indigo court 05.5 - night shivers (7 page)

We hurried through the forests. The trees here towered into the sky, dark conifers that could survive in the realm of Winter. They were brooding, and alive, and while I had yet to hear them speak, at times I felt them watching me—as if they were contemplating my place in their world. As we passed a clearing, a group of Ice Elementals wandered by, slowing as I drew near. They were bipedal, shaped like very tall humans formed of bluish-clear ice. No features marred their faces. Their arms and legs were angular, like icicles. As soon as I stepped forward, the pack stopped. There were five of them, and they turned toward me, pausing.

They are unbound, Cicely. You should tie them to you.
Ulean’s gentle voice tickled at my ear.

They are unaligned? Very well.

I closed my eyes, raising my hand as I let myself slip into the slipstream. As the astral wind buffeted me, I reached out to them.
I am your queen. Guard this place and bind yourselves to my service. Should anyone counter to my will enter this area, destroy them.

A moment later I felt the connection take and hold. It was as if I had reached off of a web—held out my hand and offered them the chance to join my world. A moment passed, then another, and finally, one by one they moved onto my path, into my journey, binding themselves to my power. I opened my eyes. The Elementals gazed at me, unspeaking, but then nodded and spread out, moving at a steady pace, sparkling under the sky that forever shadowed the realm of Snow and Ice. They would keep to their task until I gave them permission to stop, or until some spell countered my will.

They all love you, Cicely. Or…as close to love as they can get. There is no name, truly, for how the Elementals look at you. You are the core of their essence, now. You are their world.

I let out my breath and turned to the others. “They now belong to us. They will watch this area.” A petal-soft kiss touched my face and I glanced up. The sky was clouding over and a light scattering of snow had started. “Come. We haven’t far to go.”

We threaded our way through the forest and then veered off to the left onto a broad path of compacted snow. It had been traversed so many times it would never melt, a solid sheet of chunky ice. The new snow that fell on top of it usually drifted to the sides in the wind. Some of the snow banks would melt. There
were
seasons here in the realm of Snow and Ice, but spring and summer were just warmer winters, and the temperature never rose above the low thirties. Sometimes just high enough for the top layers of snow to trickle away and freeze later.

As we came out of the forest I breathed a sigh of relief. The path wasn’t long, but it could be dangerous if you met the Winter Wolves along the way, or snow spiders or the giant ice serpents that hid in the mountains and rock formations that dotted the vast snow fields.

Not fifty yards from the edge of the forest was the edge of the Crashing Sea, foaming and churning as it sloshed against the edge of the ice sheet. I hadn’t yet figured out if we were on a gigantic glacier or what, but I had learned that once in the realm of Fae, it was best not to ask too many questions. The answers were usually difficult to comprehend and just gave me a headache.

As we slowed, staring at the waves, I caught my breath. There, resting on the water, bobbing as the currents rolled beneath it, was the ghostly shape of
The Wave Catcher
.

Ulean shifted, her gusts brushing my face.
Something is wrong, Cicely—something is terribly wrong here.

It was as though the galleon was formed of mist—smoke encapsulated within a pale framework. We could see through to the lower levels, all with the same translucent shimmer. The hole in the hull gaped, raw and wounded, and the masts were battered, the sails tattered and torn. But more startling than the ship was the trail of passengers that disembarked along a ghostly plank leading to the shore. They looked neither right nor left, simply marched slowly off the ship.

I moved forward, stepping into the path of the oncoming traffic. The man coming toward me didn’t even blink. Instead, he passed through me, unflinching, and a bone-deep chill hit me to the core. Cold beyond the cold of the realm. Cold as
deep in the grave
cold. Cold as in
depths of the ocean
cold. And they kept coming.

Cicely, move. Do not let them touch you—even though it seems they are shades or memories of what might be, there is far more to it than that. Move, please.
Ulean was frantic now, and I tried to step out of the way, but my feet wouldn’t obey. I stood there, letting them pass through me until Check yanked me to one side.

“Pardon me, Your Majesty, but you don’t know if any of them are dangerous.”

Shaken out of my startlement, I nodded. “Of course, you’re right.” But I couldn’t take my eyes off of the parade of the dead. And then, perhaps ten minutes, perhaps half an hour later, I noticed the same man who had first passed through me. He was walking off the ship again, and as I looked closely, I recognized several of the other faces. Men, women, children, they kept coming and coming but in a circular pattern.

I pointed it out to the others and we waited, watching closely. Sure enough, over and over the dead passed by, and when the last marched past us, the man whom I had first encountered was there again, followed by the rest.

“They’re caught in a loop. But why did they return? And where are the bodies? They weren’t aboard the ship.” I had no clue how to deal with spirits or ghost ships. Nothing I had ever done prepared me for this.

Grieve moved forward, gazing at the parade of the dead. “There’s something about them…I don’t even know if they are spirits. I don’t have any sense of…being-ness. Is this a picture show?” He reached out for my hand. “I’m as confused as you are, love.”

Are they ghosts, Ulean?

Not ghosts, no. But I don’t know…they are unnatural—they should not be. Their presence signifies something has gone terribly awry.

“Your Majesty—look at the water surrounding the ship.” Check headed over to the edge of the floe and pointed toward the rippling waves sloshing beneath
The Wave Catcher
.

At first I wasn’t sure what he was addressing before I realized that the waves were indeed crashing
beneath
the ship. As though there was weight bearing down on them. But if the ship was merely an image—or even a ghostly remnant—they should be frothing as normal. Check stood there, staring into the water, as puzzled as I was.

“What’s going on here, guys?” I backed away. The endless circle of spirits—or whatever they were—was starting to make me dizzy. I thought I heard Ulean calling to me, but couldn’t focus on her voice and the next moment, a drive so strong I couldn’t ignore it hit me and I backed away, instantly transforming into my owl self.

I took wing, panicked beyond reason, unable to get my bearings. I headed out over the water, not knowing where I was going. The next moment, a great horned owl swooped in beside me. I realized it was Hunter, my grandfather. In the flurry of chaos, he was trying to guide me away from the open water back to the shore. As I tried to steady myself, he circled wide and I followed his cue. We were past the water, then back over land. As Hunter came in for a landing, I followed suit and transformed back into my normal shape as we landed on branches that were scattered with patches of snow.

I turned to my grandfather. “Where did you come from?” He hadn’t come with us.

“I was in the woods as you passed. As I watched the water under that ship, I realized that it’s not what it seems.” He slid his arm around me and we headed back to the others, who were running up.

Cicely, you almost flew out into the open ocean. You would have…there is some sort of portal near here. Some sort of vortex. I can feel it calling to me. I must take wind and return to the Barrow so it doesn’t overpower my will.

And like that, Ulean swept away, back toward our home.

Check was pale—looking terrified. He skidded to a halt, dropping to one knee in front of me. “Your Majesty, forgive me. Please, forgive me. I wasn’t there to protect you.”

I knew that he would fall on his sword for me if need be. And that was his job, but this was something nobody could have anticipated.

“Stand up and leave it be. None of us expected this. Hell, we don’t even know what
this
is. Ulean says there’s some sort of a portal near here. A vortex that lures people in. Until we know what we’re dealing with, let’s get the hell out of here.”

Even as I spoke, a great howling rose on the wind. Loud and mournful, the call of a wolf who sounded the size of a mountain ricocheted through the air. The sound of terror, the sound of hunger, and the sound of a creature out on the hunt.

I gasped, looking around, trying to figure out where it was coming from. Immediately, the guards surrounded Grieve and me as Hunter took to the sky, soaring up above us.

My heart was racing. “What the hell is that?”

“I don’t know,” Grieve whispered. “I have never heard such a keening in my life.”

But in my heart, I knew it was the sound of death come to call, of the hunter spying his prey. We were on the menu of whatever this creature was and the only thing I could think about was to get away from the noise and the fear. The chaos in my mind continued, and I realized that I was so caught in the panic that it had to have a magical component.

“The sound—cover your ears. It sets off a fear reaction.” Holding my hands to my ears, I headed back toward the woods. “We need to get out of the area, now. We don’t have the resources to fight whatever is coming our way. Not with us, not today.”

The guards formed a circle around us as we headed back into the forest. The trees felt ominous now, hiding dangers rather than guardian sentinels, and all I could think about was the need to get away from here—the need to get back to the Barrow.

All along the way, the horrible howling continued and it stopped only when we passed through the doors of the Barrow. Check waited a moment, then stepped outside again. When he returned he shook his head.

“It’s still sounding in the night. I can’t imagine what the villages must be thinking. We must send men to them, to let them know we are aware of the danger. We can’t ignore them and expect them not to show up here, panicked.”

Ulean was waiting for us.
Cicely, I would not have run if I had not feared I might be turned beyond my will. I apologize for leaving you there.

No, you did what you had to in order to take care of yourself. Never apologize for that, Ulean. But whatever it is, there is danger, and we must find out what we are facing.

I turned back to Check. “Then do what we must. Contact Strict and tell him to meet us in the council chamber. And I think…Grieve and I must pay a journey to the shamans. We have to speak with Thorn.” As I hurried into our bedroom, Druise was there, waiting. “Prepare one of my dresses. I will attend Court, and then the shamans. I must dress the part of the Queen today, Druise. Cold and brilliant and collected.”

“As you will, Your Majesty.” And then she went to work, transforming me into the Queen of Snow and Ice, whose people would trust her unconditionally.

Chapter 4

By the time I headed into the throne room, I was wearing a silver dress that shimmered with crystal beads. It had a sweetheart corset top, and a flowing skirt that barely touched the ground. It was wearable out in the snow as well as when I held court, and the material was warm. It was a synthetic, actually, though no one in my Barrow would ever know that except for Grieve and Druise. I had balked at heavy weaves that would weigh me down and insisted that the seamstresses who made my garments accept the fact that I was coming in from the outside—I wasn’t fully Cambyra Fae and I had lived in the outer world for most of my life. They reluctantly agreed, after Strict intervened for me.

Druise had brought out a cloak—jet black, trimmed with crystal beading. She made sure my makeup was heavy handed—wide raven wings on my eyes, a deep blackberry lipstick. By the time we were done, I looked a little older, a lot more elegant, and most important—imposing as hell. I slid into the black ankle boots she held for me. They had stiletto heels, which I hated, but right now, it was vital that I look the part, given the circumstances. I could walk well enough in them, but I sure as hell wouldn’t go on a jaunt into the woods wearing them.

Grieve dressed as well, in a jet-black tunic coat, with gray trousers. His shock of platinum hair stood out in stark contrast to the black of the coat. As he held out his arm and I laid my hand on his forearm, the surreal feel of it washed over me.

We followed the guards into the throne room. People were packed in and lined both sides of the brilliant royal blue carpet leading up to our thrones, and they curtseyed and bowed as we passed. The palace chamber was magical and dark. The dome over our thrones was inlaid with sapphire and opal, with moonstone and iolite and lapis lazuli, and our thrones themselves were carved from two ancient walnut trees, adorned with silver and crystal.

We paused for a beat, turning in unison once we had ascended the stairs to the thrones, and then at the same time, we settled ourselves. A trumpeter announced that Court was officially open and we were ready for business. Strict was standing to my right. I looked up at him, and—as the crowds quieted down—nodded.

He solemnly stepped forward, standing a few steps down so that his head was lower than ours, and unfurled a long scroll. I had tried to talk them into using flat paper for decrees—standard copy paper size—but so far they had resisted my arguments that it made them easier to file, sticking to the rolling scrolls. I was determined, though, to have my way eventually.

“Her Majesty Cicely, Queen of the Court of Snow and Ice, and His Majesty Grieve, King of the Court of Snow and Ice, convene the court, this seventh day of the Moon, Year One—PM, Year 204 of the Twenty-fifth Cycle of the Lunar Owl.”