Faraway
Chapter Six: His Royal Macabre Gruesomosity
By: Jondy Macmillan
A/N: I've been slacking on original fiction, I know. As always, you guys' reviews definitely brighten my day and give me the inspiration to write when I'm otherwise stumped. Thank you! I also want to give a big shout out to Lauren, my ever-wonderful beta, who edited this chapter. Everyone say 'Thank you Lauren'.
I'd had a dream about Cinderella. Wonderful. And she was ruler of the Otherworld. Fab.
"So, I hate to sound like a dimwit again," I said, wildly attempting to suppress my fear of the Magistrix, "But what exactly does this have to do with me?"
"You've failed," she muttered, referring to my 'dimwit' comment, "You had the dream, stupid girl."
Well, I knew that.
"When you paid me to stay here," she smiled, and in the shadows it appeared as though she had row after row of teeth, like a shark. It must have been an illusion. I hoped it was an illusion, anyway, "With your shadow, you also paid with your dreams."
I stared at her, feeling like a village dunce.
"I've taken them," she clarified, gesturing behind her. For the first time I noticed that tightly interwoven in the branches of her next were jars. They were only visible when the starlight glinted off them just so, but they were there.
"You mean you keep my dreams in a jar."
The Magistrix clicked her teeth together and hummed, "She's catching on. At any rate, you having a dream is, to say the least, impossible."
"Except I did," my heart sank with every passing second. Astrid's predictions of the apocalypse no longer seemed so far off.
"Except you did," she smiled her eerie smile again, and I could feel Than shift behind me. He didn't seem to like the woman much more than I did, and for that, a kernel of respect settled in my heart for him, "Meaning it wasn't a dream at all."
When even Astrid stays quiet in response, the Magistrix claps her hands together and intones ominously, "It was a prophecy."
"A what?"
"A prophecy. Surely, dear, you've heard of them."
Yeah. I'd heard of them. Prophesiers were accused of blasphemy and strung up outside churches where I'd come from. The gift of prophesying was one of the many hands of witchcraft.
There was one problem. Despite being pursued for my red hair and green eyes, I was not a witch.
At all.
In any way, shape, or form.
"It must be a mistake," I murmured.
"It's no mistake. Shortly after being alerted to your arrival, I contacted Queen Rendice's personal guard."
We waited patiently for her to reveal whatever bit of information she'd uncovered. In my short time spent in her office, I'd learned that the Magistrix liked nothing more than suspense.
Sure enough, she took a dramatic breath and cast a suspicious look at each of us, "She's disappeared."
This news was a lot more shocking to Than and Astrid, who had known the Otherworld had a royal family; unlike myself. Only just becoming aware of Ella Rendice's existence, it wasn't that world shaking for me that she'd gone missing.
"What- exactly," I tried to measure my words, to sound like I wasn't having a nervous meltdown, "does that mean for us?"
For me, I silently added.
"It means, daft girl, that you have a mission," the Magistrix's eyes bored into me, and I couldn't keep a shiver from racing down my spine. Her eyes were as cold and piercing as glass. I felt like I'd do anything to make her look away.
"Mission?" I squeaked out, trying to appear braver than I actually was.
The Magistrix nodded, slow as molasses, "You'll have to go and save her."
When I stared, gaping and providing no answer, the Magistrix took it as a form of idiocy. She told me wearily, like enunciating for a schoolchild, "You're. Going. To. Have. To. Track. Her. Majesty."
"But why her?" Than demanded, and I was more than surprised that he'd stick up for me, "Wouldn't it be wiser to send out her guard? Llew's just a girl, with no knowledge of the Otherworld at all."
What was wrong with being just a girl? Pssh. I took back my assessment of Than's jumping to my defense.
Although he did have a point. I hadn't known the Otherworld extended beyond the camp. How was I supposed to find a missing Queen?
"Llewellyn predicted Ms. Rendice's disappearance-"
I interjected, "I thought Cinderella married Prince Charming?"
"Who?" Astrid inquired.
The Magistrix's face darkened, "We don't mention his name."
"Oh. Him," Astrid made a face, "That was a farce of a marriage to begin with."
"Miss Luther-Wells, that is enough on the subject. You're extremely close to breaking a ban."
Beside me, Astrid gulped, "Oops. My bad. I mean, um, sorry, Magistrix."
The Magistrix's lips pressed together, a thin line hiding her shark-smile. Her glass eyes rolled skyward, like perhaps she was wondering how she'd been cursed with idiots to send questing. I wasn't all too sure myself.
"As I was saying, Llewellyn has the only clues to Ms. Rendice's vanishing act. She will have to implement them in her search."
"Clues?" I was outraged, "I have nothing! I told you all I know!"
"Are you turning down a direct order?" The Magistrix's eyes narrowed, and I shrank back. Amarantha's words about the Protocol. What if the Magistrix took my disobedience as a clue that I was nothing but human? I couldn't take being hunted in both worlds. It would break me, surely.
"No," I replied, biting my lip hard to keep the words I really wanted to say from spilling out.
"Can I come?" Astrid asked, still entirely happier than the situation called for, "I've never been on a real quest."
The Magistrix looked like she wanted to object, but then reconsidered, "It might be wise if both you and Mr. Dusany were to accompany Miss Van der Zandt. What do you say, Llewellyn?"
Before I could say a word, Than protested, "Why me?"
"Because you have a deeper understanding of the darker sides of the Otherworld."
Astrid appeared very much like she wanted to tell the Magistrix that she understood the dark too, but wisely she kept her mouth shut. I didn't like where the conversation had gone at all. I didn't want to know the Otherworld had dark sides. I'd been perfectly comfortable living in ignorance.
Than was disgruntled. He glared at the Magistrix, but she didn't even blink. Finally he said, "'Alright."
"Keep the nature of your mission as a guarded secret," The Magistrix ordered, "You are to find Ella Rendice, return her to the confines of her palace, and come straight back. Understood?"
The word 'confines' struck me as odd, but all I did was shake my head 'yes'. I wasn't going to argue with this monstrous woman. I was too much of a coward.
At least Than and Astrid were just as cowardly as me. They also nodded agreement.
"That settles that," the Magistrix smirked and gestured for us to get the heck out of her office. We complied as quickly as possible, and I only felt slight nausea as I clamped onto Than's arm for the trek back down.
"We'll go tomorrow," Than murmured.
"Why tomorrow? Why don't we just leave now?" Astrid demanded, placing her hands on her hips.
Than squeezed his eyes shut and said, "Because my father's paying a visit tomorrow."
His dad. Death. Great. Peachy.
I couldn't really see my life improving.
Unless maybe I fell to my death. I squeezed Than's arm harder and hoped against hope that I wouldn't slip.
I had so far to fall.
The following morning found a crowd gathered around the pond I'd come to refer to as Than's. It's where I'd first met him in all his miserable glory. Today Than was sulking worse than most, skulking around the pond like perhaps if he scowled hard enough it would delay his father's visit. Or at least make all the people disappear.
Astrid was the source of all the people milling around the pond. She'd mentioned Death would be visiting to a counselor or two, and suddenly every curious, wide eyed creature in the camp had decided to attempt to catch a glimpse of Death.
I still didn't see the appeal. Than's warning about how normal people met Death only once was firmly etched in my mind; but Astrid had insisted I come. Her sense of self-preservation wasn't nearly so defined, I supposed.
Than glared at me several times, indicating I shouldn't have been there. I glared right on back. He had to know I didn't want to be.
"What are you doing here?" a voice called to me from behind. I spun on my foot to find Amarantha. I'd decided in my short time here that she was distinctly creepy. The frosty, fake smile she presented me with didn't help matters much. I still hadn't found out what exactly Amarantha was, and, as far as I could tell she was every bit as fond of me as I was of her. Which is to say not at all. Technically speaking, she was supposed to be my advisor at the camp; every time I went to a counselor with problems, they deferred me to her. However, as far as mentors went, she failed.
"Astrid dragged me along," I replied, trying to be as terse as possible to ward off any confrontation.
"Luther-Wells," Amarantha sneered, "I don't know how you put up with her."
I liked Astrid, for all her brashness, but I didn't say so. I wanted to keep my conversation to a minimum. Unfortunately, due to my rotten luck, Amarantha decided to attach herself to my side, outlining the highlights of Death's last visit. Apparently this wasn't the largest crowd she'd seen.
I certainly understood why Than was so eager to keep his father's visits a secret, spending all his time lurking around the pond to give off the impression of 'nothing out of the ordinary'. His relationship with his dad was thin at best, and having others witness his humiliation couldn't have been a good feeling. Because as Amarantha recounted, it became evident that humiliation had been involved.
"Than got reamed out," she confided, smoothing her skirts and smiling like it had been the funniest recollection ever, "He deserved for being such a haughty ass."
I doubted anyone deserved public embarrassment just for being a loner, but again, I refused to bicker with Amarantha. She gave me the heebie jeebies.
"My two favorite girls," I heard a familiar voice seconds before I felt the weight on my shoulders, comforting and true.
I spun on my foot, coming face to face with a half-smile that I'd missed since my first day in the Otherworld.
"Liam!" I cried, throwing my arms around his neck. I admit, I might have elbowed Amarantha out of the way a little, but she didn't mind. If anything, a look of disgust had been pasted on her face the second Liam's arm made contact with her shoulders.
A not-nice word came to mind when I considered out of the corner of my eye. Then I turned my full attention to Liam. I hadn't seen him since he'd left my first day, despite his promises of a quick return.
"Whoa there," he grinned at me, "How're you doing?"
"I'm-" I choked back all my admissions of how life had kind of been going askew, "-good. But where have you been? I was worried."
Liam's mouth dropped open, but before he could manage an actual apology, words rang out over the pond, "His splendid hideousness, his royal macabre gruesomeosity-"
"Is that a word?" I asked Amarantha, glancing around for a source of the voice. She shushed me without even a glance. Some friend and mentor.
"-keeper of the crypts, fourth harbinger of the apocalypse-"
"Is this for real?" I asked Liam, figuring he'd be an easier source of information. He smiled and shook his head, holding a finger to his lips. Somehow it didn't quite reach his eyes.
I still couldn't find the voice. Then, I realized it was coming from inside the pond. A cloud of inky black was forming beneath the surface.
"Majesty of the underworld!" the announcer took a wheezing breath, "Please welcome Death!"
From the center of the abyssal cloud came a horrible noise. It sounded like the dragging of chains, the thump of an axe, and the gurgling of blood all rolled into one discordant note. Then, a scream of rage, "Mortimer Thanatos Dusany!"
Than turned paler than I'd ever seen him, which was quite the accomplishment for a boy so sallow.
The crowd pressed in, trying to get a glimpse at what would emerge from the pond. Instead, as if something was pulling his body, Than stumbled forward. Forward, forward, and forward still.
His foot hit the bank of the pond. For a moment he flailed in midair; the crowd held their breath.
Then he was gone. I rushed forward, amidst the throng, pushing my way through.
Than's body floated face down in the lake.
"Well, that was anticlimactic," Amarantha hummed, turning on her heel and trotting away. I really didn't like her at that moment.
"D'you reckon he can breathe?" I worried to Liam.
"I doubt his father's intent on killing him," Liam replied, but he didn't look convinced. The people filling the clearing were drifting away, until all that was left were Liam, me, and Than's still, seemingly lifeless form.
I had to know. Than may have been an ass, but I couldn't just let him die. I walked over the edge of the pond, knelt down and grabbed hold of his pant leg. Then I tugged, hard.
No response.
"Liam," I said, "I'm not sure if he's okay."
I tugged harder, expecting his body to float towards me a bit, or at least move. Nothing happened. I wrapped my hands around Than's ankles and pulled. Nothing. Liam tried to help, but even with our full strength combined, we couldn't free Than. I glanced at Liam, beyond worried.
If I expected my friend to dive in the water, I was dead wrong. Liam wrapped his arms around himself and whispered, "I can't swim."
Okay. So it was up to me. Gathering my skirts, I began fumbling for the buttons that held my dress closed. I shucked it to the ground, leaving me clad in only my shift. I could feel Liam's eyes on me, but I couldn't concentrate on that. Instead I jumped into the pond. I expected the water to splash up around my thighs at most, but coldness gripped my body. I was pulled under, all the way to the bottom.
Bubbles streaming from my mouth, I looked up. Sunlight filtered through the surface of the pond, at least six feet above my head. The silhouette of Than's body floated above me, his clothes rippling with the currents. And I saw the oily blackness of Death's abyss staining the water.
Than's eyes fell on me. They widened, and I suspected he wanted to mouth something, but his gaze darted back towards the abyss, where the voice of his father boomed. He glanced back at me, helpless, and I understood. He couldn't do anything while his father was still present.
But I couldn't move. I was going to drown in a pond in a world that was wholly not my own.
Through the water, through the viscous diluvian dream I heard a voice. Heard might be the wrong word; it's more like I felt the voice, like it left impressions on my brain. There was hatred, and anger, and something bone-chillingly cold. I hadn't known my parents in years, but I knew these were not the feelings a father should impart. Even though my lungs were squeezing in my chest, I felt overwhelmed by pity for Than.
"You've disappointed me over and over again. Your failings continue to amaze me, boy."
"I apologize," Than replied to the abyss, and I could feel the impressions of his voice as well, cool and smooth with flickers of fear and warmth and loneliness.
The voice said something else, but I couldn't make it out. My vision was swimming in front of me. Currents flowed and ebbed, made of light instead of water. I was blacking out, no matter how hard I fought it.
Time is inconsequential. Hours, minutes; when time passes while our consciousness sleeps, we become irrelevant. When I first took in a gasping, choking breath, how much time had gone by was both unknown to me and inconsequential. All I knew was I could finally, finally breathe.
I was vomiting water from my lungs and taking tiny, wheezing breaths between each spewing cough. Someone was pounding on my chest, squarely between my breasts. When I finally found focus again, I saw Than. His hand extended out towards me, and for the first time I noticed that his cheekbone wasn't the only place with scars. It was a strange thing to observe when the deluge of oxygen to my lungs felt better than anything I'd ever felt. The back of his hands were full of lacework threads, forming what looked to be inverted pentagrams. I took hold of his fingers and turned his hand over; sure enough, the marred flesh was present on his palm as well. It was like someone had used his extremities as some sort of picture board.
He saw me looking, and snatched his hand away. His voice was gruff as he said, "You're fine now."
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Hovering behind Than were Liam and Astrid. Liam looked worried while Astrid seemed considerably more interested in her nails. Her concern was touching. Really.
I tried to straighten my shift, conscious of the way it had become see through and clingy in all the wrong places.
"Um," I faltered, grasping for words, "Should we go now?"
"Go? Go where?" Liam asked, spinning back towards me and then blushing as he noticed how I tried to cover myself.
"Mission, Magistrix," Than replied in a curt voice that implied everything would be utterly dull. He was trying to discourage Liam from asking more. I realized I'd made a mistake.
"Mission? What mission?"
"Wouldn't it…uh, be okay if he came?"
"No, it wouldn't," Than gave me a look that said if I valued my hide I should keep my mouth shut.
Unfortunately for him, the damage had already been done, "If you're taking Llew somewhere, I'm coming."
Than, of course, intoned, "No."
It was Astrid who surprised us all and said, "I think it would be fine if Liam came. Except we can't go until nightfall."
"What?" Than and I chorused. All these stipulations on a mission I was being forced to undertake seemed unfair. First I had to wait for Than's father so I could nearly drown. Now I had to wait for Astrid to- to do something.
I beat Than to the chase when I demanded, "Why?"
"It seems smarter to travel at night if we're looking for discretion, doesn't it?" Astrid inquired, all innocence and halos that I didn't quite believe. She was up to something. Before I could pursue it, she'd fallen in step with Liam and was filling him in on the goings on of last night.
"This is a bad idea," Than told me, glaring at Liam's back.
"I know," I shrugged, feeling helpless.
It wasn't a feeling I enjoyed.
A/N: Again, I fail; cutting off a chapter short. It just seems since I've been working on fanfiction recently that shorter chapters lead to an increase in productivity and quicker updates, so let's see if that's true for my original stuff. Please review!