Sprite

The minute the ice on Leane’s pond weakened enough to be broached, all of the sprites went swimming. The humans, still huddled within their winter coats with the exception of Pup and Will, who didn’t need them, shivered in imagined sympathy. That water was just shy of freezing!

The sprites didn’t mind. They preferred the warm waters of their home, but any water would do. They were not like mortals to become struck by the cold. Water was their element, more so than the air above. Neistah grabbed Lara away from her sewing, for she was done with the loom, and whisked her away as she laughingly protested, to join the others in Leane’s small pond. Lara’s hair no longer covered her body like a silky drape, but neither she nor Neistah saw anything untoward in it as they flashed by the growing group of onlookers and dove in. There was still ice in large patches covering the center of the pond, so it was hard to see the sprites playing below; still, the mortals craned their necks trying to get a glimpse. It wasn’t about seeing bare flesh, not anymore, but about being privy to a truly otherworld experience. None of the mortals thought the sprites were changelings any longer. They all believed, which was a good thing and also a bad thing.

The mortals understood now that Neistah had come from another world, a magical place. Will was living proof that it existed, for he had been there once and returned. At the moment, the mortals at the Hanan enclave were all enamoured of the fey sprites, who were on their best behavior among these particular mortals. But what would happen when human emotion took precedence, as it would, and these mortals decided to find out for themselves if Will’s story was real? What if they searched for—and found—the gateways to faerie?

Norah was another problem altogether. More and more, she threw in her lot with the sprites. No one could deny that she looked like them, she swam like them, and that she preferred their company over everyone’s but Pup’s. But her mother was Miriam. Norah was half-human. Only time would tell if she was half-mortal as well. Valin truly did not know. The children his mortal wife had borne him all those centuries ago were long dead, but how long had they lived? And was it because they had remained earth-bound that their mortality eventually caught up with them? If they had been able to choose faerie, would they have lived forever? Part of the reason Valin stayed here was to see how Norah would choose.

‘Don’t let her hear that,’ Neistah cautioned, swimming lazily towards the surface. He still wore golden trunks. Lara was not yet ready to give him the new ones she was making from her shorn hair.

Valin glanced over to where Norah swam with Lara and Leane. The two long-haired girls had taken up positions on either side of Lara, effectively shunting Neistah away for the moment. Their combined hair, red and green, tangled in a shimmery net around the other sprite, giving Lara the illusion of having her own hair once more. How did Norah know to do that? The girl was becoming more and more one of them. Valin frowned as doubts clouded his mind. Was the girl human enough to bear children, like the other human girl upstairs in Hanan’s house?

‘Ask Pup how human she is,’ Neistah sent, annoyed, arching up in a showy splash for the humans who gathered above. He sliced back into the water and swam in a tight circle around Valin. Sometimes his father forgot that Norah had a mind of her own. She was like Neistah that way. Grinning, knowing his father had caught his line of thinking, Neistah shot off to squeeze between Norah and Lara, claiming his lady for himself once again. He twirled around Lara, making Leane back off as well. The two girls giggled, sending up little bubbles, and sped off, leaving Neistah alone with Lara.

Winter steadily faded away as the weather improved. Trees budded and the first tiny flowers of spring cracked through the moist dirt. It would only be a matter of time before Neistah and Valin would know if their ‘talk’ with Avery had made any difference. Neistah told his Sprites to be on the lookout for hunters.

He brought Lara to the hourglass pond that reflected his desire, which was somehow linked to Valin’s desire, although both underwater gates had disappeared just like the one in Leane’s pond. Valin insisted that a strong enough desire would open them again, but right now, Neistah’s one desire was to have a place to swim that was just his own and Lara’s. Valin prudently stayed away.

They stayed at the pond for three full days and nights, and when they finally emerged, Neistah wore Lara’s honey brown weave, and the golden trunks he’d worn previously were gone, perhaps disappeared on a wave of desire, or lost in the murky bottom of Neistah’s earthly pond. He kept the knives, however, secreting them into the hidden pockets Lara had so cleverly sewn into his garment. They came back to chaos.

Changelings ringed the main house, mixed in with Jim’s human guards, as they attempted to muster in some sort of order. There didn’t seem to be any leaders directing them. Lara, back in her curious wooden armor, gripped her short sword but didn’t quite draw it as the changelings finally noticed them. One of them went into the house. Why were they all at the house instead of out patrolling the woods?

Miriam ran out to meet Neistah, her face streaming tears. “They took Adam,” she cried, clinging to his arm. It was the first time Miriam had touched him since his return.

Valin was gone, Leane was gone. Neistah listened. None of his people were here. “Who took him?” he asked.

“It was Avery.” Jim came down the steps, his face grim. “Or his men, at least.” Behind him, Mack limped slowly, his face black and blue, supported by his sister Lou on one side, and by another changeling girl on the other side. One of Mack’s teeth was broken off and a dried trail of blood ran down his neck into the open collar of his shirt.

Part of Neistah was relieved. He had thought Maybe Valin had taken the boy. He wouldn’t have put it past his father to test the limits of the Hanan bloodline.

“We were out on patrol near the northern border when hunters poured over the fence using fallen trees to weigh it down.”

Neistah looked away. That’s how he and Valin had gotten around the problem of the iron barrier, too. He should have made sure the humans fixed the fence, but it was easier not to have to deal with it. Easier for the hunters to scale it, too, apparently.

“They didn’t want us,” Mack said bitterly, spitting out pink saliva that had gathered at the edges of his mouth. “The hunters beat us senseless and tied us up with chains, but they didn’t take us. Only Adam.”

Lara shivered delicately at the mention of chains. ‘Iron?’ she sent. ‘He bound them with iron?’

Neistah grimaced. He and Valin should have taken care of Avery when they had the chance. ‘Avery knows about our weakness,’ he sent, and Lara’s eyes widened in shock.

“When did this happen?” Neistah asked sharply.

“Yesterday. Mack sent back one of the boys who wasn’t too badly hurt, but by then the hunters were long gone. I’m sure they’re headed for Datro. Avery’s wanted Adam for a long time, especially now since he found out about Norah. . . “ Jim’s voice trailed away. Found out Norah was a changeling—but not really a changeling, either. This was bad. Very bad.

“And Valin?”

“He and Leane went on ahead. They said they could move faster than the rest of us. Pup and Norah went, too. We’re getting ready to follow them all the way into Datro if we have to.”

Neistah raised an eyebrow. The changelings and guards didn’t look ready to go anywhere. “Where’s Will?” he asked. If Pup was out hunting, then Will should have been taking over the various patrol groups. There were other duties to consider besides all chasing after the one boy—guarding the perimeter of the Hanan lands would be a start.

Miriam started. She dropped Neistah’s arm as if she had only just realized she was still holding onto it. “Will is upstairs. Will can’t be a part of this. Roselle—I should be up there with them. The baby is coming.” Still upset but trying to pull herself together, Miriam pushed by Jim and Mack to go back into the house.

“I’ll come with you.” Lara started forward, stopping when Neistah touched her arm. She glanced back.

’You don’t need to stay. Let me take you home.’

Lara shook her head, smiling gently. ‘I choose to stay,’ she told him. ‘The baby is coming! How wonderful!’

The game had become dangerous. Avery knew to use iron against them. Perhaps it was time to stop playing it altogether.

‘You know you will never stop playing. You love these people too much.’ Lara’s teasing thought floated behind her as the front door gently closed.

‘I do not!’

Neistah wasn’t worried for himself. He had a high tolerance for iron. So did Valin. It came from their drop of human blood. Norah could touch it with impunity. Only Leane and Lara would be burned by it, could conceivably be killed by enough of it. He mentally shrugged—any of them, including the mortals, could be killed by enough of it. He put it out of his mind.

He spent the rest of the afternoon with Jim organizing the men into groups. Neistah sent three of them to the east, west, and south borders with instructions to periodically send back runners with reports of anything unusual. The north was already compromised, and anyway, that was the direction the others had taken in pursuit of Avery’s men, and Adam.

“Would he hurt Adam?” Neistah asked. Avery was the boy’s grandfather. He wanted him so he could train him to take over the factories some day. In Avery’s mind, Adam was the only person he had left in this world. Neistah’s lips twisted at the thought. In this world. If Avery hadn’t let his fears consume him, he could have had a connection to more than just this world in Norah. The fool.

Jim shook his head. No. Not hurt. “He’ll try to turn Adam to his way of thinking. Adam is still young. He might succeed.”

“I think you underestimate your son.”

Jim smiled at him gratefully. They had come a long way from the time when Neistah had mercilessly tricked Jim and used him to have his way with Miriam, all for a joke, something to do, retribution, if truth be told, for his forced imprisonment. It had all been a game to Neistah. Strange how things turned out.

Through Lara, Neistah had a window seat for Roselle’s labor. A part of him winced at the pain, which Lara controlled to some extent through her influence, and a part of him marveled at how very long it took. All the patrols had left, except for one which remained to guard the house. It was Pup’s group, whom he had left behind when he went off with Valin, Leane and Norah. Of all the humans, Pup had the best chance of keeping up with the sprites, better than Norah who was inexperienced.

Will was a wreck. He sat anxiously by the head of the bed, holding onto Roselle’s hand as if he were the one in pain, and his face mirrored hers with every new contraction. He deserved this pain. Or maybe not. If Norah had not been one of theirs, and if Will had not had a taste of faerie that left him longing for more, then perhaps he would never have been drawn to Norah. Roselle was his first love. Somewhere, under all the glamour, he probably loved her still. Maybe. Neistah wasn’t exactly sure how human feelings worked. If Will and Roselle had been sprites, this never would have been an issue. His brow furrowed. So then how did humans know which one was their one true partner? Maybe they didn’t have one, and that’s why they were so jealous of every little encounter.

A thin cry broke the silence. Neistah and Jim glanced at one another. “It’s a girl,” Neistah said, getting the information from Lara. Jim just blinked at him. Neistah smiled and shrugged.

“You can come in now.” A long while later, Lara opened the door to Roselle’s room. A tired but beaming Roselle smiled at them from the bed. Will was beside her, one hand resting on her head and the other almost reverently on the small wrapped bundle in her arms. The baby was perfect. Yellow fuzz for hair, sleepy eyes too dark to determine their true color, and none of Will’s downy fur, from what Lara said silently. She had helped clean up the baby, and held it in her arms while Roselle was made presentable for visitors. ‘She’s beautiful.’

They named her Clarice, for Will’s mother. Will was overflowing with love for this tiny creature and for the woman who had given birth to her. .

‘Valin’s back,’ Neistah sent to Lara, excusing himself. He caught Valin at the top of the stairs and would have spoken to him mind to mind but Jim came out to hear his report also.

“Did you find him?” Jim asked anxiously. He’d left the door to Roselle’s room ajar, and Will stiffened on the bed as he heard their urgent voices.

Valin nodded. “He’s in Datro. We couldn’t get near enough to take him back because . . .” Valin glanced at Neistah. ‘Iron. They were ready for us.’ “. . . they had him chained and closely guarded.”

Jim gasped. He hadn’t thought his father-in-law capable of such cruelty against his only grandson. But the chains were not for Adam, they were for the sprites. Avery knew they wouldn’t be able to touch the boy through them.

Leane, squealing happily, rushed past them and into the room. “Roselle, you didn’t wait for me!” she said, bouncing onto the bed so she could see the baby. “Ooh, she’s so tiny. Can I hold her?”

“Where are Pup and Norah?” Neistah asked, realizing the two weren’t with them.

Valin paused. “What do you mean?”

“Didn’t they go with you?”

“No.” Valin frowned. ‘We never saw them.’

“Yes, they did,” Jim said with surprise. “They left right behind you.”