The Court of Outcasts

by Allison Rose

  Rowan didn’t go far, stopping near the top of a nearby tree. He didn’t acknowledge her when she landed a few feet behind him.

  “We did not think any of this through,” he said stiffly, eyes staring up at the moon. Kelty wondered if he was feeling homesick, as she did the first night in the human world.

  “No,” Kelty admitted. She ran a hand through her silver hair, keeping her fingers busy working out the small knots. “There was not much time to think.”

  There was silence for a moment. Then Kelty continued, “These things never seem to make much sense anyway.”

  He turned slightly back to her. “These things?”

  Wrong again, Kelty admonished herself with an internal wince. Why can I never say the right thing around him?

  Aloud, she said, “Partnerships. At least I could never seem to understand them.” She looked up at the moon, conscious of his gaze on her.

  “I know why,” he said.

  “You do?” Kelty turned a confused look on him.

  “We are not equals, as partners should be. I cannot compare to your power or your abilities to rule.”

  Kelty crossed her arms. “You are so sure you know everything. Who was it that could actually form words back there?”

  His eyes widened slightly. “You had presence enough.”

  Kelty sighed and rolled her eyes skyward. “I froze. I’ve been taught my whole life to do this, and I froze. If my parents were here, they would be greatly displeased. My sister would mock me.”

  Rowan had a small smile on his face now. “They would forgive you.” He paused. “Kallyn might still ridicule you. But none of them are here. It does not matter what they would think.”

  Kelty stared at him. He is right. I am on my own now. Well, not entirely alone.

  “The air is cool and light. It is a good night to sleep outside,” she offered a little awkwardly. Then she waited, trying not to let her desperation show on her face. She was not ready for him to sleep in her tree, and she did not want to give him a tree where he could hide from her. Sleeping outside seemed to be the best option to be together yet separate. For now.

  She sagged in relief when he nodded and said, “It is a good night.”

  Chapter 17

  The faerie that spoke to Nola and Briar stood several yards from them leaning against the same balcony railing. Even down the hall, she looked to be slightly taller than Briar. Her form was thin and straight, yet curvy where it counted. She had skin of a gorgeous mint color and rich brown hair that fell in what looked like natural waves down to her waist. The black of her wrapped garment that looked more like a sleeveless, midthigh-length cocktail dress made her skin seem lighter. Nola couldn’t see the faerie’s wings from where she stood, but she guessed they were probably magnificent no matter what color they were.

  The faerie smiled sweetly at them, though there was a glimmer of venom in her light brown eyes.

  Briar stood in front of Nola, his wings fanned out slightly. “Allora,” he said stiffly.

  “Briar,” Allora said back sweetly. “I have not met your friend.”

  A delayed fear struck Nola. She had been so focused on getting there that she hadn’t fully considered the danger it might mean for her. It was easy to think she could take on faeries in her head, but when the alien creatures were in front of her it was a different story.

  Well, there’s no going back now. She took a deep breath and stepped out to the side of Briar, still angling her body so that she was partially behind him, grateful she hadn’t tried this alone. She tried not to tremble. Something about the way this faerie looked at her, like Briar had brought her a present, was unnerving.

  “This is Nola,” Briar said before she could muster up the courage to say anything. “You will not touch her.”

  Nola knew she should be a little offended by the possessive tone to his voice, but in this moment she was just grateful for the protection it afforded her.

  “If you wish.” Allora looked unconcerned. “But she belongs to Bliss now. Fable will decide what is to be done with her.” Nola had to force her feet to remain where they were instead of shrinking back behind Briar. Did I just play right into Fable’s hands? Can he keep me here? Nola shifted her panicked gaze sideways to the blue faerie next to her.

  “No. We will be leaving as soon as you give up her human friends,” Briar said. “What exactly are you doing with them?”

  Allora’s smile widened as she uncurled herself from the railing to step forward. “You don’t know,” she said playfully.

  Nola felt Briar stiffen next to her, but then he pasted on a sly smile.

  “No. But you would just love to tell me,” he responded coyly.

  “Hmm. Maybe later.” Allora shifted her gaze to Nola. “Follow me.” Without another word, she turned and sashayed down the hall, her pale silvery wings now visible.

  Briar finally met Nola’s eyes. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but she kept her lips shut. I will just have to trust him to get us out of this. At least he knows this faerie even if he doesn’t know what this place is.

  “Don’t leave my side,” was all Briar said before a dark expression took over his face and he followed their oh-so-gracious hostess.

  The first wooden door to the right of the balcony led to a sort of office. There was a desk and chair made of wood formed as if straight from the bark. A stack of thick, oddly shaped papers were strewn across it. Nola longed to run her hand over them for a brief moment before her mind was again preoccupied with their predicament.

  Briar stepped just inside the doorway and crossed his arms. “What is going on here, Allora? Bringing humans into Faerie is forbidden—”

  “But we are no longer residents of Faerie,” Allora answered as if it were obvious. She leaned casually against the desk, occasionally throwing curious looks at Nola.

  “Why then? Why bring humans here?” Briar tried, already sounding a little exasperated. Nola noticed he wasn’t asking how this place got here. He must already have figured that part out. Nola longed to be in on the details as she watched them square off.

  “To give them a better life,” Allora said simply.

  Nola’s eyes widened at the oddness of the statement. Though she quickly lowered her gaze when Allora’s brown eyes flicked over to hers, assessing her reaction.

  “Bliss is every human’s dream. It is happiness, a breath of fresh air. A way to start over in a place where they can truly thrive,” Allora continued in a light voice that said she believed everything she was saying.

  “They are humans in Faerie,” Briar reminded her darkly.

  Allora lifted her brows.

  “They are not magical. They cannot connect to the ara. Eventually, they will break. Not to mention if the Day find out.” His gaze was assessing as he spoke, testing.

  Unfortunately, Allora didn’t give him the satisfaction of a straight answer. “We are here to guide them,” she said vaguely.

  More like torture them, Nola thought. Sure, they looked happy, but they shouldn’t be. Something is very wrong. Aloud, she burst out, “They can’t leave, can they?”

  Allora smiled at her. “They don’t want to.”

  “What did you do to them?” Nola fired back, anger overpowering her fear for the moment.

  “I did nothing.”

  Nola was about to retort, when Briar asked, “Then what did Fable do to them? Is he taking bad memories or implanting happy ones?”

  Allora’s smile grew wider, as if she was proud he guessed it. “We gift those of Bliss with the removal of the darkness in their minds, replacing it with light.”

  Nola stepped back this time as pure horror overtook her. Her stomach clenched. They messed with my friends’ minds. Will they ever be the same again? How will we get them out of here? This is all my fault.

  Briar reached a hand back toward her while keeping his eyes on Allora. “We are not leaving without her friends—in their restored state.”

  “Then I suppose you are
not leaving at all.”

  “When are you next expecting Fable?” Briar asked through clenched teeth.

  Allora shrugged her shoulders. “He comes and goes. And now you must wait for his return.”

  “I can find him elsewhere,” Briar said darkly.

  “You can. But your human will have to remain here. I insist upon it.”

  Nola didn’t like the look Allora gave her, like she was a prize, something to be toyed with. She fought a clawing panic. How would she keep me here? Why does she want me here? Do they know what I am?

  She hated that she couldn’t ask Briar these questions at the moment. She looked to him with pleading eyes, forced to accept his decision. He looked back at her with an unreadable expression.

  Briar turned back to Allora. “We will wait then.”

  She nodded at him, a pleased smile on her face. “You should join us for evening meal then.”

  Without waiting for an answer, she breezed past them and out into the hall.

  Nola gave Briar a questioning look. He shrugged helplessly and gestured to the door.

  Dread made its home in the pit of Nola’s stomach. She had no idea what it was the faerie could do to her if they tried to leave, but Briar was playing along for some reason.

  Coming here may have been a mistake.

  They followed Allora at as much of a distance as they could muster.

  “We need to leave,” Briar said to Nola in a low voice. “If Fable finds you here, you could end up like the rest of them—”

  “Which is exactly why we need to get them out of here before he can do anything else to them,” Nola insisted.

  “Are you really that selfless?” Briar’s voice held a tinge of exasperation.

  “Maybe,” Nola replied evasively.

  “It’s going to be really hard to get you out of here alive if you don’t even have an ounce of self-preservation.”

  “I’m the reason they’re here!” Nola’s almost whisper rose in volume, and Allora paused. Briar put out a hand to stop Nola.

  “Continue on.” He gave Allora a very fake-looking smile.

  She raised an eyebrow at them, but turned and continued down a staircase out of view.

  In a softer voice, Nola continued, “I brought the magic and the faeries around my friends. If I hadn’t stolen the magic in the first place, Derek wouldn’t have dragged me into this and threatened to use it on Lauren and Tris. I wouldn’t have gotten involved in all of this and neither would they! And I asked Cameron to follow Lauren and whoever that was this morning. I did!”

  Briar listened to her tirade with arms crossed. Nola breathed harder as she waited for him to respond.

  After a moment of silence, he said, “You did not bring the dead faerie here. I did. Blame it on me.”

  Nola’s eyes widened as the truth hung in the air between them. They came upon the landing at the top of the staircase. An eerie feeling settled over Nola, and she grabbed Briar’s hand.

  He gave her hand a squeeze as they began their descent, but his gaze was on Allora and the humans seated at the table below them.

  “Isn’t this pleasant?” Briar said with a fake grin.

  Allora gave him a smirk back. “Lovely humans,” she addressed the group. “We have esteemed guests tonight.”

  As one, the humans stood, though they did not look at Nola or Briar, and the looks on their faces never wavered from happy indifference. Now this close to her friends, Nola was struck with an eerie feeling. They didn’t even look at her, or show any sign they recognized her. Then, as Nola’s sneaker hit the bottom step, she noticed the glowing. She stopped in her tracks. The humans all had a sort of glow around their minds, sort of a halo of energy, or like a rope holding their minds captive. It was like nothing she had seen in any other human.

  Maybe it is what is keeping them here—and in this state of unnatural happiness.

  “Sit,” Allora commanded. The humans did as they were told robotically. Allora gestured to the two conveniently empty seats: one at the end opposite where she sat and another to its right.

  Nola stood frozen until a gentle hand on the small of her back urged her forward. She took comfort in Briar’s presence behind her. Once they were seated, conversation started up as if on cue. The humans made polite chitchat—Lauren and Cameron seemed drawn to each other, speaking across the table about school, from what Nola heard, while the others spoke further down. They ignored Nola and Briar. The whole situation was so weird that Nola barely spared the food a glance—an odd assortment of what looked like vegetables and roots on wooden platters.

  “Have you figured out what this place is? What happened to them?” she whispered to Briar, who rested his chin in one hand as he studied the humans.

  “The Court of Outcasts had the means to build this as long as they were granted some sort of access to Faerie,” Briar began in a normal voice, looking across the table to Allora.

  Nola suppressed the urge to shush him. He better know what he is doing.

  “This place really shouldn’t exist,” Briar went on, “which means there are stronger faeries involved, too⁠—court faeries. I suspect it means Fable is still working with The Glorious somehow.”

  The conversation between the humans faded to quiet, making Nola want to duck under the table. There was no keeping their conversation even semi-quiet now.

  “Do you think I will tell you Fable’s secrets?” Allora said, looking pleased by his veiled challenge and genuinely curious.

  “We are esteemed guests.”

  Allora delicately picked up what looked vaguely like a carrot and bit down, chewing slowly. “My apologies,” she said then. “But if I told you, it would ruin the fun.”

  “Why go to all this trouble?” Briar pressed on, posture still giving off an air of indifference but expression hard. “Why bring the humans to Faerie? And why alter them so?”

  Nola cringed at the word alter. She hoped that Allora would give them some kind of answer, anything they could work with. They are too happy to be in a strange world. There is definitely something wrong with them. Unless this is how humans ordinarily would react to Faerie. I suppose no one would really know after being separated all these years.

  “They are unhappy,” Allora said. “And they have made their world nearly inhospitable.” She scrunched her nose at that. “So we have brought some here to see if they can thrive in a world of life.”

  “Humans can’t thrive in Faerie,” Briar pointed out.

  Allora gave him an unconcerned wave of her hand. “For now.”

  Briar was silent. Nola wanted to speak, but couldn’t make her mouth open. If Briar can’t get answers…

  “And before you retire for the night”—Allora gestured to Cameron as she spoke to Briar—“I should remind you what will happen if you try to leave with any of the humans.”

  A sickening feeling formed a pit in Nola’s stomach as Allora gracefully rose from the table. The green faerie waved a hand again in Cameron’s direction, and he robotically got up to follow.

  Allora walked up to what looked like the front doors. Carved in a semi-circle that came to a point, the wood on them looked ordinary, but as Nola focused, she saw a slight magical shimmer.

  They aren’t going outside. Can they even get outside? Nola thought of Briar’s magic, ever present over her skin that muffled the intensity of this world—and she was part faerie. This castle must have some magic to it. What happens if a human steps into Faerie?

  “What are you doing, Allora?” Briar asked with concern as he rose from his seat.

  Nola jumped up to grab his arm. “What will happen if he goes outside?” she whispered.

  “It will overwhelm him. Humans have no magic within them, and so the land rejects them,” Briar explained in a low, dark tone.

  Nola rubbed her arms against the sudden chill his words brought. This isn’t going to be good.

  Allora merely gave him a smirk and gently took Cameron’s arm. She waved her other hand forward, and the
doors parted to reveal the brilliant outside. He stepped through an invisible barrier.

  As soon as Cameron stepped out, he put both of his hands over his eyes. Then he lowered his head as if in pain and sank to his knees.

  “She’s not shielding him,” Nola said, a thread of panic in her voice. She grabbed Briar’s arm as Cameron then bent over completely until his forehead touched the ground.

  Allora turned and met Nola’s eyes. “You can help him by revealing your secrets.”

  What? Secrets?

  Nola opened her mouth to question, but Briar cut her off.

  “She had no secrets to tell, Allora. Stop this before you kill him.”

  Kill him?! Nola turned frantically back to Cameron. He still looked to be in pain, but not close to dying, as far as she could tell. The other humans remained sitting calmly at the table, oblivious to their comrade’s pain.

  “She is special,” Allora argued. “I can see it, but I want to know how.”

  “This will not win you favor with Fable,” Briar nearly growled.

  Allora smiled like she was indulging a child. “And what would you know of that now that you’ve fallen out of favor?”

  Nola glanced back and forth between them, anxiety growing. We have no time for this! She opened her mouth to give in, anything to make Cameron’s suffering stop.

  Briar dropped his lips to her ear. “She would not kill them,” he said in a fast whisper. “They are no use dead.”

  “And what about his pain?” Nola shot back at him.

  “Given how happy they seem to be, I’m sure that is erased.”

  Nola turned from him in fury, her eyes catching the brightness she now saw in Cameron’s mind. Feeling desperate and bold, she reached out to it, calling on her own measly bit of power. A tear trickled down her cheek as she willed her magic to do something, anything, to end his pain.

  Nothing happened. Then she thought she saw his shoulders relax for a split second. It was enough to make Allora frown in thought, but then Cameron was back to shaking. With a sigh, Allora stepped out, touched his arm, and guided him back inside. Once he passed through the barrier, he straightened and joined the others at the table, though his expression looked as if he aged a few years.