Fragile Destiny (The Aether Chronicles) (4 page)

Yes, if it was possible, the sprite deserved a body of her very own.

Vix’s eyebrows rose. “I thought you wanted to go university and study botany?”

“It will be a while before V can take back the earth court,” she replied. That was partly because V wasn’t of age yet, but also he genuinely disliked the idea of having to kill his uncle and was hoping to find another way. “Perhaps we’ll apply to university for next fall, like we’d planned.”

Jeff gave her arm a squeeze. “Let me know and I’ll help get you set up.” His eyes twinkled in the way that meant he had an idea. “How much do you bet I can discover where Mother hid the money I sent her?”

Noli paused, fork of cake halfway to her mouth. “Really?”

If anyone could locate it, he could. When Jeff had left to seek his fortune as an air pirate, he’d sent money home to support them. However, her mother disapproved of air piracy, and even though they’d desperately needed the money, she’d hidden most of it away. Noli had never discovered it.

“I haven’t found it yet. But I will.” Those eyes continued to sparkle. “It should be enough to set you up at a university for a little while—especially if you wish to go off on your own,
without
Darrow.” He glowered as he said that.

“V and I have worked everything out,” she assured him, not wanting them to be at odds.

“If he ever hurts you again … ” Vix stabbed her cake with her fork for emphasis.

It wasn’t V’s fault. He’d just been obeying the high queen’s orders—not that she expected them to understand.

The back door flew open. “Flying figs, you’re actually having cake for dinner?” James strode in, bringing the cold air with him. “Vix, Jeff, what are you doing here?”

Noli shut the door behind him and got James cake and tea. “They bought the house.”

“You’re not retiring from being air pirates, are you?” James plopped down in the wooden chair next to Vix.

“Never.” Vix squared her shoulders. “But we could use a base, and Jeff didn’t wish for his home to be sold to strangers.”

Noli carried the cake and tea back to the table and set it before James, along with a fork.

“Noli, please aethergraph your mother if you don’t plan on returning to Boston or staying with us. She’s nothing but a giant ball of worry and the last thing I need is her blaming me because you ran off to fairyland without telling anyone,” Vix told her.

Noli sat and took a sip of tea. “What exactly
did
you tell Mama so she’d permit me to return to the Otherworld with V and James?”

It wasn’t as if they could tell her the truth. Her mother knew nothing about the Otherworld, faeries, or that the Darrows weren’t mortal.

“Um … ” A flush rose on Jeff’s cheeks. “We told her that V and James took you to a special hospital.”

“I see.” Noli glanced out the window at the Darrow house, where a single light was burning. “V’s still at it. Should I bring him some supper?” Not that she wanted to venture into that house, especially after dark.

“I should get everyone some supper.” Jeff stood. “Cake isn’t supper.”

Vix’s dark eyebrows rose as she speared the last bite of cake on her plate. “Why not?”

Jeff shook his head and held out his hand to Vix. “Let’s find some takeaway.”

Noli finished her cake as Jeff and Vix grabbed their hoverboards and left.

“That was interesting.” James shot the back door a long look.

She cleared away the plates. “I fixed Jeff’s room for you.” Noli started up the stairs.

“Where are you going?” James shoved more cake in his mouth.

“I’m going to freshen up the guest room for V.” Since Jeff and Vix were staying at the house, V couldn’t sleep in her room. They might be more liberal than her mother, but Jeff was still, first and foremost, her elder brother.

After she finished, Noli returned to her room. The light was still on at V’s house. Had he found out anything?

With a sigh, she took the piece of the artifact out of her valise—the fragment she’d hidden from Kevighn and refused to give to Brogan. It was one of the pieces Jeff had stolen from the museum in Denver. Sitting on her bed, she traced the partial design on it: five interlocking rings, the high queen’s symbol.

Noli.
A voice brushed her ears, soft as feathers.

She looked around. There was no one in here but her, and it wasn’t the sprite. The same thing had happened when they’d gone to the earth court palace that morning to find Brogan.

Perhaps she
was
going mad. Also, what
was
she supposed to remember?

I think it’s the shinies
, the sprite said.
They’re talking to you. There were lots of shinies in the palace today. Next time we go there, we should take them. They’re not for him.

Shinies? Noli looked at the piece in her hand.
These are the shinies?
It made sense that Brogan would have some in the earth palace, since he’d been collecting them. How many pieces did he have? How close was he to assembling the artifact?
You’re right. Brogan shouldn’t have them. We have to keep them safe.

The last thing she wanted was for Brogan to assemble it … whatever
it
was.

It came back to whatever it was she needed to remember.

Squinting in the lamplight, she held the piece tight.
What are you, little piece?

The force of the images playing across her mind
knocked her backward onto the bed. Magic and memories pulsed under her skin—including a glimpse of what the legendary artifact looked like. Fully assembled, it was a staff.

Noli’s chest shook as she exhaled. “James, James!” She pulled herself into a sitting position, urgency coursing through her.

Footsteps echoed down the hall and James appeared in her doorway, a concerned look on his face. “What’s wrong, Noli?”

She held up the piece of the artifact. “Will you come with me to find V? I think I know what Brogan is trying to do.”

Two

Into the Otherworld

Elise opened her eyes. An ominous wood straight out of a scary story surrounded her, and she was leaning against a dead-looking tree. Her stomach lurched. This wasn’t Noli’s tree house—or any place she recognized.

“Where are we?” she asked the green wood faery, who still perched on her shoulder. “You said this would take me to the tree with the tree house.”

The wood faery left her shoulder and flew ahead, urging her on.

She didn’t have any choice other than to follow. Carefully, she picked her way through the gloomy wood, branches grabbing at her dress and stockings. Suddenly, the air sizzled. When it stopped, they came to a grove of magnificent trees. A tantalizing scent made her nose twitch and she could make out a dusky pink and purple sky through the treetops as they entered a grove.

“Now
that’s
a tree house,” she breathed. In the center of the grove stood a tree and in its branches sat a house
formed
of the tree itself. Pink and blue star-shaped flowers surrounded the base of the tree. Little balls of light flitted around her.

A purple wood faery flew over and sat on her other shoulder, pulling her hair.

Elise giggled. “Hey.”

Another, this one blue, landed on her nose, and she went cross-eyed. The faery flew off and hovered near the green one.

“I’m very lost,” Elise told them. “I was trying to get to a different tree house. The one in my friend Noli’s backyard.” She sent them a mental picture of the tree and Noli. “This one’s quite nice, but it’s not next to my home, like hers. The other tree must have misunderstood me.”

They spoke all at once. Wood faeries weren’t very patient.

“Wait.” Elise held up a hand. “What do you mean? This isn’t Noli’s tree house.” Concentrating, she tried to understand what they were telling her. “Oh, Noli comes here?” She gave the tree house an appreciative glance. “I can see why.” It was so grand.

The faeries showed her a mental picture of Noli, along with a dark-haired man she’d never seen before.

“Will Noli return soon?” she asked them, hope bubbling inside her. Perhaps things would work out after all.

The faeries nodded, tiny heads bobbing furiously as they assured her that Noli, or the man with her, would return soon.

“I’ll wait in the tree house until someone comes.” If not Noli, then the man with the dark hair. He could take her to Noli—and she’d bring her to Steven or James.

Her stomach rumbled. Would it be too much to hope for something to eat?

Several faeries led her into the grand tree house. It was much larger than Noli’s. Noli could probably stand up in it. This one even had a table and chairs. Elise sat her valise on the table and poked about the one-room house. A few moments later, several faeries flew through the open window, each with a small piece of fruit in their hands.

“Oh, I appreciate that so much.” Elise devoured the sweet-as-sugar fruit as the faeries darted in and out the window carrying grass. If only there were more fruit—and something to drink. She yawned, fatigue pressing down on her.

The purple faery pulled her over to the corner opposite the window.

“You made me a bed?” Grass didn’t sound very comfortable, but exhaustion consumed her. “Please wake me when Noli comes.” Elise curled up in the little bed and went to sleep.

Kevighn couldn’t shake the feeling that killing Quinn should have been less … anticlimactic.

But it had to be done. For his sister. For himself.

Now, to find the girl.

The place the portal left him reminded him vaguely of the wildwood by the palace. It wasn’t, but it still seemed familiar. His eyes cast about the eerie wood as he tried to discern his whereabouts. He’d tracked the little girl to a garden with a portal. Odd that she’d headed there. It was
a dark court portal and most would fear to use it. The faery tree took him to wherever she’d gone. Considering who Ailís was, he’d expected to end up near the House of Oak, the earth court palace, or the high palace.

He peered at the half-dead tree. His skin prickled. It resembled the old portal at his parents’ home. But then the house should be …

No, the house was gone, taken by the high queen when he was exiled. The grounds remained, yet they looked wilder, fiercer, waiting for someone to tame them with their magic.

Why had the girl come
here
? Where did she go?

He made his way through the rift in the magic that brought him to Creideamh’s grove. Darkness surrounded him and he made a small light in the palm of his hand.

Wood faeries accosted him, pulling his hair and tugging at his clothing.

“She’s waiting for
me
?” Kevighn blinked in surprise at their words. The Bright Lady seemed to enjoy toying with him. He climbed into the tree house. There, in a bed of grass, lay a sleeping blond girl in a pink dress and a white pinafore, both streaked with dirt.

“Ailís?” he whispered.

She sat up with a start, a frown on her pink lips. “Who are you?”

“Shhh, it’s all right. I’m Kevighn Silver. Why are you in my tree house?” He kept his voice gentle, not wishing to spook the tiny thing.

“I’m so sorry. I’m Elise Darrow. I was trying to take the magic tree to Noli’s tree house, but I’ve never traveled by tree before and it brought me here instead. But the faeries said Noli came here and that you were her friend. Will you take me to her? Please?” Giant blue eyes, Queen Tiana’s eyes, shone in the darkness.

Ah, yes, the portal didn’t take Ailís to Magnolia’s tree because that tree wasn’t a portal. By the Bright Lady, this could work.

“Yes, Noli was very worried about you and asked me to keep you safe until she could get here,” he lied, needing the girl to trust him. Magnolia was probably still on her brother’s airship back in the mortal realm.

“Oh, I’m so glad.” Elise looked visibly relieved. “Everyone is always off having adventures and I’m afraid they’ll forget me.”

My, how naïve she was.

“Will you come with me?” Kevighn held out his hand. “You must be hungry. We’ll find you something hot to eat and a much more comfortable place to sleep.”

She eyed him, lips pursing slightly, head cocked to one side. “How will Noli know where I am? Is she there?”

Kevighn flashed her his most disarming smile. “Noli’s not there,
but
that’s where I told her to find me. We’ll send word so she won’t worry about you.” He motioned for the purple wood faery, the one that loved Magnolia best. “Find Magnolia and tell her to come to the Thirsty Pooka as soon as possible.”

The faery nodded and flew out the window. Odds were the faery wouldn’t find Magnolia, but the little girl sat back on her heels and gave him a satisfied nod. Good.

If the faery did actually bring his fair blossom, well, that would be even better.

“All right, Elise.” He noted that she said her name differently. A mortal name like her brothers, no doubt. “Why don’t we go before it gets too late?”

She stood, smoothed her dirty dress with her smudged hand, then picked her valise up off the table. “Where are we going?”

He took her hand. “Why, to a wondrous place. It’s called the Thirsty Pooka.”

Three

The Staff of Eris

Surrounded by books, Steven sat on the floor of Quinn’s office. Opening another journal, he flipped through the pages, trying to find anything helpful. Quinn had spent much of his life researching rare and odd artifacts in the Otherworld. If anyone knew what Brogan was trying to assemble, it would be Quinn. Unfortunately, Quinn wasn’t here, so these journals would have to suffice. Not that Steven was finding anything.

A word on the page caught his eye:

Every day I mourn Creideamh more and more, and further regret the role I played in her death. Even Dom wishes he didn’t do what he did. But it’s the law. I should have told her to accept exile and promised to go with her. We could have been happy in the mortal realm—or even among the dark court with her family and friends. No. I allowed my pride to blind me. In the end, I will never forgive myself. All that I’ve done to atone for my sins will never be enough. I lost the greatest gift I’d ever had without realizing what I’d done until it was too late. One day her brother will track me down and kill me. When he does, I’ll allow it. Then my love and I will be together once again.

Steven marked the page with his finger.
Creideamh.
Where had he heard that name before? Never had he known Quinn to have a wife or girlfriend.
Dom
would be Steven’s father. A sigh escaped his lips. If only he knew what information might be relevant—or where to look.

Noli burst into the room, James with her. He looked up. They didn’t look as if they’d brought supper.

“V, V, I remember. I know what Brogan’s trying to do. We have to protect the pieces. We have to keep them safe.” Noli’s steel-colored eyes danced like a mad woman’s, her expression frantic. She no longer wore her hat, and chestnut waves escaped her coif, adding to the effect.

“Wait, what?” He blinked. She
remembered
? From where?

She plopped down on the floor next to him, spreading her skirts around her. “I know what it is.”

James took a seat in Quinn’s chair.

Steven traced a glyph in the air with his finger, the design glowing green, then fading.

“What’s that?” A lock of dark hair fell in Noli’s eyes as she peered up at him.

“A soundproofing spell. We need to be cautious.” The three of them appearing at the earth court palace this morning to challenge his uncle had cost them the element of surprise. They had to be wary of earth court spies.

“Can I do that kind of spell?” Noli asked.

Steven thought for a moment. “I have no idea. I know nothing of sprite magic.”

“The sprite says we have lots of magic.” Noli closed her eyes. “We deflected cannonballs when the cannon ship was after the Vixen’s Revenge.”

“What?” He knew little of what had happened when she was aboard her brother’s airship while he and James were off on a fool’s errand for his mother. An errand he’d owed her for his poorly worded bargain to free Noli, which had enabled his mother to turn Noli into a sprite in the first place. An errand that had caused him to be far from home when Brogan sent earth court guards to kill his father.

Noli’s eyes snapped open, boring into him. “If the cannons hit the ship, we’d be dead. I had to use magic to keep us alive.”

“I understand. I’d do the same. But you need to be very cautious about using magic in the mortal realm.” Steven’s heart thundered so hard it roared in his ears. She’d done
what
? That sounded complicated, considering she’d never had a single magic lesson.

He
had
promised to teach her how to defend herself with magic.

But Noli’s behavior was worrying him. She’d been odd ever since the sprite had taken up residence in her head, and now it seemed to be getting worse.

James let out an impatient huff, legs waggling as he draped them over the side of the chair. “Noli, you said you know what the artifact is?”

“Oh, yes. It’s a staff of great power.” Her eyes closed again. “When it was in one piece, the land didn’t need a mortal girl with the Spark to be sacrificed every seven years. She had enough nourishment from the staff … ” Noli sighed, eyes opening, a frustrated look on her face. “I’m having trouble recalling everything. But the staff was also terrible. So terrible that the Bright Lady herself tore it apart and flung it into the mortal realm. If Brogan reassembles it, it could be disastrous.”

Steven racked his memory, trying to recall any stories about a staff. “There’s no staff in the story Father tells … I … I mean told … about why we have the sacrifice.”

The very idea crawled under his skin, making him want to recoil in dismay. A staff powerful enough that it fed the magic composing the Otherworld itself. A staff misused so badly that the Bright Lady herself tore it apart and cast it into another realm.

“She said no one remembered the real story—especially the monarchs.” Noli frowned.

“Who?” James rubbed his chin, frowning. “I’ve never heard anything about a staff.”

“Me neither. I wish we could find Quinn,” Steven replied. So far there’d been no word and he was beginning to worry. “Noli, who told you all this? Kevighn?”

Not that he’d believe the likes of Kevighn Silver.

“Kevighn knows what it is, but he didn’t tell me.” Noli’s lower lip stuck out in a petulant pout. “You don’t believe me.”

Steven put an arm around her, bringing her to him. “How can I believe you when I have no idea what you’re talking about? It makes sense, and we know the pieces compose a powerful artifact. However, this staff isn’t something I’ve ever heard of. Who told you about it?”

“I … ” Her face contorted in puzzlement. “I’m not sure. I think it was the Bright Lady.”

His heart fell. Yes, it seemed as if the sprite’s grip on Noli was increasing once again.

James looked over from his perch, legs still dangling over the chair. “Why?”

Noli leaned forward, elbows on her knees. “A voice—and not the sprite—spoke to me when Brogan came onboard the airship to retrieve the artifacts from Vix and Jeff. She said I couldn’t permit Brogan to have it. I … I stole a piece. The voice also spoke to me in the tree. Well, I believe it was the same voice. She told me about the staff and directed me to keep it safe.”

A noise of disbelief escaped his lips. The Bright Lady spoke to Noli while she was inside a tree? Yes, they needed to reverse what Tiana had done to her before it was too late.

Her face crumpled like a discarded handkerchief. “Why don’t you believe me?”

“It’s … it’s a lot to believe. You said that you have a piece of the artifact. May I see it?” They knew it was something, but to be an item that could change the fate of his realm?

“Here. I asked it for information just now, and it showed me things.” She shuddered, then put the piece in his hand. “But we can’t let Brogan have it. In fact, I really should steal the pieces he has. He can’t be permitted to assemble it.” Panic tinged her voice.

“No, he can’t,” he soothed. No matter what the artifact became when assembled, Uncle Brogan would use it for evil.

“Why don’t you believe me?” Noli glared at Steven. She popped up off the floor and marched out of the library. He just sat there, watching her. What had just happened?

“Why
don’t
you believe her?” James sat up and leaned forward, brows furrowing. “Noli’s no liar.”

Steven sighed. “Even though I’ve never heard of this staff, and it’s different from the stories we’ve been told, I could believe it. Also, if the piece showed her things, that, too, I could believe, even though it’s advanced magic. It’s the Bright Lady speaking to her that I doubt. The Bright Lady doesn’t speak often, and Noli’s not even truly one of us.”

James’ arms crossed over his chest. “You’re an elitist snob.”

“I am not.” He shot his brother a dirty look. “I’m supposed to believe a goddess spoke to her while she was in
a tree?”

“Noli said she
thought
it could be the Bright Lady. It could be something else. We know all sorts of creatures lurk in the Otherworld. Perhaps when we put her in the tree to heal her it made her vulnerable,” James replied. “We shouldn’t discount any of this yet—even the crazy bits—until we finish researching.”

Steven shook his head. “You as the voice of reason continues to disturb me. But you’re right. This is Noli. Still, I’m worried about her. Something’s more not right than usual.”

“That’s why you’re going to reverse what Tiana did.” James blew a lock of hair out of his face. “In the meantime, you can teach Noli magic. I’ll take over her sword lessons.”

“Noli in her current state with a sword unnerves me,” Steven observed truthfully.

James shook his head in dismay. “She’s still Noli. Don’t forget that.”

He got up and followed Noli out of the room.

“Why are girls so maddening?” Steven muttered. He examined the small gold piece in his hand. It looked like a bit of junk. Closing his eyes, he tried to convince the piece to reveal its secrets to him. Trees and plants, not metal, were his specialty, but he should be able to get something from it.

He mentally reached out to the piece in his hand.
Tell me your secrets.

A blast of fire spread through his mind.
No, this isn’t the staff of power,
a female voice yelled as he watched the chaos play across his mind’s eye like a moving picture.
This is the Staff of Eris and I expel it from this realm. You shall bear the cost as atonement for your sins.

Steven ripped himself from the memory ingrained in the piece. The Staff of Eris? Eris was the Greek goddess of discord. Considering the Greek Pantheon meant nothing in the Otherworld, it was probably more figurative than literal. Still, it gave him a place to start.

Besides, anything that could cause discord had no place in the hands of his uncle.

He continued to flip though Quinn’s journals. Staff of Eris. Staff of Eris. Was there even such a thing?

Exile in the mortal realm suits me. However, I seem to have lost some of my research. Considering it concerns the Staff of Eris, I’m a little worried. At least I never kept all of my research in one place. Still, once I realized the truth about it, it was a folly to keep anything beyond recollections of the basic lore. If anyone should ever get ahold of some of my more sensitive findings, it could be the end of this realm.

Steven scanned the pages for anything else regarding the staff, but found no further mentions. The journal dropped to his lap. The Staff of Eris was real, dangerous, and Quinn had indeed known about it.

Steven’s fingers traced the sketch on the page. He’d gone back to Quinn’s earlier journals, from long before he’d come to the mortal realm in exile with his father. It did look as if some of the research was missing, or hidden, but he had found something of interest—a drawing.

According to my research, the staff may look something like this
, Quinn had scrawled. It was just a regular staff, like something a monarch might carry but lacking in decoration or opulence. Looks could be deceiving, especially in objects originating in the Otherworld.

If one needed all the pieces for it to work, it would make sense that if even one piece were destroyed, then the staff would be useless for eternity.

On the other hand …

Over and over, he’d thought that there had to be a better way to nourish the magic than tricking mortal girls with the Spark into becoming the sacrifice. The Spark, that extra bit of “something” in some mortals, fed the very magic that made the Otherworld exist. When Noli had been mortal, she’d possessed it in spades. So had her friend Charlotte, who’d volunteered to be the sacrifice in order to save Noli. An act that James was still recovering from, since he’d been in love with Charlotte.

Steven had hoped they could find more volunteers like Charlotte, rather than trapping the girls, but now the staff—if reassembled—seemed to offer a third option. No sacrifice at all. No need to hunt down girls and drain them of their blood just to keep the Otherworld alive. He hadn’t finished reading all of Quinn’s notes, but it appeared as if the staff wasn’t wicked in and of itself—in the hands of the pure of heart, it could be an advantageous tool. Something that could usher in a new age for the Otherworld.

His mother and Uncle Brogan weren’t pure of heart in the slightest.

Also, since it had been broken into pieces and scattered in the mortal realm, rather than destroyed, it seemed as if it were meant to be reassembled at another point in time.

Could
he
wield such a thing? The idea of becoming supreme ruler of the Otherworld was certainly tempting. No one would
ever
be able to hurt him or those he loved if he were in charge and armed with such a weapon.

Steven shook his head, expelling such an idea. He was no queen. A queen had
always
ruled the High Court. A queen with the ability to command all four elements. Someone like his mother … or Elise.

His belly lurched. If Queen Tiana, or anyone else, knew Elise had the abilities of a high queen, two things could happen. Someone would kill her. Or someone would steal her away and use her.

Bright Lady bless, he hoped Quinn and Elise were safe.

“V?” Noli called from down the hall. “Are you still here?”

“I’m in Quinn’s study.” He looked at his pocket watch. Goodness, it was late. His belly squawked in agreement. But Noli had stormed out hours ago. Would it be too much to hope that this time she’d brought supper?

A moment later, Noli appeared. “Always with the books.”

He couldn’t help but return her smile, since she no longer looked angry. “Please tell me that you’ve come bearing supper.”

“It’s back at the house. Jeff and Vix are visiting; they brought it.”

“They’re here?” Steven looked up at her in surprise. That wasn’t expected.

“Yes. They bought the house.” Noli peered at the books on the floor. “Did you find anything useful?”