Page 28 of The Shadow Path (Shadowlands #2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

“ T he first thing you must do is hide the children.” Dru was hunched over, and he had never looked more inhuman. The fort where Carys and Cadell had been granted access was riven through with roots and vines that crawled down the muddy walls. Green ivy curled around the twisted roots that formed a kind of primitive throne beneath the earth.

The blue sigils on Dru’s face were darker now, and a circlet of shining silver ran around his forehead and through his tangled hair.

It must have been a trick of the eye or glamour, but from certain angles, it appeared that two large antlers grew from Dru’s head, not unlike the headdresses of the stag dancers they had seen at Anglian parties.

The round barrow was filled with the fae prince’s collection of wild fae courtiers. Tall fae, wary dark-eyed brownies, and various beasts with intelligent eyes. Owls perched along the vine-covered walls, and a blue fire burned in the center of the room.

Cadell spoke into Carys’s mind. You see his true nature now.

Is he light fae or dark?

Light in name, dark in spirit. Perhaps they are more alike than different.

“Hide the children,” the prince repeated, speaking to the brownies. “The houses in Anglia who don’t have house spirits must be protected, or my brother will take more children and hold greater sway over the humans.”

“They are weak,” a brownie with a gnarled face said. “They offer no sacrifices to the hearth.”

“They are ignorant, not weak,” Dru said to the wizened old fae. “The ancient ways must be revived. In this, my brother is correct. The humans have grown too mundane, too fascinated with the Brightlands.” Dru’s eyes rose to Carys. “Some Shadowkin even desire to leave this place and live under the sun. We must remind them what magic can do.”

“If we protect the human children” —a long-haired fae with willow branches strewn through her hair spoke up— “who will protect our young?”

“Take them to the unicorns. If there is a safe haven in this world, the pure folk have created it.” Dru’s eyes went back to Carys. “Leave me with the dragon and his lady. You know what you must do.”

The fae creatures in the round barrow slipped away into the shadows, leaving Carys, Cadell, and Dru alone save for the cadre of watching owls.

“My messengers.” Dru glanced at them. “They are loyal to me. Crows and ravens are not to be trusted in these times.”

“Owls are swifter and more silent in flight,” Cadell muttered.

Carys thought about sitting, and as if the earth had read her mind, a twisted bunch of roots crawled from the earth, forming a makeshift bench behind her.

“Sit,” Dru said. “Did my message reach your uncle?”

Carys nodded. “All the human families in Cymru have been told to go to houses guarded by wild fae. Brownies mostly, but a few houses have different familiar spirits or animal spirits that guard them.”

“Cian will target the children first,” Dru said. “They know that, don’t they?”

“More have disappeared,” Cadell said. “Not dragons or wolves, but more humans.”

“He won’t eat them,” Dru said. “Not around Orla. He’ll use them to threaten the other thrones.”

Meaning Cian would eat the children if Orla wasn’t around? Carys pictured the handsome, golden-haired fae prince from Harold’s coronation and shook her head at the thought.

“You’re thinking he’s civilized,” Dru said. “You are thinking he is a pretty face with more care for his long hair than his wife’s throne.” Dru shook his head slowly. “You are very wrong. Cian is Elatha’s son, and Elatha was of Fomorian blood.” His eyes reached out to Carys. “Do you know what that means, daughter of two worlds?”

“It means that his father was old.” Fomorians were another magical race that were older even than the Irish fae in myths and stories, but Carys hadn’t heard mention of them among the modern people of the Shadowlands.

“They came across the sea, grasping for power,” Dru said. “My father was the sea. Elemental. Eternal. Erratic but enduring. Lir has no need for power because he is power.”

“But the Fomorians were conquerors?”

“Cian is hungry,” Dru muttered. “He was always so hungry.”

“Your brother has glamoured the queen of éire,” Cadell said. “She wouldn’t risk her throne if she was in her right mind.”

“Don’t be fooled into thinking Orla is a pawn.” Dru’s eyes glinted in the blue fire. “The Alban prince killed the queen’s daughter, a daughter she believes was given to her by the gods. A daughter she valued above her other children.”

“Because Regan was Orla’s natural daughter with Cian?”

Dru nodded. “If open war breaks out, they could very well go to Alba first to seek revenge for Regan’s death.”

“How will they fight?” Cadell said.

“With magic,” Dru answered. “With the shadows and with whispers. That’s why it’s so important for humans to seek the protection of their house spirits.” Dru leaned forward. “The humans will turn on each other. Cian will poison their crops. Their animals will die. Soon they won’t be able to help it.”

True to Dru’s prediction, shadows grew deeper all over London even as the wolves and wild fae were retrieving many of the children and returning them to their homes.

Carys, Duncan, and Cadell were walking through the green market near the Tamis with a list from Laura, herbs and roots she needed to reinforce the wards around Dafydd’s house.

“You there!” a woman shouted. “Stop this, both of you!”

There was a scuffle and a grunt as a crowd gathered in front of a tall cart painted bright blue and stacked with tin canisters.

Duncan strode into the melee with Cadell behind him. “What are you doing, you idiots?”

Two humans were wrestling over a tin canister that rolled on the ground.

Cadell picked up one man by the collar while Duncan wrangled the other man’s arms behind his back.

As they were fighting, a woman jumped on the back of the wagon and lifted her arms. “I told all of you, one per person and that’s all we have today!”

People in the crowd shouted, but Cadell walked over, tossed the thrashing man to the ground, and roared at them, his throat growing red and his body getting bigger.

“Calm down,” the dragon said. “There will be no violence today.”

Moments later, red-coated soldiers ran through the center of the market with their shields up, and the crowd settled down.

“What is going on?” Carys righted the canister and heard sloshing. “Is this… milk? You guys are fighting over milk?”

The man Cadell had thrown on the ground stared at the milk canister with greedy eyes. “We have five families living in a house with one hob to guard the little ones,” he said. “We need the milk more than he does.”

“You have five families?” The man Duncan was holding tried to lunge forward. “Our village had forty cows yesterday, and this morning they’re all dead. Every one of them. If the broonies don’t get milk, not a child in our village is safe.”

Conditions in the city and surrounding villages were growing dire. It was just as Dru had said. The household fae were protecting human families, but brownies were proud folk. Insult them, and they would leave you for another family that was all too eager to bribe them with whatever they had.

All this was happening at the same time that crops and animals were suffering all over Anglia and Alba. The ellyllon of Cymru were offering humans in that country their protection, and refugees were pouring into the southern valleys and the mountains in the north, searching for a safe place for their people and animals.

But in Anglia, villagers had taken to gathering wild roots and hunting game, which were not affected by whatever spells Cian’s magic had spread in the soil. Wheat and barley crops withered in the fields, and only wild oats survived.

Hares and rabbits were plentiful, and fish still jumped in the river, but dairy cows were growing sick and dying, and sheep neither gave wool nor dropped lambs on the hillsides. The only domestic animals that seemed to be too stubborn to die were the goats, and if you had a flock of those, you could ask any price for their milk that you wished.

The dead livestock were piled on the outskirts of London and set on fire by the dragons before sickness could spread, but nothing seemed to stop the plague from spreading across the land.

“Thought we had some magic of our own.” The man that Duncan held wrested free from the blacksmith’s grasp and shook his shoulders. “What’s the king doing to stop these fae bastards?”

“It’s not all the fae,” Carys said. “Remember, the brownies and the sprites are the ones protecting?—”

“It may not be all of them.” The man’s face fell when he saw the canister of milk disappear into the crowd. “But it’s enough.” His shoulders slumped. “We won’t survive this.”

Carys leaned close. “Go to King Dafydd’s manor north of Hyde Forest. Tell them Carys sent you, and there should be some milk they can give you. So far our cows have been healthy.”

Whatever wards Laura had put up were working, and Dru’s magic infused the soil. While most of London was withering, Hyde Forest and the surrounding meadows were thriving. The wolves had to patrol the forests at night to keep Londoners from poaching too many of the deer. The city was hungry, and meat was becoming a luxury when venison and beef had been plentiful only weeks before.

The village man looked at the ground. “Thank you, my lady.”

Duncan walked over as the man was calling for his teenage son who was waiting by a small wagon. “You can’t feed all of London, Carys.”

“I know.” She sighed. “But I can help him.”

Duncan put his hand on the hilt of his sword as Cadell handed management of the milk wagon over to Harold’s soldiers. “This is only going to get worse.”

“It’s like siege warfare,” Carys muttered. “What does Cian think he’s doing?”

“Honestly? Probably thinning the population before he invades.”

It had been a little over a week since the crows had come with Cian and Orla’s message and the children had disappeared. London had a new king who hadn’t yet consolidated power, a hungry population, and many of the friendly fae had fled out of fear of human retribution.

It was no wonder dark clouds hung over the city.

Carys and Duncan started to walk toward the edge of the river to wait for Cadell. “Any sign of the Great Serpent today?”

“Not that I’ve heard.”

She looked over the slow-moving stretch of the Tamis where otters still played and frogs croaked in a happy chorus.

A few children were fishing in the long grass, and Carys felt her heart clutch, worrying that they might disappear until she saw a few water sprites dancing in the grass, their wings flashing between the reeds as they watched over the little fishers on the banks.

“There’s still so much good here,” Carys said. “But it’s going to get worse before it gets better, isn’t it?”

“Tell me when you want to leave.” Duncan kept his voice low. “You say the word, and I’ll get you to the gate.”

“And leave Cadell here?” Her eyes searched for her dragon. “Or take him away when his world is at risk?”

“This isn’t our fight,” Duncan said. “And you’re my priority, Carys Morgan. Not any throne or dragon.”

She slipped her hand into his. “Right now we need to be here. Right now I think this is the right thing to do.”

Lachlan’s face was grim when he joined Carys, Duncan, Naida, and Laura in the hall. Godrik and Winnie had just left to return to Harold, and the household staff had served them a simple dinner before they returned to their own quarters.

The house was quiet when the Alban prince walked in, slumping into a seat as Carys jumped up to get him a plate from the sideboard in the dining hall.

“Sit,” she barked. “You look exhausted. Have you eaten?”

“Not all day.” Lachlan’s face was pale. “We’ve had word from the unicorns in the Kingswood.”

Duncan frowned. “Finally. What did they say?”

Lachlan had been in Harold’s camp for days, coordinating the security of the city while also organizing troops that were coming in from the countryside.

“They are still maintaining their neutrality” —he raised a hand when he saw Duncan’s mouth open— “and I understand why. But their ears are everywhere, and they are sharing information.”

Duncan sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. “What kind of information?”

Carys set a plate in front of Lachlan. “Eat.”

“Whatever Dru’s magic is doing to block the fae gates, it’s working.” Lachlan sat up and took a bite of the stew Carys had served him. “According to the unicorns, the fae were planning to invade Anglia via the gates, but something is stopping them.”

Carys looked at Naida, but the ellyllon was staring into the fire and listening intently without saying a word.

The “something” that was stopping Cian from using the gates was probably Dru, who had systematically taken control of the fae gates, forts, and barrows across Southern Anglia with the help of the wild and solitary fae who had gathered to him.

They were a hodgepodge of characters and outcasts, and nothing that looked anything like an army, but Dru’s people were connected to the wild earth of Anglia and moved effortlessly through the wards that Cian had wrought.

“What’s their next step?” Carys asked. “Unless they’re giving up?”

Lachlan grimaced and took a drink of beer. “Not likely, though the unicorns also say that this isn’t a popular move in éire. Crown Princess Finola is very against Prince Cian’s plans. Behind the scenes, there is a lot of disagreement about this.”

“Will that stop Cian?” Duncan asked. “What if Finola just won’t break the Queens’ Pact?”

Lachlan shook his head. “In the end, Finola is Orla’s daughter and heir. She’s in charge of the army, but she’ll do what her mother commands.” He started eating again, ravenously tearing into the bowl of venison stew.

“Do we know what Cian has planned next?” Carys looked at Duncan. “It’s been days, and no more children have been taken since King Harold spread the word about working with household fae.”

Lachlan swallowed a gulp of beer. “The rumors are that Cian will come via boats from the south.”

“Boats from the south.” Cadell pushed away from the wall. “Into Kernow?”

The jut of land that was called Cornwall in the Brightlands was Kernow in the Shadowlands, and it was a wild place that was teeming with dragons.

Lachlan shook his head. “They’ll avoid Kernow. They don’t want to antagonize the dragons any further, and they think the dragons won’t strike at them when Cian has proven his people can take dragon young.”

“But the dragons got those children back.” Carys stood up and walked to pour herself a mug of beer. “And now we’re pissed.”

Lachlan raised an eyebrow. “We?”

“You know what I mean.”

“If they avoid Kernow,” Cadell said, “Cian will take boats up to Hampton.”

Lachlan nodded. “And from there the unicorns think Cian’s army will march to Saris Plain.”

The dragon frowned. “Why Saris?”

Naida said quietly, “Old Saris.”

Lachlan nodded. “That’s what the unicorns say. Cian wants to take Old Saris and rebuild it as a fae stronghold in Southern Anglia.”

Laura leaned toward Carys. “Where is Saris?”

“It’s Salisbury in the Brightlands,” Duncan said. “That’s where Stonehenge is in our world.”

“It’s where it is in every world,” Naida said quietly.

Every eye turned toward her.

“For the fae—particularly the light fae of Temris—Old Saris is kind of this mythical place of power,” Naida said, “even though the chalk underneath it is resistant to fae magic.”

“So why would Cian want to rebuild Old Saris?” Duncan said. “If the land resists magic?—”

“Because anyone strong enough to hold the Saris Plain must be the chosen of the gods,” Naida said. “It’s a place of power in every world. A place of worship, offering, and sacrifice.”

“So if Cian wants to reassert fae power over Briton,” Carys said, “making a big show of defeating Harold on Saris Plain would be one way to do it.”

“It’s theater,” Naida said. “But it’s theater that would impress every magical creature in Briton.”

“She’s right,” Cadell said. “Even the dragons would be impressed. We’d still do our best to kill every fae in sight after what they did to our young, but it would be impressive.”

Carys didn’t know what it said about her that Cadell’s bloodthirsty proclamation was intensely satisfying.

Lachlan continued, “The plain is huge, which will give Harold the advantage because he has numbers, but Cian’s army will be traveling up from the ocean along the Yuten Woods, and that’s dark fae territory.” He rubbed a hand over his eyes. “The fae-thanes there are not friendly to humans. They’ll probably lend Cian more people before he meets Harold.”

“Unless Dru gets there first,” Duncan said. “Have you and Harold told Dru about any of this?”

“He probably already knows,” Lachlan said.

“Maybe.” Cadell lounged at the end of the table, his legs stretched out toward the fire. “Or maybe not. He might not have made the connection between his brother and the dark fae of Yuten Woods. He’s still gathering his people and breaking all the wards Cian put in place around the fae forts holding the children.”

“He’s playing catch-up,” Laura said. “But if he’s going to claim fae leadership in Briton, he’s going to have to visit these dark Yuten fae himself, right?”

Lachlan nodded. “They’re powerful, and they control the southern gates to the Brightlands. They have extensive magic in the rivers there. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for Dru to go first.”

They all looked at Naida.

“What?” The ellyllon narrowed her eyes. “I’m not your fae emissary. I’m not one of them.”

“But you are,” Laura said. “Way more than any of us.”

“He’ll listen to you,” Carys said.

“Are you asking me for a favor?” Naida asked. “What will you give me if I ask this of him?”

Carys wracked her brain, trying to think of what she had that Naida might even be interested in. Ellyllon were notoriously hard to bargain with because they weren’t greedy.

“I’ll give you dragon scales,” Cadell said. “For the rest of our lives, if you need a dragon scale for healing, you may come to me.”

It was no small gift, but Naida still seemed reluctant.

“The unicorns think Cian’s boats have already left éire,” Lachlan said softly. “He’ll be in Anglia in days, not weeks, and he’ll have an éiren army with him. Once he is here—if he has dark fae allies—it will be even harder for Dru to take the crown and keep the Queens’ Pact from breaking.”

Carys saw warring emotions on Naida’s face.

Taking the crown meant that Dru would be in charge, and all of Briton would likely flourish because of it. Taking the crown also meant any hope of a relationship with the man she loved was well and truly dead.

“I’ll speak to him,” Naida said quietly. “But there’s no telling how long he might take to decide what to do. He has minions whispering in his ears now, and his relationship with the dark fae is complicated because of his father.

“I can get Dru to Yuten Woods in hours,” Cadell said. “I’ll fly him myself, and I will get him there safely.”

Cadell flying a fae prince in his current mood?

Risky but worth it.

Naida stood up. “All of you.” She waved her finger around the room. “I’m collecting favors from every one of you when this is over.” She pointed at Carys specifically. “Especially you.”