Radiant Shadows (Wicked Lovely 4)

Sorcha did not look away from the mirror a second time. “Leave me.”

Rae started, “Perhaps you might wake. The world is falling apart—”

“I will wake when my son returns.” The High Queen waved her fingers. Suddenly three winged leonine creatures wrought of moonlight and lightning stood between them, guarding the queen, keeping her out of reach. The animals’ translucent bodies flickered with the lightning that flashed inside them. As one opened its mouth, sparks escaped. It didn’t advance, but it watched Rae. The second creature stretched out at Sorcha’s side. Its wings spread wide and blocked the sight of both the High Queen and the mirror. The third snarled as it crouched down.

Rae wasn’t sure what would happen if she were to be bitten by them, but she didn’t care to stay and find out. With a barely proper curtsy, Rae turned and stepped from Sorcha’s dream into the deteriorating world of Faerie.

She needs to wake.

Rae had given Sorcha the window into the mortal world. It was an anomaly, but the High Queen was the embodiment of logic. She shouldn’t be so fascinated. Something was amiss, and the cause of it was beyond Rae’s understanding.

I need to reach Devlin.

Of course, he hadn’t even told Rae that he had a nephew. The High Queen had a son who lived in the mortal world. It explained Devlin’s frequent secretive visits there, but it didn’t explain why the Queen of Order would behave so irrationally.

Something here is wrong.

Silently, Rae drifted across the throne room and stopped.

One of the mortals was weeping.

“What happened?” Rae asked.

The other mortal pointed toward one of the tall arched windows. Rae couldn’t approach it, not as bright as the sky was, but she could see even from a distance that the mountain was partially gone. Faerie was shifting, unmaking itself more and more. As the queen’s mind noticed only the images in the mirror, the landscape of Faerie was no longer real to her. Some faeries could not adjust to the lack of logic and were following her, retreating into their own dreams. The truly High Court faeries are lost without her. In the street outside, those faeries stretched out in odd positions, fallen to sleep where they’d been. Faerie was going dormant.

The weeping mortal lifted her veil and stared at Rae. “The world is ending.”

Behind Rae, the High Queen slept. She wore a smile, looking more at peace than she appeared in waking or in her dreams.

“Go back.” The mortal sank to the floor and stared up at Rae with a tear-wet face. “Talk to her. She needs to wake.”

And Rae had no choice. Outside the palace, faeries were apparently either sickening or sleeping. Within the palace, there were few faeries left awake. Rae could feel the tendrils of all of their dreams like whispered summonses. For the first time since she’d entered Faerie, there were dreamers all around.

Rae slipped back into Sorcha’s dream.

The High Queen hadn’t moved; she remained crouched at the mirror.

“My queen?” Rae tried to keep the tremble from her voice.

“How long has it been?”

“Your court needs you. I think it’s time to awaken.”

“You think?” Sorcha laughed. “No. You are to only interrupt if there is a crisis.”

“There is.” Rae knelt beside the queen. “Faerie seems to be… falling apart. Parts of it are vanishing.”

Sorcha glanced down at her long enough to give her an indulgent look. “It’s large enough that it’ll be fine, child. Leave quietly. My son is resting. He sleeps so fitfully sometimes. I wonder at his health.”

The High Queen had no interest in Rae’s remarks, her own court, or Faerie itself. Rae debated removing the mirror, but there was no one around capable of dealing with an angry queen who would be forcefully brought back to Faerie. What I need is Devlin… which means I need to reach him… which means…

Sorcha leaned closer to the mirror. “I can’t see what books he prefers to read. He stacks them haphazardly rather than shelving them.”

And with that, the High Queen’s attention was gone from Rae, from Faerie, from the crisis that her sleep was causing.

Silently, Rae stepped back into Faerie—hoping that it hadn’t unraveled further still.

The room was lit by several candles, and the scant light was barely enough to make out the area immediately around the sleeping queen. One of the mortals was missing.