Chapter 10
And the roots did hold him—I assume. The water fairy never caught up to us. We went to Philip’s office, and he left Tova and I there while he went to alert his superiors of the attempted Seelie kidnapping.
I collapsed onto the floor and caught my breath. “Well, that was fun.”
Tova was staring at me like she didn’t know what to make of me. “How?” she finally said.
“I listen to people,” I said. “All the time. And watch. It’s quite interesting actually. Did you know that Theresa is having a secret romance with the earth fairy that sleeps a few bunks down from you? Don’t tell anyone. She’s quite nice, and I wouldn’t want to ruin it.”
Tova’s expression didn’t change. It was as if she hadn’t even heard me. I suppose that lessened the chances of her spreading the news. “Why?”
I didn’t think she was asking why I spy on people. She was still asking about this particular event. “I decided that I’m still your friend. I’m going to make you mine again.”
She flinched like I’d hit her. I heard her mumble, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright, Tov—”
“No,” she said louder. “I’m sorry…and thank you for saving me…but I still think going our separate ways is for the best. All of this,” she gestured to take in our entire situation, “it’s going to make people angry eventually. If I want to make it in the guard, people have to trust me. They won’t if I’m with you.”
I tried not to let my shock show. I started to reply, even though I didn’t know what was about to come out of my mouth, when Philip returned.
“A team has been deployed to search the area and apprehend any unknown fairies,” he said. He was completely oblivious to the tension in the room. “Tova, you can go back to the barracks. Randolph, stay here a moment.”
“Yes, sir,” Tova said. She walked out, head bowed.
When the door closed behind her, Philip spoke again. “What have you been doing in town?”
My brows quirked in confusion. Why did my activities in town matter?
“You know, for a job? Anything you need to go back to? Or would you be open to a change?”
“Oh, uh, yes, I would be open to a change.” I doubted Harold would care if I didn’t come back.
“Great, because I got you a job in the castle.”
My mouth dropped open. “In the castle? Doing what?” I would never be a castle guard. It was not possible.
“It’s only a servant’s job. Nothing glamorous, but it could be the perfect place for you.”
It was the perfect place for spying. All of the important things happened in the castle. If I worked there... “I accept.”
“Perfect.”
I started the very next day. And so did the interesting conversations. On the first day, I learned that Gerald Dunst was warming the bed of Leopold Berg’s wife. On the second day, I learned that unbeknownst to either of them, she was also warming the bed of Roan De Vries. She was determined to get her way in the arena that was the UnSeelie court.
Over the months and years, I also watched as one member of the guard rose quickly through the castle ranks—not Tova, although she did come to the castle later. This man’s name was Jarek. He reminded me of Emil because he was always going after whoever was next in line above him. The difference was that he was much better at it. I didn’t even catch on for quite some time. I still couldn’t figure out his reasoning either. He was extremely tight-lipped.
I had learned an important lesson from Emil however. If I had let Emil go, Niklas may not have come so close to hurting Tova. Perhaps Jarek had good reasons for his actions. I wasn’t going to act until I figured those reasons out.
Later on, when Tova joined the castle guard, I sought her out. Constantly. Despite her repeated requests that I stop. I never bothered her at a time when she was busy with anything important though, so I did not understand her complaints.
“Randolph, I told you, go away.”
We were in a hallway outside a conference room. She was standing guard while a meeting was held, and I was not dusting the sculptures that lined the hallway. I was chatting away to her instead. I had nearly gotten to the climax of a certain tale of deceit and sabotage when she so rudely interrupted me. “I was just getting to the good part!”
“I don’t care about the ‘good part.’ Go away.”
“Need I remind you that it is my job to be here.”
“You’re not even doing your job.”
“That is a minor detail.”
She rolled her eyes dramatically. “What do I have to do to get you to leave?”
As it turned out, she didn’t have to make me leave at all because a moment later, the meeting adjourned, and Tova was required to follow one of the court fairies as he left. I heard her sigh in relief as I pretended to dust.
Tova was the last to go, since she had to leave a respectable distance between the court fairies and herself. Just before she walked away, I stopped her. “What do you want, Randolph?” she hissed at me.
I looked at the backs of the court fairies as they moved farther away. “They’re not looking, you know.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
I sighed. “You really didn’t like the story?”
“Is that it? No, I didn’t. Goodbye, Randolph.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, Randolph.”
“One day. One day I’m going to tell a story you’ll like as much as the old ones. I’m going to make you my friend again. You’ll see.”
She didn’t look at me as I said it. But she hadn’t started walking either until after I’d finished.
***
Epilogue
And that’s the end. For now. The conversation in the hall happened a week before she left to find the UnSeelie princess and all this human business started.
It’s been years now, decades, but time passes slowly for us fae. I may not have succeeded in making her my friend again yet, but the key word is ‘yet.’ She would come around.
Meanwhile, I’ve been happy here. Philip had been right. This was the perfect place for me. I don’t relish the menial servant tasks, but I don’t mind them given what it meant I can see and hear. I’m still trying to figure out Jarek—I’ve never met anyone so hard to crack—and the arrival of Princess Willa, Cearo, and the humans has been the most exciting thing to happen in my entire life.
The five of them flitted through my mind as I held on to my last bit of consciousness. I wonder how Cearo would react when she woke up. Would the laws about humans all change when Princess Willa rose to power? That would be excellent, because I quite enjoy the one named Sid. I like David as well even though he obviously didn’t reciprocate. Eric was one to watch. Not in a bad way, but in a potentially-exciting-story way. Tova liked him. Maybe he would have better luck with her than I did. I hope so.
I have a good feeling about the future.
***
Acknowledgements
Thank you to my family and friends for all your encouragement and excitement about this project even though it is a bit different. I’ve had a lot of fun writing this, and joking with you about it even when you didn’t know what I was talking about. This should give you some context now.
Thank you to Bezimeni Bezimenkovic a.k.a. Moonkeys for the beautiful image that I have turned into a cover. Your work truly inspires me.
And of course, thank you to all who read this. I hope you had as much fun reading it as I had creating it.
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About the Author
Tarynn Kerr has a degree in psychology but probably should have gotten one in mythology instead because that’s way cooler. She lives in southern California where she works a boring day job and covertly writes down her daydreams when her boss isn’t looking. Aside from writing, she enjoys reading and eating enormous amounts of mac ‘n’ cheese. Entangle is part of her fae series that also includes Lure and Enthrall.
Connect with her on twitter and
wordpress.
https://twitter.com/tarynnwa
https://tarynnkerrauthor.wordpress.com
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