The Twisted Tale of Faerywood Falls Read online

  “Quiet, old woman,” Lady Ferrin said. “Put your hands out,” she said to me.

  Do you really want to do this? Athena asked.

  I knew she was nearby, and was glad she hadn’t been caught.

  I don’t really have a choice, I thought back to her. Besides…this might be a chance for me to plead with the council about what’s going on, maybe getting some help from them with this monster.

  But didn’t Lady Yurl just say that none of them believed –

  “What’s the hold up?” Lady Ferrin asked, her tone acidic. “Put your hands out already!”

  I did as she asked, and the floating, glowing cuffs snapped around my wrists.

  Lady Ferrin smirked. “Good. Now let’s go.”

  It wasn’t a long walk over to the large tree where the council hall was located. I didn’t fight, I didn’t say anything. This was actually working out in my favor. Before tonight, I had no hope of getting in front of the council.

  I should have thought about getting caught doing something like this weeks ago, I said to Athena. Maybe someone would’ve listened to me that way.

  Don’t get too excited about it…Athena said. There’s still a lot that can go wrong.

  We walked through the enormous front doors, and I was surprised to see it was as busy as it still was. People were streaming in and out of the halls, and many of them stopped to see us as we walked past.

  I was not all that pleased when their gazes would dip down to the cuffs around my wrists, which wouldn’t lower no matter how hard I tried.

  The familiar dark purple doors of the council hall came into view, along with the silver bells hanging on either side.

  “I know someone who is going to be so happy to see you,” Lady Ferrin said with a malicious smirk in my direction.

  “I can only imagine who that might be…” I said, unable to hold back the snark. Whether it was exhaustion or nerves, I wasn’t entirely sure.

  “Wait here,” Lady Ferrin said, and she pulled open one of the doors, slipping inside.

  “I’m terribly sorry about this…” Lady Yurl said in a low voice behind me. “If I had known she was around – ”

  “It’s okay,” I said, glancing briefly over my shoulder. “I kind of wanted to talk to you all about some things anyways.”

  She seemed surprised by this. Just as she opened her mouth to speak again, the bells on either side of the doors chimed.

  Lady Yurl’s eyes widened. “Well…I suppose it’s time for us to go in, isn’t it?”

  I took a deep breath, and followed her through the doors.

  The council hall was just as I remembered it. Cavernous and gorgeous, the lack of light streaming through the enchanted windows gave the room a moody quietness. Stars glittered and the moon, which was almost full, filtered in on the floor in long, bright beams.

  “Marianne Huffler…” came a voice from one of the crystal thrones in the balcony that encircled the whole room above me.

  I looked up and saw the face of Delilah Griffin staring down at me, as murderous as I’d ever seen her.

  I glared right back. I was not going to back down just because she was here.

  Surprisingly, every single one of the eleven thrones was filled…all except that of Lady Yurl, who had walked in with me.

  “Why am I not all that surprised it was you?” Delilah sneered. “When Ferrin said that someone was sneaking around in the library – ”

  “This is ridiculous!” said the council member with the short blue hair that matched her robes. She was pointing down at me, and even from where I stood, I could see high spots of color on her face. “We should just throw her in the dungeons for trespassing!”

  Dungeons? I asked Athena. I knew this place felt medieval in some ways…but dungeons? Really?

  “We haven’t used that place in over a hundred years,” said the only male member on the council. He looked more annoyed that he’d been woken than anything. His arms folded across his chest, he turned to look down at me. “You are aware of the fact that you were forbidden from coming back here, correct?”

  “Yes, my Lord,” I said. “But something that’s been going on back in Faerywood Falls drove me to it. I had no other choice.”

  There was a clear snort of derision from Delilah. “No other choice…please.”

  I tried not to let her words get to me. “I’m serious. There’s something in Faerywood Falls that is unnatural. It’s powerful. And it needs to be stopped.”

  “What, like the Boogieman?” asked the council member with the blue hair.

  “There’s no need for derision, Lady Rue,” said Lady Yurl, her brows forming one straight, foreboding line.

  Lady Rue blanched slightly, and sat back in her throne like a pouting child.

  “What is this something unnatural you speak of?” asked another woman above, a woman far more composed than Ferrin, Rue, or Delilah had been.

  “It’s…a monster,” I said. “That’s the only way I can describe it.”

  Muttering met my words, along with snorting laughter from Delilah.

  “You mean you, right?” she asked. “I mean, because there’s nothing more frightening than a faery.” Her tone became serious. “And nothing quite so powerful…” Her gaze pierced me, but I stood my ground.

  “Come on, do you really think we’re going to believe in something like a monster?” Lady Rue asked. “What are we, children? Is this story time and no one informed me?”

  “Lady Rue,” Lady Yurl said sharply. “And Lady Delilah.”

  Her voice echoed around the room, and everyone fell silent.

  “You will allow her to speak…” Lady Yurl said. “And you will remain silent as she does.”

  Lady Rue was starting to get on my nerves almost as much as Delilah.

  “What sort of monster?” the male council member asked, a thick brow arching up his forehead. “Many of the Gifted races could be considered monsters, especially to the Ungifted.”

  “This isn’t like that,” I said. “It’s hard to even explain. It’s huge. It has claws like a bear or some kind of giant cat…and every time I look at it, I can’t quite see it. Almost like my vision is enchanted to just…slide right off it or something.”

  The Lord looked down at Lady Yurl, his gaze hardening. “We have never heard of any such monster,” he said.

  “Yes, I know,” I said, pulling the book I’d stolen from the library from the inside of my jacket.

  Lady Ferrin gasped. “Where did you get that?” she asked incredulously.

  I flipped it open to the page I’d been reading before Lady Yurl discovered me.

  “…it is found that the darkness the magic of the forest has will manifest itself in a more physical manner. Often times, it will take the shape of a hulking beast of shadows, with the ability to – ”

  “How can we be sure that you didn’t write those words, Marianne Huffler?” asked Delilah.

  I gaped at her. “I – I didn’t. I found them, in this book. Look – ”

  “I’ve heard enough,” Lady Ferrin said, getting to her feet with a dismissive wave. “She is a faery. We can’t trust a thing that comes out of her mouth.”

  “Yes, how do we know it’s not all lies?” asked another member who had been silent up to that point.

  “It’s not,” I said. “I’m not lying. I want your help. I need – ”

  “Your mother couldn’t be trusted either,” said the woman beside Lady Rue. “So how can we be expected to trust you?”

  “We can’t,” Lady Rue said. “That’s why we exiled her, of course.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” Lady Yurl said. “Lady Adriana was a wonderful addition to our council. She helped us through a great many trials, and was one of the most supportive, encouraging leaders we’ve ever – ”

  “She deceived us,” said the woman beside Rue. “Outright lied to us about being a faery…just as her daughter did.”

  The anger in my veins started to surge. This wasn’t fair. They
weren’t even giving me a chance. They weren’t listening.

  “Listen!” I said, stepping forward, my voice rising. “This monster is dangerous. Lethal. It’s killed people already. Gifted. It attacked me.”

  “Oh, blah, blah, sob story,” Delilah said. “The real world isn’t working so well for you, huh? Well, we don’t really care. It’s not our fault that you came in here, trying to be something you’re not.”

  “So you’re not going to help me?” I asked.

  “Why should we?” Lady Rue asked.

  “You were lying from the very beginning,” Delilah said. “You aren’t a spell weaver. You’re just a thief.”

  Her words struck me like a mallet to a gong, echoing on and on inside my head.

  You’re just a thief.

  “Get out of here,” said the woman beside Rue, her gaze darkening. “And ensure that you never step foot inside the Hollow ever again.”

  Something changed within me. The anger sort of…morphed. It grew and expanded, swelling all through my mind, my body.

  I took a step forward, and when my foot touched the ground, green bolts of lightning surged out from beneath it.

  “…Or what?” I asked, the lightning crackling as it coursed up my legs and tangled around my arms. It sparked, but it did nothing more than tingle against my skin.

  Eyes around the room widened. Even Lady Yurl took a step back from me, her hand clasped over her chest.

  I glared at each of them before I turned and started toward the doors leading out, leaving a deathly quiet room behind me.

  What was that? Athena asked. I didn’t know you could do that!

  …I didn’t either, I said back.

  3

  “Marianne? Wait.”

  I was halfway down the hall, feeling awfully proud of myself for standing up to the council like I had…when a familiar voice met my ear.

  I turned and saw Zara Whitewater, Bliss’s mentor standing just behind the open doors to the council hall.

  “Zara,” I said. “What’re you doing here?”

  “I heard all the commotion,” she said. “I was working in my office when Lady Ferrin came blazing by me looking for Lady Rue.”

  My skin prickled at the mention of their names.

  She glanced hesitantly around the door. Beyond, I could hear voices, but I forced myself not to listen to them.

  “Come with me,” Zara said in a low voice, waving me toward her.

  Athena? I asked.

  I’m down the next hall, she said. I’ll meet you there.

  I followed quickly after her, and trekked the short distance down to her office.

  It was much quieter on this side of the tree. All the offices I passed were dark. All except for Zara’s.

  She stepped inside and waited for me to step through.

  Just as she began to close the door, Athena slipped through the crack, the fine, silky fur at the end of her tail just narrowly missing being caught in the frame.

  “Aren’t you going to get in trouble for letting me come in here?” I asked.

  Zara crossed to her elegantly carved chair and sank down into it, evidently exhausted. “Yes, I will,” she said. “But this is all bigger than me now, and I can’t afford to let my pride get in the way.”

  Her eyes darted down to the book I still clutched in my hand.

  “I recognize that,” she said. “It’s something I studied from myself.”

  I sat down at a chair across from her at her desk, and set the book down between us. “It’s full of all these handwritten notes…most of them about faeries.”

  Athena jumped up into my lap and settled right down like a cat. I could feel the pride just oozing off her in waves.

  “Do you know who wrote them?” I asked, pointing to a random note on the page I flipped to.

  Zara shook her head. “No. This book was written a long time ago, and these notes must have been easily a hundred years or so before my time. But I read through them…and I must be honest, I haven’t hardly ever seen theories like these.”

  I watched her closely as she picked up the book and began to flip through the pages, her eyes narrowing as she searched.

  “What are you looking for?” I asked.

  “Something I can barely remember,” she said with a smirk.

  I sat back and let her look. I didn’t know Zara all that well, but that didn’t matter. Bliss trusted her, so it was easy for me to trust her, too.

  “Here it is…” she said, laying the book down and turning it toward me. “When a faery is particularly strong – we call those Lights – it is found that the darkness the magic of the forest has will manifest itself in a more physical manner.” She looked up at me. “You know what this means, right?”

  I swallowed, my face flushing. “Not exactly, no.”

  “You’re a Light,” she said, her eyes widening. “That’s the reason why this monster appeared when it did.”

  “But what does that mean, exactly?” I asked. “It was hard enough to swallow the fact that I was a faery. But now I’m supposed to accept that I’m some sort of special faery?”

  As I spoke, Zara got up from her chair and crossed to one of the many shelves in her office. She browsed through a group of them, her finger extended as she brushed it along the spines.

  “Special might be the apt choice of word…” Zara said, returning to her desk with an enormous book that looked like it needed a good cleaning.

  The cloud of dust that rose into the air when she set it down confirmed it.

  “A Light is a faery that is not chosen at random…” she said, opening the book toward the back. She then began flipping pages, her eyes quickly scanning headings and sections. “It’s something that the forest magic sees fit, and then chooses a suitable faery to bestow it on – aha, here it is.”

  She pressed her finger to the book’s page and began to read.

  “The ever present fight against the darkness is waged within the depths of the forest, but the forest cannot defeat it alone. The keeper of the magic, the faery, is called to the forest, where they are chosen and make a pact with the forest.”

  “A pact?” I asked. “I don’t remember doing anything like that.”

  But your mother did, Athena said from my lap.

  I looked down at her, understanding washing over me. “You mean when she asked the forest to protect me when I was an infant?”

  “Adriana asked for the forest’s protection for you?” she asked, flipping a few more pages. “Yes. Right here. The forest chose you as its Light. I take it the spell worked?”

  I nodded. “I had possession of a ghost speaking ability for a short time, and I used it to speak with a ghost that had known my mother. She told me about the ritual my mother performed, which required her own blood to work. Then the forest seemed to accept her spell, because it responded with vines of magic, and – ”

  “Yes,” Zara said, her finger pressed to the page so hard it was turning white. “That’s precisely what happened. The forest accepted you as its Light.” She looked up at me. “Marianne, you might be the first Light in thousands of years.”

  I heard what she said, but it didn’t really make much sense.

  “Okay, but…what does that mean, exactly? Yes, I know the forest protected me, and I know that the spell worked, but why does that make me special?” I asked.

  “Because it seems that the forest doesn’t often choose faeries like it chose you,” she said. “They will pass over faeries that aren’t worthy of it.”

  I narrowed my gaze. “Aren’t worthy? Come on, that sounds so – ”

  “Just listen for a moment,” Zara said. “What I meant was that the forests only give the sort of protection magic it gave to you when they find someone that can set the balance of things right. For whatever reason, the magic within the forest saw something in you that was worth protecting.”

  I groaned, sitting back in the chair. “That’s not helpful at all,” I said. “I still don’t know anything about
what being a Light means.”

  Zara’s eyes darted across the page, soaking up the information. “Well…I think it unfortunately means you are going to have to be the one who takes down that monster,” she said. “Or at least, you’ll have to help do it.”

  My eyes widened. “So you believe what I said about the monster? You heard what I said?”

  Zara nodded. “I did. And I do. This information I’ve shared with you…it’s all based on a second-hand account, but everything I’m reading here…the shadows, the inability to see it, the insatiable thirst for blood…it sounds just like this monster you were speaking of.”

  I let out a long, heavy sigh. “I just…don’t even know what to think,” I said. “So…because I’m a Light, it means that I’m now forced to fight this thing? I don’t even know how!”

  “Just because you might have to be the one to do it doesn’t mean you have to fight it alone,” Zara said. She leaned toward me, her gaze sharp and intent. “You must be very careful, Marianne Huffler. If this monster is truly what the book says it might be…then you are going to need all the help you can get, and need to keep your allies on your side if things are going to work out.”

  “No need to be so gentle with me,” I said, somewhat sarcastically. I frowned. “Sorry. That was out of line.”

  “I understand you’re frightened,” she said. “That’s perfectly normal.”

  I wasn’t sure how normal any of this really was.

  I looked around her room, trying to wrap my head around all I was learning. So not only was I a faery already, but I was some sort of strange, special faery with the ability to kill monsters of darkness?

  My life just kept getting better and better.

  My eyes fell on a pale blue crystal ball nested in a rose gold stand on the corner of Zara’s desk. I blinked. It was a wonder I hadn’t seen it sooner. “That’s a lovely crystal ball,” I said.

  Zara glanced over at it. “Well, thank you. I’m quite fond of it as well. I’ve had it since I was an apprentice here.”

  “I’ve been experiencing weird things with a crystal ball lately,” I said in a small voice.

  “Have you?” Zara asked. “That’s strange…I hadn’t detected any kind of psychic ability in you when I first did your evaluation,” she said. “When did this happen?”