by Alison Pensy
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Faen and Jocelyn started walking with an urgency Faedra could physically feel in the air.
“Elvelynn’s is this way,” he said to her as they made their way through the panicking inhabitants of the city.
Faedra stuck out like a sore thumb in her World of Men clothing, but no one noticed her. They were all too busy trying to make sense of what was happening to their home. There were many different kinds of people running around them. She realized now that not everyone who lived in Azran were what she considered to be fairies. She also recognized what she thought were elves, dwarves, a few pixies and a leprechaun or two amongst them. It wasn’t hard to figure out that these peaceful souls had never experienced fear or confusion before, and it broke her heart to see the pain on their faces.
As they made their way through the streets, the pandemonium started to settle as the residents made their way into their homes. She looked around to see shutters closing hastily over windows, and doors being slammed shut. It wasn’t too much longer before she could see that the three of them were the only ones left walking down the cobbled lanes. An eerie hush lay over the city like a blanket, and it caused the fine hairs on the back of Faedra’s neck to stand to attention.
“It is just around the next corner,” Jocelyn said, breaking the unearthly silence.
They turned the corner, and out of all the houses that lined the street, Faedra knew instantly which one belonged to Elvelynn. It was the only one with a door and windows that were still wide open and welcoming. It was quite obvious that the inhabitant was not at home.
“Stay here,” Faen commanded as they approached.
Jocelyn and Faedra did as he asked, and watched as he drew his sword and stepped with caution through the open door. His sword, which he held out in front of him with both hands, entered first. A moment later he was standing in the doorway, his sword back in its sheath.
“There is no one here,” he said with disappointment. “It is safe to enter.”
Jocelyn and Faedra didn’t hesitate, they walked up to the front door and entered the pretty house. There had once been a climbing rose framing the front door to welcome guests, but this was now all shriveled and dry. Once inside, they could see that a struggle had taken place. Faen was standing beside an armoire that was intricately carved with Celtic knot work. The doors were open, and one of them was hanging at an angle on a single hinge. There was nothing inside.
“I take it that’s where the Book of Anohs should be,” Faedra whispered, although she wasn’t quite sure why she was whispering. The atmosphere had such a hushed quality to it she didn’t dare speak any louder.
Faen hung his head. It was all the answer she needed, and a shiver ran down her spine. She looked around the room; it, too was in disarray. The chairs were overturned, there was broken glass on the floor, a wilted flower laying in amongst the jagged shards from where a vase had been knocked off the table, and smashed to the ground in an obvious struggle.
“Elvelynn,” Jocelyn spoke with a catch in her voice, and tears welled in her eyes. “They would have to kill her to get the book.”
Faedra’s heart sank. Jocelyn had lost someone she quite obviously loved, and she knew first hand how that felt. She put a comforting arm around her friend’s shoulders.
“I’m so sorry, Jocelyn.”
“Come, we can do no more here,” Faen said. “We need to get to the castle. Maybe the king knows something that will help us.”
They turned to leave, but Faedra stopped short of the door. She could feel something but didn’t understand what it was at first.
“No. Wait,” she said and looked all around her. She could feel the amulet heat up under her scarf and moved the scarf aside to see the stone in the center of it glowing.
“What is it, Faedra?” Jocelyn asked.
“I’m not sure,” she held the amulet in her hand. “Mum didn’t say anything in her letter about the amulet glowing.” She looked at her ring. It was not glowing so there was no danger near, but she knew something was wrong, she could sense it. What was it trying to tell her? Think Faedra, think, she told herself. She closed her eyes and concentrated hard on the feelings surging through her body, then a window in her mind opened and she could see a vision as clear as day.
“If whoever stole the book had to have killed Elvelynn to get it, wouldn’t they have just left her body? Why would they have taken it with them?”
Faen and Jocelyn looked at her in confusion.
“She’s still here, I can sense her, and she’s still alive.”
“Where?” Faen said as he stepped closer to her.
“Hold on,” she closed her eyes again and scanned the room in her mind. “There.” She pointed over to the corner of the room as she opened her eyes.
They all looked over to where Faedra was pointing, but there was nothing there. Faedra ran over and lowered herself to the floor, her face just fractionally above it. She was trying to look through a crack in the floorboards.
“She’s under here,” she cried, her heart swelling with hope.
Faen looked for something to pry the floorboard with and grabbed a poker that was resting up against the fireplace. He ran over to where Faedra was lying on the floor, asked her to move aside, and shoved the poker hard between the boards. He pried it open until he could get his hands under and pulled the board up. They had not been nailed down, so once the first one was up Jocelyn and Faedra helped lift some more until they had uncovered what the floorboards were hiding.
“Oh, Elvelynn,” Jocelyn gasped in horror, putting her hand to her mouth.
The body of an old woman lay crumpled unnaturally in a small hole in the floor. She had her hands tied behind her back and had been gagged. Her wings had been broken when she had been shoved into the tiny space. Her eyes, that were full of pain and fear, looked up at the three of them in desperation.
“Stand back,” Faen instructed as he kneeled down and lowered his arms into the hole. He gently moved them under Elvelynn’s broken body and eased her up and out of her tiny prison. He carried her over to a chaise that was positioned next to the fireplace and, after laying her down, removed the bonds from her hands and the gag from her mouth, taking care not to cause her anymore distress. She was barely conscious and mumbling something that was incoherent.
“Who did this to you?” Faen whispered in Elvelynn’s ear, but the only reply he got was unintelligible.
“Why isn’t she healing?” Faedra asked. “You can all heal just like me, can’t you?”
“She has been tortured and poisoned. The poison disables us from using our ability to heal. It makes the torture much more effective,” he explained gravely. “This is the work of redcaps. She would have died fairly soon if you hadn’t found her. We need to get her to Bedowen, he is the only person who can help her now. He may be able to find an antidote to the poison. If he can, she will be able to heal herself in time.” He scooped Elvelynn up in his arms and carried her through the door. Faedra took one last look around at the chaos in the room before she followed them.
“Jocelyn, take Faedra and wait for me outside the castle,” he instructed his sister. “I am going to fly Elvelynn to Bedowen’s house; I’ll meet you there shortly.” He hovered above the ground for a second, turned, and flew away. Jocelyn took hold of Faedra’s arm.
“The castle is this way,” she said, pointing in the opposite direction.
“How was the amulet able to tell you that Elvelynn was still alive and where to find her?” Jocelyn asked a few moments later as they wandered down the empty streets.
“I don’t know,” Faedra answered. “Maybe because the amulet was constructed to be used with the book. And because Elvelynn had been in possession of the book for so long, it saw them as one and the same. Other than that, I have no explanation. All of this is so new to me; I have to keep pinching myself to make sure I’m still awake.”
They carrie
d on through the deserted streets in silence. Faedra knew there was nothing she could say to comfort her friend. People had tried to comfort her with words all the time after her mother had died, but she had wished they would stay silent. Nothing they said ever gave her any comfort; their words just reiterated the fact that she had lost someone she loved, and that person was never coming back.
She prayed that Bedowen would be able to help. Elvelynn had looked like a helpless, sweet old lady, but she knew for the room to have been turned upside down the way it was, she must have put up a good fight.
They walked down streets and around corners for what seemed like most of the afternoon. It was a labyrinth of lanes and alleys, not dissimilar to some she had seen in an old town in Spain that she had visited on holiday once before her mum died. Eventually, they turned a corner, and Faedra found herself once again gaping in awe. The street came to an abrupt end and they were standing on the edge of a huge spacious courtyard. A lavish marble fountain stood in the center. Cascading water was flowing from jugs that were held by statues of fairies, into a basin that had been carved into a marble garden. Ornate stone pillars held up an archway that lined both sides of the courtyard, and even though the once lush vegetation that adorned the courtyard was now brown and lifeless, it was still impressive, even in its starkness.
Further behind the fountain, there was an enormous double door. Faedra let her eyes wander above the doorway to admire what was beyond it. An immense castle towered above it, and them. Its walls were made of white stone that she could imagine sparkling in the sunlight like Jocelyn had described, but even though it had lost its luster for the time being, it was still majestic in every way. She didn’t even want to hazard a guess as to how big it was, but it certainly dwarfed the one back home in Norwich. This one had more beautifully spiraling turrets than she cared to count, with a flag swaying in the breeze from each one. A great swath of burgundy material with what she assumed was a royal crest emblazoned in gold, hung from the main balcony of the castle, and she imagined that that must be where the king held court.
“Wow,” she mumbled, “you guys don’t do anything by halves do you?”
Jocelyn replied with a smile and looked up at the castle, too. “It is pretty impressive, is it not? Come, we shall wait for Faen by the door.”
They walked past the fountain on a floor of mosaic artistry that was so big it must have taken eons to create it. When they reached the door, Faedra sat down on the ground and leaned up against the wall. She yawned and let her head fall back to rest against the wall and closed her eyes. The sun was getting low in the sky, promising the close of another day in a few short hours, and she was beyond tired. Faen was not long in arriving. He made his appearance shortly after they did.
“What did Bedowen say?” Jocelyn asked anxiously as soon as his feet touched the ground.
“He thinks that he can keep her stable until he can find an antidote for the poison, but it might be a while. Unfortunately, she cannot help us identify who did this to her and won’t be able to in time for us to find the book and reverse this damage.” He looked sourly at the dead vegetation around the courtyard. “We need to go and see the king and find out if he knows of anything that can help us.”
Faedra got to her feet as Faen walked up to the doors and rapped hard on them three times. Slowly the two solid doors, that must have been at least twenty feet high, opened allowing the three to walk through before they closed again. They were now standing in another spacious, beautifully landscaped area in front of the castle. At one time, it would have been the most elaborate flower garden. Home possibly to every kind of flower that existed, but not now, everything had wilted and died.
They walked up the path that led to the entrance to the castle, up some steps to another set of solid doors, and stood before them. Faen rapped hard three times on these, too, and again they slowly opened, allowing them entry. Faedra looked around to see if she could see any security cameras. She didn’t expect to see any, of course, but it was bugging her that they had just gained entry to a castle without there being any kind of visible security. For goodness’ sake, there weren’t even any guards around. The place seemed deserted. As they walked through this set of double doors however, all that changed very quickly.
As soon as the doors opened, the silence swiftly changed to an inarticulate din that was coming from further down the marble corridor they were now standing in. They walked towards the noise and it grew louder and louder until Faedra could make out that it was lots of angry, concerned voices. They turned through another set of solid oak doors, which were already open this time, and walked straight into a cavernous room that was crammed with people all talking at once. There were lots of them, nearly filling the sizeable room, and this time they noticed her. Some of them eyed her with scrutiny, others looked at her with confusion, some with concern, and others with a knowing expression. She noticed that some of them looked out of place, too. A distinct feeling of unease swept over her, and she subconsciously moved closer to Faen until she was almost touching him.
The setting sun was streaming in through vast stained glass windows that lined the walls and depicted scenes from nature. Floating chandeliers bobbed about overhead, casting sparkles of light on the inhabitants of the room below them.
Faen pushed his way through the crowd, and as people caught sight of him, they parted to either side like a wake made by a speedboat. Some doffed their hats, others acknowledged him with an incline of their heads, but one thing was for sure, Faedra could see he was very well known, and very well respected. Jocelyn subtly guided Faedra into doing the fairy sandwich thing again as they fell in line behind Faen and followed him in single file until they got through the crowd. Once through the hoards of people, they positioned themselves just behind and to either side of him. Faedra saw the king then for the first time. He was sitting up rigidly on a throne at the other end of the room and they carried on walking until they reached the steps that led up to the throne.
Faen came to a stop and kneeled in front of the king. Jocelyn did some sort of a curtsy, and Faedra tried and failed miserably to do the same. She had never been before royalty and had no idea of the formalities, but tried her hardest to not insult the king by her lack of etiquette. At least she was giving it her best effort.
“Your Majesty,” Faen spoke with respect and looked up at the king who gestured with his hand for Faen to stand.
Faedra had noticed that the room was now silent. Even though it was fit to bursting with people, you could hear a pin drop.
“Guardian, I knew you would come. I fear my worst nightmare has come to fruition.”
“Your Majesty, we found Elvelynn. She lives.”
“She lives? But I sent sentinels to her house to see if she was there and they found nothing. Where was she?”
“Ms. Faedra found her,” he answered and gestured a hand in Faedra’s direction. “She had been tortured and poisoned, and they had left her under the floorboards to die. She is with Bedowen now.”
Faedra thought she may have been mistaken, but she could swear there was just a hint of pride in Faen’s voice when he said it.
“Ah, Lillith’s daughter, of course,” the king said in dulcet tones as he rose and stepped down from his throne.
He was a commanding figure, moving with grace and assurance. He had the face of authority; experience seeped from every fiber of his being. She could tell just by looking at him that he was much much older than he appeared. He wore sumptuous robes made of heavy velvet that were forest green in color and edged with the obligatory gold trim. The same crest she had seen on the huge banner draped from the balcony outside, was embroidered onto his robes also. Faedra gulped and gave him a feeble smile as he came to a standstill in front of her. His presence alone was compelling enough to fill the entire hall they were standing in.
The king took Faedra’s chin in his hand and moved her face gently from si
de to side, examining her features with interest. At first Faedra felt incredibly uncomfortable, if not just a little intimidated, but when she dared herself to look into the king’s eyes, she saw only sadness there. “You are the image of your mother, my dear child,” he spoke in a whisper so that only she could hear. “You cannot even imagine what your being here means to me.”
She gave him a puzzled look, but he’d already let go of her chin and had turned to stand in front of Faen.
“Come,” he said to all three, “I need to speak with you in private.” He gestured to a door to the side of the room and walked ahead.
As they made to follow him, the room once more erupted into a frenzied hubbub. The people here obviously wanted some answers, and as yet, Faedra doubted that the king had been able to give them any.
They followed the king through an elaborately carved wooden door and into another vast room. The walls were lined from floor to ceiling with bookshelves full of books, an immense library by anyone’s standards. Faedra glanced at a few as they followed the king to where he had seated himself behind an imposing oversized desk in the center of the room.
“You have Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream?” she blurted in surprise, without giving a thought to the company she was in. She had just not imagined that the fae king would read Shakespeare. Especially the one about fairies, and wondered what he thought of it. She blushed when she turned to see Faen and Jocelyn looking at her incredulously, and decided it may be wiser not to ask.
“Indeed, my child, I found it very,” the king paused, “intriguing. Now, shall we get to the business at hand?”
“Yes, of course,” Faedra blustered as she walked over to join them. “Sorry.”
“No need, my dear. I understand that this is all, shall we say, new to you. You just turned of age yesterday, did you not?”
“Yes, Sir, I did.”
He rose and stepped around the desk until he was standing in front of Faedra once more. She had to physically stop herself from taking a step back when he suddenly brought his hands up to her neck. Her eyes widened with concern and were met with a warm smile, which made her relax a little. He untied the scarf and let it hang open around her neck, uncovering the amulet as his did so. She was surprised when he lifted it from her skin and held it in the palm of his hand to examine it. He looked at it with the warm expression you would give a dear friend who you hadn’t seen for a while.
“Well, I have to tell you, my dear child. You are the first Custodian since I passed the amulet to be hidden in the World of Men, to find themselves in this predicament. There has only been one other Custodian, in all that time, who has ever entered the Land of Azran,” he stared deeply into her eyes for a moment. She couldn’t quite read the emotion behind his gaze, then he sighed, averted his eyes, and laid the amulet carefully back against her skin. He turned and resumed his position behind his desk.
“Sire,” Faen said as soon as the king was seated, “do you have any idea who may have taken the book?”
The king shook his head. “Unfortunately, I do not, Guardian, but the situation is more involved than just the stolen book.” He hung his head and took a deep breath as if fighting to keep his composure. “Is the same thing happening in the World of Men as it is here?
“Yes, Sire, it is,” Faen replied.
Faedra and Jocelyn listened intently, watching Faen’s every gesture and expression as the king continued.
“My daughter, Vivianna, was visiting with Elvelynn at the time of the attack. She was taken, along with the Book of Anohs,” he explained.
“I am so very sorry, Your Majesty,” Faen replied.
“There is more,” the king continued, looking gravely over at Faedra, which caused goose bumps to appear on her arms. “They have demanded I hand over the amulet in exchange for my daughter’s safe return.” He handed Faen a piece of paper with some writing on it that Faedra had never seen before.
“We cannot hand over the amulet, Sire. You know the implications of that. It is not just nature that would die.”
“I know that, Guardian. Do not concern yourself, I have no intention of handing over the amulet or…” and he stopped mid-sentence and glanced at Faedra.
The hairs on the back of Faedra’s neck bristled. She knew exactly what he was about to say. If he had to hand over the amulet, she would still be attached to it. She was the only one who could use it, or she would have to be dead for someone else to.
“You are the best I have, Guardian. I am entrusting you with finding the book and bringing my daughter safely back to me.”
“Yes, Sire, you have my word,” Faen assured the king.
Faedra couldn’t stifle it anymore and another loud yawn escaped. Three pairs of eyes all turned to look at her; she could feel her cheeks burn. Here they were talking about the impending doom of goodness knows how many realms, plus the kidnap of a princess, and she could hardly keep her eyes open.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled through her embarrassment.
“You are tired my child, tonight you will all feast and rest. You will need your energy for the journey ahead.” The king clapped his hands and two beautiful fairies appeared at his side. “See to it that they all get plenty to eat and the best rooms in the castle,” he commanded. They nodded their understanding and flew to hover either side of the group of three.
Faedra looked at them, and although she admired their staggering beauty and was entranced by the way their wings beat rhythmically to keep them flying, she also realized how quickly she had become accustomed to being surrounded by fae. It dawned on her now that she hardly even noticed their wings anymore. They were as much a natural part of them as their arms or legs were.
“This way please.” One of the fairies said in a lilting voice, and gestured towards a different door from the one they had entered through, much to Faedra’s relief. She hadn’t much liked the idea of having to walk back through the rabble that was waiting for them in the great hall.
“Good luck,” the king said as they exited the library room. “If anyone can find the book and return my daughter, I know you will be the one to do it.”
Faen inclined his head in that gracious way he always did when acknowledging someone, and continued out the door.
