by Janni Nell
“Have you never learned to hold your tongue, girl?”
“Nope.”
The Aunt gave FAB a long-suffering expression. What did I do to deserve this?
FAB said, “Anything you can tell Allegra would be deeply appreciated.”
“A midwife learns many secrets from her clients,” said the aunt. “A good midwife keeps them to herself.”
“I thought you were retired,” I said.
She snapped, “I gave up my job, not my integrity.”
I pressed on. “Why was Sharina banished?”
“Who told you she was banished?”
“I saw her grave marker.” Better not mention digging up her body. “She is buried outside the Land of the Fae.”
FAB’s aunt sighed and muttered, “Silly girl.”
“Who? Sharina?” Surely she couldn’t be talking about me.
“Yes. Sharina. I am sorry she died, but once she went to the human world it was inevitable.”
“Why was she banished?” I persisted.
“That is not for me to say. I’ve told you enough. Be on your way.” She waved a dismissive hand, folded her arms and turned away from me.
FAB said, “I owe this human my life, dear Aunt.”
“And I thank her for that, dear nephew. But the debt is not mine. You must find another way to pay.”
“How about giving me a name.” I suggested. “Sharina must have parents, siblings. Just one name. It is not too much to ask.”
FAB’s Aunt turned away and stared at the lake, ignoring me. I really hated to give up without getting what I’d come for. Maybe begging would help. “Please, I—”
“Will someone instruct that girl on how to hold her tongue?” Since there was no one else around, I guessed she meant FAB. “And get her out of my sight.”
But I couldn’t leave without giving it one last shot. “I do not expect you to give me the information for free. There must be something I can give you in return.”
A greedy gleam lit her eyes. Ah, now I was getting somewhere. I asked, “What do you want?”
“You humans make the best chocolate. I have not had any in years.”
Gee, if only I’d thought to pack a block. Did I have time to leave Fairyland, run to the nearest store and be back before the Fae closed the rip in the border? Nope, didn’t think so.
“I would love to give you what you want, but...”
She pointed to my pocket, the one where I’d safely stowed my last wish-pebble, and said, “You have had dealings with a leprechaun and you have a wish to spare.”
“I thought pureblood Fae could make their own wishes.”
“We cannot wish for things from the human world. Usually we do not want them, but the Fae have little talent for making chocolate. I prefer dark. And plenty of it.”
I hesitated. I so did not want to use this wish. My last wish. My last chance for a kiss from Casper.
I faced FAB’s aunt. “I would very much like to give you all the chocolate you could eat, but I have only one wish left.”
“One wish is enough.”
“Yes, I know that, but...” Throwing myself on her mercy, I went on, “I was hoping to use the wish for—there is someone—I love him. We have never kissed. I long to feel his lips on mine.”
FAB’s aunt nodded. “I understand the trials of young love. So painful.” Her sympathy seemed sincere, but she was hard-hearted to the core. “The choice is yours. A kiss or information.”
I leaned toward FAB and whispered, “Is there any other way? Do you have any other aunts who might have known Sharina?”
“I am very afraid not, dear one.”
There is usually more than one way to solve any given problem, but how long would it take me to find another solution to this one? Time was of the essence. Not just to solve the case, but somewhere in Fairyland Casper was struggling to reach the River of Dreams. Without my help he might not make it, and I couldn’t kiss him if he wasn’t around, could I? My fingers touched the pebble. I said goodbye to my last chance of a kiss from Casper. When I spoke the wish, the pebble disappeared and FAB’s aunt was literally up to her ears in packets of dark chocolate.
She ripped one open “You have made an old Fae very happy.”
“Now it is your turn to make a young investigator happy.”
Her mouth was so full of chocolate, I struggled to understand what she said, “Rynar Levara.”
“And he is—?”
“Sharina’s father.”
“His address?”
FAB’s aunt licked her chocolaty lips. “The End of the Road.”
“That is not an address,” I snorted.
FAB grabbed my arm and started pulling me away. “Thank you, dear Aunt. We are most grateful.” Keeping a tight hold of my arm, he guided me through the cottage and down the path between the rows of maniacally grinning sunflowers.
“Why did you let your aunt get away with that? The End of the Road. Which fricking road would that be?”
“It is part of the Fae world. In the Far Corner to be precise.”
“So we are going to The End of The Road in the Far Corner.”
“That is correct, dear one.”
“Well, at least it is not the Yellow Brick Road.”
He turned to me in surprise. “Part of the road is constructed of yellow bricks. How did you know?”
“Please tell me we will not be attacked by flying monkeys.”
“There are no monkeys in the Land of the Fae.”
Phew!
The unicorns were waiting nearby. Soon we were mounted and on our way. The End of The Road was as far removed from FAB’s aunt’s cottage as you could get. And not just in distance. A garden, if you could call bare dirt and leafless trees a garden, surrounded the storm-gray walls of a large house that was partly in ruins. The windows were narrow and thick with grime. The door knocker was so tarnished, it was impossible to guess the original metal. After knocking once, I couldn’t resist wiping my hand on my trousers.
“It is not locked.” FAB pushed open the door. We were making our way across the dim foyer when a voice called, “What do you want, dear ones?”
It came from a figure slowly descending the stairs. He had an untrimmed beard and gray hair that swept past his shoulders. At first glance, he reminded me of the wizard who had eluded me at the conference, but as the Fae came closer I saw he and the wizard were nothing alike. The wizard’s eyes had been shaded by suffering, but his back had been unbowed. Whatever had happened in his life, he’d sucked it up. Dealt with it. Unlike this Fae, who was so deep in despair, it was no surprise he at first failed to notice I was human.
“Rynar Levara?” I asked.
“Indeed, dear one.” Levara looked me over and asked my business. He blinked suddenly. “You are human.”
“Last time I looked.”
Confused, he passed a trembling hand over his eyes. “Have the humans taken control? Have the days of the Fae come to an end?”
FAB put a hand on the old Fae’s arm. “No, dear one. This human is not the first of many. The Land of the Fae will soon be sealed against the outside again.”
“But,” I couldn’t resist adding, “I will leave much more quickly if you answer a few questions.”
He passed a weary hand over his eyes. “What does an old Fae know but how to pass into the west?”
“You know what happened to Sharina?”
At the mention of her name he staggered and clutched his chest. FAB caught him before he fell. The old Fae sank onto the bottom stair. FAB shot me a cautionary glance and said in English, “A bit of tact would be helpful.”
“Of course.”
I sat beside Rynar on the worn stair carpet. Taking FAB’s advice, I channeled my inner good cop. “I understand your pain and I am sorry for your loss.” Rynar bowed his head, accepting my condolences. Okay, enough with the good cop. Time was not on my side. “I have a job to do in the human world. Sharina is the key. I must know why she was banished.”
He fixe
d his faded eyes on me. “You must know? What gives you the right to demand my secrets?”
“People’s lives are at risk.”
“Human lives.”
“That is correct.”
FAB jumped in, smoothing troubled waters again. “Allegra does not mean to be rude. She is human. You know how they can be.”
“I am surprised you are helping her,” said Rynar.
“There is a debt to be repaid.” But FAB stopped short of saying what it was.
Rynar locked eyes with me again. “How can I trust a human after what happened to Sharina?”
“What did happen to her?” I asked, so gently my good cop would’ve been proud. “Why was she banished?”
He jerked upright. “I never said she was banished.”
“You did not need to. I saw her grave. In the human world.”
“Her grave was unmarked.”
“Not anymore. It has a headstone now.”
He seemed surprised. “Lorcan must have arranged it.”
I guessed he must be Sharina’s son, but I wanted that confirmed. “Who is Lorcan?”
“It matters not.”
Actually it mattered quite a lot, but leaving Lorcan aside for the moment, I asked, “When did Sharina leave Fairyland?”
“Ten years, two months, three days, five hours.”
Okay, I got it. I didn’t need to hear the minutes, seconds and nanoseconds.
“You obviously loved her very much.”
“Of course. She was my daughter.”
“It must have been horrible for you, when she was banished.” Rynar shot to his feet, paced back and forth. His ashen face suddenly suffused with blood and rage. Fearing he’d have a heart attack before he gave me the vital information, I said, “Calm down,” and only succeeded in throwing oil on his fire.
“Calm down,” he spat. “Calm down. How can I be calm when my girl was banished for the love of a human?”
So far as I knew, loving a human wouldn’t be punishable by banishment. It wasn’t forbidden—unlike with angels and their morsubs—for a pureblood Fae to make love with a human. I tried to think outside the box. Loving a human could lead to other things, especially if two Fae had fallen in love with the same human. Had jealousy resulted in Sharina murdering another fairy?
I asked, “Did Sharina kill her rival?”
He threw back his shoulders and thundered. “My girl would never kill another.”
“Then why—?”
“Because she bore her human lover a child.”
“She was banished for having a baby?”
“Allegra,” whispered FAB, “for a pureblood to produce anything other than a pureblood child is a grievous matter. Too many half-breed children weaken the energy of the Fae world. Just as you weaken it by your presence here.”
“The sooner I get answers to my questions the sooner I will leave.”
Rynar slumped forward, his head in his hands. He shoulders shook with soft sobs. FAB was the one who explained, “Sharina would not have been banished simply for bearing a half-human child. The usual practice in such cases is for the human parent to raise the child in the human world.”
I began to see where this was leading. “The father abandoned her and the child.”
Rynar raised his head and wiped his eyes on the edge of his long shirt. “She searched for her lover far and wide. Then she learned he had gone across the sea where she could not follow. She returned to the Fae realm remaining with us until the child was delivered by...” He shot FAB a glance. “...by a good-hearted midwife.
“The child could not remain in our land. Sharina was ordered to remove him. The consequence of disobeying was death. We begged her to put him with a human family, but she refused. His father had abandoned him and she was determined not to do likewise. She did not understand that her death would also be abandonment. She took him into the human world and stayed with him there.
“Her mother and I visited as often as we could. The magic border was always broken in one place or another. Our dear girl aged rapidly in the human world. Many times we pleaded with her to return and regain her health. Eventually, knowing her survival depended on it, she did as we asked. My wife stayed in the human world, caring for Lorcan, while I brought Sharina back to the Land of the Fae. She should have healed quickly, but she had been in the human world too long. The damage was too great. When there was no chance to save her, I brought her back to the human world to see Lorcan before she passed.
“Afterwards my wife and I searched for Lorcan’s father, but the Fae cannot travel far from this land. We never had high hopes of finding him. Eventually we had little choice, but to foster Lorcan with a human family. They were good people, for humans, but Lorcan was miserable. Things might have been different if he had not inherited some of Sharina’s magic. We did our best to continue the training she had begun, but our visits, of necessity, were short. We were not young and entering the human world took a huge toll. It eventually took my dear wife’s life.” More tears trickled down his cheeks. “We did not realize how deeply disturbed Lorcan had become until he ran away.”
“When was that?”
“A little less than a human year ago.”
Right about the time the pooka had started terrorizing Dingaleen. “Was Lorcan able to shapeshift?”
“That was his special gift.”
There was one more thing I had to ask Rynar, and it was vitally important if I were going to change this kid’s future. “What was the name of Lorcan’s father?”
“Harrison.” The name had my belly flipping out of control.
Remember the man I’d chased at the Witches’ and Wizards’ conference, the man I’d failed to find? The man I thought I knew. The witches had told me his name was Harrison. But was he the same Harrison who had fathered Lorcan?
Nah, too big a coincidence. Or was it?
“What was Harrison’s surname?”
Rynar was silent for so long I wanted to shake him and scream at him to answer. At last he said, “I never knew.”
My disappointment mingled with an odd kind of relief. I felt weak and lightheaded. I was even forced to grab the banister until my dizziness faded.
Suddenly Rynar said, “I have remembered something.”
I clutched the banister tighter.
Rynar said, “Harrison was a wizard.”
Chapter Thirteen
As we left Rynar’s rundown home, FAB said, “I trust the information you obtained will be helpful.”
“I have my fingers crossed.”
Of course, convincing Harrison to take responsibility for a kid who was—let’s face it—largely out of control wouldn’t be easy. Especially since the Harrison I knew wasn’t exactly best friends with responsibility.
“You seem troubled, dear one,” said FAB. “Have I not provided you with what you needed?”
“Indeed, you have done your task exceedingly well.”
“Then what is the reason for your distress? Let me guess. You wish to be reunited with your angelic companion.”
Well, duh. Although the truth was I hadn’t been thinking about Casper at that precise moment. And anyway, “How do you know about Casper?” I was pretty sure I hadn’t mentioned there was an angel loose in Fairyland.
“I have my ways.” And clearly he wasn’t going to share.
“Do you know where he is?
FAB nodded. “But I must warn you, he is far away.”
“No problem.” I’d go to the ends of the earth for Casper. Without complaint. Okay, maybe I’d bitch a bit, but I wouldn’t bitch about traveling across Fairyland. Well, except for the fact that I’d just eaten my last energy bar. And let’s not mention my nagging thirst. Under the circumstances it was just cruel for FAB to stop at a fairy bower that just happened to boast a bubbling fountain.
My mouth had never felt so dry. I watched FAB take a long drink. Fat drops dribbled from his chin and onto the grass at his feet. He noticed me watching and offered politely, “Th
e water is delicious. Drink, please.”
“Seriously? You want to poison me?”
He clapped a hand over his mouth. “Forgive me, dear one, I was being hospitable. I did not think—please accept my apologies.”
“Of course.”
As though trying to make amends, he said, “Come. We will find your friend,” and summoned the unicorns.
We rode for what seemed like hours. And hours. And hours. That wasn’t an exact estimate, since my watch still wasn’t working. At long last, FAB reined in his mount and pointed up ahead.
Casper was sprawled on an emerald green mound beneath a tree covered in blossoms. White petals rained down on him like snow. I dismounted and ran to him. Had he reached the River of Dreams and bathed already? Was this a sleep of healing?
He lay on the ground, one arm flung out, leg bent at an awkward angle. I knelt beside him and touched his cheek expecting it to be warm, but it was ice cold. He seemed diminished, fragile and pale. I knew he hadn’t found the river. I gathered him into my arms, rubbing his hands, cradling his head against my shoulder, trying to push some warmth into him.
I sensed FAB moving to stand beside me. I thought he might offer help until he said, “I must leave you, dear one. I have risked much to help you, and my debt is paid.”
“Before you go...” I didn’t look at him, didn’t stop working to revive Casper. “...can I borrow your unicorns?”
“My profuse apologies, dear one, but the unicorns will only carry you if you are accompanied by Fae.”
“Then come with us.”
“My debt to you is already paid.”
“Please?”
“I am very sorry, dear one—”
“Casper’s ill. I have to get him to the River of Dreams.” I wanted to shake FAB until he agreed to help us, but the Fae could be notoriously stubborn. Attempting to change his mind would only waste more time. If only I had another wish to use as a bribe. I did the next best thing. “Give me directions to the river.”
He nodded. “Go to the west. You will reach it eventually.”
“That’s it? Something more precise would be really helpful.”
But he was no longer feeling helpful. “Allow me to wish you good luck with your quest.”
I heard him whistle to the unicorns, and then all my attention returned to Casper. Was this how our relationship ended? In a Fae wood? In the middle of a case? Without a kiss goodbye? Oh sure, I could’ve pressed my lips to his then and there. But what was the point? I might as well have kissed a marble statue.
