Free Faery Queen by Michelle M. Pillow

necessary,” Thomas said. “He is the best physician I could find.”
    The bed linens were discolored with Hugh’s blood and the earl’s pale, unmoving body was a terrible sight in contrast to the stains. His neck and arm were bandaged with cut linen. Thomas regretted hitting him with his sword, but didn’t know how else to get Lord Eadward off. His arm had caught fire when he’d swung and someone had doused him with water to put it out as his blade made contact. It had thrown Thomas’ aim off just enough to strike his brother.
    Needing something to do, Thomas went to Hugh’s trunk at the end of his bed and opened it, hoping to find an extra bed linen to replace the bloodied one. Lifting a couple of Hugh’s tunics, he felt along the edge, down toward the bottom.
    â€œCan I be of service?” Rees appeared suddenly inside the trunk, sitting on a pair of Hugh’s breeches. Digging around, he pulled out a vial of bright blue liquid. “Huh, I wonder why he never used this. I put it right in here nice and safe.”
    Thomas frowned, taking the vial. It was small, clear and cool to the touch. He lifted it to the light. “What is it?”
    â€œA message,” Rees said, as if the answer were quite obvious.
    â€œLike a warning?” Thomas’ frown deepened. “A warning from whom?”
    â€œNay, like a message,” Rees said. “From the immortal realm. Halton and Gorman, your sister’s sprights, delivered it.”
    Magic.
    Thomas took a deep breath and stood, moving closer to the fire as he looked inside it. Tiny bubbles floated within. He shook it, still seeing nothing. “I cannot…”
    â€œWell, you wouldn’t like that, would you? Shaking it up and down.” Rees snorted.
    â€œHow do you read it?”
    â€œRead? You do not read message vials, you listen.”
    Thomas held it up to his ear.
    â€œNot like that,” Rees said, jumping up to grab it from Thomas. “It is a wonder you mortals communicate at all. Here, listen like this!”
    â€œWait,” Thomas protested as Rees lifted his arm and tossed the vial on the stone floor. The container shattered and blue liquid spread over the stone, forming a small puddle. Smoke rose from the bubbling center, swirling until it formed the image of his pregnant sister.
    â€œJuliana?” Thomas automatically reached for her. She looked pale and worried, her face slightly swollen from her condition, yet ever beautiful. His hand fell through her like air.
    â€œGreetings, my brothers,” Juliana said. Her voice was like a soft lullaby, a whisper from the past. Thomas stood in front of her, studying her face. Despite the pallor, she was attractive with long dark hair and wide blue eyes. Her eyes were like looking into his own. There was no doubt of their relation, though Juliana was definitely more feminine in appearance and demeanor than her brothers. The image of her stared straight ahead, not seeing him as she looked through him. “I hope this works. With the war, it has been hard to magically get messages out of our castle without them being seen and I would not have the Blessed King Ean thinking you were helping us. I love Bellemare and know you can understand my hesitance in seeing its blessing taken away. Unfortunately, my other alternative in communication was… Hmm, let us say that goblins are not the most trustworthy of couriers.”
    â€œOh, aye,” Rees nodded in agreement with her. “What she means is that they have been known to eat the messages. Trust me when I tell you that is one missive you do not want delivered.”
    Thomas grimaced, glancing down at the spright before turning back to his sister.
    Juliana continued, “I discovered only this morning that my last two missives did not reach you. It seems the creatures I entrusted got hungry instead and it never arrived.”
    â€œAh, see,” Rees interrupted.
    Thomas lifted