Wystwood

78. The hour of farewells

The magic exploded from Hester. She had Cast a storm within her, and exhaled it out upon the ravaged city. The door was torn from the storeroom, and Min clung to Ada as stone and flesh alike tumbled through the wind before them. Ada watched Hester stand upright within her storm, power spilling out of her like tides from an ocean. Then, the canal began to shift. The waters directly behind Hester frothed and foamed, the wind hitting it so cleanly that it started to part.

A bridge emerged from within the parted canal, slick and dripping and laid across with thick chains. The wind had grown torturously loud, like the cry of some dying animal. Ada was sharply reminded of the seers in the forest, whose terrible shrieks had followed her back down into the valley.

Min grabbed her hand. "Now, Ada! Hester is calling us now!"

With that, Min dragged Ada from the storeroom and they were running towards the canal. Or rather, Ada knew that she was moving her feet, but it seemed as though she was not touching the ground, the wind carrying her like a swallow through the sky. Her dark dress blustered around them, sending sprays of silver water arcing through the air as they crossed the bridge to the tower.

The wind was already fading as they careened onto the island, and Ada looked back in time to see Hester's body crumpling inwards. No more spasms wracked her bones, and her chest neither rose nor fell as her back hit the ground. The wind had left Hester's body and took the air from her lungs with it.

"Hester?" whispered Min, her small voice strangely loud in the sudden silence. Ada could feel the girl's fingers begin to shake between her own, and she squeezed their hands together, feeling fresh tears prick her eyes.

"We've got to get out of the open, Min," said Ada, as bravely as she could. Her heart was hammering, as for all the death she had seen in Wysthaven, she couldn't quite believe Hester had left them.

Min nodded once as the canal rushed back into place, sucking at its mudbanks. Then, together, they passed beneath the nearest archway and approached the Tower of Wysthaven. Its stones were old and crumbling, and a rusted frame ran beneath, less the image of formidable rule when viewed so closely. The entrance into the tower was as empty as the archways, with steps leading up into the shadows beyond. Ada marked the words engraved there as she went to enter. As Above, So Below. She no longer cared to dwell on their haunting presence, but thought coldly that if what waited for her at the top of the tower was as chaotic as what rioted beneath it, then she stood little chance of survival.

She had almost stepped across the threshold when she realised Min was no longer at her side. Ada turned, her stomach clenching, only to see Min was still under the archway, cringing back from the tower as though it held some visceral influence over her. She looked back and recognised what she had missed. The rust beneath the stones came from a skeleton of iron, a shield against fae forged for the pure pain it inflicted upon their bodies.

She winced at the thought of Raeph trapped within the tower. The torture it must have been for him just to climb the steps rising before her now. But even as she tried to spy a safe place to hide Min away, the girl was edging towards the tower, then testing a foot upon the first step. Ada watched, astonished, as Min clenched her teeth and walked fully under the iron eaving.

"How did you..." said Ada, aghast. "Doesn't it hurt?"

"It's not so bad." Min tensed her trembling fingers together and took another step. "I know the feeling of iron. It's more powerful here but I think I can... I think I can manage it."

The roar of a Hound came from across the canal, and, out of time, Ada leapt into the tower after Min. They climbed slowly, Ada marking Min's every step. But, true to her words, Min seemed to be balancing the influence of the iron better with each minute. Ada remembered the iron filings that Florentin had insisted on Min taking for protection from her own powers. It suppressed her magic, but perhaps had created some greater resistance to the metal with its small and steady doses.  A chill came over Ada. She doubted this was ever how Florentin intended the filings to take effect, and silently wished for his forgiveness.

It seemed to take an age to reach the first floor, but eventually the damp stairwell opened onto a vast chamber. A wooden compass was set into the floor, mirroring the round wall, though its centre was blackened and a large area had fallen through. Thin windows illuminated the filigree around a second staircase at the far side of the room, its steps hung thick with cobwebs. Aside from their shallow breaths, the room was eerily quiet.

Ada tested the floor cautiously. Though they were standing far from the hole in the compass, she didn't want to risk any more stones coming loose beneath them. Keeping Min close, Ada edged towards the second stairwell, flinching at every echoing footstep. Cobwebs came loose as they approached, falling away like silken sighs, and small spiders scuttled out from their hideaways.

"Do you need a rest?" Ada asked when Min grasped the bannister, her fingers slipping between its tangled filigree.

"Nu'uh," said Min, focusing on the next flight of stairs. "Almost there."

They continued the climb, the spiralling staircase built tighter than before, making Ada's head spin with a sleep deprived sickness. She tried to count her steps, but lost track somewhere past four hundred. Slits of windows trickled in the light, momentarily blinding her as she stumbled to find the next stone. Once, she stuck out a hand to find the wall, and found instead a crude row of bars. The tightness suddenly made sense as she stared into a prisoner's cell, built narrow but high. A stone had been removed in a bottom corner, and from the ceiling ran a trickle of grey water. Ada kept her hands at her sides for the remainder of the climb.

It was a relief when the stairwell ended, a slim opening forcing them to squeeze, exhausted, into a second chamber. White fae faces lined the wall, silently waiting, every one staring directly at them. Min squeaked and buried her head into Ada's dress. But none of the faces reacted, and as Ada's heartbeat calmed, she looked more closely at the face opposite her. It was not eyes that stared at her, but fine gemstones, and it was not pale flesh set into the walls, but marble crafted so expertly that every line and wrinkle gave the faces a terrible corporeality. Each wore a crown of salt across their brow.

"It's alright," Ada said. She looked around and saw some faces had been worn down, whilst others were gouged and pitted. Some had had their eyes cleanly plucked out. "They're not real."

"Yes they are," Min whispered, refusing to look at the stone-made fae.

Ada shuddered. She wondered if the faces of all previous rulers of Wysthaven were carved here, and if so, which one was the current Lady. She wondered if she, too, would wear a crown of salt, and if her eyes would be as cruel and cold as gemstones.

"Let's leave, Ada," begged Min. "Let's go."

The final stairwell rose above the former, its steps uneven and skewed. Climbing up it felt as though the tower was tilting, or else falling entirely from its seat in the sky. There were no windows. Lichen didn't creep through the stones and a dampness didn't coat the walls. There was only a dry and dreadful darkness.

The stairs ended abruptly in an archway, old and engraved as the ones before had been. A vestibule was built beyond it, four tapestries covering its walls, all torn to tatters. Light leaked in where roof slates had fallen from above, and through the gaps, Ada could see the spire soaring up into a pale sky.

If Hounds had escorted Raeph here, they had taken their first opportunity to leave, for the vestibule was as quiet as holy ground. But despite the silence, there was an undeniable profanity to the room, from its ripped tapestries to the two dark doors closed before them. Neither door had a handle, though a chain was wound through holes carved into each.

Ada looked down at Min, pale and trembling, and knew now was the moment she had been dreading with each step up the tower. She had taken the girl too far already, under the guise of protection when, truthfully, she had none to give. 

For Min's sake, Ada had to break her promise. She had to say goodbye—once and forever.