“Ritasia!” the king shouted, heading for her just as she heard movement behind her.
Chapter 12
Ritasia turned and saw at least a half dozen male unseelie headed straight for her, one shouting, “Grab her!” All were running toward her and her heart couldn"t pump any faster as she struggled to remove the ring. Before she could slip it off and return to the safety of Tiernan"s castle, Tiernan seized her arm, but so did one of the unseelie fae. She knew she and the king were doomed as soon as she fae traveled and found herself in the middle of an unseelie gathering in a large great hall in some drafty castle.
All unseelie gazes shot to them. The seelie in their midst. But she still worried about Romero and the wicked mage they"d left behind.
“We come in peace,” Ritasia quickly said, as guards hurried to surround them. “I swear that we intended to destroy the…this ability to come here, but your people stopped us.”
“Lies,” several said as the tension like the electricity from the slow buildup of a thunderstorm charged the air.
“Queen Minova, an ancient seelie fae, discovered a way to breech the unseelie plane,”
Ritasia continued, trying to sound brave. Actually she was still so angry with Sophia that she thought she sounded more like a pissed-off fae that was ready to eat unseelie for dessert.
Tiernan was standing very close to her, his hand on the hilt of his sword, but he couldn"t fight all these fae. She, likewise, was ready to pull out her dagger.
“Queen Minova and her people are at the fae kingdom of Na,” an older unseelie fae said, his beard long and white, his fingers stroking the fine hair. He reminded her of one of her dark fae scholars.
“Aye. Well, I mean, that"s what my mother assumed from ancient documents left in Queen Minova"s ruins.”
The man surveyed her through cold gray eyes and cocked his head. “You do not look like the queen.”
“Aye, she does,” another interjected, stalking into the room. This man was a few years older than Ritasia, the silver rings around his gray eyes glowing brightly. “Strip her. Find the device she used to break through the fabric separating our worlds, then kill her.” He glanced over at Tiernan. “And kill him. First.”
“No!” She screamed, grabbed Tiernan"s arm and without having the time to think of where to go, she transported them to the same pub in Scotland. Seeing the place, she was relieved to have escaped the unseelie, but they had to return to King Tiernan"s castle to really be safe.
Sophia was gone. But Romero had no way to fae transport without the help of a fae.
“King Tiernan, princess!” he shouted and hurried to join them.
The king was busy trying to get the ring off Ritasia"s finger.
But the unseelie fae arrived first.
Ritasia jerked out her dagger, but this time two of the unseelie had fae irons and before Tiernan could withdraw his sword, manacles were placed on both the king"s and Ritasia"s ankles.
And then the unseelie whisked them away. Back to the unseelie court and their fate.
Her heart pounding with fear and frustration, Ritasia was quickly disarmed as the guards ripped the dagger from her fingers, and then she was roughly hauled to a private chamber, though she did not go without a fight.
She managed to knee one of the men in the place her brother had taught her, bringing the guard to his knees. He couldn"t even do much more than cry and groan. She was grateful for her brother"s teaching.
But then a fist smacked her in the temple and her head spun out of control. She was jerked off her feet, and the guard threw her over his shoulder. Her kicks and hits to his body earned her a slew of curses from him.
One of his companions laughed. “She is not what we envisioned, eh? A dark fae wildcat!
Remove her claws and teeth and she will not be so unmanageable.”
The one carrying her grunted. “Tell that to Han, who she has nearly unmanned with her knee.”
He stalked into a chamber all dressed in burgundy from the cloaked bed to the tapestries hanging on the walls and covering the floors. One of the women following them yanked open the curtains to the bed. The guard threw Ritasia on the down-filled mattress. The room smelled like jasmine, and she assumed it was a woman"s chamber.
“Strip out of your clothes. If you do not do so willingly, I will be back to help.” He stalked out of the chamber with three other male guards and slammed the door.
She couldn"t understand why they wouldn"t have just removed her ring, figuring it would have been the source of her power to move between planes, but it had disappeared. Had it slipped off in the struggle she"d had with the men?
Women hovered over her.
“Take off your clothes,” one of the older ones warned.
Wanting to fight them, she knew it would only get the guards" attention, and she didn"t want their filthy hands on her. She quickly obliged, knowing they"d find nothing to explain her abilities.
They searched her clothes as the older woman watched, her violet eyes hard, her lips stretched taut in a fixed line. “Why are you here?”
“I explained. I wish to get rid of whatever is causing me to visit the unseelie world. I do not wish anyone any harm.”
The woman lifted a brow skeptically. “You have come for someone?”
Ritasia shook her head. “I was shocked the first time I ended up in the unseelie world. I didn"t know how it had happened, nor did I know how to return to my world.”
“Where is the ring?” the woman asked.
One of the women handed Ritasia"s gown back to her. Another offered her shift, while another, her boots and stockings.
The woman must have seen the ring on Ritasia"s finger before she lost it. Ritasia didn"t say anything, instead just quickly redressed herself.
“Search the corridor and great hall. She believes it slipped off her finger before she arrived in the chamber.”
The woman could read her thoughts?
The woman"s unsmiling mouth curved up just a hint.
Like Romero, Ritasia thought.
“Who is Romero?” the woman asked.
“A human servant in King Tiernan"s employ.”
“Does she speak the truth?” a younger woman asked, whose face was harder, her expression more calculating. She kept clenching and unclenching her fists.
“Aye. She speaks the truth.” She turned to the younger woman. “Call the guards. Have the areas searched for the ring. Tell that wisp of a Na woman that she can see this one for just a moment in the dungeon where she will be locked.”
Na woman? Not the redheaded witch.
Ritasia"s thoughts earned her a true smile from the woman"s lips.
The others watched the woman"s expression change and the younger one said, “What has she revealed?”
“That Listra is a witch.”
All of the women smiled at that. But then the guards returned and the one did as before, threw her over his shoulder, not waiting for her reaction.
“Let me down, you barbarian! I can walk!”
But he didn"t listen to her as she saw the women searching the corridor for any sign of the ring. She hoped they"d never find it. That it had slipped into a crevice and was gone forever.
Then to her astonishment, she was taken into the dark recesses of a dungeon and locked in a cell with King Tiernan. On her feet again, she rushed forth to embrace him, though he was already on his way to intercept her.
“Tiernan,” she said through tears, but his mouth was already on hers, his hands running up and down her arms as if making sure she truly was real and alive and well.
His sword and dirk had been removed, but seeing the bruises discoloring his face, she assumed they had not had an easy time of it when taking the weapons from him. But at least they had not killed him. She wondered what had changed their minds. Maybe the loss of the ring.
“Are you all right, Ritasia?” he asked, gathering her in his arms and then carried her to a narrow wooden bed, not unlike the one at Ritasia"s castle dung
eon.
“The ring,” she whispered. “I lost it.”
He glanced down at her finger. “It must have slipped off when you struggled with the guards.” He shook his head and moved her to the bed where they sat down next to each other.
“I worry about Romero.”
“Romero? As soon as one of your knights locates our trail, they"ll give him a ride home.
It is us that you need worry about.”
“I"m so sorry I got us into this in the first place.”
“If you had not, someone else might have.”
“But possibly only my mother could compel the ring to do her bidding. Or my brother.”
Tiernan didn"t say anything and Ritasia stroked his arms in a loving, conciliatory caress. “I"m so sorry. I would do anything to make this up to you, if I could.”
“Marry me.” He looked so sincere, his forceful gaze almost commanding her to agree.
She frowned up at him. “You cannot be serious. Our very lives are at stake.”
“Aye.”
She shook her head.
“I challenge you to marry me,” he insisted, kissing her forehead.
She deepened her frown. “You"ve said that before. Challenged me. Why?”
“Prince Raglan said that you never back down from one of your brother"s challenges.”
She gave a short disbelieving laugh. “It never entailed marrying someone.”
He brushed strands of hair away from her face. “Marry me, Ritasia. And no matter what happens you will have made me the happiest king alive.”
“I feel terrible about this,” she said, motioning to the cell and their predicament. She rested her head against his chest, listened to the thunderous beat of his heart, wanting more than anything to be able to transport them out of their predicament. How much longer would they have together?
She believed those in charge here were meeting to decide their fates. She doubted the outcome concerning them would be favorable. Unless they couldn"t find the ring. And then they might just keep them here forever, locked away.
“So make it right,” Tiernan said, brushing his mouth against her throat, making her relax just a bit, warming her in the chilly damp cell.
“Making it right means I could get us out of here,” she whispered, feeling boneless in his embrace.
“You will. Just say you wish to marry me.”
She took a deep breath and meant what she said next. “Tiernan, with all my heart I would marry you, but…”
He put his finger to her lips. “No buts. No regrets. Just marry me.”
She realized then she truly did want to, but she didn"t know his people yet. Then again, she would have years to garner their friendship. And though she wanted to be well loved by his people, it would take time, if only she and Tiernan were given the chance to make it work.
Footfalls clomped along the stone floor headed in their direction, and Ritasia stiffened.
Tiernan was immediately on his feet, standing in front of Ritasia, protecting her.
“This is highly irregular, my lady. If the king hears of it, it would be my head,” the guard said.
“The queen said I may see the prisoners,” she said, and Ritasia recognized the voice. The red-haired unseelie witch from South Padre Island. What was she doing here?
Ritasia stood and took Tiernan"s hand. He looked down at her, his eyes filled with admiration and love.
They were in this together. She would not allow him to be her protector. They would do all they could to protect each other. And pray it was enough.
“All right, here they are,” the guard said, giving the unseelie a look of annoyance, and then he turned his scowl on Ritasia and Tiernan.
The woman looked through the bars at Ritasia and frowned. Her red hair was piled up on top of her head, and she was wearing a black gown with a low cut bodice, but she was still a lot more clothed than the time when Ritasia had seen her at South Padre Island in the skimpy bikini.
Then the woman turned to the guard. “Go.”
“But…”
“Go!”
He shuffled off, cursing and muttering under his breath.
“So,” the unseelie said to Ritasia, her eyes bright with recrimination, arms folded across her chest, “what brings you here?”
“I wondered the same of you,” Ritasia said. “You are of the kingdom of Na, are you not?
Why are you so far from home?”
“I want the ring,” the woman said, not bandying words about it any further. “I want it now.”
Ritasia looked at her finger, knowing the ring was not there, and yet it was, as if it had been invisible all this time. She took a startled breath. “It won"t work for you.”
The unseelie"s eyes narrowed. “How do you know?”
“Are you a descendent of Queen Minova?”
The unseelie turned her head slightly to consider Ritasia"s words, then gave her a brief smile, but her look was dark and calculating. “Give me the ring, and I will have you released.”
“You don"t have the power.” Ritasia guessed the rulers here would not allow an unseelie outsider to release them.
The woman ground her teeth. “Who says you should have the ring and not me? She is my many-times-removed great aunt.”
Ritasia"s mouth dropped open. “Who are you?”
“Listra, and you are Ritasia.”
“But you"re unseelie.”
“Aye.”
“She, the queen—that is—is seelie.”
“True enough.”
But now Ritasia wondered if the woman was really a descendent of the queen—though how could she be when she was unseelie—if the ring would work for her. She wanted to test the theory, to offer her the ring, and see if it would work. But what if it did? Then she and the king would be stuck here until the unseelie disposed of them.
“You are saying Queen Minova had a lover who was unseelie?”
Listra looked at her as if the thought nauseated her, but then she nodded. “Aye.”
“And she had children by this union?”
“Six, three girls and three boys.”
“But…did they live?”
“Of course. What do you think? We eat our own kind?”
“They would have been half my kind.”
“Aye, and half mine,” Listra said, sounding annoyed.
“Who was her lover?”
“No one of importance. Give me the ring.” Listra reached her hand through the bars, palm up.
Tiernan was staring at the unseelie, so he still didn"t know about the ring when Ritasia said to Listra, “If you will free us from here and allow us to return to the human world, I will give you the ring, and we"ll go back to our seelie plane.”
Tiernan studied Ritasia, the questioning in his gaze asking her what she was doing. She placed her hand over his fingers that still held her other hand, and that"s when he saw the ring.
Listra glanced back down the corridor, then looked again at Ritasia and the king. “You will try to trick me. You"ll go straight to the seelie plane, and I will have lost this opportunity to have the ring.”
“What do you want it for?”
Listra shrugged. “What anyone might want. Power.”
“You cannot give it to her,” Tiernan said, shaking his head emphatically. “The ring is entrusted to your care.”
“To free us from here, I will do anything.”
“I will free the king, then come back for you,” Listra said slyly, her hands gripping the bars of the cell.
“No, the both of us at the same time. You could lock him away somewhere else in the unseelie kingdom, and I wouldn"t know until it was too late.”
“Distrusting, aren"t we? All right. Wait here.”
As soon as the unseelie stalked off, Tiernan said, “I don"t trust her.”
“I don"t see that we have much of a choice.”
Before they could say anything more to each other, the spiteful fae was back, carrying a ring of keys.
&nbs
p; Ritasia wondered what Listra had done to the guard.
The unseelie unlocked the door to the cell, then joined them. “Okay,” the woman said, hurrying to unlock their manacles, her hands shaking so badly, King Tiernan took the ring of keys from her and finished the job.
Listra seized Ritasia"s arm. The king held Ritasia"s free hand, and they returned to the pub where they"d been previously. Poor Romero was talking to a couple of fae, explaining King Tiernan"s plight and the plight of his bride, but when he saw the king and Ritasia, he rushed to greet them.
“Give me the ring,” the unseelie said, her hand outstretched, palm up.
Ritasia did as she requested. A deal was a deal even if made under coercion with one of the unseelie, like making a deal with the devil, she thought.
Ritasia grabbed Romero"s and the king"s hands and transported them to the gardens outside his castle before they could again be incarcerated in the unseelie kingdom.
“I didn"t want to go inside the castle,” she said, “in case we ran into Sophia. You must get hold of your other mage and have him stop her.”
“The ring,” Tiernan said, still holding Ritasia"s hand.
Romero stuck his own hands in his pockets and moved a couple of paces away to give them a bit of privacy.
Tiernan tenderly touched Ritasia"s face. “You shouldn"t have given it to her.”
“I had promised.” She sighed, then glanced at her hand where the ring had been, but now her finger was bare. She looked up at the king. “Now Listra will be the one they"re after.”
Tiernan didn"t look pleased, but he nodded, then he turned to Romero. “Discretely, find Eleron. We need his help right away.”
Romero bowed, then slipped out of the gardens.
“She"s a mage,” Ritasia warned.
“And I"m a battle-trained king,” Tiernan said and at that moment he looked like one hot-headed tyrant of a king, ready to take on the world.
Something crashed on an upper floor and screams resounded.
“Stay here,” Tiernan ordered Ritasia.
He tore out of the gardens, but Ritasia couldn"t wait here. She ran after him, trying to keep up with his long stride as he raced into the keep.