Chapter 14
Casyl
Before the Rift Opened
Casyl stood on the ramparts, looking out towards the sea. The sun was at its highest point in the sky, and its rays warmed his skin.
He turned towards the sound of the approaching footsteps that disturbed his peace. Ruven strolled over with that daft grin he wore. “Beautiful day,” he said in greeting. “It’s a shame I’m about to ruin it for you.”
Casyl rolled his eyes towards the sky. “What now?”
“Your presence is required by the king.”
“Did he say what for?”
“No, just that he needed you right away.”
His jaw clenched.
The king sat waiting in the hall.
“What is it?” Casyl asked.
The king’s eyes were alight with energy. “We’ve had word from one of our sources that a human has entered our lands.” He paused. “A descendant,” he whispered to himself. “You know what that means.”
“How?” Casyl asked. Was this real? It was unheard of. No one had seen a human for centuries.
“A hunting party picked them up near Alarrdrassyl. They’re being transported to the High City this afternoon. Take some men with you and intercept them.” The king was animated. “Oh, and Eleandor is travelling with them. Bring him back with you. Unharmed.”
Casyl turned from the hall and called for his men, glad to be leaving. If they moved quickly, they could intercept the carriage before it neared the High City.
As they waited in ambush, the sound of hooves grew closer. When the carriage rounded the bend, Ruven raised his blowpipe and fired darts at two of the mounted guards. The guards fell from their mounts as the horses reared, bringing the carriage to a screeching halt.
One of Casyl’s men rushed to secure Eleandor’s horse before it bolted. The carriage door flew open, and someone stumbled out. Ruven fired another dart, hitting him in the neck. He fell to the ground face-first.
Casyl headed for the carriage when a figure burst out from the other side and dashed into the trees.
“Curses.”
Casyl ran, following them into the forest.
Letting this human escape was not an option. He’d have to stay out here until he’d found them, regardless of the creatures that lurked in the forest.
Three of his men caught up with him.
“Spread out,” he said quietly. “They can’t have gone far.”
A movement caught his attention in the bushes. The whites of eyes stared up at him.
“Found you,” he said, remembering that humans spoke the old tongue. “Come out before I cut you out.”
They crawled out from under the bush before him.
He gaped. The human was female.
He hadn’t seen a human woman in a long time.
She was small compared to him, and her long bronze hair, was now tangled with leaves.
The sound of footsteps alerted him to his men approaching. Ruven probably wondered what was taking them so long.
He caught the woman’s head between his hands as she turned, ready to bolt again, and he summoned his power. The tendrils of magic obeyed and rendered her unconscious through a quick blast of pain.
He picked her up and carried her back to the road, where some of his men waited with the horses and Eleandor.
“I didn’t realise it would be a female human,” Ruven said. The men couldn’t take their eyes off her. Most of their men hadn’t ever seen a human, never mind a female one.
“Neither did I,” Casyl replied.
He wondered if his father knew. It would be like him to leave out information like that.
He positioned her on the horse in front of him, holding her with one arm and the reins of his horse with the other.
She’d hopefully stay unconscious until they arrived back at the fort.
He didn’t know how long his power would work on her.
He’d never used it on a human before. Her head slumped to the side. It would ache when she awoke.
They galloped hard out of the dangerous territory and slowed only when the thinning greenery marked their return to the Wildlands.
He couldn’t remember a time before the curse. His antlers twinged at the thought.
What had they done to earn the title of God-cursed? Only a few were old enough to remember, but they didn’t speak of it.
“What will he do with her?” Ruven asked, jolting him from his thoughts.
Casyl didn’t reply. He didn’t know for sure, but it wouldn’t be good.
It was night when they returned to the fortress. After carrying her directly to one of the cells, Casyl entered the hall.
The king, who had been dozing in his chair with a goblet of wine, sat up, suddenly alert. “Well?”
Casyl nodded. “We have her.”
“Her? It’s a female?” the king asked. “Bring her to me.”
“She’s out cold. I’ve taken her to one of the cells. I’ll question her in the morning when it wears off.”
“We need to know where she came from and how she got here. No human has ever breached our lands. If she found her way here, then we can find our way there, or she can show us,” the king replied. “Where’s Eleandor, anyway? I need to speak with him. It’s been too long.”
Casyl left, passing Eleandor as he was brought in. He checked on the human before trying to sleep. She was still unconscious, and he hoped he hadn’t caused irreversible harm.
From what he remembered, humans were feeble compared to his race. They were smaller in stature, with no powers of their own. He doubted they’d be able to take much pain, which was why it had been so easy to knock her out.
He walked into the cell and watched her breathe as she slept, checking that she was still alive.
Satisfied, he sought his bed.
A human in their land changed everything. She shouldn’t be here. He knew from that moment that she was going to make his life more difficult. His father would not be deterred now.
At sunrise, Casyl went straight to her cell.
He let out his breath when he saw she was still alive, standing by the barred window.
She was uncooperative, and he was quickly losing control of the situation. Perhaps if he gave her a taste of what he could do, she’d give him the information he needed to appease his father, and he could save a lot of time.
It would have been easier if she had been a man.
He placed a finger against her temple. His power rose within him, obeying, threading through his veins. He sent a sliver of it towards her, carefully shaping it.
Humans were fragile. He only needed to use enough to bend her, not to break her.
The heavy, suffocating guilt tightened his chest. The act of using magic on a human felt like a profound defilement of something so fragile.
His power suddenly waned, almost disappearing. He frowned and pushed harder. It flickered, then thinned like wind rippling through his fingers.
A sensation of vertigo washed over him, leaving him numb.
What in the gods’ name just happened?
He stepped back and looked at her. Her face mirrored his confusion.
She should have shattered under his power, but she stood there entirely untouched.
He fled, storming out of the room. He needed to figure out what the hell had just happened before he could question her any further.
*
“What is it?” Ruven asked Casyl.
He wanted to tell him what had happened. He wanted to discuss it with someone he trusted, but he knew that even then it could be used against him. It was better to keep it to himself than risk it.
If he didn’t find a way to get the information from the human, his father would do it, and he was trying to spare her from that.
Casyl shuddered. He had experienced his father’s intrusion firsthand. No fae or human deserved such an invasion of mind or body. Memory reading was a perverse form of magic, stripping away every private moment and exposing everything a person had ever done.
At least they couldn’t read his thoughts.
Later, when Casyl reported to the hall, the king asked, “How’s the interrogation of the human going?”
“Slowly, but I’m making progress. Her mind is fragile and I don’t want to toast it before we get all the information from her.”
“Do it quicker,” he ordered. “I want her brought to me.”
“I will bring her once she’s recovered,” Casyl said, bordering on defiance. He changed the subject. “Do you think they know we have her?”
“Of course they do. They just can’t directly accuse us of lying without risking a war. We’ve bought some more time.”
Casyl left the hall to fetch the girl. It was growing dark. He still hadn’t figured out what had happened to his abilities.
He reached her cell and looked in through the small window.
She was gone.
He opened the cell door and rushed to the window. Dangling from the bars was a makeshift rope made from the bedsheet.
He could have laughed.
How had she managed that? He didn’t expect a mere human to have the intelligence or ability to escape from the fortress. He had clearly underestimated her.
She must have slid through the bars easily. He hadn’t even considered that a possibility.
He was grudgingly impressed, but mostly irritated. Now he had to inform his father that she’d escaped and face his wrath. She couldn’t have gone far.
He raced to the hall. “The girl has escaped.”
“What do you mean, escaped?” the king asked. “How could she have escaped? Where were the guards?” His voice became louder with each question. Casyl flinched at the sharpness in his tone. “Go and find her, now!”
He’d not underestimate her again.
*
“Ah, you’ve returned. I assume that means you found her,” the king said.
He knew better than to return without her. “Yes, but we lost one of our men to a Feltooth. I’ve put her in a more secure room that’s guarded,” Casyl replied.
“Do not lose her again, Casyl. I will not have my plans ruined by your incompetence. We are short on time, and I need to find out how she got here before those from the High City and their blasted kingdom try to stop us.”
“Why do you want to go back so badly?” Casyl asked. It had been a long time since fae had been in that world. No one was sure what had happened or how they’d ended up in the Wildlands.
The king merely looked at him. He knew that look. It was dangerous territory. He would not be questioned, and he only ever told you what he wanted you to know.
A guard rushed into the hall, bowing briefly.
“My lords, the prisoner is ill,” the guard said.
Casyl and his father looked at each other.
“Where did you find her?” the king asked Casyl.
“She was in the forest.” He didn’t voice the possibility that she had contracted something in the forest. They both knew that a human was unlikely to survive such an infection.
When he reached her room, she was on the bed, tossing and turning. He put his hand on her forehead. “She’s burning up. Send for the healer,” he ordered the guard.
He inspected her body for any sign of injury and saw the gaping wound on her leg. He hadn’t noticed it before. It was hot, and there were signs of infection.
The healer arrived, confirming that he was right. “She’s been infected by Sporillus,” the healer said. “If you look at the wound closely, you can just make out the tiny fungal spores forming.”
For days she fell in and out of consciousness. They treated the infection and worked to control her fever, but a human’s physiology differed from a fae’s, and the healer couldn’t be sure that she’d survive.
“Keep her alive. If she dies, you die,” he told the healer.
The next time he walked into the room, his heart paused as she lay still. He told himself it was his father’s wrath he feared.
She sat up, and he suppressed a sigh.
*
He had tried to avoid this moment. Casyl took the human to see the king.
She was a pitiful sight. He probably should have had her cleaned up before bringing her into the main hall. He’d have to find some clothing that would fit her, which would be difficult with her small stature.
The king rose to meet them. Eleandor was also there. He distrusted the man, even though he and his father had known each other for centuries. He had declared himself neutral in the fight for power over this land, claiming to have no master, but he always ended up back at the High City.
The king stepped forward. The girl recoiled too late. His hands closed around her head, anchoring her in place as his power reached out. His mouth went slack—an expression Casyl recognised. The king had entered her memories.
She resisted. Not physically. She did the same thing to his father as she’d done to him.
The king went tense.
This was something she was doing, on purpose or not. He’d have to find out. Was it possible that she had powers? Humans didn’t have any. But she was in his world now. Could that have changed her?
He listened to his father lie to the girl. Was it possible that the humans mining the Lifesource could still affect them in this world? He had never heard of such a thing, but his father’s certainty unsettled him.
He deeply pitied the girl for how she was about to be used.
Casyl followed the guards as they led the human away. As the doors to the hall closed, his father’s faint voice stopped him. She glanced back, her expression tight with fear.
“You felt it too.”
Casyl remained by the doors, listening.
“I felt an absence,” Eleandor answered. “A place where the magic should have been.”
“You said yourself that she should not exist. She is our way back.”
“That is not what the prophecy says.”
Casyl stepped away from the doors before he was discovered.