That Grey Area - Book 1 - The girl from Otherworld

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The winged boy's face falls when he sees me, but an instant later his disappointment is gone and he straightens up, almost standing to attention. My heart starts racing – it is not the greeting I was expecting.

I look at Esther, whose eyes briefly catch mine. As she walks towards the boy, she casually hands me the fire fox she had been holding, as if to free her hands, but I know better. The warmth spreads through my body, but I put it down before the sleepiness overtakes me.

'Rowan,' Esther states formally, 'this is Lacie Vaughan.'

The winged boy touches two fingers to his lower lips.

'It is an honour to meet you,' Rowan says, as though to address some important person.

He glances at Esther.

'She's a bit shy,' Esther says. 'Now just sit down, and explain to her why she is here.'

As if obeying a command, the boy takes a seat at a large solid wooden table in the middle of the room. His back erect and palms facing down on the table, he reminds me of a soldier.

I join him, the heavy chair scraping loudly against the floor.

The library is a stunning room, every inch of its walls covered in bookshelves. Two large couches share a coffee table in one corner but all the seats occupied by cats of various colours and sizes. The curtains have been drawn, but a ball of fire enclosed in a glass lantern casts a bright orange light onto the room, while a number of candles keep the darkness away from the corners. A dark blue drape hangs from one of the bookshelves, protecting whatever is underneath.

The sound of Rowan clearing his throat brings me back to the present.

'I asked the Wise One to find you for a very important reason. Your name was given to me by my Master on his death bed. I trust the Wise One has shown you the note.'

I blink. Death bed?

When I fail to answer him, Rowan turns to Esther for confirmation. 'I did,' she says.

'My Master was called Solomon Marec. Do you know him?'

I shake my head and look pleadingly at Esther for guidance. Five minutes ago I didn't even know this world existed.

Disappointed, the boy continues.

'What I am going to tell you now...' He pauses and takes a breath. 'People have died protecting this secret. Do you understand? You can't tell anyone about it.'

He sounds like he's implying I'm a little slow, which annoys me. And somehow that breaks my shyness.

'Yes, a secret, I do know what that word means.'

He frowns at my answer, but continues. 'Fine. Good. Marec was part of a secret society that protects Faerie. But he was worried the members of the society were going bad. They were plotting to take over. So he trained me. Taught me like the other members, but separately. I am a Vray, you see.'

'A what?'

'Faerie is divided into castes,' Esther explains. 'Vrays, Bowers and Bohns.'

I grimace – I've never heard of castes being a good thing.

'No one is allowed to learn anything that is the privilege of the other castes,' Rowan continues. 'Marec breached the Decree by teaching me some of what he knew, a very serious crime in Faerie.'

'But not in the rest of Meuriaden.' interjects Esther.

'What's Meuriaden?' I ask.

'It's here!' Rowan says, waving his hands in exasperation before Esther has time to explain. He looks at me incredulously before turning to Esther. 'I'm sorry, but where is this girl from? She could be from Loicden!'