Page 33 of The Rebel Seer

“This is where I was almost eaten by an ogre,” she says, pointing out a small pond.

Most of them involving some kind of bloody battle.

Neil sighs as he looks it over. “Good times.”

“I still owe Herne the Hunter for that one,” Devinshea admits with a sigh. “Although he did me a solid when he called down the Wild Hunt and slaughtered my enemies.”

“All Dad talks about when he tells that story is how he almost lost his favorite pajamas,” Cassie points out.

“Pops bought him those.” Brendan defends his parents.

They start to reminisce, and Devinshea declares this is a perfect spot to eat the sandwiches I made earlier. I like to joke about the fact that I only cook for productive people, so I carefully put together the brown bread, butter, and ham sandwiches while the rest of our group packed.

I’m not hungry.

My mind keeps going back to those mountains.

Rhys begins a fire with nothing more than the clapping of his hands and pulling from the earth. The royals all sit around it, the wolves and Sasha joining them. The hounds prove their canine instincts as they are far more interested in the food that’s being brought out than in anything else around us.

But I feel myself pulled to the pond.

“Hey, Shy. Don’t get too close,” the queen calls out. “There are lots of things that want to eat you out here.”

“The hounds don’t seem to think so,” Cassie points out. “And I don’t smell anything but some small prey.”

Brendan grins and suddenly looks very wolfish. “I haven’t hunted in a while.”

Neil growls his boy’s way. “No changing until we need to.” He takes a deep breath. “I don’t sense any threats. If anything this place smells…different.”

“You can’t possibly remember how a place smelled decades ago,” the queen argues.

Neil frowns her way, taking two sandwiches. “I assure you I remember everything about the day I had to fight with a damn ogre.”

“But it was tasty, right?” Brendan asks.

I hear whispers coming from bushes to my left, but they hush as I move closer. I glance back and no one seems to notice except Rhys, whose eyes are on me even as he downs half a sandwich. I have to assume a Fae elemental would sense if there was some terrible danger.

“Why do you aid him?”

The question startles me, more because of the haunting voice that asks it. I turn and Rhys stands, obviously ready to intervene, but I hold a hand out.

A beautiful woman stands in the pond, her torso exposed, her long dark hair tangled with vines and weeds and sticks.

We’re far enough away from the party that we’re not interrupting them, though I’m sure they can all hear us. Well, the queen might not be able to but the wolves and vampires certainly can.

“I see your light and yet you walk with him.” Her skin is pale, lips a deep blue.

“Are you talking about the king?” I ask, walking to the edge of the pond. One of the hounds has left his search for treats and joins me at the water’s edge. I’m certain it’s only Fluffy’s calm demeanor that has Rhys restraining himself.

Her head cocks slightly. “Yes, though I’m surprised I don’t see his guards around him. I thought he was never without his dark guard.”

“He travels with wolves,” I reply. I’m not sure what the Fae call their guard, but the high priest wouldn’t have one assigned by the palace unless there was some sort of threat. The way I was told, Green Men are welcome on all the Fae planes. No one would dare harm a fertility deity.

She snorts. “He does? I thought only sidhe were good enough for our king.”

“He certainly has a fondness for the sidhe,” I reply.

“I don’t think she understands, Shea,” a quiet voice says, and then I’m turning to my right where a young woman sits on a rock. I didn’t notice her before, so she’s either good at hiding or she’s just come into this discussion. Like her friend, she has long hair, but there’s a warm tone to it, like the bark of a tree. Her skin is so translucent I can see traces of the veins where her blood once flowed. They have a greenish cast.

---