He pushed himself from the bench and began pacing.
“What will happen to me?” Airell looked up at him, her eyes red and swollen, her voice cracking with every word. “To Urien?”
Tiernan shoved his fingers through his hair. His mind raced. He could not allow Airell to face the humiliation of being marked and the horror of being cast out of the Fae realm. But neither could he marry a woman who carried another man’s child.
He could do many things for duty, for honor, but raising another man’s child when all he longed for were his own? Must all his dreams be set aside for the sake of others?
“Urien and I could run away,” she said, a hopeful tone to her voice. “We could be together then.”
“You would be found within hours, if not minutes.” Tiernan stopped his pacing and rested his hands on the hilt of his sword. “The forests are filled with Fae. You could never escape, Airell. You should know that they would already have seen you with Urien. I am surprised none have spoken of it.”
“I am friends with many of the Fae, and they covered for us.” She hiccupped and lowered her head. “But I know there is nothing I can do. I will be marked and cast out.”
Tiernan’s body was so tense he felt as though he was being stretched between two stakes. He sank back down on the bench beside Airell. He released a sigh that came deep from his belly and leaned forward, his forearms braced on his leather-clad thighs.
He looked away from her and stared into the trees at the foot of the gardens. “I would never want to humiliate you, Airell. As I would not want Urien to face a more serious fate.”
When he looked at her again, she was dabbing at her eyes with a kerchief she must have drawn out from a pocket in the folds of her skirt. “You would marry me still?”
Tiernan slowly shook his head. “I cannot be joined with you knowing you carry another man’s child.”
Airell’s features crumpled once again, and the tears came harder and faster as she stared at her hands in her lap.
He laid his large tanned hand on her pale and dainty one. She was so small, so fragile.
Tiernan squeezed her hand and she looked up at him. “What happens now?” she whispered.
“I will find a solution.” He took her fingers in his hand and brought them to his lips and gently kissed them before releasing her. “Give me time. I will tell our parents we are postponing our handfasting for six weeks. In that time I will find a way.”
Though he had no idea what way there could possibly be. He swallowed hard. “I will not allow you to be humiliated. Rest assured of that.”
“Thank you,” Airell said as she met his eyes. “You are more than kind, Lord Tiernan.”
He stood and gave her a low bow. “My lady.”
6
Copper was in the tunnel again. The air smelled of sulfur, rotten fish, and earth, and the ground looked like it had been freshly dug.
She squinted in the dim wand light. Shapes ahead, moving through the unlit tunnels. She raised her wand higher, but the light was absorbed by the darkness, sucked up until she could barely see.
Her heart started pounding as she continued through the tunnel.
The ground dropped from beneath her feet.
She screamed as she tumbled through brilliant light so white it was like falling through a star. Wind rushed against her face and her heart felt as if it were on fire, that it would burn a hole through her chest.
With a thud she landed so hard on her feet she jarred her teeth. Her wand almost slipped from her grasp.
Shaking, she blinked to regain her vision. Her wand light glittered off damp stone walls. When her heart didn’t feel like it was going to explode, she realized she was on another dark pathway—a tunnel even farther below ground.
She was alone.
No—no. There were the shapes ahead. Familiar? She couldn’t be sure.
She shivered in the damp air that smelled of ancient dirt and heard the steady plunk, plunk, plunk of water coming from somewhere ahead.
And rotten fish again. Yes, she definitely smelled rotten fish.
A chill rolled down her spine.
* * *
Copper woke late with a strange feeling in her belly. It was gloomy outside, the air cool and moist with an oncoming storm.
For some reason the dreariness of the day and her dream didn’t dampen her mood. She felt as though something special were going to happen.
“Maybe today’s the day,” she said aloud. A spell had been churning in her mind. Perhaps it was a spell that would set them all free. Something inside her told her she had to return home. These dreams, this feeling—they had never been so intense before.
Fully awake, she scurried out of her shelter and finger-combed her hair so that it lay in a wavy mass over her shoulders. She placed her hands on her hips and looked around the meadow.
Zephyr followed her out, buzzed around her head, then zipped to the closest Fae flower garden. Copper grinned as he playfully dive-bombed some of the younger Faerie children
Ladybugs moved up the branches of the flowers and a grasshopper bounded across the clearing. The older Faerie children were doing their chores and gathering fresh grass and seeds.
The Pixies were playing their version of tag around the rock outcropping, and the Brownies were nowhere to be seen. That fact gave her little comfort. Where were those nasty little goons?
The Fae hadn’t left Copper anything for breakfast—which meant they were in a fickle mood—so she headed for the apple tree, reached up, and plucked the reddest one she could find.
The tree always had plenty of apples. It was as if any that were taken were replaced overnight, and it had fruit year-round. She especially enjoyed the times when the perfume of the tree’s blossoms mingled with the scent of apples.
She perched on the rock at the foot of the tree and took a big bite of the apple with a loud crunch. Sounds of Pixie laughter made her grin as she chewed. They were mischievous as hell, but they were fun to watch and listen to—if she wasn’t on the receiving end of their mischief.
The Faerie Queen Riona appeared from around the tree and landed on her butt on Copper’s shoulder. The tiny being braced her hands on either side of her and tilted her face to the sky.
“Good morning,” Copper said between apple crunches. “What’s going on with you today?”
Riona’s lips twitched, whether with concern or amusement, Copper couldn’t tell. “The Drow,” Riona said. “They are up to something.”
Copper raised her brows and stopped right before biting the apple again. “What do you mean?”
The queen gave a shrug of her tiny shoulders as she leaned forward to clasp her arms around her knees. “I have heard rumors. The Brownies say they dig deep, perhaps too deep, and are up to something. I cannot determine what.”
Her mouth twisted into a frown. “I do not like it when I know not what they are doing.”
“From what I remember of their history, the Drow are always up to something.” Copper settled her hand in her lap, her partially eaten apple still in her grasp.
Riona nodded. “That is true. However, I cannot help but feel this is somehow different. And that they have been engaging in activities I am not aware of.”
Copper was surprised that the queen was actually confiding in her. “How can we find out?”
The Faerie queen’s tiny lavender eyes met Copper’s. “Perhaps you can go below and visit Garran. I cannot. Other than the D’Danann, Fae cannot tolerate being deep within the earth. It would kill us.”
Copper’s eyes widened. “Me? What if they don’t let me go?”
With a smile, Riona said, “I have confidence in you.”
A groan rose up inside Copper. “I can’t believe I’m even considering this.”
Riona pushed from Copper’s shoulder to hover beside her. “Stomp on the Drow door five times. No doubt they will know it is you. They have strong magic.”
Before Copper had a chance to discuss it further, to refuse
even, Riona fluttered away. Copper sighed and shook her head. Even though she’d never been in the Drow realm, she knew this wasn’t going to be easy.
After she finished the apple, she left the core on the rock for the Brownies who loved them. She forced herself to grab her wand, then walk across the soft grass to make her way to the side of the rock outcropping that she normally avoided.
“A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do,” she murmured to encourage herself.
When she was behind the rock wall and saw the stone door, she paused. The door was flat upon the ground and surrounded by dirt, as if no grass would grow there. A pine tree stood beside the rectangular stone, the tree’s shadow darkening the door and making it seem ten times more foreboding. The door was as long as a man and twice as wide, with strange markings all around the stone frame. There were no handholds, no way to open the door without Drow magic.
She took a deep breath, gripped her wand tighter, and stomped five times on the dusty stone with one of her bare feet. For a long moment she waited, half hoping the door wouldn’t open.
A rumble cut through the air and then a sound like nails scratching a chalkboard as stone scraped stone. Copper winced and goose bumps pricked her skin.
When the door was fully open, she sucked in a breath of damp earth and minerals, and stepped onto the stone staircase that led down to the bowels of the home of the Drow, who had been banished to live underground countless centuries ago.
They were not beings to be trifled with. However, because of Garran’s promise to her that night he came to the surface—the promise she would remain untouched by any of his warriors without her consent—she didn’t really fear any of the Dark Elves in his kingdom.
Well, maybe a little.
The stairs were covered with coarse dirt and rock that felt rough to her bare feet as she walked down the stairs. A rush of cool air swept up and under her vine and leaf dress and she tugged on it. Damn the jerks, anyhow. They had probably done that on purpose.
After she was far enough down the stairs, the stone door scraped closed above her. Once again, that awful feeling ran along her spine at the sound.
She blinked in the sudden darkness, barely illuminated by her wand, but then torches sputtered to life along the walls hugging the stairs and she could see. She waited for her eyes to adjust, then began her descent once more.
What could she possibly find out that would alleviate Riona’s concerns—or confirm them?
Copper only hoped there wouldn’t be too big of a price to pay for visiting the Drow. They enjoyed extracting payments. An eye for an eye and all that. She’d been an apt student of Mrs. Illes and knew the Fae and Elves well enough.
At that moment she realized she’d forgotten to bring Zephyr with her and she silently cursed. He was always good in a tight spot, and she could probably use him now.
When she reached a great circular hall, two Drow met her, looking as if they’d been expecting her. Copper sighed. They probably had been.
Torches sputtered to life around the room, surely for her benefit. The Drow needed no light to see in their dark world.
She allowed each Drow to take one of her upper arms to guide her across the great hall, their earthy, mossy scent sweeping over her.
They were remarkably good-looking, rivaling the sexiest of men. Their smooth skin was a bluish shade that suited them. They had well-defined, muscular bodies, long hair that hung loose around their shoulders or was drawn back and fastened at their napes. Their hair color tended to range from black to steel gray to silvery blue, and most Drow were slightly under or over six feet tall.
Instead of shirts the Drow men wore shoulder and breast plates made of the finest metals and snug breeches of dark gray or black. At their backs were quivers with arrows, the shafts made of pewter and the heads of indestructible diamonds—that magically exploded when entering an enemy’s flesh, from what Riona had once told her.
The carvings of male warriors around the circular walls glimmered in the light from the torches scattered around the great room. From what Copper had learned, Drow women were subservient to the males. That tidbit was backed up by images of the women on their knees looking up at the warriors.
“It is good to have you join us, fair one,” the Drow called Naal said as the two warriors’ boots rang against the polished granite floor.
She drew her gaze away from the images and glanced at Naal to see him wink. He was Garran’s younger brother, the next in line for the throne, and she had met him the same night Garran had visited her aboveground.
Naal was a good head taller than her, and if she was inclined to take on Drow lovers, he would be one, as would Garran. But she had no intention of doing any such thing.
And she hoped to the goddess that she would make it out of here and soon. Surely Riona wouldn’t have sent her on a mission that would prove to be too dangerous.
The arched doorless opening ahead was one of many doorways that led from the circular great room. “So, how’s Garran?” she asked as they neared the throne room.
Naal chuckled. “Missing you, I am certain.”
Copper groaned. The closer they got to the king, the more she realized it was going to be hard as hell to get back out.
The throne room took her breath away. The chamber was like a geode cut in half, every wall sparkling like cut crystal.
To the back was an obsidian door that was just closing as she walked into the room. To the left stood a black granite table surrounded by granite benches.
At the center of the room was the huge, black granite throne with a padded back, and to one side of it was a matching smaller throne.
Casually reclining on the larger throne was Garran, the handsome Drow king. He was a powerfully built being with tattoos covering his sculpted biceps and massive chest. He had one elbow resting on the arm of the chair and an amused expression on his face.
Gem-studded metal and leather straps crisscrossed his bare chest, and he wore elaborate shoulder plates. He had an ornate belt fastened at the top of his black breeches that were tucked into high leather boots.
His long silvery-blue hair was loose around his shoulders, but she could still see his pointed ears. He was an incredibly handsome Drow, more so than the guards who had accompanied him to the surface that night—other than Naal, that was.
Naal and the Drow on the other side of her bowed and retreated to the doorway. Copper took a deep breath and stepped forward, the smooth, black granite floor cool beneath her bare feet.
The slide of her vine dress against her skin reminded her of how vulnerable she was. When she reached the throne she didn’t kneel or bow. Instead she kept her gaze fixed on Garran’s liquid silver eyes.
“I am most pleased to see you.” His voice was so deep it resembled the rumble of thunder. He leaned back, crossed his boots at his ankles, and laced his fingers at his washboard abs. “Have you returned to take me up on my offer?”
Copper cleared her throat. “I simply came to—to visit.” She shifted from foot to foot. “I have never been below ground as long as I’ve been in Otherworld.” As his intense gaze studied her, she hurried to add, “I’m bored. I need something to distract me.”
Garran pushed himself from his chair and she took a step back. “I can most certainly distract you, little one.” He towered over her and her heart began to beat and her throat grew dry. What had she gotten herself into?
She took a deep breath and raised her chin. “So, show me around.”
He smiled, a rogue’s smile, and reached out to stroke the side of her face. “I can think of many ways to ‘show you around.’”
Copper took another step back, and he let his hand drop to his side. “I’m not here to get intimate with you, Garran. I just need something to do. Something to get my mind off the fact that we’re all trapped here.”
A flicker of something flashed in Garran’s eyes, but then it was gone. No doubt he was none too happy at being imprisoned.
“Come.” He
took her hand in his and she felt the warmth of him straight to her toes. She drew away and he let her fingers slip from his. In her other hand she gripped her wand tighter.
Garran started by showing her around the throne room. The smaller throne was for his future queen. He made a point of looking at her when he said that and she snorted. He led her to the oval granite table and padded high-backed granite seats where he held council with his warrior leaders, as well as showing her other things in the room such as free-form carvings of great Drow warriors.
“Where does that lead to?” she asked, pointing to the black obsidian door.
Garran pushed his long silvery-blue hair over his shoulders. He truly was a sexy Drow. “A storage chamber of sorts.”
She raised her brow, but he took her out into the great circular hall and pointed to the fine carvings of the warriors and their subservient women. Many of the Drow women had collars around their necks and a warrior held the chain connected to them.
Garran glanced down at her and grinned. “Would you not like to be my queen and share in our way of life?”
“You’re kidding, right?” Copper shuddered. “I’m no man’s slave-toy, thank you very much.”
The king studied her for a long moment as they stood in the center of the hallway. “That is true. You have spirit—fire that our women do not.” He focused intently on her. “I have never known a female as powerful and strong-willed as you. We would make a good match.”
“Hmph.” Copper shot him a look. “No doubt you don’t give your women a chance.”
Garran shrugged. “It is their wish. They enjoy their way of life.”
“Give me a break,” she said under her breath.
He laughed and proceeded to take her through several of the doorways off the great hall. He showed her the beautiful banquet room as well as an underground city where goods could be bought and sold.
She finally saw Drow women who walked naked through the village, their bluish skin soft and supple in the gentle lighting that came from lichen growing on the ceiling.
The Seduced Page 6