Last Car to Annwn Station (21 page)

Mae started to reply, but the words in her throat turned to a startled shriek as
shapes
seemed to detach themselves from the trees and step into the gray light of evening. Jill stepped in front of her, blocking her view, and drew the baton from her pocket, snapping it open in one swift motion.

She’s taking this Champion thing far too seriously
.

“Who’s there?” Jill yelled into the gloom, making her words a snarled challenge.

Mae stepped around Jill, standing to the taller woman’s right. The forms took on distinct shape as they moved closer.

They were each of them as tall as Mae, some a few inches taller perhaps. They were golden of hair and armed with curved swords and ornate bows covered in symbols. Their armor was polished and reflected the moonlight, their faces angelic and pale. Splashes of colorful ribbons and other decorations contrasted against the gold and silver of their beings. They moved forward, silent and grim, their weapons at the ready.

Mae realized they were the fae her mother had warned them about, and they had come to kill Jill.

“Jill—”

“I know.”

“We have to run.”

“There are too many of them. You need to get out of here while I handle this.”

“You really think you can fight all of them?”

“And win? No, of course not. But it’s not you they’re after.”

“Your paramour speaks the truth,” a voice, high and refined, called from the gloom. “We have no wish to harm you. Our quarrel is with the mortal woman who slew the Lord of the Llysllyn Court. You may go in peace, Maeve Malveaux.”

“I don’t think I’m going anywhere.”

One of the shapes stepped forward. As blond and golden as the rest, he was slightly taller than his fellows, with more in the way of ribbons and decorations adorning his armor. “We do not
wish
to harm you. We
will
if you interfere.”

“We don’t have time for this,” Mae said, stepping around Jill. She looked at the leader of the warriors. “I’m going to rescue my sister from her captors. I’m hoping to bring down the circle of mages that have almost destroyed your cousins in the Llysllyn Court. To do that, I need Jill by my side.” Mae held her hands in front of her, open and pleading. “Please. Give us until the dawn, two days from now to finish this. After that you can start trying to kill us all you want.”

The tallest faerie frowned. He glanced over his shoulder at his dozen warriors and turned to the two women. “I have my orders. The murderess dies tonight.”

“A challenge.”

All eyes turned toward Jill, who had shrugged out of her leather jacket.

“What do you propose?” the warrior asked.

Jill gave him a grim smile. “You and I fight it out, right here, right now. Champion versus captain. It’s a time-honored way to settle differences. If I win, you give us the two days we need.”

“And if I win?” he asked.

Mae felt a chill in her stomach. “Jill, don’t.”

“If you win then I’m already dead, and you’ve done what you came here for. You let Mae go about her business.”

“Rules? Conditions?” the captain asked, suspicion in his voice.

Jill smiled sweetly at him. “None. Anything goes.”

“I accept.”

Mae watched horrified as Jill sprang forward before the last syllable of the captain’s acceptance died in the air. She slashed down, her baton whistling.

The captain twisted, catlike, out of the way of Jill’s attack. He drew his weapon as he turned. The long, curved blade glowed blue in the darkness. He slashed at her unprotected back, his blade cutting a thin line through her sweater.

Jill made a hissing noise and turned to face her opponent. She batted aside his second cut with her baton, the metals screeching against each other, and stepped into him. He spun away.

Mae cried out as the faerie captain turned and threw what looked like a transparent glowing dart at Jill. There was a burst of sickly green light on Jill’s right thigh, and the black-haired woman stumbled.

The captain charged at Jill, his face demonic in the blue-glow of his blade, sure of his kill.

Jill threw a handful of snow and debris into his face, and surged forward, driving her shoulder into the faerie captain. Jill was taller and possibly heavier than her opponent. The two tumbled into the snow, both their weapons lost from their hands as they rolled.

Mae ran forward, trying to follow the struggling pair.

Jill landed on top of her opponent, striking downward with her forehead. Mae heard a terrible crunching noise and Jill’s scream of pain. She watched Jill, now sitting astride her opponent, bashing him with her right fist.

As Mae reached the two, the captain, his face covered in blood from his ruined nose, drew a small dagger from inside his armor. He stabbed at Jill, but she caught his hand in hers. For a moment they were still, locked in place, then Jill flung herself off her opponent and to her right.

The captain flowed to his knees, but stopped when Jill brought his own sword to his throat. She gave the edge just enough pressure to draw a thin line of blood.

“Yield.” Jill’s voice was cool and steady as she held the blade to his throat.

The captain glanced down at his glowing sword. He looked at Jill and favored her with a small smile. “I yield.”

The tension in the dark underbrush seemed to melt at his words. Jill lowered the weapon and sagged. Mae scrambled to her side.

“Are you all right?”

Jill handed the glowing sword back to her opponent, who nodded to her and stood, stepping away. “I’ll be okay. It’s not that bad a cut, though I guess this sweater is ruined.”

“Damn it, Jill!” Mae cried, letting her tears fall free. “What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that we couldn’t both die in some stupid fight over a dead faerie lord and misplaced notions of vengeance, not when we’re this close to rescuing your sister.”

Mae bit her lower lip. “I hate this,” she finally whispered.

Jill’s face softened and she reached out and gathered Mae into a hug. “I hate this too. Unfortunately, unless you think the police are going to go into that house and rescue your sister, it’s pretty much up to us.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Mae muttered into Jill’s shoulder.

“We should get back to the lake house,” Jill said, breaking the moment.

Mae released her grip on Jill and stepped back. “Yeah. I think we both need to clean up and have something hot to eat and drink.” She turned to the faerie hunting party, looking directly into the eyes of their bloodied leader. “Do we have a truce?”

The blood-covered faerie nodded. “Neither I, nor any of my brethren shall attack your Champion until the third dawn.” The captain gave Jill a cold glare. “At which point we will exact revenge for Lord Murlannor’s death.” He nodded to the women and turned away.

Mae watched as the silent shapes retreated and dissolved into the darkness.

She and Jill walked in silence back to the lake house, moving slowly. Jill kept limping on the leg that had been struck by the magic dart. Mae unlocked the door and locked it behind them once they were inside.

She turned to Jill. She was still angry at her reckless behavior, but she understood why Jill issued the challenge. It was an argument that could wait for later. Right now, Jill had injures that needed tending. The cut on Jill’s back was shallow and had already stopped bleeding. Jill’s hair was in disarray, tangled and matted with melting snow and mud. There was blood on her face, though Mae saw no signs of actual bleeding. She helped Jill limp to the kitchen table, settling her in one of the wooden chairs.

“Coffee, tea or cocoa?” Mae asked.

“Tea, preferably with honey and whiskey,” came the muffled reply.

Mae looked up to find Jill resting her head on her arms. She was watching Mae work on the tea.

“Are you hungry?”

Jill closed her eyes and frowned. “Maybe later. I think I’d throw up anything I ate right now, though a shower would be nice.”

Mae waited impatiently for the water to boil, then made them both a cup of strong, sweet tea liberally laced with whiskey. She placed two mugs on the table. Mae pulled a chair around and slowly rubbed Jill’s back with one hand. “Drink your tea,” Mae commanded.

Jill sat up weakly and gripped the mug in both hands. She took a sip and then a deeper drink of the warm liquid and sighed.

“What I want to know is where in the world did you learn to fight like that?” Mae asked. “I mean, I’ve seen you in class tossing around our instructors and whacking the hell out of everyone else with bamboo sticks, but damn!”

Jill gave her a lopsided smile. “College.”

“College? Did you take fencing or something?”

“I took every self-defense and martial arts class I could afford, and I had this friend who was a stick-jock in the SCA. He taught me a lot about fighting with a long weapon.”

“And you challenged a fully trained warrior to a duel? Are you completely mad?”

Jill gave her a hard, blazing look. “You’re about to go charging into a mansion of powerful mages who have control of the pack of the Wild Hunt. You don’t have any magic of your own, and you’re not even as well trained a fighter as me, poor excuse for a Champion that I am. Don’t talk to me about mad.”

Mae realized that no matter how calm and matter-of-fact Jill had been on the surface about the duel, it was all bravado. The look on Jill’s face and her shaky body language told Mae that Jill had been terrified.

Mae took a long gulp of her own tea, scalding her tongue in the process. She was feeling more than a little shaky herself. She needed to get Jill cleaned up before the shock of it all overwhelmed them both. She stood and touched Jill’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s shower and go to bed.”

Jill gave a weak nod and, finishing her tea in one gulp, stood from her chair. She swayed on her feet.

Reaching out to steady her, Mae placed Jill’s arm around her shoulder. They walked slowly up the stairs to the master bathroom, Jill leaning on Mae as much as needed, despite Jill’s protests that she was fine.

Mae settled Jill on the closed toilet lid, letting her place her head in her hands, while Mae started the shower water running. Once the water was hot enough, Mae turned to Jill, who was trembling violently.

“It’s okay,” Mae said. “You’re fine. I’ve got you.”

Jill looked up at her, locking her good eye on Mae. “He could have killed me.”

“But he didn’t.”

Jill stood and started to slowly undress. “Mae, he let me win. There’s no other explanation. He was faster than me, he had magic to use. He’s probably been fighting with a sword for centuries. He let me win.”

Mae reached out to help Jill, whose hands were shaking so badly at this point that she could not unbuckle her own belt. “Well, I’m glad he did. I much prefer you alive and well.”
And maybe that will keep you from taking unnecessary chances.

It seemed reasonable to Mae that the faerie captain had indeed thrown the battle. He had stated that his fight was not with Mae. Perhaps he had wanted to accept their offer, but had to find a way, even if it was a token way, to make it look like he had tried to kill Jill and accomplish his mission. She wondered if other faerie creatures could sense the fae blood in her.

Mae helped Jill undress, taking a moment to check her injuries. The shallow wound on her back would need cleaning. Mae looked at where she had seen the glowing dart strike Jill. The leg was bruised but not punctured. The dart had been some kind of magical energy, Mae realized. She hoped there would be no lingering magical effects.

Once Jill was safely in the shower, Mae gathered up all the dirty clothes and took them into the master bedroom, dropping them into a corner. Silently thanking Kravis and possibly Ellie, Mae opened up their luggage and withdrew clean clothes for both of them.

“I brought you a change of clothes,” she called out through the steam in the bathroom.

“Thanks,” Jill’s voice spoke over the sound of running water. The water switched off. “Can I have a towel?”

Mae handed a towel over the shower curtain to Jill. It vanished, and a moment later Jill appeared wrapped in it as the curtain was swept aside. “Your turn.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Better. Being clean helps.” Jill leaned forward and kissed her. “Thank you.”

Mae smiled at Jill, happy warmth spreading through her body. “It was my pleasure.”

Mae waited until Jill was finished drying herself. Jill picked up her clean clothes and slipped into the bedroom, leaving Mae to shower.

She went about the business of getting clean in an efficient manner, washing herself quickly under the steaming water. Mae did not want to leave Jill alone any longer than necessary. Ten minutes later Mae was dressed in flannel pajamas and drying her hair with the towel. A moment of searching in the linen closet produced peroxide, sterile gauze and white medical tape. She added cotton pads to the pile and went in search of Jill.

It was a short search. Jill was stretched out crosswise on the large bed, lying on her stomach. On the floor was a tray with two steaming cups of tea, a carafe and a plate piled high with toast. Peanut butter and two different kinds of jam rounded out the impromptu dinner.

“You’ve been busy,” Mae said, nodding toward the food and drink.

“I thought we’d both want something, so I decided on quick and easy food. There was a loaf of bread in the freezer.”

Mae settled on the bed next to Jill. “I’m going to clean your cut. The last thing we need would be for you to get an infection.”

Jill made a grunt of assent and shifted around, lifting her shirt to give Mae access to her small injury.

It was only a moment’s work for Mae to clean the cut and cover it with gauze. As she worked, Mae noticed the thin red reminder of an earlier wound, the cut across Jill’s hip, peeking up from the waist band of Jill’s pants. She taped the gauze over the new cut securely and let Jill’s shirt drop. She gave her friend a soft pat on the rear.

“Done,” Mae said.

Jill looked over her shoulder and grinned at Mae. “What? You’re not going to kiss it better?”

Mae dropped the remains of the improvised medical kit on the floor. “Flirt.”