Fairy Lies (12 page)

Dasras nodded. “It’s Titania, isn’t it? Finding out that your mother lied to you would unsettle anyone.”

“No, that’s not it,” Tamisin said. “I wasn’t thinking about her at all.”

“Why don’t we do something to get your mind off whatever is making you look so serious? Bring your apple and you can finish it on the way to the lake. That sea monster won’t be giving rides forever.”

Tamisin’s headache faded away as they walked through the forest. The sky was clear, and the gentle breeze that stirred the leaves on the trees was just enough to relieve the heat of the day. They could hear the crowd long before they reached the lake. Fairies filled the meadow that ran from the waterfront to the edge of the meandering path, jostling for a place in line or to watch the lucky fairies already riding on the sea monster’s back.

Dasras glared at the fairies in front of them, and sounded annoyed when he said, “You shouldn’t have to wait.”

“I don’t mind,” Tamisin told him. “Look, the line is moving quickly.”

It wasn’t until the fairies in front of them had shuffled closer to the water that they could see the sea monster. It was long and narrow with a head like an enormous dog
and a body that went up and down in humps and troughs. A nymph was perched on the monster’s head, controlling it with two of the tendrils that trailed from the monster’s cheeks. More than a dozen fairies sat on the humps behind the nymph, holding on to other tendrils that radiated from the monster’s body.

Fairies shouted and everyone looked up. A squadron of fairy warriors was flying in formation overhead, doing loops and spirals, climbing and diving in ways that a human fighter pilot would have envied. They swung low over the sea monster, and the beast roared; all the fairies on its back clapped.

“What are they doing?” Tamisin asked.

“Practicing,” Dasras told her. “The real show is on Midsummer’s Eve, when it’s dark and all you can see are the lights the fairies’ wings make.”

When the squadron left, the line in front of Tamisin and Dasras thinned out as fairies vied to take to the air and copy the maneuvers of the fairy warriors. Soon it was Tamisin and Dasras’s turn to climb aboard the sea monster’s back. Tamisin sat directly behind the nymph and in front of Dasras. The monster was squishy, and its dark green skin was pebbly and rough. Tendrils trailed past Tamisin’s legs like smooth, wet rope. She reached down and grasped one on either side, wrapping them around her wrists for a better grip. When she looked up, she discovered that she was directly behind a large hole in the back of the monster’s head. They were just starting to move when the monster whuffed and damp, fishy-smelling air
blasted Tamisin in the face. She blinked and rubbed her eyes. Maybe this wasn’t such a good seat after all.

Watching the sea monster from the shore, Tamisin hadn’t realized how much it undulated in the water, but as soon as it began to swim, water splashed over her legs and feet. They were making their first circuit around the lake when a new group of fairies took to the air. The sea monster raised its head to look at them, and Tamisin could feel it quiver beneath her. After that the monster swam faster, as if trying to get away from the fairies.

It’s afraid!
Tamisin thought, and her heart went out to the poor beast. She glanced behind her, but no one else seemed to have noticed.

The sea monster had just started its second circuit when the flying fairies began their lowest approach. Then one of the fairies dropped something and it fell past Tamisin, landing in the hole in the back of the sea monster’s head.

The monster lurched to a halt, and half the fairies tumbled off its back. All Tamisin could do was hold on to the tendrils and dig her knees into the monster’s sides, but she could hear fairies shouting behind her. When the monster began thrashing from side to side, Dasras and the rest of the fairies fell off and the voices behind her stopped. Deciding that she’d be safer in the water than on the monster’s back, Tamisin tried to get off, but her feet were trapped in the tendrils. She was jerking at her legs, trying to free them, when the monster tossed its head, sending the nymph who’d been trying to control it flying.

The monster swung its head around to face Tamisin and she shrank back. It snapped at the air only a yard from where she sat, and its doleful eyes looked panic stricken. And then it dove, heading straight for the bottom of the lake. Tamisin barely had time to fill her lungs before she was underwater. She was still trying to pull her legs free when the monster changed direction and headed for the surface. Its head was thrown back so far that Tamisin could see a round, white stone filling the fluttering edges of the hole. That must be what the fairies had dropped. If only she could get the stone out . . .

Tamisin reached for the stone but was thrown back when the beast began to thrash again. One of her feet came loose and she slid sideways, still held fast on the other side. She glanced down when she felt new pressure on her leg. A nymph was there, trying to unwrap the tangled tendrils that were holding Tamisin in place. Fighting the urge to draw a breath, Tamisin clung to the sea monster’s back for one more agonizing moment until suddenly her leg was free and the nymph was tugging her to the surface. But there was something that Tamisin had to do first. Pulling away from the nymph, she shot out her hand, dug her fingers into the hole, grasped the stone, and ripped it from the opening. A gush of fishy air shoved her halfway to the surface.

Tamisin surfaced with a lung-wrenching gasp. Her hand was shaky as she pushed her streaming hair off her face. “Thank you,” she told the nymph who had dragged her up.

“I’m glad I could help,” the nymph replied. “That
whisker was tied around your foot so tight, I thought I’d never get it undone. Why did you tie yourself on, anyway?”

Tamisin was confused. “I didn’t.”

The nymph gave her an odd look, then flipped her head to toss her hair over her shoulder and said, “My mistake. Thanks for helping Rudie. I don’t know why the fairies like dropping stones into his breathing vent, but that’s not the first time it’s happened.” With a wave of her hand, she dove back into the water.

“Are you all right?” Dasras called to Tamisin from the shore where he and a crowd of fairies had been watching.

“I’m fine,” Tamisin said, grateful when he reached out to give her a hand up.

When she was standing beside him, Dasras eyed her clothes. “You should go change. Your father sent word that he wants to talk to you.”

“Did you see what happened? A fairy dropped a stone in the sea monster’s breathing vent! Do you think we should tell my father?”

“What difference would it make?” asked Dasras.

“We could have drowned!”

“Fairies are always playing pranks like that. It’s what they do for fun. Your father couldn’t do anything unless he had proof and knew who dropped it. And even then he probably wouldn’t do much. Where’s the stone now?”

Tamisin shrugged. “At the bottom of the lake, I guess. I dropped it after I pulled it out.”

“Then I wouldn’t bother telling him,” Dasras said.

“But what about the monster’s tendrils or whiskers or
whatever it is you call them? Someone tied me onto the monster’s back!”

Dasras frowned. “Why would anyone do that?”

“That’s what I’d like to know!” said Tamisin.

“There’s no way to prove that either. All I can say is that you’d better hurry. Oberon doesn’t like being kept waiting.”

Tamisin would have liked nothing better than to rest and gather her thoughts, but she doubted Oberon would understand if she didn’t go to him as soon as she could. Dashing back to the tree where she slept, she changed into a dry dress, then hurried to Oberon’s glade.

A group of fairy warriors surrounded the fairy king, looking stern faced and serious. Mountain Ash was there as well, his expression grimmer than the rest. While Oberon spoke in muted tones to the colonel, Tamisin waited at the edge of the glade. She was there only a few minutes when the fairy king glanced up and saw her.

“Ah, there she is,” he said, and gestured to the fairy warriors. Although they bowed and backed away, Tamisin could feel their eyes on her as she approached the king. “I’ve been meaning to send for you, but other matters have demanded my attention. We never finished our conversation yesterday. Have you been enjoying yourself, my dear? Have you settled in?”

“Yes, thank you, Your Majesty.”

“Please, call me Father.”

Tamisin’s eyes flicked to the fairies standing beside Oberon and noticed their surprise. “Are you sure it’s all right? I mean, it’s not as respectful as Your Majesty.”

Oberon chuckled. “I would be honored if you called me Father. It’s something I’ve wanted to hear for centuries. How are you faring? Has everyone been good to you?”

“Yes, except . . . ,” she said, and hesitated, remembering what Dasras had told her.

“Go on,” he said.

A tiny messenger fairy darted into the glade and hovered by Mountain Ash. The colonel tilted his head to listen and began to frown as the fairy spoke.

Tamisin wanted to tell Oberon about the incident with the sea monster, but she saw his eyes and his attention shift to the colonel and the messenger fairy and decided it wasn’t the right time. “Nothing, really,” she said, and was disappointed when he didn’t press for her real answer. “Dasras has been showing me around.”

“Good,” said Oberon, still watching the colonel. “And the others? I trust my fairies are making you feel welcome.”

“Yes, they are.” If she’d thought she really had his attention, she would have been tempted to tell him about the cold glances and the comments she’d overheard, but she thought it would be petty and not make any difference anyway.

“Fine, fine,” he said, although he was looking at Mountain Ash, not her. She glanced toward the colonel and saw the nod he gave to Oberon. The fairy king finally turned to look at Tamisin, saying, “I’m sorry, my dear. I brought you here to get to know you better, but it appears that the report I’ve been expecting has arrived.”

“I understand,” she said, although she couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Tamisin backed away as she’d seen the
other fairies do, embarrassed that she had simply walked away the last time she saw the king. She didn’t know anything about protocol in a fairy court, so she resolved to start paying attention. It wouldn’t do to embarrass her father just when their relationship was . . .

“I don’t care what your spies tell you. Titania isn’t about to send her army here,” Oberon told Mountain Ash, his voice loud and angry. “I know my wife. When she’s in the wrong, she always backs down. She deceived
me
! The last thing she’s going to want to do is make me angrier.”

Tamisin froze, watching Oberon’s face. She wanted to hear more, but the voices grew quieter after that and she couldn’t make out what anyone was saying. She’d been taught that eavesdropping was wrong, but who could blame her for listening when it was about her own mother! And what was that about her mother’s army?

A thick fog began to form around the glade, making it impossible to see Oberon or anyone with him. “I guess that means he really does want me to leave,” she murmured to herself, and hurried away, wishing she knew what was going on.

Tamisin’s stomach rumbled. She would have loved a hamburger and french fries, but she knew that the main item on the menu was bound to be fruit, so she headed for the rock where Irinia served the food, hoping that the woman would be there and could be talked into serving something else.

Irinia and her helpers were at the far end of the rock examining a basket of fruit that a dog-goblin man was holding when Tamisin arrived. One of the fairies noticed her approach and nudged the fairy beside her. They all turned to look as Tamisin reached them, although none of them said hello. There was a flurry of movement as they each reached for one last piece of food, then moved off. Tamisin tried to ignore them.

While waiting for Irinia to come over, Tamisin glanced down at the food spread out on the rock. There was the usual fruit, of course, but there was also a platter of wafers dotted with dollops of crushed berries. She reached for one, wondering what kind of fruit was on them. It was bright red, almost a fluorescent color that she hadn’t seen in fairy food before. Mashed into a seedy pulp, it smelled like raspberries, cranberries, and the extra-sweet smell of something she didn’t recognize.

She had just brought the wafer to her mouth and was about to bite down when one of Irinia’s faces glanced her way. The woman shrieked, lunged across the rock, and knocked the wafer from Tamisin’s hand. “Don’t eat that!” she cried.

“Why not?” asked Tamisin, startled.

“Because it’s not fresh!” Irinia said in a loud voice, glancing at the fairies who had stopped to watch. A couple of the fairies snickered and they all moved on. While one of her faces watched the fairies, the other whispered so only Tamisin could hear, “Those have frillet berries on them. Anyone who eats them who isn’t a full-blood fairy would
have hallucinations, or worse. Just a few berries would be enough. I never put them out except at Oberon’s request, and he didn’t ask for these. Those fairies must have done this,” she said, glancing at the group that was walking away. “They’re probably testing you to see if you’re a full-blood. Are you all right? Did you eat any?”