Chapter 31
T he water disappeared, and I found myself falling, like I’d just gone down a slide that connected two worlds. The arch spat me out into a cavern of sorts where I could breathe the air and feel the dirt floor that just slammed into my side.
“Ow,” I groaned, rolling to my back and opening my eyes. “What was that?” Somehow, I’d sensed Wylen nearby.
His face came into view, along with the hand he offered to pull me up with. “We’re in the holding room.” His hair was hanging free of the ponytail, and his clothes looked fresh and crisp.
“Wait, you’re dry!”
“And so are you.”
I stood, patting myself from head to toe. My curly hair was still in the two ties, my sneakers were completely dry, and somehow all the dampness from the moisture in the air had been sucked right out of my jacket. “Impressive. Now what?”
Wylen smiled and forced me to turn around toward the other side of the room. “Now we wait for them.”
“Whoa.”
The entire wall was built like an aquarium.
It appeared that a large piece of glass had been etched into the surrounding rock formations.
The water from the rest of the pool couldn’t breach the gate, making it look like the two large water horses swimming behind it were trapped.
The reality of it was that Wylen and I were really the fish in the aquarium being studied by the creatures beyond the holding room.
“When will we know?”
“Soon,” he said with a smile. “Relax. Your heart is pure, and they will let you pass.”
Not feeling as confident, I stepped closer to the water wall and watched the intricate dance the kelpies continued to do.
Swimming around each other with ease, they would rub their heads against the wall as they passed.
Each time, they focused on one of us. Back and forth.
Back and forth. Until finally, they both disappeared out the far side of the pool.
“Wait! What just happened?”
Wylen grabbed my hand and pulled me tight against his chest. “Hold on, Sosie. Whatever you do, don’t let go.”
I barely had time to register his words before some sort of force grabbed us and yanked us through the wall.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I wished for a quick demise if this was going to be my fate.
I didn’t feel the water this time. Instead, I just felt a void, like a black hole.
There was nothing to wrap my conscience around.
And then it stopped just as suddenly as the world came rushing back in a wave of emotion.
Bright, white light flashed intensely above our heads. The clean, crisp air smelled so fresh I could barely focus on one single scent. Birds sang. The wind whistled through the leaves of a thousand trees. The gentle sound of a babbling brook nearby slowed my heart.
I opened my eyes and couldn’t stop from tearing up.
Ashtabulah was the most beautiful place I’d ever seen.
We’d been dumped, or dropped off, on what appeared to be the other side of the Juniper Pools.
Only from this perspective, the pools flowed into a large cave that cut through the middle of a mountain.
There were no people, or hiking trails, or vehicles.
Just the vast landscape stretching as far as the eye could see.
I spun around at the sound of water splashing behind me. Laughing at the sight, I enjoyed watching Wylen sip from the stream and dump the water over his head. “What are you doing?”
He chuckled and threw out his arms. “I’m taking it all in,” he shouted to the sky. “I’m home!”
Giggling, I called down to him. “You are! You’re back, and I see why you love this place so much!”
He waved me down to him, so I followed some type of animal trail until I reached the water’s edge. “Drink, Sosie. Drink it all in.”
“Are you drunk?” I asked with a smile.
“Not at all. But the healing power of the water is simply unmatched in your world.” He cupped his hands and slurped up some more.
“Can’t you catch something?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Like a leech. Or dysentery.”
“You don’t have to worry about such things here, Sosie. We fae are one with nature. We don’t try to control her, and she doesn’t try to kill us.”
Not sure I believed him completely, I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and try it out.
After all, I was thirsty. Kneeling to the ground and positioning myself so I could nestle in between two boulders, I bent forward and scooped up a handful of the babbling brook.
Slurping it as loudly as Wylen had, I sucked in the cool, crisp water and almost felt the magic flow down my throat.
It tingled and tickled and nearly made it all the way to my toes before I didn’t feel it anymore.
I quickly sucked down another gulp.
Wylen was washing his face and his arms and the back of his neck. Basically, any part he could reach that wasn’t covered in his clothes. I started to do the same, marveling at the way the water felt like I’d just experienced a relaxation massage and spa day all in one.
“Sosie,” Wylen whispered. When I turned, he was holding his finger across his lips, telling me to be quiet. He waved me closer, cringing each time my feet caused a pebble to roll or a blade of grass to squeak. “Shh,” he said as I reached his side. “You walk like a troll.”
“I do not.”
He positioned himself behind me and leaned out toward my right shoulder.
His face was directly next to my ear, his breath washing over my neck with each exhale.
It was giving me chills, but he wasn’t doing it on purpose.
Reaching out past me with his arm, he pointed a finger off into the distance. “Do you see them?”
We were on the top side of a sloping hill that overlooked a large valley.
The grass was as green as the Silke Isles, but the flowers blooming all over the hillside put my world to shame.
Blues and yellows and pinks. They dotted the landscape and added a powerful contrast to the large white blobs Wylen was pointing at.
“What are they?” It still wasn’t clear to me.
“The White Wolves of Gleann.”
“Those are wolves? They’re huge!” Now that I could see the outline, I compared the wolves to the small outcropping of pine trees next to them and realized they had to be twice the size of regular wolves.
Like maybe even as large as the great bears rumored to have once lived in the ancient forests of Kilderoy.
“This is truly a lucky sighting. They aren’t usually seen during the day.”
I crawled forward a bit so I could lie down and look out over the valley. I felt Wylen do the same beside me. “Do you do this often? Watch the wildlife?”
“Oh, yes.” He turned his head and rested it on his arms while he talked to me. “It’s one of my most favorite things to do here. When I can.” He blew out a breath and turned to watch the wolves some more. “Aren’t they magnificent?”
“Yes.”
We sat in silence, just listening and watching. The wolf pack had several babies, and it was a real treat to see them playing and chasing each other around in circles. Even when they knocked into the adults, I couldn’t help but laugh as they skittered away from almost being nipped.
I felt myself drifting off to sleep. I didn’t think I’d ever been this relaxed and calm in my entire life. Now I could understand why the halflings wanted to be here so badly.
I was just about to say as much when Wylen suddenly sat up. He looked toward the ridge on our left where the forest met the sky and the grass gave way to trees. “What is it?”
He didn’t answer at first, but then we heard the hooves. Running quickly, the pounding of feet on the ground rumbled under my chest. Wylen stood, jaw clenched, and all sense of happiness ripped from his face. “Sosie, please come here.”
Reluctantly, I pushed myself up and walked to his side.
I followed his gaze along the ridge and froze when I saw the soldiers riding toward us.
I guess I didn’t know if they were really soldiers or not, but the way they rode in formation and the way all of the horses were synchronized in their movements instantly made me think of a trained army.
“Wylen?” I asked, taking his hand and squeezing his fingers. “Who are they?”
“It’s the queen’s army,” he pushed out through gritted teeth. “Just let me handle this. We will be all right.”
Pushing me behind him, he held up his arms as the soldiers got closer.
They fanned out in a half circle, effectively blocking us from going anywhere but over the ridge behind us.
They wore elaborate metal helmets with long, white feathers sticking out of the top from a bird I certainly had never seen before.
The metal dropped down into a point covering a part of their noses and leaving just their eyes and mouth visible to their enemies.
They were dressed out in leather from head to toe, sewn together in pieces with elaborate golden thread.
And each one had a long sword strapped across their backs .
“We mean you no harm,” Wylen shouted at them. I didn’t like the way his body stiffened.
“You are trespassing on the queen’s lands,” the one closest to us said. His accent was similar to Wylen’s. In fact, he sounded a lot like Wylen.
“I am here doing the queen’s bidding,” Wylen replied.
The leader of the group nudged his horse to move. He trotted around us several times before stopping in the same spot. “Who is she?”
“She is with me.”
The man smiled and shook his head. “That’s not what I asked.”
Wylen glanced my way and then stood taller. “I am Wylen Jerrah Keldi of Geimhreadh, and I demand that you take me to see the queen.”
The soldiers reacted quite strongly to his statement, some of them even bowing their heads.
The leader snapped his fingers in the air several times, and a white horse with no rider trotted up to his side.
He bent over and whispered something in its ear.
The horse whinnied in response and came closer to us.
Bouncing its head up and down several times, it seemed to acknowledge Wylen in a strange sort of way.
Wylen reached up and ran his hands along the side of the horse’s head, whispering quiet words and sharing something private.
When finished, he turned to me and held out his hand.
“We must go with them,” he said. “They will take us to the queen.” His tone implied that I should read more into his words and not ask any questions, so I gave him a nod and let him pull me closer to the horse.
“Um, Wylen. I don’t know how to ride.”
“It’s all right. You don’t have to know.
” Wylen made a stirrup with his hands and beckoned me to use it.
Thinking about all the movies I’d seen where people rode horses, I grabbed the top of the saddle with my left hand and put my left foot in Wylen’s fake stirrup.
In one boost, I pushed off the ground, swung my right leg up over the back of the horse, and found myself sitting on top of the beast a moment later.
Wylen smiled up at me, and I felt proud. That was until the fae jumped off the ground with one clean sweep and landed on the back of the horse like some ridiculous stuntman. “Seriously?” I groaned.
Wylen laughed and nestled in behind me. “Remember, we do not have cars here.”
“Oh yes,” I said as he turned the horse to follow the soldiers.
“I remember.” We started with a slow walk back to the dirt road I hadn’t been able to see before.
My body bounced around in time with Wylen’s—a strange sensation and one I wasn’t sure I liked.
I could already feel the pain in my sit bones and hoped our journey wouldn’t be long.
Once we found the road again, I asked, “What is Geev-ra ?”
Wylen chuckled. “Geimhreadh is my home.”
“And why did the soldiers listen to you so easily?” I already had my suspicions, but before we met the queen and she possibly killed me, I wanted to know for sure.
Wylen hesitated, and I knew I was right. I twisted in the saddle the best I could so I could see the look on his face. “You’re a prince, aren’t you?”
He cringed and looked past me at the backs of the soldiers. Finally deciding to answer, he bobbed his head quickly. “Yes. I am a prince, and I am afraid I may have put you in danger.”