“Take another step forward,” Cassiel said, his voice laced with quiet wrath, “and I will cut you down.”
King Dagden’s face darkened. “You dare bring weapons here?”
“You truly believed I would allow you to disarm me? Evidently, my caution was warranted. You forget, in the agreement of the Accords, every mystical kingdom is to extend welcome to my kind and those in our party. Yet there is no welcome here.”
“I forget nothing, Prince Cassiel. The sorceress slew a member of my court. Rectification is to be had by the family.”
His silver eyes snapped to her, wide and furious. “Then it shall be had.”
The purple-haired nightwalker pointed a sharp fingernail at Lucenna. “I will take you as our boon, and we will seal with geas. To be released after one hundred years of service is complete or until you are no more.”
“I refuse,” she hissed.
“Then you will die,” the Queen said, straightening her skirts as they transformed into the green of seaweed. “Only boon or blood will pay for your crime.”
Clenching her fists, Lucenna considered spelling her clothes to look like mud instead.
“My lady,” Rawn called to the nightwalker. He stepped forward and took her hand, bowing. She simpered, giggling to her sisters. “Please, see reason. It is not feasible to ask her to serve for a century when her years are not as plenty as ours. Could she offer something else to ease the passing of Lady Richël? Her most prized possession, perhaps?”
No, not that.Lucenna would sooner burn down the borough than relinquish her medallion.
“Lord Norrlen,” she warned.
“Yes.” The nightwalker’s sharp smile returned. “I’ll take your prized treasure. Give it to me.”
“Never.”
Rawn looked at her somberly. “Forgive me.”
Her hands crackled with electricity. If he thought she would—
Lord Norrlen reached into the folds of his clothes and held out his hand. The pearlescent blue scale gleamed on his palm. A choked gasp lodged in Lucenna’s throat. The nightwalker snatched the scale in her claws and cackled gleefully. Something splintered inside of Lucenna’s chest, some line of hope or sanity.
She dropped her hands, and her spells fizzled to nothing. She stared at the ground, seeing the faces of every sorceress suffering in the Magos Empire. So close. She had been so close to saving them. The scale she worked so hard to get, every drop of blood she had shed, every moment she had nearly died, the magic she lost—all of it rendered meaningless. Everything she had carefully planned vanished.
Lucenna’s eyes welled as her mother’s face surfaced in her mind.
The nightwalkers delighted in her misery. They didn’t care about the scale, only that they took something she wanted. They danced around her as they cackled, mocking the tears threatening to fall.
“It is done,” Cassiel said.
King Dagden nodded. “So it is. Now that all is well between us, you are welcome to stay the night if you so wish.”
“Thank you, but I am disinclined to accept the invitation,” Cassiel said coolly. He sheathed his sword and turned away. “We are leaving.”
He motioned at Zev to lead the way. Someone took Lucenna’s arm and gently pulled her away.
“Prince Cassiel,” King Dagden called, his tone cautious. “No violation against the Accords has occurred.”
But of course. Who would want Hilos and the Four Celestial Realms as an enemy?
“A truth to be said once my companions and I safely leave your court, Great King.” Cassiel tilted his head in a curt bow. “I shall endeavor to pass on your greetings to my father. He will be glad to hear of tonight’s events, I’m sure.”
King Dagden stiffened at the underlying warning. So the Celestial knew how to act like a prince after all. If Lucenna hadn’t been reeling, she might have laughed.
King Dagden said no more, and the guards moved back at some signal. The grip on Lucenna tugged on her again, gently leading her through the borough. No one attempted to stop them. They crossed the hall of trees where the lights once again glowed, and eventually, the moss gave way to the gravel beneath Lucenna’s boots as they entered the Wild Wood. The graying sky leaked on the horizon when they reached the end. All dreamlike signs of the Moors faded with the dawn. She stood at the tree line in a daze. What was she to do now?
“Forgive me, my lady,” Rawn said, releasing his hold on her. “It was the only thing that occurred to me at that moment.”
