Where Shadows Lie

by Kim Stokely

  Fenella wrinkled her nose. “I like it down better.”

  I stared at her with my mouth open then shook my head. “Yes, well, I’ll take that into consideration if I make it out of the Fey alive.”

  Kyran surveyed me. “Can you ride?”

  “I'll have to.”

  He pocketed the Elderstone as he walked to the ladder that served as the stairs to his home. “Give me some time to call Braga to the clearing, then follow me.”

  I nodded.

  Fenella ran up and kissed him on the mouth. He seemed surprised at first but then answered her by pressing the woman up against the wall and kissing her back. I shivered. The display of raw intimacy made my skin crawl. I walked toward the lantern that still glowed in the back of the cave.

  “Hurry back,” Fenella whispered.

  Kyran didn’t answer as he climbed up the ladder. Fenella watched him until he drew out of sight. She caught my stare. “Do you like him?”

  “What?”

  “Do you like Kyran yourself? Will you let him have you, if he asks?”

  I shuddered at the crude term she’d used. “I won’t let any man ‘have’ me.”

  She lifted her chin. “Because of what the Black Guards have done to you or because you’re a noble?”

  I shook my head. “Because I don’t believe in letting a man use me.”

  “Do you not think he’s handsome, then?” She lowered her eyes. “Kyran?”

  “He’s way too old for me.”

  She scrunched her face up in surprise. “Too old? But he’s not yet thirty years.”

  “Where I come from, that’s old.”

  “Is it?” She still looked perplexed. “Here it’s the perfect age. Not so young as to still want his mother, not so old as to need a nurse.” Her eyes glowed and she leaned against the cave wall. “There’s plenty of girls that have bed with him, but I’m going to be the one he marries.”

  “Oh really?” I asked. “And how do you propose to do that?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “There are ways, secrets of the Mystics that a woman can use to make a man love her.”

  “Don’t play with the Mystics,” I warned her. “It will only lead to trouble.”

  She gave a little shrug and flounced over to Kyran’s bed to sit down. “I didn’t say I used any, just that there are some.”

  Kyran’s disembodied voice floated down from the hole above. “Alystrine?”

  I took a step toward her. “Believe me, Fenella, don’t get involved with them.” I could read the distrust in her eyes. “Thank you for your help. And for your skirt.”

  “You’re welcome.” She pursed her lips and looked away.

  I climbed the ladder. Dusk had fallen while I hid in the cave. The clearing was draped in gray. Kyran’s chestnut mare, Braga, bowed in greeting to me. I reached up and patted her on the nose. “Hello again.”

  Kyran already sat on the horse. A sharp cry of pain escaped my throat as he lifted me up.

  “Sorry.”

  “Not your fault.” Fenella’s skirt bunched up around my thighs and the cold air made goose pimples spread over my bare legs. I cast my thoughts out around us but didn’t sense any evil other than what imbued the Fey naturally.

  I wrapped my arms around Kyran’s waist as Braga galloped out of the clearing. For a while we didn’t speak but then I leaned up to Kyran’s ear. “Be careful of Fenella.”

  He glanced back at me, wearing a half grin. “Are you jealous?”

  I stuck my tongue out at him. “You wish. But she wants you for a husband. She seems pretty determined.”

  He chuckled. “I’m not the marrying kind. I’ve never told any of them otherwise.”

  “She may try something desperate.”

  He paused for a moment. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  I tightened my hold on his waist as my stomach convulsed. The hair on my arms stood on end. Kyran pulled up on his horse.

  “Black Guards,” I managed to croak out before I had to swallow the bile that rose into my throat.

  “I know,” he whispered over his shoulder. He jumped from Braga and helped me dismount. “I have a plan that might work, but it won’t be pleasant for you.”

  “Being caught by the guards would be worse than anything you could think of. What do you want me to do?”

  “If I cover you, it’ll hide your scent even more than the wine. I don’t think they could smell you then.”

  “Cover me?”

  He nodded as branches cracked around us. He pulled me to the ground. “Lay flat.”

  I froze.

  He read the fear in my face. “I’m sorry.” He pushed me down to my back and laid on top of me. “Try and relax. They’ll sense your fear.”

  I closed my eyes. A tear rolled down my cheek. He wiped it away and lowered his head to my ear. “Tell me of Ginessa’s Glade, what did you see there?”

  I knew what he was doing and tried my hardest to picture it in my head. “Flowers,” I whispered in a choked voice. “There were flowers of every color. And the colors were different there.” My voice wavered as the Black Guards drew closer.

  “Different how?” His breath blew hot against my neck.

  I struggled not compare it to Mahon’s. “What?”

  “How were the colors different?”

  “They’re brighter . . . deeper . . . so beautiful it almost hurt to look at them.” The tension in my body lessened as I concentrated on trying to describe what I’d seen. “Like when sunlight sparkles off water.”

  Braga snorted as we were joined in the clearing by two beasts on horseback. The stubble on Kyran’s chin scratched my cheek and he thrust his hips against mine. I resisted the urge to wriggle out from under him. He stopped when one of the Black Guards made a sound like a bark.

  Kyran’s eyes apologized to me before he lifted his head and grinned. “Sorry, gentlemen. We would get up to greet you, but we’re a little indisposed at the moment.”

  One of the guards dismounted and approached us. I shut my eyes, imagining myself back in the lake, floating. Kyran pressed something in my hand. “Go for the neck, it’s their weakest spot.”

  With that, the Black Guard lifted him off me and threw him ten feet away. I screamed as the beast grabbed hold of my blouse, yanking me toward him. He leaned forward then sniffed. I plunged the dagger Kyran had given me into the demon’s neck. He howled and fell against me. I held onto the handle and twisted. Black blood spewed from the wound, splattering my chest and arms. The beast shrieked. He flailed and batted me against a tree. I crumpled to the ground, desperately wiping the thick, hot goo from my cheeks.

  Before the other guard had a chance to comprehend what had happened, Kyran pulled the Elderstone from his pocket. The orb crackled. Blazing bolts of energy shot toward the beast, knocking him from his horse. Kyran stood over him until the guard stopped twitching.

  Braga came to his side. Kyran got on then helped me up. I’d barely gotten on the horse’s back before Braga crashed off into the forest. The dark man called out, “The use of the Elderstone will draw the others to us. We have to get you out of here fast.”

  As if in answer, I sensed evil swarming in from all around us. Kyran urged Braga to run even faster and the horse obliged.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  When Push Comes to Shove

  We galloped through the last line of trees and out to the muddy shore of the river we’d crossed by raft only a few short weeks ago. Horses thundered behind us in the forest.

  “Can you find a passage while we ride or do you need to be still?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t done it any way but standing. Keep moving and I’ll try.” I reached my thoughts out to Kennis, following the gold thread that linked us together. But before I could get a good feel for the current of air that flowed between us, my mind went blank. I didn’t know whether it was because of the horse or if my family was now in the palace with Braedon.

  “Well?” Kyran called.

  “Let me try aga
in.”

  Kyran glanced behind me and his eyes grew wide. “Hurry!”

  I followed his gaze. A stream of Black Guards galloped toward us. I tightened my hold around the dark man’s waist. “I can take you to the tavern.”

  “What?” He pushed Braga to go faster along the water’s edge.

  “You’ll never outrun them,” I yelled over the wind that raced past our ears. “I know I can get us both to the tavern where we met!”

  “Then do it!”

  I closed my eyes, pictured the place and tried to find the passage to take us there. The fact that we were already moving made it more difficult. Finally I got the right current and pushed with my mind. Kyran moaned and tried to twist out of my arms, but I held on. A moment later we tumbled together onto a wooden floor. Shouts and screams accompanied our arrival.

  Kyran landed on top of me, but I pushed him off. I couldn’t manage much else. It was as if I’d stepped off the Tilt-o-Whirl at an amusement park–the room spun at odd angles and my brain felt like mush. Several large men pulled us up from the floor. In a moment they were slapping Kyran on the back and laughing.

  “Look what’s come in from the cold!”

  “Welcome back. We thought the Black Guards had gotten you for sure!”

  “When did you come in, you sly fox? We never saw you.”

  As if on cue all the men turned their focus to me. I’d lost my kerchief somewhere along the way. My hair had fallen out of its braid and spilled down my back.

  “Well now, Kyran. We can see why you couldn’t wait for a romp.” One of the men reached out and brushed his fingers down my cheek. I smacked his hand away.

  Yaren, the little gnome of a tavern keeper, pushed through the men until he stood in front of Kyran. He waved a gnarled finger at him. “You! The last time you were here, the Black Guards blasted through my walls trying to get to you.” His stubby arms waved toward the hole in the stones behind him. “You’ve not brought such trouble with you this time, have you?”

  The younger man’s eyes flickered to me before turning back to Yaren with a roguish grin. “I hope not.”

  “Out!” The tavern keeper snarled. “Get out until you know for certain you . . . you . . . outlaw, you!”

  Kyran reached across and took my arm to pull me through the customers. I spotted Julia, Yaren’s daughter and the object of Kyran’s affection on his previous visit, peering out of the kitchen at us. She slipped back through the doorway as Kyran brought me outside.

  Once in the street, we ran into a crowd of men lurching their way to the pub. One of the men grabbed my free arm and yanked me away from Kyran.

  “What’s your hurry, Sweetheart?”

  Another one stepped to my side. “I haven’t seen you here before.”

  These weren’t Black Guards and I’d had enough of being a victim for one night. I thrust the ball of my hand into the bridge of the first man’s nose. He screamed and fell to the ground, blood pouring down his face. I turned on the second man, brought my knee into his groin and watched him stumble a few steps before collapsing.

  I shrieked when another man pulled on my arm. I whirled around, ready to take him down as well.

  “It’s me!” Kyran backed up. “It’s me!”

  I stopped my hand in mid-swing, panting hard.

  “Come on.” He looked over my shoulder. “You need to get out of here.”

  He held out his hand and I took it. As we ran around the corner of the tavern, I saw men helping up their fallen comrades and looking my way with something other than lust in their eyes.

  We ran down the alley then around another corner before Kyran stopped and pushed me against a wall. “Can you do it again? Can you find your way to where you need to go?”

  I squatted down, putting my head between my knees in an effort to slow my racing heart. I reached out with my mind, attempted to find Kennis, but again, the gold thread between us seemed to get cut off before I got to her. I peeked up at Kyran. “I can’t find my mother.”

  He gave me an odd look. “Etain?”

  “No,” I shook my head. “Her sister Kennis raised me. She’s the only mother I’ve ever known.”

  Angry shouts and footsteps echoed from the alley behind us. Kyran pulled me up to my feet. “Hit me.”

  “What?”

  “Hit me.” He pointed to his chin. “Then run to the next alley and try something else. I can buy you a few more minutes to get away.”

  “I can’t hit you.”

  He reached down, grabbed the back of my neck and forced his lips to mine in a brutal kiss. His body pressed me up against the stone wall. When he released me, I hauled off and punched him in the face with every ounce of strength I had left. He licked at the blood on his mouth then grinned. “Now run.”

  He staggered down the alley as the first of the mob came around the corner. I escaped in the opposite direction, sticking to the shadows. My mind raced, trying to think of where I could find a passage that would bring me near to the palace. Unfortunately, when I’d first seen it I’d been close to death. I couldn’t get a clear picture of any part of the town in order to find my way back. The people I knew well enough to connect with all lived inside the palace walls. If I couldn’t find Kennis, I wouldn’t be able to find them, either.

  I snaked my way through cobblestoned alleys, getting lost among the twists and turns. A cold drizzle fell, quickly soaking through Kyran’s shirt. I stumbled out into an open square. Beyond lay the city gate, closed and guarded for the evening. I pressed myself against the wall behind me. I didn’t hear any footsteps approaching, only the murmuring of voices as people strolled along the streets nearby. I slid down into a doorway and hugged my knees to my chest.

  I don’t know how long I sat there before someone heaved me to my feet. I screamed, trying to brace my arms against the wall as my legs didn’t seem capable of supporting me.

  Sigal grabbed me by my shirt collar. Her violet eyes were hot with rage. “Where did you go?” She looked me over as if she could find the answers through sheer will power. “Who hid you?”

  I clenched my teeth shut. I wouldn’t give her Kyran’s name. Not after all he’d done for me.

  “You were veiled, even from the spirits of the forest.” She shook me. “Where did you go?”

  “Here.” I tried to worm my way out of her grasp but her fingers had wound themselves around the fabric of Kyran’s shirt.

  “Who gave you these clothes?”

  “I found them in a tavern.”

  Her nose wrinkled. “Hence the smell. There is more,” she muttered as she held me at arm’s length. “Something you’re not telling me.”

  “Just take me to the palace. Let me sleep.” I shivered, not because of the frigid night air or my damp clothes, but because of the glint I saw reflected in her eyes. I swore under my breath. “Now what?”

  “Do you think I would risk taking you to Braedon unbroken?” She dragged me to her chest then pulled me into a passage. A moment later, we stood in front of double doors made of brass or gold, I couldn’t tell in the dim light. Sigal yanked the long cord next to the threshold. A deep, resonant bell gonged above our heads. She waited a few seconds, then rang again.

  A small man answered the door. “Who calls on the house of the Ovates?” His high pitched voice would have made me laugh if I wasn’t so scared. He sounded like a cartoon character. He looked at Sigal, then me. His disdain was evident on every feature of his face. “You both are of Elder blood. You have no business here.” The man started to shut the door.

  Sigal held out her arm. “I am a Portal sworn to the Lord Regent. It is on his business I come.”

  The little man frowned. “Wait here.” He closed the door.

  “What will you do if they won’t let us in?” I asked.

  “They will.”

  “But if they don’t?” I hoped they wouldn’t. The hair on my arms stood on end. I knew something wasn’t right with this place. Sigal’s fingers dug into my wrist, holding me in pl
ace as the door swung open.

  A round-faced man stood holding a torch. His red hair and beard made me think of a leprechaun at first, but he was far too tall and his demeanor too dark.

  “What are your names?” The new man asked.

  “I am Sigal, chief Portal to Lord Braedon and all the Mystics.” She pushed me forward. “And this is Alystrine, daughter–”

  The red-haired man brought the torch closer to my face. “Daughter of Etain and Geran the Elder. I have dreamed of her.” I didn’t like the way he smiled at me. It turned my insides cold. “Come in, come in. What can we do for you?”

  A rush of adrenaline pounded through my bloodstream. I tore myself out of Sigal’s grasp and fled down the stairs. I tried to find a passage but was too slow. The Portal grabbed me around my waist and hauled me through the door. I kicked and squirmed until the red-haired man placed his hand on my neck. A sharp pain rocketed through my body before I blacked out.

  I woke to find myself lying on a cot in a room with stone walls and no windows. A torch hung in one corner, filling the space with dull yellow light. A thick woolen rug covered most of the floor. Its deep green color reminded me of grass, but I had the bad feeling it might be a while before I saw the outside again. The red-haired man sat in a large wooden chair along the opposite wall. He smiled when he noticed my eyes open.

  “Welcome to the Temple of the Ovates, Alystrine. My name is Ceallach.” He must have read the question on my face. “The Ovates are those Mystics who study magic, prophesy and spiritual things. The Druids, like Lord Donagh and his son, find their satisfaction in power and politics while we seek the unseen world.”

  He walked toward the cot. “The temple has been bound, my lady, by the magic of the Mystics and the power of the Fallen. You will find no passages within these walls. No way to call out to the minds of other Elders. You are ours, for the time being.”

  I closed my eyes, hoping he’d think I’d fallen back to sleep. Instead I heard the door creak open.

  “Fetch the Portal. The girl is awake.”

  I wasn’t going to be lying in a vulnerable position when Sigal appeared. I pushed myself up then swung my legs over the side of the cot. My head swam. I put my elbows on my knees and rested my forehead against my hands.