by Bo Savino
Chapter 7: The Heart of New Faery
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Reggie took a quick look at his twin and saw her mouth open with surprise. He realized that he was doing the same thing and closed it before looking back at the scene below.
Plants, trees, flowers—all manner of botanical oddities such as he had never seen before were spread out across a vast area. His foster mother loved beautiful plants and would often take him and Ryssa to the botanical gardens to wander the paths to enjoy their peace and beauty. She knew all there was to know about every plant in those gardens. He wondered if she had ever seen anything like this. He’d bet she hadn’t.
Ryssa’s thoughts followed the same lines as Reggie. This was a garden unlike anything she had ever seen, and she wished Debra Chambly could be here to share it with them. Then she blinked. A woman walked into a square of the garden and disappeared. A man stepped out of a tree.
“Aurelius.” She blinked again. “That’s not a garden below, is it?”
“That’s New Faery City.” Aurelius smiled.
“What do you mean?” Reggie peered closely.
“The garden, Regg—the garden is the city.” Ryssa was pleased to figure out something before her twin for a change.
Reggie was sure his mouth had to be open again. His sister was right. The plants were the houses and shops, interspersed with natural-looking stonework here and there. What he had mistaken for garden paths were actually streets where people walked from one place to the next. Well, not all of them were walking. Some were flying, just above the ground, with a variety of wings in all shapes and sizes. A few flew above the plant-city, taking a more direct route to whatever destination they had in mind. They all moved in a single direction.
Above the street level of the city, lights of every imaginable hue flitted about. It looked like a rainbow of fireflies. There were hundreds of them, maybe more. The concentration of lights became denser the further they moved into the city. Like everyone else, including themselves, Reggie noted, they seemed to be heading toward a central location. The whole scene was so vivid it almost hurt Reggie’s eyes to look at it, and yet he couldn’t tear his gaze away. But it was the next sight that made his breath catch in his throat. He now knew where everyone was heading.
At what appeared to be the center of the city was an enormous tree that stood above all the rest. If he were to judge by the size of the people from this distance, he would guess the trunk to be over four hundred feet in diameter—at least. It grew out of a large mound. Some of the roots were exposed to form stairs and archways. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how deep into the earth they would have to go to support the bulk of a tree that size.
The upper branches formed the dome of a leafy green canopy that spread outward in a full circle to span another two hundred feet from the trunk. From the mound to the canopy on the lower portion of the trunk were places where, years ago, the branches had been trimmed to give height to the canopy above. At the places where the branches had been cut away were crystal windows, opalescent in color. Most of the windows had faces peering out of them.
The lights that he took to be fireflies danced in and out of the branches of the massive tree. Upon closer inspection, he saw people sitting among the branches, some waving to others below, others chatting with those sitting next to them. The scene held all of the cheerfulness and excitement of a big event.
He was startled when a troop of creatures whizzed past him through the air. They were small, with butterfly wings and insect-like bodies that had a humanoid form. The faces morphed back and forth between round and beautiful to pinched and hideous with fangs extending down over their lower lips. Reggie looked to Aurelius.
“Not all of Faery is beautiful,” Aurelius answered his unspoken question, “although beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Some of Faery is quite ugly and very, very dangerous. In Faery, many of the old tales live, and the stories that can bring either dream or nightmare are often more real than you know.”
Aurelius urged his mount downward, leaving the twins to follow. Reggie found that he didn’t have to direct his mount. It just followed Aurelius’ lead, as did Ryssa’s. The closer they drew to the ground, the better Reggie understood what Aurelius meant about the stuff of dreams and nightmares. It was all gathered in one place—the place where their uncle seemed to be taking them.
The dragonflies landed on a clear patch of green grass just outside the dome of the tree. Hammie arrived first and was already scrambling off his mount by the time the other three set down on firm ground.
“Look out!” The warning came from the crowd gathered at the edges of the landing field.
Without warning, the dragonflies twisted, tossing the three riders off their backs to roll on the ground before taking off again into the air. Aurelius rolled to his feet with a graceful somersault, as compared to the tangled pile the twins landed in. Unknown hands grabbed Reggie and Ryssa out of the way just in time for another troop of dragonflies to land, their riders smirking with malicious amusement.
Reggie was helped to his feet by a strange boy with a sullen look and black hair that hung raggedly in his eyes. Before he had a chance to thank him, the boy vanished into the crowd. Ryssa was helped to her feet by Hammie. Aurelius stood with a lack of concern, looking as though he had intended his near-graceful dismount. Reggie thought he saw a flash of anger cross his uncle’s green eyes before it was replaced by a cool glance at the group now occupying the landing field.
“Still playing at being the bully, eh, Pyro?” Aurelius looked bored. “It grows more tiresome every day.”
“Who are these jokers?” Reggie whispered to Hammie, who was trying to help brush grass and dirt from Ryssa’s clothes while she swatted his hands to get him to stop.
“Flamebringer family,” Hammie whispered back. He gave Reggie a knowing stare as though that explained it all. When it didn’t seem to register, he added, “The worst prigs of the Seelie Court.”
Reggie still didn’t understand, but nodded as though he did.
He felt someone at his back and took a quick look to see Jet standing behind him, with Moira moving up behind Ryssa. They didn’t appear to have broken a sweat, and he was amazed they had made such good time. He’d have to ask them about that later. Reggie glanced first at Aurelius and then took a closer look at the others.
The man his uncle called Pyro had flame-colored hair that fell in stylish waves down his back. His clothing consisted of bright, flamboyant tones of oranges, yellows and reds. All in all, Reggie thought he looked like a living, breathing flame. Pyro Flamebringer was a fitting name. Except for the eyes—they were a cold, ice blue without a trace of warmth.
Trust no one. Reggie shuddered at the thought. It definitely seemed to apply here.
He looked to the other Flamebringers. Each was unique, but there didn’t appear to be a family resemblance. He would have to remind Aurelius to explain this whole concept of family in Faery. Movement behind Pyro caught his eye, and Reggie looked closer to see an almost duplicate version of the arrogant man staring back, but from a much younger face.
Now that definitely has to be a blood relation, Reggie thought. But the ice hadn’t frozen the boy’s eyes like the older man’s, or at least not yet. The eyes watched him curiously, but turned cold when he was caught staring. Reggie saw the boy tug on the arm of the older man. Pyro looked down in annoyance and then over to Reggie and Ryssa.
“What do we have here?” Pyro took a step closer to get a better look. Aurelius moved to block his view. Pyro was taken aback by the other man’s move, but recovered quickly. “Is this all that’s left of your motley little assortment of potentials?” Pyro smiled smugly at the superior numbers of his group. “I guess the odds are in our favor.” His cold eyes turned to Moira and Jet. “Especially considering the alternatives.”
“It is character that is needed on the throne of Faery,” Aurelius said with an air of quiet dignity, “not arrogance.”
“What you call arrogance, Starborn,
I call strength of confidence. And it is strength that is needed on the throne of Faery.”
Musical chimes filled the air, the sound coming from the tree. Tiny fragments of crystal, each with a unique tone, were attached to its leaves. Although he didn’t feel any wind, the leaves were rustling. A man dressed in white and red placed a hand on Pyro’s shoulder. Pyro glared one last time at Aurelius before nodding in deference to the other man. A lady, dressed in matching reds and whites, put a hand on the man’s arm. Pyro followed behind them, with the rest of the Flamebringer group tagging along as they headed toward the tree.
Aurelius waited until they had left. Frowning a moment, he looked around the area, as though expecting someone. The crowd was moving toward the tree, a solid wave of people entering a large archway at the base that led down into the mound. Several heads cut across the path of that wave, coming toward the landing field. When they broke through the throng, Reggie saw five people headed their way, two children and three adults.
One of the women stepped forward. For the most part, she reminded Reggie of a younger version of Mary, but she was much taller, not quite as round, with longer hair, and clothes that actually matched.
“Are these the children, Aurelius?” Her eyes lit with excitement. She hugged Moira and Jet and ruffled Hammie’s hair with genuine affection. “It’s good to see you three back again.” She looked to Reggie. “You are the spitting image of Markus! You must be Reginald.”
“Reggie,” he mumbled.
“Reggie it is, dear,” the woman said without batting an eyelash. “I’m Mellie Starborn. And you must be Maryssa!” Her hands clapped. “Oh, you’ll be turning some heads in a few years.” She looked to see Hammie staring at Ryssa. “Or maybe you already are.”
The boy blushed and looked away.
“Come along, Mellie.” Aurelius gestured toward the thinning crowd. “Almost everyone is inside. We’ll get reacquainted later.”
“Yes, of course.” Mellie waited until Aurelius turned away, and then rolled her eyes at the children and lowered her voice. “Bit of a stuffed shirt, that one.”
“I heard that,” Aurelius said without turning.
“You were meant to, you big oaf.” She shrugged with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. Reggie and Ryssa couldn’t help but warm to her. “Come along children. We must take our places in the Court.”
Reggie and Ryssa were unable to keep from staring at everything around them. Reggie saw the awe he knew had to be showing in his face mirrored in that of his twin. He didn’t want to look out of place, so he tried to put on a mask of indifference. When they entered the archway of roots into the mound beneath the tree, he was back to awestruck.
The inside was much bigger than the outside could have possibly allowed. They stepped down into a crystal room that in size, with the rows of seats encircling a raised platform in the center, reminded Reggie of a concert arena. The walls and ceiling formed a single, sweeping dome of milky-colored crystal with prismatic colors dancing in muted tones across the surface. The polished wood seats and stairs descended toward the center floor. Reggie looked closer, but saw no seams, no nails. In fact, it appeared the wood was actually part of the tree roots. This meant the entire room had been grown into that shape. He wanted to take a closer look the first chance he had.
When they had almost reached the level of the floor, Aurelius led them into a section of seats where others were already waiting. The spectators gaped at Reggie and Ryssa, giving rise to a flurry of whispers.
“Not rude at all, are they?” Ryssa whispered to Reggie.
“About as rude as you’re being right now,” he snapped, wincing at the hurt in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m a little on edge.”
“I’m scared too.” She grabbed his hand. He gave it a squeeze, and they moved to sit where Aurelius indicated.
Reggie looked around the room and saw that the seats were sectioned off in an odd manner. There were two distinct sections of seating, upper and lower. The upper section looked almost like bleachers. The ones who sat in those seats were the ones who were less than human looking, although they each sat with others of their own kind. There seemed to be some sort of division between the seating, half on one side and half on the other. Without knowing more about how the Courts worked, his best guess was that it had something to do with the Seelie and Unseelie separations among the Faery.
The lower seats were almost level with the raised platform in the center. A moat surrounded the platform, and within it creatures could be seen swimming.
“Regg, is that a mermaid?”
Reggie looked in the direction she was pointing, his eyes widening. He thought back to the line that Terry had written:
If any of what I’ve found is true, then everything is going to be really strange for you from this point forward.
That was the understatement of the year. He was starting to believe the information Terry had sent along with them was going to be very valuable.
The lower seats were divided into fourteen separate and distinct sections. From each of the sections, a wooden walkway went directly across to the center platform, forming a series of bridges over the water. He could see the Flamebringer family on the other side of the hall from the Starborn seating, a banner of white and red hanging below their section. It was the same white and red as the clothing he had noticed worn by the man and woman who had been outside with Pyro.
Next to that section was another group where several members wore black and red. He noticed a color theme around the room. White with red, blue, purple, green, brown or orange—and then next to each were people and banners bearing black with the same color. He looked at some of those in his own section. Aurelius had taken off his cloak and the clothing that he wore beneath was white with silver. Several others in the section wore the same pattern of color.
“I wonder who that guy is?” Ryssa nudged Reggie. He looked where she was pointing and saw a man sitting alone in an otherwise empty section of seats. The colors he wore were black and silver.
“Aurelius.” Reggie leaned forward. “What do the colors mean?”
“They represent the color of each of the different magics aligned with each of the families, or Houses.” His uncle indicated the seats across the way. “Over there, the House of Flamebringer. The red identifies the strength of the Fire element in their magic, while the white marks them as members of the Seelie Court. Next to them, the red and black. The House of Emberlight. Again, red for the Fire elemental magic, while the black marks them as Unseelie.”
“So the silver is for what?” Ryssa asked.
“Celestial magic.”
“And the Starborn House is Seelie Court?” Reggie asked.
Aurelius closed his eyes and blew out a sigh of waning patience.
“Your father was King of the Seelie Court.”
Reggie felt stupid. He had known that. To draw attention away from the heat of embarrassment flushing his face, he nodded his head toward the solitary man in black and silver.
“And what House is he?”
Aurelius’ eyes clouded over. He opened his mouth to say something but then hesitated. The harmonious chimes of the tree rang out again.
“Later,” Aurelius said. “Pay attention now.” He turned to face the center of the room, putting an end to further questions.
Rising from out of the floor of the raised platform came thirteen robed, hooded beings holding hands to surround a tall, slender woman of incredible beauty. Dressed entirely in black, her stylish clothes draped around a trim figure. Thick, shining ebony hair swept down her back all the way to her ankles. The way it sparkled under the opalescent lighting of the dome, it seemed as though tiny stars had been pulled from the sky to twinkle in her hair. Her skin was the palest ivory and flawless in its perfection. High cheekbones and a narrow, refined nose were set above lips of crimson.
Ryssa was both envious and entranced at the same time. Not even movie stars had that kind of beauty in the mortal world. It was a defini
te reminder, if she had really needed one, that she was in a very different world than what she was used to.
With a wave of the woman’s hand, the brown-robed figures broke away and stepped back to form a wider circle at the edges of the platform. Now Ryssa could see that the woman stood on top of a dark, flat crystal, about six feet in diameter. Sitting on the crystal next to her was a black cauldron with decorative inlay.
“Who is she?” Ryssa breathed, not realizing the dome had fallen silent. The woman turned her gaze to Ryssa, who could feel the weight of her stare. Ryssa tried to shrink into her seat. Every eye in the auditorium was focused upon her. Consciously aware of her still damp and bedraggled state, her cheeks flamed with embarrassment. Aurelius put a hand of comfort on her arm, but it did little to make her feel better.
“Of course, it would be a member of your group who would speak with such impudence, Lord Aurelius,” the woman said with amusement that did not match the intensity in her eyes. “Are you deliberately trying to offer insult to the Unseelie Court?”
“If I were to offer insult, Queen Medwyn,” Aurelius said in an emotionless tone, “it would be done more blatantly, and not with a child as the vehicle of deliverance.”
The Queen of the Unseelie Court laughed. The sound of her voice was rich and melodic.
“Of course—your honor would dictate nothing else.” She tapped her finger thoughtfully to the side of her smiling lips. “Still, it makes me wonder what child of Faery would be unaware of who I am.”
“If I might be so bold as to offer the heartstones of our potentials for the competition, you will have your answer, Your Grace.”
“Nicely done, Lord Aurelius.” The Queen tipped her head in a slight nod of agreement. “Very well, I will allow your presentation to be the first. Your secrecy tells me this will provide an interesting turn of events. Bring your heartstones forward.”
Aurelius turned toward the children in the Starborn seats and held out his hand to collect their heartstones. Reggie and Ryssa hesitated until they saw the others give theirs over. Aurelius stood and walked from his seat to the nearest bridge, crossing to the center platform. Queen Medwyn stepped aside, giving him a mocking, gracious sweep of her arm and nod of her head to permit him to pass to the cauldron on top of the crystal. Aurelius held the heartstones together in one hand and separated a single heartstone from the group with his other hand.
“Lester Starborn,” he said the name of the heartstone’s owner with formality, holding it out over the cauldron. The crystal beneath the cauldron flared to life, illuminating the platform with blinding colors. Aurelius dropped the heartstone into the cauldron. The light from the crystal beneath it dimmed, but retained a small amount of light.
Aurelius held out another heartstone. “Jala Starborn.” The crystal flared again, and again Aurelius dropped the heartstone into the cauldron. He continued with each of the stones in his possession, with the same results. “Arden Starborn. Hammie Starborn. Moira and Jet Starborn.” He held both at the same time and then into the cauldron they went. Two remained.
“Reginald and Maryssa Starborn,” he intoned. The stone flared to life, but before he could drop them into the pot, Queen Medwyn grabbed his wrist, her eyes blazing with anger. Whispers buzzed throughout the room.
“What game do you seek to play, old man?” she hissed. The room fell silent. “Reginald and Maryssa are dead.”
“The Lia Fial shines true, Medwyn,” he said gently, without using her title.
The Queen stared at the crystal in shock, and then at the twins. Her gaze softened as her eyes filled with shining tears that did not fall.
“They are alive,” she whispered.
“Yes, Medwyn, and I meant no ill to you in this. I only meant to keep them safe.”
She turned her heated gaze on him. “A curse on you, old man. I mourned them to this very day. I cried—” She bit off the last word and swallowed it, as if suddenly remembering they had a sizeable audience.
She let go of Aurelius’ wrist and stepped back. He dropped the heartstones into the cauldron and turned to walk away from the platform.
“We will have further words on this, Lord Aurelius,” her voice was cool and without emotion.
“I expected as much, Queen Medwyn.” He left the platform without looking back.