Chapter Seven
“Where is everyone?” I leaned forward to peer through the windshield.
The Anthousai village of Begonia reminded me of the Cotswolds in England.
Cottages with thick thatched roofs huddled under capes of flowering vines and roses.
Gated gardens before each home overflowed with fruit, vegetables, and flowers.
Greenery abounded, heavily spotted with bright blooms even though it was November.
“I don't know,” Tiernan whispered as he slowed the cair even further.
Before we entered the village, we had dropped to fly three feet above the ground.
The other three cairs followed us at a matching elevation and speed along the grassy lanes between the houses.
A gray sky hung above us, shedding a light rain.
With all the color around—courtesy of Anthousai magic—it shouldn't have felt so melancholy.
But not a single window shed light to brighten the dreary day, nor did any of the squat stone chimneys puff smoke.
The place looked abandoned. Down to a crawl, we traversed the entire village, finding no one and no reason for the lack of inhabitants.
There were no signs of a battle or a struggle of any kind.
“Stop!” I cried.
Tiernan stopped the cair. “What have you seen?” He peered in the direction I stared. “What is that?”
“I don't know.”
Tiernan turned the cair off the road, taking it between houses and then out of the village boundaries.
Between the village and the forest was farmland, mainly grain—the crops the Anthousai didn't have the room to grow in their private gardens.
Harvest time had passed, leaving the flat land scattered with the remains of tall, golden stalks.
Mostly, the bare land looked brown and dry, but at the edge where the farmland met the forest, the ground looked black.
Tiernan stopped our cair a few feet from the dark land and got out.
His guards hurried out of the back and moved to either side of him, arms slightly lifted in preparation of magical defense.
More cairs stopped beside us, the members of the King's Guard piling out to stand with us and stare at the black soil.
Normally, dark soil is good. It meant that it was fertile ground.
But this wasn't that kind of black. This black glistened like oil, wet and toxic.
Tiernan went to the edge and crouched to stare at it. “This must be the blight that's been reported.”
I joined him. “It almost smells metallic.”
He held a palm over the ground, just an inch above the black. “And it's cold.”
I mimicked him. Sure enough, the temperature dropped when I brought my hand closer to the ground. I peered up at the gray clouds and back at the soil. “This sheen isn't due to the rain.”
“No, I don't think so.”
“Your Majesty!” Sir Riosel pointed.
Tiernan and I stood. There, at the treeline, was a mass. It looked like undergrowth, but it was large.
“That's a body,” I said.
“Fuck,” Tiernan whispered, looking from the form to the ground. He lifted his foot.
“Wait!” I grabbed his arm. “Let me see if I can clear a path before you go stepping in that.”
Tiernan nodded and backed away, motioning to his guards to do the same.
Once everyone was clear, I held my hands out toward the ground.
Light blasted from me, radiating the ground with magic that shouldn't be in Fairy.
A shriek came, so high-pitched that Tiernan and his knights hissed and covered their ears.
I couldn't cover mine, not with Light streaming from me, but the sound didn't hurt me.
Not physically, at least. It saddened me.
Even more shocking was the blight's physical reaction.
Instead of burning away as expected, the black pulled back as if it were a living substance.
And this living substance gathered itself even after it had dispersed into the earth.
It retracted from the Light, and as I moved forward, a path of clean land was revealed.
The shrieking continued as I cleared the entire area up to the trees.
I stopped there. I'd gone far enough to see that my assumption was correct.
A man lay before me, covered in black ropes.
As I knelt, I heard footsteps behind me. At that range, I could direct the Light onto the glossy ropes alone, and I did. Instantly, they withdrew like tapped tentacles. The shrieks came again, and the body of a Seelie knight was revealed.
“It's Sir Thenris. Oh, dear Goddess.” Tiernan knelt beside me and touched the man's shoulder.
Thenris opened his eyes and blinked. As immortals, Fairies always appeared to be in the bloom of health and youth. This man had hollow cheeks and sunken eyes.
“Thenris?” Tiernan slowly laid his hand on the knight's shoulder.
Thenris blinked again, his eyes shifting about before focusing on Tiernan. “Your Majesty?” He looked around again. “Why are you here?”
“You're going to be all right, Thenris.” Tiernan waved his knights over. “Help me move him.”
The other knights rushed forward to lift Sir Thenris and carry him away from the forest. Tiernan and I retreated with them, casting looks at the dark lurking within the trees. It wasn't just on the ground. I could see streaks going up tree trunks and permeating the undergrowth.
They laid Thenris on the harvested land, wheat stubs cushioning him, and he stared up at the sky. His eyes were the color the sky should be and were empty of all emotion.
“Thenris.” Tiernan knelt beside him. “What happened? Where are the others?”
Thenris frowned and sat up. Everyone leaned back. He took a breath, looked around, and then focused on the forest. Still, he didn't say anything.
“Sir Thenris?” I crouched and angled my head to meet his gaze. “Are you well?”
He met my gaze. “I'm tired, Your Majesty.”
I glanced at Tiernan. “He's in shock.”
“Sir Thenris, I need you to tell me what happened here,” Tiernan tried again. “Where is the rest of your regiment?”
A crease appeared between Thenris' eyebrows. “In the forest. They're in the forest, Your Majesty. It came from the ground.” He stood up.
We got to our feet with him, all of us watching him.
“Go on,” Tiernan said.
Thenris pointed to the darkness in the forest. “There. They're in there. It rose from the soil and took us. Nothing worked against it.” He looked at Tiernan. “It's the will of Fairy, Your Majesty. We must accept it.”
A chill ran down my spine. “What do you mean, Sir Thenris?”
“I feel stronger. My mind is clear.” Thenris stretched his neck and then started for the village.
“Sir Thenris!” Tiernan shouted.
“Your Majesty?” Thenris stopped and looked back.
“Where are you going?”
“To the castle, Your Majesty. I must return to my duties.”
Tiernan and I shared a worried look before he said, “Your work is here, Sir Thenris. We are going to find the rest of your regiment, and then we will return to Castle Seelie.”
“Yes, of course, Your Majesty.” Thenris bowed. “I will show you where they are.” He turned and headed toward the forest.
“Danu protect us,” one of the knights whispered.
“She will. She is always with us.” I strode back to the forest with Thenris.
“Sir Thenris, halt!” Tiernan dashed after us.
Thenris stopped at the edge of the forest. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Great fuck,” Tiernan muttered. “Sir Galleth, look after Sir Thenris. Keep him away from the blight.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Galleth hurried over to Thenris and took his arm.
“You needed only to have instructed me, Your Majesty,” Thenris said. “I will remain out of the blight. But that is where the rest of my regiment is.” He pointed into the forest.
“It's all right, Sir Thenris.” I stepped around him. “I'll clear a path, and you can direct me.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Tiernan moved up beside me. “This is unnerving.”
“It's fucking weird, is what it is.” I held out my hand. “Together, Lord Hunter?”
Tiernan grinned—totally inappropriate for the situation, but I understood. It felt good to be a team again.
He took my hand. “Together, Extinguisher.”
We faced the forest as footsteps came up behind us—our knights coming to guard us, albeit from behind. I appreciated that they were smart enough to know that I had to go first and that their duty had to take a backseat to that. That's what happens when you protect those who are stronger than you.
Wielding Light with precision so I wouldn't burn down the forest, I went forward.
Tiernan winced but didn't cover his ears when the shrieks returned.
As it had before, the darkness withdrew, slinking back like sentient oil, thick and glossy.
The liquid bubbled furiously, steaming in places.
I cleared an area in sweeping movements and went forward to clear another.
It was slow going, but worked well. Until suddenly, a black whip lashed out at us.
The rope wrapped around Tiernan's ankle.
A lot happened at once.
The King's Guard attacked as one, tossing all manner of mórs at the blight. They rushed forward, surrounding Tiernan and me as best they could, with Thenris getting shoved aside to watch calmly. None of the magic—and it was all impressive—did anything to the blight.
Meanwhile, Tiernan grunted, and light burst from his hand.
But the light wasn't his weapon. It was the shadows cast by the light that bent to his will.
They swept over the inky tendril, shadows over oil.
I hesitated when it looked as if his shadows might succeed in freeing him, but then Tiernan's light went out, and he fell to his knees.
Seconds later, I blasted the black root with my Light as I shouted, “Tiernan!”
At last, the blight shrank back with a whimper.
Tiernan echoed the sound and swayed. Sir Frehar steadied him and then helped Tiernan to his feet.
“Are you all right?” I took Tiernan's hand.
Tiernan took a shuddering breath. “Yes, I'm fine. Let's continue.”