Agreed, she snarled. But Mercedes is the last to be freed and your grandson first.
Samuel said, Phin, Jesse, Gabriel, Ariana, me, and Mercedes, then.
Phin, Ariana, then the rest followed at the end by Mercedes, counteroffered the queen.
I saw what she was doing. By putting Ariana and Phin at the beginning, she thought she was reducing Arianas motivation even as the bargain became harder and harder to keep.
Samuel shook his head. Phin, Jesse, Gabriel, Ariana, me, and Mercedes.
I am getting bored, said the queen. Agreed. The bargain is struck.
Ariana gave Samuel a narrow-eyed lookI think it was because he put her before him. But I agreed with him. Get the helpless ones out first, then those who could best protect themselves. That meant Ariana before Samuel.
The bargain is accepted, agreed Ariana, and she stepped forward, embracing the flaming fae. As soon as she touched him, her hair burst into flame as did her clothing, and what was not burnable dropped to the ground, including the stone Zee had given her to hold. Its steady light was almost unnoticeable against the flames as the rest of Ariana smoldered a moment before lighting up as well.
She holds earth, air, fire, and water, Samuel told me. If I hadnt known him as well as I did, I might have thought he was disinterested. It is what made her able to do great magic after most of Underhill was out of reach. Magic fire will do her no harm.
The queen was speaking to the witch. After she was finished talking, the witch stood up, a steel knife in her hand. She gathered up her chains and moved to the farthest extent, which left her just able to reach the forest lord. She plunged the knife into the tree-like creature, and it bellowed, shook, and bled amber fluid onto the knife. The floor moved under my feet and the ceiling roots contracted and wiggled.
Samuel put a hand under my elbow to steady meso I knew the blood had worked. He could see through the glamour to the reality of what we dealt with.
The witch licked the knife and dipped a finger into the cut shed made in the trapped fae. She used that finger to draw symbols that hung in the air where shed put them, and glowed a sickly yellow. She pulled up her shirt to expose the skin of her belly, then she reached into the air and grabbed the symbols and slapped them onto her bare skin. When she was finished, she walked back to the throne, sat down, and finished cleaning the blade with her tongue. She caught me watching her and smiled.
Maybe she didnt know about the glamour, or maybe she thought I was afraid of cats. One thing was for sure: she knew that I was scared of her. I wished I knew what she had done.
Whatever it was, it was unlikely to be helpful to us. And we needed help. Three minutes times six is eighteenand Zee had already been holding the entrance open for a while. Adding eighteen minutes was going to push him well beyond the hour hed promised. The fairy queen wouldnt need Zees opening to allow them to leavebut if it was still open, then they would walk out on the same day theyd entered.
The time was up at last, and the fae Ariana held turned to ice. Three minutes is a long time to hold on to a giant ice cube. I couldnt understand why Ariana continued to hug him close instead of holding him more loosely so not as much of her was against him. Especially as all of her clothes had burned away and she was naked, with nothing between her and the ice.
Flesh to flesh, remember, said the fairy queen in such a grumpy tone that I knew shed hoped Ariana would back off.
I heard some murmurs from the fae around us, remarking upon Arianas scars. How ugly they were, how shameful. I thought they might be commenting on purpose, as some subterfuge of the fairy queen, but if so, their taunts seemed to have no effect I could see on Ariana.
Three minutes was up, and Jesse was safeand the fae Ariana was holding turned into smoke. She seemed to have been prepared for it, though, because as the ends of him started to dissolve, she reached out and snagged the cloak of the fae who was nearest her. She wrapped the cloak around herself and the fae, then touched the cloak with her cold hand, and a layer of ice covered it, trapping the smoke in the frozen cloth.
Surreptitiously, I glanced around at the fae who were in the room with us. There had been a few in the hall when wed gotten here, but the others had entered more purposefully afterward, as if shed summoned them all. I counted twenty-eight, not including the forest lord, who, I suspected, couldnt be numbered among her followers.
I looked at their faces, and they seemed to be less . . . blank than the thralls, but I didnt think that they were free agents either. Maybe it was the way all twenty-eight stared hungrily at the queen, as if they were waiting for any task, any orderanything at all that they could do for their true love whom they worshipped. Ive been around the fae. Ive seldom seen any three of them see eye to eye on anything, let alone twenty-eight.
Look at the scars her father gave her, said one.
How could she live through thatit looks as though shes been mauled by beasts.
Dont you know the story? said a third. They all looked at Ariana, instead of the fairy queen, as the third one continued. Her father called his beasts to torture her every morning for three years.
Arianas mouth tightened as she remembered, too. And then that three minutes was up as wellshed won freedom for Gabriel.
The fae under the cloak began to grow, and Ariana let the cloth fall to the ground. At first I couldnt figure out the challenge. The creature had changed into another fae, a large male with almost human features. His skin was the color and texture of a silver birch, some places smooth and white and others rough and dark gray or black. His hair looked like shredded bark and hung around his face. He wasnt ugly or horriblebut then Ariana started to shake.
Beside me, Samuel stiffened, a low growl beginning in his throat.
Hello, daughter mine, the fae-man with bark skin said. After that, he switched to Welsh; the accent was so obscure I couldnt tell what he said. He raised his right armand I saw that it had no hand on the end of itand petted her hair with it.
Arianas father had been a forest lord, but evidently not the same kind of forest lord as the one the fairy queen held, because he looked quite a bit different.
The fairy queen had been using her people to weaken Ariana for this moment, to remind her of what had been done to her by this man. But she had underestimated Ariana if she thought Ariana was going to lose this easily. Her arms tightened on the man and pulled him next to her.
Samuels Welsh I could understand: he wasnt talking over the phone, he was speaking slowly, and what he said was pretty simple. He cant call his hounds, Ari, my love. Dont worry. They are dead and gone. I made sure of it. Hes not real, not real. She doesnt have that kind of power. My da, he killed yours. I killed the hounds, and they are not coming back.
Patiently, he kept up the refrain, giving her something to listen to other than the fae, who evidently wore the face and form of her abusive father.
I was watching the face of the witch, and I wasnt as certain as Samuel that her father wasnt real. Witches can do some very scary things. The first three things the fae turned intofire, ice, and smokethose all smelled of fae magic to me. This oneother than the scent he bore, which was his ownthis one reeked of black magic, witchs magicand witches could call back the dead.
For three minutes, Ariana held the man who had been willing to torture her until she was mindless. At the end of the three minutes, she could have let go and walked out of the Elphame, leaving Samuel and me to stand prisoner. She was tougher than that. So when her father turned into a snarling werewolf that bore more than a passing resemblance to Samuel, she went to her knees so she could pull him close and staredat Samuel. Her eyes grew black, and her face went blank, but she held on, mouthing one word over and overSamuels name.
Samuel went to his knees, too, his eyes white and wild.
Not here, I told him, and it was my turn to talk. You cannot change here, Samuel. You have to get her, Phin, and the kids out of here. You have toshes not going to be in any shape to do anything. Hold on.
She wasnt going to be able to free me: first her father, then werewolf, and I could take a pretty good guess at what the final shape would be because the fairy queen had no intention of letting me go.
She who had been Daphne thought I was the proper owner of the Silver Borne. She thought that when she released Gabriel, our bargain about my safety would be over. Evidently, I wasnt human enough to benefit from the guesting laws that prevented a fairy queen from killing the humans who came into her realm. She could kill me and get the book.
Shed have been right had it not been for one thing. I didnt own the Silver Borne; Phin did. When she killed me, all shed get was a boatful of troubleand Id do my best to convince her of that once the others were free. All Id have to do would be hold out until Adam came to get me.
Of course, if Ariana managed to hold on to the last shape the fae took, it would make my life a lot easier.
For three minutes, Ariana held on to the werewolfand then it changed. The hound looked a little like a giant beagle: white with brown spots, rounded ears that hung on either side of its face, but there was no sign of the friendly expression that most beagles live and die with.
Ariana looked at the hound she held, her arms wrapped around its throat and her legs tucked almost under its body. For a moment, nothing happened and, despite myself, I felt a great leap of hope. I didnt want to be left alone with the fairy queen, who wanted to kill me.
Then Ariana rolled away from the hound, who must have looked like one of the hounds her father had tortured her with, and curled into a fetal position, her mouth open and screaming, but the sounds locked in by terror. Samuel picked her up and crooned to her. Not saying anything, just giving her his voice. He hadnt forgotten who the enemy was, though. His eyes were on the fairy queen.
Five, said the fairy queen, sounding moderately grumpy. I thought I might get to keep you, werewolf, too, but she was stronger than I thought.
Samuel snarled at her.
I noticed that Zees rock, lying on the ground under the belly of the hound, who was focused on Ariana, was flickering.
Samuel, I told him urgently. Zee will be waiting. Get the kids and Phin, too Especially Phin. Any fae willing to use a black witch and allow her to torture another being was not someone I wanted to give more power to. We needed to get Phin out of here and safe so the Silver Borne was out of her reach. Take them and get out of here.
Cant you help me up? Phin asked Gabriel. He knew what we needed.
There was a momentary pause, but when the queen didnt interfere with Phins request, Gabriel helped him to his feet.
You, said the queen, pointing to the fae nearest to her. You take them to Outside and let them leave. Youll have to carry the human man. She looked at Jesse, then glanced at Gabriel. Go, children, and when you are outside my Elphame, be thou as thou wert.
The fae shed pointed to bowed deeply and picked Phin up with the same ease that Ariana had displayed. Not all fae are so strong. Silently, Jesse and Gabriel followed him when he started out the door.
Samuel stopped and kissed my cheek, still holding Ariana, who was shivering in terror. Stay alive, he told me.
Planning on it, I said. I gave Ariana, who was very deep into a panic attack, a wary look. I remembered her concern when shed returned to herself last time, and so I added, You stay alive, too. Now get out while the getting is good.
Semper Fi, he said, glancing down at Zees rock. Then he hurried after the others.
So far as I knew, Samuel had never been a Marine. But hed known Id catch the reference. The Marines never leave a man behind. Hed be back, and so would Adam. All I had to do was survive.
We all waited until the fae who had escorted them out returned. He bowed to the queen, and said, They are Outside, safe and alive, my queen.
I took a deep breath, and a few seconds later Zees stone was just another gray rock among the roots in the floor of the cave. Theyd made it with almost two minutes to spare by my rough countthough probably Zee had held the opening until he saw them.
My bargain is done, the queen told me.
Fine, I said.
You will exchange the book for your life.
Nope. I shook my head. Ive considered itand decided that it is not going to happen.
There were no humans to protect anymore. Just me. Worry over what the witch might do if I freed her made me hesitate before I pulled my gunand it was one hesitation too many. I reached under my T-shirt, and two of the queens people grabbed my arms. The gun fell on the ground, and the fairy queen kicked it asidewell out of the witchs reach.
You misunderstand, she told me. I will take your life, and you will give me the book with your death.
I thought I had to own the book before that worked, I said in a puzzled voice.
The fairy queen stared at me. Did you give the book to someone before you came down here?
Not the way you mean it, I answered.
How would you mean it? she said softly.
Why would I answer that? I asked. The fairy queen gave a sharp nod, and the witch reached out and touched me.
* * *
I CAME BACK TO MYSELF LYING ON THE BED WHERE Phin had been. At least it smelled like Phin, but the room was made of roots and dirt rather than marble. I was confused for a moment, but then I woke more fully and realized that Id never seen it without the glamourjust smelled it.
My whole body hurt, though I had no additional bruises. Id held out as long as I could, to give Samuel and Adam time to make everyone safe. I didnt know if it was long enough. Id expected to be dead when it was over. But I could work with unexpected resultseven if it involved using a chamber pot. That had to be what the white porcelain vessel under the other bed was. The fairy queen had a kitchen with fridges and everything and didnt have a bathroom? I considered it a minute and decided that maybe she just didnt have a bathroom for prisoners.