When we walked through the mirror into the burrow. The packed dirt ceiling trickled lines of dust as Rio passed under it. The never-ending wax from the candles oozed to nothing, snuffing out their lights. Their metal holders rusted until they had holes like gaping wounds. Whatever spindly root threads her ionized field moved over shriveled up. The rot spread out from her, a creeping shadow eating away at the cavern from the inside out.

“What the hell’s going on?” I yanked my forearm away from Rio and rubbed the sore spot where her nails had dug in. “Why do you look like the Tin Man, and why does everything look dead around you?”

“Because that’s what I am!” Rio paused with her back to me, stock still and her fists trembling at her sides. “I am the Lady of Irons. I mean decay and destruction. I ruin everything and everyone near me unless I hold this in. No matter how deep I bury it, they still stare and jeer. Nothing but ridicule and fear. They say I deserve nothing, and it becomes truth.”

Rio’s murky force surrounded me. The edges of my cloak frayed, and the vibrant violet turned dull and moth eaten. My dress’ rich color faded to match the dingy shirt I’d come with. It hadn’t affected anything attached to me, though. When it had grazed Bodb, his beard had singed and smoked. The worst the energy did to me was tint my skin a dark shade of taupe. When she had grabbed me, a magnetized static made my hair stand up. But I didn’t burn.

“Woah, woah. Daire was a jerk, I get that.” I approached her and went deeper into the field. “He’s not worth beating yourself up over.”

“He’s right, though.” She laughed, hollow and self-effacing. The gray cloud expanded. It grazed the edges of my cot and the fabric tore. “He isn’t the first to say such things and he won’t be the last. They all hate me. Even the man I used to love can’t stand to acknowledge me in front of others. How pathetic could I be to fall for that creature’s horrible affection? Now when I can abandon that crutch, a spoiled little wretch has to go and remind me why I needed it to begin with.”

“Rio, look at me.” I touched Rio’s shoulder and her skin was cool on my fingers. She turned down to me and stared, entranced. Everything had lost its color, but my hand stayed solid and alive against her. “Daire’s wrong. They’re scared of you, but if they won’t try to get to know you, they should mind their own business. Your family doesn’t like you, and I know that stings. But they’re not being fair to you either. One uncle kills your mom, your dad shuns you for a new kid, and your other uncle wants you to be his secret sex kitten. You’re better off without all their toxic negativity.”

The gray particles settled and withdrew into her skin as I talked. Her slitted pupils dilated and filled her irises as she leaned in, bringing me back to the early days of Queenie. It was like someone rediscovering the sky after spending years underground. How long had it been since somebody had given her a pep talk, or reaffirmed that she was worth caring about?

“Things are so simple with you.” Rio gave me a wistful sigh. “The way you speak of me I could even win the High King’s seat.”

“Why not?” I had her attention. Pouncing while she was vulnerable might feel dirty, but an opportunity was an opportunity. Daire’s message was clear enough after their conversation during the dance. He couldn’t actually follow through on running and getting those treasures if he couldn’t leave his property. Rio could. “Was I wrong about that?”

“No. I’m capable of campaigning. However, the position is far more challenging than Daire described.” Rio’s energy darkened her complexion but stayed contained. “Bodb often confided in me about how he labored to keep peace between everyone. Even with the edicts in place that bind the Aos Si from killing each other, everyone is so bored, they must scheme and complain to pass the time. A High King or High Queen must balance between pleasing their subjects and maintaining a firm rule.”

“I still don’t see a problem. That means you understand what the job needs.”

“I would have control of the Key, the ability to grant the Aos Si access to your world. Do you know how many sycophants and opportunists that attracts?”

“You called out Bodb’s trash. If you can take him on, you can handle anybody.”

“And convincing the council to vote for me despite my malady?” Rio went to my cot and sank into it, her long legs elegantly sprawled in front of her. “What miracle solution would you have for that?”

“How many people have to vote for you?”

“The majority of five.”

“Okay, so you need to win over three of them. Not so hard.” I plopped next to her. “It’s all about making them see you in the right way. Aren’t your powers supposed to be something special that only you have? If they were really that bad, wouldn’t you get rid of them?”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“I couldn’t if I tried.” She mulled over her palms where the last of the gray lingered. “I gave up so much for this power to be able to avenge my mother. We shared such a simple happiness in the wilds together. Then Aengus tore it away. My father disowned me. The rest of them shunned me, taking their side.” Her fingers clenched, her nails digging crescents. “For years, I scavenged and scraped my survival out among the forest. I searched until I found a way to bind myself with the one thing that could set me apart and make them respect me. It only made them jeer more. But to tell it true, I’m not sure I would get rid of it, even if I could. It was the one thing that was always mine, the one part they could never take away.”

“So tell them that.” I pried her hands open and held them there. “It taught you the value of hard work, how to turn a bad situation into an asset. You faced all that adversity and it made you strong. Your magic is part of that, no matter where it came from.”

“They don’t tend to see it that way.”

“Your ex left a ton of people to die, then trapped the rest in a giant prison. Is having a special power worse than that?”

“Point taken. Still…” She glanced away and around at her cavern. The candles flickered as if nothing had burnt them down, and the packed walls stayed solid and whole. It was like the iron field had never even touched them. “I have always managed better by keeping to myself. I was happier then, before I became involved with the rest of them. Even happier after you became my companion. I don’t want to jeopardize it by going on a fruitless chase. I want to find the contentedness I once had again, that peace.”

“You know, all the reasons you don’t want to campaign is exactly why you’d be amazing.” I held her eyes with mine as I said it. Conviction overcame any guilty nausea. The Riona sitting beside me then could do anything if she only reached for it.

Rio’s thumb moved along the top of my hand. I’d left mine on top of hers. Warmth spread up my chest and into my cheeks. Her heart-shaped face had a tenderness to it I’d never seen and her mouth curved up at its corners into a permanent smile when she relaxed. I curled my fingers between hers.

We were in a good place, right? She’d shown a lot of progress treating me more like an equal than a prisoner. Stockholm Syndrome or not, I’d gotten to know her and we got along. She hated Daire and he didn’t want me telling her anything about his plan to bust me out. But the whole High Queen scheme was a way to bring her in on it so I wouldn’t have to keep hiding. We could work together and somehow stay in touch. “Plus, that way you could take me home.”

Rio’s frown spoiled her serenity. She tightened her grip and squeezed tight like I’d slip away. “You still don’t like it here?”

“It’s not as bad now, but I miss my job, my friends, my mom.” I gulped down the lump in my throat. If I walked into Nico and Nate’s place and came face to face with Mom, how bad would it cut when she didn’t recognize me? “I still want to go back. And if you won, you’d be able to help me get there, right?”

“You’re right. I would sorely miss your companionship, though. It has been a boon.”

“You could still visit. We could start new without all the kidnapping baggage. And you’d be making the rules, so nobody could say you couldn’t.”

“What you’re asking is as impossible as convincing Bodb to send you back to your life.” Rio paused, focusing on our locked hands for a solid minute. She wet her mouth in the way someone does when they’re thinking of how to phrase bad news. “And there’s something else you should know…”

“Yeah? What is it?”

Rio’s shoulders went rigid, her easy posture going stiff. She turned to the hall of mirrors.

“Everything okay, Rio?”

“Someone calls.”

“Who?”

“It’s Bodb’s magic summoning me to figure out the particulars of the deal we started.” Rio stood and her skin brightened to its normal white glow, her hair lightening to the color of strawberries instead of apples. She pulled her hands out of mine and smoothed back my bangs, fussing with them as she spoke. “Negotiating will go on for quite some time so I can seal up any loopholes he could use against us. I won’t be around for a long while.”

“Be careful.” I bit back the urge to ask her to stay. My gut twisted with the silly sixth sense she wouldn’t come back the same. She was grown, though. She could take care of herself. “Don’t let him catch you in anything.”

“Rest assured, I will return and we can resume our discussion. Until then, feel free to roam my woods as you please. The boulder will be light enough for you to roll away now that I have dispelled its wards. Keep a good eye out. If anyone approaches you, show them this.” Rio took my forearm and rolled her chain bracelet—one of the pair she always wore—from her wrist onto mine. The muscles in her wrist tensed like she had to pry the thing off. When it slipped onto my hand I hardly noticed the extra weight.

“What’s this thing do?” I held it up and twisting it around. The dark links absorbed the light shining on them, staying a matte shade.

“It’s a gift.” She rubbed where the bracelet used to be. One moment her skin had blue and yellow bruises, then her fingers ran over the spot and the marks disappeared. “It shows that you’re mine. It will protect you.”

“Like a property marker?”

“It serves as that kind of protection from others, yes, but my intended meaning is different. Once I watched two maidens about to be married, but to men on opposite ends of Eire. They weaved identical tokens for each other and exchanged them. Their hope was that after they had gone their separate ways, the other need only to look upon the woven band they wore to know the other still thought of them.” She held up her other arm that wore the other chain bracelet. “I think of it like that.”

“I can deal with that.” I rubbed a couple of the links, the metal making my skin buzz.

She left me with a quick goodbye, then a warm peck on my forehead and freshly finger-brushed hair. I watched as she walked into the boar-headed mirror and disappeared behind the black curtain.

The glass turned to a flat brown void behind her.