Queen of the Fae: Book Two in the Fae Unbound Series (Fae Unbound Teen Young Adult Fantasy Series)

by Jill Nojack

  Freoric then stood and walked down the street, his long braid swinging like a pendulum, counting the steps it took for him to reach the end of the street, turn, and then disappear from view.

  James watched him go, not allowing the magic to extinguish itself until the elf was out of sight. He dropped his hand to his side and then collapsed to sit on the grassy tree lawn.

  "Och, that was quite a display, laddie. I love the scent of ozone, don't you?"

  James turned to find Eamon behind him.

  "I wasn't going to use Myrddin's magic. Ever. And then I thought about Lizbet and Bobby being right next door while an elvin assassin stalked my room-mate, and I just lost it."

  "I believe the elves will no longer doubt your power or your willingness to display it, though the lightning may have been a little over-the-top. My hair's still standing on end from the charge. Perhaps the ball of flame would have been enough?"

  James looked at the gruagach and rolled his eyes. Eamon’s hair stood out in all directions even without any electricity in the atmosphere.

  "Why was the elf here, lad? I'm surprised there are any outside of Europe."

  "He's probably the first, and hopefully, the only elf to visit Ohio." James said, "He says that he followed us to make sure that Thomas really left England and isn’t returning, but I think there is something more to it than that. I don't think that Thomas is really out of danger from the elves, and I'm not sure that my blowing my top like that will be enough to keep them away, either."

  "Laddie, the fae are falling apart without their queen. The races have been at peace for a long time, but the elves are now starting to make noise about increasing their power. Hamish told me that there are a number of the European fae who no longer feel secure that the elves will stay within their own boundaries. If ye recall, the elves have never needed a reason to make war."

  "I don't see the point— how many of them are there? Forty, fifty thousand? It's ridiculous that they believe they can hold power in the modern world."

  "Aye, but they're ambitious. They're stuck in olden times when magic beat anything that humans could do. They underestimate the power of human technology. They're wary of it, but they don't truly understand it. Unlike the rest of the fae, they haven't eavesdropped on humans on a regular basis. They despise humans to the extent that they haven't bothered to understand the enemy. That's always been their failing."

  Thomas felt the power of the magic building as James spoke with the elf. He watched from just behind the picture window in the Moore's living room as the fireball lit the street and the lightning streaked down from the sky to touch James's fingertips and hang there. He held his breath, hoping that James would have no cause to let loose his power and do damage to his relationship with the elves.

  As Freoric turned and started to walk away, Thomas's breath rushed out of him in a great sigh of relief and awe. The lightning still blazed in the sky, illuminating the elf's retreat.

  "He's magnificent, isn't he?" came a soft voice from behind him.

  He didn't turn. He didn't want her to know she had caught him by surprise. "Yes. Magnificent. I’m proud to call him my grandfather."

  "He is no more your grandfather than I am your grandmother," the girl replied.

  "That’s true. And yet, I believe he feels that bond to me and views me as kin."

  "Perhaps." The girl walked forward to stand beside him, dressed in a dark blue gown. "You’ll leave before he returns, but I have one request of you before you go." She held out a piece of paper with druidic writing on its surface. "Make sure that you share the knowledge of this potion with Tanji. I want her to make it for Lizbet. Langoureth will be able to read it. Do not tell her where you got this knowledge."

  Thomas was glad to obey any demand she made of him. "As you say, Morgan," he stretched out his hand to take the offered piece of paper and bowed his head slightly toward her, "I am your servant and will do as you request."

  Thomas started to turn to leave by the front door, but she nodded toward the back and said, “That way. And should we speak again, see that you name me only as Lizbet.”

  Thomas nodded and walked through the family room, exiting onto the lightning-lit patio. As he hopped over the short fence between the yards, the night went black again.

  Morgan arranged herself seductively on the couch, her feet up and a hip thrust out, her unbound hair spread across the couch pillows where she lay her head. She took a folded blanket off a cassock and covered herself with it loosely.

  When she heard James walk into the living room, she feigned a sleepy look and asked, "Is everything okay? The lightning woke me up. I didn't like that Thomas was here so I sent him away."

  James perched on the edge of the coach where she lay and shook his head. "Yes, I think it's okay now. And I get it about Thomas,"

  "Good." She sat up and patted the couch next to where she sat. "You could come closer, if you want. I think a hero deserves a kiss. I saw how you stood up to that elf. I was proud of you."

  James moved closer but expressed reluctance for the praise, "I'm not proud of me. I went too far. I didn't need to use that much magic simply to prove a point. And, truthfully, I was sure that if he'd said the wrong thing, he wouldn't have had much to say to anyone anymore because he'd be a burned spot on the pavement. I don't trust myself with this level of magic."

  The fae nuzzled his shoulder. "You'll use it exactly as you should use it. To protect me. You always have. I wouldn't have blamed you if you'd had to harm the elf to keep me safe." She leaned her face in close to his and kissed him gently.

  James couldn’t help but return her kiss.

  Soon, her mouth moved against his more insistently, and her hands began to roam across his chest. She moved to lay back and pull him down on top of her, but he pushed her away.

  When she looked up at him, his face wore an expression of anger and disgust.

  "You're not Lizbet…how could I make that mistake? Lizbet might understand why I did what I had to do, but she would never praise me for nearly incinerating anyone, fae or not. And she definitely wouldn't try to make me in her living room when Bobby could be home from school any minute."

  She reached out for him again, and he pushed her roughly away, "Stay away from me!"

  Lizbet rushed to the surface of consciousness. She fell back on the couch, disoriented. James's eyes were angry, his mouth curled up in disgust. She couldn't understand what was happening. Why had he pushed her?

  Frightened, she backed away from him, pulling the blanket with her. "James? Why are you so angry? How did I get here?"

  James looked searchingly into her eyes, and then slowly sat down in the chair across from where she lay on the couch.

  "I'm not angry with you...Morgan was here. I thought she was you...I, well, I wanted her to be you. And then I knew better. And she was very...she was very friendly."

  "James, I'm so sorry! I knew if I fell asleep, she'd turn up. I just knew."

  "Lizbet, I..." James stopped, pausing too long without continuing.

  "What? Whatever it is, you can tell me."

  "Lizzie, I can't be alone with you until this is over. I can't risk thinking I'm with you when I'm with her instead. Do you understand?"

  Unfortunately, Lizbet did understand. It made her sick to think of Morgan’s hands on her boyfriend while she was stuck in her own head, unconscious. Her heart tightened painfully when she pictured it. "Yeah...I definitely do."

  "As soon as your mom gets home, I'm taking off. And I'm not going to be around you unless there is someone else there, too. I don't know what else to do."

  Lizbet lay her head down on a couch pillow and closed her eyes tight. She wasn't going to cry; she wouldn't give Morgan that satisfaction, but man...that fae had to go.

  James stopped in quickly at the apartment and told Thomas not to expect him for dinner. He didn’t want to talk about anything that had just happened with his elf-loving, fae-worshipping room-mate and just said, “Later…” when Thoma
s asked how he was. He didn’t care that Thomas looked hurt.

  He quickly shoved some of his Renaissance Faire gear into a large duffel bag, including his heavy combat sword, along with his armor and helmet. As he walked downstairs, he dialed through the list of his SCA group contacts until he found one who could meet him later at the practice grounds.

  He might be Myrddin to the fae, but tonight he’d be an anonymous knight, working off his anger in swordplay.

  Thomas left a message for Tanji to pick up after school. He hoped that the temptation of learning new magic would be enough to encourage her to stop by on her way home. He hoped she would arrive with a little bit of pixie dust and a large amount of curiosity.

  He was confidently setting things up in the kitchen when Tanji called back.

  "Hey, Thomas! It would be great to be able to make something to help Lizbet out, especially if she suggested it herself. I'll grab the pixie dust and swing by after dinner."

  When Tanji arrived, Thomas was making a show of puzzling over the ancient druidic writing. "I can’t read the old language. I remember a little, which kind of surprised me, but I guess that would be some of what came over from Faolan's knowledge even though I don't have his memories. That's how I knew we'd need the pixie dust and some of the other stuff, but the rest of it has me stumped."

  Tanji read slowly through the formula for the potion and then looked at what he already had out on the counter. "It looks like the only thing missing is elk horn. That's not good. Do you have any elk horn?"

  "I do, actually. I picked it up in London in a 'magic' shop when I was staying there. Apparently, faux witches have always liked the stuff for aphrodisiacs. I don't have any experience of it, but I understand that the power that comes from feelings of love and passion can be energizing."

  Tanji turned to look him directly in the eyes and said, "No experience at all, Thomas? What a shame—based on my limited experience at this point, I think you'd like them."

  It seemed as if the small kitchen had shrunk instantly to a much smaller size. Thomas quickly turned away to pull the mortar and pestle out of an overhead cabinet, not sure why he felt flushed. He was suddenly as aware of Tanji's physical presence as he was of her magic.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Inside Out

  Bobby turned around and looked down at the five adult gnomes who were following him. Gurrdenn was in the group, as were Kaluum, Dracorr, and two of the younger gnomes whose names he couldn't pronounce. They smiled up at him, and he smiled back.

  "Okay, you guys", Bobby said, "you have to go back home now. You can't come to school with me again. I'll get in trouble if you do."

  The gnomes just kept smiling and made no effort to leave. Then, the smallest gnome broke out in an energetic dance around his feet, and soon the others joined in. When the school bus pulled up, Bobby stomped a foot down hard to get their attention.

  "Go HOME!" he shouted. The gnomes scurried back the way they'd come, but as soon as Bobby disappeared into the bus, they ran back in a clump, jostling against each other as they went, and jumped onto the back bumper of the bus as it pulled away. Kaluum lost his grip and fell into the road, scrambling out of the way of an oncoming car just in time. The other four held on tight as the bus pulled out of sight.

  "No, girl, you do not want to wear your shirt to school that way, I promise you," Tanji said as Lizbet slid into the passenger seat of the car.

  Lizbet looked down at her v-neck t-shirt, "Why? What's wrong with it?"

  "Nothing—if you're into the inside-out look."

  Lizbet's eyes darted to the shoulder seams on her shirt. "Man...I'm so tired now that I can't even dress myself. There's no way I can fix this quickly with wings, so I'll be back." Lizbet got out of the car and walked back up to the house, returning in a few minutes with her shirt on right side out.

  "You didn't sleep again last night?"

  "No, I slept. But I kept waking up to check that I was still me and still in my own bed...so, not a great sleep. Maybe four hours, tops. But I did get a pretty good nap yesterday when James picked me up from school."

  "You going to pass out every day just to see more of him?" Tanji asked, a note of teasing in her voice.

  "Nope. Wouldn't work anyway—James says he can't be alone with me anymore."

  "Huh? Why?"

  "Because yesterday Morgan came on to him, and he mistook her for me," Lizbet grimaced, "...yeah, that's right, the fae who is trying to take over my body wants my boyfriend, too. Pretty soon the two of you will be BFFs and hang out laughing about poor old Lizbet who couldn't even dress herself."

  "No, I don't think so. Langoureth sensed her immediately the last time she tried to trick me. They were best friends for like sixty years, and then, after the fae were sent to the shadow realm, they grew more and more distant over time. Morgan was very sad for a long time, but then her sadness turned to bitterness and anger. By the time you freed the fae, all she really cared about was the power. She was nothing like Morgan started out to be. Eamon says it's 'cause she's a nymph and was unable to bear being parted from her one true love."

  "That's a very romantic story. But she's not getting him back. And I'm not sharing."

  "But wow...you can't be alone with him?"

  "Well, you'll hang out with us, won't you, so we can be in the same room? And I think James wants me to include Thomas more, anyway. I'm not thrilled about that one, but if that's the only way I can see him, then that's how it'll be. All the old ladies in here will just have to deal with it, no matter how much they hated Faolan."

  "I guess that's one thing Morgan's other lives share with the fae Morgan...you were supposed to kill him, you know, not just destroy his amulet. It’s what she promised everyone."

  "Yeah, but I don't have that kind of hate. The human Morgan didn't want me to kill him—just destroy him, which I definitely did. Maybe the human Morgan would have been more like her fae side turned out if her life had gone differently. I mean, the human Morgan only has that one thing that makes her crazy, that Faolan thing, but what if Myrddin had died when she was young? Maybe she would have been a different person, too.”

  "Maybe." Tanji parked the car and stowed the keys in her oversized bag. Then she pulled out a bottle filled with an evil-looking, chunky, brownish-green liquid and handed it to Lizbet. "Surprise! Here’s that solution to the being sleepy problem that you ordered. Guaranteed to keep you awake for at least two hours at a time. Just a couple of swigs should do it when you're feeling drowsy."

  "Seriously? You’re the best. Is it going to be another one of those things I'm going to wish I never got a taste of?"

  "Absolutely. You won't see me putting it anywhere near my mouth. But it should do the trick. I guess you have to ask yourself how bad you want to stay awake."

  "I'm trying not to sleep unless I have a really reliable watcher, so maybe this will help. Do you think I can crash at your's for a while after school while you study?"

  "Yeah, we could do it at my house. The daddio will still be out working."

  "Cool, so let's see how well this stuff is going to work." Lizbet uncorked the bottle and put it up to her lips, taking a quick swallow. "Oh yeah, vile. Really vile."

  Bobby was glad to be back at school after having been away for a week. He missed his friends, especially his best buddy Kyle, whose face lit up when he spotted Bobby getting on the bus. Bobby hurried to sit down next to him, pulling a comic book out of his bag to share with his friend as they rode along. Kyle liked to do all of the voices, and the girl voices especially cracked Bobby up. Girls don't really sound like that, but it was funny anyway.

  When the bus stopped, Kyle bobbed along slightly behind Bobby, his red backpack scraping the ground. Then Kyle stumbled suddenly, and he fell onto one knee, crying out as he hit the pavement.

  "Kyle! Are you okay?" Bobby asked. As he turned around to his friend, he thought he caught a glimpse of a gnome running swiftly away to disappear around the corner of the building.

&nb
sp; Kyle sat on the ground holding his leg, his lower lip jutting out and his eyes scrunched close, trying not to cry. One of the teachers approached him.

  "Kyle, what happened here?"

  "I tripped, Mrs. Johnson. But my knee really hurts."

  "We'll get you into the nurse, and she'll fix it right up. Can you walk okay?" she asked as she helped him up.

  "Yes, I think so," Kyle said, as he followed the teacher into the school, limping.

  Bobby watched his friend go, and then walked to the corner of the building and looked around it—nothing there. He was probably just seeing things. Why would a gnome want to trip his friend?

  From his perch in a tree in front of the school, Eamon had watched the gnome trip Bobby's young friend and then streak away. The rest had spread out around the school yard, and Eamon had no trouble finding them with his highly developed sense of smell, but he wouldn't have been able to locate them just by sight. They'd done a good job of hiding.

  While Eamon knew that the gnomes wouldn't hurt Bobby, he wasn't certain that they weren't a threat to the other children in the school if Bobby was threatened. After school started for the day, Eamon jumped down from his tree and walked around to the back of the school to talk to the gnome chief, Gurrdenn. It was time to start to make sense of this.

  Tanji answered the door and looked down to see Eamon standing there, his hat in hand. She knew from previous visits that this meant he expected to be invited in. He'd explained it was customary in “olden times” for men to remove their hats inside a building. It seemed like a silly rule to her. It was also alarming to answer the door and look down into a wiry mass of dark hair standing straight up from the gruagach's scalp. Like most people, Tanji wished that Eamon would keep his cap on.