Changeling magic, p.1
Changeling Magic, page 1
part #2 of Thirteen Realms Series
CHANGELING MAGIC
Marina Finlayson
Copyright © 2018 Marina Finlayson
www.marinafinlayson.com
All rights reserved.
The right of Marina Finlayson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth).
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the author.
Cover design by Karri Klawiter
Editing by Larks & Katydids
Formatting by Polgarus Studio
Published by Finesse Solutions Pty Ltd
2018/09
Author’s note: This book was written and produced in Australia and uses British/Australian spelling conventions, such as “colour” instead of “color”, and “-ise” endings instead of “-ize” on words like “realise”.
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Table of Contents
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
ALSO BY MARINA FINLAYSON
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
1
You’d think that being granted your heart’s deepest desire would make you blissfully happy, but I’m here to tell you: it ain’t necessarily so. It had been three weeks since the king had granted me the right—and the power—to enter the Realms of Faerie at will. It was all I had ever wanted, everything I’d dreamed of since I’d first been exiled from my home in the Realm of Autumn. And where had I been for that entire three weeks? Right here, in the mortal world, my powers unused, my golden ticket going to waste.
I bowed my head over my guitar, letting the music carry me away in the dark pub. Rowan’s drumbeat reverberated in my chest. The guitar thrummed beneath my hands. And above it all, Willow’s astonishing vocals soared. I should have been lost in the music, in the joy of performing. It was our last set of the night, and the songs were familiar enough that I could have played them with my eyes closed, but I was distracted, ill at ease.
When the song finished, I looked up, taking in the crowd, eager faces turned our way no more than pale ovals under the coloured flashing lights. The Drunken Irishman was only half full tonight, but the patrons, many of them fae, were a rowdy lot, and they made their appreciation of our music known with a roaring and stamping of feet. Willow smiled and took it as her due, red hair tumbling down her back in a flaming waterfall as the sparkles of light from the disco ball in the centre of the room played across her face. Rowan leapt up from his drumkit and planted a smacking kiss on the lips of Sage, our bass guitarist, then grabbed my face in his hands and did the same to me. Willow fended him off and the crowd laughed and jeered.
“That was our best gig yet!” he shouted. I just rolled my eyes and packed my guitar into its case, too tired to deal with his enthusiasm. The room was too dark to make out the time on the clock above the bar, but it felt late. Rowan had taken so many requests tonight that the gig had seemed to last forever. I wanted to go home.
The trouble was, I no longer knew where home was. It definitely wasn’t in the little cottage in the Realm of Autumn where I’d grown up anymore, however much I might wish it to be. My mother had made that crystal clear. It was all well and good to have permission to go anywhere in the Realms, but where else would I go if not there?
Maybe the Hawk had been right, and home was right here, where my friends were. At the moment, I was bunking at Willow’s, with her and Sage, since the place I’d been living in for the last couple of years had exploded rather spectacularly, almost taking me with it. They were my best friends and it was kind of fun to room together, but it wouldn’t work long-term. “Home is where the heart is” was all very well, but it didn’t address the practical details of being a human living in what amounted to a bubble of fae magic. I could never give any human friends my address, much less bring anyone home with me. So I was adrift, not sure where I really belonged.
As if thinking of him had summoned him, a dark-haired man, tall and well-muscled, shouldered his way through the crowd to the bar, and my spirits lifted. I may not have seen the Hawk since the ceremony where the king had endowed me with his magic, but I’d sure thought about him plenty. Pretty much constantly, actually. Over and over, I’d replayed that moment when he’d said he wanted to see me again, felt the pressure of his strong body against mine, his arms around me. And now he was here. Finally. I smiled as I met his honey-coloured eyes across the room, my heart soaring. He nodded, but there was no answering smile.
Sage moved closer, so I could hear her over the roar of conversation and the clinking of glasses. “Sir Hot and Steamy is back. I told you he wouldn’t be able to stay away.”
I shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “I wasn’t expecting him. He’s a busy man.”
“Of course he is. He’s a Knight of the Realms who’s just rescued the king from twenty years’ imprisonment. He’s the flavour of the month. I bet those Court ladies back at Whitehaven are fawning over him.”
She was right; I’d seen the beginnings of the Hawk’s newfound popularity when I’d received my reward for my part in the king’s release. People who’d spent years sniggering at him behind his back for his “fixation” on finding the king were now lining up to be his best buddies. He’d treated them all with his usual cool politeness.
“And yet here he is, hanging out in a dive in the mortal world. I wonder what could possibly have brought him here?” She grinned, but I ignored her teasing and hopped down off our tiny temporary stage to join him at the bar, sliding onto the stool beside him that had miraculously become free at the exact moment I needed it. Probably not so miraculous—just magic at work. The Hawk had no qualms about using his considerable powers to arrange things to suit himself.
He raised two fingers and Randall, who was behind the bar tonight, nodded and filled two small glasses for us without saying anything, which was even more miraculous than the empty bar stool. Randall liked to chat. Perhaps he was awed by the man at my side.
“Hi.” My voice came out a little breathless, and I immediately flushed. I may have been hanging out to see him, but there was no need to make it quite so obvious. I had my pride. “Long time no see.”
He frowned at me, an expression I had admittedly seen more than a few times before on his face. The man managed to make even disapproval look sexy. “I had expected to see you before this. As had the king.”
My smile faltered. Why the cool tone? Had he had second thoughts about starting a relationship with a mere changeling? Randall slid the two shot glasses in front of us, then moved away discreetly, though many of the bar’s patrons were watching us. The Hawk, of course, had always been famous, but my notoriety was new.
“Did you miss me?” I asked, taking refuge in smart-arsery.
“His Majesty is curious as to why you haven’t yet availed yourself of his gracious gift. He sent me to make sure that all is in order.”
Funny how politeness could sound like a rebuke in the right hands. He’d definitely changed his mind about us. I fiddled with the glass in front of me, surprised at how much it hurt. I’d let myself get carried away again, hadn’t I? We’d never even kissed, yet I’d been busy dreaming of a future with my beautiful winged knight.
Except, he wasn’t my knight, as it turned out. I swirled the rich honey-gold liquid, wondering how fast I could get out of here. When would I learn?
“There’s nothing wrong with King Rothbold’s gift. I just haven’t used it yet.” A slight shudder ran down my spine at the thought that the king had noticed and, apparently, been miffed enough to send his knight to make enquiries. I was in the good books right now, because I’d helped save Rothbold from a drugged imprisonment in a dementia unit in the mortal world. Twenty years of that would be enough to make anyone grateful. But gratitude could turn to rancour if he thought I hadn’t appreciated his gift, and I did not want to make an enemy of the King of the Thirteen Realms. I’d be better off jumping off a building right now and saving myself some anguish.
“Can I ask why?” His voice was clipped, impersonal, as if I was someone he’d only just met. Someone who meant nothing to him.
I took a sip of my drink to try and pull myself together. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing how much he’d hurt me. The liquid slid down my throat like silk and lit a fire in my belly that spread through my limbs, bringing an amazing sense of wellbeing in its wake.
“What in the name of the Tree is that?” I asked as the pain of rejection receded. Whatever it was, I wanted more. I downed the rest of the glass, licking my lips so as not to waste a single, precious drop. “And can I have some more?”
He pushed his glass across to me. “It’s called Courage. Do you need it? Are you scared?”
“What would I be scared
“You tell me,” he said. “You weren’t scared when we were lost in the Wilds and faced those dharrigals. You weren’t scared when a troll tried to kill you.”
Actually, I had been—on both those occasions—but if he thought I was brave, I wasn’t going to disabuse him of the notion. Let him believe I was all that and a box of matches. I was practically a superhero these days. I even had a magic cape, courtesy of the mysterious Raven. Now, with the king’s gift of the power to open the Way to the Realms, my blood was almost as good as if I’d been born a fae, not just a lowly human. I had the right to call the Realms home. Such irony.
“I’m not scared,” I said, and with the Courage burning in my bloodstream, I almost believed it.
“What, then? Is this some perverse form of delayed gratification? Three weeks ago, you were so eager to get back into the Realms that I believe you would have done anything to win that right.” A muscle jumped in his jaw, as if he was grinding his teeth. “And now the king has all but laid out a welcome mat, and you won’t go? I don’t understand.”
I sighed, wishing I had another glass—or maybe a whole bottle—of Courage. “Okay. Maybe I am, a little. Well, not scared, exactly.” That sounded childish. “More … uncertain of my welcome.”
“I just told you, the king—”
“Not from the king.”
“Who, then? You’re the hero of the hour. Your name is on everyone’s lips.”
“I highly doubt that. Who’s going to talk about the changeling nobody when the Hawk is in the picture? It’s such a great story—the knight who never gave up on his quest, rewarded at last for his loyalty and persistence.” Unable to resist a little dig, I added, “You know, it makes you sound almost likeable.”
He refused to take the bait. “Almost likeable? That’s high praise, coming from you.” He sounded almost bitter as he signalled to Randall, who came over to refill the glasses with that liquid gold. “Who has you so uncertain?”
I shrugged. “No one in particular. I just don’t really have a place to go.” My mother hadn’t even waited until I was eighteen to kick me out of the Realms, as if she couldn’t bear to put it off a moment longer. I hated that the memory of that pain still had such power to wound me. I should be over my abandonment issues by now.
Rothbold may have given me right of entry, but once I was in, what then? The only place I wanted to go was back to the cottage where I’d grown up, back to the forests of my childhood. But how would my mother receive her prodigal daughter? And if she so clearly didn’t want me around, what was the point, anyway? It wouldn’t be the same. The feeling of belonging had been part of the pull those woods and that cottage had exerted on me all these lonely years. Funny how it wasn’t until I’d won the right to return that I realised that you could never really go back. The past was a country whose borders were closed to all comers.
“Right.” He nodded, as if his suspicions had just been confirmed, and I had the distinct feeling that he’d heard everything I hadn’t said, despite my feeble attempt to deflect him. Then he pushed the glass toward me. “Drink up. You’ll need it.”
“What for?” I eyed him suspiciously over the rim of the glass.
“To do what you should have done three weeks ago.”
I drained the glass and set it back down on the bar, a pleasant buzz filling my head. Courage was well named. It made me brave enough to challenge him, to ask the question that most puzzled me. “Why do you care?”
“I don’t. I’m Robinson Crusoe, remember? No human feelings at all.” Tawny eyes glittered dangerously, as if daring me to argue. I must have struck a deeper nerve than I’d thought with that comment, though it had been meant to help. He seemed in a filthy mood. “I merely act, as always, on my king’s command. King Rothbold desires that you should use his gift, so you’re going to use it.”
He took my hand and all but dragged me off the stool. There were callouses on his skin from sword work, and my hand was engulfed in his larger one. Even in heels, I came no higher than his bearded chin.
“What, now?” It was one o’clock in the morning. That didn’t bother the fae patrons of The Drunken Irishman. Fae needed very little sleep and most of the ones living in the mortal world preferred to operate at night, when the pesky humans were out of the way. I, on the other hand, had been looking forward to hitting my pillow back at Willow’s sith.
“Yes, now, while the Courage is strong in your veins. Hiding from your fears will only help them grow.”
Sage raised an eyebrow as the Hawk pulled me toward the door. I shrugged helplessly and mouthed, “See you later.” The Hawk was not the kind of man who took no for an answer, especially not in his current mood.
2
He dropped my hand as soon as he’d hustled me out into the street and strode off, as if he couldn’t wait to be away from here. Or away from me.
“Is something wrong?” Maybe he’d decided not to take our relationship any further, but in the past, he’d always been polite, at least. This tight-lipped, hard-eyed man was a stranger, and after all we’d been through together, I deserved a little more than that.
“What could possibly be wrong?” he bit out without even glancing at me.
I hurried to catch up with him and caught at his arm. “I don’t know, but you’re being kind of a jerk right now. Will you look at me?”
He whirled on me, a dangerous glint in his eye. “Why? One man not enough for you now?”
What the hell? His body was taut with fury, and I only just managed to hold my ground. Every instinct in my body was urging me to step back, to get out of the path of that storm in his eyes before it broke.
“One man …? What in the name of the Lady are you talking about?”
He moved closer, backing me up against the brick wall of the pub. “You. And Rowan.”
Seriously? Was he jealous of my friends now? “Rowan’s just a friend. What is your problem?”
“Just a friend? It didn’t look that way when I arrived tonight.”
“You mean that kiss? That was nothing.” For God’s sake, Rowan had kissed Sage, too. Or hadn’t he seen that part? “Any of my friends could kiss me like that.”
“So anyone can just grab you” —he jerked me against him, making me gasp— “and kiss you—and it means nothing?”
He swooped down and claimed my lips in a furious kiss. I opened to his onslaught, dizzy with a wave of passion that swept through my body, igniting every nerve ending. I kissed him back with such enthusiasm that all the fury drained from our embrace, and for a few long moments, I was lost in the taste and feel of him. My arms twined around his neck, while his hands roamed hungrily over my body.
At last, he raised his head.
I blinked up at him in a daze. “That was nothing like the way Rowan kissed me.”
“Did it mean nothing?”
“You know it didn’t.”
“I know nothing. You’re a mystery to me, Allegra.”
At least he didn’t seem angry anymore, but there was a wariness about him that kept me at a distance. Already, he was acting as if the kiss had never happened. Something hard bumped against my thigh as he stepped back.
I fell back on humour, always a refuge when I felt uncertain. “Is that a sword in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”
He snorted and laid his hand on a sword hilt, which became visible at his touch. “It’s Ecfirrith. Yriell went hunting for it and the Wilds gave it back to her.”
“That’s great.” Yriell was the king’s sister, and a powerful Earthcrafter. Nothing she did could surprise me. “Now you can gate directly into and out of the Realms again.”
