A Kind of Magic (34 page)

The former Hunt guards came pouring out of the castle doors, even as a few of the market attendees made a run for it. One of the enchantresses fainted. “Well, I’ll be,” muttered Mrs. Smith. The white cat jumped down from the cart, transforming into a woman who now was obviously fae. She whirled around, clapping her hands in joy as tears trickled down her face.

Nana appeared in front of the palace doors, dressed in the royal robes of the queen of the Realm rather than in the Queen Elizabeth-style suits she usually favored and surrounded by her courtiers. “It’s so good of y’all to join me,” she said, addressing the crowd. “Now, I believe we need to prepare ourselves for an attack.”

The Realm

Meanwhile

Sophie tried to make sense of the idea that Josephine, the enchantress who had been trying to make the fae look bad, was actually a fairy herself. How could that be? She’d done too many things that a fairy shouldn’t have been able to do. Her magic wasn’t anything Sophie recognized as fae. Then again, it hadn’t felt like enchantress magic, either. This did explain a lot.

But she could puzzle it out later. For now, she knew how to deal with fairies, and while Josephine rejoiced about returning home, Sophie found her iron horseshoe keychain in her coat pocket and threw herself at her opponent, raking the iron across her face.

Nothing happened. Well, not exactly nothing, but not the usual screaming and recoiling that happened when she attacked a fairy that way. Instead, Josephine seemed to draw strength from it. She merely raised a hand and was able to send Sophie flying. Instinctively, Sophie tucked her body and rolled when she hit the ground, so she wasn’t hurt, but whatever power had hit her left her tingling all over.

“Who are you?” she asked, resisting the urge to rub her hands against her arms to make the tingles go away.

“I thought you were the queen, rightfully crowned after winning the throne through trials and blood,” Josephine said with a mocking sneer. “You should know very well who I am. Your ancestor defeated me, and now I will defeat you and your grandmother.”

Sophie had already tried looking for anything that seemed familiar in the vast reserve of Realm knowledge that had come with the crown, but she hadn’t known exactly what she was looking for at the time. Now it came to her—there had once been a traitor who’d tried to pull off a coup against her royal ancestor and had failed. She’d been exiled to the human world, with no access to anything fae.

But as near as Sophie could tell, her ancestor had given up the throne and become mortal sometime in the late sixteenth century. How had a fairy survived in the human world all that time? There were some fae creatures who could function in the human world, and she suspected most of them traveled back and forth, at least to the Borderlands. Being cut off from all things fae should have been a death sentence unless she’d become mortal, which likely had been the queen’s aim.

Josephine wasn’t mortal, though. She couldn’t be if she’d survived this long. Sophie didn’t like the woman, but she had to admit to a grudging respect for her survival ability and a bit of pity for her fate. It would have been kinder to execute her outright. “You must have had a difficult time of it,” Sophie said. “This was a long time for you to survive. I’m impressed. How did you do it?”

“You won’t get my secrets,” Josephine said. “It is enough to say that I found a way, and this time I will succeed where I failed before.”

All this time, fairies had been arriving, converging from all directions. Sophie lost count at around a hundred, but there didn’t seem to be many more than that. They appeared to represent all the courts, though she didn’t spot any of the court rulers, and there weren’t many free fae at all. Unless Josephine had something truly nasty up her sleeves, Nana’s forces should be able to handle the situation, and since Michael had been there when she opened the portal, she hoped he’d find a way to spread the word.

In the meantime, she felt it was wisest to stick with Josephine and keep an eye on her. She managed to get to her feet a little unsteadily, but she’d barely taken a step when Josephine hit her with another burst of magic, knocking her down again. Sophie tried fighting back, but could barely summon her own magic, and what she did direct at Josephine had no effect. It was almost as though she was absorbing it. “Oh, no you don’t, princess,” Josephine said. Gesturing at two of her allies, she said, “Take her.”

Sophie wanted to fight back against the two fairies that held her, but she was afraid she couldn’t take much more of Josephine’s attacks. As it was, it was only the grip of her captors that held her upright. For the time being, she decided to play nice and see if they’d lower their guard eventually.

“So, were you really trying to take over the enchantresses, or was that a smokescreen?” Sophie asked Josephine. “I suppose two worlds are better than one, or maybe you were just trying to get me to bring you into the Realm.”

Unfortunately, Josephine had apparently lived in the human world long enough to have seen a few movies, so she knew better than to monologue about her evil schemes. Or else she just didn’t care to let Sophie in on her plan. She ignored Sophie entirely, instead drinking in every sensation of the Realm. Sophie could sympathize. She remembered how homesick she’d been the first time she went away to dance. How would it be to spend centuries away from home, separated from everything she loved?

“Did anyone bring me something to drink?” Josephine called out. One of her people ran forward with a crystal flask. She grabbed it and drank eagerly, then spit it out. “What’s wrong with this?” she demanded. “It tastes terrible.”

“It’s the same as I’ve been making for as long as I’ve been making it,” the fairy said.

“It’s not the same!”

He studied her for a moment. “If you’ve had human food and drink, it will be different.”

She hurled the flask at him, and he barely ducked aside. “Food! I need to eat proper food to restore my strength.”

“Here, my lady,” a fairy woman said, bowing as she offered a loaf of golden-brown bread.

“Ah, how I’ve missed this,” Josephine said, tearing off a corner and popping it into her mouth. Soon, her face twisted in distaste. “What are you bringing me? This tastes like dirt!” she raged.

“You’re the first I’ve heard complaining about it,” the woman said, flinching from Josephine’s anger. “Everyone says my bread is the best in the Realm.”

“Then clearly standards have fallen since my time here.”

“It’s rough going home again, isn’t it?” Sophie commiserated. “It seems like everything’s changed, when really you’re the one who changed.”

“I didn’t ask you,” Josephine snarled. “You’re merely a human, and you know nothing, even if you pretend to wear a crown.” Turning away from Sophie to survey the crowd that had gathered around her, she said, “I believe we’re all here. Now we march on the palace and show the queen what real royalty looks like.”

As the fairies dragged her along with the small army, Sophie tried desperately to recall any other information about that long-ago coup. She’d have thought an attempted overthrow would have made a big impression on the royal memory, but it was little more than a footnote, an “oh, by the way, this happened and here’s the outcome” mention. In a way, it was like the record had been erased. Had the last queen not wanted to remember this, or had it really been a minor incident, barely worth noting?

Traveling the way fairies did in the Realm, they were within sight of the palace’s turrets after just a few steps. Sophie expected them to march right up to the palace gates, but Josephine held back with Sophie and a few others, sending the rest on. It was hard to tell from here whether the palace had any defenses. Then again, any defenses it might have had would use fae magic, and that was useless against Josephine. Sophie just wished she knew why. It must have had something to do with her long survival in the human world, and maybe her distaste for fairy food and drink was related.

While the rest of her forces headed toward a more traditional fight, Josephine led the others to the back gate of the palace grounds. That told Sophie that she knew her way around. She was actually rather impressed; previous claimants to the throne hadn’t known about the kitchens. She made a mental note to tell Nana to beef up security there, assuming they got through this crisis.

But although they made it through the gate, the kitchen door was shut and locked, and no amount of magic or physical force would budge it. Sophie braced herself, afraid Josephine was going to make her open it, but instead Josephine sent a small spark flying into the air. A few minutes later, the door opened from inside, revealing Maeve standing in the doorway.

“Really?” Sophie said. “I swear, you’ll help anyone who promises you the slightest hint of power. You’d think you’d have learned by now that they’re just using you.”

Ignoring her, Maeve curtsied and said, “Welcome, my lady. It has been a long time.”

“You know she’s just playing you and plans to use you as a stepping stone,” Sophie told Josephine, who also ignored her. Sophie tried to keep her cool as the fairies bore her along with them into the bowels of the palace. She couldn’t fight with magic, and even her sarcastic tongue wasn’t doing any good.

Josephine certainly knew her way through the palace. She led, leaving Maeve to blend into the entourage. That suggested to Sophie that she must have been a regular here back in the day. Then why wasn’t she more prominent in the queen’s memories?

Sophie worried that they were apparently going to make it unchallenged into the throne room. The crown and throne could be won, and Maeve knew the tests. She might not know the trick Sophie had used to pass them, but Josephine had spent a long time planning, so she might have already figured it out. The only thing holding her back would be her blood, and Sophie still wasn’t entirely sure that it required that particular bloodline if the other tests were passed.

At that thought, she stumbled on the stairs and barely caught herself. Was that it? Had Josephine challenged the last queen because they were of the same blood? If so, she might have a legitimate claim on the throne, especially since she was actually fully fae. Or once had been.

“Should I call you Auntie Josephine, or would you prefer that I use whatever name you went by in the Realm?” Sophie asked, and the way Josephine froze just before opening the door into the throne room told her she’d guessed correctly.

The Palace

Meanwhile

“We need to find Sophie,” Michael insisted to Leonie Drake as fairies scurried around the relocated market, shoring up defenses.

“Oh honey, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that. It’s a safe bet that Josephine is on her way here, and Sophie’ll be with her.” She patted him on the arm. “She’ll be okay. You know Sophie. But it’s sweet that you care so much.”

The sound of pipes not too far in the distance caught all their attention. “They’re coming,” Eamon said, his face grim.

“Pipes? Isn’t that overkill?” Emily said.

“It is a legitimate battle strategy to unnerve the enemy,” Eamon replied. Michael got a sense of tension between them, but he didn’t have time to worry about that now. Not that he had anything else he was supposed to be doing. The fae were tearing down market booths to build barricades and were reinforcing the barriers with magic. Michael turned his attention to Amelia and Athena, who were directing the still-stunned visiting enchantresses to add their own magic to the barriers.

“It’s quite a place, isn’t it?” Mrs. Smith said.

“Your first visit?” he asked.

“Believe it or not, yes. My job is on the other side, but it’s still interesting to see. So, this is fairyland.”

“Is there anything we can do?”

“Keep your eyes open. That’s your gift. I’ve got a few tricks that might help fend off the fae, but that’s going to get complicated when they’re also on our side.” She frowned and added, “What got into your dog?”

“Not my dog, Emily’s,” he corrected automatically, even as he turned to see Beau barking at the palace doors. Emily must have released his leash after they’d arrived, and he’d wandered away from his mistress. The dog had never steered him wrong, so he headed to the door and eased it open to peer through. Mrs. Smith followed him, and he gestured for her to stay back.

It wasn’t the sort of door one could slip through without attracting attention because it was nearly two stories tall. Even opening it just a crack would let a significant amount of light in. The dais was nearly the length of a football field away from the door, but he could see figures moving, and he was pretty sure one of them was Sophie.

“They’re in there,” he said to Mrs. Smith. He gestured to Leonie, and when he had her attention, he said, “Josephine’s heading for the throne, and she has Sophie.”

“How many of her people?” the queen asked.

“No more than ten.”

“So the army is just a diversion.” She turned and gestured to the lead Huntsman. “Leave just enough people to maintain the shielding of the palace. The rest of you, with me. Enchantresses, I’ll need you, as well. And the wise ones. We’re all in this together. Now, we’re going in. Shields up.”

She waved her hand and the doors flew open. Michael figured there was no point in stealth with doors that huge, so you might as well go for shock value. The Huntsmen rushed in first, followed by the enchantresses, Emily and Eamon, Beau, Michael and Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Smith’s shopping cart seemed incongruous in that setting, but he had a feeling she was better equipped than any of them. The rest of their forces, including the courtiers and the fae from the market, followed.

As soon as the doors shut behind them, there was a rustling sound, and Michael noticed thorny vines growing over the windows. He suspected they’d also grown over the doors. They were apparently in a cage match situation—no one left until this was resolved, and only the victors would ever leave. Outside, the sound of pipes grew harsher and louder and was soon accompanied by shouting.