4. Gallows

4

GALLOWS

P ower sweeps me, as we’re invited to join the twenty Dark Fae that surround us in the night. Because these aren’t just any Dark Fae, I feel now as Lucca, Quinn, and I rise from our bench; these are ancient Masters of their art, who were old when this city was young thousands of years ago.

I feel their balanced, truly formidable Light and Night sigh around me now, not hidden but not menacing, either. It’s a sensation of calm, because they know they could snuff out our trio’s magic with a wave of their hands, just like their leader did Curio’s.

As if our ability to raise the Music matters not at all to their ancient might.

I ponder that, as we’re invited into the Hidden City of Venice after their leader. We walk through a maze of alleys, stairs, and bridges now; I become lost in the tight warren that is Venice in the Twilight Realm, though I have a decent grasp of the city in the human world.

Before long, I even feel from Quinn how lost he’s become. It’s as if with every corner we turn and alley we traverse, and every set of stairs we rise then descend, we’re being taken deeper into an ancient magic that thoroughly confuses us, intentionally.

It’s then that I begin to see the city change. Where once the streets, bridges, and buildings of Venice in the Twilight Realm looked more or less like their human counterparts, albeit with a distinct Fae flare, everything around us seems wildly different now.

Like we’ve entered Carnevale in truth, the buildings corkscrew and spire up into impossible shapes; comedy and tragedy, and commedia dell’arte faces leer at us from the shadows everywhere.

Mythical creatures, both strange and fantastical, along with demons, writhe up every facade and lamppost, and across every bridge. Carnevale lights in thousands of colors are everywhere; in lampposts that sneer with forbidding faces, and in cascades of paper lamps that span the waters.

Buildings of white and black tower above us, each more ornate than the most infamous churches of Venice. Gargoyles are everywhere, waterspouts pouring incredible fountains of water to basins below, though there’s not a drop of rain in the night.

We’ve been walking for hours; with a sudden blink, I realize the night has passed and the sun is rising. A pink and gold glow takes the sky, then the sun blazes through the buildings and canal ways, hitting all those myriad waterspouts.

And I see the city become transformed with unearthly delight.

Where once everything was gargoyles and snarling faces, and tortured bodies in despair, the entire city shifts now into a shimmering mirage of cherubs, angels, and birds. A forbidding Venice of the Night gives way to an incredible Venice of the Light, as rainbows dazzle us everywhere the sun hits the fountains and canal ways.

As I marvel at the incredible beauty of the daytime city as opposed to the night, I realize we are in the Hidden City of Venice. We came through a maze of twists and turns, led along the only path that would get us here, which no one who was not an ancient denizen of this place could ever remember .

Now, the costumes of the twenty Dark Fae, plus their leader, blaze white. Sparkling with rainbows to complement the beautiful colors of their masks, they echo the rainbows everywhere, illuminated by the rising sun. As I stare at it all, amazed by the transformation, I realize something else.

That makes everything inside me bright.

“The city of sunlight, water, and rainbows!” I stare around in wonder, then turn to Quinn. “This is it! The Hidden City of Venice. This is where we’ll find the Wanderer’s mother. This is where she went.”

“My gods…!” None of us are wearing our masks anymore, idle in our hands, and Quinn stares at me in astonishment before gazing around.

“Ariana, you’re right.” Lucca looks around with us, as well. “Of all the places I’ve been in the human world and the Twilight Realm, nothing has ever shone with rainbows like this.”

“And no place ever will,” the man in the long-nose mask says now as he turns to us. “Because she who created the Dark Fae here, the Mother of Rainbows, made this place. As her own especial hideaway from her tragedies, long before our kind were ever born.”

Our Dark Fae escort removes his mask as he regards us now. A deeply handsome man with shoulder-length, curling black hair and dark, sparkling eyes, his masculine beauty is even more perfect than Quinn’s as I catch my breath to see our host.

He gives us each a sober nod, me last. He holds my gaze then, as I feel the subtlest magic bore into my very soul. A feeling like the brightest sun rises deep inside me, from his ancient power.

Where something had only been void and black.

“The void of the Darkest One lies within you,” the man says now as his bright-dark gaze penetrates me, then Lucca, and Quinn. “We know his heartless magic; you can dispense with all explanations and petty appeals to win our favor. Three trials you shall go through to discover why his power is blocking you. For the Light and the Night are endless; he does not control one or the other, and cannot control it inside you. Only once you discover why you are blocked, can you reach the true unity of Light and Night. And then the Music will ring within you, free and unfettered, at last. And you may create with it what you will… and do with it what you hope to.”

“Thank you for taking us on.” Quinn gives a deep nod to their leader. “We are vastly grateful?—”

“Enough.” The man holds up a hand, cutting Quinn’s words off like he sliced them right out of the air. His dark eyes flash. “Your petty words of gold do not win us. Speak from your heart. Or leave this place, your true self undiscovered.”

Quinn pauses. I feel the dark whip of wrath that takes him for just a moment, before it smoothes out to a touch from my hand and one from Lucca.

We can’t have Quinn accidentally wreck this for us, with all his courtly ways. I know I’m the one who needs to speak, as I step forward in our trio now.

Locking eyes with the Dark Fae’s leader.

“Help us or don’t.” I stare him down in the dawn, feeling a fierce flash of Lucca’s bright righteousness and Quinn’s dark fire surge all through me now, along with my own midnight rainbows. “We’re not here for games. We want the Gold Eyes’ vacuous taint gone from us; from our magic, from our minds and souls, and from our deepest hearts. It’s played one master’s chess game too many, and we’re not inclined to play anymore. Either we get what we need from you, here amongst the Venice Dark Fae Sages, or you let us go, to find somebody who will help us. Because we’re going to best the ancient Descendant Staphylogenes, one way or another. It would be easier with your help, but if you don’t give it to us… we’ll look elsewhere. And fight every damn one of you to get free and do it.”

The Dark Fae leader stares at me for an endless moment. It’s so long, I think he’s going to turn us away, or perhaps order his people to attack us, as his dark eyes stare into mine, ancient.

But then the slowest smile curls his lips .

“I believe you,” he says.

Suddenly, his entire party are removing their masks. As they finally unveil themselves, I see they’re some of the most beautiful people anywhere, in the Twilight Realm or out of it.

Raven-haired or fair and golden, some with skin and features black as midnight or Asian, each one looks like a god or goddess of ancient times as they shine before me now, resplendent.

They all wear kind smiles; moving in, they set their hands on their hearts and nod deeply to us now, these Dark Fae who look like the progeny of archangels.

Indeed, their power is so blended in its Light and Night that I can’t tell if any of them have one power stronger than the other. They’re all Animante Dark Fae, balanced in their magic in a way I can only ever aspire to, as they regard Quinn, Lucca, and me.

Beaming with the most haunting Night, and the most beautiful Light.

“Come.” The man with the dark eyes and dark ringlets beckons to us. “We will show you to accommodations, to rest and freshen up. Your trials shall begin at sunset tonight, for the eventide is when a Dark Fae’s magic is strongest, to penetrate the veils that lie within and discover one’s fullest truth. We shall work all night until the dawn, when the darkest knowing inside you gives way to light. Then shall your fullest truths be known. And how to break Staphylogenes’ hold upon you.”

“You’re the Dark Fae Sages. All of you.” Quinn suddenly understands as he looks around the group. “You had an informant, or a few of them, in Venice, who told you we were here. So you came to find us, to deem whether we were worthy of help.”

“Yes.” The man with the bright-dark eyes nods to Quinn, before gesturing around the group. “We are the Sages. And we shall adjudicate your trio’s Trials of Inner Truth this evening, once you are rested enough. Beware: we are neither friends nor enemies, but seekers of the deepest truth that lies within you. We can already feel the truths you each hide from, which keep you locked in Staphylogenes’ void. Because that heartless creature feeds upon the place where no heart is within you, keeping you bound to its ancient, devouring coils. Find that spot, the place where you devour yourself , deep inside. And forgiveness shall liberate you. Come.”

With an elegant gesture, the man indicates a towering, cathedral-like building of white stone and crystal pinnacles across a bridge ahead. With thousands of waterspouts that send water coiling both up and down the magnificent structure, the entire building shimmers with rainbows in the new day.

As the rest of the Dark Fae company melts away now, ostensibly to go about whatever they normally do until our trials tonight, our guide leads us across the canal and up the stone steps into the building.

Vast hallways of towering white stone lay within, with an incredible warren of corkscrewing stairwells and stunning rainbow-hued water fountains jetting everywhere.

As we’re led up one stairwell to a suite of rooms, we find our accommodations large as a church and just as lovely. Fountains cascade everywhere inside, greenery blossoming in a riot of flowers with hummingbirds lancing in through the crystal-latticed windows, high domes, and pinnacles.

It’s astounding, even more than the Summer Fae Palace of Light. Everything glows with rainbows and shimmers with light on the water.

As wind chimes sound, enchanting us with an unearthly delight.

“Your rooms.” Our guide gives us a low bow. “Rest and freshen up. I shall come retrieve you at nightfall.”

“Do you have a name? Anything we can call you?” Lucca asks with an amused smile, his demeanor far more at ease now that we know no threat is upon us.

“I am Gideon, Sage Host of the Hidden City of Venice.” Gideon smiles as his dark eyes beam. “Should you need anything that hasn’t already been provided for, think of me and I shall come. You may stay in your rooms or wander the city; we care not. Only give yourselves a chance to rest. For the trials this evening will not be easy.”

With that word of warning, our host departs. It leaves Quinn, Lucca, and I all staring at each other as we also gaze around our gargantuan accommodations. I feel like I’m inside the Louvre or the Notre Dame de Paris, only a Fae version of it as I look around, enchanted.

Fountains burble everywhere, and before us are three massive banquet tables laden with every good thing we could ever hope to eat, plus crystal ewers of blood for Quinn. Towering ivory canopy beds occupy the space, surrounded by living room furniture, fountains, and plants.

The space could house a hundred people, though only the three nearest beds have been made up for me, Lucca, and Quinn. Ivory partitions have been put up beyond, to create a slightly more homey atmosphere for us in this incredible space.

As Lucca whistles, I hear Quinn give a low hmm of agreement; all of us marvel at the vast opulence of the Dark Fae’s city here in Venice. Because though Master Ilyov’s domain up in Novakitsk was lovely, ephemeral in its high-north glory, this is something else completely as we gaze around, impressed.

But as Lucca, Quinn, and I move to the nearest banquet table now, setting our masks down and taking in the fantastic spread of anything we could ever even hope to eat, a strange feeling fills me. Because somehow, this feels like the calm before the storm.

And the food before us, like the last meal of the damned.

“They don’t expect us to survive.” I understand suddenly, as I take in all that food and the beautiful opulence surrounding us. I feel sick then, sinking to a seat as I stare at one banquet table, my appetite gone.

“Ariana?” Quinn feels my sudden shock as he sinks to one knee before me, Lucca stepping up behind me and setting his strong hands on my shoulders. Quinn takes my hands. “Your power has gone vastly dark inside you; I’m having trouble reading your thoughts through our bond. What’s wrong? ”

“This—all this,” I say as I wave a hand, indicating the cathedral-like space and the laden tables. “It’s not a show to impress us, nor is it the usual opulence these Dark Fae live with here. It’s a gallows-blessing: like what a person might enjoy on their last day, before they die. The Dark Fae Sages give it to us now because they don’t expect us to survive whatever trials they’re going to give us tonight. It’s live or die time—and they expect us to die.”

“My gods…” I feel Quinn get it now as he gazes around. His dark brows narrow, as Lucca gives a furious growl behind me.

“Fucking hells!” Lucca snarls, as I feel his bright Fae aura blaze around me now, protective with the vast spread of his bright-dark wings. “I knew all of this was too good to be true!”

“Easy, Lucca.” Quinn rises, eyeballing Lucca. “The Dark Fae here have not menaced us; if their trials are severe, I imagine it is with good reason. To oust an energy like Staphylogenes’ hold upon us cannot be simple. I am sure even with the Sages’ power, it is vastly hard to do.”

“So they have to make us prove we’re worthy first. Maybe even killing us in the process.” Lucca snorts, as a searing, too-bright fire roars through him now, scalding.

“I don’t think they want to kill us.” I feel my deepest truth-reading ability rise now, chiming like a chorus of bells inside me. “It’s simply that whatever we’ll face inside ourselves tonight is dire. You heard Gideon; we have to find the place where no heart is within you . We have to find and face some place inside ourselves that is like the Gold Eyes’ void—a place where we devour ourselves . I think Gideon’s saying that place allows our link to the Gold Eyes to be maintained. A place inside our very own selves that is like Staphylogenes. That is utterly heartless and void… just like he is.”

“A place of endless punishment.” Quinn goes quiet now as he takes a deep breath. I feel how close this is to his Revenant state for him, and how deeply worried that makes him. “We might all go Revenant if we touch that kind of place inside ourselves… or worse.”

“Yet the Dark Fae Sages will challenge us tonight to find it. They haven’t been obtuse about what they’re going to ask of us.” Lucca sighs, his light dissipating as he becomes morose. “How could anything inside us be as void and heartless as the Gold Eyes? I love my people and want to fight for them with every breath of my being.”

“There are those I would kill again; punish forever, in a heartbeat,” Quinn says darkly now as he glances at us. “Emiliana DiClario, for one.”

“You may have a heartless void deep inside you, but I don’t,” Lucca says, firm now as he protests. “There are those I feel deep conflict about, but not utter hate like you do Emiliana, Quinn. My entire life is too much heart; I care too much about things to stand by when injustice reigns.”

“Still. There is someplace inside you that would strike like a snake, Lucca, without thought.” Quinn stares Lucca down. “You’re a blazing light in the world; but any light that bright casts a shadow. Of the darkest kind. You just have yet to see it.”

“What about me?” I ask, as both men glance at me now. “What’s my darkest void? Although I think the Vampire Council and Lucca’s father are odious, there’s no one I have such a deep vendetta against that I would kill them in cold blood, without thinking it through first.”

“Isn’t there?”

As Quinn asks it, I suddenly know where my void lies. As it rises inside me with a terrible clanging of bells like a church being cast down a mountain, I don’t want to see it.

I don’t want to face it, much less admit it’s there. But I know I’ll have to, as I close my lips and feel the bonds between Lucca, Quinn, and me block. Because our lives will depend on it tonight, upon me going there and facing my darkest inner truth.

Though it’s the one place I never want to look.