“What?” For a second Celine thought she had heard wrong.
Dagan drew a deep breath. “The first, the original royal family, consisted of King Tybalt, Queen Merena, and their children: Anavar, Valeska, Gomed, and Wodlav.”
“Valeska? As in Valeska Pearlson? Who I killed?”
“Yes.” Dagan drew a shaky breath. “Wodlav was the explorer and the wielder of the Egress Key. He and his followers traveled to Demtor and let the Prenumbras into Erken. I believe Anavar and Gomed were killed on Erken. Valeska fled with us to Earth – as you well know.”
This was a tragic story of a family torn apart, and for the first time, Celine felt guilty for killing Valeska. She directed her thoughts to Queen Merena, Tybalt’s wife.
“What happened to the queen?”
“She died giving birth to Wodlav. Anyway, for many eons they were the only Royal Fata. Once they were dead and we moved to Earth, we had to start over and build a new structure. We built the Eternity Kingdoms on human lands and enchanted them so that the humans would not know. We built the four crowns, and Valeska crowned the four Princes – Caynin, Bolt, Calico, and me.”
“Does that mean that the other Eternity Princes weren’t born Royal?” she asked. Dagan had been born a slave, after all.
He shook his head. “They were lords or noble males on Erken. Valeska was the only original Royal on Earth, and thus she claimed the title of Queen.”
Celine had not thought that the other princes had once been less than what they were now. They certainly didn’t act like it. They walked around like they owned the planet, spoke with authority, and demanded respect and obedience.
“We built the Eternity Kingdoms to our liking and made our own rules, changing everything. Life was better.”
Even if Erken was safe, Dagan would never want to return. He had more power on Earth than he ever had before.
“What about Tybalt?” She pictured the broken, dirty king in her mind.
“You tell me,” Dagan said. “You are the one who saw him.”
“I want to help him,” she said. Maybe he believed he deserved to suffer, but she did not. He couldn’t fight off the Prenumbras – no one could. What happened was not his fault.
“I don’t,” Dagan said firmly.
“Why not?” she growled. “Are you scared he will take your power away? That he will rule the Eternity Kingdoms?”
“There won’t be any Eternity Kingdom if you don’t focus on the bigger picture.”
“Which is what?”
“Going to the Moon World and convincing the Elves to forge swords for us.”
Celine bit her tongue when she realized he had a point. Dagan was rational and considered the bigger picture instead of getting sidetracked with smaller tasks – like saving an extra life here and there. But Celine was different because she didn’t place the lives of many above one. All lives were equally important. To her, Tybalt’s life meant as much as all the rest. She’d focus on saving him while also going to the Elves to convince them to forge the swords.
“I don’t know anything about the Elves,” Celine said.
“The Elves are the oldest of the Fata – they think they are better than us. We have never been on good terms. One of the original princesses, Princess Anavar, trespassed on their world and was captured. Everyone who was sent to retrieve her died trying. Can you guess who managed to bring her back?”
Celine was good at puzzles and putting different pieces of information together. In her mind she went over the different things she had learnt – Tarragon had dueled with an Elven Prince and won.
“Tarragon?”
Dagan nodded, an impressed smile playing on his lips. “Indeed. He went to the Moon World alone, and we did not expect him to return. But he did return – with Anavar and the No-Name sword.”
“How did he beat the Prince in battle?”
“Only he knows that,” Dagan responded.
Celine groaned. If she wanted this information, she would have to talk to Tarragon, and she did not want to travel to the Everblossom Kingdom, nor did she ever want to see his horrible face again.
“I don’t want to see him.”
“Neither do I.” Dagan raised his champagne glass. He downed his drink in one gulp.
Celine was too upset to drink hers. She was still pacing on the patio and noticed that the Fata with the hat hadn’t moved. She looked around and didn’t see anyone else – they were all inside because it was raining. Although the weather didn’t have much impact on them, they liked to pretend that it did. They mimicked human behavior.
Celine looked toward the Fata with the hat again, he didn’t appear as if he had turned a page in the book. And was that a key she saw in his right hand?
Before Celine had time to give the matter more thought, Dagan coughed. She looked at him, thinking it was nothing serious. Then he reached for his throat, as if he couldn’t breathe, and foam formed at his mouth.
“No!” Celine cried.
He acted the exact way the assassin had after he had drunk the poison and died. The bottle of champagne had been closed, but maybe someone put poison on the rims of the glasses? That poison was obviously intended for her – not him.
Princess Celine – he will try to poison you next.
Out of the corner of her eye, Celine saw the male toss away his book. That removed all doubt. He was the assassin, but Celine didn’t have time for him. Her priority was saving Dagan – no matter the cost. It hadn’t taken long for the poison to kill the previous assassin, which meant she had to hurry. She opened a portal to Ulric’s workroom and grabbed hold of Dagan. His muscles made him heavy as she pulled him through.
The portal had barely closed when she called, “Ulric! Ulric help!”
Ulric appeared from behind a shelf and watched Dagan collapse onto his knees. Instead of running to the prince, he dashed to the shelf where the poisons were. Without hesitating, he grabbed one of the blue bottles and returned Dagan, pinched the prince’s nose, and poured the liquid down his throat.
Celine was absolutely terrified of losing Dagan. She had not even known that he meant so much to her. Seeing him this weak made her want to crumble, but she could not crumble.
“Please, breathe,” she said, on her knees besides him.
Dagan drew a deep breath. His eyes rolled around in their sockets like those of a wild animal. His whole body trembled, and Celine put a hand on his arm to steady him.
“I’m okay,” Dagan said.
“You will be,” Ulric confirmed.
“Ulric, how did you know what antidote to use?” Celine asked.
“I performed an autopsy on the assassin after he died,” Ulric admitted. “It was easy to find out what poison he used. Prince Dagan was showing the same symptoms, so I assumed he drank the same poison.”
“That was some quick thinking,” Dagan grumbled, still touching his throat.
“Thank you! Thank you!” Celine said and flung her arms around Ulric. His face went red, but he did not push her away.
“There is one more thing you should know,” Ulric said as Celine released him. “The first assassin was carrying this.” He stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small key.
“What does it unlock?” Celine took the key.
“I have no idea,” Ulric admitted.
Celine thought of the second assassin who had been pretending to read a book. He’d also had a key with him. She was tempted to go back, but he would certainly already have disappeared.
“Thank you,” Celine said.
Ulric smiled then looked at Dagan. “You will need to rest, my prince.”
Dagan was still on the floor, and he was clearly too weak to answer. He rose slowly, and Celine tightened her grip on his arm. He did not call for aid or thank Ulric, which made Celine wonder if it was too hard and painful for him to speak. She opened a portal to his room, and Ulric watched it in silent curiosity. Celine stepped through it with Dagan, guided him to his bed where he sat down, and she took off his shoes.
She had saved his life. Had he seen the panic in her eyes when he had started coughing and couldn’t believe how quickly she reacted? Maybe no one had ever cared about him like that.
“You are babying me,” he mumbled. He watched her with his head cocked, as if no one had ever been this kind to him before.
“You need to be babied.” She was not sure how long it would take for him to feel better. That poison was incredibly strong, and without using her magic, she would never have been able to get him to Ulric in time.
Once his shoes were off, Dagan slowly lifted his legs onto the bed, as if it required all his effort. He sighed and touched his throat, clicking his tongue.
Celine wouldn’t mention the assassin who had been pretending to read a book to Dagan yet, as she wanted Dagan to rest. The assassin must still be somewhere in the castle, and Celine did not want Dagan looking for him while he was this weak.
“Are you coming to cuddle?” he asked.
“Cuddle?” She raised her eyebrows.
He closed his eyes and extended his arm so that she could lie against him, with her head on his chest and listening to his heartbeat. She had lain like that with Caynin…
“Sleep well,” she said.
Clearly exhausted, Dagan did not open his eyes as she left the room. All this time, Celine had thought she was the loneliest person in the castle. Now she wasn’t so sure anymore.
Celine returned to her room and closed the door behind her. She looked up, to see if an assassin was on the roof, before going to her bedside cabinet and pulling open the drawer to reveal the two letters.
Princess Celine – someone is going to try to kill you.
Princess Celine – he will try to poison you next.
Next to the letters was the Agotoxin and its antidote Ulric had given her. She put the small key into the drawer, closed it, then sat down on her bed with her thoughts swirling.
She wanted to stop the Prenumbras, and Dagan’s plan made sense – to go to the Elves. But it would be no use doing so if they wouldn’t want to help. She’d have to speak to Tarragon to find out how he had beaten the Elven Prince – but why would he tell her anything? She was the reason he was locked up.
Maybe there was a way to kill Prenumbras without using the Elven-forged sword. Maybe King Tybalt knew, as he had been around for a long time, living between the Prenumbras, learning more about them. She shook her head and dismissed the idea. If he knew, he would have slaughtered all the Prenumbras on Erken already. It was no secret that he hated them for murdering his children. Celine swallowed – she had murdered his daughter Valeska. Would he attempt to kill her if he found out?
Celine hadn’t wanted to kill Valeska – she had only wanted to kill the Prenumbra inside. Valeska had been possessed, gone, and as far as Celine knew, there had been no way to get her back. If she considered it this way, the Prenumbra had killed her, not Celine. All three princes had found her not guilty of murder. Would King Tybalt see it that way?
When he had introduced himself, he hadn’t mentioned he was king. His title was as broken as his castle. Nothing remained to rule over, and he saw himself as nothing and no one.
But Celine was not going to forget or abandon him like everyone else had. She pulled the No-Name sword from under her pillow and fastened it at her hip. She would have liked to bring Dagan along, but he was in no condition to fight. She also doubted he would put his life in danger to save King Tybalt. He’d been watching out for her all the time, and Celine couldn’t help but smile at that.
Celine braced herself before opening the portal to Erken. She pictured the jail cell the way she remembered it, with the rusty bars and the dusty smell. She visualized Tybalt, curled up into a ball, rotting away in the dark.
The portal opened, and she stepped through with the sword at her side. She closed the portal and took in Tybalt, sitting upright with a look of horror on his face.
“Fool!” he cried. “You should not have come back!”
Celine looked to her right and immediately realized it had been a trap. Prenumbras appeared at the ends of the halls and quickly made their way toward her like rats in a tunnel. She looked to her left where more Prenumbras advanced. She was hemmed in, and only had a few seconds to open a portal and escape. But if she did, she would leave Tybalt behind, and she had no doubt that when she returned, the Prenumbras would be even better prepared.
She kicked the rusty door of Tybalt’s cell, and it swung open. Then she lifted the sword above her head and brought it down on the chains binding his hands.
“Get out of here!” he cried as the chains broke.
She didn’t have time to respond because one of the Prenumbras grabbed her arm. She swung the sword and cut off his hand. He didn’t cry out and simply reached for her with the other one. She stepped back and deeper into the cell, trying to close the gate, but the Prenumbras were swarming it. She kicked the gate hard, and it swung backward, knocking a Prenumbra to the ground.
“No! No! They will destroy your world, too!” Tybalt cried.
He held up his hands as if surrendering, instead of fighting back. Celine understood that in his heart he had given up – but she had not. She would fight until she was dead. She swung the sword like a maniac, but she could not fight off the crowd. Strong hands latched onto both of her wrists and hauled her out of the cell. She gripped the sword in her right hand, unable to swing it.
The Prenumbras walked around Tybalt and acted as if they could not see him. When he shoved one out of frustration, the Prenumbra did not retaliate.
Celine was powerless, and the Prenumbras parted in the hall so that she could be dragged down it. At the end of the hall Valdow waited for her. The sight of him made her want to crawl into a hole and hide.
He waited patiently as his minions brought her to him. He was not far away, but it felt like forever to reach him. Celine had enough time to think of what a failure she was. She had been caught, and the Prenumbras would go to Earth and kill everyone. It was all her fault.
But in the moment, Celine didn’t want to think that way. Breath remained in her body, and she would fight as long as she could. She had to come up with an escape plan.
The Prenumbras on either side of her were like brick walls – she could not push them away. They halted in front of Valdow, who towered over her. He was taller than Caynin. She gazed into his soulless purple eyes and tried to put on a brave face. She was a fool – she had brought him everything he wanted.
She struggled against the Prenumbras, and the No-Name sword wobbled in her hand. Valdow snaked out his hand and closed it around the sword’s hilt. She tightened her grip, but it did not stop him from ripping it out of her hand and tossing it away.
He turned his face to her, no doubt thinking victory was his.