Queen of the Fae: Book Two in the Fae Unbound Series (Fae Unbound Teen Young Adult Fantasy Series) (14 page)

Thomas recognized the elf by the feel of his magic. He'd known Freoric was lurking around for days but he hadn't mentioned it to James. Thomas walked out of the water and onto the bank of the pond, sitting down to dry his feet and put his sandals back on. The elf was still hiding somewhere behind him when he called out, "Freoric, join me."

Freoric's voice carried from a distance, "How is it that you always know I am here, monk?"

"It's my gift. I sense magic when I'm in its presence. I recognized you by how your magic feels. It's an elvin talent; surely it doesn't surprise you? Please, join me. We don't need to be enemies. I've got a sandwich and an orange here for lunch, if you'd care to share."

Freoric walked to stand off to Thomas's side. "I'll not break bread with you, abomination."

"As you say, but I'll keep up extending the invitation. I hope someday we'll be friends."

"I am not your friend. I am your assassin, and I am only waiting for the permission that I know will someday come to follow through on what I am."

"I continue to believe that someday you’ll welcome me to your home as an equal. Someday, I’ll earn your respect as Myrddin earned the respect of your ancestors; you will be glad to welcome me as a loyal ally."

Freoric snorted in disgust, turned, and walked away.

Thomas arrived back at the apartment to find a note from James letting him know that he was at Lizbet's and might be home a little late. Thomas didn't need the note from James to know that he was next door with the queen, but Thomas knew James wouldn't like it if Thomas showed up at Lizbet's simply because he sensed them there. The note, however, offered an invitation, a "come get me if you need something" indicator. 

He was sure that James would want to know about the run-in with Freoric immediately; James had strongly cautioned him about interacting with the elves. He’d promised, and he didn’t want to upset his friend again.

Thomas knocked lightly on the door at the neighbor's house. James answered before Thomas had to knock again.

"Thomas, what do you need?"

"An elf was following me today."

"What? The elves followed us here? Yeah, come in. I have to check on Lizbet, but I want to hear about this. Just keep it down because she needs her sleep."

Thomas seated himself on the couch in the Moore's living room while James went upstairs. When he returned he sat down on the other end of the coach and angled himself toward Thomas, "So, go. Tell me what happened."

"I went to the park this morning to gather starweed, and I sensed that the wisps were not the only magical presence around the pond. Then, I recognized the magic—it was Freoric, the elf who stalked us in London. So I called to him, and he showed himself."

James shook his head, "The elders gave me their troth that they wouldn't follow us. It seems the word of the elves doesn't mean as much as it used to. I’m beginning to understand how much the fae were changed by their sentence to the shadow realm, Thomas. The elves have never lived in gentle ways, but in the old times they honored their pledges. What did he say to you?"

"The usual. Called me an abomination, said I’m not his friend, that he’s my assassin and only waiting for permission to take my life."

"Did he give you any idea why he’s holding back?"

"No, mate, that he did not do. I extended my hand in friendship, and he walked away."

"Yeah...you really need to stop doing that. Someday you'll extend that hand and he'll chop it off. You need to get a clue, Tom. Elves...not...your...friends."

A spark of anger flared in Thomas's eyes, "Are you treating me like I'm empty-headed again?"

"No, sorry…I didn't mean to talk to you that way. I'm just so frustrated that we did what the elders asked and they still didn't keep their side of the deal...is Freoric still around somewhere close?"

Thomas closed his eyes and reached out with his magic for other magical presences. He found Freoric just within the space where his senses could reach, across the street from the Moore home.

"Yes. Across the way."

James stood up and said, "Call me if Lizbet comes downstairs or you hear any noise at all coming from upstairs. I'm going to have a talk with Freoric."

James opened the door and looked up and down the street for a trace of the elf. He spotted the tip of a bow over the top of a wide brick post at the entrance to a driveway across the street and walked toward it.

"You can come out, Freoric. Thomas will always know you're there."

The elf stood up and faced James.

James faced off with the elf, eyes narrowed. "The word of the elves meant something in Myrddin's time. I'm saddened to find it means nothing now."

"I was sent only to make sure that you kept the word you gave."

"And your people did this by breaking theirs? Times have changed when the elders dishonor themselves in this way." James stepped closer to the elf, trying to appear at least a little threatening, "Why would they take the risk of losing Myrddin's friendship through this action?"

"You yourself have said that you are not Myrddin. Perhaps you do not have either Myrddin's power or his wisdom."

"As you say. And then, perhaps I do. It's not something I must prove to such as you." 

"Yet if you did, you would have no further trouble from me. I would return to my elders with proof that you have the power to keep the abomination in check."

James was tired of the patient words Myrddin's memories helped him speak. He didn't like having an armed elf prowling around outside of Lizbet's house, and he felt his neck reddening in anger, "Look, elf, I've told you that Thomas is under my protection. That's all you need to know."

Freoric's only response was to tuck an escaped lock of long black hair streaked with strands of gray back behind his ear and laugh.

James felt himself boiling over and abruptly thrust his right hand straight out toward Freoric. The magic came to him as naturally as breathing. A bright ball of blue flame appeared in the outstretched hand.

 "In my time, the appropriate expression for a situation like this is 'do you want a piece of me?'," James raised his other hand and a bolt of lightning lit the evening sky, "...so, tell me, elf, do you want a piece of me?"

As the bolt of lightning reached down from the clouds to paint a stripe from the heavens to James's fingertips, Freoric sunk slowly to one knee and bowed his head. "I apologize, Myrddin, for doubting you. I will communicate with the elders and advise them you have kept your word. I will no longer follow you or Thomas, but I may be required to remain here because of the presence of the queen."

Freoric then stood and walked down the street, his long braid swinging like a pendulum, counting the steps it took for him to reach the end of the street, turn, and then disappear from view.

James watched him go, not allowing the magic to extinguish itself until the elf was out of sight. He dropped his hand to his side and then collapsed to sit on the grassy tree lawn. 

"Och, that was quite a display, laddie. I love the scent of ozone, don't you?"

James turned to find Eamon behind him.

"I wasn't going to use Myrddin's magic. Ever. And then I thought about Lizbet and Bobby being right next door while an elvin assassin stalked my room-mate, and I just lost it."

"I believe the elves will no longer doubt your power or your willingness to display it, though the lightning may have been a little over-the-top. My hair's still standing on end from the charge. Perhaps the ball of flame would have been enough?"

James looked at the gruagach and rolled his eyes. Eamon’s hair stood out in all directions even without any electricity in the atmosphere. 

"Why was the elf here, lad? I'm surprised there are any outside of Europe."

"He's probably the first, and hopefully, the only elf to visit Ohio." James said, "He says that he followed us to make sure that Thomas really left England and isn’t returning, but I think there is something more to it than that. I don't think that Thomas is really out of danger from the elves, and I'm not sure that my blowing my top like that will be enough to keep them away, either."

"Laddie, the fae are falling apart without their queen. The races have been at peace for a long time, but the elves are now starting to make noise about increasing their power. Hamish told me that there are a number of the European fae who no longer feel secure that the elves will stay within their own boundaries. If ye recall, the elves have never needed a reason to make war."

"I don't see the point— how many of them are there? Forty, fifty thousand? It's ridiculous that they believe they can hold power in the modern world."

"Aye, but they're ambitious. They're stuck in olden times when magic beat anything that humans could do. They underestimate the power of human technology. They're wary of it, but they don't truly understand it. Unlike the rest of the fae, they haven't eavesdropped on humans on a regular basis. They despise humans to the extent that they haven't bothered to understand the enemy. That's always been their failing."

Thomas felt the power of the magic building as James spoke with the elf. He watched from just behind the picture window in the Moore's living room as the fireball lit the street and the lightning streaked down from the sky to touch James's fingertips and hang there. He held his breath, hoping that James would have no cause to let loose his power and do damage to his relationship with the elves.

As Freoric turned and started to walk away, Thomas's breath rushed out of him in a great sigh of relief and awe. The lightning still blazed in the sky, illuminating the elf's retreat.

"He's magnificent, isn't he?" came a soft voice from behind him.

He didn't turn. He didn't want her to know she had caught him by surprise. "Yes. Magnificent. I’m proud to call him my grandfather."

"He is no more your grandfather than I am your grandmother," the girl replied.

"That’s true. And yet, I believe he feels that bond to me and views me as kin."

"Perhaps." The girl walked forward to stand beside him, dressed in a dark blue gown. "You’ll leave before he returns, but I have one request of you before you go." She held out a piece of paper with druidic writing on its surface. "Make sure that you share the knowledge of this potion with Tanji. I want her to make it for Lizbet. Langoureth will be able to read it. Do not tell her where you got this knowledge."

Thomas was glad to obey any demand she made of him. "As you say, Morgan," he stretched out his hand to take the offered piece of paper and bowed his head slightly toward her, "I am your servant and will do as you request."

Thomas started to turn to leave by the front door, but she nodded toward the back and said, “That way. And should we speak again, see that you name me only as Lizbet.”

Thomas nodded and walked through the family room, exiting onto the lightning-lit patio. As he hopped over the short fence between the yards, the night went black again.

Morgan arranged herself seductively on the couch, her feet up and a hip thrust out, her unbound hair spread across the couch pillows where she lay her head. She took a folded blanket off a cassock and covered herself with it loosely.

When she heard James walk into the living room, she feigned a sleepy look and asked, "Is everything okay? The lightning woke me up. I didn't like that Thomas was here so I sent him away."

James perched on the edge of the coach where she lay and shook his head. "Yes, I think it's okay now. And I get it about Thomas,"

"Good." She sat up and patted the couch next to where she sat. "You could come closer, if you want. I think a hero deserves a kiss. I saw how you stood up to that elf. I was proud of you."

James moved closer but expressed reluctance for the praise, "
I'm
not proud of me. I went too far. I didn't need to use that much magic simply to prove a point. And, truthfully, I was sure that if he'd said the wrong thing, he wouldn't have had much to say to anyone anymore because he'd be a burned spot on the pavement. I don't trust myself with this level of magic."

The fae nuzzled his shoulder. "You'll use it exactly as you should use it. To protect me. You always have. I wouldn't have blamed you if you'd had to harm the elf to keep me safe." She leaned her face in close to his and kissed him gently.

James couldn’t help but return her kiss.

Soon, her mouth moved against his more insistently, and her hands began to roam across his chest. She moved to lay back and pull him down on top of her, but he pushed her away.