Page 25 of The Witch & the Grizzly

With that many weapons pointed in his direction, there was nothing else to do than transform back. He couldn’t hear or see Eva, and he made no move to look for her, as it might reveal to the fae more information than he was willing to give.

The apparent leader of the hunt raised both white eyebrows upon seeing Nathan in his hulking human form. “Part fae, I see. Strong magic. My, my, wouldn’t it be interesting to find out whose spawn you are? Why are you here, in our woods, so close to the court?”

Truth would help, Nathan hoped. “Not by intention. I woke up in the human world in my bedroom. I stepped through the front door – and a fae realm awaited. Not exactly a great start to the morning.”

“You seem well prepared for a surprise,” the fae observed, his narrow face wrinkling. He indicated Nathan’s backpack.

“Well, I’d rather be prepared and feel foolish for overpreparing than to underdo it and feel foolish that I didn’t take my time,” he countered.

“I see.” Then, someone stepped up to him to whisper in his ear. That thin mouth of his curled upward. “Ah, it appears some of us know who you are. You’ve been scampering around the realm a bit, haven’t you, currying some favor with Morgyn and his former supporters unless you’d like to blame some other half fae for doing this.”

“Even if I were that person, it doesn’t make what I said any less true. I would recommend some of you go and check beyond the wastes in that direction.” Nathan pointed to where he’d come from.

The lead fae’s expression darkened. “We won’t be crossing that vile patch of evil.”

“The leaders of your court created that vile patch of evil,” Nathan said, and this caused a wave of murmurs to erupt from the other gathered fae.

“Yes, we’re aware this is what you’re telling those who used to be in with Morgryn. We’ve invited that sly old criminal to the court. It seems now you’ll be joining us there, too.”

The fae made no effort to give his name, and Nathan didn’t know which side he was on other than having a sinking feeling that he didn’t like Morgryn. But that didn’t necessarily mean he, therefore, supported Aelund, who was the current leader.

“We’ll take you while the others search for your companion. Their fate may be less welcoming. We don’t take kindly to humans in these parts.” He sneered while Nathan was frog-marched all the way to the imposing castle.

I’m sorry, Eva, he thought. I need to escape and find her ASAP. There’s nothing I can do right now, though.

He’d never felt so useless. Hopefully, his mad attack had bought her enough time to run, to escape, even if that meant just returning to his dorm room, likely still attached to this twisted world.

Please be safe.

* * *

Inside, the main meeting room yawned impressively before them all, with all the branches neatly trimmed and arranged to create the space needed for the Unseelie Court. In the middle of the room, a vast pentacle patterned the floor, and some of the branches lifted to provide seating spaces, where some members of the court now sat and watched their arrival with murmured intrigue.

Nathan’s eyes locked on Morgryn’s, and the purple fae provided one raised eyebrow and a smirk. Morgryn had other fae huddled close to him and nearby – seemingly providing support by long distance. Nathan recognized faces in that crowd: the succubus, Greer; the seer, Elwon; and the others he’d collected on Morgryn’s behalf.

Opposite Morgryn, some beautiful, youthful-looking fae clustered around a blonde-haired, golden-skinned fae who wore red robes and fury on their features.

That must be Aelund, Nathan thought, hating the sight of him.

The leader of the hunt and two guards shimmied Nathan into the middle of the court. “We found this one lurking outside the castle. He appears to be Morgryn’s. He claims to have crossed the blighted area after waking up and finding the fae realm outside his door. Obviously, we have doubts about his story.”

“Trying to interrupt the court session and sway people to this traitor and his sycophants?” Aelund snarled. He had the kind of petulant voice that made Nathan wonder why anyone would want to follow him. A silvery, thorn-laced crown rested on his head.

“We were foolish to vote on the imprisonment of the traitor. This time, I believe we should execute him directly.” Aelund glanced at his followers; some bobbed their heads in agreement.

“From our perspective,” Greer said wryly, “you are the usurper, the traitor in all this. Morgryn was ready to serve his full term when you removed him.”

“We removed him because he betrayed everything that we, the Unseelie, stand for!” Aelund barked. “Signing that treaty is what got us into this, limiting us, the Unseelie, from our rights, the rights that you elders enjoyed and pissed away, expecting us to spend centuries unable to fulfill our basic tenets. We are the Unseelie! We are the court most feared, and you would hobble us like that other fae; you would deny us!”

Okay, perhaps he did sound convincing because a few murmurs of agreement scattered through the court, though mostly from Aelund’s side. Still, a few on Morgryn’s side stirred uneasily.

“Pup,” Morgryn said, “we were not denying it out of spite to our kind. The very survival of our kind depended upon it. The blight that is beyond the castle – that is because of the direct actions of you and your followers. You are destroying the land and the magic. You are making us collide with the human world. There will soon be no Unseelie Court left if you continue, or magic in the human world.”

“We are creating chaos in the human world, and that is our purpose,” Aelund said. “Why should we care what happens to humans? They are toys for us, nothing more. They come to us with their greedy little deals of death and wealth and destruction, and they eagerly make the deals. The consequences are on them.” He grinned, and a few of the fae grinned manically as well, displaying sharp, predatory teeth.

“Did you completely miss the point about our realm?” Morgryn asked. “I do not care for the humans, but it might be rather distressing if we were to kill off all the ‘toys’ that you mention and ourselves in the process. Surely that might alarm his most esteemed majesty?”

Morgryn remained polite and calm, and his voice had a sonorous, confident quality to it. However, that confidence seemed to enrage Aelund, and Nathan thought with a pang of despair that this wasn’t going to go Morgryn’s way. The number of followers seemed roughly even, though perhaps a few extras were on Aelund’s side. They needed to leech away those for anything to be done. But apparently, imploring the destruction of everything wasn’t the approach. He was staying polite, at least, which served to his image. But Aelund could say anything, however scathing, without reproach.

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