Fae Star (5 page)

I nodded, but my stomach was twisted in knots and I was shaking. Ian took my hand.

“I need to talk to the king and queen about something first, and then I’ll present you to them,” Ian said.

Chapter 11

We entered a large room with marble floors and saw two people who could only be the king and queen sitting in matching thrones. They were royally
dressed,the
king in scarlet robes and the queen wearing violet, and they both had shiny crowns atop their heads. The most striking thing about them was how good their posture was. They looked like they had metal poles where there vertebrae should be. The king was tall and had a beard that was starting to grey, while the queen was a brunette wearing a perpetual frown. The royal pair were seated on their thrones and listening to the townspeople, who stood in line to complain, to praise, and to ask for advice. The line stretched across the room, but as soon as the king saw Ian, he stood up.

“My son,” he said, moving toward Ian. Ian tried to say something, but the king spoke first, “and this must be Erica, your bride-to-be?”

“You,” I said to Ian, “You’re the prince?” I had mixed feelings. I liked Ian, maybe more than liked him, but I wasn’t ready to marry him or anyone else. I felt relieved, betrayed, and hurt.

“You should have told me,” I said, my voice rising in anger, “You lied to me!”

“You wouldn’t have come with me,” Ian said.

“I’m leaving,” I said, “Take me home!”

“Erica, it’s too dangerous! Besides, you should give me a chance. I would take such good care of you. You won’t find a better husband!”

“I have to go,” I said, storming off without a plan or a rational thought in my head.

“Vanya, go with her,” I heard Ian say, “Protect her.”

A pale woman with long, silvery-blond hair appeared at my side. She wasn’t any taller than I was, and she certainly didn’t look any stronger.

“You’re the one Ian sent to protect me?” I asked, “Ian certainly has a sense of humor.”

“I’m the head of the royal guard,” she said, “Here, Ian wanted you to have this.”

I continued to walk away from the castle, but I slowed a little, “What is it?”

“It’s a vial of his blood,” Vanya said, “in case you’re in grave danger.”

“He gave me his blood?
Cuz wedding rings are soo pase,” I said sarcastically.

Vanya and I wandered through the fae lands in front of the castle for about three hours before she asked me, “So, what is your plan?”

“You mean you don’t like wandering around aimlessly with me?” I asked in a mock sweet voice, but then I said, “I’m sorry. I know you’re here to help, but I’m just so angry.”

“I don’t know why you’re so upset about marrying a handsome prince,” Vanya said, “And Ian’s not a bad guy. All he ever seems to do is protect you.”

“I know,” I said, “but I never thought I would have to get married this young or under these circumstances, or to leave my family or to give up the life I’ve always known. And something else has been bothering me too. Why does some of the kingdom think that Ian’s a murderer?”

“It’s a long story,” Vanya said, “Ian’s brother was next in line to take the throne, but he had a wicked streak. A lot of people didn’t want him to be king. A few years ago, Ian went out horseback riding with his brother and his brother’s
fiancee
. Ian came back from the trip alone and said that he didn’t remember anything that happened while
they were gone. His brother and sister-in-law-to-be never came back and their bodies were never found.”

“But fae can’t lie. If he doesn’t remember anything, why would they think he did it?”

“He was covered in blood when he came back,” Vanya said, “It was awful.”

It was a lot to think about. My guy told me that Ian was innocent, but who could tell for sure?

“I almost forgot. You need to eat this,” Vanya pulled a tiny muffin out of her pouch.

“No thanks,” I said, “I’m not hungry.”

“It’s not food,” she said, “It’s a spell. Holly created these so we could use magic even when she wasn’t present. It will make you appear fae for a short while, since the castle broke your original disguise.”

The muffin tasted pretty good for being a spell, almost like blackberries, and I gobbled it up in one bite.

“I know who you are,” a deep voice rumbled behind us. I jumped, but Vanya didn’t even see surprised.

“Show yourself,” she said, and the largest man I had ever seen stomped in front of us. When I saw that he looked to be about nine feet tall and six hundred pounds, I was shocked that he had been able to sneak up on me that easily.

“That’s the star,” the giant boomed, “I could get a room full of gold for bringing her in alive.”

“You don’t know who I am, do you?” Vanya asked in a loud, calm voice.

“Sure, I do,” the giant thundered, “You’re a fly standing in the way of me getting what I want.”

“I am Vanya the half-dragon,” Vanya said, “Pleased to meet you.”

“A twig like you can’t honestly expect to stand a chance against me,” the giant said, stepping toward us.

Very calmly, Vanya took in a deep breath. She opened her mouth wide and blew a gust of bluish wind so strong that it sent the giant flying fifty feet backwards.

“That was a warning,” she said.

The giant stood up and roared, “Is that all you got?”

Vanya took a deep breath in and then blew it out again, but this time, a flood of water gushed from her mouth and pushed the giant back at least twice as far. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

Vanya yelled at the giant, “The next one is fire!”

The giant got up and said, “You know what? It’s not worth the trouble,” before stomping off.

I turned to Vanya, “That was amazing!”

I’m not the head guard of the royal army for nothing,” she said.

We walked another mile before I said to Vanya, “I think we should go back. I don’t even know where I’m going right now. There’s no point in running from my destiny, and you’re right. Ian’s not a bad pick for a husband; I’m just not ready to marry him yet.”

We started the trip back to the castle. I was glad that Vanya had thought to bring some human food with us, because I was starving. She pulled out crackers and salami for me and some sort of sparkly fruit for herself.

“What happens if fae eat human food?” I asked.

“If they eat a lot of it, they temporarily lose their magic,” she said.

“And what if I ate some of your food?” I asked.

“You would be ingesting magic, but not providing an outlet,” she said, “You would eventually go insane if you ate enough of it, and certain foods could have random magical consequences, like turning into a frog. I’m not sure how it works for the star, but that’s what would happen to a normal human.”

Chapter 12

As soon as we arrived back at the castle, I knew something was wrong.

Several of the guards were huddled in a circle outside of the castle. They didn’t even look at us when we went through the entrance.

The king and queen were both weeping in the throne room. One of the guards was trying to comfort them, but to no avail.

“We already lost one son, and now we’ve lost two! Haven’t we been through enough?” the queen wailed.

“This is all her fault,” the king pointed at me, “If she hadn’t taken our best guard, they would never have been able to get into the castle!”

“What happened?” Vanya asked the crying couple.

“Some masked men broke into the castle and took Prince Ian!” the queen said miserably, “He fought off several of them, but there were just too many!”

“Don’t worry,” Vanya said, “I’ll get all my guards together. We’ll find him.”

The king said, They
said if they see my guards approaching, they’ll kill Ian. It’s her they want.” He pointed at me again, “They said that she is to meet them at the forest’s edge at sundown or Ian dies. And she is to go alone.”

Things were not looking so good.

“I’ll take an invisibility potion and go with her,” Vanya said. I could have hugged her.

“No,” the king said, “That’s the reason we’re in this mess. You can’t leave again.”

“Can you really trust a human girl to get your son back?” Vanya said, “I may be your only hope.”

“Oh, please let her go!” the queen said.

“Very well,” the king conceded.

I was so nervous, I was dizzy as I walked toward the forest. Vanya had instructed me not to talk to her so no one would know she was there.

“I’m here,” I called, feeling foolish. The sun hung almost all the way down to the horizon. I sat down and waited for almost an hour before I heard voices.

“We should just keep her for
ourselves Then
we could overpower the boss.”

“It wouldn’t work out. We’re not royals.”

“Just a taste? He’d never know.”

“Just help me get her, would you?”

The two men stepped out of the forest. Both were tall and skinny, and there was something odd about them, but I couldn’t tell what it was in the dim light. One of the men spoke up, “Hello, ma’am. I’m Jasper and this is Spruce. You must be Erica?”

I nodded, not wanting my shaky voice to reveal my fear.

“You’ll have to come with us if you want Prince Ian to live,” Jasper said. I could see Jasper and Spruce better now. They looked like a mixture between men and trees. They were unusually tall, a little green, and had a few leaves branching off of their arms and legs.

I began to follow them. They must not have thought I was capable of much, because they didn’t bother to tie me up or even blindfold me. We walked through the woods for what felt like hours, until we reached a stone castle in the middle of the woods. It was smaller than the royal castle, about the size of a large mansion.

“Whose castle is this?” I asked.

“It belongs to Prince Seth,” Spruce said, “Ian’s brother.”

“That can’t be right,” I said, “Ian’s brother is dead.”

“Not exactly,” Jasper said, “He was transported to another realm and now he has come to take his rightful place as king.”

Gelsey
had said that their bodies were never found. Of course.

We entered the castle and I could hear two people arguing. I recognized one of the voices as Ian’s.

“But she doesn’t love me. Ian was saying, “
and
on most days she doesn’t even like me. Erica’s not going to come to my rescue like you think.”

“Well then, maybe someone else will turn her in for the reward,” the other man said, “Either way, she’ll be here.” He looked like a taller version of Ian with a mustache and a goatee.

“You can’t marry her!” Ian yelled, “You won’t treat her right! I won’t let you do this!”

“Who said anything about marriage?” Seth sneered, “That was only your plan. Disgusting. To me, the star is merely a food source. I’ll try to maintain her for as long as she is useful to me, but I never planned to make her into some cherished pet.” My skin crawled. I wondered if it was too late to turn around and run for it.

“I knew it!” Ian shouted, “And I knew you weren’t dead! When the others hear about this, they’ll…”

“They’ll what?” Seth interrupted, “Make me the rightful king? I suppose they will.”

“Ahem,” Jasper cleared his throat loudly and the brothers turned to look at him, “I hate to intrude, but we’ve found the star.”

Ian’s face fell.

“Erica, run!” he shouted towards me. I tried, but Jasper and Spruce tightened their grip on my arms. They threw me into a large cage and locked the door. Feeling panicked, I banged on the bars like an idiot.

“Now that I’ve used you to get to the star,” Seth said to Ian, “It’s time to get my revenge. Goodbye, brother!”

Seth lifted a large spear and launched it at Ian, but a gust of wind blew him back. Vanya! I had forgotten that she was with me!

“Vanya, that must be you,” Seth said, “You must remember, dear, that now that I’m back, my rank is higher than Ian’s and you must obey me.”

That’s when I remembered the vial of blood hanging from my neck. This felt like a pretty dangerous situation, and Vanya said to drink it if I was ever in danger. My hands were shaking, and I was glad that the vial opened so easily.

The blood tasted sweeter than human blood, and I felt the strength come almost as soon as it hit my tongue. I could feel my blood circulating more vigorously. My arms and legs tingled and I felt energized, like I had just drank 10 cups of coffee. I walked up to the metal bars and bent them easily in my hands, then walked out.

I ran over to Ian, but to my horror, it was too late. Blood was gushing out of Ian’s abdomen. Seth must have stabbed him with the spear while I was drinking the blood.

“No!” I cried out, “Ian, you have to drink some of my blood!”

Seth tried to attack me, but I pushed him so hard he fell through the stone wall and lay in an unconscious stupor.

“No, Erica, I can’t,” Ian said, “I could become addicted and harm you.”

“You won’t,” I said, tears starting to fall, “I know you won’t
” I
pricked my finger with the tip of the spear and placed it on top of Ian’s tongue.

To my amazement, Ian’s wound closed quite a bit and color returned to his face. He began to breathe normally and after a few moments, he looked even healthier than he had when I first saw him.

“Thank you,” he said, “Now let’s make sure Seth never bothers you again!”

Ian approached his brother and after a second, they disappeared. Only Ian returned.