by Vanessa Skye
I glance around the room and realize we’re in a sparse side room where the king of this world grabs a few hours of sleep as he plans how best to protect his people. Talentless sleep in better accommodations!
“You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen,” he whispers, staring at my face, “and I feel more for you than I should.” He eases his body over mine as I lie back on the blankets.
I tug the leather band, and his golden mane falls around us as we explore each other’s mouths.
He kisses a trail down my neck.
I gasp. “Please!”
I can feel the heat of him through our clothing, and I tug at his belt then help slide his blue tunic over his head before both end up thrown on the floor.
I run my hands over every inch of the satin smooth skin covering his heavily muscled body. I never want this to end. “Show me what you like.” He flicks his tongue over my ear, and I whisper, “I...I’ve never done this before. Show me.”
He gasps and pulls away. “You’ve never?”
I shake my head.
“I thought you and Aiden…”
“It’s never been that way between us. Only you.”
He slides off me and sits on the end of the cot, his chest heaving as he gasps. “Of course, you’ve never…you are a child, and I—”
“I’m not a child!” I sit up. “I’ll be nineteen in six months. Where I’m from, a lot of females are married and popping out babies by my age. Tonight proves you see me as a woman, so stop trying to push me away over some stupid prophecy of a mad woman!”
“You need to leave.” He grabs his tunic and pulls it over his head, stomping as far away from me as the tiny room allows. “I should never…I sincerely apologize for my inappro—”
“It is not inappropriate!” Refusing to let him tower over me and trying my best not to whine at his ridiculousness, I scoot off the cot and stand. “I love you, and I think you love me, too. You call me a child and a faeling to keep me at arm’s length, but I’m not falling for it. Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me you don’t love me!”
He gazes at my body and face once more with longing before looking away. “You are…I do…” He shakes his golden head. “Love is one luxury a king of war cannot afford. Love makes you weak, Alys.”
“Bullshit! Love makes you strong. Together, no power on this, or any other world, can stop us!”
He picks his sword up, yanks open the door, and stalks out.
A few moments later, I hear the large doors outside slam shut as tears stream down my face and I collapse on the cot.
With my body left yearning and my heart broken, I drift, tossing and turning with dreams inside nightmares, in the vain hope he might return to me during the night.
***
I wake cold and alone.
I throw the door to the war room open expecting to find Nuadha there, but he is nowhere in sight.
With my acute shame matched only by my rising anger, I jerk my jacket on and stalk into the corridor, slamming the doors behind me, and spy Nuadha’s personal guard waiting outside another tall door down the hall.
The guard steps in front of me as I stride toward the door with every intention of barging inside and making Nuadha see reason.
He shakes his head. “No one is allowed in.”
“Wh—”
But then I hear it…the soft female laughter and an unmistakably male groan.
A few hours ago, those beautiful groans belonged to me.
As I run back to my room, praying no one sees me in my half-dressed state, I come to a stark realization.
I cannot stay here.
I yank the gown off as soon as my door clicks shut and pull on my leathers before throwing the rest of my belongings into my pack and gathering all the fruit and nuts left in the room. Like the Talentless, I have spent too much of my life passively putting up with what others cruelly hand out. Not anymore.
I consider manipulating the void and going back to Earth and the familiar, loving embrace of my mother. It would be the easiest option. I have no voice here. I am not needed, not wanted, and not loved. Just like the Talentless.
Suddenly, I know exactly where I need to go.
I gather my pack, pull on my boots and blades, and stalk out of the room full of determination and a solid plan…then growl in frustration and turn back, undoing my belt as I go. Seconds later, the only things left of me in the room are the bejeweled dagger from Nuadha on top of the crumpled gossamer gown.
Without glancing back, I find myself knocking softly on another closed door.
“Alys?”
“I’m sorry to wake you,” I mutter.
Aiden rubs sleep from his eyes and takes in my clothing and pack then frowns. “What are you doing?”
“I’m leaving.”
“Bu—”
“I need to know where you’ve been sending Talentless refugees. I’m going to join them.”
His eyes widen. “What? But why?”
“Because I’m going to try to stop this war if I can. They don’t have anyone speaking up for them. So I will. I will be their voice.” Plus, staying anywhere near Nuadha is far too painful to even consider. “Nua—the king won’t see reason. Maybe they will. At the very least, I will not leave them undefended in a war they cannot possibly hope to win.”
“Bu—”
I plant my feet, cross my arms, and look Aiden directly in the eye. “Just tell me where you’ve been sending them, and you can go back to sleep.”
He takes in the stubborn set of my face for a long moment then sighs and shakes his head. “No, I won’t tell you.”
I resist the urge to stomp my foot. “Why n—”
“I’ll show you,” he says, pushing the door wide. “Come in.”
“What do you mean show me?” I scowl as I follow him inside. “On a map?”
“No.” He quickly tugs his clothes on and straps on his sword and armor. “I will take you myself.”
“No! You’ll be considered a traitor.”
“So be it.” He throws food into his pack, much like I did in my room. “If you are going to be the Talentless’ champion, then I will be yours.”
“B—”
“Don’t argue, or I won’t tell you where they are.” The look he gives leaves no room for argument. “Your arrival at my door and your bravery shame me. It is clear this is what I should have done many months ago. And I have a theory about the raids. One that makes more sense than the Talentless with human weapons carrying them out.”
I study the stubborn set of his jaw—strangely similar to the one I gave him moments ago—and nod. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Let us depart before the sun rises. If we are lucky, we will be able to put several miles between us and Nuadha before he realizes we are gone.”
We stealthily make our way along the stone corridors to reach our mounts in the communal stable.
Mandrake is ready and waiting, as usual, somehow always knowing when I need him. I stare longingly at Nuadha’s black steed and wonder how I could have gotten everything so wrong.
I wince as shame and humiliation hit me like a physical blow.
“Follow me,” Aiden says. “We head west.”
We alternate between a trot and a gallop for a few hours, slowing as the sun rises to give his mount a much-needed break.
“We will walk for an hour then we must pick up the pace,” Aiden says. “We have covered much ground, but I will feel happier if we have at least a fifty-mile buffer between us and a furious warlord.”
“He won’t care enough to come after us,” I reply with a pout.
“The female he loves deserting with his general?” Aiden snorts. “Oh, he’ll come after us, his flaming sword ready to separate my head from my shoulders.”
“He doesn’t love me.” I glare at Aiden. “Stop saying he does. You’re only making it worse!”
Aiden guides his horse closer to Mandrake.
The animal snorts and rolls his eyes but does as ins
tructed, and I sense Mandrake’s amusement.
“I take it last night didn’t go…as planned?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” My hair blows across my face, and I brush it away in frustration. I didn’t have time to braid it before leaving, and now, it’s so long and thick it impedes my sight with the slightest breeze. I consider cutting it all off while I play with Mandrake’s thick dreadlocks and try not to think about last night…again.
“I am sorry, Alys,” he says with a sympathetic look. “I expected better of him.”
“Foolishly, so did I,” I say and clear my throat to cover a stifled sob. “But he no sooner found out I’m a—inexperienced than he took off like his hair was on fire and…with some other fae instead.”
Aiden’s mouth pops open and the color fades from his cheeks and he stares before finally shaking his head and turning away. “I’m so very sorry I encouraged you. I will never forgive myself for causing you this kind of hurt.”
I touch his shoulder. “It is not your fault. I’m the idiot here. I fooled myself into thinking he might actually care, thinking I could make a life and a family here…with him. That I would talk him around to seeing things differently with all the Talentless, and everything would be okay.” My laughter sounds anything but happy. “Dammit, he’s right. I am a child. I thought I was living in a real life fairy tale. Well, this isn’t a fairy tale, and I don’t get a happy ending. I’m a fucking moron and deserve a life of loneliness.” My heart twists as I see Baird’s face in my mind. He and Aiden are the only people in this world who care about me at all, and I left without so much as a see ya later. I hope I will see him again at Chathair Mhór one day, and he will allow me to explain.
“Enough! You are not alone because you do have a family who cares about you.”
“I have you, yes, but you’re my friend. That’s not the same as the love you get from your family. I’m sorry. Fact is I have no parents. The only mother I have ever known is in another world. I—”
“Hush, Alys,” Aiden says and takes a deep breath. “I need to tell you something now, and I want you to hear me out before you argue, as is your nature.”
I frown. “Okay…”
“I have not been honest with you, Alys, and I must apologize. Please know it was necessary…”
“What is it, Aiden? Nothing you can say could make today any worse.”
“That’s just it, Alys. What I have to say will make it better!” he says with a smile. “I cannot listen to you talk this way any longer because you do have a family. Alys…I am your brother.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“Wha—” I stare, slack-jawed, at Aiden then begin sputtering while I process his words. “My brother? I don’t…what…are you…that can’t be.”
He nods. “When I saw you, I knew. I knew you were the sister taken from my family when you were but hours old. It’s your eyes, Alys. Your eyes are the same as mine. You haven’t ever noticed?”
I frown. I remember thinking we had similar green eyes when we first met. And the jaw! I compared his stubborn look to mine just this morning. “I have a brother?” I whisper. “How is this possible?”
He smiles with tears in his eyes and slides off his horse’s back. “I have wanted to tell you for so long.”
I’m barely off Mandrake before Aiden is crushing me to his chest as if he might never let me go. It all makes sense now. The feeling that Aiden loved me but never made a romantic move.
“My beloved sister,” he whispers, kissing the top of my head. “We thought you lost long ago.”
“I have a family,” I mutter, reaching around his broad back to hug him, hard, and sobbing into his chest.
My heart is conflicted. My grief over Nuadha is profound, but so is the joy at finding my brother. I don’t know if my tears are in sadness or happiness as I cry, but I remain in Aiden’s embrace for several minutes, until I can collect my emotions.
“We…” My voice cracks, and I clear my throat and look into my brother’s eyes. “You said we thought you lost. Does this mean…”
He beams, his head bouncing up and down like an excited four-year-old. “Our father also lives.” Then his excitement fades. “Sadly, our mother died long ago.”
“Oh.” A spike of pain for the mother I will never get to meet jabs my heart. “But, at least, I have a father! Who is he? When can I meet him?”
Aiden jerks upright, peering into the distance as he shoves me behind him. “We should keep moving, at a walk, at least, while I explain.”
I nod and jump back onto Mandrake, my head reeling with all I have learned. “So…I thought fae could only have one child, yet we somehow share the same mother and father?” I ask, frowning.
“Our father…” He hums and chuckles. “Our father is special, Alys. He is a god, and as such, the normal rules do not apply to him, or us. He is beyond powerful!”
“A god? Really? Is that why I have multiple talents?”
He nods. “And you’re not the only one.” He holds out a palm and summons a blue and white fireball.
“You can do it, too!” Delighted, I clap and giggle.
He clenches his fist, and the fireball blinks out.
“Can you also breathe underwater, and see the magic?”
He nods. “Well, yes and no. Of course, we both have talent in war. In fact, I have never seen as anyone skilled in battle as you, and yes, I can see the magic, but no, I cannot breathe underwater. If I could, I would have followed and rescued you from that scaly tyrant, even if it meant exposing our relationship to the fae. Watch.” He closes his eyes and concentrates for a moment as we ride.
A shadowy veil falls away from him, and stunning bright filaments of magic are revealed to me for the first time. His magic is magnificently potent, nearly as vivid as Nuadha’s and mine.
I gasp. “You’ve been hiding your power from me!”
“I have. I am sorry, my beloved sister, but I could not reveal who I was until I was sure…”
“Sure about what?”
“Sure you would fulfill your destiny and be the champion of the Talentless you were born to be. It is what our father always dreamed of for you…for his people.”
“Born to be?”
He scowls. “It is why you were stolen from us by the witch. We fought so hard for you…but in the heat of battle, she escaped.”
We enter a dark forest, and the mounts weave their way through the monstrous trees and thick undergrowth as I finally get answers about the rest of my story.
“But…I don’t understand why she would take me? And why hide me on Earth?”
Aiden’s face twists into a mask of fury. “To keep you from your destiny. You know she was a seer—though her talents were sketchy, at best. She knew you would grow powerful and defend the Talentless from the fae who would murder them, and she tried to prevent it.”
“But why?”
“Because she was fae. And like all fae on Tír na nÓg, they consider the Talentless an aberration who should be executed when they are naught but defenseless babes!”
“But…Nuadha thought highly of her, and Bair—”
“Nuadha is stuck in the old ways, Alys. It happens when you have been alive as long as he has. Change seems impossible, and he will do everything he can to avoid it. You’ve seen it yourself. You, I, and our father represent the new Tír na nÓg. Before Nuadha’s magic is stripped, and he is banished from this world, he will understand the error of his ways!” he says fiercely. “I believe he is behind the raids.”
“Nuadha?” I cover my mouth, recalling all the villages, the devastation, and shake my head. “But he’s trying to sto—”
“No. He’s cementing his rule and ridding himself of the Talentless in one fell swoop.” Aiden stares at me. “Think about it, beloved sister. What’s a warlord without a war?”
I try to make sense of what he’s saying, but all I can think of is Nuadha and the look of compassion in his blue eyes as he gave the Talentless money…his fury direc
ted at those who banished them…him and all his beauty as he stared down at me.
“You said it yourself, Alys. How could untrained, unarmed Talentless cause such damage and yet leave no trace? The answer is obvious—they couldn’t. Only a highly trained fae force can achieve such a thing.” He scowls. “I am a fool for not seeing it sooner. Like you, I didn’t want to believe it.”
“I-I feel so…so stupid,” I mutter. “I thought there was good in him.”
“You would not be the first fae in love who saw the qualities she wanted to see in another, Alys. Do not punish yourself. Now that we have found each other, we can set it right.”
We clear the forest and ride over rolling green hills.
“How far are we from the Talentless fae camp?” I ask.
“Not far now, we—”
Mandrake nickers.
“What is it?”
The fae king approaches from the east, beyond the forest.
“How many?” I ask.
Just him.
“He comes alone?”
He does. Proof he means well? Perhaps the words from his royal lips are worth hearing?
“Like hell,” I say grimly.
“Nuadha?” Aiden asks, looking behind us.
“He is on the other side of the forest. He comes alone.”
“He noticed your absence faster than I anticipated, he must have come looking for you. Never mind. He can easily be stopped,” Aiden says as he forms a fireball and launches it into the forest, then another and another, careful to ignite only areas of early growth.
Despite the cold, small tendrils of smoke quickly thicken as flames lick the spring buds eagerly. Soon, the entire forest is consumed, and cloying, gray smoke rises to mingle with the sad remnants of the many burnt forests and innocent communities that preceded it.
“Now, he will have to go around,” Aiden says, smirking. “He will have no chance of catching us by the time he does. The fool! He should have sent air fae after us, but instead, he comes alone. As always, his arrogance is his undoing. Let’s ride.”
He kicks his horse into a hard run, and I follow, eager to be as far away from Nuadha as I can get.
We ride swiftly west as the sun reaches its apex in the blue sky above us. Mandrake runs without ever seeming to tire, but Aiden’s horse struggles, its flanks slick with sweat. After a few more miles, it starts foaming at the mouth.