by Rachel Angel
Kingsley took a step away from the threshold to the human realm. “Let’s put our heads together.
We can’t allow our emotions to get the better of us.
Believe me. I’m just as eager as you guys are to get to Harley, but it’s not that easy. We have to think smart.”
They all nodded.
“So what should we do,” Zed said.
Kingsley looked pointedly at Red and Zed. “I think the two of you should go back to the Kingdom of Fall.”
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“What?” the twins shouted in unison.
“Are you nuts?” Red said.
“We just told you that the king is insane,” Zed added. “Why would you have us go back?”
“To get as close to him as you can and really find out what your father has in mind,” Kingsley said with cunning quiet. “Think about it. You guys are going to go back to your castle. You’re going to apologize profusely to your father. You’re going to tell him that he was right about how soft your mother has always been on you and you’re going to tell him that you are now ready… really ready, to become men. Ready to become warriors.”
“Seriously?” Red said. “Become men? I’m a man. I’m a warrior.”
“Shut up, Red,” Zed said, slapping the back of his hand against Red’s chest. “Kingsley has a point. If we play this right, we can cozy up to Father and find out everything we need to know about the upcoming wars and the part he intends to play.
Think about it. He would be thrilled to see us come groveling back to him. He would be happy to hear that we want to become men; men just like him.”
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Oak smiled and clapped his hands together.
“I think we have a plan.”
“Great,” Kingsley said as he turned to lead them back into the heart of the Faery Realm. He looked to Red and Zed. “We’ll escort you back to the border of Fall. I’d hate for my army to see you and think you’re here to stir up trouble.”
“Do you think you’ll have any trouble getting on your father’s good side?” Oak said. “Do you think you can get him to trust and rely on you?”
“It shouldn’t be too hard,” Zed said as they walked on. “It’ll be easy to put on the hard man charade. We’ll be as manly and macho as can be, and we’ll make him proud, in a depraved sort of way.”
Kingsley chuckled as he nodded. He didn’t envy the task the twins had ahead of them. He couldn’t imagine having to put on such an act. And to be convincing to boot.
They reached the foothills of the majestic mountains and prepared to cross a shallow stream.
Kingsley looked at the crystal clear water that ran over the beautifully colored rocks.
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Disruption (Fallen Fae Academy #5) As a boy he had often come to the stream to fish. It had always been among his favorite activities.
“Eager to fish again?” Oak said, reading his thoughts.
Kingsley nodded. “Eager to get back to anything that resembles normalcy. I’m tired of this war.”
“Aren’t we all?” Zed said.
They crossed the stream and headed farther downhill, silent for a long time.
“One thing has me concerned,” Red said.
“What’ that?” Zed said.
“Father might easily fall for our little act. He had every reason to want to believe us,” Red said, looking at his brother. “But I’m not so sure about the men around him. They’ve seen us argue with Father over the past weeks. They know how devoted we are to Mother. Do you really think that they’ll believe that we’ve had a change of heart? Do you really think they’ll fall for it?”
“All the more reason to be as convincing as we can,” Zed said. “I think I can pull a little 171
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darkness out of me and be fierce and intimidating.
I will show him how tough and heartless I can be.”
When they finally reached the border to the Kingdom of Fall, they all stopped and turned to look at one another.
“Now, remember,” Kingsley said. “Get close to him, get him to trust you, then find out as much as you can from him. Talk strategy and get him to open up about his plans.”
Red glanced at Zed. “Once we’ve warmed our way back into his good graces, we’ll all sit around the fire with a bottle of whiskey and that will get him talking.”
Oak and Kingsley stood on one side of the boundary while Red and Zed crossed over to the other side. For a long and silent moment, they looked at each other.
“Scary stuff we’re embarking on, isn’t it?”
Kingsley said as he noticed Red and Zed’s reluctance to go.
The twins shrugged.
“We’ll get over it,” Zed said.
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“Yeah,” Red said. “We’ll do what we have to do.”
“Good luck,” Kingsley finally said. “Keep us posted if you can.”
“Will do,” Zed said.
“The peace of the kingdoms of Spring, Woods and Sea greatly depend on your success,”
Oak added.
“We won’t let you down,” Red said.
The twins headed off to their castle while Oak and Kingsley remained where they were, watching until the twins disappeared down into the valley.
“Think they’ll be able to make it?” Oak said.
“You sound doubtful,” Kingsley said, hiding his own concern.
“Their father is truly insane.” Oak turned to look down the boundary line as it made its way down to the sea. He then turned to look at Kingsley.
“How do you rationalize with someone who is completely irrational?”
“Carefully,” Kingsley said thoughtfully.
“Very carefully.”
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Chapter 13
Oak
As Oak stood beside Kingsley, he grew increasingly concerned with the plan they’d put into motion. While he had complete confidence in the twins’ ability to play the part of the loving sons to their demented father, he questioned the ability of the demented father to be in any way coherent.
Closing his eyes, he tried to concentrate on what needed to be done next, but all he could see was Harley’s face. He’d been trying desperately to shove aside just how worried he was about her safety, but a sense of dread repeatedly rose to the surface, grasping his heart and twisting it until the pain became unbearable.
And it was there again.
Adding to the pain was the way in which she had left him when last he’d seen her. She hadn’t 174
Disruption (Fallen Fae Academy #5) even known who he was. She hadn’t known of the love they’d shared.
Shrugging it off, he looked out at the deepening valley below.
“Now what?” he finally said when the tangle of emotions was finally under control.
“It’s hard to tell how the King of Fall will react to all of this. We don’t know what he’ll do once he realizes that his sons are on his side.”
“What do you mean?”
Kingsley looked up to Oak. “It may embolden him enough to resume fighting with Woods and Sea.”
Oak nodded his understanding. “I think we should go back to our troops. If they get it into their heads that the war is over, they’ll go soft. They won’t be on the lookout for trouble.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,”
Kingsley said. “I think we should check up on our troops. Let’s get going.”
They turned to go to the boundary of Sea and Woods, but Oak couldn’t get Harley out of his 175
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mind. As they neared the crossing into the human realm, he paused.
“What is it?” Kingsley said, as he, too, stopped.
Oak could almost feel her, could almost smell her. His breathing grew jagged as he tried to gain a sense of how she was doing. On the one hand,
he felt no cries for help, no pain or sorry. But, then again, he felt no elation or happiness on her part either.
“I know,” Kingsley said as he reached for Oak’s forearm and gave it an affectionate squeeze.
“I’m worried about her, too.”
Oak looked at Kingsley. “She’s all alone on the other side. It kills me to think that she’s just there, on the other side of this invisible threshold.
We’re so close.”
Kingsley set his hand on Oak’s shoulder and shook him gently. “Believe me. There is nothing I would like more than to cross over to the human realm right this minute. I would give anything to go over there, find Harley and pull her into my arms and ensure that she is safe, but….”
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Disruption (Fallen Fae Academy #5) Oak nodded before Kingsley finished his argument. “I know,” he said softly.
“If it’s any consolation,” Kingsley went on.
“Harley is a lot stronger and a lot more capable than we give her credit for. She may still be inexperienced with all her fae magic abilities, but she has learned a lot.” He let out an amused chuckle.
“If anything, she may soon be the one crossing over to come save us.”
Oak laughed. “I would be more than happy to be saved by her.”
“You and me, both,” Kingsley said with a chuckle. “You and me, both.”
They walked on, trudging through the muddied fields where heavy rains had drenched the soil. Cattle plodded along heading down to greener pastures.
Reaching the flat face of a granite mountain, Kingsley stopped to kick off the mud that had accumulated on his boots.
Looking far down into the depths of the valley, Oak could just barely make out the colors of their respective armies.
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“It’s good to see them all together,” Kingsley said with a grin.
Oak nodded as he scraped the mud off his boot with a broken branch. He then headed down into the valley with Kingsley right behind him.
As they neared the encampment that now housed both armies, the sound of joy and revelry grew.
“This isn’t good,” Kingsley said under his breath. “I want them to get along, but all this merrymaking is worrisome.”
“I agree.” Oak frowned as he recognized men from his troops.
As they got closer still, the stench of day old beer, whiskey and vomit assailed his nostrils.
“Oof,” Oak let out as he grimaced.
“Someone had a bit too much.”
“I bet it’s one of your men,” Kingsley said with a snicker.
“Oh, really?” Oak said, thoroughly offended by the remark. “And I would be willing to wager that it is one of your men.”
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Disruption (Fallen Fae Academy #5) Kingsley turned to him. “Ah, now that’s interesting. And how much would you care to wager?”
Oak stared blindly at him. “Well, let’s see now. How about, the winner is the first to spend any time alone with Harley.”
Kingsley hesitated for the briefest moment.
“Fair enough,” he finally said, holding his hand out for a handshake. “You’re on.”
Oak grabbed Kingsley’s hand and vigorously shook it.
They quietly entered the compound, their gazes surveying their troops. Some of the men appeared to be hard at work, mending tools, cleaning weapons or making repairs to the tents and furnishings. There were several pairings in various corners of the encampment, seemingly guarding in a very relaxed and laid back way. Others, however, were simply quick to pick up any implement nearby and feign work when they saw their leader’s arrival.
Oak tried to force a smile as he looked at his men, but he wasn’t at all happy with what he saw.
Far too many of them were slacking off.
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When Oak and Kingsley entered the mess tent, they found a few dozen men carrying on with booze, music and a few women who’d been brought in.
“Men!” Kingsley shouted.
The young man playing the accordion went white as he set his instrument down. Mugs of beer that were poised to meet their owner’s lips were quickly slammed back down to the table. Only the young and eager women remained cool and aloof, completely undeterred by the arrival of the armies’
generals.
“Who is responsible for this?” Kingsley bellowed.
The men simply stared down at the tables in front of them.
“I believe you were all asked a question,”
Oak shouted. “Who is responsible for all this?”
One of the young women, and tall and thin brunette with an ample bosom, a tiny waist and swinging hips, made her way to the imposing pair.
“I’m responsible,” she said with a giggle and an alcohol induced hiccup. She threw her head back 180
Disruption (Fallen Fae Academy #5) and opened her arms wide. “Do what you will to me, dear sirs.”
Oak eyed her then looked up to find some of his men. They were all intermingled. His lieutenant was seated beside Kingsley’s main strategist, while one of his captains was sitting next to Kingsley’s second in command.
Finally,
Cheney,
Kingsley’s
second
lieutenant, stood and came forward.
“My apologies, sir,” Cheney said with a reverent bow. “I may have led the men to believe that we could unwind just a bit.”
“This is a little more than just unwinding, Cheney. While we may have called a truce between Sea and Woods, you know very well that there could be an attack from Fall or Spring at any given moment.”
“Yes, sir,” Cheney said. “I’m aware of that.
That is why there are more soldiers out there tending to their various tasks. I know this may look like unorganized debauchery, but it isn’t. It is meticulously planned so that there are more than enough soldiers on duty at any given time, sir. I 181
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assure you that I would not allow all the men of both armies to be caught off guard.”
“Where are the women from?” Oak said.
“Sir,” a small blond man said as he staggered to his feet. “If I may.”
“Go ahead, Quinn,” Oak said.
“The short blond is my niece and the tall brunette is my cousin’s widow.”
“Both from the Kingdom of Woods?” Oak said.
“Absolutely, sir,” Quinn said. “Yes.”
“What about the alcohol?” Kingsley said.
Quinn slowly raised his hand. “My sister’s son’s brother-in-law has had a distillery for a number of years, and he was kind enough to supply us…”
Oak waved him away. “Okay. Okay fine.”
He looked to Kingsley, then grinned. “One last thing.”
The crowd of men looked up.
“Who is the man who had too much to drink and vomited just outside the encampment?”
One of Oak’s men raised his hand.
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“Aha,” Kingsley said cheerfully. “You…”
Before he could go on, one of Kingsley’s men raised his hand. Then another of Oak’s men and yet another of Kingsley’s.
“Okay,” Oak finally conceded with a laugh.
“I get it. You’re all incapable of holding your liquor.”
They laughed. At first it was a quiet and reserved rumbled, but as Kingsley and Oak joined in the laughter, the mess tent erupted into cheers and hilarity. The tension that had begun to form quickly dissipated
“Carry on,” Kingsley finally said. He gestured to Oak and turned around to leave the tent.
“What do you think?” Oak said once they were outside. “Do you really believe that enough men remain vigilant while a portion of them are drowning themselves in alcohol and women?”
“My men have been trained to be on the alert at all times,” Kingsley said.
“As are my me
n,” Oak said.
“It’s one thing to get some rest, a little shuteye while others are on guard, but to drink so 183
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much that you end up throwing up…” Kingsley went on. “If there were to be an attack while dozens of men are falling over drunk, what do you think would happen?”
“I agree.”
Kingsley chuckled to himself. “Can you imagine if a dark fae were to come in here? It would be all too easy to mess with these drunken soldiers.”
Oak snickered as he nodded. “So, what do we do? I’m eager to get to Harley. I want to go to the human realm and fight off the dark faes there as well as keep the faery realm safe.”
Kingsley looked around at the soldiers who were going about their business. “Who is to say that a dark fae hasn’t already infiltrated our armies?” he said quietly. “Our soldiers will be lost without us to guide them.”
“Are you saying that we may never be able to leave our encampments?” The idea of having to stay made his stomach turn. The need to get to Harley was becoming increasingly urgent. He wasn’t even sure if he’d be able to concentrate on 184
Disruption (Fallen Fae Academy #5) what needed to be done in the faery realm, for all his thoughts were with her in the human realm.
Kingsley was silent for a long moment as he slowly made his way to the outer boundary of the encampment.
“What are you thinking?” Oak finally said, no longer able to stand the silence.
“I think that we need to split ourselves in two.”
Oak cocked a brow. “How do you propose to do that?”
Kingsley continued to walk on until they entered the surrounding forest.
“Where are you leading me to?” Oak said with growing annoyance.
“Be still,” Kingsley said as he stopped. “Be quiet.”
Clenching his jaw, Oak stared at Kingsley.
This better be good, he thought.