Ben smiled, but I saw he was still distraught.
After our conversation, Ben and I never brought up marriage or children again. We had been at Sidhe Realm for many months and my nineteenth birthday was approaching soon. I missed my father and friends back home dearly and so did the others. Our group saw the Queen very little. Since his first visit, Ben had not been invited back to the Queen’s suite. Unlike Ben, the Queen invited me for a few more visits.
Each visit with her was very odd and quite uncomfortable. Every time I entered her sitting room, she was dressed provocatively. At one point, when I entered her sitting room, she was having sex with Brian in front of the fireplace. Two of her female companions sat on the couch in conversation as if nothing was happening. When I entered the room, I wanted to collapse at the sight, but her and Brian continued their sexual pursuit until they were finished.
When they stood up, Brian greeted me completely in the nude as if the situation was totally normal. He came to my side and held me in his arms as he kissed me softly on the lips. I was a bit disgusted, but I played along to keep the Queen happy. As I pulled away, I could see the Queen was beaming from across the room. I assumed the Queen had forgotten Ben, because she was back together with Brian, but I didn’t understand why I had to keep playing games with Brian.
“I’ll see you later,” Brian lied as he smiled at me and left the room.
The Queen sat on the couch completely naked as she dismissed the others. She didn’t bother to cover up and asked me to be seated as if her nudity was completely ordinary. I sat down, but did everything I could to avoid looking at her as we talked.
“I see Brian is very fond of you,” she smiled.
“Yeah, we get along,” I lied. Then I said, “I see the two of you are together again.”
“Oh…here and there. He’s wonderful in bed…but quite a bore actually. I have been seeing another vampire companion.”
I pretended to be interested in sex life just to pry, “I thought you were seeing Ben.”
“Oh him,” she frowned. A silly smile grew on her face, “I like my men to fall down at my knees.” She frowned again, “Ben was such a lightweight. Only seconds after I enchanted him with magic, he could hardly stand up.” She giggled, “I don’t know what you see in him, but you can have him back.” I wanted to sigh in relief, but I held back. “You can have both Ben and Brian, they both seem to fall to their knees for you.”
I giggled as if I thought she was funny, but in reality I was relived that Ben and I didn’t have to keep our love a secret.
I scrunched my nose and said, “I think I prefer Ben. I find Brian such a bore too.” I shook my head and rolled my eyes.
She laughed and said, “If that is what you wish. I always find it best to have multiple suitors to call upon. But if Ben makes your toes curl…”
I felt like I was going to be sick, but I humored her.
Finally she grew tired and decided it was time for me to leave, I couldn’t have run from the room quick enough.
During the other visits, the Queen wanted to hear about my life and if I was enjoying my residence at the castle. Every time I met with her she made a point to discuss her sex life and ask about mine. She constantly tried to set me back up with Brian or another prized vampire. Each time, I had to convince her that Ben was “making my toes curl” and I couldn’t handle any more sex. She was always pleased with my answers and allowed me to stay with Ben, but she seemed a bit jealous by my wild—yet made-up sex life. I could see that the Queen was very envious of my relationship with Ben.
Before the end of each visit, she never forgot to ask if we were ready to bring my mother back. I knew she looked forward to a new family member to have under her control.
My nineteenth birthday came and went. The week after my birthday, the six of us fairies had spent an evening working on our magic. When we were through, Emerlee proudly announced, “I think we are ready to bring back your mother.”
Chapter 15
Almost an entire year had gone by and we were still prisoners of the majestic realm of Sidhe. The six of us had been working hard on our magical skills and we were ready to bring my mother back to life. The six of us, Roger, my aunt, Sadie, Emerlee, Elona and I would do the magic together.
The Queen and several other fairies would be nearby if we needed help. Roger would be doing the heavy lifting, but it would take quite a bit of potion, dust and magic to bring my mother back without consequence. Roger would open the veil for a brief moment, while we pulled my mother out.
The safest way to pull my mother out was to find her with my blood. There were several concerns with the magic. While my blood would be the best way to find my mother, my blood would also find my biological father as well. My aunt Allison would use her magic to try and block my father from coming through. If he made it through the veil, we would have several vampires standing by to take him to the dungeon, but our hope was to keep him trapped behind the veil of death forever.
Several souls lurked near the edge of the veil, just waiting for it to open. The remaining fairies would hold back the other souls and keep them from coming through, until Roger pulled my mother from the veil.
The magic would be complicated and there were many loopholes, but the six of us spent several months planning and creating a failsafe for every variable. The magic was dangerous, and there was a good chance it would cause injury, but we all agreed it would be worth it in the end. It was time to bring my mother home.
Ben and the other fairies met in the main hall. Everyone had several bottles of potion and dust on hand. When we arrived, the Queen was already waiting in hall along with ten of her top vampires and several fairies. Along with her help, the Queen was eager to watch us preform a very dangerous spell and meet my mother.
Emerlee placed several candles in a circle as I used my magic to bring them to life. One of the vampires hit the lights, and the room was lit with an eerie candlelit glow. Roger stepped in the middle of the candlelit ring, and the rest of us circled around him. The vampires gathered around us, and the Queen took a seat in on a chair nearby.
From only a few feet away, I could see the apprehension grow on Roger’s face, and his hands were trembling in fear. I wondered what he was more afraid of, the magic or meeting his daughter. Like Roger, my confidence began to fade, and suddenly my heart began to pound. In only moments, I would be meeting my mother.
I stepped forward and handed Roger a small tube of my blood. His hands were shaking as he took the tube from my hands. “You can do this,” I whispered.
As his hands trembled profusely and sweat began to drip from his face, Roger poured my blood into a bowl in the center of the circle. Afterwards, he slowly took a drink of red potion, before sprinkling purple dust over the blood. There was a loud bang the moment the dust hit the blood, and small sparks burst from the bowl. Everyone jumped, and my heart raced from the sound. I was growing nervous, as I would begin to use my magic soon.
The four fairies and I grasped hands and shut our eyes as Roger began chanting loudly. I could hear the lack of confidence in his tone, but he kept going. His voice grew louder and louder, and his confidence grew as the magic began to work. As Roger chanted loud, I could feel heat emitting from the middle of the circle. Finally there was another loud bang and the room went completely dark.
As we released our hands, we each took a drink from our bottle of potion. I instantly felt sick and very lightheaded. As I opened my eyes, I saw a small portal begin to form; it was similar to the one that took us from Pine Lake. The portal emitted a glow, lighting the dark room and making a whooshing noise.
“The veil is open!” Roger yelled, “Keep anyone from escaping.”
We reached our hands towards the portal, trying to hold the souls in place. As soon as I reached forward, I could feel the souls trying to spill out. I felt immense pressure weighting on my arms. I jerked around, using my powers and energy to keep them in. The weight of the souls were heavy and I could feel th
em crushing down on me. Emerlee was gasping and Elona was shrieking. It felt like my body was being crushed. As I kept trying to hold the weight, I could feel blood gushing from my nose and dripping from my mouth. Sweat began pouring from my forehead.
“Hurry!” Sadie screamed.
“I’m trying, I almost have her!” Roger yelled.
“He’s fighting me!” My aunt screamed as blood dripped from her nose. Her eyes were bloodshot.
The Queen stood up and ran to the circle and several of her companions followed behind. They pushed their hands forward to help take some of the weight, but they were very little help as souls continued crushing down upon us.
“My God! He’s coming, he’s coming…I can’t hold him back!” My aunt screamed. Blood was pouring from her nose and mouth, and she was white as a ghost.
As my aunt screamed, my pain was growing worse and I could hardly hang out. Blood was running down my face, and the room was spinning around. I didn’t know how much longer I could hold on. I clenched my jaw and groaned in pain.
“I have her!” Roger yelled as two bodies fell from the portal and it instantly shut. I instantaneously felt relief as the weight of the souls diminished. Through blurred vision, I saw two bodies lying on the ground near Roger and several vampires running towards them. Only seconds later, I collapsed in a puddle of my own blood.
When I opened my eyes, I was laying in the infirmary. The beds were full of others. I looked around and saw Ben was by my side. “What happened?” I asked.
He smiled, “You did it! She’s back!” Then he frowned, “I have some bad news, Miranda. First of all, everyone is injured...bad. Everyone has internal bleeding, concussions, broken bones...even the Queen took a hit. You’re in bad shape Miranda and you’re going to be in the infirmary for quite some time. You lost a lot of blood.”
“That’s okay,” I smiled, “I cannot wait to meet my mother.”
“I have more bad news,” he said, “Allison couldn’t hold Taylor back, he came through with your Mother.”
My heart raced, and I didn’t know what to think. I was scared of him, but at the same time, he was blood and I would have a chance to meet him.
“They have him in the dungeon; his power is useless down there. He can’t hurt us, but when everyone is better, we need to make a decision about him. Likely that decision will fall upon you.” He quickly smiled once more, “I’ll get your Mom!”
Ben walked away and my heart started pounding even harder. My Mother was only alive a few months of my life and I had never really met her. I had been waiting months for this moment, yet I was terrified. It was happening so fast. A few moments later, Ben returned with a colossal grin on his face. A beautiful young woman was standing by his side. She was tiny and had curly blond hair and green eyes. She looked like my aunt Allison but about twenty years younger. She looked only a few years older than me. She was smiling as wide as Ben.
“Miranda, this is your Mother,” Ben said.
As soon as Ben introduced me, I could see tears falling from my mother’s eyes. As I watched her tears fall, I could feel the tears draining from my own eyes. She quickly reached her hand out to rub my shoulder. Ben quietly walked away so I could be alone with my mom.
“You’re so young!” is all I could manage to say.
She laughed and said, “Souls don’t age.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I’m fine. I’m worried about you though. Are you okay? Ben said you lost a lot of blood.”
“I’m not sure. I just woke up.” I tried to move, but I was very sore. “How long have I been out?”
“About twenty-four hours I think. It’s been a bit fuzzy since I came back.”
I was stunned that our magic worked. “Mom...I just can’t believe…it’s really you!”
“You have grown to be such a beautiful woman Miranda. Last time I saw you, you were only a few months old. And Ben! I can’t believe...the two of you! He’s wonderful...I’m so happy for you. Miranda how is your Dad?”
“He’s really good...well he was last I saw him. We were taken away last year. He must be a mess; it’s just been the two of us all these years. How much do you know?”
“Allison filled me in on almost everything. She told me about Roger and the Queen. I guess this is quite a lot for all of us to take in. I do wish your dad wasn’t alone.”
I looked around for a moment and whispered, “Mom, we have to get back to Pine Lake, but I wanted to bring you back first.”
“I know…” she said looking distressed, “I know. Don’t you worry about this Sweetie. Let me worry about this now. Just get better. I’ll let you rest. I’ll check in on you later.” She brushed her fingers through my hair and walked away.
Shortly after my mom walked away, Ben came back by my side. He sat down next to my bed and smiled at me as I shut my eyes and fell asleep.
I was stuck in the infirmary for a few days, but I healed very fast from my mother and aunt’s healing chants. After my time in the infirmary, Ben asked me to move in his room for good. We had been together over a year and our relationship was growing very serious. My mother took my old room to be nearby.
I spent a lot of time with Ben, but also with my mother, to make up for nineteen years of time missed. Not only had my mom returned the same age as the day she died, but when she was killed, the vampire in her was lost as well. She seemed quite trilled to no longer be a vampire, but was shocked to find out she was a quarter fairy.
After several days of getting to know my mom, I decided it was time to meet my biological father, despite the horrible things the others said about him. Everyone said he was evil, but he was still my blood. I needed to at least see him, even if I had nothing to say. I had never even seen a photo of him. If nothing else, I wanted to see what he looked like. Ben offered to accompany me, but I wanted to do this alone.
I had never been to the dungeon before and was a bit nervous of what I would find. Emerlee escorted me, and Ben came down with us. We took the portal to the dungeon, but it only took us to the entrance. There were two guards immediately outside the portal. Emerlee nodded and they nodded in return.
Just as I imagined, the dungeon was dimly lit and grungy. The walls and floor were made of concrete, and the air was damp with a rotting odor. I cringed at the stench, but carried on.
We walked forward, down a long dark stone hall. As we walked, I saw water dripping from the ceiling and running down the sides of the walls. An occasional sconce, covered in cobwebs, lit a spooky glow. We finally reached the end of a hall, where two more guards blocked the way. Like before, they nodded at Emerlee and we continued on our way.
We entered another hall with a staircase cascading to below. We could hear the sound of the prisoners chattering from the bottom. As we walked down the stairs, a light breeze brushed through my hair, and a chill ran down my spine. I watched a massive spider crawl down the wall, and a rat scurried in front of my feet. I shrieked, and my heart began to race as I clung to Ben. Ben wrapped his arms around me to ease my anguish. The dungeon was as creepy as I could ever imagine.
The three of us carefully walked down several bumpy stone stairs, before finally reaching the bottom where four additional guards stood. They nodded at us and we continued on our way. We were now in a hall full of cells. There was a disgusting stench filling the air; it reeked of rotten food and body odor. As we passed by each cell, an occasional prisoner yelled our way.
“Just ignore them,” Emerlee whispered.
As we continued on our way, a tiny woman caught my eye. She had blond hair and looked to be in her early thirties. She looked to be very pretty, but she was covered in filth. Her very long hair was greasy and tangled, and I could smell her stench from across the hall. She had a kind voice as she yelled out to us, “Don’t trust her. Don’t trust my sister.”
“Don’t worry about her,” Emerlee said without hesitation. “Follow me.”
The woman caught my attention, so I asked, “Who is that?”
“I wouldn’t worry about her. She’s crazy,” Emerlee replied gruffly and continued on.
Emerlee’s response made it clear she didn’t want to answer any more questions. But the blond woman had struck my curiosity.
We continued walking until we reached a cell towards the end of the hall. Emerlee stopped and pointed towards it.
“Do you want me to go with you?” Ben asked.
I shook my head and began to walk forward.
“Don’t get too close,” Emerlee cried.
As I walked towards the cell, I saw a man sitting on a cot; he had dark blond hair and blue eyes. He looked a bit like me, but it was obvious I favored my mother. When he saw me walking over, he stood up.
“What can I do for you?” he asked in charming manner.
“Are you...err...err…Taylor?” I asked nervously.
“Yes, Can I help you?” he flashed a smile.
“You are...my fa..fa...” I stuttered. I was terrified and couldn’t say the word.
“Well, now. Spit it out.” He smiled.
“Father,” I said softly.
His smiled grew, “Well now, how many years has it been?”
“I’m nineteen.” I replied.
He didn’t seem to know what to say, but in all truth, he didn’t seem bad. My mom had warned me about him before I headed to the dungeon. She told me he could be very charming, but not to let him fool me.
“Well aren’t you beautiful!” He announced. Then his smile grew even larger, “Just like your mother!”
Fear washed through my mind as my mother’s warnings played in my brain. I suddenly remembered everything Ben had told me about how Taylor had kidnapped and drugged my dad. My knees felt weak and I began to sweat. As I wiped my brow, my forehead was damp and cool. The room was beginning to spin and I was freaking out. He was my blood, but I was terrified of this man.
“Well..I...I...I’ve got to go now. It was nice to...umm...meet you.” I stuttered, suddenly feeling full of fear and anxiety.
The Portal to Sidhe: Book 1 Page 17