“Maybe you bore me, but you’re no mother to me!” I spat back.
“You’d take the one who abandoned you in my stead?”
“Better than someone who would keep a human as a slave!”
“Allison is a thief and a cheat. She is serving her sentence according to the law of the Fae.”
I felt my face flush with anger as I balled my hands into fists at my sides. My body was so tense it shook as I tried to talk myself off the ledge. Actin’ on my anger would only be satisfyin’ for a minute and could have dire consequences. Better to wait until I had a better idea of what was happenin’. My nostrils flared as I forced myself to take in a breath and hold it. The air chilled my lungs, makin’ them burn somethin’ fierce.
The Fae woman watched with interest as I let the breath out, slowly.
“See?” she said, “Much like the carvings on the wall, you change the closer I look.” She was pleased.
“Do I?” I chose my words carefully, “Or is it just that ya don’t really know me in the first place?”
“Oh, I know that temper well,” she laughed. “I’d bet anything your childhood was full of royal tantrums.”
The way she said it made me uneasy. “I got in my share of scuffles. ‘Til Ma’ taught me how to control it.”
She glared at me from the corner of her eye and I thought I caught the hint of a grimace on her face when I said the word ‘Ma’. But it didn’t come from a place of hurt, not in the way it was supposed to. It was more from offense, as if she was put off havin’ been replaced by a mortal woman.
I decided she could take offense all she liked. I was no trophy to be won.
“Ya said –Ma—,” I used the term intentionally this time, delightin’ in the way she tried to hide her displeasure. “Ya said she was a cheat. That she was bein’ punished. Tell me more about that.”
“Oh well, that. It was some time ago. A boring story.” She waved a hand dismissively. “We’ve so much more important things to catch up on.”
“Tell me now or I turn around and leave.” I was bluffin’ but I hoped she couldn’t tell. I stayed my mind on the idea of walkin’ back through the wall, to the place where I’d left my iron knife. I held onto that thought as hard as I could and looked her square in the eye.
It worked.
“Very well,” she sighed. “It was, as I said, some time ago. The girl you call Allison came to us here in the twilight realm.”
“I thought mortals couldn’t enter on their own. Not without an invite or such.” The details were a bit foggy, but I was pretty sure the gnome had said somethin’ along those lines.
“Who said she travelled alone?” She raised an eyebrow. “We are creatures of the in-between, the Fae. Most of us keep to our own, but we have a few rogues that fall here and there on either side of things.” She looked at the picture of the doe “The one who came with her was from the Alliance. Thought she was helping the poor lass. Little did anyone know the girl had come to steal from us.”
“Steal?!” My mind couldn’t conjure a reason that Ma would seek the wrath of the Fae in such a way.
“You see, she’d come for the child. Her child,” she held my gaze for emphasis. “Of course, such things do happen now and again. Depending on why a changeling was switched we do occasionally trade back. Those who do not pose a threat to the Hollow are welcomed back with open arm. Such would have been the case for you.”
Ma had known. She’d found out, some way or another, and done exactly what Pa was afraid she would do. She came lookin’ for her own child. No wonder he was so sore about her leavin’. It hadn’t just been a betrayal to him, but to our whole family.
And yet, could he really blame her? Could I? If you’d come to find that the child you’d borne was switched out for another, would you not want to at least make sure it was well cared for? Could you live with not knowin’? My mind bounced back and forth between anger and forgiveness. The fairy seemed to enjoy this, for she looked on silently a long while. I felt as if my thoughts had shattered into a million pieces, and I was strugglin’ to pick them back up. I shook my head, tryin’ to clear it.
“She thought she could have you both.” The tension melted from my shoulders as her words echoed in the cavern. “Though we’d made a deal to trade, it soon became clear that her plan was to take the human child and run, with no plan to return my own. When she found that the babe hadn’t survived, she rescinded her deal and tried to escape. Obviously, we couldn’t let that happen. She’d promised me my son! I could hardly let her walk free.
And so here she stays, my humble servant. I figured perhaps someday you would come searching for her yourself. If not…well her service would have to do.”
Her face lit up as she finished the tale, “And now, here you are. The best of both options!”
“Take me in her stead!” I suggested, forgettin’ why I’d even come in the first place. It had been important, the reason. Surely it was for Ma, the thought filled my mind until it became as good as memory.
Yes! That’s it. They sent me to rescue her! I’ve got to rescue...The thought slipped from my mind like sand through my fingers. I stared at my hands, and then up again.
I have to…take me instead of…
“Ma?”
A face greeted me, basked in warm light. She brushed the hair from my face, folding her wings behind her as she smiled.
“Yes, son,” she cooed, wrapping her arm around my shoulder. “Welcome back.”
Absolution: Amasai Rising Book 3
A man stood in the entry of Fiora’s cave. It was not the one she had been expecting. The silhouette was broad-shouldered and filled out. Nothing like the wisp of a figure the Prince had become during his life on the run.
Reveal yourself," The dragon called. It was a warning. One wrong move and her new visitor would find himself in quite the predicament. She wasn't supposed to eat bipeds, but she was betting he didn't know that. She was also betting that no one else would know, if she just took a little nibble...
"Peace, Fiora," a voice called as he stepped into the light. "I come in peace."
"The Vagabond. The Prodigal Son," It wasn't a compliment.
"Never did quite understand that last one," Brian said as he brushed his hair back from his face. A clear sign that he was nervous, "but it seems to have stuck around awhile, hasn't it? I take it I'm not the visitor you were expecting. What have you been up to, Wyvern?"
"I could ask the same of you, Wanderer. State your business. Could it be that you've come here seeking refuge from those who hunt you? How fitting.”
"I've done as you asked." Brian ignored her question. His current relationship with his own kind was none of her business. Especially not when the fates of everyone else were at stake. "The boy will follow her."
Fiora smirked, obviously pleased with herself.
Coming Fall 2018
About the Author
Stevie Rae Causey resides in the Pacific Northwest with her family, a dog, and a handful of quail. She enjoys adventure and can often be found searching for magic in the forests of Washington.
If you enjoyed Amasai, please consider leaving a review! If you like free books, you can apply for Stevie’s ARC team at www.stevieraecausey.com/arc
More works by Stevie Rae Causey:
Ring of Fire: A Companion to the Amasai Rising Trilogy
“-She is a danger to our people, whether she intends so or not. You welcome the wolf into your den, Father. Though you are too blind to see so.”
The King’s jaw tensed, and he drew himself up taller as Eoma stepped between the two of them.
“You would do well to remember your place.” the Priestess Eoma warned. “Larger powers are at work here.”
Cain became visibly agitated, “Then it is even more dire than I feared. You would use her as your pawn? Does she even understand, Priestess, what you have committed her to? You speak of acting with full knowledge, but she doesn’t kno
w yet, does she?”
I shifted awkwardly as Cain’s gaze turned to me. Hearing them speak about my lot as if I wasn’t present made my skin crawl. I looked away.
“She has no idea,” Cain reiterated.
“Hold your tongue!” Eoma growled. “Her fate will reveal itself at the appropriate time.”
She turned to Azlyn, “For now it is best to see her on her way,” she cautioned. “Lest your brother’s careless tongue put us all in jeopardy.”
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Anhedonia: Amasai Rising Book 1
The dragon’s eyes darted open. Though few others could hear the footsteps of the intruder, the sound of his leather boots against fell heavily upon her ears. She turned her head to the cave mouth where a figure stood, cloaked in the shadows. He was no stranger to her. If she had not already identified him by the cadence of his gait, his scent would have given him away. He reeked of arrogance.
“You’ve some nerve disrupting my slumber, thief,” she greeted him with a warning.
“Thief? Fiora, you wound me.” The figure feigned insult. “Is that any way to greet an old friend?”
“A friend of mine, you have never been.”
Tendrils of smoke swirled out her nostrils. Her ivory teeth clashed against one another as she spoke, setting off sparks. “State your business or be on your way.”
“I’ve come for Anhedonia.”
The dragon hissed, rising from her pile of treasure. Gold coins fell from her scales, clattering on the floor as she puffed out her chest in warning. The sound of her claws scraping against the stone echoed off the cavern walls. She smirked as she saw the figure shy away.
“Your arrogance has never surprised me, young prince, but I never took you for a fool.”
“Does the old man still hold your loyalty? After all these years, I thought perhaps you’ve grown tired of being his guard dog.”
Fiora let loose a stream of fire that lit up the cavern walls as it landed just before the figure’s feet. Though the stone before him scorched, he did not flinch.
“Hear me out, Old One.” His eyes scanned the beast’s body language for any warning of an attack before continuing, “The wizard has long been dead. His rivals, imprisoned.”
“You think them merely his rivals? They were a threat to us all, or have you forgotten?”
“A new enemy has risen in their place. One that only years ago, held you captive. Would you deny your desire to see them in chains?”
Fiora bared her teeth and let out a low growl as she approached the figure. As she slinked out of the shadow of her cave the moonlight bounced off her fiery red scales. Once a beautiful and fearsome beast, the light revealed flaws in her armored body—scars from where her captors had chained her.
“You have my attention.”
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