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A small group of guards surrounded Queen Lobelia as she led the way through the palace. Her long flowing dress had been replaced with a pair of trousers and a tightly buttoned cream-colored vest covered in embroidered blue flowers. At her side was a rapier similar to Lex’s: a thin blade with a spiraling wire hilt in highly polished silver. Her spotless and shining knee high boots clacked on the hard marble floor as she walked on, deeper into the center of the palace. Dusk, as if attempting to stick out as much as possible, was still dressed in his dirty traveling clothes, mud caked boots, and had a bit of dirt smudged across his skin in places. However, the manacles had been removed, which he was glad for. Although the sensation of the metal against his skin was familiar, it left him feeling hollow and empty.
After his meeting with the queen the previous morning, he’d been escorted back to his tower cell to spend the night. Around midday he was given the chance to walk down to the dungeons to see his friends. To his great relief they were still breathing and he quickly explained to Tara what was happening. She nodded silently while casting sideways glances at the guards. Dusk knew she wanted to tell him to be careful or not to make any deals with an untrustworthy monarch. He could see the loathing in her eyes whenever he mentioned Lobelia, but she knew better than to speak ill of the queen in front of them. Without a word to Lex, Dusk allowed himself to be escorted back up to his cell where he spent his evening lost in a downward spiral of thoughts about Lex’s actions and what it meant about their seemingly doomed relationship.
As he walked a few feet behind the queen’s guard he felt his eyes burning with exhaustion, having slept little the night before. He’d wanted to be well rested in case the queen tried to deceive him, which seemed like an inevitability the more time he spent with her. She was shifty in the worst possible way while being arrogantly obvious, knowing that she was in complete control of the situation. But nonetheless, sleep had eluded him for the majority of the night. Every time he closed his eyes he saw Lex’s face and felt the touch of his skin. He loved and hated the sensation simultaneously.
Barking orders and insults at anyone who got in her way as Lobelia proceeded through the castle, Dusk could understand why she had such a terrible reputation. A small part of him had felt bad for her at first, having lost her father and then being targeted by her own people. But after no more than an hour in her presence over the course of two days, he knew that almost all her problems had been self-made and sustained. When one servant failed to get out of her way fast enough, forcing her to stop, she called the guard and had him carried away to the dungeons to stand trial for treason. Another servant girl had been fired on the spot for not bowing low enough as they walked by. Lex had been right, Lobelia was a self-centered egomaniac. Dusk was thankful that she distrusted and possibly hated Tiernan. If they had teamed up he feared what kind of damage would be done to the world at large.
Lobelia continued to lead them further into the castle. Near a large central chamber she turned down a long grand hallway filled with luxurious tapestries that hung from ceiling to floor. Dusk only had a moment to catch some of the images woven there of dragons and gods before they turned left through a heavy wooden door. The room inside was dark and dusty, unused by anyone for a long time. In the center of the floor was a thick wooden trapdoor that one of the soldiers unlocked and hefted open, revealing a set of stone stairs.
“The treasury is buried deep under the castle within the island itself,” Lobelia said, gesturing down to the trapdoor. She turned to the soldiers. “Two of you will stay here and the others will come with me.”
One of the guards pulled a bag off his shoulder and reached inside, producing a familiar cloth bundle. He tossed it to Dusk and it fell open in his hands, revealing the glowing stone he’d created so long ago with Yarick. It was still shining brightly.
“You will lead the way,” Lobelia commanded, pointing towards the trapdoor. “If you try to pull anything at all, my men will cut you down before you can draw another breath.” She turned to the other two that had stationed themselves at the door to stand guard. “If we aren’t back in two hours, kill the prisoners.”
“Yes, your majesty,” they responded in tandem.
She looked at Dusk, a wicked smile spreading across her face. “Tick tock slave. Tick tock.”
Dusk furrowed his brows, uncaring if she saw his disapproval. He felt the same anger he’d felt toward Maxon well up inside him. Every moment he’d wanted to lift a pickaxe and pierce his skull with it flashed through his mind. In a moment of pure bravery or perhaps foolishness, he turned around to face the guards she’d just spoken to.
“If the queen doesn’t return in two hours, you can rest assured that her and her guards are dead.” He turned back to Lobelia, a grin on his face. “And that you are all then free from her tyranny.” She turned beet red and looked as if she was about to scream, but Dusk held up a finger. Channeling every ounce of Tara he could he said, “Ah-ah. If you want that treasury opened, you’ll keep your cool princess. And if my friends are harmed in any way, you’ll never find what you need to prove you’re the real queen of Inahan. If that’s even true at all.”
The soldiers glanced at one another in confusion. Up until that moment they’d had no idea what this excursion was about. Lobelia was barely holding herself in check, looking as if she might spontaneously explode at any moment. But Dusk just smiled, knowing he’d shared a terrible secret of hers that would spread through the castle like wildfire. The soldiers would talk, there was no doubt about it and soon everyone would know. He knew he was playing a dangerous game, but he didn’t truly believe Lobelia would keep her word and let them go. They were as good as dead, so the least he could do was make her life difficult while he still drew breath. In all his life he’d never developed so much animosity towards someone he knew so little about. Even when he thought he’d seen everything, life brought him a new surprise to endure.
“Well,” he said nonchalantly, tucking the spare fabric in his pocket and lifting the stone. “I guess we should get going then. Watch your step princess.”
Lobelia silently raged as he began down the stairs. A guard came down behind him, followed by Lobelia and then the other guard. The stairs were only wide enough to walk single file and within thirty seconds they were surrounded by pitch darkness, the only source of light being the stone that Dusk held out in front of him. More than once he heard them stumble behind them, but he didn’t shift the stone or lift it to give them more light, enjoying the power he held over them, however brief or small. They walked for what seemed like ages, down a never ending spiral of stone stairs. In the darkness time was lost and there was no noise but their breaths and footsteps reverberating off the dark stone. Dusk’s legs were burning and he felt as if they’d never reach the end of the stairway when a landing suddenly loomed up in front of him. At one end of it stood another door, although this one was stained dark and the iron belting across the wood was rusted. Near the handle hung a large iron padlock.
“Open it,” Lobelia barked at the guards.
The soldier squeezed past Dusk and turned towards the light, pulling out a ring of keys. Dusk lifted it so that he could see easier, noticing the sweat gathering under the heavy armor that he was wearing. There was a pained look on his face and noticeable frustration as he fumbled through the keys while Lobelia sighed as loudly as possible, tapping her foot on the stone. He was starting to feel bad for the very people that had captured him. Everyone in the castle was obviously tired of being abused by the queen and her lack of human decency.
After a long moment of continuous tapping from Lobelia, the guard finally found the right key and slipped it into the lock. He strained against the key, trying to turn it, the lock clearly having rusted along with the door. Finally it snapped open and the lock fell to the floor with the key still jammed inside.
“At last,” Lobelia chided, shoving her way past him and throwing the door open. She turned back to Dusk. “Well? Keep moving!”
Remembering how Tara had done it, Dusk gave her a condescending laugh before pushing his way roughly past her and into the dark hallway. The others followed shortly behind. The air inside the tunnel was damp and stale, and reminded him of the other abandoned places Dusk had visited along his journey. The path wound from side to side and he held the stone high in the air, watching as the carved stone slowly gave way to a natural cavern. Here and there a few stalactites hung down from the ceiling, but looked as if the water had stopped dripping long ago, stunting their growth. The floor was oddly clean and free of water or stone debris, except for a layer of dust. It seemed the place had been actively cared for, at least up until recently. As they continued Dusk noticed a few glowing pockets of rock sticking out of the side of the tunnel walls. Without asking permission, he strolled up and held his hand out, feeling the delicate crystalline structure that glowed a soft golden yellow. These crystals grew in a rectangular formation, jutting out of the wall at odd angles from their small clusters. Moving his gaze down the wall he saw the crystal pockets become more and more numerous.
He’d seen similar formations before.
“You didn’t tell me you had a dragon down here,” Dusk growled.
“You didn’t need to know,” Lobelia smirked. “Now maybe you can understand my frustration. My men have been hunting every magical creature in Inahan to extinction in an attempt to gather enough power to open this door. But just beyond it lies more power than any one person could ever need.”
“Is that what you’re after?”
The queen scoffed. “It’s my backup plan. Not that you need to know.”
Dusk didn’t like where the trip was leading. Lobelia had more cards up her sleeve than he’d expected. Every time he thought he’d gotten a leg up on her, something new came to light. He glared at her for a moment, wondering what else might be in the sealed chamber they were headed towards.
“Well?” she asked, smiling to herself. “The clock is running out for your friends while you’re looking at rocks.”
Pocketing the glowing stone, Dusk turned away and continued down the tunnel. There were enough crystals in the walls to cast and dim light and the ground was spotless without any obstacles in their way. After a few feet the path turned sharply right. Dusk turned the corner abruptly and came face to face with a massive stone door. It was easily twelve feet tall and its entire surface was inundated with fine silver filigree that created a massive landscape covered in fine flowers. A large dragon stood, head held high and proud, facing the setting or possibly rising sun in the distance. The silver had tarnished in many places and was losing its luster, but it was a beautiful sight nonetheless. Around the door was a large ring of square yellow crystals that gave the entire cavern a warm glow, as if the light of day had penetrated deep underground. At eye level there was a small arcane circle of silver at the door’s center.
Dusk glanced back at the other three. The guards were sweating and tired, but Lobelia stood with her arms crossed, tapping her fingers impatiently against her bicep. Turning back to the door he stepped forward. He reached up and peeled the scale off the crystal in his chest and pocketed it. Placing a hand in the center of the silver circle, he closed his eyes and began to concentrate. This time, the magic came easily and without warning, almost like the circle on the door was ready to go off at the slightest touch. There was the tiniest jolt through the tips of his fingers and he opened his eyes, watching all the fine silver suddenly light up, the tarnish blasted clean off it. It shone for a moment before a thunderous crack split the air. All four of them ducked, covering their ears as dust rained down on them.
Dusk was the first to turn back and saw a large split had appeared in the center of the door. On either side of the arcane circle, polished silver rings had erupted from the wood. Without a second thought he reached up and grabbed hold of one of them. With barely a nudge the massive stone door swung open as if it was made of nothing but air, the silver still glowing brightly across its surface.
Stepping inside Dusk found himself in an immense cavern with a high ceiling dotted with stalactites. All around were piles of gold, silver, and gemstones. Coins, chalices, furniture, jewelry on marble pedestals, and piles of sapphires and diamonds as big as his fist. The vast hoard of treasure was sparkling in the yellow light cast by the crystals that covered the walls. Against one wall were multiple wooden shelves stuffed with ancient looking tomes bound in leather. Even from the door Dusk could see runes painted on their spines and knew they were books of magic, something Yarick would have killed for. Against the opposite wall were stacks of wooden crates, some of them open and stuffed with moldy straw. In the back of the cavern and glowing the brightest was a crystallized dragon, but this one was less graceful than the others he’d seen. The head was boxy and the body had a definite rectangular shape with heavy limbs. It was smaller than Tephyss, about the same size as the pink dragon he’d seen at Emerald Deep. He stared for a moment, wondering what their name had been and how they’d become trapped in this place for all eternity.
A large shape on the wall pulled Dusk’s attention away from the dragon. He glanced up to see a life size portrait leaned against the stone, sat atop a large wooden crate and was shocked at what he saw.
It was him. Or at least it looked like him the last time he’d seen himself in a mirror. The man in the portrait was dressed in a fine black double breasted vest with silver buttons. A long-sleeved ruffle collar shirt of the same color underneath it. He leaned casually on a dark cane topped with a silver dragon’s head. He had the same scraggly hair, angular features, and rich copper skin that Dusk had. But on his head sat a black crown set with glowing rubies across its surface. Dusk noticed the man’s eyes were painted so that it looked like he was staring down on them. He wore a mischievous and cruel smirk on his lips that Dusk had seen too many times. The more he looked at the portrait, the more it looked like Tiernan than himself.
“Get out of my way!” Lobelia barked, shoving Dusk aside as she pushed her way into the room.
She seemed unimpressed by all the riches in front of her, kicking them as she went, but instead began to rummage through the piles, throwing coins and treasures aside like old trash. Dusk watched as she moved from section to section, tossing diamond necklaces over her shoulder and sending a finely crafted shield careening into a crate, getting more manic with every passing moment. She stood up once more, crying out in frustration, fists balled at her sides. But then her gaze fell upon a small pedestal topped with a black silk pillow. On top of it was a delicate silver crown studded with dark sapphires.
“Finally!” she roared, sprinting towards the pedestal.
The guards looked on as she slid through the coins, finally reaching the small pillow and the crown. She paused for just a moment before ripping the old crown off her head and throwing it across the room as if she’d loathed nothing more in her whole life. With shaky hands she reached forward and took the new crown off the pillow, turning it from side to side causing the sapphires to sparkle in the golden light. Slowly she lifted it up and placed it on her head. Turning she faced them all and spread her arms wide, closing her eyes and tipping her head back. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes once more, gazing down at them.
“Behold,” she uttered. “The crown of Alamond reveals the true royal blood of Inahan with it’s radiant sapphire light!”
The guards kneeled, bowing their heads to her. Lobelia’s face grew into a wide victorious smile.
“Now no one can challenge my birthright! The crowns of the old kings mean this silly rebellion will finally come to an end and that I am the one and true queen. Nothing can stand in my way!”
Dusk squinted up at her, staring at the gems set into the highly polished silver. He could almost hear Tara’s voice as he spoke. “Yeah... they’re not glowing.”