“The palace,” Sebastian said as he pointed at the tower. “That’s where you’ll live. It’s where most of the fairies live. At least most of the full-bloods do.”
I nodded. “Why didn’t we simply shadow walk into the palace?”
“There are no warrens under the Dark Court. It’s not safe to allow shadow walking into a city. It would be difficult to move an entire army through warrens, but being able to shadow walk into the gatehouse with a team of elite troops would be the fastest way to win a battle.”
He led the way down from the cliffside that we’d appeared on. We walked down a twisted path towards the gate. The gate rose high into the air above us, guarded by a group of thirty men in black plate. They held spears that seemed too long to wield with sharp points that could only be made of steel.
Two of them had wings sprouting from the back of their armor, and I was surprised to see just how different they were compared to mine. Where mine was a black that seemed to glow, theirs were varying hues of gray.
“Stop! Assassin!” one of the fairies said as he floated to the front of the group carrying a silver sword that was at least three feet long. “Queen Seraphina demands that you report directly to her on your mission.”
I could feel Sebastian tense at the order, but he flung his hood back. Immediately, the guards held out their spears. “Prince, you’re a wanted man. Why would you come back?” the fairy asked.
Sebastian grinned. “I no longer take orders from Queen Seraphina. We have a new Queen, and I obey only her.”
The guards looked at me, and I let my wings lift me into the air. Their eyes followed me. “Pure black,” one of them whispered. “Darker than black,” another one said.
“Take the Queen to the tower, Prince.”
Sebastian nodded and put his hood back on. He whispered, “Hide your wings unless someone else stops us. We don’t want anyone to notice you until you make a formal claim for the throne.”
I took a deep breath as I walked through the gate and willed my wings to dissipate. They would come back in an instant if needed, but for now, they were gone. It was easier said than done. They wanted to be there just like a bridge wanted to be used.
We walked through cobbled streets. Old stone buildings pressed against the walls of the city, and hooded people walked beside us. Many of them looked nothing like humans or fairies. Things of nightmares.
We passed a shadow standing tall like a man wearing only a burlap robe. Another creature was covered in scales, its hands ending in long claws. Then there were men covered in scars or even open wounds who walked as though nothing were wrong.
Not all of the citizens of the Dark Court were even that close to human shaped. A half-naked woman with the wings of a bird folded against her back shoved me out of the way, and I’d have fallen if Sebastian hadn’t caught me.
“What was that?” I asked seeing that the woman’s hands ended in claws rather than fingers.
“Harpy,” he said softly. “Let’s hurry. You can ask me all the questions you want once we’re safely inside the tower.”
He pulled me behind him as we moved through the crowds, turning into alleys when the crowds became too thick as we moved closer to the center. The shadows seemed deeper here. The walls, cracked and breaking. “Things don’t seem to have changed too much since I left,” he murmured.
In front of the tower, four fairies stood in gleaming gold plate. They all carried golden shields and golden swords. Their wings were of yellows, oranges, and reds, and they seemed to radiate a soft glow even through their armor.
“Stop,” they commanded. “Queen Seraph…” Sebastian threw his cloak hood back and didn’t stop as he approached the tower.
“You no longer belong here. Tell your Queen that the Dark Court no longer bows to her rule.”
One of them laughed, a tinkling laugh that sounded almost like a bell. “You are a dead man walking, Shadow Prince. Your mother will be happy to be reunited with her son in the void. She has waited too long for you to please her again.”
A simple flick of his hand sent an obsidian dagger flying through the air. The soldier tried to block with his shield, but he was too slow. The dagger slid through the armor like a knife through butter, embedding deeply into his chest.
He fell to the ground, his hand struggling to pull the obsidian dagger from his chest. Two of the others stepped in front of Sebastian while the third tried to pull the dagger out.
Sebastian held both hands up, daggers appearing. “Go tell your Queen that she no longer rules the Dark Court, or I will be forced to find others to go instead of you.”
The men glanced at each other, and they gathered up their fellow soldier before rushing off. “We’ll need to move quickly, but those men will struggle to find a shadow walker to help them. Especially since the Assassin’s Guild was where most ended up going.”
Sebastian pulled the massive door open, and as we stepped inside, he barred the door behind us. This was the true Dark Court. Everything around this tower was affiliated with it, but this was the real thing. Flames of black similar to my wings rose from braziers set around the room and contrasted the normal fire in the center of the room.
Shadows and light danced what seemed to be an eternal dance as the two opposing flames flickered. “The royal dance hall,” he muttered as he led the way up the first set of stairs.
Cold black stone was everywhere, but in the stone, gold and silver veins wove pathways creating beautiful contrast. The more that I saw of the Dark Court, the more I realized that it wasn’t the opposite
