The Emerald Staff

by Alison Pensy

  “Well, with you gone, I had no competition, graduated top of the class and, as you know, only the highest ranking gets the Custodian.”

  “Blimey, if I hadn’t been exiled, she’d be mine right now.” He turned back and wiggled his eyebrows at Faedra, who was looking repulsed by the idea.

  “Hello, Custodian standing right here listening to every word. Stop talking about me like I was some sort of possession.”

  Etyran gave another of his roguish smiles. “Oh, luv, we’d have had a bloody good time, I can tell yer. Unlike with Mr. Stuffy Breeches here.” He nodded in Faen’s direction and Faedra noticed her Guardian stiffen a little at Etyran’s remark, even though she could tell it was the man’s attempt at being good-humored.

  Faedra folded her arms over her chest. She was not about to let this person offend her, or her friend.

  “Firstly, whoever you are, I do not belong to anyone. Secondly, Faen is perfectly capable of showing me a good time.”

  “Oh, yeah, has he flown a 360 with yer, yet?”

  “What? Err, no.”

  “Faen, my man, you’re slacking. What happened to the guy I knew at the Academy? That Faen would’ve had her in a 360 on her first flight.”

  “Actually, that wouldn’t have been a good idea on my first flight,” Faedra chimed in when she noticed the look of defeat on Faen’s face. Then she turned to Etyran and gave him a scolding look like a teacher reprimanding a naughty schoolboy.

  Faen decided to change the subject before his Custodian’s red hair got the better of her. He hadn’t seen her lose her temper very often, but when she did, it wasn’t pretty, and the warning signs were starting to show.

  “So, what in the name of Kernunnos are you doing here? The king would have your head if he knew you had entered Azran without his permission.” Faen asked.

  “Heard those grisly little blighters were congregatin’ in the mountains and thought I’d check it out. Summut’s going on and I don’t like it one bit.” Etyran paused and a crinkle formed between his eyebrows. “Never mind ‘bout me, what the bloody ‘ell are you doing ‘ere. Last I heard you’re supposed to be protecting Custodians, not puttin’ em in danger?”

  “It’s a long story, and much as I’d love to stay and chat over tea and scones, we’ve got some business to attend to,” Faedra answered, as she took a couple of steps towards her Guardian, but Etyran stepped forward blocking her path. She looked up and gave him an icy glare.

  “Hold up, girlie. Where you off to in such an all-fired hurry? You ain’t going nowhere tonight, it’s too dangerous.”

  “We need to see Draconis, not that it’s any of your business. And the only way to do that is to go through the Gatekeeper, who just happens to be surrounded by redcaps.”

  “Are you stark ravin’ bonkers? Draconis hates humans; he’ll kill yer, soon as look at yer.”

  “Maybe, maybe not, but I have to try. So if you’ll please step aside and let me pass, we’ll be on our way.” She met his eyes full on. “I believe I have already paid the toll.”

  His features softened at her remark and she could see what she interpreted as a look of remorse washing over his face. Not only did his features soften, his accent did, too.

  “Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot.”

  “Oh, you think?” Faedra glared at him.

  “Okay, I admit I was out of order. I would have never done that if I knew you were a Custodian.”

  “That’s no excuse! You shouldn’t have done it to anyone. Anyway, I can’t stand around here debating the point, I’m running out of time.” She pulled the time-pebble out of her pocket to show him. “See, we don’t have much of it left.”

  “Flippin’ heck! Where did you get that? That’s dark magic, that is. Who gave you that?”

  “Like I said, it’s a long story, one I don’t have time for right now.”

  “Look, if you’re determined to get to the Gatekeeper tonight I can help, but you can’t go now.” Etyran said.

  “Why not?” Faedra and Faen asked together.

  “They’ll be changing the guard shift later. If you wait till then it will be the best chance you have of sneaking by them.”

  “I’m listening.” Faedra said.

  “I found this little shack when I first got here. Come back with me and I can show you the best way in. I’ve been studying the creepy little buggars for weeks.”

  “Faen, what do you think?” she said peering round Etyran’s body to talk to her Guardian.

  “Sounds like a good idea to me. We could use all the help we can get.”

  “Okay, then.” She looked back up at Etyran and laid a palm on his chest, sending a short sharp zap through her hand. “That’s for taking something that doesn’t belong to you.”

  He lunged back with the force, and, to her surprise, his body flickered like the picture on a faulty television screen. He leaned over putting his hands on his knees to steady himself and looked up at her, face still flickering.

  “I guess I deserved that,” he said with resignation. “Serves me right for messing with a manipulator.”

  “What are you?” Faedra asked, horrified at what she was seeing and starting to feel remorse for zapping him, even though she knew she hadn’t used enough force to inflict pain, she just wanted to make him jump. After a couple of moments he stopped flickering and stood up.

  “The last of my kind,” he answered, his voice echoing with a soul deep sadness.

  “That didn’t answer my question.” Faedra encouraged.

  Etyran gave her a wistful smile, then held up his arm to direct Faen and Faedra.

  “Come on, the shack is this way.” He strode forward ahead of her.

  Faedra noticed that his accent had all but disappeared now and he sounded more like Faen. Her Guardian waited for her to reach his side. They followed behind the dark and mysterious man who was now leading them deeper into the woods.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  It didn’t take them long to reach the shack Etyran mentioned. It lived up to its description. From its appearance, Faedra guessed it was a one-roomed cabin that had obviously fallen into neglect over the years. The wood was rotting in places and the windows were boarded up in a shabby attempt to cover them. There was no light coming from within, but then, why would there be, no one was home.

  Etyran stepped onto the uneven porch dodging around a hole in the rotting wooden planks. He waved his hand over the door with a fluid sweeping motion. Faedra gave a curious look when she saw some symbols glow for a split second on the frame before they disappeared and the door creaked open.

  “Welcome to my humble abode.” Etyran said as he motioned for them to enter. “Be careful, I put my foot through that the first time I came here.” He pointed to the hole in front of the door. Skirting around it, Faen and Faedra walked past him into the shack. Etyran did a quick glance around outside before he closed the door behind him and did another sweep with his hand over the door. Again, the symbols glowed on the frame and he caught Faedra giving them a curious glance.

  “Wards,” he stated, as if that were all the explanation needed.

  Faedra nodded her head with understanding. Wards were something she did know about, although, she’d never physically seen one. The symbols sparked her interest. She wondered now what the symbols looked like that had been attached to her for the first seventeen years of her life. Had they been present on her skin and she’d never known?

  Once inside, he lit a candle on a table in the center of the room. The windows on the inside had also been boarded up, but much more effectively this time. No light was going to leak out through those.

  Etyran moved over to the large stone fireplace that took up most of one wall and lit a fire. The light from the candle and that from the fire drenched the inside of the modest little cabin with a warm welcoming glow. Faedra felt her shoulders relax as she slumped down on one of the chairs around the table, allowing herself a few moments of calm.

  The inside of the shack was
sparse. The only other piece of furniture that accompanied the table and chairs was an uncomfortable looking bed with a rickety wooden frame in the corner by the fire.

  “How long have you been living here?” she asked, looking around at his mediocre living quarters.

  “Just a few weeks.” Etyran replied. “You must be thirsty, I’ll heat up some water.” He filled a pot with some water from a jug and hung it above the fire, then wandered over to join Faen and Faedra at the table. “Are you hungry?”

  “It’s okay, we have enough food in this backpack to last a week, Faen’s Mum saw to that.”

  “Ah, and how is the lovely Janessa? I haven’t seen her for so long.” He directed his question to Faen.

  “She and my father are well,” Faen answered. “If she could see you now though, she would unleash Mrs. Forbes on you with a razor and a cache of soap.”

  Etyran faked a horrified look then one side of his mouth quirked up in a lopsided grin. “Don’t think she’d go for the rugged look then?”

  Faen raised an eyebrow. “You know my mother.”

  Faedra took some of the food out of her pack and offered it around to the others. After she swallowed a bite, she turned to Etyran.

  “So, you were going to help us get past the redcaps.”

  “Ah, yes. The grisly little blighters,” he said in full Cockney. “They swap their guard shift over when the moon starts to descend from its apex in the sky, so by my reckoning, that gives us another couple of hours yet. I have been watching them for weeks and I think I know the best place to sneak you into the cavern. Once inside you will only need to get passed four of them that are stationed in front of the Gatekeeper’s chamber. I’d like to know why they see the need to guard it at all. I can’t decide if it is to stop someone from entering Zutherindal from Azran or the other way around. Very fishy business, if you ask me.”

  “How have you been able to get close enough to find all this out?” Faedra asked, curious.

  “Because of who I am.”

  Faedra raised her eyebrows in question.

  “I’m a light bender. I can manipulate light or dark so I can appear invisible. Comes in handy sometimes, I can tell you.”

  “So, that’s how you disappeared right in front of my eyes when I fired at you. I knew it couldn’t have been glamour because that doesn’t work on me.”

  “Yeah, you have pretty good aim, you almost hit me. I only got out of the way by a hair’s breadth. Unfortunately, I don’t physically disappear. My body was still there, I just gave the impression that it wasn’t.”

  “Hmm.”

  “Which brings me to the next part of my plan.” He gave Faen a look that Faedra couldn’t quite work out and kept his gaze steady as he carried on talking. “The Gatekeeper is so heavily guarded that I am going to have to take Faedra in alone, my friend.”

  Faen’s eyes sparked with a possessiveness Faedra had never seen before.

  “That is NOT an option, Etyran. I cannot let her out of my sight, especially when she may be in danger. You know that.” Faen’s voice was full of conviction.

  “Look, mate. I know this is hard for you to swallow but just hear me out.”

  Faen held Etyran’s gaze steady with a steely glare. “There is no way the Custodian is going in there without me. End of discussion.”

  Faedra looked with amazement at her Guardian, she’d never heard him be so abrupt and inflexible.

  “Faen, at least hear what he has to say,” she said covering his hand with hers where it rested on the table.

  His voice softened when he turned and spoke to her. “I am not leaving you, Faedra.”

  “Okay, but let’s just hear what he has to say.”

  Faen closed his eyes for a second as if trying to compose himself. “Very well, tell us your plan,” he said on the tail end of a heavy sigh.

  “The easiest and safest way to get past the redcaps is to be invisible. I know, I’ve done it several times now. Faen, you know glamour doesn’t work on them. They’re fae and if they get a whiff of us being there it could quickly turn nasty. Why risk that if we don’t have to?”

  Faen took a deep breath, considering what Etyran was planning.

  “If you stand guard outside while we go in, we may need a distraction when we come back.”

  “I do not like this.” Faen said his voice tight, his jaw set.

  “How will you make me invisible?” Faedra asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

  “You will have to be very close to me. I think if you stand in front of me while I wrap my arms and my coat around you, and you keep your steps inside mine, I can bend the light around us both.”

  Faedra felt Faen’s hand stiffen underneath hers and she turned to see him shifting uncomfortably in his chair. His steely gaze still trained on the man sitting opposite them.

  Faedra had to admit she wasn’t thrilled about having to be in such close proximity to the man who just a short while ago had kissed her like no other before him.

  When Faen kissed her, it was gentle and loving but Etyran kissed her with a passion that nearly burned her to the core, even if she had been scared for her life at the time. The first time Faen had kissed her, it had been with a sense of decorum. The thought of Etyran wrapping his arms around her seemed a little too intimate for her liking, and it was obvious from the look on Faen’s face he was thinking the same thing.

  “I won’t let anything happen to her, mate. The Custodian is just as important to me as she is to you.” Etyran said.

  Faen pushed back his chair with a forceful shove and stood up.

  “Oh, I doubt that.” Faen growled at Etyran before spinning around and walking away from the table.

  Etyran gave Faedra a confused glance. She responded with a barely discernable shake of her head before pushing her chair back and walking over to Faen. He hung his head, indecision clouding his features. When Faedra reached him, he wouldn’t look at her, so she leaned down and tilted her head up until he had no choice. When his gaze met hers, she could see the emotions warring there.

  “Faen, if you don’t trust that he can keep me safe, then we won’t do this.”

  He brought his head up and Faedra followed.

  “Oh, I trust that he will keep you safe,” he spoke softly before turning a poignant stare towards Etyran. Faedra followed his gaze and watched Etyran raise his shoulders and eyebrows, along with upturned palms in a silent question ‘what’s up?’.

  Faedra moved her head until her face was in front of Faen’s, bringing his gaze back to her.

  “What is it then?”

  Faen looked at her for the longest moment and Faedra was unsure if he was going to answer her.

  “I saw the way he kissed you.”

  Faedra wasn’t expecting that reply but went with it. “Without my permission, I might add,” she said with a defiant glare towards the perpetrator. Etyran dropped his gaze, a look of shame sweeping across his face.

  She looked back at Faen who dropped his gaze, also. Faedra rolled her eyes, there was way too much testosterone in the room for her liking.

  “Faen, look at me.”

  When he didn’t move, she repeated herself more sternly. “Look at me.”

  Faen raised his eyes to meet hers.

  “Now, you listen to me. It’s you I care about, not some Jack-the-lad who accosted me in the woods. If he hadn’t been your friend, he’d have gotten much more than a friendly tickle in the chest.”

  A gasp from the table made them both turn and stare. Etyran was pointing his finger first at Faen, then at Faedra, a look of surprise on his face.

  “You two? I mean you and her? Oh, mate, I’m sorry, I’d never have…”

  Faedra started to chuckle at the flustered attempt at an apology coming from the table and looked back at her Guardian, but the smile was wiped from her face when she saw the look in his eyes. Hers widened a split second before Faen put an arm around the small of her back and pulled her tight to him. He kissed her with a passion
she’d never felt before. The kiss Etyran had forced on her didn’t touch this one with a ten-foot barge pole. She leaned in to her Guardian and reveled in the passion he was pouring into her. Her energy crackled all around them, making their hair stand on end and goose bumps flash up their arms. When he finally pulled back, she just stared at him in disbelief, her breathing ragged and legs feeling like jelly. Well if that wasn’t marking his territory, she didn’t know what was.

  Faen’s smug smile said it all but she wasn’t about to reprimand him for it, she was still reeling from his kiss.

  “You do know that’s forbidden, right?” The silence was broken by the serious tone in Etyran’s voice, pulling Faedra back to her senses. She and Faen turned and gave him a cold stare, to which he responded with a defensive hands-up gesture.

  “Okay, okay, just checking. Mate, you are treading on thin ice. I mean look what the king did to me. I know I was trying it on with his daughter but the Custodian is almost as bad.”

  Faedra grinned at the statement and looked up at her Guardian. “I guess that makes me a double whammy then,” she whispered to Faen, her lips curving in a sly smile, prompting one from him.

  “I believe we can continue making our plans now,” Faen said as he brushed his fingers over her cheek.

  They walked over to the table and sat down. Etyran gave them a curious look.

  “Double whammy? What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Well, I guess that’s for me to know and you to wonder about.” Faedra replied with just a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  After a couple of hours of strategizing, they had hashed out a plan to get to the Gatekeeper who would, hopefully, allow them access into Zutherindal to seek an audience with Draconis. Faedra felt her mouth go dry as they left the relative safety of the shack and stepped out into the dark shadowy forest. Etyran’s tall dark figure led the way through the trees. Faedra kept close to her Guardian, subconsciously reaching out for his hand after only walking a few steps. She twined her fingers around his and let the instant calm she felt wrap around her like a warm comforting blanket. She wondered if she would ever be able to shake this recently acquired fear of the dark. She pushed back the thought that she was once again going to be in the dark with those hideous creatures that caused the fear in the first place. At least this time she would not be alone.