22

22

T auren dropped both ends of the wishbone into the silver dish amongst the other bones. I expected the pieces to flicker out and die down. Instead, they burned hot and bright, quickly igniting the entire dish.

I raised my hand and called on water. A puddle floated out of a nearby vase of red roses and doused the flame before it could spread to my bed clothes.

Smoke filled my bedroom, mouth, and nose. Tauren’s haunted stare focused on the charred pile of bones.

“What does this mean?” he dared ask.

I opened my mouth, but no answer left it. My mind raced to make sense of what just happened.

Fate whispered to me. This is not only his fate, daughter. This is yours .

How can that be? I thought. No one’s fate could transfer to another.

Your fates are one, he answered.

One prince.

One witch.

One fate.

I closed my eyes, but all I could see were flames. Walls of them. One right after another. They weren’t concentric like those painted on a target, these flames swirled… igniting far away and gathering power as they twisted in on themselves.

My eyes snapped open.

They begin in Thirteen and end at the palace.

It was a warning from Fate. My mother was coming.

I closed my eyes again, and a vision of flames licking the sky and a full moon floating helplessly above filled my mind. The scent of smoke lingered in my hair, making it feel too real. But it’s from the bones, the reading , I told myself. It’s not real. Not yet.

There was still time to stop it from happening.

“Sable?” Tauren said after a long moment.

“That fate wasn’t yours,” I croaked. His brows kissed. A dark strand of hair fell into his eyes and I brushed it away. “Tauren, the fate was ours.”

“Ours?”

I nodded. “We share the same fate now.”

“Because of the binding spell?”

The two of you have always shared the same fate.

“No. The spell has nothing to do with it.”

“Does this mean we’ll die in a fire?” he asked, worry painting his face .

“I’m not sure. The fire could be metaphorical,” I hedged. But I knew it wasn’t. My face still stung from the heat of the flames in my vision. The fire was very real.

“The bone actually caught fire, Sable. I don’t think that’s a metaphor.”

“I need to think.” I leapt from the bed and began to pace, biting the inside of my cheek as I concentrated on deciphering the vision.

“Is the Kingdom in peril?” he asked abruptly, standing up.

“I believe so. My mother has taken over Thirteen. She hasn’t killed the Priest and Priestesses yet, but I think she’ll try. She’ll kill them or bind them the way they bound her, and then… I think she’ll come for the Kingdom and crown.” And then for me.

“My father won’t survive an attack, Sable.”

“He won’t have to,” I vowed, my voice a growl.

“I need to talk to him. We need to discuss whether to continue the telecasts, or if it’s safer to send the girls home. Then we need to figure out how to defend our sectors against your mother, if it comes down to it.”

It would. I was sure of that much.

“I’ll talk with Mira and Brecan.”

“Can I come back later? I know it’s late.”

“I won’t be able to sleep anyway, Tauren. Come back any time.”

Watching him stride out the door, I wanted several things at once. To kiss him before he took another step; to tell him I would defend him and his family, his people, against my mother; and to somehow summon her and extract every particle of magic that lay inside her .

Brecan and Mira were ready when I knocked. “What happened?” Brecan snapped. “I felt your magic again.”

I looked to Mira. She confirmed the same with a nod, adding, “So did I.”

I took them to my room and showed them the bowl with the charred remains of dust and bone. Most of the pieces were so brittle, they fell apart when I lifted the silver bowl from the bed.

“It looks like there are no more fates for you to read, Sable. What does this mean?” Mira asked quietly.

Brecan’s mouth gaped. “Has this ever happened before?”

“No.”

Brecan was terrified, and for good reason. “We need to leave. Now ,” he ordered.

“And then what? We need a plan. If we waltz back into Thirteen, my mother might bind us the same way she has the others.”

We talked in circles for hours, but in the end, we agreed it was too risky to spirit away to Thirteen. We had to try to reach someone there and find out what exactly was happening, who was helping Cyril, if anyone, and where the witches and members of the Circle were being held.

Tauren returned near daybreak, just as light from the sun began to yawn across the sky. The whites of his eyes were red and his clothing was rumpled, his hair disheveled.

“We think it’s best to tell the invitees what’s happening,” he announced. “If they want to return home, so be it. For now, we need to figure out what’s happening in Thirteen, while acting as if all is well on the telecast. ”

“I can send something to spy on Cyril,” Mira offered. “How attached are you to your garden statues, Prince?” she grinned.

“I’m not nearly as attached to them as I am my own head.”

Brecan snorted, pushing away from where he leaned against the wall. He, Tauren, and I followed Mira to the north garden where a statue stood in the center of a small pond. It was of a woman, so detailed that even her tears tugged at my heart. The draping gown she wore showed every crease and fold as it hung from her ample body. She poured water from a clay pot into the pond below. A concrete dove with outstretched wings was perched on her shoulder.

Mira walked on the water’s surface and called on her affinity for water, reaching up and using her other ability on the stony dove. A wing twitched. Then the other. The fowl’s head craned from side to side, then its smooth stone faded, transforming to pale gray feathers. Bits of rock sprinkled into the fountain, pebbling the surface.

My breath caught in my throat when the dove cooed. Mira held out her hand and brought the dove close, whispering instructions as her free hand slid down its soft, downy feathers. She raised her hand and the dove flapped its wings and took flight, heading toward Thirteen.

The sculpted woman haunted me. The artist had chiseled the dove as a comfort to her, and without it she looked inconsolable.

The sky lightened as we waited with Mira, who watched the world through the eyes of the dove she brought to life. Tension settled among the rest of us, thick enough that even the light morning breeze couldn’t disperse it.

Tauren looked at me. “My father wants to have an emergency meeting with the invitees this morning. After that, he will consult his generals and we’ll make a plan.”

I didn’t have the heart to tell him that my mother would undoubtedly dash his plans, no matter how masterful they were laid out.

Even though she hadn’t raised me, the longer my mother breathed above the soil, the more I felt I knew her. She would strike hard and fast, and likely first. And if I was right, she wasn’t a patient woman. Cyril would use dark magic to give her the edge, which meant that we needed to be ready for her, and I would need to use my darkness against hers. Brecan would oppose. I glanced at him to find he was already watching me.

“She’s getting close. I can feel the magic from the wall,” Mira suddenly reported, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Her breathing became erratic.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, fingertips biting into my palms.

“She’s across it, but something isn’t right. This doesn’t feel right,” she said slowly, eyes darting in every direction.

“Is the bird just spooked? Some animals don’t like the feel of magic,” Brecan offered.

“No,” Mira said sharply. Her eyes widened. “No, fly away!” she screamed, then clutched her chest in pain. She squeezed her eyes tightly closed and let out a guttural scream. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she’d been run through. “The dove is mortally wounded, but I saw… ”

“What did you see?” I asked, placing a hand on her shoulder to steady her, and waiting until she took several deep breaths to compose herself. “What happened to the dove?”

“Someone shot an arrow through her heart; a male witch with long, stringy dark hair. I’ve never seen him before. He’s not from Thirteen.” She rubbed her chest over her heart, feeling the residual pain of the animal. “The dove… her spirit is almost gone, now. She’s on the ground, staring up at the canopy.”

The witch was the same one who shot the arrow at Tauren. I was sure of it. Loyal to my mother and willing to do her bidding, he was also on my short list of people to hang. He and the girl who’d attempted to poison my prince.

Mira couldn’t take a deep breath until the dove died. When it did, a tear fell from her eyes, making her look more like the statue of the woman in the pond than my friend for a moment. She wiped the tear away. “She’s trapped all the witches in the Center.”

“How is that possible?” Brecan breathed.

“Dark magic,” Mira and I answered at the same time.

“You felt it the moment the dove crossed the border,” I whispered. “Didn’t you?”

Mira shuddered. “Yes. It’s powerful… like nothing I’ve felt before.”

Fate came alive inside me, bringing forth an image of the Son of Night. Was he involved somehow?

A muscle ticked in Tauren’s jaw. “We have to free them.”

“Why do you care?” Brecan challenged .

“They are my people.” Tauren slid a look in Brecan’s direction that left no room for argument. The witches in The Gallows might separate themselves from the rest of the Kingdom, but it didn’t mean the monarchy felt they were any less citizens of Nautilus. And like a good prince, a good king, Tauren cared for his people.

“And how do you propose we set them free?” Brecan asked, part challenge and part curiosity.

He had no idea how to challenge my mother, but I did.

“The only way to fight her dark magic is with something darker,” I replied flatly.

“No,” he said immediately, standing from the bench he’d sprawled out on. “You can’t do it, Sable.”

Fate disagreed. He slithered warmly in my stomach. “Yes, I can.”

The King wasn’t well, but Annalina had hidden his exhaustion beneath a layer of fine, translucent powder. She’d washed his hair and helped him dress. The fact that he wasn’t in pain relieved him tremendously, but the cancer ravaging his body couldn’t be stopped. Its insidious effects were visible as the final five invitees joined the royal family in the King’s private study.

Brecan and Mira slid into the room while the other escorts waited outside. No doubt they’d try to eavesdrop. I discretely poured a silencing spell from my hand. What was said in this room would stay within it. The other ladies gasped as the shimmery silver magic formed a solid bubble that spread out until it hit the corners of the room. It was the same spell the Circle used to protect their conversations.

The King sat forward, resting his elbows on the top of his tidy desk, another reminder that he’d been unable to perform many of his duties over the past few days. “You’re probably wondering what the emergency is, and I’ll quell your worries soon enough, but what is discussed within this room will not be discussed with anyone outside it, under penalty of treason. Is that understood? Not even with your escorts.” The King’s burnt toffee eyes were hard as they met each invitee’s, but they softened when he found mine.

The ladies assured their full cooperation and understanding with nods and affirmations. Rose stood up straighter, giving the King her undivided attention. Leah stood tall beside her while Estelle and Tessa clutched hands, standing together to the right of them. The party from Thirteen settled against the wall. Even though I was lined up with the other women, I was separate.

The King explained how I came to be part of the invitation. Rose flicked a disgusted look my way, then turned it on Mira and Brecan. She quickly pressed her lips into an expectant smile and flashed it at the King. Annalina, who stood behind her husband, speared Rose with a look so severe, she should’ve cowered.

I wanted to claw the smug look off Rose’s face, but refrained. Barely.

He told them of the threat against his son.

Then he told them of Cyril, never mentioning that she was my mother, and informed them that she had caused a disturbance in our sector that might spread across the Kingdom if not extinguished .

Tauren, standing at his father’s right hand, spoke next. “If you want to return to your sectors, families, and lives, I completely understand. I would never keep you here against your will.”

Tessa straightened, glancing at Estelle.

“If you want to stay, we will film scenes to make the Kingdom believe all is well – including the traditional journey to the coast.”

“To distract them?” Leah asked. “Why would you do that? The Kingdom’s citizens can fight.”

“They can’t fight Cyril and win,” I interrupted.

Rose crossed her arms over her chest. “And I suppose you can defeat her?” she scoffed.

I remained silent.

“Arguing will get us nowhere,” Annalina told everyone. “You’ve been informed of the situation. Now, you must choose to stay or go.”

“What does this mean for you, Tauren? Will you choose one of us now?” Rose asked, her eagerness hidden beneath a curious expression.

Tauren opened his mouth to speak, but the King beat him to it. “Tauren has more important matters to think about than this silly contest. Personally, I think it’s time that we think of a more appropriate way for a prince to find the one he wants to spend the rest of his life with. This invitation system is the way it’s been done for five hundred years, and while I was able to find my true love through it, who’s to say Tauren can? I say, if the answer isn’t crystal clear by now, then he’s not ready to make the decision. I also say he can wear a crown and rule, if need be, without a wife by his side. ”

Rose’s mouth gaped.

“I want to go home,” Tessa said in a quiet voice, looking at Tauren. “I really like you, but I don’t love you and I don’t want to be Queen. I love my family and I love working stone. I didn’t realize how much it meant to me until I came here.”

He inclined his head. “Completely understandable, and I respect your decision. I’ve enjoyed spending time with you. I hope we can remain friends.”

Tessa curtsied, pulling her day dress’s skirt wide. “As do I.”

Tauren looked to Estelle. She tucked her colorfully streaked blonde hair over her shoulder. “I’d like to stay. If I can help, I will.”

Leah smiled. “I’ll stay to help, but at the first sign of trouble, I’m out. I have family, too.”

“Not to mention that you’re actually into Knox,” Rose muttered snidely under her breath.

Leah nodded. “I am into Knox,” she confidently confirmed, “and Tauren knows that. As do his parents. And all of them approve, Rose.”

Rose’s mouth gaped open again, then snapped shut. I enjoyed watching Leah put her in her place more than I should have.

“Rose?” Tauren asked. “Have you decided?”

“I’ll stay, of course,” she confirmed with a nod.

Decisions made, we learned Tessa would leave us that afternoon, pretending that Tauren had dismissed her and giving the viewing public the impression that this competition was still light-hearted, and that we were oblivious to what was transpiring in Thirteen. Rose would throw a tea party, as it was already scheduled, and then we would travel to the coast. Tradition decreed that if the sea blessed our prince, it would offer up a nautilus shell, which would pave his path to the crown with luck and prosperity.

“That’s awfully close to Thirteen,” Brecan noted. “I’m not sure that’s safe.”

“Don’t film it live. You can film it and then air it later, once everyone is back here and safe, right?” Estelle suggested.

“You have a few hours to rest,” the King announced, ignoring the suggestion but staring at me intently. “I suggest you take advantage of it.”

Brecan used his magic to pop the bubble enclosing us and led our party outside, down the long corridor to the main staircase. Mira made me promise to wake her if anything happened. With the exertions of the morning, she needed a few hours of sleep. So did Brecan and I. We trudged to our hallway and Mira closed the door behind her, giving a weak wave.

I pulled out my key and unlocked my room, catching the barest trace of sage and black salt swirling in the air. After quickly scanning the room, I couldn’t see anything out of place.

“What’s the matter?” Brecan said, his chest suddenly against my back.

“Someone was in here – a witch.”

“There.” He pointed to a small table just inside the door. “Someone delivered a letter.”

The letter was sealed in midnight blue wax, a symbol of a moon and stars stamped into its glossy surface. I hesitated to even touch it .

Breaking the seal, pieces of wax sprinkled my boots and bounced onto the floor.

Dearest Sable,

With great discretion, there are urgent matters I’d like to discuss with you – and you alone. Meet me in my favorite garden when you can. I’ll be watching.

Best Regards,

Arron, Son of Night

Brecan fumed. “You are not going alone.”

I wished he hadn’t been watching out for me just this once, because I knew I needed to meet Arron alone. He wouldn’t speak to me otherwise. I remembered his silver, slitted eyes – reptilian, yet eerily beautiful. They somehow fit him, just as he belonged to the dark smoke that was a harbinger of his arrival.

Tossing the letter onto the table, I scrubbed my hands down my face. “Let’s rest. Then we’ll discuss.”

“We will discuss it,” he warned.

I walked to the bed and flung myself on it, barely registering his ‘sleep well,’ or the moment he locked the door and closed it behind him.

I try to blink, but something thick blankets me. Something heavy. It presses all around me. I can’t shift or move even a fraction of an inch.

The weight keeps me still, silent. My heart thunders .

There is dirt in my mouth. In my nostrils. In my ears. But I can’t move my hands to dig it out. Not even a finger will flinch. I can move my tongue, but not my lips. The pressure holds them shut.

I remember that the Circle, led by Grandmother Ela, captured and encapsulated me with magic. The four of them together are too powerful to fight against.

“Daughter of Fate, you are bound to the soil, and there will remain until I no longer draw breath,” she said.

No, they did this to my mother. Not me.

Not me!

Soil in my mouth.

It crushes me.

They buried me…

I can’t breathe.

The sound of splintering wood woke me. Brecan fell into my room just as I sat up, desperate for air. I clutched my chest and crawled to the edge of my bed. Strands of saliva fell from my mouth as I retched. Brecan grabbed a nearby garbage can and positioned it under me, scooping my hair away from my face and holding it back.

“Talk to me, Sable.”

But I couldn’t. The taste of earth still coated my tongue.

I coughed, and clumps of dark soil erupted from my mouth.

“What’s happening?” he breathed.

I gagged and coughed until nothing else came out. “I’m okay,” I finally croaked .

He ran to the bathroom to retrieve a damp cloth as Mira cautiously entered the room. “What happened to your door?” she asked as Brecan returned.

“I broke it down to get inside,” he answered. He handed me the towel, but my hands were shaking so violently, I couldn’t get them to work.

Brecan took the towel from me and cleaned my face. “Why were you vomiting dirt?” he asked gently as he wiped beneath my eyes.

“I dreamed I was her. Cyril.”

Mira clapped her hands over her mouth. “Buried alive?”

I nodded.

Brecan looked at the pile of earth in the trash can and back at me. “How?”

“I don’t know.” I took a moment to draw in as much air as I could, settling myself.

“Your mother did this,” Brecan growled. “She or that devil, the Son of Night.”

“What time is it?”

“An hour before the tea party,” Mira answered shakily. “You need to get ready, Sable. I’m so sorry you don’t have more time to compose yourself.” Mira shifted her weight on her feet, worrying her hands.

“I need a shower. I need to rinse the dirt out of my mouth, and…” I raised a strand of damp hair. “It’s even in my hair.”

Mira gave us a worried look before helping me off the bed and into the washroom.