18. Emilia
Chapter 18
Emilia
T he ride through the night was uncomfortable, to say the least. At some point, I fell asleep, and when I woke up, the woman who had been dragged along on this little excursion with me, was now leaning on my shoulder, fast asleep. The sun has started to rise, and as my eyes adjust from an unrestful sleep, I see an ominous tree line just up ahead. The Shrouded Forest looms ahead, its very air cloaked in an unnatural blue mist that seems to act as a spectral veil, obscuring the woods beyond. Even at this distance, there is a palpable weight to the atmosphere, a foreboding pressure that whispers of an unseen presence lurking within. It is as if the forest itself is a living, breathing entity: silently warning all who dare approach to go no further into its shadowed depths.
As we near the forest, the cart slows down to navigate the rough terrain. The jostling wakes the woman beside me. The Orc is no longer driving the cart, instead a Fae man I haven’t seen sits in front. Rian is sitting beside him and is pointing to something on the ground that I can’t seem to see. Inch by inch, we get closer to the tree line and the weight I felt from a distance becomes heavier. I feel an unnatural desire to run in the opposite direction but my options are limited with being bound. The woman beside me is starting to breathe heavier, and her shoulders start to shake. I try to scoot closer to her. I even swing my arms over her head to pull her closer. This would be a lot easier if my hands weren’t bound .
A small path comes into view that, had the driver not pointed to it, I would never have noticed. The cart bumps and tips as we navigate into the forest. The path is full of rocks and holes. The wheel of the cart hits something and starts to sink rapidly into the ground. Rian and the driver hop off the bench and come around back to where we are. Rian drops the board on the back and grabs my arm. The woman is still in my hold, so as he pulls me, he pulls her. She squeaks while I try to untangle myself from her with much struggle. Rian helps me out of the cart and pulls me to stand.
“Get her.” Rian commands the other Fae man. The woman squeaks again as the man pulls her from the cart, too. I’m confused as to why we aren’t taking the cart, but then I see the wheel that got stuck—in what I thought was a hole—is actually sinking into the ground like something is sucking it up. The horse attached to the cart is huffing and pulling but with no success.
“Aren’t you going to help the horse?” I ask Rian. I don’t know what is happening, but as I see more of the cart sink into the ground, the horse is being pulled down with it. Rian doesn’t move to do anything, so I try to look around to find something I can use to cut the horse free. The horse neighs and pulls as the cart continues to sink, my heart beating fast, watching the horse struggle. I look at Rian’s side, and he has a small dagger hanging at his waist. Quickly, I grab it and run towards the horse. Rian shouts, but I make it to the horse and start cutting the straps that bind it to the cart. It is two simple cuts and the horse is free, running deep into the forest. Rian finally makes it to me, snarling in my face.
“What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking that poor horse was being taken down by…” I wave at the nearly sunken cart, “whatever that is and I couldn’t watch it die.” Rian raises a hand and hits me square in the face. I fall to the ground, landing hard on my hands. Pain radiates up my cheek, and the back of my eye throbs.
“Know your place, Human.” Rian hoists me up by the arm, squeezing tightly. I inwardly wince at the pain but hold back any sound of discomfort. Rian walks us deeper into the forest, where the fog gets heavier. I turn to look over my shoulder and the woman is walking on her own behind me. She gives me a half smile; I’ll take that as a sign she is doing ok. The air seems thin in here, making it hard to breathe. My pants come in shorter breaths, and I look at Rian, who does not seem to be affected. He catches me staring but seems to see the question in my eyes.
“The forest doesn’t like unwelcome visitors. It tries to make you feel as uncomfortable as possible, even going as far as to try and kill you. ”
I must not think too highly of my safety because I ask another question.
“How are you unaffected?”
“I’m not unaffected. I was born in these woods and have lived here my whole life. There are some things you get used to, unfortunately.”
Nothing more is said, and the deeper we get, the harder it is to see, but Rian is navigating it just fine, which surprises me. He knows every turn and every fallen tree to step over.
It feels like we have been walking for hours. My feet are hurting, and I’m incredibly thirsty, but we haven’t slowed at all. A clearing comes into view, and it isn’t like the rest of the forest. The fog seems to be thinner—not entirely gone, but thinner. A crackle of magic dances over my skin as we walk through something. A barrier, maybe? I don’t see anything particularly interesting, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t something there. Rian let my arm go a few hours ago so I have been able to walk on my own. He sends out a sharp whistle, which echoes among the trees. Nothing seems to happen until a clunking sound comes from above. Looking up, I’m momentarily in shock. A platform descends from the treetop canopy, nothing but a suspended platform held by ropes attached to questionable wheels can be seen. Rian walks towards the platform, and I follow behind him, my mouth still hanging open as I look at the platform. Do they live in the trees? Rian opens a small gate that leads onto the platform and puts his hand out to usher us onto it. I want to ask a million questions but doing that seems like a bad idea. My face has just finished pulsing from the earlier slap.
The woman and the other Fae man step on behind me. A suspended rope that doesn’t seem to be attached to anything waves in the breeze. Rian wraps his hand around it, tugging it hard, and then the platform starts to rise. The sudden movement puts me off balance. The woman—whose name I still don’t know—stops me from falling over completely. Quietness fills the space until we break through a layer of leaves, and when we do, we see a vast series of houses.
“What is this place?” I say just above a whisper. Rian turns to me.
“Welcome to the Night Court.” He doesn’t say it with a welcoming tone and he doesn’t say it with pride either. It’s as if he resents the fact that this is, indeed, the Night Court. Suspended walkways connect houses and buildings that are attached to the trees. Lanterns hover above the ropes that are used as a rail for the walkways. The platform finally stops, and a couple of menacing Fae guards watch us exit. So much hate fills their eyes as they look at us. Apparently, they are not the biggest fans of Humans. Rian takes a narrow walkway, leading us higher in the maze of trees and pathways. A small house comes up on our right, and a child is playing with what looks to be a doll made out of sticks and moss. The child looks up, sees Rian, and immediately runs into the house. The mother, who was sitting behind the child, looks up as well, and terror fills her face. She has bruises on her face and arms, and dark bags under her eyes. She quickly follows the child inside. She isn’t the only person we see battered and bruised on our way up the pathways. Many run the moment they see Rian, terror covering their faces. The worst part is, Rian seems to take satisfaction in their terror.
I’m not sure what I was expecting of the Night Court, but it wasn’t this. It wasn’t the abused people or the terrified looks. There is more going on here than we knew. Neeve mentioned she wanted to save her people, but I never could have imagined they were being treated this poorly. My heart breaks looking at all these people. The tree city isn’t filled with happy chatting but a tension-filled silence, a humming whisper as if everyone is afraid to talk, and maybe they are. Finally, we reach the top of the trees. A large building, at least the size of two of the other houses from below, sits before us. The windows are circular in shape, and a soft glow comes from inside. The door is not made of solid wood like in the palace, but of intricately woven vines.
Rian pushes the door open and enters with us trailing behind him. A large room, much like a throne room, greets us. A few tables are scattered about, but the centrepiece of the room is a large chair, which I am guessing is the throne. It seems to be made of tightly woven vines, just like the door, but it looks like someone took great care in crafting it, making the vines into a beautiful piece of art. Sitting on the throne is a Fae man. This must be the King. His deep brown eyes hold my gaze, but then they wander, taking me in fully. It’s an unwelcome purusal that makes me feel dirty, but I won’t give him the satisfaction of knowing he is affecting me. He is leaning back on the throne with one foot resting on top of his knee. His hands are steepled as he assesses us. His gaze moves from me to the woman who has been travelling with me. I don’t know what makes me do it, but I step in front of her to prevent him from ogling her like he did me.
“Well, well. Looks like our guests have finally arrived.” The King chuckles, and the few people scattered around the room laugh as well, though it sounds forced, out of obligation. Something dark lingers around this man, there is nothing good in him.
“Your Majesty, this is Timas’ spirit bond, Emilia, and this is the princess from the Human Kingdom brought here at the request of Gormash.” Shock rolls through me. The woman who has been travelling with us is a princess… from the Human Kingdom! That must be why the Humans allied with Gormash again. He kidnapped the King’s daughter.
The King stands from his spot on the throne and walks towards me. The fact he has a princess here does not seem to intrigue him as much as I do, which makes my stomach turn. The look of desire in his eyes makes me want to gouge them out with a fork, but I stay still as he walks around me.
“What a pretty little thing. You are what is making all the commotion in Sonas? My, my.” He drags a finger across my face, and I pull away, scowling at him. He simply chuckles. His attention leaves me and goes to the princess. She is shivering, fear written all over her face. The King takes a piece of her hair and twirls it in his finger .
“The unwanted princess. A pleasure to have you in my Court.” I don’t like how he is looking at her, so I try to bring his attention back to me.
“You know kidnapping me is only going to bring Timas here right? He’s going to kill you.” Amazingly my voice is level and doesn’t show the fear I am currently trying to control. As planned, the King turns to me, his eyes darkening with anger.
“Timas, the so-called most powerful Fae, is nothing compared to me. If it’s not already obvious, I am capable of so much more than he is. Not only was I able to get assassins into the palace to kill his weak father but I was also able to retrieve his precious spirit bond. He pales in comparison to me.”
“If you are that good, why didn’t you just kill Timas? You say you are more powerful, but he is still alive. Oh, that’s right, because anyone who goes up against him would be decimated. You are delusional if you think you will win against him in a fight. He will come, and when he does, you will wish you never started a war with the Day Court in the first place.” The King leans down in my face, his breath skirting across my mouth.
“I am at an advantage here. He knows nothing of this forest, and I have my entire Court to fight with. He doesn’t stand a chance,” he seethes.
“Your Court is falling apart. I’m an outsider, and I can tell that the people do not support you, and they certainly don’t trust you. When Timas arrives, do you truly think they will sacrifice their lives for a snivelling snake of a King?” I knew I shouldn’t have kept going, but he needed to be knocked down a peg. The slight fear in his eye tells me he isn’t as sure about his odds as he says, but his anger is real, and a glowing red and orange hand comes down on the other side of my face. I screech as I fall to the ground. What is with the Night Court and hitting me in the face?
“You know nothing, you pathetic swine. I was thinking about keeping you as my little pet but now I will let you burn. But not until I use you against the precious Day Court King .“ He turns to the woman behind me. “I guess that means you, princess, get to take her place. You,” he points to a guard near the door, “lock them up.”
Someone hauls me up from the ground, and I can’t really see what’s going on because of the pain in my face. It feels like I got hit with a burning palm. Maybe that is the King’s power. It doesn’t take long before we are thrown into a small room with a single barred window and nothing but a couple of leaf beds on the ground. The man who dragged me to the room cuts the ropes off my hands. I’m hopeful he will leave them, but I am wrong, and he slaps a metal bracelet around my wrist. Without saying a word, he leaves, locking the door behind him. I rub the soreness on my wrists while trying to right myself to a sitting position. The princess rushes over to me after the man leaves and starts looking at my face. I can’t imagine she can see much from the one small lantern in the room.
“Are you ok?” Her voice is shaking, but the concern that fills her eyes makes my heart constrict. I don’t want her to be afraid, but our situation isn’t exactly great .
“I’ll be fine. Are you ok?” She nods her head, but a single tear falls from her eye. I grab her hand and squeeze gently. “It’s going to be ok. Timas, my spirit bond, will come.” She’s shaking her head as she tries to hold back her tears.
“Why did you do that?” She says in a whisper.
“Do what?” I’m slightly confused.
“Draw his attention away. It’s why you got hurt.” I shake my head at her.
“I got hurt because I didn’t keep my mouth shut, and I drew him away from you because… because it doesn’t seem like you have ever experienced this type of evil. I told you I will help you as best I can.”
“Thank you.” She pauses. “I’ve been used my whole life but I have never seen such darkness in a person before.” My heart breaks for this woman.
“My name is Emilia, what is your name?” She lets out a shaky breath.
“Alette.”
“Nice to meet you Alette. Timas will come, we just have to hold out hope and maybe something will present itself in the meantime, and we can do some damage to that horrid Fae man. Maybe spit in his food or something.” She snorts a little laugh. It’s nice to see her smile. She sits down beside me, and I rack my brain as to what we can possibly do. A spark of hope lights in my stomach, and I know Timas is coming, I just need to wait.