But the larger difference here was they could actually dismount and walk along the ground. And they did. I felt Bastien's hand slide into mine as I watched all but the one in front jump off their steeds and scour the high gra.s.s around the iron gate.

"None sir. Same as before," one of them said as he faced the guy still on his horse.

"Something is toying with us, Lainor. Three times in one day the alarm sounds. But we find only one intruder?"

"Should we tell the Queen?"

I held my breath. They found an intruder. Ivan? Where did they take him?

The seated Faerie looked around the grotto for several seconds, maybe thinking he could see something his soldiers couldn't. Finally, he shook his head. "No. We have the one Witch in captivity. The Queen will deal with him soon enough." He turned his steed and waited for the others to mount before they took off back across the wastes. But I noticed just a few yards out they vanished.

"Whew," Cordelia said as the gra.s.s moved and I felt her brush my arm. "That's too many visits today."

"Cordy, do you mind if I make you visible?"

"But then Cordelia can't hide," the little Boggart whined.

"She's right." Bastien shifted behind me and sat down in the gra.s.s. With his red hair and beautiful face-slap a pair of pointed ears on him and he'd fit right in. "Like this she can be undetected. Maybe we should consider hiding ourselves? What is it called? Glamour?"

I knew about Glamour, I'd just never really messed with it. "Cordy, do you use glamour to be invisible?"

"Yes."

"Can you let Bastien and I see you?"

"Maybe. Why did you come? You sent me home."

"I came because I have to rescue a friend. Did you see him before? Tall, dark haired?"

"Yes, yes. I know that one. Thought he looked familiar. The guard took him. Used a net. Dragged across the wastes."

What? I swallowed. "They dragged him over the wastes? Why? Why are they taking people who enter here?"

"Oh, they're taking everyone from everywhere. Summer Palace is empty. Winter Queen take it all." Cordelia shifted and I started to see a faint, transparent outline of her. "Fall and Spring are angry. War is upon us!"

"Wait," I held out my hand and took a deep breath. "Brendi-the Winter Queen-is taking anyone who enters through a Cairn?"

"Yes. If the Queen's right can't destroy the Cairn, then the guard watch them and take any and all who come." She was visible now and looked exactly as she had in my shop.

"The Queen's right? What is that?"

"The priest!" Cordelia laughed. "He came from your world. Yes, yes, but he smells like home, like you do," she sniffed Bastien. "You smell like dog."

He growled at her.

"Cordy," I touched her arm to get her eyes back to me. "Where did they take the one they caught? The tall brunette one?"

"To the dungeon," she looked to her left and to her right. "It's a nasty place. The queens always forget about them, the ones down there." Then her mouth turned upside down. "My queen is there."

"Your queen-" I leaned back. "Tzariene is in the dungeon?"

Cordelia nodded. "But I go and see her. I make her happy."

"You go and see her?" Bastien said. "You have a way into the dungeon, no?"

"No?" Cordelia nodded her head. "I mean yes, I do."

"How?" I asked.

"It's a secret pa.s.sage way. But it is dangerous. Very dangerous."

Great. Danger in Faerie could mean all kinds of icky things. "What's the danger?"

"The Winter Queen laced the pa.s.sageways with iron. Tiny, nasty pieces of iron."

"And iron doesn't bother Boggarts."

She did a little dance. I was starting to like Boggarts.

Starting to. We didn't have ignition yet.

"Can you take us through the tunnels?" I smiled at her. "Please?"

And she leaned in close with her overly large eyes. "You are here to slay the Dragon."

"I'm not-"

"Oui," Bastien said, interjecting into my answer. "That is right."

"We? You are both here to slay the Dragon?"

I smirked at Bastien as I said, "Yes, we're both here for that."

"Good! Yes! Queen say to bring you if you come!"

"Queen? You mean Tzariene, right?"

"Yes, yes. She said to guard the Urisk Cairn. Said you would come through here."

Now, how in the h.e.l.l did Tzariene know we'd be coming in through this particular Cairn? But what did it matter if it could get us in the palace-wait. "Cordelia, are the dungeons in the palace?"

"Yes."

"And the Dragon is in the palace?"

"Yes."

"Is the Dragon in the dungeon?"

"No."

Yeah, thought that would be too easy. I rubbed at my face. "Where is the Dragon?"

"He is in the great room."

The great room. "Throne room?"

"Yes."

"Good."

"Until they move him."

"Move him? To where?"

"To the Silver Palace."

"When is that?" I was getting really frustrated as that ball of anxiety that had Crwys and Ivan's names on it churned.

"Cordelia doesn't know. They're making ready for the wedding first."

"Wedding?" I glanced at Bastien. "Who is getting married?"

"The Queen is to be married to the Dragon!"

WHAT?!.

"So you're going to slay the Dragon?"

I glared at Cordy. Here I was risking my life to come and save that p.r.i.c.k's a.s.s, and he was getting married? To his captor? "h.e.l.l yeah I'm gonna slay him."

TWENTY ONE.

The secret pa.s.sage started out as a ridiculously small hole on the side of the grotto. Now the grotto itself, looking at it from the outside, resembled what I'd consider a Faerie hill would look like. It was a mound of dirt and rock, and the outside of it was trimmed in all kinds of growth. I was pretty sure if we looked at it from the air or a distance, we'd see an oasis in the middle of a desert.

We were gonna have to go in on our stomachs and elbows. Cordelia was first in, easily sliding along the damp, circular walls. I wanted to go in last but Bastien insisted he bring up the rear in case we were attacked. I figured he wanted the back so he could look at my b.u.t.t.

But I had to give him credit. He never said a word.

The trek through the tunnel proved to be uneventful. At first I didn't worry about the darkness since I could still see Cordelia ahead of me. But the further in we went, the darker it became.

"Wait a sec," I said, stopping and planning to summon my Salamander for light.

Only...the tunnel became lighter. I looked behind me and could make out the contours of Bastien's face and then I looked at Cordelia. She had turned around and faced me. "Where is the light coming from?"

"The Earth," Cordelia said as she put her tiny elephant-like hands on the sides of the walls. "Your voice. It's reacting to your power."

"My power?"

"Elemental," she nodded, and then turned and started moving further down the tunnel.

"Don't worry about it, cherie," Bastien said and his voice sounded a bit strained. "Let's move quickly, s'il te plait."

I seconded Bastien's plea to be free of the claustrophobic tunnels. I could only imagine how uncomfortable it was for him...but didn't wolves make dens underground?

Sweat trickled down my forehead and into my eyes. I paused a few times to wipe it away with the back of my hand. The air was getting thicker and I was getting really, really tired as an ache and a cramp started between my shoulder blades and worked their way down to the small of my back.

Abruptly, the tunnel grew a little wider so we didn't have to scrunch up so much. I could actually go forward on my hands and knees, which added to a whole new level of pain.

I sensed, rather than heard, a distant rumble. A second before Cordelia stopped moving, I felt the vibration and stopped as well. "What is that?"

"The soldiers," Cordelia said in a hushed voice. The rumbling had stopped. "We're near the palace, under the warlands." She looked up at the ceiling. The Boggart didn't look very happy. "Cordelia doesn't understand..."

"Understand what?" Bastien came up behind me. He was breathing heavy.

"They are above us. Lots of them," she looked at me then looked up. "Follow Cordelia."

I followed her as she continued...and the rumbling followed us. She stopped. We stopped. So did the rumbling. She motioned for Bastien to back up, and he swore under his breath in a very eloquent Acadian dialect as we went backwards.

The rumbling started again.

"What's going on?" I looked at Cordelia.

"They're following us."

I did not need to hear that! "How?"

"Cordelia doesn't know! We must run!"

Run? On our hands and knees? Sweet Lady! Cordelia was already a good couple of feet in front of me before I started moving as fast as I could. And I noticed the rumbling didn't start until I moved- Was it me? I stopped. So did the noise and vibration.

I started toward Cordelia who was far ahead of us now. The rumbling started again.

"Cherie, what are you doing?"

"It's me, Bastien. They're following me!"

And because my life has always been a never-ending adventure through trap doors, something struck the ground above us hard. Bits and pieces of the hollowed ground rained down on us. Chunks of dead roots, sand and sharp things I couldn't identify.

"Come!" Cordelia called out in the tunnel.