Coal: Book One of the Everleaf Series

by Constance Burris

  "Are you sure they're here, Princess?" Madoc asked. So far, he had been calm through the whole ordeal, but his passivity meant nothing. This is what he'd been warning her about. This is what he had been expecting.

  "His trail leads here. This is where he rested."

  "Are you sure?"

  "Stop asking me stupid questions. Of course, I'm sure. He's trying to take her back to the human realm. You saw their trail as clearly as I did."

  Why the hell did it disappear?

  She wanted to believe they had been kidnapped. But only Coal, in his ignorance, would have thought this was the way to the human realm. She was stupid to have trusted him, stupid to have shown him the way there.

  "They shouldn't have made it this far. Someone is hiding them."

  "Who would risk punishment to help him?" Madoc asked.

  "I only know of one person who would do that."

  She headed back to Legacy.

  Madoc grinned as he watched Everleaf's future queen stalk away. Suddenly, he was happy he hadn't had the boy killed. Common sense had told him to get rid of the boy long ago, but the prophets had told him to keep the boy around, despite the gossip and the princess's failure to mature as he'd hoped. But within the past hour, she'd matured exponentially. Overnight, she'd become determined, calculated, and focused.

  He had no idea how this was going to play out. Chalcedony was right. The boy shouldn't have been able to make it this far. The admission made him more than a little bit uncomfortable. He hadn't been in a situation where he didn't know the outcome since before Chalcedony's mother died. Knowing the end of everything made life dull. These were the moments he lived for.

  Coal woke feeling as if he'd overslept and was late again for apprenticing with Grigory. However, when his eyes focused on a dirt ceiling in a dimly lit room, he knew he wasn't home.

  His heart quickened as he remembered running away with Elizabeth to take her home. A wave of defeat passed over him. He'd failed. This dark, dank room was probably an underground cell at a labor camp. Was Elizabeth here, too? Or had he made it worse, and she'd already been executed?

  Through the flickering light of a candle hanging across the room, Coal saw that Mischief and his cloak were lying on the table next to him.

  The door opened. Coal instinctively grabbed the sword and pointed it towards the opening. He was sure there were guards everywhere, but if they were stupid enough to leave his sword, maybe he had a small chance of fighting his way out.

  A blonde female dwarf with light-blue eyes walked into the room.

  "Who are you?" he asked, looking past the dwarf, expecting someone bigger and scarier. "Where is Lizzy?"

  She cocked an eyebrow while she glared at his sword. "It's impolite to point."

  "Where is Lizzy?" He gripped the sword tighter, taking comfort in the familiar metal, which was, as usual, anxious for a fight.

  "Please don't point your sword at me," she said with a clenched jaw.

  "I won't hurt you if you tell me where Lizzy is."

  She ducked under the sword and then appeared on his other side. "I told you to put the sword down." She jumped and hit him in the chest with her fist.

  His heart skipped a beat, and then another, making it impossible for him to breathe or think coherently. As he struggled to breathe, he saw the dwarf step back and run towards him. Before he could move out of the way, she rammed into his stomach, knocking him over. The last thing he felt was something hard hitting the back of his head.

  "Coal, are you awake?" Something jostled him. "Wake up. It's time to eat."

  Coal sat up quickly, heart racing and his hand clutching his chest.

  "Lizzy, are you okay?" he asked in a hurried voice. "Did that dwarf hurt you?" His eyes darted back and forth as he searched the room for the small blonde.

  "Why would Haline hurt me?" Elizabeth asked. Her dress from the party had been replaced by a long black shirt tied at the waist with a leather belt. "Haline said it's time for you to wake up. You've been asleep for a long time."

  "Who is Haline?" He stood and rubbed the bump on the back of his head. "Are we at the labor camp?"

  "No, we're at Haline's house." Elizabeth's tone suggested that Coal was supposed to have known the answer already.

  "Where is my sword?"

  "I don't know. Let's go. I'm starving." She tugged at his arm.

  "No. It's not safe. That dwarf is dangerous." Coal suppressed the urge to rub the bump on the back of his head once again. "We have to get out of here."

  "I'm an itty bitty dwarf." Coal recognized the sultry voice of the fey that had knocked him unconscious. "How dangerous can I be?"

  He pulled Elizabeth behind him. "Where is my sword? We're getting out of here."

  "The girl is obviously safe." Haline's voice remained calm and innocent as if she hadn't attacked him.

  Elizabeth ducked under Coal's arm and ran to Haline. "Stop being mean. She's helping us."

  The dwarf and Elizabeth were the same height. Haline stared at Coal with frigid blue eyes, before she winked and faced Elizabeth. "I'm starving, Lizzy. Let's go eat."

  Elizabeth bit her lip, looking anxiously from Haline to Coal. "Are you coming? I promise she's nice."

  Whoever the dwarf was, she had completely fooled Elizabeth. "Give me my sword back if you're not going to harm us," he ordered.

  "You attacked me. You'll get it back when you leave. House rules," Haline said before she left the room. Elizabeth hesitated for a moment before she followed.

  Coal rubbed his flattened afro as he tried to figure out what had just happened. Before he could think of any answers, he smelled something delicious. The aroma reminded him he hadn't eaten since this morning.

  Elizabeth beamed with joy when Coal sat in the small chair at the dwarf-sized table. Apparently, they had been expecting him because there was already a bowl full of something hot and steaming sitting in front of him.

  "It's rabbit stew." Elizabeth dipped a spoon into her bowl and slurped. "I helped Haline skin it while you were asleep."

  Elizabeth's joy was infectious. Then he recalled getting hit in the chest. He needed answers before he ate. He gazed towards the dwarf. "Where are we?"

  "In my home."

  "Underground?"

  "Yes," Elizabeth answered for Haline, nearly bouncing out of her chair. "I've never been in an underground house. It's so cool."

  "How did we get here?"

  Elizabeth's excitement disappeared. She stared at her stew as if she'd lost a tiara in it.

  Haline placed her spoon beside her bowl. "I found the girl crying in the woods while you were forcing her back to Legacy. It was obvious she didn't want to go, so I shot you with a poisoned dart and dragged you here."

  "What do you mean I was trying to drag her to Legacy? I was sick, I remember that, but I was trying to take her to ..." Coal shifted in his too-small seat. "... Legacy. Then you know who we are?"

  "How many humans do you think get lost in these woods? Of course, I know who you are: the queenling's toys. Although I heard she don't much care for the girl."

  He stared at his bowl, moving the chunks of meat and carrots around in a circle. His appetite had disappeared. "Are you going to turn us in?"

  "I don't like you, but I like the girl. I'd hate to see her go to the weavers."

  Haline leaned towards Coal and whispered, "But why give up your life of luxury for this child? If you return her, the princess would forgive you. It's no secret she loves you."

  My life of luxury? Did the entire realm think he was coddled and spoiled? "I promised Lizzy I'd take her home. I just didn't know I would get sick."

  "You weren't sick. You were hexed."

  He laughed uncomfortably. "I would know if I had been under a spell. I was just sick."

  "The spell was meant to make you ill if you ever ran away. You're lucky I had the counter spell and potions needed to reverse it."

  He'd heard of similar spells being cast on children and wandering spouses. Coal
shifted in his chair as he recalled the intense desire he'd felt to return to Legacy.

  "I've been away from Legacy before, and I've never been sick."

  "There is a difference between being away and running away."

  "I was coming back as soon as Lizzy was back in the human realm."

  "If you truly believed that, you wouldn't have gotten sick. By the way, how were you going to get her home?" Haline started eating again.

  He didn't know if he should trust her, but he didn't have any choice. "I was taking her to the door for the human realm. We were almost there. I just couldn't find it before I got sick." He suppressed a groan as he thought about all the trouble he had gotten them in for nothing. "The door is probably guarded now. I'll never be able to get her through it."

  "There ain't a door there," Haline said with a mouth full of meat.

  "Yes, there is. That's how Lizzy got here."

  Haline shook her head as she rolled her eyes. "Not anymore. It moved."

  "How is that possible? Chalcedony would have told me if it moved."

  "Just like she told you that you were under a wandering spell." She picked up her spoon and sipped more of the stew. After her bowl was empty, she leaned back. "That door is gone. It opens for three days every three months in Everleaf and then it moves to a different location. And I know where it's going next."

  "Can you show us?" he asked, still doubting her.

  "We're ready to go," Elizabeth said. "We've just been waiting for you to wake up. Haline says she'll come with us to take me home."

  He cut his eyes towards Haline, trying to discover a lie in what she'd told them. "Why are you helping us? Why haven't you turned us in?"

  She smiled the same wicked expression she'd worn before she'd knocked him unconscious. "I can't let a defenseless child go to the weavers just because the princess doesn't have the balls to change her own damn laws."

  With the morning sun to his back and a hammer in his hand, Grigory stood in front of the anvil. Usually, this was his favorite part: forming an untouched piece of steel into art. Today, however, his thoughts were elsewhere, and he couldn't enjoy his work. Why did the boy take off? He knew Coal well enough to know why he took the girl. But where did Coal expect to go? How the hell did he expect to escape Princess Chalcedony and her horde?

  Grigory had always suspected the boy was destined to be something more than the queenling's lackey. And when he'd told Grigory that he felt the soul in Chalcedony's sword, it was confirmed. No magic-less human should have been able to detect the sword's soul, especially if Grigory could not.

  He was about to begin working when he felt a presence behind him. He turned. Once his eyes adjusted to the sun, he saw who it was. "Princess! I apologize. I didn't hear you." He placed his hammer on the anvil and bowed.

  "I understand. You were occupied with other things." She stood across from him, wearing long black pants and a long-sleeved shirt.

  "Have you found Coal and the girl?" He wiped the sweat from his brow and let hope seep into his voice.

  "No." She walked casually around the outside of the forge until she was standing directly in front of him. "Do you know where they might be?"

  "No, Princess."

  "We don't talk much, but I know you and Coal are close. I also know you're a skilled fighter, not just a forger. The scars on your face ..." She touched the scar underneath his missing eye. He grimaced as the flow of her power sent a sharp pain down his spine. "... are not from fire. Every soldier in my army fears and respects you. From what I remember, my mother always spoke well of you. But if I find out you know anything about where Coal is ..." She paused, leaning in closer. "Or if I discover you were involved in any way, your reputation will not be able to save you."

  "Coal is precious to me, but you represent the land that I love. I am your servant just as I was for your mother."

  She shrugged as if she didn't believe him, or she didn't care. "Did you know he took my sword?"

  "No, I didn't. That part of the story hadn't reached me."

  Her mood had changed. The air shifted. Her hardness was replaced by an easy familiarity, but he didn't let himself relax.

  "How long will it take to make me another?" she asked.

  "You don't plan to have it back before your coronation?" He couldn't fathom Coal being gone much longer. He was barely older than a child. "It shouldn't take long to make another. There was a second sword almost as good."

  "Almost as good? So I will have the second best?" she asked as if she already knew the answer.

  "Finding something better would take more time, and I don't think you'd have it before your coronation."

  "I already have one. I just need you to make sure I can use it." She pulled a wrapped sword from the sheath on her back and set it on the anvil next to the cooled metal. Grigory approached and slowly peeled back the leather wrapping.

  "That's your mother's sword." He stepped back. "It's already been bonded."

  "I know," she replied." Do you think I can use it?"

  "Once a sword has been bonded, no one else can use it."

  "I want this one," Princess Chalcedony said. "Fix it for me."

  "There is nothing to fix."

  "It doesn't matter. I want to take this one." She sounded as though she was asking for something simple and mundane, instead of something that had tried to kill her.

  "Princess Chalcedony, this sword has already tried to kill you once. If you hadn't been a direct descendant of the queen, you would have died."

  "When I touched it, it spoke to me. For a brief moment, it had accepted me. I loved my mother, but she has been gone for five years. Shouldn't it accept me now?"

  "There is no way I can take away the bonding. But you're right. The binding magic could have naturally degraded to the point where it would accept a blood descendant."

  She smiled and met his eyes. She'd made her decision before she'd approached him.

  Before he could stop her, she reached for the unwrapped sword with her bare hands, lifted it, and looked squarely at Grigory. "I feel it. It's accepted me." Then, her knees buckled, and she fell onto the ash-covered ground.

  Chalcedony slowly became aware of Madoc and Grigory arguing. From the warmth of the blanket wrapped around her, she knew she was in her own bed instead of lying in the dirt at Grigory's forge. Passing out had been embarrassing, but she'd done what she'd intended. Mayhem wanted to be wielded. She'd felt that when she'd touched it. She just needed to work around its binding. With a little practice, she knew she could do it. She sat up and yawned, amazed at how rested she felt.

  "Are you okay, Princess?" Grigory asked.

  "I'm fine. How long have I been asleep?"

  "You were not asleep. You were unconscious." Madoc spoke as if he was accusing her of trying to commit suicide.

  "But your breathing was steady, unlike last time," Grigory said. "You were only out for a few hours. When you were younger, you were out for two days."

  "How could you have been so irresponsible to have let her use that weapon?" Madoc asked.

  "Where is the sword?" Chalcedony didn't have the patience to listen to Madoc argue. She'd wasted too much time already.

  "What do you mean where is the sword? You couldn't even touch it without passing out," Madoc said.

  "I didn't die. That's a good sign." She stepped out of the bed, feeling rested and invigorated. It was time to start the hunt and bring Coal back. "Bring me the sword, Grigory. Madoc, tell the guards to prepare the dragons. We're leaving in twenty minutes."

  Coal finished eating and stepped into the dwarf's living area. It was not much different from the room he'd woken in. An intricate web of tree and plant roots crisscrossed the ceiling and walls. Instead of dirt, wooden planks lined the floor. The planks squeaked as he walked on them.

  Directly across from him, Elizabeth and Haline were stabbing a hay-filled dummy with a dagger.

  "What's going on?" he asked.

  "Haline is teaching me how to fight."
Elizabeth jabbed at the figure twice as fast.

  "You gave her a knife?"

  "So?" Haline asked.

  "She's too young."

  "No, I'm not." Elizabeth stabbed the fake torso below its neck.

  "There is no such thing as too young to use a knife," Haline said. "How are you feeling?"

  Coal rubbed the back of his neck. "Much better. Maybe you were right about the wandering spell."

  "I know I was right. We're leaving."

  "How are we going to get past Chaley's soldiers? By now, they'll have noticed we're gone."

  "Let me worry about that." She walked into the room he'd come from and returned with Mischief and a pair of black leather gloves.

  "Something isn't right, Madoc." They had been flying over the forest for hours. There were on the ground now, letting the dragons rest. "There is no word from the prophets or truthsayers?"

  "No, they haven't seen anything."

  "Do you think it's possible Coal and Lizzy were able to travel to the human realm?"

  "Impossible. The door closed days ago."

  We're at a disadvantage. We need to recover it.

  When she and Coal had played hide-and-seek as kids, she'd always beaten him. Always. Where was he now? You're not above me, she thought, staring at the grazing dragons. You're not in front of me.

  "Madoc." Chalcedony stood and wiped the grass from her pants.

  "Yes," he answered.

  "Are there any gnomes or dwarves in these woods?"

  "No, the forests were cleared centuries ago."

  "Bring me Ambassador Eli. I need to ask him some questions."

  Chapter Eleven

  Coal had always had a fascination with caves and secret passageways, so he'd been excited when he'd first stepped into the dimly lit underground tunnel, but his eagerness had dissipated a few miles ago. The deeper they traveled along the tunnel, the hotter it became. It felt as if he'd been walking for days instead of a few hours.

  Haline kept at least ten paces in front of Coal and Elizabeth. She looked as if she'd just begun the trek. Neither the heat nor the thin, dry air affected her.