“I remember. I remember the mushrooms in the yard and hearing the little voices as they colored the air around me in rainbows. I remember trying so hard not to see them or hear them in the bushes or the flowers. I knew you thought they were bad, so I ignored them no matter what.” Eve stared out the window overlooking the city. Her body was in the same time and place but her mind was miles and years away, as she saw herself fighting not to see the magic all around her.
“I know it was hard, baby. All the time you were fighting to lose the sight, I was fighting to keep it. I shouldn’t have been able to keep my magic at all. I should’ve been blinded to all those with pure fey blood, but I fought to keep it. I had to see them to protect you. If I couldn’t see them, I couldn’t keep them away. Beltane was always the worse time of the year. It is a holiday for them and a holy day too. It’s when the power is strongest and when they are more easily able to access our world.”
She thought it strange that her mother would refer to the fey as if she wasn’t one of them by blood. It showed how completely she had given up her world to be with Eve's father. Eve both admired her and resented her. A strange sensation, she was not fond of the feeling. Instead of comforting or raging at her mother, she led her deeper into the story with a question. “Is that why we come to New York then? I heard you guys in the kitchen talking about it. I didn’t understand then, but now I get it.”
“Yes, during Beltane we always brought you to the city. It’s usually safer in the bigger cities. The fey do not care for the concrete and cold steel and they have a violent reaction to iron. They prefer the woods, meadows, mountains, and lakes. They are a people of nature and humans drive them deeper into the corners of Upper World with progress.”
“Something was different this year. They were everywhere, all the time. I could hear them and see them lingering around the house. I was afraid. I knew something was going to happen and I didn’t know if we should even attempt the trip. I guess they would have come regardless. They never think of anyone outside their world. I warn you Eve, the Sidhe are not our kind. The fey only care for the fey and nothing for anyone who is not of the same cloth. They are beast.” A flash of anger exploded in the gold of her eyes. She knew similar pain all too well.
“As we drove in. I heard the Selkies in the bay calling out to you. They call you by your fey name. They call you Faire Eve. In the hotel, I didn’t hear the centauress until after she had already approached you. I thought when you saw her that you would remember but you didn’t seem too. The mind is a wondrous thing and can make us believe anything is a result of exhaustion.”
“I should’ve recognized Aibell and Eldon for what they were but their glamour was too powerful. I could feel some charge within them, but the power was weak. I thought they were descendants of another mixed blood child. I failed to see through their magic and I failed you.”
Her mother’s sense of failure shocked Eve. While her mother wallowed in guilt, she saw the horrible turn of events as an adventure. Every little girl wants to grow up to be a princess and Eve was not only a princess, she was a fairy princess.
“You did not fail me. Meeting Eldon and Aibell, learning who I really am, and finally understand the stirrings I feel are wonderful. I am frightened and I am already worn out by all this, but you did not fail me, Mom.” Taking her mother’s hand and squeezing it hard, she looked in her eyes and prepared to tell them her plans. “I love you, I know you tried to protect me but you have to know that I am going to Evalon.”
Her mother jerked as if slapped. “You can’t! I won’t let you!” She used her no questions about it voice.
“I am and I have to. You can’t possibly expect me to turn my back on these people. They need help and whether you like it or not, they are my family. They are your family too. We have to help them.” Eve stood her ground.
“Eve, I cannot go into Evalon and you cannot go alone. Richard, tell her she can’t do this. We will not let you go.” Her mother sounded desperate and panicked. Eve had never heard her sound so weak and so much like a child. She found herself greatly disturbed by the situation.
To Eve’s utter amazement, her father wrapped his arm gently around her mother and pulled her to his chest before saying, “Honey, I think we do have to let her. If we don’t, how would we be any different from your parents?”
Pulling away to look up at her husband, she screamed, “No. No. We are not like them. They denied me love. We are keeping our child alive. They will lead her into their fights, their wars, and their world. She will never come home. How dare you? How dare you take their side?”
In his calmest voice, Eve’s father looked into her mother’s face. Their eyes met and a light of understanding shined between them. “The cause is different but the reasoning is the same. It’s what’s right. It’s fate. Eve is their savior.”
Her mother nodded her head. She had no argument left in her. Tears glistened on her cheeks and strands of her hair stuck to the wetness. Eve had always thought her mother was the strongest woman in the world. To see her cry, both disturbed and comforted Eve. The simple salty streams reminded her that her mother loved her and would always do what she could to protect her.
They sat talking long into the night. They agreed to use the communicator Aibell and Eldon had left behind. They would have Eldon’s troop meet Eve at the gate. Clarisse’s demands were simple. An armed guard must escort Eve to Trig Na nOg or else Clarisse would not allow her to pass through the gates. Eve feared she would be too excited to sleep but the mental and physical exhaustion took her down into dreams swiftly.
She dreamed of Eldon. His wounds were healing. He stood on the balcony of a castle that glittered in the twilight. His wings shivered in the wind as he stared out at the landscape below. In the dream, she reached out her hand to brush her fingertips against the coppery velvet of his wings. He turned and their eyes met, she felt something pulling her away. The force was strong and she couldn’t fight it.
He reached out for her as her body catapulted backward. She woke with the echoing sound of her voice screaming his name inside her head. To Eve’s relief, the sun shined brightly through the window and the smell of fresh coffee wafted through the hotel room. Her parents were sitting at the table with two cups of steaming liquid between them. The proof she remained in the human world steadied her. She still had time, no matter how sparse.
9
Eldon was in a foul mood. He stormed through the castle on his way to see Corrigan. The Astaroth demons had almost killed him and he had failed his mission again. On top of his failures, he gained little rest. Images of Eve had filled his dreams and the haunting sight of her still plagued him. Her interference in his life irritated him. He had neither the desire nor the time to dally with a half-blood girl who didn’t know an elf from a pixie.
Yet, when she came to him in the dream, he felt something for her. He liked the way her fingertips brushed gently across his wings. He turned, intending to kiss her, but she disappeared. He called out her name as she called out his. Even in the terrible moment, he loved the sound of it on her lips. The magic of Trig Na nOg had healed his body but the hurt inside him, left by her apparition, stung deeply. Three times already that morning he had found himself distracted by thoughts of her. A distracted warrior was a dead warrior and he knew it.
Eldon opened the door to Corrigan’s chamber without bothering to knock and received a glowering look for his rudeness. “There you are. You are late and you didn’t knock. In quite a temper this morning, are you? Are your injuries paining you a great deal? Did the salves and potions not help?”
Her voice was snippety but he could see real concern in her face. She hated to see him in pain but she would not allow him to behave like a braying ass. She never allowed him to indulge in anything unbecoming of a Daoine warrior. Tough love was Corrigan’s way. The first time he had met her, she had treated him not only as an intelligent creature but also with kindness.
Eldon’s mother had died while bringing hi
m into the world. A fact that tormented Eldon with guilt anytime he thought of it. He spent the first years of his childhood bouncing between nursemaids while his father went off to fight Evalon’s wars. When his father came home, they spent their time together training. Before Eldon was four years old, he could wield a short sword and had a sniper’s accuracy with the small bow and arrow his father had made for him.
The first time Corrigan walked into his life, she found Eldon playing in the garden while his lazy nursemaid napped in a nearby chair. He was barely ten years old but the memory still felt as fresh in his mind as if it were only days before. She seemed to him then, as she still did at times, to be a goddess in her flowing robes and serene smile. Corrigan spoke to the child in her usual matter-of-fact tone, “You must be Eldon.”
He told her proudly that he was and asked her who she was in return. “I am Corrigan. You are to come live with me in the big castle in Trig Na nOg.”
His young mind was quick and he stared at her with scrutiny. “Did my father say so?”
He saw the pain cross over Corrigan’s face seconds before she thoughtfully nodded her head and sat down on a nearby bench with him. “Your father has been killed at war. He is being led to the Great Hall by the most beautiful Valkyrie in all the land.” As she stated the fact, she held him to her and rocked him gently. Corrigan didn’t believe in sugar coating life and she didn’t mind telling a child the most brutal facts in a blunt manner. As if by natural instinct, she always found a way to soothe the harshness with physical comfort. Both fire and ice constructed Corrigan’s entire being.
She raised him, as she would have her own child. He respected and loved her, but inside the sacred chambers of Trig Na nOg, she was the chief advisor and he, the soldier at her will. “I’m sorry Corrigan. I am still a little sore but I’m healing quickly.” He considered telling her about his troubled dreams but decided they were too personal. “The disappointment of my failure is chafing me, I guess.”
“I understand your disappointment, Eldon, but I have something here that might lift your spirits.” With one long finger, Corrigan spun the communicator standing on her desk. She sprinkled the powder over it and murmured the words.
As the swirling smoke took shape, Eldon felt tightness in his chest. The first glimpse of Eve inside the crystal shocked him. The smoke made the color of her hair look duller and her skin faintly gray, but her eyes still glowed like amber jewels. Eldon leaned in closer so he could let the sight of her seep over him as he listened to her words.
“Hello. Hello. Oh, I’m not sure how this thing works, Mom.” Eve’s voice was full of uncertainty.
From somewhere outside the reach of the communicator, he could hear her mother’s annoyed voice. “Talk to it like you would a voice mail, Eve. They will receive it, eventually.”
“Okay, hello. This is Eve. I’m ready to go. I mean come to Evalon. My mother says you should send Eldon’s troops to get me at the Central Park gateway thing. She says we will be there at noon. I hope Eldon is okay. Thanks.” She seemed so much younger in the communicator than when he had met her in Upper World.
Eve’s concern bothered Eldon. He knew he would see the girl soon and his agitation grew. He hated the excitement making his heart skitter in his chest. He tried to tell himself he felt that way because she would help them keep Trig Na nOg functioning properly until they found a cure for the cold sleep. A small voice in the back of his mind whispered, Liar.
“So, she comes. That is blessed news, Corrigan.” He stood from his chair.
“Where do you think you are going?” Corrigan raised an eyebrow at him. She had seen the look pass over his face when Eve had appeared in the communicator. She could sense his trepidation and the resistance in him.
“If my men will travel to Upper World, I shall join them. I am their leader. After all, I am the one charged with the duty of bringing the half-blood princess home.” He fought to sound bored and nonchalant.
Corrigan smiled one of her knowing motherly smiles. For a woman who had never bore a child of her own, she had more instincts than any woman Eldon had ever met. “Very well then, be off with yourself. Be careful, no need straining your wounds.”
As Eldon left the chamber, Corrigan smiled. Eldon developing an unexpected fondness for the girl was an interesting addition to the circumstances. No female had ever held the boy’s attention for long in the past. In Corrigan’s opinion, he behaved far too seriously. Maybe, the girl would bring about the rare smile of his more often. If Eve felt the same towards Eldon, she would be more inclined to stay in Evalon once they found a cure for the cold sleep. The girl reunited with her Sidhe family would be wonderful.
The same thought that made Corrigan smile made Eldon bark orders and give glowering looks at his men. When he reached the barracks, they were already preparing to leave. Despite the fact that many of them were older than he; his troops respected Eldon as both a leader and a friend. As Eldon berated one of the younger soldiers for his missing dagger casing, his old friend Caleb watched with disapproval.
Eldon turned his fiery gaze on his long time comrade, “Lieutenant, do you have something to say?”
“I’d like a word in private, Captain.” The daggers in Eldon’s eyes didn’t worry Caleb. The ones he may find in his back if he kept it up, did.
Looking around the room, Eldon barked a final order to suit up and stormed into his private quarters. The room stood bare and in perfect order. Hardly any personal items were visible, except for two photographs in silver frames on the small desk. One featured Eldon’s parents on their wedding day. They stood in their finery, smiling at the artist with their wings mingled together in the background. The other showed Eldon and Corrigan when he had graduated the academy.
The use of film cameras was possible in Evalon. The problem was finding an alchemist capable and willing to develop the pictures. Having pictures of mythical creatures developed in Upper World would be disastrous and only a few of the scientific minds would waste their time with such things.
Eldon strode over to the desk chair and propped his muddy boots on the edge of the dark wood. “You wanted a word, Caleb.” He made no effort to hide his impatience.
Caleb shook his head before he answered. “Look, El, we’ve been buddies for a long time and I have seen you get in these moods. You want to tell me what crawled up your ass and grew wings?”
“It’s this damn girl.” Eldon raked a hand through his dark hair and Caleb could see the storm brewing in his old friend.
“I know El, it’s a pain in our asses to keep traipsing back and forth between the gates all over some little human/Sidhe mutt.” The distaste in Caleb’s voice rocked Eldon. He never knew his friend held such prejudice against mixed bloods.
He tried not to let Caleb know that infatuation and not annoyance with the girl was his problem. Eldon let his feet fall to the floor and laughed. “I guess it’s the dirty part of the job.”
The two men left the room and joined the others. Having six full-blown soldiers escort one tiny girl through the gates seemed too extreme in Eldon’s opinion. He, or any one of his men, could have brought her across safely. Despite the large escort, he felt relieved knowing Eve would be in Evalon in a little over an hour. She would sit on the throne of Trig Na nOg and they could work on saving the rest of the Sidhe with the castle’s magic safely protected.
His nerves felt raw but he managed to keep his temper intact as the troop set out on their journey. No two-way portals between Upper World and Evalon existed inside Trig Na nOg. To lessen the possibility of attack, the creators had only built two gates near to the city from the other landscapes. The first portal rested in Abnoba’s woods to the north of the castle and the other hovered in the air to the south. For their mission, Eldon and his men would have to use one of the main gates outside the city.
The journey was an easy one. The guard at the main wall spoke to each man as he passed, calling them by name. When he got to Eldon, he smiled a broad and toothy grin, �
��Well done, Captain. I hear you succeeded on your mission and Faire Eve will be joining us shortly.”
Eldon thanked the man but neither confirmed nor denied Eve’s arrival. He knew the best thing to do was to keep things quiet until Corrigan presented Eve to Evalon. The girl would surely be fearful and stressed when she arrived, no need in encouraging a fanfare about the whole thing. Eldon assumed, since she grew up as a human, the crossing would push her delicate senses to a breaking point. If she must face all the different creatures of Evalon on her way in, it would surely leave her a blathering idiot.
Eldon assured himself that he only worried about Eve because a mental case would do them no good. He tried to convince himself he didn’t care one way or another about the girl, only her ability to serve Evalon’s purpose. He failed miserably as the memory of the dream flushed over him again. He could feel the sensation of her fingers on his wings, he could smell the scent of her behind him, and he could still see the butterscotch color of her eyes.
He moved faster, trying to leave the dream and his thoughts of her behind. Coming to the head of the group as they approached the woods, he stopped and asked the blessing. “Abnoba, great keeper of the wood, we ask safe entry here and swear to tread lightly in your domain.”
The wind came from nowhere. It pushed through the low branches of the Ash trees and rustled along the path, sending mini tornados of dust and twigs up along its way. The playful breeze was Abnoba’s sign that she received his request and granted her blessing. The troop began its way through the thick woods. They were careful not to step from the path, for one never knew what would happen there.
Those who entered into Abnoba’s woods without her permission often came to a rough end. Some fools were lost for weeks, swearing they walked on and on in a straight line only to appear in the exact same place they had begun.
Others told eerie stories of a malevolent force within the silence that whispered horrible words and gave them disturbing visions. One woman exited the woods only fifteen minutes after entering and swore she had spent days wandering in terror. She said the devil in the woods showed her only son slain. In truth, the boy was fine at home.
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