“I get that sense, too.”
Alan leaped out and gripped Gwen in a breathless hug which she returned ferociously. He eventually let go and realized that their party was missing a few members.
“Where’s Aidan, and Bran’s brother? What happened? Where’s your uncle?”
Gwen sighed.
“Finn would only come if his wife and daughter could come too, but they need the protection of the Forbidden Lands. Aidan and Kelan stayed to try to figure out a way to make a portable spell, so Finn’s family can live in the Velvet Woods. I have to go back so I’m ready to take over when the army defeats Corann.”
Alan’s face crumpled in despair.
“Is it certain, then? You’ll stay there? What are the chances of Aidan figuring this out?”
“Pretty good, I think.” I hope, Gwen thought, then grabbed her father’s hand. “We have a good idea to solve it. It’s not over yet, I promise.”
Alan nodded and squeezed her hand.
“All right. It’s not over. What now?”
“We need to get back to Amberlaine.”
Chapter 14
At first, they filled her father in on all that had happened in the Forbidden Lands. Gwen tried to downplay the dangerous crossing, near-hypothermia, and rapid-filled caves, but Bran’s gleeful retelling of every peril made it difficult to keep the horror from her father’s face.
Eventually, they lapsed into silence. Gwen’s mind dwelled on Aidan. What was he doing now? Had they tested a solution yet? How long before he would be able to follow her? Had she set him an impossible task? She envisioned a gray-faced Aidan desperately trying spells in vain until he passed out in exhaustion. Then she imagined herself in Isolde’s castle, never to see Aidan again. She shivered.
A sign for Amberlaine flashed past them on the highway, and Gwen roused herself from her depressing thoughts.
“Bran, how are we going to find your father? Where should I make a portal?”
“It’ll be easy to find him in my world,” Bran said with a wave of his hand. “I have a link for emergencies. We’ll have to dip our heads in from time to time to get a direction.”
Alan put his signal on and pulled over on the side of the highway.
“Right here?” Gwen said in surprise. There was no cover to hide her actions from passing cars.
“No one will see. I’m less concerned about someone discovering the Otherworld than getting you where you need to be.”
“And there are so many open portals, one more won’t matter,” said Bran. Gwen grimaced.
“Not helping. Okay, Bran, let’s check.”
Gwen straightened her arm, but Bran grabbed her wrist to stop her.
“Not in the car, Gwen. Haven’t you heard the Wayfarer’s tale?” At Gwen’s confused and exasperated look, he grinned. “No, I suppose not. It’s a long story, but at the end the wayfarer is forced against a portal edge and his arm is sliced off.”
“What? What are you saying?” Gwen glanced at her father, who looked as horrified as she felt.
“I’m saying that I don’t know what will happen if you make a portal here, and then drive the car. Will bits of the car slice away? Will we be unable to move? I don’t know.”
“All right, enough said. We’ll make a portal outside.”
Gwen climbed out of the car and opened a portal just large enough to squeeze a hand through. Bran slid his fingers into the portal and held out a ring. It was a plain metal band, swirled with varying shades of gold and copper. At Gwen’s quizzical look, Bran explained.
“It’s a tracker ring, but for Father and all my brothers together. I can mask my signal if I don’t want to be found, but it’s handy for situations like this.” He closed his eyes briefly, then popped them open. “Northeast.”
“How far?”
“Not long on horseback.”
Gwen raised an eyebrow.
“That is really not helpful. Oh well, we’ll drive for a bit then check again.”
They drove for ten minutes, and Gwen opened another portal.
“West, now.”
It took two more attempts before Bran was certain they were within minutes of walking. Gwen kissed her father.
“I’ll call you soon with updates, I promise.”
“Make sure you do.” Her father stroked her cheek with his thumb. “Even the radio is warning people to stay away from ‘disturbances in the air,’ and the earth tremors have experts flying in from other countries to confer. It’s getting serious. I’ll go back to the lake and wait for Aidan. He’ll need a ride when he comes back with your uncle.”
“Good idea,” said Gwen. She turned to Bran. “Ready?”
“I’m always ready.” Bran beamed at her. They got out of the car and Gwen held out her arm to summon her magic. The portal ripped open, and the snow-covered trees of the Velvet Woods beckoned.
***
A fire burned smoky and hot in the hearth of the cottage. Nialla and Ione were out collecting more wood, and Kelan rested by the fire with his feet on a bench, chewing thoughtfully on a strip of dried meat. Finn and Aidan sat at a rough-hewn table with an oil lantern between them. Finn leaned his elbows on the table with his eyes closed. Aidan feverishly scratched at a layer of sand spread over the table. He looked at his markings for a moment, then scrubbed them out with an exhalation of annoyance.
“I’m sorry we don’t have paper and pen,” said Finn without opening his eyes. “Not much call for it here. That sand is the best I can muster.”
“It’s fine,” Aidan muttered. “It’s only for thinking out of my head.”
“Talk to me. What have you thought of so far?”
“Not much that will work,” Aidan admitted. “This would be far easier if I had magical training. But if we don’t know a dampening spell, surely there’s an enhancing spell that we can reverse?”
“Interesting. And then combine that with the targeting nature of the healing spell. It could work.”
“There are three enhancing spells,” said Kelan from the fire. “The common one is the most specific, but if it doesn’t work, there are others to try.”
“All right,” Aidan said with a glimmer of hope. “It’s worth a try. Can we go out past the boundary now?”
“There is a dry tunnel not far from here,” said Finn. “I found it years ago. It goes straight through the narrowest part of the mountains and out past the boundary. Fearghus was going to see if it was still clear. Why don’t we walk down and check his progress?”
Aidan leaped up and knocked over the stool in his haste.
“I’m ready. Let’s try this spell.”
Kelan looked sadly at the fire but stood without complaint. Finn took his cloak off a hook by the door.
“Don’t forget your coat—I hear the wind picking up.”
The storm hit them like a slap to the face the instant they stepped over the threshold and pelted their cheeks with sleet. In the distance, Nialla and Ione hurried toward the cottage with branches piled high in their arms. Finn waved, and they changed course to intersect them.
“Nialla,” said Finn when they were in earshot. “We have an idea but need you to test it on.”
Nialla looked nervous but nodded. She put her bundle of sticks on the ground and gestured at Ione to do the same.
“Go inside and keep warm, Ione. We will be as quick as we can.”
Ione nodded and pulled her hood tight as she ran to the cottage door. The rest followed Finn to the edge of the valley.
Twenty minutes in the sleet had them all shivering, and they picked up pace when they saw the gaping hole of a tunnel in the steep rockface before them. The wind died once they entered, but the darkness beyond was absolute. Aidan pulled his flashlight out of his coat pocket and flicked it on.
The darkness retreated to the edge of the flickering beam, but no further. A dank smell floated past their noses, although a breeze flowed softly through the tunnel. Aidan and Kelan glanced at each other. Finn smiled.
“I
t’s not far, I promise. Come on, the sooner we try the spell, the sooner we can go back to the cottage and warm up.”
Aidan shot Finn a sharp look.
“And get out of these mountains.”
“And that too,” said Finn calmly.
“Where is the boundary?” Nialla asked with trepidation while they walked cautiously over the smooth, sandy floor.
“Outside the tunnel. You won’t be surprised by it, I swear. Once we’re out, I will go first and feel where it is.”
Another twenty minutes of careful steps following the beam of the flashlight, and a light emerged at the end. They all sped up, eager to leave the dank darkness of the tunnel.
The storm was far worse out of the protection of the mountain range. The wind blew in heavy gusts that threatened to whip away their hoods, and snow flurried in their faces until they could hardly see. Finn put out a hand to stop Nialla before she stepped out of the tunnel.
“The boundary is very close to the mountains here,” he said. “Let me go first.”
He walked forward for three paces, then shuddered and stopped. In the cold ground, he dug his heel in to make a mark.
“The boundary is here, love. Don’t cross until we’re ready.”
Nialla nodded and huddled in the shelter of the tunnel entrance. Aidan almost leaped to Finn’s side. Kelan followed more slowly.
“How shall we do this, exactly?” Aidan said with a frown.
“Setting up the healing bracelet is a two-person endeavor,” said Kelan. “The different parts of the spell are done at the same time.”
“I’ll cast the modified healing spell,” said Finn. “And Aidan, you focus on the reversed-enhancing spell. Kelan, put your hands on both of us and lend us your power simultaneously. I’ll do my best to bind it all together.”
Kelan’s nose twitched in discomfort at the idea of joining magics with a near-stranger, but he put his hands on their shoulders as requested. Finn drew out a bracelet of silver filigree, finely polished to a soft gleam. It was a bright counterpoint to the gray, forbidding clouds above.
“Don’t lose that,” Nialla warned from the tunnel. “It was my grandmother’s.”
“I’ll be careful,” Finn promised. “All right, Aidan, hands on the bracelet. On the count of three. One, two, three…”
Aidan squeezed his eyes shut. Kelan tilted his head back and breathed out slowly. Finn closed his eyes and grew still.
A glow emerged around Aidan’s and Finn’s fingers in the bracelet, sky blue and pale ivory with a deeper blue below, swirling around and over their hands in a mesmerizing kaleidoscope of colors. Nialla watched with wide, longing eyes. A brilliant flash, and the colors faded. Aidan opened his eyes.
“I think it’s done.”
Kelan rolled his shoulders.
“That was a power-hungry spell. I hope it works because I’ll need a rest before we attempt another version.”
“Let’s find out,” said Finn. He made his way to the boundary. “Nialla, love, are you ready? Step out and I’ll slip the bracelet on your wrist.”
Nialla bit her lip.
“Why not put it on before I leave the boundary?”
“Ideally, I would like to see some of your magic’s reaction to being uncontained before we dampen it. Then we can be sure it works.”
Nialla nodded jerkily, took a deep breath, and stepped out.
Nothing happened for a breath, and Nialla’s shoulders slumped in relief. Then her hands sparkled with golden lights. They swiftly traveled up her arms. The already stiff wind began to whirl around Nialla in a funnel.
“Finn!” Nialla screamed. She stuck out her arm. Finn jammed the bracelet on her wrist.
The whirlwind calmed, and the golden sparks died. Nialla stared at the bracelet for a moment while the wind blew her cloak around her legs. Then she looked at Finn with shining eyes.
“Can it be true?” she whispered. Aidan gripped his head with an expression of intense relief, and Kelan looked pleased. Finn touched Nialla’s cheek.
“Will you be my queen?” he said quietly.
Nialla smiled and opened her mouth to speak. Instead, her happy expression faltered, and she clutched her chest. Golden light welled from between her fingers, too bright to look at. Then it pulsed. A cracking noise made them look up. Another pulse—rocks burst from the cliffs above and tumbled toward them in a rain of stone.
“Get back!” Finn yelled. He pushed Nialla, and she sprawled on the sandy floor of the tunnel. Kelan leaped nimbly past her. Aidan had stumbled to his knees and was crawling to the entrance, but Finn grabbed his arm and dragged him to safety. The rocks fell like thunder outside, then all was still.
For a long moment they sat in panting silence, the wind the loudest sound. Then Aidan kicked at the wall in his frustration.
“It should have worked! Why didn’t it work? How can we do this?”
“It was only our first attempt,” said Finn. “We’ll simply learn from it and apply what we know to the next time.” He caught sight of Nialla’s silent tears and his tone changed. He pulled her into an embrace. “Don’t cry, my love. We will keep trying.”
“I know,” she said. She sniffed and dried her eyes with the edge of her cloak. “It was just a remarkable feeling to think I might be able to leave this place…” She gave Finn a rueful smile. “I’m being silly.”
“Of course not.” Finn squeezed her hand. “We’ll keep trying, as long as it takes. Do you hear me, Aidan? We’ll keep trying.”
Aidan nodded, although his expression was still despondent.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
***
“Stay quiet,” said Bran softly. He drew Gwen between two trees. “There will be sentries everywhere, and they won’t be expecting friends. I’ll send a signal.”
Gwen pressed herself against the tree. Bran cupped his hands and closed his eyes. A blue light shone through the gaps between his fingers and he opened them with a grin. Inside was a tiny bird, the size of a winter wren, but with a bright blue glow. It chirped happily and tilted its head to look up at Bran.
“Off you go,” he whispered, and the bird flew away through the whirling snow in a flash of wings.
“Now what?” Gwen whispered. She looked furtively around her tree.
“Now we wait.” Bran leaned against his tree and sighed. “All this fresh snow, and no brothers to throw snowballs at. What a waste.”
Less than a minute passed before light footsteps crunched through snow nearby. A flash of blue, and Bran’s bird landed on his shoulder. It chittered happily, then melted without a trace into Bran. Bran leaped out of their hiding place, and Gwen followed with trepidation.
Two guards stood a few paces away, dressed in Wintertree clothing with heavy fur cloaks over top. They tried to look impassive, but relief shone through their eyes at the sight of Bran.
“Prince Bran,” the female guard said. “It is good to have you back. The king awaits you.”
“Then we shouldn’t keep him waiting any longer.” Bran spread his arms. “Come, take me to him. We must keep our revered ruler happy.”
Gwen snorted, and the guards fought to keep smiles off their faces.
“This way,” the male guard said, and they tramped through the storm after him.
One moment, the forest was empty and covered with untouched snow. The next step, a camp materialized, filled with tents, fighters, knives sharpening, and horses neighing.
“What just happened?” said Gwen.
“The camp? We passed through the shield barrier, that’s all.” Bran waved at a group of fighters idly chatting, and they waved back. “We can’t have Corann finding headquarters too easily.”
The central tent was much larger than the others, tall and wide enough for a crowd. The guards led them directly to the doorway, demarked by a wide square of woven tapestry with the Wintertree in brown against a white background. The guards withdrew to either side and bowed. Bran marched to the tapestry and flung it open.
<
br /> “Hello, Father! I’m back.”
Exclamations drifted out of the open flap. Gwen gritted her teeth and scuttled in after Bran. She wasn’t looking forward to facing Faolan after their unannounced departure.
It was warm in the tent, warm enough that Gwen needed to unzip her coat immediately. Furs of all colors lined the walls as if they were snuggled in the folds of some enormous beast, and orange flames in hanging lanterns gave off welcome heat. Gwen relaxed involuntarily—she hadn’t been this warm since her night at Winterwood.
Ten or so people ranged around a table with a glowing map that reminded Gwen of a hologram. Most of the figures she recognized from conclave, rulers and their advisors, and Isolde was there as well, looking inscrutably at Gwen. Faolan stepped forward, lines of anger on his face.
“Bran. Running away without a word, at this critical juncture, off to the human world or worse. You could have been trapped, you could have died, you could have lost our one chance to repair the damaged portals.” He waved at Gwen. “What do you have to say, Bran?”
Bran bowed.
“I’m sorry, Father, if I caused you distress, it was not my intention,” he said formally. Then in his usual voice he said, “But I had to help my friends. And I wasn’t alone, Kelan came too. And look, both Gwen and I are back in one piece, and in time too. So, no harm done.”
Faolan stared at his son for a long moment. A muscle in his cheek twitched. Then he sighed and rounded on Gwen.
“And you. How could you desert your post at this hour? This entire plan hinges on you.”
Gwen stood up straighter. She was tired of being pushed around by Faolan. It was time to show him how things really stood.
“I did what I needed to do, what you should have ‘allowed’ me to do anyway. And I don’t—owe—you—anything.” She smacked her fist into her palm to emphasize each word. “I could have gone back to my home in the human world, far away from any destruction that might happen, and happily carried on with my life. But I came back. I said I would rule if I have to, and I will. But I had to make sure it was the only option. So, let’s have less blame and finger-wagging. I am not inferior because I am partly human, and I am not a child to be ordered about. I am the future queen of the Velvet Woods, and you will treat me accordingly.”
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