Blinding Beauty (43 page)

Each time a new guard came at him,
it was no match for Ever’s sword and flame. But his glass opponents
began to come faster and faster, and Ever soon realized the
enchanter was nowhere to be seen. The glass guards were coming too
fast for him to go searching, as he had to take care to actually
dismantle the warriors entirely. Cutting off an arm only made it a
new weapon, a limb of broken glass that swung wildly about, sharp
enough to shred his skin to pieces if he allowed it to touch him.
He was getting nowhere.

With a loud cry, Ever exhaled and
pressed every bit of fire within him out into a ring of blue
flames. It was exhausting, but the ring rippled out, and this time,
no glass warriors emerged again. There was only Bronkendol, huddled
in his corner, holding his precious mirror up in front of his
mouth. Like a frightened babe talking to its doll, he whispered to
it.

Ever moved towards him like a
storm, but just before he was there, a thick red filled Ever’s
sight. Clouds of crimson smoke burned and made it impossible to
see. But if the enchanter had wanted to stop him, he would have to
try harder than that.

Ever had wanted to learn all of
the enchanter’s plans, but he would never have the patience for
that game now. A crash sounded from behind him, and when Ever
turned, much to his dismay, he saw the small form that had been
huddled against the wall just seconds before had somehow made it to
the door, and was watching him stupidly as though in a
daze.

Ever launched himself at the
figure. This time, he would hit him so hard that Bronkendol would
never again open his eyes to see anyone or anything. The dance of
war carried him to his foe, the taste of blood already on his
tongue.

***

Isa
shivered as the shining blue walls came into view. She didn’t
recall much of her journey from Bronkendol’s castle to the
Fortress. Her pain had been too great, and her mind too muddled.
All she could really remember was wishing to fall asleep and never
awaken again. Sometime during the first day, the bag of food and
water the enchanter had strapped to her horse had been blown off by
a strong gust of wind. It had been all Isa could do to stay astride
the horse herself.

This time, pain and hunger weren’t
her sources of discomfort, but rather, the ache in her chest. Yes,
the feelings were there once more, but she still felt raw inside,
as though the return of her emotions had chafed her heart until it
was ready to bleed. Isa was going because she knew she should save
her husband. But like the stark gray and white of the land that
surrounded her, the sunbeam delight she’d possessed on her wedding
day was nowhere to be found. She kept her heart blank, choosing not
to remember all the ways Ever had hurt her... and all the ways she
had hurt him. And like her joy, her strength was still gone,
too.

Now that the glass citadel was in
view once more, Isa knew she would need to focus not on the aches
inside, but rather the impossible undertaking ahead of her. Garin
had told her how to follow Ever’s path between realms, using the
Glass Queen’s dress that Isa had worn home, but she hadn’t plotted
out a course of action for what she might do once she arrived. For
while she rode into the wilderness, that moment had felt like it
would never come, and she nearly didn’t want it to.

A whinny caught her by surprise.
Shielding her eyes from the bright snow and strong gusts of wind,
she found a large cave to her left. Inside, shielded from the
elements, was Ever’s horse, Hugon.

“
You should stay here, too,” Isa
said to her own horse, dismounting and rubbing his neck. It hadn’t
been hard to fall in love with her horse again at least. A few
nuzzles, and she was all his. If only Ever were so easy.

After leaving her mount alongside
Hugon, Isa took only her sword and started towards the castle
alone. When she got to the pass that cut between the two mountains,
her stomach flopped at the sight of the icy bridge she would have
to cross.

To distract herself as she crossed
the bottomless chasm, she thought back to her conversation with
Garin. Was he right, about gaining her feelings back in time? It
wasn’t that Isa didn’t feel now, rather she didn’t feel the way she
once had. It was too easy to recall every instance when Ever had
left her for some other business, particularly when it was to go
see Kartek. She recalled every time he spoke with another woman who
had once been one of his admirers; each time, she’d wondered if
deep down, he had wished for someone who was able to fulfill her
duties to the Fortress and the kingdom. Someone to give him an heir
and command the Fortress fire.

To be fair, he had been most
attentive upon her return to the Fortress. His words and touches
had seemed earnest. But had he truly missed her? Or was he simply
feeling guilty?

By the time Isa reached the other
side of the bridge, she had nearly convinced herself it would
indeed be easier never to feel again. Still, she had a job to do.
It wouldn’t do to let her nonexistent emotions hinder her from
protecting him. Isa drew her sword as she crept up the glass steps
into the castle. The fact that the gate and the doors were still
open was at least a small comfort. It was unlikely they would have
opened if Ever had died below the bridge before reaching
them.

The throne room was empty, but Isa
could just make out the sounds of voices. Anxiety squeezed her
insides as she came to the end of the throne room and realized
where they were coming from. She would have to go into that horrid
room again. Every part of her cried out to go back. Isa paused
halfway down the hall from the hateful door, which was ajar. Voices
no longer spoke. Instead, collisions sounded as metal clanged and
glass shattered.

The glass giants, Isa realized.
Readying her sword, she crept to the door, wondering how she could
help without her power. Perhaps she should just watch and see what
had happened. When she peeked around the open door, there were no
glass giants waiting for her.

Only her husband, with his sword
raised and his body ready to strike. And his fiery eyes of steel
were trained right on her.

CHAPTER
FORTY-FOUR

Blade's Edge

Isa stared
in shock as Ever charged towards her, his sword blazing with blue
flame. By the time she thought to run, it was too late. Their
weapons met with a violent clang that jarred Isa’s bones. Her
movements were flimsy and weak against his. Still, even if they
weren’t empowered in the way Ever’s were, the hours of practice had
stamped at least the rudimentary skills of swordplay into her head.
To escape their locked weapons, a contest she was sure to lose, Isa
twisted and rolled. As soon as she was on her feet again, she took
off running as fast as she could back towards the throne
room.

Dismay hummed in her mind to the
rhythm of her heartbeat. Why was he trying to kill her? No matter
how confused her feelings were about her husband, Isa knew this was
not what she wanted.

Halfway down the hall, Isa dared a
glance over her shoulder. Ever was pursuing, but not at his usual
speed. Pushing herself faster, she wondered what she was going to
do when she got to the hall’s end. There would be more room to run
in the throne room, for sure, but there was no place to hide. The
entire room was empty, with the exception of the two thrones. No,
she decided, she needed to go somewhere where she could hide and
catch her breath as she figured out her next plan of
action.

When she reached the throne room,
Isa was already out of breath, and she could hear Ever quickly
coming up behind her. Without thinking, Isa darted up the closest
set of spiral stairs that led to the bridge that overlooked the
entire room. She wasn’t more than a dozen steps up though when she
felt the glass shudder beneath her.

Ever had reached the stairs. To
her surprise, before he had gone three steps up, his foot slipped.
As he tumbled backward, Isa caught a glimpse of the violet glow
just inside his eye. And blue. There was also the glint of
blue.

So that’s what the enchanter was
doing with her power. Anger rose within her as Isa realized
Bronkendol was using her own power against her. Now, if only she
knew how to break the hold.

As Ever struggled to right
himself, Isa bolted once more up the steps. Whatever rage the
enchanter had put Ever in must be making him clumsy. Everard was
the most agile creature she had ever seen, but now, his clumsiness
was the only thing that was keeping her alive. Once she reached the
bridge, she paused, not sure which way to go. She hadn’t explored
enough to know which ones would provide places to hide. Then she
remembered the vision.

The green room. With the confused
state Ever was in, the mirrors might make him pause. They certainly
wouldn’t protect her from his wrath, but the time it would take for
him to find her within the room’s strange reflections might give
her time to form a plan.

Unfortunately, if Isa remembered
correctly from the Glass Queen’s vision, the room was downstairs,
which meant she was running the wrong direction. There had to be
someplace where Isa could turn around. With her decision made, she
sprinted down the hall to her right, but she could hear Ever
trailing behind her.

Please, she begged the Fortress, I
don’t know what to do! Without her strength, she was no match for
him physically. Her only hope rested in knowing the castle better
than he did. But when he found her eventually, which he would, what
then?

She didn’t want to hurt him, but
she couldn’t let him just kill her either. A strange sense, one
that felt much like the power she used to have, warned her to look
back. When she did, she found that Ever had closed much of the
distance between them, and was continuing to gain on her.
Desperately, she tried to choose a door, any door that might give
her somewhere to hide. And hopefully, one that wasn’t locked. As he
drew closer still, Isa picked the closest room to her and threw
herself against its door with all of her might.

To her immense relief, the door
was unlocked, and she had just enough time to lock it after
flinging it closed. Ever let out a shout of rage that echoed down
the glass halls outside, and Isa knew she didn’t have much time.
Unfortunately, she realized, she had chosen what could only have
been the worst room in the entire castle.

Weapons filled the room. Although
the chamber was nearly the size of the servants’ kitchen at home,
it was so cluttered she received several nicks along her legs and
arms in her hurried entrance. Hung on the walls, from the ceiling,
and filling the floor in piles, there was little space to even turn
around between the stacks of swords and axes, flails, and scythes.
Even chains were strewn about. Some of the weapons were so ancient
she didn’t recognize them, but didn’t need much imagination to
guess how they could be used. She would never make it out of this
room alive.

Then, out of the corner of her
eye, she saw another door that was hidden behind a stack of pikes
leaned upright against the wall. Everard had resorted to kicking
the door, and it wouldn’t be long before he knocked it in. Praying
the door wasn’t a closet, Isa crawled between the rows of razor
edges that stuck out from all directions, and tried to push it
open.

It seemed ridiculous that a glass
door should stick in the same way a wooden one might, but this door
was most definitely stuck. Just let me open it, she pleaded to the
Fortress. But the door didn’t budge. As she heard the glass lock on
the door behind her shatter, Isa cried out in
frustration.

To her amazement, the smallest
streak of blue fire flitted from her fingers into the door.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t fast enough. The door behind her crashed
to the ground with a sound that echoed throughout the empty castle.
Isa barely managed to throw herself behind an ancient suit of armor
just before he stormed in.

Because of the height of the
piles, and the rage that seemed to somewhat blind him, Isa felt
oddly well-hidden. As she watched Ever shouting and swinging his
sword in circles, something warm dripped down her cheek. She put
her hand up to her face, only to pull it down covered in bright red
blood. Judging from the glass pieces all over the floor at her
feet, she realized a piece must have flown out and cut her when the
door had shattered.

The armor was just beside the
second door, so when she thought he wasn’t looking, Isa reached out
and tried once more. Again, the blue glowed, but only just. This
time, however, the door opened, and Isa nearly let out a cry of joy
when she saw that it wasn’t a closet after all. Before she could
dart into the new room, however, she glanced back to see Ever
standing over her, like a wolf regarding its prey. Instinctively,
Isa kicked both her legs out, knocking the suit over onto him, and
though her heart weighed heavy with guilt, she knew it was better
than being gutted.

Scrambling through, she shut this
door as well. As there was no lock, she would have to hide quickly.
The room appeared as though the servants had left their work in a
hurry. The room was full of bed linens. Most were folded and
stacked neatly, but some had simply been tossed in a heap, most
likely waiting for their washing. Just before the door behind her
burst open, Isa ducked behind a tall pile, hoping it would hide her
while she made her way to the room’s main door.