Chapter 14

                                    

                                          
     Sverre was silently cursing Siva as he entered the Goblin encampment. The earth beneath his feet was soft and gave way multiple times as he approached the large, ever-burning fire at the center of the village. With each step he released another puff of decay from the soil as the corpses below protested his weight. 
    "So, the General has come at last." A raspy voice blew past him like a violent rush of foul wind. "For revenge? For forgiveness? Why does he come?" 
    Arriving at the fire, he stood, and spoke into it. "For help." The words stung to speak. 
    The fire cracked and spat and there was a large uproar of dark laughter. "What makes you think we will help you? You, who have shed many of our brother's blood?" 
    Though it tempted him, he did not defend what he had done during the war, which had resulted in many victories against these nasty creatures. "I can pay you." He offered, taking Siva's large bag of diamonds from his belt. "Human gems, for the use of your Circle." 
    "The General wants to go to the human side? Why?" 
    "My reasons are my own. I will pay you handsomely." 
    "Killing you seems easier." The fire flickered and shrank low as an old man appeared before him in it's place. He heard movement behind him, but he did not take his eyes from the Goblin chieftain standing in front of him, it's red eyes glittering and his clawed fingers clacking. 
    "If you kill me, you and your people will be wiped out. That I can promise you." Sverre bluffed, looking down his nose at the disturbing creature. "You have seen my wrath, it will be no less terrible after I'm dead. Take what I offer and let me pass." 
    The chieftain snatched the bag from his hand and inspected the contents. "Diamonds? How did you come by these if you have no circle of your own?" 
    "Do you want them or not?" Sverre sighed, snatching the bag back, his hand straying to his sword. 
    "Those, and your other jewels." The chieftain decided, pointing a talon at Sverre's hands and ears. "Sword too." 
    "That's too much." 
    "That is the price." 
    "Fine." He growled, giving the Goblin his rings and earrings, bangles and chains. The villain took the bag of diamonds and dumped the other gems inside with them. 
    "Sword." The Recap hissed, at his blade, the same blade he'd been wearing since his promotion to General, the only thing he Queen had not taken from him when he was exiled. 
    "I'll keep it until I am inside the Circle." He said, finality in his tone. "I'm not such a fool that I would be unarmed in your company." 
    The chieftain grinned, his needly teeth yellow and brown. "Very well." 
Suddenly, the entire area was filled with other Recaps, they swarmed together like flies, staring at him and gnashing their teeth. The chieftain stepped aside and gestured to the fire pit. The flames had died down now to embers. "It is here." 
    "Prove it." Yeah, he was not about to jump into a magic fire pit without being sure he wasn't going to spontaneously combust. 
    "You do not trust us?" The chieftain snorted, red eyes dancing, twin fires of their own. 
    The other Goblins seemed to be closing in and Sverre's survival instincts were howling furiously at him. It would take too long to set up his own Circle, so he had to use theirs.  "Don't you double-cross me Tang. I'm not playing. You kill me, you'll all be dead by dawn." 
    "We won't kill you, today." Tang promised. "Hurry, before we change our mind." 
      Sverre eyes the fire pit and then stepped inside. Tang reached in and ripped he sword from his belt. It felt to Sverre as though he was suddenly missing a limb, but he forced the bereavement from his mind. He felt the pulse of power beneath his feet and was glad to find that Tang had not lied. This was a portal, he just had to summon it's power and hope Siva had given him a good enough description of his home. 
    "We will await your return." Tang grinned, waving the bag of gems at him as the scenery began to fade away. 
    He did not like the sound of that.
                          
****
     Grayson had just finished his evening grass-shake and was dozing off on the couch when there was a knock at the door. Feeling a little hesitant, he rose and went to see who it was. He instantly felt sick as the mystery was resolved. Sarah had spilled the beans. 
    "Grayson." His father greeted, his dark brown eyes soft, a vast contradiction to his stony, stubbled face. He looked older than last he'd saw him. The dark hair that had once bedecked his head seemed thinner and at it's roots it was growing white. Creases had formed at the corners of his eyes and around his mouth too. Had it really only been two years since last they'd spoken? 
    "Sarah told you, didn't she?" He breathed, stepping aside so that his father could enter. 
    "You shouldn't have asked her to keep something like that from us in the first place. It's not her fault." 
    "Well, didn't mom come with you?" When his father made no move to come inside, he stepped out onto the stoop with him and closed the door.
    "I left her at home." His father answered, sitting down on the steps. Grayson followed suit, but didn't dare sit too close. The awkwardness was growing by the minute and he'd much rather have been chewing on a mouthful of bees then try to make conversation where there wasn't one. 
    "Is she okay?" He inquired hesitantly. 
    "She wants you to come home, so she can take care of you." 
    "Why did she send you?" 
    "Because she knows I'm the reason you won't come back." Folding his hands and resting them in his lap, his father looked out at the street, as if searching for something.  "Your room is still how you left it, so-" 
    "I'm not coming back." Grayson sighed. "I don't want mom or Sarah to have to watch me die. There's nothing anyone can do for me. It's better if I just stay away." 
    "And will this boyfriend of yours take care of you then? Help you to the bathroom? Wash you? Feed you? Change your clothes? You'll be too sick in the end to do any of those things for yourself." 
    There was thickness in his father's voice as he spoke that made a pit form in Gray's stomach. Surely, he father wasn't going to cry? That would be too much. Nothing had ever broken his father, at least, that he had ever seen. Even with all the bad blood between them, tears on his father's face was something he never wanted to see. 
    "He will." Gray whispered. 
    "That is our place, not his." 
    "You and mom already did your time. Siva can handle it." 
    The tension grew. 
    "Siva." The way his father spoke the name with such disgust fanned a spark of anger into life in Grayson's heart. 
    "Tell mom not to worry." As he went to rise, his father grabbed his arm and yanked him roughly back to his ass. 
    "Come home." He demanded, "Siva can come with you, if that is the only way we can have you back. I'll take him too." 
    "Dad-" 
    His father pulled him to his chest and wrapped his large arms around him. For a moment, Gray wanted to push away, to fight the long sought after affection. The suddenness of it twisted his stomach with unease, but his father wasn't letting go. "I'm sorry." He breathed. "No sin is so great that I could not overlook it, if it meant having you back in my life." 
    Well, there went the moment. "Siva is not a sin." Gray growled, pulling away. 
    "That's not what I meant to say." His father defended half-heartedly. 
    "But it is what you mean." Gray whispered. "I'm sorry. I can't come back with you. I'm staying here, with Siva." 
    Quietly, his father got up, his eyes resuming that distant, searching look. "Okay." 
    "Dad?" 
    "I love you." He mumbled, descending the steps and stalking toward the car parked at the curb. 
    Grayson just sat and watched him go, dumbstruck by the weight of the words he'd never thought he'd hear. As the car started, he went to go after him, but before he got halfway down the walk, a green flash of light drew his attention to the gazebo. His father left, just as a man appeared beneath the rickety shelter. His blue eyes looked over at him, pinning him with their intensity. 
    "You Grayson?" He inquired, sauntering toward him. His hair was much longer than Siva's and he was at least three inches taller, but this man was no doubt his brother. They had the same nose, jaw shape, and the same swagger in their stride. 
    "Yeah." He replied. "Are you Sverre?" 
    The man didn't reply right away. Instead, he reached out and grabbed his chin, turning his face to one side and then the other. Grayson wasn't sure why he allowed it, but he withstood the inspection without protest. It may have had something to do with the threat of danger that lingered around the man like a fog, or it could have been those eyes, demanding compliance with the briefest glance. 
    "I thought Siva may have been exaggerating." Sverre sighed, the brutality in his face falling away, making him seem an entirely different person. Gray simply stood there, staring at him like a fool. "It seems you are quite ill." 
    "Uhm, yeah, well-" 
    "Come on." Sverre grabbed his arm and ushered him back to the house. 
    "Wait, aren't we going back to Faery?" He inquired as Sverre released him by the couch. "Where's Siva?" 
    "Sit down there and rest." The Fae commanded, looking around at the living room as if everything in it was bizarre. 
    "Have you not been here before? The human plain or whatever?" 
    "I said to rest." Sverre muttered, walking into the kitchen and disappearing. Grayson followed him, too curious to sit still, too anxious to get back to Siva to wait. 
    "What are you doing?" 
    Sverre was pulling knives from the holder on the counter and seemed to be testing them on his wrist. "We will need weapons. Are these the only blades you have?" 
    "Those are for cooking." Gray mumbled, watching in horror as the man cut open his arm with a large Chinese chef's knife. Sverre seemed bored as blood trickled from the wound. 
    "I think this could bite into a skull, what do you think?" He inquired, taking a glass from beside the sink and allowing the blood to run into it. 
    "I guess that depends on how hard you swing it." Grayson backed away a little. "Do you need a band-aid?" 
    "Band-aid?" 
    "For your arm?" 
    The man looked uncaringly down at his still gushing wound. "Oh, a bandage. No, this is necessary." 
    They both stood there until the glass was a third of the way full, then Sverre licked the cut and pressed a dirty handkerchief to it. Holding his wounded arm above his head to slow the bleeding, he nodded toward the glass. 
    "There you go." 
    "What?" 
    "Siva didn't tell you? You've got to take Fae blood in order to pass through the circle." 
    "No, he conveniently left that part out." Grayson breathed. 
    "Did he mention that your body may not be able to withstand the effects of the crossing?" 
    Grayson's face fell and he looked down at the tile floor. "No."
    "Do you love him, boy?" The question was sharp and abrupt, spoken in a tone that demanded an answer. 
    "We've only known each other for a couple of weeks." And that was pushing it. 
    "Then you're using him to continue living?" 
    "Well, he-" Gray sighed through his nose and leaned against the wall. Was he? It was true that Siva had an unnatural allure about him, that the simplest touch was made carnal in an instant, but that wasn't love. "He's got a strange power over me."
    "He's risking the entire kingdom of Faery to bring you over." Sverre informed him coldly, taking hefting the Chinese chef's knife in his free hand. "What are you risking?"
    "Nothing, I guess."
    "Then this is all pointless." The Fae snapped, bringing the knife down on the table, leaving it embedded deeply. "If you have nothing to lose, then what is there to live for? You're wasting my time and endangering my family. I don't like it."
    "Siva drug me into this." Gray defended softly. 
    "And if Siva was not a part of this, if it had been me who offered you salvation, would you be in my arms right now, instead?"
    "No." The answer came so swiftly he didn't even realize he was going to say it until he heard it. "You're an asshole."
    Sverre smiled at that. It was a cold smile, but Gray couldn't help but feel he'd just witnessed something rare. "Do you have any siblings?"
    "A sister."
    "Do you love her?"
    "Yes."
    "Then I think you should understand my concern." Prying the knife from the table, Sverre shoved it into his belt and looked at his already-healing injury. "You're allowing him to risk his people just to save your life. Sounds a but uneven, if you ask me."
    "I told him to forget about it. When you said you weren't going to help us, I accepted it. I knew what he was wanting to do was dangerous. I wanted him to stay here with me until I died. That's all I ever asked of him. His presence made everything easier, and now he's gone. So, either bring him back or take me to him, because the only way I want to die is next to him."
    Wow. Dramatic much? Had he just said all that? It was as if Sverre had hit him in the gut with his accusations and the blow had sent his heart spewing all it's nonsense. It was all true, of course, but that didn't mean it was okay to go vomiting his feelings exorcist style all over a complete stranger. 
    "How quickly do you get tired? Help me to understand this sickness so that I can accommodate the symptoms and get you safely across the border." The Fae said gently, the ice in his voice receding. "I know nothing of human limitations except that there are many."
    "Right now, Siva's got me drinking some weird herb mixture a few times a day. That's helped my stamina a bit, and kept the fever away."
    "Show me." 
    Grayson went to the cupboard and took down the little wooden box Siva kept the herbs in. "Here."
    Sverre took it and sifted through the contents. "It seems Siva was paying attention to my sister's lectures. This has improved your functioning then?"
    "Yes."
    "To what extent? Will you be able to run? Fight if need be?" And he was pretty sure there would be a need. 
    "It really just depends on the situation."
    Sverre looked thoughtful and then sat the box down with a sigh. "Then you should get a full night's sleep at least. There are monster's waiting for our return, and they will likely try to kill us."
    "And a good night's rest is going to keep them from doing that?" Gray snorted. 
    "Most likely, no. But fatigue will just make it easier for them." 
                          
****
                          
Maybe he was desperate to keep his mind off of Grayson, or perhaps he was simply bored. Somehow, he'd gotten caught up in a ridiculously extensive game of hide and seek with the gaggle of noble children brought here by their parents for the ceremony. He was winning, of course, but he was cheating too.
     "Your Majesty! Glamour's not allowed!" A little girl shouted, running past him as he stood camouflaged into the large tapestry on the wall. "Your Majesty!" 
    Siva snickered and turned to slip around the corner. He let out a small cry of surprise as his sister appeared before him suddenly, arms folded and eyebrows raised. "Why aren't you playing fair, Your Highness?"
     "They're young. Running round the passages a little longer won't do them any harm." Siva shrugged. "How did the decorating go?"
     "What are you up to?" She questioned sharply, lips pursed. "And don't bother lying." 
    "Why would I be up to something?"
     "Because you always are. All this time I thought Sverre was the instigator, but turns out it was probably you all along."
     "I'm really not-" he trailed off and reached out to brush aside the high collar of her dress. "Is that a hickey?" 
    She slapped his hand away and quickly replaced her collar, a soft glow of light appearing briefly beneath her fingers as she did so. He didn't bother to look again, knowing she'd already healed it. 
    "A what?"
    "A hickey." Now it was his turn to fold his arms and look down at her accusingly. "What have you been up to? Or should I say who have you been up against?"
     "Siva! That is so inappropriate. Just because your king now doesn't make it alright to speak disrespectfully toward your elders!"
    "Your Grace, I've been informed that you are breaking the law." Rafferty said, coming around the corner behind Avalbane, two tiny girls in his arms. 
    "He was cheating." One, a little red-head, pouted. Avalbane's cheeks flushed and she patted wrinkles from her skirt absently. 
    "Good Afternoon, General."
     "Avalbane." Raff nodded in greeting his face a blank slate. 
    "Tell him the rules." The other girl demanded, fiddling with the badges on his chest. 
    "Your Grace, there is no Glamour allowed during hide and seek." He obeyed, putting the girls down.
     "I'm sorry. I'm an old man, so sometimes I forget things." Siva said sweetly, kneeling before the children. "What can I do to make it up to you?"
     "Candy!" 
     "A kiss!"
     "Ah." Siva chuckled. "Well, don't tell my wife. She might get jealous."
     After pressing a kiss to each of their foreheads he sent them away to the kitchen to have their choice of sweets. When he rose, he found his sister had slipped away, leaving Raff standing their, hands in his pockets.
     "Have you been kissing my sister?" The King questioned.
     "Without your permission? Never." Raff snorted, though he avoided eye-contact, which was as good as a confession to Siva.
     "How did it go over there? Are things working out as you'd hoped?"
     "Yes. There's an old mine to the north." Removing an old piece of folded parchment from trouser pocket, he handed it to the other man. "You'll wait there for Grayson to come through."
     "Me?" Raff hissed. "I've done enough. If I'm not at the ceremony, it'll raise suspicions."
     "Well, I sure as hell can't go." Siva sighed. "This is the last thing I'll ask you to do. I'm sure you can get Av to write you a doctor's note."
     Rafferty gave him a dark look. "Are you even going to feel bad if I get banished to Unseelie for all this?" 
    A thick silence fell as the General gave him the stare down. "If I had someone else to ask, I would." He exhaled softly. "You've more than made up for your debt. I won't force you to do any more if you don't want to."
     "There's just a lot on the line here." Raff muttered slipping the map into his uniform. "You should ask Siofra for help. I think she'd be more understanding than you might expect."
     "I can't trust her. She's left her own heart and soul in Unseelie for one hundred years because of the law. There's no way she's going to bend them for some human she doesn't even know."
     Rafferty shook his head wearily and walked away. "So sayeth the King."