I rushed to the edge of the balcony just as the shadow rushed out of the water below me. I’d seen this before, or something similar. The spirits after the Procession of Spirits. But this one was bigger, more solid, more real.
A chariot with four wasted horses pulling it, skeletal but almost solid-looking. The hooded figure looked vaguely familiar—the Harbinger of the Underworld. The hooded figure who’d been popping up ever since I’d inherited my title.
“You may be queen,” a thunderous voice said. “But the throne will soon be ours.”
It was so loud the music ground to a halt. I suspected everyone lining the riverbanks had heard the threat clearly. That little bowl of colorful marbles that I’d started to hold in my chest felt wobbly and fearful, and a pit of dread arrived in my stomach—my own and the fear of everyone else on the island.
Both Lily and Silas moved at once. Their hands were both raised and they were muttering spells in unison. The Rangers around me were doing the same thing. They’d all uncorked theirvials and were sending Lily’s potion splashing toward the chariot as it barreled down the river at me.
The potion hit the chariot from all angles at once. The chariot, the horses, and the hooded figure all froze in place. Lily’s potion worked.
Just as I was muttering, “It worked,” aloud, I remembered Lily’s warning that the potion needed a second part of the spell. If left untouched, the smoke figure would just return to its former state.
Arrows flew toward the smoke figure, but as soon as the first arrow sailed right through the smoke figure, Ranger X called a halt to the archers. The arrows weren’t connecting to anything solid, and they could easily injure a bystander.
I could feel the fear and overwhelm building in my gut, but I also knew I could only handle one set of emotions for now: mine. I tucked the bundle of emotions from my court into a safe place in my chest and promised to worry about that later.
As I leaned over the edge of the railing, I could see the smoke figure with a sudden clarity. I could feel the Triune Crown heavy on my head. I had just promised to protect my court. It was time to do or die, literally.
I raised my hands, muttered to my ancestors something along the lines of, “A little help, please?”
This time, as I used my training from Seer Goddard to pull water from the river, I formed it into whips and began wrapping the water around the chariot. I used the water like a lasso.
But it was only when I tapped back into that feeling in my chest, the sensation of feeling the member of every member of my court, both collectively and individually, that I felt it. A channel opening, slowly, but there. I could feel magic flowing through me that was no longer mine. A sort of magic that belonged to the court, to The Isle, to my ancestors.
I was connecting with my sisters. As this channel opened, the ley lines around the island began to glow. The river lit with a pop of brilliant white light. My ropes made of water began to glow as they twisted around the chariot and began crushing, tightening, like a python.
People stumbled back out of the water, afraid of the glow. The island looked like it was lit from beneath by a bone-white lava as the glowing ley lines pulsed and crisscrossed as I tapped into the magic of the island, the magic of my ancestors.
“You will not take my throne,” I declared, and then snapped my hands together, dragging the ley lines around the figure itself.
With a resoundingcrack, there was a moment when the chariot snapped. When the bones of the dead horses cracked and the chariot evaporated in a puff of smoke. The hooded figure was the next one to vanish, but before he did, I caught a glimmer behind that hood. Eyes, staring out at me. Almost curious, intrigued, like I’d just thrown down a gauntlet, and he was eager to return the favor.
Except I hadn’t done any such thing. I’d merely defended my court.
As the smoke and spirits vanished, I took a step back, breathing heavily. It had taken an enormous amount of energy to tap into my ancestor’s power and utilize magic direct from the ley lines. I was barely standing on my feet, but I knew I had to appear strong for the court I’d just pledged my life to.
“There are dark days ahead,” I announced in the ensuing silence, as worried faces looked up at me, hoping for reassurance that I couldn’t give them. Not truthfully, not honestly. “The Darkest Lord has his eyes set on our island. But I will not let him take it. He will march upon The Isle over my dead body. You have my word.”
No more were the joyful cheers and happy dancing. Many of the islanders had probably been somewhat unaware of the dangers plaguing their island. The Rangers were still in the trenches of identifying who was behind the kraken and crimson lycanthrope attacks, and though word of a new Fae Queen had spread, I wasn’t sure word of the Darkest Lord setting his sights on my throne had spread as quickly.
“I won’t lie to you,” I said. “I will be honest. The battle ahead of us is a grave and dangerous one. But I have faith we will get through it together. We have the help of all the Fae Queens. We have powerful wards. And we have you. All of you.”
I wasn’t sure if my speech was reassuring or not, but I didn’t have energy for more. The crowds began to disperse as Rangers issued warnings to be vigilant in the coming days. There were questions, to which answers were promised at daybreak tomorrow. It had been a big night of events, from the giving of heartbeats to the crowning of the queen to the appearance of the spirit from the underworld.
I followed Silas and Lily back into my room, into the bedchamber where I’d gotten ready moments ago. I found Liza already there—Millie must have tucked her there for safety as soon as the spirit appeared, and I appreciated her quick thinking.
“One second,” I said to Silas and Lily at the door. “I need to speak to Liza.”
Lily and Silas exchanged a quick glance, but didn’t argue.
“Liza,” I said to the little girl as I approached. I took her hands in mine. “I need to visit them. I know you have more information than you’re telling me.”
“Visit them.” Liza’s voice was flat. “You want to enter the underworld.”
I nodded. “I am the queen. I can’t sit around and wait for my court to be attacked. I have a hunch it’s possible to access the underworld, and I have a hunch that you might agree.”
Liza licked her lips, gave the quickest nod I’d ever seen in my life.
