As Aelwen was still down south conversing with the wulver, eating cooked food and not wearing a soaking wet dress, I had to endure it in silence.
After the two of them finished I politely waited, feeling faintly nauseated, until they had picked the fish bones from between their teeth before beginning the conversation.
As polite as I tried to be, whilst the two ambassadors filled me in on the situation down south, it was hard not to stare. I was so used to seeing fairies in Norbroch, not selkies.
Rather than possessing two rows of similarly shaped teeth, like humans and fairies, the selkies had teeth which were sharpened points. Their front teeth were longer than those at the back and I was sure that, should they wish to do so, they could bite through my arm with no trouble at all.
Where a fairy or human eye contained a black circle, ringed with colour, a selkies eyes were completely black, like the glossy eyes of the seal, with which they had much in common. The reflection of the candles burning throughout the room flickered and danced in their eyes.
As I watched, I realised just how much freer they were than us fairies, with their ability to travel both land and sea without a problem. I wondered why the Others had saw fit to confine the rest of us to the land.
“Our source doubts that the conflict in Eilean Trì will be settled without much human blood being shed,” the female said, concluding their tales of the human islands in the south.
“They very rarely are,” I sighed, the loss of human life was not a route I wanted this conversation to go down.
I found it difficult to guess what the selkies thought of the situation unfolding. The fight for a human throne had no impact on us here in Norbroch, but Eilean Sel traded with the human isles and so the situation was of interest to them.
Why they sent two ambassadors across the sea to tell me I did not know, but I assumed it was simply an excuse to spy on us, on me.
The last selkie visit had occurred whilst I was still caught up in my storm of grief. Trade with a kingdom, ruled in part by a Queen who can barely muster the will to hold a conversation, is not ideal.
I did my best to appear alert and competent. I had had years of practice hiding how I felt. The selkies would see me as a calm and capable Queen, someone they could trust enough to continue trading with.
Not the person I was on the inside.
T hroughout the night we took turns sleeping on the cold, uncomfortable river bank. We were both exhausted after our day’s work, and the constant fear that we would be caught. The stress we’d felt as we hurried away from the cottage, in which we had been held captive, lingered.
Nothing out there suggested that the fairy was chasing after us, but we took turns keeping watch anyway. She didn’t seem to like travelling much further than her cottage and the forest, so I hoped that she wouldn’t leave them behind to search for two runaway humans.
Still, it would have been awful for us both to fall sleep and wake to find ourselves recaptured. I was tense as I sat up on the riverbank, listening to the occasional screech of foxes and the water rushing past below me.
The night passed, turning the sky a startling mix of orange and blue as the moon disappeared and the sun rose. Although it was sometime between spring and summer now, the nights were still harsh and cold this far north. I couldn’t wait to get moving and soak up what little warmth the sun had to offer us.
Before we left, we choked down some of our bread, which was now so dry and old that it scratched my throat as it went down. Luckily the river looked clean and clear, so we had an abundance of cool water to wash it away.
“I hope we find a market up near the castle,” Glen complained as we walked. “Can’t remember the last time we had a hot meal.”
“Me neither,” I agreed, “I’d kill for some of ma’s stew right now.” My mouth watered at the thought of warm gravy with vegetables, potatoes and soft tender meat.
I shook my head furiously to get rid of the thought, now wasn’t the time to be thinking about stew.
“Don’t talk about it,” Glen gave a pained groan.
Neither Glen nor I could remember exactly how long we had been enchanted. Travelling made it difficult to keep track of the days, especially whilst in a mountain valley, or lost in a confusing magical forest. Despite that, it felt good to be on our way again.
We left the river, and its banks behind, and started to walk north. Behind us we could see the forest to the east and the river leading towards distant mountains in the west. Our map showed that if we continued heading north we would reach the castle eventually.
The journey didn’t take as long as I expected and by around mid-afternoon, we were following a road into the town. The castle was built in front of huge mountains, which made the Fairy Hills look miniscule. Their peaks were snow-capped, and the contrast between the harsh black rock and bright green grass was striking.
Somehow it made sense that even the mountains in the fairy kingdoms would look more menacing.
Spread out on either side of the castle was the town. The town was comprised of stone cottages, not dissimilar to the one we had just escaped, and had a market near its centre. We watched fairies going about their daily lives, working in the market, riding in and out of the town on horses and most importantly, heading into the castle.
At the entrance of the castle there was an arched doorway, through which people could wander freely as the large wooden doors were throw open. Glen and I decided that the best place for us to try and find answers would be in the castle.
Even if we didn’t get a chance to speak to anyone, we could hopefully observe them and try to learn about what they did with the babies they stole.
Too nervous to waste any time, we passed through the markets without so much as a glance at the goods and headed for entrance.
No one gave us any strange looks as we headed in, which meant that seeing humans must not have been unusual. It made me wonder if they all had humans enchanted in their homes.
The courtyard we ended up in was magnificent. It was larger than my cottage back home and, although it was simply paved with stones, it was grander than any human built building I had ever seen. The courtyard had many doors, leading off in all directions, which made our plan to charge in and find answers suddenly seem foolish.
We had no idea where to go.
Everyone around us was hurrying off without a moment’s hesitation, allowing us no time to stop and think about where we wanted go. Not unless we wanted to attract attention. Glen pointed towards the first door to our left and so we headed through that.
It made sense not to go charging into the centre of the castle, just in case we needed to escape. Although, I highly doubted that two humans could outrun a whole town filled with fairies. We would be found in minutes, especially if the stories about fairies and their magical powers were to be believed.
The door we passed through led us to a set of stone steps. We crept down as quietly as we could, half expecting to hear the footsteps of malicious fairy guards chasing after us at any moment. We made it down the steps without hassle and found ourselves in a large storeroom filled with sacks, which I assumed must have been food stores
“Och, you scared the life out of me!” a girl shrieked behind us, causing us both to jump out of our skins.
We spun round and were faced with a short girl, the generous sprinkling of freckles across her face made her immediately stand out as a human. The girl was dressed in a simple brown woollen dress, unlike the fairies we had seen strolling through the town in patterned dresses of a much higher quality.
“You two here to help me load the carts?” she asked, dragging a sack out a door at the other side of the room which I hadn’t noticed.
“No.” Glen said simply and grabbed my arm to pull me away.
We hurried out of the room before she could ask why we were there. Back up the stairs we went and out into the courtyard, the sun making my vision blur as the storeroom had been almost pitch black in comparison.
/> As we headed through a doorway, directly opposite the one we had just left, a hand, which I noted was much colder than someone should be at this time of year, grabbed my upper arm. I turned to see one of the fairy guards we had been hoping to avoid, his companion grabbing hold of Glen. I made a move to try and free my arm but Glen shook his head.
We were led away from the doorway and across the courtyard. No one glanced in our direction. Humans being manhandled by guards must have been a common occurrence here in the castle.
We were taken through another one of the numerous doors, passing many guards, before we were forced into a small room containing nothing more than a wooden table and a chair. The sudden increase in guards suggested that we had been brought to the guard’s quarter of the castle, or worse, the prison.
By this point my stomach was churning unpleasantly and, although I could feel myself sweating, I was chilled to the bone.
There was no way Glen or I would be able to leave, unless the guards decided to free us. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what we would have to do to earn that freedom.
The guards who caught us left and a different fairy stepped through the door. He had a presence about him that made me want to confess every little thing I had ever done wrong. Being under his scrutiny was even worse than da at his angriest.
We stood in silence, waiting anxiously until he finally spoke.
“You two are not humans employed by King Ferchar, correct?” his face gave us no indication of what his feelings were about this fact.
“Correct.” Glen and I answered simultaneously.
The way he said employed made a weight lift from my shoulders, it had settled there when we saw the human down in the storeroom. Employment indicated that the humans were all here by choice, and being paid coin for their services. Not forced to work as I had feared.
“What exactly are your intentions here in the castle?” he asked.
“We want to meet the King and find out what happens to the babies you fairies steal,” I blurted out before I had a chance to think about the possibility of my words offending him.
The guard’s emotionless mask slipped for a minute and he raised an eyebrow in surprise. He didn’t seem surprised that I had just told him our plans without hesitation, instead that our intentions here weren’t what he was expecting.
My sudden willingness to tell all reminded me of the enchantment we had been under and the reason for my loose tongue suddenly became clear.
Magic.
I nstead of being sent down to a dark, disgusting dungeon to face all manner of torture, as I had been expecting, a well-dressed servant entered the room and beckoned for us to follow.
After sharing a glance, we did, although I made sure to hold Glen’s hand to make sure he stayed close. Two of the fairy guards followed as we passed through a maze of corridors and rooms.
In each, the decoration grew grander and the furniture fancier. Lit fireplaces became common, as did comfortable looking chairs with tartan throws and servants ready to serve food and drink at any moment. Most impressive though, were the huge floor to roof tapestries depicting battles and landscapes. Clearly the dungeon was the last place Glen and I were going.
I was beginning to enjoy the tour of the castle when the servant stopped in a small room and looked us over, not bothering to hide his disgust. I felt myself blush with embarrassment.
We hadn’t had a chance to wash, other than in the river we’d followed, and I could feel that my lips were still horribly dry and chapped.
“King Ferchar has requested your company at dinner. You would do well to remember whom it is you dine with and take care to give his majesty the respect he deserves.” the servant advised, striding off the way we’d came.
Our guards motioned for the doors to be opened, and we were hurried into a grand hall before we had a chance to prepare ourselves.
King Ferchar standing, ready to receive us, was what caught my attention first. I had always imagined that the fairy King would look regal, grand and strong. This fairy was all of those things and more. He looked as if he could quite easily snap the both of us like twigs.
“Take a seat.” he gestured to the wooden table and I silently cursed, neither of us had thought of something respectful to say.
We were both speechless.
We hurried to take our seats and at once a human servant appeared out of nowhere, pouring us various drinks and herbal teas. Once we were comfortable, and had enough drink for a whole family, they retreated to wherever they had come from and our questioning began.
“What brings two humans to Culhuinn?” the King asked, his expression unreadable.
I couldn’t tell if he was angry, or merely curious.
“We travelled here from Tirwood in search of answers. We hoped to learn about why fairies create changelings and to find out what is done with the human children.” Glen answered as my stomach churned with nerves.
“Ah, changelings are what you call the babies left behind, yes?”
We nodded, too nervous to say more.
“Well, I’ll admit that I know a little about the whole business. The changelings are created by magic and left behind whilst the human baby is taken north to be raised, and then put to work.” he answered, sounding almost apologetic.
“Thank you, anything you know is helpful as we know very little. All we know is that we are unable to stop our children being stolen, and our changelings die so young.” Glen explained, and for a moment the King looked amused.
“Occasionally fairies are born gifted with magical abilities. Some can encourage crops to grow or affect the weather. Some can influence the minds of others or make themselves appear changed,” the King explained, pausing dramatically to ensure we were listening, which of course we were.
“Very rarely, a fairy is born with the ability to create new life from their magic. These magical creations do not live as long as those created by the Others. That is why your changelings die so quickly.”
The story was interrupted by the castle’s servants hurrying in to fill the table with food. There was so much food that I felt as if I was attending a festival.
It was uncomfortable, having people arrange our food for us, but they did not pause to let us to help.
I noticed a few of the servants paused to stare, or do a double take. They must not have been used to seeing new humans around the castle. Which I supposed was a good sign.
“Do you know who makes the changelings?” I asked once we had started our meal.
“Unfortunately, I do.” he replied with a sigh, “Up north in the kingdom of Norbroch they are obsessed with humans. Nothing I do stops them from stealing human babies for their own sick purposes.”
Glen and I glanced at each other. If Norbroch was responsible for the creation of changelings, and the deaths of so many humans, then we had to travel even further north.
We couldn’t simply end our journey here. Knowledge of how and why our babies were stolen would do nothing to prevent it from happening again.
“I think then, that we should travel north,” I said carefully, unsure what the King’s reaction would be.
Fortunately, he seemed to agree with our plan and at once looked pleased.
“Yes. I think that would be the best way for you to find the answers you seek and, dare I say it, put a stop to this horror. In the morning, I shall provide you both with food and a guide to help you travel through the mountains.”
Glen and I hurried to thank him and assure him that his help would not be forgotten by either of us. How we humans could ever repay him for his help I had no idea. Telling us where we would find those responsible for so much death gave us a chance to save lives.
His help was the greatest gift either of us had ever received.
He raised a hand to silence us. “Tell me more about your journey, what have you encountered thus far.”
Glen, the storyteller, was in his element as he retold our journey. The King seemed especially amused by our ex
periences in the Fairy Forest and intrigued by the enchantment we both fell under.
“Finally, my darling daughter arrives,” the King interrupted as the door opened and a fairy stepped through, he hurried to collect her and sit her down across from me.
It made me smile to see that even a fairy king cared about his daughter, like my da cared about me. Our first experience with a fairy had been awful and proved every story about evil fairies right. However here in this castle, the fairies we had met were forgiving and helpful, despite our unannounced arrival.
His daughter was beautiful. She wore a fine dress made of a material I had never seen before. It looked so soft that I had a sudden desire to lunge over the table and touch it. There was no doubt that it was expensive, and I wished that I could bring some home to ma and Bonnie. She wore delicate jewellery around her wrists and neck, which caught the light as she moved.
The addition of polished metals and jewels really set the fairies apart from Glen and I. Made it clear to all that we were from a farming village, not royalty.
The princess had a kind face, but I noticed that she had dark circles under her eyes and looked as if she needed a week of sleep. Life as a princess must be tiring. Her blonde hair was long and loosely curled, making me all too aware of how dirty and tangled my own was.
As I studied her face, I noticed with a start that she was also watching me. My expression must have been one of awe and wonder as I stared. The princess, on the other hand, was looking at me as if I was a ghost. Something from one of her worst nightmares.
I felt my cheeks redden under her scrutiny and quickly diverted my attention back to the meal in front of me.
The King seemed to realise that his daughter wasn’t planning on speaking and so resumed the conversation with a smile.
“Enchanted you say?” he looked amused.
Glen nodded. “Aye, we weren’t aware of the enchantment until we were half a meadow away from her.”
The Changeling's Journey Page 16