Pixie-Led (Book 2 in the Twilight Court Series)
Page 17
An hour in and I began to wish I'd taken a horse instead. This was where the literal part of my bumpy ride comes in. The roads to this particular rath weren't used very often. I guess vacations in Alaska weren't in high demand with the fey. Unless you were the Blue Hag of Winter that is.
“Why couldn't it have been Hawaii?” I grumbled. “Hawaii's connected to unseelie territory too and then I could have gone to see my dad.”
“I don't think Ewan is ready to see you,” Tiernan said gently. “And you've had enough heated discourse with family members this month. Save it for September.”
“Save it for September,” I mused as I stared out the window. “That sounds like a chick flick.”
The Unseelie Forest was much like the one in twilight but there were some slight differences that weren't immediately apparent. The trees and plant life was a little different, with varieties I'd never seen in any twilight forest. There was even fruit that looked new to me. The animals of Fairy didn't segregate themselves like the fey did, so they were the same as those I'd seen in Twilight, but there are more than just animals in the forests of Fairy.
There are many types of fey. Several races prefer to live within walls, like the sidhe, but there were also those who couldn't exist in such conditions or who simply preferred the freedom of the forest. In Twilight, I'd met one such fairy, she was a lonnegawn; a type of plant person, and I'd assumed her kind could be found in all of the kingdoms. But I guess that was rather human of me. The lonnegawn aren't a type of animal or plant, they're a twilight race, a mixture of the unseelie alp-luachra and the seelie uiring, and as such, they could only be found in Twilight.
The alp-luachras and the uirings were both forest dwellers so I guess it wasn't all that surprising that they had mixed. It was just that the alp-luachra, who was also known as the joint-eater, was a fairly disturbing fey. He was a type of shape-shifter who lurked in streams and if you happened to fall asleep by his stream, he would shift into the form of a newt and crawl down your throat to feed off the contents in your stomach. Gross, right? Whereas, the uiring was kind of a gentle thing, an earth elemental which could also shift into whatever shape it wished, including human. Which I suppose is how the lonnegawn got their humanoid forms.
So all three kingdoms had their own unique forest fey. I was daydreaming about speaking to my dad in September when one of the unseelie forest fey, decided to drop in and say hello. Something had glided down from the tree branches above and landed on top of the carriage with a little plunk. I flinched back as Tiernan drew his dagger and my Guard converged upon the carriage. The fairy slid down and poked its face around the edge of our window and I immediately held up my hands to stop the knights from attacking him.
About the size of a rabbit, with a thin pelt of mocha fur, his body was humanoid. A dark membrane ran between his arms and his sides, obviously his means for gliding. He was definitely male, as evidenced by his flat chest and the loincloth tied around his waist, and his expression was curious. Little claws clung to the window frame as his head cocked and round eyes of brilliant blue stared at me in fascination.
“Who are you? You who rides in a box like a king... a king box.” The little furry man asked.
“It's just a tallywook,” one of the unseelie knights called over to us. “They're harmless.”
I looked over to Tiernan and he nodded, putting his dagger away.
“My name is Seren Firethorn,” I said to the tallywook.
“She is the Princess of Twilight,” Tiernan clarified but I gave him a stern look. What did my title matter to a denizen of the forest? Tiernan shrugged and said, “He asked, it's only polite to give him the whole truth.”
“Princess?” The tallywook blinked and edged around the frame to sit on the window ledge. That's when I saw that he had a long, slim tail too.
He looked over to the side and I followed his gaze to see that Cat had eased toward him, intent on giving him a good sniff. The tallywook stretched out his hand confidently to the puka and Cat gleefully sniffed it thoroughly. The tallywook giggled and gave Cat's nose a pat.
“That's Cat,” I said to the tallywook.
“I like her. Twilight pukas are the best pukas. Very nice indeed,” the tallywook nodded. “I am called Effra.”
“It's nice to meet you,” I stuck my hand out to him but he just stared at it. “It's customary for people to shake hands when they meet.”
“Oh,” he blinked and looked from my hand to my face and back again. “I am not usually considered to be people by the unseelie.”
He waggled his little hand over the top of mine like it was a dance move. So I took his hand between my thumb and pointer finger and gave it a proper shake. He giggled.
“Shake hands,” he laughed. “I see now. It's very funny. I will have to show the other tallywooks.”
“Why don't the unseelie consider you to be a person?” I asked him.
“Oh, I am too small, I think. Too small to shake hands like people,” he shrugged.
“I don't think so,” I considered him. “Size doesn't make you a person.”
“What then?” He began to kick his little legs happily, like a child, but then we hit a rut in the road and he bounced up. With a squeal, he grabbed onto the wood as I grabbed onto him and settled him back on the ledge. “Thank you,” he said to me before he looked out at the road and growled, “Unacceptable!”
Continuing to peer over the side of the carriage, Effra began to hum and our ride began to ease. The knights around us were uttering shocked cries and one of them came riding up to Tiernan's window.
“Was that you, Your Highness?” Ainsley asked me. Oddly enough, his mount didn't seem at all bothered by whatever was going on.
“No,” I said with a note of wonder. “It was Effra,” I indicated the tallywook with a wave. “Why? What's happening out there?”
“The path has cleared,” Conri answered since Ainsley was too busy staring at the tallywook with wide eyes. “Vines, rocks, and debris of all sort have simply slid back into the underbrush. It's obviously earth magic but none of us have ever seen it done on such a large scale before. The way is clear as far as the eye can see.”
“Because it's not magic,” Effra shrugged. “I spoke to the forest and it listened. Don't you know how to speak to the forest?”
“No, we don't,” I smiled in delighted amazement. “I know how to touch the earth element. Is it like that?”
“Oh no, not at all,” Effra shook his head.
“Then how do you do it?” Conri asked anxiously.
Every face I could see was turned in our direction, just as anxious to hear what Effra had to say as Conri was.
“If you wish to speak, first you must listen,” Effra said simply. “Just like children learn to speak by listening to their parents. If you let them, the trees will teach you their language.”
A shiver coasted over my skin at his words and I looked out into the unseelie forest with new eyes... and new ears. There were sounds there that I hadn't noticed before, the creaks and moans of living wood shifting, the rustle of leaves in the wind, and the slide of stones against the earth. Then beneath that, there was a low pulsing, a tremor which ebbed and flowed like the tide but more like sand than water.
“Thank you, Lord Effra. I will try to listen.” Conri spoke and brought me back to myself, shifting the voice of the forest into the background once more.
“Well you're welcome, very nicely if you please, but I don't understand. What type of fairy doesn't speak to the forest?” Effra huffed. “We are nature made flesh. The trees are our family.”
“What type of fairy indeed?” I nodded and looked over to Tiernan.
“The type that has become too wrapped up in war and power,” Tiernan said gravely to Effra. “We seem to have forgotten what we were born of.”
“Then maybe you should give those things up,” Effra said innocently. “Why war? Why power? When you have this?” His little brown hand waved out to the woods behind him.
Effra blinked at me, the blue of his eyes deepening to cobalt, and then his thin lips lifted in a smile. “You are the best people I've ever met too, Princess of Twilight. May Danu bless you and grant you warm currents to ride.”
“May the Goddess grant you warm currents too, Effra,” I kissed my fingertip and laid it to his cheek.
Effra giggled, touched his cheek, and then jumped from the carriage to a nearby tree. “Goodbye, Princess!” He called.
“Goodbye, Effra,” I called back.
“Princess,” Ainsley was still at the window. “What just happened?”
“We just got schooled, Sir Ainsley,” I smiled at him and then at Tiernan. “Taught Fairy Basics 101 by a little tallywook.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
A few hours later, we reached the coast of the Unseelie Kingdom.
It was rocky coastline, a pebbled beach instead of sand, though the pebbles were small and gleamed creamy white; a pale ribbon curving along the ragged edge of the unseelie forest. The water was bright blue and the sun glinted off it, blinding me for a moment as I climbed out of the carriage. Cat jumped out after me and gave a happy yip before running straight to the sea.
“Cat!” I called. “Don't you dare-” I sighed and shook my head as I watched her leap into the water. “She dared.”
“Ugh, now we'll have to smell wet dog the rest of the day,” Ainsley griped.
“Wet, salty dog,” Conri added with a grin. He started to head after Cat but I grabbed his arm.
“I don't think so, Sir Bargest,” I narrowed my eyes on him. “One wet canine is enough.”
“I'll take my clothes off,” he said with a wide grin.
“No,” I said firmly.
“No one wants to see that,” Iain shot at Conri.
“Speak for yourself,” Gradh said and Conri sent her a wicked wink.
“Keep your pants on and your dignity intact, at least for today,” I ordered.
“But,” Conri glanced at Cat, who was happily jumping over the waves.
“No, we're not here to play,” I scanned the shore. “Where is that ferry?”
“Which one?” Conri frowned, both baffled and upset.
“The boat, not a fey person,” I clarified to Conri and then gave Tiernan a look over my shoulder. “See, it's confusing. Which makes it funny.”
“No, it's not,” Tiernan came forward, his boots making shushing noises in the pale pebbles, as if even they didn't like my humor. “And there it is,” he pointed straight ahead.
“That wasn't there a second ago,” I frowned at the massive barge that was just then coasting onto the shore a little ways down from where Cat was playing.
“It's a fairy ferry,” Tiernan smirked. “It appears when you need it.”
“Oh, so it's funny when you say it?” I huffed and headed for the boat, convinced that he fully understood my humor but enjoyed teasing me more.
The unseelie knights ran forward to unhook a panel in the side of the ferry and lower it so we could go aboard. The horses and our carriage were rode right onto the boat as well, and Cat finally ceased her antics to join us. My boots made hollow thumps as I crossed the wood panel into the flat-bottomed boat. It didn't even rock with the waves but stayed straight and steady beneath me. More magic, I assumed.
I went right to the railing at the far end of the barge, leaning over the silver bar to stare at the island that was our destination. Tiernan walked over with me and then Cat trotted up to us, her paws leaving a trail of wet prints behind her. She started to shake her shoulders.
“Don't you do it, Catriona!” I pointed an authoritative finger at her. “If you're going to shake like a common cur, do it over there,” I pointed to an empty area and she resentfully slumped off to shake in it. Water went flying off her long coat and at the same time, the ferry shuddered and pulled away from shore.
I set my gaze back on the island. It didn't look to be all that big; just a small hill surrounded by a bit of trees. Seabirds flocked around it, crying out to each other as they dove into the water to come up with their dinner. Sunlight flashed off something at the center of the island and I knew immediately that it was the rath. There would a single door set into that little hill and it would undoubtedly be made of metal. Gold in fact, and on that gold door there would be a silver representation of Earth, most likely depicted with North America facing out. It was a sign of where the door led.
“Does anyone live on the island?” I asked one of the unseelie who was standing nearby.
“No,” the unseelie's eyes were scanning the water as he spoke. “This is dangerous territory.”
“Will everyone be safe staying there for awhile?” I was instantly concerned. “I don't know when we'll make it back.”
“Oh yes,” the knight moved his stare reluctantly from the water to my face. “We'll be fine, Your Highness. Visitors are generally accepted but living there would be another matter entirely.”
“Oh,” I looked over the rail at the clear water. Colorful fish swam by, completely unafraid of us or the ferry. “Do monsters lurk within the sea or is it something on the island itself?”
“The island is uninhabited,” the unseelie went back to staring at the water.
“I guess that answers that,” I looked to Tiernan but he was watching the water as well. “Cat, come over here!” I called and she padded back over to stand beside me. I laid a hand on her head, uncaring of how damp she still was. I just wanted to make sure she didn't jump overboard. She whined, looking from me to the water. “There's bigger beasts than you down there,” I said to her. “Best to stay on the boat, you understand?”
Her eyes widened and she sat back to warily scan the water with me.
“Why didn't you say something when she first went in?” I asked Tiernan. “She was playing in the water and no one stopped her.”
“The shoreline is safe enough,” Tiernan stopped staring to look up at me. “She wasn't in any danger.”
“Oh, okay,” I frowned at the water, wondering if I should ask him what was down there. I decided that I didn't want to know. I lifted my eyes and stared out across the water, breathing in the salty air and deciding to be blissful in my ignorance. With my fair Irish skin, the beach wasn't all that important to me anyway, I could live without swimming in the sea.
Thankfully, it didn't take very long to reach the island and soon the ferry was scraping the shore and a couple of unseelie knights jumped off to lower the wall for us again. I made Cat get into the carriage with me before we left the ferry. I didn't want her anywhere near the water again, whether the shallows were safe or not. She whimpered and hung her head out the window but stayed put. She knew as well as I that a romp in the waves wasn't worth being eaten.
The unseelie led us into the trees, down another overgrown path, and no matter how hard I listened or tried to speak to the forest, it wouldn't clear the way for us. Oh well, I guess you can't learn an entire language in a single day. I'd have to spend more time listening.
The island was indeed small and it didn't take more than fifteen minutes to reach the rath. What took much longer was convincing Cat to stay with Conri instead of going with me and Tiernan. I made Conri promise to keep her away from the beach and then I gave Cat a big hug. It didn't matter that she got my dress damp, I had to change into human clothes anyway.
Tents were erected in the small clearing before the rath and Tiernan and I used one to change in. Clad in human-made clothing, we emerged to find that the camp had segregated itself; unseelie on one side and twilight on the other. I sighed as I realized that I was faced with a perfect opportunity to make some peace. Plus, my Guard had said that they'd help me. It was time to take them up on their offer.
“I'd like to
say something before we leave,” I went to the center of camp, standing in a spot right between the two areas. “Some of you may already know about this but for those of you who don't; Danu has spoken to me,” the unseelie started to edge closer and my Guard came up behind me. “She has charged me with being not only a peace-keeper but a peace-maker. My Guard,” I waved a hand back towards them. “Has vowed to help me in this endeavor and I'm hoping all of you will help me too.”
The unseelie looked at each other in surprise but remained silent.
“I'm not asking for you to let go of years of ingrained hatred immediately,” I went on. “I know how difficult it is to free yourself from anger. But perhaps we could use this opportunity the goddess has given us, this moment where we are free of our courts and the restrictions they impose upon us. Here we have the chance to simply be fairies, neither twilight nor unseelie.”
The unseelie wore confused and anxious expressions. I'm sure it was hard to hear a princess ask them to put aside their allegiance for their own kingdom.
“Look around you,” I indicated the segregated camp. “The twilight fey are half unseelie. These are your brethren and I know you feel that. I know you hold no anger towards the Twilight Court, we are neutral after all. Yet still you separate yourselves. I wonder if you even know why.”
Cat trotted up to me and sat beside me, staring at the unseelie as if she knew the reason for their aloofness and she thought it was ridiculous.
“Can we not, just for a little while, pretend that there are no borders between us?” I asked gently. “Let's use this as a chance to practice acceptance, to remind ourselves that we are all children of Danu and that there's no reason for us to divide ourselves anymore. She has not forgotten you, not any of you, and she wants you to be at peace. To be happy, living in a united world. All you have to do is trust her. Take a chance and believe in her vision for us.”
“She made me a member of the Star's Guard,” Conri called out to the unseelie. “If the goddess will bless a bargest like that, what do you think she'd do for you sidhe?”