“Ah, but they were proud of you. That was clear to see.”
She hadn’t believed him either. She’d always been an oddity among her family. What kind of Filipino didn’t like rice? Wasn’t that what her mother always said? Yes, they’d called her a bookworm, but the label had lacked all the charm Simith’s voice infused on it. They’d never been cruel about her separate interests, but she’d always sensed their bewilderment. She liked things they didn’t connect with. Literature? Philosophy? Why read about life when you could live it?
How could they be proud of her for something they didn’t understand? Perhaps that was the worst part of losing them—not knowing if they’d ever truly seen her for who she was. The question lived inside her, forever unanswered.
A wet cough from the wagon’s rear interrupted her grim thoughts. Katie moved to Relle’s side immediately, retrieving a nearby cup as she went. Jessa followed.
“Hey sweet, are you awake?” Katie brushed her cheek with a hand.
“Thirsty,” Relle murmured.
“I’ve got the water right here. Do you want to try and sit up this time?”
“I’m not sure I can.”
“Here. Let me help you.”
She held out the cup for Jessa to take while she maneuvered herself behind Relle to brace her against her chest. The light from the opposite end of the wagon touched Relle’s face. Jessa nearly dropped the cup. The lines of her Fae features looked even sharper, hollowed in a way that implied she’d lost weight, her dark skin and hair lusterless. But it was the blindfold that made Jessa’s breath stutter. The fabric was stiff with blood.
“It helps her remember to not open her eyes,” Katie explained softly, extending her hand for the cup. “We’re trying to avoid more blood loss.”
Jessa managed to keep her fingers steady to pass the water back to Katie. The way her friend spoke of Relle’s condition as if sharing it fractured her heart.
“Are you in a lot of pain, Relle?” Jessa asked after the other had managed a few sips.
Relle had to catch her breath before she spoke, but a slight smirk found its way to her lips. “No worse than when I…ate some of Katie’s cooking at one of her parties.”
Katie’s mouth dropped open. “Hey, my kebobs are the best! You even said so, and Fae can’t lie, right?”
“Oh yes, that.” She swallowed with a slight wince. “That was the truth. It was the best burned-on-the outside, raw-on-the-inside lamb I ever tasted.”
“Tricky Fae. If it was so bad, then how come you ate six of them?”
Relle smiled weakly. “You stood at the grill the whole time. It was my only…only excuse to stand there too.”
Katie’s lips pressed together. “Well, then we’re both idiots. I only stayed by the grill because that’s where you were.”
Jessa’s smile curdled when Relle’s chuckle became a rattling cough. Katie had a blood-stained cloth at the ready and dabbed at her mouth.
“Let’s have you lay back down,” she said, easing Relle off her shoulder so she could recline again. “That seems to take the pressure off.”
“Have I mentioned lately how much I hate…the iron in here?”
“No, you love iron,” Katie admonished. “Iron is helping you fight the curse.”
“My hands are numb. I think the stuff is fighting me along with it. Jessa.” She tilted her head in Jessa’s direction. “Any chance the fairies have…moved away from the Jaded Grove?”
It pained her to see the hopeful look Katie cast her way. “The opposite, I’m afraid. There have been some developments.”
Toward the end of her explanation, the Troll King and his general entered the wagon.
“I’d ask your pardon for the intrusion, humans.” Seshi crouched beside a cloth sack stashed in that corner and pulled free what looked like a lump of knitting. “But since this wagon is ours anyway, I’ll skip the formalities.”
Humans? How did she know…?
Jessa leveled an accusing stare at Katie.
She shrugged. “What? I had to say something. My ears kind of gave us away.”
Drokeh came forward. “How fares your Fae companion?”
“Well enough to answer for herself,” Relle managed.
“Gather your strength. We may need to move soon.”
“So we’ve been told.”
Behind him, General Seshi shook out the yarn bundles, touched something around her neck, and spoke a string of soft words. The snarls straightened, shifting and stretching. Blackbirds took shape and flapped their wings.
Jessa decided she would never get used to seeing magic at work.
“What are those?” Katie asked softly.
A pair alit on the King’s clawed hands. He lifted them toward the entrance and they flew from his fingers. “Messages to have our army move young and elderly farther into the network of caves.”
Simith climbed in a moment later. His eyes didn’t look right. They held a distant glaze, as if he’d been blindsided by something he hadn’t seen coming.
Alarmed, Jessa went to his side. “What’s wrong?” The wrinkle of confusion in his brow had her adding, “Besides everything with the fairies.”
A hint of wryness eased the pall in his gaze. “If we have more and greater enemies than that, I don’t care to know of them just now.”
“That’s not what I mean. You seem…” But she read the reason behind his hollow look. Fury burned hot in her chest. She glanced around him. His dad wasn’t out there anymore, but it didn’t matter. “He blamed you for what’s happened?”
Simith’s gaze shuttered. “It’s of little consequence in this dire moment.”
Jessa almost argued, but stopped herself. They weren’t alone in here. He wouldn’t want to air all that baggage in front of people. She was the same way.
Still, she couldn’t let whatever ugly thing his dad put in his head stay there unaddressed. Things like that worked their way into the mind like splinters.
She motioned him close, and Simith leaned down. “In case it matters,” she murmured by his ear, “I don’t blame you.”
Simith shifted a few inches back to regard her, his eyes softening. “It matters a great deal,” he whispered, “though I can’t pretend to understand why.”
Her lips flattened. “Then you haven’t been paying attention.”
“Have I not?” He smiled. “Most unreliable of me.”
“I agree. I should flog you in outrage.”
His eyes widened. “My lady is most harsh.”
“That’s right. Not sweet at all.”
His gaze warmed, drifted over her face and lingered high on her cheekbones. His hand twitched by his side, and her skin recalled the touch of his fingertips gently sweeping the glamour into place. Like the strokes of a paintbrush.
Someone pointedly cleared their throat, and they turned away from each other to find everyone watching them. Hot embarrassment swarmed Jessa, though they hadn’t been doing anything wrong. Unless that counted as flirting. Had it? Was that wrong? The concern on Katie’s face sure made it seem that way.
Simith moved a step forward, drawing the stares to him. “My father has gone to warn the other hamlets so they might escape forced recruitment.”
Drokeh nodded. “Good. The fewer compelled to join them, the better.” He set a hard look on Simith. “But know this: Though I empathize with your people’s plight, I must instruct my soldiers to treat them as they would any enemy. Regardless of the compulsion on your true names, I will not cripple my army with doubt at their last stand.”
The lines of strain around Simith’s eyes deepened, and Jessa knew he was thinking of his mother. He offered a nod. “I understand.”
“Can I ask something?” Katie said from her place beside Relle. “Maybe this is a stupid question, but is there some way all the pixies can just change their true names? Because that would solve literally every problem we have with these fairies.”
Simith shook his head. “True names are imprinted on each of u
s from birth. I could not exchange mine for a different one, just as I cannot swap my soul from this body into another.”
“So, it’s impossible?” Katie pushed. “Even with all the magic in this world?”
“It is through magic we are bound to our names. As you say, changing it is impossible.”
Relle stirred, inclining the fingers resting on her stomach. “That’s not entirely true.” The words came on a thin rasp. She worked to clear her throat, the only sound in a space gone completely silent. “There might be a way, but it’s…dangerous to go looking for this power. Maybe more dangerous than fighting fairies.”
In two strides, Simith reached her and knelt at her feet. “If it can free my people from servitude, I would know it.”
“Deep in the Jaded Grove,” she whispered, “there is a creature locked away by the Fae for crimes even they called cruel. Banished ages ago to the Forgotten Vale.”
The anticipation glowing in Seshi’s eyes dimmed. “We have no time for children’s stories,” she told her king. “The lich of the Forgotten Vale is nothing more than myth.”
“What’s a lich?” Katie asked.
“A wraith,” Simith answered. “A creature made of mist and nightmare. They did exist once,” he shot a quelling look at Seshi, who scoffed, “but we thought them all destroyed.”
“Before they became wraiths, these outcasts were powerful Fae,” Relle said. “Magic dissolved their bodies and shackled their power. They can only use it when they make a bargain with someone.”
His manner less skeptical than his general’s, Drokeh said, “If they were Fae, wouldn’t the curse have killed them along with the rest?”
“Yes, but the lich of the Forgotten Vale exists in a world...separate from this one. A punishment the Fae made especially for it which, ironically, saved it from the curse.”
A shiver traced its way down Jessa’s spine. “In other words, this thing is so dangerous they made a special cage for it. That doesn’t sound like something that would help us.”
“It’s powerful enough to wipe away all pixie names.” Relle paused for breath, the air crackling in her chest. “But you would have to…bargain with it. Granny said it likes games. Challenges. If you win, it’ll grant anything. Lose and…” She broke off, wheezing for air.
“Go slowly, Relle.” Katie helped her to take another sip of water. “Keep it to a whisper, okay?”
Relle nodded, easing onto her back again.
“I can guess the consequences of losing,” Simith said. “If one fails the challenge, their life is forfeit.”
“No.” Relle’s voice was barely audible. “There is no time in the Forgotten Vale. It would keep you forever, a plaything to torment at whim.”
Simith set his jaw. “How does one reach this vale?”
“It’s a day’s journey from our doorway,” Relle said. “There is a soundless clearing and a lake upon which the doorway sits. Be careful of that lake. It’s not empty.”
Jessa swiped a hand over her face. “But the Jaded Grove is blocked by the legion until they begin their attack.”
“Unless they were lured away,” King Drokeh said quietly.
Simith met the other’s bright gaze and blanched. “You cannot.”
General Seshi must’ve read her king’s intention as well for she hissed between her teeth. “Sire, tell me you do not consider what I think you are. To bring our army out in the open—”
He raised a hand for silence. “If given the chance, would you undertake this task, Sun Fury? Would you risk eternal torment for victory against our shared enemy?”
Simith didn’t hesitate, his hands curling into fists with the force of his answer. “I have been a source of torment to others for many years. It’s fate that I should use myself as collateral to bring relief instead.”
Drokeh acknowledged this with a slow nod. “Then you shall have that chance.” He turned to Seshi, who looked close to bursting with all she wanted to say. “I know your reservations, General, and I share them, but without the pixies the fairies cannot win. If they were freed and joined us to repel them, we could end this war with a single battle. A single defeat. Think of it,” he pressed when she drew breath to speak. “We cannot hold their forces at bay alone, no matter what occurs.”
“But to draw the legion from the Jaded Grove by posing ourselves on an open field of battle…” She didn’t say the rest, as if even uttering the words was a betrayal to her soldiers.
Drokeh rested his hands on his knees, palms up. He stared into them. “Our army will fall regardless. Ten years of attrition foretold its demise. The only chance for victory—for survival—lies in wresting the fairies’ forces from them. There is no other strategy.”
Her jaw worked, but she didn’t argue. Her glowing gaze was scorching as she turned it on Simith. “You saved our lives last night. You rescued my sovereign when I could not, and though you have my gratitude, you do not have my trust.” She unsheathed her broad blade, set it flat across her palms, and offered it to Drokeh. “I ask your leave to be discharged from my duties in your army, Sire.”
Simith’s breath caught and Jessa’s mouth fell open. Did she really mean to quit like this? Right when her soldiers needed her? The Troll King didn’t appear taken aback like the rest of them. With reverence, he lifted the blade she offered and held it up between them. “I grant you this leave and do so discharge you.” He set the weapon back across her palms. “Reclaim your post when your mission is complete.”
“Mission,” Simith repeated. “I don’t understand.”
Seshi slammed her blade back into its sheath. “It means I have no intention of allowing you to go off on your own, carrying the fate of my people with you. The fairies surround their forces with sneaks and spies. If this is truly the only way, then I will ensure you make it to this Forgotten Vale.”
“Us,” Jessa said quietly. “I’m going too.”
Simith’s gaze snapped to her at the same time Katie blurted, “No, you’re not!”
“I have to,” she told them both. “You know our situation. We have to stay together.”
“She may be right,” Relle said in a regretful whisper. “The vale is in a place apart from this one. Crossing into it separately would be dangerous for both. And there’s also…” She paused, though not from physical discomfort this time.
“What?” Katie prompted.
“The lich does not always accept every bargain. It has…preferences. A pixie might not interest it as much as a maker of verse.”
Jessa swallowed, her throat dry. “It…likes poets?”
“It likes dreamers.”
Simith rose, his face as hard. He stared down at Relle. “You would have us use her as bait?”
Katie slit her eyes at him. “Easy there, pixie-boy. No one said that.”
“It’s not an unfair comparison,” Relle admitted. “The lich dwells in a prison, but it’s a prison that is entirely in its possession. It can accept or reject a bargain as its will. Without Jessa, you may go there for nothing.”
Simith turned to Jessa, but she looked away from him. She already knew what he would say, the conflict in his eyes as evident as his remorse. Yes, she’d been dragged into problems that weren’t technically her own, but there was no point in regretting the situation. With or without her, he would go into a realm where a terrifying predator lurked. The odds of him making it out dwindled to nothing if he entered with half his strength, or worse, if the lich refused him entirely. There was no choice here at all and she preferred he didn’t pretend one existed.
Jessa approached General Seshi instead. “I’ll agree to be your bait on one condition.”
The corner of her stern mouth lifted. “Name it.”
“We have to make one stop along the way.”
Standing alone beneath the Jaded Grove’s canopy, Jessa wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans and tried to ignore the sensation that the trees watched her.
They’d waited until nightfall when the trolls could emerge f
rom Hollow Hill to make their move. The knitted blackbirds the king sent out after their discussion had done their job. By the time Simith and General Seshi scouted the area leading into the forest, the legion was already moving out, clearing the way for their passage.
That didn’t mean they were entirely safe. According to Simith, the fairies had a rearguard to worry about, one that could find their tracks if they weren’t careful. General Seshi had left Jessa here in order to loop back and ensure they hadn’t been followed. Still, hours had passed since they’d arrived and Jessa hoped nothing pursued them—nothing except the trees’ invisible eyes.
She wiped her hands again and stared up at the shadow-enshrouded tree before her. No matter what else happened, at least they’d made it to the doorway that led back to Michigan. Soon enough she’d be dangling herself as bait to some unknown terror, but for now she let herself immerse in the relief of knowing her friends would be safe at home.
Not a moment too soon, either. They hadn’t been able to take the wagon with them, stealth and speed being of necessity. Despite wrapping Relle in iron chains, her deterioration had accelerated the moment she’d left its confines. Simith’s wings were a blur as he’d raced ahead with Relle in his arms, his teeth gritted against the iron’s abrasive touch. The rest of them had followed as quickly as was possible through the dense foliage on the ground.
“I’m coming back for you,” Katie had said before climbing up, her whip-sharp tone daring Jessa to argue. “As soon as Relle is settled, I’m coming back.”
Jessa had managed to convince her to wait at least a day, and to turn around if it looked like everything had gone wrong.
Katie had pulled her into a fierce hug. “If anything happens to you, I’m going to rip that pixie’s wings off and beat him with them.”
“Katie, he’s not doing this to be selfish. Tons of lives are at stake.”
“I know that, it’s just…” Some of her anger had deflated. “I’m worried that you think his problems are yours because of this link. You’re all wrapped up in each other, and you only met a few days ago.”
Jessa had fidgeted with a belt loop on her jeans. “It’s not like that between us.”
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