Nathan tried to refrain from gritting his teeth in anger. He understood Illa and Summer’s reactions even if he didn’t like them. If he knew someone who really had done what they thought he did, he would probably react the same way. As it was though...
He felt out the spot Myra was taken through as best he could. He knew he didn’t have the same ability that Illa did to feel out magic and its currents. Hers was a natural ability while Nathan had had to struggle for even half her ability.
It seemed like whoever it was had punched a hole through their defenses and it had come out onto the floor. Awkward way to go through a gate, Nathan thought.
He probed around the fae girls’ wards. They had set them up over the entirety of their rooms and the girls who shared the same dormitory. Of course, the regular humans didn’t know that magic had been set into their walls. Nathan hadn’t thought about teaching her about wards yet, but it would probably come in handy when all of this was over. On that thought, Illa and Summer would probably teach her. Maybe Myra would like that better. Summer definitely would.
The wards certainly seemed strong enough. They should have kept out low level trolls, but maybe this wasn’t a low level troll. Maybe none of this was what Nathan thought it was. He had a sudden image of himself pushing his way through the gate, finding Myra first, and blasting the hell out of whoever had her, but he resisted. He wanted to follow Myra, but just didn’t have the ability to follow the path like Illa did. Getting lost would be much more likely.
But maybe there was another way he could help Myra.
Nathan passed by the couch he had slept on. He had intended on leaving early in the morning before any of the girls were awake, but there was no way he was going to sleep any more tonight. Besides, his reason for staying here was gone.
Returning to his own dormitory, Nathan rifled through the magical artifacts he had collected. Being in the human world reduced his ability to use magic in general, so Nathan had collected things that humans used in their practices. Most often, they had no real power and were used in more spiritual rituals than anything, but in the hand of a fae, the magic amplified and turned into so much more.
Nathan held the quartz to his chest and closed his eyes. He breathed deeply, trying to clear his mind as much as possible. For the first time in a long while, he found it difficult to shut off his emotions. He had gotten Myra kidnapped. Even if it was indirect, it was still his fault. He might as well have handed a charm to the troll himself and let him through the wards. He-
Nathan cut off the thought.
Gripping the quartz tighter, he slowed his breath even more. He lowered himself in an odd floating state, one where emotion lay beneath him as if it were a rolling ocean. Everything he felt, worried about, was scared for or scared of went into that ocean. He was free from the emotions and the ill intent they could have on magical workings. He was free of the emotions.
Nathan rolled his shoulders and opened his eyes. He moved the crystal outwards just enough so he could see it.
Where was Myra?
Show me, Nathan thought.
He focused on the question, on Myra’s face. He brought to mind her brown eyes, her dark hair, and gently curving jawline. He thought about the way she dressed when they didn’t have to wear their uniforms. Just jeans and a t-shirt. Sometimes plain, sometimes with a decal on it from one of her books. He thought about her voice, her desire to know who she was and also her fear of it.
Myra really was afraid of the fae and of Faery. He hadn’t wanted her to get trapped there. That was why he went with her. Myra would have gone even if he didn’t. It could have been so much worse if he didn’t.
Nathan shoved his guilt into the ocean.
Where was Myra?
He pushed the thought into the crystal. Show me. Nathan’s gentle question became a demand.
He felt a stirring of magic around him. Transference from the crystal and its link to wherever Myra was.
Show me, Nathan directed his will again. Show me.
Something pushed back at him. Pushed back hard.
Nathan's head exploded with pain and his vision went dark. He almost fell to the floor. He put a hand out to catch himself. What in all the fae lands was that?
Someone strong had kidnapped Myra. Was it really Amoria? She had folded so easily back at the party. Maybe it was because she knew she would have a hard time going through both Illa and Nathan, but if she had enough power to prevent someone scrying her location, she should have had enough to challenge both of them. She would have had to physically drag Myra out of there, but her troll could have done that.
What was going on here?
Amoria could have certainly been just biding her time for the right moment to not waste energy fighting them, but then why kidnap Myra in the first place? None of this made sense.
Nathan set the crystal down on his desk and sank into the desk chair. His eyes fell onto his unfinished homework without really seeing it.
How was he going to make this right without being able to help find Myra?
He willed his thoughts away from old painful memories.
There had to be a contact he knew who could help find out who Amoria was and why she wanted Myra and what she had to do with Menon.
Nathan jumped up, grabbed the crystal, and left his dormitory. He strode carefully through the school. The teachers who didn’t have classes to teach the next day, and some of the staff that had been hired on to do such tasks, patrolled the corridors to make sure that the children were not out of bed at night. Presumably, they were also there to keep everyone safe, but from what human threats, Nathan didn’t really know. Who would attack a boarding school in New Mexico? More likely they were just trying to keep the students safe from themselves and student pranks.
Last week, Nathan would have given most anything for a normal human prank to liven things up a bit. Now, he just wanted everything to return to its normal, boring state. Boring was good. Boring was fun even.
At the last second, Nathan slipped into an adjacent hallway. Someone’s footsteps approached. The teacher or staff member carried a dim flashlight pointed low at the floor. They walked with measured steps almost shuffling as if sure that nothing was going to happen, nothing was going to come out at them, and this was a boring routine. OK, maybe that was him reading into it, Nathan admitted to himself. Maybe he was trying to use his magic to influence the teacher.
After several long minutes that were really only probably no more than sixty seconds, the teacher had finally passed by him. Nathan gave it a minute more just to be sure and continued down the main hall. He skirted around one more teacher, only barely avoiding them when he saw the glow from their flashlight and slipped out one of the side doors.
This one hadn’t had an alarm put on it. It led out into a small courtyard that was surrounded by the school’s walls on all sides. Some places were better than others to cross over. Nathan knew from experience that his room inevitably only led him to one place, the heart of goblin territory. A lucky escape later, he had searched for a better spot on campus. While the other places on campus weren't locked to one location, they were much too exposed. This courtyard only had one entry and the window in it was pretty small. As long as he stayed out of view of the window, he wouldn't be seen.
All the same, he hoped none of the teachers would come this way. Even the possibility of being seen carried such heavy implications that his heart started to race. Nathan focused on the stillness deep inside himself and lowered his emotions away again.
Nathan opened his gate just as smoothly as before. It opened up around him and set him down on a street not quite in Faery proper, but pretty close to it. This was one of the few Faery towns that he would still visit on occasion. Granted Faery didn’t have many actual towns to speak of. Most sidhe lived in what the humans would consider the country and many more species of fae operated separately from the queen and king and had their own rulers and their own living organizations.
As it was, this city comprised of stone buildings and cobbled roads. They extended as far as Nathan could see. In the distance, the buildings grew larger and more ornate. It was a mix of wealthy fae homes and their businesses. The road was lined with dim lights, glowing orbs suspended in the air with no visible means. Some fae had crafted them to stay so and to glow for as long as the fae could make them with one charm. The charm would be renewed every so often. The more powerful the fae, the less the charm had to be renewed.
Even with the lights, it was still dark enough that Nathan couldn’t make out many details of the buildings, but he knew he was in a residential area. Not far from the contact he intended to meet. He didn’t want to open the gate right on top of them. Not only would that prove to the contact that he no longer resided in Faery proper, it would also be incredibly disconcerting for the fae in question. She would no doubt be immediately suspicious and hostile.
He only had to go past a few houses and turn down another road before he saw his destination. The second one on the left.
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It didn’t look much different than the others around it, but there was definitely something that made it stand out. Nathan couldn’t quite put his finger on what. It was built of stone, just like the others. It had shuttered windows and all manner of well groomed greenery in the front. The walkway was a dirt path, well worn of any plants, and a glass bowl sat on a barrel just in front of the road. Anyone who had a message to give the fae inside could leave it in the bowl to be read at the resident’s convenience.
Still something was off here. Not in a sinister way. More akin to how individual fae’s demesnes felt if they were powerful enough to have their own demesne. Maybe she was growing stronger and was coming up on the ability to create her own. Nathan raised his eyebrows at the thought. Certainly wouldn’t be bad to have a friend coming up in the world.
He walked up to her front door. Nathan wasn’t worried about her being asleep at this hour. She had always kept odd waking hours. She told him that the middle of the night was best for magical study. Less influences from other sidhe getting in the way of her experiments.
Nathan knocked on the door twice, once, and thrice. He waited only a moment before it opened.
The female sidhe leaned against the doorway, one eyebrow arched and a small smile on her lips. “Why, Nanadiel. What brings you here? Especially at such a late hour?”
She had the usual characteristics of a sidhe, sharp lines on her face and high cheekbones. Her golden brown hair and gray eyes contrasted most other sidhe’s dark coloring. She wore a simple dressing gown in off white with lace around the neckline and the edges of her long sleeves. The gown hid almost all of her legs, but left the bottom most part of her shins and feet bare. Perhaps Nathan had caught her while she was preparing for bed.
“Hello to you, too, Vanita.” Nathan grinned back at her, his more friendly and less scheming.
“Hello.” Vanita peered quickly around him. Her expression didn’t change, but she stood back to let Nathan in. She closed the door behind him. “Hm, something you don’t wish to discuss out in the open?”
“No, I do not.” Nathan said. “Thank you.”
“Pray tell, what is it that you want?”
“I would like information, if you would be willing to share, on a certain fae named Amoria and what ties she has to Menon.”
“Menon?” Vanita looked worried. “Has he done something? I didn’t think he would cross you like that.”
“He has and with this Amoria. Have you heard of her?”
“No, I can’t say I have.” Vanita pursed her lips and her eyes looked off, deep in thought. “The name doesn’t bring any memories to mind.”
“Damn.” Nathan said and immediately regretted the human term.
Vanita raised an eyebrow again.
Nathan sighed, deciding to tell her a little bit. “There’s a halfling that Amoria has laid a claim on. Menon fulfilled a favor he owed to Amoria, called in the favor Amoria indirectly owed to him, and basically sold the halfling into servitude.”
“What are you doing mixed up with halflings? Besides, a fae can’t own a halfling. This Amoria has to know that’s against the law.”
“I’m sure she does.” Nathan thought of the punishment for trafficking in fae like this. Once she was caught, Amoria would likely somehow be relieved of her magic and possibly executed. “Likely, she doesn’t think she will get caught, but this halfling has friends. More than just me.”
“Really now?” Vanita asked. “Such a special halfling to have so many fae friends. Where is the halfling? With this Amoria? Why doesn’t she just go to a lord and have Amoria taken into custody?”
“I don’t actually know. We got her back from Amoria, but someone broke through the wards and took her. I was hoping you had some information so that I could track them down.”
Vanita studied Nathan’s face for a moment. “No, I regret that I do not. I haven’t heard of her in any of my circles or any of the parties I have attended as of late.”
Nathan suppressed the urge to scowl.
“Nanadiel, what is going on with this halfling? Why do you want her back so much?”
“She’s my friend,” Nathan said, forgetting the usual fae stance on halflings in his surprise. “Halflings aren’t all unworthy of noticing.”
“OK, OK,” Vanita said, putting her hands up. “I can ask around for you, carefully, of course.”
“Yes, please.” Nathan said. “Have you heard anything about halflings being trafficked?”
“No, I haven’t, but I’ll ask about it. Maybe I’ll learn something at the marketplace tomorrow. I have a meeting there in the afternoon.”
“With who?” Nathan asked absently. His mind was already on the next step to try to track Myra down.
“Now that would be telling too much,” Vanita said. “Now out with you. I have an experiment to get back to and I’m sure you want to be about finding your friend.”
Vanita opened the door and ushered Nathan out. He retraced his steps back down the roads, opened a gate again into the courtyard, made his way back through the school, and into his dormitory. He wouldn’t be able to get back into the girls’ without one of their charms. Hopefully, Illa and Summer had better luck finding Myra and would either let him back in, at least tell him what happened, or he could talk to Myra directly.
Nathan tried to rack his brain for anything else he could do. Any other contacts he might try would be a shot in the dark apparently. Granted he could try them anyway, but he had never trained to be a guardian like Summer and Illa had. He never trained in tracking, magical or human wise. As much as he hated to admit it, he probably wasn’t going to be any help here.
What all had happened between him and Menon? Why would Menon pull a double deal on him like this?
Sure, they hadn't had frequent contact recently, but that didn't always matter in Faery. Menon had seemed, if not a true friend, then maybe just a more reliable source in Faery. Empty night, he hadn't talked to Vanita since deciding to attend the boarding school and she greeted him like they had seen each other last Tuesday.
The meeting with Menon had started friendly enough.
"Nanadiel, what can I do for you?" Menon had asked.
They were on one of the less traveled roads of Faery Proper. Nathan had asked Menon to meet him at a neutral location. Menon picked one of the old fountains depicting one of the sidhe looking down on wyldfae. A few fae meandered about completing their business, but otherwise the road was empty.
The two began to walk together.
"I have a favor to ask of you," Nathan began.
Menon's eyes glittered.
"It is on behalf of another. She is a halfling, but hasn't quite accepted her fae side yet. If you could meet her, perhaps look into her lineage, I will owe you a favor."
"Why would knowing her lineage help any?" Menon asked. "Why not just see if she can perform magic like a fae and have done?"
"I actually started there. She's done some pretty amazing things considering she has never practiced magic before or been formally taught. There's still so much doubt. Her mother, the human, fears and abhors magic-"
"Oh, so she is afraid of part of herself?"
"Quite probably."
"Then why the performance and favor?"
Nathan stifled the urge to scuff his shoe on the cobblestone, wondering how much he could safely say while still providing enough information to go off. "It's weighing on her mind. Truthfully, she probably doesn't want to be fae but there have been too many indications. And she can't help but enjoy being able to use magic like we do."
Menon was silent for a moment. "A halfling who doesn't want to be fae isn't rare, but I'll never understand it. Their lives must be so dull without our glamour and grammerie." He lifted a hand into the air and deliberately let his magic bleed out to create sparkles in his hand's wake.
"To be fair, I do understand her position to a point. There are a great many dark and terrible things in the fae realm, especially in winter."
"This is true. What is your halfling's name?"
"Myra."
"Any idea who her fae parent is?"
"No, I don't, but considering her aptitude, he has to be a high ranking lord."
"Hmm, a halfling sidhe. If she were to choose her fae side, that would be most interesting indeed."
She very well may, Nathan thought. Myra seemed to enjoy their magic experiments and lessons and talks about Faery. But then, she'd claim up and refuse to talk about it for a few days before bringing it up again. Not for the first time, Nathan wondered just how much Myra's mother was averse to anything magical, seeming or in truth.
"That's not much for me to go on. I will meet with your halfling friend, but I may be able to only tell her generalities."
Nathan nodded. He expected as much. "That may be ok. As long as someone else can confirm it for her, maybe she'll believe."
"Where did you meet this halfling? It had to be in the human world."
"It was," Nathan said easily. "I pop over every now and then." He lowered his voice. "It’s a nice distraction sometimes. Humans can be amusing."
Menon raised his eyebrows, but otherwise made no acknowledgement of Nathan's revelation. "They most certainly can be amusing. Very well, I will ask around as much as I can about sidhe halflings. I make no promises on finding her lineage, but I will meet with her. Do you wish to meet again in a neutral location?"
"Yes, I think that would be best." Nathan said, looking around.
"I have an idea, but this may not be the best place for your purpose. It does look rather like a human establishment. If it suits, there is a fae/human party I will be attending. You and your halfling could meet me there."
Nathan took in a deep breath. That could mean all sorts of things, but it could be enough shock to finally drive the message home.
"That may be suitable," Nathan agreed.
That just may have been when Menon was planning how he would give Myra to Amoria. He only wanted them at the party so that they wouldn't notice another waiting in the wings for her cue.
Nathan felt a sudden strong desire to attack something, preferably Menon or Amoria. He relaxed his suddenly clenched fists and closed his eyes. Get Myra back first. Then deal with Menon.
But who else to ask? Where to look? Nathan couldn't track her directly nor did his contacts seem to be panning out. He was starting to regret staying in the human world for so long. But then if he hadn't, he wouldn't have met Myra in the first place.
At the very least, he could be here at the school if Myra made it back home on her own or when Illa and Summer came back with her. He had to think they would have better luck, but if they didn't, they wouldn't be likely to tell him. He plucked Myra’s charm he swiped off his desk and put it in his uniform jacket hanging on the wall. He'd head back to the girls' dorm tomorrow when the others were in class. Surely there would be developments by then. As much as he hated seeing Summer and Illa or rather, the way they saw him, he had to admit it was nice to really be around other fae again.
Nathan lay down on his bed, but it was a long time before he fell asleep.