Chapter Five

Salome

After we parted ways with the refugees, Gareth led me into the woods and off the road. When the others were out of sight, he came to a stop and spun to face me.

“What’s wrong?”

He grinned. “Nothing, I’m just proud of you.” Seeing the way you treated those elves back there…Salome, your kindness is truly one of your greatest gifts. I wish more of the Fae were like you. It’s just, these aren’t even your people, and yet you want to help them.”

“Well, they kind of are my people now. I gave up my human life to come here. With you. Which means I have to do my part to protect them and make sure they survive Grisselle. Besides, I apparently have a reputation to live up to since everybody and their brother seems to know about me breaking the curse. I think they’re probably surprised to see I’m just a normal girl.”

“You, my love, are anything but normal.” Gareth tugged me into his arms; his palm rested against the side of my face, his thumb rubbing the skin under my eye. “Do you not find it odd that things in Spring have started coming back to life the moment you walk through the kingdom?”

I went still, my gaze meeting his. “That wasn’t me. Like I told Nevin, I don’t have any powers, so if that’s what you’re getting at—”

“Why is it you don’t question all the fantastic things that have come into your life over the last several years, but you question the possibility of you possessing magic?”

“B-because, I’m just some human girl who happened to get lucky in guessing how to break a curse. I don’t want everyone thinking I might be able to save them. Believing I’m something I’m not.” My head rested against his chest. “Besides, if I had all this power, then how come you kept having to rescue me in the human world?”

“Probably because you liked it when I rescued you.” He smirked, his brown eyes boring into mine. “You loved me carrying you in my arms, like this.” He hefted me up, cradling me against him.

“Oh, is that so?”

“Yeah. But mostly, I think you hoped I’d do this.” He leaned his head down and kissed me.

Just as his tongue slipped into my mouth, a loud snort sounded behind my ear and I felt warm breathing on my neck. I jerked back only to see Adaba’s form looming over us. He used his head and butted it against Gareth’s.

“Ow, what the hell is his problem?” Gareth set me down, rubbing his forehead. “You, my feisty equine, are about to get on my last nerve.”

“You did call him a chastity belt—so now he thinks he has to live up to his new title.” I smoothed my dress down, pulse still pounding against my skin.

“This makes me all the more eager to get to Summer. At least then we can shut the bedroom door if we want some privacy,” Gareth said.

And for that, Adaba bit him in the arm. This would definitely be a long trip with those two. For the next hour or so we trekked farther into the woods, until we came to a small clearing nestled between some large boulders and thick trees.

“Why don’t we make camp here for the night? We can get the saddlebags off the horses, then gather some firewood,” Gareth said.

The air had grown chillier now that the sun had gone down some. While Gareth gathered kindling and logs for a fire, I set up our bedrolls. This would definitely be a first for me, sleeping outdoors, under the stars. I hoped nothing came in while we slept and tried to murder us. My imagination conjured all types of creatures that could do us in. I shook off the grizzly thoughts.

Gareth soon came back and set the wood down, then proceeded to work on getting our campfire going. It only took him a few tries to get the flames started. Adaba moved into the woods and posted guard along our outskirts.

I watched Gareth warm some of our meat over the fire. I loved watching the way the firelight played off his features, making his tanned skin more bronzed, his eyes more wild. His golden tattoos on his arm blazed like flames. My eyes followed his every movement. I remembered how many times he’d come to my rescue in the human world. How many nights I’d laid awake thinking about him.

Ever since coming to Faerie, we’d spent almost every waking moment together, either outdoors riding horses or taking walks or swimming. Sometimes we’d just sit in the library together and read. We seemed so far removed from the human world now—and the normal things we’d done back there. Like the waterpark, the carnival, going to prom together—rides on his motorcycle. A part of me missed that life. But I wouldn’t give up the one I had now. Wherever he was, I wanted to be.

“Where you are, I want to be also.” Gareth thought to me.

“Oh, sorry, sometimes I forget how much I project…”

He smiled. “I don’t mind—especially when you’re thinking of us and how hot I looked at prom.”

“Funny.” I took the bowl of venison he handed me.

“We should probably bed down, once we’re done eating. We’ll have another long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

A yawn escaped my lips. “Yeah, I can definitely use some sleep.”

I scarfed down my food, then rinsed out my bowl by dumping some water in it and swishing it around. I slid my boots off and crawled into my makeshift bed.

“Do you have your dagger on you?” Gareth glanced at me as he settled into the bedroll beside mine.

“Yeah, it’s right next to me.”

“Good.” He scooted closer to me, until our sleeping mats were right next to one another. He slid his arm across my waist, then leaned down to press a kiss to my lips. “I love you,” he said.

I laced my fingers into his hair and pulled him down again. “I love you, too.”

“Well, isn’t this touching,” came a voice from beside us. “Never thought I’d catch Gareth of Summer off guard.”

My eyes widened. Elfin bandits, four of them, all dressed in various shades of gray and green. All looking mean and ready to hurt us. Oh God. For long moments, I didn’t dare move, wondering what they might do to us.

“Salome, as careful and quietly as you can, slip me your dagger.” He was still perched above me.

My fingers inched down to the blanket and closed around the hilt of the dagger. Keeping it as close to my body as I could, I inched it up to Gareth. In one, quick movement, he leapt to his feet, throwing the dagger at one of the elfin bandits.

The blade sliced into the cloak of the elf and pinned him to a nearby tree.

“Maris Elkwood, you should know better than that,” Gareth said.

Somehow Gareth now had his sword in hand. I didn’t see where he’d grabbed it from. As slow as I could, I climbed up beside him—unfortunately the only weapon I had at the moment were my hands.

The one called Maris chuckled. “Looks like you’re not as easy to sneak up on as I thought. What say you, Gareth of Summer? Shall we call a truce?”

Gareth lowered his weapon. “Come sit at our fire and let me do a round of introductions.”

Maris jerked the dagger from his cloak and tossed it back to Gareth, who handed it over to me. I put it back in its small sheath and set it on my blanket.

“So you travel with humans now?” Maris watched me from his seat by the fire. His dark hair was at odds with his light green eyes. From here, I spotted several knives and a bow beneath his cloak. Whatever he was, he wasn’t an ordinary elf. An aura of danger seemed to roll right off him.

“This human is my betrothed, Salome. You might’ve heard that she broke Nevin’s curse? Salome, this is Maris, Caraval, Tulare, and Byron…” he pointed at each of the men in turn. “They are the last of the Spring Court’s soldiers.”

“And we’ve been keeping these woods free of Winter scum. Whenever they wander onto our land, we take care of them.” He gave a tight lipped smile as he fingered the blade at his side.

“Are you still camped in the same spot?” Gareth leaned closer to the fire.

“No, we try to move around every so often so Winter Scouts can’t track us. There’s also a small camp of civilians that we protect. Some of which are women and children.”

“I saw Lachlin earlier.”

“Yeah, he said as much. Told me your betrothed had a very important sword choose her today.”

I shot Gareth a startled look. “What does he mean, that the sword chose me?”

“A warrior’s weapon always chooses them. Just as mine did.”

“He speaks the truth; however, I would be lying if I didn’t say how surprised I was to learn that it was the Blade of the Four Kingdoms which called to you, Salome.”

Confusions swept through me. “The Blade of the Four Kingdoms?”

“Only one of the most powerful weapons in all Faerie. Don’t tell me Gareth hasn’t been telling you our lore and history?” Maris glanced at Gareth, who was giving him a warning look. “But perhaps, I should leave that story for him to tell you.” Maris grabbed a leather flask from his belt, unscrewed the lid, then took a swig. When he was done, he peered at me and Gareth once more. “I saw something strange in the woods today. Buds on the trees, even a few birds have returned. And I tell you, these things weren’t here yesterday.”

“It’s curious for sure,” Gareth said, eyeing me. “Only this afternoon, we noticed a rose blooming, where before dead plants had been. Isn’t that right, Salome?”

“Yes.” Where was he going with this? I hoped he wasn’t going to try and claim that this was my doing, too.

“I tell you, the courts are reawakening. I don’t know how or why, but I can feel it in my blood,” Maris said. “Our time is coming.”

Gareth cleared his throat. “Salome, you really should get some rest, or you’ll be asleep in the saddle tomorrow.”

He and Maris exchanged another look. Maris smiled and slid a wooden flute from beneath his cloak. “I think some music is in order.”

The light, airy sound of flute music filled the night air, swirling along the breeze as if dancing with it. The fire popped, sending a spray of sparks up toward the sky as if someone had lit off fireworks.

“Welcome hoooooooome…” a voice said on the wind.

I sat upright, my blanket falling from my shoulders. My gaze met Gareth’s. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“The voice. It said welcome home.”

“No, I didn’t hear anything.” A look of concern crossed his face. “But after what you hearing voices led to before, we ought to pay attention to any you hear now.”

He had a point. Last winter, me hearing voices had almost led to my death. I mean, in a way it had led to my death, but, well…it was complicated. And I knew better now than to dismiss something I couldn’t explain and hope it wasn’t real.

I swallowed. “What do we do?”

“Don’t worry love, you are safe among friends. We will keep guard. Just get some rest.”

Gareth scooted closer to me and stroked my hair, until my eyes became so heavy I could no longer keep them open. With him, I was safe. With him, we could face anything. That thought, his touch, and the music helped me fall into a sweet slumber.

The next morning, Maris and his men led us to the edge of the Spring border. “Gareth, if Summer raises an army to go against Winter, send word to us. I want to avenge my mother and our king.”

Gareth bowed his head. “Your mother Rena was a good woman. I know time does not heal all wounds, my friend. But know that if we go to war, you will be the first person I call on. We can always use more bowman.”

“Lady Salome.” Maris clutched my hand. “It was good to meet you. May Faerie smile upon you.” He leaned closer to me and whispered, “The sword is of importance—it has claimed you, Salome. No one has been able to wield it since the first Queen herself. Ask questions, you have a right to know our history—because soon enough, it might become yours.”

I sucked in a deep breath. What the hell did that even mean?

As I climbed onto Adaba’s back, I peered behind us only to find that Maris had disappeared. Our horses headed back across the northern border of Summer, and I dug my heels into Adaba’s sides to speed up so I could ride alongside Gareth.

“Are you going to tell me about the sword?”

Gareth sighed, his brow furrowed in annoyance. “I really wish Maris would’ve kept his mouth shut.”

“Why? Don’t you want me to know what’s going on?”

“Of course I do, however, I’m not sure yet of the significance of the sword appearing now, and to you. I wanted to do some research once we reached Summer, so I’d have a better understanding of what to tell you. What I do know from studying in the archives when I was a student is that this sword was created at the beginning of Faerie. It was imbued with the powers of all four kingdoms. Winter. Spring. Summer. Autumn. It was the weapon of our very first Faerie Queen Diana—many thought that it had been buried with her when she passed from this life into the Realm of Heroes. It’s been lost since her time, a mere myth until yesterday.”

“That makes no sense; how did it end up in Lachlin’s little shop? I mean, he had hardly any goods in there. Do you think it’s a replica?” I glanced at him, fingers tightening on the horse’s reins. Panic coursed through me. I didn’t want the appearance of the weapon to mean anything to me. I just wanted to be Salome Montgomery. It was one thing to take on being a Faery and an immortal, but I’d come into this thinking I’d still basically be, well…me.

But what if I was meant for something more? Would I be ready? I mean, I had hardly any knowledge of anything Faerie—well, other than the tales Grandma had told me as a child. Gareth was teaching me about Summer and all things Faerie, but I still had so much to learn.

“It’s not a replica. I might not be able to wield it, but I felt the magic flowing through the blade. It’s genuine. And like I said, I’ll have to do some research on the history of it to learn more.” Gareth watched me intently. “Salome, everything will be okay. Let’s not jump to any conclusions until we have more information.”

“You’re right. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence.”

“Well, I didn’t say that. There’s obviously a reason it appeared now. But let’s not dwell on it right this moment. No need to fret until we know more about it.” He reached across the distance between our horses and clasped my hand in his.

Up ahead of us, a large, crumbling statue blocked part of the road. Gareth brought his horse to a stop, and Adaba halted as well. The face in the stone looked so familiar, but I couldn’t place where I’d seen it before.

“Who is that stone figure of?” I let Gareth help me from my mount as we made our way over to it.

“This was our last Faerie Queen, Genissa.”

“Genissa?” Where had I heard that name before? Then I remembered. She’d been the woman from the story Grandma had told me. Chills grated across my skin, causing goosebumps. If this fairytale was real, how many other ones were? And that raised another question. How in the world had Grandma known?

It’s like she’d been aware of Faerie’s existence the whole time. I recalled her not wanting me to get involved with Nevin or Gareth. How she raced out of her house when Kassandra attacked me. She’d known about this magical world way before I’d come along…but how? What role did she play? And what role would I play? More than anything, I needed to talk to her—which likely wouldn’t happen for a while, at least not until I could convince Gareth or Nevin to allow me to go home for a visit.

“Salome? Did you hear me?”

“I’m sorry, I was so caught up in my thoughts…”

“I know,” he teased. “I promise that when things settle down, we’ll get you home to see Doris. But for now, we need to keep you safe. How about we get some lunch? When we’re done eating, I can teach you a few fatal moves to do with a dagger, should you need to defend yourself.”

“Are you sure you want me waving a dagger around at you?” My teeth grazed my bottom lip as I stared up at him.

“I think we’ll start you off with a stick—”

“Are you saying you don’t trust me with a knife?” I threw my hands on my hips.

He chuckled, holding his palms toward the sky. “I never said that, but I do like all my limbs.”

We made our way off the path, this time heading toward a clearing in the wood-line. We ate a quick meal of apples, cheese, and bread. When we finished Gareth had me pull out my dagger so we could find a stick close in shape, weight, and length to use as a practice tool.

When we found the perfect one, Gareth had me stand in front of him.

“Because you’re small, most captors will be able to overpower you. So if someone were to come up behind you, like this…” Gareth wrapped his arms around me from the back. “You could feasibly just stab him in the leg or anywhere to get him to loosen his hold. Or if you can’t move your arms, then you need to stomp on his foot as hard as you can to get him to let you go.”

He had me do a couple practice runs on him, but I worried too much about hurting him to really try too hard to get away.

“You don’t have to be afraid to lash out, Salome, you’re not going to harm me.” Gareth touched my cheek.

“I know, it’s just hard to go at you full force. I mean, you’re not my enemy.”

“All right, why don’t we move onto something else then?”

Gareth went on to show me where I could cut someone if I needed a more lethal blow. He taught me how to cut across someone’s throat, or use my palm to strike a person and make their nose lodge into their brain. Not exactly self-defense maneuvers I ever wanted to have to use, but I was glad he took the time to show me just in case.

By the time we put the fake dagger down, I was sweating and out of breath. Who knew self-defense could be so much work?

With a sigh, I collapsed in the shade under a big oak tree and sprawled out. Gareth sat down beside me, then rolled over until he was propped above me. “Is this another self-defense lesson?” I laughed.

He gave me a cocky grin. “Hmm…it can be. Because what will you do if someone gets you pinned to the ground?”

My hands moved up his chest until my arms circled his neck. “Maybe something like this.”

I tugged him down on top of me, letting my mouth cover his. I parted his lips with mine, letting my tongue move against his. He groaned, pinning my arms above my head so he could trail kisses down my neck then back up again. Using my hips, I thrust him up enough for me to roll him over onto his back. I grabbed the stick we’d been using and held it to his neck.

“I do believe I’ve won, Gareth of Summer.”

His hands rested on my waist; my dress pushed up to my upper thighs. “And if this is the way I get to die, you can best me every time. However, may I ask that you not do this move on anyone but me?”

“Why? Jealous?” I dropped the stick, this time pinning his arms above his head.

“Yes.”

Right when we were about to kiss again, Adaba’s shadow loomed over us. He pawed at the ground, smashing his hoof down about a foot away from Gareth’s head.

“Adaba, in case you didn’t notice, she’s trying to seduce me, not the other way around,” Gareth said from beneath me.

The horse gripped the sleeve of my dress and tugged me off of Gareth. “Well, I suppose that’s the end of that then.”

I rolled my eyes and sat next to the tree instead, picking flowers from the grass. When I had a pile of them, I weaved them together, until I had a crown of daisies. With a grin, I set it on top of my head.

“So what do you think?” I asked.

Gareth’s eyes widened, and he bolted to his feet. “We should get moving so we can get to the border of Autumn before dark.”

“What’s wrong?” I let the crown slip from my hair.

“Nothing, just realized how late it was. Come on.” He offered me a hand up.

But I knew it was more than that. Why the heck had the flowers on my head freaked him out like that?

“Gareth, seriously, talk to me,” I said, my fingers brushing against his.

“When we get to Summer, I promise we’ll talk about everything, but right now, I just want to enjoy our time together. Because once we get to the palace, our time will be compromised. We won’t be able to be alone like we are now.” His eyes shifted to Adaba. “Well, as alone as we can be now.” His lips twitched.

I sighed. “Fine, but we will talk.”

When we arrived at the Autumn border, the scent of fall hung heavy in the crisp air. I’d always been scared of this season before; I loved the beauty of the trees changing colors and the smell of pumpkin pie, but I always knew Winter came after Autumn. For once, however, I could enjoy this—or what there was left of it. Withered vines clung to old buildings, while remnants of leaves blew about in the wind.

The gray overcast sky loomed above, with the threat of rain hanging onto the angry clouds.

“We should make camp on the outskirts. It’ll be safer for us to travel through the kingdom during daylight hours. We don’t want to chance any run-ins with red caps in the ruins.”

I’d read enough of Grandma’s stories to know I didn’t want to tangle with one of those. Just imagining their blood sopped caps made me queasy. We urged our horses closer to the riverbank, where an old cabin with a waterwheel sat. The windows were dark, and it looked as if it’d been a while since someone had lived there. Overgrown brown grass and weeds came up to the bottoms of the first floor windows, while the thatch on the roof appeared to have seen better times, ages ago.

Thunder sounded in the distance, and Gareth hopped off his horse. “Wait here while I go in and make sure it’s safe.” He unsheathed his sword and crept to the door. Quietly, he tried the handle, and the barrier swung right open.

I held my breath as he moved inside. My stomach knotted as I sat waiting for him to come back out. What was taking so long? My eyes scanned the darkening surroundings. I chewed my thumbnail, never taking my eyes off the front door.

A moment later, he stuck his head out. “It’s all clear. I was just trying to move a few things out of our way so we could get our bedrolls laid out. There won’t be any fires tonight, though. I’m not sure what state the fireplace is in.”

As a low howl sounded in the distance, I was glad to go inside—although I wasn’t sure how well the house would hold up. After a quick bite to eat, we bedded down, and night set in. The darkness swallowing us up.

Even though I couldn’t see him, I felt Gareth beside me, and that was all the comfort I needed. As long as he was here, I knew I’d always be safe. The wind roared against the cabin, letting cold air sneak in through tiny crevices.

“Welcome hoooooooome…” The same voice from the other night drifted in on the breeze, swimming around in my head.

“Gareth,” I whispered.

“What is it?”

“I-I heard that voice again, just now.”

He sat upright, drawing his sword. “What did it say to you?”

My hand clenched his tunic. “It said, ‘welcome home’.”

He glanced down at me then stood, moving to the door. He opened it and looked around outside. After a moment, he shut it once more. “I don’t see anything.”

“Do you think whoever it is wants to hurt me?”

“I don’t know, but I’d assume if they did, they would’ve already made their move. They’ve had plenty of opportunities before now. But I’ll keep watch again tonight. Just get some rest.” He sat back down beside me.

I snuggled closer to Gareth, too scared to sleep, hoping morning would come quickly.