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I’m glad that Halima pipes up just then.
“And so where do we come into this? My job is to protect my king?—”
“Prince,” Ruskin corrects.
“My ruler,” Halima compromises, “But this doesn’t sound like the kind of threat I can take a sword to.”
“Four heads are better than two,” I say. “I’m not willing to risk us overlooking things because I’m new to this world and Ruskin’s got too much on his plate.”
Ruskin twitches beside me, and I wonder if anyone’s ever acknowledged the weight on him like this before. I know Destan worries about it, but I doubt he’s been direct with his friend on the matter.
“Where do we start?” Halima asks. Her readiness for action is a blessing as she asks the question my mind has been turning over since Ruskin explained the curse to me.
“Cebba’s magic is causing the gold to spread,” I explain. “But I have questions about the gold itself. I’m assuming she used a specific piece of gold when she cast the spell? My understanding of fae magic is vague, but you can’t make something from nothing, right?”
Ruskin nods. “She used a ring, once belonging to my mother, actually. It’s part of a set she gifted Cebba for her hundredth birthday.”
“What would that tell you, if you had it?” Destan asks. “Can’t you just test the gold already showing up around here?”
The questions are useful, unearthing parts of the puzzle I’m trying to figure out myself.
“I’m trying to return things to the way they were, to undo this change at the root.” I pace, the movement helping me work through my thoughts. “To do that I need to know the gold’s composition before it was twisted with magic. I would need the gold itself so that I could test it. Something with Cebba’s magical signature would be useful too. Did she take everything with her when she went?”
Ruskin shakes his head. “Not at all. My banishment wasn’t something she could physically resist. She had enough time to curse me, but then my magic forced her from the court. She left everything behind.”
This is better than I could’ve hoped.
“It’s here, in the palace?”
“Her quarters are boarded up,” Destan says. “No one’s been in there for centuries.”
There’s a twinge of apprehension in his words. He can tell where I’m going with this, and it’s obvious he dislikes the idea.
Well, too bad. Needs must.
“Time for a little visit,” I say.
Halima straightens her armor, Ruskin gives a curt nod of agreement, and Destan groans, stroking his perfectly tailored outfit and whining, “Think of the dust!”
Chapter 24
Destan was right to be worried about the dust and debris. Apparently, even fae magic can’t completely stop the passage of time, and the entrance to Cebba’s quarters show the signs of its many decades of abandonment. The wood across the archway is warped and blackened in places, like there’s a creeping mold about the place, and as Ruskin drops the wards and Halima rips loose one of the boards, the smell of stale air and centuries-old must hits us.
As we move down the corridors there’s no reason for us to be quiet, but the place seems to press silence upon us. Cebba’s wing is just as grand as Ruskin’s, but its long period of emptiness has taken its toll. The plants that decorate the rest of the palace are here too, but they look shriveled and unhappy, their vibrant colors dulled; their rich scents turned sour.
We pass through a sitting room where a book lies open on a chaise as if someone has just gotten up and left it there a moment ago. The sight makes me shiver. This whole place is exactly how Cebba must’ve left it after attacking her own mother and brother. I’m not superstitious, but I wonder if in some places, evil is strong enough for your senses to pick up on it.
“Where do you think she is now?” I ask, my voice instinctually hushed.
Ruskin frowns. “The borderland between the realms, I’d imagine. She certainly won’t be welcome in the Unseelie realm.”
“How long will the banishment magic last?” Halima asks, her hand on the hilt of sword. Even though it often rests there, I wonder if she too feels put on edge by this place.
“It’s hard to say.” Ruskin shrugs. “But my powers as High King should make the spell pretty effective for a long time to come yet.”
Halima nods, seeming reassured, as we arrive at a hallway with many rooms running off it.
“There’s several places where Cebba kept her personal things,” Ruskin says. “We’ll search more quickly if we split up. Halima and Destan?”
