Allegiance (15 page)

‘I
really
should have asked her to be more specific,’ I said after a while. Smooth flat stones of every colour lined up along the bank and tumbled together into the stream. I kicked one into the water, stubbing my toe and sending ripples across the surface.

‘Well, it won’t be down there,’ Leif laughed. ‘Nothing would remain of any note hidden so close to the water’s edge after all these years.’

I moved to where he was searching on the bank. We spent the next half hour or so pinching and annoying each other as we worked.

Eventually I spied a pale yellow stone near the base of a broad tree trunk, peeking from beneath the fern I was holding aside. Excited, I called Leif over and, putting my back to the fern, began to dig, smacking Leif’s hand away when he tried to help. He chuckled and I looked up and grinned. ‘There’s no way you’re stealing my glory!’ I told him. Smiling, he bowed low before stepping back to wait. After more digging, I moved the stone aside and a slender rectangle of smooth wood was revealed. I dug around the edges and, a few minutes later, plucked the narrow box from the soil and removed the lid. Inside was a pale pink scroll. I looked at Leif and grinned. ‘Ta-da!’

He grinned back. ‘You’ve done it, Marla.’

‘Not yet,’ I told him as I tucked the box under my arm and reached for the tiny bottle I’d stashed in his pocket before we left. He angled his hip towards me, laughing as I reached around to first pinch his bum through the thin fabric of his pants. I took the bottle out and removed the stopper. A flowery scent wafted into the air. I handed both bottle and lid to Leif. He watched as I unrolled the letter, then sprinkled the liquid onto the paper. After a minute or two, words began to appear on the page.

Speaking Fae was one thing—it was as natural to me as English—but reading those curly little squiggles was trickier. I gave up when I got frustrated with my lack of speed, handing the note to Leif.

The letter gave an account of how Maia’s just born daughter was taken from her parents’ home by the Shadow King and the next day switched with a human infant—the fourth child in a family called Summers. The letter also gave the name of the hospital she’d been taken from and the address of the family’s home in North America. Upon their return from Earth, Arelle and Elad waited for dark to come before taking the human child to Maia and Armand, where they were met by the Shadow King who confused the new parents into accepting the human infant as their own. And so Ameyah became Claudette and Claudette, Ameyah. After recording the details of the event, Maia and Armand had Mirresen make them forget.

When he’d finished reading, Leif folded the note and stashed it in his pocket.

‘Do you believe in the Shadow King now?’ I asked him.

‘This letter has to be a cover, Marla.’

‘For who?’

‘We’ll probably never know.’

‘But if it’s not true, Leif, how did Arelle and Elad get away with lying to your father? Aren’t the Fae compelled to tell the truth to their king?’

‘There are ways around it.’

‘Which are?’

Leif hesitated for just a fraction of a moment before saying, ‘Come, we should make haste if we are to ask Jack if he wishes to come to Faera and still be back in time to visit with Maia and Armand.’

Of course Jack wanted to come to Faera and, after inventing a story involving a celebratory end of school trip for the benefit of his parents, we dropped into my place to check on my family.

Mum and Dad had just returned from grocery shopping when we arrived and, aside from a slight gloom permeating the air, all was well. My father remembered nothing of King Telophy’s early morning visit. As far as he was concerned, Leif had arrived to collect me as arranged. Relieved everything seemed to be okay between Leif and Jack, I left them in the living room to chat with Dad and went to help Mum put the shopping away.

‘Where’s Ash?’ I asked her.

She frowned and handed me the milk and cheese. ‘In the bathroom dyeing her hair.’

I put the food in the fridge. ‘Really?’

Mum sighed and looked to the ceiling. ‘Little bugger waited for me to go out to get started.’

‘Is she okay?’

‘She’s annoyed because we told her she couldn’t go to her friend’s eighteenth tonight.’ She handed me a tray of sausages. I held them away from me as I put them in the fridge.

‘Who’s the friend?’ I asked.

‘That’s the problem, we don’t know. He doesn’t like meeting people apparently.’

‘I’ll go talk to her.’

‘Good luck,’ she said handing me a packet of toilet paper.

I found Ashleigh massaging dye into her hair with gloved hands. I dropped the toilet paper and jumped back from the bathroom door, covering my face with my arm as the caustic odour prickled my nose. I noticed the packaging on the floor by her feet. ‘Black?’

She looked at me, one eyebrow raised. ‘You got a problem with that?’

I shrugged. ‘Why would I?’

‘Good.’ She went back to her reflection. ‘Cos you have no idea what it’s like living with red hair.’

‘But you’ve got gorgeous hair!’ She gave me a look and I hurried on. ‘So… who’s this guy anyway?’

She tilted her head in the direction of the living room. ‘Did
they
send you in?’

‘No.’

Eventually she said, ‘He’s no one you know—name’s Matt.’

‘Boyfriend?’

She began combing the dye through her curls. ‘Yeah but if you tell Mum and Dad, I’ll deny it.’

A lump rose in my throat as memories of Jason and how easily he’d taken advantage of her returned.

‘Be careful, okay?’

She frowned. ‘Do I look like I can’t take care of myself?’

Yes.
‘Ash.’

She stopped combing and turned to me. ‘What?’

I would have given her a hug but there was no way I could get any closer to that hair dye. ‘I’m worried about you.’

She returned to the mirror. ‘It’s not fair they won’t let me go to the party tonight. You get to do whatever you want while I have to stay here and rot.’ Her voice was hard and tight. She wrapped her hair in a towel and shut the door.

I left my family feeling like I’d let them down somehow—the unhappy sensation followed me all the way to the Kingdom of Telophy. Jack’s reaction when we arrived, however, soon gave me something else to focus on. Leif must have pictured the castle grounds when we left Constantine, because when we tumbled from the sunbeams we landed beneath a huge old tree, its gnarled limbs spreading low and far and filled with tiny birds rustling their minty feathers and gold wings as they hopped from branch to branch singing to each other. Jack’s jaw dropped as he took it all in. He wandered amongst the flowers—some shaped like bells and so yellow-gold it was as if they were formed from tiny drops of sun, others layered with deep crimson petals, the fragrance in their silver centres so intoxicating, to inhale them was to be plunged into dreaming. He ran his fingers over blossom-pink blooms causing their tiny petals to shake free and float up around us like snowflakes, and as he followed them up to the sky his eyes grew wide. Soaring above us were the towers and turrets of the castle—smooth as glass and shining like moonstones in the sunlight. I laughed and grabbed his hand, running with him along the stream that ran through the garden leading up to the main entrance, and when the double doors swung open for us Jack gasped before going silent. And with him to one side of me and Leif to the other, I took everything in as if I was seeing it for the first time: the frescoes of faeries dancing in circles on the ceilings, the rich dark wood furniture polished smooth and
intricately engraved with swirls and curlicues, the sunstone chandeliers dripping with crystals—several times Jack had me fly up and empty them of sun before lighting them again. Leif led us through as quickly as Jack would allow and when we reached the balcony of the great hall, my betrothed clutched my hand and took Jack under his free arm. Then we opened our wings and went into the air. We flew just above the forest, Jack laughing and kicking at the treetops. After a while we sailed down through the branches, landing on the balcony of a little treehouse, almost invisible in the dense foliage. Leif knocked on the door.

‘How do you know this is the right place?’ I asked. ‘They all look so alike.’

‘My father showed me, he knows the home of every one of his subjects.’

‘Showed you how?’

‘Like putting a picture in my mind,’ he said, knocking again.

‘I don’t think there’s anyone home,’ Jack said.

I looked at him and grinned. ‘Keen observation, Jackie.’

Jack shook his head. ‘Such a smartarse.’

‘Coming from you!’

Leif left us to our banter and flew to a nearby balcony, knocking on the door.

‘About last night,’ Jack murmured as soon as Leif was gone.

‘Quiet,’ I said, sealing his lips with my fingers.

He moved my hand away and whispered, ‘It was nice—I just wanted you to know.’

My eyes fell to my feet. Guilt tore a hole in my heart, threatening to rip it in two. How could I feel so much for Jack when I felt so much for Leif? Words tumbled in my head—
it was nice, Jack, I miss us already, I’ll never forget
—but I didn’t speak any of them. Even if I could have found my voice, they’d only make a messy situation worse.

When I looked up again, Jack was watching me. After a moment he smiled and said, ‘You’ve gotta love how these people live. Their environmental footprint must be almost non-existent.’

‘
Completely
non-existent,’ I said, happy to go along with the subject change.

The door Leif stood before opened. Through the leaves I watched a girl jumping up and down, squealing. Her mother appeared beside her and much hand kissing and curtsying followed. I dragged my eyes from the sight and said, ‘I don’t know how I’m ever going to get used to Leif’s celebrity. I mean, he’s not even a king yet.’

‘I’m sure you’ll cope, the dude’s yours after all.’

I shook my head. ‘No he’s not. Fae royalty belong to the people.’

Jack raised an eyebrow. ‘Would you swap him for anyone else?’

‘Jack—’

‘So quit complaining,’ he interrupted. ‘You’ve got the love of your life.’

‘You’ll find yours too,’ I said, hearing the frustration in his voice.

He watched me for a minute and I knew he was deciding whether to say something about us or let the subject slip away.

‘Well, until then I’ll let myself be comforted by all the others.’ He looked at me and wiggled his eyebrows. ‘There’s quite a few here I wouldn’t mind getting started with.’

I smiled, recalling the castle maids smiling and dropping curtsies in his direction when they caught him staring. ‘You’re terrible, Jack.’

‘Horrible,’ he agreed.

Leif returned to us a moment later. ‘The family are down by the river Avena.’

‘I’m starting to feel like a piece of baggage,’ Jack complained as we flew off over the forest.

After a minute or so a vast river came into view, sparkles dancing on the surface of the rolling water. As we flew close I could see children playing at the edge, tiny limbs splashing as those sitting on the bank watched on. A boy played the flute nearby, the melody twisting into the sky as his friends sang and danced along, twirling and spinning around each other, diving close to tug a strand of his hair or drop a kiss on his cheek. Amongst the trees faeries chased each other, their laughter ringing out as their wings twinkled colour through the branches. And well away from them, others shot arrows into the trunk of a tree, hollering their encouragement and congratulations when they hit their mark. As we began our descent a cry went up. ‘The Prince, the Prince is come!’ By the time we alighted, they were rushing to meet us from every direction, gasping over the splendour of Leif’s brilliant white wings, exclaiming at the magnificence of him, bowing, curtsying, many falling to their knees.

And of course every female was sighing and smiling and looking longingly at Leif’s hands. No, not every female, I realised—one stood back. She was breathtaking, and Jack—I saw when I turned to see if he’d noticed her—could hardly breathe. She had golden brown skin, a sprinkling of freckles across her nose and sun blonde hair cascading down her back in untamed ringlets. She wasn’t bothered about Leif because she was too busy returning Jack’s stare. But why wouldn’t she? I doubted she’d ever seen another human before, let alone one as cute as Jack.