25. I’m Flying, Jack!
The cliff path on this side of the beach was much steeper and more precarious. In places, I was forced to my hands and knees to avoid falling to my death. I lost sight of the prince, but with tough grass and thorny shrubs growing on either side of the trail, there was no way he could have veered off course.
Breathing heavily, I stomped higher, trying to ignore the burning of my thighs. I’d definitely made the right choice in not wearing a dress.
I rounded a bend in the track and there was Idris, lounging idly on a rocky outcropping with his face tilted to the sky. I dropped low, grimacing, hoping he hadn’t noticed me.
“Are you going to tell me why you’re following me, or just skulk behind that bush?”
Oh.
Blushing furiously, I stepped sideways, pressing my lips into a thin smile and raising my hand in an awkward greeting. “Hi.”
He studied me from beneath his floppy, dark hair. “Care to explain why you’re stalking me?”
“Why are you sneaking off again?” I countered.
“An answer for an answer.”
I narrowed my eyes but said nothing. He shrugged, hopping down from the rock, and continued walking, his long legs making short work of the slope.
“Oi, wait!”
I stumbled after him, my ankle aching with the effort of my climb. Idris ignored me, neither waiting nor slowing, but he hadn’t told me to go back, so that was something. My knees were shaking, and my skin was hot by the time the dirt track levelled out. To my immense surprise, Idris was waiting for me, his arms folded in a haughty show of impatience. He was as cool and flawless as ever, completely unruffled by the climb that had almost finished me off, even if shadows still hung beneath his eyes.
“There better be something good at the end of this walk,” I panted, clutching a stitch in my side.
His lips twitched, the only sign he gave of having heard me. Cranky old bastard.
It was alright for him, with his immortal legs and lungs, but I was winded and aching in places I hadn’t even known I had. Days of hiking and climbing billions of stairs, and now this?
When I straightened, he was staring at me from beneath a frown. “I thought making it to Nairsgarth would afford me a little privacy.”
“Nope.” I managed a brief smile between breaths. “I’m determined to be a thorn in your side until I find out what you’re up to.”
His lip curled in distaste. “Fine. Just remember, mortal, you asked for this.”
“Asked for what?”
I caught the briefest glimpse of a venomous smirk before he seized my hand. In an instant, the castle, the sky, the sea, everything vanished, replaced by a crushing darkness I knew all too well. The weight of the universe crushed against me, and my bones threatened to buckle under the intense pressure.
I spilled back into the world like a newborn giraffe, sprawling over the ground with a thud.
That bastard.
Rising on trembling arms, I fought down the wave of nausea that swelled in my throat. Idris stood nearby, adjusting his jacket and staring around without a shred of concern for my well-being.
Nairsgarth was gone. Instead, we’d arrived in a woodland horribly similar to that we’d escaped the night before, only the ground was blanketed in fallen leaves, and the canopies were a rainbow of reds, oranges and yellow-green. A distinct autumnal chill lingered in the air.
“Where—” I broke into a fit of breathless coughs.
“Tir o Hydref,” Idris answered my unfinished question, the strange words rolling off his tongue like music. He drew a deep breath in through the nose and his entire demeanour softened on the exhale.
I hadn’t heard much about the other courts, but I did remember that Tir o Gaeaf was the only friendly one. Was he a traitor after all? Was he planning to hand me over to Maelgwyn?
“Why?” I gasped.
He finally spared me a glance, and something like irritation passed briefly over his face at the sight of my kneeling in the dirt. “Get up. We’re here because I want to be, and because you can’t keep your nose out of other people’s affairs.”
I’d well and truly learnt my lesson. From now on, I was going to mind my own business and not give in to curiosity. It only ever led to trouble. Still, I was in this mess now, and I wouldn’t get out of it by shivering on the ground. I forced myself to my feet, dusting bits of decaying nature off my bare legs.
“And why, Idris, do you want to be here? Isn’t this enemy territory?”
He snorted. “Technically, it’s my brother’s territory, which makes it mine by extension.”
The same could be said of Tir o Haf, and we both knew how that had ended. With a sharp stab of guilt, I realised that Pansy was probably still at her mother’s side.
“Come on,” Idris prompted. “You’re wasting my time.”
Like he didn’t have enough of it. The fae set off as though he fully intended to abandon me if I failed to keep up, so I pulled my jacket tighter and stumbled after him, swallowing down the lump in my throat.
“At least it’s not raining here,” I offered in a feeble attempt to strike up a civil conversation. “It looked like it was going to pour down back at Nairsgarth. I hate the rain.”
The prince threw me a sharp look. Had I offended his almightiness with my opinions on the weather, or was it only my presence that did that? But his scowl faded as he looked away from me and said in an uncharacteristically soft voice, “Me too.”
He didn’t elaborate further.
We walked in silence for a while, and in the absence of Idris’ disdain, my thoughts returned to the beach.
“Idris?” I hurried to catch up, veering alongside him. He closed his eyes, drawing a deep breath in through the nose, as though searching deep within for a scrap of patience. “What will happen with Hyacinth’s body now? I’ve never been to a witch’s funeral before.”
There had been no burial, after all. No hint of a cremation. Poor Meadow’s body had been left behind altogether.
“Do I look like a witch?”
I raised an eyebrow. He certainly had the attitude of something that rhymed.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I believe the candles represent her spirit here in this world. When the last flame dies out, her spirit will move on.”
No wonder Pansy had wanted to stay behind. Not long ago, I’d have sworn I didn’t believe in such nonsense, but now, if it had been my mum, I’d have waited as long as it took, savouring every last moment of her presence.
At long last, the trees began to thin, the clear blue sky visible in broad patches above them. Idris threw out an arm, too fast to see. I collided with the surprisingly solid, steely limb and staggered backwards, clutching my chest.
“What the hell? A little warn—”
“Quiet.”
A low command. I obeyed.
He pointed two fingers at my eyes, and then pressed one to his lips, and pointed between the trees ahead.
I followed the movement, and when he began to edge forward on slow feet, I followed that too, doing my best to mimic his silent steps. When we reached the last tree, he slipped behind it, pulling me with him.
I opened my mouth to protest, but found him barely a hair’s breadth away. I made to step back, but his hand, gripping my arm, didn’t yield even an inch.
“Wait here,” he breathed, and suddenly, he was gone, leaving me glaring at empty air.
Immortals, urgh.
I peered around the tree, the rough bark biting into my sweaty palms, and the breath left my body in a rush.
Idris strolled, his shoulders loose, looking somehow smaller and less threatening than he usually did, towards a herd of horses, grazing on the lush grass plain stretching before me.
Horses with wings.
Some of them raised their silver heads, snorting nervously and backing away as Idris approached. They were going to bolt. Would they run, or take to the skies? I stifled a laugh and shook my head. That I was here, that I was even considering such things… I was lucky. For the first time since I’d woken in that sunlit pool, I felt lucky to be here, to see such wonders. Whatever happened, whether I found my way home or not, however quickly my life blazed by, I could not regret being here and seeing this.
Idris stopped a healthy distance away from the nearest horse. The herd watched him, heads high, ears pricked, glorious wings flared. All but one.
One horse tossed its mane and gave a high, whinnying cry. Idris whistled, and with an almighty beat of wings, the horse propelled itself into a prancing trot. It was only after the beast skidded to a halt before the prince, after it nudged him with its head, sending him staggering harmlessly back a few steps, only after Idris wrapped his arms around the beast”s neck, that I realised my mouth was hung open.
The prince turned to where I still hid behind the tree, beckoning, and without hesitation, I walked to him on hollow legs.
The horse watched me with piercing blue eyes. It was much bigger up close, and I saw it wasn’t white at all, not really. It gleamed a light, metallic grey, almost blue where the sun shone. Its wings, folded loosely at its sides, skimmed clear of its hind legs, the blue-tipped feathers trailing on the ground behind the tail.
“Meet Saeth,” Idris said, and he smiled, actually smiled. If I hadn’t been so preoccupied with the impossible animal before me, I might have paid a little more attention to how that beautiful, lopsided grin transformed his face into something quite breathtaking.
“Saeth, meet Eliza.”
I’d never heard my name come out of his mouth before, even if his pronunciation wasn’t quite right. It was always ‘human’ or ‘mortal’, or some other insult.
“I didn’t think you knew my name,” I said without looking, too mesmerised by Saeth, who extended his neck to sniff my outstretched fingers. “But it’s A-liza. With an A.” The difference was minor, but it mattered to me, now more than ever, just like it had mattered to Mum when she’d scoured the book of baby names. Not that the prince or his horse knew the difference between the spellings. “It means joy.”
“My apologies.” Idris faced me, his eyes sliding to my initial necklace, resting just below my collar bones. He lifted his hand to my chest and my lungs simply gave up, refusing to draw another breath as his fingers slid along the metal, tracing the golden A. His skin never touched mine, but my ears heated all the same.
“I assumed it was A for Annoying.” His lips twitched into another smile, this one more reluctant than the first, as his hand fell away.
“Oh, I didn’t realise you were funny.” I tried to sound scathing in an attempt to hide exactly how flustered I was, but it was futile. I could barely hold his unnervingly beautiful gaze. Instead, I turned my attention back to the magnificent horse.
The horse whickered softly, coaxing a grin from me. This, talking about animals, I could do. “He’s beautiful. I didn’t know they really existed. I’ve seen them on TV, but humans think they’re a myth.”
“TV?”
I couldn’t resist a sideways glance to confirm I’d scored a point in this imaginary match I’d started. He’d teleported me and embarrassed me, but at least I wasn’t stuck in the medieval days. That had to count for something. “Oh yeah, I forgot, you’re an antique. A TV is a sort of… mirror humans use. It has moving pictures. We use it to tell stories and share news and stuff.”
He pulled a bemused face. “You mortals have come a long way while I was sleeping.”
Saeth, seemingly satisfied with me, turned his attention back to Idris, nuzzling his neck and making small, low noises.
“You have been missed, friend.”
“So, are you going to tell me what on earth is going on?”
“This is my horse,” he said simply. “From before. I’ve been tracking him ever since I awoke, and here he is at last.”
“But you were cursed hundreds of years ago, doesn’t anything here ever die?”
Idris’ broad, pale hand, sweeping down the silver neck, fell still at my question. He didn’t answer, but the air between us chilled. Had I said the wrong thing? Trust me to put my foot in it as soon as he started to thaw toward me.
“Well, at least I know where you’ve been disappearing to now.” At least he wasn’t a traitor. I dared to run my hand over Saeth’s shoulder. The hair was silken and surprisingly springy, almost like feathers.
Idris fixed his clear green eyes upon me. For once they weren’t haughty or bored, they were… alive. “Well, human, do you want to taste the sky?”
“Erm, what?” I backed off a step, panic coiling around my stomach.
Idris placed a foot on the folded wing, and sprang, cat-like and agile, onto Saeth’s back. The horse didn’t so much as flinch, though the others nearby snorted uneasily. A pale hand unfurled, palm up, waiting for me. An invitation.
“I can’t,” I croaked, throat dry. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, I didn’t have a death wish.
“Which frightens you more? Me or the horse?”
It took me a moment to register his words, but then I scowled. “I’m not scared of you.”
He gave a low, elegant laugh. “You mortals were always terrible liars.”
I snatched his hand, glaring up at him, but he made no move to help me, only gave a slow half-smile as his cool fingers closed around my palm.
Seconds ticked by, and he continued to survey me with the corners of his eyes lifted by that crooked, villainous smirk. My ears began to burn.
“You need to put your foot on his wing.”
“Oh, right.”
Blushing, I placed my boot gingerly on the waiting limb. If I snagged a feather, I doubted the horse would hesitate to kick me from here back to the trees. I might be doomed to the mortal trappings of age and death, but I didn’t fancy bringing that inevitable end forward.
Before I had time to think any more on the subject, to see sense and change my mind, Idris hauled me upwards, and I grabbed onto his jacket, swinging my leg over Saeth’s broad, silver rump.
His flanks were warm and silken beneath my bare thighs. Slippery. Oh shit. This was a bad idea, a very, very bad idea. I was already too high off the ground, and the horse’s hooves were still firmly planted in the grass. What was I thinking? I’d never done anything more daring than riding a donkey at the beach. I should get down, now. I was going to—
“Hold tight!”
I’d barely adjusted my seat, wedging my knees into the back of Idris’ thighs, when enormous, beautiful wings spread, each at least twice as long as the horse itself.
With a great whoosh, they beat the air, and I shrieked as the ground sank away, just for a moment. The horse surged into a gallop, the wings beating again, and again, each time lifting us momentarily into the air, before a belly-swooping drop back to the ground.
I clung desperately to Idris, my nails aching with the force of my grip. The wind rushed past, snapping my hair back as we gained momentum. Ahead of us, a ravine that I hadn’t noticed earlier raced closer and closer.
What if we didn’t get airborne? What if two riders were too heavy? Idris wasn’t exactly dainty, and neither was I for that matter. What if we plunged over the edge of that cliff? I didn’t even know what waited at the bottom. Jagged rocks? The broken bones of those fools who’d attempted this before us?
The drop was upon us, and the horse sprang into the air, wings snapping wide, and for a moment, we were flying. My heart swelled.
But then Saeth arched, and we were going down. Down, down, down. Plummeting. Faster and faster. My organs floated up to my throat, horribly weightless. We were falling. Free falling. Plunging to the wild river I now saw speeding towards us.
A scream ripped free of my chest, and I buried my head against Idris’ back. I was going to die. We were both going to die.
The world tilted sideways, and an icy spray hit my stinging face. Idris gave a howling whoop that turned into a cackle of wild laughter.
I opened my eyes.
The river raged not inches below my dangling feet, white plumes and glistening spray leaping around us, around the wings, spread wide and strong, the feathers rippling in the wind.
I lifted my head.
We sped through the ravine, sheer, grey cliffs rising tall on either side of the wild river cutting through the land. A bend rushed upon us, and we banked, tilting sideways again. I dug my knees in and held my breath, but this time, I kept my eyes open.
We began to climb in a gentle curve, the river falling away with terrifying speed. We rose past the cliffs, the woods, the plains spread out below us, a distant blanket of rolling green.
With a boom, the wings beat the air, and the clouds, which had been tiny, scudding across the vast blue sky only moments ago, loomed.
Clouds.
A laugh tore from deep within my chest and my eyes streamed, from the wind, or awe, or maybe both.
We were flying.
Booms and whooshes sounded all around, and I whipped my head around, hair streaming across my eyes, to see the rest of the silver herd soaring joyously along with us, manes flying, the sun blinding on their metallic feathers.
My heart swelled, threatening to burst through my ribs in a supernova of delight. I loved this. I, Aliza, the boring human woman, loved flying.
My cheeks ached as I smiled as I never had before, and when I turned forwards again, the clouds were close enough to touch. I gasped, but the wind tore the sound away before I had a chance to hear it.
The tips of Saeth’s feathers grazed the cloud, sending rippling wisps pluming free. I dared to loosen an arm from Idris’ waist and stretch it out into the open air, reaching.
Idris shifted his weight slightly, and we tilted, drifting closer and closer until my outstretched fingertips skimmed the impossible.
I was touching a cloud.
My fingers came away wet and numb. I held them up, marvelling at the crystalline drops of water clinging to my skin.
Then Idris tipped his head back, his hair whipping me in the face, and threw his arms wide like wings, with only his legs gripping the airborne horse.
“Don’t do that, you stupid bastard!” I bellowed, clamping my own arms around him again.
The shaking of his shoulders was the only sign he’d heard me. I didn’t even know why I held him so tightly, when he was the idiot not holding on. If only I could reach the mane. I should have been in front, would have been if I’d known he had a death wish. Or maybe I’d have stayed on the ground.
What was I thinking? I didn’t love this at all. Humans had no business flying anyway. Maybe in an aeroplane, with lifejackets and seatbelts and in-flight snacks, but not on the back of a horse, with nothing but a dim-witted immortal to prevent me falling to my death.
Idris lowered his arms obligingly, twining his fingers into the mane again. I let out a breath of relief, but it took a few seconds more to relax my vice-like grip on his shirt, and even longer to let enjoyment weave between the tight coils of fear once more. But it was impossible not to enjoy this. Even though the cold wind all but skinned my bare hands and legs, even though my eyes streamed continuously. It all faded into insignificance as we soared through endless blue. I could have stayed up there forever, huddled against Idris’ warmth, with Heaven within my reach.
My body disagreed.
When at last we landed, surprisingly smoothly, all things considered, I could barely pry my stiff arms from the prince’s waist. I was frozen. My whole body trembled with cold and adrenalin, and the ground spun beneath me. Idris swung his leg over the horse’s neck, sliding gracefully to his feet, and turned to lift me down. Though I tried to help, my legs wouldn’t cooperate, and I suspected I resembled nothing more than a sack of gravel as he dragged me from his glorious steed. My legs immediately buckled, and I flopped onto my back, shivering violently and staring at the sky I’d soared from only moments ago.
Saeth wandered away with a snort, his cold, damp feathers skimming the length of my leg. I couldn’t even bring myself to roll away from his thudding hooves. Idris’ face appeared above me, blocking the light, his mussed-up hair a faintly glowing halo in the sunlight. Ironic, given he was the devil incarnate.
“Are you well?”
Well? Well? I’d just had my hand inside a cloud. A peal of hysterical laughter erupted from me.
“I’ll take that as a no.”
He disappeared from my line of sight, but a faint rustle alerted me to movement at my side. I lolled my head to find him draped on his side in the grass, his temple propped on his fist. His hair really was a disaster, and his skin was flushed, but there was a light in his eyes that I’d never seen there before. That hair though…
My trembling, numb fingers patted my own head, and I grimaced at the tangles I was unlikely to ever fully comb out.
His eyes followed the movement. “It’s worse than you can possibly imagine.”
I chuckled, my hand flopping onto my belly, which still swirled and somersaulted and plummeted. “It was worth it. That was sik.”
My words slurred over my numb lips.
“Sik?”
I could practically hear his disapproving frown.
“I forgot you’re a dinosaur. It means… amazing. Incredible.”
“What is a dinosaur?”
I squinted my eyes against the sun to look at him. “Something even older than you, if you can imagine.” I felt drunk, like I couldn’t make my words come as quickly as they should, my tongue slow to form them.
His lips tightened ever so slightly. “What’s the matter with you?”
As though in answer, my body gave a violent shudder. “Cold,” I breathed through numb lips. “Freezing.”
His frown deepened, his green gaze raking over me. How had he avoided hypothermia? Was it something to do with being immortal? Not fair…
My eyelids flickered, and then the ground was moving, jolting, and heat washed over me. I opened my eyes to find myself nestled to Idris’ chest, his arms cradling me. My frosty brain registered dim surprise and I wriggled, trying to free myself. He shouldn’t be doing that. He didn’t even like me. Idris” arms tightened, pressing me close.
“I forgot how pathetic humans are.” His voice came from far away, seeping into my consciousness like warm chocolate sauce drizzled over ice cream.
“I miss chocolate,” I mumbled.
“And strange,” Idris huffed. “Pathetic and strange.”
My eyelids drooped again, too heavy to resist the warmth pressing against my cheek. I curled into it, savouring it as it sank deeper into my frozen flesh, and I sank into dreams of feathers and clouds and wild, unbound laughter.
When I stirred, I found myself back in my room at Nairsgarth, wrapped in a toasty cocoon of blankets. The fire roared in the grate, and on my nightstand stood a plate of luxuriously decorated chocolates.
I took my breakfast in the communal dining hall the next morning, hoping to bump into Idris, but the prince’s dark hair was nowhere to be seen amongst the heads of many witches, all gleaming in the sunlight streaming through the doors, thrown open to the courtyard.
When I was accosted by a seamstress, mere heartbeats after swallowing my last mouthful of porridge mounded in brown sugar and laying down my spoon, and dragged along to a studio brimming with rolls of fabric in every colour of the rainbow, he wasn’t there either.
Maybe the princes already had more than enough regal costumes fit for a fairytale ball, but I couldn’t show up dressed in denim hotpants, and so I endured the measuring and prodding and poking while mindlessly agreeing to every design suggestion the witch threw my way, all the while itching to escape, my head full of clouds and feathers.
Had yesterday been a nightmare turned into the loveliest of dreams? I’d started the morning at a funeral, only to end up as close to heaven as any living soul had ever been.
No sooner had the seamstress dismissed me then I leapt down from the crate she’d insisted I stand on, despite my already prominent height advantage, and dashed away down the corridor, barely noticing the direction my feet carried me in.
My fingers flexed, the tips rubbing together as I passed a window and glimpsed the fluffy white clouds beyond. I’d touched one of those. I’d held out my hand, reaching, and Idris had done something with his body weight in response, steering the horse closer until my fingers had trailed through the swirling mist. Such a small gesture, but the gift he’d given me… it was profound. A core memory. I would never forget that moment. Which was precisely why I wanted to see him today, to thank him, and to apologise. I’d misjudged him.
Maybe it was because I was already thinking of him, but when I came across him, lounging in a secluded oriel window, sketching in his little black book, I walked straight past, too lost in thoughts of him to sort memories from the present.
Realising my mistake, I halted, glancing over my shoulder, only to find his eyes already pinned on me beneath surly eyebrows. A tiny crease formed between them at my attention.
Smiling, I retraced my steps and trilled, “Morning.”
One of his long legs was propped on the window seat, leaving no room for a second person to sit, while the other trailed on the floor, the picture of princely arrogance. He made no effort to budge, nor did he return my smile. Instead, he dropped my gaze, resuming his sketching, and said, “It is indeed morning.”
My spirits, which soared on feathered wings, dipped slightly, jostled by sudden turbulence. The scratch of his pencil filled the awkward silence.
“Drawing anything good?”
“Why are you here?” he asked without looking up, his cool, irritable tone negating the need for a glare or filthy look.
So much for misjudging him. But no, he’d been nice yesterday, hadn’t he? Civil? More than that. He’d made sure I made it safely to my warm bed, and he’d left chocolates on my nightstand. That definitely hadn’t been a hallucination, because I’d eaten them as a sneaky little pre-breakfast starter, and they’d been as delicious as they were beautiful.
“I was just walking,” I lied, unsure whether I was still in the mood for gushing gratitude, “and I saw you sitting there and thought I’d say hi. I’ve just come from a dress fitting. For the ball.”
Idris looked up from his book. The sunlight caught his eyes, shrinking his pupils to tiny black specks and enhancing the striking yellow tones of his irises, all but obliterating the green. He really was a gorgeous creature, even if his attitude left a lot to be desired. Those lovely eyes flickered over my body, taking in my outfit and no doubt deeming me unworthy of whatever magnificent ballgown the witches were running up. They lingered on my bare legs just long enough for me to grow conscious of his attention before they lifted back to my face.
“What a thrilling life you lead.” This time, he held my stare as my mouth fell open in mildly offended surprise.
Maybe it was a bit boring compared to his, but we couldn’t all be born into vast wealth and spend our days prancing over the rainbow on pretty ponies.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re incredibly rude?”
He smirked, basking in my insult as though I’d told him how handsome he was. “As a matter of fact, yes, but it means so much more coming from you, human.”
I bristled at the condescending nickname. I wasn’t ashamed of being human, but the way he said it… he obviously expected me to be. “Oh, pretending you don’t know my name again, are you?”
“Perhaps I’ve forgotten.”
I rolled my eyes. What did I care? He could go and gaslight somebody else, just as soon as I’d proven myself to be the bigger person. “Anyway, Idris, I was hoping to run into you. I just wanted to say thanks for yesterday, I really enjoyed it, and the chocolates were lovely.” The temptation to add ‘unlike you’ almost got the better of me, but I pressed my lips together in an attempt to maintain the moral high ground.
Idris’ eyebrows lifted. In surprise? Did he really think so little of me that I wouldn’t bother to thank someone for a once in a lifetime experience? Maybe it wasn’t the speech I’d imagined, maybe I hadn’t expressed just how deeply the flight had marked me, but it was better than nothing, and more than he deserved, evidently. Yesterday’s kindness had apparently been nothing more than a little blip in a consistently piss-poor personality.
I flicked my loose hair away from where it had fallen forward over my shoulder. The prince tracked the movement, his unusual eyes lingering on the colourful strands. I wasn’t about to give him the opportunity to insult my pride and joy. “See you around.”
Before he had a chance to say something else to sour my mood, I walked away, making an extra effort to walk in a perfectly straight line and avoid scuffing the soles of my boots. The last thing I needed was to make a fool of myself when I knew the absence of his pencil scratching meant he was watching my retreat. Maybe I even swished my hips a little, remembering the way his undeserving eyes had lingered on my legs. Maybe.