Kingsbane

Chapter 16

     His clothes clung to him and made a sloshing noise as he rolled to his side. Groaning and uttering curses, he sat up, his head reeling. His every muscle ached and his bones were heavy. Where was he? What had happened? Why was he soaked?
    He had to lift a hand to his eyes to shield them from the too-bright light of the sun that was perched high in the sky above him. "Sverre?" He mumbled, looking around as soon as his eyes had adjusted.
    The first thing he noticed was that all the trees appeared to be dead. It felt like summer, yet it looked like October. There was not a flower in sight, not a bird in the trees. It made him sad, though he didn't really know why. His thoughts were brought to a halt at the sound of water trickling behind him.
    Turning, he couldn't believe it. There stood Siva, knee deep in a crystal clear pond, completely naked and stunningly gorgeous. His green eyes sparkled like the water around his shins and his smile was as sweet and charming as ever. His hair was dripping water down his handsome face and he held his hand out toward him, beckoning him.
    "Siva!?" Grayson laughed. "What are you doing here?"
    He didn't answer, simply held out his arms. Forcing himself to his feet, Grayson moved to go to him, but just as his feet hit the water, the disturbance sent ripples running over the surface of the pond. As the liquid was disturbed, so was Siva, his form as wavering as the waves.
    "Siva?"
    The King took a small step toward the bank, smile still holding, eyes still sparkling, arms still offering comfort. It was magic. Of course. This was Faery, and if he had it right, he was in Unseelie, where everything alive probably wanted to kill him. He backed away from the edge of the water.
    "Let me-ease your pain." The creature whispered softly, in a voice that sounded like the babbling of a brook. It stepped onto the bank, the ground sinking in around it's feet, filling with water.
    "Stay away." He warned. "I know you aren't Siva."
    "I can be what you want me to be, boy. I can end your suffering." It cooed. "I can make everything better. Just let the water soothe you." Gray knew what he was doing was stupid, but he couldn't stop himself from taking a step forward. He just wanted to be in Siva's arms again, wanted the pain to be gone, wanted to rest. "Good, yes, come to me. Let me kiss away your sickness, love."
    "Stop it." He mumbled, trying to fight the daze that was beginning to come over him.
    "You're so sick, darling. Let me help you. I can not bear to see you suffer."
    "Cover your ears!" A gruff voice demanded. "Little fool, she is tricking you."
    Suddenly a rock came flying from no where, hitting Siva directly in the forehead. The smile fell away from his face, and in an instant the king was gone, leaving an eerily beautiful blue woman in his place.
    "Hannigan!" She shrieked, her white eyes glaring angrily into the leafless brambles, her hands fisted in her translucent hair. "What was the boy to you!? I have not tasted flesh in months! What business is it of a Gnome's what I do in my own territory?!"
    "I didn't waste all that time pulling him out of that stinking mire just to have you pulling him back in again. Now off with you!" The voice demanded. "You aren't going to get any of him."
    Grayson watched dumbfounded as a tiny person, no more than a foot tall, stomped out from the dead foliage waving a knobby cane in the air. The woman kicked water at him and dispersed into liquid herself. When she was gone, the pond turned brown and ugly, it's true form, he realized.
    The little man turned to him, and leaned on his cane, his beady black eyes looking at him with scrutiny. "Well? You going to thank me or what?"
    "Oh, yeah, thanks. What was that thing?"
    "A water sprite. She looks into your soul and uses it against you." Hannigan replied, seeming to have lost interest in him. As the tiny humanoid began to walk back into the brambles, Gray stepped in front of him.
    "Please, wait." Hoping to get more information, he squatted before his rescuer. The action caused a great pain in his side and he winced sharply. "Damn."
    The Gnome looked annoyed and raised his stick as if he were about to hit him, but then seemed to have a change of heart. "What are you called, boy?"
    "Grayson."
    "Well, Gray's son, why don't you tell me what a human is doing in Faery."
    Gray hesitated, unsure to tell the truth, half, or none of it. This little person had just saved his life, but to what end? He didn't seem very intimidating, yet that sprite had listened to him when he'd reprimanded her. "I'm dying. I was brought here to be healed." That was vague, but true enough.
    "Nothing gets healed in Unseelie." The Gnome snorted. "You must have meant to come out in the Goblin's Circle. Lucky you didn't. They'd sell you to the Redcaps in an instant, not that you're going to survive here long in any case."
    "I was with a friend. Have you seen anyone else out here?"
    "What was this friend of yours?"
    "What?"
    "Boggart? Pixie? What?" The man stomped the end of his cane impatiently.
    "A Faery."
    "We're all Faeries, kid." Hannigan sighed, "Get out of my way. I've got places to be. You've held me up long enough."
    "He was taller than me, blue eyes, long ears. Lots of jewelry." Gray went on. "Sverre."
    "Sverre? That blasted ex-military thief? You friends with that bastard?"
    "Well-" Gray caught the little man's stick as it came down towards his face. "He's one who brought me here. He was going to get me to a healer."
    "And for what price? The scoundrel wouldn't take less then your very heart and soul."
    Was Sverre really that bad? "He seemed alright to me."
    "Yeah, well, so did that water sprite, right? Now, let go." Shaking his cane free,   Hannigan stomped around him and tried again for the thicket. Against his better judgment, Grayson plucked the little man from the ground and held him before his face.
    "Would Sverre have come out in the Goblin Circle even if I got thrown out here?" He inquired as the Gnome cursed and swatted at him.
    "Put me down you! How disrespectful! This is why we don't let humans come here!"
    "Sorry, but I need your help. If you leave me here I'll probably end up eaten." Gray sighed, sitting him back down and shamelessly looking as pathetic as possible. "I need to find Sverre."
    "He's probably dead. That Tang's been after him for ages. He wouldn't miss his chance at revenge." Hannigan grumbled, straightening his tiny clothes. "I should have let that sprite have you."
    "Where can I find these Goblins? Is it far?"
    Hannigan pointed to his right. "A few minutes that way will get you there. But there's dozens of them. Even if Sverre's alive, you won't last long enough to rescue him."
    "Then you have to help me." Grayson decided. "I'm sure Sverre will reward you."
    "Yeah, with our own gold. No, thank you." He snorted. "Besides, I wouldn't save him if I could. He's been making my family pay him for protection for too long."
    "Protection?"
    "We give him half our herbs and any gems we fish from the streams and he keeps the Goblins out of our territory, but the price keeps going up every month. We don't have hardly enough to feed ourselves."
    "Well, even so, if he's dead, there won't be anyone to stop the Goblins from moving in, right?" Hannigan scowled at him, and he continued. "If you help me, then I'm sure he will be glad to protect you for free."
    "And if he doesn't? Then I will have just declared war with the Goblins for nothing and my people will be killed. Let them have Sverre. There will always be another skinflint to take his place."
    "Please." Gray begged.
    The Gnome looked irritated. "I can send a message to the Red Rabbit for you. But that's it."
    "The what?"
    "Sverre's little rat's nest over on the Black Boardwalk. I thought you two were friends? You should know this stuff. But first, let's go see if he's even alive."