by KJ Baker
That was an easy question. “Precisely nothing.”
His eyebrows rose in surprise. “Nothing at all?”
“Only what’s told in fairy tales, but I suspect that’s pretty far from the truth. Unless you guys really do sneak into kid’s bedrooms to take away the teeth they put under their pillow. Or maybe you like to dance on toadstools and grant wishes? No? I thought not.”
“Fates,” he swore softly. “Seems the Veil has done its job better than we realized. All right. Let’s start at the beginning. The Fae realm is called the Summerlands. It exists on a different plane to the mortal realm, but the two are inextricably linked—or they used to be. After the signing of the accord, that all changed...but we’ll get to that. Fae society is...volatile. There are broadly speaking two factions: the Seelie Court and the Unseelie Court, but each of these is split into smaller courts. You might call them kingdoms, I suppose, within the wider context of the Seelie or the Unseelie.”
“So what’s the difference between the Seelie and the Unseelie?”
“You are. Or rather, the way your kind are viewed. The Seelie have a more...tolerant...view towards mortal kind. The Unseelie do not. You might call it a clash of ideologies.”
I swallowed. “I see. And...which one are you?”
He gave a quick, sharp smile. “Don’t worry. I come from the Shadow Court. We are of the Seelie.”
“And those men in my shop?” I asked, shuddering at the memory of their cold expressions. “They were Unseelie?”
He nodded. “Their names are Taviel and Shezl. They are Galadri, agents of the Court of the Sun. They are the most vocal of those who wish to bring down the Veil and end the accord.”
I breathed out slowly. “So if the Court of the Sun gets their way?”
He said nothing. He just watched me, expression grim, and I didn’t need to hear his words to know what that would mean.
“You have to understand our history,” he said, rubbing his chin with one hand. “Millennia ago, so long ago that it’s faded to legend, the gateways between the Summerlands and the mortal realms were open. There was contact between your people and mine. In fact, you served us. Unwillingly for the most part.”
“What do you mean ‘unwillingly’? Mortals were Fae slaves?”
He grimaced. “It’s not that simple. If you’d have asked any of those mortals, they would not have called themselves slaves. They would have said they were devoted to their masters and it was their own choice to serve. But the Fae glamor is a powerful thing. It can rob a person of their free will, make them do things they would not normally do. Relations with mortals followed that pattern for a long time, but eventually began to change. Factions developed within the Fae that called for the freeing of mortal kind. Others pushed against it. And so the Seelie and Unseelie courts were born. The issue drove us to war—the First Fae war. The Seelie won and the accord was signed. All mortals were returned to the mortal realm. The Veil was erected, forever separating the mortal realm from the Summerlands. For millennia there was an uneasy peace within the lands of the Fae.”
I hugged my arms around myself, feeling suddenly cold. “So what changed?”
“A murder,” he said grimly. “The murder of the Spire. It changed everything.”
“That’s the second time you’ve mentioned the Spire.”
He rubbed his chin again, gathering his thoughts. “The Spire is both a person and a place. It sits at the center of the Summerlands, a court in its own right but one completely different to all the others. It does not partake of politics, and its sole function is to act as a religious and moral guide for my people. The Elders who live there come from every court, both Seelie and Unseelie, and they give up all their old allegiances when they step inside. In addition, the Spire is the title given to the first of the Elders, the spiritual leader of our people. Throughout my whole life that title was born by a woman name Eliana. She was mother to us all. Under her guidance, peace flourished.” His gaze darkened, his expression going grim. “But a year ago she was murdered—by a mortal.”
“A mortal?” I said in surprise. “But you said the path between the two realms was closed.”
He nodded. “It was. It is. I don’t know how he got through, but a mortal man was caught standing over Eliana with a dagger in his hand. It was all the excuse the Court of the Sun needed to declare the accord null and void. When the Seelie disagreed, unrest enveloped the Summerlands. We are on the verge of war once again.”
I said nothing. Civil war amongst the Fae? And all because of mortal kind? I didn’t know what to make of it. I glanced at the dog-tags hanging around his neck.
“Are there more Fae here? In the mortal realm, I mean?”
He shook his head. “No. The secret of the portals and the portal cubes is closely guarded. Only I and a few of my comrades know of them. We’ve used them to keep track of the Sun Court’s agents.”
“Why does the Sun Court want this Orb of Tir? Why would they risk sending agents here for it?”
He didn’t answer for a moment. He leaned back in his chair, watching me as though deciding how much to reveal. I forced myself to meet his gaze, even though I desperately wanted to look away.
“It’s a weapon,” he said at last. “One left over from the time before the accord. It can be used to control others, make them do what you want. Before the accord, it was used to control mortal kind—those who were strong enough to resist our glamor. Now the Sun Court wish to use it to control the other Fae and tear down the Veil. If they manage to get it back to the Unseelie...”
He didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t have to. If they used it to gain control of the Seelie Fae, they would win the war. The Veil would be breached and god-alone-knew what would happen to my world. My stomach churned. Oh heck. How the hell had I got mixed up in all this?
I wished I could turn the clock back. I wished I had decided not to visit Brendan McNally, had decided to stay home and catalog my wares, had decided...oh hell... had decided anything that would mean I wasn’t sat right here, right now, listening to a crazy story that made my blood run cold.
Raven was watching me. His palms were placed flat on the table, his gaze unblinking. “I’m sorry,” he said. “That is a lot to burden you with.”
I waved away his apology. “Well, I did ask. Always my problem. Way too nosey. Just give me a moment to think.”
RAVEN
I did not like talking about this. Especially not to a mortal. Especially not to Asha. The less she knew of all this, the better. I could keep her safer that way.
A tiny crease marred the space between her eyebrows as she thought through everything I’d told her, and I knew by her scent that she was frightened and trying not to show it.
Fates, she was beautiful. Those freckles that sprinkled her nose, those clear green eyes, as light as the pools of Athian—
Stop it!
“So. You know what we’re up against,” I said. “Still want to come along for the ride?”
She swallowed, lifted her chin and met my gaze defiantly. “I don’t care if they were Seelie, Unseelie, or the Devil Himself. Those idiots wrecked my shop— everything I’ve worked for. I am not going to let them get away with it.”
Somehow, I’d known she would say that. I nodded resignedly. “So that leaves us in the same predicament as before. We need to figure out where the portal will open—and I have exactly no clue how to do that.” I bit back on my annoyance. I was a soldier. I knew how to fight. I had little patience for solving riddles but I could not return to the Summerlands without the Galadri and the Orb of Tir.
Asha cocked her head, lips pursed in thought. “You said the Spire can track where the portals will open. How do they do that?”
Cursed if I knew. It had something to do with the Endless Scrolls but the Spire’s business was the Spire’s business. I was a soldier. I knew how to fight, not the mystical arts that the Spire dealt with.
No. Wait. That wasn’t strictly true. As a child, I’d bee
n tutored in certain of the Spire’s functions. Someone in my position was expected to have at least a rudimentary grasp of the basics. What had my tutors told me? I frowned, trying to remember.
“It has to do with the stars,” I said at last. “And the movement of the stars through the seasons.” I shook my head. Why hadn’t I paid more attention instead of constantly staring out of the window or dreaming of battles? “The Endless Scrolls predict the portals’ appearances by tracking the heavens. I think. I didn’t really pay much attention to those lectures.”
“Star charts,” Asha mused, looking intrigued. “That’s a start but it’s not much to go on. Can you remember anything else? Anything a bit more specific?”
I began to shake my head in the negative then paused as a memory stirred. “There was a name my tutor mentioned. The author of the Scrolls, I think. Thoth?”
Asha’s head came up at this. “Thoth?”
“Yes. Does it mean something to you?”
Excitement flashed in her eyes. “Thoth was the ancient Egyptian god of the moon and calculation! The ancient Egyptian civilization flourished thousands of years ago—right around the time the portals between the mortal realm and the Summerlands were still open! What if they had access to these Endless Scrolls too?”
“How would that help us? I still don’t see how—”
“You will. Look!” She dug into her pocket, coming out with a crumpled piece of paper which she laid out on the table in front of me. “I’d planned to visit this weekend. I tried to convince Gracie to come with me but it’s not her thing at all.”
I leaned forward, examining the flyer. “What is it?”
“An exhibition. Of ancient manuscripts. Don’t you see what the keynote exhibit is?”
I scanned the words. The exhibition started tomorrow at a museum about a hundred miles from here. The name of the keynote exhibit sprawled in large lettering across the top. The Atlas of Thoth.
My pulse quickened. At last, a bit of luck. “That must be it! A copy of the Endless Scrolls! Let’s go.” I scraped my chair back and stood.
“Now?” she asked. “The exhibition doesn’t start until tomorrow.”
“And it’s a hundred miles away.”
“So? Can’t you just do your...you know...zappy thing to take us there?”
“Zappy thing?” I said, resisting a smile. “By that I take it you mean teleportation? The answer is no, I can’t. If the Galadri are heading there too, it would alert them to my presence immediately. We’ll have to take the more mundane route. I’ll drive.”
She climbed to her feet a little unsteadily. She seemed tired. Fates, I had to remember that she was mortal and needed more sleep than I ever did. Mortals were such fragile things, their lives over in an instant. Compared to the immortal Fae, they were like fireflies: burning brightly for a short time before being snuffed out like candle flames in a wind.
I crumpled the flyer, put it in my pocket and crossed to the door, holding it open for her. She gave me a resigned look, climbed to her feet and walked out. I grabbed my keys and followed, a flare of hope surging in my chest.
Finally, I was getting somewhere.
Chapter 5
ASHA
Of course he had a flash car. Why would I expect anything different? No matter that he wasn’t human and came from a land where cars didn’t exist. That didn’t seem to make any difference when it came to Raven.
He opened the garage door to reveal a white E-Type Jaguar. He slung a bag that he’d hastily packed onto the back seat and indicated for me to get in.
I hesitated. It was one thing accompanying Raven when I had no choice, it was a whole other thing accompanying him on this mission. If I got into that car, there was no going back. Right now, I still had a choice. I could turn around, walk away, go back to my old life. I could restore my shop, return to how things were before. Couldn’t I?
I glanced over at Raven. His dark hair was so glossy it shone and there was that economy of movement as he got into the car that spoke of barely contained power. Who was he? And why had our paths crossed so suddenly? My life was suddenly full of questions.
And yet it was full of something else too: possibility. My eyes had been opened to a hidden world, one of danger and magic and beauty. Raven’s world.
With a sharp stab of insight, I realized that I didn’t want to go back. I didn’t want to return to my nineteenth-century pocket watches and sixties pop art. Raven’s appearance in my life, as shocking as it had been, had woken me up. For the first time in as long as I could remember, I felt alive.
“What are you waiting for?” he asked.
Mind made up, I climbed into the passenger seat. He started up the car. In the confined space I was suddenly very aware of how close we were, less than three feet between us.
He turned to look at me. “Ready?”
I nodded. “Ready.”
He put the car into gear and we sped out of the garage and onto the road. It was still early and as we traveled through town, I stared out the window at all the people on their way to work, going about their day just as they did every other day. I felt detached from them somehow. Yesterday, I was one of them. But now what was I?
“How long will it take to get there?” I asked Raven.
“A few hours. Rest. I’ll wake you when we arrive.”
Rest? Was he kidding? How could he expect me to sleep with everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours? But despite my protests, my eyes drifted closed. I’d not slept properly the night before, having fallen asleep at my desk and being woken in the middle of the night. I laid my head back and fell into dreamless slumber.
The engine falling silent and the opening of a door woke me. I blinked my eyes open to see that we had pulled into a parking lot. A sign above the entrance read, Grand Motel.
I straightened in my seat, looking around. Raven was nowhere to be seen until I glanced through the windshield and saw him crossing the parking lot towards the motel reception. I didn’t recognize this place. We were on the edge of a town that nestled between pine-clad hills.
I ran my hand through my hair and then scrubbed my eyes. Checking my watch, I saw that it was almost noon. Jeez, I’d slept the whole way here?
I was hungry again and needed to pee. I undid my seat-belt, opened the door and climbed out of the car, stretching to relieve the kinks in my neck. It was a fine, bright day, and I leaned back against the car, enjoying the feeling of the sun on my skin.
Raven returned carrying a key. “I’ve got us a room. The museum is a couple of blocks that way.” He stuck his head into the car and came out holding his bag.
I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow at him. He gazed at me, nonplussed.
“What?”
“You got us a room? One room? As in together?”
“It’s all they had,” he replied with a shrug. His lips quirked, almost a smile. “Why? Do you think you can’t be trusted around me?”
I gaped at him. Me, trusted around him? How the hell dare he? I held out my hand. “Fine. But I will have the key and I’m warning you, any funny business and you’ll be sleeping on the balcony.”
Yes, that was definitely a smile this time. He inclined his head, hand over his heart. “You have my word. No ‘funny business’.” His eyes met mine across the car’s roof. “You can trust me.”
I said nothing. In truth, I don’t think I could have said anything. As our gazes met something seemed to spark between us. My breath quickened. Yes, I could trust him. I knew it, although I couldn’t say how I knew it.
I blinked, cleared my throat. “The key.”
He tossed it to me and I caught it and then began crossing the parking lot without waiting for him. He caught me in three strides and walked by my side. We climbed the steps to our room and I let us in. It was basic to say the least, smelled slightly of mildew, and certainly wasn’t the kind of place you’d expect the owner of an E-Type Jaguar to stay in.
But Raven didn’t even seem to
notice. He prowled into the room, immediately checked all the corners, the bathroom, and then stalked to the windows and looked out. He was every inch the soldier staking out a place.
“Everything to your satisfaction?”
He glanced at me then continued his prowling. Jeez, he even checked under the bed. Finally, he seemed satisfied.
“All clear.”
I let out a large sigh and sank down onto the edge of the bed. Despite my nap in the car, I felt so tired, like I could sleep for a week.
I turned on the TV. Raven hovered, seeming restless.
“I’ll leave you to your...to yourself,” he announced, stalking to the door.
“Where are you going?”
He paused with his hand on the door handle. He glanced over his shoulder at me. “Don’t worry. I won’t be far away. You’re safe. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Then he was gone. I stared at the door for a moment. Why did the room feel so empty without him in it?
Annoyed at myself, I focused on the TV, flicking through the channels but I barely registered the shows. My mind was on other things: one dark haired man in particular.
Chapter 6
RAVEN
I had to get out of there. Asha’s proximity was doing strange things to me and what made it worse was that she wanted me to stay. I could see it in the way she looked at me, heard it like a plea hidden beneath her words.
Did she feel the connection too?
I shut the door behind me more forcefully than I intended and leaned on it for a moment, breathing deeply, allowing my raging emotions to settle. A breeze blew from the direction of the town bringing with it the stink of diesel, refuse, and thousands of mortals living cheek-by-jowl.
It was far removed from the clean, pine-scented breezes of the Court of Shadow.
A sudden, wrenching pang of homesickness swept over me. I had been away too long. How were my people faring without me? Had the Court of the Sun taken advantage of my absence by causing further trouble? Tension clenched my gut and my hands curled into fists.
