by Jeff Hale
She stepped back, and made a dismissive motion at Jacob, who went down the hallway into a room.
“Fine. First you tell me why you’re here,” she said as she stood there in front of me, wings folded behind her, her body in full display.
Damn me, but she was making it very difficult to concentrate. She was sex personified. “We need you to talk to the local fae court so I can go and speak with them. I know that if I were to go by myself they would just kill me for trespassing without permission. Besides I can’t get into the fae realms by myself, you know that.”
“We? We who?”
“Lucien and me,” I answered in an impatient tone.
“So make an appointment at the Embassy.” She frowned at me.
“We need something now, immediate.”
“Then Lucien can get you into the fae realms. And he can get you the audience you want.”
“No. He can’t. He’s my advocate. It would be seen as a form of nepotism. We need a neutral party,” I said. I watched her face as she thought it over, and a dreadful feeling began creeping over me.
“You’ve been accused by the fae courts of some crime?” she asked.
“Yeah. Well, no. I’ve been accused by the shifters. Henry is claiming that I killed nearly every member of his pack. The fae are stepping in to oversee the trial. Problem is, I think it’s a set up by Baba Yaga. The arresting fae guard was actually one of her servants in disguise.”
“I warned you away from that course of action! Didn’t I?” she scolded.
“Yes. You did.”
“And now you see why! No one crosses the Iron Hag, and no one interferes in her plans, and that includes killing her servants!”
“Well, I did. And this is happening. Without your cooperation I’ll be tried and probably be executed. I only killed the shifters that attacked me and those humans, and the one you helped me hunt down,” I pointed out.
“So you didn’t continue killing them?”
“No. I couldn’t have. I was arrested the moment I got home!”
“Okay, okay,” she said in a placating tone. “To answer your earlier question, I’m going to tell you something that you probably don’t know about yourself. I know what you are, and I know what you’re capable of. You’re the only thing besides a demon, wizard or witch that can harm a fae,” she said, giving me an appraising look, waiting for my reaction.
“Yeah,” I said slowly. “I figured that out.”
“You did? When?”
“Just recently. You know I told you that one of Baba Yaga’s servant fae had managed to infiltrate the local court? Well… I attacked him, and I managed to harm him.”
“What would possess you to do such a stupid thing?” she asked, mouth agape.
“Long story, but yeah, it was stupid. I’m still a bit sore from what he did to me.”
She shook her head at me. “You got lucky.” She sighed. “So, my interest in you is that because of your power, you could help me retake my kingdom from my step-mother,” she explained.
“Your step-mother?” I asked confused.
“She wanted me killed for reasons I won’t go into now because they were petty at best. After she had managed to get me out of the kingdom, she killed my father and took the kingdom for herself. She is a powerful witch, but if Baba Yaga sees you as a threat, then my step-mother won’t be much of a problem for you I’m guessing.”
“You’re leaving something out,” I said, giving her a suspicious look.
“You’re right,” she said, her voice dipping into a sultry purr. She crossed the floor to me and pressed herself against me again. She grabbed my hand and put my arm around her, then took my other hand and tried to put it between her legs before I pulled back. “If you aren’t powerful enough, then our child would be.”
“No, Raven! Not going to happen!” I said, taking a step back.
“Why not? He would be of two royal lines! He would rule this world and mine!” she yelled, rage apparent in her features.
“I will not become that!” I yelled back, pointing down the hall where Jacob had gone. “Besides. You know I’m in love with someone else, and don’t you dare threaten her!”
“I wouldn’t do such a thing! Why do you automatically think the worst of me? All I want to do is go home! I want what is rightfully mine, and you are the only thing that can help me get that! And you know what else I want? To be wanted! To be loved! As an equal! I wouldn’t do that to you! I miss… I miss being…” she sighed and threw her hands up. “Forget it. I give up.”
“If you don’t want me thinking the worst of you then why did you do that to my friend?” I asked, imploring her to make me see that she wasn’t the monster I thought she was.
“He wanted it! Did you ever think about that? I warned him! But he insisted that he wanted it anyway! He kept saying that a few months as my servant would be worth the shell of a life he would have after! I can’t help what I do to mortals, what my kind does to mortals!”
“Yet you think somehow I’m different?! I’m mortal!”
“No, you aren’t! You need to start realizing that, and real soon!”
“Still, if you knew, you could have turned him down.”
“Who am I to do that? He said he wanted it, he was a consenting adult. It was his choice, and I liked him! Do you think I like what he’s turned into? No, I don’t, but it happens to all mortals eventually. I can never be with anyone for any length of time before they turn into that. That’s why I’m telling you all of this! I’m hoping, maybe one day, you’ll give me a chance. I saw that potential in you when we first met, why do you think I tagged along with you, and why do you think I nursed you back to health when you almost died at the hands of that demon?”
“And you think an arranged relationship so we can have a powerful royal son is going to make me love you?” I asked, incredulous.
“No. Of course not, but it might have happened. Arranged marriages… well, they aren’t always bad. I fell in love with my previous husband after all. Then I found out he was… nevermind that. Either way, he broke my heart. I may be fae, but I have feelings, every bit as human as your own. Proximity to your kind has given us this blessing. This curse. Before, we didn’t have emotions. We just… did whatever we wanted without any feelings for it one way or another.” She sat on the recliner, and slumped, her wings drooping, but wrapped around her body, her head down. I had never thought to see her look this defeated and vulnerable.
“I’m sorry, Raven. I didn’t know. Look, I hate to ask this after all that, but will you help me or not?” I asked in a soft tone.
She looked up at me with tears in her bright violet eyes. “Of course I will. If nothing else I look on you as a friend. I hope you feel the same, at the very least.”
“I do.” I nodded.
“Unfortunately, you know my kind and what this entails. Even though I want to, I can’t give my help freely, especially since it requires me to deal with people I would really rather not deal with.”
“Okay, so then I’ll owe you,” I said, knowing what it could mean. Right now I would do anything to make her feel better.
“Anything that I ask, at any time in the future after the trial is over?” she asked.
“Yes, except for what we just discussed, no marriages, no children,” I said.
“Okay. Agreed. Just let me get dressed.” She stood and bowed her head for a second, and I could hear her mumbling something. I felt the air grow alive with energy as she pulled upon the Aether. Next thing I knew she was wearing a tight purple leather bikini top, and tight purple leather pants.
“Let’s get back to the Flame, then. I’m sure the Adjudicators will want to know that we need to go to the fae realms,” I said, heading towards the door.
“Jacob, darling, make sure you eat something while I’m away! And feel free to do what you want otherwise!” she called back before closing the door behind her. She looked at me. “Get ready.” She wrapped her arms around my waist and took to the
air.
She flew us back to the Flame and as we landed outside, Theros opened the front doors for us. He dropped a quick, but deferential bow before Raven, then motioned us inside. Lucien had been waiting for us, and as we walked inside, out of the summer heat and into the air conditioned building, he approached us.
“Good, now maybe Darien will stop pestering me with the fact that he believes you are untrustworthy,” Lucien said, sounding slightly exasperated.
“He can believe what he wants. I really don’t give a flying fu…” I began to say before Raven cleared her throat and gave me an appraising look, like she was thinking about the possibilities. “No. Raven. Just no,” was all I said as I headed back to the boardroom that Lucien had set up.
Inside I found Darien, Alex, and Kat all sitting around the table, file folders and documents spread out over the surface as they went through them. They looked up at me and Raven. Darien and Alex both stared at Raven, seeming fixated on her as Kat openly glared at her.
“Well, hiya, boys,” she said, giving Kat a sly smirk.
“Hey. We have better things to do than socialize,” I said. I saw Kat give me an appreciative nod. “Darien, I’ll need to go to the fae realms to talk with the local court. You going to be okay with that?” I asked.
“Why do you need to go? Can’t she just go by herself?” he asked, giving me a shrewd look.
“Because I hate the fucking cunt that runs the place, that’s why,” Raven said, crossing her arms petulantly.
“Ooookay. So I guess you can go,” Darien said, giving Raven a wary look then shifting his gaze to me. “After all, you’ll be right where the fae can arrest you if you try to run. I’ll contact the Embassy and let them know that you are fine to go to the court.” He pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number, turning his back towards us so he could speak to whoever answered.
I nodded and looked at Raven.
“Alright. You sure you’re ready for this?” she asked as she took my arm.
“As I’ll ever be,” I replied. The statement wasn’t quite out of my mouth before I felt a wrenching sensation, similar to when I teleported myself, but much, much, stronger. I must have passed out briefly at some point because I found myself opening my eyes.
I was looking up at the most amazingly blue sky I had ever seen. It almost broke my heart, it was so beautiful. I took a deep breath and could smell the definite fragrance of summer. I stood on shaky legs as Raven took my hand to help me up.
I looked around and found myself in a huge grassy field with random bunches of wildflowers growing everywhere. The grass was a bright green that I wasn’t sure there was a name for, almost neon, and the flowers where all different colors and shades. I had to be dreaming. All I knew in that moment was two things: I never wanted to leave, and Serena would love it here. I tried to get my bearings, and found that the sun was not quite overhead, but when we teleported it had been a little after noon.
“Does the sun rise and set east to west like in my world here?” I asked Raven as she started off walking.
“Yes. The fae realm is a reflection of yours, why wouldn’t it?” she said.
“Just making sure,” I said as I followed her.
We were heading west as far as I could tell. I looked to the north and saw a massively tall mountain range. It was absolutely magnificent with an almost lavender shade to it and capped with bright white snow and big fluffy clouds here and there. Green hills rose and fell near the foot of the range.
To the south was a tangle of thorny bushes, trees, and vines. It looked dark and forbidding, and I could see mist creeping around the roots of the trees there. Bright orange and yellow points of light flickered from the depths, possibly eyes glaring at me from the dark safety of the forest. Among the canopy of the trees I could see the tops of huge mushrooms peeking out.
“If you ever come here alone somehow, stay out of those places,” Raven said, gesturing towards the forest.
“Why? Besides the fact that it looks fairly uninviting to begin with.”
“Because places like that lead to the Wildlands. Once you’re in there… well let’s just say even the fae fear to tread there. The flora and fauna have minds of their own, and the natives are complete lunatics. You don’t want to eat or drink anything there either, oh, and avoid the tea parties. The queen was dethroned long ago by some mortal girl, but she quickly regained her throne once the mortal left. There are tales that the human girl keeps reappearing, dethroning the queen, and then disappearing, starting the cycle all over again,” she explained as we finally came to a road.
We started following the road, which looked to be made of multi-colored marble, and soon we crossed an arched stone bridge over a crystal-like blue river. As we crossed I saw a huge, clawed hand grip the edge of the bridge. It was dark, swamp green, and had moss hanging off of it and in between the fingers. I took a step back and prepared to conjure my blades, but Raven held her arm out in front of me and glared at the hand.
“Don’t even think about it. I’ll set your soul ablaze if you even attempt it, you pathetic creature,” Raven said in a commanding tone. At that, the hand disappeared and I heard a loud splash.
“And that was?” I asked, confused.
“We’re on a bridge. What do you think that was?” Raven asked me, giving me a patronizing look.
“Something that thought we were goats and wanted a meal?” I asked, shrugging.
Raven just laughed. “Something like that,” she said as we continued forward.
After a short while I saw on the horizon something that made me shield my eyes from its brilliance. It looked like a huge castle, no, palace, that was constructed of glass, diamonds, and crystal. As we got closer it seemed that it got more bearable to look upon. Almost like the further out you were, the brighter it was, just to make sure you could see it. I could tell I was right, the palace was made of glass, diamonds, and crystals. Despite that, it wasn’t clear. Enough light filled the structure to provide an odd prismatic opaqueness to the building. After a bit longer we arrived at the gates, which were huge stained glass affairs depicting a princess or queen in a glorious white and gold coach.
“She never did do anything on a small scale,” Raven muttered as we approached.
“Halt and be identified!” came a call from above. I looked up and saw a guard in crystalline armor looking down on us.
“I am Raven Black, of the Shadowed Kingdom, and this is Aerick Kerensky of the Dragon Realm, Sentinel and heir to Camelot,” Raven called up.
Dragon Realm? I would need to ask Raven about that sometime.
“Oh. You. You may enter. But do not cause her highness any undue stress or you will be removed!” he called down. The gates shuddered and then slid open with a silent ease. Raven sneered up at the guard and stuck her middle finger up at him before walking towards the opening gates. I shrugged and followed her in.
We went through a long sally port before coming to a huge courtyard. In the center was a large fountain with two fae dancing with each other as the top. They were dancing traditional style dances, including what looked to be some old fashioned Renn faire type dances as well as ballroom dances.
The male was muscular, but slender, and tall, probably about my height, and had finely chiseled features. He was dressed in a dark-blue tailed overcoat with golden trim, matching pants, and a simple white shirt under the coat. His blonde hair flowed about him as he spun, stepped and twirled. That wasn’t the most striking thing about him. He had the lower half of what appeared to be a goat, hooves and all.
The female…well I knew that fae females could be breathtakingly beautiful, all I had to do was look at Raven to confirm that, but this one was as beautiful as the rising sun at dawn, while Raven had the beauty of the moon. Her slightly bronzed skin suggested she loved being out in the sun, and her silver hair seemed to be spun from mercury. She was wearing a simple sundress that was almost transparent it was so diaphanous. Her figure was a match for Raven’s. Not exact, her breasts
maybe slightly smaller, her legs maybe slightly longer. She had the ears of a fox and a matching tail that held a pitcher of water which seemed to never stop spilling out into the top fountain bowl as she danced about.
“Stop ogling the nymph and let’s get going,” Raven said in an admonishing tone. “You think what I do to mortals is bad, you should see what she does to them.”
I turned and followed Raven, finally taking in the rest of the courtyard. I could have sworn I saw the nymph wink at me over her shoulder as I turned away, though. The rest of the courtyard was as green as the fields we crossed to get here, and while the wildflowers remained, I noticed other plant-life as well. Tall trees of oak, willow, and ash, but also some I had never seen before with leaves the color of gold or that sparkled in the light because their leaves were crystalline.
Water seemed to flow in a couple of different directions in here, and paths crisscrossed the yard at seemingly random points, but that all seemed to lead somewhere. Where paths and streams met, small bridges crossed over them. At one point we went over a bridge and as I looked down I could see that while the streams were shallow, they were deep enough to harbor several known and unknown species of fish, frog, and waterfowl. I also noticed similar types of woodland fauna about the place, though they seemed to be nervous and avoid Raven even as they seemed to gather around other fae.
We marched across the courtyard and I saw all manner of fae, and as I looked around I knew where Lucien got his help from. Most of the fae here were skimpily dressed and looked to be perfect specimens of their gender. Not that their bodies looked identical to one another, far from it, but if you had a type, you would find several fae that would match it perfectly, and others that despite the fact that they didn’t fall into your type, you would still die to be with.
The gates to the main castle were, again, stained glass. This time the picture was of a gold crown and a crystal wand, with the words ‘Never Midnight’ in flowing script along the bottom.
“Give me a week and some components, and I’ll make it midnight,” Raven grumbled as we entered the main castle. Inside was no less spectacular than outside. Here clear marble floors stretched out in all directions. A huge multi-colored gemstone chandelier hung above the main room. Two sweeping stairways led up to a second level, complete with balcony. Between the two stairways was a path that led through a set of gilded double doors, and through them I could see the throne room clearly even from where I stood.
