“To negotiate?” she asked.
“Mostly for wisdom.”
That surprised her. “Really?”
“He’s lived a long time, and he’s watched other kingdoms rise and fall. I value his insights and knowledge. He’s been invaluable to me over the years.”
Tanis slowed her steps as they neared the huge palace. It shimmered in the light and had ornate carvings of figures andscenes all along the walls. Some were of battles, and some seemed to be peaceful. “Does it tell a story?”
“It does. If you start at the bottom, it begins with Ambrose’s family in Alarium when they forged an alliance with Elves and continues on until his reanimation.”
“Incredible.”
“Stop!”
Tanis froze instantly as a she-centaur came rushing toward them. It wasn’t until the she-centaur was close that Tanis could tell she was dead as she hadn’t decomposed very much at all. She held a small ceramic pot out to Tanis. “You need this. Keep putting it on your skin, and in particular your lips.”
Tanis sniffed at the odd concoction. “Why?”
Dash took it from the centaur’s hand and thanked her. “It’ll keep them from cracking and bleeding. The air here is incredibly dry. It literally sucks the moisture out of your body.”
“It’s one of the reasons why we don’t have to use magick to keep from decaying.” The centaur smiled. “And why you can’t stay too long.”
“She’s right. Our time for being here started counting down the moment we arrived.”
“Oh.” Tanis took a second small container, removed her gloves, then duplicated Dash’s actions of smearing the cream across her face and hands.
As they entered the inside of the castle, she saw that it was every bit as impressive as the outside. The carved ice here reflected an eerie green similar to Dash’s eyes. It seemed alive and vibrant.
Yet what impressed her most was that fire didn’t burn in the chandeliers, it was a bouncing wizard’s light, unlike anything she’d ever seen before. Nor did they have fires burning for warmth.
It was then she realized something.
“They don’t feel the cold, do they?”
Dash shook his head. “They’re dead. They don’t feel anything physically, that I know of.”
Veryinteresting.
They entered a huge ballroom. Lively music played while couples danced all around. It was then she realized how many species lived here in harmony. There were dragrs and liches, along with every kind of revenant imaginable.
“Are we in the right place?” she asked.
Dash nodded. “Ambrose always holds court here.”
“Why?”
“Why not?”
Because it was hard to concentrate with all the noise and movement. But it was interesting to watch all the corpses as they swept past. Especially since there was no rhyme or reason to how they danced. They really didn’t care what anyone thought. How refreshing it had to be.
The giant led them around the edge of the dance floor until they reached a dais on the far side of the room where a throne of carved ice was set.
And true to Dash’s words, there was a well-preserved head hanging from a rope next to the throne. Her unicorn companion definitely had a dark side to him.
But the worst part was that it seemed Ambrose had his final revenge on the necromancer who’d brought him back to life.
The head was alive and alert and singing to the song that was playing.
