by S. A. Price
“Looks like we’re going to have to climb,” Scur said. “And that’s going to suck in this cold.”
“Luckily we got the grapplers,” she said. “Let’s get to the land first.”
Khalid shook his head, taking her by the hand again and leading her onto the ice. Once again, the trek across was uneventful and thirty minutes later they were stepping foot on land, looking up at what was definitely a wall of ice-covered stone. “They built this wall,” her captain said. “I know stone and this isn’t natural.”
“Makes you wonder if any of them have kept their powers, even with being away from Faerie for so long,” Scur said. “If Faerie agreed with their departure...”
Khalid shrugged. “Well, it’s possible.”
“We don’t climb. We descend.”
They looked to the right to see Abaxley standing there, kitted out in full cold weather gear.
“First, you mean we’re going under it?” Scur said, not seeming all that surprised that the prince was standing there. “Second, what the fuck are you doing here?”
“Forget that,” Khalid said, “I want to know how the hell you got here.”
“Portal,” he said, pointing to the south. “About a quarter click away. I had asked Hendrix where you guys were and he told me. You took the long way around.” He looked to Alyx. “Figured you might need me.”
“Oh?”
“Considering what I found in the chests. You guys should have waited.”
“He’s shitting me,” Scur said, looking at her before turning his attention to Abaxley. “You’re shitting me. We should have waited for you? I’m gonna let you think about that one for all of thirty seconds until you realize that was one of the stupidest statements ever made.”
“Berserker has a point,” Khalid said. “But that can wait. What did you find in the chests? Must have been something pretty damn important to pull you away from your stronghold.”
Abaxley shook a bag at them. “A journal, a Nomart journal. A Nomart that defected back to the goblin court, and became one of the first priests, attempting to temper the more interesting lusts of the goblins. He wanted to give them a clearer head. Lotta interesting stuff in here, including the portals to take to get here, and how to handle this particular situation.”
“I take it we’re close to putting ourselves in a situation that you know how to handle?” Khalid said and rubbed his hands over his face. “Well, surprisingly, you have damn good timing.”
“I say he has suspicious timing. I mean, he just happened to find a journal written by a Nomart when before yesterday he’d didn’t know anything about them?”
“I have shit timing, I have been here waiting on you assholes for two fucking hours. The journal was blind fucking luck, and finding the entry about reintroductions to the Nomarts... Fucking luck.” He shook his head. “Princess, I am sorry, had I been focusing on this more, longer, the finalization of my father species, I would have found this sooner, which would have saved you time and aggravation.”
“It’s fine, Prince. If we didn’t take the long way round I wouldn’t be sore in fabulous places with a roadmap of love bites across my body.” She smiled at him, not surprised to see the flare in his eyes at the mention. Not that he would do anything about it.
“We would have been here at least four hours ago if we didn’t have to hole up for a blizzard,” Khalid said. “While I’m not quite sure what we would have stepped into if we hadn’t, we definitely would have been here before you.”
“Should have been there,” Scur added. “Ain’t nothing like being snowed in with nothing else to do than make Alyx scream. The echoing of it off the walls is the best sound known to man.”
Abaxley sighed. “I’m just glad you made it here.”
Alyx walked up. “Okay, so you’re here and it pretty much guarantees success. Where’s the access point?”
“I didn’t say that. I said I have info, and apparently you need me if you don’t wanna die.”
“Explain.”
“They won’t admit you, at all, without someone with goblin blood.”
“Uh, hate to break this to you, Bax, but Kaelyn pretty much sucked all the goblin out of you.” Scur shrugged his shoulder.
“That just doesn’t sound right.” Khalid snorted. “But he does have a point. Think they’ll know or since you are who you are, will it even matter?”
“I wanna know what that little book said would happen to us without the royal escort.”
“You would be locked out,” he said. “Never to find the way in. Goblin blood will get us in,” Abaxley said and looked at her. “I know Kaelyn did what she did but as soon as I got here, things felt...electric. I think there’s enough left in me, I mean I’m still fucking grey and all, to work. I would like to try.”
She nodded. “Okay, Prince...have at it.”
He bowed to her slightly and then motioned for them to follow him. Rounding the corner of the ice-covered cliff, they found a small indentation, the rock free of ice, craggy and pocked as if it were cut like glass. He pulled the book out. “Here.” He pointed to the far side just under an overhang.
“Abaxley,” Khalid said, “you go in first, I’ll follow. Scur, I want you in the back. Alyx,” he looked at her, “I know you can kill someone just as quickly as the rest of us, but unknown situations mean the princess gets to be protected until I feel satisfied that you aren’t in any immediate danger. Cool?”
She nodded. She would always defer to her captain. “Of course.”
Abaxley looked down at the journal and then turned a page. She watched as he bit his lip with his slightly sharp canine, and his blood, the slightly silvery-blue liquid, welled. Pulling off his glove, he swiped his fingers over his lip, and then looked at her. The need to run to him and kiss the hurt better was strong, but she fought through it. He wouldn’t welcome it anyway. She nodded and he touched his bloody fingers to a smooth section of the wall.
Nothing happened.
“Is that it?”
Abaxley sighed. “It’s possible Scur was right.”
“And I didn’t bring a calendar with me to write it down,” Khalid said and Alyx heard Scur come up with a very creative insult under his breath. “Maybe it needs more than just a drop?”
She walked forward and pulled off her glove. Reaching up, she swiped her fingers over his still bleeding lip before she could even think, and then pressed it against where he pressed. They heard stone move.
“Khalid? Was that you?” she said and saw the sheer face just before her start to descend.
“Pretty sure that was you, Alyx,” he said. “You sure you don’t have any goblin in you?”
“She would have if this one wasn’t being a prick,” Scur said and Khalid shot him a look, clearly telling him to shove it.
She smiled. “I think I’m royal, and I had goblin on me,” she said softly, ignoring Scur.
“It’s possible. I didn’t think to interpret it that way.” He nodded to her. “I’ll take point.”
The opening was larger now, the top portion lifting up, the bottom folding down. Stairs were in front of them, and the air coming from the stairs was warm enough to create steam as it hit the outside air. Alyx could smell apple blossoms on the breeze.
They started to descend, and she noticed the walls were clear. She touched them, marveling at how warm it felt, the vibration that came off it. “Quartz? Is this quartz?”
Khalid looked at her over his shoulder. “It feels like quartz, and I don’t mean the touch of it. My powers make the elements different for me. Each of them gives off a different ping, if that makes any sense. But while it feels like quartz, it feels like there is magic infused in it. No way in the seven hells would I try to fuck with it.”
“Wise,” Abaxley said.
The stairs were shallow cut, and their path wound around a center of crystal for a few more yards, then the walls changed slightly in color and light was trapped in the center of it. Alyx realized it was jewels. “Holy shit
. If humans ever found this...”
“They won’t,” Abaxley said. “There’s a reason why this is up here.”
Still further they descended until they came to a large platform, flanked by large crystal flowers, flowers that were real. “Glass lilies,” she said softly. “They just started growing at the Hunt.”
“Makes you wonder if they just started growing here, too,” Khalid said, his voice quiet, “or if Faerie preserved this place. I mean think about it, they’ve kept to themselves, haven’t caused any wars or political upheavals. They’ve maintained their land, species, and kept their secret for centuries.”
“I wouldn’t let anyone in either if I’d spent that long keeping myself hidden,” Scur agreed.
The hall in front of them was lush with vegetation, and opened into a large wooded area. Alyx marveled at everything. “This place...it’s...”
“Pure.” A voice hit their ears and they looked forward to see a tall, golden-skinned man dressed like a Tibetan monk standing before them. “And you must have been as well to enter. Welcome.” He looked to Abaxley and then Alex. “Prince. Princess.”
Another being stepped up, their skin a rose gold color, and it was clearly a female. Long titanium-colored hair fell from her head and she smiled.
“We were surprised to find out we had visitors,” the female said, looking at Abaxley, her eyes moving to the journal he was holding. “Ah, I guess we know how you found us.”
“Is that Dunnelle’s or Harpid’s journal?” the male asked.
“Dunnelle, I think.”
The male nodded. “You took a chance coming here, though you did it correctly,” he said. “Come, you must be tired. We can offer you rest, and a repast, before you begin your journey anew. But first, I believe introductions are in order. My name is Kenno, and this is High Priestess Osia.”
Abaxley nodded. “It is a pleasure. My name is Abaxley, this is Princess Alyx Mayhem of the Arcane Court, and her guards, Scur and Khalid.”
Khalid, who had moved to Alyx’s side, Scur standing on the other, inclined his head. “We appreciate the hospitality, if it isn’t too much of an inconvenience.”
“Of course not,” Osia said, her smile warm. “I’m sure you would like a rest, and to get out of all those layers.”
“Come. You can relax and then we can talk.”
8
Khalid shed his jacket the second their hosts left them in the room. A room which was complete with a massive bed, the softest linens he’d ever touched, a small table with two chairs, and every available surface was decorated in a type of plant or flower, most he’d never seen before. The temperature was as close to perfect as it could be and all he wanted to do was strip down and faceplant into the bed. With Abaxley with them, his plan would need to be postponed for a bit. “Definitely a different welcome than I excepted,” he said as he stripped off another layer.
“Never think I’ve been so glad not to have to war,” Scur said. “I’m too damn tired for it.”
Alyx walked around the room, moving from plant to plant, looking in drawers, and then walked through the doorway and gasped. “A tub... Oh, and it’s a spring!” She came out of the room. “I think a soak is in order, pull the chill outta my bones.”
Abaxley was standing by a window looking out. Their quarters were facing a large atrium, with terraces jutting from each floor under them. “We clearly rate importance, as we are at the top of the hill here, so to speak. And above us...I’m not sure but it feels like an inner sun. It’s weird. This isn’t a pocket realm. It doesn’t feel like that.”
Alyx hummed from her seat on the chair as she pulled her boots off. “No, it feels like this is Faerie...just cut off from everything.”
“When they first found the land, it could have been warm here,” Scur said. “Both the human realm and Faerie has changed drastically, though most don’t realize how much, especially the humans, their history only goes back so far. Might be this place has stayed the same since it was settled.”
Khalid stared at Scur. It wasn’t that he was surprised by the berserker’s knowledge, he was more surprised that he said anything. His fellow guard seemed to go to great lengths for people to see him only as the crazy, fouled-mouth warrior. Khalid knew better. With all the wars he’d fought and places he’d traveled, Scur was actually a well-rounded, well-read individual.
“Possible, and likely,” Abaxley said as his head moved, clearly watching something outside. “They seem at peace, and the color of their skin...” He ran his fingers down his own grey skin. “I have never seen a goblin look so healthy. Never was any of my father’s people anything but brown, grey, or goblin blue.” He shook his head. “Gold, bronze, rose...” he said softly. “We might share an ancestry but we are two different species.”
“Wonder if peace and happiness will cause the faeblins’ skin color to start to change again,” Khalid said. “I don’t see why it wouldn’t. We are a product of our surroundings. I mean there is a reason huntsmen end up with the powers and physique that we do.”
“Some better than others,” Alyx said and winked at him as she stood, shimmying her pants down to stand in her black underwear and bra. “I’m getting in that tub, having a soak. Who is joining me?”
Abaxley turned. “Don’t leave her on my account. I’m still trying to figure this shit out.”
“Oh, I have no plans on leaving her,” Scur said as he lunged at Alyx and scooped her up. “You coming, Khalid?”
He shook his head. “You two have fun. Something I need to do.” Something he’d been meaning to do for months but never had the opportunity. Well, the time had finally come.
Alyx giggled as they walked. “You’re washing my hair, berserker.”
Abaxley moved over to a large chair and sat, working on his own boots and jacket. He looked over to Khalid. “What’s your vibe, you think we can trust them?”
“Actually I do,” he told the prince as he sat down at the end of the bed. “They kind of remind me of Gobeth. They’re genuine, peaceful, but I have a feeling we wouldn’t want to cross them. What’s your opinion? I didn’t spend much time around goblins, other than you and your father while on political missions for the Hunt.”
“There’s no underlying rot here,” he said specifically. “It’s like animals that have never seen humans before. They don’t know to be afraid.” He shook his head. “Not that they have to fear us, but...” He looked to him. “Incanta... “
“I had the same thought. I think it would be a good idea to warn them about the hobs. But I believe we can discuss the politics of this situation when Alyx is present. I want to talk about the two-ton elephant in the room.” He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs.
“Look, Abaxley, I get it, you have an entire species to look after. You’re a prince and have a lot on your plate, even more so after what happened yesterday, but are you seriously telling me you don’t feel the pull? That you’re going to deny both of you?”
Abaxley sighed and looked at him. “Are you insane? I feel it every fucking minute of every fucking day. I have since I saw her at the Front that night, the insane need to be with her, to keep her...” He shook his head. “It’s not what you think. The reason I mean.”
“Then you might want to explain it to me, because what you’re doing, it’s affecting Alyx. I can’t sit around and watch her suffer. I’m not Scur, I have no plans on making snarky comments and trying to get in a few licks. I much prefer to figure this out. As her captain, I need to know.”
“In short? I’m not good enough for her. I’m tainted,” he said and looked down at his hands. “The fae side of me knows it needs her, hell, I feel like if I was completely fae she would have been my forever. But I’m a goddamn hybrid of the enemy. I can’t put that on her, Khalid. And yes, Kaelyn and Aziz are working on the problem, and yes, the faeblins are their own species now, but...” He looked over to him. “I’m the literal son of the fucking lunatic that worked so long to taint our world.”
&n
bsp; “What a bunch of horseshit.” Khalid thought his eyes would stick in the back of his head by how hard he rolled them. “Not good enough for her? For fuck’s sake, Abaxley, don’t you think that’s her decision to make, not yours? I went through a decade of my life hearing the same shit from Riven, and guess what, he was just as wrong as you are.”
Standing, he walked over to the window, looking out. He could have dealt with the prince’s need to take care of his people, needing to be there at their stronghold for them. He’d already come up with a solution for that. But pulling the prince’s head out of his ass? Yeah, Khalid was done with that. “Look,” he said, turning around. “Way I see it you have two options. You either decide to accept the bond and your place with her, or you get the fuck out of her life permanently. After your help here today, you go back home, I’ll contact Queen Verity, Queen Gobeth, and Jedreck, let them know that Arcane will no longer be assisting with the faeblins. Scur and I can help her through the loss. Question is, will you be able to handle it?”
“Khalid, if I could have stayed away, I would. Destiny has a way of putting us in each other’s way. So what if I use the excuse that I have a completely new species of people I have to govern? It’s all the fucking same, man. I’m meant to be with her, I know that. And you might think my reasoning is horse shit, but honestly? I know the mistrust that’s still there. Yeah, we helped overthrow my father. Yeah, we saved people, but there will always be the stigma. I don’t want her to have to deal with that on my account, man. She’s got enough on her plate, on top of what she’s doing to establish herself, and god knows what kinda information we are going to get from the Nomart.” He put his head in his hands. “She consumes my thoughts, my nights...”
“As Scur would say, grow a fucking set.” Khalid shook his head. He was usually the levelheaded one, at least compared to the men he grew up with, but he couldn’t exactly keep his head about him now, but damn it he was trying. He took a deep breath and reined in his temper. “Fine, you don’t think you’re good enough for her. Do you think you’re the only guard to ever feel this way? Maybe you should talk to Hendrix. Trust me, what he and Gobeth went through wasn’t easy, but you know what, it was worth it. If she’s worth it, that’s really all that matters.