Fifty-four

 

The Great Hall

The Next Moment

 

“Would they really—” Sophie started to say, but then she noticed that Tallulah and Eamon had already vanished. She ducked behind the banquet table while Emily dragged Michael to safety behind a pillar. The two older sisters found their own hiding places.

It seemed like forever before she could hear footsteps approaching. She crawled to the end of the table and peered between the chairs and the table legs to see white-haired and black-clad fairies striding forward as though they were entering their own palace. She could see why Emily had suggested hiding. These fairies dropped the room’s temperature by several degrees just with the look in their eyes.

She crawled under one of the massive chairs when the footsteps stopped next to the table. “Ah, refreshments. How hospitable,” a woman’s voice said, and Sophie had to stifle a laugh. The fairies really needed to be better about reading their own press so they’d know the rules.

Maeve’s voice rang through the hall. “Fiontan, Niamh, you are the first to come swear me fealty.”

“Maeve? You?” a male voice said from nearby as Sophie scrambled to the other end of the table so she could see Maeve. Maeve was on her feet again, standing near the throne but not touching it. Her people, including the human women, were kneeling before her as though she was a crowned queen.

Maeve spread her arms, gesturing at the seemingly empty hall. “Who else do you think woke the palace?”

Light shot through the hall as the doors opened again, and this time footsteps on the marble floor weren’t the only sound. Sophie heard the clang of weapons and shouts of battle approaching. She risked rising to her knees to peer over the table and see what was happening. The black-clad fairies put down their goblets and placed their hands on their weapons.

Sophie still couldn’t see who the new arrivals were, but it sounded like there were a lot of them, and they were already fighting each other. Then something else caught her attention. The filigreed base holding a bowl of fruit was glowing ever so slightly, and now she saw that it looked like a crown. It was like the answer key to one of those “find the hidden objects” puzzles she’d liked as a child, with the hidden objects highlighted. The crown of the Realm was holding up a bowl of grapes.

But she couldn’t get to it, not with one of the fairy factions standing right next to it and at least two more factions battling their way forward. While the fairies were all focused on each other, Sophie darted behind the pillar where Emily, Michael, and the enchantresses had hidden. “I found the crown,” she whispered. “See, under the bowl of grapes.”

“That trivet?” Emily asked.

“The one that’s glowing,” Sophie said.

“I don’t see a glow.”

That was a relief to Sophie. If she was the only one who saw the crown that way, it was less likely that any of the fairy rulers would spot it. “Trust me, it’s there,” she said. “Now if they would just move away from the food and drink for a moment.”

But, no, that would be too easy. Not only were more fairies heading to meet those standing at the table, but Maeve had come down from the dais. “I will have no warfare within my hall,” she commanded.

“Your hall?” one of the newcomers, who was improbably dressed in a tuxedo, snarled, though he did lower his weapon.

“How else do you think the palace returned to life? I said I knew how to find and take the throne, but none of you believed me. Now, please, refresh yourself at my table.”

“You’re not wearing the crown,” a fairy woman in a blood-spattered evening gown said.

“It would mess up my hair,” Maeve said. “Besides, it’s merely symbolic. The important thing is that I brought the castle back.”

Some of the newcomers poured themselves goblets of wine, but the tuxedoed man refrained. He still stared warily at Maeve in a way that made her twitch with unease. “Please, Niall, have some wine,” she said, her voice a bit shrill.

“I feel I shouldn’t take your hospitality without first swearing fealty to you as my queen,” he said. He gestured to the others. “We all should kneel to you before we sit at your table.”

“Yes, you should,” she said, gesturing to the floor in front of her.

“Ah, but these things should be done properly,” Niall said with an unctuous smile. “We must kneel before the throne to recognize you as rightful queen of the Realm.”

“That’s really more of a tradition than an obligation,” she said with a nervous laugh.

“Humor me,” he said, the charm in his voice turning to steel. “Or is there a reason you don’t want to sit in the throne you’ve so valiantly won?”

Maeve hesitated a moment too long, and in that time, the others all put their goblets down and drew weapons. Soon, Maeve faced a variety of knives, swords, arrows, and guns—an arsenal of the ages. “If you insist,” she said stiffly and began walking toward the dais like a bride with cold feet heading to the altar. The others followed close on her heels.

Halfway there, she made a break for it, darting toward the corridor that led to the garden. She wasn’t fast enough for the other fairies, and they moved to block her. Her guards joined the melee. Swords clanged, bowstrings twanged, and shots rang out as the fairy factions fought each other and Maeve’s people.

Sophie saw her chance and rushed to the table, where she tossed the bowl of grapes aside and picked up the crown. “Okay, now it looks like a crown,” said Emily, who had joined her, along with the others. Eamon had reappeared at some point and stood next to Emily. “So, now what? You put it on?”

“Well, usually someone else puts the crown on, but I don’t see any archbishops around, so I suppose I’ll have to pull a Napoleon,” Sophie said. She lifted the crown and placed it on her head. Although it had seemed delicate and light, it weighed heavily on her.

“Should something happen?” Michael asked. “How will we know if it worked?”

Sophie glanced around. “Nothing seems to have changed. Maybe I have to sit on the throne while wearing the crown.”

“To get there, we’ll have to get through them,” Michael said with a glance at the fight.

“This is starting to make the American electoral college system look like the simple way of choosing a leader,” she muttered. Then she gave Michael a direct glare. “And there is no ‘we’ to this. You stay here. I can get to the throne.”

She was weighing the relative merits of staying under as much cover as possible by running from pillar to pillar until she was nearly at the dais as opposed to just making a run for it when Michael grabbed her wrist. “You’re not going to get anywhere while you’re wearing that thing. They’ll know what you’re up to.”

Wincing, she reached up and removed the crown. “What should I do with it?”

He held out his hand. “I can hide it in my sling.”

“That’s just a ploy to get in the fight,” she accused.

“Well, it won’t fit in your bra,” Emily said, snatching the crown out of Sophie’s hand and giving it to Michael.

“It’s not too heavy for you, is it?” Sophie asked as he tucked the crown into his sling.

He acted like that was a surprising question. “No, not at all. Now, come on.”

The battling fairies still hadn’t noticed them, but that didn’t last long. When they saw a cluster of humans rushing toward the dais, they stopped fighting each other and turned to the interlopers. “We’ll take care of this,” Amelia said. “Go!” She and Athena took up defensive positions, firing off bursts of magic to keep the fairies at bay. Sophie tried to ignore the arrows flying past as she ran.

They’d just reached the dais steps when Michael cried out and sagged against Sophie. She caught him before he fell. “What hit me?” he gasped. “My good arm, it’s gone numb. I can’t move it.”

“Sophie?” Emily begged in distress.

“It’s probably elf-shot,” Sophie said. “I know how to treat it, but I don’t have the supplies.”

“Go,” Michael urged. “Take the crown.”

Her heart wrenched at the thought of leaving him lying there, injured and helpless, but she remembered her mission. She reached into his sling, took out the crown, and ran up the steps toward the throne.

Some of the fairies had made it past Amelia and Athena, and Maeve was racing Sophie to the dais. Maeve got to the throne first and stood blocking it, but Sophie took a couple of running steps and launched herself into the tour jeté of a lifetime. She hadn’t just been boasting about the kind of air she could get. She kicked up with one leg, hitting Maeve square in the jaw, then twisted her body around in the air, scissoring her legs, and landed on one foot on the edge of the throne’s seat. As soon as she’d caught her balance and had both feet under her, she placed the crown on her head, hoping that standing on the throne counted.

It must have, for the palace truly came to life. When she’d sat on the throne earlier, it had merely removed the outside barriers. Now it was as though the electricity had been reconnected. Light shone from above onto gleaming surfaces. At the same time, a wave of awareness swept over her, and she suddenly knew and understood so many things that it was as though her mind had lit up along with the palace.

Every head in the room turned to face the throne, and Sophie realized that standing on the furniture was hardly dignified, so she gracefully lowered herself into the seat. “Now, y’all stop it right there,” she ordered in her best scolding teacher voice, like she was making a student spit out her gum. “Drop the weapons.” Much to her surprise, they complied, and then they all knelt without her even having to give the order. Maeve was already on the ground, wiping blood away from her mouth, so Sophie couldn’t tell if she meant to be kneeling, but she figured it was safe to assume the others now all knew Maeve wasn’t the rightful ruler, and that was the important part.

“As you can probably tell,” she continued, “the throne is now occupied. Whether or not I’m here, you can consider it occupied, so there’s no point in all this fighting.” They all bowed their heads in acknowledgment, and she had to stifle a smile. She could get used to this.

She allowed herself a sigh of relief when she saw that Amelia and Athena were tending to Michael, and he was moving his good arm again. With a sense of satisfaction, Sophie stood and said, “And now I’m taking my people home, but I will be back.” The knowledge pouring into her brain told her what to do. She removed the crown and placed it in the throne’s seat. A glowing bubble formed around the throne, sealing it and the crown safely out of reach.

Tallulah, who had reappeared at some point in all the commotion, met her at the foot of the dais. “Very good, little one. Our debt is cleared, and you are welcome to dance with us at any time, with no additional obligation.”

“I should think so,” Sophie said, “considering I’m now your ruler.”

Tallulah didn’t kneel, but she did bow her head with a smile as Sophie brushed past her. Emily and Eamon helped Michael to his feet, and they and the enchantresses joined Sophie. “Let’s get out of here,” Sophie said.

“Please!” Emily said with great enthusiasm. “I hope you know how to get us home.”

“More now than ever,” Sophie said. “I can create a gateway, but we’ll have to get outside the palace to do so.” Sophie and her friends headed for the doors at the end of the hall, and all the fairies followed behind. Now that taking the throne was no longer an option, they were jockeying for a position close to the queen.

When they reached the massive front doors, Sophie opened them with a gesture and prepared to enter her Realm.