Through the Fairy Ring

Chapter Nine

The clean scent of dried hay permeated the air around the stables. The Suntaria Tavi and I had ridden in on dozed in a shady corner of the corral, its weight shifted to lean heavily to the right. Two more Suntaria were saddled and waiting near the gate, their reins looped around the top rail of the corral fence.

A tall, thin young man with a mop of drab brown hair raked out some stalls, but stopped to open the gate when he saw us.

"Are you ready to leave, Miss Hazel? Zia and Dara are ready to go."

Tavi rubbed the velvety nose of the horse nearest her. "Which is this?"

"That is Zia."

Dara was sandwiched between Zia and some other Suntaria. As I approached her left flank, I spoke to her in a soft, low voice.

"Hey there, beautiful." I trailed my hand along her side, making sure she knew where I was, until I reached her head and scratched her ears. "Here I am."

She turned an inquisitive gaze to me. Her iris were a caramel color which glowed with a warm light not unlike the setting sun on a fall day. She blew out a sigh and nuzzled my shirt.

"They sure are friendly." I untied the reins and slipped them over Dara's head.

"Aye. They're two of my favorites in the stable."

I stepped my left foot into the stirrup, threw my right leg over Dara's back and sat in the saddle. The young man opened the gate so Tavi could lead the way out of the corral. We trotted single-file through the labyrinth. The sun shone brightly from directly overhead, pegging the time as around noon. Food was the last thing on my mind, though. All I wanted was to find another fairy and get it back to Edlark. 

Once on the path, we held the horses to a brisk walk. While Suntaria traveled faster than regular horse's, the gait was significantly smoother, and Tavi and I could talk freely.

"Have you met the fairy king before?" Tavi asked.

"Just last night at the dinner. Why?"

"He seemed to dislike you an awful lot for having just met you."

"I know, right? Of course, Arden did say he was 'unpleasant.'"

Tavi snorted. "He's downright obnoxious."

We rode in silence for a bit before Tavi continued. "Are you going to tell Quinn about the kids?"

I shrugged. "I could send a messenger, but then he'd just worry, and there's nothing he can do, anyway."

Tavi's eyebrows furrowed in doubt. "Don't you think he'd want to know?"

"I'm sure he would, but if he knew, he'd want to come here. I think he's safer with my parents right now."

Quinn was the best big brother Meara could have had, and the best uncle to Garron. Because of our father's lacking paternal instincts—okay, his murderously violent instincts—Quinn had grown up taking care of Meara and developed into a caring, responsible young man. Sometimes he was a better adult than me.

I didn't want to make him angry by leaving him out of the loop, but if he were here, the fairies might bite him, too. Plus, even arranging a messenger would take up time I needed to find an antidote. I contemplated the logistics of finding someone who could go into Adven, when a familiar sound hummed through the trees.

"Oh, no." My ponytail flopped back and forth as I turned my head, frantically searching the sky. Could a Suntaria outrun a fairy?

"What is it?"

I put my finger to my lips. "Listen! It's them."

"Who?" Tavi jerked Zia to a halt, cocking her head to hear better.