Fae Star (3 page)

My hand slapped him across the face before I was aware that I had even moved it. “You have no right…” I began, but I was afraid that my voice would shake, so I didn’t continue. The thing is, what he had said was true. I had always pictured myself as a Cinderella-like figure, taking on extra chores, taking care of my four younger siblings, not having any nice things or attention for myself. So why didn’t I want this mysterious prince to sweep me off my feet? I thought that was what I had wanted all along, but now that it might actually happen, it seemed absurd to abandon my family and move to a strange land before I even graduated from high school.

“Look, I’m sorry,” Ian said. He put his hand on my shoulder, but I pushed it off.

“You’d be able to visit your family whenever you wanted,” Ian said, “And the prince has already agreed to the marriage.”

“I’m only 16,” I said, “I’m not ready for marriage!”

“You don’t have to decide right now,” Ian said, “but I would like to take you to the fae land so you can at least learn some of our customs. You’ll be safer there since no one will be expecting the star in the fae realm. Your power will be masked by all of the other magic.”

“I have to take care of my siblings,” I said, beginning to panic, “I have to go to school!” The thing was, I wouldn’t mind missing a few days of school. I felt like I might have really enjoyed school, except for the fact that with all of my responsibilities at home, I was always running late and I never had my homework done, which meant I was always getting into trouble.

“I will provide a doppelganger,” Ian said.

“You mean someone that looks like me will do all my schoolwork and babysitting?” I asked. The idea did sound pretty appealing. Someone else would do all my housework for me and I would get all the credit? But there was no way she could do everything I did as well as me, and if she did, somehow that would be even worse. What if my family liked her better? Ian’s voice cut into my thoughts.

“I have a friend who owes me a favor. She is familiar with the human world and she is a powerful illusionist. She will use her magic to make herself look like you and to make you look like more fae before we leave.”

“My family will never buy it,” I said, “The realness of this was starting to overwhelm me, and as much as I tried to hold back the tears, they started to drip down my face. I had to leave my family… People were trying to kill me… It was all too much.

Ian was about to say something, but he stopped and put his arms around me tightly.

“It’s
okay, Erica, it’s okay. I’ll find a way to keep you safe. And I’ll tell you what, if we get to the fae kingdom and you find that you don’t like the prince, or that you’re not ready to get married, then we’ll find another way to keep you from harm.”

“But what about the king?” I asked.

“It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve disobeyed his orders,” Ian said with a grin. I suddenly liked him just a little bit better.

“Not sure how you keep your job,” I muttered, but I was relieved that at least now I had a way out.

“It’s time for you to meet Erica 2,” Ian said, “I’m going to jump and bring her back from the fae world.”

“What do you mean, jump back?” I asked.

“I’m a jumper,” Ian said, “meaning that I can disappear from one place and appear in another at will. That’s how I’ve been traveling between this realm and the fae one. Watch.”

Ian vanished from the room. After a minute, he appeared with a perfect copy of me. It was like looking at a reflection that wasn’t in sync with my movements.

“Hi Erica,” she said in my voice.

“Um, hello,” I said, wondering how it was possible to be shy around myself.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve been studying your movements for the past few weeks so I could get them just right,” other-Erica said, flopping down onto my bed in my signature style.

“A few weeks?!” I asked, “I only found out about you guys a few days ago! You’ve been spying on me?”

Ian and Holly-me exchanged a glance.

“We were only trying to help,” Ian said, “And the prince wanted to know a little bit about the girl he was going to marry. Besides, didn’t Holly do a great job?”

She did look and act exactly like me. Any other day, this is exactly what I would have wanted - a clone to take on all of my responsibilities.

“Thank you, Holly,” I forced out.

“No problem,” she said, “The king is giving me a ton of gold to be here, so I’m happy.”

“At least you’re here for the right reasons,” I said sarcastically, and then added, “I know you can talk and look like me, but what about my unique attitude.”

Holly put her hands on her hips and and
gave me one of my own signature glares, “What, you don’t think I can handle it?” I laughed. Maybe we could pull this off after all.

. “ Now let’s get disguises for you two,” Holly said.

I stood in front of my bedroom mirror as Holly waved her hands over me. She didn’t have a wand or a fancy potion, and I didn’t feel anything, but I could tell by my reflection that Holly was making me look more fae. First she made my ears pointier, my face thinner and my skin smoother and more translucent. It was weird to see all of my freckles disappear. Then she made my hair shinier and straighter.

After Holly was done with me, she made Ian’s hair lighter and his jaw more square. She changed his eyes from dark brown to gold, and that completely altered his appearance.

“Why do you need a disguise?” I asked him.

“A lot of people in the fae world know me,” Ian said.

“You two will be able to see each other normally,” Holly said, “but to everyone else, you will appear disguised.”

When I looked back at Ian, he was back to normal.

“So we’re all set then,” Ian said, “Thank you, Holly.” He turned to me, “Erica, take my hand.”

I wanted to make a smart remark about how he was too old to need someone to hold his hand, but since he was helping me stay alive, I stayed quiet.

As soon as I took Ian’s hand, the scenery changed and we were standing in a sunny meadow in the middle of the forest.

“Whoa,” I said, “This is the fae world?” Even after all I’d seen, the fact that we had just realm-jumped in less than a second really astonished me.

“Yes,” Ian said, pulling on my hand to lead me down a path, “and we’re going to meet someone who will teach you about fae customs.”

Ian led me to a log cabin in the middle of the woods and said, “Here, this is where Gelsey
lives. Just think of her as the fae version of Ms. Manners.”

Great. Just who I wanted to meet.

Chapter 8

Ian knocked on the door and a tiny woman with a gray bun answered.

“Hello,” she said, “May I help you?”

“Yes,” Ian said, “My friend Aubrey here is from a distant land.” He gestured toward me as he spoke, “She knows nothing of fae history or customs. Could you start her on basic customs, starting today?”

It made me uneasy that Ian was leaving me with someone that he didn’t even trust enough to give my real name to. I pulled him aside while
Gelsey gathered some supplies for our training.

“I thought fae couldn’t lie,” I whispered.

“They can’t,” Ian said.

“You just lied about my name,” I hissed.

“Erica and Aubrey both have roughly the same meaning - That’s why I was able to make the substitution.”

“You’re leaving me with someone who you don’t even trust?” I asked.

“I do trust Gelsey,” Ian said, “It’s just best not to take any chances.”

Gelsey
returned a few moments later. “Okay,” she said, handing a piece of paper to Ian, “Here’s a list of the things we’ll go over and how much it will cost.”

“Here,” said Ian, “This should cover it for today.”

He handed her a big silver coin. She inspected it for a few seconds, before turning it over in her hand and saying, “Yes, this will do.”

“You,” Gelsey said, pointing at me, “Come inside.”

She motioned for me to sit in a small wicker chair and she stood in front of me with her hands out as if she were about to catch a basketball.

“The fae world is exactly as old as the human plane, and occupies the same space.” As she spoke, a ball of light appeared between her hands. I recognized the continents on it, but they looked twisted and different. “These two realms were the same at creation, but magic has altered our timeline from theirs.”

“Two different evolutionary paths diverged,” Gelsey continued, “The fae
have magic and humans have technology. Since humans that not yet mastered realm-jumping technology like our jumper-magic, the fae are a lot more aware of the humans than they are of us.”

I nodded as if this was all perfectly normal, but really, I felt a bit queasy inside at hearing my whole world was different that I had thought.

Gelsey
went on for a while, but I got lost in the details of all the fae wars and kings and policies. I hoped I wouldn’t be tested on any of it.

“The fae can’t lie,” Gelsey said, once again catching my attention, “not just because they don’t want to but because an ancient magic prevents them from doing so.”

“Whose ancient magic?” I asked.

“No one knows,” Gelsey said, “Even if the oldest of us haven’t been around for
that
long.”

When we broke for lunch, Gelsey
handed me a lunch that Ian had packed for me. He probably didn’t want me eating fae food. I was worried it was going to be stale bread and water or something, but Ian had known enough about human taste buds to
pack me a turkey sandwich, an apple, and a cupcake.
Gelsey
looked at my food strangely, and I wondered if she had figured out that I was human. I decided it was best not to say as little as possible, so I just nibbled at my sandwich in what I hoped was a polite manner.

After lunch, Gelsey
tried to teach me some traditional fae dances, but I just wasn’t getting it. I stumbled over my own feet as well as
Gelsey’s, and I’m sure I stepped on her delicate toes more than once.

“I think that’s enough for one day,” Gelsey said.

Gelsey
and I discussed magic as we waited for Ian to come back for me. Apparently, there were several different kinds, and every fae had at least one type of magic.

“Um, I do have another question,” I said, “Do you know anything about the Royal Family?”

“Of course,” Gelsey said, “What do you want to know?”

“Um, what are they like?” I asked lamely. I should have thought this through.

Gelsey
gave me an odd look, but then she answered, “The king is a good ruler, but he can be cruel at times. The queen rarely speaks and is thought to be in a depression. The prince is very handsome, and he did show signs of being a good ruler, until the Incident.”

“The Incident?” I repeated. This did not sound good.

“Surely you must have heard about how the prince murdered his brother… I’m sure that news reached even the islands, although we’re really not supposed to talk about it...”

“Please tell me,” I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking, “For my education.”

“Well,” said Gelsey, “the prince was second-in-line for the throne and he murdered his brother and his brother’s fiancee so that he could take the crown for himself when the time was right.”

“Why isn’t he in prison?” I asked, suddenly feeling ill.

“You can’t put the Royal Family in prison,” Gelsey said, “That’s
their
job. Anyway, he said he didn’t do it, and since fae can’t lie, it stands in a court of law.”

“So he didn’t really murder his brother?” I asked.

“There are ways to get around telling the truth without lying, and I think that’s what happened. There was blood all over his hands, the power-crazed maniac.”

I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath.
I was supposed to marry a murderer?

Chapter 9

Ian materialized in the doorway.

“Oh, hello,” Gelsey
said. She whispered something to Ian but I could catch a few words, “Poor girl doesn’t know
any
magic…Can’t dance to save her life...”

“I know, it’s sad,” Ian whispered back.

“We need to talk,” I said to Ian.

Once we got outside of Gelsey’s cabin, my voice got loud as we spoke, “Why didn’t you tell me that the prince you want me to marry is a murderer?”

“Where did you hear that?” Ian asked. His jaw tensed and his hands balled into fists.

“Gelsey told me,” I said.

“Well, it’s not true,” Ian said.

“How do you know?” I asked.

“I was there,” he said.

A thought nagged at my brain. I tried to ignore it, but it wouldn’t let up. What if the prince hadn’t been lying about killing his brother? What if he had ordered Ian to do it?

“I want to go home,” I said suddenly.

“But it’s dangerous for you there,” he said.

“It’s dangerous for me here too,” I said. The dangers that I had faced at home were already starting to seem mild compared to what could happen in the fae world.

“Don’t be crazy, Erica,” Ian said.

“I’m not crazy,” I said, “I just have to get out of here.”

“Fine,” Ian said, touching my shoulder and bringing me back to my bedroom, where Holly-Erica gave me a concerned look.

“Don’t come running to me when you need help. Come on, Holly, let’s go back to the fae world.” Ian didn’t even wait for Holly to get a good grip on his hand before disappearing.

I suddenly wondered if everything had run smoothly with Holly replacing me for the day. I walked outside of my bedroom and felt almost disappointed that the house hadn’t turned into a warzone in my absence. My brothers were already in bed and Julia was sitting in the living room listening to music and flipping through an issue of
Teen Vogue.