“I wish we had our own gate to the human realm, like a back door. If things did go south, at least we would have a way home.”
“The other day, I talked to Oszlár about the Source Stone. He asked if we were thinking about making our own.” Munro repeated the conversation and recalled his failure to discover anything of use.
“Maybe the thing to do is to make an Otherworld gate. They seem less complicated than the portal.”
Munro couldn’t think of a reason not to try. There were no gates directly from the Halls of Mist to the human realm, but he didn’t know why not. “When we cross through with Demi, we should look at the borderlands gate more closely.”
On the rest of the journey, their talk moved towards Demi and what her talents might add to the knowledge the druids had gained over the past year. Then they drifted into mundane chatter about their latest efforts to create new talismans. Both men shared their frustrations that their capabilities hadn’t grown faster. Their techniques had refined, but too much of their time had been spent getting set up, arranging for servants and supplies and the day-to-day running of the Hall. At least Munro and Rory didn’t have to see to the fae who came from all over, hoping to be compatible with the only unbonded druids, Aaron and Huck. Of the two, Huck put less into making himself available for that. Munro wasn’t quite sure what pull the human realm had on the American. He still returned repeatedly, as though looking for something. Did Huck even understand why he went back so often?
Over the next hill, Munro stopped abruptly. A large, beautiful faerie city spread out before him, a castle dominating the far side. Eilidh called him from inside like a beacon in his soul. No matter what difficulties they had, the communication problems or the cultural clashes, being close to her felt like coming home.
∞
Getting Lisle Hartmann to Centraal Station took longer than Huck would have liked. Although pretty spritely for her age, she couldn’t move like a druid who’d been breathing Otherworld air for six months. Even worse, she kept arguing that she should’ve stayed.
“I must go home in case they come back,” she said.
Huck urged her on and bought two tickets to Hook of Holland. They had to be on the next train if they wanted to catch the last ferry to Essex. “If they’re in the human realm, Flùr will find them and meet up with us,” he said in a low voice. “Nobody will be returning to that house for a while.” As an afterthought, he added, “I’m sorry.”
"Everything is your fault," she said. Her words rang clearly despite her thick German accent. “You led Ulrich to us.”
Huck led her down to the right platform, and they waited for the train. The whine of electric train engines as they whizzed by in the darkness combined with the rumble of them moving over steel tracks. Had he led the prince right to Demi’s front door? Had Ulrich or one of his men followed him over the German border into the Netherlands? He didn’t know for certain, but he had difficulty imagining that was the case. Surely he would have had an inkling someone was following him. Besides, there was that strange figure outside Demi’s house that first night. Whoever it was, they’d been there before him. Still, if he’d moved more quickly, he should have gotten to Demi before Ulrich had the chance.
“How did he get in?” Huck asked. “I thought your wards would keep him away. Flùr couldn’t get past them.”
“Again! Your fault!” she spat.
Huck looked at her. He couldn’t deny it, even if he hoped her accusation wasn’t true. A train came to rest in front of them. They stood aside as passengers streamed out of an open door. At the first opportunity, he led her inside, guiding her gently by the elbow. “I wasn’t even there,” he said as they made their way to a four-person section with two seats facing each other, separated by a table.
The old lady parked herself by the window, clutching her knapsack to her chest. Huck took the aisle seat facing her and chucked Demi and Jago’s packs down next to him. He watched Mrs Hartmann closely. She was like iron, sitting rigidly, glaring towards the platform. When the train began to pull away from the station, she looked at him. “She moved the ward for you, to let your faerie in.”
Dread and guilt filled Huck’s stomach. Demi must have forgotten to put the stone near the door again. Such a small thing would’ve been easy to overlook, he supposed. With everything going on, the upcoming move. Especially if she couldn’t detect the wards magically. She probably took their presence for granted. But still, Mrs Hartmann was right. Everything was his fault. If he’d stayed away, Demi would be safe.
No words of apology came, although remorse washed over him. What could he say to make any of it all right? “We’ll get them back.”
She resumed staring out the window, her expression hard and tinged with grief. Clearly, she didn’t believe a word he said.
The rest of the journey passed as though they were strangers who happened to share the same destination, which, he supposed, was the case. In many ways, her willingness to travel with him in the first place surprised him. Maybe she did have some hope he’d find Demi.
After a tedious couple of train changes, they finally arrived at Hoek van Holland railway station. Huck looked at his watch. They had cut the timing close. Fortunately the train station was next to the ferry terminal, so they hurried over to book their passage. He bought tickets for five, reserving a family cabin for Lisle, Demi, and Jago and a standard, two-person cabin for himself and Flùranach. He handed Demi’s and Jago’s tickets to Lisle. She accepted them in silence.
They waited as long as possible to board the ferry. He was worried she might refuse to board without Demi and Jago, but she followed without protest. Her gaze, however, never left the entrance. When the doors shut and the boat pulled away, her face fell as hope crumbled within.
Huck wanted to tell her not to give up, but the reassurance sounded stupid, even in his head. His hopes now rested on… “Flùranach,” he said aloud, catching a glimpse of her familiar red hair. Her fae traits had been disguised, but he recognised her easily.
She wove towards them through a group of standing passengers. His gut clenched when he realised she’d come alone.
“I tracked them to the German gates,” she said when she got close enough. “I would have pursued them, but the Ashkyne Watchers would not allow me through, even with my keepers’ token.” She stole a glance at Lisle. “Forgive me, elder,” she said. “I did not think I should fight them. They were many more than usual. They claimed Prince Ulrich had been killed and told me the gates were closed to all.”
“You did all you could.” Huck said.
“I’m sorry,” Flùranach said to Lisle, but the old lady sat in stony silence, staring at nothing as though a light had extinguished within.
The expression on Flùranach’s face changed as she considered the old woman. “You are a druid,” she said.
Still, Lisle didn’t respond.
Flùranach looked at Huck with surprise. He hadn’t realised, either, and Demi hadn’t told him. At least this explained why Lisle had been so accepting of Demi’s story about Ulrich. What Huck didn’t know was if the woman’s powers were unlocked. If the old woman’s abilities had never initiated, they would after contact with Flùranach. Assuming, of course, she ever roused from her grief-stricken trance.
Huck’s thoughts turned to Demi as they journeyed across the North Sea. Where was she? Why had Ulrich’s men grabbed her, and what would they do with her and Jago? He assumed they’d be taken to Konstanze. He couldn’t be sure how Konstanze would deal with them. Jago was her family, after all. He’d never heard of a half-human faerie before, so he didn’t know how the boy would be regarded. Either way, they had a tricky path ahead. None of the possible outcomes passing through his mind struck him as good.
He glanced up to see Mrs Hartmann staring into his face. All he could do was bear her condemnation. “We should find our cabins,” he said. “We have a long, eight-hour crossing ahead.” He doubted any of them would sleep.
Chapter 10
Huck, Flùranach, and Lisle met Munro and Rory in Essex and explained about Demi and Jago’s kidnapping. The subsequent travel from Caledonia to the Halls of Mist took an excruciating twenty-four hours. Eilidh granted all of them passage, including Flùranach, although Munro said the queen wasn’t too thrilled about the entire situation. Of course, she wanted to help the druids. On the other hand, she didn’t like crossing Konstanze and was displeased to learn Flùranach had hidden in the Halls of Mist for months. Eilidh only allowed her in Caledonia under the protection of the druids. This announcement surprised Lisle as much as it did Huck. It appeared to come as no shock to Flùranach, who was merely grateful for a way back since the gate in Germany had been closed.
Tràth and Douglas met up with the druids’ party after the audience with Queen Eilidh. Surprising everyone, Douglas opted to join the group, offering no explanation other than to say he regretted not helping out more.
Naturally, Lisle couldn’t run like the rest of them. She took the shock of the Otherworld air with her usual stoicism, but still moved at a snail’s pace. So Eilidh arranged for her to be taken by cart, propelled by six Watchers rolling it along with air and earth magic. Even with their help, the journey passed slowly, and every mile pained Huck.
The Halls of Mist buzzed with rumours by the time they arrived. A human druid had been taken in the Ashkyne borderlands, people said, accused of the murder of Prince Ulrich. Lisle muttered denials, but her voice trembled. She appeared to have aged ten years in one day.
Druid Hall servants prepared a room for Lisle, and Huck made sure she got settled. All her toughness had evaporated when she learned about the charge of murder against Demi. Lisle wanted to be alone, even though he worried about her feeling neglected in this strange new place. She insisted, leaving him no choice. Before he left, he asked her, “Why didn’t Ulrich’s people take you too?”
“They didn’t know about me. I was upstairs when they arrived. The ward stone masked my presence.” She sat uncomfortably on the fae-made swing chair, clutching Jago’s teddy bear to her chest. “I heard Ulrich and Demi fighting. They had woken Jago with their shouts, and he was crying.” She looked away, sorrow making the deep lines in her face even more pronounced.
When she didn’t say anything further, he said, “I’ll have some food sent up. You are welcome to eat, sleep, whatever. Just…I wouldn’t leave the Hall, if I were you.”
She glanced up at him, looking pale and fragile. “Where would I go?”
Because he had no answer, he simply nodded and left her alone. He considered with dread that he’d ruined at least three lives by trying to bring Demi here.
When he arrived at the workshop, he realised the druids hadn’t all been together in quite some time. Despite the circumstances, something about the reunion reassured him, as though his fellow druids had his back. Inside, he found the others already deep in conversation. Munro interrupted the chatter when he saw Huck. “How is she?”
“Tired, I think. Confused.” No, that wasn’t right. When she’d come to the Otherworld and the Halls of Mist, she’d appeared unimpressed, as though none of the wonders of the fae realm touched her. “Numb is maybe a better word.”
“You’re sure she’s a druid?”
“Flùranach said so,” Huck replied. Aaron gave a snort at the mention of the faerie’s name, which earned him a glance from Rory.
Douglas, the youngest druid at only nineteen, sat forward. “I’m interested in these wards she uses. Did Lisle make them?”
“I didn’t ask,” Huck said. He sank into a chair.
Munro spoke up next. “Our first priority is Demi and Jago. We need to send a message to Queen Konstanze. Word is Demi’s been arrested, but we don’t know what Konstanze means to do. I have never heard anything about fae law regarding queens arresting humans.”
“Too bad Eilidh wouldn’t come back with us,” Douglas said. “She’d know what to do.”
Munro cast him a dark look. “She said she’d meet us later tonight if she can. In the meantime, I’m planning to talk to Oszlár,” he said. “The keepers seem to be the ones who hold the kingdoms together, the only ones every queen respects.”
Huck worried the druids were out of their depth. They’d never experienced a crisis like this or anything that put them directly at odds with a queen. He hoped the keepers would be amenable to assisting them.
Munro stood and went to the corridor and spoke to someone on the other side of the door. “Please send word to Keeper Oszlár. We need him urgently.”
“Yes, my lord druid,” came the reply. Footfalls sounded on the stone floor and moved away as Munro returned to the workshop.
“We can get her back, right?” Huck said. “I thought our word was supposed to be law.”
Munro shook his head. “The commands of the draoidh were law. So far, we’ve stepped into some of the role those ancient druids had in fae society millennia ago, but we haven’t determined how far that will get us in reality. The queens have supported the Hall up until now, but this will be our first real test.”
Huck grumbled. A part of him had hoped they could order Konstanze to give up Demi and Jago.
Aaron shrugged. “They helped us build this Hall, their people make up our servants, they defer to us in every conversation, and pretty much grant us free passage in their kingdoms. I don’t understand why this is going to be a problem. Perhaps Konstanze doesn’t know Demi is a druid.”
The head steward, Hon, entered the workshop and bowed. “A message from Ashkyne,” he said.
Munro stood and took an envelope from Hon, then unfolded the parchment within. He glanced up at Huck. “She knows,” he said.
Huck’s chest tightened. “What does it say?”
“Thank you,” Munro said to Hon. “When Keeper Oszlár arrives, please show him in here.”
Huck stood. “Munro?”
“Queen Konstanze of Ashkyne has invited no more than two members of the Druid Hall to enter her kingdom under her protection. They may administer whatever death rites are appropriate to the druid Demi Hartmann.”
“What?” Huck crossed the floor and snatched the letter out of Munro’s hands. He read the last half aloud:
The execution of the murderer Demi Hartmann, citizen of the Ashkyne borderlands, will take place on the Eve of Hainne.
Queen Konstanze has decreed her nephew, the lethfae known as Jago, a ward of the crown. The child will be raised under the protection of the royal bloodline and suffer no consequences of his mother’s crime.
A cold sweat broke out over Huck’s skin. “She can’t do that,” he said. “Can she? Demi is one of us.” He read the letter top to bottom again, as though the words on the page might change if he concentrated hard enough.
“We have two full nights from tonight before the Eve of Hainne,” Munro said. “Which, coincidentally, is my wedding day.”
“Konstanze would execute a druid on your wedding day?” With a chill, the blood drained from Huck’s face, and he lowered himself into a chair. His hope withered.
“She’s making a statement,” Munro replied with a glower.
∞
Demi sat cross-legged in the centre of the bare, stone room, elbows on her knees and head in her hands. Her stomach churned. The power vibrating through the Otherworld air made her gut clench. She hadn’t eaten since they brought her to this prison. Most of her misery, of course, came from worry about Jago. They’d been carried a long distance in a blur, and all the while Jago had cried for his mama.
Tears of frustration stung her eyes. She mustered all her willpower, commanding herself to stay still. She’d discovered her captors would not tolerate resistance. They would not hesitate to immobilise her again with their strong air flows.
The entire first day she’d been bound, and she didn’t want to return to that state. She’d had enough of being tied up in the days when she was Ulrich’s lover. She’d learned how to feign compliance when required to.
Over and over, she repla
yed the moment of his death. So painful and gruesome. Blood had spurted from his neck and across her face. The suddenness of it had stunned her, and she hadn’t snapped out of her shock until Jago shrieked. Her sweet baby boy. Was he crying now? Was he frightened? Her mind went to dark places. A wailing moan built in her chest, but she stuffed it down and refused to let any sound escape her lips. She needed to be strong.
A whisper came to her ears. “Are you truly draoidh?” it asked in German. She looked around but saw no one. “I need to know. Are you of the Druid Hall?” The voice seemed to be carried on a breeze as though echoing from far away.
Her mind raced. Huck claimed druids were revered in the fae realm. Had he been telling the truth? Should she admit her lineage, or would this land her and Jago in worse trouble? She considered Huck. He’d seemed sincere. She’d wanted desperately to believe him, enough that she was willing to risk to moving her family with him. He’d promised them a safe place, safe even from the powerful fae. Were the druids enemies of the fae? He’d told her some fae served the druids, but judging from her current situation, not all feared his people. Doubts crept in. What power could humans hold to make the fae revere them? None.
She held her silence, waiting for the voice to say something more. It did not.
∞
“What do you think?” Munro asked Keeper Oszlár.
The ancient fae frowned as he studied the letter.
“It must have been self-defence,” Huck said. “Demi told us Ulrich was abusive. That’s why she was hiding Jago from him.”
“The letter doesn’t say anything about a trial or hearing. Surely someone will be allowed to speak for her,” Munro said.
Caledonia Fae 04- Druid Lords Page 11