Chapter 11 #2
“Well, Hellamir is a wood fae town, but there were several moon fae here from the capital city of Issos and most were in royal armor. Soldiers from Issos.”
“Why were they here?”
“It seemed they were refueling for the next battle. Our merchant, Flaxon, was glad to see us. He said he was afraid the army was going to acquire his grain without paying for it. They’d already done as much to a few other merchants in town, and he knew that at least he would get paid by trading with us. ”
“But Issos is a rich city. They should have had plenty of coin.”
“All I know is that the men in charge of the moon fae warriors weren’t honorable men. I learned years ago that the light fae might always claim to be the righteous ones, but there are just as many criminals and evil men masquerading as good fae on their side as there are in the dark fae lands.”
“You don’t have to convince me. I know that well enough.”
My father was one of them.
“Though I know the dark fae aren’t welcome,” I added, “I’m still surprised Bezaliel and the others don’t simply come into town to do their business.”
We stopped at the treeline, and I turned to Wolf, scratching under his chin. “Stay here, Wolf. We won’t be long.”
He whined but obediently sat and watched us go.
“I can tell you why they don’t,” Tessa continued as we crossed an open field, night having fallen over us.
“Before I came, they actually did. A group of wood fae males didn’t like them in the town and had told them to leave, but they continued to come into town for trade every season.
Then Flaxon told Redvyr he would have to stop trading.
The males who didn’t like them coming had threatened Flaxon and his family. ”
“That’s terrible.”
“I know,” she agreed. “Not long after, I joined the clan. When I discovered their predicament that first winter, because they were low on grain, I suggested that I be their liaison. I could go freely as a wood fae and fetch Flaxon. So that’s what we’ve been doing this past year.
I’ve never been afraid, except for that last time. ”
The lights of the town grew brighter as we approached, the talking and laughing from the streets growing louder with each step.
“Flaxon lives next door to his mill near the river. We can take the side streets behind the town square to his house without getting noticed.”
“Lead the way.”
I followed her as we headed into town from the east side. The dirt road became cobblestones, the sights and smells of a bustling town almost foreign to me after spending so long in the Borderlands, which was nothing more than a few taverns and inns spread out along the route.
An older man pushed open a tavern door, revealing a savory aroma and a room where a dozen or more locals enjoyed a meal and jugs of ale.
The clip-clop of a horse pulling a squeaky cart rounded the corner at the end of this side street we walked upon.
The crying of a baby from an upstairs open window pulled mine and Tessa’s gazes upward before the mother shushed and spoke softly to the babe, both going quiet.
“Watch out.” Tessa tugged me around a pile of horse manure in the street.
“Thanks,” I muttered.
The doors to the taverns were open, the crowds inside boisterous and loud. But we kept to the shadows as best we could. For a small town, there were many people coming and going, all of them paying us no mind.
I supposed that would be normal for a river port town.
People came and went by the Bluevale River to the harbor from all over.
But I only saw wood fae milling about the streets and a few moon fae here and there.
The moon fae were easy to spot, with wings protruding from their backs.
None of them looked to be Issosian solders.
“This way,” whispered Tessa, pointing to a torch-lit alley beside a shop that was now closed.
As we hurried down the alley, the shouting of a crowd grew louder. When we came upon the first intersection of the lane, Tessa pulled me to a stop, peering around the corner.
“What is it?” I whispered.
“I don’t know. That’s the town square. Something is going on.”
I peered around the corner with her. There were several torches, and the back of a crowd faced the center where a moon fae with auburn hair was waving for everyone to be silent.
“Hear me, good fae of Hellamir.” The voices quieted. “Evil pervades across our lands.” The moon fae gestured toward the north. “Even now, the daughter of our great King Connall of Issos has been forced to fornicate with the demon king and beget his child.”
“She saved us!” a woman shouted from the front. “Princess Una saved us all!”
“Indeed, she did,” he agreed. “But in doing so, she has sullied her bloodline. More than that, she has encouraged the dark fae of the north to take what they want.”
Silence fell across the crowd, the speaker captivating them with his fearmongering.
“Have you not heard what is happening in other northern provinces and to farmers on their homesteads? Women and children have gone missing! Taken by these demons for their carnal appetites.”
Protests rose amongst the throng. Then one brawny wood fae male shouted, “Then why hasn’t it happened here? We live closer to the northern border than any of the other light fae.”
The speaker smiled, sending a chill down my spine. “Excellent question. And that is why you are all here tonight.” He pointed to his left. “Because that witch living in the glen just across the river has the power to tell us the gods’ secrets.”
We couldn’t see who he pointed to because the building was in the way. I edged down the alley, closer to the back of the crowd, Tessa clutching my cloak but following right behind me.
“She is a god seer!” he shouted. “She knows the gods’ will. She could help us, but she refuses! She will not tell us what we need to know to save our kind. To save her own kind!”
Over the crowd, she finally came into view. A dark-haired moon fae, skin pale as milk, midnight blue wings at her back, staring coolly out into the crowd. She was bound to a stake at the center of the stage, raised up on a stone slab, kindling at her feet.
“They’re going to burn her,” I whispered, my voice shaking with fury.
“She has magick that could help us find those who are being taken and kill our enemies. But she refuses even the royal Lord Gael of Mevia.”
Then he stepped forward. I hadn’t seen him because my sole attention was on the petite moon fae, standing glassy-eyed and facing the crowd.
My betrothed and would-be captor marched to the center of the stage next to the speaker, who was obviously one of his lackeys.
My heart was in my throat, my pulse speeding frantically at the sight of him.
“We don’t want your witch burnings!” a woman in the crowd shouted.
Lord Gael held up a gloved hand, the one with all five of his fingers, instantly silencing the crowd.
He was formidable in appearance, especially whilst wearing the fine clothes of a nobleman.
His long black hair shone in the torchlight, his iridescent blue wings tall and strong at his back.
But it was the menacing sharpness of his expression that silenced the people.
“It is an inevitability,” he said in a low voice that somehow echoed across the entire square. “Light fae who do not use their magick to aid their own kind are nothing more than witches to be burned.”
My blood chilled as I shrank further into the shadows. Tessa didn’t say a word, but she sensed my uneasiness, pulling me closer to her. I tugged on my hood and pulled it forward to be sure it covered my face.
“If light fae refuse to help us in our cause to rid this land of the menace of demonkind, then they must be put down. They cannot be used by the enemy, like the former princess of Issos, Una Harstone, has been.”
I noted he refused to call her Queen Una, the title she deserved and how everyone I came across in the Borderlands referred to her.
While I hadn’t met many fae during my time there, word spread amongst the dark and light fae in the area of how she had somehow discovered a cure for the deadly plague that had spread across Lumeria.
But no one shouted or called out now. No one defended her name. Lord Gael marched along the edge of the stage, his heavy boots thumping, his regal cloak whipping behind him.
“Do you want your own children to be stolen in the night? Do you want your women to be abducted and violated and used to produce demon children?” His voice rose. “Disloyalty from those with magick means the death of more light fae. I will not allow it. Soon, we will rid this land of all demonkind.”
“You know him,” whispered Tessa, close to my ear.
I nodded and shrank back further. “He is the one my father betrothed me to.”
Her arm came around my waist and she pulled me tight against her. “They can’t see us. Don’t worry.”
The auburn-haired speaker stepped forward and shouted, “And then, we will have a new king!” He raised Gael’s arm into the air. “One who fights for the light fae of Lumeria!”
The crowd erupted in cheers, those few who had spoken out now silenced by the others who chanted.
“Lumeria! Lumeria! Lumeria!”
“We can’t let them burn her,” I murmured, turning to Tessa.
Her expression tense, she seemed to think for a moment before nodding. “Follow me.”
We rushed back down the lane to the central alleyway we had used to cross behind the town square. Tessa and I hurried down the full length of the narrow street, which opened out onto another lane a block from the square, where the chanting continued.
“Here,” she whispered, taking one of the torches from the sconces in the stone wall.
I took it, then she grabbed another and whisper-yelled, “Hurry.”
“What are we going to do?” I asked, following her quickly away from the townspeople down a quiet street of shops, all dark and closed.
“Fight fire with fire,” she answered, stopping at the first shop, a bakery, and throwing the torch on the thatched roof. “Throw yours!”
I did, watching the flames lick and ignite the hay roofing quickly. We dodged around the building along the backside of the stage that faced the square and crawled under the wooden platform into the shadows beneath.
Tessa cupped her hands around her mouth and in a loud voice shouted, “Fire! Fire! Get water!”
Suddenly, the mob started screaming, boots and footsteps pounding across the wooden stage above us and the pavement of the square. Others began to shout, “Fire!”
“Stay here,” said Tessa before she crawled out of our hiding space.
I obeyed, too terrified that if I showed myself, Gael would see me. Then take me.
Tessa peeked her head up and peered over the stage.
Apparently, seeing no threat, she hurried up the stairs out of sight.
I listened to the people dashing to put out the fire, running farther away, most likely to a well or simply to safety.
Then someone came hurrying back down the steps.
I froze, until I saw Tessa gesturing for me to follow.
“Let’s go!”
Right behind her was the female who had been bound on stage to be burned at the stake. She still appeared calm and serene, despite the fact she had nearly been executed in the most heinous, painful way.
I hurried after them as Tessa led us back down another alleyway and farther away from the shouting townspeople. We came out near the port, the moon sparkling on the Bluevale River, the sounds of the boats at the dock gently rocking in the water.
The moon fae pulled Tessa to a stop. We both turned to her.
“Thank you,” she said, her black hair framing her pale face, her dark blue wings sagging at her back. “If you ever need a favor from a seer, come and find me. My name is Aelwyn. I’ll be heading back to my home now.”
“Where is that?” asked Tessa.
“Naevhail Glen.”
“They’ll come for you again,” I told her.
“They’ll never find me,” she said with assurance, then she turned and flew up into the dark sky shrouded in smoke.
“We have to hurry now, too,” said Tessa.
“We are still going to Flaxon?” I asked, following her along the river’s edge.
“Yes, we have to.”
Rushing along the path that led to the mill, I couldn’t stop glancing over my shoulder, certain that Gael could somehow sense I was here. That he would catch me this time and drag me to Mevia to do all the nightmarish things he had planned for me.