Page 97 of Down from the Tower

The sudden terror on their faces is like a reward, and I pulse the shadows in my hands before letting them shoot out and all around me. In the next instant I slip behind them, watching as the guards who were observing the flower panic at how quickly I disappeared.

That should give them a fright.

One keeps snapping his head around. “Theo, he’s gone.”

“I see that, Michael,” a burly guard replies, sheathing his swords again. I shadow hop out of the circle, away from their threat, and watch as they continue to look around for me. It gives me an instant to take in the space.

These are the courtyard gardens Rapunzel took me through when we ran from the castle. It was dark and I was wholly uninterested in whatever grew on the palace grounds. Had I known there would be a fantastical flower that worked as a portal, I would’ve stopped to smell the roses.

But the guards turn back to the flower, staring at the spread petals. “Should we cut it?”

“You want to snip the King’s prized rose?” Theo asks, sounding appalled. He drops his voice, leaning in so, I assume, that I can’t hear but all I do is drift closer in the shadows. “He’ll send you to the Mad Queen himself for that one.”

Interesting.

“But I thought the Mad Queen was furious with him,” the guard insists. “For hiding the flower here.”

“Well she would never know that if Arthur’s men didn’t sneak around until they found something spectacular. Why do you think Modred tried to frighten the princess? She needed to bend to Arthur’s whims. He needs a Queen to stand in solidarity against Wonderland, and he thought he had enough leverage against the King to do it.”

“And Midas,” another guard points out. My brow furrows, wondering why and how these men know so much of the inner workings when this should be top secret information. “We still awaiting orders, Theo?”

“Aye. When it’s time, we’ll attack too. Midas will never know what’s coming until his head hangs from the highest tower.”

My eyes widen. These guards have too much knowledge, and they seem to be against the Golden King, not for him.

No one likes a tyrant ruler.

They mumble for a few more minutes about nothing pressing, and I glance around trying to see where Rapunzel has gone. If she was captured, I imagine the gossiping guards would have had something to say about that. But she doesn’t even come up, and after a few moments something new catches my attention.

I dig my teeth into my lip to keep from groaning. It’s that bewildering noise again, the sounds of the wailing dead that overwhelmed me when they started pulsing towards Tressa.

Maybe Midas does have some sort of control over the dead. He didn’t see me until I allowed it and didn’t appear to notice Modred at all. So what does that make him?

There’s an echoing bang that ricochets across the courtyard, and my eyes glance towards the glowing wall. The sounds are coming from outside the wall, and if spirits can pass through it, they certainly aren’t right now. But traveling over the wall should be just as easy for a ghost, yet they do no such thing. They never have.

One of the guards hisses. “Do you think they can do it?”

“Arthur does,” Theo replies quietly. “He said that the sins of our past follow us through time. Midas has a great many sins. Stealing souls is one of them. The dead are enraged now, and enough spiritual energy can fight against the force of the wall.”

Another guard swallows before speaking as he looks around, terror in his eyes. “If all those spirits break through the wall, are they coming for us?”

Theo shakes his head. “Midas is the target. He’s outlived his usefulness to the Queen, so she gifted him a stone in the last delivery from Camelot. Arthur thinks he’s brought something to kill the King, but it’s just a beacon to call the souls home.”

“I thought Reapers did that,” another breathes.

“Who believes in Reapers?” the first snaps.

“Didn’t see the man who attacked Midas the night the princess died, did you? He came from shadows, and he disappeared in them too. If that isn’t a man of the dead, I don’t know what is.”

An alarm goes off, cutting through whatever else the guards might say. Tressa really is an oddity, and I’ve not heard such a resonating noise in any other Kingdoms I’ve visited. This must be another of Midas’ designs, but it helps to briefly drown out the wailing cries behind the wall.

The guards scatter, leaving only two by the plant, and I can’t help wondering if they were always there, hidden in the garden.

I watch for another moment, waiting to see if they spill any more info but the men go silent, and with a sigh I turn, looking for a stream of golden hair. It’s time to find my princess, and reap the evil here.

25 Rapunzel

Falling into the gardens didn’t go as planned. The flowers I recall seeing aren’t as large as the one I just traveled through in the Red Woods, and the connection through the earth and across the lands makes my stomach roll. It’s kind of like popping out of a hiding place, except the doorway is closed and you have to force yourself the rest of the way. I partially tear through the rosebud, slamming onto the ground on the other side of this bizarre portal.

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