Fae Star (6 page)

“Where did you take him?” I asked.

“Siberia,” Ian said, “where he belongs.”

Still on our magic energy high, Ian and I turned to leave out the front door.

“What have you done? You’ve ruined everything!” a skinny woman with strawberry blond hair popped out at us.

“Catherine,” Ian said, “I should have know
that you’d survived too. How would you like to join your
fiance
?” Ian disappeared with Catherine and then appeared again by himself. I would probably never get used to that.

“Now that that’s taken care of,” I said, “We should probably get you to a hospital, or a healer, or whatever they have around here.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Ian said, lifting his shirt to show me that his wounds were all healed, “I’m all better.”

“How long will my blood last you?” I asked.

“Normally a few drops will last about four to six hours,” Ian said, “unless
you have a traumatic injury. I can’t really feel your blood’s effects anymore, so I must have used it up. Can you still feel mine?”

“Oh yeah,” I said, and broke a nearby piece of wood to show my new found strength.

“Um, thank you, by the way,” Ian said, walking closer to me, “You didn’t have to come rescue me, but you did.”

I could feel this changing into a different kind of moment, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

“Well, you had saved my life so many times…” I said
, “
I figured it’s only fair..”

Ian was looking at me intensely, and I felt this insane urge to kiss him. I had been so scared that I had lost him, and the blood was still coursing through my veins and making me feel invincible. I pressed my lips to Ian’s and locked my fingers in his hair. I felt a tingling, a power coursing through me when I kissed him. It was milder than tasting blood, but it was the same kind of energy. After a few moments, I pulled away, and I could tell that Ian had felt the buzz as well. I guess blood wasn’t the only way to activate a star’s powers.

Chapter 13

When I pulled away from the kiss, Ian was staring at me, and it made me feel awkward. Maybe I had been too bold in kissing the prince.

Was he waiting for an apology? “
Ummm
, sorry?” I said. He was still staring at me, and I wasn’t sure what to do.

Ian got down on one knee and pulled a small box out of his pocket. He opened it to reveal an intricate silver pendant on a silver chain.

“This is the fae symbol for ‘promise’,” he said, “I realize that you are not ready for a marriage, or even an engagement, so all I can do now is promise myself to you. If you call my name while wearing this pendant, I will hear you and come find you.”

I don’t know why I was shocked; I had known this moment was coming for a while now. Normally, I had a witty comeback for everything, but around Ian, I was often left speechless. “Um, I didn’t get you anything,” I said awkwardly.

Ian smiled, “That’s alright. I didn’t expect you to.” His hands brushed against my neck as he fastened the necklace, and I felt a flush of warmth, like I could actually feel the promise inside.

“Ian, I have a question for you,” I said. I hadn’t intended to bring this up, but I had been thinking about it for a long time. “You only want to marry me because I’m the star. Don’t you want to marry someone you actually love?”

Ian gave me a long look that I couldn’t quite decipher before he began speaking, “At first, I was against marrying the star. It was my father’s idea, and I wanted no part of it.
LIke
you mentioned, I wanted to marry for love. My father told me to at least seek out the next star for his sake, and so I did. You were fourteen at the time and for two
years I would sit on your windowsill and watch you go about your day, taking care of your siblings, going to school, always scrambling to get homework done. You seemed so burdened for one so young.”

A memory had been surfacing in my mind, but it quickly faded when a loud voice interrupted Ian.

“I’d hate to interrupt the moment,” a voice said sarcastically, “but you two are wanted for murder back at the castle.” An old man with a long, grey beard and a commanding presence was the one speaking, and behind him were several armed guards. Ian touched my arm and we appeared in a grassy meadow in the middle of nowhere.

“Who was that guy?” I asked.

“His name is Arthas
,” Ian said, “He’s an elder in our village. What I can’t figure out is why they’re accusing me now.”

“So we’re just going to keep running?” I asked.

“No,” Ian said, “We need to bring my brother to the castle to clear my name.”

“You’ll need more blood,” I said.

“No,” Ian said, “I can get enough power like this.” He kissed me for about a minute, and I could feel the energy building in my veins. It wasn’t as strong as when I had drank the blood, but strong enough, I hoped.

Ian jumped us to a clothing shop, and we bought some heavy fur coats and gloves. Then Ian put his arm around me and jumped to the spot where he had left Seth and Catherine. It was cold, and the icy wind burned my face a little, even though the power I had gotten from Ian kept me warmer than usual.

We looked around, but Seth was nowhere to be found. Ian jumped us in and out of several buildings, but still no Seth and Catherine. We finally found them huddled in a barn, barely breathing.

“This is impossible,” Ian said, “Seth is a heat mage. There’s no way he could have frozen.”

“Why didn’t he burn you when you took him to Siberia?” I asked.

“It takes him twenty seconds to warm up,” Ian said, “Longer if he’s cold.”

Ian touched Seth, Catherine, and me and brought us to a spot right in front of the castle, since he couldn’t jump inside.

“Guards,” Ian said in a commanding voice that I had never heard him use before, “Bring Seth to the royal healer.”

Ian and I walked into the castle and Ian said to his parents, “I have come to clear my name.”

I couldn’t help but notice that Arthas
was standing next to the king and queen, looking particularly wicked. The royal couple seemed more confused than usual.

“I am innocent,” Ian said, “Seth and Catherine are at the medic, alive.”

“No thanks to you,” the king said, and the queen began to cry.

“What do you mean?” asked Ian.

“FIrst
you banish your brother to another realm for four years, and then your try to freeze him to death in Antarctica. We’re just lucky that
Arthas here brought him back home.”

“What?” Ian was starting to lose his composure, “No, I brought him here! Seth tried to kill me, so I jumped him to Siberia, but I returned for him and sent him to the healer. What is going on here?” He looked at
Arthas and then said, “It’s you, isn’t it?”

He turned back to his parents. “Don’t you see? He has done something to your minds!”

“How dare you!” Arthas said, “Hasn’t your family been through enough?”

“It’s that human you’re with,” the king said, “I was wrong when I sent you to find her. She’s the one who told you to hurt your brother so that she could be queen!”

I normally wouldn’t speak to a king this way, but I was so infuriated that I shouted at him, “I didn’t even want to come to your kingdom! Everything here is crazy, and you should be ashamed of yourself!”

The king and the queen looked shocked for a second, and then the king’s expression turned to anger, “Son, now that your brother’s back, you no longer need the star. I don’t want you to have anything to do with her.”

“Father, I need to protect her! I’ve already promised myself to her and we intend to get married.”

“Well, you have to decide,” the king said, “If you insist on keeping company with the human, you are no longer welcome in the castle, and you will no longer be considered a prince.”

“Come on, Erica, let’s go. My parents can’t be reasoned with while
he’s
here.” He motioned toward
Arthas
. Ian grabbed my hand and pulled me along with him as he stormed out of the castle.

“You can’t do this,” I said, “You can’t give up everything for me. I never asked you to do that.”

“I’m not giving up everything,” Ian said, “just the crown.”

“How can you care about me that much?” I asked, “You just met me.”

“No, you just met me,” he said, “I never got to finish telling you my side of the story. I watched you for two years before I ever spoke to you. I always wanted to tell you that everything would be alright, that I was looking out for you, but at the same time, I was terrified to talk to you. You were so unlike anyone I had ever met before. What if you didn’t like me?”

“The flowers!” I said, “Were you the one who brought me the bouquet and made my siblings clean the house? I always thought Julia did that!”

“I know,” Ian said with a grin, “That’s what you were supposed to think.”

That kind of made me question the other flowers that I had received from “Julia” over the years.

“Well, thank you,” I said, “Although I would liked to have thought that Julia did at least one unselfish thing in her life.”

I think I surprised myself as much as Ian when I pulled him in for a hug. He hesitated for a second, and then wrapped his arms tightly around me.

Chapter 14

“Are we going back to my world?” I asked.

“Too dangerous,” Ian said, “I was really hoping to become heir to the throne, or at least stay a prince, so that no one would harm you for fear of starting a war.”

“So we have to break Arthas’ control over your parents so you can get your life back,” I said.

“And once I’m a prince again, it would be safe for me to bring you back to your world as I promised.”

It was starting to get dark. Ian looked at the setting sun and then said, “We have to find shelter. The night is dangerous here.”

“Can we go back to Gelsey’s cabin?” I asked.

“No, Gelsey is aligned with my parents,” Ian said, “She’s no longer on our side.”

I didn’t know anyone else in the fae world, so I was out of ideas.

“I’ll just jump us to an inn,” Ian said. He handed me a disguise-muffin and ate one himself. I held out my hand, but he put his arm around me instead. We popped into a pathway right in front of an inn.

This inn was not the Mariott
, or even a Best Western. It was a tiny bed and breakfast house that looked like it needed a new roof.

“We’d like a room,” Ian said to the figure who answered the door, and I stifled a gasp when I realized that it was a small green goblin.

“Of course,” he said in a nasal voice.

He led us to a small bedroom and I couldn’t help but notice there was only one bed. The goblin left and I raised an eyebrow at Ian.

“Sorry,” he said, “If you were in a separate room, I wouldn’t know if someone tried to kidnap you.”

“Whatever,” I said, suddenly realizing how tired I was. I peeled back the ugly grey quilt and lay in the surprisingly comfortable bed.

Ian didn’t seem sure what to do with himself. He kept looking between the bed and the floor. I rolled onto my side and pretended to sleep. I’d let him figure out what to do.

I felt the bed dip beside me and knew that Ian had opted not to sleep on the floor. The bed was so soft and comfortable that I fell into a deep sleep. When I woke up, I was alone. Ian was nowhere in the room, and when I walked down to the living room, I realized that he had left the inn.

“Have you seen the guy I was with?” I asked the goblin.

“The king and some others showed up and took him in the middle of the night,” the goblin said, “They were so quiet, the boy didn’t even wake up. And who was I to argue with king’s orders…”

The goblin was trying to look innocent, but I was sure that the king had paid him handsomely for giving away our location. I found out later that this particular breed of goblin could see through disguises. Ian wasn’t aware of that either, since the royal family doesn’t normally associate with goblins.

So now I was alone in the middle of a strange land with no way of getting home and the closest-thing-I’d-ever-had-to-a-boyfriend had been kidnapped - again.

“Which way to the castle?” I asked the goblin, and he looked at me like I was crazy. When he saw that I was serious, he pointed and said, “Walk the path two hours in that direction, and you shall see the castle.”

I knew what I had to do. I just had no idea how to go about it. I had to defeat
Arthas
. I knew that he was behind all of this.

I was out of human food, but the goblin provided me with a stunning-looking breakfast. Pastries, fruits, juices, and meats all piled up on a plate. I knew I shouldn’t, but better to risk going insane than to starve to death, right? If I was going to defeat
Arthas, I needed to keep up my strength.

I had a plan. Maybe it was the fae food, but I was feeling pretty confident all of a sudden. I had taken a small sewing kit from the inn - not sure if it was complimentary or not. I was going to attack the first fae that attacked me with one of the needles, drink a little blood, and then force my way into the castle.

Chapter 15

As I took that first step out of the inn, I felt considerably less confident. I did see the path the goblin had mentioned, but it wound through what looked like several miles of dense forest, probably filled with enemies. In this unfamiliar realm, I would be lucky even to find the castle, and defeating its inhabitants seemed even less likely. Even so, I knew I had no choice, so I kept going.