Dangerous, Diabolical

Their reception was rated at a one out of five. There was no buffet, I wasn’t even offered a drink and they became highly irate when I mentioned sightseeing. After a lazy greeting by a fainting portal guard, a human slave girl that threw a lit lantern at my head and a whole load of coordinated screaming, you’d think they weren’t pleased to see me.

Luckily the portal I’d stumbled through was smack bang in the castle and not the opposite side of the land. The problem with passing into Faery was you might only be there a matter of minutes, and misplace an hour, or several seconds and lose a day. Time in their lands wasn’t linear. For humans, this was a disaster. Their entire family could have aged on whilst they’d only lost a mere moment. It wasn’t such a big deal for the fair folk.

If they weren’t immune to old age, they certainly gave the appearance of it, living for many centuries and only befalling to unnatural deaths. If I needed to traverse one side of it to the other, then I’d dread to think of the state left back home. I had an early shift at work tomorrow.

Soirrinar’s castle was a dimly lit, medieval affair. He was a big fan of heads on spikes that abundantly adorned the halls, accompanying shrunken goblin heads and tapestries of patchwork skin. In particular, one of my favourite pieces in the collection decorated the main corridor; a mounted mermaid tail. Stuffed and preserved, it magically maintained its shimmering quality.

The odd human could be spotted working away, eyes downcast, but mostly servants kept the Keep running. After entering the portal from Earth, the two guards followed me through the old castle, unsuccessfully trying to convince me to leave. Several couriers scattered when they saw me striding towards the King’s hall, my name being murmured on their lips. Outside of flashy court events, Soirrinar received guests in the smaller, but no less impressive, secondary hall.

Compared to the main ceremonial room, the secondary hall required less staff to run, and closer corners allowed for a tighter-knit guard. It was also easier to keep tabs on those entering to keep the affairs within the court private.

The last time I’d taken myself sightseeing I’d found the main hall positioned behind two large oak doors, carved with the stories of the court aeons ago. The room was sealed closed with a large iron mechanism. As most Fae were deathly allergic to iron, simply opening the doors required a blood offering.

Dressed in a dark hue of red, almost black armour, the guards positioned at the King’s hall door watched me approach warily. “Open the doors you fools!” A small pixie hissed, and they obliged, grabbing the handles in situ. Immediately their faces contorted in pain as the iron burned through the gloves, their blood hissing in specks to gather on the browning floor. The sound of a gathered crowd flooded out of the doors.

As soon as the gap was large enough the pixie darted in first in an explosion of dust. Inside a bell was struck once, the vibrato calling silence from the crowd.

As the doors parted wider I could see tables of food running around the rim of the hall, and my empty stomach grumbled sadly. The ruling house sigil decorated drapery that tumbled from extravagantly high ceilings. Cages hung from the rafters amongst candle-lit chandeliers with their unfortunate prisoners in varying life stages.

“Announcing daughter of Doukas, esteemed compeer, Celandine.” Groups of Fae that stood looking towards the elevated King upon the throne turned with a murmur.

Amongst the mixed smells of the crowd; sweat, magic, glamours and wine, was the tang of both old and fresh blood. Fresh flowers were knitted into deadened hair, and silken gowns were decorated with tokens of bone.

Upon the throne of black obsidian sat Soirrinar himself, a crown of thorns twined around his head, decorating pointed ears. Long white hair framed a thin, inhumanly beautiful face. His black eyes were fixed upon me, cheek lazily braced upon a fist, one leg thrown carelessly over the arm of the throne. Each finger upon his hand bore an extra joint and his teeth were sharpened to fine points.

Slowly the crowd began to part silently, and I took my cue to approach, my footsteps squeaking on the stone floor. The smell of bracken and blackberries immediately drew my attention, but Soirrinar was not a creature you looked away from. A net was nailed to the floor before him, but to glance at it would break my stare.

Whatever nature of creature Soirrinar was, you did not want to give him an upper hand. The throne was taken by force here, and to be the strongest sat upon it was no easy feat. Each subject that now surrounded me was the next potential challenger, and any one of them might decide to attack me would win his favour.

Besides, he was very easy on the eyes.

Coming before the throne, I inclined my head to him in a mutual greeting. He remained stoic, a sly smirk upon his face.

“My dear Andine, what a pleasure it is to have you grace my halls.” His voice carried easily over the room, sending shudders into some of those around me. It was the first time I had heard him call me by anything other than she-demon. “It has been too long. I do hope you received my gratitude for the Baltane gifts.”

Their festival of summer was always a lively one, but considering it was several months ago I couldn’t help but dwell on his wording. Fae did not like to be indebted. They did, however, enjoy having someone else owe them a favour.

“Hello,” I replied, simply, neither acknowledging nor denying. Formality out of the way my gaze drifted down towards my feet at their catch, a familiar scent already giving away the contents wrapped in the nets.

His skin was speckled with blood and areas had been skinned in some parts. Bruises were patchworked into a collection of burns and a grey pallor had begun in the undertones of his colouring. His breathing was laboured and he strained to fix brown eyes upon me. Some of the crowd held sharpened sticks still slick with blood, and others handfuls of hair.

The Fae nets were spelled to dampen magic and made from a coarse knotting enchanted tree bark; impervious to sharp objects. Leofstan would never escape on his own.

“The gratuity gift on Baltane was well received.” I finally acknowledge, avoiding thanking him outright. “However, I am quite curious as to the creature you have trapped in your nets.”

Soirrinar’s face remained impassive, almost bored.

“Ah, yes. He fell through a new portal half a lunation past.”

That confirmed time was not currently balanced with Earth. A lunation was a lunar cycle, consisting of 29 days, so about two weeks? No wonder he looked so rough. “It has been a long time since we have had a creature of the earth myths grace our halls. Even more intriguing was finding that a new portal had opened, and not been stable enough to remain so.”

Super. Soirrinar was ecstatic with his find, and now I was on the path to upsetting him because of Leofstan’s stupid decisions. I’d warned him, and now I was having to bail him out and upset a Fae court I liked. “This is the weirdest coincidence.” I proclaimed to the court, “I do believe, I lost one just like it about an earth hour ago.”

Trying to give the appearance of not prizing it too highly, I nudged Leofstan through the net with my toe.

If the Fae knew I wanted him, then he’d become all the more valuable, and that would be the end of bartering to get him back. If he seemed worthless, then he wouldn’t be worth much to them either.

“Druids are a rarity, if this one was yours, you did not place proper measures to keep it so.” Soirrinar sat up in his chair, nonchalantly gesturing towards his catch. “The creature bears no sigils of ownership.” He had a point. Finders, keepers was a standard operation here.

In an overly large arc, I swung my hands on my hips. “You,” stressing the word, “understand the trouble slaves cause when they decide to run away.” He had enough of them go missing. “Just when you think their spirit is truly broken, they surprise you.” Crouching down, to look closely at Leofstan, he met my eyes, face a blank mask, not even as much as a twitch. Since I’d met him I’d always been able to guess what he was thinking, but his expression made me feel like the time I’d forgotten to invite Willow out hunting once.

Dark circles hung over hollow cheeks. It was a surprising amount of weight he’d lost in such a short time, his collar bones sharp points.

“My property is disappointingly damaged.”

Leofstan scowled.

Projecting my voice authoritatively, “I suggest you release him at once.” I growled.

Soirrinar merely smiled, displaying his sharp pin prick teeth. “And you have proof of your claims? Otherwise, our property is to do with as we wish.”

It became a battle of who would look away first. We both knew I could take Leofstan back by force with ease if I so wished. The only reason the Unseelie court sent me gifts at festivals and hid their portals as they’d seen the damage I could cause first-hand. It was one thing I shared with the dragon in Lefostans memory; If I wanted to empty a village quickly, I could. And it was mighty fun to do it.

So why was Soirrinar not just handing him over? This was the reason I avoided getting involved with anything involving courts, there was always an underlying agenda. Whatever game he was playing, a few things were clear. If I were to choose to take Leofstan by force, I’d be announcing my intention to fight the Unseelie court ultimately destroying our tentative relationship, which wasn’t the ideal choice as I did enjoy the gifts.

If I let them keep him, that would tell them they’d won. And if you followed the rules of a system it was because you belonged to it, so if I now didn’t take him I’d be telling them I was more closely aligned with their court than ever.

I clenched my fists trying to decide on the best course of action, and my fingertips brushed the gem in my palm. Of course. What had Leofstan said? The gem was an uncontrollable channel of magic linking us somehow?

“I have proof of my claims.” Trying not to sound too excited, my voice remained calm. “He may not bear my sigil, but I have made it so his magic is linked to mine.”

Now that caused the smile on Soirrinars face to falter slightly.

There was a groan of protest from the floor at my words. The whites of Leofstans eyes were showing, a sheen of sweat gathering on his forehead as he desperately gave me a quick shake of his head. Was that meant to mean I was wrong? Or I was right and shouldn’t say anything? I pointedly ignored him, holding my hand up to the crowd.

“You will find he is undoubtedly linked to me, and therefore, mine.” My voice was a lot more confident that my brain.

The pale-haired king gestured to a robed Fae below him, who after debating warily, approached me. Slightly shorter, the creature smelt of magic and herbs. It pointed up at my hand questionably and upon receiving it, sent a small jolt through my arm.

Leofstan, under the net, gave a sudden yelp. My face tried to twitch into a smirk at the grunt of pain and it took every level of control I could muster to stay stoic.

“Satisfied?” I demanded, trying to sound annoyed whilst fighting my cheek muscles for dominance.

“My lord,” the creature warbled, “it is true.” The court gasped, breaking out into hushed tones

The king did not speak until there was silence again.

“How disappointing.” He drawled, “Due to this misunderstanding, your slave has taken up an extraordinary amount of our time.” With a wave of his hand, two figures ran forward to grab the net. “It is rather inconsiderate to expect others to clean a mess because you own something you cannot control.” The net was tangled in Leofstans limbs and was taking some pulling to dislodge. The guy hissed in pain.

“As inconsiderate as a court that doesn’t check if they might be injuring someone else’s property?” I snapped, then winced as I saw how mangled Leofstans leg was. I’d bitten limbs that looked in better shape. “This is going to deeply set back his productivity.” Net removed, the sorcerer lay panting on the floor, limbs sprawled awkwardly. As he was completely butt naked, I grabbed a forearm to pin him steadfastly in place as it seemed the most impersonal option.

If Soirrinar wasn’t still talking, he was plotting. He swung his legs to sit upon his throne normally, clasping the armrests. “It seems we are at an impasse. You have wasted our time, and in return, now yours will be wasted.”

I kept my face neutral as I tried to process the obvious, and not-so-obvious message behind his words. Mainly I figured he was trying to get out of being in any sort of debt to me. Having a Fae in your debt was a powerful move, let alone a king.

Not likely I’d let that boon go anytime soon. ”Your two weeks hardly compares to the time I’ll be set back whilst his weak earth-bones recover.” I gave Leofstan a shake to exaggerate the claims and he helpfully tried to muffle a whimper, sounding excellently damaged.

The king placed a hand on his chest, face painted with sorrow. “You are indeed correct, “ Wait... what? “Please do return next Lunation where I will personally ensure you are compensated fairly.”

The crowd watched me expectantly as the pit dropped out of my stomach. I’d fallen right into Soirrinar’s trap. To decline a request from a king was to offend him and his subjects. But to accept his offer I’d need to return for his ‘compensation’. His handsome face twisted into a gleeful smile. He knew he’d caught me.

“I will hold you to your promise,” I replied dryly. Leofstan, this was all your fault. I should have told Grahame where to shove it and left you here.

Beyond annoyed, I turned without another word, dragging Leofstan by his arm out of the courtroom and leaving blood smudging along the floor. Creatures jumped out from the crowd and began licking eagerly at the stones.

“Portal,” I demanded to the guards outside the room, who sent me back towards the way I’d come earlier. Leofstan was silent and from the lack of snide comments, there was a good chance he’d passed out. He was getting a faff to drag, so I put a bit of strength into hoisting him over my shoulder for the remaining march down the corridor. “You couldn’t just leave it alone.” I moaned to him. “Oh no, Leofstan has to know best. I warned you it might not be what you were expecting.” Reaching the room I’d entered, two spell casters were working hastily to remove the coating that closed the portal.

“You’re lucky Grahame turned up, otherwise I really would’ve left you here you know.” They began chanting. “Now I have to come back to hang out with that self-obsessed moron.” The air began to shimmer. “If I’m late for work, you better hand-write my boss an apology.”

In the air, the image slowly came into the focus of woodland, and a surprised Grahame sighted us. I marched out of the Faelands, hoisting Leo. “Happy?” I glared at the vampire, tipping the lump of a person off my shoulder. He landed with a soft thump, the portal snapping closed behind us.