by Allison Pang
“The Queen is rather vexed with you,” the uninjured guard noted, a grim set to his mouth as he took a step toward me.
Talivar shrugged. “Well, it was my wedding night. I find the hard ground more accommodating than the Queen’s hospitality.”
“I’m sure we can arrange conjugal visits,” the guard sneered, his patience clearly running thin. Snatching at my wrist, he yanked me toward him.
Not really having anything to lose, I slashed wildly, my blade grinding off his armor. I spun away, using my momentum to break his hold on me. My head ached slightly with the movement, reminding me that I wasn’t really in top fighting form either. From the corner of my eye, I saw Talivar attempt to stay upright long enough to nock an arrow to his bow, the scarlet stain on his thigh spreading wider.
I feinted and scored a slice on the wounded guard’s nose, but a moment later I was knocked to the ground, my hand jerked up high behind me.
“That’s enough. Just come along quietly,” the guard with the arrow wound said softly.
I rolled, trying to throw off his weight with little success, even as the other guards pinned Talivar to the rock behind him.
“It’s a good thing I don’t have your sensibilities,” Phineas grumbled from somewhere near my feet. Before I could ask him what he meant, the unicorn opened his mouth and let out a squealing bleat that sounded an awful lot like a . . . goat.
A goat being sodomized by a rhino, but a goat nonetheless.
“When she shows up, tell her they tried to take me.” He dropped to the ground and rolled onto his side, squealing.
“She who?” Talivar frowned at him, exchanging a puzzled look with the guards.
I coughed as the rotten-flesh smell filled the air for the second time that day. The guards released us as the she-troll clambered over the rocks with surefooted grace. This time her son was not with her, but she gave a sorrowful cry when she saw Phin’s body lying motionless.
Who knew they felt so strongly about their breeding stock?
Never one to pass up a possible opportunity, I rushed to Phin’s side. My shoulders shook with a theatric sobbing that would have would have won me an Oscar. Clutching the unicorn to my breast, I let out a wail as I pointed to the guards behind me.
“They killed him!”
The troll squinted with a dull sort of intelligence, rage whirling over her face. With a roar, she charged them. The elves scattered before her fury, melting into the woods. Howling her frustration, she pounded a meaty fist into the side of the mountain before launching herself after them.
“You know what else troll country is famous for, Abby?” An audible click cracked from behind us as Talivar limped beside me.
Inwardly I sighed, knowing I probably wasn’t going to like the answer. “Do tell.”
“Landslides.”
Six
I stared at the prince blankly for a moment. The foundation of the overhang trembled, and I ducked my head against the showering explosion of tiny rocks. Small bits of gravel stung my cheeks.
Another rumble and the rocks began to fall in earnest. A massive boulder thudded toward us and I jerked Talivar away, hard enough to make him trip. I had only a moment to realize my mistake before his body thudded into mine, sending us both off balance. Phineas let out a squeal of panic, his hooves digging into my shoulders as I let him go, my arms windmilling to keep us upright.
I flailed and arched my back to stay on my feet, but the ground shook again and sent me hurtling onto a fallen log, Talivar sprawling on top. The slope bucked and we all began to slide down the hill, sled style.
“Well, this sucks,” Phineas snapped, grunting as Talivar shoved him ungraciously out of the way. The unicorn bared his teeth and clambered on top of the elf, the three of us balanced precariously.
I craned my head around Talivar’s shoulder, trying to see where my feet were pointed. “If we hit anything I’m going to break my legs.”
“Then don’t hit anything,” came the helpful reply. Talivar dug into the ground with his bow, trying to halt our descent. I heard a yelp and glanced over to see one of the elves disappear beneath a pile of rubble.
So much for him. Dimly, I wondered if the others would be hurt as well, but decided I didn’t much care. Talivar’s people or no, I wasn’t inclined to look kindly on being captured. I winced as we bounced off a jutting rock, pulling my legs up to wrap them around Talivar’s waist.
It would almost have been comical if I hadn’t been so busy steering us around a cluster of trees. My teeth clacked together at another jolt, the earth beneath us giving way into a thick mud, the remnants of last night’s soaking rain smoothing the way.
I scrabbled at a sapling, letting out a yelp as the friction burned my hands. We swooped off a small divot in the rock, catching air for a few seconds before slamming down on the flattened edge of packed earth beside the riverbank. Dazed, I could only blink at Talivar when he snatched at my arm to drag me up and lead me into the water, his panicked words spurring me to cross the shallows as fast as I could.
I only caught a quick glimpse at the other side of the river before we disappeared into the coolness of the trees, halting a few minutes later.
Breathing hard, I sank to my knees. “Do you think they’ll follow us?”
“No.” Talivar coughed, his head drooping with weariness. “They caught the brunt of it on the other side. We were lucky.” He glanced through the trees. “And we’ve got the advantage of the rock slide and debris covering our tracks. If they don’t find any signs of us nearby, they may assume we were swallowed up by it as well.”
“It’s the little things. How badly are you injured?” I ripped off a scrap of my chemise to bind it over the wound on his leg. The way his trousers stuck to it I couldn’t tell how deep it was, but better to at least stop the bleeding now. I’d worry about cleaning it out later.
“I’ll do,” he grunted. “We need get out of here. Kitsune has offered you sanctuary if you can get to the Barras.”
“I suppose that would work in the short term. But something tells me the Queen isn’t going to sit idly by. Besides, what good does that do us if I still can’t leave Faerie?”
“We,” he said dryly. “We can’t leave Faerie.”
“Huh?” I glanced up, knotting the last of the bandage. Field dressing for the win.
“That’s how the guards caught me. Turns out your geas transferred to me when we TouchStoned. Bit of a bitch, honestly, though I don’t think my mother knew it would happen.” He blanched. “Let’s just say we don’t want to approach the CrossRoads anywhere near a Door. The aftereffects are very unpleasant.”
“She said they would be. How far away is the Barras?”
“Assuming Kitsune still waits for us, at least half a day. Maybe more if my leg doesn’t hold out. And we can’t use the roads at this point. We’ll have to make do cutting across the rough country along the edge of the Borderlands as our straightest course.”
He rubbed a weary hand over his forehead as he sat up. “Damn.” His bow had snapped in our flight down the hillside. He stroked the cracked edge of the wood sadly. “That’s a pity. Better hope we don’t run into anything else along the way.”
“Dude, you can barely stand up, let alone draw the thing,” Phineas snorted, his mane still slick from the water. “And we’re wasting time.”
“At least let me carry it.”
Talivar let it slide to the ground. “There’s no point. It’s kindling now.” He stared at it for a moment and I wondered what memories he was chasing.
I laid my hand on his shoulder. “No more splitting up. We’re a team.”
I caught a flicker of chagrin in his gaze that made me wonder what his initial plan had been. “No denying you anything, love.” He found a narrow tree branch from a nearby deadfall. Testing his weight on it, he sighed. “Not much of a walking stick, but it will do.”
“Can Kitsune lift the geas?” The fox-woman was formidable in her own right and a powerful healer. If
anyone could undo it, it would most likely be her.
The prince shook his head, grimacing when he attempted to put additional weight on his leg. “I don’t know. She seemed to indicate that the Queen must be the one to do it.”
“Fat chance of that,” I snorted. “At this rate we’ll be lucky if your mother doesn’t kill us both. She’s waiting for us to give up and do what she wants.”
His face flattened as I draped his arm around my shoulders. “She’ll be waiting a long time, then. I will not be going back.”
Phineas and I exchanged a glance. Not that I didn’t expect something of the sort. Talivar had been under his mother’s thumb for centuries. Why he hadn’t given Faerie the collective finger and bailed a long time ago was a thing I’d never been able to fathom. I wondered if his deep-seated sense of honor wouldn’t get him killed someday.
“Talivar?” My arm wrapped around his waist to give him a squeeze, but he did not look down at me.
“I only wanted a chance to be happy,” he muttered, his mouth a thin line. “Why is that so hard?”
Without waiting for a reply, he leaned heavily against the crude walking stick and the three of us staggered deeper into the woods.
Nightfall found us huddled beneath the shelter of a lichen-coated rock formation. It kept the falling drizzle from the tops of our heads, but the ground beneath us was chillier than I liked.
Talivar tipped his head so it rested on the granite, his shoulder slumping hard. I pushed the damp tendrils of hair from his forehead, frowning at the heated warmth emanating from his skin. “You’re burning up.”
I shoved Phin from my lap to inspect the elf closer, unwrapping the bandage from the wound on his leg. A dark stain encircled the skin. “What the hell is that?”
He blew out hard, peering at his leg in the darkness. “Their weapons were coated with a light poison. Meant to slow us down.” A dry smile flickered over his face. “Just in case.”
“How long will it last?” Phineas inspected it, nostrils quivering.
“Depends on how much was on the blade. It’s not lethal. Just inconvenient.”
“I’ll say,” I muttered. “How far off are we from the Barras?”
Talivar shifted against the rock. “From here, it could be several more hours. Though with me like this, it might be days.”
“We don’t have that kind of time.” I stood up, brushing the dirt from my knees. “I’m going to see if I can find help. Which way should I go?”
My brave words about the insistence of teamwork a few hours ago came back and mocked me, but to his credit he didn’t even mention it. He pointed weakly toward a clearing through the trees. “We’ve been traveling parallel to the road for a while, but in this case, you’ll make better time if you’re not getting lost in the woods.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
He shrugged. “I know you, love. This isn’t your element.”
“What about me?” Phin butted my calf, nipping my skirts in irritation.
“Stay here. In case someone . . . finds him.” I went silent trying not to think of just what else was out here that might be interested in something sick and bleeding. “Besides, I’ll make faster time if I don’t have to carry you.”
He bristled slightly but nodded. “Don’t be too long.”
“I won’t.” The words were hollow, but they were all I had to offer.
I pressed a kiss to Talivar’s forehead, his glazed eye spurring me to movement. The woods closed tight around me as I left the clearing.
The last time I’d found myself wandering aimlessly around Faerie alone, I’d been unceremoniously dumped from the back of a puca and into a pond. This wasn’t all that much better, though I was certainly drier.
Still sore as hell, though.
I’d stumbled onto the road Talivar had indicated, but I stayed on the edges of it, narrowly avoiding an elvish patrol by taking refuge in a ditch. Judging by their pace, they weren’t looking for me anyway; the galloping horse hooves drummed into the distance.
Messengers, perhaps? It gave me hope that I’d nearly found the Barras—though I was beginning to question our quest to seek refuge there. If the Queen was already searching for us, I wasn’t sure how much protection Kitsune would be able to afford us. Still, what choice did we have?
The guards came back a short time later, forcing me to hide a second time, but they rode slower now, their helmeted faces turning this way and that. When their heads twisted in my direction, I froze, but they continued on without incident after a few more moments.
I sagged, exhaling softly, my legs no longer wishing to move. “Just a little farther,” I promised them, but it wasn’t like I really knew. My eyelids fluttered shut despite my best efforts to remain watchful. “Maybe I’ll rest here for a few minutes. Only a few . . .”
“Absinthe?”
I jerked awake, my head cracking into the bark of the tree behind me. The sting arced across my scalp as I blinked blearily at a familiar wet snout.
“Jimmy?” I struggled to get to my feet, but he laid a comforting hand on my shoulder.
“Nae, lass. Dinna fret. Ye’re among friends now, aye?”
I swallowed hard, trying to decide if I was dreaming or not. Jimmy Squarefoot was a Lesser Fae of the Barras with a pig’s face and a hunching lope. Despite his odd appearance, he had never been anything but kind to me and I owed him a lot.
“Where’s the prince?” he asked gently.
“Shit! Talivar. He’s back there”—I pointed into the darkness—“but I don’t know exactly where now, and he’s hurt. He’s been poisoned and he can’t walk.”
Jimmy snuffled, his tongue curling around one jagged tusk. “Aye, well. I’ll finds ’em, belike.” He tapped his nose proudly. “Best nose in six counties, ye ken.”
“I remember. But be careful, Jimmy. The Queen’s men are out looking for us.”
“Aye. That’s why I’m here. Kitsune sent me to find ye. We expected ye here hours ago.”
I pushed up against the tree so I was standing, the pine sap sticky on my palms. “We ran into some trouble. I was trying to find help.”
His mouth broadened into a grimacing smile. “And ye’ve found it, lass. Ye’ve found it.”
The hot water stung the myriad cuts and bruises upon my skin. Gingerly, I sat in the small copper basin, my limbs folded up to maximize the water coverage. The tent I was in was blissfully empty of company, as was my mind, thoughts of the last part of my journey drifting into a blurry haze.
True to his word, Jimmy had indeed found Talivar, sending me on ahead via a turnip cart pulled by a pair of fanged llamas. Our arrival first alerted Kitsune to the elf’s weakened condition.
Although the remnants of the traveling kingdom were much as I remembered them, an air of change swept about the mishmash of tents and vendor stands. The folk moved with a sense of purpose, a hint of excitement buzzing through the crowds. Last time they’d been preparing themselves for a possible battle against the same daemons who’d invaded Faerie, but this was different . . .
Perhaps it was only that the Queen had finally reopened the CrossRoads, but it felt like there was something more to it.
Pride.
Not that I’d had the energy to ask. At the moment, I could barely keep my eyes open long enough to acknowledge Kitsune’s presence when she had emerged from her tent to meet me, wrapped in a brilliant sapphire kimono. Her fox ears had swiveled at me curiously as I explained the situation, the fathomless black depths of her gaze resting on me with quiet concern.
She’d clapped her hands in unspoken command and I had let myself be led away, even as Talivar was taken in the other direction. Some part of me should probably have been worried at this, but I’d chosen to throw my lot in here. What else could I do but trust her?
So here I was, attempting to clean myself up—with a modicum of success. As warm as the water was, I had the sudden urge to remove myself from it, the soft robes laid out for me beckoning. Dunking my
head beneath the water one last time, I emerged already half-asleep as I slipped into the robe. I barely managed to towel off my hair before I lay down on the stuffed pallet, the robe only partially drawn closed. A moment later, I slithered into welcome oblivion.
The scent of ginger permeated the darkness with a familiar tang and I knew Kitsune was nearby. I cracked an eye to see her shadowed silhouette, golden in the flickering candlelight as she stared unblinking. Muscle cramps seized my leg as I stretched, and I bit down a yelp. Given the last few days, I couldn’t really wonder at the charley horse. I slammed my foot down on the ground, the heel pulled back to try to relax it.
Kitsune looked at me curiously as the pain subsided. I drew the robes together about my shoulders.
I sat up straighter on the other side of the low table she knelt behind. “Thank you for taking us in. How is Talivar?”
“Talivar is fine. I have cleansed the poison from his body and he recovers swiftly.” She slid a steaming mug over to me. “This time you will drink it,” she said firmly.
“Yes.” I’d refused to take any form of sustenance from her when we’d met this way before. At the time, I’d no reason to trust her word, though if I had, things might have turned out differently. By accepting a meal from her, I’d be under her protection in an informal sort of guest friendship.
At this point I’d take every bit of protection I could.
I sipped the tea, sighing as a delicate warmth crested over my skin, followed by a twist of irony in my gut. I could only hope Kitsune’s intentions were more honorable than the Queen’s.
The flavor was light, with a hint of vanilla. “It’s good.”
“Of course.” She sounded mildly offended but I smiled at her in thanks.
“I just wanted to say how grateful I am that—”
One smooth hand rose in warning. “Do not thank me for this, Abby, for I do not do these things for you.”
I sat on my heels, stung by her brusque tone.
“I told you once before that a cure for the Faerie Queen would not be welcomed nor sought after, and yet I procured it, upon your request.”
