The Rumor (A Secret Past--Volume Two)

by Norah Black

  All three of them were lying flat again scanning the courtyard from under the rose bushes. Fae and Sidhe were milling about looking back at the castle with worried and stunned expressions. Some were preparing to leave. They caught snatches of sentences.

  “Never have we seen....”

  “Nonsense! The last war....”

  “Lily has underestimated....”

  It went on like that for several minutes. A guard ran from the castle and yelled at the ones trying to keep order in the courtyard. “The throne room is lost! We must protect the Queen and Prince!”

  Foster watched at least six guards re-enter the castle. He saw something step out of the shadows of the courtyard and he gasped in surprise. “She has a minotaur!”

  “Aye.” Stefan said. “Two of them.”

  Foster watched the second one step up beside the other. The people of the courtyard didn’t seem surprised but shied away from them anyway. They both carried long swords and scanned the courtyard with their animal eyes.

  Stefan flattened himself further into the ground and began slowly backing away. “Foster!” he whispered. “They see with the eyes of an animal. We won’t be safe here.”

  “They hear like an animal too.” Warren’s voice was strained in the dark. Foster and Stefan looked to see the Minotaurs coming slowly towards them. They were looking right at them, and Foster was sure he saw one smile. They held their breath and stayed as still as possible, but it was of no use, as the rose bush closest to Foster was cut away by one of their swords. Leaves and rose petals flew into the air and fell all around him. Another one was removed straight out of the ground in front of Stefan. The three of them were completely exposed, and two bull heads bent to look at them. They were smiling.

  *****

  Nadia and Garth tried to stay with the servants but it was too hard. Some were running back to the kitchens to try and get more buckets of water, some were trying to leave, and others just stood in the way; so used to taking orders they didn’t know what else to do. Garth could tell that most of them were trying to head for the main hall. A shrill voice stopped him in his tracks.

  “Find the Anaks!”

  “But my Lady!”

  “You fools! I will be fine! Go find them, and when you do I want them brought to me alive!”

  Garth pushed Nadia against the wall and watched as the Queen came into view with her son following right behind. Her hair was slightly messy and he could see her dress was torn. Garth knew hell would be paid for this. Blood would be paid. He crouched and tried to watch where she was going through the bodies that were moving up and down the hall around him. He thought she was going to leave and enter the courtyard but she stopped and Garth saw a smile spread across her lips. Two minotaurs walked into view, and each was dragging someone. He tried to see if it was Darren and Julia, or maybe Darren, but it was neither. He looked down at Nadia and put his forefinger to his mouth indicating for her to be quiet. The hallway they were on ceased all movement. The servants were apparently very afraid of the minotaurs.

  “Well, well...what have my precious pets caught for me?”

  Two bodies were flung before her and one minotaur answered her in a muffled throaty voice, “Found these hiding in the rose bushes. Another escaped into the mountain side.”

  The Queen glared at them for a moment. “It’s a day for escapes. I will have to rethink who protects my keep.” The two minotaurs lowered their head in embarrassment. Queen Lily bent at the waist and lifted the head of one of the bodies. Garth tried to see better from around the waist of a round Fae that was in his way. He watched her look at both in turn. “There is no mistaking these two: Foster and Warren Anak. I am delighted.”

  Garth gave Nadia a stern look and she covered her mouth with both hands to stop from screaming. She bit down hard on her tongue as huge tears ran out of her eyes. Everyone in the hall just remained still and silent, waiting either for the Queen to act herself, or demand for them to act.

  She looked down at the brothers briefly and Garth could see a decision being made.

  “I want their heads on a pike. Perhaps then Mommy and Daddy will come out of hiding.”

  Nadia could handle it no more. She felt something welling up within her chest. If she could have named it, she would have called it a tornado. Her eyes blurred from the tears and from the lust to see that woman dead. Foster was lying dead at her feet. His brother lay beside him. She would die with them. With strength she didn’t know she had, she yanked the sword from Garth’s belt and charged up the hall screaming with the voice of a banshee. The absolute look of astonishment that came from the Queen was priceless.

  Nadia didn’t take time to enjoy it. Her feet left the ground and she jumped into the air with the sword out before her at an angle. The Queen’s mouth flew open and she staggered backwards. Nadia could feel the momentum give as her body was descending towards the woman. Another body lunged forward and threw arms out in front of the Queen. Nadia felt the tip of the blade hit and heard the terrible tearing sound as steel entered flesh. It was a spot on hit, but the target was wrong. The look on the Prince’s face mirrored his mother’s. His eyes were large and his mouth wide. All time seemed to stop. Deep silence was all around her the moment she watched the life fade from the golden Prince’s eyes. Then it was over. Time sped back up. The minotaurs let out a deafening sound, a sound that only angry bulls make. The Queen screamed and tried to pull her way out from the body of her son. Her sobs were horrific. No one has seen true horror until they watch a mother grieve her child. Garth grabbed Nadia from behind and pulled her into the air, but the thing that was truly glorious was the sight of Foster and Warren staggering to their feet just behind the enraged and charging Minotaurs.

  The night air was almost cold as it whipped around Nadia. Garth sprinted easily with her thrown over his shoulder, and he wrenched the bloody sword from her hand as he ran. The courtyard wasn’t empty and he dodged several people and guards. He jumped over the edge of the bluff and they crashed into brush and tree limbs. Nadia could feel branches and thorns scrap at her face and arms. She fell to the ground and sucked in air from the force of it. Rolling to her side she quickly stood and tried to fight past Garth.

  “I saw them stand! Foster’s alive!”

  Gath looked upwards and pulled her after himself. Nadia was fighting against him, trying to dig her heels in the ground and she snapped at him with bared teeth. “We....have... to go back!” she screamed. Garth flung her behind a large tree that had bushes growing all around it. He put his weight on her and clamped a large hand over her mouth. She tried to bite the inside of his palm, but he shook her head hard enough to make her teeth chatter.

  “Quiet, girl!” he hissed. They laid there trying to see and listening to the clamor above them. One of the Minotaur came into view just above the bluff and started a slow descent downward. Garth eased off of her and hissed again in her ear. “Stay still.” He silently worked his way to the left and momentarily disappeared out of Nadia’s view. She would have seen him if she could have turned her head, but that would have caused her movement, and she knew that any sound was going to be too loud. The Minotaur was just a shadow but he was coming closer every second.

  Garth took a stick and threw it a few feet away. It hit the leaves and made a sound loud enough to attract the minotaur. He moved towards the noise and garth jumped out from behind the tree and stabbed him through the chest. The bull man was strong and tried to fight, but Garth had to send the blade back into his chest three more times before his body lay still. He returned to Nadia as quietly as he had left, and lay beside her again. He kept his eyes on the top of the bluff. A few came and looked over but none dared venture down as the minotaur had.

  An eternity seemed to pass before they heard footsteps to the right. Garth touched her lips and she knew to be completely quiet. Easing himself over, he got on the balls of his feet and crouched there listening to the sounds of someone coming closer. A large figure appeared, silhouetted momen
tarily by the moonlight. Stefan stepped within three feet of Garth before he realized Garth was crouching on the ground. Garth reached up and pulled the other man down beside him.

  “Garth, you are a sight for sore eyes!” Stefan whispered and squeezed his shoulder.

  “Are the Anaks still scattered?”

  “No, Darren and Julia were just beyond the gate of the green men when I escaped. I thought Foster and Warren dead, but they left the castle right after the two of you. We watched from the trees. We were trying to come up with a plan, but young Nadia took care of it.” Stefan said and smiled at her through the darkness. “How did you learn to use a sword?”

  “I just learned today.”

  Stefan nodded and continued to smile at her. “We need to get her to Foster. He’s fit to be tied and ready to burn the forest down to flush the two of you out.”

  “I think Darren has burned enough.”

  “So what? She’ll loose the throne room and maybe a few others, she had it coming.”

  “Aye.” Garth whispered. “What is it looking like up there?’

  “Confusion. She never had the firm grip she thought she had. This incident may be what is needed to put Kheelan back on the throne. She’ll call for blood though.”

  Garth gave him a warning looked and slightly shook his head. Stefan barely let his eyes shift to Nadia, and he nodded. Even in the darkness, the exchange didn’t elude Nadia. She felt the nervousness worsen in her body. What would the Queen do?

  “We need to get out of the Realm. Darren and Julia have gone, and Foster and Warren are waiting near the Owl’s hole in the ground.”

  “Ah,” said Garth. “The Owl.”

  “I know he’s a pain in the ass, but useful.”

  “True.” Garth said rising and helping Nadia up.

  Voices and movement could still be heard from the rise above, but no one else had come done to where they were. Garth pulled up the rear and Stefan led the way. Nadia felt safer with the two of them protecting her, but she knew their danger was eminent. The descent was tricky and they had to be careful as to not make much noise. Nadia noticed a small blue light that hovered and darted around them. Stefan began to grumble under his breath and finally stopped.

  “What?”

  Nadia stood on tiptoe and peeked around his shoulder. The little blue light was a tiny person. She smiled and carefully came around Stefan to get a better look.

  The light moved very close to her face, and she saw slender arms pointing and gesturing. “She’s amazing!” Nadia breathed. Frowning, she tried to decipher what the little creature was trying to say. Her tiny arms would point and then make a gesture near her with her hands rounded to look like eyeglasses or maybe binoculars.

  “She’s trying to tell us something.”

  “Yeah, she um...kind of helped us earlier.”

  Nadia turned her head and tried to glare at Stefan in the darkness. “You were mean to her.” She turned back to the pixie and waited for her to continue. She made a mean face, which was actually rather comical. Nadia kept her face neutral so she wouldn’t offend the tiny creature. She made the mean face and then pointed a finger straight up on either side of her head.

  “I think she’s telling us there is a spy...” Nadia stopped as the pixie shook her head back and forth quickly, starting the whole charade over again.

  “What is the Owl?” Nadia asked.

  “A gnome that lives in the forest.” Garth replied. “He’s wise but extremely nosey and greedy. If there is information to be had, he would have it, and give it for the right price.”

  “What does he look like?”

  “Short, ugly, and wears thick glasses of some sort.” Stefan answered.

  The pixie looked at Nadia and began again.

  “Oh!” Nadia gasped. “There’s a minotaur with the Owl?”

  The pixie nodded its head vigorously, and took the back of her hand and wiped it across her forehead.

  “Has Foster and Warren arrived there yet?”

  The pixie shook her head and pointed to the left.

  “They went another way?”

  The pixie nodded her head, and motioned with her arm for them to follow.

  They walked in silence for a quarter of an hour. The pixie darted forward several times and seemed to be doing some type of reconnaissance for them. When she would dart back she would indicate a subtle change in direction.

  The forest seemed unearthly still. Stefan and Garth noticed more than Nadia. Stefan fell back and whispered to Garth, “Why is it so still? There should be more activity at night in the Realm, especially during full moon.”

  Garth sucked in a lung full of air. His eyes scanned the treetops and he glanced behind himself. “Something unnatural is lurking about.”

  “This whole bloody place is unnatural, my God we are unnatural, Garth.”

  “It’s all a matter of perspective don’t you think? Maybe you have lived in the human world too long.”

  Stefan grunted a reply.

  “What I mean is that the unnatural thing is not of the Realm.”

  “How would it get in?”

  “Don’t know. Lily most likely.”

  They stopped their whisperings as Nadia lowered her body to a crouch. She was talking quietly with the pixie, and turned suddenly to look at them. Garth noticed that the pixie had taken quite a liking to Nadia and perched on her shoulder as Nadia began to speak. No pixie would ever light on a human or Nephilim for that matter. They were picky little creatures.

  “I think she’s telling me to walk straight until we come to a little creek or something. We should cross there.”

  “Yes, that’s correct.” Garth said.

  “How much further?” Stefan asked.

  Nadia turned her head and the pixie flew in front of her face. She tilted her head upward and cupped her chin in one hand. She made a few more gestures and flew back to Nadia’s shoulder.

  “She said maybe a half an hour; could be more, maybe less.”

  “Right.” Stefan muttered.

  Nadia stood and put her fists on her hips. “What is your problem with her? She’s helping us!”

  “Let me just tell you!” Stefan said as they began walking. He related the story to her that he had told Foster and Warren. Nadia tried to keep her face calm and not laugh at him, but the little pixie couldn’t help it. She lay back on Nadia’s shoulder holding her belly. Tiny giggles could be heard and Nadia smiled.

  Stefan glared at them and twisted his face into a sneer. “Yeah, it’s hilarious.”

  The pixie had become tangled in Nadia’s hair and was trying to loosen herself when they heard a howl. It was deep and ended at a much higher note than which it began. They froze mid step. There wasn’t an answering howl, and they resumed their walk in tense silence. Several minutes passed before an identical howl answered the first. Whatever it was, was behind them, but came from opposite sides of the forest.

  “Are there wolves?” Nadia asked.

  “Some live here,” Garth said slowly. “But that sound was not a wolf.”

  Stefan and Garth exchanged a quick glance. Garth grabbed Nadia and threw her easily over his back. It was just like the piggyback rides her father used to give her when she was small. Back then they would dart in and out of the sunlight with her father’s arms outstretched as he made airplane noises. Today there was no sunlight and they ran for their lives.

  “Tell your little friend to either fly fast and hard, or hang on!” Garth said as he took off at a sprint. The little pixie flew into her hair, and Nadia could feel her tiny hands and nails dig into the skin at the top of her ear.

  No longer treading lightly, they ran through the forest as fast as they could. Each footstep was loud, and Nadia cringed at the sounds, but she also knew something behind them was in pursuit.

  After several minutes they came to the brook. The water splattered onto Nadia’s pants legs as Garth ran into the water. The pixie let go of her ear and flew in front of her face. Its tiny fe
atures were apprehensive.

  “Wait!” Nadia yelled.

  “Girl, we must get out of the Realm!” Garth’s voice was ragged, and his breath was coming in short gasps.

  “I think she’s trying to tell me that she has to stay behind.”

  “Some creatures can’t leave the Realm. There are rules, Nadia.”

  The little Pixie nodded and came close to Nadia. She gave her a tiny kiss on the nose and flew away quickly.

  Nadia didn’t know why her throat constricted. She didn’t know why a tear slid down her cheek. “Ok. Let’s go.”

  Garth waded more slowly the rest of the way and met Stefan on the opposite bank. He let her down slowly and took her hand. “We should be somewhere near the large meadow behind the Anak property.”

  They walked quietly through the remaining woods. The trees were beginning to thin and they could hear voices. A few were shouting, trying to talk over the others.

  “Keep her back.” Stefan said and he crept towards the edge of the trees. The sun was just beginning to turn the sky pink. Nadia thought it was beautiful and felt hope rising within her. Stefan came back and motioned for them to follow. They stepped into the meadow at the end opposite from where Foster, Warren, and Stefan had entered. The meadow was full of voices. Nadia could see Foster standing near his mother staring at the ground. She was speaking quietly to him with her hand touching his arm. She bounded forward and ran through the meadow.

  Foster heard footsteps and turned his head to see Nadia running towards him as fast as she could. Her long black hair was pulled back by the wind. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He barely noticed Stefan with another Nephilim walking steadily behind her. All her cared about met him in the middle of that meadow, and leapt into his arms. He covered her face and neck with kisses. “I thought you were lost!”

  “Me too!” she said breathlessly. All she wanted was for time to stand still. She wanted to feel the heat of his body and the taste of his mouth forever. He finally set her down and wound her hair in both of his hands, yanking her face forward. He opened her mouth with his and kissed her more deeply than he ever had before.