by LJ Rivers
“My dad was human,” I said defiantly. “Dennis Rivers raised me. Auberon just happens to be the donor who gave me life.”
The reeve looked mortified, and his eyes shone with specks of red.
Auberon offered us his warmest chuckle. “She’s a bit of a firecracker, Reeve Yeats. What else can one expect from a Sorceress as Pure as she?”
It took a moment before the reeve laughed nasally, all tension evaporated. “Our princess is indeed quite entertaining. Please, everyone is dying to talk to you.”
I dug my heels into the ground. “No, really, I—”
“Nonsense. I hear the Pixies have prepared a poem in your mam’s honour, and now that everyone knows who you are, they will treat you as a princess ought to be treated. Come now.”
I wanted to flee, to find Charlie and Brendan, and dig us all a hole out of this place, but they were nowhere to be seen, and I didn’t want to disappoint my grandparents by taking off.
Next to me, Jen leaned in. “I’ll just look for that thing for a while. Don’t stay up on my account,” she whispered.
That thing clearly meant Gemma, but with Auberon so close, we couldn’t discuss details.
“All right. Don’t stray too far,” I said.
She adjusted the curls around my cheekbones, then darted off.
“See you later,” I said to the Wogans as the reeve grabbed my arm and hurried me off to entertain the guests.
Time dragged on as we went from one Mag to the next. The reeve had me on display, and my father acted like a gracious king. Exchanging pleasantries really wasn’t my strong suit, and until Auberon had arrived in all his glory, they had wanted to crucify me. Perhaps not literally, but they certainly hadn’t approved of me when they thought I was half human. After Auberon’s big reveal, however, they were suddenly acting as if I were some lost treasure they all wanted a piece of.
“Princess.” Osian and Rhod raised a glass at me as we passed by a table full of wolf Shifters. “Yaki!”
I halted, looking for a reprieve. “Yaki?”
“It means cheers,” Auberon said. “Perhaps you should indulge them.”
I wasn’t really in the mood for a drink, but if it kept my father at bay, then I’d happily drink with the wolves. “Yaki.” I raised my empty hand.
“She needs a glass,” Rhod said.
Osian guffawed. “My cousin, you’re right. Our princess does need a glass.” He grabbed one from the table, brought a flask out from his inner pocket, and poured the contents into the glass. “Bottoms up.”
I accepted the glass and swirled the maple-brown contents around for a breath. It smelled of honey and wood, and something else I couldn’t put my finger on. “Bottoms up.”
We clinked glasses, and I drained mine in one gulp.
The Hopkins cousins lowered their drinks and stared at me with grinning faces.
“What’s so funny?” I slurred.
They broke into a laughing fit.
My feet turned to jelly, and I stumbled straight into Auberon’s arms.
“Ruby?” His voice was so distant, so far away. “Princess, are you all right?”
“Osian!” Reeve Yeats’ voice was scolding. He said something else, but I couldn’t catch what it was.
Strong arms hugged me as my father cradled me, his deep gaze delving into mine. “Are you–?”
My eyes closed, and his voice was but a faint hum in the distance. My limbs went slack, and I couldn’t move. I tried opening my mouth to say something, but nothing worked. In my head, thoughts scrambled over one another, and I couldn’t grab a coherent line of thinking. It reminded me of drowning. I wanted to panic, but the world was so still and calm. Slowly, I sank deeper, and deeper still, drifting off into nothingness.
Chapter Nineteen
Open your eyes.
I couldn’t.
Open them. Focus, Ru!
My eyelids were glued shut, and spikes of pain stabbed at my eyeballs from inside my head. Where was I? In water? Moisture clung to my skin.
Someone opened a door, an old one, with rusty hinges. The door moaned in protest.
No.
The noise came from me. I was moaning. In pain.
“… yet … still, and … all right …”
Who was that? I tried to speak, but my mouth didn’t agree to form the words. Was I dreaming again?
Open your eyes!
A gut-wrenching pain shot through me as a tiny sliver of light found its way to my right eye. I closed it again.
“Don’t force it, annwyl. Take your time.”
Llewellyn?
I coughed, which sent another jolt of pain through me, this time focusing on my stomach. “I—is that you, Grand—?”
“I’m here, Ruby. It’s your grandfather. You’ll be all right soon.” His voice had a hint of laughter in it.
“Am I sick?” I croaked.
“You’re not dying, if that’s what you think.” Yes, he was definitely laughing. Giggling, in fact, which was totally unfitting for such an old man. “I think you had one too many drinks. Or maybe five.”
Crap! Am I drunk?
I felt more like hung over. I held my hand in front of my eyes and forced them open again. It was like ripping apart a Velcro. My hand kept the light from stabbing me again, and I could make out the shadowy shape of my grandfather. He sat on the floor. I was in my bed. Not in water, just soaked in sweat. At least I hoped it was sweat.
A bird was crowing outside. In my head, the noise turned into a bulldozer tearing down a brick wall. A rooster?
“Wait, what time is it?”
“Time to get the eggs for breakfast. There’s a glass of water on the floor. Try to get it down in very small sips. And don’t worry; you’ll be fine in an hour or two.” Llewellyn stood and left the room. “Or maybe five or six,” he said as he walked down the hallway, his laughter competing with the bulldozer.
It couldn’t be morning! As I slowly moved my hand away from my eyes, the sunlight confirmed Llewellyn’s words. I had been out cold all night?
My stomach threatened to recycle all the food from the feast yesterday, but I managed to keep it at bay. For now. I dropped my hand over the edge, prodding for the glass, and knocked it over.
Crap on top of crap on a pile of crap in Crapville, Tennessee!
How could I have been so stupid? I had drunk the whisky Osian had given me, but apart from it tasting absolutely amazing, it wasn’t particularly strong. And I couldn’t recall having more than one glass. Maybe half of the next. Then again, if I had actually got drunk enough to black out, would I remember what I had poured down my throat?
I had to get up. The bulldozer had taken permanent residence in my head and was working hard on shoving more nails into my eyeballs.
Where was Brendan?
Stupid question, really. He was probably asleep in his room. Why would he be up only to sit by my bed, watching me sloshed beyond David Hasselhoff level and sweating gallons? I needed a shower before I could face him.
Rolling over, and once again only just managing to keep my stomach from emptying, I swung my feet over the edge of the bed and onto the wooden floor, which was slippery from the water I had spilt. I grabbed the top bunk and pulled myself up to a sitting position. I expected the room to do the proverbial spin, but so far it remained motionless.
“Right, step two,” I mumbled and reached for the chair by the window.
Mum’s dress was draped over the back of it. Panic gripped me. Who had undressed me? Whoever it was had also put a T-shirt and my running shorts on me before … dumping me in bed. Oh, this was a nightmare.
I stumbled across the hall and into the bathroom, stopping for a few seconds in the opening to listen to the voices from the kitchen, but was unable to distinguish them. I bet Brendan was up already, after all. Maybe making breakfast for his passed-out girlfriend. I groaned, closed the door, and stepped out of my clothes and into the shower.
I stood under the cold water for a few minutes, lett
ing a little of my fire magic dwell under the surface of my skin. Enough to keep me from shaking too hard, but not so much that I didn’t feel the chill, hoping it would help wake me up. After a while, I turned the hot tap, only to find that there was no hot water. Somehow, it fit the morning.
“Good morning, child,” said Mari when I wobbled into the kitchen a while later. She was standing by the sink, drying dishes. “How are you feeling?” Her voice was blissfully void of amusement.
“Like I just fought a rhino,” I muttered. “And lost.”
Rhys came in through the balcony door, carrying more dishes. He placed them on the counter. It sounded like the rhino that had just kicked my arse had gone berserk in a china shop.
The big bear held his hands up. “Sori, Ruby. How are you feeling?”
I considered shaking my head, but thought better of it. “Outstanding.” I sat, carefully, on one of the empty chairs by the long table. “Where is everybody?”
Mari pointed at the other door with the dish brush. “Llew and Lili are out on the patio. Lili wanted to have breakfast in the crisp morning air.”
My Fitbit was in my room, but I wouldn’t have considered going to get it if I had been offered a thousand pounds. The rooster crowed again. I peeked out the window, trying to get a sense of how high the sun had risen, as if I could tell the time from it.
“It’s almost half six.” Rhys held a pocket watch in his hand, the chain linked to the belt loops of his trousers. “I use it now and then.” He shrugged. “Like when I have to be in Pwllheli to pick up the newspaper. Or you lot at the station.” He put the pocket watch back in his pocket and went outside again, probably to fetch another stack of dishes for the rhino in my head.
I sighed, not sure if it was with relief or regret. Probably a mix. “So, Charlie and Brendan are still asleep. Good, I guess.”
Mari grabbed a ladle and dipped it in a pan on the stove. She poured the hot liquid into a cup and put it on the table in front of me. “Here, drink this. It might help with your cur pen.”
“My what?” As if to help me understand, an extra spike of pain lanced through my head. “Oh, right. Thanks.”
The steam from the cup reached my nose, filling it with scents I had never smelled before. As I inhaled, I could feel the headache withdraw. I might have done well to think twice about drinking any unknown stuff, given what had happened last night, but I trusted Mari. I raised the cup to my lips and took a sip. The taste of ginger and chamomile coated my tongue, along with something else I couldn’t identify. I swallowed and took another sip. Soon I had gulped half the cup.
“What is this?” I asked. “It’s absolutely delicious.”
Mari dried her hands on her apron. “Oh, just a little something my mam taught me. I suspect you should feel something right about … now?”
I gasped as the sensation ran through my body, one I had felt only a few times before, like when Mum had used her healing power on me. The pounding headache vanished instantly, as if someone found the off switch on the bulldozer.
“There it is,” Mari said proudly.
“Thank you,” I sighed, this time in relief.
The door to the balcony opened again. Jen entered, looking anything but happy. “Nothing,” she muttered. “I’ve been running in circles, literally, increasing the diameter. Not a hint of her.” She dumped down on the chair next to me. “You OK?”
“I am now, thanks to Mari and this.” I held the cup up to her nose. “That’s basically liquid healing.”
She sniffed it, nodding approvingly. “Cloves and mint? And maybe some chamomile?”
Mari chuckled. “Not many can find the cloves in there. Impressive. Anything else?”
Jen shrugged. “Lots. But I bet I could name five more herbs and there would still be plenty left to name. I recognise a scent from the island on Saturday. Is that the herb Rhys and Brendan got you?”
“Indeed, it is. Rhyddadalion can only be found there, since the first Avalonians planted it there. I’ve tried making it grow in my gardens and in the fields all over Perllanafal.”
“Whatever it is, if I could bottle the recipe, I’d be a millionaire.” I raised my cup to Mari. “This stuff is to hangovers what Cillit Bang is to wine stains.”
The Goblin shook her head. “I have no idea what you just said. I can tell you, however, that I can give you the recipe for free.” Her eyes had a hint of a smile in them.
“I get it,” I said. “It’s no use to non-Goblins, right?”
“Wait, what’s this about a hangover?” Jen asked, ignoring my failed business plan. She leaned closer. “What happened last night, Red? Did you let your hair down with the locals?”
“Nothing like that.” I blew out my cheeks. “If you must know, I’m not really sure what happened. I remember having what I think was a glass of whisky, which was delicious. It wasn’t particularly strong, I don’t think. Everything is more or less a blur after that.”
Mari sat opposite me, leaning her elbows on the table. “Who filled your glass?” Her voice was laced with suspicion.
I wracked my brain, trying to recover the images from last night. “Two men, I think? Hang on … it’s coming to me.” I snapped my fingers rapidly as the men’s faces started to form in my head. “Rhod and Osian! The Hopkins cousins. They were super stoked about my father, like all the rest of the guests, mind you.”
Mari slapped her hand on the table. “Those scallywags!” Red spots blossomed on her cheeks. “Just wait till I get my hands on them.”
“What? You think they spiked my drink?”
Her mouth twitched. “It wouldn’t be the first time. Those wolves know nothing about herbs and spices, apart from this one plant.” She was fuming. “And to treat you like that! They must have laughed their way back home when you fell over.”
“I—I fell over?”
“If I’m right, and I fear I am, they put a drop of arnofiol in your drink. I didn’t see you myself, but you would have slumped to the ground within five seconds of it touching your tongue.”
My jaw dropped. I had no words.
Jen had. “I’ll tear their heads off!”
I put my hand on hers, not sure if she was about to actually go hunting for Rhod and Osian. “Don’t, Jen. And keep your voice down. Char and Brendan are still asleep.”
“This sounds like a jolly gang.” Llewellyn stood in the doorway behind my grandmother’s wheelchair. He nodded at my cup. “So, Mari came to your aid, I see.”
“That she did. I’ll see if my friends are awake.”
As I stood, Kit snuck in through the open patio door. He joined me down the hall to Charlie’s room. I figured I’d wake her up first, only because it was closer.
I rapped my knuckles on the door. “Char?” Kit rubbed against my leg, his purring engine up and running. I knocked a bit harder. “Charlie?” Still no reply.
I opened the door ever so slightly, peering inside. The bed was empty, and the sheets were made, which was very unlike Charlie, at least this early.
The bathroom door was ajar, but no sounds came from it.
“Charlie?” I shouted. “Brendan?”
I opened the door to the room next to mine. It was empty and unused. That left only the one next to Charlie’s. I pushed the door open, only to find it equally empty, with white covers over the bed and chair.
Where were they?
Jen sauntered down the hallway with half a Mynydd Cymreig cake in her hand. “They’re not here?”
I shook my head and brushed past her.
“Did you see Brendan and Charlie last night?” I asked Mari when I came back to the kitchen.
“I guess I saw them early on, but then your father came and, well, Rhys and I kept to ourselves after that.”
Crap!
“I know they went to help fetch more drinks, but that’s the last time I remember seeing them.”
Lili sat on the patio again, and I could see her trying to wave at Llewellyn, who was on his way to the stables.
“Come with me,” Mari whispered.
“Hm?”
She waved at Jen and me and went out the back door to the balcony. We followed her. She continued down the steps and towards the large field where my mum’s Essencebearing had taken place last night. Before my father turned it into a Return of the King event, that was.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
Mari kept walking. “Shh.” She didn’t stop until we were at least a hundred yards from the house. We could only see the roof behind the curving field.
“I have to tell you something.” The Goblin took a couple of deep breaths. “And you’re not going to like it.”
Chapter Twenty
At first, I wanted to tell Mari there was no time, but something in her eyes and voice told me this could be worth it.
“I have done a lot of thinking since Friday,” Mari began, her voice low but firm. “And I have talked with Rhys about it. Well, talked to him, I should say. How the poor bear has kept his ears after listening to me yapping on, I have no clue. But with your father arriving, and what he said about going back to Avalon, which it seems you believe is possible as well, I have made a decision. Rhys agrees with me. He said so only minutes before you woke up.”
I took her hand and nodded. “I know, Mari. You’re staying. I underst—”
“You’re right, we won’t leave, but that’s not it. Life hasn’t been all that easy for us, being cymysg.”
“I don’t know that word.”
“Blended—no, mixed couple, I believe you would say. The reeve’s council voted against throwing us out of the town by only a few votes. Rhys brought great shame on the bears by choosing a Goblin for his wife.” She let out a short laugh. “As if it was his choice. The poor fellow was on his knees in love with me, let me tell you. My parents would have never allowed it, but by the time Rhys found the courage to ask for my hand, they were both gone.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
