“Will you stop it?” Garrett sobbed in frustration, nearly exhausted from the effort of holding Mirion and the others at bay, “I told you I’m a friend of Max!”
“My brother’s dead!” Mirion hissed, swinging drunkenly as she staggered against Garrett’s buffeting will.
“He’s your brother?” Garrett cried, “He thought his whole family was dead. We’ve gotta let him know you’re all right!”
“I don’t believe your lies!” Mirion screamed, falling to her knees again as she slipped on the ice.
A rainbow-colored radiance dazzled Garrett’s eyes as a score of shining wisps squeezed through the seams of the secret door. They bobbed momentarily in the air and then swooped down to swirl excitedly around Garrett, pulsing with the brilliant pleasure of discovery.
Garrett laughed in relief as the door swung open, and Shortgrass flew in with Haven, Mualip, and Sir Baelan close behind.
Mirion screamed in horror as an inky boggart pounced upon her back, curling its ghostly fingers around her throat.
“Get off of her!” Garrett shouted, sending an icy blast through the smoky body of the boggart that only blinked back at him in confusion.
“Ta sheilan dee!” Mualip cried flicking his furry fingers toward the boggart as though shooing it away. The boggart rather guiltily released his hold on the gasping young squire and then slunk away to join the battle with the Astorran knights.
Mirion’s vision cleared at last and she staggered to her feet again, turning toward Garrett with clenched fists.
“Stand down, Mirion!” Sir Baelan cried as he skidded across the icy floor to pull her back.
Mirion turned, hissing with rage, to face Sir Baelan as Haven sprang forward, putting herself and her knife between Garrett and the vengeful girl.
“Vas vaardre va cosheili, na’verrden sha!” Shortgrass shouted, and a pulse of fairy magic swept through the room, rippling the smoky bodies of the boggarts and making the wisps bob like corks in a stream. The Astorran knights suddenly fell silent, no longer trying to fight against the shadows that assailed them. Even Sir Baelan and Mirion stood, stupefied by the fairy’s spell, their eyes unfocused as they regarded each other in dreamy confusion.
Shortgrass himself now swayed unsteadily in the frigid air, and Mualip’s canvas boots slipped wildly across the icy floor as he scurried forward to catch the brassy little fairy. Shortgrass’s glow flickered as he spiraled downward into the selkie’s upraised paws.
The boggarts withdrew their nightmare tendrils from the bodies of the men they clung to, looking slightly disappointed to find their game at its end.
Garrett greeted his rescuers with a grateful smile, cringing a little at the furious look Haven was giving him.
“Hey!” he said wearily, “I found Max’s sister.”
Chapter Twenty-one
The Monastery of Gau Behr
“So, how did you cross the ocean?” Alyss asked. She reached out to pick up the little round seedpod that Zizi dropped on the table in front of her and tossed it across the room again. The little flying creature sped through the air after it with a flick of her feathery tail.
Berrol Veranu smiled as he watched Zizi fetch the seedpod and bring it back to the Arkadi girl. He looked around the table at Marla and others and then leaned back in his chair.
“The Laprian Emissary had me sealed inside a wooden coffer... actually more of a coffin,” he chuckled, “I saw nothing of my journey across the sea, though I do recall a particularly unpleasant time when the Emissary must have flown through a storm.”
“He flew?” Claude asked.
“He is a very large dragon, after all,” Berrol laughed, “I imagine you’ll meet him when we arrive in Maizan.”
“Maizan?” Marla said, looking up from her mostly full cup of blood.
“We’ve had no word yet from the Empress,” her father said, “but I have no doubt she will be anxious to meet you all. It is a month’s journey to the city by boat.”
“Wait, what?” James exclaimed from the far end of the table.
“You are all now guests of the Laprian empress,” Berrol said, giving the former boatman a level stare, “As she commands, you will do.”
“I got a contract with House Bremmer!” James protested, lifting his hands in exasperation. His borrowed robe of saffron-colored silk hung open to expose the wiry black hair that covered his chest.
Berrol snorted in derision. “The House of Bremmer holds little authority here, I’m afraid,” he said.
“And what of the House of Samhaed?” Nerrys demanded from the doorway of Berrol’s parlor.
All eyes turned toward the black-scaled woman as she stepped into the room. A silken sling bound her injured arm against the breast of her white robe, and she swayed a little as she moved toward the table. Her black wings ruffled outward as she quickly regained her balance.
James blurred into action, appearing at the Haedrian woman’s side before anyone else could rise from their chair.
“Take it easy, girl,” he whispered tenderly as she leaned against him for support. Nerrys dwarfed the lean vampire with her broad shouldered frame. Thin membranes blinked across her golden eyes as she regarded him with a weary smile on her reptilian lips.
“Lady Haedria,” Berrol said, rising to offer her his chair, “You should be resting.”
Nerrys shook her head as she reached the chair. The clawed fingers of her remaining hand splayed on the polished cherry wood table as she lowered herself into the seat. “I’ve slept long enough,” she sighed. She reached up and gave James a grateful squeeze on his arm as she paused to catch her breath. She turned her gaze toward Marla’s father again as she sat, hunched forward in the chair, letting her wings drape down across its arms on either side.
“Our mission concerns the future of our people,” Nerrys said, “We will not be delayed long here.”
Berrol gave her a grim smile and shook his head. “Whatever mission you had,” he said, “It has changed.”
“I speak for the highest authority,” Nerrys growled, her voice thick with draconic undertones.
“And I serve a higher one still,” Berrol answered back.
“Our father will not...” Nerrys hissed.
“He is my father no more!” Berrol shouted, cutting her off.
Nerrys bared her needle-like teeth in a snarl of rage. “You owe him your loyalty... your very existence, brother!” she raged, rising slightly in her chair as she jabbed a clawed finger toward Marla’s father.
“He gave me in sacrifice to save himself!” Berrol roared, “And, as for my existence, that was no act of love! It was an abomination, a violent and...”
“Stop it!” Marla shouted, and the power of her voice staggered her father against the wall and sent Zizi diving for cover behind Alyss’s chair.
Every eye in the room reflected the golden glow of Marla’s wrath, slowly fading as she drew in a slow breath.
“The enemy we face now is older than Lord Samhaed, older than the Empress of Lapria... older than this world or anything in it!” Marla said, her voice sending little tremors of power through the wood of the table beneath her fingertips as she stood, leaning across to look at each of the others in turn, “It will not be defeated by those who choose to bicker pointlessly. It doesn’t matter who you think is in charge here, because none of us are!”
She paused to let her words sink in. Claude stared back at her with a look of awe-struck wonder on his face.
“This thing we face wants to kill us all... every last living thing in the world, and it will succeed!” she shouted, “It will succeed because it has no other goal... no other reason for its existence than to end us! It will succeed because we can’t agree who’s in charge. We can’t agree who the enemy is, or what we think it wants from us... It doesn’t want anything from us... It just wants us dead!”
Her father’s iron hard eyes tightened as he looked at his daughter, his expression unreadable.
“I’ve met the enemy,” Mar
la cried, “It thought it could use me to destroy this world... It did use me... but, in doing so, it made one mistake... It hurt my friends, and that makes me very angry!”
Alyss gently touched the ivory fang that hung from the chain around her neck, and a single tear streaked down her dusky cheek.
“So I don’t care who you think is in charge,” Marla said, her voice lowering to a deep, draconic thrum, “I don’t care what orders you have or where your allegiance lies. I’m going to stop this thing. I’m going to gather all the forces of this world against it, and I will crush it to dust and cast it back into the void.”
Nerrys blinked, her eyes glistening in the white-gold radiance that now filled the air around Marla’s body. Behind her, James took shelter in the shadow of Nerrys’s wing, his eyes wide with fear.
Zizi suddenly shot forward from behind Alyss’s chair and wrapped her slender body around Marla’s right arm. The little creature chittered happily, her fur and feathers now emitting a luminous silver mist that mingled with the tiny motes of golden light that rose from Marla’s skin.
Marla lifted her arm and looked into the creature’s deep violet eyes as she made happy little singsong noises, hugging Marla tightly with her small legs and coiling tail.
Marla reached up and stroked the soft fur between Zizi’s ears as she smiled down at the little creature.
“I won’t let him hurt you again,” Marla whispered, not really knowing why she said it.
Zizi closed her eyes and let out a rumbling purr.
*******
Marla bid her father good day shortly before dawn. Her heart ached to see the shaken look that still haunted his eyes. She wished that he could have known her before, when she was just Marla, and not... whatever she had become on that island. Of course it was only because of the island that she had been able to find him again at all.
She wandered through the shadows of the garden, struggling with a growing sense of anger at what the Laprians had done. They had robbed her of her father, and him of her childhood. What gave them that right? What Eater of Gods sat upon her throne and issued the edict that tore Marla’s family apart? Did this fabled empress think herself the Dragon Queen by default?
Marla’s fists tightened at her sides as she let out a slow breath like the rumbling aftershock of an earthquake.
“Marla?” Claude whispered as he stepped into view at the curve of the path.
“Claude?” Marla answered, blinking away the brooding rage that now filled her body with a golden heat.
“Are you all right?” Claude asked as he approached without hesitation, reaching out to take her hand. His crimson eyes narrowed with concern for her.
Marla nodded and gave him a tight smile. “I’m fine,” she said.
“You should try to get some rest,” Claude said as he folded his hands around hers, “You’re pushing yourself too hard.”
“I’m fine,” she protested, “I just wanted to watch the dawn... I need to clear my head a little.”
Claude glanced back toward the East with a little frown of misgiving. “I wish you’d rest instead. You still haven’t recovered from your wounds.”
Marla touched her free hand to her ribs, probing gently through the silk of her robe. The numbness where the sunlight had scorched her skin there was gone. She gave a little laugh and shook her head. “I’m fine, Claude,” she insisted, “but you should go... It’s almost dawn.”
“We should go, Marla,” he whispered, “We need to get back to Thrinaar and let them know what happened... We need to let your mother know.”
Marla’s eyes fell, and she let out a heavy sigh. “She won’t be there,” she said, “She’s left the city by now.”
“What?”
Marla looked away, wondering how much she should tell him about her mother’s planned journey. “She’s gone north to find an old friend,” she whispered.
“Even so,” Claude continued, “I don’t trust these people, Marla! They kept your father prisoner here for years, and once they discover who you are... They may never let you go.”
“I need to face them, Claude,” Marla said, pulling her hand from his as she turned to take a few steps away, “I don’t know why exactly... I just feel like I came here for a reason, and I have to... I don’t know...”
“What if that reason was to rescue your father from them?” Claude asked.
She looked back at him, frowning with uncertainty.
“Marla, you brought us here... somehow,” Claude sighed, “and I believe you can take us back the same way.”
“I don’t even know what I did!” she scoffed, “I was scared out of my wits and I just did... something! Who knows if I could do it again, even if I wanted to?”
“No,” he said, shaking his head as he stepped close to her again, “You weren’t scared. I saw you, Marla. There was no fear in you... You were... radiant... beautiful.”
Marla smiled as she reached out and took his hands in hers.
“Take us home, Marla,” Claude whispered as he moved closer still, his breath warm on her cheek.
“I can’t,” she sighed, “I have to know why I came here. I think we’re going to need their help.”
“I don’t want to lose you, Marla,” Claude said.
“You won’t,” she answered with a tight hug, “I promise you won’t.”
Marla held him close and watched over his shoulder as the pink light of dawn began to creep across the sky.
Chapter Twenty-two
Astorra
“Is he gonna be all right?” Garrett asked as he helped Mualip cover the tiny lean-to frame with pine boughs while Haven sheltered Shortgrass’s unconscious and dimly flickering body with her cloak. The girl’s brown hair lay plastered against her forehead by the rain as she crouched over the tiny fairy in the dim light of several concerned wisps hovering overhead.
“The cosheili is a tricky thing,” Mualip chuckled, “I’ve only seen it done a few times before, but, then again, there aren’t that many shufflefoots back home, and the few there are know better than to cross the Amber Court. I’ve never even heard of the spell being used on more than one person at a time... well, before tonight, that is.”
Garrett glanced over to where Sir Baelan and Mirion sat, glassy-eyed and silent, atop a fallen log in the gray gloom of dawn in the forest. Both of them looked soaked through by the rain, but neither showed any sign of discomfort. “I wish we could build a fire,” he sighed.
“No,” Haven said, “The Astorrans are still looking for us. We stick to the woods until nightfall, and then we move out again.”
“What about those guys back at the castle?” Garrett asked.
“That wasn’t a castle,” Haven said, pausing to wipe an errant raindrop from her nose with the sleeve of her free arm, “more of a keep.”
“What’s the difference?” Garrett asked.
“Castles are bigger,” she answered with a wave of her hand.
“Well, what about the guys in it,” Garrett asked, “Are they gonna wake up from this Cosheili thing?”
Mualip shrugged. “They’ll be fine in a few days,” he answered, “Only royalty can weave an everlasting cosheili.”
“I take it Shorty here isn’t royalty?” Haven laughed.
Mualip patted the last of the pine boughs into place atop the unconscious fairy’s shelter and gave them both a crooked grin. “Master Shortgrass is no royal,” the selkie said.
“And what about those guys?” Garrett asked, nodding toward the ring of seething shadows that circled their camp amidst the trees.
“The boggarts?” Mualip sighed, “Well, we felt we needed all the help we could get, so Master Shortgrass bound them to our cause... until such time as he chooses to release them.”
“Oh,” Garrett said, feeling a little shiver go through him as looked at the hunched, dark shapes who watched him with blazing violet eyes.
“So they’re just gonna follow us around until Shortgrass wakes up and tells them to leave?” Haven whis
pered.
Mualip gave her a nervous smile and nodded.
“Can’t you send them away or something?” Garrett asked the selkie, “I mean you’re a member of the Court or something too, aren’t you?”
Mualip gave a little cough and looked away. “I’m not exactly an agent of the Court,” he said, “My experience lies more along the lines of... trade negotiations.”
“Trade negotiations?” Haven asked.
“I... ah, sell fish,” Mualip answered with a tense smile.
“You’re a fisherman?” Haven asked.
“No!” Mualip laughed, “I mean, I can fish... I’m quite good at it... well, good enough, but I’m actually... I mean, I make deals with drylanders who want fish, and my tribe fills the orders.”
“So why were you with Shortgrass?” Garrett asked.
“This is actually a sort of holiday for me,” the selkie beamed, “I met Master Shortgrass in a songhall during the Greenmeet, and he asked if I wanted to come with him to see the new Songreaver. I was having a drink with Larz at the time, and... well, it seemed like grand idea for an adventure.”
“I thought you guys were appointed by the Court or something,” Garrett said.
Mualip looked confused.
“What about the dryad lady?” Haven asked, “Did he find her in a bar too?”
“Lady Browelle?” Mualip laughed, “Oh, no! She would never... ah, well, no... She actually is royalty. I have the feeling that she has her own reasons for wishing to find the Songreaver, though she has not chosen to share those reasons with her companions.”
“So the fairy court didn’t really send any of you here, did they?” Haven sighed.
Mualip furrowed his sleek brows. “My dealings with the Amber Court are tangential at best,” he admitted.
“What’s tangential mean?” Garrett asked.
Mualip opened his mouth and then shut it again with a perplexed look. “I don’t actually know,” he confessed, “I just enjoy saying it.”
Trials of the Twiceborn (The Songreaver's Tale Book 6) Page 28