by E.J. Stevens
I’d been a fool. Racing all over Faerie, trying to find two men who I believed were still alive. But friends don’t abandon you. Friends don’t leave you alone to face a new life. I’d entered a new world, one that I had been raging against, but I was done fighting the facts.
Either they’d left me, or they were dead. Talking about them, searching for them, saying their names wouldn’t fix that. Once again I’d been abandoned. It was Fate, and I was done fighting with the bitch.
I’d foolishly held onto the hope that Ceff and I had a future together, but that was a lie. The sooner I accept that, the better. I had duties, responsibilities. What I needed right now was to focus on becoming the best wisp princess that Faerie had ever seen.
Chapter 44
Skillywidden wasn’t waiting for me in my room when I rolled out of bed. I checked the corridor, and still no sign of him. The brownie was mad at me for forcing a geas on him, but I wouldn’t take it back. I needed to move on, to heal, and I couldn’t do that while being tortured each day hearing Ceff and Torn’s names. The guilt and the pain over their loss were too much to bear.
So it was that I strode into the Great Hall on my own. It was strange walking to breakfast without Skilly, but I knew that I wouldn’t have to eat alone. My uncle always made time to eat our meals together, no matter how busy he was with his other duties. I took comfort in that. I’d lost so much by coming to Faerie, but at least I’d gained part of the family I’d always longed for.
I took a seat across the banquet table from my uncle, and piled pancakes onto my plate. No matter how weird Faerie got to be, there were always pancakes. That bit of normalcy was something I could hold onto through all the pain and chaos.
“I am pleased with your progress, my dear,” Kade said, lifting his lips in a rare grin. His entire face lit up. “I believe you are ready to begin your court training.”
“Court training?” I asked, leaning forward.
That sure sounded more interesting than shooting fireballs at the same targets over and over again, day in and day out. My uncle had kept me sequestered away from the hustle and bustle of the wisp court, citing the importance of focus in my magical training. Since I’d been focused on finding my friends, and had risked so much coming here to learn control over my powers, I’d gone along with him.
But learning to control my wisp powers wasn’t the only reason I’d come to Faerie. I’d also come to learn more about my father, a subject that my uncle patently refused to discuss. There was obviously some bad blood there, and though I burned with curiosity, I’d feared pushing my uncle to recall the reasons he disliked my father. I worried that if whatever my father had done was discussed, my uncle’s hatred might spread to encompass his feelings for me.
I swallowed hard, and bit my lower lip. That was a risk I wasn’t able to take, not now that my uncle and Skilly were all I had. But perhaps I could learn something while helping my uncle in court.
“It is time for you to take on your duties to our people,” he said.
He lifted his chin, shoulders back, surveying me with a gleam in his eye. Was he…proud of me? A tiny spark of hope ignited in my chest, stealing my breath away. In that moment, I never wanted to please someone more.
It was a strange emotion for me. I didn’t normally care what people thought of me. Even with my friends back home, I’d been gruff and stubborn, never going out of my way to make them like me. I hadn’t sought out friendships, never expected them. Over the course of time, they’d just somehow happened.
Perhaps that’s why those relationships failed.
I hadn’t ever tried to make someone else happy, not really. I’d done everything in my power to protect my friends from harm, to keep them safe, but I hadn’t changed who I was for them. I’d never done that for anyone, not even Ceff.
I bit the inside of my cheek, and forced a smile on my face. Court would be a distraction from the grief that threatened to swallow me whole, and I might even learn something about my father. I could do this.
I would please my uncle. He was taking the time to teach me, and I would honor him by obediently completing my duties. I was no stranger to weighty responsibilities. How hard could it be?
Chapter 45
I held my breath, and sat on the throne beside my uncle. I half expected to be struck by lightning. Will-o-the-Wisp might be my father, but I was only half fae, and I didn’t know the first thing about being a proper princess. I felt like an imposter.
I picked at the edge of my dress. My uncle had finally got me to dress like royalty. He’d had the dress specially made by a clurichaun. I’m not sure how much he’d had to pay to have the spider silk and amber beaded dress made, but anything clurichaun crafted was void of visions. The little faeries were never sober enough to leave psychic impressions. I flicked a gloved finger at one of the amber beads, feeling naked without my jeans and leather jacket.
I lifted my chin, surveying the room. Wisps lined the rows of seats that faced us, some sitting and others floating like beautiful fireflies. They’d come to hear my uncle, and to see their princess finally take the throne. I fidgeted on the edge of the stone seat, amber and wood rising from the back of the throne to twine together like a glowing crown above my head.
I’d come into the Great Hall day after day, taking my meals at the banquet table that often stood beside the cattails and lilies in the center of the room. My uncle had taught me how to fly in this cavern. I’d touched its glowing amber ceiling with the tips of my gloved fingers, and shed blood on its moss and marble floor. This room was a part of me, a part of my history, and I never felt that so much as in this moment.
My uncle turned, and nodded. I nodded back, and he smiled.
“I knew one day we would rule together, you and me, my dearest,” he said.
A familiar feverish gleam was in his eyes, and I swallowed hard. This was temporary, I reminded myself. I could leave whenever I wanted to. I would make my uncle happy, learn all I could about my father, and return to Harborsmouth. Maybe. I wasn’t sure about that last bit anymore. I’d wanted to go home, and I’d been telling myself that my friends there needed me, but now, after losing Ceff and Torn, I wasn’t so sure.
Someone cleared their throat, and I blinked. Mab’s bones, I needed to focus. I would grieve later. For now, I needed to make my uncle proud.
“Kill him,” Kade said.
“W-w-what?” I asked, eyes darting from my uncle to the wisp who’d been brought before me. Flavio sneered at me, and my uncle frowned. I must have misheard him. I’d been so wrapped up in thoughts of my lost friends that…
“Kill him,” Kade said.
He was serious.
“Yes, Princess, use one of those fireballs you’re so fond of,” Flavio said mockingly, keeping his voice low.
His back was to the assembled crowd, and my uncle wasn’t paying him any attention. But I didn’t have time for Flavio’s cruel games. I had to find a way to save the wisp, and myself.
I stared wide eyed at the young man kneeling on the hard marble floor of the throne room. Through the magnifying crystal mounted in front of me, I could see the wisp well enough to tell that he was little more than a boy.
“He’s just a child,” I said, one hand going to my stomach.
“He is a criminal and a traitor,” my uncle said.
“That boy be no traitor,” Skilly grumbled.
The brownie must have used his magic and stealth to sneak into the room. He now perched on the ornately carved back of the throne, whispering in my ear. I didn’t know whether to be more shocked by Skillywidden’s sudden presence, or by my uncle’s expectation that I would execute a child.
“What crime is he accused of?” I asked.
“He stole vital supplies belonging to the crown,” he said.
“Vital supplies, pfft!” Skilly said. “He stole a stale loaf o’ bread to feed his mum and her wee barns.”
“Was this a first offense?” I asked.
“What does it matt
er?” Kade asked. He shot to his feet, and began pacing back and forth in front of his throne. “Once a thief, always a thief. We mustn’t tolerate thievery. Such crimes undermine our ability to rule.”
“But it might just be a misunderstanding,” I said. “What evidence do you have of this crime?”
“The stolen item was missing, and this man was the only one present,” he said. “He must be the thief.”
That sounded an awful lot like the logic that Flavio had used to accuse Ceff and Torn of stealing the adder stone. My hands fisted in my lap.
“So by your logic, if I was missing something, and you were the closest person to me when the item went missing, you must be the thief?” I asked.
I slipped the ash wand I’d been practicing with earlier out of my pocket and waved it behind my back. I just hoped that Skillywidden got the hint. If anyone had a chance of slipping it into my uncle’s pocket, it would be Skilly.
“Well, y-y-yes, of course, but the very idea is preposterous,” Kade said. “I would never…”
“Robe pocket, right hand side,” Skilly whispered in my ear.
I nodded slightly, careful not to look at the brownie. I didn’t want to give my friend away.
“I am missing my wand,” I said, raising my voice to echo through the Great Hall. “You are standing closest to me, uncle. I demand that you empty your pockets.”
“How dare you,” Flavio said, stepping forward, hand on his sword.
I lifted an eyebrow, palming one of my own blades. Thank Mab, this dress had sleeves.
“Are you really going to strike me down on my own throne, Flavio?” I asked.
“Captain!” Kade said. “Stand down, and guard the prisoner.”
“Yes, my lord,” he said.
“Uncle, your pockets?” I asked.
“I will humor you this once,” he said, shaking his head in irritation.
His eyes widened as his hand closed on the object in his pocket. He pulled the wand out, narrowed his eyes at it, and frowned. He looked at me, lips pressed in a hard line.
“Are you going to admit your guilt, or the flaw in your logic?” I asked.
My heart raced, but I held his gaze. He could always go with option number three; turn Ivy into a smoking pile of ash. I was hoping that his love for me, and the fancy throne I was seated in, would stay his hand, but there were no guarantees.
“Free him,” he said through clenched teeth.
Flavio jerked his head back as if slapped, gaping at my uncle, but he followed orders, setting the wisp child free.
“You disappoint me, Ivy,” Kade said. “I expected more from you.”
I had expected more from him too. I’d had every intention of becoming the dutiful niece, helping my uncle with his court duties. After two grueling years, I’d made enough progress with my magic that he finally deemed me worthy of appearing at court.
And in one moment, I’d lost all of the progress I’d made toward earning my uncle’s trust, and his heart. But I couldn’t harm a starving boy whose only crime was to take some bread to feed his family. That wasn’t who I am. It never would be.
“Return to your room,” he said, eyes beginning to glow.
He could have forced me with his power, but he didn’t need too. I looked away, blinking away tears, as I gathered the skirts of my dress and left the room.
What was I thinking playing the dutiful princess? I would never be this person. I hurried from the room, choking on a sob that threatened to bring back the tears that I’d vowed would never fall again. I’d lost Ceff, and now I was losing my uncle.
Was I incapable of being loved?
“Ye did good, lass,” Skilly said as I closed the door to my room.
He’d followed me inside, and I hadn’t had the energy to ask him to leave. If I had to be honest, I didn’t want to be alone.
“I failed him,” I said. Just like I fail everyone. Like I failed Ceff.
“And I couldna be prouder of ye,” Skilly said.
I looked down at the brownie’s wrinkled face, and let my tears fall.
Chapter 46
“I’ve decided to focus on my glamour,” I told my uncle over breakfast. “I don’t think I’m quite ready for court.”
I needed to work on my glamour, it was true, but mostly I just wanted an excuse to be alone.
“I agree,” he said, dabbing the corners of his mouth with a spider silk napkin. “Your performance yesterday…left much to be desired.”
I looked down at the food I pushed around my plate, hoping he’d see shame, but what I really felt was anger. Thank Mab, he’d helped me put a leash on my wisp powers, or I’d be glowing like a Christmas tree.
While on some level I understood that he was an immortal who’d lived in Faerie for centuries, and thus had a different set of morals, I still couldn’t get over what he’d asked of me. He’d wanted me to use my magic to strike down a child.
I put a hand to my stomach, and pushed my chair away from the table.
“May I be excused?” I asked. “I have a lot of work to do.”
“Yes, of course,” he said. “We should have spent more time on glamour during your magic instruction, but I knew how sensitive you were about the way you were treated in the human world. I was trying to be considerate of your feelings.”
“Thank you,” I said, forcing a smile.
On the one hand, he sounded sincere about his consideration for my feelings, and on the other hand he’d asked me to murder that boy. It was like he was two different men, and I didn’t want to think too much about that. He was still the only connection I had to my father, and the only friend I had here in Faerie other than Skilly.
Better to take a time out now rather than run the risk of strangling my uncle.
Chapter 47
I walked out of the Great Hall with no destination in mind. I let my feet carry me throughout the mostly empty palace. With my uncle preparing to hold court in the Great Hall, I barely saw a soul. After my humiliation yesterday, that was fine by me.
Lost in thought, I wandered the corridors for an hour before I realized that I was being followed.
“Come on out, Skilly,” I said. “I know you’re there.”
“Who say I want to be speakin’ with ye?” he asked.
He was still sore at me for putting a geas on him. We’d had a moment last night when he’d comforted me, but apparently, we were back to fighting. I was so tired, and everything was such a mess, that I wasn’t even sure how I’d screwed things up so badly between us.
“Look,” I said, running a hand through my hair. “I’m sorry. I was upset, and talking about them is really hard for me right now, but I shouldn’t have forbidden you from saying their names.”
“And?” he asked.
He tapped his foot, arms folded across his chest. Oberon’s eyes, I wasn’t going to get out of this easy. I’d have to break the geas. A geas wasn’t a faerie bargain—Skilly had never agreed to the situation—but it was still a difficult thing to break. The only one who could do it cleanly was the caster, which happened to be me. I just hoped that breaking the geas wouldn’t make me fall flat on my face. I was sick of bloody noses.
I looked at Skilly, and sighed.
“And I revoke my geas,” I said. “I revoke my geas. I revoke my geas.”
I gasped, the spell breaking around us.
Skillywidden shook his head, and clapped his hands together and stuck his tongue out at me.
“Ceff and Torn, Ceff and Torn, Ceff and Torn,” he said.
“I suppose I deserve that,” I said.
“Aye, now where are we off to?” he asked, looking up and down the corridor. “I don’t remember comin’ this way before.”
Skillywidden was right. I’d scoured every inch of Tearlach looking for my friends, but I didn’t recall ever coming down this corridor.
“If this was glamoured, it must have been done with powerful magic,” I said. “I can usually see through glamour with my second sight.”
>
“Well, ye did tell Kade you’d be workin’ on glamour,” he said with a wink.
“Yes, I did,” I said. “I suppose we should see where this leads. Want to do some exploring?”
“I thought ye would never ask,” he said.
The corridor wasn’t as long as it looked, an illusion created by a trick of forced perspective rather than magic, and soon led to a nondescript door. It could lead to a custodian’s closet, or certain death. I drew one of my blades. Monsters and attack brooms, here I come.
After a moment’s hesitation, I pulled the door open, revealing an elaborately decorated room. The floor was carpeted in green moss and toadstools, and a bed rose from that floor as if it had grown there. Perhaps it had.
“This be your uncle’s quarters,” Skillywidden said.
Skilly was right. We’d found a side door to Kade’s quarters, the one room in this palace I’d never entered. I’d only caught a brief glimpse once. There’d been a hungry, eager look in my uncle’s eyes that day, and I’d avoided this wing of the palace ever since.
“Have you ever been inside?” I asked.
“No, never had the chance,” he said.
“No time like the present,” I said.
I pulled a wooden stake from my utility belt, glad I’d traded yesterday’s dress for my trusty jeans, belt, and leather jacket, and tossed the stake onto the moss covered floor. Nothing happened. No fireballs, flesh eating beds, or raging, moss covered beasts. I held my breath, and stepped into the room.
So far so good.
“You coming?” I asked, cocking a hip, and waving toward the room. “Kade should be busy awhile, trying to win points with the court after the stunt I pulled yesterday.”
I winced, and looked away.
“Ye did good, lass,” Skillywidden said, stepping into the room. “Ye did the right thing by that boy.”
