Witchling Page 27

Page 27

 

  "Where are we?" I whispered. Even the low flutter of my voice echoed throughout the chamber. I stepped closer to Morio, who was gazing at the alabaster beauty of the walls.

  His arm curved protectively around my shoulders, and I felt his lips press gently against the top of my head. "I'm not sure, Camille. I've never felt this type of energy before, and it makes me nervous. Are you sure that Tom is here?"

  I nodded. "I sense him. But how did he find this place? This portal isn't listed with the OIA, that much I can tell you. " Snuggling closer, I shivered. The damp air was gone, but the tingle of magic rippled up and down my arms. Whatever had created this place—or whoever—was powerful indeed.

  And then, before Morio could answer, a noise caught our attention. I stepped away, readying myself for an attack. But it wasn't a demon we were facing. A voluptuous woman over six feet tall and awe-striking stepped from behind one of the limestone pillars in the center of the room. Her dress flowed like cobwebs draping down from her shoulders, and she stood regal and serene.

  "Who are you?" The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them. "And where is Tom Lane?"

  She blinked once, then a smile broke across her face. "You mean my pet? My poor precious boy?"

  I glanced at Morio, who shook his head, as obviously confused as I was. "I don't understand. Your pet? Who are you?"

  As she smiled, I saw the flecks of silver in her eyes. Was she one of the Sidhe? But then my memory sparked to life, and I knew who she was. The legends were true. So she'd refused to cross over when Otherworld severed connections with Earth.

  "You're Titania, aren't you?"

  As she gently inclined her head, my stomach flipped. The Faerie Queen emeritus, Titania was dangerous and unpredictable. She was far less human than the Sidhe of my own world, even though she'd remained Earthside.

  Titania's gaze never left my face. "And now would you tell me," she said, "what you want with my poor, besieged, gone mad as a March hare, Tam Lin?"

  * * *

  CHAPTER 15

  Tam Lin? Tom Lane? It all made sense now. But Tam Lin had been returned to the mortal world eons ago. Tom couldn't be Tam Lin, who lore said had lived out the rest of his life with his wife and children. Or could he?

  "How is that possible? Tam Lin's been dead for hundreds of years. " I slowly skirted to the left, not trusting Titania to play fair. Rumor had it she'd gone over the edge and had lost all sense of reason.

  "Has he now?" Titania spoke to me, but her eyes were on Morio, and I sensed a danger in the making.

  Morio must have sensed the same thing because he seemed to grow taller, more imposing. "Let us speak to Tom. "

  She ducked her head and smiled. Glamour, I thought. She was becoming more seductive by the moment, her face softening, the glow in her eyes growing brighter. Her breasts seemed to swell just enough to make it look as though she'd taken a long breath and held it. "Our Witchling won't tell me her name, but I know who she is. Camille, am I right?"

  I blinked. So much for secrecy. "How did you find out?"

  Ignoring me, Titania homed in on Morio. "You, however, I don't know. Perhaps you'll be gracious enough to give me your name?"

  I glanced at him. Titania sounded three sheets to the wind. Maybe she was drunk, or the magic in the room had clouded her sight. Or maybe the years spent alone cut off from Otherworld had been too much for her to bear. Or perhaps, just perhaps, Titania had tripped off the deep end and gone mad. Whatever the case, I didn't feel safe around her.

  Morio seemed to be thinking the same thing I was, because he warily held his ground. "It's a trick. He's probably not Tam Lin. "

  Titania took his bait. "Are you calling me a liar, mortal?"

  "Prove you're not. " The gauntlet, thrown down. Morio was a handsome man, and Titania liked handsome young men.

  After a moment's hesitation, she narrowed her eyes. "You know there's no way I can prove such a thing, nor do I need to. I'm the Queen of Faerie here, and don't you forget it. When the Elemental Lords divided the realms, I chose to remain with this world and with my roots. "

  "Tell us about Tom," I said softly. "Please?"

  She sighed, then like a drowning woman clutching at a lifesaver, slumped down on one of the limestone benches and began to talk. I had the feeling she had few friends or companions left in whom she could confide.

  "I knew after a few years of brats and a nagging wife who grew older day by day, Tam Lin would return to me. And I was right. One day, he was outside the barrow, waiting for me. I took him back and kept him here for hundreds of years, feeding him my Faerie bread and letting him sip from the nectar of life. Over the years, Tam Lin lost his mortality. He now belongs to me, wholly and fully and forever. " But there was a catch in her voice.

  "Something went wrong, didn't it?" I asked. "What happened?"

  She flashed me a cunning look, but then her eyes softened.

  "Girl, half-human or not, you have the sight and no small amount of power. Consider this. You were born to your life between worlds, you know how to cope with the passing of years and the growing weight of your thoughts. Tam Lin was born mortal. He couldn't adjust as time went on. "

  I nodded, understanding. My father had offered Mother the option of drinking the nectar of life to extend her life far beyond her allotted years, but she'd been smart enough to recognize the pitfalls. She'd refused, and when she was thrown from the horse, death claimed her.

  "What happened to him?" Morio's voice was gentle. He, too, understood the implications of what Titania had done.

  A single tear trickled down her cheek, gleaming like a diamond, faceted with a hundred perfect prisms. "He lost his mind. He ran in the woods for months at a time with the animals. One day the Prince of Oaks found him and brought him back to my barrow. He chastised me—me! Titania, Queen of Faerie. He scolded me like a wayward child. " Her voice rose, and her cheeks flushed. She paused a moment, then continued.

  "He made me promise to try to help Tam adapt, and he gave him a pendant to protect him. So Tam Lin became Tom Lane, and for a time each century, he resides in the world. I use my contacts to get him the accoutrements he needs for human society. It's harder now that humans require such extensive identification. Then, we find him a simple job that keeps him occupied. Near the end of each cycle, when he begins to tire or when someone gets suspicious, my darling comes home with me, and I wipe his memory of that life. After a time spent in my chambers sleeping, he wakes to yet a new life. "

  Speechless, I stared at her. How selfish could you get? First, she'd bound Tom to her when she snatched him out of his world and kept him captive. Then after he escaped and returned home, she encouraged him to come back to her. Instead of wiping his memory and sending him back to his family, she'd given him a life span his mind couldn't cope with.

  "By all the gods, why don't you just let him sleep? Put him in stasis until the end of time? He'd probably be happier. " She could blast me if she wanted, but what she'd done went against every code I'd been raised with. Unfortunately, a lot of my full-blood kin would have a good laugh at the situation.

  Titania shot off the bench. A nimbus of anger flared around her, and I automatically shielded myself.

  "You're so righteous, so virtuous, are you? I can smell the Svartan on you. Don't play coy. You're playing the devil's mistress, so what gives you the right to judge me, you half-breed? I am Titania, Queen of Faerie. Tremble before me!" Her eyes flared with magic, but there was no oomph behind the fireworks, and I realized that all Titania had left were illusions and memories. A faded beauty queen, clinging to old photos.

  "I'm not compromising anyone else with my actions," I said, striding forward. "I didn't deceive anyone. " I pushed her back down on the bench and leaned over her. "Listen to me, and listen good. You chose to give up your crown and remain earthbound. Well, I've got news. The Queen of Elves adapted. And there's a new Queen of Sidhe a
nd she'd eat you alive. "

  Titania's glamour wavered in the wake of my words. Yep, I knew how to pitch a fit, all right. "You're alone, Titania. Your time is past and you'd better walk into the shadows gracefully before I report your actions, in OW. Now, let us talk to Tom. By the powers of the Y'Elestrial, the OIA, and the Guard Des'Estar, I will take him with me. "

  Morio stepped up to my side. The Queen emeritus hung her head as I pulled out my badge. Leather-worked, it was enchanted so that if it were out of my reach for more than a day, the emblem would self-destruct. That I held it in my hands was enough to prove authenticity.

  Titania wrung her hands, and I almost felt sorry for her. For a good share of history she'd been the most beautiful creature on earth, commanding thousands of the Fae. Now she was forgotten. A dinosaur.

  "What if we take her—" Morio started, but I stopped him, knowing what he was going to say. I pulled him off to one side and kept my voice low.

  "She'd never fit into Otherworld. She'd lose it for good, just like Tam Lin lost it. Titania has too much pride to admit that she's outlived her time. Some of the Sidhe drag on millennia, but most choose to exit mortal life far earlier, when they grow tired or bored. "

  "I'll call Tom," Titania said, looking up. I had a feeling she'd heard us. "You may do as you like with him. We've played this game for a thousand years. I suppose it's time to call it a draw. "

  She rose and glided to the far wall of the cave, peering down a tunnel. I could hear her whisper faintly on the wind, calling for Tom to join us. Returning to us, she gazed into my eyes, and all artifice was gone.

  "I suppose I should thank you, Witchling. You've reminded me of what I was. I will not fade into a walking shadow, nor will I subject myself to the rule of a jaded Queen who deserted the world to which she was born. Take Tam Lin and leave. The dragon will let you pass if you present him with this. " She held out a sigil, cast in silver that had been forged under the moon. I could feel the power coursing within the talisman, and glanced up at her.

  "You don't have to do this," I said, and she understood I wasn't talking about Tom.

  "Oh, but I do," she countered. "The world has grown too small, and with Otherworld rejoining the human race, there's no place for me. I couldn't walk in the cities if I wanted to, and the wild places of the Earth are few and far between. "

  I turned the talisman over in my hand. Dragon rune. So Smoky had formed an alliance with Titania. Without the talisman, Titania would have no leverage to protect herself. Slipping it in my pocket, I noticed that Tom was standing in the archway to the cavern. Grizzled and worn, he was a true lumberjack, a man who had once been a knight. But his eyes were empty, and I realized that he'd long ago left the world. Where Tom's soul roamed, I wasn't sure, but he was walking wounded, half a man, his spirit existing only in the fragments of selves that the Faerie Queen had provided for him.

  A pendant hung around his neck, an emerald cabochon caught in a gold and silver weave. The gem flickered, swirling into a new pattern every time I looked at it. The first spirit seal.

  "My Tom, listen to me," Titania said, her voice gentle.

  Morio and I exchanged looks. Regardless of her reckless choices, Titania cared for Tom. She had loved him once. Now, fractured into a hundred lifetimes, I had the feeling he'd become her pet, a beloved old lapdog whom one took care of until the end.

  "You are to go with these people. They will treat you well. "

  He looked confused. "Where will I sleep? Who will feed me?"

  Morio stepped up and gently tapped him on the shoulder. "We'll make sure you have all the comfort you need, Tom. Will you come with us?"

  Tom hesitated. Then, with a prompting from Titania, he nodded. "All right, I'll go. "

  I drew Morio to one side. "We could just take the pendant. That's what we're after. Now that I've seen him, it seems wrong to separate them. "

  Morio shook his head. "I think the seal is connected to him. If we separate the two before consulting a wizard, we could drive him utterly mad. We have to take him with us. "

  "This just keeps getting worse and worse. What was the Prince of Oaks thinking?" I could only see chaos and destruction coming from the mess we were in. "A lot of innocent people are going to be hurt before this is over. "

  I glanced back at Tom and Titania. She had brushed aside a lock of hair that fell across his forehead, and he caught her hand, bringing it to his lips.

  "I wish we didn't have to do this," I said. "I was wrong to speak so harshly to her. But I guess there's no going back. "

  "Tom will forget," Morio said, lifting my chin so that I was staring into his eyes. "He always does, you know, each time she wipes his memory. Perhaps your healers will be able to free him from the wine of life, or they may be able to send him to his final slumber. "

  Rip Van Winkle, only sleeping for a thousand years instead of twenty. Or, they might just kill him—swiftly and without pain. The Court and Crown seldom concerned itself with humans, and this would be another blot on our history when the truth came out.

  "All right, let's take him and get back home. I'll go as escort when we ship him through the portal. I just wish Trillian were here," I said, rubbing my head. What I wouldn't give for some ibuprofen. "I'd feel a lot safer with him around. " Trillian had no compunctions about defending himself and those he was sworn to protect, even if it meant fighting dirty. And now, we didn't even know if he was going to live.