Read Faerie Wars 03 - Ruler of the Realm for Free Online Page A

well, you know. All the boys at school had girlfriends. Or at least went out with lots of girls. Most of them claimed they were doing it. Henry sometimes pretended he'd done it too, but he hadn't. He was a bit shy around girls when it came to that sort of thing. He couldn't imagine ever asking one to ... But that didn't mean he didn't want to. You bet he wanted to! Every boy his age wanted to, whether they did it or not.

    There was something else. Henry would have cut his thumbs off rather than admit it, but he was a bit of a romantic. He didn't just want one-night stands. He wanted a girl he could, you know (even in his head he mumbled the word shamefacedly), love. Run through fields of corn together, and rescue when she needed rescuing and hold hands with and bring her flowers and write poetry to and ... and ...

    And all that.

    Except girls weren't interested in that sort of thing any more. Start writing poetry and bringing flowers and girls took you for a stalker.

    So he'd dreamed up a beautiful girl to fall in love with. An old-fashioned sort of girl, a fairy princess sort of girl. And Blue really was a faerie princess. At least until they crowned her Faerie Queen. And they'd done heroic things together, like rescuing her brother. And her brother was his best friend. And it all happened in Fairyland for cripe's sake, so he didn't have to deal with his rotten mother or his rotten sister or any of his real problems.

    Henry was moving like a zombie as he left the blue light of Mr Fogarty's garden and walked up the street to the bus stop. There were no passing lorries any more.

    When he got home, he found - despite all his mother's promises and protestations - that Anais had moved in.

Nine

    'Who are you?' Blue whispered. She wanted to say, What are you? but it sounded rude and possibly dangerous. The creature at the centre of the spiral was no longer the Spicemaster. It loomed like a feathered giant and glared at her like a savage beast.

    'I am Yidam,' the creature replied.

    She'd never heard the word before and wasn't sure whether it was a name or a description. Madame Cardui said Spicemaster Memnon was possessed by a god when he made his predictions, but it was one of the Old Gods who walked the world before the coming of the Light. As far as Blue could make out, the Old Gods were so fierce they might as well have been demons. This one looked it.

    'Lord Yidam,' Blue said, just to be on the safe side, 'can you see the future?'

    'I exist beyond time,' the Yidam said.

    Blue hesitated. She didn't want to irritate the entity, but it was important to be clear. 'Can you see my future?'

    To her astonishment, the Yidam smiled. 'Come sit by me, Faerie Queen,' it said.

    There was no sound in the chamber except the beating of her heart. After a long moment, Blue decided on honesty before diplomacy.

    'The Spicemaster said you might kill me if I stepped into the spiral.'

    'The Spicemaster was mistaken.'

    And there it was, laid out in front of her. Four flat simple words. Did she believe the Spicemaster? Or did she believe the Yidam? Could she risk approaching it?

    It occurred to Blue suddenly that the only thing between the Yidam and herself was a spiral pattern marked out on the ground. It could have covered the space between them in a bound. Any safety she felt was an illusion. She swallowed her fear and walked into the spiral.

    As she squatted down beside it, Blue realised the creature had utterly transformed the old Spicemaster. The thing towered above her and, close up, its eyes were consumed by inner fires. She fought not to shy away as it reached towards her with enormous, strangler's hands.

    But the hands gently placed themselves on the crown of her head. Blue felt the tingle of trapped lightning flowing down her spine and realised she'd received a blessing. 'Thank you, Lord Yidam,' she murmured. Any blessing was nice, but if the creature couldn't see her future, then she was wasting her time.

    The Yidam