by Norah Black
“Who are the other men?”
“Guides.”
“Do you not know where you’re going?”
Garth grunted and pulled her roughly over a fallen log. Nadia heard her jeans rip and looked down to see a hole over her left knee. “Hey! Do you have to be so rough?” Garth eyed her smugly and said nothing. “Where are you taking me?”
“Court.”
Nadia looked back at the men following. Their eyes held no emotion.
The dense trees were beginning to thin and Nadia could hear sounds in the distance. It reminded her of the mall or grocery store. Different voices mingled with an occasional laugh. Metal touched metal. There was the gentle thunk thunk, as an ax chopped wood nearby. They walked another hundred feet and entered a large clearing. Nadia had been to a Celtic festival and a Renaissance fair, and those things couldn’t hold a candle to what was before her here.
There were stalls lining the road as far as her eyes could see, with brightly colored canvas tops. Merchants were selling everything from buttons to coffee to pots and pans. She could hear a friendly argument near her between an extremely round and short man, and an equally round and short woman.
“No! We cannot put the puff pastries next to the dried meat!”
“Why not?” he asked with both fists planted on his hips.
“The sweets will pick up the odor!” They both laughed and he told her she was right and a good wife. Nadia watched them with wide eyes. The couple noticed her and smiled until they also noticed the men with her. Their smiles faded, and they went back to setting up their stall in silence.
The very next stall was the same way. A little woman who was eighty if she was a day, called out for all to hear, “Human books! I have human books!” Once again she stopped and remained silent as the group passed.
“Why are they staring?”
“Because you are human.”
Nadia frowned. Weren’t they human too? “Maybe it’s because you are this giant person that’s dragging a human through this market, and your lynch guides are following!” she said and jerked her arm free from him. Garth grabbed it again and kept walking.
“You have a tart mouth, girl. For your knowledge, the guides belong to the Queen.”
Queen? My God, I’ve been sucked into a time warp.
“Nadia.”
“What?” he asked roughly.
“My name.” she said looking up at him. “My name is Nadia.” She wasn’t certain, but it looked like the hard glint in his eyes softened just slightly.
She looked away and noticed that behind each row of stalls was an open area of grass. She could see children running and playing. Their laughter pierced and caressed at the same time. She thought of her parents and wondered what kind of hell they were going through looking for her. What about Foster? What kind of hell was he going through? Tears stung her eyes and made her face feel hot. She blinked them away and realized the ground was beginning to rise. The road seemed to curve slightly and she could see two other roads break off from it and go in other directions. They kept walking and the road curved more sharply and narrowed. Nadia gasped in surprise as a structure came into view. It was a beautiful castle built part way into the side of the mountain. It was impressive with walls of white, and trees growing near it appeared to caress the white stone wherever they touched.
The road was becoming steep. Garth had slowed their pace to accommodate Nadia, but he didn’t let go of her upper arm. They broke off from the road and walked up to a large iron gate. It obviously was the way to the castle.
Garth stopped and spoke in his maddening voice, “We will have audience with the queen.” He didn’t yell. There wasn’t a speaker box, or a bell to ring. Nadia thought it was ridiculous that he just spoke and expected the gate to swing open. She screamed and nearly jumped out of her skin when two of the bushes on either side of the gate stood and one of them spoke.
“What is your business?”
“We have a human.”
Nadia watched the bushes take human shape. They had green skin and leaves and twigs stuck out from their heads, but they stood on legs and reached out arms with hands at the ends, to open the gate. Once they were through, and the metal against metal clang of the gate closing sounded, Nadia looked behind her to catch a glimpse of them again, but all she saw was a closed gate with bushes on either side of it.
“What were they?”
“Gate keepers.”
“Green men.” said one of the guards behind her. She jumped again at the sound of his voice. Up until that point they hadn’t said anything, not even to each other. Something tugged at her memory about the myths surrounding green men, and she furrowed her eyebrows trying to remember. She thought they were more powerful than just gatekeepers, but it didn’t really matter. They were nearing the front of the castle and all other thoughts left her mind. A courtyard held several people and horses, and there was a large fountain in the center where other men, dressed like their guides were sitting and talking. One of them stood and walked towards Garth.
“What business has you, Nephilim?” His voice spoke the last word with such contempt that Nadia winced, but Garth seemed unconcerned.
“My business is audience with the Queen.”
The man gave Nadia a once over, and she returned his gaze with her best imitation of malice that she could manage. He simply laughed and motioned them forward.
The great doors opened leading into another courtyard, but this one was much larger with substantial amounts of flowers, small trees, and stone benches. The stone beneath her feet was arranged in an intricate mosaic pattern. They crossed the courtyard under the glare of more soldiers. Soldier was the only name Nadia could think of to describe them. Once they were on the other side two more large doors opened and they entered the castle.
It was almost completely quiet and they were standing at the end of a long and cavernous hall. Other hallways led into rooms or steps could be seen heading up or down. Nadia wanted to stop and stare at the beautiful tapestries that adorned the walls of this main hall, or inspect the carvings of the pillars. Every fifteen feet there were white pillars on either side that arched high above their heads. Each one had different carvings. They seemed to tell some type of story. Not always a pleasant story from what Nadia could see. The end of the hall held two doors with pointed and sloping tops. It reminded her of church doors.
Garth stood back and allowed the ‘guides’ to open them. They stepped into a chamber large enough to hold Nadia’s house plus several more. It was brightly lit with candles and part of the ceiling was made of colored glass that left a pattern of gold, rose, and amber on the floor. It was the most beautiful place she had ever seen. They passed tall slender people, some standing, and some sitting in different places around the great room. Though there were differences in how they looked, one thing was obvious and identical about all of them; they were all painfully beautiful. The soldiers of the castle and most of the people of the market were ugly compared to these. Nadia felt cold and horribly un-attractive as she walked behind Garth. She kept her eyes to the floor and tried to ignore the whispers and snickers.
At the far side of the room was a raised platform. Three large steps led to the top, where a woman was seated in an enormous and elaborate chair. Once Nadia raised her eyes to look at her, she couldn’t help but stare. She was the most beautiful, yet terrifying person, Nadia had ever seen.
The woman’s blue eyes regarded them coldly. She had deeply golden hair pulled back in a tight bun, and her skin was pale and flawless. Long fingers snapped and she motioned them forward. Garth bowed slightly and they took the steps slowly. Once they reached the top Garth knelt on one knee and yanked Nadia down with him. Her eyes scanned the floor in front of her and she could see deer and birds etched into the glossy stone.
“Speak, Garth.” The woman said in crisp short words.
He stood and once again yanked Nadia’s arm, to make her move like some kind of puppet. “I have brought the human,
Your Majesty.”
“Yes, I can see that!” she snapped with disgust. “But, why would you bring such a filthy thing into my presence?”
Humiliation and anger shot through Nadia and her eyes narrowed.
“Your Majesty, this is the human that has entered into a relationship with one of the Anak boys.”
“Is that so? Which one?”
“Foster.”
For a moment the Queen relaxed. “Naughty boy, but,” she shrugged delicately, “what can one expect from such an upbringing?” She looked at him with amusement. “Why bring her here? You could have dealt with her. My goodness, his family should have dealt with it!”
“Yes, this is true, but you told me to bring her.”
“Did I?”
“Yes.” Garth said. Nadia could hear confusion in his voice. “There are still some who feel that your throne is based on a lie, and there are a few who feel that you should remain on the throne. The girl is meant to be a token of good faith, a token of absolute commitment to the old rules.”
She eyed him shrewdly. “Another war is what they want.”
Garth shrugged. “Perhaps, but war is inevitable if Kheelan and Zuzana try to take their right....their previous place back.”
The Queen toyed with a bead on her intricate gown. “Kheelan is an old fool.” She sighed and stood. “Opening of the Realm was never a good idea, and I suppose that is still his dream; to have it open regardless of twenty-ones, and open to any race besides the humans?”
Garth nodded.
“And let me guess, the Council is upset that young Foster is enamored with a human? Their union could cause a disruption of the old rules? She would have to be allowed access through marriage? Maybe other humans would find out?”
“Yes.”
“Who told the Council to begin with?”
“Darren.”
Nadia’s head turned to look up at Garth. Darren. Fosters older brother.
The Queen laughed. “Darren is so angry! What does he care?”
Garth shrugged. “I really don’t know.”
She smirked and took her seat once again, clapping her hands sharply. Two men dressed like the other soldiers appeared from somewhere to her left and bowed after they had walked up the steps. “We have a guest.” She let her lovely eyes slide over Garth. “Actually we have two. Please, take them to the lower level.”
“WHAT?” Garth growled. The two that had been with them through the forest walked cautiously up the steps behind Garth, as the other two approached him from the front. They spread out to form a circle around him. Nadia could smell the sharp scent of sulphur. It took her just a moment to realize that it was coming from Garth. It was just like part of the smell coming from Foster the first day he had kissed her. Only now it was much more powerful. Garth spread his legs wide and lowered his torso with his arms slightly outstretched. He was trying to watch each of the soldiers at once. Nadia jumped out of the way as all four of them jumped on him at one.
“Now don’t hurt him too much!” the Queen smiled. Nadia watched in horror as fists flew and legs kicked. Garth was powerful. He was able to rise partly to his feet with all four men on him. He was finally knocked back down face first and one of the men began securing his hands and feet with shackles. The Queen walked down to Garth and yanked his head up by the hair. Blood dripped from his nose and mouth.
“Do you think I don’t know what is going on in my own kingdom? Do you think I don’t watch the human world so close to this kingdom of the Realm?” she asked in a sweet voice. “I Do!” she screamed. Nadia put her hands to her ears and watched her drop Garth’s head back onto the stone. She looked around herself wildly and took off at a run. Her black hair streamed behind her and her legs felt strong.
“Stop her!”
Nadia could hear feet running behind her and saw several of the male courtiers stand with smug expressions. She was almost to the door when something made a cracking noise, and she tripped and fell. She slid across the floor and crashed into the doors. She immediately sat up and grabbed at the ropes with heavy balls on the end that were inexplicably wound around her ankles. She sensed movement near her and looked just in time to see an extremely muscular man blending back into the shadows. But man wasn’t the right word. He had the torso and arms of a man, but the rest of him, including his head, was that of a bull.
“No way”, was the last clear thought Nadia had before she passed into darkness.
*****
Foster couldn’t believe the turn of events. A baby! A nephew! Here he was in trouble for even dating a human, and Darren had fathered a child with a Fae! A Fae or Sidhe had to seek permission to marry a Nephilim, and it was almost always denied, so it was certainly forbidden to just run wild and father children out of wed lock. Who exactly did he think he was? He wasn’t even allowed within the Realm without a guide before his twenty-one, and that was a month away!
“What are you thinking?” Warren asked interrupting his thoughts.
“What do you think I’m thinking?” Warren shrank back from the anger in Foster’s words. “I’m thinking Darren is a hypocritical idiot, and we are no closer to finding Nadia as we were when we entered!” Foster felt a moment of guilt for snapping at Warren, but quickly pushed it aside. Guilt was not going to help. Diana couldn’t take them where they needed to go, because she had no one to stay with the baby. No one knew about the baby. She delivered on her own. It was a miracle she and the baby hadn’t died. The baby would continue to be called the baby because she refused to name him until Darren came and named him himself.
“Where did that nut say we were to go?” Stefan asked with a grumble. He was becoming increasingly irritated as the day went on. They had stayed with Diana until after breakfast. She had insisted on feeding them before they journeyed on. Stefan tried to refuse, but she had threatened him with a rather large knife saying it was “rude”.
“We’re supposed to go to the Owl’s house.”
“Right.” Stefan muttered. “We’re going to ask a bird where we might find a human. Batty as hell, that one.”
“I think the Owl may be a person, Stefan.”
“Not a person. A Fae or a dwarf, or maybe it’s some kind of Elf.”
Warren looked confused. “Aren’t the Fae and Sidhe technically part of the Elfin race?”
Stefan gave him a hard look. “Who cares?”
They walked further into the forest, watching for the landmarks Diana had told them about. Fallen logs, a tiny brook, left at the fox den. It was confusing for Foster and impossible for Stefan, but Warren was right at home. The only problem was keeping him focused on the task at hand instead of his trying to touch or look at every animal or plant that they passed.
“I think this is it.” Warren said and stepped towards a mound about four feet high. He bent low and knocked on the top of it. Something rustled from just under the top of the mound and the entire top opened like the lid of a box.
“What!” a voice screeched from inside.
“We wish to see the Owl.”
A small head poked out from the opening. Initially he was looking in the wrong direction. His head swiveled the other way, and the trio saw a skinny face with huge thick glasses perched on his nose. White hair ringed the bottom part of his head and when he climbed out, he stood about three feet high. He arched his back and stared up at the three of them.
“Great, a Gnome.” Stefan said aloud.
“What do you want?” His voice matched his craggy face.
“We are looking for a human. She may have been brought into the Realm against her will.”
“Well, I may have seen her.” He said slowly.
“Did you or didn’t you?” Foster barked.
The Gnome glared at him. “What will you trade to find out?”
The three of them looked at each other and back to the gnome. “I have a watch.” Foster said.
“I’ll take his bracelet.” The gnome said pointing at Stefan. Stefan held up his arm and poin
ted to the gold chain around his wrist.
“What? No!”
The gnome shrugged and began to climb back onto the mound.
“No, wait!” Foster yelled after him. He turned and looked at Stefan. “Please, Stefan, you can get another one when we get back.”
Stefan muttered and unclasped the bracelet. “I bought that half off the last time I was in Vegas!” he hissed tossing the bracelet on the ground.
“We can get another one!” Foster whispered back.
“Not half off!”
Foster shot him a look and turned back to the gnome. “You have your prize; now, did you see or hear about a human or not?”
The Gnome picked up the bracelet and studied it before clasping it around his neck. “A dark haired girl was brought through here yesterday. She was in the charge of Garth and two of the Queen’s soldiers. But she wasn’t a real human.”
“What do you mean?”
The gnome eyed them suspiciously. “What else can you trade?”
“Not a damn thing!” Stefan roared stepping forward and grabbing him by the front of his shirt and bringing him eye level. The gnome’s legs kicked in the empty air, and he tried to claw at Stefan’s hand. “Tell us what you know, or the next person to come by will find pieces of you for at least a mile!”
The Owl stopped struggling and nodded his head rapidly. Stefan sat him on the ground and motioned for them to lower themselves so they were slightly closer to the gnome’s level.
“They brought her through yesterday, but the Queen has spies everywhere; she already knew. She waits like a spider to catch them in her web.” He said and clenched his fist for emphasis. “The girl was being carried by Garth. She didn’t look awake.”
“Was she hurt?” Foster asked, his eyes widening.
“No, at least she didn’t seem to be, but she wasn’t awake. They took her to the hollowed trees. That’s where the soldiers take prisoners sometimes, you know for questioning or whatever.”
“Do you know if they are still there?”
The gnome shook his head rapidly. Rumor is that they passed through the market a few hours ago heading for the castle.”