Ghost Song

Chapter One

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from The Dresden Files, and I'm not making any money from this fic. Any character you don't recognise from the show or books, I probably own. Anything you recognise from another fandom, I don't own

Summary: When Harry Dresden (practising wizard) meets one of the sidhe – who has an agenda all of her own – all sorts of problems arise

Warning(s): Uh… Caning?; strong violence; some swearing; death (particularly nasty, supernatural murders)

Author's Note: This fic will be written from the POV of my original character, Raye. I'm also taking a lot of liberties with things like the hellhounds and what Lea is in the Nevernever – so don't take this all as fact from the books/television series. That having been said… I hope you all enjoy this first chapter!

If you were to speak to anyone who knew me, they'd always say something like, "Oh, yes – Raye. I hear she consorts with mortals and lets them use her powers – for a low price!"

One could say a lot about us sidhe – or the Fair Folk – but one thing most leave out is the gossip. Not that I'm saying there was no truth in the gossip, but still…

I had only gone to the mortal realm because I was bored. There are rules here in the Nevernever that I dare not break. The only excitement I tend to get is if someone discovers my real name and uses it to summon me. And that doesn't happen very often.

The name most know me by is Raye. Today, I was sitting at the top of one of the trees in the mortal world. I had my golden, curly hair in my favourite style – loose and flowing down over my shoulders to my waist. I wore a white robe enchanted against dirt, and my head was bent as I concentrated on the book I was studying.

And it was while I was reading that I became aware of two people standing under my tree, talking.

I set my book to one side, and let myself fall, my feet curling around the branch so I was simply dangling, my hair almost brushing against the top of the man's dark head. I wasn't worried, though. My magic hid me from view, even from wizards – unless they opened their Third Eye.

"I'm sorry, Murph," the man was saying. "I don't yet have enough information to tell you more than you already know."

The short, blonde woman standing next to the man didn't look dangerous at all. She reminded me of a friend of mine, one who had been captured during a battle. Kestrel was as good as I was. Or bad, depending on how you looked at it or who you talked to.

"You'd better not be messing me around, Dresden," the woman said harshly, immediately dispelling my original impression of her. "I need that information."

Whatever the man replied was lost to me as I took in this information. Dresden. Harry Dresden, the one wanted by Lea, one of the most powerful of the sidhe? If I could get him to her…

Maybe I'd finally get what I wanted.

I quickly pushed that aside, though. Bad idea. This wizard was powerful and cunning, if rumours were to be believed. If I was to have any hope of freeing Kestrel, I was going to have to bait the trap with something the wizard wanted more than anything else.

And no matter which world one existed in, information – knowledge – was priceless.

There was a way of making it more likely for a wizard to choose to summon me. But it would require me to give up my true name, and that was a steep price to pay – even for my friend's life.

But an opportunity like this one was unlikely to come along again in the near future, if at all. And Kestrel's life was worth any price.

I mentioned earlier that I was studying, before the arrival of Harry Dresden and the woman. I do a lot of studying, both from books and simply from moving around, exploring, and learning from others. As I said, knowledge is power.

And I wanted an abundance of it.

On the wind, I whispered my name to the wizard. It carried the word to his ear, and I saw the man stiffen and look around with narrowed eyes. With a bit of luck, he'd only blame it on his intuition and not open his Third Eye.

If he did that, I would really be in trouble.

The woman was talking, but I couldn't hear her over the sudden roaring sound in my ears. I was being pulled back to the Nevernever. I had just enough time to call my book back to me before I ended up in my little clearing in the other realm again, only – where I had been alone before – there was now someone else there, Lea.

There is one thing that you need to understand about sidhe. It's difficult to kill us, but that doesn't mean we're immortal – just that we're stronger than most you'd find. But we can still be hurt, in particular by the hellhounds.

And Lea had a lot of them, being – well – the sidhe in charge of us all, I suppose.

The sidhe had her hands on her hips, and was giving me a really terrible look. By her side, the hellhounds paced restlessly, uneasily. I didn't dare take my eyes off her or her beasts as I scrambled to my feet, aware that next to our Queen, I was nothing more than a graceless child. I was suddenly aware of the fact that I had a few strands of hair loose, and put one hand up to tuck them back.

Lea frowned at me, looking more like an exasperated aunt or cousin than the sidhe I owed my allegiance to. I wasn't fooled. I had seen what she was really like, and no amount of false kindness could ever erase that image from my mind. But – as long as I followed the laws – I was safe from her.

I hoped.

"What were you doing in the mortal realm?" Lea demanded of me, her head tilted to one side.

I automatically took a step back. There were ways of harming someone without leaving a physical mark, and I was sure that Lea knew all of them. If I just gave her an excuse, I had no illusions that I would be spared.

She hated me. And I have to say, the feeling was mutual.

Still, I forced the correct amount of respect into my tone as I replied, "I was merely studying, My… Lady." Shit. I couldn't help cursing, and using one of the coarser words of the mortal realm than our own liquid language. But I was rattled, and Lea had just noticed my slip. To her, it would be a near unforgivable lack of respect.

As she took a step towards me, though, one of the hellhounds started growling.

I chanced a glance sideways, and found my own eyes meeting Kestrel's golden ones. She'd just used a few moments of her remaining time as a conscious being to gain control of the beast. In an attempt to save me from something I had been careless enough to bring on myself.

No! Don't! I forced it into my friend's mind, and saw the hellhound's eyes dim again. Kestrel able to take control was something that had to be saved for when she could be free of Lea's control.

Without warning, she stepped forward, and hit me hard across the mouth, snapping my head back. The blow wouldn't leave a bruise – but she'd put enough power behind it to make it hurt. A lot.

Then, Lea waved a hand, and a crop appeared in it. I couldn't help flinching. I'd felt the power of that weapon once before, and had no desire to do so again.

"I have a plan to get you that wizard, Harry Dresden!"

To my dismay, my mouth ran away with me again. What can I say? I was desperate and scared. If I could be saved from pain even for a moment, I'd take that chance. Except for when it came to Kestrel.

All bets were off where it came to my best friend. And that was a saying I'd picked up from the mortals – yet another one.

Lea slowly lowered the crop, and I let out a breath I hadn't even realised I'd been holding. "Just what are you talking about?" she inquired in a deceptively soft tone. "Speak quickly, or you will feel my wrath."

"I heard the wizard you want talking to this woman – he called her Murph or something – and I'm planning on getting him to summon me so that I can bait a trap with what he needs most, which is knowledge." I said it all in one breath, and couldn't help feeling relieved that Kestrel had retreated again.

She wouldn't be happy with the bargain I was trying to make.

"I see." Lea was nodding slowly. "And you did this how?"

"I gave him my true name," I answered, standing up straight and ignoring the slight stinging left over from her slap.

Lea didn't show much reaction other than a slight narrowing of her eyes. But all she said was, "That is a big price for you to pay just to get the wizard to me that is rightfully mine."

I took a deep breath. Now was the moment of truth. "I wish to make a trade. I give you the wizard, and you return my friend – Kestrel – back to me, whole and well and herself again." I knew full well that I had to state clearly what I wanted, otherwise Lea would give me exactly what I asked for – Kestrel back.

But still stuck in the body of her hellhound and under her control.

To my surprise, Lea threw her head back and laughed. "Well, you are certainly bold, I'll give you that. Very well. The moment you deliver Harry Dresden to me, I will return your friend to you – just as she used to be."

I narrowed my eyes. "Right before you changed her, with all of her memories of this intact – and the guarantee that you won't take her again, or let anyone else take her."

"Fine, fine." Lea waved her hand airily.

"You'll do it?" I demanded.

"Do you doubt my word?" Lea asked me acidly. "The bargain is this – when you deliver the wizard into my hands, you receive your friend back, just as she was before I took her, with all of the memories of her time under me, and the guarantee that I nor anyone else working under my orders will take her again. Of course," she continued. "You might want me to remove her memories of her time as a hellhound – it would be very traumatic for her to remember, I'm sure."

"No, just as I have stated." I stood my ground.

"Very well." Lea still had the crop in her hand, and now, she advanced on me. "Then we just have your insubordination to deal with."

I backed away. "But I'm getting that wizard for you!"

Lea paused, as if considering this. Then, she waved a hand, and two large hellhounds appeared to fasten sharp teeth onto the sides of my robe, then spin me so that my back was towards Lea, leaving me powerless to do anything about it.

"The bargain was for your friend back," Lea stated as she came up behind me. "There was nothing there about you getting out of your just punishment." She spoke a few soft words, and I felt a cool breeze as my robe was ripped apart behind me, baring the entire back of my body to her eyes.

I squeezed my eyes shut, tensing as I felt the crop rest against my bare bottom. It was then taken away, and came whistling down a moment later, creating a line of fire that elicited a yelp from me despite my intentions.

The next blow came directly below, and the next ones directly below that. By the time the sixth landed across my thighs, I was sobbing, and I couldn't help crying out loudly as the last two were delivered directly over the previous six, reigniting the pain of the strikes as well as causing their own fire.

The hellhounds let me go, and I collapsed onto my knees, shuddering and weeping. Although I didn't hear anything, I knew when Lea took the hellhounds – including Kestrel – away with her.

I knelt there, weeping, for what felt like an awfully long time before I was finally able to get to my feet again.