Fairy Tales Revisited on Silvery Earth

by Barbara G. Tarn

  No. He still wasn't so interested in sex that he'd do it every day. No matter with whom. As an introvert, he wasn't too fond of company. He should pick a bride and limit his husbandly duties. And no, a male lover wasn't the answer. Even though King Kariel had made him feel good for a few hours.

  As he sat by a fountain, he stopped listening to the gurgling water to remember the words and then the lack of coherent words of the previous night. He was attracted to Kariel, but he wasn't in love. Or in lust. That hadn't changed. He'd enjoyed the new experience, but he still didn't understand what all the fuss about sex was about. Especially if it wasn't for reproductive purposes. Bed gymnastics were fun, but only to a point.

  Kariel emerged from the castle in plain daylight, dressed in black like the day before. Riander wondered if the king always wore black, which was a depressing color in his eyes. He usually wore orange tunics to match his honey-colored eyes, or green when he went hunting.

  "Good morning," Kariel greeted with a grin, stopping in front of him.

  Riander rose and greeted back, staring intently at Kariel's face. He was perfectly sober now, and his curiosity had been satisfied, so he could see the Sorcerer King with a detached feeling – probably as Danhin had seen him in the first place. The minstrel's words also haunted him. Kariel was only half-Human. No wonder he was so powerful and long-lived.

  "I thank you for your hospitality, but I really should go back to Ker Garenn," he said, not sure what to do with his hands.

  "Please, stay a few more days. I'll send another messenger to your castle to warn them. Or you can send back your own servant. I'd love to have you here a little longer, so we could explore our friendship and tighten our bond..."

  In spite of the gentle and slightly pleading tone, Riander saw hardness in Kariel's eyes. Maybe it was the plain daylight, being outside under the sun, but suddenly the Sorcerer King looked more dangerous than he'd thought. Because he had a charm Riander couldn't deny. A non-Human charm.

  "I appreciate your offer, but I've been wandering way too much lately," he said. "I think it's time I make some important decisions. I must find a suitable princess and..."

  Kariel scoffed. "Why should you marry if you don't feel like it?"

  "Because I'm king and I must provide an heir to the throne," Riander answered bluntly. "And so should you."

  "I wasn't born to be king, I'm told, therefore I don't care," Kariel retorted. "Please, stay. Let's have some more fun. I won't tell anyone."

  Riander glared at him and checked where Danhin was. The servant had wandered away, unwilling to intrude in his master's matters. Good.

  Riander looked at Kariel again and saw lust in the Sorcerer King's eyes. Not love, not friendship, pure lust.

  "I appreciate the offer, and I indeed had fun last night, but I do not wish to repeat the experience," Riander said, straightening his back and balling his fists. "You are free to visit me, but I shall now bid you good-bye. My people are waiting for me."

  He half-bowed and broke eye contact with Kariel.

  "Danhin!" he called, heading for the door that went back into the castle. The servant eagerly followed him to the stables, still silent, and they both climbed into their saddles.

  Before leaving Ker Daragon, Riander turned to look at Kariel, who stood in the castle's main doorway with his arms crossed over his chest and a dangerous frown.

  Let's hope he doesn't hit me with a spell, Riander thought, waving briefly before spurring his horse. Surely he wouldn't dare. He is a usurper, and he can't kill a king... Of course he can. He already did. To take Ker Daragon. What a fool I am!

  As the horses entered the forest, following the unpaved road at a trot, and the towers of Ker Daragon vanished behind them, Riander snorted. He was very conflicted about his stay at his neighbor's.

  Somehow he had escaped a deadly trap. Would that bring war between Ker Daragon and Ker Garenn? Riander hoped his faery godmother would protect him from any evil spell trying to hit him. And he must ask her about Kariel's father – what kind of magical being was he?

  "Thank you for leaving that wretched place, your majesty," Danhin said in a low voice.

  "You were right, we shouldn't have gone there," he grumbled.

  The road wasn't straight, but it was easier to use than going through the forest. And Riander could see the sky – no winged beings in sight. In a couple of hours he'd be home and he could forget his charming but scary neighbor, unless Kariel paid him a visit.

  And then behind a bend they stopped, surprised, and so did the people coming towards them.

  "Dwarves?" Danhin whispered, eyes wide in wonder.

  Six dwarves carrying a crystal coffin, led by a seventh with a graying beard. Encumbered by their burden, they hadn't had time to vanish in the forest. Their surprised expressions soon turned to anger, but the leader gave a sharp order. They dropped the coffin that fell and broke, and ran for cover under the trees.

  "Two men, albeit armed, put to flight seven dwarves!" Danhin chuckled.

  "Unless they're getting their weapons," Riander replied, frowning.

  The broken coffin had revealed a body inside – a Human body.

  Riander jumped off the saddle and went to check. He saw the most beautiful young man he'd ever seen, with long black hair and pale skin. An androgynous beauty that showed he must be very young, since he had no traces of facial hair. Riander crouched next to the young man, gaping.

  He touched the smooth cheek and found it cold. The skin was too pale. The chest wasn't moving. What a waste of a beautiful youth...

  "Get away from him!" The dwarves were back, fully armed.

  "He's dead, isn't he?" Riander said, feeling a pang in his chest.

  "Yes, and we're taking him to his murderer," the gray-bearded one said. "So the people he's reigning over see what a bastard son of a dragon he is and get rid of him once and for all!"

  "Would that be King Kariel?" Riander asked, since they were headed towards Ker Daragon. The bald dwarf nodded with a frown. "Who is he?"

  "Nerian of Ker Daragon," the only clean-shaven dwarf answered bluntly. "He had managed to escape the tower where he'd been locked."

  "How did Kariel get to him?"

  "With his magic. He poisoned him."

  "Oh." Riander stared at the dead youth. "Maybe he's not dead yet, if the poison is slow... I'll call my faery godmother!"

  He jumped to his feet and closed his eyes, concentrating. Wild Rose, help me!

  "Hello, Riander."

  He opened his eyes and she was in front of him, her long blond hair shining in the sun, her pointed ears obvious in the light, her sky-blue eyes staring straight at him. He heard the dwarves gasp.

  "A Genn!" one of them said as the others lowered their weapons.

  Danhin watched from his saddle, holding Riander's reins.

  "Hello, Alech." Wild Rose turned to look at the dwarves' leader. "What happened?"

  "That bastard Kariel poisoned Nerian!" the old dwarf answered, shaking his battle-axe more in anger than to hurt anyone. "I don't think you can do much for him!"

  "Let's see." Wild Rose knelt next to the pale young man and closed her eyes, passing her hands over the still body and stopping on the face and mouth. Golden powder flowed from her hands to the young prince's mouth and soon enough a sigh moved the youth's chest.

  Wild Rose opened her eyes and smiled at Riander's worried expression.

  "He'll be all right," she said. "The poison hadn't completely finished working... or not even I could have saved him."

  "Thank you, Wild Rose." Riander smiled and bowed as she rose and stepped closer to him.

  "You're welcome," she answered, caressing his cheek. "Stay safe." And she vanished as fast as she had appeared.

  "You're Riander of Ker Garenn," the bald dwarf said, glaring at him.

  "That I am," Riander answered with a nod. "I wasn't aware dwarves followed Human history."

  "We don't, really, but we do have Genn neighbors. And Wild Rose told us about y
ou."

  Riander nodded, thoughtful.

  "If Kariel wants Nerian dead, we should move out of the road and wait until the prince recovers... lest the Sorcerer King sees us and decides to make another attempt."

  "He's right." The leader, Alech, signaled his men who took Nerian and quickly carried him into the forest. Riander took his horse's reins and followed them on foot, knowing it was useless to tell Danhin to go ahead to Ker Garenn. The faithful servant wouldn't leave his side.

  The dwarves led them to a clearing where they pushed a mechanism that revealed a tunnel.

  "You better leave the horses out here," Alech said gruffly.

  "I shall join you shortly," Danhin said. "I need to relieve myself."

  Riander smiled briefly at him and nodded before stooping to follow the dwarves into their secret cave.

  ***

  Nerian had a very bad taste in his mouth as he stirred awake. He winced and flapped his eyelids open, finding seven dwarven faces leaning over him. Xhael immediately grinned.

  "He's awake!" he told someone who wasn't in the circle.

  Nerian blinked, feeling still quite numb and slow, gulping down the sour taste. But before he could ask for water, another face appeared behind the dwarves' and he choked on the request. The man who had kissed him! He jerked up, but Alech put a hand flat on his chest and kept him down.

  "Don't move, boy, you're still recovering from the poison."

  "P-poison?" Nerian stammered. How could the man give him a poisonous kiss and smile at him like that? "He did it!" he pointed a shaky finger at the man who stood behind the dwarves, towering over them all.

  "Drink." Temai shoved a flask to his mouth and he gratefully downed the cool water inside.

  Sighing in relief, he looked at the man again and saw him puzzled, no, worried.

  "Will you let me sit up?" he snarled at the dwarves that held him down. "I'm fine!"

  "You weren't fine when we found you outside, passed out," Alech replied somberly. But he gestured his men to let him go.

  Nerian sat, but then went still as his head spun. He closed his eyes and shook his head to clear it. He felt Xhael's hands on his shoulders, keeping him up.

  "I'm fine," he repeated, looking at the dwarves and then glaring at the man who looked relieved. "Why is he here? He's the one who poisoned me!"

  "I didn't," the man said. "I first saw you in a crystal coffin, and called my faery godmother to heal you."

  "He saved you," Alech confirmed. "Why do you say he's the one who poisoned you?"

  "That's King Riander of Ker Garenn," Xhael added, whispering in his ear. "Your neighbor."

  "I know who he is, he introduced himself," Nerian snapped.

  "No, I didn't," Riander said, looking puzzled.

  "Wait, wait, wait!" Soss waved his short arms. "The man who poisoned you, was he alone?"

  "Well, yes," Nerian answered, surprised.

  "Kings don't travel alone, ever," Yeni said gravely. "Royal blood can't go unattended."

  "His servant is outside, relieving himself," Temai added.

  "He was alone when he approached me!" Nerian insisted.

  "Only Kariel travels alone," Alech said. "This is the real King Riander, Nerian. You met Kariel in disguise."

  "But... but... he looked exactly like that!" Nerian protested.

  King Riander looked as puzzled as he felt. "You mean the Sorcerer King can shift shape?"

  "He hadn't so far. But he has it in his blood and since Nerian knows his face, he had to hide it, if he wanted to trick the prince," Alech said.

  "I still don't understand how he poisoned you," Xhael said. "Did he offer you a poisoned fruit?"

  Nerian blushed and stared at the ground. "He kissed me," he muttered.

  He heard them gasp. He dared to glance at King Riander and saw him slowly smile.

  "I wish I had done it," he heard the king say in a low voice.

  Alech cleared his throat, glaring at King Riander. "I wasn't aware we should warn you to beware of strangers," he told Nerian.

  "I did beware, but he took me by surprise!" Nerian replied. "I mean, he is handsome..."

  He heard King Riander chuckle but kept his eyes on the captain of the dwarves.

  "Mm, yes, you've been alone for too long," Alech said. "Now we better keep you locked in until we figure out how to get rid of the wicked half-blood who wants you dead so badly."

  Nerian sighed. "I've been locked inside a tower for ten years," he whined. "And here there are no windows! Are you trying to kill me? I need air and sunlight!"

  "Yes, your Sila blood yearns for air and sunlight, but we can't risk you getting killed," Temai said. "You're one of us, and we don't let wicked half-bloods have their way with us."

  "Excuse me, how can I help?" King Riander asked. They'd forgotten about him. "I mean, I'll gladly give a hand to get rid of the Sorcerer King..."

  "Why, he kissed you too?" Temai teased. King Riander averted his eyes.

  "He's dangerous," he muttered. "I think I talked to his father as well." The dwarves oohed and aahed and cleared their throats. "Which helped me to see Kariel in a new light, I think. The Sorcerer King wanted me to stay at Ker Daragon, probably to convince me to give up my castle and my kingdom."

  "Which you might end up doing anyway, but not to follow a sorcerer," Xhael said cheerfully. "I think you're the perfect companion for Nerian, here!" He ruffled the prince's hair.

  "Hey!" Nerian protested, ducking in vain. "I don't need a companion!"

  "You badly need one," Alech said. "And I don't see you spending the rest of your life in the company of dwarves." He turned to King Riander. "We thank you for your offer, Riander. But I'm afraid you can't do much. You've never tried to kill a dragon, have you?"

  "I've never met one," King Riander admitted as Nerian gaped at Alech.

  "Nasty beasts, those," Temai said with contempt. "Especially half-bloods."

  "You mean Kariel is actually a dragon?" Nerian asked, incredulous.

  "Half-dragon." Yeni shrugged. "None of us would be able to take on a pure-blood."

  Nerian's shoulders slumped. He looked at Riander, hopeful, but the handsome king was thoughtful. Obviously the task was too much even for him. Nerian noticed that Riander had a sword at his side, even though he wore hunting clothes. He probably had all the warrior education he himself had missed.

  Then their eyes met. In the warm light of the lamps, Nerian thought Riander had yellow eyes. Definitely not brown like the man who had kissed him. And even the smile that slowly curved those lips was different.

  Nerian's heart started beating faster. Maybe kissing this Riander wouldn't be as disastrous as the previous one had been...

  ***

  Riander wasn't sure, since the light in the cave was very warm and almost orange, but he thought Nerian had pale blue eyes. He wondered what they looked like outside, under the sun and a clear blue sky. Awake, the young man was even more charming, even though not much color had come back to his cheeks.

  Riander sat on the ground with the dwarves and the prince, asking for more information on the Sorcerer King who had used his face to trick his victim. Bastard, you'll pay for what you've done! He wasn't going to fall for Kariel's charm ever again.

  Nerian was barely starting to learn weapons, so he'd probably be completely useless in battle. The dwarves seemed fierce, though, with their strange weapons. Their captain tried to come up with a strategy that would corner Kariel and force him to use his magic or die.

  "Shouldn't we prevent him from using his magic?" Riander asked, frowning in worry. "I mean, do you have weapons that allow you to beat magic?"

  "Hell yes!" Two identical bearded dwarves shook their weapons with the same movement.

  The bald dwarf groaned. "We should really send out word for Belfi, so he can help us and these two to get rid of Kariel!"

  "Or we can see if Runedemon is still around," the eldest said, thoughtful. "Kariel has never shifted shape before, but if he has spoken to his
father..."

  "Would his father whip him into obedience or side with him?" Riander asked.

  "Probably neither." The clean-shaven dwarf shrugged. "Fajrulo never care for their relatives. He might have come this way out of curiosity, to see what his son was doing, but he's not going to interfere with his life."

  "Fajrulo?" Nerian asked, eyes wide in wonder.

  "The Magical Races." Alech smiled. "You have Sila blood, Riander has Genn blood, then there's the Fajrulo and the Waiora. Air, Ether, Fire and Water. Humans have Earth."

  "And what do dwarves have?" Nerian insisted.

  "Earth, I guess," the clean-shaven dwarf said. "The Immortals don't seem to care for us much, but since we live underground... with the Genn, now..."

  "The Genn used to live in the Moren Empire," Riander said, remembering his history lessons. "And I think the Waiora too."

  "Yes, they had a joint kingdom in what is now the land of the descendants of the last Moren Emperor."

  "The Blackmoren." Riander nodded. "And the Sila?"

  "Winged beings!" one of the bearded ones said. "Nerian can talk to birds."

  Riander stared impressed at the young prince who blushed and looked away. So Nerian was close to those winged beings he'd been following...

  His stomach rumbled. "How about we eat something, get some rest and make plans with the new day?" he said, rising. "Where the hell is Danhin? We should let the horses free for the night. They won't wander very far, especially if you can provide some hay..."

  "Right, who's cooking today?" Alech looked at his men and the two identical ones rose with sighs, heading for the kitchen implements in the other corner of the cave. Riander briefly smiled at Nerian who was still seated on the ground and followed the bald dwarf outside to call Danhin, a little worried now at the absence of his faithful servant. It was taking Danhin way too long to relieve himself – he had never left the king alone for more than a few moments.

  ***

  Nerian watched the tall, handsome king follow Temai outside, then realized he was gaping when Xhael closed his mouth by putting a finger under his chin. The clean-shaven dwarf winked and offered his hand to help Nerian on his feet.