Faery Queen (3 page)

“Ah, good point.” Thomas nodded.

“You know as well as I that there are things we cannot know.” Hugh looked around the outer courtyard for a sign of what the woman had been talking about.

“And you know as well as I that if this same woman had come to us two years ago and said the same thing, we would not be out here chasing imaginary devils.” Thomas pointed the tip of the sword toward the top of the castle. “You would be up there, comforting the pretty wench as you tried to get her to play with your…” Thomas paused and swung his sword so it pointed at Hugh's hips. “Little devil.”

“Things have changed. Demons do exist, as does magic. We know that now and must act accordingly.” Hugh shot his brother a bemused look. “And
little
is hardly the word for my devil.”

Thomas gave a short chuckle. “You keep neglecting it and it will most likely jump out of your breeches and leave you for good.”

“Thomas,” Hugh warned, shaking his head as he tried not to laugh at the imagery. How could he tell his brother that when he closed his eyes, all he thought about was the faery queen? Even now, after the time that had passed, he wanted to both strangle her and kiss her, but such women were not for his doing either to. She was a queen, a faery, a magical being that flew around her castle taunting him. He was better off without her. Now, if only he could convince his body of the same thing. “Do not pretend the knowledge of the immortal realm hasn't affected you. You're the one who has been having nightmares since we arrived back.”

Hugh gave him a teasing smile. Thomas rolled his eyes, and grumbled, “Bad dreams are one thing and they do not rule my life. At least I usually have a warm body in my bed to soothe me when I awake from them.”

Hugh grimaced. “I have no wish to hear your lecture. I have graver things on my mind than bedding the fairer sex.”

“It's not your fault Juliana chose to stay,” Thomas said. The two were close, having grown up together, trained together, fought together. Hugh wasn't surprised that his brother read him so well.

Nay,
Hugh thought,
it is Tania's. She sent our sister to the Unblessed King's palace. She delivered her into Merrick's hands and detained us from going to rescue her before it was too late, before she became so warped, so tangled in Merrick's dark web.

“She does not belong there.” Hugh took a deep breath. This was a worn conversation that went nowhere. “She's not one of them. Her heart is too good.”

“According to William, Merrick's not all bad. Mayhap our sister sees that. She chose him, Hugh.” Thomas lifted his hand, motioning helplessly to the side. “She loves Merrick.”

“But he does not love her. You heard him when we were there, as well as I. She asked him if he loved her and he said nay. I know she was upset about her fiancé's death. We all know Lord Eadward's undoing wasn't her fault, but—”

“Nay,” Thomas interrupted. “I daresay she was more upset by Nicholas killing his father than her fiancé dying. She did not love Lord Eadward, merely knew him as a friend of our father.”

Sir Nicholas, their childhood friend, had been possessed by a demon and driven to kill his father, Lord Eadward. Nicholas was susceptible to the demon because he was in love with Juliana and jealous that his father should have her. Their sister never realized his feelings until it was too late. Hugh was convinced if Juliana knew Nicholas loved her, she would have chosen him, gotten married and none of them would have ever known the Otherworld truly existed. Now Nicholas was dead, killed by the demon that had possessed him.

“Then we are agreed,” Hugh concluded. Thomas frowned, confused. “Juliana stayed as a self-punishment. She blames herself for Lord Eadward's death. I should never have arranged the marriage.”

“It's not your fault. We all wanted her to live close to Bellemare and with Lord Eadward bordering our lands she would have been nearby. We all agreed on it.” Thomas patted his shoulder. “William and I carry just as much blame for the decision.”

“Nay, I asked your consent but in the end the decision was mine to make. This title is my responsibility to bear and, as head of the family, the blame for any decision made is mine.” Hugh's gaze continued to search the gate, as he listened for signs of movement. He detected nothing.

“I wish Nicholas would have come forward with his feelings. This all could have been avoided.” Thomas also watched the gate.

“I should have guessed it—the way he would lecture her when we were young, the way he followed her around the castle. I should have known.” Hugh gripped his sword in frustration. “Methinks she blames me as well. Why else hasn't she contacted us since right after we left her? Methinks she would at least tell us of the child she carried.”

The thought of his sister bearing an unblessed child worried him. What kind of being would the baby be? Half human, half unblessed creature? And why hadn't she sent word about its birth? The silence was unbearable.

“Perchance there has been no way for her to send—” Thomas began, only to be cut off by the guard.

“My lord, there is naught but night,” Simon called down from the wall.

“All's well,” yelled Tobias.

Hugh raised his hand in acknowledgement. “Keep your eyes open and the gate closed. No one gets in or out. We will sort it out in the morning.”

“Aye, my lord,” the guards answered in unison, not questioning even though Hugh knew they had to be curious about the late night search.

“Let's go check on the mares.” Hugh motioned for Thomas to come with him. “Then we can deal with our devil-seeing woman.”

“I have one idea as to how you can deal with her.” Thomas laughed.

“Do not make me strangle you, brother.”

 

 

 

“I believe what you say.” William kept his voice low as he gave the pretty maid a come-hither smile. While he was away for five years apprenticing, his family had believed he was on the verge of taking religious orders. How wrong they had been. Anything but a pious young man, William knew he was the attraction of many women—much to the astonishment of his older brothers. But, his success wasn't really a mystery. His boyish charms drew the women like bees to a field of flowers and his monkish robes didn't hurt his chances either. The fairer sex liked the idea of the forbidden. “I said, I believe what you say about the devil.”

The woman turned her violet eyes to him, shaded partly by the silky strands of her dark hair as they fell over her forehead. He'd never seen eyes that color on a human woman before and suspected she was something different from the beginning—if not in whole than in part.

Hugh and Thomas were new to the ways of the immortal realm, still taking people and things as they saw them to be. They saw this woman, in her servant's gown, inside a castle impenetrable by human forces and they thought “servant”. They heard that there was a devil outside the gate and they assumed that such a creature would stay there until he was let in. William knew better. Being in the immortal realm had taught him that things were not as they appeared and to look beyond what was right in front of him. If this woman was not a full-blooded human and if she knew anything about demons, why send his brothers to the front gate?

“Do you now?” She pursed her lips and stepped closer.

William swallowed, instantly aroused by her nearness. He licked his lips, hearing the telltale husky quality to her seductive voice. Eagerly he nodded. “Aye.”

They were in the great hall, alone, with no one in sight. He glanced around to be sure. The fire burned behind her, outlining her slender form. There were plenty of places for them to disappear to. Along one wall a table set up from the rest of the hall on a platform. It was where the family dined with honored guests. They could hide beneath it in the shadows, should she be willing. Blue tapestries hung on the wall, along with the Bellemare crest. How angry would Hugh be if he tore them down for a bed to lay her on?

On second thought, perhaps he should take her somewhere else.

“Then you know the devil?” Her long lashes fluttered over her eyes.

“You are beautiful.”

“Have you seen the devil?” She stepped closer.

“I really want to bed you.” William leaned his face toward hers.

“Have you slept with the devil?” Her eyes hardened, but William was too far gone in lust to react properly.

“Are you offering?” He started to close his eyes.

The woman lifted her hand and pressed it to her lips. Pulling it away, she blew him a kiss over the short distance. “I have done all those things.”

William felt her kiss like a cold blast across the face, paralyzing him. A short, feminine-sounding scream echoed over the hall and he realized it came from his lips. Weakly, he collapsed on the floor, unable to move from his uncomfortable position as the woman kneeled over him. He tried with all his power, but was unable to pull away.

“William the Wizard, I have a message for your brothers. The devil is coming to Bellemare and he is after your souls. Your magical guard is too lax. If I can get this close to you, he will have no trouble getting much closer.” She leaned over, kissing his lips. He felt another cold wave where she touched him before his entire world faded to black.

 

 

 

Heinic hefted the sack of vegetables, dragging them unhurriedly across the long courtyard and up the steep stairwell, lumbering along at a slow and steady pace on his squat legs. The mortal world wasn't built to accommodate gnomes, but he was sent by the King of the Blessed himself to work the land and, as Bellemare's garden gnome, he took his duty seriously. It was a good piece of land, too, his garden.

It was night, the air perfect for picking. The humans knew nothing about vegetables or herbs, or growing mud for that matter. They thought they could simply harvest whenever they felt like it. But that wasn't how gardens worked. Each vegetable, each herb had its perfect time to be picked.

Heinic was a little man with the rounded cheeks his race was known for. But unlike the drab woodland gnomes, his kind celebrated color in their gardens and in their clothes. His jacket was red over a bright green shirt. It was impossible to get colors like that in the mortal realm. He had a wife back home who sent them to him. A fine wife she was too, at least from what he remembered of her.

Hearing a hiccup as he dragged his bag into the pantry, he glanced up at the barrel of ale. Giles waved down at him, liquor dripping off his long, nimble fingers to land on Heinic's head. The gnome frowned, swiping off his hat and shaking it dry.

“Ah, Giles,” Heinic grumbled, glaring at the drunken household brownie. Giles' flat face glistened from where he'd dunked himself in ale and the two small holes of his nose fluttered with each heavy breath. “Be it necessary?”

“Aye.” The brownie hiccupped. “I am checking the ale. Would not want any to get a drink of the sour.”

“And I be fightin' a dragon,” the gnome retorted derisively, pulling his bag across the floor to rest with the other vegetables.

“You are?” Giles' eyes got wide.

Heinic snorted.

“Lady Juliana used to tell us stories about dragons,” Giles mused, his voice wistful. “I miss her. I wish she would come back.”

“As do we all,” the gnome said, waddling back to look up at the brownie. “Well, give us a drink.”

“Oh, aye!” the brownie lifted a finger. “Come on up, the ale is warm tonight!”

Heinic pushed the side of his nose and pointed up. His body dissipated as he was carried by magic to the rim of the barrel. Then, sitting along the side, his sore feet dipped in warm ale, he sighed. Giles took off his small cap, filled it with ale and handed it up.

“Ah, there you be,” Heinic said in pleasure as he took it, bringing the hat to his lips for a drink.

“Oh, did you hear that?” Giles' small eyes widened as his body dropped down into the barrel.

“Ach, forget it, the mortals cannot see us.”

“There are more than mortals coming through the pantry,” Giles said. “It's been eventful tonight.”

Heinic leaned over to look toward the far door. “I do not hear—”

“Down!” Giles said, pulling his arm. Heinic fell into the ale with a big splash. The liquid seeped into his clothes, surely staining his nice bright green shirt. Sinking to the bottom of the barrel like a stone, he frowned, holding his breath as he looked up through the thin layer of ale that covered his head. The liquor was dark and he couldn't see. Giles' feet pumped near his face only to skim his shoulder as if trying to find a perch on the gnome. Heinic pushed his foot aside.

Giles reached down and pulled him up. Heinic sputtered and swiped his wet face with one hand while holding the side with the other. Putting his finger along his nose, he tried to get out of the barrel. The liquid made him too heavy and all he did was bob up and down.

“That was close. The lady almost saw you.” The brownie nodded enthusiastically.

“Mortal's cannot see us, you toadstool!” Heinic grumbled. “Now get me out of here!”

“I told you, there are more than mortals wandering about the castle these nights,” Giles said, even as he moved to help the gnome out of the ale.

 

 

 

“I asked him to do one simple thing and he cannot even get that right,” Hugh grumbled. They'd gone to the chapel only to discover William had never arrived. He knew that most likely his youngest brother had seduced the woman into his bed, but it didn't stop Hugh from worrying about him. “Methinks it is time I took account of the castle again. I cannot remember ever seeing that maid before tonight.”

“You mean…” Thomas frowned. “You do not know her?”

“I haven't paid much mind to the women here as of late. Why? Don't you?”

“Nay, brother. I have not seen her.” Thomas patted his arm. “I am sure she is related to one of the field workers, come to work at the castle. We will ask the steward in the morning.”