“Peter, I swear, everything I did was for your own—”
“Do not lie to me, Saraid! If you had succeeded in putting her to death, you wouldn’t have merely got rid of her. You would have cursed me as—”
“I didn’t think you would survive!” The doe-like expression was gone from her face, and her fists were clenched at her sides. “I was doing the kingdom a favor!”
“So what if I had died? Who were you going to marry then? If the only eligible heir was dead, what good would that do…”
She looked away from him as the horrible realization came upon him.
“Oh, no, Saraid. You weren’t truly planning to—”
“Far worse things have happened to kings than young women running to comfort them.”
“So,” Peter said, trying to ignore the foolish pain at this revelation, “it truly was all about the throne.”
“Oh, don’t act so high and mighty as though you were the victim in all of this.” She rolled her eyes and went to the edge of the balcony to stare down. “You were never in love with me. I was just a pretty plaything to pass the time with. The moment you realized you were in love with her, you had no intention of marrying me.”
Frustration made Peter’s muscles ache as he itched for something to throw or hit. But deep down, he knew he hated her words so much because they were true.
“Look,” he ran his hand through his hair, “I chose to speak privately so we could part ways decently. I don’t wish to quarrel.”
“So you do care for me.”
Peter ignored her. “I have a caravan being packed with your belongings as we speak. You’re leaving first thing in the morning.” When she didn’t respond after a moment, Peter looked up.
Saraid looked thoughtful. “I can’t help but wonder,” her voice turned to honey, and Peter stiffened, “what your betrothed thinks of the mercy you’re showing me?”
“I’m not putting Antony to death, either.”
“Ah, but he’s not been banished like I have.”
“I haven’t yet decided what to do with him.”
It was Saraid’s turn to ignore him. “It must be difficult for her to see me and think of all the ways we enjoyed one another’s company before she came along. Eight years is a long time.” She placed her arms around his shoulders.
“Saraid, leave it be.” Peter peeled her arms off and stepped away, but she followed.
“Admit it, you couldn’t bear to execute me. I mean too much to you.”
Peter faced her warily, backing up again until he reached the balcony’s wall. This had been a terrible idea.
“After all,” she said, taking another step toward him, “how will the people know whom to believe when I tell them of the way you’ve treated me?”
“What are you talking about? When?” Peter racked his memory for any bit of mistreatment he might have shown her.
“Right now, up here on this lonely balcony.” She smiled like a cat. “Isn’t it against the law for a royal to act unfaithfully to a spouse? Or even a betrothed?” Her smile grew. “All I have to do is scream.”
She reached out to touch his chest, but when her hand was inches from it, she let out a little cry. She jerked her hand back and examined it.
Peter nearly trembled with relief when Katy suddenly appeared behind her. Marching forward with a sense of purpose, she brushed past Saraid and stood beside him. He’d never been so relieved to have someone’s arm on his. He might have considered Saraid’s strange cry a chance occasion except for the way Katy’s eyes gleamed.
Before he had time to try to explain his unfortunate predicament and plead his innocence, Katy had turned to him and grabbed his face in her hands. Without a word, she yanked him down and placed the most passionate kiss on his lips that he had ever felt. While the kiss itself wasn’t really that long, Peter felt in that short moment as though the world had been turned upside down. When Katy eventually let go and faced Saraid, Peter couldn’t tear his eyes away from her. Never had he imagined his sweet little friend to be capable of that.
He wasn’t above pleading for more.
Katy, however, wove her arm through his elbow and smiled sweetly at Saraid. “In case you were wondering, the exile was my idea. Enough blood has been spilled on my account. But if I ever see your face again inside the city, or anywhere nearby,” her smile disappeared, “I will make sure that you are very sorry.” Her voice was stone cold. “Agreed?”
Saraid stared at Katy for a long time, still clutching her hand to her chest. Peter wasn’t sure what was spoken in the long gaze that they shared, but he was rather sure he didn’t want to know. Finally, Saraid gave a faint nod and turned to go. When she was finally gone, Peter looked at Katy.
“Thank you. That was quite impressive, and if I’m honest, more than a little terrifying.”
Katy raised one eyebrow and gave him a saucy smile. “Just you remember that then when you get in the mind to do something awful.”
“I’ve never done anything awful.”
“Like that time you snuck a squirrel into my bed?”
Peter pulled her close again and began to lean down. “I think,” he said in a rough voice, “I’m going to be too busy enjoying my wife to spend time doing such silly things as that.”
“What on earth could you possibly be busy with?”
Peter pulled her into his chest and bent his head, his words spoken against her lips. “Take a guess.”
“Sire.”
A small curse slipped out as Peter reluctantly let go of Katy and looked up to glare at the servant standing at the edge of the balcony. “What now?”
The servant paled slightly and cleared her throat. “My apologies, my prince, but we have…unexpected visitors who are insisting upon meeting you.”
Peter straightened. “Visitors?”
The servant, a gangly young woman, nodded, and her eyes flicked to Katy. “Three of them. They say they’re from the Second and Fifth Isles. They wish to speak with you…immediately.”
Peter’s annoyance fled and he gawked down at Katy in wonder. She looked just as shocked as he felt. He shook his head to clear it. “Well then, I suppose we will go meet these visitors.”
“And one more thing, Your Majesty?”
“Yes?”
“The visitors? Two of them are fairies.”
As they approached the throne room, they found a scene Peter should have anticipated. Dozens of guards and soldiers were crowded around the door. Some shouted and others shoved. Tomas stood as the main sentry, guarding the doors, which were still closed.
“Now I warned you, get back!” he called. “The prince has decreed that their kind is allowed here now, and I suggest you all return to your posts!”
“But there’s two of them!” a younger guard called out. “Who knows what darkness they’ve come to do?”
“They might want to finish us the way the last one did!”
Katy colored slightly but didn’t falter as they walked. Peter held her hand more tightly.
“Where is the prince?” the argumentative guard shouted. “What if they’ve killed him already?”
“The prince,” Peter bellowed from down the hall, “is here and will punish anyone present who isn’t gone in ten seconds.”
Men began to scramble, and though their disapproval hung thick in the air, Peter strode up to Tomas and stood there until they were all gone.
“I was about to send up smoke signals if you weren’t here soon.” Tomas shook his head as he turned to unlock the doors. “They showed up in the courtyard and simply walked into the castle. You can imagine what kind of uproar that caused. Thought Dom and I might lose a few limbs getting them inside without a fight.”
Peter clapped his knight on the shoulder. “Thank you.” He glanced at the closed doors. “Keep everyone out until I call for you.”
“Will do. Dom’s in there now with them. But sire?” Tomas caught Peter’s arm as Peter put his hand on the door. “Do be careful.”
&nbs
p; Peter took a deep breath and nodded.
Despite the warning, Peter nearly lost his breath when he and Katy walked into the throne room. There they were. Two fairies and one human male. The fairies, a man and woman, each had markings like Katy’s around their upper arms and across their foreheads. Instead of leaves, however, the woman had red swirls that looked like flowers, or fire maybe, and the man had what appeared to be brown sticks. Branches, perhaps? The human man looked absolutely ordinary, aside from his expensive clothing, which for some reason made Peter feel better.
What Peter wasn’t expecting, however, were their returning stares, and it took him a moment to remember that he no longer looked completely human, either.
A sharp word about common courtesy was on his tongue as he finished what he thought was an appropriate head bow, but just before he opened his mouth, he felt a slight pressure on his elbow. He glanced sideways to see Katy’s gentle smile with just enough of a glance to warn him.
She knew him better than he knew himself sometimes.
“Welcome,” he said instead. “We are honored by your presence. I must admit, however, that it’s a bit of a surprise.” He gestured at where repairs were being made on some of the tall windows Tearlach’s hailstones had taken out during the battle. “Following a recent...unfortunate incident, we’ve dispensed with many of our more formal customs until our kingdom is more at rights.”
“We are aware,” the woman fairy said, “which is precisely why we chose to come now.”
Aware? How much, precisely, were they aware of? Peter tried again. “I am Peter Kyran Readagh. My father was Christopher—”
“As I said, we are aware.” The woman looked at Katy. “Your recent events are the reason we were willing to break the silence.”
“And who exactly is we?” Peter snapped. Katy nudged him but he ignored her.
“I am Prince Hans the Fourth of the Fifth Isle. This is Dolan and Deirdre of the Second Isle, and we were sent on behalf of the Higher Chancel of the Six Isles,” the human said, drawing himself up to his full height, which was rather unimpressive.
The male fairy, who was nearly as tall as Peter and had long graying hair pulled back behind his neck, was studying Katy. “Tell me, child,” he said in a voice as ancient as the rocks themselves, “were you truly born in the autumn?”
Katy glanced at Peter before nodding. “I just had my twenty-first birthday.”
“It is her,” Dolan murmured.
“Of course it’s her,” Deirdre snapped.
“Look, I don’t wish to be rude,” Peter said, moving a little closer to Katy, “but what exactly are you here for?”
Deirdre, who had also been studying Katy, looked back up at him as though he were an impertinent child. “Now that you and your people are removing the more repugnant laws enacted by your line, we wish to welcome you back with the other isles. On a probationary status, of course.”
Katy stepped forward. “What would that entail?”
“To begin with, you would wait to be married so you could gain the Upper and Lower Chancels’ blessings. Then, when they have tried you, and if they’ve deemed you fit for marriage and inclusion at the King’s Isle, you may then marry and seek your hand at the Tree of Diadems.”
“The tree of what?” Peter asked, but she continued as though he hadn’t spoken.
“The meeting of the Higher Chancel takes place for one month every year on the King’s Isle. You will meet all the members of the Higher Chancel, which, should you be accepted, you will eventually join. The Higher Chancel includes rhins such as you, their spouses, and the heads of the five tribes. You will also meet the Lower Chancel, which is filled with heads of the clans and cities and such.”
“What exactly do you accomplish during such a month?” Peter asked.
Deirdre looked at him sharply. “You’ll find out when you get there.”
But Peter folded his arms and shook his head. “I don’t like going into situations I know nothing about.”
“Insolent boy,” Deirdre hissed. “You are the first to receive such an invitation in four centuries, and you act as an ungrateful—”
“Deirdre,” Dolan put his hand on her shoulder. “You’re not being fair.”
While the two fairies argued, Katy tugged on Peter’s sleeve. “I need to speak with you.” She looked at Prince Hans. “Will you excuse us for a moment?”
The foreign prince shrugged and rolled his eyes, so Katy pulled Peter a few steps back.
“We need to go.”
“Katy, you can’t be serious. We know nothing about them.”
“We also know nothing about ourselves!” Her blue eyes bored into his, and she leaned forward, grasping both his hands. “This is our chance to find out who we are and where we came from!”
“I don’t know—”
“She called you a rhin. Do you even know what that is?”
“Tearlach told me.”
“And you want to stake your knowledge on what Tearlach told you?”
Peter mashed his lips together and frowned down at her, but she continued.
“My power may be under control, but I still know nothing about it. And we don’t even know what your new power is. Or this, for that matter.” She brushed the edge of his jaw where the mark sat. “This is our chance!” She cast a look back at the windows behind her. “Not only for ourselves, but for our people! How can we rule them to our best abilities without knowing what we’re truly capable of?”
Peter balked. The last thing he wanted to do was leave his isle and join a group of royals. He could barely stand many of the nobles that surrounded him in his own court.
But the way she was looking at him now was nearly heartbreaking. And when was the last time she’d asked anything of him? How could he promise her the world and yet deny her this? As it was, she was already agreeing to share the torment of royal life with him forever.
“Very well.”
Katy threw her arms around him, then immediately peeled herself off. “Don’t fret about the isle,” she assured him. “We’ll leave it in Antony’s hands.”
“Antony? He’s supposed to be under punishment! I had to strip him of his knighthood!”
Katy grinned. “And what could be a worse punishment than being your head adviser?”
She had a point.
“Look.” The smile melted from her face. “Saraid was ambitious, but Antony genuinely cares for you. Believe it or not, I trust him to do what’s best, particularly now that we see eye-to-eye on the most important matter.”
“And that matter would be?”
“You.”
Peter groaned. It was all falling into place. A little too nicely, at that. Some part of Peter, deep down, still disagreed, and that small voice shouted out a million reasons not to go. But Katy’s argument was strong, and her expression was so hopeful that he couldn’t bear to disappoint her. So he placed a kiss on her forehead.
“Ask them how we get there.”
Katy beamed and bounced over to the others, and Peter couldn’t help smiling at her joy, despite the misgivings still swirling in his stomach.
After speaking to them for a few minutes, Katy bounded back to him. “We leave in a month but before we go, there’s something I need to show you.”
Epilogue
Directions
Peter slowed his horse as they neared the broken old house, but Katy let him be. Then, for a long time, he merely sat there in the saddle, staring at what had once been his home.
“Please wait here,” Katy instructed the two guards who had accompanied them. Then she rode down beside him to the house itself.
His face was a mixture of awe and pain, and his jaw was clenched so tightly that the muscles in his neck were straining. Katy’s own eyes pricked when she saw the way his had turned glassy.
“You’re sure we need to do this?” He turned to her.
She dismounted and held out her hand. “Let me show you.”
He hesitated a moment more befo
re dismounting as well and taking her outstretched hand.
Even more items had been stolen since Katy had gone, not that Peter needed them now. Still, the dusty old furniture had felt as if it were part of the scene. It had been easier at one point to close her eyes and pretend Sir Christopher was coming back. But now, without the uneven rectangular wooden table or the rocking chair that had sat in the corner, the memories suddenly felt like dreams. Katy squeezed Peter’s hand before letting go and darting down into her old hiding space.
“How often did you come here?” Peter asked in a distant voice.
“A lot at first,” Katy called up. The dust made her cough and sputter as she felt around in the dark. “Could you get me a torch or candle or something?”
A moment later, Peter handed down a dirty candle. Katy took it and was able then to quickly locate what she was looking for. When she climbed back up, Peter had moved into his father’s old room and was sitting on the bed, which was now little more than a moth-eaten mattress.
“Do you want to see your old room?” Katy went to sit next to him.
“No.” He looked at her and nodded at the paper in her hands. “What’s that?”
She handed him the sealed parchment. “I found this just before you came back. I’m not sure how it survived, but I thought maybe Atharo meant for you to have it.”
Peter’s strong hands trembled as he took the parchment. For a long moment, he merely fingered the wax seal. Then, in one smooth movement he’d broken it, and the dusty wax crumbled to the ground. Just as he began to unfold it, however, Katy grabbed his hand.
“Wait. Not here.”
Ten minutes later, they were sitting on their old rock on the edge of the stream that flowed past Emma’s cottage. The sun blanketed them with warm early-afternoon rays, the kind that made Katy want to curl up and take a nap. The familiar little bridge that crossed the stream had seen sturdier days, but Katy was glad no one had taken it down.
“No matter what was happening in town,” she said, hugging her knees to her chest, “I always felt safe here.”
Peter nodded. “We were invisible.” Then he looked back down at the parchment he still clutched. “When we’re out here, it still feels like he could step over that bridge at any moment to call us in for supper.”
The Autumn Fairy Page 45