royal, King Guirmean, who'd been appointed King after I'd killed his Queen. Well technically the Ring of Remembrance, my father's ring, had killed her. Anyway, he didn't have a Queen yet, so he stood alone, his turquoise eyes focused, like all the others, on a spot on the ground before him. His dark blue skin looked moist, like it had been spritzed with water recently, and I wondered if the King of Water had to carry a spray bottle around with him. How inconvenient.
Finally, we made it past them and were able to see what they were staring at. Arach gasped and pulled back a little and the other royals seemed to cringe with him. I was the only one who didn't show a reaction, merely staring at the scorched crystal with curiosity. The quartz was cracked deeply and gouged with furrows that seemed to flow out of a central spot, a curved depression wide enough to have cradled a small fey body. It was spotted with blood, not a lot of it but enough that it was evident that something vicious had been perpetrated.
I stepped closer, the fey inhaling sharply when I dropped to my knees next to the spot and ran my hands over the gouges. There was some kind of residue in them and I lifted my finger to my nose to smell it. It was clear and odorless, with the consistency of gel. I knew it even as I went through the motions of lifting my hand, if it had a scent, my dragon would have picked up on it immediately.
“Vervain,” Arach was standing beside me, talking in a low voice. “It's not always such a good idea to touch places where magic has gone wrong.”
“ How are we going to figure out what happened if I don't touch it?” I looked up at him. “I don't sense anything except that something bad went down, do you?”
“ No,” he glanced at the other royals, who all shook their heads, “nothing.”
“ Faerie charged me with finding the killer,” I sighed. “If that means touching a little bad magic, then so be it.”
I pressed my hand back to the crack and felt it pulsing beneath me, hot and pounding like a wound. Whatever had been done there, it had hurt the earth. I frowned as I stared at the scorch marks. Were they moving? I reached out a finger and touched one, then heard the rushing of a multitude of wings as it flowed toward me. Arach cried out and pulled me back just as the dark mass shot through the spot I'd been in and flew straight up into the sky, with the screech of angry birds.
“What the fuck was that?” I watched as it continued to speed away.
“ This is not fey magic,” King Cian was staring after the thing as well, fear tightening his features.
“ Do you know of any magic that could crack the quartz like this?” I sat up, giving Arach a grateful look before I went back to studying the damage.
“ A battle perhaps,” King Cahal was the one who answered. “This valley has stood firm for all the years I've ruled. My heart is as heavy with sadness over its injury as it is over the loss of my people.”
“ Who's missing?” I was going to collect as much information as possible and sift through it later.
“ Brownies,” he shook his head, “four of them. Gentle fey but they can be vicious opponents if you attack them. I can't imagine why anyone would want to take them.”
“ Is this about the size of one of them, do you think?” I waved my hand over the depression in the quartz.
He looked startled by the question, then leaned over to look closely at the indentation. “No,” he said with surprise, “that's much too small to have been a brownie. Whatever was thrown into the quartz, it wasn't my missing fey.”
“Okay, well here's the next obvious question,” I looked up at him and then gave a glance at the other royalty. “What would fit in there?”
They all peered at the hole, looked at each other, and gave it some serious thought.
“Too big for pixies,” Arach started.
“ Too small for a selkie,” King Guirmean added.
“ Possibly a fachan could fit,” Queen Breana looked to
Finally, we made it past them and were able to see what they were staring at. Arach gasped and pulled back a little and the other royals seemed to cringe with him. I was the only one who didn't show a reaction, merely staring at the scorched crystal with curiosity. The quartz was cracked deeply and gouged with furrows that seemed to flow out of a central spot, a curved depression wide enough to have cradled a small fey body. It was spotted with blood, not a lot of it but enough that it was evident that something vicious had been perpetrated.
I stepped closer, the fey inhaling sharply when I dropped to my knees next to the spot and ran my hands over the gouges. There was some kind of residue in them and I lifted my finger to my nose to smell it. It was clear and odorless, with the consistency of gel. I knew it even as I went through the motions of lifting my hand, if it had a scent, my dragon would have picked up on it immediately.
“Vervain,” Arach was standing beside me, talking in a low voice. “It's not always such a good idea to touch places where magic has gone wrong.”
“ How are we going to figure out what happened if I don't touch it?” I looked up at him. “I don't sense anything except that something bad went down, do you?”
“ No,” he glanced at the other royals, who all shook their heads, “nothing.”
“ Faerie charged me with finding the killer,” I sighed. “If that means touching a little bad magic, then so be it.”
I pressed my hand back to the crack and felt it pulsing beneath me, hot and pounding like a wound. Whatever had been done there, it had hurt the earth. I frowned as I stared at the scorch marks. Were they moving? I reached out a finger and touched one, then heard the rushing of a multitude of wings as it flowed toward me. Arach cried out and pulled me back just as the dark mass shot through the spot I'd been in and flew straight up into the sky, with the screech of angry birds.
“What the fuck was that?” I watched as it continued to speed away.
“ This is not fey magic,” King Cian was staring after the thing as well, fear tightening his features.
“ Do you know of any magic that could crack the quartz like this?” I sat up, giving Arach a grateful look before I went back to studying the damage.
“ A battle perhaps,” King Cahal was the one who answered. “This valley has stood firm for all the years I've ruled. My heart is as heavy with sadness over its injury as it is over the loss of my people.”
“ Who's missing?” I was going to collect as much information as possible and sift through it later.
“ Brownies,” he shook his head, “four of them. Gentle fey but they can be vicious opponents if you attack them. I can't imagine why anyone would want to take them.”
“ Is this about the size of one of them, do you think?” I waved my hand over the depression in the quartz.
He looked startled by the question, then leaned over to look closely at the indentation. “No,” he said with surprise, “that's much too small to have been a brownie. Whatever was thrown into the quartz, it wasn't my missing fey.”
“Okay, well here's the next obvious question,” I looked up at him and then gave a glance at the other royalty. “What would fit in there?”
They all peered at the hole, looked at each other, and gave it some serious thought.
“Too big for pixies,” Arach started.
“ Too small for a selkie,” King Guirmean added.
“ Possibly a fachan could fit,” Queen Breana looked to
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