Authors: Theresa M. Jones
Everything was marble again, the walls, the floors and the ceiling. The chandelier above us was even bigger than the one on the first floor, at least double the size. The room was large and open, and you could see out into the tree. It was as if we were on a gloriously rich balcony. Where there should have been a wall in front of me, there wasn’t. It was just open. Not even any glass.
You could see out for miles and miles, and all of it was green. Different, varying shades of green. Some bright, some dark. Some yellowish and some bluish. Within the branches flew birds that dipped below the branches, and then swooped up high zigzagging around the limbs. It made me also want to fly. To jump out of this gorgeous room and soar into the sky above the stunning trees. We weren’t far enough up to see the sky yet, and that was such a bummer, because I seriously craved it.
That wasn’t even all of it. Right in the center of the room was a circle pool, maybe twenty feet in diameter, with a waterfall pouring from the ceiling into it. I don’t know where the water came from, or even if it was water at all, but it was beautiful and bright blue. I decided it was probably nectar, instead of actual water.
The light reflected from all the candles in the chandelier, and all the candles on the walls, off of the nectarfall, making the walls ripple and giving the room the appearance that we were actually underwater.
I started to walk forward, to get a closer look at the pool in the center, but Alec grabbed my hand and stopped me before I could even go one full step. He shook his head, just once, as if to tell me not to move at all. It was that head shake that brought me back to reality. This wasn’t just a pretty room I was standing in.
“You may sit,” the leader said, and pointed to seats at the side of the room.
Alec walked forward, but didn’t release my hand. So I walked beside him. The seats were green marble also, but when we sat down, it felt like we were sitting in the most comfortable cushion ever. Almost like a foam material that shifted to our weight.
Five of the Guard stepped back and waited at the elevator door. Four went to stand in each of the corners of the room, and the last one, the leader, stayed standing right beside us. And we waited. And then waited some more.
I cleared my throat, aching to ask some questions, but held my tongue. I didn’t want them to know I wasn’t from around here if I could help it.
“Stand for High Lord Celonius Nettle,” the leader said to us, after what felt like an eternity of waiting.
Alec and I both stood.
A door on the opposite side of the room opened, and an older Nymph walked through it. He looked like he might be the same age as Nona. His hair was turning gray, and he had wrinkles all over his face. He was still tall, and I could see muscles bunching forth from beneath his white shirt. Behind him were two other Nymph, who looked just like the other guards already in the room.
Talk about security. I wondered if they were acting this way because of Alec, or if they were always this protective of the Lord.
He walked toward us, and stopped just past the pool in the center of the room, about five yards away. When he stopped walking, Alec bowed, much lower than when he bowed to the guard, but not all the way in half. I tried my best to bow just like he did. But then wondered if I should have curtsied instead. Were women supposed to curtsy around here? I seriously needed a refresher training in the art of being a fairy.
“Sylph Realm Guard, may I call you Alec?” Lord Nettle asked.
Alec straightened back up, so I tried to also, but he placed a hand on my back holding me down, indicating that I shouldn’t. Then he answered, “Yes, my Lord.”
“And who is your companion?”
“She is my protégé.”
“What may I call you?” After he asked me, Alec released his hold on my back so that I could stand up straight. I looked over at the Nymph, and answered him.
“You may call me Lily,” I answered, trying desperately to speak the way I was supposed to.
“Please explain to me what you are doing here in Ardennes when you should be in the Mortal Realm.” He spoke to Alec again, ignoring my presence. No need for beating around the bush, I guess.
“We have come in search of someone.”
“Is it something I can help you with? I have many resources at my disposal.” Somehow, when he said it, it didn’t sound like he was actually offering to help. It sounded more like a threat. Like,
don’t mess with me because I can have someone kill you
. Or maybe it was just my overactive, paranoid imagination.
“I believe they have left the Central Village and ventured beyond to Muircadia,” Alec replied. “I do appreciate your offer, My Lord. We were just planning on leaving when your guard came to escort us to see you.”
“Oh? But we had never met, and yet I have heard of you before. Were you not the same Sylph Guard that used to stay here in Ardennes, a few decades ago?” I started to get a seriously bad feeling about the direction of this conversation. While Lord Nettle was speaking, he started to smile, a mischievous grin. “I believe you were close to our very own Lix, were you not?”
Alec didn’t answer, but his face was getting scarier by the second.
“You were legend to us. A wonderful example of what happens when you question authority and break the rules. I’m happy to see you with your own kind,” he said, motioning to me.
“I fully respect the magic and authority of our leaders,” Alec replied.
“As we all should.”
“I respectfully request a leave, so that we may be on about our business.”
“So soon?” Then the Lord shook his head and said, “Not quite yet. I would request you stay to dine with us this evening, and then you may take your leave in the morning.”
“Thank you, my Lord, for both the invitation to dine and the allowance of leave.” And then Alec bowed his head, just a little.
“I would request that you stay here, in my home, accompanied by my High Guard, to assist you.” Every time he said that, I knew he wasn’t actually requesting anything. It was a demand. We didn’t have the option of saying no. And I knew that the guard wasn’t just to assist us.
“If it would please you, My Lord.”
“Yes it would. Dinner will be promptly at six. The High Guard can direct you to your rooms for the day, and then will bring you to dinner later.” Then he turned to leave, and Alec bent low, pushing my back down at the same time so that I would bow with him.
As soon as he was gone, the leader of the guard directed us to follow him. We went back into the elevator, and came out into a hallway. At least this time it was only a few guards, and not ten. He led us down the hall, and then stopped at a door.
“This will be your room. Please know that I will be just outside, in case you need anything.” Translation, don’t try to leave or I will stop you. He opened the door, we walked in, and then he shut the door behind us.
The room was similar to the other rooms in this tree. The floor and ceiling were the same greenish silver marble. But the walls were again part of the tree.
Against the wall were two beds that were the same size and shape, and had green blankets and pillows atop them. On one side there was a door, and the other side a small square table with four chairs pushed in next to it.
Alec went to the table, pulled out a chair and sat down. He put his hands down to his sides, palm up, and pulled on his concentration face. It was the same look he had every time he used some serious magic. But I didn’t see his mist anywhere.
He shook his head once, then scrunched his eyebrows down. I left him alone, and walked over to the door, to see where it led. It was just a bathroom, though it was also beautiful. I walked back out and sat on the bed, watching Alec concentrate.
“My magic is bound while in here. I’ve heard of the Lords homes having rooms where no Fae can use magic, though I’ve never been in one before. ” Then he looked over to me and said, “We cannot use the tripudio.”
“Okay. So now what?”
“I don’t know, Lily.” He shook his head. “I just don’t know.”
“Do you think we should try to leave?” I asked him. He was still sitting in the chair, but he was no longer trying to use any magic. He was just sitting up looking at me.
“No. It would be very difficult, and may cause more problems than not. If he really allows us to leave tomorrow, than we should be okay.”
“Why would he want to keep us here? Do you have any idea about what’s going on?”
“You remember the whole rebellion thing?” he asked me. I nodded that I did. “Well, the lords and ladies are very loyal to King Mastikh. The only thing I can think of is that perhaps he wants to make sure we are not part of the rebellion. Many thought I would defect and join the rebellion after what happened with Lix, but I didn’t have the urge. I didn’t have the urge for anything.”
I scooted back on the bed, which was super comfortable and soft, and crossed my legs beneath me. I put my elbows on my thighs and held my head in my hands as I looked over at him.
“I know that he has some motive for this. I just don’t know how he found out that I’m even here. I would think it was Dux Samael, but then he would’ve had to explain that he attacked me, a Realm Guard, and I don’t see that happening.”
“Do you think we are in danger? I mean…do you think he’s gonna kill us or something?” I asked, because I didn’t know if I had been reading too much into things. I really had no idea how the Nymph did things.
Alec’s head snapped up as he looked at me. He got up from the chair and walked over to the bed, sitting right beside me. He placed his hand on my knee, causing the butterfly flutters to return to my tummy.
“I will not let anyone hurt you. I do believe that there is more than he is letting on, I just don’t know what.”
I nodded at him, while never letting my eyes stray from his. When I looked into his eyes, being this close to him, it was like I could see on for miles and miles inside his soul, to the very depths of who he is. Like I could see all of him, inside and out. And he was beautiful. Good and honest and beautiful.
“So, I’m surprised they gave us one room to share…” And then my cheeks warmed as blood flooded my face. Sometimes things came out of my mouth and I have no idea why they come out, and I totally wish I had more control over my own thoughts and body so I wouldn’t say stupid things like that.
“You are my protégé. Normally, one chooses a protégé either because they are family or have some sort of bond. It was a courtesy for them to put us together. He probably would have preferred us being separated, but it would have been an insult to me. And they are all about manners and being proper.”
“Oh.” I mean, what else could I say to that? “Have you ever had a protégé before?”
“No.” He shook his head as he answered me. “You are my first.” His voice had dropped, making it sound almost like a whisper. If only he knew that he was my first, in more ways than that.
The knock on the door shocked me so much, that I jumped and almost hit Alec in the face with my head. He stood from the bed, looked at the door, and said in a strong voice, “Enter.”
The person who walked through the door was not at all what I was expecting. She was taller than me, but not at all the tallest Nymph I had seen. She was thin, very thin and not muscular at all. Her hair was braided into an intricate design at the top of her head, leaving several pieces free that drifted down her back.
She wore a dress, the first Nymph I had seen to wear one at all. It was a dark green, with a white collar and sash around the middle. And on her cheek, she had a single green tattoo. She was the most elegant person I had ever seen. Not only her clothes but the way she stood, the posture of her body that exuded propriety and respect.
Alec bowed again, just a little, like he had with the High Guard. “Lady Minor.”
“I would like to speak with you, if you don’t mind,” she said to Alec, not addressing me at all.
“As you wish.”
She turned and shut the door behind her, closing it in the guards face.
“Are you a rebel?” she asked him. She didn’t seem afraid of him. Though she looked delicate, she also looked brave. Fearless.
Alec didn’t hesitate. “No, ma’am.”
She lifted her arms high, palms up and spun around once. A mist grew from her hands, and covered us in an umbrella shape. When she put her hands down, the mist remained.
“No one can hear us. Please. I need to know if you are who they believe.”
“Who do they believe I am?”
“Are you not searching for the Mortem? Are you not the Sylph Realm Guard that dared to defy the throne by loving a Nymph? This is the Fae that I am searching for.”
“Why would
you
, Lady Minor, be searching for me? I am he. But I am not a rebel.”
“But you must be. How could you
not
be after what they did to your pledge?” It almost looked like she was pleading with him. Like she was hoping he was part of this rebellion.
At first I was wary of her, as I was sure Alec was. I was guessing she was sent in by the Lord, to see if she could get some dirt on us. But watching her plead with him now, it didn’t look like she would have turned him in. It looked like she would have been happy to see him, as if she was a rebel herself.
“That was forty years ago. I have mourned my loss and moved on with my life. I…”
But then I interrupted him. “Are you a rebel?” I asked her.
Alec pushed me behind him, and said quickly, “Forgive her, Lady Minor. She did not mean any offense.”
But she smiled at him, and then she said, “Yes I am a rebel. And who are you?”
Alec was shocked, his mouth hung open and his arms dropped to his sides. Fae cannot lie. They can deceive and tell half-truths. But they cannot lie.
“You may call me Lily.”
“You are spoiled? I sense no magic in you.”
“My seventeenth birthday is in less than three weeks,” I assured her. “I should sprout wings then.” Hopefully.
She smiled, a genuine smile. “I like you. Very few people talk to me like that. My father demands respect and proper manners at all times. It gets annoying.” Then she turned to Alec and said, “So, now that you know I am a rebel, do you feel comfortable enough to answer me honestly?”
“I’m sorry, Lady Minor, but I am not part of the rebellion.”
“Shame. Well you should be.” He chuckled at her response.
“And risk the wrath of your father, and the king? I would rather not. I have just recently found my mission in life, and I plan on completing it soon.”
“You believe my father will release you tomorrow? Because I can assure you, he will not. The dux and my father are close confidants. When Samael came and told my father of your…meeting yesterday, my father sent guards out to bring you back. They plan on killing you publicly tomorrow for daring to question the dux.”
“Holy crap!” I said more to myself than to them.
“Do you know what the dux has to do with the Mortem?” Alec asked her, ignoring my outburst.
“I know that all the Lords and Dux contract the Mortem to perform different tasks. They are paid well to remain unknown. Or, just to keep it unknown to the public that they work for the authorities.”
“Wow. To believe that our own leaders resort to mercenaries to take out civilians is…unfortunate and tragic.”
“It’s more than that,” she told him. “They are stealing the magic. My father wants to push forth a new tax, forcing Fae to donate their magic every other week! It is barbaric. My Nymph have no food, no money, nothing. When their magic is gone, what will become of Ardennes? It’s already withering, dying in so many places.”
I thought back to the patch of Ardennes where Fenris had taken us. To that dying land where magic had been stripped away and left nothing but putrid smells and death in its wake.
Though I felt no loyalty to Ardennes, or really anything about The Empyrean despite my lineage, her words still struck a chord with me. They were helpless and defenseless, just like me. No wonder there was a rebellion. Not just because they kill off whomever they want, but they can do nothing about it. They cannot say no to the authorities, or they would have no place to live.
But Alec shrugged. “As I said, I lost most of my passion for this world long ago. I now have one task before me, to kill the Mortem in order to avenge all the lives they have stolen.”
“And you will do nothing? You will kill the Mortem and then what? Where will you go? Back to the Mortal Realm, only to return every other week to have your magic sucked from your pores?” She was starting to shout at him, and I hoped her mist would seriously keep her words hidden. “No. You are not the Fae I was searching for.” Then she turned around to leave.
“Wait,” I pleaded. Without her help, we would die tomorrow. Probably a painful death. I
so
wasn’t down for that. “What do you want us to do?”
“There is nothing you can do. You have no magic. What I need is…” She sighed and shook her head, while looking down. Then she looked up at me and said, “I need a miracle.”