by Sophia Gray
“Confusion. She never had the firm grip she thought she had. This incident may be what is needed to put Kheelan back on the throne. She’ll call for blood though.”
Garth gave him a warning looked and slightly shook his head. Stefan barely let his eyes shift to Nadia, and he nodded. Even in the darkness, the exchange didn’t elude Nadia. She felt the nervousness worsen in her body. What would the Queen do?
“We need to get out of the Realm. Derrick and Julia have gone, and Foster and Warren are waiting near the Owl’s hole in the ground.”
“Ah,” said Garth. “The Owl.”
“I know he’s a pain in the ass, but useful.”
“True.” Garth said rising and helping Nadia up.
Voices and movement could still be heard from the rise above, but no one else had come done to where they were. Garth pulled up the rear and Stefan led the way. Nadia felt safer with the two of them protecting her, but she knew their danger was eminent. The descent was tricky and they had to be careful as to not make much noise. Nadia noticed a small blue light that hovered and darted around them. Stefan began to grumble under his breath and finally stopped.
“What?”
Nadia stood on tiptoe and peeked around his shoulder. The little blue light was a tiny person. She smiled and carefully came around Stefan to get a better look.
The light moved very close to her face, and she saw slender arms pointing and gesturing. “She’s amazing!” Nadia breathed. Frowning, she tried to decipher what the little creature was trying to say. Her tiny arms would point and then make a gesture near her with her hands rounded to look like eyeglasses or maybe binoculars.
“She’s trying to tell us something.”
“Yeah, she um…kind of helped us earlier.”
Nadia turned her head and tried to glare at Stefan in the darkness. “You were mean to her.” She turned back to the pixie and waited for her to continue. She made a mean face, which was actually rather comical. Nadia kept her face neutral so she wouldn’t offend the tiny creature. She made the mean face and then pointed a finger straight up on either side of her head.
“I think she’s telling us there is a spy…” Nadia stopped as the pixie shook her head back and forth quickly, starting the whole charade over again.
“What is the Owl?” Nadia asked.
“A gnome that lives in the forest.” Garth replied. “He’s wise but extremely nosey and greedy. If there is information to be had, he would have it, and give it for the right price.”
“What does he look like?”
“Short, ugly, and wears thick glasses of some sort.” Stefan answered.
The pixie looked at Nadia and began again.
“Oh!” Nadia gasped. “There’s a minotaur with the Owl?”
The pixie nodded its head vigorously, and took the back of her hand and wiped it across her forehead.
“Has Foster and Warren arrived there yet?”
The pixie shook her head and pointed to the left.
“They went another way?”
The pixie nodded her head, and motioned with her arm for them to follow.
They walked in silence for a quarter of an hour. The pixie darted forward several times and seemed to be doing some type of reconnaissance for them. When she would dart back she would indicate a subtle change in direction.
The forest seemed unearthly still. Stefan and Garth noticed more than Nadia. Stefan fell back and whispered to Garth, “Why is it so still? There should be more activity at night in the Realm, especially during full moon.”
Garth sucked in a lung full of air. His eyes scanned the treetops and he glanced behind himself. “Something unnatural is lurking about.”
“This whole bloody place is unnatural, my God we are unnatural, Garth.”
“It’s all a matter of perspective don’t you think? Maybe you have lived in the human world too long.”
Stefan grunted a reply.
“What I mean is that the unnatural thing is not of the Realm.”
“How would it get in?”
“Don’t know. Lily most likely.”
They stopped their whisperings as Nadia lowered her body to a crouch. She was talking quietly with the pixie, and turned suddenly to look at them. Garth noticed that the pixie had taken quite a liking to Nadia and perched on her shoulder as Nadia began to speak. No pixie would ever light on a human or Nephilim for that matter. They were picky little creatures.
“I think she’s telling me to walk straight until we come to a little creek or something. We should cross there.”
“Yes, that’s correct.” Garth said.
“How much further?” Stefan asked.
Nadia turned her head and the pixie flew in front of her face. She tilted her head upward and cupped her chin in one hand. She made a few more gestures and flew back to Nadia’s shoulder.
“She said maybe a half an hour; could be more, maybe less.”
“Right.” Stefan muttered.
Nadia stood and put her fists on her hips. “What is your problem with her? She’s helping us!”
“Let me just tell you!” Stefan said as they began walking. He related the story to her that he had told Foster and Warren. Nadia tried to keep her face calm and not laugh at him, but the little pixie couldn’t help it. She lay back on Nadia’s shoulder holding her belly. Tiny giggles could be heard and Nadia smiled.
Stefan glared at them and twisted his face into a sneer. “Yeah, it’s hilarious.”
The pixie had become tangled in Nadia’s hair and was trying to loosen herself when they heard a howl. It was deep and ended at a much higher note than which it began. They froze mid step. There wasn’t an answering howl, and they resumed their walk in tense silence. Several minutes passed before an identical howl answered the first. Whatever it was, was behind them, but came from opposite sides of the forest.
“Are there wolves?” Nadia asked.
“Some live here,” Garth said slowly. “But that sound was not a wolf.”
Stefan and Garth exchanged a quick glance. Garth grabbed Nadia and threw her easily over his back. It was just like the piggyback rides her father used to give her when she was small. Back then they would dart in and out of the sunlight with her father’s arms outstretched as he made airplane noises. Today there was no sunlight and they ran for their lives.
“Tell your little friend to either fly fast and hard, or hang on!” Garth said as he took off at a sprint. The little pixie flew into her hair, and Nadia could feel her tiny hands and nails dig into the skin at the top of her ear.
No longer treading lightly, they ran through the forest as fast as they could. Each footstep was loud, and Nadia cringed at the sounds, but she also knew something behind them was in pursuit.
After several minutes they came to the brook. The water splattered onto Nadia’s pants legs as Garth ran into the water. The pixie let go of her ear and flew in front of her face. Its tiny features were apprehensive.
“Wait!” Nadia yelled.
“Girl, we must get out of the Realm!” Garth’s voice was ragged, and his breath was coming in short gasps.
“I think she’s trying to tell me that she has to stay behind.”
“Some creatures can’t leave the Realm. There are rules, Nadia.”
The little Pixie nodded and came close to Nadia. She gave her a tiny kiss on the nose and flew away quickly.
Nadia didn’t know why her throat constricted. She didn’t know why a tear slid down her cheek. “Ok. Let’s go.”
Garth waded more slowly the rest of the way and met Stefan on the opposite bank. He let her down slowly and took her hand. “We should be somewhere near the large meadow behind the Anak property.”
They walked quietly through the remaining woods. The trees were beginning to thin and they could hear voices. A few were shouting, trying to talk over the others.
“Keep her back.” Stefan said and he crept towards the edge of the trees. The sun was just beginning to turn the sky pink. Nadia thought it w
as beautiful and felt hope rising within her. Stefan came back and motioned for them to follow. They stepped into the meadow at the end opposite from where Foster, Warren, and Stefan had entered. The meadow was full of voices. Nadia could see Foster standing near his mother staring at the ground. She was speaking quietly to him with her hand touching his arm. She bounded forward and ran through the meadow.
Foster heard footsteps and turned his head to see Nadia running towards him as fast as she could. Her long black hair was pulled back by the wind. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He barely noticed Stefan with another Nephilim walking steadily behind her. All her cared about met him in the middle of that meadow, and leapt into his arms. He covered her face and neck with kisses. “I thought you were lost!”
“Me too!” she said breathlessly. All she wanted was for time to stand still. She wanted to feel the heat of his body and the taste of his mouth forever. He finally set her down and wound her hair in both of his hands, yanking her face forward. He opened her mouth with his and kissed her more deeply than he ever had before.
“Easy Foster!” Stefan said and slapped him on the back. “All eyes are on you.”
Foster looked at Nadia for a moment. His eyes were completely black and smoldering. Nadia dizzily stared at him before lowering her head and resting it on his chest.
Foster nodded his head at Garth and lifted one of his hands from Nadia’s back to hold out to him. “Sir, I thank you.” He shifted his eyes to Stefan. “I thank you both.”
“Thank me after we talk. You may not feel the same way after you do.”
Foster nodded and began to walk back to where the others were. He kept his arm tightly around Nadia’s waist.
Nadia could see that all eyes were in fact on them. She recognized a few of the ones there as guests from the castle. Foster’s mother was absolutely beautiful standing in the early morning light. Her long auburn hair was pulled back in a loose braid and she didn’t look the least bit like a woman who had just run for her life after escaping the clutches of an evil queen. She looked like she was made from and part of the earth; an eternal pale presence of the meadow. She came forward and Foster loosened his grip on Nadia.
“Nadia, this is my mother Julia Anak; mother I want you to meet my chosen, Nadia James.”
Nadia held out her hand shyly and looked into Julia’s eyes. Something felt familiar. She thought perhaps déjà vu, but it didn’t matter. When Julia spoke it was like water running over rock; pleasant and gentle.
“I am so happy to finally meet you.” She said and took Nadia’s hand in her own. She held on for a moment longer than normal, and gazed into Foster’s eyes. “We will have much to discuss.”
Foster nodded and then stiffened as his father came and stood behind his wife. “We need to get back to the barn. We can’t be out here in the open!” he snapped. His eyes scanned Nadia and he spoke harsher than he actually meant to. “I suppose you’re Nadia?”
Nadia nodded and let her eyes fall to the ground. “Yes, sir.”
Derrick sighed and took Julia by the arm. “Come, we need to go.”
The strange party of escapees worked their way across the meadow and into the woods of the Anaks. From somewhere across the little brook a howl broke the quiet morning.
*****
There were four of the ten council members who came with the Anaks when they escaped: three male and one female. Nadia thought them to be somber faced and of indeterminate age. Sometimes they looked middle aged, then the light would shift, and they looked only twenty or thirty at most. She noticed they all wore long tunics with intricate embroidery of gold and dark blue on the edges and collars. When she had whispered to Foster about it, he had explained it meant they were council members. He had said only Elders of the council wore the gold and blue. Lower members wore only blue on their trims and collars.
Nadia was impressed with the house Foster lived in. It was rustic and blended right into the forest around it. Derrick took the council members to the barn, which Nadia thought to be odd, but Foster said he would explain it later. She wondered what they would do in there, and Foster said they would sleep.
“But, where?” she whispered.
“I’ll explain it all. It’s not a normal barn.” Foster smiled down at her and squeezed her hand. The rest of them, including Garth, went into the house.
“I need to call my parents.” Nadia felt uneasy about it. She wasn’t sure what she would say to them. She certainly couldn’t tell them the truth about where she had been, so what exactly could she tell them?
Foster nodded. “I will take you to them soon.” His eyes darkened. “There are a few things here we need to clear up.”
The group entered the living room and Derrick brought in some extra chairs. Once everyone was settled all eyes turned to Derrick. His presence was such that it demanded attention. Nadia was fearful to look at him very much.
“First of all, I will hear how my son made a deal with Lily? Lily who stole your grandfather’s throne based on a lie!”
Dain kept his eyes on the floor and didn’t speak. His hands were clasped in front of him and rested on his knees. His silence only enraged Derrick.
“Dain, you will speak!”
He continued to sit in silence. Derrick’s complexion darkened and he crossed the room in three long strides. His hand slapped Dain in the side of his head with enough force to knock him from his chair. Dain stood slowly and stared at his father with narrowed eyes. A war waged on his face. Part of him was a son that was hurt, and the other was a man who was angry.
“You have no right to strike me. I am a grown man.” Dain said in a calm voice.
“Then act like one!”
Dain repositioned his chair and sat back down. His posture was the slouching one that his family was used to. He opened his hand and smirked. “So, I made a deal with her, so what?”
“What did you promise her?”
“I promised her something she needed.”
“Which was?”
“Her, of course.” Dain said and indicated Nadia with a movement of his head.
“I don’t…” Nadia began. “I don’t understand. None of you knew me, much less this Queen.”
“It was all a fabulous coincidence. The Queen has known about you for quite some time.”
All eyes were now on Nadia. She blushed under the scrutiny and fixed her gaze on Dain. “The night I was taken you and Garth came to the book store. Why would you do that?”
“To see if you were in fact the one that the Queen wanted. She has spies in the Realm and she has spies in this world. She has watched you for over a year. Lily herself has walked in your world.”
Julia gasped. “That is forbidden! A king or queen on the throne cannot leave the Realm!”
“True, mother, but she did it. She used Glamour.”
Nadia shook her head. There was that word again. “What does this have to do with me? I’m so ordinary it’s boring! I don’t stand out!”
Dain leveled his gaze. “To one of any of our kind you do. Why do you think Foster was so drawn to you, and so quickly?”
Nadia shrugged. “I have wondered that for a week myself.”
Foster took her hand and smiled at her. “You were for me the minute I saw you.” He looked at his brother and frowned. “Why were you so angry just because she was human?”
“That first day you came home late from school I already knew you had been with her. I was already neck deep in my dealings with Lily, you and her together caused a very big complication.”
“So, her being human was never a real issue?”
Derrick turned from where he had been leaning against the fireplace and faced Foster. “No. A human would have still broken the rules for your kind.”
Nadia looked around the room in confusion. “But I am human.” She said in a small voice.
Dain shook his head. “Maybe in part, but your other part is what interests the Queen. Did you attend a Celtic festival last year?”<
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“I did.”
Dain nodded his head. “Sometimes members of the Fae come to those kinds of things. Just to cause mischief or some of them to actually sell wares, like enchanted crystals and spell books, or whatever.”
Nadia thought about the festival and remembered things like that for sale. She and Kristen had laughed about it.
“Anyway,” he continued, “one of those Fae, who also worked for the Queen saw you and recognized you for what you are. Some can tell, or at least get a general idea by simply brushing up against you.”
