11. Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Ruya
I felt like I was living in some sort of waking dream. Two days passed in the wild fae enclave, as we were welcomed into the strange underground village like reluctantly invited in-laws. Or, at least, that's the only good analogy I could come up with. Not that I had any real-life experience with that situation.
Yukio was definitely the black sheep in this little fae family. It was odd, strange undercurrents running under every interaction. We were given a room to share in the surprisingly warm, dry, cave-like underground dwelling. Our clothes were whisked away to be cleaned while we were provided with warm, soft, woven garments that kept out any lingering chill from the winter air outside. We were given delicious, hearty food to fill our bellies—none of it poisoned. And we were invited to eat communal dinners with the fae folk every night, when there would be singing and music, sweet wine, and general merrymaking until the wee hours of the morning.
We were allowed to wander, as I was doing now. But I knew we were watched. I could always sense a presence, eyes on me at all times. We were guests, but we were outsiders. Not trusted.
"Why treat us so well, if they hate us so?" I asked Yuki, the first night we spent in this strange place.
He had explained in a tired voice that told me exactly what he thought of these people. "It's fae custom. Our kind take hospitality very seriously. Only the nastiest, most vile, hateful enemy would be treated with any less grandly than this. And even then… for many fae—like O'Dell's court—the more grandly you're treated, the more likely you are to die at their hands." He sighed. "Games. It's always games with my kin. Undercurrents and unspoken things. And I am fae. Much as they hate to admit it, I am kin and that warrants some sort of acknowledgement."
I mulled that over. It seemed nonsensical on the surface. And yet… wasn't it the same with The Coven of the Triple moon, where I had been raised? Everyone there had an image to uphold. One of pious, magical prowess and importance. And maintaining that image often meant smiling and bowing to the most odious patrons, feeding them tea and savory delights, hosting them in a lavish set of rooms if they had traveled far. Anything to garner the approval of influential people while maintaining that facade of the benevolent better. The fae's treatment of us carried an air of haughtiness, just like O'Dell's court had. Something in the air, in their manners that said, "I am better than you and you should be honored that you are tolerated with such grace."
And yet, we were never mistreated. Currently, I was exploring out of sheer boredom. I trailed my fingers lightly along the bumpy stone wall at my side, following the gentle curve of the hallway that I thought must loop all the way along the outer edges of the enclave in a big, rough circle. I could sense the presence of others around me, but they observed my passage without comment, not interrupting their activities or conversations as I moved on by.
The wall underneath my fingertips curved more sharply than before, a rounded corner. I sensed an open space around me, and a faint shift in the movement of the air. I must be at an intersection of sorts. I hesitated, wondering which way I should go.
"To the right are the main gardens. To the left you will eventually come upon the bathing pools. And continuing straight on will bring you past a small library and rectory of knowledge, and eventually back to your rooms." I didn't startle at the soft female voice that spoke from just behind me and slightly to my left. The sound was slightly cooing and with a little bit of a trill here and there—birdlike and strangely beautiful. These fae were more animal-like than the others I had encountered at O'Dell's syndicate fae court. It was why they didn't live among the humans or the high fae. I wished I could see them. I was sure they were as wonderous and strange as everything else here.
I turned toward the voice with a polite smile. I knew we were never left unsupervised. Though I had no idea what nefarious things these fae thought we would get up to. "The bathing pools?"
Our room had been furnished with a small basin and piped in water that could be magically heated to a tolerable temperature for a quick sink bath with washcloths and towels made from the same soft, bumpy woven fabric that our clothes were made from. But… a bath? That sounded like heaven, especially after being exposed to the cold for so long on our trek here.
"I shall lead you there, if you wish," the woman said politely. She didn't sound overly friendly. But she did sound like she would do me the honor of playing tour guide if needed.
I sighed. Yukio seemed fairly certain that no one would harm us here at the moment. They wanted us to fulfill some sort of bargain for them, after all. But I was hesitant to place myself in such a vulnerable position, stripping down naked and hopping in the bath with no knowledge of my surroundings and no one there to look out for me.
I didn't consider myself helpless or weak. But I had to admit that being blind and largely sheltered all my life did not give me an advantage in situations like this.
The wild fae woman must have sensed my hesitation. "Your mate has returned from his visit with the elder," she informed me without any particular emotion. "I will lead you to him."
I opened and closed my mouth, unsure what to say. I hadn't been thinking I needed Yukio to take me to the bath. And he certainly wasn't my mate. At least… not in the sense that I understood the term. I might be attracted to him. I might want badly to include him in the strange, wonderful new relationships building around me. But I was pretty sure he would retreat into sharp, icy coldness if anyone were to ever imply we were mates.
A soft tapping sound told me my guide was moving off ahead of me. "Come, deathling witch."
I hurried after her, following the sound of her voice, hand out as I felt for the continuation of the wall on the other side of the intersection of hallways. My thoughts about Yukio were firmly derailed by her words. "Deathling?"
She made a clicking sort of sound, like a bird clacking its beak. Did she have an actual beak? I thought it might be the least weird thing I had experienced in the last few days. "Yes?" she finally said, as if she didn't understand my question.
I shook my head. "Why did you call me that? What does it mean?"
She was silent for a moment. Her voice was a bit wary when she spoke. "You truly do not know the fae name for your own nature? For the woman who wails? Your kind and ours are distant cousins. Even if your heritage is tainted with witch blood."
Ah. More information I should probably already know but didn't, thanks to my fake mother and her cult. "I didn't know," I said calmly, not letting my consternation show. "I've never heard the term before. Thank you for explaining." I didn't bother commenting on what she and the other fae seemed to think of witches. After all, the other witches I had known all my life had been horrible, deluded people. She may well be right to think us all disgusting.
I was almost relieved when my guide slowed and murmured a fae greeting to someone. "Here he is," she informed me. "It seems your mate was already headed our way to seek his deathling."
I let that all pass. "Yukio? Is everything okay?"
He had left our room upon waking, after who-knows-how-long sleeping on a nest of blankets on the hard floor. I had been given the decadently comfortable bed with its piles of soft knitted blankets and fluffy pillows. It was his loss if he chose to be stubborn and commune with the floor. He had said he was going to talk to the elder of this enclave, and had refused to let me go with him because "I don't need your running your mouth at the wrong time and entangling us in another dangerous bargain with strange fae."
It would have been offensive, if I wasn't absolutely certain he was just trying to protect me. He was so transparent sometimes.
"Ruya," he said in his pretty, cool voice. "I see you did not follow my advice to stay in our room, and have instead been wandering the halls surrounded by questionable fae strangers. As expected. Well done."
So protective. I huffed. "And I see you are once again overreacting, and I am perfectly fine. No one said we couldn't leave our room."
I could practically feel the eye roll that accompanied his words. "My visit with the elder was frustrating, but overall encouraging, I think," he informed me. "If you were at all worried about our fate or how long we might be kept prisoner here."
I shrugged, just to annoy him. I really had been worried about this meeting and I was afraid about what the passage of time might mean for us. Why had Robin and the others not already shown up, raging mad, demanding their court members back? Had something gone wrong? Maybe the trap that was sprung not only affected those of us at the outskirts nearest the portal. Maybe there was a bigger, more deadly trap waiting for Robin, Sanka, Cicely, Dusek, and Martina inside the emperor's mansion. I was sure I would sense it if they had died. Surely my banshee powers would kick in, the way they had when Yukio was mortally wounded. Wouldn't they? The truth was, I had no idea how those powers worked. And even if they weren't actively dying, the others could still be hurt, or trapped in the emperor's pocket world, or lost as we were in the fae territory…. But I wasn't going to let Yukio see how worried I was. Not when feigning stupidity would get a rise out of him.
"I'm enjoying my stay," I said with a bright smile. "Your kin are very welcoming. In fact, I was just about to go have a bath."
He didn't react.
"Yuki? Are you still there?" I asked innocently. Even though I could sense his powerful presence sulking nearby.
"Thank you for looking after my… friend," he informed the wild fae woman. "I'm sure you have other important things to do with your time. I will guide her from here."
I was sure there was a stare-off of some sort in the silence that followed that statement. The poor woman was probably under orders to watch us. And yet, Yuki gave her no way to maintain her polite, helpful guise by refusing to do as he asked. She could hardly suggest he was incapable of taking care of his own blind… friend. I nearly rolled my eyes at the drama.
Eventually, the woman gave in, as anyone would under Yukio's frosty insistence. "Of course. Have a pleasant afternoon."
Yukio moved closer as the woman's footsteps retreated, pulling my arm through his and escorting me back the way I had come, then taking a turn at the intersection of hallways. "You are vaguely annoying," he told me conversationally. "But it's entertaining to watch you work so hard at it."
I chuckled. "Thank you. It's nice to have one's efforts appreciated. Is everything really okay? With the elder?"
"As okay as it can be, I suppose. He is waiting for something. He won't tell me what. Clearly, he will ask you to do something for him in return for sheltering us. But I get the sense that there is something more." I felt his shrug ripple through where my arm was wrapped around his. "High fae like to pretend they are ancient and wise. But they have nothing on the wild fae. They are more in touch with our roots. With the old magic. It makes me uneasy to know that a wild fae elder is scheming. It is possible he can hear and see things we cannot."
That was… unsettling. "You mean like… he can see into the future or something? Is that what you're saying? That he's waiting for something to happen because he knows it will happen?"
Yukio shrugged again. "Possibly. It is also possible he is simply toying with us. Who knows? Only time will tell, I suppose."
"If he keeps us here much longer, I'm sure Robin and the others will find a way to retrieve us," I said firmly.
Yukio sighed. "I have no doubt that Sanka will certainly try. The fool will probably blow himself up trying to recklessly override old fae magic with sheer brute fire and force." He paused, and his voice was strange when he spoke again. Some combination between fear and pride. "But don't you understand, Ruya? I've told you this place is heavily influenced by its fae denizens. They can warp time. For all we know, Robin and the others may not even realize we are missing. They might not realize it for weeks, months… years . It is completely unpredictable. Time will pass differently here in the enclave and for those under its influence. We are no longer part of the same world."
I stumbled, unable to form words. Yes, he had mentioned this ability to influence time on a couple of occasions. But he had never really explained it in any real depth. If anything, I assumed the opposite would be true—that time would move slower here than out there in the real world. Like some of the old human stories. But as usual, it seems the humans only got half of it right when they attempted to tell tales of paranorms.
"Well," Yukio said in a cheery voice, brightly and sarcastically redirecting our conversation to prevent my rapidly approaching panic attack. "Here were are. Strip."