Page 49 of A Tale of Treachery

It wasn’t a bad idea, but I’d never seen Ryken use powers. Besides, if he was a powerful fae, why would he be here, instead of Faerie? Fin’s comment from last night had inferred that he and Ryken were looking for something. But since Fin was clearly a powerful fae shifter and associated with Ryken, they must be of the same class.

I groaned and rubbed my temples. My brain hurt too much to consider it. All I knew was that I had to find out what they were searching for.

“Maybe…we can talk about it later. After I have some tea,” I said.

Redmond smiled. “Good. We’ll get you some tea, but I have something to show you first. You won’t believe what I discovered at the rift last night.”

He shot up from his chair and raked his fingers through his unruly hair, hastily moving into the study outside our rooms. I groaned, rolling out of bed to follow him, feeling every bone and muscle twinge with pain. By the time I managed to hobble out of my room, there was a hot cup of tea on the worktable waiting beside the magnifying device. A pathetic noise slipped from my throat as I dove for the tea, pulling it to my lips to take a deep swig that I swooshed around my mouth.

Energy tea again. I needed it.

“Look into the lens and tell me what you see.”

He moved away from the magnifying device, and I took the seat in front of it, peering through the reflective eyeglass centered atop a sample. A small black glob sat on the slide beneath the lens. I studied it through the magnifier and noticed it was composed of tiny little wisps of black material. The dark material seemed to be comprised of both a mist and a gel, as if they were one and the same.

“Strange,” I muttered, pressing my eye tightly to the glass. “This is from the rift?”

Redmond clapped his hands together excitedly. “Yes, it’s from the rift because the rift isn’t exactly a rift. It’s a portal. And that sample is the material that the portal is comprised of.”

Just then, the material seemed to stretch beneath the lens, forming tiny little hands that tried to reach out to me. I jumped from my seat and looked at Redmond. “It just tried to touch me.”

“Really?” Redmond nearly jumped for joy and took my seat. “I don’t see anything. Do you think you could touch it for me?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “No.”

He harrumphed and went back to studying the material, poking and prodding the lens as if he could trigger the material into action.

“I don’t understand, Redmond. Is there some element keeping the otherworld sealed despite this portal being open?”

“That is the crucial question, isn’t it? We’ve all been wondering why nothing has exited, and I think that something else rests on the other side, preventing the shades and shadows from crossing over. What it is, I don’t know yet. I tried to cross over, but the portal wouldn’t let me through. It wouldn’t let anybody through.”

I sighed. “Redmond…you said you wouldn’t do anything reckless.”

He only shrugged. “We need to know what is over there. There must be something. There must be more information.”

“Are you going to investigate it more? I don’t think you should,” I cautioned. “It would be best to leave it alone and let whatever force that is protecting us be.” I knew the idea wouldn’t be satisfactory to Redmond. He would need to know anything and everything about the mysterious other side.

Redmond tutted. “Of course I am.”

I didn’t have time to argue with him or explain why that wasn’t a good idea because a knock sounded on the door, and Redmond left me behind to rush and answer it.

My eyebrows scrunched together. Nobody ever knocked on the door to Redmond’s study because they knew they weren’t welcome. It could be Ryken, but Ryken never knocked. He just let himself in as if he owned the place.

I heard voices and decided to investigate, but my curiosity intensified upon spotting the commander of the King’s Guard standing at the door. Redmond welcomed the man in, and he entered, his blank face scanning the study as his creepy eyes landed on me. The man had one of those faces that merged with others, so ordinary and normal that it was hard to remember him, let alone his name. Redmond and I had met him before, and we often referred to him as Nameless since he never managed to leave a lasting impression.

Nameless spoke and walked around the room with an air of superiority, his nose stuck in the air.

I turned my back and went about my business, preferring not to have to entertain the cretin. He’d probably come as the king’s messenger to get an update on the portal study.

“The king has requested your presence in his office. We have been unsuccessfully attempting to track you down for the past twenty-four hours,” Nameless said, his voice filled with ire.

Wasn’t he just with Redmond on the expedition?

When both men remained silent, I turned around. Their eyes were on me, awaiting a response. I raised a brow and pointed to myself in confusion. Why would the king want to see me?

Redmond shrugged as if wondering the same thing.

Unsure and a little ticked off at the intrusion, I busied myself with papers and decided to finally get Nameless’s name. “Well, how about a proper introduction first? You have yet to tell me your name, sir.”

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