Connor turned to Sloan, who held back, looking at him shyly.
"Do you like rollercoasters?" Connor asked.
"Sure."
"Great. Wait here."
Connor whistled and his dragon appeared in the sky. When the dark blue-brown dragon swooped down, Connor took a running start and jumped onto his steed just before the dragon rose again. The dragon dived a second time as Connor leaned to the beast's side, reaching down and grabbing Sloan's waiting arm. Sloan laughed as he pulled her up and settled her in front of him.
Henry took off with much less flourish, followed shortly by Zoey. We headed west, flying at a leisurely pace through a pleasant lavender sky. The land below looked all dressed up; Faery was in bloom again. I much preferred this to the snow and ice that had covered the ground during my last visit.
We chattered back and forth, enjoying each other's company as we traveled over rolling hills and small villages. Connor's rollercoaster stunt had gone a long way toward putting Sloan at ease among this group of strangers. The twins, always congenial, quickly finished the job. By the time we crossed the big twisting river that divided Tir na nÓg from the Falias lands, Sloan had been fully assimilated into the group.
Once we crossed the river, the scenery below us changed. Instead of the vibrant villages and cozy communities that spotted the landscape of Tir na nÓg, we passed ruins and remains of what had once been a thriving community. Our lighthearted spirits melted into a weighty melancholy, reflecting the dismal sight below.
"Everything is abandoned. It's so sad," I said to Alexander. He nodded.
"It's depressing to see all of it wasting away and imagine how it came to be this way. But despite all that, I still feel good about coming here," he said, sounding more determined than confident. "Maybe we can come back to rebuild it when this is all finished. Restore it to what it used to be."
The dragons flew up the side of a heavily forested mountain. When they crested the peak, the remains of Castle Conall came into view. Henry made a circle, perusing the landscape below.
"Henry says there's really only one place for us to land," I translated for Alexander.
The castle sat on the edge of two acres of cleared land, completely surrounded by dense woods. The dragons set down at the far side of the clearing, away from the castle walls. The structure seemed fragile, as if the dragons' flapping wings could knock it down.
Each of us slid down off our perches except Alexander, who remained astride Henry, squinting at something in the distance. Henry curved his neck to look back at Alexander, who whistled a chain of notes. Henry jumped up, waiting to flap his wings until he was safely away from those of us on the ground.
Alexander continued to stare across the expanse beyond the castle. Following his gaze, I glimpsed another building inside the forest on the opposite side of the clearing. An outbuilding to the castle, perhaps?
Given another signal from Alexander, Henry gently dropped back down. The other women had hardly noticed any of this; they examined their surroundings, getting a feel for this new place. Connor, curious at hearing a military command whistle, stood with me and watched Alexander.
"What is it?" I asked, seeing the excitement in Alexander's eyes as he jumped to the ground beside me.
"There's a circular, tower-like building over there. I think it's—"
"A Folly!" I finished for him, now excited too.
"There's something amiss with these trees," Keelin said, almost to herself.
Just then an elderly Sidhe, heavyset and dressed in rags, came out from behind the castle and into the clearing. She limped towards us, using a staff she carried as a walking stick.
"The trees are spelled," Keelin shouted as she frantically scanned the tree line closest to us. Water sprang to her eyes. "They're screaming in pain. Someone is forcing them to remain still—to block the wind from traveling through them. Someone must be hiding here."
"Unseelie!" I yelled as the woman stepped out from the shadow of the building and into the sunlight, exposing her dark, sooty aura.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
ALEXANDER
When the old woman reached the middle of the field, she pounded her staff into the ground three times. She whistled three blasting notes, middle, high, and low-the Unseelie Faugh a Ballagh. Grasping at the air and catching it in her fist, she threw her arm up and released her hand, chanting an incantation as she moved.
"She's an Air Catcher! She's flown her Faugh a Ballagh above the trees," Connor yelled.
He reached behind his head and pulled out a sword in each hand. They had been hidden behind a glamour, like my own. I didn't understand his words, but I understood his actions. I grabbed my sword and studied the perimeter of the clearing warily.
The old woman hit the ground with her staff three more times as Connor charged her, muttering a command under her breath. A loud snapping sound followed and several large nets sprang from the woods, ensnaring the dragons. The Unseelie grinned as the dragons erupted into earsplitting screeches of frustration that bounced off the trees and echoed around us. Zoey spit out a burst of flames, but the nets held tight.
The old Sidhe made no attempt to evade Connor's attack. He cut her down with one slice of a sword, but just at that moment a dozen Unseelie rebels flitted into the clearing, weapons drawn.
"Keelin, can you release the trees?" Connor yelled as we turned toward the new arrivals. He glanced at me over his shoulder. "If she can't unspell those trees, we won't be able to call for help."
Connor and I lined up to face them. I took a deep breath, exhaling with a huff. No matter how much they outnumbered us, I would keep them from the women.
Someone came running up behind me. I swung around, prepared to strike them down with my sword—but I pulled up quickly. Rosheen had joined us, spear in hand.
The three of us turned to battle a dozen. I stopped thinking about the numbers at that point, focusing only on the present moment, allowing the sword to guide my hand. I slashed this way and that with little thought, easily cutting down every Unseelie who came at me. Sweat poured off my forehead and into my eyes. I swiped my arm across my face, using my sleeve to clear my vision.
I glanced behind me to check on the others. Keelin stood with her hand on one of the trees, chanting as she tried to release them. Tressa and Sloan worked together to free the dragons.
Rosheen screamed in pain and I wheeled in her direction. She had a spear lodged in her thigh. Connor struck down the rebel who had thrown it—the last of the dozen who had flitted in.
Only the three of us remained in the middle of the clearing. Connor and I ran to Rosheen. She held her thigh and took shallow, shaky breaths. She looked up at me and grimaced.
"Da's going to kill me," she deadpanned.
Then a second, larger group of rebels flitted onto the field. The second group was more formidable than the first, with bows and arrows in the ranks in addition to swords and spears. Out in the clearing, with no shields, we had nothing to protect us from flying arrows.
"Connor, take her back to Tressa. I'll cover you," I barked.
Connor pulled Rosheen's arm around his neck and scooped her up. They rushed back toward the dragons, Rosheen helping as much as she could with her good leg. I took a deep breath and tightened my grip on the sword as I turned to face this new band of rebels.
A sudden whoosh of air flew by, and another whistle blasted. This time a quick pattern of five notes, repeated twice. Keelin had released the trees! Before I had taken a step towards the Unseelie, a squad from the King's Guard flitted in, aligning themselves on either side of me.
Utter chaos followed as swords clashed and arrows swished by me. Arrows thudded into the shields of the soldiers and thumped into the ground at my feet. One pierced the throat of a guardsman close to me, his mouth fell open—silently crying out in pain—as he fell to the ground.
The force of this second attack enraged me to a new level. Anger surged through me, exploding from my chest and running through
my extremities until it burst through my hand and into the sword. I held it aloft as it glowed bright with energy, sensing that it wanted to display its power.
I grabbed a shield from one of the fallen Seelie soldiers and thundered toward the closest rebel with a guttural yell. A buzz of voices grew around me.
"It's the Claíomh Solais!"
"He has the Sword of Light!"
"Nuada's Sword-we're doomed."
I blocked out the voices and fought with savage focus. Then, suddenly, I froze—struck in the gut with a brutal terror. Tressa.
I spun to look for her, but she was nowhere to be seen. Had she gone into the woods? Had an Unseelie gotten through our ranks or flitted in behind us?
A new sound rose above the chaos of the battle—a dog barking, loudly and incessantly. A rebel stepped in front of me and swiped his blade at my neck. I lifted my sword and parried his blow before slashing it down and cutting him out of my way.
Lady stood, barking frantically, on the edge of the forest behind the Unseelie line. In the woods behind her I saw the top of the folly. I knew Tressa was there.
I slashed a path through the rebels as I ran toward the dog, cutting first to one side, then the other. Lady pranced in a circle once, twice as I drew close before dashing into the woods, confident I would follow. After a few yards of woodland, I came to the folly: a tall, round fieldstone building not that different from the lighthouse back home.
Lady ran around the folly to the entrance on the far side. Sloan was there, pounding and kicking the heavy wooden door. I eyed her suspiciously. I had never trusted this girl. Why was she here when no one else was? Sloan turned her head as we approached her.
"Xander, they took Tressa. She's in here—they took her in here." She grabbed the metal handle and shook it, trying to force it to open. She looked back at me again. "Don't just stand there, help me!"
Sloan knew we planned to come here today. She had been off on her own all afternoon and evening the previous day; she would have had plenty of time to set us up. She was Unseelie, after all. Maybe she had fooled Tressa into thinking she was one of the lost children. She could easily have been a plant, a trap for Tressa's tender heart. It was possible that she had orchestrated this whole debacle.
Sloan stepped back ten paces and then sprinted toward the door, ramming it hard with her shoulder. It didn't budge. She looked up at the structure. Just above her head was a small, square, open-air window about a foot and a half wide.
"Come on, give me a leg up. I bet I can get through that window! I'll open the door from the inside."
My urgency to get to Tressa spurred me into action. Sloan watched me, arms folded across her chest, while I desperately tried to force the door open. I repeated everything she had done—ramming it, twisting and shaking the door handle. Then I whacked the handle with my sword, trying to no avail to break it apart. I stepped back to assess the situation, scrutinizing the structure.
I had to get in. Tressa was in danger. No matter what trouble working with Sloan might bring next, I had to get into the folly. I couldn't get up to that window myself, and even if I could, I was too big to fit through it. Lady barked again, seeming to urge me into action and working on my already frayed nerves.
I took a deep breath, realizing I couldn't get in without trusting Sloan. I stood beneath the window and locked my fingers, palms up. As she approached it struck me that her hands were empty.
"Where's your blade?" I asked, unlacing my fingers and stepping back.
"My blade?" she asked, her tone clearly communicating that she thought I had lost my mind. "Who the hell cares? I haven't seen it since we left the Ridge. I told you, I don't carry the damn thing with me."
"So what if you get through that window and there's someone waiting to kill you?" I said, squinting at her and trying to decide if she told the truth.
"Well I'll look before I go through it, won't I? I'm not an idiot."
I wished Rosheen were there with her lie detector abilities to make me feel more confident with Sloan. Under the circumstances, I could see no other alternative. I stepped back under the window and got ready to hoist the girl. She put a foot in my hand and stood while I lifted her and held her aloft. She pulled herself through the opening. I watched her disappear, feeling I had made a dangerous decision—but for whom? Tressa, or Sloan?
Within seconds I heard movement inside the folly. The door swung open and Sloan stood in the doorway, sunlight shining off her smirking, I-told-you-so face. I pushed past her and raced up the circular stairway, Sloan and the dog following close behind me.
I turned and glared at Sloan. "You stay here; I don't know what's up there." I hadn't expected her to listen to me, but I didn't hear her behind me as I continued to climb.
An Unseelie running down the staircase met me after the first bend. He barely slowed me down; I had thrust my sword into his gut before he'd even thought to lift the one in his hand. I brushed past him as he crashed down the stairs. I finished off three more in a similar fashion before I burst into the chamber at the top of the tower.
The room was a living quarters, stuffed with patterned and upholstered furniture and a huge bed on the far side. My eyes flew to Tressa; she sat stiffly, tied to a metal chair along the wall across from me. When she saw me her eyes grew wide; she shook her head frantically, warning me away.
I ran to her anyway, relieved that she appeared unharmed. I crouched beside her and examined her bindings. The smooth, golden rope was looped multiple times around her midriff and the back of the chair. Then it wrapped around her wrists, tying them behind her back.
I worked at the knot while watching the room for any movement, but I couldn't loosen it. It was as if the pieces of rope had melded together. Tressa hissed in pain as I fumbled with the bindings.
"It gets tighter anytime I move," she said, wincing.
"Stay perfectly still," I whispered into her ear as I calculated how to bring down the blade of the sword to cut her loose.
"That won't work either. The binding is a little torture trick I learned from Da. Isn't that sweet?"
I jumped to my feet, startled by the sound of an unfamiliar voice. I whirled around to face the new threat, sword in hand. A middle-aged, blonde-haired, dark-eyed Sidhe emerged from behind an oversized armoire near the bed. Something about her looked familiar, though I couldn't pinpoint what.
The Sidhe ambled over to a large padded chair by a small square window, the twin of the one above the folly's door. She wore a long heavy dress that trailed behind her as she walked. Her raiment looked like something out of medieval times, different from the traditional Sidhe garb I was familiar with.
The chair sat on a platform, giving it the appearance of a throne and reinforcing the medieval ambiance. The woman sat, leaned to one side, and gazed out the window as if she had done it a million times. She seemed to have forgotten we were there. Then she turned to us with a sneer.
"Well, look at this," she said. "Neve's brat, coming to rescue the King's Jewel and carrying none other than the Claíomh Solais. What would my dear father have to say about that, I wonder?"
I hardly heard her; my mind raced as I took in the room, planning my next move. She had Tressa, and she knew who she was. There was no way I would let her hand Tressa over to the Unseelie. I stepped toward her and she raised a hand in warning.
"Careful, brat. Kill me and you'll kill her, too. The ropes are spelled. They can't be cut or broken—even by the great Sword of Light. Only my touch or that of one of my brethren can unwind the knot, and I suspect none of my kin have survived this little skirmish. Sad for you," she said in an odd sing-song voice, "because eventually it will squeeze the life out of her." She smiled prettily. "Did I mention that if you kill me, you will never see your mother again?"
Her words, both alarming and confusing, stopped me in my tracks. Who was this woman? What was she talking about?
"Xander," Tressa said, her voice straining with false civility. "Allow me to introduce you to Erina M
ór, Deaglan's only child. Thought to be dead these last twenty-five years."
"I have been dead!" the Sidhe woman screamed. Her eyes darted wildly around the room. "Languishing here in this folly for all these years, mourning my dear sweet babies." Her gaze finally rested on me. "Your grandmother—she started it all," she spat. "Telling my father he would die at the hand of his own grandchild. She was lying!" she screamed.
"As if my beautiful babies would hurt anyone," she said, her voice suddenly soft and tender. Her face relaxed to a soft and dreamy expression as she gazed out the window again. "Perhaps today I will see my baby walking across the field, coming to find me at last."
"Where is my mother?" I demanded, fighting the impulse to cut down the woman and tear the place apart. In that moment I knew in my gut—which never failed me—that my mother was in this folly.
"How happy Da would be to get his hands on you," Erina said, laughing at Tressa.
"Let her go," I said. "Take me to him instead. I have the Claíomh Solais. I am one of the fáidh he seeks. Surely he will release you from this prison with such a prize."
"Xander, no!" Tressa hissed.
Erina charged from her throne, bolting across the room and stopping just a few feet from us. "I am no prisoner! How dare you even suggest that I could be held against my will. I am Erina Mór, princess of the Unseelie. No one controls me." She swept her arms around her quarters. "I made this sanctuary, stolen from the Falias family, which was only right. They created all my problems. I wait here for my baby to return to me."
As she ranted, Sloan snuck in through the door now at Erina's back. My brow creased as I watched her reach down and pick up a weapon from the floor. It hadn't been there when I came in.
"I don't want to make my father happy. I'd rather kill her myself than give him the satisfaction," Erina said, snapping my attention back to her. "Once I'm finished with the two of you, I'll use the sword to bring down the great prince, Deaglan Mór."
Xander's Folly Page 19