The Quicksilver Faire (2 page)

But Big Nugget and the Crystal Faire were just a stop on her journey. Keelie was really headed to the elven village of Grey Mantle, on Mount Faron, and from there to the fairy High Court. She was on a diplomatic mission. Someone had been giving humans access to magic, and the elves and the fairies were accusing each other of this dangerous deed. Allowing humans to use magic put both the elves and the fae at risk, since preternatural creatures were supposed to keep themselves secret from humans-who, like clumsy children, broke things that fascinated them and which they did not understand.

An angry yowl sounded next to her, and she patted the metal-grate door of the plastic cat carrier strapped to the seat.

Within the darkness of the carrier, large green eyes glowed. Knot the evil kitty pressed his face to the bars and yowled his displeasure again. When she didn't make a move to open the door, he drew back and the carrier heaved and bounced on the chair as if a monster was in it. The elderly woman across the aisle paled in alarm.

Keelie pasted on the fake smile that she'd perfected from dealing with the evil kitty and aimed it at the woman. "He's so playful."

"He seems upset. Is he old? I understand air travel upsets older cats."

Lady, you wouldn't believe. Aloud she only said, "Oh no, but then my dad says you're only as old as you feel."

The old lady nodded. "A wise man." She winked. "Of course, he's probably young too, compared to me."

Keelie upped the wattage on her smile. Her dad, Zekeliel Heartwood, was over three hundred years old, so this seventy-year-old would be like a baby to him. A wrinkly baby with an expensive hair weave and a fleece top that read, "Watch The Skies, They're Coming."

She checked her watch. They should be only minutes from their destination. The flyer for the Crystal Faire crackled in her jeans pocket, and she fished it out and unfolded it on her tray table. The map of the area was marked in thick black pen in her father's angular hand, his stretchedout letters marking where their escort would wait for them at the airport in Yellowknife.

The plane shook once more, then dropped a few feet like a clunky elevator slipping on its chain. Keelie imagined that this was what Mom felt in her last moments. She'd probably thought that the rough ride would soon be over and she'd be back home in Los Angeles with her feet up, sipping a hot cup of tea. Mom's trip had been over soon, all right, but not the way she'd expected.

Had she thought about Keelie in those last moments? The school counselor at Baywood Academy had told her that Mom didn't feel a thing, that she'd died instantly, but Keelie doubted it. She'd watched TV shows about planes going down. There were flames, and screaming, and stuff tossed around the cabins, crashing into people and seats. Mom would have been afraid, and maybe sad.

Her jeans pocket buzzed. She looked around; no one had noticed. She wiped her eyes and jimmied the smooth, oiled-wood cell phone out of her pocket.

This wasn't a real cell phone like her friends in California used. Nope, this was an elven-made phone, and it was charmed to connect all of the forests through the trees, making communications between the technology-phobic elves easier.

She answered cautiously, feeling sure that whatever magic powered the phone would not interfere with the plane's navigation instruments, but hunching over nonetheless. The flight attendant and other passengers wouldn't understand.

"Keelie, what's happening on that plane?" demanded her father's voice.

"Nothing, Dad. We'll be landing soon. Why'd you call? It's illegal, you know."

"You need to stop thinking sad thoughts," her father commanded. He hadn't been quite so bossy before, but he was Lord of the Dread Forest now and it seemed to have gone to his head.

"Dad, I'm on a plane," she whispered. "I'll call when we land and you can give me a pep talk then."

"Keelie, feel the forest-you're broadcasting your fears and grief. I can hear them all the way in Oregon."

Uh oh. Keelie opened her tree sense, the part of her mind that gave her a direct link to the forests. When they'd first gotten to know each other a year ago, Dad had been surprised that her connection to the forests was so strong-her mother was human, and Keelie had grown up far from the woods. But her connection to the trees had grown deeper with every moment Keelie spent with the elves. What she'd thought, as a child, was an extreme allergy to wood turned out to be an affinity that allowed her to identify the origins and species of everything wooden, from toothpicks to doors and furniture. If it was wood, it spoke to her.

She connected to the forest thousands of feet below her, and jumped as she felt the wail of the trees. She extended her touch, then shrank back in her airplane seat as the full force of the trees' anguish flooded her. It seemed familiar, which made it even more horrible as she realized why. It was her grief for Mom, amplified, expanded, and infecting thousands of acres of forest. Not exactly the best way to make a good impression on the Northwoods elves.

"What do I do?" Her voice was hoarse.

"Relax, and link your power to mine."

A thread of green light seemed to wrap itself around her power. The familiar feel of Dad's magic fortified hers, and she let her darker-hued power sink, melting into the sparkling green.

A moment later she felt calm, adrift in peace. Below her, the trees relaxed, quieted. Sorry, she whispered in tree speak.

"Beg pardon?" The old lady leaned across the aisle.

"Just chatting with my cat." Keelie turned off the cell phone and put it away. The chime sounded, but there was no more turbulence.

"We are now approaching Yellowknife Airport," said the captain's calm voice. "Please fasten your seat belts as we start our descent." Twenty minutes later, they landed with a small, anticlimactic bump.

As soon as they were allowed to stand, Sean popped up over the headrest of the seat in front, his blond surfer hair flipped into his eyes. Except he wasn't a surfer. He was a jouster, riding horses for a living in a warrior sport that was old four hundred years ago. He was now the head of the Silver Bough Jousters, his father's troupe, which had headed to the High Mountain Faire in Colorado without him. Keelie knew he resented coming here, but then, so did she. At least they'd get to spend more time together.

"I'll wait for you outside. Everything okay?" His eyes flicked to Knot's cage. The two of them had a rocky history.

"Yeah, now that we're on solid ground," Keelie said. "Where's Elia?" Speaking of rocky.

Sean turned and looked around. He shrugged, lifting an eyebrow.

Keelie and Sean waited until everyone else deplaned, leaving just the crew and someone in the bathroom-likely Elia. Keelie lifted the carrier and looked in at her cat, who stared back impassively. But he couldn't fake his reaction to flying-his eyes were dilated to the size of dimes.

"Poor widdle kiddy scared? Aw."

Knot hissed a promise that she'd pay for making fun of him.

"Don't worry, we'll be off this plane in just a bit." She scrambled out of the row and grabbed her carry-on bag from the overhead bin, then headed down the narrow aisle, making sure to bang the cat carrier against the back of each empty seat. No point wasting the opportunity. The contrary cat's purr filled the cabin.

As they passed the bathroom, Keelie wrinkled her nose at the sound of its occupant being very sick inside. Definitely Elia.

"Gross," she muttered. At least it hadn't happened out where everyone could participate in the nausea.

Blue sky showed through the jet's narrow open door. The air was brisk, and instead of a Jetway to the inside of a concourse, a flight of painted wooden stairs on a wheeled platform led down to a pitted tarmac. Very classy. A colorful bus was being loaded with luggage, everyone from the plane crowding around it.

From the top of the stairs, Keelie saw walls of green forest. The hills and mountains surrounding the valley were densely wooded, a throbbing presence that made her itch as its magic skittered over her skin. Her work awaited her in these mountains-the mission she'd been sent on. According to her father and the Elven Council of the Dread Forest, the High Court fae were on the brink of war with the Northwoods elves over who had caused magic to leak to the humans, and the conflict could spread worldwide in very little time. Despite her inexperience, Keelie's partfairy, part-elf blood made her father think that she was best suited for the job of arbitrator. Other elves disagreed, but Dad was Lord of the Dread Forest. On top of that, Lord Norzan, the tree shepherd of the Northwoods, had specifically requested Keelie. He'd been impressed with what she'd done to save the Redwood Forest.

"You'd think they'd send someone more qualified than a sixteen-year-old mall rat," Keelie muttered aloud. She knew she'd proven herself to be more than a kid, but had no idea where the extent of her powers came from. Knot meowed from inside the crate and she looked at him. "Not from you, furface." The cat was freaky, but not telepathic. At least she didn't think he was. His kitty lips spread in a smile.

"Right. Time to get started. I can't wait to see who Elia's family has sent to greet us." Elia had come on the trip to meet her kin in Grey Mantle.

"Someone nice, I'm sure," Elia said from behind her. Her hair hung in two tight yellow braids and her eyes were as gorgeous as ever, but the elf girl's skin was greenish. She clutched the sides of the plane's doorway.

"You look like you have chlorophyll poisoning, but I know it's morning sickness." Keelie tried to sound sympathetic. "Need some crackers? Maybe there's a vending machine around here."

Elia put her hand over the little swell that bumped out her embroidered tunic. "I swear it was dancing a jig," she moaned.

"Maybe you should have listened to Uncle Dariel and stayed home," Keelie said. Dariel was the Unicorn Lord of the Dread Forest, and he'd stayed behind, cross. Even though Keelie called Dariel "uncle," she just couldn't bring herself to start calling Elia "aunt."

"Dariel wanted me to come," Elia said sharply, her attitude resurfacing. "He wouldn't keep me from meeting my people."

"Yeah, he's nice that way." Keelie picked her way down the rickety steep stairs (pine, with lots of lead paint suffocating the wood).

Sean was standing in front of the long wooden building that occupied one side of the single runway. The bus had rumbled off, leaving them alone. It was like the set of a zombie movie. Keelie joined him, looking around. "I wonder if the elves keep their rescue helicopters here or up in Grey Mantle?" she said. The Northwoods elves were famous for their teams of Healers, who traveled far to aid other elves.

A figure, wearing the Healers of the Northwoods uniform, stepped around the end of the building. Keelie recognized the outfit from the Redwood Forest, when they'd evacuated Norzan. She'd been surprised to see the Healers lift off in a sleek helicopter, a reminder that elves had modern resources even if they sometimes seemed stuck in the Middle Ages.

No helicopter was in evidence anywhere around the airfield.

The Healer elf strode toward them, then bowed. "I'm Miszrial of the Stones, here to drive you to our village." She had thin lips, a beaky nose, and yellow hair scraped back from her face, making her look like a hawk in uniform.

Elia bowed back and Keelie dipped her head. She knew Elia was excited about this visit, a triumphant homecoming for the princess whose pregnancy was cause for celebration across the land. Most elves were infertile, and Elia's offspring would be the first child born to elves since Elia's own birth sixty years before.

Despite her advanced age, Elia looked only a little older than Keelie's sixteen years and probably would stay that way for the next fifty years. Keelie had no idea how long her own life could be, since her mother was mostly human.

Miszrial didn't seem impressed with either of them. She led the way to a strange vehicle, a compact SUV with a roof made up of glassy black solar cells. "Please sit in the back." She bowed, then glared at Sean when he reached for a suitcase. He backed away, hands raised in mock surrender as she started shoving their luggage into the back of the SUV.

Keelie reached across the gated front of the cat carrier and a clawed paw lashed out and snagged her sleeve. She snatched back her arm.

"A fairy cat. It rides in the back."

Keelie grabbed the handle of the carrier. "Knot rides with me," she said firmly.

Sean picked up the cat carrier and shoved it onto the back seat, then stepped aside to allow Keelie to climb in and sit next to it. He followed, taking the spot next to her and closing the door.

Keelie pulled out her elf phone. "I'm going to call Dad and tell him we're here."

Miszrial rolled her eyes and opened the front door for Elia, who held out an arm, silently asking for assistance. Miszrial helped her in.

Elia lifted her chin. "Call him if you wish, Keliel, but if I were you, I'd wait until we reach Grey Mantle. You'll be able to tell him about the unique Northwoods Ceremony of Welcome. I hope you don't feel slighted when they honor me."

Keelie gritted her teeth. "Don't start. We've managed to get along this far, and I'd hate to tell Uncle Dariel that I decked his pregnant wife."

The elf girl's chilly smile flicked up the corners of her mouth like tiny commas. "You wouldn't hurt me. You're too kind." She said "kind" the way others said "dog poop."

"You're probably right. I'd probably sic Knot on you."

Elia's eyes widened briefly before settling back to their bored stare. Keelie grinned. Score one for the half-elven mongrel. Sean poked her in the ribs, making her stifle a snort.

Miszrial drove toward the paved road, turned left, then pointed the SUV toward the forested mountains.

Unlike the Redwood Forest she'd just left, these woods didn't seem threatening to Keelie. She opened her tree sense a crack, then wider when she felt the welcoming green of the trees around her. All the anxiety she'd transferred onto them was forgotten. To think that just a year ago she'd thought trees were frightening, that she'd dismissed the magical buzzing that danced over her skin as an allergy.