Sixteen
We were going to set out the next morning right after dawn.
I changed into clothes similar to what Naida had dressed me in the day before when walking through the woods.
The black training clothes were out of the question since I didn't know what the weather would be like.
Grey sweatpants or jeans (my usual attire) were also not what I could wear for the sake of fitting in and not getting attention drawn to myself.
Instead, I wore dark greens and brown with matching knee-high boots.
It was comfortable enough to walk in before and I hoped that it would hold true for our walk.
Julian had told me to pack the bag I would find when I got back to my room.
There was a small embroidered bag the size of a small backpack on one of the chairs.
The bag was magic. It didn't matter what I packed or how much I packed, it didn't get any bigger than a small backpack and wouldn't get heavier either.
"Amazing," I murmured looking inside the dark bag. I couldn't see anything at all. "What if I need my toothbrush?"
The toothbrush came flying out so fast I was sure that it'd stab me in the eye if I didn't move on time. I figured it as how I could get my stuff out once I called for it.
I picked it up off the floor where it landed and made my way downstairs where Naida stood in the entrance hall.
She didn't look mad anymore, though I could sense that she was upset.
She did give a small smile as our eyes met back in the hall. "You're getting used to faerie fashion, Emmy. Fantastic choice."
I placed a hand on her shoulder as soon as I reached her. "Is there anything I can do?"
She shook her head, knowing what I meant. "I was able to send him a warning. A secret letter." She shook her head. "But it's not enough. I'm sure he will have a lot of questions. If he comes, the guards will know he's been warned." She sighed. "I don't know what to do."
I wanted to say more to comfort her, to help her like she had helped me once. I was about to tell her just that when Julian spectered into the room.
He was dressed in dark travel clothes of his own, a dark jacket for the cold I imagined, boots and thick pants.
He turned to me. "Are you ready?"
I crossed my arms. "Yes, but only if we stop at the Frozen City."
Julian rolled his eyes and turned to Naida. "Conspiring against me?"
Naida opened her mouth to speak but I interrupted, "No, it was my idea."
He didn't look convinced. He raised an eyebrow. "Your idea?"
I nodded. "Yes. It's the least I could do after what she did for me in Robyn's mansion."
Julian opened his mouth then shut it. He looked at his sister. Naida only looked at him with a little hope in her eyes.
Finally, he nodded and Naida let out a long breath, her solemn mood replaced with a small smile.
"But only after Tartus. We'll cut through the pass and make it there." He looked towards the ceiling. "Gods above, I hate the cold."
"Good thing you have Emmy to keep you warm," she winked.
I blanched. "Wait, what?"
She laughed just as Julian did. I turned to Naida but she turned away and placed her hands on Julian's shoulders. "Safe journey, brother. May the Gods bless the road you travel." She kissed each cheek then his forehead.
She turned to me with a smile. "You too, Emmy. Safe journey." She kissed both of my cheeks and forehead too. A warm feeling began to come over me as she finished and I knew she was using her magic. Protection maybe?
Naida stepped back and Julian extended his hand to me.
When I took his hand, he gently tugged me close to him and covered me with his other arm.
He held on to me tightly, making me blush slightly at the proximity.
I was close enough to smell the soap he used, close enough to make out that the tattoo under the collar of his shirt wasn't a solid, thick line like I thought but tribal markings packed together closely making it appear as a solid line from a distance.
I watched him as he addressed his sister.
"Stay safe, Naida. If anything happens, call on Bron."
She nodded and suddenly we spectered.
It took much longer this time than usual. The spinning was incessant, the silence deafening and just when I thought I did go deaf, we stopped.
I looked around as Julian stepped back and let me go, adjusting his own bag on his back.
It reminded me of the rolling lush hills I'd seen on TV. The vegetation on the ground was green and rich but the sky above was grey, a thick fog clung to the ground around us.
And it was silent. So still. I was sure I had lost my hearing somehow when we spectered.
I could make out lonely solitary trees out on the horizon.
"Miserable," Julian said, his voice carrying around us. "I know."
I hugged my arms against the biting cold that started to seep into my skin. "It's so quiet."
"It will only get worse from here," he said as he kneeled down and tightened something on his own boots. "Everything in Tartus is as quiet as death."
The name finally clicked in my head. "Tartus, is it named after Tartarus, the deep abyss - the dungeon of the Underworld from ancient mythology?"
He shook his head as he stood. "It's not nearly that bad. They exaggerated. The Greeks named Tartarus after Tartus. They may have heard the name from one of our ancestors. We've been stewards of that region far longer than those stories have been around."
"And the Hellhounds?" I couldn't hide the excitement in my voice. "Is that Cerberus?"
He smiled. "You know your myths."
I nodded as I smiled back. "I went through a phase." I didn't mention that I started researching the Underworld in elementary school after I met Damien, hungry to learn whatever I could about his home and his kind.
It was all useless. It wasn't until later that I found that he was a dark fae and had nothing to do with the myths of the Underworld or the god of the dead. It turned out everything I read was dead wrong.
Well, almost everything.
"The Hellhounds are descendants of the original Hellhounds Cerberus is based on. They always come in sets of threes, two males one female. Females are the leaders. They don't breed very often."
I shook my head in disbelief. "Amazing. What about Thanatos, Hades?"
He laughed as he turned towards a road. "Vy is Thanatos's great-great-granddaughter."
I followed him as he walked down the gravel road, "Really? Where is he now?"
"He died in a war a very, very long time ago. Along with most of Vy's family."
The silence around us was deafening, the only sound I could hear was the gravel crunching beneath our boots.
"How do you know Vyssen?" I asked curiously, finally matching his stride as I caught up with him.
I caught a small smile on his lips as he looked off into the distance. "We met at a party about two centuries ago. She was there for me at a time when I needed someone."
"Girlfriend?"
He shook his head. "Much more than that - we were together for decades but, well, duties and life happened. We had to be apart."
I felt somewhat deflated at his words. "I'm sorry that happened."
He only shrugged. "Ancient history. Vyssen was very upset I didn't stay with her." He looked at me pointedly. "But I could not refuse the duties handed to me as Lord of Skryen."
We said nothing more as we traveled the countryside. What seemed to be hours later he spoke again, this time talking about the flora and fauna of Tartus or lack thereof.
The more we walked, the deeper into Tartus we were and the less we would see of the green countryside. It was called the land of the dead for a reason, he said. People were friendly enough as long as they weren't provoked.
Though for as much as he talked about the people we had yet to come across anyone. But he did say if someone did approach or if we met anyone, to stay close.
At one point, we stopped, "We're coming up to a town now. I think we should glamour your hair at least."
I nodded. "Okay."
"Did you know that there is some legend that suggests that Tartus is where Light first came from?"
I nodded. "Yes, according to some myths, Tartarus was one of the primordial entities from which light and the cosmos sprung forward."
He nodded. "Your power should be amplified here, one of the reasons I wanted you to come with me. That and we'll be away from Robyn's guards."
I set my bag down just as he did. "Will he really keep guards in Skryen seeing as how he has other plans?"
He nodded again, stretching. "He will keep them there because he has to follow protocol.
After an attack, the King will station his own guards at the city for safety measures.
If he knows what's good for him- and to avoid suspicion- he will do that.
The last thing he needs is an uprising just before he has everything he needs.
" He sighed. "He hasn't made any moves yet.
I thought he would do something by now. I suspect he hasn't adapted to Damien's powers yet -"
"Or Damien's holding him back."
Julian turned to me.
"He's alive, Julian, I know he is."
Julian gave a small nod. "Then you'll need to speed up your lessons. Now," he cleared his throat. "Think of what you'd want to change your hair to. Think of it as if you already have it. As if it's already a part of you."
I nodded and closed my eyes. "Definitely not blue."
I smiled as I heard him laugh. "Don't tell me, I'll see it soon enough."
I remembered the hair I had before, the way it would cascade over my shoulders and back, the way the brown color would catch the sunlight. The times I ran a comb through it, styled it, pulled it back then looked at myself in the mirror.
"Brown," he said. "Long again."
I opened my eyes and grabbed a strand of hair over my shoulder. A long brown strand.
He smiled at me. A patient, knowing smile.
"Well, that was easy," I laughed. "Why couldn't we start there before?"
He only laughed.
I was exhilarated, letting the small victory of the moment carry my mood.
I laughed and spun around, watching my now long hair catch in the wind.
I stopped and turned to him, noticing that he had been watching me make a fool of myself.
He only smiled, hands in the pockets of his dark pants, his white shirt unbuttoned at the top fluttering slightly in the wind.
It was the way he looked at me that reminded me of what I'd learn the night I healed him.
I blushed deeply, not sure of what to make of it.
I cleared my throat, picking up the bag from the ground but making sure my face was hidden in a curtain of billowing hair as I asked, "Where to now, Lord of Skryen? "
He smiled. "To Isma, it's a small city near the Gates, the only place we will be stopping on our way to Vy."