What the Fae?

Chapter 5 - punishment

“What do you think will happen to us?” Canyon asked, his voice raw from crying on and off over the last hour.

Beck, Storm, and Willow remained silent beside him. All four faeries knelt on the floor in the middle of the throne room, uneven edges of stone digging into their knees. Magic, wings, and wrists bound, wounds still bleeding, they waited for their king—and their fate.

Beck gazed out the giant window behind the throne, eyes fixated on the waxing moon shining above the tree line. As long as he focused on something, anything outside of himself, he could ignore the aching hole in his heart—the guilt threatening to eat him alive. Willow’s whimpers from the loss of his brothers echoed throughout the spacious room, battling Beck’s resolve to stay in control of his emotions.

His friend’s question bounced around his mind. What would happen to them? “I’m not really sure,” he said, glancing toward the two guards framing the entrance, armed and silent. The candlelight spaced along each wall created flickering shadows upon their steely faces.

Beck tugged at the leather binding his wrists. “I have a feeling pain will be involved.” Of course, no punishment the king would think up could possibly be worse than the emotional torment tearing up his soul from losing his friends. That agony would fester in his heart for the rest of his life.

Canyon’s chin dropped to his chest. “No joining the Royal Guard now,” he muttered. “For any of us.”

“That’s nothing,” Storm added, breaking his gaze away from the painting of gardenias on the wall. “My father’s going to kill me if I can’t cross into the Mortal Realm to help him sell his stuff to the vampires and witches.”

The king stormed into the room, flanked by guards. The tell-tale wrinkle running down his forehead sent a chill down Beck’s spine. He stopped in front of his golden throne and faced the kneeling fae. For many nerve-wracking, sweat-inducing minutes, the king merely stared at the group. The crease between his brows deepened to a crevasse, creating one long, angry eyebrow that resembled a furry caterpillar meandering across his face.

“What happened?” the king finally said, his voice unnervingly calm.

No one spoke. How could they explain their actions without making them appear immature and foolish?

“I’m waiting.”

Beck licked his lips and replied. “An Eradicator jumped us. He,” no way was he admitting being bested by a girl, “killed Hunter and Forest. We barely escaped.”

“Why were you in the Mortal Realm in the first place?” His tone was low, his words even; totally at odds with the rage flickering in his eyes.

There wasn’t a decent way to spin the truth to look good and he’d only make matters worse with a lie, so…. “We…uh…”

The king’s gaze practically burned a hole into his forehead.

Beck swallowed. “We were searching for…” What? What could he say? That they were hunting for human body parts to win a game? He glanced over to his friends hoping one of them would jump in and say something useful. Each faery stared at the floor in front of them, leaving him to save all their butts. What item on the list was the least damaging? The answer popped into his head.

“The princess. We were searching for the princess.” Technically true if the rumors about her being a mage were correct.

“Really?” The king’s eyebrow rose. “And how many points was she worth?”

All the blood and heat drained from Beck’s face. “Uh…” Was that a trick question?

“Did you at least find her?”