Richelle Mead Dark Swan Bundle: Storm Born, Thorn Queen, Iron Crowned & Shadow Heir (119 page)

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Authors: Richelle Mead

BOOK: Richelle Mead Dark Swan Bundle: Storm Born, Thorn Queen, Iron Crowned & Shadow Heir
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“It's certainly an option. The fact that you have yet to attempt any magic to fight me has already given away how much they mean to you.”
“Yes,” I said, my heart sinking. “But they would all willingly die to prevent the enslavement of countless other kingdoms or abuse of the Iron Crown.” I knew the words were true as I said them, but they still hurt. I'd held back on using magic, not just because my friends' lives were on the line, but also because I didn't have an entirely clear plan on what to do with my magic. But something like this? Varia's world domination? No question. None of my companions would be able to live with themselves knowing the scope of what their freedom had cost others.
“At some point, you have to decide what number of lives tips the scale. So, you're saying these, what, six or seven individuals aren't worth the crown's cost? What about your kingdom?
Kingdoms?
What I offered to do to the Willow Land—by focusing the enchantment—can be done to yours instead.” Her smile grew particularly cunning. “Or maybe it's less about quantity than quality. Your children are out there somewhere. Do you think they can stay hidden forever? Even in the human world, I can find them. I have many subjects, and you and your sister aren't the only ones who can pass through with ease.”
The room threatened to spin around me, and I had to focus myself to stay calm and not give away how hard her words had hit. “Are you really so heartless?” I demanded. “Listen to yourself! You're threatening to wipe out two entire kingdoms and hunt down my children!” Seeing her smirk, I had to restrain from clenching my fists. “Do you enjoy this? Do you get some kind of sick thrill from these kinds of psycho threats?”
“No,” she told me, still smiling and petting the dogs. “I simply take satisfaction out of pointing out the obvious, and it's exactly as I already said: you hold nothing here, and I hold everything.”
Chapter 20
Then, much as though I were a naughty child, Varia told me she was sending me back to my cell to “think about what I had to do.” Before I left, she added, “And lest you think me too lenient, let me emphasize to you that I'm most anxious to have this friendship of ours settled. I don't like loose ends. Besides, some of these kingdoms are becoming an absolute nuisance. Much tidier for all of us if we can take care of this soon.”
“Noted,” I muttered as the guards grabbed my arms to lead me away.
“And so,” she continued, “when I say I'm going to emphasize the point to you, I mean that I will soon start taking action to encourage you to do the right thing. Starting with the elimination of your lesser companions. Then moving on to your kingdoms. Then your children.”
“My friends haven't done anything to you,” I said, panic seizing me over how quickly the threat had escalated. “They're potential subjects.”
Varia shrugged. “I have plenty of those.”
“Can I at least talk to them?” I asked. “Make sure they're okay so I know you haven't killed them already?”
She gave me a tight, knowing smile. “My dear, how foolish do you think I am?”
And with that, I was led out of the throne room. At the door, we ran into a slight traffic jam. A number of petitioners were lined up to see Varia, but a sentry held them all back and explained why they couldn't be allowed entrance.
“Her Majesty has a meeting with the Oak King,” the guard said. “That takes priority. She will see no one else until after that—and that's if she feels up for it. She's had a very taxing day, so you may have to wait until tomorrow.”
The Oak King. I would've killed to be a fly on the wall for that audience and wondered if Dorian would opt for charm or mockery. Sometimes with him, there was a fine line between the two. I was also skeptical of just how “taxing” Varia's day had been. Considering the impracticality of that dress, it didn't seem like she could even walk without assistance. I really wouldn't have been surprised to learn she and her dogs were carried around in a sedan chair.
Among the disgruntled petitioners were my “pals” from the Hemlock Land. They appeared as though they too had done a bit of hasty cleanup but otherwise possessed the same worn appearance they'd had on the road. Orj's face hardened at the sentry's words but nonetheless managed stiff politeness.
“We were told that if we assisted Her Majesty in her task ...” His eyes flicked nervously to me and then back to the guard. “We were told she'd release our king and allow him to return to our land. We did all she asked.”
The guard looked unconcerned. “Then you'll get him tomorrow. Or the next day.”
Alea stepped up beside Orj. “But he's been imprisoned for two months! He and the land are both suffering from being apart. What good is it being freed of the curse if our land is simply going to die off this way?”
“If it makes no difference then,” said the guard, “I'm sure Her Majesty would be happy to return the Winter Enchantment to you.”
I heard no more because my guards finally managed to push me through the bottleneck. I was taken without incident to my cell, but as the guards unlocked it, I glanced at the other closed doors in the hallway. I knew Dorian was there somewhere. Was the Hemlock King as well? These were the “nicer” chambers, after all. How many monarchs were imprisoned around me? It may have been egotistical presuming all these guards and magic users were just for me. Varia couldn't maintain her subjugated kingdoms without the monarchs occasionally bonding with the land, but keeping them apart for great lengths of time certainly created a new element of vulnerability that she could manipulate. She also now had a hostage system that probably worked well to keep the conquered kingdoms in line. Most gentry loved their rulers with fierce devotion and, as Orj had shown, would go to considerable lengths for them.
As soon as I was locked up and alone again, I summoned Volusian with the makeshift wand.
“Are there other monarchs locked up in this corridor?” I demanded. “Aside from me and Dorian?”
“There are other shining ones here, yes,” Volusian said. “Ones I can sense considerable power from, though they are forced to wear their iron, even when locked up. They apparently don't have the luxuries you do.”
I sighed and sat down on the cot. “I might as well be in iron for all the good I can do! That bitch was right. She has everything, and I have nothing. And now she's threatening to destroy my friends, my kingdoms, Isaac and Ivy... .”
My heart lurched at that last one. I valued my own life, certainly, but I never went into any of these crazy Otherworldly missions without the understanding that I might not come back. It was something I'd had to come to terms with a long time ago. I didn't relish the thought of my traveling companions dying—especially Jasmine and Pagiel—but I knew they too had accepted certain dangers.
The twins? They were a different matter. They were innocents. They had nothing to do with any of this, and just thinking about Varia hurting them filled me with a mix of rage and fear. With the prophecy taking backseat to the blight, I'd thought Isaac and Ivy were out of danger, but it seemed, once again, someone wanted to use them against me.
“There are guards and magic users out there,” I murmured, thinking aloud. “Obviously enough to subdue an escape—or so Varia thinks. But she can't be thinking past a single person trying to break out. What about
all
of us? If we managed to free the other monarchs here, we'd have a force of some of the most powerful gentry in this world. The guards here couldn't stand against that. This palace couldn't stand against that. Plus, there'd be such a commotion that my friends in the dungeon would probably be low priority.”
I thought I detected an eager glint in Volusian's eyes, though his face otherwise remained typically smooth. “As much as I would love nothing more than to start laying waste to this place, I must point out that if my mistress truly wishes to lift the blight, you should probably first make sure you know where the talismans are. Your conquest of Varia will be more effective if you can strip her of those.”
“I agree. Except, we have no way of finding out. I mean, they're probably in this palace, but it's huge! Damn. I wish you could wander freely. We need someone to scope out this facility.” My breath caught as an idea came to me. I straightened up. “Volusian! Go to Dorian's cell right now. You have to give him this message... .”
I quickly relayed it, and Volusian vanished. I bit my lip the entire time he was gone, praying Dorian hadn't been taken to Varia yet. Why hadn't I thought of this sooner? If I'd missed my chance, I didn't know what we would do. I just hoped Varia had to take a bonbon break or have her dogs' hair restyled between sessions. Even if Volusian did make it in time, this idea was still pretty shaky.
I jumped up when Volusian reappeared. “Was he still there?”
“Yes, mistress. I relayed your message. The Oak King said he would try what you asked and idiotically asked what he wouldn't do for you.” A distinct look of distaste crossed his features. “He also said to tell you ... that he isn't surprised at all that you're planning a way out. He says he has never once doubted you and has the utmost faith in whatever you do.”
I almost smiled. “Boy, relaying something that sentimental was pretty terrible for you, wasn't it?”
Volusian didn't respond.
The truth was, Dorian's warm words had unsettled me too—but probably for very different reasons from Volusian. Still wanting to conserve the power it took to keep him within the Yew Land, I sent Volusian away and then stretched out on my cot to wait. I didn't know how long it would take to get results from my plan—if I'd even get them. I was also worried about Varia acting on her threats to start killing off my companions in the dungeon. I could only hope that like any good super villain, she'd give me fair warning and try to kill them in front of me in order to force my hand. That wasn't a fate I wanted, but at least I could be reasonably confident they weren't dead already.
Hours passed. The guards brought me a meager meal, again making me wonder what those in lesser accommodations had. I didn't think Varia had reason to poison me, but I still summoned Volusian briefly to see if he detected anything magical about the food. He didn't, so I took the risk of eating in order to keep my strength up.
I was just finishing the food up when something caught my eye in the tiny window near the ceiling. Spots, Alea's falcon, had just landed. With a bit of maneuvering, he worked his way through the bars so that he could look down at me but otherwise didn't leave the sill.
“Well, I'll be damned,” I breathed. “You actually made it.”
My gamble had been that the Hemlock people would still be hanging around the throne room, hoping for an audience with Varia. In the message I'd sent with Volusian, I'd told Dorian to see if he could manage any private words with Alea when he went to see the queen. There were guards everywhere, but if ever there was someone who could cause distraction and misdirection, it was Dorian. If he pulled it off, I'd asked that he tell Alea to send her falcon to me. The only directions I had were to look for a small window on the third floor, but I figured Spots could fly from window to window in search of me—provided there were no enchantments on the windows. The entire plan had been tenuous, and yet, here I was, with a semi-intelligent falcon watching me expectantly.
“So, um, thanks for coming,” I said to Spots. He blinked and said nothing, not that I really could have expected otherwise. “Anyway. I know you have some connection to Alea. I don't know if you relay messages through bird language or if she sees through your eyes, but I need you to convey something to her. Can you do that? Is there some sign you can give me?”
If staring without a sound was the way birds said, “Yes,” then Spots gave me a resoundingly affirmative answer.
“Okay.” I was starting to feel stupid. “I'll just talk and hope this gets to her. Tell Alea that I have the means to free her king. I also know how to break Varia's hold on all of us, but I need help. I know Alea and her people are willing to give in to Varia to keep their land safe, but if they work with me, I really believe we can overpower Varia and be free of her tyranny. Here's the thing. Somewhere in this palace, there is a very heavily guarded room. I mean, there's probably a bunch of rooms like that. The dungeons, Varia's bedroom, her dogs' kennel, whatever. But I feel like this is going to be
really
guarded. I don't expect Alea to get anywhere near it, since I'm guessing subjects' access only goes so far. That's the thing. Alea probably won't even see the masses of guards because this room is going to have a huge perimeter around it. That's probably one clue. The other is that it won't be obvious why it's so guarded. Dungeons make sense. This won't. So, if there's any way she can figure out where this is at and let me know, that would be huge.”
I paused then, wondering about that last part. I was banking on the bird magically communicating my words to Alea. How hers would get back to me was less obvious. Well. That was a problem for later, and we had plenty of others before we reached that point.
“Having some idea of that place's location will make a big difference when I bust out her king. And I will, by the way. Him and all the other captive monarchs. So, if she knows any other disgruntled emissaries from other lands, tell them to be ready for a huge coup in the next day or so.” Until that moment, I hadn't realized I was truly going to stage one ... but, well, why else had I come here? “But again, the key is figuring out this stronghold of Varia's. We can still stage a nasty rebellion, but the threat of the blight isn't going to go away until we get to what she's hiding.”
Spots groomed his foot. I wasn't sure if he was simply listening and multitasking or had grown bored.
“Can you tell her that?”
For a moment, I thought nothing would happen, and then Spots made some kind of chirping noise. He worked his way back out through the bars and flew off.
“Well,” I remarked. “Not the weirdest thing I've ever done by far ... but it's up there.” I then realized I was talking to myself and wondered if that was better or worse than speaking to a bird.
It was hard for me to sit still and wait. My nature usually required that I do something; it was why I'd had such a difficult time in Alabama. At least while there, I'd known my patience would pay off for the twins' safety. Here, I was constantly pressed with the knowledge that every day meant more of Varia's reign, more suffering in the blight, and more dangers for my friends.
As evening fell and my cell darkened, I summoned Volusian back. Maybe it was a trick of the lighting, but his appearance seemed more substantial now. “You can move around this hallway. I want you to go and talk to each of the monarchs and give them a heads-up on what's going on. Tell them there may be a commotion soon and that we'll be freeing them from their chains to go take on Varia and the blight once and for all. Let them know I'll have more details when the time comes.” God, I hoped that was actually true. “Give them my description so they know I'm the one with instructions. And Dorian. Give them his description too. In fact, go to Dorian first and catch him up on everything. He may not know about our fellow cellmates. And tell him I talked to the bird.”

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