“I haven’t found a spell for the ceremony.”
“It is my understanding there are purposefully none written, as only a true Fae Queen knows how to release a captive spirit. You will forge your own way forward.”
Then the Seer turned, wandering back up the dusty road in his bare feet, his robe dragging over the gravel. He did not say goodbye; he did not need to. I knew this was the last I’d see of him for now.
I turned in his absence to find Silas and Millie waiting for me. A new addition had arrived: Atlas stood by his brother’s shoulder. When I raised my eyebrows at him, he shrugged.
“Olympus is interested,” he said lightly, though I was sure there was more to the story.
“Then let’s give them something to be interestedin,” I said, and nodded for our small party to make our way to the castle.
We arrived shortly thereafter, and I made my way to the second-floor balcony. When I stood in front of the throne, I placed my crown upon my head. I’d worn a simple white gown, similar to the one the Fae Queen had worn in the textbook images.
Out of his arsenal of weapons, Silas had ended up choosing only his Hunter’s knife. The same one he’d used to defeat the crimson lycanthrope. Millie bustled about the castle, sweeping the balcony with a vigor I’d never seen before when it came to a broom and a dustpan.
Leaning on the railing, I watched orange daylight melt into indigo while the moon climbed the horizon opposite it. Once darkness had fully settled over the Court of Isle, Fenlon and his friends arrived.
Fen glanced upward at me with a smirk. He was clearly confident nothing would happen tonight. He was certain I would fail; otherwise, he would never have lined the riverbank with eager spectators. He wanted to be proven right in front of his fans.
Midnight brought the first glimmers of silver. The flickers started deep in the water, like enchanted minnows, flitting about, too far away to make out. I merely observed them as they drifted upward, not saying anything. I opened my Fae text to the spells I’d memorized for tonight. But still I waited, sensing the time was not yet right to begin an incantation.
As the moon crept higher into the sky, the faces sharpened in the depths, drifting still closer. Silas stiffened beside me, one hand settling on my shoulder as he saw them. Millie’s soft gasp followed shortly thereafter. Atlas never reacted, but I knew he saw them too.
Fenlon’s companions were by far the last to notice, probably because they were lulled into a false sense of security by the copious amounts of wine and honeyed mead they’d brought, as if this were some sort of festival or celebratory event.
But at some point, one man closest to the water fell right out of his chair when he glanced at the surface. He scrambled up and away from the bank with a shriek. Goblets clattered as the rest of Fenlon’s crew caught glimpses of the faces in the shallow pool before the castle.
“It’s time,” I told Silas. “They’re ready.”
Silas just nodded. I noticed his hand went to his blade, but just briefly, a lightning-fast reaction before he rested his hand on my shoulder and gave a squeeze. Atlas moved closer to me onthe other side. Millie stood a little ways off, watching with a pale face. Several Rangers, including Ranger X and Lily with him, stood on the opposite bank as Fenlon, watching with curious gazes.
As I whispered the spell given to me by my ancestors, warmth began to surge through my veins, lighting me from within. Thousands of voices in countless tongues filled my mind—each individually unintelligible, but together, a sacred chorus. I knew this was not my magic alone. I was a conduit for all the past queens.
My hands glowed—and so did the river. Ley lines ignited across the island as I completed the spell, pale blue veins streaking across the ground, heaving with magic. The river was the largest among them, glowing like a portal, though it wasn’t a portal at all.
Water became blood, breath became wind, the earth’s pulse beat with my own. I was one with the island, the true Queen of Isles, and I felt content. I was right where I belonged.
As I stood there soaking in the magic, I noticed the nuances I’d missed before: the thud of footsteps on the shore, the beat of Millie’s heart across the balcony, the hush of forest creatures awakening to the light as the ley lines glowed with power.
When the moon hung directly overhead, Ifinallyunderstood what I needed to do next. I had been winging it so far, knowing I needed to perform some sort of spell, but not knowing which one I’d need to call upon. But now I had my answer. It was, as I’d thought earlier, a portal. But it wasn’t just any portal—it was a portal created from the island’s own ley lines. Only the very magic of this island would be strong enough for what needed to be done tonight.
The spirits gravitated toward the moon’s reflection in the water, a silvery disk stretched taut upon the surface. The riverwasn’t a portal, but the glowing reflection of the moonwas. Or, at least, it would be once I unlocked it.
I descended the stairs of the castle, feeling all eyes on me as I waded directly into the shallow pool. The spirits flocked toward me like fish, flitting near, getting close but never touching.
My white dress billowed, sodden to my knees, but I cared only for the power thrumming beneath my palms. When I reached the center of the shallow pool, the time had come to create the portal. I sent out my tendrils of magic, wove them in a circle around the moon’s reflection, infusing them with magic from the glowing ley lines. We’d need more than my power and that of my ancestors to complete this spell: we needed the power of The Isle.
As I completed the circle, the reflection of the moon itself began to hum with vibrations. The portal was up and working. The spirits flocked around it, looking like ghosts moving through the current, staring at the portal with fear and hope. When I nodded, the first of the spirits crossed into the portal.
The face stared up at me, eyes wide in terror, until slowly, the spirit began to blink out of existence. Before the face of the man disappeared, he smiled, and though I couldn’t hear him, I was sure the words on his lips were of thanks.
Gratitude shone in every ethereal face as more spirits began to flow through the portal. Some joyful, some tearful, some pressing ghostly kisses to their fingers before slipping away to their rightful realm where they could finally rest.
This went on for some time—hours, maybe—until three spirits entered the portal together. I did a double take when they held up their forearms to display the Triskelion Sigil etched in black there.
“You’re the fishermen,” I said. “Are you able to tell us who killed you?”
The man in the center nodded.
