Queen of Wands (The Tree of Ages Series Book 4) Read online

  She struggled to open her eyes. Anything to replace the image of her brother bleeding out in one of the endless corridors of the in-between. She’d felt it the moment he’d arrived, and had just finally reached him when she was ripped away.

  Her body convulsed in discomfort. She gritted her teeth, then her eyes flung open.

  At first she only saw white, some sort of white tent over her head, illuminated by moonlight and the soft glow of candles. She writhed against the continuing pain scorching her body as her vision began to focus.

  There was a woman hovering over her. No, not just a woman, a Traveler. Her head was completely bald, just like the men of her race, showing blue veins through her oddly translucent skin.

  Branwen opened her mouth to speak, then painfully sucked in a long breath. Her throat burned, utterly dry and seemingly filled with grit.

  “Be still,” the female Traveler advised. “You have rested a long while. Your body must readapt.”

  “Water,” Branwen managed to hiss, weakly lifting a hand from her bedding.

  The Traveler walked away, then returned to kneel beside her, a pewter pitcher in hand. She lowered the pitcher toward Branwen’s face, then trickled water from the spout into her waiting mouth.

  Her throat convulsed around the meager droplets, then she began to cough and sputter, lifting her upper body, renewing her pain.

  The Traveler placed a hand on her shoulder and eased her back down.

  “My brother,” Branwen croaked. “I saw him. I must go back.”

  “There is no going back,” the Traveler soothed. “Your consciousness has been severed from that place. You will not go back again until you die.”

  She clenched her eyes shut. She thought for a moment she might cry, but her eyes seemed too dry to produce tears.

  Though she already knew the truth, she had to ask, “Is he dead?”

  The Traveler woman nodded. “He gave his life for yours. You should be grateful.”

  Branwen felt her body going limp as unconsciousness threatened.

  “More water first,” the Traveler urged, seeming to sense Branwen’s body was close to giving out.

  She lifted the pitcher and dribbled more water down Branwen’s throat. It still stung like liquid fire, but she managed to gulp a small amount down.

  The next dose hurt a little less, and finally the Traveler set aside the pitcher.

  “What are you going to do with me?” Branwen breathed.

  “You will be returned to the land of the living,” the Traveler replied, “whatever that might mean to you. The Ceàrdaman always keep their word.”

  Branwen heard the sound of dribbling water, then a cool cloth was placed over her forehead.

  “Sleep now,” the woman soothed. “Your body has long to go before you can travel on your own.”

  Branwen’s eyes had already fallen shut by the time the Traveler finished speaking. She welcomed oblivion. Anything to drown out the pain in her body, and the even greater ache in her heart.

  Chapter Eight

  Kai braced his arm around Finn’s waist with her back against his chest, keeping her upright in the saddle. Occasionally he’d press a finger on her neck below the curve of her jaw to make sure her heart still beat. Anna claimed she would come out of this trance, yet he couldn’t help but fear the worse. Niklas had doused her with that powder for a reason, trapping her in the in-between. What was happening to her while she was there?

  Iseult rode ahead of them with Eywen, both silent as they scouted the shadows around them for whatever danger the Aos Sí had sensed. Kai glanced over his shoulder at Sativola and Bedelia, and beyond them, the warriors riding and walking in their wake. During the battle they had moved so quickly, it had seemed like there were more of them, but now that he could count, there were merely twenty.

  “They all shine,” Anna muttered from her mount beside him. “It’s terribly irritating.”

  He turned his gaze to her, waiting for her to elaborate.

  She peered at him from within the shadows of her charcoal hood. “The Aos Sí,” she whispered. “They glint like steel in sunlight, and I don’t mean their armor.”

  He nodded, understanding what she meant. “We can hardly complain though, can we? They rescued us.”

  She sighed. “That they did. I know we all suspected Anders of telling mistruths, but I honestly never thought he’d betray us as he did.”

  Kai snorted. “He’s lucky he ran off with Niklas before Iseult got to him. That would have been the end of Anders.”

  Anna nodded, but her gaze had gone distant. Her mouth twisted into a worried pout.

  “What is it?” Kai questioned softly. He glanced over his shoulder again to assess if Bedelia and Sativola were close enough to hear, but they were a bit far back for that.

  He turned back as Anna frowned, then sighed. “I’ve been thinking that perhaps I might try to enter the Gray Place this evening, but I don’t want the others to know. I don’t want them to blame me if I fail.”

  Kai’s heart skipped a beat. Secretly he’d been hoping she would offer, but he knew she’d never intentionally visited the in-between, and might not be able to even if she tried. Still, he had to ask, “Can you try to take me with you like you did before?”

  Anna shook her head. “I’ll need you to watch over me, and wake me should something seem amiss.”

  His heart fell, but he nodded. At least Anna would go. It was better than just waiting around for Finn to wake up. He turned his gaze forward to Eywen and Iseult, wondering at this new seeming alliance. Had the Aos Sí truly come all this way to find Finn, and if so, the bigger question was, why?

  Bedelia’s stomach churned, threatening to expel the meager meal she’d had earlier that day. Being around the Aos Sí brought back memories of her time as their prisoner. Memories of being locked in a dungeon, interrogated, then whipped and marched until she could no longer even stand. It had taken days in Garenoch to regain her stamina, and even now her wounds still plagued her. She’d take being bitten by another Faie wolf any day than to ever again be at the mercy of the Aos Sí.

  Yet, she could express none of this. She felt she had finally earned Iseult’s respect, and would not allow him to see her weakness. It was why she could tell no one that her wolf bite had started to ache again, and the black streaming through the veins of her calf had begun to spread. Keiren had claimed that the potion she’d taken to save her life might not stave off the wound’s poison forever. Apparently she hadn’t lied.

  Bedelia jumped in the saddle as something touched her shoulder, then blushed, realizing it was only Sativola. He’d tapped her to gain her attention. She hadn’t even noticed that the Aos Sí around them had turned off the road to make camp.

  Camp. She shivered. Was she truly supposed to sleep right alongside the creatures who had tormented her? The creatures she’d seen slaughter the Reivers, just an hour before? Biting her lip, she guided her horse to follow Sativola’s off the road.

  She’d assumed they’d immediately dismount to make camp, but instead the Aos Sí continued riding into the forest. She looked to Iseult, then Anna, then Kai, hoping one of them might show concern about following them so far off the road, but none did. Kai held tightly onto Finn, and that seemed to be his only concern.

  They rode on and on. It had to be near midnight. Just when she thought they’d ride on until morning, the Aos Sí at the front of the line halted their horses and dismounted.

  Supplies were unpacked and fires were built while Bedelia stood with her horse, feeling out of place. Kai and the others set up a small camp of their own, but she felt out of place there too. Finn was the only reason she fit in with any of them. With Finn unconscious, she simply did not belong.

  His horse tended to, Iseult moved to her side, silent as a shadow. “Come,” he ordered. “Leave your horse to be tended by the others.”

  She nodded, halfway grateful to be saved, but also nervous about whatever Iseult might have to say. He rarely spoke unless
it was important.

  She left her horse with Sativola and followed Iseult into the trees, away from the Aos Sí camp. They continued walking, their footfalls accompanied only by the sound of night insects, and distant mutters from the camps. Finally, Iseult gestured for her to stop, far out of earshot of the others.

  He turned and peered down at her. The dark engulfed his black hair and clothing, lit faintly by hints of moonlight breaking through the trees, making him appear as an otherwordly specter. Was he angry with her? If so, she could not for the life of her fathom why.

  “How much do you know of Finn’s past?” he asked abruptly.

  “Her past?” she asked, surprised.

  “Yes. Her far past. Her original life before the Faie war.”

  She shook her head. “N-nothing,” she replied. “Nothing at all. I know she is one of the Dair Leanbh of Clan Cavari, and now thanks to Slàine, I know she was born to be their queen, but I know nothing else.”

  Nodding, he began to walk a bit deeper into the woods, and she hurried to catch up to his side.

  “I will not divulge Finn’s secrets to you,” he began again as they walked, “nor will I divulge mine, but I would like your thoughts on a theory.”

  She nodded for him to go on, both relieved he wasn’t angry with her, and intrigued by what he had to say.

  “Eywen told me the tale of his people as we rode,” he continued. “He explained that when magic faded from the land, marking the decline of the Faie War, his people fell into a long slumber. Recently when Oighear awakened, so too did they.”

  She watched him thoughtfully as they walked, dying to know the point of this tale.

  “I believe the Dair Leanbh have something to do with the loss and reappearance of magic,” he continued. “I believe Finn has something to do with it.”

  Bedelia stopped walking. “But while she was . . . gone, magic still existed. People like Ealasaid still wielded their elemental powers. It was only the Faie who left the land.”

  Iseult nodded again, turning to face her. “Yes, magically inclined humans maintained their elemental powers, but mostly in hiding. I believe this to be because their prophesied queen was still among the living. I believe the Dair forced Oighear, the daughter of the rightful Faie Queen, into dormancy, and her people went with her. Finn’s retreat, in turn, forced her people into a sort of half life, mere shadows of what they once were.”

  “So you believe this all complies with the prophecy?” she questioned, mulling over everything he’d said. “And perhaps the Faie and Dair follow their queens because their magic depends on them?”

  He nodded again. “Finn was born under a certain alignment of stars, fating her to be the next queen of the Dair, yet she never assumed her role. The old queen died shortly before Finn retreated from this world, leaving her people without their main source of power, thus, they slowly faded.”

  Beginning to catch on, Bedelia continued, “And when Oighear was forced into slumber, the Faie’s magic faded. Perhaps if she’d been killed, a new queen could have taken her place, but just like Finn, she did not die, she simply . . . retreated.”

  He nodded, his face showing no signs of pleasure at her powers of deduction.

  “But why tell me all of this?” she questioned. “How does this change our plan?”

  “It doesn’t, not entirely,” he replied. “But it does bring us to a few conclusions. First, since the Aos Sí have not faded away, either a new Faie Queen has been crowned, or Oighear is not truly dead.”

  Bedelia lifted a hand to her mouth to stifle her surprised intake of breath. She hadn’t thought of that, but if Iseult’s theory proved correct . . . she must have somehow survived her wounds.

  “Second,” he continued, “It means that the Cavari draw their power from Finn. The only way to truly destroy them, would be to force her back into slumber.”

  “But we don’t want that,” she blurted.

  “No,” he agreed, “I simply want you to remain aware of that fact. The prophecy says that two queens will die, leaving one alive. However, no matter the outcome, the dead queens could be replaced with new queens to perpetuate the battle. In this, this land is doomed to be irrecoverably changed by war. But, if we can force the other two queens into a slumber-like state, no new queens can be named.”

  “And the Faie would fade away again, along with the magic possessed by humans,” she concluded.

  “And the Cavari and other Dair would regain their strength . . . unless Finn chooses to give her magic away. Magic can be stolen with the Faie Queen’s shroud. When all of this is over, if she is willing to make that choice, perhaps that act will steal the magic of her people too, and she could live a normal life.”

  Bedelia’s head was spinning. His plan seemed sound in theory, but actually achieving it seemed impossible. “You know,” she mused, “I’d wager that’s the most anyone has ever heard you say in one sitting.”

  She’d meant it as a joke, but he did not smile. Not that she’d expected him to.

  She sighed. “You love her, don’t you?”

  He stared at her, his expression blank.

  “Fine, don’t answer me,” she sighed. “I’ll help with your plan in any way that I can.” She turned to walk back toward camp, then stopped as he placed his hand on her shoulder. Surprised, she turned to face him as his hand fell away.

  “I do love her,” he admitted. “Though it makes no sense, given where I come from, and who she is.”

  Bedelia smiled ruefully. “In my experience, love rarely makes sense.”

  “That’s not comforting,” he grumbled.

  She smirked, while inside she was bursting with pride that Iseult would entrust her with his admission. She knew for a fact he had told no one else.

  “It wasn’t meant to be,” she quipped, then turned again to march back toward camp.

  This time Iseult followed, clearly lost deep within his own thoughts. For once, Bedelia thought she might actually know just what those thoughts were.

  Anna lay on her bedroll, staring up at the starry night sky. She did not want to go to the Gray Place, not at all, but she did want to help return Finn to her body, if only so they could get away from the cursed Aos Sí.

  “You have to close your eyes to fall asleep,” Kai commented, sitting on his knees beside her bedroll.

  “Your job is to wake me if needed,” she snapped, “not to tell me how to sleep.”

  “Then sleep,” he sighed.

  She turned on her side, facing her back to him, then squeezed her eyes shut. She could hear the Aos Sí conversing amongst themselves not too far off. There was no sound of their human companions voices, but she knew Iseult and Bedelia were nearby, guarding Finn’s body, and Sativola was likely braving the Aos Sí camp in search of whiskey.

  Her mind began to wander. She knew it could not be as simple as just thinking of the Gray Place and going to sleep, could it? She’d visited many times in her dreams, but they were never experiences of her choosing. Even if she could make it there, she had no idea how she’d find Finn.

  The sound of Kai whittling a piece of wood with one of his blades hit hear ears, rhythmically soothing. She focused on that sound, phht, phht, phht, while thinking of the Gray Place, and more importantly, of Finn in the Gray Place.

  Slowly, her thoughts became distant.

  Her next sudden thought was that the sound of Kai’s whittling was gone, replaced by the babble of gently flowing water. She sat up and looked around, no longer in the forest she’d gone to sleep in. Strange, scraggly trees twisted up toward the full moon, partially obscured by mist. It was nighttime here too, mirroring the real world, but the darkness was somehow softer, almost as if the trees and vegetation emitted a barely perceptible glow.

  She took a deep breath of the warm, damp air, then rose to her feet and looked around. She sighed with relief. She’d managed to make it to the Gray Place, but Finn was nowhere to be seen.

  Though the temperature there was much more pleasant th
an what she’d left behind, she shivered and wrapped her cloak more tightly around herself. She repeated that this wasn’t like the last time, where she’d involuntarily dragged Kai and Finn along, trapping them temporarily. She wasn’t here fully, only in her mind. Nothing bad could happen, could it? The cushy moss felt so real beneath her boots, she couldn’t help but question if anything else that might happen there could be real as well.

  Some nearby vegetation rustled. She froze. Something chittered, then growled.

  Anna’s heart rate increased. Could there be beasts in this place, just as tangible as those which dwelt in the real world? She reached to her waist for her daggers, taking comfort as her palms brushed their hard pommels. She had weapons, but would mundane weapons work on creatures in the in-between? Were her weapons even real, and not merely just a projection of her mind?

  She shook her head. The bush had gone quiet, but she wasn’t about to let whatever was hiding there get the jump on her. She withdrew both daggers and crept toward the low shrub, her eyes keenly observing its leaves for signs of movement.

  She slowed her breathing, almost upon the shrub. Should she stab the area blindly, or try to lure the beast out?

  She screamed as something pounced on her back, knocking her to the ground. Her daggers flew from her grasp, and something sharp skimmed along her jaw. She was going to die in the cursed in-between and there was nothing she could do about it. This was all Finn’s fault.

  Just when she thought the killing blow would come, the pressure lessened from her back, then disappeared altogether. She rolled over, searching desperately for her daggers, then slumped in relief.

  “How in the Horned One’s name did you get here?” she sighed.

  Naoki quirked her white, bird-like head, then sat like a loyal dog.

  Anna sighed again. “You’re looking for your mother, aren’t you?”

  Naoki made another chittering sound with her beak, then watched as Anna stood, brushed herself off, then retrieved both of her daggers.