The Faerie Curses

Chapter Nineteen: The Knight Who Plays With Fire

"Yes, there is." Another voice cut in. This one was female. "You are suspected for harboring three fugitives."

Lorely cackled. "You mean the three fugitives that are doing your job better than you can?"

The female's voice was icy like steel. "A delinquent prince, a traitor sprite, and a rogue knight. They're not hard to miss, witch."

"Delinquent?" Glen muttered under his breath. "I had no idea how much Winter Court hated me."

I gave him a pointed look.

"Until I met you, of course." Glen added with a soft chuckle.

"Oh, now I seem to remember." Lorely croaked. "The memory of a hag is very poor, but I seem to recall those three leaving my apartment a long time ago."

"I doubt that." The female voice hissed. "Guards, seize this witch."

With the pounding of feet, I heard Lorely let out a shrill cry.

"Get your hands off of me!" She screeched.

"Tell us where you're hiding them." The female voice spat venomously.

The curiosity was too much. I leaned my head slightly out of the doorway. In the hall, I could see Lorely roughly held by two burly Winter guards, and standing in front of them was a vicious looking female knight with streaked blonde hair. Beside her, the familiar person I had recognized, was Noel. He was dressed in glittering armor, his hair tied back over his pointed ears. His expression was slightly guilty as he watched the guards haul Lorely deeper into the apartment.

I stared, unable to move, as the witch reached into her shawl and pulled out a pendant. With a roar of rage, she flashed it in one of the guard's faces, and with a bloodcurdling scream, he transformed into a hissing snake. It had green scales and a forked tongue, and Lorely stomped on it with her slippers.

Her lip curling in rage, the female knight seized the witch around the neck. Her eyes were flashing like ice as she dragged Lorely past the spare bedroom. I shrank back into the shadows as the Winter Fae passed, fury boiling inside me. Light danced between Glen's fingers.

"Now," seethed the female knight. "I'll ask you again. Where are the fugitives?"

In response, Lorely spat in her face. The female knight ruthlessly shoved Lorely to the floor. She then reached into the plates of her armor and drew a match. The female knight's face hardened.

"We need that sprite who has allied himself with the prince and the knight. Queen Mab believes that he will be very useful to her in revealing information regarding the sprites and their plot. Now, witch, if you don't tell me where he is, along with the others, I'll treat you the way your kind should be treated." The match flicked between her fingers. "With a burning."

My gut churned with horror. From inside the other room, Noel's eyes went wide with shock.

"We need to stop this." Glen whispered to me. "Lorely is going to get killed if we don't do something."

"I know," I replied softly. "But we need to find Diandre as well."

I was terribly torn. Lorely shouldn't have to give up her life for us, but where had Diandre gone off to?

Meanwhile, Lorely turned her face up to the female knight. Her wrinkled face was lifted into a bitter smile.

"Go ahead and burn me," She taunted. "But you must tell your precious queen that war is coming. You're far behind the sprite's plan, the only ones that can catch up are those fugitives of yours." Lorely chuckled. "I'll go down in flames, just like your kingdom."