Lovers' Veil

Leofrick went cold at the gnomes soft words. "Are you telling us that the King has sent one of these things after his own daughter?"

"Not the King, no. But the changeling has," Ninwick replied. "The only bright spot in this, if there is one, is that the Ve'reor isn't being given free rein. Not, yet, anyway. For the moment, it's being kept in check by the group of Attorcroppes the changeling has with him. I've never before heard of a Ve'reor being trained. Still, it seems as if the changeling or his Attorcroppes has found a way to do just that. I can't imagine how, but it seems that they have."

The prince put his arms around Rhyannon, holding her close, trying to still her shaking. He addressed his words to the gnome before them, asking, "How can we escape this thing if it's that good a tracker and that hard to kill?"

Ninwick uttered a low whistle before saying, "While you remain on this side of the Veil, I don't see how you can. You must reach the place you seek, the spot where you crossed the Veil before. You must get there ahead of the search party with the Ve'reor and cross back to your own side of the Veil. Take the Princess with you."

"What's to stop this thing from following us through to my world?"

"Some beings can cross through the Veil at will. To them, it's as if the Veil doesn't even exist. Others can cross it, but only with difficulty and cannot stay long on the side they're not native to. Still other beings are incapable of crossing the Veil at all. The Ve'reor falls into that final category. And it's lucky for those on your side of the Veil that that's so! Were Ve'reors able to cross the Veil they'd doubtless have slain every last human centuries ago."

Rhyannon abruptly pulled herself away from Leofrick's embrace, panicked, saying, "We need to leave! Now! Right away!"

"Yes," Ninwick said, "you do. Supply packs have already been put together for you. They're outside, waiting, full of food, water and medications for you both. I've sent others deeper into the woods to try and lure away your pursuers to give you more of a head start."

Leofrick nodded his thanks as he stood, careful not to step on the gnome. He helped Rhyannon to her feet, keeping her steady, and retrieved two of the blankets. As he tried to place one of the coverings around her shoulder, Rhyannon shrugged it off.

"Are you even steady enough to travel?" he asked her.

She met his gaze with wide eyes. "I'll have to be."

He again placed the blanket over her. Again, she shrugged it off.

"No," she said.

"But-"

Ninwick cut across his words, saying, "She's right; she'll travel faster naked, without coverings to snag on branches and brush and slow her down or twisting about her legs. So will you. Leave the blankets; go naked. You'll be faster that way. Speed is of the utmost importance right now; it's the only thing that can save you. Anything that slows you will be deadly. Take only the supply packs and run."

Not taking time to argue, the fear evident from both Ninwick and Rhyannon infecting him as well, he followed the gnome outside, helping Rhyannon to climb up through the short, angled tunnel leading to the surface.

Outside for the first time in days, he blinked in the bright light. Though they stood in shadows beneath massive trees, the light was far greater that what had been provided in the hiding place by the luminous moss. It felt good to stretch his legs again, too, but he didn't linger to revel in the feeling. When Ninwick pointed out the pair of supply packs Leofrick scooped up both and took Rhyannon's arm and led her away in the direction in which the gnome pointed. When Rhyannon tried tugging one of the packs from his grasp, he insisted on carrying them both as she was still so unsteady on her feet. She argued that carrying both would only slow him. He insisted that there was no time to argue and that he would carry both packs, at least to begin with. She relented and picked up her step, speeding to a trot. He kept pace with her easily, noting her discomfort as she moved.

She won't be able to keep this up. She won't even be able to walk all the way to the clearing. But if I have to carry her, it'll slow us down too much. What do we do?

It didn't take long for her to slow back to a walk and he eased his own step to remain at her side. Lamenting the loss of his sword, he still wore the belt and empty scabbard around his waist. He knew it looked silly, being nude but for the belt and empty sheath. Yet he wasn't ready to cast them away. He carried both supply packs in one hand, keeping on his side opposite Rhyannon. His free hand remained ready to support her if she stumbled.

"Any idea how far we are from the clearing?" she asked him after a while.

"No, I'm sorry. I've lost track in all that's happened."

"Me, too," she admitted. "We shouldn't be too far from it, but I have no idea how far the ogre carried us or how far the gnomes took us."

"What happens if it turns out that we're too far from it to reach before Leurre and his squad reaches us?"

"Don't even think that!" she said, shooting him a look of horror. "We won't stop for anything, not even to eat. We'll eat as we walk. The gnomes are drawing them away from us, that'll give us a bit more time."

"I wish I had my sword."

"Your sword would be good against the Attorcroppes and it would at least give Leurre pause, though I don't know how good it would be in an actual fight against a changeling. But against a Ve'reor?" She shook her head. "As Ninwick said, by the time you'd see the thing it'd be too late by far. He was right; speed is out best and only defense now. Let's save our breath and go quickly as we can."

Increasing her pace once more, she forced him to step faster to keep up. But after only a few minutes he saw her flagging, her steps growing less sure and more wobbly. Her chest heaved as she tried to get her breath. He took her arm, forcing her to slow. They traveled on for a time at a steady walk until that, too, became too much for her.

Leofrick swung both supply packs across his shoulder and scooped her off her feet. Surprised, she clung to him, asking him what he was doing.

"You can't walk far in your condition," he explained, quickening his step as he got a better grip on her. "You're still weak and we can't afford to stop and rest or to build you a litter so I can pull you along. You and Ninwick have both said it; speed is our best chance. I think we can make faster progress if I carry you. For the moment, at least."

He could tell she wanted to argue the point, to insist on her ability to walk by herself. He watched the inner turmoil play out on her youthful, gorgeous features, trying not to see the bruising still left behind by what she had suffered. At length, she nodded quietly, not speaking, and rested her head against his shoulder.

They progressed that way for the rest of the day. He carried her until he realized his own pace was slowing, then set her on her feet to walk on her own as he fell into step with her. When her own pace flagged, he would scoop her up and continue on. Mostly, the rest he got was in the form of the time when she was walking and he slowed to stay with her. Only twice did they pause, and then only briefly, for him to get off his feet completely. During the first of those stops, he found large oak leaves and thin vines and wrapped his feet, wanting what protection he could get from the acorns and other debris that littered the forest floor.

The sun was just setting when she cried out for joy, telling him that she knew where they were and asking him to put her down. He placed her on her feet and held her long enough to ensure her steadiness. She took his hand and led the way, taking him to the bank of a narrow stream. He couldn't help but smile upon seeing the watercourse.

"You were bathing in this water when I first saw you," he reminded her.

"Yes," she said, breathless with excitement. "We're nearly there!" She kissed him quickly and tugged his hand, leading him along.

They reached the clearing just as full dark fell, a narrow crescent of moon hovering in the clear sky overhead, surrounded by a smattering of stars.

"You said you crossed by means of a faerie ring," she said.

"Yes," he answered, still holding her hand, casting about for the ring.

He stopped, staring at the empty patch of ground where the circle of wild mushrooms had been a few days prior.

"It's gone," he said, a forlorn feeling creeping over him.

She squeezed his hand, leaning on his for support, exhausted from their trek. "They've withered. They usually don't last for long."

"After all this to get here, now the ring is gone! What do we do?"

"When you first saw me you didn't use a faerie ring."

"Right."

"You didn't need one then. Maybe we don't need one now." As she spoke, she turned, leading him back a short distance. "Here," she said after a brief time, "this is where you were standing the first time I saw you, when you were spying on me."

"It looks about right," he agreed, peering around at the area. "I stood here behind this grouping of trees."

She nodded, saying, "Concentrate, my love. Concentrate on going through the Veil, returning home."

He clutched her tightly to his chest. "I don't know if this will work and I'm not going to risk leaving you behind. Hold to me tightly."

She wrapped her arms around his waist and held him as tightly as he held her, pressing herself to him, crushing her petite breasts against his bare flesh. Standing on tiptoe, she kissed him and whispered, "Get us home, my love."

Noting her phrasing, he kissed her back and stared off in the direction of the castle in which they had both lived all their lives on their respective sides of the Veil. He willed himself through the unseen barrier, trying to force himself to cross as had done three times before, twice seemingly without even knowing he was doing so.

A strange heaviness grew in the air, as if he was moving forward, straining against a strong wind. Yet there was no wind. Still, he felt the weight in the air pulling at his bare skin as it dragged by. Rhyannon gasped and he knew she felt it, too.

When the hot, stinging sensation began over his entire body, he looked down, gasping, nearly falling, nearly releasing Rhyannon out of sheer reflex. His skin was ageing before his eyes.

Looking up, he saw the same landscape as before. Only now everything appeared to be duller, darker, as if it had lost part of its life, its vitality.

We did it! We're back! We're home! But-

The stinging of phantom needles on his flesh grew stronger, more painful. Then Rhyannon screamed and, bracing her feet on the ground, pushed his backward, propelling them both back with her legs.

Instantly, the stinging sensation vanished as if it had never been as fell to the ground. He landed hard on his back, Rhyannon landing atop him. Both breathed with heavy, rasping lungfuls of air. Between gasps, she was screaming his name. He tried to speak, but only succeeded in uttering a couple of disjointed grunting sounds.

She covered his face with kisses, her lips pressing to his forehead, cheeks chin and lips over and over, again and again, as she clutched him tightly.

After a few long moments he struggled to sit up. She rolled off him and sat beside him, arms going back around him immediately.

"What happened?" he asked, still disoriented.

She rubbed his lower back, moving her hand in small, comforting circles. "We crossed the Veil. But it's as Ninwick and I both feared." She turned wide, sorrowful eyes to him. "My love, you've been in Faerie for too long. Time runs differently here than it does on your own side. You've been here for several days. As time flows on your side, you've been here for several years. When we crossed, the time difference was starting to equalize in your body. You began to age to the point you would have been naturally had you never crossed the Veil."

Not fully believing what he was being told, yet knowing it to be true, he looked down at himself. While she skin was still smooth and taut with youth, it now appeared a bit older. His breath hitching, he lifted his head, glancing around. The landscape was the same. Only now, it had regained the clearer, brighter vibrancy he had grown so accustomed to seeing around him.

Breathing deeply, he held her close, asking, "What do we do now?"

Continuing to rub his lower back, she said, "Since we're stuck here, I say we go back to our original plan and go to Saltlea. Once we're there, we'll find a boat to take us out to the Seafeather Islands."

He couldn't suppress the shudder that ran through him at the thought of going near the ocean again, recalling their previous ordeals there. She nodded her understanding and struggled to stand. He stood and helped her to her feet, holding her to make sure she was steady. Disappointed, yet knowing there was no time to dwell on it, he turned and led her away.

Leaving the clearing behind, returning to the denser woodlands, he asked, "My family will think me just the latest man to walk into Knavesmire Woods and never come out. They'll never know what happened to me."

Chapter 24

Princess Rhyannon Ensorcelledlight led the way across the plains, Gnomehearth Forest behind them and the coast still lost in the distance before them. The plains stretched as far as she could see in every direction, flat and barren, offering no cover or sustenance. Only sparse, parched patches of grasses and small rocky boulders dotted the otherwise bare tan dust.

Both she and Leofrick were still naked. While she was completely comfortable and at ease with her nudity, Leofrick's tension told her that he still was not. She grinned to herself at his modesty.

He's a handsome man with a perfect physique. He should have nothing to be ashamed of even on his own side of the Veil where nudity is frowned upon. Here in Faerie he definitely ought to fit right in.

Reaching out, she took his hand in a light grip. He glanced over, saw her smile and returned it with one of his own. They talked as they went, speaking of how their plans had changed now that it was apparent that Leofrick was trapped in Faerie.

"I'm sorry you can't return," she said.

He tightened his grip on her hand, saying, "I am, too, but not as much as I would have expected. Long as I have you, as long a we're together, nothing else really matters to me."

Turning, she drew him to a halt with her and stood on tiptoe, kissing him deeply. After breaking the kiss, they resumed walking, not wanting to linger on the open plains.

"Once we find a suitable place," she promised him in a whisper, "I'll follow that kiss up with much more."

He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her gently against him as they walked. "I feel guilty as you've tended to me more than you've allowed me to do for you in return."

In response, she slid an arm around his waist. "You've saved my life several times. That qualifies as tending."

"That's not what I meant and you know you," he said, chuckling warmly.

"I know. But we'll have the rest of our lives for such things and I don't want us keeping score. Such things are an expression of our love for one another."

"You're right," he said, caressing her bare back lightly. His touch sent a shiver of pleasure through her. The shiver felt good in the heat of the plains, though his touch kindled an internal fire that heated her in still another way.

"In the name of the Goddess, will you two please wait until you're somewhere private to fondle each other like that?" a small voice from behind called out.

Startled, both Rhyannon and Leofrick jumped at the sound. Turning, she was amazed to see the clurichaun approaching them.

"What is he?" Leofrick whispered.

She put her lips close to his ear and said softly, "A clurichaun. They claim to be kin to leprechauns. Leprechauns deny any kinship with them, though."

He stared at the small being in awe and Rhyannon turned her own attention back.

The clurichaun looked as human as Leofrick, but was only a few inches tall. His fiery red hair and the matching bushy beard stood out sharply against the wrinkled, worn, hand-woven clothing that was dyed dark green and black. An ale skin hung at his side from a cord and he was dragging a wrapped bundle behind him. The package was several times longer than the clurichaun was tall and he could barely move it. He puffed and huffed and grunted with the effort of pulling the too-heavy bundle after him. The effort was hindered by the fact that the small being was clearly inebriated, evidenced by his red face and drunken stagger as he walked.

Leofrick again whispered in her ear, asking, "How can you tell he isn't a leprechaun? He looks just like how I've heard them described in stories."

She placed her lips to his ear again and said, "Look at him. No leprechaun would ever be seen in such a state. His clothes are a mess! And he's drunk, too! Clurichauns are notorious drinkers."

Leofrick swung his attention back to the clurichaun and she watched as he looked the newcomer over again. He tilted his head closer to her and whispered, "So clurichauns are drunken leprechauns?"

Before she could reply, the clurichaun stopped before them, dropping the folds of cloth that were wrapped around the bundle he was struggling with. He marched up to Leofrick, planted tiny hands on small hips and leaned back to look up into the face of the human who towered over him.

"I, sir, am not drunk!" the clurichaun shouted, slurring the words. "Nor am I a leprechaun! I, sir, am a clurichaun! My people and the leprechauns are close relatives, very close, but not the same people! Are we clear?" As the tirade went on, the diminutive being's anger grew more evident.

Rhyannon pulled Leofrick back a bit and stepped between him and the new arrival, trying to stop the diatribe.

"What's that you have in the cloth wrappings?" she asked.

He turned his indigent scowl to her. "What's it to you, miss?"

"Only curiosity," she answered, struggling to keep her own temper in check. Clurichauns aren't the most pleasant of beings and we really don't have time for this. "It's none of our business. We'll be on our way. Good day to you."

"Something I found in the woods," the clurichaun said as she turned away, drawing her attention back. "Never seen the like of it before. It looks like a sword, but it's bigger than any I've ever seen! And you can't touch it-" His voice dropped as he said the next words, his tone marking the syllables with reverence and a bit of horror. "-it's got iron in it. You can sense it when you get close, even through this cloth I wrapped it in."

Exited, Rhyannon turned to Leofrick as he stepped before the clurichaun again. They both stared at the newcomer in disbelief.

"It's true!" the clurichaun said.

"May we see it?" Leofrick asked, voice low.

Backing up, the small being stared up at them with open hostility. "No! It's mine! I found it! I risked my life wrapping it up! One touch and I'd have been a goner! I'm the one who lugged it all this way. It's mine! I won't let you steal it!"

When Leofrick moved to step forward, Rhyannon put a hand in the middle of his chest to keep him in place.

"I think the sword belongs to him," she told the clurichaun.

He shook his head, nearly causing his dark green cap to fall off. "No! I found it, it's mine!"

"We were attacked by an ogre," Leofrick said. "During the attack I lost my sword."

"It's mine now!"

"I'm human," Leofrick said, "from the other side of the Veil." Rhyannon could tell from his tone that he was nearly at the end of his patience. "That's why the sword has iron in it; it's from Earth, not Faerie."