by Terry Spear
"Who was the girl?" he asked one of the guards.
The dark haired man sneered at him. "Freya. She is crazy, that one. She lost her mother and father and practically lives out here now. You would do well to stay away from her. Your grandfather already caused enough trouble in the kingdom, Mage."
Mage. Brett couldn't believe how turned upside down his world had become yet again. But he couldn't see that he had any powers of his own to warrant being called a mage.
"What did my grandfather do?"
"Best that you do not learn the truth, lest you go down the same path as him. He was a tired old man and wished death, only he was trying to live long enough to see you and pass on his legacy."
Did the guard know about the book of magic?
"Don't look so surprised." The guard motioned to Brett. "He gave you his life work."
He did know about the book.
"Your skin," the guard said, frowning, appearing highly exasperated that Brett could be so dense. "The fact you were raised as a human is going to be a problem," he sneered.
Brett pulled up his sleeve and the guard laughed, shook his head, and went back to digging.
Belatedly remembering the phantom fae didn't have tattoos on their arms, that it was only on their faces and backs, except for the one man who had some on his chest—Brett wondered if he was now so marked. He recoiled at the thought. Anyone could slip into one kingdom or another without revealing their true identity. But if he was now marked, everyone would know he was one of the phantom fae. What had his grandfather said when he held his hands? He was now one of them.
This couldn't be happening. The raven cawed at him, then flew off over the archway and disappeared.
"Why was I living on Earth world and not here with my family?" Brett asked the guard, since he seemed to be the only one who would talk to him.
"Your parents hid you there. The queen thought you had died along with them. But when Maracose," the guard said, motioning to the man who had come for the toll, the queen's servant of some kind, "saw you with the dragon fae, he knew at once who you were."
"How did you know?" Brett asked Maracose.
The guard answered for him. "You wear our special marks."
On the girl, they were beautiful. But on him? He could never return to Earth now, if he looked like the phantom fae.
"If you mean the tattoos, I was wearing none when Maracose saw me."
"We see beneath the skin, Mage," the guard said. "And for your information, they are not tattoos. They are not ink that can be removed, but part of who we are—the phantom fae, and proud of it."
"Why did my parents take me away from here?"
"You will have to ask them."
"They are dead, you said."
"Aye, and you are alive only as long as you do as the queen bids and nothing more. The queen will be watching you," the guard said, then finished with the digging.
"Isn't there a casket?" Brett asked, alarmed to realize they meant to dump his grandfather into the hole wrapped only in a gray woolen cloth.
"It is not our way, Mage. We bury our dead in this manner, their fae form returns to the earth, rejuvenates it, and their spirit goes to some higher plane. So some say," the guard said.
"I will finish the burial," Brett said, not sure why he had said so. "It is my right." And he wasn't sure where that had come from either. But he meant what he said. He wanted to be alone with his grandfather before he buried him.
"You're to be guarded at all times," the man said. Then he glanced at Maracose, bowed his head a little, then the guards left a shovel behind and vanished.
Maracose remained there with him.
"I wish I'd gotten to know you, Grandfather," Brett said, running his hand over the cloaked body. Birds began to caw as if in some ghostly tribute to his grandfather. "Why did my parents leave me in Earth world when I'm one of you?" As if his grandfather could tell him.
Maracose said, "He wished to protect you."
Brett turned and looked at the man. He was still expressionless. No, not exactly. Maybe a little angry, a hint of a frown marring the man's brow.
"Why did you say I would die before? Since you knew I was one of you, a fae, you knew I had to live."
"My ploy of having the dragon shifter fae leave you behind with us didn't work."
Brett's jaw gaped. "Then why did you accept payment of the ring and then allow us to move on? Why didn't you try to stop me from returning to Earth world? Wait, why did you give the ring in payment to my grandfather? If you are the toll taker, why not give it to the queen?"
"When the dragon shifter fae—"
"Ena. Call her by her name." Brett didn't know why it bothered him, but he felt loyal to her when he felt no loyalty to anyone here. Except for his grandfather, and he was now dead.
Maracose studied Brett for a moment, then said, "Her father killed your parents."
"I heard that already. All right? It had nothing to do with Ena."
Maracose let out his breath. "When Ena was checking out the territory ahead of the wagon train, I chanced to have a word with her and told her if she gave me the ring for our mage, that would be all that she was required to pay in the way of a toll."
"Didn't she worry about the value of it?"
"Every coin and every piece of treasure is valuable to a dragon." Maracose glanced down at Brett's jeweled weapons. "She has a fondness for you, but it won't last."
"She saved my life."
"She will wish you dead. Mark my word."
"I don't believe you. I will do anything to protect her."
Maracose bowed his head a little, no warmth in his hazel eyes.
"What about the girl?" Brett asked.
"Freya? She is lost to the world of the dead."
"Why… how did her parents die?"
"They angered the queen. Watch that you do not do so as well." Again, Maracose bowed his head a little, then this time he vanished.
Brett's jaw dropped. He was alone. Then he saw a raven sitting on the same headstone again. He wondered if it was warning him that he was not alone—that this was just a test.
***
Ena knew Alton was angry that she was feeling badly about Brett. She would have felt the same way about losing any of the people who had come on this journey with her. They were helping her escape a fate worse than death, and she was supposed to keep them safe.
"We must keep moving," she said to Ryker, and he started the wagons moving again.
"You can't avoid the subject," Alton said to her.
"He was under my protection," she said, furious with Alton and with herself for having given him an explanation at all.
"Why would they want him?" Alton said, sounding as though he was trying to get a handle on what was going on, and dropping the anger he had to be feeling that she liked the human.
"I don't know." She sat down on top of the gold with Alton as the other dragons flew overheard or scouted out in front of them.
"Guess," he said. "No fae would want a human." Then he glanced at her as if he'd said the wrong thing, then pinched his brows together as if it annoyed him all over again that she'd wanted the human.
"I explained that Princess Alicia wished the human's life spared, Alton. How many times do I have to tell you that?"
"He was not being held in your dungeon. He was not being held like a prisoner—a fae-seer killer who deserved being imprisoned."
"He killed only unseelie."
"Ha! He tells you that to get himself off the hook?"
"He didn't know the difference between our kind. They all had silver glowing eyes. Only Alicia's glowed gold. He thought it was because she was a princess."
Alton snorted.
"So he didn't kill our kind."
"Same difference. If you hadn't saved Alicia, she would have died at their hands." Alton let out his breath. "So that's the reason you wanted to save this human—because the princess wished it. Why have you taken two more under your wing?"
Sh
e explained how Brett had nearly died and Lila had brought the two humans back with her before Brett and Addie returned.
"They are mutinous and dangerous," Alton said. "I understand you killed the one's father. He is looking for revenge."
She had considered the notion and believed Alton might be right. And that Mark would work with Bryan to kill her, too, if he could. Only they would never be able to return to the human world. And she wasn't sure they wanted to be stuck here with her death on their hands. So for now, they were biding their time. Not to mention it was pretty unsafe here without her help.
"I've considered such. What is everyone going to do? Halloran will probably be furious with me."
"Once you're settled in the hawk fae kingdom, the rest of us will return to our kingdom, pack up our gold and if our people choose to come with us, we will move. As long as King Tiernan is agreeable."
"He will be agreeable. Our kind pay the people of the villages well for goods and services. We will bring wealth into the region. And we can help the king with quests we may be more suited for."
"It could mean war between his kingdom and the dragon fae if King Tibero makes it an issue."
Ena hadn't considered that. "You mean, if our king feels that the hawk fae king stole our kind from his services?"
"That's exactly what I mean."
She let out her breath. "Great. I hadn't figured that. What if he confiscates your gold before you return?"
"He would not dare. He will wait to see what has become of you first." Alton glanced at her. "We make a great fighting team."
She smiled. "We do." She knew he wanted to get some concession from her, but how could she commit to him or anyone else when everything was so dangerous for all of them for the time being?
Aideen blasted something with a stream of fire.
"Now what," Alton muttered, then stood and shifted and flew off to join Aideen.
Ena shifted and hovered just above the wagons, in protective mode, not wanting to leave them behind in the event something attacked them before they reached the end of the canyon.
Beyond that was a forest. At one time, all No Man's Land was inhabited by a warring fae—so fearsome and quarrelsome—fighting with themselves and everyone around them—it was said they destroyed the land and all that inhabited it and in so doing destroyed themselves as well. And that was the end of the scorpion fae kingdom.
The land had become a place for creatures that fed on others—the aughisky in the lake, the serpents in the sand, the lizards on the rocks, and the vampires. In the forest, she wasn't sure what existed. She had only been this way once during a rite of passage and she'd only flown high above the trees. She'd heard the crazy laughter and seen sparks of white light up the dark forest from time to time, but she'd never gotten close enough to see what really existed there.
This time she had no choice but to face whatever "demons" lived there.
Chapter 13
Alton hated will o' the wisps as they sparked around the dragons, trying to get them to follow them off to any forest water source and would be intent on drowning them. But dragons weren't susceptible to their tactics.
It was the nukelavee that was causing the trouble. He'd never seen one before. Only heard of their strange appearance—no skin, half man, half horse, all muscles and veins exposed, long arms and vicious teeth that if they could seize a fae and take a bite, the fae would be ripped to shreds. They stayed near water sources, but traveled on land sometimes, and Alton could hear the sea waves crashing on the shore some distance away.
At least twenty of the hideous creatures were moving through the forest, smelling the blood of the fae, wanting to devour every one of them. Aideen smoked one with her flaming hot fire, so they knew they were susceptible to dying by fire.
Ryker shouted for everyone to keep moving, not to look at the creatures that were headed for them while the dragons protected them.
Alton admired Ena's staff, surprised they'd work so well together and had the fortitude to make this trek. He wasn't certain his own people would be as loyal to him as hers were to her. And yet he'd often looked down on them as a group of misfits. Well, they might not be able to do the job she'd hired them for, but when it came to anything else, they were remarkably well adapted.
He also admired the way they could see death coming for them and didn't panic. He swore if he couldn't have flown above the deadly creatures and was sitting upon a wagon so easily exposed and didn't have a flame thrower at his disposal, he would have been feeling a little panicked. Unfortunately, anywhere in No Man's Land, the fae couldn't use their ability to transport safely somewhere else. Nor would they want to and leave the horses to their fates.
Ena had just destroyed one of the creatures when she roared and flew down and seized another that had reached one of the wagons. She rose straight up through the trees and let go of the creature, killing it from the height she had dropped it from.
One of the humans was handling the wagon while the other slashed his sword at a nukelavee that was stretched out to grab him. Alton hesitated a little too long to take the beast out, still feeling the humans would wish Ena harm, when she interceded, killed the creature with a well-aimed flame, then turned and looked for the next one that would reach the wagon train.
Ryker shouted, "Clear here! Hurry, the hawk fae territory is—"
His words were cut short, but Alton was too busy helping Ena and the others to see what the matter was with the lead wagon.
Olaf dove in his direction, but returned hastily the same way, then helped with the other beasts. Ten down, ten left.
Half of the wagons were out of the forest now on hawk fae land and out of sight. Alton called after Ena to let her know he was going to check on them. She nodded and mowed down another beast with her flames.
Alton flew until he saw a clearing, burst out of the trees, and found archers with their arrows ready to shoot him down. Ryker, Lila, and Addie's hands were high above their heads in a sign of surrender, the griffin fae captain bound on the ground, and the female fae he had rescued from the cliffs near the ocean was sitting on the ground near him, looking a bit dazed. And more hawk fae soldiers were arriving every second.
Before he got a wealth of arrows in his back, Alton dove back into the forest like Olaf had done, hoping that the hawk fae would listen to reason and that Ena was right in thinking the dragon shifter fae would be welcome here.
The humans had stopped their wagon as two of the beasts had moved in front of them.
Alton and Ena grabbed one each of the creatures and dropped them from high above, farther south of the wagons. He heard the wagons rolling again, then he and Ena dove back into the fray.
The remaining three wagons reached the hawk fae border and only one of the nukelavee was dumb enough, or hungry enough, to follow them into the hawk fae lands. Several archers shot it with arrows. It collapsed to its knees and then lay still on the ground while the dragons landed in the tall grasses around the wagons, all but Ena who landed on top of the lead wagon and changed into her human form.
"I am Ena, dragon shifter fae, who saved Princess Alicia's life, sister-in-law to your queen, Ritasia. We come in peace and seek refuge."
King Tiernan himself appeared. He was tall and regal, his light brown hair curling about his ears, his blue eyes appraising. "I had word you wished to stay with us, duchess. All of you?"
"Yes. All of us."
"You do know this means war? King Tibero will not be pleased you have vacated his kingdom to live here."
"We don't want to bring you into war with him—"
"We welcome it. Come, sup with us. I will have some of my people show you the perfect place to live. You see, I had a castle where once I lived when I was growing up as a boy. I never use it now. But I will gift it to you for saving my favorite sister-in-law."
"And would you give me refuge, my brother, King Tiernan?" the rescued girl asked.
King Tiernan stared at her for a moment. "You are saying you ar
e my sister?" He glanced at the griffin fae captain.
"I am. I was raised in the Village of Hern by Terese and Darbeny. Our mother sent me there when we were born because you were the first born and would be king. I would be dead if anyone learned of my existence. I am Esmeralda." She motioned to the captain. "He saved my life several times. I would wish him freed and returned to his people if I could be so bold to ask it of you."
She didn't move from her seated position, and Alton suspected it was because of her injured feet. Despite her tattered clothes, the dirt smudges on her face, and her dark hair in straggles all about her shoulders, she was the most beautiful creature Alton had ever seen. Though he would never let Ena know he thought thus. He couldn't believe he had saved the hawk fae princess.
Alton cleared his throat.
Esmeralda turned and considered Alton and then gave him a shy smile. "And he saved me," she said, waving her hand at Alton, "before I fell from the cliffs."
"I see." King Tiernan didn't look as though he quite believed her. He told two of his men, "Go to the Village of Hern. Bring these people to the castle and I will speak with them." Then he frowned at the gold manacles around her ankles.
"I was a prisoner of the griffin fae for half my life," Esmeralda said.
"We will take care of that at once. And your injuries." King Tiernan motioned to another man, who lifted her from the ground, and vanished with her.
"Everyone else can follow my men. You will have safe escort. Is this all of your gold?"
The dragon shifters all smiled at each other.
"Mine," Ena said, sounding proud and territorial. "They have their own treasure. Unfortunately, this is the only way we can transport it here."
"I would have my people help yours, but it wouldn't be possible. Safer to have you move it to this location and from here, we can escort you," the king said.
"What about him?" one of the king's men asked.
"The captain will come with us. We will feed, clothe, and shelter him, until we ransom him," King Tiernan said.
Alton was certain the king would do so because the griffin king had held Esmeralda as a prisoner for so many years. If she had been truly a prisoner. What if she hadn't been? What if she was a griffin fae who would tell the griffin fae king all the secrets of the hawk fae court as soon as she had the freedom and could send word?