The Iron Locket (The Risen King) (3 page)

"Stop." Arthur's command brought immediate silence from the grovelling knight and all those around him. His hands were wet and it took him a moment to realize that Lancelot was crying. "Rise."

Lancelot stood and dropped Arthur's hands, standing before the king with glistening eyes and a heavy heart. Arthur examined him, the man who was his best friend and confidant before the beautiful blond woman who was his queen ripped their friendship asunder. Arthur shook his head before he reached out. Lancelot flinched as Arthur's hands came toward him until Arthur wrapped his arms around his shoulders.

"Come here, my friend. Let us let bygones be bygones and forget the wrongs of the past. We were once the closest of allies. Let us remember those days and move on from there. Anything that happened in between is long forgotten and shall never be mentioned again."

Lancelot grinned and returned the bear hug, clenching his teeth to keep the tears of joy from overflowing. "You are a great king, and an even better man. I thank you for being such a good friend and I am happy to get the chance to serve you once again." His dark eyes took on a thoughtful look. "Speaking of serving again, to what do we owe the pleasure of having risen from the grave to see our friends again? This is a strange place and these women are beyond comprehensible beauty. There is something different about them, something not quite human."

Arthur turned to his knights and addressed them all. The words came forth without his bidding, revealing secrets he did not realize he had known. "Welcome back from the dead, my friends... my brothers. Together we have fought many battles, some of blood and death, some of a more personal nature. But we have all been brought here once more to wage a bigger battle, one that will test us more than ever before. We will need to work as one, we will need to trust each other, and we will need to rely on each other. We cannot allow past grievances to get in the way of what must be done. What happened in the past is gone, finished, never to return. We are new men and we are given a new chance at life. Let us make the most of this opportunity and handle the task at hand with dignity, honor, and loyalty."

Several of the men nodded, while others sounded out with resounding "here here"s.

Galahad raised his hand. "If I may be so bold, what is this task that is going to test the strength of more than a dozen of the greatest knights to ever live?"

Arthur opened his mouth to answer and shut it immediately. He had no clue. All he knew, deep in his gut, was that some of the men around him would not see the end. And they would not rise again.

*~*~*

THREE

*~*~*

"That is a question for me, my darling boy." Titania appeared beside Arthur. He eyed the woman, realizing just then that neither she, nor any faeries, had been present while the knights were greeting each other.

"And you are?" Kay's eyes were narrowed and his arms crossed. His pale lips were set in a scowl that demanded an answer or challenge.

Titania met his gruff demeanor with grace, her opened arms wide in a welcoming gesture. "I am Titania, Queen of the Southern Faeries. I welcome you to the land of Faery, home of the elven kind, your residence for the last two millenia. I hope you found your stay comfortable and to your liking."

Her smile did not fade but her eyes held a powerful threat that Kay did not miss. His scowl deepened, but he kept his lips pressed tight. Titania turned her attention to the rest of the group. "As Arthur mentioned, you have been brought here for a purpose. Faery is under attack from a vile opponent, someone who knows our most inner workings and has been privy some of the most private meetings and sensitive information. Someone who we trusted to be on our side no matter the situation. They turned on us, betrayed us. The audacity they have shown in their attacks, the faeries they have killed..."

Her voice had grown hard and a snarl pulled at one corner of her upper lip. Her blue eyes were dark, a storm raging within them. Her hands clenched at her sides and Arthur quirked an eyebrow when he saw blood dripping onto the ground from her closed fists. The skies turned gray as clouds rolled in and thunder echoed overhead. An invisible gust of wind swirled around the Southern Queen, her anger taking palpable shape.

With visible effort, Titania closed her eyes and inhaled deeply as a red-haired woman approached her. The woman was just as beautiful with her fair skin and emerald eyes, but her beauty held a softness that Titania did not possess. Her manner was tender and loving as she soothed the flustered queen. Her voice was lilting with a hint of Irish and when she spoke a wave of calmness washed over the knights. "There now, Titania. Save your hatred and anger. You will need it later. Do not waste it on idle angst."

Titania took several deep breaths and nodded. The storm raging in her eyes and in the skies above cleared, revealing the bright blue once more. She gently squeezed the other woman's shoulder before looking toward the knights. "You must win this war or all is lost," Titania said, her voice low and pleading. She was silent a moment, then she walked several paces away and stood with her back to the group, looking out at the forest surrounding them.

The red-haired woman's smile reached out to caress the hearts of the men and set their bodies glowing with warmth and love. She clasped the delicate fabric of her sheer dress with long, thin fingers. It was the color of a sunset and the patterns shifted as she moved. It tinkled as if embedded with miniature crystals. Her perfectly shaped nails were bright orange, miniature tangerines on the tips of her fingers. She curtsied elegantly before Arthur as she raised her eyes coyly toward him.

"Arthur, king of Camelot, leader of a thousand knights, legend centuries beyond his time. What a pleasure it is to finally meet you face to face." Arthur's heart thumped heavily in his chest and his breath came hard and fast. His mind refused to form a coherent sentence, so he simply returned her compliments with a nod. The lady rose and surveyed the other dozen men surrounding their king. "Knights of the greatest caliber sit before me today, pulled from their own world and thrust into another time, ready to take on whatever may come with a bravery no longer seen in these lands." She raised her arms as if to embrace them all with her love and compassion. "I am Oonagh, Queen of the East."

"You should be called the Queen of Melodrama." Another lady joined them, as powerful and dangerous as Titania, though her skin was pale white, her eyes and hair raven black, and her lips blood red.

Oonagh's smile did not fade. Instead she turned to the new arrival and embraced her as she had Titania. "Mab, my darling. So wonderful of you to see you. We had feared the worst when you were late to raise the knights."

Mab waved a dismissive hand at the other queen. The motion revealed a rip in the arm of her black riding jacket and a drop of icy blue blood fell to the earth. When it hit the grass, the blades it touched froze instantly, turning frosty white and snapping off in the wind. "It was nothing. A few of Lea's minions had the audacity to try to waylay me on my path." Her vicious smile revealed teeth as white as freshly fallen snow. "They make wonderful decorations on the way to my castle now."

Oonagh's smile wavered slightly. "Lovely." The distaste bled through her voice, but it only made Mab's wicked grin grow wider. Oonagh clapped a hand over her chest. "Oh my, how rude we are. My darling knights, please give me the honor of introducing to you Queen Mab, ruler of the North, commander of ice and snow."

Mab nodded once toward the men, all of whom stared at the ice queen with a wide-eyed respect. "Welcome to Faery," she said by way of greeting. "I would say enjoy your stay, but I doubt many of you will." Her eyes settled on Kay. "You might."

Arthur looked sidelong at his foster brother, throwing him a questioning glance. Kay was entranced by the queen, though, and his gaze did not waver from hers until she broke the contact.

"I see Titania is still struggling with this." Mab's cold gaze shifted to the Southern Queen.

Oonagh glanced toward the golden queen, standing on the hill where Lancelot's coffin had been barely an hour before. "Yes, she is finding it hard to cope, having lost those dear to her. I fear if we do not end this quickly, it may be a fight to keep the South from falling into the hands of the enemy." Pulling her stare away from Titania, she addressed Mab directly. "Isobel is at the castle, making it ready for the knights."

"Good," Mab said as she leaned over to readjust a riding boot. "I will head over there and finish the preparations. How long do you think they will be here?"

Oonagh cocked her head, her copper locks cascading over her shoulder in large curling waves. "Oh, not long. I will brief them before we prepare them for the ride. Then we will meet you there."

"Very well." Mab's cool gaze slid over the knights as if appraising each and every one of them individually. Satisfied, she nodded once and whistled. A steed the color of the blackest night appeared, stomping and snorting as he pawed at the ground. His eyes were flames and the air in front of him grew white with frost when he blew out a breath. He had no saddle or reins, but Mab swung herself up onto his back with the greatest of ease and sat tall upon his shoulders. She looked down over the knights. "Do not fail us."

With those final words, she gripped the horse's pearl white mane and yanked him around. He reared and screamed before sprinting away so fast his large hooves barely touched the ground beneath him.

Oonagh's lips were pressed together as she watched the Queen of the North disappear into the trees. When the last white hair was no longer visible, she turned to the knights with a wry smile on her face. "And she calls me the queen of drama."

The knights grinned at her, unable to resist the draw of her charm. She settled onto the ground in front of them with her legs in a lotus shape and clasped her hands in her lap. Those in the back row of chairs rearranged themselves so they could see her as other faeries brought in plates of food for the starving men. They left and her smiled dropped. As it faded, clouds rolled in to cover the sun's beaming light.

"Now I am going to share with you the story of Leanansidhe, the most wicked faery to walk the land."

*~*~*

"Lea!" The young princess's golden curls bounced as she ran through the woods, ducking around trees and skirting bushes. "Lealea, where are you?"

"Over here," came the soft, mournful cry.

Titania climbed over a fallen log near the river as she veered toward her friend's voice. Leanansidhe was covered in mud, her pretty blue dress ripped at the bottom. She sat on the riverbank, cradling a water nymph in her arms.

"Oh, Tani," she sobbed as Titania approached. "She's in so much pain. Look, Tani."

She lifted the faery up, holding her out for the princess's inspection. The nymph was missing an arm, ripped off by one of the creatures that prowled the water.

Titania knelt beside her friend. "We should take her to mother."

Leanansidhe shook her head, her long dark hair flying about. "No, let's take her to my father. He can fix her."

Together they walked back through the woods, picking their way carefully to Leanansidhe's home where her father, the queen's chief medical adviser, could tend to the wounded creature.

*~*~*

7 years later

*~*~*

"What do you need those for?" Titania leaned over the desk. Leanansidhe was on the other side, stuffing some of the dissecting tools they had just finished using into her pocket.

"Oh, nothing. I thought my father might be able to use them."

Titania narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips together. Leanansidhe was her best friend, but she was worried. Lea had shown an unusual interest in their anatomy classes, going into the dissections with a gusto Titania could never hope to muster. The thought of slicing open those dead animals had made her stomach queasy, especially as she watched the thrill and excitement on Lea's face during the operations.

"I bet he has plenty already," she said, hoping her friend wasn't keen on continuing her studies at home.

Lea shot her a glare and finished tucking the tools away before she picked up her bag and walked out the door, effectively ending the conversation.

*~*~*

5 years later

*~*~*

"Quick, over there." Leanansidhe pointed toward the north with her blade as she spurred her horse on through the woods.

Titania smacked her own steed with the bow she held in her hand. "Do not lose him," she cried as she raced to keep up with her friend and fellow guard. They had both been assigned to the palace guard upon completing their studies, despite Leanansidhe's desire to join her father in his work. Titania was thankful, not only to have a friend at her side, but that Leanansidhe was kept away from the laboratory.

"I see him." Lea's mount leapt over a log just as Titania spotted the flowing white hair darting through the woods. They were on the hunt for a snow sprite, a trespasser in their lands, suspected spy of Mab, Queen of the North.

Titania raised her bow without slowing the horse down. As the sprite broke from the trees into a small clearing, she took careful aim and let the arrow fly.