The Fairy King

Chapter seven Unseelie King's Castle

Bryant woke everyone early the next morning. We had our first proper meal in I wasn’t sure how long. It was made mostly of fruits and vegetables. Some I recognized while others were new to me. I went to reach for what looked like an apple.
“Better not.” Gerry warned on one side of me.
“Not unless you like being an animal.” Ariella stated. They exchanged glares. I chuckled.
“Ok, what’s safe?” they loaded my plate with a mix of colors. We found a table somewhere in the center of the group. Bryant and his guards kept to themselves. We joked as we ate.
“What was your life like in the other world?” Ariella asked me. Her eye shone with silver light.
“Boring really. I went to school, hung out with gran or Gerry. I had to be careful around things. I have several allergies.”  I added at her curious look.
“It's not just the metals then?” Bryant had walked up to our table. I hadn’t even heard him move. Looking up at him I shook my head.
“No. I get sick from the smell of meat cooking. I cant eat shell fish or peanut butter but I’m also allergic to epi pens. Made for a very sheltered life.” I commented.
“Come to think of it…” Gerry gazed at me waving a cooked asparagus stalk around. “you're allergic to a lot of medications.” His eye flashed briefly to Bryant's.
“Yeah guess the fairy half of me didn’t like much in the mundane world.” I tried to joke. 
“Guess not.” Bryant agreed. “Do you know much about your mother?” he asked.
I looked between them. Their conversation from the night before echoing in my head. I shook my head. “No. She died giving birth to me. I have never even seen a picture of her. Gran told me I looked like her. And that she had similar allergies. That’s all.” I stated.
“What about her name?” Bryant asked. I snorted.
“Don’t you guys keep track of that sort of thing?” I smirked. They looked serious. I sighed.
“Rowan Stormweather.” I said. It was all I knew about her. A look flashed in those deep silver eyes. Something, sparked in him. I narrowed my eyes.
“Did you know her?” his eyes went blank once more.
“No.” he said.  A little louder he addressed the others. “We will be leaving in twenty minutes. Get everything ready.” He walked away from us after that.
Twenty minutes later we were marching through the midtown once more. This place was drab in daylight. Not many people moving around. The buildings looked like melting cubes with ivy clinging to the sides. The beauty of it really came out at  night.
About an hour later we were existing this town. Now we could clearly see the dark and imposing towers of the castle. It jutted out over the land. It looked like it could fall down on the lower towns at any moment. Shear granite mountain kept it held in place. There were jagged places where you might be able to climb up this way, if you were fifteen feet tall.
“Intimidating isn’t it?” Ariella asked following my gaze.
“Just a bit.” I agreed.
“This is the only path that leads up to the castle. It is narrow to keep any armies from marching on it. The pikes and peaks at the top deflect an aerial attack as well. We are really quite protected here.”  Her face was set in a grim look. Protected or imprisoned? I wondered which the subjects of my father would say if they had the right to speak freely.
The climb was steep. Many of the other kids had to stop often. For me, it was like I was made for fairy. I couldn’t remember a time I felt better. I could breathe easily here. My head didn’t hurt constantly from the lights and pollution of our world. I felt stronger here. My eyes drifted to the girl I had seen the day before. Once more she was set apart from the group. I decided I would introduce myself.
I walked up to her. She stiffened. Those moon bright eyes watching me. “Hi.” I said she glared.
“You know we are related, right.?” Her tone not too friendly. I laughed.
“You got that too?” I waved a hand to indicate the others around us. “I swear they are all meat heads.” She snorted. I could tell she hadn’t wanted to laugh. Hadn’t even wanted to like me. I held out my hand.
“I'm Raven.” I said. She gave me a smile. Small tight lipped but a smile none the less.
“I'm Maebeline. My folks call me Mab. You know the Queen from Midsummer nights dream.” She waved her hand as if to show she didn’t really care about it. I made a face.
“Both sound horrible. Mad Queen Mab or a messed up commercial.” Again she snorted through her nose to keep from out right laughing.
“Well maybe you could be my Puck.” She said. I folded my arms across my chest giving her a glare.
“Do I look like a simple summer fairy fool?” I said in my darkest tone. Her silver eyes widened. Her mouth fell to a shocked o. I flashed a grin. She gave me a smile.
“Well I guess it's true then?” she said putting a bit of bark in her mouth. I raised one eyebrow. She waved her hands over the sea of fair-haired siblings.
“Brunettes really are more intelligent.” I snorted this time
“Not a very political correct statement there, sister.” I informed her. I leaned back against the tree behind me. She gave a one shoulder shrug.
“I doubt we are here to be correct at anything.” I coughed. That was honest.
“I saw you fighting with the captain in the lower town. Your good. I hope this competition. Doesn’t come to us fighting each other.”
“What competition?” She raised her eyes up to look at me better.
“You didn’t figure it out?” at my lack of response she went on. “I think that the king is dying. That we are all here to see who will be the next ruler. That’s what these trials will determine.” I hadn’t really thought about it. What she said did make since. She pointed a finger at me.
“Now your thinking about it.” She smirked. Bryant called us to order a second later. I moved back to walk with Gerry once more. Now the silence was mixed with unease. As we drew closer to the mysterious castle, the atmosphere grew cold indeed.
Physically the wind whipped at us, it was biting at exposed skin. Cold on the top of a mountain. The fairies grew even more distant. Their faces blank masks. Even my siblings picked up on the mood.
We rounded one final bend. There were massive  black doors set into the mountain. Two guards stood at attention in front of them. Bryant walked forward. I neither heard nor saw him speak. The other guard pulled open the doors for him. He stomped forward. This time he wasn’t letting anyone lead him. We followed after, the silence pounded in my ears.
Inside everything was black or silver. There was no other color or light
Not even the torches on the walls shimmered with an orange glow. The sickly silver flames cast small pools of light around them. It was perpetual night here. They resembled stars I realized. We clustered tighter together. Fear gnawed at us. Walking down the hall, the sound of our footsteps muffled by the thick carpet.
It felt like my ears were filled with cotton. The pressure of the silence making my head hurt. I saw the guard before me flick the tip of his ear. They felt it too. It felt so wrong here. There were a few side doors scattered along the hall. Other halls branched off here and there. All are covered in the thick carpet.
We rounded a bend in the hall we were in. The large ornate doors had us all taking a step back. They were black, like everything else. There were silver pictures carved into what I could only guess at was some type of wood. The pictures were horrendous. Large bear like creatures clawing at the bellies of sayters. Centaurs but instead of having a human head it was misshapen. They had horns that gored at a human and bull mix. The gruesome images covered the doors. The doors were the only wall blocking our path.
“This is as far as the guardians may go.” Bryant said. His tone somber. He looked at Gerry and the other protectors. “It is forbidden to allow half humanoid creatures past these doors. In accordance to the law of the king.”
“Aren’t we all half humanoid?” Mab asked. Bryant flicked his silver gaze to here.
“The kings blood cancels out any inferior blood. In the eyes of the court, you are Royal Fey.” He stated studiously. Gerry laid a hand on my arm.
“Be careful.” He warned. I gave him a curt nod.
“Right back at you.  We shook hands and then half of the guards led them away. Bryant met my look for one tiny moment before turning to knock on the doors. Ariella came to my side. Her mouth was set in a thin line. Eyes dulled but determined. She raised her head, gave me a nod, then we stepped forward.
The room was large. Large enough to fit my entire house in it. The floor was some sort of grey dirt but so tightly packed that it looked like cement. Once more our footsteps were silent as we walked across what felt like an entire football field. There were silver columns set in various places around the room. It left many hiding spots for would be killers. I approached each cautiously. As we cleared the last row of floor to ceiling columns we saw the daisies.
It was still another thirty feet to it. On it sat to large black and silver thrones. The chairs looked to be made out of knives and knight armor. They were both empty. Instead a lone male stood in between them. He wore black pants a blank tunic with a silver tree on the front. His hat was way too large for his head as if he moved just right it fell over his eyes. He shoved it back at least three times while we walked up to him. I could tell he was not the king.
We lined up at the base of the stairs leading up to him. These too were black then silver. It was a nice pattern. Bryant knelt on the lowest step. His guards standing around us dropped to their knees. When I moved to do the same Ariella hissed no at me. I straightened up. Hooking my hands behind my back I stared at the man/child. Now that I was closer I could tell he wasn’t very old. Yet this was fairy after all.
The man nodded to Bryant, almost causing his hat to fall off. There were snickers throughout the group. He glared at us all. Our eyes meet. I was slightly surprised that his were not silver. I had begun to get used to the eye color. Instead his were almost golden. they didn't have the rich gold of mine, but they sparkled of the sun.
“You may rise, Captain Bryant.”  His voice was melodic in the way he spoke. A little like he should be singing instead. It was a bit higher pitched but the fierce look in his eye warned against mentioning that.
“Sir Cargen” Bryant said softly as he stood, he still bowed. None of the other guards returned to their feet.
“I have brought you all of the kings half human children that we could locate.” He said. Which told me there were more.
“You have done well, Captain.” Cargen stepped forward. He pulled a silver staff from behind one of the thrones. He walked with it to the edge of the stairs.
“You have all been brought here for an very important opportunity.” He addressed us. There was some shuffling among those gathered.
“What will be said here today, must never be discussed outside of this room.” Doors on either side of the daises opened. Several people wearing similar outfits as Cargen came out. They each held a silver tray. On it was what looked to be a small glass of milk.
“If you wish to stay and hear why you were brought to us, drink this. It is a potion that will only work if you ever try to discuss what we say here. It will make it so that you cannot voice the words, nor will you be able to write them. Decide.” He waved his hand and the servants moved down the steps to us.
The guards stood. Each one moving back from us. Ariella touched my hand. I turned to look at her.
“Drink.” She mouthed. I gave her a small nod. One by one the servants spread out before us. Many of my siblings had already drank from it. One picked up the glass. Looked at it and laughed.
“There is no way your going to get me to drink this. It’s probably poison.” With that he smashed it onto the floor. Instantly the guards surrounded him. He was dragged away. The rest watched him disappear through another side door. As the server came to me, I reached out for the glass.
“Bottoms up” I said with a tiny smirk. She lowered her eyes and gave me the tiniest of smiles. I drank the liquid. It didn’t feel very liquid. It hit my younger, cementing itself all over it. I tried to swallow. It was now that I saw some of the others gagging and choking. This thing felt alive as it slithered over my tongue. It coated my entire mouth. Slowly it dripped then slithered down my throat making my eyes tear up as I coughed. Trying to swallow it did no good. It took it’s time coating my throat.
When it finally completed its course I felt a tingling in my hands. This lasted for a moment before it felt like tiny icicles had formed in my brain. I gasped. It was the worst brain freeze ever. I clutched my head staggering back. I refused to cry out. I could hear the others doing so. My vision blurred.
Then gasping for relief, it came. It was as if nothing happened. I felt normal. I stood up to my full height. A few others were still hunched over. Slowly we all stood once more facing the daises. I looked over the group. Frowning I was pretty sure we were missing a few people.
“Good, you have passed the first trial. Your fairy blood is strong enough to withstand our world.” Cargen stated. His gold eyes flicking from one face to another. I noted that Mab was still here. I smirked, good.
“Now to explain why you are here.” He went on. “The King, your father, has died.”  There were gasps around the group. Mab looked at me. We nodded to each other. I was sure her guess was right on the money.