Declan never questioned it; never tried to visit the island out of spite. He kept to his word, not wanting to displease either of his parents. Therefore, the sight before them was just as new to him as it was to the rest of them. This also meant he had no idea what they were walking into. When Alara stepped toward the nearest tree jutting from the ground, he didn’t know if he should stop her or join her.
Instead of doing either, Cedric moved beside her. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”
She stopped and looked at him. “You know, I bet you're right.” She put her hand down. “It reminds me of something.”
“The giant trees?” he asked.
“I think so. I just don’t know what. It’s like it’s calling to me.” Alara’s gaze went blank as if she saw something beyond the world. The green hue only made her eyes shine brighter.
Declan scrunched his brow, thinking of what could possibly have reminded Alara of the giant stalks.
“Maybe this was a bad idea.” Scarlett stood closest to the water, hands on her hips; her boots kicking at the drying sand.
“Well, it’s a little late for that.” Declan pointed to the boat.
Nico hadn’t even said goodbye. Once the four travelers exited the vessel, he’d turned the sail around and caught the wind back into the open sea.
Scarlett sucked her teeth and sighed. “Well, then what do we do?”
A loud, flapping noise came from overhead, and a large bird flew about in the distance. A battle cry sounded. Declan was thrown to the ground, where a massive figure mauled him. Its wings were as broad as Declan was tall, and they curled around its prey so none of the others could get in to stop it from killing him.
“Stop! What are you doing?” Alara ran to the figure.
Cedric grabbed her around the waist, flinging her at Scarlett, and went after the giant bird himself. He pulled at the wings and found the body of the animal.
“Where are they? What have you done to them?” the animal yelled.
On further inspection, Declan could see it wasn’t a bird, but a woman. She wore a long black dress and had wings the same color. She had long chestnut hair, skin as fair as Alara’s, and bright blue eyes like the ocean.
“What have you done with them, human?” she yelled.
“Stop it! You’re going to hurt him,” Alara cried at the fae.
“No, he needs to answer for his crimes,” she screamed back.
Alara was on the verge of tears.
Declan held up his hands to keep her from coming after him, though Cedric still held the thrashing fae by the waist. “Oh, for goodness sake. What crimes have I committed now?” he yelled.
“I can sense them. Their life’s magic is all over you. You killed them,” she yelled again.
“What. Is. That. Noise?” They all stopped to look at the shore. No one else was visible in the green glow lighting up the beach and its subsequent area. “People are trying to sleep, you know.”
Cedric lost his grip on the fae, and she lunged at Declan once more.
The voice boomed from overhead. “Maglana. Halt.”
The fae stopped in her tracks. Stuck where she stood, Declan moved back to Alara. He wrapped his arms protectively around her shoulders, never once taking his eyes off the deranged fae.
“Sorcerer, you halt me? I have a right to avenge my sisters’ deaths.” The fae was stuck in place like a statue, unable to move the slightest bit.
“Aye, you do. However, young mistress of the sky, these are not the killers of your fellow fairies. They are but the receivers of their magic and their souls. I can feel them, alive within the one with brazen hair,” the voice spoke again.
“Are you…are you talking about the fairies who kidnapped the queen’s son?” Declan yelled at the voice.
“Yes, young prince. Though it would appear the consort queen is his mother, is she not?”
Alara looked surprised at the words. “How did you know that?” She didn’t yell. Instead, she spoke as if Iren stood in front of her. She’d known who the sorcerer was as the fae asked the question. Only Iren himself would deal with anyone on the shore, as he always had in the past.
“Alara, you know there is not much I do not know,” Iren spoke to her in the same docile voice. “Maglana, if I release you, will you not attack? They have done nothing wrong.”
“How, then?” was all the fae asked.
“Talia.”
One word. The only word needed to cement the thought the sorcerer tried to convey to the winged woman.
“Fine,” she said, relaxing her stance. She let her wings drop to her sides, rolled her shoulders back, and waited for the release.
“Very well,” the old man’s voice conceded.
When the sorcerer did as she asked, she did not attack, as promised. She didn’t leave either. She asked questions of how her fellow fae gave up their life force and magic to a human girl.
“I don’t know. I don’t even know what it is I have,” Alara said once Maglana let her speak. “That’s one of the reasons why I wanted to come here to see Iren.” She eyed the top of the brambles as best she could in the night.
“You won’t get in, and he cannot help you from this side,” Maglana stated. She walked to the shore’s edge.
“Wait, do you know what we can do to get in there?” Declan asked the winged woman.
She laughed before she turned herself slowly to face him. “There is a way in that Talia didn’t consider when she created the curse on the island. However, it requires my help,” she looked around at the four of them standing on the beach. “Why is it that you really came? Who are you?”
“You don’t know?” Cedric asked.
“Should I? I am not a seer, human,” she sneered at him.
Alara put a hand out to stop Cedric’s movement before it started and glared at him. “No, it’s just that everyone else seems to know who he and I are with one look, so we forget there are others not entangled in Anaphias politics.”
“We fae stay clear, as ordered by your queen.” Maglana’s words stung Alara much more than she’d thought they would have. Being the queen was not something she knew if she wanted to go back to. She’d heard many people call the woman their queen and felt nothing, but for an entire race to believe Talia superseded her, it stung.
“She’s not the queen.” Scarlett laid a hand on Alara’s shoulder and walked towards Maglana. “This is the rightful queen, and the prince that is heir to the throne, Prince Declan.”
The fae woman bowed her head and went down on one knee in the face of the prince. “My apologies for your loss, young king,” she said, rising. “I will help your cause. However, Thea will need to know of this change in events. We were under the impression the young queen would not wake, ever.” She looked at Alara and then back to the sky. “What say you, Iren?”
The sky rumbled, which she must have taken as an answer from the sorcerer beyond the wall. Further inspection of the woman told them she had a conversation with the sorcerer only she could hear. She nodded in agreement and walked toward Alara, grabbing her arm. Declan moved forward to stop her but was held in place by an unseen force. “I may only bring two of you,” she grabbed Cedric’s arm.
With a spread of her wings, and in one fluid motion, she pulled them from the ground. Alara couldn’t really hear it, but she thought she’d screamed. The air rushed past her ears as she was dragged up, into the sky, and she squeezed her eyes tightly. She could feel her feet kicking wildly beneath her but never struck anything. When it felt like they were going back down, she opened her eyes to confirm the ground was moving toward her. She quickly changed the direction of her gaze to the top of trees just above her. The green light, more pronounced that far in the sky, reminded her of the emerald color of her eyes. Then she thought of Declan and wondered why the fae left him in exchange for Cedric.
Alara was correct about how they descended. As a matter of fact, when she looked down, she had to fight the urge to scream again as the grou
nd sped toward them. She wondered if Maglana had the strength needed to land without falling with two passengers.
The ground came to their feet as softly as it had left. It took a moment for Alara to look around, wanting to make sure she wouldn’t be falling any further when Maglana let go. Alara looked at Cedric, and then the fae. “Why did you take Cedric? Why not bring my son?”
“Because it is what I told her to do,” a loud male voice called from within the darkness behind her.
Maglana stood tall, squaring her shoulders, and bowed her head as others had done to Alara.
The queen turned on her heel. “Iren?” she whispered. A smile drew against her face as the sorcerer stepped into the green light of the thorn-trees.
“Hello, child, it’s been a while.” He stood and held his arms open to her.
She’d called him uncle when she was small. Looking up to him then as she still had to, he was much taller than either her or Cedric. His long beard, she noticed, lacked any of the color it once held. His hair, long as well, still remained full for a man of so many years.
He was magic, after all, a kind transcending all others. Sure, he would leave the world someday but as she remembered it, it would be a day of his own choosing. His kind of sorcerer had to leave one other in the world. His magic couldn’t just die away. So, he remained until he found a proper successor, then he would pass his life force to him or her.
At one point in time, he thought he’d found her— the one he could leave the burdens of the world to. He trained her and brought her up from the ashes that were once her life. For his efforts, she banished him from the rest of the world, leaving him to rot on an island. Alara knew Iren would not have been affected by such things. Living as long as he had, twenty years was a blink in time.
He opened his arms wider as he walked to Alara. She embraced him as she would have her own parents. Before she knew it, the comfort of being held in his arms brought tears to her eyes, which she didn’t hold back.
“This is one of the reasons why your son should not have come with you.” He pulled back and took her face in his hands. “It is so good to see you, little one. Were your parents here today…” He pulled her back to him, wrapping his arms around her once more. “Well, they’d be just as proud of you as I am.”
They stood embracing for a few more moments than Cedric was comfortable with. He wanted to grab at the old man and pull his queen from him, but he refrained. Something told him that move would not be a very good one. He held his ground, staying next to the winged-woman. He wanted to know why the sorcerer wished for him to witness such a private moment, but the time for questions had passed. The old man held Alara at arm’s length once more and handed her a square piece of fabric to dry her eyes.
“I wanted you here, Cedric because I’ve been told I am to ask for a favor.” The sorcerer looked him over.
“By who?” Cedric looked stunned.
“By whom,” the old man corrected. “And it is by the king himself.”
Alara’s eyes widened. “Tomas? Is he okay?” She glanced behind the sorcerer as if she’d be able to see past the darkness. “How?”
“Oh, King Tomas visited my shores ages ago. After the curse was wrought, but before it expanded to the heavens. Talia didn’t take to account at the beginning that every spell has a loophole, and hers was easy for Tomas to decipher. A knight with a white mare and blade brandishing a flame could enter the brambles. Though no man may.” Iren recited the original spell used. “She was still a novice.”
Alara smiled. “What? How did he?”
“With Queenie and Brazen. And he is no man. He is the king.” The sorcerer laughed.
“Brazen.” Alara thought back to the name her father had used for his own weapon. Her hand went to the hilt at her side, beneath her cloak.
“I see you have it now. Good. You will need it for what is to come.” He patted her shoulder and walked down the length of the barricade.
“But sir?” Cedric rushed after him. “What of the question from the king?”
The man stopped and closed his hand around the hair on his chin, stroking it methodically. “Oh, yes.” He turned to them and smiled. “He told me to ask you, are you friend or foe?”
“What kind of question is that?” Cedric was perplexed. He thought he would have gotten a bit more from Tomas. Over the years watching his bride, he’d shared every bit of their history together. He had no idea how the king could ask him that question, or for that matter, why. “I’m a friend to the crown.”
“Ah, to the crown, but that’s not the question. Are you friend, or foe?”
Cedric’s brows scrunched together with a sudden burst of anger. “Friend,” he said between clenched teeth.
“What is this about?” Alara looked between the men.
“If you are a friend, then you will remember…all!” The sorcerer laid a hand on Cedric’s chest. Alara watched in amazement and concern as it glowed white, and Cedric looked as if he were being shocked by twenty Conger eels. When Iren removed his hand, Cedric fell to his knees.
Alara ran to his side, kneeling in a pad of moss. She wiped the perspiration from his brow with her cloak. “Was that entirely necessary?” she screeched.
“It appears so, Majesty.” Cedric beheld her anew.
“Cedric, what is it?” she asked him coolly.
“I know what it is we have to do. Remember when you said it was clear the king had a plan for me?” He trembled. His hands lowered to the ground to steady himself.
“Yes.”
“Well, I think I know what it is.” He stared into her eyes then.
The emerald intensified by the spell wrapped around them. Her hair shown brighter than it had in the sunlight, and her face was more angelic in his eyes than ever before.
Alara glanced behind her. “What has happened?” she asked Iren, but he was gone.
“Time to go.” Maglana grabbed them both under the arm and pulled them to the sky. Alara didn’t have to guess. She knew she screamed. Having been taken by surprise a second time, before all her questions had been answered, she wanted the fae to release her; to put her down on her feet, and for Iren to come back and answer the questions she had come with.
They still knew nothing about why Talia took lords from their families. Or what she needed townsfolk for. Alara hadn’t found out how to use the magic in her own body either. All fundamental questions she had wanted to ask. Yet now, she had new ones. For instance, what Cedric meant when he said he knew what Tomas had in store for him. Why had he been chosen as her protector when it was clear he’d never received training.
By the time the woman had released them to the ground, she was fuming. “No, I demand you bring me back. I need to speak to Iren further.”
The fae woman just stood there, stoic in her response. “The time for questions has passed. Now you must travel to the queen.”
“To Talia? No, we won’t go,” Alara screamed as Declan and Scarlett ran up the sandy beach to where they stood.
“No, Alara.” Cedric slowly slid his hand over hers. “We are to go see the fae queen, Thea.”
“I’M going to have to visit that old fool again,” Talia spat at her son.
Landon arrived at the palace alone, which in itself made her temper flare. Finding out Alara had the essence of the three fae made her go beyond flare to full-blown rage.
“How could you let this happen? I told you to make sure they were dead when you left. You begged to do it yourself.” She continued on her tirade while Landon stood at the bottom of the dais. She’d gotten off the throne and paced the length of the stage. Tepid brown eyes darkened with her mood. She looked out the window. “Mothers aren’t supposed to hold their child’s hand with everything they do. At some point, they need to learn for themselves.” She spoke but didn’t appear to be talking to Landon.
Without expression, he listened to his mother’s rant.
Landon arrived at the palace and found the stables right away. Once inside, he i
nstructed the first guard he saw to take him to his mother, using the face identical to the son who’d grown within those very walls as just that, her son. Since the others left him and took the horses, he was forced to pretend to be Declan during his journey to gain another for his way to the palace. Then again, he used his brother’s name and looks until he stepped into the room with Talia. She, of course, knew who he was the moment he rode through the gates of the palace walls.
“Oh, Landon. What’s done is done. Let this be a lesson to you, my son. One you will not repeat in future endeavors.” She stepped down to the floor and held her arms out, embracing him. “Now, what should we do about this whole king thing? Your brother should have returned with you, but no matter.” She pulled away. Going to the large doors she’d instructed the guards to close upon his arrival, she drew them open. “Guards!” She headed back to her son’s side.
Six men swarmed into the room, hands on the hilts of their swords. “No, no. I need you to alert the staff. Landon has come home. Alara is still at large with my son. She tried to get Landon to flee with her, but the dutiful king returned home for his people. We will plan the coronation to follow King Tomas’ funeral. Now go!”
The men all bowed and left the room, pulling the doors closed behind them. “Do you think that is wise, Mother? The people may find it…inconsiderate to mourn the king and crown another on the same day.”
“Oh, yes. I think you’re right. I’ll push it by two days. The idea is to get you crowned as soon as possible. Preferably before Declan gets back to tell the people you are in fact my heir, and not Alara’s. We don’t need that, now do we?” She grabbed her son by the hand and walked him to the large chair on the dais. “Here. Sit. How does that feel?”
“It feels like my childhood was sacrificed for a greater purpose, just as you’ve always told me.” A smug smile crossed his lips. Then he sneered as he pictured his brother returning to find him crowned as his king. “I never really thought it would happen this way, but here we are.”
“Yes, and once those fools are brought back to Anaphias; we can rid ourselves of Alara and Cedric for good. Although I will have to visit Iren and get him to help strip the magic she was given. That means I must leave now. You understand, don’t you?” She spoke with sorrow etched in her features.
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