by Amy Sumida
“Thanks for the lift,” I said warily.
“I am obeying the Goddess, that is all,” he waved his hands out to the sides.
“Uh huh,” I narrowed my eyes on him. “What do you want?”
“Nothing but to speak with you,” he flicked one long length of silky onyx hair over his shoulder and set his stare on me. At least, I was pretty sure he was staring at me, it could get hard to tell, what with his eyes being completely black; no whites or irises to speak of.
“Alright,” I sighed and sat back. “What do you want to talk about?”
A screech echoed in the distance and my eyes shot to the window.
“They've realized their prey has escaped,” Uisdean smiled. “And that their fate is sealed. They'll be taken before the court for this. Or simply hunted.”
“They seemed to think that they did nothing wrong,” I offered.
“If they hadn't knowingly attempted to impede a truce, they wouldn't have,” Uisdean shrugged. “But laws of war dictate that once a truce is in the making, none shall interfere with it until it is settled or abandoned.”
“I feel a little sorry for them,” I admitted softly.
“Hmph,” Uisdean made a disgusted face. “Pity is a waste of time. The dullahans orchestrated their own destruction. They should count themselves lucky that Raza didn't slaughter them all in recompense for his son's abduction. Honestly, it's not at all like him to be merciful,” he stopped and glared at me accusingly. “Did you do something to him?”
“Of course not,” I huffed but Uisdean continued to stare at me until I felt my cheeks warm. His eyes widened in shocked comprehension and I shouted, “I didn't do anything!”
“You mated a dragon?!” Uisdean shouted back.
“No, and please keep your voice down,” I hissed.
“But you did do something to him,” Uisdean insisted. “If you didn't bed the beast, then what?”
“We haven't done anything really,” I huffed. “And don't call him a beast. I thought you were his friend?”
“Oh no, it's even worse than I'd assumed,” Uisdean inhaled sharply. “You haven't seduced his loins, you've seduced his heart. You wicked, wily wench!”
“First off; you sound ridiculous. And second; I didn't do anything to Raza! Not his loins or his heart. Can we stop talking about him now?”
“Fine,” Uisdean sniffed. “Keep your sluttish secrets. I merely want to give you some advice; one royal to another.”
“Advice about Raza?” I gave him an incredulous look.
“Now who won't stop talking about the dragon-djinn?” Uisdean smirked. “No, not Lord Raza, about the complications and intricacies of ruling.”
“Oh,” I lamented, “here it comes.”
“Sometimes, it is necessary to deal with those you find... distasteful,” he offered.
“If you're referring to yourself, a better word would be detestable,” I smiled snidely.
“It is necessary to be diplomatic when dealing with other monarchs on occasion,” he went on. “And when one offers you a boon, it would do you well to remember it.”
“Oh, I get it,” I smirked. “The Goddess may have asked you to help us but that won't stop you from trying to profit from this.”
“I must think of my kingdom first,” he shrugged.
“So again, I ask you; what do you want?” I glared at him.
“I want you to remember the aid I've offered you today,” he shrugged.
“And?”
“And I want you to do your Ambassadorial duty and act as mediator between the Court of the Nine Sons and Unseelie.”
“Pardon?”
“I'm having some issues with the dragons,” he sighed. “They refuse to come out of their watery wonderland and speak with me so I must journey into the Básmhor Sea myself.”
“Why do you need me?”
“Because you, with your new untouchable, undefined, ambassador status, will confuse them into being more agreeable and will hopefully prevent bloodshed,” he grimaced.
“You think I can stop the dragons from attacking you?” I scoffed.
“No, I think you can confound them as you do me and stop them from fighting with each other long enough for us to conclude our business,” Uisdean huffed. “Getting the dragons to agree on anything is like pulling weeds.”
“Pulling teeth,” I sighed as I corrected him again.
“Pulling teeth?” Uisdean scowled. “But that's rather fun while pulling weeds is a ghastly business.”
Chapter Fifty-Three
The journey back to Ireland was long and gratefully uneventful. Uisdean took us all to the rath which connected Unseelie to Samford Valley in Australia. He had already chartered planes and buses for our transport, having been warned by Danu what would be required. So a line of buses took us back to the Brisbane airport, where one large plane waited to carry the rescued Flight witches and the raven mockers home to Tulsa while the smaller plane which we'd flown to Australia, was ready to take the rest of us to Ireland... the rest of us including my Uncle Uisdean. He was coming along since he had to attend the truce summit anyway.
Sarah had been anxious when we boarded the plane, wondering why Danu hadn't kept her word and come to change her back. But Tristan was confident in our goddess and assured the Vex that Danu would surely carry out her promise as soon as they reached Ireland. I added to this, promising to take both of them through the rath within the High Fairy Council House and over to the Isle of Danu. There, I was certain that Danu would fulfill her promise. This seemed to relax Sarah and she fell into a thoughtful silence for the rest of the journey.
Raza had gone with his son, wanting to see Raye settled in Tulsa before he headed back to Unseelie. He seemed to have lost interest in the truce now that his son was safe and I didn't blame him in the least. I had hugged him goodbye, wishing him and Raye well. Raza had kissed my cheek and told me that he'd see me soon but I just shrugged it off. There was too much going on to worry about what Raza might or might not do in the future.
Tiernan was openly thrilled to see Raza boarding a different plane than ours and even went so far as to shake Raza's hand. It seemed that the further away we got from the dragon, the happier Tiernan became and by the time we reached Ireland, my fairy boyfriend was beaming in delight. He lost that beautiful smile as soon as we pulled into the courtyard of the High Fairy Council House. There, standing on the steps to the main keep, was my human father, Extinguisher Ewan Sloane, talking to an older woman.
I sighed when I saw them. The woman had her back to us but I knew immediately who she was. Her gray hair was braided back neatly, as always, and her linen dress was pressed into obedience, falling in straight lines around her trim frame. She wore serviceable brown leather boots and wore no jewelry except for a slim gold band around her left ring finger. Even though Grandpa had died years ago.
She turned as our line of SUVs stopped in front of the stairs, and set her sharp sea-blue stare on me. Her eyes were almost exact replicas of Ewan's except they never filled with warmth. I had to hand it to Queen Iseabal, at least she had tried to be nice to me. Ewan's mother had never given me a kind word, much less a sweet look. Now that the truth of my parentage was out, I expected even less from her.
She didn't disappoint.
I took a deep breath and walked up the steps, Cat padding along beside me. I wasn't sure what I should do but I knew I had to at least be civil to them. So when I reached the stair they stood on, I paused and opened my mouth to issue a polite greeting. Grandma beat me to it.
“Keep walking, fairy spawn,” she spat at me.
“What did you call me?” I gaped at her while Ewan closed his eyes as if he were in pain.
“You heard me,” Head Councilwoman Briana Sloane sneered. “Take your bastard self away.”
Twelve swords pulled free of their hilts and filled the air around my grandmother, making her blink in surprise. I looked back and saw my entire guard, Tiernan included, threatening the Head Councilwoman
of New York. Then Cat started to growl, adding her teeth to the sharp weapons on display.
“Sheath your swords or I'll have you all extinguished,” Briana snapped.
The sword tips angled higher and Cat growled deeper.
“A puka, Seren?” Briana spat. “You have a puka for a pet? Can you not even be faithful to that whore who birthed you?”
“Mother,” Ewan ground out.
“You have given grave insult to a princess of Fairy,” Tiernan intoned. “As her guard, we have a responsibility to protect her from all harm. Speak one more harsh word, Councilwoman and I will slice your head from your body.”
I gaped in horror at my boyfriend as the entire courtyard went quiet. Witches, humans, and fairies all stared at us in rapt fascination, waiting to see who would back down... or die.
“Tiernan,” I whispered. “It's alright, stand down.”
Tiernan glanced at me and then nodded crisply. He lowered his sword and gave the rest of my guard a look so that they lowered theirs as well. I saw my Uncle Uisdean and his guard come up behind us on the stairs and stop to watch the show with obvious glee. I rolled my eyes and looked back to my grandmother.
“That's the smartest thing you could have done,” she said to Tiernan. “Your bastard princess has saved you.”
Tiernan lifted his sword once more and with a swirling, dance-like movement, swung it straight for my grandmother's throat. I reacted automatically, pulling my own sword and lifting it to block his. The clang of metal echoed through the courtyard as Briana's face went white.
“I said stand down,” I growled in a low tone and glared at Tiernan.
“I vowed to behead her if she issued one more insult,” Tiernan shrugged casually and pulled his sword from mine with a long hiss of metal. “I could not break my vow,” he sheathed his sword.
“Tiernan, whatever kind of point you're trying to make, I think she got it,” I whispered as I sheathed my own sword. When I looked up, Ewan was staring at me with a strange look. “Dad,” I reached a hand toward him but his mother slapped it away.
“You're no kin to us,” Briana said in a shaky voice.
“Mom, please,” Ewan sighed. “You're taking this too far.”
“You just renounced her to me,” Councilwoman Sloane frowned at her son. “Now you want to take her side?”
“Denying that she's my daughter and calling her a bastard are two different things,” Ewan growled. “She had no control over her own birth. Leave her be.”
“You need to cut all ties with this changeling child, Ewan,” Briana scolded. “Emotional ties included.”
“But I don't need to insult her to do it,” Ewan shook his head. “You've always had a mean streak, Mother but it's never horrified me till now.”
“So you want to side with the bastard of your slut of a wife against your own mother?” Briana huffed. “You're a disappointment, Ewan.”
I was about to stand up for my mother when Ewan did it for me.
“Call my wife a whore one more time, Mother and it'll be the last thing you say,” Ewan's eyes lit with life, giving me a glimpse of the man he used to be before my mother's death.
“You ungrateful brat,” she slapped him but it barely nudged his face and he just continued to stare hard at her. “Now you threaten my life? My own son?”
“I didn't threaten to kill you,” Ewan shifted so that he stood beside me. “Just to cut out your poisonous tongue.” Then he offered me his hand. I gaped at it for one brief moment before I snatched it up like the gift it was. “Now if you'll excuse me, I'm heading inside with the woman I raised.”
So maybe he hadn't reclaimed me as his daughter but it was enough for me. I smiled brightly as he escorted me inside the castle, my Star's Guard and puka following us closely as my Uncle Uisdean laughed his ass off.
Chapter Fifty-Four
“Thanks, Dad,” I said when we came to a stop in the main hall.
“I'm not your father, Seren,” Ewan said sadly. “I wish it weren't true but you belong to another family now. I've accepted that and I think I can at least be civil to you but that's the most you can expect from me. We're done. Goodbye, Princess Seren,” he held his hand out to me.
“Goodbye, Extinguisher Ewan,” I said brokenly as I shook his hand. I watched a blurry Ewan Sloane walk away from me.
“You've got one screwed up family,” Sarah observed as she stepped up beside me.
I blinked away the tears and squeezed Tiernan's hand, which had somehow made its way into mine.
“Yeah, you have no idea,” I sighed. “I need to get everyone settled and then I'll take you and Tristan over to Fairy.”
“Alright,” Sarah nodded. “We'll wait down here. I could use a drink anyway.” She headed towards the dining hall.
“Are you alright?” Tiernan whispered as he eased in closer to me.
“Yeah, I'm good,” I whispered back. “Thanks for that ridiculous display out there.”
“No problem,” he grinned. “It's not like you haven't made similar displays of ridiculousness for me.”
“You weren't actually going to kill her, right?” I lifted a brow. “You knew I'd stop you.”
“Sure,” he looked away and cleared his throat.
“Tiernan,” I gaped at him but before I could say anything more, one of the house attendants came over to help us find rooms for everyone.
It took hours to get us all rooms and then another hour for me to get showered and changed. It must have been around 8 PM when I finally made it downstairs to look for Sarah and Tristan. Tiernan, Conri, and Cat would be joining us on our short trip to Fairy, so they walked with me to the dining hall. We found Tristan sleeping on a wooden bench and Sarah sitting next to him, staring woodenly at the ceiling.
She perked up when she saw us though and woke Tristan with a violent shake. Tristan slipped from the bench and came rolling up to wave his arms about, looking for his attacker. His obsidian dullahan eyes shot about the room, his wide mouth grinning as usual.
“It's time to go,” Sarah stood and slapped his shoulder. “Isn't it?” She asked me.
“Yes, it's time,” I agreed. “Were you able to speak to the Coven elders and inform them of what's happened?”
“Yes,” she cleared her throat. “They're a bit shocked by our transformations and even more shocked to hear that we've spoken with the Goddess. In light of all of that, they've decided to pardon the murder of Elder Wasutke. I won't be punished for it but they're anxious to see me transformed back into what I once was. If for no other reason than to see proof of the Goddess.”
“I imagine that there are now mixed feelings about witches visiting Fairy,” I offered.
“You could say that,” she grimaced. “Beckoning was not pleased to hear about our origins, nor were they happy to see what we could turn into by simply stepping foot into the Fairy Realm. But the other clans were satisfied with the discoveries, even Frederick's become a celebrity with his silly wings. The Coven elders are discussing sending representatives from the other clans into Fairy if the truce is signed.”
“That'll be interesting,” I blinked. “I'm glad I won't have to make that decision.”
“So am I,” Tristan agreed.
“For now, let's get you two back into Fairy,” I offered and they both nodded excitedly. Or maybe that was just their faces, damn those dullahan grins.
I led them through the halls of the castle, then up to a tall wooden door, bound with metal hinges. There were guards standing to either side of the door, each with a spear in one hand. They came to attention when we approached.
“Princess, Seren,” they spoke as one and bowed to me. Then one of them opened the door and let us through.
I had been to the Isle of Danu once before but I'd never gone through the rath which connected it to Ireland and so I wasn't prepared for the sight of the fairy mound nor of the room which contained it. The Isle rath of Ireland wasn't hidden in a basement or camouflaged by trees. It stood proudly in the middle o
f a flourishing garden, which the castle had obviously been built around. It was much larger than any of the other raths I'd seen. But then, this had been the very first rath, the one made by Anu himself, not the fey.
This was a rath built by a god.
Instead of a simple mound of earth, there was a large hill covered in blossoming olive trees. Creamy bunches of little flowers nestled among the silvery leaves and lay scattered across the vibrant grass that covered the mound. Gnarled, smokey-quartz roots spread out from the thick, twisted trunks, curling over each other and angling down around a huge gate set into the earth. There was an image of the Isle of Danu carved into the golden door. Over the gold island hung a silver star, to the right was a silver moon, and on its left was a gold sun.
I walked forward over a pristine stone path and stood before the door, staring up at the grove of olive trees. What a strange thing to find in Ireland. I looked around me at the garden full of fruit trees and fragrant blooms. Colors abounded everywhere; in the flowers, butterflies, and exotic birds which flew about without fear. The rath almost seemed muted amid all that vibrancy, only the gleam of precious metals made it stand out.
“Olive trees?” I turned to Tiernan as he approached.
“They are indigenous to Fairy,” he smiled as he explained. “A symbol of peace and plenty.”
“Of course they are.”
“The oil made from these olives is sacred,” Tiernan went on as Sarah, Tristan, Conri, and Cat joined us. “It can be used to heal almost any wound and just a single olive can fill an empty belly. If the Fairy Council had to withstand a siege, they could survive indefinitely on the olives alone.”
“Whoa,” Tristan breathed as he stared up into the trees.
“Are you ready to return to Fairy?” I asked him and he transferred his gaze to me, nodding vigorously. “Alright, you guys know the drill; stay on the path.”
“Right,” Sarah sighed. “Stay on the path. Like that helped so much before.”