Page 48 of Curse of Darkness
We’re here.
Silent sentries guard the enormous gates that lead into a throne room beyond, wearing black cloaks and helmets that disguise their entire faces. They’re so still I’m not entirely certain they’re alive until two of them step forward, crossing spears to bar our way.
The gates themselves though…. I can’t stop my gaze from lifting, tracing over the writhing wyrm carved into the lintel. Gold flecks the edge of its scales, and its eye is a blank circle of gold. Dragons vanished from this world eons ago, they say, but I can’t help feeling as though that circle is watching me.
“Who goes this way?” The guardian demands.
Beyond them, a dark figure lounges on a throne.
To his right stands an archway, and within it, swirls of inky shadow, much like the ones my husband could summon.
The Gate to the Underworld.
Straightening my spine, I summon all my courage, all my bravery.Be like Blaedwyn. “My name is Iskvien, and I am the Queen of Evernight, come to seek an audience with your master.”
“Denied,” says the one on the left.
The word echoes through the chamber like a slap.
“May I ask why?”
“None living may enter this world,” says the other. “Our king has turned his face from the mortal plane, and lives only to serve as Keeper of the Darkness. He has no concern with your mortal cares.”
I step forward, ignoring the way the figures tense. Ihaveto speak to Kato. “Does he know what is happening in the world above?”
“Mortals fight. Mortals fall. He does not care.”
“The Horned One is risen,” I call, my fingers curling into fists. “He seeks to subjugate the world. Perhaps your king will care when the Horned One comes for him.”
“The Horned One may come.” This time, I swear there’s a hint of smirk to the guardian’s voice. “And he will be turned back, just as you are. Go now, mortal. Before the cold steals away the last of your breath.”
This is not happening.
I want to scream. To come so close and to be denied like this…. It’s more than I can bear.
Hatefully, it’s my mother’s voice I hear in my head, and I see her anew, reaching across thefariboard to take out three of my pieces. “Never cringe, Iskvien, even if your heart races, never let them see it. Power respects power.Claim your power. Make them respect you.”
In the silence, I hear the Hallow’s pulse beat.
It’s in my veins, echoing through my heart.
I am not going back. Not without him.
“Vi?” Finn asks.
This time, there’s no need to summon my inner Blaedwyn.
I open myself up to the Hallow, even as another doorway suddenly opens in my mind.
“You must not claim this Hallow, Iskvien,” whispers the Mother of Night’s voice in my head. “It is forbidden.”
“Kato doesn’t need to know that,” I respond.
I just need him to think I will.
She subsides into wary silence.
I pluck on the strings of the Hallow, feeling some sort of unearthly presence sit up and take notice. Its power cascades over my skin as if it’s tasting me. It’s like nothing I’ve ever known before. It’s almost… sentient.
