The dwarf scowled. "Isn't it your job to make her a great queen?"
"Like I said, I can only do so much. I've shown her the best and the worst duties of being a queen, yet she remains a child. Her mother and grandmother ..." Madoc hesitated, searching for the correct phrase, "had lost their innocence by her age. She is too happy, and it's all tied to the boy. Once he's gone, she'll lose her innocence. Besides, I can't kill him without her suspecting. She is young but intuitive. Out of resentment, she may hurt Everleaf. But if the thing she loves leaves on its own, then that is a different game altogether."
"The boy obviously worships her. He'll never leave without coercion."
"Ambassador Eli, I've been doing this for centuries. You have my word. The prophets have reassured me he won't be around much longer."
Chapter Two
On horseback, Coal followed Chalcedony away from Legacy, through the town square and into the royal forest. After a few miles, they came upon a lake.
"We can leave the horses here. We have to walk the rest of the way." She bent down and put her hands in the water. "Remember this place?"
"Yeah." The sound of waves falling onto the shore mingled with the chirping of the birds and created a melody, making Coal feel like they were the only people left in the world. "We used to get in so much trouble for using your portal to come here to swim."
"Well, we're a little bit ahead of schedule. Do you want to go swimming?"
"We didn't bring any swim clothes."
She gave Coal a wicked grin. "Never stopped us before."
"That was a long time ago." Coal glanced nervously at Chalcedony's chest before he quickly averted his eyes. "We've changed since then."
Chalcedony tilted her head to the side. "We haven't changed that much."
She walked towards the lake and took off her clothes. At least she was wearing underwear. "You're trying to get me killed, aren't you? What if Madoc is watching?"
"Don't worry about Madoc. He promised he'd let me do anything I wanted today. And right now, this is what I want to do."
It had been a while since he'd been swimming, Coal thought, as he stripped down to his underclothes and followed her into the water.
After being picked up and thrown into the water more times than she counted, Chalcedony ran out of the lake and sat on the grass. It had been a while since she'd done anything merely for fun, and she was glad Coal had warmed up to the idea of going to the human realm. The rift that had been growing between them over the past few months had finally closed.
Coal left the lake and sprinted towards her. She was seventeen, one year older than Coal, and until recently, she'd always towered over him. Her growth had slowed, and she would look this way for the next fifty years. But Coal continued to grow, and surprisingly, he'd caught up to her.
His ebony skin glistened in the midmorning sun as he stood above her. "You give up?" He laughed, one dimple forming on each cheek.
Madoc's Rule Number Eight: Never Admit Defeat. So, she changed the subject. "One of your braids has come undone." Chalcedony sat up and patted her lap. "Come here. I'll re-braid it."
He appeared as if he was going to refuse, but sat down and laid his damp head on her lap anyway. She undid the rest of the braid before passing her fingers through his thick hair to remove any kinks. She grabbed a small section and separated it into three before she began. "It took you forever and a day to learn how to braid. You were the worst student," Chalcedony said as she worked.
"I didn't want to learn. I liked it better when you did it."
"You have gotten better, though."
"I didn't have a choice. You've been too busy to do it," Coal said.
"Madoc thinks it's beneath me to braid my own hair. He most definitely didn't like it when I braided yours."
Coal tensed beneath her fingers at the mention of Madoc, so she changed the subject. "I love how your hair makes a halo around your head. For years, I tried to get my hair to match yours. But it's only darker, not curlier."
"Mmm," he murmured, sounding content and halfway asleep.
She couldn't blame him for being suspicious about this trip. He'd been correct. She was supposed to leave him in the human realm. Agreeing to leave Coal behind was the only way she could get Madoc's approval to bring him along with her. Her coronation was in two weeks, and she needed to relax. Coal was the only person she relaxed with because he was the only person who didn't expect her to be perfect. Lying to her advisor wasn't something she did often, but there was only so much arguing she could do.
Coal's even breathing told her he'd dozed off. She'd forgotten how having his hair braided lulled him to sleep--once she'd learned how to avoid painful tangles.
She bent down and whispered in his ear. "I'm finished, Coal."
He turned his head, but he didn't open his eyes. She placed her hand on his forehead and studied his delicate lips, wondering if they were as soft as they seemed. She forced the thought out of her head and stood, causing Coal's head to drop from her lap and fall onto the ground.
"Ouch." He patted the side of his head. "What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry." Chalcedony staggered towards her clothes before she dressed. "We need to go. It's getting late."
Kissing Coal was the last thing she needed to be thinking about. She stared ahead, avoiding Coal's gaze. Everything's complicated enough.
"What's wrong, Chaley?" Coal asked. Her relaxed, playful mood had vanished. What had happened while he slept? What had startled her?
"Nothing's wrong," Chalcedony insisted. "We just need to hurry."
"Which way?" Coal asked, happy to be off the horse and traveling by foot. His butt and inner thighs were beginning to chafe from the saddle.
Chalcedony pointed to a bridge about a mile away through a small opening between the trees. "It's just over the bridge. I'll race you."
She sprinted away before he answered. Relieved she had cheered up, Coal didn't think to run after her until she had already left.
Halfway to the bridge, his legs burned and begged for him to stop. But instead of slowing, his pride pushed him faster and closer to Chalcedony. She twisted her head and grimaced when she saw him nearing. Chalcedony hated to lose. Elves were natural runners and predators, unlike humans, but he'd been running with Chalcedony and other elves for as long as he'd been here. He'd never won, but it never stopped him from trying.
He broke through the trees and into a clearing. The bridge was only a few feet away. With fewer trees, he was able to run fast enough to pass Chalcedony.
Looking to the side, he saw she was half a step behind him. He glanced back towards the bridge, just before colliding into it.
Chalcedony was on the bridge a fraction of a second later.
"I beat you," he gasped. "For the first time, I beat you."
"You nearly killed yourself trying to do it." She stood next to him, steady and calm. A thin layer of sweat prickled the skin above her top lip, but she wasn't breathing nearly as hard as him.
"I still beat you."
Chalcedony stepped behind him with a knife at his throat before he thought to move or defend himself.
"If we were fighting, you would have won a battle but lost the war. You no longer have any strength to combat me." The metal was cold and sharp against his neck.
Coal sobered, his breath finally under control. "Is that what you think?"
The knife pricked his skin. "Yes."
He grabbed Chalcedony's wrist and twisted, the knife fell to the ground. Then he pushed her onto the grass. "Hasn't Tetrick taught you not to underestimate your enemy?" he asked, standing above her, feeling cocky and triumphant. Chalcedony swung her legs around, sweeping Coal's feet out from under him and sending him crashing onto his back beside her. She rolled onto him, laughing and straddling him with her knees. Her long, dark hair hung over the side of her face.
"Are we enemies?"
"Madoc says everyone is your enemy," Coal answered.
"Is he right?" she asked. "Are you my enemy?"
She bent down and touched her lips to his. He tasted salty, but the kiss was sweet, and it awakened a hunger that had been brewing for longer than she wanted to acknowledge.
Chapter Three
One kiss couldn't hurt, right? Chalcedony thought, but then, she lost herself in the sensation.
Coal's hand brushed through her hair and sending tingles through her body.
"Princess!" someone shouted from behind. Chalcedony leaped off Coal. A royal guard stood a few feet away with his sword drawn.
"Are you okay, Princess?" the guard asked, looking from Chalcedony to Coal, and back again.
Bren, she remembered. One of Madoc's personal lackeys. He had ash-blonde hair with tawny-colored skin. His face was twisted in disgust and anger emanated from his pitch-black eyes.
Coal stepped slowly in front of Chalcedony. She wanted to tell him to stop. Bren was more likely to hurt Coal than her, but she didn't want to take her focus away from the guard. She felt for the hilt of the knife she hid underneath her shirt. "What are you doing here?" she asked, looking over Coal's shoulder.
"I was sent to patrol the forest." His hands shook, but he never lowered his sword.
"Are you going to attack me?" she asked with a haughty toss of her hair, hoping to draw his attention away from Coal. Bren flicked his gaze towards his weapon before he lowered it.
"I'm sorry, Princess. Of course, I would never hurt you."
Chalcedony relaxed, released the knife, and stepped out from behind Coal. "Since when do we patrol the forest?" she asked.
This forest hid the door to the human realm, but it was not guarded. Only a select few were supposed to know it existed. Patrolling would only attract attention. Instead, an invisible barrier that prevented anyone from entering without permission protected the forest.
"Um," Bren stuttered, his eyes lowered.
"Madoc sent you, didn't he?"
"He ... um, I was sent to patrol the door," Bren answered. She closed the space between the two of them.
"Look at me," she ordered. He met her gaze. "Are you lying to me?"
"No, Princess. I was assigned to patrol the forest today. I didn't know you would be here."
She studied him, searching for a lie. She was not a mind reader, but Tetrick had taught her to look past a fey's surface to recognize emotions and truth. Chalcedony saw fear, embarrassment, and disappointment, but there was no indication of a lie. Perhaps Madoc had set him up.
"Leave my forest before I have you banished for spying on me," Chalcedony ordered.
"Princess, I'm sorry. I swear I didn't know you would be here," Bren said, shaking.
"Leave now!"
"Yes, Princess."
He placed his sword in its sheath and stalked away. Once Bren disappeared between the trees, she walked towards the bridge.
"Are you alright?" Coal reached for her arm, but she flinched and moved away.
If she wanted Coal to live, she could never let him touch her again.
Coal followed her over the bridge. "Shouldn't we talk about what happened?"
"No. I shouldn't have done that."
He was about to argue with her, but everything was different, wrong. The air became denser, making it harder for Coal to breathe. The trees, the grass, and even the sun were less vivid. It was as if he were looking through a smudged window.
"Chaley, where are we?"
Chalcedony met his gaze. "We're in the human realm."
"I didn't see any door."
She placed her hands on her hips. "If it could be seen, everyone would know where it was."
He turned in a slow circle, drinking in all he saw. The tree's brown bark was dull and washed out. The green leaves were watered down and muted. The grass cracked and moaned underneath his feet as if it were dying of thirst.
He had never stopped to listen to the everyday sounds of life; they'd always been in the background. But the singing and harmony of the forest had disappeared. This terrible silence made him feel as if something were missing.
The human realm, Coal decided, was a weak, lifeless version of the fey realm.
"Chalcedony, stop. I don't understand. How did we get here?"
She frowned, gazing into Coal's eyes as if deciding something. "Few fey or humans know this. You have to keep it secret."
"By now, you know you can trust me," Coal said.
She scanned the forest as if she were scared someone would overhear her. Satisfied they were alone, she said, "During the war, humans and fey decided to separate themselves so we couldn't destroy each other."
"I'm not stupid. I know that part." His anxiousness over the new environment was giving away to agitation.
"They also created portals to connect the two realms, because, in spite of all the war and death, complete separation seemed unfathomable. Also, giants are humans. Every now and then, a giant will have a normal human child, and they wanted to be able to take those children to the human realm if they needed to."
"Ambassador Eli said giants weren't humans."
"Giants used to give birth to humans on a normal basis, but now that humans and giants don't interact as much, it's rare."
"Why haven't I heard of the portal before?"
"Because if everyone knew, the human realm would be overrun with rogue fey," Chalcedony said.
He decided on another random question. "Why does the air smell so different?"
"Their technology pollutes the air." Chalcedony walked through the forest.
The ground was littered with broken tree branches that snapped underneath her feet. Coal marveled. He was in the human realm, his birthplace. Despite his curiosity and excitement, the image of the two of them kissing kept replaying in his mind. As he followed behind her, he wondered when it would happen again.
"Wait." She stopped so abruptly that he almost bumped into her.
She pulled a pouch from the pocket of her pants, placed her hand inside of it. Her fingers came out of the bag covered in a multi-hued powder. She recited a few words before she placed it in her mouth. Slowly, her long, sharp canine teeth widened and shortened. They lost their edge and became flat. Her slim pointed ears curved. Her large red eyes dimmed and turned black. She had changed into a human.
For a moment, Coal did not recognize the person standing in front of him. His vision adjusted as if it was adapting to the dark, and he saw past the illusion. She had swallowed glamour. Humans would look at Chalcedony and see the false image. For him, it was transparent, merely an overlay, barely hiding her true features.
"I'll be glad when I can change my teeth and ears. Tetrick says I should be able to do it soon. Then I won't have to use glamour every time I come here. Do I look human enough?" she asked.
"Yes," he answered. "But it's not as if I've seen many."
"Oh, right." Chalcedony rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, let's go look at some humans." She held out her hand. "We haven't gotten to the fun part yet."
He stared at her hand for a moment before he grabbed it and let her pull him out of the forest.
Cars. He remembered them from his childhood.
Red, yellow, blue, green, black. They sped by one after the other, leaving metallic fumes in their wake. Slowly he remembered other things, forgotten memories of concrete, laughing and running, and a woman's touch--soft and tender.
"Stay close." Chalcedony's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "Are you okay?" she asked, staring at him intently.
He tried to put what he saw into words, but the memories were gone just as quickly as they'd appeared. "I'm fine." He looked around in an attempt to anchor himself. They were waiting for what he knew was a streetlight.
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"A coffee shop," Chalcedony said. "It's not far."
When the cars stopped, he followed Chalcedony across the street. As they walked, Coal studied the people's faces. Most avoided eye contact, but som
e stared directly at him and smiled.
"We're here." She stopped at a building with a sign that read "Ground Beans." "It's a coffee shop. I figured this would be a nice place to sit and relax."
Coal shrugged, noting the hesitation in her voice. "This is your adventure. I'm just along for the ride."
She stood a little straighter, and he followed her into the shop. Coal sat in one of the wooden chairs next to a window while Chalcedony ordered. The noonday sun beamed through the windows and the smell of coffee and baked bread permeated the air. Chalcedony brought him coffee and a cream-filled pastry. For the second time that day, he was reminded how he hadn't had breakfast. He ate the pastry in three quick bites. He'd expected for it to be bland, like the dull colors of the human realm, but it tasted sweet and flavorful.
"I never get to do anything like this." Chalcedony bit into her pastry, chewed, and then swallowed. "I hunt rogue fey and then, we immediately go back home." She leaned back and smiled as the sunlight danced on her face.
"Why did you bring me here?" he asked.
Chalcedony stared out of the window at the crowded street. "I wanted to show you this. Most of the people here are college students. Look at how easy they live and how happy they are. They're a few years older than us, but they have no responsibilities. Their only job is to go to school. That's it."
Coal noticed half of the people in the shop had devices in front of their faces and wires connected to their ears. They didn't look happy. They spoke in high, grating voices, a sharp contrast to the husky and almost guttural sounds he had grown used to in the fey realm.
"I dream about running away and living here--maybe just the two of us," Chalcedony added.
"Why can't we?" Coal asked. He liked living around magic and being in the fey realm, but if living in the human realm meant that he would be able to be with Chalcedony, he would do it a thousand times over. He reached out to touch her hand, but she pulled away.
"Too many of my fey would die while Tetrick's mother and Queen Isis fought over Everleaf."
"Why can't you just leave everything to Madoc?" Coal asked, trying to hide his embarrassment at her rejection.
Black Beauty Page 12