by Alexia Purdy
“I suppose you have a million questions for me, Shade.” Lana took a deep breath as she motioned them towards the house. “Might as well come in and make yourselves at home.” She headed up the stairs and into the farmhouse with everyone following suit in her wake.
They shuffled into the house where the living room was cozy, to say the least. Soft floral couches lined one side of the wainscotings of the wall. Worn and smooth wooden tables hugged the sides of the couches. Oil lamps sat unlit on them, for there was still bright daylight streaming through the sheer curtains lining the dusty windowpanes. Shade sat down on one of the overstuffed chairs, looking around the room. She studied the pictures that hung randomly across the wood walls. Pictures of a young boy with long black hair flowing down his back with an intense, mischievous look on his face. He looked like Lana in a way; Shade assumed he must be her father. The other pictures showed other men and woman, none looking familiar to her at all. She wondered who they were, and if she was related to them.
Her excitement fluttered in her stomach as she took all of it in. Even with it being in exile, the house looked quite comfy. As she scanned the room, she stopped to see her brother fidgeting on one the sofas while sitting next to Soap. His frown gave away his disappointment at not being related to Shade’s grandmother. She was sure his share of questions was just as long as hers.
Lana returned with glasses and a jug of lemonade. Watching her serve her friends made her think how much more like a grandmother she seemed than the Southern Realm Seelie Queen. She wondered how long she had been exiled, and why she could not escape. Lana made her way around the room, handing a glass to Shade and smiling. Sinking into a wooden chair that stood alone by the opposite side of the room, she scanned all of them and waited patiently as they drank their drinks.
“Well, I suppose we might as well get this over with. Ask away, Shade. I’ll answer anything you want to know.” She crossed her legs, placing her hands on her knee.
Shade flushed, her mind became blank under pressure. Gulping down the last sip of her drink, she breathed in deeply as one swam around in her mind.
“Lana, er, uh Grandmother? I’m not sure what to call you yet.” She paused, waiting for an answer.
“You can call me Lana. I know I’m not much of a grandmother to you yet.” She grinned and waited for another question.
“Right, ok, Lana, um, well I want to know where my father is and if he is dead like I’ve been told. Would you also know why my mother never told me about him?” She paused, not wanting to run ramped in a stream of questions.
“Well, Shade. I can’t say why your mother never told you. She’s probably suffering from some form of memory loss from a spell that I’m pretty sure your father would have done to her. Maybe to protect you both. Seeing that he is dead, I don’t blame him for doing it. He died at the hands of that wretched Queen Aveta. I have wanted to avenge him for so long, but I see that it will be quite impossible for me to do it.” Her mouth formed a tight line of tension as she thought of her son. Shade did not let the pain that seeped into Lana’s face go unnoticed. Just as quickly as it had manifested, Lana seemed to realize the slip as she breathed in and straightened in her chair.
“Um, what am I? What kind of Fey am I? My powers grow the more time I spend in Faerie, but no one can tell me what they are, what I can do with them, or how I can control them, and I really need to know.” She waited almost impatiently as she watched her grandmother smile and nod.
“Yes, of course you don’t know what you are. I’m part Changeling. I can change my appearance into anything I’d want to. I am also part human, like you. Your Grandfather was full Sidhe, the most powerful and beautiful of all Faeries. He was King of the Southern Realm before your father.” Her voice cracked for a moment, the memory flooding her eyes with pain. She gulped down as she continued. “He is also dead, poisoned with Iron by Aveta.” She sighed, rubbing her temples as she leaned forward. Shade wanted to comfort her but the unfamiliarity of her grandmother kept her from rushing over. Lana looked back up, the pain still in her eyes but more steadied.
“Sorry, I still miss him, even after so long. He was my only love.” She gave a weak smile but motioned her to continue with the questions.
“It’s ok, thanks for telling me. I was wondering if you could show me how to use my powers. I haven’t a clue how.” Shade waited, watching Lana as she nodded.
“Yes, of course. It won’t be easy, seeing that you are not a young child anymore. But if you work hard, I can show you everything you can do with your magic.” Lana stood up at that moment, passing her gaze around the room, studying the warriors.
“We’ll get started right away. No time to waste. You’re all welcome to stay here as long as you need. I have several rooms to spare. I’ll take you to them first, and then we can get started. Shall we?” She motioned to the group as everyone voiced their agreement. They shuffled quickly behind the Seelie Queen, following her up the stairs.
Chapter Thirteen
SHADE’S GRANDMOTHER WAS a graceful, thin lady. Her waist-length silver-white hair swayed softly in the wind, and her big brown eyes glinted ever so slightly when amused. Shade thought about Lana’s wrists, so thin and bony they looked almost as frail as sugar sticks. Her skin was soft and thin with some wrinkles around the creases. Her face was smooth though; only faint lines of laughter crinkled when she smiled and became noticeable around her mouth and eyes.
No one Shade had ever met was like her. She seemed to be able to soothe and calm Shade with just a word or a stroke of her hand on her face. Her hugs felt like hot chocolate on a cold January day after playing too long in the snow. Her clothes fit loose but elegantly, as if flowing around her in clouds. She was the essence of a calm spring morning under a shady tree.
Lana told Shade once that she was just the same. Her magic would embrace a calm and warmth that would extend to all whom she loved. Lana warned her that by not being a full-blooded Faerie, she would not be immortal. Like Shade, she was part Fey and part human. Her mortality weighed on her like a dreaded task waiting to be done. She did not age in human years but not too far from it. She could live maybe two lifetimes instead of one with Faerie blood inside her, yet would it be enough? Shade had just gotten to know her grandmother, and felt like there had not been enough time to get to know her more. She knew Lana wouldn’t be around too much longer, but what could she say? I wish I had met her sooner, but that is not how things go.
Lana told her that things didn’t happen the way they should, especially in Faerie. She would have liked to have had more time to train Shade in the arts of Changeling magic and such. There were also so many stories she would love to tell her about her life, her past, and her son Verenis. She had tales of his adventures, life in Faerie, and life abroad in the human world.
Lana taught Shade a variety of tricks and added to her stock of Fey magic every day with her witty lessons or assignments. She knew that even in this lifetime, there would not be enough time in the world to know everything that she could have learned from her grandmother.
*****
THE DAY WAS shining, and the crisp warm rays of the sun beamed down and fed the greenery with its light. Shade noticed that around her grandmother’s house, it always seemed warm and spring-like; fall and winter never seemed to come around the corner in Faerie. This day was a tiny bit different. The leaves had turned color and filled the breezes with floating masses of them. They were clogging up the edges by the trees and dark corners of the house. She realized after the few weeks since coming there, seeing the fall come to pass in this isolated area of Faerie worried her. Something was different. Something about it scared her, and made the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. A feeling of dread clung to the trees, leaves, and the cool autumn breezes. She couldn’t say exactly what had changed, but something had.
Shade joined her grandmother, who was sitting on the worn steps of the back porch. She had her shawl tossed across her shoulders, and she was staring out in
to the distant trees and horizon. Lost to whatever passed behind her eyes. Their color was a brilliant, melded, shade of brown that completely passed for human eyes. Her wistful hair floated about her like a halo of silver and white, making Shade wonder what she thought about when her face sank so deeply in concentration, and seemed so lost to this world.
“Are you alright, Lana?” Shade asked. “You seem concerned about something.” Shade placed her lemonade between her feet on one of the wooden steps. White paint peeled up and flaked around them.
Lana sighed and shook her head like she was shaking off a bad dream. Her face lit up as she turned towards Shade.
“My end time is near, and I have yet to show you so much. I have one lesson left to teach you that must be done. The rest I have collected and mapped out for you in an ampoule of memory that I have made, for when I am gone.” Lana said, dangling a glistening glass ampoule, filled with blood-red fluid. “I know you will be able to follow all my instructions and use it all for good. I hope you know how proud of you I am, Shade. I never thought I’d be blessed with such a wonderful grand-daughter, especially having had a wayward son like mine!” She laughed and threw her head back blinking up at the blue and white sky.
“Here,” whispered Lana.
She handed Shade the beautiful glass vial, complete with a twist-on jeweled stopper. The red fluid shined and glinted in the sun. The liquid seemed to glitter in the light, swirling like smoke billowing from a cigarette, and felt heavy in her hand.
“What exactly is this, Grandma?” Shade asked.
“It is all memory, my child. My memories. For when I am gone. Only then do I want you to open it and drink it. It will give you all that remains of me and my powers. My life will be part of yours, and so will my essence. It is the only way I could think of to help you since I have so little time to give you all that I can. It has everything you will need to live as a Fey. I pray that it will help you in your darkest hours.”
“Why do you talk like that Grandma, you are not dying yet! Is there something going on I should know about?” Shade asked.
Lana sighed and looked down at the peeling paint under her loafers. She closed her eyes and shook her head, turning back to Shade, as a glowing fire burned behind her eyes.
“Shade, I don’t know how to explain it I just know there is no more time. Please, just believe me. Swear you will take the memories and learn from them all that you can. Promise me that.” Lana beckoned and waited as Shade agreed. Fear glistened in her eyes as she slipped the ampoule necklace around her neck to rest next to the water vial of Santiran Water. “I have one more lesson for you. One that will change a lot for you.”
Shade gulped and stared at Lana’s wise, old eyes. She nodded, feeling the dread flowing all around them. Unable to shake it off.
“Yes Grandma, I promise. I will learn the best that I can.”
Her grandmother motioned her to the yard. Her arms straight out and her head tilted to the sky. She looked back at her as her arms moved back down. “Child, you must know that you come from a long line of powerful Faery women. Our line is one where only a very select few can change their appearance. We can mimic other Fey, humans, and anything else you come across in this world. I don’t mean glamour. I mean transformation. A change so quick and precise, you could fool a mother to think you are her child, and a child to think you are its mother. Fey of our line can shift and change into anyone you can think of. Anyone you want to look like.” Lana paused, taking in a deep breath as she continued.
“It is magic, but one that is hard to detect. No one can even see it with the naked eye. No Faery would be able to tell the difference, except you. Do you understand, Shade? We are shape-shifters of the rarest kind. You can do it too, but I must help you unlock this magic from within you. For it is kept so deep inside, even you cannot find and use it without help.”
Lana’s statements made Shade’s jaw drop. She pulled it closed and continued to look at her grandmother while she processed what Lana had just said. Shade nodded, even though it did not make much sense to her.
How is that possible? How could I have such magic inside me and not know it? How?
Lana smiled at Shade, her hand on her shoulder for reassurance. “Now, close your eyes,” Lana instructed. “Breathe in and out. Feel your heart beating. Listen to its rhythm, a deep booming drum. Try to imagine my face. Remember what I look like. Remember each wrinkle, the flow of my hair, my voice, and my fingers. Now, try to create a shroud-like mist around you. Let it tighten along your skin as it morphs your body into mine. Imagine staring at yourself in a mirror and seeing me staring back at you. Feel your heart beat and let it flow with your magic. Now, open your eyes and tell me what you see?”
Shade? What is it, what do you see?
*****
SHADE SNAPPED BACK into the moment, her memory of the lessons with her grandmother fading from her mind. The house was the same, but the wind that flowed about in gusts and made her hair float around her in a halo wasn’t. The weeks spent here had morphed from sunny skies to a darker kind of weather. The air was changing rapidly; they were coming, along with the cold bite of winter. Something was very wrong.
She stood and dashed into the house. Lana! Where did she go?
“Grandma! Where are you?” Shade ran around the staircase to the hall where her grandmother stood. She was frail and looked so much thinner than when they had first met just weeks before. She now looked like she was made of twigs and linen. Shade went to stand in front of her near the old wooden staircase.
“You have to go now, or they will find you here. Go!” Lana motioned her to the door; fear hovering in her multifaceted brown eyes. Lana had warned them that the Unseelie troops would eventually come. It had taken them some time to do so, but it was time now. Shade shook her head, looking behind her to all her friends–Soap, Camulus, and Andraste–who were now up and ready to dash. Weapons were strapped on, and swords were out in defense mode. All of them were waiting for her by the door, keeping a lookout at the front windows.
“You have to come,” Shade said urgently. “We can save you! Please, you have to come now!” The desperation leaked out of her voice like a whimper as she held her frail grandmother’s hand and tugged, but the old woman did not budge. Lana turned to her as tears escaped Shade’s eyes and drained down her cheeks.
“No, Shade. I am too old to run. I cannot withstand those perils anymore. You must leave now. I remain bound to this place, and am imprisoned here forever. I have withered here, but they will never have my soul. I can no longer go anywhere else. I must stay here until I die. You have no idea how happy I am to have met you before my end.” Lana’s face filled with joy as she smiled to her.
Shade shook her head, sobs shaking her body as she protested. “No, you can still change. Change into your younger self, and then you can escape with us. We can do it. We just haven’t tried hard enough. Hurry, please!” Her last words spilled out, pleading without hope. She moved her sword hilt aside and tugged at the zipper on her pack. Something in her bag of tricks had to help her with an unbinding spell. Where is that magic scroll book Ilarial gave me not so long ago?
Lana smiled. A look of calm masked the sadness within. She held her arms out and hugged Shade tight. The embrace was still strong, and her comfort still warmed Shade like a warm cup of tea in winter. “Let me go, Shade. Let me go. It is your time now. The wind is fierce, but I will not be cold. The night grows darker, but I will not be afraid. The Summerlands are closer than ever, and their warmth bleeds into me as we speak. Do not be afraid for I will always be with you. In your heart, and in your mind, my child. Remember the memories, the ampoule I gave you. Drink in the essence when you most need it, and I will not die. I will always live on in you. Remember, I love you.” Lana loosened her embrace and let her go.
Shade walked to the living room where her sobs leaked out, and she sank onto the couch. She cried for all she was losing and all that had been found in her time in Faerie. Soap placed a hand
on her shoulder as he moved in front of her. Staring intently into her eyes he told her; without words, of the need to leave. She nodded towards him, and with her last tears dripping off her chin, she got to her feet. Turning towards the door, she gave a nod towards her friends to go. Her face tight and reddened.
Shade joined them as they walked on out, without turning around. Her pack and sword securely on her back. She knew her grandmother was resting in her comfy, overstuffed chair. Shade could just feel it. She could almost see the smile playing across Lana’s face in her mind’s eye as the woman who had taught her more about herself and her magic than anyone else, closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep. One that she would never again wake from.
The wind howled and the sky darkened as they made their way into the forest. The group ran down the slope and into the trees that surrounded her grandmother’s prison grounds. Shade kept pace just behind Soap as Camulus yelled for them to get to safer ground and away from the clearing. Her hot tears cooled on her cheeks as she felt the bite of the wind freeze them on her face. Andraste paused in front of them, waiting for the group to catch up as he waved frantically for them to go faster. His arms stopped mid-air as a now horrified look froze across his face in. His eyes reflecting the flickers of orange and yellow fire that now burned behind them.
“Bloody hell. What’s going on now?” He yelled as the rest of the group came to a stop, catching their breaths and turning to see what was happening. Shade bent down, gasping for breath as she let her head tilt towards the house up on the slope. It now stood engulfed in a raging fire. Her eyes widened in sheer horror and disbelief.