He stared over Elizabeth's head at Chalcedony and thought of the kiss that could never happen again. When they were younger, they'd often slept together, playing until they reluctantly fell asleep, but now they were older. He ran his fingers through Chalcedony's hair, and she slowly opened her eyes. "You should probably leave before Madoc starts looking for you."
A smile crept across her face. "And he kills you for having me in your bed."
He laughed. "Yeah, that too."
Chalcedony stood, still wearing her human clothes, and yawned. She picked up the sleeping child, and they left.
It seems, Coal thought, as he sat with his legs crossed on his bed, staring at the closed door as if the kiss never happened at all.
"What do you think they'll do with Coal?" The cook's deep voice echoed through the kitchen door.
"I heard he was supposed to stay in the human realm, but he refused to leave the princess. You see how he pouts whenever she's gone. He is too beguiled to let her go," Fatou, the maid said.
Her voice was lower. Coal had to strain to hear it.
"A guard caught them kissing yesterday."
"That's impossible. Madoc would have him drawn and quartered if that was the case."
"It's happened before," Fatou insisted. "Look at Queen Isis and her human."
"Why would she bring another human here if it's not to replace the old one?"
"Lovers or not, Madoc is not going to let that boy stay," Masson said.
Coal had hoped to get something to eat before he went to help Grigory with Chalcedony's sword, but instead, he'd accidentally come upon the kitchen staff gossiping. No longer hungry, he turned away and walked straight into Madoc.
"Excuse me, sir." Coal stepped back towards the kitchen. Facing gossiping servants was much better than dealing with Madoc.
"Coal, can I speak to you?"
"I'm late for a meeting with Grigory."
"That can wait." Taken off guard, Coal let the elf pull him away.
They sat across from each other in Madoc's private office. When Coal couldn't stand the silence any longer, he spoke. "I'm late for--"
"Why didn't you stay in the human realm?" Madoc interrupted.
Coal swallowed, trying to moisten his dry mouth. "Chaley didn't want me to."
"You should have stayed." Madoc leaned forward. "You do not belong here." He stressed each word as if speaking slowly would suddenly make Coal agree with him.
Coal lowered his head and rubbed his eyes, suddenly exhausted. "This is my home," Coal began. "I belong here just as much as you."
"I have lived here for centuries. I have worked for this family all of my life. Don't ever compare yourself to me. You are here on the whim of a young girl."
Coal remained motionless, refusing to believe Madoc's words.
Madoc sat back and continued. "The princess will be an especially young queen. The other queens have agreed to leave her alone until her coronation, but I believe they are planning to take her lands as soon as she is officially crowned. They will be looking for weaknesses to exploit, and they will try to turn her fey against her. Despite Chalcedony's awkwardness, she is loved by her fey. Before, everyone considered her affection for you as a lovable quirk. But now, people are wondering if she plans to rule with you as her mate."
"Chaley and I are just friends. That's all we have ever been."
"Don't sit there and lie to me. I know about your tryst on the way to the human realm."
He knew. Fear kicked him in the gut, but Coal forced himself to remain calm. "I know Chaley and I will never be together."
"What are you going to do? Wait on her for the rest of your life? You cannot be by her side. She brought that child here as your replacement. Once you saw that, why did you come back?"
Was that true?
"Grigory has offered me a full apprenticeship," Coal answered. "I plan on accepting the offer." He hadn't thought to accept the offer until now.
"I repeat," Madoc said through clenched teeth, "you don't belong here. Not as Chalcedony's friend nor as an apprentice to the mixed breed."
Am I really that much of a threat?
"I'm here because Chaley wants me here. I would have stayed in the human realm if she had asked me to."
"You don't belong here!" Madoc slammed his fist onto the desk.
Coal jumped, shocked by the sudden burst of anger.
The elf took a deep breath. "After her coronation, she will need an heir as soon as possible. She will have to choose a mate. Have you thought about how it would feel to see her with someone else? The biggest favor you can do for yourself is leave. An apprenticeship will not take you far enough away."
"Chaley and I are only friends. The kiss was a mistake. It was nothing." The words were poison on his tongue.
"Your presence is the danger!" Madoc's amber eyes were filled with anger, and his long, yellowed incisors were bared. He looked as if he was about to tear Coal apart.
Coal sat back, trying to put as much distance between himself and Madoc as possible. Every instinct told him to leave, run away, but Coal refused. Madoc would have to kill him first.
Why hadn't Madoc killed him? He knew about the kiss. If Madoc could touch him, he would have done it by now. All Madoc could do was deliver empty threats.
Coal stood with his chest out, towering over the seated elf. "I belong here. If Chaley wants me to leave, I'll leave. Until then, the fey realm is my home." He stalked out of the room, with the sound of his heartbeat drowning out any protests Madoc could have had.
A sword flew past his shoulder and into the wall the moment he strode into Grigory's shop.
"You're late," Grigory said, holding his own sword, poised and ready to fight.
"Sorry, I woke up late." On any other day, a sword coming within an inch of his face would have scared him, but after facing Madoc, it didn't register. Coal grabbed the hilt of the sword and pulled it out of the wall before he faced Grigory. Grigory aimed his sword at Coal's chest, but Coal jumped back, expecting the attack. He stared intently at Grigory while he swung his blade with brutal force.
Grigory was gone long before the blade ever reached its destination.
Already Coal felt better, elated almost, as he fought and allowed the sword to channel his anger.
After a few parries and thrusts, they stood face to face once again.
"I hear we have a new human at Legacy," Grigory said. He hadn't shaved in two days, and his beard already looked thick.
"For someone who hardly gets visitors, you sure know all of the gossip."
"Soldiers gossip more than the town wives."
The sword pulsated in Coal's hands, wanting to attack. He tuned it out and waited for Grigory's next move.
"I also heard that you were sent back to the human realm. I didn't expect you to be here today."
Growing impatient, Coal stepped forward and aimed the sword at Grigory's side. "Everleaf is my home. I'm not going anywhere."
Grigory dodged. He met Coal's attack with a speed Coal barely registered. "Many fey disagree with you."
"The only opinion that matters is Chaley's, and she wants me here." Coal swept around and came at Grigory's other side.
Grigory did not meet his attack this time, he simply moved out of Coal's way and stepped his foot out. Too late to react, Coal tripped.
As Coal tried to stand, Grigory put his foot on Coal's back, pushing him back to the ground. "Anger is good, especially if it's righteous, but you must control it just as you must control a weapon. Unleashed anger will get you killed just as if you've fallen onto your own sword."
Coal nodded, letting his anger dissipate.
Grigory removed his foot. "How is the sword handling?" he asked.
Coal stretched, still feeling the imprint where Grigory's foot had been. "Fine."
"It doesn't seem right to me." Grigory inspected the sword. "Something is off."
"It's fine with me. It's smooth. No vibrations." Coal laughed. "It actually seemed happy to see
me today."
Grigory frowned. "What do you mean it felt happy?"
"I'm not sure. I think it was waiting for me."
"You should not be able to register its feelings. For one, you're human. Two, you're not its wielder, and three, you haven't been bonded to it."
"Well ... uhh ... I've been feeling it since yesterday."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"I thought that was a good thing," Coal answered.
"Let's trade swords. We'll see if I have that same sensation."
"But first," Coal said, "is the offer for a full apprenticeship still open?"
Grigory paused. "Are you accepting it?"
"I want to accept." Coal licked his lips. "But I need to know you're not offering me the apprenticeship out of pity. I'm human. I can't do magic, so I'll never be as great as you."
Madoc was right about one thing at least. He needed to be away from Chalcedony. If his presence endangered her, he would leave. In the meanwhile, apprenticing with Grigory would move Coal out of Legacy and away from Chalcedony. That should be enough to pacify Madoc and the gossips.
Grigory rested his hands on the hilt of his sword. "You're a coddled, lovesick human. You do not deserve my pity."
Coal ignored the sting in Grigory's last words and bent to one knee. "It would be an honor to be your apprentice, Master."
Chapter Six
Chalcedony basked in the sunlight in the room adjacent to her bedroom. She was half-listening to Djamel's updates on the last batch of rogue fey they'd caught in the human realm.
In truth, she was waiting for Elizabeth to wake up. Bringing the child to Everleaf had felt right. Just as it had when she'd found Coal. Movement out of the corner of her eye caught Chalcedony's attention. Elizabeth entered with her hair disheveled on one side, rubbing her eyes and yawning.
"Good Afternoon, Lizzy. Welcome to Everleaf," Chalcedony said eagerly.
"I made it?" Elizabeth asked, her weariness disappearing. "I'm really in fairyland?"
"Yes." Chalcedony inwardly cringed at the term fairyland.
Elizabeth ran to Chalcedony and leaped into her arms. "Thank you for bringing me here. Thank you. Thank you." She kissed Chalcedony's cheek repeatedly, before she paused, finally realizing Djamel was in the room. "Is this your prince?"
"No. This is Djamel. He is one of my shadow guards." Chalcedony remembered the human term for a shadow was different.
"Hello, Elizabeth," Djamel said. His voice was like ice cream, sweet and thick.
Elizabeth studied Djamel, staring him up and down. "He is much too princely to be a guard. Are you secretly in love?"
Elizabeth wasn't half wrong. Madoc had been hinting for months that Chalcedony should take Djamel or Tetrick for a mate. Her own father had been her mother's shadow. But she hadn't let her mind go there. It was too early for her to choose a mate. She wasn't going to torture herself until she had to.
"No, we are not secretly in love," Chalcedony said.
Elizabeth cut her deep caramel-colored eyes towards Chalcedony, looking as if she didn't believe her. "I can't find my tiara."
"Your what?" Chalcedony asked.
"My tiara." Elizabeth jumped from Chalcedony's arms. "I cannot be a princess without my tiara. It's what makes me special."
"I don't have a tiara, but I'm still a princess."
Elizabeth placed her hands on her hips and cocked an eyebrow. "Well, you're not doing it right."
"I don't know where your tiara is." Chalcedony was losing patience.
"Please! Please!" Elizabeth screamed, her waist-length hair swaying back and forth as she stomped her feet. "I can't be a princess without my tiara. Will you please help me look for it?"
Djamel stood and surveyed the room as if he was searching for something to attack. "What's wrong with her?"
"I don't know." When Coal had arrived from the human realm, he never screamed or cried. "Mireya!" Chalcedony shouted, almost as loud as Elizabeth.
Mireya ran into Chalcedony's room, wide-eyed and gasping for breath. "Princess, what is it?"
"Mireya, this is Elizabeth, the child I was telling you about." Chalcedony tried to speak over Elizabeth's cries.
"Well, you just about had my heart bursting out of my chest, Princess." Mireya faced Elizabeth. "Why are you crying, child?"
Elizabeth peered hatefully at the elf and began to cry again.
"Lizzy has lost her tiara." Chalcedony realized she would have to treat the child the way she treated an angry ambassador: pretend to care. "She can't be a proper princess without it. I think we left it in Coal's room. Please find it for her. It's a matter of life and death. Isn't it, Lizzy?"
Elizabeth stopped crying to answer the question. "Yeah, it's a matter of life and death. I can't be a princess without it."
"I'll get right to it." Mireya nodded to Chalcedony and walked out of the room.
Chalcedony faced Djamel. "We'll finish this tomorrow."
"Yes, Princess." Djamel bowed and left.
Tears stained Elizabeth's face. Chalcedony had never been allowed to cry as a child. "While Mireya looks for your tiara, let me share a secret with you."
"Okay," Elizabeth said, sniffling.
Chalcedony led the girl by her small hands to the portrait that hung across from Chalcedony's desk.
"This is my mother. She taught me that princesses never lose control. They never cry."
"Princesses cry all the time on TV."
"This isn't a movie. In real life, princesses who cry will not remain a princess for very long."
Elizabeth sniffled again. "Your mom is pretty. Why is she white and you're black?"
"I changed my skin color."
Her forehead crinkled as if she was trying to imagine something. "Why would you do that?"
"I liked this color."
"Can you change into my color?"
"Yes, if I wanted to."
"Oh. That's cool. Why is this sword here?" Elizabeth rubbed her hands over the glass case directly below the portrait.
"This was my mother's sword, Mayhem." Chalcedony gazed at the steel sword with its blue hilt. "It's a symbol of protection and strength. I used to beg my mother to let me play with it, even though I knew it was made just for her. If anyone else touched it, they'd die. One day, while the sword lay in its scabbard on my mother's bed, I touched it. Can you guess what happened?"
"You died?" Elizabeth giggled.
"Almost," Chalcedony said. "But before I passed out, Mayhem spoke to me. Just like I knew it would."
"What did it say?" Elizabeth leaned closer, suddenly serious.
Chalcedony shrugged. "I don't remember what it said, but it had spoken to me. That was all I cared about."
"But why did she need a sword? Aren't soldiers supposed to protect you?"
"Queens are more powerful than other fey. Once I'm queen, the power that has kept my abilities reined in will be released. I will be more powerful than twenty soldiers. My own sword will be my symbol of power."
"But princesses don't fight. They get rescued by princes."
"There are no princes here, Lizzy. We have to rescue ourselves or we die."
Elizabeth turned back towards the sword. "Is your mother dead?"
"Yes."
Elizabeth nodded. "Lots of princesses lose their parents on TV. I hope I never lose my mom."
"I'll never be able to do that." Coal anxiously watched Grigory recite incantations into a soldier's sword. It had only been a day since he'd accepted the apprenticeship, and already he felt overwhelmed.
Grigory straightened before he faced Coal. "What exactly are the rules about humans and magic?"
"Humans can't do magic, nor are we allowed to," Coal said automatically. That fact had been taught to him the moment he entered the fey realm.
"Has there ever been a moment you did magic in the entire time you were here?"
Coal hesitated. "One time." He'd promised Chalcedony he would never tell anyone. But other than Chalcedony, Grigory was t
he only person he trusted. Coal took a deep breath and continued. "Chalcedony has a secret portal out of Legacy. One day, Chalcedony found me moping in my room, and she asked me what was wrong. I told her I was sad because everyone treated me like I didn't belong, and that I wished I could do magic like her, maybe the others would be nice to me. She felt bad for me so she showed me her secret portal."
Coal waited for Grigory to speak. When he didn't, Coal continued.
"She said if I had a little bit of magic, even if it was as small as an apple seed, I could use her portal. Later that night, she taught me the spell, and we used it to travel into the forest."
"Did using the portal make you feel as if you belonged?"
"Others were still rude to me, but it helped. Knowing I had a little bit of magic made me feel as if I belonged."
Grigory grinned, making him appear ten years younger. "Magic as small as an apple seed."
"Excuse me?"
"If seeds are nurtured, they grow stronger and taller. Come over here," Grigory said. "There is no great secret to magic. Any fey would tell you that. But if you don't use it, how will it grow?" He took Coal's hand. "Do you feel anything in my hand?"
"It feels warm."
"What makes it warm? What makes your heart beat and your blood flow? What makes you move?"
Coal stayed silent, assuming the answer taught to him in school about the heart, blood, and proteins probably wasn't the response Grigory was looking for.
"Humans believe all things can be explained by science. But science can't explain why we are here. That is one of a few distinctions that separate humans from fey.
"Fey believe it is magic that makes our blood flow, our legs move, and in turn, makes some of us fly, some of us change colors and some forge swords that equal no other. The beautiful chaos of the mind, magic, and soul cannot be explained. It can only be accepted and explored. The differences are as distinct and natural as blue or green eyes. For example, Princess Chalcedony tries her best to change the color of her eyes, but she can't. Some things are fluid, some aren't.
Coal: Book One of the Everleaf Series Page 5