Chapter 11 Ivy
Ivy
I don’t return to the mountain until dusk. Apart from the embarrassing encounter with Tegwyn in the woods, I had a surprisingly pleasant day.
However, I couldn’t stop thinking about my parents the whole time I was out on the slope, making a wreath of flowers for my hair.
Anything to take my mind off the day.
Anything to stop me from spiralling down the path of despair. Wherever my mother and father are, I hope they’re happy. I hope they’re not hurt.
I pause at the threshold of the kitchen, taken aback by the sight of Tegwyn with his dirty boots on the table.
Sometimes, I forget how alarming he is. His bright golden eyes gleam in the dark of the cave, reminding me of the eyes of an apex predator.
Once upon a time, those brilliant eyes used to captivate me, visiting me every night. But then I soon realised that the dream had been an illusion all along.
I grimace as he noisily chews on a quail leg. He really is a sight for weary eyes. Maybe I should paint him in his finest moment.
Yet, as messy as he is, I keep stealing glances at his horns. They are majestic, and I guess there is still some beauty to be found in this cruel world.
“What?” he grouses, glaring at me sideways.
I shake my head, coming back to my senses. “Nothing. I was just thinking.”
He scoffs, taking another bite from his quail leg. “Well, think somewhere else.”
Once he’s finished, he tosses the bird’s remains in the empty hearth, then picks at his teeth with a claw.
So uncouth.
I forget he is Rogue at times—Rogue Fae aren’t known for being as cultured as their Seelie and Unseelie counterparts.
Finally, he offers me his undivided attention, falling as still as a statue.
I raise a brow. “Are you all right?”
He takes a moment, swallowing several times. Then he wipes his greasy mouth, and I’m pretty sure I spy a red blush beneath the golden-green hue of his skin.
A smile spreads across my face. “Are you blushing?”
He mutters something unintelligible, and I step closer. “Pardon?”
The faerie sighs, rolling his eyes towards the stalactites, “I said, nice flowers.”
Alarmed, I reach up, brushing my fingers over my flower wreath, and now my own complexion takes on a reddish shade. “Thank you.”
A painful silence stretches in the vast space between us, and just when I thought that things couldn’t get any more awkward.
What else are we to discuss? We don’t have anything in common.
I go to take off my cloak, but then he stops me, getting to his feet. “No. Keep it on. You’re going to need it.”
I wrap it back around my shoulders. “What for?”
A mischievous glint gleams in his eyes. “It’s a surprise. Follow me.”
He shoots towards the exit, and I startle, moving after him. Now our only source of light is his glowing eyes as we meander through the dark.
I try to keep close. He may be a little scary and messy at times, but I would rather not lose him to the shadows. Besides, I still find his scent pleasant, like pine and wood smoke.
“Have you had anything to eat?” he asks casually.
All I spy are his shining eyes, and once again, those vertical pupils regard me with indifference. It’s quite rare to see the whites of his eyes. Only when he is particularly mad, they show.
“I had a few berries earlier,” I reply.
Tegwyn sighs. “Suppose they’ll do.”
We continue down the tunnel, and I’m not sure how much time passes by the time we reach the slope. Under the cool blanket of night, we descend, and I shiver the whole way down, tightening my cloak around my body. “Where are we going?”
“Out.”
Fog escapes my mouth. “A little more clarification would be nice.”
He smirks that evil smirk, tapping the end of his upturned nose. Then he’s on the march again, showing off his impressive stealth.
I’m not as surefooted as he is, and I find myself stumbling several times, using trees as an aid. All the while, I search the shadows, worrying my bottom lip about bugbears. Once or twice, I spy a dark shape in the corner of my eye, but it turns out to be a harmless bush.
Just a few more yards, and I’ll be at the foot of the mountain.
Tegwyn is already waiting for me by the time I get there, leaning against a tree. He checks his claws rather impatiently. “I was wondering when you’d finally show.”
I toss him a withering look, doubling over as I gasp for breath. “Well, I’m here now. No need to worry about me.”
“I wasn’t worried.”
He vanishes into the inky darkness again, and I just about manage to keep up. When he chuckles, I glare at the back of his head. He really is heartless.
“Don’t worry, human. We’re almost there. No need to piss your knickers.”
I ignore his rude comment, gazing around the forest. All I see are moonlit trees.
“Where—?”
He pauses, holding up a finger. “Just listen...”
So, I listen.
A lone vixen barks in the night, and then an owl hoots upon his perch in a shadowed tree. But there’s not much else to be heard.
“I don’t hear anything.”
“Of course you don’t. You’re mortal, but just stop and truly listen…”
I roll my eyes. “Listen for what?"
“A shift in the wind…”
Okay. Now he is talking like a crazy person.
Still, I listen for the shift. Nothing happens.
I’m about to reprimand him when wind whips through the trees. It almost sounds like whispering—the ghosts of children who’ve long departed this world—and I grab onto Tegwyn’s cloak.
A smile sneaks across his impish face, yellow eyes burning like embers. What does he find so amusing? “What?”
He sniggers. “I just wanted to see the expression on your face. Seldom mortals have ventured this land, and those who have… well, they barely make it out alive.”
My brows knit together. “Land?”
“Look around.”
I do as he says, gasping when I crane my neck to gaze at a towering behemoth of trees.
The forest has changed—giant redwoods have taken the place of pines, their twisting roots stretching across the moss-strewn ground like the limbs of a mighty Kraken.
“Come along, and do mind the tree roots.”
I gaze at him, horrified. “Where are we?”
The smug faerie tosses me a conspiratorial glance. “Just follow me, human.”
He steps over the roots with ease, while I trail behind him like the bumbling human I am. I lose him several times, but before the panic has a chance to sink its nasty fangs in, I spy his horned silhouette.
There’s no missing his voice, either. “While we’re young, Ivy.”
I look across at him. He leans against a particularly large root several feet away, tapping at a broken pocket watch. “Do try to keep up. You don’t want to spend too long out here.”
I finally catch up, bending forward to plant my hands on my knees. “And where is here, exactly?”
Tegwyn points a gloved finger at a glowing square of light in the distance. It’s a window.
“Who lives there?”
“You’ll find out. Watch yourself. It’s a rough establishment. Avoid eye contact with the other patrons, and you may just leave with your limbs intact.”
I give a nervous smile. “How reassuring.”
We hover along the edge of a clearing, gazing at a colossal house made from ancient stone. Its thatched roof is covered in moss, and it appears to be sunken on one side. I eye the giant door, the one choked in thorns and poison ivy.
My lip shakes. “Erm… Tegwyn?”
“Yes?” He turns my way, yellow eyes burning.
“What… what kind of people live here?”
He laughs, throwing up his hood, and now his eyes glow beneath the thick cowl. “It’s best you throw yours up, too.”
I take him up on his advice, following him towards the stone building. When we approach the door, we crane our necks.
A gulp bobs down my throat. Now that is one big door…
There are smaller doors fixed inside the larger, and the tiniest has to be as big as my thumbnail.
Tegwyn pushes the door that matches our height and slips inside, letting the sound of raucous voices pool into the night.
With a deep breath, I prepare myself, then follow him inside.
All sound diminishes the second we step into the building, and all I can see is a sea of shadowy faces with glowing eyes.
One or two shadows bear a set of sharp teeth, and then I’m met with a myriad of fanged smiles.
I make a beeline for the door, but then I crash face-first into a wall that wasn’t there previously. My skin turns as white as frost as horror finally sinks in.
I am trapped with no way out.
Tegwyn coughs for my attention, and slowly, I face the room. So many angry faeries, watching me from every darkened corner of the room. There is no way I am going to make it out of here alive tonight.
Now I am nothing more than a corpse faced with a murder of crows.