Now, she thought at the maelstrom.
She waited a moment and then like a groaning beast the tempest reared back, assessing her command. She stared right back into the middle of the swirling wind and rain, unflinching despite the intense pressure in her head. Something hot and wet dripped from her nose but she didn’t dare lift a hand to wipe at it.
Then, when she couldn’t hold on any longer, she felt the storm’s submission. Ailsa thought she heard a hiss of displeasure, then the voice inside her head whispered a dejected, yes.
Without hesitation, she swept her arms up to swirl the wind towards the boat, sending a shower of rain over the fire. The flames died down with the water, but she still heard screaming from the ship. Fanning her hand in front of her, she pushed the wind in the direction of the beach, making a wave which carried the boat closer to land. She watched as the vessel was lifted by the water and deposited near the shore. Ailsa could just make out figures jumping from the deck and wading through the shallows towards safety.
Raising her gaze towards the three other boats, she did the same, sending them hurtling towards the beach in a crest of saltwater and wind.
“Ailsa?” a voice called from over the prow. A head of copper curls peeked up over the side before a familiar, concerned face appeared.
“Harris!” she shouted, unable to move from her position on the deck without losing her hold on the storm.
Despite the worry etched into his features, he did his best to pull on a smirk. “I told you that you were a force to be reckoned with.”
A sob broke in her throat. He vaulted over the edge and hugged her. He was still wearing the same clothes from the inn, which looked even more dishevelled from the raging wind.
“I can’t control it for much longer, Harris. You need to get away.” Lightning crackled overhead but Ailsa managed to throw the electricity further out to sea.
“Did I ever tell you I think that you’re striking?” He smiled at her, and in that moment, against the backdrop of the churning sea, he looked the least human she had ever seen him.
Suddenly, Ailsa was thrown from her feet as something solid and colossal impacted with her ship. The wood under her groaned from the impact, buckling and sending her body flying. She landed heavily on her back and grimaced at the pain.
Over the ringing of her ears, she heard music rising from the sea, and underneath the melody came the piercing, wailing cry of ‘want.”
“Want. Want.”
“Harris?” cried Ailsa before she was again pitched to the side by another impact. She rolled towards the boat’s edge, expecting to see his red hair nearby, but he wasn’t there anymore.
“Pretty little selkie,” cackled a voice. Ailsa managed to raise herself to her knees to peer over into the water. The sight made her stomach drop.
Harris was encased in white arms, as strong as marble. Despite being back in the water, he hadn’t turned back into a seal. Instead his body hung limp from the ceasg’s embrace. Surrounding him, five more ceasg drifted around, creating a tight circle. The one who held him grinned menacingly up at her.
“Look what we caught,” crowed another.
“Told him we’d catch him.”
“Shouldn’t have come here.”
“Now he’s ours—”
“—but not for long.”
“Give him back!” Ailsa screamed, barely managing to hold on to the side of the boat. The winds still whipped around, rocking the ship from side to side.
“I want girly,” said one, baring her teeth at her. The one holding Harris slapped a hand out and pushed her sister away.
“Not now. Soon. Goodbye, girly.” She smiled sweetly and then sank under the waves. The other ceasg disappeared behind her but she could still see their white bodies under the water. They darted under the boat and a second later, Ailsa felt the biggest impact yet hit the side. The whole vessel capsized into the water and she had just enough time to take a deep breath before she was plunged into the sea.
Chapter 69
The water’s cold hit her skin like a thousand needles. She forced her eyes open to look for the ceasg but saw nothing but chunks of debris and other people, some alive and some dead. The force of the sinking ship sucked her deeper under water and she watched as both Avalognians and Eilanmòrians were pulled down with her into the freezing depths.
How many times had she almost drowned now?
She knew she’d prefer that today remained an ‘almost.’
Forcing her tired arms and legs to power her forward, Ailsa moved through the murky water slowly. Her lungs began to burn with the effort of holding her breath.
From the corner of her eye, she could see a dark shadow moving towards her quickly. For one fearful second, she thought of sharks, but then there were whiskers and flippers.
Her heart leapt. Harris?
But the seal swimming to her was smaller. It hesitated momentarily before prodding her side with its nose. She wrapped an arm around its neck and it propelled upwards, faster than any normal seal could.
Finally, her head broke the surface of the water with a gasp. The air that whipped her face was frigid but mercifully calm. The storm had ended. Bits of star-speckled sky could be glimpsed through the thinning clouds. Cheering could be heard from the beach. Ailsa couldn’t tell which side were celebrating until she heard an Eilanmòrian shout, “Soarsa!”
Freedom.
“Harris?” she whispered to the waves, waiting for him to raise his head from the water. She almost cried out when she caught sight of a mop of red hair emerging three feet away. The figure turned around and her heart sank.
“Are you okay?” asked Iona, swimming closer to where Ailsa treaded water.
Ailsa took a gulp of air and tilted her chin up. “How did you find me?”
“We heard about the raids along the coast and then Angus told me where you’d gone.”
“Angus is here?”
Iona nodded. “We found Harris outside the inn, attempting to put out the fire. Then we followed the trails, trying to catch up to you.”
She felt her eyes burning, but Iona gave her a little shake and Ailsa blinked them stubbornly.
“Ailsa,” Iona asked, her voice deadly quiet, “Where’s my brother?”
Chapter 70
“What happened?”
Iona had dragged Ailsa’s half-frozen body through the water and up onto a deserted part of the beach. The Eilanmòrians had landed half a mile away and were quickly dismantling the ships to make large bonfires to keep them warm. Any Avalognians that had been on board had obviously died or had escaped into the night. Ailsa’s own boat had sunk, pulling many people down with it, but a few survivors were still being washed up, having followed the glow of the flames. Every time a new one was found, the Eilanmòrians would let loose another round of cheers.
The giddy high of celebration did not reach the stretch of sand they were on. Instead, worry permeated the sea air.
Ailsa sat curled up on the ground, while Angus rubbed feeling into her stiff limbs. When Iona had pulled her from the surf, he had engulfed her in his warm arms and had not let go as she coughed up saltwater.
Iona stood a little way off, watching the waves roll in and the stars glitter from their reflections on the calm ocean.
At first, Ailsa couldn’t speak and Angus did his best to lend her his body heat.
“It was my fault,” she finally said when the shivers in her body had died down. “I did this. I tried to get free, and in the process, I let Harris get captured.”
Angus held her tighter. “How Ailsa?”
“Ceasg.”
He froze, his gaze leaving her face and going out to sea.
“I just—I lost control. I was trying to save the people on the boat, while he was trying to save me.”
“I don’t understand.”
“She made the storm.” Iona turned around towards them. In the moonlight, her white skin and red hair made her look ethereal and otherworldly. Ailsa couldn’t tell whether she w
as surprised or not; her face had been schooled into neutrality.
Angus’s, on the other hand, was incredulous. “How could she make a storm?”
“She’s not human.”
He sank back on his heels, relaxing his grip on her. Though the action was small, deep down Ailsa felt the rejection and it hurt.
She swallowed thickly and nodded. “I made the storm come, but I lost control of it. I set one of the boats on fire but then I managed to get them to safety. Ours was the last one out at sea when Harris climbed on. We were attacked—” Her voice cracked, and she paused for a moment before continuing. “Then Harris got captured. The ceasg had warned him that they were looking for him, that they’d take him to Nicnevan.”
She felt Angus withdrawing from her, so she turned her attention to Iona. “Nicnevan has him. What are we going to do?”
“She was never really that interested in the Stone of Destiny.”
Angus ran a hand through his hair, as if unable to process the situation.
Ailsa’s head was spinning. She thought she saw something move out of the corner of her eye, beside the trees that pressed up against the beach, though when she looked there was nothing there. Fatigue was taking its toll.
“What does she want with him?” Ailsa asked while she massaged her temples.
Iona stepped closer and dropped down into a crouch in front of Ailsa. “I doubt that she thinks he was the one who stole her daughter, but he’s pretty useful anyway.”
“How? Revenge? Blackmail?”
“Exactly. Either she’ll kill him immediately or she’ll use him, hoping that someone with knowledge of her daughter will strike a bargain. But her daughter’s whereabouts have been kept a secret. I don’t know who took her. She could be anywhere.”
“Or she could be right in front of you,” croaked a voice from within the trees. Ailsa felt a chill creep over her skin as she turned to look at the owner of the new voice.
There it was. It had finally found her.
It towered above them, with grey skin and red, glowing eyes. It was all she could do not to turn and run, just like she had done that first day in the woods outside her home village. Just like she had done every day of her life.
The monster gripped the trunks of the two nearest trees, which splintered and groaned under his mighty hands. Finally, she could see what it was she had been running from.
With a growl, she pulled the dagger from Angus’s belt and braced herself to throw, aiming right between the creature’s eyes. She pulled the weapon over her shoulder and started to swing it forward—
It stepped forward out of the shadows and her heart seized in her chest.
“Gris?” Ailsa breathed.
Chapter 71
The knife fell from her hands and embedded itself in the sand beside her. Her eyes traced over the man in front of her, but her mind was blank. Questions would float to the surface—What was he doing here? Why does he look like that?—but they would sink quickly again into the mire.
The monster held his hands up. “I’m sorry, Ailsa,” he said.
“What the hell is going on?” demanded Angus from beside her. She turned her head, as if in a dream, to find he had drawn his sword and was baring his teeth at the creature.
Iona took a step towards him.
“He’s a Fear Laith,” she explained, staring in wonder. “A Grey Man. Ailsa, do you know him?”
Her own voice came out in a whisper. “He’s the soldier who trained me.” It had been two years since she had last seen him. Or had it? Her gaze flicked over the sharp teeth, the red eyes… Was he the monster that had been following her? Oh Gods, had he been following her since she was a little girl?
“What do you want?” she croaked. She was starting to feel sick.
“I can explain,” he said slowly like he was talking to a frightened animal.
Ailsa raised her fists in front of her. “You had better.”
“What does it mean?” Angus interrupted. “Fear Laith?”
“They’re found all over the world,” replied Iona, “But they’re rare.”
“We’re forest guardians,” explained Gris. “But that’s also my curse. I’m bound to the forest.”
“You weren’t before,” Ailsa argued. His jaw hardened. “When I found you, when you were attacked, I don’t even think you realised how badly you were hurt. You were dying.” His voice broke on the last word. “We’re allowed five months and a day every ten years to leave the forest and appear human.” He closed his ruby eyes. “I had to use it to save you.”
“Why?” she asked, barely able to breathe. “Why did you save me? Why have you been following me?”
He opened his eyes and gave her a fierce look. “To keep you safe. I’ve been your shadow all your life, trying to protect you,” he said, taking another step towards her. “I brought you to your mother, the woman who raised you.”
Ailsa’s head was reeling. “You need to explain. Now.”
He stepped forward and she flinched.
“You don’t need to fear me, Ailsa,” he said. With a deep rumbling sigh, he lowered himself to sit in front of them, leaning against the trunk of an ancient tree.
“Before anyone launches into long histories, I think we need a fire,” proclaimed Angus. “You must be freezing, Ailsa.”
She nodded woodenly, never taking her eyes off the monster in front of her. She barely noticed when Iona summoned the water from her skin and clothes, the droplets shimmering in the starlight before being flung off to the side in a wave.
“I’ve been protecting you your whole life. At first, from a distance. I used to stand in the woods beside your adoptive mother’s cottage, before she died and you had to leave. Then when you were by yourself, I tried to watch you to make sure you were alright.”
“She wasn’t my adoptive mother. She was my mother. We had the same eyes—”
“The same eyes as everyone in Eilanmòr, near enough. It’s not uncommon to have blue eyes. In fact, Nicnevan’s eyes are blue, if I recall.”
“But she looked after me—”
“After her own daughter died.”
“I’m not listening to this. This is ridiculous, and quite frankly it’s poor taste to imply she wasn’t my mother when all she ever did was care for me.”
“She looked after you because she loved you. Just like she loved her other daughter. I’m sorry, Ailsa, truly. But you may be the key to ending Nicnevan’s tyrannical rule over the fair folk. Humans might be safe right now, but as long as she remains uncontested, you won’t get your friend back.
“Just over nineteen years ago, I was guarding my forest when I heard crying. When I searched, I found a faerie, an arrow through her heart. In her arms was a baby. You.
“I did what I thought was best. You stopped crying when I held you and so I carried you through the woods. I knew that without food, you would die, so I went looking for something for you. When I stumbled upon the cottage, I was just going to take some honey and then take you back to my home. But when I opened the door, there she was, your mother. Asleep in a rocking chair. Tear marks staining her cheeks. She had obviously stayed awake most of the night, nursing the baby in her arms. But the child was dead. Pneumonia, I think. She looked like such a good mother. It was so sorrowful. So, I lifted the bundle from her arms and swapped the corpse with you.”
“So, you stole her dead child? You didn’t think to wake her up?”
“I didn’t want to scare her! I watched from the window till she stirred. At first, she was confused. I’m sure she thought her baby had miraculously recovered. But then I saw realisation dawn. She knew you were not hers, that you had been left in place of her child, and yet she rocked you in her arms and went to fetch you some food. I knew you’d be safe in her hands.”
“She must have been disgusted. Imagine, one minute you’re fighting for your daughter’s life, then you wake up and she’s gone, replaced by a stranger.”
“I assure you, she did not feel that way.
After I had buried the body, I returned and kept watch over both of you. Never was a girl loved so much by her mother as you were.”
“And then she died.”
“I spoke to her, you know. The day before, she came to the window and shouted for me. ‘Beastie’ she called me and waited, staring into the trees. You were away, collecting medicine for her. I emerged and she smiled. She thanked me for bringing you to her. She told me she was dying and that I was to look after you again. She loved you so much.”
“But I didn’t want to frighten you. I gave you a few months, making sure to leave food nearby. I’ll admit, you were good at keeping house, for a girl of fourteen. I was away when the villagers came and trashed the cottage four years later and you had already left by the time I arrived. I looked for you. When I found you, you were a mile away, in the next settlement. I tried to catch you, to take you away but you ran. I’m rather slow, I’m afraid, heavy feet. So you disappeared. Every time I thought I had found you again, you bolted. Then you started avoiding the forest all together. I can’t leave it for too long, or I will wither and die.”
“So why do you think Ailsa is Nicnevan’s daughter?” asked Angus.
“She’s the right age,” said Iona. “And it was a group of faeries who stole her. Also, now I think we can all be fairly sure she isn’t human.”
“I’m not a faerie princess.”
“Obviously.” Angus motioned to her mud-coated clothes.
“Maybe it doesn’t matter. Maybe the only person who needs to believe you’re her is Nicnevan.” Iona’s eyes were sparkling.
Ailsa frowned. “What was the girl’s name?”
“Eilidh, I think.”
“Eilidh?” She certainly didn’t feel like an Eilidh.
“Don’t you see, Ailsa,” Angus came closer to grip her shoulder. “If we pretend you’re Nicnevan’s daughter, maybe we can get close enough to free Harris!”
“How will I pass for a faerie? I don’t even really know how to use my power. Surely the daughter of Nicnevan would be good at magic?”
“We can teach you,” Iona offered. “We’ll coach you along the way. By the time we reach her court, you’ll be a master.”
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