its most base, true form. Alena held as much power as the princes, Ember realised, perhaps more. She was smiling, yes, but there was a savage glint in her eye, and Ember was profoundly glad that it wasn't directed at her.

Cole was shaking, his mouth working, clearly attempting to control himself. The mist had withdrawn to hover about him, somewhat lessened than before, more white than grey.

He drew a deep breath. "Alena. This is no business of yours."

"Your information is incorrect," said Alena in the smooth, vaguely dismissive tone that Ember knew so well. She gave Ember a fleeting glance and in it, Ember saw the shadow of a wink. "This is more my business than anyone else's. It occurred in my rooms, after all."

"This … human … murdered my champion. She has destroyed any chance I have of winning the tournament. Teams must be complete. I will be the Blade by default! I have lost! And she was his hand."

"Your Highness," said Alena.

Her tone was icy, reproving, and Cole sank back into his throne, a white knuckled grip on the throne's arms, as if they were the only thing preventing him from launching into a physical attack.

"This human did nothing. The castle itself murdered your champion in defence of the innocent. Are you to defy its decision? Might I remind Your Highness that you are here at the castle's discretion. Your presence is by permission, not by right."

Ember didn't know what to make of this. The castle was its own entity, and the princes lived here because it chose to let them? She tucked that nugget of information away as Alena continued.

"Under these … exceptional circumstances, I suggest you make a case to the Adjudicator."

Cole looked poleaxed. Ember could almost see his mind working. "Then there is a chance."

"There is always a chance." She took Ember's hand, raising her to her feet. "The girl is hurt. She suffered at the hands of the water sprite. She needs a healer."

Cole gave a brief nod, and a fae appeared at Ember's side. Alena gently caressed Ember's hair, her touch fading as she dissolved into nothing. The fae bore Ember away, and Cole didn't utter a word.

She was glad to see Mira back in her rooms. A light bandage covered her cheek, and although she looked wan and shaky, she sprang into action as soon as the fae brought Ember in, making sure she was comfortable on the bed and then helping the healer to apply salves to her bruises.

The healer laid her hands on Ember's sore ribs and closed her eyes. A tingling began under her fingertips, an icy tingle that flowed through Ember's body, swirling around her midriff before dissipating throughout the rest of her, as clean and refreshing as a mountain stream. She took a breath, and then another, deeper, her ribs no longer hurting.

They helped her to sit, and she gave them both a grateful smile, but to her surprise, neither smiled back. Both were uneasy, and the healer hurried to the door as soon as she was able, leaving Mira to needlessly fluff up the already fluffed up pillows on the couch.

"I'm sorry," Ember said, although she didn't know if she was or not. Lissa had brought her retribution on herself, and she couldn't help it if the trees had killed Lissa in Ember's defence.

"It isn't your fault, my lady. It just … makes difficulties." She gave Ember a wan smile. "Thank you for sending me to a healer. The venom could have proved fatal. I've heard there have been many incidents in the prince's hallways. He cannot control his temper." Her hand flew up to her mouth, and she flung herself into a deep curtsey. "I apologise, my lady. All I meant was …"

"Don't apologise. We all know what his temper is like." Shadows, snakes, smoke, and fear. If he won the tournament, if he became the Sword …

She spent a quiet afternoon in her rooms, sitting on the window seat and gazing out into the grounds. The fairies that hovered around her windowsill hadn't returned and the eerie darkness of Cole's temper that influenced his side of the castle crawled under her door as a mist that clung to the ankles and made everything damp and clammy. When a heavy knock at the door came, she jumped.

A guard stood outside, with several others behind him. In his full-face helmet, she couldn't tell if he was one of those who had dragged her from the forest, and she eyed him with trepidation.

"His Highness summons you to the great hall at once," he said.

She slid off the window seat and twitched her skirts into place. "You stay here," she said to Mira. "I'll not have you come to harm again."

Mira was surprised but gave a curtsey, and the guards closed around Ember and took her away.

This time she was careful to keep an eye on the cracks and shadows in the halls, but apart from a swarm of black rats, red eyed and yellow fanged, chased off with several well-placed spear points, they made it to the hall without incident.

The doors opened, and the guards hustled Ember inside. It was the hall where she had first dined with Cole and the rest of the teams, although now there was no immense table down the middle, no glittering golden trees lining the walls, no music, no dancing.

Instead, three figures stood on a central round dais: Cole, the Adjudicator and Ashe. Fae clustered around the dais, and she recognised members of both teams, hushed and expectant. The jurors stood among them in silence, the red of their cloaks like scattered drops of blood.

As they brought her in, all turned to stare. Cole's expression of disgust was almost palpable, and the remaining members of his team viewed her with curled lips and muttered comments. Ashe's team, on the other hand, looked positively jubilant. She wished they didn't. They made it look as though she'd sabotaged Cole on purpose. Swirl didn't look angry though. He gave her a courteous nod, and she took heart from that.

The guards escorted her to a position below the dais, and she looked up at the three of them: Cole furious, Ashe typically blank-faced. Neither so much as glanced at her.

The Adjudicator showed a repellent smile filled with sharp, jagged teeth. He didn't look angry, merely amused, as if something new had finally surprised him. He eyed Ember and said, "You've thrown, as they say, a spanner in the works." He raised his voice. "Does anyone here know what a spanner is?"

Apparently, no one did.

The Adjudicator continued, "Cole's team cannot compete in the third game, which makes the winner, by default, Ashe."

Cole's face darkened, and he clenched his fists. The Adjudicator laughed, a thin, reedy, mirthless laugh that sent shivers up Ember's back. "Oh, stop, Cole. Your chances at best were fifty-fifty."

"The castle intervened! Surely an exception can be made! Lissa wasn't the only water sprite in the kingdom. Replace her and give me a chance!"

The Adjudicator shrugged. "The rules are clear. Once the teams are announced, no fae can replace a teammate, and the teams must be evenly matched. You signed the contract. You assumed the responsibility of heir when Serafina was … well. Let's not talk about that. It seems we have our winner."

Ashe was frowning, not at all as pleased as Ember had thought he would be. His team wasn't so reticent. They broke into loud cheers and hugged one another.

"Wait!" Cole cried over the clamour. "This isn't right, this isn't fair." He pointed at Ashe. "He should kill one of his teammates, so we're even."

Ashe gave him an incredulous stare. "I don't think so."

"Without a winner, the Earth is on the tipping point again." The Adjudicator addressed Ember and there was glee in his voice. "You should see it! Wildfires are out of control across three continents. Heat waves are killing more people than ever! Our worlds are too close. Without a Sword, your world will burn."

"I don't care about that!" shrieked Cole. "It's not fair. This can't be the end. This can't be …"

He stopped, frowning in thought, and then his expression cleared. "No fae can replace a teammate," he said, echoing the Adjudicator's words.

The Adjudicator waited; his eyebrows raised. "And?"

Cole pointed a finger at Ember. "But she can."