by Unknown
Suspended from tall, silver poles were glass globes with holes in their bottoms. They were filled with silken threads that curled together in a tangled mass and out of the openings of the globes sprouted lacey ferns which, despite growing upside down, were still trying to reach the sky. Their soft fronds bent upwards over the glass, covering most of the roots within and looking like Christmas ornaments. Fey lanterns hovered around the top of these posts, their soft light filtering through the ferns and creating complicated patterns on the stone below.
There were also massive trees, their trunks bound by silver collars and chained to the ground with thick silver links. They had flexible branches, similar to willows except that they hovered in the air. The branches drifted about like seaweed in the ocean, reaching heavenward as if beseeching the gods for freedom. Unfortunately, the gods couldn't hear them in Faerie, so their prayers went unanswered and they remained enslaved to the fey.
Most of the flowers were closed for the evening but there were quite a few of the night blooming variety, with white petals so bright they glowed in the moonlight. They were also scented strongly and the sweet aroma carried over to us on the breeze.
“Incredible,” I whispered.
“Shall we?” Arach gestured towards the stairs and I happily agreed.
He gave me his arm and I swished down the steps with him. My heels clicked on the green stone dully, the sound swallowed by the night. It was a little chilly out there but we were dragons and adjusting our internal temperatures was as easy as breathing, so I was soon warm again.
We followed a winding path outlined by the floating flower beds and it led us around the castle and into a circular, open area with a gazing pool and green stone benches surrounding it. We took a seat on one of the benches and I admired the fluted edges of the pool, made of the same green stone as the benches and ground. Castle, benches, ground, and pool, they all blended together and became a muted backdrop for the plants and that placid water which held a perfect reflection of the moon. So perfect that if you stared too long, you might forget which was the real sky. Which was up and which was down.
“Why don't we have a ballroom?” I asked in a musing tone.
“We do,” Arach grinned at me, “but it tends to scare the guests so we don't use it except for private functions.”
“It scares the guests?” I lifted my brows.
“It's directly beside one of the lava flows and is completely open to it,” he explained.
“Like the solar?” I asked, thinking of the room with numerous windows, one of which overlooked a lava flow. We had two flows, one on each side of the castle, delineating where the castle ended and solid mountain began. If you were viewing the castle from the front, the solar was on the right side.
“Sort of,” he chuckled. “Except there's no wall separating the room from the flow, it's entirely open. There are windows off to the side but since the room is on the ground floor, they overlook the moat. It can be intimidating to a fey of another element.”
“And uncomfortable, I bet,” I made a mental note to search out this ballroom as soon as possible.
“It can get warm on that side of the room,” he admitted. “But its a very large room, running the whole width of the castle, and the lava flow only takes up a small portion of it. The rest of that wall is solid stone and then the other end is open to the Fire Kingdom.”
“Where does it open into the kingdom?” I couldn't remember seeing another entrance. “Are there stairs like here?”
“No, no,” he shook his head. “It's only windows. Aithinne was built for defense. When you're as violent as us fire fey, you gather a lot of enemies.”
“Oh so it's not just me?” I laughed.
“Why do you think you're feud with Queen Aalish never bothered me?” Arach smirked. “Most times retaliation would come in more subtle ways, thus the defenses. No one wants to go to war with the kingdom who is home to the Wild Hunt.”
“Right,” I grinned and then teased. “It's been awhile since we hunted. Maybe I should pick a fight tonight.”
“Oh cease with your sweet words,” he groaned. “Or I'll be forced to ravish you right here.”
“I think I'm okay with that,” I lifted a brow at him in challenge.
He smiled and began to slide his hands up my skirt, changing the Garden of Air into one of delight.
Chapter Fifteen
Four days later, Dahlia of the House of Darkness gave birth to the first naturally born dark-sidhe.
Strangely enough, it wasn't King Rowan who mirrored us about the birth but Angelica, another of the dark-sidhe. She invited us to visit and meet the baby on behalf of Rowan. I guess he was busy doing other king stuff.
So Arach and I put on our royal raiments and headed over to the Dark Kingdom. We had to travel the mountain pass that bordered Fire and Air to get there. It was a bit of a trek, running the entire length of our kingdom, but very beautiful. It allowed us a perfect view of Fire, though all we really saw of the Air Kingdom were the mists.
That was fine with me, I preferred my own kingdom to the never ending mists of Air which, despite my ability to fly, kinda terrified me. There really should be some kind of wall around the Air Kingdom. It just didn't seem right to have that bottomless pit wide open like that, where any creature could fall in and end up falling forever. I guess the creatures of Faerie were smarter than that though. They didn't need a wall to tell them not to jump into the mists of Air. Still, I wondered if there were any corpses down there, floating ever downward in the mists. The thought sent a shiver racing over my spine.
We passed into the Dark Kingdom without incident since we'd been invited and from there it wasn't too far to Castle Tempest. I don't know if it had been my influence or if Faerie just wanted it that way but the dark castle had been built closest to my kingdom. It perched atop a high cliff, surveying the valley below it with elegant aloofness. It's beauty was mirrored in the glassy surface of a lake which spread out at the foot of the cliff. As we started down the hill that led into that valley, I blinked in surprise and hung my head out the window.
“Is it just me or is the lake bigger?” I asked Arach.
“It definitely appears deeper,” he frowned. “I can't even see the bottom anymore.”
“Do fey landscapes change?” I shifted back inside to face him.
“They can,” he nodded. “When our kingdoms were first created, numerous changes were made to the landscapes. It's how the castles were built. Aithinne wasn't carved out by fey hands, you know. It was faerie magic.”
“Oh,” I considered this. “Of course. You worked with the realm, just like I do with my territory.”
“Yes, it's similar,” he frowned. “Though we haven't done so for such a very long time that I'm not sure any of us even remember how to perform the magic.”
“Evidently the dark fey know,” I looked back out the window.
“Or the kingdom could be doing it on its own,” he shrugged.
“What?” I turned to him again.
“It's a possibility,” he nodded. “This kingdom is so new, it could be going through a transitional period.”
“Do you think we should mention this to the dark fey?” I frowned.
“Hmm,” he considered. “It could be a touchy subject. Perhaps we should wait and see if they say something first.”
“Alright,” I agreed but as we came down to the road that ran along the lake, my stomach clenched nervously. I felt partially responsible for these faeries. If they needed help, I wanted to be there for them. What if the changes were confusing them or even scaring them?
“If they want your help, they'll ask for it, A Thaisce,” Arach said as if he'd read my mind. “Don't smother them.”
“Alright, Big Poppa Dragon,” I chuckled. “I'll try to let them make their own mistakes.”
“Good,” he nodded. “We have enough issues without adding theirs to the mix.”
“You're all heart, Arach,” I rolled my eyes.
&nb
sp; “Dra-a-gon,” he gave me his duh look... which he learned from me.
Our carriage rattled over the moat of dark mist and I tried not to look. As much as I trusted the dark fey and cared for them, the Darkness itself still made me nervous. I'd touched it once and after you've been touched by the Darkness, it becomes very hard to view it without trepidation. I focused my eyes upward instead, admiring the black arch of the main gates as we crossed under them.
The inner courtyard was wide and clean, with dark gray stones laid out smoothly so that our coach barely shook as we crossed over them. To the right there was a long building made of polished black wood and I glimpsed horses within. To the left were more buildings, though I couldn't get an idea of what they were used for since they seemed to be vacant. In fact, the whole courtyard was empty.
When we pulled up to the front entrance of Castle Tempest, we finally saw one of the dark fey. In fact, King Rowan himself was waiting for us on the shiny black steps leading up to the main entrance of Castle Tempest. Arach helped me out and I glanced up at the delicate black spirals that topped the numerous towers stretching high above us. Tempest was like an ebony sculpture and that, I was sure, was due to my influence. I smiled in appreciation of its beauty and then set my eyes on Rowan.
“What's wrong?” I asked immediately as I left Arach to run up the steps to Rowan.
“It's Lia,” he whispered. “She's gone. She left the morning after the Ball.”
“What?” I blinked at him. “Liatris left? But she looked like she was so happy with you.”
“I know,” he shook his head. “I don't understand it. We had an amazing night together, then I woke up and had to meet with some of my fey. When I came out of the meeting, she was gone. Later that day, Cait, one of our brownies, returned to the castle on horseback with another horse in tow. She told us that she'd accompanied Liatris to the Great Tree where Lia had traced to the Human Realm and that she'd been bid to tell us Liatris had needed some time away. A vacation.”
“A vacation?” I gaped. “After one night with you?”
“Yes, thank you, Queen Vervain,” he grimaced. “Rub it in.”
“Sorry,” I cringed. “I'm sure it wasn't your... uh...”
“Lovemaking prowess?” Arach offered as he came up beside me.
“Yes, thank you, dear,” I rolled my eyes.
“She seemed more than satisfied,” Rowan frowned. “I don't know what I did but I need to find her so I can find out and fix it.”
“You should have mirrored me sooner,” I chastised. “You know I can help you look in the Human Realm. I'm an even better tracker than the Froekn.”
“I did mirror you,” he said. “I mirrored you in the Human Realm and I even sent some of our ellingran over to help. They took one of Lia's pillowcases with them, to help with tracking, but you couldn't return here to track her through the Aether since you're already here.”
“And if I leave Faerie, I'll lose days in the God Realm,” I sighed. “Something I can't afford right now. My men have gone on a mission that could be dangerous. I need to be there to make sure they return.”
“Yes, this was what you told me,” he nodded grimly.
“I'm sure I'm doing everything I can to help find her,” I assured him.
“You said that as well,” he gave a little laugh.
“Maybe she just needs some time to sort things out,” I offered.
“Vervain ran from me too,” Arach added.
“Because you wiped out my memories with a forgetting spell,” I growled at him.
“You still ran,” he said dryly. “It was quite cowardly for a dragon.”
“I didn't run from a fight, I left you because you were being an ass,” I clarified. “And this is a different situation entirely. I doubt Rowan did something comparable to Liatris.”
“Maybe I did,” Rowan swallowed hard. “I just don't know. All I'm certain of is I need to find her and make her tell me. I have to know why she left.”
“Its going to be okay, Rowan,” I said softly. “She won't stay away forever.”
“I'm not so sure about that, Vervain,” he sighed heavily. “But let's forget about it for now. I'm sure you want to see baby Zinnia.”
“Zinnia?” I grinned. “Another flower, eh?”
“It's in honor of you,” he smirked. “You should be pleased.”
“I'd prefer you to choose names you like,” I shrugged. “I'd hate to limit you to plants just because I had the misfortune of being named after one.”
“We do like our names,” he said as he led us through the stark white hallways and toward the center of the castle.
We entered a curving hall that seemed to circle a length of bedrooms, and then went in an open door. The room was full of dark fey and I realized that we were the only non-dark fey there. Even our red cap guards had stayed with the carriage so it was only Arach and I, alone with the dark.
Not that I was scared. I was rather honored that we'd been the only ones invited to see the new baby. The dark fey even opened a path to the bed for us and as we walked down it, we received happy greetings from all of them. In the bed was Dahlia, holding her new baby, with Rue, the baby's father, sitting beside her.
They looked up at me with the most ecstatic looks on their faces and then Dahlia held out the bundle she was holding. I went forward and took the baby carefully into my arms. She didn't weigh very much and I was suddenly nervous that I might accidentally hurt her. I shifted her gently against me and looked down at the newest dark-sidhe. Once more my stomach clenched with wanting and the dragon rose inside me. The child was warm and fit so perfect against me. She smelled of cinnamon and roses, a scent that seemed to trigger even more maternal urges within me.
Oh, I wanted one of these. A fey child, wild and exotic. Each one was unique, a masterpiece in living flesh. This child in particular was so beautiful, all ebony skin with hints of pink on her cheeks and berry colored lips. Her eyes were deep, bright blue, just like her mother's, though I could see hints of Rue in her face. Wouldn't it be lovely to have a baby with dragon eyes like Arach's or maybe his red hair? What mix would our child be? A boy with red scales at his temples or a girl with skin of the palest white? My heart ached with wanting.
“She's beautiful,” Arach's hand smoothed the tuft of black hair on the baby's head. “Congratulations to you both.”
“Thank you,” Rue said and kissed Dahlia on the cheek. “We've never been happier.”
“She's perfect,” I lifted Zinnia and rubbed my cheek to hers. That sweet smell enveloped me again and my heart clenched.
They say human babies give off a scent which triggers something in your brain that makes you want to protect them. It's a survival thing and the reason why so many people love that baby smell. Well I've never been one of those people. I've always thought my baby smell sensor was broken or perhaps I wasn't meant to be a mother because the smell of babies honestly repulses me. Now I knew why. I wasn't meant to be a mother... of a human child. I was meant to be a mother of dragons.
Yeah, yeah, go ahead and make your Game of Thrones jokes but I knew it in my bones. I was supposed to have Arach's child. Perhaps even Trevor's or Kirill's. Any of my men would be suitable fathers, providing children whose scent I was sure to love... because they wouldn't be human. Guirmean's child had been too different from me to spark this recognition but Dahlia's child was practically family. It was close enough for its scent to trigger an instant understanding inside my heart. For the first time ever, I was certain that I wanted to be a mother.
I looked up at Arach and smiled. Comprehension lit his features and he slowly smiled back, his arm slipping around my waist as he leaned into my side and stared down at the infant with me. This was the moment I'd been waiting for, the turning point of my emotions. The place where I knew that there would be more for me and that I could give more of myself. I was finally ready.
The nine-pointed star within me, the unified heart of my magic, started to glow then and I inhaled s
harply. The dark fey went still around me as my skin began to glow but Arach only held me tighter. I looked down into the baby's blue eyes and suddenly saw more than her physical body. I could see all that she was and the potential for what she could become. Dahlia's Vengeance and Rue's Hunger had blended together to become Failure.
What a harsh magic to be stuck with. I mourned for the child, for the obstacles her magic would bring her and her victims. What would childhood be like with Failure haunting her steps? Would she be able to control the magic immediately or would she suffer under its hold until she grew stronger? I didn't want that for her and with my wishing, something else was revealed to me.
This pairing had resulted in more than creating a new magic. It had created a magic with duality. It just needed a touch to wake it up. I bent down and kissed Zinnia on her forehead, the light of my star shining down into her and bathing her magic with my own. The essence of Darkness shifted, turned to reveal its other side, and Triumph was brought forth.
“There,” I whispered. “Now, you'll have a choice.”
“What is she?” Dahlia whispered as I handed Zinnia back to her.
“Blessed.” I reached down and stroked a finger over her cheek. “She holds a dark emotion along with its counterpart. Failure and Triumph,” I grinned as the dark fey focused intense stares on me.
They were all infants really, just a little older than the baby in Dahlia's arms, and they seemed like lost children to me in that moment. I knew instinctively that they wanted more than the dark magics they were born with. They wanted to be more than that and this new child, with her special duality, had given them all a speck of hope. As co-creator of their race, I felt an overwhelming urge to nurture that hope and help them become whatever they wished to be.
“Do you know the color black is not an absence of color but is all colors combined?” I began slowly, taking in every gaze. “You are not one thing, good or bad. You are all things. All colors, all emotions. Zinnia has just proven what I've already known and what I hope you all know inside your hearts; that Darkness holds much more potential than light. You can choose to use your gifts in any way you'd like but know that whatever path you decide on, it is your choice and you will be responsible for it. Not your element. Do not let the Darkness hold you back or become an excuse for your unhappiness. You are in control now and you make the choices.”