I was right, we were close to the water, but right now we had no time for conversation.
Gabriella and Marianne found the way here without being noticed and now we needed to disappear with just as much stealth.
One thing still confused me though, Gabrialla was connected to witches and they were trying to destroy both courts for their own gains.
I didn’t understand how I had missed the fact that Martha was the lost Princess - Selene. Now, everything slowly beginning to make sense.
We started walking through the very narrow corridor that led away from our cell. We were underground, somewhere near a waterfall. It was some sort of cave and there were pools of water that had leaked through the stone, everywhere. Gabriella was leading us out of here. Oran had lost his position in the Seelie Court because of me, but I hoped that I could fix that soon enough.
“There are several Fae ahead and we need to get over to the waterfall. There is an entrance to the portal that leads right through it. We can escape into a safer realm but we’ll need to take care of the guards first,” Gabriella whispered looking at all of us once we stopped. “On my count, we all need to run towards the waterfall. The wards have been weakened but we still have to be careful.”
I looked up seeing that we were indeed in some sort of cave. We could hear the roar of the falling water beating against the rocks. From the mouth of the cave, I could see that it was nighttime, the stars sparkling across the clear sky. Gabriella must have realised that with us being kept underground that it would be best to free us when it was dark rather than struggle to adjust to the sunlight after being stuck in the gloom for days.
She counted to three and we all sprinted. I gritted my teeth and tried to ignore the pain.
We were close and for a split second I thought we were going to make it without any trouble but then two fae appeared on our path.
The waterfall was only a few metres away, just behind where the fae stood. Gabriella took out her sword and I tapped into my magic. The wards weren’t blocking me anymore.
“You won’t get away from here Fae. We have orders to kill the Fae King that brought war to the Seelie Court, the King that betrayed his people,” one of them roared, giving me a death stare.
It looked like Urlich had already briefed them. My brother wanted to be sure that I wouldn’t leave this place alive. I could fight. I wasn’t fully recovered yet, but my magic was advanced enough to take them on.
“You fools! You have no idea what’s really going on. Step away before I slice you in half,” Gabriella roared, pointing her sword towards the Fae soldiers, but both of them just laughed. Obviously they weren’t taking her seriously, that is until she attacked.
Oran’s magic rose but he wasn’t quick enough. The wave of his magic missed the other Fae that stood to the left.
Gabriella was fighting with one of the guards and she was doing great whilst Marianne and Oran started pushing the other one out of the way.
“Get to the waterfall Darragh, now!” Gabriella shouted, once again attacking the guard.
I nodded and rushed towards the streaming water and over the narrow wobbly bridge, staring down at the steep black drop on each side. At that point, the Fae on the other side started shooting arrows in my direction. Several missed my face by barely an inch and I nearly lost my balance, the bridge was really wobbling now. I was suddenly paralysed with fear, but I knew I had to keep going. I glanced quickly behind, making sure that the others were still okay. Gabriella had the guard pinned down to the ground whereas Oran was struggling to hold off the other Fae.
I kept walking until I made it to the other side of the bridge. A few more steps over and I found myself directly under the waterfall. The water was spraying all over me, soaking me from head to toe. It was time to open the portal but suddenly I felt something sharp on the side of my neck. Someone got to me before anyone I could move or even turn to see where the shot had come from.
“Don’t move Fae,” the unknown voice spoken. I was one step away from being on the other side and I was ready to scream with frustration.
I turned slightly seeing another Fae that had his sword pressed into the back of my neck. He was barely an adult Fae, he looked so young. He must have recognised me as I turned because he went pale, widening his eyes in fright.
“The Fae that rescued me will be here any second soldier,” I said as he lowered his sword, staring at me like I was a ghost. There were lots of other Fae spread all over the various realms and many were still loyal to me, but Urlich kept spreading propaganda. He wanted to weaken my position and he had achieved that when I lost Martha.
Many others had turned against me when I started losing the war with the Unseelie Court.
“Fae King … I’m sorry but I have been ordered to kill any Fae that tries to leave this realm,” the youngster said breathing hard, sensing that he wasn’t going to hurt me. “I have always admired you my King and I know that you have been kept here as a prisoner.”
I didn’t move, for some reason I was touched by his words. This youngster made me realise that I still mattered and shouldn’t lose all hope.
The question still remained, was he going to let me pass or would I have to kill him to gain my freedom?
Chapter Four
Great Escape
“Don’t move Fae or you’re as good as dead,” the familiar voice called as we both turned around.
Oran and Marianne were helping Gabriella. They managed to get over the wobbly bridge too. Gabriella must have been stabbed because she was bleeding badly. Marianne’s eyes were gleaming with energy as she pointed her sword towards the young Fae.
“It’s alright Marianne, this young Fae was just about to let me pass,” I said, taking a step towards her.
For a moment, all we could hear was the water that was beating against the rocks of the cave. Oran was staring at me, trying to read my emotions. I didn’t want to hurt anyone, but we were running out of time. The young Fae looked terrified, his heart was thumping loudly. He didn’t know how to use his magic to protect himself, so all his emotions were very clearly on display. Then he bowed and Gabriella narrowed her bright green eyes.
“I never saw you here and I still believe that you are my King,” the young Fae spoken and then bowed in front of me.
I felt moved yet again, thinking that Urlich had his work cut out. My people knew who the real leader was and they still believed in me. Marianne nodded and moments later, the young Fae began backing away and vanished somewhere into the gloom.
“What are you waiting for Darragh? Open the damn portal before any others get here,” Gabriella shouted, pulling me back to reality.
I nodded and concentrated on the flow of my energy. Nothing was blocking me anymore and knowing that I would soon be free filled me with power. Over my dead body would Martha be to mated with Sylius. New magic began flowing down my spine, I felt the tingling sensations in every part of my body. I visualised the safe passage. The bright yellow lighting started appearing around the back wall of the waterfall.
The water was ice cold, so we were all freezing. It was time to get the hell out of here.
We heard the voices, other Fae would be here at any moment and then finally the portal appeared.
“Go through quickly Darragh, they are so close,” Oran said, but I shook my head and told him to get Gabriella through first. She was bleeding badly and we needed to make sure we could pass through safely. I grabbed her elbow and we crossed, Oran and Marianne were right behind me.
We managed to cross over, but the magical passage seemed unsteady. Everything happened so quickly. Sudden pain obscured my vision and moments later, I crashed to the ground. It took me a while to come around. I didn’t feel any more pain, but then I realised that I wasn’t holding Gabriella either. Her, Oran and Marianne were nowhere to be seen. The buzzing silence was ringing in my ears.
I heard the footsteps and felt a little relief at seeing Marianne. She seemed alright.
“What is
this place Darragh?” she asked, placing her hands on her hips and looking curiously around. We were in the forest and the temperature had dropped quite significantly.
“Farrington. This was the first place that came to my mind,” I mumbled, rubbing my skull, trying to eleviate the pressure that I felt around my forehead.
My energy was rushing through me, opening that portal weakened me. I looked around wondering what the hell had happened to the rest of the team.
“I don’t think Gabriella will be pleased at this,” Marianne said.
“Where are they? What’s happened to them?”
“I sense them nearby, the portal must have split us up, but Gabriella would never have planned on ending up in here,” Marianne said, pulling the dry leaves off her dress.
Urlich would find out soon enough that we had escaped from his underground prison, so we didn’t have much time to hang around. We couldn’t stay here, this would be one of the first places he would come to look for me.
“We need to find them. I didn’t intend to arrive here, but at least we’ve bought ourselves some time. I’m glad that there are still good Fae out there that believe in me,” I said, lifting myself back on my feet.
Urlich knew that I was somehow tied to the human world because of my history with Martha. He would send his soldiers here and I wasn’t fully recovered yet. I had to think about my next step.
“Darragh, they are here,” Marianne shouted, she must have spotted Gabriella and Oran.
Soon after, Gabriella appeared. She was still bleeding, but she seemed in much better shape. I suspected that she had some magical potions on her and used them as soon as we were safe.
“Where are we?” she asked, patching up her wound with some dry leaves.
“Farrington,” I said.
“We should be glad that we are alive. This is the first place that came to my mind,” I said, thinking of the many friends we had made here. William’s wolves were powerful and many Fae were afraid of them.
Gabriella tilted her head to the side and sighed loudly.
“I suppose we had to end up somewhere” she said. “We have bought ourselves some time, but your brother will know that you have been freed, so we need to formulate a new plan, fast.”
“I appreciate that you got us out of that prison, but I don’t expect you to stay here. You need to take care of yourself,” I told her, thinking about Martha. I couldn’t expect everyone to risk their lives for me. “Martha is engaged to Sylius. I’m going to stop this nonsense wedding.”
I clenched my fists, knowing that it wasn’t going to be easy. Sylius kept Martha close and chances are she wouldn’t go willingly with me.
Oran shifted his weight to the side and brought Marianne to his arms. Gabriella continued to stare at me.
“I don’t think this is such a great idea. The whole Unseelie Court is heavily guarded. The Dark Prince won’t let you get anywhere near her, especially now when both courts have agreed on a cease fire,” Gabriella said. The sun was going to rise soon. I sensed the warmth on my skin.
She was right, but I was willing to do anything to get Martha back.
“Why are you here Gabriella? What happened with the witches?” I asked, knowing about her connections.
She didn’t have the right to question my decisions, especially after admitting who she had been working for this entire time. The witches wanted to take control of the Fae courts, they had been manipulating us and pushing their own agenda. I was still coming to terms with the fact that Martha was the missing Princess of the Unseelie Court.
Gabriella sighed.
* * *
“I’m here because I want to help you when I realised what was truly important. Besides the witches are searching for me. The head of the coven has asked for my head. I have nowhere else to go.”
This made sense. Gabriella must have angered the witches when she finally chose the right side.
We were in the middle of the forest, not too near the town. I couldn’t sense any humans around. I knew these parts of the forest, after all I had lived here when I didn’t remember who I was and lived as a recluse. I felt like I belonged here.
“We have a bit of time, but you’re right, we need a solid plan. The wolf men occupy these territories and they can be helpful. Urlich won’t just cross the borders, at least not yet,” I said.
“Somehow the rumours about the missing princess must have reached the Dark Prince by now. He knows that Fae tend to twist certain facts, but he will still feel threatened and he will no doubt start to make mistakes,” Marianne stated and she was absolutely right.
Sylius hated when he wasn’t in control. Oran was silent, he was probably wondering about the future. I hated that he was in this situation because of me. He had lost both his home and his position within the court.
It was too late, he was here with me now and we needed to find a way to bring Urlich and then Sylius down. I didn’t think that any of us expected Urlich to act so quickly but we wouldn’t underestimate him again.
“Sylius is still in charge of all the crucial realms, but Urlich can’t afford to sit still now that you’ve escaped. He wants to see you dead Darragh,” Oran said. “We need to divert their attention on something else, something that they consider to be much more important than you.”
“It’s getting late. We should find some place to stay and then make some kind of decisions after we have rested. We are all too exhausted right now,” Gabriella muttered, sounding irritated.
She was right. We had a lot to discuss, but we needed to find a safe place where we could all hide. The wolf men had probably already sensed us coming into the area.
“Let’s walk towards the town, someone is bound to sense us soon,” I suggested.
We started walking through the Great Forest. Now and again I kept seeing the trees or other places that had I visited with Martha. The vivid memories began running through my mind quickly one after the other.
I could see my Queen everywhere. As I expected, half an hour later several werwolves came to greet us. William was amongst them and he recognised me straight away. His men took care of Gabriella. She protested for a little while at first, but she was weak, so in the end she agreed to be carried back to the camp. She was bleeding heavily and she needed strong herbs to heal the stab wound.
William invited us to stay at their camp in the forest. After a brief discussion we all decided to rest and by the time I laid down on the ground I was so exhausted that I could barely keep my eyes open. We all needed to regenerate our strength and this was going to take a bit longer especially because we were in the human realm now and there wasn’t an abundance of magic to tap into to speed up the process.
Regardless of this fact, I felt much better by the morning, so I got up and gathered some logs for the fire. I wanted to keep myself busy because my thoughts were already racing. I couldn’t stop thinking about Martha. She was constantly in my head. I couldn’t stand that she was with Sylius, that he was touching her.
She was mine.
“King Caspian knows about the conflict between both courts, but he won’t interfere,” William said, after I sat down in front of the fire.
“And the King won’t help the fallen Fae that have been exiled,” I muttered and then sipped some of the potion that Marianne had prepared earlier on. She must have been up before everyone else, tending to Oran who was still a little weakened.
“Is Martha really the lost Princess of the Unseelie Court? Who would have thought so,” William said, shaking his head. It was hard to believe that Martha was truly the daughter of the tragic King and Queen of the Unseelie Court, especially to anyone that knew her in this time.
“She is and I have to find the way to stop that mating ceremony. She cannot marry that clown,” I said, taking another sip of the herbal potion. William was involved with Red, the town barmaid. He understood that the witches who had caused all this, needed to be eliminated. Everyone’s future could be affected if they achieved what t
hey had been planning from the very beginning.
“Once Sylius finds out that you escaped then he will know that it’s only a matter of time before you show up here,” a familiar voice startled me. Gabriella joined us by the fire. She seemed in much better shape than yesterday. William and a couple of his wolves gave me a surprised look.
“Either way, I won’t let Martha to mate with Sylius. I don’t expect you to understand. You have done enough,” I said to Gabriella and she snorted.
“You need my help to get to the Unseelie Court Fae King, trust me,” she insisted.
I thought about Ravanna and my heart accelerated. I should never have trusted her. She must have been involved with Sylius from very beginning, even before she arrived at the Seelie Court. Ravanna was going to pay for her betrayal, sooner rather than later.
She tossed her red hair behind her and brought her sword forward, her eyes were twinkling, reflecting the flames from the fire. A heavy silence settled between us. I knew what I had to do. Martha was the love of my life and she was destined to become my mate. I knew once Sylius was eliminated, that we could finally live in harmony with the Unseelie Court.
I slowly began to realise that this was why her magic was always so extraordinary. She was the official heir to the throne of the Unseelie Court. The power was in her blood.
“All right, let’s say that you somehow do get inside the court and then what? Martha doesn’t remember you. She has no idea who you are,” Gabriella said.
This wasn’t the same Martha that I had fallen for. She hated me and I would have to start over and regain her trust. I needed to find a way to bring her back. I dragged my hands through my hair, conflicted about what I had to do and the choices that I needed to make.
I had to admit that Gabriella was right. Even if I somehow crossed to the other side, Sylius wouldn’t let me anywhere near her.
“I remember how long it took me to convince Red to give me a chance. That girl was stubborn as a mule. I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes Darragh,” William said, looking at me intently. “She won’t even remember Farrington.”
A Fae's Love Page 3
