“To visit the children. Take them food and drink. They’ll stay and play games with them and entertain them, while the ones who are there now take a break. We all work in shifts. We’re all in this battle with the royal family.”
“Those poor children.”
“Do you want to see them?”
Elsie nods. She feels an affinity with children. Maybe because her childhood got cut short. It ended when her mother died. Life was never the same in the castle when her step mother came along, even though she was nice, something changed. Her father changed. And when he died, everything changed.
“Do they ever go outside?”
Hardy turns to her, his expression sad. “Not as often as we’d like. The mouth of these caves is at the bottom of the West woods, close to the troupe, by the side of the river, so we go out at least once a day. We set up guards to make sure that nobody from the castle can come close... but they have to be quiet. And we can’t let them fly in case they fly away. Some of them have already been clipped.”
Elsie feels weighed down by sadness as she follows Hardy along, running her fingers along the damp walls. She feels such empathy for these children; she’s been locked up too, but she still has her wings. How could anyone want to inflict such pain and degradation on a child?
The pathways within the caves, head down and down, deeper underground, and then Elsie hears them; children. Very quiet, but unmistakable – the odd giggle or shriek or shout. She smiles.
They round a corner, and Elsie has to take a deep breath. There are hundreds of children swarming around the caves, some playing with balls or skipping, others listening wide eyed to stories, and others cramming food into their mouths. None of them look well. It’s obvious that they’re not thriving. Their hair is lank, their skin is grey, their wings are wilting. She wipes a tear away before anyone sees it. This sorrow isn’t hers; it’s theirs.
A little girl pulls on Hardy’s wing and then, when he turns, ducks around the other side of him. He pretends he can’t see her and then scoops her up, causing her to scream and laugh. Elsie laughs too; despite how bleak their situation and how unwell many of the children look, they seem happy. There are smiles and laughter, affection and a feeling of safety here.
She often wished she’d been locked up with her sister Isla instead of on her own. She had Meg, and Meg always felt like family, but Isla was family. She would have been even more scared than Elsie, being younger.
Elsie breaks away from Hardy’s side and sits with a group of children listening to a story. A fairy is passing out tiny honey cakes and passes the plate to Elsie. She takes one. A little boy slips onto her lap and they listen to the story together. Elsie lets the sound of the children wash over her. If she had any doubts about coming back to fix the mess her step parents made in Allaire, those doubts have vanished. These children need their freedom; it’s criminal that they don’t have it.
A little girl comes over, shyly looking at Elsie through her fringe.
“Your hair is pretty. Can I make a plait?”
Elsie nods. “You really know how? That’s so clever.”
The girl grins and kneels behind Elsie, taking her hair out of the neat pins and clips Meg had put in. Tears make Elsie’s vision swim. She had spent so much time playing with Isla’s hair when they were little. They would take turns, and Elsie’s hair always looked a mess. Isla was only a year younger but had no idea when it came to hair. She could barely manage a plait, and it always ended up with more tangles in than when they started.
The little fairy keeps up a running stream of one sided conversation, while Elsie just sits with her eyes closed, letting her tears fall. She can hear the story still, hear the other children chattering and talking, and she lets it all wash over her.
Her heart is breaking. They should be outside in the fresh air, flying over fields full of flowers, lush grass and plump cows, and the burning midday sun. They should be laughing and playing and chasing bees, not sitting in the gloom of a cave.
Children need to be free. What sort of grown-ups will these fairies become, if they ever make it that far? Repressed and angry, bitter and miserable. The entire future fate of the fairies of this Kingdom rests with these little fairies. It’s not normal to live in caves, to live in fear, to live cooped up. Fairies need to fly.
“All done,” the little girl says, coming around to the front of Elsie and inspecting her handiwork. She nods and tucks a few stray strands of hair in and then smiles. “You have beautiful hair.”
“Thank you. So do you – what’s your name?”
“Carys.”
“And a beautiful name for a super pretty fairy.”
Carys shakes her head and turns so Elsie can see her back. “Not anymore. Not a fairy now.”
The little fairy’s wings are gone – exactly like the girl at the docks. Elsie pulls her in to hug her, mainly so the little fairy can’t see the horror on her face. Who could bring themselves to clip a little child?
She pulls away. “You are still a beautiful fairy, and one day, I promise you, I’ll help you fix your wings.”
“Really?” There is a flush of hope on the little girl’s cheeks that fills Elsie with a steely determination.
“Really.”
Carys hugs her fiercely, kisses her on her cheek, and then skips off, the torn stumps of her wings making Elsie feel completely and utterly sick. The pain that little girl would have felt while monsters – grown men – did that to her is horrifying. Repulsive. Every vile description she can think of.
Hardy sits beside her, and the children scramble to sit near him. “Enjoying the story?” he asks her, and she nods, quickly wiping away her tears.
“More than I thought I would. It’s incredible that you’re doing this – all of you. These children should be free.”
“I agree with you. I’ll level with you: I’ve been waiting, biding my time, trying my best, but I’m failing. I can’t keep plugging the leaks, I have to fix this. Properly. But not everyone thinks like me. The fairies are scared and I know why. They have little fight left in them. When I heard that you were coming back, I knew I had to talk to you. I think we can do more together than I can do on my own.”
“What can I do?”
“You can give the people hope. That we can overthrow the royal family as it is and have a better version with you. I think with my desire to fight this and your desire to put things right... maybe we can win.”
His words are inspiring, and she feels a rush of something she can’t explain. Hope? Excitement? Being locked up for so long has deadened her emotions, but she’s feeling them slowly come back.
The children in this room give her hope, and this man beside her gives her hope.
“And you think the people will accept me and rally for me?”
He tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and rests his hand on her cheek. “I know they will.”
“Hardy?”
They both turn at the voice and Hardy jumps up, children scattering away from him.
“Bella! This is the princess, Elsie. Elsie, this is my better half, I told you about her.”
Elsie nods and scootches the little boy off her lap, standing up and smoothing down her dress. She puts out a hand to shake, but Bella ignores her, turning to Hardy.
“I still can’t believe you brought her here. She’s one of them.”
“Bella!” He turns to Elsie and shakes his head. “I’m so sorry. Don’t be rude, Bella. She’s not one of them, you know it and I know it. She’s been locked away for years, nobody at the castle has seen her since she was a child.”
Bella shrugs but offers no apology, just frowns at Hardy, her wings bristling.
Elsie steps toward her. “It’s all right. I understand why you’re cross. I-”
Bella puts a hand up. “You might be a princess out there, but here you’re just another fairy. A fairy privileged enough to live out her prison term in comfort. These children don’t have that luxury.”
She stalks
away and Hardy seems torn between staying with Elsie or following her. Elsie puts a hand on his arm. “Go after her. I’m fine here with the children.”
He smiles gratefully, and rushes after Bella. Elsie sits back down, a little shaken by the fairy’s outburst but understanding of it too.
The children gather around her again and she lets the unpleasant encounter wash off her. There are more important things to worry about.
Like her step parents and what on earth can be done to stop them.
10
ELSIE STAYS WITH THE children until the fairies head back to the cavern, and then she follows along with them. None of them talk to her, but when they are leaving, a little fairy with crimson wings gestures for her to go with them. She’d prefer to stay with the children; she has a feeling she’ll be judged less harshly by them, but she dutifully does as she is told. As she always does.
She spots Hardy straight away in the main cavern, in deep conversation with Bella. She’s still scowling, and he’s trying to placate her. Elsie can’t help but smile; she’s making him work for it. She has no experience or knowledge of relationships. She knows she felt a jolt of attraction to captain Tom, and she knows that Hardy is good looking and makes her feel awkward, but other than that she is clueless. She’s sure it would upset her if her boyfriend was paying attention to another girl, though.
With nowhere to go and nothing to do and nobody giving her any direction, she’s weirdly lost. She hovers awkwardly by the fairies who came back from the group of children, but they soon drift off in pairs, or groups, or alone to do the things they usually do. Some say goodbye and head back out of the caves, others join little groups and set to work. She is useless and feels it. She twirls the ribbon on her wrist and sits on a small bit of rock jutting out from the cave wall and making a natural seat.
At least she’s safe. They might not all like her, or be taking any notice of her, but she knows none of the fairies here will hurt her. He kidnapped her for a good reason, though Meg won’t know that. She keeps worrying about Meg, and then she realises that someone could take a message to the troupe. She smiles and heads over to Hardy and Bella. They are still deep in conversation so she hesitates before approaching them, but by now she’s so close to them she’ll look and feel stupid if she veers off and pretends she wasn’t heading straight for them. Besides, where else would she go?
“Sorry,” she says, hands up in apology. “I was just thinking, um, my maid, Meg, will worry about me. She’s with the troupe.” She looks at Hardy, because she can feel Bella glaring at her. “You mentioned the troupe earlier. Is it possible to...” She trails off because Bella laughs or snorts or humphs or makes some noise the purpose of which Elsie isn’t entirely clear. Reluctantly, she turns to her.
“Aw, is your maid going to be worried about you? And you’d like someone here – someone who has a million better things to do – to tell her you’re safe, or maybe bring her so she can dress you and brush your hair? We’re cleaning up the mess your family made. None of us have time to send messages to your maid.”
Elsie doesn’t answer, but her lip trembles and tears spring to her eyes. This fairy is mean.
“Bella!” The anger in Hardy’s voice is much more pronounced this time, and he puts an arm around Elsie. “Ignore her. She has issues. Someone will go to the troupe and explain... I should have thought of that. I was so excited to get you here that I was thoughtless. We can bring Meg – is it?”
Elsie nods.
“We can bring Meg here too. I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right. I’m sorry – I don’t want to cause trouble. Bella-”
Bella refuses to look at her or answer her and storms away, leaving Elsie in tears. All the panic at coming back, the fear at being kidnapped, the hostility is too much for her, and when Hardy hugs her, she sinks against him, letting him hold her.
Minutes pass and then he pulls away from her.
“I’m so sorry about Bella.”
“Please don’t apologise. I know what some people must think of me.”
“Well, I don’t think unpleasant things about you, and in this place, it’s my opinion that matters, not hers.”
She smiles up at him. Even though she feels awkward in his company, she also feels like he’ll look after her. That he could look after anyone, everyone, that he’s got it all under control. Whatever ‘it’ might be.
“Hardy!”
The shout is followed by running footsteps and Elsie tenses up. Hardy tucks her behind him and calls out.
“I’m here!”
The footsteps get closer, and Elsie peers around him. Meg! She can see Meg.
She darts from behind Hardy and flies forward, falling into Meg’s arms.
“Did anybody hurt you?”
Elsie shakes her head no and answers, her words muffled by Meg’s shoulder. “No. I’m fine.”
The two men and two women with Meg are still hesitant. They aren’t sure if they need to be hostile to Hardy or not. Elsie recognises Meg’s sister and gives her a slight smile. Gwenna smiles back, an uncertain frown on her face.
Hardy has his hands up. “The princess is fine. I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”
“No misunderstanding,” the taller of the two men says, taking a step forward. “Meg told us you kidnapped the princess.”
Elsie shakes her head and moves back to Hardy’s side. “I’m all right. I was taken, but for a good reason, Meg, not a bad one.”
“Honestly, guys, everything is fine here. Elsie is safe. I have introduced her to the children. She’s fine.”
Gwenna turns to Meg.
“She seems fine, sis.” Gwenna turns to Hardy. “Is there somewhere safe for them to stay, or shall they come back with me?”
“I have a safe house. They’ll be fine. As long as your happy with that Elsie?” Hardy stares at Elsie, a question in his expression, and she nods.
“I’m happy.”
He grins. “I am sorry for the way I brought her here. But I want to help her. I think we have a better chance of our rebellion working with Elsie on our side.”
Meg takes Elsie’s arm and leads her away from Hardy and the others. “Elsie are you sure you’re all right. I nearly died when I saw that you were gone. Dayle was gone too; I had no idea what had happened.”
“Dayle had already left me, but I’m fine. I promise you. How did you find me?”
“Luckily, the troupe has spies everywhere.”
“So does Hardy. It’s how he knew I was in the woods. Oh, Meg, this is everything we wanted. Someone to help me and support me, to fix this entire horrible mess. This is good.”
“Really? Is he a good man?”
Elsie nods her head, glancing over at Hardy who is now deep in conversation with the fairies who brought Meg. “He really is, Meg.”
Meg nods and walks to her sister’s side, putting an arm around her. “Thank you. But it seems like the cavalry wasn’t needed. You all know each other?”
A man nods. “We’re friends, really, but we’d have kicked his arse if he’d hurt your sister.”
Hardy shakes his head. “Thank goodness it didn’t come to that.”
There are handshakes, and backslaps and hugs, and then Elsie and Meg are left alone with Hardy. Meg looks him up and down, taking the measure of him.
“I’m not happy with you. That’s no way to treat a princess, especially one you say you want to help.”
Hardy looks bashful and bows to Meg. “I am sorry. I was wrong.”
She nods, happy for the moment. “And where will the princess sleep? She’s had a very busy day.”
“I have the perfect place. Tomorrow I’ll introduce you to more of my team, and we’ll talk strategy.”
Elsie nods, even though she has no idea what a strategy is.
She holds hands with Meg and they follow Hardy through the cave to the opposite end from where they both came into it.
“This entrance is even more hidden than the primary entrance. Hardl
y anyone uses this way in or out,” Hardy says as he flies ahead of them slightly. “We have a safe house in the village, close enough to the castle it’s almost hiding in plain sight.”
Elsie’s stomach turns. “Near the castle?”
He comes to her side and takes her hand. “That was thoughtless. But you’ll be safe. I guarantee it.”
She nods up at him, happy to take his word. Meg squeezes her hand and whispers, “I’m so glad I’m back with you. I hated not knowing where you were.”
Elsie smiles. “I was so scared, Meg. But I promise Hardy’s been kind.”
“What about the other fairies? Have you seen any, or just the children?”
“Some others. They were all right.”
They are quiet the rest of the way and fly to the safe house without event. Hardy lets them inside. Elsie knows exactly where they are; she can remember the villages nearest the castle from when she was a girl; she remembers the markets, the noise of all the people, the way they would throw flowers at the carriage as they passed by. She can see her mother’s smiling face, the pride on her father’s face. They were so beloved in the Kingdom. Their subjects would have done anything for them.
It’s all gone so wrong.
Being so close is making her feel sick, but she feels something else. A defiance maybe? She’s back. She’s sure her step parents never thought they’d see her face again. And she’s not just back, she’s back to stop them.
She looks around the front room of the safe house. It’s bare and plain, but she can smell something wonderful cooking. It’s been a long time since she ate anything and a long time since they slept. She’s suddenly starving and exhausted in equal measure.
“Is Bella here?” Elsie asks, the tremble in her voice causing Meg to glance at her with concern.
Hardy shakes his head. “No, she’s at her house. She lives close by. I usually stay with her. We use this place as a headquarters, similar to the cave, but smaller and cleaner. Come, let me introduce you to Maud. Maud lives here all the time.”
They follow him through to a kitchen, and the lady there envelops him an enormous hug.
The Rise of the Fairy Queen (The Fairy Queen Trilogy Book 1) Page 9
