Fabled (26 page)

I grudgingly took Dekel’s hand to help me out of the carriage. I felt like I’d stepped back in time. It was surreal to be back where it all began. I stared at myself in the edge’s mirror.

I am not the same person I was when I stood here last.

We rarely are the same at the finish as in the beginning even if the destination is the same.

Chapter 28

I’ve heard it said that life is stranded together by a series of defining moments. This was one of them. I knew Dresdem would stop at nothing to get the portals open. He’d been searching for a way for many, many years. But I also knew that opening the portal, though good for me for the time being, would be disastrous for my world. Magic doesn’t exist there, and I sort of felt like it shouldn’t. On the other hand, being so close to seeing my family again made it hard for me to think clearly.

It would be better if I’m in control of the magic. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about the damage Dresdem could do. He would be nothing.

“Get to it,” Dresdem barked.

I had to try, or at least pretend to try, to open the portal. I pushed, prodded, kicked, cursed, and everything else trying to open it. It wasn’t long before the heat, fear, and frustration began to take its toll on me.
 

I studied the ancestral band on Dresdem’s arm. Swirling letters and a crowned crest, complete with a ball of fire, adorned his arm. I struggled to read the words, but I couldn’t get close enough to make them out.
 

I fought again with the portal to no avail.
 

“I’m starved,” Dekel finally said.
 

My stomach growled at the mention of food.

“So snap something to eat,” Dresdem scowled.

“I told Mom, Lauren, and Isabelle we’d be back for lunch.”

Dresdem glared at me with his arms crossed.
 

“You’re not getting anywhere, are you? You had better come up with something,” he said. “Let’s go.”
 

We got in the carriage and headed back. We were quiet for the first few minutes. Dresdem placed his hands on his lap, and I finally saw the words on his inked band “Magia est sanguis.”
Odd.

“Isabelle is talking about having an end-of-summer party. You know, bring in the fall with a ball sort of thing,” Dekel said to his father.

“We’ll see.”

“I think it would be good. We haven’t had a party in Royal Court for ages. Don’t you think it’d be fun? We can make it a masquerade,” Dekel went on.

Dresdem glared at him. Dekel, sensing his frustration, hung his shoulders and looked down at his knees.

“Who’s Isabelle?” I asked, trying to lighten the conversation.

“She’s my wife,” Dekel answered.

“One of them,” Dresdem said. Dekel smiled even though Dresdem seemed to be appalled by the idea. “My son has a sort of appetite.”
 

Dresdem, moral?
 

“I’m a collector at heart. I love beautiful things,” Dekel responded with a creepy grin.

“When you collect people into the family, you distribute the wealth. I’d rather not share,” Dresdem hissed.

Magic. He’d rather not have so many people who are capable of magic around him.
Julia cleared up my confusion.

“I’ve got my eye on another rare piece, actually. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about her.” Dekel smirked at me.

“We’ll discuss it later,” Dresdem said, glancing out the window and making it apparent to us that conversation time was over.

When we arrived back at the house, I was relieved to be escorted back to my room. It was the only place I felt somewhat safe. Nurse brought me lunch; I peeled off my dress and lay on the cold floor. I no longer wanted to look out the window. There was nothing left to see. My heartbreak returned, and I spent the rest of the afternoon in tears. I wanted badly to know who else the guards captured. It could have been Chester, Cale, or any of the other pack members. I kept replaying what I remembered of the hooded captive, but I still couldn’t know for sure.
 

If I could only get to the other side of that door.
 

What if you can?

I sat up and imagined myself outside the door, just like I had when I’d met with the brothers in the hall.

 
Then I was standing on the other side of the door in amazement. I practically ran down the stairs. When I got to the bottom of them, I wasn’t sure which direction to go. I wondered where royals would keep their prisoners. Every fairy tale I’d ever read would say the dungeon or basement. I searched random doors, which were either locked or just abandoned rooms.

The kitchen had the door wide open. I peeked around the corner, smelled supper cooking, and heard the cooks talking and chopping.
 

Supper is going to be soon. We need to be back by then.
 

I ran on my tiptoes across the opening and paused to hear if anyone noticed. They didn’t. I kept walking. I hugged the dark walls of the corridor, just in case I saw someone.

After a while, I began to feel a strange tug. Something deep down in my gut ached more and more with every step I took. The intense pain almost brought tears to my eyes. I doubled over. That’s when I saw it. A stone staircase a few feet from me led down. This had to be it, so I pushed through the pain and down the stairs. When I reached the bottom of them, I could hardly see straight. I looked around, but it was pitch black. I started to see stars. I finally let go and was back on my bedroom floor again. The pain slowly vanished.

It took me a minute, but I made it to the bed. I didn’t understand this strange gift, but it amazed me. I wished I could have asked the brothers to explain it to me. At that moment, I just happened to catch a glance of a tray on the vanity. Nurse had already brought my supper. She must have thought I was sleeping.
 

My real body stays in whatever position I leave it in. That’s why Dresdem didn’t know I’d left when I saw the brothers. I was still sitting in a chair vacantly looking at him. Amazing.

I ate my supper quickly and tried the whole thing again. I got a little further before the pain stopped me this time. I started to see what appeared to be jail cells, but there were no prisoners in the first few — that I could see anyway. The third time I tried, I decided that bringing my candle would be a good idea. I could project it too, but it caused me not to be able to travel as far. I couldn’t even get into the basement with it.
 

The fourth time I went solo again. I walked down the rock steps and deeper down the unlit hall of the basement. My bare feet splashed in some sort of mucky substance. I must have made a sound in disgust because someone grunted. My eyes struggled to adjust. All I could see was the barred doors on either side of me. What those doors contained eluded me. Only darkness. A few minutes in the pit was all it took for me to realize I wasn’t going to find them by just looking. It would involve more risk.

“Mack? Cilla?” I whispered. My words bounced back to me. A slow, painful minute passed before anyone answered.

“Roe?”

I pushed forward to where I heard his voice.
 

“I’m here.” A pair of hands clasped the iron bars on the right side of me. But the darkness still prevented me from seeing his face.

“Cale?”
 

“Yeah?”

“How did this happen? How did they find out about Mack and Cilla and everything? Why didn’t you go with the others?” I doubled over in pain. This was my absolute limit for the distance I could project, and my body screamed for me not to take another step.
 

“I had to protect them. I
tried
to protect them. I had a feeling that the suspicious guards were going to come forward when they heard about you. That’s exactly what happened. I tried to get them to come with us, but they refused. So I stayed. A lot of good that did,” he said.

“Where are they?”

“They’re further down a ways. I think they wanted to keep us from conspiring together.”

“Did the others make it out? Are they okay?” I asked.
 

“They made it out of Royal Gates, but that’s all I know. Humbert was on his way to check on them when we got captured. We don’t know what’s come of them.” His voice lowered. I felt his despair.

“I’m sorry I got everyone involved in this. I’m so sorry.” The pain of projection now so severe, it made me fall to the wet ground and groan.
 

“What’s the matter? Are you okay, Roe?”

“I’ve got to go now, Cale. I’ll try to come back.” I pulled myself up and placed my hand on his. Then I was back in my room. It took a few minutes for the lingering pains to pass, and it wasn’t long before I was back to normal again. Whatever that meant.

Chapter 29

I slept hard that night. Mirrors, prisoners, forests, and magic filled my dreams. Nurse awakened me the next morning.

“You’ve been invited for tea this morning. Here’s your breakfast. He’s, surprisingly, lifting your ban from their presence. Eat up and get dressed,” she instructed and left the tray on the vanity.
 

Nurse came back a while later and led me into the pastel sitting room, where I had been with Larelle and Lauren. They were sitting in the same spots as last time. Lauren stood and took my arms in greeting. She kissed my cheek and gave me a welcoming smile. She wasn’t like any of the other royals.
 

“Please sit next to me,” she said while patting the chair.

“Hello, dear. How was your sleep?” Larelle asked.

“Fine, thanks.”

“I’m glad.” She took the tea and saucer and lifted them both to her face. She delicately sipped but kept her eyes focused on me.

I took the quiet as an opportunity to push myself away — towards an exit. I followed the foyer to the grand front doors.
 

If I can reach Chester, we’ll devise a plan together to save Mack, Cilla, and Cale. He’ll be able to help.

I heard a noise tick within the doors. I tugged at the handle. Nothing. I pulled harder, until my knuckles turned white with force.
 

The house is charmed, remember?
Julia said.

I let myself return, defeated.
 

Being called down to the family made me nervous. I knew nothing good could come of being around them. Just then, another woman walked in. She was tall and uniquely beautiful with shimmering tan skin. She was dressed more modern than anyone I’d seen in Mezzanine. She wore a baby blue halter dress that showed her toned shoulders, back, and legs.
 

“Rowena, this is Isabelle,” Larelle said.

“Nice to meet you.” I stood and offered my hand in an effort to be polite. She and everyone else gave me a strange look, and when I realized Terra and Mezz didn’t share the custom of shaking hands, I quickly sat down. She didn’t. She stood glaring out the window. A strange tension grew in the room.

“Have we all become acquainted?” Dresdem asked as he walked in and took a seat next to his wife.

“My dear, Isabelle, isn’t she lovely?” He ran his hand up and down her arm. She didn’t even glance at him.

It was odd to see them together. She looked significantly older than Dekel. Maybe late twenties. Even if Dekel looked older, I still couldn’t imagine them together. I kept telling myself that when people never age, age doesn’t really matter. It still made me cringe a little.

“We have a proposition for you,” Dresdem said. My heart began to race. “Dekel has requested that you join our family. I must admit I had serious reservations about bringing a terrorist into our midst, but I’ve come to see that an alliance may be the best way to overcome our… differences.” The words slithered off his tongue.

A nauseous feeling swept over me. I tried to keep calm, but I felt myself shifting in my seat. My hand acted out my nervousness by twirling my hair, and I subconsciously pulled at the skin on my lip.
 

“You see,” he went on, “if we were to align, you’d be bound to us. This works out well since we both have the same agenda. We all want to open the portal, right?”

I hesitated.
 

Go with it.

“Right.”

Dekel grinned from ear to ear. Isabelle hadn’t gestured at all. Lauren took my hand. “We’re going to be sisters. Isn’t that lovely?” I felt breakfast come up, but I forced it down with a big gulp of tea.
 

“The wedding will be tomorrow. There’s no need in prolonging the happy union,” Dresdem said and walked out.

“Rowena, life will be enchanting. You’ll see. None of the others ever complain,” Dekel said while kneeling on one knee and kissing my hand.

“Please excuse me,” Isabelle said. I watched as her smooth, brown back separated at the shoulder blades and two yellow, translucent wings grew out of them. She stood on the window’s sill and flew away. I’m pretty sure my mouth opened wide in amazement, like some cartoon character.

“She’s nervous about the new addition. Don’t mind her. She’ll come around. She always does,” Dekel said, stroking my cheek.

“You need to get out of here. We have a lot of planning, and you shouldn’t see her until the wedding. It’s bad luck,” Lauren said and forced Dekel away.

“Until tomorrow, my pet,” Dekel called to me.

I took another gulp of tea and lay back in my chair. My stomach revolted at the idea and felt they could surely see the disgust on my face. They didn’t though, as Lauren and Larelle went on about wedding plans as if I were a part of the conversation.
 

 
“Come girls,” Larelle said. We followed her to her room, which she did not share with Dresdem. Gold accents adorned the ivory walls, bedding, and curtains like something out of a magazine. Antique furniture and a large four-poster bed with sheers draping around it clothed the room. She took us into her dressing room. The racks were stuffed with long dresses, many of which had trains that piled on the floor. There were hats, shoes, coats, and bags.

Wow. My dream closet.