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I nodded. “Their caps are their life force. If they dry out, their bodies weaken and wither away. That’s why they must kill to keep their caps moist with blood.” Her mouth gaped and I could see the fear in her eyes.
“Who do they kill to get that blood?”
Under normal circumstances, I would joke around and scare her, but I was too focused on finding Bayleon and Bastian.
“They don’t kill innocents anymore,” I assured her. “A long time ago, when my mother came here to search for my father, the Redcaps were physically sick and tried to kill her. But, when they took her blood, they found that it healed them and made them stronger than ever before. So, ever since then, she gives them her blood on the new moon each month.”
I focused on the group of Redcaps waiting for us, and right in the middle of them was the one Redcap I wanted to see.Grishom. He smiled, his teeth rotting and black and his cap pulsing a bright red. He was the one who came to the Spring Court every month for my mother’s blood so she wouldn’t have to travel here.
“They aren’t going to hurt us,” I assured Lerissa, placing a hand on her arm.
I hopped off Prince Ashe’s back, and the Redcaps around me immediately stilled, dropping to their knees and bowing their heads in respect.
Grishom, the leader of the Redcaps, lifted his head. Looking into his dark eyes was like peering into the night sky, but behind all that, I could see his soul. Redcaps weren’t usually known for their capacity for kindness or even the appreciation of life, but my mother had changed them. I smiled at him before shifting my gaze to survey the other Redcaps around me, their bright red caps pulsing in time with their own mysterious energy.
“How are you, Grishom? It looks like your people are doing well.”
Grishom gave me a crooked smile and nodded his head. “Aye. Tis because of yer mother.” He glanced at Aidan and then narrowed his gaze at Lerissa before settling back on me. “Why ye out here tis late?”
The other Redcaps slowly stood up, heading back toward the center of their village where a giant hog roasted on a spit. I nodded in the direction of Aidan and Lerissa.
“We’re tracking a woman who we think passed through here recently.”
Grishom bristled and his face transformed into a mask of rage. “Aye. A dangerous and powerful one, that’s fer cert’n.”
Taking a shallow breath, I inched closer to him. “Did you happen to see my protectors, Bayleon and Bastian, with her? You’ve met them numerous times in the Spring Court. They’re Tyvar.”
He snorted as if to indicate his familiarity with them. “Aye, I saw ‘em, hunched over on horses, they were. Lots of blood; I could smell it. Tis over a dozen Tyvar with the woman.”
That was not what I wanted to hear. The need and urgency to find them only grew within me. If they were being beaten, it would take away all the progress of my healing them. They would go right back to suffering.
Aidan’s eyes widened and he growled low in his throat. “I detected several men in the woods when I went out with Bayleon the other night. Diawen must’ve masked them somehow.”
I didn’t know what to think about any of this information. “Why would the Tyvar take Bayleon and Bastian? And why would they be working with Diawen?” I said, directing the question to Lerissa.
She shrugged helplessly, her eyes full of confusion. “I have no idea. I’m just as confused as you are.”
Grishom laid a hand on my shoulder. “Tis something wrong? Do we need to fight for ye?”
The Tyvar were fierce warriors, and with Diawen’s help, I feared they’d be more dangerous than ever. I didn’t want any of the Redcaps getting hurt because of me.
Gently, I patted Grishom’s hand and looked at him. “No. You’ve already done enough by giving me this information.”
Grishom chuckled heartily. “Tis not much my men could do that ye couldn’t, little lass. Ye are yer mother’s daughter.”
Fighting was one thing, but the Tyvar had an extra weapon: their encampment was shrouded by a veil of smoke in hopes that unsuspecting victims would venture through. If a man mistakenly stumbled into their camp, it was unlikely he would ever see the light of day again.
When they captured my mother, she was accompanied by her Guardian and another one of her men. The Tyvar were set to kill them, but she offered herself up to save them, and in the end, because of her identity, they let her go. Now, though, I needed to know what the Tyvar were plotting with Diawen in order to make a successful plan. But unfortunately, that wasn’t going to happen. There was no choice . . . we had to get to Bayleon and Bastian, even if that meant going into the Tyvar camp.
The Redcaps down by the fire hollered out to Grishom and he left to join them. Aidan’s eyes blazed with the anticipation of a fight.
“I’ll go as my dragon. I can take out the whole camp.”
Lerissa gasped and shook her head. “No! If Diawen senses your fire, she’ll leave. That defeats the whole purpose of me helping you. I want to see her. I have no doubt it’s why she and the Tyvar didn’t attack you and the other guy. You could take them out in a second with your flames.”
“And also,” I added, “some of the other Tyvar are Bayleon and Bastian’s friends. Of course, not all of them got along, but it doesn’t matter. You can’t kill any of them, at least not until we figure out which ones are our enemies.”
“And how are we going to do that?” Aidan asked. “We can’t just walk right into . . .” He stopped midsentence and smirked, his eyes twinkling with mischief. “Actually, we can.”
