Truce
Book 1 in The Aftermath
By Alainna MacPherson
Copyright © Alainna MacPherson, 2020
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form on by an electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Epilogue
Note from Author
But wait, there’s more!
Beneath the Surface
Chapter One
Chapter One
Maeleigh
My ass hit the mat, which did little to pad my landing, for the millionth time that morning. Not allowing myself the luxury of rubbing the new ache there, I rolled backwards and jumped back to my feet, hands up and ready for the next jab to my face. My opponent was ready though – damned super speed – already behind me with arms pinning mine to my waist. I panted and hung my head in defeat. I was so incredibly tired of losing.
I felt a rumble come from him at my back.
Lifting my foot up, I slammed it down on his bare toe. Though I was pretty sure he’d barely felt it, he let me go and stepped back.
I turned to glare at him, irritated that he was chuckling, my senses picking up on Gearden’s arrival from the hall. “Knock it off,” I growled at Lugh, who still wore a conniving grin.
Whipping my head around just as he entered, I saw him growl something to the effect of, “Touching what’s mine again, faerie,” as he stalked into the room, looking ready for a fight.
I rolled my eyes and walked to my gear at the edge of the mat in the small sparing space. Snatching the towel from my bag, I padded my face, looking up at the staffs and swords hanging on the walls. Lugh still hadn’t let me practice with any of them yet, and it irked me to the bone. I was ready, why didn’t he see that?
Sweat mopped up, I dropped the towel and took a swig from my water bottle as Lugh and Gearden faced off. I’d stopped trying to play peacemaker with the two. After the first couple days here, it was obvious the two alphas clashed. It had nothing to do with me…well, maybe it did, but it was really more about power plays and as soon as I had realized that, I’d stopped keeping the peace. If they wanted to fight, then by all means they could knock themselves bloody.
They stared each other down, toe-to-toe, each of them snarling. After the first time Lugh had touched me during our first week in Seelie Hill – where the faeries had called home during their millennia-long imprisonment – Gearden had attacked him with full on blows and snapping razor sharp teeth and claws. Since then, they’d only ever struck out at one another when they decided they wanted to “spar.” It was just a way they could get away with beating each other up without calling it what it was a pissing contest.
Men.
Rolling my eyes, I dropped my bottle on top of my bag and padded back onto the mat. “Alright, alright. Are we going to do this or what? If we’re done, though, I’d like to catch up with Ariela,” I signed. Lugh, being magical as well as annoying, learned sign language by reading my mind or something to that effect. At first, he rubbed it in Gearden’s face, until I demanded that he do the same for him. Begrudgingly, he did, but I had to threaten to leave if he was going to play petty games with me. It was the last time I’d had a real heart-to-heart with the faerie. Which seemed overdue.
Ariela had been dubbed my tutor while I was there, learning their history and how to tap into more of my abilities, but she’d also become a friend. Really, my only one down there. It was hard to make friends when you were seen as a threat and something untouchable at the same time. I was the “prophesied” one to free them but I was also human, their enemy.
Lugh gave a snap of his teeth, which somehow looked just as dangerous as Gearden’s wolf-like ones, and turned away, giving my mate his back, a challenge for sure, but Gearden huffed and twisted to gather me into his arms as I approached the two. Before I could protest being dragged into their little tiff, he clamped his still shifted canines into my neck, over his mark. I froze, not wanting to struggle and risk him ripping the sensitive skin there.
Tamping down my irritation, I waited for him to stop, picturing Lugh’s disgust at the display. It had been like this since that first week and I’d never confronted him about it. He knew I was mated, taken, and though I’d refused his attentions, he only grew bolder. I’d have to add it to the list of things to talk to him about.
“Stop it,” I told Gearden telepathically. He stilled, almost as if I’d woken him from a dream. Before he could pull back, I felt his teeth retract, returning to their dull human form. His contrite expression eased my anger, but only a little. I wasn’t some prize to be used to prove a point. I may be his but I still maintained my independence, damn it.
“Maeleigh, I—” He started to say.
“Not right now,” I cut him off, holding a hand up, feeling a trickle of blood running down my neck from where he’d reopened the mark. After swiping at it with my hand, I wiped my palm on my loose gym pants, not bothering to look at it. Turning, I glared at Lugh.
“Are we done?” I asked him, lifting my chin when his blue eyes darted to my still bleeding neck.
He gave a stiff nod and I turned to gather my things. Not waiting for Gearden, I stormed out, heading back to our quarters for a bath. Lord I missed showers. They had a steam house, which Gearden appreciated after his workouts, but it wasn’t the same.
A few minutes later, I slammed into the apartment, furnished with what would be a queen-sized bed, filled with down and straw, pushed into the far corner to give more walking space. A small table on Gearden’s side, the left, held a fresh candle stick. Magic in this place refreshed the candles every day, among other things. I once asked how it did that and the only answer I got was that the Goddess Danu provided what they needed to survive while they were there, below the surface. I would have asked the Goddess myself, but she, conveniently, had been absent from my dreams since my arrival in Seelie Hill and my visions had completely stopped.
I ran the minimum amount of water in the small tub, in the equally small bathroom, just enough to wash the essentials. Luckily, they had running water, it just hadn’t advanced to showers.
I stripped the tank top made of some sort of silk and linen blend, then unbound my breasts from the long strip of cloth that kept them secure during training. Spandex didn’t exist down here and I categorized it somewhere on the top ten list of things I missed as I stepped into the shallow water, cupping water in my palms to rinse away the sweat. Grabbing up the soap rock on the rim of tub, I made a heavy lather and quickly washed up, doing the same with my hair. I was in there a total of five minutes before I stepped out. Toweling off, I wrapped the bath sheet around me, then bent to wrap my hair with another. When I straightened, the water had already disappeared, the tub dried, as if I’d never used it.
Gearden was there on the bed when I exited, sitting anxiously on the edge. Silently, I walked past him to the small dresser that carried our borrowed clothing. I pulled out a soft white shirt, or tunic as they called it down here. Luckily, I wasn’t required to wear the standard dress that
most of the women wore here. Instead, someone had made me a pair of my own leather pants, complete with ties on the sides at my hips and calves for when I wore my boots. Mostly, though, I just wore the sandal thongs, especially when I did tutoring, and training was mostly done barefoot.
It was just my luck that the best fighter they had to learn from was Lugh. He played the generous and humble leader with everyone else but turned into your average jerk around me.
Unable to stand the silence any longer, Gearden shot up from the bed. “Maeleigh, I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I should have never done what I did. I…” he trailed off, completely at a loss.
I took pity on him. As much as he’d embarrassed me in front of Lugh just to prove a point, I understood that his wolf was hard to contend with when it came to me.
“I understand,” I told him, tying the laces at my right hip. I tried my best only to undo the one side because it was so damned hard on my left for some reason. It should have been like tying my shoes, but somehow it wasn’t. “I know he can be hard sometimes.”
Pants tied, I grabbed the brush from the top of the dresser and started untangling my strawberry blonde hair. It had grown so incredibly fast while we were here in Seelie Hill. I wasn’t sure if it was the shampoo they made from scratch or the magic and, personally, I didn’t want to know. Once smoothed out, I started to separate it and plait it over my shoulder. After a quiet moment or two, Gearden stepped closer, taking the sections into his own deft fingers, weaving them down to a small tail at the end, then taking the strip of linen and securing it tightly. When he’d finished, he gently tugged on it, drawing my face closer to his. Obediently, I tilted my head up. The soft brush of his lips was another apology. In a way, his wolf had been calmer here, he told me. Less restless even when we were separated, except when around Lugh.
Inwardly, I groaned, knowing I’d have to speak with the faerie king sooner rather than later. I really hated being used as a demonstration of power.
“Are you going to see Ariela?” he asked when he pulled away.
I nodded, gently tugging my braid from his grasp to slip on my sandals.
“She’s going to teach me how to extract information from someone’s mind and grow things from nothing.” I didn’t try to hide the excitement.
Though, from the frown on his face when he looked down at me, told me he was less so.
“What?” I asked, deflated.
I could see him trying to choose his words carefully. “I just worry about the morality of it all.”
With a tilt of my head and a placating smile, I hoped it eased his mind. “They’re only teaching me the things they are so that I can defend myself…and them. If I need to.” No one knew why only a few retained their magic and not by much. Lugh seemed to be the only one with most of his, and it was a mystery how Seelie Hill still did what it did with replenishing food stores and water.
“Which concerns me,” he admitted. “They’ve been training you like they’re preparing you for a war.”
I rolled my lips together for a thoughtful moment. “They might be,” I conceded.
He studied me, gauging my feelings on the admission. “We’re bringing these people back to the surface after thousands of years being imprisoned, we have no idea what’s going to happen. I want to be prepared to protect them—”
“Who? Who, exactly, are you going to protect? The humans or the fae” He interrogated, making me feel the brunt of the reality of what was to come.
“I don’t know that yet.” Just the thought of not knowing if I could trust the faeries yet, sent a shiver down my spine.
He sensed my inner turmoil and cupped my face between his palms, pressing his forehead to mine, lending comfort the best way he could. “I’m with you no matter what you decide, Maeleigh.”
I nodded, swallowing a lump of emotion that suddenly clogged my throat.
Gearden
After Maeleigh headed for her lessons with Ariela, I left our tiny apartment for the meal hall, knowing the faerie army general would be taking an early lunch right about then. With nothing to do while Maeleigh took her lessons, I started tagging along with General Weis, so much so that it became more of an apprenticeship. He was preparing his troops for the possibility of war, which is what brought on my concerns for Maeleigh’s own training. Most of mine was strategy, management, and mentally preparing the men and women in the guard and army. The guard would stay close to Lugh at all times while topside, including Maeleigh, by default. I’d insisted, as much as I could, to be a part of that guard, to give me something to focus on while there. Maeleigh had her thing, learning about her heritage, and I felt useless without one for myself.
Stepping into the meal hall, I spotted the giant man right away. He was large in every sense of the word. Arms the size of tree trunks, barrel chest, even larger legs and a foot taller than myself, he was hard to miss in a crowd. His size alone didn’t earn him the title of general though. The man was wicked smart and quick. I bet he could give Lugh a run for his money at swords, which I’d pay big money to see.
“Gearden!” he called from the corner, lifting a hand to point to the large table of food, indicating that I should grab a plate before sitting beside him. Already, he was shoving a guard over, making space for me. Inwardly, I groaned, sure that the begrudged man giving up his seat would pick me out for sword practice later on.
Food on my plate, I sat myself next to Weis, quiet as the man spoke with another soldier. “You’ll have to pick up some slack in the gardens,” he told him. The soldier, Trune, didn’t look happy with the assignment but nodded. One didn’t argue with Weis unless you wanted to get embarrassingly pummeled.
“Gearden,” he started, looking down at me, thick brows shadowing his piercing gold eyes.
“Sir?”
“You’ll go with Trune. Report to Ariela. She’ll be waiting for you when you’re done.” Not waiting for any sort of response from me, he turned to speak to someone else, something about a chicken getting into the steam house that morning.
Swallowing the tasteless oatmeal, I thought on what Ariela was doing with Maeleigh that required two guards be there to assist.
The second my plate was cleared, Trune stood up, moving to exit the hall. Quickly, I snatched the toast from my plate before leaving it behind, following the other man out.
I’d given up trying to make friends with the soldier determined to keep at least a yard of distance between us as he led the way to the gardens. Half of the fresh air generated down there was made by the diverse plant life that grew in their garden, which also served to provide the produce to feed everyone.
The magic in the place kept the plants growing year-round. Being under the surface, the temperatures were easily regulated, especially when they used the sun’s reflection.
“Stop, stop. You’re not churning butter,” I heard Ariela say just as we entered.
Maeleigh stood beside a large pot, glaring at Ariela standing a few feet in front of her.
Signing, Maeleigh said, “I’m doing it just like you are.” Demonstrating, she held her hands over the pot, which I saw as I got closer, was filled with soil. Hovering her hands over the pot, she started to lift them in an up and down motion, palms down, looking like she was giving CPR to someone, honestly, though I’d never tell her that.
“Then why do you look like you’re patting a lumpy pillow?” Ariela said and signed, drawing a growl from Maeleigh.
Ariela’s eyes caught our entrance. “Oh, good, you’re here. Will you please move those other ones over here,” she indicated a group of more pots in a corner. “Once she stops pushing air and starts following my directions, we’ll move on to the rest.” Maeleigh continued to glare at her friend slash current tutor, probably having caught the dig.
“Maybe if I had a better teacher, this wouldn’t be an issue,” Maeleigh grumbled for all our ears.
I swallowed a chuckle as I hefted a heavy pot up, trying not to distract her. Her and Ariela had beco
me good friends, but that didn’t save the name calling and dirty talk during magic training.
“Again,” Ariela signed.
Maeleigh took a deep breath and blew it out, setting her hands over the pot again. Gently, her hands danced above the soil, weaving a pattern in the air.
Entranced, I froze, heavy pot still in my hands as I watched her. For a moment, nothing happened. Then began a buzzing in my ears just as a green light started to come from her hands. It grew stronger by the second, until it was a thick beam, directed right at the rich dirt. Under its ray, a sprout of green sprung up, like watching something from National Geographic on time lapse. What would have been weeks’ worth of gestation and growth, occurred before our eyes. When she finally stopped, her breath sawing in and out from exertion, a stalky plant reached to her hip, green bulbs hanging from the flexible vine like branches. I set my burden down beside it, taking a closer look.
Tomatoes. Green tomatoes, but not far from turning red. She did it.
Her face brightened with pride, despite the thin sheen of sweat that now covered her face.
“Good,” Ariela told her, glancing up at me, letting her concern slip in my presence…or was she telling me something? Was that not supposed to happen? Suddenly, Maeleigh’s exertion had me anxious. Breathing a little heavily, she turned to smile at Ariela.
“Again,” she announced, moving around to stand over the pot I’d just set down. All the while Trune moved back and forth, moving the pots. Belatedly, I moved to grab the last one, ignoring the scowl he shot in my direction.
“Why don’t we take a break?” The faerie suggested, handing Maeleigh her water bottle, which was more of a fancy canteen. Maeleigh took it but shook her head as she took a swig.
“No, I’m on a roll.” Excitedly, she handed the container back and took position over the pot, starting again.
Around her back, Ariela shot me a concerned look. I nodded though, letting her know that I’d be sure to take care of her when she was done.
Truce: Book 1 in the Aftermath Series Page 1