26. Briony

TWENTY-SIX

Briony

K ayan is waiting for me in the hallway. I am still not used to seeing him, but I have stopped questioning it. I have stopped questioning anything anymore.

"Did you speak to her?" he asks, following me as I hurry down the hall towards the noise and movement of the Sunborne, gathering for what they think is another of Eldrion's feasts.

"I think I got through to her." I sigh with relief. She listened to me, she let me hug her, she let down the wall she'd put up. "I think it's going to be okay."

"We need to get her away from Eldrion," Kayan says. "Being around him is changing her."

"It's not just him." I stop and fold my arms. "Maura was cruel to her, she said terrible things. You should make her apologise. It would mean a lot. All Alana wants is to be accepted."

"Maura will never . . ."

"She might if she realised what her cruelty is doing."

Kayan shakes his head. His blond curls fall over his face, and he sighs deeply. Watching him is a strange experience. His body is the same, but it is also not the same. It glows a little, sometimes more, sometimes less.

"I will try to speak to her," he says. "But she is old and stubborn. I cannot see that my words will make any difference."

"Try." I resist the urge to squeeze his arm because I'm not sure what it will feel like, or if it will feel like anything at all.

"You're a good friend to her," he says as we move once more towards the grand hall.

"As are you," I tell him. "To still stand by her even though she is in love with Eldrion. After what he did to you.. ."

"In love with him?" Kayan's tone changes. He shakes his head. "She is not in love with him."

"I believe she is. And I believe he loves her, too. Have you not seen the way they look at each other?"

Kayan frowns. "That's not possible. Eldrion is . . ."

"I'm not saying it's a good thing." A small shudder grips my shoulders. "It's the kind of love that seems like it could destroy the world if they let it grow too big."

"Isn't destroying the world what we're trying to prevent?" Kayan asks. We have reached the large oak doors that lead into the dining hall.

"Precisely. Which is why we need to do everything we can to remind Alana who she really is, and where she comes from, and that this life here in this castle is not what she's fighting for."

Kayan presses his lips together. He nods slowly. "I'll talk to Maura."

"Alana promised me we could talk later. Bring Maura to her chambers. If we can just get them to work together, and undo all the hurt, maybe..." I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose. I'm not sure I believe what I'm saying. Maybe I'm being naive. Is it really possible to come back from what Alana did?

"We have to try," Kayan says, as if he's reading my mind. "We owe it to her."

I nod and thank him. "Yes, we do." Then I push open the doors and enter at the back of the hall.

While Kayan goes to find Maura, I position myself at the rear of the dining hall with the other Shadowkind who remain in the castle.

Most are guards, but there are a scattering of others, too.

Observing them, I wonder whether I still feel like one of them. For so long, we had a joint enemy, and a shared experience. But now I seem to stand apart from them. Although they could have run, they did not. I did, but I returned free. They are still bound to Eldrion. They could leave if they wanted to; he could not stop them now. But a lifetime of being sealed behind these walls has made them unable to make that choice.

They will be here to the bitter end.

Whatever that looks like.

As the music begins to play, the same music Finn entered to every night when he performed his acrobatics for the Sunborne's entertainment, the crowd quiets.

The long tables have been set as if we really are waiting on a feast, but I have seen no movement in the kitchens to indicate that this is the case.

Alana enters behind me, barely making a sound.

She is radiant, and almost looks like one of them. Her hair is loose, gathered over one shoulder, with large, beautiful waves that make it shimmer as she moves.

And her dress... it is almost like a wedding gown. Long, and silver, and flowing over her curves like it was made for her.

She stands beside me, completely poised.

Her hands are clasped in front of her.

She really is like one of them.

Eldrion enters from the front of the room, appearing from the shadows without warning the way Finn used to. The crowd quiets. This is not the usual way of things.

"Good evening." He addresses them, but he is searching for Alana in the crowd. When he sees her, his eyes flicker with something. Pleasure? Comfort? Relief?

"Thank you for joining us this evening."

Eldrion has barely begun to speak when Alana moves past me, heading straight for him. He notices her and stops talking. The crowd parts for her as she beats her wings, purple magic flickering at their tips.

"I'm afraid" – she raises her voice – "that Lord Eldrion has asked you here under false pretences this evening."

Eldrion stares at her in disbelief and mutters something I can't hear.

She stands right in front of him, blocking him from view with her beauty.

"There is no feast."

Whispers spread through the watching Sunborne. The woman who came to the castle to ask about the storm clouds in the sky steps forward. "My lord, why is this woman speaking for you yet again?"

Before Eldrion can answer, Alana draws herself up taller, tilts her chin, and says, "I am speaking because I have something to say. And you will listen."

Suranna blinks at her incredulously. She raises her hands. Golden magic flickers in them. It is so beautiful I can't look away from it; the Sunborne use their magic sparingly, and I have never seen it before in such close proximity. It changes the air. In an instant, power quivers in every breath.

Another Sunborne steps up beside Suranna and does the same.

Alana studies them, and her eyes twitch at their corners. She is staring at their magic, and in that moment, I know exactly what she is planning to do.

I spin around, heading for the door, but a sudden shaft of purple smoke slams it closed.

The crowd begins to shift, and more Sunborne bring magic into their hands.

The guards try the doors, but Alana's smoke is holding them closed.

"Listen to me, all of you." Alana's voice fills the air. "Eldrion has not told you the truth. What you saw above the castle was the start of something unspeakable. An evil that will destroy this city if we let it."

"What are you talking about?" Suranna spits, her magic still simmering in her hands.

Alana sighs deeply. Behind her Eldrion is watching as if he can't decide whether he is turned on or terrified by what's happening. "It doesn't really matter," Alana says. "I know what will happen if I explain it to you." She beats her wings and rises into the air. "I will tell you what is to come, and you won't believe me. I'll ask you to fight for Luminael, and you'll run. You'll blame me. You'll tell me it is all my fault, and maybe you'll decide that I am the one who should be stopped and not Finn."

"Finn?" Suranna looks at the fae next to her, then back at Alana. "The court jester?" A laugh escapes her lips, then she turns to Eldrion. "Is this some kind of joke, Eldrion? A new act? Because I have to say, I am not finding it very amusing."

Still hovering in the air, Alana's voice cries out. "This is no joke!"

She tips back her head and splays her arms. Her smoke multiplies, sweeping through the grand hall, wrapping itself around the ankles of the Sunborne and the Shadowkind. It grows, and grows.

The Sunborne all summon their magic, but no one attacks her. Not yet.

"Eldrion, do something!" I call to him, but he does nothing. He just watches as Alana's eyes flash bright and violet, and her wings glow.

With a roar, she summons the smoke to her. It rips through the room.

The Sunborne cry and fall to their knees as the smoke envelops them. Their magic continues to glow. Golden, flickering through the smoke. But then it disappears.

The smoke flies back to Alana.

She opens her mouth and screams, and as it enters her she starts to glow. Bright white light surrounds her, illuminating her skin. When she stops screaming, and the smoke dissipates, she is panting, her chest shaking as she breathes. And the Sunborne are on the ground.

Their wings . . .

I look at my own.

They are like me, now.

No longer radiating strength and beauty, but pale and grey. Husks of what they were a few moments ago.

"She took their magic." Kayan is at my shoulder. "She took it from them." He staggers backwards, his own wings fluttering behind him.

Tears are streaming down my face. Suranna is digging her nails into the flagstone floor. She looks up with terrified eyes. Alana looks down at her, and smirks. Her eyes flash golden, then purple, and her wings unfurl, brighter than before. More beautiful.

She lowers herself to the ground and sighs heavily. Then she turns to Eldrion. "Now," she says, "we have all the power we need, and we do not have to rely on anyone but ourselves to win this fight."

He stares at her. I expect to see anger in his eyes, but there is none. A smile parts his lips.

He is proud of her.

Eldrion grabs her waist and kisses her. "What now?" he asks, taking her hand.

"You told me I am not the one in charge," she says, a coy smile on her lips. As if they are alone and no one can hear them.

"It seems I was wrong," he says, stepping back and dipping into a bow. "So, Alana of Luminael. What now?"

Her eyes flicker and she inhales deeply. Pleasure flickers on her skin. "Now," she says. "We rid the city of the remaining Shadowkind. They are who Finn will turn next. We cannot allow him to add to his army."

I look at the guard standing next to me. Pria. She swallows forcefully and bites her lower lip. "You should run," I whisper to her.

She does not turn to face me, but says, "You should, too."

"Oh, I intend to."