Sprite

In the early hours of dawn Neistah lay with Lara on the grassy edge of Leane’s pond. Somewhere close by a changeling on guard watched surreptitiously and a little guiltily as they lay wrapped in each other’s arms. Neistah reached up to stroke Lara’s short, honey brown hair which hid nothing from view. She had cut it just for him. Mortals, unlike his own kind, had very little discretion. Neistah didn’t care. Let him look.

Lara stirred sleepily and smiled at Neistah. ‘Is it morning already?’ She was aware of their unseen watcher also and stretched languorously in the growing light. It was their way to tease and torment. Neistah chuckled softly. The mortal deserved it.

Before they did much more, and Neistah was not at all averse to that notion, Lara rose to her feet, perfection in every sense of the word, and dove into the still dark pond. ‘Even better,’ Neistah thought with satisfaction, following her down. Their changeling watcher could just use his imagination.

‘I wish I could have a baby,’ Lara sent wistfully as they twined about one another under the water. Roselle’s little one had made an impression on all of them. Leane would barely leave the new mother and child alone. Lara, too, had been affected.

Neistah stilled, pulling Lara close. ‘I would like to give you one,’ he sent back, knowing it was unlikely. Sprites had a hard time breeding. He and Lara and her twin were among the last full-blooded sprites to have been born in faerie. Neistah’s lips twisted derisively. Except, he now knew, he carried a touch of human blood thanks to Valin. He also had a touch of bright fae blood courtesy of Valin’s bright fae father, but the bright fae were even less likely to breed than the dark fae due to the so-called ‘purity’ of their bloodlines.

It occurred to Neistah that perhaps this was a good thing. He had, however, sired a child—Norah. It was his touch of human blood, combined with the hint of fae blood in Miriam’s veins, that had allowed it. Lara was pure fae. It was not that they couldn’t conceive, it was only very difficult. Neistah, on the other hand, was not so pure. Perhaps, with Neistah’s infusion of mortal blood, they might be able to have a child. ‘Let’s try!’ he sent, grinning as he spun Lara around underwater. They would try and try and try for eternity if they had to. If a child came of it, so much the better. If not . . . .

X x X x X x X x X x X x X

Norah tossed and turned and finally gave up trying to sleep as the first rays of sunlight fell across her bed. Pup had left last night shortly after explaining to her why she couldn’t go with him this time. Instead, he took Adam—Adam, whom they had just gotten back! Norah padded softly out of the small room she now shared with Leane. Her mother Miriam had finally relented and allowed Roselle and her new family to stay together in Norah’s old room.

Leane didn’t stir. The once promiscuous sprite seemed content spending her time with Roselle and the new baby rather than swimming in her pond or flirting with the boys. Norah couldn’t help but notice the yearning in Leane’s eyes whenever she gazed upon tiny Clarice. Everybody wanted babies. Norah didn’t. Not yet. Memories of Valin’s grand plan for her made her shudder. Norah had no wish to become a baby-making machine , not for the sprites or for the humans either! Just because she could. . . .

She meant to slip unnoticed into Leane’s pond. Swimming always soothed her mind and made her see things more clearly. She was angry at Pup for abandoning her. Angry at Breyan, too. As much as she loved Roselle and her little daughter, Norah felt uncomfortable around them. Just because she was a girl, everyone expected her to fawn over the baby.

Norah stopped a few feet away from the pond. Neistah and his Lara were already in it, and they would not welcome her company. Turning away silently, Norah slipped past the changeling guard who was staring expectantly at the still water, and started down the path towards Black Pond. She needed to be alone and she needed to swim.

Morning fog misted the tiny black pond. It was deeper than it looked, as Norah had cause to remember. She had once found the narrow passageway beneath Black Pond which turned into an underground river and eventually fed into a larger river far from the Hanan property. Norah was tempted to explore it once again but she resisted. Right now she only wanted to swim in peace and solitude.

Hours later, she came up out of the water in a graceful arc, landing on her feet in a patch of sunlight. She wrung the water out of her hair and froze, sensing another presence at the same time as she saw him leaning casually against a tree. Her arms immediately moved to cover her nakedness.

Rellan’s eyes roved up and down her body. “Don’t do that on my account,” he murmured softly, pushing away from the tree trunk. He carried with him the faerie gown she had left neatly folded on the edge of the pond. Rellan towered above Norah, impossibly tall, impossibly bright. Gently he moved her hands away until they were at her sides. “Are you truly human?” he asked, tilting his head to one side so he could study her. His white gold hair fell like a waterfall to his waist. “I don’t think you are.” Rellan smiled, and it wasn’t like his earlier smile, which had been full of scorn. Something inside Norah melted and she couldn’t tear her eyes away from his face, his mouth, his oddly pulsing eyes.

What was happening to her? Shaking her head to dispel the strange sensation, Norah made a grab for her gown, only to have Rellan raise it far above his head and out of her reach. Amusement tinged his ever-changing eyes. “Not just yet,” Rellan said, draping her gown across a branch. “I prefer you the way you are.” He moved closer, and Norah took a step backwards, closer to the pond. Instantly Rellan had her in an iron grip. She was pressed tight against him, but instead of being rough, his clothes were incredibly soft against her naked skin. They stayed that way for several heartbeats, and Norah heard every one of them as if it were a drumbeat. Was Rellan going to---Norah’s eyelids fluttered shut and her lips parted, waiting for the inevitable kiss.

It didn’t come. Instead, Norah felt a pinprick at her neck. Her eyes flew open to find a butter- colored knife poised at her throat and a very amused Rellan gazing at her. “What will happen if I let your blood fall to the ground? Will your blood open a gate to faerie? Shall we try?”

Norah gasped and tried to pull back, but she couldn’t move. His nearness was bewildering. Rellan terrified her, and fascinated her at the same time. “Please don’t,” she whispered. There was something about the blood—Neistah had warned her to be careful not to spill her blood, and when she had cut her leg that time, she had somehow stumbled into faerie and Breyan had found her. He had been worried then, she remembered. She stared up into Rellan’s disturbing eyes, a dawning realization in her own.

Rellan laughed harshly. “I thought so.” In a motion so fast Norah couldn’t follow it, he removed the knife from her throat and took the kiss she’d thought he was going to give her earlier. It was warm and gentle and oh, so seductive! Just when Norah wished it could go on forever, he released her. “You have much of your father’s blood in you. Do you, I wonder, have the power to open the gates to all of faerie?” He kissed her again, slower this time, and let his hands linger in her deep red hair when he released her. “You are not so hard to look upon,” he told her. “Our children would be bright and dark, and give the bright fae dominion once again over these mortal lands.” With that, he bent his head to kiss her once more, but his words had broken whatever spell he had over Norah.

“No!” she shouted, twisting away from him. He hadn’t expected her to defy him, that was certain. Rellan’s surprise was complete when, in two quick bounds, Norah was away from him and in the water. She swam quickly away as she heard the sounds of his splashing above. Rellan was no sprite, but he was fae. Who knew what powers he possessed? Panicked, Norah dove deep, aiming for the narrow tunnel that would let her escape.

If Rellan hadn’t mentioned children, Norah still might be under his influence, if that’s what it was. She was vaguely disturbed that it might not all have been the bright fae’s influence. She felt an attraction towards Rellan even though she feared him. Norah swam at her fastest speed, twisting and turning through the narrow passageway that ran under Hanan lands and beyond them to the open river. Was her reaction to Rellan because she was a sprite? Was she really just as promiscuous as Leane? First Will, then Breyan and Pup both, and now Rellan? How could she like them all?

She did not like Rellan! She did not! And she certainly didn’t want to have his children! What was it with him and Valin? Why was everyone so eager for her to have babies?

Norah slowed as she reached a wider passage and the stream suddenly opened back into daylight. She followed it towards the river, keeping as close to the bottom as possible even though she didn’t believe Rellan could have followed her. How had he found her at Black Pond? If he was able to come and go as he pleased, why was he so concerned about whether or not she could create gates to faerie? There was too much she still did not know.

She climbed out of the river shortly after she entered it. This wasn’t Datro’s river, but another mighty river which rivaled it in size. The last time Norah had come this way, she had stumbled upon an entrance to faerie. Despite what Rellan had implied, Norah knew of no other way to find faerie. Every other time she’d found it had been an accident. She touched the blood-red pendant Breyan had given her. No, this was not yet an emergency.

Norah smiled wryly. Oh, she had things well under control, out in the middle of the forest, alone without a stitch of clothes on. She was off Hanan lands, but where? Slowly, Norah turned until she had made a complete circle. She was not much of a forest creature. Which way was the gate she had found once before? For that matter, which way was home?

She heard a crashing in the underbrush and shrank behind a tree. She debated making a dash for the river and decided against it. Here, she was fairly well-hidden. If she made any sudden movement, she would be spotted immediately. Who could be out here in the middle of nowhere? Norah was fairly certain it was not a sprite, nor Rellan either. The fae tended to be more stealthy. Well, except for her, and that was most likely due to her human half.

Holding her breath, Norah waited as the noise came nearer. A small tree crashed to the ground somewhere up ahead, and the earth shook under Norah’s feet. She could hear voices now, loud shouts and occasional grunts. Another tree toppled to the ground, uncomfortably close.

Norah realized she might have to make a run for it after all. These men were cutting a path through the trees right towards the river! Concentrating on the commotion in front of her, Norah slowly backed away, making sure to keep the tree she was hiding behind between her and the approaching workers.

She backed into something unyielding.

“What do we have here?” Rough arms grabbed her, holding her effortlessly. Norah couldn’t help contrasting the unpleasant feel of the woodcutter who had her pressed back to front against him to the warm, soft feel of Rellan’s body. “Why it’s a girl—a naked girl at that!” The man kept his voice low and hadn’t yet called for his comrades.

Reminded of her state of undress, Norah’s face flamed and she struggled briefly against the man, unable to even see his face the way he held her. “Let me go!” She gritted angrily through clenched teeth but the man just chuckled.

This was worse than being captured by Rellan!

Laughing, the man complied, sobering quickly when he got a good look at her webbing. “You’re not a mutant girl, are you? You’re a Sprite!”

Norah swirled her long hair around herself in an attempt to cover her nakedness from his shrewd appraisal. She lifted her chin defiantly. “I’m a changeling Sprite!” she told him. Better he believe her one of the mutants who called themselves Sprites than have any inkling of the existence of faerie.

But the man’s eyes narrowed speculatively. “I’ve been told to watch for ones such as you.”

It was only then that Norah noticed the heavy metal gun strapped to the man’s back. He might be traveling with the woodcutters, but he was not one of them. He was a hunter!

“Told?” Norah asked, edging to one side. The hunter was blocking her path to the river, but if she could just get away into the deep woods, she should be able to outrun him. “What do you mean?”

The man did not reply. Instead, in one swift movement he reached over his shoulder and pulled his gun free, leveling it towards her with a grim expression on his face. Norah stopped moving immediately. A bullet would kill her whether she was a human or a sprite.

He didn’t pull the trigger, however. He stalked forward until the barrel of the gun rested on her chest just above Breyan’s pendant. Norah winced as the cold metal touched her skin, but she didn’t dare move. They stayed like that for several minutes as the noise from the workers got closer and closer. Eventually, the man took the gun away, replacing it in its holder along his back. “They said you’d burn when the metal touched you. They said it would hurt.”

Norah felt sick with horror as she realized he knew far too much about sprites, including their biggest weakness. The hunter grabbed her by the elbow and marched her quickly through the last remaining trees to where the road crew worked steadily to rip the forest apart, sending up a cloud of dust in the wake of the fallen trees. “Look what I found!”

Appreciative whistles and a few coarse comments followed her and the hunter as he led her through the clearing they had made. Norah tried to gather her hair around her like a cloak the way she’d seen the Lady do, but the hunter’s grip on her arm made it difficult. As she got closer to them, a few of the men noticed the fins on her neck and her webbed fingers, and recoiled in distaste or horror, Norah wasn’t sure which. She was too frightened to get a clear reading off any of them.

“Whaddaya got there, Sam? A changeling girl? Is she by herself out here?”

Sam grunted. “Maybe,” he allowed, shoving Norah to a spot on the ground. She sat, huddled with her knees to her chest, and hid behind the curtain of her hair. “I’m going to have another look around to be sure. Don’t let her out of your sight.”

The man who had spoken willingly agreed—too willingly, Norah thought as he took up a position much too close to her. He didn’t seem to be put off by her mutations, unfortunately.

Sam quickly disappeared, and Norah wondered why he hadn’t told the others about his suspicion that she was a sprite. Maybe the rest of them didn’t know! If she could only get to the river before Sam came back, she might be able to get away from them.

“What happened to your clothes, missy?” The man leaned in towards her, his face inches away from her own. His breath smelled.

“Leave-me-alone!” Norah said in a fierce whisper, glaring at him. To her surprise, he did! The man straightened up, turned around, and walked away, leaving Norah sitting by herself. She quickly jumped to her feet, almost too afraid to believe in her luck. The nearest workers, who had been watching the two of them, also turned around and methodically started working again. Only the workers farthest away, who had gone back to work immediately, seemed unaffected. One of them turned around and noticed her standing alone without a guard. He put down his axe and started towards Norah.

She should have been afraid, but instead she stared the man down and willed him to go away. Let this work, she thought to herself. It had worked on Pup and the other changelings once when she had inadvertently broadcast her anger. ‘Leave-me-alone!’ she sent forcefully.

The man who had started towards her stopped in his tracks, but that just attracted the attention of the rest of his crew, who stopped working also and were staring at her in confusion. Norah realized she had to capture their gazes in order for her compulsion to work, and now they were all looking at her. ‘Get back to work,’ she commanded. ‘Forget you saw me.’

Mechanically, the men all turned to obey. With a pleased giggle, Norah ran lightly past them, hoping to reach the river and escape back the way she had come. Even Rellan was a better alternative than this!

A shot rang out and shattered a small tree to her left. Sam must have seen her! Heart pounding, Norah changed direction, running back the way she had come, down the broken and empty path where trees had once stood. The ground was by no means smooth, with sharpened stumps and fallen branches marring the forest floor. Since this is the way the woodcutters had come, it was a fair bet that Sam had not gone back to search in that direction. Norah mourned silently for the poor forest even as she ran through the destruction.

She looked for the telltale shimmer that would mark a gateway, but in all this destruction, she couldn’t remember where she had found it once before. Again her hand went to the pendant Breyan had given her. He would come if she called, he had promised.

Norah stumbled, and would have fallen, but a sky-blue clad arm lifted her off her feet. “Reckless little sprite, aren’t you?” Rellan murmured in her ear, looking cool and composed in the broken forest. “Are you contemplating opening a blood gate after all?” He set her on her feet and looked around him as if seeing the destruction for the first time.

“How did you get here?” Norah asked in astonishment. How did he even know where she was? He couldn’t have swum through the underground passageway; his clothes were still immaculate.

Rellan smiled, and it was the old, malevolent smile that Norah remembered from the first time she had met him. “You are like a beacon in the dark. Now that I’ve found you, what makes you think I would ever let you go?”

Dread coiled in Norah’s stomach. Rellan wasn’t here to save her. Perhaps he was the worse evil after all.