Authors: Kailin Gow
The journey across the bridges between the towers was actua
lly
scarier in its way than riding on Archer’s back had been. There, Briony had possessed no way to hold onto him, but she had
still
felt safe. They had been flying, and Briony had felt that everything was under control. This, on the other hand, was just a long way up.
Archer, seeming to sense Briony’s discomfort, was quick to distract her, starting to talk about the buildings around them and why they were constructed in the way that they were.
“The towers are separate and
walled
off to make them easier to defend if they are ever attacked,” he said. “You would have to take each courtyard and tower separately if you were trying to get in.”
“What about the bridges?” Briony asked, forcing herself to keep walking along the marble span as though there were nothing wrong at
a
ll.
“Partly, they’re to make it easy to get from place to place without having to go up and down a lot of stairs, but they’re also a protection. They’re like a marble web over the ground to slow down dragons and other flying creatures. We can land on the top levels, but if we want to go lower, we have to pick our way very carefu
lly
.”
That made some sense to Briony, although it did raise one or two obvious worries. Before this, she had thought that Palisor would be a place of peace, yet no one constructed castles this
well
without at least some threat of violence hanging in the background.
Briony found herself hoping that she wasn’t walking into more trouble than Archer and the others had let on.
That thought distracted her until the end of the bridge, where a large pair of double doors sat. Archer opened them, revealing a large, circular room. Other doors led into it, equa
lly
spaced around the edge, while stairs sat at one side, leading both up and down.
They went upwards first, climbing two flights of stairs to arrive in what could only be a throne room.
The chair at the center was raised on a circular dais, and worked with both gold and velvet until it almost shone. The rest of the floor was a mosaic depicting creatures Briony would have thought of as mythical; everything from dragons to mer-folk. Windows around the room’s edge provided a view out both the surrounding landscape and the rest of the towers.
From where she was, Briony could see that this was easily the
tallest
.
“If this is the throne room,” Briony asked, “Where’s the King?”
Archer thought for a moment. “There aren’t even any guards here, and there should be. I think we should hurry to the King’s chambers, Briony.”
“Why?”
“Leytham told you that his brother is old even by Hugtandalfer standards?
Well,
when I left, he was not
well,
and if even the throne room is deserted, things must be serious.”
“If it’s that serious,” Briony pointed out, “
will
he even want to see me?”
Archer took her hand and squeezed it. “
He
’ll
want to see you.”
Archer led the way back down the tower. King Waltham’s chambers were about halfway up, apparently, at the very heart of the place. As they made their way down, Briony couldn’t help noticing that every level seemed to be decorated in a different way. One would be hung with portraits, and covered in deep carpet, while the next would have
walls
that seemed to glitter and reflect light onto carefu
lly
placed sculptures that seemed to be in glass.
“
All
the great artists of the Kingdom wanted the job the last time the King redecorated,” Archer explained without being asked. “Rather than cause an argument, his majesty gave them a level each to do, and made a competition of it.”
“It sounds like a wise move,” Briony said.
Archer nodded. “It was.”
Fina
lly
, they came to the level they wanted. It was decorated mostly in white and gold, with banners around the
walls
and golden designs worked into a white marble floor. There were people there too.
Dozens of them. Hugtandalfer guards stood by the stairs, watchful as Briony and Archer descended.
Servants rushed back and forth, fetching and carrying.
Most of the people there though seemed to be nobles of some sort, wealthily dressed Hugtandalfer men and women standing and apparently waiting for
something. They were
all
beautiful,
all
seemingly young, and
all
surprisingly hushed. It seemed that whatever was going on was serious.
Briony heard a ripple of whispering go through them as she entered. Then, almost as one, they stepped back to reveal a large bed, draped in layers of sheets. A figure sat up in that bed. In human terms, he would have looked no more than forty, but the youth of everyone else around him made that seem ancient by comparison. Of course, if what Aunt Sophie’s father had said was true, he was ancient.
Briony edged forward, hardly daring to move too quickly. There were more whispers from the crowd as Briony did so, and Briony could only hope that they weren’t being too unkind about her. Though right then, she probably had bigger things to worry about. She was, after
all,
about to meet her biological father for the first time.
It seemed to take forever to cover those last few steps. Probably because Briony was so nervous by then that she could hardly bring herself to put one foot in front of the other. It didn’t help that Archer had abandoned her somewhere along the way, stepping back into the surrounding crowd. He presumably thought that this was something Briony needed to do alone. He was probably right, though that didn’t make the walk to the bed, with so many eyes on Briony, feel any better.
As Briony approached, the man in the bed, the King, opened his eyes. There was a sense of strength in those eyes that didn’t come through in the rest of him. Not just lying there. Yet in that gaze there was age, and weight, and authority. In that one moment, it was easy for Briony to see how the deathly
ill
man before her might have ruled a kingdom.
Briefly, Briony wondered whether she should be curtseying. After
all,
this was a king. But the Hugtandalfer before her just smiled and reached out a hand to take Briony’s. His grip was soft, but insistent, as though he wanted to make sure that Briony was real.
“You know who I am, child?” The words had a kind of fragile warmth to them, as though the King wanted to be able to stand and enfold her in his arms, but simply didn’t have the strength for it anymore.
Briony nodded. “King Waltham. My… father.”
“Yes. You have no idea how good it is to hear those words. And you are Briony. My child. My daughter. My heir.”
“Heir!”
That came from the crowd of fanged elves behind them, and Briony turned at the sound. The group parted to reveal a male Hugtandalfer, as young-looking as they
all
were, his long, straight hair divided into black and white stripes that
fell
well
past the shoulders of the sky blue tunic he wore. His eyes were a
brilliant
silver, standing out against his high cheekbones, aquiline nose, and
full
lips. He was broad-shouldered, but moved with sure-footed grace as he stepped forward.
He was, Briony decided, quite possibly the most gorgeous young man she had ever seen. And, given the amount of time she had spent around Kevin and
Fallon
, she had plenty to compare him to. Only the look he gave Briony as he stepped closer spoiled the effect a little. It was a look, not just of pride, but of contempt for her too. Apparently, this young Hugtandalfer rea
lly
didn’t like her.
King Waltham sat up a little straighter. “You have something to say, Vigor?”
Briony guessed she should have known.
The Prince shook his head. “No, father.” The second word sounded very deliberate, as though Vigor was anxious to reinforce the connection.
“Then you should come here and meet your long-lost sister, shouldn’t you?”
The young man hesitated, his gaze flicking from King Waltham to Briony.
“So you
do
have something to say?” the King asked, when the Prince didn’t come any closer.
Vigor nodded. “Yes. Yes, I do.” He looked Briony over from head to toe, and Briony had to force herself not to wilt under the sheer intensity of that stare. It was a probing thing. Practica
lly
an intrusion.
“She’s human.”
“Briony is one of us,” King Waltham said.
“If she’s Hugtandalfer, than why doesn’t she resemble us? Why does she look like… this?” Vigor gestured to her. “Sister indeed!”
Briony bristled at that. Who did this boy think he was? “Brother indeed!” she shot back. “I have a brother named Jake already, and from what I’ve seen even in the last minute or two, he’s more suited to ruling anything than you.”
“You dare question my suitability?” Vigor glowered at her.
Briony looked at the crowd around them. They were looking on with interest. It occurred to Briony that she might have gone too far, but by that point, it was too late to back down.
“You’re right,” she said. “I’m not your sister. After
all,
we aren’t related by blood, are we?”
The King raised an eyebrow. “Where did you hear that, Briony?”
Briony shrugged. She didn’t want to get Leytham into trouble. “Vigor is adopted, isn’t he? So we aren’t of the same blood.”
Briony saw
all
the eyes in the room turn to the Prince. Apparently, the nobles there were waiting to see what his response would be. Though for a second or two,
all
he did was stand there in silent fury.
“It is true that Vigor is adopted,” King Waltham said, apparently attempting to defuse the situation, “but I have raised him in my court. I have named him as my son in every sense but blood. Now, let it rest.”
“I am more fit to be king than this little girl,” Vigor snapped, ignoring King Waltham.
“Let it rest,” King Waltham said. In that instant, there was real power in the King’s voice. “As for who is fit, that is something we
shall
see. It is not a discussion for now. Now is the time for welcoming your sister back from the other lands. Give her the kiss of greeting, son.”
That was one of the more awkward moments of Briony’s life. And of Vigor’s too, if she was any judge.
The Prince moved forward reluctantly and kissed her briefly on both cheeks. Given how handsome he was, it might have been pleasant under other
circumstances, but right then,
all
Briony could think of was how much trouble she had managed to get herself into this time.
So she’d found a family on a different world.
That didn’t mean much when her new father was dying, her new adopted brother clearly hated her, and she was about to be dropped into the middle of some kind of battle for succession. Even the vampires of Wicked were better than that. In fact, Briony decided in that moment, the best thing she could possibly do right then was to get as far away from the whole place as possible.
She needed to go home.
Perhaps Archer sensed how Briony was feeling right then. Perhaps he had simply spent enough time watching her to guess. Either way, he moved forward to take her hand. Briony started slightly at the sudden contact, as
well
as looking around at the crowd of Hugtandalfers occupying the royal apartment.
What would they think, seeing the dragon shifter rush forward to comfort her like that?
Right then, with Vigor
still
looking at her with less than friendly eyes, and her Hugtandalfer father staring up at her from his sickbed, Briony wasn’t sure that she cared. Archer might technica
lly
have been just as much a part of this strange world as any of the others, but right then, he felt like a link back to Wicked.
Back to home.
“Your majesty,” Archer said, “forgive me, but with the Princess so soon arrived from her home, she must be tired by now. Perhaps we could have your permission to retire so that she might rest?”
Briony had never heard anyone speak quite that forma
lly
before. Then again, that was probably the kind of thing that you had to put up with around royalty.
Which could be a problem if she was supposed to be royalty now. Briefly, Briony had a vision of courtiers flocking around her, speaking to her like something out of a Jane Austen novel. This was too strange, and it felt like she was acting out some kind of role in her theater class, but one look at the dragon shifter besides her, the fanged elf brother glowering at her, and the crowd of royal fanged elves in the room, she knew as much the first time she realized vampires were real in her world, that
all
this was real, too.
After
all,
she had entered this strange new world, this beautiful, but somewhat dangerous world straight from Wicked Woods. And from everything she’s experienced since coming to Wicked Woods; if it was possible for vampires and werewolves to exist, then it was possible for dragons and fanged elves to, too.
She’s seen the crossover with her own eyes…Archer the dragon flying over the trees of Wicked and Aunt Sophie… that was a hard one to digest, but now that she realized what she was, everything about her made sense. Everything here made sense… especia
lly
since Palisor was a part of the Wicked Woods.
She looked over at Archer, who in human form looked to be one to two years older than
Fallon
.
Archer, in his golden skin and amber eyes, who have been nothing but protective throughout. He was now her dragon, and she was his royal elf. He had been sent to bring her back, and he had done it. So why was he standing up for her now? Unless it was this business of the connection between a dragon and a Hugtandalfer? What was Archer not
telling
her? What role was she to play in this?
Briony didn’t get the chance to think it through though, because Prince Vigor chose that moment to laugh.
“Tired? Oh, is attending the sickbed of her father too much for the poor little human?”
“I think, your highness,” Archer said to the Prince, “that it might have something to do with the Princess’ previous exertions.”
“Previous exertions?” The Prince raised an eyebrow, getting a
small
laugh from some of the courtiers. “
Well,
I suppose we’re
all
worn out after that. Some of us, anyway.”
“Hey!” Briony exclaimed as she got that. “That was
not
what Archer meant.”
“Rea
lly
?” Vigor’s eyebrow arched
still
further, his silver eyes looking at her up and down with the appreciation of what? A man appreciating the form of a woman? Briony couldn’t help but blush under his scrutinizing glaze. His forwardness was infuriating, and he was supposed to be her adopted brother.
There was a line she was not going to cross with that.
Vigor’s look of appreciation quickly changed to cockiness. “And yet you blush just at the mention of it.”
It seemed that there was no way to win. Vigor was obviously determined to score points off Briony no matter what she said, and the courtiers seemed happy enough to go along with it. Probably, they found it entertaining, and if it meant that they could keep in the good graces of a prince at the same time, so much the better.
“Have a good look?” Briony said, her chin jutted up. “Prince or should I say,
Brother?
You sure don’t get enough
exertions
to be giving a once over on your own sister!
”
Vigor’s face went crimson as he protested softly, “but we’re not rea
lly
blood-related…you’re practica
lly
a stranger.”
“My daughter is a vision of loveliness, isn’t she?” King Waltham said proudly. “Even despite the harrowing journey she and her young dragon went through to reach us.”
“In fact, your highness” Archer said, “before coming to Palisor, Briony and her friends fought with
all
their strength and might against the dark ones. The…vampires.”
Archer hesitated over the word, as though knowing what effect it would have. And it certainly had an effect. Gasps came from the surrounding courtiers, while one of the women there actua
lly
fainted. Though that struck Briony as completely over the top, and frankly not very convincing, given that she managed to do it in such a way that she
fell
straight into the arms of a handsome male courtier, who then had to help her from the room.
“Vampires?” one of the remaining courtiers said. “Are you sure?”
Another, a woman who had vials and pouches on the belt of her gown, and whom Briony took to be some kind of physician, echoed the thought.
“Vampires have not been seen here in a long time, Archer. The only ones here are the ones King Waltham fought and banished to…”
“Malwinn.” The King’s voice was firm. “Enough. There are some things better left unsaid.”
The woman curtsied low. “Forgive me, your majesty. I meant no harm.”
“Briony didn’t fight the vampires here, anyway,”
Archer said. “She fought them around her home. Some of you know that. You have heard the news of her. Princess Briony was a vampire hunter in her world…a very brave one, despite her lovely appearance.”
That sent another ripple of sound around King Waltham’s chambers. Surprise, from those who obviously had not heard the news before, and who looked at Briony with renewed interest, as though trying to work out how she had done it. That much, Briony had half expected. What was slightly more unexpected, given how easily the courtiers had laughed at Vigor’s innuendo, was the touch of admiration that also showed up there.
Only Vigor himself seemed unconvinced. “I don’t believe it.”
“Believe it or don’t,” Archer said, “but the truth is that Briony kept one particularly evil master vampire out of Palisor through her efforts. I was there. I saw it.”
Prince Vigor gave Archer a contemptuous look. “And did most of the work, no doubt. We
all
know what lengths dragons
will
go to in order to find-”
“Enough,” King Waltham said. “I have told you once already, my son. Do not make me order you back to your tower.”
Vigor stood there, very
still,
and then gave a single, terse nod.
“Good.”
Was it Briony’s imagination, or did King Waltham look a little less wan and exhausted as he said that? Certainly, when he looked over to Briony again and smiled, there seemed to be more strength in it than there had been before.
“Of course you must rest, my dear. It sounds like you have had a busy time. But I trust you
will
not be too tired to attend the banquet that
will
be held in your honor later.”
“A banquet?” Briony couldn’t help the note of surprise there. “You’re holding a banquet, for me?”
She wasn’t the only one surprised, by the looks of it. Half of the courtiers excused themselves in a hurry. Apparently, they needed to make preparations if they were going to be able to look their best as they attended.
“Of course we are having a banquet,” King Waltham said. “It is not every day I get my daughter back, after
all,
and you, Briony, I think you
will
be just what Palisor needs.” Waltham looked around at his loyal subjects. “My
ill
ness has been hard on many of them.”
At that point, he did something that made the announcements of banquets and the rest look tame by comparison. King Waltham stood up.
The physician hurried across to him. “Your majesty, please. You must not stand. You are not
well
enough.”
“Must not, Malwinn? Remind me which of us is the King and which the physician again, would you? Only I could have sworn that I was the one who got to decide these things.”
The physician was brave, Briony had to give her that. She stood there for almost a second, blocking the King’s path.
“I just don’t want to see
all
my hard work undone,” the Hugtandalfer woman said.
“I know, Malwinn, and I am sure that no one
will
blame you for an old man’s stupidity. Step aside now though. I am feeling stronger, and I wish to hug my daughter.”
As the physician moved to one side with a worried look, Waltham did exactly that, moving close to Briony and wrapping his arms around her.
“You are exactly what we need in an heir, daughter, a champion to help us against the dark ones.”
“You mean Pietre?” Briony asked. “I didn’t think he could get here.”
The King looked over at Archer. “Pietre?”
“The master vampire I spoke of, your majesty.”
Archer shifted his gaze to Briony. “Pietre is just one master vampire who wants a way into Palisor. There are many, many more master vampires from your world, from
all
over your world, who want the same thing.”
King Waltham moved back from Briony, his hands on her shoulders. Briony wasn’t sure if he just wanted to look at her, or if she was holding him up.
“We spend so much of our time defending the gates, trying to keep the dark ones out.” King Waltham said. “It says a lot that you took on that task even in your former world.”
He took Briony’s elbow then, leading her towards the exit to the room. That seemed to surprise the courtiers as much as anything else that had happened so far, and Malwinn the physician hovered with a worried expression.
“Malwinn, I am fine,” the King assured her. “The return of my daughter has done more to reinvigorate me than any potion you could give me. Now stop shadowing me like you expect me to keel over and go get ready for the banquet. I’m sure you have dresses to try on, or something.” He winked at Briony and whispered, “We need to enliven this place. Look at
all
the gloomy faces, especia
lly
Malwinn’s. You would’ve thought someone had died.” The King caught Malwinn
still
lingering in the room. “Malwinn?”
The woman curtseyed again. “If your majesty is certain?”
“Completely.” King Waltham looked around the rest of the room. “That goes for
all
of you as
we
ll.
Tonight’s banquet is supposed to be a celebration, so go and prepare for it.”
One by one, the courtiers hurried out. Some looked excited by the prospect of the party to come.
Others looked at Briony with quizzical expressions, as though
still
trying to work out exactly what she meant for them and the Kingdom around them. For
all
that Briony felt strange and out of place right then, it couldn’t have been any easier for them. They had acquired a princess almost from nowhere, and it would no doubt shake up the politics of their land in ways that might mean a lot for their positions in the court. The look Briony got from Malwinn was a little more direct though. It said, as clearly as if the Hugtandalfer had spoken, that Briony was to do nothing to wear her father out.
King Waltham seemed oblivious to it. Instead, his attention was fixed on Briony. “Seeing you is the medicine, the cure I needed.” He smiled. “You are blood of my blood, the last of my line. I never regretted knowing and loving your mother, for
all
that she was human, but knowing that my blood lives on in you, that has given me renewed hope.”
Briony couldn’t help glancing over to the portion of the room where Prince Vigor
still
stood as the King said that. His scowl made his feelings very clear, and, for
all
that he was obviously self-important and
full
of pride, Briony wasn’t sure that she could blame him.
The last thing she wanted to do was to enter a new world just to rock everything.