by Kailin Gow
“I don't know,” I said, watching the sun rise in the distance. I thought of Logan, of Kian, of my mother, of the pain of their absence. “Maybe it's just more dangerous.”
Chapter 4
We rode all the way into the dawn, feeling the cool, pink morning breeze pass smoothly over our faces and our shoulders, the first spring hints of dew clustering on our clothes. We knew that it was not long now until we crossed the jagged border – a deep ravine – that separated the warm and tropical lands of the Summer Court from the frozen tundra of the Winter Kingdom. I did not know how I felt; it seemed that Shasta didn't know how she felt either. On the one hand, it was true that I was going into enemy territory – dangerous, cold, fraught with perils from every side and around every corner. I had heard from Kian of the Winter Queen and her often cruel methods of treating prisoners; she was a woman so concerned with honor and bravery above all else that she was even willing to have her own son sent back to the Winter Court in chains for disobeying her orders. And yet with every canter and trot the horses took ahead of us I was one step closer, one moment closer, to being in Kian's presence, wrapped in Kian's arms, the memory of our fairy kiss seared onto our lips. For Shasta, too, her homecoming was a mess of conflicts. She was at last free, at last home. And yet for Shasta home was wherever Rodney was – and so as we rode on, it seemed that she was no less conflicted than I was.
“I'm tired,” sighed Shasta, threading the reins between her fingers. “Couldn't we stop and rest, just for a little while?”
I gave her a look of stern warning, but there was no need. She was not going away anytime soon. I had gained her trust, and she knew that as strong as her feelings for Rodney were, running away to him would only put many innocent lives in more danger than they were already in. “I promise, Bree,” she said. “Just for a bit.”
We camped out in a clearing between two willow trees; I spoke a small enchantment to protect our encampment from harm or sight. Nobody would see us, I decreed quietly, as Shasta and I concentrated our energy on securing the perimeters of our space. Nobody would even get the slightest suspicion that we were there. We were invisible.
“There's a song we sing in the Winter Court,” said Shasta. “When we're casting protection spells. It's supposed to make the spell stronger – although plenty of people think it's just a folk-tale.”
“Plenty of people in my world think that magic is just a folk-tale,” I said.
“Very well,” said Shasta. “I'll sing it to you. Kian and I used to sing it when camping out together as children:
When all the world is asleep in bed
The creatures resting creatures' heads
Let no peril these borders break
Until the time that we should wake.
I thought of Kian singing – his soft, lovely voice carrying the notes on his lips and tongue – and my heart stung me again. Shasta could tell; she put a warm, friendly hand on my shoulder and smiled at me.
“I think the others are wrong,” she said. “You can't have magic without love.”
“I hope so,” I said, and we settled down to nap.
We were awakened by the sounds of leaves crunching underfoot, and the frenzied whirl of whispers that followed.
“What's going on?” Shasta whispered.
I perked up my ears, then recognized the familiar high-pitched sounds. “Pixies,” I said.
We froze. Pixies – I had been captured by them once before. I had no intention of returning to those infernal dungeons again. We knew that the spell had rendered us invisible, but nevertheless we didn't want to take any risks; fear chilled our bones.
“Come on now, Starfeather,” cried one Pixie. “We've been walking for three hours – let's take a break, yeah?”
I gripped my sword more tightly.
“This looks like a great spot for a campsite,” said the Pixie.
Starfeather shrugged. “It means we won't get our message to the Summer Court until morning,” said Starfeather.
“I'm willing to wait,” said the first Pixie. “I know how the Summer Queen treats enemy diplomats. How they're treated, or should I say…how they're...eaten.” He laughed heartily at his own joke. “I'd rather live, thanks.”
What were the Pixies doing sending an envoy to the Summer Court? I furrowed my face in frustration as I tried to make out their words.
“After all, we don't know whether the Princess is even there!”
“That's what the spies said. And our spies are never wrong,” said Starfeather, crossing his spindly arms together and stroking his hand with clawlike fingers.
“The Princess – the stupid bloody Princess! Why do we even have to worry about her?” The rather more indolent Pixie made the executive decision to sit down.
“If Delano heard you talking like that, he'd have you executed,” said Starfeather.
“He's crazy about her,” continued the first Pixie. “Wants her as his special prize. Hasn't even conducted the border raids or usual robberies and pillagings since she's escaped. And it affects all of us. I've gotten nothing more than some measly emeralds and a hostage or two in days! I need to do some good old-fashioned, state-sanctioned robbery, darn it!”
They were talking about me! I froze, my grip on Shasta's shoulder tightening. What message could Delano possibly have for me?
“Well, once she's back with us,” said Starfeather, “I presume Delano's obsession will abate. He'll probably tire of her and kill her before too long. And you can have all the emeralds your heart desires, Dogspaw.”
Shasta and I flinched in unison.
“Probably,” said Dogspaw. “I hope so. After all, he did tire of the last one.”
I didn't want to think about what might have happened to the last one.
“We'll get the Princess Breena back, sure enough,” said Starfeather. “Once she hears about our hostage, I'm sure she'll come back out of honor if nothing else. She did last time.”
A hostage? I felt ashes in my mouth. Had they gotten hold of my mother, extracted her from the Winter Court, where she was being held? I trusted that the Winter Court would not harm her – Kian would look after her, after all, for although he was loyal to the Winter Court I could not imagine him ever following their strictures so loyally that he would be cruel to someone I loved. But the Pixies were a different matter entirely; I shuddered to think of what they might do to her, especially if they were trying to smoke me out of hiding and convince me to return to Delano's lair and enter Delano's bed.
I squeezed Shasta's hand; she squeezed it back. Between us I felt the spark of friendship, and it comforted me in my fear.
“How will we convince her that the Wolf is still alive?” said Dogspaw. “She won't believe us!”
“She will,” said Starfeather, producing a small pellet of fur. “Fur this warm and brown can only be cut off a living wolf.”
I gulped loudly, cursing myself for breaking the silence.
“What was that?” asked Dogspaw.
“Nothing,” said Starfeather. “Jumpy, aren't you? Just a sound of the wind.”
The Wolf – Logan – alive? I couldn't believe it. The last time I had seen him he had been surrounded by Pixie soldiers, their swords drawn and poised, ready to strike, ready to kill. I had already mourned his death, remembered calling out for him in an agonized cry as Kian spirited me away to safety, already been filled with shame at his sacrifice – a sacrifice he had given for Kian as well as for me. And now he was alive? I could hardly allow myself to believe it; joy leaped in my throat, and yet I forced myself to swallow it back down. I was afraid that my hopes would be dashed once again by the machinations of the Pixie King.
But whatever joy I could have felt was squashed quickly by the realization that my cherished Logan was still in the clutches of the Pixie King, a hostage, a prisoner. I remembered my own treatment at the hands of the Pixie guards that guarded that terrible dungeon, constructed out of bones, the stones screaming in pain. They had been relatively hospitable to
me – there was nothing to be gained out of damaging a potential concubine, lest any foul treatment mar her beauty. But Logan would have no such alternative; I could easily imagine – all too easily! - that they would have no compunctions about torturing him daily, nightly.
And they wanted to use him to lure me back. I turned to Shasta, my eyes wide and frozen in fear.
“Well, that's enough for now, then,” said Starfeather. “Let's have ourselves a bit of shut-eye, eh? We can go see the Princess in the morning. We're not far.”
“Not far at all,” yawned Dogspaw with a sleepy roll of his shoulders, curling into a corner beside him. The two of them extinguished the fire they had put up, and presently the sound of loud snoring joined in the symphony of crickets that characterized the early morning air.
Shasta turned to me, her whispers hoarse. “What do we do?” she asked.
I tried to think. “I don't know,” I said. “I can't just leave Logan there – but my mother!”
Shasta considered. “You know your mother is safe, yes?”
“Is she?” I looked up at her. “The Winter Queen – your mother...”
“She is harsh,” Shasta conceded, “But she is fair. She would not harm a hostage – especially one so valuable as your mother.”
“And Kian? Do you think he'd be able to keep an eye on her?”
She laughed softly. “Kian,” she began, “would be able to do anything in the world for the woman he loves.”
Love me? The idea warmed me somewhat. But I didn't have time to think about that now. My thoughts were for Logan only – Logan who could be languishing in a dungeon somewhere, Logan who could be suffering the agonies of torture, who could be close to death.
I knew that my mother would be safe for at least a little while longer. But Logan had no such guarantee from the Pixies. My choice was clear – to save them both, I had to start with Logan, to return to the Pixie Castle I dreaded so deeply. I knew that this meant walking straight into Delano's trap – I prayed only that my magic had grown strong enough, powerful enough, that I would be able to find my way out of it again. I swallowed hard and concentrated. The one advantage we could obtain, I thought, would be the element of surprise – and perhaps some hostages.
“Draw your sword,” I whispered to Shasta.
“What?”
“Draw your sword. Are you willing to fight?”
She drew herself up to her full height, and in her I saw the hint of the Princess who had so intimidated me when I first met her up in the towers of the Summer Court. “I am ready to fight and die as nobly as befits a princess,” she said. “I have forged this sword myself.”
“Then let us take these creatures as hostages,” I said, “and demand that they escort us back to the Pixie Court, on pain of death.”
Her hands tightened around her sword.
“Let's do it,” she said.
In a flash we left the safe boundaries of our campsite, seizing upon the sleeping pixies, drawing the tips of our swords to their necks. It was not an honorable form of battle, coming on sleeping men in the dark, but it was effective.
“Arise, swine,” I said in my most regal voice. “You have been taken prisoner under the command of the twinned forces of the Summer and Winter Courts.”
“What's going on,” flailed Dogspaw sleepily.
“We've been captured, you idiot,” said Starfeather with supreme indifference. “And likely are about to be killed.”
“We may spare your life, you blubbering piece of offal,” I said, “but we demand that you escort us to your leader.”
Dogspaw rubbed his eyes. “The Princess!” he cried.
“We wish to negotiate for the release of the prisoner. Should you refuse, your life will be forfeited – and I am sure that Delano would not wish to lose two of his best men...”
“You don't scare us,” said Dogspaw with more confidence than perhaps befitted his circumstances. I pressed the blade in deeper into his neck, drawing a small trickle of blood. He relented.
“Fine,” he said. “We'll lead you there.”
“Get the rope,” I said to Shasta, and she scurried to bind both pixies' hands behind their backs. “That will teach you to imprison the friends of the Princess of the Summer Court. Or the Winter Court for that matter. We may be at war, but we will always band together to combat the threat of the Pixies.”
“Arise, pig!” cried Shasta, forcing the Pixies to their feet.
The sun had just risen, and the Pixies began to lead us through the forest towards the Pixie Castle I knew all, all too well.
Chapter 5
We spent the day trekking through the forests and glens and glades of Feyland to make it to the Pixie Castle. It was not the distance that took up the time, but the trouble of trying to be led by two pixies who lacked the use of their hands or wings; they stumbled and complained, but we both knew it would be too dangerous to untie them. It was a strange feeling – holding the lives of two creatures in our hands – and when Dogspaw began to complain of an ache in his foot or Starfeather began to bleed from his soles I could not believe my own cruelty in forcing them to carry on. I had always been kind before Feyland – shy, meek – and the idea that I could be in control of these two pixies was at once thrilling and unnerving. I had seen the cold cruelty of the Summer Queen, heard talk of the Winter Queen. Was I becoming like them, too – so concerned with finding Logan, with winning the war, that I neglected my own basic kindness? Or was I becoming stronger, willing to do what needed to be done in order to achieve my aims?
Shasta had no such compunctions. She whipped the Pixies when they lagged behind and threatened to disembowel them at the slightest provocation. She had been sweet and romantic when the two of us were alone, when she spoke of Rodney, but now it was time for her to behave like a warrior princess – regal, without passion, without regret, without guilt.
We continued onwards towards the bone-like castle – its skeletal towers, its skull-shaped ramparts. It reared up before us like some dead creature floating over the murky waters of its moat; we stared it down, fear rising in our throats like bile.
“Almost there now, Your Highness,” said one of the men, with mocking deference. “Almost at the Castle.”
“Carry on then, you foul pig's-breath troll!” said Shasta, concealing her nervousness with another well-aimed insult.
“Not long.”
We put our swords to the necks of the Pixies, dragging them roughly as the chain bridge was laid down.
The moment we entered the keep we knew that we had made a mistake. We were outnumbered – pixies swarmed the staircases and the corridors and the courtyards like so many rampant bees – and it would be impossible to outrun them all. We would not be able to make any military advance. And yet the thought of Logan within these towers – so close, still breathing, perhaps still howling in pain from the tortures to which those horrible men had subjected him! - tormented me; my heart stung.
Last time, my only negotiating tactic had been the promise of marriage to Delano – allying his kingdom with mine in order to save myself from the humiliating fate of being one of Delano's concubines. I steeled myself to breach the subject once more.
“I wish to see the King himself,” I said, more bravely than I felt.
“You see him already,” said an eerie, high-pitched voice.
I whirled around; Delano was standing behind me.
“I am a Princess,” I said. “And you will afford me respect.”
He smiled cruelly. “Of course,” he said, with a mocking bow that belied his intent. “Two princesses. Two – beautiful – princesses.”
“I wish to negotiate for the life of the Wolf,” I said.
He laughed. “Negotiate? Two pretty young girls in a den of pixies think they have something to negotiate with?” He shrugged. “Kill Dogspaw and Starfeather if you will. I don't mind.”
My dagger tightened around Dogspaw's neck; he had called my bluff. Shasta seemed less bothered – she struck Starf
eather heavily with the butt of her sword and he fell to the ground, unconscious but not dead.
“I have something you want,” I said, shakily.
“Yes,” he said, eyeing me up and down. “Indeed you do. You both do, as a matter of a fact. I know the Winter Fairies cannot bear children – but I am sure I will find...some other use for the dark one.”
“You have a choice, my King,” I said, with a deep curtsey, echoing his earlier bow. “You could indeed have two concubines.”
Shasta whirled on me, her face hot with anger.
“Or,” I swallowed deeply. “You can have one wife.”
Delano had not expected this.
“I wish to speak to you in private,” I said. I knew Delano would try to seduce me; I knew I would have to lead him on as long as I could. I, at least, could not stand Shasta seeing me do this. But it was the only way – as long as I cared for Logan, I had to promise myself to him. If I could get out of it later – and I would, I willed myself that much – then so much the better. If not – but I couldn't bear to think about the alternative.
“Treat the Princess Shasta with respect,” I said. “Or the deal is off.”
“You amuse me, Princess,” said Delano wryly. “Treat her with the utmost respect, my men.” He looked them over. “Or I shall kill each of you personally, tearing out the bones of your neck with my fingers and your vertebrae with my teeth.” He looked up at me and it occurred to me that he thought the threat would impress me. As it happened, I only felt rather sick.
He led me into that familiar antechamber where we had once held our audience upon first meeting.