Lies in the Dark

by Robert J. Crane

  “Another Seelie?” the faerie asked.

  “She’s my charge,” Lockwood said. “I’ve been tasked with getting her to the court unharmed.”

  A lie, but not. Oh, it was sneaky, all right. No doubt Mill had told Lockwood to protect me. And he was in charge of protecting me so we could reach the court. But he had managed to leave out the most important fact: that I was human.

  “I’ve certainly seen my share of odd partnerings this side of the territories,” the faerie said, relaxing slightly as he stood upright. “I suppose a tyls is harmless enough since there are no young ones here.”

  “I don’t prey on the young,” Orianna muttered under her breath. “That’s such a vicious slander about tyls.” Everyone ignored her but me.

  “We seek some food and a bed for the night. A place to rest,” Lockwood said. “We have coin and will pay.”

  “I suppose that could work,” the faerie replied, his four ears moving. Was that excitement? Or did he hear something? “As long as you don’t mind sleeping in the barn with the unicorns.”

  My heart skipped a beat. Unicorns? UNICORNS?!

  “We are not particular,” Lockwood said.

  “Speak for yourself,” I said, “I’m all about the unicorns.” This time he gave me a non-neutral look. So I shut up.

  “And I can pay you in either charms,” Lockwood continued, “or with gold.”

  “Gold, you say?” the faerie asked. “From Earth?”

  Lockwood nodded.

  “You didn’t tell me that you had gold,” Orianna said.

  “What do you need gold for?” I asked, taking her in with a glance. “You’re practically made of it.’

  Orianna stuck her tongue out at me. I flinched away from her as I realized it was forked.

  “While the gold is tempting, the charms are of more value to me,” the faerie said. “We need all the protection we can get out here.” His decision seemed to be made. “Follow me.” He beckoned.

  The sword hovering over his head turned and headed back toward the house, leading the way. But it didn’t disappear.

  “Things must truly be grave if you are turning down gold,” Lockwood said, effortlessly following the faerie back through the fields without stepping on … well, anything.

  The faerie nodded. “You heard about the Seelie raids over the river? Well, they passed through here just a few weeks ago. It’s a wonder that any of our crops survived.”

  I glanced back over my shoulder. Just weeks ago? Everything looked calm. The crops were healthy, or at least they looked like they were.

  We drew closer to the stone tower, our little procession following the green faerie. His sword still hung in the air above us, crackling and popping like electricity.

  “I’ll take you to the barn,” he said, “see you settled, and then I will come and fetch you some food.”

  “Wait, you were serious? We have to sleep in the barn?” Orianna asked, her wings shivering.

  “You expect me to allow strangers into my home? In these times?” the faerie asked, his black eyes narrowing. He shook his head, the sword overhead trembling. “Be grateful that I am letting you anywhere near us.”

  Orianna snorted. “Such charity.”

  “Thank you,” Lockwood said. “We are grateful for your help.”

  “I’d expect nothing akin to it from the Unseelie,” the faerie said, darting an unkind look at Orianna.

  All my visions of unicorns living in the forest, in the wild, were shattered at the sight of the barn. It was the first thing I’d seen in Faerie that was totally unremarkable. I wondered if it was possible for a unicorn to really live in such a shabby place.

  “I’ll be back with some dinner,” the faerie said, leaving us as we reached the wooden door. He pushed it slightly open, then wandered off, wings flittering.

  “Is he Seelie? Or Unseelie?” I asked after he was gone.

  “Neither,” Lockwood replied. “He is a silva. Related to us, but a different kind of fae entirely. They are often skilled with organic matter, and as such, they set up farms like this where they are normally undisturbed by our … disputes.”

  Orianna had wandered away, peering closely at anything she could. Now she was looking into a trough, making a face. She reminded me a little of a nosy child, getting into stuff she wasn’t supposed to.

  “I am concerned, though …” Lockwood said.

  I tore my eyes off Orianna’s inspection of a hay bale, her lips curled in a sneer. “Why?” I asked.

  “Nothing,” he said. “Come, let’s see our accommodations for the night. I’m sorry it isn’t more like Mill’s condo, or even your own home.”

  Mill … With a dart of guilt, I realized I had hardly thought of him at all since coming to Faerie. I wondered if he knew where I was, or if he even knew I was gone? Was this what it felt like for him, living for such a long time? I didn’t know how long, exactly, but time was definitely passing here.

  “Am I going to get older here?” I asked.

  Lockwood hesitated, his hand on the barn door. “What do you mean?”

  “Being here for as long as we are. Am I actually … aging?”

  Lockwood’s brow furrowed as he searched my face. “No. The magic of Faerie will preserve your youth, but …”

  “But what?”

  “You might experience some … uncomfortable symptoms when we return to Earth.”

  “Like?” I didn’t love the sound of any of that.

  “Nothing severe,” Lockwood said. “A little fatigue. Some cold symptoms, maybe. Nothing horrible.”

  “Oh, is that all?” I kept a wary eye on Orianna, who walking around the barn, eyeing it—and us—with a distaste that bordered on how I felt about physical education classes.

  “Whatever consequences come, I promise that I will give you something to ease the symptoms, all right?” Lockwood looked at me with those shining eyes. “Let us not worry about it before the hour comes ‘round. That is still some days away, at best.”

  “And we’ll get back at the same time we left?” I asked.

  Lockwood hesitated.

  “We won’t, will we?” I asked. “That’s what you said earlier.”

  “It will just be a few moments later,” he said. “Ten minutes, at most.”

  I rolled my eyes, my hands pressed against either side of my face. “Dinner was supposed to be in five,” I mumbled through my fingers. “I’m going to get caught for sneaking out for sure.” And it wasn’t like he could just drop everything and take me home now.

  “If we had arrived in Seelie as I had planned,” Lockwood said, “then we would likely be at the court by now, pleading my case. Unfortunately …” Here, once more, he evinced obvious regret.

  “Which has something to do with that murder, right?” I asked. What was done was done; if I was going to catch hell for sneaking out, there wasn’t much I could do about it now other than hurry and finish this and hope I could get home before too many minutes ticked away in the human world.

  Lockwood paled. “Yes.”

  “Why aren’t you telling me what really happened?” I asked, turning back to him. Maybe if I could get him to spill some details, I could pay attention to that rather than my accursed and impending forever grounding. “Just get it all out there. Trust me, holding in the truth always hurts, it never helps.”

  “Because—”

  But then Orianna was back, staring at us.

  “Are you not going in?” she asked. “We really don’t want to be out here when it gets dark.”

  “Dark is still an hour or so off,” Lockwood said.

  “Oh, well, my apologies, great paladin …” her eyes flashed dangerously. “If you ever really were one.”

  He glared, and then pushed the door all the way open.

  Even though I was frustrated, my heart still beat faster at the idea of seeing a real unicorn.

  The inside of the barn was similar to a stable. Eight stalls waited all in a line, straw covering the stone flo
or, but only the very last was occupied.

  My heart nearly burst within me as I gazed at the creature that was there.

  Just like Lockwood had described them, the unicorn had a coat that glittered like it was made of millions of tiny diamonds, and its hooves were perfectly clear and cut like crystal. Its horn was silver, and its eyes, large and deep, were staring straight at me.

  My breath caught in my throat, and I could only stare back at it. I reached my hand out toward it, and began walking slowly over to it. Unicorns were supposed to like girls, right?

  And then the world flickered.

  The unicorn was there, but it was lying on its side, its hide torn open, golden blood pooling on the floor beneath it. The other stalls were filled with seven other unicorns, all slain, their corpses stretched out over the floor, the blood all gathering together. An eerie glow, like fire, lit the night sky, and the barn was dark. Everything was so dark.

  I gasped for breath, clutching my chest as my heart thudded against my ribcage. A cold fear rushed through my veins as I stumbled and fell onto the hard, stone floor. I caught myself on my hands, and I shrieked as I lifted them in front of my face, golden unicorn blood drenching my palms.

  I scrambled to my feet, trying to get my balance. The second I had it, I rushed outside, each thudding step like a hammer beat through my whole body. I burst back out into the cool air …

  … And froze.

  The fields were ablaze with black flames, licking up the side of the stone tower, lashing upward toward the sky from the fields, everything turned to ash.

  Screams rent the air, and there was a group of figures across the field, at least a dozen, wearing armor as white as snow, marching in a regimented fashion, all wielding shining silver swords.

  I blinked.

  And the peaceful farm returned.

  “Cassandra …”

  I looked up, and Lockwood was standing beside me, his arms outstretched toward me. Orianna wasn’t far behind, cowering near the door to the barn. The look she was giving me …

  My breath was coming in quick bursts, and I looked around for some sign of what I’d seen. Anything to suggest it was real.

  What the hell was happening to me?

  “Cassandra … ?” Lockwood asked. “What’s the matter?”

  I lifted my hands to my face again. No blood, golden or otherwise.

  But still … I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was on my hands, like a stain that wouldn’t leave. I shook my head, looking over the peaceful farm, all trace of what I’d seen gone from my eyes … but not from within me. “We can’t stay here.”

  Chapter 13

  “What do you mean, we can’t stay here?” Lockwood asked.

  I was trying to calm myself down. Forcing myself to take slow, deep breaths. There were no flames, no blood, no marching fae. Things were peaceful.

  “What’s the matter?” The faerie farmer had returned, arms laden with food. He approached slowly, suspicion creasing his features.

  “I’m … not sure,” Lockwood said, and he bent low to speak in my ear. “What happened?”

  “I …” I started. “I don’t know how to describe it. But something isn’t right here … we have to leave.”

  Lockwood straightened up. “I am sorry for the trouble, friend, but we are going to have to leave.”

  “Leave?” Orianna asked. “We just got here, and already you want to leave? This close to dark?”

  Lockwood held up his hand to stop her. “I will give you both the gold and the charms I promised for the trouble, if you wouldn’t mind still giving us the food, and perhaps a tent?”

  The faerie looked confused. “I … suppose.”

  “Thank you,” Lockwood said. “I truly am sorry for the inconvenience.”

  The faerie nodded his head. “None at all. You better get going if you want to find a safe haven before dark.”

  Lockwood passed him a small, crystal vial and the bag that he had purchased in Stormbreak. The faerie snapped his fingers, and a green bundle appeared in his hands, binding up the food, which he passed to Lockwood.

  And then we were off. I didn’t even look back in the barn at the unicorn. I was too afraid that somehow, whatever was happening to me would end up hurting the creature, turning it into that twisted vision I’d seen with my waking eyes. I couldn’t bear to be responsible for that.

  Orianna was fuming as we moved farther and farther from the stone tower and the barn, but the farther we moved away, the calmer my heart became.

  “This is just perfect. What happened that we had to leave the only safe place for leagues around?” Orianna asked.

  “Not now, tyls,” Lockwood said. “Let us find a safe place first.”

  “Is your friend cracking up?” Orianna asked, peering at me with those huge eyes.

  “Enough,” Lockwood said.

  Silence fell as the darkness began to creep in. Lockwood swirled his finger in the air and a small orange flame appeared just over his palm, flickering warmly in the shadows pressing in on us.

  We came to the edge of the woods again, and passed beneath the cover of the trees. Immediately, we were blanketed in complete darkness, the orange flame the only light against the dying of the sky.

  “I hope you’re happy,” Orianna said. “We’re probably going to get eaten by the avara. Or maybe the haryns. And you know what those nasty little—”

  Lockwood dropped the bundles in his arms and rounded on Orianna. “I would kindly ask that you shut your mouth for a moment while I secure the area, yes?”

  Her mouth hung open as she glared at Lockwood for a moment before she snapped it shut.

  “Fine!”

  Lockwood laid the tiny flame down on the forest floor, and it doubled in size almost immediately, waving and swaying gently. It revealed that we were standing in a small clearing, perfectly round. Lockwood slowly walked around the perimeter of it, and as he touched the air with his fingers, it rippled as if he had touched the surface of a still pond, expanding ever outwards as he moved on.

  I sat down on the ground, exhaustion falling over me. I didn’t even realize how tired I was until I had a chance to sit. Now it was washing over me like a drowning tide.

  The image of the unicorns kept popping up in my mind, unbidden. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying as hard as I could to push the images out, wanting to think of anything but them.

  “Why don’t you go and try and find some water?” Lockwood asked, handing a large bowl to Orianna.

  “Couldn’t you just conjure it?” she asked, looking at the bowl, then the darkness, with clear unease.

  “I’ve just spent my energy protecting us,” he said. “There’s a small stream a short walk from here.”

  “If you set up protection charms, won’t I get lost?” she asked.

  “You won’t, since you already know the location. You’ll be able to see it. No one else will.”

  Orianna glared, but took the bowl and floated out of the circle. As soon as she broke the tree line, she disappeared entirely.

  “Here,” Lockwood said, kneeling beside me. He placed the bundle of food the faerie had given him into my arms, and smiled gently at me. “Would you mind seeing what he’s given us to eat while I set up the tent?”

  I nodded glumly and pulled open the bag.

  “This … is all food from Earth,” I said, a little surprised.

  Lockwood smiled as he started to pull the sticks and fabric of the tent apart. “I wondered.”

  “How?” I asked, my fingers grazing over the food in disbelief.

  “It isn’t really food from Earth. It’s part of that faerie’s magic. They can give you certain types of plants that will appear to be your favorite foods. And when you eat them, they will seem to be just that.” He peered over my shoulder. “What do you see?”

  “Some apples, tea, and berries.”

  “I see some of my favorite fruits that I ate as a boy here in Faerie,” Lockwood said, pulling one of the apples from the sac
k. He bit down into it, the juice trickling down his chin. “Mm. But you see an apple, yes?”

  “Strange,” I said.

  Lockwood finished chewing and stared hard at me. “No … what was strange was what happened to you at the farm.”

  I looked down at my hands.

  “What did you see, Cassandra?”

  “I don’t know, it’s hard to explain. It’s like …” I sighed. “It’s like I am seeing an alternate version of Faerie. A dark side of it. Like the opposite. It’s frightening. That unicorn … it was dead. There were a lot of them dead. The fields were burning, and there were soldiers in white armor—”

  Lockwood’s face drew tighter as he listened.

  “It happened back at Stormbreak, too. The first time I saw it. Except there was a dark mist all over the city. And then in the shop—”

  “You better appreciate the work it took me to get this water!”

  Orianna’s voice filled the clearing as she suddenly reappeared, the bowl in her hands sloshing as water spilled over the sides.

  Lockwood took the bowl from her hands. “There’s barely anything left.”

  “Well, then you go get some yourself,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m not going back out there to be eaten by greedy, hungry pigs. Have you seen their snouts? They can probably smell someone as tasty as me from miles away.”

  Lockwood’s jaw clenched, but he took the bowl and disappeared through the trees.

  Orianna smirked, tossing her swirling hair. There was no doubt she knew how much she annoyed him—and reveled in it.

  “You look pleased,” I said, in no mood to let her prima donna her way through Lockwood’s last nerve.

  Orianna crossed her legs and sat down in front of me, hovering just above the ground. She squinted her eyes and stared at me. “You’re strange, even for a Seelie,” she said after a long pause.

  I raised an eyebrow, a little rattle of nerves tickling the back of my neck. “Am I?”

  “You don’t seem to care much that you can’t fly. That would drive me insane.”

  “I prefer walking,” I said, trying to keep calm and lie on, as my version of the slogan went. “It’s good to stretch my legs.”