by Jaime Marks
Reyana walked the halls of the Palace Lunya. She’d gotten tired of hiding in her suite but it was getting frustrating. Everywhere she went there were Fae now. Fae who insisted on formalities and trying to assist her in any way they thought they could. All she wanted was a short walk to clear her head and maybe a quiet place to sit. She just wanted to be left alone so she could think.
“Your highness,” A random Fae stopped to bow. “How fare thee?”
“Your majesty,” Another knelt before her. “How might I be of service?”
Each time she had to stop and smile and greet them or they insisted on asking what was wrong or even if they could find the Praetor for her. It was putting her on edge. It was as if they thought she was some delicate flower that couldn’t do anything for herself. Or they suspected she might break at any minute and shatter into a million pieces. That one might not be far from the truth.
A little ball of Light flitted around her head and she stopped momentarily. It rang like a little bell requesting permission to be heard.
“What is it, Shala?” She asked slightly exasperated but she figured the faerie only appeared when she was called or had something to tell her. If she was requesting an audience it was better to hear her rather than to avoid whatever fallout she had to deal with now.
She watched the small sprite land and grow to about three feet in height. “Forgive the interruption my Queen, I do prefer to go unseen; but that seems to be what you also seek. Would you like an escort to the Sacred Creak?”
“What is the Sacred Creak, Shala? I’m a bit scattered today. I don’t really feel like sorting through the mess of my memories.” She had access to all of her memories as Lunya when she chose, but it took effort to remember specific places or events. It wasn’t an instant recall or instinctual knowledge. It took time to sort through them and essentially make those memories her own again, as if she were almost shifting lifetimes and personas. It could be an exhausting process and she was tiring out way too quickly lately. Probably because she was stressed out continually.
“It is a place so still serene, a place where one can go unseen. If it pleases you my Queen, I shall take you to the scene.”
Reyana had to smile, the little sprite always knew exactly what she needed. It could be clothing, food, or even solitude, but somehow she knew. “Shala, that’s exactly what I need. Please lead the way.”
The faerie nodded and shrank to size flitting around her head before slowly continuing down the hall with Reyana behind her.
Marcus stood in their bedchambers, but Reyana wasn’t there. He knew she was within the Palace walls but she was irate. His mate wanted solitude but she needed to get some air and the Fae of the Palace only wanted to attend to her needs. He almost had to smile. In some ways, she had not changed in the least. She was about to sneak off and try to give her guards the slip. Luckily, he could find her anywhere now.
Reaching out with his essence he followed the echo he felt of hers. He walked the castle halls until he came to her guard who stood perplexed looking up and down the hall. “It’s alright Iyrus. I know where she is. Why don’t you give us some time, hmmm?”
“As you wish Praetor, but I would very much like to know where she up and disappeared to this time.” Iyrus shook his head, “and be of caution, my lord, she is in a rare mood this day.”
He chuckled, “I know well how to handle her moods, Iyrus but thank you for the warning. You are dismissed.”
Watching Iyrus round the corner he looked around to be sure no Fae else was about before he approached the tapestry that hung on the wall. When he slid it to the side he found a narrow opening and squeezed through. He rather enjoyed that she could pull these disappearing acts. The hunt was always enjoyable. His only concern was that he might not be the only one who could find her. He needed to get time to sneak off on his own to confront that faerie with her cryptic riddles. He had to make sure Cymeryn could not simply walk in here and take her.
Rounding a corner in the passage to find a dead end, he reached out with his senses once more. Instinctually turning to the right he felt over the wall before his hand hit the protruding brick and it depressed, popping open the hidden door. The passageway let out at the rear of the Palace near the cliff face that rose high above the plateau. He looked around. The nearest Guardian was a good distance away. That was the other thing about their little hide and seek adventures that he enjoyed, it always revealed where his perimeter was lacking and helped him map out the hidden corridors that seemed to wind throughout the Palace.
He made a mental note of the position and continued to follow her. There was something freeing about this. In truth, he often needed the space as much as she did and there was something carefree about discovering the mysteries of this castle. There was no real risk to her. He knew Shala was ever her guide and seemed to be able to ascertain her every need. If for some reason trouble would arise he knew the faeries would protect her until he could reach her. In fact, depending on his Queen’s mood, Shala often let him know she was safe so he could grant her the space she needed.
Marcus walked the cliff face following her essence, stopping suddenly where the trail disappeared. Vines lined the stone wall here and he felt along the rock for some hidden trigger. When he found nothing in the rock itself, he eyed the vines curiously trying to puzzle it out. He gave each of the vines a gentle pull careful not to dislodge any. On the fifth try the rock shifted slowly to the side revealing an entryway. Stepping inside the narrow inset he looked around. There was a rock with a hand depression on his right and he pressed it causing the stone door to slide shut behind him. Satisfied that the location was hidden he stepped through the entryway. He didn’t believe that anyone aside from him and Reyana could see them but he preferred to err on the side of caution. Many of the places Shala led Reyana were sacred and not meant for all.
Marcus paused at the top of a staircase where the entryway deposited him; smelling, listening, feeling. The sound of trickling water floated to his ears and a mossy scent filled his nose. He could feel a gentle breeze on his skin, cool and damp causing him to sigh.
She had always been drawn to water. As he descended the stairs he wondered why she had never taken him to her secret spot on the lake, but then, he already knew that didn’t he. It was because it was her and Cymeryn’s secret place. The place where he had made her feel safe, where they had fallen in love.
Marcus immediately dropped the thought. He couldn’t handle the guilt, anger and fear at the moment. His mate needed him and he was going to find her. It was easy for him to feel her emotions; the ball of chaos that grew within her mind. She was so torn, so unstable in her thoughts. He needed to ease her, to hold her and know that she was safe.
A ball of Light flitted around his head and he paused studying it. “We need to talk, you and I, in private. I will see to her first, though. I want to be sure she is alright.”
The ball grew into the pixie he had become accustomed to. “Chosen Protector, be of ease, she is safe and we may talk now if you please.”
Marcus hesitated. “But you left her. Who is with her?”
“She is with the unicorn, the swan and still the faeries, sitting happily by the brook and snacking on her berries. None may enter save the Sacred, the chosen and your twin is not about. He does not yet know the way and would have to prove first to us his clout.”
Marcus ground his teeth biting back on panic and fear. He needed to press this issue. He had to know the truth of this. “I am the Chosen Protector of Light since birth. So Cymeryn is the Chosen Protector of Darkness then?”
“Indeed my lord you both were so bound, since the moment you two have first heard sound.”
“So Cymeryn would have turned regardless?” He breathed in disbelief. The brother he had grown with may have been mischievous but no more than Ceryn and some of the other warrior clan. The idea that Cymeryn had always been of Darkness made no sense to him.
“That is not for me to say, on your own you found y
our way. You were both to serve herein, what you both feel is love, it is not sin.”
Regarding the faerie for a moment as he deciphered her rhymes he ran through the timeline in his mind. They were three years older than Reyana had been. “We were bound to Lunya…as goddess?”
She nodded. “Two were chosen preconceived. Born to be installed, here reconvened. Predisposed to Night or Light, to help bring about the end of this useless fight.”
“Does she know?” He requested wondering if Reyana was holding yet more back from him.
“You would have to be of care, ask what it is you wish now made aware. There are many things she does still know but others still are lost within the flow.”
“Does she know that we are bound to her?”
She shook her head. “It was her Father’s will you see, he feared what then became reality. Cymeryn was not born of Lazurys’ hand. The Dark Lord then would be able to make demand. He was Night, but of free will, it is something that he could choose to be still.”
Marcus breathed out in relief. It was what he had hoped but it still gave no easy answers. Cymeryn belonged here. He could be freed of Lazurys’ hold. If Marcus could reach him, if he truly loved her there was hope, though he had no idea what that would mean for the three of them.
He considered her condition. “Do you know the secret I hide from her? Can you sense it?”
The faerie inclined her head, “I feel it clearly as the moon and she will feel it quickly soon.”
Marcus grimaced. “Do you know what I suspect, am I correct?”
“I do feel in her Night and Light, and your assumptions why are right. You cannot plant a Darkened seed, and he Redemption first would need. The Gray is balanced, very strong, but to you all they do belong. That is all that I may say. It is not to be revealed this day.”
He wanted to ask her more but he could tell she had said all that she would. In truth she confirmed more for him than he had thought she would be able to. Alysse would not even hear him on the matter.
“If I need you, may I call, Shala?” He requested. “I value your advice and insight and appreciate that you have made yourself available to discuss this with me.”
She smiled warmly, “You have only to think you have the need. When the time is right I will concede. But worry not, please be at ease. It will not do to be so lost in seas.”
“I will go to her now. Thank you, Shala.” He paused considering all she had said and everything he knew. “Tell her Father, I am honored. That I thank the heavens every day for her, despite the difficulties.”
The sprite smiled again, “The Divine Being knows. He does see, into the hearts of you, of me.”
He watched as the faerie shrunk and flitted out of sight before he continued down the stone staircase pondering all the small pixie had said. In most cases her rhymes were simple to follow but occasionally there were hidden clues or meanings that could be deciphered later. He suspected she had told him more than he realized. He just needed to figure it out. It was difficult for most to sort through her riddles. Faeries always spoke in rhyme and ruse, it was simply their way, and why King Mythos found them so infuriating. Marcus suspected it was meant that only those they served understood them clearly. He seemed to follow Shala fairly easily, as if they shared some form of connection almost, but the faeries of Light spoke a language he had never fully been able to comprehend.
There were several types of faeries. Faeries of Light were patrons of Lucerna and dwelled only in the Realms of Light. The imps of Darkness were faeries but would not deign to accept the name. They were minions of Lazurys and remained shrouded in the Shadows of the Darker Realms. The elemental faeries existed only on Earth. Shala and those like her were some he had never seen or heard of before Reyana’s coronation. The only conclusion that made sense was that they were patrons of Lunya, some sort of faeries of Gray.
He exited into a lofty cavern of trees. They resembled that of the Earth’s weeping willow but were adorned with flowers of every color. Twinkling balls of silver Light flitted to and fro, some stopping to dance about his head before returning to their original course.
Pausing in awe he watched a unicorn eat the flowers off a low hanging branch. The steed did not seem bothered by his presence. It was a glorious creature. He had only seen one before. He and Cymeryn had been in the meadow, they were three then. They had snuck away from their nanny a moment while she had been on the hill setting up a picnic. It had been the day of Reyana’s birth and his Father had been with the King and Queen. It was said the creatures once roamed freely through the realms but suddenly one day the skies of all the realms turned black and they had not been seen since. It had happened just after he and Cymeryn had been born. No one ever believed that they had seen a unicorn. All assumed that it was the imagination of youth, but every year after Cymeryn insisted that they look for the steed they had seen. They would even take Reyana with them as she got older. Well, every year until Marcus went off to the fronts.
Now he wondered if the day the sky blackened, when the magical steeds had disappeared, had been the day the Dark Lord had taken Lunya. He had ravaged and abused her body trying to sway her to Darkness but she would not yield. Marcus had not been told how long she had been in his grasp but the memories that Reyana held in her mind were horrific…and long lived. The world and the realms had begun to shift to Darkness and the Divine Being had found her. In his fury over what had been done to her he had sent her to live as mortal among the Fae, hidden from Lazurys. The ethereal being, Lunya was born as the Princess Reyana, in her first incarnation.
It kept her safe for a while, ‘til the day Cymeryn, under the influence of Lord Lazurys had taken her and delivered her to him. She hadn’t known who or what she really was. If the Dark Lord had not been so arrogant he perhaps may have been able to overtake her will, but instead he unlocked her memories so that she would know him, know what he had done and would do once again. She had killed herself to escape him rather than be bent to his will.
He shook off the thoughts of the past as he found her by a creek. She was kneeling, gently stroking the muzzle of one of the unicorns as faeries adorned her hair with flowers. He stood leaning against a tree simply watching her. Her silver, flowing gown pressed to her skin by the breeze and contoured her figure beautifully. Her now deep red hair, almost the color of blood, floated about her, its silver highlights dancing as if they were illuminated by a noon day sun. He chuckled as he noticed a small pile of berries besides her. He had thought Shala was simply making rhymes but he should know by now that she only spoke what was.
Marcus sat in the shade of the tree and let himself relax. She knew he was here. He would let her come to him when she was ready. This was her moment of peace, of freedom, and it was the first time he had seen such a genuine smile on her in weeks. Sitting here, watching her, knowing she was safe and well, it was enough for now.
Chapter 4
Cymeryn woke slowly. Even slight movement sent pain tearing through his being. It took him a moment to realize that whatever he lie on was soft. Definitely not the jagged surface of the cavern wall. He heard movement in the distance but when he tried to turn his heard towards it the searing agony that wrenched through him held him in place.
Lying still he reached out with his senses and his essence. He could not ascertain where he was. The smells and sounds were contradictory. At first he had thought he smelled her scent but it was gone the moment he caught it. There was a tinge of blood and rotted flesh in the air. His hearing finally tuned in and he could hear the sounds of a female begging and pleading as she moaned from somewhere in the distance. He tensed at first but it was not her voice. She was not here, wherever here may be.
He reached out through their connection and felt her. She was someplace new, someplace secret. It was the first time he had reached out to her that he had found her at peace. After letting his love flow through to her he withdrew. It was enough to know she was safe in this moment. He needed to find a way to reach
her. Some way to get her to come with him freely so that Marcus would not intervene. There was only one place he could think of, but would she go there?
The lake sat outside the Palace of Light and only they knew where the grove was. If he could get her to come to him there he could convince her, seduce her if need be. Hopefully he could avoid taking her by force. He had crafted a careful sort of trust with her. If he moved to force her will it was likely that despite any connection they shared he would not be able to reach her again. She would seal her mind to him which meant he had to go about this very carefully. If he failed again they would both be at the mercy of Alayne.
Alayne was the first of the Shade. He had been born Fae, one half of the only set of twins Cymeryn had ever heard of aside from he and Marcus. It was Lazurys who taught him the ways of Darkness; its strength and power. He had tainted him, slowly turning him little by little with his essence. All other Shade had been turned through Alayne, Cymeryn himself, or their progeny. All lines of the Shade in current existence could be traced to one of them no matter how far removed, though he had once heard of others that the Priest had destroyed.
Alayne was powerful, and ruthless. The Darkness of his essence was not something Cymeryn had ever coveted. They were the only progeny of Lazurys but Cymeryn had never reached the levels of depravity Alayne had achieved and had no desire to. He might enjoy the pleasures of the flesh, or pain. He may enjoy dominance over his slaves and preside over his command with a ruthlessness that was legendary, but if he were the essence of evil, as some may say, Alayne was the very evil itself that Cymeryn only reflected.
He would use Cymeryn and Reyn to torture one another and then to capture and torture Marcus. He would use Reyn to get his hands on Staryana then through her Byryn and there was no telling what would come of the girl. The torture he had just endured would be a young’s folly compared to what all of them would endure at Alayne’s hand. It could not be allowed to come to pass.