Page 21 of Broken Veil
“Fair point.” Duncan smiled. “You know, they say layering is the key when you’re a supernatural dragon lady.”
“Shut up.”
That only made him laugh.
They moved on, up the path out of the trees. Naida was practically skipping.
They had reached a large berm of land sticking out of the ground. By the time they climbed it, Carys could see it was a raised walkway built up by rock and soil with a path along the top that was wide enough for a wagon and a team of horses.
“This is a high road,” Godrik said. “The Anglian kings built them centuries ago to connect the towns and keep humans out of the forests.”
Naida turned and winked at Carys. “Keep those poor humans away from the dangerous fae.”
“You may mock me, elf, but we just passed through the Great Bern Wood. There’s a reason children in the Shadowlands are warned away from it.”
From the top of the high road, Carys could look out and see a nearly endless sea of dark treetops. Mile after mile after mile of nothing but woods and low fog, illuminated sporadically by colorful dancing lights that jumped from tree to tree.
Naida said, “There is a village up the road a little bit. There will be an inn to rest if you want, or we could find something to eat.”
“How long are we staying?” Carys was starting to wonder if all this had been a ploy by Naida to get home. She pulled out the envelope Godrik had given her. “If we’re just going to wait for Cadell to return with news, I?—”
“What is that?” Laura squinted at something in the distance.
Carys turned and looked ahead. There was a soft white glow illuminating the road in front of them, almost like a pair of headlights coming through fog. But she’d never seen anything in the Shadowlands that used headlights.
A few moments later, a silver-white unicorn emerged from the low-lying clouds, slowing its trot to a walk as it approached Naida. The creature lowered its horn a moment before it transformed into a shower of sparkling silver rain.
Seconds later, a tall woman with silver hair and a glowing blue sigil on her forehead appeared from the shimmering light. “You’ve returned.” The unicorn’s round face lit up when she looked at Naida. “My lady, your king has been searching for you.”
Seconds later, a man on a horse followed the unicorn, dismounting and throwing back his hood to reveal a rich mane of reddish-brown hair. He smiled. “Hello, Carys.”
Carys blinked at him, looked at Duncan, then back at her ex-boyfriend. “Lachlan? What are you doing here?”
“King Robb has sentme to Temris.” Lachlan walked beside his mount as they continued along the highway. “I’ve been in the fae court ever since you left.”
Lachlan and the unicorn were leading them toward a fae stronghold controlled by King Diarmuid that could act as a magical portal to Temris, the fae capital in Éire. It was intradimensional travel and—according to Naida—much less stressful than gates between worlds.
“So you’re finished in Anglia?” Carys was walking hand in hand with Duncan while Lachlan walked on her right, leading his horse behind them.
“For now,” Lachlan said. “My younger brother appears to be the heir apparent—and I don’t envy him the position. It leaves me free to travel to different courts as needed.”
“I feel like you’d really excel in that,” Carys said.
“I appreciate your confidence.” Lachlan smiled as he looked at her. “It’s important work. With the new king in place, my father wants to make sure that Alba and the high fae court have better relations going forward.”
“I bet the high fae in Temrisloveyou,” Duncan muttered.
Lachlan laughed, seemingly unconcerned with his Brightkin’s mood. “They appreciate a song, so I’m in goodcompany there. And I can put some of my… What did you call it once, Carys? At the pub in Baywood?”
“Uh… charm?” Carys flashed back to one of the numerous nights in California when Lachlan held an entire pub in the palm of his hand with one of his stories or songs. “People skills?”
Lachlan smiled. “That’s the one. I can put my people skills to good use in the service of my country.”
Duncan dropped Carys’s hand and stepped in front of Lachlan.
The entire party stopped walking, and tension sparked in the air around her. Lachlan’s horse stamped a foot, and Naida and the unicorn, who had been chatting with vigor, fell silent.
Duncan stared at Lachlan. “You’re singing songs for the people who killed Seren.”
