Chapter 31

While Caeda'scastle had been beautiful, this one was a thousand times more magnificent.

Caeda plastered gems on sandstone and speckled them all with golden casings. Yes, many of the features around her city were made of it, but her castle was still sandstone. This one was gold from the floor beneath my feet to the highest turret.

There were no murals covering entire walls in the corridor and foyer we were led through, nor the dining room we wound up in. Instead, there were collages of smaller, individual paintings of everything on every wall we walked past. Most of them were landscapes––seascapes, really, waves of icy blue swelling against an orange sun. One that caught my eye featured a massive glacier carved into a castle.

They were all gorgeous in their own way, but rather than flat images on canvas, they were made with an impasto technique. This gave the art texture, dimensions; the water swirled with a life of its own. It was beautiful. Earnest, in a way, despite the castle's opulence. And the brushstrokes reminded me of Warren's pottery, not that that influenced my perception whatsoever. I got the sense that this place was more of an artistic hub than Makora.

Same as with Caeda's castle, we were brought into a massive dining room. A few plants framed the edges of the golden floors, and there was a magnificent wooden table in the center, but I didn't notice either. Until the meeting began, I couldn't take my eyes off all those paintings.

"We hope to keep this entirely hands-off," Caeda said, beginning the meeting.

That caught my attention.

We'd all been instructed to sit, so that was what I was doing. Caeda, Atlas, Iliantha, Laila, Jeremy, Connor, Naomi, and Rania—the Queen whose castle we were in—were the only ones at the head of the table. As Iliantha continued, Laila passed pieces of parchment down the table.

"Which is where the necromancers come in," Iliantha said.

"How many of you are there?" Rania asked, looking around the room.

She was beautiful, as all Fae were. With eyes of glowing opal, pointed ears, light brown skin, and emerald green hair, you couldn't help but look at her. Her appearance was enrapturing.

Seeing all these people with vibrant colored hair, I had to wonder if it came naturally or if they somehow processed it the way we did on Earth. I wanted to ask, but now likely wasn't the time.

No matter how entrancing Rania may have been, when those glowing opal eyes turned on me, it felt as though a probe pierced through my body. Beautiful, she was, but not as passive as Iliantha. She wasn't as eccentric as Caeda, either. Assertive was the best word I could use for her. I respected it, but I also acknowledged what I was and why my presence may not have been all that welcome here. It made it hard to hold her gaze.

Warren seemed to feel the same way, because he only edged his hand upward when she asked. Ramona did the same, alongside Luci and Jeremy.

"It won't be enough." Shaking her head, Rania crossed her arms against her chest. "Four necromancers is simply not enough."

"Me and my sister did it to an entire town," Jeremy said. "You felt our power."

"Yes, and our enemy possess the same," she insisted.

"They don't," Caeda murmured, looking us all over. Her eyes stayed on Laila, Jeremy, Connor, and Naomi for a few heartbeats. "I understand your worry, but the island has a few thousand. Together, all of these people, they possess the strength of at least a million."

"Perhaps." Flowing red gown billowing behind her, Rania stepped slowly around the table. When she got to each necromancer, she scrutinized them up and down. "But how long have they trained?"

"Most of us are far older than the air an tagadh," Luci said. "We have eons of experience that they don't with this magic."

"He does not." She wagged a finger at Warren, and then at Ramona. "She does not."

"That's why he and I are taking the lead on this." Jeremy gestured between himself and Luci. "I have two more necromancers back home. I can go get them as well. But I have no doubt. We can handle this."

"Like you handled the Angel uprising?" Rania's eyes glowed when they turned on him. Her face stayed blank. No expression, no anger in her voice. Just blunt, to the point. "Don't overestimate yourself, Nix. You failed before. You could fail again."

"Not with this," Laila said. Her voice was a bit softer, but her expression was just as hard. "We failed then because of our love for our nephews. We won't make that mistake twice. And either way, the only emotion we have attached to this is protecting you and your people."

"Oh, do gràs, that's where you're wrong." Tracing her tongue along her lips, a smirk quirked up the corner of them. "Your husband stands beside you. There's a reason that when I go off on a battle, or when my partner does, one of us stays behind. The person who matters most to you will always come before the masses. That's not an insult. Simply a fact."

"If you were right, I would say so," Laila replied. "But we have been fighting for years, many battles that I doubt you've ever heard of. We protect each other, but we protect the mission first."

"Kind words," she said. "But they are only that."

With a heavy exhale, Laila rounded the table. Once they were only a foot or two apart, she said, "I understand. You don't know me. You have no reason to trust me. I hope we can build that over time, but as it is right now, we both have to take each other's words at face value."

"I'm glad we understand each other," Rania said.

"So am I. And that's why I'm glad we decided to keep this mission hands-off," Laila said. "None of us should be in any danger at any time."

"Unless we fail, and they invade my city," Rania said.

"We won't," Laila said. "We've done this before. We can do it again."

"She's right, Rania," Iliantha said. "It took them no time at all, and our people were free. They were safe. Every single one of them. Then, they had hostages. That made it all the more difficult. This situation is simple."

"We aren't certain that they don't have hostages," Caeda said. "It's possible they do."

"I doubt that." Connor shook his head. "They kill and eat their victims. There's no reason to keep a hostage. There's no information they want."

"There could be," Caeda said. "If they knew the right spells, they could find a way to break through the barriers of my city and every other Elvan one."

"Have any of your generals gone missing?" Laila said. "Or are we arguing hypotheticals for the sake of arguing?"

"I agree," Rania said. "This debate is pointless. As much as it pains me, even if they did have hostages, we would still do what we have to."

My heart ached at that sentence.

Very seldom did I wish harm on anyone, especially innocent people, people on my side. But I couldn't say that I didn't understand.

War was a brutal thing. The Fae were fighting two. One against the Angels, and one against the air an tagadh. They were losing, and they had been losing for centuries. Maybe not in numbers, considering the Fae were still around. They hadn't all been wiped out. But every day, their people died. They lived in constant fear.

At some point, they had to choose their evils. Let a few hostages die? Or let thousands of their enemies live? They could attempt a covert mission to rescue the hostages, assuming they knew where to find them, but how many would die in that process? How much longer would the war go on, if the sacrifice wasn't made?

I didn't want to think about that, but I had to understand.

What I didn't understand was the plan. Evidently, they all did. But it sounded like we were a part of it, and we had no idea what they were talking about.

"Thank you," Laila said.

"Thank me when it's over," Rania said. "If you insist that the necromancers can do it, the larger problem then becomes the Witches." Again, she looked over us all. "Which ones of you are the Witches?"

Luci and Rain raised their hands.

Squinting, she walked closer to Rain. "You're the one who can tap into the other's power, no?"

"I am, yeah." Rain pointed to Warren, Graham, and me. "Between us all, we're pretty strong."

"Oh, darling, I feel that." Looking Rain up and down, she traced her tongue along her teeth. Her eyes came to each of us next. She studied every inch of us. "My worry is your experience. Or lack thereof."

"She is young," Caeda conceded.

"Young, but strong," Luci said. "And a very attentive learner. If you explain exactly how the spell should work to her, walk her through it step-by-step, she will do it. She will do it well."

I agreed. I agreed with every word.

Yet something about those words made me wonder. I never quite understood Luci's relationship with Rain. He had been patient and instructive with all of us throughout our training, but he had a particular interest in Rain that I couldn't put into words.

There was no romance involved. That, I had no doubt about. He looked at her the same way that I looked at Laila and Jeremy's children.

He just cared more than I expected him to. With the others, it made sense when they helped us. Not only did they feel obligated to because they were gods, but because we later learned, we were related. Luci wasn't, not really. He had no direct ties to us, but he still worked incredibly hard to train Rain in every area of witchcraft that he could.

"She's your responsibility then," Rania said.

"A responsibility I happily accept."

"That means you're responsible for these three as well." Rania gestured between Graham, Warren, and me. "Do you happily accept that responsibility?"

"They're not quite as powerful, but they're mostly obedient." Luci's tone and expression were as flat as Rania's. "So yes. I do."

"And you realize that this one,"—she laid her hand on Warren's shoulder— "will be completing two incredibly difficult tasks at once. Can you support him through that?"

"It's the same tasks I will be completing, if I understand the plan here," Luci said. "If that is the case, then yes. I have no doubt he can handle it. I would like clarification on the plan, however."

"Pretty cut and dry, really," Jeremy said. "The Witches are going to cage them in. The necromancers are going to siphon their souls from their bodies and launch them into the abyss."

I wasn't sure I understood.

"Like we did withDathor?" Warren asked.

"Exactly like that," Laila said. "Just on a much larger scale."

I felt the heat drain from my cheeks. A glance at Warren and Rain told me I wasn't alone. Graham seemed nonchalant, only nodding slowly.

"If you look at the maps I passed out, you'll understand a bit more," Laila advised.

Swallowing hard, I looked down at mine. It looked like any other map, shapes and lines drawn on parchment. Most of it was ocean, then the edge of a small landmass on the far left. Somewhere in the midst of it, close to the coast, was a big red star.

"You can see where we are on the map." Holding it up, she pointed to said star. "Go about two inches to the right, and you'll see a yellow circle around an island."

Sure enough, I did.

"That's where they are, and that's where we're going," Connor said. "Honestly, the way I see it? The hardest part here is going to be remaining undetected until we arrive. As soon as they know that we're coming, they'll either leave, or they'll attack."

"After that, the plan's simple." Jeremy gestured to our little group. "You four, with Luci tapping into mine and Laila's power too, will work with Caeda and Rania to put a cage around the island."

"Shield, cage, whatever you want to call it," Laila said. "All armies will stay far from this site. It'll be us and us alone out there."

"The more people we send, the more risk we have of being detected," Atlas said.

"So, only born Witches and seers will set the perimeter for the shield," Caeda said. With her eyes on Rain, she continued. "Your men will stay back until we have lain the stones."

"We will cast the spell, but only once we are rejoined with our group," Rania said.

"As soon as the spell goes up," Jeremy said, "us necromancers get to work. So we'll be doing two jobs at once."

"We're not trying to save anyone inside," Laila said, "so it won't be like last time we did this. We will use all the force necessary to prevent them from taking down the shield. We will do so from the outside, but it could still get messy. We'll be on the outside, though, so we'll be safe."

"All of our team will be within arm's reach of a teleporter," Connor said. "If things go bad, we teleport out. I don't think we'll need to, though. It might get bloody inside the shield, but we'll make it out."

"So, for now, we will practice," Rania said, eyes on Rain. "Tomorrow morning, we set out. But tonight, you show me what you know."