Queen of the Fae: Book Two in the Fae Unbound Series (Fae Unbound Teen Young Adult Fantasy Series) (2 page)

She swung the terrified gnomes back and forth as she stomped. Then she pulled one arm back, obviously preparing to swing the head of the unfortunate gnome against the trunk of a nearby tree, when Bobby ran in front of her, his freckles standing out against a face drained of color by fear. He yelled "Lizzie, don't! What are you doing? You don't hurt people! Please, Lizzie. Please, don’t!"

Lizbet suddenly stood still and looked blankly at Bobby; then she looked at the gnomes in each of her hands and gently set them down on the ground. The other gnomes began to come cautiously back out of the burrow. Lizbet continued to stand there silently, looking unsure about what had just happened. The gnomes whispered to each other, "Just the girl now, just the girl."

Gurrdenn tugged on Bobby's pant leg, and when Bobby looked down, Gurrdenn winked, "Won the queen. Bobby won the queen."

Bobby didn't understand the gnomish word for queen that Gurrdenn used instead of the simple English the gnomes were learning, but Tanji did. She bustled Lizbet toward the porch as the gnomes began to dance around Bobby again, chanting, "Won the queen, won the queen, won the queen."

"What just happened there, Lizzie?"

"I don't know."

"Yeah, that's the problem. You never do...but I think Morgan finally made her intentions known," Tanji said, laying a hand gently on her friend’s shoulder.

James texted, "have the wisps been following u 2?"

In a few minutes, he got Lizbet's reply, "no, they ignore me"

"i thnk they feel myrddin in here and know he is mssing his fae hlf"

There was no reply. After several minutes, he tapped out, "Bad tme?"

"hdache i m napping"

"i worry abt u. skype l8er?"

"if i cn first day of school tmorrw"

James shoved his phone into his back pocket and looked back to the spiral notebook where he’d been recording Myrrdin's spell knowledge as it surfaced. Most of what he was willing to write down for Thomas would have been really helpful in a time when there weren't hospitals, doctors, or safe living conditions. 

Myrrdin had been a man of peace, and James was glad of that. Even though he didn't like having memories that didn't belong to him, he could at least live with the kind of man Myrrdin had been. He couldn't imagine what Lizbet must go through dealing with memories of the eight other lives that had been thrust on her when Eamon slapped Morgan le Fae's amulet around her neck. She hadn’t had a choice any more than he had.

Thomas called to James from the small kitchen where he was mixing herbs and cooking up his latest potions. "All right then, James?"

"Yeah, I guess. Lizbet’s still having headaches, so I worry about that. And she's still stuck with the wings."

"She'd embrace them if she fully understood the honor it is to be even partially fae."

James rolled his eyes. He'd grown to like Thomas and appreciate his sober—and often entertaining—approach to the world. It was more suited to an eighty year old than a twenty-one year old. But Thomas seemed destined to be a zealot in every lifetime. Although he no longer had the memories of a long-dead Roman monk, he was as single-minded in his devotion to the fae as the monk Faolan had been to the Roman church. It worried him, but he hadn't seen Thomas doing anything that seemed dangerous to other people since they’d come to London. However, James knew Thomas's interest in traveling to one of the elves’ fortresses to get to know his magical counterparts would be a very bad idea. 

Thomas was convinced the elves would accept him as one of their own if he became a strong enough sorcerer, but Thomas was only one-fourth fae and one-eighth elf, and neither was by birth. He was one of the half-fae whose magic was the result of the remerge of what the fae called a wisp which  had been created when Faolan split the realms. They consisted of the magic that had been pulled from the bodies of humans who were less than half fae but had some fae blood.

The fae viewed the wisps as abominations—lost pieces of fae magic that didn't have enough life essence to coalesce into a being. They were considered soul-less, much like the ghouls. They floated across the face of the world searching for the lost part of themselves. Even if the elves didn't hold Thomas responsible for Faolan's actions, they'd never accept a wisp-made fae in their midst. James thought it was unlikely the elves would greet Thomas at their gates with anything other than an arrow through the heart. 

 Stalking prey through a city is much easier than stalking it through a forest. Freoric had no difficulty shadowing Thomas on the busy London streets. So many humans in one place provided more than enough cover. In the forest, it would not be so simple. Silence and stealth would be necessary. Here, it was easy enough to dress human, pull his long hair back tight while making sure his ears were covered, leave his bow behind in favor of a short, sharp knife, and feign disinterest as he walked along behind the human who strode along from shop to shop, making purchases along the way.

It took him by surprise when a slender young man who almost matched him in height fell into step with him and said, "I knew it would be an elf."

Freoric looked at the young man and recognized him as the man who shared space with his prey. He had soft blue eyes and brown hair, and his expression made him appear older than Freoric judged him to be. He continued walking.

The youth spoke again, "Thomas sensed someone had been following him. His magic is strong despite being only one-fourth fae. And who else would it be but an elf?"

Freoric stopped and turned to face the young man. "Go away. You don't interest me. I don't know you."

James knew that a geeky American boy was never going to impress an elvin warrior. Freoric had at least two inches on him and the glint of silver in his hair told James that Freoric would have been ready for battle for at least a hundred years. "Your ancestors knew me when I was Myrrdin."

Freoric stopped and turned to face the man who shared a living space with Thomas. "My ancestors respected Myrrdin, but
I
don't know
you
."

"Myrrdin respected your ancestors. Me? I'm not thrilled to see you stalking my friend. Faolan has been dead for thousands of years. Thomas has no memories of being Faolan. All of that was wiped out when his amulet was destroyed to free the fae. Leave him alone. He isn't hurting you."

"He intended to kill all of the fae, the same as he murdered Myrrdin. How can you defend him? He's an abomination."

"No. Not anymore. He practically worships the elves like he once worshipped the church. He's no danger to you."

"We'll decide that for ourselves."

"He's under my protection."

"As you say. I am only following him, for now. If I meant for him to be dead, he would be."

James relaxed as he watched the elf round the corner in the opposition direction from the one Thomas had taken. He'd really bigged it up by playing the Myrrdin card. He hoped the elves didn't realize that he had no natural magic. The best he could manage was mixing up herbs for natural remedies like any non-magic-wielding New Age health-food nut. He had all the knowledge, he just didn't have the stuff to back it up the way Myrddin had. He hustled through the crowd to catch up with his flat-mate. 

As he fell into step with Thomas, Thomas looked over and said, "Who was it?"

"An elf, like I suspected. But I think they’re only keeping an eye on you right now, not planning a full-on ninja assassination just yet."

"Faolan must have been a right old sod. We've only just rid ourselves of the monks that followed us here, and now I‘ve got to worry about being mugged by my kin."

"Yeah, and only a month old, too," James grinned, enjoying his own running joke about Thomas's lack of memory, "I’m sure the elves aren't the only fae who'd like to have a go at you."

"Maybe we'd best get started working on protection spells instead of healing potions. How many pixie bites am I going to need to heal in London, anyway?"

"We may not be staying in London, if it's okay with you. I miss my friends and my stuff, to tell you the truth. Plus, Eamon's ‘Underground money’ is close to running out, and I can't get a job here because I can't get a work permit. I've got a job waiting for me back in Ohio, if I want it. Magical pest control is apparently set to become big business, and I could fit it in around school hours. That way I only miss a semester of college and can start back at the beginning of the year."

"And you want to see Lizbet," added Thomas, with a rare smile.

"Yes. And I want to see Lizbet," James said, smiling back.

"It would be nice to meet her," Thomas replied, "It would be nice to meet any of the other half-fae. I've no feelings for London one way or the other. I don't remember a life in England."

"Yeah, I don't know how she'd feel about that. Tanji—that's Lizbet's friend who's kind of related to me now through Myrrdin—would be happy to meet you, I think. I'm not sure how strong her fae side's feelings are about Faolan, although she'd be…” James stopped and thought for a moment, “…his great aunt, Myrddin’s sister. But if we end up back in the States, I don't know how Lizbet would feel about having you living right next door." 

James stopped to examine a shop window sales banner. "But, the way I see it is this—Faolan murdered Myrddin, and if Myrddin doesn’t hold it against you, Morgan and her other lives are going to have to let Lizbet alone about it sooner or later."

Forty-five minutes later, James slid the key into the lock of their shared flat as they arrived at the door. He walked into the flat and then abruptly stopped dead still. Thomas only stopped when he ran into James from behind. The small room was full of elves—a full council, by James's reckoning. It appeared that no one was much intimidated by Myrddin anymore.

A tall, grayed-haired elf folded his arms across his chest and nodded his head to James in the elvin equivalent to "we come in peace." The other eight elves behind him stood unmoving, their arms also folded loosely across their chests. 

James returned the greeting with the help of Myrrdin's memories and asked, "Why are you here, Elder?"

The elves returned their hands to their sides, as did James.

"You have chosen to associate yourself with the man who imprisoned us for hundreds of years. Our ancient histories tell us you have always dealt respectfully with the elves, Myrddin, but we are unable to stay silent and let this wisp-endowed abomination practice magic near our families and our homes."

Thomas began to speak, "Elder..." but James held up a hand to stop him. Myrrdin's memories were shoving at him hard not to let Thomas into the discussion. One wrong step and Thomas could lose his life so easily—as easily an as elf, with one liquid movement, can nock an arrow, draw a bow, and let the arrow fly.

"Elder, with respect, I ask that you call me by the name I wear in this life. If you can address me in the English tongue, then surely you can address me by my proper name. That name is James. Myrrdin is with me, always, of course. I have his knowledge, his memories, and his influence. But I am not Myrrdin as you knew him, just as Thomas is not Faolan."

"As you request, James, I recognize you are not entirely the man my ancestors knew. However, we know this man, this Thomas. We watched him from the other side. And the warrior we have had watching him on this side, Freoric, informs us that you are educating him in the way of sorcery and have placed him under your protection. We wonder why this is. He
is
Faolan."

"No longer. Your people saw what happened at the tree. Faolan is gone forever. I don’t hold him responsible for what Faolan did any more than I hold you responsible for the actions of the elves who murdered Myrddin’s farther. Today, in this moment, there's only this empty-headed man behind me, cleared of memories and partially fae. Would you destroy an innocent, Elder?"

"If, as you say, Myrddin is with you, you know my people outlaw the mixing of human and elvin blood. This has not changed," The elder nodded his head toward Thomas, "This one has no fae blood at all, he is only inhabited by a wisp, a contemptible thing. He is no kin of ours. However, we owe you a debt. If you have extended your protection, we will abide. What we will not tolerate is having him so near to us here on the green isle and on the continent beyond. In these times, for your people, it is easy to move from land to land. Find another place."

"And you won't follow us?" James asked.

"By my troth, the elves will not follow," replied the elder.