Celine lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling. A hollowness was lodged in her heart where her family used to be. She longed for them and tried to recall happy memories. She didn’t want to remember the looks on their faces when Caynin had carried her bloody body through the portal. She didn’t want to think about the sword impaling her father. Wow, he could have died, and it would have been all her fault.
She had never helped anyone. She always tried and she always failed. She had let Prenumbras into this world, and because of that, many Fata, including Flint, Toriano, and Delia, were dead. She hadn’t even tried to help Queen Valeska by trying to figure out if there had been a way to expel the Prenumbra from her body. She had simply killed her. She couldn’t free the human slaves, nor could she free her Fata supporters. She had left them behind in that dungeon for Severin, like Dagan had left Flint behind for the Prenumbras to kill.
Her room’s door opened, and Bella entered, interrupting her thoughts. Celine turned her head to look at her.
“I’m sorry, Princess, I did not know you were here.”
Celine did not doubt that Bella had come to her room to search for something to clean. She’d fold clothes, wash the windows, and scrub the floors if Celine weren’t here. She was carrying a bucket with cleaning supplies and put it down on the ground beside her.
“I’m here…” Celine mumbled.
Bella approached slowly, cautiously, and sat down on the bed next to her. “What’s going on?”
Did Bella even know that Severin had kidnapped her or if Dagan had kept it secret? She doubted Dagan would tell anyone about the binding documents. And he had not brought an army to save her. It would make sense that he’d want to keep it quiet to avoid looking weak.
“When Tarragon killed my parents, did you see him open a portal?”
The question caught Bella off guard, but she answered it honestly. “No. When I came to the room the portal was already open.”
“He didn’t open it.” Celine couldn’t meet her eyes.
“How do you know?” Bella asked.
“I just do.” Celine did not want to tell her about everything that had happened. “Someone else opened the portal and let the Prenumbras in. My parents were possessed when Tarragon killed them.” The horror on Bella’s face was one Celine would never forget. “It does not change anything. He is still a monster.”
“But because I didn’t know the whole story, he has been locked up for the rest of his life.”
“That’s what he deserves.”
Celine wondered if she, too, should be locked up for the rest of her life.
“Who opened the portal then?” Bella asked.
“Severin Silverskin,” Celine mumbled.
“How do you know?” Bella asked.
Celine understood why Bella was pressing her for information. The deaths of Harmonia and Calico had changed her whole life. Revealing that Tarragon had not opened the portal changed her beliefs. But emotionally Celine was tired, and she could not summon the energy to tell Bella every detail.
“What’s going on with you?” Bella asked her when she did not respond. “You can tell me anything.”
Celine snorted. The last thing she wanted to do was talk about her feelings. She didn’t want to divulge how she had closed the portal on Caynin without thanking him properly for coming to save her and for helping her by taking away the corpses in her family’s house. She didn’t want to explain how she had hurt Dagan, and in doing so, hurt herself. She didn’t want to explain how lonely she was and how, no matter what she said, no faerie would understand because they didn’t experience emotions the way humans did.
“I just want to be left alone for a while,” Celine told her.
Bella hesitated before leaving and taking her cleaning supplies with her. Celine closed her eyes and fell asleep. She woke because she was hungry and groaned. Her mood was not any better as she climbed out of bed and headed toward the kitchen.
The servants or slaves had made sushi for dinner. There was not much, and she assumed Dagan had already eaten. So, she put the last pieces onto her plate, and when she entered the dining room, she was surprised to find Tybalt sitting at the table stuffing his face. He looked up from his plate when he heard her footsteps, intending to say something, but his mouth was too full.
Celine’s smile was genuine, and she sat down next to him. “I didn’t expect to find you here.”
“I find this human food delicious,” Tybalt managed to say. “We didn’t have anything like it on Erken.”
Celine assumed he had drunk human blood to enhance the taste. It didn’t gross her out the way it used to, although she still felt it was wrong. Celine put a salmon rose in her mouth and savored its taste. Tybalt shoved five into his mouth and gobbled them down.
“I had no idea you liked eating,” Celine said. Although he was still bony, he was slowly gaining weight.
“I figure after stealing from me and leaving me behind to die, I will get my revenge by eating all of Dagan’s food.”
Celine managed a laugh, and he raised an eyebrow. “You want to starve him to death?”
“No, my dear child,” Tybalt said. “Dagan is a control freak and likes it when everything goes the way he wants it. Yesterday, he went to the kitchen, hungry and eager for his meal, only there was no meal as I had eaten it all. You should have seen the look on his face.”
“You’re so petty.” Celine didn’t have any bitterness in her voice.
“Sitting in a cell for seventeen years can do that to someone.”
Celine’s good mood faltered as she remembered what had happened to Tybalt. Maybe she had been too hard on him after everything he had been through.
“I didn’t mean to spoil the mood.” Tybalt ate his last salmon rose.
“It’s not you,” Celine said quickly.
“Then what is it?” he asked.
She sighed. “I just have this weight of responsibility on my shoulders, and I keep failing everyone. I don’t expect you to understand.”
Tybalt snickered. “You don’t expect me, the former King of Erken, who let the Prenumbras kill my Fata and destroy our home, to understand?”
“Now that you say it like that…” Celine said. She also had the Egress Key’s power, which was so incredibly dangerous. “I just have this enormous power flowing through me…”
“If you don’t want it, why don’t you get rid of it?” Tybalt asked.
“I can do that?” she asked.
He nodded. “Of course. Magic is energy, and energy can’t just disappear, but it can change forms.”
“It changed from the Egress Key, to me,” Celine stated.
“And if you want, you can shove the magic out of you and into an object – but I must warn you, it is excruciating.”
“How do you know this?” Celine asked.
“A long time ago, one of my friends traveled to Earth with my youngest son. He fell in love with a human and wanted to stay with her. In order to do that, he had to give up his immortality and thus his magic.”
“I had no idea that was possible,” she said.
“Plenty of Fata don’t know it either, as no one ever gave up their magic while we lived on Erken.”
Did Dagan know? Maybe he didn’t because if he knew, he would have had her expel her magic into an object, which he could take possession of. An object wouldn’t argue, like she did. An object wouldn’t rebel, like she did. An object wouldn’t hurt him, like she did.
“Why is there no food?” Dagan complained from the kitchen. It was unusual for Dagan to get angry and yell. In all four months Celine had lived there, she had never seen him lose his temper before. He was in a foul mood. “Why can’t anyone do anything right around here?”
He stormed into the dining room to see Tybalt leaning back in his chair. An empty plate sat in front of him, and he had sushi in his beard. He picked at his teeth.
“You can have some of mine,” Celine mumbled.
Dagan didn’t even look at her. He just stormed out of the room. Then Tybalt began to laugh because he had managed to piss off Dagan. His laughter made his whole body shake, and it filled the room. Celine couldn’t help but begin laughing as well. She was not laughing because Dagan was in a bad mood, but because Tybalt had finally found happiness by making someone else unhappy. It was so ironic.
“Careful,” Celine warned. “He might throw you off the castle wall.”
“Nah,” Tybalt said. “He would have done it already.”
Celine took another bite of sushi before Tybalt said, “I do rather like it here. I never thanked you for coming back for me.”
Celine turned her wide eyes toward him and almost choked on her sushi.
“I mean it,” Tybalt said. “Thank you.”
Celine’s mood instantly lifted. She would give saving everyone another chance. She would finish her food, and then she would go to the Elves’ world to convince them to make more swords. Celine immediately started to think how she would do it. To get them to talk and listen to her, she would have to prove herself worthy of their time. She would do this by challenging the Elf Prince to a duel, like Tarragon had. As a human, she didn’t stand a chance to win the fight. Tarragon was a Fata, and he hadn’t even stood a chance, thus he had outsmarted them by poisoning his blade. All he had to do was cut the Elf Prince once.
Celine had left the Agotoxin, which Ulric had given her, in her drawer. She could use that, and she could win the fight.
Dagan would want to go with her. It had originally been his idea to go to the Elves’ world to ask them to forge more swords, but Celine didn’t want to take him with. Although it was necessary to hurt him and push him away, she still felt guilty. Also, if he came with, he would try to control everything, and he would never let her duel with the Elf Prince. He would want to duel himself, and there was no way she would let him put his life in danger again. If he lost the fight and died, she would never forgive herself.
She had let the Prenumbras into this world, and it was her responsibility to get rid of them. The other thing was there were many Prenumbras on Earth, but they weren’t attacking, and they didn’t seem to have a big plan. They weren’t doing… anything.
If they were to attack, the Fata would not be able to do anything as they didn’t have any weapons to kill the Prenumbras. A single Prenumbra could kill all the Fata on Earth, so why didn’t they?
The only Prenumbra who had seemed to have a plan was the one who had possessed Valeska. That Prenumbra had stolen the broken Egress Key and searched the kingdom for its power. It had been intelligent enough to hide itself by absorbing a lot of magic. And once it had figured out Celine had the Egress Key’s power, it had tried to make her open a portal. Why didn’t the other Prenumbras think like that?
The Prenumbras around the portal behind the waterfall were like moths drawn to a flame. The otherworldly energy kept them lingering there, and they never traveled far off to kill Fata. Celine didn’t understand. Why were they different from the Prenumbra inside Valeska?
“You’re in deep thought.” Tybalt’s voice brought her back to reality.
“There is something I have to do.”
“Are you going to finish that?” He pointed to her sushi.
“No, you may have it.” She pushed the plate toward him.
Tybalt smiled gratefully at her as he began devouring the sushi like a hungry cat. Celine rose and went to the armory where she got two daggers and a sword. She went to her room, where she dressed in tight, protective pants and a long-sleeved shirt. She tucked one dagger in her jacket’s inside pocket and one in her boot. She fastened the sword around her hip.
The ring on her finger was heavy and made it uncomfortable to use her left hand. It was on her left ring finger – where Dagan had put it. She didn’t dare take it off, for without it, her magic would not work. She shuddered to think that Severin still had her tooth…
She wanted to go back for it, and she wanted to get revenge. She wanted to free her Fata, but more pressing matters were at hand. Tarragon had won his duel by poisoning his blade. Celine could copy him, but she doubted the Elf Prince would be caught by the same trick twice. Hadn’t Tarragon said that if the Elf won, he would drink the loser’s blood at the end of a duel?
Celine took the Agotoxin from her drawer and studied the bottle. Ulric had told her it was deadly when it was in someone’s blood and would kill someone slowly, over a number of days. She left the cure on her bedside cabinet, where it would be easy for her to reach, but impossible for the Elves to.
Then she closed her eyes and opened a portal to Moon World. She stepped though the portal, into silver sand. She bent down and scooped up the sand, only to realize that it was tiny crystals. Celine had read a book on Moon World, which Dagan had given her when she had been educating herself on the Fata. From what she had read, it was large but had few inhabitants.
She shuddered to think that Severin had opened a portal from Erken to Moon World. He had used her like an object to do something she didn’t want to do. But if a Prenumbra had come through the portal, the elves would surely have killed it as they had the right weapons for the task.
Several moons – some enormous and others tiny – were visible. Some were full while others were not, and they were different colors, illuminating the world like the aurora borealis.
She was inside the city – exactly where she had wanted to be. In the books, she had seen a photo of this colosseum and read that the Elves dueled there. This was the best place to go. It was oval shaped and had multiple entrances, tiers of empty seats, and high walls.
Celine had never seen anything like it and could not help but stare. Someone to her right spoke in a foreign language. It was an Elf. He was taller than the Enerly, skinny, and wore tight silver clothes decorated with white stars and moons. His shirt collar covered his neck, and the sleeves were long. He had big, bright-blue eyes, and his gray hair hung down to his waist.
“I’m sorry but I don’t speak Elvish,” Celine said.
The Elf tilted his head to the side, and she wondered if he understood her. Then he said, in English, “Why have you come here, human?”
“I seek an audience with your king,” Celine said.
The Elf’s face was so serious, she wondered if he was even capable of smiling. “That’s not possible. Go home.”
“I must insist,” she said. “I will duel with the Elf Prince to prove that I am worthy of the king’s time.”
“Prince Basil will not waste his time on a human,” the Elf warned.
“I am not an ordinary human,” she said. “How do you think I traveled all this way?”
The Elf regarded her with beady eyes without answering her question. Maybe he thought he was too intelligent to be answering a human girl. Perhaps he would tell her to leave again or attack her if she refused. He was not carrying any weapons, which suggested he might be the colosseum’s caretaker. With or without weapons, he was dangerous and deadly. Celine’s heart was hammering, but she masked her fear.
“I will tell Prince Basil that you challenge him to a duel,” the Elf said.
Celine watched the Elf turn around and walk away, slowly, as if he had all the time in the world. He was immortal, eons old, and did have all the time he needed and more. Was she supposed to follow him or wait? When he did not call her, she decided to stay put. She walked around the center of the colosseum, but not through the many rows of seats, until she got bored and sat down on the ground.
Celine lost herself in the building’s beauty and momentarily forgot that it was a place of death. Many duels had been held here, and many had died. The sand she sat on was replaced often as the blood needed to be removed.
Celine was not sure how long she waited. Maybe an hour, maybe two. Had the Elf forgotten about her or had the prince deemed her unworthy of the duel? If so, she would have to find another way to talk to the king. She would have to make him help her somehow.
Then an Elf entered the colosseum and sat down on one of the seats. She studied Celine with keen, judgmental eyes but did not speak. She was also tall, slim, and had long gray hair. After a while, another Elf sat down in one of the seats. Then another. Soon Elves were swarming into the colosseum like people into a movie cinema. They were here to be entertained.
Celine realized with a shock that they were all coming because they wanted to witness her death. Celine bit the inside of her cheek. The colosseum was filling up fast. Had every Elf in the kingdom come? Then Celine tasted blood – she had bitten her cheek too hard. It was a deliberate move. She pulled the Agotoxin from her pocket and warily eyed the bottle. She had to do this – she had to poison herself. She didn’t want to, though. What if she drank the poison and was too weak to open a portal back home? But that was a risk she was going to have to take. Celine poured the whole bottle into her mouth and sloshed it around – making sure that it mixed with the open wound in her cheek. And then she swallowed. It was tasteless. For a moment, Celine sat there and waited for something to happen – nothing did. She returned the bottle to her pocket and tried to calm her beating heart.
Celine got to her feet and looked around for the Elf Prince, Basil. She was not sure how this duel would work. She didn’t know the rules, and she had no idea what the prince looked like.
The Elf male, with the stars and moons on his clothes, approached her. A stone had more expression than he did.
“Follow me,” he said.
Celine went with him to the back of the colosseum. If this were a theater, she would be backstage.
Once she was there, he said, “Everyone has come to watch you die. We haven’t had live entertainment for a while.”
“If they have come to watch me die, they are going to end up disappointed.”
“Stupid human,” he responded. “Only one Fata male has ever beat our Elf Prince and lived to tell the tale.”
“Tarragon,” she said.
“He is famous around here,” the Elf said. “Prince Basil learnt from that fight, and he does not intend to ever be beaten again. Give me your sword.”
Celine swallowed hard and handed over her sword. The Elf took it before saying, “And your other weapons.”
Slowly Celine pulled the dagger from her boot and gave it to him. Then she stuck her hand into her pocket and pulled out the other dagger and the empty bottle of Agotoxin.
Finally, the Elf laughed with delight. Celine didn’t know he could laugh. His laughter was a crackling sound like logs burning in a fire.
“I knew it! You also wished to use poison. Well, now I have taken your poison blade.”
Celine said nothing in response. She had been sneaky. Tricky. Cunning. Wow, she was practically a Fata. The Elf led her to the nearby wall where many weapons and armor hung. These weapons were more beautiful than any she had seen on Earth. They were works of art, displayed on the wall, each with detailed carvings or paintings.
“Choose your weapon.”
Celine picked up several swords, but they were too long and too heavy. She replaced them on the wall. One was so heavy that she dropped it when she removed it from the wall. She tried to return it but could not lift it over her head. The Elf was irritated when he took it from her and effortlessly returned it to its spot.
Finally, Celine found a sword that she was comfortable with. It was not too long or too heavy, and she could swing it around easily. Its hilt had many small circles carved into it and there were diamonds in the circles’ centers.
The elf looked at her as if he knew something she did not but didn’t say anything. He wanted her to lose and was not going to offer advice on weapons. After choosing a sword, Celine tried on armor. But she was too small, and she couldn’t move around in the armor, so she decided against it. It was heavy, and it would only slow her down. She would fight the prince in her normal clothes.
She chose a small silver shield that matched her sword that was lighter than she expected it would be. She had fought Dagan with a shield once, so she knew how to use it.
Once Celine was satisfied with her weapon and shield, she tried to make conversation with the Elf.
“I’ve not properly introduced myself,” she realized. “I’m Celine.”
“Learning your name is irrelevant, as you will soon be dead,” the Elf spat. She didn’t expect him to give his name.
“What are we waiting for?” she asked.
“I don’t answer your questions, human,” he told her.
Being treated poorly filled Celine with a rage she hadn’t felt in a long time. When she had just moved to the Everwhite Kingdom, the Fata there had always excluded, ignored, or disrespected her. This was almost the same thing, just worse.
In the Evergreen Kingdom, she was treated better. She didn’t know if that was because of Dagan or because she had told everyone who she truly was – Princess of the Everblossom Kingdom.
Celine stayed backstage by the Elf, watching as many Elves streamed into the colosseum and sat down –there weren’t enough Elves to fill all the seats. They were talking energetically and waiting in anticipation.
Every second dragged by, and Celine waited for something to happen. She was scared, but she was also ready. Why hasn’t the poison kicked in yet? Finally, the master of ceremonies, dressed in an elaborate coat that dragged on the floor, entered the arena and held his hands in the air for silence. Like obedient dogs that stopped barking, the talking instantly died down. He spoke in Elvish and everyone listened.
“What is he saying?” Celine asked the Elf.
“He is saying a fool has come to challenge our prince.” The elf kept his eyes on the master of ceremonies as he spoke to her.
And suddenly the poison hit her. It was as if she had consumed too much alcohol and only realized her limit once she had passed it. Celine felt lightheaded and touched her forehead. She had accidently dropped her sword, and when she bent down to pick it up, she fell over.
“You better not be frozen with fear,” the Elf warned her. “Everyone has come to see this fight, and it will take place no matter what your condition is.”
The master of ceremonies announced something in Elvish. That was when the Elf pulled Celine to her feet and shoved the sword into her hands. “Go!”
She looked around, disoriented, and he shoved her into the arena. She lost her balance and stumbled but managed to stay upright. She gripped the sword with shaky hands while sweat dripped from her brow.
The moment she appeared the Elves began booing her. Some of them jumped up from their seats to curse at her, although she could not understand their words. But even if she could, it would make no difference. None of them supported her.
The master of ceremonies said something else, and Celine understood Prince Basil’s name. The crowd cheered loudly. Celine looked to her right, to the entrance opposite the one by which she had entered. She immediately knew the Elf approaching her was Prince Basil. He was tall, and everything about him felt ancient. His long grey hair was braided, and he was fully armored. His sword was twice as long as Celine’s, and his boots had sharp, deadly steel tips. He carried a shield that was bigger than Celine’s whole body, and he wore a helmet that covered his mouth.
Celine vomited.
The Elves burst out laughing. The Elf Prince stopped once he was a few feet away from her. She stopped vomiting and wiped her mouth before meeting his cold gaze.
Prince Basil put his weapons on the ground, and for a moment Celine thought he was going to withdraw. If he did so, she would never have the chance to win this, but as she looked at him, she knew she couldn’t win, either way.
Prince Basil removed his helmet, revealing a long face with skinny lips, and tossed it into the crowd. An Elf caught it and cheered loudly. Then the prince took off all his armor – an attempt to make the fight fairer. But the fight was not fair. He was a lot bigger than Celine, and his weapons were more powerful. Celine hoped the fight would end quickly and that he did not make her suffer too much. Once the Elf Prince was without armor, he picked up his sword and kicked away his shield. The crowd cheered.
Celine sighed heavily and tossed her shield away, too. The motion was sloppy and hard on her.
“Ooh!” exclaimed the crowd.
Did they think that she was brave or stupid for throwing away her shield? Then she tried not to think about them. Her head was pounding. Sweat broke out on her brow, and her hands were shaky. Had drinking the poison been a mistake? It would take days to kill her, but what happened before death? What if it paralyzed her? What if it stopped her from fighting? What if it made her incoherent?
“Pick it up,” the Elf Prince told her in English.
“No,” she said. “If you don’t fight with a shield, neither will I.”
“It can prolong your life,” he pressed.
“But not for long.”
She looked deep into his eyes and could tell he was confused. “Why did you come all this way?”
“I have to speak to your father,” she explained. Sweat was dripping from her forehead, although the fight had barely begun.
“That’s not going to happen,” he said. “We both know you can’t win this fight.”
He was right. She couldn’t win.