Elfling (U.S. Edition)

by Corinna Turner

  So I leant over and kissed him on the cheek. “I just came to say goodnight,” I said. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a nag.”

  He gave me a thoughtful look. “And I am sorry I have to say no. But I must, and I hope perhaps you understand...?”

  I nodded and hugged him tightly for a long moment before returning to my own bedchamber.

  He could not go in search of an elfin cure without harming his soul, but that did not mean that I could not do it for him.

  ~+~

  CHAPTER 26

  SERAPION THE GROOM

  I waited several hours into the night, fearing that my father might take a while to sleep. Finally, I got off the bed and, moving as quietly as possible, quickly made up a bundle of necessaries, including money. I also included several very fine pieces of my mother’s jewelry, for a two-fold purpose. If the Elfin were reluctant to help me, it was always possible that a ‘gift’ would ease things along. And although I did not intend to let bandits get me, I was too worldly-wise to overlook the possibility, and if I was taken by bandits on the road, it was vital I could provide proof that I was a Duke’s daughter, not a horse-thieving urchin girl. The first was worth a ransom, the second was...definitely not.

  I tied everything up in a large handkerchief, for I did not keep saddlebags in my bedroom. Then I slipped silently into the hall, gently shushing Raven’s inquisitive chatter. My first port of call was the attics, where I quickly dug out a groom’s uniform from among the old clothes and shook it out to check the size. I swapped my nightgown for this livery and checked my reflection in an old mirror, by the light of a single candle. What I saw horrified me. This was not Serapion the groom, this was a Serapia. It was my chest, confound it!

  It would not do at all. The tunic strained across my breasts and no one with halfway reasonable eyesight was going to take me for a boy. I dug around in the old clothes feverishly, finally emerging with an antiquated corset. Quickly I cut the cups off, removed my tunic, laced the corset on backwards, and slipped the tunic on again. I inspected my reflection in the mirror. Much better. Not very comfortable, mind...

  Next I folded some of my hair double and put it into a tight plait so that I had something the correct length for a groom’s braid. I pulled the cap on and checked once again in the mirror. Serapion the groom stood before me.

  Grinning, I headed downstairs, for despite the serious nature of the venture, excitement was beginning to infect me. I went first to my father’s study and searched until I found an old passport in the Duke’s hand, of the kind he would bestow on servants travelling to his Northern estates on business. It basically certified the person bearing it to be upon the Duke’s business and that they were to be aided on their way rather than hindered.

  Then I took parchment and pen and wrote a short note of explanation for my father. I stressed that I would be back as soon as possible, for I couldn’t bear the thought of him giving up and dying in my absence. I sealed this and gave it to Raven to look after.

  To the library, next, where I took the map of England on which Elfindale had been marked by some Ravena forebear. It only showed largish towns, but that would be enough for me to find my way. I finished up in the kitchens, where I appropriated enough food for several days. My father would surely send men after me, so I did not want to stop at inns until I had to.

  Now that everything was ready, I wanted very badly to tiptoe upstairs and steal a goodbye glance at my father, but common sense won out, and I did not risk it. My note was far from lacking in affection. I crept to the stables and loaded some saddlebags before making my way to Hellion’s stall. This was the bit that worried me, for Hellion was still not entirely amenable to being saddled.

  With this in mind, I had brought a handful of carrots and an apple from the kitchen. Distracting him with the first while I got the saddle on, I used slices of the latter to get the bit into his mouth. I fastened the saddlebags on firmly and took Raven onto the palm of my hand. I’d been thinking about this a lot, and though it hurt...

  “Raven,” I said softly, “I’m sorry I have to ask this of you, and I really wish I didn’t, but I think I must. Please will you stay here with Pa? Keep him company. Look after him? I think he’s going to feel very lonely with me gone. And he’ll be worried, too. Will you take care of him?”

  Raven looked up at me with rather vulnerable golden eyes. Her tiny wings drooped and she pawed my thumb in silent appeal.

  My heart melted. “I won’t make you,” I reassured the dragonet. “And I’ll miss you so much, but I can’t bear to just leave him all alone. If you stay with him, he’ll know I’m coming back. Otherwise, for all I know, in a few weeks he’ll have convinced himself that I thought he was so evil I couldn’t bear to be near him anymore, or something like that. I can just see it! You’ll give him hope if you’re with him.”

  Raven’s minute ears drooped with her wings, but she nodded her little head, her eyes becoming more resolved. She waved the letter, which she still clutched in both paws.

  “Yes,” I told her, “that’s for him. Will you be all right curled up in Velvet’s mane tonight? Will you be warm enough?” When the dragonet nodded again, I added, “Don’t give him the letter until it’s clear he knows I’m gone and is getting worried. The moment he opens it he’ll send people after me, so I want as much of a head start as possible. He won’t be suspicious at first, if you stay out of the way. With Hellion gone, he’ll assume I’m taking a long ride. Which I am,” I finished dryly.

  “Let me tuck you up with Velvet, and I’ll be off,” I said, carrying the dragonet into the next stall and planting a kiss on her tiny muzzle. My father’s horse raised his great head sleepily and made a faint whuffing sound, but I simply placed the dragonet on his mighty neck, covered her well with mane and fed Velvet the last piece of apple. The gentle giant was wholly unconcerned by his new companion and was asleep again before I had even left the stable.

  I lit a hooded lantern and fastened it to the saddle, then led Hellion out of the stable yard. Walking to the nearest park gate on the Islington side of the grounds, I let myself out quietly, my heart leaping to my mouth when the hinges squeaked. But the groundsman who lived in the gatehouse with his wife did not stir, so I mounted, opened the lantern a bit further to shed more light on the country road and urged Hellion into the darkness.

  ~+~

  CHAPTER 27

  THE WILD PLACES

  A week later, Hellion was going along the road at a brisk trot. I had been careful not to choose the main north road, for along this Ravena servants, probably on post horses, would already have been flying, bearing news of a missing daughter to Elfindale before me. This road, while no minor route, was much quieter and I felt safe enough stopping at inns, for there was clearly no knowledge of the Duke’s missing heir.

  What description my father would have sent out, I was not sure. If he’d stopped to think, he’d probably have realized that I would never be so foolish as to take to the road as a young lady, obvious and appetizing prey for every rascal and bandit encountered. Whether he would guess my exact disguise, I couldn’t know for certain.

  I had ridden for many days and many tens of leagues undisturbed, keeping up a good pace, but not pushing Hellion too hard. I’d rather keep him at a pace he could sustain than have to stop for any long period of time to rest him. Thus far my disguise had passed without any question at every inn, supported by my Ducal passport, but I felt to stay very long would be to push my good fortune.

  I jerked from my thoughts as my ears caught the sound of hoofbeats. A large party of horsemen was coming up fast with me and I quickly looked back at them. I caught the gleam of sunlight on weapons and reacted without thinking, driving my heels into Hellion’s sides.

  He exploded out from under me, eyes bulging, and if I had not managed to seize the pommel I would have been unhorsed. I pulled myself back into a secure position, letting him run and lying along his neck, my back pricking with excruciating sensitivity, as it anticipated
the result of the ‘thwack’ that would be the last thing I ever heard. But it did not come, and the increased tempo of the other hoofbeats told me that they were giving chase.

  They were also catching me! Of course they were! Hellion was fast for his size, but he was a very small horse. Large enough that he seemed too big for me, supporting my pose as a groom delivering a horse to my master’s northern estate, but smaller than other animals, all the same.

  I kicked him harder, fighting rising panic. I might escape from bandits with my life, if they ransomed me, but I would lose all hope of saving my father, who would probably lock me up until there was no more time for rash journeys. And they might not bother ransoming a young girl...

  Struck with a sudden idea, I gathered the reins together in my hand, and then, with a silent apology, lashed the ends hard against Hellion’s flank. This time I made sure I was holding on very tightly indeed with my free hand, fortunately, for he half-reared in mid-gallop and went off like a creature possessed. He kept up this insane burst of speed for so long that when he finally dwindled to a trot and then a walk, head hanging with exhaustion, there was no sign of our pursuers, for all we were in open country.

  I let him walk for as long as I dared, then urged him to a gentle trot. A canny leader of a group of brigands might well perceive that no horse could keep up such speed forever and have followed at a brisk pace. But no riders appeared on the road behind me, and I soon came to a small town, which was probably why. I took a room for the night, to allow Hellion the rest of the day to rest, and made sure to let the mayor know he had a brigand problem.

  ~+~

  I pulled Hellion up at the cliff edge and looked down into the valley. There stood Elfindale Manor. I was conceived there, I thought, and remembering the bustling town of York that stood only an hour’s drive away, I had to admit that my mother would have liked it here. On the one hand, this wonderful scenery, and on the other, the society of York, at a feasible distance.

  The manor house was an ancient building, very beautiful, and stood within a park fenced in with walls and a gate. But I would not be going up to that gate. I had left the road a mile back from it and started to ascend this hill. At Elfindale Manor, I would find a reception committee that would see me loaded aboard a coach and taken straight back to London. But I had no need to go there. My search lay elsewhere.

  I remembered the conversation I’d had with my father before the whole matter of the sorcery had ever reared its ugly head and turned Hellion away from the cliff edge. On the other side the hill dropped down again, more gently. There lay a stunning vista of high moorland, hills and further in the distance, a mountain peak rising above them. I could see no human dwellings, although, town bred as I was, I assumed I’d simply overlooked them.

  What was a large elfin fort, after all, but a hill or a mountain? This was the wild place of Elfindale, and this was where I believed I would find the Elfin. Behind me lay farmland as far as York.

  I let Hellion walk on towards that distant peak.

  ~+~

  By mid-afternoon I was looking anxiously at the darkening clouds above me. I had hoped to find a croft or somewhere to spend the night, but since setting off from within sight of Elfindale Manor early that morning I had seen nothing, not so much as distant smoke from a chimney. It was worrying. It felt as though there wasn’t a human creature for leagues around me. Which was in a way encouraging. I was looking for a wild place, after all.

  But I was already shivering. It had been near spring in London. Here it was still the tail end of winter and although I’d packed a warm woolen cloak, I’d had this wrapped around me since morning, and I was still very cold. Hellion had made his steady way deep in among the hills by now, and the wind came racing off the snow-tipped mountain now towering before me and cut me to the bone with its icy kiss. All it would need was for it to start raining and I would quickly be in a bad way.

  Again I scanned the surrounding slopes for any sign of human habitation. I could see none. And I could see no obvious sign of an elfin fort either, although that would have been a bit much to ask. But there was one around here somewhere, or there had been little more than a hundred years ago.

  There was no way I could go back the way I had come, so I let Hellion walk onward, hoping I would find some sort of shelter before those clouds made good their threat.

  It was a forlorn hope. The light was fading into evening when the clouds, now purple black, opened and I looked about the desolate mountain slope in vain for a place of shelter. There were no trees and even as I established this, the distant rumble of thunder removed such a non-existent shelter from my extremely small list of options. Already drenched to the skin and shivering with both cold and fear, I considered riding Hellion to the side of the nearest rock slab and sheltering under him.

  Then the world split open. Blue light sheered across my vision, illuminating all around me in an unearthly flash. A crack louder than any gunpowder hit me in a solid wave of sound. My heart seemed to stop within me; shock held me paralyzed.

  Hellion recovered first. Silent in his terror, he bolted, going from stationary to full gallop in one bound. I managed one desperate swipe for the pommel...and missed. Then I was falling, tumbling through an inky blackness. I hit the ground painfully, still too stunned as I fell to curl into a protective ball.

  I lay there for long moments, swimming in pain and panic at the darkness; I was blind! The sound of hooves clattering on rock died away into the distance and the rain still fell in sheets, soaking every inch of me.

  Eventually I began to be able to distinguish the sky, which was slightly lighter than the skyline, and I knew that I was not blind. I dragged my aching body into a sitting position and tried to push myself to my feet, but my arm crumpled under me, drawing a small cry of pain. Broken, I was pretty sure. I used my other arm to get to my feet, only to stumble and fall again, disorientated by my still imperfect vision and frighteningly weak.

  Why am I so weak? I thought in panic, then remembered how I had ridden all day blue with cold, and cursed inwardly. But I knew I had to find shelter, so I pushed myself up again and staggering, stumbling, falling, and finally crawling when my strength gave out entirely, I made my way up the mountainside.

  Finally, finally, when I was at the limit of my endurance, I almost fell into a crack in the rock. It was very small and only by squeezing myself up could I get mostly inside it and out of the rain, but it was all I had found and I could go no further.

  I lay there shivering, until finally I began to feel a bit better. Everything seemed soft and much more comfortable, and the exhausting, racking shivering had stopped. I was drifting snugly into darkness when some wild part of me that still retained reason tore me awake again.

  Fool, it told me, have you not seen this before? The cold-sapped urchin, shaking and shaking, and when the shaking stops? Then they sleep. Forever. I drove my nails into my palms in a desperate attempt to wake up more fully. I could not sleep. I could not. To sleep now was death, yet the shivering had stopped and staying awake consumed all my attention.

  I can’t die like this, I thought desperately. I’ll disappear, and my father will never hear of me again, and he’ll be worried, so worried, and he’ll die without ever seeing me again! And if he thinks I’m dead somewhere, he’ll blame himself for it. And Raven will have no one to take care of her! But such thoughts, while agonizing, were not enough. Still my head nodded, and time and again I jerked back from sleep at the very last moment.

  Please help me, I thought, making my neck prickle in prayer, Please help me. Don’t let me die like this! I must save him! Please help me, please help me. Please help me, please help me! I repeated it over and over again with all the force I could muster, clinging to the prayer as if it were the last thing in the world that could keep me awake, and it probably was. But still the darkness drew in closer and closer and the prayer faded to a feeble murmur in my mind.

  I was barely conscious when there was a patter of hooves
on the rock outside. I was dimly aware of two strong arms reaching into the crack and drawing me out. The arms lifted me onto the back of a magnificent stag that stood patiently by, mighty antlers rearing through the rain.

  My rescuer got up behind me and whipped his cloak around me, enfolding me on the inside against his warm self. He tucked a fold of the cloak over my head as the stag moved off through the storm. As blackness tore at me, I managed to raise a hand and brush a tangled lock back from my rescuer’s ear.

  Then I let the darkness take me with a smile of triumphal satisfaction, for that ear rose to a graceful, tapered point.

  ~+~

  CHAPTER 28

  MEMORY

  I swam slowly up towards wakefulness, feeling as though I fought my way through a mass of fluffy clouds. Eventually, my father’s face wavered into view.

  “Serapia?” He spoke urgently, his voice hoarse. “Serapia?”

  “Umm…” I managed, focusing on him with rapidly increasing anxiety. He looked terrible. The skin was drawn over the bones of his face, cheeks and eyes sunken, fingers skeletal. He looked desperately ill. I could scarce believe that such a change could have been wrought in so short a time. “Are you alright?”

  He looked startled. “As well as can be expected,” he said with an extremely dismissive gesture. “Are you alright? What happened?”