Empress of the Otherworld—Sorcha.
The other woman had gold wings, and she wore a green dress that was far less formal, although its colorful stitching looked intricate and expensive. She watched me with calm gray eyes that held decades of wisdom. Or perhaps centuries, given the immortality of the fae. She stood slightly back from the Empress, as if it weren’t clear enough from the Empress’s gown and crown that she was the one in charge.
Ethan hurried to his feet. Mira and I did the same.
We were in a large, open-air courtyard with Roman-styled columns lining all four sides of it. The tree leaves and flowers in the gardens were sparse and wilted, like they were barely holding onto life. Perhaps they had trouble getting enough sunlight through the light blue protection dome up ahead—the one that I knew surrounded the entire city.
I refocused on the Empress, who was eyeing Ethan in disapproval.
He bowed his head. “Empress Sorcha,” he said.
“King Pendragon,” she replied, and then she glanced at me and Mira, waiting.
I did as Mary had instructed us and curtsied. Hopefully the Empress didn’t notice my legs shaking. “Your Highness,” I said.
Mira curtsied and said the same.
“Gemma,” the Empress said to me, and then she looked to my sister. “Mira.”
The golden-winged woman gave me a small smile of approval, and I stopped holding my breath.
I hadn’t messed up the royal greeting. At least, not terribly enough to cause offense.
“Welcome to the Otherworld,” the golden-winged woman said. “I’m the Empress’s advisor, Aeliana. We’ve been expecting you for quite some time.”
“But you were only told we were coming yesterday,” I said.
“True. However, I’ve known about your visit for longer than that.”
Future sight. It had to be.
Ethan remained focused on the Empress. “Mary said you’d take us to the portal,” he said.
“I will,” she said. “But as I’m sure Mary also told you, the portal is a one-way trip to the prison world.”
“We’re aware.”
“Very well. Then follow me.”
The Empress led us out of the courtyard and up to the roof of the palace. There were marble, Roman-styled buildings on top of it—like a town on top of the roof.
The palace was the tallest point in the city, looking out over the densely packed buildings around it. The buildings closest to the palace were large, sturdy, marble structures. The ones on the outskirts were wood, and they looked like they might topple over at any second.
A few people we passed had wings of a variety of colors and wore stitched clothing like Aeliana. Most had no wings, and they wore gray uniforms that nearly blended into the marble floors and buildings. Red tattoos circled their right biceps, and they kept their gazes down as we passed.
Half-blood servants. The tattoos bound their magic, leaving them at the mercy of the fae.
Selena—the Queen of Wands—was also a half-blood fae. After becoming the Queen of Wands, she’d made a deal with the Empress—an alliance with Avalon in exchange for allowing her to free the half-bloods from their magical chains.
But she’d gotten so caught up in trying to save her best friend Torrence from a goddess that was keeping her captive that she’d yet to return to the Otherworld to free the half-bloods.
According to the witches in Utopia, Selena blamed herself for Torrence getting captured. But Selena was the only person in the world who could use the Holy Wand to free the half-bloods. And as I looked around at the servants we passed—all of them with downturned eyes—I wondered why Selena couldn’t have put someone else in charge of rescuing Torrence so she could free the servants she supposedly cared so much about.
I didn’t want to dislike someone I’d never met—especially not one of the Holy Queens. But how could Selena leave the half-bloods so helpless when she had the power to free them?
Eventually, we made it to the opposite side of the palace’s roof, and the Empress stopped in front of a building that looked like a mausoleum. It was made of marble, and had columns leading to the door.
She reached into a pocket hidden in her skirts and pulled out a black key. She stuck the key into the lock, the key glowed red, like burning coal, and she opened the door.
Aeliana stayed back. “This is as far as I go,” she said. “But before you leave, I have something for you.” She reached into the satchel tied at her side and pulled out two gold coins.
“More portal tokens?” I said, confused. Because the three of