by Amy Sumida
“Raza, we need to have a conversation about the thoughts that you should just keep to yourself.” I sighed.
“Am I wrong?”
“No,” I conceded. “And the Human Council is like a mother to all humans.”
“As I said; they shouldn't have stolen a child—big mistake.”
“But most of the abductions have been adults,” I said pensively. “Why abduct a bunch of grown humans and then switch it up to a little girl?”
“I don't know,” he admitted grudgingly. “But I think we can rule out the sexual slavery possibility.”
“That's a relief.”
I nearly walked into Conri as I rounded the corner. He pulled up short and grabbed my upper arms to prevent a collision.
“Your Highness”—Conri let go and stepped back—“my apologies.”
“You have perfect timing, Sir Conri,” I said. “Gather the Star's Guard; we're going back to HR.”
“Another fairy ring?” He asked.
“And a missing child,” I added.
Conri's face went grim, and then he looked to Raza. “At least we can rule out sexual slavery.”
“Yes, though it brings up more questions,” Raza pointed out.
“Conri—now!”
“Yes, Your Highness!” Conri turned on his heel and hurried down the hallway.
“I'll meet all of you in the entry hall!” I shouted after Conri, and he waved a hand back at me.
“I'll return to Unseelie and begin the search,” Raza said as we started walking again.
“Thank you, Raza.” I squeezed his hand.
“A child also means that we have search parameters,” Raza said softly. “I can have my men watch for women who are in between their fertile years.”
“Good point.” I nodded. “Can you scry Tiernan and let him know?”
“As soon as I get back.” Raza agreed.
“And I'll scry you as soon as I get back here, though I'll probably return before you get home.”
“I'll fly to Craos-Teine.” He shook his head. “I've already sent my attendants back ahead of me.”
“Oh, that's good,” I said with some relief. “Then we can talk about things tonight.”
“You could return to Craos-Teine, and then we can speak in person,” he suggested with a sultry smile.
“I like how you think, Dragon.”
Chapter Eight
Another park, another ring. There were a lot of parks in Oregon; this one was in Salem. Not that I'm complaining, parks are great; it just made the state more hospitable to fairy magic. I had a theory that the rain had something to do with it too. Oregon was right between sunny California and wet Washington. It was a perfect middle; great for growing things and hosting magic. It explained why they were having so many rings pop up.
We got to this new ring in time to find the mushrooms still intact and even feel the magic of Fairy trembling in the center of them. Cat immediately went on alert, and I felt it too; a disturbance in the Force. Sorry, I couldn't resist. There was a presence nearby, and it was distinctly fey.
Cat didn't even bother to warn me, she just took off, knowing that I would chase after her. We all followed, and within minutes we saw a slim form dressed in loose clothing running ahead of Cat. The fairy had a knitted cap pulled on low over his head; hair tucked up inside it. With the gloves he—or she—was wearing, it made it impossible to even tell the color of his skin. Basically, there was nothing distinguishable that we could see as we gave chase.
We kept running, following the fairy through the night-shrouded forest, amid sleeping meadows, and over hard dirt paths. Then he ran out onto a street and into a subdivision. We chased him down the sidewalk and into a driveway. I felt the magic tingling over my skin and knew exactly where he was headed.
“There's a rath nearby,” I called over my shoulder.
“Anyone know who the rath guardian is out here?” Conri asked.
No one answered.
There were numerous raths, all over the world, so it wasn't surprising that none of us knew the name of the guardian for this particular fairy mound, despite the fact that it was a Twilight rath. As far as I knew, every rath had a guardian; most were on private property which included a residence for the Lord of the Rath. These rath lords were used to fairies traveling their raths, so they usually didn't challenge those who passed through. But they did keep a watch; it was kind of their job. So, when the fairy ran up with us hot on his tail, the guardian took notice.
As the fairy raced past the house, a barghest came barreling out the front door. He snarled, half-shifted already, and transformed fully as he leapt for the fairy. The fairy flinched, but as the barghest neared, our prey flung out a hand, and a wave of magic tossed the barghest into the rock wall across the driveway. The rath lord fell to the ground in a stunned heap. The fairy kept running, gaining precious seconds on all of us.
We flowed past the barghest and into a massive backyard full of trees. It felt just as forested as the park we'd just come through. The fairy ducked beneath low-hanging branches and disappeared from view. I heard a growl next to me and saw the recovered barghest in his hound form—an enormous, shaggy, wolf-like creature—as intent as I on catching our quarry. I let him take the lead with Cat since he was more familiar with the terrain. Okay, he got ahead of me simply because he was faster.
We came to a small clearing with the fairy mound in the center of it. The door set into the hill was gold with a silver star shining its rays over a silver castle and forest—a Twilight gate. The fairy passed through the door, swinging it shut behind him. We reached it just seconds later, but when I opened the door for the barghest, the fairy was already through the dark rath and was just closing the door on the opposite side.
The barghest howled and raced along the path.
“You have no thumbs!” I called after him as I raced to reach the door ahead of him.
But it appeared that when you were the Lord of the Rath, you didn't need opposable thumbs to open a gate. The door opened as the barghest approached, and Cat went running out after him.
“Okay, never mind,” I muttered as I continued through the inky black of the In-Between.
I burst out into the bright moonlight of the Twilight Kingdom and saw the barghest hot on the trail of the fairy. At least, I think he was. The fairy had cloaked himself in invisibility, and I didn't want to waste time with focusing on an aura. I just trusted the barghest's nose and chased after him. There was a village up ahead, a rather large one, and the barghest went straight into it. Something about the place reminded me of somewhere I'd been before, but I was a little too busy to ponder it.
My Guard was right behind me, so when Cat and the barghest stopped suddenly, causing me to also pull up short, my Guard had to split into two units and surge around us to prevent a collision. Cat and the barghest were sniffing at the air in confusion. Conri—also a barghest—joined them, and they stared around the village suspiciously. I focused my psychic senses and helped them search by looking for an aura. Then the Rath Lord shifted back to human, and I quickly turned my eyes away. He was naked... gloriously so.
“Nice,” Gradh whispered appreciatively.
“Do you scent anything?” The Rath Lord asked Conri.
“Nothing,” Conri snarled. “How the fuck did he disappear like that?”
Cat whined.
“I don't see an empty aura either,” I added. “They all have bodies attached to them.”
“I don't know how he managed to escape,” the barghest swung his shaggy blond hair out of his intense, hazel eyes and flexed his wide shoulders. “I've never lost a trail like that.” Then he blinked, staring at the buildings around us. “Where are we?”
We all looked around the half-finished village. There were several homes still under construction. Fairies were coming out of the finished buildings to see who their visitors were. The inhabitants were human-sized men and women with both dark and light skin, but there were also tiny fairies, no bigge
r than my hand. A man with midnight skin of the deepest black stepped out of the crowd and approached us. His icy blue eyes lit with pleasure when he spotted me. He was dressed in simple clothes with stone dust and debris sprinkled over his ebony hair. He brushed off his hands and held one out to me.
“Queen Seren,” Dagur said, “what a wonderful surprise. Welcome to the new Elven Enclave.”
“Dagur”—I shook his hand—“it's good to see you. I'm sorry, but I haven't arrived for a visit. I'm in pursuit of a criminal.”
“Elves,” the Rath Lord rumbled, “it all makes sense now.”
“What's that?” I asked the rath guardian.
“A criminal?” Dagur asked simultaneously.
“Recall how good the elves are at hiding,” Conri prompted me.
“Right,” I whispered as a scowl creased my forehead. “But they've only just settled here. Why would they cause trouble like this?”
“I only know what my nose tells me, and it says the trail ends here,” the barghest vowed and then his eyes narrowed. “I assumed that the man we followed was a law-breaker since you were in pursuit of him, Princess. But I don't know what his crime is. Care to share that with me?”
Princess—that title was very telling. Not that I needed it to determine his affiliation. He was a barghest, a type of twilight fairy, and he was guarding a rath that led to Twilight. Obviously, he was one of mine, and would recognize me as his princess instead of his queen.
“We were chasing a suspect who may have been using fairy rings to trap humans and abduct them,” I said.
There was a mass shrugging and expressions of apathy spread across the gathered fairies.
“Not my concern then,” the Rath Lord said. “He isn't really a criminal.”
“There have been over a hundred victims,” I said sternly, “and the latest is a ten-year-old girl.”
The fairies started to look uncomfortable.
“I see that you understand now,” I growled. “Whoever it is who has done this has attracted the attention of the Human Council.”
“Even in those numbers, it's not a crime,” the barghest insisted.
“Perhaps not,” I agreed. “But when the law regarding fairy rings was implemented, the possibility of so many humans falling prey to fairies through the use of rings was never considered. And normally, it isn't a problem because all of you know as well as I that the humans cannot let such a mass disappearance go unchecked. It begins with my investigation, but if I come up empty-handed and this continues, things will get progressively worse. It could even lead to another war.”
I hadn't realized the potential for the situation to escalate into war until I spoke those words. It made me shiver, and the fairies around me went silent.
“As much as I want to protect the Fey,” I went on, “I am half human, and I can't condone this. Something was pointed out to me recently, in reference to the imbalance of the laws fairies must obey in the Human Realm; it is not your world. Fairies are visitors to Earth, and as such, you are bound by greater laws.”
“But fairy rings are pieces of our world leaking through into theirs,” a light elf with pale skin, snowy hair, and sapphire eyes strode up. “Princess,” he added respectfully.
“Hello, Hinrik,” I said. “Yes, you're right, but do you really think that argument will hold off a war if humans keep disappearing in these numbers?”
Hinrik transferred his gaze to his brother, Dagur. Yes, I know they looked nothing alike, but they were still brothers; don't be racist.
“You cannot blame them,” I went on. “Ask yourselves how you would behave if humans started coming over to Fairy and stealing our people... our children.”
Every face filled with horror.
“I won't extinguish the fairy responsible, but this must stop,” I declared urgently. “And I need those humans back. So, if you're harboring him”—I looked at Conri and the Rath Lord—“we're certain it's a 'him,' right?”
They both nodded. The barghest nose always knows.
“If you're harboring him,” I started again, “please bring him forth so that I may speak with him, and we can come to an agreement.”
“Harboring?” Dagur asked with shocked, wide eyes. “No elf would steal a human. We have lived among them for too long; worked in harmony and happiness beside them. We would never hurt a human unless they directly attacked us first.”
I knew the truth of his words; I'd seen the proof of it myself.
“I know that elves as a whole would not hurt a human,” I conceded. “But we never fully know each other. There may be one of your kind that holds a secret resentment.”
“I assure you, Princess,” Hinrik said fervently, “there is not.”
I looked around at the open expressions and finally nodded. “All right; I will accept your word, and we will leave you to your business.” I looked over the dust still coating Dagur's hair. “Whatever that may be.”
Hinrik chuckled and dusted off his brother's back. “The Dark Elves are building their homes beneath the village.”
“We are more comfortable within the earth,” Dagur added.
“What happened to fairies being opposed to mining?” I asked with surprise.
Dagur's eyes went horrified as he gasped. “We would never,” he protested. “Hurt Fairy herself? No.”
“Then how?” I waved toward his dirty attire.
“Magic, Your Highness,” he said with a smirk. “We use magic to speak to the earth and ask her to gently shift her soil and move her rock for us. Our caverns are coaxed out of Fairy, not mined.”
“Oh, I see.” I nodded. “Well then, Danu be with you.”
“And you as well, Your Highness,” Dagur purred. “I'll send you an invitation once we finish. I would love to give you a tour of the caverns.”
“Thank you, Dagur,” I said to him, then waved goodbye to the other elves as we left.
“I bet he would,” Conri muttered. “That elf reeks of lust.
“Pouring off him,” the Rath Lord agreed.
“Are we really just going to leave?” Torquil asked. “Shouldn't we search the village?”
“We're leaving the village,” I lowered my voice, “but you are staying in the forest to keep an eye on the elves.”
“Me?” Torquil made a pained expression. “Why me?”
“Because you asked,” I said. “That's practically volunteering.”
“I thought curiosity killed the cat-sidhe?” Torquil mumbled.
“Yeah, it only bites a twilight sidhe.” Conri laughed. “It bites you right on your brown butt.”
“And Conri will stay with you,” I added.
“What? Aw, Princess,” Conri whined.
“It looks like curiosity likes furry butts as well.” Torquil smirked.
“Watch them carefully,” I said as we reached the rath. “The elves, not each other's butts. I need to be certain of their innocence.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” they both said.
“Your suspect is there, Princess,” the Rath Lord murmured as we left. “He has to be.”
“Then my knights will catch him when he tries to leave,” I said confidently.
But I wasn't confident of that at all. Because I was nearly certain that the elves had nothing to do with the disappearances.
Chapter Nine
The Rath Lord was named Liam, and he invited us in for coffee before we headed home. Since we had twilighted over to the park, we didn't have to worry about going back for a vehicle, and the Extinguishers had already posted a watch on the latest fairy ring. So, I let the Star's Guard stay and have a little break while I headed over to Unseelie. I was using the rath to access the In-Between, so I didn't have to wait for twilight, and I didn't see the need to have my Guard accompany me. I was going straight to Raza, where I'd be safer than they could make me. Still, they promised to join me after they'd finished their coffee.
I instructed Liam to keep an eye out for any more suspicious fairies, but I was nearly certain
that the suspect wouldn't be using this rath again. Liam assured me that no humans had passed through his rath. So, unless he'd failed horribly at his job, we could rule out his rath as being used in the abductions.
After the Star's Guard was settled inside Liam's quaint Craftsman house, Cat and I went back to the rath. We stood before the gleaming rath door as I used my cell phone to call Murdock and give him an update. He was both encouraged and upset to hear that we'd chased the suspect through the rath. He agreed there was nothing more to be done at the moment, though, and thanked me for my efforts thus far.
Then Cat and I went into the fairy mound and stepped off the path, into the In-Between. I had a good grip on her coat, so I could lead her journey. We reformed inside Raza's bedroom in Craos-Teine.
But Raza wasn't there.
I peeked into Raza's office, and that was also empty, so I went downstairs. It was early evening in Unseelie, and the fairy lights were all aglow, illuminating dragon head wall sconces and floating orbs. A pack of kuperi bobbed by me, adding their light to the ambiance. I trailed a hand over their furry bodies, and they purred. When they floated off, Cat chased them, yipping happily. The kuperi gathered around her head and nuzzled her affectionately.