The Overt Operation (Department of FAE Book 2)

by Renee Greene

  All false, except the question which was not true or false. She took his hand and walked over with him to a table with parchment and a quill. Unfortunately, it was the same table Evander was at, so he could see as she wrote, “I will bring you breakfast in the morning. You will need strength to finish this. I will help you too. Cullen can tend to the duties outside for me.”

  Evander did not question the message. Nothing appeared unusual, but Dylan got the message quite clearly.

  They went back over to Nilix’s table and began working on the elixir. Dylan was hungry enough that he ate several of the fruits under the guise of checking to see if they were what he needed. Perhaps he should have told them he got through because he’d eaten steak and potatoes. That sounded really good. Of course with as hungry as he was, even the handful of berries he ate tasted heavenly.

  Chapter 14: Rayne Learns a Hard Lesson

  Bryan rode through the woods on a horse. He really wasn’t a very good rider, but fortunately, the horse worked well with him. Vanessa and Rayne flew near.

  “We could go faster without you,” Rayne pointed out. “Are you sure you shouldn’t have stayed at the castle?”

  “Nea is in trouble,” Bryan responded. “I’m going after Nea.”

  “You are so gone,” Vanessa teased. “Let’s hope we get there in time. We got a late start. Kingdoms seem to have plenty of problems.”

  “Indeed,” Rayne agreed, “but you will do superbly ruling beside me as my queen. We do need to make it official. What are the customs for betrothals on your world? I’m sure I need to make arrangements with your father, but is there a ceremony?”

  “The man gets a ring for the woman, and he kneels before her, asks her to marry him, and gives her the ring,” she explained.

  “So I need a ring,” Rayne noted.

  “We aren’t getting married,” Vanessa corrected. “I’m too young to get married, and I hardly know you. Honestly, I’m not sure I entirely trust you.”

  “You are not too young,” he corrected. “You are a fairy. You don’t have to follow human customs or traditions. We know each other well enough, and there is no reason not to trust me.”

  “You work with Fardoragh,” she pointed out. “You are working to open the arch to everyone. I am not.”

  “It is for the best,” he argued. “You will see that as you learn more. Once we are married, you will learn more of the fairy land and what it needs.”

  “But you work with Evander,” Vanessa accused.

  “No, I work with Fardoragh,” Rayne corrected. “His goal is good, and he does not plunder and kill as Evander’s men do.”

  “But he kidnapped us and clipped your wings,” she pointed out.

  “I think Godric did that on his own,” Rayne defended. “Fardoragh would not order that. Godric has a vendetta against my brother. Actually, I think he has one against all royalty.”

  “But he kidnapped us,” she again pointed out.

  “No,” Rayne defended. “I brought you there for safety. They just didn’t want to let you out while you were still in danger. You will see things clearly in time. Give me a chance.”

  “Stop!” Bryan scolded. “She is not going to marry you, and we have a job to do. Let’s go save Dylan and Nea.”

  “We don’t actually know they need saving,” Rayne pointed out. “For all we know, Dylan went to negotiate with Evander and joined him. He could turn against us. There was a tengai. He’s been spelled. We have no idea what Nea is doing. She may be undercover and unnoticed. She’s skilled. Even if there is trouble, she could blast her way out of almost any situation. She has some of the strongest power I’ve ever seen in a nymph.”

  “She’s not pure nymph,” Bryan pointed out. “She’s much more. She has dryad and sprite too.”

  “You likely like the dryad part,” Rayne teased. They are friendly.” He then turned to Vanessa and suggested, “We’ll talk about us after this quest, but I see a future for us. I really do have strong feelings for you. I know you have feelings for me. Your pixie dust does sparkle when I kiss you, and I could get through the arch with you because of our connection where Dylan couldn’t.”

  “Kissing is exciting,” Vanessa agreed, “but good relationships need more, and I need to talk to Dylan and see what happened.”

  There was no more talk because they suddenly were attacked by a band of sprites. Sprites were unusual creatures. As with most races, some are very good, and some not so good. Sprites tended to be very mischievous and incredibly good thieves. There were a dozen sprites.

  The sprites were all under four feet tall, so they weren’t very strong, but they were slick and ganged up on people. They weren’t trying to kill, but to rob all of them, particularly Bryan. Vanessa and Rayne grew to full size to help him.

  Bryan really didn’t have anything fancy on him. There were rations and blankets in the saddle bag. Other than that, he did carry a pocket knife that they picked from him. It had a dragon painted on the side.

  They followed the sprites into the woods trying to get their belongings back, but they stopped suddenly when they heard voices and froze in place.

  Vanessa and Rayne immediately shrunk to six inches and flew into a tree to hide. Bryan hid behind the tree and watched.

  There were two high elves there, an ogre, and a beautiful semyph with long, black hair. One of the elves was Godric. Rayne recognize him immediately

  “Rayne got through the arch,” Godric was explaining. “I don’t know how or if there is any truth to the idea that connection and sacrifice are the way. The way he’s playing Vanessa for us, she just might connect to him. I don’t know, but when he reports back, we’ll know if that is the truth or if what you were told is.”

  “The human male said it was berries he ate,” the semyph explained. “He is trying to recreate it. He has until tomorrow to get Evander through the arch or Pyria will die and he’ll be beaten.”

  “He hasn’t already?” Godric mocked.

  “Of course he has,” the ogre bragged. “The pixie girl healed him. If he fails I hope I get to beat him tomorrow.”

  “If it’s not true, I can get the truth from him,” the semyph suggested. “He is handsome and muscular. I would enjoy convincing him to talk. I’m good at getting information.”

  “Forget him,” Godric urged. “We have Rayne who can get through. Fardoragh can get him to get us whatever we need from the human world. He is a fool who blindly follows. Evander will be pleased with him too. He is a useful idiot.”

  The semyph stepped up close to the other high elf with Godric and put her arms around him. “I’m so glad Fardoragh is working with Evander now. I am impressed with high elves. Would you like to learn more about seymphs?”

  “Perhaps,” the elf answered, “but I have a job to do now, and I do not want Fardoragh to punish me for failure. Get a list of what Evander wants and we’ll give it to Rayne. He’s schmoozed Vanessa enough to get through. I really think Dylan is lying.”

  “Then I will enjoy beating him tomorrow. Perhaps I will get to kill him,” the ogre boasted.

  Godric handed a parchment to the ogre and said, “Get this to Evander. We will return in two days. Evander will have to get Agent Hall to arrange a reason for Bryan and Vanessa to return home. When they do, we’ll send Rayne through to get what is needed. Hopefully, the men Agent Hall works with can get the supplies ready.”

  There were a few more words said, and Godric and the other elf walked off toward Bryan.

  Bryan stiffened. He was about to be seen. “Naviden,” he whispered, and the high elves passed by without even noticing him. He stood frozen until all four of the people were out of sight. When they were, he whispered, “Come down, Vanessa.”

  Vanessa and Rayne flew down to him, but when they did, she slapped Rayne’s face. “Scum!” she scolded. “You used me. You schmoozed me. You don’t care at all. All you wanted was to get through the arch. How was I such a fool? I melted in your arms.”

  He grew to full s
ize to stand on the ground and not have Bryan tower over him. Vanessa did too. Again, she slapped him.

  “I’m sorry, Vanessa,” Rayne apologized. He looked over at Bryan and asked, “May I please talk to her alone?”

  “I’ll get the horse,” Bryan responded, and he walked off.

  “I’m sorry,” Rayne apologized. He reached for her hand, but she pulled it away. “I’m very sorry.”

  “You used me just to get through the arch!” she cried.

  “No,” he corrected. “I am sorry. My first assignment to you was from my father and King Giles. I did not intend to schmooze you to get through the arch. Honestly, Fardoragh asked me to try to get the information on how to, and he did ask me to bring you to him, but I had no idea that he wanted more than to bring technology to our world and let people pass through the arch. I had no idea that he is working with Evander. He told me he wasn’t.”

  “And you believed him?” Vanessa asked. “That was naive.”

  Rayne tightened his lips and took a moment to control his emotion. “I am sorry,” he again apologized. “I am a fool. I have no words. Please forgive me.”

  She looked into his eyes. He seemed so sincere and in so much pain.

  “Please,” he begged. “I was a fool. I worked with Fardoragh, but I did not know he worked with Evander, and I never wanted to hurt you. My feelings for you are real.” He took her hand, and she did not stop him. “Please, give me a chance,” he pleaded. “My feelings for you are real. Vanessa, I really, truly love you. I have never met anyone like you. Many pixie females are rather flighty. You are so smart and so incredible. I am sorry I haven’t treated you better. Please…”

  He kissed her, and she didn’t stop him. His kiss was sincere, and full of emotion, but the normal sparkle didn’t come. She felt more pity than romance.

  “I’m sorry,” he again said after the kiss. “I’m a fool.”

  Vanessa really had no idea what to say, so she said, “We’ll get through this. This is a time to regroup and be strong, not fall apart. Show Fardoragh that you are not a fool. Instead of letting him break you, use the lesson you just learned to strengthen yourself. Show Fardoragh what you are made of. Help take him down and stop him.”

  “I’m sorry,” Rayne apologized again. He sighed and added, “Princes aren’t generally good at apologies. I don’t know how to do this, but please forgive me. Hopefully I can not only show Fardoragh my strength, but you too.”

  Bryan came over to them, “Hurry,” he urged. “It doesn’t take long to apologize and tell her you’re a fool. She already knows anyway. We all do. Now, let’s go. We know Dylan is caught, and Nea could be in trouble too.”

  Rayne had no idea how to react to what he said, so he shrank and flew after Bryan. Vanessa did too.

  They hurried off toward the ruins of Parval, hoping to get there in time.

  Chapter 15: Nea Learns Where Her Plan had Weaknesses

  Cullen and Nea walked up the stairs dug into the mountain. The morning sky had pinks and purples with the rising sun and the dew on the leaves sparkled. Yet, they walked very nervously. When they reached half-way up, Cullen stepped off the path.

  “Be careful,” Nea warned. “This is risky.”

  “I knew the risk when I came,” Cullen assured her. “It’s my choice. Good luck. If I hear you scream, I’ll try to get in. I’ll await your whistle. Hopefully this works.” He pointed to a tankard he was carrying. “I’m not a fire nymph.” He then ducked into the trees, hoping no one saw him and watched her proceed.

  Nea was carrying a tray of food, so the guards at the door let her in. When she walked in, an ogre walked up to her. “Who are you bringing that to?” he demanded. “Evander is not here yet.”

  She was playing mute, so she held the tray with one hand and pointed toward the stairs to the dungeon.

  The ogre laughed. “I’ll take that!” he demanded. “It smells mighty good for prisoners, but I think we’ll enjoy it.”

  Nea took two biscuits off the tray so Dylan and Pyria could at least have something. She walked through the tunnel and down the stairs taking note of anything that might be significant during an escape.

  When she reached the dungeon, she showed the food to the guards and they let her in. “Throw it in the cell and leave,” one of the two guards ordered.

  She looked at him with big, pleading eyes.

  “What?” he demanded. “Speak.”

  She motioned that she couldn’t speak, and pretended to write on her hand. The ogre pointed to parchment and a quill. She went over and wrote. “I want to observe the human male. He is attractive.”

  “You can stay and observe him being beaten,” the ogre mocked. “Throw the food in.”

  Nea went over to the cell. Dylan was sitting with his shirt off, so she could see the bruises he still had all over his chest and back, despite the healing. He had obviously hardly been fed, so he was thin enough that every muscle was very clearly defined. She handed the biscuits through the bars. Dylan was not chained down, but had his hands bound in front of him with a rope. Pyria had her tail chained to the wall and her hands bound with a rope in front of her.

  “Thank you,” Dylan said weakly as he took the biscuits from her. His eyes met hers, and the unspoken plan to escape was acknowledged. “Are you going to stay and watch me be beaten?”

  He wasn’t happy that she nodded her head yes. Yet, it clearly communicated the plan. That would be the distraction she needed.

  He was allowed to eat his biscuit. For a guy his size, it really wasn’t enough, but he was grateful for anything. Nea’s biscuit tasted incredible. It was freshly baked and had some spice he didn’t recognize. Of course, fried grasshoppers would taste good to him with as hungry as he was.

  He wasn’t eager to finish eating and get beaten, but he also wanted to get the plan in motion.

  As he ate, Nea walked over to the guards. One had the keys on his belt, so she sat beside him and smiled innocently.

  “What do you want?” he sneered with a gruff voice.

  She put her hand on his face and looked in his eyes. She kept their eyes locked as she ran her hand down his arm muscles. As she did, her other hand picked the keys off his belt. She hooked them to a garter under her short skirt.

  “Shall we get started?” the other guard asked. “I want to get to beat him before he gets called up to work with Nilix. It’s been great since we have the healing pixie so we can beat prisoners as much as we like.” He stood up. “Let’s have some fun.”

  How could anyone think beating someone was fun? Nea looked around the room for assets, but moved away, hoping they would just not really pay attention to her.

  She suddenly noticed her error, that they would need the keys to open the cell. She had to think quickly, so she put them on a peg on the wall.

  The guard reached for his keys, but they weren’t on his belt. “What?” he almost yelled.

  Nea gave a curious look, shrugged, and pointed to the peg. He looked at it oddly, having been sure the keys were on his belt, but didn’t give it much thought. He took the keys, opened the cell door, and pulled Dylan out. Dylan couldn’t fight two ogres with his hands tied. Fighting would just get him beaten more, so he conceded to the inevitable, hoping Nea would work quickly and have a way to get him out.

  Nea watched as they hooked the roped around his wrist to a hook from the ceiling and pulled out a whip. She couldn’t bear to watch as they threw the first strike.

  Instead, she stepped into the cell. She heard Dylan scream as she pulled a lock-pick from her belt and quickly picked the lock to the metal cuff chaining Pyria’s tail to the wall. Then she walked around to her hands. She grabbed the rope around her wrist as best as she could and burned through it. Pyria fought the pain of her burning wrist and tried not to scream out and draw attention to what they were doing.

  “When we go, get yourself out,” Nea whispered.

  Pyria had been able to stay silent through getting her wrist burned, but she gasped when
Nea talked.

  Both the ogres turned and saw what Nea was doing. So much for stealth.

  Nea and Pyria ran out of the cell as quickly as they could to get out before the guards shut them in.

  The guards did run to shut them in, but when they saw Nea already out, they tried to grab her. She blasted both of them with fire.

  They screamed and stepped back, but one of them pulled a knife, grabbed Dylan, and held the knife to his throat. “Stop or he dies!” the ogre yelled. “Get in the cell.”

  Neither girl went back in the cell. Nea blasted the other guard with fire and Pyria scratched the one holding Dylan across the back. He screamed from the pain of her poison and then froze in place, but before he did, he did cut Dylan near his neck.

  “Watch Dylan as I get help!” Nea called to Pyria. Nea had a huge decision to make. If she screamed for help, surely the pixie would be sent to heal Dylan, as they needed him, but the escape would be exposed, and all of them would be locked up. Yet, if she didn’t, Dylan could bleed to death in the time she figured out how to get Reselda to him. There was only one hope. She pulled a whistle off her belt and blew it as loudly as she could.

  She then ran out of the dungeon and walked into the cavern as inconspicuously as she could, pretending to be fetching the tray that the ogre had taken from her. The seconds felt like hours as she waited. Cullen had to come through.

  Fortunately, it was less than a minute before there was a big emergency outside and everyone started to panic.

  With everyone running out, Nea went over to Reselda's cage, pulled her lock pick, and explained about Dylan as she quickly picked the lock.

  She and Reselda hurried out of the cavern. No one noticed, as everyone was running out to see what happened.

  Nea and Reselda ran down the dungeon steps. Both of the ogre guards were dead and Pyria was trying to stop the bleeding. “Help!” she called as they ran in.

  Reselda immediately dropped to her knees beside Dylan and started kissing him. It didn’t take long for the bleeding to stop, but it took some time before he could sit.