The Nightmare Charade (43 page)

I spent most of my time walking the grounds outside the castle and exploring the woods with Eli. I avoided the bedroom I'd been given for the duration of my stay as much as possible. There were too many mirrors in there, and I couldn't quite stomach my appearance these days. I'd survived the ordeal with Marrow and the Death's Heart, but it hadn't been without a price.

I had aged, as if the Death's Heart had quite literally sucked away years of my life. I didn't look old exactly, but certainly not as young as before. Faint white hairs now streaked through the red. It wasn't anything a visit to the salon wouldn't fix—my mom had already volunteered to take me—but there was no disguising the changes in my face. I looked thinner, gaunt almost, but I hadn't lost any weight. In fact, I was eating more than ever before. This fairy realm encouraged indulgence of every kind. Although I never ate the fairy food. Normal food was being imported for us daily.

But the damage went deeper than my looks. None of the magickind doctors who came to examine me could say how bad it was, but they suspected that my organs, joints, and vital systems might have suffered partial degradation.

“But don't fret, my dear,” one of the doctors said. “It's nothing too severe, I'm sure. Nothing worse than what happens to us all as we age.”

I hadn't replied. The “effects of old age” wasn't something that should've been in my vocabulary for at least another decade or two. There was nothing to say about it though, nothing to make it better. Not that I regretted the price. Eli was alive and that was worth a hundred years of my life. Besides, the only time I noticed the changes in my body was if I sat too long in one position or if I exerted myself too hard. If I did, a weakness came over me, and I had to sit down until it passed.

Eli wasn't much better with his injury. The stab wound was healing quickly, thanks to the fairy realm magic, but he would never be the same physically again, according to the doctors. His hopes of being on the gladiator team were over, for this year definitely. Even once he recovered, he might not be capable of the demanding activity. Only time would tell.

But Eli never once complained. Instead, one day he sat down beside me after a long walk, both of us breathing too hard from the exertion. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close. “We might be a little broken these days,” he said, “but I wouldn't trade it for anything.”

My heart throbbed inside my chest, the feeling of both joy and pain. I didn't know I was capable of loving one person this much, as if my insides were bigger than my outsides, love an expansive force. It made the truth of our pending separation all the worse. But it had to happen. Once our stay here was over and we returned to the real world and our real lives, we would have to put an end to this. The risk of staying together was too great. I never wanted to be there again—watching Eli die, living one of Lady Elaine's visions. I understood that now.

Eli did, too, although we never spoke of it.

There were other things to talk about. My mother came to us on the third day with news that the Magi Senate was planning an awards ceremony in our honor.

“No way,” Eli and I said together.

My mom sighed. “I told Lady Elaine you weren't going to like it.”

I hated the idea. We'd been through one of those ceremonies last year when we saved Lyonshold from sinking. I understood why they wanted to do it, but it didn't feel right this time. There'd been too much death, too much loss. I just wanted to put it all behind me.

“Can't we just say no then?” Eli said, rubbing his jaw.

Mom put her hands on her hips. “I'm afraid not. We have to give them something. This is too momentous an event for there not to be some kind of official closure.”

I bit my lip. It wasn't the response I would've expected from my mom, the queen of bucking the establishment. But that just drove home how serious the situation was.
Closure
. I supposed I needed it, too.

“What about Paul?” I said.

My mom turned to look at me, her mouth a thin line. “What about him?”

“Has he been buried yet?” The words felt alien in my mouth, an impossible language with impossible meaning. I'd seen him die, but I couldn't accept it. He might come walking around the corner any moment.

“I don't think so,” my mom replied, a suspicious eyebrow climbing her forehead.

I drew a deep breath. “Then let the Magi Senate hold their ceremony at his funeral.” I glanced at Eli, trying to gauge his reaction. He met my eyes, and I read understanding in his, if not agreement.

I turned to my mother, who needed the most convincing. “Paul deserves the honor as much as the rest of us, if not more. He died stopping Marrow. He sacrificed himself to save us.”

“Yes,” my mom said, her voice surprisingly gentle, “but he betrayed you first. If he hadn't have been helping Deverell he might—”

I cut her off. “That doesn't matter. All that does is what he did in the end.” I paused, waiting for my mom and Eli to make their arguments, but my heart was set on this. Paul had done a lot of bad things, but he chose good in the end.

When neither of them spoke, I pressed on. “With his uncle dead and his mother who knows where and his father who knows who, it's up to us to see he has a proper send-off.”

My mom's jaw worked back and forth, for a second. Then she relaxed. “I'll talk to Lady Elaine and see what we can do.”

“Thank you,” I said. The decision eased the ache in my heart, just a little.

Do you believe in redemption?
I remembered Paul asking me. I hadn't had an answer then, but I did now.

Yes
, I thought, hoping Paul would hear it wherever he was now. He had earned his redemption.

 

32

Dream's End

It took a while, and a great deal of cajoling according to my mother, but the Magi Senate finally agreed to the plan. Paul was set to be buried in his family's mausoleum in Coleville Cemetery, located on the north side of Arkwell.

Eli, Selene, Lance, and I arrived back at campus the day before. We'd been placed under sleeping spells for the journey back to the human world. I had no idea how that journey worked, but I suspected it involved boats. There'd been several moored at the dock by the river that ran in front of the castle. I didn't ask for confirmation though. After all of Eli's dreams with the funeral barge, I didn't want to know.

Selene and I spent the next twenty-four hours confined to our dorm room by choice. Reporters of all types and shades had infested Arkwell like so many rats—everyone eager to gnaw at us with their questions. I didn't understand why the school had allowed them on campus in the first place. Even worse was the separation from Eli, but I told myself it was for the best. We both needed to get used to the distance.

The funeral started at sunset the next day. Selene and I met up with Lance and Eli, and we walked to Coleville escorted by a troop of police officers. The reporters hurled questions at us the entire way, but all except a select few were barred from entering the cemetery.

Eli took my hand as we stepped inside. As always, the heavy scent of flowers filled the air. Coleville was kept in bloom year-round by the fairy gardeners. I'd never before appreciated it as much as I did now. It reminded me of the fairy realm. I wished we could go back—Eli and me, spending the rest of our lives there. Surely, the curse wouldn't be able to touch us in such a magical place.

But it was wishful dreaming.

The entire school had turned out for the funeral, it seemed, along with the entire Magi Senate and their entourage. Magickind filled every inch of the area around the Kirkwood's mausoleum. There were people leaning on gravestones, standing in the flower beds. Several had even climbed trees to get a better view.

We were escorted to the front where the coffin sat just before the door into the mausoleum. The moment I spotted it, the tears I'd been holding back broke. I didn't try to stop them. Eli wrapped his arm around me, his silent support all the comfort I needed.

Chairs had been provided for the honored guests, and we took ours right up front. To my surprise Lance's father, Senator Rathbone, appeared on the other side of Lance. I watched as his gaze took in Selene sitting beside his son. Her wings were still out, although some of the bandages had been removed from the left one. He stared at her for several long seconds. She raised her head and met his stare head-on, unflinching. Lance was holding her hand with both of his, knuckles white.

Finally, Mr. Rathbone sighed and stretched out his hand to Selene. “I want to thank you for what you did in stopping that monster. And I couldn't be prouder of my son's wise choice of girlfriend.”

Selene's jaw came unhinged for half a second. Then she recovered and stood up, accepting his handshake. “Thank you,” she said, very stiff and formal.

Mr. Rathbone nodded then let go of her hand and took the seat next to his son. I exchanged a quick glance with Selene. It had been a very diplomatic statement, the kind to save face in a public arena, but even a false gesture might become true with enough practice. A smile ghosted the edges of her lips, and her eyes sparkled. I squeezed her hand, happy for her.

But the good feeling didn't last long. Sadness pressed down on me as Lady Elaine stood up to officiate. It was a solemn affair, no music, no pomp. Consul Borgman gave a speech, thanking Paul for his service, as well as the rest of us. Every pair of eyes in the place turned toward Eli, Selene, and me when she pointed us out. I hated the scrutiny, wanting to keep my despair private. Fortunately, Borgman soon turned her attention to my mother and Mr. Corvus, giving the assembled a cleaned-up version of the events in the dragon caves, as well as exonerating my mother for any wrongdoing.

I wept again as Lady Elaine delivered the eulogy. I wept both for Paul's death and the tragedy of his life. His pretender of a mother hadn't bothered to come to her own son's funeral. It seemed I was the only person to truly mourn him.

When the ceremony ended, the four Magi Senators who'd volunteered to be pallbearers stood up and took their places around the coffin. As they hoisted it up and carried it into the mausoleum I realized that Paul had finally gotten his wish. He was free. The thought might've seemed glib, but it wasn't to me. Not after what I'd been through. I knew beyond doubt that death wasn't the end. Paul would find freedom on the other side.

Afterward, Eli and I escaped deeper into Coleville, dodging the Magi Senators and the rest looking to ply us with questions. It was surprisingly easy to disappear.

“Do you remember that this was the first dream we ever shared, right here in this cemetery,” I said as we walked along.

A sad smile crossed Eli's lips. “Of course I remember. I'll never forget it.”

My heart did a slow steady thump against my chest. The end was coming. It was almost here. I supposed this first dreaming place was a fitting sight for the end of our relationship.

Eli came to a halt and faced me. “Dusty,” he began.

I raised a finger to his lips, silencing him. “We don't need to say it out loud. Just say it with a kiss.”

Something broke in Eli's expression, and when he reached for me, he did it with both hands cupping my face, holding me like something fragile that he desperately wanted to hold on to but didn't want to shatter. His lips captured mine with a ferocity that said he was never letting go, even though he was.

The kiss lasted an eternity, even as it ended all too soon.

A strange noise broke us apart sometime later. We both turned to see we weren't alone anymore. Lady Elaine and Mr. Corvus were standing a few feet away.

I sighed. “You don't have to lecture us. We know, and we will.”

“Will what?” Lady Elaine said, folding her broomstick-thin arms over her narrow chest.

I scowled at her, hating that she was making me say it aloud. “We won't be together anymore.”

Lady Elaine pursed her lips. “It just so happens that is what I'm here to talk about.”

“I mean it. It's really not nec—”

She raised a hand, silencing me. “I don't know how or why, but my vision about the two of you and your future is gone.”

I frowned. “Gone how?”

Lady Elaine drummed her fingers against her arm. “Just gone. There is no vision about you anymore. I've tried scrying about it over and over again these last few days, but there's nothing.”

“What does that mean?” Eli said. He slid his hand into mine, intertwining our fingers.

“I'm not entirely sure, Mr. Booker,” she said, and it seemed to me that there was a twinkle in her eyes. “But my guess is that the dream-seer curse has been broken.”

A tremble slid through my body, and I sagged into Eli. That couldn't be right. Dreams didn't come true in real life. Not like this.

“I don't know if it was the self-sacrifice,” Lady Elaine continued, far too nonchalant than the subject warranted, “or if it was the work of the phoenix, but the curse is no more. As far as my sight can tell, you two are free to be however you want.”

I froze, unable to move, unable to react at all. But not Eli. He turned me toward him, hands on my shoulders, and kissed me once again. It wasn't a chaste kiss either. But we didn't care. Our joy couldn't be held back by such trivial things as appropriate public displays of affection. Not breaking the kiss, Eli dropped his hands to my arms and hoisted me into the air. I wrapped my legs around his waist. I was both laughing and crying at the same time.

Lady Elaine let it go on far longer than I would've guessed, but eventually she said, “That's enough you two. I might have given you my blessing about the curse, but this is still school.”

Eli set me down, his grin so wide his face seemed to be all lips and teeth.

“Well now that you've gotten that out of your system,” Mr. Corvus said, “I have more good news. At least, I believe you'll be happy about it, Dusty.”