Quill and Cobweb (The Chronicles of Whynne Book 2)

by B. A. Lovejoy

  A short, panicked thing pulled away from me, its wide eyes staring behind curtains of wrinkled skin. An ugly, unfortunate thing, one that had managed to take me from the clearing to a place crowded with trees. A place where I could barely sit, the trunks were so close.

  It looked at me like it was shocked that it even did it, like it couldn’t believe its boldness. I was sure I’d seen it before, I couldn’t have imagined such a thing, something so unfortunately unsightly.

  “You need to run,” it said quickly, its voice was sophisticated, like a well-educated man. It didn’t look anything like that. It didn’t look even vaguely human, not like some of the other fae I’d seen. It must have been a monster, it must have been bred in those woods, hiding there after the sun came up.

  I marveled at it. “You’re an Unseelie?”

  “No,” it said quickly, its strange, claw-like hands upon me, looking like the talons of a hawk. It was trying to shove me upwards, to force me to walk. “I am a Seelie; I only choose to live in these woods because I am not fit for society. I am Bugul Noz, the last of my kind—but that’s not important— you need to leave. You need to go before it tries to find you, before it tries to force the other Unseelie to look for you.”

  “What?” I said, still wide eyed at its appearance. “Bugul Noz? That’s an awful name.”

  “The Gancanagh is the most powerful thing in this forest right now,” Bugul Noz said, shoving at my side. “It will tell the others to find you so that it may take you. It won’t let you out of here, not if it can find you. It is trying to protect itself and others from the King, but you need to go, you need to forget what you saw and run.”

  Easier said than done.

  “You are about to make me do something very stupid, young woman,” Bugul Noz grimaced. “You do not wish to do that, you need to get your wits about you, you need to stop staring!” Its eyes widened impossibly more. “I know what I look like, and I know that it is frightening, normally I would give warning—but you must run!”

  I was vaguely aware of the burning at the back of my ears, but only that.

  “Fine then,” he decided, the hesitation heavy in his voice. “I did not want to do this, I will have you know. I am a proper thing, not an animal.” He winced at what he was about to do, and I came to my senses just seconds too late.

  “Ah!” I yelped, scrambling away from it, my finger in my hands. It had small, squarish yellow teeth; ones that had just nipped the tip of my finger, drawing blood. “You bit me!”

  “I did not want to do it!” Bugul Noz defended, grabbing my hand from me and waving my finger in the air before I could suck on the small wound. For a moment, I was afraid that he was poisonous. “Now they will find you sooner,” he said.

  “How?” I asked. “From a single drop of blood?” Would the wound get infected? Would having such a thing bite me have consequences? I was reeling. “What, do they have a hound on their side or something? Even then, I don’t think this will help.”

  It ignored me. “Close your eyes and keep them closed,” it demanded. “Do not look at anything that comes this way, and do not let anything touch you. He will have you the moment he looks at you, I’m certain of it. You cannot let that thing, that monster, see you again. Not the Gancanagh.”

  “Why are you helping me?” The words came out slightly jumbled, said far too quickly. “You live here. Surely this will cause you trouble.”

  “Because while I do not enjoy being ruled by a vain, insecure king, I should not wish to be ruled by an Unseelie like the Gancanagh either, even if it upholds the balance of Whynne. Now,” it said, pulling away, nodding desperately at me, “close your eyes, and do not move. Even if you think you hear your friends, you wait here. They shall find you if they really are who you think.”

  I did not immediately do it, and so it leaned forward, closing my eyes for me with its claw instead, a groan escaping it. I was tempted to open them again.

  That temptation grew even more when I heard a loud clap, and the shape beside me was gone, leaving me alone in the woods. Was I really going to trust such a thing? Especially when it told me there were even more dangerous things about? Was I really going to wait there for someone to come?

  I could hear the forest around me again, the call of voices through the trees. What would I see if I opened my eyes?

  What if I turned on the lamp around my neck? My hands lowered to it. Would that scare them off? Would I be safe then? Or would I open my eyes to see another monster staring back at me?

  Between the pain on my skin and the pounding voices in my skull, the thought of waiting there seemed unbearable. But then, just as I began to open my eyes, I heard him.

  “Wren,” his voice called, but how could I be sure that it was him?

  I sank back against a tree, my hands rising to my shoulders. I would not make a sound, I decided then. I would not dare.

  “Wren,” was it him? Was he terrified? Or was it a trick? Maybe if I kept my eyes shut, I could fight it. Maybe I could fend it off.

  The only bright side was that the pain had ceased. To my side, I heard footsteps quicken.

  I had made a mistake, I knew it.

  “Wren.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Scream. That was the first thing that came to my mind. Scream as loud as possible and hope that someone finds you, that the nightmare is over. The second thing that came to mind was to kick, which worked out surprisingly well, actually, until he stumbled over me and landed on top of me, his hands pinning mine to the tree.

  “Wren,” what sounded like Luka groaned, his hands trying to hold mine back as I frantically attempted to hit him, my feet kicking uselessly below him as his knees sat on top of them. “Wren, you’re okay, you’re safe. I have you.” Like I would trust him.

  I was learning quickly not to fall for something like that.

  “Wren, it’s me, look at me,” he said. I snarled underneath him, clenching my eyes firmly shut as more noises came from the distance. I couldn’t tell if they were Seelie or Unseelie, human or monster. I wasn’t going to open my eyes to find out.

  “I won’t kiss you,” I yelled. “You’re disgusting.”

  “A first,” Luka drawled, unamused. “Though I’m sure you’ve called me worse.”

  My breath hitched at his reply, my limbs easing. It sounded like something the real Luka would say, but maybe it was a trick.

  “It’s me,” he said. “Luka, Luka Kinsley.” Just to be sure that I knew that he wasn’t lying, he carried on, his voice flat as he stated, “I was near Audon up until a few months ago. I kissed your hand once at a party. I read awful, tacky fantasy stories from other countries, and I hate sad endings.”

  I opened one eye slowly. Luka’s face looked back at me.

  “Turn your head,” I demanded, not quite willing to believe him.

  He raised an eyebrow but did as he was told. I lifted a hand, touching the ridge of his ear, feeling whether or not the scar was real. The purple, bubbled skin felt soft underneath my fingers. He let out a small hiss.

  “Does it hurt?” I asked, pulling back my hand quickly. Maybe if it did, that was a bad sign. It hadn’t before.

  “No,” he said, his eyes meeting mine as he blushed. “It doesn’t.”

  I blinked at the implication, tempted to touch it again, but then all of the sudden he was shoved off of me, another face taking his place with a bright torch in his hand. I think that frightened me more than Luka had.

  “Good work, Kinsley,” the mass of blonde curls wearing a lopsided crown proclaimed. “For once.” I looked over to see Luka flinching, rubbing the shoulder that hit the ground. “Thank god we found her, that was almost nightmarish.” I gaped at him, the King of our country, looking at me as if I were a toy of his that had been stolen away.

  “There she is,” said Nikolas in the background, his heavy footsteps slowing.

  “She is very quick,” Lindy spat.

  My eyes were still on him, the King. The one who had just push
ed away Luka like he was nothing. He seemed to ignore the rest, rolling his eyes at my predicament as he took me in, his hands replacing Luka’s. “Now, this is going to hurt a lot, and afterwards, one of you two will pick her up,” he said.

  What—

  His hand jabbed into my sternum, just the flicker of light shining in his eyes before he immediately pulled it back. The motion was so quick that nothing had begun to set in, and then…

  Oh. Oh no.

  It came like a tidal wave, crashing over me and overwhelming everything else. Magic coursed through my body. The sudden, searing pain, the overwhelming nausea—It raged through my blood stream, targeting anything else that sat there. I felt something pour out of me in a sharp, painful gasp, a huff of black smoke escaping my lungs, only visible by the light of the torches. It felt like everything left me with that.

  “No more worries then,” Theo said, standing up from me and wiping his hands off on his clothes, as if the mere act of touching me was disgusting. “Pick her up.” I was surprised that Nikolas was the one to grab me, Theo turned to Luka and said, “you keep your distance. I don’t want her getting any strange ideas, she’s not completely here right now.”

  Luka looked like he would have liked to disagree, and maybe I would have too, had another dry heave not produced another cloud of black smoke.

  “My, they really did charm you,” Theo mused, reaching for my cheek and pinching it. “I bet you’re very obedient when compelled, that is quite a lot of smoke.” I felt like, at any given moment, I would fall limply from Nikolas’s arms. “A shame I’ll never get to know myself.” It felt like part of my soul was leaving my body.

  Theo only smirked, satisfied with my suffering, and turned on his foot. Finally, I could see what was around me—my heart almost stopped when I saw not just the people I knew, but guards, so many guards filling the forest. Maybe I was important after all.

  “Adam,” Theo called, “no worries, the half breed found her!”

  A soft, orange light shined in the distance, no doubt the man in question. Beside Nikolas, I heard Lindy murmur something that vaguely sounded like ‘finally’—I didn’t think she was too pleased with me. But then she moved up closer beside him and looked at me, her eyes devoid of anger.

  “I liked when you made Mylene scream,” Lindy said, and that was all. Perhaps that was forgiveness.

  “Alright, let’s get a move on,” said the King, in his impatience he did not acknowledge boundaries for things like reunions or actual recovery. “We need to leave while the sun is still up,” he proclaimed, uncaring of the fact that I was still coughing up smoke. “Camden is waiting.”

  I would have preferred to stay in the woods.

  Once more, I was hauled into the cabin, Nikolas having decided that as nice as carrying me bridal style was, throwing me over his shoulder suited him much better. He practically dropped me onto the couch, my body bouncing against the worn-out cushions as a commotion began to build.

  “Oh my,” the now familiar, low voice of Camden said. “What a shame.”

  Her comment was barely noted before a set of thin, tan arms were thrown around me, straight dusty blue hair flying into my face. “Wren!” Winry’s watery voice filled my ears. “Oh Wren, you’re alive!” She hiccupped. “You smell awful,” she noted with a sob. I likely did, between all of the dead leaves and the dirty ground.

  “Awfully resilient,” said a voice in the background, a visitor I hadn’t expected, Kristin. I only caught a glimpse of him before he walked after Luka, disappearing beyond the back of the sofa.

  “Miraculous,” said Mylene as Winry pulled away, trying desperately to fit into the space beside me on the couch. “She has survived yet again,” her voice was heavy with implications, ones that I wasn’t fond of.

  “Yes,” said King Theo, “she has.” There was something more to that, something heavier, crushing even, like he found a use in that.

  “She needs to lay down somewhere proper,” Winry began to fuss, sitting up suddenly beside me with the realization. “She needs to be in a bed. Where is her room?”

  “She can do that later,” Camden cut in, “I think we’re in need of some explanations.” Winry’s face dropped.

  “Camden and I,” said Theo, “are in need of some explanations,” lest anyone try to join in. “Then she may sleep.”

  “A good idea,” said Mylene eagerly. “I think the Unseelie might have gotten to her, that she might not be safe. She should be sent back to the palace and properly watched.” Lindy pulled a face at her agreement, likely disgusted with how quickly she seemed to agree.

  Even Camden seemed irritated, though it was more likely because Mylene thought to address the King directly and with such enthusiasm. She wasn’t a fan of anyone coming near him, not like she did. “Perhaps she’d already been corrupted,” Camden said, and I had no doubt where her eyes landed. “She does keep unsavory company.”

  “You can keep your accusations to yourself, my friend,” Kristin said in response. “My brother is the whole reason you got her back.”

  “It doesn’t matter who did what, not now,” said Theo. “Just clear out.” His eyes fell on the one man who had not yet spoken, the one standing quietly by the kitchen, “but not you, Adam. You stay.”

  Adam’s face hardened.

  “You can’t do that,” Winry began, “She’s only just gotten back, she’s sick—” She looked down at me, her eyes bubbling with tears. I wondered if she was fully aware of my first trip to the forest before she got here, if they’d piled on the terror for her. “My sister needs to rest,” she begged.

  “Winry,” said Kristin, pleading with her. “It’ll be just a moment.”

  She swallowed, looking down at me.

  “I’ll be fine,” I reassured, another small puff of black escaping me with the action. “I promise.” I don’t think I was very convincing. “And then you can tell me all about the new greenhouse and the plants you’ve been growing. I wasn’t getting any of your letters before—”

  Winry looked up with a glare, her brow furrowing. Evidently, she’d been led to believe I had. “No, you should lay down, and then we should go home.”

  “She’s property of the crown,” Mylene proclaimed. “She’ll do what the King says.”

  “She’s my sister!” Winry snapped. “Have you no mercy? No sense? Maybe you don’t know the feeling, but I was raised beside her, I know her like no one else—Don’t call her someone’s property! She’s not an object to be owned,” Winry spat, and Mylene’s determination faltered. “Ask your questions when she is fit to answer them!”

  “Unfortunately,” said Theo, ignoring how Mylene’s face fell and Winry shot a downright violent look his way, “I don’t take orders from little girls. Adam,” he said, snapping his fingers. I didn’t think it was possible for Adam to look more ill at the moment.

  I was wrong.

  Adam looked at her, his face twitching ever so slightly, giving into a frown, and then he moved. Because it was Theo who asked, not Camden. Because whatever friendship my sister and him had slowly begun to develop didn’t matter. Even though she fought tooth and nail the moment he grabbed her, exactly like a young woman shouldn’t have.

  “Put me down,” she said, her voice dripping with fury and that hint of fae charm that made humans want to do what she said. “Put me down, Adam!” Realizing that he wasn’t going to give in, she howled furiously, pounding on his back with her fists. “I said put me down, Adam!”

  I watched as she was carried away and shoved into my room, Adam’s back slamming against the door and his hand on the knob as he locked her in and struggled to keep her from kicking the door down. Sitting up, I could see Kristin looking at him, disgust dripping off of his features.

  “Congratulations, Adam,” Kristin said. “You really are the King’s dog.” He shook his head, giving Camden and Theo a look of detest. “We don’t need your help leaving, by the way, Luka and I can walk.”

  “He will not be mad at you forev
er,” Theo said as Kristin turned to leave, speaking to Adam. “Don’t take it to heart. A few tea parties, a ball or two, and you’ll be best friends again. Kristin is a simple man of simple pleasures.”

  Kristin looked over his shoulder and said, “I like good people, and you’re not good people. It’s taken me a long time to learn that; two months without my brother, but just because you are kind to me and you like me does not make you good people. It also does not mean that I have to like you back. You can buy all the luxuries in the world, you can throw all the parties you like, and you can rule with an iron fist—but some day everyone will hate you just like I do. Do not think that I am stupid enough that a few tea parties will change that.”

  Theo’s face dropped, looking almost as distressed as Adam. I’d almost forgotten that he’d once gone to the Kinsley house, writing it off as just a pursuit of power. Maybe, though, if he really wanted to search the Kinsley estate, he would have just sent guards to begin with. Maybe he wouldn’t have tried to keep up the appearance of friendship.

  “He’s still an oaf anyway,” Camden murmured as Kristin disappeared beyond the door to Luka’s room, the rest of the party scattering as well. “Not good for anything except for parties and drinking.” She didn’t care that Luka still stood there, casting one last look over his shoulder.

  “Make it quick, she’s been through too much,” said Luka warily.

  “We don’t take orders from monsters either,” Camden said.

  Mylene was the last to leave, as if caught between her desire to see me suffer and her need to obey the King. Why she was so loyal, I did not understand, but my view of the King had been tarnished by my less than stellar experiences with him.

  I still could not help but pity her when Camden turned her impaling gaze upon her, making the young woman scramble. She looked so desperate to be there, to be beside her king. I don’t think she’d ever so much as been in the same room as him.

  “She’ll give up fighting eventually,” Theo reassured Adam, the door behind him still reverberating with Winry’s frantic attempts to escape.