My mouth felt dry. I could only listen. I couldn’t even look at Liza. I hated myself for putting her in this sort of danger, even if she’d volunteered. She was only a child. Not old enough to consent. Not old enough to drink. But old enough to offer her life as a sacrifice to save the island she loved so much.
“She will guide you into the underworld and as far as she can go without...” Seer Goddard cleared his throat. “Before I pull her out. Once I pull her out, you’ll be on your own.”
“You’ll pull her out before anything can happen to her, right?” My hands were clutched around my own knees. “She’s not really in danger? She’s just a guide?”
Seer Goddard gave a somber smile. “There is a risk to everyone involved. You know that, My Queen, as well as I do.”
It was the first time Seer Goddard had officially, casually, used my new title. Seeing as he did everything for a reason, I assumed this was calculated too. He wanted me to be very aware that this was a decision I needed to make as Queen of Isles.
“Once I’m there,” I said. “Do you have any advice?”
“Open the portal,” Liza said, looking to Seer Goddard for reassurance. “Open the portal and let the spirits know that you are serious. The Darkest Lord is a man of cruelty and unfulfilled promises. Show them you are good for your word.”
Seer Goddard nodded. “It’s unclear if these spirits will react to empathy and reason after so long in the Darkest Lord’s clutches. It’s possible that their loyalty to him will run deep after years of conditioning. But it’s worth a shot.”
That was all I needed to hear. The confirmation that it was worth a shot. It was what I’d thought all along and was now verified by a man I respected. By the little girl who was so wise and powerful beyond her years. And by my intuition as queen, which was something I’d need to finesse if I wanted to be a true leader.
“Then let’s begin,” I said. “And if something is to happen to me in there, I am instructing you both not to risk your lives. Pull yourselves out. Let the Rangers and Silas know what has happened. But under no circumstances should you try to save me by yourselves.”
Seer Goddard nodded in understanding. Our eyes met, and in that moment, he gave me the reassurance I needed to proceed with what was ahead. He would protect Liza at all costs. Even at the expense of me, which was what I needed to hear.
Seer Goddard lit a fire, set a small vial above it, and then said, “Let’s begin.”
nine
Whenthepotionwasbrewed, Seer Goddard nodded for me to go ahead. I carefully poured the potion into a mug, gave it a few minutes to cool. The three of us sat silently. None of us knew what to say.
“I don’t know exactly how this will work,” Liza finally said, as I raised the cup to my lips. “I have never been into a spirit realm before. But in some of my dreams, my mother was able to…guide me. I remember how it felt, and I think I can do it again.”
“You’ll do fine,” Seer Goddard assured Liza. “The potion will pull you in with Alessia. You will have to do the guidance into the underworld. Once there, she will be free to be on her own.”
“I’ll stay with you as long as I can.” Liza reached out, put her hand in mine. “Whenever you’re ready.”
I clasped Liza’s hand in mine, raised the vial to my lips. Without a backward glance, I drained the whole thing. I let the fizziness, a slight strawberry essence, bask in my belly for a moment. It tasted like expensive champagne and gave me that same sort of lightheaded feeling.
The pleasant sensation only lasted for a few moments before a wave of nausea swept through me like a tsunami. I lurched forward, dry-heaving, and the last thing I felt before my vision started to flicker was Liza squeezing on to my hand as hard as possible.
My vision came and went for a few moments, but in that transition, I noted the look of concern on Seer Goddard’s face. When I glanced up at the sky, I saw why. The visceral reaction wasn’t just happening within my body; it was happening across The Isle.
Thunder cracked in a surround sound of trumpets. Lightning raced across the sky, spreading like tentacles out in every direction. Rain started to pelt downward, and the sunny sky instantly clouded over. Waves crashed in deadly punches against the rocks below.
As the wind whipped my hair around me, I could hear my ancestors using it to speak to me:“Are you sure, sister?”
My ancestors did not speak freely to me on a regular basis, so I took this as a massive warning. If they were reaching out in efforts to protect me, to stop me from going into the underworld, it only confirmed that the journey that lay ahead of me was rife with danger. I understood there was a very real chance I might not return.
“I must go,” I whispered. “I must.”
“Then we will be with you.”
My vision was the first to go. But instead of blacking out, it went pure white. I could see nothing but blankness. A pure whiteout. I felt Liza’s hand in mine, but eventually that started to fade, too. At one point, I felt like I was floating in a sea of fog. I could see nothing, feel nothing, I was nothing.
And then a jarring sensation rocked my vision back to life. I had no idea how long I’d been in the abyss of bright nothingness,it could’ve been days or years, but when I regained my vision, I was not in my body.
I couldn’t describe the sensation, except that I existed as myself without my physical being. I blinked, the darkness a jolt to my senses after the wash of brightness.
As I took in my surroundings, I noted that I was somewhere else entirely. Another world, another realm? The spirit realm. The underworld.
The darkness stretched as far as the eye could see in every direction. It wasn’t the same sort of darkness as nighttime on The Isle. Even on cloudy nights in our realm, there was some semblance of light. Stars, moon, errant glow.
