Richard Tuttle - Sapphire of the Fairies

“Isn’t there a counter-spellor something that will put him back to normal?” askedGarth.

“If there is,” Kalina sighed,“I do not know of it. I certainly wouldn’t expect to find such aspell in a healing book. We must bear in mind that he will knowwhat everyone in camp is saying. We will have no secrets from himunless we mindspeak. It may be time to reveal our true identitiesbefore they find out on their own. If they do not hear it from us,they will have reason to doubt whatever else we say. I know it willbe hard on you, but you are going to have to learn to deal withit.”

“General Fernandez has alreadygiven me reason to let Garth and Kalina disappear,” Garth stated.“We are being hunted as Garth and Kalina as much as we are as Alexand Jenneva. We could probably adopt some new disguises, but theyknow about the Children, too. So, even though we might hideourselves from Sarac and his minions, we cannot also hide theChildren. The time for disguises and hiding is over. It willactually be a relief to become Alex and Jenneva again.”

“Not to mention getting thishair dye off our heads,” laughed Jenneva. “Did I tell you that Ilove you as a blond?”

“Does that mean I have notbeen lovable since I’ve had my hair black?” Alex teased.

The other riders were glancing back nowthat Alex and Jenneva allowed their voices to pick up so they quittheir bantering and rode to join the rest of the group. When theyarrived back at the mansion everyone assembled in the sitting room.Jenneva, in one of her last appearances as Kalina, announced thatthey would be leaving in the morning. She announced that they hadwhat they had come for and suggested that everyone save theirquestions for the morning and get to sleep as quickly as possible.Without further words, Garth and Kalina retired to their room andbegan the arduous task of removing their hair dye.

In the morning Alex asked one ofGeneral Fernandez’s men to summon the General and have breakfastsent up for Jenneva and himself. The General smiled as he walked inand saw the old Alex and Jenneva couple. Alex told the Generalabout the new hole in the vault and suggested that the tunnel,which Tedi had been stuck in, went through to the dragon’s lair.With a little work the tunnel could be widened and the Generalwould have access to the riches of the vault. The General knewenough about Alex and Jenneva to not bother asking how they hadaccomplished their goal. Alex’s accomplishments had alwaysimpressed the General and Jenneva was known as perhaps the mostpowerful magician in the world. Neither of them would divulge howthe task had been completed.

The General thanked them for coming andpromised his support in any way that it would help. Alex knew theGeneral was quite sincere and thanked him. The Rangers were alreadyassembled outside when Alex and Jenneva came out and the reactionto their new look was astonishment. Alex and Jenneva both hadbeautiful, blond hair done up in braids that hung to theirwaists.

“It is time for you to knowthe truth,” Alex declared. “We have been traveling in disguisebecause the Dark One seeks to kill us and we could not accomplishour goal of finding the Children with Dark Riders following us. Youhave been found, and the Dark Riders are after you as much as theyare after us. When they come we will meet them with steel. TheAlcea Rangers ride with Alexander and Jenneva Tork. Let’sride!”

Alex and Jenneva took off for thestreet and the rest of the Rangers followed with their mouthshanging open. Niki looked like she wanted to bolt and run away, butthe rest of the Rangers just appeared dumbfounded. GeneralFernandez personally escorted them to the city gates and bid themfarewell. No one spoke until they were well clear of the city.Tanya was the first to approach Alex and she had a hard time tryingto determine what to say.

“Alex, . . . ” began Tanya, “Iam . . . so sorry for giving you such a bad time as Garth. Ithought for some reason that Garth hated you and so I pushed allthe more. Was your hatred of Alex part of yourdisguise?”

“It was not hatred that youwere sensing, Tanya,” Alex sighed. “It was a dislike for peoplemaking things out to be more than they are. I am no more a herothan you or any of the other Rangers. We all face the same perilsand we face them together. People like to make stories out ofsurviving these perils to live another day, but people just do whatthey must to survive. Am I a hero because I have survived, or arethe men who gave their lives trying, the real heroes? I do notperform my tasks to gain fame or riches. I only do what must bedone and because I am capable of doing it. You are the same type ofperson as I am. Do you yearn to have minstrels write songs aboutyour achievements or do you kill people to live anotherday?”

“I guess I did not understandyou as well as I thought,” admitted Tanya. “I have no great desirefor fame, but I would not get angry with those who look up to me.You not only got angry with us, you sounded like you would like totake Alex’s face and rub it in the midden. Surely, that must havebeen part of an act.”

“Perhaps,” Alex sighed, “I amjust not as thrilled with some of the decisions in my life asothers are. Others get to hear stories about my great deeds. I getto view everything about my life, the bad as well as the good. Youcould not understand.”

“You mentioned something aboutgiving your child to the Black Devils,” Tanya probed. “You do notappear to be the type of person who would give anything to theBlack Devils except the point of your sword.”

Alex glared at the young woman andmoved off towards the front of the procession. “You still push himtoo hard,” Jenneva advised. “A man will carry his own burdenswhether or not you approve. I suggest that is one area which youshould not mention again.”

“Well, it was your child,too,” pushed Tanya. “Do you really expect me to believe that youboth gave up your child?”

Jenneva sighed and shook her headsadly. “We were busy trying to save the world when the Black Devilsattacked our home,” Jenneva related sadly. “They killed a younggirl who’s only crime was that she was in my house. They took ourbaby and Alex will never forgive himself for not being home at thetime. You must not mention it to him again.”

“And how do you feel aboutit?” inquired Tanya.

“Damn you!” Jenneva shouted.“You want to know how I feel about it? I feel like I want to cast aTree Mine into the throat of the next person who mentions it andperhaps I will.”

Jenneva galloped off to join Alex atthe front of the procession. No sooner had Jenneva left than Arikpulled up alongside Tanya. “I don’t know any magic, Tanya,” Arikpointed out, “but the next time you press them on this, you hadbetter be prepared for a practice session which you will neverforget.”

Tanya watched, stunned, as Arik droppedback alongside Fredrik. Fredrik’s face told Tanya that he had heardthe conversation, as well, and his feelings were the same asArik’s. For the rest of the journey back to the fairy village,Tanya was fairly well isolated by the others. She was not excludedfrom conversations, but her actions had created a certain distancebetween herself and the other Rangers.

As the Rangers prepared to make campthe day before reaching the fairy village, Midge flew up to Alex’sshoulder.

“The village is not far fromhere,” Midge stated. “I think we should continue ontonight.”

“Returning the Crown of Lightis important to your people,” Alex protested. “We should arrive inthe daytime so everyone can see it.”

“It is important enough thateveryone will forgo sleep to see it,” Midge pushed. “We shouldarrive there in a few hours and you must entrust the Crown of Lightto Arik. He must be the one to present it to Queen Mita. He is theBringer. It is to the Bringer that the Sapphire of the Fairies willbe presented.”