“They’re on the mantel like usual.” Ari glanced at the fireplace. “I can see them better today. They don’t look like lights. More like hot dogs with legs and arms.”
“The fae didn’t always keep to themselves, you know that? At one point they nearly took over the entire earth realm. Several times, in fact.”
Ari took a drink from her coffee. “Have they actually seen this place? Why would they go to war for it? What I saw through that portal made Earth look like a dump.”
“I think Earth’s like a middle ground. Goblins, fae, even the fairies with their mirrors. They’re all connected here, so I think if you want to get to someplace else, you have to go through Earth.” I closed the book and put it aside. When she was ready, we headed into Kingdom, and since it was a nice day, we took the bus.
Kingdom on a Wednesday was about as close as it ever came to normal. Whole place ran on a seven-day cycle, becoming more and more magical as the weekend approached. Noon on Wednesday was the peak of normal, which meant it looked a lot like any street in the city: weird.
Ari looked a lot better now; the air and the movement were doing her good. “Any idea where we are going?”
“There’s a bookstore up at 116th and Cross.” I pointed it out on the map of Kingdom Grimm had given me the first time I came here.
We walked along the high streets of Kingdom, under the watchful eyes of a number of cops, all the way to the bookstore. As I passed the Isyle Witch’s shop a shiver ran down my spine. I left Ari at a singing flower stand while I went inside the bookstore and found my book. It was tiny, less than three hundred pages long, but the cost left me nearly choking. Three weeks’ worth of work in a tiny golden pile.
“Get the book?” asked Ari as I joined her outside.
“I got it, cost me three weeks’ worth of Glitter, but I got it. Let’s find an artifact shop and get out of here before I spend every ounce of Glitter I’ve got. I need to find a spirit prism and we can go have lunch.” I hefted my book, bound in brown paper and tied up in ball twine for safekeeping.
“This way,” said Ari.
Walking down the streets of Kingdom toward the exit was a lot easier. All the magic in the place pushed me out toward the normal world, and if I wandered, I knew I’d find myself at the gates every time. Ari, on the other hand, would inevitably wind up at the castle. She cut over a couple of streets, and I followed, resisting the temptation to open my book and read.
Ari stopped. “Mother—I mean Gwendolyn went here for all her spells.”
Dread washed over me, making my skin prickle. “Anywhere else. I’ll pay double to buy it anywhere else.” We stood outside the Isyle Witch’s shop.
“No, you won’t.” She walked right in. The stench of toads wafted out of the door as she opened it, and the bell rang as it closed.
I held my nose and went inside, wishing I’d have asked where we were going first. Inside, my eyes struggled to adjust to the dim light. “Ari. Ari, where are you?”
“I’m right here,” she said, standing at the counter.
The witch saw me and grinned, showing rotten teeth. “Handmaiden. You honor me with your presence.”
Ari gave me a look that said I’d have trouble explaining this later, then she turned back to the witch, and when she spoke, it was a command. “Get me a spirit prism.”
“For what? Your eyes are like my own. You see.” The witch leered at her in a way.
If my skin was crawling before, it was ready to run at this point, and drag me with it out of the shop.
Ari looked right back into those yellow eyes without a hint of fear. “None of your business.”
The witch snarled at her. “Witchling, you should watch your tongue in the presence of your elders. I could teach you much if you’d learn respect.”
“The prism,” said Ari. “I’m not a witch, I am a princess, and the seal bearer of the third Family.”
The witch laughed. “Where do you think witches come from? You have fresh wounds from wild magic on your soul. It won’t be long now.” She wandered into the back of the shop.
Ari glanced at me. “What does she mean by handmaiden?” She sounded a lot less sure of herself now.
“Not now, please. I told you I’d go anywhere but here.”
The witch emerged from the backroom with a black cloth bag I knew contained a prism. “Pay and be done.”
I did, trying not to care about what it cost me. That tiny pile represented an entire month helping a little old man spin used dental floss into gold. By the time I’d finished that assignment, my smile shone bright white.
She weighed the Glitter. “Are you pleased with my work, handmaiden?”
“It didn’t affect the man, so I think not.” I walked over to the counter to stand beside Ari.
The witch’s hair flared up in clumps like gray tentacles, and the safety bonds on her wrists glowed bright red. In Low Kingdom she would’ve already thrown a spell or two at me. “I swear by the low streets, by my own casket twice buried, that the potion was good. If it did not work, then some other power opposes you. And my gift to you, did you use it to win his heart?”
“She said it didn’t work,” said Ari. “Are you deaf as well as blind?”
“Not your man, little witchling. Hers. You should use it soon. You have little time left.” As I took the prism, she seized my hand. The restraints on her smoked, burning her, and the heat seared my skin. She held on with an iron grip as she peered at my hand. “See, she has marked you as her own. Remember me with favor when she comes, handmaiden.”
“Let her go,” said Ari, and I felt the magic rushing in around her with her anger.
The witch let go, and I yanked my hand away. She looked at Ari with those yellow eyes and spat. “She will drink your soul.”
On the street I sat at the curb and caught my breath. “I’ll explain, I promise. I just need time.”
That’s about when the sky split open. At least that’s what it looked like, white line shining so bright it made my eyes hurt. From the tear in the sky riders came forth, riding down the beam of light like a path to the street blocks away. The colors and sounds told me immediately they were fae. That and the fact that they were riding on a beam of light, a trick I didn’t see many other races attempt. They touched ground several blocks away, but when the lead rider spoke, it was like he was screaming in my ear.
“Heed our warning: return the Seal or bear the price of war,” he said. “You have until the equinox.” A drop of blood dripped from my nose as his words cut through me. Around me people fell to their knees as his voice tore into them. Ari didn’t seem to be hurt, though she looked straight at him. The gold and maroon of his uniform shone brighter than the sun, and the sound of his horse’s hoofs echoed throughout Kingdom. He turned to each of the four directions and repeated the warning.
A mounted policeman rode toward the fae, his horse mad with fear, and the fae warrior raised his hand.
I owe Ari my life. I couldn’t move a muscle but she dragged me backwards, into an alcove. A blast of blinding white light rushed through the street, sweeping back and forth like a searchlight. It cut off, and the street was silent, dead silent. The hoof falls grew louder and louder. The fae rode down the street, looking to see if anyone else dared challenge them. They stopped to look straight at us, and I knew that with a single spell I’d be obliterated.
Ari stood before me, her fists clenched, and returned the fae commander’s gaze. For a long moment they traded stares without a word. A portal tore open in the sky. He gave the command, and their horses began to climb on the beam of light that shone from it until they disappeared. In the streets of Kingdom lay dozens of bodies, their skin torn from their bones. Old, young, women, and children, it didn’t matter. They were all dead.