by HDA Roberts
"The wards are controlled from the gallery at the centre of the house, remove the control stone and you can come and go as you please. Now make it stop!"
I recast the numbing spell, and he slumped against the wall.
"Come on everyone," I said.
I helped the Centaur up the stairs, the others following, and the Magician flinched every time one of the creatures passed him. The cat emitted a disdainful hiss, but that was it as far as interactions went. Even the Princess passed without doing him harm, though she couldn't resist a passing barb.
"My mother is going to love meeting you, Slime," she whispered as she walked by him. The Magician paled, and yanked at the shard, which was unwise of him. He whimpered and stopped when it became clear that it wasn't coming out.
I led the Fairies out into the sun, to the edge of the wards.
"I'm going back in to disable the wards. When they drop, run, just in case it's only temporary, alright?"
They nodded, and I headed back in, quickly finding the centre of the building on the ground floor, where I found a wide gallery with a simple stone pedestal in the centre, sitting on a rotten carpet. There was a blue crystal in the middle of the pedestal, filled with Magic. I could feel a web of energy coming from it, connected to everything in and around the house, including the wards.
I called my Will and yanked out the crystal with my mind rather than risk my fingers. Good thing I did, too, because there was a hidden trap that would have blown my hand off. Every enchantment in the place suddenly failed, the wards too, and that sense of wrongness slowly started to fade.
I used my shadows to smash the crystal, just to be thorough, and left as quickly as I could. I walked through the front door just as the last of the Fairy creatures was disappearing into the woods, aside from the Princess. She knelt, head bowed, in front of a woman I didn't know. Though, going by her looks alone, she could only be the Princess' mother, Adriata.
I stayed where I was; I didn't want to interrupt a reunion.
"Rise, daughter," Queen Adriata said softly. The girl stood. The two looked very alike; only Adriata was just that little bit taller, more well rounded, her features a little sharper and her eyes much sadder.
The queen pulled her daughter in close and held her for a long moment before placing a single kiss on her forehead.
"Did the human pig touch you?" Adriata asked with narrowed eyes.
"No, Mother. He didn't dare," the Princess replied.
"Good."
I walked over, and the queen's eyes turned onto me.
"Where is the animal?" she asked.
"Inside," I replied.
"Alive?"
I nodded.
"Excellent. I will take him now."
"That's not for me to say anything about. This isn't my Realm."
Remember, manners were all-important to the Sidhe. Presumptuous activities were not appreciated; such as a stranger making decisions about criminals in Fairy jurisdiction. And also Seelie jurisdiction, and since Adriata was Unseelie, technically she shouldn't be taking people, either; again, not my business.
"Very true," Grontor said, appearing out of nowhere (and startling me as bloody usual), "but Queen Elora is willing to allow this. Justice will be better served in the Unseelie Realm."
"Excellent," Adriata said cruelly, licking her lips. I have to admit, the look in her eyes chilled me. She waved her hand and the Magician appeared out of thin air with a hole in his torso, which then started bleeding, badly (her spell hadn't included my pin, apparently).
"I'd better fix that," I said, moving towards him.
"Don't bother," the queen said. The fingers on one hand twitched and the wound sealed instantly.
I blinked hard, impressed, if I'm honest.
"You can't do that as well, can you?" I asked the Princess, who grinned broadly, "I was hard at Fleshcrafting for the better part of five hours and you could have fixed every problem with a wave of your hand?"
Her only response was another wide and evil grin. Annoying personality aside, I had to admit that her evil smiles were just a little bit sexy. Don't tell Cathy.
Even so, I really was starting to hate that girl.
"It isn't the place of an Unseelie Princess to sully her hands tending to the lower orders," Adriata said disdainfully, "We leave that to lesser creatures. Such as yourself, for example."
I ground my teeth, but kept my mouth shut. I just wanted to get through this mess and go home. A little hurt pride was worth expediting that; and it's never a good idea to piss off Sidhe Queens.
"Now he learns respectful silence, interesting. Afraid of my mother, little Human?" the Princess asked.
"Terrified," I said in a deadpan voice.
Adriata's eyes darted from the Magician to me. I felt her gathering whatever the Fairy equivalent of Magic was before waving her hand in my direction.
Whatever it was that she tried, my shields caught it, flickering slightly; it didn't even penetrate the outer layer. The Queen blinked. She called more power.
"Stop it," I warned, calling my shadows, which coiled around me, heavy and protective, slithering towards her.
"Or what?" she asked, smiling nastily.
"Or I'll take the hump and do you a mischief. This isn't your Realm, you're no match for me here."
"Are you quite sure?" she asked, her form flickering with ever greater amounts of sheer power.
I wasn't, but you should never let a predator see you sweat (and never doubt that Unseelie are precisely that: predators).
"I don't think either of us wants to find out the hard way, do you?" I said nonchalantly.
Her eyes narrowed, but after a moment she sent her Magic away. I did the same with my shadows.
"Come Evelina," Adriata said, and the Princess stepped close to her mother.
The Magician looked at me with terror in his eyes. But if he was expecting help from me, then he was in trouble because he wasn't going to get it. After what he'd done, I was actually overjoyed that Adriata was taking him because whatever she did to him... wow, was it going to be painful. There's a reason you don't screw around with the Unseelie.
"See you soon, little Human," Evelina said, staring at me in a way I found a little disturbing.
They vanished before I could come up with a witty retort (which annoyed me).
I sighed and flopped to the grass. I was exhausted! Grontor sat next to me.
"I said you were the right person for the job."
"I got lucky."
"The massive powers of a Sorcerer helped, no doubt," he said with a chuff that sounded suspiciously like a chuckle.
"They usually do," I said with a yawn, "Any chance I could go home now?"
"Certainly," he said, hefting himself up. He focussed hard and the portal opened again. We stepped through, and I found myself back in the dark night of my own world. I looked wistfully back at the forest.
"You have a beautiful home," I said as the portal closed.
"That's nothing, you should see the cities! Some are grown from crystal, right into the living rock of the mountains; and there are forest-towns, where the trees themselves have been specially grown into buildings. You were out in the far reaches, where few but the wild things live, and the power of the Sidhe is at its weakest. The true wonders are elsewhere."
"I'd like to see that one day," I said honestly. There had just been something... peaceful about that place; something that had welcomed me. I already missed it.
"You have proven yourself a friend to the people. I'm certain that you would be welcome, as long as you kept your smelly magic to yourself."
I smiled, "Sounds fair enough to me."
"I spoke briefly with Bayano. He said that you made them whole again."
"Bayano?"
"The otter. Normally I don't get on with his kind, but I make an exception when on Royal business. He said that you repaired the damage the other Magician did. That you saved lives. That is unusual; Humans don't normally bother with such mer
cies."
"Many would," I argued, "Don't let a few bad experiences colour your view. Many people would do what they could for someone in pain."
"I've seen the mercy of humanity," he said coldly, "It often involves a sword."
"Times are different. People are better. More tolerant."
"Really? What's that under the bandage on your face?"
I coloured, turning away, my hand instinctively going to the mark.
"That was unkind of me," Grontor said, sounding contrite.
"You made your point."
He cocked his head, "Someone comes. We will meet again, I think, Magician. Know that you have friends among the Fairy now. And not as many enemies as you may fear."
Before I could ask him to clarify, he was gone.
And another portal had opened.
"Where the hell have you been?!" Hopkins shouted, stepping into the field.
Chapter 8
"Busy," I replied, pulling out my phone so I could text Cathy that I was back and in one piece.
"You left the planet!" she said, her tone filled with that old false worry that would have fooled me before I found out what a snake she was.
"I'm back now," I said.
"Where were you?" she asked, getting angry now.
On the one hand, I didn't want to tell her a damn thing for fear of her using it against me at some point in the future. On the other, she was both an Archon, and my teacher. She had a right to the information.
"I was in the Seelie Realm, there was a kidnapped Princess, I got her out."
"Are you insane?!" she asked after a moment staring at me with her mouth hanging open, "You don't just go into Fairy! It's so dangerous!"
"Sorry, Miss Hopkins," I said neutrally.
"Don't give me that! You could have been hurt or taken, and nobody would have known where you were!"
I stayed silent.
"Nothing to say for yourself?!"
"I did what I had to do. Isn't that your favourite refrain?"
I didn't mean to say that, but she was pissing me off.
She visibly shook with anger. Oops.
"I can't seem to knock any sense into that stubborn head of yours as a fellow Magician, so I'm forced to be the teacher. Detention, five sets, and another set for every hour you were missing, which makes eleven altogether."
I winced. Eleven hours of detention. It would take me weeks to work that off. And I wouldn't be able to get a pass out of school until I had; new rules.
Balls.
"And if I catch you out without a pass again, I'll make sure you're suspended, do we understand each other?"
"Yes, Miss Hopkins," I said quietly, "I'd say we're finally understanding each other very well indeed."
She glared at me, "You made your way here, I'm sure you can make your way back."
She called a portal and walked through it, leaving me in the field.
Bitch.
I called my shadows and flew into the air, heading back towards Stonebridge. I needed advice, and there were few people I could ask (or trust), now that Hopkins was out of the picture.
So I landed in a quiet alley next to the Purple Pussycat, Tethys' premier 'Gentleman's Club' (Strip joint). I straightened my clothes and put on my sunglasses to disguise my eyes. The street was clean and well lit, the flagstones pale, with carefully managed trees poking through here and there. The club was underground, a purple sign with the name on it in gold showing the way to the entrance.
I walked down to see a bored and sleepy bouncer at the door. He straightened himself up at my approach.
"I.D.?" he said.
"I'm Mathew Graves. I believe I'm on a list?"
"Graves? Of course, Sir, please go in."
Tethys has me on their VIP list with 'do not bother' instructions in bold. It streamlined the process considerably bearing in mind that I didn't look old enough to be in a place like the 'Cat. The club was a little quiet at six in the morning, with one or two dedicated letches still in situ, and a couple of girls still dancing a little tiredly.
I knew the bartender, a friendly girl called Molly who offered me something to drink, which I politely declined.
"The boss is in with Kandi. Normally she wouldn't want to be disturbed, but she's left instructions that you should always be let through," she said, opening the door behind the bar for me.
"Thanks Molly," I said. I could have sworn she was smirking, but was I too tired to properly notice.
I walked along a corridor, which had been renovated recently. It was now a nice shade of eggshell and the cold metal doors had been switched out for wood, which were painted purple, a great improvement on the peeling green; there was even a dark green carpet where there had used to be concrete.
The door to Tethys' office was open as usual.
"You can't escape me, monster!" said a rasping voice.
"No, please, don't hurt me, Shadowborn!" Tethys said, the voice high and fearful.
Instinct took over and I sprinted for the door, bringing up shadows and shields faster than I ever had in my life, such was my panic. I quickly bashed my way through.
What I saw... I can never unsee that.
Tethys was propped on her desk, flat on her back, wearing a wedding dress of all things, pulled both up and down so it was bunched in her midsection. I'll leave you to guess what she was wearing underneath. The gravelly rasp had come from Kandi. And she was dressed... well, very much like I was, right down to the sunglasses and satchel. She was standing between Tethys' legs with something protruding from her hips. They'd both jumped as I came barrelling in, but now they were just smirking.
"Oh God!" I said, spinning to put my back to them as Tethys broke out into a long, high laugh. I went bright red from sheer embarrassment, "I will come back later. Much, much later. I am so very, very sorry!"
The pair just laughed, Tethys especially seemed to think the situation was hilarious. I was simply mortified!
"Don't be silly, Mathew," Tethys said, "Of all the things you've walked in on me doing, this is far from the most tawdry. Just give me a sec."
"Bloody hell, I thought you were joking about that!" I said, my own voice becoming a little squeaky.
She'd told me once that she had Kandi dress like that once in a while. I hadn't believed her.
"Really, Mathew?" she said from behind me, turning me around, "Did you really think that?"
She'd rearranged her dress and was grinning at me broadly. She hugged me and moved to kiss my cheek, but saw the dressing.
"What happened?" she asked, moving her hand up.
"Long story. Hi Kandi," I said.
"Hi Matty," she said, her face as red as my own as she pulled the glasses and hood away, but I think that was more from 'exertion' than healthy embarrassment.
"Hey, I've been looking for that top, it's my favourite one!" I said, wondering how they even got it. It was certainly mine; it had my crude darning on the cuff.
"No it isn't," Tethys said, motioning for Kandi to go, no doubt before I noticed that she was also wearing some other things belonging to me. They were baggy on the little redhead.
"Please tell me she's not wearing the underwear I'm missing."
"She's not wearing the underwear you're missing," Tethys said with a smile, leading me to one of the sofas that take up the walls of her office.
"Do I even dare ask why you're wearing a wedding dress?"
"It's part of the story," she said mischievously, "I'll tell you."
"I take it back, I take it back!" I said, but it was no good.
"It's the day of my wedding, and I'm ready for the off, when an evil Magician comes to my dressing room and drags me away," she began in a sultry tone that set off the hairs on the back of my neck.
"Please stop," I begged.
"I can't, we're getting to the best bit," she whispered in my ear, "He drags me into the office and he tells me that nobody shall have me but him. He pulls my dress away, and then-"
I covered her mouth wit
h my hand, creating a muffled moan as she turned those smouldering eyes on me. She immediately started kissing and licking my palm.
"Tethys, I don't have anything like the necessary composure to hear the rest of that, alright?"
She rolled her eyes, but nodded, flushing slightly as I withdrew my hand.
"Ooh, so dominating. I like it," she said, sliding in close, "and what happened to your face?"
"It's been a rough few days."
I laid it all out for her, giving as much information as I could. Her face fell as I told her about the attack.
"Mathew," she said, pressing her hand to my good cheek, "I'm sorry."
"It's fine. Surgeons can fix it up."
"Leave it," she suggested, "Girls like men with scars."
"I think that a shaky pentagram might be a step too far."
"Not for me, I think it'll make you look dangerous and mysterious," she said, nuzzling at my neck.
"Easy you," I said, but I hugged her anyway.
"I know, I know. I can smell her on you, I know the rules."
I went red again.
"I'm glad you took my advice," she said, kissing my cheek, "So tell me, are you ready for the rebound girl yet?"
I laughed and she grinned evilly.
"You want to be the rebound girl?"
"Hell no, that's what Kandi's for. After her, though, it's my turn," she said, almost purring into my ear.
"You have this a little too well planned out."
"I get that way when I meet someone worth tempting."
"I have to go," I said, checking my watch, "You'll keep an ear out for me?"
I'd told her about the laboratory and the Flesh Mage, too. She was almost as outraged as I was.
"Of course. Though I'll need payment. Something naughty."
"You're impossible," I said with a smile as she walked me to her office door.
"Kiss the bride? We'll call it even."
I pulled her into a hug and kissed her cheek.
"That wasn't what I meant," she said with a pout.
"You should have specified. Bye Kandi!"
"See you, Matty!" she shouted from behind the door to Tethys' private rooms.
"I want those clothes back!" I called out.
"Keep wanting, it's good for the soul!" she replied.