Kingsbane

Chapter 15

     Grayson awoke to the sound of Sverre rummaging through the Siva's dresser drawers. "What are you doing?" He asked groggily.
    "Where does Siva keep his jewels?" The man muttered gruffly. "We may well need them to pay for our lives."
    "I don't know. Try that box there." Gray sighed, sitting up gingerly, his bones aching. As Sverre opened the wooden box on the dresser, he quietly lifted his shirt to inspect the swelling in his side. Lovely. "Did you find them?"
    The answer came in the form of a large grin, which he saw spread across the Fae's face in the reflection of the dresser's mirror. "Brilliant." He breathed, donning nine rings, three bangles and a red drop earring. "Where did he get these?"
    "Jewelry Network." Gray answered, watching with a mildly perplexed curiosity as the man continued to riffle through the box in a state of amazement. Apparently, Faery's we into shiny things or some shit.
    "Are we leaving soon?"
    "Yeah, get dressed. We'll leave when you're ready."
    "Let's go." Gray sighed, pulling on his t-shirt and slipping into his sneakers, which he'd set directly next to the bed.
    Sverre looked over his shoulder at him. "You do not look well."
    "Yeah, dying will do that to a person."
    The Fae looked at him a moment longer and then turned back to the jewelry box. What he couldn't wear, he placed in a little leather purse on his belt and then headed for the door. "Come on."
    Grayson did his best to follow, but it took him a few minutes to get down the stairs. The bone pain he could deal with, but the enlarged spleen was another ordeal altogether. If Siva were here, it wouldn't have been a problem, but he was not about to ask Sverre to help him.
    The Fae was waiting at the bottom of the stairs for him, glass of blood from the night before in his hand. "Drink this." As he took the glass, Gray noticed that, though all his other fingers were adorned with gems, Sverre's right pinky was barren. He didn't ask why, as the thought of drinking someone's blood was a far more pressing issue, but it did strike him as odd.
    Without any further hesitation, Gray chugged the metallic tasting liquid and tried to push all thoughts from his mind save the ones that were telling his body not to gag. The blood hit his empty stomach and he was immediately nauseous and at the same time caused a disconcerting vibration throughout his entire body.
    "Don't throw up." Sverre ordered, grabbing him by the arm and practically dragging him outside and into the gazebo. When he was released, he swayed, one hand on his swollen side and the other on the railing. Sweat beaded his forehead and he couldn't think straight. His whole body hummed and his vision wobbled. Sverre took him by the shoulders and stood him straight in the center of the structure.
    His cold eyes peered into his, into his soul almost. "Listen to me, I know you're not feeling well, but you have to stand on your own."
    "I'm fine." Gray assured him, an obvious lie.
    Sverre looked wearily upward. "I should have known this wasn't going to work." He breathed. The boy was going to be no good against the Goblins that were waiting for him in Faery. Going back the way he'd come was almost certain death. The only other option was to take him straight to Seelie, right into Siofra's courtyard. If he did that, Grayson should be relatively safe. "When we get to the other side, make sure you tell the guards that I kidnapped you. Play completely stupid to all else. Okay? If they kill or capture me, say nothing."
    "What?"
    "I came from Unseelie, but if we go back that way we'll probably be killed. I thought you may have some fight left in you, but I've seen that, that isn't the case. In order to get you to Siva alive,  I'm going to take you straight into the palace. It should work. I remember it well."
    "Won't that get you into trouble?"
    "It doesn't matter." Sverre muttered, closing his eyes. "Now be quiet. I have to concentrate."
    Grayson didn't argue. He was still too worried about not puking to protest. They stood there for a moment, and he began to wonder if anything would ever happen. His stomach did a few more flips and that pre-vomit feeling came over him just as a green fog began to rise at his feet.
    He clamped his mouth shut and took deep breaths through his nose. How embarrassing would it be if he just hurled all over Siva's brother? He'd probably die then and there.
    "Dammit!" Sverre hissed, the mist seeping back beneath the gazebo's wooden floor. "Siofra's sealed the Circle."
    "What?"
    "We can't go to the palace. The Queen's shut the way." He growled. "We don't have any other choice but to go through the illegal one. Otherwise, we're stuck here."
    "Whatever you're doing, hurry." Gray mumbled, placing a hand over his mouth, his face paling.
    "Get down when I say." Sverre ordered, closing his eyes and bringing back the green mist. Gray watched as the magic swirled around them, numbing where it touched and eating away the landscape he'd grown so fond of over the past few weeks. Little white lights glinted and shimmered in the veil of green, like the flecks of gold in Siva's eyes. His heart warmed at the thought, and he felt almost at home there in that verdant nothingness.
    And then he gagged. He heard Sverre cry out at him, but it was too late. The blood resurfaced, and the magic mist dispersed, leaving only a loud, howling blackness that sent him to his knees. Covering his ears, he tried to keep awake, but even with all the noise, all he seemed to want to do was sleep.
    Sverre reappeared in Tang's fire pit, hands still clutching at a non-existent Grayson. The Goblin chieftain stood before him, grinning wildly and pointing Sverre's own sword at him. "Welcome back, General." He greeted. "We were hoping you'd return with more loot, but we didn't think you were so stupid."