The Emerald Staff (9 page)

He didn’t waste his time by checking upstairs
first. Instead he turned to his left and headed for the kitchen,
which led to his mother’s garden. As he approached the open kitchen
door, he could hear the bustle of servants moving pans and chopping
ingredients. An aroma wafted down the hall towards him; the
delicious smell made his mouth water. He realized then that he had
not eaten for some time and his stomach growled to remind of that
fact.

He leaned quietly against the doorframe for a
moment, content to watch the servants bustle around the kitchen.
The kitchen was huge, not quite as big as the one in the castle,
but not far from it. Shiny copper pots hung from wrought iron racks
suspended above the table. Glass fronted cabinets lined one wall
and they were filled with some of the finest china in the land.
Along the other wall stood the wide-open fireplace with racks for
cooking meat, and next to that, was a big black cooking range.

He could see the housekeeper discussing menus
with the cook at the other end of the kitchen and wandered over to
them. The housekeeper took a step back in surprise when she looked
up to see him approach, and a wide welcoming smile lit her
face.

“Master Faen, what a lovely surprise. Oh,
your mother will be so excited to see you.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Forbes. Do you know where
she is?”

“Oh, yes, Master Faen, she is out in her
garden. Said she had herbs to tend to.”

Faen smiled and inclined his head before
making his way out of the kitchen heading for his mother’s
garden.

Upon exiting the back of the house, he strode
past the enormous old tree that was surrounded by a carpet of
bluebells. It had limbs coming out of the trunk from every
conceivable angle. Huge tree limbs grew along the ground and the
look of them now sparked memories of the hours spent playing in its
branches when he was a child.

He approached the archway of the walled
garden in silence and leaned against the cool brick.

His father was right where he thought he
would be, relaxing in a high backed oak garden chair, reading. A
mug of steaming brew standing on a little table beside him. Faen
smiled. It felt good to be home. He turned his attention towards
his mother who was bending over a raised bed of herbs.

Janessa blew a breath upwards to try and
dislodge an errant strand of hair that had escaped her immaculately
coiffed do and fallen onto her face. It didn’t work; the loose
strand flopped back onto her face a second later to continue
annoying her. Distracted, she forgot to take off her dirty gloves
before carefully pulling the strand of hair back and trying to tuck
it away, leaving a smudge along her cheek in the process. She took
hold of the miniature trowel again and continued her weeding. Her
husband diverted his gaze to look over the top of his reading
glasses and watched her for a moment. He gave her a wistful smile
and shook his head before returning his attention to his book.

She couldn’t look more out of place in the
garden if she tried. She was dressed in all her usual finery. The
beautiful dress she wore was the color of a full-bodied Merlot,
with dainty matching slippers peeking out from under the hem of her
full skirt. She had on a bejeweled necklace that lay at her throat,
but the whole image was completely destroyed by the big white apron
tied about her waist that was smudged with dirt. Faen smiled, that
was his mother and he loved her dearly. The image brought back
memories of growing up, where he spent more time in her garden than
he did rubbing shoulders with fae society.

At that moment, Janessa noticed him standing
in the archway and shrieked with delight, which made his father,
who was just putting the mug to his lips, jump and spill his
buttered rum down his clean white shirt.

“Good grief, Nessa, are you trying to give me
a heart attack?” He gave her a mock scolding as he grabbed a cloth
from the table and dabbed at his shirt.

“Faen, you are home!” Janessa squeaked with
excitement as she took off her gloves, rubbed her hands on her
apron and moved towards her son, arms outstretched.

Faen pushed himself away from the brick
archway and entered the garden, meeting his mother halfway. She
threw her arms around him and hugged him tight.

“Hello, Mother.” Faen laid a kiss on the top
of her head. She only reached his chin in height. “Mother, if you
hold on much tighter, I think you may cut off my circulation,” he
joked and looked over to where his father was getting up from his
chair.

His father raised his eyes heavenward at
Faen’s remark and shot him a knowing smile.

Suddenly a warm palm was holding either side
of Faen’s face, encouraging him to divert his gaze back to his
mother. She gave him a smile that stretched from ear to ear. Her
cheeks were flushed from working with her plants, which just made
her look even more radiant and beautiful.

“Let me look at you. Oh, my darling boy, you
have not aged at all.”

Faen chuckled at his mother’s outburst.
“Mother, I have not been gone
that
long.”

“Twelve years in the World of Men is a long
time my boy.”

His father, who had now reached him, came to
his rescue. He clapped an arm around his shoulder. “It is good to
see you, Son.”

“You too, Father.”

After dressing in something more suitable,
Faedra rushed down the stairs and headed into the kitchen. She
needed an infusion of sugar water and a lot of it. Her legs were
feeling weak and useless. She hadn’t dared look in the mirror to
see how gray her skin was. She grabbed a tall glass from the
cupboard, poured in a large helping of sugar and filled it with
water. After stirring until the sugar dissolved, she downed the
whole glass in one long draw.

The familiar feeling of energy rushed through
her system and she started to feel the strength come back to her
limbs. She grabbed a couple of empty plastic bottles and filled
them with the same sugary concoction, threw them into a backpack
and headed out the door, determination of finding her father
coursing through her blood.

She arrived at the church just a few minutes
later and parked her car in the corner away from the security
lights. She stepped out of the car and could feel the chill in the
air that seeped through to her bones; winter was just around the
corner and they were getting a preview this early morning. She
closed the car door with a quiet click and looked around, though
why, she wasn’t sure; there wouldn’t be anyone around at that time
in the morning. She tiptoed across the gravel car park, trying to
make as little noise as possible, stepped through the gate and
started towards the portal. Jocelyn was in her dog form sitting by
the church, and Faedra stopped dead. Realizing at this point that
she hadn’t really thought this through. Jocelyn may not open the
portal for her; she had only given a thought to where she was
headed, and not how she was going to get there.

The black and white collie stood up and
walked towards her with pensive steps, her tail doing a half-wag
with uncertainty.

Faedra took another step forward. She felt
awful inside. Jocelyn had become a good friend and now the poor
girl looked scared of her. Faedra didn’t know what to say to her.
She swallowed hard.

“I need to get through the portal.” Faedra’s
voice was blunt and to the point. It came out much harsher than she
planned and she felt a pang of guilt at how cold she sounded. The
collie’s ears drooped and she put her tail between her legs.

“Oh come on, Jocelyn, don’t do that.”

The collie lowered her head submissively.

Faedra hung hers in shame, her chilly resolve
melting by the second. “Please, Jocelyn, I need your help. I need
to get through the portal.”

Jocelyn shimmered into her fae form and
Faedra took a step back in surprise.

“Where are you going?” Jocelyn asked.

“I can’t tell you.”

“Then I can’t let you through.”

“Please, Jocelyn.” Faedra pleaded with the
young fae who was now deciding to be stubborn. “I need to do this
alone.”

“Faen will have my hide if I let you go
through there alone.”

“Well, Faen is not around anymore so he’ll
never know, will he? Anyway, when have you ever cow-towed to
him?”

“Hmm.” Jocelyn chewed on her bottom lip for a
second. Indecisive.

“Jocelyn, you have to let me through. I think
I know someone who can help me get my dad back.”

“Who?”

“I can’t tell you that either.”

“You do not know anyone in Azran other than
Todmus.” Jocelyn continued with an interrogation Faedra didn’t have
time for.

“Jocelyn!”

“Oh, all right then, but on one
condition.”

“What?” Faedra asked, apprehensive.

“I am coming with you.”

“No way.”

“Sorry, that is my final offer.”

Faedra glared at her, then an idea popped
into her head and she wondered for a moment if she had the control
to pull it off. She decided she did, although, she wasn’t very
happy about it, but at that moment she didn’t think she had much of
a choice. All that mattered was she get to her destination as soon
as possible. If she had to use unethical methods to achieve it,
then so be it.

“Okay, you can come with me.” Faedra
conceded, crossing her fingers behind her back.

Jocelyn gave Faedra her usual excited grin,
and Faedra’s stomach did a flip flop at the thought of what she was
about to do to her friend.

The second Jocelyn had repeated the
incantation and told Faedra the portal was open, Faedra put a hand
on Jocelyn’s shoulder and sent a short zap of electricity through
her palm, knocking the young fairy out cold. She quickly dragged
her behind one of the headstones, propped her up against it and
covered her with her jacket so that she wouldn’t get cold. If
Faedra had calculated it right, Jocelyn would only be out for a few
minutes and could turn back into her furry form to stay warm, but
just in case, she wanted to be sure her friend wouldn’t freeze to
death. She only hoped it wasn’t quite this cold in Azran because
she had just given up her coat.

“Sorry,” she whispered to her unconscious
friend. “But I have to do this alone.”

She wasn’t sure how long the portal would
stay open after the incantation, so she hurried back to the path
and strode through.

Once on the other side, Faedra was now hit
with the stark realization that she had no clue how to get the rest
of the way. She plopped herself down on a boulder, rested her
elbows on her knees, and looked down at her feet, exasperated.

“Great plan, Faedra,” she mumbled to herself.
“Got a really long way didn’t you?”

The bushes rustled, she looked up with a
start and lifted her hands, then cursed herself for being so edgy;
of course, it was only going to be Todmus. She’d never seen anyone
else near the portal.

“Miss Faedra?” Todmus questioned, his
eyebrows pinched together. “Are you alright?”

“No, Todmus, I’m not,” she answered
truthfully.

“Whatever is the matter, my dear?” He
shuffled over to stand in front of her, his ruddy face level with
hers, as she stayed seated on the boulder, head in hands.

“Vivianna kidnapped my dad and I need to get
to Azran City. It’s really important, but now that I’ve gotten this
far, I have no clue how to get the rest of the way.”

Todmus’ eyebrows shot up at her statement.
“Why would Vivianna have taken your father?”

Faedra lifted the amulet from where it hung
around her and held it in the flat of her hand.

“Oh!” Todmus gasped. “You can’t give her
that.”

“I know, even if I wanted to. I can’t get the
flippin’ thing off anyway.” She dropped it unceremoniously like it
was burning her skin.

Todmus glanced around and his expression
turned from one of surprise to one of concern.

“Where is Mr. Faen? You are not supposed to
be separated from him.”

“He’s gone,” she stated with a heavy heart.
She hated to admit it but she could use his help right about now.
She reprimanded herself again; it was his people that got her in
this mess in the first place, she didn’t need him to help her. If
only she believed that.

“Gone? What do you mean gone?”

“I mean I don’t know where he is.” It was the
truth. She didn’t know where he was. She was a little surprised
that he wasn’t keeping an eye on her from a safe distance. How
could she blame him? She told him to leave, she just didn’t expect
that it would be that easy.

“Todmus, can you help me get to the City? You
must know a short cut.”

Todmus looked pensive.

Faedra’s eyes lit up. “You do, don’t
you?”

Todmus said nothing.

“Please, Todmus, I have to get to the City,
it is the only lead I can follow to get my dad back. You have to
help me.” She gave him her best lost puppy look and held her breath
in anticipation.

Todmus looked around him, then fixed a
worried gaze on her and spoke in a hushed whisper.

“I do know a way but I will only help you if
you promise not to breathe a word about it.”

Faedra looked puzzled but agreed without
hesitation.

“Of course, Todmus, you have my word. I’ll
not tell a soul, I promise.”

He leaned forward and took hold of her hand.
“Come with me, Miss.”

CHAPTER TEN

Faedra followed Todmus through the trail that
led to the glade where his cottage stood. Once in the open, he
whistled. Nothing happened for a moment and Faedra looked around
the opening in anticipation. Still nothing. She looked down at
Todmus who stood by her side and gave him a questioning look.

“Patience, Miss.”

She raised her eyebrows, about to ask him a
question, when she heard something. She turned to look at the
opening again but it was still empty. The noise grew louder and
louder. At first she thought it sounded like a helicopter, but knew
that couldn’t be what this noise belonged to. The soft whoosh,
whoosh was getting closer and it was coming from above. Looking
towards the tree tops, she saw a dark shape approaching, skimming
the top of the forest before swooping down to the glade and
skidding to a stop just a few feet in front of them. Faedra took a
step back in surprise.