I finally figured out how to italicize stuff! Yippee! Okay story time..
Despite a desperate search, we couldn't find Keegan. We backtracked to camp only to find Ezrin feeding the Lurker a bone from the remains of the spit. He waved at us, prompting us to run away and go back to the chessboard where we were safe.
We should forget about finding Keeg and focus on finding the others, Angel said as we took a break, sat down and ate some leftover meat from last night.
"But if we don't find everyone, then we all lose." I exclaimed. How could she even think about leaving her own brother behind?!
"You already found Keegan" Damon retorted.
Right, plus our mother is with him, Angel added. He's as safe as can be!
"How do we know it really was Ariel that was with you?" I demanded slamming my fists to the ground, "Ezrin, the white hair dude, pretended to her once."
Angel sighed. The story she told… she said before I interrupted.
"He told one too. Something about Queen Hel or something is forbidden to take her so she sticks around here."
Before I could blink, Angel's hands were griping my arms and her face was alight.
Momma, the woman I was with, said the same! Angel exclaimed. Her story! She released me and jumped to her feet beginning to pace. After a moment or two of watching her agitated movements, Damon had enough.
"So sit down and tell us, love." he told her with an exasperated smile.
She immediately slid into Damon's lap and related the story.
Once upon a time, there lived a sweet and kind girl. She was so sweet and kind that everyone loved her, even the bogeymen that lived in a world of darkness.
One day the girl had an accident and she died but the Queen of the underworld, Hella, would not take her to the underworld. Her elders banned Hella to never allow the girl through the gates of the underworld or to ever return her to the land of the living.
So for company, the girl dances with bogeymen and slumbers in darkness. The End.
"Wow." I said.
Momma is the girl in the story, she was talking about herself! Angel exclaimed.
"So Ezrin is messing with us like Keegan used to mess with Maddy." Damon said.
"He raised Keegan." I said as Angel shrugged. "He probably taught Keegan those tricks."
We traveled through the maze heading toward the last direction we saw the wisps go. Hopefully it led to the Queen's castle. Sometime later when we heard harsh bellows of "Off with his head." And we knew we were on the right track.
The Queen of Heart's castle was a cross between the Sultan's castle from Disney's Aladdin and a true medieval keep. On top of twin towers were two flags of red. Holding up the flags, was a flame looking structure that served no purpose but as decoration. About eight feet below the gold edifice were windows: one with a rose curtain, the other with a sky blue curtain.
The walls of the castle were a slate gray rising tall into the afternoon sky, rising even above the trees surrounding it. Leading up to the solitary gateway and under the bronze portcullis was a rug of the darkest crimson.
"The wisps said they were going here, so where are they?" Damon asked.
I agree something about this place is creepy, Angel replied gazing at the castle.
"Seems to invite, don't it?" I said with a nervous giggle as Damon slowly placed a foot onto the carpet.
Suddenly the end of the carpet wrapped around Damon's leg, jerked him off his feet and began dragging him toward the gate.
Damon! Angel cried as be both gave chase.
I heard insane laughter coming from the rose window as Angel and I raced by and barely made it through the portcullis before it slammed down behind me.
Inside the gates, the carpet led up down the great torch lit halls and into the throne room, straight to the Queen of Hearts herself.
I stopped suddenly at the things before me. Cards with hands and armed with heart-shaped spears scrambled around doing the Queen's bidding, one of which was putting Damon in a cage and hoisting it up in front of the Queen. Angel crouched ready to lash out at anything that came at her or me. Julian sitting in the cage next to Damon. Then finally to the Queen herself.
Her eyes were a beautiful lavender. Her violet hair was pulled back in a ponytail that went down to her waist leaving only two wisps free. Her skin was a flawless ivory color that stood in contrast to the black choker around her neck.
Her dress was the most interesting thing. Speaking from a fashion point of view, the lady had class. The dress began with a black scoop neckline that revealed her well-endowed chest. Straight down the middle of the dress ending at a point at her thin waist was a lacy panel that exposed a short red slip that followed the path of the dress. The dress and slip fit skintight until splitting down the sides showing off long graceful legs and strange tattoos. On her feet was a simple pair of high heels that strapped at her dainty ankles.
"Welcome to my castle, ladies." The Queen of Hearts greeted from her throne as she absently examined her long and quite deadly looking red nails. She looked up from her nails and scowled at Angel.
"You!" she hissed as she rose to her feet. In the corner of my eye, I saw the cards begin creeping up on us.
"Angel, the cards!" Damon and Julian said almost as one.
Just as Angel and I spun to meet our enemy, the Queen began to laugh and the cards along with the rest of the room looked back at the monarch.
"Angela!" The queen said with a laugh. "Here I thought that Ariel Taliesin had came to challenge me and it's her child that graces my kingdom."
The Queen's gaze locked with mine and I could see something akin to jealousy in her eyes. As if, it were she who should be wearing Ariel's dress and not the exotic one she wore.
"Introduce yourself, child." She told me quietly sitting back down in her throne.
"Piper Riley, Your Highness." I said with a curtsy.
The Queen smiled like she was the cat that ate the canary. "You are the prize who I have heard so much about from the dark elves."
You're not one of them? Angel asked with a frown.
"Of course she isn't." Julian replied. "She's a dark fae, a distant cousin of my kind."
"And let me guess." I said wryly to the Queen, "All of your kind is female."
The Queen smiled demurely and nodded.
"So is Damon and Julian part of some harem you got going?" I asked before even stopping to think. "If they are, I got to say you got great tastes!"
Angel elbowed me roughly, Damon is mine Miss Dumb blond and Julian is your best friend's guy. Have at least some decency to remember that.
"So possessive all of a sudden." Damon said to Angel with a brief smile
Angel snorted and crossed her arms in front of her causing the Queen to laugh.
"Here I was going to keep the two gentlemen as part of my collection but now I've gotten a better idea." She said. "We shall play a Game, Taliesin, for the fate of your vampire and his friend."
"Hey!" Julian shouted, "We're not friends, we're drinking buddies. There's a difference."
"Whatever." The Queen replied with a roll of her eyes and returned her attention back to Angel. "You solve one riddle for Julian and win a match against me for your vampire love."
I placed a hand on Angel's shoulder before she could do anything rash.
"This is the female equivalent to a Shadow Man, think about everything before you respond." I said quietly.
You're one to talk, Piper. Angel muttered softening the jab with a smile. But thanks for the advice.
She turned to the Queen, careful to keep an eye on the guys the Queen the guards and me.
Let's do it.
"Here's the riddle, what is it that Julian fears more than anything else?" The Queen asked with a smile.
My first instinct says to answer her with losing Maddy but that's too easy. Angel said directly inside my mind and to no one else. What do think, oh blond one?
I tried examining the riddle like Maddy might have to explain it to me. Julian's relationship was based on that Madelyn summoned him to be her protector. It was known that if a jinn's summoner died, then the jinn died also. And who wanted to die?
But Julian can't die, something inside me whispered, to die you must be born – something that Julian wasn't.
So what happened, I asked myself and suddenly it hit me.
Julian's fear is the nothingness that he became when the Shadow Men unmade him, I told Angel. He fears that!
Julian fears the void.
The Queen smiled, "You would be correct, Angela dear but I clearly told you to solve the riddle. Not Piper!" She rose to her feet and her smile grew dark. "And since you have broken my rules you shall pay but being unmade!"
Her laughter was wild as suddenly I felt as if a bolt of lightning struck me. My body became chilled and my vision cloudy. I saw through the glaze, Julian, Damon and Angel all collapsing and then there was nothing.
Unlike the fog I faced before, I had no awareness of myself. There was no me, or I. Just a black emptiness. It was like being severely depressed, the weight of a world crushing you only to find yourself not bound by anything but you.
It was strange to be –nothing. To be everywhere but nowhere at once. The only experience that I –Piper had ever experienced like it was the night I nearly died.
Suddenly I found myself enveloped by a beautiful light. I –yes, I was warm and safe. I was happy and free and I could see everyone was inside this powerful light. I could see that they too felt its security.
When I opened my eyes I found a pair of blood red ones looking down upon me. I screamed startling everyone else into wakefulness where they lay just outside the Queen's castle.
"What's going on?" Julian demanded as Angel, him and Damon charged over to where I sat in front of Ezrin.
"Him!" I shrieked scooting back fearfully.
"Would you rather I wear this?" Ezrin asked and placed a black and white Chinese mask over his face.
Hey wait a minute, you look like Larva from Vampire Princess Miyu, Angel snapped as Ezrin slipped the mask off.
The Shadow Man laughed, "I was wondering when someone would catch my little joke."
Before anymore pandemonium could ensue, Julian shrilly whistled catching everyone's attention. "First of all, what are you doing here Ezrin?"
"Playing with the boy's toy, Piper. Her and her friends are too funny."
Julian turned to Angel, "What is Vampire Princess Miyu?"
It's a show about a girl sort of like me. Except she's a whole vampire, sends the vamps back to this dimension and hangs with a guy who looks exactly like that dude. She replied pointing at Ezrin.
Julian turned back to the other Shadow Man, "Why are you dressed up like that? You don't have that white of skin or those black marks on your hands."
I looked at Ezrin's hands finally noticing black circles on his knuckles and lines running along his hand bones.
"I liked this form, little brother." The Shadow Man replied. "It was amusing to me, like you found using the name Julian with that Jenny girl."
"Fine. Look like whatever you want." Julian told him and after a brief silence asked. "Do you know what that light was?"
Ezrin smiled, revealing sharp fangs, "That was the light that Raziel wishes to squelch inside Piper."
That was me?
"That was Piper?" Damon asked looking just as shocked as everyone.
Ezrin nodded, "Correct, Signor Salvatore. Piper possesses the same light inside her as Lady Ariel did. Pretty wasn't it?"
Julian's jaw dropped along with Damon's and Angel's.
"What?" Julian said at the same time as Angel asked, My mother had this light too?
"The light is the physical manifestation of the goodness inside a person. Lady Ariel was loved by all because of the goodness inside her. She loved everyone, no matter how good or evil they were." Ezrin explained.
"You can say that again." Julian said with almost a dreamy sigh.
"Now you are a fun one." Ezrin told me with a sinister chuckle, "You hold a balance of light and dark. Happiness and sorrow. You can be like Lady Ariel and not even flinch at the greatest of the world's evil."
Or you can be consumed by it, was left unspoken.