But there’s no guarantee he would choose you, I wanted to say.
She must have seen the words forming on my lips. “And I have no … chance at all to win if I … go home now. Please, Amber. Even if you … don’t have any experience … treating wounds, please just do the … best you can.”
I stared at her, caught between keeping my magic secret and offering her the help she so desperately needed. She would make a good queen. She would be good for Fergus, and they’d make a great team. And she was better than Piper, assuming I was wrong about her helping Rhiannon. I took a deep breath. “Fine.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, slipping her pack from her back. She closed her eyes and caught her breath before she spoke again. “Wrap the cloth … around my waist as tight as you … can. I need to stop … the bleeding.”
I pulled the cloth out of her pack and lay it on my lap. My magic sparked, begging me to look in my own pack rather than do as she suggested. But I had nothing that could help her. I wasn’t even carrying a medicine kit since I wasn’t supposed to use my magic.
Except for the strands of spider grass I’d harvested in my rush to collect Jasmine’s beacon.
I didn’t know the bright green plant had healing properties. I had never used it for any type of healing, neither when I lived in Iadrun or since coming to Faery. But that didn’t seem to be a problem for my magic. It urged me to pull out the spider grass and use it on Jasmine, sparking inside me like it wanted to escape my body the way it always did when I could heal someone with nearby herbs. I guessed that meant my magic was working again.
Technically, using my magic out here wouldn’t be a problem. I wasn’t near enough to Fergus to cause our magic to unite. It would mean giving away my disguise to Jasmine. But we were so close to the end of the contest now, perhaps that didn’t matter so much.
She still had her fist pushed to her stomach, and her eyes were focused on something far away as she stared at the ground in front of her, wobbling while attempting to stay upright. I doubted she’d even see me use my magic.
“Lie back,” I whispered, pushing her shoulder gently until she lay flat on the ground.
She grunted and squeezed her eyes shut. Drops of rain ran down her cheeks like tears.
I took the strands of spider grass in one hand and ripped them in half the way my magic commanded. White liquid flowed from the plant, and I held it over Jasmine’s wound.
As the liquid dropped into her body, my magic joined with it, staining it pink and doing the work of a surgeon. Her intestine sank back into her body and her skin knit together.
“What the—?” Jasmine’s eyes flicked from her healing wound—and probably decreasing pain—to me.
I shook my head, focusing on what I was doing. “Close your eyes.”
“You have magic?” Her mouth gaped. “Are you fae?”
I didn’t want to answer that. “Don’t worry about it. Just lie back and let me fix you.”
“I can’t not worry about it. Everyone thinks you’re human. I thought you were human.” There was an edge of panic in her voice that I didn’t understand. She’d asked me to help her.
“Nothing has changed, Jasmine.”
She shook her head. “Nothing except you have more of an advantage than I’d considered. Than any of us considered. No wonder the prince is so enamored with you. You must be using your magic to spell him.” Her voice had grown hard, and nothing like the voice of the girl I knew.
“I’m doing no such thing. What you’re suggesting is against the rules.” I kept my voice soft, concentrating on the way my magic dripped into her body. “If you must know, I have no intention of marrying the prince.” Her fear was unfounded.
“Ha! There’s no chance I believe that. You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t want to marry him.” There was a wildness to her voice that made me wonder if the fall had also affected her head. If it had, I couldn’t fix that out here. Surely that was the reason she was being so horrible.
“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter what you believe because I know what’s true.” Her wound was all but gone.
“But it matters what I think.” Piper stepped out of the woods in the same place we had.
I pulled Jasmine’s top down as best I could and climbed to my feet, my heart racing. I would have preferred no one knew I had magic. And on the list of fae I might have considered telling, Piper was at the very bottom. I sighed. “Piper. I thought you were long gone.”
She smirked. “I heard you screaming for your bestie and thought I’d check it out. And look what I found. A couple of sitting ducks.” She flicked her wrist, and a punch of her magic hit me in the chest, forcing me back a step.
She must have hit Jasmine as well, because when I looked at her, she was on the ground, sliding back toward the ledge. A scream tore from her lips. They’d seen I had magic now, so there was no chance I was ignoring it to let Jasmine fall over the edge of that cliff. I wrapped my magic around her, a cocoon holding her in place.
Piper turned to me and wound her fists into the fabric of my tunic, pushing me physically closer to the edge.
She would not force me over it. I growled and pushed back, wrenching out of her grasp and ducking away from the danger of the fall. I was prepared for Piper to come at me again. But she didn’t. When I looked back at her, she was standing dead still and staring at me with wide eyes and an even wider mouth. A quick glance at Jasmine, who was sitting on the ground near the ledge, showed an equally stunned expression.
“You … you’re the Seelie Queen?” Piper’s voice came out as a gasp.
Fae’s breath. I patted my top, searching for my pin. It was no longer attached to me, but was instead lying on the rocky ground at Piper’s feet. They could see exactly who I was. I met her eyes, drawing myself up into something I hoped looked commanding and regal. “I am.”
Jasmine scrambled to her feet, suffering no ill-effects from her now healed wound. Even her arm seemed better. “What in the stars? What are you doing here? You and the prince are supposed to be finished.” Her voice was hard, her lips scrunched in anger. She stormed over to me and put a hand on either side of my head, her fingers digging into the back of my skull. Her eyes ran over my face as if checking there was no other spell on me, nothing else hiding my true identity. When she decided she’d seen enough, she pushed my head to the side, releasing her hands and taking a few strands of my hair with her.
“They are finished.” Piper folded her arms over her chest. “But I guess Queen Briony wants him back.” She took a step toward me, a sneer on her lips. “Well, it’s too late. He doesn’t want you anymore. He told me himself.”
I glared back at her, refusing show any emotion. Our kiss earlier tonight had changed nothing. It couldn’t. It wasn’t news to me that Fergus didn’t want me. If she imagined telling me so would hurt, she could think again. “The prince—”
“Does he know? That you’re here. In the competition?” Jasmine wouldn’t meet my eyes and kept shaking her head like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
Piper didn’t give me the chance to answer. Or explain. “If he doesn’t, he will soon. When we return to the castle and tell everyone you broke your blood promise.”
“You can’t tell anyone.” I bent and scooped up the pin, dropping it into my pocket. I wasn’t sure if I’d need it again, but I wasn’t leaving it here, either. “The blood promise will call for the Court of Light to end Prince Fergus’ life should anyone else find out.” I guessed Fergus and I hadn’t done anything outside the confines of that promise so far, since he was still alive, but it was always a possibility.
Piper scoffed.
Either she didn’t believe me, or she didn’t care. Perhaps she needed a reminder of why that could be a problem for her. “If he’s dead, you can bet you won’t be getting a spot on that throne.”
Her face soured. “Well, you can bet you’re not getting it either.” Her magic danced on the ends of her fing
ers.
I pulled my magic into a shield, knowing hers wasn’t strong enough to do anything but die when it hit my defenses.
But it wasn’t magic she hit me with.
It was her fist.
The blow rocked my head back. I saw stars. Fae’s breath. How had I not seen that coming?
As I righted myself, my foot slipped on the ledge. I reached for Jasmine to stop my fall, but she ducked out of my way, and I tumbled backwards over the edge of the cliff.
Air rushed past my ears and a scream broke from my throat. My eyes met Jasmine’s as she leaned over to watch me fall.
Only it wasn’t Jasmine I was looking back at.
It was Rhiannon.
THIRTEEN
Someone was whistling.
Not the pleasant tune of someone enjoying their work. This sound was harsh. The type of whistle that demanded something.
I reached up to put my fingers in my ears. I didn’t want to hear the sound. I only wanted to nap.
Bria. You need to whistle.
I shook my head, not recognizing the voice or caring what she said.
Bria. You must.
I shook my head again. A spasm of pain shot from my neck down to my tailbone, and I opened my eyes.
The night sky was lightening. The rain was gone and the last of the stars were still visible. A cliff rose high into the air above me, and I lay on a small rocky ledge part way down.
I tried to sit, but a thousand spasms of pain shot out around my body.
Piper had pushed me.
I hadn’t expected to live.
Maybe I still wouldn’t. Everything hurt. With slow movements and stopping every few seconds to catch my breath, I reached for my pack, then dipped one hand inside and searched for my beacon. My hand shook so hard it was almost impossible to make it do what I wanted.
It took a minute to register that my pack was empty. The few items that had been in there must have escaped during my fall.
I dropped my head back against the stony ground and closed my eyes.
The rain had stopped, though I was still wet and cold, and a persistent wind blew right through my clothing, making my teeth chatter.
I had no beacon.
There was no one around. Or no one willing to help me, at least.
I would die out here.
Whistle, Bria. You must whistle.
I shook my head, and it felt like someone had embedded a pickaxe in my skull. “Can’t,” I croaked, unsure why I was answering the voice in my head out loud. I’d never been able to whistle a tune. Humming or singing was the way I got through the hard days. Before I met Fergus, that was.
I let out a harsh laugh. Singing was the reason I met Fergus in the first place. The Wild Hunt had come to our village looking for Tobias on the day I was caught singing in the woods as I worked. I’d mistakenly thought my life was difficult back then. How little I knew.
I started to hum, hoping to take my mind off the aching pain in every part of my body.
Not sing! Whistle.
The voice was both inside my head and out. But there was no one around. It took a moment to realize whose voice it was.
I let out another laugh, louder this time. It was Indira. Now I was imagining Fergus’ mother talking to me, not even my own.
You’re not imagining.
Which is what my imagination would say. Especially after a fall from so far above, I couldn’t even see the place I’d come from. Especially when I was so injured that this cliff face would likely be the last thing I ever saw. “If it’s really you and you can speak with me, tell Fergus I’m hurt so he can send someone to help.”
Her voice was neither angry nor upset. What makes you think my son cares whether you’re hurt?
I had no answer for that. Perhaps he didn’t care. I closed my eyes.
Whistle!
“Go away.” I’d rather lie in silence than have her remind me of something that no longer existed. That hurt more than the physical pain.
Indira went silent. Birdsong drifted to me from somewhere in the distance. The only other noises were the far off whispers of the wind and my labored breathing. “I did love him, you know.” I swallowed. “Do love him. I want him to be happy.”
There was a beat of silence before she spoke again. Perhaps he’d be happier if you weren’t around.
I nodded. “Perhaps.” There was no perhaps about it. Fergus would thrive without me around. He’d already done so this past year.
Oh, don’t be ridiculous, Indira snapped, the serenity disappearing from her voice. You’d have to be blind not to realize my son is in love with you. And I didn’t need your confession to know you are still in love with him.
“But you’d rather I was dead, so he can willingly choose himself a wife?” I couldn’t believe I was continuing this conversation. I didn’t think I was imagining it, but I wasn’t entirely sure I wasn’t, either.
Indira—or the voice in my head—let out a sigh. I wish for no such thing. I advised my son of your predicament immediately upon realizing what had happened.
I held my breath, unsure what I expected from Fergus after being given such news.
He wished to search for you at that very moment.
“Fergus is on his way?” I breathed, letting my eyes fall closed again. If Fergus was coming, I would be fine.
No. He must stay at the castle to ensure our enemies don’t bring our wards down. And he must be here when the competitors return.
I closed my eyes, pushing away the disappointment that surged through my veins.
Does it make you feel better to know he fought so hard to come to you he broke Jax’s nose in the process?
I blew out something close to a laugh, imagining the two of them fighting, then quickly added, “Does that mean the attack on the castle is over?”
For now, though, I fear it won’t remain this way for long, which is why Fergus wants me to make sure you’re safe.
“I’m fine.” My voice sounded hollow, but I hoped Indira didn’t know me well enough to notice it. I wanted to set eyes on Fergus, to get off this ledge. To go home.
We have sent two of our best guards out in search of your position. But Bria, you must listen. I believe it may be difficult for them to find or even rescue you. You can save yourself. And you can do it far sooner than would happen if you waited for help to arrive. Will you do that for me?
I nodded, feeling like a child who’d been entrusted with a task I had no clue how to complete. All I knew was that I wanted to please her. “Indira, will you tell Fergus—”
I’ll tell him nothing, she snapped. You can say whatever you need once you return. And once you’re back, you must find me so we can speak about Aoife. I believe in you, Bria. You can do this. With that, the connection, or whatever it was, between us faded to nothing.
It was as if someone had ripped a warm blanket from my body on the coldest morning. I ached to pull it back over me, to forget about the pain suddenly stabbing through my body. But there was no cover to pull up. There was only the coming day, and pain like I’d never experienced before.
I dragged myself to the cliff face and pulled myself to sit up, resting back on the wall of rock. Moving hurt. The act of sitting felt like forcing my stomach through the eye of a needle. It took so long to move that there were no stars left in the sky by the time I was upright.
Indira was wrong if she thought I could walk away from this. I couldn’t stand. I could barely sit. Even breathing hurt. A faint whistle escaped my lips every time I exhaled.
Wait. Whistle.
That’s what Indira had said at the start. That I must whistle.
I licked my lips and tried, blowing a flat breath out my mouth. Something itched my mind. Something about whistling. Why hadn’t I asked her why I must do this?
I tried again, the tune of a song I used to sing in Iadrun coming out as nothing but wind.
I paused, my mind shifting to Fe
rgus. He’d tried to come to me. He’d tried so hard, he’d broken Jax’s nose. Jax, with all those muscles on top of muscles. The idea made me smile. Fergus wouldn’t have bothered with tunnels. He’d have searched for me on the back of—
Oh.
That was why Indira wanted me to whistle. Because I could call Raven that way.
I wet my lips and blew a demanding note. The whistle that would call my horse from the Wild Hunt.
Then I closed my eyes and waited.
Raven came for me. Just as she was meant to.
I don’t recall climbing on her back. And I certainly didn’t instruct her where we were to go. But it seemed like only a minutes later when someone whispered in my ear.
I opened my eyes, expecting Indira. Or Willow. All I knew was that it wasn’t Fergus who’d spoken.
But it was none of them.
It was Maxim. The dryad who’d removed my bond with Fergus. He focused his gaze on my ankle, which he grasped with gentle but firm hands. It no longer hurt to breathe.
I relaxed into the hard pillow beneath my head, taking in my surroundings. Canvas walls and ceiling. Poles holding them up. “I’m not at the castle, am I?” Obviously, I was in some sort of tent.
Maxim turned, his rheumy eyes lighting and a smile crossing his face. “Bria. You’re awake.”
He turned back to his ministrations.
“Where am I?”
A movement on the far side of the tent caught my eye. I looked up to see one of King Aengus’ creatures walking toward my bed, a jar of herbs in each hand. I stiffened.
“Easy,” murmured Maxim. “This is Charlie. She won’t hurt you.”
Charlie stopped mid-step, watching Maxim, then me.
“I … wasn’t worried about her hurting me.” Was I?
Maxim nodded, and Charlie walked over and placed the herbs beside him. Her wings were tucked tightly into her back, and rather than the minimal uniform the creatures wore when I’d last seen them, she was in a pair of long pants and a snuggly long-sleeved jersey.
“You’re in Nightrest, our village.” She glanced at Maxim as if checking it was all right to speak. But he didn’t look up from his work, even though I knew he was listening. “Prince Fergus freed us from our contract once King Aengus died.”
Kingdom of Future's Hope (Royals of Faery Book 4) Page 18