“Daisy’s energy will be calm knowing her brother is close.” Van bobbed her head in agreement. “And won’t scare away the fairy.”
They all agreed to this change of plan, especially Daisy.
“We need to get moving if we want to reel in a fairy tonight,” Pernilla said. “Where do we start?”
Kopius led them off the main road and into the woods. “Look for a circular grassy area.”
Van had been told as a child that these were known as fairy rings, now she knew why.
“When you find one, shout out,” Brux said. “If not, or if we can’t hear you, then we meet back in this spot in an hour.”
They spread out in teams of two: Van and Brux, Kopius and Daisy, Pernilla and Paley.
Less than an hour later, the team stood in front of the perfect spot, found by Pernilla and Paley.
“This will work,” Kopius said.
With the location chosen, the team left the woods and went back to the nameless wharf village on the Skeleton Coast.
“Another challenge.” Pernilla glanced at the shanties lining the wharf area. “Where are we going to find all the beautiful things we need to lure the fairy?”
“No kidding,” Kopius said. “This town’s an armpit.”
“Maybe we should venture off the main road,” Brux said. “To where the families live.”
Van and the others gaped at him.
“There has to be families here,” Brux said. “And they have to live somewhere.”
Kopius snorted. “Doubt it. No matter, I know where I can score some candied ale. You guys work out the rest.” He grabbed Daisy’s hand.
“How do you know that?” Pernilla asked.
“I met a guy.” He tugged Daisy along as he hurried away.
Daisy twisted around, stumbling from being pulled, yet grinning, happy to be with Kopius, and cried, “I’ll work on getting the bouquets.”
“Yeah,” Kopius shouted. “Don’t worry about all that feminine stuff—perfume, jewelry, flowers. I got that covered too.”
“Meet back at the fairy ring,” Brux yelled as the two darted away.
“Brux is right,” Paley said. “People live here. Someone has to bake cakes and make candles. We just have to find them.”
They wandered away from the wharf area and headed deeper into the village.
There were no lights on the dirt roads and few buildings. Van felt unsafe, and her nerves began to flare especially with the setting sun, not only making it darker but reminding her that time was ticking. They had barely three weeks left to complete their mission.
“Look.” Paley pointed to a three-story structure, that, given its dilapidated condition, didn’t seem out of place on a dirt road in the middle of the woods, like it was meant to be tucked away, hidden from the world.
“Who goes there?” said a thickly built man sitting on a stool by the door.
As they came closer, the man slid to his feet as if ready to defend the entrance from intruders.
Van eyed the building and looked in the wide rectangular windows lining each level. She thought she saw boxes. “Is this a warehouse?”
“It’s the warehouse,” His shoulders visibly relaxed as if Van had said a secret password. Or more likely, he believed they had been searching for this place and finally found it.
Pernilla looked up and squinted at the windows. “What do you have in there?”
“What’re you looking for?” He crossed his arms over his massive chest, a clear indicator that he no longer considered them a threat, but, rather, customers.
“We need a lot of things.” Brux stepped forward, ahead of the others. “We’re ready to buy.” He took out his money pouch and jingled it.
The man grinned. He pushed the door and held it open. “Well, come inside.”
Van hesitated. Then decided she had nothing to lose. They arrived with a long list of items, and this man had products for sale.
Rows and rows of boxes covered the floor of the long, rectangular room, pushed together so that paths formed between them. The walls were lined with shelves filled with various items—pans, glassware, paintings—reminding Van of a flea market. The windows looked like they were unlikely to open, even in an emergency, and the wooden walls appeared aged as if doubtful to hold up in a strong wind. The musty air irritated her sinuses, and she rubbed her knuckles over her nose to stifle a sneeze.
“What is this place?” Paley asked.
“Pirates loot,” the man said. “This here’s the storehouse. We hold the goods before shipping out orders. Sale items, first floor only, everything else is spoken for but,” he ran his eyes up and down Van and licked his lips, “everything’s got a price.”
“Not her.” Brux yanked Van behind him, and he stood nose to nose with the man.
Van’s skin crawled. No matter how many showers she took, she felt like she could never wash clean the scummy feeling caused by this guy’s leer.
The man gave Brux a respectful nod and took a step back, yet he still held a dangerous glint in his eyes. “Look at your leisure.”
Van and Paley scurried down the aisles in such a rush that Van stubbed her toe on a rusted anchor resting on the floor.
“Ouch.” She wanted to grab the items and get out of there as fast as possible.
“Over here.” Paley held a dust-covered wooden flute.
“Score,” Van high-fived Paley, her toe still throbbing.
“Look.” Brux pulled two crystal goblets from the shelf. He proudly held them up. “The fairy will like them, right?”
“They’ll do,” Van said, hiding how taken she was by his genuine interest in impressing the fairy.
Pernilla wandered back from another isle. “I found these.” She held a net-sack filled with seashells.
“Perfect,” Van said, with a nod. “Grab about eight bags of them.”
Brux eyed the shelves. “We only need a couple more things.”
They picked through a good portion of the stock and found a crate of gold candles.
“That’s it.” Pernilla knelt by the crate to inspect the candles. “This place isn’t going to have the last two things on our list.”
Brux and the storehouse man haggled over the seashells, the flute, crystal goblets, and gold candles.
“That’s way too much.” Brux begrudged the man his money.
They went to leave, but the man stepped in front of the door, blocking it.
“You haven’t paid the departure fee.” His eyes turned to Pernilla and scanned her body.
“I’m sick of your crap.” Pernilla stepped toward the man. Her eyes flared with rage.
“Hold up.” Brux rested his hand on Pernilla’s arm. “I’ll take care of this.”
“No,” Van said. “I will.” She roundhouse-kicked the man in the chest.
The man smashed into a stack of boxes. All came tumbling down, crashing to the floor.
Brux grabbed the crate of candles, Pernilla snatched the box filled with their other items, and they rushed out of the storehouse.
Pernilla smiled. “That was awesome.”
They rushed down the dirt street toward the main road by the wharf.
“But, we still need to get two more things,” Paley said, nervously flipping her hair.
“Didn’t the Fisherman’s Rest have sweet-cakes on their menu?” Van asked. “There has to be a bakery nearby.”
They scoured the structures along the back streets in the village until they finally stumbled upon the Sugar Galley Bakery.
Pernilla banged on the door until a tired looking woman peeked through the curtain.
“Store’s closed,” the woman said with a grumble.
“We need some sweet-cakes, fast.” Brux held up two loscs.
The woman’s eyes lit up at the silver coins. She unlocked the door and swung it open. “Come inside. Lemme see what I can do.” Her smile displayed yellow teeth.
Unfortunately, the baker didn’t have any doilies, in fact, she had never heard of them.
However, she was a self-proclaimed expert on baking cakes. Without hesitation, she snatched the two stamped Balish silver coins from Brux, legit money, and got to work.
As the baker began placing bowls, butter, sugar, eggs, and a bag of flour on the worktable, Van took a stack of white napkins and grabbed a pair of kitchen scissors. While the baker whipped together the ingredients, she and Paley cut the napkins into doilies.
“Kudos to art class.” Paley held up her creation.
“Except in art class, we called these snowflakes.” Van giggled as she held up hers.
Within two hours they left the bakery with twenty custom ordered sweet-cakes decorated with multicolored sprinkles, and plenty of doilies. The cakes looked so enticing, those alone would’ve been enough to ensnare Van in the fairy trap.
As they returned to their prearranged meeting place in the woods, Brux placed the crate on the ground. Then he leaned toward Van and whispered, “You have a little something here.” He grinned and pointed to the corner of his upper lip.
Van’s fingers darted to her mouth, and she swiped away the telltale bit of frosting.
“Save some for the fairy,” Pernilla muttered, as she swept past Van and began spreading the seashells around the rim of the fairy circle.
Kopius burst through the trees holding a jug of candied ale, followed by Daisy who carried a gorgeous bouquet of orange roses.
“Did you get musk oil?” Brux asked. “We need to get every detail right to make sure our plan works.”
“Yup,” Kopius said.
Pernilla took the bouquet from Daisy.
“And…look at this baby.” Kopius tilted his head toward the dazzling piece of jewelry Daisy pulled from her satchel.
“Nice,” Pernilla said, and then went to place the flowers in the fairy ring.
“Wow.” Paley ran her fingertips along the multi-tiered chunky necklace.
“Made with amber cabochons,” Daisy said.
“I got you a flute.” Paley grinned. She pulled the flute from the box of items and handed it to Daisy. “I hope you know how to play, or will at least give it a try. For some music, you know?”
“Thank you.” Daisy took the flute and gave it the once over. “I know how to use it, a bit. I learned in school.”
“We got a bunch of these too.” Van pulled a thick gold candle from the crate. “We can put them in a circle and on the rocks—to create ambiance.”
“They love gold candles,” Brux said, in a way that made Van a bit concerned. He seemed much too enthusiastic about meeting a fairy.
Kopius, being a polymath, worked out how to make a fairy spike based on what he’d gathered from the rogues he met on the wharf while booking their passage to Cortica.
“This stuff is surprisingly easy to find on the docks.” He hammered a metal spike into a low-lying boulder.
“Yeah, try finding doilies.” Van watched as Kopius secured the spike and attached the manacle.
He sprinkled a gold powder over the contraption. “Bought this from a person who bought it from a witch. The final piece to the fairy spike—magic.”
“Where did you get the other stuff?” Paley asked.
“Don’t ask,” Daisy said.
“Brothel.” Kopius winked as he pretended to whisper.
“We’ve got another issue to consider,” Brux said before anyone could ask Kopius any more questions. “Wizards are always in the company of Balish royals.”
Pernilla stopped fussing over laying-out the necklace and twisted to face Brux. “Why’s that?”
“A wizard is a highly skilled job,” Brux said. “You have to be chosen by the Balish Council. The wizard’s training and education are sponsored by a wealthy patron. Once trained they’re required to work for the Balish monarchy, and their magic is restricted and monitored.”
“Only royals and high-borns are wealthy enough to sponsor wizard training,” Kopius said.
“What about witches?” Pernilla asked. “You mentioned a witch.”
“Not allowed,” Brux answered. “Female wizards aren’t allowed in Balish society.”
“Women who do magic are witches.” Kopius poured the ale into the crystal goblets. “All witches are banned and operate illegally. That’s why they’re pretty easy to find here.”
“Solana was a sorceress,” Van said. “How is that different from a witch?”
“Royal blood.” Brux lit one of the gold candles. “The palace wizard will train the royal family’s females in the art of performing magic.”
“Male royals who are trained in magic are called warlocks.” Kopius saved the last bit of ale for himself and drank it straight from the bottle. “They have no restrictions—can pretty much do whatever they want.”
“Then what’s a sorcerer?” Paley asked.
Kopius shrugged. “A man who’s not sanctioned by the Balish Council to do magic. Never met one though.”
“A Balish wizard’s job is to monitor the squawker system.” Brux continued around the circle, lighting the candles. “To detect ripples in the energy of nature that happens when people use magic. It’s the same system that detects when adult Lodians go out of bounds.”
“A wailing fairy will cause a ripple,” Daisy said in a way that made Van, and most likely the others, ashamed that such cruelty existed in the world.
Brux finished with the candles and knelt by the fairy spike. He brushed the tips of his fingers over the metal as if questioning whether or not he could carry out the plan.
“Remember—cuff her ankle,” Van said, hoping to snap him out of it. “Then leave before the wizard gets here with a squadron of royal Balish soldiers.”
“We’ll be waiting in the brush, over there.” Pernilla pointed to a grouping of nearby trees and bushes.
“Wait—what if the fairy gives her tear to one of the rescuers?” Paley asked. “How’re we going to get it?”
“I’m going to steal it from whoever she gives it to.” Kopius punched a fist into his hand. “I’m extremely resourceful.” He grinned.
“Whatever that means,” Van muttered.
“Not going to be a problem,” Kopius said full of confidence. “Daisy, you just work your beguiling magic and get the fairy here. Brux you do your job. I’ll be ready to do mine.”
Daisy stood in the center of the fairy ring. Brux ducked behind the large rock that had the fairy spike, and Van hid in the brush with the others.
She visualized the entire operation going without a hitch. Every detail down to the placement of the last seashell and imagined gripping the fairy’s tear in her hand.
Daisy read the heartfelt poem she had written, expressing her love for the fairy with such tenderness and sincerity Van’s eyes watered.
Then Daisy played the flute, surprisingly well, while dancing.
The haunting scene enticed Van, never mind the fairy.
Candlelight flickered over the rocks, the gifts, and Daisy, enhancing the romantic setting. The flute music soothed the soul, giving Van a feeling of buoyancy. Her feet had a mind of their own and began to tap. She felt overcome with the desire to dash out there and dance. Her cheeks flushed at the thought until she noticed Kopius’s foot also tapping to the beat of the flute.
Daisy’s trap worked. In less than twenty minutes a stunning brunette fairy about five feet tall flittered out from the trees darting this way and that and then hovered inside the fairy ring.
The fairy looked like a petite woman who weighed no more than ninety pounds soaking wet. The wings on her back flapped so quickly they blurred, reminding Van of a hummingbird. She wore a tight-fitting, short-sleeved, bright-orange v-neck dress with a staggered bottom hem, and matching colored booties on her feet.
Daisy smiled and welcomed the fairy. She offered the fairy snacks.
The fairy darted over to a sweet-cake, and then back to Daisy. She giggled and fluttered up and down around Daisy and then dived over to one of the cakes and took a nibble. Then, she zipped around the fairy circle several times until pausing
to hover over some of the seashells in the arrangement around the edge of the fairy ring.
When the fairy slowed to pick up one of the seashells, she held still long enough for Van to notice that her wings were a transparent yellow and shaped like those of a dragonfly.
Brux leaped from behind the rock and clutched the fairy’s ankle. She squirmed as he secured the manacle.
The fairy let out a high-pitched screech.
Van clapped her hands over her ears.
Brux and Daisy also covered their ears as they rushed into the brush to hide with the rest of the team.
They waited.
The fairy’s cries ranged from low to high pitched. Her wails were heart-wrenching, like hearing the whimpering of a wounded puppy.
“A wizard can hear her cries, even from a distance,” Kopius whispered.
The fairy’s wings fluttered wildly. Panic emanated from her over-large silver eyes. She tugged and tugged at the chain attached to the manacle, trying to fly away in a hopeless attempt to escape.
Revulsion filled Van, the scene pushed the limits of what she could bear.
Daisy collapsed to her knees. She curled into an upright, fetal position, hands clenched together over her heart. Her eyes were closed, and she muttered to herself, rocking back and forth. Tears trickled down her cheeks.
Brux crouched by her side, his face a grimace of pain.
Kopius gently placed a hand on Daisy’s shoulder.
“Geesh.” Pernilla shook her head and turned away as if the scene was too much to endure.
“Hurry up, wizard,” Paley muttered, chewing on her cuticles.
The fairy’s distress became so unbearable, Van contemplated calling the whole thing off. Suddenly, a figure dressed in a black tunic-styled military uniform burst through the trees wielding a sword.
All the commotion inside Van’s mind screeched to a halt.
Van felt her insides collapse—and burst—at the same time as she gaped at the wildly handsome boy wielding the sword. He looked no older than Van, and possibly a bit younger.
She caught her breath as his alluring details sank in. His unusual cropped brown hair, a style not worn by many males in the Living World. His almond-shaped amber-yellow eyes peering from his swarthy complexion. His strong jawline and broad shoulders. He moved with such strength and confidence, it made every cell in Van’s body tremble with attraction.
Plague of Death Page 17
