Chapter 14: The Black Knight
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Ryssa sat on her bed staring at her wand when a knock sounded at the door.
“Ryssa?” Aurelius opened the door slightly and peeked in. “May I come in?”
She cocked her head and one shoulder in a shrug that basically said, I-don’t-care-what-you-do-it-doesn’t-matter-you’ll-come-in-whether-I-say-yes-or-no-so-why-are-you-even-asking? He entered and sat on the bed next to hers.
“Child, I am sorry for what happened up there. If I had known—”
Ryssa said nothing.
Aurelius sighed. “If I had known, I would have still had to make you bond with Darkwind. There is no other way. A Sprite can only enter the wand of a person who has what it takes to control it. That’s to prevent the Sprite from controlling the relationship. Something inside of you called to Darkwind.”
Ryssa lifted her eyes to him and glared.
“I’m sorry, Niece.” He shifted awkwardly. “I am on my way to speak with Queen Medwyn. She has been around for many, many more years than I have. I’ve never heard of an instance where a bond had to be broken between a member of Faery and his or her wand, but in thousands of years, this can’t be an unprecedented event. I can’t make any promises—”
“So you’re telling me I can control this thing,” Ryssa said without emotion. “It has to do whatever I say?”
“Well, yes. But it takes time to build the bond between you and your wand. Telling your wand to do something is less a matter of instructing it and more a matter of connecting to it so deeply that it understands the difference between what you tell it to do and what you really want it to do.”
Ryssa nodded, looking back at her wand again, closing him out. Aurelius rose and turned to leave, but she stopped him before he reached the door.
“Uncle,” her voice was rough with the emotions she tried to keep under control. “You don’t think I’m a bad person, do you?”
Aurelius looked back at her. He allowed her to see, for the first time, a sign of the affection he felt for his brother’s children.
“No, child,” she heard the emotion in his voice. “I in no way think you are a bad person.”
“Then why do bad things always happen to me?”
“Ryssa, bad things happen to bad people too, but when something bad happens to a bad person, we think—See—that’s what you get, and give it very little thought. When bad things happen to good people, it hurts us and makes us question, Why? We give it a lot of thought, so we tend to remember those things more often than we do when it happens to someone we feel deserves it. I assure you, child, what is happening here is giving me cause for a lot of thought.”
Ryssa looked away. “Thanks,” she mumbled. A slight pressure filled the air and disappeared.
“You are very welcome.” His expression was sincere. “I will let you know what I find out from Medwyn.”
Aurelius left and Reggie poked his head in through the door.
“Mind if I come in?”
“Would it matter if I did?” Ryssa rolled her eyes, but she was glad to see him.
“Nope. But I thought I’d take a stab at being polite.”
“Why start now?” Ryssa raised her eyebrows as he closed the door behind him and came to sit in the same place that Aurelius had vacated.
“Practice,” Reggie raised his head loftily, “for when we rule Faery and have to be nice to everyone and deal with all the rules of etiquette and protocol and double talk.”
“Ick.” Ryssa made a face. “You make it sound so-o-o appealing.”
“Isn’t it, though?” Reggie looked seriously at his twin. “How are you doing? Are you okay?”
“Okay?” Ryssa gave a harsh laugh. “I don’t think I’ll ever be okay again. I feel like we’re caught inside some bizarre dream—but you’re living the dream side of it while I’m living the nightmare side. I want to cross over to your side, Regg, but I don’t know how. And what I really want is to wake up, safe and sound at home in bed, and find that none of this ever happened.”
“Dream? You think my side is the dream side? Think about it, Ryss. All my life, my passion has been studying science. I love figuring out how things work and why they work the way they do. Here, in this place, my whole world has been turned upside down and I can’t put a finger on why anything works the way it does, let alone how. This isn’t a dream—it’s a waking nightmare.”
“:So create your dream,:” a voice whispered inside his head.
“What did you say?”
“Who? Me?” Ryssa furrowed her brow. “I didn’t say anything.”
“:I did. Starsong.:”
“Starsong?”
“Starsong?” Ryssa echoed. “Your wand, er, Sprite—whatever you call it?”
“:She can’t hear me. She will only be able to hear Darkwind.:”
“You guys can talk?”
“Who talks? Reggie, what’s going on—? Ouch!”
Ryssa jerked her hand back from the bed. Her wand was standing upright by her bent knee. She blinked. Two little legs extended from the base of the wand to give it balance, and one of two short arms reached up to poke her again with star-shaped hands. From inside the crystal, burgundy eyes stared back at her. The whole thing looked like a three-dimensional stick figure. Ryssa gave a yelp and scrambled back on the bed until she hit the wall and couldn’t go any further.
Reggie jerked, startled when he saw Ryssa’s wand walk toward her on the bed. “What the—?”
“It’s possessed!” Ryssa looked frightened.
“:Of course it’s possessed, you ninny,:” she heard a voice inside her head. “:What else do you call it when a non-corporeal being takes up residence in a corporeal body?:”
“But before—” Ryssa was confused. “I saw you when Aurelius first captured you—you had a body then.”
The crystal shook its head at her from the top of the wand.
“:Honestly, they don’t teach you anything, do they? The fireball was a bit of magic that was manifested into physical form on your physical plane of existence. When that man—Aurelius you say his name was?:” Ryssa nodded slowly, unable to speak. “:When he interrupted the magic, the physical essence of the fireball gave me a solid form that made him able to capture me. If I had been able to complete my objective, he would’ve never been able to touch me.:”
“Your objective?” Ryssa asked suspiciously.
“:Why, to kill you, of course. What—you hadn’t figured that out on your own?:”
Ryssa’s eyes narrowed angrily and she did the only thing that she could think of. She raised her fingers and flicked her wand solidly in the little crystal head.
“:Ouch!:” A little star hand reached up to rub the crystal. It eyed her with a sullen expression. “:What did you do that for?:”
“Try to kill me, will you?” Ryssa flicked it again.
“:Ouch! Knock it off!:” Darkwind jumped out of her immediate reach.
“Kill you?” Reggie leaned forward anxiously. “Ryssa, what is that thing—?”
“:Shh—Leave them alone. They’re bonding.:”
“But Darkwind—” Reggie turned his attention to the wand in his hand and almost dropped it in surprise. It, too, now had little arms. Two violet eyes stared at him from the crystal. One of the hands stroked his index finger.
“:Careful. Don’t drop me.:”
“Oh. Sorry.”
“:It takes some getting used to, I imagine. Especially for someone like you.:”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Reggie asked.
“:Nothing,:” Starsong said gently. “:We’ll get to that. For now, just know that Darkwind will bring no harm to your sister. She can’t. When you bind a Sprite to a wand and to yourself through the naming, you become one, sort of. If your sister dies now, Darkwind will cease to exist.:”
“She’s not trying to kill Ryssa right now?” Reggie watched the argumentative interaction between his sister and her wand.
“:Your siste
r is safer from Darkwind than you are—have you not heard a word I’ve said? Darkwind will protect her at any cost. If your sister dies, so does Darkwind. Not a bad guard dog, if you ask me.:”
“Me? Spoiled?” Ryssa was saying. “Why you little—”
“:Temper, temper.:” Darkwind was smug.
“Oh!” Ryssa pounded her fists on the bed, giving a smirk of satisfaction as the wand toppled over.
“:Hey!:” Darkwind tried to stand back up again. “:Watch it.:”
“Watch this.” Ryssa got up from the bed and headed toward the door.
Reggie stared in amazement as Ryssa’s wand ran across the bed and took a flying leap to grab the edge of her hoodie. It hung there for a second with one hand, waving to him with the other, and then scrambled up to nestle itself into the loose-hanging pocket.
Ryssa threw open the door and crossed into the common area toward the ramp that would take her away from the Team quarters.
“Hey, Ryssa,” Moira called from the group scattered around the room, each bonding with their own wands. “You can’t go out there by yourself—”
“Leave me alone.” Ryssa didn’t bother to look back.
The tunnel led directly outside. Ryssa figured it was because Aurelius was speaking with Queen Medwyn. She still had a hard time wrapping her mind around the fact that the dark, beautiful Queen was her aunt. She stepped out into the streets of New Faery City, at a loss for which way to go. Meek’s sudden appearance at her side startled her. Scowling, she chose a random direction, and started walking.
“I hate this place,” Ryssa complained after they had walked for a while. “I want to go home.”
Meek, of course, said nothing.
They continued in silence for a time, paying distracted attention to the other denizens who were out and about. Ryssa was skeptical about the term city being used in this case. New Faerie City wasn’t anything like the cities in the Zombie Zone. The cities there had tall buildings that blocked out the sky and miles of concrete stretching as far as the eye could see. This place was more like Oz, a patchwork of magical colors and fantastic scenery. And unlike the cities of the Zombie world, the people here actually acknowledged each other. Not just here and there—but all around the city.
I guess when you live to be several hundreds or thousands of years old, you actually have time to get to know the people in your neighborhood, Ryssa thought.
Their quiet stroll eventually led them to the edge of a large open field.
“What’s this?” Ryssa asked Meek. “Some sort of playing field, like baseball or something?” She noticed several pitted wooden objects pasted with targets set around the field.
“:They play games here sometimes. But mostly it’s used for magic training purposes—like fireballs—magics that tend to need a wide open space for practice.:”
Ryssa jumped, noticing the wand in her pocket for the first time since she had stormed out of the room. She gave it a dirty look, deciding to ignore it. She started across the open space. Trees lined two sides of the field, and homes were scattered along the others.
“You know, Meek, you’re lucky.”
“:He’s not lucky. Most people think he’s cursed.:”
Ryssa heaved an impatient sigh, but went on ignoring the Sprite.
“I mean—I love my brother more than anything. But sometimes I wonder what it would’ve been like to be an only child—or at least not the other half of a twin. Even other people think it’s weird, the two of us being so different.” She was rambling, but she really needed to talk.
“It’s hard, because you never feel like you’re alone. Now I’m finally getting older and maybe I can start doing my own thing—and I end up with this stupid wand thing that I’ll have for the rest of my life. Now I’ll never be alone.
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “Maybe I’d hate being alone—or at least apart from my brother. That’s what my mom—my foster mom—always tells me. Now I’ll never know for sure, will I? You’re lucky that you at least had the chance to feel what it was like.”
Meek shot her a dark look, a mixture of hurt and anger. He turned and walked away.
“Meek?” Ryssa took a step to follow him. “Did I say something wrong?”
“:He’s cursed.:”
“What do you mean, cursed?” Ryssa saw Meek stop, his shoulders stiffening as he slowly turned to face her.
“:He had a twin.:”
“You had a twin?” Ryssa asked Meek out loud. He was staring at her now with what looked to be panic. He nodded without taking his eyes from hers. “Where is he? What happened to him?”
“:He was born dead. When they came out, this boy’s fingers were wrapped around his brother’s throat.:”
“You can’t strangle an infant before it takes its first breath,” Ryssa snapped. “It doesn’t work that way.”
“:I’m just telling you what I’ve heard over the years.:”
“Well, don’t! It’s only rumors, and rumors cause nothing but hurt. Unless you know that something is a fact, I don’t want to hear it from you.”
Meek watched her strangely, almost as though relieved.
“:You’re in trouble.:”
“That’s the story of my life. I suppose Aurelius will be pretty upset with me for taking off.”
“:No, not that kind of trouble—that kind.:”
Ryssa looked to where Darkwind pointed, behind and slightly to the side of Meek. A knight in solid black armor, astride a midnight black horse, was bearing down on them. He wasn’t slowing down—he was going to run directly over them.
“Meek,” Ryssa grabbed his arm, “run!”
Meek eyes widened in surprise. He stumbled after Ryssa as she yanked his arm to get him moving. They sprinted across the field, heading toward the nearest street. The sound of hoof beats grew louder and louder. The horse was almost upon them.
“We’re not going to make it,” she gasped. Then the worst happened. She tripped.
Meek stopped in his tracks and spun to help her. The Black Knight was closing in. Both of them grabbed their wands and pointed, the tips glowing. But neither had a clue as to how they worked. Just as the Black Knight was about to trample them, a green blur cut in front of his path. It was another knight, his armor emerald green, and his mount the bright color of spring grass.
The Black Knight didn’t stop, or maybe it couldn’t. Ryssa didn’t know for certain. She threw up her arms to protect herself, just in case the Green Knight was toppled over on top of her. The fact that it wouldn’t do any good never crossed her mind.
The pounding of the hooves suddenly stopped. Ryssa had her hands up, her eyes scrunched shut. It was quiet. She opened one eye, tentatively peeking between her fingers. Nothing was there—no Black Knight, no Green Knight, no horses. Her hands came down and she looked around. It was as though they had vanished—or had never existed at all. Ryssa gaped at Meek, who looked around, seeming as perplexed as she was.
“So.” She slowly climbed to her feet, staring at the wand in her hand. Meek was still holding his. “Did you just do that, or did I?”
Meek watched her, his expression blank.
“Yeah.” Ryssa glanced around the field. “I don’t have any idea what just happened—do you?”
Meek slowly shrugged, obviously confused.
“Okay,” Ryssa said breathlessly. “Okay—how about we don’t say anything about this until we figure it out?”
Meek raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, right. I won’t say anything until we figure out which one of us did this.”
Meek nodded. They turned to walk away from the field, continuing to check over their shoulders.
“:I don’t suppose it crossed your mind that maybe a certain Sprite should be given credit here?:”
“Nope, not at all.” Ryssa shoved Darkwind into her pocket, and raised her chin, once more ignoring the annoying voice in her head.