Caged Fae by Penn Cassidy

Author:Penn Cassidy [Cassidy, Penn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-03-09T16:00:00+00:00

Neera

I gestured for Zephyr to lead the way through the darkness as we stepped over the border into the Dread Marsh. That wasn’t its real name, only a nickname given by those who weren’t welcome in its murky depths. In reality, the marsh had no formal name, but I could see how it came by it.

We’d stayed on the ground for most of our hurried escape out of the Acadian Empire, even though Zephyr had growled about it the whole time. We couldn’t afford to be spotted flying, at least not until we were farther into Faerie.

Faerie… I couldn’t believe I was actually here after spending my whole life with the humans, trapped in those dirty slums. Leaving Karn with nothing but the clothes on my back got harder by the day as my clothing grew cold, wet, torn, and dirty. Stopping to take care of basic necessities was out of the question during daylight, so we hid in caves or rocky outcroppings when we could, saving our travel for the night.

Drystan was unsteady on his feet, but Dane held him up as well as he could manage with his own waning strength. Both of them had insisted on coming with me. I hadn’t counted on a slowly-recovering king and my…sometimes lover slowing me down. But Dane had secreted Drystan out of the castle before Queen Reena could surround his room with her guards, making sure Karn never knew that their king was awake. He made it out with the help of Zephyr.

I had to reach Kyre, there was no other choice. My chest ached at the memory of watching my little shop burn to ashes from the window of a tiny inn I’d hid in the night I left Kyre to fend for herself with the faeries. The queen had ordered the guard to follow me, and when they couldn’t catch me, they decided to make sure I had nothing to go back to.

When this journey inevitably came to an end, I knew I would feel the loss of it even more vividly, more starkly. My home that I worked so hard to build for myself was gone. Nothing but ash in the wind. I tried not to let my mind dwell on it for too long.

We sloshed through thick mud that reached our bellies and attempted to ignore the stinging in our toes caused by the near frozen water settled at the bottom of the marsh, seeping through my boots and Zephyr’s fur. I yelped as something soft and quick moved against my leg, and I cursed myself for thinking this was the best way into Faerie.

We might have been better off doing what Kyre did and summoning a faerie to open the veil elsewhere, but there was just too much risk involved. Even Kyre ran into trouble and accidentally summoned The Wild Hunt.

Instead, we’d made it almost as far as the sea, turning toward the border of the veil once we reached the marshes. Humans wouldn't come here, I knew that for a fact.

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