The glamour returned and the beautiful people just grinned and licked their lips, nearly in unison. “Oh do come join us, you delicate little morsel…” One whispered as she was fleeing. Did one just call her a morsel!?
Okay, super creepy. Like the King who’d said the same thing.
Scurrying as fast as she could around the dark stairwell that wasn’t really there according to her eyes she nearly fell on her face as it spit her back into the hallway. Catching herself on the cold, stone wall, she took a deep breath and collected herself as she listened for hungry Uglies chasing her. When no sounds came, she continued down the hall awhile at a snail’s pace, letting her heart rhythm slow the hell down.
A light came from an archway to the unknown before her at the end of the corridor, and she heard the soft murmur of voices. Coming upon the opening she slowed to a halt and just listened, not wanting to walk into anything that would give her more mental issues than she already had.
“Isabel, please don’t hide in the shadows. Come to us, child.”
It was the King’s voice, and it sounded...friendly?
She walked forward with more grace than she felt and saw that there were only a few guards standing around a great long table and the King and Queen at each end of it. A beautiful King and Queen, and that was definitely them in the pictures, no doubt about it. Was it written in some book of genes that immortals were all sickeningly stunning? Isabel looked at the table and wondered why it wasn’t filled. Surely there were more guests arriving to mull over their soon to be snack? She nearly snickered as the King looked at her, amused. Out of my head, Baylor!
His too beautiful, glamoured smile grew. Damn it. Walking toward the large table she noticed that there could have sat another twenty people on each side, but there was only one place set. Right in the middle of them, but really far from them both. She took a deep breath and repeated in her head, I can do this, I can do this. Over and over again.
“Your Majes—I mean, hello,” she corrected, as the Queen’s forehead rose slightly.
“Good evening, Isabel. Please, join us. You must be terribly hungry,” she beckoned.
She walked up and sat in the chair set for her between them, far enough away from each, to feel safe. It was eerily quiet in the room and she found it disconcerting as hell. The quiet here was completely devoid of sound, unlike the peaceful quiet that you would intend on a relaxing evening. She shivered a little.
“Jhak! Music, now!”
Immediately the sounds of Beethoven's ‘Eroica’ came on from hidden speakers somewhere. Okay, not really her thing, but it was better than the kind of silence that’s inside the silence. The food that was on the table was hopefully not what she was expected to eat. Dark bowls laden with dishes that were as dreary as this place, that had the stink of big city alleys and charred meat were set out. It actually felt as if it singed her nose a bit just being so close to the food.
Oh God, was that dish still moving?
She gazed at a black ball in a bowl that was extending from within just slightly. Like a small hand pressing from a womb. The bile rose quickly in her throat. Perhaps she didn’t need to eat, after all? Her stomach turned in knots.
“Guards! Take that dish! I was very specific as to what not to have on the table this evening! And kill the chef!” He looked at her with an apologetic look in his eyes. “Please kill him…and be merciful.” Baylor smiled at her, as if that fixed everything that just came out of his mouth.
“Yes, Your Majesty. It will be done immediately!” Came a voice she didn’t dare turn to as it whisked away the black bubble-womb bowl in a flash of grey limbs.
Her eyes opened up a bit wider in shock.
Fruit was brought to the table and placed in front of her along with some bread and cheeses. Did they have cows and fruit trees in this dark world? No, they’d probably stocked up for her arrival when they were in the human realm. Against all odds her mouth actually began to salivate though, and her stomach growled. A golden wine was poured in a goblet in front of her.
“Oh really, I don’t drink much,” she tried to refuse.
“You would deny your host a glass of spring wine? Really, child, do you know how much trouble we had to go through to get our hands on this? This is a special occasion. It may be our final meal in hell, after all.”
Oh God, not yet. She still had days didn’t she? Weeks even, he’d said!
“Our last meal together, Isabel, is what I meant. I have business to attend to in the coming days so I won’t be here to join you. Don’t fret. Please, join us in some wine that comes from across the realms. It truly is like sunshine in a glass. A little bit of sunshine never hurt anyone, now did it?”
She could see he would not take no for an answer. “Okay, just the one, thank you.” Quietly she sat and looked at the food before her, hesitating, as they didn’t have any food yet on their plates. What was protocol when dining with the Unseelie King and Queen?
“Well, what are you waiting for, dear?” The queen looked at her.
“Oh, I, um...I was waiting for you to tell me to begin, I guess.” They both laughed as if she’d made an immensely funny joke, but it sounded forced to her.
“You may begin, Princess,” she said, waving her graceful, pale arm at the food before her. Isabel looked away just before reality flashed, thank God, before her rotten teeth took away her appetite. They really needed to invest in some Colgate here.
She piled a little bit of everything on the plate and much to her surprise, it was really quite tasty. Even the wine. Especially the wine, actually. One glass turned into two and that into three. By the fourth they were all talking like old chums. Well, she was anyway. She was going on about her parents death and how alone she was until all of this except for Amele. She talked about the betrayal of the Sidhe Prince to her and by the end of the fourth glass, she’d pretty much gone through the entire story of her short, and somewhat pathetic life. When she got to the parts about the natural disasters whenever a man touched her they both looked horrified, and told her that must have been unbearable not to have sex at all through her youth. The King even made a comment about her mother being cruel, which she half-heartedly agreed with at that point in her tale.
They talked more and asked her about her studies and such, and for a short time she forgot that she was in the Unseelie Kingdom, and that they would be sucking her dry soon. All of those cares and fears slipped mercifully away.
Shit, this wine is good! Maybe they’d give her a last meal request or something like they did in prisons? She’d settle for a case of this stuff and drink herself stupid so she wouldn’t care. Kinda like now.
The only really strange parts of dinner were the ways that the king looked at her when she laughed. As if he was very, very hungry. When Baylor caught her staring he always quickly looked away of course, but she did catch the Queen scowling at him a few times afterwards.
They must not be used to guests. Human, morsel guests.
Well, she intended to be a good one. At least until she could escape or they decided that it was time for her to die via sucking. Wow, does alcohol ever subdue ones worries, she mused with a grin. She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment as she let that marinate. She really didn’t care about dying right now. How was that possible? Well, she guessed that when you find out that your whole life was a scam and then a whole new, scary world shows up and you’re betrayed by the man you loved, by everyone you loved…well, it wasn’t that strange that she chose now to have a mental breakdown. Psych 101, baby. It was only a matter of time before she lost her shit. Time, out, now.
Wait, what the hell did she just think? Hell no, she did NOT love him. Nope not even a little bit. He could rot in hell with Rhonan, for all she cared.
She laughed so hard for a moment that they both looked at her like she had a few heads. “Oh don’t mind me. I was just thinking about Bodhe rotting in hell and how happy that would make me. All good! This was really delicious, thank you so much.”
As the room began to blur and spin, she decided that it would be best for her to head to her room. She thanked them again as she stood and said goodnight. What a sight she decided she must be, giggling and stumbling down the hall. Finally, her room! Funny, it hadn’t seemed so far away earlier. Closing her bedroom door, she started laughing again. Her bedroom! Ha! She was cracking herself up.
Well hell, at least she truly had one here. She had a mental slip to the closet in Loveryn and wondered if all those things actually belonged to Rhonan, they were about the same size. Well, at least the wicked bitch was dead! That fact should have made her much happier than it actually did though. She wondered what Rhonan had been told by Bodhe to make her go along with this? She couldn’t imagine agreeing to kill an innocent being for any reason. But if she ever got out of here she would definitely be killing him. With a sword and raka that no longer existed; in a world she no longer belonged to. Yeah, she’d be welcome to behead the High Prince of Loveryn. Check. She’d sure freaking try, though.
She flopped on the bed and shut her eyes, willing the drunken darkness to come.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
A Necklace for Two
~LOVERYN
THEY all stood around the sacred glade, waiting anxiously for it to begin. Phera, who was second in power to Keiren as a Foresayer, was creating a stir in the waters. Her eyes were nearly rolling back into her head as she spoke in their ancient tongue. A white orb surrounded her body and she convulsed as the power she harnessed broke free into the waters. Light exploded from beneath the ripples and scenes began to unfold in front of them. The rules had already been broken, he would use any means necessary to get her back safely. This, was what a Foresayer looked like during visions. Why hadn’t she let him explain? Absolute fury kept him rooted to the spot as he watched.
Keiren fleeing with Isabel as an infant came first. She was sobbing as she left her at the door for the human family with a note and money enough to raise her. No one had ever been able to see what had really happened before, since Keiren blocked her trail with magic. She must have known exactly how long she would need that block to remain. Had she seen all of this come to pass up to this very moment? Had she known Isabel would be trapped with the Unseelie? It gave him hope that would damn him eternally if he couldn’t reach his partner in time.
Next, came another scene that no one had seen. While Keiren was still pregnant, she hid something near the caves of light in Loveryn. Something that shined red. Then they saw her hide Isabel’s amulet beneath the home of the humans she was raised by after she’d been brought there. Pieces of his partner’s life were revealed and if the situation were not so grave, he would’ve laughed when they came to the tornados. Actually, he may want to kill the human too, especially the second one that hurt her so much. This was useless though, he needed to get to her!
“Forward, Phera, move forward!”
“I’m trying, My Prince. The power is too much!! It’s as if the waters are in control this time, or something else is,” she screamed, her entire body spasming.
He knew she would exhaust herself before long and it would overtake her. She couldn’t continue once that happened for days at least. He needed more. “Please, hurry. Phera, please try.” His brows furrowed and he watched impatiently as more scenes from the past took place. She was the most beautiful being he had ever seen and his heart clenched in his chest just seeing her grow like this.
Dammit, why hadn’t she been allowed to remain here? Protected!
The water grew dark and the war of the Rages came into view which was long before Isabel’s birth. He remembered it well. What he didn’t remember was what came next. He saw Morkain and their own Rhonan sneaking off into a cave where they fell into a heated embrace. The Queen gasped and his father’s face got red; enraged. They watched as she snuck away time and again, hiding the fact that she was with him and how she plotted after the prophesy was revealed. How they both plotted. His fists clenched and unclenched as they saw scene after scene unfold. He saw his partner, bent over waters in Albequen crying, and Morkain standing behind her with an eerie smile as she watched the world crumble. All because she chose love. He watched as she saw her mother trapped forever, and Demons take over the realms.
“Stop this!” he commanded, his heart and teeth clenching, but the power was too great. Images kept rolling in and the only one that even slightly curbed his anger was that of the Elven Queen standing over the same pool of water, rage building in her fierce eyes at the scene before her. At least Morkain would be suffering soon, if he wasn’t already. He nearly jumped in the pool when he saw Isabel dressed in rags, wandering the great halls of the Unseelie castle. She had no weapons and a haunted look in her eyes, and just when he thought he couldn’t watch anymore, it went black for a moment.
Phera’s arms shot to her sides from her kneeling position and her head snapped skyward. Golden light shot out of all her chakras and from her extended palms at once. He’d never seen a Foresayer’s vision completely pull all the powers of the earth like this. Phera wasn’t alone. The bright streams of rainbow light that streamed into the sky were amazing. Wordlessly she screamed as the energy went through her.
Keiren’s face came to the surface of the water. “You have seen enough, My Prince, to know what must be done. I’ve left something for you near the caves. It will help you travel to her, but wherever she is, you too will remain unless the curse is broken. The risk is yours, but if you love her, it’s the only way. Her heart has only ever belonged to one.”
One final vision was shown of Isabel being thrown onto a black stone slab in the Unseelie realm, her wrists and feet restrained as she screamed. He watched in sickening horror as Baylor fed upon her; the moon high and full and red as her soul was pulled from her body. Her immortal light perished behind her eyes as they closed in death, just as the waters went black and Phera fell to the earth in a drained sleep.
He thought of the caves and sifted to them faster than he ever had before, but his mother beat him there. She was a Time Sifter, and could sift through time and space faster than a normal Sidhe could. When he got there, she held a silver necklace in her hand that had a red stone in the center of the wire on the pendant.
“You know I can’t let you go, Bodhe. I couldn’t survive it if you didn’t come back,” she said as she studied the necklace for a moment. “This is the same necklace that Isabel wore here, isn’t it?”
He nodded, not taking his eyes off of it. “Yes, it’s the same. If I stay here and she dies though you’ll lose me anyway. I’ll throw myself in the Lake of Souls if she’s taken from me. I’ve waited long enough, and she’s been through more than she ever should have. I am leaving. And I must go now, Mother. Please,” he begged. He was panicking, his heart had halfway died just watching what may already be. If Baylor took her life, he would hunt every last Unseelie down and be the cause of their race becoming extinct. Then, he would join his partner in the afterlife. “It’s no use trying to prevent me from going to her, Mother. There isn’t anyone in any world who could stop me. I’ll call the Gods and bind myself if you’ll not give me my path to her. Give me the necklace, there’s no more time!” He was nearly frantic with the vision of the Unseelie King feeding on her, and he used his powers on the necklace, bidding it to come to him even as she resisted his pull.
“Danua!” She looked up startled and nearly lost her hold. “Let him go! Look into his heart, female, and see what this is doing to him. Could all the power in all the worlds stop you if it were me? He will return to us, there’s still a way to break the curse.”
Her face softened and a single tear ran down her face. “But this is our son!” she screamed. Wind began to whip around them all and Bodhe watched as she called upon the elements. Lightning struck all around and rain beat down.
“She’s my life, my soul is woven with hers and losing her will kill me. I will return with my partner, but I must go. There’s no more time. The necklace!” He held out his palm and the storm c
ontinued to rage. “Il weiren meyth. But, I love her too and I’ll not let her suffer at the hands of the fallen for one more second and you can’t ask me to. Not when I can save her! By the Gods, you could be killing her right now! I will never forgive you if she dies and I could’ve reached her in time.”
He looked back and forth between his mother and father and saw his father nod sternly as he gazed into the Queen’s eyes. She shut her pain-filled eyes, and reluctantly released the necklace where it flew swiftly to his hands. Lightning struck the caves a few yards from where they stood and rocks came tumbling down the sides.
He bowed his head quickly to his father in thanks, who told him in his mind to hurry home. Embracing his mother hard and fast, he told her again that he loved her as he put the necklace over his head. His mother was yanked from his arms by his father right before a dark cloud swirled all around him, replacing the light and warmth of Loveryn with a reality far colder and darker than his home.
CHAPTER THIRTY
A Thousand Years of Debts
~ISURA’S PALACE-Air Elemental~
“How much longer, Isura? This game has been fun but all the rules have been broken now. It’s time to end this before the realms truly do collide.”
“Brother, just a little more time. Look how lovely it is all playing out! And you may even have yourself a little toy before long, as well. How absolutely scrumptious that would be.”
She watched as Amele stood by the lake contemplating calling him. “What fun you could have with her. Sidhe royalty. Why, she’s practically a cousin!”
He looked at her sideways.
“I said practically! They are the descendants of the Other ones, you know. Not really family, but much more equal than say, the Dragons…don’t you think?”
Immortal Dreams (Immortal Realms Book 1) Page 27