by Unknown
“Yeah, a dark foot.”
We went straight back to our bedroom and mirrored the High King. He looked as if he were hiding in his bedroom. The remnants of a meal sat on the table behind him and Queen Meara was at the door, telling someone that they didn't want to be disturbed.
“Yes,” King Cian confirmed. “We were busy all day mediating fights that seem to have begun over the most ridiculous reasons. You say you went through the same thing? That doesn't seem like a coincidence.”
“No, I doubt that very much,” Arach grimaced. “I myself succumbed to the rage at one point.”
“The rage,” I mused. “Yes, I think that's a good description of it, don't you, King Cian?”
“Definitely,” he nodded. “Oh and, Queen Vervain, King Liam has mirrored me and confessed. He says that you've absolved him of his crimes though?”
“I wouldn't say absolved,” I grimaced. “But he's off the hook, I've decided not to kill him just yet.”
“Just yet?” King Cian lifted a white brow.
“I retain the right to change my mind at any time,” I gave him a sneaky grin.
“Yes well, I hope you'll accept our sincere apologies for falsely imprisoning you.”
“Of course,” I shrugged, “no biggie, you knew I was innocent.”
“Yes but it's good to have proof,” he sighed. “I've issued a statement proclaiming your innocence. There will also be an investigation into the unlawful killing of your goblin.”
“Excellent,” Arach nodded, “now what do we do about this?”
“I don't know as there's anything to do,” King Cian frowned. “We're aware of it now. I'll contact the other kingdoms and see if their experiencing the same type of thing but I'd be surprised if they weren't. I've already put guards throughout the castle to break up any altercations, I advise you to do the same.”
“We will,” Arach sighed.
“I think this has something to do with Faerie,” I said before Cian could leave.
“What?” Cian and Arach both frowned.
“Faerie is being taken over by the Darkness,” I lifted my brows at them. “Why wouldn't it affect us as well?”
“That's a good point,” Cian exchanged a look with Arach.
“What?” I looked back and forth between them.
“It just makes the whole thing even more difficult,” Arach explained. “Everything hinges on separating Faerie from the Darkness.”
“Separating,” I mulled the word over as I absently fingered my emerald pendant. “If only I could separate the Darkness from her like I do gods from their magic.”
“Why can't you?” King Cian looked suddenly hopeful.
“Because the only two ways to do it would be to take it myself or filter it out into the earth,” I grimaced. “And that would bring us right back to where we started.”
“But it would buy us some time,” Arach's eyes slid over to mine.
“What do you mean?” Cian pressed.
“The process of the Darkness overtaking Faerie would have to start all over again,” Arach looked back to Cian. “If we can't come up with anything else, at least this would give us time to think of something.”
“I'd need her here,” I added. “I've only done it with gods standing before me. I'm not sure it'll work if she's already inside me. Plus, what if she's so far gone that she turns me bad?”
“Didn't you tell me Demeter's magic was evil when you took it?” Arach asked.
“Yes, that's right,” I tapped the emerald. “The emerald allowed me to filter out the evil and let it flow into the ground.”
“Then why would this be any different?” Arach took my hand. “I don't want you hurt and if you think there's too much of a risk involved, I don't want you to do it but if not, this could be our only chance.”
“Our only chance of buying time,” I sighed. “Then the pressure will start all over again.”
“There is that,” King Cian agreed. “Oh, one other thing. I thought you should know that the Earth Kingdom has reported the loss of some two hundred earth-sidhe. You are not accountable for the deaths obviously, as it was in response to their unlawful actions, but I thought you should be aware of the crippling blow you've dealt Earth.”
I thought back to that moment on the battlefield when I lost all reason and simply fed on death. It was frightening now, to think of how far I could go. Two hundred lives lost because they followed the orders of their leaders. Did that make them wholly innocent? No, I didn't think so. They could have done as the rock fey had and simply refused. But did they deserve to die like that? No, of course not. What with the rock fey and lesser fey abandoning the battle, it had been a damn massacre.
“Queen Vervain?” King Cian looked concerned.
“Yes, sorry, King Cian,” I took a deep, cleansing breath. “I was just giving the dead their due respect and remembering.”
“We all make our own choices, Queen Vervain,” King Cian said thoughtfully. “And be we king or soldier, we must take responsibility for them. This confrontation has been building for quite some time and Earth went too far with it. The price they paid was high but maybe we all needed something to shock us out of our fey ways. The battle between Earth and Fire shall be remembered for many years to come, even by our oldest faeries. Hopefully, that memory will prevent such petty quarrels in the future and serve to remind us all that we are one realm and without each other, we fall.”
“United we stand,” I gave a little sad laugh.
“Yes, exactly,” King Cian smiled. “What a poetic way to put it.”
“Oh, that's the motto for my country,” I guess I could have taken the credit but what a horrible thing to do to our forefathers. “United we stand, divided we fall.”
“A human country?” King Cian's interest was piqued.
“The best human country,” I laughed. “But then I may be just a tad biased.”
“Aren't we all?” Arach took my hand.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
The fighting had indeed spread like a plague over the Faerie Realm and it was decided among the royals that I should attempt to filter the Darkness from Faerie to give us more time to come up with a permanent solution. The only problem was, how do you cleanse someone who won't even talk to you?
“She's still not answering?” Arach walked into the bedroom, shivering a little before he adjusted to the temperature in the room. I had the shutters open so I could at least see Faerie when I was talking to her... trying to talk to her, and the fireplace was cold. He went over and lit it with a stream of flame from his mouth.
“Nope,” I looked morosely at the window. “The only response I've gotten is that,” I pointed to the window pane, where the words Time is up were written in frost. “What do I have to do to get her to talk to me?”
“I don't know,” he came to stand beside me and look at the window. “What's that saying? Piss her off. There's no surer way to get someone to talk to you than to make them mad.”
“Make her mad,” I whispered, something coming to life in my memory. “By Jove, I think I've got it!” I laughed and turned to him. “Arach, I think what we need is a party.”
“A party?”
“Yes, have someone mirror the villages and spread the word. How long do you think it will take for everyone to arrive?”
“A couple of days unless we send carriages out to the furthest villages,” he frowned.
“Send carriages then, and go fetch Isleen and Laise,” I gave him a quick kiss. “We have a Winter Solstice celebration to plan.”
“Winter Solstice,” Arach gaped and then his face changed into an expression of revelation. “You may have just solved another problem, A Thaisce.”
“How so?”
“The change of time in Faerie,” he laughed. “How could I have been so daft? Of course, with the seasons come the change of the sun. The Winter Solstice marks the shortest day of the year, a moment we can actually use to see if we've aligned with the Human Realm. I'll speak to the Hi
gh King about having the mages of Spirit start keeping track of the daytime hours for us.”
“I hadn't even thought of that,” I grinned. “Elementary, my dear Watson, I'm brilliant!”
“Your dear who?” He frowned.
“It's okay, honey,” I patted his shoulder. “Baby steps.”
Chapter Forty
It turns out that the mages of Spirit were already keeping track of the daylight hours and they had informed the High King that the hours of the day were indeed growing shorter. The fey sun was aligning itself to that of the Human Realm. A feat that, when I contemplated it, was mind blowing but then an entire realm aligning it's days to another was pretty astounding to begin with. That's magic for you or maybe I should say, that's a magic realm for you.
Of course we wouldn't know when the solstice was until the day after, when the day became longer again, but that would be good enough. We planned on sending Roarke over to the God Realm to check the exact date over there and if it was the same, we could proceed from there. It would be nice to know what day it was in Faerie again. Oh, and that old calender of theirs? The Greco-Roman or Gaelic... no Gastro... oh, whatever the hell it was... oh, Gaulish Colony, wait, no, never mind, it's done and gone. From the solstice on, the Faerie Realm would be upgraded to our good old modern calender. Yippee!
Isleen and Laise were both a great help and made an awesome team, as I knew they would. Their combined skills of organizing and decorating helped our plans go smoothly. It had to be an outdoors event, not just because of the size of the guest list but because it would be easier to drain the Darkness into the ground if I could actually touch ground. So the huge pavilions were put up again, the trestle tables pulled out of storage and white cloths spread over them. Braziers were set up, lush carpet laid on the cleared ground, and there was even a stage made for some minstrels(that's what they called musicians in Faerie, the word made me laugh every time Isleen used it, much to her chagrin). It was going to be a beautiful party. I just hoped Faerie didn't destroy it too badly.
In addition to all of our kingdom, we'd also invited the royals of all the other kingdoms(yes, even Earth) and the High Royals. The High King had wanted to be there for the Faerie draining and I'd thought it was only right to include the other royals as well.
The day of the party, I dressed in white though I thought that was a bad idea for the kind of action I might be seeing. I remember reading a quote about never wearing your best trousers to war and I thought that was pretty damn good advice. Isleen insisted though and she'd also had the dress made special, so how could I refuse. It was so beautiful, I really didn't want to wear it. The thought of ruining it tore at my heart and if you think that sounds a little dramatic for a piece of clothing, then you just have no concept of how beautiful a piece of fey clothing could be.
It wasn't just white but sparkling white, a thick velvet whose surface had been covered in diamond dust. I kid you not, real diamond dust. The neckline went straight across my shoulders and was trimmed in soft white fur, so thick it brushed my chin when I looked down. The sleeves were long and full, also lined in fur but there were sleeves within those sleeves that were made of gauzy spider silk which, despite its delicate appearance, was strong enough to be embedded with a wealth of little diamonds. The skirt flowed out from the tight waist and split down the center to fall back into a short train. Beneath this split were layers of the spider silk again, the top one set with diamonds like my sleeves were. At my neck was my emerald necklace, glowing dark green like a beacon against all that white. Damn but I loved sparkle.
“I wish I had my diamond shoes here,” I said to Dexter, who was sitting on the bed regarding me. “But these leather boots are nice, don't you think?” I held out a foot encased in soft white leather. There were no sparkles on them but really, with all the adornments on the dress, it would have been overkill.
Dexter huffed, blowing a steam cloud into the air. His element was making itself more and more apparent lately and he was loving it. He'd blow steam just for fun now and especially liked using it to clean his feet after we came in from walking in the snow. He had even started using it to levitate. That was a bit of a shocker the first time I saw it. I had just woke up and opened my eyes to find Dexter hovering next to my face. Suffice it to say, he never did that again.
“Are you...” Arach came in the door and gaped at me, “ready?”
“I think so,” I patted the thick curls Laise had helped me work into my hair and then put a coat of gloss on my lips.
“You look amazing,” he stroked a hand down my dark hair, set off so nicely by the shimmering fabric.
“Thanks,” I turned to check him out. “Not too shabby yourself.”
He was dressed to match me, in a tunic made of the same velvet as my dress, and white leather pants. His boots were similar to mine, though they went up to his knees, and there was a line of diamonds set along the neck of his tunic. He had his hair down, dark red strands of it against the white fabric like blood on snow. I smiled at the thought, wasn't that what had inspired Snow White's name, blood on snow? Well Arach definitely wasn't a Snow White, he wasn't even a Prince Charming but what he was, was magnificent and, even more amazingly, he was mine.
“Thanks,” he mimicked me with a smile and then held his arm out. “Our guests await, my Queen.”
I took his arm and let him lead me down to our party, more pleased in his appearance than I was in my own. As often is the case with us women, I felt my best accessory to be my man, his attractiveness seemed to bolster my own confidence. Silly huh? But hey, at least I'm honest.
We walked out into a Faerie Winter Wonderland. The white pavilions were draped with sparkling sheer fabric. They flowed gently in the light breeze, clinging to the elegant fey passing by them. Glittering chandeliers hung at the apex of each tent, filled with fey light globes, and the smattering of trees that were in the area had been decorated with hanging globes filled with mini snowstorms. They were the party favors that Isleen had commissioned some frost fey to make. Those fey would be getting some beautiful pieces of jewelry in exchange. Braziers were set everywhere but had hot stones within them instead of open flames and fey were gathered around them, talking in excited tones as the minstrels(insert laugh here) played happy tunes.
The dining tables were set along the edges of the tents so the fey could mill about within, nibbling from the banquet laid out down the center and taking a plateful to a table if they preferred. It made for a more casual feel and it seemed to put everyone at ease, not having to sit at a certain time to be fed. This way, they could come and go as they pleased and not have their conversations interrupted by dinner or me draining the Darkness from Faerie.
The royals were waiting for us in a circle near the high table, though they looked content to hold their plates and eat standing up. They turned with happy expressions to us, even the Earth Royals, though Queen Aalish's expression looked a little strained.
“Welcome everyone,” Arach said warmly and we exchanged the round of necessary greetings.
“So when do you expect Faerie to make an appearance?” King Cian got right to the point.
“Hopefully after I've had something to eat,” I laughed. “Don't worry, King Cian, she'll come. I remembered something she said to me in a dream. She asked me if I was having fun, like I'd forgotten all about her in the midst of enjoying myself. Then Arach said the surest way to get someone to talk to you is to get them angry. Well, a party while she's being consumed by the Darkness is almost guaranteed to make her angry.”
You've got that right, bitch.
“Damn,” I swore. “I haven't even had a drink yet. There's supposed to be an exceptional faerie cocktail being served.”
Are you mocking me?
“That's right,” I nodded to Arach as I made my way out of the tent and into the open ground that had been cleared for just this purpose. I wanted to limit the damage if at all possible. The royals followed us but the rest of the fey stood around the tent edges, w
atching. “I'm making fun of you, you big baby. What are you going to do about it?”
I am Faerie! She practically screamed inside my head and the ground rumbled beneath my feet.
“Yeah? Big deal,” I laughed. “So what, you can make the ground shake. I dated a god who could do that to the sky but that wasn't all he could do. You however, can't do anything more without me. You need to be inside me to accomplish any of the great magics. Face it, Faerie, you need me.”
You're nothing more than a shell to be used, and since you offered so nicely, I think I will.
“Without my permission?” I scoffed. “I don't think so. Remember what you said? I need to open myself up to you in order for you to inhabit me.”
What do you want, Vervain? She was finally catching on.
“Control,” I bargained. “You can use my body only after you give me control of the Nine Great Magics for one hour.”
Just an hour? She sounded like she thought I was a fool. Fine, you have your hour and then I will have the rest of the night.
“Deal,” I opened myself up to her and she flowed into me with the speed of light.
I immediately fell to my knees under the onslaught of the hatred, anger, and loneliness she brought with her. I gasped, my hands clutching at my throat until I could finally catch my breath. Arach was rushing to my side but I waved him away and got slowly to my feet.
I felt full to bursting with Faerie inside my skin and me in control of her. It was an odd sensation, like having immense power at your fingertips but not having a clue as to how to use it. Yet, as soon as the thought entered my head, the possibilities unfolded and I gasped as the solution to our problem became evident. She had been right, I did have all the tools needed to help her, all I had to do was focus. The funny thing was, it was the lessons I'd learned recently in the God Realm that were going to help Faerie.
I felt a huge peace wash over me as I saw what she saw, the connection of it all. Now that Faerie had been reopened to the Human and God Realms, she was connected to them in more ways than time and seasons. She was connected by magic.