Chapter Nine

 

 

 

 

Dylan

 

“Here, hold the reins like this.” I held out the leather straps to James, who was seated in the saddle of Shade’s black kelpie horse. He’d initially refused to ride it to the archives, but when I told him how much Shade had loved it and that it needed someone like her or it would revert back to its evil nature, he agreed to try. The horse seemed happy to have a rider again and snorted as I told it to be nice before James got on.

Luckily, it listened. It stood calmly, its red eyes friendly and looking excited for the journey to come. James had let it sniff his hands before attempting to jump on to the saddle, and it had appeared delighted. James probably smelled like Shade. They did share the same mother.

The thought of Shade always choked me up, and I cleared my throat and began the task of tightening all the supplies on my own horse before mounting the saddle. I wasn’t sure about this trip. I was only sure that staying at the Scren with our minds on everything else was not good for either of us.

“Ready?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Hey, James? Call me Dylan.”

He nodded and tried to give me a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. I breathed in slowly, hoping this wasn’t going to be a mistake. I would have to just wait and see. I’d chosen to ride out to the archives instead of any other method because, frankly, it was better than walking. I wasn’t going recall Camulus when he’d been sent to aid Ilarial with Anna. Besides, getting some fresh air by taking the long way to the archives seemed to be a good idea.

“When we get there, you’ll be riding the boat to the island. You’ll love it. It seems scary at first, but it’ll be smooth sailing. Only people who know about the island can call for the boat to cross the small patch of sea between the mainland and Rock Island. Isn’t that cool?”

“Isn’t that where some weird creature attacked you guys and the old archivist was killed by Rowan?”

I pressed my lips together. James had hung on to every story we’d ever told around the dinner table. Why, oh why, did he hold on to the morbid parts? How would Shade handle this?

I exhaled. “Well, yes, but that was Rowan’s creature. She’s been forewarned to chain it up since we’re going there. I think she’s trying to be a bit more forthcoming toward the other courts now. The more she’s awake, the more reasonable she becomes.”

“Until they’re awake too long and lose their minds, right?” James asked. He blinked over at me with the greatest of curiosity in his big brown eyes.

The young man didn’t miss a thing. He probably had every story, fight, and injury branded onto his brain. Now I regretted ignoring him while we talked over the many journeys we’d taken. Shade had cautioned everyone to keep the conversation age-appropriate for James, but things always slipped out no matter what, especially when he’d stayed up past his bedtime.

I was regretting all that now.

Jade would probably be rolling over in her grave at all this.

“Uh, well….” I scratched the back of my head. No one had said this was going to be easy, but being a father was way harder than I’d ever thought. I was already missing my baby twins. “Some could, yeah. Some, like Corb, are fine. He did his own amount of misdeeds with the Unseelie, but I think it’s all got more to do with boredom than anything else.”

“Do you think Shade will get bored and want to come back someday?”

I wanted out of this conversation, and we hadn’t even left the Southern Realm yet.

“I don’t really know, James.”

“I hope she does. When she comes back, things will go back to how they should be.”

“I hope so.” I didn’t have the heart to tell him that Shade was probably never coming back. I couldn’t believe I was telling myself that. I had to believe she was coming back one day. Maybe she would get bored and just come around to toy with us. Maybe we wouldn’t see her for years, and the twins would be much older. What then?

I didn’t want to think about it. I just wanted to enjoy the scenery and the ride. I couldn’t let my runaway thoughts deflate me when we had barely left the palace.

Stay positive, I thought. This too shall pass.

“You’re the worst travel companion ever. Did you know that?”

I turned to find Soap riding up beside us on his horse, Killer. That’s what he had named the damned thing. I held back a groan as we moved on in silence, James watching the tree line and hypnotized by the passing woods.

“Go away,” I mumbled, hoping James wouldn’t hear me. I pressed my heels into my horse, Rocky, the one I had used since my last horse had died about a year ago. It used to belong to queen Ariana when she’d ruled here. I wasn’t sure why she would have given him such a human-type name. I didn’t care to rename him or even get to know him that well. He was tame and did what he was told, just like a soldier. I liked soldiers. I was one as well.

“Ah, now, don’t be rude. Killer here needs air too. He’s probably wondering what happened to me and why he’s stuck in the stable day after day after day.”

“I make sure he gets ridden all the time, taken out into the pastures, and groomed. He’s spoiled rotten.”

I couldn’t believe I was talking to a hallucination again. I glanced at James, who was now sticking earbuds into his ears and sifting through his music collection. Shade had bespelled the device so it could work in Faerie. I wondered how long her spells would last now that she was gone. Good thing most spells were not completely dependent on their casters to maintain themselves. At least he was paying me no mind as I talked to a ghost.

“Yeah, but Killer misses me. I miss heading out into the realms. The weather is amazing this year! All spring and no winter. The Ice King must be distracted to keep winter away so long.”

I gritted my teeth. “What do you mean by that?”

“Oh, you know. Corb is an Ancient. Shade’s an Ancient as well. She took Kilara’s place in her bloodline. Seems like Corb has a soft spot for the Summer Ancient.”

“Shut up. Shade would never like Corb that way.”

“Yeah, she’s not like that. Of course, it’s just that Kilara’s memories are hers now. Do you think it might stir something up?”

“No. It won’t. Shade wouldn’t. I don’t care to talk about this anymore, and I seriously do not want to talk to you anymore either.”

“What?” James’s voice had me whipping my head around to find him with one earbud pulled out as he scrunched his nose up at me. “Did you say something?”

“No! No, I was just talking to myself. Sorry.”

“Oh, okay.” He stuffed the bud back into his ear and began bobbing his head to the music. I sighed, slumping in my saddle. I turned to find Soap gone, and I didn’t know if I felt more relieved or disappointed.

Those two feelings seemed to go hand in hand lately.