by Lucy Tempest
Patting around the ground, I found one of Castor’s daggers. I could use this to fend off whatever I encountered next in these woods as I went for help.
But even if I found anyone willing to help, and we came back in time, if they found Leander, it would end in the same result: his death.
Leander let out a howl of agony and I heard his massive body hit the ground. Without a thought, I stumbled towards him, charging with a manic yell, and plunged the dagger into the redcap latched onto his shoulder. It went stiff and when I ripped out the blade it fell off him, gushing out the mouthful of blood it had just guzzled down.
With enraged screeches, others attacked me, making rhyming threats about dyeing their clothes with my foul blood.
I waved the dagger in every direction, hitting a few until one jumped up and swiped at my eyes. I instinctively ducked, squeezing my eyes, dropping the blade.
Their combined weight brought me crashing down next to Leander, who still crushed any redcap he got his hands on, even as the others ruthlessly swarmed him and tore at his body. There were too many of them, giant leeches sucking the life from him, killing him slowly right before my eyes.
Pinned again, I groped for the dagger, desperate to do anything, but it wasn’t within reach and I couldn’t throw any of them off.
My attempt to help him had only wasted the opportunity his arrival had afforded me. Just like my insistence on going to the Hornswoods had ended with us stranded here, with Adelaide lost, and my attempt to spare my father ruining all our futures. No matter what I did, I just made things worse.
And now I’d killed not only myself, but Leander and Castor, too…
Something whistled closer at a dizzying speed than the redcap bearing down on me convulsed, and its viscous blood sprayed my face. An arrow was protruding from its eye.
My whole being rioting in revulsion, I flailed to push his now-inert body off me, just as another arrow almost simultaneously tore another redcap off Leander. Another and another and another speared three more.
The other redcaps sprang around, babbling about new prey just as a horse leaped above us, landing by me. It was Maple!
Her rider was a man in a hooded cloak, aiming his bow down as he circled us, shooting arrow after arrow at the creatures in blinding succession, killing them instantly. Shaken as I was, I still recognized our savior at once. It was Rob!
Free of the redcaps’ weight, I threw myself at the dagger. Burning blood roared in my ears and frigid air tore into my lungs as I swiped and stabbed at the ones that persisted over the now-unmoving Leander, powered beyond depletion by horror, disgust and rage.
Suddenly I noticed that everything had gone still. All the redcaps lay strewn around us, dozens of them, dead, and no more had shown themselves. I was on my knees, beside Leander, gasping for breath, shaking beyond control.
“Why am I not surprised that the idiot rode through a fairy path?” Rob dismounted, sticking his bow in his quiver as he came to stand over Castor.
Though he’d just saved our lives, I was feeling more furious than grateful. If he hadn’t “sacrificed” my father to the “Beast,” none of this would have happened!
Another fear burst in my pounding head, making me lunge towards Leander. I checked his pulse and almost sagged to the ground again. He was alive. But probably not for long.
As Rob approached, I put myself between him and Leander, dagger raised. “You’re not going to kill him.”
Rob bent at the waist to peer into my eyes. “Nice to see you too, Bonnibel.”
“Are you going to kill him?” My voice rose hysterically.
“Why, do you want me to?”
I lowered the dagger, puzzled. “Isn’t that why you’re here?”
“And risk Castor’s ire for stealing his noble quest of killing the Beast and rescuing the fair maiden?” he drawled, voice heavy with sarcasm. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Then why are you here? Did Castor’s friends send you?”
He snorted dismissively. “Castor’s cowardly companions think you’re both dead. They were debating whether it would be safe to come collect your drained bodies in the morning. I came to save you, and now have to collect him—” He pointed to Leander. “—and take him back to the castle before anyone else finds him.”
That simple statement told me more than I could have imagined. This suspicious character before me knew who the Beast really was. And if he knew, then that meant…
“You knew, didn’t you?” I trembled with aggravation, gripping the handle of the dagger tight enough to hurt. “That he wouldn’t eat my father?”
He just nodded as he strolled around me, pulling arrows from bodies that were starting to turn into mounds of slime, before depositing them in his quiver.
“Then why did you bother taking him in the first place?”
He ignored my question as he continued retrieving his arrows, until I poked him with the dagger. He sighed. “To continue the charade. All of Rosemead believes him to be a bloodthirsty beast, but it’s been years since he ate or killed a human, as they believe, and this has been increasing their urge to hunt him, like dear Castor here. I thought if everyone believes he’s refusing animal sacrifices and demanding human ones, they’d leave him and the others alone.”
He knew everything then, even that Jessamine was still alive. Yet her brothers still believed her dead, and Castor had shot her down.
“Don’t the men from the lodge know about any of this?”
He shook his head. “Just me and Will.”
“What were you going to do in the coming months when people believed they’re expected to sacrifice humans?” I rubbed at the tears that had become a salt glaze from the chill of the fog. “Did you have some convoluted system for the people you would capture? What would have done with them? Was he going to pack his cells with prisoners?”
Rob cringed. “To be honest, I didn’t think that far ahead. I just hoped that by next month this would all be over.”
“How? How was giving him my father supposed to fix any of this?”
“It’s best for him to explain it to you himself,” he said. “Now I have to get him back to the castle before dawn breaks.”
“You’ll really return him?”
“Why the surprise?”
“I don’t know what to expect from you, since you’re a traitorous friend, a liar and a charlatan.”
“Don’t forget thief.” He reached into Maple’s saddlebags, took out a coin pouch and shook it. “But I resent your first statement, as I’m neither Castor’s friend nor did I swear loyalty to him. Saving his hide right now is out of the goodness of my heart.”
Avoiding his eyes, because I still couldn’t apologize, or thank him for saving my and Leander’s hide, I took hold of Maple’s reins and got her to kneel. Rob pulled Leander across her back. He was limp, heavy, and still bleeding from wounds all over his body. The wounds he’d sustained to save me.
And he had saved me, even after I had broken our deal and destroyed his rose. He had come after me, told me to run while he let the redcaps gnaw at him.
Rob had gone to pick up Castor, throwing him across his shoulders. “Wait here, I’ll go drop this one off at the nearest physician’s house. He’s lucky they didn’t bite anything vital.”
Before he walked away, I stopped him in his tracks. “My father…do you know where he is?”
He nodded. “He’s being hosted by my friend, Will. We had to send him there to avoid having him run back to you. He still doesn’t entirely believe that you’re alive.”
“Take me to him. After we return Leander, please take me to him.”
He shook his head. “I can’t. He’s in the capital, Eglantine, a few days’ ride from here, and I can’t leave now. Your father’s in good hands, Bonnie. I promise you that.”
I groaned. “Speaking of promises, I promised Castor I’d marry him if he stopped his attack on the castle. It was the only way to save everyone.”
Rob scowled at t
he man dangling over his shoulder. “Well, he nearly got you killed and this nullifies whatever promises you made or anything you owe him.”
Though ashamed, I greedily took that excuse out of my obligation.
Then I finally exhaled, “You’ll take me to my father after Leander gets better?”
“I will—as soon as our problems are resolved.”
Unsure what he meant, and whether to feel sad or relieved, I exhaled. “Thank you, for everything, Robert, and sorry for the names I called you.”
“Robin,” he corrected, his lips, the only thing I could see of his face clearly along with his jaw, quirking. But he neither accepted my thanks and apology nor commented on them. “I’ll be right back. Wait for me at the edge of the woods.”
He strode ahead and I started leading Maple through the woods, retracing our earlier path in a thankfully quiet trip back beneath the fog clouds. All the way, I reeled from the harrowing experience, our needless brush with death, wondering what to do now.
I’d spent the past days wanting to escape, praying to be saved, and fearing for my father. Then my so-called savior led into mortal danger, only for the one I’d been running from to rescue me. And he’d told me the truth about my father being fine yet far away.
When Robin finally came jogging back, he motioned for me to follow him, leading us out around the town circle and back uphill.
Halfway up to the castle, I asked, “Who are you? How do know about him?”
He ignored the first question and said, “I knew him before he became the infamous Beast of Rosemead.”
“Do you know how this happened?”
“It’s not my story to tell.”
“Why does everyone I ask tell me this?”
“Because there’s hope that in telling you himself he’ll figure out how to better his condition, maybe even fix it.” He glanced at Leander over his shoulder and I saw his jaw clench in the shadow of his hood. “Perhaps you can help him.”
“How?”
He shrugged. “I’m not sure.”
He was lying. He knew, but he wasn’t going to tell me.
So I went for my next burning question. “Back in the lodge, when I asked about my cousin, they said your friend’s sister had been taken by fairies. Were they anything like the ones we just encountered?”
“No, Will’s sister wasn’t savaged by redcaps or goblins. She was carried off by members of the Wild Hunt,” he said bitterly. “There are stories of people traveling to Faerie and coming back, but never of those who were kidnapped returning.” He turned his head towards me, and I got a glimpse of his face beneath the hood in the moonlight. “I won’t let this stop me from finding and saving my Lady Marianne, but there’s so little dependable information about Faerie that my plans have been taking more effort and research than I hoped. The last thing I can afford is to end up like King Herla.”
The name was familiar to me, a passing reference in one of my ancient books, but I couldn’t remember what it had been about. “Who is he? And what happened to him?”
He looked ahead, exhaled. “Back when the kingdom was many smaller monarchies, Herla was the King of the Bryar, and he was said to venture into Faerie to find an ally that would help him fight the invaders from the north.” I blinked at his back. He suddenly sounded like someone else, formal and polished—like a highly educated lord. “The story goes that he struck a deal with a fairy princess, his hand for the safety of his kingdom and the ensured future of his folk. But once he returned with her forces, he found that he had been gone, not for a fortnight, but for two-hundred years, and the Bryar lands had long been invaded and settled by his enemies.”
That sounded terrible. To find oneself in a world where everything you knew and loved was long dead. I bit my lip. “What happened to him after that?”
He gazed ahead solemnly, shrugged. “It’s said his fairy princess came to collect. Some stories say he was taken back to Faerie as her consort, others say he became the leader of the Wild Hunt. I intend to find out if he is the latter, when I find a way to track them down, that is.”
Processing his story, I only reached a bleak conclusion and my heart crumpled in my chest. “So, you’re saying there’s no chance I’ll ever see Adelaide again?”
“I’m just telling you what I’ve heard. Fairy stories are anything but reliable.”
After that, he said nothing. I was grateful for the silence. Fearing I might have lost Adelaide where—or really when I could never reach her, I wept the rest of the way.
Once at the gate, Robin called out, “Sir Philip—come collect your master!”
As the gates swung open, I noticed that the fog I’d encountered the first time was thinner. Robin held out an arm, urging me to pass inside. The male centaur from earlier hobbled over to us with a lantern, a bruise on his forehead and his foreleg bandaged. I led Maple to him and Robin helped him settle Leander on his horse end.
As he trotted into the castle, Sir Philip called a boy with pale blonde hair and green scales called Oliver, who led Maple to the garden with promises of apples and water.
I stood shaking with depletion in the courtyard, replaying tonight’s events, as both disappeared out of sight. Red feathers drifted around me in a gust of night wind and my throat tightened at the evidence of Jessamine’s injury. Everything—from my fight with Leander by the rose tree to Castor’s and his friends’ attack—took on a totally different significance. What I’d planned as a harmless escape had turned into and array of near-death experiences on all sides.
Robin set a hand on my shoulder. “What are you going to do now?”
Eyes on the main castle doors, I let out a shuddering, misty breath that mingled with the fog. “All I wanted was to leave, but now—now I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out. There’s more to you than you think.”
I gazed up at him for a long moment, confused by his statement. But for once, I was beyond asking questions.
As for what I’d do, I could leave. Yet—I couldn’t.
I started walking. At the doors, I turned, took one last look at the gates and found Robin gone. Before I could change my mind, I stepped inside and shut the door.
It didn’t matter that I despised Leander. I owed him my life now.
I wouldn’t leave. Not before I made sure that he, and everyone else were all alive and well. And not before I got all the answers I needed to get my family back.
Chapter Twelve
Unlike the past few days when all of the castle occupants kept to the shadows, some showed themselves to me once Leander was whisked off to have his wounds treated.
Among those was a girl with tawny rabbit ears and reddish eyes who scurried over to me, introducing herself as Hazel. “I cannot begin to tell you how glad I am that you’ve decided to stay on after all!”
Whatever reasons she’d assigned my return, she looked too intensely happy for me to dispel them. I wasn’t sure why any of them, starting with Leander, wanted to keep me here so badly. But one way or another, I was going to find out.
I tried to return any measure of her wiggling enthusiasm, but the muscles in my face refused to budge. Hazel didn’t seem to notice my miserable condition as she bounded ahead of me towards the stairs. I went along, letting her escort me back to my room.
After I got cleaned up and treated my various cuts and lacerations the best I could, I went in search of my friends.
As I neared the servant’s section of the castle, Ivy emerged from a room, Oliver the lizard-boy in tow. “Are you looking for Jessamine?”
A kindly mother’s voice was the last one I’d expected to accompany her forked tongue. That prompted a deeper look at the snake-woman, searching her green-tinted face, the scales that glazed the edges of her aging skin. A layered mess of mahogany curls framed her round face and hung off her shoulders, and she had thin lips but a wide mouth to accommodate her fangs, a small nose with a flat bridge, and big, upturned yellow-green eyes.
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Though I’d known that the curious creatures staffing the castle were like Clancy and Jessamine, the idea hadn’t fully sunk in until now. I felt a bit ashamed it had taken me so long to think of them as people.
“Yes,” I breathed through the renewed shock and belated acceptance. “Do you know where she’s recovering? I’d love to visit.”
“So sweet of you,” Ivy cooed approvingly, slithering past me. “She’s in the guest quarters. I’m afraid they’re the only ones with beds big enough to accommodate her wingspan now she has to sleep with them spread.”
“I don’t know why she needs a bed.” Oliver skipped beside me, his pale blond hair clashing with his scaly skin, his green eyes catching the brightness from the torches and shifting from human to reptilian. “Shouldn’t she be on a perch by now where we can cover her with a blanket so she stays quiet.”
“Ollie!” Ivy chastised. “This is not the time to joke about her state.”
“Then when is it?” he complained, swinging his arms. “I can’t do anything fun around here. When is it going to be over?” He turned his now lime-yellow eyes to me, elongated pupils dilating. “How long is it going to take you to fix things?”
Ivy shushed him urgently, then turned to me, laughing it off. “Children draw the silliest conclusions. Ignore him.”
Telling me to ignore something was a surefire way to make me probe it. Especially considering that his question was almost as odd as the creepy rhymes the redcaps had said to me.
Though it wasn’t the first time I’d been called a pixie or a sprite, those bloodthirsty little demons had definitely not been making snide remarks about my size.
“What is it that you all expect me to do here?” I asked Ivy.
“Oh, just keeping the master company.” Ivy chuckled dismissively, her long, thick, glistening tail of a lower half undulating as she slithered ahead. “The gods know he needs it at this point.”
Now that I’d given her a good look, that I truly considered the humanity of all these people, I had to wonder how they functioned. “How long did it take you to move?”