Tressa's Treasures (The King's Jewel Book 1)

by Gordon, Belinda M

  Alexander still held me. I looked at his aura and at mine. His was much lighter than the other humans, so the contrast in shade between his and mine was less noticeable. Perhaps this was because he was part fae. I couldn't be sure.

  Regardless, our auras weren't as distinct from one another as the others’ were. They reacted and fed off each other: the edges swirled and wove together wherever they touched in a constant movement, as though caressing each other. The effect was that of making the two auras into one large patchwork aura.

  I knew instinctively that this was the reason Mamó was adamant that Alexander was my Anam Cara. This was why our energies were so in tune. The sight of our interlocked auras gave me an odd sense of comfort.

  I reached out blindly to touch him. My hand landed on his chest. I ran my hand up his neck, to his face. When I touched him, his physical being started to emerge until finally, every detail of him down to the smallest scar on his cheek was visible.

  He looked the same, yet more intense. His dark eyes were a richer chocolate and more penetrating when he looked at me, which I never would have considered possible. More importantly, he looked wonderfully alive.

  "Tressa, talk to me."

  "You're okay." My voice was barely a whisper. "The hex has passed."

  "Yes. I'm still weak, but better."

  He helped me to my feet and then pulled me close again, allowing me to lean on him. The sounds of sirens wailing in the distance were coming ever closer.

  "Mamó," I sobbed.

  "She's gone, my love, I'm so sorry."

  I nodded, unable to speak.

  The firefighters arrived and worked to put the fire out. They looked like scurrying splotches of color and patterns. I turned away, not wanting to watch them, and looked to my right for the first time.

  A mere three feet away stood a menacing, dark, soot and smoke colored aura. Instinctively, I stumbled backwards to get away from it. I tripped over Alexander in the process and nearly knocked us to the ground again, but Alexander kept both of us on our feet.

  I sensed that the person with the dark aura had turned to look at me. He took a step toward me, and I stepped back.

  "Xander, who is that?" I asked.

  Alexander furrowed his brow, confused by my question.

  "Who, Gil? There's no one there but Gil."

  Horror ran through me. This was my brother? Now that I knew it was Gilleagán, his image came through the horrible darkness.

  "Gil," I cried out to him as the truth seeped into my consciousness. "What have you done?"

  He stared at me blankly for a moment before understanding filled his eyes. He hooted with an ugly laughter.

  "Oh my god, she bestowed it on you! Of course she did. Give Little Miss Special something else for people to go gaga over." The maniacal voice spouting these words didn't sound at all like my brother. "How stupid I've been, to think she would pick me just because I’m the obvious better choice. She always intended to give it to you. I should have known she would favor you to the end—just like everyone else."

  Alexander's body stiffened, alert against a possible threat. The others gathered behind us, sensing something was wrong.

  I could hardly bring myself to voice the question his illogical tantrum brought to mind, but I had to know. When I asked, my voice came out dry, gruff, and raw with anger.

  "Gil, did you do this?" I gestured toward the burning Manor House. I began to put things together. No Unseelie had crossed into the Human World. There has been no noise on the wind relating to the Unseelie, not even in connection to the Fae Fever. Another fae had been holding Dominion over Fred when he tried to kidnap me. The forest had told Keelin there was Unseelie magic, but no Unseelie. It was Gilleagán in the woods before the attack.

  Alexander never left the estate the afternoon he got sick. No Unseelie could have gotten on the estate to cast the flu on him or to start this fire. No human, either, for that matter.

  I remembered Mamó's last words to me: that she needed to talk to Gilleagán about something. The way that she had said it... Anger exploded through me and I screamed at Gilleagán.

  "Did you KILL our grandmother?"

  "Don't be ridiculous. How could you say such a thing?" He looked defensive and offended at the suggestion, and I began to have hope I was wrong, that I had made a huge mistake.

  "He's lying! I've been trying to tell you," Rosheen said through shallow, quick breaths. She grabbed my arm, and I recognized her through her aura. "He was lying when he said he didn't see Mamó, and he's lying again now."

  Gilleagán backed away from us.

  "I had to do it. My aura had changed; she knew I had switched sides." Everyone gasped at his admission. He looked at me as though I would understand his logic.

  "Nobody appreciated me like I deserved. Nobody recognized how special I am, because they were always so busy fawning over you. Deaglan is different. He values me."

  There was a general uproar from the Sidhe behind me when Gilleagán spoke the name of the rebel prince.

  "I guess none of you can understand. You've lived charmed lives," he said. He looked at us with disdain, took two steps, and flitted away.

  Everyone spoke at the same time. Their voices buzzed around me, adding to my confusion. I forced myself to slow my breathing and concentrate. I singled out each person's voice to determine who was who. One by one, I put voices together with auras. With each one, it became easier to force my vision past their aura to see a new and more complete likeness of them.

  Everyone quieted when a firefighter approached us. He was a stranger, and I found it was easier to see him through his aura than it had been with the people I knew.

  "Are any of you the owner of this house?" he asked.

  The twins and I exchanged a questioning glance. Since I lived on the estate and they looked like lost Pixies, I took the lead.

  "Me," I said, waving my hand.

  "I'm sorry, but the house is a total loss. It went up fast. Thank god everyone got out in time."

  I nodded.

  "Yes, sir. It was a blessing," I said, fighting not to choke on my words.

  "We'll stay until we're sure the fire is out, but don't let anyone near it until you can get what's left demolished. It will be a real hazard till then."

  "I'll make sure no one goes near it," I said, parroting his words. "Thank you for coming so quickly."

  "Do you have somewhere to go?" he asked kindly, looking over the entire group. When everyone nodded, he took his leave.

  The person with the earthy brown and green aura walked toward me. By the time she had reached our group, I realized it was Jenny.

  "I'm so sorry. Thank goodness Órlaith was away; I thought for a minute she was still inside," she said as she hugged each of us.

  We accepted her condolences. I told her I would keep her updated, and she left.

  "Let's go to the guesthouse where we can talk," Alexander suggested.

  Matt went to help Holly. I could hear her assuring him she was okay. Connor walked with a comforting arm around each of the twins.

  Bridget declined to go to the guesthouse, as I expected. Instead, she went back to the lake and the Pixies. She would tell them what had happened and continue her keening.

  Alexander and I took up the rear, shepherding the group down the stone path to the guesthouse.

  "Why didn't the firemen find her?" Alexander whispered.

  "When a fae dies, their body goes back to their ancestral home in Faery. She wasn't there," I whispered back.

  Everyone gathered in the living room. Matt helped Holly onto the sofa and sat beside her, putting her legs over his lap. Rosheen and Keelin, who had washed the soot off their faces, sat on the floor in front of her. Alexander insisted that I sit in a comfortable chair while he sat on its arm.

  Connor, looking uncomfortable, stood leaning on the doorframe. When everyone quieted, he moved forward to speak.

  "Tressa, I had no idea about any of this. I need you to know that. I knew
Gil hadn't been himself lately, but never did I imagine what he was doing."

  "Truth," Rosheen said, continuing to gaze sadly at the floor. Even before she spoke, I knew from his aura that he hadn't fallen in with Gilleagán.

  "Don't worry," I assured him. "We know you’re telling the truth."

  Reassured that we were on good standing on a personal level, Connor's demeanor took on a formal bearing.

  "In light of today's tragic events, you and your family have much to do before the Sendoff. With your permission, Highness, I will return to the palace at Tír na nÓg and update the King on what has happened here. He will want an explanation when the Queen Mother's body appears. I can also help them capture Gil and bring him in for trial."

  "You have my permission to do as you suggest, My Lord. May the Lord God carry you on a swift wind until you complete your purpose." I honored his plan with a formal acknowledgement.

  He bowed, nodded to the rest of the room, and departed. I looked at those who remained. The twins looked back at me with lost expressions.

  "We need to get ready for a trip back to the Otherworld." They nodded. I thought quickly, deciding what preparations should take place. The need to take charge acted as a temporary buffer from my grief.

  "Keelin and Rosheen, search the Manor House for anything important you can rescue," I began. "Store what you find at the farmhouse for now. Make sure nothing is there that shouldn't be found, and be sure the firefighters are gone before you begin."

  "The Pixies will return with us for the ceremony, and we should take back some of Mamó's favorite flowers from her garden for her Sendoff."

  "Oh yes," Rosheen agreed. "She would like that."

  "Tressa, what can we do?" Holly asked, referring to herself and Matt.

  "Holly, if the doctor releases you from bedrest, open up the store for me. In the meantime, please stay at the farmhouse so that it won’t be empty."

  Time in the Otherworld and the Human World didn't necessarily run concurrently. Short trips to Faery often lasted a longer time from the perspective of those here. I would find comfort in knowing that the life I had built here wouldn't fall apart while I was gone.

  "Matt, would you help the twins search the Manor House? And it would be helpful if you could see to the demolition of it while we're away. You should move into the Guesthouse while we're gone."

  Matt agreed and left with the twins, each appearing satisfied with their instructions. I gave Holly a sleeping elixir to help her nap after the stress of the day and asked Alexander to carry her to one of the unused bedrooms upstairs.

  When he returned, I stood near a window in the dining room looking toward the lake. I closed my eyes to isolate the sound of Bridget's grief-filled wail. The Banshee would help our family mourn, as she had for my entire life. Oddly, the horrible screeching sound brought a measure of comfort, though I had never understood why.

  Alexander hugged me from behind and I shifted my weight to lean back against him. His warmth thawed the chill that had been building inside me. He lowered his forehead to rest it on the crook of my neck, and I felt that I, too, was bringing him relief.

  "Did you see Gilleagán when you went out to the herb garden for Mamó?"

  "Yes," he said into my hair. I nodded.

  "Gilleagán cast the Fae Fever on you. He wanted to kill you." Alexander kissed my neck and lifted his head, nestling it against mine.

  "I don't remember much. I heard you singing, and I tried to get to your voice. You were so far away from me."

  So he had felt the separation of our energies as well.

  "What happened to you earlier? It seemed like something hit you," he said.

  "Mamó bestowed her gift of Aura Sight on me. It felt like a jolt of electricity had hit me. It was painful, at first. I couldn't see anything other than the auras until I grew accustomed to it."

  "Really?" he sounded intrigued. "What does my aura look like?"

  I laughed, surprising myself.

  "The perfect match to mine. Our auras dance and play together whenever we are close, and they reach out to each other when we aren't."

  He smiled.

  "That's what it feels like, too."

  "Your aura isn't like other humans," I said as I turned around to face him.

  "What?"

  "It's hard to describe. Auras have colors, but also shades of light and dark. Humans range in the middle of the spectrum. Seelie are noticeably lighter, and Unseelie are much closer to black." I shuddered, remembering how dark Gilleagán's had become. "Yours is much closer to ours than the other humans I've seen."

  "Because I'm half Sidhe?"

  I shrugged.

  "I'm not sure, but that seems logical."

  "I wonder what Sophia's will look like," he mused.

  We made dinner. I had never eaten my lunch, and Alexander hadn't eaten in days. We ate sandwiches while discussing our plans for the funeral. I wanted him to come meet my uncle. We decided to get Sophia in the morning and take her with us.

  "Xander! Tressa!" Matt shouted. The door slammed behind him as he ran into the house. He held his cell phone in his hand. "He's taken Sophia."

  "Who's taken her?" Alexander demanded, tension coiling through him. When Matt hesitated, he shouted, "Who?"

  "Gilleagán took her. He snatched her from Kendra's back yard."

  Alexander turned to me. I flinched away from the anger that radiated from him.

  "You said she was safe."

  "I did. She is. She should be," I sputtered. It was unimaginable that any Sidhe would hurt a child. It was a sin even the blackest soul wouldn't dare commit. "Sidhe treasure children above all else. He will lose favor even with Deaglan Mór if he hurts her."

  "Then why?"

  I searched my mind for any plausible reason. Gilleagán’s actions were already beyond anything I could have imagined.

  "Centuries ago, the fae would take children. If they found a special child, or a particularly beautiful one, they would take them back to Faery, especially if they didn't have children of their own. That's where the stories of Changelings came from. But it hasn't happened in hundreds of years," I said.

  "How will he cross realms?" Alexander drilled the question at me.

  "I don't know. There are guards at every entrance, but they aren't likely to stop him." I was thinking aloud now. "He won't be able to flit with her, so whichever threshold he uses, it will take him a while to get there. The closest is Niagara Falls."

  Alexander paced back and forth. I wasn't sure he was listening, but Matt was.

  "We should send word that he has her so the guards are on the lookout. What's the fastest way to do that?" Matt said.

  Alexander didn't look at me. The edges of his aura were sharp and jagged.

  "The Pixies. They don't need a threshold," I said.

  "I found a cave." Alexander finally spoke.

  "What?"

  "A cave. I found a cave. I was taking you to it the other day. It seems to go very deep. I hadn't gotten to the end of it yet, but the entire thing is veined with River Rock."

  "That's why there was River Rock in places it shouldn't be!" I reasoned aloud. "It must be a threshold. That's why my grandfather was so secretive about it. That's why it was so important for you to find it. My god, there's a threshold to Faery right here!"

  "There's something else," Alexander said. He hesitated, glancing at Matt. "I'll tell you on the way."

  "Matt, go explain to Brenna what has happened. Ask her to find Shamus and tell him. He’ll be wherever they laid out Mamó's body. Tell her I’ll be there soon, so she needn’t come back here until she sees me again." My mind raced, trying to remember any lost detail. "Oh, and tell Rosheen and Keelin to finish here and return as planned to the palace."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  We made hasty preparations. I ran to my house and grabbed a velvet bag of cut stones that I kept with a small collection of jewelry supplies. They might be helpful, either for their monetary value or their healing pr
operties. I also picked up a small dagger from my dresser drawer, spelling it to stay hidden in my jeans pocket.

  Alexander met me in the driveway between the houses, a backpack slung over his shoulder. We headed toward the woods. He walked so quickly that I struggled to keep up; I lagged a few steps behind him.

  We walked straight across the estate, cutting across the circuitous walkways and garden paths, toward the far northern corner and entering the woods at its thickest spot. We hadn't gone this way on the morning we had found the hiker.

  Through the rougher terrain of the forest, Alexander slowed down and took my hand to assist me. I struggled more than I had the last time. My store of energy, my essence, was nearly vanquished. Alexander was silent as we walked, and I was afraid to break that silence.

  I thought about Gilleagán and what possible reason he had for taking Sophia. Was it to hurt me? Maybe he did see her as a pretty trinket, just as with the fae of old. I had never known a Seelie who had fallen. Could that be a factor? I decided it would be best not to consider what he might be planning.

  Finally, Alexander stopped. He moved away some fallen branches and debris from the side of a boulder. He uncovered a gap between the boulder and the rocky mountainside behind it.

  "I found this second entrance after exploring the cave. It's much closer to Pine Ridge. The other entrance wasn't on the estate itself."

  He pulled a flashlight out of the backpack. "We’ll only need this for a few hundred yards."

  I nodded. Every threshold was the same in that once we were close enough to the Otherworld, tóirse stone along the interior would glow and illuminate the way.

  The cave was narrow, but the ceiling was high. The ground was surprisingly even, considering it was uncultivated. Alexander stayed close to me as we made our way through the cave.

  "We need to talk about something before we go much further," he said.

  I nodded, thinking this was the point where he told me that after we had rescued Sophia, he never wanted to see me again.

  "I know these people have hunted you for your entire life, and I'm sick at the idea of putting you in any more danger, but I'm going to need your help if I'm to have any hope of saving Sophia."