The Emerald Staff Read online

  “It’s a good choice. I can’t wait to meet her. I bet next week is going to drag on.”

  The new lady in her father’s life had persuaded Henry to hold the party in one of the many pubs in the city. Most of them had a room they hired out for just such occasions. And more to the point, most of the pubs were hundreds of years old with plenty of olde worlde character.

  The city was a medieval city, after all, and once boasted a church for every week of the year and a pub for every day. Faedra thought it quite amusing to see where people’s priorities lay in years gone by. Things hadn’t changed much over the centuries either. A lot of the churches were now defunct and housing anything from a puppet theatre to a nightclub. The pubs, however, were still prevalent and the one Anna had chosen for their Halloween bash was aptly named The Murderers.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Faedra knew the week would drag on, and it did, which came as no surprise to her. Quite often during her classes, she found herself drifting off, wondering what Faen would pick for them to dress up as for the party on Saturday. This class was no different but at least they were nearing the end of the week. She was so looking forward to letting her hair down and finally meeting her dad’s new girlfriend.

  He had been floating around the house all week and it was driving her crazy. She asked him on more than one occasion to invite Anna to dinner so she could meet her before the party, but for one reason or another, Anna had called to postpone or cancel at the last minute. Well, it was nearly the weekend so the wait was almost over.

  The bell sounded, making Faedra jump at the sudden noise that dragged her back to the here and now. She had not focused on most of the lecture and knew she would pay for it with extra study time to catch up, but the thought of what the weekend would hold was more than enough to make up for that small penance. Plus the fact, Faen was sitting right next to her and knew this subject matter all too well, she would just pick his brains later on. She closed her books and slid them in her backpack, then rose to join the throng of students leaving the lecture hall.

  She had almost made it to the door when she remembered her task. As luck would have it, one of the girls sitting behind them was trying to hold Faen in a conversation, and he, being too polite to ignore her, offered his opinion on the subject. Faedra saw her chance and took it.

  “I forgot something, I’ll be right back,” she said to Faen, turning in the opposite direction.

  “What is it? I can get it for you,” he replied, trying to break free from the conversation he was being held in.

  “No, it’s okay you carry on. I’ll be back in minute.”

  Faen narrowed his eyes at her, to which the Custodian gave him a cheeky wink. He pinched his brow. He turned to follow her but the girl carrying on the conversation held his arm, her expression expectant.

  “So what do you think about the legend of the Unseelie?” she asked.

  He was reluctant but he turned back to face the girl at his side. Now that was the question, wasn’t it? Considering he had spent most of his life training to fight the Unseelie. And now he was protecting the Custodian from them. They were hardly a ‘legend’ but he couldn’t very well tell her that.

  “I think they were a very cruel race.”

  Faedra hurried down the aisle between the rows of seats curving in a semi-circle around the auditorium. She made her way towards the front where the professor was wiping the board clean ready for the next lecturer. She stood quietly waiting for him to finish before she interrupted him. He had his back to her and almost finished erasing the writing when he stopped mid-stroke. Sensing someone was there, he turned.

  “Excuse me, Professor,” Faedra spoke in response to his questioning look. “I would like to ask you a question.”

  “Faedra Bennett, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Well, ask away my dear, I haven’t got all day.”

  “Erm,” she hesitated.

  The professor raised his wiry gray eyebrows waiting for her question.

  “I wonder if you might know what something means,” Faedra continued. “Two words I keep hearing and I’m not even sure what language they are, but I have a feeling it’s an ancient one.”

  “Go on,” the professor prompted. Faedra had piqued his interest now. Ancient languages were one of his preferred subjects. In fact, he found himself rather passionate about them.

  “Samtero kruwos, do you recognize it?”

  The professor’s eyebrows shot up even higher, if that were possible, almost reaching the shock of smoky gray hair that crept down his forehead. Faedra’s heart skipped a beat; it was obvious by the professor’s surprised expression that he knew what language she had just spoken.

  He rubbed his chin. “Where on earth did you hear that?”

  Faedra hesitated, chewing on the inside of her lip. “Someone called me those words,” she revealed after a moment, but that was as much as she was willing to give away.

  “Did they now? Although, I find that hard to believe seeing that it sounds Proto-Celtic. A language that hasn’t been spoken since around 800 B.C. so we believe. I am part of the team currently working on the phonology of that long forgotten language.”

  He eyed her with suspicion. Wondering where a freshman would have come across a language that obscure, and who would have spoken it to her.

  “Do you know what it means?” Faedra asked, hardly able to contain her excitement at finding out what her friends had been so eager to try and hide from her.

  “Not off the top of my head, no,” he replied.

  Faedra’s shoulders slumped a little. So near, yet so far.

  “But I can find out for you. I will have to dig through my research papers. It may take a few days.” He took out a pad and pen from his briefcase and scribbled down the words.

  “Thank you.” Faedra turned and headed towards the hallway.

  “Faedra,” the professor called after her, stopping her in her tracks. She turned to look at him.

  “I’d be most interested to know where you came to hear those words.”

  Yeah, I bet you would, the young Custodian thought, but responded with a fleeting smile.

  “Hmmm,” the professor mumbled as he turned back to finish his job of erasing the board. It was obvious his student was going to remain tight-lipped on the matter. Faedra breathed a sigh of relief that her professor decided not to press the issue, and continued on to the exit.

  Thankfully, the short dark haired girl who had allowed Faedra her chance to slip away and ask the all-important question was still holding Faen captive. It was a question she knew Faen did not want her to find the answer to, and that, in itself, bothered her more than she cared to admit. She did not like the fact that her Guardian would keep secrets from her, but this subject had been a closed one, as far as he was concerned. What was he trying to keep from her and why was it so important to do so?

  “Found it,” she said, waving her pen in the air as she joined them.

  Faen arched an eyebrow. He had seen her pack the pen away before she got up from her seat, but he said nothing at her blatant untruth.

  Halloween arrived, and not a moment too soon, as far as Faedra was concerned. She, her father and Jocelyn were walking up the lane that led to the pub, laden down with bags of decorations and other goodies. When they got to the entrance of the pub, they all stood for a moment and looked up at the pub sign. This was sure to be a good venue for their party. The sign had a couple of macabre figures wearing black cloaks painted on it, and underneath was the lettering The Murderers. It was actually only a nickname for the pub but one that all the locals used more than its real name, so the sign was rare, as pub signs go, having a different name and picture on each side.

  They filed into the old building where the landlord, who was standing behind the bar, greeted them. He eyed their bags full of Halloween goodies.

  “Mr. Bennett, I presume.”

  Henry nodded.

  “This way please.” The landlord g
estured for them to follow him with a sweep of his arm.

  Anna had certainly picked the perfect place. The pub dated back to 1530 but got its nickname after a brutal murder that occurred there in 1895 had closed the pub down. It was reopened almost a century later, give or take a couple of decades, but the nickname stuck and now more people knew the pub by that name than its original.

  Faedra looked around as they wandered towards the room they had hired for the party. The pub was full of nooks and crannies and still had a lot of the original features of the old building. It oozed character and atmosphere with its exposed beams and brickwork. There were pictures of infamous criminals hung on the walls. Old barrels with cushioned tops used for seats surrounded sturdy wooden tables nestled into intimate alcoves.

  “This place is perfect,” Faedra said as she soaked in the mood of the location. Her senses tingled. There was an energy in the room; she could feel it but couldn’t quite place it. It didn’t feel threatening so she shrugged it off. It was hardly surprising with all the people who had come and gone over the centuries, she was bound to pick up on something.

  “Feel free to decorate it as you want,” the landlord stated, “just make sure to take it all down when you’re done.”

  “We will, thank you,” Henry replied.

  The landlord nodded and left them to their own devices.

  “Come on, Jocelyn, we’ll start over here,” Faedra said, clasping her hand around the young fairy’s arm and almost dragging her to one corner of the room.

  After about an hour of pinning and tacking, the three stood side-by-side, hands on hips, and admired their handy work.

  “That looks so cool,” Faedra said.

  “Yep, I think we did a good job,” Henry replied, nodding his head.

  “I can’t wait until tonight,” Jocelyn added.

  “Well, come on then, let’s go home and get into our costumes.” Henry said, motioning the others towards the door.

  Faedra still had no idea what her costume was. She only hoped that Faen kept his promise and had one picked out for her, otherwise, she would be looking like the odd one out, being the only person at the party in normal clothing.

  Faen didn’t disappoint. No sooner had they parked the car in the driveway Faen’s shaggy white dog form came bounding over to greet them, wagging his tail. Faedra got out of the car and scratched behind his ears. When they entered the cottage Faen proceeded to nudge Faedra towards her room, much to her father’s amusement.

  “Looks like he’s got something to show you,” her dad observed with a wry grin.

  His daughter went with it and obediently climbed the stairs to her room, her beloved dog hot on her heels.

  When Faedra opened her bedroom door her costume was lying on the bed. She closed the door behind them and let out a little gasp of delight. Lined up on her bed in a neat row was a claret red 1920’s flapper dress complete with rows of fringe that covered the entire length of it. Next to that lay a red and black boa, a long strand of black beads, a pair of black stockings, and red cloche hat. On the floor beside the bed was a pair of black satin Mary-Jane heels. Her eyes widened in awe as they skimmed over the costume Faen had chosen for her and she whirled round to give her dog a hug but he was now in his fae form and dressed in his costume. She stopped dead and gaped, open-mouthed.

  Faedra raked her eyes down the length of him. He was wearing a double-breasted gray pinstripe suit, a black shirt with a white tie knotted at his throat. On his head was a black fedora with a white hatband, and black and white spats adorned his feet. He was even holding the obligatory violin case. Boy did he look good as a gangster.

  Faedra blew out a long slow whistle.

  “Do you like it?” Faen asked, hesitant.

  She was almost drooling, couldn’t he see that?

  “Uh-huh,” she mumbled, a little lost for words.

  “I thought we could go as Bonnie and Clyde.”

  “I don’t think Clyde was ever that good looking,” she mumbled under her breath.

  “Sorry?”

  “I said, I’m glad Anna made that booking,” Faedra bumbled. “The pub looks great; it’s full of character, perfect for our party. I’ll go and get showered so I can change into my costume. It’s perfect Faen, I love it.” She stepped over and planted a kiss to his cheek before grabbing her bathrobe and dashing out of the door towards the bathroom.

  Faen did something he didn’t do very often, as the door clicked shut behind her, he smiled, a very smug smile.

  An hour later Faedra had showered, put on her makeup and styled her hair in what she hoped looked like a 1920’s style from what she remembered seeing in the odd magazine over the years. After putting on her stockings and flapper dress, she tucked her hair under the cloche hat that fit her head like a glove. Throwing the boa over her shoulders she slid her feet into the Mary-Jane heels and the look was complete. She wandered over to her full-length mirror and did a twirl. Wow! I look like I’ve just stepped off the cover of a vintage copy of Vogue. She felt like one of those silent movie film starlets.

  She opened the door to let Faen in. She’d never heard a dog gasp, wasn’t even quite sure if she’d imagined it, but as soon as the door was closed behind him and he had blurred into his fae form, she guessed that it hadn’t been her imagination.

  “You look… amazing,” he whispered, “the 1920’s suits you.”

  “Thanks, I could say the same about you, too.”

  “Fae, are you ready? We really should be getting a move on,” Henry called from the bottom of the stairs.

  “Be down in a minute, Dad.”

  Faen walked over to the window and eased himself out. Faedra watched as he lowered himself with grace to the ground and walked around to the front door.

  The doorbell rang.

  “Fae, Fredrick’s here,” her dad called up the stairs again.

  The young redhead took one last look in the mirror and smiled. “Coming.”

  Faedra greeted Frederick in a way that she hoped didn’t look like she’d just seen him a minute ago up in her room.

  Her dad looked around, puzzled. “Where’s Faen?”

  “Up in my room,” Faedra dismissed. “You look great, Dad,” she said, changing the subject. “Gomez suits you. I guess Anna is going as Morticia?”

  Henry blushed a little. “Thanks, darling, and, yes, she is, we are meeting her there. Come on then, let’s get going. We are picking Jocelyn up by the church, aren’t we?”

  CHAPTER SIX

  As they drove towards the city, lightning crackled across the sky up ahead in the distance

  “Looks like a storm is brewing; that’ll add a nice touch to the festivities,” Henry remarked after a couple more bolts of lightning spread their electrically charged fingers across the night sky.

  “I hope we make it inside before it hits. Do you think it’s coming towards us?” Faedra commented. She was glad her hair was securely fastened beneath her hat. She hadn’t yet got enough of a handle on her power in an electrical storm. Her hair had a tendency to try on the afro-look for size, and, as yet, she hadn’t quite figured out how to control that aspect of it.

  “It looks like it’s heading this way but we should have enough time to make it there before the storm does.”

  Henry was right. The storm didn’t make it to the city before they did, but only by a few minutes. A short while after they wandered into the pub, the rain started and the thunder rumbled overhead.

  Faedra wondered if anyone else had turned up yet and was not disappointed to be greeted by her uncle Leo and Nicki, or should she say Wednesday and Pugsley.

  “You guys look great,” Faedra said wrapping her arms around them both in a hug. “Now all you need is Lurch and Thing to complete the family.”

  “They’ll be here shortly,” Leo replied with a smirk. “A couple of mates from work are doing the honors. And what do we have here? Bonnie and Clyde, and a fairy.”

  Faedra’s heart almost went to her mouth at her uncle
’s observation until she realized Jocelyn had purposely turned off her glamour and had come as herself. It made Faedra nervous, but it was Halloween, so who would question it? Hopefully, no one.

  “That’s one very convincing fairy costume, Jocelyn. I love the wings.” Nicki said with admiration. Lifting her hand to stroke one of Jocelyn’s wings. “Wow, they almost feel… real.”

  Jocelyn blushed a little at the compliment. “Thank you, I think they are my best feature.”

  Nicki gave her an odd look but shrugged it off. Faedra cringed and linked arms with her young friend and guided her towards the bar. “Let’s get you something to drink, shall we?” She had a feeling it was going to be a long night, and this might not be the only time that evening she would have to deflect unusual comments from the young fae.

  Within moments, the room started to fill with all kinds of characters. A group who her dad introduced as his co-workers were dressed as the full compliment from Star Wars. Dracula made an appearance, as did Frankenstein’s monster along with his bride. Faedra ran over to her two friends, Amy and Zoë, who had come with their boyfriends and had all dressed as pirates. Zoë’s boyfriend succeeded in doing a very good impersonation of Johnny Depp from Pirates of the Caribbean. Then Lurch and Thing turned up and joined forces with the rest of the Addams Family. Although, there was one person conspicuous by her absence but Henry assured Faedra she would be there soon.

  The DJ started playing music and several people made their way to the dance floor. The rumble of thunder could still be heard over the Time Warp. It sounded like the storm was on top of them now and it added the perfect creepy feel to the party that the fake Jack O’Lanterns could only dream of creating.

  A little while later, after Faen had swept her around the dance floor a couple of times, Faedra was deep in conversation with her group of friends. Amy and Zoë were telling her what they’d been up to since she last saw them a few days ago. Jocelyn was listening intently, just happy to be included in a social gathering, and Faen stood at her side chatting away to her friend’s partners.