Bound (A Faery Story 1)

shivered now as she considered the fact that he had told her to get on

the kelpie and ride. “Are those kelpie things common here?”

Beck shook his head. “No, but they are very famous.”

“So anyone who lives here would know not to ride one.” Meg was

starting to believe that little red man had it out for her.

“Well, they are Fae creatures. This is what we refer to as a neutral

plane. That means there wasn’t a civilization here when we found it.

Fae creatures have wandered off and on the place for centuries. Some

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stayed. I suppose there are plenty of beings on the plane that might

not understand what a kelpie is.”

“So he might not have known.” He might have been confused.

Meg had a hard time believing that. He’d seemed to know the forest

very well.

“Who might not have known?” Beck’s voice had gone positively

glacial. “Did you meet someone in the woods?”

Meg realized she might have been better off keeping her mouth

shut. “It was a man, a little man. He seemed old. He said he could

take me to my home plane.”

Beck stopped the horse and looked down at her, his expression a

mask of horror. “You met a Planeswalker? Oh, goddess, Meggie, that

was a demon. What did you promise him?”

Meg shook her head vigorously. “Nothing. I told him I wanted to

get back to you, and he pointed me to the kelpie. That was a demon? I

thought they’d be bigger. I also thought they would have more style. I

guess red is kind of their color, though.”

Beck let out a long breath of air. “He was a short man, dressed in

red from head to toe?” Meg nodded. “It was Far Darrig, love. He’s a

trickster. It’s his mission to trick travelers. He can read your mind, so