Anthea Sharp - The Twilight Kingdom

The Twilight Kingdom

Book 3 in the FEYLAND Trilogy

ANTHEA SHARP

This is a work of fiction. Names,characters, places, and incidents are the product of the authorsimagination. Any resemblance to real events or persons is purelycoincidental.

Smashwords Edition Copyright 2012Anthea Sharp. All rights reserved. This e-book is licensed for yourpersonal enjoyment only. It may not be re-sold or given away.Support independent authors - read legally! To obtain permission toexcerpt portions of the text, other than for review purposes,contact

COVER: Design - KimberlyKillion, www.hotdamndesigns.com

QUALITY CONTROL: This work has been professionallyedited by so they may becorrected.

FEYLAND: THE TWILIGHTKINGDOM Book 3 in the Feyland Trilogy~

Faeries. Computer games. A boyfrom the wrong side of the tracks, and the girl hes forbidden tolove.
THEIR LAST CHANCE
Jennet Carter and Tam Linn are almost out of time.Feyland, the most immersive computer game ever designed, is aboutto be released into the worldalong with the Realm of Faeriesdangerous magic.
WIN THE GAME
The faeries, desperate to break free from theirrealm, have set treacherous plans in motion. Despite magical alliesof their own, Jennet and Tam have no idea what dire threats await,both in-game and out.

OR DIETRYING
Battling for their lives against the united powersof the Dark Queen and Bright King, Jennet and Tams quest to stopthe fey takes them into the perilous Twilight Kingdom, whereillusion reignsand magic can break all the rules.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEDICATION:

For all the musicians in my family but mostespecially for Ginger.

I n the dimnesswhere night gives way to dawn, two fey monarchs met in the centerof an oak-encircled clearing. The starlit grass shimmered withmagic, cold and bright, as the pair faced one another.

Deep shadows stretched behind the DarkQueen. Stars tangled, icy and brilliant, in her midnight hair, andher eyes were black as an eclipse. Things better left unseen in thebleak hours of the night crept beside her on disjointed limbs.Their feral eyes glowed as they crouched in the clouded tatters ofher gown.

The Bright King carried midday in his wake,his hair shining with remembered sun, his golden armor aglow. Thesmall fire of pixies hovered at his shoulders, wreathing him in acrown of light.

The creatures of their courts watched thefateful meeting. Fantastical forms capered in and out of the treesor perched, moon-pale, wizened, and gnarled, upon the branches.

Greetings, brother, the Dark Queen said,her dusky voice filling the silence like smoke.

Well met, sister. The Bright King inclinedhis head. Have you an answer to our troubles? Troubles which, Irecall, you worsened with your obvious meddling in the mortalworld.

The queens eyes narrowed, glittering. Youfailed as well, despite your trickery. Despite your promises andenticements.

Her tone was edged with ice, and thecreatures nearest her shifted away.

The mortals are clever, the king said.Much as it pains me to admit such a thing. Fair Jennet and BoldTamlin

Speak not those names to me! she cried.Your pain cannot compare to mine. It is a constant coal burningbeneath my breast. Yet we must lay aside our differences and worktogether. The entire Realm suffers, Unseelie and Seelie both.

At her words, the watching fey folk mutteredand hissed. The bright lights trailing the king dimmed, and thecold midnight of the queen faded. A bitter wind stirred the grassesat their feet, bringing with it the scent of decay.

Glancing over his shoulder, the king loweredhis honey-rich voice. It is dangerous for us to do so. It upsetsthe balance. We do not want to wake them.

When have they bothered themselveswith the Realm? Frigid anger rolled off the queen. We are dyingfrom lack of mortal sustenance, and they pay no heed. Perhaps, whenwe break through into the human world, they will stir. Butby then, it will be too late.

From the shadows, a tall, antlered figureraised his eerie head. The red-eyed hounds at his feet howled,their spectral cries wavering through the airthe Wild Hunt, alwayseager to be loosed.

Leash your hounds, the king said, hisvoice tight.

I will not wreak havoc upon your court, ifthat is what you fear. The Dark Queen laughed, the sound like icecracking on a winter lake. At least, not yet. So, brother, are wein accord?

Little good our rivalry does us, if ourentire land is imperiled. The king frowned. It forebodes me, butI see no other course. We shall strive together to restore ourkingdoms. But mark me wellwhen strength returns to the Realm ofFaerie, I shall spare you no mercy.

Nor I you. The Dark Queen sent him aknife-edged smile.

The watchers in the shadows stirred again,their eyes bright and menacing. Blades and teeth shone in thesilvery light and a band of redcap goblins hissed, eager to battletheir long-standing enemies.

Be still! the Dark Queen cried, her voiceslashing the air.

The goblins subsided, but restive tensionhummed through the clearing. Brightness clawed farther above thehorizon, and the dark creatures of the Unseelie Court drew backinto the dimness beneath the trees.

A truce, until the Realm is secure, theking said. Together we will open the gateway to the mortal world.Now seal the bargainin blood.

The queen raised an imperious hand, and oneof her willowy handmaidens approached, a pewter bowl cradledbetween her hands. The faerie maid knelt on the soft grass betweenthe monarchs and held the bowl up, her pale head bowed.

From her gossamer sleeve, the Dark Queendrew out a long, black thorn, the point sharp and deadly. The kingnodded and produced a shining golden needle. The monarchs extendedtheir hands over the bowl, each one poised to prick the otherspalm to the bone.

The wind ceased and the fey folk held theirbreath. Silence descended across the Realm. In the dark bogs,Phoukas rose, lifting their eerie horse-heads. Hobs huddled intheir bracken hovels, and even the most frivolous of pixiesdimmed.

By this blood, the Realm will live, theking said.

By this blood, the Realm might die, thequeen countered. Seal our fate, brother.

The kings golden needle plunged into thequeens palm. She let out a sharp cry, quickly swallowed. A trickleof blood, dark as midnight, fell into the bowl, and the faeriemaiden holding it trembled.

Quick as dusk descending, the queen stabbedthe kings hand with her black thorn. He hissed in pain as atrickle of blood, glowing like distilled sunlight, fell into thebowl.

The instant the blood touched blood, avortex of light swirled up, red flame and cold blue fire, heat anddarkness, flooding the clearing like a visible scream. Themonarchs faces lit with eldritch color as light clashed againstdark. Around them, their courtiers fell to the ground, turningtheir gazes away from that terrible light.

The tall oaks bowed and swayed, bending likegrass as the land carried the magic deep into itself.