by J. A. Curtis
Plus, Kris wouldn’t be able to crack Dramian in so short a time.
“I’ll see what I can do,” I said. It wasn’t a lie. I planned to think on it further and consider, but part of me suspected all I could do was prepare to have a better response on hand the next time she asked.
Kris studied me with a penetrating gaze. “Let me know. I’ll go find Dramian.”
She left the tent, and I cursed myself. She suspected. I should have known I couldn’t fool Kris. Her people reading skills were better than anyone I knew.
“My lady?” Caelm’s voice distracted me out of my thoughts.
“Come in,” I said.
He entered, nervousness etched on his face. “I think Her Majesty may be ready to talk to you.”
She was ready to talk to me?
Caelm, who took Chels her meals regularly, was the only one who had any contact with the queen. Still, I didn’t care for the implication that I was only waiting around to be summoned.
“You can tell Chels, I’ll see when I can fit her into my schedule,” I replied.
But Caelm didn’t leave. He stood, his hands clasped behind him, in a nervous silence.
I sighed. “What is it?”
“She’s meant to lead us, my lady.”
“That’s what you said about me.”
“You both are.”
I glanced away and stared at the burnt manor. “She’s not what we thought, Caelm.”
“Beg your pardon, my lady, but neither were you. Perhaps you might try getting along?”
If anyone else had asked, I would have told them to go away, but this was Caelm. The boy who had always believed in me. Steady, dependable Caelm. The boy who I was pretty sure didn’t have one selfish bone in his body.
“You can tell Chels I’ll visit her after dinner,” I said.
Hope sparked in his eyes, and he bowed. “Yes, my lady. Thank you, my lady.”
As promised, I entered Chels’s tent after dinner. I’d asked Caelm to stand guard outside. If he was listening in on our conversation, hopefully, I’d make more of an effort to play nice.
She sat cross-legged on her bed, a half-eaten plate of food set on her blankets. She wore sweats, no makeup and had her hair pulled back in a simple ponytail. Her lips pressed in a line when I entered, and she glanced toward the tent wall.
“You made everyone hate me,” she said.
“I showed them the truth, that you are unfit to lead.”
“I’ll never win them back.”
This girl was so different from the imposing faerie queen I often saw in my visions.
“Do you want to?” I asked.
“You know what I want. If I’m unfit to lead, why don’t you take me home?”
“So you can go back to what? Ordering others to bash innocent kids’ heads in when they tick you off?”
She faced me, her brows drawn together. “Who had their head bashed in?”
My arms shook, my hands balling into fists. She had the nerve to sit there and pretend she didn’t know what I was talking about?
“Do you think people want you back, Chels? They are happy when you’re gone. The kids at your school. It's like a breath of fresh air to them.”
Chels’s eyes widened. “That’s not true.”
A disparate laugh climbed my throat, almost bursting out. “Oh, but it is. If I am certain about anything in all this, it is that I did them a service by bringing you here.”
She shrank back. “My family wants me back.”
“You don’t deserve them,” I snarled with a ferociousness that surprised even me.
Chels flinched like I had struck her.
“You’re a faerie, Chels,” I said. “You stole them from a human. They’re not your family.”
Tears glistened in her eyes. “That’s not true. Why are you saying such horrible things?”
“It’s time you faced the truth.” I turned away, an unexpected emotion rising in me. “It’s time we both did.”
“Y-you were raised by humans too?” she asked.
I nodded, my eyes burning. “They’re not ours, Chels. They never were.” I swallowed, then forced myself to turn back. “All this, everything we did, was to save your life. From them. Those who keep trying to hunt you down. The Fomori. And look at you. You’re no queen.”
“I don’t want to be a faerie,” Chels whispered.
Didn’t she see? It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter what she wanted. It didn’t matter what either of us wanted.
“But you are,” I said.
Her hands twisted in her blankets, her face a mask of fear and anguish. “You say that with such confidence. How can you know for sure?”
“I have visions of the past. I saw the night my past life switched you with the human baby. Your name, Chelsea Herrington, was written on the tag—”
“Your past life?”
I sighed and sat down. “Let me explain what it means to be a faerie.”
26
Dead Man’s Cliff Reprise
Arius
“Remember Arius, others value steadiness and consistency.”—Nuada
THE CRUNCH OF FOOTSTEPS across the dry needles coating the forest floor signaled the approach of my relief. I pushed off of the trunk and stretched muscles that had grown stiff over hours of inaction.
“Not much to report,” I said to Docina when the footsteps stopped. “Dramian got back from watch about an hour ago. Everything has been quiet.”
I turned to face her and froze. Mina stood there, studying me.
“You set up a watch?” she asked. “On Dramian?”
“You told Chels we would keep a close eye on them.”
Her brows drew together. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
My shoulders shrugged. “I didn’t want you to think I was doubting you, and I wanted you to be able to deny it in case Dramian suspected.”
I’d set the watch up between only Docina, Earlana, and myself.
“I didn’t want to cause more problems for you,” I added.
She nodded. “I demanded Earlana tell me what was going on. I’d noticed her disappearing into the woods. Don’t blame her. You know she doesn’t hold up well when questioned.”
I grimaced. It was true, but the girl’s ability to project thoughts was useful. I liked the idea of having an instant report in my head in case something went wrong.
“Of course not,” I answered.
She stared out through the trees toward Dramian’s camp. “Have you noticed anything suspicious?”
I sighed. “No. Dramian and everyone else have acted normal. Although we haven’t been able to observe those outside of camp. They’re too scattered, and there are too few of us.”
The wind rustled her hair as she stared out through the trees before she returned her gaze to me. “I’m going to take Chels to Dead Man’s Cliff,” she said. “I want you to come with me.”
“You sure you don’t want to take Palon?” I asked.
“Palon can’t scout out potential attacks from long distances,” Mina said, annoyance coating her voice.
She was right. Taking the queen out of the bounds of the Haven could be dangerous, and I was her best bet for spotting enemies. It’d be safer if I went along.
“Fine,” I said. “When are you going?”
“Now,” she said.
We headed back for the Haven, walking in silence. A chilled breeze whistled through the trees.
“I invited Dramian to come,” she said finally. “Diplomacy and all that.”
Dramian. Why wouldn’t she?
“Are you sure he’s not still allied with Margus?” I asked.
“I’m not sure of anything. Stay on your toes.”
I grunted. With Dramian, I was always extra alert. We picked up Chels and walked in silence to where Dramian waited. Mina released her griffin and climbed up onto its back. I pulled myself up behind her.
“Um, no. I don’t think so. There’s no way I’m riding with him.” Chels glared at u
s, her arms folded.
Dramian gave a mock bow. “My lady, I can assure you, my services are among the most reliable in the area. Ask Mina, we’ve flown together often with no mishaps.”
I frowned. Letting Chels ride with Dramian could be the same as handing her over to Margus. We couldn’t let that happen. But that meant I’d have to fly with Dramian. That wasn’t happening. All the fires of the underworld would burn me to ash before I got on that dragon.
“I’ll ride with him,” Mina said. “Chels you ride with Arius on my griffin.”
Before I could object, she’d dismounted and stepped up to a smirking Dramian. His dragon appeared next to the griffin. He grabbed Mina about the waist and helped her onto the dragon, then crawled up behind her.
“Ahem.” I glanced down, and Chels held an expectant hand up to me. Holding back a growl, I took her hand and hauled her up in front of me. Her ponytail slapped my face, forcing me to spit hair from my mouth.
Disgusting.
I rested my hands on her hips only because I figured Mina wouldn’t like it if I let the queen tumble off midflight. Dramian’s arms wrapped around Mina, holding her snuggly against his body.
“Hey! Don’t squeeze so tight,” Chels complained, shifting in front of me.
“Just trying to make sure you’re secure, Your Majesty.” I tried to hide the bitterness in my voice by smoothing it into a more formal tone.
“We all comfortable?” Dramian’s cheery voice asked.
The dragon’s wings spread wide and took off, lifting them into the sky.
Mina’s griffin took flight next, rising to match the dragon’s pace. The takeoff was smooth and even, despite Chels’s gasp when the griffin’s wing caught air and soared upward.
Even with it pulled back, Chels’s hair was much too long to be sitting behind during flight. Strands of hair constantly accosted my face, and I let go of her waist long enough to shove as much as possible into the back of her shirt. Chels didn’t even respond. She sat stiff, clinging onto the griffin, as if she thought any moment she might tumble off.
Dramian held Mina, his face pressed close to hers. Occasionally, his lips brushed across her ear as he’d say something to her.
His eyes flicked to me, and then they closed, a smile of pleasure on his face.
I averted my gaze.
If we were on land, my golem would have ground him to dust by now. But there was nothing I could do in the air. And Dramian knew that.
But, perhaps it was what Mina wanted. Perhaps she was enjoying the flight as much as Dramian. Mina wasn’t shy. If she didn’t want Dramian pressed that close to her, she would say something. A part of her must enjoy it.
I wanted to vomit.
She’d loved him in a past life. She had wanted to be with him, even despite her vow. Did a love that strong carry over into future lives? Did she even have a choice in the matter?
We flew above the cloud line, Dead Man’s Cliff peaking above the rest of the summits in the distance. Gray clouds swirled beneath us, butting up against giant rock faces and curling upward. Looking down through the misty covering, I searched for signs of humans or enemy faeries moving in the area, but there were none.
We landed on the peak that housed Dead Man’s Cliff. I dismounted, enjoying the feel of sturdy rock under my feet. Let’s see Dramian dare taunt me now.
Dramian jumped down from his dragon, offering a hand to Mina. She landed next to him, and he reached up, brushing tangled windswept hair out of her face.
Mina gave a small smile of gratitude but stepped back. She faced me.
And scowled.
She marched over to me. “Put your sword away.”
I looked down at the sword in my hand. I hadn’t realized I had it out. Pulling my sword when Dramian was around had become a mere reflex. I sheathed it.
“Climb on down, Chels,” Mina said, “and I’ll tell you what you have to do.”
Chels crawled down from the griffin.
“Follow me,” Mina said. She walked Chels to the pinnacle of the cliff. “This is how it works. You jump. Your faerie guardian shows up and saves you from going splat. Then we all go back to the Haven, and you’ve built a little respect for yourself.”
Chels glanced over the cliff and took a step back. “This is a joke, right? Some lesson about life? Hey, if everyone jumps off a cliff, would you do it too?”
Mina motioned toward the cliff’s edge. “The lesson is: if you want people to stop hating you, you gotta jump.”
“Forget that. Forget all of this. I will not kill myself for any of you—”
Dramian sidled up next to me. My shoulders tensed, and I subconsciously gripped the pommel of my sword.
“Mina is something, isn’t she?” he said in a low voice as we watched them argue. “Badass, clever...” he looked at me out of the corner of his eye, “a pretty good kisser.”
Something I couldn’t control filled me, and I released my golem right where he was standing. Dramian grabbed onto the rock as it rose and launched off, doing a backflip to the ground. The fists of the golem slammed down, and Dramian danced aside as his dragon shot forward.
“Stop!” Mina shouted. “Stop it!”
The beginning of our fight had caught both her and Chels’s attention. She looked between me and Dramian, a kind of angry desperation in her eyes. My golem paused, and Dramian’s dragon snorted steam but didn’t attack. My rage built until it shattered, turning into a futile hopelessness, filling me with a new certainty.
Mina and I would never be together.
“Dramian, what did you say?” Mina demanded.
Dramian shrugged. “We were just contemplating who between us was the better kisser.”
Mina’s face paled and filled with dread.
“Dramian.”
We all froze and faced Chels, who stood on the cliff’s edge.
“Although Arius could have given him a run for his money if he’d tried. What do you think, Mina?” Chels asked.
“I think you are all driving me insane!” she shouted. She pointed at Chels. “You are a selfish bully.” She spun toward Dramian. “You are angry and vindictive and need help. And you...” she turned to face me, her finger dropped, and she hesitated, “are so on and off, you’re giving me whiplash.”
She stood there, body rigid, and ran a hand through her hair. “We have children to take care of. Lives on the line.” Her voice grew softer. “So if a couple of you could get it together, I’d really appreciate it.”
We were silent. I was on and off. She had this way of pulling me in, making me want to stand with her. But then she’d ask me to lead, and I’d remember how I was still unworthy.
Dramian stepped forward, his dragon back on his arm. He skirted around my golem and walked right up to Mina. He rested his hands on her elbows. “Mina—” he began in a gentle voice.
“Don’t!” Mina jerked back. “You’re just doing this because of him.”
Chels gasped, and her foot slipped.
When Mina had pulled away from Dramian, she’d knocked into Chels, knocking her off balance.
Dramian grabbed Mina and flung her behind him as he tried to get to Chels. He reached out to grab for her, but his hand closed around nothing.
Chels let out a wild scream before tumbling over the cliff’s edge.
My heart skipped a beat, and I raced forward. “She has to jump!”
Someone shoving her off the cliff wouldn’t activate the magic—would it?
I stopped next to Mina, preparing to see a broken body among the jagged stones at the bottom of the cliff. The three of us peered over the edge.
A mass of feathers and fur shot past us. Rising into the sky, it held Chels in its claws, and looked exactly like Mina’s griffin.
We backed away from the ledge as the griffin prepared to land. It set Chels on her feet and dropped gracefully next to her. Dramian and I took a knee. Mina saw us and frowned. Then rolled her eyes and sank to one knee, too.
Chels’s eyes were w
ide. She glanced over the edge of the cliff, then back at the griffin, her body trembling. She drew in a slow breath that gradually seeped out of her.
“I saw this day,” Chels admitted. She reached out and stroked the feathers on the griffin, a sad sort of wonder in her eyes. “Not the getting pushed off the cliff part. I thought if it never happened, then I could keep lying to myself, but—I knew—from the moment Arius released his golem in front of that car, I knew.”
She ducked. The griffin disappeared and became an etching on her arm. She raised her head and looked at us. “What’s next?”
I PULLED THE DRAWKNIFE along the log, peeling the layers back.
Several days had passed since the incident at the cliffs. Chels was making surprising progress with her griffin, and the fact that she was having visions meant she was farther along than when Mina had come to the Haven.
Mina.
A couple weeks ago, I had been afraid she’d leave us and run back to her human life. Now I wished she would.
No, I didn’t want that. Mina was the only one holding us all together. We needed her. But I was afraid that because we needed her, we would lose her. She’d sacrifice herself for us, and then she’d be gone anyway. That was why she’d be better off going back to the humans.
But she wouldn’t go. And deep down, I didn’t want her to either. There had to be some way to convince her that saving everyone didn’t require giving up her own life.
I was already losing her to Dramian, and as much as that made me feel dead inside, at least she was still alive. For now.
“Hey,” Mina said, diverting my attention from my thoughts.
She stood on the other side of the log I was shearing with a drawknife in her hands. She faced away from me and started cutting the bark off the other end.
I wasn’t sure if it would be good for the faeries to see Mina doing this kind of work. Especially Dramian’s faeries. She was the general, and she needed to be seen as the leader, as their leader. One who held more authority over them than even Dramian.
But knowing Mina, she’d just shrug it off. So I said nothing and continued working.