The Honoured Guest (3 page)

More fingers came inside and the whole wall was torn out with an horrific sound, plaster and stone raining down on her, and onto the ground of the street outside. A gaping hole appeared, getting wider; a hand reaching inside.

“No!” She wailed, scrambling to her feet and trying to claw her way to her door. The ground moved and she tumbled helplessly towards the window, screaming in blind terror, hands desperately scrabbling for anything to keep her away from the giant.

He was going to
eat her
.

“
Dad
!
Mum
! Ben!” Chelsea screamed hysterically, tripping over her chair as she tried desperately to get to the door, but the floor itself was tilting. It was too far away! Why couldn't they hear her? Why weren't they coming? “Help me!”

She sensed something huge towering above her and looked up with wild eyes. His hand!

“No! Please no!”

Fingers curled, and the huge hand closed around her, blocking out the moonlight. She felt calloused skin and then dreadful pressure, unbearable, as it crushed the air from her lungs. She gave a last short shriek of fear and then blacked out.

Chapter 3

Chelsea awoke screaming, her gaze full of terror.

Before she could even see where she was, the memory of the horror that she had gone through, just before she passed out, was all that she could think of. She found herself backing away as if still in the giant’s hands, her eyes rapidly taking in the sight of the huge trunks of trees above her. Several people stood around her inert form as she tried desperately to escape.

Her gaze darted everywhere around her, looking for the giant who had taken her. She couldn’t even see the sky above because of the denseness of the trees; but the area surrounding her was lit with bright torches and it was still night-time.

“Shh,” A female voice soothed from her left. “It’s alright.”

“Giant.
Giant
!” Chelsea gasped out through chattering teeth, finding her back pressed up against the trunk of a tree, her toes buried into moss. Her vision finally cleared enough to see that there were five women around her, dressed in elaborate, yet unfamiliar, clothing, with jewels and flowers in their long, flowing silver hair. Their expressions were a little startled at her actions, yet somehow they also showed an unearthly calm.

Chelsea’s screams quickly faded, but her chest continued to heave, her green eyes huge in her pale face. She took a good look around her and her mouth fell open in disbelief.

She was in a forest. Trees that she was certain were birch surrounded her, branches winding up towards the sky, and the ground was covered in light green moss. Torches on long poles were scattered about to light the way. A gentle breeze was stirring her red hair and there was a thick woodsy scent, like cedar, which drifted with it.

Having come from her room in the city, and finding herself suddenly in the middle of a vast woodland with unknown people in strange garb, made Chelsea feel as if she’d stepped into something completely foreign and surreal.

She inhaled deeply, surprised to realise that the air was crisp and
pure
, completely unlike that which she experienced in the city. People didn't know just how congested the air was, until they went to a place without smog and fumes and all the other things that came with living in such close quarters with a large population. She would savour this breath of freshness while she could, and maybe she could persuade her dad to take them all on a holiday to the mountains. Somewhere without cars, and a lot of other people; where they could appreciate nature as it was intended.

“Where am I?” she wondered aloud, her eyes looking rather wary and darting back to the girls standing above her. The closest one was a very beautiful woman with silver hair cascading like a silver waterfall over her chest and down her back, clad in robes of white and blue silk with golden tassels about her slender waist. She had a chain about her forehead with a red ruby in the centre and wide silver eyes locking with Chelsea’s green ones.

“Maiden, please calm yourself. We mean you no harm,” she said soothingly, holding her hands out to show that she had no weapons.

The other four, who were dressed just as beautifully, approached with care, their faces sombre and pale in the moonlight. They all seemed to have the same silver hair and milky skin.

“Where am I? Where is this? Am I asleep?” Chelsea demanded. She put her hands on the damp, yet somehow warm, moss beneath to boost herself up, rising cautiously to her feet, hands resting behind her on the hard trunk of the tree. She kept her back to it as she looked around wildly, trying to figure out what the hell was going on and if she was still in danger.

Where was her room?

Where was her
city
?

If this is a dream, it’s a really damned realistic one!
She thought warily.

“You are no longer in the Earth Realm, little one,” the first woman went on gently, moving gracefully over the ground towards the frightened girl. She stopped and reached out to place a hand on Chelsea’s arm.

It burned like
ice
.

Chelsea shuddered, jerking back, eyes going from the hand to her shoulder in bewilderment.

“You burn.” Chelsea said in disbelief.

The woman grimaced as she nodded. “Yes, we tend to have that effect on mortals. Please forgive me, I did not think before I touched you.”

Mortals? Okay, this had just gotten a lot weirder. She was asleep. Definitely.

The frightened red-headed girl straightened up, her rapid heartbeat finally beginning to slow. If this was a dream, then so was the giant. She was asleep. It all made sense now. But wait; if she was asleep, should she be aware of everything this clearly? It felt
real
.

Her green eyes went to the sky again and tried to see if she recognized any of the stars.
Nope.

“Why do you say mortals? You’re not mortal?” Chelsea questioned, wondering what her brain was going to come up with next. She didn’t recall reading, or watching anything, that would have given her a dream this vivid.

Two of the women whispered to each other and then one left, walking between some trees with her skirts trailing along the moss and dirt.

Before the first woman could speak again; a man appeared, striding confidently into the small clearing where they all stood.

Chelsea took in his tall form, clad in similar robes to the women, but his were clearly masculine. He had an under-tunic of white, with a deep green robe over it. Gold and jewels were dotted upon him, and there was a small crown of wood and white flowers in
his long tresses, the same shining silvery colour as the women.

As he got closer, she saw that his eyes were a brilliant silver like mercury, his jaw strong and masculine.

“Ah, Maiden, you are awake. We feared for you when we could not bring you around.” He spoke softly and he smiled, his teeth showed up white against the dark of the night.

She took a step towards him and winced as bright pain shot through the sole of her foot.

Chelsea cursed, and hopped on one foot as she pulled the other up and looked at it. There was a long cut from her big toe down over the arch of her foot. Now that she wasn’t fearing for her life, she could feel bruises and cuts and aches all over her body. Her fingers went to her cheek to feel a big painful swelling there.

Wait, you don’t feel pain in dreams.

Which meant that all of this was
real
!

The girl pointed at him accusingly before she could even think it over, recognising that he was in charge. “Where the hell am I?” she shouted bravely, lowering her foot gingerly and keeping the weight off it.

“Welcome to the Unseelie Court, Maiden.” The man bowed extravagantly to her, his robes of silken green and white draping over the grass as he bent. His hair, like spun silvery silk, fell about his shoulders. His jaw was chiselled and his nose was like those roman statues that she’d seen in magazines. He was somehow very beautiful, but undeniably male. “I am Lord Nuallán.”

“Unseelie Court?” Chelsea echoed, her eyes wide. She let him take her hand, but flinched as it burned with cold just like it had with the first woman’s hands. Why did it burn?

“It is the court of the Fae, presided over by our most glorious Queen, Mab, Mother of all, Lady of Darkness and Air.”

Queen Mab? Lady of Darkness and Air? That was all very well, but it didn’t explain a lot.

What am I doing here? Why did a giant break into my room to take me?
Are my parents and brother okay?

The young red-head glared at the man.
“What am I
doing
here?”

“You are a guest of our court. A most honoured guest.” Nuallán replied, gesturing about him extravagantly. She saw his slightly pointed ear and gaped. He definitely wasn’t human.

“Yeah, that doesn’t answer anything. You just took me from my home when I was sleeping. A bloody giant broke down my wall and stole me out of my bed!” She glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest. “Did you take anyone else from my home?”

“Forgive us. We had no other method of retrieving you. The Upper Court can no longer set foot in the Earth Realm. Only the Lower Courts, creatures far beneath us, can step through the barrier.”

Chelsea frowned at Nuallán’s confusing explanation, but allowed him to go on.

“The Giants’ bodies are strong, but they possess brute strength and slow minds.” He bowed his head. “And no, no-one else was taken from your home. Your family is unharmed, as far as I am aware.”

Well, that was a relief to hear that her family was alright!

“I almost had a heart attack!”

“Please, allow us to make amends for this grievous offence, fair one.” he apologised, his silver eyes regretful.

“Amends, how?” she asked warily, shifting her feet. Chelsea glanced about the small clearing, noting several escapes away from them. But where would she go? She had no idea where she was, other than in a forest somewhere. She’d been brought to some court and they’d mentioned Earth Realm. Was she not on her planet anymore? “Where is this exactly?”

“We are in Ireland, but in another Realm.” He took her hand and held it in place, even when she tried to draw it back. “You will be treated as a Princess on this most holy of nights; dressed in the finest silks and gold and jewels and sup on the most delicate and delicious foods of our realms combined. We have gathered quite a feast.”

Ireland? She was in Ireland? She’d been taken from Australia to the other side of the world! “Why me?” Chelsea demanded warily, arms still tight about her body.

Nuallán smiled at her gently, his gaze calm. “Your bloodline is special, Maiden. You have the blood of the Seelie Court in your veins. It allowed the giant to bring you through the barrier of your world to our own. You are a mixture of human and Fae. Once a year we seek out that bloodline and honour them for one evening.”

“Why?”

“Why? It is Bealtain
e
,
a most holy of nights. We give thanks to our queen and our goddess and celebrate the delights of the flesh. We take back the energy we have given out to the universe.” He explained.

“I don't understand at all, Nuallán. What is this special day? How am I part Fae? When can I go home?” Chelsea had heard of Beltane before, or
Bealtaine as he called it, but she didn’t know much beyond the fact that it was celebrated in some parts of the world on the first day of summer.

“Please calm yourself.” He gestured, as the other four elaborately dressed Fae Females approached with gentle smiles and outstretched hands. “Go with them. Enjoy the cleansing in the waters, it is a sacred ritual. You will then be dressed for the feast.”

“Come, Maiden, we will not harm you.” One assured her, taking her arm.

As with Nuallán's touch, and the first Fae woman, her touch burned into Chelsea's arm like the coldest of flames. She barely held back a shudder, dazzled by the sheer exquisiteness of the women.

“Nuallán,” Chelsea whispered uneasily, as she allowed icy fingers to take her hands and shoulders and lead her away.

Chapter 4

The red-haired mortal girl was led through the thicket of trees, lit only by the moon and a few scattered torches along the path. She couldn’t help but jump at strange animal sounds, and who knew what other creatures, whose voices echoed out of the darkness. She could barely see a thing from the light from the torches, which made her feel quite uneasy.

This should have been a magical experience, but Chelsea couldn’t help but feel an underlying
dread
. A giant takes her from her bed and then she wakes up in a forest in the company of some hauntingly beautiful people, who clearly were only vaguely human-like in appearance, and others, who were nothing at all like them. She was lost inside a massive woodland, barely able to see the sky, other than the brightest, silvery moon she had ever seen in her life, and she didn’t know why she was there.