by Sarina Dorie
Out of the two, Lee was more relaxed, but I suspected he was the one more likely to play games as a Fae might do.
“Forgive my rudeness,” I said. “Other Witchkin often chide me for my ignorance. I grew into my powers and was introduced to the concept of magic in the Unseen Realm only a few years ago. There’s much I don’t know about my own culture. I don’t always know the etiquette and rules.”
They nodded understandingly.
“Please excuse my ignorance for asking, but what are you?” I sat on the edge of my seat. “Witchkin or Fae?”
“Your vocabulary differs from ours. By Witchkin you mean the offspring of gods and mortals?” Lee waited.
Thatch snorted. God? Fae weren’t gods, but I didn’t correct him. I nodded my head to encourage him.
Lee fixed the gaze of his reptilian eyes on me. “We are such half-breeds, though we are less human and more god than many in your realm.”
“Their great-grandmother was human,” Mr. Zhao said. “Concubine to the emperor.”
“We are closer to three-quarters god and one-quarter human.” Yin avoided the term Fae. “For generations, our lineage has contained the ability you consider the Red affinity.”
“Are you dragons?” I asked.
Lee’s expression turned grave. “Yes, we are dragons. The last dragons.”
Yin punched him in the shoulder. “Do not lie to her! This is not time for your mischief.”
Mr. Zhao chuckled and said something to Elric in Chinese.
“What are you?” I asked.
“We are the spirit of dragons in mortal form,” Yin said. “This gives us, and those like us, abilities no others possess, including virility and fertility. Our kind of magic is not lost everywhere in the world, as it has been here. Our court has learned to conceal what we are out of the need for survival from enemies who would do us harm. Not all are born with the spirit of the dragon as we are, but those who are must be secretive of our natures when dealing with outsiders. Our parents ensured a private education to reduce exposure to those who would harm us in our youth.”
“Like my mother?”
He bowed his head. “At that time, the regicide of the Red Court was still fresh, only a couple of hundred years before. The Dragon Court feared invading courts might rise up against us if they discovered our secrets. We have since that time secluded our houses away. Your mother was one of the few outsiders we permitted entrance, and the emperor only granted her asylum because of what she was and that she was of use to him.”
Here it was. The only reason a Fae might consort with a Witchkin. “What did he use her for?”
“Knowledge about the Western courts, I presume,” Yin said. “She wished to learn about her affinity because her maker was dead.”
“Her adoptive mother,” Lee amended. “Galswintha the Wise.”
Poisoned and locked away, as I had discovered when I’d accidentally brought Galswintha’s corpse back to life.
Yin smiled with satisfaction. “Ms. Loraline taught the entire court about the West. She was an exemplary teacher, and the emperor best knew how to deal with outsiders and their prejudices because of her guidance.”
“She also was an exemplary student. We instructed her in how to use her magic.” Lee’s air of satisfaction matched his brother’s. “It is a pity she felt the calling to return to the West.”
Thatch tugged at the hem of his jacket. “I believe Alouette Loraline felt the need to pass on her knowledge and help other Red affinities out there.”
“Even so, she would not have died if she had returned to us,” Yin said. “The Witchkin and Fae gods here condemned her for trying to show them the truth.”
Vega looked up from her book, proving how attentively she’d been listening. “I believe they condemned Alouette Loraline for torturing and experimenting on children. Not that I would know.”
Thatch couldn’t meet my eyes. “Power corrupted her.” He had experienced her change firsthand.
“Perhaps,” Yin said.
“Perhaps not,” Lee said. “We aren’t here to judge. We came to meet the daughter of our student.”
“Our teacher,” Yin corrected. “We heard your summons, and we came.” Yin’s yellow eyes met mine, not Elric’s.
“Indeed,” Elric said. “You are most difficult to get ahold of. I have been sending word for ages. Only when I mentioned Miss Lawrence—Mrs. Thatch—did you bother to—”
Lee shook his head. “No. Not your summons. We come for no Fae gods or royalty. We have dealt enough with the Silver Court to know you have nothing that interests us.”
“But—” Elric began in confusion.
“We came because the daughter of Alouette Loraline summoned us.” Yin bowed his head.
“Um. . . .” I said. “I did?”
“On the cosmic plane. We sensed your presence several times. Recently we suspected you were in dire need, but we did not come when called. I hope you will forgive our reticence. We had not yet been introduced.”
“It’s his fault,” Lee said. “My brother is overly cautious and feared being drawn into any conflict in the—What do you call this place?—the Faerie Realm.”
I hadn’t completely understood the concept of transcending and what it meant to turn into a dragon. I could see I still had much to learn. They would have been great teachers. They could have told me about my biological mother, myself, and my affinity. I could learn how to defend myself and those I loved.
“Now that you know what is at stake, perhaps you are more inclined to intercede on our behalf,” Elric said. “The Raven Court means to harm Clarissa Thatch, daughter of your teacher—err—student. They have stolen her baby. Stolen my great-granddaughter. They murdered one of my adopted children. All of them are Red affinities like you. They will stop at nothing until they either snatch all these children for their own purposes or destroy them.”
I looked at the children who had stopped playing the games. They stared at Elric with horror in their eyes. It was too soon after the attack to speak about it openly like this. They had seen one of their siblings die and Imani kidnapped.
“Elric, keep your voice down,” Vega glowered. “You’re scaring the children.”
Vega stood from her perch at the settee where two children had tackled her in hugs. A little girl buried her face in the folds of Vega’s skirt. She held a little boy in her arms who had ahold of her neck.
“That is, indeed, very sad.” Yin said. “We do not wish for more death and bad luck to befall your family.”
Yin and Lee exchanged a few more words in their dialect.
Lee bowed his head. “We understand your situation is delicate. You must seek retribution and try to make right after what has happened, but our situation is also delicate.” He exchanged a few words in his tongue with his brother and Mr. Zhao.
Elric’s eyebrows drew together. I didn’t doubt he understood. He opened his mouth to object.
Lee held up a hand. “I am sorry for the loss of one of your kin, but we cannot involve ourselves in your affairs. If you fear for the lives of these children, then we ask you send them home with us. We will care for your children as our own and raise them away from other Witchkin and Fae who would do them harm.”
Thatch left the seat beside me and stalked across the room. I knew what he thought of that idea, even if he wasn’t willing to voice it. He didn’t trust Fae. Though Lee and Yin were Witchkin by our standards, they dwelled in a Fae court, bound by rules that differed from our own. He was too prejudiced against Fae after being raised in the Raven Court to permit the idea that some of them could be good.
“That is a generous offer.” Elric looked to Vega.
She drummed her red fingernails against the settee, the corners of her mouth turning down. I couldn’t tell whether that was her resting witch face or she opposed the idea.
“You need not decide now,” Lee said. “Send word through Mr. Zhao, and we will come with our coac
h and servants to ferry them away should you have need of it.”
“We wish you luck in regaining your grandchild.” Yin bowed to Elric. Then he bowed to me. “We wish you luck as well. If you prefer to give up this Faerie Realm, and desire a different life, you are permitted to come home with us.”
“Indeed?” Thatch asked. “You will take Clarissa somewhere with the children that it is safe?”
Lee inclined his head. “We will take her and the children.”
I read between the lines, catching his choice of words. “But no one else?”
“What are the rest of us? Chopped liver?” Vega asked.
My gaze swept over Vega and then Thatch at the window. They were Red affinities too. This secret court who welcomed Red affinities surely would welcome them too.
“I am afraid the offer is only extended to the daughter of Alouette Loraline. We could apply for asylum for the rest of you, but we have only been granted leave to bring back the innocent.”
The innocent? I was hardly that anymore. I had killed my enemies in defense. Plus, I’d performed some seriously naughty acts of pleasure and pain magic with both Thatch and Elric. Sometimes at the same time.
“It would be a . . . practical choice,” Elric said.
They were in danger, and Elric had made himself vulnerable by association with me, weakened further by his inadequate bargain. If I left, would he be safer? Would he be welcomed back into his family’s court and be protected by their numbers from the Raven Queen?
“Yes. She will go with you,” Thatch said.
I shook my head at him. “It’s not your decision.”
“Ah, your husband wishes for what is in your best interests, even if it is a decision you are not willing to make yourself,” Yin said. “You are truly loved by your husband and your . . . lover.”
Thatch turned away.
Lee extended his hand toward mine. “Might I show you something, Ms. Clarissa Loraline?”
He called me by my biological mother’s surname, not my own. I didn’t correct him. He took my hand.
A vision swam before my eyes. The day was sunny and bright, sunshine infusing a palace with cheery light. Children played. Men and women, Fae and Witchkin, creatures half animal and part human, meditated side by side in a temple. The people who walked the grounds were Fae and Witchkin, but they weren’t segregated by class in the same way they were in the Unseen Realm or the Faerie Realm. Dragons lounged lazily in the sun. It appeared to be dragontopia.
In a pit guarded by a group of dragons shimmered a nest of red rubies.
Lee’s voice was rich and melodic, echoing inside my head. “There is a cost for taking such a prize.”
I tried to ask him what that meant, but I had no voice in this vision.
“Dragons are much like unicorns—hunted to near extinction. Our bones and blood are prized for their value, used in Witchkin spells, powerful enough that even Morties can make magic from them. Our eggs are the most sought-after item of all. Some wish to take the rubies for their beauty, others for the great knowledge and power contained within. But with each egg that is stolen from us, that is a life that cannot be born. Do you understand that?”
I tried to say yes, but I still couldn’t speak.
“It isn’t just your nest you would steal from; it is all the dragons. Our nest is a collective in the cosmos. We all keep the eggs warm and safe until it is time for one to hatch. You have taken from this collective once for the purpose of giving life. You have taken a second time, and life grows within you again. The spirit of a dragon is strong in this child. This use of the ruby is permissible.
“The crime lies in what your biological mother did. Alouette stole an egg for power and knowledge as other Witchkin had done in the past. She didn’t use life to create life—she used it for magic. After all we taught her, we thought she would have understood.”
I suspected she had understood; she just hadn’t listened.
“I have come to warn you to be careful with the magic of life. To remove magic from the Dragon Realm will have serious effects. It will corrupt the Fae or Witchkin who possesses it. You are young and a stranger to our ways. It is our duty to impress upon you the importance of not stealing life from the collective. Our number has decreased over the years. We have had to hide ourselves away. Do not take from your people as your mother did.”
I felt sorry hearing this was the true crime of my biological mother, perhaps what had led to her downfall.
“This sanctuary welcomes you to visit or to stay. The one thing we should ask of you is to not use the dragon eggs for personal gain as Alouette Loraline did. Do not allow knowledge and power to corrupt the perfection of your soul.” His song was full of sorrow. “If you should, there will be a great price. You will not be welcome any longer.”
I could have knowledge or the friendship of these allies.
Lee placed a hand on the back of my neck, drawing my awareness to my own body. I was no longer human. I was a dragon, pale pink and scaled. The viewpoint panned out of the palace, and I saw the exterior of their realm was made of starlight. The cosmos formed the walls of a fortress. Planets and moons created a structure connected by wards and magic.
Their palace was in the stars. That was why the Dragon Court couldn’t be found. They didn’t live on Earth or any dimension that existed on a planet. Their entire court had ascended and taken to the sky.
The revelation shook me to the core. I jolted back into myself. I blinked my eyes open, finding myself in Elric’s parlor. Elric hovered, wearing anxiousness like a cloak on his frame. Thatch looked like he was ready to spring forward at any moment.
“See. We are not so different. You could join us, and we will teach you. We can protect you.” Lee’s eyes were sad. They said so much more than what he spoke out loud. He couldn’t help me if I stayed here. He feared I would perish as my biological mother had.
I feared I would perish.
“If only you can be patient, we are willing to share knowledge without the cost of a life,” he said. I could feel the sincerity in him.
He was a different breed of Fae, his world one without guile and treachery. It was so different from the Fae courts I had encountered thus far. Even the Silver Court, full of muses, art, and brightness, was tainted by a dark side.
Yin stepped closer. “Come with us and allow us to teach you. Let us wash away the sorrows of this world and give you the joy you deserve.”
If I went with them, I would live. I could learn and return when I had the knowledge I needed to help my family and friends.
But if I didn’t stay to protect them, they would die without me. Imani needed me. My own child needed me.
“The offer is generous, but I can’t leave my family behind.” I wanted to thank him, but I couldn’t. I squeezed his hand instead.
“No,” Yin said. “I did not expect you to, but I had to try.”
“So much like her mother,” Lee said.
Yin nudged his brother out of the way to take my hand. “It has been a great honor meeting the daughter of so wise a teacher.” His golden eyes watched mine as he bowed. “You have declined our offer to bring you with us. May I leave you a blessing as a parting gift?”
“No,” Thatch said sharply.
Yin’s eyes widened with surprise.
“Please excuse Mr. Thatch’s overzealousness,” Elric said. “In our culture, many Fae do not give the kind of blessings any Witchkin would look favorably upon.”
Yin regarded him with curiosity, perhaps even amusement in his expression. He was so hard to read with the bumps all over his face.
His brother tilted his head to the side. “Perhaps you would like to hear my brother’s words before deciding whether you wish to refuse.”
“Yes,” I said. That seemed fair. They hadn’t done anything to warrant such an insult.
“Does Clarissa have the right to refuse without risking offense?” Thatch asked.
“One could.” Lee said. “But why would one throw away the gift of a god?”
Mr. Zhao said something curt in Chinese.
“Oh, that is unfortunate. I had hoped those stories were fairy tales meant to frighten children into behaving. I see our brothers and sisters in the West are even less civilized than we have given them credit for.” Yin bowed to Elric. “This is yet another example of the ways that your courts have degenerated from what you once were and why we must not involve ourselves in your affairs.”
“Another reason we should be on our way,” Lee said.
“Our gift is a blessing,” said Yin. “We wish you balance and harmony in your future endeavors.”
Lee bowed deeply. “The wisdom to know when to walk away from a battle.”
“And when to initiate one.” Yin bowed.
“Oh dear!” Elric said. “That sounds like three blessings to me. Are you certain that isn’t too much?”
“Do you accept this blessing?” Yin asked.
“Think carefully,” Thatch said.
I found no flaw in their gift. Thatch didn’t object. I looked from Elric to Vega. She chewed on her lip, thinking it over.
“Yes,” I said, uncertain whether there would be a thorn hidden in this rose.
Yin said something in the melodious tongue I took to be the dragon language. He took my face in his hands and touched his forehead to mine. Lee nudged his brother aside and leaned in. He kissed my forehead and winked at me.
Mr. Zhao spoke to the children. Two children rose from the floor and waved to Elric’s adopted children. They took Yin’s hands. Slowly the party of guests faded out of sight. It wasn’t showy magic like Vega’s Celestor transportation spell, with swirls of vapor. This was subtle magic, more like that of a Fae.
“Well, that was anticlimactic,” Vega said. “They didn’t even blow anything up.”
Their visit and the blessing might have been an underwhelming message lacking in the drama and power Vega would have liked, but their words echoed in my head.
Balance.
Harmony.
They blessed me with knowledge of when to fight and when to be patient.