The Amulet (17 page)

“Wow,” Faedra breathed.

“Hello, my name is Jocelyn.” Her voice was
high pitched and musical. Jocelyn spoke with excitement dripping
from every word. “It is so good to be able to actually talk to you
at last. I cannot believe you have finally turned of age. I was
starting to get so impatient, I nearly gave myself away on several
occasions,” she giggled and a flush came to her cheeks.

“Err…” Faedra started to talk, even though
she was somewhat speechless at that moment. Faen interrupted, but
that didn’t stop her from scowling at him for being rude to his
sister.

“Jocelyn,” Faen said bluntly, “there will be
plenty of time for small talk later, we need to see Elvelynn.”

“Ooh, Elvelynn,” Jocelyn squealed. “I have
not seen Elvelynn for an eternity. Can I come with you?”

“You saw her not more than a moon’s phase
ago, and, no, you cannot come with us. We are going on
business.”

“Oh, Brother, please. You have to let me
come. Can I come, please?” The musical sound of her voice as it
went up and down the octaves as she spoke, reminded Faedra of a cat
walking on a piano keyboard.

“The answer is still no.” Faen was frowning
at her now and moved to walk Faedra past her.

“But I’m bored!” she exclaimed with a pout as
she stomped her foot.

Faedra’s eyebrows rose at her outcry. “Wow,
fae get tantrums too?” she whispered to Faen.

“Only the spoiled ones,” he replied.

“Please?” Jocelyn made one last attempt with
shiny tear pricked eyes.

That did it; Faedra was on her side. She
always was a sucker for anyone who cried, and she had taken an
instant liking to Faen’s little sister. She also knew she would
probably get a lot more conversation from the young fairy than she
would from her brother and had visions of this being another very
long day.

“Oh, go on, Faen. Let her come with us. It
will be one more person to watch over me. Especially if I’m as
prized as you seem to believe I am.”

He hesitated, sighed, and frowned. “Alright,
Jocelyn, you may journey with us to Elvelynn’s. But you must come
straight back here and continue your duty.”

“Yes,” Jocelyn cried in victory as she
clapped her hands together a couple of times then held them up to
her lips like she was getting ready to pray. Her eyes sparkled with
excitement. “Thank you, Brother. I will not get in your way, I
promise.” She planted a kiss on his cheek and he rolled his
eyes.

CHAPTER TEN

“Are you alright, Faedra?” Jocelyn asked as
they moved forward down the path.

“You look a little pale.”

“I think I’m about to have a meltdown,”
Faedra replied.

“Don’t be silly, Faedra, you are human.
Humans do not melt, not that I have ever witnessed.”

“It’s a figure of speech, Jocelyn. Two days
ago I was a normal – well, I admit some odd things had been
happening to me, but that’s beside the point – seventeen year old.
Then yesterday, bam, I turn eighteen and, all of a sudden, I find
out that I descend from an ancient Celtic bloodline, who were once
fae themselves. My dog morphs into a man in my bedroom, scaring the
living daylights out of me, and turns out to have been a fae all
along. I am Custodian of an ancient fae amulet that has the power
to control weather. An evil, murderous redcap attacks me, and more
are still after my blood. If that’s not enough, I’m about to step
through an invisible door into another world, your world. So please
excuse me if I quietly have a meltdown.” She admitted to herself
that she was being a tad melodramatic at that point.

“My dear Faedra, there was nothing much quiet
about that,” Jocelyn snickered.

“You get the gist, though?” Faedra
grinned.

Jocelyn gave her a warm smile, put an arm
around Faedra’s shoulders, and gave her a squeeze. “I think we are
going to be great friends,” she stated.

Faen rolled his eyes again and held up his
arm to direct Faedra towards the portal. “Come, the portal is up
ahead.”

Faedra couldn’t see anything, even when she
squinted her eyes. All she saw was the gravel path laid out ahead
of them. They had only walked a few yards when Faen and Jocelyn
came to a stop. Faedra had no choice in the matter, her hand was
still being held by Faen’s. She had to confess it reminded her of
the way she used to feel when her father held her hand as a child.
It was strong and sure, and made her feel safe, and dare she admit,
cared for.

Jocelyn stood on the path in front of them
and said something in a language that Faedra was sure she had never
heard before. She looked with bewilderment up at Faen.

“She was speaking an incantation to open the
portal,” he replied to her unspoken question.

“But if you need an incantation to open it,
and it’s definitely not in English, why would you need to guard
it?” she asked Jocelyn.

“Because, my dearest Faedra, some silly
person got drunk one night,” Jocelyn replied. Although she spoke in
her usual musical voice, Faedra could sense she was somewhat
disgruntled by that fact. Faedra looked at her blankly.

“Many years ago a man was walking through the
church-yard as a short cut on his way home from the pub, he was
very drunk and talking to himself. When he got to where the portal
was his slurred speech sounded similar to the incantation. The
portal opened and he walked straight into Azran.”

Faedra’s eyebrows shot up. “I bet that caused
a stir.”

“Somewhat,” Jocelyn continued. “He had been
walking around Azran for a while, watching us flying around and
going about our business before one of the king’s sentries spotted
him. They carefully extricated him through the portal back to your
world, but the vision stuck with him. Luckily, because he was so
drunk, no one believed him, but it started, what do you call it, an
urban legend?”

Faedra nodded. “I’ve heard about that legend.
Wow, so that really happened?”

Jocelyn nodded. “Every now and then someone
will try and see if there is anything to the legend and try and get
through the portal. No one has succeeded since, but the king
decided that he was not willing to take the chance on another human
accidentally stumbling into our world. I was assigned to guard it
and make sure only those who should, could pass.”

Faedra thought it best not to admit to the
fact that she had considered trying it out when she was younger,
but had never gotten around to it.

“It’s open,” Jocelyn said, motioning for them
to follow her. A second later, she disappeared right in front of
Faedra’s eyes. Faen stepped forward to continue after her but
Faedra was glued to the spot, staring at where Jocelyn had just
vanished. Her heart started to pound, and she found herself feeling
incredibly nervous. What would they find on the other side? Did it
hurt traveling between realms? Would she be able to get back home?
She felt Faen give her hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze. She
searched his eyes and found reassurance there, too.

“You will be fine, Ms. Faedra. I will not let
go of you.”

She gave him a feeble smile and allowed him
to lead her forward. At that moment she had an epiphany. She knew
without doubt that she would follow him to the ends of the earth,
his or hers, it didn’t matter anymore. She took a deep breath and
closed her eyes.

“We are through, Ms. Faedra,” Faen whispered
in her ear.

Well, that was quick,
she thought.
Somewhat of an anticlimax really.
She was thankful that
there was no pain, just a tingle that shot through her whole body,
but was gone almost instantly. She exhaled and opened her eyes. Her
jaw dropped again. She had a feeling that was going to be happening
quite frequently in the foreseeable future.

They had just walked through an ornate stone
archway. It was similar to the one at the entrance to the cathedral
grounds near her home in Norwich. They were now standing in a
tropical paradise. Although Faedra had never actually been to a
tropical paradise, this is how she imagined it would look. Minus
the ornate stone archway that looked somewhat out of place standing
alone in the vegetation. They were surrounded by lush forest, and
flowers of all shapes and colors carpeted the ground. The air
smelled so sweet she thought she would be able to stick out her
tongue and taste it. Up ahead, a waterfall cascaded into a deep
aqua pool of crystal water, which flowed into a stream that
meandered past where they were standing. She looked into it and
could see brightly colored fish swimming around. A couple of the
fish jumped up out of the water and made small splashes as they
dove back in.

“You live
here
?” she asked Faen and
Jocelyn, her voice full of wonder.

“Welcome to the Land of Azran, Ms. Faedra,”
Faen announced with grandeur.

Jocelyn looked very pleased with Faedra’s
response to her world. A world she was obviously very proud of.

A rustle in the bushes distracted them and
all three turned their heads at the same time. Faen drew his sword
halfway out of its sheath and then slid it back in when the
creature making the rustling noise appeared. He was a little man
with a squat face and big pointy ears. He had rosy cheeks and kind
eyes, a leprechaun perhaps.

“Todmus, my friend.” Faen walked over to
greet the little man.

“Mr. Faen, it’s always a pleasure to welcome
you back to Azran,” Todmus said with a sincere smile.

“Todmus, we need to travel to the City. Do
you have three horses we can borrow?” Faen asked the little
man.

“Yes, Mr. Faen,” he snapped his fingers.
“They will be ready momentarily.” Then he cast his gaze over to
Faedra; his eyes grew wide when they rested on the amulet. “So the
legend is true?”

“It is, Todmus, but I know I can rely on your
discretion in this matter.”

“You can trust me, Sir. I did not see or hear
anything.”

“Thank you, Todmus. You have long been a
faithful friend and loyal citizen.” Faen said as he patted the
small man on the back.

“This way, Sir,” Todmus motioned for them to
go through the small opening in the bushes. Faen went first and
Jocelyn last, sandwiching Faedra in the middle. Faedra had a
feeling she was going to be a fairy sandwich on several occasions
throughout their journey to Elvelynn’s.

They walked a short distance on a narrow
winding path through some dense vegetation, until they came to an
opening. There waiting for them were three pure white horses.

Faedra sucked in a breath. “Oh, beautiful.”
she breathed as they wandered over to the horses.

She stood beside one and stroked its neck.
It’s hair felt as soft as silk to her fingers.

Faen wandered up beside her. “Here, put this
around your neck,” he said as he conjured a beautiful silk scarf
out of nowhere and tied it gently around Faedra’s neck. “Not
everyone in Azran is as trustworthy as Todmus.”

Faedra looked down at the scarf, it covered
the amulet nicely. “Thank you.”

Faen inclined his head and gave her a leg up
to mount her horse. She watched as he walked around to his horse,
rose gracefully in the air, and lowered himself onto his saddle.
Jocelyn, with a couple of beats of her wings, did the same.

“Err, if you can fly, why are we riding?”
Faedra asked.

“ We have much ground to cover to get to
Elvelynn’s. We will ride part of the way and fly the rest,” he
answered. Without further ado, he kicked his horse into a gallop
and flew off at speed down the dirt trail that exited out the
opposite side of the clearing from which they had entered.

“Come on,” Jocelyn squealed with excitement,
and the two of them galloped off behind her brother.

Jocelyn and Faedra fell into a steady pace
behind Faen, who kept the lead. They continued at a gallop for what
seemed like several miles until Faen adjusted their pace to a
steady canter. The lush forest flew past them in a blur of
green.

“I don’t know how much longer my legs will be
able to take this,” Faedra admitted to Jocelyn after a while. “Most
people think that the horse does all the work but my muscles are
starting to feel like jelly.”

“Brother,” Jocelyn called out to Faen. “We
need to steady to a walk for a while.”

Faen didn’t question her. He brought his
horse down into a trot then slowed to a walk, Faedra and Jocelyn
followed suit.

“Thank you,” Faedra said with relief to her
friend.

“Do not mention it,” Jocelyn replied with a
warm smile.

Faen kept the lead several yards up ahead of
them. Faedra noticed his head scanning the woods from side to side.
It was obvious that he was keeping a lookout for anything untoward,
which left her and Jocelyn able to talk. They fell into easy
conversation. Jocelyn was very amiable; Faedra felt like they had
been friends for a long time, and, in an odd way, they had.

“Jocelyn?” Faedra asked after a lull in their
conversation.

“Yes?”

“What’s with the wings?” she continued,
nodding in Faen’s direction.

Jocelyn drew her eyebrows together in
confusion. “I do not understand.”

“Your brother, he hides his wings. Haven’t
you noticed?”

“Glamour does not work on us, Faedra. I see
his wings just as I always have, but he hides them from you?”

“Yes. He won’t let me see them, but won’t
give me a reason why.”

She gave her brother’s back a knowing smile.
“That is very interesting.”

“It is? Why?”

“What do you think of Azran so far?” Jocelyn
said lightly, trying to steer the conversation down a different
path.

“Don’t try and change the subject, Jocelyn.
Why is it interesting?” Faedra pressed.

Jocelyn sighed. “I should not have said
anything.”

“Oh, don’t you start. I’ve been hearing that
a lot lately,” she thought back to Rose at the festival. “I’ll keep
pestering until you tell me.”