The Lost Prince (42 page)

“No.” The Lady closed her eyes briefly. “Sadly, I cannot. There is no excuse for it, and it breaks my heart, what we must do to our former brethren to survive.”

A tiny motion from Keirran, just the slightest tightening of his jaw.
Well, at least that’s something. I still don’t know what you think you’re doing, Prince.
Unless she’s got a debt or a glamour on you.
Somehow, I doubted it. The Iron prince looked fine when I first came in. He was still acting of his own free will.

“But,” the Lady continued, “our survival is at stake here. I do what I must to ensure my people do not fade away again. If there was another way to live, to exist, I would gladly take it. As such, we feed only on exiles, those who have been banished to the mortal realm. That they will fade away eventually is small comfort to what we must do, but we must take our comfort where we can.”

I finally looked at Keirran. “And you. You’re okay with all this?”

Keirran bowed his head and didn’t meet my gaze. The Lady reached out and touched the back of his neck.

“Keirran understands our plight,” she whispered as I stared at him, disbelieving. “He knows I must protect my people from nonexistence. Mankind has been cruel and has forgotten us, as have the courts of Faery. We have just returned to the world again. How can we go back to nothing?”

I shook my head, incredulous. “I hate to break it to you, but I promised someone I wouldn’t leave without the Iron prince, there.” I stabbed a sword at Keirran, who raised his head and finally looked at me. I glared back. “And I’m going to keep my promise, even if I have to break both his legs and carry him out myself.”

“Then, I am sorry, Ethan Chase.” The Lady sat back, watching me sadly. “I wish we could have come to an agreement. But I cannot allow you to return to the Iron Queen with our location. Please understand—I do this only to protect my people.”

The Lady lifted her hand, and the bone knights suddenly lunged forward, drawing their swords as they did. Their weapons were pure white and jagged on one end, like a giant razor tooth. I met the first warrior bearing down on me, knocking aside his sword and instantly whipping my second blade at his head. It happened in the space of a blink, but the faery dodged back, the sword missing him by inches.

Damn, they’re fast.
Another cut at me from the side, and I barely twisted away, feeling the jagged edge of the sword catch my shirt. Parrying yet another swing, I immediately had to dodge as the others closed in, not giving me any time to counter. They backed me toward a corner, desperately fending off blindingly quick stabs and thrusts. Too many. There were too many of them, and they were
good.
“Keirran!” I yelled, ducking behind a column. “A little help?”

The knights slowly followed me around the pillar, and through the short lull, I saw the Iron prince still standing beside the throne, watching. His face was blank; no emotion showed on his face or in his eyes as the knights closed on me again. Fear gripped my heart with icy talons. Even after everything, I still believed he would back me up when I needed it. “Keirran!” I yelled again, ducking as the knight’s sword smashed into the column, spraying me with grit. “Dammit, what are you doing? Annwyl is safe—help me!”

He didn’t move, though a tortured expression briefly crossed his face. Stunned and abruptly furious, I whirled, stepped inside a knight’s guard as it cut at me, and lunged deep. My blade finally pierced the armored chest, lancing between the rib slits and sinking deep. The warrior convulsed, staggered away, and turned into mist.

But my reckless move had left my back open, and I wasn’t able to dodge fast enough as another sword swept down, glancing off my leg. For just a second, it didn’t hurt. But as I backed away, blood blossomed over my jeans, and then the pain hit in a crippling flood. I stumbled, gritting my teeth. The remaining three knights followed relentlessly, swords raised. All the while, Keirran stood beside the throne, not moving, as the Lady’s remote blue eyes followed me over his head.

I can’t believe he’s going to stand there and watch me die.
Panting, I desperately fended off another assault from all three knights, but a blade got through and hit my arm, causing me to drop one of my swords. I lashed out and scored a hit along the knight’s jaw, and it reeled away in pain, but then another swung viciously at my head, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to completely avoid this one.

I raised my sword, and the knight’s blade smashed into it and my arm, knocking me to the side. My hurt leg crumpled beneath me, and I fell, the blade ripped from my hands, skidding across the floor. Dazed, I looked up to see the knights looming over me, sword raised for the killing blow.

That’s it, then. I’m sorry, Kenzie. I wanted to be with you, but at least you’re safe now. That’s all that matters.

The blade flashed down. I closed my eyes.

The screech of weapons rang directly overhead, making my hair stand up. For a second, I held my breath, wondering when the pain would hit, wondering if I was already dead. When nothing happened, I opened my eyes.

Keirran knelt in front of me, arm raised, blocking the knight’s sword with his own. The look on his face was one of grim determination. Standing, he threw off the knight and glared at the others, who eased back a step but didn’t lower their weapons. Without looking in my direction but still keeping himself between me and the knights, he turned back to the throne.

“This isn’t the way, my lady,” he called. Cursing him mentally, I struggled to sit up, fighting the pain clawing at my arms, legs, shoulders, everywhere really. Keirran gave me a brief glance, as if making sure I was all right, still alive, and faced the Forgotten Queen again. “I sympathize with your plight, I do. But I can’t allow you to harm my family. Killing the brother of the Iron Queen would only hurt your cause, and bring the wrath of all the courts down upon you and your followers. Please, let him go. Let us both go.”

The Lady regarded him blankly, then raised her hand again. Instantly, the bone knights backed off, sheathing their weapons and returning to her side. Keirran still didn’t look at me as he sheathed his own blade and gave a slight bow. “We’ll be taking our leave, now,” he stated, and though his voice was polite, it wasn’t a question or a request. “I will think on what you said, but I ask that you do not try to stop us.”

The Lady didn’t reply, and Keirran finally bent down, putting my arm around his shoulders. I was half tempted to shove him off, but I didn’t know if my leg would hold. Besides, the room seemed to be spinning.

“Nice of you to finally step in,” I growled, as he lifted us both to our feet. Pain flared, and I grit my teeth, glaring at him. “Was that a change of heart at the end, or were you just waiting for the last dramatic moment?”

“I’m sorry,” Keirran murmured, steadying us as I stumbled. “I was hoping…it wouldn’t come to this.” He sighed and gave me an earnest look. “Annwyl. Is she all right? Is she safe?”

“I already told you she was.” My leg throbbed, making my temper flare. “No thanks to you! What the hell is wrong with you, Keirran? I thought you cared for Annwyl, or don’t you care that they left her in a
cage,
all alone, while you were out here having tea with the Lady or whatever the hell you were doing?”

Keirran paled. “Annwyl,” he whispered, closing his eyes. “I’m sorry. Forgive me, I didn’t know....” Opening his eyes, he gave me a pleading look. “They wouldn’t let me see her. I didn’t know where she was. They told me she would be killed if I didn’t cooperate.”

“Well, you were certainly doing that,” I shot back, and pushed him toward one of my fallen weapons. “Don’t leave my swords. I want them in case your wonderful Lady decides to double-cross us.”

“She wouldn’t do that,” Keirran said, dragging me over and kneeling to pick up my blade. “She’s more honorable than you think. You just have to understand what’s happened to her, what she’s trying to accomplish—”

I snatched the weapon from him and glared. “Whose side are you on, anyway?”

That tortured look crossed his face again. “Ethan, please…”

“Never mind,” I muttered, wincing as my leg started to throb. “Let’s just get out of here, while I can still walk out.”

We started across the floor again, but hadn’t gone very far when the Lady’s voice rang out again. “Prince Keirran,” she called. “Wait, please. One more thing.”

Keirran paused, but he didn’t look back.

“The killings can stop,” the Lady went on in a quiet but earnest voice. “No more exiles will be sacrificed to keep us alive, and no more half-breeds will be taken. I can order my people to do this, if that is what you want.”

“Yes,” Keirran said immediately, still not looking back. “It is.”

“However,” the Lady went on, “if I do this, you must come and speak with me again. One day soon I will call for you, and you must come to me, of your own free will. Not as a prisoner, but as a guest. An equal. Will you give me that much, at least?”

“Keirran,” I muttered as he paused, “don’t listen to her. She just wants you under her thumb again because you’re the son of the Iron Queen. You
know
faery bargains never turn out right.”

He didn’t answer, staring straight ahead, at nothing.

“Iron Prince?” The Lady’s voice was low, soothing. “What is your answer?”

“Keirran…” I warned.

His eyes hardened. “Agreed,” he called back. “You have my word.”

I wanted to punch him.

* * *

“Dammit, what is wrong with you?” I seethed as we left the queen’s chamber. “Have you forgotten what she’s done? Did you happen to see all the half-breeds she’s kidnapped? Did you see what they did to them, drained all their magic so they’re just shells of what they were? Have you forgotten all the exiles they’ve killed, just to keep themselves alive?” He didn’t answer, and I narrowed my eyes. “Annwyl could’ve been one of them, or are you so enamored with your new lady friend that you forgot about her, too?”

The last was a low blow, but I wanted to make him angry, get him to argue with me. Or at least to confirm that he hadn’t forgotten the atrocities committed here or what we’d come to do. But his blue eyes only got colder, though his voice remained calm.

“I wouldn’t expect a human to understand.”

“Then explain it to me,” I said through gritted teeth, though hearing him say that sent a chill up my spine.

“I don’t agree with her methods,” Keirran said as two piranha-palm gnomes stepped aside for us, bowing to Keirran. “But she’s only trying to achieve what every good ruler wants—the survival of her people. You don’t know how horrible it is for exiles, for all of them, to face nothingness. Losing pieces of yourself every day, until you cease to exist.”

“And the harm she’s caused so that her people can survive?”

“That was wrong,” Keirran agreed, furrowing his brow. “Others shouldn’t have had to die. But the Forgotten are only trying to live and not fade away, just like the exiles. Just like everyone in Faery.” He sighed and turned down a side tunnel filled with crystals and bone fragments. But the farther we walked, the more the gems and skeletons faded away, until the ground was just normal rock under our feet. Ahead, I could see the end of the tunnel and a small paved path that cut through the trees. The shadows of the cavern fell away. “There has to be a way for them to survive without hurting anyone else,” Keirran muttered at last. I looked at him and frowned.

“And if there isn’t?”

“Then we’re all going to have to choose a side.”

* * *

We left the cave of the Forgotten and stepped into the real world from beneath a stone bridge, emerging in Central Park again. I didn’t know how long we had been in the Between, but the sky overhead blazed with stars, though the air held a stillness that said it was close to dawn. Keirran dragged me to a green bench on the side of the trail, and I collapsed on top of it with a groan.

The prince hovered anxiously on the edge of the path. “How’s the leg?” he asked, sounding faintly guilty.
Not guilty enough,
I thought sourly. I prodded the gash and winced.

“Hurts like hell,” I muttered, “but at least the bleeding’s slowed down.” Removing my belt, I wrapped it several times around my leg to make a rough bandage, clenching my jaw as I cinched it tight. The gash on my arm was still oozing sluggishly, but I’d have to take care of it later.

“Where to now?” Keirran asked.

“Belvedere Castle,” I replied, desperately hoping Kenzie and the others were already there, waiting for us. “We agreed to meet there, when this was all over.”

Keirran looked around the dense woods and sighed. “Any idea what direction it might be?”

“Not really,” I gritted out and glared at him. “You’re the one with faery blood. Aren’t you supposed to have some innate sense of direction?”

“I’m not a compass,” Keirran said mildly, still gazing around the forest. Finally, he shrugged. “Well, I guess we’ll pick a trail and hope for the best. Can you walk?”

Despite my anger, I felt a tiny twinge of relief. He was starting to sound like his old self again. Maybe all that madness down in the Lady’s throne room was because he’d been glamoured, after all.

“I’ll be fine,” I muttered, struggling to my feet. “But I’m going to have to tell Kenzie that you’re really not at all helpful on camping trips.”

He chuckled, and it sounded relieved, too. “Be sure to break it to her gently,” he said, and took my weight again.

Fifteen minutes later, we still had no idea where we were going. We were wandering up a twisty, narrow path, hoping it would take us someplace familiar, when Keirran suddenly stopped. A troubled look crossed his face, and I glanced around warily, wondering if I should pull my swords. Of course, it was going to be really awkward fighting while hopping around on one leg or leaning against Keirran. I had hoped our fighting was done for the night.

“What is it?” I asked. Keirran sighed.

“They’re here.”

“What? Who?”

“Master!”

A familiar wail rent the night, and Keirran grimaced, bracing himself, as Razor hurled himself at his chest. Scrabbling to his shoulders, the gremlin gibbered and bounced with joy. “Master, master! Master safe!”