Sin and Magik

by Sin

  I’d never been past the boundaries of the Blessed Court and now knew why. The forest grew denser by the minute and the noises coming from it were terrifying me. “It doesn’t matter,” I told myself.

  I knew the Prince would do worse to me soon. I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of running to my own death, but the thought of Rowan being tortured ripped at my gut. I would never let that happen. Perhaps the Prince would excuse this blunder of mine because we were not yet wed? I had to have hope. More than likely, he would see me hanging from the end of a rope, strip me of my powers in the process, and then strip me of my life as well.

  I continued on the ever-narrowing path. Night fell fast upon me, and I had trouble seeing. I could’ve used my magik to cast a soft light out before me, but I’d been warned all my life about the creatures that lurked in the forest at the entrance to the Unblessed Court, and I certainly didn’t want to draw attention to myself. When I was a child, stories of the Gorilliantes that roamed these lands had made me so scared that I refused to leave the castle to go and play for one whole week. I even spent a night sleeping in my wardrobe because I was convinced one would come and eat me during the night. Gorilliantes were well known for their brutality. With four arms, the body of an ape, and the head of a man, I didn’t know how they would not be considered dangerous. During the war between the Courts, the Unblessed unleashed many of their demons on us. Many of my immortal friends met with unnatural endings to their lives. After all, it is rather hard to survive being torn to shreds by a half Gorilla, half faerie warrior, even if you are immortal. It’s not like your head is bound to reattach itself you know.

  Cedric, my childhood playmate, and later in life, lover, had been forced to go off to the war. I had begged my mother not to send him. She explained that it was in effect, out of her hands. Cedric’s father was the head general for the Blessed side and that dictated his participation in the war. Before he left, the two of us sat down together and researched every known creature of the Unblessed Court. When the day for Cedric to leave came, we both knew that we’d never see each other again. It had been a year and a half since I’d last seen my beautiful, auburn-haired lover. News had traveled back to me a week before the end of the war that he had perished. I thought that my heart would forever have a void in it, until I’d met Rowan. No, he’d never fill Cedric’s spot, but he would serve as a healing force for my loss.

  A loud noise rustled ahead of me. I had little time to call upon my power before a dark shadow leapt before me. I screamed, and sent a blast of energy at it. I turned and ran into the forest, and heard it grunt. I didn’t stop to see if I had inflected any damage on it, I just ran. My bare feet were used to the soft, glorious ground of the Blessed court. I almost never wore sandals when I was home. Now I was seriously regretting that decision.

  The forest floor was covered in sharp twigs, rocks, and vines with thorns. I wanted to sit for a minute to caress my aching feet, but I could sense the creature from the path moving in on me fast. A sharp pain shot through the bottom of my foot. It felt like someone had rammed something straight through it. I stumbled down and drove my knee into a large rock.

  Screaming, I rolled onto my back to see how close my pursuer was to me. I couldn’t see him so much as I could sense him. I picked up on his energy, his aura, and it was negative if I’d ever felt one. He was extremely close to me. He circled me like a wolf surveying its prey. I slid my hand down slowly and clutched the rock that I’d rammed my knee into. I waited until I was sure that he was close enough to me before I turned quickly and smashed the rock into him. He cried out in pain and flung energy at me. It hit me hard, taking my breath away. I tried to scramble to my feet, but was struck with another wave of his power. Darkness surrounded me as I crashed to the ground.

  Chapter Three

  I woke to such a stench that vomit threatened to rise in my throat. It took me a moment to focus. Whoever had knocked me out had done a fantastic job. The pressure behind my eyes was overwhelming. It would take strong wine and even stronger magik to rid me of this ache.

  I looked at my surroundings. Straw and dirt covered the hard stone floor that I lay upon. I sat up slowly, listening as every bone in my body cracked and creaked. It took a lot of power to render me useless. It would take even more for me to regain my full strength.

  “Oh, my word, she’s awake,” a soft feminine voice said from behind me.

  “It’s about time she got up. Sleepin’ her day away won’t make it any easier on her,” I heard a second woman saying.

  Turning, I spotted two women standing near the iron bars, to what I presumed was a cell. The taller one looked to be the younger of the two. She had delicate features, the kind of softness that makes someone appear to be very young, but her eyes told her real age. She was older than me. The other woman was very short and very plump. What I couldn’t quit staring at was her enormous nose. It was larger than any I’d ever laid eyes on before. Her wiry black hair was tucked haphazardly into a white bonnet. They were cleaning wenches -- that much was obvious from their shabby attire.

  “Excuse me, but may I inquire as to my whereabouts?” I asked.

  The large-nosed woman let out a hoot. “Oh, yeah, all mighty one, you can ‘inquire’ all damn day. It don’t mean it’s gonna make it any better for ya to know.”

  “Please ma’am, I mean you no ill will. I’m looking for Prince Elwyn. I need to speak with him, it’s urgent.”

  Again, she cackled as though it was the funniest thing she’d heard all day. The tall, delicately featured one, smiled sheepishly at me. “Sorry my lady, Harride’s always that way.”

  “Shut-up Sasha. Don’t be callin’ her no lady. Look at her, soaked to the bone, and on the floor with the mice.”

  I jumped to my feet. This made Harride laugh even harder. I didn’t care if she knew I was scared of rodents. I tried to bring my power to strike at her, but nothing came. Damn, I should have realized that they would put binding spells on the cell I was in to prevent me from using my magik.

  “Stop it Harride!” Sasha said, sliding a small cup of water under the iron bars to me. “Why do you want to see the Prince?”

  I had half a mind to just turn my back on her, but she was being a great deal nicer to me than her friend. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’d rather tell the Prince my news personally.”

  Harride let out another deep laugh. I tipped my head to the side and caught a good look at her skin color, it was pale green. “You’re a hag?”

  That made her stop laughing. Her beady black eyes glared at me. “I am. What of it?”

  I clapped my hands together and squealed in delight. I had always wanted to meet a real live hag. The Blessed court only had the finest full-blooded faeries, and that was very boring after a while. I smiled and the look on Harride’s face softened.

  “The girl’s completely nuts. She’s plain ole’ batty.” She pushed a small bowl of soup under the bars to me. “You got a name?”

  I bent down to retrieve the soup. I was famished. I hadn’t eaten all day. I put it to my lips and slurped it down quickly. Some of it ran down the corners of my mouth. I didn’t care. I wiped it off with the back of my hand and looked at Harride and Sasha.

  “I’m Mackenzie.”

  Their faces went white. Sasha stepped away from the bars and backed right into the cell behind her.

  “What?” I heard a deep male voice say.

  Sasha turned and looked into the cell across from me. “Sorry ‘bout that, lad.”

  Harride came close to the bars. “Come here girl.”

  I did.

  When I got close enough for her touch me, she did. Her fingers were cold and clammy. I wanted to jerk back from her, but I didn’t. She pulled on my chin, and brought my face level to hers. “Well, Sasha, I’ve heard stories ‘bout them green eyes of hers. Looks like we got ourselves a Princess.”

  Sasha looked dumbfounded. No surprise there. Harride turned slightly and looked towards the cell that S
asha stood near. “Let’s go, I suppose they’ll want to be catchin’ up.”

  I watched the two of them walk away. Catching up? What in the world were they talking about? I scanned the cell in front of me. A large pile of rags that I assumed to be a man, lay with his back to me. His hair was a dirty tangled mess and I could definitely identify him as the source of the stench I’d smelled. If I hadn’t have just heard the man speak, I would have thought him dead.

  “You there. Who are you?” I asked.

  The lump of a man moved a tiny bit. Then I heard him growl. “What is it to you? Who the hell are you?”

  That voice. I knew that voice. I’d spent my entire life listening to that wondrously deep, erotic voice tell me stories, and whisper passionate sayings in my ear. My heart felt as though it would leap from my chest. “Cedric?”

  The smelly man turned around quickly in his cell. Nothing on him was recognizable. He was a filthy mess. His face was covered with a long dirty beard, but his eyes, his beautifully blue eyes, stared out at me. “Cedric! Is it really you?”

  “Mackenzie?” He sat up slowly. He was so thin now. I couldn’t believe it was him. “Mackenzie, tell me that my eyes aren’t deceiving me. Tell me it’s you. I’ve fought long and hard not to go mad. Tell me I’ve succeeded.”

  I pushed my body against the bars and reached out to him. “It is me, Cedric. It’s me … I’m real. Oh, gods … I was told you’d been killed.”

  He put his arm out through his bars and our fingertips touched. It felt so good to touch him again. “I suspected as much. No, I don’t know if I’d call this living, but I’ve been here since they captured me.”

  I was horrified. “You’ve been down here for sixteen months and ten days?”

  Cedric looked elated. “Mackenzie, I didn’t think you were counting.”

  My fingers laced in his. “Each day you have been gone has felt like an eternity, Cedric.”

  I wanted to find out all about his capture and how he had managed to survive, but footsteps in the hall silenced me. I looked down and saw Harride returning with two very large men. Cedric gasped and pushed my hand away from his.

  I heard his voice in my head, Get away from the bars Mackenzie. Go!

  We had developed the gift to read each other’s thoughts at a very early age. The older faeries were all quite impressed. They had never known a pair that possessed such a talent before. I did as he said. I put my back against the furthest wall of my cell and waited.

  Harride and the two men came to a stop in front of my cell. Both men stood almost seven foot tall. Their shoulders were massive as were their forearms. Both men had shaved heads that showed off their curvy ears. Their eyes were a great deal wider than any faerie I’d ever seen. They were no ordinary faeries. No, they were mixed with something large.

  “Are you part giant?” I asked.

  No. Do not bring any more attention to yourself.

  Cedric begged me to shut-up. I truly had no idea why I asked them that. The pale-skinned one pulled out a set of keys and went for my cell door. The deeply tan colored one sneered at me.

  “If you are lying about being the Princess, then you shall see what part of me is truly giant,” he said in a voice so deep that the floor shook when he spoke.

  The pale-skinned one turned to him. “Duane, stop scaring the poor thing,” My body relaxed. He wasn’t going to let the other one hurt me. “Let me do the terrifiyin’.”

  Well, so much for that happy thought. I backed into the corner of the cell. The pale one headed straight for me. Waiting until he was within range, I threw my foot out hard. It slammed into his kneecap and brought him down quickly. I seized hold of his ears and clawed at them as he bent before me. His hands came up and grabbed hold of my wrists. I brought my injured knee up hard into his face. We both screamed out in pain, as he let go of my wrists. I took off towards the open cell door. I would have only one shot at this and I knew that I had to make it count.

  Duane blocked the exit quickly. I didn’t have time to think. I lunged at him, and took him by surprise. I’m sure that it’s not often that a one-hundred pound, five-foot-six-inch faerie princess comes leaping out at you. Yeah, that would catch most men off guard, I was sure of that. The force of my body hitting his pushed us just outside the door of the cell. The binding spell lifted from me. I mustered up all the energy I could and sent it flying into Duane’s stomach. He doubled over and clutched himself on the hallway floor. I turned and looked at Harride, she was wide-eyed and smiling.

  “It’s ‘bout time someone taught them boys some manners.” She looked into the cell I’d been in. “Dermot’s goin’ to be real mad with you.”

  Turning, I found Dermot rising to his feet. He charged at me. I lifted my hand and pushed the door to the cell shut. It latched and put my attentions on Cedric’s cell door. His hand wrapped around mine quickly.

  “No, leave me. Go, get out while you can!”

  “I will not leave you here to die!” I pushed his hand away. “Get away from the door, now!”

  Wisely, he backed away.

  “Fire, I call upon you, do not fail me now!” A surge of heat rushed through my fingertips and out onto the cell bars. I watched as the bars melted away, leaving a large hole for Cedric to crawl through.

  “Oh my, you really are the princess, aren’t ya?” Harride said behind me. The shock in her voice left a tiny smile on my face.

  “Yes,” I said, grabbing hold of Cedric’s thin hand. “Now which way do we go?”

  “I don’t know.” He shrugged his shoulders. It was stupid of me to ask him. Being locked in a tiny cell for a year had left him with a limited sense of direction. He had no clue which way was out.

  Harride hovered for a moment then let out a tiny giggle. “Follow me.”

  I looked at Cedric, he shrugged. Our choices were limited, so we followed her. She led us down the hallway to a small door. “Go through here. Don’t stop for nothin’. At the end of it, you’ll find the forest. From there you’re on your own!”

  Bending down, I kissed her on her enormous nose. She blushed, and signaled for us to go. We did. The two of us had to walk single file to fit down the narrow passageway. It smelled damp and moldy, that didn’t really bother me. What did bother me was the tiny sound of rats running out of our way. A shudder ran over my body.

  Cedric’s hand touched my shoulder. He’d known me all my life and he knew all my fears. “They won’t bother you.”

  This, surprisingly, made me feel a thousand times better and I quickened my pace. The cold night air hit us in the face as we crawled through the tiny window to the outside. I was suddenly thankful that Cedric had lost so much weight. At his normal size, which was not fat, but very, very muscular, he would have never fit.

  My feet hit the forest floor and I winced in pain. I turned and helped Cedric pull himself through the tiny opening.

  “What will happen to Harride?” She was the only reason we’d gotten out and I didn’t want to see her punished. Dermot and Duane would be livid with me for getting past them.

  Cedric’s hand came out to rest on my shoulder. He was extremely weak. That was to be expected. “Nothing. Harride will be just fine.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “Because, she is the one who raised the terrible twosome.”

  I thought of the old hag Harride, and did not think it possible for her to give birth to the two of them. My apparent confusion over the matter must have shown on my face, because Cedric laughed softly.

  “Dermot and Duane were the end result of Giants pillaging their mothers’ village. The two were, of course, unwanted by their very Sidh mothers, and were left to die. Harride found them and raised them as her own.”

  “Poor woman.” I wasn’t sure if she needed a medal of honor or her head checked.

  Cedric chuckled as he bent down to kiss my cheek. I pushed him away quickly. “Cedric, you stink, and you’re hairier than a Yeti.” This made him laugh more. I had to put my hand to his
mouth to get him to quiet down.

  “I have dreamt of the moment I would see you again.” He put his head down. “I feared I’d never know your touch again.”

  I didn’t know how to tell him that he never really would know the touch of my skin against his again. Yes, I wanted to be near him desperately, but there was the matter of my marriage to Prince Elwyn, and now Rowan. I hadn’t thought of Rowan once since I’d seen Cedric. What did that mean?

  Chapter Four

  I let my head rest against the large oak tree near the edge of the river, watching Cedric as he put his wet brown wrap over a tree limb to dry. All the power I had left was used up when I conjured the necessary items we needed to cleanse ourselves. Normally, I would have been able to do that easily, but after fighting Dermot and Duane I was tired and weak.

  Catching sight of Cedric’s bare backside, I flushed. I truly had missed seeing him naked. Granted, he was a considerable degree thinner than he’d been when I’d last seen him, but that didn’t take away from his beauty. What did attempt to take away from it somewhat were the scars that he now had all over his body. It was evident that he had been beaten and tortured. I asked him about them, but he refused to answer me.

  The scar that most disturbed me was the one on his neck. I hadn’t noticed it when his beard was thick and long. The scar ran from his right ear to the center of his neck. Someone had tried to slit his throat -- that much was clear. When I found out who it was, I would kill them. Yes, when I found the person who had been responsible for marring my sweet Cedric’s body I would deal with them personally. They would suffer a wrath like no other.

  Cedric came closer to me. He was completely nude. Nudity was so common among faeries who were close, that it just seemed normal to me. His hand ran the length of my smooth leg. The touch of his fingers sent a shiver up my spine. I pulled away from him. I couldn’t be this close to him naked now. So many things had changed. We could never be the way we’d been before. I glanced over at the limb where I’d hung my gown after washing it. It was still wet. I had no choice but to remain nude. I didn’t have the energy to summon the wind to dry our clothing.