45

The hallway dead-ended just past the door to my quarters. I stood behind Corinne, blinking in confusion as she faced the wall. Then she lifted her hand, squared her shoulders, and murmured in low draconic. Her whole body shuddered with the effort of it, and briefly her knees buckled, but she regained her balance, keeping her hand up as she faced the wall. The cave began to shudder beneath me, vibrating under my feet. Then, the wall groaned and shimmered.

“A mirage,” I said, eyes wide. It was just like the one Draunar had flown through when he’d first brought me to this place.

It dissipated in front of us, revealing a long, winding hallway.

“We don’t have much time,” she said. “I can only hold it open for a few minutes. But come, look.” She led me into the hall.

Inside, there were more obsidian doors that looked exactly like ours. Every time Corinne pressed her palm to one as we passed, it swung open, revealing a small chamber just like the one I stayed in. Some were furnished with furs, some with ponds, some with hearths, some with shelves built in as if for climbing.

“What are these?” I asked. “There’s no one here at all.”

“There will be,” she said. “You’re just the beginning.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“He wants more women,” she said. “More royalty. More queens.”

“They’re cells,” I said as a dawning, horrific understanding set in. “How many of these are there?”

“A lot,” she said. “I haven’t made it to the end. I can’t hold the hallway open long enough.”

Before I could make my way further into the tunnel, she grabbed me by the shoulder and led me back, over the threshold and into the hallway leading to our two quarters. She sighed, slumped against the door to my quarters, and then the mirage shimmered back into place. Sweat beaded on her sallow skin, right at her hairline. Sini crept up to her shoulder and curled around her neck, nuzzling close.

“Are you okay?” I asked anxiously. If she was totally drained, I was shit out of luck.

“Fine,” she murmured. “It’s just tiring.” She held her arm up where the emerald green bracelet was tight around her skin. “He tries to keep my powers harnessed, but there’s only so much a shifter’s magic can do. Even a draconic shifter.”

“Your powers?” I asked. I knew there was something about her, but I thought she was just a magic user—not a creature of magic herself. But it would make sense. “Are you a shifter, too?”

“I’m no shifter,” she said. She walked out of the hallway and back toward the bathing chamber, then to our shared alcove full of books. She folded her long limbs onto one of the big cushions and sank down into it, half-reclined. Sini crawled onto her chest and curled up like a cat. “I’m a queen, like you.”

“Oh,” I said, sinking down onto the cushion next to her.

“I haven’t seen my kingdom for a long time.” She closed her eyes.

“What kingdom is that?” I asked quietly, half-afraid to shatter the delicate silence between us.

She set her hand on Sini’s back, then breathed out slowly. For a moment I thought she might fall asleep like that, exhausted from breaking Draunar’s mirage. But then she sighed out, “Faerie.”

I nearly fell backward. “Faerie?”

She nodded.

“Faerie. You’re the Queen of the Fae?”

Again she nodded, eyes still closed.

I stared at her slack-jawed. I had so many questions I didn’t even know where to start. And she seemed so exhausted I knew I wouldn’t be able to grill her the way I wanted to.

“I try not to think about it,” Corinne admitted. “I’ve been gone for so long… I can’t bear to think about the damage it may have wreaked on my people.”

The text I’d read in Blaylock’s book rocketed to the forefront of my mind. “They need your presence,” I said. “The Fae need you in order to maintain a presence in Frasia.”

That made her look up and open her eyes. “How do you know that?”

I shrugged, then pulled my knees into my chest. “I’m interested in the Fae,” I said. “There… Well… There used to be more Fae in Frasia, and I was trying to figure out what happened.”

Sorrow carved its way into her brow. “Now you know,” she said quietly. “I had hoped—foolishly—that maybe the Fae had found a way to thrive without me. But there’s only so much we can do.”

“Well,” I said, “there have been more, recently, in Frasia.”

She blinked. “The Fae are returning?”

“In small amounts,” I said. “A different pack took over the kingdom—my husband—and since then, the Fae have been slowly returning.”

“No longer under the rule of Daybreak, then,” she said. “Well, that’s a small silver lining. What pack has taken control?”

My stomach turned. Daybreak had done more harm to Frasia than I had ever known. I was filled with a renewed desire to get out of here and return to Elias’ side. To fix all the damage my father had done.

“Nightfall,” I said.

“Nightfall,” she echoed. “Interesting. They never seemed like a strong pack. They must have a good leader.”

“They do,” I said. “Or—they have one good leader. Looks like I may have fucked everything up.”

“Perhaps in the short-term,” she said with a small smile. “Interesting that the Nightfall king has aided in the resurgence of the Fae in Frasia… And now I find myself here with the queen.”

“That only matters if we can get out of here,” I said. “Some of the reading I did said that high-ranking Fae can open and use portals to travel. Stepping into Faerie from one place, and then stepping back out into this realm in another.”

“Hm,” she said. I could see her interest fading even as I spoke.

“Can we do that?” I asked. “Can’t you open a portal to get us out of here?”