The Emerald Staff (31 page)

He snorted as she stroked a hand down his
face. “Hey, boy, please will to take me to the castle again?”

Aesti kneeled on one front leg, lowering
himself enough that Faedra could mount him with ease.

She looked at Etyran who was staring at the
horse with wide-eyed reservation.

“Come on, get on. We can’t waste anymore
time.”

“You’re joking, aren’t you? I’m not getting
on that thing.” Etyran said, fear now visible in his eyes.

Faedra looked at him and shrugged her
shoulders, she didn’t have time for this. “Fair enough, I’ll go
without you.”

Aesti rose up to his full height again and
started to turn.

“Wait. Just wait a minute.” Etyran looked
hesitant, chewing on his bottom lip. “Okay, I’ll come with you, but
that thing better not throw me off. I don’t have wings,
remember?”

Faedra rolled her eyes. “Well, duh, neither
do I? Get on you wuss, Aesti’s not going to hurt either of us.”

Etyran took a reluctant step forward eyeing
the winged beast with caution.

“How did Todmus get himself a Valkyrie’s
horse anyway?” he asked as he mounted and settled in behind
Faedra.

“I’m told it’s a long story,” she replied.
“Okay, Aesti, we can go now.”

Aesti turned, galloped down the clearing and
took off just before the trees. Etyran gave a little squeak of
surprise, which made Faedra stifle a giggle. Until this moment, she
wouldn’t have thought the strapping great hulk of a man could be
scared of anything.

“You can stop that,” Etyran said.

“Stop what?”

“Laughing at me. It’s not my fault I’m scared
of horses. One nearly trampled me to death when I was a kid.
Although, looking back, I was partly to blame.”

“Hmm, why does that
not
surprise me?”
Faedra retorted.

“Now, now. I was just learning how to control
my power and I spooked the bloody thing when I appeared out of
nowhere right in front of it.”

Faedra smiled but didn’t say anything more.
The two rode in silence for a while until Etyran spoke up
again.

“So, do you have any idea how you’re going to
get Savu to use his fire on you if he knows you can use it against
him. He’s not stupid, it won’t be easy to lure him into a
trap.”

“Yeah, I know, I’ve been thinking about that,
too. I was hoping something would come to me before we got there,
but, so far, I’ve got nothing. You got any ideas?”

“Sorry, no.”

Faedra sighed and looked around at the
scenery flying by. Then she stiffened to attention. “Of course,
urgh. Why didn’t I think of that before? Aesti, change of plan,
take us to the Alovison Mountains.”

Aesti looked back and nodded his majestic
head then banked right to change direction.

“In the name of Kernunnos, Faedra, why are we
going back there?”

“I have an idea. I just hope he will help
us.”

“He who?”

“Draconis.”

As Azran castle came into view, Faedra bit
back a curse. The courtyard they were planning to land in was
crawling with redcaps. This was not good. She looked back at
Draconis, who was flying close behind them, and pointed to a stand
of trees not too far away. He nodded his understanding and followed
their descent behind the trees. They needed to discuss another way
of gaining entrance to the castle.

Faedra thanked her lucky stars that Draconis
didn’t hesitate to help when she asked. He wanted to see his
brother dead just as much as Savu wanted the same for him. And if
Savu did gain control of Azran, he would surely go gunning for
Draconis next, in a bid to conquer Zutherindal. That’s probably why
the redcaps were patrolling the mountains. But Draconis had his
heir back now, and he was not going down without a fight.

“I didn’t see any redcaps on the roof as we
passed. If we land on the other side of the turrets to the
courtyard, they shouldn’t be able to see us,” Faedra said.
“Draconis, would you allow us to ride on your back? I don’t think
Aesti will be able to land on a turret.”

“Of course, little one, it would be my
pleasure.” Draconis inclined his head to the Custodian.

“Thanks.” She turned to the winged horse.
“Aesti, you stay here in case we need you.” The horse understood
the request and also inclined his head in response. She patted the
side of his neck.

“Well, let’s hope this works,” Faedra said as
she climbed aboard Draconis.

“I’m guessing the king and your dad must
still be alive,” Etyran said as he climbed aboard the big black
dragon behind Faedra.

“What makes you say that?”

“Look around you. They obviously don’t have
their hands on the book yet, everything is still flourishing.” He
swept an arm around to demonstrate that the trees and plants were
all in full bloom. “That means they still need bargaining chips,
and my money would say they know you’ll be back as soon as you can,
to try and rescue the people you love. My bet is that they have
everyone in there alive and well, just waiting for you to
return.”

Faedra allowed her heart to fill with hope at
Etyran’s words.

“Ready?” Draconis asked.

“Ready,” his passengers replied.

Draconis flew a large low loop around the
castle to avoid being seen and then made a beeline for the backside
of the turret facing the courtyard. His sharp talons dug into the
stone as he carefully walked down the side of the wall until they
were standing on the roof. They made their way across the roof to a
heavy wooden door.

“Well, I can see I’m not going to fit through
there dressed like this,” Draconis said, giving Faedra a crooked
smile. “Please excuse me while I change. I don’t usually do this in
public, but it looks like I’m all out of dressing rooms.”

Faedra gave Draconis a bemused look, then her
eyes widened as he shrunk down to the size of a man and changed
into human form right in front of her. Fully dressed to boot.

She sucked in a breath and took a step back.
Draconis in his human form was the spitting image of Savu. The only
difference being that Draconis had kind eyes, a vibrant emerald
green, whereas his brother’s were nothing more than black pebbles
of onyx, cold and soulless.

Draconis noticed the recognition and fear in
Faedra’s eyes. “We are twins; I am older by just a few minutes.
Savu could never accept the fact that I was born first and,
unfortunately, his hatred and anger made him stronger.” He gave
Faedra a somber look. “I only pray this idea of yours works,
Faedra.”

Faedra puffed out an anxious sigh and gave
the dragon a weak smile. “Me, too.”

“Okay, so this is how we are going to do
this,” Etyran said. “I’ll go first. I’m the only one of us who
knows their way around the castle. I’ll also be able to see if the
coast is clear without anyone seeing me. I’ll wave you on when it’s
safe.”

“How will we be able to see you wave us on if
you’re invisible?” Faedra asked.

“You’ll see.” He gave her a cheeky grin
before disappearing.

“Be careful,” Faedra said as the door to the
castle opened, seemingly of its own volition.

Faedra waited by the open door with bated
breath. The stone steps disappeared into the spiral staircase below
her. She couldn’t hear a thing, not even the faintest footsteps,
but didn’t dare take a step onto the staircase until she got the
all clear. Draconis stood back to back with her, scanning the
rooftop for possible signs of life.

A few moments passed and she nearly jumped
out her skin when a voice whispered in her ear; she could feel a
warm breath fan over her cheek.

“Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
she reprimanded Etyran as best she could in a soft whisper.

“Sorry. Well, on first appearance, there
doesn’t seem to be anyone guarding the upper corridor but that
could change quickly. Follow me down the stairs and wait at the
bottom until I give the next signal to carry on.”

Faedra thought it a tad ironic to be
‘following’ someone who was invisible but nodded in agreement.

When she and Draconis got to the bottom of
the stairs, they waited as instructed. Faedra braced herself for
another whisper in her ear but none came. Instead, her eyebrows
rose to the ceiling when she saw a disembodied hand at the end of
the corridor waving them forward.
So that’s what Etyran meant
when he said ‘you’ll see’.

They stepped out from the stairwell and crept
down the corridor as quietly as possible. Faedra wished at this
point she were wearing slippers, but no such luck, so she did the
best she could with her clunky boots on the flagstone floor. Why
couldn’t the king carpet his castle?

They went through the same routine when they
came to the end of that corridor, and two more like it. In fact
Faedra was starting to get a little unnerved that they hadn’t yet
seen any evidence that the inside of the castle was being guarded
by redcaps at all. But she couldn’t possibly be that lucky, and
refused to be lulled into a false sense of security.

Sure enough, as they made their way to the
end of yet another corridor, the disembodied hand gave a sharp
motion to stop. Faedra and Draconis came to an abrupt halt, causing
Faedra’s heart to do a little jig in her chest for the umpteenth
time that day. A moment later, Etyran returned from his
reconnaissance with a pretty bleak report.

“We’re going to have to think of another
plan. The corridor leading to the great hall is teeming with the
ugly little blighters on both sides of the door. There’s no chance
we’re getting in that way.”

“What about through the library?” Faedra
asked.

“Uh-uh, that’s heavily guarded, too. I say we
get the heck out of Dodge and think of something else.”

Faedra shook her head. “No way. There is not
a chance I’m leaving everyone I love in there with that monster,
especially now that I’m so close.” She slumped back against the
hard stone wall and sighed. “Think, Faedra. Think,” she whispered
to herself.

A moment later a cunning smile crept across
the young Custodian’s face as she looked up at Etyran and
Draconis.

“Uh oh, I’ve seen that look before and it’s
not good.” Etyran said.

Draconis raised an eyebrow as he looked over
to where the Lightbender’s voice came from, and then back at
Faedra.

“Okay, little missy, hit us with it.” Etyran
said.

“Well, I doubt very much that Savu would have
ordered the redcaps to kill me on sight, he wants the pleasure of
doing that himself. So, with that in mind, getting into the hall is
quite simple really.”

There was a beat of apprehension from Etyran,
and Draconis gave her a questioning look.

“Oh, you’re not going to do what I think
you’re going to do?” Etyran questioned.

Faedra pushed herself away from the wall and
strode towards the end of the corridor. “We need to get into the
hall to execute our plan. What does it matter how we get in
there?”

Etyran hung his invisible head and patted
Draconis on the shoulder. “I tell ya, mate. That girl is going to
be the death of me.”

“She wears the title well, that is for sure.”
Draconis replied, as the two walked to catch up and rounded the
corner after the Custodian.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

“Hello, boys, remember me?” Faedra announced
upon rounding the corner and was now standing in plain sight.

The redcaps all turned their heads in one
fluid motion, and for a split second seemed to stare at her in
astonishment.

She felt Draconis and Etyran standing either
side of her. “Take me to your leader.” With a smirk, she gave
Etyran a sideways glance even though she couldn’t see him. “I’ve
always wanted to say that.”

Etyran groaned, and she could sense he was
shaking his head in disbelief.

A second later she and Draconis were grabbed
roughly by grotesque sinuous hands on either arm and were being
dragged down the corridor towards the great hall.

Please let everyone still be alive.
They entered the great hall and Faedra’s heart swelled. Everyone
she loved was still alive and well.

The instant Faen saw her, he made a step in
her direction but was shoved back hard by the redcap standing guard
over him. Jocelyn also had her own redcap but she seemed unharmed.
She gave Faedra a warm smile but didn’t move. Savu was still
holding her dad captive, and Vivianna and a redcap were guarding
the king.

“Faedra, what are you doing here. I got you
to safety. Why would you…?” Faen exclaimed before being cut off by
Savu.

“Silence, Guardian, there is nothing you can
do for her now. Looks like you’ll be out of a job in just a few
moments.” Savu sneered at Faen, then gave a satisfied smile when
the redcap guarding him poked Faen in the chest with the end of his
axe-like weapon to silence him.

“And you, Brother. I would say this was a
pleasant surprise but I would be lying. I might have known you
would be involved in this. You always were a meddlesome son of
a…”

“Now, now,
little
brother. There is no
need for name calling.” Draconis responded, cool as a cucumber.
Savu glared at his elder twin with murderous intent.

“Let everyone go and you can have the
amulet.” Faedra spoke, regaining Savu and Vivianna’s attention. She
saw Faen struggle to get to her again, only to be manhandled into
submission. Faedra tried not to retaliate. For the plan to work
Savu and Vivianna had to believe that her captors subdued her.

“It is a little too late for that, my dear.
You had your chance. I do not have to let anyone go, not now I have
you restrained. And I can take the amulet from you, just like
taking candy from a baby.”

Faedra put on an act of struggling against
the creatures that restrained her, causing Savu to widen his
malicious grin. Good, she needed to keep his attention on her and
Draconis.