Treasure Ch. 11

"You know better than to run off like that," she said sternly. "And by yourself, no less. What if Roane hadn't found you before sundown? Something else might have, I'd wager, and we wouldn't have been there to help you." She pursed her lips. "Kat, look at me, please."

The little girl lifted her head to show Catherine her moody pout. Two enormous, vividly green eyes glared at her from beneath the hem of her hood.

"You have to be more careful, darling. Please. I don't know what we'd do if you got lost." Kat teetered to her feet and took off towards a massive pine, her feet pattering against the carpet of grass and rotting leaves, and Catherine heaved a sigh before reaching to inspect her abandoned basket. It was empty, of course. She hadn't expected anything less. "Thank you, Roane," she added as she rose to her feet. "I do appreciate you looking after her, and I know she loves it when you visit."

Roane watched her retreating back with wide, doleful eyes, then cast his gaze to the ground. "She's furious with me," he said sadly.

"Of course she isn't, she adores you." When he didn't budge, she rolled her eyes and swatted at his elbow with her wooden spoon. "She's hardly two. She's probably already forgotten about it. Now go on and play, so I can finish supper," she said, and Roane obediently lumbered off behind her.

Two warm arms wound themselves around Catherine's waist, and she closed her eyes as Adeon rested his chin on her shoulder. "So he found the wanderer," he said. "Good thing, too. I was ready to burn the forest to the ground."

"She goes farther every time. I may just start tethering her to a tree like a horse." She lifted the empty basket. "I hope you weren't looking forward to dessert."

"I've learned to manage my expectations."

Across the clearing, Roane had Kat balanced on the tip of his nose and was craning his neck up as far as it would go. Kat clung to his snout as she was lifted past the pine tree's prickly boughs, and Roane's claws hovered cautiously near his chest. When he stopped, she reached out and tugged an enormous pinecone free from a branch, then promptly pointed to another one several feet to the right. Catherine watched she scene unfold with dancing eyes.

"Doted upon by dragons," she said, entwining Adeon's fingers in hers. "She's going to be so spoiled."

"And safe," Adeon said. "Very safe."

"The most well-protected little girl in the world, I'm sure. I pity the creature that tries to take a snap at her."

Adeon snorted. "I certainly don't."

Kat was back on the ground and giving chase to a rather large toad, and Roane was following close behind her, regarding the toad with immense distrust. "I'm glad she has a friend, at least," Catherine said, and then she gave Adeon a grim look. "She's going to get lonely here, Adeon. I don't know what we'll do when she does."

"We have time. The world could be an entirely new place by then."

"Perhaps it could," she said. Her eyes flitted toward the eastern horizon, where a few slender plumes of smoke were streaming up into the clouds, and she felt her heart sink. "It has to change sometime," she finished glumly.

Adeon buried his face in her neck and pressed his lips against the line of her jaw, and despite her worry, a quavering feeling of delight traveled up her spine. "Smile for me," he whispered against her skin. "I can't bear to see all that worry on such a pretty face."

Catherine closed her eyes as his lips moved up and up, trailing slow, hard kisses all the way up to her temple. A weak smile worked its way onto her lips. He turned her in his arms so she was facing him and grazed her mouth with his, and she opened her eyes to give him a hopeful look. "Can't you stay for dinner?"

"As much as I'd like to, I'm sure I'd regret it tomorrow morning when we found ourselves without breakfast. I'll be back just after sundown, I promise." She bowed her head in reluctant acceptance. "You'll wait for me, won't you?" he added, tracing the line of her mouth with his thumb. The tip of his nail caught against her lower lip as he dragged it downward, and when she looked up at him, his eyes were bright slits of hunger. "I want you very, very badly tonight," he finished delicately.

"I won't make any promises," Catherine teased, trying to hide her blushing cheeks.

"Then you might be in for quite a rude awakening when I return," he told her solemnly. He pulled her in for a kiss and held her there just a little too long, just long enough to make her feel faintly self-conscious, and when he severed their lips, he was grinning broadly. "Make sure the little adventurer stays in her bed," he said, and then he turned and made his way to the edge of the clearing. Just before he reached the treeline, he knelt low to the ground and scooped up Kat, who was racing past him in pursuit of the toad. He whirled the two of them in a dizzying circle when she screamed and ducked his head down to catch her braid between his teeth, snarling and thrashing his head from side to side. She made a loud noise of objection and flailed her limbs as the toad retreated into woods, and Adeon plopped her back onto the ground. He glanced at Catherine from over his shoulder. "My lady," he called.

Catherine crossed her arms and smiled. "Sir dragon." With a little bow of his head, he stepped into the woods, pulling his shirt off as he walked. When Kat made to totter after him, Roane planted his tail firmly in front of her feet. "He's gone to fetch food for us, Kat. Don't worry---he'll be back in a few hours," Catherine told her gently. Kat pouted, and she turned her eyes to Roane. "Won't you stay for supper? It's nearly finished."

Roane's eyes brightened. "Me? Really? Why, I'd be delighted." He began to dwindle down, and Catherine's eyes widened in horror.

"Wait!" she shouted. He paused, and Catherine dashed into the little stone cottage behind her. When she returned, she was holding one of Adeon's shirts and a pair of his trousers. "Put these on," she said, tossing them to the ground at his feet.

He looked at them with distaste. "But we're in the very middle of the forest," he protested. "Nobody will see."

"Kat will see," Catherine told him darkly. "And I don't want her running around the forest naked like a little savage. It's hard enough keeping clothes on her as it is." Roane hung his head but took the clothes anyway, and she watched in amusement as he shuffled behind the cover of a few trees.

---

Several hours later, Catherine was sitting near the cottage door and staring up at the stars. It was a clear night, and they glimmered like diamonds spilled over a velvet cloth. All around her were the sounds of cicadas screaming, a constant buzz that had kept Kat awake at first, but now tended to lull her to sleep. She was nestled in a pile of blankets inside now, probably dreaming of toads and pinecones and acres upon acres of ripe berries.

She looked back at the cottage and rested her chin on the palm of her hand. They had been lucky enough to find a short and incredibly weathered-down stone tower deep in the woods, only a mile from the Unseelie hill. Adeon told her it may have been a remnant from a time long past, when humans had first tried to settle in the woods and were driven out by the fey. The ceiling had long since caved in, but once she and Adeon managed to gather enough dried reeds and branches to make a thatched roof of sorts, it had turned out to be rather cozy, albeit a bit leaky during the wet season.

High in the treeline, Catherine spotted a particularly bright star. It was so big and brilliant that it looked as if it had simply been caught in the branches. She smiled in wonder and watched it sparkle, but that smile quickly faltered in confusion. It almost seemed like it was...moving.

Her suspicions were confirmed when the glowing speck leapt suddenly to another branch, and then another. In the dark, Catherine could make out several tiny shapes following behind it. The light was growing larger and brighter, like it was fast approaching. It reached the edge of the clearing, and Catherine watched in amazement as it hesitated, then dropped to the forest floor, where it shuddered. The tiny shapes plummeted down after it. Cautiously, she stood and began to creep towards it, and a little tingle ran down her spine when she drew close enough to spot a green flame burning inside of a lantern.

It was a fairy, and an all-too-familiar one at that. But now her wind-like hair was disheveled, and the brilliance of her skin had waned, somehow, as if the light blazing inside of her had been smothered to embers. She was covered in dirt and leaves. Three white rabbits darted behind her to hide, and when she looked up and saw Catherine approaching, she clambered clumsily to her feet. There was another rabbit in her arms.

"Lovely girl, kind girl," she said, her musical voice coming out breathless. She limped forward, and Catherine saw the jaws of a steel trap clamped over her right ankle. Chains trailed behind it. The wound in her leg was black around the edges, but the middle shone like silver and mercury-like droplets were oozing out of it. The other three rabbits followed her footsteps like a flock of tiny sheep tailing a shepherd. "I've been running, running for days, and I fear that I haven't the strength to run for another. All I ask is for shelter, just for a short rest. I can give you gold and fortune, my lady, I can give you whatever your heart desires..."

Catherine swallowed. If something had a fairy this frightened, surely she should be frightened of it, too. "What's chasing you?"

"Men, wise lady. Terrible, terrible men," the fairy said, pausing for breath and licking her lips. "The Seelie court has fallen to their cruelty. My Queen has fled to the Unseelie for sanctuary and I must return to her side. But they've wounded me with their iron contraptions, hoping to slow my escape." She gazed up at Catherine pleadingly with her enormous liquid eyes. "For two days they've hunted me. They don't grow tired, they only pursue. I've heard them, I know what will happen if they find me."

Deep in the forest, Catherine heard the barking of dogs and a couple gruff shouts. Those sounds were growing nearer. She jumped as the fairy suddenly lurched forward and seized the hems of her skirts. "Hide me, gentle lady. Have pity, be kind, please, be kind," she whispered frantically.

Catherine listened to the voices grow ever-nearer and chewed nervously on her lip, but finally nodded. "Fine. Get inside, the lot of you," she said, and she followed the fairy as she staggered towards Catherine's wooden door. Once they had all scurried inside, she took her sword from its place near the doorway and crept back outside, making sure the door was shut firmly behind them.

It didn't take long for two dogs to burst into the clearing, foaming and snarling and dragging two men behind them. They were wild, scruffy, dangerous-looking creatures. The dogs looked just as vicious.

"What's this?" the larger of the two men said when he spotted Catherine. Her fingers tightened on the hilt of her sword. "Bit of a dangerous place to play house. Don't you know this is Unseelie land?"

"I do," Catherine said, trying to keep her voice even. Roane had left hours ago, and she was suddenly all too aware of how very, very alone she was. She wished Adeon would hurry. "Do you?"

The man shrugged. "Not any concern of ours if you want to live this close the keep of the damned. But you should take care. Dangerous creatures run wild in these parts."

He seemed untroubled by Catherine's presence, but his companion was watching her with calculating eyes like a rat's. His mouth was hidden by his scraggly beard, but when he spoke, she could hear the suspicion in his voice.

"We're looking for one of them, actually," he said. "A little one, tending a flock of white rabbits. We think she might have passed through here."

Catherine shook her head. "I haven't seen anything like that. But I wish you both the best of luck," she said.

The larger man nodded. "Much obliged, miss," he said, turning to leave, but the other man grabbed a handful of his sleeve and dragged him to a halt.

"Don't be stupid," he hissed. "Biter smells something." Below him, his dog had its big, droopy eyes fixed on Catherine's cottage. It crouched and snuffled at the forest floor, then raised its head and barked. That seemed to set off the other dog, who let out a warbling howl and pulled hard at its leash, trying to drag its owner forward.

"Please keep your dogs quiet," Catherine said, ashamed to hear the high-pitched anxiety invading her voice. "My daughter is asleep."

"Easy, easy," said the larger man, kneeling to pat his hound heavily on the head. The creature quieted with a certain reluctance. His eyes dropped to examine the sword in Catherine's hand, and his eyes narrowed. "That there's Blackwall steel," he grunted. "That's meant for knights and the King's guards, not for the likes of you. How'd it wind up here?"

"I found it," Catherine said, and the smaller man cackled.

"You hear that? She found a magical sword lyin' in the forest. Sounds like something out of a story, don't it?" He moved closer, and Catherine took two quick steps backward as the dog began to approach, uttering a low growl. "Well, I'll be. Biter don't seem to like you much. He usually likes his women. What are you doing way out here, anyway? You in some kind of trouble?"

"I only wanted the peace and quiet," she said firmly. "And I don't appreciate you barging onto my land like this."

"It's the Unseelie King's land. I bet we'd be doing him a favor if we got rid of you," said the smaller man. His companion frowned.

"Best not to talk that way to a lady," he said, but the other man cut him off with an impatient noise.

"She's no lady. Probably just some criminal hiding from the King," he said, drawing ever closer. Catherine stumbled backward and began to lift her sword. "And she's a liar, too. Biter can smell liars. Why don't you tell us where you've hidden the fairy, lady? Then we might just leave you alone."

Catherine stopped short as her back hit the stone wall of the cottage. Gods, what had she been thinking? She didn't owe the fairy anything. Any minute now, the men would shove past her and storm into the house. And inside, they'd find the fairy and her rabbits...and a strange little girl with big, green dragon eyes. She couldn't let that happen.

"Clearly you haven't thought about what you're doing," she said suddenly. The two men halted in place. "Do you really think Finvarra doesn't know about me? He knows everything that happens in this forest. And if he hasn't gotten rid of me yet, it must mean he wants me here." Her voice quavered as she uttered the Unseelie King's name. He was an ancient creature, and one who had already done her a great service. Invoking his name like that made her nervous. "I don't think he'd be very happy if something were done to upset me," she finished.

Those words had the desired effect on the two men. They had grown very still. "Big words for such a little girl," the shorter one sneered, but his voice was unsteady. "You're pullin' our leg. I bet he doesn't give a toss about you."

To Catherine's delight, something rustled in the trees behind them. It was probably a squirrel or a deer, but they both jumped anyway. The dogs, sensing their owners' anxiety, began to whine. Catherine brought her sword back down to her side and raised her chin defiantly.

"Why don't you come find out?" she offered. The men gaped at her, and she leaned in close, like she was telling them a secret. The hounds growled. "You should probably go. My husband will be back soon, and he won't be pleased to see you here," she said. She left those words open to interpretation.

It worked.

"We'll see how uppity you are when King Hadrien seizes the Unseelie Court, too," the smaller men snapped, but they were both backing away and hauling the dogs with them. "It'll be soon. And we'll be back when it happens for you and your little fairy friends."

"Travel carefully," Catherine called cheerfully. "The Unseelie King doesn't care for men in his woods, especially so late at night. That's when they all come out, you know. They don't like the sun very much." The larger man grumbled something under his breath but, sufficiently spooked, both of them retreated back into the trees.

Once the sounds of barking had vanished into the night, the door creaked open behind her. Kat was standing in the doorway, holding a white rabbit to her chest with one hand and rubbing her eyes with another. "Momma?" she bleated, and Catherine quickly scooped her into her arms. The fairy came limping into view, her face slack with relief.

"I'm deeply in your debt," she said, bowing low.

"It was my pleasure," Catherine said politely. She looked pensively down at the rabbit in Kat's arms, huddled up into cautious, fluffy ball. It had gone entirely still save for its pink nose, which was still twitching rhythmically. One of its legs was twisted at an odd angle. "You said the Seelie Court fell? I'm sorry, I just...I never imagined it would actually happen."

"Two days ago, yes." She gave Catherine a strange look. "Do you really know His Majesty?"

"He's a friend. At least, I think he is," she added uncertainly. "It's a bit hard to tell with him."

"It would be very curious if you were telling the truth. I suppose I'll never know. Humans lie so easily," said the fairy. "But it would be wise of you to leave this place, if you're truly a friend to the Unseelie. More men will come, and soon. The Unseelie will fall, just as we have. This is the end of the fey...I'm sure of it."

Catherine paused, but then shook her head. "I don't think so," she said, more to herself. "The dragons will come to help them if that happens. They have to."

"Perhaps that will be enough to save them. Perhaps it won't." Her eyes contracted into a squint. "You look...familiar."

Catherine lifted her eyebrows. "You don't remember me?"

The fairy thought about that for a moment, but then her eyes widened. "The dragon-girl," she breathed, a tiny, amazed smile teasing at her lips. "How extraordinary. I thought you'd run back to your kingdom."

"I came back."

"You're a very strange girl." She hesitated, but then sank into a deep bow. "You saved my life, dragon-girl, and according to my people's customs, I'm obliged to repay you. Whatever is in my power to give you, you need only ask for it. It will be yours."

Catherine looked at the rabbit in Kat's arms. The fairy seemed to cringe as she smiled.

"You know what I want," she said.

---

IT'S FINISHED! IT'S ACTUALLY FINISHED! I'M SO HAPPY!

I owe you all a humongous apology. I didn't mean to go so long without updating this. I made the biggest mistake that writers can make: I succumbed to life's craziness and put down this project just long enough to lose inspiration. And endings are hard, aren't they? I think endings come with a lot of pressure. To be honest, this might be the first long story I've ever finished.

Anyway, I'm going to try my hardest to keep posting as regularly as possible from here on out. I've been picking a lot at Along Came a Spider for the past few weeks when I haven't been hammering away at this, and the end is essentially finished. So, when it comes time to cross that bridge, I'll be ready. Cross my heart.

Thanks for helping me write a seriously fun story and for sticking around to read all of this crazy stuff. If you sent me PM's, I hope you know that I've read them all and that it's always a delight to hear from you. I appreciate all the encouragement and the occasional prodding. As far as what to expect next, I have a couple new things in the works, (including a semi-long Valentine's Day idea that I couldn't finish before the end of the contest---it has a ways to go still, but I think you'll all like it), and you should stay tuned for updates on ACAS if you enjoy that story. The next chapter will be submitted as soon as I finish editing it.