Here is the first chapter from Book Two in the Sightless Trilogy
As you know, if you've read the first book, I rotate points of view. Where the first book was told exclusively from Holly and Conner's points of view, this second book will be told almost exclusively from Holly and her friend Laney's points of view.
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It
was a beautiful day. Fall was nearly done, winter trying to sneak in early, the snow had even finally
fallen, and the ugly scars of the world were covered by pure, shining white.
But
it was wickedly cold, Holly thought shivering. Is that the price that people were willing to pay in order
to hide the things they don’t want to see?
She
shook off the pensiveness. Those
thoughts didn’t even make sense, anyways.
People didn’t pay for snow.
Instead, she turned away from the
window and went to her bed.
Something
cracked inside of her and for a second, emotions overwhelmed her. She sat cross-legged on the bed and
took several deep breaths. She
fought the sudden rising panic and pain.
Slowly, brick by brick, she rebuilt up the wall to contain the pain.
“Holly?”
Her
gaze was jerked to the doorway.
“Oh, sorry Laney, was I supposed to meet you today?”
Laney
shook her head and slipped into her room.
Looking concerned, she sat on the edge of the bed. Her large brown eyes were
sympathetic. “You doing okay?”
Of
everyone, Laney was the only person who didn’t think that Holly had been
tortured, drugged, and temporarily insane during the several weeks she was
absent. During the weeks she had
been traveling with Connor
Holly’s
parents were afraid to ask her about it.
They were afraid she might try to tell them more of her
“hallucinations”. Her other good
friend, Nola, would nod sympathetically, but there was always that look on her eyes. It was the look of someone who thought
her friend had been abused to the point of breaking.
It was the looks on their faces
that hurt the most.
Laney’s
gentle sympathy undid the walls Holly had just painstakingly built. She dropped her head and curled into
herself, trying to hide the tears.
Laney instantly scooted closer.
Instead of trying to say the right words, Laney just held her. There was no judgment, no secret looks.
Still,
it was hard to accept and after a short moment, Holly forced the tears to
stop. She shook a little from the
effort, as if the emotions were bottled so tightly they might burst free at any
moment. One more deep breath and
she was in control again.
“Sorry,”
She apologized.
Laney
shrugged. “Happens to the best of
us. Remember the time when we were
eight and I made cookies for the baker’s son?”
A
stray snort slipped out of Holly.
“Oh life, yes.”
Laney
tried unsuccessfully to keep a straight face. “He literally threw the cookies at me one by one until I ran
away screaming.”
Holly
dissolved into giggles. “You
showed up here and you had crumbs all over. I thought you had eaten an entire batch of cookies without
me!”
Laney
sighed and shook her head, pretending a pout. “I was so embarrassed.
I didn’t tell anyone but you the truth. When my parents asked, I told them I dropped the
cookies. It was less
embarrassing.”
Outside
the window, Holly noticed two men in well-tailored coats. She sobered. “What are they doing here?” She groaned.
Laney
followed her gaze and scowled. “I
thought they were done investigating Frost’s death.” She rose and went to the window to get a better look. “Thank goodness. They’re not coming here. They’re heading towards the forest.”
“Good.”
Holly said venomously.
After
Connor had left her, she’d been interrogated over and over again about Sir
Frost’s death. What was she
supposed to say? Yes, she knew who
had killed him and she’d traveled with the assassin and possibly developed
feelings for him until he abandoned her?
Albeit, he abandoned her at her home with her family and friends around
to care for her, but still…
It
was too painful to think about and Holly had more important things to think
about.
“Were
you able to get into the Balthazar’s library?” The Balthazar’s were the local nobility.
Laney
nodded. She’d taken up a post
there as a maid just for the sole purpose of accessing their library in
secret. “I checked, Holly, but I
couldn’t find any records of a man named Eldeorin.”
Holly
sighed. During her travels with
Connor, she’d made a bargain with a young fairy queen named Blossom that had
resulted in a bond between them that Holly still didn’t completely understand. All she knew was that somehow some of
the fairy’s power was within her and that now her life was the fairy’s to
command. After Connor had left,
the fairy had visited Holly twice.
The first time was to explain why the fairies needed Holly.
Long ago the fairies had become
divided. The four seasonal courts,
also called the Seelie Courts, wanted to protect and help create life in the
mortal world. The Unseelie Court
was corrupt from a desire for power.
They’re greatest desire was rule over the perfect race, but when they
looked at the races around them, they saw only weakness. They went on a rampage, killing
thousands of innocents and manipulating others to do their bidding.
In order to save the world they
loved, the rulers of the Seelie Court exiled all of the fairies of the royal
courts into another realm in what would later be called the Fey Exodus. The realm they lived in now was called
Farwhere. Holly didn’t know
anything about that realm, except that it was mentioned in a human children’s
song:
If
you see a fairy ring in a field of grass, very lightly step around, tiptoe as you
pass;
Fairies
danced there seasons past, movements light and fair, nothing gold can ever last
They’ve
now gone farwhere
If
you see a tiny fey, offering you food, quickly close your eyes and run, they
can do no good.
Fairies
long to steal your soul, they’ll take you to their lair, til you are their
captive thrull
Belonging
now in farwhere
The last time Holly had wandered outside, she’d heard a group
of children playing the fairy game.
She’d frozen in place, watching them, because somewhere, underneath all
the childish banter, there was that grain of truth. The truth was that the fairies had gone Farwhere. The truth was that she had stepped in a
fairy ring and now she was their captive.
Not that the fairy queen abused her, but the thing she asked her to do seemed
so very impossible…
According to the queen, the
Unseelie Court had spent the last thousands of years fighting to return to the
mortal world. During that time,
the Seelie Courts had held them at bay.
Recently, though, the Unseelies had found help from this side and the
Seelie Courts had grown weak.
Blossom,
who was the queen of the Spring Court, hadn’t been able to identify who the
Unseelie’s liaisons were on this side.
That hadn’t stopped her from commanding Holly to hunt down the liaisons,
a hefty task for a normal human girl.
When Holly had mentioned that, the queen claimed someone named Eldeorin
would be able to help.
“It figures. I don’t think he’s even a man.” Holly
muttered.
“Oh?”
“The
way the fairy queen talked about him…I don’t know. She said her sight was clouded, but that there was someone
who could help me on this side, almost like he would be able to see…things. That doesn’t sound like a normal human
to me.”
“So
you think he’s of the magic races?”
“Probably.”
Laney
blew out a breath. “That makes
this a million times harder.”
“Which
just makes it even more likely.
Nothing’s ever easy anymore.”
Laney
plopped down on the bed and attempted a smile, nudging Holly. “It wouldn’t be an adventure if it
wasn’t hard.”
Holly
managed a smile.
It
had always been something of a joke between Laney, Holly, and Nola. Nola was practical, but sometimes
ridiculous one. Laney was the
romantic dreamer, and Holly was the adventurer. It was a shame that now that she’d finally found an
adventure, she almost longed for peace.
No,
not really peace…she just longed for the one person who had made her feel safe
no matter how dangerous their adventure got.
But
she didn’t have Connor anymore.
What
she did have was an amazing friend who put up with her melodramatic self.
Holly
forced a bright smile. “Well,
there’s nothing we can do about it now.
I’ll try to contact the queen later. How about we go to the market and distract ourselves?”
Laney
brightened instantly. “Yes,
please!”
Holly
recognized the glow in her friend.
“You’re just hoping to see the new falconer for the Balthazar’s.”
“He’s
from out of town and cook swears he’s dreamy.” Laney replied cheerfully.
“That
cook is also about a hundred years old,” Holly muttered as she carefully tugged
on a pair of gloves. She never went out without them on. For some reason it bothered her to have
other people see her fairy mark.
It made them look at her strangely.
“Doesn’t
mean she doesn’t have good taste.
I hear that her husband was a looker in their younger days.”
Holly’s
lips spread in a real smile. Her friend was incorrigible.
Laney
kept a careful eye on Holly as they browsed.
She
didn’t like how obvious it was that her friend hadn’t been sleeping.
“This
cloth is beautiful, isn’t it?” She
commented, indicating a length of midnight blue cloth. The vendor sniffed, looking down his
nose at the two girls who obviously weren’t well off.
Laney
ignored him.
Holly’s
eyes had wandered over to another stand where the man was selling all sorts of
weaponry. Now, she jerked back to
attention. “It would bring out
your eyes.”
The
response was more automatic then complimentary.
Laney
glanced over at the weapons and bit her lip. It didn’t take a genius to figure out why Holly was eying
them. “Those look wicked sharp.”
Holly
looked guilty. “Probably.”
A
distraction, that’s what Holly needed.
What they both needed, really.
It was exhausting to always be worried about someone else, but Laney
wouldn’t tell her friend that.
Holly needed her right now.
Pushing aside her own exhaustion, Laney pasted on a smile. “Look, there’s a vendor selling
sweets!”
She
caught Holly’s elbow and towed her along.
She kept up a stream of chatter while they browsed and each chose a
sweet treat. Laney then led them
over towards Balthazar’s property.
“Have you ever seen their garden?
It’s magnificent.”
Holly
hesitated. “I’m not sure they’d like me wandering there.”
“Oh,
well, they can kick us out then.
And hopefully fire me. Lord
Balthazar is a stickler for spotless glass. I can’t tell you how many times I cleaned the windows.”
Laney rolled her eyes.
Holly’s
lips twitched. “You can complain
all you want, but I know you happen to like the salary they pay you.”
Laney
smoothed a hand over her new cloak.
It was the nicest cloak she’d over owned. “Ah, well, so I do.
If anyone asks, we’ll just have to lie and say that you’re a new maid,
too.”
Holly
followed her through the old iron gate.
“I really appreciate all that you’re doing, but you know that you don’t
have to risk your job for me, right?”
Laney
brushed aside her worries easily.
“You can pay me back later.”
Besides, Laney thought to herself, it was worth the trouble she’d get in
when it meant that Holly actually looked a bit like her old self.
They
found a walkway with a tall hedge on one side, hiding them from view of the
house. Holly let out a small
sigh. “I bet these gardens are
fabulous in the spring.”
Laney
was about to respond, and then she got distracted. “Do you hear that?”
Holly
cocked her head, listening.
“Someone’s singing.”
“Come
on,” Laney ducked into another path and led Holly through a maze of twists and
turns.
“It
must be nice to be wealthy and titled,” Holly muttered.
“But
it really must be,” Laney emphasized.
“I don’t even know what the Balthazar’s do with all their money.”
“They
certainly don’t keep up the statues,” Holly nodded at a well-weathered stone
woman.
“Mmk.” Laney turned the force of her brown
gaze on Holly. “Well, are you going to tell me what you’re planning?”
Holly
looked guilty again. “What do you
mean?”
Laney
just raised an eyebrow.
Her
shoulder’s sagging, Holly gave in.
“If this man Eldirion is of another race, then I’m not going to find out
anything about him here.”
Laney
may have acted ditzy and stupid on occasion, but the truth was she wasn’t
slow. Not when things were this
important. “When are you
leaving? And how? It’s not like you can just go wandering
around the magic forest and beyond in the other lands.”
Holly’s
hazel eyes focused on a towering wisteria plant. “I’ll leave as soon as possible. I just need to find a map, or at least figure out some kind
of destination.”
Feeling
unusually practically, Laney pressed.
“And if you can’t find a map, how will you figure out a destination?”
Holly
bit her lip and then let out a long breath. “Wood elves. I
at least know how to find the wood elves.”
“The
ones who almost killed you?”
“I
don’t think they ever intended to kill me. Maybe enslave me, but not kill. Besides, that was partially because of…Connor. The elves don’t like the other races of
elves.”
“Shocking,”
Laney said sarcastically and plopped down on a bench. “Because the races aren’t messed up enough with more hate
and prejudice.”
Holly’s
lips twitched. “Honestly, Laney,
you should have seen them. I mean,
they looked so similar to Connor that they could have been brothers. The only difference was hair color and,
well, that Connor looked half starved.”
Laney’s
intelligent eyes took in how her friend had lit up. She also noted how Holly had actually said Connor’s name
without stumbling. “Well, I just
hope they’re at least attractive if we’re going to be spending time with them,
slaves or not.” She tilted her
head up to the fading fall sun. “I
hate how cold it’s getting. The
end of fall is like the end of all things good.” She shivered. “The sun goes down so early and it’s
starting to get so cold. It’ll be
a pain to travel in this weather.”
She eyed her friend. “We’ll
have to get you a new cloak and boots.”
There
was a look of relief on Holly’s face, but she still pointed out, “You don’t
have to come with me, Laney. It’s
dangerous and we could end up dead.”
Truth
be told, Laney was scared, but there was something more important right
now. “Well, if you get injured,
I’ll just find us a circle of mushrooms or rocks or something and say a
wish. I’m sure that fairy girl can
work a bit of magic to keep us alive, since this is mostly her fault.”
Holly
reached out and hugged her. Laney
firmly pushed her fear aside and focused on her friend. “I couldn’t ask for a better friend,
Laney.”
