by Alison Pensy
CHAPTER TWELVE
They followed in silence behind the two fairies that the king had assigned to them. For the second time since they arrived, Faedra noticed that it was only her footsteps that could be heard on the hard marble floor beneath them. She looked over at Jocelyn and then to Faen to see if they were hovering above the floor, but they weren’t. They were walking just as she was, but they stepped so lightly their footfalls were whisper quiet. It didn’t help that she was wearing her riding boots that had fairly hard soles.
She started to feel embarrassed about the way her footsteps reverberated off the walls of the grandly decorated corridor they were walking down, and made a conscious effort to soften her steps. It was not easy; she almost had to walk on tiptoes. Try doing that when you need to keep up with others who are moving with definite purpose in front of you.
They turned a corner and walked down another corridor. Faedra could feel that Faen was deep in thought. She wasn’t quite sure what would be going through Jocelyn’s mind, though she had a pretty good idea her friend was wondering how Elvelynn was doing. They carried on down the corridor until it came to its conclusion at another big wooden door. One of the fairies pointed at it and it opened up before they reached it. All three followed the fairies through the door into a vast bustling kitchen.
Yet again Faedra looked around in awe. The kitchen was almost the same size as the great hall they had been in earlier, although, the ceilings were not as tall. Down the center of the room stood a long, solid oak table. Faedra guessed that it stretched about thirty feet long by about three feet wide, and along either side of it little people like Todmus were lined, busily preparing food.
Some were rolling dough, some were chopping vegetables. She saw one woman making a pie, and another peeling potatoes. Each of them had a specific task and they were going about it with studious enthusiasm. There must have been at least thirty people working in perfect harmony, making the table its own little industry. She scanned the rest of the room. From the ceiling hung vast cast iron racks from which pots and pans of all shapes and sizes hung. Down one wall of the kitchen were sinks and draining boards. A hoard of workers were busily scrubbing pans, drying them, and stacking them in neat piles.
On the opposite side of the room, the wall hosted several huge fireplaces, easily big enough for her to stand up in. A couple of the fireplaces had fires blazing in them with a hog turning on a spit above the flames. A couple of little men bustled about tending to the fires and keeping them hot enough to cook the meat roasting above. Another of the fireplaces did not have an open fire, but was home to an immense cast iron oven, easily ten times the size of the old fashioned stoves she had seen in history books back home.
No one had even given them a second look when they entered. The workers were so engrossed in their chores, and Faedra felt slightly relieved about that. She was feeling more and more like a fish out of water as each moment passed, but the minute she stepped foot into the vast kitchen a feeling of calm swept over her. Even though the kitchen teemed with life and people were going about their business with an energy that was almost palpable, there was just something about being in a kitchen that brought everyone to the same level.
The fairies motioned for them to follow down to the end of the table. They spoke to a couple of the women working there who looked up to acknowledge the three, nodded their heads, and shuffled themselves, and the food they were preparing, further down the table to make room at the end. Three chairs appeared out of nowhere and the fairies gestured to Faen, Faedra and Jocelyn to sit and make themselves comfortable. Faedra noticed that Faen waited for her and Jocelyn to be seated before he sat himself. Within a few moments, a couple of the little people walked up and placed plates full of food on the table in front of them.
“Thank you,” Faedra spoke to them as they bustled around her, laying an empty plate, cutlery, and a goblet before her. She was responded to with a warm smile and a gracious head bob, just like the one Faen was famous for. They didn’t speak but the fact that they gazed intently at the amulet hanging on show around her neck, and then quickly averted their eyes, did not escape her, but it did not make her feel as nervous any more. She had accepted the fact that the amulet was now as much a part of her, than she was of it.
She turned her attention to the plates of food the dwarves had placed in front of them, and recognized a rumbling deep from within her stomach. She was starving. There was a plump, steaming hot chicken, surrounded by dishes of steaming, brightly colored vegetables. A dwarf with a pitcher made his way around to all three of them, filling their goblets to the brim. He lingered next to Faedra, shooting a quick glance at the amulet before scuttling off into the pantry again.
Faen gestured for Faedra and Jocelyn to help themselves to the food first.
Ever the gentleman, Faedra thought as she gave him a warm smile and leaned in to pull a leg from the chicken. Dark meat was definitely her favorite. She scooped some vegetables onto her plate and tucked in.
“Do you have any idea where we go from here?” Faedra asked Faen between mouthfuls.
“Tomorrow we journey into the pine forest to summon Kernunnos,” he replied, after careful thought.
“How will Kernunnos be able to help, Brother?” Jocelyn asked with interest.
“Um, would someone care to enlighten me as to who Kernunnos is?” Faedra asked, slightly disgruntled. She only started learning about this stuff yesterday, and although she understood that she was at the bottom of an extremely steep learning curve, it irked her how everyone talked as if she already knew what they were talking about. Most of the time she felt horribly in the dark, and she didn’t like that feeling at all.
“Kernunnos is Lord of the Woods,” Faen stated, before turning back to Jocelyn to answer her question. “My dear Jocelyn, I believe Kernunnos can help us because he is closer to nature than any other entity in our realm. Because of what the book controls, he may be able to sense its whereabouts through nature here or in other realms. I am hoping he can point us in the right direction. At the moment, it is the only hope I have to start looking for the book.”
A thought suddenly occurred to Faedra. All color drained from her face and she had trouble swallowing the food in her mouth. Jocelyn noticed her sudden change of demeanor and her look turned to one of concern. Faen noticed the unsettled glance that Jocelyn was focusing across the table and turned to see what had caused such a rapid change in her expression. Faedra’s face was as white as snow as she looked blankly into space.
“Whatever is the matter, Faedra?” Jocelyn asked.
Faedra brought her focus back and looked at Faen. “Dad thinks I’ve gone riding. I’ve been gone all day, and now it’s nighttime. He’ll be worried sick; he has no idea where I am.” She spoke with fear and desperation in her voice. It was breaking her heart to think of her dad panicking over her disappearance, and there was no way to let him know she was safe, cell phones didn’t work between realms.
“Do not worry, Ms. Faedra,” Faen responded reassuringly, “your father will not know you are missing. The time in Azran ticks differently than in the World of Men. We can spend much more time here if needs be. You will still have only been gone a few hours.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, not quite being able to believe what he was telling her, and imagining her father’s panic stricken face on the phone to the Police.
Faen gave her a warm smile. He knew the great lengths she had gone to over the years to prevent giving her father any cause to worry about her. A quality he admired and respected. She cared more about those she loved than she did about herself.
“I am sure,” he replied. “Your father is blissfully unaware of your whereabouts and I will make sure it stays that way. We will return to the World of Men in plenty of time before he would start to wonder where you have gone to.”
She heaved a sigh of relief and the color returned to her face.
“Thank
you,” she whispered.
He inclined his head.
After they had finished their meal, the two fairies appeared.
“We have prepared your rooms for you.” they sang in unison and gestured for the three to follow. They all got up and continued behind them. Faedra was looking forward to being able to flop onto a bed and finally get some sleep. She was exhausted and imagined that what she was feeling must be similar to jet lag. She had never been on a long haul flight but her friends had, and how they had explained it to her, it had sounded just like she felt.
They followed the fairies up umpteen spiraling stairs, along what seemed like miles of corridors until they eventually stopped. The fairies pointed to three doors that were adjacent to each other.
“You will find everything you need to make your stay comfortable,” they sang. “If you find you need anything further, you only have to ask. One of us will attend to your needs directly.”
“Thank you,” Faen, Faedra and Jocelyn replied together.
The fairies disappeared around a corner and they were alone in the corridor.
“Well, goodnight,” Faedra said.
“Goodnight, Ms. Faedra.”
“Goodnight, Faedra.”
Jocelyn and Faen exchanged their goodnights. They all entered their rooms in synchronization, as if the move had been choreographed. Faedra closed the door behind her, leaned back up against it and sucked in a sharp breath.
“Oh, wow!” she breathed as she scanned the room that sprawled out in front of her.
The room was easily the size of the entire ground floor of her house and was furnished with the finest ornate, elaborately detailed furniture that she had ever laid her eyes on. At one end of the room, an immense marble fireplace took center stage, filling nearly the entire wall, and was complete with a blazing fire crackling within it. A deep burgundy chaise trimmed with gold, sat in front of the fire just waiting to invite someone to sit there.
Wood paneling stretched all the way around the room to about half way up the walls. Above the paneling, rich wallpaper lined the walls and elaborate gold sconces with opaque glass lampshades protruded, a soft glow emanating from each one. She looked above her as she now noticed she was drenched in a soft glow. A small chandelier bobbed above her head, showering her with soft sparkling light. She stepped to the side, it followed. She stepped forward, it followed.
“No way,” she gasped, as she realized where she went the chandelier followed, lighting a path for her every step of the way.
On the other side of the room was a four-poster bed that she imagined to be the size of her entire bedroom. It was made of rich mahogany and the posts were carved with intricate spirals. It had sumptuous, velvet burgundy drapes the same color as the chaise. A gold satin comforter covered the bed. Faedra wandered over to it and ran her fingers along the heavy velvet material, and then onto the soft satin comforter.
A pair of cream silk pajamas had been laid out for her on the bed. She held them up to her to determine if they were the right size; they were. She smiled, why ever would she have thought otherwise? She wandered past the bed to a pair of glass doors that stood the height of the wall, at least ten feet tall. They were framed in gold with gold handles. She opened them and walked through onto the balcony where they led. She looked down to one side and saw the city below that was lit only by the silvery light of the moon, casting its eerie light on the buildings it watched over. She looked in the other direction and could see the valley stretch out until it met with a mountain range that loomed in the distance. She wondered in which direction they would travel tomorrow to reach the pine forest.
A shiver ran through her and she walked back inside. There was a chill in the air and she was only wearing a t-shirt and jeans. The doorway next to the glass doors led to a lavish bathroom. Mirrors lined one entire wall. The rest of the room was made out of marble and accessorized with gold fittings. Steam rose from the water filling a sunken bath that had quite obviously been run for her. Fluffy towels were stacked in a neat pile next to the bath and a toothbrush had been placed next to one of the two basins. They weren’t kidding, they had certainly thought of everything to make her feel comfortable. She undressed and slid into the warm water. A sigh of epic proportions escaped as she submerged herself up to her neck.
Once she had bathed she dried herself. With a towel wrapped around her torso, she wandered back to the bedroom and dressed into her pajamas, laying her clothing neatly over the back of a chair that was placed next to the bed. She had to wear them again the next day so she made an effort not to get them too crumpled. She lifted the covers and slid between the sheets that felt like pure silk. The sconces turned themselves off and the chandelier above her head dimmed to blackness.
She sat up with a start. “No, please do not go out completely,” she said with an urgency that surprised even her. She’d never been scared of the dark before and cursed the redcap for making her feel this way. For a split second, she wondered who she was kidding. The lights weren’t intelligent; they wouldn’t respond to a spoken request. But all the lights came back on in an instant, then dimmed to a soft glow.
“Thank you,” she spoke to the room as a whole and lay her head back down on the pillow.
Unfortunately, instead of falling asleep as soon as her head touched it, she was wide-awake. She lay motionless for a few minutes with her eyes closed trying to will herself to sleep. She moved to one side then to the other. Nothing. She was still wide-awake. After about an hour of tossing and turning, she threw back the covers and sat up in exasperation.
This is not fair, she thought, why can’t I sleep? I’m so tired. She went through a list of possibilities. The bed was comfortable, that wasn’t it. It wasn’t dark, that wasn’t it either, then it dawned on her and a light bulb came on above her head. And it wasn’t the chandelier. She had not slept on her own since she was six years old. Faen had always been right there sleeping on the rug beside her bed, every night, for more than eleven years.
She turned, hung her legs over the edge of the mattress and slid her feet into the slippers that had been left for her beside the bed. She made her way through the door and wandered down the corridor. Faedra stopped in front of the next door down, put her hand up to knock, hesitated and pulled it back. She did this several times, until finally, she tapped lightly on Faen’s door and opened it. She poked her head through the opening and peeked around the door. It was dark inside, no sound of movement.
“Faen?” she whispered as she entered the room and clicked the door shut behind her. “Faen?” she whispered again.
She heard a rustle coming from her left and turned her head just as a soft light appeared over Faen’s head as he sat up in bed.
She noticed he did not have a shirt on and there was a catch in her breath as she let her eyes scan his perfectly formed torso. He noticed her gaze and looked down at himself. Almost instantaneously, he materialized a soft cotton shirt from nowhere to cover his chest. He looked back up at Faedra who was standing over by the door looking rather uncomfortable.
“Ms. Faedra? Is something the matter?” Faen asked in response to the look of sadness on her face. His features were soft, his expression welcoming, and his hair mussed. He ran a hand through it to try and smooth it down.
He had such a presence here in his home, somehow different to when he was in her home. Faedra wondered if he felt as much of a fish out of water in her world, as she did in his. She took a hesitant step forward. She was eighteen now, an adult. Not to mention Custodian to a very powerful fae element. Faedra’s brain was telling her she should feel silly not being able to sleep without her dog, but the dreadfully lonely sensation welling within her was overwhelming. She swallowed hard and looked down at her feet. He’s going to think me stupid and childish.
“Ms. Faedra, whatever is the matter?” he asked again.
“I, um, I’m so tired, but I can’
t sleep,” her voice cracked with emotion, “then I realized why.” She looked up at him, tears pricking behind her eyes.
“Why?” he prompted.
“Because for more than eleven years now, you have slept beside me and I… err… miss you.”
His expression changed to one of compassion that Faedra had not seen on his face before, but had seen in the eyes of her dog many times. He patted the bed beside him.
“Come,” he simply said.
She breathed in with relief. She hadn’t realized until that point that she’d been holding her breath. She moved swiftly to his bed and climbed up to sit crossed legged to the side of him.
“Would you like me or your dog?”
The question took her by surprise. She thought about it for a second. “You, please,” she whispered and smiled at him sheepishly.
Faen returned her smile with a warm one of his own that he didn’t hand out very often.
“Very well then, I shall stay,” he said with an incline of his head.
The soft glow of the light above illuminated just the two of them in the immense bedroom. Everything else was shrouded in darkness. Faedra leaned forward and carefully picked up the talisman hanging around his neck. She noticed a catch in his breath as her fingers brushed against his skin, and brought her gaze up to meet his. His eyes were full of emotion. They locked onto hers, not letting them go.
After a silent moment, she managed to tear her gaze from his and looked at the talisman she had laid in the palm of her hand, moving it under the light. She had noticed it before, but never really looked at it closely. It was round, and looked like it was made of ivory; although, it had an iridescent quality to it that she had not seen in ivory before. A leather thong threaded through a hole at the top, held it around Faen’s neck. The center of the talisman was carved with a beautiful Celtic design and a band around the outer edge had lots of symbols carved into it.
“This is beautiful. What is it made of?”
“The horn of a unicorn.”
“Wow, really?” she shook her head in amazement as he nodded. “I recognize these symbols, but I can’t think where from.”
“They are runes. You probably saw them when you were at the festival.”
She nodded her head. That was where she had seen them before; when Rose had seen something of her destiny in them, but refused to tell her what. “Of course.” She lay the talisman gently back against his skin.
“Can I ask you a question?” she said.
“Of course,” he replied.
“Are you immortal?”
Faen chuckled at her question. “No, Ms. Faedra, I am not. Although, fae do live much longer than humans, so that is where the myth probably stems from. We die of old age just like you do. We can be killed, but not very easily, and not by human hands.” Then he thought about his last comment and rephrased it. “I should say, not by human hands, present company excluded.”
Faedra’s eyebrows shot up. “You mean I can kill a fairy? Not that I would want to, of course,” she added hastily.
“Well, there is no point having a power if it does not protect you and the amulet against the very creatures who are likely to come after you to get it.”
“Good point,” she agreed. “So how old are you then?”
He raised an eyebrow. “You said a question, Ms. Faedra.”
“Oh, come on, Faen, you know me inside and out, and I hardly know anything about you. Apart from what dog food you prefer and that you like to be scratched behind your ears,” she gave him a wry smirk.
He conceded. “Very well, you may ask me some more questions. What do you wish to know?”
“Your age?”
“Oh, yes, hmm let me see now. We age much slower than humans do, about ten times slower I believe, so that would make me about two hundred and three of your years.”
“No way!” Faedra exclaimed. “You only look about twenty.”
He smiled.
“So how long do you live then, bearing in mind that you don’t get killed by a rogue Custodian?”
“Oh, about a thousand of your years, give or take a few,” he smiled again.
Faedra gaped at him in disbelief and he nodded his head to reiterate his statement. She shuffled up the bed and turned to lie down on top of the covers next to where he was sitting. She looked up at the soft glowing ball of light that was bobbing gracefully above them.
“Tell me about my mother,” she shifted her attention from the light to Faen’s face.
His smile faded and sadness filled his eyes. “What do you wish to know?”
“Well, I was only six when she died. It was so long ago that I can’t remember too much about her; I get scared that, given a few more years, I will forget everything about her.”
“I didn’t actually know your mother very well,” he started. “I was only assigned to her a few months before she was killed.” He dropped his eyes and Faedra could tell he still carried much regret over what had happened. “What I did know of her was that she was a very caring woman. She loved all living things and adored the ground you walked on. She would have gone to the ends of the earth for you, Faedra. She loved you that much.”
“She was also very dedicated to her role as Custodian and took it very seriously. She had spent many years training in the sword skills, and, as I said, she was one of the best sword fighters I have ever seen. I know for a fact, she would have been very proud of how you have grown and matured. You have taken to being Custodian very much in your stride, a natural she would have said. She was a natural; very capable of looking after herself. As I said before, I was only assigned to her so that she could teach me, and I failed her.” He looked with determination into Faedra’s captivated eyes. “I will not make the same mistake twice.”
Faedra gave him a knowing smile. “Thank you.”
“You are very welcome.”
“Faen?”
“Yes.”
“You have to stop blaming yourself for my mum’s death. It wasn’t your fault. I don’t blame you. I blame the redcaps, and one day I will have my revenge on them.”
He gave her a weak smile. Faedra sensed that he wasn’t about to stop blaming himself for the death of her mother, but, in time, she would convince him that he was not to blame. A loud yawn escaped before she could stifle it, and her eyes grew so heavy she was fighting to keep them open.
“Ms. Faedra, you are very tired, you need to sleep.”
“I know, but I don’t want to go back into that big empty room…” She was asleep before she finished her sentence.
Faen looked at her for a long moment and sighed a contented sigh. He brushed the back of his fingers over her cheek, then leaned over and grabbed some of the excess piece of comforter that hung over the edge of the bed, wrapping it around her. He lay down beside her watching her breathing steadily in and out for a few minutes as she slept soundly next to him. Then he couldn’t help himself; he wrapped a protective arm around her before he fell asleep with her safely tucked up against him. Making sure to leave the soft light glowing above them in case she woke up in the night. She didn’t.
