The Iron Locket (The Risen King) (4 page)

"No!" Lea flung her hand out toward Titania as the arrow sailed toward the sprite. It sank into his shoulder and sent him tumbling to the ground. Titania pulled her horse up short, baffled at the vicious glare Lea sent her way. "Why would you do that," Lea continued as she jumped off her horse. She stalked over to the faery and kicked him with her boot. He rolled onto his side, groaning in pain as he clutched the arrow embedded in his shoulder.

"Mother told us to kill him, Lea. He is a spy." Titania stayed on her horse, confused and hurt by her friend's reaction.

"Stupid," Lea muttered as she bound the sprite's hands and feet. "My father needs him." Her words were so low that Titania wasn't sure if Lea had meant her to hear, so she said nothing. "I will take care of him. You go on home and get cleaned up," Lea said louder. Leanansidhe's smile was cold and her words were a dismissal if Titania had ever heard one. The princess hesitated as she looked at Lea standing over the groaning sprite.

"Go," said Lea, her voice growing harsh. "I have this, Tani. Go home."

Titania nodded weakly. "Okay." With tears stinging her eyes, she spun her horse around and headed for the castle.

"Did you find the sprite," the queen asked later that evening as Titania poked at the food in front of her.

The girl looked up, meeting her mother's eyes. The woman's brow furrowed. "What's wrong?"

Titania opened her mouth, then snapped it shut. If she told her mother, Lea could get into trouble. But if she didn't, something much worse could happen. Her guilt and fear won out.

"Deronsidhe, you are hereby declared guilty of committing heinous acts against the people of Faery and conducting experiments that are banned by the laws of the land," the queen declared the next day after a hasty trial.

Titania sat off to the side, tears streaming down her face as she watched her best friend's family's secrets exposed. Lea had refused to look at her, the hatred and pain rolling off her in tidal waves of emotion.

"You are sentenced to death, along with your family and anyone who is found to have conspired with you."

"No!" The word left Titania's lips before she could stop it. Her mother shot her a glare and she fell silent, her heart thudding heavily inside her chest.

Later that night, she crept through the castle to the dungeons, using the pathways that only children who grew up there knew. Leanansidhe's cell was at the very end, away from the bulk of the guards.

"Lea," she whispered to the lump in the corner. The girl stirred and looked in Titania's direction. The fire in her eyes pierced new holes into Titania's heart, but she wasn't willing to give up. "Hurry, Lea. We do not have much time."

Leanansidhe's hesitation was short lived. She jumped up and sidled to the door just as Titania popped the lock open. Titania grabbed her friend's hand and pulled her toward the secret tunnel she had used.

"My father," Lea said, pulling back, trying to move toward the guards.

"No, Lealea, we cannot. We will get caught. Come on, hurry." Titania yanked harder, pulling her friend toward the door.

Lea looked back, watching the guards move about in front of her parents' cell. After several tense seconds, she followed Titania into the woods.

At the edge of the castle grounds, Titania stopped and held out a pack to Leanansidhe. "It is not much," she said, not daring to look her friend in the eyes. "But it should help you get out of here."

Leanansidhe took the pack, her glare locked on Titania. The princess squirmed. "I am sorry, Lealea, I really am. I did not know..." She trailed off, unable to find the words to sooth the pain she had caused.

"No," Lea said, straightening and throwing the pack over her shoulder. "You are not sorry. But you will be." As she walked into the darkness, Titania's heart broke into a million pieces.

*~*~*

FOUR

*~*~*

The path through the woods was full of odd twists and turns. Arthur sat upon the big white steed he had been given, his eyes and ears wide open as the creature plodded along behind Queen Oonagh, certain they had doubled back on their own trail more than once. The queen's own mare was a chestnut pinto, half the size of his, but more sleek and agile. The smooth lines on the fine beast matched those of her master, even down to the coloring of her hair. The other knights had been given mounts of every color, each of the horses matching the particular knight's preference for strength or speed. The king was amazed at how much the queens seemed to know about him and his men. It both impressed and scared him at the same time.

"How much further is the castle?" he called up to the woman in front of him. The strange woods on either side of them seemed to crawl with life and it made him uneasy. He was quite sure one of the branches had tried to grab his arm as he passed.

The queen spun halfway around in her seat, fixing him with her gaze. She held an easy smile on her lips. "Not much further, my dear king." A mischievous twinkle lighted in her eyes. "Have no fear, my brave knight. I will get you there safe and sound. No harm shall come to you just yet. That much I can promise."

As she turned around again to face forward, Arthur's brow knit in worry and concentration. He had had a promise from one of the faery queens before and it did not work out in his favor. He glanced to the knight riding beside him. Though he and Lancelot had reconciled, the wound caused by the affair his best friend had had with his wife would always leave an indelible scar. It was something Arthur knew he would never be able to forget.

Lancelot caught the king looking his way. "My lord?" His dark hair shimmered in the pale rays of sunlight that snaked through the trees.

Arthur forced a smile to his face. "I was just thinking of the long rides we used to take through the forests of Camelot." He paused a moment as his quick lie became truth and his smile became genuine. "Do you remember that hunt where we encountered the white stag for the first time? The one where Sir Riley fell off his horse leaping over that fallen tree?"

Lancelot's face broke into a grin. "He was covered head to toe in muck and mire. His mother was in fits when we returned, berating him for his carelessness and putting himself in danger. From a fall off a horse! As if he did not see worse in battle."

Arthur beamed at his friend and his heart lightened just a bit. It felt good to be reminiscing about times long past, times before the total agony of being in love betrayed them both.

"Would you look at that..." Bor's mumbled comment turned Arthur's attention forward. As they crested a small hill, the woods broke around them, giving way to a rolling field that sloped downward toward a small castle. A tall stone wall surrounded the fortification, guarded by two large stone gargoyles that perched on either side of the gate. Inside the walls, they could see a tiny village and a large garden full of greenery nestled beside a small forest.

They followed Oonagh down the dirt path that wound its way leisurely down the hillside. As they approached the wall, the gargoyles sprang to life, jumping from their perches to land heavily on the ground as the spears they each held clashed together firmly in front of the gate.

Oonagh stopped in front of the creatures, fixing her eyes on them. They did not move, not even a quiver of a muscle was present.

"Open." The queen's voice was firm and commanding. The gargoyles slid their spears aside, returning to their normal state. "Each of you may command the gates to open or close as you see fit. Only you knights, the Four Queens, and our direct offspring have the ability to do so.” She paused. “Well, except Kane. He has been disowned.”

With a smile that seemed much too happy, she continued. “Should anyone else try to open these doors, they will be slaughtered. If you wish to allow someone to enter, they must do so at the side of the King and the King only." She turned a sympathetic smile on the knights. "Not that we do not trust the judgment of the rest of you, but you must understand that Faery is a very dangerous place and there are many dangerous beings roaming these lands who would thrill at the chance to seduce a knight of a Queen. This castle is your only sanctuary, so it must remain safe from outsiders."

The queen led the knights through the gates and into a small courtyard. As she dismounted, fourteen ethereal beings drifted from a wooden building that Arthur could only assume was the stable. They mechanically took the reins of the horses and, once the knights were all dismounted, led them off in the direction of the building they came from.

Arthur turned to Oonagh. "I thought you said no one could enter except at my side." His mistrust of the queens was already starting to grow.

Oonagh gave him her lazy smile. "I do not lie, my darling knight. They neither come nor go. Like all the servants of this place, they are bound to the castle for eternity, doomed to serve it and its ever-changing inhabitants until Faery ceases to exist, which, if all goes well, will not be anytime soon."

As the knights looked around, taking in their new surroundings, they could see more of the ethereal beings floating around the grounds. Some carried water pails, others carried food. Still others hurried to and fro doing who knew what task. None stopped to greet the knights. None of the creatures even looked in their direction or seemed to notice their existence at all.

"Do not expect much in the way of socialization from them. After centuries of servitude, most of them have lost the taste for idle gossip."

Galahad stepped up beside Arthur, running a hand through his curly black hair. "Who are they?" he asked, staring at a young pale maiden whose flowing white hair trailed behind her as she lugged a heavy bucket up the long set of stone steps.

Oonagh waved a hand in casual dismissal. "Oh, they come from various walks of life. Most were humans who made the wrong deal with the faery who owned the castle at the time. Some were faeries themselves who made a bargain they were not able to keep, like him."

She pointed to a tall man near the stairs. He had a sword in a sheath at his hip and his tunic carried an emblem of a style that Arthur did not recognize. The man's black hair was trimmed short, exposing pointed ears. One hand rested on the hilt of his sword. The other he held behind him in half a military stance. His dull gray eyes stared straight forward, unseeing, or so Arthur thought.

"That man," Oonagh continued, "was the son of one of the lesser kings. He made a pact with the ruler of this castle, oh, maybe six hundred centuries ago?" She nodded her head toward the stairs and started walking. Arthur and the knights followed as she spoke again. "He swore to bring the man the wife of another noble, but he failed in his duty, falling for her himself. In exchange for his failure, he was bound to serve the castle for eternity, forever its guardian." The queen patted the prince on the shoulder as they walked by. He didn't move. As far as Arthur could tell, he didn't even breathe. “Her punishment was far worse.”

Oonagh paused at the top of the stairs and turned back toward the bound knight. "Should any of your lives be threatened while inside these walls, every single one of these servants will spring to your defense, including him. I assume you will want to spar, but I suggest you keep that to the area set aside for just that purpose. Any physical combat between two of you outside of the training area may set them off, and we cannot be held responsible for how the guardians of the castle will react in such circumstances."

The knights glanced around at the multitude of ghostly servants floating about their business. A new tension settled over them as Oonagh turned and walked toward the heavy wooden door that stood at the top of the stairs. With the wave of a hand, the heavy construct swung inward, its hinges creaking loudly. Torches lined the open foyer that greeted them, the flames flickering in the light breeze that the door generated. A thick, plush red carpet ran the length of the hall, showing light signs of footsteps long since gone. Suits of armor were interspersed between the torches at regular intervals, each hollow knight wielding a spear with a ridged blade at the end. Tristan walked up to one of the suits, leaning forward to get a closer look as his curiosity got the better of him.

"Stay away from the knights," the queen commanded as she walked toward a door further along the wall. "They get a bit irritable when someone smudges their shiny armor."

Even as she spoke, the spear moved toward Tristan, threatening to skewer him. He leapt backward, the deadly barbs just missing his throat. He glared at the hollow knight, then at his friends as they all broke into fits of boisterous laughter.

The queen clapped her hands firmly. The sound echoed along the hall, growing to a deafening boom instead of fading away. The hollow knight jumped back into his former position, still once more, and the live knights stood to attention, their wide eyes locked on the queen. "We do not have time for games," she stated, her voice soft and cheerful and a smile on her face. But annoyance tinged each word and her eyes were green emeralds that threatened reprisal should she not be heeded. "Come, this way."

When she turned to walk through a door on the right, the knights exchanged wary looks, the danger of their situation finally starting to become clear to them. Arthur and his men followed Oonagh through the door into another chamber. A large round table stood in the middle, surrounded by thirteen chairs. Its wooden surface was carved with intricate battle scenes that played out in circular order. Arthur furrowed his eyebrows as he stepped up to the table.