Briar Rose (23 page)

‘We’ll need a diversion while you and I get that thing out of the cage. Say . . .’ Reena looked over at the guys now. ‘Two dudes beating the crap out of each
other?’ she suggested.

Pat grew an ominous smile. ‘That could be fun, right, horse boy?’

‘Yeah,’ Joshua replied, a strange light erupting in his eyes. ‘If I’m stuck here, I might as well have some fun.’

Briar picked up the hostile vibe. ‘No, you guys will go too far.’

‘It has to look for real,’ Pat replied. His
I’m so going to enjoy this
smile had grown in size now.

Joshua rose, dusting off his hands. ‘Some bleeding would be good. Can’t get more realistic than that.’

Briar shot her best friend a
Don’t let them do this
look, hoping Reena might introduce some sanity into the situation.

‘Let them go for it,’ was the quiet reply. ‘What can it hurt? They’ve been working towards this for a long time.’

Which was exactly what Briar feared.

It was later in the afternoon when they returned to where the fata was imprisoned. When Briar saw the little creature, she regretted waiting so long. The poor thing was keening
in a crackly voice, punctuated occasionally by a faint sob. Its pretty colours were nearly gone, faded to a sickly grey. At that moment, she knew this was the right thing to do.

After scoping out their surroundings, the guys decided they’d stage their brawl just inside the market to attract maximum attention.

‘Pat is going to flatten that boy,’ Briar whispered.

‘You want to bet on that?’

‘What? There’s no way Joshua is going to win.’

‘You don’t know him very well, do you?’

‘And why would that be? Oh, yeah, he’s a Quinn and it’s not like I’ve been invited to his family reunions. Besides, I don’t have anything to bet, not here at
least.’

‘You do at home. I’m jonesing for that royal-blue sweater of yours,’ Reena replied. ‘If Joshua wins, it’s mine when we get back to Bliss.’

If
we get back to Bliss.
To make her friend happy, Briar played along. ‘What if I win?’

‘You know my cool owl necklace? It’s yours.’

‘Throw in the earrings and you got a deal,’ Briar replied.

They shook hands.

Briar looked back towards the market. ‘I don’t get what’s going on between the guys,’ she said.

Her friend cocked her head. ‘You really are clueless. That’s kinda cute, you know.’

‘Then make me less clueless.’

‘For Pat, it’s his ego. His need to feel more important than anyone else. Joshua isn’t going to let him grind him down, now that he has a reason to man up. Any guess why that
is?’

Briar shook his head.

‘You, doofus. He’s got a serious crush on you. He’s worried that Pat is going to carry you off on that white horse you’re always talking about.’

‘Pat? He’s pretty much out of luck. He shouldn’t have assumed I was a slut.’

‘What about Josh?’

‘He’s still a no-go even when I get home.’ She frowned. ‘I’m not even sure I can trust him, you know?’

‘Whoa, that’s harsh. OK, what about Ruric?’

Briar sighed at the thought of him. ‘It’s . . . complicated. He’s probably a prince, you know? A real live one.’

‘So you finally got to meet one,’ Reena said, grinning. ‘And a babe at that.’

The sound of raised voices carried across the market. Both of the guys were standing near the stall that sold potatoes, Pat within inches of Joshua’s face now. He was yelling at him,
something about messing with
his
girl.

‘Oh, not smart,’ Reena said, shaking her head. ‘He just pushed Josh’s
Don’t go there
button. Probably on purpose.’

The two guys began shoving each other, trading insults as their testosterone-fuelled emotions heated up.

‘You’re a swine,’ Joshua called out. ‘You treated her like a tavern wench.’

‘At least I don’t spend all day shovelling horse shit like you.’

Reena whistled. ‘That was below the belt.’

The shoving moved quickly to punches being thrown.

Briar joggled her friend’s elbow. ‘That’s our cue.’

While a knot of curious onlookers formed around the two combatants, Briar and Reena edged closer to where the gibbet was tied off. Holding her breath, Briar began to work on the knot, her
fingers cramping from the effort. They weren’t that close to the castle, but that wouldn’t keep one of the guards from figuring out what they were doing.

‘Hurry up!’ Reena urged.

‘I’m trying.’

‘Uh-oh,’ her friend said, looking back towards the fight. ‘The crowd is getting bored. Can you do this on your own?’

‘What? Yeah, maybe.’

‘Good. It’s time to get their attention again.’

Reena walked away about thirty paces, and then dropped her hood. Her whole stance changed as she sashayed through the crowd. Whispers began, followed by frank pointing.

‘Is that a Moor?’ someone said.

‘Why is she in our village?’

‘What is this nonsense?’ Reena demanded as she came to a halt in front of the guys, hands on her hips and eyes blazing.

Wow, look at you.

Pat wiped a line of blood off his chin, assessing the change in plan. He pointed at Joshua. ‘This cur insulted you.’

‘Me? It was you, you son of a goat,’ Joshua shot back.

Briar stifled a giggle as she worked on the rope, relieved that the trio had everyone’s attention again, even the guards. When the knot gave way, she slowly inched the cage down to the
ground, wincing when it made a creaking sound. She did a quick look around, but no one was paying attention, not even the sentries high on the castle walls. In the background she heard Reena
unleash a crude joke at Pat. That got the crowd laughing and, more importantly, not paying attention to the fact that Briar was fata-napping.

Then it all went wrong – the moment the cage reached the ground she saw it had a special metal lock, one that she hadn’t seen from the ground. The fata looked up into her eyes and
began to cry. It knew it was doomed.

‘You’ll need this,’ a voice said.

Briar whirled round to find a guard behind her. He was one of the human ones and in his hand was a small brass key.

Was this a trap of some kind?

‘Hurry,’ he said. ‘You do not have long before someone sees what you’re about.’

With a shaking hand she unlocked the cage door and gently pulled the fata out of its prison. It shook with fear.

‘Why did you help me?’ Briar asked, looking up at the guard.

‘The terror must end,’ he said. After he’d stuffed some old rags inside the cage and then closed the door, he pulled on the rope. The cage rose into the air. It was done.

Briar wrapped her cloak round the fata to shield it. Her heart thudding, she skirted the crowd, making sure not to move too fast so that no one would notice. When she glanced over her shoulder,
the guard who had helped her was gone. Had he been real?

As she passed by her friends, she caught Reena’s eyes. The two guys stepped back, each a mess. Pat’s shirt was ripped and bloody. Joshua was no better, both cheeks bruised. It looked
like a draw which meant no one had won the bet.

‘The fata! It has escaped!’ someone cried.

Briar nearly panicked and bolted, but she forced herself to walk slowly as if nothing was wrong. As if she wasn’t harbouring one of the regent’s enemies.

‘Find it!’ another shouted. ‘It will kill us all.’

That wasn’t likely. The creature was half dead, shivering against Briar’s body like a sick child.

Orders were being barked now. ‘Search the village. Find the creature. Kill anyone who aids it.’

Which would be me.

Briar had barely reached the edge of the market when a gruff voice called out to her. ‘You! Stop, girl!’

She kept walking. Beneath her cloak the fata stirred and a faint buzzing came in her ear, then cleared as if someone had tuned a radio.

‘Go to the well . . . Be with my kind,’ it whispered.

‘I’m trying,’ Briar whispered back.

‘Stop!’ the voice shouted again, closer now.

This time Briar took off at a run, barrelling through people who got in her way. Rounding a corner, she nearly tripped over a rooster pecking in the dirt. As she slowed to avoid it, Reena caught
up with her, her friend’s track expertise paying off.

‘The guys are behind us,’ she called out, looking over her shoulder. ‘Man, are those guards mad. Steal one little fata and—’

‘This way!’ Briar dodged down the alley towards the abandoned well, slipping in the mud. Reena caught her before she fell and they ran on. Soon Joshua and Pat were right behind them,
pounding along down the deserted alley, past the hex signs.

Briar skidded to a halt in front of the well, and then carefully unwrapped the fata. Bending over, she rapped on one of the boards. ‘Hey! Down there! Hello!’ she called out. There
was no response.

The creature whimpered and tried to crawl out of her arms so she laid it gently on the well kerb. A board shifted and bright green hands came up and cradled it. It whimpered again and then
disappeared below.

‘Wait! We need help! We need to get inside the castle to save a friend.’

Nothing.

‘You have to help us. Maybe we can stop the regent, you know, together.’

There was a chittering sound, almost like an argument.

Briar looked over at Reena and got a shrug in reply. Shouts came as the guards closed in.

‘We have to go!’ Pat called out.

Then another head popped up out of the well, one that was bright orange with pink circles round its eyes. The fata blinked up at Briar as if it hadn’t seen the sun in some time. Something
dark green was placed on the well kerb.

‘Ah, what is this?’ Briar asked, taking what appeared to be a pouch made from sewn leaves.

To save you from the metal
, the creature said, then disappeared. Before Briar could ask any further questions, the board slid back in place.

‘OK, then . . . thanks.’ It wasn’t exactly what she’d hoped for, but Briar stuffed the pouch under her corset, intending to examine it later.

‘Ah, guys, we got a situation here,’ Pat said.

The guards drew closer, a solid line of menace marching in lock step towards them. All were armed.

‘Plan B?’ Reena called out as the men fanned out in front of them.

‘Run?’ Briar said. Before any of them could respond, one of the doors further down the alley shuddered and after another blow it sheered outward and collapsed into the dirt. A guard
stepped through the opening, followed shortly by three others.

They were trapped.

‘Well, this sucks,’ Reena said. ‘Plan C?’

‘Go home?’ Pat suggested.

‘I need time to do the spell, and we don’t have it,’ she replied.

‘That leaves fighting our way out,’ Joshua said with sigh.

‘Yeah, now that’s a great idea,’ Pat muttered.

Without any discussion, he and Reena lined up on one side of the well, Joshua and Briar on the other. Joshua offered up his knife, but she shook her head. Instead, she found a piece of board and
tested its weight in her hand.

‘Stay behind me,’ he said. ‘If you can run for it, take off.’

Not happening.

A guard lunged at her and when Briar whacked him on the knee with her board, he went down. To her left, Joshua was doing his best to stay out range of the swords. When he slipped and fell, she
cried out, but he rolled back up on to his feet in one swift move. It was a nice manoeuvre.

Another guard advanced on her.

‘Come on, girl, give it up. You’re not going anywhere.’

Briar swung at him and missed, which allowed him to grab her wrist and pull her towards him. The guard yelped and set her free, his arm bleeding courtesy of Joshua’s knife.

As the fight continued, they were pushed closer and closer to the well. When Pat cried out, Briar risked a quick glance over her shoulder. A solid blow to his chest had sent him reeling over the
edge of the well kerb. He lost his footing and landed, hard, on the weakened boards.

Reena rushed after him, offering her hand. As he reached out to take it, a guard shoved her forward. She banged her knees on the kerb, then fell shoulder first on to the boards. For a second,
she and Pat just stared at each other until the ominous cracking of weathered wood came from beneath them. He grabbed on to Reena’s arm and then extended his towards Briar.

‘Pull!’ Pat shouted.

Briar grabbed his hand and wedged her feet against the kerb, her arms and back feeling the strain. Behind her she could hear Joshua trying to hold off their attackers, but he was seriously
outnumbered.

Pat’s eyes met hers. ‘Oh, damn,’ he said quietly.

His final words were nearly drowned out by a sharp series of cracks when the boards gave way beneath them. As the pair plunged downward into the well, he purposely let go of Briar’s
hand.

‘No!’ she cried, trying to grab at him.

It was too late: her friends were gone.

As she tried to see down into the darkness, hoping maybe they’d not fallen too far, she was grabbed roughly round the waist and hauled backwards. Briar kicked and cursed, but to no avail.
Using her long braid to control her, the injured guard slammed her to her knees. Tears of pain and loss swam in her eyes.

Joshua fell next to her, a knife at his neck.

‘Please get them out of there!’ she begged.

‘They’re accursed fata lovers,’ one of the guards said, and then spat. ‘They’ll learn what it’s like to care for the regent’s enemies.’ Then he
laughed. ‘Trust me, soon you’ll wish you were down there with them.’