Journey into the Realm: The Stolen Child (Journey into the Realm Series) (32 page)

Queen Anastel folded her hands in her lap. “This may come as quite a shock to you, but please try to contain yourself. My son is leader of the rebellion.” She paused for just a moment. “And my daughter is the fairy who deceived you.”

Everything I thought I knew about this Realm and its inhabitants vanished in an instant.

Joseph, the fairy at the forefront of the revolt against Vortigern, was the former Prince of the Element Fairy Realm.

And Ellie, the soldier who had betrayed my trust and murdered Stellan, was the Princess.

“How is this possible?” I asked. “
How
?”

Queen Anastel’s stern features softened upon noticing my distress. “This is difficult news to take, I know. I wish I could spend hours explaining the past and how this all came to be, but I am afraid you must leave now. Vortigern sends his personal guards to check on me each day. That time is quickly approaching. I am sorry to send you away after such a short time, but I must consider your safety as well as mine,” she explained.

“But I don’t understand what I’m supposed to do,” I said. “Do I trust Joseph?”

Queen Anastel reached to take my hand. “You should trust him with every ounce of your being. He will help you end this war. He wants nothing more than to see his father dethroned.”

“And what of Ellie?” I asked in a much smaller voice.

“I cannot answer that, for I no longer know my daughter. I have not known her for many, many years,” she said sadly, her gray eyes taking on a distant look. “You will have to decide for yourself whether she is to be trusted. Remember, though, it was Ellie who wanted you to know her and Joseph’s lineage. You should approach her with your questions, for I am afraid Joseph may be quite tight-lipped about the subject of his past.”

“Okay.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Thank you for sharing all of this information with us. And thank you for your service to the rebellion.”

Queen Anastel nodded. “You are very welcome. I only wish I could be more of a help to you.” She smiled wryly. “Perhaps, if I had a spy with the same ability as your friend in the corner, I could gather more information for the rebellion.”

“Well, I can’t be that good if you sensed my presence,” Rafik said gruffly, suddenly appearing beside the Queen.

“Most would not,” Queen Anastel replied. “I have an aptitude for detecting magic, a skill I have developed over my many, many years of life. That skill is what brought me to Vortigern and his dark arts. You have a wonderful gift. Perfect for the kind of undercover work I require.”

I exchanged an uncertain glance with Nathan. “Are you asking him to stay here?” he asked.

She smiled and turned to Rafik. “If he desires, I could rather use his help.”

Rafik appeared stunned. “Really? You want me to infiltrate the city, learn its secrets?”

The Queen nodded. “You’ll be helping the rebellion a great deal.”

The elf soldier was beaming. “Of course. Anything for the rebellion.”

“Wait a minute,” I protested. “Rafik, can we talk about this?”

I barely knew him. He had just recently joined our group. But we had already been through battles together. He was a friend. I didn’t want to leave him here in danger.

“Ramsey, I joined you because I wanted to do something more than patrol the Woodland Fairy Realm. I wanted to help end this war. That’s what finding the rebellion was all about, finding my place in the effort. I’ve found it,” he stressed. “Just in a different way than I thought I would.”

I nodded slowly, unable to argue with him. He was right. In the end, what mattered was ending this war and restoring peace. We all had a part to play, and every part was dangerous. If he left with us for the rebellion, he would end up fighting Vortigern’s soldiers eventually. As long as he didn’t get caught, Rafik could be safer here.

I stood and held out my hands. “Be careful.”

Rafik gripped them tightly, grinning from pointy ear to pointy ear. “I will, as long as you do the same.”

I smiled and stepped back so he and Nathan could say goodbye.

“Do be careful,” Queen Anastel emphasized. “You are our greatest hope.”

I looked at her. “That may be true,” I admitted, sighing softly, “but I’m not the only hope.”

***

The walk back to camp was agonizingly long. Now that I had left Etain – and Rafik – behind for the time being, all I could think about was Ellie. Ellie, the Princess. Until now, I had believed she was Finn’s daughter. She had deceived me in many ways, but lying about her father? How had she managed that?

Still reeling from the visit with the Queen, Nathan was silent as we progressed through the jungle. Knowing he must be feeling every bit as confused as I was, I took his hand to let him know we were in this together. I was really making an effort to repair all the damage I had caused since Stellan’s death. I wanted Nathan to know that no matter what craziness happened, we would always have each other.

He squeezed my hand and sighed. “Are you going to talk to Ellie when we get back?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Alone?”

“If you don’t mind,” I said.

Nathan shook his head. “I don’t. I think she’ll be more forthcoming if you’re the only one speaking to her. You have a hold over her, Ramsey. Whether you like it or not, Ellie cares for you.”

“I know she does,” I muttered. My shoulders slumped in fatigue. “God…everything with her is so complicated.”

“When it comes to Ellie, just follow your instincts,” Nathan suggested.

“What if my instincts tell me to trust her?” I dared to ask. The prospect had plagued me ever since I learned she was working with the rebellion. I worried that those who knew of her betrayal, namely Nathan, would judge me if I started trusting her after what she had done, who she had killed.

But I should have known better than to question Nathan’s faith in me.

He regarded me solemnly. “Then you trust her.”

***

We reached the camp by noon. The dwarves, half of them sitting lazily by the fire and the other half cleaning their armor, didn’t comment on our return. I figured Ellie had told them of our whereabouts. I wondered what she had said to Eder.

“You’re back,” Aimee greeted, hurrying forward to embrace me. “Where’s Rafik?”

Tavis, appearing with Ziv in tow, immediately noticed Des. “And who is this?”

We had long since abandoned our cloaks because of the heat. The water fairy now stood in a navy blue blouse and matching breeches. Her blonde hair was tousled from the humidity.

I stepped back from Aimee and looked to Nathan. “It’s a…long story.”

“Des and I will explain everything,” Nathan said. “Ramsey needs to take care of something.”

I kissed him gratefully and left them. I felt bad for hurrying away and leaving my friends so confused, but I trusted that Nathan would adequately relay our experience in Etain. I needed to find Ellie.

Like last night, she was sitting by the tree at the edge of camp, the same place I had met with Des this morning.

“Have a nice trip?” she inquired.

I sat down beside her. “Yes. Your mother says hello.”

She grimaced. “I doubt it. She despises me.”

I shook my head. “That’s not true.”

Ellie sighed. “She despises what I’ve done,” she reiterated.

“I don’t blame her,” I replied in a small voice. “So do I.”

The fire fairy leaned back against the trunk of the tree. She closed her eyes. “I know.”

“Why did you let me believe Finn was your father?”

She blinked a few times. “Finn was my uncle. When you assumed he was my father, I couldn’t lie, so I said he was ‘something like that,’ which was easy because he had acted as my guardian for quite a while. As to why I misled you…I suppose I don’t like admitting my true parentage.”

“I understand why,” I commented dryly.

“Vortigern – my father – turned me into a monster. It wasn’t Finn. He just followed orders. He was Vortigern’s younger brother. He lived to serve.”

“And now he’s dead because of me,” I remarked. “I never apologized for killing your relative.”

Ellie shook her head. “I never expected you to. He was filth, just like me. Just like my entire family…except for Joseph and my mother. You don’t owe me an apology, not after what I did to you.”

“Well, I’m sorry anyway,” I said. “I never wanted to become a killer, but in less than a year I’ve killed a lot, especially over the last few days. I try not to think about it. I know it’s the only way to survive this war. But when I do think about it…I’m disgusted with myself.”

“I know the feeling,” Ellie said, tears collecting in her eyes. They reminded me of the first time I had watched her cry, after she had murdered Stellan. “Goddess, I’m sorry Ramsey. I’m so, so sorry for everything I’ve done. I know it doesn’t matter. It never will. But I am.”

Nathan wanted me to trust my instincts, so I followed them as I replied to Ellie: “I know you’re sorry. And after meeting your mother, I believe in your loyalty to the rebellion. I haven’t even met Joseph yet, but I think I believe in him, too. It’s not surprising that Vortigern’s children would turn against him.”

I took a deep breath. “I can’t forgive you, Ellie. Your treachery – that’s forgivable. But murdering Stellan? The pain of his death will never go away and neither will the memories. I will never see you as anyone but a murderer. Maybe that makes me a hypocrite; I’m a killer, too, and I hope that God forgives me for the measures I’ve taken.” I stood from the ground and looked down at her. “But I just can’t forgive you.”

I left her crying by the tree.

***

I didn’t see Ellie the rest of the day. I didn’t see Eder either. Glissarie told me he was angry that I had followed Des to Etain, so now in perfect Eder fashion, he was avoiding me. I didn’t mind. I hadn’t figured out what I would say to him. He had known all along that Joseph and Ellie were Vortigern’s children, and he hadn’t told me. He had probably known about Queen Anastel, too. His secrecy was becoming too much for me. I was supposed to trust him and accept him as my protector, but he was smothering me. No matter how many times he promised to be honest, he always found a way to keep essential information from me.

Tavis and Aimee were saddened by Rafik’s choice to remain in Etain, but they understood why he had. The three of us and Nathan spent the remainder of the day sharing predictions of what the rebellion would be like. When night fell, we retired early, knowing we had an early start in the morning.

As I closed my eyes, I prayed I wouldn’t have any nightmares. Tomorrow, everything would change. I would finally reach the rebellion and begin the last stage of my journey before I entered the Golden Fairy Realm. I had to be well rested and prepared. Now that I knew Vortigern could use dark magic, staying focused was more vital than ever.

I stood in a familiar place. The clearing near Fire Prison. Where Stellan was murdered.

My hands felt hot. Unbelievably hot. I looked down at them and they were on fire.

I understood this. I had used a mimic spell to kill Finn. The fire made sense.

But when the fire wouldn’t go out, I started to panic. This wasn’t right. The spell was supposed to leave me when I said stop. Why were there still flames on my palms?

“Ramsey, how could you?” Ellie asked, materializing out of nowhere.

The flames were traveling up my arms now.

“How could I what?”

“Kill him,” she said, tears streaming down her face.

Ellie didn’t cry. This was all wrong. She was the murderer, not I.

Wait.

“You mean Finn?” I asked. “I had to.”

I could barely breathe through the smoke.

“Not Finn,” she said, shaking her head.

I started to cough. “Then who?”

“Him,” Ellie whispered, pointing.

I looked down at the ground.

I blinked.

A pile of ashes.

Stellan.

I was the monster; not her.

The fire consumed me.

And I set the world ablaze with my suffering.

I woke up covered in soot. The air was thick with the acrid tang of smoke. Confused and still terrified from the nightmare, I sat up and fought back a wave of dizziness.

“Are ya all right?” one of the dwarves standing guard asked, peering at me intently.

“I don’t know,” I said slowly. “Where am I?”

“Sitting on the remnants of the fire,” he said.

I looked around. Charred wood and ash surrounded me. I definitely hadn’t fallen asleep here, which meant only one thing.

I had sleepwalked to the fire and laid down in it.

I was losing my mind. The dwarf clearly thought so, by the way he was looking at me now. My nightmares had begun controlling my unconscious movements.

“That’s it,” I muttered. “This ends now.”

I stood up and tried to brush the soot off my clothes and skin. I said nothing to the dwarf as I passed him. With any luck, he would pass off the entire encounter as a dream.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to do something about these nightmares. I had to make them stop. I had to take control of my life again before I fell apart completely.

I stopped before the sleeping form of Princess Glissarie. Her mother’s ancient spell book lay untouched beside her. Without a second thought, I picked it up and headed past the protective barrier. I knew it was risky for me to leave camp, but I couldn’t have anyone hear me while I recited the spell. I couldn’t afford to let anyone stop me. My sanity depended on it.

When I believed I was far enough away to avoid discovery, I sat down on a fallen log and opened the book. Turning the yellowed pages, I realized the words were in a script I didn’t understand. I had no familiarity with the Ancient language. At first I was afraid that this would hinder my progress, but then I noticed the pictures in the corners of each page. It didn’t take me long to figure out that they represented spells.

For instance, I inferred that the picture of a fairy woman preaching to a crowd with stars in their eyes represented a spell for influencing others. And the picture of one male fairy killing another and then dying himself represented some sort of “eye for an eye” incantation. Of course, I wasn’t sure. But I also didn’t care.

I flipped through the spell book, searching for a picture that appeared as though it would be the answer to my problem. My eyelids grew heavy with fatigue, but I refused to sleep until the nightmares were gone. I kept searching.

When I had looked through three quarters of the book, a spell finally intrigued me. It contained two pictures. One was a Woodland fairy mourning over the body of a deceased companion. In the next picture, the companion was alive and the two of them were embracing as though death had never occurred.

I looked up from the page. Could I really bring Stellan back to life with a spell? If I brought him back, surely my nightmares would depart. I would have no reason to fear.

Could it be that simple?

I looked at the incantation. It was half a page. It would be tricky getting the pronunciation right. But I was willing to try if it meant an end to my nightmares and a reunion with Stellan.

For a moment I remembered Glissarie’s words of warning and her mention of consequences. Consequences? Who cared about consequences if it meant giving someone another chance at having a full life? I would gladly take any consequences. They couldn’t be worse than what I was dealing with now.

I took a deep breath and looked down at the book. I had made my decision.

I pressed my finger to the page, underlining the words as I began to speak. As I moved down the lines, my skin began to glow. My pulse quickened in anticipation. Something was happening. I could feel the magic from the spell beginning to unfold and interact with my own.

The second I said the last word, however, the glowing and every trace of magic disappeared.

Had I done something wrong? Had I finished the spell incorrectly? Had I ruined my chances?

Where was Stellan?

“What have you done?” Princess Glissarie uttered.

I looked up and met her eyes. She was absolutely livid. I could tell by the cold fury in her gaze.

“It doesn’t matter,” I said, the words catching in my throat. “It didn’t work.”

The Princess bolted forward and ripped the book out of my hands. Numbed by my failure, I didn’t resist. Peering down at the spell I had recently recited, she gasped. “Did you really want this?”

“I told you about my nightmares. I told you about Stellan. I thought bringing him back would fix everything.”

Glissarie shut the book and stared at me wide-eyed. “You thought you could bring him back to
life
?”

I nodded. “Isn’t that what the spell is for?”

“Goddess, no, Ramsey,” the Princess muttered. “Goddess, no.”

“Then what?” I asked, standing up from the log. Turmoil raged within me. “What did I say?”

“A spell to bind two souls, one alive and one deceased, so that they will never truly part,” Glissarie explained. “If you had any knowledge of the Ancient words, you would have realized that.”

“But the spell didn’t work. The magical feeling…it stopped and nothing happened,” I insisted.

“You only believe that because Stellan didn’t appear before your eyes the instant you finished the spell,” Glissarie argued. “The spell worked, Ramsey. The outcome is just different than you intended.”

“What does this mean? What’s going to happen?” I asked, frantic and scared of the unknown.

Glissarie held the book tightly to her chest. “I am afraid I do not know. I have never witnessed this spell. You will have to wait and see.”