The Iron Warrior
Page 68

Kenzie, I thought with a pang of regret. I couldn’t see her through the press of Forgotten, but I desperately hoped she was safe. Go home. Go home, and be safe. Things are going to get crazy after tonight, but I know you’ll be okay. You’re too smart to let them beat you. And if you see my parents, tell them I’m sorry I couldn’t come home.
The Forgotten crept closer, just a few feet away now. I felt the tension surrounding us, saw the swarm getting ready to lunge, and took a deep, final breath.
“Stop!”
A new voice rang out, clear and strong with authority, making everything freeze. Stunned, I looked toward the corner where the voice originated and saw the Thin Man on his feet, one slender hand braced on Kenzie’s shoulder as she stood beside him. His pale eyes swept over the Forgotten and narrowed.
“Stop this!” he hissed again. “All of you! This is madness! This is not what you want!”
“You,” muttered the First Queen, as the Forgotten, shockingly and as one, turned to face him. “I know you.”
“Yes,” the Thin Man agreed. “You know me. You’ve all seen me before, in Phaed. And I know you.” His gaze swept the crowd. “All of you. Even now, when you have been twisted nearly beyond recognition, I know you.” He shook his head, his voice sympathetic. “Forgotten, hear me. Is this truly what you want? Going to war, fighting the other courts, killing for her? Dying for her? Do you really believe she has your best interests at heart? Look at what she has done to you all. What she has turned you into.”
The Forgotten were silent, their whole attention riveted to the Thin Man. A few shuffled uneasily, but the rest just stared at him, unblinking. The Thin Man stepped away from Kenzie and walked a few paces forward, still glaring around at the horde.
“You were happy in Phaed,” he said. “Content to know nothing, to return quietly to the Nevernever until you could be reborn again. And then, she awoke and convinced you that her ideals were your own.” His voice hardened. “They are not. You were never like that! And now, you are nothing but pawns in her quest for power! She will—”
He jerked, throwing his head back, as a storm of razor feathers slammed into him from behind, ripping through his chest with coils of mist. Kenzie gasped, and the Forgotten straightened as the Thin Man swayed on his feet, mouth open midsentence. Slowly, he came apart, fraying at the edges, and collapsed to his knees, before he finally disintegrated into mist. A breeze stirred the courtyard, and the coils of what used to be the ancient mayor of Phaed vanished into the wind.
“You were always a thorn in my side,” the Lady said into the shocked silence. “You will question me no more.” Looking over the still frozen crowd, she smiled. “Your mayor is gone,” she called, triumphant. “I am your queen and have always been your queen! Obey me, Forgotten. There is no one left to follow, no one who will lead you to victory but I.”
“Yes, there is!”
Keirran’s voice made me jump. The Iron Prince stepped forward, raising his voice to the crowd. “Forgotten!” he cried. “Rally to me! You’ve followed me into battle, obeyed my commands and trusted me with your lives. Follow me now! We can cease this fighting, put an end to this war. I swear, I will not let you Fade away, but destroying the Veil is not the answer. You’ve been used by the First Queen. She has turned you against your own kind, but if we stand together, we can put a stop to this for good!”
“Silence, traitor!” the First Queen hissed, and sent a flurry of razor feathers at him. I quickly lunged forward, and they went spinning aside. “The Forgotten are mine,” the queen spat at Keirran. “You have no claim, Iron Prince! You have not been forgotten by the courts. You are in no danger of Fading away. You do not need the emotions and belief of mortals just to stay alive, to exist! I will lead the Forgotten to a new age, an age where all mortals will fear us, believe in us! An age where the courts are no more, where there is only one queen of the Nevernever, and that will be me! Forgotten!” she cried, sweeping her hand down. “Kill them! The Iron Prince and the mortals! Kill them all!”
I tensed, but the Forgotten didn’t move. They stared at her, golden eyes unblinking. The First Queen frowned, gazing around in confusion. Keirran stepped forward again.
“It seems the Forgotten do not share your views after all, my lady,” he said in a quiet voice, as the queen’s expression shifted to fury. “Perhaps if you had truly listened to them, you would have known what they really wanted. But I am sorry that it has come to this.”
The First Queen stiffened, power and glamour beginning to swirl around her, whipping at her hair. “Ingrates!” she raged. “Traitors! Obey my commands, or I will destroy you all, every last one of you!”
The Forgotten still didn’t move. The Lady swelled with fury and rose higher into the air, raising her arms. “Very well,” she growled, as lightning flickered around her. “If that is your choice, then you will all—”
She faltered, dropping several feet from the sky, her eyes going huge. The wind and lightning sputtered and went out. “What?” she gasped, as Keirran bowed his head, looking pained. “What is...? No. No, how dare you! Stop, I order you all to stop!”
Confused, I looked around. The Forgotten were still in the same spots, but their eyes were fixed on the First Queen as she flapped and wobbled overhead, trying desperately to stay airborne. I felt a chill go through the air, a faint, sluggish, pulling sensation, and suddenly realized what was happening.
They were draining her glamour. Sucking away her magic and her essence, as they had done to the exiles and half-breeds long ago. Dazed, I watched as the queen hissed and cursed and threw out lightning and wind and ice shards, but all of these sputtered and died before they reached any of the Forgotten. There were too many of them, I realized, hundreds of yellow eyes staring at the First Queen. Even her tremendous power was no match for the combined stares of the Forgotten.
“Iron Prince!” the First Queen cried, searching frantically for Keirran. I glanced at my nephew and found him watching her calmly, though his expression was grim. “Stop! Tell them to stop! You are making a terrible mistake!” Keirran didn’t reply, and the queen dropped lower, just a few feet off the ground now, her wings beating the air desperately. “All I wanted was to be remembered,” she whispered. “That’s all I longed for. To not be forgotten. And to finally defeat the Fade, for all of us. Is that...so terrible? Is it so terrible to be remembered?”
“No, my lady,” Keirran answered, as calm and polite as ever. “But there is wanting, and there is doing whatever it takes to achieve it, at the cost of everything around you.” His brow creased. “I didn’t understand that until recently. How obsession can rob you of everything, even your soul.” His gaze flicked to me very briefly. “Sometimes, holding on too hard is dangerous. You have to know when to let go.”
With a final cry, the First Queen collapsed to the flagstones. She was losing color now, wisps of glamour rising off her like smoke. A few feathers broke away, fluttering across the courtyard, and Keirran bowed his head.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “But I won’t allow you to hurt my family anymore.”
“You,” the queen panted, baring her teeth. Planting her palms on the ground, she pushed herself upright, eyes blazing. The Forgotten continued to stare at her, but she staggered forward, her jaw set in determination. “You are more than a monster, Prince. You turned them against me. You destroyed everything we worked so hard for.” She raised her hands, black nails growing from her fingertips, and Keirran took a step back. “I may die here, forgotten by all, but I will take you with me!”