A Tale That Dawned [Book 4 of Selvina's Tale series]

Chapter 37: To the Below

Selvina remembered how angry that young queen had been when Rhiannon had called her childish. It had indeed been an immature reaction. Svala wasn't anything like Rhiannon. She acted on impulse. If she had a tool that could weaken Rhiannon, she'd use it the first chance she could. She wouldn't think of Accolon or Noyr's armies. She'd think only of being the one person who defeated Faeryum's most powerful ruler. It would be another victory to claim for herself; another achievement to boast about.

Selvina looked down the hall once more and, eventually, walked down the stairs into the darkness.

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Rhiannon glided down the halls of her castle, searching. At her side was Queen Svala, frowning, furious, and incessantly declaring how she'd freeze Selvina into a block of ice and have her men chip away at it until she was nothing but chunks.

"You need to pick your handmaidens better, Rhiannon," she said with a smirk. "There's no doubt that she was up to something." She raised her right hand and made it glow blue and white before conjuring wisps of snow that swirled around it. "As soon as she was gone we could use magic again." She then closed her hand into a fist, dispelling the glow and the snow. "We'll have to be careful when we find her. She might have more tricks up her sleeve."

"Which is why we brought guards along," Rhiannon said, eyes ahead.

"How could you be so foolish?" Svala asked with a shake of her head. "You, Rhiannon, of all people, getting outwitted by a simple peasant girl."

"She is not a simple peasant girl."

"Clearly so if she can manage to suppress magic. I'd like to know how she does that."

Rhiannon narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. "I'm sure you would."

After some questioning of passing servants and guards, the empress discovered the general direction Selvina had taken. Many minutes passed before she came down a hall that brought a small chill up her spine. Of all the halls in her castle, she'd have hoped Selvina would never come down this one.

They were soon looking down a darkened hallway with a stairway that descended into shadow. Rhiannon's body tensed.

"Creepy," said Svala with a shudder. "It's fitting, though, for the little vermin that she is. She has nowhere to go now. We have her!"

Rhiannon reached out to stop the queen but Svala was too quick. She ran down the hall, her dress sliding on the ground behind her, and made her hands glow brightly as to light her way down the stairs. Rhiannon could have called out a warning, but decided not to.

Svala was laughing with maniacal glee until, just before stepping into the stairway, she slammed into an unseen wall and was thrown to the ground with a hard thud. Svala, shocked, hurt, and humiliated, cried out in rage as tears ran down her face.

Rhiannon, smiling with delight, approached the fallen queen and put a hand against the opening to the stairway. A ripple of distorted light expanded from her hand and lapped against the edges of the opening. "There is a barrier blocking this stairway, Svala."

The queen rose to her feet and, red-faced and furious, screamed, "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"I tried, but you were far too fast. Such a mighty warrior queen you are, Svala."

The queen growled. "You just wanted to watch me hit the wall!"

Rhiannon shrugged one shoulder. "I part of me wished to know if it was still active. Thank you for showing me that is indeed still functioning properly."

"Next time you run into the wall to test it out!" Svala then placed her own hand on the invisible barrier and watched the air ripple and distort. She pushed against it but her hand was stopped in midair, unable to move any further. "So she didn't come down this way then."