Page 37 of Iron Hearts and Dragon Magic

“What is it?”

She put the hood back on. “Follow me.”

“I’m not interested, thank you.” Again, he made no effort in hiding his displeasure.

He was closing the door, but she pushed it open. “It’s about Princess Ursiana.”

* * *

In this strange in-between place,where Leah had been attacked once, she was now staring at a creature right from history books—a white fae.

Yes, Leah had seen a fae once, but it had been a brown-haired young man. This woman had red eyes, long silvery white hair, and white horns. It was exactly like her kind had been depicted in books, and somehow Leah had always thought it was an exaggeration, that nobody could look like that. She had been wrong.

Unless it was a shapeshifter. Hopefully it was, otherwise Leah had just agreed to a deal with a white fae, meaning she would have to do what she had promised and listen to her until night. What if time ran differently here and it took days, months, years? Well, Leah should have considered it before agreeing with anything.

Beside the fae stood what looked like two human children or young teenagers, but Leah knew that their looks were deceiving.

“Come,” the fae said. “This place is dangerous.”

Well, of course. But if this fae lived here, why would she say that? “Even for you?”

“We’ll talk later.” The voice was still gentle, but there was a hint of tension in it. “Follow me.”

This was getting similar to her dream, except that in the dream, the creatures had been the ones leading Leah to a cave. Well, no, this was getting different. The fae went to the edge of the mountain, and then descended narrow stairs carved on a rock wall, followed by the strange creatures from this place. Leah was having trouble keeping the pace while still making sure that she didn’t break her neck in the precipice below. Technically, she could refuse to do this, since it wasn’t what she had agreed, but the fae seemed to be in a hurry, and the “children” seemed frantic, perhaps anxious. Iftheywere afraid, then Leah had even more reason to fear.

There was a rocky valley below and more pointy, rocky mountains surrounding the area, and they kept descending, descending, descending those strange stairs. The air was stuffy and humid, and drips of sweat ran down Leah’s neck. Only then she remembered to try to cross her hands, and they touched. This was no dream.

Then she moved her hand to her chest, and found the necklace with krystal leaves, which gave her some comfort, even if she wasn’t completely sure it would offer her any protection in this place. The creatures she was dealing with were pretty much alive, after all.

The fae was very gracious and was dressed in a long, white tunic. How she could keep anything white in this place was anyone’s guess. The “children” had gray or perhaps dirty, simple tunics, and Leah couldn’t recall if they were the same or different from what she’d seen them wearing before.

They came to a narrow ledge and the fae walked sideways, grabbing onto rocks.

“Careful here,” she told Leah.

Right. As if she was going to run there or something. For a moment, Leah hesitated. A fall from that height would be deadly, and, again, she had only agreed to listen. Still, the fae and one of the creatures were going, and Leah was taken by a sudden fear of being left alone or with the creature behind her, and she followed, taking care to step well in places where there was room for her feet.

They came to a slit on the rock, and the fae jumped in it. The creatures didn’t follow the fae, and instead, waited outside.

“Come,” the fae said.

Leah had to enter it sideways, but soon she found herself in a cave with stairs going down to a valley, where they came up to a cave lit by an odd orange glow. Actually, it was some sort of fireplace, except that it wasn’t a fireplace per se, but a hole in the rocky wall. It probably had an opening somewhere, as there wasn’t much smell of smoke inside. Other than that, there was a sort of bed by one of the walls, made of dried leaves, and a table made of a flat rock. This was a house. The fae’s house?

“This is not great, but it’s more comfortable, isn’t it?” She moved near the fire and took what looked like a wooden bowl. “Want something to drink?”

Accepting something from a fae was usually a bad idea, and accepting something in this strange place was even worse. Leah smiled. “I’m fine, thanks.”

The fae sighed. “I understand you don’t trust me. We’re at war, after all.”

“No.” Leah almost corrected her, saying the war had ended years before, but then realized information was valuable, was something she could use to bargain, so she decided not to mention what she knew. It still struck her as strange that this fae wouldn’t know about that. She wasn’t that old. Twenty-five at most, perhaps thirty if she was really youthful—unless fae aged more slowly. Or unless she was no fae. “I wouldn’t trust anyone in this place, that’s all.”

“Fair. And wise.” She stared at Leah. “You’re a deathbringer. I thought your kind had all been killed. I’m truly sorry for your tragedy.”

Tragedy? She meant Formosa, the city the white fae had destroyed. The woman probably thought Leah was part of the Umbraar royal family. But Leah had another question. “The tragedy your people caused? You’re sorry for that?”

“I don’t know how Formosa was destroyed, but yes, I’m sorry. Tragedy and loss are tragedy and loss no matter where you come from.” There was longing and sadness in her voice. Perhaps she was trying to make Leah pity her. No chance.

“And what did you want to talk about?”

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