Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Lia
‘ Y es,’ I murmur to the shocked gazes of everyone around the table except for Isbeth. ‘The Harbinger opened the Breach.’
Grey, who’s been silent since the revelations of his past, shakes his head as if to clear it. ‘But then why ... Why did you endure ... Why didn’t you ...’
‘The Harbinger was bound,’ I say. ‘It couldn’t help me. And ... it didn’t remember. It opened the Breach because we were going to die. It was an impulse. It didn’t know that it could until it did.’
Kal leans forward. ‘Are you saying that Varrik spent years and gold searching for the pieces of that map, finding a way to the Light Realm so that he could find his way back here .... and the Harbinger, who he had all along, could have just brought him? That fool!’
He begins to laugh loudly, and so does Grey. Even Dane cracks a smile.
‘And now?’ Dane asks. ‘What does it remember now?’
‘It’s jumbled,’ I say, ‘but it began to come back as soon as we entered the Underhill. It was somewhere else for a long time, and Varrik stole it.’
‘The lake,’ Isbeth whispers. ‘The Black Lake.’
I nod.
‘Impossible,’ Brakil says. ‘The lake was lost to the Dark Realms long before Varrik came along.’
Isbeth raises a brow. ‘If anyone had the motivation to find it after he was exiled, it would be him so that he could create his army and return.’ She snorts. ‘Come back to take over and do things the way he thought they should have been done.’ She looks at our puzzled countenances. ‘We were a dying race, remember. He thought his ideas would help us. Save us. But after he betrayed us, there was nothing that could be done but make him leave.’
I give a small nod, and to my surprise, tears come to Isbeth’s eyes.
‘I never thought I’d ever have the honor of seeing a Harbinger,’ she says in awe, dabbing at her cheeks.
She swallows hard and attempts to pull herself together. ‘What Varrik has done is a horrible crime. The Black Lake is a sacred place, the resting place of the first of us. He should never have gone there, let alone stolen from it.’
The Harbinger, still trying to make sense of its returning memories, perks up.
‘Is that what the Harbinger is?’ I ask.
She nods. ‘The Harbingers were the protectors of the Fae. Some stories say the protectors of the humans too, tasked by Gaila herself at the beginning.
Brakil shakes his head ruefully.
‘After all this time,’ he murmurs. ‘A Harbinger returns … in the body of a human.’ He raises his brows and shakes his head. ‘These are indeed strange times we live in.’
‘What of Varrik?’ Isbeth asks.
‘We know he was trying to come here, but I don’t think he was intending for it to be soon,’ I say and see the others nodding. ‘His hand was forced by some of his most trusted Skilled when they turned on him.’
‘His original plan may have been to use his Skilled to fight his way back into the Underhill, but ...’ Dane looks at me.
‘He decided to wait.’ I finish lamely, not wanting to say anymore.
‘Why?’
‘Because I wouldn’t do what he told me to anymore. He knew I wouldn’t help him.’
Brakil frowns. ‘So what was his plan instead? Go back and try to get another Harbinger?’
I stare at the table. ‘Not quite.’
‘Brakil,’ Isbeth mutters and shakes her head. ‘Is Varrik alive?’
‘We don’t know. His keep was coming down around us. As soon as the Breach opened, we ran through and found ourselves here,’ Kal says. ‘We never saw if he was killed or made it to the Light Realm.’
Isbeth and Brakil share another look and the female stands. ‘The rest of the Council needs to be convened at once. We thought the worst of his crimes were behind us, but this … it’s worse than I ever imagined, especially if it was all to find his way back here. He wants to control the Underhill. He would crown himself our king. We need to stop him before he finds a way.’
‘Why didn’t Varrik use me to get here instead of wasting his time trying to find a map to the Light Realm?’ I ask.
Isbeth shrugs. ‘He likely had no idea the Harbinger could open the Breach. The specifics of their power were lost to time. We only know about them now because of old texts that surfaced in the Light Realms. They were found after Varrik was gone. He wouldn’t know that you could open a bridge here, or no doubt he would have come long ago.’
‘Right. We need to get the fae out of that fold. I want everything ready by tomorrow morning.’
‘Wait,’ I say. ‘Tomorrow will be too late. The Dark Realms seeks Varrik to destroy him for what he’s done. It knows where the fold is now, and if it finds its way in before we can evacuate, everyone still inside will die.’
Isbeth turns to her male counterpart. ‘Can it be done?’
He nods. ‘I’ll begin now. Harbinger, you’ll need to open the Breach and come through to?—
‘Her name is Lia,’ Dane says sharply, standing up to tower over the councilor. ‘Not Harbinger. And she won’t be going through the Breach again.’
Brakil scoffs. ‘It is the Harbinger’s purpose,’ he begins, ‘to ensure the safet?—’
‘Our human mate is with child,’ Dane states, staring at Brakil coldly. ‘She’s already traveled the Breach once. She will not be doing it again until after the babe is born.’
I blink in surprise at Dane, and when he looks at me, he gives me an encouraging smile. ‘Lia?’
I nod at his words. ‘Dane’s right. I can’t travel the Breach,’ I say, ‘but I can open it.’
Brakil opens his mouth, but Isbeth clears her throat delicately.
‘Brakil, sort the arrangements. You have an hour at most before we will begin. We’re about to have three hundred new fae making their homes in the Underhill.’
He bows his head slightly. ‘It will be done, Isbeth.’
He leaves the room quickly, and we hear him barking orders in the hallway outside.
‘You will be housed here as guests of the Underhill, of course. I will let you know when the Council members have all convened, and we will decide what to do about Varrik if he did survive.’
She stands and leaves the room, and we stare at each other. None of us speak. None of us knows quite what to say.
A young fae woman enters a moment later. ‘Please allow me to show you to your rooms,’ she says. Her eyes find Grey, and she smiles up at him. ‘Grenele. I’m Enala, one of your cousins. A friend of mine said he found you while he was fishing and brought you here. My mother is very excited. We know you only just came back to us, but she says that as soon as your memories return, she’d love to see you. We live by the well in town. The house with the green door.’
‘Thank you.’ Grey looks bewildered as she walks ahead and shakes his head. ‘I don’t understand any of this,’ he mutters. ‘I remember when my mother was killed. I cowered behind her. I was alone, and Varrik came and took me to his fold. I remember my worst shame in vivid detail. How could I forget where I came from and where I was?’
I put my hand in his, and he looks surprised. ‘You were only a child,’ I say. ‘Isbeth said many couldn’t remember the Underhill when they returned because of the wards where they were held.’
‘I have family ,’ he says, looking awed. ‘Blood kin.’
I smile at him. ‘I’m glad you’ve found them again.’
He squeezes my hand in response, and we follow Enala as she leads us up a wide staircase and through the bright corridors to an intricately carved oak door.
‘These will be your apartments while you’re with us,’ Enala says. ‘Please help yourself to whatever you like and come and go as you wish. The Council will meet in the main hall soon if you’d like to be part of the discussions.’
She opens the door and gives Grey a final, wide smile before she disappears back down the hall.
Kallum goes in first, and we follow. There are four well-appointed rooms around a living area. There’s food and drink and clothes we can wear. There’s even a balcony that looks out over the hillside.
I go into the first bed-chamber alone, and I close the door quietly, needing to be alone for a moment. I sink to the floor, tears flowing down my cheeks. We escaped. The sudden relief after so many weeks has me sobbing into my hand, and I vaguely hear the door.
I’m drawn into strong arms, and I grip whichever one of them it is tightly, burrowing my face into his shirt. When I look up, I see it’s Dane, and I stiffen slightly. His eyes close, and his expression turns anguished.
‘I’m so sorry, Lia. I will make this up to you. However long it takes. I promise you. I will never let you be harmed again. I should never have trusted Varrik or Fiana …’ he shakes his head, ‘I’m sorry that I allowed her and the others to hurt you.’ He cups my face. ‘I'm sorry for everything that happened, for the way I treated you.’ He puts his forehead against mine. ‘And I'm sorry that I did what Varrik told me to do.’
His arms around me tighten for a moment as if he can't bear to let me go because he’s afraid that I'll never want him to touch me again.
‘I understand,’ he says. ‘If you’d rather ... I promise you that I will be the person that you need me to be; if that be a friend, then so be it. I will help protect you even if you don't need it now.’ He gives me a small smile. ‘I'm glad you were able to break through the binding, and thank you for helping us leave that place. My mind has been in shadow for so long. I can't blame Varrik for all of it. I was a fool, and you didn't deserve any of it.’
He looks into my eyes. ‘You didn't deserve any of it,’ he tells me again. ‘And, I want you to know that, although I wish it hadn’t happened the way it did, I’m glad you’re having my babe. I ... always wanted a family.’
All at once, I feel like crying again. ‘Me too,’ I whisper.
‘Come,’ he says. ‘No more tears. Come into the main room with us. Sit with us. We need to talk about what we do next before the Council meets and tries to tell us our business.’
I nod and attempt to get off his lap. His hands around me tighten for a moment, and then he lets me go.
‘I will make everything up to you even if it takes the rest of my life. I am yours, Lia.’
I wince. ‘I don't want you to be mine,’ I say quietly. ‘There's been enough owning, but ... I don’t blame you for all of it, Dane. You were under a conjure for years. You thought what you felt was real, and Fiana was very good at what she did. Anyone would have succumbed the same as you did.’
He grasps me to him and buries his face in my hair, sighing hard before he pulls away. ‘If you’d so readily forgive me, then you need to forgive yourself as well. Varrik used trickery on you just as Fiana did on me.’
I smile in spite of myself. ‘I’ll try.’
We go into the main room, and Kal immediately pulls me into a tight hug.
‘We’re going to be all right,’ he murmurs, and I nod, hopeful for the first time in weeks.
Grey draws me out of Kal’s arms and into his own. ‘Gods, I was afraid we wouldn’t get away, that we were going to be killed during Fiana and Varrik’s fight.’
‘Do you think Varrik and Fiana survived?’ I ask.
‘I don’t know, but when we go back to the fold, I’m going to search for their corpses.’
‘You’re ... going back? All of you?’
Kal takes my face in his hands and nods. ‘I can tell the Harbinger wants to go back as well, doesn’t it?’
I nod. ‘It knows its purpose now. It was never to kill the way Varrik used it. It wants to help the fae, and it wants to help humans as well. But it knows the risk to the babe. It will content itself to helping here.’
The males share a look. ‘What is it?’
‘We think it might be best if you stay out of sight with Isbeth when the Skilled begin coming through. The fae here know how important you are, but Varrik poisoned the others against you. It would be best to wait for the Council to explain things to them properly.’
The Harbinger doesn't like it, but it understands, and I nod. Some of the lower Skilled haven’t left the fold in years, and it’ll be hard enough for them to trust that they’re safe without my face being one of the first they see here.
‘I understand.’ I stand up. ‘Come on, or the Council will plan everything without us.’
Grey
All five members of the fae Council are in their seats on the dais when we enter the main hall this time. Isbeth is in the middle, and she’s flanked by two other females on one side and two males on the other, one of which is Brakil.
Isbeth stands, and a hush spreads through the room. ‘The Council is convened, but it has been decided that this will be a closed discussion.’
She snaps her fingers, and although there are a few annoyed murmurs, the rest of the fae in the room file out, and the main doors are shut, leaving us alone with the five Council members.
‘The rest of the Council has been apprised of what's been happening. Varrik’s crimes are numerous, and … with what he did to the Harbinger …’
All of the Council members look angry, but I realize that none of them have any idea of what Varrik did to Lia herself; they only care that he stole it from its resting place. My lips curl into a sneer on her behalf. We’ve all vowed that we’ll never again allow anyone to treat her the way the fae of the fold did.
‘Varrik’s fold holds many of our brethren, and the work will begin in a few minutes to clear it before the fold itself is destroyed.’
‘What of Varrik?’ One of the other males asks.
‘If he’s alive,’ Isbeth murmurs, ‘he must die. He seeks to come here. He would take the Underhill by force and disband the council. Banishment has failed.’
‘We’ve heard of the changed fae Varrik keeps in his fold,’ a female says. ‘What are we to do with them? What if they hold his ideals? We could be letting in the very enemy we seek to keep out.’
Isbeth opens her hands. ‘It is a risk. But our birth numbers are still low, and there are three hundred of them, Gella. They will have to be watched closely, it’s true. But can we really let them die? A Harbinger, the first to set foot here in a thousand years, risked herself to help them. And, I’m told Varrik has some hold over their minds. When they begin to see things as they really are, I’m sure that most, if not all, will be assets to the Underhill.’
‘And, of course,’ Brakil adds, ‘they don’t have to remain here. The Underhill is not a prison. If they seek to leave, so be it.’
Low chatter breaks out among the Council members.
‘It’s true that our numbers are only just beginning to recover.’
‘There still aren't enough of us.’
‘They’re abominations.’
‘They’re our kin. Perhaps we can find a place for them here. This fold was made for us to be safe. They deserve to be here as much as we do. They were but faelings when Varrik changed them. Some may even have come from the Underhill and will return with the others as Grenele has.’
I wince when I hear one of them say my full name, though I only ever recall being called Grey.
‘Bring these unfortunate kinfolk of ours here, by all means,’ another male pipes up, ‘but if Varrik does live, does it matter to us? His fold will be gone. His power destroyed.’
Isbeth’s face twists in anger and frustration. ‘Varrik wants the Underhill. He’s always thought he could rule it better on his own than as part of the Council, even before he betrayed us. You’re a fool if you think otherwise. Why else would he build an army?’
‘And what of his crimes?’ she continues. ‘His experiments to harness the power of the Dark Realms, the way he’s used his own people to keep his fold open? Make no mistake. Should he yet live, he will find his way here, and when he does, it will not be to coexist with us.’
‘Who will go back and begin the evacuation?’ one of the other females says. She snorts. ‘Obviously, this discussion is a formality,’ she chuckles dryly at Isbeth’s frown. ‘Come, Isbeth. We all know that Brakil has already prepared a warded camp for them just outside the village.’
The older fae speaks, leaning back in his chair. ‘If he is alive. Can we simply kill him? He’s some powerful entity these days, no?’
Lia steps forward and speaks up. ‘Varrik’s experiments with the Dark Realm have made him very powerful. Even with the Harbinger at full strength, it might not be able to destroy him now.’
He sneers down at her. ‘Is that because the Harbinger is in a human body?’ he asks. ‘Would a fae one not be better?’
I snarl at him, ready to defend my female, but it’s Lia who speaks up, sounding so much like herself before the fold that I find myself relieved.
‘Varrik put the Harbinger into many fae while he was trying to resurrect it. I was the only one who survived the process for more than a day, but if you would like to cull the precious fae of the Underhill,’ she gives him a small, vicious smile, ‘then by all means, try to succeed where Varrik failed.’
Isbeth gives the councilor a dark look, and he closes his mouth.
‘Then it’s settled. The only problem now is that we don’t have control of the Gates in the fold itself. Only Varrik does. The Harbinger will open the Breach.’
‘Yes,’ Gella nods emphatically. ‘The Harbinger can open it and go?—’
‘No,’ I say, stepping forward before Lia can answer this time. ‘The Harbinger will not be entering the Breach again.’
The other male councilor snorts. ‘I don’t mean to offend,’ he scoffs, ‘but that is the Harbinger’s purpose.’
‘ Lia is with child,’ Kallum says, and I see Lia wince.
So does Isbeth.
I take my female’s hand.
‘Who is Lia?’ the councilman mutters. ‘Oh, the human.’
‘ Our female is with child,’ Dane snarls. 'She will not be traveling the Breach again, no matter her purpose .’
‘She won’t have to,’ Kallum states. ‘All she needs to do is open it. We have a fae in the fold we can trust, a healer named Jak.’
‘Very well. Thirty guards will accompany you.’
‘No,’ I say.
Isbeth blinks, and her sharp gaze lands on me. ‘No?’
‘With respect, Kallum, Dane, and I should be the only ones to reenter the fold. The fae there know us, and we might be able to convince them that Varrik has ordered them to go.’
‘You wish to trick them?’
Dane nods. ‘I’ll be faster than trying to explain. We don’t have time.’
Isbeth turns to the others, and they confer in low voices.
‘Very well,’ she says a moment later. ‘You will travel to the fold. You will begin the evacuation. The Harbinger will send you, and after half an hour, she’ll open the Breach again at the same location. We’ll bring them straight to the area we’ve set aside. They’ll be treated kindly and given whatever they need.’ She turns to one of the others. ‘We’ll need to get information together for them to learn about the Underhill and who we are to them. Can I leave that with you, Gella?’
The councilor nods at Isbeth. ‘Of course.’
‘Go, then,’ Isbeth says. ‘Lia, if you open the Breach in the camp, will it open in the same place in Varrik’s fold?’
Lia nods. ‘Yes, the Harbinger says that the tides of the Breach won’t change too much in half an hour. It should open in the same spot exactly both times if I open them in the same place here.’
The doors to the hall are opened, and the fae file out.
‘Well,’ I say, eyeing Lia closely. ‘Let’s get to this field or whatever it is, then.’
We leave the hall together; Dane, Kal, and I making sure we have everything we need as we walk out of the fortress and down to the village. Most of the fae we encounter greet us as friends and bow at Lia as we walk along the street, and I note that gossip travels as quickly here as it does in the fold.
‘What happens if the cunt isn’t dead?’ Kal mutters after he’s let Lia go ahead so she can’t overhear us.
I give him a quelling look.
‘Be quiet. Lia’s already worried,’ I whisper. ‘We can’t have her trying to follow us.’
Dane’s expression is the same as mine. ‘We’re going there in secret. We’ll find that healer and see what he knows, and then we’ll come up with a plan. If Varrik is there, we’ll steal the Skilled out from under his nose and leave him to face the Dark Realms.’
‘We’re not letting the ... ones we decided on leave the fold, are we?’ Kal frowns. ‘Because I don’t think Isbeth will take kindly to us stalking Lia’s enemies through the Underhill’s forests.’
Dane and I share a dark look.
‘No,’ I mutter with a grin. ‘We aren’t.’