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Chapter 15
Bree
There werehundreds of Dark Fae in the Great Hall, but Eurig and Bree took care of as many as they could. Bree’s physical strength had grown during her time spent in Underworld, through all the training she had done with Rafe. Together, they carried many of the bodies out of the hall and back to their living quarters. Some they were forced to leave as they were, but they made sure to shift them to more comfortable positions for if and when they woke up. They checked each body for wounds or bruises and tended to anyone that had been harmed during thefall.
Eurig silently helped Bree take Rafe back to his quarters and left her alone with him without even asking a question. Even though Eurig had challenged Rafe to a duel, he did seem to have a newfound respect for their instructor. And he seemed to understand that Bree had a special bond with him, a bond that was unlike any of the others that had developed during her time spent in thecastle.
Her bond with Rafe was different than her magical bond with Taveon, it was different than the friendship she had found in Ethne, and it was certainly different than the strange push-pull relationship she had developed with Dagen when she had worked as his spy. Rafe was hers and she was his, even though they had made no formal commitment to eachother.
With a sad sigh, Bree stared down at his prone form where he lay on his bed, now looking as if he was doing nothing more than sleeping peacefully. She dragged a finger down his cheek, remembering the way he had done exactly the same to her. She hated to leave him in the castle all alone, but if she didn’t, she might never be able to find whoever had done this. And the cure. She would go to the ends of the realm if she hadto.
A light knock sounded on the door, a signal from Eurig that it was time to move on. Together, they carried the rest of the council members to their quarters along with Ethne and Dagen. Through the bond, Bree sent information to Taveon, keeping him up-to-date on their movements. She couldn’t bear to go to his side, knowing that she would have to leave him there once again with nothing more than his thoughts to keep him company. There was no telling how the bond would work when they were light years away from each other. Did it only work when they were in close proximity? Would it become weaker the further she traveled away from him? Unfortunately, it was time to findout.
Luckily, the horses had not fallen prey to the same curse their masters had, though they seemed to have an inkling that something was wrong. One of the stable boys had also fallen, and one of the horses had taken up residence next to him, as if she were trying to keep his body warm until he woke from hisslumber.
Eurig and Bree chose two to take on the mission, but then set the others free. There was no telling how long it would be before the fae of the castle awoke, which would leave the horses alone in their stalls with nothing to eat. At least if they were free, they could graze on the land, though there were other dangers outside of the castle, like the Wilde Fae. But, right now, out there was far better than stuck inside of a castle full ofghosts.
“You ready?” Eurig asked as he sat atop a golden horse. He looked as if he belong there, as if he had been riding all of hislife.
Bree grabbed the reins of the silver horse and very unladylike slid onto the back of it. She had never been a rider in the human realm and she hadn’t done much of it in the Light Fae realm either. She mostly ran on her own two feet, often in her beastly form. Truth be told, even if it meant transforming into the beast, she almost wished that was how they were travelingnow.
“I thought outposters spent their entire lives on the sea,” Bree said as they turned toward the front gates. “So, color me surprised that you’re able to ride a horse soeasily.”
Eurig chuckled. “There is much misinformation about the outposters, especially being told within these castle walls. Yes, we are born over water, and we live on the sea, but we are smart enough to know that certain skills can take us far in life. And some of us have always dreamed of going further. I spent my childhood learning how to ride. My parents would take me ashore, we would ride for a day, and then we would go backhome.”
His voice was sad, and his eyes were distant, as if they were focused on a memory from a long, long time ago. A memory that was nothing good. Bree yearned to ask him about it. She wished to know more about his history, of his life on the sea and on the land, but he suddenly closed himself off to her, and a shutter went across all of hisemotions.
“Enough about that. We better get started.” Eurig flicked the reins and led the way down the stone road past the open courtyard near the front gates. The cluster of fallen guards was another sign that the curse had gone much further than the Great Hall alone. Bree couldn’t help but wonder just how far it had spread. Had it gone beyond the castle? Had it gone across the entire realm? If so, Bree had no idea how they would find any answers. If there was no one else awake in the realm except for the two of them, how would they make any progress atall?
“Where are we going first?” Bree asked. “I mean, as much fun as it might be to ride aimlessly all around Underworld, maybe we should come up with a gameplan.”
“I thought perhaps we should check out one of the nearby villages,” Eurig said, slowing his horse so that he could fall back to trot beside Bree. She was riding just a tad slower than he was. And she hoped he wouldn’t be insufferable about her slower speed. “We can see if the fae who live there have been cursed as well. If not, then we will know that it was just confined to thecastle.”
“And if it wasn’t just confined to the castle?” Bree couldn’t help butask.
Eurig fell silent for a moment, his eyes gazing at the distant horizon. “Well, then we will address that problem when we reach it. One step at a time. We do not know exactly what is happening here. Once we have a better idea, we can make aplan.”
An eerie sensation whispered through Bree’s gut. Eurig might pretend that he hadn’t considered the repercussions, but she knew he had already imagined it, just the same as she had. Silently, they reached the front gates of the castle. Eurig jumped down from his horse to unlock the gates and push them wide open while Bree led the horses to the other side. He closed the gates behind them, even though that would do little good if the Wilde Fae came calling while they weregone.
After Eurig joined Bree back on the horses, they rode down the path that Bree had first used to reach the castle with Taveon that fateful day that felt so long ago now. In fact, it felt like years. She didn’t truly know how long it had been. One month, maybe two. Three, at most. The weeks have both flown by and dragged like a chain that she worn when she first arrived. Indeed, it was hard to imagine a time when she had not lived in Underworld. The Light Fae realm felt distant, even while wearing her old fighting leathers, but her time as a human felt even further away than that. Like it happened to someone else, in a differentlifetime.
And she guessed it had. Bree was no longer the human girl she had once been. This realm had changed her, and her life as a shapeshifting beast had changed her. The fae males she had gotten so close to had also changed her. Taveon had changed her, in the very opposite way she would haveexpected.
Sighing, Bree stared at the distant horizon, knowing exactly where the black rocks would lie down the path. The ring of rocks that could lead her straight back to her old life, to Otherworld, to the Light Fae she’d leftbehind.
It was strange, really. When she’d first come here, she wanted nothing more than to go back to the place she felt was her home. But now, she was on that road, heading in the very direction of the place Bree had fought so hard to return to. But she would not use the Faerie Ring to go back now. She would continue on past it, if that was where their path would lead. There was still too much for her to do for the Dark Fae before she wentback.
“So, how far is this nearest village?” Bree asked after several long moments had passed by without a single word uttered between the two of them. Bree wasn’t the kind of girl to enjoy silence for too long. She babbled nonsense if she had to, a fact that got her into trouble more often than not. “Is itfar?”
Eurig cast a strange glance in her direction before he focused his attention on the horizon ahead. “I am surprised you do not know this. Has Rafferty not taught you about the villages and the geography of Underworldyet?”
Bree frowned. “Unfortunately, we got a little sidetracked when it came to that kind of training. There hasn’t been much time for lessons on geography or town names or even anything related to creatures or poisons. All my training so far has been on the physical side of things. The shapeshifting, the fighting. There was the whole Battle for the Crown that we had to prepare for, and then your arrival. There’s just been one thing after another. I know Taveon always planned for me to learn more than just fighting, but we just haven’t had a chance to getthere.”
“I see.” Eurig didn’t seem to approve of her training, which wasn’t particularly surprising. He didn’t seem to approve of much of anything at all. “I understand his need to make you champion, though I cannot say I approve of how he handled it. Your lack of knowledge will make this journey far more difficult than it needs tobe.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Bree asked, lifting an eyebrow as she flicked the reins in an attempt to keep up with Eurig’s quicktrot.
Eurig spread his arm wide, gesturing at the moonlit countryside that surrounded them. It was beautiful in a haunting sort of way. On her first journey here with Taveon, she’d been so angry, her chains rattling and her wrists stinging from pain. She hadn’t paid much attention to the scenery then, but there was no denying its beauty now. The grass was silver and green, the hues lit up by the silver glow of the orb that hung low in the sky. Underworld was always cast in darkness, but the precious hours when the moon was high in the sky was often far more glorious than any daytime Bree had everseen.
