The Tattered Lands

by Barbara Ann Wright

  “I didn’t mean to kill him,” Pietyr said weakly.

  “You didn’t,” Fieta said. “It was me.” She hauled Pietyr to his feet.

  “But…” His eyes shone as he stared at her, stricken.

  “It was me,” she said again, louder. “I rammed his head against the rock. That was the blow that killed him. Mine.”

  Vandra looked from the dead seelie into the field. Still empty. When a twig cracked, she spun around, her heart rate ratcheting up again as the light tilted crazily off the trees.

  Faelyn put his hands up. Blood dribbled from his nose and streamed down the side of his face. “You? Did they…did they…” He swayed as if he might fall over.

  Vandra steadied him. “What in the name of the gods is going on?”

  Faelyn glanced at the dead seelie. “I tried to get them to follow. So she could get away.”

  Vandra gripped his arm. “Lilani? What happened?”

  He shook his head slowly. His eyes seemed unfocused.

  “I think he’s concussed,” Vandra said, trying to see his pupils. She looked to the twins. Pietyr couldn’t take his eyes off the dead seelie. Vandra looked to Fieta, who flicked her eyes in Pietyr’s direction.

  Yes, both he and Faelyn needed tending. “Come on, Pietyr,” Vandra said. “Help me with him.”

  Pietyr shook as if trying to wake himself, then he took Faelyn’s arm and led him toward camp. Vandra dug out her meager medical supplies and examined Faelyn’s wounds while Pietyr kept watch.

  Vandra was the first to admit she’d never had to patch up a serious injury. She took comfort in the fact that she knew how to do it in theory. Faelyn had taken a hit to the nose, but it didn’t seem broken. The head wound was scarier. Nearly two inches long, it ran along his hairline and was already swelling. He hissed in pain as she examined him but seemed more confused than anything. On closer inspection, one of his pupils was slightly larger than the other. A fellow professor had the same look after one of his experiments exploded in his face.

  And Vandra had no idea how to treat a concussion besides making sure the patient didn’t fall asleep. “Faelyn,” she said after she’d bandaged his head. “Think. What happened?”

  “Attacked,” he said with a frown. “They came for Lilani. I tried to lead them away.” He blinked as if trying to clear his mind through sheer willpower. “Couldn’t see, couldn’t think…”

  If only Vandra had woken up a little sooner. “A group of seelie? Why did she shroud and go with them?” Even if they’d carried her off, Vandra should have been able to see her unconscious body floating away. The magical field surrounding a seelie couldn’t mask everything around them, too, not from what Vandra had seen.

  Faelyn shook his head. “What?”

  “Van?” Fieta’s lantern bobbed through the forest as she jogged over. “I took a look at the field and found some soot.” She held out a hand, presenting Vandra with a bunch of burnt soil and grass. “Barely spotted it through the fog.”

  Vandra gave it a sniff. “Sulfur and…” She sniffed again. “I’m not sure. Something very acrid. An explosive?” She turned to Faelyn. “Something exploded? Is that why you couldn’t see?”

  “A white light.”

  Vandra sat back on her heels. “I thought your people didn’t practice alchemy.”

  He frowned again and seemed as if he might topple. Vandra caught him. “We have to keep him awake,” she said. “If he falls asleep, he might not wake up again.”

  Pietyr nodded and helped Faelyn to his feet. When he tottered, Pietyr put an arm around him. “Come on. We need to walk.”

  “Don’t go far,” Fieta said.

  When Pietyr didn’t have a smart comeback, Vandra and Fieta exchanged a look. He was taking the seelie’s death hard, even though Fieta had claimed the kill. Vandra wondered if Fieta ever killed anyone before. By the way she’d insisted she’d done it, Vandra doubted she’d killed anyone now, either, but they’d both spare Pietyr the guilt if they had the chance.

  “There was nothing on that body but a canteen and a knife.” Fieta held it out, but Vandra shied away as the dread feeling radiated from it. “Yeah, I feel that, too. We’re not keeping it. But it was sheathed, which means he wasn’t wielding it while chasing Faelyn. I think he was going for capture, not kill.”

  The worry worming through Vandra’s stomach lessened. If that was true, Lilani was probably alive. She’d make a much more valuable hostage than Faelyn. If ransom was why these unknown seelie wanted her. That seemed the best possible scenario at the moment.

  “We have to follow them,” Vandra said. “Is it light enough for tracking?”

  Fieta frowned. “Probably. But we’re not trackers, Van.”

  “You hunt criminals!”

  “In a city! Not in the wilderness.”

  Pietyr walked back, Faelyn held tight against him, though by the way Faelyn stared at their surroundings, he seemed to be coming back to himself.

  “Van is right,” Pietyr said. “Whoever took Lilani has to be the same people trying to sabotage the pylons. We need to find out more about them.”

  Fieta put her hands on her hips. “And what do we do with him?” She nodded at Faelyn.

  “Take him with us,” Pietyr said. “We can’t leave him on his own.”

  “I want to go with you,” Faelyn said. “For Lilani.”

  Vandra smiled and nodded. Fieta sighed loudly as if the world was made up of idiots. “Oh, fine. Let’s go get killed.”

  * * *

  Lilani’s vision went in and out of focus. Flashes of memory came to her: struggling with someone, shouts, a whisper, and grunts of pain. Faelyn had crashed to the ground, blood in his hair. She’d cried out, thinking him dead, but he’d struggled to his feet and ran for the forest.

  She’d shouted, “Go!” or something like that, willing him to get help. Then something had cracked against the back of her head. Now the hazy dawn was moving around her, the overcast sky growing brighter each time her eyes drifted open. Someone held her close, but that gave no comfort. They reeked of the tattered lands.

  She saw no one. A shrouded seelie. But she couldn’t see herself, either. Had she shrouded? No, her magic hung around her like wet paper, useless. The miasma of the tattered lands covered her like swamp ooze. It trickled down her throat. She coughed, and pain billowed through her head, her eyes, her shoulder. She tried to curl around the pain but couldn’t.

  “Be still.” A seelie voice, rough and ragged.

  She tried to ask who it was, but her tongue felt like lead.

  The arms shook her slightly. “Do you want another crack on the head? Be still!”

  “Kill her,” someone else said. A human voice? It had the same flat quality. But humans couldn’t shroud.

  “She’s the blood of Awith,” the seelie said.

  The human snorted. “Her body will still be full of blood after she’s dead.”

  “No.” Another seelie voice, deep, feminine, sultry. A touch glided along Lilani’s brow. “We need her magic, not her blood.” Lilani smelled a whiff of perfume, a musky scent that drove away a bit of the dread. “It was a mistake to try to kill you, lovely Lilani. Don’t worry. I’m in charge now. All will be well.”

  Lilani doubted that, but she didn’t struggle, drawing what comfort she could from the touch. She let her eyes slip closed and waited for her senses to return. Faelyn had gotten away. He would tell her mother. The Guard would come for her. She hoped Lucian lived, too, but as the sky seemed to roll past, she still saw nothing. Did these seelie have some power to shroud others, even humans? Could humans be taught to shroud? Her mother said it was impossible, but the impossible seemed like the everyday now.

  At last, the movement stopped, and the arms lowered her to the ground. She lay still, pretending to be senseless. She didn’t have far to pretend. Pain bounced through her skull and along her neck. She wondered if her head was as bloody as Faelyn’s had been.

  “Why did you bring her here?” a new voic
e asked.

  She knew him without seeing him. Burani. She wanted to scream at him for his treachery, but she forced herself to be still except for opening her eyes just a little.

  He stood visible, hands on his hips, facing down empty air until four people blinked into view: one human and three seelie, though it sounded as if more stood behind her. Pale as corpses and with a slight shimmer to their skin, the seelie squinted in the meager light straining through the clouds. Their white hair was pulled tightly from their harsh, angular faces. Their bare arms were corded with lean muscle, and their black leather clothing seemed to absorb the light.

  The human was as pale as the seelie, but his red hair and beard stood out starkly against his skin. He wore a leather belt with many pouches, two hanging down his legs. He glared at Burani while the two male seelie seemed entirely disinterested.

  The female smirked. Her hair was longer than the others, a cloud of white that danced along her back. She stared at Burani with shining turquoise eyes. “Why did you lead that group of humans to attack us?”

  Group of humans? Lilani’s heart sped. From Parbeh? Could it be…

  Burani bared his teeth. “I sent them right to you so you could kill them!”

  No!

  Another group of the strange seelie blinked into view behind Burani. “We were waiting where you said the humans would be,” one said. “They weren’t there.”

  “They were waiting to attack us instead,” the long-haired female said.

  Lilani closed her eyes briefly, hoping the humans had survived.

  Burani frowned and swallowed as he looked between the two groups. “They must have changed direction. That’s not my fault. I told them to go north.”

  “You should have killed them yourself.”

  “I never got the chance! There were three of them!”

  Three! Vandra and the twins?

  One of the seelie spat at Burani’s feet. “Coward.”

  Burani put his hand to his sword and turned to keep everyone in sight. “Where is Remus?”

  “Dead.” The long-haired female glided closer, spreading her hands. “All hail Camilla, empress of the tattered seelie.”

  The other seelie laughed. The sound sent shivers down Lilani’s spine.

  Burani drew his weapon. “You’ll have no allies in the Court if you kill me.”

  Camilla sighed. “Maybe.” She turned her back on Burani. He breathed out, letting his sword dip toward the ground. “But who cares?”

  The seelie behind Burani leaped, catching him as he vanished. Their blades stabbed forward again and again, the tips disappearing into Burani’s invisible body, staining the ground crimson. He blinked back into view as he sagged, falling to his knees and then to the ground, his sightless eyes staring Lilani’s way.

  She could barely breathe. Another of them dead, and he hadn’t even named his co-conspirators before he died. When Camilla knelt at her side, Lilani tried to pull away.

  Camilla caught her tenderly. “Now, now, my sweet. There’s nowhere to go. Let’s sit you up.”

  As she moved, Lilani’s head ached in time with her pulse, and her stomach rebelled as vertigo rolled through her. She squeezed her eyes shut, but Burani’s face followed her.

  “Deep breaths, child.” Camilla’s soft hands stroked Lilani’s hair, her face, and the sides of her ears. “He was a traitor and a coward, and I have dispatched him for you, yes?”

  “What…” Lilani took a deep breath. “What about Lucian?”

  “This one?” She gently turned Lilani’s head. Lucian lay on the ground behind her. His hands and feet were bound, and his body was slack, but his chest still moved. “He lives. For now. Look at me.” She was as beautiful and as cold as an elder seelie, with the same air of immovability. “I’m afraid the other one perished.”

  Lilani couldn’t hold in a sob. Faelyn! No, he’d run, he’d gotten away. Or had he? What were the chances of that? She put her head in her hands. She didn’t want to weep in front of these monsters, but Faelyn!

  Camilla held her close. “There now, there, dear Lilani.” Her skin was soft, but there was so much strength in her arms that she felt like velvet-covered steel. Lilani fought the urge to push away, not wanting to antagonize her. This close, Camilla’s perfume couldn’t quite overwhelm the miasma that surrounded her. Lilani drank in that despair, letting it bring her back to herself. Faelyn would want her to be strong.

  When Camilla pulled back, she smiled like a cat with a lizard. “You have a chance, dear Lilani, to save this one.” She nodded toward Lucian. “If you do as we say, you’ll both remain unharmed, and we’ll return you to your mother safe and happy.”

  She spoke as if she hadn’t just had someone killed, as if she hadn’t killed this Remus who’d been in charge before her, as if Faelyn hadn’t been slaughtered. As for Vandra…

  Dare she ask? No, if Vandra had perished, Lilani didn’t want to know. She took a deep breath. “What do you want me to do?”

  Camilla’s smile widened. “See, Maruk?” she said to the human. “I was right about her. She’s a good girl.”

  Maruk snorted. “We’ll see.”

  “Come along, darling,” Camilla said as she helped Lilani stand. “Let’s go meet the others.”

  Two of the seelie hauled Lucian up between them, and Lilani stumbled along at Camilla’s side. Her head pounded, and her body was sore. If she ran, she wouldn’t get far, and by the ease with which Camilla held her, she’d never be able to overpower these seelie.

  She risked a look around. There were ten of them, and they were leading her toward others, lessening her chances of escape. But even if she got away now, they’d kill Lucian. Maybe among more of them, she’d find a chance to untie him and slip away.

  The pylon loomed through the haze in front of them. Her stomach shrank. There were no tents at the pylon’s base, no signs of a camp. Single-file, the other seelie continued past the pylon, into the shifting mist and the pall of dread that was the tattered lands. Bile rose in Lilani’s throat, and fear made her head pound harder. She dug in her heels.

  “I can’t,” Lilani said, her breath coming in gasps. “Please!”

  “Hush, darling.” Camilla held her closer. “I’ll protect you.” Her lips nearly brushed Lilani’s ear, tickling, terrifying. “If you stay close to me.”

  Lilani shivered, her insides going cold. When Camilla started forward again, Lilani had no choice but to go with her, each stumble taking her closer to the wall of mist.

  * * *

  The light rain that swept through the night before proved to be a boon. The seelie left tracks so clear, even Vandra could see them. Maybe they didn’t expect anyone to follow them. They might have thought they’d encountered some random group of humans rather than those who were trying to undo their plans.

  Vandra’s rational brain told her this pursuit was stupid. She wasn’t a fighter. Even as good as Fieta and Pietyr were, they couldn’t defeat a host of enemies on their own. They had Faelyn, who was currently stumbling along on her arm. No help there. And whoever these seelie were, they either knew about alchemy, or they’d found someone to help them.

  Fieta kept muttering about how they were all going to be killed. Pietyr didn’t say anything, but he had a pinched, worried look as he followed the tracks. Vandra called a halt. The others gathered around her, and she spoke in a whisper, even though no one was in sight.

  “I know this is dangerous, but if we go looking for help now instead of following Lilani, the trail will grow cold. We’ll find out where she is and then…”

  “Yes?” Fieta asked.

  Faelyn rested a hand on Vandra’s arm. He’d thrown up twice already, and he had that queasy, greenish tinge again. Pietyr gathered Faelyn’s hair behind him and turned him away from the others. Oh yes, they were a rescue party worthy of song and story. Vandra rubbed her temples and tried to think.

  “Thank you,” Faelyn said after dry heaving. “I can probably make it to the Court and get help.”


  Pietyr frowned and shook his head. Fieta snorted.

  “Not on your own, Faelyn,” Vandra said. “You can barely walk. If you pass out in the forest, you might never be found.”

  He nodded then winced as if that little movement pained him. “You can’t come with me. Seelie magic makes the land unwelcoming to humans.”

  Vandra had suspected as much. “Maybe by the time we catch up with Lilani, you’ll feel better.”

  It was all they could hope for. Fieta shrugged, and Pietyr shook his head, but they didn’t argue. Vandra thanked the gods for that small favor. They continued on the trail, and Vandra wasn’t surprised to see the pylon rearing through the misty morning. Of course, the trail headed straight for it. Everything led back to the pylons.

  “There’s someone lying in the grass ahead,” Fieta said.

  Pietyr stood on tiptoe. “They’re not moving.”

  Vandra halted with Faelyn. She couldn’t see what the twins could, and her heart wrenched. “Is it…” She couldn’t even finish the sentence.

  “I’ll go check,” Fieta said. “Wait here.”

  “I’m coming with you,” Pietyr said.

  Fieta stabbed a finger in Vandra’s direction. “Stay with them!”

  He seemed as if he might argue, but after a glance at Vandra and Faelyn, he stayed put. Vandra held tight to Faelyn as Fieta bent double, keeping as low in the tall grass as she could. She streaked forward, spear in hand. Vandra fought the urge to hold her breath. Any moment, she expected Fieta to whirl around and pit her skills against invisible foes. Pietyr would run for her, and Vandra would, too. Faelyn had managed to distract one of the seelie that had attacked Lilani. Maybe Vandra could do the same.

  Fieta knelt then glanced up again quickly before she dashed back. “It’s Burani.” She swallowed hard. “He’s been stabbed.”