“Is she in danger?” Meg asks, panic making her face pale.
“She would be if anybody from the castle saw her and recognised her. It’s not likely. Nobody’s looking for her. If she was still on the ship, she wouldn’t have made it across the water yet. Nobody knows she’s not still on her way, but we might as well be safe.”
Maud passes Elsie a grey shawl and Meg helps to tuck it over her hair, using some pins from her own hair to secure it in place.
“That’s better.”
They head outside and Meg links arms with Elsie. The village is bustling with people and activity and for Elsie it doesn’t feel frightening; it feels invigorating.
Being locked up was something she quickly got used to, but it was quiet and boring. She listened to endless stories from Meg; they played endless games with a ball, throwing, catching and bouncing, but the silence was so thick sometimes she wanted to scream, just to hear her own voice echo off the thick walls.
The bustle and noise are filling her with a happiness she hasn’t felt for a long time. It’s a peaceful happiness. She feels joy. There’s nothing exciting being said or done by the fairies in the village. It’s banal really; greetings and jokes, chatter and laughing, people calling out and waving, clapping each other on the back and smiling. It’s the simple joy of people being together.
Her head is turning this way and that and even though she knows she has to stay calm and go unnoticed, she’s too excited to keep her head right down. The every day has become amazing to her.
Hardy rushes through the busier part of the village but slows down once they reach the moss laced pathway through the woods. “That was nerve-wracking.”
“I thought it was wonderful. I can remember the village from when my mother would bring me and my sister-” She turns to Hardy, a look of pure horror on her face. “Hardy, my sister. We have to make sure she’s safe. What if she gets caught up in the rebellion, what if she gets hurt?”
Hardy holds his hands up. “I know the princess Isla is locked up the same way you were.”
“I haven’t seen her since I was ten and she was nine.” Elsie wipes a tear away. “We were close when my parents were alive. Meg, who’s with her? Is it Lacey?”
Meg nods. She had always looked after Elsie, despite only being ten when she was born. She had only been a little maid then, assisting the older maids, handmaidens and lady’s-in-waiting, but the older she got the more she did, until she did everything for the little princess. Lacey, one of the other maids, who’d been a little maid with Meg, had been locked up with Isla. “Yes. Do you know we came up through the castle together? We were both little maids and then promoted to handmaidens. I know she loves Isla like I love you.”
Elsie catches up to Hardy, slips her arm through his. “Can we rescue her? Or ensure her safety somehow? I would hate something to happen to her. She’s an innocent in all this.”
Hardy looks at her as they walk along, and Elsie feels herself blush. He’s so intense. “I’ll think of something.”
Meg falls in step with them. “They allowed me out each week, Lacey too. Maybe we can get word to her.”
“I have a spy at the castle, let me see what I can find out.”
“Really? Who?”
Hardy refuses to look at Meg or answer her question. Meg frowns at Hardy, but Elsie smiles at him.
“I feel safe with you.”
It’s a simple statement, but it’s true. Hardy grins at her and then lowers his voice. “We’re getting closer to the troupe.” He pauses. “I just want to stop and make sure we haven’t been followed.”
“Surely we haven’t.” Elsie turns to look back the way they came and gasps when she sees a figure duck behind a tree. “Hardy, there’s someone there.”
Hardy doesn’t need telling twice. “Stay here.”
Meg pulls Elsie closer to her, into the shelter of the trees. They hear a shout and the sound of a scuffle but can only wait. Elsie has her hand over her mouth, tears filling her eyes. This is too scary. Meg shakes her head and puts a finger to her lips.
It’s only a matter of minutes, even though it feels like forever, when Hardy comes back to them, blood gushing from a cut on his eye, the other eye bruising already. Elsie rushes to his side. “Are you all right?”
He grins. “I won’t say you should see the other chap, because I barely touched him. Something spooked him and he ran off.”
“Something spooked him?”
An adolescent girl steps out from the shadow of the trees. “It was me. I think I scared him away.”
“You’re with the troupe?” Meg recognises her but cannot remember her name.
She nods. “I’m Aster.”
“Thank you, Aster,” Hardy says, smiling at her and causing her to blush.
“I should get back.” She darts away, her silver wings fluttering, but Hardy calls her back.
“We’re heading there now. Maybe you can ensure our safe passage?”
Elsie smiles at him; he’s not too macho to ask for help. He’s so humble and so kind. Aster beams, delighted with the compliment, and nods her head. “I know a quicker way.”
The children of the troupe grow up in these woods; it’s their playground, and Aster is true to her word. She flits through the woods, ignoring the more obvious pathways through the trees, and then flies around a corner. The tents laid out before them like a colourful patchwork blanket.
Aster nods at them and flies down ahead of them, her silvery wings matching her silvery hair perfectly.
Meg takes the lead. “We’ll go to Gwenna, and Gwenna can take us to the elders.”
“I hope they listen to me,” Hardy says. “I look like a thug.”
“We’ll ask Bronwen to tend to you first.”
Elsie stares at him, adoration clear in her expression, causing Meg to take a step closer to her, as if she might guard her. “They’ll listen to you. Who wouldn’t?”
12
MEG TAKES THEM STRAIGHT to Bronwen’s tent. Elsie smiles at her and waves in greeting; this fairy has exceptional healing powers, she’ll make Hardy right in no time at all, and then he can plead their case to the troupe elders.
Bronwen beckons Hardy forward with a bony finger and he sits in front of her. It’s fascinating for Elsie to watch her work. There’s magic in her fingertips, but also an intuition to how she works. She knows what Hardy needs instinctively. She has a little shelf of potions and lotions just beside her seat, and she reaches for things without even looking to check what they are.
Gwenna comes into the tent. “Were you careful?”
“Good to see you,” Meg says, laughing and handing her the basket of goodies Maud gave them. Gwenna takes it and kisses her sister’s cheek, the question still clear in her expression. “And we were. How many times do I need to tell you I would put none of you in harm’s way?”
Gwenna smooths down her skirt and then fluffs her hair when she spots Hardy.
“What happened?”
“We were set upon in the woods-”
“So, someone followed you?” Gwenna’s eyes flash angrily.
“No. I think it was an unlucky encounter,” Hardy says, turning to them all, his bruised eye already back to normal, the swelling gone, the blood stemmed. “Aster scared him off.”
“Aster,” Bronwen says her name with some reverence. “That girl can heal better than me.”
Elsie raises her eyebrows. Aster must be a skilled fairy to be better than Bronwen. She has only met Bronwen twice, although she still feels a strange sense of familiarity when she looks at her, and knows from watching her, and from being healed by her, how good she is.
“Why are you here? I thought you’d be halfway to storming the castle by now.”
Hardy gives Gwenna a little shove with his hip as he passes her. “Sarcasm doesn’t suit you.”
Gwenna blushes and rolls her eyes. “It suits me well enough, thank you. Are you here to see the elders? I have spoken to them. I think they’re interested. Did my s
ister spill the beans?” Gwenna gives Meg a disapproving glance.
“I told him it wasn’t definite.”
“Good. Because it’s not. Come on.” She turns on her heel and they all follow her outside. They thread through the tents and then she stops outside the largest of all.
“Good luck.”
Hardy hesitates. “I think Elsie should come in. She’s the reason I hope they’ll change their minds and join me. Will you come?” He holds out a hand, and as though she’s in a trance, she takes it and follows him.
It’s as bright inside as out, there are so many lanterns and candles lit. There’s a huge fire in the middle of the floor, the smoke snaking all the way up and through a hole at the top of the tent.
It’s not too hot, just comfortable and clean. There are two fairies standing at the fireside and several others sitting around. Hardy clears his throat and the two by the fire turn to them.
“Welcome. We thought you would visit today. My name is Ool. This is Marella. Sit with us.”
They sit away from the fire and away from the other fairies, and Elsie feels a wave of apprehension come over her. This is all very serious.
The male fairy, Ool, smiles at her. “I’m glad to see you with your freedom, princess.”
“Thank you,” Elsie says, unsure if she should add anything.
Marella, the female, speaks before Elsie can make her mind up. “It pains all of us you were locked away and that your sister still is.”
“This is why I’m here,” Hardy says, leaning forward in his chair, his expression intense. “If we band together, if the other fairies see that we have Elsie on our side, I think it might be enough.”
“The Kingdom is weak, Hardy, not just the fairies who have been clipped, but the rest of us. Nothing grows like it used to, nothing flourishes or thrives here anymore, us included. You have a fire in you, but for the rest of us, this rebellion you speak of seems like a death wish. We are safe while we hide.”
“Not all of us are safe.” There is some condemnation in his tone which even Elsie picks up on.
“We won’t be made to feel bad for looking after ourselves and our own.”
“I don’t want to make you feel bad, I just think now is the time to do something. Before it’s too late and before it gets any harder. You say I have this fire – let me share it with you, let me rile you all up and give you the fire too. I didn’t get it from the ether; I got it from my father, and it grew. I want justice. I want the clipping to stop. I want our children to fly freely through the air of the Kingdom they will inherit.”
Elsie’s eyes fill with tears as he speaks, and she cannot stay silent. “Please listen to him. Join him, join us. My step parents have ruined too many lives. I’ve seen the children with their clipped wings, their painful scars. I want to help. The more of us there are, the easier it will be.”
“Is there a plan?”
Hardy shakes his head with some reluctance. “I have had a hundred plans but each of them has a flaw which I cannot see a way around. The more of us there are, the easier it will be to come up with an idea that works.”
“They don’t venture out. They know they are hated in their own Kingdom.”
“I know. I’m not saying it will be easy.”
Elsie reaches for his hand and takes it, squeezing it. “But it has to be done.”
“Let us speak. Stay here.” The two fairies call to the other fairies in the tent and they gather down the other end where Elsie and Hardy cannot hear what they are saying and cannot fathom anything from their facial expressions.
They are still holding hands, and their breath. Hardy smiles at her. “I think you’ve helped. I think they’ll join us. We just need an idea.”
“Something they won’t be expecting,” Elsie says, almost to herself.
“You’re right. Something unexpected. Like what?”
“Attack. You say you’ve always wanted to, well, if you get the numbers then you can. They’d never expect it. If they hardly go out, it’s because they know what people think of them. They think they’re safe in the castle.”
He lets out a whoop, causing the fairies to pause their conversation and stare at them, and then grabs her face, kissing her forehead and making her blush.
“Yes. Oh, Elsie, please let the troupe agree to work with us. We’d have the numbers then. Or more than we have now at least.”
He takes hold of her hand and she lets him. She’s pleased that he’s pleased with her. His praise makes her feel warm.
They sit in silence, watching the elders. There’s no way to tell if the decision is going their way or not. Hardy squeezes her hand, Ool and Marella have broken away from the other fairies who all flit out of the tent leaving them alone.
“Good or bad? Yes or no?” Hardy whispers, so close to her face that his breath tickles her ear.
“Yes,” she says, hoping she’s right; she would hate to see him disappointed.
Ool is impossible to read, but Marella is smiling. “For the sake of the Kingdom and the future of Allaire, we have decided to back your cause, Hardy. To join you and the other rebels and to overthrow the royals.”
Hardy cannot contain his glee. He stands up and hugs both of them, before lifting Elsie out of her seat and spinning her around. They both hover in the air, expressions ecstatic, arms around each other. Ool coughs and they come back to the ground.
Elsie sits down. “Thank you. I’m ever so grateful. What my step parents are doing sickens me, and I want to be a part of the fight that stops them.”
“You’re the reason we changed our mind,” Ool says. “A battle against the royals isn’t a straightforward thing to undertake; they have all the power. But you are the royal princess. Your parents ruled Allaire so well. It’s time to get that back. We will fight with you, if you agree to take the throne once we defeat your step parents.”
Elsie nods. “I’m ready to do that.”
And she is. It might never have occurred to her in the beginning. Even when Meg mentioned uprisings and rebellions and her being the rightful heir to the throne, it wasn’t something she desired. She just knew she had to stop her step parents. But the logical step after they bring them down is for someone to replace them, and it cannot be anyone but her. Not really.
Hardy turns to her. “Long live the fairy queen. Let’s do it!”
Elsie laughs but feels a tingle fill her from head to toe. She will not have to marry a man she has never met; she will be a queen in her own right. Queen of the Kingdom she was born in.
“So what’s next, Hardy? What do you have in place?”
“I have spies at the castle – spies I would trust with my life. I have men making weapons, and men training the fairies on how to use them. We have soldiers, young men and old men making up the bulk of our makeshift army, and the older, more experienced men training each core group.”
“Talk numbers. Logistics.” Ool is warming up to this, Elsie can tell. The excitement of a war bringing light to his eyes. Marella looks fascinated by Hardy’s words and Hardy.
“The castle has good security. Guards on duty all day and all night. Less in the night, but an attack at night could end up being confusing. The changing of the guard, the shift swap happens at first light. That’s always been my ideal time. Honestly, I have planned this hundreds of times in my head. I know when to do it, how to do it, what could go right, and what could go wrong. I’ve just never had the numbers. I am so grateful to you; I cannot even explain it.”
“It’s good for all of us. Sometimes you just have to wait for the right time. Now is that time. We have Elsie, the true heir, and together we’ll have the numbers. I’m not saying it’ll be easy to convince all the troupe. Us agreeing to this doesn’t mean that every member of the troupe will automatically be happy and ready to bear arms.”
“I know, but I can speak to them, they can come to the cave and see the setup we have – the weapons we have at our disposal. We are prepared for this. We’re more than ready.”
“I have someone you need to meet. He’s as obsessed with a rebellion as you are.”
Hardy follows Ool out of the tent, ready to make his mark and ready to convince everyone and anyone of this cause his father started him out on. Elsie and Marella trail after them, and Meg rushes over to her. “You were such a long time, is everything all right?”
Elsie cannot help but hug her. “It’s amazing. The troupe will help us!”
Meg lets out her breath and smiles. “Thank goodness. That’s excellent news. It couldn’t be done without them. I know Hardy is excited and brave, Elsie, but he can’t do this alone.”
Elsie thinks he probably could but won’t argue with Meg. There’s no need. The troupe is on board and all that needs figuring out now is exactly how to do it.
“Oh, Meg, he’s so inspiring. I wish I could fight; I wish I was like Dayle.”
“Thank goodness you are not!”
Ool calls them all over to a striped tent. A man is sitting outside on a stool, bare chested, holding a guitar. He puts the guitar down and stands, holding out his arm to shake hands with Hardy. He nods a slight bow to Elsie and then grins at Hardy again.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for this.”
Ool nods. “Ajo has been trying to convince us to help you for a long time. Our concerns were too big. They still are. But we think with Elsie coming back, maybe it’s the right time.”
“I’m like you, Hardy. I can’t stand living here and doing nothing about it. It’s been going on too long.”
“Ajo lost his father to the clippers. One of the few in our troupe to be clipped or lose their life. We’re lucky.”
Ajo stamps his foot. “We’re only lucky because we stay hidden away. It’s no way to live.”
“You won’t have to hide for much longer,” Hardy says, clapping Ajo on the back. “Our time has come. Thanks to Elsie.”
He looks at Elsie with such intensity that she has to look away.
“I’ll leave you here with Ajo. He’ll be your point of contact for the troupe. Ajo, you’ve been waiting for this. The elders, and Marella and I, are happy for you to take the lead on this. Rally the troupe, find who you can to fight, make sure they know the risks and what’s at stake. Nobody is bound to fight. It has to be a choice. And win or lose, we won’t penalise anybody for not taking part in this fight.”
The Rise of the Fairy Queen (The Fairy Queen Trilogy Book 1) Page 11