been because they’d seen it. Even if I’d been near the portals in Raqia, it would still be at least four days by train before I could reach their realm in Tsarskoe Selo.
I walked down shore with Love for a bath just after dusk. The waning moon had already set, but as I started to undress, I caught the glinting lights of the rusalki out of the corner of my eye.
“Do you see that?” I waded into the lake still in my chemise and glanced back at Love. “Those lights?”
Love squinted at the water as if she thought she’d seen something but couldn’t be sure. At last she shook her head.
“Are you there?” I called out.
“Who are you talking to?”
“The rusalki.”
Love looked perturbed. “Don’t tell me there are spirits only you can see in Heaven, too.”
I opened my mouth to answer but a sudden tug pulled me under. The swirling shapes of the rusalki surrounded me, and the water flowed with the sound of their musical voices. The echoing melodies were so captivating that the meaning of the words—if there were words—was lost, and I listened so raptly I almost forgot to hold my breath. Through the mesmerizing sound, I heard Love scream my name just as the rusalki dragged me deep into the lake. I tried to fight them, but the pressure of the water and their grabbing hands was too great, and everything around me began slipping into darkness.
I emerged gradually from a comforting limbo, at first able to hear but not to make sense of what I heard, then aware of whispers discussing my well-being but unable to see. At last, as someone draped a blanket over me, I opened my eyes.
I lay soaking wet on a floor of cold black stone that shone like polished onyx. I rose onto my knees and pulled the blanket around me. A half-circle of slight, dark-haired syla clad in red gossamer sheaths stood around me. The tremendous jeweled platinum columns of the Midnight Court rose high overhead, holding up nothing but a vast, star-filled sky.
Apparently, the Unseen World had portals of its own.
“ Padshaya Koroleva .” The syla genuflected, and one of them took my hand and drew me to my feet. “Syla are sorry we must use water cousins to bring Fallen Queen to Polnochnoi Sud .”
Mystified, I let her lead me to the velvet ivory chaise longue on the daïs flanked by twelve silver chairs etched with peculiar symbols in the language of the Unseen. This had once been the seat of Aeval’s power, before her quarrel with the syla had prompted her to seek a new court to rule.
Anxious to learn why they’d gone to such lengths to bring me here, I perched awkwardly on the edge of the chaise—in part because I didn’t want to ruin the plush fabric with the damp blanket, and in part because sitting even symbolically on the throne of the Unseen World made me uncomfortable. “What is it you know about Ola? The rusalki said you couldn’t see because she’d closed her eyes. What does that mean?”
“Syla see through eyes of queen’s daughter. We see what Little Queen sees, until she closes eyes. Little Queen is afraid.”
“Of what? What made her close her eyes?”
“The syla see what Fallen Queen sees.”
Their cryptic speech was maddening. “Please, just tell me what you saw.”
They shared some kind of silent communication before one spoke again. “We see Little Queen take the flower of the fern.”
I nearly jumped from my seat in vexation. This was the same vague pronouncement they’d been making since they’d first seen Ola when she was three weeks old.
“ Tsvetok paporotnika is made of element you share. It comes from Heaven, from First Queen. Little Queen makes a…” She paused and looked at her sisters. “Ah, yes. Little Queen makes a protection of this element. She cannot be touched. You see this when you sleep.”
“The dreams.” I leaned forward on the seat. “The column of flame. It’s protecting her? It’s real?”
“It is element of flower, element of Little Queen. It is her
I walked down shore with Love for a bath just after dusk. The waning moon had already set, but as I started to undress, I caught the glinting lights of the rusalki out of the corner of my eye.
“Do you see that?” I waded into the lake still in my chemise and glanced back at Love. “Those lights?”
Love squinted at the water as if she thought she’d seen something but couldn’t be sure. At last she shook her head.
“Are you there?” I called out.
“Who are you talking to?”
“The rusalki.”
Love looked perturbed. “Don’t tell me there are spirits only you can see in Heaven, too.”
I opened my mouth to answer but a sudden tug pulled me under. The swirling shapes of the rusalki surrounded me, and the water flowed with the sound of their musical voices. The echoing melodies were so captivating that the meaning of the words—if there were words—was lost, and I listened so raptly I almost forgot to hold my breath. Through the mesmerizing sound, I heard Love scream my name just as the rusalki dragged me deep into the lake. I tried to fight them, but the pressure of the water and their grabbing hands was too great, and everything around me began slipping into darkness.
I emerged gradually from a comforting limbo, at first able to hear but not to make sense of what I heard, then aware of whispers discussing my well-being but unable to see. At last, as someone draped a blanket over me, I opened my eyes.
I lay soaking wet on a floor of cold black stone that shone like polished onyx. I rose onto my knees and pulled the blanket around me. A half-circle of slight, dark-haired syla clad in red gossamer sheaths stood around me. The tremendous jeweled platinum columns of the Midnight Court rose high overhead, holding up nothing but a vast, star-filled sky.
Apparently, the Unseen World had portals of its own.
“ Padshaya Koroleva .” The syla genuflected, and one of them took my hand and drew me to my feet. “Syla are sorry we must use water cousins to bring Fallen Queen to Polnochnoi Sud .”
Mystified, I let her lead me to the velvet ivory chaise longue on the daïs flanked by twelve silver chairs etched with peculiar symbols in the language of the Unseen. This had once been the seat of Aeval’s power, before her quarrel with the syla had prompted her to seek a new court to rule.
Anxious to learn why they’d gone to such lengths to bring me here, I perched awkwardly on the edge of the chaise—in part because I didn’t want to ruin the plush fabric with the damp blanket, and in part because sitting even symbolically on the throne of the Unseen World made me uncomfortable. “What is it you know about Ola? The rusalki said you couldn’t see because she’d closed her eyes. What does that mean?”
“Syla see through eyes of queen’s daughter. We see what Little Queen sees, until she closes eyes. Little Queen is afraid.”
“Of what? What made her close her eyes?”
“The syla see what Fallen Queen sees.”
Their cryptic speech was maddening. “Please, just tell me what you saw.”
They shared some kind of silent communication before one spoke again. “We see Little Queen take the flower of the fern.”
I nearly jumped from my seat in vexation. This was the same vague pronouncement they’d been making since they’d first seen Ola when she was three weeks old.
“ Tsvetok paporotnika is made of element you share. It comes from Heaven, from First Queen. Little Queen makes a…” She paused and looked at her sisters. “Ah, yes. Little Queen makes a protection of this element. She cannot be touched. You see this when you sleep.”
“The dreams.” I leaned forward on the seat. “The column of flame. It’s protecting her? It’s real?”
“It is element of flower, element of Little Queen. It is her
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