The Gates of Night

CHAPTER 23

Adrenaline surged through Daine’s body. He was still battered and bloody from the battle with the thorns, and while Lei was his greatest concern, Pierce and Xu’sasar were still on the other side of the gate. He’d hoped for a moment of peace, yet a new threat awaited them. Dropping into a crouch, he lowered Lei to the ground as gently as he could. As soon as he’d released her, Daine drew his sword and turned to face the speaker.

“Please, no need for that.” The stranger was leaning against the gate. On this side, the arch was formed of polished mahogany inlaid with gold sigils that gleamed in the light of the setting sun. The archway was empty, and Daine could look through to see waves of grass and wildflowers rippling in the meadow on the other side. No sign of the realm of Night. Pierce! Daine thought.

The stranger was human, on the edge between man and boy. Wavy golden hair fell to his shoulders, and his flawless skin was slightly tanned. His clothes were black velvet and orange silk. A fine sword hung from his baldric, and he wore an amulet depicting a golden sun setting behind a mountain. He was a prince pulled from a storybook, an ideal image of charm and grace. His voice was just one more piece of perfection, melodic while still firm and masculine. “I assure you, Daine, I mean you no harm.”

Before Daine could respond, Xu’sasar appeared in the gate, rippling into existence in the blink of an eye. Blood and sap covered the drow girl. She vaulted up and over Daine, turning in mid-air to face the stranger, but she landed on her injured leg and almost fell. An instant later a thorn came through the gate-and not under its own power. The green man flew backward and struck the ground hard, and Pierce appeared behind him. The warforged held Daine’s dagger in one hand and the darkwood staff in the other, and like Xu’sasar he was covered with sap and torn foliage.

“Well, that’s everyone then,” the stranger said. Xu’sasar spun her gory chain and Pierce leveled his dagger at the portal, but the young man raised his hands disarmingly. “Please, warriors. You’re safe now. You’re under the protection of my queen, and no mere thorn would challenge her power.”

Daine kept his sword steady. “And what does she want with us?”

“I am only an envoy, Master Daine, but I assure you that my mistress means you no harm. Please. Let me to take you to her home, where your wounds will be tended and all questions answered.” Concern colored his voice, but Daine wasn’t fooled. There was something about this boy … he was too perfect, too charming.

“And what do you get in exchange? My voice? My heart? My-”

“My mistress only wishes to help you. She has watched you for some time, Daine with no family name.”

“And you expect-” Daine paused. “What did you just call me?”

“The words of my mistress, Master Daine. I’m certain that she will explain.”

“Do … do it.” Lei had raised herself up on one arm. Her face was pale, her eyes unfocused, but her voice was steady. “The Queen of … Dusk.”

“Well,” Daine said, helping Lei to her feet, “show us the way.”

As bruised and battle-worn as Daine was, he found his spirits rising as they followed the young man. It must be the sun, he concluded. Beyond the gloomy nature of the environment-the bleak moor studded with faces, and the dark forest with its serpents and its thorns-the realms of night were cold and empty. Not so the twilight land. A vast meadow stretched across rolling hills. Wildflowers filled fields with color and unleashed a symphony of scents into the air. The sky was a tapestry of light, clouds painted brilliant rose and orange by the setting sun. Bright birds sang songs of the evening, fluttering among scattered trees. Despite the beauty, Daine couldn’t help but wonder how many of the birds could talk.

Other things were troubling Daine, and with no enemy in sight, he turned his attention to the events in the ring. “What happened back there? Pierce, how did you get free?”

“I have no explanation,” Pierce said. “My own strength was insufficient to the task, but as I strained against my bonds I felt a rush of strength, power that remained with me throughout the battle.”

“Could this be the work of your little friend?”

“No, captain. Shira identified it as an augmentation of my abilities, clearly derived from an exterior source, but she cannot identify that source.”

Daine didn’t like mysteries. “Lei, can you explain this?”

“Hmm?” Lei had recovered from the thorn venom, and reclaimed her staff from Pierce. Her eyes were distant, focused on the horizon.

“Pierce. Aren’t you worried? And what did you do back there? Did you kill that man?”

Lei shook away the cobwebs. “No … no. He’s not dead. He’s trapped in that tree. Powerless, at least for the moment. That’s what Darkheart wanted.”

“Your staff. That’s what it wanted. So now we’re doing the bidding of a piece of wood?”

“She saved us, Daine.”

“We wouldn’t have been in danger if we’d just given it to the Huntsman!”

Lei’s eyes flashed, and she backed away from Daine. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. She gave everything she had left to open that gate. We wouldn’t be here without Darkheart.”

“She speaks the truth, Master Daine.” It was the first time the guide had spoken since they had left the arch. He was looking back over his shoulder, and now Daine saw that the youth’s eyes were multicolored … rose and orange, just like the sky above.

“Who are you?” Lei said to their guide.

“Call me Kin,” the young man said with a brilliant smile. “I run errands for her majesty.” Ahead of them, a fox peered up out of the grass and then disappeared again; in the brief moment, its fur looked like fire. “Let me assure you once more, your troubles in this realm are at an end. You need fear no treachery in my lady’s house. I swear it by twelve and one.”

Daine glanced at Lei. “You’re the expert here, Lei. Do we get to eat the bread?” Despite his misgivings, he realized that he was starving. In the chaos of the forest, Lei had never found time to make her promised gruel.

“I’ll want to hear our hostess swear to our safety,” Lei said. “And this time, I’ll be listening for tricks. From what I’ve heard, this queen is no stranger to subterfuge. But vows have power in this place.”

“Then I think you’d better do the talking,” Daine said. “Now, about Pierce-”

“Please, my companions, stay your speech,” Kin said, interrupting.

They crested a hill, and the guide swept his arm to encompass the valley below. The rays of the setting sun played on the waters of a small lake, and a castle rose up from the center of the water, with no path or bridge. It was a beautiful thing, with walls of deep green marble topped with spires of rose and gold. As Daine looked down on the castle, a stream of color emerged from the tallest tower-a host of brilliant butterflies that flew overhead and dispersed into the skies.

“Our journey is over,” Kin said. “Thelania awaits.”

“You must address the queen as her majesty, unless she gives you permission to do otherwise.”

“This isn’t the first time I’ve met a queen, boy.” In truth, Daine had met the young queen of Cyre only once and hadn’t been allowed to speak on that occasion, but he was confident in his ability to handle the situation.

“Perhaps, so, Master Daine. But your companions …”

“Good point. Xu’sasar, don’t say anything. Starting now.”

“You know nothing of the spirits,” the drow girl said. “I-”

“You’ll keep quiet unless I say otherwise, and that’s an order.”

Truth be told, Daine was beginning to warm to the dark elf. Despite her strange habits and unpredictable behavior, there was no faulting her courage. She’d put her life on the line time and again since their arrival in Xen’drik, and she hadn’t hesitated to engage the thorns when Daine needed time to get through the gate. Even now, covered with blood and sap and limping from a leg wound, she refused to acknowledge her pain. He could have used a few like her in Cyre.

“-bath,” Kin was saying.

“What?”

“You cannot see the Queen of Dusk and Shadow in your current state. Upon our arrival, you will be bathed and your wounds tended. Then you will be conducted to the feasting hall.”

Daine looked to Lei.

“And do you give your word that no harm will come to us within these walls, at your hands or any other?” Lei said. “Do you swear that you know of no plots against us?”

“The queen keeps her own council,” Kin replied, “and I cannot promise things beyond my power. But I swear by moon and blood, if any within the castle intend to do you harm I have no knowledge of it. And whatever it is that her majesty wants with you, she is a gracious host. Abide by the laws of hospitality, and she will do the same. If you face danger, it will be beyond the castle walls.”

“Very well.” Lei looked at Daine. “That’s good enough for me.”

They were approaching the shore of the lake. A golden portcullis faced them across the water, but Daine still couldn’t see any signs of a bridge. However, two creatures waited for them by the shore. Horses. A beautiful white destrier with a golden mane and a sleek black stallion with silver. And horns. Each horse had a single horn rising from his forehead. The horn of the white horse was brilliant gold, while the horse with the stars on his back had a horn that glowed like the moon. While Daine had heard of unicorns, he’d never seen one, and he was impressed by the aura of majesty that surrounded these creatures.

“Hail, traveler,” called out the white unicorn, in a voice like a lion’s roar.

“You are expected,” said the black unicorn, its words like velvet wind. “Let the way be opened.”

The unicorns turned and touched their horns to the water. There was motion in the lake, a bar of water rippling from the shore to the castle, and then a pathway rose to the surface, a span of iridescent stone that gleamed in the twilight.

The unicorns stepped back. “Go, honored guests. Destiny awaits.”

Daine glanced at his companions. Pierce was as impassive as always, and Xu’sasar seemed just as calm; of course, having lived all her life in Xen’drik, perhaps this sort of thing was an everyday occurrence for her. Then he looked at Lei, and her smile was brighter than the sun itself. He offered her his arm. “Shall we cross, my lady?”

“Of course, Lord Daine,” Lei said, twining her arm in his. “We shouldn’t keep the queen waiting.”

“There’s something I need to tell you,” Lei said. She took a deep breath, savoring the sweet steam that filled the air. “I’m never leaving this bath.”

Daine sympathized. He hadn’t seen such luxury since his days working for Alina Lorridan Lyrris. The last hour was a blur. He remembered a pair of nymphs massaging his sore muscles and rubbing cool salve into his wounds; this ointment had magically wiped away his injuries, and he felt truly healthy for the first time in weeks. He could still feel the warped dragonmark across his back, but even that felt more like the presence of a warming fire than the aggravating itch that had tormented him before. What does it do? he wondered. Even he knew that the size of a dragonmark reflected its power. He closed his eyes, sinking into the water and concentrating on that sensation of heat. He tried to remember everything he’d heard about controlling dragonmarks. He tried to trace the pattern with his thoughts, following the sensation on his skin.

Nothing.

“I offer my apologies.”

“What’s that, Xu?” Daine opened his eyes-and snapped them shut again. Xu’sasar had moved next to him. Both Lei and Daine had found a few scraps of cloth to preserve their modesty in the water, but it seemed that Xu’sasar’s people had little use for modesty. Considering how little she wore in battle, it was hardly surprising that she would shed it all to bathe. Taking a deep breath, Daine opened his eyes again, carefully looking straight ahead. “There’s no need.”

“When you took me from my death, I thought you a fool, and weak,” Xu’sasar said. Even looking away, Daine could see her reflection in the water, her pale eyes and silver hair shining in the faint light that permeated the room. “Yet I have learned that it was not my time to die, and I have watched you in battle. You fight bravely and well, and you risk your lives for others, even making a fool’s bargain to buy us shelter. I still do not know your ways, and I am sorry for the difficulty that I have caused, but you have my gratitude.”

“Yes,” Daine said. He glanced over at Lei, praying for an interruption, but her eyes were closed in blissful enoyment of the bath. “Well, don’t worry. We’ll find a way to return you to your people.”

“My people?” Xu’sasar always spoke swiftly, mimicking her fluid native tongue. But now her words caught in her throat. “My people are dead. I am the last of my family, and the burning jungle is no home to me. You heard the voice of Vulkoor. My path lies with you. You are my people now, and I will follow you until death takes us both.”

She leaned against his arm, resting her head against his shoulder. Daine could hear the sorrow and loneliness in her voice, and he couldn’t bring himself to push her away.

“Honored guests, your presence is requested!”

At the sound of Kin’s voice, Lei’s eyes snapped open-and widened as she saw the drow girl leaning on Daine’s shoulder. Daine leapt to his feet, sending Xu’sasar tumbling into the water. He felt Lei’s icy glare as he helped Xu’sasar up. He turned to give Lei a hand, but she had already climbed out of the pool.

“We took the liberty of cleaning and mending your clothes and armor,” Kin said. “Have no fear, Master Daine, for your companion Pierce maintained the vigil of a hawk throughout our work, and you will find your goods intact. You will also find gifts from her majesty. I will leave you to decide what would be most suitable to wear to the feast.”

“How kind of you,” Daine said. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned over our long night, it’s not to trust strangers with gifts.”

Then he saw the gifts.

“Lei?” he said, looking down at the marble table. “Can we keep them?”

Two items had been set next to Daine’s clothes. The first was a coat of mithral chainmail painted in black enamel. Despite the density of the chain links, the shirt was almost weightless, one of the finest pieces of smithwork he’d seen. The second gift was a hooded cloak of shifting black glamerweave, clasped with a dragonshard brooch.

“The magic in these items is benign,” Pierce said. The warforged had been waiting for them in the antechamber, and Daine couldn’t remember ever seeing Pierce in such good condition. All signs of damage had been repaired, his metal plates polished.

“I have had time to study these objects while you cleansed yourselves,” Pierce continued. “The armor is mystically reinforced, the mithral strengthened by magic. The cloak will help you move unseen in conditions of darkness. The locket presented to Xu’sasar toughens the skin, giving it strength to resist physical blows. And Lady Lei, those lenses-”

“I know what they are,” Lei said. She was holding an unusual pair of goggles, with an assortment of adjustable lenses bound to leather straps. Her voice was quiet, and she seemed slightly pale.

“Lei?” Daine said, taking a step toward her. She stopped him with a raised hand.

“Get dressed,” she said quietly. “If Pierce says these things are safe, I’m sure they must be. Now let’s find out what the Dusk Queen serves for dinner.”