Lies in the Dark

by Robert J. Crane

  “Good. It’s quite dangerous out here in these lands. No place for the two lovely Seelie that you travel with.” The third Seelie, with dark red wings like blood, grinned.

  Lockwood’s hand curled into a fist.

  Something was definitely not right. Their tones were too sweet, too cheerful. Like honey covering something rotten.

  “You know there’s a tax for those who travel these paths,” the one with the green wings said nonchalantly. The three of them fluttered down to land on the road in front of us, barring our way.

  “A tax?” Lockwood asked.

  The green haired faerie nodded his head, a smug expression creeping onto his features. “Not a great amount, really. A small toll. To offset the troubles of patrolling here, extending the Seelie dominions to these … barbaric lands.”

  “That seems awfully convenient …” I said, my brow furrowing. For them, I didn’t say.

  Lockwood shot me a warning look.

  “Where does this tax come from?” Lockwood asked. “The court?”

  The fairy with the pale purple wings sneered. “No … it’s a little more local than that …”

  “Let’s say … from your purse … to ours,” the second said, his green wings trembling with delight.

  Oh. They came all the way down here to give us a shake down.

  Lockwood straightened his shoulders. He was taller than all three of them, and looked rather formidable as he stared down at them. But even still … it was only him against three.

  “No,” Lockwood said flatly. “Nice try. But the court will be hearing of this as soon as I—”

  “What the court doesn’t know won’t hurt them,” the purple faerie said.

  “They really couldn’t care less what happens to you,” the green faerie said. “As long as they are getting their land and their power, they will let us do … whatever it takes … to keep things … quiet out here.”

  “You are despicable,” Lockwood said. “A disgrace to that armor you wear.”

  “And you would know that how?” the red faerie replied, arching his brow. “You are talking big words for such a small fool.”

  “Lockwood …” I muttered under my breath in warning. I could see him rubbing the tips of his fingers together. If he were to snap them and … who knew what … “Maybe let’s not do anything hasty.”

  “You should listen to your little injured friend, there,” purple wings said. “Hey, maybe I’ll take her along as payment, too. Not like she can get away if she tried—”

  Lockwood snapped. Suddenly there was a great cacophony of metal striking metal as little blue lights appeared over our heads. As I stared at them in awe, I realized that they were hundreds of razor-sharp arrows, just floating there above us. The air around them throbbed with power, and I gaped at Lockwood. He had made these … appear …

  … Out of nothing.

  “Leave.” The air around Lockwood was swirling like a tornado, his hair whipping around his face, which was creased with dark concentration. “Now.”

  The three patrol Seelie grinned in spite of their peril. Pointed teeth stuck from between their lips like miniature vampire canines, and magic swirled in their hands as they all conjured weapons of various shapes and sizes. I saw axes and polearms and swords aplenty as they stood there, the arrows hovering over them.

  They stared at us. We stared back at them.

  Lockwood wasn’t backing down an inch.

  “You really want to do this?” Red wings said. “Attacking Summer troops is a capital offense.”

  “You threatened first,” Lockwood said coolly.

  The arrows above spun slowly, still pointed at the patrol. I swallowed hard. I really didn’t want to see them hit their target.

  “You declined to pay the toll,” the green Seelie said, casually examining his weapon. “I suppose we’ll just have to claim it from your purse after you are dead—”

  They all leapt toward us as one, each of them picking a target. They moved like Lockwood, speeding at us in a blur—

  I flinched, covering my head with my hands.

  The whoosh of arrows flying sounded like a brief rain. The sickening thud of them all hitting their targets prompted me to open my eyes even as I took a knee in a vain attempt to dodge whatever was coming my way.

  But nothing was coming my way.

  The patrol was dead, smote by a half a hundred magical arrows. They glowed as they stuck out of the Seelie bodies, laid out on the perfect white road, silver blood leaking across the flawless stones.

  Lockwood had killed them. With such little effort, all three of those Seelie were …

  “Come on, we need to go before these three are found,” Lockwood said quietly.

  “Lockwood … you killed them,” I whispered.

  “They aren’t dead,” he said.

  It took me a second to process what he was saying.

  “They … what?”

  “They’re still alive,” Lockwood said. “Barely. It’s better than they deserve.”

  Relief washed over me like warm water on a cold day.

  “What did you use?” I looked over my shoulder. Orianna was still there, staring at the grotesque scene before us.

  “Pinpointed harpy poison,” Lockwood said.

  Orianna nodded approvingly. “Nice choice.” She snickered. “Well, they’ll feel that for days, won’t they?”

  I could only stare at their bodies. How could they live with that many wounds?

  Magic, is what I assumed Lockwood would say. Magic, and that would be the only explanation I would get.

  “Thanks for the help, by the way,” Lockwood said, snapping his fingers. I watched as the bodies were lifted into the air by some invisible force, and floated easily over to the side of the road. He let them down gently just behind a group of dense trees.

  Orianna shrugged. “Not like you needed it. Besides, now I know what you’re really capable of.” She giggled, and her eyes flashed dangerously.

  Lockwood rolled his eyes. Another snap of his fingers and the patrol’s blood was gone.

  My chest hurt from how fast my heart was beating.

  Orianna crossed her arms over her chest. “You know, I wasn’t going to say anything because you’re so upset, but I think that’s exactly the reason why I am going to say something.”

  Lockwood glared at her. “What do you mean?”

  “I told you so,” she said. “That the roads were too dangerous.”

  I looked at the patrol as leafy vegetation seemed to swallow them up magically, between the waist-high leaves of a blue fern. It waved and swooshed as the Seelie disappeared beneath them, there to wait until they recovered from the poison, presumably, or someone found them.

  Either way, it seemed Orianna was right. I could tell because Lockwood said nothing, just looked at her hard, and led us off the white road into the wilderness once more.

  Chapter 15

  We followed the road but stuck to the tree line alongside it, the white stones like a glowing river on our left as we walked through the magical countryside of Faerie. A few minutes after our encounter with a patrol we saw a flight of faeries of indeterminate origin, wings the shade of pale blue silk, flapping lightly as they went by, using the road as their guide. Minutes after that, another group came through, then another after. The farther we walked, the more we saw, going in either direction. None of them saw us.

  “We would probably be safe to walk on the road,” Lockwood said as a patrol passed, in their distinct armor. The others we’d seen most recently had seemed to be civilians just traveling. These were obvious, though. “I doubt every patrol tries the same shakedown tactics.”

  “It’s a lot more common than you think,” Orianna said. She kept low with every pass of wings over the road. Her eyes darted around, suspicious, but she said no more.

  After a time, the forest melted away once more, we left the flawless white road behind as the forest gave way to low rising hills, the treeline pushed back to make way
for a small town in the distance, nestled between two green hills.

  The closer we got, we realized it was not, in fact a town, something stone and dignified on the order of Stormbreak.

  It was really more like a camp.

  There were tents of all sizes and colors, and a large wall of what looked like ice surrounding it, almost entirely see through. Long rows of men in white armor, the same as the patrol that had attacked us, were marching in such a way that I knew they were practicing drills, streaming across the fields in slow formations.

  At the center of it all stood a large, white tent that reminded me of one I’d see at a wedding.

  “This is a Seelie outpost,” Lockwood said after studying the central tent. “We should try and stay here for the night. If they allow it.”

  Orianna gave me a pointed look. “You ambushed one of their patrols just hours ago, and now you want to try and rely on the charity of Summer?” She laughed. “Certainly. Fine. Hopefully your ward won’t have another tantrum … assuming we don’t get found out for what you’ve done.” Her eyes glowed a little brighter. “Or you don’t get found out for … whatever you’re avoiding Seelie soldiers for.”

  Lockwood looked at me with concern. “The tyls raises valid points, especially in regards to our actions.” He shot Orianna a pointed look. “This being less an army camp than an outpost, a steady flow of civilians through will be normal. They won’t be checking too seriously for identification, but,” he made a wave of his hand and my wrist tickled, “just in case.”

  We started up one of the hills toward the camp once more.

  “You aren’t afraid?” I asked, looking over at Orianna.

  She shook her head, and I thought I heard a sound like jingle bells. “No. As your friend said, they won’t be looking closely for Unseelie. They don’t think an Unseelie would be stupid enough to enter one of their camps.” She smiled. “For the most part, they’re right.” Her eyes shimmered. “Besides, there’s little an Unseelie could even do in one of these places.”

  I frowned, wondering what she meant by that.

  Lockwood steered us through into the camp, past the walls of ice. He led the way, and knew all of the right words to say, apparently, because they let us right in. I wondered how they would have reacted if they knew what he had done, or who he really was. Another thing that itched at the back of my head, another little secret. Was it common knowledge that he had been exiled? No one asked him, and he certainly wasn’t going to tell. He just marched us right through as though we belonged.

  It was obvious this camp had been there for some time. Fire pits had been dug in the ground, and there were personal touches to every tent, like flowers or gemstones, and faeries milled around like they would in a town. Many called to one another happily, and children laughed and played like we were in a normal town.

  “Who are all of these faeries?” I asked Lockwood as we walked through a long row of tents. It felt like some sort of music festival or camping event.

  It was peaceful.

  It felt … safe.

  “Refugees, likely,” Lockwood said, following behind an orange-winged faerie he’d asked about supplies. “Those who have been outed from their homes because of the conflict.”

  I jumped out of the way as a group of teenage boys came flying by, tossing what looked like a color-changing turtle back and forth between one another, laughing all the while.

  “They certainly don’t seem upset about being displaced,” I said, watching as a mother cradled her new baby cooing in her arms, its tiny white wings flapping feebly.

  “Looks can be deceiving,” Orianna muttered under her breath, staring skeptically around.

  We wandered up a hill toward the large white tent. I could hear more voices, and there was a pleasant, gentle breeze in the air that cleared the remaining fear from my mind, lulling me with the peaceful aura of the camp.

  “We should definitely stay here,” I told Lockwood. “I like it here.”

  There were fountains bubbling merrily on either side of the tent entrance, which was also being guarded by Seelie in white armor. They smiled at us as we approached. People that passed in and out of the tent all wore white tunics and robes, all with relaxed expressions. It was hard to believe there was some sort of war happening anywhere near here, or that any of these people had lost homes or … anything, really. It felt more like a resort than a refugee camp.

  “Pleasant day,” Lockwood said as we neared the guards.

  “Hail,” one of the guards said. “How can we help you?”

  “I am taking them to see Lady Albus,” the orange-winged faerie who was leading us said, inclining his head.

  “Wonderful,” the guard said, smiling, pulling back the flap. “Please go on in. She is likely seeing to her patients’ afternoon treatments.”

  Patients? This was a … hospital?

  I followed Lockwood’s lead and inclined my head, smiling at the guards as we passed inside. Little lies, to belong.

  The inside of the tent was magnificent. Greenery was everywhere. The air was heavy with humidity, reminding me of home, and an earthy, rich smell of soil swirled around, filling the space overhead with large blossoms that glittered and chimed. Some of them even cast a dim glow, making the whole space blend with the relaxing feel of the whole camp.

  I sighed. Now this is what I hoped Faerie would be like. No pig monsters, no Seelie versus Unseelie war. Just greenery and pleasantness.

  Lockwood seemed more at ease, too. I guess the Seelie were the safer group to be with. His shoulders looked like they’d lost most of their tension.

  Orianna, on the other hand, seemed less enthused. Her eyes darted around and her mouth was set in a thin line. I wondered what might happen to her if she was caught … and if I would come to her aid or not. Probably wouldn’t have been very smart for me to, given that I was a human, which was potentially worse than being a Winter fae.

  We followed the path underneath another archway into what must have been the main part of the hospital. It looked like a concentric series of domes, and we were moving into the smaller ones in the center of the structure. White light shone over the greenery that draped from arches all over, given the place an almost heavenly feel.

  It was like a luxury spa. Light streamed in from the windows that covered almost every inch of the walls, even though I was pretty sure there were no windows on the outside. There were people walking up and down the vast hall, all in the same white tunics, smiling and laughing together. The sound was musical, and it smelled like lavender.

  There was a long row of beds that looked like massage tables, where faeries were tending to other faeries who were lying there, also in tunics. Some were having lotions rubbed on their bare skin. Others were drinking colorful drinks out of intricately carved crystal. Still others were answering questions from other faeries with red ribbons on the hem of their tunics. They must have been the nurses or healers.

  “Wow …” I breathed. We had been roughing it compared to here, the Ritz Carlton of Faerie.

  A short faerie with wild black hair stepped away from one of the beds, her pink eyes wide and alert. Her pink wings, narrow but long, fluttered anxiously.

  “Lady Albus?” our guide asked. “We have some visitors who wished to trade with you.”

  “Oh, of course,” she said, her face splitting into a smile, her black hair springing in all directions like wild ebony weeds. “I’d be happy to trade with you … if you would be willing to sit with some patients as your payment.”

  Lockwood looked around at the faeries resting on their beds peacefully. “Trade only, then?”

  “We have no shortage of currency,” Lady Albus said. “But we lack carers. What are you looking for? I have a supply of ointments and tonics, not to mention some salves for those pesky injuries. Perhaps we can strike a bargain.”

  “She’s got an injured wing,” Orianna said, pointing at me.

  Lady Albus’s large eyes swung in my direction.

&nb
sp; “I’m fine,” I said, feeling sweat start to bead on my forehead. “Really. I’ve got all the treatment I need.”

  “What are you taking?” Lady Albus asked. “Perhaps I can replenish your stocks. Or you could have a soak in one of our mineral baths—”

  “Lady Albus, is it possible that we could find a place to stay for the night?” Lockwood asked, dragging Lady Albus’s attention away from me.

  I exhaled with relief. Thank you, Lockwood. Saved again. My lies about faerie injuries were bound to be flimsy. I’d taken Anatomy and Physiology in tenth grade, but that covered humans, not fae, and I hadn’t been all that good a student anyway.

  Lady Albus nodded her head. “Of course. We have some spare tents that you are welcome to use. If you know any sort of healing charms, that would be a great help, too.”

  “I might know of some things that could help,” Lockwood said.

  Lady Albus beamed. “Then I believe we have a deal.” And she thrust her hand out like she wanted to arm wrestle. Lockwood brought his own up in the same manner, almost touched his palm to hers, and a flash of sparking magic made me wonder if they’d tried to light some brush on fire. A moment later, it seemed to be done, whatever pact they were making sealed with a spell.

  Orianna rolled her eyes, but she followed after us as Lady Albus wandered back over toward the beds.

  I wished I had been in a hospital like this when I broke my leg back in fifth grade. It was quiet, the wards filled with drowsing, peaceful patients. In the next section, I could see waterfalls rolling from the ceiling above, sunlight glinting off them and making faint rainbows in the mist. The sound of the tinkling water tempted me, but I stayed with Lockwood. I wondered if I could have a shower under them later. I hoped I would have a chance to wander around a little, get a good look at the whole place.

  “Here we are,” Lady Albus said. “This faerie was caught in the crossfire of one of the Unseelie attacks just a few leagues outside the camp. She was looking for refuge, and the Unseelie wasted no time doing their best to ‘weaken our numbers’ …” She shook her head in disgust. “I will be overjoyed when the peace talks are finished, and we can all go home.”