“Morgan Gallach,” I said.
A moment whispered by as I waited for a response. It didn’t take long, thank the moon. Morgan’s familiar face appeared on the surface of the stone, concern pinching her brows. Over her shoulder, the red-and-orange walls of Oberon’s castle gleamed.
“What’s wrong, Captain?” she whispered.
Morgan lived right under Oberon’s nose, and she often spent time directly in his presence as one of his most trusted guards. Often, she wasn’t able to carry a communication stone with her, just in case he or someone who was loyal to him was nearby. An emergency like this changed everything, though.
“Oberon found Tessa stealing some gemstones. Have you heard anything about that?”
She frowned. “Not a thing. Are you certain?”
“She wasn’t lying.” I rubbed my jaw, remembering the look on her face when she’d told me about the encounter with her king. I thought about those haunted eyes, the slight trembling of her hands. She was scared, even if she didn’t want to admit it. “And she hates Oberon as much as we do.”
Morgan pursed her lips but didn’t say a word. I could tell she had something on her mind, though.
“Out with it, Morgan,” I said.
“You know what I’m going to say. Are you certain she didn’t find a way to twist the truth? Maybe she found out the real reason you want those gemstones.”
I draped an arm across my knee, still kneeling before the flames. “No one knows the truth except for you, me, and the rest of the rebels. I’m assuming you didn’t tell her.”
“I’ve never even met the poor girl.”
“Well, it might be time for that to change,” I said. “If Oberon plans to hurt her, you need to find out. Intervene, if you can.”
Morgan scoffed. “You and I both know there’s nothing I can do to stop Oberon from enacting his punishments. If I could, I would have stepped in a long time ago.”
“Just do what you can.” The stone went glossy, signaling the impending end to the magic that powered the stone. “Keep an eye on things and let me know if anything happens. In the meantime, I’m going to try to convince her to get out of there. I’m in Endir now. Close enough that if she flees, I can help her after she crosses the bridge.”
“Are you certain you want to do that? She’ll find out the truth.”
“It might be the only way to keep her alive.”
She nodded. “Listen, if you want me to get closer to Oberon, I will, but I won’t be able to carry these stones with me when he’s around. Otherwise, he’ll find out we—”
The image of Morgan wavered and then vanished into smoke just as the gemstone cracked. The magic had run out, the conversation was done, and yet it felt like I’d gotten nowhere. With a frustrated sigh, I pulled the stone from the flames and dropped it into a basket with some others. The magic it had contained was gone now, so I could no longer use it for messages, but the seamstresses liked to sew the dead gems into gowns.
A knock sounded on my door. Leaving my thoughts beside the fire, I crossed the room to see who else was awake this time of night. Toryn leaned against the doorframe, a bottle of red in one hand and two chalices in the other. He was my oldest friend, a warrior with a buzz cut and an easy smile. He’d been by my side the past four hundred years, and he always knew when something was wrong.
“I knew you’d be awake.” He held up the bottle. “Thought you might want a drink, seeing as we didn’t get any new gemstones tonight.”
I held the door wider and he sauntered inside. “Oberon caught Tessa.”
Toryn stiffened and then took a swill of the wine straight from the bottle. “Well, fuck.”
“Fuck is right.” I gladly took the offered bottle and swigged. The sweet liquid coated my tongue, though it was strong enough to burn as it went down. “I don’t know what he’s going to do to her, Toryn. You know how he is. He’ll chop her head off if it suits him.”
Toryn held out a hand and I passed him the bottle. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know.” I shoved a hand into my hair and paced. There was little I could do. “Morgan is going to keep an eye on things, but Oberon keeps her on a tight leash.”
“I hate that we can’t cross that damn bridge and do something.”
We’d tried many times, but it was as if a wall stood in our way, wrapping all the way around the Kingdom of Light. It was the power of those gemstones. They contained Oberon’s magic, and he’d somehow used them to make certain that no fae could leave or enter his domain. There was only one way we could get to him. We planned to steal every gemstone in that chasm and then destroy them. It would break down that invisible wall protecting his realm.
The mists would swarm into the Kingdom of Light, and so would we.
Five