Chapter 565: Stolen
I didn't think, didn't pause, just reached out, searching for Ameline. This had to be her doing. Desperation drove my magic over the barrier and into Seelie territory. I almost didn't make it across, not until Thalion's cool power caught mine and pulled me across.
Girl. Gram's mental voice slashed across my mind. You're looking for the wrong person.
Gasp.
Right.
Shaylee. But Galleytrot said the perpetual magic makes everything muddied. Here I was arguing against the course of action I'd already set in motion.
Your soul knows the difference, Gram sent, her Sidhe soul's power giving me a boost. Go find the princess.
"I don't have your daughter," I snarled at Aoilainn while my mind, tied to Gram and Thalion, tracked back toward the Seelie palace, searching for the touch of my Sidhe princess.
Yes. Mine. And the queen be damned.
I think she knew that right from the start because the moment I spoke, Aoilainn seemed to crumple. "Find her," she wailed. "Bring her back to me and anything you've ever dreamed of is yours."
"Oh, I'm going to find her," I said. "But you're not getting anywhere near her. Ever again. And you don't have a thing I want."
There. Just a hint, a subtle trace under Aoilainn's constant control. I felt Shaylee. And my heart soared.
But wait. Hang on. She wasn't where I felt her. Just an echo, an after-touch of magic. My demon sniffed along the trail, whipping us back toward the river, the valley, the cobbled road.
The Gate.
And there, at the edge of Sidhe territory, I finally felt her at last. Not Shaylee. No.
Ameline.
She had Shaylee.
I hissed at the queen, slashing the air with my magic, fury boiling over as I let my gathered powers out. She thought the storm looming behind me wasn't a threat? Fine, I'd threaten her.
"You stupid, selfish, blind old fairy." It was the best I could manage. I was lucky I could speak past the spitting rage consuming me. "You let in Ameline. And she stole Shaylee from both of us."
Aoilainn blanched, body trembling. "No," she said. "You're lying." She shrugged her shoulders as though to shed my words. "I had no idea this witch you mention was in my realm."
She was just arrogant and shortsighted enough I believed her, though I watched her blanch after admitting she wasn't all knowing, all powerful. "You're the Queen of the Seelie," I said. "It's your job to know."
She stared at me with a blank expression.
"Tell me," I snarled. "Where is your beloved Bronagh, Queen Aoilainn?"
Thalion's frown and quick look around told me everything I needed to know.
"She fooled you," I said with so much bitterness my throat hurt. "She fooled all of us." Bronagh with her kindness, her support. Convincing Shaylee leaving was the only way, that we could get her back once Aoilainn became complacent.
Ameline.
I was the biggest fool of all.
"Someone find her." Aoilainn's order came out as a thin whisper. Thalion nodded quickly, eyes meeting mine, our minds still linked. I followed him as he ran, attached to his magic through the gift he shared, covering the ground with him mentally while Gram turned, our connection humming with power, and gestured, a large, shimmering image appearing before us all.
We saw through Thalion's eyes, even the queen's locked on the view, as he plunged down the path through the trees to the clearing. The palace. Raced across the little bridge to the spiral staircase and up, up through the spires until he reached the level he was looking for.
He didn't slow, passing startled Sidhe, rushing down a white hallway, vaulted ceiling lit with glowing globes. I felt my stomach heave from the double view and turned away, keeping my attention on Thalion and my internal focus rather than trying to follow along with the others.
My connection was more immediate anyway. I felt his heart constrict, though his body showed no weakness. The door to the chamber he turned to flew open, our dual vision searching the main room. Nothing. Empty, but for lush furnishings all in white and gold and silver. He paced, slower this time, through the archway and into the bedchamber.
Again, nothing.
She isn't here, he sent.
Keep looking. I had a very bad feeling. The real Bronagh has to be somewhere.
Only one last place to search when her wardrobe turned up only discarded clothing. Private bath, all crystal marble and shining light. The giant pool of a tub sat full, overflowing even, pink water spilling over the white fur thrown at the bottom of the stairs.
Something lay beneath the still surface, strands of dark ribbon floating around the edges.
Thalion gasped as my power of water reached through him and prodded the surface.
Bronagh's empty emerald eyes stared up at us as she bobbed softly to the top.
Dead.
Thalion's eyes flooded with tears, shattering the vision into a prismed image. I felt myself jerked back from what he witnessed as Gram pulled on me.
We knew she had to be dead, she sent. And now the queen knows. Hit her hard.
She didn't have to tell me twice.
"You see what you've done," I said, cold, precise, fury turning to a sharp-edged attack. "Your own advisor dead, thanks to you. Your daughter missing. Thanks to you."
There is no soul here, Thalion sent, a wide message. I could feel him turn and come back toward us. Bronagh's essence is gone as well.
Whose soul is more powerful? Looking like Cian, like Fergus, would have gotten Ameline in. But if she still had him, how could she change her appearance to Bronagh?
Cian is powerful, Thalion sent, clearly following my train of thought. But Bronagh more so. If Ameline was able to adapt to his appearance, having Bronagh's more powerful soul would make it simple to take on her features.
All that sympathy. All Bronagh's help. Of course, she'd wanted Shaylee and I free of the queen. No way Ameline could steal Shaylee if Aoilainn had her thralled.
Damn her.
"Lost to you," I pushed harder, lashing at myself as much as the Seelie queen for our combined failure. "Because you wouldn't listen. Because in your arrogance you refused to pay attention, only wanting what you couldn't have."
Aoilainn stood there and took what I dished out, trembling, angry herself.
"So, Your Majesty," I ground out the address like an insult, "here's the question. Are you going to continue to ignore the fact this is your fault or are you going to step up and do something to help?"
I don't know what I expected from her. Too many years, too much time passed. Aoilainn didn't say anything. Simply turned with her army behind her and left us there.
Well, at least she wasn't planning to hinder. So that was something.
War averted, I hugged myself, anxiety for Shaylee eating away at my insides as I spun on Odhran and Niamh. "I think Ameline has already left." She'd promised me she'd bring Shaylee to the Gate, didn't she? Thanked me.
Thanked me.
Oh. My. Swearword.
"She took Shaylee with her." Shudders gripped me, a sick feeling in my stomach driving bile to the back of my throat.
Ameline had Shaylee.
Ameline had Shaylee.
Ameline had-
"I want to help you," Odhran said. "But the Gate is on the Seelie side. And while I know Aoilainn has gone home to lick her wounds, I can't imagine she will simply stand aside and let me invade her realm."
I knew that already. But I was really happy to hear he still believed me. Maybe more so now.
I caught a flash of streaking white and turned to see Thalion come to a halt next to the barrier as Odhran went on.
"I will be here," he said, "we all will be. When the time comes. You can call on us, Sydlynn. And when you do, the Unseelie will answer."
"My king." Venner fell to his knees at the Fey ruler's feet. "What of my fate?"
Niamh grinned and prodded the lordling with one black-booted toe. "We'll have to talk about that, won't we, Odhran?"
"We will," the king said, face and voice stern. When he caught my eye, he winked. "But there will be consequences."
Nice to know Venner wasn't going to get out of this without some kind of punishment. But he had fulfilled his side of the bargain, and now that he was home, hopefully his days making a pain of himself were over.
"You'll keep an eye on him, I take it?" I could feel the pull of need to leave, leave now, but didn't want to alienate the only friends I'd made here.
"We will." Odhran obviously understood, because he gestured and made an archway for us to pass through. "Now go, and save your princess before it's too late."
I turned to run through, only to feel Venner's mind touch mine.
I owe you a debt, he sent. And I will repay you someday.
Whatever. I was already moving, Thalion leading the way back to the Gate, the others with me. I used all the power at my disposal to boost my speed, felt Thalion manipulating the landscape and, within moments, the Gate came into view.
Closed. Dark. But Shaylee's trail, the familiar feeling of her, led right to it. And Ameline's, too.
I stopped, fists impacting the rough wood once before I turned to Fergus. "Open it." I couldn't any more, not without Shaylee.
Fergus shook his head, eyes going to Thalion. "I cannot," he said. "The power belongs to the prince."
I spun on Thalion, watched doubt cross over his face as one hand settled on the Gate.
"Seriously," I said. "You still doubt?"
"No," he said, letting his hand drop. "But you will go and rescue her. And she will remain with you."
"You were the one who said she's different now," I said. "And you're right." I drew a breath, clenching against the possibility. "But if she decides she wants to come home, I promise you, I won't hold her back."
Thalion hesitated one more moment before nodding. "I trust your honor," he said. "I know you will not betray it."
Yeah. Not like some Sidhe I knew.
The Gate lit up, bright green, edges glowing as Thalion's power cracked the seal. It gaped wide on the other side, showing the chamber.
The very full chamber.
***
