Maef's soft voice drifted out of nowhere. “More visitors,” he said. “Now this truly is an active century.”
Summer opened her mouth to cut him off, but Illa nudged her in the ribs.
“Ah and a little lax on the manners?”
“Pardon me,” Summer said. “We are in a hurry and anxious.”
“For what reason?”
“We seek a friend of ours, a halfling sidhe who came through here. She may have been with someone else, too.”
“A halfling here did come through, though no one else save a troll chasing the halfling.”
“You would see people more if you came up more often.” Summer said, annoyance making her thoughts pour out.
“Ah, but people are coming to see me. Three visitors in one day.” He grinned. “It seems all I have to do is stay here.”
“You mean four visitors, maybe five.” Summer said.
“Five? Mean you the troll chasing the young halfling? He was most certainly an intruder.”
“He brought Myra here.” Summer said. “That means his master couldn't have been far away.”
“The troll's master? Do you think I am the troll's master? Or that I orchestrated the halfling’s kidnapping? For soothe, I did not. However, if someone has been hiding out in my demesne perhaps I was spending too much time paying attention to greater things.”
“What greater things?” Illa demanded. “What is Myra caught up in?”
Maef looked towards the skies, his eyes glazing over for a moment. “Something far bigger than even the question of her identity. She has sparked the interest of the queen.”
“What does she want with Myra?” Summer asked.
“What she wants with anyone. Influence. What that influence is, I can't say.”
“Dammit, Maef,” Summer started.
Maef's pleasant features became less so.
“I beg your pardon.” Summer dropped her head slightly. “Please, don't dry up on us now. We have to find Myra and her out of this mess.”
“That is unlikely to occur with the queen’s attention on her. You are tasked to protect her, yes. I know who has tasked you. His dislike of the situation will not change and nor can your halfling change it. Were she to want to stay in Faery, this would not be her path, but it is precisely why she wants to go back that the queen wants her.
“She will find her way back home even without your help and be more or less whole. The queen will make sure of that, but she will not be rid of Faery. None of you will.”
Nathan! This was all Nathan's fault. If he hadn't taken Myra to Faery then none of this would have happened. Summer tried to ignore the nagging voice saying that Myra had found out she was fae and had needed proof. That was why they went to Faery and it was her fault Myra hadn’t known.
Illa had apparently side stepped that. “Why won't we? Please, what are you leaving out?”
“It is not my truth to tell. No, it's not because the queen has disallowed me.” He looked again to the skies. “This is the way of things. This is how it must be. It is time for me to come out of my demesne again.”
Summer startled. Maef hadn't come out of his demesne in centuries. She wasn't even sure if the current queen and king had been ruling then.
“Ok,” Illa said. “Can you help us find where Myra is?”
“She used the cluster of trees there. It is a weak point between the worlds. Where she ended up, I cannot say.”
“Anything else?” Illa asked.
Maef's eyes twinkled. “Not that I can tell you.”
“So, you do have something to do with this.” Summer accused.
“Yes and no. As I said, this is the way of things. The halfling will come to no major harm. She will befall nothing grevious. The queen will not allow such to happen nor will she harm the halfling. She's much too useful.”
This couldn't be good. Useful to the queen could get you killed. Pawns were easily switched out, but what if Myra wasn't a pawn? What if she was a bigger player?
Summer scrutinized Maef's face, but it gave nothing away. “Thank you for the help you did give us.”
“Remember, I asked for nothing in return.”
The girls exchanged a glance. He would demand a favor when he wanted it. They both nodded, Summer's face just short of a grimace.
At the little grove of trees, Summer asked. “You can still feel Myra's magic, right?”
“Yes, she did use the weak point here like Maef said. Someone else's magic is here, too, though. Theirs is as fresh as Myra's.”
Either it was a trap or Maef really didn't know that another fae had been in his demesne. It wasn't unheard of for the owner to not know another was there, but usually they were either much weaker fae who didn't attract notice or so many were going in and out that one would get lost in the noise. The latter was typically only the case in the heart of winter and summer's domains and at the market places. Could Maef really have been so focused with other things that he didn't notice? He did say that he had to make sure this plays out like it's supposed to. Was he working with Amoria?
It didn't really matter either way. Even together Illa and Summer weren't powerful enough to best a lord. If he wanted this to happen, it was going to and all they could do was try to mitigate the damage.
“I can feel where Myra was taken.” Illa said dreamily.
“Let's go,” Summer said, taking Illa's hand.
They appeared in a dark cave. Myra's terror and panic hit her guardians like ocean waves. The longer she had stayed here, the more frequent the waves of emotion would have been. Summer collected herself, bracing against the waves and walling them off. Illa swayed on her feet. Her sensitivity to magic and emotions made everything hit her so much harder. Now with the close confines of the cave and intensity of the emotions Myra left behind, Summer didn't need Illa to relay the echoes to her.
Myra hadn't been there very long, maybe a day, maybe less. Summer didn't know what the time dilation was, but it couldn't have been much. She couldn't tell for sure, but she thought Myra escaped by herself. Summer asked Illa.
“Yes,” Illa said breathlessly. “She did escape. There's too much here for me to tell where to. Can't stay.”
Summer took a quick look around at the mundane surroundings. Simple provisions lay about, long since let to rot, along with an old pile of ashes from a fire. She took them back to her room, hoping that she'd remembered to shut the door. There was no telling what time it was there. The other girls could be there. Summer didn't want to take the time to glamour them now.
Her relief when she saw the door was closed was short lived.
“What the hell are you doing in my room?” Summer asked Nathan.
“Waiting on you to get back. What do you think I'm doing? You've only been gone a few minutes. Was the time dilation high?”
“I guess it was, yeah, but you still shouldn't be here. You didn't look through my stuff, did you?”
“I didn't rifle through your drawers, but you left the glass out and I tried to use it to track her.”
“That is not yours to use,” Summer said, suddenly seeing the glass and taking it.
“I'm only trying to help as best I can.”
“You aren't helping. You can't help.”
“Summer, Nathan, quit. This isn't helping and you know it. We haven't-”
“How is it helping to have him here?” Summer demanded.
“You haven't found her yet, obviously.” Nathan ignored Summer.
“No, we haven't,” Illa said, “But it looks like she escaped whoever kidnapped her.”
“Probably Amoria.” Nathan said with a grimace. “You'll have to be careful going after her.”
“We know that,” Summer snapped.
“Let me come with you. Let me help you.”
“No,” both girls said at the same time, Summer more forcefully.
Illa continued. “I need you to stay here in case she makes it back on her own. She very well may, considering she's jumping around Faery of her own accord.”
“What? She's going around Faery on her own?” Nathan exclaimed.
“Yes,” Illa agreed. “And that's why we have to hurry. We can't spend time arguing with you. The dilation might not be that extreme, but it's enough that Myra could get into a lot of trouble before we can get to her.”
“You mean more than she's already in.” Summer said.
As much as Illa was angry that Nathan had gone through their things and that she hated he had thought of the glass as well, she couldn't help but let some of her anger go as he gestured towards the glass, still sitting on her chest in her bedroom.
“I really am trying to help,” Nathan told the girls.
Summer was about to snap again, but Illa's heavy sigh held her back.
“We know you are,” Illa said. “But we can't help but think Myra wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't taken her to that party. Why did you take her there anyway?”
“I had told her she was fae and told her some about magic and Faery and the people there, but she didn't believe that she was fae. She told me I had to be crazy and wanted further proof.”
“So, you took her to a party in Faery where some outcast idiot could tell her as well and use that as a favor owed to him?” Summer asked.
“I didn't know he was going to do that, truly.” Nathan looked away, seeming embarrassed. “I thought he was repaying a favor to me. We have had positive interactions in the past.”
Illa placed her hands over the glass and closed her eyes in concentration. Most magical items only resonated with those who possessed them. Technically, the resonation only made communication easier. Anyone would be able to use the glass, but sometimes objects were tuned to specific people. It made their use much easier, particularly for children. In this case, Myra or her father would only have to hold it and think of the other person and it would create a link between the two. Anyone else would have a harder time connecting to someone across worlds. He had made it when Myra was a baby before her mother deemed Faery and everything in it too dangerous for her daughter to know about. Illa and Summer were allowed by the lord to use it in her stead as she wasn't supposed to know that he existed.
Sidhe lords didn't have to use something so specifically made in order to speak to each other in such a way, but it would make it easier for someone like Myra who wouldn’t have had as much training in the use of magic. Frankly, Illa was surprised that Myra had managed to learn what she had, especially the kinetic energy blast. Nathan did say that he had taught Myra a little about magic, but he had only known her for a few weeks before this. Quite a short while for Myra to go from knowing nothing to being able to blast pure energy at an enemy.
Putting aside those thoughts, Illa focused firmly on Myra, on the feel of her magic, of her face, how she spoke, how she sounded.
Dimly, Illa heard Nathan say, “I only thought that if she saw Faery and other fae she would realize how much she had in common with them. I thought she would feel the relief of being back in Faery.”
“Myra was never in Faery.” Summer said firmly. “She was born here, in this city actually, and had barely stepped outside of it her whole life. She wouldn't have had that feeling. What were you thinking?”
Nathan replied, but his voice trailed off as Illa sank herself deeper into locating Myra. She felt a place similar to where they were now, but she couldn't get a lock on the location. Her scrying was being redirected. The closer Illa came to the location, the further she was thrown off. She tried again, pushing all of her might into it, narrowing her thoughts as she tried to finely tune the spell.
Illa's eyes snapped open and she almost lost her balance, fumbling the glass as she tried to keep herself upright.
Summer caught Illa's hand to balance her.
“Wherever Myra is, we are being blocked. It's something similar to what we have here, but every time I come close to the location, their shield throws my spell to another area of Faery. We will have to find another way to locate her.” Illa told the other two.
“If we can't follow her directly and we can't use her glass, how are we going to find her?” Nathan asked. “You two don't happen to have a piece of her hair or something, do you?”
He blanched as if expecting new glares, but the two fae girls only frowned, thinking.
“Her hairbrush is here, but if the place she is in is being shielded, it won't work any better than the glass did.” Summer answered. “We will just have to use old fashioned investigation.”
The girls' eyes met and Illa said, “We have to go to Faery and see who knew Amoria, where she likes to spend her time, and where she might have taken Myra.”
Summer added, “Don't forget that Myra might have escaped Amoria. If she was powerful enough to throw the troll off of her, enough stress might give her the strength to overpower Amoria.”
“In that case, she could be anywhere.” Illa shook her head. “Let's focus on Amoria first and go from there.”
“We could also ask her father if he knows anything. If she's in Faery, he should be able to sense it, even if it's just a vague idea of where she is. Who is he anyway?” Nathan said.
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Summer told him. “He is Ibrihim.”
Nathan's eyes went up. Ibrihm was a rather high ranking lord, only a little ways down from the Faery Queens.
“No wonder Myra took to magic like she did.” Nathan mussed.
“She did so quickly?” Summer asked.
“Yes, quickly and enthusiastically, despite her misgivings. She has a natural talent, but then, with Ibrihim for a father, I would think she would. Even if she was kept away from Faery her whole life. I wonder what prompted him to lie with a mortal.”
“Love,” Illa answered, idly, thinking about the ending of the failed relationship.
Even though Myra didn't remember it, she was devastated when she lost her father. Illa suspected that Ibrihim had shown Myra magic in her first year of life every time he got the chance. The fae man had been enamored with his child.
Myra's mother, Brittany, and Myra hadn't just been a political or societal move for Ibrihim. As much as he fully enjoyed being fae and the things that Faery offered, he was in love with humans, Brittany in particular. Illa didn't know the whole story, but she did know that Brittany was the one who had introduced Ibrihim to the mortal world. They had dazzled each other's worlds for three years before Brittany discovered the danger of Faery and the implications for her daughter.
As much as it had broken all three of their hearts, she put, in her mind, the safety of her daughter first. Brittany had reasoned, without contact to Faery, how was anyone to know of Myra's existence and put her in danger? Brittany made Ibrihim, to his utter shock and sorrow, to never be a part of Myra's life again, to never try to see her and if he happened to come across her, to never tell her who he was or anything about Faery.
Knowing Myra might have been in danger anyway, Ibrihim had asked Illa and Summer to look after her. The two girls pretended to be humans in late middle school when they had first met Myra. As they were young fae, they were able to pass for the right age. They had fake documents created by fae who were close to the human world and integrated themselves right in.
Illa shrugged, shaking off the memories. “Nathan, contact Myra's father and let him know what's going on. He'll be able to find Myra in Faery no matter where she is. Keep the glass and use it to contact him.” Illa kept talking over Summer’s objections. “He'll answer a call from it better than any other means of communication. I'm sorry to leave this to you, but we have to go after Myra.”
Summer glared, her thoughts clear on her face, but she didn't say anything. Summer didn’t want Ibrihim to know that Myra was in danger yet, but Illa couldn’t keep it from him. He would find out sooner than later, but Illa also couldn’t let time go to waste. It could be that they could find Myra before her father was able to pull himself away from whatever it was he was doing. Being a high lord, he was likely on a task for the queen or his own lands.
“Let's go,” Illa said as she offered Summer her hand.
“Wait,” Nathan said. “Why are you having me talk to the lord? Shouldn’t you do so? Won’t he be upset that someone else knows his daughter is here?”
Illa sighed. “That is a possibility, but the sooner we continue looking and the sooner her father knows, the better. He doesn’t always answer immediately given that our communication is rarely urgent.”
“I guess that makes sense. Busy lords and all.” Nathan said.
“Yes, quite.” Illa agreed.
Summer frowned, but said. “I do not believe he will be upset that you know. With Myra being in danger, the more people looking out for her the better.”
Nathan smiled slightly, knowing how difficult that was to say.
“That doesn’t mean I trust you,” Summer went on. “Just how the lord will see it and to be honest, you can’t do much damage in the human world.”
Nathan’s smile soured, but his mood didn’t. He’d take any small bit to get himself back in good standing with his old friends. The loneliness had gone on too long.
“Where will you try first?” Nathan asked. “Faery is enormous.”
“We will try Faery Proper. There has to be someone there who knows Amoria, maybe even someone who has seen her recently.” Illa said.
“We will just have to be careful about our questions.” Summer added.
Illa could see another question on Nathan's face, but she ignored him. There was no more time to waste. She opened another gate into Faery and stepped through.
The familiar relief filled her and the sudden bustle of Faery Proper washed over her. Faery Proper was a congregation of everything fae ever did. Both Seelie and Unseelie fae were present going about their business. It consisted of several places separated off like Maef's demesne.
This particular one was like a bazaar. Streets were lined with stores that had been grown out of the trees living there. Any fae would be able to sing to the tree, making it grow in a fashion that suited them. The tree trunks ballooned and hallowed out, allowing people inside. Their branches curved around into steps, giving access to higher levels if they existed. Most of the trees were maple, ash, and hawthorn and were discouraged from losing their leaves, the better to maintain a measure of secrecy, while the fae provided them with enough nourishment to sustain such long growth.
Some “buildings” were close, clustered together while others remained off to sides by themselves. They sat back from the rest on the street, small buildings that one wouldn't know the contents of unless one entered.
The fae here were eager to give and receive knowledge, while trying to get the better end of the bargain as they did so. It wasn't quite the safest place to be, but if one was trying to keep under the radar, there were enough fae present that one’s face would probably be lost in the mix of so many others. Usually only desperate fae were found in this part of the bazaar. Illa supposed she and Summer applied.
Some fae were even looking for rare objects, even though such things were unlikely to exist here. There were stores hawking magical items and things needed to make them, even though the best materials were gathered by oneself and were rarely so easy to come by. A few restaurants of human food sold their goods to curious and indulgent fae, though how they came by the foods without stealing them, Illa wasn't sure. Maybe they had a garden in the back of the stores.
Several other types of establishments had filtered out through the area, but most of the fae there were not there to shop or eat. They were there looking for information, the highest commodity of the fae.
Beyond all of the bustle, Illa could feel the Wyldwood nearby as if it had a personality and presence all its own, which it kind of did. Any human who ended up in the woods became hopelessly lost and quickly perished with help.
“Where do you think we should start?” Illa asked. She stayed confident in front of Nathan, but the bazaar of Faery Proper was much bigger and more complex to search for one person that she had let on. Surely Summer as having served as a bodyguard before, would have an idea.
Summer looked around a moment, thinking before she answered.
The fae around them were as numerous and as varied as anywhere else. There were elves, pixies, trolls, ogres, even goblins, and a few brownies. Some were covered in cloaks and pulled up hoods, while others walked unabashed, proudly proclaiming their presence. Though those people would possibly be better remembered, they would also carry a heavier weight of retaliation should anyone try something against them.
Small groups of fae spoke in twos and threes while others haggled in the shops for items that may or may not have been able to do what the seller said they did. Fae even more gifted in illusion than normal had the chance of tricking another into thinking an object did something that it did not, provided that they carefully spoke about the abilities of said object.
“Do you remember how the magic the second person at the weak spot in Maef's demesne felt?” Summer asked.
“I do,” Illa said.
“Try to focus on that,” Summer told her. There were enough people here that doing so would be difficult, but it wasn't impossible for Illa. She did have a knack for sorting out the different feelings of people's magic and presences. “I will try to see who might have the same kind of leanings as Amoria. Perhaps one of her contacts or comrades are here.”
Looking around her, Illa tried to discern where Amoria would have gone if she had come here. Illa kept the feeling of Amoria's magic in her mind and tried to dismiss the other fae, simply feeling her way. Summer was next to her, picking out the fae most likely to have similar political desires to Amoria and therefore possibly know where she was and what she might be planning.
Without really knowing where she was going, Illa began to walk, Summer following close behind. The fae moving through the streets bustled around her, giving her just enough space to continue moving. Mostly unaware of this, Illa focused on the feeling she had picked up. It was faint enough that she had to give it all of her attention to keep the trail.
The unconscious workings of the other fae were degrading it. Amoria really must have little discipline to leave a trail that would have this much to it after even a few hours, let alone how long it might have actually been since she was last here. The strength of the trail only confirmed that Amoria had to have been working with a young troll. No one else would help her attain higher status. They would be too worried about their own.
Summer bumped into Illa when she abruptly stopped. The trail had taken them to a less populated spot in the bazaar. Much fewer fae walked about here and only a few buildings seemed occupied. Illa had stopped in front of a tree that had barely begun to take the shape that had been sung to it. Its sides billowed out awkwardly from the rest of the gracefully sloping trunk and its branches continued as they originally began to grow. Its leaves had begun to wilt and fall, some of their neighbors already on the ground.
Nonetheless this tree was shrouded in darkness. Of even the few who walked by it, most ignored it altogether. Illa could feel the spells around it trying to force her to focus elsewhere, but her concentration on the trail she followed was too great to be slid aside. If Illa had not been focusing on it so strongly as she walked, she would not have had the ability to keep with it now. As it was, she studied the spells laid on the tree.
Anyone who wanted to be here and yet keep so carefully to themselves had to be someone who only wanted those who already knew about them to be able to find them. That either spoke of embarrassment at being in such a lower lying part of Faery or the desire to interact with the lower powers and gain their favors, to be repaid later when the lower fae had attained greater power and thus was able to do more to benefit whoever operated out of here.
The latter seemed more likely for one of the fae, but the former remained possible regardless. Through her examination, Illa noticed that Summer also seemed to notice something. Illa couldn't see yet what Summer did, but she knew it had to be a small detail of one of the people walking around them. She didn't dare ask, not yet. Too many ears were nearby. They could easily lose their tail if they knew someone was onto them.
Instead, Illa touched Summer's hand and employed a magic they had developed together for such circumstances. It wasn't quite like telepathy, but it let the two fae girls exchange ideas. They were still too young to make full telepathy a reality. Despite this, they were able to give and receive ideas at the same time.
While Illa told Summer what she thought of the tree and its owner, Summer told Illa of a figure who had started to shadow them since they entered the bazaar. Their sudden stop had given her a better range in which to sense the person. Summer hadn't been able to pick up much. Their follower had covered himself in warding spells and veils, but she had caught onto him only a little while after they entered the bazaar.
Now that he was closer, she was able to look beneath his spells to see that he seemed to be a loner himself. He had moved slowly through the throngs of people, pausing to look in the stores around him and to try to eavesdrop on furtive conversations. Maybe he wanted to look like he was spying on those closer to him or just anyone here. Summer was too good for that.
She had been able to sense the small part of himself that he directed towards them, a subtle magic that he let flow after the girls just in case they slipped his line of sight. He didn't seem to have anything to do with this hidden tree here, though.
He wasn't someone's underling. No, this fae had the feeling of someone who worked alone and had the confident arrogance to think that he wouldn't be noticed.
True, there the bazaar teemed with people, each leaking or containing their magic to confuse others and to help along the melding of trails left behind. Each building had its own spells that added to the muddled mess, but anyone trained in picking apart these trails, especially someone who had spent almost her entire life doing so, training so she could serve her own and others' needs, would be able to work through the trails of magic to find just what she wanted.
Only a couple seconds had passed since the girls stopped, but they were confident of their assessment of the situation. Now, they had to decide what they were going to do. Lose their tail and come back to investigate the shrouded tree? Let him follow them to a more secluded place and try to get the drop on him? Confront him if he followed them inside?
If they were to split up, they would probably lose the fae. It would be a red light showing that they realized he was there. If they hadn't noticed him, they would have entered the tree in front of them, going off of Illa's trail. Perhaps he would follow them inside and try to complete whatever his mission was in the privacy that the small tree offered, relying on the discretion of whoever operated here to keep the goings on and his identity a secret.
Illa felt when she and Summer came to a decision and she let their connection drop. They strode forward, directly into the tree, hoping that their follower continued or that between the two of them, they would be able to find him again later if need be.
Summer kept her mind on their tail. She felt it when his concentration on whatever distraction he had found wavered. He was surprised that they were entering this place and thought that they had only paused to figure out what was in front of them. He didn't think that she had caught onto his presence yet. Summer allowed herself a small smile. All the better. Now if only he would follow them inside and they would be able to deal with him without revealing to anyone else who they were, except for whoever had sung to this tree, though. That would be easy to rectify, depending on whoever it was. And if overwhelming force was necessary, well, the fae of the bazaar were getting complacent. They were all due for a good shock.
Inside, the tree was stretched. They stood inside something like a foray with two rooms off to the sides. A subtle feeling of elsewhere came over Summer, similar to traveling from Faery to the human world and vice versa. They were in someone's demesne, again. It wasn't too uncommon to stumble across another's demesne, but to have it linked to the bazaar like this? No wonder it was kept hidden. Summer certainly wouldn't want people just showing up at hers uninvited. That is, if she had one.
It wasn't much bigger inside than it was outside, but by being a demesne, it gave the owner the ability to do more with it magically. He would be much stronger inside it and would have a greater capability to overcome anyone else. It also bespoke of a greater power, of one who wanted those under him to owe him once they came to enough power to benefit him. Summer felt her eyebrows raise slightly. It wasn't at all a small move and it was perhaps about to fulfill its purpose.
From the shadows, Summer saw a form move. It walked out of a simple sitting area made to look like someone's living room, complete with a window and curtain. Summer got the impression that the area wasn't quite real. She looked harder at it and it shimmered, but didn't wink out of existence.
“Now, now,” said the figure. “I can't have you ignoring the décor. It says too much about its owner, don't you think?”
The fae was a man, only a little taller than Summer and he sported the harsh, sharp lines on his face of elves. He wore a suit not unlike a human businessman and had his hair cut in a dashing style that only added to his business like mien. His dark eyes glittered with something Summer could not quite define and he smiled slightly.
Summer only just now realized that she had lost contact with the person following them outside of this fae's demesne. Of course, she would have. Such a connection would not survive entering into a creation meant to be separate from the rest of Faery.
“Perhaps not,” Summer answered.
“May I ask why you have paid me a visit?” The fae asked as amiable as you please.
This was the time to get creative. They couldn't just out and tell this man what they wanted. He would be too curious about Myra and why someone wanted her, but neither could they beat around the bush too much. They wouldn't learn anything.
Illa spoke up first. “We are looking for a fae who is using others for her agenda. We appreciate her designs, but wish to take her plans for ourselves.”
The man nodded. Had he actually accepted Illa's explanation? Summer kept her feelings off of her face and out of her heart as much as she could. If this fae was strong as she thought it was, he would be able to sense deception even if the words were true.
“Won't you sit with me?” He gestured at the living room setup. “I may have the connections to help you.”
The girls agreed and they sat down on a loveseat opposite their host. None of them bothered asking names. They wouldn't be precisely true even if they did, despite a fae's compulsion to speak no lies.
“Who exactly are you looking for? Do you know their name?”
“A woman called Amoria,” Illa answered. “She is young, but she shows promise.”
“Trying to create a following?” The man grinned wide. It unnerved Summer. There was something behind his smile. She couldn't pinpoint what, just like the glimmer in his eyes before. Hopefully, Illa was able to sense more about this man than Summer could.
Tilting his head to the side as if thinking if he knew anyone called Amoria, the man continued. “Not a bad start for the two of you. Looking after humans, learning their ways. Are you trying to find something in them that you can use for yourselves? Perhaps with this Amoria?”
Summer was just barely able to keep the shock off of her face. She knew it was possible to sense their time spent in the human world, but she didn't think anyone but one of the faery queens would be able to do so. Out of the corner of her eye, Summer saw that Illa's face was carefully blank.
“You see much,” Illa said.
He smiled even wider, showing perfectly white teeth. “More than others credit me. If you want to do business with this woman, why do you not contact her yourselves?”
“She prefers to work alone,” Illa explained. “We wish to show her the benefit of corroboration.”
“Force yourselves on her? Now, that isn't the best tactic.”
“Not force,” Summer chimed in. “Convince. In some cases, more minds are better than one.”
Summer felt the full force of the man's attention on her, attempting to discern what she concealed. She put up the aura she always had as a child in her training, that of curious contentment and the desire to further herself. If her teachers hadn't been able to get through the aura, neither would this fae.
“You keep yourself close,” he commented.
“Not at all,” Summer said. “I keep myself open.” As long as she kept the aura in place, he wouldn't be able to feel around it to see if there was anything else there. So far, he only had suspicions. He didn't sense her willingness to do anything to protect her charge.
The fae observed. “There was another who followed you here. You didn't wish to use me to rid yourself of him?”
“Of course not.” Summer said bluntly. “We wished to use you to lure him in here.”
He nodded in approval. “And deal with him accordingly, though I would rather my establishment not become a place of dueling.”
“Naturally not. It was, however, a convenient place. Either he would have attempted to follow us inside or attempt to follow us upon leaving, were we to leave the same way we entered. Either way, we wouldn't lose him and would be able to extract whatever knowledge we needed to and accomplish our other goal.”
“Ruthless for one so young,” the fae man laughed. “A good quality to have.”
“Necessary quality to have.” Summer contradicted. “Do you know where we can find Amoria or not?”
“I do,” he said simply.
The payment, Summer thought. No fae was ever able to give something without receiving something in return, from the smallest dewdrop faery to the faery queens. What was she, or Illa, willing to give up to get the information? Most fae only wanted other information in return. They were scrupulous gatherers of secrets, using what they learned to maneuver others into positions that would benefit themselves. When it really came down to it, Faery life was like a giant chess board with each player thinking they could be the queen and outmaneuver everyone else on the field, thinking they were only pawns. The reality of the game resembled the game's nature much closer.
Before either girl could answer, the fae who had been following them burst into their host's demesne, finally having worked up the courage to go after them.