Evanescent (Chronicles of Nerissette) Read online

  I took a deep breath and ran my hands over my skirt one more time to make sure it wasn’t wrinkled. “Here goes nothing.”

  “You’re a vision,” Timbago said from his position by the ballroom’s main doors. “Are you ready, Your Majesty?”

  “Nope.”

  “As I told you before your first ball here in Nerissette: back straight, chin up, smile. You are the queen here and anyone who acts like you are not will have their food poisoned by me. That includes Her Majesty, the Empress Bavasama’s ambassador.”

  “Right. I’ll be happy if I manage to not to step on someone’s foot and start a war.” I quirked my brow at him. “What do you say?”

  “You’ll be grand.” Timbago waved both of his hands in front of the doors, and they began to move with a loud, rumbling groan.

  “Do you really believe that?” I asked. “About me being beautiful and grand and all of that?”

  “With all my heart,” Timbago said. “Now, come on, it’s time to go dazzle some nobles.”

  The music inside the throne room died out and everyone fell silent as the doors parted. I found myself once again standing at the threshold, staring at a room packed to the brim with people in fancy clothes.

  “Her grace and glory, queen of all the light touches, the Golden Rose of Nerissette, Queen Alicia the First,” Timbago said loudly, his voice echoing around the room. “Long may she reign.”

  I held back a sigh as everyone bowed. I’d tried to pass a law against bowing, I really had, but it hadn’t taken, and now every time I entered a room all I got was a view of the top of everyone else’s head. Which was incredibly boring to say the least. Instead of fighting it, though, I lifted the front of my skirts enough that I could walk and started toward my throne. When I reached the dais, Winston stood and offered me his hand.

  “You look amazing in that dress,” he said, looking me over as I stepped onto the platform.

  “Really?” I asked. “Because I can’t breathe in it. There’s a poky bit stabbing me in the side.”

  “The injustice of being a queen,” he said with a smile.

  “Tell me about it,” I said before turning around to face the room full of still-bowing people.

  There was a loud crash outside the room and everyone jerked upright, turning toward the door, every soldier reaching for his sword. The doors at the far end of the throne room were pushed open and a young soldier, the gold buttons on his bright-red coat gleaming in the candlelight, raced into the room, his sword drawn.

  “Madrave,” Rhys yelled, standing up and drawing his own sword. “What are you doing here? How dare you draw your sword in the presence of the Golden Rose?”

  “The Fate Maker.” The soldier dropped his sword arm to his side and turned to me, not even bothering to bow.

  My heart sank into my stomach. If something had spooked one of Rhys’s royal guards so bad that he forgot all those stupid court manners everyone insisted on, then it couldn’t be good.

  “What?” I asked, standing up to face him. “What is it? What’s happened?”

  “He’s back,” Madrave said, his eyes wide. “The Fate Maker has returned to Nerissette.”

  Chapter Six

  A woman somewhere in the ballroom let out a loud wail, and then there was a crash that sounded like someone’s glass of punch hitting the floor. A second later the place exploded into chaos. Some of the nobles turned and began clawing their way toward the doors but were blocked by the line of armed soldiers, their hands on their swords. The woodsmen fanned out to the sides of the room.

  “Everyone!” I stood and tried to get the crowd’s attention before someone got crushed in the panicked mob. “Everyone calm down.”

  No one answered. No one even stopped. They kept pressing toward the door, shoving at one another to get out.

  There was a sharp, piercing whistle, like the ones on television shows when people tried to hail a cab, and everyone froze. “Knock it off,” Eamon yelled.

  “But the Fate Maker—” Gunter said. His normally pink cheeks were pale with fear, and he gripped the pinned-up sleeve of his jacket with his remaining hand. If he hadn’t lost the other one he’d have been wringing them together.

  “Has been seen.” I sat heavily on my throne. “Now, before everyone freaks out we need to find out as much as we can. Then we can figure out what to do.”

  “Do?” Mercedes asked from across the room where she was standing with the rest of the Nymphiad, staring at me from near the buffet table. “What do you mean what we’re going to do? A wizard has come back from the dead. What do you think we’re going to do?”

  “Sapling,” Darinda said, her voice a low growl as she gripped her staff tightly. “Contain yourself.”

  “Where was the Fate Maker seen?” Winston asked, his attention focused on Madrave.

  “Bekal, Your Highness,” Madrave said, his voice unsteady. “He was seen in the wizarding stronghold at Bekal, near the White Mountains.”

  “A two-day ride from here if he’s on horseback and not dragon,” Rhys added. “In the Borderlands. On the Bathune side.”

  “Near Bavasama’s palace?” I asked, glaring at my new ambassador.

  “Less than a day from the Palace of Night,” Eriste said, “but you can’t think that your aunt would—”

  “I don’t think anything yet,” I said, turning back to the ballroom full of people. If my aunt was conspiring with the Fate Maker I really didn’t want to talk about it in front of everyone—we’d have a riot on our hands. “But since you’re here now, as my ambassador, you can explain to me why my aunt is allowing my enemy to remain in Bekal.”

  “I’m sure she had no idea he was hiding there,” Eriste said, not meeting my eyes. “We thought he was gone, and I can assure you, we have no wizard in Bathune with the power to bring him back from the dead.”

  “Sure.” I turned away from him and back to my advisers and the rest of the guests. “So what we know is that the Fate Maker isn’t dead. Not only is he still alive, he’s two days from here. That gives us time to get ready. We can send dragon messengers out to the villages and start raising an army.”

  “I don’t understand,” Mercedes said, her voice high and panicky. “How did he get here? I thought you killed him when you smashed the mirror. He’s supposed to be dead. He can’t be dead and here at the same time. It doesn’t work like that.”

  “Obviously, smashing the mirror didn’t kill him.” I shoved my hands underneath my armpits to get them to stop shaking.

  “You told us you’d killed him,” Gunter’s mother, Lady Arianne, current steward of the Veldt, said, her eyes wide.

  “I thought I had.” My eyes darted quickly to Winston, trying to figure out how to admit that I had never known for sure. “The Fate Maker was swallowed by the light from the mirror. I had thought it had killed him. He disappeared. Nothing left. Just totally gone. Poof.”

  “If he’s alive, then what would stop him from coming here? From attacking us now? What would stop him from bringing an army with him?” another woman yelled. Everyone stared at me, like they were waiting for me to save them, to save us, because somehow I was supposed to be telling the adults what to do. Me, sixteen-year-old Allie Munroe. Yeah, that was just a fabulous idea.

  My stomach rolled as I remembered the sounds of battle from that day. The cries of men dying around me, the screams of combatants as they tried to destroy each other. I could hear the ear-splitting shriek of the Mirror of Nerissette as it splintered, tearing apart the link between this reality and my own. I tried to ignore the sweat trickling down my back at the memory of Esmeralda—the mirror’s guardian—howling in pain as she and the magical portal she was bound to disappeared.

  “Queen Alicia?” Winston reached over to touch my hand. “Allie?”

  I nodded and tried to swallow, my throat dry. “I’m fine. I’m okay.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked, his voice gentle.

  “I’m okay,” I said, my voice steadier this time. “We’re a
ll going to be okay.”

  “I hardly think that’s likely,” a man from near the back shouted.

  “We’re going to be fine.” I stood and tried to project calm over all the people. “The Fate Maker of Nerissette has forgotten one thing.”

  “Oh, I don’t think I have,” a loud, familiar voice boomed above our heads. “I think I have everyone exactly where I want them.”

  “It’s him,” Carolina of the Veldt screeched. People turned and began pushing toward the door again.

  “It’s simply a spell. A trick he’s doing to scare you.” I tried to reason with my nobles as they all ran around in a panic, getting nowhere.

  “Yes, I’m very good at spells, aren’t I?” the voice said, closer this time.

  He stood in front of me now, his black and silver robes sweeping the floor, and his dark hair curling around his pale face as he shimmered into existence. He was glaring at me, his eyes a vibrant, glittering obsidian.

  “You,” I snarled as I found myself face-to-face with the wizard who’d haunted my nightmares with Kuolema.

  “Since you mentioned spells.” He brought one hand up and snapped his fingers. Instantly everyone froze, locked into place by dark magic.

  “How dare you come here and use magic on my people? You have three seconds to release them and get out before I send my army to—”

  “My darling girl, do shut up.” The light around the Fate Maker receded, and he stood in the middle of the room glowering at me with his hands on his hips. “We both know that no one can hear you pretending to be brave.”

  “Who said I was pretending?” I lied.

  The Fate Maker pointed his bony finger at me. “Oh, be quiet. If there is one thing I cannot tolerate it’s a sassy, know-it-all queen. I had enough of that with your idiot of a mother.”

  There was a flash of light as dark magic forced my lips shut, sealing them together, while a sudden pressure formed around my voice box like it was being held inside an oversized toddler’s fist and squeezed like a grape.

  “That’s better.” He brought his hands together in front of his chest like he was praying and then tapped his fingers together.

  I felt a slight push and my body toppled backward onto my throne. I scrambled upright, but before I could stand again the pressure on my mouth spread across my entire body, pushing me firmly back into my seat, pinning my arms and legs so that I couldn’t move. Trapping me.

  He gave me a wicked smile and stepped closer. “Now you can do what I’ve needed from you since the beginning. Stay silent, sit still, and listen to what I have to say. Exactly like the good little girl I would have raised you to be without your silly mother’s interference.”

  I tried to scream, but the rush of air through my throat felt like flames. I made nothing more than a muffled grunt as I squirmed on my throne, trapped. I took a deep breath through my nose and tried to scream again.

  “That’s not going to help you.” He shook his head at me indulgently. “No one can hear you, and even if they could there’s nothing they can do about it. They’re frozen.”

  I let out a strangled yelp and he responded with a self-satisfied grin.

  “I could kill you right now, and no one would stop me. Lop off your head and leave you here for them to find. I won’t, but you should remember that I could have. One of these days I might just”—he pinched his fingers again, and I felt my throat tighten—“change my mind.”

  I tried to shriek, terror flooding through my system, desperate to get a sound out or get free or do something. If the Fate Maker wanted me dead, right now there wasn’t much anyone could do about it. My people were frozen, I was trapped, and he had all the power. Just like when I’d first come here.

  “Oh, isn’t this fun?” The Fate Maker clapped his hands together and came toward me. “You on the throne, like I always imagined you’d be. A perfectly wooden princess, brought out to do my bidding. Do you know that the day you were born I slipped into the hospital and saw you?”

  I tried to shake my head, and tears built behind my eyes as I struggled harder, fighting with all my might against the bonds holding me.

  “Your mother was asleep, and I just held you. I sang and sang, and all you’d do was laugh and blow spit bubbles at me. You were completely helpless then. I have to say it was probably the time I liked you most, all things considered. Helpless but essentially silent.

  “With one look I knew that if I could keep you exactly as you were you would be a glorious queen. A ruler who would make wizard-kind strong again. We could have conquered the dragons, the trolls, put the mermaids in their place, and imprisoned the ridiculous Nymphiad. We could have been gods.”

  He stepped onto the dais and leaned forward so that we were nose to nose, and I fought the sob that threatened to burst out of my chest. Tears filled my eyes and he smirked at me, his eyes flaming cruelly.

  “But you had to go and screw it up.” The Fate Maker shook his head. “You had to meddle and try to fix things. You just had to…”

  He wrinkled his nose as if I smelled like three-day-old garbage left out in the sun. “Grow a conscience. Of all the practical skills that you could have brought to this realm, instead you bring me a bleeding heart and a sense of right and wrong. Do you think those are in any way useful for ruling an empire?

  “You’re scared of me, aren’t you? Terrified. A pathetic, scared little girl. A child. I would wager if I removed your gag all you would do is whimper like a whipped animal. Let’s see, shall we? Are you going to whimper for me? Cower away like a kicked dog? Like your mother used to?”

  There was another brief flash of light, and the pain in my throat loosened as my lips unsealed with a sharp rip. I took a deep, shuddering gulp of air and tried not to let him see how much I was shaking.

  “You will never rule this country through me.” I kept my eyes fixed on his and tried not to let my voice waver, even as I fought back another terrified sob. “Not even over my dead body.”

  “Oh, my darling, that can certainly be arranged.”

  “If you kill me there’s an army full of men and dragons who’ll come after you,” I managed to get out through gritted teeth. “There’s nowhere you can hide from them. They’ll hunt you down and kill you, and I’m pretty sure at least a few of them will enjoy it.”

  The Fate Maker tapped my nose with his finger. “Then it’s a good thing that killing you serves no purpose right now. Then again, not killing you doesn’t mean I can’t hurt you. Think about it. I can always get from Nerissette to the World That Is, and your mother is still there—unattended, unloved, with nothing but nurses and doctors to care for her while she lies trapped in that coma. All alone.”

  I tried to lunge at him but couldn’t move, no matter how much I wanted to struggle against the bonds tying me to the throne. “If you touch her then you can forget about the army of men that will come after you. I’ll kill you myself.”

  “No, you won’t. You don’t have it in you. So be warned, little girl: if you don’t want me to bring her back here to die at your feet you’ll do exactly what I say—and you’ll do it with a smile on your face.”

  “Stay away from my mother.”

  “Why? Wouldn’t it be a mercy to end her pitiful life?” He squinted and wrinkled his nose before touching my cheek, then gripping my chin with his thumb. “I could put her out of her misery. Don’t you want her to be at peace?”

  “You don’t know what mercy is.” I tried to bite his thumb since my mouth was the only part of my body that I could actually move, but he jerked his hand away too quickly. “You’re not capable of having an emotion that complex.”

  “True.” He shrugged and stepped away from me. “Then again, I made you queen. Once the cat brought you through, I was the one who made you a queen. Remember who cast the spells that let your silly friends stay here in the World of Dreams, too. If you don’t do what I say, then I’ll simply have to pop back through to your world and find another girl who’s better at following directions. I
’ll replace you.”

  It hit me then. In all my fear, I had forgotten one very important detail. “Oh wait,” I started with a smirk. “There is no way back to my world.” I paused while his brow furrowed, letting it sink in. “The mirror is no more. Not even a fragment. When it shattered we collected all of the pieces and ground them into dust. Then the dust was scattered to the winds. Your link with my world is gone.”

  His eyes narrowed at me. “You wouldn’t have destroyed your only connection to your mother. There must be a piece remaining somewhere, something you kept for sentimental value. Besides, you can’t destroy magic that easily. It’s not something that you can just throw away.”

  “No, I destroyed it. All of it. And now you’re trapped here just like the rest of us. There’s no way back into my world. For any of us.” I tried not to blink as the lie slipped off my tongue. How could he have known? No one knew that I’d smuggled a shard of the mirror out in my pocket that day. That I’d saved a final link to my mother. That one last shard of the mirror remained, hidden in the toe of a pair of shoes inside my closet.

  “You think that stupid mirror was the only link I had to your worthless version of reality?” The Fate Maker laughed and leaned forward to slap his thighs. He snorted out a few more chuckles and then shook his head. “I forgot how funny you can be, how endearing, how ridiculous.”

  He straightened and let a smirk curl his lip. “There are always other means of moving between worlds. Dark magic you can’t even imagine. So remember, do things my way or you just might find yourself an orphan. Or even better still—replaced. You do have an aunt who can take your throne if I need her to.”

  “What is it you really want? Why are you here now?”

  “To offer you a deal. To give you a chance to save your pathetic land and its people. To save your own life. In three days I’ll be back here…with an army. If you want your people to live you’ll come out and bow to me. Then, as a show of good faith, you’ll bring me the tear.”