Test of Fae

by S L Mason

  Jake tears his eyes away from me to stare at the back of Janice’s head.

  “You can’t swear allegiance to me. Aren’t you sworn to Deston?” I demand.

  Janice replies, “I relinquish all fealty to anyone but you. I am yours to command.”

  I laugh out loud. What a ridiculous idea that I’d have some Fae under my control. They did have a say in my control. I’d already had one Fae swear allegiance to me, Lavender, but I’d compelled her.

  “Did I compel you?” I raise both brows this time.

  “You are capable of compelling?” It’s his turn to look shocked.

  “Yes. Well, that’s what you guys did to us, isn’t it? You compel us. Did I compel you?” There is no need for him to know that I’d compelled Lavender. She’s more useful if she’s still a secret.

  “No, my Lady, you did not compel me. I willingly give myself into your service.” He spreads his newly healed hands, exposing the tender flesh.

  Tom does a little dance and picks up the edge of his shirt, pretending he’s prancing. “Oh, it’s ‘my Lady’ now. I absolutely am at your service.”

  It’s kind of funny watching Tom dance. I snicker. “Stop it!”

  All of the guys guffaw.

  “I’m sorry, Sarah. It’s pretty funny. I mean, swearing allegiance. You can’t fucking believe him.” Nick’s eyes are hard, his jaw locked and flexing.

  “I’m not that stupid, guys. I know you can’t believe him. All Fae are a bunch of liars. I realize that. However, if he is actually telling the truth by swearing allegiance to me, he could be more useful to us.”

  “What, as target practice?” Tom spouts.

  “That sounds like a great idea, Tom. Why don’t we let him run as fast as he can and see how far he gets before one of us shoots him?” Nick guffaws and Tom laughs with his tongue between his teeth.

  “You’re both assholes,” I sputter.

  Nick stops laughing. He explains, “No, Sarah, we’re just realists. If you really think he is telling you the truth, you’re being foolish. I wouldn’t trust him with a dog I liked.”

  Tom and Nick have a point, but I’d seen what allegiance means to a Fae. We can use that.

  “I wouldn’t trust him with a dog I like or don’t like,” Jake says. “Mostly because the Fae enchant animals, dumb ass.” Jake isn’t going to be convinced.

  “Really doesn’t matter whether I trust him or don’t trust him or whether you guys trust him or don’t. The whole point is we have his sworn allegiance. If I accept that, he’s in my service. Apparently, in Fae, they’re kind of big on this whole IOU my allegiance shit.” I cock my head to the side, putting my hands on my hips. I reach my hand out, and I touch his shoulder.

  “I accept your allegiance. You are now in my service until such a time as I release you, you die, or you request to be released.” I heard that in a movie; it sounds right.

  He offers me his sword, handle first. “You have to take my sword and touch me on either shoulder with it.” He lowers his head, the long white hair on his scalp separates to either side, baring the back of his neck.

  I clasp the pommel in my hand, it’s heavier than I thought it’d be. I lift it as high as I can, which is barely above his shoulder. The muscles in my arms strain and shake with the amount of exertion necessary for me to raise such a heavy weapon. When I saw him wield it, it all looked so easy. He’d swung it around and chopped people’s heads off, cutting them down as if it is a butter knife and weighed almost nothing. This thing has to weigh easily fifty to sixty pounds. I’m strong enough to pull my own body weight up, but I’d gotten lucky in the maze. He flipped this thing around as if it were a baton. If I’m not careful as I lower it onto his body, it’d slam into his shoulder, cleaving him in half.

  I settle it gently on one of his shoulders, turning it to the flat edge as it touches down.

  “You must say in the name of Danu,” Janice instructs.

  “In the name of Danu,” I repeat.

  Janice continues, “Now you have to touch it to my other shoulder and say in the name of Oberon, the first king and queen of Tuatha Dé Danann, I accept your fealty.”

  “Is that all?” I exclaim.

  “In the name of Danu.” I barely clear his head, laying the sword gently down on his other shoulder. My arms continue to strain. “In the name Oberon, the first king and queen of Tuatha Dé Danann, I accept your fealty.” I finish with a huff, blowing my hair out of my eyes.

  “I accept your fealty into my court,” Janice instructed.

  I feel my shoulders shift down as the weight of the sword becomes too much for me. “I don’t have a court.” I bite my lip.

  “Not yet you don’t, my Lady.” Janice quickly replies.

  “I accept your fealty into my court.” I take a deep breath, filled with exasperation, fairies, and their bullshit little games.

  “Now you’re supposed to tell him to rise and be recognized,” Nick interjects.

  I turn my head sideways, raising an eyebrow at Nick.

  “Who made you an expert on fealty?” I wave my right hand around in Janice’s general direction.

  “I’m kind of a history snob.” Nick ducks his head to hide his embarrassment.

  I lift the sword, but I don’t make it far enough. It touches down on Janice’s forehead with the sharp edge. It’s just enough to draw a small drop of blood at the very center of the widow’s peak in his hairline. It runs down between his eyes and off the tip of his nose. I watch it in fascination and sorrow as the words flow over my lips. “Arise and be recognized by my court,” I whisper.

  All the sounds of Fae nature around me goes silent, holding its breath. In slow motion, the drop of blue blood slowly falls to the ground. Part of me is fascinated, the other part of me revolted. I’m expecting a mushroom to form, but instead where it touches the ground, something else sprouts.

  A green bud slowly rises up, rearing its head in the direction of the Fae sky. It’s a flower bud in variegated greens. The casing of the flower bud opens, peeling back the outer layer until it finally reveals pedals underneath. They are white with a velvety fuzz, causing light to refract off the iridescent petals. It shoots in a thousand directions at a time. One by one, the petals peel back like fingers from a palm. It exposes itself as the purest white rose. My breath catches. I wait to see the color of the heart. All of the Hallowed Hills holds its breath. Nothing moves, and the sword becomes light as a feather. When the final pedal spreads into position, its heart is as black as night. With one touch of a golden ray in the center, it beams out. The last petal falls into place, creating a giant shock wave that bursts forth.

  My hair pushes back from my face, and its wakes form out from us. Janice’s hands fully plant on the ground as he sags into his kneeling position.

  “I have found you, you to have come.” He sounds like a crazy person. Janice grabs my hand. The heat from his lips meets my skin, searing me. It burns and entices all at the same time. The fire blows through my body. I don’t want him to just kiss my hand. I wanted him to kiss everything.

  “Okay, lover boy! I think you’ve had your fun kissing her. Let go of her hands, now.” Tom has his sidearm pressed firmly against Janice temple, indenting the skin into the soft depression on the side of his head. Janice releases my hand, putting his hands up on either side of him.

  “I forgot myself. It won’t happen again.”

  “Why don’t you gather yourself over there and stop fawning over me? It’s making me sick.” My sharp tongue covers how he affects me.

  Janice gathers his feet underneath himself and stands. I’m not able to tear my eyes away from the beauty of the flower. It stops blooming, but it isn’t getting any smaller. It’s getting larger and growing. The longer it exposes itself to fairy light, the blacker it becomes, fading out from the center to the white petals. It reminds me of the color of Janice’s hair.

  I want to pick it and take it with me. The beauty calls to me; its sweet song reaches into my soul, mirrori
ng me. The moment I lay my finger upon its velvety soft petals, I know it can’t be touched by anyone else ever again. A clear note rings out in recognition.

  “Don’t touch it, Sarah!” Nick says. “It’s probably just some fairy magic. He’s trying to trick you. You probably touch it and fall into a deep sleep like the Wizard of Oz or something.” Nick reaches out to stop my hand. I pull my hand back. It’s still beautiful, and I don’t want to leave it there. I don’t have any more water, but I need to nurture it.

  “Ever seen a flower like this before, Janice?” I inquire.

  “Yes, my Lady, once.”

  “Did it change colors?” The flower fills my eyes, enchanting me.

  “Yes, they all start out black-and-white before they settle into their true colors,” Janice replies.

  “Their true colors?” I’m starting to sound like a toddler with a million questions on my tongue.

  “Yes, these flowers grow and bloom very rarely. They turn out either black or white, depending upon what their true colors are.”

  “Well, now that is really informative. So, what is its true color?” I demand.

  “Only the flower decides.” Janice supplies less information than a Chinese instruction manual.

  “I guess it’s about as clear as dirty dishwater,” Nick scoffs.

  “I want to take it with us. Give me a shovel. I want to dig it up,” I say. Janice grabs my wrist.

  I look down at his hand and up at his eyes. “You want to let go of me?” I ask.

  “Don’t. You cannot dig the flower out. You will kill it. You must leave it right where it is,” Janice says.

  Tom leans in and quips. “Hey, listen, loyalty boy. You want to get your hand off the boss lady? Looks like she doesn’t like you touching her.” Tom’s reliable. I give him a small smile.

  I gaze at the flower one last time and tear my eyes away. “Okay, I’ll leave it there if it’s that rare. I don’t want to kill it.”

  Janice picks up a few loose branches. “We want to protect it by hiding it from others whom might kill it.” Janice moves branches and bushes into a protective circle.

  Jake cuts in. “You’re welcome to do whatever you want there, pointy ears. We’ll be leaving. Something tells me that shock wave that went through here will tell everybody where we are.” He begins strolling down the road.

  Janice grabs more bushes, moving them around the flower. He creates a protective bubble, hiding it. His gaze takes on reverent awe, moving his hand as if there’s an invisible bubble protecting it. His eyes stray to me, the muscles working in his face. I think he wants to smile. It would’ve creeped me out if it weren’t for the fact that my heart twisted in a way I’d never experienced before. I smile at him, and he returns it. No one had ever smiled at me that way.

  “Let’s get to Deston’s castle and get Olive.” Nick hurries us on.

  CHAPTER 15

  Just because he pledged himself to me and some weird flower grew out of the ground doesn’t mean he’s loyal. It also doesn’t mean that I trust him. He still has pointy ears, and his loyalty will always be to the Fae, never to humanity. No matter how much I resemble Fae now, it doesn’t mean I’ll ever be Fae on the inside. I’m always gonna be me, and I hope some part will still be human.

  We crest a hill, and it’s probably the same hill for all I remember. There’s a ridiculous fairytale style Fae Castle, Deston’s castle. He’s probably in there, lording it on high with all his Fae minions and sycophants. Every one of them is jockeying for position with their multi-colored hair and their light eyes, wrapping themselves up and leaves and pretty flowers. It makes me sick. It doesn’t change what they are, which is fucking evil.

  “So, do you have any idea of how are going to get inside?” I examine the portico.

  “My lady, I would walk all of us under the archway into the forecastle, but they‘re heavily armed.” Janice pointed at Jake and Tom. “They would need to leave their weapons behind. If you could pass for being enchanted, we could all walked in. My lady, you resemble Fae more than human.”

  His words sting me. I don’t want to pass for Fae. Even if it did save Olive, I’m human.

  “Well, I’m sorry, but I don’t think Tom and Jake are going to give up their guns. You need to come up with a better plan for rescuing Olive. Maybe we should just float in,” I query.

  “That will never work. Protection lines surround the castle, and the enchantment on the walls disallows flying over, you must find a way through a valid entrance. The only person who can fly unencumbered is Deston himself.” Janice responds.

  I broke the last protection enchantment that was supposed to keep people out. I don’t how difficult a spell that was. It seemed pretty easy to break to me, but that’s me. The only truly intricate spell I’d seen was Brad’s, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to do anything for Brad and his half-horse problem.

  I look over at Brad, he can’t remember anything, he is more horse than man. With the belt gone, he won’t change anymore, but that doesn’t make him what he was. He can’t go with us.

  “I got my own plan, and here it goes: Jake and Tom, you’ll stay outside the castle and find somewhere to hang out. Don’t go killing a bunch of Fae, like rogue humans who magically got in here. No one will buy that shit. Nick and I are going inside. Nick’s our enchanted human.” I release the breath I’d been holding and wait for the push back.

  “You want to enchant me?” Nick exclaims.

  I bite my lower lip and nod my head. “Yeah, do you trust me?” I ask.

  Our eyes meet, and Nick stares me down.

  “If I hadn’t met you on the surface, I wouldn’t trust you now. But yeah, if it gets us inside and puts me one step closer to finding Nikki, that’s the only thing I came for.” Nick thrusts his hand at me. I take it. He doesn’t shake but cradles my hand, closing his other hand over mine. He then drops them, and runs his fingers through his hair. He isn’t thrilled.

  I raise my voice and sing the notes to enchant him, watching his eyes glaze over. They turn milky white as his mouth goes slack and his shoulders relax. His arms lose their tension and slide down thoughtlessly to his side.

  “You’re very good at that,” Janice comments. “You managed to focus it directly on him so it wouldn’t affect anyone else. That takes a true talent. There aren’t many Fae who have the strength to do what you just did.” Janice’s words irritate me. I don’t want to be talented.

  I shoot him a look from the corner of my eye. “Yeah, I’m real thrilled. I’m better than most of the Fae. I already knew that.” God, I sound like such a bitch. Biting the inside of my lip to hold back the ‘I’m sorry’ that naturally wants to follow.

  “As you will it, my lady.” Janice replies.

  I roll my eyes. This whole ‘my lady’ talk is annoying. I’m not nobility. I’m some regular girl from nowhere Texas.

  “You sure you really want to go in there with this pointy-eared bastard?” Tom looks at me through his eyebrows at me.

  “Yeah, it’s the only plan that’ll get us in with the least amount of resistance. That is what we’re looking for. We’re trying for stealth, not brute force. I mean, you are the only two soldiers around. Nick doesn’t really count as a soldier. He’ll fight as hard as he can and he’s strong, but let’s face it, you’re trained and there are only two of you. Better off leaving you here and doing it my way. I’ll leave the horses with you. If I were you, I’d find a stand of trees and hide in it. Not mushrooms!” I arched an eyebrow at both of them.

  “Now that little lady sounds like a good time. What do you say, Jake? We go hide in a stand of trees and pick up off some Fae from a distance?” he chuckles.

  Jake takes his turn at bravado. “That does sound like a good time, Tom. Twenty bucks says I get the first.”

  “The hell you will, it’s fifty that I’ll get the first Fae.” Tom retorts as they move away.

  I shake my head and watch them bickering. I touch the blue stallion on the side of his face, rubbi
ng it and scratching between his eyes.

  “Go with them. They’ll protect you. If anything, you’ll be free in the forest to live as you want.” The blue stallion snorts and tosses his head up and down. He turns and walks away with his friends following him.

  Brad wouldn’t go anywhere unless I instruct him to. I place my hand on what is left of his shoulder.

  “Brad, you have to go with the horses. They’ll keep you safe and show you what you can eat in the forest. Listen to them and Jake.”

  He mindlessly turns and canters away. I watch the shift of his hips and his hindquarters. My throat swells with the lump lodged in it.

  I need to figure out what’s going on here, and Fae have to pay.

  Rhyming crap, I hate that.

  I want to kill someone. I want them to pay for all the pain and suffering. I know it’s not going to resolve anything. You have to kill the right person, and maybe that might fix the problem.

  I swallow back my rage, “Lead on, let’s get this done. I want Olive and Arty, and then I want to get the hell out of here.”

  Janice nods his head and steps in front of me, taking the lead.

  It’s another ten minutes from the hills to the castle proper. I trudge ahead while Janice takes everything in stride as if it’s just a stroll in Fae and nothing to be remarked upon. We approach the moat and the giant arched entryway with the spiked portico.

  Everything in fairy is natural. From a distance, everything appears man-made and normal, but up close you can see it’s different. The stones of the castle could’ve grown there, but the texture is all wrong. The stone is white marble-ish, but it glistens and glimmers in a crystalline fashion.

  The portico itself could’ve been metal, but the truth is if you look closely, you can see the dark vines of some plant interwoven, making it harder than stone. The sharpened tips glisten as if they are metallic and capable of slicing you to ribbons if the portico comes down.

  The archway is perfect, but it’s as if someone sang it into existence. Its design is unusual. Instead of being a smoothly rounded circle at the top, it’s in waves, scalloped with a Moorish slant.