Guardian (30 page)

I forced myself not to sigh. That was the crux of the problem. I knew unless I could build a case for human involvement
He
would not help us.

“The leaders of this plot have involved humans. We saw several of them in a meeting we attended…”

“
SEVERAL
? YOU WISH ME TO INTERVENE BASED ON THE INVOLVEMENT OF
SEVERAL
HUMANS?”

I shook my head, deciding it would be best to get right to the point. “No, sir. I wish for you to help us fight the plotters by inserting the humans into the fight on our side.”

Silence.

We waited quietly, barely breathing.

Finally, “AND WHY WOULD I ENDANGER MY PEOPLE FOR THIS?”

Ian finally couldn’t stand it. “Because if the magical world is overcome by these plotters the human realm will suffer, sir. These are unscrupulous types, bent on gaining power at all costs. They would not treat the human dron…um…creatures well.”

More silence.

“I SEE NO REASON TO INTERVENE IN MATTERS OF THE MAGICAL WORLD. WHEN MY PEOPLE ARE THREATENED I WILL ADDRESS THOSE WHO THREATEN THEM. YOU MAY GO.”

“But sir, I…”

The doors opened behind us and we found ourselves being ejected, gently but forcibly.

We stood in the outer office, under the smug gaze of the stubborn clerk, and watched the doors slide shut.

Before they closed completely the one, true God gave us a last snippet of questionable advice. “BEWARE THE TROJAN HORSE.”

We stood staring at the closed doors, frowning. Slowly, I forced my fists to unclench and turned to Ian, “Confucius had nothing on that guy.”

Ian nodded. “Earth?”

I nodded and lifted my hands to call the Watcher.

~ ~
*
~ ~

The Wood was unnaturally quiet when we entered. The smell of magic hung thick in the air, along with smoke from burning trees. The ground was littered with bodies, small and large. Dead sprites lay in bright, crumpled piles alongside blank eyed elves and the occasional demon.

A warning shriek filled the air and something huge and black lifted into the air. We found ourselves looking into the bright, black eyes of a feasting harpy. She held the gutted, limp body of a dead faery in her claws, her enormous wings beating the air with a terrible whump, whump, whump as she peered at us. Her deadly maw was spread wide, coated with blood, and she shrieked again as she lifted higher with her meal. I tightened my grip on my weapons and readied for the attack.

With a final shriek, the harpy lifted away from us and headed toward her cave.

Ian shook his head. “The harpies have a smorgasbord here.”

I sighed. “We need to do something with these bodies.”

Ian shook his head. “We don’t have time. We’ll have to come back for them.”

I knew he was right. But it nearly killed me to leave the bodies there to become harpy food.

I grabbed Ian’s hand and we stepped into my travel layer. We headed toward Tana’s kingdom.

We didn’t get far.

The battle waged far into the Wood, miles from the enormous, Mother of Pearl gates on the high fence surrounding Tana and the faeries. We stepped out of the layer and entered the fray, weapons cutting frantically into an unending supply of elves, brownies, dark faeries, demons, and even a few humans.

I plunged my fork into a nearby demon, following it up with a slice of my long knife across his thick, leathery neck. Spinning I sent a stunning level of power into a knife wielding elf that had a bloodied but energetically fighting faery on the ground and was preparing to skewer her.

The elf went down and the faery leapt to her feet, finishing him off with an elegant swipe of her sword. Her brightly hued eyes lifted to me for just a second and she smiled, lifting the sword to tap it against her forehead in silent salute. With a fresh smear of her enemy’s blood on her forehead, she spun to meet the attack of another elf at her back.

I returned to work too, dispatching the attacking hordes as quickly as they swarmed in. An indeterminate amount of time later, Ian walked up to me and shoved his sword into his belt. I looked around at the bodies littering the ground of the clearing, feeling incredibly weary.

The faery I’d helped out earlier walked up to me. Several more smears of blood had joined the first smear on her flawless white face. She planted her sword point in the dirt beside her slipper clad foot and bowed. “Monad Warrior, it was a distinct pleasure fighting beside you.”

I lowered my head in acceptance of her respectful words.

She turned to Ian and her bright green eyes widened perceptively. “Ian Lavelle, what brings you to this fight?”

Ian cocked his head at her. “ ‘Tis my battle too, young faery.” He grinned. “Maybe more than most for both sides of my heritage are affected.”

She cocked an eyebrow at him and smiled back. “Point taken. I would just warn you to stay away from ropes and tall trees, for Tana’s in a right sour mood this day.”

Ian nodded and glanced at me. “Which reminds me, our journey is not ended.”

I sighed. “Let’s go.”

We followed the sounds of fighting to the next battle, where Tana’s warriors were fighting an invisible foe. Ian and I motioned to the faeries at our backs to move in quietly, taking out the shades as they attacked, thus giving away their position.

Fortunately it was a small group and we were able to dispatch them quickly. I bent to heal a couple of warriors who were injured and we moved forward. We encountered fewer battles as we neared the gates, where Tana’s warriors were present in massive force, protecting her castle.

After it was determined that we were friend rather than foe, the gates were opened just enough to let us by and we headed quickly to Tana.

She was in the room where she’d spoken to us the first time, pacing and wringing her small, white hands. When we walked through the doors her head flew up and her emerald eyes flashed with surprise. She swept toward Ian, her long silver tresses floating like the finest silk behind her. “Oh Ian.” She embraced him and sparkling liquid flowed down her cheeks.”

“I know, my queen. I heard.”

She pulled back, her small hands clutching his forearms in what looked like a painful grip. “I have no choice. If I don’t deal harshly with her I will be seen as weak.” She trembled visibly and her eyes were red from weeping. He gently disengaged her nails from his arms and grabbed her hand, leading her to a nearby divan and forcing her to sit. He threw me a look filled with meaning and I nodded. I walked to the side of the room and poured her a crystal goblet of faery wine, carrying it over and handing it to her.

She gave me a trembling smile and took the wine gratefully. She held the glass between visibly shaking hands. “What can I do, Ian?”

“Do you want me to break her free, my queen?”

She shook her head, fresh tears sliding down her cheeks. “Nay. It is known that you and I are close. The usurpers will know it was my doing.”

I stepped closer. “Your majesty, if I might intervene.”

She nodded.

“Do you still hold the shadow woman here?”

She looked perplexed but, after a moment, she said, “I do, yes.”

I glanced at Ian and saw that his mind was working along the same lines as mine. His eyes widened slightly and he nodded.

“If the shade were to escape, perhaps, and break her comrade free…”

Tana’s emerald gaze cleared and she stood, sloshing wine in her skirts with the violence of her movement. “Of course!” She turned to Ian. “Will it work, my friend?”

Ian nodded. “I’ll arrange it.” He took Tana’s hand. “She’ll have to be kept somewhere though, my queen. We can’t just let her go.”

Some of the light slid away from Tana’s eyes. But she inclined her chin in agreement. Turning away from us, she set her goblet down and strode across the room. Stopping in front of her
scrying
dish she dipped a long finger toward the sparkling surface.

The Watcher’s ugly face lifted from the surface of the dish and smiled at Tana.

“Lovely one. What would you ask of me?”

Tana stiffened her narrow shoulders. When she spoke her voice was strong again. “I would ask that you take charge of a certain…package…for me and keep it safe, but keep it under lock and key.”

His beady eyes narrowed in speculation and found me. I nodded slightly. The Watcher smiled at Tana. “How will this package come to me?”

Tana glanced at me. “Nuria, Warrior Monad will carry it.”

The Watcher nodded. “I would be proud to perform this service for you, Lovely Tana.”

I couldn’t see her face but her shoulders drooped a bit in relief. “No one must know that you have this package, my friend. Do you understand? Absolutely no one!”

He nodded. “I understand.”

The Watcher disappeared and Tana stood with her back to us.

I reached for Ian.

When Tana turned back around we were already gone.

Princess Zillah sat in a near dark room, her dark head was lowered and she appeared to be staring at the metal on her wrist. She turned it carefully with her other hand, examining it carefully.

We stepped out of a wrinkle and her dark head shot up. She gasped and clutched her throat with one hand. “Oh, Warrior Monad, you frightened me.”

I smiled. “Sorry about that.” I approached her quickly, dropping into a second chair nearby. Ian moved to the door and locked it. Standing close so he could hear approaching voices or footsteps.

“We need your help.”

She grimaced and held up her bracelet clad arm. “I don’t know how much help I can be with this thing on.”

“That will be no problem.”

I turned and fixed Ian with a hard look. His face was carefully blank, but he met my eyes and didn’t look away.

Quick anger filled me, but I realized I would have to deal with it later. Much later. When the world wasn’t collapsing around us.

I turned back to the Shadow Princess, dismissing Ian from my mind and…most likely…from my life. “I need to know who you were working for? Why did you attack me in that coffee shop?”

Zillah sighed, chewing her soft, lower lip.

“We’ve been to see your father.” I was going strictly on instinct. But my words seemed to loosen her tongue.

Her pretty grey eyes widened. “He is well?”

I nodded, but didn’t elaborate. She had a decision to make, information must be exchanged for information.

Her grey gaze fixed on me with relentless intensity, she nodded once, understanding the unspoken terms. “I was there at my father’s behest.”

I blinked.

Suddenly Ian was standing beside me. “Your father is working against Tana?”

Princess Zillah shook her head emphatically. “No. Of course not. He knew of the plot. Certain…individuals had approached him and asked him to join. He didn’t exactly refuse them, knowing that would make RiverIsle a target too, but he sent a select group of us to watch and learn and report back to him.”

Ignoring Ian, because I wanted to smack him…hard…I repeated my earlier question. “But why did you attack us at the restaurant?”

She shook her head again. “Aubrie instructed us to kill you. But we were just trying to capture you and take you to my father. He had a need to learn what you knew.” She gave us a wry grin. “Unfortunately you didn’t cooperate with our plans.”

I thought of the Shades we’d killed just recently in The Wood. They’d been attacking Tana’s warriors with every indication of wanting them dead. Something wasn’t adding up. I shook my head. “Did you forget to tell your Shades that they were just playacting?”

She sighed. “Nay. But the lure of power and riches is a corrupting influence. I fear some of our people have been pulled willingly into Aubrie’s net.”

The room was silent for a moment as Ian and I tried to decide if we believed her. Zillah’s dark, curly head was lowered in shame. I easily read the emotion in her posture.

That, at least, rang true. RiverIsle was a land of intensely proud people. The defection of a portion of her Shades would be a bitter pill for the Princess to swallow.

Finally Ian reached out and touched the band at Zillah’s wrist. The band shimmered and fell away, landing in her lap.

She gave a cry of happiness and rubbed the spot where the band had been.

My eyes lifted to his and I didn’t even try to disguise the pain. He’d left that gods-awful band on me for days, knowing what it was doing to me. He had knowingly endangered me by leaving it in place. And he had done it with no apparent concern for the consequences. As I stood I murmured. “You are dead to me, Ian Lavelle.”

Ian’s mouth opened but I shoved past him to the Shadow Princess. I took her hands in mine. “We need you to come with us. We are going to break Princess Dawnia out of the prison caves and we need your help.”

The young shadow smiled. “I’d be pleased to help, in any way I can.”

Ian’s voice sounded cold and distant. “I’m glad to hear of your willingness to help, Princess. We’ll need the help of your people to push back the usurpers and rescue Faerydae.”