by Kimbra Swain
When I awoke, I found a shiny new pair of cuffs on my wrists. But I also felt Winter. The cuffs were to subdue the changeling. Not whatever I was now. A made fairy.
I did have a visitor.
Lord Olwen appeared at the door with Wart.
“Make it quick,” Wart said. He unlocked the door and allowed the fairy man to enter. He locked the door behind him with a grunt.
“What are you doing here?” I asked. Finley dropped his cloak. Then, slowly unbuttoned his tunic. “Um, what is this?” I got up and moved to the corner where we couldn’t be seen by the guards.
“I’ve come to play,” he said. I could see though his glamour, and I wanted to smack the smirk off his face.
“This is a bad idea,” I muttered.
He shoved me against the wall and lifted my shirt over my head. He leaned into me and whispered. “You know, I get it. I see why my sister can’t let you go. Look at you.” He ran his finger up my bare chest just above my scars. I slapped his hand away. He chuckled. “Calm down. I’m not going to fondle you.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me,” I countered.
“Me either,” he grinned. “How do you feel?”
“I feel Winter,” I said.
“Yes, well, I had to sell my soul to get you those components. Don’t make me regret it,” he said. “At least grunt or something. I’m supposed to be fucking you.”
“Not happening, pretty boy,” I said.
He planted his fist in my stomach. I groaned in pain. “That’s better.”
“I hate you,” I muttered.
“This is the plan. You’ve seen him. You know he’s gone.” He was verifying that Dylan was a lost cause. As much as I didn’t want to admit it. I nodded my head in agreement. “They don’t know you have power. You’ve got to get out of here when there is the least amount of traffic. You’ve got to do it quietly, and you’ve got to leave him behind. Can you do that?”
“Winnie?”
“Focus, Levi,” he said.
“Getting her out means more than anything. Do you understand me?” I said, grabbing him by the neck. He quirked his eyebrow at me, and I let him go. Fucking fairies.
“When I leave Winter, I’m taking Winnie with me. I’ve taken care of that, but I have risked everything to get you the power you need to leave. I would take you out myself, but I’m getting Winnie. You see what is going on here. This is what a Brockton reign would be. That can’t happen. Grace needs to claim her birthright, and she is going to need a king. Dylan can’t do that anymore,” Finley said.
“Maybe if we got him back home, I’m sure with time we could rehabilitate him,” I said.
Finley shook his head slowly. “Dylan isn’t a fairy. Nor is he human. He’s part of the Star Realm. Their bodies and abilities aren’t the same as ours. Once his mind is broken, it cannot be restored. Not in any way that I know. It doesn’t matter. You have to get out.”
“She will hate me forever for leaving him. If she survives Summer,” I said.
“Summer?” he asked.
“Yeah. She’s in Summer. She broke the bond between us. They were hurting her when they were beating me,” I said.
“Why is she in Summer?” he exclaimed.
“I can’t explain anything that woman does,” I returned. I meant it with the utmost respect of course because she would throttle me if I didn’t. “Wait. Aren’t you supposed to be in Summer?”
“I have a way to get in an out quickly, but I hadn’t planned to go back,” he said. Thankfully, he wasn’t trying to continue the ruse of us having sex. He quirked any eyebrow at me. “There is a spell. They think we are fucking. In fact, right about now, you are screaming and calling me daddy.”
“Damn it, Finley,” I huffed.
“What? Who cares what some troll guards think?” he asked.
“I do. They are in this situation as much as we are,” I countered.
He sighed. “This is why you would be a better king than me. I don’t care what they think. I probably should, but I don’t. Winter is going to need you.”
“Yeah, well, I have to get out of here. Can’t you have me brought to your room for more monkey sex?” I asked.
“Monkey sex? How dare you?! I am a sexual savant. Nothing I do is monkeyish. Besides, I already tried that,” he admitted. I shook my head. Anyone that boasted about sexual prowess usually meant they had a small dick. I didn’t want to find out.
“What will she think of me if I leave him behind? Hell, I need him. He keeps me honest.”
He put his hand on my cheek in a loving way. “Your self-sacrifice is noted, but it will be your death. It’s time to grow up and make the hard decisions. Let go of your human ideals and start to think like a king. This realm depends on you. I depend on you.”
“Why don’t you become king?” I said.
“Really? No, thanks. Besides, I’ve fucked far too many of these idiots. Baggage sucks. Too many of them have things to hold over my head. I had to grow up, too. I spent a century pretending that this realm didn’t mean anything to me. But it does, and my sister means everything to me. I see what my father saw. She is the queen we need. She doesn’t need you, but I think you are the only one that can convince her to accept her responsibility. In doing so, you will become our king. When you do, I’ll swear my life to yours.”
I felt his truth. He truly believed that I would be the difference between a Brockton reign and a Gloriana reign.
“What do I do?” I asked.
He smiled. “You can turn around and face that wall.”
“Finn.”
“Seriously, this is the quietest fuck I’ve ever had, and I can’t look at your face and fake this,” he said.
“I thought you said there was a spell,” I countered.
“There is, but it’s way too tame for my norm,” he replied.
I sighed and turned around. He pressed behind me and began grunting. I stood very still. He slapped my ass.
“Ow!” I exclaimed. He laughed in my ear.
“I’m a little jealous. You kissed Dylan. I’m prettier than he is,” he teased.
“Just hurry up,” I groaned.
“When they bring you food, they leave the outer door open. You need to dispatch the first one quickly before you have two of them on you. Do not hesitate with Dylan. If you can’t leave him behind, then you just stay, too. If you want to get Grace to the throne, then make his sacrifice worth it.” He stopped speaking and released an ungodly howl. I rolled my eyes.
He walked back to his clothes and put them back on.
“You are going to pay for this,” I said.
He grinned. “Don’t make promises that you can’t keep, Bard. I supposedly just raped you so act sullen or something. Oh, wait. You have brooding down to an art form. Just be yourself.” He looked out at Dylan. “You could just release him. Save him from this torture.”
“That’s not a mercy I can live with,” I said.
“Can you live knowing what they will do to him after you leave?” he asked.
“I won’t kill him. I don’t know if I can. She broke the blood bond,” I repeated.
Finley looked down at his feet, then back up to me. “Maybe. But you could try. Relieve him of his pain. Time to grow-up, Levi.”
The guard appeared and allowed him to leave. I turned my back on them, but through my fairy senses, I heard Finley stop and speak to Dylan.
“Keep walking, Lord Olwen,” the troll grumbled.
I heard the outer gate close, and I slid down the wall. Winter sank into me bringing along its power, but its darkness too. The despair and sorrow dared to take my soul. I wasn’t sure how Grace had withstood its seductive call for so many years.
“Did you have fun with the fairy?” Dylan asked.
“No,” I replied in my best broody voice.
“I know who he is,” Dylan said.
I peeked around the corner to see Dylan sitting up, facing my cell, and waiting for me to appear.
“You ar
e sane,” I said, moving to where I could see him better.
“Not completely. But his voice jarred something inside of me. Is he getting you out?” he asked.
“No,” I replied.
“Ah, he’s handling the other extraction,” he said.
“We shouldn’t be talking,” I warned.
“Why? I’m nuts. Nothing I say makes sense. They don’t care what I say.”
“Dylan.”
“He’s right. If you get your chance, you go. I ask you one more time to release me from this. I fear that I might do more damage alive than dead,” he said.
“I won’t give up hope,” I replied.
“It’s not about hope, Levi. It’s about truth. You’ve got to wake up and make a decision that doesn’t have a happy ending. Man up. How many times did I lie to her? I kept hope that one day it would result in my happy ending. It didn’t, and I wasted my time.” The sorrow in his voice hurt me deeply.
“You can still have time. You still have time,” I said. I choked back tears.
“Bless you, Levi. I’m thankful you came into her life. Oberon planned for you to be there when she needed you the most. He sent me to her, too. She fought me, and I didn’t go there to fall in love. But I did. Even now, the madness is clawing at my mind. Do you know what that madness tells me?” he asked.
“No,” I muttered.
“It says that I should kill you, then her for doing this to me. I know it’s not true. The saying isn’t that hope will set you free. Nope. It’s truth. This is my truth, Levi. I am a danger to you and to her.”
“You love her. You would never hurt her,” I said. The tears flowed freely.
“I’ve hurt her so many times. I meant well. But now, when this madness takes me for the last time, I won’t have a lucid moment. They plan to use me to destroy her.” He rose up to his feet, pulling on his chains. They rattled and clanged. “They will unleash me on her, and I will not have the power to stop it. She won’t stop me. You are the only thing keeping me from killing her.”
“You won’t. She’s going to have your son. You wouldn’t take your son’s mother from him.”
He tilted his head to the side and shook it violently. “No, no, no. I’m not done!” He turned his eyes back to me. “I’m out of time. I would. The madness says that my son would be better without all of this war and torture. At some point in his life, he will face this like we have. His salvation might be in her death.”
“You don’t believe that,” I said.
“You know that I don’t. But I can’t describe the compulsion inside of me to destroy you. Shady Grove. Her.”
“And Winnie? Will you take all of us from her?” I asked.
“She would be safer. She’s being held captive because Grace couldn’t let her go way back when she should have left with the rest of the humans. She’s vulnerable. A fragile little human body.” He sank to his knees. “Because I couldn’t let her go. I’d give her anything. Everything. I never thought I’d have a daughter. Phoenixes have sons. But I got to have a princess. But, no, Levi. Even Winnie won’t stop me.”
“I think you are wrong. I think when it comes down to it. Winnie will save you. Your son will save you.”
His eyes glossed over, and he was gone. He didn’t speak another sane word to me for the remainder of my stay. I cried myself to sleep, and when I woke up, I decided to embrace the truth.
I would make my move when they brought my meal, and I would save Dylan by letting him go.
46
Waiting on the edge of my bed, I studied the cuffs on my wrists. My newfound powers allowed me to see the magic that had made them. I could replicate them should I need such an item in the future. I also knew with just a thought that I could pop the pin inside that held them clasped together.
I’d resolved myself to do what I had to do. Hope had no place here. I decided to hold on to the truth. Brockton wanted us dead. I would defy that by getting out, along with Winnie. Grace needed to fight for Winter and become its queen. I would stand by her the entire way. If she needed a push, I would shove. If she needed reins, I’d reel her back.
I waited. And waited. And waited.
They didn’t bring food. They didn’t return to torture Dylan.
Time passed slowly.
“Hey, I’m hungry!” I protested. I wasn’t, but they didn’t know that.
“No food for you!” Wart yelled back.
“How about some soup?” I asked.
“No soup for you!” Wart returned.
I giggled at the reference. I’d asked just to hear him answer. It was the little things you do to keep from surrendering to the darkness.
“What about you, Sheriff? Hungry? I need a bacon cheeseburger from the diner. Sounds good, right?” I asked Dylan. He didn’t look up at me. “I want onion rings. What about you?”
He hated onion rings. I’d hoped it would jar something in his head. It didn’t.
“Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie,” he said.
I kept going. “Did you and Grace discuss names? What are you going to name your son? Of course, once she decides on something there is no changing her mind. He might end up having a crazy name like Horatio or Montague. I suppose Monty isn’t too bad. Any names you want me to avoid? Ex-boyfriends or something?”
I spent what I thought was days talking to him without him responding to me. Nothing I tried triggered his sanity. I even sang, but I didn’t want to go too far with that, or Brockton might realize I had access to Winter power. I didn’t need food, but my stomach grumbled just the same. Habit.
One night he muttered something slightly coherent as he fondled the necklace I’d given him. “I wonder what happened to that teacup.”
“I imagine it went down with the trailer into the swamp,” I answered.
“She probably broke it again,” he said.
“No, she wouldn’t do that. It meant too much to her,” I said.
He looked at me. “Think you could find another one like it?”
“Like the teacup?” I asked, hoping that he would show some clarity.
“I’m a little teapot, short and stout,” he sang. I rubbed my forehead.
“I’ll make sure she gets another teacup,” I said when he paused.
“Tip me over and pour me out,” he sang.
Sadness gripped my heart. The strongest man I’d ever known had been reduced to nursery rhymes and madness. I sank back into the bed and listened to his ramblings.
I awoke one night to the outer door opening and a rustle of activity. Brockton appeared at my cell door. I saw his fury and began preparing myself for a fight. The trolls opened the door, and the dark king rushed toward me.
“She is the luckiest bitch in the whole world, but I’ll show her.” I knew he was talking about Grace, and whatever had happened, she had survived it. “Chain him in the main room.”
Wart and his companion led me out to the main room where Brockton kicked Dylan in the ribs. My friend didn’t move. Had something happened while I slept? The last thing I’d heard was him muttering the words to an Emily Dickinson poem.
“Get up!” Brockton yelled at Dylan, but he didn’t move.
His voice came out slowly as if he were exhausted. “To die, to sleep.” He paused. “To sleep, perchance to dream. For in this death, what dreams will come.”
“Great. Another bard. Look at me, Fool!” He jerked Dylan’s chin so that he could look him in the eyes. “Do you want the bard dead?”
“Yes. No. Perhaps,” Dylan replied.
“I’m giving him to you. His power is restrained. Just leave enough of him to prove his death to Gloriana,” Brockton said.
Dylan’s eyes flamed in the dark dungeon. If I couldn’t snap him out, then I would have to kill him and hope that Brockton would give up this round.
Dylan rose, charging me with hands of flame. He struck out at me, and I could no longer hide my power. I snapped the pin inside the cuffs and allowed the rest of my blocked powers to rush
into me. I deflected Dylan’s punches with pure Winter power.
“What is this?” Brockton snarled.
“When I’m done with him, I’m coming for you,” I said.
“Guards! Kill him,” Brockton ordered.
“Well, shit,” I muttered.
The cowardly scoundrel hurried out of the room. I returned my sights on Dylan who concerned me more than the trolls. In fact, after Brockton left the room, the trolls stood by waiting for us to finish. I don’t know if they were afraid of Dylan or me.
Ten more of them rushed into the room. Wart raised his hand, and they, too, waited.
“Blackbird fly into the light of the dark, black night,” Dylan said as he kept swinging at me.
I unleashed a gust of Winter wind. It pushed him away from me.
“Stop!” I ordered him.
“I’m not your servant, Bard,” he snarled.
He bowed up ready to fight. I looked above to see Brockton, but he wasn’t there.
“This is it,” I said.
Dylan shook his head like he was trying to swat at a fly. “Time to go,” he said. He took the necklace out of his pocket and placed it in my hand. “Give this to her when the time is right. You will know when that is. You tell her that I love her, my daughter, and my son. Promise me.”
“I promise,” I muttered. I tucked the necklace into my pocket.
He cracked his knuckles and grinned. “I feel like burning some shit.”
“Dylan?”
He spun around and sucked the power out of the room like it was oxygen. It made me weak in the knees. He fought the troll guards with flaming bolts of lightning. Fiery wings formed off his arms, leaving a wake of flames and fury. After the shock of his transformation wore off, I battled with him. More and more trolls came to the fight. Each one that fell from our assault pained me. They were pawns in Brockton’s fight. I believed that the nobles were to some point but had a higher intellect and certainly the ability to fight back. They didn’t care. One day they would pay for their part in this. Right now, I had him. We were going home to Grace.
I followed him through the corridors until we came upon a group of soldiers who weren’t trolls. They weren’t like anything I’d ever seen. Like rotting corpses, they lined across a large room in front of our way out.
