‘Hmmm? Yes?’ He looked away from the corner of the room.
‘The serving women. Are they night faeries?’ The ones I could see all appeared shorter than the average night faery.
‘You mean the slaves?’
‘They’re slaves?’
He nodded his head. ‘Once upon a time the Ubanty Tribe roamed these lands. When the night faeries broke from our people…,’
‘Wait. We used to be one people?’ That thought gave me the heebie-jeebies.
‘Yes. There was an argument over a succession and the faeries that followed our King Rowan stayed. A small band of followers loyal to his twin brother, Randa, left. They came here and set up Emstillia. The Ubanty people weren’t so keen on the idea and a battle followed. They lost and their descendants have been slaves to the Royal Court ever since.’
Before I could comment, a bell tolled twice.
‘And now it begins,’ Isla said.
Everybody who was still standing made their way back to their seats. At the front of the room I recognised the men we had lunched with. A single cushion in the middle of their row remained empty.
‘All rise for the King.’
We stood, and a statuesque figure wearing a black fur cape over the obligatory black clothing, strode to the front of the room. Isla had been right. Arracon was handsome, in a devil-may-care way. His full lips were framed by a strong nose and high cheekbones. Long lashes curled thick around eyes that studied the room. His gaze fell on Isla and a small smirk appeared.
I didn’t think I could have sat there so calmly if a man who had ripped away my innocence had been smiling at me like that. I was guessing by Aethan’s lack of reaction that he didn’t know the full story.
‘Welcome,’ Arracon said in a deeply-resonating voice. ‘It has been too long since we have had guests from Isilvitania.’ He smirked at Isla again and I had an urge to smack him in the mouth. ‘We are here to celebrate a possible union between our two peoples. We have given great thought to which female would be a suitable candidate to join with Crown Prince Orion.’ He stopped and looked around the room. ‘We have decided that there is only one female fit enough to be worthy of such a salubrious marriage.’
He paused again, this time to look back in the direction from whence he came. ‘Prince Aethan, on behalf of your brother, may I present to you Princess Ebony, Jewel of Emstillia and heir to the throne.’
Isla let out a gasp, but I wasn’t looking at her. Ebony flowed into the marquee and moved to stand beside her father. Like all night faeries, her hair was of the deepest black and her skin a softly burnished mocha. But where their eyes were all dark, hers were the softest sea green. They glowed in a face that was perfect in proportion and form. Full lips pursed sensuously as she gazed at Aethan. Lustrous black hair tumbled down her shoulders to her waist, and her black dress clung to her breasts and hips.
I felt despair roil over me. Ebony, in all her glory, made Isla look plain. And until that second, Isla was the most beautiful woman I knew. I hated to think what I looked like in comparison. Aethan had to court Ebony, had to make her want to come to Isilvitania and marry his brother. I felt sick at the thought of them spending time together.
‘Easy,’ Wilfred whispered, placing his hand on my arm.
I looked down to find I was holding a knife. I hadn’t even realised I’d picked it up off the table.
‘Jealous much?’ he murmured plucking it from my fingers.
Aethan stood and made his way up to the front. Arracon formally introduced them and then Aethan brought Ebony back to the table and waited while she seated herself. I could see far too much bosom when she leant towards Aethan.
Picking up my goblet, I took a swig of wine. I tried not to listen to their conversation, honestly I did, but her bell-like voice was easily heard over Isla and Wilfred’s low murmurs.
‘So your brother Orion,’ she said, ‘is he as handsome as you?’
Aethan laughed softly. ‘Lady, you compliment me. I can assure you that Orion is far more handsome than I am.’
‘I’m not sure if that is possible,’ she said. ‘Before I saw you, my father was the handsomest man I had ever seen. Now I am not so sure.’
I was glad the goblets were made of metal and not glass or I would have needed Wolfgang to heal me again.
‘Orion is handsome and strong and wise. He will make a good king and an enviable husband.’
‘Strong is good,’ she said. ‘Men should be strong enough to look after their wives. I know some women like to play at fighting, but I think it is unseemly. Wives are the softness that complements the husband’s strength.’
Great Dark Sky if that were true, I was in deep trouble.
‘That’s a nice way of looking at it,’ Aethan said. ‘It is pleasant spending time with a woman of grace.’
What? Since when?
I leaned to the side as a serving woman – no, slave – placed a meal in front of me. It smelled of spices and roasted meat, but suddenly, I wasn’t hungry. What if this Aethan really did like his women soft? What if the other Aethan, my Aethan, never came back? Years of unrequited love suddenly stretched in front of me. I picked up my fork and used it to move my food around my plate.
‘Not hungry?’ Wilfred asked.
‘Who can eat?’ I rolled my eyes and nodded towards Ebony and Aethan.
‘Everything will work out,’ he said around a mouthful of food.
I sighed. ‘You said that once before. How do you know?’
He swallowed and put his fork down. ‘Things always do. Sometimes not how we imagine they will, but they do.’
‘Not helping.’ I stabbed at a piece of meat and handed it down to Scruffy.
‘You two are meant to be together. This is just the blacksmith’s fire.’
I shook my head. ‘I don’t follow.’
‘When a blacksmith makes a sword, he heats it and beats it and heats it again. If he doesn’t do that, the sword won’t be as strong. It will shatter on its first use.’
I worked my way through his analogy. ‘So you’re saying we’ll be stronger because of this, not in spite of it?’
‘Exactly.’
Isla leaned past Wilfred and said, ‘Not bad for a big, red bear.’
‘You’re imagining me naked, aren’t you,’ he said to her.
‘Why yes.’ She looked straight into his eyes and gave him a small smile. ‘I most certainly am.’
Wilfred’s face blushed as red as his hair as he turned his attention back to his meal.
I chuckled as I speared a piece of meat. That was Wilfred’s standard pick-up line, but I’d never heard it turned on him before.
It didn’t take long for Wilfred to get over his embarrassment. He spent the rest of the meal whispering to Isla, who laughed wickedly at whatever he was saying. Wolfgang seemed totally pre-occupied with the corner of the marquee, so I ate my meal in silence. When we had finished the main course, the table was cleared and I found myself hoping that was it for the evening. I itched to get Aethan away from Ebony.
‘Would you care to go for a stroll?’ Aethan stood up and offered Ebony his hand.
‘That would be lovely.’ She giggled as she ‘accidentally’ tripped into him, forcing him to wrap her in his arms to steady her.
A low growl came out of my throat before I could stop it.
She turned her radiant face towards me, looking at me as if I were an unsolved puzzle.
‘Excuse me,’ I said, putting my hand in front of my mouth. ‘It’s the spice.’ I wasn’t keen on her thinking I had burped, but there was no way I was admitting I had growled at her.
‘I burped once,’ she said, smiling at me like I was a wayward child, ‘when I was a baby. I don’t remember it myself.’
Aethan looked like he was holding back a laugh as he escorted her away.
‘I burped once,’ I mimicked her soft voice.
Wilfred laughed and said, ‘Bet she’s never growled.’
I poked my tongue out at him
and stood up. ‘Excuse me, I need to use the ladies’.’
I breathed a sigh of relief when Isla and Wilfred continued their whispered conversation. I had feared she would offer to go with me and I really had no intention of finding the toilet. I needed a walk too, and well, if that walk just happened to take me near where Aethan and Ebony were strolling, well that would be a huge coincidence.
By the time I made it outside the tent, Aethan and Ebony were nowhere to be seen.
Bugger. Which way would they have gone?
‘Any ideas boy?’ I said, looking down at Scruffy. He was staring back into the tent where dessert was being wheeled in.
‘Do you want to stay with Wilfred?’ I said.
He looked up at me and wagged his tail and scampered back to Wilfred. I saw him pawing at the big man’s arm as a platter piled high with delicacies was placed on the table.
Trying to pretend I was just going for a stroll, I turned left and headed into the garden. A sprite bobbed innocently towards me. ‘Don’t even think about it,’ I said, flapping my hands at it. Its light flickered from white to red before it headed off in another direction. I was guessing that that was the sprite equivalent of giving me the finger.
A quick pass through the closest parts of the garden didn’t reveal Aethan. After another five minutes of unsuccessful searching I decided to head to the fountain. Lights lit the cascading water and smoothed away the shadows from the surrounding trees. The snowy, white marble structure was the only friendly thing I’d encountered since we had arrived. I sat on its edge and trailed my fingers in the water.
‘They brought it with them when they came.’
I jumped up and backed away from the dark figure standing in the tree line.
‘They pulled it apart and piece-by-piece they carried it here from Isilvitania.’ The man stepped away from the trees and moved towards the fountain. ‘Now it is the only reminder of what they once were before they let Randa’s anger and jealousy warp them.’ He mimicked my previous position and sat on the edge, trailing his fingers through the water. ‘That was all a long, long time ago.’
Wary of his body language, I stepped back to the fountain, and re-took my seat. ‘You are Ubanty.’ It was a statement, not a question. If his shorter stature were not enough of a giveaway, black tattoos twirled up his arms and danced along the top of his collar bones. Half-crescent moons were inked beside each eye.
He nodded his head. ‘I am Samuel.’
‘Isadora.’ I held my hand out to him and he took it in a clasp. Engraved metal bands encircled his wrists.
‘The one they speak of.’
‘Pardon?’
‘The witch that brought down the castle defences. We have waited a long time for you.’
I stared at him with my mouth opening and closing, but I couldn’t find the right words to say.
He froze and peered to his right, as if he could hear something I couldn’t. ‘They come.’ He stood and backed towards the trees. ‘Never fear, I will follow and we will come for you. Hold strong.’
I stared after him as he disappeared into the shadows. He was certainly an interesting fellow. Perhaps he was the local crazy. Every town had one.
A stick cracked to my left and I jumped and then laughed nervously. He really had freaked me out. It was probably for the best if I headed back to the marquee.
I took a step towards the muted glow of the party and another crack echoed to my right. ‘Aethan? Ebony?’ Perhaps I had found them after all.
Dark shadows sprinted from tree-to-tree. I grabbed my knife from my ankle and spun in a circle. There were three, no four, no six people circling me, weaving in and out of the trees in an elaborate dance. I held my ground and waited for them to attack.
Two of them raced towards me and threw their arms out. A large net sailed through the air and hooked over my head. I would have flicked it off easily if two more nets had not followed in rapid succession. My struggles to remove one, only increased the hold the other two had on me.
I stopped fighting the nets and turned to see the six standing in a circle with me at their centre. Each of them held a rope attached to one of the nets. As I watched they started the elaborate dance again, running under and over each other’s ropes. By the time I realised they were making a net big enough to encase me, it was too late. They ran in a circle looping the ropes around my ankles as I hopped from foot to foot. When they had finished I was encased in their net and controlled by a rope. One of them jerked on the rope and my feet were whipped out from under me.
‘Right,’ I said. ‘I think that’s enough.’
I thought about what I wanted – to be free – and gestured with my hands. Nothing happened. There was no need to panic though; it wasn’t the first time my powers had failed the first time. I reached inside me for the glowing patches that contained my power. I could feel them, but I couldn’t reach them.
‘That’s enough witch,’ one of the shadow men said. ‘You can’t access your powers with this net upon you.’
I ceased my struggles and stared in bewilderment. Who were these people and what did they want?
‘They will know she is missing soon,’ another one of the masked figures said.
‘Yes, we must hurry.’
‘Help.’ I felt like such a big girl having to yell that word. ‘Heeeellpp.’
I pulled my knife from its sheath on my ankle as I continued to shriek. They picked me up and hurried away from the castle, away from the party. Away from my friends. I dragged my dagger over the rope but the sharp edge didn’t even fray it.
As I hacked at the net the piece of paper scratched at my breast.
BEWARE.
I was an idiot. The Ubanty had warned me and I had immediately disregarded it. I’d been more worried about a night faery trollop than my own safety. I’d grown arrogant and stupid and… there weren’t enough words that meant idiot to describe what I had become.
All my attempts with the knife failed. There was nothing I could do while I was in the damned net. I would have to wait for them to free me before I could escape. That knowledge rankled.
I tried to relax and save my strength, but the ropes dug into my flesh where it supported me. Trying to get comfortable only earned me a sharp prod. I resisted the urge to poke back with my knife. I didn’t think that would help the situation.
A few minutes later we came to a low ridge line. Four of the six ran ahead while the other two carried me up the steep hill. Hidden amongst the peaks was a building. The open door emitted the glow of a fire. At least I would be warm.
I was bundled inside and thrown on the floor next to a fire pit, close enough to the dancing flames that the heat burnt the side of my face. I wiggled and rolled away from it. There was warm and then there was warm.
‘Where is her familiar?’ The voice rasped like nails on a chalkboard and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end.
The six masked figures bowed low as a shape entered the room. It shifted and twisted so that one second I was looking at a person, the next a large cat, then a crow. The eyes remained constant; glowing yellow, they burned from within the face of the creature. I stared into those eyes as the face twirled around them. A bear, a pig, a dragon – the never-ending change was mesmerising.
‘He wasn’t with her.’
‘It will do, I suppose.’
The face changed to a wolf and the creature snarled, rearing up in front of me. An eagle’s taloned claw reached out towards me, trapping me as I tried to wriggle out of reach. It clasped my head and squeezed, the tips of the nails drawing blood. Power roared into me, not gently the way Wolfgang did it, but hard and fast, ripping at the edges of my sanity.
The yellow eyes whirled faster and faster, transfixing me. Even though every cell in my body wanted to fight the creature, I couldn’t twitch a muscle. It made everything Galanta had ever done to me look tame.
A brown, worm-like tongue protruded from the mouth and wiggled towards me. It licked the length of my fac
e and then forced its way past my rigid lips and into my mouth. I wanted to retch at the taste of rot but I couldn’t. Helpless, I lay there as the tongue made its way to the back of my mouth and started down my throat. The face drew closer as the whirling, yellow eyes hypnotised me.
Pain lanced through my chest as the worm pierced my oesophagus. It tore through flesh as it burrowed towards my heart. Horror gave me strength as I fought the invisible bonds. I twitched a finger, then another but that wasn’t going to be enough.
What was it doing to me? I may not have known but I was pretty sure none of it was good. Fire burned in my lungs as I struggled to draw air. I wasn’t sure which would kill me first, the tongue or suffocation.
My heart beat like a crazy animal and blood dripped from my lips. Roaring sounded in my ears as white lights blinked before my eyes. Pressure, agonising pressure, as the worm closed around my heart.
I tried to scream through the blood as the creature’s lips touched mine. And then it was gone, the tongue retracting back the way it had come. It jumped off me and turned with a snarl. I swallowed blood and coughed helplessly as I fought for air.
Tattooed Ubanty fought like madmen. More jumped from the rafters and circled the creature. I saw Samuel, firelight glinting off his bare chest as he spun his sword. As I watched he beheaded two of the six night faeries.
I sucked in some air, and then some more, rolling onto my side to cough up blood.
The creature changed to a lion and swiped a huge paw, catching a Ubanty in the chest. Then it spun back towards me. ‘Mine,’ it hissed, reaching out to grab the net.
Samuel leapt over the fire, blade cutting through the lion’s arm. The dismembered limb turned to smoke and flowed back to the creature.
‘Be gone,’ Samuel yelled.
‘Mine.’ A snake reared up, venom dripping off its fangs as its eyes whirled.
Samuel pirouetted with his blade held wide, but it was the two Ubanty attacking from behind that cut off the head of the snake.
A wail filled the air as black smoke raced around the room. I cowered in the net and put my hands over my ears. And then it was gone, racing out through the doorway and into the night.
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