Page 11 of Shaedes of Power (Soul Magic #1)
CHAPTER 11
F arris was sitting by the windows near the lamplight, squinting over one of my large sketchbooks, when I opened the door to my room. He got up quickly, setting the book on the chair and wrapped me in his arms.
“So how did it go? Did you save the world?” he said into my hair.
“Not today,” I replied, refusing to be the first to pull away. “But I do think we have sort of a plan. A direction at the very least. By the Balance, I can only hope it is the right direction.”
“How is everyone holding up? I imagine none of your friends were expecting the ceremony to go that way today.”
“Dru is determined to avenge her father. Leyanna is somehow taking everything too seriously and yet not seriously enough at the same time. I have whiplash from watching her moods swing lately. Lennyx is a calming presence. He seems rational, helpful, and appropriately confused by Leyanna. And Glory is… trying.” There wasn’t a better way to describe our little band of misfits. We were on shaky ground at best.
“And you?” he asked, pulling me to look at his expectant face.
“Lack of glowing red eyes aside”—I smirked—“I think I’m okay. It helps that I don’t think I’m the only one in over my head. ”
“Are you tired?” he asked. “Do you want to go to sleep?” I looked up at the sky; it had to be about nine or ten o’clock. Having slept so late, there was no way either of us were tired, and I was still riding the adrenaline of the renewal ceremony and had plenty of energy to spare.
“Not even close. Want to go for a walk?” Without answering, he grabbed my hand, and we headed for the door.
I led us to the far end of the hallway and up a tower of white stone stairs. It wound and wound upward, presenting doors every so often to other hallways on other floors. The palace was a sprawling citadel built deep within the Corewood Forest. If it weren’t for fear of Ciaran’s ability to portal anywhere outside the castle grounds, I would have loved to take Farris into the heart of the Corewood. Faerie magic is one thing, but naturally occurring forest magic is a sight to behold. Alas, I settled for the sky bridge.
The stairway came to an end at the top of the tower, and the stone steps stopped abruptly, giving way to a woven path of vines and tree branches that came together to make a maze of wiry bridges that crossed over various parts of the castle. Nothing over the living quarters, the bathhouses, or the throne room, but from this high up, we could see a few hallways, a courtyard, and a sitting room far below. Across an open courtyard, we could see the dome of the throne room glowing blue. Even the great entrance hall where we first carried Farris’s lifeless body across the Seam was framed by the Corewood branches beneath our feet.
“This is an architectural feat.” Farris breathed. The pathways were wide, but there were no railings, so it was probably a little unsettling for someone who couldn’t fly.
We walked a little farther, Jupiter large and low in the sky, competing with a pregnant moon. He relaxed a little next to me. From our height, we looked out at the rambling woods, a canopy of thick leaves that went on and on for what looked like an eternity in every direction around the palace and then faded into the night.
“You’ve been here many times before; I’ve seen the sketches,” said Farris.
“Dru and I used to come up here when our parents were in long meetings and pretend we were spies of the court. As I got older, it remained a favorite place, but mostly just to escape court all together. No one ever comes up here.”
“Why? Because they prefer the intrigues of the court?”
“No.” I smiled. “Because faeries can fly and easily obtain this view whenever they like.” He nodded his golden head and accepted this information like he had accepted everything else, with grace.
“It’s a Perryflower,” I said quietly, pointing at my shoulder tattoo. “You’ve discovered all my sketchbooks—without permission, I might add. But I draw so I can tattoo. I did this myself, and a couple other smaller ones you haven’t seen. The Perryflower grows in abundance around here, and there are always ridiculous arguments that pop up from time to time about whether it is blue or purple. Like it matters. Sometimes the fact that something so beautiful exists at all should just be enough. You know?”
He gazed down at me, moonlight reflected in his fair eyes, and said, “I do know.”
“Tattoos are also small acts of rebellion,” I said, continuing to walk. “Much like the human realm. We have to use a special tool called an inkspire to magically fuse the ink to our skin because our magic forces us to heal so fast. My parents were not too happy with me for this, but it’s my shoulder. And in such a visible location, it attracted a lot of attention. I secretly tattooed a lot of friends that year until the High Shaedes caught wind and spelled the castle to remove any inkspires on site.”
“So is that your dream? To be an artist?”
I laughed a little, but then realized he was being serious.
“Oh Farris, faeries don’t have dreams, we have duties. We aren’t humans, with all your freedoms and passions and desires. Tattooing was a hobby at best, but was always just a time filler until I was told what my role at court would be. And whatever that role was would become my eternity.”
I didn’t mean for it to come out so bitter, but it did.
“That’s really sad,” he said.
“What’s your dream?” I asked, quickly changing subjects. We were crossing over a darkened library, shelves of embossed covers glimmering in the moonlight.
“My dream is still in the developing stages. I spent so many years trying to detach from life, living inside books, tagging along to other people’s dreams. I think I’m still searching for who I want to be. And I’m okay with that. I mean, look at you. Your destiny found you pretty quick, whether you were ready or not.”
I don’t know what made me do it, but I was suddenly reaching up and resting Farris’s face in my hands. His cheeks felt smooth and cool, kissed by the night air. My moments with him were waning, and it seemed unfair that he didn’t really even know it. He certainly deserved to.
“You have to return to the human realm tomorrow morning. You’ve healed so well, and I think you will agree that when Ciaran’s time allotment is up, it is not safe for you here.”
“If I recall, I wasn’t all that safe in the human world, either.” He smiled, but it did not reach his eyes.
“I pleaded for more time. They wanted to adapt your memories so you wouldn’t remember the faerie realm.”
His brow furled. “But then I wouldn’t have memory of you.”
“It might have been easier that way,” I admitted, “but I talked them out of it.” Even as I said it, it felt selfish.
A tiny purple bird with velvet wings and a gray beak floated up through one of the ceilings, chirping wildly with a thin wisp of paper in its little claw. It landed nearby in the middle of our path and seamlessly transitioned from a little bird to Glory, who seemed slightly frazzled and a little out of breath.
“Opal, I am so glad you are still up. After the throne room, I went right to the Room of Records. The registrar on duty had no problem pulling up Jovii’s last known location, but in typical Jovii fashion, it is a riddle. About animals. And using words and images I’ve never heard of. I tried to find the others but they have all gone to bed already.”
I had released Farris and accepted the piece of parchment.
The script was in small, uniform uppercase letters, the riddle a little longer than I would have imagined .
“THOSE THAT SURROUND ME, FIND THEY COMPETE
WITH EIGHT HARDENED RINGS, A CELESTIAL FEAT.
BEARS COLORED WHITE, WALK ON THE CROWN
THIS DIRECTION MEANS DARKNESS, THE SUN ALWAYS DOWN.
TREASURE FOR SQUIRRELS, TREE CREATURES AWOKE
AMBER RAIN IN THE AUTUMN, I FALL FROM THE OAK.
WHERE A BEAR SKATES ON ICE, YOU WILL FIND ME,
REVERE IS MY NEIGHBOR, THERE’S TEA IN THE SEA.”
I looked up from reading and saw Glory still traumatized by not being able to immediately figure something out. Farris, however, was just standing there with his arms folded, wearing his signature half-smile.
“The first part is clearly Saturn,” blurted Glory. “But that is not helpful because he is obviously not living there. But all this talk of bears, ice bears—is that even in this realm? I know some of Pellshaeven is snow and ice, so maybe we ask Lennyx? But ‘revere is my neighbor’? Like admiration? Is he in some type of temple or something?” She was spinning out of control.
“I do think the first part is about Saturn, but not the planet itself. ‘Those that surround me.’ Saturn has 146 moons. I think he’s talking about the moons,” I said with only slight confidence.
“We don’t have time to search 146 moons!” Glory exclaimed, clearly not making any sense.
“It’s an address,” said Farris quietly. “He’s in the human realm.”
Glory stared at him skeptically. “And how would you know that? And don’t say because you are human.”
“Well, being human helps,” he continued, smiling. “But these lines all pertain to different parts of an address in the human realm. I know exactly where this is actually.”
“Well, Farris, out with it,” I said. “We need to get there soon before Ciaran takes our lack of action as an invitation to attack.”
“I will give you the address on one condition. You let me come with you. I know you all decided for me that I needed to return home, but if I help with this, I want to see it through.”
I glanced at Glory, who was considering the confidently half-smiling man in front of us. She didn’t like being manipulated any more than she liked being outsmarted. It was killing her that he had knowledge she didn’t, but she wasn’t hard-hearted like Leyanna. She sighed her concession. “Oh fine. But Opal has to defend this decision to the others if they don’t like it. And we can’t promise that we will be able to protect you if anything goes awry.”
“Then it is a good thing that I can take care of myself.” He beamed triumphantly. He snatched the paper from me with a flourish and looked at the fine print. “So 146, the moons of Saturn. The direction where the white bears walk the crown and it’s always dark—that’s polar night. The direction is North. Treasure for squirrels, amber rain from oak trees, that’s acorns. Acorn, to be exact. And the only bear I’ve ever seen skate on ice is the mascot for the Bruins, a hockey team in Boston. Boston, you know, where Paul Revere lived and the historic Boston Tea Party took place.” His smile somehow grew even more smug. “There you have it, 146 North Acorn St, Boston, Massachusetts. Human realm. Let’s go.”