Grave Dance Part 29

The queen frowned and dismissed Jarrid with a flick of her hand. Then she pointed into the crowd again. "This is Alrick, one of the last remaining of his kin."

The fae she motioned forward was shaped like a man, but instead of skin, fine scales that glittered like cut sapphires covered him. When he reached the dais, he bowed to me, holding out a hand tipped in golden nails.

"I'm not dressed to dance."

It was an excuse, and a flimsy one, which the queen dismissed with the wave of her hand. Or at least, I thought she was dismissing the excuse. Then a draft ran across my shoulders.

I looked down. My tank top and hip-huggers had vanished, replaced by a pale off-the-shoulder gown shot through with silver embroidery and accented with delicate ice flowers. My red purse was also gone, PC now hanging in an iciclestudded silver sling. I could see through glamour, so I saw reality waver, both my street clothes and the gown solid. Then reality settled on the gown, and my own clothes simply ceased to exist. Oh, that is so not fair. And for the queen's glamour to not only fool reality, but actually change it, meant she was extremely powerful.

Her glamour had also vanished the gloves Rianna had given me, and a hushed gasp traveled through the ballroom as my b.l.o.o.d.y palms were exposed for all to see. The queen's thin eyebrows lifted, just a notch, and she waved her hand again. Pale gloves of the softest material I'd ever touched appeared on my hands. They matched the dress, with threads of silver woven through them all the way to where they ended at the middle of my biceps. Holly's ruby amulet dangling from my silver charm bracelet stood out like a wound against all that snowy fabric.

"It is a beautiful"-unwanted-"dress. But I must pa.s.s on the dance."

The queen pursed her lips. Then she scanned the crowd, as if uncertain. Finally she pointed at the Sleagh Maith who had toasted me when I first arrived. "This is Ryese, the son of my beloved sister."

I looked at the crystal-haired fae. The queen had now offered me three partners, each of higher rank than the last. There was often significance in actions made three times, and I had the feeling that if I declined again, I would not only be dismissing the offers of her court but insulting her bloodline. What do I do?

I glanced around the a.s.sembled fae, my gaze stumbling over more than a dozen with the icy cords binding them. "A magnificent partner, but I must pa.s.s."

Ryese looked stunned, but the queen just looked irritated. "Is there no one in my court who interests you?"

"There is."

"You are the guest of honor. You must join one dance before the night is through. So pick your partner, planeweaver. My court is yours to choose from."

I didn't look at Falin. It took every ounce of self-control in my body, but I didn't even glance at him. He was chained to the queen-I doubted she'd give him to me, even if I asked. Which I won't. But the way the queen said "must" made me believe I actually did have to join the dance. I turned, searching the crowd of fae.

"Him." I pointed at Caleb.

"An unusual choice." She waved him forward. "Do unburden yourself first."

I looked down at PC. I didn't want to get separated from him-he was an awfully small dog-but the look the queen gave me said this wasn't a negotiable point. I unslung the bag and set it on the edge of the dais.

"Stay," I whispered.

He whined, and then immediately jumped out of the bag and pranced across the dais. He stopped in front of Falin and pawed the man's leg. Falin didn't move, but the edge of his mouth on the side facing away from the queen twitched upward, just a hair, and I swear I saw his gaze flicker toward me.

"Bad dog," I mumbled, and then Caleb was leading me to the dance floor.

I don't dance. It's sort of a personal rule. I've never been good enough at it to reach the point at which dancing became fun. And this wasn't mere dancing. This dance had ch.o.r.eographed steps.

The dance started with a bow, and I didn't realize I was supposed to be curtsying, not bowing, until the woman beside me cleared her throat. Then the women made a line and danced in a small circle. I was pretty sure there was some move I was supposed to be doing with my feet, but my feet weren't visible under the gown anyway, so I just tried to keep pace. Then the men danced because, of course, this couldn't be a dance where the men and women did the same thing at the same time. I was gritting my teeth again by the time the lines of men and women joined.

"Are you okay?" I asked as Caleb and I circled each other, our right palms pressed together.

"I'm not in the dungeon anymore, so that's a plus." He flashed me a bright smile, which was completely fake. "Good behavior wins rewards, if not trust." Then he turned and held up his left hand. The couples around us switched directions, but it took me an awkward moment to figure that out and by the time I spun around the dance had moved on to the next step.

I remained perpetually one step off throughout the dance. I didn't care. I was watching Caleb and the cord binding him. He appeared to be able to move anywhere he wanted to in the ballroom, but I had the feeling he couldn't leave. Which meant it had to go. It was definitely magic, but I had no idea how it worked. I'd only just started being able to feel fae magic. But I do have my dagger. The dagger was enchanted to cut through anything, and from its pressure against my leg in its sheath, I could almost feel it agreeing that it could get the job done. First I have to get to it.

The queen hadn't changed my shoes, probably because the gown dragged the ground, so it wasn't like anyone was going to see my feet. The problem? Getting to a boot holster underneath a ball gown was a real b.i.t.c.h. I waited until the end of the song, when I was once again curtsying, and even then, drawing the dagger was anything but smooth. It was more of a hike-the-skirt-and-dig-through-layers-ofmaterial-until-I-found-my-leg kind of move. I had no doubt that I'd been noticed. But with what I was about to do, I couldn't avoid being noticed. Dropping from the curtsy into a kneel beside Caleb, I slid the blade through the halfreal cord. It dissolved.

"Al, what did you do?" Caleb hissed, his gaze darting around the room as if to see who noticed. Most of the fae had moved into the next dance already, but the queen pushed herself to her feet. I could feel her staring at us. I wasn't the only one, Caleb clearly sensed her gaze as well. "We have to get out of here." He wrapped an arm around my waist and dragged me forward.

"No. Caleb, I-" I had a job to do. And PC was here. And- Caleb didn't give me the option to protest. His arm around me tightened and he lifted me off the ground, running with me in tow as he dodged dancers.

"Stop them! Bring them to me," the queen's voice yelled just before Caleb dove through the doorway.

The music went silent, the sound of dancers disappeared, and the smell of food vanished as the stillness of the hallway settled around us. Caleb set me on my feet, glancing first to the right and then to the left. Both directions looked exactly the same, and he cursed as he grabbed my arm and dragged me down the corridor to the right.

I tried to pull away, bracing with my feet. "Caleb. Let go. I have to stay."

He just tugged harder. "No. We have to get out of here, Al, before-"

He never got to the next word. I expected the guards I'd seen earlier to catch us, but it was the ominous statues along the wall that lumbered into action, and I had a good idea what he'd been worried about.

The guardians each carried a huge, three-foot-long sword. Who the h.e.l.l carried a sword? Of course they were more "whats" than "whos," and there were a lot of them. Caleb skidded to a stop as three guardians barred the pa.s.sage in front of us. We both twisted around, but there were more guardians behind us, and more were stepping forward from the walls, their swords lifted. Surrounded.

"How do we fight them?" I whispered, and Caleb shook his head.

Great. I could see the glyphs on the guardians, but I didn't know anything about the fae glyph magic, and I certainly didn't know how to dispel the enchantment. My ability to peer over the planes wasn't showing anything useful either. They weren't like the constructs I could disbelieve out of existence, but ice given purpose. Even the dagger in my hand, which was always eager for a little action, felt unsure.

The guardians pressed closer, until Caleb and I were forced back to back just to keep from being skewered.

"Stand down," a familiar voice yelled. Falin rounded the corner at a dead run.

"No," Caleb whispered.

I spared a moment to glance at Caleb before focusing on Falin. The chain was gone, and he was alone. Or at least he was far ahead of anyone else pursuing us.

He reached a row of guardians and, grabbing two by the shoulder, jerked them back to open a path with no pointy ice swords between him and us. The guardians turned, and then as one, stepped back. They didn't lower their swords, but at least I had room to breathe.

"We're not going back," Caleb said. He grabbed my dagger, wrenching it from my hand.

I yelped, my wrist smarting. "Hey!"

Caleb lifted the dagger, pointing it at Falin.

I grabbed his arm. "Caleb, stop."

Falin stepped closer. "I don't wish to hurt you."

Which didn't mean he wouldn't. I'd seen Falin kill before. That had been the bad guys, but I guess "bad" was a matter of perspective.

Caleb lifted the dagger higher.

Falin glanced at the ice guardians. Two advanced, faster than I would have thought possible for automatons, and grabbed Caleb's arms, dragging him down.

"What do you think you're-" I didn't finish because suddenly I was wrapped in warm, strong arms.

Falin pulled me tight against his chest, holding me close. "I was so worried," he whispered, his breath dancing through my hair.

He was worried. So he told me here. In a hallway. Away from her. "Don't. Touch. Me."

Falin jerked back, as if my words scalded him. "Alexis . . ."

"No. Don't." I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at him. A nerve twitched under my eye. "Just don't, okay? Now tell them to let go of Caleb."

Falin's shoulder sagged. "I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?"

"My queen commanded I bring you to her."

Well, that proved it, didn't it? If I'd needed any further proof of where I stood, he'd just provided it. That conclusion must have shown on my face because Falin stepped forward again. He lifted his hands as if he was going to touch me, but then he dropped his arms by his sides.

"Try to understand. I must obey her commands. I have no choice."

He couldn't lie, I knew he couldn't, and yet the hurt part of me couldn't believe him. I glanced at Caleb, who'd finally stopped struggling with the guardians. He wore a sour look, but he gave one curt nod, confirming Falin's words.

He has to obey? I shook my head. The rules seemed to keep changing, and I barely understood the game. But the stakes were high. Deadly.

Falin stepped forward until the hem of my dress brushed his legs. "Alexis, I would reorder all of Faerie for you if it were in my power."

The "but it isn't" went unsaid everywhere but his eyes, where I could almost see the words echoing. He reached out, his warm hands sliding over my bare shoulders. I didn't pull away, but I didn't move toward him either. He leaned forward, closing the distance between us. Still I held my ground, and his lips grazed mine, the touch light enough to be a kiss from the wind.

"Forgive me," he whispered. He meant the words, meant them so much that the imbalance that swung between us made us both flinch. Then his hands slid from my shoulders to my wrists. His fingers locked around me like manacles.

What?

"Oh, now isn't this touching?" a crisp female voice said, and I jumped.

Falin released my arms and whirled around, dropping to his knees in the same movement. "My queen."

The Winter Queen stood in the middle of the hall, her hands balled into fists at her waist. PC, who had apparently followed her, rushed past the ice guardians. I scooped him up and clutched him tight as the queen strolled forward, holding the skirt of her long dress. She stopped directly in front of Falin's kneeling form.

"Did you really think you could keep secrets within my own halls, knight?"

Falin didn't answer, and she slid her hand into his hair. The movement started as the caress of a lover and ended with her fist clenched in the hair at the back of his skull. She jerked upward, and he rose with the motion. She was pet.i.te, so she had to release him before he reached his full height. She stepped around him, dragging him by the front of his s.h.i.+rt until he faced me.

"I had wondered," she said, running her hand down his chest. Not a muscle in his body twitched. "I called my knight home, and he came, as he should have, even though he knew I was angry that he'd failed to kill the body thief in a timely manner. And then, when he knew I would have forgiven him soon, he went and broke out of my prison, at great personal expense to himself." She jabbed her fingers into the side where he'd been sliced open when I'd found him. The edges of his eyes betrayed his wince, but he gave her no other reaction. "We had just heard rumor of a planeweaver. I thought that perhaps he'd gone to retrieve the planeweaver himself. Perhaps to present her to me as a gift to regain my good graces. But that did not happen. Now I can guess why." She rounded on me.

Falin was injured escaping the winter court? To get to me. I didn't know what to say, so I met the queen's eyes, saying nothing.

She hissed under her breath. Then she turned to Falin. "Take yourself to Rath." She glanced at me over her shoulder. "That would be the court torture chamber. Since you have no interest in my banquets, perhaps a visit there would interest you more."

"My queen-" Falin started, and she dug her fingers into his side again.

"If you beg for yourself, knight, I will forgive you. But if you beg for her, you will not like the results."

He glanced at me, and then he squeezed his eyes shut and remained silent.

The queen turned toward the guardians holding Caleb. "Take him to the dungeons with the rest of the resistant independents. You"-she pointed to two more guardians-"take her to a chamber where she can await the return of my patience." She turned to me, the frost in her glare deadly, hateful. "You should hope it returns quickly. A planeweaver who will not join my court is of limited worth."

Chapter 31.

I struggled to keep a safe grip on PC and not trip and fall over the d.a.m.n gown as the ice guardians dragged me away from the queen, Falin, and Caleb.

"Slow down," I yelled, stumbling. PC squirmed.

They didn't slow. They didn't even pause to let me get my feet under me. I twisted, glancing back at the queen. She watched, looking regal, delicate, and utterly smug.

"Are you holding a Sleagh Maith not of your court against her will?" a deep masculine voice asked in the corridor ahead of me. A corridor that had been empty a moment before.

I turned around.

In the center of the hallway stood an unfamiliar fae-another n.o.ble Sleagh Maith, from the look of his almosttoo-handsome-to-look-at features. He had black hair pulled back tightly behind his head, so I couldn't see how long it actually was, and a dark beard that formed a sharp point at his chin and probably saved his jaw from looking too delicate for a man. Behind him, the hall vanished into a large room shrouded in deep shadows. But the shadows were only in a diamond-shaped area around the fae; the ice cavern was visible everywhere else, as if a doorway had been torn open in the center of the hall.

"You." I couldn't see the queen, but her voice held all the warmth of a glacier. "You have no business here."

"I beg to differ." He made a motion with his hand and a scream crashed through the chilled cavern.

Two inky black forms surged forward. Wraithlike, in tattered robes with their hair streaming in tangles behind them, the newcomers swung swords that trailed darkness in their wake, as if they leaked shadows. Of course, the wraiths appeared to be little more than animated shadows themselves. The ice guardians released me as they reached for their swords.

The cavern shook with the impact of the guardians and shadows. I clutched PC, stumbling back a step. The clang of swords rang in the air, and I ducked as an ice blade was deflected straight toward me. Not good.

"Alexis, this way," the man in the rift yelled.

"No!" The queen's voice cracked through the hall. "After them, all of you. Detain her."

I whirled around. The queen's ice guardians surged forward in force. Even the two that were holding Caleb released him to grab their swords and join the fray. Caleb looked at me, looked at the man in the rift, and then turned and fled in the opposite direction. I didn't blame him.

More shadow wraiths flew out of the rift to hold off the fresh a.s.sault of ice guardians, but the ice guardians weren't the only ones coming. Falin darted forward, parrying blows from the wraiths.

"Alexis, hurry," the stranger said, holding out a hand. He was definitely no white knight here to save me, not with all his oiled black armor that nearly blended in with the shadows around him, but he was definitely rescue of some sort.

A sword pa.s.sed through the air inches from my chest-and PC. The white crest of hair on the top of his head fluttered and he trembled. I have to get out of here. I glanced at the fae still extending his hand toward me. Well, the winter court was a bust for the accomplice and Holly anyway. Maybe I'd have better luck elsewhere. And maybe I can manage not to p.i.s.s off the ruling regent.

Tucking PC under one arm, I gathered the skirt of my gown with the other hand, hiking it up to my knees, and then I ran for the rip. The man reached for me. I dropped my skirt and grabbed his hand just as someone grabbed my arm. The stranger hauled me forward, up and through the tear. The ice cavern vanished; the hand on my arm didn't.

I stumbled into an enormous anteroom filled with giant gothic arches and spiraling columns. And Falin followed. The fae who'd pulled me through turned, leveling a sword that reflected no light, as if it were crafted of pure shadows. He swung at Falin, who jumped backward. Falin lifted two daggers long enough to be short swords.