She was no fool. She knew that she had been in mortal danger. Quite possibly her encounter could have ended when her heart exploded in her chest, like that of a horse ridden to ground by a drunk rider who wields his whip with abandon. But maybe, just maybe, it would have ended differently. She might have lain with the elf sweetly, under the spreading branches of the silent ash trees.
Mari sighed. Her household chores seemed more stiflingly dull than usual. She felt like slumping over her broom. She tired at the very thought of churning milk. Morning dragged, turning into an eternity of folding bed sheets, hauling water and stacking firewood.
By the time she was freed for lunch, she had already made up her mind. She would head up the hill—but not to go into the forest. Elves liked the cover of trees too much. She would be safer in the open fields.
She went to her dresser and after a few quick glances about to make sure none of her siblings watched, she had pulled out the ash leaf ward she had found when she had first met the elf. She secreted it under her shawl and hurried out into the sunlight. She affixed the ward around her neck with a loop of braided yarn. The leaf fluttered against her chest and she felt braver knowing it was there.
When she found the spot where she had first met the elf, she stood in her father’s field aghast. She put her hands to her face and stared in open-mouthed disbelief. Every stalk of the field was blackened and curled with blight. She had not a moment’s doubt where this curse had come from.
Mari called to the elf, her anger growing. She knew how hard Father had worked to grow that grain. The elf had spoiled it, just for spite. Just because she had resisted him. She marched to the edge of the woods, and she called him. She demanded that he come forth.
There was no response. The slight breeze that ruffled her dress and her hair, but carried no music with it. She felt a pang of regret, even through her anger. Would she ever see her elf again? Had he found another girl to accost, at the next farm perhaps? For some reason she could not quite understand, this thought upset her. It caused her pain.
She called out again, stepping into the green cool gloom under the trees. There was no response.
She finally did what she knew she should not do. She called the elf by his true name. She walked deeper into the wood and called his true name, over and over.
“You?” said a soft voice from behind her. She turned, and saw him. Some of her anger evaporated. It was hard to stay angry with one who was so beautiful to gaze upon.
“Yes, me.”
“Why do you shout my name as a bird might sing of worms in the Earth?” asked the elf, walking around her. He was clearly vexed. His manner was anything but seductive this time.
Mari turned to keep facing him. She held her ward tightly. She pointed to her father’s blackened field. “You did this, didn’t you?”
Half his mouth smirked. “You summoned me from my home to file a complaint, girl?”
“Why did you wreck our crops?”
The elf shrugged. “I owe you no explanations. My folk do as they will here. Our Pact is broken, remember?”
“You and I made a bargain. We danced. Both halves of the bargain were completed. You had no cause for spite.”
The elf finally looked troubled. She knew that bargains and wagers were important points of honor for his folk.
“What will we eat when the snows come and there is nothing for the mill?” she said, scolding him as her mother might. She put her hands on her hips. “Had you thought of that?”
“Hardly,” he said, “but you have a point concerning idle malice after a bargain is complete.”
He gazed at her, bemused at her manner. He smiled. He began to circle her again, slowly.
She turned her head to watch him. “What are you thinking?” she asked.
“I’m thinking that you didn’t come here to complain about a blighted field. I’m thinking that you came here to dance with me again.”
Mari crossed her arms. “I came here to see if you still haunted these woods,” she admitted, “but all such thoughts were driven from my mind when I found the sorry mess you made.”
The elf had stepped behind her. Suddenly, his face and breath were at her shoulder, whispering hotly into her ear. “Let us make a new bargain,” he said.
“What bargain?”
“I will repair your father’s fields. The grain will wave yellow and pure again in the breezes. All you need to do is put aside that dirty leaf you wear.”
She rolled her eyes and turned to him, shaking her head. She pushed her face almost into his, teasingly. “Not likely. Try again!”
He stepped back from her, surprised. She was glad to see him look surprised for a change. She felt a touch of pride, she had faced one of the Fair Folk and she could plainly see he was not her master.
“You intrigue me, child,” he said, smiling anew, “I will offer you a fair bargain, something I’ve never done with one of your kind. Let us just dance together. That’s all, just dance. And neither shall owe the other anything when the dance is done.”
“With my ward on?”
“Naturally.”
“And at a normal pace?”
He chuckled. “It will be most gentle and slow, I assure you. Stately, even.”
And so she agreed and Puck did play his pipes, and they did dance together under the ash trees. Mari felt her heart quicken at his gentle touch. She had danced before, of course. But the thumping tread of boot-wearing farm boys was nothing like this.
The elf was gentle and seemed to be enjoying her company just for what it was. Neither of them had further designs, she felt. He played sweet music that did not intoxicate her mind, but simply made her happy with its clear sounds. They danced together, for the joy of it. His touch was light and kind, but it did not make her burn. She could still think. She could still decide.
After they had danced to many songs, the elf finally stopped. Twilight had begun to fall over the land.
“Milady,” he said, “I must take my leave of thee. It has been sweet, but time is pressing.”
Mari felt a pang. She knew that he meant that it was the twilight hour, the time when his kind could most freely move about. He would seek out another to dance with. She knew this, as that was the way of his people.
“I have another bargain to suggest,” she said quietly, coming to a decision. “I wish to lay with you. And neither shall owe the other anything when we are finished.”
The elf looked very surprised indeed, and she was glad to see his expression. Perhaps no other had freely made such an offer to him. He recovered quickly, however, and began to circle her again. This time she let him step behind her, without turning to face him.
“Such unions are forbidden, for your people and for mine.”
“I thought the Fair Folk did as they pleased.”
“That’s true,” he said, and he stood still. He blinked at her, uncertain. It made her heart glad to see he felt conflicted.
She began to step around him, while he stood in thought.
“You will wear the ward?” he asked.
“Naturally.”
He laughed, noticing her circling and the reversal of roles. It was clear to them both that he was now the hunted.
“And we will proceed at a normal pace?” he asked, eyes sparkling as he repeated the question she had asked earlier.
“It will be gentle and slow,” she said laughing in return.
“Stately, even?”
“Yes.”
And so it was that they both came to realize he was as entranced with her as she was with him. She let him lay her down. She felt the cool leaves on her back and in her hair. Events took their natural course, and she would never forget them.
When darkness had fully fallen over the land, Mari Bowen hurried home again, knowing her mother would be crying and her father would be looking for a switch. Behind her, the field of grain was whole and wholesome again. She sighed to see it and to see Puck, who stood at the very edge of the wood, his skin shining slightly with
reflected moonlight. This time, she left Puck wistful and restless, rather than the other way around.
What she did not know was that she was already with child.
For, you see, surviving such close contact with one of the Fair Folk was exceedingly rare. But when both parties agreed to such a union, and both lived through the experience, there was always a half-fae child born. This fact had a great deal to do with why such willing unions were strictly forbidden by both peoples.
Chapter Four
Castle Rabing
“So this is the property of our ancestors?” asked Corbin incredulously. “Why have we never heard of it?”
Myrrdin looked troubled. “That omission from your education has much to do with me,” he said.
Brand eyed the cloak of night that fell around them. He was worried about the redcap. He had warned the others about it, but none save perhaps Modi seemed concerned. All of them felt that the creature wouldn’t dare attack with so many of them together, but Brand wasn’t so sure.
Castle Rabing had once been a huge fortress, but now it lay in ruin. The outer walls, long since torn down, were now no more than a set of long low hills that drew lines around the region. But those low hills still held some power and could avert the Faerie, which was why the group had come here. Inside the fallen walls, there were towers at the four corners, each broken and toppled long since. The southern tower was near the river and it was there that Brand had met the redcap one night. Facing the East was the gatehouse, a structure that remained somewhat intact. In the middle of the fallen walls was the largest and most intact structure, the central keep. It still stood, but with many smashed in walls, fallen stairways and tumbled stones.
Instead of settling in the keep or one of the towers, they huddled around a too-small fire in the midst of the ruined gatehouse. It had four walls and only one entrance, as the inner gate had been filled with fallen debris. For a small group, it functioned as a fortress in miniature. Brand sat on a tumbled stone block from the damaged walls of the gatehouse around him. The firelight illuminated the rusted iron grille of a great portcullis that had once barred the outer entrance. Warped and hanging loosely, the portcullis was now easy to slip past. Diced by the grille, squares of orange firelight flickered on the landscape beyond.
They had debated camping in the ruins of the main keep, which was more intact and much larger, but had decided against it. Myrrdin assured them that the keep had no potable water, unlike the gatehouse, which had a spring-fed pool at its center. Brand suspected that there were darker reasons for avoiding the keep. He thought of the redcap in the southern tower, but said nothing to the others. Worse things still might haunt the keep.
“You were here when this castle was…alive?” asked Telyn, intrigued.
Myrrdin looked uncomfortable. “Normally, only the wisest few do I take into my council,” he said. As he spoke, he fiddled with his staff, poking at the fire. He used the staff for everything from walking to stirring coals, but never did it seem to scratch or blemish. Brand wondered where within it the green Jewel Vaul resided. For he was quite certain now that the staff held Myrrdin’s power.
“We aren’t the wisest, perhaps,” commented Corbin, eating an apple he had gotten from somewhere, “but we do have a need to understand these things.”
Myrrdin nodded. He poked at the fire some more and tossed on a few more dead sticks before answering. “Yes,” he sighed, “I was here when this castle was more than an abandoned pile of masonry.”
“But why don’t we know of these things? Why don’t we have some memory of our people’s lives before migrating to the Haven?” asked Telyn.
“Because your elders and I, at the time, felt that it would be best if history were forgotten. You see, people had had enough of war. Most of the warrior houses—you call yourselves clans, now—had been wiped out. People considered them largely the reason for the devastating wars, and no one wanted to see them rise again to repeat past mistakes.”
“So Clan Rabing was one of these warrior houses?” asked Telyn.
“Exactly so,” said Myrrdin.
“They wanted to forget, so they didn’t tell their children of the past,” said Corbin, staring into the flames. “It sounds more like we were beaten then, and that the Pact was a surrender, a shunting aside of humanity to a wilderness that no one else wanted.”
Myrrdin moved uncomfortably. “There is some truth in what you say. But recall that the Faerie were devastated and exhausted as well. They lost far fewer lives than the humans, but they can’t replace them so quickly. A hundred warriors lost among the Faerie may take as many years to recover.”
“That, of course,” interjected Modi, “is one reason they used humans to produce rhinogs. They needed warriors that bred more quickly.”
“Well,” said Brand, speaking for the first time. He noted that they all turned their eyes to him and there seemed a new respect in their attitudes. It gratified him and made him a bit uncomfortable all at the same time. “Well, let’s discuss our current situation. We have yet to see Tomkin, but he is of the Wee Folk and their stealth is legendary, so he could be anywhere. We haven’t seen the Wild Hunt yet, but they too, could be hiding themselves. I don’t think they can come across the outer walls without great effort, if at all, so we should have the warning we need.”
Before continuing he glanced at Myrrdin, who nodded in agreement. “But we must assume that they will come and that they will work to break the ancient charms of this place,” he said. “I suggest we finish our talk quickly and prepare to meet our enemies.”
Modi grunted in agreement, but seemed disapproving of Brand’s commanding tone.
“Agreed, Brand,” said Corbin. “But I for one must know what happened to bring you all the way to the merling stronghold.”
Brand quickly related the events of the last several days, discussing Old Hob, the Will-O-Wisp, Tomkin and Voynod. He made sure to mention their deal with Tomkin, as he had promised. He hurried his tale, leaving out any mention of the axe’s effects upon his thinking and emotions. Indeed, it seemed that the axe tugged at his mind even now, for he felt anxious about the redcap and the expected arrival of the Faerie.
Brand stood up at the end of his tale, but Telyn waved him back down. “Wait, Brand. I simply must know what happened to the rest of you while we wandered the marshes for days.”
As no one else spoke first, Gudrin took up the tale. “The night of the merling attack was a strange one. I can’t account for the others, but it seemed to me that the wisps that you speak of so highly led me astray, although I’m loathe to admit it.
“Separated from the rest of you, I soon found myself alone in the blackness of the marsh, in a darkness as complete as any I’ve ever known in the deeps of the Earthlight below Snowdon’s frozen crown. I found to my despair that I’d left my knapsack and the axe behind. Only my Teret did I take with me, doubtless because I love it more,” she said, thumping her leather bound tome affectionately.
“The merlings fell upon me, and they netted and bound me. I managed to lay a few of them upon the mud, but it was not enough,” said Gudrin, glowering into the fire at the memory. “I believe I would have wielded the axe that night had I been carrying it. I might well have gone feral then, and ruined everything. For this reason, I account us all lucky that Brand took it up that night and still bears it now.”
“I too,” said Corbin, “was captured in a similar fashion.”
“Yes,” said Gudrin, shooting a disapproving glance at Corbin for the interruption. “We were both taken, and brought together, being dragged in a most undignified fashion through the muck trussed up in nets like huge frogs. That’s when Myrrdin and Modi appeared and raided the surprised merlings.”
“Indeed,” smiled Myrrdin. “You did look like great netted frogs.”
Gudrin snorted. “Anyway, they bashed and thrashed the merlings that dragged us and we searched for you two until the sun rose, but found only a few mushy tracks leading off into the track
less regions of the marsh. We followed them until we found what must have been Old Hob’s pond, although we didn’t know it at the time and saw nothing of that evil being. After that, we lost your trail. We found the skiff and decided to continue our journey, since it seemed that your tracks led north as well.”
“Also,” said Corbin, “we didn’t know that you had the axe and had reason to believe that some other party of merlings had taken it back to their stronghold. We thought that way might lead to the axe as well.”
Brand nodded and rubbed his hands together. He gazed out into the darkness of the gatehouse. He thought to see movement, but then figured he had been mistaken. He wanted to rub his eyes, but his gloves and his hands beneath them were too encrusted with filth from the hard trek across the swamp. He ground his teeth together instead.
“When we reached the merling stronghold we came as guests,” continued Gudrin. “The merlings encircled us with armed fighters, but kept their distance. We met with their king and managed to find a means of communication. He related to us that he was essentially neutral, but was glad for the recognition of his people as worthy of notice. He spoke much of the unfairness and misunderstood status of his people amongst the other races.”
“Never have I heard such a complainer!” said Modi unexpectedly. “Not even the Wee Folk can whine so interminably!”
Gudrin gave him a withering glance. “On the second day of our discussions with the king, we learned that Dando was already there, making deals with the merling king on behalf of the Wee Folk.”
Brand smiled despite his unease. The thought of the Wee Folk and the merlings bitterly lamenting to one another of their misunderstood statuses as thieves, spies and prowlers amused him.
“Then the Wild Hunt came in search of Dando and Lavatis. Dando sought to wield Lavatis and turned feral, as you witnessed yourselves. Now, we find ourselves here, alone, and perhaps the target of the Wild Hunt as well.”
A silence fell over all of them, but it was broken when a branch sailed down out of the darkness and landed neatly in the fire. The fire flared up a bit, eating the dry stick hungrily. Modi and Brand were the first up, and both reached for their weapons reflexively.
Haven 3 Shadow Magic (Haven Series 3) Page 2
