As I scanned the grounds next to the sight of the fae body, there were still a handful of guards. The first one I saw is the first one I marched up to. If I were to ask I'd be able to find Geoffery without wasting too much time.
The guard I approached stood smack center in front of the scaffold. He and other guards were standing duty there to make sure that any civilian wanting to approach the corpse did so in appreciation. They couldn't have anyone trying to cut it down.
"Excuse me, sir." I made my way over to him, and he turned around before standing straight with his halberd at his side.
"Lady Rose, a pleasure. How may I be of service?" I gave him a curtsy as he lowered into a bow. "I was wondering if you've seen Geoffery? I need to speak with him."
"May I ask why?"
I made a face at his question. Why would it even matter? I knew he was here anyway. "I need him for a small task. I can't find Alphonse, so I'd like him to escort me home. There are so many people in the streets, I'd like to be taken back safely."
The guard bowed once more, extending his free hand out to another soldier that was standing atop the scaffold.
"Hail! Here!" he shouted. The guard upstairs snapped to attention once he saw he was being called over and stepped off the gallows and down the stairs.
It was awkward.
He went to remove his helm that covered his face. Instead of allowing it to tuck into his arm, it clattered to the ground. I smiled at him as he stood once he grabbed it, pushing the dusty dark red hair from his face.
"Penelope! How have you been?" Geoffery smiled, the opposing guard shuffling before raising a hand to silence the other man. "Geoffery, watch your candor with Lord Rose's daughter." The red-headed man cringed at being scolded.
I waved the older guard off, taking a step closer to Geoffery, "It's of no concern, thank you for your help, good sir."
I hooked arms with Geoffery, who seemed confused, but no more than the random guard at my questionable demeanor. I led Geoffery off towards the outskirts of the town square, and into the streets of the Temple District.
"Um, Penelope, can I ask where we're going?"
Grinning up at him, he seemed to question my intentions.
"You're leading me home, and I need to talk to you about something serious."
He slowed, causing me to jerk forward as I was forced to slow my gait. "What about? Is something wrong?"
How would I get him to tell me more about what happened? He was easy to cave to hard questions, that much was true. But would he spill his guts to me like he does for Alphonse?
I fluttered my lashes several times as the idea took root in my head.
"I need to talk to you about Alphonse. He seems so different after the militia returned from Awul."
Geoffery's face paled, and he chewed on his bottom lip as he kept his eyes forward, "I've noticed it too."
So, something was wrong.
"What happened? Can you tell me?" Geoffery gave me a long stare as we continued down the street, pursing his lips.
"I'm not sure if I'm allowed to do that, Penelope." I looked straight ahead, blowing a stray strand of hair out of my face.
"I understand there may be secrets you cannot divulge, but Alphonse is too important to leave me in the dark. He's my best friend, and we both care about him. We need to help him. I can only do that if I know what happened."
As soon as I finished my sentenced, Geoffery pulled me into the first side alley we came across, knocking over garbage bins in the process. He was so clumsy, but it added to his boyish charm. How he remained in the militia with such incoordination was another question that wouldn't be answered though.
The skittish man peeked left and right from the corner to make sure no one was within earshot of us. I stood in front of him with my arms crossed, waiting for him to speak.
"Okay, I can only tell you what I know, which isn't that much, to begin with." He sighed. Geoffery rocked onto his heels, also crossing his arms over his chest, and staring at the cobblestones underneath our feet.
I softened the look on my face, trying to be more empathetic.
"It feels like something's changed in his heart, not just on the surface," I started, "He's not the same man I've known since we were kids."
Geoffery nodded, "Even when I helped smuggle him into our entourage to get him to Xadania, I could tell he wasn't there out of dedication to his countrymen. There was something else behind it."
"The need to prove himself, right?" Again, he nodded at my question.
"He didn't care about anything once we parted ways outside of the city. It seems like he only had an urge to prove himself rather than protect his fellow people. That's why he attacked when he did. He wanted to make everyone believe he was a real warrior, and his hate for fae is equal to Father Acaba's and the Templars’. Why else would he put us all at risk by initiating combat on his own? He got lucky, that idiot."
There was a small tingle at the base of my skull, curling its way over the top of my head. Feeling as though it was latching onto my brain as that familiar buzzing was there. But nothing else was conveyed but light dizziness.
I reached forth and patted Geoffery on the shoulder, "I understand. I was worried about him too. I must question, how did he even capture those fae if there were so many? Why would he put himself in so much danger to prove himself worthy to be a Templar?"
The tingling intensified, almost to a pins and needles point.
The soft look on Geoffery's face hardened, and his brows furrowed. He looked not at me, but rather through me. Memories replacing what was in his current line of vision.
"There were so many of them, Penelope. From what I know that was talked around our barracks, he lost himself and attacked. Killed two of them outright himself before the others arrived. The part that's confusing though, is that only a few of those fae fought back. I believe most of them attempted to escape." He shook his head, blinking as he came back out of his own head.
"And that fae they kept alive, I don't know why he didn't fight us either. Even with his fae brethren being slaughtered in front of him. He didn't flinch or move an inch. All he demanded was to be taken to Father Acaba."
My brows arched in suspicion. "I wonder how he knew about Father Acaba in the first place."
"Mm, I was perplexed by it. We all were. That's why they took him instead of outright killing him. For all I know, though, they're keeping Vethari in a cell underneath the Alabaster Temple. That's what it seems to refer to itself as."
Vethari?
Yes.
I ran my hand through the hair on the back of my head. Trying to rub away the numbing sensation as I heard a reply to my own thoughts.
"Isn't that dangerous?" I questioned, now turning the direction of the conversation away from the battle and Alphonse. Geoffery shrugged, leaning back off the wall and stretching his arms over his head.
"Only our convoy may guard him, so no others of the militia will have contact with the fae."
"Even you?" I tilted my head, the question spilling forth without even realizing I had asked. I shook my head.
He seemed to hesitate to answer my question, "I mean, I would guess so."
He and Alphonse could get close to the golden fae since they were both in Xadania, to begin with. This could be helpful.
"I'll be speaking with you later, I need to get home before father notices I'm not there." I turned on the balls of my feet, ending our conversation. I didn't wish to talk anymore, and I had learned what I needed to. I wanted this buzzing to go away.
As I made my way out of the alley and back into the main street towards my home, Geoffery called out behind me.
"You don't need me to take you any further?"
I shook my head without glancing back at him.
"No, it's all right. Goodbye, Geoffery."
I hoped he wasn't suspecting anything yet. That strange fluttering in my chest and stomach grew further as the buzzing dripped down my spine, out of my head, and down my legs.
The strange urge I had to see this golden fae was unnatural.
It felt as though someone implanted desire into myself.
I had to see this fae, to speak with this Vethari.
I shivered, just thinking about his name and this uncontrollable urge to be in his presence. At least I knew he was most likely still alive at this point, at least for a while. Now I needed a way inside.
11
As soon as I shut the door behind me, I rushed up the spiral staircase to bound into my mother's room. I pulled open the door to spy her sitting up in the bed, her hands grasping another fairy tale book. I could tell she was doing her best to read it with her squinting eyes.
They then darted up as soon as I approached her, and she smiled weakly, "Penelope." she greeted. I smiled, stepping closer towards her bedside, and plopping myself down next to her.
"How are you feeling today, Mother?" I was surprised at her sudden returning health. More often than not, she was too weak to read, let alone speak.
She sat the open book pages-down, her shaky hand patting my own that rested on her knee. "Much better, sweet child."
I turned my palm upwards and squeezed her hand, "Mother, you'll never guess what I saw today. You must take a guess, please!" I was giggling with joy to tell her of Vethari.
I couldn't tell her anything about the execution, however. That would break her heart. But I would tell her about the golden fae, how excited she would be! "What did you see, Rosie? Young Alphonse?" she asked. I couldn't help but smile when she called me Rosie. Apparently, it was her own nickname when she was my age.
Out of the blue, she started coughing again. A wheeze escaping her each time. I reached over to her side table to grab her hankie, bringing it back over to her face to dab her mouth.
She took it from me, and coughed into it for a few moments longer, waving me off from my overbearing care. "I'm fine."
She crumpled the cloth in her hand, leaning back onto her large pillows that helped to keep her lifted, waiting for me to say something. I obliged.
"A fae, Mother! There's a fae here in the city!" I squealed, trying to keep my voice low. Mother blinked but appeared to be flabbergasted.
"A-A fae?" she stuttered, shaking her head in disbelief.
I leaned over to get even closer to her to whisper. If someone were to come by the room, hearing us talk of such things may get us in trouble.
"Yes! Father told me not to leave the house, but I had to. It's staying within the Temple District. It was a real, true, faerie."
Her confused disposition shifted into reserved happiness, "Is it true? Can you tell me how it looked?"
Her eyes were almost teary with an excitement I hadn't seen from her in ages. But each word that escaped her lips was breathless, as though she was struggling to keep up the strength to carry on the conversation.
I opened my mouth to tell her all about the dashing fae but instead that hard buzzing in my skull once again appeared. The way it rushed over me made my body want to seize, nausea growing in my stomach. This time the strength of force the emotion tried to convey was almost too much to bear.
Say nothing.
"Rosie?" Mother looked more concern, squeezing my hand harder.
"I... ah. There are no words to describe him, Mother. He was just so handsome. No, beautiful. I've never seen anything quite like it."
The sensation disappeared, and I thought I would collapse.
Mother smiled, early wrinkles embedded around her mouth, "You sound smitten already."
I blushed. It was as if that first sight, the first contact of our eyes meeting had me swooning. That, or nausea.
"Maybe he put a spell on me." I laughed. Once I said it, I realized that might be the case. Is that why I was feeling this way?
"Oh no, I'm sure a nice faerie wouldn't do that. It's those Unseelie you have to be careful about." Mother moved to sit up more, picking up the thick book within her hands and placing it on my lap.
She tapped her fingertips on the spine of the tome, "Faerie have an aura about them. Makes humans unable to resist them when they want. They're like the ancient Gods, such magic."
The way she spoke was so serene as if she knew them not only from her books. It was beautiful to see her energy perk up, and her talking so much.
"Do you want me to read this?" I asked, arching a brow at her. I'd read almost every single book she had in her smaller scale library already. Some even more than twice.
"No, but I have something else for you." She smiled as she attempted to reach into her nightstand though she was a little short in her reach.
I assisted her, reaching for the drawer handle, and pulling it open. She extended her arm to get inside of it, her spindly fingers grasping something as she leaned back to her more comfortable position.
"Here, for good luck."
"Thank you, I think." I squeezed my nose as I took her gift from her shaking hands.
An oblong rock.
With a hole through the center.
I shrugged. Mother was a peculiar woman. Not to mention superstitious. So most likely something special to her. I might get thread and turn it into a pendant of some sorts.
"Thank you, Mother, I appreciate this. I'll keep it close."
Mother smiled, sighing as she closed her eyes. That was her signal she was now ready to go to bed, and for me to let her get the rest she needed.
With the constant strange change in perception from present to hazy with the buzzing in my head, perhaps that was something I should do too. I could entertain taking a nap for a little while. I stretched as I turned to leave the room and head towards bed.
12
I awoke, or at least it felt like I did, though the space I was occupying was not that of my bedroom, nor was I still laying in my bed. I was instead standing in a small room without a door. There were no windows within here either, a prison.
I spun to look around. Was I trapped here? How did I even get here? I didn't know what it meant to be trapped here. This surreal dream of mine forcing me into this room with no escape.
It's as though I were floating when I walked, strange enough. Nothing besides the cold from the tiles letting me know I was taking a step. The only thing I remembered before going to sleep was talking with my mother, but what did we talk about? Everything was hazy, and memories were suddenly difficult to recollect.
Various torches affixed to the wall glowed bright, the flames that licked up having a bright blue hue.
"It's good to see you," a voice called from my right. I swung around, searching for who spoke only to see him. There Vethari stood in all his glory, only inches from my face. I hadn't even heard him approach me. He was as light-footed and lithe as a feline.
"I don't believe this," I whispered back, my voice was shaky, eyes wide as I took in his own. His own that seemed very real, not at all dream-like. Those same swirling silver pools that forced you to stare at them as they bore into your being were drowning me with their heavy gaze.
He smirked, taking in my quivering presence and took a step back. He raised his arms to reveal himself in bondage. Large shackles of pallicus that encased his entire forearm, elbows to wrist. There were three thick iron locks that had been shaped to keep his arms locked, the hinges of the manacle also seemed to be made of iron.
"Do not fear me, I can do no harm to you in such a predicament."
"Am I dreaming?" I whispered, my gaze unbroken with unabashed attention. He leaned over to the side as he studied me and how I studied him in return.
"Yes. And no." His voice echoed from all around, like when his words were conveyed through some mental connection like at the gallows. His lips didn't move, but I could feel his emotions. Hear him speak.
"How can this be possible?" I shook my head in disbelief of the situation.
"Because I am fae. We can make the impossible, possible. It is in my nature to bend and weave the strands of dreams and nightmares."
I swallowed the lump that grew in my throat, "How can you do
this? You can't perform magic with the iron so near."
He tilted his head to the side, the smirk never waning nor leaving his face.
His eyes looked me up and down, and he seemed quite amused as he replied, "It all limits my abilities. The longer I stay surrounded by it, the harder it is. But I still have my capabilities, no?"
The way he continued to take in every detail of my appearance made me blush. I needed to cover my body up further even though I was already draped in several layers of thick night robes and undergarments.
He straightened, rolling his neck around to stretch his muscles.
"Why do you want to see me?"
I felt a little bolder after seeing him in his shackles, and I dared to take a step closer to him. I pursed my lips as he continued with his gawking. Or he was studying me or thinking on the exact words he wanted to pass over his full lips. As if he read my mind, he bit his lower lip. Playful, sensual.
I doubted I could have turned a deeper shade of crimson at his sultry actions, but that's when I noticed the first eerie thing about him. All of his teeth looked as if they'd been shaven into fangs. Individually pointed and quite sharp at that.
"I need you, Penelope. This is why."
He shifted back and away from me even further until he came close to the wall behind him, sitting down with little effort even with his arms bound. My gaze was pulled back towards him as though I had someone move my head to keep our stare intact.
"I'm all alone here, without a faerie soul in the world to keep me company. Wouldn't it be a wonder to have a human for a friend?" I made a face. That wasn't the only reason he had me come all the way here; why he perused my dreams to make me come to him.
"No, I don't believe you."
In a millisecond he was there in front of me again. He reached forward, low, placing a hand on the side of my thigh, peering into my eyes. I flushed from the proximity of him being so near. But I enjoyed it.
Taken by Fae (Humans vs Fae Book 1) Page 6
