A Court of Song and Shadow

Chapter 17

I only allow fear to rise from within me just for a moment before I begin plotting, "There has to be somewhere in the castle where the King winnows in and out." I look to Rhysand who is just shaking his head. 

"There has to be." I say again. "We have to move now." 

"Velaris--" I cut Rhysand off. 

"There will be a way out. I know there is." I say as I begin walking into the hallway. The Illyrian women reluctantly follow me and so does everybody else. Rhysand walks into the front next to me. 

"Do not lecture me--" 

"I am not going to lecture you, sister." He looks down at me, "I trust your instincts. I will follow you to the end of the darkness."

"Even if it is not a good ending?" I ask with a smirk. 

"Even then." He replies with the same smirk I give him. We come up on a corner and Rhysand holds his hand up to signal for everyone to stop walking as both him and I peek around the corner to make sure there is nobody coming. When we do not see or sense anybody, we begin moving forward again. I keep testing my magic to see if it will work--to see if the faebane goes away but it is still there. I feel a light touch on my arm and see that Tanwyn has come to walk beside me. 

"You should speak to them." Tanwyn motions behind us at the Illyrian women and children walking with fear written all over them. 

"And say what?" 

"Ask them questions to help control their fear. Ask where they want to go once we escape, if they want to go back to the Illyrian camps or come join us at the Valkyrie camps." Tanwyn says, and I can see the hope light up in her eyes. I look back at the Illyrian women and slow my walking so I am next to a women who seems to be about my age. She wears her dark hair in a simple braid and her brown eyes seem to be filled with fire. She looks me in the eyes and does not look away from me like the other Illyrian women do. 

"What is your name?" I ask her with the softest voice I can conjure at the moment. 

"Evelyn." She says, "What is yours?" 

"Velaris." I say and I see the corners of her mouth tilt up just a bit. 

"We have heard stories of you. Some mothers tell the stories to their little girls--Princess of Night--they call you." Evelyn tells me, and I cannot help but smile. She places a hand on her stomach as I notice the small bump forming there. 

"You are expecting?" I ask her, my heart skipping a beat. 

"Yes. It is a boy." She smiles at her stomach, "I will have a girl after him, but not for a long while--until the camps become more safe for a little girl." 

"So you plan on going back?"  

"I have to. My husband waits for me there." She says almost sadly. 

"What is his name?" I try to read her face to see if she is in love with her husband or if he treats her well. 

"Proteus." 

"And do you love him?" 

Her brows seemed to furrow at my question and she looks to me as she thinks, "He is not too bad of a man. His family has a good name and my children will have a good life because of his position." 

"But will you have a good life?" I ask her, and when she does not answer I continue speaking, "I have connections with the Valkyrie, they will gladly take all of you in so you do not have to deal with the Illyrian's--" 

"I must return home." Evelyn says sharply, and then she takes a breath and her eyes soften, "I appreciate the offer, but I need to do what is best for my little boy." 

"And what of your little girl when you have her?" 

"Maybe then I will accept your offer, and have her be trained as a Valkyrie. For now, I will go home to my family and husband. Some of the other women might take you up on the offer, but many are too afraid to defy the Illyrian men so they will return home in fear." She informs me. I look to the other women and cannot blame them for returning to the Illyrian camps out of fear--I just hope I can convince them otherwise. 

We enter through a walkway into a large room, and if it were not for the fact there were no throne's sitting in this room, I would have taken it for a throne room. The room was designed with silver accents and statues on the ceiling of horrible-looking beings. The pillars that come down from the ceiling have writings on them, I tilt my head as I try to read them. I realize the writings are written in the Old Language. We all stop walking before we fully walk through the doorway, and Cassian goes to take a step--

"Wait!" I shout my warning when I realize the writings are spells written on this room. I watch in horror as the spot where Cassian steps clicks down into the ground. The statues on the ceilings begin to come to life, and they all turn to us. 

They let out world shattering screams as they dive for us. 

"Run!" Rhysand shouts to everyone and I take off sprinting as one of those horrible winged creatures dives straight for me. I look back in horror as a group of the creatures go straight for the women and children. I realize since there was a trap set with magic in this room, that must mean there is no faebane. I throw up a violet shield around the women as the creatures crash right into it. They shriek in pain as the shield burns through their skin. Once the others realize we can use our powers, they winnow to the group of women to grab their hands to winnow away--

I flinch as metal walls shoot down from the ceiling--sealing us into this room. I try to winnow again but I realize the metal walls have faebane in them as the creatures turn back to stone and shatter as they hit the floor. The metal walls cut off any source of light and I find myself trapped in the darkness once again. 

Some of the women shout out in fear as the darkness consumes them. I stay still for a moment, using my hearing to see if there is any movement from outside the walls. My heart drops as I hear a thundering of guards footsteps as they approach us on the outside of the wall. I flinch as someone grabs my hand and feel myself calm at my brothers presence. I can hear some of the women and children crying as the footsteps come closer and closer. 

"Open it." I hear the King of Hybern's voice and everything in my body freezes at the sound of him. I close my eyes and focus on my breathing. I can sense everybody's fear as we sit in silence in the darkness. I had always wondered why they feared the darkness--why they feared me--and now I realize the darkness and I are the same. 

I am darkness. 

I feel that small kernel of power in the very pit of my soul-- like a small fire barely being kept lit. I focus on the darkness around me as I reach into that dark chamber where my powers are being contained by the faebane. I hear the walls begin to rise--along with my power. 

"To the end of the darkness." I whisper to my brother as I send my remaining power out as a wave of darkness as it consumes everybody who was trapped within the walls. I watch as horror washes over Rhysand's face as him and the others are winnowed back home--along with the rest of my power. I fall to the ground as the heaviness of draining my power begins to wash over me. I squint against the light as the walls rise around me. My chest tightens at the sight of hundreds of Hybern's soldiers surround the perimeter of the room. 

Fear consumes me as I take in a familiar figure walking towards me. 

"It looks like a little doe has wandered into the wolves den." The King of Hybern wickedly grins down at me.