Chapter 27 Auria #2
“Bylur’s curse explains everything about you except one thing,” Dedalus said without preamble. “Why do you care now?”
I tipped my head, confused by the question.
He elaborated. “He belongs to Queen Daneira. You can safely assume you’ll never see him again. You can rule his house, steal outright without apology, and essentially do anything you’ve ever wanted. Why die trying to bring him home?”
My expression hardened. “Because I love him. We might have married as a means to an end, but that means is everything to me now. And it’s a good thing too, since apparently his friends already count him as dead.”
Dearan had the grace to drop his eyes, but Dedalus met my gaze. “He let himself fall to the queen. There is nothing you can do. You should not waste your life as well.”
I raised a brow. “Dedalus. That almost sounded like you care.”
His perpetual frown lifted into an almost neutral position. “Any respect I had for Bylur would ask me to keep you alive. And I’m not opposed to you continuing to live.”
I snorted. “That’s high praise from you.”
“You’re not completely intolerable. Don’t ruin it.”
I sighed. “I am going. And if neither of you will help me, I’ll take Ivodar and Rat and a triple dose of hope to make up for all you pessimists. We will get him back.”
Dedalus rubbed his forehead. “You don’t scare easily enough.”
I blew out a burst of exasperation. “No, I’m absolutely terrified.
But I’ll pretend like I’m not afraid until I win.
I’ve been in hostile castles before, and I’m still alive.
” I’d never sought out an evil queen before, but there was a first time for everything.
I stood up and rubbed my hands together. “So. What do you have for me?”
Dedalus stared at me for a long minute. I stared right back because it seemed like the gateway to getting his advice. Long after it became awkward, he stood up. “Fine. I’ll tell you everything I can think of, but I don’t think it will be enough to keep you alive.”
I forced my best smile. “I’ll take whatever you can think of.”
He waved at my dress. “Change into something a servant would wear so you don’t stand out. Don’t take Ivodar or your bird. They’ll draw attention. You can sneak around the same way you did when you first came here.”
“She has no idea where she’s going,” Ivodar protested.
“Fine,” Dedalus said. “Take Ivodar to the border. Before you cross the footbridge, though, you have to go on yourself. The queen has spies and soldiers reporting everyone who enters Kerebos and highlighting anyone suspicious. As a human, you’ll catch their attention immediately.
Bring a soldier and a squawking parrot, and they’ll question any story you make up. ”
My mouth twitched, and I couldn’t help the small smile. “Are you telling me to make up stories, Dedalus?”
His scowl deepened. “If you want to stay alive, you’ll need something to convince them you’re not a threat. I don’t know if they’d buy a maid looking for work, but whatever you think of will be ruined with a bodyguard and a bird.”
I couldn’t leave Rat behind. I’d never done anything dangerous without him. “What about a performer?”
Dedalus cocked an eyebrow. “Do you have any performing skills?”
I bit my lip. “Rat can do tricks—”
He shook his head. “No. Performing, especially having a bird perform, will draw too much attention. You want to slip in without notice, confront the queen without threatening her, and leave alive. You can’t do any of that with a soldier and a bird.”
My eyes bulged. “Confront the queen?”
“Now wait,” Dearan said at the same time. “What happened to keeping her alive?”
Dedalus half turned to face both me and the other noble. “She can sneak in, but she can’t sneak Bylur out. He’s bound by magic. The only way she can break it is with more magic. Unless you had a better idea?”
Dearan snapped his fingers. “Brilliant! Auria, you do have a chance! Much better than trying to kill the queen.” He slapped Dedalus’s shoulder. “I knew there was a reason we kept a grump like you around.”
Dedalus ignored him and faced me again. “You’ll have to think of a bargain or challenge.
Something she’s sure she’ll be able to win.
And make your prize Bylur’s freedom. Make her say the words and seal the arrangement with magic.
You should get a magic tattoo on your wrist to show it is binding.
Then beat her and bring your husband home. ”
I bit my lip. This sounded both impossible and completely doable. Impossible to even consider going up against a magic queen. But a challenge or bargain I could win? Surely I could think of something.
Dedalus started striding to the door. “Go get ready. I’ll see if our sisters have anything helpful.”
* * *
Wearing my old skirt, leggings, cloak, and jerkin—the only clothes I’d actually brought to the castle—I followed Ivodar out across the snow-dusted paths to the stables. The storm last night had only dropped the smallest bit of snow everywhere.
Dearan had gone ahead of us and was chatting with someone else who was holding ropes on two horses. Once I looked away from the fae and focused on the two horses, I froze.
This was going to be a problem.
Dearan waved. “Come on. We’ll introduce you while we wait for Dedalus and the girls.”
I forced my feet to move under me, but stopped again when we were five feet away. Both horses were huge, but the bigger one was so tall I couldn’t even reach his shoulder.
Dearan rubbed the back of his neck. “I didn’t think about the strength differences in humans and fae. Most of us would jump to get on these horses, but we can give you a hand.”
Ivodar walked up to the smaller horse, which was still too tall for me to climb on top of, and started stroking its side.
The bigger horse stared at me, like he was reading my soul. “I’m… not sure horses are such a great idea,” I whispered.
Dearan patted the bigger one. “This is North Wind. He knows he’s carrying you. Come say, ‘Hello.’”
I shook my head. “I think we should… walk.” Or walk through the shadows like Bylur, if I could figure out how to use the key. But that was even more scary than the horses. “Yes. Walking sounds good.”
Dearan laughed. “North Wind is bigger than any other horse. He was Bylur’s personal horse, so he’s interested in helping you get him back.”
I couldn’t look away from North Wind, but I couldn’t ride him either. “Dearan. I’ve never ridden a horse. And I don’t think one this size is a good place to start.”
Dearan stopped laughing. “Never?”
“No!” I squeaked. “And he could throw me off with a twitch, and then I’d break a leg or my neck, and never see Bylur again.”
“That’s an overreaction, Auria,” he said. “But there are good reasons for taking him.”
“Oh?” I couldn’t think of any.
“Yes.” He waved at both horses. “Some horse lines, like the ones these two are from, have unicorn blood in them. North Wind is incredibly smart, will understand you if you talk to him, and can run much farther and faster than normal horses without tiring. Plus, he belonged to Bylur. He’ll like you because of your connection to him. ”
The other fae stepped closer. “These are the only horses at the castle who can run all the way to the border without stopping.”
“And then you’ll be sore for weeks.” I knew that voice. I spun around to see my best friend.
“Brielle!” I’d been so focused on the horses, I hadn’t noticed her come behind me with Orla, Dedalus, and Kusan.
Brielle wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. “I can’t believe you didn’t send someone for us the instant he got taken away!”
Orla hugged us both at the same time. “But I’m glad you sent Dedalus before you left!”
Their sweet friendship had made my life here so much more full, and with the three of us squashed up against each other, more tears tried to push through my controls. I squeezed my eyes shut and hugged them back. “I’ve wanted to tell you, but it wasn’t my secret. I’m so glad you aren’t mad at me.”
“Oh, posh.” Orla swiped at her eyes as she let go of me. “You’ve just been trying to save Bylur. We wouldn’t be mad about that.” She tugged a bag around her shoulder. “And we have things to help.”
Brielle shoved a ring into my hand. The same one I’d returned to her last night.
“This ring has summer magic in it. That’s a rarity for winter fae.
You should be able to trade it for almost anything in Kerebos—they’re so far from the summer courts that they value magic with heat or fire in it more than fae here do… and we like it a lot.”
My eyes burned, but I refused to cry anymore. Instead I sniffed and hugged her again. “Thank you.”
She sniffed too. “Of course. You just stay alive out there.”
Orla set her whole little bag into my hands. I opened it up and saw three peaches. “Fruit from the summer realm. It’s a long story, but these are my last ones. Just like the ring—trade them when you need help. They’ll get you more than you expect.”
I looped the peach bag over my shoulder and hugged her too. “You two have been the best friends I’ve ever had. In my whole life.”
Orla slapped my shoulder. “Don’t say things like that. It makes it sound like you’re not coming back. I expect to see you again.”
I huffed a half-laugh. “Fine. I’ll see you both soon with wild stories of my adventures in Kerebos.”
Brielle smiled her precision-perfect smile. “And bring your husband so we can give him a hard time about not telling us about his curse.”
I turned around and saw Ivodar already sitting on South Wind. “Maybe we should trade. She’s a little smaller than mine.”
North Wind made a loud, offended sound and shook his head. Suddenly, I was more anxious about upsetting him than climbing up on him. “Sorry, North Wind.” Apologizing seemed important. “I’ve never done this before.”
He bent his head down. I considered running away from him, but he moved slowly, as if trying to convince me that he was safe. He rubbed his nose against my shoulder.
“Talk to him,” the stable fae whispered.
Right. No fear. I took a deep breath and turned toward his face, now on eye-level with mine.
“I really need to get to Kerebos as fast as possible, and everyone is saying you’re the one who can make that happen.
” Like so often, once my mouth started going, everything else started to relax.
“I’m too scared to even touch you, but I really want to help Bylur, so I hope you might work with me to get me to the border. ”
He rubbed my arm with his nose, and I risked petting his neck. “Now I just need to figure out how to get on you.”
Orla elbowed her brother. “Dedalus will help.”
Dedalus’s permanent scowl settled on his sister, but she grinned back at him. “Won’t you?”
“Of course,” he growled.
I bit my lip so I didn’t burst out laughing. I avoided looking at Dedalus, but faced his sister. “When I get back, we should invite your brothers and Bylur to join us for tea sometimes.”
“Yes!” She clapped her hands and laughed. It was a nice sound, but I knew her well enough to know it was forced. This was taking too long. I needed to get going.
Dedalus cupped his hands and bent down to my knee. “Put one foot on my hands and be ready to swing your leg over the saddle when I lift you up.”
I swallowed an extra gulp of air as he lifted me up and into the saddle in less than a second. Then he slid my feet into the stirrups and adjusted their length.
Brielle gasped and waved her hands. “Wait! Don’t go!” she cried, running toward the stable. I had to pick my jaw up. I never thought I’d see her run.
Dearan patted North Wind’s side. “He’s going to go fast, so hold onto the reins or the saddle. If you need a break, just tell him, and he’ll stop. He knows the way, so you don’t need to worry about anything besides staying on.”
“No other horse could get you there so fast,” the stable fae repeated.
Brielle came rushing back, completely out of breath, with a small jar in her hand. She passed it up to me. I bent down to reach it. “It’s a salve,” she said, “for your legs. You’ll need it before you get to anyone who can heal you.”
“Heal me?” This felt like a riddle.
Dearan’s broad smile ran across his face. “You’ll know when you need it. Just tuck it in the bags for now.”
Kusan patted my knee. “I’ve given Ivodar food for two days. We’ll be cheering for you until we see you again.”
“Thanks. Your bread and pastries saved my life.” I smiled at her and glanced at Ivodar, who nodded at me. “Thanks, everyone. I’ll see you all again soon.” I patted North Wind’s upper back. “I’m ready if you are.”
He lifted his head, shook it with a majestic energy, and then charged forward.