Shadow's Light

by Nicola Claire

  He pushed against a stone in the wall next to where I had been leaning. And just like when Lutin had found that hidden passage, one opened before us. This one, however, was not lit with sconces full of flames. It was pitch black and Alerac didn't have a torch. As soon as the stone wall closed behind us, I was blind. I heard his feet shuffle off away from me and reached out stumbling in his wake.

  His stride was longer than my short legs could manage and it didn't take long for the sound of his boots on the dusty stone floor to grow distant. My hands waved in front of my face and body, trying to prevent a painful collision with a wall. But, he just kept getting further and further away from me. I cursed my lack of Light and took a deep breath and ran. Still keeping my hands before my face and slightly above my head. If somewhere else on my body collided with a stone wall I could probably survive, but my head was too precious to not protect.

  I don't know how long we trudged that tunnel. It curved and wound and went down beneath the ground and then back up. I did manage to reach Alerac though and as surreptitiously as I could, I clasped on to that wonderful braid of long hair. Trying not to tug it by keeping within a foot of his back. The connection made it easy to breathe and settled the beat of my heart. But, the closeness to his back meant I careened into him on more than one occasion. Getting a grunt back in reply to my squeak of fright.

  Finally we exited from what had become a wet and mildewy smelling tunnel, no taller than five feet and only a shoulder width wide. Both of us had been hunched over, Alerac almost bent in half. My first lung full of fresh air was a godsend. We had come out in a copse of trees and when I spun back around to see where the exit to the tunnel had been, it was already lost in a mess of foliage. I strained to make it out, but it was simply gone.

  I also couldn't see out of the trees we were in. Which meant I couldn't see the castle. I strained my ears but failed to pick up any sound of pursuit at all.

  “How far are we from the castle?” I asked Alerac's back.

  “Far enough,” he grunted. “Remove your necklace, Princess,” he commanded and swung back towards me whilst sheathing his dagger in his vest.

  I'd reached for my necklace, but my hand stilled at the face of the person before me. I knew him. Jorge. Well at least, he looked like a younger version of Jorge. Not exactly like Gabriel, but close enough for them to have been brothers. Or an umskipti trying to mimic Jorge's son and the real deal.

  His eyes flicked up to mine. Eyes that had laughed with me across the bar. Jorge's eyes.

  “You're human,” I finally managed to say.

  He nodded and slowly reached for my necklace, lifting it off over my head.

  “I know your father,” I blurted and watched his face shut down.

  He turned away without a word and smashed the gem against a boulder beside him. The jewel shattered and I felt the release of magic float away on the air.

  “It had a tracer,” he said in a gruff voice and started forward down the hill leading away from where he had dropped the broken chain. I stepped over what was left of the connection I'd had to Lutin and mentally cut off all others to him too.

  We walked in silence for hours. The forest gave way to a plain of tall grass eventually. Golden brown, softly flowing in a gentle breeze. It was tall enough to hide us from anyone following. It even knitted back together as we pushed through it, leaving no trail or path behind. I didn't hear anyone pursuing us. Neither did we cross the path of any other fey. Our muffled footsteps and the occasional bird song were the only sounds on the wind.

  As the sun began to set below distant mountains and the temperature dropped about ten degrees, Alerac led us into some brush beside a roaring river. Hacking his way forward with a sword. Twenty minutes of strident swipes with broad sweeps of his arm he seemed satisfied and began to make a flattened area for us to rest.

  “Sit,” he ordered, once a circle of about two metre diameter had been crushed beneath his boots.

  I was exhausted, it wasn't hard to follow his instructions. So, I sank to my knees. Behind me, an obvious path led back from where we had come, but Alerac pulled a drawstring pouch from beneath his shirt and scattered a few pungent smelling herbs in a line across the path's entrance. There was a hiss and a billow of smoke and then the path began to reknit before my eyes. Within minutes there was no telling which direction we had even come from at all.

  “Impressive,” I said looking back over my shoulder. That got the obligatory grunt in reply.

  Alerac lowered himself to the ground and leaned back against a slightly thicker bit of brush than the rest and surveyed me. His similarity to Jorge was uncanny and I had to look away.

  “So...” he said after a few minutes. “What is so special about you, Princess?”

  “I'm not a princess,” I replied automatically.

  “The kvángask was completed. You are now a Princess of the Royal Court of Ljósálfar.”

  I cringed at the mention of the kvángask, then forced myself to shrug my shoulders in a show of nonchalance. “I didn't ask to be a princess. They can stick it where the sun don't shine, for all I care.”

  He let a huff of air out in a laugh. “Yes, well, I didn't ask to be a mœðr, but that doesn't mean I can't be used to breed.”

  I flicked a glance up at him to see if he was angry. He hadn't sounded it and when I studied his face, he didn't look it either.

  “I thought only females could be mœðr. Doesn't it mean mother?” I asked, still watching his face.

  “It also means mate. As in suitable mate to breed with.”

  “Do all human mœðr know what they are?” I thought it strange. For some reason I expected those stolen from their cribs to have been kept in the dark. Raised as one of the Fey.

  “It is obvious from an early age we are not like the rest of our peers. They have Light and magic, we have none. Some mœðr can recognise a fey's Light, they of course are elska. But the rest of us figure it out fairly early in our lives, just what a treasure we are to them.” Now he sounded a little bitter.

  I wanted to ask if he had mated. If he had fathered a halfbreed fey. But, I stopped myself just before my mouth opened. It just seemed too personal. Too intimate a question and I wasn't sure I wanted hear him say yes.

  “What will happen to me?” I asked instead.

  “I don't know. Queen Sofiq has plans for you, no doubt. She wouldn't have gone to war over you unless there was a very good reason to do so.”

  “She's gone to war over me?” I asked, incredulously. “And who is Queen Sofiq?”

  “What did you think that explosion was all about? If I'd just wanted a distraction to spirit you away, I would have done something on a little less of a grand scale. But, at the last minute a dozen Dökkálfa breached the castle's defences with instructions from the Queen for me to bring you directly to her. She is the Queen of the Dökkálfa.”

  I had kind thought she might be, but had been holding out hope of something else. All I had heard about the Dökkálfa, or the Dark Fey, was that they were really, really bad. Michel had said, when Lutin first turned up on the scene back home, that if the Ljósálfar were breaking through the portals from Álfheimr then the Dökkálfa wouldn't be far behind. And that that was not something anyone would want back on Earth.

  It seems he was right. The Dökkálfa, who apparently had been imprisoned by the Ljósálfar for centuries here in Álfheimr, were obviously free and seeking revenge. But why did their Queen want me?

  “So, I ask again, Princess, what is so important about you?”

  “I have no idea. I'm a vampire hunter by birth, nothing more,” I replied and picked up a suitable stick to whittle with the sharp stone I already had in my hand.

  “Well, Sofiq won't want you for that. She would rather her pet vampire remain in one piece.” He laughed at something obviously funny, but I didn't get it.

  “She has a vampire?”

  He looked at me sharply. “It's the vampire that sent me to you in the first place. I thought
you knew. You seemed to recognise me when I found you by the lake.”

  Michel. My heart missed several beats all at once.

  I could tell my breathing had accelerated and shallowed, I was straining to get a full breath in. I wanted so badly to believe it was true. I kept hearing myself repeat in my head: just ask it, just ask it, just ask it. What is the vampire's name? But, a part of me that was broken so harshly, so completely, refused to allow any mending to be made. I couldn't breach that broken gap to voice the words in my head. I couldn't lay myself open for more heartache. I just couldn't.

  Instead I asked, “So, why would you help a vampire?”

  He shrugged, but I saw something flicker in his eyes. Hope? The vampire had promised him something. Something he wanted very badly, it would seem. I wasn't going to leave it at that though.

  “So now, Queen Sofiq wants me and you change your plans just like that? Whose side are you on, Alerac?”

  “Queen Sofiq controls the vampire. What he can give me, so can she. Besides, she is not one to disobey. And as to whose side I am on. I am on the side that works for me.”

  “Very mercenary,” I muttered and promptly started shivering in the freezing night air.

  “Why don't you sleep, Princess. We will reach the Dökkálfa by nightfall tomorrow, but it will be a hard walk from here.”

  I didn't argue. I was so past this conversation anyway. The newly whittled stake tucked into my dress nicely and I curled up in a tight ball and fell fast asleep within seconds.

  And within what felt like seconds, I was woken with a nudge from a boot and a roughly muttered, “Get up. It's time to go.”

  My stomach rumbled and I needed to pee. But I said nothing and dutifully followed my rescuer/captor/mercenary down another hacked path. After half an hour we made it to freedom. Before leaving the shelter of the brush I insisted on a toilet stop, then trudged on in silence as the mountains got closer and closer and closer.

  By midday I was knackered. Hungry. Grumpy. And more than a little dishevelled. Oh, what I wouldn't give for cup of frothy coffee. The climb started at an easy incline. Just enough to feel it in your calf muscles, but not enough to break a sweat. But, an hour into it and I was panting, huffing, cursing the stupid bloody dress again and aching from top to bottom. We finally stopped for a rest at what I would guess would be three in the afternoon.

  I sat down in a huff several feet away from Alerac, who hadn't muttered anything other than gruff commands to keep up the entire day and stared out at a wonderland. We'd covered some distance and were now sitting at quite an altitude. I could see forever in the crisp, unpolluted Álfheimr air. It was obvious that there were different provinces or areas, marked by changes in terrain. I watched in fascination as the colours changed as the sun moved lower in the sky. So many colours. If there was thing I would take away from Álfheimr – if I ever managed to escape – it would be the range of vibrant colours. Spectacular. There was simply no other word.

  I found the castle after only a few minutes of scanning. It seemed farther away than the time we had spent walking should allow. I was puzzling over how that was possible when Alerac jumped to his feet, his dagger already in his hands.

  “What is it?” I whispered, my pathetic looking whittled stake in mine.

  “We are no longer alone,” he said simply and then took up a stance a foot or two in front of me. Mercenary or not, he seemed keen to protect his bounty.

  Out of the shadows of trees and low lying bushes stepped half a dozen men all dressed in black. All wearing chain-mail, of some description, and wicked looking curved blades. They also had an unusual green tinge to their skins which looked completely out of place against the black. None of them looked like they should be friendly, but one stepped forward and offered me a smile. His teeth were all pointy.

  “Princess of Ljósálfar. You honour us with your attendance in our realm.”

  I was in someone's realm? And as these guys didn't dress in the bright, bright colours of the Ljósálfar court, I was guessing they were all Dökkálfa. I let my eyes trail over their attire, thinking how ironic it was that the Dark Fey would dress in a colour that I happened to like and then crossed my arms over my chest and tapped my foot.

  I could play their games.

  “Where the hell have you been? I'm starving and this imbecile didn't even bring a drop of water to drink.” I nodded towards Alerac, whose mouth was hanging open staring back at me.

  The Dark Fey who had spoken turned to one of his men and said something in a language I didn't understand. There was a bit of a scuffle as small water bags were detached from various hiding places on the men's bodies and then several tried to offer me their drinks all at once. Finally, the spokesperson picked up two from the pile and stepped forward.

  “Water, your Highness,” he said offering one. “Or bjórr.” Offering the other.

  “I gather bjórr has more of a kick than water,” I said, still arms crossed over my chest. The guard, I couldn't think what else to call him, nodded.

  I took the bjórr and downed a decent swallow. At least my recent experience with Avery and Cachaça had hardened me up. But, I needn't have worried. It tasted like beer. I took another deep pull from the bag for good measure. I was hungry and thirsty. At least it filled the hole in my belly.

  I handed it back and then received an appreciative smile from the guy in charge.

  “We are here to escort you the rest of the way, Princess. It is not far.” He turned to Alerac. “The Queen has asked for you to return to the Ljósálfar court. We need all the eyes and ears we can muster. War has, of course, been declared. You will be well compensated for your efforts, mœðr. The Queen especially wished for me to convey her interest in providing what compensation you are due.”

  Alerac didn't look happy, but with six burly looking green fey with pointy teeth staring him down, he just shrugged, gave me a quick nod and left. I was alone with the first Dökkálfa fairies I had ever met in my life and I couldn't help feeling exposed.

  The guard offered to have one of the men carry me if I was tired, but getting close to those teeth seemed ill advised. I declined and just waved him forward in a no-nonsense manner. He took the hint, a small smile playing on the edges of his lips.

  We had been close. Much closer than Alerac had indicated. Within half an hour I was standing at a moat, watching the largest drawbridge I had ever seen slowly crank down. The castle, if you can call it that, it really was more of a fort, was made from a shiny black stone. Almost granite, but not smooth. There were no turrets or slim line colourful flags. There wasn't a skull and cross bones either, but it still looked impressive. In a medieval knights-in-shining-armour kind of way.

  The guards fell into formation around me, making me feel like a prisoner all of sudden. The first time they had really made me feel that way. And we all crossed the drawbridge under the watchful eyes of more black clad men, who pointed crossbows over our heads.

  Once inside the walls there was more colour. In the market stalls that filled the cobblestoned area we walked into. Fey were moving about doing their daily routine, all dressed in various blacks and greys and whites. It was a uniform of sorts, but it wasn't at all dull. The materials were patterned in paler shades of grey, the fabrics luxurious and styles just as impressive as those I had seen at the Court of Ljósálfar. Where their colours had almost blinded me, for some reason I felt at home with the darker colours of the Dökkálfa. I shuddered at that thought and the head guard's hand came down on my shoulder softly.

  “Are you all right, your Highness?” he asked quietly in my ear.

  I turned to look at him and had to force myself not to stare at his sharp teeth. “I'm fine.” I said and his hand lifted off and moved away.

  We walked past interested people, some just mildly curious, others champing at the bit to reach me. The guards closed ranks around my body, shouting commands in that strange language to the crowd. Although their clothes were all dark blacks and greys with the odd s
plash of white, all of their skins differed in colour. From the green of my guards, to red, blue, pink and yellow. There were some who looked normal, but most were a mixture of primary colours that shouldn't exist in skin.

  I was pushed along corridors and through big wooden doors, past rooms full of people doing, what seemed at a glance, to be ordinary things. Up stairs and around corners, down more corridors and through even more doors, until finally they deposited me in a room.

  It was nicely furnished. The curtains and bedspread were all in a golden brown. The odd splash of red here and there. Everything looked comfortable and far from what I thought I would receive. I had been expecting a dungeon from the looks of this fort. I spun back around to look at the head guard, who was still standing in the door way.

  “Will the Queen see me here?” I asked, putting on my best haughty stare.

  “The Queen is busy today, but you won't be alone for long. Good luck, Princess of Ljósálfar and welcome to your new home.”

  He shut the door quietly and then the sound of a not-so-quiet lock clicking closed followed. I stood still for a moment, letting my rapidly beating pulse try to settle and then took a deep breath in through my nose. I'd been panting slightly through my mouth and hadn't even realised it, but the moment I calmed down enough to manage a breath in through my nose, I smelt it.

  Fresh clean cut grass and salty sea spray.

  I collapsed to my knees and sobbed.

  Chapter 15

  Getting To Know The Enemy

  It was a trick. It had to be. The Fey could be so cruelly deceptive. How had they known this combination of scents meant so much to me? I had no idea. But somehow, they had. And Sofiq was using it to break me.

  I think it was working.

  I clutched at the make-shift stake in my hand, running my thumb over the sharpened tip. I was devastated, yet I hadn't fallen into that pit of despair. I wanted revenge. The first fairy to walk through my door would pay for their chicanery.