Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
The party walked through the meadow and onto a forest path that Naida chose, weaving between the trees and heading up a small hill where white flowers nodded in the evening breeze.
“We’ll head to the human road,” Naida said. “This wood is small in the Brightlands, but it stretches across a massive territory here.”
The trees around Carys were twisted and ancient. Oaks reached to the sky, spreading their leafy branches and blocking out the sky.
The path was narrow and the forest dense, but long grasses grew beneath the trees, and luminous mushroom caps lit the way.
Glowing sprites jumped up from the grass as they passed, whizzing by Carys’s head and distracting her from the crawling sensation that lingered on her skin.
As soon as they reached a part of the forest with open sky, Cadell looked back at Carys.
“Go,” she said before he could ask.
Cadell looked silently at Duncan.
“I have her, lizard. Go and shake off your human skin for a bit.”
“I’ll be fine,” Carys said. “Stretch your wings and look for anyone who might be awake. See if you can find out what’s been going on the past few days.”
“They will be awake,” Cadell said. “Those who guard do not sleep.”
With that ominous-sounding pronouncement, Cadell’s human body shimmered into a gold shower and his true form emerged. He spread his wings and took to the sky.
Carys sucked in a quick breath at the lightness that filled her chest.
Duncan squeezed her hand. “You doing all right?”
Carys nodded. “I’m good.”
He leaned over and kissed her temple. “You want to go with him, don’t you?”
“Yes.” She didn’t even try to deny it.
Duncan angled his head and looked at her. “So go. Call him back. Go fly with your dragon for a bit.”
It was tempting. So very tempting. She looked down at her thin cotton shirt and laughed a little bit. “When I walked through that gate, I was dressed for summer in England. Do you know how cold I’d be if he was carrying me?”
“Fair point.” Duncan smiled. “You know, they say layering is the key when you’re a supernatural dragon lady.”
“Shut up.”
That only made him laugh.
They moved on, up the path out of the trees. Naida was practically skipping.
They had reached a large berm of land sticking out of the ground. By the time they climbed it, Carys could see it was a raised walkway built up by rock and soil with a path along the top that was wide enough for a wagon and a team of horses.
“This is a high road,” Godrik said. “The Anglian kings built them centuries ago to connect the towns and keep humans out of the forests.”
Naida turned and winked at Carys. “Keep those poor humans away from the dangerous fae.”
“You may mock me, elf, but we just passed through the Great Bern Wood. There’s a reason children in the Shadowlands are warned away from it.”
From the top of the high road, Carys could look out and see a nearly endless sea of dark treetops. Mile after mile after mile of nothing but woods and low fog, illuminated sporadically by colorful dancing lights that jumped from tree to tree.
Naida said, “There is a village up the road a little bit. There will be an inn to rest if you want, or we could find something to eat.”
“How long are we staying?” Carys was starting to wonder if all this had been a ploy by Naida to get home. She pulled out the envelope Godrik had given her. “If we’re just going to wait for Cadell to return with news, I—”
“What is that?” Laura squinted at something in the distance.
Carys turned and looked ahead. There was a soft white glow illuminating the road in front of them, almost like a pair of headlights coming through fog. But she’d never seen anything in the Shadowlands that used headlights.
A few moments later, a silver-white unicorn emerged from the low-lying clouds, slowing its trot to a walk as it approached Naida. The creature lowered its horn a moment before it transformed into a shower of sparkling silver rain.
Seconds later, a tall woman with silver hair and a glowing blue sigil on her forehead appeared from the shimmering light. “You’ve returned.” The unicorn’s round face lit up when she looked at Naida. “My lady, your king has been searching for you.”
Seconds later, a man on a horse followed the unicorn, dismounting and throwing back his hood to reveal a rich mane of reddish-brown hair. He smiled. “Hello, Carys.”
Carys blinked at him, looked at Duncan, then back at her ex-boyfriend. “Lachlan? What are you doing here?”
“King Robb has sent me to Temris.” Lachlan walked beside his mount as they continued along the highway. “I’ve been in the fae court ever since you left.”
Lachlan and the unicorn were leading them toward a fae stronghold controlled by King Diarmuid that could act as a magical portal to Temris, the fae capital in éire. It was intradimensional travel and—according to Naida—much less stressful than gates between worlds.
“So you’re finished in Anglia?” Carys was walking hand in hand with Duncan while Lachlan walked on her right, leading his horse behind them.
“For now,” Lachlan said. “My younger brother appears to be the heir apparent—and I don’t envy him the position. It leaves me free to travel to different courts as needed.”
“I feel like you’d really excel in that,” Carys said.
“I appreciate your confidence.” Lachlan smiled as he looked at her. “It’s important work. With the new king in place, my father wants to make sure that Alba and the high fae court have better relations going forward.”
“I bet the high fae in Temris love you,” Duncan muttered.
Lachlan laughed, seemingly unconcerned with his Brightkin’s mood. “They appreciate a song, so I’m in good company there. And I can put some of my… What did you call it once, Carys? At the pub in Baywood?”
“Uh… charm?” Carys flashed back to one of the numerous nights in California when Lachlan held an entire pub in the palm of his hand with one of his stories or songs. “People skills?”
Lachlan smiled. “That’s the one. I can put my people skills to good use in the service of my country.”
Duncan dropped Carys’s hand and stepped in front of Lachlan.
The entire party stopped walking, and tension sparked in the air around her. Lachlan’s horse stamped a foot, and Naida and the unicorn, who had been chatting with vigor, fell silent.
Duncan stared at Lachlan. “You’re singing songs for the people who killed Seren.”
The bright expression fell from Lachlan’s face, and a muscle in his jaw twitched. “Regan killed Seren. In concert with her bastard of a father, Cian, whom Dru killed in the Battle of Saris Plain. Did you already forget?”
“And did Dru kill all of Cian’s allies in the court?” Duncan asked.
“Hey, Murray brothers.” Laura tried to keep her voice light. “Let’s keep walking.”
It was like watching two stags face off in a forest. Their attention was locked on each other, and neither one was going to back down.
Lachlan’s eyes flashed. “He’s killed more than one, yes.”
“So he’s rooted out that arrogant streak they have, right?” Duncan sneered. “All the superiority that makes the high fae think they should be the ones ruling everything here.”
Naida stepped toward them. “Duncan, if this is about—”
“I’m not blind to reality.” Lachlan spoke over Naida. “There is still prejudice. There are still those who think that Cian was right, but with time—”
“We have a saying in the Brightlands.” Duncan lifted his chin. “A leopard doesn’t change his spots.”
Lachlan stepped forward. “So no redemption, hmm? No reform? An enemy is always going to be an enemy?” Lachlan’s accent grew thicker. “So how do we move forward, Duncan?”
Carys wasn’t going to get between them, but she tried to calm them down. “Lachlan. Duncan. You’re brothers, and you both want—”
“Maybe you demand accountability from the people who killed your wife! Who kidnapped innocent children. Who tried to start a bloody war less than a month ago!” Duncan shouted. “Have some bloody principles, Lachlan.”
Laura spoke up. “Hey, Duncan, no one is excusing that, but—”
“Cian was their leader.” Duncan’s eyes never left his brother’s. “The high fae lords could have rebelled against him, but they didn’t really want to, did they?” Duncan’s face was red. “Because deep down, they agree with him. You know it. I know it. And every human in this place—”
“Every human in this place has to live with them!” Lachlan shouted.
“They control our future, Duncan. Without them, not a human child exists in Alba. Without them, the gates are locked tight. My people don’t have the luxury of skipping back to the Brightlands to avoid the fae.
We have to live with them.” Lachlan glanced at Naida.
“We all have to live with each other here. The magic and the mundane. Albans and éirans. What do your high-minded principles say about compromising for the good of—”
“Enough.” Godrik’s voice was a low roll of thunder.
“Both of you, be quiet. This is a stupid argument.” He stepped between the two brothers and looked at Lachlan.
“It seems frivolous to sing and dance in a fae court in order to make friends, but I am not a diplomat, and that’s what diplomats do.
” He turned to Duncan. “Dancing and singing are better than war. If it takes dancing with an enemy to keep my people from dying, I’ll put on a party dress and spin in circles. ”
Laura whispered, “Actually, I’d really like to see that, Godrik.”
He looked over his shoulder and winked. “I look great in blue.”
Naida left the unicorn’s side and walked toward them. “It seems that King Diarmuid summoning me has led to conflict, and I don’t want to bring that into your party,” she said. “There is no reason for all of us to go to Temris when Dru is asking for me. Why don’t all of you stay here and—”
“No, he’s asking for all of you.” Lachlan looked at Carys. “He’s particularly asking for Carys.”
Duncan walked back to her and took her hand. “Why?”