Page 29 of The Other Side

“Okay. Ten.”

Chapter Six

Osian kept his eyes on the track ahead. Drum’s tone had changed. Osian could hear the tension in his voice, along with annoyance and a hint of fear. Osian didn’t blame him. He knew every word he’d said had sounded insane. Faeryland. Glamour. Gates between worlds. The Veil. If their positions were reversed, Osian wasn’t sure he would have believed any of it either. He’d thought making the mark on Drum’s hand and arm might convince him, but it hadn’t. Taking him to Faeryland, even for a few seconds would. Wouldn’t it? So much for taking this slowly. He’d been right. It wasn’t possible.

Rogue’s hooves struck softly against the earth. Behind him, Drum walked in silence. Not the comfortable silence they’d shared earlier. This one hurt. Osian had imagined this conversation a thousand times over the years. He’d imagined Drum recognising him instantly. Running into his arms. Laughing at how ridiculous they both looked now.

He’d imagined anger, too. But he had never imagined this distance. He could feel it stretching between them with every step.

“You think I’m lying.” The words escaped before he could stop them.

Drum took a moment to answer. “I don’t know what to think.”

That was somehow worse.

Osian swallowed. “The morning you disappeared, I went to your house to wait by the tree so we could walk to school together. When you didn’t come out and we were going to be late, I knocked on the door. Your mother said you’d run away. I didn’t believe her because you wouldn’t have run without me.”

No response.

“My father found out that you’d been sent to The Other Side. To this side. Your parents said you were ill and you could be cared for here. They acted as though they were devastated to lose you. I asked why your mother had lied to me and she denied she had. But you weren’t ill. I’d have known if you were ill.”

Still nothing.

“I couldn’t accept you’d gone, that you weren’t coming back. I tried to find a way to cross into the human world but I couldn’t find one. I was always looking. Every day I made time to look. I said I was looking for seeds and new flowers but my family knew the truth. My father locked me in the house to stop me wandering. I climbed out of the window. I didn’t give up. I knew that when I was twenty, I could ask for permission to cross. I was nearly twenty when I went to court.”

He wished now that he’d waited those few months. Belem had taken advantage of his age. In Faery there was a big difference between nineteen and twenty.

“I didn’t want to go over for long. I just wanted to know you were all right. The Queen was away.” Osian took a deep breath. Would everything have been different if she hadn’t been?

“Belem, the Queen’s consort, spoke to me. I made a deal with him. A deal that only he and I are party to, though my parents and brothers know he agreed to let me spend a month on this side each year. A month of your time.”

“It’s different for you?”

Osian perked up when Drum spoke.

“Yes. Time moves differently in Faeryland. Mostly, it’s longer for you than it is for me. Though that’s not always the case. Moving across the Veil changes time and perception in different ways. But in mortal time, I’ve spent a month every year for the last ten years coming here in the hope I’d find you again.”

Drum was riding alongside him now, looking at him as though he was trying to determine whether this was another lie.

“What was the deal you made?”

Osian swallowed hard. “That for every crossing I make, Belem can do what he likes to me.” He was shocked he’d been able to say that. In Faery his words were blocked by pain. Don’t ask me what he likes to do.

“He hurts you,” Drum whispered.

“Yes.”

“Oh God. You have sex?”

“Yes. I wish I could lie but I will only tell you the truth. He’d hurt you if he caught you. Maybe more than hurt you which is why you can’t stay in Faeryland for long. I think the only reason he agreed to the blood-oath was because he thought I’d never find you.”

“But what was the plan? You’ve found me. You can see I’m all right. What were you going to do next?”

“I hadn’t thought that through. I just wanted to see you again.” My heart needed to see you. I wanted you to recognise me.

Drum’s home was in sight now.

“I’ll get off here.” Drum slid to the ground. He handed over Dream’s reins and tied his helmet to the saddle.