The Wraith and the Rose

by C. J. Brightley

  Theo turned to Lily. “My love, would you excuse us a moment, please?”

  Lily blinked. “I… I suppose.” She stood reluctantly, feeling Theo’s eyes on her as she stepped out of the room. She tried to squash a vague sense of being insulted, but the effort was not entirely successful.

  She wandered to the larger sitting room nearest the front door and sat in the velvet couch, feeling suddenly irritable and more worried than before. The only reason Theo would want to exclude her was because he did not trust her.

  Theo rose and shut the door behind Lily, resolutely suppressing guilt at excluding her. It was not for his own sake that he guarded his words, but Juniper’s and the children’s.

  He sat back down at the table and took a sip of tea, considering his words. “I entreat you in the strongest possible terms not to go into the veil,” he said at last. “Lady Araminta will not be harmed. Let the Wraith handle her situation.”

  Oliver frowned. “How will the Wraith even know of it? There are rumors that His Royal Highness knows who it is, but I have no claim upon His Royal Highness, that I might beg his help.”

  Theo looked down at his tea. “What would you tell him if you could?”

  “I would beg his help! Lily and I went to the children’s home for months, hoping to help somehow, but I always wanted to do something more. Yet now I find it is I who must beg, and I have nothing to offer in return. I should hope the man’s heroism extends to chivalry for an innocent young lady as well as children.”

  Theo smiled again, and because Oliver did not know him as well as Lily did, he found it convincingly sunny. “I will be sure to convey the message.”

  Oliver froze. “You know him?”

  “I do.”

  Oliver stared at him wide eyes, bright and hope-filled. “Please, Theo, I implore you! Tell me how I might beg his help, what assistance I can be, anything! I just want to help Lady Araminta.” His voice shook, and he looked away, hiding the tears in his eyes.

  “Trust me, Oliver.” Theo smiled reassuringly. “He will be glad to help.” He frowned faintly. “However, it may be another day or so before he is able to retrieve Lady Araminta.”

  “What? Why? How can you know that?”

  “Please trust me. There are plans already in motion on behalf of children, who are not treated nearly as well as Lady Araminta will be.”

  “I do, but… how can you possibly ask me to do nothing, while she’s trapped there?” Oliver cried.

  Theo said quietly, “I will get her as soon as I can. I promise on my life, I will.” He held the other man’s gaze steadily. “She will be fine. She’s useful to Willowvale now. He’s cruel, but he’s entirely focused on his goal. He will not divert from that in order to cause unnecessary distress to Lady Araminta.”

  A taut silence followed, broken only when Oliver said, “Are you quite out of your mind? Are you saying you’re the Wraith?”

  “I am.”

  “Does Lily know?”

  “Absolutely not, and she will not, either. I had not intended to tell you, only I don’t want you to do anything reckless.”

  Oliver stared at him. “You’re serious.”

  “As death.” Theo smiled as reassuringly as he could. “She will be fine, Oliver. She’s probably in Lord Willowvale’s own manor, in a little guest room. She’ll be tightly guarded but unharmed. He’ll feed her at the usual intervals and everything. Don’t worry.”

  Oliver sat back, pale and stunned. “All this time,” he murmured, looking at Theo with wondering eyes. “All right. What can I do to help you, then?”

  Theo chuckled quietly. “I don’t suppose you have any binding magic, do you? I need every scrap I can get.”

  “Not a bit of it. My magic is rather trivial.” At Theo’s inquisitive look, he said glumly, “My hair is never mussed and my shirts don’t stain.”

  “Ah, well,” said Theo philosophically. “It was worth asking.” He stood and faced Oliver squarely. “If you value the Wraith’s work at all, don’t tell Lily.”

  Oliver’s eyes widened. “Why not? She wouldn’t betray you for anything.”

  “I am sure you are quite right. Nevertheless, do as I say.” Theo held Oliver’s gaze until the other man nodded reluctantly.

  “If that is your wish.”

  “It is.”

  “Then I shall return home. Thank you, Theo.”

  Oliver bowed and Theo returned the courtesy.

  Theo walked with them to the door, where he bid Oliver farewell and offered him a ride back home. “I have been meaning to go see Sir Michael. I’ll take you home in the phaeton, if you like, and go by his estate on the way back. Do you mind, Lily?”

  Lily shook her head, wondering if she ought to feel left out by the obvious lack of invitation. But a man certainly had the right to visit his own friend without his new wife in tow. “That’s fine.”

  Theo bowed to kiss her hand. “Thank you, my love. I’ll be back soon.” He swept out the door, taking Oliver with him.

  Theo returned two hours later, after delivering Oliver to Sir Jacob’s house in the city and a quick visit to Sir Michael and his father Lord Radclyffe to ask for binding magic. Sir Michael asked his father for the magic on behalf of the Wraith; even Lord Radclyffe did not know that Theo was the elusive hero. After asking the stablemen to unharness and rub down the horses, he went to his parents’ wing of the house, where he found his father deeply engrossed in his investment accounts and his mother equally engaged in a book.

  “Mother, Father, I shall be in the Fair Lands tonight. I’ll tell Lily that I’ve been called away on business. Would you please invite her for dinner? I shall likely return late.”

  His father looked up at him. “Will you be taking Juniper?”

  “Not this time.” Theo sighed. “There is a complication.” He told his parents about Lord Willowvale’s misapprehensions about Oliver and Lord Willowvale’s resulting abduction of Lady Araminta Poole.

  “What a horrid fairy.” Lady Overton frowned. “That poor girl.”

  “I agree. All the same, Lord Willowvale is unlikely to treat her as badly as the children are treated. I shall, of course, do my best to extract her tonight, but I doubt it will be possible. She is likely held in one of Willowvale’s guest rooms, and accessing those will be difficult. The residential areas have magical barriers that I haven’t figured out yet. I will try to do some reconnaissance and at least assure myself that she is safe for the moment.”

  Lady Overton stood. “Will you be careful?”

  He grinned. “As ever.”

  “How can we help?” asked Sir Theodore.

  Theo sighed. “I doubt there is anything you can do from here. Lord Radclyffe and Sir Michael gave me a little binding magic, but Juniper is so much stronger, I doubt it will make much difference. I’m most concerned about Oliver and Lily. I told Oliver I would handle it, and I think he trusts me at least a little, but I cannot tell her.”

  “I really think you ought to talk to her. There must be a misunderstanding,” said Sir Theodore quietly.

  Theo ran a hand over his face, covering his anguished expression, then looked up at them again. “I know. But I also know what I heard. I cannot risk it, not while there are children still there, and Juniper in hiding. Once it is all over, maybe.” He clasped his hands behind his back to hide their trembling.

  “Oh, Theo.” His mother was not fooled, and she put her arms around him.

  He shuddered and said quietly, “Thank you, Mother. Father.” After bidding them farewell, he went to Juniper’s suite, where the young fairy answered the door with a book in hand.

  “Good afternoon, sir.”

  Theo gave him a flat look. “Good evening, Juniper.” He closed the door and said, “I’m going to the Fair Lands tonight, and I was hoping you might have some binding magic for me.”

  “Of course!” Juniper said. “How much do you want?”

  “I have the feeling we are running out of time. I hate to ask it, but I would like e
verything you can muster.”

  Juniper swallowed. “Yes, sir. Just a moment.”

  Theo was not able to see the binding magic itself, only feel it when it was given to him and when he pushed it into the ground in the Fair Lands. So to him, Juniper’s effort appeared oddly anti-climactic.

  The fairy, already fair-skinned, slowly became deathly pale and began to sway on his feet. Still he continued doing whatever he was doing, until suddenly he gasped, “Here.” He grasped Theo’s outstretched hand.

  Theo nearly cried out at the white-hot magic that lanced up his arm and into his heart. He caught Juniper as the fairy sagged and would have fallen to his knees, and pulled him to the chaise lounge only a few feet away.

  “That was quite a valiant effort,” he said quietly. “Thank you, Juniper.”

  The fairy’s eyelids fluttered closed for a moment, then he mumbled, “You said you needed everything I could give.”

  Theo sighed. “I did, and I do. If this works, it will be as much your doing as mine, I think.”

  “What are you doing with it?” Juniper took several deep breaths and sat up unsteadily.

  “I don’t think you will be happier knowing, my friend. But trust me that I do it with great love for the Fair Lands.” Theo poured a cup of tea from the nearly cold pot and handed it to Juniper. “I’ll send Anselm with dinner for you as soon as it’s ready. Sleep well tonight, and recover your strength. I think I may have need of more as soon as you’re able.”

  Juniper frowned. “I fear for you, Theo.”

  Theo smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry. Thank you, with all my heart.”

  A few minutes later, Theo faced the most difficult farewell.

  He found Lily in their shared sitting room with a book, as if she had hoped to be found.

  “My love, I have been called away on business. Forgive me for missing dinner tonight.”

  She looked up at him, surprised. “Tonight?”

  “Yes. I’m sorry.”

  She placed her book down. “Could it not wait?”

  Theo shook his head. “Unfortunately not. My parents will be delighted to have you to dinner, if you would like to eat with them.”

  “When will you return?”

  “Likely not long after dinner, but it could be later. It depends on what must be done.”

  Lily stood and twisted her hands together. “Will you kiss me goodbye?” she asked tentatively. “You don’t have to. I just… thought…”

  Theo stepped forward and bowed over her hand, then kissed her cheek as lightly as a breeze. “I’ll be back soon, my love.”

  Then he swept out of the room, as if his heart did not ache at the distance between them.

  Lily sighed and looked out the window at the garden. The fall-blooming goldenrod, chrysanthemums, and stonecrop had begun to take precedence over the last of the roses and rhododendrons. What had happened the night after the wedding? Was there any way to heal the rift that had suddenly appeared between them? For days, she had thought he cared as deeply about it as she did, but she had begun to doubt. As troubled as she was by Araminta’s abduction, he had offered her little reassurance, and now he was off on business.

  He would not even kiss her properly, on the lips. How much could he care, if he would not even kiss his own wife when invited to do so?

  Chapter 27

  The Ogre

  Theo stepped out of the manor on the opposite side, where he knew Lily would not be able to see him. He strode toward the garden, feeling the edges of magic tickling his mind.

  There! With a sense of long-overdue triumph, he opened the door to the veil just at the edge of the lawn, only fifty paces or so from the manor itself.

  The walls slid around him, and there was a distant rumbling as if some stone tunnel were caving in. He pressed a hand to the wall, and the floor thrashed beneath him, nearly sending him into a suddenly open abyss just a few feet away. Then it quieted, and he stood still for a moment, letting the veil settle.

  He strode quickly through the darkness, letting his left hand trail lightly along the wall. Once, the texture was that of grass, and he stopped, surprised. He touched it with the other hand, wondering at the fresh smell and lively health of a plant which needed sunlight in the perpetually dark tunnels. Something slithered over his hand and he grimaced and continued on. Only a few minutes later, he exited the veil, stepping into a tiny grotto lined with amethyst crystals. Cedar sat in the fading light in front of the grotto, with his back to Theo.

  “Good evening.” He stepped out and spoke quietly. “What do you have for me tonight?”

  Cedar looked at him thoughtfully. “The children have been split up until time for them to dance, and there’s a human woman in Lord Willowvale’s manor.”

  “I know of her. How is she?”

  The fairy smiled faintly. “Fine, as far as I know. I saw her in her window two hours ago, and she seemed healthy and as calm as one might expect a human lady abducted by Lord Willowvale to be.”

  Theo looked around. “Where are we? I was aiming for you when I opened the door. This doesn’t look like the royal grounds or Lord Willowvale’s garden.”

  “We’re south of the palace. I doubt you’ve been here before.”

  Theo knelt and pressed the borrowed binding magic to the ground. He squeezed his eyes shut against the flash of pain and heat as the magic left him. He would have little time later to disburse the magic, so he pressed it all into the ground, coaxing it deeper until it connected with the magic he’d left in previous months with a surge of strength. Then he said, a little shakily, “Where are the children?”

  “Four of them are here, dancing now. The other twelve are in the palace. There is a weak spot here, where the ground has begun to flit away when you’re not looking directly at it. They brought the children to dance in hopes that it will work.”

  “It won’t, or at least not quickly enough.” He stood. “All right. I take it you judged the others impossible to reach at the moment.”

  Cedar frowned. “I think we will need a better plan than I could devise last night. The poor children here are the ones most desperately in need of rescue. They’ve been dancing for nearly twenty-four hours already. I don’t think it has made a bit of difference; at least I have not seen anything. Two of them are the girls you already rescued; they’re the most fatigued, I think.”

  Theo nodded, his jaw tight.

  “I thought it had been quite some time since you had been an ogre, and it might work well here. The fairies here are known to each other, but an ogre will have the gleam of magic all over it anyway. A glamour will hardly be noticeable upon an ogre’s form.”

  Theo nodded again. “Will you be able to change my voice? Last time I only talked to the children, so it didn’t matter, but if I am to intimidate the fairies, I cannot sound like this.”

  The fairy hid a smile. “Agreed. Also, since you are covered in magic anyway, might it be useful to have some sort of protection? I was thinking a sort of shell. The guards here particularly like throwing lightning and these concussive magic balls into the trees. If they give chase, you’ll want a brief moment of protection, especially for the children.”

  “Yes, please.”

  With a moment of concentration, Cedar had given Theo’s tall, lean form the appearance of a wonderfully intimidating ogre. His eyes gleamed a feral green in a pasty white, misshapen face; his lower jaw protruded so that his canine teeth were visible. He appeared to wear a much-soiled tunic the same color as the dirt ground into his skin.

  “The glamour will last about two hours. That should be plenty of time for you to get safely away.” The fairy looked him over and smiled a little more when Theo bared his teeth menacingly. “Try the shell to make sure you can do it.”

  The magic was a prickle in Theo’s shoulders, and he didn’t know how to use it at all, but when he thought of the protective shield around himself, the magic snapped silently into place. It felt like a soap bubble in his mind. Cedar tossed a handf
ul of leaves at it and watched with satisfaction as the leaves hit the invisible barrier and slid down it to the forest floor.

  “The protective magic won’t last forever against direct hits of their concussive magic, but it should hold a little while. If I fill you with too much magic, you won’t be able to think clearly enough to get away. If it breaks, which I hope it doesn’t, it will scatter magic all over, which will give you a little edge of concealment if they try to sense your presence. What else can I do before we go?”

  Theo murmured, wincing at the volume of his altered voice, “Don’t you need to be at the palace?”

  Cedar frowned. “I do not like to leave you here, knowing what you walk into.”

  “I shall be glad indeed of your safety and reconnaissance work when I return,” the ogre said as softly as he could. “There is very little time left, I think, and I shall need you in place for the end. Please, Cedar.”

  With a sigh, the fairy assented. “Godspeed, Theo.”

  “To you as well.” The ogre bowed courteously to the fairy, then started off through the woods in the direction his friend indicated.

  The rescue itself was relatively uncomplicated, all things considered. The poor children were staggering with weariness, half-starved and dehydrated, and the fairies watching them had long since ceased paying any attention to them. The children danced upon a wooden floor made for the purpose and surrounded by something that appeared at first glance like a low picket fenced painted a cheery yellow. When Theo looked at it from the corner of his eye, the binding magic still in his heart combined with Cedar’s protection spell let him see some additional magic, like a faint golden netting that bound the children to each other, to the dance floor, and to the strangely indistinct area nearby.

  The forest floor seemed to be covered in slowly churning grey mist, although Theo knew that the forest had actually begun to turn into the mist. He knelt and pressed the rest of his binding magic into the ground, clenching his jaw as the burning thread lanced down his arm and into the ground. The mist seethed suddenly, then subsided a little.