The Witch and the Dragon - Beta

Chapter Eleven

Alannah opened her eyes. And shut them again, quickly. I'm dreaming. I have to be. Taking a deep breath, she dared another peek.

Above her soared a glass roof, marbled with violet shadows and dusted with - sparkles? Tall glass columns spiralled up from a white stone floor, each one ornately carved and - again - sparkling. The glittering little dots even covered the throne-like chairs that filled the room. But there were no windows.

Alannah swung her legs off the velvet chaise longue she'd been deposited on and stood. "Where are we?"

"The Fae realm." Dameon leaned against the far wall, arms crossed and protecting a general attitude of grumpiness. Between them stood a long table brimming with more food than she'd seen in her entire life: crusted chicken stuffed with soft cheese and tomatoes; fluffy rice studded with vegetables; doughy flatbreads gleaming with oil; fat coral prawns, still in their shells.

"We shouldn't eat that, right?" she said, sidling closer. Eating in the Fae realm was probably not a good idea.

"Go ahead," said Dameon, who shrugged when she looked at him. "You're already suffused with Fae magic. Better to survive as best you can than starve yourself."

Alannah helped herself to a slice of thin, crispy bread topped with sliced olives and yellow cheese. "Okay," she mumbled, "I am getting the recipe for this." Dameon's mouth curled up at the corner. "So," she added, "how long have we been here?"

"No more than a day," the dragon replied. "Although it's difficult to tell without a gauge."

She took another bite. "Where's Rose?"

"He took her." This came from William, doing his best to wear a hole in the floor. "We need to rescue her. At once."

Alannah finished the appetiser and turned to a plate of grilled rice balls. "How, exactly? We have no idea where she is, no idea where we are, and no idea how to get out of here." She gestured to their prison with a half-eaten ball. "Or do you see a way out?"

William stopped, his lower lip jutting out. "There must be a way."

"Not yet." She cast another glance at the dragon. "Bet you regret tagging along now."

"Not really. I mean - I don't like being in this realm," he admitted, "but I've never been this entertained."

"That's your problem, boredom?"

"I spend most of my time in the sky. Birds aren't that interesting," he said. "You, on the other hand, are incredibly so."

"If you say so," she replied, unimpressed.

He laughed with all his teeth. "You just proved my point."

Alannah decided to change the subject. That was infinitely safer. "Aren't you eating?" she said, gesturing to the banquet.

"I can't eat from this realm," he said. "Dragon and Fae magic is, by its nature, in conflict."

"You mean it would give you indigestion," she said, dryly. "You could've just said." He blinked and that devilish smile made another appearance.

"We have to do something," William burst out. He clenched and unclenched his hands as he paced. "Rose is out there with that – that monster. Who knows what he's doing to her?"

"I was afraid this might happen," she confided, to Dameon.

"He does feel strongly, doesn't he?"

Alannah sat in one of the chairs – comfy, despite the glass legs and the sparkles – and tucked her feet underneath her. "The sidhe aren't monsters," she told William. "From the looks of this place, our kidnapper's part of the seelie court. Which means he's honourable," she explained at the blank look the knight gave her.