Memory's Wake Omnibus: The Complete Illustrated YA Fantasy Series (76 page)

Will had Roen on his toes. They each had a fencing sword, and Will mimicked the formal style Roen used, but his height and reach had him at an advantage. One or two times Roen made a show of shaking out his sword hand after a particularly strong blow from Will clattered their blades.

Then with a wicked grin, Roen stepped up his performance. He smiled like he’d been so clever to trick Will into thinking he had an easy win, until Will flicked out his other hand and the small hooked tool he held in it, and with one twist, disarmed Roen and left him knocked flat on his back in a flurry of snow.

Memory was running again. She ran so she didn’t have time to hold herself back.

Will saw her coming only a second before she jumped up into his arms. She pressed her lips against his, her hands threading their way into the wild hair she loved so much.

Memory heard the dull thunk-thunk of Will’s two weapons fall on the ground behind them as Will brought his arms up around her and pulled her close to him. A low growl came from the back of his throat and he kissed her back, lips pressing hard on hers.

A round of polite applause from the bystanders brought Memory back to reality. She dropped down with a bashful smile and rose-flushed cheeks.

Memory giggled at their audience, then smiled up at Will.

He still had his eyes closed, smiling and panting deep breaths.

When he opened his eyes and looked at her, again it was as if they were the only people there. His lips shivered a little as he said, “I wanted to dance with you at the ball. I should have but I was scared. I don’t want to be scared anymore. For you, and for me, I don’t want to be scared to live my life. And I want to live my life with you. Whatever the rules, whatever might happen, I don’t ever want to be apart from you again.”

“Worlds couldn’t keep us apart,” Memory replied. “Tried and failed already.”

Will laughed.

Memory turned and noticed the sword and Will’s iron hook lying on the pavement a few paces behind them. She moved back to pick them up for him.

Only one step away, a rush of air filled the space between Memory and Will. In a burst of whipping winds and the ember filled gray smoke of the Veil, Mina appeared.

Her eyes were wide and gleaming as they looked down at Memory, frozen in shock there where she bent to pick up the weapons.

Will has no iron on him.
Memory’s heart pounded.
He has no protection.

Mina’s hair whipped around her as though she were caught in gale force winds. “No! You cannot have him. He is mine. He ate food from my hands. I saved him and his life is the debt he owes to me. I own him and will keep him far from you forever!”

Memory grabbed up the iron hook near her fingertips and swung it back at Mina.

But she was already gone.

And so was Will.

Memory’s knees hit the ground.

Eloryn, Roen, Maeve, and Erec were all standing around her. She wasn’t sure when they had come over. Had they tried to stop Mina too? They were all too slow.

Will is gone.

Everyone was talking but Memory couldn’t hear. A dense humming filled her head and her magic boiled, ready to explode. Eloryn put an arm around her shoulder.

Memory realized she was holding her breath and gasped air in. It struck like a knife in her chest and she bit back a cry. The world came back into focus.

Her voice came out as a harsh whisper. “I was wrong before.”

Will.

Her hands formed fists, pressed against the crushed grass. “This is what having your soul broken feels like.”

“Oh, Mem,” Eloryn said.

Clenching her teeth, Memory took a deep breath and stood up. “I’m going to get him back.”

Erec watched her for a moment, then hurried away. The other guests at their brunch were standing back, faces white and fearful. The iron awl hook that had been Will’s protection was still held in Memory’s hand, her fingers rigid around it.

“She must have been watching, waiting for a chance to get to him,” Memory said. “The minute he didn’t have iron on him... How could she even do that? It can’t be allowed. She said she owned him. She doesn’t own him. No one
owns
him.”

“I’m so sorry,” Eloryn said. “But she could own him. Under fae law, if she saved his life, if he ate fairy food, she could own him. Everyone in Avall knows to be careful not to lose themselves to the fae like that, but coming from your world, he would have been easy for Mina to claim.”

“You’re telling me this now?” Memory grunted.

Eloryn looked at the ground. “I didn’t know. All I know are fairytales of humans being claimed, stories parents tell at night to stop children going near the fae. Or stories of those who go willingly, like Lugh. Will seemed to have so much freedom, living in the forests in Avall. In the fairytales, the fae always steal the child away to Tearnan Ogh, the fairy realm.”

Memory’s face ached with unspent tears, tears she refused to shed until Will was back by her side again. She looked up at her sister. “No. That’s not it. You didn’t doubt what was happening, you just didn’t think I could cope with knowing.”

“I…” Eloryn stuttered then looked at her feet. “I’m sorry.”

Memory couldn’t blame her. She wished her friends, her family, would trust her more. She felt she’d showed them time and again that she could be strong. But she’d also shown them how very weak she could be. They’d seen her at her darkest and she knew it would take a long time to gain their confidence again.

I will show them how strong I can be.

After a deep breath, Memory said, “Tearnan Ogh… Is that where Mina has taken Will now?”

“That would be my guess,” Eloryn said.

Memory saw Erec return. He’d brought Bedevere back with him.

Memory eyed them. “You’re worried I’m going to run off and do something cuckoo banana pants, aren’t you?”

“Well, I wouldn’t necessarily use the term cuckoo banana pants…” Bedevere said in his dry voice.

Memory forced another deep breath into her tight chest that seemed to have forgotten how to breathe on its own. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to be
that girl
. I’m not going to dump everything else in the world for one person, for a boy, for… love.”

Bedevere just bowed his head, waiting.

“What do we need to do, to make sure everything is in order here in Avall? I can’t leave Avall in chaos again, so that’s our first job, to do everything we must to make sure it won’t be. I want things stable here in case I’m gone for a while.”

“Your Majesty, if you travel to Tearnan Ogh to recover Sir Will, you may not come back at all,” Bedevere said.

Memory held up a hand. “I’m getting Will, and we’re coming back. That’s happening. I need you to help me make sure everything is set right here before I go. Can you do that for me?”

Bedevere simply nodded.

“Then let’s get started.” Memory marched back toward the castle, and everyone fell in line behind her.

“Mem, stop and think about what you’re saying,” Eloryn protested. “I know you want Will back, we all do, but going into the fae lands is beyond dangerous, it’s…”

“Stupid?” Memory asked.

“Suicidal,” Eloryn finished, her tone cold.

“We’ve dealt with nasty fae tactics before.”

Eloryn’s chin tensed and she grabbed Memory by the arm. “Travelling into the fae realm is entirely different to dealing with the fae within Avall. It is one hundred percent their territory. One false move and a human can be Branded, but has no power to Brand in return. You would be vulnerable to their every whim and trick. Humans simply do not travel into the fae realm unless they are taken by the fae. Even royalty and dignitaries are not safe. That’s why all official meetings between our races are held here in Avall.”

Memory pulled her arm free and continued up the stairs into the palace. “I’m not leaving Will as a prisoner to that crazy sprite.”

“Then we will go with you.”

Memory stopped her march. “You just told me it was suicidal. Why the hell would I let you come with me?”

Eloryn stopped too, eye to eye with her sister. “Because if you don’t I won’t tell you how to get into Tearnan Ogh.”

Memory matched her sister’s look. “Bedevere will tell me.”

Eloryn held a hand up to the wizard but held her sister’s gaze. “Don’t you even dare.”

Bedevere made no sound or move.

Memory huffed. “Then I’ll work it out on my own.”

“And how much longer will that take?”

Every second Will was gone scratched a sharp tally mark on Memory’s heart. Would Mina punish Will for choosing Memory over her? What would she force upon him or make him do? The thought of Will as a slave to that sprite twisted Memory’s guts.

Memory was torn; she didn’t want to put her friends in danger but she knew she would need help.

Roen spoke from behind Memory, breaking the staring battle between the twins. “You may find this hard to imagine, but I think we’ve all become fond of the fellow. Will’s our friend too. We all want to do what we can to bring him home.”

Memory whimpered a little then steadied herself. “We’re all going then. And we’ll keep each other alive, just like we’ve always done.”

Erec cleared his throat, breaking the intense look the three friends were sharing. “Your Majesty, you say you’re going, so you are, and I’ll spare my objections. But you must also spare your objections to my coming with you. I failed to protect you in the gaunts’ lair, and I plan not to fail again.”

Memory shook her head. “If you come with us, you could die, and I can’t have your death on my hands. Not after Peirs.”

Erec, who had been standing at attention, relaxed his posture. The move somehow seemed to give him more authority. “Travelling into Tearnan Ogh, you could all die. I will go and I will do everything I can to keep us all alive. That is my decision, and should I die it would not be at your doing.”

Memory smiled and gave him a small nod. “Anybody else? Anybody?” She looked around with a wide grin, caught Bedevere’s gaze and pointed him down. “No. Not you. I need someone to keep the rest of the wizards under control.”

Bedevere bowed. “The realm of the fae is not the one I wish to explore, so I am happy to stay, if saddened to see you leave. You are our queen. We would send a legion of men with you if you wished it. But I know you do not.”

“Then you know me well. Saving Roen, Maeve and the others, that was different. We had to stop the kidnappings, find out who was behind them. This is personal. So we settle what needs to be settled here in Avall, we work out a plan, then we go and get Will.” Memory started forward again, climbing the steps into the palace two at a time. “We’ve got a lot to get done, so let’s get it done. I don’t even know how we get to fairyland yet. Do we eat magic cake till we’re shrunk all itty bitty and wash ourselves down a drain with our own tears or what?”

Reaching the halls of the palace, both Bedevere and Erec called staff over to them, sending messages off in different directions before taking their leave and heading another way themselves. Roen and Eloryn continued beside Memory.

“You have some strange ideas of magic,” Eloryn said. Her slippers made hushed sounds pressing into the long carpet runners that had been brought out to cover the cold marble floors when the snowy weather hit Avall. “The fae have doorways similar to Veil doors, spotted throughout Avall wherever they hold territory, such as within fairy rings. They use these doorways to travel between Avall and Tearnan Ogh. Fae can generally traverse through the Veil as they wish within Avall, much as you could, but to travel between worlds they use the established doorways. Mina would not have taken Will directly to Tearnan Ogh when she vanished with him, but to a doorway first and then through that.”

Memory thought back to her trouble with trying to force a doorway through to the rest of the human world, how much harder it was to break through than skimming within the Veil in Avall. “These doorways, do they stay in the same place?” she asked.

“Not exactly, but close. They shift very slightly, as though there is an ebb and flow displacing the join between the worlds.”

Memory took a deep breath and her pace grew more confident, faster. As much as she declared unwaveringly that she would bring Will back, she was terrified she couldn’t, that she had no idea where to start. Not anymore. “I know where to start looking.”