“Okay…she’s brought her company, her friends, to witness,” she interpreted the rest of Cantillion’s words.
Knowing that Cantillion’s real plan was to get the Fae Queen with her guards and her people into the clearing, here, and attack, it was unbelievable to watch Cantillion standing there looking so boastful, pretending to be so friendly and upbeat. Not that he managed it all that well, in the end, as it wasn’t hard to note his shoulders slouched and he shuffled from foot to foot, as if he were struggling to find the energy to stand out there.
“It looks like the medicine is working,” I commented.
“I think so too. The fae woman must have fulfilled her promise.”
“She must have used the whole bottle,” I said with a laugh.
“Skies, I hope so. But shush, I want to hear what Cantillion and Seselineia are saying.”
I did too. They’d been quiet for a second. Now they were taking steps as if this was some kind of a fancy theatrical play. Fae traditions, I imagined.
“You’ve shown weakness,” Lyria interpreted Cantillion’s words for me in a quiet voice. “You’ve done nothing about the conflicts between humans and fae. I challenge you to respond.”
Queen Seselineia stood up, seeming agitated. Her voice sounded oddly purring but strong, resounding in the cavernous space — like a lioness holding back a roar.
“I have been busy,” Lyria interpreted her words for me. “And then, Cantillion says, you seem to have your priorities out of order.”
Queen Seselineia called up a few of her guards and they clearly arranged for something, but nothing was announced. Cantillion staggered on his feet, but regained his balance and waved a hand to the audience dismissively, like a drunk druid or singer unfit to be on stage anymore…
With that, he went back to seat and slumped down. I noted how he gripped the hand rests.
“Why isn’t he giving the men the sign?” Lyria hissed angrily from beside me. “He’s letting this go too far.”
“Look at him. He’s getting so weak.”
“He should,” Lyria spat. “But where’s our mark?”
The guards behind us raised their spears and prompted us begin to walk towards the arena. I watched Lyria closely, in my mind concentrating on my magic already.
Queen Seselineia threw away that ornamental decoration that hung around her and revealed a slim, fitted dress that seemed better suited for fighting. Her guards offered her their swords and she picked one. Then she began walking towards the arena as well.
She was taller than any woman I’d seen and waved the sword like it weighed nothing, but none of that mattered against the magic she commanded. She was the Queen of the Fae. She had not gained her position by being weak, and her strongest asset was the courazs beginning to weave lilac mists around her ankles.
Cantillion’s head tilted back. He could have been drunk or fallen fast asleep.
“Look at Cantillion,” I whispered.
Lyria kept facing forward, walking on ceremoniously, but glanced at me from the corner of her eye.
“By the stars, he’s too weak to do this,” Lyria muttered.
The queen was watching too. I couldn’t take my eyes off her horrible form, as she lowered her head, staring straight at Cantillion, and turned around to begin striding towards the row of seats.
Cantillion was still awake. He leaped up, falling off balance, but only to end up right in the Queen’s way. He took a lucky step — or a practiced one — and evaded the queen’s sword by mere inches.
The queen yelled out and began calling up her magic by heaps and heaps, and the mists rose to circle the two of them, partially hiding them from sight. In answer, Cantillion called up his own, and managed it…The lilac clouds grew into a tornado. I was torn between two reactions, relieved to see it, and at the same time, worried this would not end well.
Cantillion’s magic had once been strong enough to grant him the position at the lead of the army. He couldn’t be weak. But the medicine had to be wreaking havoc with his powers.
Yelling from behind us chilled me, hundreds of men shouting over each other, shrill battle screams, clamoring.
“Queen Seselineia broke the rules of the duel,” Lyria shouted over the noise. “She must have seen her chance, as Cantillion’s weak and everyone would see her show of power…This is a call for battle. Full on war. The laws have been broken already, now it’s only about who’s the strongest.”
A roar made me look over my shoulder. One of the dragons. It was moving among the crowd toward the clearing, as the masses of people shifted. The dragon wore a ring around one of its neck spikes, but no muzzle, no chains, no harness. The men in fae silver helmets, keeping very close to the dragon, must have been the ones who were guiding it, or maybe no-one was.
“Cantillion can start praying right about now,” Lyria said from beside me. I turned back to her. She had her dagger in her hand, and her eyes glowed like gems.
“You’re not going to…?”
“He’s had it coming for a long time.”
Chapter 32
The mist of magic was so thick it was hard to see, and by now there was more of it, all over the square, thick blankets of it up to our waists, and more lingering above. But the clouds around Cantillion and Seselineia were still thicker, and it was hard to follow what was going on. Fae warriors had gathered around them to watch over. They’d formed a circle, and none of them were stepping close.
Just as we made our way to where Cantillion and Seselineia were fighting, and I managed to wave some of the mists away so I could see, Cantillion saw us too. Namely, he was Lyria.
It only took a second. Cantillion charged with the sword.
Time stopped.
Only so many steps separated me from Lyria, but all of them too many.
Cantillion’s face was unreadable, focused and cold but at the same time, absent, aloof…the medicine must have been draining all his strength.
His magic swirled thin and scarce and fell dead against Lyria’s fierce, pure, flames, but Cantillion had his sword.
Seselineia didn’t care for us, but saw her chance again and came at Cantillion with sharp stabs of that heavy blade.
In response, Cantillion threw a line of light around Seselineia’s ankles, so that the cord wrapped around her legs —but it was too weak to hold her. She broke free and kicked the remaining wisps away onto the winds. Then she raised that giant sword once again, and the next swipe got so close to cutting Cantillion’s arm off, I winced.
Lyria glanced at me. “Together? Firebolt spells?”
Queen Seselineia was only a couple of yards away. I raised my dagger, while I concentrated on the fae words of the spell Lyria had taught me.
Lyria threw a firebolt at her, sending the lilac star of glow hurling like a tornado. I hadn’t seen that coming, she had acted so fast. The firebolt flew close but not close enough, missing its target. Queen Seselineia smiled — she was close enough now for me to see her strong, bony features, and it threw me off balance for a second — but she kept walking on.
In a disorienting eye-blink, a large fae form towered over me. I thought it was Cantillion, but instead, I realized it was Seselineia who blocked my path. I raised my dagger, already casting a spell…