Dark Star

by Amy Sumida

  “Thank you, baby,” I said. “I gotta talk to Faerie for a little bit, okay?”

  “Okay,” the boys chimed together and then they popped up to stand at the windows, one to either side of the carriage, and stare out into the Forgetful Forest eagerly.

  Al told me about Viper, Faerie said softly. It's incredible. He wasn't meant to come into your life yet.

  So I've heard.

  At least something good came out of that mess. Al told me about your breathing starlight when you were a dragon; dark starlight. The Trinity Star without morals to restrain it and without fate to guide it; what a terrifying thing.

  It was. And it took nearly all of its power to right the wrongs we did together.

  So I see.

  Do you know if it will ever get back to its former strength?

  I can't tell you that. Your future depends on your ignorance.

  You don't have to sound so smug about it. I grimaced at Arach. “She's being vague again.”

  Arach chuckled. “I think that's part of her job.”

  I tell you what you need to know. Speaking of which, you might want to ask your phookas to head toward the Air Kingdom.

  What? Why? I sat up straight. Out loud, I said, “Tell the phookas to head to Air!”

  “What? Why?” Arach mimicked me.

  Because Queen Breana is about to give birth, and she has requested your presence.

  I smiled as I fell back against the cushions and then started to laugh. Once more, we'd arrived in Faerie with perfect timing.

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  “King Arach, Queen Vervain!” King Fionn of Air exclaimed as we entered the antechamber where he was pacing. His completely black eyes widened in surprise and his enormous monarch butterfly wings shivered anxiously. “Thank you for coming so quickly. My wife is very nervous, and she dearly wanted Queen Vervain to be with her. You must have flown here, I just dispatched the messenger...” he trailed off, likely realizing that there was no way for a messenger to have reached the Fire Kingdom yet.

  “We just returned from the God Realm,” Arach explained. “Faerie asked us to come.”

  “Faerie brought you to us?” Fionn beamed. “Breana will be so pleased. And you've brought your sons too. Thank you for coming, Princes of Fire. It's an honor to have you at the birth of my child.”

  “We're very excited to meet our new friend,” Rian spoke with a proper royal demeanor.

  I stroked Rian's crimson hair approvingly. “I have to go and help Queen Breana now. You two stay with Daddy.”

  “Yes, Mother,” the twins said together.

  “Eris, please take Queen Vervain in to see Queen Breana,” King Fionn asked a sylph who was standing nearby.

  “Yes, my King,” the Sylph stepped forward and bowed to Fionn and then me. “Queen Vervain, this way if you please.”

  As the woman moved, parts of her went hazy, shifting into her element. It was eerily beautiful, her pale hair becoming mist at the ends and her feet barely touching the floor. It was as if a phantom were leading me to the Air Queen. Eris' transparent hands pushed open a pair of double doors and then she gestured me ahead of her.

  I spared a moment to gape at the bedroom. The ceiling soared two stories above us with golden swings hanging from it at different heights. An expanse of blue-veined, white marble comprised the floor, adorned with a few luxurious furnishings designed for people with wings; backless chairs (not stools, mind you, these things had armrests), puffy ottomans, and lots of space between. Glass doors opened onto a sweeping balcony with a golden, filigree railing, the clear, fey sky serving as a bright backdrop. Smooth, cloud-white walls, polished like unglazed ceramic, curved up around us without corners or any harsh edges. It was typical for the Air Palace. Corridors in the place were shaped like tubes to be more gentle on fragile wings. It was a perfect place for a child to grow up.

  Well, a winged child, that is. There's the matter of the kingdom being a group of floating islands chained together and the space beneath those islands surged down endlessly. I knew it to be a fact since I'd fallen through it once.

  “Wait! Not yet, my Queen!”

  “I have to push!” Breana shouted.

  “Please, trust me, Queen Breana, you need to stop pushing,” the midwife, an air sidhe with shimmering, pistachio wings, begged. “You could hurt your child if you don't stop.”

  I hurried across plush carpets woven in shades of sky, to an enormous bed hung with transparent, snowy silk. The silk draped down from a golden butterfly as long as I was tall. It hung from a chain over the bed, its metal feet grasping the delicate material. Beneath this golden monarch sat a true monarch, and she was trying to give birth to her first child.

  “Queen Breana,” I said gently as I took her hand, “listen to the midwife, she knows what she's talking about.”

  “Queen Vervain,” Breana said with relief. “Thank you for coming.”

  “Of course. I'm happy to sit with you and reassure you that this is all normal,” I said with a look at the poor midwife. “Even with magic, babies take time to be born. You have to let your child come at its own pace.”

  “Oh,” Breana panted. “But, I feel as if I need to push.”

  “The wings are caught, my Queen,” the midwife explained after giving me a grateful look. “Just give me a few more moments to adjust them.”

  “See? Just let her... I'm sorry, what's your name?” I asked the midwife.

  “Clara, Queen Vervain.” She glanced up to smile at me.

  “Let Clara do what she's here to do.” I brushed back Breana's thick, ebony hair.

  There was nearly no difference in tone from the Air Queen's skin to her hair, just a seamless black from forehead to glossy strands. Breana sighed and closed her eyes, her huge wings trembling before settling down against the mountain of pillows she was propped up against. Clara had the Air Queen scooted down near the foot of the bed, knees up in the traditional manner, which allowed the Queen's wings to swing back and drape across the mattress behind her. The bright colors of orange and yellow seemed like flames against their black background, and I couldn't help admiring them. So pretty.

  “Where are all of your ladies in waiting?” I asked Breana to distract her as Clara began to sweat. “And why isn't your husband in here?

  “I didn't want them fluttering around me and that includes Fionn. He's so terrified that it makes me nervous.” Breana waved her hand listlessly. “I just wanted women who have been through this before. Royal women who understand how stressful this is. I asked Duchess Lorna to come as well, but you're the first to arrive.”

  “Faerie sent me. I had only just returned to Faerie when she told me I should come here before going home.”

  “Faerie sent you?” Breana smiled beatifically. “Thank you, Faerie.”

  You're welcome, Faerie said gently in both of our minds. Then she spoke directly to me. At least, I hope that she did. Vervain, keep calm and help that baby. You're going to be needed very soon.

  What?! I screeched inside my head. They have magic here. Why would they need me? My star is weak now.

  Some things even Faeries don't know. My children have relied on their magic for too long. They tend to overlook the basics. Now, get down there!

  “Push now, Queen Breana!” Clara said confidently.

  I didn't want to worry Breana so I hesitated at her side while she bore down.

  Vervain!

  I'm going, just give me a second!

  That child doesn't have a second!

  “I'm just going to take a quick peek,” I said to Breana. “Keep going, you're doing great!”

  I let go of Breana's hand, gently extricating myself from her death grip, and then hurried down to the foot of the bed, navigating around a golden bed poster. The baby had been born within the short amount of time that it took for me to go those few steps, and it lay within Clara's arms silently. Utterly still.

  Slick wings wrapped around the child like the petals of a flower, covering its
body completely, only its precious face showed. Its precious blue face. Not that there was anything abnormal about a blue-skinned faerie, but I had a feeling that this baby wasn't supposed to be that color.

  “Sweet Faerie, help us,” Clara whispered as she started to weep.

  “What's happening?” Breana demanded. “Where is my baby?”

  “Give us a second here, Breana,” I said firmly and took the blue baby from the midwife.

  “What's happening?!” Breana screamed.

  “I don't know yet,” I kept my voice as calm as possible. “Give me a second.”

  “The babe is stillborn,” Clara whispered to me. “Strangled by her mother while I tried to release its wings. I should have been more adamant about her not pushing. I should—”

  “Shut up!” I hissed at Clara as I laid the baby on the floor and smoothed goo off her little face. “Help me unfurl these wings!”

  “Breana!” Fionn came rushing into the room.

  “Fionn!” Breana screeched back. “They won't give me the babe!”

  Clara's shaking hands moved over the wings, carefully peeling them back to reveal the umbilical cord that was wrapped around the baby's neck. The child had inherited her father's paler complexion and all of it was tinted blue. The little limbs flopped loosely once freed of the wet wings. Lifelessly. I hurried to unwind the cord and then opened the baby's mouth with my finger. Setting my lips firmly over the child's mouth, I hoped that I didn't do more harm than good with my dusty CPR skills. I knew that giving CPR to a newborn was a delicate, dangerous thing, but I couldn't think of anything else to do. I breathed into that tiny body while Clara gasped beside me.

  “Oh, no,” Fionn whispered as he stood over me. “No, please no.”

  “Your wife needs you!” I shouted at Fionn as I gently pressed on the child's chest.

  Fionn just gaped at me.

  “Please tell me my baby is okay,” Breana sobbed.

  “My love,” Fionn hurried to his wife, jolted out of his fear by her voice. “It will be okay. Queen Vervain is helping her breathe. She just needs a little help, that's all.”

  “Her?” Breana sobbed. “We have a daughter?”

  “We have a daughter,” Fionn said softly as he slid onto the bed and held his wife, but his eyes were full of tears and focused on me.

  “See to the Queen,” I growled at Clara. “She needs to pass the afterbirth.”

  “Wait!” Clara stopped me before I started another round. “You're giving the babe breath? I can do that with magic.”

  I pushed Clara away impatiently and bent over the baby again. I didn't have time to explain how it had to be done precisely. I needed to concentrate on pumping that little heart before the air essence inside it decided to return to its source.

  “I can do that!” Clara pushed me back. “If all the child needs is air, I am more than capable of giving it to her.”

  “All right,” I growled. “But only when I say and not too much; her lungs are tiny.”

  “I am thousands of years old, Queen Vervain. I can manage precision.”

  “Now!” I shouted at her.

  Clara held her hand over the baby's lips and a gentle wind pushed into the body, lifting the little chest. I started pushing again but before I made it to three, one of the greatest sounds I've ever heard echoed through the room; the feisty squall of the new Princess of Air.

  I sobbed in relief and bent over the baby, smoothing the gunk away from her blinking eyes. They were green like her mother's. A shade darker than Viper's. Breana, Fionn, and Clara all echoed my relief. Then the Air King kissed his wife before he hurried over to kneel beside me.

  “She's alive,” Fionn whispered. “My daughter lives.”

  “She lives, my King,” Clara said as she cleaned the child off with a few waves of her hand. The dried wings fluttered against the floor.

  “Thank you,” Fionn sobbed. “Thank you both.”

  “I wouldn't have known to breathe into the Princess' mouth. I thought she was already dead,” Clara admitted. “Thank Queen Vervain, not me.”

  “You did what you could,” I protested. “And you helped once you knew what to do.”

  “And I will pass that knowledge on to every midwife I know,” Clara vowed.

  “Will someone please bring me my daughter?” Breana asked anxiously.

  “One moment, my Queen,” Clara said brightly as she swaddled the crying child in her own wings before wrapping her in a fresh blanket. The warmth seemed to help, and the baby calmed into random gurgles. “King Fionn, it's my great honor to present you with your daughter.”

  Clara held the baby up to her father, and the Air King took her proudly. Fionn laid his forehead to the baby's as he stood, a single tear trailing down onto the child, and then took her to her mother. Carefully, as if she were made of glass, Fionn laid his daughter gently in his wife's arms. Clara discreetly cleaned the Queen with a few hand waves as the Royals of Air welcomed their daughter into the world.

  I got to my feet and watched the new family with a soft smile. “It would be good if you could feed her soon,” I suggested. “I'm going to leave you to do that privately. But I just want to say congratulations first. She's beautiful.”

  “Queen Vervain,” Breana said brokenly as she held a hand out to me, “thank you for saving my daughter's life. Her conception wouldn't have been possible without you changing the Fey and now, she wouldn't be alive without you. Thank you, and thank you, Faerie, for bringing Queen Vervain to us.”

  You're very welcome, Faerie said. Queen Vervain had excellent timing.

  “It was my pleasure to help.” I squeezed Breana's hand. “Do you have a name for her?”

  “Eveline,” Breana said then kissed her daughter's cheek.

  “It means; a child long wished for,” Fionn explained.

  “It's perfect and beautiful. Welcome to Faerie, Princess Eveline,” I brushed a fingertip across her rosy cheek before I left with Clara. As I retreated to the outer room, I hissed in my head, If I had been just a few minutes late, that child would be dead.

  Your destiny is rewriting itself, Faerie said smugly. It may not be the original plan, but it's shifting into something very similar.

  Maybe next time, my destiny could try to not cut it so close, I muttered.

  Faerie laughed gleefully.

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  “Finally,” I declared as I fell back onto my bed.

  The twins were off playing with Hunter, Deidre (Dexter's daughter), and Dexter. Arach and I had just finished getting an update on kingdom issues from Isleen. Nothing major had occurred in our absence so we were able to withdraw to our bedroom to decompress before lunch.

  “I was exceptionally proud of you today, A Thaisce,” Arach announced as he climbed up beside me. “You saved that child's life, and you did it without the assistance of the elements. It's astonishing.”

  “Clara used some air magic at the end, but I think the CPR would have worked without her. Magic isn't everything, Arach.”

  “CPR,” he mulled it over, ignoring my comment about magic. “I think I've seen that procedure done in movies. That's when they shout at someone while pounding on their chest and then kiss them while holding the person's nostrils shut, correct?”

  “Um... no.” I sat up and chuckled. “It involves blowing air into someone's lungs and then rhythmically compressing the chest. It pumps blood through the heart and air into the lungs until the person's heart starts beating and they can breathe on their own.”

  “Breathing into them and pushing on their heart?” Arach asked. “I suppose that makes more sense, although I don't understand how it could work.”

  “Sometimes, the body just needs a little help.” I stroked a hand down his cheek. “Just like the mind. A little nudge in the right direction.”

  “I promised you that I'd bring you back,” Arach whispered; for once not sounding smug about an accomplishment. “I made you a vow and nothing was going to stop me from keeping it.” />
  “Not even me.”

  “Especially not you. That was the point,” he agreed and then kissed me.

  Arach jerked me against him suddenly, and I went with a sharp inhale that turned into a moan when he settled me over his lap. His erection pressed up against me insistently, and I couldn't resist grinding against it. Arach's moan joined mine but when I tried to push him onto his back, that moan became a growl, and he shoved me backward instead.

  Right. The last time we had made love, I had unmanned him a bit. The Dragon needed to reclaim his masculinity. I was down with that. I grinned against his lips and then opened my mouth wider to the tongue-lashing my husband was determined to give me. His hands worked briskly between us, and I let him remove our clothes by himself, not wanting to get in the way of his claws and dragon determination.