49. Lily

"Well, well, Princess—so here you are. I thought you might have given up on your coronation and run away, back to the Mortal Realm," Mordren remarked as I stepped into the Hallowed Clearing.

He was sitting on the smaller throne again—the Regent's Throne—while the much larger Silver Throne of the Midnight Court was set up behind him. Gathered in a circle around the clearing were the High Fae of the Court as well as the Lesser Fae. All of them were there to see my coronation and I heard a soft gasp leave many mouths as I walked out into the light of the gold and blue bonfire.

I held my head high. I looked spectacular and I knew it. Lady Nolana had insisted on getting me ready in style because, as she said, I had to "look queenly in order to claim my place as Queen." I was wearing the puffy white coronation gown sewn all over with tiny Royal Purple gems and it swayed around my hips as I walked. My long silver, white, and purple hair was done in a fashionable up-do and the Jewel of Lolth sparkled at the hollow of my throat. I might not feel like a Royal ruler, but I certainly lookedthe part.

It was hard to believe this was the same clearing where I had first stumbled into my birthright simply because I was hungry and the food smelled so good. That had been less than a week ago, but it felt like years—lifetimes. So much had changed it was hard to believe that only a few days back I had been homeless and divorced with nowhere to go and no one to love. Now I had Krynn and Sel and a home in the Palace—not to mention a destiny as the true Queen of the Midnight Court that I had to somehow try to fulfill.

"If you really thought I'd abandon the men I care for, you don't know me, Mordren," I said, lifting my chin as I walked towards him. "I came here for Krynn and Sel—what did you do to them?" I demanded.

My heart was in my throat as I asked. What if he had killed them? I wouldn't put it past him to assassinate them both—Sel especially since he was the Captain of the Palace Guards and Mordren wouldn't want him turning them against him.

But to my great relief, Mordren shook his head.

"Are you worried that I killed them? Of course not—why would I do that?" he asked and laughed condescendingly. "No, I have a much better use for the two of them."

"And what is that? Give them back to me!" I snapped, not waiting for an answer to my question.

"I'll be happy to—for a price." His fake purple eyes glimmered with greed. "Come with me and we'll discuss it."

He rose from the smaller throne and raised his voice, speaking to the assembled Fae.

"Citizens of the Midnight Court, I know you're all eager to begin the coronation of our lovely Princess. But please be patient for a moment—she has asked for my guidance."

There was murmuring among the crowd but no one seemed inclined to go anywhere.

"Come with me," Mordren said again and though I didn't like it, I didn't see that I had any choice but to comply.

Warily, I followed him into the woods behind where the larger throne was set up. Only a few steps into the tree line, we came to another, smaller clearing and I saw a sight that nearly stopped my heart.

Krynn and Sel were both standing there wearing only trousers. Krynn's wings were out, but they looked ragged, as though someone had been cutting or tearing them. Both of them had their hands tied above their heads with long ropes which were bound to the sturdy bough of the huge old oak tree they were standing under.

What worried me most was the way they were sagging against their bonds—as though they could barely stand. Their heads were bowed and their shoulders were slumped—what was wrong with them?

"Krynn! Sel!" I started to run to them, but Mordren threw out an arm to stop me.

"Not so fast, Princess, if you please," he purred. "I know how very much you care for your two half-breeds. The question I have for you is—how much would you pay for their lives?"

"You can't kill them!" I exclaimed, glaring at him. "You don't dare!"

"Oh, I would dare a great deal to get what I want—what I've worked and waited for all these years," he snarled. "Besides, they're already dead."

"You're lying!" I snapped. "I can see them breathing—moving!" For Sel's broad chest was rising and falling with deep, ragged breaths and Krynn's wings were fanning slowly in the slight breeze.

"They're breathing for now, but they won't be for long." Lady Elgiana stepped out from behind the oak tree my guys were tied to, an evil grin on her face. "You see, I've given them both a rather large dose of bitterworm," she added. "It's a lethal poison and if they don't get the antidote within the next hour, well…I'm afraid that's the end for both our brave Captain of the Guard and our noble Court Historian."

"You bitch!" I gasped. "You didn't."

"Oh, I did. Look here…" Stepping closer to Sel, she raised his chin with one hand. "You can always tell the signs of bitterworm poisoning because of the way the eyes turn brown."

Looking at Sel's eyes, I felt my heart sink. His normally bright bronze eyes were a dull, muddy brown—not just the irises but the whites too. They made me think of a polluted river.

"Princess…" he muttered when he saw me. "Don't…listen to them. I'll be…fine."

But it was clear he wouldn't. His breathing was labored, as though he was fighting to get enough oxygen and only the rope around his wrists, which held his arms over his head, was keeping him on his feet.

"And Krynn is in the same boat, I'm afraid." Lady Elgiana let Sel's chin drop. Stepping over to the lighter Fae, she grabbed a handful of his thick white-blond hair and yanked his head up. Krynn's normally forest green eyes were the same polluted brown as Sel's. He could barely focus on me but when he did, he croaked,

"My Lady—forgive me. I have failed you."

"No, you haven't, Krynn!" My throat felt thick with tears. I glared at Elgiana. "What did you do to his wings?"

"Merely insured that he wouldn't be able to fly away." She grinned evilly. "Not that he has the energy for it now. The bitterworm makes them weak, you see—in fact, they'll both just keep getting weaker and weaker until they die." She made a mock-sad face at me. "Such a shame, really—when just a few drops of this antidote could cure them both." And she pulled out a crystal vial filled with dark blue liquid and waved it in my direction.

"Give it to me!" I exclaimed, grabbing for it.

"Ah-ah-ah, my dear Princess." Mordren stepped between us, shaking his head. "I don't think so—no antidote for your half-breeds until you make a deal with us."

"I'm not making any deal with you!" I snapped. And putting my hand on his arm, I sent out a burst of electricity—or tried to, anyway.

"Ouch!" Mordren laughed mockingly as he rubbed his arm. "My, that was a nasty shock you gave me, Princess. Is that really the best you can do?"

"No!" I denied hotly. Concentrating on the ground at his feet, I did my best to send the magic I had into it. "Grow!" I thought at the seeds I could feel buried there. "Come on—do it!"

A tiny green shoot broke the surface of the earth and wound a vine barely thicker than a string around the toe of Mordren's boot. He and Elgiana both stared down at it for a moment and then simultaneously burst into mocking laughter.

"Oh, no—it's too delicious!" Elgiana gasped, wiping tears of laughter from her streaming eyes. "She's absorbed the Powers of her two half-breeds but she's too weak to use them! Her magic is positively stunted!"

I could have cried with frustration! They were right—I was weak. Too weak to save my guys or my kingdom—too weak to do anything but what Mordren said. But even if I did, he might just kill me and Sel and Krynn. After all, why would he let us live when he could just get rid of us and all his problems at the same time?

I wished I could summon up the same rage I'd felt when I had confronted Christopher but the Thirst inside me was well under control. And besides, just because it had given me enough strength to overpower a human didn't mean I would be strong enough to overcome another Fae—especially one much larger and stronger than myself. Mordren wasn't as big as Sel, but he was still a head taller than me and pretty muscular. So what was I going to do?

"I should kill you here and now," Mordren narrowed his eyes at me. My heart began skittering in my chest—he was echoing exactly what I'd been thinking! "And I would too—if the people hadn't become so ridiculously fond of you during the Public Quenching last night," he added scowling. "So here's what we're going to do…"

He stepped closer to me and bent down, looking intently into my eyes. I remembered being warned that I shouldn't look him in the eye—hadn't Sel or Krynn told me his magic lay in powers of persuasion and making people believe his lies? But somehow it seemed I couldn't look away from the glowing bluish-purple depths.

"Listen to me, Princess," Mordren said. "We will go through with the Royal Coronation and you will be declared the Queen of the Midnight Court. But when it comes time to choose your Consort, you will name me as the male you wish to marry. Not only that, but you will declare me to be your King Consort and you'll do it with a smile on your face."

"I will not!" I exclaimed hotly. "I know what that means—if I name you the King, you'll get half my power right away and more over time!" I wasn't going to allow him to push me aside that easily!

"I told you that your magic wouldn't work on her," Elgiana remarked.

She had been standing to one side, watching with a sneer on her gorgeous face. She still had the crystal vial of dark blue antidote in one hand. I wished I could grab it from her but I couldn't get away from Mordren.

"It's the Jewel of Lolth—it's protecting her from your power," she went on. "That's why she's not succumbing to your spell."

"Well then, let's just take it off!" Mordren snatched at the filigree silver pendant around my neck—only to pull his hand back with a howl of pain. He blew on his fingers as though he'd touched a hot stove. "Little bitch!" he hissed at me. "Take it off, now!"

"No." I lifted my chin. I might be weak and nearly powerless, but I wasn't going to make things any easier on him.

Mordren got a frustrated look on his face.

"Look at me," he demanded again. "You will name me your King Consort!"

I opened my mouth to deny him again, but then I heard a familiar voice whisper in my ear,

"Agree with him! Pretend you're under his spell or he'll kill you!"

"What?" I looked around but didn't see anyone, though I could have sworn it was Lady Nolana whispering to me.

"You will name me King Consort!" Mordren insisted again.

"Agree!" Lady Nolana whispered in my ear and I felt her cool hand slip into mine. As soon as she touched me, I could see her standing there beside me, a worried look on her face.

But though she was visible to me, it was clear that neither Mordren nor Elgiana could see her at all. I remembered what she'd said about how being unseen was part of her magic. Clearly she was concealing herself from them. But how could following her advice help me?

I wavered for a moment—then admitted to myself I had no better ideas. I had to agree with Mordren or risk getting killed at once. So I pasted a zombie-like blank look on my face and said, in a flat, emotionless voice,

"I will name you my King Consort."

"There!" Mordren brightened up. "Was that so hard?"

"It took you long enough," Lady Elgiana remarked. "Go on—tell her the rest."

Mordren looked into my eyes again.

"You will stay by my side for one year only. Then you will declare that you are stepping down and going back to the Mortal Realm—you'll say that you're not a true Dark Fae because you weren't raised in the Midnight Court."

"Not a true Fae," I repeated robotically, though his words made me so angry it was hard to keep the blank look on my face.

"And you'll name Lady Elgiana as your successor," Mordren went on.

"I'll name Elgiana as my…as my successor." I forced myself to say the words.

"But why do we have to wait a whole year, Mordren?" Elgiana pouted. "I want to be Queen now."

"We have to wait because the people are already fond of the Princess—it has to look like her decision or you won't be seen as a legitimate Queen," he shot back. "Now be quiet and let me work!" He stared at me again. "Do you understand what you're going to do, Princess?"

"Declare you my King Consort and rule for one year before going back to the Mortal Realm and making Lady Elgiana the Queen," I said.

"Exactly. Good!" He nodded as though he was satisfied and finally moved out of my space. I wanted to breathe a sigh of relief—his face was gorgeous but his breath smelled unpleasantly fishy—but I knew I couldn't show anything. I was supposed to be magically hypnotized.

"Good, now go along as he leads you to the clearing. I'll be right with you," Lady Nolana breathed in my ear. "The main thing is to stay alive for your people, Princess."

Her hand in mine seemed to give me strength and without thinking about it, I pulled on the Power I felt in her and shoved it into the ground in front of Mordren's feet.

"Come on—I think the Court is getting restless," he said. He started to take a step and then stumbled over the enormous root that was suddenly in front of him. "What in the name of Lolth?" he snarled, barely catching himself against the trunk of a nearby tree. He looked down at his feet. "Was that there before?"

"It must have been," Elgiana remarked. "Come on—we have to go. But what should I do with these two?" She nodded at Sel and Krynn, who were still tied to the tree branch, their heads bowed.

"Leave the half-breeds." Mordren cast them a contemptuous look. "They'll be dead by morning. Then we can cut them down and hide the bodies."

I felt a surge of possessive, protective anger I could barely control. How dare he throw away the lives of the two men I loved so easily? I wanted to slap his face and rake my nails down his cheek. But I stayed still and pretended to be under his spell because I knew a secret.

The root he'd tripped over hadn't been there before—I had called it up from the ground myself, using the magic I'd gotten from Krynn when I drank from him and the Power I felt running from Lady Nolana's hand into mine. It made me think of my ancestress—the Queen that Sel had told me was able to pull Power from others just by touching them. Was that possible for me? I didn't know, but I was determined to find out.

I was beginning to have the ghost of an idea about how to save both my Kingdom and Krynn and Sel.

The only question was, would it work…or would trying it get me killed?