by E.J. Stevens
“Do ye think they did it?” Skillywidden whispered.
I could barely hear him over the buzzing of the wisps. My uncle had unfurled his wings, and was nodding his head as the sentinels gave their report. His brow furrowed, and he looked like an avenging angel. I wished I could hear what was being said, but understanding wisps in their smaller form was one of many skills I had yet to learn.
“No, Skilly,” I said. “It wasn’t them.”
“Well, I hope ye can convince your uncle of that,” he said.
I nodded, and swallowed hard. I did too.
At a curt nod from my uncle, the wisp sentinels left the room. I took a steadying breath, and lifted my chin as he strode back to the table.
“Shall I arrest her, My Lord?” Flavio asked.
Oberon’s eyes, that guy was as persistent as a pixie rash.
“Look, we didn’t come here to orchestrate some elaborate gem heist,” I said, letting out a heavy sigh. “My friends are victims here, not criminals.”
“I would like to believe you, Ivy, but my sentinels inform me that your friends were overheard discussing their desire to leave this place,” Kade said, lifting his hands up and letting them fall.
“That’s impossible,” I said. “They would never do something like this.”
Well, I thought bleakly, Torn would do something like this. The cat sidhe loved a challenge, especially one that involved slinking through the shadows and a shiny reward, but I shook my head. No, Ceff would never have let Torn get away with it, and he certainly wouldn’t have joined him in a hair brained heist that would jeopardize my chances of finding my father.
“They were also seen eyeing the adder stone,” he said.
Crap, that much was true. Torn had looked at that stone like it was catnip. But that didn’t mean he was guilty.
“With all due respect uncle, we all eyed your stone,” I said. “You showed if off to us. What were we supposed to do, look away?”
“Aye,” Skillywidden said. “She has a point.”
“They had the motive, means, and opportunity,” Kade said. “Why should I believe that they are innocent?”
“They would never leave me here,” I said.
“Do not underestimate the lure of wealth and power—or of how far lust can motivate a man,” he said.
There was something dangerous in his eyes, and I picked my words carefully.
“Have you ever loved someone so completely that you would do anything for them?” I asked.
I was taking a gamble. Many immortals fell out of touch with their emotions over the centuries. But I’d seen flashes of emotion from my uncle, and I hoped that he wasn’t as coldhearted as he’d like the rest of us to think.
His mask slipped, and an ache entered his amber eyes, etching his face with an old, familiar pain.
“I loved someone like that once, long ago,” he said.
“Ceff and I share that kind of love,” I said. He scowled, and I took a deep breath. “He would never do the things he’s being accused of. He would never leave me here alone in potentially hostile territory.”
“You are not alone,” he said with a frown. “And I have no hostile intentions toward you.”
“No imprisonment?” I asked.
“No,” he said. “I do believe that you are innocent, but I can’t say the same for your missing friends. There is too much evidence against them.”
“But you can see why I can’t give up on them, right?” I asked. “I won’t stop looking.”
“Yes, I understand,” he said, letting out a heavy sigh. “The heart wants what the heart wants. But, Ivy? Do not waste your life pining over what you cannot have.”
If Ceff was involved in the crime, then he’d stolen my heart, and the figurative heart of my people, in one fell swoop. I just couldn’t believe that was true.
“I will find my friends, no matter how long it takes,” I said. “A quest for truth, for love, that is never a waste.”
Kade shook his head and muttered.
“Ah, the foolishness of youth.”
Chapter 32
My uncle’s words followed me down the maze of corridors. He thought that I was naïve and that my search for Ceff and Torn was foolish, because he believed that they’d betrayed me and left me here to rot. I took that as a sign of just how difficult his life had been over the centuries, rather than wise insight into the situation.
Sadly, my uncle was older and wiser about all things wisp, a fact that he never let me forget. Back in Harborsmouth, I’d proven myself. Heck, some even called me a hero. But from the moment my uncle and I met, he treated me like a child.
He wasn’t about to listen to my opinions about what really happened to Ceff and Torn, because everything I said was tainted with what he saw as the blind foolishness of youth. It didn’t help that he’d stumbled on my first physical transformation, a developmental milestone that most wisp children reached when they were toddlers.
I stomped away my frustration, marching up and down another series of windowless corridors. If I couldn’t convince my uncle with words, than I would do so by providing cold, hard facts.
I needed to gather enough physical evidence and eye witness statements to clear Ceff and Torn’s names, and prove that my childish theories were correct. Only then would I gain my uncle’s support, and find a way to rescue my friends from whoever had stolen them from their beds.
But first, I had to find those beds. I stopped and spun slowly on my heel, squinting at the stone walls and lichen covered doors. I sighed, and ran a gloved hand through my hair. I was pretty sure that I was lost.
Oberon’s eyes, I was going to strangle Marcus. On my way out of the Great Hall, I’d asked Marcus for directions. He might not be all warm and fuzzy, but when the choice was between asking Marcus or Flavio, I’d pick the former in a heartbeat.
There was a chance that Marcus was just a guard following orders, but Flavio was another story. He radiated pure hatred, and perhaps a little jealousy. Flavio was my uncle’s favorite, a man who’d climbed his way to the top ranks of the royal guard, but I was the long lost princess. I was family. And as far as the guard captain was concerned, I’d brought in two security threats who had scarpered off with his lord’s covetous adder stone—and on his watch.
No wonder Flavio hated my guts.
I considered retracing my steps back to Marcus, but shook my head. I wouldn’t find much help from the guard. Not while I was still an unknown variable. For all they knew, I was here to assassinate my uncle and take over the throne. The theft of the adder stone could just be a distraction. Damn, if I was in their position, I’d probably lock me in my fancy room and throw away the key.
Now that was a cheery thought.
I continued to the end of the corridor where the tunnels branched off in both directions. I dragged my knife against the corner to my right, scraping away an inch of lichen, and followed the right hand tunnel. I passed eighteen doors before the corridor turned a corner that ended in a bench filled alcove. This way had been a dead end.
I sighed, and retraced my steps back to the intersection of tunnels, but when I reached the corner where I’d left my mark, the lichen was undisturbed. I kicked the wall, pain radiating up my leg. Sometimes pain helps me focus, gives me clarity, and allows me to push away distractions. But right now, it wasn’t helping.
Ceff and Torn were gone, and instead of trying to help them, my uncle’s men were on a manhunt that might result in their deaths. Up against elite guards who defended their home turf, I wasn’t so sure if I wanted my friends to be found. I needed to know that they were safe, that they were alive, but if they were out there imprisoned or running from kidnappers, they’d be hemmed in on both sides and fighting on unfamiliar terrain. Terrain that itself could become the enemy.
I recalled the bog with its pitfalls and poisonous gasses, and traitorous tears filled my eyes.
“Please be okay,” I whispered. “Please.”
“Who ye be talkin’ to?�
�� Skillywidden asked.
I spun, knife in hand, to see the brownie a few yards away. He was standing in the corridor I’d come from a few minutes ago. I wiped an arm across my face, and sighed.
“Did you follow me?” I asked.
“Nothin’ else to do in this place,” he said with a shrug. “Kitchen hearth is clean, and they won’t be cookin’ again for hours.”
Skillywidden had asked to man the hearth, rather than sleep in one of the guest rooms. It might be the only thing that had saved him from the same fate as our friends. I suppose I should be thankful that my uncle had put me up in the royal guest suite, but right now I’d rather be in a prison cell if it meant being reunited with Ceff.
“Any idea how to find the guest quarters?” I asked.
“Is me name Skillywidden?” he asked.
I didn’t remind the brownie that we’d only recently met, and he could have given us the name of the brand of toothpaste he used. Pureblood fae couldn’t tell a bald-faced lie, but they found creative ways to tell the truth. Then again, if his teeth were any indicator, Skillywidden probably wasn’t the name of toothpaste.
“Lead the way,” I said.
I followed the brownie down a maze of corridors, finally stepping into the tunnel that led to the guest quarters. Unfortunately, we weren’t the only ones.
Two guards stood with their backs to a set of doors directly across from one another.
“Are those the rooms that Ceff and Torn stayed in?” I asked.
“Aye,” Skillywidden said. “This is where I saw them last, before being led to the kitchens.”
Both guards stood over six feet tall, wore amber armor, and golden swords hung on each hip. Judging from their rigid stance, they were there to guard the guest rooms. Could this get any worse?
One of the guards turned and glared at me, and I sighed. Oh yeah, it was worse. The guard blocking the room on the right was Flavio.
“Looks like they don’t be wantin’ anyone in those rooms,” Skillywidden said.
“Think they’ll make an exception for the princess?” I asked.
He shrugged, but his expression said, “Not bloody likely.” I rolled my shoulders, forced a smile on my face, and strode down the hall.
*****
“What do you mean, I can’t examine their rooms?” I asked, voice rising.
This wasn’t the first time I’d asked the question, and my patience was wearing thin. The guard on the left continued to ignore me, keeping his amber eyes facing straight ahead. Finally, it was Flavio who broke the tension filled silence.
“I recommended to my liege that we keep the guest quarters secured until we complete our investigation,” he said with a sneer. “Lord Kade agreed.”
He looked down his nose at me, eyes gleaming in amusement. My hands fisted at my sides—I’d had the foresight to put away my blades before antagonizing the royal guard—and I ground my teeth. It was all I could do to keep from wiping that smug expression off his face, but I knew I was beaten.
Flavio had Kade’s approval. If I tried to force my way inside now, I’d face imprisonment or death. Judging from the way Flavio fondled his sword, he’d like nothing better than an excuse to stab me through the heart. My uncle might not like that, but Flavio would probably be forgiven in time—and time was something the immortal guard captain had in spades.
“Fine, but this isn’t over,” I said, biting out the words. “I am the princess. I am the daughter of Will-o-the-Wisp. And I won’t forget this.”
The guard across from Flavio blanched. Good to know someone here understood the potential repercussions of pissing me off. I’d rejected the idea of being a member of royalty—I was no fragile flower—but if accepting my position helped me save my friends, then I’d become the best damn princess that Faerie had ever seen.
Chapter 33
“So, you wish to train with me?” Kade asked, a tentative smile on his lips. “Why?”
I’d had plenty of time to think over my answer on the long walk back to the Great Hall. Skillywidden had a better sense of direction than I did in this underground palace, but we’d taken a wrong turn at some point and I’d be damned if we backtracked past Flavio’s smug face.
In addition to improving my position here within the wisp court by learning the ropes of acting like a princess, I also realized that I had an opportunity to learn to control my wisp powers. I’d nearly stumbled face first into a wall when the idea first hit me.
I’d been grumbling over the fact that the only members of the wisp court that I could question were the human size wisps. Unfortunately, that left my uncle, and a handful of his elite guards—guards who were led by Flavio. I didn’t think I’d get much help there. That was when I remembered the cacophony of voices that had filled my head in the bog. My uncle had said that the psychic connection with my people was amplified through my wings, and that with training, I’d be able to control those voices in my head. He also said that the members of our royal family line could communicate with the smaller wisps; it was one of the things that made us fit to rule. It wasn’t that much of a leap to assume that my uncle could provide that training, giving me the ability to question the rest of the court’s staff about the night that Ceff and Torn disappeared.
Not to mention the fact that gaining control over my wisp powers would give me the chance to prove myself to the Unseelie Court. I’d been deemed a traitor back in the human world, because my lack of control threatened the secret of our existence. But if I learned how to control my powers, and how to create a glamour, I might finally get the sidhe assassins off my tail—and be able to return to my life in Harborsmouth.
There were a lot of ifs in my plan, but I had to start somewhere. First, I needed to convince my uncle to give me the training that I’d never received from my father.
“Like I said before, I don’t have any interest in usurping your position, uncle,” I said. “But while I am here, I’d like to make you proud. I keep making mistakes—blunders that a princess shouldn’t make—because I was never taught our ways.”
“You wish to stay with me?” he asked, leaning closer. “You do realize that training takes time.”
“I understand,” I said. “I have no intentions of leaving until I find my friends, and even then, it will be unsafe to return to the human world until I’ve learned to control my powers.”
“Why would it be unsafe now?” he asked, tilting his head to the side. “You have survived this long in the human world, a land with fewer perils than this one.”
“Because my powers continue to awaken, and because…I don’t know how to create a glamour,” I said. “I can’t hide within the human world, and my magic isn’t strong enough to survive long in Faerie on my own.”
One of guards standing behind my uncle’s throne let out a gasp. There I go again, scandalizing the locals.
My uncle leaned forward, eyes glowing faintly in the moonlit cavern.
“If I agree to train you, then you must promise to practice your magic every day, no matter how difficult it becomes for you to do so,” he said. “And mark my words, my dear, it will become very, very difficult. You have decades upon decades to make up for. Working fae magic will be like setting fire to your veins. It will change you, take back what your father’s sorcery has stolen, and remake you into the woman you were meant to be at your birth. Are you prepared and willing to make this bargain?”
I nodded, and I fought the weight that settled on my shoulders and stole away my breath. I’d agreed to his bargain. Now it was time to learn some magic and save my friends.
“Bring it on.”
Chapter 34
Pain seared my flesh, crawled beneath my skin, and crushed my bones to dust. Holding onto fae magic was like biting down on a live wire while skinny dipping.
I’d agreed to do this every day. What the hell was I thinking?
“If you wish to communicate with the members of our court, you will need to do better,” Kade said through the roaring in my
head. “You haven’t followed any of the directives I spoke into your mind while in my other form, and you look like a constipated bugbear.”
“Screw…you,” I ground out through clenched teeth.
A familiar coppery taste filled my mouth, and I knew that either my nose was bleeding, or I’d bit my tongue. Again. Training with my uncle was grueling, painstaking work. But I’d never been one to shirk my duties. I’d promised to practice my magic daily. More importantly, I’d sworn to find answers to what happened to my friends.
It had been over two weeks and there was still no word from Ceff or Torn. Flavio and the royal guard had scoured the underground palace and the surrounding bog above, but had found no sign of my friends. The only positives were that they hadn’t found any dead bodies, and Flavio was sweating not bringing in the men he believed were thieves.
I wasn’t the only one who resembled a constipated bugbear.
“Now if only you would send your insults with your mind, I might be able to permit such language unbecoming of a princess,” he said. “That will be an additional hour of history lessons. Would you like me to add more? I’m sure Marcus would be happy to trade guard duty for more time with his favorite student.”
Marcus, a member of the guard and one of Flavio’s lackeys, would probably rather pull out his own toenails than spend another hour with me. That fact almost made my history lessons bearable. Too bad Marcus had managed to drone on for hours without ever sharing anything useful about wisp history. I’d probably die of old age before he ever started talking about my father’s reign, and that was saying a lot considering I was half fae. With immortal blood running through my veins, who knew how long I might live?
Kaye had guessed centuries, a fact that had been a relief to me and to Ceff. We’d had our entire long lives ahead of us, and now he was gone.
I dug gloved fingers into my temples, and focused on the buzzing that filled my head. Today, as soon as I’d managed the arduous process of unfurling my wings, my uncle had filled the room with wisps. He’d also shrunk down to a glowing ball of light, and set about giving me orders. But all I could hear was the constant buzzing in my skull and the rapid beating of my heart.
