The Emerald Staff (17 page)

“With all of his intelligence, it was a pity
he could not think with his brains instead of what was in his
breeches. Silly fool got himself exiled to the East End of London.”
Faen explained with what Faedra perceived to be a measure of glee
in his voice.

Faedra’s eyebrows shot up at the
revelation.

“What did you do to deserve that?” Her
curiosity got the better of her and she acknowledged the man with
her question.

“Pissed off the king just a tad, that’s
what.”

“He tried to seduce Vivianna.” Faen finished
the explanation for his friend who seemed reluctant to be
forthcoming with the information.

Faedra spluttered a laugh and her lips curled
in a smug grin. “Well, that was pretty stupid,” she said with
condescension. “But that still doesn’t explain why you’re talking
like a Cockney. Faen didn’t pick up an accent in all the time he’s
been in Norfolk.”

“Well, it’s like this, missy. The East End
ain’t the easiest place to fit in with a posh accent y’know. If I
wanted to blend in I had to adapt a bit, seeings as I was gonna be
spendin’ a bit ‘o time there an’ all.”

He looked at his friend, then back at Faedra,
eyes widening as if some big revelation had just sprouted in his
mind.

“Hold up. You must be a bloody
Custodian.”

“Oh, give the man a prize.” Faedra said, her
voice laced with sarcasm. She couldn’t bring herself to be civil to
the man after what he had just done to her.

Etyran ignored her retort and turned to his
friend.

“Faen, you jammy sod.
You
got the
Custodian? How’d you get that gig?”

“Well, with you gone, I had no competition,
graduated top of the class and, as you know, only the highest
ranking gets the Custodian.”

“Blimey, if I hadn’t been exiled, she’d be
mine right now.” He turned back and wiggled his eyebrows at Faedra,
who was looking repulsed by the idea.

“Hello, Custodian standing right here
listening to every word. Stop talking about me like I was some sort
of possession.”

Etyran gave another of his roguish smiles.
“Oh, luv, we’d have had a bloody good time, I can tell yer. Unlike
with Mr. Stuffy Breeches here.” He nodded in Faen’s direction and
Faedra noticed her Guardian stiffen a little at Etyran’s remark,
even though she could tell it was the man’s attempt at being
good-humored.

Faedra folded her arms over her chest. She
was not about to let this person offend her, or her friend.

“Firstly, whoever you are, I do not
belong
to anyone. Secondly, Faen is perfectly capable of
showing me a good time.”

“Oh, yeah, has he flown a 360 with yer,
yet?”

“What? Err, no.”

“Faen, my man, you’re slacking. What happened
to the guy I knew at the Academy? That Faen would’ve had her in a
360 on her first flight.”

“Actually, that wouldn’t have been a good
idea on my first flight,” Faedra chimed in when she noticed the
look of defeat on Faen’s face. Then she turned to Etyran and gave
him a scolding look like a teacher reprimanding a naughty
schoolboy.

Faen decided to change the subject before his
Custodian’s red hair got the better of her. He hadn’t seen her lose
her temper very often, but when she did, it wasn’t pretty, and the
warning signs were starting to show.

“So, what in the name of Kernunnos are you
doing here? The king would have your head if he knew you had
entered Azran without his permission.” Faen asked.

“Heard those grisly little blighters were
congregatin’ in the mountains and thought I’d check it out.
Summut’s going on and I don’t like it one bit.” Etyran paused and a
crinkle formed between his eyebrows. “Never mind ‘bout me, what the
bloody ‘ell are you doing ‘ere. Last I heard you’re supposed to be
protecting Custodians, not puttin’ em in danger?”

“It’s a long story, and much as I’d love to
stay and chat over tea and scones, we’ve got some business to
attend to,” Faedra answered, as she took a couple of steps towards
her Guardian, but Etyran stepped forward blocking her path. She
looked up and gave him an icy glare.

“Hold up, girlie. Where you off to in such an
all-fired hurry? You ain’t going nowhere tonight, it’s too
dangerous.”

“We need to see Draconis, not that it’s any
of your business. And the only way to do that is to go through the
Gatekeeper, who just happens to be surrounded by redcaps.”

“Are you stark ravin’ bonkers? Draconis hates
humans; he’ll kill yer, soon as look at yer.”

“Maybe, maybe not, but I have to try. So if
you’ll please step aside and let me pass, we’ll be on our way.” She
met his eyes full on. “I believe I have already paid the toll.”

His features softened at her remark and she
could see what she interpreted as a look of remorse washing over
his face. Not only did his features soften, his accent did,
too.

“Look, I think we got off on the wrong
foot.”

“Oh, you think?” Faedra glared at him.

“Okay, I admit I was out of order. I would
have never done that if I knew you were a Custodian.”

“That’s no excuse! You shouldn’t have done it
to anyone. Anyway, I can’t stand around here debating the point,
I’m running out of time.” She pulled the time-pebble out of her
pocket to show him. “See, we don’t have much of it left.”

“Flippin’ heck! Where did you get that?
That’s dark magic, that is. Who gave you that?”

“Like I said, it’s a long story, one I don’t
have time for right now.”

“Look, if you’re determined to get to the
Gatekeeper tonight I can help, but you can’t go now.” Etyran
said.

“Why not?” Faedra and Faen asked
together.

“They’ll be changing the guard shift later.
If you wait till then it will be the best chance you have of
sneaking by them.”

“I’m listening.” Faedra said.

“I found this little shack when I first got
here. Come back with me and I can show you the best way in. I’ve
been studying the creepy little buggars for weeks.”

“Faen, what do you think?” she said peering
round Etyran’s body to talk to her Guardian.

“Sounds like a good idea to me. We could use
all the help we can get.”

“Okay, then.” She looked back up at Etyran
and laid a palm on his chest, sending a short sharp zap through her
hand. “That’s for taking something that doesn’t belong to you.”

He lunged back with the force, and, to her
surprise, his body flickered like the picture on a faulty
television screen. He leaned over putting his hands on his knees to
steady himself and looked up at her, face still flickering.

“I guess I deserved that,” he said with
resignation. “Serves me right for messing with a manipulator.”

“What are you?” Faedra asked, horrified at
what she was seeing and starting to feel remorse for zapping him,
even though she knew she hadn’t used enough force to inflict pain,
she just wanted to make him jump. After a couple of moments he
stopped flickering and stood up.

“The last of my kind,” he answered, his voice
echoing with a soul deep sadness.

“That didn’t answer my question.” Faedra
encouraged.

Etyran gave her a wistful smile, then held up
his arm to direct Faen and Faedra.

“Come on, the shack is this way.” He strode
forward ahead of her.

Faedra noticed that his accent had all but
disappeared now and he sounded more like Faen. Her Guardian waited
for her to reach his side. They followed behind the dark and
mysterious man who was now leading them deeper into the woods.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

It didn’t take them long to reach the shack
Etyran mentioned. It lived up to its description. From its
appearance, Faedra guessed it was a one-roomed cabin that had
obviously fallen into neglect over the years. The wood was rotting
in places and the windows were boarded up in a shabby attempt to
cover them. There was no light coming from within, but then, why
would there be, no one was home.

Etyran stepped onto the uneven porch dodging
around a hole in the rotting wooden planks. He waved his hand over
the door with a fluid sweeping motion. Faedra gave a curious look
when she saw some symbols glow for a split second on the frame
before they disappeared and the door creaked open.

“Welcome to my humble abode.” Etyran said as
he motioned for them to enter. “Be careful, I put my foot through
that the first time I came here.” He pointed to the hole in front
of the door. Skirting around it, Faen and Faedra walked past him
into the shack. Etyran did a quick glance around outside before he
closed the door behind him and did another sweep with his hand over
the door. Again, the symbols glowed on the frame and he caught
Faedra giving them a curious glance.

“Wards,” he stated, as if that were all the
explanation needed.

Faedra nodded her head with understanding.
Wards were something she did know about, although, she’d never
physically seen one. The symbols sparked her interest. She wondered
now what the symbols looked like that had been attached to her for
the first seventeen years of her life. Had they been present on her
skin and she’d never known?

Once inside, he lit a candle on a table in
the center of the room. The windows on the inside had also been
boarded up, but much more effectively this time. No light was going
to leak out through those.

Etyran moved over to the large stone
fireplace that took up most of one wall and lit a fire. The light
from the candle and that from the fire drenched the inside of the
modest little cabin with a warm welcoming glow. Faedra felt her
shoulders relax as she slumped down on one of the chairs around the
table, allowing herself a few moments of calm.

The inside of the shack was sparse. The only
other piece of furniture that accompanied the table and chairs was
an uncomfortable looking bed with a rickety wooden frame in the
corner by the fire.

“How long have you been living here?” she
asked, looking around at his mediocre living quarters.

“Just a few weeks.” Etyran replied. “You must
be thirsty, I’ll heat up some water.” He filled a pot with some
water from a jug and hung it above the fire, then wandered over to
join Faen and Faedra at the table. “Are you hungry?”

“It’s okay, we have enough food in this
backpack to last a week, Faen’s Mum saw to that.”

“Ah, and how is the lovely Janessa? I haven’t
seen her for so long.” He directed his question to Faen.

“She and my father are well,” Faen answered.
“If she could see you now though, she would unleash Mrs. Forbes on
you with a razor and a cache of soap.”

Etyran faked a horrified look then one side
of his mouth quirked up in a lopsided grin. “Don’t think she’d go
for the rugged look then?”

Faen raised an eyebrow. “You know my
mother.”

Faedra took some of the food out of her pack
and offered it around to the others. After she swallowed a bite,
she turned to Etyran.

“So, you were going to help us get past the
redcaps.”

“Ah, yes. The grisly little blighters,” he
said in full Cockney. “They swap their guard shift over when the
moon starts to descend from its apex in the sky, so by my
reckoning, that gives us another couple of hours yet. I have been
watching them for weeks and I think I know the best place to sneak
you into the cavern. Once inside you will only need to get passed
four of them that are stationed in front of the Gatekeeper’s
chamber. I’d like to know why they see the need to guard it at all.
I can’t decide if it is to stop someone from entering Zutherindal
from Azran or the other way around. Very fishy business, if you ask
me.”

“How have you been able to get close enough
to find all this out?” Faedra asked, curious.

“Because of who I am.”

Faedra raised her eyebrows in question.

“I’m a light bender. I can manipulate light
or dark so I can appear invisible. Comes in handy sometimes, I can
tell you.”

“So, that’s how you disappeared right in
front of my eyes when I fired at you. I knew it couldn’t have been
glamour because that doesn’t work on me.”

“Yeah, you have pretty good aim, you almost
hit me. I only got out of the way by a hair’s breadth.
Unfortunately, I don’t physically disappear. My body was still
there, I just gave the impression that it wasn’t.”

“Hmm.”

“Which brings me to the next part of my
plan.” He gave Faen a look that Faedra couldn’t quite work out and
kept his gaze steady as he carried on talking. “The Gatekeeper is
so heavily guarded that I am going to have to take Faedra in alone,
my friend.”

Faen’s eyes sparked with a possessiveness
Faedra had never seen before.

“That is NOT an option, Etyran. I cannot let
her out of my sight, especially when she may be in danger. You know
that.” Faen’s voice was full of conviction.

“Look, mate. I know this is hard for you to
swallow but just hear me out.”

Faen held Etyran’s gaze steady with a steely
glare. “There is no way the Custodian is going in there without me.
End of discussion.”

Faedra looked with amazement at her Guardian,
she’d never heard him be so abrupt and inflexible.

“Faen, at least hear what he has to say,” she
said covering his hand with hers where it rested on the table.

His voice softened when he turned and spoke
to her. “I am not leaving you, Faedra.”

“Okay, but let’s just hear what he has to
say.”

Faen closed his eyes for a second as if
trying to compose himself. “Very well, tell us your plan,” he said
on the tail end of a heavy sigh.

“The easiest and safest way to get past the
redcaps is to be invisible. I know, I’ve done it several times now.
Faen, you know glamour doesn’t work on them. They’re fae and if
they get a whiff of us being there it could quickly turn nasty. Why
risk that if we don’t have to?”