by Unknown
“And if I uncover the identity of the murderer,” I added with a wicked grin, “I shall still call the Hunt down upon his or her head.”
“Agreed,” King Cian patted my back lightly.
“Great. Don't take this the wrong way, King Cian,” I laughed, “but I can't wait to get out of here.”
“May Spirit guide you, Queen Vervain,” King Cian nodded, extended a hand to his wife, and left.
“Tell me,” I turned to Arach as soon as the door closed behind the High Royals. “Why did you give me that look when King Cian mentioned the air-sidhe?”
“Craigor and Aoife were lovers right before she and I were together,” Arach looked grim. “She ended the affair and he didn't take it well.”
“Do you really think he'd kill a king just to set me up for murder?” I blinked in surprise. “To what, avenge Aoife? Or just get back at you?”
“I don't know,” he frowned, “but it seems like a big coincidence.”
“Yeah,” I chewed at my lip, “and coincidences don't exist in a murder investigation.”
“We need to talk to him.”
“Yes but first you,” I pointed to Arach, “need to take me home before King Cian changes his mind.”
“As my lady commands,” Arach laughed and gave me a gallant bow.
“Oh wait, there's actually something else I needed but I don't know if King Fionn will be in the mood to be generous with me,” I worried at my lip.
“What do you require from the House of Air?” Arach's interest was clearly piqued.
“I need four air stones for going underwater,” I admitted. “We have a mermaid situation in the Human Realm and we have to go into the water to meet with them.”
“A mermaid situation?” Arach frowned. “I didn't realize so many of King Guirmean's fey had gone over to the Human Realm.”
“These mermaids aren't fey,” I gave him a smug grin, delighted to know something that he didn't. “This is a branch of hominid that evolved to live underwater.”
“You jest,” he cocked his head at me like he wasn't quite sure.
“Nope, for real,” I laughed. “Anyway, do you think King Fionn will help me?”
“When you tell him about the underwater humans he might,” Arach huffed. “Let's go ask him.”
Chapter Twelve
King Fionn agreed to send me four air stones even before I told him about the merfolk. After I explained, he was even more gracious about the gift, saying he'd send them as soon as he returned to Castle Bláthaich. I thanked him profusely and made a note to send him a nice muffin basket... or the fey equivalent of a nice muffin basket.
“I wonder why he was so helpful,” I mused in the carriage on our way home.
“Who?” Arach was staring pensively out the window at what must have been an alien landscape to him.
While we'd been at court, the trees had begun changing in earnest and most of the Forgetful Forest was now spotted with vibrant tones of red and gold. Some of the undergrowth had started to turn as well, though they were more brown than gold, and in some places there were only bare branches. Animals scurried through the fallen leaves happily, some carrying the dead leaves away to line their burrows with. They didn't seem to be in distress, which was a relief to me but clearly Arach was concerned.
“King Fionn,” I frowned at him. “I didn't expect him to be mean or anything but I wasn't expecting such easy generosity either.”
“He's being a smart king,” Arach looked over at me. “He may not have raised a voice against you during this whole murder mess but he didn't raise one in your defense either. And after the Aoife episode, I'm sure he thinks we view him as a possible enemy.”
“The Aoife episode?” I lifted my brows. “You're saying he takes responsibility for Aoife trying to kill me?”
“He doesn't even know about that, remember?” He gave me a look that clearly said he wished he'd been the one to kill Aoife, instead of Finn and his siblings. “I refer to the way she answered your summons for a challenge and then was brought home dead by Roarke.”
“Not my challenge, just my summons,” I frowned.
“Yes, he knows all about it,” Arach laughed. “Roarke had to explain, but you have to see how it looks. The Queen of Fire summons one of his people because of a slight done to her friends and then Aoife, who is a very powerful sidhe, dies at their hands. In the eyes of faeries, that speaks to Aoife's guilt, giving you cause to be angry.”
“Maybe but I wouldn't hold it against him,” I shrugged. “He's not responsible.”
“She's one of his fey,” Arach looked at me as if I'd lost my mind. “Of course he's responsible.”
“Even for something she did centuries ago?”
“Even for something she did millennia ago,” he nodded. “We are responsible for our people, Vervain. That's why we must be careful to lead them well and resolve any disputes that arise.”
“Darn, and I thought being a queen was all about sitting around eating cake,” I laughed at his horrified look. “Pizza?”
“Stop the carriage!” He shouted and I cringed back.
“You don't have to get upset about it,” I gave him my what the hell look. “It was just a joke. I thought you liked pizza.”
“Don't you smell that?” His eyes were wide as they shot to my face.
“Smell what?” I sniffed the air experimentally.
“Something rotten.”
“Something rotten?” I blinked and sniffed again. “Oh yeah, what is that, fruit?”
“Apples,” he whispered.
“Apples?” I laughed. “What, no special fey version of apples? Just apples?”
“Apples are fey,” Arach frowned at me. It was the look he gave me every time I revealed my ignorance of the Faerie Realm. “One of the High Kings made a gift of them to the Human Realm a very long time ago.”
“Apples are faerie fruit?” I lifted my brows and thought about it.
There was a lot of magic associated with apples so it kind of made sense. There was even god magic, the Apples of Immortality grown by Idunn were used to prolong the lives of the Norse gods. I wondered if they knew their precious apples were originally from Faerie.
“Cut one open and you see a five-pointed star,” Arach nodded as he got out of the carriage. “Representing the five elements of Faerie.
“Yeah, I know about the star,” I followed him, “I just never knew it represented Faerie.”
“The five elements of Faerie,” Arach corrected with a look over his shoulder at me. “As you know, the nine-pointed star represents Faerie herself.”
“Yes, Obi Wan,” I rolled my eyes. “So why have we stopped to look for rotten apples?”
“Because,” he stopped abruptly, bending over to pick something up, and I plowed into him. He barely noticed, simply stood and turned to face me with a slightly rotten but still shiny red apple in his hands. “Faerie apples don't rot.”
“Like the Apples of Immortality?” I asked with interest. Maybe the golden apples Idunn grew were even closer to the original version than I thought.
“Yes, exactly,” he nodded. “When they were planted in the Human Realm they became mortal, their magic drained by the non-magical land. But here, and most likely in the God Realm, they are an immortal fruit. They ripen on the tree and stay there until picked. They never fall to the ground and they never rot.”
He broke the apple open and a black goo oozed out of it. We both made shocked sounds and stepped back as he dropped the apple to the ground. It squished and splatted black sludge over the dry grass.
“That can't be good,” I whispered.
“No, it can't,” Arach's eyes shot around the forest like he expected something to jump out of the shadows at us. “I think it's time to go home, A Thaisce.”
“Yeah,” I gave the apple one last look. “Fast.”
Chapter Thirteen
“You're brooding,” Arach pronounced as he took a seat beside me.
I was sitting at the little t
able that was set beside our window, watching the activity below as I tried to tune out the sounds of activity in our bedroom.
The fire fey were preparing for winter, building shutters and frames for windowpanes. I was also having them install lower ceilings in the rooms like ours, which was the activity I was trying to ignore. There were several rooms in the castle that had soaring ceilings, they appeared to be pointed rock formations when viewing the castle from outside but were actually just hollow spires. I informed Arach that since hot air rises, it would be a good idea to create false ceilings to capture the hot air instead of letting it flow up the spire. He had agreed but now there were goblins on ladders, rhyming on about; You need to nail that piece right here, I couldn't have been more clear. As they installed the ceiling for us. Along with all the hammering, it was getting annoying. I should have just left the room but Arach wanted to stay to oversee the install and I wanted to stay to oversee Arach's hotness.
There were a lot of windows that needed covering and several spire rooms that needed lowered ceilings but other than that, we didn't have much preparations to make. It wasn't like we had to stock up on firewood or anything, though I did advise the kitchen staff to start canning and preserving food. They had looked at me like I was crazy until I explained the process. The chefs had assured me that there were spells that could preserve food much longer and easier than all of that canning nonsense and they'd be sure to gather foodstuffs until the larder was overflowing.
Messengers had been sent out to all the villages to explain what was happening and to show them how to prepare for winter. I made sure that each messenger was someone who knew how to explain everything thoroughly so there wouldn't be any panic when the weather altered. We were doing all we could. So why did I feel like there was more to be done? Maybe it was just the image of that rotted apple that was disturbing me.
“I just wish Faerie would talk to me,” I mused without looking over at him.
“It's the weather, I'm sure,” Arach took my hand and laid a quick kiss on it. “You can see the changes in the land already. Faerie is out of sorts, trying to cope with something she hasn't experienced in thousands of years. Give her some time.”
“Yeah, you're right,” I frowned. “I just feel like we ended things so badly. I know she's the consciousness of the land and all but I've come to think of her as a friend as well. I don't like the idea that she's alone and upset.”
“She's not alone,” Arach waved his hand out. “She has all of this.”
I looked over the changing trees, a clench of trepidation in my belly. Autumn had come upon us like a new backdrop on a stage, dropped into place with the flip of a switch, and the leaves had all turned color. I didn't think this was how it was supposed to go. It all felt a little rushed to me. The ground was already littered with red and gold leaves. Wasn't this supposed to be a longer process?
At least the fey animals seemed to be handling it all well. We'd sent out scouts to check on the creatures and they discovered that the animals were lining their dens and burrowing deeper than usual. Faerie had kept her word and was looking after them.
“That apple, Arach,” I whispered. “What did it mean?”
“I don't know but I'm sure it will all be revealed to us in time.”
“Yes but what if by then, it's too late?” I took his hand. “Arach, I saw your face. You looked like the forest might grow feet and fangs, and come after us. That apple frightened you.”
“When were you going to take the air stones back?” He tried to change the subject.
“I don't know,” I shook my head, allowing the subject change since he seemed so dead set against talking about it. “I feel like I need to be here a little longer.”
“You'd be back immediately,” he shrugged.
“To you, yes,” I sighed. “But I don't know how long I'll have to stay in the Human Realm this time and I feel like I need to handle this all with a fresh mind. We still need to find Liam's killer.”
“Yes we do,” Arach's eyes flashed yellow for a second. “I'm going to take great pleasure in hunting whoever it is. We should probably mirror King Guirmean-”
“Queen Vervain! King Arach!” Isleen came bursting into the room. “Fionnaghal is in labor.”
“Where is she?” I jumped up and headed for the door.
“In the caves,” Isleen shook her head, “she wouldn't move. She said it was where she felt comfortable.”
“Well, that's the most important thing,” I ran out the door with Arach and Isleen on my heels.
Fionnaghal had been the first to conceive after the fire fey started changing. We now had three confirmed pregnancies in the kingdom but this birth would be special because not only was Fionnaghal the first to conceive, she was a Hidden One.
Considered to be the monsters of Faerie, the Hidden Ones held a special place in my heart. I'd brought them out of hiding and taught them that love wasn't reserved for those with pretty faces. They in turn had helped to teach me that beauty wasn't always about symmetry and the perfection of one's skin. Differences can also be beautiful. The combination of forms that normally wouldn't be found in nature could be fascinating once you got beyond the initial fear it provoked. We expect to see things a certain way and when we don't, our mind rebels and our heart races. Something within us cries out in warning; this is not right. But if you think about it, this lack of rightness is a gift. You will never have a problem distinguishing one Hidden One from another, there are no similar features within them, and I've grown to love their uniqueness.
This would be the first birth of Hidden Ones in over ten thousand years.
There had been very few births at all since the way to the Human Realm had been closed, fifteen thousand fey years ago. The House of Fire had actually been lucky enough to have one of those rare births come to a phooka but the phookas were what was considered to be lesser fey, inasmuch as they weren't sidhe. What I found this to mean is that the lesser fey were less prone to the stasis that occurred in the sidhe. Having to deal with sidhe mood swings can make anyone adaptable, and so their fertility suffered a slight bit less.
The Hidden Ones, for all their supposed monstrosity, were considered sidhe. In fact, I'd heard Faerie herself say that she'd missed them the most when the fey had lost contact with her. I had a feeling that there was more to the Hidden Ones than being the monsters of Faerie, meant to keep the rest of us in line, and I was so excited to see the babies.
We found Fionnaghal in a cave beyond the cavern were the Hidden Ones usually gathered. From the looks of it, Laise had a hand in the décor. The leanan-sidhe(think faerie vampire) had designed our own nursery(on the off chance that I might want to give Arach the children he's been wanting for millennia) and when she'd found out that Fionnaghal was pregnant, she'd designed one for her as well. I was so pleased when I'd heard about it. It showed me more than anything else that the Hidden Ones had finally been accepted by their own House.
It seemed that it had gone even further than I thought.
Within Fionnaghal's private cave there were soft rugs on the stone floor, a painting on the wall, a fey orb hovering about the ceiling to give light, and a large mattress on the ground. As Fionnaghal was quite big, I understood the lack of a proper bed. Against the wall were three little pallets tucked inside what looked like bowls but what I now knew to be faerie cribs.
They were made of two parts, an inner and outer bowl. The outer bowl remained stationary but the inner bowl spun and swirled in a circular way whenever it was pushed. One nudge and it would spin for hours but a little catch on the side would hold it in place if you didn't want to rock the baby. The crib in my nursery was made from marble and diamond so our child wouldn't burn it up, these cribs were made from lava rock, the inner basin and inside of the outer basin both polished like glass to allow for the continuous movement, but the outside of the cribs were rough black stone.
“How's she doing?” I pushed Arach away when he tried to come into the room with me. “Only wom
en,” I hissed to him.
“She's doing great,” Laise turned and beamed at me from her position between Fionnaghal's eight legs.
Of course she was the midwife, why else would she have gotten so excited about babies and nurseries? I internally rolled my eyes at myself. I shut the door(another new addition, the Hidden Ones didn't have doors) on Arach's irritated face.
“My Queen,” Fionnaghal's bright yellow eyes focused on me, her lipless mouth pulling back to reveal super sharp teeth. I'm pretty sure she was smiling. “The babes come.”
“I know,” I went to sit on the ground near her head. “How are you feeling?”
“It hurt at first but Laise fixed it with a spell,” her long slender snout sniffed at me and I held out a hand so she could reassure herself with my scent. “I'm feeling good now, just small cramps every so often.”
“That's when you push, remember?” Laise smiled at her patiently.
“Yes, I remember,” she nodded, catching the edge of her pillow on one of the numerous horns that formed a ruff around her face. I pushed the pillow back down. “Oh, it's happening.”
“Good, push then,” Laise nodded encouragingly.
Fionnaghal's hand shot out and I grabbed it, stroking the thick greenish-gray flesh soothingly. She smiled at me again and then her whole body tightened. She pushed again and again, her face set in hard lines, making her appear very fearsome. My heart couldn't help but react to it, speeding up despite my attempts to reason with it. Still I held on and when the first cry came, I handed Laise a cloth from the top of the pile waiting beside her. She quickly cut the cord and tied it off before wrapping the baby and handing it to me so she could help birth the next.
I wiped the blood and bits of stuff from the infant's face and she stopped crying. She stared up at me with bright red eyes and held one of her four arms up to my face. That tiny paw touched my skin and I felt a peaceful joy come over me. I lowered my face to hers and kissed the fur on her forehead, then held her so her mother could see.