Even the barest scrap of iron could keep them away, but the Book of Brigit described them as a force of nature, rather than faeries that could be slain.
“Does anyone know how to kill a mór?” I asked.
Everyone shook their heads.
Drayce turned to Aengus. “Does the Fear Dorcha have a body?”
He nodded and uncorked his bottle with a dull pop. “He’s also half-Fomorian, which means he has a body as well as a soul.”
“Everyone I questioned said the Fear Dorcha handed them objects to bring to the palace,” added Captain Maith. “Perhaps he slips into dreams with his mind instead of his body.”
Drayce reached across the table and took a piece of shortbread. “My power works best on souls occupying stolen bodies. If I get close enough, I will try to rip out his essence.”
A doubt itched at the back of my mind. Drayce couldn’t kill Melusina directly because she was a nathair that was only vulnerable to the attacks of their parents or children. It was the reason why he tricked her into unearthing Queen Pressyne’s skeleton. If the Fear Dorcha had special abilities, he might survive our attack.
“What if that doesn’t work?” I asked.
“Then I’ll try again when he’s on the brink of death,” Drayce replied.
Osmos leaned forward. “According to my research, the Fear Dorcha can sense whether intruders into the Summer Court are intending to break his curse.”
We all fell silent. I was about to ask Drayce if he could shield us with his shadows, but that would also mean not being able to see.
“I can scratch glyphs into iron charms.” Cathbad winced. “But you’d need to wear them against your skin.”
“What about a bag of salt around the neck?” I asked.
“It’s better than nothing,” Cathbad replied.
I massaged my temples just as the door clicked open, and faeries with skin the color of apricots flew in on gossamer wings. Each held platters of meat and cheese and vegetable slices placed between wafers of bread. The warm aroma of fresh bread and roasted meat filled my nostrils, making my mouth water.
After laying the finger food on the low table, they bowed and flew out of the room. I picked one containing roasted beef, wondering how Nessa was faring in the kitchens. We ate in silence, each contemplating the adventure ahead. If Melusina was there, I could end the turmoil in the kingdom by striking the killing blow. Then the Fear Dorcha would have to listen to me or perish.
Drayce and I were ravenous from our busy morning, and we ate half the platter. I glanced at Osmos and Cathbad, who ate only the bread that contained vegetables. Cathbad whispered something to Osmos, who smiled. Perhaps they had become friends after all.
“Your Majesty.” Rosalind twisted around in her seat. “Are you sure that killing the Fear Dorcha will break the curse over the Summer Court?”
I stilled, my snack halfway to my mouth. In careful, slow words, I asked, “What do you mean?”
“Some curses remain after the death of their caster,” she replied. “We don’t know if one old and widespread enough to affect an entire Court won’t continue if you don’t force the Fear Dorcha to lift it.”
“There’s only one person to ask.” I rose to my feet, and everybody followed.
“Who?”
“Erin,” I snarled. “And she’s going to lead us directly to the Fear Dorcha.”
Chapter 22
We found Erin still wrapped in shadows and pinned to the wall of the stone chamber. Unlike last night, she had her hooves on the ground and a pair of bowls containing food and water by her forelegs. Pale sunlight streamed down from the openings I had made high up on the wall, making the tufts on her yellow ears gleam like cornsilk.
Erin raised her head and jerked back within the confines of her restraints.
“What do you want?” she said.
“Release her,” I said to Drayce.
The shadows receded into the wall, and the doe fell onto her knees, heaving several panting breaths. Her ears twisted outward as though listening out for threats or sudden movement. I folded my arms across my chest and waited for her to speak.
“Thank you,” she said with a long, outward breath. “Please, you’ve got to know that I bear you no ill will. I was just so desperate—”
“You’re free to leave.” I stepped toward her with a hand over my sword. “On one condition.”
Erin struggled onto her hooves and raised her head to meet my gaze. She was four-feet-tall, which was large for a doe, with thick, dark lashes over eyes as green as my mate’s.
“Your Majesty,” her voice slowed with caution. “What do you want in return for my freedom?”
I paused. Erin had attempted more than once to lure me into a trap—the first by appearing before the carriage and luring us into the Summer Court. I was partially to blame for that one as I could have flown in the opposite direction, but the desperation of recognizing her from the dreamscape made me give chase.
The second time was the night before, a deliberate attempt to bring the Fear Dorcha’s shadow into the palace. I had ordered the oak sprite’s torture for cursing Drayce, yet this doe… this Summer Court female had gotten a night of confinement and a meal.
Leaning close to Erin’s tufty ears, I said, “You’re going to take me to the Fear Dorcha.”
She backed away, shaking her head from side to side. “I can’t betray him. The consequences will be dire.”
“Then transform and let me see the sigil on your hand,” I snarled.
“It’s already gone,” she replied with a sob. “I was only supposed to let his shadow into the palace and then escape, but the door trapped me.”
I ground my teeth, not wanting to reveal that I was the one who trapped her in case she shut down on us completely. There was something off about this female. She seemed to be protecting the Fear Dorcha, even though he had cursed her entire Court.
A long breath heaved from my lungs. If I couldn’t use the door, a coach reinforced with Drayce’s shadows might get us into the Summer Court, but entering that cursed space from its border would give our enemies ample time to defend themselves with monsters or capture Drayce and me.
Cathbad stepped forward and knelt at Erin’s side. “What does the sigil look like, then?”
“Will you release me if I give you a detailed description?” she asked.
“Yes,” I snapped.
“Horizontal lines sticking out from a single vertical line.” She traced several invisible lines with her hoof.
Cathbad straightened. “It’s focail déithe, the script handed down by Dana. The doe just inscribed ‘fire,’ the element that represents summer.”
My eyes widened, and triumph warmed my insides. “Let’s go and use the door.”
I glanced at Drayce, who flashed me a wide grin. Cathbad was turning out to be a useful ally. Without consciously asking the palace to do so, the wall on our right side opened up, revealing the chamber containing the arched door. Its swirls twisted around on the wooden frame as though in greeting.
The room consisted of a similar pale rock as the cornerstone’s wall, except the bricks were smooth, uniformly shaped, and bound with mortar. I stepped inside, the wall lanterns lengthening my shadow, and heavy thuds echoed across the chamber, sounding like an ogre’s fists.
“What’s that?” asked Rosalind from behind.
My gaze wandered to the box I had created in the corner, which contained the black ooze. “I trapped the Fear Dorcha’s shadow within the stone. It probably knows we’re here.”
“Queen Pressyne had a pendant with four keys, Your Majesty,” Rosalind said. “How do you intend to open the door with just a symbol?”
Erin’s fluffy ears appeared on the edge of my vision. She probably wanted to use the door to run back to the Fear Dorcha and warn him that we were coming. I nudged Drayce, who nodded and wrapped a tendril of shadow around her back hoof.
“With my blood.” I turned back to Cathbad, who stared at me through un
blinking, amber eyes. “Carve the symbol into my palm.”
Drayce pulled out a dagger from his sword belt and handed it to the druid.
I placed my hand palm-up for Cathbad and clenched my teeth as he made shallow cuts into my flesh.
When he finished, he stepped back. “Done, Your Majesty.”
Blood beaded through the cuts as they sealed, and I pressed my hand onto the wood. With a hiss, red light streamed out from behind the door. It swung open, revealing a stagnant void of absolute blackness.
My heart plummeted. It hadn’t felt this terrible when Drayce shattered the windows of the royal carriage. As soon as the door became wide enough to fit a person, the doe dashed past and into the dark.
I glanced at Drayce and smirked.
“No!” Aengus rushed past and gave chase.
My heart jumped into the back of my throat. He was about to ruin our plan. I opened my mouth to protest, but Drayce placed a hand on my arm and shook his head. I nodded. Shouting after Aengus would only alert the doe and whoever was listening that we had a means to track her. I raised my shoulders and smiled. If Aengus managed to catch Erin, she was sure to make another escape.
“How are we supposed to see through that infernal darkness?” grumbled Cathbad. “Even with flaming torches, we’ll only see a few feet ahead of our noses. We’ll need something brighter than sunlight to deal with this.”
Drayce shrugged. “I can see in the dark.”
“We might get separated,” I glanced over my shoulder at Rosalind and remember the balls of faerie light that haunted dark forests and lured humans to their deaths. “Can you create a will-o’-the-wisp?”
She shook her head. “Those are the lost souls of pixies.”
“Right,” I muttered. “We could use the wall lanterns, but they’re even dimmer than fire.”
“What about Crom Cruach?” she asked.
My brows rose. “His gold?”
“It was brighter than fire,” she replied. “We could use it to fill lanterns.”
“Do it.” I raised a hand, and a few of the bricks came loose. A jar of glowing light rolled out of the gap in the wall.
Rosalind raised the jar with her magic and moved the lanterns off their perches. Cathbad opened up each lantern, letting Rosalind pour enough gold into its interior to make them glow brighter than the morning sun.
Drayce turned to me, his brows drawn together and his lips twisted into a smirk. “You’re using someone’s remains as lantern fuel?”
“Crom Cruach trapped the souls of innocent babies into his idols.” I pulled out the Sword of Tethra. “He might as well help us to destroy the female who supplied them.”
Aengus jogged through the door with a broad grin and the weeping doe slung over his shoulder. “I brought her back, Your Majesty.”
“Thank you,” I said with a chuckle. “Are we ready to go?”
Rosalind handed me a glowing torch that was so bright, I had to squint against its glare. I held it out into the darkness, expecting to see a forest or a palace but instead found what appeared to be a town square. Smooth cobblestones stretched across an expanse to large for the torch to illuminate, and to our immediate left and right stood tall buildings with downstairs shuttered windows protected by pale awning.
Black capall lay on the cobblestones beside fallen riders, their rib cages rising and falling in slumber. My throat spasmed. It seemed that not even the animals had escaped the Fear Dorcha’s curse. This place was so similar to the village where I had lived before that Samhain, except on a larger scale.
We stepped out of the door into a square so silent that it absorbed the sound of our footsteps. I turned to find Drayce pulling the door shut with his shadows and making it disappear.
Dread crept beneath the leather of my armor, and I rolled my shoulders, trying to shake it off. As soon as we defeated Queen Melusina and the Fear Dorcha and awoken Prince Calor, he would lend us his carriage to return home.
A female voice groaned. It was Erin, bucking on Aengus’ back.
“Put me down,” she said. “I’ll show you where to find the Fear Dorcha.”
“Show us, then.” My gaze slid to Drayce.
His green eyes reflected in Crom Cruach’s golden light like those of a cat, and the corner of his lips curled into a skeptical smile. Erin was more likely to lead us into a trap, but we would follow her when she eventually reported to her master.
Aengus set Erin to her feet, and she led us along the left side of the square. Her hooves clopping against the cobblestones was the only sound, breaking up the unsettling silence. We passed an empty fountain, stores with open shutters displaying moth-eaten clothes and rotted produce, and faeries slumbering on benches carved from wood.
Erin hopped over a pair of young boys with wings so dark I couldn’t discern their pattern.
“Where are you taking us?” I walked a wide circle around the fallen faeries.
She turned her head to the side. “His den is on the village outskirts.”
I tried not to roll my eyes. “This had better not be a trap.”
At the end of the square was a winding road that sloped up a gentle hill. Whatever was at the end of the road was too far for me to see even with our combined torches illuminating our way, but after ten minutes of walking uphill, the houses stopped, giving way to gardens that were now reduced to soil.
Erin continued up the slope, and we passed a forest of gnarled trees with twisted trunks and branches that turned down to the ground. It was as though the lack of sun had caused their limbs to wilt and try to get sustenance from beneath the soil.
Something rustled at the edge of my awareness. Drayce, who walked on my right, squeezed my hand.
“Did you hear that?” I asked.
He shook his head.
I licked my lips and swallowed hard. Maybe it was my imagination or the rustling of my leather armor.
The road meandered around the hill, and Erin continued a few paces ahead, her tufty yellow tail swinging from side to side. Cathbad walked on my left, his steady presence and the rhythmic clomp of his staff hitting the cobblestones soothing my frazzled nerves.
Our glowing lights illuminated a round, twelve-foot-tall shape that filled the entire road. At first, it appeared to be a hut but as we approached, our lights picked up a rough, reddish surface and long, thick branches protruding from its crown.
My feet halted on the cobblestones. It was a tree. A massive, swollen, gourd-shaped tree that had sprouted in the middle of the road. Drayce and Cathbad stopped at my sides, both speechless at the peculiar sight. Erin trotted forward toward the tree and sniffed at the roots.
She raised her head and turned around, her green eyes reflecting in our lights. “He’s in there.”
“You go in first,” said Aengus.
“Your Majesty, he’ll punish me if I betray him.” Erin walked toward us, her limbs trembling. She stopped at the edge of the tree’s canopy. “This is as far as I can take you.”
I inhaled a deep breath, ready to demand answers, but Aengus rushed between Cathbad and me, pointing his glowing torch at the doe’s eyes.
He snarled, “Listen, you traitorous—”
One of the branches lashed out, grabbed Aengus by the waist, and scooped him up into the air.
A gasp tore from my lips. I staggered back and gaped at the struggling warrior. “What is that?”
Drayce raised his arms, his shadows spilling from his fingers. They wrapped around the branch holding Aengus.
Rosalind launched herself into the air, and one of the branches twisted toward her. She flew backward, out of reach.
My heart pounded, and my mouth opened and closed. I had to think this through before the tree strangled one of us. Aengus screamed and hacked at the branches, making my ears ring. Why wasn’t it attacking Drayce or me? Was it because we were of use to Melusina? My throat dried. She had fed on Drayce when the druids had died, seen Drayce in the face of the gancanagh. And she needed my body and blood more than
ever.
Cathbad knelt at my side and rifled through his huge sack. The tree also wasn’t attacking him.
“The branches only reach within its canopy,” I said.
“Aye,” replied the druid. “Trees will have such limits.”
The branch cracked overhead, and Aengus flew toward a maw of jagged teeth. Drayce wrapped a shadow around his waist, but a red tongue snaked around the warrior and dragged him into the mouth.
My stomach dropped. “No.”
“Aengus!” Rosalind dropped to the ground.
The branches stilled, and the road fell silent. If Aengus was still alive, the tree had muffled his screams. A pair of yellow ears poked out from behind the trunk, followed by wide, green eyes.
“What did you do?” I screamed at the doe.
“Sorry!” Erin disappeared around the tree, her hoofbeats fading down the road.
“No!” I placed my torch on the ground, pulled out the Sword of Tethra, and cut my left palm. If I could get that thing to swallow me as well, I could cut us both free.
Drayce grabbed my arm. “If he survived a millennium in the mist, he can fight his way free.”
A snarl tore from my lips. I pulled myself free and lurched forward. One of the branches swung down. I jumped back and cleaved it in half.
“Give him back!” I snarled.
The limb dropped onto the ground with a dull thud, and warm liquid spilled from the branch, filling my nose with the stench of rotting meat. Some of it splattered on my skirt, making me jump back.
Rosalind shrieked and flew out of sight, but Cathbad pulled his sack away from the spray and continued rifling through his bag.
Drayce’s shadow shoved the flailing branch away and wrapped around another, then another and another until he rendered the tree immobile. The massive trunk rumbled, and the ground shook beneath our feet.
“Stand back,” he said. “These branches are about to fly through the air.”
Mate of the Fae King (Dark Faerie Court Book 2) Page 20
