Feyland: The Dark Realm

Chapter Thirty-Seven

The question hung in the cold air. Jennet blinked, trying to find the words.

“Jen?” Her dad squeezed her hands.

“I…Tam…” She swallowed the lump in her throat, then tried again. “We were simming in Feyland and…Oh Dad, I’m so sorry.”

“In Feyland? You know that’s off limits!” He took a breath, visibly trying to calm himself. “All right, you were gaming, and then?”

“Tam made a bargain with the Dark Queen - she’s the last boss. And after the fight, he was just lying there unconscious in the sim chair. Dad, stuff that happens in-game affects real life. It sounds crazy, but it’s true. We have to go back in, together, and save Tam!”

“No.”

“But Dad, he could be dying!”

“Jennet, listen to me. Playing a computer game is not going to save your friend. And nobody is going to be using the Full-D system right now. It’s too dangerous.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose, looking suddenly weary. “I never told you exactly how Thomas died.”

A shiver ran through her. “You said he had a stroke - a blood clot to his brain.”

“That’s what the doctors thought. But I don’t mean the exact diagnosis. When they found his body, he was hooked in to the Full-D system. He died while he was simming. And now your friend Tam… there’s something terribly wrong with the hardware. The neural interface of the helmet, something.”

“It’s not the hardware, Dad. It’s the game. Feyland is connected to another world, and I have to—”

“Jennet.” He put his arm around her shoulders. “I know you’re upset. But there’s nothing we can do except trust the doctors to take care of Tam.”

“But I’ve simmed a lot on the Full-D, and I haven’t—”

“You were playing right before you got sick this summer, weren’t you?” He gave her a penetrating look.

“I… well, yes, but—”

“And it landed you in the hospital for a week. So, no. No more playing. Those systems need to be examined, dismantled, and rebuilt from the bottom up.”

Oh no. A sick shakiness trembled through her. How could she go back in-game and fight to free Tam if the systems were down?

“There’s one more thing.” Dad cleared his throat. “About Thomas. He had recently found out he had invasive cancer. He was dying.”

Shock pierced the cold surrounding her. “But - what about treatment? Chemo and radiation and all that?”

“By the time they discovered the cancer, it was too late. He chose to not even try. In a sense it was merciful, the way he died. It was fast, and likely painless.”

Thomas had cancer? Terminal cancer? Had he made a deliberate choice to leave his body behind, and enter the Realm of Faerie? He hadn’t been able to save her, but it seemed he had some influence over the Dark Queen. Maybe without him there, Jennet wouldn’t have ever come home from the hospital that summer.

But Tam’s choice was different. He had a family, a life, a body to come back to. She couldn’t let him give all that up - couldn’t live with the guilt of knowing it had been because of her.

“It’s all right, Jen.” Dad squeezed her shoulders. “I need to get to the hospital, meet Tam’s family, and see what the prognosis is. Whatever happens, I bear the responsibility.”

“It’s not your fault,” she said, her voice nearly breaking. It was hers. Hers. “Can I come, too?”

“Are you sure you’re up to it?”

“Yes. I have to know.”

Every beat of her heart was fear and guilt and worry, carrying his name. Tam. Tam. Tam.

 # # #

 Tam held a heavy silver goblet to his lips. The scent of wine and spices tingled in his nose, but he didn’t drink. For some reason, he wasn’t supposed to. A memory flashed deep in his mind, like a silver-sided fish. He chased after it, but it was gone, submerged again in shadows.

Around him, the clearing was filled with glowing lights and high, chiming voices. The faeries came and went, swirling about their queen. Music floated through the air. He set the goblet down on the leafy table beside him and looked for the musicians.

There, at the edge of the clearing. A tall, twiggy figure playing the flute. Next to it, a squat, dark troll beating a hand-drum with gnarled fingers, and in the center, a man with a guitar. Tam squinted. There was something familiar about the bard.

As if sensing his regard, the man’s fingers stilled. He nodded to his companions, and then strode over to Tam.

“Well met, brave knight,” the musician said. “And how do you find our fair land?” There was something sad in the question, a weight that Tam didn’t understand.

“How should I find it?” He had a feeling he hadn’t been here that long, but he couldn’t remember where he had come from.

The bard turned wise, weary eyes on him. “You should remember that beauty and treachery exist in equal measure here. It is wise of you to take no food, nor drink.” He nodded to Tam’s untouched goblet.

Tam’s brain felt strange and sludgy. He opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the glittery edged laughter of the Dark Queen. One moment the air beside him was empty, the next she was there, luminous as the moon in a midnight sky.

“How now, Bard Thomas,” she said. “What strange tales do you tell our guest?”

The musician gave a short bow. “My lady, I do but discourse on the wonders of the Realm.”

The queen smiled at him, but there was a sharpness to it. Tam shifted uncomfortably. He wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of that look.

“Enough talk,” the queen said. “Play on, bard. We have a taste for your music this eve.”

“As my lady commands.” Bard Thomas inclined his head. “Fare well, young knight. I shall play you a ballad ere our time here is done.” There was warning in his look, and a message that Tam couldn’t decipher.

The queen waved her delicate hand in dismissal, then turned to Tam. “Are you well, bold Tamlin?”

“Yes.” He couldn’t imagine saying anything but yes to the queen.

“Good.” She brought one hand to his face and set her fingers lightly against his cheek. A rush of heat and starlight went right through Tam. He barely heard her next words. “Tomorrow you perform a great feat for us, brave knight. Tomorrow we open the Gate.”

Her eyes were full of magic and mystery. Tam fell into her gaze, and didn’t bother looking back.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

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