Dockalfar (41 page)

“Are you Seelie?”

“No.”

That startled her. She squinted through the darkness narrowly.

“Unseelie.”

“No.”

“Then what are you?”

“Nothing.”

Which was not an answer to satisfy her curiosity. “What friends, Keirom?”

“Aloe Eberillan et Liosalfar.”

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The Bendithy huntsman went sailing across the clearing to brutally hit the unyielding trunk of a ancient conifer.

There was a splintering crack of bone with the impact and the body slid down to lie in sprawled disarray among the ferns and fungi of the forest floor. The other huntsmen crowded together in absolute terror, water leaking from their eyes and faces white as death. And death seemed such a certain fate, what with the Unseelie Lord’s present rage.

“Incompetent fools!” Azeral screamed at their cowering lot. The sidhe that remained at his back seemed just as silently apprehensive. No one could be entirely safe from the destructive power of his anger. “How could you miss her going? She knows nothing of forest craft! How could she slip away from you who do?”

Of course no one dared answer. They had seen the fate of one who did transgress to offer excuses. The Unseelie lord cursed and cruelly jerked his mount around. The animal tossed its head in irritation and spun in a circle, kicking up moss and dead foliage with its sharp hooves.

“He who finds her will find life easy and comfortable. Those who do not will find it short and painful.” He waved a hand at them and they scattered, stumbling over each other in efforts to mount their night horses. In a mass, confused exodus they fled from Azeral’s rage.

The sidhe had no such recourse. He turned burning eyes to the six who accompanied him.

“Intolerable,” he hissed. “To not even know if she escaped on this side of the portal or the other. I will have her back. If every able-bodied creature in my domain has to make this forest its home for the next millennia, I will have her back.”

They stared at him wide-eyed. No rebellion there. There were none among these few who might dare. The power moguls were already searching on the other side of the hole Azeral had created.

The hunt had a new prey. A soft, helpless, human one. But nonetheless one that had managed to elude their search so far.

There was nothing they could do but search and pray to the deities of nature that she was found, in one form or another, before their lord’s anger became too great and he started taking out his frustration on Sidhe hosts instead of slavish ones.

~~~

Aloe. Aloe had come looking for her.

Victoria knew a joy and comfort so intense that it almost overshadowed the fact that she and a strange sidhe were running for their lives through the inhospitable forest with the great hunt of their heels. Aloe was her friend. A true friend that had risked God only knew what to help her. It made all the days of loneliness in Azeral’s keep seem worthwhile. It banished all the morose thoughts that she was without recourse or sympathy in this world. She still had an ally in this realm.

They had fled for what she assumed hours when her guide caught her arm and pulled her into the vine shrouded cover of a great tree. His birds were high overhead, silent and watchful. She listened but could hear nothing to indicate worry. After a moment Keirom whispered tightly, “Someone uses magic to scan this area.”

“Can you shield us?” she whispered back.

“I think so. I understand you are a wielder of great power. Assistance would be comforting.”

She groaned, hoping he could manage without it.

“I would love to, really. But I can’t. Azeral’s done something to me. I can’t reach the magic anymore.”

He blinked at her, then merely shut his eyes and leaned against the tree. A few minutes later a breath of relief passed his lips and he stared at her once more. It was light enough to see his features now. He had a long, angular face. High, sharp cheekbones and unusually tall ears. His eyes were deep set and dark, as was his hair. The darkest she had seen on a high sidhe. His eyes remained upon her for a long, uncomfortable time, then his shoulders slumped and he moved out from the cover of the tree.

“I can sense the spell, but it is beyond my capabilities to dismantle.” Just that.

She followed him, a furrow growing between her brows.

“It can be broken, though? Right? It’s not permanent?”

“No magic is permanent,” he explained. He was, she had discovered, rather business-like. Little humor escaped his solitary demeanor. The birds, however were completely his creatures. They sat on his shoulders like adoring admirers, occasionally turning their colorful heads to hiss at her or squawk disapprovingly.

For the most part they flew over head, sailing under the foliage to land on this limb or that and await the earth bound to catch up with them. When they did descend, Keirom obligingly scratched under lifted wings or at the base of feathered skulls. They brought him odd tidbits at times, berries or colorful blossoms. He either ate the offerings or filed them away about his person so as not to offend by throwing the gifts away.

He would not engage Victoria in any but the barest necessity of conversation. The birds got more talk from him. It was not an imposition, for her mind was full.

She had only been half prepared for the possibility that the hunt might signal an escape. The reality left her somewhat stunned. Elation was dropping in favor of practicality. She was aware of just how much land she had to cover to return to Ashara’s domain. A hard enough journey without Azeral after her. And he would be after her. His minions would be after her.

She knew how very, very competent some of those minions could be. Would he send Dusk after her again? Without her magic that pursuit would be inescapable. And those responsible for her escape could very well find themselves in terrible danger.

“Azeral will send his Ciagenii after us,” she said quietly. Her companion made no answer, merely drew dark brows.

“Soon, I would expect,” she continued. “I hope you can shield our tracks as well as our presence because he is difficult to elude.”

“We won’t be followed,” Keirom finally said, but there was a trace of worry in his voice.

Daylight was a sheltered affair. The sun was high in the sky before even a trace of warmth breached the barricade of leafy branches. Victoria’s feet hurt. She did not ask to stop or complain over the discomfort. It seemed that making haste through jungle-like forests was her lot in life. The birds glided overhead, she lifted her gaze to watch the graceful flight and when she looked back down there were riders in the path in front of them. She gasped, casting a startled look at Keirom.

His face showed no sign of concern, so she looked back with more care. There were two riders actually and several riderless animals. Not nighthorses. These animals were silver and gray, with normal dark horse eyes. Their fetlocks were huge with flowing silky hair. It obscured their hooves completely.

With a cry of joy, she recognized the riders. One silver haired and slim, the other graced with pale golden locks.

“Aloe! Okar!” She ran forward, even as the sidhe girl dismounted and threw her arms around her friend.

“You came. You came,” she was sobbing. The tears were uncontrollable.

Aloe held her at arm’s length in amazement. The girl had a high flush to her pale cheeks.

“Of course I came. I made you my friend. I would not desert you regardless of your foolishness.”

Victoria wiped her cheek with the back of one hand and looked up at Okar, who had a not-quite-frown on his handsome face.

“I was foolish. I know that. I was an utter idiot! And for you to risk Azeral’s wraith coming after me… I just don’t deserve it. God, what if he catches you?”

“Then we’ll be very, very dismayed,”

Okar announced.

“Some of us more than others,” Aloe added and got a glare from Ashara’s mate for her trouble. “We’ve no time for dalliance, if we’re to avoid that fate,” the sidhe girl concluded. “Mount now. We’ve a long ride ahead of us.”

With one last swipe at her wet cheeks, Victoria did so. Keirom mounted also without a word to either of the other sidhe. He got a long look from Aloe though, with an expression that Victoria could not remember seeing on the girl’s face before.

There were two fresh mounts besides the horses Victoria and Keirom had commandeered. The sidhe then, were planning on a harsh ride as well as a long one. Victoria preyed her skills of horsemanship were up to it. Legs already sore from a rough walk might very well cramp from riding.

“How far are we from the keep?”

Victoria yelled across to Aloe after some time of riding. The silver haired sidhe furrowed her brows and said.

“Not far enough. For the hunt, a day’s ride.”

“Can they track us? Magically or mundanely?”

“Magically, no. They don’t know where to look and even if they did we’re on the move and between Okar and Keirom we’ve got a shield to block their best farseers. Mundanely… well there’s a lot of forest to cover, and we hide our tracks well. If they are extremely lucky their woodsmen might find traces.”

More silence. Then Aloe guided her mount close to Victoria’s.

“Did you find him?”

She wanted to cry, the reality of what she had found hit her so hard. She did feel tears blur her vision.

“I found him. My dreams were true, Aloe. He hardly knew me. He has a lover among them. A lover! And I was so silly to give myself over to them in hopes of helping him. He didn’t need my help.”

After a while. “I’m sorry. I don’t begrudge you trying. It was a noble effort.”

“It was a costly effort. It cost me my magic and made you risk your lives. And I came away with nothing.”

“You’ll get the magic back. And I think you may have gained more than you think. You know the enemy now. That knowledge is priceless.”

Victoria did not think so. She looked away and tried to ease sore muscles. A stop now would be rather pleasant. The sidhe showed no signs of even slowing.

“How did you get away?” Aloe asked. “We searched for trace of your path and found nothing. Your woodcraft is not that good.”

“Dusk. I made a deal with Dusk. He took me to Azeral.”

The sidhe girl’s eyes suddenly widened in shock. She cried halt so quickly the others bounded ahead half a hundred feet before realizing the women had stopped. Aloe’s horse danced around Victoria’s in frenzy, sides heaving.

“The Ciagenii was inside Ashara’s keep?”

Victoria stared at the alarmed sidhe faces. She nodded slowly.

“Yes. He came for me. He claimed he harmed no one.”

“He did not,” Okar confirmed. “But that he got past our defenses… Mother earth, how could we not have known?”

“He’s good,” Victoria summarized.

“And as I’ve told Keirom, he’ll probably be after me again. He’ll know where to look.”

“We can’t bring ‘that’ down on the grove,” Aloe whispered.

“What choice do we have?” Okar answered gravely. He wiped a lock of hair from his eyes and looked skyward. Of course no sky was to be seen, only the crisscrossed layers of foliage. “Defenses can be strengthened. If he got in once, then we need to revise them at any rate.

Besides, an assassin is not our only worry. We may see more of Azeral than we like.”

“He wouldn’t dare come into the grove.” Aloe sounded secure in that belief. Okar smiled sadly at her. His gaze lingered on Victoria.

“I think he wants this little girl very badly. I think honoring past agreements will mean nothing to him in his efforts to regain her. And honestly, it was bound to happen. The Seelies and the Unseelies have never lived in harmony.”

“But Neira’sha’s Grove…”

Okar urged his mount forward.

“Perhaps I’m wrong. Hope that I am.”

~~~

The court was depleted. The halls rang hollow and cold. The sound of a single tread echoed through immense and empty stone. Only the eldest and the frailest of the courtesans remained in evidence. The rest rode on relentless hunt, striving in semi-panic to find the lost human that their lord and master so desired.

Azeral’s mood was as black as the rock a thousand feet under his mountain fortress. His anger as volatile as a lightening strike. The bodies of slaves unlucky enough to serve him were hauled away by other, trembling members of his staff. He sat in his hall and brooded. The great expanse of floor, usually littered with the gaily dressed members of the Unseelie court was empty of all life. The gray stone threw up reflected highlights of the fey lanterns sat in the walls. No sound save for the Unseelie Lord’s breathing broke the silence of the chamber, or the concentration of its only occupant. Azeral let his magic range. He threw it far and wide in the vain hope of finding the girl in the vast forest that flanked the Desney range. He knew it was a hopeless task, to find that one individual life spark among so many thousands, but he attempted it nonetheless.

The footsteps annoyed him. He heard their approach a hundred feet away. His brows wrinkled. He gathered destructive magic to punish the interloper. If it were a slave, it would die. A sidhe would pay a dear price for the interruption.

It was neither. It was a rightfully nervous human who hesitantly hovered in one of the many alcoves leading into the audience chamber. Azeral withheld his strike. He waited, coiled and tense for Alex to gather courage and enter.

He stared with the facade of languid indifference when the human finally did encroach the perimeter of his audience chamber.

“My Lord?” The human evidenced a good deal less fear than Azeral thought the situation warranted. “Can we speak?”

Azeral waved a careless hand, slouching back in the darker recesses of his mammoth throne. Alex shifted, refusing to come closer than a body length from the dais.

“Of what, pray tell?”

“Is it true? Have you lost Victoria?”

“Lost?” Azeral could not hide his irritation at the absurd accusation. Had ‘he’ lost the girl? What rubbish. “I think not,” he drawled. “She has flown of her own accord. So careless of Our hospitality. It gives me little faith in your humanity.”