“Go, then. Get about your work.” I kicked her out of the way, lightly though. It furthered nothing to damage the help. Put them in the infirmary and somebody else had to do their job.
I headed to my mother’s chamber and was about to knock on the door when I heard something from inside. It was a groan—the sound of pain. Worried, I cracked the door and peeked inside.
There, lying on her bed, was my mother. Two Ice Elementals stood over her, and to the side, one of our healers. The Elementals were standing to either side of her, their arms outstretched over her body, and she was writhing, a look of pain sweeping across her face. Sparkles flickered in the air above her chest—a spray of magic filtering through the room, silver and white, and the color of the deep indigo that hits right before dusk. They swirled, like the stars in our eyes.
Slowly, I closed the door behind me and edged my way behind the floor-length curtain that draped over the wall. No one had noticed me; they were so focused on Myst and what was happening. The healer looked nervous, and he was muttering something beneath his breath.
I focused on the slipstream, trying to catch his words.
I don’t know if this will work. . . . Please don’t let her die. . . . Please let this work. . . . He was frightened. That much came through.
Wanting to burst out into the open, to ask what the hell they were doing to her, I caught myself and kept quiet. If I interrupted, whatever they were involved in might go awry, and my mother would be furious with me. So I stood back, watching and waiting.
The thrumming in the room grew stronger, so loud it was like a flurry of bees in my head. Wincing, I covered my ears as my mother’s cries grew stronger. But I couldn’t look away.
And then I saw it—the swirls began to coalesce and take shape, forming into a pool of liquid energy over the center of her heart. A stream of light poured from her body into the pool as it whirled, turning like some mad dervish in the thrall of his dance. I’d seen them, somewhere, when I was very young, though I couldn’t remember much about it. In some street somewhere, before we raced in and ravaged the townsfolk. He’d been spinning like a top, spinning like he was centered on a string that dizzily wavered round and round.
The energy over my mother shimmered, a diamond forming in blue and silver, but there was something about the whole thing that felt off—something was out of kilter.
I struggled to remember what she’d taught me about her early days, before the Turning. Before she’d founded the Indigo Court. She’d been a member of the Unseelie—the Dark Fae, and she’d watched as her sister ascended to the throne to become the Queen of Winter. My mother had thought the honor would go to her, but she’d been overlooked. Story after story flooded back, her resentment and anger echoing through my memories.
And then I realized what she was doing. My mother was creating her own heartstone. She was mocking the Courts of Fae by using their sacred ritual on herself. Somehow, she must have stumbled across the information on how this was done, because it wasn’t common knowledge—that much was for sure. And now she was removing part of her essence to a sacred gem, to hide it and keep it safe. She was assuring her immortality.
As I watched, she let out a piercing scream as a white-hot pinprick of light shot up from her chest to the center of the sapphire. The stone began to take physical form, an emerald cut that was so dark blue it was almost black. But inside, sparkles of silver and white gave it life—my mother’s life force, encased within the heart of the jewel. As long as it survived, so would she.
Another moment, and the Ice Elementals placed the jewel in a silver box and stepped away from the bed. Myst slowly sat up, groaning, as the healer hurried to her side. He checked her pulse, her eyes; he pressed his ear to her chest to listen to her heart.
“Well, is it done?” Myst smiled down at him, a gentle tone in her voice. He was her favorite. He’d been with her for many years and had brought me into the world. I liked him, as much as I could like anybody.
“It is done, Your Highness. Your heartstone has been created, and now one thing remains. You must hide it.” He gave her a faint smile. “You know what will happen should the Court of Rivers and Rushes or the Court of Snow and Ice find out what you’ve done. They will hunt it down and destroy it. You cannot let the information out that this ritual has taken place.”
She gave him a solemn nod. “I do know that. We’ve broken every rule the Greater Courts set forth. Over the years, we’ve torn the rules to shreds and then destroyed the remnants. But you are wrong about one matter, dear friend. Old friend. More than one thing remains to be done before I am safe.”
He cocked his head, staring at her. A look of pale recognition crossed his face, and I knew what was going to happen. My mother hadn’t noticed me yet, nor had the Elementals or the healer. Myst was so preoccupied that she wouldn’t feel me near.
“Old friend, the Ice Elementals are loyal to me, and unswerving, and they will never speak. But the problem with secrets? When two people know about something, that thing is no longer sacrosanct. No longer a secret. You know this, don’t you?” She slipped off her bed, already healed from her ordeal. Our kind healed incredibly fast.
He stuttered, stepping back. “I give you my word, Your Highness.”
“Unfortunately, words are only as good as their speakers. And while I love you, I can never trust you.” And with that I watched as my mother fell upon the healer, ripping him to shreds with her great jaws. She was a most magnificent creature, huge beyond the rest of us, and by the time she finished, there was neither bone nor drop of blood left. She licked the floor clean before returning to her form.
The Ice Elementals stood unwavering, waiting for her. With one last look at the bedchamber, she depressed a place on the wall and a secret door opened—one I’d never seen before. I stayed where I was. I loved my mother, but I knew, instinctively, that if she even so much as thought I might know about this, she would kill me. I’d be as dead as the healer, her daughter or not.
Followed by the Ice Elementals carrying the silver box, Myst stepped into the passageway. As the door closed behind her, I realized that I now knew what my mother’s vulnerability was. She was as vulnerable as every other Fae Queen now. Find her heartstone, and she was a dead woman.
And with that as I turned to exit the chamber, I heard a voice calling my name. Only it wasn’t my name—close, but not the same. But I couldn’t resist. The pull was too strong.
“Cicely? Cicely! Can you hear me?”
The voice began to blur the world around me. Who was Cicely? And yet, a part of me answered, “I’m Cicely.” But then, the image of a little girl flashed in front of my eyes and I thought, “No, I’m Violet.”
Stumbling, I turned to the door, but it wasn’t there. Instead, I was standing in a current of mist, and I blindly fell into the slipstream, following the siren song luring me on.
Chapter 11
“Cicely? Cicely! Can you hear me?”
The voice echoed through the mist again. I stumbled forward, knowing that I had to follow the voice. And then, behind the voice, I heard a song. It sounded familiar. The melody was haunting and made me want to follow it, no matter where it led me. I looked around, wondering where I was.
And then another memory hit me and I knew. I was in the slipstream. I wasn’t sure why, but that was the name for this place. I was in the slipstream, journeying through a darkened passageway filled with mist and fog. I thought I saw the silhouettes of trees as I began to speed up, and then boulders hidden by the fog. A pale light streamed down from overhead, but whether it was the moon or sun wasn’t clear in this monochromatic land.