“Which was?” I pressed, knowing he wouldn’t answer.
“Nothing that concerns you.”
“Did you let her bite you?” I asked, remembering the sharp pain of her teeth in my neck…the way she had sucked deeply.
“Yes.”
“Why? What did you get in return?
He looked at me like I was stupid. “I got to sleep with her, Teya.”
And just like that, we would descend into painful silence again.
I heard the Eerie before I saw it, the cackle of laughter, the shouts of sellers, of fortune tellers, the fragments of spells…the echoes of screams. The smell hit me next, a sharp incense that rose from deep within the Eerie, heady and intoxicating. It burned at my eyes and stung my throat, sending my thoughts into a whirlwind, until Laphaniel nudged me.
“Hold your sleeve to your nose,” he said. “Try to take smaller breaths.”
“It doesn’t seem to be affecting you.” I replied, pressing the fabric to my face, inhaling the scent of Laphaniel instead, which made my head muddled for completely different reasons.
“It’s not meant to.” He stopped walking, turning me to face him, his hand tight on my shoulder. “Do I have to tell you not to touch anything?”
I glared at him through my sleeve. “No.”
The trees thinned out as we entered the Eerie, and it was magnificent.
As far as I could see, black tents rippled in the wind, all bearing battered flags with different insignias emblazoned upon them. Some tents looked ancient and tattered, stitched with pieces of black cloth to hold them together. Some were shiny, pristine and glittering, perfect shadows against the tall skinny trees that wove in and out of the tents.
Animals prowled the labyrinthine walkways, slinky black cats and fat rats sprinted past our feet. Huge wolves with blinding white coats padded behind, eyes shining with intelligence as they glanced at us, lips lifting to reveal unkind teeth. Tall, shining horses waited with patience in front of many of the tents, hooves covered in thick hair, black eyes bored and cruel.
Above us, witches circled on broomsticks, soaring against the wind, filling the air with a cacophony of screeches and fragments of song. I stared up in wonder, mouth open as they were joined by great winged serpents, their scales glittering bright blue against the morning sky. I saw saddles, reins…the flowing cobalt cloaks of the witches that rode them.
“The Eerie is a meeting place of all the covens in Faerie,” Laphaniel explained, a smile warming his face as he took in my wonder. “They meet at the brink of winter, as everything begins to die down. It’s a chance to exchange wares, to settle old feuds and establish the hierarchy. The lower covens pay a tribute to the witch queen; on rare occasions someone will make a claim for her throne and these grounds will become a bloodbath.”
“Will we meet the witch queen?” I asked breathlessly, my head still tilted towards the sky, mouth open.
“Absolutely not,” Laphaniel said quickly, “I want to be out of here without drawing much attention to us. We need to look like we’re interested in buying though, they won’t like it if they find out we’re using their sacred ground as a short-cut.”
“Will we be buying anything?”
“It might be sensible, just a charm, or a trinket.”
We moved through the tents, the cloying incense twirling around my legs in a purple smoke, clinging to my clothes until I reeked of it. Witches of all shapes and sizes watched us as we passed by, some ancient and crooked, reminding me of Slimy-Soo and making me recoil. Others were beautiful, though their smiles were not. Some were covered in feathers, avian heads clicking in my direction as I passed their tents.
“A boon, little love!” one shrieked, feathers rustling as she swivelled her head, a clawed hand shooting out to grab at my arm. “A wish for just one of your fingers!”
Laphaniel pulled me back. “I need her with all her fingers.”
“Pity, I could eat them all up, I could,” the witch replied, huge owl-like eyes blinking at me as Laphaniel dragged me by.
“Are we going to buy anything without me losing a body part?” I asked, rubbing my shoulder where the witch’s claws had sunk in.
“Depends, is there any you’d be willing to lose?”
“Ha, ha,” I muttered, stopping by a table weighed down with jars and jars of swirling, glittering goo. I watched it move from behind the glass, greens and blues melting into blacks and purples, so it looked like a moving oil-spill.
“Would she like one?” another crone asked Laphaniel, her furry ears peeking out from beneath her wild hair. She didn’t look at me, assuming I belonged to Laphaniel, like a pet. The thought sickened me, but I didn’t want to draw more attention to myself than I had to. “She can pick it up if she’s careful.”
I lifted one up, the glass strangely cold against my fingers, colours inside swirling erratically at my touch. Laphaniel watched me carefully, and I wondered if he was worried I would drop it or stunned that I hadn’t mouthed off to the witch.
“I harvested the souls myself,” the crone said proudly, silver whiskers twitching. “Wisps make the most beautiful Lumious, don’t you think? It takes a thousand for each bottle, crushed down beneath the full moon and left to dry for a phase and a half. So much work.”
She finally turned to me, her pupils glowing green against the shadows of her tent, and with a fuzzy hand she reached out to pat the top of my head. “So pretty, I’m guessing whoever sold you got a decent price? Look at you! Look at these cheeks!”
I winced as she pinched my face, her grin wide enough to show off her pointed canines. “He paid two vials of blood and a month of dreams for me.”
“It was more than a month’s worth,” Laphaniel added, tapping the crone’s hand away from my face.
“What a bargain, little boy,” she mused, trailing a sharp fingernail down my nose. “She is exquisite.”
“I know,” he said, rousing up something inside me. “How much for the Lumious?”
“I’m looking for the dreams of a virgin, any chance…” She trailed off as she saw my face redden and pouted. “Well, these are not for you then, little whore.”
She plucked the jar from my hands, placing it back among the others before I even had the chance to feel insulted.
“Have a sweetie instead!”
I didn’t have time to react before she had shoved something hard and tart into my mouth, and I had to force myself not to swallow it and choke. It tasted of lemons and was surprisingly nice. I just hoped it wouldn’t turn me into a frog.
“It’s a sherbet, you’ll be fine,” Laphaniel said, leading me away from the woman. “Did you actually want one of them?”
I shrugged, feeling awful. “I did a little bit.”
He laughed, pulling me close as the other witches began to eye me hungrily as we wove our way around the dark pathways. They held out their bottles and bones and swirling nightmares, all shouting their prices to Laphaniel. A fragment of my soul, my left eye, my right hand.
No one spoke directly to me, and I played my part of dutiful little pet, hating myself for it. There was nothing unusual about us; to the surrounding witches I was simply a spoilt plaything, one that had yet to be broken and replaced.
Some of them cooed over me, petting my hair while saying how lucky Laphaniel was to have me. Some gave me treats, small vials of silvery tears, a packet of rainbow sweets that apparently made my eyes change colour for a while. I swallowed the sweets along with the scrap of pride I had and decided to have a little fun.
Two old hags took a lock of Laphaniel’s hair, for a bottle of thick green wine that tasted of dirt and aniseed. They cackled as they handed it over, sneering at me as Laphaniel took it from my hands and stowed it in his pack.
I gave up three drops of blood for a mug of frothing hot chocolate, knowing I would never again taste something as divine. We sat for a while to rest, perched beside each other on a bench carved from the rotted trunk of a tree. I shared my drink begrudgingly, gazi
ng up to the slowly darkening sky to watch the witches glide effortlessly between the hazy clouds.
We followed through the maze, passing a few other fey who ducked in and out of tents, swapping ragged humans for shining gems without a backward glance. Other noises drifted from behind some, doorways knotted tight…the sighs and moans and cries drifting through the seams. A different type of smoke trailed from the swaying tents, overly sweet and floral. I peeked between a gap, my eyes falling onto writhing bodies that paid me no heed. Their eyes were glazed over, mouths slack…some sprawled limply over the huge pillows, unmoving. Laphaniel gripped my hand tight and dragged me onward without a word.
I stopped and pulled away at one glistening tent, the fabric seemingly made from the shadows themselves. It swirled and danced with the breeze, speckled throughout the pitch with thousands and thousands of twinkling stars. I reached a hand out to the furry creature perched upon a branch, my fingers stopping just shy of it. A glittering thread tethered it down, tied tight enough to leave a welt on its scaled leg.
It looked like a cross between a monkey and a parrot, long, curling tail swishing back and forth, the tip covered in bright red and yellow feathers. I opened my mouth to speak, but Laphaniel cut me off, grabbing my hand and hauling me away before the squat little witch could name her price.
“Stop it!” he hissed, and I jumped at his tone.
“Obviously I know we can’t have the flying monkey!” I snapped back. “It’s completely impractical right now. I was just curious, I’ve never seen one before.”
“No, stop acting like that,” he said, dropping my hand.
“Like what?” I asked, knowing exactly what he was talking about. “We can’t walk around like equals, can we?”
“You’re enjoying yourself,” he accused, and I lifted a brow, refusing to be shamed.
“So what?” I said, folding my arms, creating a barrier between us. “I’m making the best of a shitty situation. I like getting presents, I like keeping all my body parts. It’s even nice to be ignored. So, I’m sorry you’re feeling uncomfortable, but if they think I’m different, if they think I’m special…what will they do?”
He blew out a breath. “They won’t like it.”
“Will they try to snatch me away?” He nodded, and fear bloomed in my stomach. “Until we leave this place, you own me okay? I’m your dutiful little pet that you overpaid for.”
I tried for a smile, but couldn’t quite manage, remembering the feeling of being tied to a table leg, sick and dying…my body and soul all up for sale. Laphaniel stepped closer, a careful hand coming up against my arm.
“I would have paid whatever she demanded.”
With a shaking hand I reached into my bag of sweets and popped one into my mouth, strawberry and candyfloss exploded against my tongue, making my entire mouth tingle. Laphaniel dropped his hand.
“What colour?”
He rolled his eyes. “Pink.”
I ate another, “Now what?”
“Purple.”
I smiled, a real one. “Just like yours.”
I stowed my sweets back into my pack, placing them with care among the other trinkets I had collected. Fumbling over the straps as I felt Laphaniel’s gaze upon me.
“This is a horrible place.” I said. “It’s breathtaking, and impossible and brilliant, but it’s terrifying. Don’t believe for a moment I don’t realise how dangerous this place is. I’ve seen what they’re selling amongst the wishes and candies. I’ve seen the bags of baby bones, the still beating hearts and the children for sale. I’ve not been blind to it, and I know they won’t have someone like you to rescue them. I am terrified of getting snatched, and you not being able to buy me back.”
“I won’t let that happen.”
“I don’t want to need saving,” I said, weary. “I don’t want to need you.”
I had hurt him, I could see it in his face.
“This isn’t what I wanted,” I continued, watching a pair of black rats that ran by us. “I didn’t come here for this…for you. It’s always been for Niven. What would she think? If she knew? Its unforgivable.”
So gently, he pulled me against him, barely holding me, giving me the option of pulling away if I wanted to. Deep down, I knew Niven would have never wandered into the woods to look for me; it was a simple fact I had always known. There would have been no guilt driving her to even think of it. Though it did not pass my notice that it was guilt driving my quest, and not a love for the girl that had been snatched away. I was just clinging to a hope my sister was enough to pull what was left of my family together, so I could move on.
“Would you feel different if it wasn’t me that took her?” he asked, and I just knew it was a question he didn’t want to know the answer to.
“But it was,” I said, because there was no point in going over what ifs. “I wouldn’t have met you if you hadn’t taken her. You wouldn’t have walked away from Luthien, you wouldn’t have found me in the woods. I wouldn’t have…”
I didn’t finish, I just let the words hang there, heavy with everything left unsaid between us.
He sighed against me, his arms tightening, drawing me close and I let him. “Is there anything I can do to make this better?”
I rested my head on his chest, closing my eyes against the screams and cries and jeers of the Eerie. Just being in his arms made it better, but I wasn’t going to tell him that, not yet. “You could buy me the flying monkey.”
His laugh huffed against the top of my head, and some of the tension surrounding us lifted, settling into a quiet comfort.
As the sun began to sink below the tree line, the Eerie changed. The tents all seemed to dissolve into the new black, and the witches all began to stare at me with a renewed hunger, no longer content with selling trinkets for a scrap of blood.
Screams rang out over the shadows, sharp and quick. Laphaniel tightened his grip on my hand, as we quickened our steps. Above us, the high-pitched screeches of the serpents pierced the sky, cawing at the sun as it gave way to night. The riders sang high upon their bright steeds, cloaks whipping behind them in a flash of brilliant blue. The riders on brooms joined the chorus, balancing on tiptoes as they soared in loops against an indigo sky. Words to a wild song were screamed into the wind, laughter falling to the earth to stir the witches below.
Something grabbed me out of the darkness, a cold hand reaching out to snatch me from Laphaniel so quickly my shoulder clicked.
“A heartstring,” sang a voice at my ear, the words soft and lovely. “For one heartstring, I will carve this one up and use her skin for a book. I can make her scream for you with every page you turn.”
Pain bloomed at my side as something sharp and cold slid against my ribs, and I gasped, the sound choking in my throat.
“What will I do with a screaming book?” Laphaniel said, not quite hiding the alarm in his voice. “Will a book clean my home? Cook my meals? Satisfy my needs?”
There was a laugh at my cheek, a twist at my side. “Suit yourself.”
Laphaniel caught me as I was shoved back, my arm throbbing where slender fingers had dug in. Warmth trickled down my side. I searched for the witch who had grabbed me, but there was nothing there.
“Come on,” Laphaniel said. “Stay close.”
I stumbled forwards, gritting my teeth as pain launched up around my ribs. I bent over with a gasp. “She…she stabbed me.”
In an instant, I was on the ground, Laphaniel gently lowering my head as he pulled my shirt up, his eyes bright with concern. His hand brushed over the wound, coming back red.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I’m going to need to stitch this up, but not here. Listen to me, I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
“I want to get out of here,” I said, panic settling in. “I don’t want to be here anymore, Laphaniel.”
As gently as he could he prised my fingers from his hands, ripping a chunk off his shirt and balling it up. He pressed the wad hard against my side and
I hissed.
“We need to get out of here,” I said, struggling upright, ignoring the pain that sliced down my ribs. “Come on. Please…”
“Hey,” he cut in, voice firm as he gave me a quick shake. “You’ve just outwitted a group of trolls, you saved my life. This is nothing, okay? I won’t let them take you, I swear it.”
I nodded, gritting my teeth, his words not doing enough to quell the frantic dread that was rushing through my body. The thought of being locked away in one of the pitch-black tents…kept alive in the darkness while bits of me were harvested up…
“I’m going to pick you up, because I don’t trust you enough at the moment not to run off,” Laphaniel said, rolling me against his chest as he stood. He guided my hand to the bloodied rag at my side. “Hold onto that.”
I clung to him as he moved, flinching as every step he took brought with it a new wave of pain. I noticed the shadows begin to move, becoming solid as we brushed past. They materialised from the black, eyes gleaming, teeth bared. Laphaniel tensed, holding me close.
“What a burden you carry,” one rasped, forked tongue lashing against her lips. “Let me relieve you of such disappointment.”
“I can cure the meat for you!” another grinned, her cracked lips parting to reveal broken teeth. “Boil it in blood and salt it good.”
“Her soul! A human child for her soul!”
“The marrow from her bones!”
They screamed their demands, closing in against us as Laphaniel backed away, unable to sweet-talk us out of the mess we were in. He shifted me in his arms and ran.
He sprinted through the labyrinth of tents, clinging to me so tightly I could hardly breathe. The cackles and jeers and the baying for blood following behind.
Laphaniel’s heartbeat crashed against my ear, his breaths panting, but he didn’t slow. He didn’t stumble, he just kept going. He didn’t dare stop running until the echoes of the taunts dimmed, their laughter sounding far away. He clung to me, resting back against a tree as he looked frantically around.
Darling, There Are Wolves in the Woods Page 16