He smiled at me with slightly-pointed teeth. Four long strides brought him to the table. He rested his hand on my shoulder and said, “Why, you gods-damned curly-headed imp! What the hell brings you here?”
“You, apparently.” I returned Ragan's smile, but Shan kept his head bowed over his soup. I stood to embrace my former stepfather. “How are you, Ragan?”
Shan dropped his spoon on the tablecloth and growled. “Really? Of all the people, he sends us to you? He sends us to the guy who was the closest thing we had to a father for six years? The guy who abandoned us with nothing but an, 'I'm sorry, I can't do this anymore'? This is such bullshit.”
Ragan released my shoulders. I took a step back from him and tried to ignore the stares of the Faeline woman and the three patrons. The bittersweet relief of finding a familiar face in the tea house was fleeting. I narrowed my eyes and said, “This is where you've been the past four years? You told Mom you went to the Faelands. You lied to us.”
Ragan's smile fell as he rubbed his brow. “It's damned complicated. I'll explain it once we're somewhere more private. He, who? Who told you to come here?”
I was fairly tall for a human, but I still had wait for him to stoop so I could whisper in his pointed ear. “Daelon Goldtree.”
“Oh. Ohhhh . . . you're the one with the reptile problem? Really? I'd heard it was your brother. Or is it both of you now?” Ragan asked.
I nodded toward Shan. “His fault. He gave one to me, so now we're both stuck with them.”
Shan's eyes narrowed. “Tes–”
I clapped my hand over Shan's mouth. “Don't say our names. Please. We're not safe and we don't know who might be listening. You told me that yourself, remember?”
“Bring your things.” Ragan beckoned to the Faeline woman. “Cora, can you give me a hand with their lunch? We're gonna move this conversation back into the house.”
Chapter 7
Shan's remaining calm fled as soon as Cora closed the door to Ragan's private residence at the rear of the tea house. He set Lumin's crate on the floor and held his arms out.
“You bastard. You heartless bastard. We loved you, we trusted you, and you left us. Even worse, you left Mom. After all she'd been through, after being abandoned twice already by men she thought loved her, you decided to abandon her, too. And where did you go? Not even a day's ride away, and here you are in a gods-damned tea house with your new lover and your new baby and your sarding cherries, happily going about your life like we never happened.” Shan breathed heavily as he braced himself against the wall.
“Knock it off, Shan. Give him a chance to explain himself,” I said.
Cora shook her head, held up her hands, and retreated several steps. “Whoa. No. You've got that last bit wrong. My husband is the cook. He's in the kitchen right now. Ragan's my brother. Half-brother.”
Ragan set the food tray on a dining table and sat down. The chair creaked ominously under his weight. He was not a fat person by any means, but Faeline were tall and muscular. Even half-Faeline Ragan was taller than the vast majority of human men, so watching him use elf-made Jade Realm furniture was a little like watching a lion try to sit comfortably upright in a halfling armchair. It wasn't a poor comparison, considering that Faeline were named for their passing resemblance to cats, especially lions. Many races of Fae shared physical traits with animals, and I suspected that was why so many people viewed them negatively. The Foxfae were stereotyped as being particularly wild, and the widespread prejudice against them often carried over to the superficially similar Faeline.
Shan drew a long gulp from his steaming teacup. He lowered it to the table and gritted his teeth. “Doesn't matter. You left her. You left us.”
“Shan, don't you remember?” I sat next to him and picked apart my croissant. “Mom asked him to leave. They couldn't stand looking at each other anymore. Don't you remember? For months they tried to make things better, but in the end they both decided they didn't have the energy to try anymore. When Alon . . . when Alon died . . . it fractured them, and then Calen shattered what was left. Still . . . Ragan, you lied to us about where you were going. Why are you here? Of all the places you could have gone, why here?”
Ragan exhaled forcefully and rubbed the haze from his eyes. His slitted pupils dilated as he looked toward his sister. “Cora, you mind giving us some privacy? I'm sure we've got customers who need attending to.”
He waited until Cora was gone before pulling a tiny rolled scroll from his pocket. He passed it to Shan, who unwound it and held it to the light so we could both read.
Alpha Cat,
The tree has fallen but the roots are intact. The sapling is safe in the shade. The cats will soon bask in the sunlight that creeps between the leaves. Keep them safe or the world grows cold.
“What the hell does that mean?” I asked. The scroll was unsigned, but I knew the ugly and uneven handwriting. Daelis had written this.
“A falcon dropped it off about two hours ago.” Ragan returned the scroll to his pocket and buzzed his lips. He shook his fingers through his hair and stared at a dusty gap in the floorboards. “I think you already know the meaning, but perhaps not the metaphor. This is typical of the messages I receive from the Goldtrees. Sunlight is the code word we use for the solar dragon eggs, which I'm guessing have hatched if you're now here. The tree is the Duke, his son is the sapling, and the roots are his heirs. I'm one of the cats. Obviously. I'm also an agent for the Duchy. I've never been to the Faelands. I was born here, in North Juniper. My father left my mother when I was two years old and she married another Fae shortly after, Cora's father. When I was eighteen, I was recruited by the head of the Jade Realm's Covert Services and I stayed undercover by working as one of my father's mercenaries. Daelon Goldtree had this idea that no one would suspect a foul-mouthed young half-Fae of being one of his operatives. He was right. I hid in the open for years, and then when I needed to leave Jadeshire, partly because I couldn't bear to keep any more secrets from the woman I loved, he sent me home to run this safehouse and train the occasional new operative. I've worked directly for him for fifteen years . . . well, 'til today, apparently. What happened?”
“Oh, well, he was assassinated in my kitchen last night. By his own personal guards.” I shoved the shredded croissant in my mouth and chased it with a sip of tea before continuing. “They intended to kill all of his heirs, but my uncle and I took care of the problem. Too late for Daelon, though. Before the guards attacked us, he told us we needed to come here, so here we are. I won't tell you where the rest of our family is, but I assume the words on that scroll and that gods-awful handwriting mean they're still alive.”
“Good. Keep it to yourself. The fewer people who know, the safer it is for them.” Ragan rubbed his temples. The chair creaked as he shifted his weight from side to side. “I'm sorry. I wish I could tell you who's responsible for this, but I've got no gods-damned idea. I'm no longer privy to the latest Jadeshire intelligence, so I can't even speculate. Total sarding mess, that's for sure.” He nodded toward the crate at my feet. “I'm assuming you've got dragons in those boxes. We can't keep them here for long. Or you. Shan's gonna attract attention whether he tries to or not. You rode all night, so take the rest of today and tonight to rest while I speak with a couple people, people who've been waiting here in anticipation of this very moment, and tomorrow we'll head for Anthora.”
“Why Anthora?” I asked. Anthora was the capitol of Bacra, a great city high in the Diamond Realm's Mordova Mountains. It was where the High King ruled over the realms. It would take weeks, maybe even a month to reach the distant Central Bacran city. I needed to send Mom a falcon so she knew she wouldn't be seeing us again for a while.
“The greatest dragonbound master in the High Kingdom lives there. I'll tell you more on the way. I've got a hell of a lot to do to get ready” Ragan stood and stared out the window at the swaying cherry trees. “Wish we hadn't met again this way, but I'm damned glad to see you both. I know you don't believe it
, but I've missed you. And your mother. Was a little surprised to learn she'd married Lord Goldtree and that he'd claimed you as his son and heir, Shannon, but I'm happy for her if she's happy with him. Is she?'”
Shan rubbed his scarred cheek. “As much as she can be, considering what happened to us. Our little sister was born a week ago. The guards intended to kill her, kill a tiny helpless baby.”
“Bloodthirsty shitbadgers. Well, I know your mom. She'll protect the people she loves until the last breath is ripped from her lungs, and then she'll come back as a phantom and torment the everloving shit out of anyone who tries to hurt her family.”
“Yeah, that's Mom,” I said. I yawned and rubbed my drooping eyelids before taking a big bite of my sandwich.
Ragan closed the shutters and watched me with glossy eyes. “I need to prepare for the journey. You two finish eating, then sleep wherever you want. You look like you need it.”
Chapter 8
I slept on a lumpy couch for at least four hours, and then woke feeling sore and sluggish. My body wasn't used to an irregular schedule, or to twelve straight hours of travel. I'd have to get used to both in the weeks and leagues to come.
I sat up and stretched my arms over my head. Serida arched her back and scurried from my thigh to my shoulder. She chirped and nipped at my ear.
“All right, all right. I get it, you're hungry,” I said with a yawn. I scanned the quaintness-cluttered room for Shan, but found only dust bunnies and doilies. If this place was Ragan's front, it wasn't very convincing. There was little chance that a mercenary half-Fae would choose to decorate his own home with floral print walls and an invasion of dingy lace trim. “Shan? Ragan? Cora? Anyone?”
No one answered. Shan's dragon crate sat open on the threadbare seat of a red and white checkered armchair.
I closed my eyes and listened. No clanking metal or screaming from the orchard, so Ragan and Shan weren't out there trying to kill each other. Shan was skilled enough with a sword that it might have been a fair and interesting fight. Muffled voices filtered through the walls. There, that's what I was looking for. They must be in the tea house itself instead of back here in the residence.
Cora stepped aside as I opened the door. She held the hand of a brown-haired Faeline man I assumed was her husband. The front door was bolted shut and an assortment of people crowded around a cluster of pushed-together tables at the center of the room. Lumin happily gobbled down fried fish on Shan's placemat.
Ragan leaned back and raised his hand toward me. “Get over here.”
I sat in the empty chair next to Shan and placed Serida on the table. She hopped over to her brother and attacked his fish. They growled at each other, but quickly gave up on defending the oversized meal and settled into happy chomps and purrs.
“Sorry, did I sleep too long?” I asked.
“Nah. Your brother just woke up himself, so we were waiting for you before we got started.” Ragan beckoned toward the Faeline man, who then came over to set a pot of tea and a cup in front of me. “This is Marnel Harres, my sister's husband. He'll bring you some food once it's done cooking. Don't worry about him or Cora. They're part of my circle. That's how they met, actually.”
“Magnificent little beasts you have there, my friends,” said a purring alto voice across the table. A tall, elegant, middle-aged Faeline with silver-touched black hair and golden eyes smiled at me. She tapped the amber skin at her temple with a manicured fingernail and said, “I remember you, Tessen Sylleth. Do you remember me?”
“Rose Stargazer, warlock mercenary,” I said with a smile and a nod. “I do remember you. You're friends with my mother and you're the one who taught Shan how not to kill me when after he got pissed and threw shadow bolts. It's good to see you again, but I'm afraid you have my name wrong. Found out recently that my officially recorded surname isn't Sylleth, and also found out that my father was kidnapped and killed so he didn't run out on us like we thought, so I'm Tessen Lim, now and forever.”
“Interesting,” Ragan said, his eyebrow raised. “Has Rin forgiven Rohir, too?”
“She's the one who found his body. She and Daelis. When I found out what my birth papers said, she encouraged me to keep my father's name instead of legally changing it to Sylleth. I think she feels guilty for all the years she hated him for something it turned out he didn't actually do. He didn't choose to leave us.”
“Well, I'm glad you've finally got closure on the matter. It's good to find a bit of peace where you had none before, isn't it?” Ragan's freckled nose twitched as he swallowed the lump in his throat.
Rose grinned at Shan, revealing a mouthful of pointed teeth, “Hello again, my dear Shan. I still can't believe how grown up you are. Shame about your face, but believe it or not, I think you're quite handsome with the scars.”
“Uh, thanks,” Shan muttered. He poured himself some tea and raised the steaming cup to blow across it. “I'm still getting used to it.”
“It's really not as bad as you likely think it is.” Ragan scratched at the back of his neck, then indicated toward the halfling woman to Rose's left, the same confused, silver-haired halfling we saw when we first arrived. She tilted her head and stared at me with big brown eyes. “Anyway, this is Nador Underwood, my favorite alchemy expert. Tessen, to your left is my good friend and archery prodigy, Iefyr Sealash.”
I twisted my upper body so I could greet the half-orc next to me. He was slight for a half-orc, with a build similar to my own, and his wide, curious eyes were blue with gold circling the pupils. When he smiled, his small tusks barely showed beyond the edge of his lip. His neatly tied red hair fell past his shoulders. I'd met orcs with light hair before, but never one with red. It was a rare color to see on anyone of any race in Bacra's southwestern realms.
“My other half is highland elf, in case you're wondering,” Iefyr said. His voice was low and quiet, with a slight growl and a brogue that revealed him as not native to the Jade Realm. I couldn't identify his accent. Pearl or Beryl Realm perhaps, something at least a realm or two removed to the north. “I know you were wondering. Everyone wonders. My mother was the elf, by the way. My grandfather was not too pleased about that.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said, offering my hand. In spite of our similar frames, Iefyr's hands were significantly larger than my own. “My Grandpa wasn't too happy when my brother came out a half-elf, either.”
“Hey!” Shan objected. He planted a sharp elbow in my ribs.
“It seems you've been promoted to Lord Goldtree, heir-apparent to the Jade Duchy,” said the petite, auburn-haired elf next to Iefyr. She was quite young, no more than a couple years older than me, and the extensive runic tattooing on the olive skin of her arms gave her away as a forest elf. There were rumored to be forest elves living in the redwood-covered mountains of the western Jade Realm, but I'd never seen one before. They were a wild faction of elves made up of the outcasts and runaways of proper civilization, and they were distrustful of organized societies. The elf rested her chin on the palm of her hand and stared at Shan with unblinking fern-green eyes. “I'm sorry for your loss, Lord Goldtree. Were you close with your grandfather?”
Shan's pale skin blanched to alabaster. “Um, not really. Never met him until this year. He got on well with Tessen, so I guess they were friends. Don't call me Lord Goldtree. Or Shannon. Please. I'm Shan, just Shan.”
“All right, just Shan. I'm Marita Wingstorm.”
Marnel and Cora placed steaming plates before each of us, then pulled up chairs to join the dinner. Cora nodded at the fish on her plate and said, “Eat up, all of you. Might be the last hot home-cooked dinner you have for a while, or at least the last decent one.”
“Are all of you coming with us?” Shan asked. He nudged the dragons toward me so he could eat his dinner without any extra limbs getting in the way. Lumin's balance faltered and his glowing tail bulb landed with a smack in the center of my plate.
“Everyone but Cora and Marnel,” Ragan said. “I think between the seven
of us, we can take on the road. Nice skill set here. Shan and Rose are both warlocks and that would be enough even without their combat skills, Nador can figure out how to make just about anything go boom, Iefyr's got better-than-fair medic skills and his long shots are the most accurate I've ever seen, and I'm sure Tessen can handle a sword well enough to best me on a mediocre day.”
“I'm okay,” I said with a shrug. “I might be better with a fork, though. Got any tridents I can train with?” I stabbed at my fish and nodded toward Marita. “What can Marita do?”
“She's a green witch. Chaparral elf turned feral forest elf,” Shan mumbled.
“Oh, you warlocks, always creeping about our souls like prickly little gnats,” Marita said with a grin. “I'm a bit of a healer, a bit of a nature-charmer. Still learning what else I can do. I can take care of any scrapes and bruises, hopefully nothing worse.”
“Best to be cautious with a task like this.” Ragan's fish was already gone and he was busy serving himself a large slice of cherry pie. “All right, all of you. Finish up so you can pack and sleep. And sleep well. It's shit and rocks from here out.”
Chapter 9
Mom,
We're okay. Made it where we needed to be and there are familiar faces here. Ask Dad, I think he knows who we're with. I can't tell you where we're going next, but I can say don't expect us home for a couple months. Our escorts are skilled and so are we, so try not to worry too much about us. We love all of you and we'll see you again soon. Stay safe.
–S & T
I rolled up the scroll and fastened it to the clip on the falcon's leg. I hoped the message would be enough to alleviate some of Mom's fears. We couldn't tell her any real information, but at least she'd know we were currently alive and unharmed. I wondered how much Daelis knew. Did he know Ragan was his father's contact in North Juniper, or did he only know him by his code name?
Faelost Page 6
