“It is nothing bad, not precisely.” Oilibhéar rubbed his beard with one hand. “Banshees were part of Morrígan’s Wild Hunt, but when she was banished by the deities Dôn and Llyr, they disappeared into the mortal world. Human families with a strong tie to our world have a banshee assigned to them and she will announce the imminent death of a family member by keening.”
For a second, Kayla was transported back to the night her father had vanished. Her core froze with the memory of the white lady, wailing until the headless rider had appeared. Seeing those two creatures had felt so real, a cry of warning, but Kayla’s mother had convinced her it was just a dream.
It hadn’t been. And if Kayla didn’t protect Abby, that memory would become her best friend’s future.
Kayla shook her head to clear her mind. “But why would Titania need a banshee?”
“I cannot possibly imagine why,” Oilibhéar said. “Knowing that banshees are connected to Morrígan… whatever Titania is planning, we cannot allow for her to lay hands on the crown or your friend.”
“Ophira would never let that happen,” Fay said, her voice sounding thin. They all turned to look at her, but she still kept her gaze averted. “Titania would have to pry it out of her dying hands.”
Maeve spun at her brother, a fire burning in her eyes. “We must warn Queen Ophira at once!”
“Be still, sister.” Oilibhéar placed a determined hand on Maeve’s shoulder. “As long as Queen Ophira stays within the borders of the Seelie Court, Titania cannot harm her.”
“Are you sure?” Kayla glanced from Fay, still avoiding her, back to Maeve. “You two could enter the Unseelie Court, couldn’t you? Maybe that spell is wearing off…”
“I don’t think so,” Maeve said. “We went with the pookas, and being in there hurt more than a boggart’s bite. As you can well enough see.” She pointed to her blistered face. “Guess we know now why it didn’t hurt you.”
Kayla glared up at Maeve. “I didn’t choose this, you know.”
But before Maeve could return something snarky, Oilibhéar stopped her. “We should waste no more time,” he said. “We shall speak to Queen Ophira as soon as our friends are well enough again.”
“I told you I’m not going back,” Kayla said. “I don’t owe the queen anything. She lied to me.”
“We cannot lie!” Maeve’s powerful voice reverberated off the walls. “You should have realized that by now, shouldn’t you? Considering you’re one of us now.”
Heat rising into her cheeks, Kayla turned on Maeve. “But Ophira didn’t tell the truth either. She tricked me into staying at the court by using my wish to find my dad against me. And now you expect me to run right back to her?”
Maeve came closer, her amber eyes boring into Kayla. Her shoulders were heaving with every breath and her face, reddened by anger, was a stark contrast to her green hair. “The queen did what she had to do,” she said, “to protect our people. If you weren’t so self-centered and stopped thinking only about yourself, just once, you’d see that the Unseelies have destroyed our lives. All Ophira did was see an opportunity to have a hold of something that her sister wanted—”
“I’m not a thing—”
“—and use it against her. So pardon me if I don’t care about your feelings. We’re going back.” Maeve spun on her heels and stormed from the room.
“Maeve!” her brother called, making to go after her, but he paused to look at Kayla again. “You know, we all put ourselves at risk for you. All of us disobeyed our queen’s orders, and Nooa even got injured. He is not a fighter, not at all, but he still wanted to come with us. To help you.” He sighed, raking a hand through his hair. “Who knows what would have happened if we had not encountered the pookas… we would have risked a lot more trying to enter the Unseelie Court on our own.”
The truth hit Kayla straight in the face. It was right there, right in front of her, but she’d ignored it. She wished the word sorry wasn’t so meaningless.
“I do not agree entirely with my sister,” Oilibhéar said, softer now. “But, Kayla, are you aware of the severity of this situation? If Queen Ophira dies, or even if the crown gets taken from her before that, you will be her successor. And Titania will make sure you rule her way. She is known to force people to do her bidding.”
Kayla’s heart thudded in her chest. “What about my birth father?” she asked, grappling for a solution. “Lasarian has a right to the crown too.”
“Perhaps, but we do not know where he is. Or if he is even still alive. What we do know is that Titania is after you.”
“But—” Kayla began, but she didn’t know what to say anymore. She rubbed the nape of her neck in a desperate attempt to ease some of the tension. “I don’t know what to do.”
“If we capture and contain Titania,” Oilibhéar said, “then perhaps we can reunite our two courts in peace. As soon as we have secured that Queen Ophira and the crown are safe, and her sister cannot take it from her, this can all end. But to do that, we have to return to the Seelie Court.” He had a stubborn determination written all over his face, and Kayla knew there was no stopping him. “Think about it,” he said. With a nod toward Fay, he turned and left the room.
Kayla fought against the burning tears in her eyes, but the urge to curl up into a ball and cry was overwhelming. Without looking at Fay, she sank down in the opposite chair and buried her face in her hands.
She had made an incredible mess of things.
At the sound of footsteps, Kayla glanced up to find Fay standing beside her, one hand hovering between them. Before the revel in the woods, before Fay had admitted her lie, Fay had always been withdrawn, trying hard not to betray her emotions. But now that all her lies were out in the open, a crack had appeared in the wall she’d built around herself and her emotions were spilling through it. Kayla saw hurt and guilt, worry and sorrow flit across Fay’s face. Whereas Fay hadn’t looked at Kayla once in the past few minutes, her gaze was now unwavering and Kayla noticed something else she hadn’t seen before: deep affection.
Maybe not all of it had been a lie.
Kayla rose to her feet, gathering Fay’s hand in hers. Fay’s eyes widened and a small smile appeared on her face.
“Kayla…” Fay spoke her name with so much care, as though it was fragile. “I cannot reverse my mistakes. I was dishonest with you for the wrong reasons and I wish I had not been. But perhaps I can earn your forgiveness one day.”
“If you’re trying to convince me to go back—”
“No, I’m not.” Fay came so close their knees touched.
“You’re not?”
“I’ve followed Ophira’s orders long enough. Who knows what she’ll do when she finds out who you really are? She’s been controlling your fate ever since you stepped into our world. But this is your life and it should be your decision which way it’s heading. You already don’t have a lot of choices as it is…”
Her gaze dropped to Kayla’s pouch and Kayla knew what she was thinking of. Since Kayla had opened and closed the Faery Path, the necklace had been pulsing at her side, a constant reminder that what had happened had been real.
“I’ve given this some thought,” Fay said, grimacing. “And I don’t think you should go home either. I’m not sure you even can.”
“What do you mean? The bargain must be broken by now.” She’d found her father, in a way.
“I believe there’s more to the bargain.” Fay ran a thumb across the back of Kayla’s hand, leaving behind a trail of electricity. “I think Ophira sensed that your dad wasn’t your birth father,” she said. “And she bound you to the Seelie Court until the day you find the father you never even knew you had.”
“Did she tell you this?” Kayla said, pulling back.
Fay tightened her hold on Kayla’s hand with a squeeze. “No, she never said a word about it. But still… when I brought you to the court, I was confused why she thought a human could do what we had failed at. Ophira must have seen more in that vision than she let
me believe.” She lifted her head, her emerald eyes meeting Kayla’s. “Perhaps your family will be safest that way. For now.”
“I really hope so…” Kayla watched the movement of Fay’s thumb on her hand. “You asked me once why I never talk about my mother,” she said. “It’s always been complicated between us. After my father… died… I was so hurt and mad, and I—”
“It’s easier to blame those who are still there,” Fay said with a quiver, and Kayla suspected she was thinking about her own parents.
Back in the woods, most of what Fay had told Kayla about her own upbringing had been meaningless to Kayla. Fay’s betrayal had been louder than everything else, but now that they stood in the quietness of Dahlia’s home, Kayla saw the pain and grief Fay was holding back.
She saw what she hadn’t seen in the woods: that Fay was hurting. That she was battling her own grief for her mother and maybe even her father. That the scar on her back wasn’t the only wound she carried with her.
And yet Fay had taken a risk and opened her heart to Kayla. She’d disobeyed her own queen to save Kayla, who had been too stubborn to see how much Fay cared for her—and too stubborn to realize how much she cared for Fay.
Aoife.
Kayla wondered why Fay had chosen a different name for herself.
“You’re right,” Kayla whispered, blinking back tears. “It’s easier to blame those around us.” She traced Fay’s ring with a finger, feeling the rough engraving. “But it’s wrong. I never even tried to understand why my mother hated my dad’s stories so much. I never considered that she was trying to protect me…”
“Perhaps now is the chance to make amends,” Fay said. “You could write your mother a letter. And give it to Abby.”
“But the queen…?”
“I won’t tell her.” Fay gave Kayla’s hand another squeeze and then pulled away.
Kayla’s gaze traveled up Fay’s arms. One of them had a red line running all the way from the elbow to the shoulder. A cut that had folded and healed with the help of íocshláinte. The blisters covering Fay’s neck and cheeks had faded to a faint pink.
Despite all the cuts and bruises, Fay was smiling. It was a weak smile, but it was there, her lips slightly curled at the corners, her gleaming eyes steady on Kayla.
And all of a sudden, Kayla could no longer hold back her tears. She hated how battered Fay looked and she hated that she was the reason for it. For a second, she was back at the Unseelie Court, watching a reflection of herself covered in Fay’s blood.
Kayla flung her arms around Fay, startling herself and the other girl. She buried her face at Fay’s shoulder, murmuring, “I won’t let anyone hurt you again.”
After a second, Fay hugged Kayla back. “And I won’t ever lie to you again.”
When they broke apart, Kayla saw Fay was keeping back tears and she resisted the urge to pull Fay close again.
“I want to talk to Dahlia first,” Kayla said, noticing how choked her voice sounded.
Fay nodded. “I’ll try to talk to Maeve.” She turned to leave and paused. Kayla saw her hesitation in the way Fay opened and closed her hands. Before Kayla could say a word, Fay had closed the distance between them. She cupped Kayla’s face with her hands and kissed her, brief and urgent. “We’ll figure this out,” she whispered against Kayla’s lips. “Together.”
Kayla watched Fay leave, her heart and mind torn.
35
THE VALUE OF AN HEIRLOOM
Kayla took her usual seat while Dahlia put a kettle on to boil.
When she came back from the kitchen, she was carrying a tray filled with a teapot, two cups, and a plate of chocolate chip cookies. She put it down on the coffee table. “So the rumors are true,” Dahlia said. “The Unseelie Queen’s alive.”
A shiver ran down Kayla’s spine. “More than alive.”
Dahlia took a seat opposite of Kayla, her green cat eyes scanning her with a mixture of curiosity and worry. “I will need more details if you want me to help. I suppose you didn’t just come to me so I could patch up your friends?”
“No, I didn’t…”
For the second time that day, Kayla recounted her trip to the Unseelie Court. When Kayla told Dahlia how she’d got lost in the Faery Path and found her way out by magically growing moss, Dahlia’s eyes widened, but she remained silent.
“…but the Faery Path stayed locked,” Kayla concluded. “So I placed my palm over it, chanted words I hadn’t even known before, and the entrance opened. Just like that.”
Dahlia lifted her cup to her lips and sipped. It unsettled Kayla how she did it with such calm, after the story she’d just heard. Dahlia placed the cup back on the coffee table and, without a word, got up and went to one of her shelves.
“Your little outbursts of earth magic are fascinating,” Dahlia said as she retrieved a pot from the top shelf. It was a ficus tree, but it was still tiny, with only a handful of leaves. She placed the plant on the table in front of Kayla and fixed her with a stern look, one hand propped on her hip. “I want you to make it grow.”
“I’m not sure I can do it again…” Kayla said. She reached into her pouch, pulled out her necklace with the purple flower in the pendant, and held her other hand steadily over the ficus tree. The word formed in her mind, as if resurfacing from her unconscious mind, where it had rested until this moment.
“Fás.”
The tiny plant quivered and shiny new leaves sprung from it as it stretched skyward.
Dahlia clapped her hands in delight. “Impressive! Can I see your necklace?” She hurried over to sit beside Kayla.
“Didn’t you see it before?” Kayla handed the necklace over with some reluctance. “You were the one who gave the casket to me.”
“Yes, but your mother had sealed it and only you could open it. I’d never known its contents until the last time you visited me. I didn’t pay much attention to the necklace then.” Dahlia’s cat eyes glistened with excitement as she twisted the necklace in her hands. Then her eyes grew round and wide like a saucer.
“What is it?” Kayla asked.
“That blossom locked in there isn’t any type of flower,” Dahlia said, handing the necklace back to Kayla. “It was taken from the Elder Tree.”
“What tree?”
“The Elder Tree,” Dahlia said impatiently. “You must find out why your mother gave this to you, Kayla. You must. The power slumbering in this necklace might just be the weapon you need to go up against Titania.”
That thought hadn’t occurred to Kayla before. She lowered her gaze and the pendant pulsed in her palm, beating like a second heart. “Are you sure? It’s just a blossom.” Though she knew that wasn’t true.
“There’s all kinds of magic in Tír na nÓg, but this one is by far the strongest. Back in the days of the Giants, the Elder Faerie forged an army from the bark of her tree. Her children were the most powerful any of the worlds have ever seen.” Dahlia paused, her foxy ears pricking. “If you wish to defeat Titania without bloodshed, you must go to the Elder Tree.”
Kayla’s mind was spinning, dazed by the rapid pounding of the necklace in her hand. “I can’t go looking all over Tír na nÓg for a tree, not now.”
“The tree will reveal itself to you. After all, you carry a piece of it.”
Kayla tapped a finger against the necklace and it buzzed in response. “Part of me doesn’t want to go back,” she said. “Ophira never cared much about finding my dad. You knew that, didn’t you?”
“Ophira asked me to find out who you were,” Dahlia said. “And if I found your father along the way—perhaps even revealing the Unseelies’ whereabouts—all the better. But it was never a priority, no.”
“So you lied to me too?” Kayla clenched her hands into fists.
“It was never my choice. I had to follow Ophira’s orders.” Dahlia picked up her cup again and held it in her hands, but Kayla still noticed the slight tremor. “You are not the only one who has bargained with Ophira, you know. I am bound to the S
eelie Queen as well.” Her cat eyes found Kayla again. “But I was willing to take the risk of drawing her wrath on me so that I could keep the promise I had given your mother.”
Kayla glanced at the pendant in her hands. Her wrists still looked burned and raw from the cold iron. If she hadn’t had the necklace with her, the trip to the Unseelie Court could have ended way worse. That necklace had saved her life, and Dahlia had risked a lot to give this heirloom to Kayla, if she was telling the truth.
“Ophira must never find out that I gave you Amhrán’s casket,” Dahlia said.
“I won’t tell her.” Kayla slipped the necklace around her neck. “How much do you know about my mother?”
“Not very much, I’m afraid. Back then, there was little talk about the Unseelies here in the mortal world and so I never thought she could be one. And I never even met your birth father.”
There was a brief pause, in which Kayla could hear the raven Bran caw somewhere downstairs.
“Even if it repulses me to send you back to the Fair Folk,” Dahlia said, “I must advise you to do so. Too much is at stake. I may have doubts about the faeries myself, but we all have loved ones to protect.”
Kayla drew in a trembling breath. “I know I need to go back. But I will have to ask for another favor. Two actually.” She paused, plucking at the ragged skirt of her dress. “My friend Abby, she bears the banshee’s curse.”
“Oh, honey.” Dahlia clutched a hand to her chest. “I’m afraid there is nothing we can do for your friend. The only way to avert this curse is to not die, and death is inevitable.”
“Are you absolutely certain there’s no cure for this?”
Dahlia leaned back in her chair, clicking her tongue. “I don’t know of any magic strong enough to break this curse. But there is magic I have little knowledge of. Perhaps you will find more than one answer at the Elder Tree.”
“That’s all I needed to hear.”
“I’m always glad to help.”
“One more thing,” Kayla said, “That protection spell you placed on me and my family all those years ago… has it worn off?”
Seelie Princess (The Crown of Tír na nÓg Book 1) Page 29