Faery Born (Book One in the War Faery Trilogy) (19 page)

Oh buzznuckle.
This
so
was not good.

Her eyes became black with the eerie-red circle I remembered so well. She threw back her head in a triumphant laugh as she finished her transformation.

‘Surprise,’ she said, grinning at me with her pointy teeth.

I couldn’t believe it. All this time? All this time Isgranelda had been Galanta? It made no sense at all.

‘So, is this when I get to kill you?’ My voice sounded braver than I felt. The memory of her melting her knife into my skin still haunted me.

‘This is when you get to try.’

Scruffy’s barks became vicious as he snarled and leapt at her with snapping jaws. Suddenly, he was gone from the bubble. He appeared beside my feet, hair bristling out of the top of his tuxedo as he bared his teeth and growled.

He attacked, latching onto her ankle with his sharp little teeth. She snarled and swung back her foot, shaking it from side-to-side. He flew off, letting out a yowl as he smacked into a rock. I ran towards him but he pushed himself up, shook his head a couple of times, and launched himself at her again.

This time she lifted her arm and stabbed down towards him with the tip of her sword.

‘No,’ I shrieked. Rage roared through me as I raced towards them. I threw out my hands and her sword smacked into an invisible barrier an inch from his back. I wrapped him back up in his bubble and tossed him into the air.

‘Not my dog, you
bitch.’
I threw myself at her.

Stuff this stabbing people thing; I wanted to feel my fists pounding into her flesh.

Darting inside the reach of her sword, I palmed her in the face, slamming her head back. Before she could recover I twisted her sword arm until her weapon fell from her fingers. Then I balled my hand and smacked her in the head as hard as I could. Blood flew as her nose snapped to the side.

I followed it up with a flurry of fists; pummelling into her with all my might.

Torture me? Try to kill my dog?

I growled as I smacked her. The feel of my fists beating her flesh satisfied my urge to hurt her.

‘Instimo,’ she gasped as I grabbed her hair with one hand. I lifted my other arm to punch her but it was like moving through molasses. Slower and slower my arm went until I couldn’t move it at all.

‘Ha,’ she said, and she punched me in the gut.

If I could have, I would have bowed over with the pain. As it was I fought against my invisible bonds as she punched me again and again. I choked in air, struggling to breathe around my burning chest.

She stopped and straightened her crooked nose. Pushing it back into place she wiped away the blood on the back of her arm. Then she picked up her sword and waved it in front of me. ‘This ends
now.’

I grappled with her spell, desperately feeling along the edges of it with my mind. There. I could feel the join where she had melded the air around me. I flowed into it, stretching it and pushing it until finally, it fell away. Screeching, I dived to the side as her sword swept through where I had been standing.

I spat some blood out of my mouth and pulled Wilfred’s dagger out of the holster. Holding it high I faced off against her.

‘Just like a witch to bring a knife to a sword fight.’ She waved her sword at me.

‘It’s knife to a gun fight, stupid.’

She snarled as we circled each other. I risked a quick peep at Aethan. Was his chest moving? I couldn’t be sure.

She launched the first attack. Letting out a blood-curdling scream she drove the tip of her sword right at my chest. I ducked to the side, and her thrust carried her past me. I kicked out, managing to hook one of her feet. She tripped and staggered towards where Aethan lay. As if he weren’t there, she swung back to face me.

Why
hadn’t
she killed him? What was she waiting for?

I moved around the area, staying on the balls of my feet to minimise the instability caused by the broken glass slipper. She looked down at my feet and burst out laughing. ‘Why are you wearing those?’

‘Glass slippers?’ I asked as if it were the most normal thing in the world. ‘You should try some. They’re very comfortable.’

‘They don’t look very robust.’ She flicked her blade down and pointed at the broken heel.

‘I broke that off in one of your warrior’s chests,’ I said. ‘Such a shame. These were my favourite.’

She spat in my direction. ‘Think you’re so clever,’ she sneered. ‘You don’t realise I’ve got you in a double bind.’

I had no idea what she was talking about. That made me nervous.

‘No matter what you do tonight you will lose.’ She laughed like it was the funniest thing ever.

I couldn’t see how that could be true. Either I lost and she killed me, or I won and killed her.

‘You must choose between him,’ she flicked her head in Aethan’s direction, ‘or yourself.’

Double bind, him or me? I hated cryptic sentences.

‘Shut up and fight.’ I threw myself at her, slashing the air with my dagger. She darted away and I leapt into the air to land behind her. She twirled faster than should be possible, bringing her sword up to block my thrust. I kicked her in the chest, and forced her back.

As I swung and slashed, parried and blocked, the strangest feeling crept over me. Tingling. Starting at my head and working its way down my body. I ignored it as long as I could but then it changed to prickles.

‘What are you doing to me?’ She raked her arms with her nails.

‘Nothing.’ I gritted my teeth as invisible ants crawled over me. Scruffy whined as he scratched and nipped at himself.

‘Stop it.’ Galanta hopped up and down on the spot, slapping herself with the palms of her hands.

‘I’m not doing it.’ I jiggled side-to-side trying to rid myself of the sensation. Pins and needles prickled my whole body. Scruffy spun around and around, trying to bite his tail.

She tore her nails through her dreadlocks, scratching as if she had a bad case of nits. Her talons had left long welts down her arms. Blood trickled from a couple of them.

As suddenly as it had come on me it was gone. Instead of my torn ball dress I wore the outfit I’d had on that afternoon. I glanced up at Scruffy who was naked except for his black, studded collar. He was contentedly licking his balls.

Galanta ran in circles, slapping at her body as if she were on fire. She collapsed on the ground, writhing like a serpent. ‘Make it stop,’ she begged.

I almost felt sorry for her, but then I remembered her burning me and all feelings of pity went out of my head. I knew I should finish her off while she was down, but I couldn’t. Not in cold blood. If the situations were reversed I had no doubt she would have, but I wasn’t her. I wasn’t a monster.

A shimmering light glowed over her, encasing her from head to foot. She screamed again and again, spasming in time with her shrieks. And then finally, the screaming stopped, the shimmering vanished, and she lay there, dressed in a white, crystal gown and glass slippers.

I couldn’t help myself, I burst out laughing.

‘What have you done to me?’ If I’d thought she’d been mad before, she was in a total rage now.

‘I didn’t do anything.’ I stepped back as she climbed unsteadily to her feet. ‘It’s a spell that was cast on me. It seems to have stuck itself to you.’

She looked down at the gown with a disgusted look on her face. ‘How long will it last?’

‘I’m only guessing,’ I warned her, ‘but probably till midnight tomorrow night.’

She took a step towards me, wobbling on the high heels. Snarling, she tried to yank them off.

‘They won’t come off till then.’ I was trying to memorise every detail so I could share it with Aethan when he woke up. ‘If it’s any consolation,’ I said, ‘you look lovely.’

‘I don’t look lovely,’ she yelled. ‘I look
hideous.’

‘Oh well, that’s just
my
opinion. Why don’t you go and ask your warriors?’

At the mention of them, her face took on a look of horror. ‘I can’t allow them to see me like this,’ she said. And then she turned and sprinted towards the edge of the cliff. I watched as she propelled herself off the side, and then rushed to watch her rapid descent to the ravine below.

She disappeared long before she reached the bottom. One minute she was falling, and the next she was gone.

I rushed to Aethan, kneeling beside him to check for a pulse. It was there beneath my fingertips. I breathed a sigh of relief. I wasn’t too late.

I called him and shook him, and, when that didn’t work, I slapped his face. But nothing that I did could wake him. Galanta’s words on the double bind entered my head but I pushed them aside. I refused to be blinded by her callous words.

What should I do? I couldn’t carry him all the way back, and I didn’t want to leave him in case a goblin showed up.

I reached up and pushed his hair back from his face. It felt as soft as it looked. I traced a finger over the top of one pointed ear, and then, feeling voyeuristic, I did what I had wanted to since the first time I’d seen him. I ran my hands through his hair.

My hands brushed the rock under his head and sharp edgings caught at my fingertips. Gently, I lifted his head. Words were etched into the stone. I shuffled him sideways across the stone so I could read them.

Only blood can let me live,

Only blood can set me free.

Blood of my own one true love,

Or of a descendant born of me.

Huh?
Did the poem have anything to do with the spell on Aethan?

I pondered the words. It was obviously a call for blood but I was pretty sure I didn’t satisfy the rules.

He was a distant cousin though. Did that count?

I poised the tip of the dagger over my wrist, gasping as the sharp blade penetrated the soft skin. Blood welled to the surface and I turned my arm so that the first drips landed on the words inscribed in the stone. They sizzled as they landed.

My blood pooled on the rock, boiling and bubbling. Then it sank, disappearing into the stone until it was gone. There was not even a stain to show it had been there.

I heard the tremor before I felt it. From deep within the earth, the rumble worked its way to the surface where it ruptured the rock, cleaving it into two pieces.

Aethan and I were tossed to the side. He landed on top of me, the weight of his body forcing me down. Cold air flowed from the fracture. It wound around me, caressing me with its icy touch. It chilled me to the core of my heart and sent a shiver of fear down my spine. And then, just when I was wondering what I had done, Aethan opened his beautiful eyes and looked straight into mine.

I heard a click deep inside and my two halves flowed together. My memories meshed into one perfect whole. I felt things, I saw things, I knew things I hadn’t known before. But somehow it was as if I had always known.

Like two decks of cards being spliced together, the memories flicked into order.

I knew Aethan. I
knew
him. With every cell in my body, every fibre of my core. We had hunted, we had fought, we had laughed, we had loved.

The irony he had tried to tell me about? In our hearts, and our minds, we were already betrothed. I was bonded to him and him to me.

I laughed as I reached for him, crushing his lips to mine. It had been too long since I’d held him. Too long since I’d tasted him. I breathed him in as our lips moved and our tongues touched. I needed more of him, always more of him.

I pushed my hands up under his shirt and ran them over the glory of his body. So hard, so strong, so mine.

He broke the kiss, leaning back so his weight was off me.

‘I remember,’ I said. ‘All of it.’

He cleared his throat and tilted his head to the side. ‘This is all very nice,’ he said, giving me the cheeky grin I loved so much. ‘But… do I know you?’

He was joking. He
had
to be joking.

‘Where are we?’ He pushed himself up and held a hand out to help me. ‘The last thing I remember is fighting goblins.’

A double bind. She’d said she had me in a double bind.

‘With me,’ I said. ‘You were fighting them with me.’

He shook his head. ‘I left the ball to get some fresh air. They came over the wall and surrounded me. I was alone.’

Air left my lungs and I sagged back onto the broken stone. She’d said I would choose between him and me.

Tears slid from my eyes. He didn’t remember me. I ached to hold him but his eyes beheld a stranger.

I had found him and lost him in the space of a heartbeat.

‘Why are you crying?’ His perfect face held only concern.

‘Ummm. I’m happy you’re alive,’ I said, wiping my arm across my eyes. ‘We’d better get out of here. The others will be worried.’

‘Ahhh,’ he peered over my shoulder, ‘why is there a dog floating behind you?’

‘Scruffy is my familiar.’

‘You’re a witch?’

‘Half,’ I said.

Great Dark Sky, he didn’t remember me.

‘I hate to have to ask this,’ his embarrassment was palpable, ‘but I don’t know your name.’

I tried not to cry but traitorous tears leaked down my face. ‘It’s Izzy.’ I could feel my heart ripping into a million pieces. ‘Isadora.’

‘Well Isadora, which way do we go?’

He
never
called me Isadora.

‘That way.’ I pointed towards the head of the path, turning away so he couldn’t see my face.

Gone. All gone.

The ache in my chest threatened to crush my lungs. I tried to suck in air, but it wouldn’t come. Bright lights danced before my eyes as my knees buckled.

‘Are you okay?’ He shook my shoulder gently.

‘Aethan.’ The shout came from the pathway. A few seconds later a contingent of the Border Guard rounded the corner. They spread out over the open space, their weapons drawn.

‘I thought I’d lost you son.’ King Arwyn pulled Aethan into a rough embrace.

Wilfred reached a hand out to me and pulled me back to my feet. They had been bare when the Cinderella spell had struck and now sharp stones dug into them.

‘Oh Willy,’ I cried, throwing myself into his arms.

Is this how he had felt when I hadn’t remembered him? Like his heart was being ripped from his chest?