I’d heard about the run-in with Nerida, and the hate she’d thrown at Drake. Like he wanted to be a replacement for her asshat kid Cian? Like anyone wanted that? But she’d thrown it anyway.
“Of course it did,” Jharak snapped. “We were both very happy. You’ll have time to fight it out with her later. Ignore her hateful words, and see where they are coming from. Nerida has never dealt with the reality of losing Cian. Now she must, and her two younger sons are in danger. She is in a quandary. She’s not behaving well, I realize that—but allow for the circumstances, if you please.”
“Kind of asking a lot, in my opinion,” I started.
“No one did,” Jharak snapped.
Oooh, he had a temper. Now I could see where Brennan got his. I’d always seen Jharak as reasonable and level-headed. I stifled a laugh. These fae thought they were all above the humans. They were just as bad as we were. I decided to keep that observation to myself, however. I also overlooked Jharak’s rudeness. He’d never been rude to me before. I would bet this was the stress talking.
“Cian has told her that if we agree to let him keep Brennan, and return him to his birthright as the Fae King, with us stepping down immediately, of course, he will pursue no further acts against us.”
“That’s it?” I asked, leaping up. “That’s his offer? Did she tell him to pound sand?”
“She told him she would relay the message to me. I am telling you, so that you know where you stand when you catch up with him.”
“Why does he want Brennan?”
“Nerida asked him to return Brennan and he told her that was not open for discussion. So you must find him. There is no other way.”
“Can you find him via magic? Spells he’s using? Or anything like that?” I demanded.
Jharak shook his head. “No, I am sorry, Iris. You will have to find him the old-fashioned way.”
“I welcome it.” Drake’s voice was hard behind me.
I whirled around. “I don’t! How long will he keep Brennan alive? If he’s even still alive?” My words fell off as the thought of him gone hit me, and I struggled not to cry.
“We will find him, and find him alive, Iris,” Drake strode towards me. “I promise you. I will not let him die at the hand of that bastard.”
“Tell Nerida to stall Cian,” I said slowly, turning back to Jharak. “Or have her plead for Brennan’s life. Tell her to cry and carry on like her life depended on it.” I kept all the snarky remarks back.
“I will do so, in order to give you more time,” Jharak said. “But I must tell you I don’t think time is on our side. You will need to hurry.”
Drake nodded as he walked towards his father. “We will. Keep him occupied. Iris,” he glanced at me briefly. “Do you need anything else?”
“No. I got everything I needed before. I just have to toss it all in my bag.”
“Then go and get it together. Father, let’s check the horses and provisions. I’ll meet you back here shortly, Iris.” He walked to the door, obviously expecting Jharak to follow.
But he didn’t. Jharak looked at me, and then spoke. “You do not have to do this, Iris. Drake and Taranath will not allow anything to happen to Brennan. You can stay here, and I will keep you safe.”
I was shaking my head before he even finished. “There is no way in hell I am staying here. I am going to find my husband and kill the people who took him.” It wasn’t as hard saying it this time. Knowing that Cian would never give him back had broken something in me. It was all I could do not to drop in a heap and wail like a little kid. I could feel my heart racing, and my head ringing.
With anger. I wanted to hurt them both so badly they never got up off the ground again.
“Where do you go first?” Jharak asked Drake.
“The Dwarf Realm, to the cottage where we found Cian with Dhysara. She lives there now, and while people know she has her husband, Kelan, as he’s known, with her at times, people near them think he is a traveling scholar and that is why he is not at home all the time. She is a safe haven for him. We need to take that away.”
Jharak nodded, and reached out to me. I let him take my hand. He squeezed it, and then said, in a low tone, “You will get him back, Iris.”
“Is that a promise?” I asked, hoping my voice didn’t waver. I didn’t want my anger to be mistaken for fear, or hysterics.
“No, a feeling. I will see you shortly,” he replied, and then he and Drake left, and I was alone in the study.
******
Half an hour later, they were back. I’d finished packing everything up, including what passed for toiletries in Fae. I would need to work on this later. The ladies were missing out here.
“We’re ready,” Drake announced. “Give me your bags, Iris.”
I stood, holding out the one sea bag I’d brought from home.
“That’s it?”
“I know how to pack light.”
“That will make your horse happier,” Jharak smiled at me. “I will take my leave of you here. I don’t want to make a big fanfare of your leaving. It will only give gossips more to spread.” He came towards me and stopped when he was in front of me. Then he held out his hands towards me.
Drake took my bag, and hoping I was doing the right thing, I held my hands towards Jharak. He took them, and I marveled at how soft and firm his grip felt.
“I promise you, daughter, that I shall do all I can to help return my son to you and to his Realm,” Jharak said formally.
Oh, shit. Was this some sort of thing? I had no idea what to do. He’d never called me daughter before, and this had the air of formality. I shot a panicked glance at Drake.
“Accept my pledge, Iris,” Jharak said softly.
“I…I accept your pledge,” I said. God, could I sound any dorkier?
He squeezed my hands, and he was the Jharak I knew once more. “Excellent. Know that in spite of Nerida, I will not let my son die at the hands of Cian.”
I noted that he didn’t call Cian his son. That was progress.
“We need to go,” Drake said.
“Where’s Taranath?”
“He’s waiting for us in the courtyard.”
I smiled at Jharak, hoping I looked reassuring. Then I followed Drake to the door.
“Bring him back,” Jharak said. “We’ll make everything right from there.”
For whatever reason, his words, the way he said them, something—brought a lump to my throat, and I couldn’t answer. I nodded, and turned, walking out the door.
If we didn’t succeed…I couldn’t think of that.
We’d get him back.
Or die trying.
I followed Drake down the corridor, and then the steps. We reached the courtyard without running into anyone. That was odd but a good thing. We needed to keep this low key.
Taranath stood by a group of three horses. Shit. I hadn’t ridden a horse in a long time —not since we’d spent a long winter in the Bahamas. I hoped I wouldn’t fall on my ass, or anything else embarrassing.
“You do know how to ride?” Drake stopped suddenly.
“Little late to ask now, don’t you think?” I walked around him. “Yes, although it’s been a while.”
He caught up to me. “This one is yours. She’s fast, but calm. Just follow us, and she’ll do well.”
“What’s her name?” I asked.
“Her name?” He grinned. “The name of a great Fae Queen—at least to you humans. Morgana.”
I stroked her forehead and down to her muzzle. She gave me the side eye. “Look, you be easy with me and I’ll do the same,” I said to her. “Deal?”
Drake snickered behind me.
“Shut it,” I said. “Can I get a boost?”
Without speaking, he came closer and held his hands together with fingers laced for me to step into. Praying I didn’t look stupid, I stepped up and he lifted, giving me the clearance I needed to swing onto Morgana’s back. She shuffled her feet a little with me, and then stopped as I grabbed the r
eins.
One hurdle down. I wiggled in the saddle a bit. Oh boy. I was going to be sore tonight.
I was very glad at that moment that I’d changed into jeans. A dress with loose fabric would makes things worse for me. I was also glad no one was offering comment on my clothes. Maybe Drake had warned everyone beforehand.
“Where’s my bag?” I asked, twisting a little to see the others.
“I have it on my horse. Don’t worry, I won’t lose your clothes, ladyship.”
“Good thing,” I turned back around. “I might have to hurt you.”
“You could try,” Drake said.
We both laughed.
“A journey that begins with laughter is one that will be successful,” Taranath said quietly.
“Well, let’s hope that’s right,” I said.
Drake didn’t say anything, just nudged his horse and headed for the front gate.
Without another word, Taranath and I followed.
Chapter Four
Iris
We rode in silence for about ten minutes. I couldn’t stand the silence any longer, and asked, “Why are we on horses? Why can’t we just portal?” I don’t know why this hadn’t occurred to me before.
“Because we can be traced via our use of portals,” Taranath said.
“So we have to do this the non-magic way,” Drake grumbled.
“My butt won’t thank you for that,” I said.
Silence greeted my words. Maybe that was too much? Oh, well.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a horse for any duration,” Taranath finally offered.
“Well, good. I hate to be the only one suffering at the end of the day. So what—or rather, how far do you think we can get today?”
“Well, we should be at the borders of the Goblin Realm by day’s end,” Drake said. “Barring anything out of the ordinary.”
The Goblin Realm was bigger than I thought. It seemed really big when you couldn’t travel with a portal and have this over in a snap.
“We are also taking the roads less travelled,” Taranath added.
I giggled. They wouldn’t get it, so I tried to keep it quiet. It was hard. The dark of the woods all around us seemed huge, and all noise was amplified.
“I’m not even going to ask,” Drake sighed. “However, if you have questions, this would be a good time to ask, Iris.”
“So how does Cian keep this up? He’s married to Dhysara, right?”
“Yes,” Drake replied.
“Doesn’t Ailla know about that? She doesn’t seem the type to share. And what does Dhysara know?”
“That is the question,” Taranath answered this time. “We are not sure what she knows. In my opinion, she and Cian moved to the Dwarf Realm to keep her innocent of anything else Cian planned.”
“Can’t romance another woman once you get married,” Drake interrupted. “Kind of puts a damper on things.”
That made me laugh again, and this time, I didn’t hide it. “So he’s a big old manipulator. We knew that, though. I wonder why Ailla puts up with it.”
“What do you mean?” Taranath sounded interested.
I was glad Drake hadn’t asked. “Like I said, she doesn’t seem the type to share. She has no choice to share in this case. I mean, look at how she reacted to me. She has an agenda, sure, but she was pissed about me. That was just her being her.”
“You can’t know that,” Drake said.
“Oh, women know.” I knew a jealous bitch when I saw one.
“Forgive me, but I have to disagree,” Drake replied.
I shrugged, even though he couldn’t see me. “Okay. Maybe you’re right and I’m wrong.”
He laughed. “But you don’t think so?”
“Nope. Anyway, what are we expecting with Dhysara?” I didn’t want to argue with him, and thinking about what lay ahead was a good distraction. Meeting her would make this all real. You’d think me bouncing along on a horse would make it real, but it didn’t feel like it. Not yet. Not unless I thought about Brennan. He should be here with me.
I will not cry, I will not cry, I will not cry, I thought. I inhaled and told myself to hold it together, as Drake started to speak. I needed to pay attention.
“I don’t know. She was very fierce when we attempted to catch Cian earlier. She’s skilled in the arts, so you need to let Taranath and I take the lead. I don’t want you hurt, Iris.”
“But—”
“Brennan would have my head and other body parts should I allow you to be harmed. Will you please trust me on this? Please? Part of my responsibility is to keep the King and Queen safe. I will not shut you out, or keep you from anything, but I am asking if you will help me to meet my responsibilities?”
I started to speak and stopped. I could hear the sincerity in his words. He might piss me off, but he didn’t want me hurt, any more than he wanted Brennan hurt. To think otherwise was an insult to him, and to his honor. I knew this without being told.
“Yes, I will hang back. I have one favor to ask you all, though. Will you please work with me on a couple of spells so that I am not completely helpless against all these people who know more than I do?”
“You already know more than you think, your Majesty,” Taranath said in his mild tone. “You merely need to have more faith and pay attention.”
“Well, it has been a bit of a crazy town around here,” I groused, stung by the bit about not paying attention. That and I could already tell my butt was going to hurt like mad tonight.
“True, but you need to allow yourself to work with what you do know,” and I heard the voice of my teacher-slash-taskmaster.
I sighed. I wasn’t going to win this. “All right. Let’s go over it, shall we? Since we have a long ride today.” I looked up. It was going to be long. We’d left when it was still dark, and the sun was only just rising over the horizon.
A really, really long day.
******
When we stopped for lunch, I was ready to never see a horse again. Morgana was a great horse, and very easy, but as suspected, my backside was suffering.
“Oh, wow, I needed to get off and stretch,” I said, rubbing my lower back.
Drake gave me a contemptuous look. “Such a softie.”
“Shut it, sword boy,” I shot back. He had been on me the entire morning, teasing and taunting to the point that Taranath told him to zip it. That had been worth the harassment.
“Shall we eat?” Taranath asked.
I was so glad he was with us. Not only because he was really good at what he did, but he kept Drake and I from killing one another.
I didn’t want to admit it, but we were a lot alike. I could see why Brennan had chosen me, given that this was the person that he spent most of his time with. Drake and I were two sides of the same coin. It made me like him better, although it didn’t stop me from wanting to brain him.
We ate from a bag of provisions in silence. The bread, which I knew had been baked that morning, was delicious. As was the cheese.
“Do we make the cheese in the castle?” I asked. Maybe I could make some requests…
“We grow or make all our own food,” Drake said proudly.
The way he said it made me think that wasn’t the case everywhere. So I asked.
“No,” he said. “Not all Realms can support what is needed to grow their own food. There are complex trading arrangements, and sometimes, those skilled in the production of food, and some of the mages, will visit other realms and help them make their realm more productive. That’s due to Brennan,” he said, and I heard the pride again.
“What do you mean?”
“When he became King, if you couldn’t produce your own food, you just traded for it. There were no plan or efforts into changing that. He and I traveled through all the Realms right before he was crowned, and I mentioned that in the Human Realm, people worked to make the land work for them, rather than merely accepting it. That it might be possible to improve the lot of all the realms. That is
one reason they are all very loyal to him,” he added. “All the kings who were in place when Brennan became the Goblin King remember how he shared information, and gave to them freely, with no expectation of payment or anything in return. Fae have long memories,” he said, and a shadow passed his face.
I wondered why, but thought prying might not be welcomed. Drake had been really honest with me. I didn’t want to mess up what felt like a nice start to our relationship. Because we had to have one. Or we’d be fighting over Brennan. I could see that clear as day.
“Then why don’t we just tell them that Cian is back, no he didn’t really die, and we need your help to kick Cian’s ass?” I asked. I was missing something here.
“As grateful as they are, there is an element of opportunistic enthusiasm that can’t be denied,” Taranath said. “We have to make sure that Brennan doesn’t appear weak. If he does, other Realms will feel justified in taking over the Goblin Realm.”
“But they can’t manage it!” I exclaimed, thinking on what Brennan had told me about the magic of all the Realms. “It’ll all go downhill fast!”
Taranath nodded. “Correct. I’m glad to see the King has brought you into his confidence. They cannot hold the Goblin Throne, although none realize it.”
“Oh, jeez, the place would fall apart.” The various scenarios were horrifying.
“Yes, which is why we’re sneaking around. We need to get him back, and put Father back in the Fae Court, and put the threat of Cian away once and for all.”
I could hear the steel in Drake’s voice.
A thought occurred to me, and I got up and went to my bag. I hadn’t been carrying the mirror Brennan gave me on my person, but it was with me at all times.
“What are you doing, Iris?” Drake came up behind me.
“Do you think they took his mirror?”
“They would be foolish not to.”
“Would they even know to look for it?” I asked.
Drake shared a look with Taranath and then came back to me. “I don’t know.”
I couldn’t tell what was going on in his head. “What do you mean? What aren’t you telling me?”
“I’m being honest, Iris. I don’t know. I don’t know if Cian would know that Brennan carried one—do you know if he had his on him at the moment he was taken?”
Realms of the Goblin King (The Realm Trilogy Book 3) Page 3
