An Earl In Time

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  Julian took her hand, and they followed the cat and owl. It wasn’t until they passed the first row of trees that red and gold colors appeared and merged with the blue swirls.

  Her steps came to a stop as she watched the way the colors all seemed to blend together, as if they were in perfect harmony. Could this be happening because this particular fairy had been brought here to protect her and Julian?

  The cat let out an impatient meow.

  She turned her focus back to it, and she and Julian proceeded forward. Before she stepped through the trees, there hadn’t seemed to be so many of them in the group, but for some reason, she felt as if she was in a large forest. She glanced around them and couldn’t see an end to the trees. Even the sunlight had been blotted out of sight. Had it not been for the colors, the entire area would have been plunged into darkness.

  She thought back to what she’d read about fairies. Some of the myths did speak about fairies living in an altered state of reality. Things like space and time didn’t have the same meaning that they did for humans. It was why humans had such a hard time finding them.

  As she looked around, she was having trouble picking out the path they were on. It was only because of the cat and owl that she and Julian didn’t lose track of where they were going. And, after a while, she began to feel like all they were doing was walking and walking and walking. She kept looking around for anything that appeared different, but all of the trees looked the exact same to her.

  After what seemed to be a half hour, she asked, “How long do you think we’ve been in here?”

  “Much longer than should be possible,” he whispered as if he was afraid to say anything in case the magic around them would cease. “There can’t be more than twenty trees in this area of the property, but there are more trees here than I can count.”

  “Yes, I noticed that, too. I wonder if we’ve only just passed the first row of trees, even though it doesn’t look like it.” She glanced behind them and saw nothing but trees.

  “When it comes to magic, anything’s possible.”

  She hesitated to make the suggestion, but after another ten minutes passed, she asked, “Should we let go of our hands to find out where we really are?”

  His expression indicated that he wasn’t sure releasing hands was a good idea, and while she couldn’t blame him, the other part of her—the one that had to know what would happen—prompted her to release his hand.

  At once, all of the colors stopped, and the sunlight came in on her, nearly blinding her with how bright it was. She squinted and put her hand up to shade her eyes. She had to fight past the feeling of being dizzy in order to see what was going on around her.

  “I didn’t say I wanted to let go of your hand,” Julian said in surprise.

  Her attention went to him, and he was the only thing around her that seemed to be in focus. “I had to know.”

  She glanced back and saw the horse, which was watching her and Julian. She scanned the trees around them. They were still blurred, but she could make them out well enough to know that they had only made it past the second row of them. Up ahead, she noticed that the owl and cat were moving but seemed to be suspended in one place.

  “I know you want to compare what it’s like when we’re holding hands and when we’re not, but this is more than I can handle,” Julian said and took her hand.

  At once, they were back in the middle of what felt like an endless forest. The sunlight was gone. The blue, red, and gold colors were back to give them the light they needed to see what was around them. The trees were clear to see. For some reason, it was easier to adjust to this state than it had been to adjust to things when they weren’t holding hands. It must be the magic in the trees.

  She would probably never understand how a fairy’s magic worked. It was no wonder the legends and myths about fairies didn’t all come to the same conclusions. The fairies probably manipulated things so that humans wouldn’t be able to fully understand them. The technique had allowed them to remain out of sight when humans went right by their dwellings. It kept humans from interfering with their way of life.

  She and Julian followed the cat and owl at a pace that seemed natural to her but had to be unbelievably slow to the horse that was watching them. She guessed that another hour passed before they came upon a tree that was giving off a blue pulsating light.

  The cat ran up the side of the tree and settled on a branch that was next to a hole that had been carved into the trunk. The hole was just above Willow’s height. Julian, however, was able to look inside it.

  “There’s a fairy sleeping in there,” Julian told her.

  “Is it in a cage?” she asked.

  “No, it’s curled up in a blanket on a small bed. It looks happy.”

  The owl settled next to the cat and hooted. Willow’s attention went to them. The cat used its paw to reach out and pretend to tap something.

  “I’m not sure, but I think the cat wants you to tap the fairy,” Willow told Julian.

  “Is it safe to touch a fairy?”

  “I don’t remember reading anything about the dangers of touching them. You don’t want to be mean to them. They’re powerful creatures. I think as long as you’re gentle, you’ll be fine.”

  Julian glanced uneasily at the fairy and then at her. “If it doesn’t like being touched, we might feel the effects of its wrath.”

  Willow noticed the way the cat kept urging them to wake the fairy. “We’ll have to risk it.” She put her arm around Julian’s to brace herself for what was to come. “All right. I’m ready.”

  He took a deep breath and reached into the hole. A second later, he stepped back. “There. I did it.” When the cat meowed, he turned his gaze to it. “I tapped it as gently as I could.”

  From inside the tree, they heard the fairy yawn.

  Willow felt Julian’s hold on her tighten. She instinctively moved closer to him so that their bodies were touching. He wasn’t the only one who was afraid of what was going to happen next. Some fairies were evil and others good. She assumed Julian’s grandfather wouldn’t bring an evil one here, but she couldn’t know that for sure.

  A sound one might construe as a sigh came from inside the hole. The cat crept closer to the hole and peered inside. Then it turned its face toward Willow and Julian and let out a satisfied meow.

  “I think you did what you needed to,” she whispered to Julian.

  The cat returned to its spot on the branch. The owl hooted as if to ask a question, and the cat meowed a response.

  A brighter shade of blue came forth from the hole, and a male fairy with blue clothes and clear wings trimmed in blue emerged from it. The creature smiled a greeting and sat down on the edge of the hole.

  Willow wanted to tell Julian she was surprised by how different this fairy’s mood was from the one in the gazebo, but she kept quiet. It almost seemed irreverent to speak unless granted permission to do so.

  The fairy produced a wand, spun it around so that fairy dust came forth from it. He collected the dust in his hand. He opened his palm then blew the dust into the air in front of Julian. The dust swirled from the height of Julian’s head and went down to the ground. It expanded until there was the form of a person in the center.

  Julian and Willow took a step back, and she clasped her hand more firmly in his.

  The dust vanished, and in its place was an old gentleman with gray hair.

  “That’s my grandfather,” Julian whispered. Then he shot a startled glance at the fairy as if afraid it would strike him down for talking.

  The fairy, however, didn’t seem annoyed.

  Willow and Julian exhaled in relief.

  “I am Herbert Azazel, the Earl of Blackwell,” the gentleman said. “If all goes well, I am speaking to my grandson, Julian. I wasn’t sure if you’d find the journals and books I saved, but if you are listening to me now, I am assured you have found them. I am also assured that the individual who is the last heir of the estate is with you.”

>   Willow studied Julian’s grandfather and realized he could not see them. She doubted he could hear them, either. This was a message his grandfather had made a long time ago, and it was only because of the fairy that they were able to receive it.

  “There is a lady I once knew,” his grandfather continued. “She was Lady Rose, the daughter of the Duke of Morana. Her family was wealthy and highly esteemed in London. Our fathers arranged a marriage between us. But, despite her beauty, there was nothing soft or warm about her. She didn’t want to be a wife and a mother. She wanted to be young forever.

  “During our betrothal, she set sail for Ireland. She was gone for almost a year, and in that time, I met your grandmother and fell in love with her. I tried to talk myself out of being with her, but in the end, I made the decision to marry her. As you can imagine, the resulting scandal was anything but pleasant. By the time Lady Rose returned, your grandmother was already expecting our oldest. Our oldest was your uncle. We only had two children. Your uncle and your father.”

  Julian’s grandfather paused, and the image wavered for a moment. When the image grew solid again, his grandfather said, “I didn’t think this was going to be so difficult to explain after all these years.”

  Julian’s grandfather paused again, and Willow could see him renewing his efforts to remove his feelings from the message he wanted to leave behind.

  “Ending an engagement is no small matter, and the cost of making a deal with a magical creature can be great,” he continued. “There’s always something you must be willing to give in return for magic. Lady Rose went to Ireland to seek out a fairy who would grant her eternal youth, and she got it with the understanding she would give him her firstborn son. That son had to be the rightful heir of this estate. Her plan had been to marry me, have a son, and then give him to the fairy. After that, she was going to kill me and live on at this estate as the Lady of Blackwell forever.

  “My marriage to your grandmother upset that plan. I was afraid she was going to kill your grandmother in order to force a marriage with me, so I began to search for a fairy who could help me. The years passed, and since you read my journals, you know that finding a fairy isn’t easy.

  “Rose didn’t kill your grandmother like I expected. Instead, she waited until your uncle was grown. She seduced him. I don’t know if it was a genuine attraction he had for her or if she found a way to cast a spell on him when he met her, but he conceived a child with her. When I saw her, I knew who she was. She was almost as young as the day I last saw her. She still ages, but it’s extremely slow compared to the rest of us. Only when she gives that fairy what he wants will she truly be immortal.

  “I tried to reason with your uncle. I told him who she was, but he refused to listen to me. He was determined to marry her so that the child she carried would be a legitimate heir. Your father, however, believed me. Together, we locked your uncle in a room. We meant to stop him from marrying her. But the pull to be with her was too great for him. For all I know, she used magic to make him so obsessed with her that he couldn’t live without her.”

  The image wavered again, and he wiped his eyes. “Your uncle was dead as soon as he met her. She wouldn’t have let him live. She would have killed him after the heir was born and taken over the estate. Then she would have gotten rid of your father and everyone else who could inherit the title. The entire family would have been ruined.

  “I’d been looking for a fairy for a very long time, but I was sure I finally found one while working through my maps. And I was right. I did. So I left for Ireland to get a fairy to help us. Your father was supposed to keep your uncle locked away. Unfortunately, your uncle managed to get out and was on his way to find Rose. Your father caught up to him, and the two ended up in a duel.” He swallowed. “Your uncle died, and Rose ended up killing the child when it was born. The only good thing I can say is that your grandmother died before that all happened. She was spared all of that pain.

  “By the time I brought the fairy here, your father was living at this estate with his wife, and you were a year old. I brought the fairy here with me, and your father and I decided to put him here among these trees in order to hide him. I’m not sure if your father told you or your mother what happened since killing his brother had nearly destroyed him. He probably just wanted to forget it all happened.

  “I should explain about this fairy who has enabled me to speak to you long after my death. He agreed to help me in exchange for this land we’re standing on. Julian, you might be the holder of the title, but the fairy is the rightful owner of the land. No one who comes after you will own the land, either, though they will be allowed to live here.

  “I wanted to make sure Rose couldn’t harm anyone in the family again. The fairy’s task is to keep her off of this property. The moat has a protection spell over it. The only way she can cross over the bridge is if someone who belongs to this estate brings her here.”

  Willow glanced at the cat and owl. She was sure Julian’s grandfather didn’t imagine she would be able to bring animals off of the estate, turn them into people, and get through the barrier that way. Only, Rose’s magic had only worked when the animals were in human form. Something about going back to this time had changed them back to animals, and now they were free to make their own choices. She had no idea what happened while they were forced to do her bidding as humans, but they definitely didn’t like her.

  “Unfortunately,” Julian’s grandfather continued, “Rose came up with another plan. She returned to Ireland, but the evil fairy who was willing to give her eternal youth wouldn’t help her this time. Instead, he put a curse on her. Since she didn’t bring him the child he wanted at the time he required it, she is now required to bring him two heirs of this estate.”

  Willow felt Julian stiffen next to her, and she experienced an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach.

  “One must be an heir living in this time,” his grandfather said. “The other must be the last heir.”

  Yes, that was what Willow was afraid of when his grandfather mentioned two heirs. All along, she and Julian had wondered why they were the only two who had been unable to leave while all the others could. And now they knew. Rose had used her fairy’s magic to trap them here. Hence the pink and purple colors at the bridge.

  Julian slipped his arm around her, and she held onto him as she did her best to prepare herself for what was going to come next.

  “There’s no telling how long it’ll take for the title to become extinct,” his grandfather continued. “But when that day comes, Rose will return. I don’t know how Rose will get you and the last heir on this property in the same time, but she will need to do that in order to bring you both to that fairy. If Rose succeeds in binding you both, the two of you will be enslaved to do that fairy’s bidding for as long as he shall live.” He paused. “Fairies can live thousands of years.”

  Willow was beginning to wish they hadn’t gone on this quest to find the other fairy. She didn’t really want to hear all of this.

  “If, however,” his grandfather said, “you can bring the Wild Hunt upon Rose before she is able to bind you both, then she will be the one sent to the evil fairy, who will enslave her instead.”

  “How are we supposed to bring the Wild Hunt on her?” Julian asked.

  That was a good question. Willow glanced at the fairy. He gestured to the image of Julian’s grandfather, so she turned her attention back to it.

  “There is a good fairy that Rose managed to trap somewhere on this property,” Julian’s grandfather said. “Your father and I have searched for it, but we can’t find it. Apparently, it is hidden from us. The blue fairy that I brought here said he will impart enough magic on you and the last heir so you’ll be able to see it. The way to get the Wild Hunt to come down upon Rose is by releasing the fairy she trapped. You can release the fairy by giving the fairy her wand back. I don’t know where Rose will have the wand, but she won’t be careless enough to leave it behind somewhere. It’s going to
be on her.”

  So that was how the fairy could be freed from its cage. Right now, Willow felt as trapped and hopeless as that fairy did. In fact, she thought she might throw up. She hadn’t realized the predicament she and Julian were in was so dire.

  The image of Julian’s grandfather wavered again.

  “I hope your father and I have been able to do enough to protect you and the future heir,” his grandfather softly spoke. “Remember that Rose can’t cross the bridge until she’s invited here. That might give you and the last heir time to figure out how you’re going to get the wand. All it takes is one of you getting it to the fairy.”

  The image vanished, and the fairy rose to his feet, looking pleased that he had been able to deliver the message to them.

  Julian glanced at Willow before asking the fairy, “How are we supposed to see something as small as a wand and get it to the fairy? Willow and I have to be together to even see the fairy in the gazebo.”

  The fairy thought for a moment then waved his wand. He caught the fairy dust and then blew it in their direction. Though it swirled around them and settled on their skin, Willow didn’t feel any different. She looked at Julian, who didn’t seem any more comforted than she did.

  The fairy offered them both a gesture that Willow didn’t realize was meant to be “good-bye” until he waved his wand and sent them out of the trees.

  The shock nearly caused Willow to fall, and she might have if Julian hadn’t been holding her. It took Willow a few seconds to get used to the sunlight.

  The cat and owl settled in front of them. The cat let out a mournful wail, and the owl gave them a look Willow could only take to mean that he, along with the cat, was sorry to hear the curse was far worse than any of them could have imagined.

  It wasn’t until she felt the first tear fall to her cheek that she realized she was crying. She’d read about evil fairies. They were so terrible that she couldn’t understand why anyone would be so cruel as to send someone to their dark and awful land. Willow’s strength left her. As she started to collapse, Julian picked her up into his arms and carried her to the horse so he could take her back to the manor.