by Amber Lynn
“What's the verdict?” I ask not wanting to move from my spot.
“You guys distract the men and I will pluck her eyeballs out,” Hilda suggests. “Me and Addie had our moments, but Sylvia is a royal female dog. I don't like this development one bit.”
“Do we have any choices? Walt or Jonas, do either of you know where my dad is?”
I find both of them shaking their heads when I look their way. “Even if I had an address, how would we know where to begin the search?” Jonas logically replies. Hilda does seem pretty knowledgeable about this world, but she also admits that things may be different now.
“Hilda, any chance you can conjure up a locator spell?” Sebastian suggests and I like that idea.
“I would love to, but this plane is still a little low on magic. Nyx's boost is helping, just not fast enough. If I am going to do all the cloaking spells we have planned, I don't want to use up the little juice available. I would ask Gabe what he thought, but he is too busy following the Pied Piper.” She tilts her head in the direction the Fae took off and sure enough he is not far behind. So much for him being on our side. “He can't help it that he is drawn to things he hasn't seen before. It will wear off quickly; at least it has in the past.”
“If nothing else, we will have to save him from himself,” Alex says. “Let's just get this over with.”
As a group, we move to where the Fae and Gabe have stopped and are waiting for us. “Just how long will this take?” I mentioned being in a hurry, but I would really like a clear timetable on when we can get out of here. Hilda's switcharoos will probably take some time and who knows how far we will have to walk.
“Just get inside, will you? The fresh air is disturbing me.” I need to have a camera crew start following me around. There are so many times I want something filmed so I can reference it at a later date. Sylvia's personality would be perfect to bring up when someone claims I am being difficult.
I don't even bother to talk to the lady anymore and just wave my hands forward to indicate we should proceed. She does and the doors to the castle open up for us. If she expects us to be impressed, she is in for disappointment. My new Suburban has a little button on its remote that will do the same thing for pretty much any of the doors. Alex thought it would be a nice feature if I have my hands full carrying Sophia.
The inside of the castle isn't any better than the outside. I thought these Fae people were supposed to be happy, colorful people. The walls in the foyer space are sooty looking like a fire long ago kissed them. It is a large empty space and as we walk through it I start to feel a chill.
“I cannot say I like what you have done to this place,” Hilda states. “Did you have a Fire Elemental come in for decorating advice?”
“Don’t think I won’t silence you, Hilda. If I didn’t like the improvements, I would do something about them.”
“I doubt you have enough magic to tie your shoes. Just where are the other Fae that used to hang out here? I used to have to beat them out of the way to get anywhere. My guess is you somehow subdued your sister and realized, after the fact, that the magic in this world lives through her. I would have loved to see your face when everything started dying around you.” Hilda isn’t giving the Queen a lick of slack. I cannot say this is going to make me and the witch best friends, but it is refreshing to see her focus her attitude on someone else.
“You don’t know when to shut up, you little pest. Not all magic comes from the land around us. I don’t need green grass to wield my magic. Now, sit,” she says bringing us to a long table.
Hilda holds her arm up to keep us from following directions. “You’ve gone Sluagh. It all makes sense. I cannot advise Nyx to make a deal with you. You killed all of your people to use their souls as a battery. What kind of idiot are you?”
“What?” I really hope my ears didn’t hear that part correctly.
“You are so dramatic. They willingly gave up their lives to put me in power. Does she speak for you?” Sylvia asks turning to me.
“If what she says is even partially true, we do have issues. It is well documented that I kill people, but all of my kills have had a purpose, like bettering the world. Is your payment for the location of my father some of my people's lives? I can tell you right now that isn't going to happen.” I am starting to get frustrated with current events and it is making me feel mighty stabby.
Sylvia gets tired of us not sitting and takes a seat herself at the head of the table. Most of the men with her follow suit, but one stays standing off to the side.
“I didn't know you were bringing this many; however, it wouldn't have mattered. I am in desperate need of something and when I heard a female would be in your group, I couldn't resist allowing you to come. As Hilda so kindly pointed out in her own way, what you see before you is the remaining living Fae. I shouldn't say that, there is probably a handful or two hiding somewhere. Nevertheless, I kept the men around here in hopes of regrowing the population, but for some reason it doesn't seem to be working. My offer to help is contingent on you procreating with my King.”
Something has obviously rotted away this lady's brain. Pregnant lady ain't going to be doing any baby making.
“Ha,” Hilda says laughing. “You didn't read the fine print when you went Sluagh. Instant sterilization is the number one bullet point. Along with a straight trip to Hell if any one manages to kill you. Have you got your cell already picked out down there? I can't see you living forever.”
I still don't know exactly what the term Sluagh means. I get that it is bad and the details on how one becomes one have been touched upon, but I don't know what kind of power it entails or how killable they are. My knife should make that detail irrelevant; it is nice to know if others can carry out the task, though.
“I have noticed that witch. One of the guys would be with child by now if that fact wasn't brutally apparent. I have kept them very busy trying over the years. I really wanted to impregnate Killian. He served as King under the previous ruler and having a child with him should have been the final nail in her coffin. Since I cannot do it, I am recruiting you. The quicker you finish the task the sooner you can go find your daddy.”
I have figured out the reason she seems to have a screw loose. An alien mother ship somehow made it into Faerie and beamed her up for a little while. Why they chose her is anyone's guess. Maybe they thought removing half of a brain from someone who is already partially brain dead would be more unnoticeable. It makes perfect sense to me.
Once the looney steps out of my brain, I realize that she said something about the guy getting impregnated. Just how exactly does that one work out? A vision of Sebastian pregnant instead of me enters my head and makes me laugh out loud.
“Did I hear you right?” I ask wanting to make sure the crazy in the air isn't affecting me as well. “You expect me to get one of your guys pregnant.”
I hear a couple of my guys chuckle at the thought. I haven't had any problems with the pregnancy other than feeling like a penguin from time-to-time, but I know about the vomiting, frequent urges to pee, and all over soreness that is common in pregnancy. Women complain about that kind of stuff enough, thinking about a guy going through it is hilarious.
“Yes, you cannot expect a queen to carry her own child. I have much more important duties to see to than worrying about whether I can see my toes anymore,” she answers in a pompous air that makes me want to smack her.
I think Marcus is actually holding Hilda back from partaking in that task. “More important duties? You stupid, screw loose, goat kissing idiot. You killed off all of your people. What do you have to do all day, other than sit around and polish your shoes?”
Hilda not being able to say curse words is really funny. She hasn't revealed the mouth she claims to have in my presence before, but I can see her cursing up a storm.
“I do have a lot of shoes, but no, that is not what I spend my time doing. I have to expend a lot of energy to keep my little world the way it is. As it is, you
arriving seems to have an adverse effect on my scenery. It is going to take me months to fix all that green you brought back to life.”
“Whatever. Getting back to your original request. You have noticed that I am exceedingly pregnant and am libel to pop at any second, right?” No matter what, I wouldn't engage in baby making activities at the moment. I don't want Sophia getting poked in the eye.
“Killian will be very gentle. You don't have to worry about any harm befalling your baby.”
I look around at the guys sitting at the table and not a one of them will meet my gaze. They don't appear to be very happy about things, but they aren't going to try to fight against their evil leader. I glance at the last guy, the one that refused to take a seat at the table, and he is staring right at me. His eyes are pleading with me to do something, but I am not exactly sure what he wants. He tilts his head about a half of a degree to the side. I take it he has something he wants to say, but wants a little privacy for the conversation.
“Just which one of your followers here is Killian?” I ask to everyone on my side's shock.
“You sure you know what you are doing?” Sebastian asks with his usual hint of worry. He can send me messages, but won't let me into his thoughts. How rude.
I have no clue, but something needs to be done about this situation. I hate to see this world become the charred wasteland it was when we arrived.
“Killian is the man standing. He still has trouble following orders sometimes. I have tried to beat his willfulness out of him, but he is taking longer than the others.”
“If I decide to partake in this little request, we are going to have a private room to carry out the deed, yes?”
“That can be allowed. I have had him many times, so I don't have any desires to share the experience with you. He can take you to his quarters and you can work things out from there,” she explains.
“My mates would need to be present as well. They are very concerned about our child and they won't sit around watching you torch the grass in this land one blade at a time while I am playing with another man.”
I don't want to tell her that the chances of me and Killian actually having sex are below zero. I am sure he is a nice enough guy. He doesn't look bad or anything. He is around six foot, with hair as long as mine. His is light brown, except for that swatch of magenta.
“How you do things after you get in the bedroom is up to you. All I care about is the outcome. He must have a child and it needs to be soon.” The wording makes things sound interesting to me. I hope that Killian will fill me in once we get alone.
“Let's do this,” I say ready to find a way out of this joint and on to the meet with Frank.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Hilda says at the same time Gabe speaks up.
“Would it be okay if I watched the show as well? I may be able to help keep Sophia safe even if things turn a little rough.”
If this was the real deal, having an angel present would be on the top of the long list of people not allowed in the room. Because I think there is a chance that he could be useful, I guess I will permit it.
“Let's get going. I hope you don't mind this will have to be an in and out kind of deal. My dad is being held hostage and I need to get to him.”
“I cannot let you do this,” Hilda says moving to stand in front of me with her front to mine. “I will do it in your place. I didn't risk my life years ago to get you away from your mother to allow you to chance causing Sophia harm. It would devastate you if anything happened to her.”
Wow. That was unexpected. She must be having issues reading between the lines. I can be excused for taking multiple people along with me. I don't think she would get that luxury, even if Sylvia pretended to allow it. If Killian has some kind of plan for getting us out of this situation altogether, then I want at least a few people going off with him.
“Hilda, I love you for all you have done for me in the past, but don’t worry. I will be back in thirty minutes and we can get out of here.” I try to convey with my eyes that everything is really, really going to be okay. I think she finally gets it and stands down. “Lead the way, Killian.”
Chapter 10
I am always game for starting a revolt
Killian follows orders and leads us from the room. I forgot to leave instructions to make sure everyone sticks together and to kill every Fae in sight if anyone makes a move. I am hoping that it was an unnecessary message.
The rest of the castle is as gloomy as the parts I have already witnessed. There are no frills anywhere, just long hallways with darkened doors interspersed.
“How long has it been like this?” I ask our guide.
“I am not safe to voice my opinions on the matter, yet. I couldn't tell you the years, or decades, for sure even if I wanted to. Faerie used to be a much different place; it used to be a place full of people.”
“He is right,” Daffy says from my shoulder. I forgot she was even there. Pixies don't weigh a thing. “We haven't ventured very far after waking up, but there used to be people everywhere this close to the castle. Queen Adeline would be devastated to see her world turned to darkness.”
“I am glad to see some of you pixies made it. I thought you were all destroyed in Sylvia's early days of being ruler.” Killian turns to a door, opens it, and waves us inside.
Rather than the bedroom I was expecting, it looks like we step into a broom closet, brooms included. I know I mentioned this having to be quick, but I would have at least hoped for a bed.
“Obviously, we are not sleeping together. I have no choice when it comes to Sylvia, but my heart belongs to another, even if that person is comatose.” This must be a safe room. I don't envision Sylvia checking it out very often.
“I take it the love you have for Adeline is why you remain in Sylvia's clutches,” I say figuring she is the comatose one.
“Partly. Sylvia sullied Fae magic so no one could harness any resistance to what she wanted done. Me and the others are too weak to do anything against her. Believe me; we tried in the beginning. At one time, she kept more of us guys around, but the more we acted out, the more she decided we weren't all really necessary. I was the main force fighting against her, but she couldn't kill me.”
“Because of her revenge plot against her sister?” Alex asks.
“I don't think my death would matter a whole lot as far as that is concerned. It would still hurt Addie whether I was forced into slavery or dead. The spell that keeps the true queen in slumber requires me to have a child with another. Don't ask why it is set up that way. It has never made sense to me, but that is what Sylvia claims.”
“My bet would be it is a transferring of love spell. Your love and devotion is keeping your Queen alive. Sylvia is betting that if you have a child, even one that you created against your will, that your love will then be divided between Adeline and the child. She must be banking on that little weakness being enough to finally do her sister in,” Gabe explains his theories. They might sound logical to someone that hasn't been in love before, but to me it is a bunch of hogwash.
“I am in love with two men and the love for one doesn't diminish what I feel for the other at all,” I point out.
“Correct. The heart may only be a definable size, but it has the ability to hold great amounts of any emotion. Sylvia's is full of hate, whereas Killian's here is not. She doesn't understand that and probably never will.” I guess Gabe is some kind of emotions expert.
“Why doesn't Sylvia just kill you? That should sever the tie.”
“I have asked myself that question many times, but Sylvia insists I stay alive and father this child. The magic used for the spell is not something I am familiar with. I think there is more to it than just the love aspect of things.”
“Do you think your love would truly just disappear if you were dead?” Gabe argues.
“How did Adeline get in the state she is now?” I ask curious. I have pieced together she was powerful before her deep sleep.
�
�Sylvia had an accomplice in the kitchen. They poisoned Addie slowly over a week. She kept getting sick, but we couldn't figure out what was wrong.” I am glad I don't have a staff that cooks for me. I barely trust the guards not to slip me something.
“What about the accomplice, is he or she still around? Maybe they can give us a hint on what we can do to counter its reaction,” I suggest. I am sure it is something he has thought about over the years already.
“When I am allowed to carry my blade, it is very swift in doling out justice. I cannot kill Sylvia because of her wacked out Sluagh power, but the cook is long gone. She didn't have any useful information. She would have told me if that were the case.”
“What is the plan then?” If he needs me to kill Sylvia, I have a few guards I may be willing to turn over my knife to, but she does have information I need. “Do you know where my dad has been staying?”
“Yes, she fixed him a place in the Dark Forest because she thought he would like the woods, being a wolf and all,” he answers.
I wonder what gives this forest the special designation of being called dark when the rest of the world wasn’t exactly sunshine and tulips.
“Not good,” Traves says in my ear. “No one comes out of the Dark Forest the same. It is in the Forbidden Zone.”
“Sylvia ate most of the things that inhabit the forest in her quest for more power. I think there are a couple left that could be considered dangerous. I wouldn't worry about them though. With a group as large as yours, they would be wise to stay away.”
“There is supposed to be a large group keeping my dad hostage. Do you think they could have teamed up with any of the beings you speak of?”
“Couldn't say. I don't really know what is in there. As far as my plan goes, do you think you can lift the curse or spell that is keeping Addie asleep?” Killian questions.
