Queen of Wands (The Tree of Ages Series Book 4)

by Sara C. Roethle

  Finn blinked at him in shock. “Destroy the barrier to the in-between?”

  Anders nodded. “That is her goal, though I do not know why.”

  Finn turned her stunned gaze up to the sky as Naoki frolicked around them, chasing bugs in the grass. “Thank you for telling me, I suppose,” she muttered. If the barrier to the in-between could be destroyed, perhaps Iseult’s ancestors could be freed . . .

  “I can tell you something else too,” Anders began, drawing her out of her thoughts. “I know you are searching for Àed to save him. Keiren has you thinking you have to travel all the way to some island to do it, but you don’t. He’s in a dungeon within one of her fortresses.”

  “W-what?” she stammered. Bedelia had seen him being turned into a tree. Had she lied?

  He shrugged. “I was within the fortress for a while. I saw him in the dungeon, though he refused to speak to me. He believed I was a traitor, which wasn’t entirely wrong, I suppose.”

  She shook her head, still struggling with disbelief. “But you told me that only the person who put him under his spell could undo it. Was that all a lie?”

  He smiled softly. “No, I told you only the caster who has imprisoned Àed can set him free, and it’s true. There’s no getting in and out of that fortress without Keiren’s help. I tried.”

  She studied his features, wondering if she could really believe him. Of course, why would a dead man lie?

  “So he’s in a dungeon,” she began hesitantly, “but you cannot tell me where, or how to reach him?”

  Anders nodded, turning his gaze out toward the expanse of the idyllic meadow. “You’ll have to deal with Keiren one way or another,” he explained, “and at least you know what she wants, if not why. Niklas has not been quite so transparent. He works with Keiren, but I do not believe him loyal to her.”

  Something tugged at the edge of her memory, some important scrap of information about the Travelers, but she couldn’t seem to fully form it in her mind.

  The vague memory was lost as Anders cleared his throat to regain her attention.

  Reaching a hand out to stroke Naoki, who had settled down beside her, head nuzzled in her lap, she turned to him.

  “I know I am in no position to ask a favor of you,” he began, then hesitated.

  “Go on,” she pressed.

  He looked down at his lap. “It’s Branwen. She may have been returned to the living, but I have no idea what state she’s in, or what schemes the Travelers might rope her into. I was hoping . . . ” he trailed off.

  “That I could help her?” she finished for him.

  He nodded, clearly abashed.

  “I consider Branwen my friend,” she explained curtly. “I would help her for that reason alone.”

  He sighed, turning his gaze back toward the meadow. “I suppose I deserve that.”

  She was silent for a few seconds, trying to remain steely, but soon enough Anders’ sadness got the better of her.

  “I would have helped you, you know,” she muttered. “If you had only been honest, I would have done all I could to help both you and Branwen. I’ve known all along she was trapped here. I saw her once, the night Kai almost died—” she cut herself off, taken aback by the incredulous stare Anders was giving her.

  “And here you were, chastising me for being a liar,” he mused.

  She had the decency to blush. She hadn’t trusted Anders from the moment they met him on the road. How had she expected him to trust her?

  “I see your point,” she sighed. “If I can figure out where Branwen is, I will try to help her. I will do it for her, and for you.”

  He leaned back on his elbows, seeming to now enjoy the soft breeze and the gentle sunlight on his face.

  “In that case,” he breathed, “I believe I can move on. I have no worries left to cling to.”

  She glanced up at the sky a moment, thinking how nice that would be. Looking back at Anders, she gasped. He’d become transparent, little particles of him gradually floating away on the breeze.

  Naoki lifted her head from Finn’s lap to gaze curiously at what remained of Anders.

  Anders offered them both a spectral smile, then faded away entirely.

  With a shaky hand, Finn lifted her fingers to wipe away a tear as it fell down her cheek. She couldn’t help but wonder why someone like Anders had to die so young, when she’d been shackled to the earth for over a century.

  It didn’t quite seem fair to either of them.

  “Curse you!” Anna screamed. “It’s good enough!”

  “It’s not,” Eywen said evenly.

  She and Eywen had ridden, on the same horse, she thought grudgingly, until the sun rose. Now, not only had she spent the awkward ride balancing on the back of Eywen’s saddle, but he was trying to kill her . . . or at least it felt like it.

  He cupped his long-fingered hands into the stream again, wetting the bandage around his wrist wound, then dumped the ice-cold water on Anna’s outstretched arm. Her breath hissed out as she gritted her teeth against the pain. The rest of her body lay on the shore, with rocks digging into her back. Her shoulder ached from extending her arm over her head and into the water, but it was the only position they’d found that would allow Eywen to thoroughly cleanse the wound on her bicep without soaking the rest of her clothing.

  “Who would ever believe nice, clear stream water could cause such horrible pain?” she hissed as he doused her again.

  Her teeth began to chatter from the mixture of cold water and exhaustion, and Eywen finally paused his work.

  “We must make sure the wound is fully cleansed with running water,” he explained. “The Dearg Due cannot cross it, lest they loose their magic for a time. It drains the magic from their bites as well.”

  Anna peered up at him, her head cradled in the moss growing near the edge of the stream bed. “Why are you helping me?” she groaned. “Why do you care if I turn into one of them?”

  He stared down at her for a moment, then answered, “I do not want to be locked into eternal slumber.”

  “What on earth are you talking about?” she growled. “What does that have to do with anything?”

  He sighed, then rocked casually back on his heels. “The Aos Sí awakened when Oighear, our queen, awakened,” he explained. “Her magic gives us life. Once, a very long time ago, she signed a contract to restrain her magic, and she could no longer sustain us. I would not like to be put in such a position again.”

  Anna moved her arm out of the water and cradled it against her side. She wanted to sit up, but feared she was still on the brink of vomiting. “I still don’t understand what a Faiery story has to do with you helping me.”

  He glared at her, rather imposing since he was directly above her. “It is not a Faiery story. It was the undoing of my people. Finnur could become our new queen, and she would never allow her magic to be weakened.”

  Anna rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t put your faith in Finn. She doesn’t exactly think her decisions through.”

  He gently took her arm and lifted it back above her head to float in the water, with her wound just above the surface. “She is our only choice. My only choice. I will do anything to convince her to save my people, even if it means I must save hers in return.”

  Another splash of icy water came. She clenched her jaw, refusing to scream. Before she could catch a breath, he doused her again.

  “That should be enough,” he muttered. “The coloring of your skin around the wound has returned to normal.”

  She sighed in relief, pulling her hand back out of the water. She waited while he dried her arm, then rebandaged the wound. Finished, Eywen stood. Anna rolled onto her side, still unable to sit up.

  “Rest as long as you need,” he instructed. “Once you are well, we will search for Iseult and Finnur.”

  “What about everyone else?” she groaned, primarily thinking of Kai.

  He shook his head. “Perhaps they are already together. Finn’s magic is strong enough that I ca
n sense it. I have no way of tracking the others.”

  Anna frowned, but could not argue. If she was close enough, she could track Finn’s magic too.

  She watched Eywen as he brushed loose scraps of lichen from his tan breeches, the remaining pieces of his armor long since discarded. Without the strange armor, he looked almost . . . normal. That was, if she ignored the icy hue of his skin, and his spider silk hair.

  His gaze suddenly on her, he crossed his legs and sat in the grass. “Now that I have told you my story, it is time to tell me what you want from Finnur.”

  She narrowed her gaze at him. If her answer did not suit him, would he kill her and leave her for the wolves? He was Faie, after all.

  “It doesn’t matter,” she muttered.

  He continued to watch her intently. “You have traveled with her for a long while. Whatever it is, it matters enough for you to risk life and limb to remain at her side.”

  She frowned, considering blaming Kai, but it would be a mistruth. “I can see things,” she sighed, hoping she wasn’t making a mistake. “I can see when people have magic, and sometimes I see things before they happen in my dreams. Or sometimes while they’re happening.”

  Eywen nodded. “I suspected you were of Clan Liath. Queen Oighear has always been fascinated by those of your lineage.”

  “What?” Anna questioned abruptly. “How did you know that? And why would that snowy shrew care anything about humans?”

  Eywen tilted his head in thought. “She refers to your type of magic as the shadow. It is your shadow self that can move into the in-between, the place you go in your dreams. Many human mages can travel to the in-between, as can the Dair, but it has always been out of Oighear’s reach. She does not like when things are out of her reach. She longs to have shadow magic of her own.”

  Anna shivered, glad that Oighear had been preoccupied with Finn, and not her, during the brief time they’d spent in her dungeon.

  She opened her mouth to say more, but hesitated. She was not sure just how much information she wanted to share with him.

  Noticing her hesitation, he gestured with his hand for her to go on. “Please, speak freely.”

  She sighed, then struggled to prop herself up on her elbow. “I suppose it is not my tale to tell, but I’m curious since you say Oighear cannot reach the in-between. A few nights ago, Kai and Finn shared a dream. They were visited by Oighear, and awoke surrounded by frost.”

  Eywen lifted his long-fingered hand and cradled his chin. “Fascinating that one of the Dair could share a dream with a human. My guess is it was a premonition, rather than an actual visit from Oighear. She is very powerful, but as I told you, the in-between, known as the dream realm to some, is beyond her reach.”

  Anna nodded. Feeling steady on her elbow, she took a deep breath, then pushed herself to a seated position.

  “You still have not answered my question,” he said softly.

  She glared at him, suddenly suspicious. “Why is it so important to you?”

  He tilted his head again. “I’m simply curious. Finnur has gathered a rather unique assortment of companions.”

  Anna watched his face for signs he was lying, but his expression remained utterly impassive.

  “Fine,” she snapped. “I do not want my magic, this thing you call a shadow. I want Finn to remove it from me.”

  “And you have not yet convinced her to do so?”

  She clenched her jaw and deepened her glare. “She agreed to help me, but I decided it better to wait until all of this . . . strangeness is over.”

  “Ah,” he said, nodding. “You fear being left in a world where magic is increasing by the day, without any magic of your own.”

  She sighed, hating when her curse was referred to as magic. “I only figure it’s better for me to see magic coming before it arrives, so that I might run the other way.”

  He chuckled. “Clever girl,” he mused, then stood and offered her his hand.

  She ignored it and climbed to her feet on her own, though the hand up would have been helpful given her lingering dizziness.

  Eywen chuckled again, then walked toward his horse, tied to a nearby tree. “Come,” he said happily. “Let us find your friends.”

  She followed him, glaring at his back. “You know, you’re in a much better mood than the first time we met you.”

  He laughed, looking over his shoulder at her as he untied the horse’s reins. “Last time we met, I was a slave to the Snow Queen. Anyone would be in a better mood after escaping that.”

  Anna sighed, then waited for him to mount before scrabbling up into the saddle behind him. She almost reflexively put her arms around his waist, then thought better of it and clutched the back rim of the saddle instead.

  The day she actually trusted one of the Faie was still a long ways off, even if this one had been kind enough to rescue her.

  Iseult paced back and forth near Finn’s body, unable to contain his restlessness. The cool sunlight on his face was of little comfort. Finn’s unicorn, curled up on the ground in a position more common for dogs than horses, watched him warily, conveying distrust.

  He sighed, then stalked toward the stream he’d set up camp beside. He’d heard legends that the Dearg Due would not willingly cross running water, so he’d chosen to stop there, even if the water might serve as a lure for other predators.

  He dunked a clean black shirt from his pack into the crystal clear water, then returned to Finn. With the wet shirt in one hand, he sat, then lifted the back of her head up onto his thigh. He poised one edge of his shirt over her mouth and gently opened her jaw. The water slowly dripped in, but she did not swallow. Still, he figured a few drops of water were better than none. He would keep trying. She’d already been out for a full night and into another day, and he didn’t want her to wake up in a sorry state from lack of food and water. If only he had some milk or broth to drip into her mouth for added sustenance. If only he had Bedelia, Anna, or Kai to watch his back while he cared for her.

  He stroked a strand of hair from her face as he cradled her head. If only she would wake up.

  With another sigh, he gently laid her head back down on the bunched up edge of her bedroll, then stood. They’d rested long enough. He would have liked to stay and search for the others, but his primary objective was putting distance between themselves and any remaining Dearg Due before nightfall. Reaching a burgh would be ideal, but they’d traveled far into the woods during their flight. It was unlikely they’d reach civilization within the next few days.

  Seeming to sense his intent, the unicorn stood, then lowered its muzzle to Finn’s face. To his surprise, the unicorn’s fat tongue lolled out of its mouth and trailed across Finn’s cheek. He moved forward to shoo the creature away, but before he could it licked her again, and Finn groaned.

  Iseult fell to his knees at her side as the unicorn licked a third time. Finn groaned again, then lifted a hand to rub her eyes.

  The unicorn waited, poised for another lick, then Finn’s eyes shot open. She blinked at the unicorn in surprise, then turned her wide-eyed gaze to Iseult. “I’m back?” she questioned weakly.

  He nodded, relief flooding through him. “We must ride on,” he explained. “We are not safe.”

  Gently pushing the unicorn’s nose aside, Finn started to sit up, but didn’t quite make it.

  Iseult was there with a hand behind her back before she could lose her progress. “You are weak. You must eat something, but slowly. I’ll give you some bread once we start moving.” He began carefully helping her to sit up when something came crashing through the underbrush toward them, and he nearly dropped her.

  Whatever it was, it had stopped behind a shrub. White feathers poked out above the leaves, then a body pounced forth almost upon Finn. Iseult swung his arm back to fend it off, then relaxed. It was only Naoki. What an odd time for her to emerge.

  With a warm smile, Finn held out her arms to the dragon, then explained, “She followed me to the in-between. It seems
she has a similar talent to Anna.”

  He stared at the dragon in disbelief as it began to sniff Finn’s hands and face. Seeming to sense his gaze, Naoki sat back on her haunches and stared right back at him, then they both turned their attention back to Finn.

  Finn glanced around as if only then realizing she’d been moved a long way since they’d met Niklas on the Sand Road. She peered past Iseult to the rest of their small campsite, then glanced over her shoulder at the stream. “Where are the others?”

  “We lost them,” he explained, his gut clenched tight. She would not like what he had to say next, and she would like even less what he planned to do about it. “We were attacked,” he elaborated, “by Faie creatures hunting you. The Aos Sí distracted them for you and I to escape, but I do not know what happened to the others. They were lost in the chaos.” He paused, debating just how honest he should be with her. “Some might be dead,” he added.

  She inhaled sharply. “W-what? What do you mean, dead?”

  He clenched his jaw. They really needed to gain more distance before the day wore on. “We were attacked,” he reiterated. “The others are either as lost as we are, or they are dead. Chances are, a few did not survive.”

  “Stop saying dead,” she demanded. “They cannot be dead. I’m sure they are searching for us as we speak. We must wait here for them.”

  Naoki began to hop around, chittering her beak in a seeming attempt to halt the argument.

  Ignoring the dragon, Iseult shook his head. “It is not safe. Do not let their sacrifice be in vain.”

  Finn shook her head rapidly, scooting back away from him. “Do not say that. We will find them.”

  He clenched his jaw so hard his teeth ached. He had to placate her somehow. “Our best chance of finding them is to continue on with our journey,” he explained. “We can wait for them in Sormyr, safe from any other Faie that might be tracking you.”