by Unknown
“So I guess you won't need a ride back to the tracing tree,” I said to Dare.
“The tracing tree?” Arach looked over at me.
“Oh, I'm sorry,” I rolled my eyes. “The fey and their titles. The Great Tree at the End of the Road. Is that better?”
“Quite,” Arach huffed. “The Great Tree has guarded the entrance to Faerie for millenia and you want to give it a snippy name.”
“Snappy name,” I corrected.
“Indeed,” Arach shook his head.
“No, I won't need a ride,” Darius chuckled at our interaction. “I'll be staying awhile.” I gave him a look and then glanced pointedly at Guirmean. “Uh, that is, if King Guirmean doesn't mind me living within the Kingdom of Water?”
“What?” Guirmean looked up from his child and blinked. “Oh, well, since I won't be King for much longer, it really isn't up to me. Lorna will be ruling as Queen Regent until Morgan comes of age.”
“Still,” Darius pressed. “It would be nice to know you're okay with me being here. I don't want any bad blood between us, you being such good friends with my Tima and all.”
“Well, in that case,” Guirmean gave him a grin of respect, “you're welcome in my kingdom, lion. Just beware of the tides, they can tricky and change on you in a heartbeat.”
“I will,” Darius got serious, “and thank you.”
“Thank you, King Guirmean,” Lorna added, “and I hope you'll be very happy in Fire with Nora.”
“I will,” Guirmean pulled Nora into his side.
It was all so perfect but there was a tightness around Guirmean's eyes that didn't sit well with me. Giving up a kingdom was one thing, even living outside your element could probably be managed, but living apart from your child? That was going to be hard, especially for a faerie who'd most likely thought he'd never have children, much less royal children. This child was a miracle for both the kingdom and my friend.
“Tonight, we celebrate the birth of my son!” Guirmean declared. “I hope you'll all stay for dinner.”
The sound of trumpets went off as if on cue and we all happily accepted Guirmean's invitation.
Chapter Fourteen
Two days later, Arach and I headed for the Air Kingdom's Autumn Ball with an escort of phookas and red caps. Guirmean had remained in Water with Nora so they'd be arriving separately, leaving Arach and I alone in our carriage.
I looked down at my fey dress and smoothed the bright knit. It was a delicate weave overlaid on a silk underdress and the loosely knit fabric had autumn leaves caught within it. Not real leaves of course but silk fabricated ones which nonetheless looked almost indistinguishable from the real thing. The leaves swirled up from the hem, growing more sparse until there were just a few around my neckline, as if I were standing in a whirlwind of them. The fabric was dyed in autumn colors, which were conveniently close to our own House colors. It went from red at the top to orange and then yellow at the full hem. It was strapless and hugged my body to my hips, where it flared out.
I was also wearing the Fire crown, which matched the one Arach was wearing. I wanted to call him hot head every time I saw him wearing it but since I was wearing the gold flames on my head too, it seemed like a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Arach looked wonderful in a burnt orange tunic and brown leather pants. He had his jeweled sword on his belt(a present from our newest pixies who defected from Earth-Earth the kingdom not the planet) and his wedding band on his hand. I always took off the gold band I wore for my other men when I was in Faerie, as well as the emerald pendant Odin had given me, in respect of Arach's feelings. So the only jewelry I had on were my fey wedding rings, a ruby necklace, and my crown.
The trip to the Air Kingdom was uneventful but beautiful, as it always was. The ride up to their floating islands was the best part as usual. There was an amazing view of the realm about halfway up, before the cloud cover got too thick and the mists of Air enveloped us. You could see all of the Forgetful Forest as well as most of Water and Earth, though only a small bit of Fire since the mists blocked most of it from view. The Earth Kingdom was especially beautiful, with its sparkling crystal valley in the center of it. Too bad I wasn't on the best terms with its Queen.
The air got cooler and the scent of moisture filled my nose so I took one last sweeping look quickly, knowing those things heralded the mists. Sure enough, in mere seconds wisps of the stuff began to envelop the boat, swirling around us as we displaced it with our upward momentum.
After the view was hidden completely by the mist, I turned to face the Air Kingdom, looking up to see the underside of the central island as we approached it. Even from beneath, the Kingdom of Air was interesting. The craggy bottoms of the literal island chain showed exactly where those chains were anchored, as well as the huge mechanisms that were used to transport goods and un-winged fey between the islands. Sprays of water could be seen flowing over the sides of a few of the floating pieces of land, adding sparkling droplets and rainbows to the magical view. What I hadn't noticed before were the caves within the foundational stones of the islands.
Large openings riddled the rocks, adorned with climbing vines, hardy shrubs, and thick moss. Ironically, the underside of the Air Kingdom seemed to have more rooted plants growing on it than the upper. The floating flowers and plants of the upper portion of Air weren't completely absent though. The rooted plants, and even some of the more jagged rocks, had caught a few of the floating foliage and prevented their onward flight. I was smiling at a one of those captured flowers when a head poked out of the cave beside it.
“So that's where they sleep,” I whispered and grinned wider.
“You thought the leriewoags slept mid-air?” Arach asked after he saw what had caught my attention.
“No, I hadn't really thought about it at all,” I shrugged.
“It's like their own little kingdom,” he slid an arm around me as we watched a baby leriewoag edge around the large, adult head that was peering out of the cave. It screeched and the leriewoag lifting us screeched back.
“I'm glad they have something of their own,” I glanced above us at the sleek animal. “Every creature needs a home.”
“And every creature has one here,” Arach assured me. “We're not like humans. We don't take land away from the animals. We instinctively know that our own survival depends on theirs. It is a symbiotic circle and destroying an animal's habitat is akin to tearing down our own home.”
“Well, in that respect, humans could learn a lot from the fey,” I sighed.
“In all respects,” Arach scoffed and I rolled my eyes.
The leriewoag deposited us safely at the dock and then took off with a cry, its delicate dragonfly wings carrying its massive but elegant body effortlessly away. Arach helped me down the steps to the dock while our entourage followed. Then we made our way up the winding white path to the Emerald City... I mean the emerald colored castle.
I've always thought of the Air Kingdom as Oz, what with the bright green castle and all the flying creatures, some of which resembled monkeys. It was the most alien looking place in all of Faerie, at least in my opinion. The kingdom was comprised of floating, chained islands with most of its plant life airborne as well, bobbing around with their roots on display. Even the trees floated above ground, though they were chained in place like the islands. I guess trees could be a hazard if you allowed them to float about willy nilly.
There was someone waiting on the dock for us, as there always was when we visited Air, and he led us through the maze of white tunnels within Castle Bláthaich. I call them tunnels instead of hallways because they were almost round, with curved walls and ceilings which were smooth in order to prevent damage to delicate air-sidhe wings. They were also spacious and our large group navigated them with ease.
When we reached the grand ballroom, we were announced by a small woman with leriewoag wings. I just want to add here that when I say ballroom, I mean it almost literally. I say almost because the room would have been a compl
ete sphere if not for its flat floor. So, it was almost a ball room.
We went down some steps into the heart of the sphere, and I glanced up at the dancing fey flying above us as we did. Music wafted out from behind silk panels which were hung from the ceiling and I was just able to glimpse the musicians who were hiding behind the brightly colored fabric. The panels were in colors that matched my dress, though a little more muted, and they fluttered with the movements of the dancers, making it all seem like a faerie circus to me.
The autumn theme abounded and the banquet tables laid to either side of the main dancing area were laid with bright yellow cloth and sprigs of autumn leaves. The food even seemed to be chosen for their complementary colors, with tiered platters of delicate looking tarts, cakes, and who-knows-what piled upon them. I was a little pleased that the Air Kingdom was finally enjoying the return of seasons to Faerie.
“King Arach, Queen Vervain, welcome,” King Fionn of the House of Air approached us with his wife, Queen Breana.
I mentally referred to the monarchs of Air as the Royal Butterflies. I know, first I call their kingdom Oz and then I call them butterflies, but they both had giant, monarch butterfly wings so what else could I do? It was too obvious to ignore. Monarch butterfly wings on royals, come on. Plus, their coloring complemented each other.
King Fionn had black hair, cut in sharp angles, almost a human style, and completely black eyes, rim to rim. Those eyes stood out against his tan skin. Queen Breana had black hair as well, it was long and at the moment, it was done up in a complicated fey design, but her eyes were bright green. Her hair matched her skin, a soft black that showed off the shimmer of her husband's opalescent wing dust. Ah, butterfly love.
My own butterflies fluttered happily in belly, admiring the sign of Fionn's affection for his wife. They loved displays of affection even more than I did but I guess that was kind of their thing, being the avatars of my love magic and all.
“Thank you for the invitation,” Arach shook Fionn's hand. “The ballroom is magnificent.”
“Thank you,” Queen Breana preened. “I worked personally with the decorators.”
“My wife is trying to take more of an interest in our fey lately,” King Fionn smiled at his wife. “We both are and that's something I'd like to thank you for, Queen Vervain. You've inspired us to become better monarchs.”
“And because of it, I've discovered new distractions,” Queen Breana added.
“She's found that she has a talent for making things beautiful,” Fionn explained. “Which doesn't surprise me at all. Her simply being in a room makes it more beautiful.”
Breana gave her husband a secret smile and my butterflies rushed in a happy circle in my chest.
“Good for you,” I grinned at her. Oh they were just so damn cute, I couldn't stand it. Like, in a good way.
“We also have you to thank for our new relation,” Fionn waved a hand out and I looked over to see Craigor with his daughter Aradia who was half-goddess.
“Oh, Aradia's still here,” I grinned. “I hope she went home to see her mother at some point.”
“Oh yes,” Breana waved away my concern. “This is her third visit to Faerie. Craigor has actually gone to both the Human Realm and the God Realm with her. There's rumors that he's reuniting with Diana.”
“Really?” I blinked wide eyes at her. “Isn't that something?”
“Indeed,” Fionn grinned. “Perhaps there will be more halflings around the Air Kingdom.”
“And perhaps a full fey heir,” Breana added wistfully.
“You've put a lot of effort into changing,” I observed. “I would think you'd be able to conceive soon.”
“Really?” Her green eyes went even brighter. “Do you truly think so?”
“Just don't stress yourself about it,” I advised. “Babies come on their own time.”
“We will be trying to conceive soon as well,” Arach added with a satisfied grin. “Vervain has finally consented.”
“Finally consented?” Breana turned shocked eyes to me. “You refused previously?”
“My life is a bit more complicated when it comes to things like children,” I cast Arach an annoyed glance. I don't know why he had to make it everyone's business.
“Ah yes,” Fionn squeezed his wife's arm meaningfully. “Of course.”
“High King Cian and High Queen Meara of the House of Spirit!” The herald announced and saved us all from an awkward conversation.
The royal couple were resplendent as usual. King Cian was almost too bright to look at all on his own but when you added his shimmering gold finery to the mix, it was like staring into the sun. His white hair hung free around him, straight down to his hips, and his pale skin shimmered with gold highlights to match his tunic. Then there were his gold eyes. It just wasn't possible for him to do subtle.
Queen Meara had come from the House of Fire originally and her dramatic coloring was a beautiful contrast to her husband's. She was a leanan-sidhe and so her skin was just as pale as his, though it lacked his gold shimmer. Her hair made up for it though, sparkling red like a faceted jewel. It hung down to her feet like a cape with impossible smoothness. Her eyes were a slightly brighter red than her hair and they were always glimmering with mischief.
They made their way gracefully down the steps and came straight to our group, to greet their hosts. We all gave them respectful head bows, as was their due as high royals, before we relaxed back into conversation.
“We've brought Danal with us,” King Cian commented to King Fionn. “We thought it would be nice for him to stay a few days and visit his birth home.”
“We're thrilled to have our knight back with us,” Fionn grinned.
I searched immediately for the knight who'd been the first faerie I'd ever met. He had found me at the tracing tree when I'd wandered into Faerie by accident(not really since Faerie had pulled me in) and had flown me all the way to the Castle of Eight, where I met Roarke, the High Royals, and then Arach. I finally spotted Danal standing off to the side, talking with another air-sidhe. He looked up and noticed me, then gave a little wave and a smile. He looked relaxed and happy, two things he rarely was, and I was glad to see it.
Then King Rowan of the House of Darkness was announced, along with his new love interest, Liatris. He'd mirrored me just before all the drama had happened with Constantin, and had asked me to find Lia a fancy dress, which she was currently wearing. I blinked, realizing that he'd done well by not mentioning the Ball to me. How witty of him. I'd have to thank him for being so careful to not interfere with time. If he'd have mentioned the Ball before I was invited, it could have altered something important.
Liatris looked beautiful in the Marchesa gown I'd found for her. We evidently had the same body shape because Rowan had told me to just look for a dress that fit me and it would surely fit Lia. I hadn't really believed him but he'd been right. The gown fit her like a glove, the crisscrossed ribbons lying perfectly over her waist and up her shoulders. It was strewn with silk flowers and against her black skin, the pale color of the dress looked amazing. She looked like a faerie princess.
I wasn't the only one who thought so. When they approached us, Queen Breana, whose skin was very close in color to the dark-sidhe, cooed over the dress, demanding to know where she could get one. When it finally came out that I'd been the one who'd acquired the dress, she turned her full attention to me and I'd had to stumble through a description of the dressmaker's location.
I didn't want to tell her that I'd actually seen the dress in a magazine and just transmuted a twig from my territory into the amazing piece of fashion. Several issues could arise if I did. Like what if I started getting requests to change more twigs into gowns or what if Lia got offended that I hadn't actually purchased her dress? I chose instead to flounder through a vague explanation of where Breana could buy one for herself.
Arach, who knew all about the dress and how it came into being, smirked the entire time, allowing me to lie badly without coming
to my aid. I finally promised her I'd try to get her a dress myself, if she'd give me her measurements. Then I made an excuse that I needed a drink and pulled Arach away from the group with me.
“Thanks a lot,” I mumbled as we left.
“What did you want me to do?” He laughed. “Should I have invented a location for this Marchesa? I don't think that would have helped.”
“Yeah, alright,” I sighed as we reached the banquet table. “Pour me a drink, will ya?”
“Yes, A Thaisce,” he chuckled some more and then poured two glasses of fey punch into a couple of wine flutes. “Would you like to dance or take a walk onto the terrace?”
“Walking for now, thanks,” I took his arm and he led us past the groups of avidly talking fey and out into the relative quiet of the terrace.
There was a stone, columned railing around the terrace and then steps leading down into a garden. I sighed as we went up to the railing and then I leaned over it, to peer at the moonlit flowers. It was magical, much more beautiful than the lawn in front of the castle. First of all, there wasn't any grass in this garden. The whole of it was paved with green stone, the same stone the castle was made of. Instead of being planted in beds, the flowers were caught on silver nets, their roots entwined with the delicate wire. The mesh itself was attached to the ground by thin silver chains, so thin you barely saw them until they sparkled in the moonlight. The floating flowers kept the nets aloft and gave them the appearance of being suspended in mid-air.
These floating mini gardens were all of different shapes, some so complicated in design that they were more three dimensional than flat. They were placed artfully around the courtyard as if they were paintings in a gallery. They waved gently in the breeze, performing their own dance to mimic the faeries inside. Interspersed with them were thick vines, anchored to the ground with silver rings, which their roots wrapped around. These vines spread out like living webs, their delicate tendrils curling in the air. Some of the vines bore fruit, which weighed them down until they hung almost to the ground. Rather convenient for picking.