Fairy, Neat (Fairy Files Book 6)

by Katharine Sadler

  “Um, thanks,” I said. “You’ve arrived just in time for the enforced bathing.”

  Pippi watched as people jumped in the lake to rinse off and jumped out screaming. “Whose idea was this?”

  “Vervain’s.”

  Pippi laughed. “I’m gone a few days and you’re taking orders from children? What else have I missed?”

  I filled her in on what Archibald had told us and what we planned to do about it. Her smile vanished and her frown became more and more severe as I spoke. She looked out at the people, splashing and shrieking, and I swear her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

  “I always understood this could go badly, but I didn’t think…” She shook her head, as though she were shaking off unwelcome emotion. “Everyone has agreed to this plan? To this suicide mission?”

  “No one chose to leave.”

  She gave one curt nod. “Well, then, I guess we should get our bath and get on with this. No point in wasting too much time worrying about impending death and disaster.” She strode toward the lake with a determined step, but stopped and turned back to me after she’d only gone a few feet. “Can we trust Benny not to screw us in the end?”

  I shrugged. “I believe he wants to rule the nightmare realm. As long as we don’t get in his way, I think his goal aligns with our own well enough that we can work together.”

  “Right. But can we trust him not to get greedy. If he decides the nightmare realm isn’t enough for him, if he decides to try and take Rubalia, too, will we be able to stop him?”

  “We’ll sure as hell try.”

  She met my gaze, but didn’t speak. I could see emotions flitting across her face, but I couldn’t name them. Pippi came across as a shallow, fierce person, interested only in adrenaline and power, but I’d begun to suspect that was all just a front, a tough girl persona that hid a much more sensitive and vulnerable center. Well, as sensitive and vulnerable as anyone who tortured people for fun could be. She nodded again and turned. She raced toward the lake, stripping clothes as she ran, and leaped in with a war whoop.

  She leapt back out again quickly, but she didn’t whine or cry about the cold, she just got out of the lake and soaped up. The others were now washing their clothes, still nude. Apparently, none of them were any more bothered by nudity than the shifters in Frost’s home pack. I couldn’t find it in me to be bothered either. And I couldn’t stand the idea of being outdone by Pippi.

  I pulled off my clothes and hiking boots and raced after her, shutting off my brain and every instinct that told me to turn around. I did have the good sense, though, to shift my wings inside my body where they’d be warmer. I didn’t want to go into battle with frost-bitten wings. I ran, pushing myself to go as fast as I could. I hit the edge of the lake and I didn’t stop.

  I tried to outrun the icy cold water lapping around my ankles. When I was far enough out. I dropped beneath the water. It rushed over my body like a lightning strike, chilling me instantly to my very core and making my head ache like I had an ice cream headache.

  I pushed myself back up and ran out of the water, biting my lower lip not to shriek at the cold. I joined the others on shore and grabbed some soap. I tried not to think, because if I thought, I’d have to acknowledge I was going to go back into that water and then I’d start doubting I could do it again and it would be that much more difficult to go back in. I soaped myself up, the sun warming my goose-pimpled skin.

  “You’ve got enough soap,” Pippi said, her muscular body moving into my peripheral vision. When one is among a group of nude people, it is best not to look at anyone directly. “Quit being a weenie and jump back in with me.”

  I dropped the soap, which smelled of lovely herbs and flowers, onto a flat stone and faced Pippi. “First one out is the weenie.” I know, I know, I’m an idiot, but she’d challenged me and I…I just needed the distraction. I waved at Frost, who was watching me with more than a little heat in his eyes while he scrubbed at his clothes. I took only a moment to appreciate his shapely backside and the movement of his muscles as he scrubbed, before racing into the water side-by-side with Pippi.

  We dropped beneath the surface of the lake and came back up at the same time. I was glad to see she was gasping for air as greedily as I was. That dip under the water had sucked the breath from my lungs.

  She stood until she was only waist-deep, and I joined her, though I wasn’t sure the warm breeze over the lake was making me any warmer, even with the sun beating down on me. Her teeth were chattering as hard as mine were and she had goose bumps on every bit of her skin, but she didn’t complain. I didn’t either. I just stood and faced her. After about thirty seconds, I began to lose feeling in my lower extremities and the respite from the cold was both a relief and a worry. Was the water cold enough to cause frost bite?

  Instead of voicing my concern, I danced from foot to foot to warm myself a bit. Pippi didn’t move a muscle, trying to prove something to herself as much as to me, I suspected.

  After sixty seconds, the numbness increased, but so did the cold. My whole body was shaking and no amount of bouncing could warm me, or push the blood back into my numb feet. “This might be a stupid challenge.”

  “It was your idea,” Pippi said. “You can get out if you’re ready to admit I’m tougher than you.”

  I stayed, like a moron, and slowly froze to death. By ninety seconds, I was beginning to think the lake wasn’t as cold as I’d originally thought and maybe I could enjoy myself. That hope died by the third minute, when my body renewed its shivering with earthquake-like intensity. “What we didn’t think about,” I said through chattering teeth. “Is what we do if neither of us is willing to concede. Do we stay here all day?”

  “You’ll give in.” Pippi’s teeth were chattering so hard I could barely understand her. “You’ve got that thin fairy skin and those delicate wings.”

  “So, we’ll stay here all day, then. Fair enough.”

  We lasted another minute, before Pippi spoke again. “We could declare it a tie. We’ve already proved ourselves tougher than any of the weenies on shore.”

  I offered my hand and she shook. “Deal.”

  When she tried to pull her hand away, I didn’t let go. I was going to make sure we walked out together. She understood my intention without any explanation from me, and we splashed out of the lake, hand-in-hand. No one cheered for us, they were all so busy washing their clothes that I don’t think they even noticed.

  Pippi and I gathered our clothes and joined them. Once our clothes were clean, we laid them out on the grass to dry and sunned ourselves on large boulders. I’d dug out a tank top and a pair of shorts that were relatively clean and put them on, but most of my friends didn’t have other clothes and laid out naked and un-embarrassed.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Intolerance of people who are different than you is both limiting and stupid. The differences among our people is what makes us strong.—Chloe Frangipani

  I don’t care who you are, what you are, or where you’re from, don’t piss me off and we’ll get along.—Evangeline Rendretti

  It took us another day and a half to reach the bottom of the mountain. A day and a half with no more monster encounters and no accidents. Vervain shouted orders to the front of the line and we headed for what looked like a rain forest. It was full of colorful, exotic plants and animals, but it wasn’t humid or damp. The trees towered high and blocked out most of the sun. It was the perfect place for shadows to dwell.

  “Why are we going this way?” I asked.

  Vervain, two people behind me, answered in a low voice, “we are nearing the fairy palace and are more likely to see people loyal to the empress. It is safer here. No one goes into the wilds.”

  Ah, the towering, dark forest was the wilds, the former home of sasquatches and harpies. I wondered how many monsters had stayed behind and how dangerous the forest was for us.

  “Any advice?” I asked Vervain.

  “Just do what I say,” she said in an exasperate
d tone. I wouldn’t have known she could speak any other way, if I hadn’t heard her speak to Jerome in an understanding and respectful tone.

  “Got it.”

  The first hour of our walk was mostly uneventful. Vervain pointed out what plants we shouldn’t touch and saved me from some sort of tree-dwelling beast that was half-snake and half-monkey. It had enormous fangs, so I think it was safe to say that Vervain saved my life.

  We moved at a steady pace, Vervain and Jerome leading our group, Frost and I walking right behind them, in single file. I was daydreaming about what great kitsch the over-sized, brightly colored flowers of the forest would make when Jerome stopped so abruptly I ran into his back. He grunted, but said nothing.

  I stood on my tiptoes and peered over his shoulder. An elf, armed with a spear, stood in the center of the trail. On either side of him stood two other elves, also armed and frowning. They were dressed in green pants and vests, their chests and arms and feet bare. They weren’t tall, but they were broad with muscle and appeared perfectly capable of backing up the aggressive, angry expressions on their faces.

  “You deal with them,” Vervain said. She grabbed Jerome by the wrist and pulled the much larger rock troll around us and back toward the end of the line.

  “Hi,” I said, bowing slightly, as was the appropriate greeting for an elf. “I’m Clarinda Frangipani, this is Frost, Pi- Evangeline, Benedict, and Lensy.” I probably should have given their last names, but I didn’t know Lensy’s and it seemed easiest to introduce them all in the same way. I didn’t bother trying to introduce everyone else, they were too far back to be visible to the elves.

  “Why are you attempting to pass through our forest without permission?” the center elf asked in a high-pitched lilting voice that didn’t seem capable of appropriately conveying his anger and annoyance.

  “Your forest?” Lensy asked, her cheeks pink with anger. “You pushed out the sasquatch and the harpies and now they are in a very vulnerable position.”

  “You are not welcome here,” the center elf said.

  “Look,” I said. “We have no intention of staying. We’re just passing through. We mean you no harm.”

  The elf narrowed his eyes. “For all I know you are working for the nightmares.”

  “And for all we know,” Benny said, more than a little growl in his voice. “You are possessed by shadows.”

  The elf’s face twisted in disdain. “We wouldn’t help the nightmares if they tortured us and killed our families.”

  Pippi snorted. “Awfully brave thing to say when you’re hiding in a forest, far from the reach of the nightmares.”

  “Think what you like, redcap,” the elf said. “I care little for your opinions as long as you turn around and leave.”

  “Okay.” I raised my hands, palms out. “Let’s all calm down and discuss this rationally. There has to be some way we can reach a compromise.”

  “I will never compromise,” the elf said. The two elves to either side of him raised bows and aimed their arrows at us, and I got annoyed. I wasn’t going to come this far just to be killed over a misunderstanding with an elf.

  “No need for arrows,” I said. Pippi shot me a glare when my voice came out with a bit of a squeak, but I ignored her. “If you won’t compromise, we will. What can we give you that will convince you to allow us passage?”

  “There is nothing you have that we could possibly want,” the elf said. “You must turn and leave the wilds or fight.”

  “Gladly,” Pippi said. She pulled out a pike and aimed it at the elves.

  “There’s no need for violence,” I said. “We just wish to pass through to visit friends who live on the edge of the wilds. We don’t want to fight.”

  All three of the elves laughed, a vicious sound that held little amusement. “A friendly visit? You are either lying or you are idiots. The time for friendly visiting has ended.”

  “We are going to the castle to pay our kind wishes to the nightmare empress Ludwiggia and offer our fealty,” One of the harpies said. She’d been near the end of our line, but must have moved forward to see what was going on. I closed my eyes, hoping this was a bad dream, but the roar of the elves was unmistakable.

  “You are traitors to Rubalia,” the elf shouted. I opened my eyes to see their sharp weapons raised and aimed at us. Oddly, I felt no panic, just a numb sort of shock.

  I pulled out a sword Pippi had given me and raised it. The center elf whistled and something erupted from the forest all around us. I ducked, expecting to be shot or maimed, but all that happened was that a gauzy net landed over me and Frost and Pippi. Behind us, I heard my friends yelling. I slashed at the net with my sword, but it seemed to be made of something indestructible. I couldn’t cut it. Next to me, Pippi and Frost were also fighting the net, but the net seemed to just wrap tighter around us the more we fought.

  “Restrain them,” the elf shouted. “And bring them back to camp. We’ll decide their punishment there.”

  I looked at Frost, hoping he’d have an idea, some way to avoid likely torture and death, but he shook his head, his jaw clenched tight.

  In moments, we were surrounded by about fifty elves, all armed. They took our weapons and pushed us forward. It wasn’t easy to walk, tied to Pippi and Frost by a net, but we managed. I looked back to see our friends also contained by nets.

  The elves led us back over well-worn paths to an open area with a large campfire, around which sat more elves. A woman rose from the fire-side and stalked over to face the elf who was leading our group of captives. “What are you doing, Helmud?” she asked. “Who are these people?”

  Helmud, the lead elf, straightened and threw back his shoulders. “They are prisoners, Posy. They were trespassing and wish to be friends of the nightmares.”

  “Prisoners?” Posy asked. She looked us over and frowned. “What are we going to do with prisoners? Why didn’t you just let them pass?”

  Helmud glared at the woman. “They are the enemy, Posy, and they were in our territory. We can’t just let that go.”

  Posy shook her head. “You’re so ready for a fight, you just couldn’t miss this opportunity, could you? Couldn’t just let them be? Now we have more mouths to feed.”

  Helmud stalked toward her, his hands in tight fists. “You’d prefer we send them on their way to the nightmares? Let them join forces against us?”

  Posy stood, her own hands in fists, her scowl fierce. “They are no good to us, Helmud.” She looked over at us. “And what difference will it make if they do join the nightmares? They don’t look like they’ll last a day among that ilk.”

  Helmud’s glare dimmed a fraction and his hands loosened. “Decision has been made, Pos. They’re our prisoners. We can take the giant with us to fight the queens.”

  Posy rolled her eyes. “He’ll give us away more likely than he’ll help us.” She threw her hands up. “Fine. I can see you’ve got your mind set on keeping ‘em, so keep ‘em. But they’re your problem. I’ve got troops to train and ambushes to prepare. You can waste time guarding and feeding your prisoners. I’ll have nothing to do with them.”

  Helmud looked much less certain, but it was clear he wasn’t going to back down. He turned on us, anger flaring in his narrowed eyes. “Follow me, you lousy nightmare sycophants.”

  Helmud led us down more cleared paths to a circle of dirt. “Sit,” he said.

  We sat on the dirt. The luckiest among us managed to get trees against which to rest their backs. I ended up in the middle of the circle smooshed by the net between Pippi and Frost. “Tie their feet,” Helmud said to the other elves.

  The elves bent and tied our ankles together so tightly it hurt. The elf looked up from the ropes he’d wrapped around my ankles and squinted at me. “Your leadership,” he said to Helmud. “I’ve heard fairies can slip free of ropes.”

  Helmud narrowed his eyes. “Is that true?” he asked Hieronymus, who was the closest to him.

  “I’ve never heard such a thing,” Hieronymus s
aid. “I am unable to achieve such an escape.”

  Helmud didn’t look convinced. “It’s not worth taking a chance,” Helmud said. “If they escape, they will lead the nightmares to us.”

  “But how can we keep them prisoner if they can shift into anything?”

  Helmud studied Hieronymus for a moment. “Bring me an iron kettle.”

  I had long ago learned it was a myth that iron was poisonous to the fae, but I had a bad feeling that in this case, iron would do us no good. The elf near me rose and ran off, only to return a few moments later with a lidded iron cauldron. “Posy said I couldn’t have a kettle, but she gave me this.”

  Helmud nodded. He set the cauldron on the ground and lifted the lid. “All here who are fairies, shift to flying size and get into the cauldron. If you do not, we will kill your friends.”

  I was certain he’d have already killed us all if killing came easy to him, but I wasn’t willing to risk being wrong. I closed my eyes and shifted to fairy-size. The ropes on my ankles slipped off and I flew through a hole in the net and over to the cauldron. Hieronymus joined me moments later. We flew inside and Helmud dropped the lid, enshrouding us in complete darkness.

  I heard them yelling at Bluebell, telling her to shift and I wished I’d stayed full-sized longer. There was more shouting and some scuffling, but she must have finally convinced them she wasn’t lying, because all went quiet.

  I dropped to sit where I was and waited for my eyes to adjust. There was no light and no adjusting. “Well,” Hieronymus said, his voice a few feet to my right. “This is cozy.”

  I wanted to kick something or punch someone, but it was a sign of my maturity that I did neither. “Do you see light anywhere? If we can find even a crack, we can slip out.”

  “I see nothing,” Hieronymus said. “And I hear nothing.”

  “Okay,” I said. I hated feeling helpless and I felt helpless and trapped and…“It’s going to be okay. The others will get us out of here.” I also hated relying on someone else to save me. I was flawed, I acknowledged that, but it didn’t make our entrapment any easier to deal with.