A nervous laugh bubbled up and she covered her mouth with her hand trying to hold it in. It spilled out anyway, which was just as well; hearing her laughing Ciaran relaxed and his own rage ebbed. “That’s a really tempting offer but I don’t think I actually have the stomach for it.”
He nodded, his expression telling her without words that he understood. She took a deep breath to steady herself, suddenly remembering her manners. “I like your home. It’s very nice here.”
He looked around the room, pleased at the compliment, “Thank you. I’m not surprised you appreciate a room furnished mostly with books.”
Allie smiled, “Well it is my kind of decorating scheme.”
He smiled back, briefly, and then sobered. “Allie I should return you to your home. In truth you are safer here, for no elf nor any other being can enter my home by force without great effort, but I think the others will be worrying about you already.”
Allie winced reaching down to rub her left ankle which she was certain was sprained from when she had fallen after jumping the stonewall. “You’re probably right but I’m not sure I can walk.”
He looked alarmed. “You said you were not injured.”
“I said I was fine,” she repeated, trying to calm him. “And I am fine. But I twisted my ankle when I was running. It’s nothing major…”
Her words were cut off as he knelt down in front of her again and ran his hands over her bad ankle. He frowned, “No you should not walk on this. Well that is a simple enough solution. I will have to carry you.”
“Ciaran, I don’t want to burden you and it’s a long walk.”
He smiled broadly, keeping his lips closed politely over his teeth. “Allie surely you know how to ride a horse?”
*************************
Jessilaen moved quietly around the east side of the house, his sword in his right hand, a small dagger in his left. Even in his battle armor he moved silently, the young grass making no noise under his boots. There was no sign of any disturbance, indeed the birds sang in the woods and he could hear small animals shuffling in the underbrush. It was likely that whatever had occurred was finished and the danger had passed, but he remained cautious. It was unwise to ever underestimate the Dark court.
He reached the back corner of the building and edged slowly and carefully around to the back. The yard seemed to be devoid of activity as well. A moment later his brother appeared around the other side of the building, sword in one hand, the other held ready to cast a spell. Zarethyn’s gaze swept the yard as Jess’s had and then he briefly met his brother’s eyes, nodding slightly towards the center of the back wall. Both elves began moving towards each other, still on guard against any possible attacks.
When they met they stood with their backs against the wall of the house, standing facing out so that they could ward against anything. Zarethyn’s voice was low, “Where is Allie?”
“I shall ask,” Jess said and then paused, gathering the focus he needed to reach out to his beloved’s mind. It was like closing his eyes and trying to touch something he knew was there but could not see…”Allie?”
“Jess? Are you okay?” her voice in his mind was calm, and he relaxed subconsciously at the reassurance it held.
“I am well. We are here and see no sign of anyone. Where are you?” he thought back.
“With Ciaran. He chased the Dark elves but they escaped. He is bringing me back to the house now. I twisted my ankle, my bad ankle, running. But I’m fine really,” she thought back. He repressed a wince, having learned that her idea of what constituted ‘fine’ and his own were not similar concepts. Allie bore the stubborn conviction that to admit any weakness was to make herself less in the eyes of others and he thought as well that because of her childhood in the Dark court she feared that weakness would make him repudiate her. How difficult it must have been for her he thought to himself to grow up in such a place and live always feeling that her value to others is measured only in her strength. She should know by now that nothing will cleave me from her side, save death.
He looked towards the woods, the last of the light fading as night fell, anxious to see her, to have her near him. He knew that once she was with him she could use his emotions to help heal herself, and he was certain that Bryn would help her as well. When he spoke to his brother his voice was at a normal volume. “Allie is with the kelpie, who is bringing her back here now. The Dark court agents have fled.”
Zarethyn sheathed his sword, prompting Jess to follow suit. “A pity they escaped him. Wise on their part to flee though. They may well choose not to come back here again, knowing that such a creature abides here.”
Jess shook his head slightly. “Can you not now compel her to seek sanctuary at the Outpost?”
“I have said that I would not, and indeed it may serve our purposes better to have her here when she keeps drawing those we seek to herself. We barely needs must hunt them when they act so blatantly.” The Guard captain replied.
Jess frowned. “You would use her as bait in a trap but that puts her in great danger.”
“Not so great, little brother, “Zarethyn said. “She is well guarded, not only by you but by others who care for her. And if we seek to catch those who we must catch, for the sake of our duty, then we must be willing to accept some degree of risk. In the months we have sought for the agents of the Dark court who are hiding here we have found nothing but shadows and hints.”
“I do not want her life put at risk,” Jess insisted.
“Nor do I if it can be avoided,” his brother agreed. “But she is herself a member of the Guard now and she has a duty as well as we do. We cannot leave these agents free to fester like an infected wound and spread their darkness into the Queen’s realm. Or worse to create war between Fairy and America. No single life is greater than that cause.”
Jess bowed his head in acquiescence, although his heart rebelled. Zarethyn whistled, the sound high and sharp, calling the rest of the squad back in from their positions reconnoitering in the woods. As they waited for the other three elves to join them Jess saw movement at the far edge of the yard and a moment later the kelpie emerged, in the form of a black horse sleek and shining, with Allie clinging to his back. The last of Jess’s anxiety left him at the sight.
The kelpie picked his way carefully across the lawn, head down, heading directly for them. Allie rode like someone unaccustomed to the experience, her face and body tense, clinging to the fairy horse as if she expected to fall off at any moment. Jess’s lips twitched in amusement, although he also felt sympathy for his lover who, despite her own elven heritage, was so utterly a product of this modern human world.
He moved forward to meet them, uneasy at being so close to the mercurial and dangerous Lesser Fey but wanting to reassure himself that Allie was truly unhurt. Kelpies were fearsome enemies and difficult to defeat in battle, being both strong and clever, but they were also known for their loyalty. Jess felt that it spoke highly of Allie, for her to have such a friend. This close to the fairy horse there was a faint odor of dampness, as if he were near open water, and he could see the small droplets dripping from the animal’s mane and tail, in defiance of the dry conditions he stood in. Jess edged around the sharp hooves and teeth and reached up to help Allie down.
She slid off, landing awkwardly on one foot and wincing as he took most of her weight to keep her from falling. Touching her he had the vaguest impression of her emotions, like an echo, anxiety and fear. “You are safe my heart” he thought to her pulling her against his chest even though the armor was a wall between them.
Even as he sensed her relaxing against him the rest of his squad began to filter out of the woods, Mariniessa from the left and Natarien and Brynneth from the right. They each regarded the kelpie with concern, but mirrored their captain and sheathed their blades. He was proud to see the discipline they displayed under the circumstances, which reflected well on him as their commander; even the normally prickly Mariniessa was behaving well.
&
nbsp; Jess glanced over at Brynneth and made a subtle motion to call the healer to his side. Keeping a wary eye on the kelpie Bryn complied. Allie glanced around, her balance shifting clumsily, fingers clutching at the seams on the side of his armor. She used her chin to point at a stone jutting up out of the earth a few feet away. “Help me over there and I can sit down.”
He hesitated, eyeing the uncomfortable looking rock, but then nodded. Brynneth quickly joined him and with the two elves bracing her on each side she hopped over and sat down heavily. Frowning Brynneth knelt down next to her, his fingers gently probing her ankle, seeking the location of the injury. Jess turned back to the kelpie just as he heard Mariniessa gasp, and he found that standing behind him was not the horse but a dark haired man. He held his own shock in check with great effort; he had never seen a kelpie in this form before, although he was of course aware that they were able to take human form, as well as equine and canine.
The kelpie’s black eyes held his. “You will heal her?”
“I will do everything in my power to heal her,” Brynneth said, unperturbed as usual. Jess was pleased at his friend’s words. Bryn did not need to make such a promise, but Jess knew that he genuinely liked Allie and was willing to do more for her than he would for most others.
“You are the elven healer who helped her after she was injured before, yes?” the kelpie asked, his tone hard to read.
“Yes,” Brynneth confirmed, his hands now wrapped around her ankle. Jess could feel the healing energy from where he stood as Bryn channeled it to the injured area. He felt reassured that if he was only channeling energy and not using any spells her ankle could not be too badly injured.
“I pursued the ones who were chasing her, but they fled before I could catch them. If they return here they will not escape me a second time. I find it…greatly concerning that the one who harmed Allie before is seeking her out again here, at her home. Should they return I cannot guarantee my temper, nor that they will still be whole and living when you arrive,” the Lesser Fey creature spoke in that same inscrutable tone, his words not quite asking permission to mete out justice nor exactly promising to do so.
Jess inhaled sharply, stunned by the revelation that it was not merely any Dark court elves who had been here but that the same elf who had caused her such grievous harm on two previous occasions had returned seeking her. His brother was nodding, telling the kelpie that the Guard would consider any action he took against the Dark court elves helpful – tacitly giving him permission to bend the Law and take elven lives, something normally strictly forbidden – but Jess barely heard it. “Allie?” he thought, knowing she would feel his fear and anger. “Why did you not tell me?”
“Jess, I – I would have. I was going to. I just hadn’t had a chance yet,” she thought back. She looked up at him over Brynneth’s head, her face pale, eyes wide. She looked so young and vulnerable in that moment that it tore at his heart.
“Aliaine – Allie – are you certain that the one who chased you here today was the same one who caused your injuries before?” Zarethyn asked. Allie’s attention shifted away from Jess, and because he couldn’t bear to see her looking so small and helpless he moved over to her, rules and regulations be damned, and took her hand. She leaned against him, taking a deep, steadying breath.
“I never actually saw them, only sensed them. There were two of them. One I don’t think I knew, although there was something…but I can’t put my finger on it. But the other…yeah, him I recognized. The same one from my store a couple months ago and from Walters’ house,” her voice was flat, emotionless, and Jess saw Brynneth glance up, concerned. “I’d recognize him anywhere.”
“I saw them,” the kelpie said. “One fair haired the other cloaked and hooded. Both male, and neither a mage by my judgment.”
“And how can you be sure of that?” Mariniessa asked, her voice far more polite than usual, although her words were typically brisk.
The kelpie regarded her for a long moment, making the young mage shift slightly and look away. His nostrils flared as if he were scenting something on the wind. “Because I can smell magic on those who have the ability to use it as you do Fair Lady. Also although I frightened them greatly when I charged at them in the woods they cast no magic at me only metal. And metal harms me very little, as they quickly realized. Had they any magic to use beyond what all elves naturally possess they would doubtless have used it as soon as they realized their blades would not help them.”
Zarethyn nodded at the logic of this. “I doubt they will risk returning here again, knowing now that you are here and willing to defend Allie.”
“I agree, but should they return I shall be ready for them,” the kelpie said and then without a further word he shifted back into his horse form, turned with an agility that defied the size of that shape and galloped back into the woods, leaving the surprised elves in his wake.
********************************
Salarius was the first to break the silence after the two Dark elves returned to the hotel they were holed up in. As Ferinyth peered out between the blinds that he had pulled tightly closed, Sal sat down in one of the thinly padded chairs, only just catching his breath. He was certain he had never run so fast in his entire life, “We cannot tell my father of this.”
Ferinyth took a second away from staring out the window to turn and glare at the younger elf. Sal ignored the fierce look, reaching one hand up to push his damp hair out of his face. “I am serious. If we are lucky word will not reach him that we played our hand so poorly and the girl not only escaped but the Elven Guard was alerted to our presence.”
“We do not know…”Ferinyth started, but Sal cut him off, almost mid-word.
“Don’t be a fool. She escaped and even if by some miracle she didn’t see us or recognize us then the kelpie surely knew us for what we are. He will have told her and she will have told the Guard by now.” Sal said, the words spilling out quickly in his agitation.
“So what shall we do, having failed?” Ferinyth said bitterly. “Slit our own throats? Crawl home and beg forgiveness? Turn ourselves over to the Guard and trust their mercy will be greater than your father’s?”
Sal flinched, thinking furiously. “No. No, if he doesn’t know then we should stay here and keep trying…”
“Keep trying?” Ferinyth scoffed. “We have no chance now. It is clear she cannot be taken at her home, and she is never left alone anywhere else that we have any chance to overcome her. Today, this evening, that was our best chance. Our moment to capture her and return home.”
Sal shook his head slowly. “You are too impatient. It’s true that if the kelpie is there, and we may as well assume he will be, we have no hope of taking her from her home. And she is rarely alone otherwise. But with patience and enough time our opportunity will present itself.”
Ferinyth finally moved away from the window, although he continued to cast worried looks at the door. They had been unbelievably lucky to escape, and he did not entirely trust that they actually had. “And so you propose that we continue as we have been, lurking and skulking and stalking her, wasting our time watching her do nothing of interest? Hoping that at some point we will see a chance to seize her when she is alone and unguarded?”
“More or less,” the younger elf agreed. “Is this town and its diverse pleasures so unbearable?”
To his surprise the older elf did not reply with a scathing retort but hesitated. “Perhaps it is not so bad as all that. And if we are agreed never to speak of this to your father, then we can wait until the girl’s guard is down again.”
Sal nodded, shocked that the obstinate elf was going along with this, but undeniably pleased. He was quite enamored of this Bordertown and all the diversions that it offered. The longer they stayed the better to his mind. “Indeed, and having apparently been chased off she may well believe we have given up.”
Ferinyth nodded. “Perhaps. Perhaps. We will fall back and observe again and let her think we have fled. And when n
ext we strike we shall not fail.”
*******************************
Allie sat on the uncomfortable rock outcrop, trying not to fidget as Brynneth finished healing her ankle. It was getting cold now that the sun was down and she could smell rain on the air. Since the immediate crisis had passed she felt silly for making such a big deal out of it and rousing the entire Guard squad out of the Outpost. She should have waited until Ciaran had returned and then she would have known that the Dark elves had escaped.
“I’m sorry I got you all out here for nothing,” Allie said, shivering.
The Guard captain frowned at her, his head tilting to the side as he regarded her intently. The other elves also gave her puzzled looks. “Hardly for nothing. We now know with certainty that agents of the Dark court remain here. Before we had only rumor. Now we can set about to hunt them down and deal with them properly.”
Allie shivered harder her eyes fixed on the broad back of the house. Jess reached up and stroked her hair. He met his brother’s eyes, his expression challenging. “I am going to bring Allie in the house. We can continue discussing it there if necessary.”
Zarethyn hesitated, then nodded slowly. “Yes, bring her back into her home. Brynneth go with them. Mariniessa, Natarien return with me to the Outpost. I want you both to look for a pattern in the petty crimes that have been plaguing us. I believe now, after what Aliaine told us about the gremlins and after this attack tonight that there is a larger hand guiding these problems. If we can find the pattern behind their actions we may be able to put an end to this plague of difficulties and if we are fortunate to catch those behind them.”
The two junior Guard bowed slightly to the captain and turned to head back to the Guard vehicles. Zarethyn hesitated a moment, stepping over to Allie who had stood up with Jess’s help. He reached out and grasped her shoulder, “Allie, I am…glad…that you escaped relatively unscathed. Do not forget that you are always welcome to seek shelter in the Outpost if you wish it.”
Into the Twilight: a Between the Worlds Novel Page 10