14
Why We Do What We Do
"Connor…" Iris was surprised to see him. Still, she stepped to the side to let him come in. She was willing to bet that he wasn't there to tell her they'd changed their minds, so she wondered why he'd come. She closed the door behind him and they both went into the living room.
He stood there, in the middle of the room, staring at her, as if he was looking for a starting line. "Would you mind making some tea?" he said eventually.
"Sure." She turned around, heading towards the kitchen. She couldn't hear him but she knew he was following her. "Why are you here, Connor?" she said, opening the spice cabinet to take out the tea leaves. She took the pot from the counter next to the sink and filled it with water.
"To tell you a story." He pulled out one of the chairs under the round kitchen table and sat on it.
Iris stopped and turned her head, staring at him, curious. She'd forgotten about the pot and the water was now overflowing into the sink. She turned it off, emptied the pot a bit and then put it on the stove. "A story? About what?"
"The Fountain of Truth."
Iris sat in front of him, her forearms resting on the table. Her interest was piqued. Of course she wanted to know the famous legend that led to his profession, probably the end of their friendship and the death of an entire town.
His voice was calm and steady, like that of a National Geographic documentary narrator, completely different from what it had sounded like a few hours earlier when she darted out of his house. "Legend has it that there once lived a Fae king famous for his ruthlessness. His subjects used to often refer to him as the King with a Heart of Stone and he knew it. He had a habit of strolling up and down the streets of his kingdom, dressed in plain clothes so that no one would recognize him, and listening to what the common folk had to say about the court and their ruler. He heard them call him that countless times but he didn't care. He was proud of it, because he knew that he was feared and no one would dare attack his kingdom.
"Not long after he was enthroned, he married Queen Sheera, not because he loved her but because the two of them had been promised to each other at birth, as part of a pact made between their parents to tighten the alliance between their kingdoms. After a few years on the throne, the elders demanded an heir. The Queen wanted a child too, desperately, but the king seemed blind and deaf to their wishes and, no matter how persistent they were, he just wouldn't budge."
Iris jerked when the pot started whistling on the stove. She'd been so caught up by Connor's story that she'd forgotten about the boiling water. She got up and prepared two cups of tea. When she returned to the table he went on.
"After a while, however, the King changed. He still wouldn't give his kingdom an heir, but his attitude towards his subjects was nicer, less ruthless. The Queen became suspicious and had one of her trusted servants keep an eye on his quarters. She soon discovered that the king was in love with one of his court maids, Naevys. When the Queen realized that he would lie down with a miserable servant yet he refused to do it with her, she decided to get rid of the maid. She invited the poor woman to her quarters, pretending to be friendly and kind. She told her that she knew about Naevys and the King but that she wouldn't oppose their relationship as long as the maid gave the kingdom its much desired heir. All she had to do was carry the child and then give it to the Queen to raise him as her own. What was important was that he, or she, was the King's child.
"As they talked, the Queen served tea, fruits and delicious snacks that were only prepared for royal dinners. Naevys refused politely but the Queen insisted that she at least have a cup of tea. After a few sips, the maid collapsed. As soon as she checked that Naevys was dead, the Queen had her most faithful servants take her body to her room for the other maids to find her in the morning."
Iris felt her heart shrink. She knew it was an old legend and, like most legends, events were added and embellished from one storyteller to the next, but she had a feeling that in that case the story wasn't too far from the truth.
"When the king found out about the death of his beloved Naevys, he was heartbroken for months. He barely ate, barely slept, and left all the court business to his council. Then, one day, as he was strolling the streets like he used to, he met a strange beggar who told him that he knew a way to end his heartache. He asked the King to follow him to his master and the King did. Once arrived, the master told him that he could allow him to go and bring his loved one back from the land of the dead. The price however was high. He would have to give up his soul shortly after returning from the other side. The King didn't hesitate. He would gladly trade his life for one more day with his beloved Naevys. So he went and brought her back and hid her in a little house outside the palace grounds. Every night he would sneak out of the palace at sunset and spend the night with her in their secret corner of heaven.
"But their happiness was cut short after a few weeks, when he started to feel ill. Naevys cried and cried, begging him to see a doctor but he knew that no doctor in the Seven Kingdoms would be able to help him. Realizing that it was time to say goodbye, he confessed to her what he'd done. He told her that soon they might be separated again and if that happened she should run and hide and never let anyone know who she was. Shortly after the King died, Naevys, now pregnant with his child, did as he'd told her. Months later, she gave birth to a boy, the first Traveler, born from a body without a soul and a soul that had just returned from the land of the dead."
Connor stopped and Iris looked at him through a thin curtain of tears. A claw was wrapped tight around her racing heart. When she spoke, her voice was trembling. "This is such a sad story."
"Oh, that's not the sad part. Somehow the Queen found out about the King's escapades outside the palace and, after he died, she had one of her servants ask around to find out where he'd been sneaking off to. When she discovered the house and was told that a pregnant woman who looked a lot like Naevys used to live there, she was blinded by rage. Not only was the maid alive, but she was also carrying the heir to the throne. She sent an army of men to find her, kill her and bring the child to the palace. When they failed, the Queen paid a guard to let her pass through the door into the human world. Black magic was prohibited in Aldera but there were rumors that it was practiced in closed circles in the human world by very powerful Fay that managed to regain their powers even after they'd been stripped of them and banished from our land. Here she contacted a sorcerer and asked him to give her a means to find the child. The sorcerer told her that on the night of the autumn equinox, when the day and the night are equal in length, when everything is in balance and the moon is at its most powerful stage, the queen should bring him an innocent young soul who had never told a lie. Then he would grant her her wish.
"The Queen went back home but couldn't trust anyone and so she had a child in secret, a little girl. She kept her daughter hidden for seventeen years, never once allowing her to utter one single word, until the full moon coincided with the night of the autumn equinox. Then she took the girl and gave her to the sorcerer. He laid the girl on an altar on the highest mountain, and there he cast a spell and then stabbed her in the heart. The girl's body transformed into thousands of sparks flying over the earth. One fell at the queen's feet. The sorcerer gave the queen a bloodstone and told her to lay it over the spark. When the stone touched the ground, the Fountain of Truth appeared."
"Hey, gently!" Dorian winced as Raven ripped off his shirt and pulled what was left of Lorelai's arrow from his shoulder. "I have delicate skin."
"This doesn't look good," Raven said throwing the piece of wood on the floor.
Dorian looked at the wound. His friend was right. The flesh was torn and blood was rushing out like ketchup bubbling out of a bottle. The edges of the small diamond-shaped hole left by the tip of the arrow were jagged and purple. Dorian assumed that the exit wound in his back looked pretty much the same. He could barely move his arm and every time he did, waves of searing pain spread throughout his ent
ire chest.
"I take it the Elwoods weren't as receptive to your proposal as we'd hoped?" Raven cleaned the wound with a mixture of plants that he'd made himself and applied an ointment that smelled like animal excrements.
"Well, Lorelai unleashed her inner beast as soon as she laid eyes on me, as expected, Aeryn would have put a Buddhist monk to shame with her composure, and Elwood looked like he was having an aneurism the entire time I was there." He curled his nose. "What is this? It smells so bad, I almost wish you'd let me die of blood loss."
"You've been shot with an arrow forged in Guardian fire. It will take longer than usual to heal, even with your healing ability. This will accelerate the process. I hope. I've never actually treated a wound made by a Guardian weapon."
"It's not as bad as it looks." It was worse. It hurt like hell but Dorian would have never admitted it.
"Even so, you'll need to be in top shape next time the hounds catch up to you."
"I don't think they will."
"What are you talking about?"
"The Elwoods will come through."
"Uhm, your shoulder tells another story."
"This?" Dorian said, pointing at the gash under his left clavicle. "This was just Lorelai's way of saying hello. It was not a definitive answer. They will help us. They have to. They don't want the Council to march in here and take over, so they'll try to fix the hound problem themselves. They just need a bit of time to argue about who's right and who's not, Lorelai will defend their mission and profess her hatred towards me, Connor will defend the humans, Aeryn with defend them both, but they'll come around eventually. You'll see."
"What makes you so sure?"
"I went to visit them."
"And an arrow in your shoulder convinced you that they're ready to partner up with you?"
"No. Connor's human girlfriend did."
"The girl in the car? Iris?"
"The one and only."
"What did she do?"
"Nothing. It's what he did. At the smallest sign of a threat he went all hissy like a cat that just saw its reflection in the mirror."
"Well, now we know why she's so special to them."
"To Connor at least. Lorelai and Aeryn were never really fond of humans and I doubt they've changed very much since I last saw them."
"You think they'll use her to kill the hounds? If she really can control them, they wouldn't even need Vincent anymore."
"Right now, no. Neither of them knows exactly how her powers work. Goody-goody Connor will probably argue that it would put her in danger, Lorelai and Aeryn will say that she'll put the mission in danger."
"They wouldn't be totally wrong. She is human after all."
"She's new to this. But if she managed to drive away a hound without even knowing what she's doing, think about what she could accomplish with a little bit of training."
"I know. She could even get rid of her unnatural affinity to collecting useless old stuff, like this statue which bears an uncanny resemblance to our goddess Artriss."
Dorian picked up the small statue from Raven's hand. "Is there a reason why you're showing me this? Also, did you break into her house?"
"Of course not. It's warded. I compelled someone to do it for me."
"Breaking and entering by proxy. You're really getting the hang of this whole living in the human world business. Bravo! Wait. Warded?"
"Yeah. Against the supernatural."
"I see the Elwoods are pulling out all the stops to protect her. You still think she's ordinary?"
The phone rang before Raven could answer. Dorian looked at the screen but didn't recognize the number.
"This is the mighty Dorian Reed. To whom am I offering the privilege to speak to me?"
"Dorian."
Dorian sensed from the tone at the other end of the line that he wasn't going to like that conversation. Still, he tried not to let his apprehension show in his voice. "Kane. I was just about to call you."
"Tell me, Dorian. Among all those nasty stories you said you'd heard about me last time we met, were there any that mentioned my way of dealing with those who hinder my business?"
There were. And boy, were they terrifying. Kane was famous for having practiced and improved all forms of torture and execution known to man and Fae, and there was even a rumor that he'd never used the same technique twice.
"A few," Dorian said, trying to sound calm.
"Then I take it our deal still stands."
"Sure thing." He cursed himself for being so careless when he went to see Kane the day before. If he hadn't mentioned the Elwoods, Kane wouldn't have read his mind and found out about the girl.
"I'm glad to hear that. For a moment I thought that you were working against me when you saved the girl last night, but I assume you did it because you wanted to bring her to me yourself."
So whoever was following the girl the night before was working for Kane. Dorian should have anticipated that the man would have a contingency plan, in case Dorian failed to bring her to him. "I just need a bit more time," he said.
"Don't get cocky with me, boy." There it was again, the torture. "You know how much I dislike impertinence. You have until tomorrow night. If you don't bring her to me by then, you might as well feed yourself to the hellhounds. You'd benefit from a quicker demise."
Iris was staring into the cup of tea in front of her, untouched and cold, replaying the images of the tale of kings and queens that her mind had created one by one as Connor recounted his legend.
"Why did you tell me this story?" She was almost shocked at the sound of her raucous voice.
"Because I want you to understand us, our Fae heritage, who we are and why we do what we do. You're human, so you shouldn't even know about our existence, but I want you to know our world so you can see what we're fighting for. To you, our ways may seem cruel, but we have to do whatever is necessary to protect it."
"Even if it means sacrificing innocent lives in the process?"
He only spoke after a long pause. A deep furrow creased the space between his perfect eyebrows. "I talked to my grandmother. I managed to convince her to hold off talking to the Council for one day. But if we don't manage to find a way to deal with the hounds by tomorrow, she will inform the Council."
Iris' heart skipped a beat. "That's great!"
"But," he said, and she instantly went serious, sensing there was bad news coming. "We won't make any deal with Dorian."
"Be he could help!" She jumped to her feet, without realizing it.
"No. Iris, you don't understand. We know Dorian. He lived with us for a year and then he betrayed us."
"I assume he's Fae too." Connor nodded. He got up and went around the table, stopping in front of her. "How did he betray you?"
"It was about six years ago. When we found him, he was with a girl. They were both badly wounded. My grandmother once saved the life of a Council advisor's daughter, so she collected that favor by asking that she be allowed to take in Dorian and the girl. Not forever, just until they would be back on their feet."
"But I thought your house was warded against everything supernatural."
"It is. But Grandma used the same spell we use whenever a new member is added to the family."
"Why would Aeryn do that? Take them in, I mean."
"I have no idea and she always refused to talk about it, even if Lorelai and I insisted that she told us why we were risking our lives to protect a couple of teenage strangers. Anyways, it took months for all their wounds to heal, even with the help of the spheres."
"Aren't the spheres supposed to heal everything?"
"It depends on the wound and the weapon that caused it."
"How do you mean?"
"Fae heal faster than humans, but they are susceptible to iron. It's like poison to us."
Iris finally understood the use of the gloves. "But our world is full of it."
"You can understand why the Council thought it perfect for a prison." He smiled, but there was sadness in his
eyes.
"How do you survive then?"
"Most Fae live in the wilderness or underground. You'll find very few in the city."
"But your house—"
"Made entirely with metals that don't contain iron. And a little bit of magic."
"You said it's like poison to you but you can still heal, right?"
"Yes. But there's a special kind of iron that can be lethal. It's called cold iron. Weapons made of it are not forged with heat. The wounds from cold iron, even superficial ones, take a lot longer to heal and, if not attended to fast, they can be deadly."
"Is that the kind of wounds Dorian and the girl had when you found them?"
"They had cuts all over, and Dorian had a stab wound on his side, from front to back, like a sword had been run through him. He was unconscious for weeks so we suspected the weapon had been made of cold iron. We didn't think he would survive but he did, even though it took months for the wounds to heal completely."
Iris took her hand to her stomach. For a second she could feel the pain that Dorian must have felt. It was like an arrow passing through her side, like a muscle spasm. It didn't last long but it was excruciating. "Did he tell you what had happened?"
"Only that they'd been held captive by some Dark Fae and that they'd escaped."
Iris shuddered at the thought of two children being kept in captivity and abused like that.
"But we suspected there was more to the story."
"Why?"
"After Dorian got better, Lorelai and I were sparring in the garden and he joined us. He not only had fighting skills and techniques that we'd only seen in Guardians before, but he managed to beat both of us."
"You think that whoever kept them captive trained him?"
"Maybe," Connor said and Iris noticed doubt in his voice.
"What is it?"
"I keep wondering if it was coincidence that we found them."
"Why do you say that?"
"After a while, the girl, Ariana, started acting suspicious. She'd wander around the house, as if she was inspecting it. We found her listening to our conversations a few times. Eventually, Grandma told Dorian that he and his friend couldn't stay with us anymore. He didn't protest. It seemed he understood. When they were about to leave, Grandma asked Ariana to empty her pockets. She refused but Grandma insisted and eventually the girl reached into her pocket and took out a sphere. When Grandma leaned in to take it from her, the girl took out a knife and cut her. Then they ran off. I stayed with Grandma but Lorelai went after them. She charged the bow and shot. They were already at the edge of the woods but Lorelai still got Ariana in the shoulder. Our weapons are forged in Guardian fire, which makes them deadlier than cold iron. Dorian swore revenge and indeed a week later he came back and set our house on fire."
The Fountain of Truth (Tales of the Dark Fae Book 1) Page 13