Chapter 11

The woman led her from the clearing and into the forest. Here, the canopy of apple blossoms closed in above them, blocking out the moonlight, and Ursula felt a strange comfort in the darkness. “Where are you taking me?”

“To your room in the castle. I will help you get settled for your audience with the queen.”

They walked under the apple blossoms in silence, their path lit only by the faint chinks of moonlight that danced on the damp earth beneath their feet. Ursula’s bare soles sank into the dirt as she walked.

Ursula strained her eyes in the darkness, trying to see the other woman. “What is your name?” Ursula ventured.

“Elaine.”

“Who is the queen you spoke of?”

“Her name is Nimue. She rules over our little isle.”

At last they reached the forest’s edge, emerging at a narrow ridge that sloped steeply down on either side. On one side, the sea pounded against the dark beach. On the other, a valley stretched out before them, where small farms had been carved from the forest, quiet and dark in the damp night. In the distance, almost entirely shrouded by mist, was the shape of a mountain.

“Are we going down there?” asked Ursula, pointing at the valley.

“No. Nimue’s castle is up ahead.”

“Who lives down there, then?” asked Ursula.

“That is Camlann Valley. My family’s home is on the far side.”

It seemed a cozy place—the kind of place it would be nice to raise a family in. “Do your parents still live there?”

“Yes, but I live in the castle now.”

“What exactly do you do there in the castle?” She had no idea how castles operated.

“I am one of the queen’s ladies.”

That didn’t exactly clear things up, but Elaine didn’t seem particularly eager to chat. In silence, they hiked higher along the ridge, until the castle came into view. Built at the apex of the ridge, its turrets reached into the sky like spindly fingers, and its dark stone glinted in the moonlight. As they drew closer, the path intersected a narrow cobbled road, an icy mist whirling over the stones. Ursula shivered at the chill. The road bent sharply as they approached, curving out toward the cliff’s edge. Cold stone bit into Ursula’s bare feet as they walked. Ursula peered up at the fortress. The smooth stone castle loomed over them like a spindly crown.

Unlike the carefully restored castle at St. Michael’s Mount, Nimue’s castle fell somewhere between castle and ruin. Moss and lichen grew over the stone, and in places the tooth-like crenellations along its battlements had collapsed. A dark tongue of wood stuck out from the front of the castle, and it took Ursula a moment to recognize it: a drawbridge spanning a gap in the cliff.

As they drew closer, a sentry appeared at the opposite end of the bridge gripping a long, coppery pike. Iron chains as thick as Ursula’s legs held the drawbridge in place.

“She has already relinquished her magic.” Elaine projected her voice to the sentry.

“You have followed the ritual of the fruit?”

“We have.”

“Welcome to Castle Dahut.”

As they walked over the drawbridge, their feet thumped on the oaken boards. When they passed the sentry, Elaine nodded.

“Thank you, Oran.”

“You’re welcome, my lady. The queen is in the Moon Tower.”

Elaine smiled shyly at Oran, and Ursula saw him blush.

Ursula followed her through a stone hall where lantern light danced over the flagstones until it opened into a grassy courtyard. At this hour, few people lingered here. Two soldiers stood at one end, staring at Ursula. A few more soldiers stood in archways, but otherwise the place was empty.

A tall tower loomed over the far end of the courtyard. Elaine strode toward it, and Ursula followed her to a heavy oaken door. Elaine pulled it open, leading Ursula into a narrow stairwell of dark stone, lit by wavering candlelight. A chilly draught curled around her bare feet. She couldn’t stop herself from thinking about Bael, and his strange reaction to the words Mount Acidale. She had to restrain herself from hunting him down in Avalon and demanding answers from him.

After two floors of stairs, they reached an archway, and Elaine led her to a hall, its arched ceiling sharply peaked. Candles in sconces cast dancing light over the hall. After some twenty feet, Elaine stopped at a door and turned the knob, beckoning Ursula inside.

As soon as she stepped inside, Ursula’s body began to relax. In the large, circular room, a fire burned in a large fireplace, and the scent of woodsmoke filled the air. A girl knelt at the fireplace, her hair sandy blonde, a smattering of freckles across her round face. An old halberd hung above the mantle, and Ursula tucked that fact away in her mind for later use. Perhaps it would come in handy.

The girl rose, smiling at Elaine. “You’re back already?” She frowned at Ursula, and after a moment, her jaw dropped. Something about Ursula seemed to have unnerved her.

“I’m Ursula.”

The girl stared, mouth gaping.

“That’s Linnet,” said Elaine. “One of our novices.” After giving Linnet a sharp look, Elaine pointed at a stairway in the shadows of the room, framed by two tapestries. “Your room is upstairs. Follow me.”

Ursula followed Elaine up the stairwell and through another wooden door into a smaller room. Moonlight streamed through a narrow window onto a single bed, and a candle guttered on a simple wooden dresser.

“This is the guest room,” said Elaine, turning to the dresser. “Tomorrow, you will meet the queen. She likes to fly Kree from the top of the tower in the afternoon. You will want to wear something warm.”

Ursula raised her eyebrows. “Kree?”

“The queen is very keen on hawking. Kree is her favorite gyrfalcon. Tomorrow I will fetch you, and you will join us at the mews.”

The mews. Hawking. Handmaidens. What the hell was she doing here? She’d come here for one reason alone—to find out about the dragons. Now she also wanted to find out about Mount Acidale, but instead, she was being sequestered in a room with some sort of hawking plans and a visit with a queen.

“Elaine. It’s very important that I find Kester. Can you please tell me what you know?”

Elaine stared at her for a long moment, then turned and crossed to the door. “Goodnight, Ursula, Princess of Darkness.”

As Elaine closed the wooden door behind her, a cold shudder snaked up Ursula’s spine.

When she’d woken,she’d found a tray of bread and coffee steaming by her bedside. Buttery morning light streamed in through the window. In the light of day, Ursula surveyed her room again, now spotting another door carved into the stone wall.

She rose from her bed, peering out the window at her view of the castle’s courtyard and, beyond it, the gray, churning sea. She crossed, and pulled open a drawer. Piles of white dresses lay neatly tucked in the drawer, along with some fresh underwear. She pulled on a pair of knickers and a white cotton dress that felt smooth and clean against her skin, and she caught a glimpse of herself in a small mirror that hung over the dresser. She hardly recognized herself with the short bob, but the full night’s sleep had refreshed her, and some pink had returned to her cheeks.

A pair of flat gray shoes lay next to the dresser, and she slipped into them, then plopped down on her bed to devour her breakfast. Her stomach rumbled, and the fresh, buttery bread made her mouth water. When she’d worked her way through three or four rolls, alternating with coffee, her breakfast was interrupted by a knock coming from that stone door carved into the wall. Maybe she’d finally get some answers about Kester.

“Yes?”

The door scraped against the flagstones, and Linnet’s freckled face peered through the door. “I’m to take you to the mews,” she stammered, her face reddening.

“The mews. Right. The falconry and hawking thing.”

Linnet gestured to the door, and Ursula followed her into a hall, their footsteps echoing off an impossibly high ceiling. She still had so many unanswered questions about this place. “How did the other women know where to find us?”

“We are called Nimue’s handmaidens,” she said shyly.

“All right, how did Nimue’s handmaidens know where to find Bael and me? We weren’t anywhere near the castle.”

“Lir sent us a message when he heard your call.” She spoke in a small voice.

“How?”

“There’s a spell.”

Ursula glanced at Linnet. “I don’t suppose you know what ‘Princess of Darkness’ means, do you?”

Linnet merely furrowed her brow at Ursula, her cheeks a deep shade of red, then she looked away without replying. In the main corridor, with its narrow, pointed windows, a draft caught at Ursula’s collar. She hugged herself as Linnet pushed open the door onto the roof of the keep.

Here a briny breeze whipped over Ursula’s skin and the keep’s roof offered a panoramic view of the kingdom. The valley floor, the slate-gray ocean, the lush apple orchards—and all around, the swirling mist.

The view was so breathtaking, Ursula nearly didn’t notice the woman standing by a stack of wooden bird cages. Tall and regal, she was dressed in a cloak of white wool, finely stitched with the outlines of apple blossoms. Ursula supposed that at one time her hair may have been dark, but now gray streaked it at the temples. She looked to be maybe fifty years old. On one arm she wore a heavy leather glove.

“Are you Ursula, the young hound?”

“That’s me.”

“I am Nimue, the queen of Avalon.” With eyes as fierce and cold as the gray ocean, she studied Ursula. “Why have you come to visit me?”

“I am looking for my friend Kester. He has information that I need.”

The queen’s gaze bored into her. “We know no one of that name.” Her attention flicked away from Ursula as a shadow passed rapidly overhead. The queen held out her arm, and in the next moment, a falcon hand landed on her glove, his wings the color of dawn and starlight. The queen pulled a piece of raw meat from her cloak, and fed it to the falcon.

She knows more than she’s letting on.How could she get on the queen’s good side? “That’s a magnificent bird.”

The queen’s sharp features softened. “Have you ever seen a gyrfalcon before?”

“No, I don’t believe so.”

“Come here, then. Kree is very gentle.”

As Ursula approached, the falcon gnawed at his meat, completely ignoring her.

“He won’t mind if you touch his back,” said the queen.

Ursula reached out, stroking the bird’s soft feathers. “You haven’t had any other visitors? No other hellhounds, or unexpected men?”

“You are the first to visit in a long time.” The queen pursed her lips, cooing at Kree.

Ursula couldn’t quite let this go. This was the only lead she had—the only clue to figuring out how to defeat the dragons. The river hag had said he’d come here. Unless… unless the old hag had just been full of shit? And then maybe everything was a lie—her mother’s death, her attempted patricide… How the hell was she supposed to know what was real? “A river hag in the Thames was certain that Kester had come here,” she pressed. “Her name was Agnes.”

The queen’s brow furrowed slightly. “All I can tell you is that I haven’t seen him. Do you know why he might have wanted to visit?”

If she wanted the queen to confide in her, maybe she needed to give a little more away. “Yes.” She stared into the queen’s iron-gray eyes. “Dragons have been attacking New York, and Kester thought the answer to stopping them lay in Avalon.”

“Dragons?” The queen’s brow creased sharply, and she straightened. “Linnet, return Kree to his cage, please.”

Linnet stepped forward, now wearing a glove similar to the queen’s. While she watched the girl pull Kree from the queen’s arm, Ursula’s mind raced furiously. She needed them to tell her what they knew. “Dragons have attacked New York and London. Much of New York has been destroyed. It’s quite urgent that I find him.”

The queen leaned forward, sunlight glinting in her eyes. “Do you know why they have appeared?”

Ursula sucked in a sharp breath. “They’re after me, but I don’t know why.”

“That is most unusual. Dragons don’t usually take an interest in the affairs of men. Come closer. Let me have a look at you.” The queen pulled off her hawking glove and hooked a finger under Ursula’s chin, lifting it to meet her gaze. She studied Ursula for a long moment. Then, releasing Ursula’s chin, she continued, “Give me your hand.”

Ursula extended her hand, and the queen took it in her long, delicately tapered fingers. She continued to look at Ursula. Then her gray eyes flashed with a pale green light. The queen’s hand suddenly felt clammy. Ursula tried to pull away, but the queen held her tightly. A damp magic crept over Ursula’s skin. She could taste water on her lips, and the salt of the sea.

The queen’s eyes flicked back to their normal gray. Her lips pressed into a thin line, her brow razor sharp. Her fear was almost palpable. “You will leave in the morning,” she intoned.

Ursula pulled her hand away. “I don’t understand. Why?” Was this to do with the whole ‘Princess of Darkness’ thing?

“This audience is over,” the queen declared. “Linnet will take you to your quarters.” She turned to the girl. “She is confined to her room. Do not allow her to leave. Call the boatman tomorrow morning and have him return her to the portal.”

Ursula’s stomach clenched. Maybe the queen had the answers to her question about the dragons—but like everyone else around her, she wasn’t letting on. “What are you talking about? What are you afraid of?”

“A tainted thing,” said the queen, her words dripping with disgust. And with that, she turned and strode across the roof. Before she got to the roof’s end, her body began constricting with the sound of snapping bones, and feathery wings sprouted from her back until she’d taken on the form of a silver and black falcon. She swooped through the air above Ursula, and then out over the sea.