They rode in silence for a long time, though he couldn’t say how long. He tried to focus, to feel the magic on the air as she felt. Or at least that’s what he told himself. Focusing his senses was suddenly difficult, for he was intensely aware of how close he and Katy were.
As a boy, he’d never thought twice about touching her. They’d wrestled, raced, pushed, shoved, and held hands without question. His father had once laughed that he’d never seen two closer siblings. And that was exactly how Peter had thought of her. Like a sister.
But now, sitting so close that he could smell the scent of lavender in her hair, he felt like a brother no longer. Far from it. He tried to move a little farther back in the saddle, but there wasn’t much room.
What was wrong with him?
“There,” she whispered and pointed. “Through that thicket.”
“Thank Atharo.”
“What?”
He shook his head. “Never mind. Just…stay here this time, will you?”
“I told you, I—”
“Please?”
She held his gaze for a moment. Whatever she saw there, he couldn’t tell, but finally, her blue eyes softened. “Very well.”
Peter dismounted. His sword drawn and ready, he scanned the area for a tree thick enough to hide behind. Red vines hung down from above, and the forest floor was carpeted with a blue-green moss everywhere he looked. This must have been an older part of the forest, for there were dozens of mature trees, not like the outer parts of the forest where only young spindly trees grew. They must have ridden deeper than he’d thought.
Peter pressed himself up against the tree trunk and peeked out from behind it. At first he saw nothing, only a small thicket of thin trees bent inward to form a strange little cocoon of shelter in the center of a clearing. Nothing special after all. But just as he was about to turn away from the pile of sticks and branches and leaves, a slight glimmer caught his eye. He leaned in and squinted. There it was again. Purple.
Peter crouched into a ready position, then slowly made his way out of the trees and into the clearing. Walking as silently as he could, he lifted his sword higher when he came to what looked like a little door, a hole in the thicket’s side nearly the height of his chest.
“Come in, young man.”
Peter froze.
But the female voice just laughed and called to him again. “And bring your pretty friend with you.”
He stooped and peered inside. To his surprise, however, there was no woman. In fact, the thicket was clear of everything except a little waterfall. The water flowed from an unseen source over the top of a boulder, where it spilled into a little pool. The pool itself was nearly five feet in diameter, and it would have been a charming scene had the waterfall and its pool not been glowing with an unnatural violet light.
“No need to look so stricken,” the voice bubbled. “I’ve no intention to harm you. In fact, I cannot.” The waterfall splashed as though someone had tossed a large rock inside. “I do get rather lonely, however. Bring your lady friend, and I promise I can show you what you never imagined seeing before…or again.”
Peter took a deep breath. Her offer was so tempting. He had searched every book he could find in the castle annals, spoken to every wise man, done everything in his power to learn more about the power trapped inside Katy. And all for naught. But this waterfall, this…creature, whatever it was, was offering to show him something new.
A warning in his head, one that sounded a lot like Antony, told him he had no reason to trust this being. He didn’t even know what it was, much less what its intentions were. In all of his studies and research, he had never read anything about a talking purple waterfall. But he had less than two months. Katy had less than two months. Perhaps this creature would know something he did not.
“Katy,” he called back without turning. “There is someone who wishes to meet you.”
24
Please
Let this be a wise decision, he prayed.
In less than a minute, Katy was on her feet and at his side, Peter’s horse refusing to follow her any farther than the edge of the clearing. So Peter tied the reins to a large tree before leading the way into the thicket.
The interior was more inviting than the outside, but only just. Peter had to bend to avoid hitting his head on the roof and simultaneously avoid falling into the waterfall, but Katy suffered no such qualms. She promptly plopped down beside the waterfall and stared into its glowing lavender depths, mesmerized. Peter managed to find a spot in the far corner against the farthest wall where he could fold up his long legs without dipping them in the waterfall’s little pond.
“What is it?” Katy breathed, her face alight with curiosity. “It’s lovely!”
“Why, thank you!” the waterfall bubbled back.
Katy jumped and stared at the purple water for a moment, then started laughing. “My apologies. You are lovely.”
“No harm done, little one. I haven’t had visitors in a very long time.”
Peter knew he should be studying this…whatever it was. He should ask questions and demand answers. Since the crown had outlawed all creatures of magic, discovering such a being was a gift of Atharo he dared not waste. And yet he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the girl across from him as she gazed into the frothing purple water. Slowly, she brought a hand up and let it hover over the pool, the mist the little waterfall threw up kissing her fingers. The look on her face was one of longing and, strangely, of sadness.
“You’re lonely, aren’t you?” she whispered.
Leave it to Katy to realize the talking, glowing waterfall was in need of a companion. Peter shook his head to himself. It was nearly as bad as the time she’d found a half-dead frog and declared it her duty to be its friend. But then, that was something he had always loved about her. After all, she had been the only one to see how much he had needed a friend as well.
“It is not as bad as you might think,” the feminine voice said. “I have my memories to enjoy over and over again.”
“Your memories?” Peter asked.
“Oh yes!” It paused. “Would you like me to show you?”
“How?” he asked, suddenly uneasy.
“Oh, it’s not dangerous if that’s what you’re worried about.” The waterfall bubbled another laugh. “But if it will make you more comfortable, valiant knight, then you put your hand in my waters, rather than your beautiful companion’s.”
Peter didn’t have to look at Katy to know she was prepared to protest. She had wanted to touch that water since she’d seen it, he was sure. So without pausing to think it over, he removed his glove and plunged his left hand inside the purple pool.
A strange sensation pulsed through his body. He could still feel himself drawing breath in and out, and he was vaguely aware of sitting up, but he felt strangely lightheaded, like the world around him was moving in molasses.
Then, as quickly as it had begun, it was over. Peter shook his head and squinted at the waterfall. “What was that?”
“I apologize. Those who are unfamiliar with my magic are often unprepared the first time they touch it.”
“What did you do to me?” Peter held his hand up and examined it.
“A better question would be, what did you do to me?” There was a smile in her words. “Touch my waters again, and you’ll see.”
Peter glanced at Katy. There was no fear in her eyes, though. Only glowing curiosity. So he lowered his hand back into the water.
“Peter, look!” Katy was immediately up on her knees, leaning forward over the water, eyes as large as walnuts.
Peter followed her gaze. In the center of the pond, an image floated to the surface. He bent closer to the water as the image became a scene.
In the scene, he, Katy, and his knights were on their way back to the castle after saving Katy. Their laughter and jokes rang quietly in the little thicket. Peter watched in amazement. It was like watching their journey from afar.
After that sc
ene ended, another began. This time, he was standing before his uncle.
“I have to go back! She’s going to be put to death if I don’t get her myself and stop Odhran!” his image in the water argued. Though his uncle wasn’t in the actual scene, Peter knew the voice as soon as it appeared, echoing in his ears just as it had for the last few weeks.
“Peter, I’ve told you, I’m very sorry the girl has been dragged into this mess. And before you interrupt me, I know my brother was fond of her. He wrote to me as much. But you have an entire kingdom full of young men and women that need saving.” He paused. “We need you to accept the crown.”
“But I promised!” he burst out.
His uncle moved visibly into the scene, climbing down from his throne and going to stand directly in front of Peter. Peter could still feel the man’s eyes as they seemed to pierce his skull. It had felt like forever that he’d stood there like that. “You promised?” the water version of his uncle finally asked.
Peter had only curtly nodded.
“Huh,” his uncle grunted. Walking to a window, his uncle looked out for a long time before turning and sharing a long glance with Antony.
That was odd. Peter didn’t recall seeing that exchange.
Finally, his uncle nodded to himself. “Very well then. If you promised, we can’t stop you from fulfilling your promise now, can we?” He paused. “But I have a stipulation.”
“What is it?” Peter remembered regretting the words as soon as they’d come out of his mouth. He should have just followed his original plan and snuck away on his own.
“Accept the crown officially, and you may go.”
When he glanced up at Katy, he was surprised to see sorrow written all over her face. “Hey now,” he called softly to her over the water. “What’s done is done.” He started to withdraw his hand from the water.
“Wait!” the waterfall called out. “It’s not finished!”
Peter sighed but kept his hand submerged. Soon another scene began. Then another. Slowly, the man in the water became a boy again. And a bloody one at that.
“Oh, Peter,” Katy breathed, but Peter just closed his eyes. He didn’t need to be reminded of all the bones he’d broken and blood he’d lost in the training yard. Antony had once said he’d never in his life seen a boy so skinny and useless.
Another scene began. When Peter pulled his gaze away from studying Katy again, however, he realized just how far back the scenes had gone. His voice in the water was suddenly much younger than it had been.
“I can protect her, too!” his younger self said, staring up at someone unseen.
“No!” Peter yanked his hand out of the water, but it was too late. The scene continued to play. Peter tried to splash in the pool to make the image distort, but instead of listening, the waterfall only played the story out in a cloud of mist that formed above its waters.
“Please,” he begged, trying unsuccessfully to wave the mist away. “Not this one. Anything but this one!”
At the sound of his cries, the pond became clear once again, but Peter couldn’t see it for the tears in his eyes.
“Peter,” Katy said quietly, “what happened?” She paused then whispered, “Was that because of me?”
“Who are you?”
Peter and Katy turned to look down at the waterfall. But the light that had been at the center of the bubbling purple water just moments before had grown dim.
“You’re her, aren’t you?” The waterfall stopped pouring from the rock.
Katy glanced at Peter, her eyes wide. “Her?”
“The one that human took from the forest…the man in his memory!”
“What of it?” Peter asked. “What if she is?”
“You brought her here?” The light disappeared completely, as though someone had blown it out. “You must both leave the forest! Now!”
“But why?” Peter leaned closer to the water, panic rising in his chest. “My father said she might save—”
“She won’t save anyone if she stays here! Now go!”
Peter wanted to drag the answers from the waterfall as he might have a criminal. In all his years of searching, he’d never been so close to learning the truth. If this...creature had even an inkling of knowledge about what Katy was and was seeking to preserve her life, Peter would listen.
“Promise me!” he pleaded, “that if I come back, we can speak!”
“You’re in danger, too, Your Highness! Both of you! Before he comes! Go!”
Without any further argument, Peter grabbed Katy by the hand. He dashed out of the thicket and tossed her up onto his horse before leaping into the saddle behind her.
“But I didn’t get to try!” She tried to scramble off the horse again, but he wrapped an arm firmly around her waist and kept her seated. “Please!” she sobbed. “I need to know!”
Peter only hugged her more securely to his chest as he sent his horse flying through the trees. Every shadow seemed to jump as he pushed the poor beast harder, and though he could hear no sounds of pursuit, his skin prickled on the back of his neck.
She continued to cry and threaten and beg until the forest began to grow greener and brighter around them, and they burst through the forest’s edge back out onto the moor. Peter didn’t stop, though, until they were all the way back to the stream. As soon as he let go, Katy shoved away from him and nearly tumbled to the ground.
“You didn’t even let me try!” She glared up at him through red-rimmed eyes. “We finally found the one creature on the isle that knows who...what I am, and you had to be a hero!”
“Do you think she was really going to tell us? Her light went out and the water stopped falling. Katy, she was begging us to leave!”
“We could have tried!”
“She wasn’t going to help us!”
Katy threw herself on the grass and refused to meet his gaze, so Peter led his horse to the stream to drink, then he plopped down beside her. They didn’t speak for a long time. The only sounds were the wind rushing through the wild grasses and the empty call of a lone bird every now and then. The sun was progressing past morning and on toward noon. Everyone back at the castle would be searching high and low for him by now. But he wasn’t ready to return just yet.
“What was it—” she began, but he just shook his head.
“I’m sorry about that.” He picked a little red flower and began pulling the petals apart. “It’s not you that I don’t trust. I just...” He swallowed hard. “I’m not ready to see that again. Not yet.”
Finally she turned and looked at him. Her blue eyes no longer burned. “That was the day he died, wasn’t it?”
Peter nodded. Shame threatened to consume him even now. Given, it was the waterfall that had cut the scene off. But he could still tell her. He could confess what a coward he had been. And still was, apparently. But then what would she think? Would even his little Katy be able to believe in him once she knew? He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. “I was a fool for waiting so long to come get you.”
“Why did you? In truth.”
“I thought I had a lead for a while.” He plucked a yellow flower from the grass and twirled it in his fingers. “But it disappeared, and then I got Firin Reaghan’s message. I thought I had more time, but I was wrong.” He reached out for a third flower, but before he could destroy this one, too, Katy took him by the wrist and gently pulled up his sleeve. Her cool fingers delicately traced the burn. The injury had healed long ago, and so had the pain, but the skin itself was raised and shiny and would never be the same.
“Don’t.” He put his hand over hers to keep her from touching it further. “It was an accident.”
“It doesn’t matter.” She gave him a sad smile. “That it was an accident only makes me all the more dangerous. My power now...” She frowned and gave a slight shake of her head. “It’s so much stronger than it was back then.” She leaned forward, and for a moment, he was lost in the cool depths of her eyes. “If I slipped now like I did then,
I could kill someone.”
“All the more reason to let me help you.” Without thinking, he grabbed her hands in his and held them tightly. “Please, Katy,” he whispered. “I will live my entire life regretting that day you saw in the pond. Don’t make me live with regrets about you.”
“I don’t—”
“Just give me time! Let me have the chance to do one thing right in this world.” He leaned closer until their faces were nearly touching. “Please.”
She studied him for what felt like eternity, her thin face a mixture of solemnity, wonder, and some emotion he couldn’t put a name to. But finally, she gave him the smallest of smiles. “Very well. But you must promise me that—”
He stood and yanked her up with him, pulling her into the biggest hug he could manage. “Thank you,” was all he could say.
25
He is a Man
Katy sat out on her balcony as she slowly chewed the remains of her breakfast. Though she was loath to admit it, she would miss the palace food whenever she eventually left. After nearly a week of eating three full meals a day, Katy hadn’t felt so strong in years. The flat herbed bread she held now was still warm, its salty, pungent flavor filling not only her mouth but her nose as well every time she took a bite.
But it wasn’t just the food that made her feel wistful whenever she thought of leaving. Sitting out on her balcony, looking over the city and the moor and mountains beyond, it was easy to forget the panicked urging that rattled her bones most hours of the day. The sky had dawned pink over the distant eastern forest, and the there was a stillness to the morning she had forgotten after Peter had left Downing. She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, trying to still the tumultuous thoughts that had kept her awake last night, and that were now going to ruin the perfect tranquility of the sunrise as well.
Three troubles in particular wrestled for control of her mind, and she wasn’t able to focus on any one for very long before another jumped in to worry her as well.
The Autumn Fairy Page 16
