When Isla shook me awake I felt like I had slept for days. ‘The banquet starts in an hour. I thought you might want to shower first.’
She was right. I did. I had been sweaty after my fight with Aethan but that was nothing compared with how much I had sweated while I’d slept. The blankets touching my skin felt wet.
When I emerged from the bathroom I found she had laid a dress out on my bed. ‘Thought we should look the part,’ she said.
‘Isilvitania Royal women versus Emstillia Royal women?’
She nodded her head. ‘Round one. Ding ding.’
I laughed and picked up the dress. Sky-blue silk fell to the floor in elegant waves.
‘I thought it would bring out your eyes,’ she said.
‘What are you wearing?’
She pointed to a ruby red dress of the same cut and pulled a face. ’Sorry I only brought two dresses.’
‘That’s two more than me.’
We were quiet for a while as she brushed out my hair. I closed my eyes and let myself pretend I was a child again. It had been too long since someone else had brushed my hair.
Feeling emboldened by the contact between us I said, ‘Isla, why did that man call you oath breaker?’
The brushing stopped and I opened my eyes and turned towards her.
‘You heard that?’ Her eyes were huge in her beautiful face.
I took the brush from her and started working the bristles through her hair. She stared straight ahead for a few moments and then she let out a sigh and slumped down onto the bed.
‘It was a long time ago. Well before you were born.’
My hand hovered above her head. Before I was born?
She let out a tinkle of a laugh. ‘You didn’t realise how old I was. I guess being brought up amongst such short-lived people, ninety years would seem a lifetime.’
‘It is a life-time.’
‘And yet amongst the fae I am still considered a young woman.’
I commenced my brushing. Something to think about later.
‘This is not the first attempt to bind our people with the night faeries. When I was still a child, my hand was promised in marriage to a night faery.’ She let out a rough laugh. ‘I was so young and naïve. So excited about marrying Arra. He was handsome and charming; everything I thought I wanted in a husband.’ She paused again and for a moment I feared she would not continue. ‘The week before our wedding he came to my rooms and forced himself upon me. He was not so charming then. Every night he came and every time the beatings got worse. He took pleasure in my pain.’ Her voice trembled as she continued. ‘I could not marry him. To commit myself to a lifetime of that? I would rather have died.’
I stopped the brushing and sat on the bed next to her, taking one of her hands in mine.
‘He was so clever. He knew by taking my virginity he had sealed my lips. I was too ashamed to tell anyone. So I ran away.’ She straightened her shoulders and pushed her hair back from her face. ‘It was a total disaster of course. Relationships with the night faeries deteriorated almost to the point of war. I sometimes wonder if that was what he was really after.’ She stared into the distance for a long moment and then shook herself. ‘Anyway that is why they didn’t support us during the Dark Years.’
‘What happened to him?’ Would he be there tonight?
‘Oh,’ she said, ‘he made a better marriage for himself. I have been officially pardoned, if not forgiven. If he had married me, he never would have become king.’
‘King?’ My voice shot up an octave.
She laughed lightly. ‘Silly me. Did I leave that part out? Yes, Arra married the daughter of King Lanon. Strangely enough, all his other heirs died before Lanon did.’
I shivered. This was the man Aethan had to deal with?
‘Come,’ she said. ‘We must hurry or we will be late.’
She expertly twisted my hair up on top of my head, braiding some pieces and leaving others to fall loosely around my face. The braided bits she looped and twirled till my hair was an artwork. ‘Here,’ she handed me a pair of moonstone earrings and pointed to her make-up box before starting work on herself.
Once she had finished her hair she took over my make-up, muttering to herself about how young women these days weren’t taught practical arts. In all honesty though, with how my life seemed to be progressing I was pretty happy I had mastered the sword and not the eyeliner pen. Hopefully by the time I was ninety I would be proficient at both.
There was a knock on the door and then it opened a fraction and Wilfred stuck in his head. He let out a low wolf-whistle as he glanced at us both, but I noted how his gaze lingered on Isla.
‘It’s time,’ he said.
‘Will you do me the honour?’ Isla held her hand out to him.
He swept it up and placed it daintily onto his arm. ‘It would be my great pleasure milady,’ he said in his best pirate-impersonation voice.
I desperately wanted to ask Aethan to escort me, but seeing as how his job that night was to court our future queen, I didn’t think it was appropriate. And of course that thought had me gritting my teeth again. If I could get through dinner without shedding blood I would be doing very nicely.
Wolfgang was waiting for me in the chamber. ‘The others have headed down,’ he said. ‘They wanted to get the lie of the land, or something like that.’ He held his arm out to me and I copied Isla, placing my hand upon it.
Isla and Wilfred swept out of the room and Wolfgang and I followed. Down, down, down we circled until we reached the front entrance. A night faery waiting there directed us outside to the garden.
I could feel some of my tension leave me as we entered the garden. Lamps, hanging from branches, lit our path to a large pavilion. Little lights glowed in the air as if moving gently on the breeze.
‘Garden faeries.’ I was pleased to see something familiar. Holding my finger out, I watched as one of the lights drifted closer.
‘Izzy, I wouldn’t…,’ Wilfred began.
Before he had finished the sentence the light rocketed towards me and latched onto my finger. I let out a shriek as something sharp pierced my skin. Wolfgang grabbed my hand and flicked off the tiny animal.
I stuck my finger into my mouth and sucked off the blood. ‘What was that?’
‘A sprite.’ Wilfred let out a laugh. ‘I did try to warn you.’
‘I’m not going to turn into something now am I?’
‘What?’ Wilfred laughed harder. ‘Like a were-sprite?’
‘Something like that.’ It was all right for him to laugh. His mother was an orc. He’d been a part of this magical world his whole life. There was still so much I didn’t know.
‘Leave her alone Will.’ Isla slapped him playfully on the arm and then in a sing-song voice said, ‘It’s show time.’
She was right. We were almost at the marquee where a welcoming committee waited for us. A group of night faeries, all dressed in black, blended into the fabric of the marquee.
‘They really take the whole night thing seriously don’t they,’ I whispered to Wolfgang.
A smile flashed across his face as he reached out his hand to greet the first one.
I could see Isla’s back getting stiffer and stiffer as we made our way through the throng and into the marquee. We were led to one of the long, low tables where Brent and Luke already sat. Aethan was nowhere to be seen.
‘Well I never,’ Isla sputtered when we sat down.
‘What’s wrong?’ I leant over Wilfred and whispered.
‘Our greeting party was made up of the least important members of the royal court. I fear things will not go well tonight.’ She chewed on her bottom lip, a motion that made her, for the first time since I’d met her, seem uncertain of herself. ‘Perhaps I should not have come.’
‘Why not?’ Aethan slid onto a cushion on the other side of her.
His shirt was of the deepest blue and matched the colour of his eyes perfectly. His dark hair was rumpled up just the way I liked it – as if it were begging me to run my hands through it. The dark stubble on his face highlighted his cheekbones.
He turned his head toward me and my breath caught as he met my gaze. For a few seconds we sat like that, our eyes trapped by each other’s. But then Isla leant into him and started whispering in his ear and he turned his attention to her.
I took a sip from the goblet sitting in front of me while I tried to regain my composure. What had he seen while he’d gazed at me? A young pest of a girl? A friend? Could it be possible that he had seen something else? That desire had been kindling in his eyes?
I took a deep breath and another sip from my goblet. Thoughts like that were not going to help. Especially not tonight. Tonight was about King and country, about the big picture. And where the big picture was concerned, the feelings of one half-witch half-faery didn’t count.
Aethan stood and returned to the milling men, chatting as he circulated the room. I turned to Wolfgang but he was busy staring off into the far corner of the marquee. I followed his gaze but could see nothing of interest there. Brent and Luke were also scoping the room and I decided to follow their example. I should be doing my job, not mooning over Aethan.
The first thing I noticed was that apart from our party, everybody was wearing black. I wasn’t so surprised about the men, but even the women had on flowing black gowns. Isla and I stood out like peacocks amongst a flock of crows. I was guessing that that had been her intention.
The next thing I noticed was that while the men moved about the room, the women sat demurely on their cushions talking amongst themselves. A lot of the conversation seemed to involve Isla, if the looks they cast in her direction were anything to go by.
‘Lady.’
I jumped in my seat and turned around. A serving woman held out a pitcher of wine. She nodded to my goblet which, apart from the couple of sips I had drunk, was still full.
‘No thank you, I’m fine.’ It would be a big mistake to drink too much amongst this lot.
‘Please allow me to top you up.’
Before I could decline again she leant past me, forcing me to the side so she could reach my goblet. As she stood back up, she pressed a piece of paper into my hand.
‘Thank you,’ I said, trying to keep the shocked expression off my face.
I waited till she was long gone before I glanced down at what she had given me. A small piece of folded paper nestled in the palm of my hand. I looked around the room while I flicked it open with my thumb. I wasn’t very good at subterfuge.
A quick glance down at the paper showed me one word scrawled in a bold hand.
BEWARE
I leant down as if to adjust my slipper. While I was down there I refolded and tucked the piece of paper into my bra.
The message created about a million questions and answered none. Who had sent it? Was it a personal message to me or to the group? Were we in danger or was it about our mission? I felt like screaming in frustration. Surely they could have given me more information than that.
Perhaps I should go after her. I searched the room for her but she was gone.
‘Wolfgang,’ I said, nudging him with my elbow.
‘Hmmm? Yes?’ He looked away from the corner of the room.
‘The serving women. Are they night faeries?’ The ones I could see all appeared shorter than the average night faery.
‘You mean the slaves?’
‘They’re slaves?’
He nodded his head. ‘Once upon a time the Ubanty Tribe roamed these lands. When the night faeries broke from our people…,’
‘Wait. We used to be one people?’ That thought gave me the heebie-jeebies.
‘Yes. There was an argument over a succession and the faeries that followed our King Rowan stayed. A small band of followers loyal to his twin brother, Randa, left. They came here and set up Emstillia. The Ubanty people weren’t so keen on the idea and a battle followed. They lost and their descendants have been slaves to the Royal Court ever since.’
Before I could comment, a bell tolled twice.
‘And now it begins,’ Isla said.
Everybody who was still standing made their way back to their seats. At the front of the room I recognised the men we had lunched with. A single cushion in the middle of their row remained empty.
‘All rise for the King.’
We stood, and a statuesque figure wearing a black fur cape over the obligatory black clothing, strode to the front of the room. Isla had been right. Arracon was handsome, in a devil-may-care way. His full lips were framed by a strong nose and high cheekbones. Long lashes curled thick around eyes that studied the room. His gaze fell on Isla and a small smirk appeared.
I didn’t think I could have sat there so calmly if a man who had ripped away my innocence had been smiling at me like that. I was guessing by Aethan’s lack of reaction that he didn’t know the full story.
‘Welcome,’ Arracon said in a deeply-resonating voice. ‘It has been too long since we have had guests from Isilvitania.’ He smirked at Isla again and I had an urge to smack him in the mouth. ‘We are here to celebrate a possible union between our two peoples. We have given great thought to which female would be a suitable candidate to join with Crown Prince Orion.’ He stopped and looked around the room. ‘We have decided that there is only one female fit enough to be worthy of such a salubrious marriage.’
He paused again, this time to look back in the direction from whence he came. ‘Prince Aethan, on behalf of your brother, may I present to you Princess Ebony, Jewel of Emstillia and heir to the throne.’
Isla let out a gasp, but I wasn’t looking at her. Ebony flowed into the marquee and moved to stand beside her father. Like all night faeries, her hair was of the deepest black and her skin a softly burnished mocha. But where their eyes were all dark, hers were the softest sea green. They glowed in a face that was perfect in proportion and form. Full lips pursed sensuously as she gazed at Aethan. Lustrous black hair tumbled down her shoulders to her waist, and her black dress clung to her breasts and hips.
I felt despair roil over me. Ebony, in all her glory, made Isla look plain. And until that second, Isla was the most beautiful woman I knew. I hated to think what I looked like in comparison. Aethan had to court Ebony, had to make her want to come to Isilvitania and marry his brother. I felt sick at the thought of them spending time together.
‘Easy,’ Wilfred whispered, placing his hand on my arm.
I looked down to find I was holding a knife. I hadn’t even realised I’d picked it up off the table.
‘Jealous much?’ he murmured plucking it from my fingers.
Aethan stood and made his way up to the front. Arracon formally introduced them and then Aethan brought Ebony back to the table and waited while she seated herself. I could see far too much bosom when she leant towards Aethan.
Picking up my goblet, I took a swig of wine. I tried not to listen to their conversation, honestly I did, but her bell-like voice was easily heard over Isla and Wilfred’s low murmurs.
‘So your brother Orion,’ she said, ‘is he as handsome as you?’
Aethan laughed softly. ‘Lady, you compliment me. I can assure you that Orion is far more handsome than I am.’
‘I’m not sure if that is possible,’ she said. ‘Before I saw you, my father was the handsomest man I had ever seen. Now I am not so sure.’
I was glad the goblets were made of metal and not glass or I would have needed Wolfgang to heal me again.
‘Orion is handsome and strong and wise. He will make a good king and an enviable husband.’
‘Strong is good,’ she said. ‘Men should be strong enough to look after their wives. I know some women like to play at fighting, but I think it is unseemly. Wives are the softness that complements the husband’s strength.’
Great Dark Sky if that were true, I was in deep trouble.
‘That’s a nice way of looking at it,’ Aethan said. ‘It is pleasant spending time with a woman of grace.’
What? Since when?
I leaned to the side as a serving woman – no, slave – placed a meal in front of me. It smelled of spices and roasted meat, but suddenly, I wasn’t hungry. What if this Aethan really did like his women soft? What if the other Aethan, my Aethan, never came back? Years of unrequited love suddenly stretched in front of me. I picked up my fork and used it to move my food around my plate.
‘Not hungry?’ Wilfred asked.
‘Who can eat?’ I rolled my eyes and nodded towards Ebony and Aethan.
‘Everything will work out,’ he said around a mouthful of food.
I sighed. ‘You said that once before. How do you know?’
He swallowed and put his fork down. ‘Things always do. Sometimes not how we imagine they will, but they do.’
‘Not helping.’ I stabbed at a piece of meat and handed it down to Scruffy.
‘You two are meant to be together. This is just the blacksmith’s fire.’
I shook my head. ‘I don’t follow.’
‘When a blacksmith makes a sword, he heats it and beats it and heats it again. If he doesn’t do that, the sword won’t be as strong. It will shatter on its first use.’
I worked my way through his analogy. ‘So you’re saying we’ll be stronger because of this, not in spite of it?’
‘Exactly.’
Isla leaned past Wilfred and said, ‘Not bad for a big, red bear.’
‘You’re imagining me naked, aren’t you,’ he said to her.
‘Why yes.’ She looked straight into his eyes and gave him a small smile. ‘I most certainly am.’
Wilfred’s face blushed as red as his hair as he turned his attention back to his meal.
I chuckled as I speared a piece of meat. That was Wilfred’s standard pick-up line, but I’d never heard it turned on him before.
It didn’t take long for Wilfred to get over his embarrassment. He spent the rest of the meal whispering to Isla, who laughed wickedly at whatever he was saying. Wolfgang seemed totally pre-occupied with the corner of the marquee, so I ate my meal in silence. When we had finished the main course, the table was cleared and I found myself hoping that was it for the evening. I itched to get Aethan away from Ebony.
‘Would you care to go for a stroll?’ Aethan stood up and offered Ebony his hand.
‘That would be lovely.’ She giggled as she ‘accidentally’ tripped into him, forcing him to wrap her in his arms to steady her.
A low growl came out of my throat before I could stop it.
She turned her radiant face towards me, looking at me as if I were an unsolved puzzle.
‘Excuse me,’ I said, putting my hand in front of my mouth. ‘It’s the spice.’ I wasn’t keen on her thinking I had burped, but there was no way I was admitting I had growled at her.
‘I burped once,’ she said, smiling at me like I was a wayward child, ‘when I was a baby. I don’t remember it myself.’
Aethan looked like he was holding back a laugh as he escorted her away.
‘I burped once,’ I mimicked her soft voice.
Wilfred laughed and said, ‘Bet she’s never growled.’
I poked my tongue out at him and stood up. ‘Excuse me, I need to use the ladies’.’
I breathed a sigh of relief when Isla and Wilfred continued their whispered conversation. I had feared she would offer to go with me and I really had no intention of finding the toilet. I needed a walk too, and well, if that walk just happened to take me near where Aethan and Ebony were strolling, well that would be a huge coincidence.
By the time I made it outside the tent, Aethan and Ebony were nowhere to be seen.
Bugger. Which way would they have gone?
‘Any ideas boy?’ I said, looking down at Scruffy. He was staring back into the tent where dessert was being wheeled in.
‘Do you want to stay with Wilfred?’ I said.
He looked up at me and wagged his tail and scampered back to Wilfred. I saw him pawing at the big man’s arm as a platter piled high with delicacies was placed on the table.
Trying to pretend I was just going for a stroll, I turned left and headed into the garden. A sprite bobbed innocently towards me. ‘Don’t even think about it,’ I said, flapping my hands at it. Its light flickered from white to red before it headed off in another direction. I was guessing that that was the sprite equivalent of giving me the finger.
A quick pass through the closest parts of the garden didn’t reveal Aethan. After another five minutes of unsuccessful searching I decided to head to the fountain. Lights lit the cascading water and smoothed away the shadows from the surrounding trees. The snowy, white marble structure was the only friendly thing I’d encountered since we had arrived. I sat on its edge and trailed my fingers in the water.
‘They brought it with them when they came.’
I jumped up and backed away from the dark figure standing in the tree line.
‘They pulled it apart and piece-by-piece they carried it here from Isilvitania.’ The man stepped away from the trees and moved towards the fountain. ‘Now it is the only reminder of what they once were before they let Randa’s anger and jealousy warp them.’ He mimicked my previous position and sat on the edge, trailing his fingers through the water. ‘That was all a long, long time ago.’
Wary of his body language, I stepped back to the fountain, and re-took my seat. ‘You are Ubanty.’ It was a statement, not a question. If his shorter stature were not enough of a giveaway, black tattoos twirled up his arms and danced along the top of his collar bones. Half-crescent moons were inked beside each eye.
He nodded his head. ‘I am Samuel.’
‘Isadora.’ I held my hand out to him and he took it in a clasp. Engraved metal bands encircled his wrists.
‘The one they speak of.’
‘Pardon?’
‘The witch that brought down the castle defences. We have waited a long time for you.’
I stared at him with my mouth opening and closing, but I couldn’t find the right words to say.
He froze and peered to his right, as if he could hear something I couldn’t. ‘They come.’ He stood and backed towards the trees. ‘Never fear, I will follow and we will come for you. Hold strong.’
I stared after him as he disappeared into the shadows. He was certainly an interesting fellow. Perhaps he was the local crazy. Every town had one.
A stick cracked to my left and I jumped and then laughed nervously. He really had freaked me out. It was probably for the best if I headed back to the marquee.
I took a step towards the muted glow of the party and another crack echoed to my right. ‘Aethan? Ebony?’ Perhaps I had found them after all.
Dark shadows sprinted from tree-to-tree. I grabbed my knife from my ankle and spun in a circle. There were three, no four, no six people circling me, weaving in and out of the trees in an elaborate dance. I held my ground and waited for them to attack.
Two of them raced towards me and threw their arms out. A large net sailed through the air and hooked over my head. I would have flicked it off easily if two more nets had not followed in rapid succession. My struggles to remove one, only increased the hold the other two had on me.
I stopped fighting the nets and turned to see the six standing in a circle with me at their centre. Each of them held a rope attached to one of the nets. As I watched they started the elaborate dance again, running under and over each other’s ropes. By the time I realised they were making a net big enough to encase me, it was too late. They ran in a circle looping the ropes around my ankles as I hopped from foot to foot. When they had finished I was encased in their net and controlled by a rope. One of them jerked on the rope and my feet were whipped out from under me.
‘Right,’ I said. ‘I think that’s enough.’
I thought about what I wanted – to be free – and gestured with my hands. Nothing happened. There was no need to panic though; it wasn’t the first time my powers had failed the first time. I reached inside me for the glowing patches that contained my power. I could feel them, but I couldn’t reach them.
‘That’s enough witch,’ one of the shadow men said. ‘You can’t access your powers with this net upon you.’
I ceased my struggles and stared in bewilderment. Who were these people and what did they want?
‘They will know she is missing soon,’ another one of the masked figures said.
‘Yes, we must hurry.’
‘Help.’ I felt like such a big girl having to yell that word. ‘Heeeellpp.’
I pulled my knife from its sheath on my ankle as I continued to shriek. They picked me up and hurried away from the castle, away from the party. Away from my friends. I dragged my dagger over the rope but the sharp edge didn’t even fray it.
As I hacked at the net the piece of paper scratched at my breast.
BEWARE.
I was an idiot. The Ubanty had warned me and I had immediately disregarded it. I’d been more worried about a night faery trollop than my own safety. I’d grown arrogant and stupid and… there weren’t enough words that meant idiot to describe what I had become.
All my attempts with the knife failed. There was nothing I could do while I was in the damned net. I would have to wait for them to free me before I could escape. That knowledge rankled.
I tried to relax and save my strength, but the ropes dug into my flesh where it supported me. Trying to get comfortable only earned me a sharp prod. I resisted the urge to poke back with my knife. I didn’t think that would help the situation.
A few minutes later we came to a low ridge line. Four of the six ran ahead while the other two carried me up the steep hill. Hidden amongst the peaks was a building. The open door emitted the glow of a fire. At least I would be warm.
I was bundled inside and thrown on the floor next to a fire pit, close enough to the dancing flames that the heat burnt the side of my face. I wiggled and rolled away from it. There was warm and then there was warm.
‘Where is her familiar?’ The voice rasped like nails on a chalkboard and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end.
The six masked figures bowed low as a shape entered the room. It shifted and twisted so that one second I was looking at a person, the next a large cat, then a crow. The eyes remained constant; glowing yellow, they burned from within the face of the creature. I stared into those eyes as the face twirled around them. A bear, a pig, a dragon – the never-ending change was mesmerising.
‘He wasn’t with her.’
‘It will do, I suppose.’
The face changed to a wolf and the creature snarled, rearing up in front of me. An eagle’s taloned claw reached out towards me, trapping me as I tried to wriggle out of reach. It clasped my head and squeezed, the tips of the nails drawing blood. Power roared into me, not gently the way Wolfgang did it, but hard and fast, ripping at the edges of my sanity.
The yellow eyes whirled faster and faster, transfixing me. Even though every cell in my body wanted to fight the creature, I couldn’t twitch a muscle. It made everything Galanta had ever done to me look tame.
A brown, worm-like tongue protruded from the mouth and wiggled towards me. It licked the length of my face and then forced its way past my rigid lips and into my mouth. I wanted to retch at the taste of rot but I couldn’t. Helpless, I lay there as the tongue made its way to the back of my mouth and started down my throat. The face drew closer as the whirling, yellow eyes hypnotised me.
Pain lanced through my chest as the worm pierced my oesophagus. It tore through flesh as it burrowed towards my heart. Horror gave me strength as I fought the invisible bonds. I twitched a finger, then another but that wasn’t going to be enough.
What was it doing to me? I may not have known but I was pretty sure none of it was good. Fire burned in my lungs as I struggled to draw air. I wasn’t sure which would kill me first, the tongue or suffocation.
My heart beat like a crazy animal and blood dripped from my lips. Roaring sounded in my ears as white lights blinked before my eyes. Pressure, agonising pressure, as the worm closed around my heart.
I tried to scream through the blood as the creature’s lips touched mine. And then it was gone, the tongue retracting back the way it had come. It jumped off me and turned with a snarl. I swallowed blood and coughed helplessly as I fought for air.
Tattooed Ubanty fought like madmen. More jumped from the rafters and circled the creature. I saw Samuel, firelight glinting off his bare chest as he spun his sword. As I watched he beheaded two of the six night faeries.
I sucked in some air, and then some more, rolling onto my side to cough up blood.
The creature changed to a lion and swiped a huge paw, catching a Ubanty in the chest. Then it spun back towards me. ‘Mine,’ it hissed, reaching out to grab the net.
Samuel leapt over the fire, blade cutting through the lion’s arm. The dismembered limb turned to smoke and flowed back to the creature.
‘Be gone,’ Samuel yelled.
‘Mine.’ A snake reared up, venom dripping off its fangs as its eyes whirled.
Samuel pirouetted with his blade held wide, but it was the two Ubanty attacking from behind that cut off the head of the snake.
A wail filled the air as black smoke raced around the room. I cowered in the net and put my hands over my ears. And then it was gone, racing out through the doorway and into the night.
I stared up at Samuel while my mouth worked soundlessly. ‘What,’ I stopped and coughed up more blood, ‘was that?’ My voice came out in a painful rasp.
‘A ‘retcher’.’ He squatted beside me and started to unravel the net. ‘We did try to warn you.’
I should have been thankful that they had saved me, and I was, but I was also a bit pissed about the warning. ‘Beware? That’s the warning? How about next time a little more information. Dear Izzy, Do not leave the party by yourself or a retcher will try to eat your heart.’
He chuckled as he continued his work. Three of the others came to help him and it didn’t take them long to peel it over my head.
‘Not that I’m not grateful,’ I added, nodding my head at them. Mum would slap me if she heard me being so ungracious.
Samuel held out a hand and helped me to my feet. I put my hand to my chest and pressed. ‘Why has it stopped hurting?’
‘The Retcher’s saliva has unique healing properties. It hides how the victim was killed by sealing up the wound.’
I could still feel the tongue forcing its way down my throat. That was going to give me nightmares for weeks. ‘It was going to eat my heart wasn’t it?’
He nodded and led me out the door and down the hill. ‘By swallowing your heart it would have gained your powers and then it would have been unstoppable. Come, we must get you back to the party before they start searching for you.’
‘But,’ I stopped and stared at him. The other Ubanty were pulling the night faery corpses from the building. ‘The night faeries tried to kill me.’
He shrugged. ‘Only a small faction of them. The ones that worshipped the retcher. The others are oblivious to tonight’s activities.’
There were so many other questions I wanted to ask as he led me back towards the castle. How did they know? Why had they saved me? But the only one I had time for was, ‘Why me?’
He stopped near the fountain and turned to face me. I could see the other Ubanty fanning out around me. I was guessing I still wasn’t safe from the retcher.
‘There are things you do not know,’ he said. ‘Things I cannot tell you.’ He stopped and unclipped one of the metal armbands from his wrists and then flipped it back into place. ‘All I can tell you is that you have freed us, and that we will be there with you at the end. But it will not be because of us that you will triumph. It will be because of who you are.’ He put a hand over his heart and then backed away from me and into the trees. The others did the same.
I stared after them for a second before I remembered the retcher. The whole incident could not have taken more than half an hour. I lifted up my skirts and raced back towards the marquee.
‘Izzy?’ Wilfred called my name from the darkness to my left.
‘Over here.’ I heard rustling and then he pushed out from between two bushes.
‘Where have you been?’ He peered at my face and then grabbed my arm, twisting me so that the light from the marquee shone onto my face. ‘Why is there blood all over your face?’
Whizbang. I’d forgotten about the blood. ‘I fell,’ I said, ‘and my nose started bleeding. I’ve been trying to make it stop.’ I wasn’t sure why I was lying to Wilfred.
He sighed and dragged me towards the party. ‘I’ve been worried sick. Scruffy started to cry and well, I assumed the worst.’
The rest of them were waiting out the front for me. I was happy to see that Ebony wasn’t with them.
I held up a hand to forestall them and said, ‘Nose bleed. Nothing to worry about.’
Scruffy ran to my side and jumped up, scrabbling up my body and into my arms. He let out a long, loud fart as he jumped.
‘Wilfred, what did you feed him?’ I waved my spare arm in front of my face.
‘Trifle and ice-cream.’
‘Don’t forget the meringue,’ Aethan said.
Isla reached over and scratched behind Scruffy’s ears. ‘It could have been the honey buns.’
‘Or perhaps the apple tart,’ Brent added.
‘It had to be the pecan pie,’ Luke said. ‘That stuff gets me every time.’
‘But I saw you eat a huge piece of pecan pie,’ Isla said.
Luke smiled an evil smile and everybody moved away from him.
I shook my head and smiled. From a near-death experience to this, all in a matter of minutes? It sure was good to be alive.