"No," I repeat. "There is plenty of scientific proof now. Obviously, their 'edge of the earth' is really just one of those stupid portals to wherever the fuck we are."
"An awfully big portal to transport an entire ship," Lincoln mumbles.
"What's a portal?" Beatrice squints. "Speak English."
We exchange a glance. Lincoln speaks for the both of us. "Magic. Takes you from one place to another in an instant."
"Well, you won't find any of those here." Johanna bustles. "We've been trying to get around this place for years with little success."
A breeze filled with the salty scent of seafoam blows my hair over my face. Captain Beatrice tries to push her own curls away. The sun moves toward the horizon painting it in hues of orange and pink. It's reminiscent of the wings of their attackers.
What a world the Shadow Fae could have lived in if Cordelia hadn't ripped the wings off their backs. Just seeing this small group of Fae come together now gave me a sense of how it should be, how the Shadow Fae should live. I mean, minus the whole raiding and pillaging thing and all.
"Gather yourselves," Beatrice says to us, then she looks to the crew. "Keep your eyes peeled, I don't doubt that they won't return so quickly!"
The captain turns on her heels walking toward her office once more. Johanna walks with her, but backwards, her eyes on us the entire time. Our steps only move forward slightly under her attention.
"What sort of place is this? Humans and Fae co-existing," I say softly, knowing full and well they won't catch the words falling from my lips. "Citizens of myth and legend lost to history but still alive and young within this realm?"
"Fucking fuck!" Lincoln growls, urging me forward.
"What?"
"I think we are in The Lost Court."
Three
Bait and Hook
"They don't take things like our gold. No, our treasure troves remain mostly untouched, useless in this damn world." Captain Beatrice drinks directly from the glass bottle now, chugging down the contents.
"Some things are more precious than gold." Lincoln steps aside to allow me to enter the room. "Right, my queen?"
Glass shatters into a million little pieces in the corner of the office. I stiffen in surprise. Shards sparkle as they scatter across the floorboards.
"Clean that up," Beatrice rasps to Johanna, looking at the mess she made in her anger. Slowly, she turns back to me. "Queen?"
"I, uh, yeah. Yes," I repeat thinking back to my friendship with Kai and the hurt that still stings inside my chest at the word 'yeah'. It's silly of me to still be clinging to such meaningless memories now. They clearly didn't mean anything to him.
"We have a queen," she practically sings.
"You do...?" Lincoln stays between the captain and I as we shuffle toward the table.
Beatrice takes a few steps kicking the glass toward Johanna who sweeps with a scraggly broom. The captain pushes the door closed, leaning heavily against it.
"We've met her a few times. She'll likely be looking for you two soon if she doesn't hear from you first. If you, as you say you have, just arrived."
"If you have a queen how come she allows all this feuding between you and the Fae?"
"She doesn't like to get... involved with such meaningless squabbles." Beatrice spits. "Those Fae... this wasn't the first time they attacked, and it won't be the last. They'll strip us of our every resource if we let them."
"Where is this queen?" Lincoln pushes.
"Around."
Lincoln and I sink back into the chairs surrounding the round table. Crossing her legs with every heavy step, Beatrice closes the space between us. She walks her fingers across the table and runs them up my arms and over my cheek. I turn away, but her touch follows.
"You don't look like a queen." She points out the dirt, sand, and green grass stains that cover my clothing and my body.
"I'd look a lot more regal with a shower."
"The ocean's right over there!" She points to the small window with a triumphant smile.
"Can you... take us to this queen?" Lincoln tries.
Her empty chair across from us scrapes against the floor before she lowers herself into it. She drags her hands over her features, making her wrinkles sag that much more. I imagine she would be lovely in her youth. Her skin is dotted with freckles. Her eyes are full of mischief. Not to mention all that thick black hair that has yet to start to grey as many of the others have.
"You know what? I think the queen would very much like that. But there are a few problems with that scenario."
I stifle a huff of breath. Instead, choosing to curl my free hand around Lincoln’s thigh once more. I hold him tightly letting him know just how annoying and frustrating this entire thing is. Though... back in the Fae realm it couldn't be much better. Not with this building war.
And what of Zeve? What of Lylix? Or Jase? My precious cousin. We'd been brought back together only to be torn apart by the realms. And if Lincoln is right, if this truly is the Lost Court, is there even a way to get back home?
There has to be. No one would know about this place if somehow at some point people were able to get back home.
"What is that?" I demand.
"Hasty, hasty, new friend," Johanna interjects.
"I am not your friend. Just so we are clear."
I would maybe hold back some of the sarcasm and bitterness for a while. After all, these women have been able to fight off an entire gang of Fae for how many years? He speaks clearly into my mind but he hardly gets through the thought before Captain Beatrice rips an iron dagger out from under the table and stabs it into the wood.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Is that not true?"
I force myself to swallow my comments and give her a slight nod. Lincoln does too. He sits on the edge of his seat in constant preparedness to move in front of me. The opposite of what I need now is Lincoln sandwiched between me and one of these sex deprived women. Though on second thought... I doubt they are sex deprived. If they are anything like I was, I'm sure they've gotten creative. Or at least gotten with each other.
Who could Beatrice's lover be? Johanna? Another one of the orphans she picked up and fell madly in love with? None of them? All of them?
"This ship is," she starts again. "unmovable."
"I'm sorry, what? Can we not just push it out of the sand and let the wind blow us wherever we need to go?"
"It doesn't quite work like that, sweetie." The nickname is anything but sweet on her tongue. "In the first attack those bloody Fae rendered my ship useless." Beatrice fists her hand and shakes it in the general direction the other Fae had run off to. "Plus, you don't think my crew tried to push us off this land mass? We're too far ashore. Maybe with the strength that you two have we'd be able to. That is after we get the ship working again."
"How did they make your ship useless?"
"Stolen parts." Johanna finally dumps the last bit of swept glass into a small barrel and leans herself against the wall.
"Those evil creatures—again no offense—” she says with a fake pleasantry, "They took apart some vital pieces. Pieces that help us steer. We've fixed just about every other odd and end damage that came with entering this Godforsaken place. We just need a few things."