Betrayals of Spring (30 page)

As we are riding along, Prince Ashe
slows his pace and his ears perk up in attention. Aki is sniffing around and
growling towards the trees off to our left. My adrenaline instantly spikes
putting me on full alert. Even with my enhanced vision it’s hard to make out
every single thing moving around; however, I know my vision is clear when I see
several sets of glowing red eyes staring back at me. Sweat forms over my brow
and my lungs begin to constrict from being frozen in place. Please don’t let
these creatures be what I think they are. I know one thing, I’m not going to
wait and find out.

“Aki, Prince Ashe, let’s go!” I yell.
Even though I know both of them are tired, they move swiftly through the forest
and away from the danger behind us. We ride hard for a several minutes and I am
constantly taking peeks behind me to see if we’re being followed. I breathe a
sigh of relief when it looks like I’m safe. I make Prince Ashe slow down
because his chest is heaving in and out from breathing hard and I don’t want
him to fall down from exhaustion. Aki looks fatigued as well and I know we have
to stop at some point to rest. Redcaps are not the kind of fae I want to cross
paths with and that is exactly who I think those red eyes belong to. Stopping
for the night is out of the question because getting caught by a Redcap will most
surely result in my death. They will feast in my blood just like they do with
every other kill. A shiver runs through my body at the thought of what they do.
A twig snaps behind me and I instantly freeze in place atop Prince Ashe. They
couldn’t have caught up to me so quickly could they?

I can’t contemplate any further because
pain explodes in my head and my vision goes blurry before I even have the
chance to turn around. Something hard and heavy hammered me on the head and I
can feel the warm, sticky blood pouring down my neck like a faucet. Everything
after that moves in slow motion as I am falling to the ground.

I land directly on my side and the
brutal force of the fall has knocked the air out of my lungs. I gasp for air
trying to get in a breath when I see a pair of blood red eyes glaring and
smiling at me with a mouth full of large, razor sharp teeth.

Growling fiercely, Aki is beside me and
ready to attack. He leaps at the Redcap giving me enough time to grab my bow
and load an arrow. My wolf is thrown into a tree with a loud thud and his growl
of pain pierces the night air. His cry tears at my heart and I want to help
him, but I know I have to take this Redcap down before he kills us both. The
pain in my head is throbbing and my vision is starting to fade. I grab my bow
and I unsteadily get to my feet. The Redcap is rapidly advancing, so without
any more thought, I let my arrow fly. It snags him right in the heart and he
falls to his knees in front of me. Victory is not mine because I fall to my knees
as well. The pain in my head is unbearable, my eyes begin to grow heavy, and
then…darkness.

The pain in my head has lessened, but I
can’t move any part of my body. My arms and legs are strapped down and I can’t
see a thing because of the thick fabric wrapped around my head. It feels like I
am strapped to a wooden table of sorts. I jerk my arms and legs against the
restraints but they only grow tighter cutting into my skin. My hands and feet
begin to go numb making them tingle like pins and needles, and now I can no
longer feel them.

I didn’t realize how helpless it would
make me feel to be strapped down. I can feel the panic begin to rise so I bite
my lip to keep from crying out. I killed one of the Redcaps and now they are
going to want revenge. I wonder if this is what the dark sorcerer had in mind
for my demise. I’m worried about Aki because after he took that brutal hit I
don’t remember much after that, or even if he’s still alive. I hope with all my
heart that he is well.

I can’t see what kind of room I am in,
but from the smell and the moisture in the air I would say I’m in an
underground prison. The clanking sound of a door opening gets my attention so I
listen carefully to see if I can figure out what’s going on. The heavy
footsteps on the floor appear to be two men who have entered the room. The
footsteps come closer and I instantly freeze in place. I absolutely detest not
being able to see anything. If I’m to die I want to see it coming.

They speak in their own native dialect
while they check the straps of my restraints. I curse myself silently for not
learning their language when I had the chance. I never thought I would come
into contact with Redcaps; so therefore, I decided not to learn their language.
If I knew it, I would probably know what was about to happen to me. Dread
settles in my gut, but after everything I have been through I can’t let it be
the end now. I have lived through the dark sorcerer taking my power, the
Tyvar’s power of seduction, and for what…to die by the Redcaps. If I can make
it out of the Tyvar’s territory unscathed, then I am sure there is a way to get
out of here. Hopefully.

The table I’m on moves and the Redcaps
roll me out of the room I am in. It takes a few twists and turns but then they
open another door that leads to the outside. I know this because I can see
light shining through the blindfold and feel the warm air across my skin. I
wish I knew what was going to happen and where they are taking me. As I am
being wheeled around several large, rough hands brush across my skin. It took
everything I had not to flinch from the feel of their dry, scaly hands running
across my skin. I hear their murmurs all around me.

“Where are you taking me?” I finally
ask. I don’t know if they will understand me, but I try anyway.

“Ah, the lass can speak,” a gruffy voice
answers. “Twas beginning to think ye were mute.”

“I didn’t know if you would understand
me,” I reply honestly.

He huffs, “Aye, lass. My name is
Grishom, and I am to take ye to our clan leader, Shamus.”

“Why are you taking me to your clan
leader?” I ask dismally.

Grishom is quiet for a few seconds and
I’m beginning to think he’s not going to answer me until I hear his gruff voice
in my ear, “Tis time to decide yer fate, little lass.”

Decide my fate? What does that mean? I
remain quiet the rest of the way until the table I am on is pushed upright to
where I’m basically standing against the table. I smell the rank breath of a
Redcap before me and the odor of it makes me gag. It felt hot and sticky across
my face and if I had food in my stomach it would already be all over him. He
laughs and takes his large, talon hands and unties the blindfold from around my
head.

I have only heard rumors of the Redcaps
only having talons for hands and by the way this one feels up against my head I
would say it’s true. The Redcap takes away the blindfold and I narrow my eyes
against the light of the outdoors. I blink rapidly a few times to get used to
the light and when I do, I am horrified at the sight before me.

There are dozens of Redcaps surrounding
me and they all look haggard and defeated. Blood is dried in splotches on their
faces and their red eyes have taken on a dull sheen. Their skin is dry and
cracking leaving sores in its wake, and the smell emanating from them is
absolutely revolting. They all look like sturdy old men, but some of them have
brighter red caps than the others. I look down at their hands and they are
exactly the way I was told they would be, talons and all. Their pikestaffs
measure twice as tall as them and they are all wearing heavy armor along with
iron-shod boots. Even with all that armor, they were hasty enough to catch me
on horseback. No wonder they are great killers, they’re swift enough to out run
a fae horse.

One of them approaches me and I assume
him to be the leader, Shamus. His cap is pulsing and sending rivulets of blood
trailing down his face. The metallic scent of his victim’s blood is permeating
around him and the smell is horrid. It looks disgusting, but I can’t seem to
tear my eyes away from him. He holds a dagger in his hand and holds it like he
is about to strike. My heart rapidly accelerates and I begin to sweat
profusely. I can feel it running down my back and dripping down from my
forehead, blinding me with its saltiness. I take a deep breath and prepare
myself for my fate.

The clan leader points his dagger at me
and announces across the crowd, “Blood is to be paid with blood. This young
lass has taken a clansman’s life, and it must be paid with her own. ‘Tis the
blood that will save our clan.”

Before I can protest, he slices the
dagger to the bone across both wrists. I hiss in pain as my blood flows rapidly
down into the buckets placed below. I welcome the numbness of my limbs for
dulling the pain. I don’t know how long it’ll take for me to bleed dry. With my
healing capabilities, I know I can heal very quickly.

Shamus, the clan leader, separates the
Redcaps into two groups and they each take a turn soaking their caps in my
blood. Shamus goes first and soaks his cap. Their world seems to be blurring
together as I begin to feel light-headed and dizzy from the steady flow of my
blood leaving my body into the buckets below. I refuse to die,
I scream
to myself.

I summon my magic and it swiftly travels
to my wrists, healing them quickly. I close my eyes to breathe a sigh of relief
at the same time Shamus gasps in surprise. I open my eyes quickly to see him
looking at me in amazement. His cap is now a deep crimson shade of red and his
eyes are glowing like the flames of a fire. Did my blood replenish him that
much? Gasps erupt around the crowd and they stare at their leader, mesmerized.

“Who are you?” he demands. Again, maybe
I should have screamed before who I was.

“I’m Princess Meliantha of the Summer
Court,” I announce looking around the crowd. Murmurs and gasps erupt from all
of them and they stare at me wide-eyed.

“Why are ye here, and how can ye blood
be so powerful?” Shamus asks, speaking above the crowd.

“I was in search of the dark sorcerer
before I was taken by you.” His eyes go wide, along with the rest of the clan.
By their angry and weary expressions I would say they’ve had a recent visit by
the dark sorcerer. Again, he has led me into a trap. I look across the crowd
and say, “He has taken something of mine and I want it back.” I glance at the
buckets of my blood on the ground and then back to the Redcaps. “My blood has
healing magic, and that’s probably why it healed you and made your caps
bright.”

The Redcaps continue to soak their caps,
and one by one their whole appearances change. It’s amazing to see how they
went from haggard, to rejuvenated, in a matter of seconds. Smiles take over
their faces and they look at me in sheer amazement. Grishom takes a step
forward and hollers across the crowd, “Tis a gift, it is.” He looks at the clan
leader, “Ye can’t take the lass’ life. Tis a healer, she is.”

I’m beginning to like Grishom. He has a
kindness in his eyes when he looks at me. Relief flows through me as the
murmurs across the crowd yell in agreement. Am I going to be set free? Shamus
holds his hands up for the crowd to be silent and I shake in anticipation
waiting on the verdict. He looks at me and explains, “ Tis many of my men
betrayed their clan. Tis the evil of the dark sorcerer that has corrupted their
souls. He took many and left us here weak.” The dark sorcerer must have taken
them when he came through here. I know how it feels to be betrayed by those you
love.

“Am I free to go?” I ask, hopeful.

Shamus shakes his head and furrows his
brows in concentration. He looks across the crowd and then back to me and says,
“Ye still took a life, but if ye offer ye blood once every new moon then ye
shall be set free.”

Every new moon is once a month and
offering them blood one time a month for my freedom is a small price to pay.
They must really be in desperate need of saving. Never in history have I heard
of a Redcap letting a prisoner go. They’re widely known for their murderous
ways.

It appears this is going to be my only
choice. “I promise to give you blood every new moon in exchange for my freedom,”
I answer whole-heartedly. Hollers of happiness explode across the crowd while
they dance around in glee. It’s eerie seeing my blood flowing down their faces
as they scream in joy. Grishom begins loosening my restraints and helps me away
from the table.

“How will you get my blood every month?”
I ask the clan leader.

“I will send one of my men to collect ye
blood,” he replies happily.