Unseelie Queen

by J. C. Diem

  “After her!” Lord Nicolaia shouted, but it was too late. She stepped out into the storm and the logs closed up again, hiding her from their view.

  A brownie Dacrith hadn’t seen since he’d been banished from the palace appeared on his shoulder. “Congratulations,” Bindel said sourly. “You said exactly the wrong thing at exactly the wrong time and now this realm is surely doomed. You might be a Prince, but you’re still a typical dense man.”

  As if in agreement, the air was split by thunder so loud it blew out the windows again. Torrential rain poured inside and the fairies fled from the deluge.

  “What did I say?” Dacrith asked in bewilderment. The head brownie glared at him, shook her head, then vanished.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  FLEEING THROUGH THE rain, Asha could barely see where she was going. Her shoes came off and she sprinted in bare feet. She could hear a contingent of warriors coming after her. They were far taller and faster than her and they would capture her before she could make it to the forest.

  A huge beast lunged into sight beside her and she almost screamed. Then she saw three pairs of orange eyes and realized it was Hexam. The hound bent down, grabbed hold of her arm with a mouth and flipped her up onto his back. She held onto his fur tightly as he raced away from the fairies.

  Tears mingled with the rain as they crashed through the trees. Reacting to her distress, the plants seemed to clear a path for them. In the distance, she could still hear her pursuers. They would eventually catch up to her, but she wasn’t ready to face Dalrin again. Or Dacrith, she should be calling him. The hunter she thought she knew was just a lie and didn’t exist at all.

  Feeling stupid for being so naïve, she didn’t see the vine that swung down towards her. It curled around her middle, then yanked her into the air. Hexam let out a growl and galloped after them. He looked up with one head to follow her progress, looked forward with another head to watch where he was going and peered backwards with the third to keep watch for their pursuers.

  Passed from vine to vine, Asha quickly lost her fear. She sensed the trees meant to help her escape from the people who had upset her so badly. She had no idea where they were taking her, but she didn’t fight them.

  She was eventually placed on the ground next to a gigantic tree that towered over all the others. It was so old that it remembered when the land had still been whole. Deep within its core, it retained a kernel of the goodness that used to hold sway.

  Stumbling over to the tree, Asha leaned against it and sobbed. She was still in her goblin form and her vines wrapped around the trunk, securing her to it tightly. Her pain at being duped and allowing herself to fall for a man who had lied to her so badly consumed her. “I wish I could see my mother,” she sobbed, knowing it was yet another futile dream that would never come true. Her mother must have known this was going to happen. She could have prevented Asha from having her heart broken if she’d had the chance to meet with her as she’d asked.

  Hexam skidded to a stop when he found Asha leaning against a tree. Its branches had gathered around her, protecting her from harm. His three heads exchanged worried looks when she began to sink into the trunk. Coming to a decision, he sprinted towards the girl, then leaped into the air. He shrank down until he was tiny and grabbed hold of her gown with three sets of teeth a moment before she became fully submerged in the tree.

  A sense of peace filled Asha as she became completely surrounded by wood. She was in the heart of the tree where nothing from the outside world could harm her. Transforming back to her dryad form, she could feel something strange happening. Magic she hadn’t been aware of blossomed inside her, called from her by the tree. She felt a sense of rushing across a vast distance, then coming to a sudden halt, but she also felt as if she hadn’t moved at all.

  Feeling herself being gently pushed forward, she was expelled from the trunk. The first thing she noticed was the quiet. Looking up, she saw the sun for the first time since she’d left Earth. She turned in a circle and saw she was no longer in the Unseelie realm. The trees here were different and were far less ominous. Their branches bent towards her reverently. Placing her palm on the huge tree that matched the one she’d left behind, she thanked it for rescuing her.

  Hearing a small thump, then a whimper, she spun around and looked down to see she hadn’t come on this strange journey alone. Hexam lay on his side, making gagging noises. “Are you okay?” she asked, bending down to pick him up. He wagged his tail once, but kept his eyes shut. Apparently, traveling by tree had been a distressing experience for him.

  “You’ve finally arrived,” a musical voice said from behind her. “I was beginning to fear you’d never come.”

  Asha turned to see a beautiful woman stepping out from behind a tree. They were the same height and build and had the same blonde hair and amber, green and brown eyes. “You’re my mother?” she asked in nervous wonder.

  “Yes,” the dryad replied. She wore a simple amber dress and her feet were bare. “I am Efrene, Queen of the dryads.”

  Asha’s mouth dropped open. She’d known her mother was dryad royalty, but she hadn’t known she was the queen. Frazzled, she blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. “You abandoned me when I was a baby. You left me on Earth like I was garbage.” Her already broken heart stabbed her again with its shattered shards.

  “I would never have left you to that fate if I’d had a choice,” Efrene said, wringing her hands together in distress.

  “Liar!” Asha said accusingly. “You knew I would be a monster and you couldn’t wait to get rid of me.” Grief had her bowing her head. “I don’t even blame you now that I know what Lod did to you.”

  “It wasn’t my choice to be bedded by that foul creature,” Efrene admitted, tentatively moving closer. “Yet I would not have changed my fate even if I’d been given the chance to do so.”

  Startled, Asha looked up into the eyes that were so like hers. “Why?” she asked, struggling to control her tears.

  “You are my daughter,” the Dryad Queen said simply. “I was told by the Seer from the Seelie Court what the future of our realms would be. She foresaw Prince Sindarian’s death and what the outcome would be. She told me only a Princess of both the Seelie and Unseelie realms would be able to restore the balance. If I didn’t succumb to the inevitable, our worlds would surely be doomed.”

  Queen Wysterial from the Seelie Court had told Asha the same thing. She’d said that surrendering to the inevitable would be Asha’s only option if she wished to survive and if she wished to restore calm in the midst of the raging storm. That meant she would have to return to the palace and become bonded forever to the man known as death. The same man who had tricked her into believing he was different from the other fairies when he was far worse than any of them.

  Fresh sobs wracked her and Efrene folded her into her arms. She stroked her daughter’s hair and softly sang a soothing lullaby to her. It was the song she’d sung as she’d traveled to a portal that led to Earth with her beautiful baby in her arms. Giving Asha up was the hardest thing she’d ever done, but the Seer had told her it was necessary. Half dryad and half goblin, Asha needed to be raised in another realm to achieve the trinity in her soul that was needed to fulfil her ultimate destiny.

  They were together now and Efrene could finally have the chance to explain her reasons for giving her daughter to someone else to raise. Yet their time together wouldn’t last. Asha had to return to face her fate, or both of their realms would pay the price.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  DACRITH WAS AT A LOSS when the warriors returned without Asha. He found he wasn’t the only one who was dismayed. “Where is she?” Lord Nicolaia asked the lead soldier.

  “She vanished into the forest, my lord,” he replied. “We followed her tracks, but they suddenly stopped. The Cerberus followed her to one of the largest trees then they both seemed to have disappeared.”

  The spectators and participants had been told to leave and the rows o
f seats were now empty. Dacrith and the six advisors stood at the center of the field where they couldn’t be heard or spied upon.

  “What do we do now?” Lady Mildra demanded. “The realm can’t be healed without the dryad girl. Someone has to hunt her down and drag her back.”

  “Why don’t you go after her then?” Lod suggested sourly. “If you hadn’t noticed by now, my daughter is deadly when she’s in her hybrid form. I’m certainly not going to volunteer to find her.”

  “None of us are going to force Asha to do anything,” Dacrith said firmly. “As your Prince and soon to be King, it is up to me to right this.”

  “And how do you plan to do that, your highness?” Lord Nicolaia asked sardonically.

  “I’ll think of something,” Dacrith replied. “For now, we should return to the palace and see how much damage has been done by the storm.” There was someone he wanted to talk to and he didn’t have any time to waste.

  Taking the lead, he strode across the arena to the exit that would take him to the palace. Nothing had changed, he saw when he entered the building. The décor was unchanged and so were the courtiers who roamed the halls. He received sly looks and reluctant bows and curtseys. Ignoring them all, he saw most of the windows had been shattered by the blast of thunder. The brownies were hard at work using what was left of their magic to repair the damage.

  “At least our servants haven’t completely lost their ability to be useful,” Lord Vanse said derisively.

  Dacrith cut the scarlet haired courtier a look. He’d never liked any of the advisors, but that yellow-eyed fairy had always grated on his nerves. “I’ll be in my suite,” he advised them, then strode away before they could speak.

  Taking the halls he still remembered after all this time, he found his old rooms. He could tell they’d remained unoccupied all the time that he’d been gone. It was like they’d been patiently waiting for him to return.

  He shut the door, then locked it and placed his helmet on a sideboard. “Bindel,” he said without bothering to raise his voice. “I need to speak with you.”

  “I’m busy,” the brownie replied in annoyance when she appeared beside his helmet. She was joined by the two brownies who had decided to become Asha’s servants. All three of them were staring at him accusingly.

  “I’m sure you can spare a few minutes,” he said dryly.

  “What do you want, princeling?” she asked, looking him up and down, not particularly impressed with what she saw.

  “What did you mean when you said I said the wrong thing to Asha at the wrong time?”

  “Men!” she said, throwing her hands in the air.

  Olsa nodded in solidarity, but Unwin looked as bewildered as Dacrith felt. “Um, I’d like to know, too,” he said.

  Heaving a sigh, the head brownie planted her hands on her hips and glared up at the warrior. “Asha had no idea you were Prince Sindarian’s son. She thought you were just a soldier who had been exiled long ago. When your true identity was revealed, she thought you’d duped her deliberately. To make it worse, you haughtily announced to her that you’ll now bond with her and you’ll be the King like she already belongs to you.”

  “So?” he asked, even more confused now. “I will be her husband. It is inevitable.”

  Olsa put a hand over her face and shook her head. “Would it have killed you to tell Asha you fought for her rather than just to become King?” she asked, dropping her hand to speak.

  “Of course I fought for her,” he said indignantly. “I battled my way to the last man so I could win her hand.”

  “That’s what you should have said!” Bindel said in triumph, pointing up at him. “But you had to go and ruin the moment and break the poor girl’s heart with your stupid arrogance.”

  “I’m completely lost,” Unwin confessed, sharing another confused look with Dacrith.

  “Asha isn’t like the Unseelie fairies,” Olsa explained with exaggerated patience. “She doesn’t plan her every move and word with strategy in mind. She thinks with her heart and her emotions are real, not fabricated.”

  At Dacrith’s blank expression, Bindel lost her patience. “She loves you, you dolt! Or she loves the man she thought you were.”

  “She loves the man who saved her from the ravenous boar,” Olsa added dreamily. “The man who shielded her from the storm and brigands and who treated her with courtesy and respect. That’s who she fell for.” Her expression became hard when she sneered at him. “Then she finds out you’re just like all the other fairies, except worse. You’re the son of the Dark Prince himself. You’re a duplicate of the evil man who ruined this land and twisted it to suit his gloomy soul.”

  “I am not my father,” Dacrith ground out tightly.

  “Are you not, ‘death’?” Bindel asked pointedly. “Your first thought when Asha told you about her destiny was to become the King.” He dropped his eyes, which was as good as admitting the truth out loud. “How are you worthier than Tartor, or Corvine when you’re exactly like them?” she asked in contempt.

  Stung by the comparison, Dacrith refused to allow his anger to rise. It wasn’t their fault that he’d driven Asha away. He came to a realization and his wings flared in response to his sudden hope. “I need to prove to Asha that I care more about her than I do about being King,” he said.

  The trio of brownies exchanged doubtful looks. “Do you care about her, your highness?” Unwin asked.

  “Yes,” he said, then shook his head at the admission. “I hate the idea of her being out there in the forest, alone and frightened.”

  “She won’t be alone if the Cerberus is with her,” Olsa said in a kinder tone. “Hexam will guard her until she returns.”

  “Will she return?” he asked, afraid to hear the answer.

  “Of course,” Bindel said briskly. “Young Asha knows the realm needs her. She won’t shirk her duty.” Looking him up and down again, her expression became speculative. “You mentioned you need to prove yourself to her,” she said. “Exactly what did you have in mind?”

  “A quest,” he replied. The moment he mentioned the word, he felt a tingle in the back of his head that meant magic was involved. “I need to find the beings Asha cares about the most and rescue them from their exile.”

  “Who are these beings?” Unwin asked in puzzlement. The dryad barely knew anyone in their realm. She hadn’t formed any ties to anyone in particular yet.

  “Your kin,” the prince said and the bonds of his quest snapped around him.

  “You’re going to discover where our families were taken and break them free?” Bindel asked in a hushed tone.

  “That’s my plan,” he said with a firm nod. “If I can release them from their captivity, Asha will know how much she means to me.”

  “It could work,” Olsa said. “She truly does care for us and she wants us to be free and to be able to choose whether to stay or go.”

  “There’s only one problem,” Bindel pointed out. “No one knows where our kin are being held.”

  “Six people know,” Dacrith corrected her. “We just need to get the advisors to confess the brownies’ whereabouts.”

  “Leave that to me,” Bindel said with a crafty smile. “I think I may know a way to get one of them to talk.”

  Dacrith had no idea what her plan was, but he was going to have to trust her. What other choice did he have? He’d declared his intentions to embark on this quest and now he was bound to fulfil it, or to die trying.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  LETTING ASHA CRY HERSELF out, Efrene finally pushed the girl away and held her at arm’s length so she could study her. “I’m so glad you are here and that we can finally talk,” she said.

  Asha almost burst into tears again, but managed to control herself. Her heart had been broken in two, but she didn’t want to waste any more time crying. “I wish I’d known I could use the trees to travel sooner,” she said wanly. “Maybe you could have warned me about Dacrith before I chose him.”

  “You’v
e bonded with death?” Efrene asked in alarm. Even those in the Seelie realm knew about Sindarian’s son.

  “Not yet,” Asha admitted. “He won the tournament and when I found out who he really was, I ran away.”

  Efrene’s mouth dropped open as a dozen questions came to mind, but nothing came out for a few seconds. “What do you mean you used the trees to travel?” she asked first.

  “A huge tree in the Unseelie forest absorbed me and Hexam and we emerged from that tree,” Asha replied, pointing at the gigantic plant.

  “Who is Hexam?” her mother asked.

  Asha held her hand out to show Efrene the tiny three-headed hound. “He’s usually a lot bigger than this, but traveling here made him a bit sick and he hasn’t grown back to his usual size yet.”

  “That is a Cerberus,” the Dryad Queen said in fascination.

  Opening his eyes, Hexam grinned up at her. He struggled to his feet and Asha put him down. Within seconds, he grew to his normal size. His left head leaned forward to sniff Efrene’s hair, then sneezed. The other two gave it disgusted looks.

  “You have been honored, daughter,” Efrene said in reverence. “These hounds only choose to guard those they feel are worthy.”

  “Hexam must be defective then, because he was guarding Dacrith when we first met,” Asha said bitterly.

  Seeing her daughter’s anguish, Efrene put her arm around her shoulder. “Come, let’s go to my campsite and you can tell me everything.”

  The trees bent to greet them as they walked to a small clearing. Branches had formed a canopy over the area where the Dryad Queen had chosen to wait for her daughter to arrive.

  “It’s about time you got here!” Irindal said in irritation as she zoomed over to them. “What’s with the three-headed dog?” she asked, hiking her thumb at the Cerberus.

  Asha smiled at the pixie, glad to be back with someone she could call her friend. “His name is Hexam. He’s the Cerberus who was in the goblin dungeon with Jake.”