by Kimbra Swain
“Do you have any idea where they were going?” I asked.
“No, but I brought you this,” she said handing me Chris’ white leather cheroot pouch.
“Strange for him to leave home without this. I’ve never seen him without it,” I replied.
“I took it from him. I’ve been trying to get him to quit,” she replied.
Dylan grabbed his jacket and handed me mine. I slipped into it.
“I’ve got Winnie,” Levi said. “Besides, I’m tired.”
“Let’s go, Mrs. Purcell,” Dylan said leading her out of the door.
I laid my hand on Levi’s cheek. “I’m fine,” he reassured me. I didn’t believe him.
“Take care of my girl,” I said.
“You know I will,” he replied.
“Be back soon.”
He nodded and watched me exit the trailer.
I stood in the front yard, pulling power from my tattoo, I allowed the scent and essence of the personal object flow over me. Inside my body, I felt a tug toward the owner of the pouch. I knew where we needed to go.
“Got him. Mrs. Purcell, you go home,” I instructed.
“But,” she tried to protest.
“She’s right. We will go get him,” Dylan encouraged.
She pursed her lips, and for the first time, was at a loss for words. She nodded, climbed into her Pepto pink Volkswagen, and drove away.
“That is the ugliest car I’ve ever seen,” I said.
“You got him?” Dylan asked all business-like. Sheriff Sandy Hair took over.
“Yeah. Head out to the McMari place,” I said.
“We need back-up?” he asked.
“No, let’s do this. You and me,” I replied.
We climbed in the truck, and he drove in silence. Less than a mile from the old farmhouse, he finally spoke his mind.
“Levi isn’t the only one holding back,” he said.
I rolled my eyes and didn’t answer him. He pulled into the dirt drive at the old house. I climbed out as he rushed around to grab my arm.
“What do you want me to say?” I asked.
“Are you? Holding back?” he asked.
“Of course, I am!” I replied.
“Why? We need you!” he pushed.
“Do you have any idea of what I can do?” I asked him, pushing his arm off me.
“I know that every time we get into a scrap, you do as little as possible, but in there, you knew exactly what Levi was talking about in the spellbook,” he said.
“Yes, I did. I read the twin book to it in the Otherworld. I know spells, but I wield the elements of winter royalty. I can snap my finger and kill a fairy within my realm. Just like that. I’ve never done that. I never will, and if that means I play dumb a little then so be it! I will not push myself down a dark path. Dylan, since you’ve known me, I have fought this thing inside of me. You bring the good out of me. I need you. You are the reminder of what I need to be. Don’t think I’m avoiding it because I’m incapable. I’m avoiding it because I’m afraid!”
We stood in silence. The sky over us looked down to us with a million stars for eyes. Crickets and cicada filled the night with their song. A light breeze rolled around us. His blue eyes pierced me through the darkness with that burning cobalt flame.
“You have a whole town of people that believe in you. Your kingdom. But you don’t believe in yourself,” he muttered. “Which way?”
I pointed toward the woods to the hedge maze. He took my hand tugging me toward the woods. I fell into step beside him. As we made our way through the woods, I reached out with my senses to see what else was out there with me. I pulled power from the tattoo. If he wanted me to use my power, then so be it. The forest became a living creature around me. The slender pines whispered my name as I passed. The undergrowth seemed to part as we went. I narrowed my eyes to Dylan who noticed the change in the world around him. He turned to look at me. With a smirk that I wanted to slap off his face, he returned to his sprint through the woods.
When we reached the hedge maze, the portal was open, but no one stood outside of it.
“Come on,” I said walking straight toward it. I followed the path to the center of the maze.
“How did you know which way to go?” he asked.
“If we are going to do this, and I’m going to use what I have, I can’t have you asking me shit all the time. Just accept that I can do it,” I growled. His eyes widened. He felt the difference in me. I had warned him.
As we approached the portal, Chris Purcell barreled out of it. He stumbled to his knees as he exited. Breathing heavily, he looked up at me. His eyes widened. “Help him,” he gasped pointing to the portal.
I reached down, yanking him up by his shirt. His eyes widened. I wasn’t sure exactly what I looked like at the moment, but it scared the shit out of the pig. “Who?”
“Your brother. Brock caught us. He’s trying to get in the vault. He’s trapped,” Chris panted.
“You going in with me?” I asked Dylan without looking at him.
“Yep,” Dylan replied.
I dropped Purcell with little care. He crumpled to his knees again. “You better stay here and that portal better not close,” I warned him. “Try me, Swine.”
“Yes, my Queen,” he replied. “Take this. You will need it.”
He held up a small oval shaped lapis lazuli stone. Golden bits of pyrite glittered in stripes around the egg. The sylph’s egg. I snarled at him, and he crawled back away from me. I started to stuff it into the pocket of my jeans but realized I no longer wore jeans. The silver gown I favored much like my black bar dress hugged my curves. I grunted forcing myself back into the jeans and t-shirt that I wore here. This was my most feared part of my power. Sometimes it took over without a conscious effort.
I stepped up to the swirling portal. The smell of home curled around me. Gathering my courage, I pulled on the deepest parts of my fairy self. I knew stepping through would put both Dylan and I in danger, but it was time. Time to stop playing. Fucking Dylan was right again. I hated him and loved him.
“I got your back,” Dylan prompted.
Pushing through the glittering swirls, I landed in the library in my father’s castle. The room silently welcomed us. The musty damp of the Otherworld assaulted my nostrils. I felt the world around me. The walls spoke to me as the trees had in the forest. They welcomed me home, begging me to stay. I shut them out focusing solely on my father’s vault. I marched to the door when Dylan called out to me.
“Grace, wait!”
“What?!” I growled.
“You can’t just march down the hall to get him,” he insisted.
“Watch me,” I countered.
“Okay. I get it. I understand the power now. You have little control over it,” he said.
I planted my finger in his chest and pushed him away from the door. “You wanted this. Here it is,” I replied. Throwing open the door, I walked the hall like I owned it. Technically, I did. My well of power connected directly to my home. My father’s presence haunted me.
“Take the power, Gloriana. Just for now. I beg you. Take it,” My father urged through the living abode.
“No.”
“Please, my child,” he begged.
“Shut up, Daddy,” I replied. Dylan clearly thought I’d lost it completely.
Turning the corner to the final approach to the vault, several guards stood outside the open door. The vault door was always closed even if someone was inside. The guards tensed, unsure of what to do.
“Kneel!” I ordered. The walls shook with the order. They dropped to their knees, burying their faces in the stone floor.
“Shit,” Dylan mumbled behind me.
Walking past them, I entered the vault. Several guards held the man I assumed to be my brother in a hooded cloak in the center of the room. My Uncle Brock stepped back, startled to see me enter the vault so boldly.
“Gloriana,” he stammered.
“Let him go!” I ordered.
He laughed.
I turned my eyes to the guards. “Let. Him. Go.”
The guards immediately released him. His body sagged falling to the ground before them.
“Kneel!” I ordered the guards. They all sank to their knees, watching me. I saw the fear in their eyes.
“Cute trick. I generally have to coerce them,” Brock said. He idly looked at his fingernails, then back to me. “What is the purpose of this visit?”
“I’ve come for him. That’s it,” I replied.
“You don’t want this glorious cold kingdom?” Brock asked.
“No,” I replied.
“You know you are more fun as the trailer park queen,” Brock laughed.
“Dylan, get my brother please,” I requested. Dylan moved across the room with his eyes on Brock. He roused my brother, dragging him to his feet. They walked toward me. “Take him to the portal.”
“You think I’m going to let you walk out of here?” Brock asked.
“Let me or not. That’s what is going to happen,” I said.
“Guards, stop them!” he called out to the kneeling guards. Most of them flinched, but none of them made moves to stop us. A grin crossed my face.
“Good to see you, Brock. Love what you’ve done with the place,” I said with a wink. I stepped back toward the door keeping my eyes on him. He made his move. Rushing across the room, he tried to stop me.
“Guards! Protect the Queen!” the cloaked man’s voice rang through the vault.
The guards rose thrusting long spears at Brock. They encircled me. He slid across the floor before ramming into one. It barely caught his shoulder as we retreated.
“Grace!” Dylan called from down the hall. Turning on my heel, I picked up my pace. This little game might not last. I made eye contact with Dylan. My brother stood precariously leaning on Dylan. His face was still hidden by the cloak.
“Pull off the hood,” I ordered Dylan as I ran toward them. The guards escorted me along the way.
The man I assumed to be my brother pushed back his hood. Platinum blond hair cascaded out of the hood. Long and straight. Turquoise eyes glittered under hooded lids. Pale, ghostly skin. Around his neck, he wore a glittering silver chain. Flashes of my past flooded my memory.
Two platinum headed children running through the halls of the castle. Boisterous laughter in a library. Mischievous snooping in places we weren’t allowed. My childhood attacked me as I stood surrounded by guards. I stood still for a moment, locking eyes with my past. His face winced in pain looking at our uncle approaching us from behind. I felt the temperature shift colder.
“Finley,” I whispered.
“Run, Glory! Run!” he brought me out of the haze.
I shot a look behind me. Throwing my head back in laughter, it was like running from our father who tried to scold us for acting like, well, children. Only this time, I ran from my murderous uncle.
“Get him through the portal,” I yelled to Dylan, as I turned to face my uncle.
A force of icy wind throttled the men standing around me. They tumbled to the ground like a house of cards, but I stood firm in place.
“Grace!” Dylan screamed as I stood defiantly.
The evil in my Uncle’s eyes reminded me of the darkness I fought within myself. I realized the difference watching him approach. He didn’t have a heart, and as Dylan had reminded me so many times, I did.
“Okay, Daddy,” I said.
Glowing blue dust seeped out of the walls and ceiling. Brock stopped his pursuit. The glowing particles swirled around me. I opened my hand igniting the stone in my tattoo. The swirling blue power lodged itself into my tattoo.
“That won’t be enough to stop me,” Brock laughed, lunging toward me.
With just my thought, the floor turned to ice and my uncle stumbled skidding past me into a stone wall. I giggled because it was funny as hell.
“Catch me if you can,” I teased. Turning to join Dylan and Finley in the library, an ice door formed in my way. I called out to Dylan. In an instant, a flaming fist pummeled the ice wall. I turned and winked at my Uncle who scrambled to his feet. Dashing through the door, we ran to the portal. Finley waited on us. “Go through!”
“I’m holding it open. You have to go first!” he yelled back. “Watch out!”
Looking over my shoulder, my Uncle held his hand up as if he held a spear. One moment, nothing was in his hand, then suddenly he held a spear of ice which he thrust toward us. I dodged it only to find a second and third on its way. As he threw one, the next one appeared. We dodged with just a few feet to go, shards flew around our feet as the spears shattered hitting the ground. I remembered Brock wasn’t much of a warrior, but my brother was. He was the white warrior. The captain of my father’s guard. I held my hand up like Brock, forming the ice spear in my hand. I tossed it in the air as I passed my brother. Landing in his hand backward, he twirled it once releasing it as quickly as he held it. We ducked through the portal, leaving Finley to come through last.
A painful cry echoed through the library. I turned to look, but Finley stepped through the portal into the hedge maze. The portal slammed closed behind him. He bent over at the waist with his hands on his knees. I felt my father’s power swirling around inside me. Finley’s eyes met mine. His bruised face had taken a beating. My heart pounded in my chest looking at the brother I hadn’t seen in an age.
Despite his rough condition, I barreled toward him. He caught me in his arms, hugging me tightly.
“Not so tight, Glory. You are going to suffocate me,” he rasped. I lifted my hand pulling power to it. Touching his face, each bruise faded to nothing. He sighed as I erased the beating. When I touched him, a chill rushed through me. His body spoke to me of each injury. Moving my hand over his wounds, the power given to me by my father healed him. Dylan watched in silence. Chris Purcell still sat on the ground where we left him.
When I finished healing him, I slapped him across the face. He winced. “How dare you hide from me!”
“I know. I shouldn’t have,” Finley replied.
“Dylan, meet my little brother Finley. Finley, this is Dylan, my fiancé,” I said just to be polite. I brushed my hand across his face removing the sting.
“We met at the bar, except I didn’t give him my name,” he muttered.
“Sorry, I slapped you,” I said.
“I deserved it,” he replied rubbing his cheek.
“Hell, yeah you did,” I scolded him.
“I’m only your little brother by a day,” he added. “It’s not my fault our father had two women giving birth at the same time.”
Father told us that both of our mothers went into labor at the same time. From that point, our life was a friendly competition. A race to see who would be first. It hurt us both when our Father favored me over him. I was his only daughter, but among all of his children, Finley and I were the only ones who mimicked his platinum hair and ice blue eyes.
“We are practically twins,” I told Dylan. I hadn’t spoken of Finley to anyone when I was banished. I distinctly remember being escorted out of my father’s court. The seat next to Oberon where I usually sat was filled with my best friend and brother in the realm. Part of me felt betrayed back then, but I knew now that he couldn’t defy our father’s decision. While Father spared me, he would have extinguished Finley.
“I know you have questions,” Finley said.
“That’s putting it lightly, Fin,” I replied.
“We were stealing it all for you,” he said. Chris groaned behind us.
“Why?” I said. “I don’t need anything in that vault.”
“Yes, you do. You needed the egg,” he said.
“I didn’t use the egg,” I replied.
“No, but it protected you from the wind blast. It’s not just a gift to wield the element, but a protection from it as well. We got all four out,” he said.
“All four?”
“Earth, fire, wind and water,” he replied.
Rubbing my forehea
d, I started to feel that exhaustion from carrying my father’s power. Dylan came up behind me, putting his hand on my back.
“Let’s discuss this at home,” he suggested.
“What’s wrong?” Finley asked.
“Father’s power overwhelms me. I can’t carry it,” I replied.
“That doesn’t make sense,” Finley said. “You should inherit it just like any other gift. It shouldn’t harm you.”
“Perhaps you should take it,” I suggested.
“Oh, hell no! Glory, you know I’ve never wanted the throne,” he protested.
“I don’t either!” I replied.
“But you do have a kingdom here in Shady Grove, and I should have done this before, but I needed to finish our work,” he said, as he knelt before me.
“Fin, no,” I said.
“Gloriana, daughter of Oberon, Queen of the Exiles, I pledge my service to you,” he said.
A tear rolled down my cheek. His humbleness reminded me of all the times he let me win in our games. I remembered even when I began to explore the sexual aspects of fairy life, how he kept an eye out for me. He threatened more than one suitor. My father never lifted a finger, but Finley made sure the darker of our kind stayed away. My discretion was lacking at that young age. If it weren’t for Finley, I’d probably ended up enslaved by an ogre.
“Get up,” I mumbled, as I tugged on his cloak.
“You have to accept me, Gloriana. If you don’t, I will have to leave your kingdom,” he said.
Refusing someone who offered servitude was a rejection of not just the service, but the person too. “Of course, I accept you,” I said, knowing that I couldn’t send him away after all these years.
He rose, wrapping me up in a hug again. “I’ve missed you, Glory.”
“Stop calling me that,” I protested with a laugh.
“I like it,” Dylan interjected.
“Don’t even,” I warned him. “Come home with us.”
“Sure. I shouldn’t stay, but I know we need to talk,” he said.
“I’ll make Levi sleep on the couch,” I said.
“No, I wouldn’t take Levi’s place,” he said.
“I’m collecting servants,” I told Dylan.
“You want me to bow? I will,” he grinned.
