by Anne Manning
He applied the ointment to her eyes just as he had that night in the hospital when Erin disappeared and that thing--the changeling--took her place.
"Thank you," she sighed in relief.
"You're welcome," he replied, a smile in his voice.
"What now?"
"We wait." Gaelen leaned up against the car, crossing his arms.
Annabelle joined him, jerking back from the feeling of cold metal against her butt.
"What are we waiting for?"
"The folk to gather."
They sat there as the black of night melted into indigo, then blue, which gave way to pink and red as the sun began to rise. Gaelen made a motion with his head. Annabelle followed his sign. Coming out of the forest was a host of beings, nearly all with their wings out, reflecting the rising sun in a wild palette of color.
Her breath caught in her throat. Her mouth opened, but she had no words for the sight.
Gaelen didn't seem so affected.
"Looks like he sent out invitations," he growled. "Well, time to put my game face on." He pushed himself away from the hood of the car and took off his jacket, tossing it through the open window of the car.
He wore a tunic of purest white, bordered with gold. Golden threads shot through, shimmering in the breaking day.
With a wink, he shook his shoulders and spread his wings. If it were possible, they were even more impressive here in the open field than they had been over her last night.
Annabelle ignored that memory for right now. They had a mission to accomplish before they could consider anything else.
Gaelen knelt down and shoved her clothes into the bag containing the knife and the salt. Cinching it up, he smiled at her.
"Let's go, champ."
Gaelen led her to the end of the line of fairies entering the rath. He glanced around and stopped by the door.
He held the bag open. "Take the knife and stick it into the doorpost. Take a good stab, now, so it won't fall out."
"What's this," she stabbed at the doorpost "supposed to do?"
"Only a mortal can remove it. It's made of iron. Fairies can't touch it."
"Wait a minute. You've been speeding around in a car that contains oodles of iron."
"Steel, my sweet. Mixing the iron with carbon degrades its power. And to tell the truth, there's probably not a little bit of aluminum in that car." He led her through the door. "Stay close by me, even when you see Erin. Don't make a sound. And don't eat anything."
They walked along a corridor. Annabelle, though she couldn't see herself, shivered at the feeling of the cool air rushing over her naked skin. But she bit her tongue. No complaining now. We're here to rescue Erin and Lucas. At last they were doing something.
She followed Gaelen into a huge hall filled with light. She could see through his wings that the light was coming from stones embedded in the walls all along the ceiling of the hall. People sat at long tables, their clothing shining, wings reflecting the light of the stones.
She looked around. There was only one person she needed to see. She caught her breath as she spied Erin sitting beside a tall throne-like chair.
"Gaelen, there she is."
"Shhh, I saw her. Where is Lucas?"
She scanned the room. "I don't see him."
"Neither do I." Gaelen frowned as his eyes ran over the room, seeking his brother's face. "Looks like the show is about to start."
Annabelle followed his nod to a doorway hidden in the wall, open now, through which an older man passed, followed by twelve others all garbed in splendid purple and gold.
"Finnvarra and the Council of Elders," Gaelen explained to her in a whisper.
Annabelle's attention went back to her sister. Erin sat quietly, strangely not like Erin at all. She wore a gown of silver, and one of those pointy hats fairy princesses wore. She was so beautiful, and yet, somehow, she wasn't Erin.
The Council of Elders finished their entrance and took their seats at the high table on the dais where King Finnvarra sat on his throne, Erin at his side. He smiled down at her and stroked her hair, as one would a pet cat. Erin's smile in return was wan, not the thousand-kilowatt beamer her sister usually wore.
"What's he done to her?"
"She's been enchanted. Probably to make her easier to handle," Gaelen explained.
"How do we fix her?"
"I don't know, yet." Gaelen glanced around. "When you get the chance, take the bag and try to get closer to her. I'll keep the crowd busy."
"Okay." She frowned. "Why can't I just walk over to her? They can't see me."
"They can see the bag, sweets."
"Oh," she said, feeling extremely stupid. But heck, being invisible was a new experience.
"Not to mention we don't know if Erin can see you or not. I'd guess not as long as she's enchanted, but I can't be sure."
Annabelle nodded invisibly.
"Bring in the defendant."
Annabelle looked up at the voice. It was one of the Council. He sat nearest the king's throne. The door in the wall opened again.
Lucas was led out between two brawny fairies. His hands were bound behind him. He bore bruises on his face and one eye was swollen shut.
Gaelen swore softly. Annabelle dittoed the feeling.
"Have you an advocate, Lucas Riley?"
"No."
"Yes!"
The crowd turned toward them as Gaelen's voice rumbled through the cavernous chamber. Gaelen began to push his way through the crowd, wings spread wide. Annabelle followed in his wake.
"State your name and your business before this Council."
"I am Gaelen Riley. The defendant is my brother. I claim the right to speak on his behalf."
"Granted."
Gaelen and Annabelle went to Lucas's side. Annabelle took the bag from Gaelen's hand. He winked good luck in her general direction and turned back to Lucas. She slipped behind the tapestry covering the rock wall, swallowing a shriek at the cold against her bare backside. Not daring to breathe lest she attract attention to herself, she hugged the frigid wall, wishing herself able to squoosh as Gaelen did.
She waited for something to happen to distract the crowd from any movement she might make. She was so close to Erin, she couldn't make a mistake now.
Chapter Twenty Four
"What say you, Lucas Riley, to the charge of revealing your nature to a mortal woman?"
"Guilty." Gaelen spoke up for his client.
A rumble of comment greeted this plea.
"Thanks, big brother," Lucas muttered.
"I know what I'm doing." Gaelen stood, watching the tapestry ripple as Annabelle made her way over to the side of the room where Finnvarra--the ancient lecher--had Erin seated at his feet like a poodle.
"You see, he admits it!"
Gaelen wasn't in the least surprised to see Lucas's accuser was none other than Linette Duncan.
"Since when do we allow," he threw her a dismissive glance, "pixies to speak in the Council?"
Linette fairly bubbled with indignant rage, but kept her mouth shut.
"This is true," one of the minor councilors said. "Is there no fairy to speak on this matter?"
Gaelen waited. No one spoke to accuse his brother. Maybe it would just pass, and they could party. Fairies love a good party. He could sure use a stiff drink.
"I will."
The voice was the mercenary who'd been in Linette's pay. Gaelen turned to meet her self-satisfied smirk.
"The lad did reveal himself to the lovely little girl."
"Are you a witness to this event?"
"Yes, Councilor."
"He's a liar!" Lucas sprung from his seat, his seaweed-tied hands still bound behind him, Gaelen noted with a grimace.
"Sit down, Lucas," Gaelen said, setting his hand on Lucas's shoulder and pressing him down. "My Lord High Councilor, could we dispense with the rather smelly handcuffs? I believe the stuff is beginning to rot."
"Certainly." The High Councilor motioned to the guards, who
came behind Lucas with a large bone knife. They sawed through the seaweed and Lucas's arms fell to his sides.
"Sweet Bridget," he moaned, gingerly rolling his shoulders.
Gaelen got up and stood behind Lucas, rubbing feeling back into his arms and leaning down to whisper in his brother's ear, "Now keep your mouth shut."
Lucas threw him a blazing glare, which Gaelen ignored. He walked back in front of the bench where they'd been seated.
"My Lord High Councilor, Councilors, Your Majesty," he bowed to Finnvarra. "My brother has indeed broken the law against revealing our natures to mortal folk. But I believe I can convince you of two things tonight. First, that such an error was not intentional on Lucas's part. And second, that the law itself has not served Faerie as it should have, and it is time for its repeal."
"Indeed, Gaelen." The High Councilor motioned for him to proceed.
"My Lord," Linette spoke up, "there can be no explanation--"
"Pixie!" the High Councilor thundered, "you have been warned. Speak once more in this assembly and you will be punished."
Linette snapped her mouth shut and scowled.
Gaelen grinned. He simply couldn't help it, but he did manage to hide it from the High Councilor, a leprechaun who, true to his nature, was not in the best of moods at the best of times.
"My Lord, my brother was indeed involved with this lovely young woman." Gaelen strolled over to where Erin sat. She smiled up at him, clearly not recognizing him. Worse than he'd thought. "He had not told her of his nature, realizing the penalty of the law would fall most grievously on the woman he loved."
"Yet he didn't break off with her."
"No, my Lord, he didn't. And what man among us can look upon this sweet woman and not understand his plight? How many times in our history has one of our number been taken by the beauty or sweetness or generosity of a mortal?"
Heads nodded. The crowd was with him.
"Remember the story of Neve of the Golden Hair, who loved Oisin, the son of Finn? Or of Midir, seeking the reborn Etain, a mortal woman, and the battle he had to fight with her mortal husband to keep her?"
Oops. Bad example. Better keep moving forward.
"Lucas's only crime here is love. Love, my Lord, which we celebrate in song and poem. He loved greatly and with his whole heart, even to disaster."
Gaelen strode to the front of the hall. "And yet, is disaster a necessary end? Especially when the crime is," he sighed, "love?"
"My Lord." It was Frank, Linette's pet mercenary. "This man is not a fit advocate for his brother. He is guilty of the same crime. He has revealed himself to a mortal woman. The sister of this woman, in fact."
"This is true, my Lord," Gaelen was quick to cut in, "and so I am pleading not only for brother, but for myself, and for all of our kind who have made lives in the mortal realm, and who find our heart's mate there."
The women in the crowd sighed. Back on track.
"In fact, my Lord, let me speak of myself now."
"Why don't you, Gaelen?" the High Councilor suggested.
"Sir, my brother can testify that I had forgotten my roots. I despised Faerie and the gifts of being a fairy. I buried myself in mundane work, not caring for beauty or nature." He set one foot on the bottom step of the dais and leaned forward. "My Lord, I was dying. My soul was dust. Then a woman came into my life who showed me the beauties I'd separated myself from for the sake of leading my mundane life. She showed me wonder and reminded me of what I am. I love her. And I will be with her. Either in the mortal world or in the Land of Youth." He turned back to the crowd. They were fairies all, hanging on his words, tears in their eyes. "What do we fairies do the best? We feel. We feel with a depth mortals cannot bear. Our greatest feat has been to grasp for love whatever the cost."
The crowd burst forth in applause. The Council of Elders rose with them. Linette looked fit to spit fire. Her pet mercenaries stood behind her, applauding and weeping with the rest until she skewered them with a glare.
When he could be heard above the crowd, the High Councilor spoke.
"Very well, Gaelen. You have made your case for your brother. Perhaps we should allow the girl to decide." He turned to Finnvarra. "Your Majesty, please remove the enchantment on the girl."
Finnvarra did not appear pleased by this development. "Very well, my Lord." He sprinkled magic dust on Erin's head and she shivered, then stretched as though just waking up.
"My child," the High Councilor asked her, "have you heard the testimony?"
"No, sir." Erin glanced around the hall and down at her clothes, appearing confused.
"Would you like to leave here?"
"Oh, no!"
Finnvarra gave Gaelen a smirk.
Just then, the tapestry rippled behind Finnvarra's head.
"Oh, no," Gaelen muttered.
A box of salt appeared over Erin's head and a wild sprinkle had Finnvarra leaping over the arm of his throne to get out of the way. Gaelen could see the spell being broken, as Erin's eyes cleared and she jumped up, curious and stunned.
He might have known Finnvarra would cheat.
"Lucas! Where are we?" Erin looked around at the assembly and the hall. "Wow." But her whisper of admiration turned to a yelp as her arm jerked to the side and she was forced to follow it. Her eyes widened in shock. "Annabelle! You're naked!"
"What?" Lucas stood, staring.
"Time to go, little brother." Gaelen grabbed Lucas's arm and plowed through the crowd, now on their feet watching Erin being dragged by an invisible force from the hall.
That's my girl, Annabelle, he thought, approving her haste. Almost out the door, just a few more steps, and they'd be ahead of everybody and home free as long as the knife was still in the doorpost.
In slow motion almost, he could see Linette dashing after Annabelle, a bucket in her hand.
"No! Annabelle, look out!"
Did his words of warning even leave his throat?
Linette pitched the contents of her bucket at Annabelle's head. Gaelen watched in horror as the bucketful of spring dew washed away enough of the magic of the ointment that Annabelle's shadowy outline became clear.
There was her head, her face, her sweet neck, her perfect shoulders…
Gaelen grimaced as he waited for the rest. He'd promised her she wouldn't be seen. He dashed for her and grabbed her hand, pulling her toward the safety of the outside.
Two spots of light dashed ahead of them, materializing as Frank and Sean, those traitorous mercenaries from Cork. Gaelen pushed Annabelle behind him and faced the two.
"Good speech back there, laddie. But you see we have our orders."
"Come ahead, then, lads," Gaelen said.
Lucas stood beside him and they faced the two mercs.
The crowd from the hall pressed behind them. Linette hung back and made Gaelen more nervous than these two brawny lads, with all their rippling muscles.
"This is going to be brutal," Lucas whispered.
"Nonsense, there's only two of them. And they're from Cork. How bad can it be?"
"See my eye?" Lucas asked.
Annabelle's shadowy head and shoulders dashed around him, her saltbox held high in an invisible hand. The mercs stood back, giving her a wide berth; Erin followed her.
Good girl, he thought. Run. Get out of here.
"Let's go, Gaelen," she called to him.
"Come on, Lucas!" Erin echoed her.
Gaelen made a move to get around the mercs.
"Oh, no, laddie. You've insulted Cork. We've got to have it out now."
"Annabelle, get the hell out of here!" Gaelen roared at her.
"I'm not leaving you."
"Ach, ain't it beautiful, Sean?"
"Sure and 'tis, Frank."
The mercs closed on Gaelen and Lucas, herding them back into the tunnel.
"Annabelle, go. We'll be fine."
"No!" Erin shouted.
"Annabelle, remember the knife. The rath will stay open until you pull it out."
> "Come on, Erin," she said, to Gaelen's great relief.
"No! I won't leave Lucas."
"Erin, you must go," Lucas told her, his good eye on the mercs. "We can get ourselves out, but you have to go while you have the chance."
Chapter Twenty Five
Annabelle pulled Erin down the tunnel toward the light of the opening.
It was dark.
How long had they been in there? Annabelle ran to the car, dragging poor, screaming Erin after her.
It didn't look much different than when they'd left it. Maybe it hadn't been centuries, then.
"Erin, shut up!" she screeched, reaching the very end of her rope. "Please shut up and let me think."
Erin shut up, but she didn't look happy about it. Annabelle looked around the car for the keys, terrified Gaelen had kept them on him.
They were in the damned bag. She just knew it. And the bag was still lying on the damned floor beside the damned throne where the damned king had sat with Erin at his feet like a damned lap dog.
"Damn!"
"May I speak now?" Erin asked, a frown wrinkling her brow.
"Yes, you may, if you can manage to keep from becoming hysterical."
She fixed Annabelle with a glare, which gladdened Annabelle's heart significantly. The old Erin was back.
"Where are we? What are you doing here?" Her eyes traveled in a disapproving study up and down Annabelle's body. "Naked? How did I get into this ridiculous dress?"
"We're in Ireland. Gaelen and I came here to save you from an eternity of joy and peace. I'm assuming King Finnvarra either dressed you like a Barbie doll or had someone else do it. Anything else?"
"Why are you running around the countryside stark naked?"
"Please don't remind me." Annabelle glanced in the car. There was Gaelen's jacket.
"I still don't understand any of this," Erin wailed.
"Aha!" Annabelle pulled the keys out of Gaelen's jacket pocket. "Get in. We've got stuff to do."
"What?" Erin asked as she swept up her gown to get into the car.
"Research." She threw the car into reverse and backed out to the main road. "But first I've got to get some clothes and take a bath."
"What? Lucas and Gaelen are being pulverized by those thugs and you need a bath?"
