Chapter 26

Ursula’s eyes snapped open. She was no longer in the cabin on the side of Mount Acidale. Instead, she sat in an immense hall. Servants bustled around her, carrying trays of roast chicken, baskets of steamed prawns, and piles of meat pies. Someone spoke in her ear, and she turned her head to see Abrax dressed in an indigo uniform. His silvery eyes shone with excitement. She opened her mouth to scream, but instead of a shout of terror, out came a deep male voice. Bael’s voice.

“This is quite the feast, don’t you think?”

Abrax nodded. “For humans, the food is exceptional.”

“So we’re on the same page,” continued Bael. “After dinner, we sign the armistice. The king gives up his disciples, and we retreat.”

“Correct,” said Abrax.

In Bael’s body, she felt herself stand, carried along with him, in his memory. He raised his glass.

“A toast to King Midac,” he said. “This armistice will bring peace to Mount Acidale. A truce to the war between Emerazel and Nyxobas.”

The room cheered, but Ursula’s eyes went to the king’s table at the far end of the room. A man in a ruby-flecked golden crown sat at the far end of the table—King Midac, presumably. His golden hair curled from beneath his crown, blue eyes taking in everything. To his right sat the queen, her dark hair stark against her white gown.

And to his left—Kester. A sword hung at his hip, and he scanned the room.

But it was the woman next to the queen that drew Ursula’s attention. Her auburn hair tumbled over a purple velvet gown. With her bright blue eyes and heart-shaped face, there was no mistaking that this woman was Ursula’s mother. Ursula’s blood roared in her ears.

She wanted to shout, to run across the room and ask the woman a million questions, but of course she couldn’t. This was Bael’s memory. She had no control as it unfolded.

Instead, she sat quietly and began to eat. With Bael’s eyes focused on the meal, Ursula couldn’t see anything beyond an enormous steak and a pile of potatoes. Please look up. Please look up.

A scream pierced the peaceful atmosphere, and Bael’s eyes flashed up. A fracas had erupted at King Midac’s table. Everything seemed to slow, growing quiet as Bael’s eyes moved from person to person. First, his gaze flicked to Kester, who reached for his blade. Then they moved to the king, whose expression was one of abject horror. When Bael looked at the queen, the source of the horror was obvious. Blood bloomed from the center of her chest, where a steak knife stuck out. Bael’s gaze slid to Ursula’s mother. Her hands dripped with blood as she lunged for the king.

The scene slowed further as, for the briefest of instants, Ursula’s mother turned toward Bael. Where Ursula would have expected to see some sort of grimace, the woman’s face looked instead strangely calm. And then she saw her eyes—black as Nyxobas’s void.

Ursula shrieked in silent agony.

Then everything sped up again. Bael leapt over the table. Across from him, Kester drew his sword. Pushing the king aside, Kester drove his blade into Ursula’s mum’s stomach.

Bael reached her a moment later, but Kester leapt into his path. “You betrayed us.”

“No!” Bael shouted.

King Midac pushed forward, standing next to Kester and drawing his sword.

“I saw her eyes,” roared the king. “One of your night hags. There will be no armistice. This was an assassination.” The king’s voice was thick with emotion, his eyes blazing with rage. “Kill the shadow demons!”

Bael started to charge, but a king’s guard intercepted him. With a single swing, Bael hacked off his head. When Bael’s eyes refocused on the king, more guards had moved between them. Led by Ursula’s grandfather, they closed in around Bael and Abrax.

The memory skipped forward. Now, Bael and Abrax were fighting back in a wild blur of shadows and fury. Around them, the floor had grown slick with blood. Still, the guards pressed in. Bael and Abrax continued to eviscerate them, hacking through necks and pressing closer to the king’s table.

When they reached it, Abrax leapt on top. Bael knelt to examine Ursula’s mother. She lay on the floor, blood oozing from the wound in her side.

“Who sent you?” asked Bael.

Ursula’s mum stared back at Bael. Her eyes had returned to blue—no longer reflecting the darkness of the void. She didn’t answer.

Bael pressed his hand to her wound, putting pressure on it. “I said, who sent you?”

Ursula’s mother moaned softly, but she didn’t answer.

A shout turned Bael’s head. A young girl was charging for him, a sword aimed at his throat. Abrax lunged for her, blade extended, but Bael blocked the attack with his own sword.

The girl pressed on, coming for him anyway. In a flash of shadows, Bael dodged under the girl’s blade. With a chopping motion, he batted it from her hands, then wrapped his arms around her tightly. Nearby, Abrax was playing defense, fighting any king’s guard who approached.

“Who are you?” said Bael.

The girl looked up at Bael, and Ursula nearly screamed. The blue eyes, the auburn hair, the fierce expression she’d seen a million times in the mirror. It was her own face that looked at Bael. F.U.’s face—Former Ursula.

“Don’t hurt my mother.” Her own eyes streamed with tears, looking back at her.

“I need to know why she betrayed us,” said Bael.

F.U. struggled against his grip. “My mother is a follower of Emerazel.”

Bael shook his head, gripping her tightly. “I saw the void in her eyes. She’s a follower of Nyxobas.”

“N-no…” F.U. stammered. “My mother would never betray King Midac. She loved the queen.”

Bael looked at the queen’s body where it lay on the floor. The handle of the steak knife still protruded from her chest.

The rising of Bael’s wings behind him cast a dark shadow over Ursula, and she pulled herself from his grip.

Flames began to rise around them.