The Emerald Staff (13 page)

“There is only one way I know to track the
ruby staff.”

Faedra’s heart lifted again. She hadn’t been
expecting that response, not from the look on Rowan’s face.

“But,” he added. “I fear the knowledge will
do you no good.”

“Why not?” Faedra asked, forgetting her
manners as she spoke with her mouth full.

“The only way to track the ruby staff, is
with its sister…”

Everyone waited with baited breath.

“The emerald staff,” Rowan continued, looking
at each of them in turn.

“How do we get the emerald staff?” Faen and
Faedra asked at the same time.

Rowan let his gaze drop to the floor, knowing
his words would hold such disappointment for his son and his
charge. He sighed.

“You do not,” he stated.

“What? Why not?” Faedra questioned, not
willing to let go of the only hope she had of finding her father
alive. Suddenly losing her appetite, she placed her plate and its
half-eaten contents back on the table.

“Because it belongs to Draconis.”

“Oh, my,” Janessa whispered under her breath,
and Faen dropped his head into his hand.

Faedra glanced at Janessa and Faen before
looking back at Rowan.

“Well, why can’t we just ask this person if
we can borrow it?” Faedra asked undaunted by their response, and
gave an expressive movement of her hands.

“Faedra, he is a dragon.” Faen said, as if
that were the only explanation warranted.

Faedra shot him a questioning look. “So?”

Faen opened his mouth to answer but his
father beat him to it. “Dragons do not give up their
possessions.”

“I wouldn’t be asking him to give it up, I’d
only want to borrow it to find my dad. I’d give it straight back.”
Her voice was imploring, but she sensed it wasn’t the occupants of
this room she had to try and convince.

“He will not give up the staff, of that I can
guarantee.” Rowan said his face pulled into an expression of tight
resolve.

“Well, I’m sorry, but I think it’s worth a
try. Let’s face it, time is running out and I don’t have any other
options, do I?” She shoved her hand in her pocket and pulled out
the time-pebble, displaying it on the flat of her palm for the
others to see. “So…where do I find this Draconis?”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

It took some persuading but Faedra finally
managed to convince Faen and his father that she would do whatever
it took to find this Draconis, with or without their help. They
tried to explain to her that dragons were not at all like they were
portrayed in stories in the World of Men, and they certainly didn’t
take kindly to humans. There was a long-standing hatred that
dragons held toward humans, and Faedra couldn’t say she blamed them
after Rowan had finished telling her the reasons why. Humans had
all but tried to wipe them out thousands of years ago, when all the
dragons were trying to do was help. But Faedra convinced them that
she was bound and determined to do this and unfortunately, for
Faen, where she went, he went.

They did have one thing in their favor,
though. Faedra, as she had just found out, was not entirely human.
Dragons had no quarrels with the fae, in fact, there was a mutual
respect held between the two species. The fact that Faedra wanted
the emerald staff to rescue her father, who was human, could put a
spanner in the works, but she would cross that bridge if she came
to it. Hopefully she could skirt around the actual reason for
needing to borrow the staff but she doubted that.

Faedra was walking back down the hall after
using the bathroom. The drawing room door was ajar as she
approached it but just as she was about to push it open with her
hand, the slightly raised voices coming from the other side made
her stop short. She pulled her hand back and held her breath, as if
the mere act of breathing would give her away.

“Faen, you know this mission is reckless.”
Rowan was saying, a hint of concern in his voice.

“Father, she is my charge and I must do
whatever it takes to keep her safe and happy. If that means risking
a venture into Zutherindal to seek an audience with Draconis, then
that is what I must do.” Faen’s voice sounded strong with
resolve.

“Faen, your duty is to the Custodian,
not
her father.” Rowan continued.

“Faedra loves her father. I could not see her
go through that much pain again. Pain caused by
our
race, I
might add. She never had any quarrels with our race and now she
risks losing her father, as well as, already loosing her mother. I
will not allow this if I can do anything to stop it.”

Faedra could hear footsteps pacing. She
assumed Faen must now be standing and walking around the drawing
room.

There was silence for a moment and Faedra
felt a shift in the atmosphere seeping from the drawing room.

“Please tell me you have not fallen in love
with the girl.” Rowan said, disapproval evident in his tone.

Faedra leaned in to peek through the crack in
the door. Faen stopped pacing just at the point she could see him.
She watched as he brought his gaze up from the floor and turned to
face his father. Her heart leapt to her throat.

“Oh, my dear boy, you have fallen in love
with her,” Janessa stated upon seeing Faen’s expression. Her voice
was soft and compassionate, a complete contrast to her husband’s
disapproving tone.

Silence followed and Faedra felt sure the
thudding of her heart was loud enough to give away the fact that
she was eavesdropping just behind the door.

“She is a Custodian, Faen!” Rowan stated,
incredulously. As though that very statement alone should explain
everything to his son, and bring him back to his senses.

“You have no right to judge me, Father.”
Faen’s expression held steady but Faedra could see a tick of
annoyance in his jaw.

“Do not dare bring your mother into this,
Son. I warn you.” Rowan’s voice turned almost to a low carnal
growl.

“Stop it, you two. Right now” Janessa
intervened. “I will not have the two people I love most in this
realm fighting under my roof.” Her voice was still soft but Faedra
could detect a hint of sternness in it. “Faen is right, Rowan. You
do not have any right to judge him when convention never stood in
your way,” she told her husband.

Faedra watched as she saw Faen give his
mother a warm smile.

“But, Janessa, if the king finds out there
will be serious consequences.” Rowan stated before turning his
attention back to his son. “You know it is forbidden, as a
Guardian, to develop emotional relations with your charge.” Faen’s
father continued, his tone reproving.

“Faen, you have not…?” Janessa asked, but her
son cut her off before she could finish the question.

“No, Mother. We have not. I cannot believe
that you would think so low of me that I would do something like
that out of wedlock.”

Faedra could hear a sigh of relief and she
felt heat rising in her cheeks. She wondered why he never tried to
further their relationship. She thought deep down that he wouldn’t
want to get ‘involved’ with a human that way, and she’d been too
unsure of herself to bring it up. Now, she was getting all her
questions answered without needing to ask them.

“Forgive me,” Janessa said softly, “but you
have been in the World of Men for many years. It is not impossible
to think that you may have adopted some of their ways.”

“That is besides the point, Faen. The king…”
Rowan started.

“The king does not have a leg to stand on.”
Faen cut in. “He broke several laws himself.”

There was silence in the room. Faedra brought
her hand to her mouth.

“Faen, this is treason you speak! Have you
lost your mind?” Rowan’s voice was rising again.

Enough was enough. Faedra pushed the door
open and burst in. “No, he hasn’t.”

All heads turned to look at her, their faces
stunned.

“Young lady, how long have you been standing
at the door?” Rowan asked.

“Long enough.”

“Then would you care to enlighten us as to
why our son speaks against the king?”

“Faen would never speak against your king. He
loves this land and all that it stands for.” Faedra said.

Rowan rubbed his chin between thumb and
forefinger, an intense gaze studying their newest houseguest. “We
are listening,” he said after a moment.

“Faedra, you do not need to do this.” Faen
stated.

“Yes, I do. I won’t have your father think
badly of you, Faen.” She turned to face Faen’s father. “Vivianna is
not the king’s only daughter. I found out today that he has
another.”

Rowan’s expression was turning to one of
impatience. “You better have some very good evidence to back up
your allegation, young lady. Who would this supposed illegitimate
child be?”

Irritation prickled down Faedra’s spine at
being called illegitimate, she held her chin up and stood
straighter in response.

“You’re talking to her!” she snapped.

Rowan’s eyes nearly popped out of his head
and Janessa threw her hand to her mouth and sucked in a breath.

“That is preposterous! Why would you make
something like this up?” Rowan’s face was turning an angry shade of
red.

“Oh, you think I
like
the idea?”
Faedra retorted, trying to push back her irritation. “Well, I
don’t, but it looks like I don’t have much of a choice in the
matter. That is why I was at the castle today. Vivianna kept
calling me s
amtero kruwos
.” Faedra noticed Rowan’s
recognition of the words and his expression digressed to one of
shock and surprise.

“Yes, that’s right.” Faedra continued. “Well,
my college professor found out what it meant and left me a message
last night. I came here to find out why Vivianna hated my family so
much and to try and get some answers. I was certainly not expecting
what I learned. The king confessed everything to me. How he fell in
love with my mother when she was a Custodian. How she had become
pregnant with me and that Vivianna found out about them and me.
That’s why she hates me so much. Apparently what she is doing is
nothing more than revenge against me and her father.”

The stunned faces of Faen’s parents looked
back at her. Faedra watched as Rowan, realizing his jaw was slack,
snapped it shut after a moment with an audible clack of his teeth.
Faen put his arms around his charge and pulled her in against his
chest in a show of solidarity and appreciation.

Faedra decided she was nonplussed by Rowan’s
reaction and broke the awkward silence. “So, where do we go from
here?”

Janessa looked to her husband for his
response but he still looked like he was trying to absorb the
information he just heard.

“Rowan?” Janessa said. “The Custodian is
asking you a question, dear.”

Rowan had his attention fixed on the tapestry
hanging on the wall. After a moment, his expression transformed
from one of shock to one of contemplation.

He turned to his son. “Are you sure this is a
path you wish to follow, Son?”

Faen looked into Faedra’s eyes, a reassuring
smile crept across his face in response to the look of concern he
saw there. He looked up and met his father’s intent gaze.

“Yes, Father, I am quite sure.”

“In that case, there is only one way to get
into Zutherindal and it will not be easy.”

***

Faedra watched Rowan pace back and forth for
a moment, an air of expectation shrouded the room. She cast a
glance towards Faen’s mother to see her watching her husband with
the same expectant look the Custodian imagined was plastered on her
face, also. Rowan came to an abrupt stop and Faedra brought her
attention back to him.

“The only way to enter Zutherindal is through
the Gatekeeper.” Rowan’s face looked grave with concern as he
turned his focus on Faedra. The young Custodian could feel herself
holding her breath with anticipation.

“The Gatekeeper guards the entrance to the
dragon kingdom. If said Keeper deems you worthy to enter, then he
will allow you passage. This is your one chance to journey into
that realm, there is no other way in.” Rowan continued, emphasizing
his last point.

Faedra swallowed hard. She didn’t like the
way Faen’s father had made it sound like they had a very slim
chance of getting into Zutherindal.

“Even if you are allowed entry into the
dragon realm, it does not, by any means, guarantee that you will be
granted an audience with Draconis.”

Undeterred, Faen asked, “Where may we find
the Gatekeeper, Father?”

Faedra alternated her attention between the
two men as they discussed the matter at hand.

“He is located in the Alovison mountain
range.”

Faedra watched the blood drain from her
Guardian’s face. Upon hearing Rowan’s reply she heard a gasp escape
Janessa’s lips.

“What?” she whispered to Faen. “What’s
wrong?”

“I told you this would not be an easy
undertaking, Faen. This mission is reckless, at best, suicide at
worst.” Rowan held his features stoic.

“Suicide? What do you mean suicide?” Faedra
turned to Rowan, her eyes pleading.

“The Alovison Mountains have been overrun by
redcaps.” Faen responded instead of his father.

Faedra found the nearest chair and slumped
into it, burying her face in her hands.

“How many redcaps?” Her muffled question
pushed through her hands and was directed at the floor.

“They have been growing in number for a
couple of years now. We do not know why they are descending on the
mountains but we believe it also has something to do with the
gateway to the dragon realm.” Rowan answered. “We have been keeping
watch but, as yet, the redcaps have not done anything. It is as if
they are just waiting. For what we do not yet know.”

Faedra looked up at Rowan. “How many though?
Are we talking hundreds or thousands?” She hated to ask, but found
she needed to know.