Page 18 of The Fire Apprentice (Sylvania #5)

R ose would know how to find Rowan. Rose would help Jane, she was sure of it.

Jane lifted her chin. “I’d like to meet the elder fairy who uses fire magic and see this place where Elle can apprentice with Sunshine. Before I bring Elle back through the forest to the place where you imprisoned her for two winters. And I want to talk to Rose.”

Larch’s eyes narrowed but after a moment, his chin dipped once and he turned away. “Very well.”

Larch stood with his arms crossed and didn’t move. Jane stepped beside him. “We’ll be leaving soon?”

Instead of answering, he dropped his arms and tilted his head side to side as if working the cricks out of his neck.

She had had enough of him. What was his role here—was he even in charge? She turned back to the first fairy she’d approached, the tall one. “I’m going back with you to make plans for Elle to learn fire magic. I can leave now and I’d like to get started. Can we leave soon?”

The fairy swallowed and glanced past her to Larch.

“That’s fine,” Larch said without turning toward them.

The fairy blinked at Jane. “The tents are packed. We need to get the horses ready.” Her words were rushed and breathless. She peered at Jane with big green eyes. “Um, do you have your things ready? Ma’am?” Maybe she wasn’t used to speaking with humans.

Jane held out her hand. “I’m Jane,” she said. “I’m a friend of Rose, your queen. Thank you for bringing me to see her.”

“Aster.” Aster reached a tentative hand to hers.

Didn’t fairies use handshakes? It seemed very human all of a sudden. Jane didn’t know much about fairy habits or culture. Her time with Larch had been focused on one thing, and besides, she hadn’t known he was a fairy back then. And afterward she had dwelled on the romance of having a fairy lover and that hadn’t been based in any reality. And eventually she hadn’t wanted to think about fairies at all.

Jane shook Aster’s hand gently. “I’ll get my things and be ready soon.” Hopefully Maryanne had another bag Jane could take since her first had been left in the mountains.

Inside, Maryanne had returned to the kitchen, where she sliced the remains of a hunk of half-stale bread. She must not have baked today, with all the excitement of having a dragon in the backyard. A kettle heated on the stove and two cups of herbs sat on the table, waiting for the hot water. Wells had disappeared.

“I’m going to go talk to Rose,” Jane said, “and find out about this place where Elle could have her apprenticeship. It might be safer than having Sunshine spewing fire in the backyard.”

“Rose will know what to do.”

“I lost the satchel in the mountains. I mean, I know where it is but it would take three days to get to it.”

Maryanne raised her eyebrows. “You did have an adventure, didn’t you? Can you tell me the highlights? How much time do we have?”

“The fairies are getting ready to go.”

“Give me some idea of what happened.”

“Um, Rowan and I visited a dragon he knows, who told us where Sunshine’s den was. It was all the way at the crest of the mountain and up a rocky peak—we had to scale cliffs but Rowan knew how to do it. And we found Elle and met Sunshine, but before I could decide what to do—”

“Wait, wait. Go back to ‘a dragon he knows.’ Rowan knows a dragon?”

“He won’t talk about it. But I think he must possess the same kind of magic as Elle. He’d been to see this dragon before and... they seemed sad together. Like they missed each other or something.”

“Like he was Rowan’s Sunshine?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“So why did Sunshine bring Elle home if you were there?”

“There was an uprising at the iron mine. The men who tried to take over Cliffside this spring—remember Kitty told us? They were sent to work at the mine and they mutinied.” Jane recounted what had come next, up to their return to Woods Rest, although she left out all the parts about sleeping on top of Rowan and tumbling and all the distress of thinking Rowan had abandoned her. Maryanne’s eyes widened at the part about soaring through the air in Axe’s claws. She clutched her chest until they were safely on the ground.

“Rowan found Elle,” Maryanne said at the end of the tale. “And he kept you safe.”

“Yes.”

“He was true to his word.”

“Maryanne? About that promise...”

Maryanne sighed. “You’ve fallen for him, haven’t you?”

“I think I might be headed that way.”

Maryanne finished buttering the slices of bread. “I knew it would happen. Luckily you’re back so you can have bitter tea again. In fact...” She reached for the kettle.

“Bitter tea isn’t strictly necessary yet. We didn’t—”

“But you will.”

“How do you know? He might not want to.”

Maryanne rolled her eyes, the kettle in her hand. “He climbed a mountain to rescue your daughter and got beaten in the bargain.”

“Maybe that’s changed his mind. He’s gone home already without saying goodbye. Larch said he was only here on his orders.”

Maryanne scoffed. “And when has Larch been someone you should trust?” She poured the water into the teacups and handed one to Jane.

Jane inhaled the familiar, slightly acrid scent. “I’m sorry to leave you with a dragon in the backyard. I’ll try to figure out a plan quickly.”

“Rose will know what’s best. I’ll go find another satchel.”

Jane had a burning sip of tea and left it on the table to cool. Upstairs, she shed her torn and grubby clothing and washed in the basin. She had only the one pair of trousers so she put on a dress, which wasn’t ideal for riding on horseback but she couldn’t worry about it. She found a kerchief and tied the iron piece to her injured wrist as a splint, using her teeth to pull the knot tight. The slug glue would have been easier, but it was in Rowan’s pack at the iron mine, and besides, the sun was well up by now.

She packed a few things in the new satchel Maryanne procured from some corner of the house. After she’d eaten a slice of bread and drunk her bitter tea, she said goodbye to the children and left them having a picnic beside Sunshine. Maryanne was coming out the back door to join them as Jane left.

The fairies had loaded their saddlebags and mounted their horses. They waited in the road in a loose company with Larch out in front. Was he in charge? Or did he act like he was and the others went along with it?

Of course they had no horse for Jane. No way was she riding behind Larch. She walked to the back of the group to the large horse bearing Aster. “May I ride with you?”

Aster swallowed and surveyed the other fairies on their own mounts, but before a beat passed she licked her lips and turned back. She leaned to slide off her horse, landing in front of Jane. “Would you prefer to ride alone? I can go with—”

“I’ve never ridden a horse alone before.”

“Oh. Okay.” Aster knelt on the ground and patted her knee. “Step up here and pull yourself onto his back. I’m sorry we don’t use the... the human tools. You can hold his mane if you need to.”

Human tools? Stirrups, she meant. And saddles and bridles and all that. The fairies rode on the bare backs of the horses or on a blanket. Of course they could communicate with their horses without pulling on their heads and poking a heel into them.

Jane sent out a silent apology to the horse, in case the horse could sense it, and stepped up. She pushed with a hand flat on the horse’s back and hoisted herself up, and as she pulled a leg over his rump, her dress rode up her thighs. She wobbled as the horse stepped sideways. Her heart thumped in panic, and she grabbed the mane. Aster caught her elbow, steadying her.

Once Jane settled, she pulled her dress down as far as she could, and Aster easily vaulted herself up and over the horse to sit in front of Jane. The other riders moved forward immediately.

“I don’t mind if you hold on,” Aster said quietly. As the horse’s movement rocked Jane, she gripped the fabric of Aster’s tunic. “Let me know if you need anything.” Jane was starting to like Aster. She seemed about the same age as Jane. And she acted more confident without Larch in her face.

The lingering villagers in the lane in front of the house watched the riders pass. The line of horses had to walk through the village square, where more people stepped out on their porches. Jane ducked her head and watched Aster’s back until they were out of the village and heading south on the Forest Road, across the fields toward the forest.

The route they followed led to Woodglen. The fairies lived in a place west of the road, hidden in the forest. Fairies knew how to find it but no clear road led there, as far as she knew. She would have to see how they traveled today to reach it.

She had been through the forest to Woodglen a few times in the past seasons, but she had never left the path. The thought of stepping off the human roadway gave her chills. After Larch had abandoned her in his cabin and she’d given up hope of him returning, she’d stumbled through the trees trying to find her way out. She hadn’t had any idea where Larch had taken her. But since they’d never left the woods from the time he had seduced her in Gold Gulch, she’d guessed they were west of the main road that traversed the continent from Nor Bay to Sar Bay. She had walked east and eventually come out on the Forest Road, where a farmer gave her a ride to the nearest village. In Woods Rest, Ladi and Kitty had taken her in and explained what had happened to her.

Somewhere along the road today, they would pass the place where she’d emerged all those seasons ago. She wouldn’t recognize it—she never had on past trips this way. But the idea of leaving the road and moving into the trees made her shudder.

The horses ahead trotted more quickly. “Okay?” Aster asked before stepping up their pace.

“Yes. Are you able to talk?” Jane asked.

“Um, yes?”

“I didn’t know if you need to focus on the horse to communicate with him.”

“Oh. No, we’re good for a while. He knows to follow the road.”

“Is this group of fairies part of a guard unit?”

Aster shook her head. “We’re one of the groups that forages for herbs and things. We’re most familiar with the mountain region, so we came with Larch because we thought we might have to find the dragon.”

“Have you met dragons before?”

“Oh, no. No one’s seen a dragon in twenty winters or more. Except...”

Aster’s shoulders tensed. Jane waited, hoping Aster would continue.

“I’m not sure if you want to hear about Larch,” Aster confessed.

“Oh.” Did everyone know her history? Still, it was thoughtful of Aster. “I don’t mind. Especially if you tell me bad things about him.”

Aster laughed.

“If you’re allowed to,” Jane added. “If he’s your leader, I understand you not wanting to gossip about him.”

Aster’s shoulders relaxed. “He acts like he’s in charge, doesn’t he? But he’s not. It’s easier to ignore him if we go along with what he says. Assuming it’s nothing objectionable.”

“Is he still a prince?”

“Well... that’s a bit murky. We’re all clear Rose is our queen, and people call Broadleaf a prince—you know Broadleaf is Dustan’s fairy name? But he’s Rose’s life-mate so it makes sense he’s still a prince. The two oldest brothers, Beech and Sycamore, disappeared after the revolution. They were a nasty pair. So it’s just Larch and their little sister Snowdrop who don’t have a clear role, and Snowdrop couldn’t care less about having a title.”

“What about the former queen?” Jane asked, and she couldn’t stop her hands from trembling.

“She’s confined,” Aster said softly. “You won’t have to see her.”

Jane took a moment to calm herself. “Aster,” she asked quietly. “Do you know Rowan?”

“Not well.”

“He helped me find Elle.”

“I heard.”

“I was surprised he left today. We spent so much time together. It seems strange he left without saying goodbye.”

Aster hesitated. “Rowan is well thought of, but he keeps to himself. He never comes to gatherings. And he lives in the caverns, even in the summertime when all of the fairies move to their homes in the trees.”

“I think he has history with Larch,” Jane said, “and with the dragons. He knows a dragon from many seasons ago. And Larch seems to have power over him. What were you going to say before?”

“I’ve heard gossip,” Aster said. “I’m not sure how much of it is true.”

“Tell me?”

Their horse slowed for a few paces and they dropped farther back behind the other riders.

“I said no one had seen a dragon,” Aster said, “except for one time. Ten winters ago, rumors spread that a dragon had come to the forest. Most of us were imprisoned in the caverns, so no one knew who had seen it or how the rumor even started. But two winters later, Rowan disappeared. He used to hang around with us—a bunch of us who were twelve or thirteen winters old—so we noticed he was gone. None of us said anything to the older fairies. We didn’t want the queen to find out. She terrified us and the littlest things would set her off.”

And Larch had given her their infant daughter. Jane shuddered.

“Anyway, a quarter-moon passed and Larch disappeared, too, and then they returned together and Rowan was different. We never saw him much after that, except sometimes he’d be with Larch. And Larch became a bit of a minion of the queen, although he was never as bad as Sycamore and Beech. Something happened between Rowan and Larch but Rowan has never spoken of it.”

“Do you know why Rowan came to Woods Rest?”

Aster shook her head. “I didn’t even realize he had. Like I said, he kept on living in the caverns. I never saw him around the enclave.”

Jane sat back. A dragon came to visit the fairies and shortly after, Rowan disappeared? And then Larch, too? Aster’s story convinced Jane: Rowan should be using fire magic but something had gone wrong. And she’d bet ten gold coins Larch had messed it up for him.

Rowan had a gift he couldn’t use, for whatever reason. And his relationship with Axe made her ache although she didn’t understand it. Elle would never struggle the way Rowan had. Jane had already seen a change in her daughter in the way she focused when practicing her magic with Sunshine. Elle needed to learn to use her magic or she’d suffer the way Rowan still suffered. And if Elle didn’t learn, Sunshine might become as depressed as Axe.

And what about Rowan? Was it too late or could his situation be fixed?

Why had Elle been born with this rare magical ability? Certainly not because of her parents, given who they were—a human and a fairy so incapable he’d needed his friend’s help to seduce her. Were fairies born with their magical abilities, or did the abilities come about later? Maybe Jane’s fascination with blacksmithing, and—apparently—blacksmiths, had led to Elle’s ability with fire.

Or maybe something about Elle herself had caused the magic. Rowan had said sometimes magic did unusual things. The markers on the trees had illuminated to guide Jane through the forest—as if they had known she needed their help. And Rose had had an experience last spring where she’d been in trouble and prayed for help, and a flock of birds had been able to understand her thoughts and come to her rescue. Maybe something about Elle’s harsh early life had led the magic to her.

As Jane and Aster had talked, the group had trotted along the road across the meadows. Jane stifled a yawn as they passed under the trees at the forest’s edge. The sun was well up and the pale young leaves filtered the light reaching the road. The drumming of the horses’ hooves drowned out any sounds of the wind or forest creatures, but squirrels scavenged the last of the fall nuts under the leafy litter on the forest floor. If Jane watched closely, she spotted birds and insects, and they even passed a deer grazing beside the road. The animals ignored the noisy horses. Maybe they understood the fairies wouldn’t bother them.

After a long stretch of riding along the road, the pace slowed. At the head of the line, Larch’s mount stepped aside and stopped and the rest of the line filed past him. He spotted Aster and Jane, and Jane stiffened. If he tried to rejoin the line behind them, she would absolutely protest. The thought of having him at her back made her twitch in discomfort. But he turned again to the front and rejoined the line a few horses ahead of them.

The new leader veered off the road and headfirst into a bush... and disappeared.

“It’s an illusion,” Aster said quietly over her shoulder.

Jane had clenched her hands on Aster’s sides without realizing it. She let go.

“We’ll pass right through it,” Aster continued. “I can see the trail.”

“All I see is a prickly-looking bush.”

“If you close your eyes, you won’t feel a thing.”

“What if I don’t?”

“I’m not sure what you’ll feel,” Aster said, “but it shouldn’t hurt you.”

The turning point neared. Panic thrummed through her, but as the spiked branches approached, she decided: eyes open. She winced and shrank behind Aster as their horse turned face-first into the thorny bush. The branches shimmered around the horse and the horse kept walking as if nothing were there. Jane entered the bush and thorns scraped over her hair and tugged at her dress, pulling her backward. Her hands held firm on Aster’s sides and her body didn’t actually move back. The branches slid off her and she was through.

She exhaled and slumped in her seat.

“What happened?” Aster asked with a note of concern.

“I could feel the thorns pulling me off the horse. It only let up when we got through.”

“Ugh.”

“Is this part more illusion?” Jane asked as they plodded between bushes and over the leaf litter of last autumn. “I can’t see a trail at all.”

Aster laughed. “No. You’re seeing everything. Humans like to pound out a trail anyone can follow but fairies try to destroy as little vegetation as possible.”

At one time Jane might have bristled at the implication that the fairy method was better than the human one, but she was starting to agree. She studied the row of horses ahead. “How are you following it? Aside from following the horse in front of you.”

“Sometimes I can see the faint track across the forest floor. And sometimes there are markers on the trees or small stacks of stones that show the way.”

“Rowan and I followed markers on the mountain trail. They glowed at night.”

“I’m glad Rowan knew how to light them.”

“Actually,” Jane said, and for some reason she blushed, “it was me. I was alone that night and they lit up for me.”

“Did they!”

Three horses ahead of them, Larch’s head jerked slightly sideways.

“Why were you alone on the trail at night?” Aster asked, lowering her voice. “Where was Rowan?”

Should she whisper to annoy Larch? Her adventure with Rowan was none of his dratted business. But he’d accused Rowan of failing when Rowan hadn’t failed her at all, and she wanted Larch to know it.

“Rowan knew exactly where to find Elle,” Jane said a little louder than she needed to. “But it took us all day to reach Sunshine’s den. And in the middle of the night, a group of men from the nearby iron mine came after Sunshine. It was bad luck we happened to be there. Sunshine escaped with Elle, and Rowan led the men away to protect me. I came down the trail alone.”

“Stars!” Aster said. “How did you both make it back to Woods Rest?”

“We rescued the rest of the miners—there’d been a mutiny—and Axe gave us a ride back. He’s another dragon that Rowan knows.”

Larch definitely flinched that time.

“You flew with a dragon?” Aster said, turning in her seat with wide eyes.

“Mm-hm.” Jane grinned.

The line of horses straightened and up front, the leader picked up their speed again. Aster told Jane she had to focus on navigating this section, so Jane was left with only her thoughts for company. She daydreamed of Rowan for a while and tried not to worry about what would happen when she found him. The sun moved up the sky, shifting the dappled shade to smaller and smaller shadows, and she found herself yawning again. She couldn’t nod off or Aster would have to tie her to the horse.

Ahead of her, the back of Larch’s head bobbed in time with his horse’s strides. He’d been so charming when she’d first known him. She must be a completely different person now because she couldn’t recapture her admiration for him at all, even when she tried to recall how she had felt. Larch seemed bossy and arrogant and honestly a bit tiresome. Had he changed as well? Or had he always been this way and she’d been too naive and enamored with him to see it?

What had his mother’s downfall been like for him? He hadn’t left with his older brothers. Was he trying to be a better person? Maybe Rose and Dustan were a positive influence on him.

Larch lifted his face up toward the branches. Jane followed his gaze. A pair of wrens flitted from branch to branch as if they were traveling with the horses. Larch shook his head and lowered his gaze. The horses pranced on and when Jane checked, the birds had disappeared.

The ground before the horses’ hooves flattened into a dirt track that even Jane could see, and the horses’ pace slowed until they walked sedately among large trunks. Jane gazed all around her, but she couldn’t see any of the fairies’ famed treehouses. A barn loomed up ahead and as they came out into the cleared grass beside it, most of the riders halted and prepared to dismount.

Larch turned. “This way.” He followed the track past the barn and when it split, he turned to the right. Only Aster continued after him.

“Where are we heading, Larch?” Aster asked, frowning.

“To the forge. Jane wants to see it.”

Beyond the barn was a long meadow and farther on the track dove under the trees again. Jane controlled her impatience. They could see the forge, as he called it, and then she’d ask Aster to take her to Rose—

“Halt,” a familiar voice called out, and hope swelled in Jane’s chest.

Someone dropped from the trees onto the path ahead, landing in a crouch. They straightened up, blocking the way, and looked up. Jane smiled and Rose grinned back.