Journey into the Realm: The Stolen Child (Journey into the Realm Series) (24 page)

I swallowed. “What do you want?”

She smiled. “Give me a small taste of your power, and I will let you go free.”

My lips parted silently for a few moments before I finally said, “What?”

She sighed. “You know even less than I thought. Woodland fairies can absorb the power of others. Allow me to touch your forehead, and I will take a small amount of your Golden fairy magic. In my many years as queen, I have become a collector of sorts. All of my fairies have given me some of their power. I have not yet tasted a Golden fairy, though.”

My stomach dropped. Her words frightened and sickened me. She spoke as though I were a meal.

“How can I trust that you will only take a little?” I asked.

“I give you my word that you will feel nothing. But for a short while, you will be unable to access your fairy magic, and that includes spells. Once you recover, you will not notice anything amiss.”

I looked down at the ground. “I don’t know about this.”

“I am an impatient fairy,” Queen Ella responded. “You must decide now or I will remove the offer and kill you, which would be such a horrible waste of good magic.”

Too afraid of death and failure to think longer, I nodded. “Okay. Do it. Then let me go.”

Her brief smile was wicked and catlike. In one swift motion, she placed her fingertips against my forehead and closed her eyes. I trembled but said nothing. I didn’t try to stop her. She removed them after only a few seconds, a satisfied grin spreading across her lovely face.

She breathed in deep. “Yes, I can already feel the change within me. Your magic is delicious,” she said pleasantly, nauseating me yet again with her reference to food. “You may go now. I wish you luck, Ramsey. And remember to speak well of me when you meet the High Queen.”

I nodded, choosing not to speak because I knew if I opened my mouth, my words would probably offend her. I couldn’t believe I was leaving Elvina with her. I would never be able to survive her antics for as long as she would have to. Hopefully, the Queen’s other daughters would be of some comfort to Elvina while she adjusted to her new role as Princess Glissarie.

Silently thanking them and the centaurs for their assistance, I turned away from the Queen and slowly stepped into the circle. Even though I was eager to leave another Realm behind, I dreaded the one I was about to enter.

What I expected to see upon entering the Element Fairy Realm was the concerned faces of my friends anxiously awaiting my late arrival. Instead, they had formed a circle around an earth fairy and were currently staring at him with furious expressions. Only Princess Glissarie, still in the guise of Elvina, stood off to the side, watching the earth fairy with an amused expression.

And when I realized that earth fairy was Eder, I nearly lost it.

Okay, I actually lost it.

My body grew hot with rage. I expected my skin to glow at any moment. Then I remembered what Queen Ella had said about losing my Golden fairy magic for a short while, which just made me angrier. I couldn’t even use a simple attack spell against the
fairy
who had betrayed me.

“You’re an Element fairy?” I cried. “How could you keep this from me? You said you would tell me everything!”

Upon hearing my screams, my friends left their circle to form a protective stance by my side. Nathan took my hand, which I promptly dropped. I was too heated to accept his comfort. Princess Glissarie actually laughed.

“In all the chaos, I forgot that entering my home Realm would remove my Glamour,” Eder said with an added richness to his voice. “I didn’t want you to find out this way.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me before?” I asked, finding his true nature very hard to absorb.

His once pale skin was now the color of caramel. His smooth black hair had been replaced with a style that was brown and disheveled. He no longer claimed the green eyes of an elf. His real irises were so dark brown they were almost black. His face, which had been attractive before, was now incredibly striking. His lips were fuller and his eyebrows thicker, which gave him a ruggedly handsome appearance someone normally wouldn’t be able to pull off naturally. The muscles in his arms and shoulders were greater and more defined. He appeared tremendously strong, much stronger than the elf he had pretended to be.

Instead of the brown breeches and a matching long-sleeved peasant top, the normal style for elves, he now wore tight fitting black cloth pants and a green tunic with a black belt around the waist. His black leather boots went to the knee.

But the most fascinating and disturbing aspect of his new appearance was the pair of dragon-like green wings tipped in brown that stretched out past his shoulders. This reminded me of Ellie, and at that moment I despised him.

To my dismay, there was a tempting air about him that I couldn’t ignore. And the longer I looked at him, the more my livid feelings began to fade. I tore my eyes away from his fae body and reminded myself of his betrayal. His fairy charm wouldn’t make me forget.

“I just didn’t know how, Ramsey,” he said, the sound of my name like a warm embrace. “There was never a good time.”

I released a frustrated sigh. “In all the years we knew each other, you could have found the –”

“Years?” Nathan interjected. “What do you mean, years?”

“Not now,” I snapped, aggravated by the interruption.

The look of shock on Nathan’s face was almost enough for me to forget Eder. But not quite.

“Ramsey, in the beginning your mother thought it would be best for me to act as an elf because it would be easier for you to trust me. Then when I left you to be Queen Taryn’s guard, I couldn’t very well be an Element fairy. When you arrived in Tarlore to rescue your sister, I had to keep my cover,” Eder explained.

I shook my head. “Again with the whole ‘mother knows best’ garbage. It’s getting ridiculous. If you truly cared for me, you would have trusted me. Simple as that.” I crossed my arms and turned away, fighting back tears of anger toward him and disappointment in myself for believing he was genuine. “And to think I was feeling guilty for what happened in the past. For forgetting about you. You don’t deserve my guilt.”

I waited for him to say something in return. To apologize again or try to explain himself more. But there was only silence.

“He’s gone,” Aimee said quietly.

“What?” I blurted, turning back around.

Sure enough, Eder had vanished. I took a deep breath.

“He won’t stay away forever. He’s just giving me time to calm down,” I said. “He’s our guide to the rebellion.” I moved to sit on a nearby boulder. Already the humid jungle air of the Element Fairy Realm was making me sweat. I hated this place. Not just because of the environment, but also because of what had occurred during my last visit – Stellan’s death.

“Ramsey, what’s going on?” Nathan wondered. “What happened while we were stuck in Ellamara?”

“Seeing as how our no-good earth fairy guide has wandered off, I guess it’s the best time to tell you guys everything,” I said, blinking away mental images of Stellan and Ellie’s murderous fire. “Gather around and get comfortable. It’s a long story.”

***

My storytelling skills were apparently solid because by the time I finished, there were no questions. I left out the part about Eder and I falling in love with each other, saying only that he had watched over me for years while I was living in the Human Realm until my mother decided he would be more useful in Tarlore. I was prepared to tell Nathan all the personal details, but not until we were alone together.

Now that my friends knew about the exchange, they understood the strange behavior of the fairy who looked like Elvina but obviously wasn’t. Glissarie herself hadn’t said a word since I entered the Element Fairy Realm, which I found odd. She clutched the leather book tight against her chest and scanned the dense exotic landscape, most likely searching for Eder.

“I suppose it all makes sense now,” Aimee commented. “You know, why the Golden fairies didn’t help the war effort. If they’re struggling against something themselves, it’s no wonder they backed out of their promise.”

I nodded. “I just wish I knew the threat they were facing so I could prepare myself. If I don’t solve their problem, the war will never end.”

“Unless the rebellion can end it for you,” Rafik said.

“I hope it doesn’t have to come to that,” I replied.

“So do we trust Eder?” Tavis wondered. “I mean, I know your mother recruited him and all…and it seems to make sense…but he’s an earth fairy.”

“The rebellion is led by an Element fairy,” I said. “Believe it or not, there are Element fairies who don’t agree with King Vortigern. They
do
exist.”

“But Eder still kept a huge secret from you,” Nathan pointed out. “From all of us.”

“And that’s exactly why I’m upset,” I said. “I trust him; I just don’t like him right now. And I’m sick of everyone making decisions for me because they believe it’s what’s best. I’m the one who should decide that.”

Princess Glissarie laughed.

“Have something to say?” I asked.

“Only that I cannot believe none of you noticed his true nature,” she commented. “He acts nothing like an elf. As elves, you should have known that.”

“None of us knew him except Ramsey,” Nathan said defensively. “And she hasn’t lived among elves long enough to notice small differences in behavior.”

“Regardless,” Princess Glissarie replied, “Eder acted under the orders of Lady Rosina, which cannot be disputed. Those she selected were given specific roles to play, and as one of the chosen myself, I am sympathetic to Eder. For the past fifteen odd years, I have been forced to behave like the perfect princess. So many times I wanted to speak out or stand up against my mother, but I had to hold my tongue because the mission depended on it.”

“I understand all of that, Princess Glissarie, I really do. But back in the Woodland Fairy Realm, I asked Eder to tell me everything and he said he would. Clearly, he left something very important out of his story. He took advantage of my trust,” I stated.

“So what are we going to do?” Nathan asked.

“Wait for Eder to return and then we’ll follow him to the rebellion,” I decided. “Honestly, I don’t want anything to do with him. But he’s our only chance. We can’t find it on our own.”

“A wise decision,” Glissarie praised. “Although spending great lengths of time anywhere in this jungle is not ideal, we will have to make the best of it while we wait for our guide’s return. You two can act as guards,” she instructed, gesturing to Tavis and Rafik. “Be on the lookout for Element fae.” She paused. “The healer and I will search for edible plants so we are all able to keep up our strength.”

“What about Ramsey and me?” Nathan asked.

The Princess smiled knowingly. “Considering the looks you have been giving each other, I assume you would like some time alone to…well, work out whatever needs working out.”

I avoided Nathan’s gaze as I nodded. “All right,” I said quietly.

***

“So are we going to talk or just sit in silence?” Nathan wondered after we had been alone together for at least five minutes without actually interacting.

I sighed. “I’m sorry. I just don’t know where to begin or what to say. Everything’s gotten so messy….”

“Then let’s clean everything up,” he suggested, moving to sit beside me on the boulder. “We can start by returning to the conversation we started earlier, when we first met Rafik. You said we couldn’t be together like we used to. What did you mean?”

Out of nervousness I started fiddling with my fingers. I didn’t want to talk about this. I would rather just forget the whole thing. But Nathan deserved to know why I was so distant from him. He deserved to know that it wasn’t his fault.

“I want to be with you,” I began, already feeling tears prick my eyes. “I just can’t be close to you right now.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” he said.

I didn’t know how to make him understand. “I need to keep my distance,” I tried.

“Why?”

“Because,” I said exasperatingly. “Because of the war…because of Stellan…because of everything that’s going on in my life.”

“What does Stellan have to do with us? When he died, you two had already settled things,” Nathan said.

“Out of everyone I’ve lost since I first arrived in the Elf Realm, his death was the only one I witnessed. And it’s become a constant fixture in my mind, representing everything I could
still
lose.” I paused, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm down. “I can’t lose anyone else, Nathan. I can’t. I have to stay focused and keep everyone alive that I can. And I can’t stay focused when I’m close to you.”

“What about before he died? All the things we accomplished?” he asked, taking my hand and refusing to let go even when I tried to pull away. “Fighting off assassins…figuring out your secret…practicing spells…you didn’t do those things alone. You did them with me. You and me together…we were strong.”

“That was different,” I insisted. “We were just friends then. Now we’re more. I don’t know if I can handle a relationship along with following my destiny and ending a war.”

“We were never just friends, Ramsey,” he said softly, squeezing my hand. “You know that as well as I do. And you don’t need to push me away to accomplish your destiny. You’re allowing your grief and fear to hold you back, hold
us
back. Stellan wouldn’t want that for you. Neither would Janie, or Daran, or Queen Taryn. Give us a chance, Ramsey. Let me prove to you that we can do this together.”

A tear slipped down my cheek. “I’d like to…but I don’t know how to go back to the way things were, Nathan. I don’t know if it’s even possible. I’ve changed so much. I don’t feel the same way, think the same way….”

“No matter how much you change, I’m never going to stop loving you,” Nathan said. “And no matter how far you push me away, you’ll never stop loving me. We both know that. So maybe if we hold on to that solid truth amidst all the change…we’ll find our way back.”

I bit my lip. “I’m willing to try. The whole ‘stay away from you thing’ isn’t working so well anyway,” I said sheepishly.

“That’s because I’m too good to resist,” he teased.

I smiled. “You are,” I said seriously. “You really are.”

He leaned toward me, and this time, I didn’t pull away when his lips pressed against mine. His words had reinstalled my confidence in myself, in him, in us. His hands moved to my waist as mine settled around his neck, bringing his body closer. Our kiss deepened, my skin burning with warmth. It had been so long since we had shared this kind of intimacy, and everything inside me responded eagerly to his affection. Between each kiss I struggled to catch my breath. I yearned for more from him, and this hunger created the kind of piercing ache I wanted him to chase away with his touch.

“I love you,” Nathan murmured, his breath hot and alive against my lips.

I abruptly pulled away, memories of a thirteen-year-old self flooding my mind upon hearing those three words. I couldn’t believe I had forgotten. Before things went any further between us, I had to tell him everything.

“What’s wrong?” Nathan asked, his voice gravelly and his lips red from kissing.

“I love you, too,” I said. I stood from the boulder and hugged my arms to my chest. “Which is why I can’t kiss you like
that
again until I tell you the truth about Eder.”

Nathan rose to join me, his fingers entwining themselves with mine. His hold was so strong, so sure. I wondered if it would remain that way after I told him about my true first kiss.

“Then tell me,” he said. “Because I’d like to kiss you again.”

“I don’t know if you will once I’ve said everything,” I admitted. Knowing hesitation wouldn’t help, I turned to face him. Being straightforward with him was the only way he would receive the complete story, the only way he would truly understand.

“Nathan, Eder was my first love.”