Innocent Darkness (23 page)
Authors: Suzanne Lazear
Tags: #Juvenile Fiction, #Fantasy & Magic, #Steampunk
“I’m very sorry, my little blossom, but you’ve eaten faery food. That means you can no longer return to the mortal realm.” His voice wasn’t hard or mean but the words were poison nevertheless.
She looked up at him, betrayal coursing through her as if she’d been shot with one of his clockwork arrows. It made her knees shake and for a second her heart ceased beating.
“You are nothing but a rake and a liar, Kevighn Silver.” She put as much anger into her voice as she could. A lump formed in her throat. “I never should have trusted you.”
Breaking out of his arms, she shoved the fiend away with all her might, and ran out of the room.
Noli’s Flight
Noli ran straight out of the cabin, tears streaming down her face.
“Wait! Please, Noli. Wait!” he called from the backdoor.
Fueled by betrayal, she continued to run, not even looking back to see if he followed. Chest heaving with exertion she gazed up at the tree house when she found herself in the grove. No. He’d expect that. Like the last time, he’d lure her back with pretty words and surprises.
Ignoring the little faeries who vied for her attention, she ran through the grove, even though she’d never been past it. The trees grew into a dark tangle of branches. Everything seemed darker and scarier here causing her skin top break out into gooseflesh. Still, she pressed on as her legs burned and sweat tricked down her back making her chemise stick to her skin.
Kevighn Silver-Tongue, indeed. Fortunately, she hadn’t done anything other than kiss him. Such pretty lies he’d woven, and she’d walked right into his glimmering web.
What an idiot she’d been. She’s looked forward to the treats and his company.
Her heart still jumped a bit from those kisses.
A look down revealed she wore only her undergarments. Her cheeks burned in shame.
Not only was she an idiot, but a dollymop as well.
Shaking her head, she tried to shake off the feeling of his hands, his lips. She needed to focus in order to find her way out of here—and home.
The large, ramshackle house ahead looked straight out of a gothic novel and possessed the appearance of being abandoned, empty, and neglected. Truly Miss Havisham’s, if there ever was one. Noli ran towards it anyway. Perhaps someone lived there.
Inside, she found it empty and abandon. Exhausted, she wished she could crawl into one of the beds and sleep. Instead she went back outside. The garden behind the house had taken over and seemed to attempt to keep her there as she twisted, tore, and thrashed her way through.
Where was she?
She was lost, plain and simple.
Hopelessness nipped at her as she stumbled into what may have once been a clearing. A faerie tree grew out of the center of the lifeless wilds. The air around her seemed to change, humming with something she couldn’t quite identify making prickles shoot up her spine. This tree didn’t hold the joy and life of the other’s she’d seen. Nothing grew on it, no wood faeries played within. It seemed as lifeless and soulless as Findlay House itself.
Her fingers brushed the bark and she yanked them back as a shock shot through her. The outward appearance of the tree remained the same. However, it now seemed to thrum with power, like passing by a steam generator.
“Take me away from this place,” she whispered to the tree, wiping her nose with her bare forearm. Nothing happened. Perhaps she wasn’t a
tree speaker
, but one of those blasted trees brought her here. If they could do that, they could take her away.
For some reason, she couldn’t remember what Kevighn had done.
Perhaps if she wished. “I wish you would take me away from here.” She waited. Nothing. “Flying figs.” The unladylike epithet was a favorite of V’s younger brother. Noli pounded on the trunk of the tree with her fists, anguish welling up inside her and threatening to spill over. “I know you have the power. As ludicrous as it sounds, I can feel it. Now, take me away from this place.”
Nothing. She should run more, before Kevighn caught up with her. Tiredness consumed her, filling her head with cotton, making her limbs heavy and reluctant. Sinking to the ground, her back against the trunk, she laid her head on her knees.
“I only wish to go home,” she whispered. “Please. Take me away from this place and bring me anywhere that could lead me to home, I beg of you.” Holding her necklace she wished with all her might to go home to her mother—and V. A flash of heat surrounded her. So cozy and soothing, she ignored the strange tingling in her body and let the warmth to lull her to sleep.
With a heavy heart, Kevighn approached Creideamh’s grove. Noli’s clothing lay in one hand, a necklace in his other. A basket hung on his arm. The things he did for his queen and country. Trying to seduce her had been painful in some ways. After all, unlike with the other girls, where he mostly play-acted, some of the things he said actually held true.
Hopefully, she’d had enough time to calm down—the purpose of not following her immediately.
The little faeries looked on but didn’t stop him. His shoulder unrounded and his confidence increased with every footfall. Certainly, she’d been responsive to his touch, his kisses. His little blossom probably fled in confusion and fright. The Bright Lady knew what strange things they told mortal girls these days—especially those in the highest social classes.
Her necklace disturbed him. It might answer the question of why the magic hadn’t bound her. She wore the crest of an old house, a royal house of the earth court, though he wasn’t sure which, having been born into the fire court. There was also no love lost between the earth court and the fire court. Earth quelled fire, fire destroyed earth. Keeping Creideamh’s throwback earth talents a secret had proved the impossible task.
He wasn’t convinced Noli was the mortal lover of some earth court fop. She’d know far more than she did if she meant enough for one of them to give them her necklace.
There was one earth court house exiled to the mortal realm. Once, it had been
the
earth court royal house, as in the royal family. It had been quite the scandal when the high queen took away their kingdom, forcing them out of the Otherworld. Perhaps this friend of hers, the one she called
V
, was one of the young, exiled princes.
The sigil may have also been lost or pawned over time by the former-royal owner, and somehow wound up in the hands of some clever mortal.
Somehow, wearing the mark of a house, even an exiled one, kept the magic from setting. He couldn’t think of another explanation. The idea of some earth court prince paying her attention disturbed him even more than her being the good wife of some ponderous mortal.
He couldn’t touch the necklace because it was the mark of a royal house and he was less than royal in all respects. If somehow he could convince her to remove it, perhaps the magic could do its work, binding her, marking her as the chosen sacrifice, and giving the magic a chance to stabilize.
The necklace in his hand sparkled, the little gem fiery red with one look, deep orange with another, then golden. A pretty bauble. His father had given it to his mother as a betrothal gift. The basket held a picnic—and more honey wine. He’d give her back her clothing, present her with the necklace and his apologies, and go from there.
Hopefully this would work. If not …
“Noli?” He scaled the tree, only slightly difficult with his parcels. The tree house was empty. “Noli, where are you?” A faery nudged him, indicating the basket. “Have you seen Noli?”
The faery told him she’d run through, but hadn’t stopped.
His stomach sank and an uneasy feeling settled over him. He could stop her from leaving his own personal land. However, a tiny rift existed between Creideamh’s grove and their parent’s land,
the big house,
she’d always called. This had allowed his sister to come and go when he’d first made the tree house. When he’d assumed full responsibility for Creideamh and they moved to his little cabin, he never sealed it, since she went there occasionally.
Noli may have made it through the rift, and if she did, she may have come to his parent’s land. The old gate probably had gone wild. If Noli found it, only the Bright Lady knew where it had taken her. When he told her terrible things lived in the Otherworld, things which would want to hurt and use her, he’d told the truth. Pocketing the firestone, he dropped the basket and clothing and left the tree house, running at full speed for his parent’s land as the inquisitive little faeries looked on.
The Wild Hunt
Steven looked around as he walked across the once caredfor grounds of his home. Not the palace, his uncle lived there now, but their real home. The rambling estate put even the largest Los Angeles manor to shame, resembling a cross between a European farmhouse and an antebellum mansion.
This place used to teem with servants, members of court, and extended family. That included his uncle who happily took the throne and allowed the high queen to oust his father.
Once, this place also included his mother. If he listened hard, he could almost hear her shriek for him and his brother as they did yet another naughty thing. The grounds held such wondrous places for hiding, pranks, and other acts of youthful mischievousness.
Quinn was right, he and Noli’s joyride in a flying car paled in comparison to some of his and James’ antics.
The queen had tried to take this place away from them. But the magic wouldn’t let her. The land belonged not to his father, but to his family and the House of Oak. His father and Quinn couldn’t come to the Otherworld because of their exile status. He and James weren’t
supposed
to go to the Otherworld because their father chose to bring his children into exile with him. There was a difference.
One day Steven would reclaim their honor and bring them all back to their real home—even his father. If his father held the kingdom again perhaps he’d stop being crotchety and become the father they remembered.
Elise barely remembered their mother, but she remembered when their father had played with them, loved them. Before Queen Tiana’s selfishness and true nature reared its ugly head and stripped them of their life.
Being back here brought on an onslaught of memories. It made a good home base and the high queen wouldn’t notice him here. As Quinn had said, she’d take great pleasure in forcing him to use his gifts on her behalf—punishment for choosing to stay with his father.
He made his way through the overgrown hedges towards his favorite faery tree. No tree house lurked in its branches, but he’d spent plenty of time in it—as had his father. As king of the earth court, his father also possessed an affinity for the earth.
The faery tree hid at the center of a hedge maze, which wasn’t as overrun as he expected. No wood faeries flew about. He couldn’t blame the little beings for abandoning them. Most everyone else had. The only member of their court who’d accompanied them into exile was Quinn. The others all pledged allegiance to his uncle.
He laid a hand on the tree. Surprisingly, wood faeries still occupied it. A look into a knothole made his stomach churn. The tiny inhabitants weren’t dead—yet. They would be soon if the magic didn’t stabilize. Somehow he needed to fix this without Kevighn’s trickery.
