Belly dancers showed off their wares, while lutes, Celtic harps, bagpipes, flutes, and drums played in the background. The aroma of sweet fairy cakes drifted on the breeze.
“Where are we?” Cassie managed to finally say.
“A faery faire. Not real.” Deveron glanced around and saw a cluster of fae watching them. “Though there are a few fae here. I thought if there were enough, they might throw the dark fae trackers off our trail.”
“They can follow us?” Cassie asked, alarmed.
“Only those of us who leave a trail. You won’t.”
“A fairy dust trail?” Cassie asked, looking around at the ground as if she could see one.
“Yes,” Micala said.
“What kind of fae are they?” Alicia asked, when she caught sight of the fae who were eyeing them with interest.
“Doesn’t matter. Faery faires are open to all fae. These kinds of faires are considered neutral territory unlike the Renaissance faire in our more local area that had been claimed by your people,” Deveron said. “There, the place is not a strictly fairy-based domain like this kind is.” He was having a hard time concentrating on anything other than what had gone on at Ena’s castle that had caused Halloran to turn dragon, however, and he directed the conversation to that next. “What exactly happened at the keep?”
“Can we sit down some place, Deveron,” Alicia asked.
“Yeah, sure. Over there in that grassy area under the shade of those trees?”
She nodded.
When they were all seated under the big oaks, Alicia said, “First, I have to know what happened with your mother.”
Chapter 10
“My mother…wasn’t happy,” Deveron said to Alicia as they all took seats in the grass underneath the tree. “I don’t recall a time when anyone has ever made her that speechless before. Ever. When you told her no, that she couldn’t have Cassie, that was bad enough. Your demanding tone of voice made it worse. And even worse than that, that you did so in front of all her courtiers. Before she could even respond, you left, which added insult to injury.”
Alicia smiled and the look was pure devil.
Deveron loved that impish look she always gave him when she was pleased about something she had done and had no regrets whatsoever. If he had any doubts that she was of the fae, that expression of hers wiped any reservation from his mind.
He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I can’t say that I blame you for reacting the way you did.”
“Well? I couldn’t wait to see if she meant Cassie harm or not. I had to keep her out of your mother’s reach in the event she wanted to get rid of her. So what about our marriage?”
“Too late to reconsider that, if she is. She said that you would make an outstanding dragon fae queen. As for a daughter-in-law…” He shook his head.
“What?” she asked, eying him speculatively.
“You would not be her first choice.”
Alicia sat taller, her pale cheeks instantly taking on color. “She has no say in it. It’s my choice to make, not hers.”
Micala smiled a little at that.
Deveron cleared his throat. Selecting a mate was his choice to make, but he would allow Alicia to think it was hers.
“I know what you are thinking,” she said, with that voice that told him she was ready to give him a piece of her mind. “I can just imagine what is going through your head, Deveron.”
He chuckled. He couldn’t get away with anything around Alicia, even when he wasn’t speaking his mind.
Cassie was resting her head in Micala’s lap, her eyes closed as he stroked her long brown hair.
“Are you okay, Cassie?” Deveron asked, hoping the human girl wasn’t too sick.
“Yeah, as long as I don’t open my eyes,” she said, taking a deep breath and exhaling it.
Deveron looked at Alicia and raised his brows, silently asking her the same question.
“I’m better. Sitting down helped. So…did your mother send you and Micala after us? What about dark fae trackers?”
“I can’t honestly say. I looked at Micala, knew what he intended to do with or without me, and I was in total agreement. We both transported to Ena’s castle at the same time. We didn’t wait to see what my mother’s reaction would be. We just wanted to get hold of the two of you and get you out of there before anyone else came along with the same notion in mind.”
“So you were the ones pounding on the door.”
“We were, but when no one answered, we began looking for an alternative way in.”
“I thought I saw fae trackers coming out of the darkness right before Cassie and I transported.”
“You might have. I was concentrating too much on grabbing hold of you before you vanished.” Now it was Deveron’s turn to hear what had happened to Alicia and Cassie. “What caused Halloran to turn dragon?”
Cassie smiled. “Micala taught me where to place my knee if a guy got out of hand.” She glanced at Alicia. “You didn’t warn me that the guy could turn into a dragon. Fire-breathing? For real?”
“Yeah,” Alicia said. “I didn’t think he’d shift, and I thought you’d had enough surprises for one day. Besides, Ena had shocked me enough when she did it in front of me earlier when I was manacled in a man’s basement.”
A shadow drew over Deveron and Alicia, and he glanced in the direction of its source. A boy with long blond hair pulled back in a tail, probably pre-teen, walked toward them, his shadow stretching out as if it was twice as tall as he was. He was wearing typical fae garb—green trewes, brown suede boots, a tunic that was plain green as if he had been hunting in the woods before he arrived at the faire. A Robin Hood hat perched on top of his head, which was not what the fae would wear, but it probably amused him to do so while he wandered among the humans.
He looked down at them, folded his arms, and asked, “What kind of fae are you? And what are you doing here?”
Deveron wrapped his arm around Alicia in a protective stance. He didn’t like the way the boy looked at them, his posture, superior for being so young. And he didn’t like the questions or the tone of his voice—as if this kid was in charge here and they had no right being here without his permission.
“You can see what we’re doing here, if it is any of your business,” Deveron said coolly.
Instantly aware of Deveron’s dark mood, Cassie sat up, and Micala quickly placed his arm around her waist. They were ready to travel at the blink of an eye if the situation warranted, but fae faires were supposed to be neutral territory. And for now, Deveron didn’t want to move Cassie or Alicia until they were feeling better. They might even hitch a ride with a human family leaving the faire later so they could go somewhere else and not have to transport for a while. But for now, they were comfortable where they were.
“Very well.” The boy motioned to the others who were still standing some distance away.
Three of the others were pre-teen. Two were older, maybe seventeen or so. None of them were dressed in the finery of court, which could mean they lived on the outskirts of a fae royal house. If they were here, he suspected they came to cause mischief among the humans while not having to pretend to be anything but fae. So why target Deveron and his companions?
They drew closer like a pack of hyenas, not aggressive yet. The boy was definitely in charge despite that two of the boys appeared to be much older. Either the boy was more of an emergent leader of a ragtag army of fae youth, or he was some kind of royal who was dressed down for the occasion.
Deveron glanced at Micala. He nodded, reached out to grab Alicia’s arm, and Deveron and his companions fae transported. But not to where he expected to end up.
All four of them were standing in a forest at the edge of a cliff, the sound of the ocean rushing up to beat against jagged black rocks down below.
“Where are we?” Micala asked, glancing over the edge of the cliff. “I didn’t take us here.”
Deveron looked around at the trees. “I’ve never seen this place
before. Fae world or Earth world?”
“Fae,” the boy said, coming out of the dark shadows of the trees. “I’m Tameron. And I ask you again, who are you and what were you doing at the faire?”
They all turned quickly to see the boy watching them.
“All fae faires are neutral territory,” Deveron said darkly. Had this fae sabotaged their travel and forced them to come here? He’d never heard of a fae being able to do that.
“Not there. Not at our faire grounds,” the boy said.
“By whose rules?” Deveron asked.
“Our rules. We have claimed the territory. Unspoken. Everyone knows not to go there.”
“We’re are not from here.”
“This, I know. What I don’t know is who you are.”
“I’m Deveron,” he said, giving a brief nod of his head in greeting, afraid if he tried to fae travel again, the boy would once more thwart them.
“Deveron.” Tameron gave him a courtly bow of his head. So he appeared to be of a fae court. “Fae trackers are seeking you now. Why?”
Again, Deveron didn’t like the question. The business was his and that of his friends. No one else’s. He wasn’t used to explaining himself to people he didn’t know or people he did know who weren’t owed any explanation.
“I suspect they want us to return home,” Deveron said, rubbing Alicia’s arm as she sagged against him. He really had thought she’d get better about fae travelling over time.
Tameron smiled. “I fathomed that. What I don’t know is why.”
The kid was smart. Deveron would give him that.
Tameron glanced at Alicia and said, “She looks unwell. And the human also.”
“They don’t fae travel well,” Deveron said.
“Why didn’t you say so?” Tameron sounded annoyed. “Come on. Join us in our camp. We wouldn’t want you to believe we are inhospitable.” He began to walk into the forest.
Deveron saw then maybe thirty or so more fae mostly hidden in the shadows of the woods, all wearing green, camouflaged, watching them.
When he didn’t move, the boy turned back and smiled, not in a congenial way, but more in a way that said he was the spider and Deveron and his friends had been caught in his web.
“It amuses me to think you might attempt to fae travel where you will, but because the girls look so ill, I will not toy with you like that. Suffice it to say, you will not leave here unless I wish it.”
Deveron appreciated the boy’s candor, but not that he had a hold on their ability to leave the area as they wished.
When they followed him, they soon came to a small clearing where a large campfire was burning brightly. Barely visible, he’d noticed houses built high above in the trees, with no means to climb into them without using fae travel to get there.
He also noted that most of the fae were pre-teens, a few of the older ones around seventeen, but no adults.
They were seated on the ground and served boar stew and candied apples.
“We made the stew. The apples are from the faire. We have cotton candy if you prefer. Why the humans believe that the fae eat that stuff for real, I haven’t a clue. But…it’s not half bad if you have a sweet tooth.” Tameron motioned for the other kids to take a seat, then he sat before Deveron and his party, cross-legged, his arms folded and looked straight at Deveron.
“The stew is excellent,” Deveron said, noting that Alicia was sipping water and eating nothing.
“And you would know because…?” Tameron asked.
“I eat it on a regular basis. And the wild pig isn’t half as tender, nor is it spiced as well.”
Tameron bowed his head in thanks. “Mia,” he said, “take a bow.”
The redheaded girl of about sixteen grinned, her blue eyes sparkling with delight.
Deveron acknowledged her with a smile.
“So now, who are you? Like I am in charge here, you are in charge of your small party. But who is in charge of you?”
“We are of the dark fae,” Deveron said, motioning to Micala.
“I am dragon fae,” Alicia said, sipping some water from a wooden cup.
“Human,” Cassie said, as if she had to say.
“Slave?” Tameron asked curiously.
“No,” Micala said. “My betrothed.
Murmurs went up among the seated fae. Tameron raised his blond brows. “Well, this is a surprise.” Then he smiled. “Is this why you have run away? Because of her?”
Astute, Deveron thought. The boy was really quite clever.
“Aren’t the dragon fae and dark fae enemies?” Tameron asked, as if not really needing an answer to his other questions because he had already guessed the truth.
“We are betrothed,” Alicia said to Tameron, taking Deveron’s hand and squeezing it.
“So I see.” He tilted his head to the side and looked from Deveron to Micala. “You are related, are you not?”
“Cousins,” Deveron said.
Tameron smiled. “What is your position in the dark fae court?”
Deveron didn’t want to say. If he said he was the crown prince, would this ragamuffin army attempt to ransom him? He thought of Duke Tully living in the woods, taking royals hostage for ransom any chance he got. For that reason, he didn’t want to say what rank Alicia or Micala were either.
“King,” Tameron guessed and grinned.
Deveron thought the others would laugh, but they were watchful, serious, maybe a little concerned.
Deveron didn’t give a response, but he did like the boy. He was different, intelligent, and cunning.
Tameron motioned to Alicia. “She is a princess. And your cousin, a prince. Maybe a duke or count, depending on how distant a cousin. So here we have a royal party, two, actually, since one is from the royal dragon fae court, and the other the lion fae court.” He spread his arms motioning to Deveron and his companions, glancing back at his gathered fae. They nodded.
Educated. Deveron wouldn’t have believed the boy and the others living in the woods would know that much about other fae societies.
Tameron focused again on Deveron. “Why would a royal want a human?”
Cassie spoke up, “He is like Peter Pan and the Lost Boys.”
Tameron studied her for a moment, and then said to Micala, “Do you understand what she’s talking about?”
Micala shook his head. Deveron didn’t have a clue either. When he looked at Alicia, she was fighting a smile.
“As much as I’ve been around them, I could never understand them,” Tameron said. “No one is lost here. And we have just as many girls, well, maybe not as many as we have boys, but a fair amount. Who is this Peter Pan you speak of? A hero?” he asked Cassie.
Alicia spoke up then as if she was afraid Cassie might say something that would possibly put them in danger. “He led a group of boys in a world of adventure on an island paradise.”
Tameron looked at Cassie to see if she agreed. She smiled and nodded.
“This Peter Pan was real?” he asked.
“No, he was a fairy…uhm, tale,” Cassie said.
Tameron smiled. “I like the idea. I’ll have to read it sometime. So, now we have a king…”
“Crown prince of the Denkar,” Deveron said wearily. He didn’t want to be referred to as a king even in jest when he was not one yet.
“Ah, soon to be king. And a princess, and the rest. Now, what are you going to do about her?” Tameron motioned to Cassie.
“Keep her,” Micala said.
Tameron studied the two of them for a moment. “But the dark fae trackers, I assume now that’s who they were, royal blue uniforms, all anxious and searching for all of you, are trying to return you to the lion fae kingdom, correct? And you are trying to avoid that. How are you going to live with her if your king will not permit it?”
“Queen. My father died some years ago,” Deveron said.
“Queen, then.”
“If the queen wishes to banish me to the human world, so be it,” Micala said, s
hrugging.
Deveron knew that despite his words, that was the hardest thing for Micala to admit. And frankly, even Deveron was surprised his cousin would take it that far. He could well continue to be targeted by fae seers. Deveron didn’t want that. Somehow he’d either convince his mother to allow Micala to have Cassie for his bride, or threaten revolt. If his mother didn’t agree, maybe Alicia’s grandfather would permit Micala and Cassie to live at Crislis Castle. The other option was to send him to the other side of the world to live with his sister, Ritasia, and her new husband, King Tiernan of the hawk fae.
“I will not abandon Cassie,” Micala said, his jaw taut.
“We will work it out somehow to most everyone’s satisfaction,” Deveron said, meaning his mother probably would not like it.
Tameron nodded. “Good.”
“Why are you here, living in these woods? I don’t see anyone who is any older than perhaps, seventeen,” Deveron said.
“Ah, we are the woodland fae.”
Deveron smiled. There was no such fae.
Tameron returned his smile. “All right. I can see you don’t believe me. We were the scorpion fae, warlike people who could not quit fighting. Our families fought amongst themselves. They fought against their neighbors. Eventually they killed each other off, leaving us behind.” He lifted his head proudly. “We throw off the yolk of our parents’ heritage, of our fae names, and are simply now the woodland fae.”
Deveron tried to remember anything from his studies, and then he frowned. “They…wiped each other out. They no longer exist.”
“Yes. Something for you to remember when you return to your kingdom. We don’t want trouble here. And we try hard not to find it elsewhere.”
“How come none of you are any older than seventeen?” Deveron asked again. Many fae didn’t have their abilities until they reached seventeen or older. How did this boy fae travel?