The Emerald Staff (10 page)

“Oh, he will not hurt you, Miss Faedra. Will
you Aesti?” He reached up to pet the creature on its nose as it
lowered its face to the little man.

“But, but, that’s a…that’s a Valkyrie’s
horse!” Faedra exclaimed, taking in the beauty of the giant winged
horse standing before them. Its eyes flame red. Its hair, mane, and
tail jet-black. It furled its wings to nestle along its flanks.

Todmus looked like he’d been caught with his
hand in the cookie jar. “Err, yes, Miss, that is correct.”

“But, Todmus, where on earth did you get a
Valkyrie’s horse?”

“Actually, Miss, they are not found on Earth,
they come from Asgard,” he joked, trying to veer away from
answering her question. “Well, hop on.”

She gave him an incredulous look. “What?
You’re kidding right? This is your plan to get me to the City?”

Todmus gave her a puzzled look.

“Todmus, I can’t ride that thing. He looks
wild and there’s no saddle or bridle. How am I supposed to control
him?”

“Oh, you will not need to control him, Miss.
He knows where to go. He will drop you at the City gates.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of, that he’ll
drop me…from a great height. And don’t try and change the subject.
How did you get your hands on him?”

“Well, err, that is a long story, Miss.”
Todmus averted his gaze again.

“I have no doubt that it is. You know what,
Todmus? You are just full of surprises. I’m guessing that no one
knows about him either?”

“Yes, Miss, and I would like it to stay that
way. Please promise not to breathe a word about him to anyone, even
Mr. Faen.” Todmus’ expression turned to one of concern. Faedra
guessed he was hoping he hadn’t just made a colossal mistake
revealing Aesti.

“I already promised you, Todmus. I will not
breathe a word about this, getting my father back is much more
important that telling anyone about a stolen horse.”

“Oh, Miss. He is not stolen.” Todmus looked
affronted by her accusation.

“I’m sorry, Todmus. I didn’t mean to offend
you. Will you tell me the story of how you came by him one
day?”

“I may well just do that, Miss. One day.” He
winked at her. “Well, hop on then.” He said again, gesturing for
Faedra to mount the magnificent winged beast.

She stared at the huge hulking mass of horse
that stood before them and sighed.

“Good Lord, Faedra, how do you manage to get
yourself into these situations?” She mumbled to herself as she
psyched herself up to get on him.

The winged horse took a step forward until
his nose was just an inch away from Faedra’s face. He took a couple
of cursory sniffs and then snorted. Blasting warm air across her
face, and blowing her hair back from her forehead. Faedra took
another step back, remembering how formidable they looked with the
Valkyries sitting astride their backs at Stonehenge.

“There, you see? He likes you.”

Faedra gave Todmus another incredulous look.
“Besides the fact that he has no saddle, how am I supposed to get
on him? He’s the size of a tank.”

“Aesti, kneel for the lady so she can get on
your back.” Todmus instructed the beast.

Faedra watched in awe as the stunning
creature kneeled before her, an obvious invitation to mount him. He
even inclined his head in the same gracious manner that Faen
did.

“Wow.”

“Go on, Miss. You will be fine, I promise.
Aesti will not harm you, he will see you safely to Azran City,”
Todmus encouraged, when he saw the look of hesitation on the young
Custodian’s face.

Faedra took a tentative step forward. She
held her hand up to run her fingers along his neck. His jet-black
hair was like velvet under her skin. She grabbed a handful of
silken mane and swung a leg over his back. She adjusted her
position and once settled Aesti pushed himself up from his kneeling
position, jostling Faedra a little as he did. She clung onto his
mane for dear life until she got her balance again. She looked down
at the ground and gulped; it was a long way down and he still had
all four hooves planted firmly on the grass.

She gave Todmus a tentative smile. Just as
she was thinking that it wasn’t so bad, after all, Aesti turned and
took off at a dead run across the glade. Faedra shrieked and
grabbed more of his mane. She could feel Aesti spread his wings
behind her thighs and he took off just before they reached the tree
line, soaring high into the sky. Faedra’s heart leapt into her
mouth and her stomach did several flip-flops.

A scream of surprise mixed with delight
escaped. Wind rushed through her hair as they ascended up and away.
She looked down to see Todmus’ shrinking form waving from the
opening below them.

“Good luck, Miss Faedra,” he called.

“Thank you, Todmus,” she called back.

She gave him a hasty wave before clutching
Aesti’s mane in a death grip. It only took a few moments for her to
get used to the undulating movement of the winged horse and she
relaxed her grip on his mane. A few moments more and she was just
resting a hand either side of his neck.

They flew over the forest until they got to
the edge of the valley where Faen and Jocelyn had launched her off
the side last time she went to the City. But this time the forest
gave way to the beautiful fully restored countryside that was now
alive with color. Last time she’d been there it was brown and
dying. She had to admit to a little pride that it was partly due to
her that this magnificent land was restored to its former
glory.

She looked ahead and saw the City looming
closer and her heart started to quicken. She leaned along Aesti’s
neck and whispered in his ear. She assumed he would understand her
so it was worth a try.

“Could you put me down inside the castle
grounds?”

Aesti turned his head to acknowledge her
request and then banked to the right and flew straight for the
castle.

Faedra’s palms started to feel clammy, she
hadn’t thought this part through either. What on earth did she
think she was doing? To that, she had no answer, other than it was
the only lead she could think of to try and find her father.

A short while later Aesti landed gracefully
in the gardens to the front of the castle and Faedra slid off
allowing him to fly away again before anyone noticed that a
Valkyrie’s horse had just landed in the City of Azran.

“Thank you,” she said as she patted the side
of his neck before he took off.

He inclined his head, unfurled his wings and
in a few short bursts that ruffled Faedra’s hair with the wind he
created, he was airborne once more.

Faedra took a deep steadying breath and
headed for the entrance to the castle.

She wandered down the corridors trying to
look like she had every right to be there, but as usual, she could
see by the look on the inhabitant’s faces that it was anything but.
She knew she stood out like a sore thumb dressed in her World of
Men clothing and cursed under her breath.

It wasn’t long before a couple of guards
approached her. She gave them a wary look, which they returned with
a warm smile.

“May we help you, Miss?” One of the guards
asked, as they fell in line on either side of her.

She tried not to look too intimidated by
their presence but her insides were quaking.

“I need to see the king,” she stated in what
she hoped sounded like a no-nonsense request.

“I am afraid that is not possible today,
Miss. He is not taking audience with anyone. Maybe if you come back
tomorrow.”

Faedra stopped dead. The guards carried on
for a stride or two, realized she had stopped and turned to face
her, their expressions questioning.

It sounded so cliché and she cringed as she
said it, but goodness if she couldn’t think of anything else to
say.

“Do you have any idea who I am?” For effect
she lifted the amulet from under her shirt and dangled it in front
of their faces.

Their eyes widened and they looked at each
other in surprise, then back to her. She pinched her eyebrows
together when she saw them crane their necks to either side and
look behind her. They looked back at each other, confusion creeping
across their faces then returned back to craning their necks to
either side of her. They gave each other a bemused look and
shrugged their shoulders. Faedra couldn’t help herself, she turned
to look down the corridor, too.

“What are you looking at? There’s nothing
there,” she asked after turning back from an empty corridor to face
the guards again. Faedra could feel her impatience bubbling under
the surface, her energy starting to crackle.

“Will you take me to the king or not?” she
demanded after the guards had returned their attention to her.

The guards looked at each other again and
gulped.

“We are sorry, Miss, but he expressly stated
no visitors today. He is busy with an assignment in his
library.

Faedra gave the guards the dirtiest glare she
could muster and strode forward. She knew where the library was and
there was no way these two fools were going to stop her.

The guards crossed their spears and blocked
her path. “Miss, we just told you, you cannot see the king
today.”

Something snapped in Faedra’s mind and her
anger flared to the surface. She held her palms up to show the two
bright blue energy balls now bobbing an inch above them.

The guards had obviously heard about her
power. The story of how she and her two friends had defeated
Vivianna and returned the Book of Anohs was running rife throughout
the kingdom. They both took an involuntary step back, and a flicker
of fear skittered over their faces.

“And you think you’re going to stop me?”
Faedra asked the question that dripped insolence. They didn’t
answer her, just held their position.

“Look, I really didn’t want to be unpleasant
about this but if you don’t let me pass, you give me no choice.”
She held up the balls poised to throw them. The guard’s eyes
widened and they stepped aside, slumping their shoulders in
defeat.

“Thank you,” Faedra said as she stepped
passed them. She kept her energy balls alive, as she could hear
their footsteps and mutterings to one another close behind her. She
didn’t look back though. Anger seemed to take over from the
nervousness she had been feeling just a few minutes before. When
she arrived at the library doors she stood and took a deep
breath.

“Miss, you cannot go in there.” One of the
guards said, much too loudly to be for her benefit alone.

She glared at him and burst through the
double doors.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“Who am I?” Faedra demanded as she burst into
the king’s library.

He looked up from his desk, startled for a
second before regaining his composure. The two guards scuttled in
after her and flanked her on either side.

The king gave them both a questioning
look.

“We are sorry, Your Majesty, but she forced
her way in.” The guard who spoke grabbed her by the arm.

The king raised his eyebrows.

Faedra glared at the guard and then down at
the hand gripping her arm. She tried to jerk it free but felt like
she’d been clamped in irons, his grip was so firm. She glared at
him again.

“Let me go, right now,” her tone was calm but
deadly, as she opened up her free hand to show the orb of energy
dancing above her palm.

The guard’s nervous face looked to the king
for permission. The king nodded to the guard and he released his
grip. Faedra could hear a barely discernable sigh of relief as he
and the other guard stepped back from her and took their positions
to either side of the door.

The king craned his neck to one side and
looked behind her, much as the guards had done a few moments before
in the empty corridor. A look of confusion swept across his face.
She could tell he wasn’t looking at the guards.

“What?” she asked, looking behind her,
wondering why everyone was so interested in what was there, which
was nothing.

“Where is your Guardian?” The king’s voice
was stern but Faedra could detect the concern it was trying to
conceal.

“I told him to leave.”

“You did what?!” The king bellowed, bringing
his attention back to her, making Faedra jump a little, but she
stood her ground and held her gaze steady.

“I told you she should have a Guardian with
her.” Faedra heard one guard whisper to the other behind her
back.

“I told him to leave,” she repeated.

“And he did as you asked?” The king
questioned, incredulous.

Faedra could see his jaw tick and the muscles
in his neck tense.

“Why wouldn’t he?”

“Because he is your Guardian! Do you have any
idea how much danger you are in every moment you are without
him?”

Faedra didn’t like his tone. She was not his
child to reprimand and she was not in the mood to take a telling
off.

“I got here in one piece, didn’t I?” The
insolence leaked back into her voice.

The king looked annoyed at her insolence for
a second, then his expression turned thoughtful. “Why are you
here?”

“You owe me some answers.” Faedra
demanded.

“I do not owe you anything,” the king
replied, raising his eyebrows at her. “And need I remind you to
whom you are speaking.”

Faedra shrugged with disrespect “You’re not
my king.”

“But I am
a
king, and as such will be
treated with respect.” His voice was stern and reprimanding.

Faedra’s throat dried up, it started to feel
like the Sahara Desert in her mouth. Her bravado was slipping. She
wasn’t sure how long she could keep up this act of defiance, but
she had to find some answers, for her father’s sake.

“Who am I?” she asked again, less demanding
this time.

The king gave her a questioning look.