Zorwal eyes Mirella. “Wash and change as fast as you can, then we’ll discuss our plans and you’ll rest so that you’ll be ready to meet the council tomorrow.”
Her smile is a strange grimace. “I can’t wait.”
And I can’t wait to learn their secrets.
There must be something that can help me, that I might be able to use to secure my freedom. It’s all a matter of finding it.
2
RENEL
No sign of the castle guards. No sign that the Crystal Castle was here a few hours ago, other than the vegetation crushed under its weight. When ordering the evacuation, I was too disturbed by what I thought was my impending death to consider what would happen afterwards, too disturbed to even hope that there would be any after.
Now I’m alive—with no guards, and no power. How am I going to get Tarlia back? What can I offer Zorwal? I push away the questions and the worry and the fear, and try to focus on what I have to do right now. I can’t falter.
“They must have gone somewhere,” the human prince says as if it was a brilliant realization.
I’m still not sure why he decided to tag along. Ferer, the fae knight, is a transcender and brought us here, using a faerie circle to transcend to the last location of the castle, so his presence is incredibly helpful. The human prince is just dead weight.
“Unless the guards are invisible,” I reply. “Or were turned into ants.”
The prince raises his eyebrow while Ferer gives me a curious stare. Trying to be sarcastic with people I don’t know is a terrible idea.
I grit my teeth. “It’s a joke.”
The human prince shrugs as if the idea was quite sensible. “Anything is possible.”
The fae knight looks around. “I’m sure we’ll find someone who saw where the guards went. Did they have many transcenders among them?”
“None, as far as I know, so they shouldn’t be far. But…” My thoughts turn grim. “Anything could have happened in the many hours since the castle was evacuated. Perhaps Zorwal or someone else from the council ordered them to go somewhere else, for example.”
The human prince and Ferer look at me, expecting some brilliant idea, but I have none. Coming here was useless, and I don’t have any inkling how to find Tarlia, let alone rescue her. And yet I can’t simply turn back and do nothing.
No. There is something I can do.
My thoughts turn to the Jewel, the city of enslaved lower fae, all of them recently freed. It doesn’t take a genius to foresee some kind of conflict there.
I turn to Ferer. “The Jewel City is more urgent. Whenever you’re ready, if you don’t mind, could you take me there?”
He gives me his half suspicious, half accusing stare, likely still thinking I’m to blame for all the torments imposed upon the lower fae. Still, he nods. “I’m ready.”
We walk back to the faerie circle, and Ferer asks, “Where exactly do you want to go? The Jewel Plaza, a walking distance from there…”
“One of the circles by the gates. I’m still the acting king, so I might as well use the feeble veneer of power that still covers me.” So feeble, and yet I need to cling to it, hope that it will be enough.
The knight gives me a half nod. “Makes sense.”
We step into the circle, hold hands, then my surroundings disappear and I’m greeted with the roar of the ocean nearby and the smell of salt in the air. I open my eyes and see the great circular plaza in front of the Jewel and its tall walls illuminated by several lightstones. We’re at the back of the plaza, coming out of one of several faerie circles.
I haven’t been here in many years, as Zorwal advised me to keep my public appearances to a minimum. Looking back, I don’t know if his advice made any sense, don’t know if he meant well or wanted to manipulate me for some personal gain. Most of all, I don’t know why I followed him blindly.
In the beginning, when I was lost, hurting, with no parents, no family, perhaps it made sense to heed his words, to have someone guiding me, helping to keep the council in check and my head over my shoulders. Eventually, I should have opened my eyes, should have questioned things. Should…
I stop my thoughts.Should haveswon’t bring Tarlia back. Instead, I consider the situation I’m about to face.
While more guards than usual stand by the faerie circles, there are no flying carriages coming in and out in the large side areas reserved for descending and taking off. Instead, there are only three abandoned carriages, one of them toppled to the side. I suppose that tells me what happened to these vehicles once the pixies who used to carry them came out of enslavement.
The humongous gate of the city is closed shut, which is quite unusual.
