Unearthing The Fae King; Year 1

by Brenda Trim

  Although Fae used their magic to do what they could with the Edge. Humans liked their neatly manicured areas where the Fae preferred it more on the wild side. The smooth stone streets of the humans were stark and unattractive to Maurelle.

  They might not have much, but every Fae added a bit of their magic to line the stones of the streets with grass and flowers, giving the ground a more appealing appearance. Elders like her mom, who was an earth Fae, used some of their talent to encourage vines to help shore up the walls of the worst buildings.

  Every once in a while, the humans killed the grass and flowers and took down the vines. Maurelle figured they didn’t want them too comfortable. Stopping by her open bedroom door, she considered lying down, but Erlina was listening to music on her bed, so Maurelle continued to the living room.

  Her mom looked up and smiled at her. “Hey, sweetie. How are you feeling?”

  “Not too great,” Maurelle replied. “Between my stomach and my head, I’m ready to curl into a ball.”

  “I made you some ginger tea. I can run down and pick up some feverfew to help with the headache,” her mom offered. Not that the apothecary was far, but Maurelle hated being more of a burden than she already was.

  Shaking her head, Maurelle continued to the sofa. “That’s okay mom. The ginger tea will be perfect.”

  She wasn’t able to leave her house now that she was transitioning, otherwise, she’d be hauled off to the academy. Her parents both attended the academy when they reached their power, but things there changed when the humans took over.

  Her mom and dad said Fae weren’t the same when they came out compared to when they entered the Academy. They couldn’t explain it to her, but they didn’t want her to serve the humans and suppress her fellow Fae.

  Maurelle groaned as she lowered herself to the sofa. Her mom was right there with the tea a second later. “Thanks, mom,” she said and sipped the hot liquid. It was easier now to ignore the impressions she got from the teacup.

  A year ago, she couldn’t touch anything without being bombarded with visions of the past. So far, the only ability that manifested for Maurelle was psychometry, and for that she was grateful. She couldn’t imagine having to deal with more at once.

  Talk about awkward, she thought. Moments after her wings colored and electricity flooded her system, she went to the fridge to get a drink and saw her father making out with her mother. No child wants to see her father doing intimate things with their mother.

  A knock on the door interrupted Maurelle’s musings. Figuring it was Alek for Nyx, she continued sipping her tea. Her head snapped around when she heard angry male voices.

  “Your daughter will be coming with us!” a male informed her mother.

  Maurelle’s worst nightmare unfolded before her eyes. For the first time in her life she wished Fae were allowed to have technological devices like communication devices so she could call her father. The only thought Maurelle had as she looked at the auburn-haired Fae that was there to collect her was that she should run.

  She had no idea where she would actually go if she managed to get away. Every Fae heard rumors about the underground, but she didn’t know where it was or where it would take her. Outside of Bramble’s Edge and the human settlements there was nothing.

  “You can’t take her. She’s sick and can’t go to the Academy right now,” her mother tried reasoning with the officer.

  Nyx and Erlina came rushing down the hall and stopped short when they saw the officers. Their identical pale green eyes met Maurelle’s gaze, showing her how terrified they were.

  “Go back,” she mouthed to them and waved them away.

  “Sickness doesn’t exempt her from the academy. She needs to come with us now!” the same officer demanded.

  Throwing her cup of tea at the male, Maurelle took off down the hallway. Nyx and Erlina jumped out of the way when she passed. Maurelle continued to her parent’s bedroom, grabbing a pair of her mom’s shoes as she went.

  A shout made her turn her head in time to see her sisters stand in the middle of the hall. Nyx perfected the snobby, entitled look as she crossed her arms over her chest and glowered. “Leave my sister alone,” she screamed.

  Maurelle nearly smiled when she saw Nyx adjust her hands to shove her breasts together and out. It was a distraction technique that rarely failed. Especially, with Fae males. Fae were a lusty species.

  It wasn’t something her parents ever talked about with her, but they didn’t need to because the raging desire was enough to tell Maurelle how important sex was going to be to her. That was the stage Nyx was at, and why she was so eager for lunch with Alex.

  Having a sexual outlet mellowed Fae and helped them remain stable. Maurelle was certain her lack of any partners was one of the reasons she was sick at the moment. There was no outlet to equalize her powers. It helped to let of the steam.

  Her jaw dropped when the Fae officer didn’t pay one bit of attention to Nyx. When the male pushed her sister out of his way, Maurelle turned away from the window. She tossed one of the shoes and it hit the male in the head. Erlina started crying and pressed herself against the wall opposite Nyx.

  Maurelle’s head throbbed with all the movement, making her stomach lurch. With bile in her throat, she hurried toward the male. She could hear her mother arguing with the other male in the living room, but she had to focus on the one in her parent’s room with her.

  The look of fury on his face made her sidestep and put the king-sized bed between them. “You will not escape us. It’ll be better for you if you give up now.”

  Shaking her head, she looked for a way out of this mess. If she could make it to the window, she could fly away. She wasn’t sure how far she’d get with her pounding head and upset stomach, but she wasn’t giving up now.

  When the male lunged for her legs, she jumped and cried out when her discomfort increased. On instinct, she kicked out at the Fae. It had to be a comical sight, she thought as her arms flailed in the air and her tangled hair swung around her face.

  Her foot connected with the side of his head and it snapped to the side. Following through with her half-assed assault, she grabbed hold of his hair. His arm slammed into her chest and sent her sailing across the room.

  Her side slammed into the dresser with more force than Maurelle ever thought possible. Her hand swept her mother’s glass trinkets to the floor with a clatter. She winced at both the noise and the way they shattered on impact with the wood floor.

  “Maurelle,” Nyx shouted.

  Maurelle lifted her head to see the Fae jump over the bed and land right next to her. He reached behind his body and pulled out a silver loop. Electricity sparked from the object, making her mouth go dry.

  Her fight renewed as she started wiggling and throwing her elbows around, hoping to bust his nose. One of his arms banded around her waist, pressing on her stomach hard enough she worried she was going to throw up.

  With his free hand, he brought the silver to his mouth and muttered a word that made it shiver. Before she knew what was happening, he slapped it against her side. The metal shifted shape and wound its way around her mid-torso.

  Based on his curse he hoped it would latch on in a different place. Her wings were free, as were her hands. She grabbed hold of the metal with the intention of pulling the restraint off.

  The second her hand landed on the object, her parent’s room and the Fae on top of her disappeared. As was always the case when she used her powers, she couldn’t focus on anything for several seconds.

  The only thing she knew before her vision cleared was the general impression of the memory she was accessing. Whatever awaited her on the other side had caused a great deal of fear, and determination.

  She supposed it shouldn’t surprise her given the weapon was wielded by a collector. Collector’s might be Fae, but it was now obvious to Muarelle that they didn’t have one ounce of empathy or even individual identity.

  It was eerie enough that it made her wonder what hap
pened at the academy to erase his personality so thoroughly. From the way her parents described their time at the university, she had no doubt it was an entirely different establishment now.

  When the fog cleared from her mind, she saw the most gorgeous Fae male. Was it her lengthy dry spell and heightened sexual need that made her think the male in her vision was so good looking?

  No, she decided as she got a glimpse of his sharp features and stunning, deep green eyes. His black hair was a mess around his head and a little longer over his forehead.

  The look of determination echoed what she felt the moment the officers appeared in her home. Her heart started pounding when he snarled and lifted into the air a second later. She wanted to shout a warning at him.

  With his hand bound to his sides there was no way he was going to get very far. The same device sparked around his waist, making her realize it had been used on him last.

  The further he flew from the Fae that attacked her the tighter her throat constricted. If he managed to get away the device wouldn’t be on her at that moment. His flight path faltered as he looked back at the male now chasing him through the sky.

  When the ocean came into view, Maurelle held her breath. The academy was precisely how her parents described. The large stone buildings surrounded by lush greenery with brambles on the one side and the ocean at its back.

  The profusion of sparks distracted her from the view. Her gaze shifted just in time to see the attractive male slam into an invisible barrier in the sky. No one ever told Maurelle exactly what would happen if she tried to fly away, just not to try because she would regret it.

  Watching his wing light up as if lightning struck it right before he plummeted to the ground, made her nausea churn. She watched with wide eyes and a racing heart as he felt to the ground.

  She swore the impact rattled the earth when he landed. His wing was bent behind his back and his side was bleeding. The scene was so gruesome she doubted the male would ever recover.

  Unwilling to be so vulnerable with two officers in her house, Maurelle forced her mind from the vision and back into her home. Her head was being split by a pickaxe and bile filled her nostrils.

  It was nearly impossible to open her eyes given that they felt glued shut. When she managed to open them, she was being hauled from the floor by the auburn-haired male. He had a hold of her collar and one of her arms.

  Her sisters were in tears huddled together. Maurelle stumbled along with the officer holding her. The disorientation lasted longer than normal after she came out of her visions. She had no idea if it was because she forced herself out of this one or because she was sick.

  She could hear her mother begging for them to let her go, but the other male refused to listen. “Are you going to cooperate now?”

  Maurelle tried to break the officer’s tight grip on her arm, but she was brought up short when her hand refused to lift from her side. A quick glance down told her that somehow her wrists were incorporated into the cuffs.

  “No. You can’t take my daughter,” her mom sobbed as she was drug through the house. Her mother lunged for the male holding her and once again time slowed for Maurelle.

  The second her mom tried to reach her the other male lifted a long smooth black stick and swung. The pole connected with her mom’s head with a loud thud. Her sisters screamed along with her as their mother’s head flew to the side and blood splattered against the wall.

  “What the fuck did you do?” The officer holding her barked.

  This had to be a nightmare, Maurelle thought as she watched her mother slump to the floor. Part of her skull was missing, and her blank brown eyes stared at nothing.

  “Mom,” she screamed as her stomach revolted at the sight. The tea she drank earlier came up in a rush and then out of her mouth and nose. Maurelle tried to see if her mom’s chest was rising and falling but was hauled through the door before she could make a determination.

  “Go get dad,” she called back to her sisters as she was pushed down the stairs. The bright sunshine mocked the grief wracking her chest as the Fae shoved her toward a wagon. With her on her stomach, the male pressed a disc to the back of her shackle, and they fell away with a pop. She needed to get one of those keys for the cuffs.

  Quickly, she scrambled to her feet and tried to rush past him, so she could get to her father. As the door shut behind her, Maurelle looked back and saw her sisters huddled in the doorway of the apartment complex they called home. This couldn’t be happening, she told herself.

  As her heart shattered in a million pieces, she kicked the bars keeping her away from her sisters. She wouldn’t be there to comfort her dad or help him soothe Nyx or Erlina.

  Her fingers wrapped around the bars as she screamed to anyone that would listen while she was hauled away. For the first time since getting her powers, she wasn’t thrown into a vision.

  Real life had a tight grip on her battered soul and refused to let go. They had ruthlessly killed her mother because she didn’t want to send Maurelle to their stupid academy. How could she go on when her sweet, loving mother was gone? She wasn’t even going to be able to say goodbye and help send her mother’s spirit to the afterlife.

  She shouldn’t be so surprised given the torture she witnessed in her last vision. Anyone that allowed that to occur didn’t give a damn who was harmed in their bid for domination and power.

  Chapter Three

  Agony shot through Ryker’s shoulder as he scanned the images glowing in front of him on the table. He couldn’t lift his bad arm without significant pain. After regaining consciousness in the infirmary of the academy, life had been better than he expected.

  It was somehow refreshing to see that the humans didn’t start some evil scheme from the first second at the academy. Honestly, he was surprised at how normal it seemed to him. Every Fae child attends school for several years when they are younger where they learn to read and write and things of that nature.

  Historically speaking the Bramble’s Edge Academy served to help Fae hone their powers as they become young adults. The focus here was not on formal education, but on controlling one’s abilities. Perhaps, that is all that happened there now.

  Nothing suspicious or nefarious occurred since his arrival and it made Ryker question his childhood. Specifically, how his mother continuously told him that humans were evil creatures bent on keeping control of their realm.

  Was it possible that Fae without an agenda for the humans ran the school? He had to think that was highly likely given how he’d been treated. The healer spent a couple days working on repairing his wing inch by inch, so he can eventually fly again.

  Someone that wanted him under their control, acting as their slave would not take that much care in healing his injury. He imagined his mother saying he couldn’t trust anyone. That he needed to keep his head down and remain out of the spotlight.

  That was his plan at the academy. He’d do his time without bringing notice to himself. It shouldn’t be difficult to comply with an assessment to help determine what abilities he had, as well as where his affinity was rooted. One of his dormmates was an earth Fae while another was designated water. And, a third showed an affinity for two elements.

  That was unheard of from what Ryker knew. Very few of them aligned with more than one element, and when they did, they were usually complimentary. Part of him wanted to have more than one and he had no idea why.

  It wasn’t as if he had any knowledge what that would mean for him. From what Sol told him there were extra seminars and practice sessions. Ryker liked down time to play hoop ball which was something Sol didn’t have at the moment.

  After making his selections, Ryker turned and scanned the mess hall. He’d never seen a place like Bramble’s Edge Academy. The dorms were as big as the apartment he shared with his mom, and the cafeteria was massive with countless tables and stools filling the area. Fae weren’t allowed technology, so he was surprised their method for ordering food came from images on the top of the tabl
e until he realized there was a distinct tingle when he touched the button.

  His dormmates explained to him the menu selections were brought to them quickly after they touched a button marked with the school’s logo. Ryker always loved the symbol for the academy. Something about the letters ‘BE’ surrounded by the thorny bramble bush connected with his soul. There were several things in the Edge and beyond that made his emotions stir.

  After his mother’s encouragement to flee before being collected, Ryker expected to hate everything about the academy, but he didn’t. In fact, there was a lot he liked. The stone walls of the old buildings were seeped with Fae magic, and seemed to welcome him with glee. Yes, he realized that was crazy thinking, but it was how he felt.

  The classrooms and practice fields were also vastly different from his old school. There was plenty of room to practice and learn which he hadn’t had before. When he was a kid, he went to a small school that served the apartment complexes on his street only. The classrooms of his elementary school were located on the second floor above the bakery and they ate lunch in their classrooms.

  The food at the academy also rivaled his mom’s cooking. Not that she was the best cook in the Edge, he thought, but damn close. The selection was vast and always included a stew of some kind which was perfect with their colder climate.

  In Mag Mell the weather was rarely hot, and it rained frequently, so Ryker for one preferred eating hearty meals. In the Edge it could be difficult to find fresh fruits and vegetables, but the academy didn’t seem to have the same problems.

  Ryker wasn’t sure what to expect the first time he was able to leave the infirmary and have a meal in the mess hall. He hadn’t imagined the dozens of food choices as he had been fed a bland diet while in the hospital wing.