Guardian

by Sam Cheever

  I sighed. “We need to do something with these bodies.”

  Ian shook his head. “We don’t have time. We’ll have to come back for them.”

  I knew he was right. But it nearly killed me to leave the bodies there to become harpy food.

  I grabbed Ian’s hand and we stepped into my travel layer. We headed toward Tana’s kingdom.

  We didn’t get far.

  The battle waged far into the Wood, miles from the enormous, Mother of Pearl gates on the high fence surrounding Tana and the faeries. We stepped out of the layer and entered the fray, weapons cutting frantically into an unending supply of elves, brownies, dark faeries, demons, and even a few humans.

  I plunged my fork into a nearby demon, following it up with a slice of my long knife across his thick, leathery neck. Spinning I sent a stunning level of power into a knife wielding elf that had a bloodied but energetically fighting faery on the ground and was preparing to skewer her.

  The elf went down and the faery leapt to her feet, finishing him off with an elegant swipe of her sword. Her brightly hued eyes lifted to me for just a second and she smiled, lifting the sword to tap it against her forehead in silent salute. With a fresh smear of her enemy’s blood on her forehead, she spun to meet the attack of another elf at her back.

  I returned to work too, dispatching the attacking hordes as quickly as they swarmed in. An indeterminate amount of time later, Ian walked up to me and shoved his sword into his belt. I looked around at the bodies littering the ground of the clearing, feeling incredibly weary.

  The faery I’d helped out earlier walked up to me. Several more smears of blood had joined the first smear on her flawless white face. She planted her sword point in the dirt beside her slipper clad foot and bowed. “Monad Warrior, it was a distinct pleasure fighting beside you.”

  I lowered my head in acceptance of her respectful words.

  She turned to Ian and her bright green eyes widened perceptively. “Ian Lavelle, what brings you to this fight?”

  Ian cocked his head at her. “ ‘Tis my battle too, young faery.” He grinned. “Maybe more than most for both sides of my heritage are affected.”

  She cocked an eyebrow at him and smiled back. “Point taken. I would just warn you to stay away from ropes and tall trees, for Tana’s in a right sour mood this day.”

  Ian nodded and glanced at me. “Which reminds me, our journey is not ended.”

  I sighed. “Let’s go.”

  We followed the sounds of fighting to the next battle, where Tana’s warriors were fighting an invisible foe. Ian and I motioned to the faeries at our backs to move in quietly, taking out the shades as they attacked, thus giving away their position.

  Fortunately it was a small group and we were able to dispatch them quickly. I bent to heal a couple of warriors who were injured and we moved forward. We encountered fewer battles as we neared the gates, where Tana’s warriors were present in massive force, protecting her castle.

  After it was determined that we were friend rather than foe, the gates were opened just enough to let us by and we headed quickly to Tana.

  She was in the room where she’d spoken to us the first time, pacing and wringing her small, white hands. When we walked through the doors her head flew up and her emerald eyes flashed with surprise. She swept toward Ian, her long silver tresses floating like the finest silk behind her. “Oh Ian.” She embraced him and sparkling liquid flowed down her cheeks.”

  “I know, my queen. I heard.”

  She pulled back, her small hands clutching his forearms in what looked like a painful grip. “I have no choice. If I don’t deal harshly with her I will be seen as weak.” She trembled visibly and her eyes were red from weeping. He gently disengaged her nails from his arms and grabbed her hand, leading her to a nearby divan and forcing her to sit. He threw me a look filled with meaning and I nodded. I walked to the side of the room and poured her a crystal goblet of faery wine, carrying it over and handing it to her.

  She gave me a trembling smile and took the wine gratefully. She held the glass between visibly shaking hands. “What can I do, Ian?”

  “Do you want me to break her free, my queen?”

  She shook her head, fresh tears sliding down her cheeks. “Nay. It is known that you and I are close. The usurpers will know it was my doing.”

  I stepped closer. “Your majesty, if I might intervene.”

  She nodded.

  “Do you still hold the shadow woman here?”

  She looked perplexed but, after a moment, she said, “I do, yes.”

  I glanced at Ian and saw that his mind was working along the same lines as mine. His eyes widened slightly and he nodded.

  “If the shade were to escape, perhaps, and break her comrade free…”

  Tana’s emerald gaze cleared and she stood, sloshing wine in her skirts with the violence of her movement. “Of course!” She turned to Ian. “Will it work, my friend?”

  Ian nodded. “I’ll arrange it.” He took Tana’s hand. “She’ll have to be kept somewhere though, my queen. We can’t just let her go.”

  Some of the light slid away from Tana’s eyes. But she inclined her chin in agreement. Turning away from us, she set her goblet down and strode across the room. Stopping in front of her scrying dish she dipped a long finger toward the sparkling surface.

  The Watcher’s ugly face lifted from the surface of the dish and smiled at Tana.

  “Lovely one. What would you ask of me?”

  Tana stiffened her narrow shoulders. When she spoke her voice was strong again. “I would ask that you take charge of a certain…package…for me and keep it safe, but keep it under lock and key.”

  His beady eyes narrowed in speculation and found me. I nodded slightly. The Watcher smiled at Tana. “How will this package come to me?”

  Tana glanced at me. “Nuria, Warrior Monad will carry it.”

  The Watcher nodded. “I would be proud to perform this service for you, Lovely Tana.”

  I couldn’t see her face but her shoulders drooped a bit in relief. “No one must know that you have this package, my friend. Do you understand? Absolutely no one!”

  He nodded. “I understand.”

  The Watcher disappeared and Tana stood with her back to us.

  I reached for Ian.

  When Tana turned back around we were already gone.

  Princess Zillah sat in a near dark room, her dark head was lowered and she appeared to be staring at the metal on her wrist. She turned it carefully with her other hand, examining it carefully.

  We stepped out of a wrinkle and her dark head shot up. She gasped and clutched her throat with one hand. “Oh, Warrior Monad, you frightened me.”

  I smiled. “Sorry about that.” I approached her quickly, dropping into a second chair nearby. Ian moved to the door and locked it. Standing close so he could hear approaching voices or footsteps.

  “We need your help.”

  She grimaced and held up her bracelet clad arm. “I don’t know how much help I can be with this thing on.”

  “That will be no problem.”

  I turned and fixed Ian with a hard look. His face was carefully blank, but he met my eyes and didn’t look away.

  Quick anger filled me, but I realized I would have to deal with it later. Much later. When the world wasn’t collapsing around us.

  I turned back to the Shadow Princess, dismissing Ian from my mind and…most likely…from my life. “I need to know who you were working for? Why did you attack me in that coffee shop?”

  Zillah sighed, chewing her soft, lower lip.

  “We’ve been to see your father.” I was going strictly on instinct. But my words seemed to loosen her tongue.

  Her pretty grey eyes widened. “He is well?”

  I nodded, but didn’t elaborate. She had a decision to make, information must be exchanged for information.

  Her grey gaze fixed on me with relentless intensity, she nodded once, understanding the unspoken terms. “I was
there at my father’s behest.”

  I blinked.

  Suddenly Ian was standing beside me. “Your father is working against Tana?”

  Princess Zillah shook her head emphatically. “No. Of course not. He knew of the plot. Certain…individuals had approached him and asked him to join. He didn’t exactly refuse them, knowing that would make RiverIsle a target too, but he sent a select group of us to watch and learn and report back to him.”

  Ignoring Ian, because I wanted to smack him…hard…I repeated my earlier question. “But why did you attack us at the restaurant?”

  She shook her head again. “Aubrie instructed us to kill you. But we were just trying to capture you and take you to my father. He had a need to learn what you knew.” She gave us a wry grin. “Unfortunately you didn’t cooperate with our plans.”

  I thought of the Shades we’d killed just recently in The Wood. They’d been attacking Tana’s warriors with every indication of wanting them dead. Something wasn’t adding up. I shook my head. “Did you forget to tell your Shades that they were just playacting?”

  She sighed. “Nay. But the lure of power and riches is a corrupting influence. I fear some of our people have been pulled willingly into Aubrie’s net.”

  The room was silent for a moment as Ian and I tried to decide if we believed her. Zillah’s dark, curly head was lowered in shame. I easily read the emotion in her posture.

  That, at least, rang true. RiverIsle was a land of intensely proud people. The defection of a portion of her Shades would be a bitter pill for the Princess to swallow.

  Finally Ian reached out and touched the band at Zillah’s wrist. The band shimmered and fell away, landing in her lap.

  She gave a cry of happiness and rubbed the spot where the band had been.

  My eyes lifted to his and I didn’t even try to disguise the pain. He’d left that gods-awful band on me for days, knowing what it was doing to me. He had knowingly endangered me by leaving it in place. And he had done it with no apparent concern for the consequences. As I stood I murmured. “You are dead to me, Ian Lavelle.”

  Ian’s mouth opened but I shoved past him to the Shadow Princess. I took her hands in mine. “We need you to come with us. We are going to break Princess Dawnia out of the prison caves and we need your help.”

  The young shadow smiled. “I’d be pleased to help, in any way I can.”

  Ian’s voice sounded cold and distant. “I’m glad to hear of your willingness to help, Princess. We’ll need the help of your people to push back the usurpers and rescue Faerydae.”

  Zillah nodded. “I’ll lead them myself.”

  Turning to Ian, I matched the tone of his voice chill for chill. “You’d better keep up, Elfaery, or you’ll quickly find yourself writhing in uncontrollable pain on the ground.”

  I created a wrinkle and stepped into it, still holding one of the Princess’ hands. I didn’t turn around to see if Ian made it in with us.

  At the moment I didn’t really care.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Packages Everywhere

  The caves appeared to be thick with Tana’s warriors. I knew they considered Dawnia an important prisoner and didn’t intend to let her slip through their fingers. Several warriors entered the prison area in the short time we watched and dozens more wandered around the clearing at the mouth of the cave, fully armed, their jewel colored eyes sliding constantly around the area.

  A few of the faery guards wore a bright green aura. I looked at Ian. “Spooks.”

  He nodded, grimacing. Spooks were specially trained faeries who could see into travel layers, protecting against someone like me, or another faery, sneaking up on them.

  Unfortunately for them they couldn’t see a Shade in her shadow form.

  We stopped in the trees, far enough away that Zillah could step out of my layer unseen and disappear. Then Ian and I stepped out.

  I looked at him. “Diversion?”

  He nodded.

  Ian wrapped an arm heavily around my shoulders and pulled me close. I steeled myself against the wave of lust that overwhelmed me as his scent and heat swamped my senses. I took a deep breath and forced my body to go loose, letting my curves melt into him and wrapping my arms around his waist.

  “Let’s do this.” He murmured, and then he did the unforgivable, considering how mad I was at him. He placed a soft kiss on the top of my head. It wasn’t for show. We hadn’t moved into view yet. It was a message meant only for me.

  I frowned hard, so I wouldn’t sigh with pleasure.

  We moved out of the trees and onto the path, heading toward the caves as if we hadn’t a thought in the world except being together.

  At the first sign of movement Ian dragged me to a stop and pulled me around, lowering his lips over mine. My heart stopped as the softness of his lips ignited passions that I had hoped to push far back into the impenetrable recesses of my mind.

  I slid my hands down his back and grabbed his butt cheeks, pulling him closer. He happily complied, rolling his hips and pressing his hard length into my stomach. I gasped, realizing that his kisses were no more based on creating a diversion than my reaction to them was.

  He pulled away slightly and grabbed my bottom lip with his teeth, nibbling gently. His full, lush mouth moved to my chin and traveled down my throat. I moaned and dropped my head back, sliding my fingers into his soft hair. Against my will my treacherous body throbbed and wept for his touch. My breath came in desperate puffs and somewhere deep inside I clenched with desperate need.

  “Hey! You there!”

  I was so deeply entrenched in my lust bubble it took me a few beats to react and remember, oh yeah, this is all for show…a diversion.

  It was a hell of a diversion. It had even diverted us.

  Ian lifted his lips from mine, looking down into my face for a beat before turning to address the warrior standing a few feet away from us, weapon drawn. I saw the truth of his feelings throbbing in the depth of his brown eyes and I realized, it was my call. I could either forgive him for leaving me relatively helpless, and therefore dependent on him, for whatever reason, and we could move forward together. Or I could hold on to my anger and let this moment pass for us.

  I blinked. I wasn’t quite ready to make that decision.

  Ian gave me a sad smile and turned away, pulling me back under his arm as if protecting me. I had no trouble forming my face into a dazed, stupid mask. I was already there, after having my mind melted by Ian’s kiss.

  Ian copped a faery attitude with the guard. “What is the meaning of this intrusion?”

  For just a beat, the warrior reacted to the regal tone of Ian’s voice. But he quickly shoved it off. “You must vacate this area. We have a special prisoner here and none but the queen’s warriors are allowed here.”

  Ian snorted and glanced down at me. I grinned and snorted back.

  “I am the queen’s most trusted advisor. You have no reason to interfere in my…pleasures…be gone with you.”

  The warrior actually lifted one foot as if he would comply. But then he frowned and put a hand on his sword. “I have my orders, sir. You and your harlot must turn around and go back the way you came.”

  Ian stiffened. “I wouldn’t call her that if I were you.”

  I allowed all intelligence to drain from my eyes and a sultry smile to curve my lips. Moving out of Ian’s embrace I sauntered toward the stiff backed warrior. I placed a hand on his chest and leaned close until my lips were a mere breath from his ear. I could feel him vibrating under my hand. “I find authority so sexy don’t you?”

  I injected enough power into his heart to drop him like a stone. He lay there twitching, his bright green eyes fluttering in their sockets. Kicking him on the hip I turned away. “Harlot my ass.”

  Ian pulled the guard off the path into the trees and rejoined me on the path. “I tried to warn him.”

  I was disgusted. “Why is it the woman is always the harlot but the man is just a man?”

  Ian s
hrugged and we moved on toward the front of the caves.

  We emerged into the clearing at the entranceway to the prison caves and stopped, putting surprised looks on our faces, as if we hadn’t known the prisons were there.

  A couple of alert looking guards approached us. Ian kept his body loose but his hand moved closer to the handle of his sword. “What goes here?”

  The guards stopped a few feet away, just outside the range of Ian’s sword. Apparently they knew who he was. “What is your purpose here, Ian Lavelle?”

  Ian glanced toward the mouth of the cave just in time to see two of the guards crash together head first, and then disappear into the depths of the cave.

  “I came to check on the welfare of the queen’s sister.”

  The guards exchanged a look. “We know nothing of this.”

  Ian shrugged. “You may check with the queen if you wish. I’ll wait here.”

  The guard who had spoken nodded his head toward the other warrior and that faery took off running toward the castle.

  “So how goes it with Princess Dawnia?”

  I pretended to listen as the two men conversed quietly but kept one eye on the face of the cave. After a moment, I felt a drift of wind over my shoulder and heard Zillah’s voice in my ear. “I’ve got her.”

  I turned to Ian. “I don’t have time for this. We can come back later, after these men have Tana’s orders to allow us in.”

  Ian nodded. “So be it.”

  We turned and walked briskly back down the path. “Don’t stop short Zillah.” I murmured, and was answered with a soft, disembodied giggle. When we were out of sight of the caves I opened a travel layer and stepped into it. Ian followed and Zillah pulled Dawnia into it with her, reappearing as soon as she entered the layer.

  I held a finger to my lips as Dawnia opened her mouth and we turned toward the gates, moving quickly until we were through them. When we were far enough away from Tana’s kingdom to avoid her warrior guard. We stepped out of my travel layer.

  I started the process of calling the Watcher as Ian and Dawnia carried on an intense, whispered conversation behind me. Zillah stood beside me, her pretty face blank and her hands clasped behind her back.