14. The Stolen Bride
Ihad often read stories about places that seemed oh so dark and dangerous but turned out to be candy and sunshine. The island wasn’t like that.
It was beautiful and deadly.
Today was my third day searching for my sister, and I was no nearer to finding her. I had, however, learned a lot about the island itself. If I allowed my mind to wander, my feet followed. It was as if the island was an intricate series of faerie circles. I could be in my bedroom, then out on the beach in mere steps. I could be in the entry then find myself wandering the kitchens. I wasn’t very good at controlling it yet.
Each time I wandered too long or too far, Rosie or Harry came to gently but insistently collect me. This time, I was far from the shore and castle. Somewhere inland in a lush, deep forest. It had been beautiful in daylight, but now the sun had set. In the darkness, I was beginning to question my own wisdom. Why did I come alone? Shouldn’t someone be along to collect me?
A blood curdling scream ripped through the night air. I froze, my heart pounding in my ears. Before I could duck or run, a large shadow soared overhead, casting a shadow that eliminated even the moon’s faint light.
I gazed up and saw the silhouette of a massive owl. For one irrational moment, I believed he would lift me up and carry me away. In his tree, he would strip my bones like a field mouse.
No,I comforted myself. It’s only an ordinary owl.Your imagination is playing tricks on you. But on the isle, I couldn’t be entirely sure.
Now I really, really wished someone would come to collect me.
Maybe they had grown tired of it. Maybe it was petulant of me to assume they would keep coming.
How could I get back on my own? There had to be a way. I could figure this out. Let’s see. If I could leave the castle by letting my mind wander, maybe I could get back by thinking of it.
I tried for a moment. It was difficult when every rustle of the wind set my teeth on edge. The castle. My room in the castle.
I heard a twig snap. Wait. What was that? Was someone following me?
My room. The castle, I insisted to my brain. Think of it.
It didn’t work.
Instead, I found myself entering a field of mist. First, it pooled around my ankles. Then it rose. I tried to turn and go back where I had come from, but the mist only grew thicker. Soon, I could see no more than a foot in front of my own nose.
Another twig snapped at my side, and I froze. I had the unmistakable, eerie feeling that I was not alone anymore. Someone walked beside me in this mist. I could feel their overpowering presence.
A primal terror pulsed through me. I felt like a deer in the moment before a coyote springs. Please, I prayed. Please send Rosie or Harry to collect me. I won’t stay out after dark again.
But no one came to my rescue.
Instead, I felt a nearly irresistible urge to reach out my hand as if to grasp another. Someone was waiting for me in the mist. All I needed to do was take their hand. Unthinking, I moved my hand inch by inch until the tips of my fingers disappeared into the mist.
With a jolt of horror, I jerked my treacherous hand back. What was I doing? No! I will not, I thought desperately.
My fingers wiggled, testing my resolve. I clasped my hands tightly together and increased my walking pace. I knew better than to speak. If I was correct, if I wasn’t alone, this mist might be my only friend. If I couldn’t see them, perhaps they couldn’t see me.
Somehow, I might yet escape this powerful pull.
Seconds passed like minutes. Minutes like hours. But eventually, the fog did begin to thin ever so slightly. Just ahead, I could make out the faint silhouette of low tree branches. Little lights danced within them—yellow, orange, pink, and red, blinking in and out.
I moved closer, wanting nothing more than to leave this shadow and mist behind. As I grew closer, I could see the lights were actually will-o”-the-wisps—tiny, flying fairies with sharp faces and ears. Each was smaller than my thumb and glowed like a bright orb.
”Hello,” one greeted me, its smile exposing its razor canines.
”Hello,” I returned tentatively. ”Is someone else out here?”
They shook their heads. ”Just us. Where are you headed?”
”The castle,” I said more assuredly than I felt.
”Oh, no!” they chorused sadly. ”You are going the wrong way.”
Another chimed in, ”Follow us. We’ll lead you home.”
I didn’t believe them. But what other choice did I have? I couldn’t stay here. Something waited in the mist.
”Okay,” I whispered.
”Follow us.” I swore I heard a faint laugh, like a faraway bell. The mist still surrounded us, and I hurried to keep up with them. Anything not to be alone.
After a few minutes, I smelled the putrid stench of sulfur in the air, and my boots began to squelch in the familiar, thick mud of the salt marshes.
Soon, the wisps were flying faster and faster. Their lights were fading in the thick mist. I quickened my pace to keep up, but one of my boots squelched deep into the mud and stuck. My foot flew free.
I groaned and leaned down to search for my missing shoe. The smell of decomposition was nearly overpowering at such a close distance.
I glanced up, and the lights were nearly gone. ”No! Wait!” I cried, standing up and forgetting about my boot entirely. I ran forward, my bare foot sinking in the soft mud.
But the dancing lights did not wait for me. Their laughter rang out as they disappeared into the mist, leaving me alone in darkness. Star blighted little buggers. I should have known better than to follow them. Now, I was worse off than when they found me.
Resigned, I continued forward.
As quickly as it had come, the mist began to dissipate.
Ahead, I saw the faint silhouette of a woman with sharp horns. She alone was shrouded from head to toe in mist, and I could only make out her general shape. I suspected at once that she was the fae who had walked beside me in the mist.
Everything had been a game.
I was being hunted.
None of the fae were safe, but this woman was more terrifying than any other I had encountered. Even now, my own body was trying to betray me. I felt a strong urge to run toward her and throw myself at her feet. I wanted to… serve her?
An icy chill ran down my spine. With great strength of will, I forced myself to change direction and slogged deeper and deeper into the marsh.
Yet, somehow, the woman grew closer. I couldn’t see more than her silhouette in the darkness, but I felt her presence. She was large, ancient, and beautiful. Ethereal even… or, perhaps, the exact opposite.
My blood ran cold. My pulse dropped. I was too scared to move.
Somehow, she was closer. Between her two sharp horns, she wore a crown made of bones. Despite her proximity, I still couldn’t see her face. She was shrouded in wisps of fabric, like a skeletal bride, mocking me, a stolen bride. She reached out a hand, and I moved my own to grasp hers.
Just as my fingers were a mere whisper away from hers, someone wrapped strong arms around my waist and jerked me away. For a moment, I was airborne. I landed on the back of a large stag with a majestic rack of antlers. His hide gleamed like stardust in the darkness.
A hand wrapped around my mouth, silencing my scream.
I felt warm breath against my ear. ”Say nothing,” whispered the Fae King.
I could still feel the lingering presence of the one in front of us, watching malevolently.
The wisps reappeared and cried out, ”My king.”
He paid them no attention, staring into the inky darkness. ”Do not test me,” he called, his voice like a riptide, dangerous and unpredictable. Only a fool would have ignored him.
The shrouded fae did not move nor speak.
He glared a moment longer, then called out to his steed, ”Yah!”
With my back pressed into his hard, warm chest, I felt safe. Who would dare touch me while I was with him? This feeling was primal, overpowering…
The stag turned, and together we squelched through the marsh. The wisps hovered around us, murmuring apologies in their high pitched voices.
He swatted them like gnats.
With his powerful arms wrapped around me, I nodded off against his warm chest as we journeyed back through the dark forest. The stag’s movements were graceful and steady.
When we returned, he helped me off the stag and then looked carefully down the long bridge of his nose at me. ”Georgia,” he said carefully.
I thought it might be the first time he had actually called me by my name. I hadn’t been sure he even knew it.
”Listen to me carefully. There are no tricks of the light on the isle. If you see a shadow move, it is not your imagination. If you hear footsteps by your side, it is not a rabbit. If you feel a lingering foreboding, you are not alone. Above all, you must trust your instincts. The rules you learned in your old life will not serve you here.”
”I apologize for causing you trouble,” I said formally.
He snorted. ”What trouble is it for me to ride in my own woods?”
It was a lie. I was beginning to pick up on his manner of speech. The ways he deceived. For instance, this time, he had phrased it as a question.
It was a nice lie though. Of course, I had been a bother. He had been forced to ride out to rescue me through a veritable bog. It was hardly the finest way to spend one’s evening.
When we returned to the castle, he led me to his study. I lifted my head to gaze at the tall, wooden walls, open to the night sky. The room was lit in the soft glow of candlelight. It was lovely, just the sort of place I’d gladly spend hours. I wondered briefly if there were any human books here.
”Rosie,” he called.
My lady’s maid hopped to his side.
”Tea, please.”
Her frantic eyes darted between us before she hurried off.
Then he nudged me toward a velvet chair.
”I’m fine, really. I’ll just head to my room.”
He snorted. ”Not yet.”
I watched him pick at the shelves, gliding across them on a wooden ladder. His fingers stopped as they reached a particularly large volume. He pulled it, scaled down the ladder, and dropped it on the small table next to me.
The table shook with its weight. It was old and leather bound. Some of the pages were nearly falling out. Its binding was hand-sewed, and the words were written in thick, dark ink.
”What’s this?” I asked.
”I want you to take this book and read it from cover to cover. Do not share it with anyone else.” He flipped the volume open, and a plume of dust erupted from its pages, revealing thick, dark ink scrawl. His fingers danced along the edges, flipping a few more pages along. ”Start here.”
”What is this?” I repeated.
His jaw was clenched.
It was unfair. I was the one who had been in danger, and yet, he was angry. I admit I shouldn’t have wandered so far, but his reaction was too much.
He ignored my question and started to leave the room. He made it all the way to the door before throwing back one final demand. ”And drink your damn tea!” he growled with ferocity.
I looked down at the pages and began to read.
The Unseelie Queen
Legendary and ancient, the Unseelie Queen is one of a kind. She is older than the isle’s Great Oak. She walks in mist and darkness, and only the damned know her true face. Though her attire may change, she is known to wear a crown of human bones.
My stomach turned as I read the words ”human bones.” How close had I come to becoming a part of that horrific crown? I read on.
She is the ruler of the unseelie, the court of malevolent fae who prefer cruelty and chaos. Her court’s loyalty to her is immense.
She hunts and preys on mortals and seelie alike. If footsteps fall in darkness, if you walk not the night path alone, she is with you. She will whisper to you, echoing your deepest desires. If you reply, you have entered her web.
Mortals are her easiest prey. She often stalks their world. For upon them, her power is the greatest. Rarely, she needs to speak to them at all. She has claimed thousands. One word from their weak, fallible lips, and they belong to her. Never to be seen in light again. Swallowed in her darkness. Enslaved for eternity.
The best defense is awareness. If you hear the sounds of footfalls or feel her presence, do not speak, and do not run. Block her words from your mind. Return to the light. She will not follow.
How close I came to a terrible fate. Without Forrest…
My hand shook, and I let out a small whimper.
Rosie hopped up to me, nudging the cup gently toward me. ”You heard the master, drink up. It’ll help.”
I accepted the cup of tea. Blossoms floated at the top. One sip and the effects are immediate. I felt ever-so-slightly calmer.
It occurred to me that Forrest could dose me with this at every meal… and worse. But he clearly didn’t. That confused me. I didn’t have room for that thought right now, so I pushed it down.
”Now, tell me what happened,” Rosie said calmly. ”Talking always helps.”
A few days ago, I would have said nothing. Turned my head. Ignored her. Ignored the book. But now, I knew I could not. Rosie had been nothing but kind to me. She was the only confidant I had here, in this new world. And tonight had made it abundantly clear, I could not do this on my own.
I wouldn’t survive.