by R. A. Rock
“He's also a merchant. He trades goods, spells, and information. If he hasn’t got it, no one does.”
Finn knocked on the door, still holding Tessa’s hand. He liked how it felt, so small in his own. But when Izzie opened the door, she pulled her hand out of his and stepped away from him.
Isadore studied Finn, and Finn examined his old friend.
He hoped Izzie would cooperate.
The Fae before them was stout and strong with large biceps. He had bright blue eyes and salt-and-pepper hair. His nose was large and so were his hands. Finn knew him to be a shrewd businessman. But also a loyal friend. He was hoping that Izzie would help.
“I need an Otherworld sheath, Isadore.”
“Are you kidding me? I can’t believe you show up here on my doorstep in the middle of the night, demanding an Otherworld sheath no less.” The heavyset man’s face was unreadable.
“Oh yeah?” Finn answered. “What are you going to do about it, old man? You owe me.”
They stared each other down for a long minute. Izzie was the first to break.
“Come here, you knucklehead,” he said, grabbing Finn in a tight bear hug, giving him a noogie, and then pulling him in the door.
“Hey, hey, watch the hair,” Finn said, laughing as Isadore shut the door and the three of them stood in the entranceway to his house.
“Watch the hair.” Izzie snorted. “Come in. Come in.”
They followed him into the parlor, and he lit the lamp. That was when he seemed to notice Tessa for the first time. “And who is this beautiful Fae?”
“Tessa C—” Finn started.
“Tessa Reese,” Tessa cut in smoothly, holding out her forearm. Izzie bumped it. Finn didn’t out her when she didn’t let him introduce her with her full name and title. She had her reasons for doing so, and Finn could guess what some of them were. But he would ask her about that later. Right now, he needed to get this Shadow-cursed Otherworld sheath.
“May the stars light your way, Tessa,” Isadore said, eyeing her.
“And also yours,” Tessa responded.
“Won’t you wait in the parlor till Finn and I conclude our business?” Isadore gestured for Finn to leave the parlor and come into his back room where he concluded his deals.
Tessa narrowed her eyes at Finn.
“Well, she’s part of the business, Iz,” he said, feeling awkward. “Like I said, I need an Otherworld sheath… for her.”
“Another one?” Izzie asked, appalled.
“What, haven’t you got one?” Finn asked, suddenly nervous. If Izzie didn’t have an Otherworld sheath, his promise to Perdira was going to get a lot harder to keep.
“Of course I’ve got one,” he said, as if the suggestion was ridiculous. “I don’t want to sell you one.”
“Why not?”
“You know what happened last time, Finn,” he said, glowering.
“What happened last time?” Tessa asked. Both men looked at her, but neither answered.
“It’ll be fine, Iz. Come on. You have to sell it to me.”
“Finn, you are too good a friend. I can’t exact the price. It would kill me if anything happened to you.”
“Izzie, please,” Finn said. “If we don’t get this sheath, bad things will happen.”
“If you do get this sheath, bad things will happen, Finn.”
“What bad things?” Tessa interjected into the conversation.
This time, Isadore turned toward her. “The price is Starlight.”
“What?” Tessa asked, taking a step back and slashing her hand from her left shoulder down to her right knee—the sign to ward off evil. “What kind of merchant are you?”
“Please, miss. I am a good man. It’s not my price.” Isadore clasped his hands together. “The one who creates the sheaths demands it. I have jewels that I store the Starlight in, and I deliver them to him as payment. He always gives me the sheaths on consignment, and I must bring the Starlight-filled jewels to him within a week of selling the sheath.”
“Yeah, or else,” Finn added. “I know it’s dangerous for you to sell those things, Izzie. And you know I would never get another one if it wasn’t important.”
“You would never get another one?” Tessa asked, her tone irate. “Then why did you say you would do it?”
Finn glanced at her, but he wasn’t sure how to answer this new question either.
“So, come on,” he said to his old friend. “Will you do it?”
Isadore sighed heavily. “For you, Finn, anything. But are you really sure?”
“I’m sure, Iz. Hook me up.”
“I’ll be right back,” Isadore said, shaking his head. He went through a doorway to fetch what he needed.
“Finn,” Tessa hissed. “I don’t need it that much. It’s not worth it.”
“I won’t have the blades falling into the Dark Queen’s hands, Captain of the Guard. That’s the only reason I’m doing this.” He gave her a dark look. “For the good of the realm. Just like you, right?”
“Shadows take you, Finn,” she said, and her hands clenched into fists.
Izzie had just come back in, and he flinched at her curse word. He frowned and shook a finger at her.
“Sorry.” Tessa grimaced.
“Be careful what you wish for, young lady,” Izzie said. “Because they just might come for him tonight if we’re terribly unlucky.”
“What? No. I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just…”
“If you didn’t mean it, then why did you say it?” Isadore asked as if he was actually curious.
“It’s just… well… It’s just that he makes me so mad,” Tessa said, pressing her lips together.
Izzie chuckled at that. “Yes, Finn does have that effect on people.”
“Hey,” Finn said, spreading his arms. “Stop talking about me like I’m not here.”
“Ready?” Isadore asked Finn.
“As I’ll ever be,” Finn said. “No. Wait.”
Then he stepped over to Tessa and put his arm around her waist, pulling her body tight against him. She gasped in shock.
“Finn.”
“Tessa.”
“Oh, now I’m Tessa again, am I?” she asked, mocking his words back at him with a little smile.
“This is just in case it doesn’t go well,” he told her.
Then without stopping to think about what a mistake this probably was, he bent down and pressed a scorching kiss to her lips. It only lasted a couple seconds, but the feel of kissing her had him on fire. Too bad things were pretty much impossible between them.
“Finn,” she gasped again as he released her.
“It’s been nice working with you, Tessa,” he said, respecting her wish to not tell Isadore who she was. “May the Stars light your way.”
“May the Stars guide you,” she responded formally. “And Mr. Noble?”
“Yes?” he asked, surprised at the worry on her face.
“Don’t die, please?”
“I’ll do my best.” He turned to the older man. “Ready, Iz? Let’s go. Don’t hesitate. You know it hurts more if you do.”
“I know what I’m doing, Finn,” Izzie said, insulted.
Finn grinned and laid down on the couch, trying to relax his guts which had just tied themselves into knots at what was about to happen.
Isadore put his hand with the stone over Finn’s heart and closed his eyes. Finn sucked in a breath and felt himself losing consciousness.
He only hoped that he would wake up this time.
Chapter 14
Tessa glanced at Isadore, her fingers fluttering against her leg. The small parlor seemed close and stuffy, with the spicy smell of herbs coming from the back room. The light from the candle flickered, making the shadows dance. Tessa’s stomach twisted in on itself. It had been hours since she had eaten last, and they had had no supper.
Finn’s eyes closed as the older man pressed the green crystal to his chest. What was going on? She wished she knew more about thi
s sort of magic. Isadore continued to hold the stone to Finn’s chest, and she noticed that the stone was glowing. The seconds passed like hours as the crystal filled up with Finn’s Starlight. His essence. His life force.
Finally, Tessa couldn’t stand it. “Shouldn’t you stop?”
Isadore didn’t look up, didn’t take the stone away.
“I have to get enough, or the person who makes the sheaths will exact the difference from my own Starlight.”
“But—” Tessa started to protest.
“You make a mistake too many times with these things, and you’ll find yourself dead,” he said, looking up and meeting her eyes. “Finn will be all right. But I myself cannot lose any more Starlight. I am too old. I will not survive.”
Tessa pressed her lips together. She watched Finn closely, and when she noticed that his face was going grey, she could hold back no longer. She whipped out her knife from the sheath on her belt and, in two steps, was next to Isadore. Tessa pressed the blade to his throat.
“Stop.”
The older Fae looked up, startled.
“Now,” Tessa added in case he hadn’t understood.
Isadore’s eyes were big, and he slowly withdrew the stone from Finn’s chest. Finn was completely white by that time.
“What have you done?” Tessa asked, dropping beside Finn but keeping hold of her knife. “He looks like he’s going to die.”
“He won’t die,” Isadore said, pocketing the stone. “He’ll be fine. Finn always is.”
Tessa gave him an incredulous look. “Starlight is a Faerie’s essence. If he loses too much. He will die. And it seems as though you’ve taken a lethal dose.” She rose to her feet, furious. She held the knife out toward Isadore. “You’ve killed him. To save yourself. I thought he was your friend.”
Isadore backed away a couple steps, holding up his hands. “He is my friend, but he wanted the sheath. He wouldn’t listen.” The old man sounded desperate and sorry. “If I sell one of those sheaths, I have to make sure I get enough Starlight for it. Otherwise, he’ll kill me. It was risk Finn’s life or know for certain that I’d lose my own.”
“So, you thought you’d risk Finn’s life?” Tessa asked. “And I’m supposed to be swayed by this argument?” Finn’s breathing grew more and more ragged. “By the words of a coward?”
She stepped toward him, brandishing the knife. “Put it back,” she ordered him.
“Put what back?” Isadore asked, his hands up, looking completely terrified.
“The Starlight. Put it back.”
Isadore blinked. “I can’t. I’m sorry. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. You can’t give it back to someone.”
“Shadows take you, old man. I will not let him die.” Tessa moved in. “You must save him. Because if he does, your life will be forfeit, and you will die anyway. And all of this will have been for nothing.”
“There isn’t anything I can do,” Isadore said, eyeing the knife. “Well, or…”
“What?” Tessa asked, grasping at any hope. “What is it?”
“Well, Elixir, of course.”
“I don’t have any Elixir,” Tessa said, taking another step toward him.
“I do,” Isadore said, stepping back and holding up his hands higher. “I’m a peddler. I always keep some on hand. Worth a tidy sum.”
“I swear, old man. I. Will. Gut. You.” Tessa stepped closer again.
“Of course, I won’t charge you,” Isadore squeaked out. “I’ll get it right away. For Finn, anything.”
Tessa frowned. “Make it quick. And if you try any tricks, old man, if Finn dies, you should know that I will hunt you to the ends of Esper and beyond. And I will make you pay.”
Isadore met her eyes. “I believe you, Captain of the Guard.”
She flinched. He had known who she was all along. But that didn’t matter.
“Good. Then get the Elixir and be quick about it. He doesn’t look like he has much more time.”
She stepped back, and Isadore ran to the other room and returned moments later with the blue-glass bottle that all Elixir was stored in. He knelt beside Finn—who was breathing shallowly and much too fast—and dribbled some in his mouth. Tessa could smell the sharp scent of it.
“More,” Tessa said, hopelessness clawing at her. “He’s lost so much Starlight.”
“I can’t give him too much while he’s unconscious,” Isadore said. “Otherwise, he’ll choke on it.”
“Fine.”
They waited. Isadore dribbled a little more, and they waited again.
“What is taking so long, old man?” Tessa asked, fear in her heart. Finn ought to have been recovering by now, even with the small amount of Elixir he had been given.
“There may not be enough Starlight left to multiply.”
The Elixir that all Fae drank was a magic potion that was harvested from Starlight every year in certain sacred places throughout Ahlenerra. It was needed to ensure their long lives. It could also cure almost anything instantaneously. The way it worked was by multiplying Starlight. But there had to be some left inside the Faerie to begin with.
Tessa stared at Finn’s face. He was so pale. And his breathing so unsteady. Could he really be dying?
Then he exhaled, and Tessa watched for his next breath.
It didn’t come.
“Isadore,” Tessa said, her voice desperate. “He’s not breathing.”
“Shadows take me,” the old man swore.
“They certainly will,” Tessa said, dropping to her knees beside him. “Give me that.”
She grabbed the bottle of Elixir from his hands and thought hard. The Starlight, the life force, poured in from the Stars into the crown of the head. And the Elixir worked by multiplying what Starlight there was in the body. But if Finn was almost dead, then his Starlight would be slowly leaving his body, starting with his toes and moving upward until all that was left was a little Starlight at the top of his head.
Tessa followed that train of thought.
Usually, they ingested Elixir by drinking it, but it could be poured on wounds and that sort of thing. So, if all of Finn’s Starlight was now concentrated in his head, maybe the only way to save him was to pour it on his head.
Tessa shoved the bottle back into Isadore’s hands and crawled around until she was by his head. Then she lifted him, and taking his head in her lap, she held it so that the crown was now pointing mostly up.
“Pour it on his head,” she said.
“What? But he’s already gone.”
That wasn’t true. Tessa had seen it in her guards that had been injured in battle. Sometimes, the body would stop breathing for a time. But then it might begin again. Just because someone stopped breathing didn’t mean they were dead yet.
“Now, old man, we don’t have time for discussion,” she said, glaring at him. “Do it.”
He didn’t speak anymore but carefully poured Elixir onto Finn’s head.
Nothing happened.
“I’m sorry, Captain of the Guard,” the old man said, bowing his head. “I truly am.”
Tessa felt stunned. Finn couldn’t really be dead. He had just been laughing and joking with her. Surely, all that life couldn’t have been snuffed out by one bad decision?
Tessa blinked hard but couldn’t stop the tear that fell and landed on his forehead. The Captain of the Guard, who hadn’t cried in hundreds of years, was crying over some rogue who she had known a couple weeks? It was ridiculous.
And yet, she couldn’t stop.
He had worried about her. He had cared about her—a little, anyway. No one had cared for her in such a long time. And now he was gone.
Another tear fell, hitting him on the cheek this time.
Tessa looked down, and at that moment, Finn drew a deep breath and opened his eyes. He looked up at her, and a half smile lit his face.
“Tess?” he asked, his brows drawing together in confusion.
A last tear slipped out before she blinked the rest away.
&
nbsp; He was alive.
Finn was alive!
He sat up, seeming completely fine. He wiped at his face with his hand.
“Tears?” he asked, studying her. “You crying for me, Callahan?”
She shook her head, and Finn grinned at her.
“No, of course not. Stars forbid that you should care about me.”
Tessa’s lips twitched, and finally, she smiled, though she still felt nearer to crying than laughing.
“Stars do forbid,” she repeated firmly.
“Chasm and Severance, Izzie,” Finn said, rubbing his head. “I thought you said you’d go easy this time. I feel like you almost killed me.”
Finn stood, seeming a little shaky on his feet.
“You all right?” Tessa asked, putting her arm around his waist because he looked like he was about to fall over.
“I am,” he said, putting his arm around her shoulders and giving her a warm look. “But we should get back to the inn. I think I’m going to need to sleep this off.”
“I’m so sorry, Finn,” Isadore said, looking genuinely contrite. “I’ll get the sheath.”
He was back a moment later, and Finn handed him the lock of Tessa’s hair. Isadore keyed it to her Starlight and handed the Otherworld sheath to Finn. As he took it from the old man, there was a burst of light that indicated the palm vow Finn had made with Perdira had been fulfilled.
“It holds seven objects,” he informed them, and Tessa nodded, unwilling to talk or even meet the eyes of the traitor who had almost killed Finn.
Finn took leave of his old friend, and they walked side by side toward the portal that still remained open outside Isadore’s house.
“Put it on,” he said, and Tessa took the sheath that just looked like a leather belt from his hand.
“What do I do with it?”
“Do it up like a belt. The sheaths will be on the sides of your torso.”
“Tell me more about the portals,” Tessa said once she had put the sheath on and it disappeared. She couldn’t see it or feel it, but when she put the blade under her arm and intended for it to be sheathed, it disappeared. She did the same for the other blade.
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything.”
