The Angel of Elydria (The Dawn Mirror Chronicles Book 1) (55 page)

“What happened? Where’s Annette?” Argent demanded, panting and holding Penny steady as she shivered.

“They took her―Deimos and Phobos―they got Annette―” Penny sputtered, knowing she sounded pathetic as she sunk to the ground, Argent following as he tried to brace her.

“No,” he said in a hollow voice.

Hector was asking over and over if she had been harmed, but she did not have the strength to answer him. She sat on the forest floor as the light faded from the sky, feeling as if she had suddenly been emptied out and left as a miserable, empty shell. She’d let Annette be abducted. She had already let Della and Adrielle down.

Hector’s fingers snapping in front of her face roused Penny out of her stupor. “Where did they say they were taking her?” he demanded. It took a moment for Penny’s lips to cooperate and move.

“I think they were taking her to the castle. They’re going to use her to steal the names of all the goblins at tonight’s speech in Hulver—they said they would cut out her tongue.” Penny shivered, her hands trembling as she leaned into Argent’s strong grip. Argent blanched at Penny’s words, but Simon was already on his feet.

“Then there’s no time to lose! We’ve got to get her back, no matter the cost!” Simon flourished his wand and with a fiery flick the puffy white cloud materialized before them. “Let’s go!”

Hector stared at Simon in defeat. “Simon, every guard in the city will be looking for us. It’s the last day of the Carnival, there’s no way we’ll get there in time, and even if we did, how are we supposed to stop them?”

Simon seemed close to a conniption. “You’ve
got
to be kidding me! You’re going to sit here while those
animals
mutilate our Nettie? I don’t know what kind of friend you claim to be, but I’m certainly not going to let this happen. If I die, so be it. Annette needs us! ” he bellowed, his face red with emotion.

Argent leapt to his feet. “I’m coming with you,” he said, crossing the clearing to join Simon. Penny looked meekly up at the two of them. The crippling fear and helplessness she felt was almost enough to overwhelm her, but the sudden and vivid image of Deimos approaching Annette with a blade and sadistic smile was enough to get her to her feet.

“She’d go for me. I don’t know if I can be of any help, but I can’t sit back while someone I love is in danger.” Penny wobbled over on unsure legs to where Argent and Simon stood facing Hector, who looked sick to his stomach.

“Do you not understand that this is
suicide
?” Hector implored. Penny, Simon, and Argent stared at him with tight lips and narrowed eyes, and Hector hung his head.

“Oh, what am I saying? Of course I’ll go―realistic chances of survival be damned.”

THE CLOUD SOARED high in the skies above Hulver, dodging between moths and huge white dragonflies. Beneath them, the city was alight with its sequins of color, flares of light, and a chorus of noise. Shrieks of delight and excited chattering echoed through the streets as goblin children lit fireworks that detonated with snaps and booms. Paper lanterns, leering masks, and outlandish booths were propped up all around the city. The smell of grilling food filled the air. The streets were absolutely brimming with life, and crowds of people fought to move even inches from where they stood. A clock tower loomed up from the serpentine streets, its face a brilliant moon of green and orange. A combusting shower of fireworks rained down around the castle’s jagged silhouette. Simon kept his gaze fixed on it as he commanded the cloud to sail onward.

“What will we do when we get to the palace?” Hector shouted over the roar of the wind.

“We’ll need to sneak past the guards and find where they’re keeping Annette. You can use your locating spell,” Simon shouted back as they wove through the gathering of flying creatures and airborne machines in the skyway.

“How are we going to get past the guards?” Penny wondered, struggling to hide her trembling.

Argent smiled as he eyed the booths that lined the streets below. “I have an idea…Simon, fly low for a second,” he ordered, grasping the control of Kasper and twitching his fingers until the puppet danced out of his pocket and floated beside him.

Simon looked around for an opening and then plunged the cloud downward, just avoiding a collision with a string of paper lanterns. As they grazed the tops of the vendor’s booths, Argent sent Kasper out. The puppet glided along and grabbed at several carnival masks attached to the side of a booth. The goblin manning the booth shouted in rage as Kasper returned to the cloud holding the entire post from which the masks had hung. Argent thanked his puppet before stuffing it back into his pocket and distributing masks to Simon, Penny, and Hector.

“This should give us a smidgen more anonymity, I think,” Argent grinned, donning a red mask with a long, beak-like nose. Penny pulled on an expressionless black and white mask while Simon guised himself behind an ostentatious feathered eyepiece. Hector’s face was covered by his mask’s pained grimace, and he struggled to fit his glasses behind it.

Raucous music poured out of restaurants and from street corners as the castle loomed closer. At long last, they floated up to the side of the gargantuan castle and its mismatched towers, which fit together like a lopsided collage. Simon dropped the cloud down into a nearby alleyway, and they darted into the street, blending into the surging crowd. As they struggled to get through the thrashing, humid cluster of goblins, a loud voice boomed over the mighty thrall. Many of the carnival goers stopped in their tracks to listen to the announcement, their masked faces turned toward the sky.

“Goblins and Goblesses, people of Hulver! The time draws near! At midnight tonight our majestic monarch, King Yulghrat, will be addressing the public at the castle with his annual speech. Please make your way to the castle by midnight!”

The carnival goers resumed their molasses-slow progress toward the castle. Argent led them to the spiked gates of the castle, but their hearts sank when they saw that it swarming with goblin soldiers.

“We’ll never get around that many, and there’s
no
way we can fight them. If we create a disturbance, our cover will be blown and they’re sure to overtake us. What should we do?” Argent asked.

Everyone was silent for a moment as they all looked around for inspiration. Penny found it hard to concentrate with the crackling of fireworks and screams of delight all around her.

Without a word of warning, Hector lifted his hands, looked about to make sure no one was watching, and conjured an arcane circle the size of a car tire, which he proceeded to hurtle at the side of a nearby building. It collided with an explosion that outdid the rumbling of the fireworks. As the wall of the building began to disintegrate, everyone around them screamed, ducking to protect their faces.

The goblin rangers that had been protecting the castle gates went into a flurry and pushed their way out into the squabbling crowd, barking out questions and blowing whistles. Under the cover of confusion, Argent sprinted forward and led the others through the mob. Once they reached the castle gates, the four of them crouched, facing one another behind their masks.

“Okay, Simon and I will go in and find Annette. Argent and Penny, you two stay out here and keep watch for Nestor. Stop him if you can, but exercise extreme caution. Once we secure Annette we’ll come find you―and if worse comes to worst, find your way back to the airship,” Hector said in a hurried voice.

Argent shook his head. “We should really stay together―” he objected.

“Argent, no. I need you to go to the balcony where the king will make his speech. We will need eyes on the ground,” Hector insisted, then discarded his and Simon’s masks in the bushes. Before sprinting away, Hector grabbed Penny by the shoulders.

“Promise me you’ll be safe,” he pleaded.

Penny couldn’t contain a pale smile. “I’ll do what I can.”

A
nnette’s eyes sprang open at the sound of an all-too familiar voice, honey-sweet and laced with venom.

“Ahh, the princess awakens,” the voice purred and Annette felt the touch of spiny fingernails against her face. Valentine Frost peered down at her with a satisfied smirk.

Annette became aware of the cottony dryness in her mouth and a thick cord of fabric wrapped over her lips. The young actress lay supine on a soft, regal bed in the middle of a richly furnished room, her wrists bound behind her back.

Valentine sauntered around the bed like a shark circling its prey, jeering. “Poor Nettie. What have you gotten yourself into now, hmm? I
almost
feel sorry for you.”

Annette struggled to roll onto her side, freezing when Valentine placed two fingers under her chin. The older woman studied her face for a long moment before withdrawing her hand and bringing it back full force across Annette’s face. Annette cringed, her eyes watering from the pain smarting in her cheek.

Valentine’s fiery green eyes reduced to slits and her voice changed, growing deeper and more menacing. “And you thought you could get away with what you did. How droll,” she hissed. “You
actually
thought that you could get away with making a fool out of
me
. Of course, I knew you were cheating from the beginning…I realized it from the moment you spoke to me that evening, when you twittered those
suggestions
like the brainless little bird you are and robbed me of my happiness. But I knew that if I waited long enough, you would get your comeuppance. This little songbird’s been caged, and she’s never to sing again. And my goodness, isn’t that sweet?”

“Valentine,” a commanding voice said from the corner of the room, and Annette moved with effort to see Deimos sidle into the room, his face livid. He had changed into a formal suit and a silk strip of fabric covered his bad eye.

Valentine swooped around and faced Deimos. “And what do
you
want?” she snapped.

“Stop this at once. It’s disgraceful,” Deimos growled, looking down his nose at Valentine. “Get to the balcony. Lord Nestor is waiting for you, and for Heaven’s sake I hope you act a shade more distinguished in his presence.”

Valentine smirked at him, took a puff of her cigarette and blew the scented smoke out her nostrils before leaving, her hips swinging.

Deimos took a seat beside Annette, studying her with expressionless eyes. “Now, I’m not sure if you’re entirely aware of what exactly we need you to do for us tonight, so I thought I’d make it clear beforehand. As I’m sure you’ve come to understand, it is the final night of the Goblin Carnival. Thousands of goblins are gathered to witness the king’s annual speech, which will be occurring in about thirty minutes. Understand so far?”

Annette chose not to dignify him with a response.

“Now, your job will be simple. All you must do is put on the vocal magnifying ring here―” Deimos showed her a glittering ring, and Annette recognized it as the same type she used for her stage performances. The shadow of the life she had known and loved in the face of her awful demise was enough to send fresh tears spilling onto her face. Unaffected, Deimos continued, “You will command everyone in the audience to tell us their full names. Lord Nestor would normally, of course, do this for himself―but he is conserving what little strength he has for the removal and reassignment of your tongue. Will you comply or will we have to use force? A simple shake or nod will do,” Deimos assured, cocking his head to the side. “Please remember that your fate lies in our hands. A quick and easy death would be something you should begin to hope for―take my word for it, you do not want to test this.”