I had no idea what an underland was, but the word sent a ripple through the Fae and Hyslop and Peasgood. I was getting comfortable with being the most clueless Magical in the room and asked the obvious question. “Can you explain what the underland is?”
“The underland is different things to different people—be they humans, Magicals, or other creatures,” he began, placing his stick on the floor and turning to face me. He used his hands to help me understand. “Picture a tunnel-like structure, the purpose of which is to hold…emotions, concepts, even physical constructs, all related to what we fear or wish to hide. Or wish had remained hidden in the first place. These have the potential to become places of great power. The power to destroy bodies as well as minds. And the power to transform.”
“And there is an underland here?”
“There is. It looks like a small grape arbor from the outside. Quite innocuous and unimposing, due to the brilliance of the hidden folk who thought to create a tunnel that lies both below and aboveground. The underland is simultaneously an earthen crypt and crucible, minus the fire.”
“How will this help us get Harper and Thatcher back?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
Chapter 22
We had bodies. The bodies had magic and weapons and were willing to insert themselves into whatever was coming.
We had the underland, burial mounds, tunnels under apple trees, and at least one portal.
And no plan. No weapons. My shoulders sagged with the weight of my frustration. Here we were, attempting to manipulate Meribah into showing herself, when she had been moving me—and her sons, I could give them that much—like game pieces for as long as I had known her.
“If we got hold of Meribah and whoever comes with her—like, physically holding them—can we portal them someplace off planet?” I asked, in a moment of wishful thinking.
That got a laugh.
“Not exactly. But I like the way you’re thinking,” said Wes.
“If I may?” asked one of the guard Fae. “We’ve engaged on a number of occasions with Meribah and those who follow her. Nothing terribly deadly, but she does like to poke and provoke, to see how far she can push before you do one of three things.” The guard held up her forefinger. “First, she’ll watch how you defend yourself. I speak here of the tools and weapons you use, as well as your technique, your preferred style of defense. The next time you meet she will know how to get through that defense. Meribah will always look for your weaknesses.”
I could attest to that. After Thatcher’s birth, Meribah had begun a slow campaign to wear down my self-confidence with subtle jabs at everything from my mothering to the circumference of my waistline. Now that I knew she had been pursuing a match between Doug and the LaFleur sisters while I was in my post-natal funk, more of her behaviors were making sense.
Twisted sense. But at heart that was Meribah.
“Second,” said the same guard, “she’ll observe what it takes to get you to fight back. And she will incorporate that information into her tactics in the middle of the negotiations or the attack. Third, she will be waiting to see how you maneuver offensively. Do you lead with your right or left side, or do you charge straight up the middle? Do you engage in verbal sparring? She’ll be looking for your physical tells.”
Another of the Fae broke in. “She’s quite skilled and should never be underestimated.”
I was getting firsthand lessons in that.
“Do you know how many allies she has?” I asked. “I have no idea how many Fae or other Magicals might accompany her here.”
“Not as many as she would like. Her sons. Her sister, Adelaide. We know from the two spies we have planted among her household staff that those who work at the estate are not skilled fighters. They’re quite capable of defending the property, but I cannot see them coming here with her,” said another of the guards. “Though we should expect others.”
The lead guard’s nod was slow and thoughtful. “Yes. But Primèvere and Vadim are skillful. Meribah will ask only Adelaide and two others to accompany her, reasoning that Némophilie and Silène will need added protection. Any more and it will read as a potential provocation. There are twelve of us. Four—two per daughter—will remain in a protected area, close to the portal. They will be prepared to defend the sisters and transport them out if needed. The other eight can be divided among the rest of you and will assist as asked.”
“Can you glamour yourselves into looking not-Fae?” I asked. “And how do we deal with Meribah’s blades? And that spinning thing she does?” I described how Tanner helped me interrupt Meribah’s momentum when she was doing her best to imitate a helicopter with a thousand rotors.
“We came armed with swordbreakers.” Three of the Fae held out long daggers with notched edges. “The blade is trapped here,” the speaker continued, pointing to one of the notches, “and once we have it trapped, we give a hard twist. We break their blades, and if we cannot do so thusly, we dull and gouge the edges. Which is why we work in groups of two, three, or four.” The same guard then spoke to the hidden folk. “Where would the owners of the farm keep their tools?”
“Shed. Maybe the barn?”
“Show us.”
While Wes, Hyslop, and Peasgood led a group of eight Fae to the outbuildings, the other four, plus Belle and the sisters, looked to me.
“I’m
