Queen of Night

37. Failure or Motivation

Guards surrounded them as they walked through the palace halls. Iyan's gaze flickered to one of their belts. Her sword and daggers dangled from it. She had woken just as they reached Solis, as had Royse and Gabriel.

Hopefully the human armies have arrived by now, Iyan thought. She sent a tug across her bond with Arius, but received silence in return. Is he blocking me out or are Emeric's shields hindering our connection? I wish I knew more about how this worked.

She jangled the iron cuffs around her wrists. The red welts and itchiness had returned. Gabriel, to his credit, appeared unfazed. She could see the iron burning into the skin of his wrists though. Royse stuck close to Gabriel, his eyes narrowed in anger.

Iyan was itching to jump at the guards, but she held herself back. Wait for Gabriel to give the signal, she reminded herself.

She didn't have to wait long. Without warning, Gabriel snapped his wings open. One guard slammed into the alabaster walls. Cracks splintered beneath his body. Iyan flung herself onto a guard. She wrapped her legs around his waist and threw her chained hands around his neck.

Iyan swung herself onto his shoulders, her shackles digging into his neck. The Faerie clawed at the iron with choked cries. Royse had taken down the guard carrying her weapons. He tossed her one of her daggers.

Iyan caught the blade and drove it into the Faerie's neck. He went limp and blood spurted from the wound. She stood and strapped her weapons to her hips once more. Royse snagged a pair of keys off one of the corpses. He removed their shackles swiftly. Gabriel winced as he rubbed the burns on his wrists.

"My magic will be nullified for about ten minutes," Gabriel said. "When we find Emeric and Ezlyn, we'll have to keep them distracted for that long. Hopefully Emeric will lose concentration and break his own shields. If he doesn't, I'll be able to break them when my magic is back."

"Are you sure?" Iyan raised an eyebrow.

"If it doesn't work, be ready to kill Emeric," came the clipped response. "Royse, take the staircase down to the dungeons and see if you can find Vi or Asena. Stay out of sight. Come find us the minute you locate them."

Royse nodded and turned down a set of stairs. Iyan increased her pace, keeping up with Gabriel. A cold mask had slid onto his features. Iyan copied it, pushing her anxieties down and letting anger take root.

As they drew closer to the throne room, Iyan began to recognize her surroundings. They passed by the ballroom where so much had gone wrong. Gabriel drew his sword. Iyan slid her daggers into her grasp.

Gabriel landed a solid kick against the throne room doors, blowing them wide open. Emeric and Ezlyn rose cautiously. "Have you come for your human pet?" Emeric sneered. "She's had quite the adventure, apparently."

Anger seeped from Gabriel and his wings flared out. "Why are you doing this?" Iyan demanded, lifting her chin. "What could you possibly hope to accomplish?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Emeric spread his arms with a laugh. "Humans said it best. Night Faeries are demons. Day Faeries are gods. Demons deserve to be slaughtered and gods deserve to rule."

"Humans are wrong. Night Faeries aren't demons and Day Faeries aren't gods."

"Then what, pray tell, are we?"

"Night Faeries are the moon. Day Faeries are the sun. Humans are the rocks and earth in between. All three exist to maintain a certain order. If one tries to overpower the other, then all three fall," Iyan replied. Her dream weighed heavily in her mind. Sybella's vision was beginning to make sense as well.