Fairy-Struck

by Amy Sumida

  “You traitor,” I whispered while I could still speak.

  “Technically, I'm a double agent,” he clarified. “I was a traitor when I left the Unseelie Court, this is redemption.”

  A ringing came from a panel near the elevator and Dylan glanced over his shoulder at it. Then he looked back at me sadly, gave me a gentle kiss on the cheek, and got up to go to the intercom. He pushed a button on it and spoke quickly. Then he went to the elevator and pushed a button there, before he turned to face me once more.

  “This will all be over soon,” he smiled reassuringly. “Try not to upset yourself.”

  I wanted to tell him to go to hell but I couldn't move my tongue. It felt swollen in my mouth and my body was extremely heavy. The elevator dinged and the doors opened to reveal my other uncle, King Uisdean. He had his hair pulled back in a thick braid which hung down his back, and a pair of sunglasses over his eyes. That, in combination with his black suit, made him look almost human but then his evil smile chased the illusion away.

  “You had no trouble coming through?” Dylan asked as he took Uisdean's coat.

  “None at all,” Uisdean removed his sunglasses and spared a glance for the darkening sky outside. “Perfect timing, Brother. Night comes and I'll be able to whisk this one back to Fairy with no one the wiser.”

  “That's precisely what I thought,” Dylan shrugged. “We could have waited for full night but that would have been risky. Better to take her as soon as possible.”

  “Yes, you're right,” Uisdean walked forward, keeping his dark stare on me. “You have much to answer for, Princess Seren. It seems that my dungeons have been emptied and now I'll have to find new occupants for them. You shall be the first.”

  I would have shivered if I wasn't paralyzed but all I could manage was a blink and I didn't even want to do that. I had a feeling that taking my eyes off him for even a second could be disastrous.

  “There was one thing I was wondering,” Dylan said as he casually sat in a sleek, cherry-colored chair on my right. “How did you get the Sluagh past our wards?”

  “You're not the only fairy who came looking to strike a bargain with me,” Uisdean grinned, finally taking his disturbing eyes off me to look over at Dylan.

  “You have a spy in Gentry?” Dylan lifted his brows.

  “Middle management,” Uisdean laughed. “It's always those in the middle who want to advance by any means possible.”

  “Who?” Dylan frowned. “I personally vetted all of our employees.”

  “Adam Driscol is his human name,” Uisdean gave a little frown. “I can't remember his fairy name for the life of him.

  “The phrase is for the life of me,” Dylan corrected with a little laugh.

  “Oh no, Brother, it's not,” Uisdean smiled back. “My life is never in danger.”

  Then twilight came and the magic burned through me, dissolving the effects of the drug Dylan had slipped me. I blinked in surprise but kept still so I wouldn't give away the fact that I could move again. I glanced over to Dylan and saw him wink at me. What the hell? Before I could even form a plan, one of the doors to my left burst open and Keir came striding through.

  He was dressed for battle, in leather armor stained deep purple, heavy black boots, and a sword on his belt. His hair was braided back and folded up into a neat club. He barely spared me a look as I sat up in shock, just slammed into Uisdean and knocked him to the floor. Uisdean stared up at Keir with wide eyes as Keir's fist pummeled his face. Then Keir was thrown off the Unseelie King with a burst of darkness which exploded between them.

  Keir didn't even fall, just landed back on his feet to stare at Uisdean with eyes glowing bright. Every time he blinked, it was like the twinkle of stars. Angry stars. Keir lifted his hand and Uisdean slid across the floor, slamming into the metal doors of the elevator hard enough to dent them. I got to my feet and would have helped but Dylan grabbed my arm.

  “This is a father's revenge,” Dylan said calmly, keeping his eyes on the fighting fey, “and a lover's. Just keep out of the way, Seren.”

  “You're not a traitor?” I stared at him in shock.

  “As I said before,” he spared me a quick grin, “I'm a double agent. Fuck Uisdean, he's an evil son of a bargest.”

  “Oh, I like that,” I smiled fully, “cause a bargest is like a dog. Good one.”

  “Yes, Seren,” he rolled his eyes. “Now, just be a good girl and watch your father kick your uncle's ass.”

  Dylan was right, Keir was kicking Uisdean's ass. Uisdean was already bleeding from several places when he threw out a hand, magic rippling through the air to hit Keir. Keir screamed and I started to go forward but again, Dylan stopped me. I yanked my arm out of his grip angrily as I saw the reason for Keir's screams; black thorns were poking through his skin everywhere.

  “Dad!” I cried.

  “Stay back, Seren,” Keir waved a hand over himself and the thorns fell away. “I am the Twilight King, I can handle my brother.”

  “Can you?” Uisdean growled and lifted his hand.

  “You know I can... or you will know, soon enough,” Keir grinned maliciously and I saw Uisdean's smile falter, his eyes filling with terror.

  “You can't kill me, Brother!” Uisdean cried as Keir gestured and magic rushed between them. “This is not a war!”

  Uisdean screamed, a high pitiful sound, as he fell to the carpet and began to shake. His pale skin reddened and rolled as if there were bubbles beneath it. I gaped as blood poured from his ears in a boiling tide and sizzled when it hit his hair. The acrid smell of burnt hair and blood wafted over to me.

  Keir walked slowly over to his brother and stood over him, watching as the blood flow slowed and Uisdean's screams mellowed into whimpers. The hair at his temples was mostly gone but what was left was thick with blood and smoldering. There were even holes in his suit where blood had dripped and wounds all over his skin where it had burned through the flesh.

  “Magic His Majesty inherited from your grandmother,” Dylan whispered with a note of awe. “Bloodburn.”

  “Jesus,” I whispered.

  “Even more powerful than he,” Dylan said smugly.

  “That is for killing Catriona and for sending the Sluagh after my daughter,” Keir stared coldly at his brother. “I was born to be neutral, Uisdean, to keep the peace and watch over both courts, but I have been too gentle it seems. You've forgotten what I am capable of and so you will now remember and you will only call on the Sluagh in times of great need, as the law dictates.”

  “Yes, Brother,” Uisdean's voice was gurgling and grudging but also resigned. He stumbled to his feet and faced Keir proudly, even though he looked like a plague victim. “You're right, that was... unwise of me. Yet know that I only sought to save you from yourself. A human on the twilight throne is a blasphemy, an affront to the Goddess!”

  I walked over to Uisdean and snarled in his face, “I vowed to myself that I would find my mother's killer and extinguish him but I can't kill you, so this is going to have to do for now.” I punched him in the nose with all of my strength and had the extreme satisfaction of feeling his bones break beneath my knuckles. Uisdean shook his head like a boxer shakes off a blow, blood spraying out to stain the white walls, and then started forward.

  “The Goddess speaks to her, Uisdean,” Keir stepped between us and smiled when Uisdean jerked back in shock. Twilight deepened into night and Keir's expression softened. “Danu speaks through her. Seren has her protection and her favor. Look at her, Uisdean! She wears the crown.”

  “What?” Uisdean shot a horrified look at me. His gaze intensified and he swallowed hard. “No, it's not possible.”

  “When is the last time you felt her presence?” Keir cocked his head at his brother and then wandered over to the couch and took a seat. He gestured to me and Dylan, and we followed suit. I knew immediately that it was meant to be a final insult. None of us feared the Unseelie King.

  “I...” Uisdean wandered over to a chair across from us an
d fell back into it. “I don't remember.”

  “I felt her just this morning,” Keir stroked a hand over my hair. “You're not the only one she guides, Seren. Remember that the next time you think to operate without my knowledge.”

  “You knew about the prisoners?” I gaped at him.

  “I am the King of Twilight,” he chuckled. “The seelie have the day and the unseelie own the night but the spaces between are mine... ours... and although they are just brief flashes of time, the power of night and day combine and condense within them. When we stand against our enemies during those moments, no one can defeat us.”

  “Whoa,” I whispered. “You're not mad about me rescuing the prisoners?”

  “I'm mad that you felt I wasn't worthy of your trust,” Keir sighed, “but freeing them was the right thing to do. I've stood by silently for too long, thinking that being the King of Twilight meant dividing Dark from Light and keeping them from declaring war. I've completely lost sight of the true reason I was birthed; to bring peace, not just a wary truce. We are peace keepers, Seren, and law keepers.”

  “I thought the Sluagh punished criminals,” I frowned.

  “They kill murderers of monarchs,” Keir corrected, “but their main purpose is to defend the Unseelie Court when it is in dire need. Just as the Seelie have the Shining Ones.”

  “Wait, what?” I frowned.

  “I bet you thought we were all the Shining Ones,” Uisdean sneered at me, “and you, the Extinguisher of our light.”

  “Brother,” Keir made the word into a warning.

  “Teach her then,” Uisdean waved a hand indolently at me. He was sure recovering quickly, or at least his attitude was. His skin was still covered in open sores, although they'd stopped bleeding.

  “I am attempting just that,” Keir gave Uisdean one last quelling look and then nodded to Dylan.

  “Your Majesty,” Dylan stood and motioned to Uisdean. “I believe your car is waiting?”

  “Very well,” Uisdean stood and smirked at Keir. “You've made your point, Twilight King. I will follow our law more closely in the future... and I will never underestimate you again.”

  Dylan escorted Uisdean to the elevator, handed him his coat, and stood there until the doors closed over Uisdean's dark expression. I breathed a sigh of relief.

  “You jackass!” I shot to my feet and punched Dylan in the shoulder. “You had me thinking you were a traitorous jerk.”

  “Don't blame me,” Dylan held out his hands in surrender. “It was your father's idea.”

  “Dad,” I ground out.

  “Sit down, Seren,” Keir narrowed his eyes on me. “You don't get to be angry after the stunt you pulled.”

  “You just said you approved of my stunt,” I huffed and sat back down.

  “But not about being kept in the dark,” he gave a little laugh at the pun. “Do you want to hear about the true Shining Ones?”

  “Oh,” I blinked, “yeah, I do.”

  “They are the seelie equivalent of the Sluagh,” Keir said in a low tone. “Beings so powerful and deadly, they are called upon only in desperate times.”

  “Who are they?” I whispered the question.

  “The Sluagh are the cursed ones,” Keir said simply, “and so the Shining Ones are the blessed. They are pure light, pure energy, and all fey have the right to join them upon their death.”

  “Fairy spirits?” I asked and he nodded. “I thought those were the will-o-wisps.”

  “That's just a story we tell our children,” Keir shook his head. “The wisps are fire elementals. The Shining Ones are fairy spirits but they are not individual spirits. They are the gathered energy of all the fey who have died but have chosen to stay and serve their people. This energy is collected and transformed into new beings. They are the honorable dead made into warriors of light.”

  “Even the unseelie can join them?” I asked with wide eyes.

  “Even the unseelie,” he nodded. “The Shining Ones can unite with the Sluagh when the realm itself is threatened and that's where we come in.”

  “How so?” A shiver raced over my skin.

  “We are the ones who unite them and then command them,” Keir smiled and took my hand. “Your birth was not an accident, Seren. You were born as I was, with a purpose. Do you think it was pure chance that I, the King of Twilight, should sire a child with an Extinguisher? No, your birth was fated. You are meant to bring peace not only between the Courts of Light and Dark but between the realms of Human and Fairy.”

  “So no pressure then,” I whispered and Dylan burst into laughter.

  “She has your wit,” Dylan said to Keir.

  “Yes and her mother's fortitude,” Keir grinned, “Goddess help us.”

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  There was no need for me to wait another day before returning to Fairy since Keir could take me straight home. Home. Funny that the place I called home was now in the Fairy Realm. We left shortly after Uisdean did, Dylan to fire and do who knows what else to Adam Driscol while Keir and I went back to Gentry Technologies so we could use his personal fairy mound to get back to the Twilight Kingdom.

  There was a coach and a contingent of soldiers waiting for us when we exited the rath. They were all sitting around a fire but there were no tents up so I assumed they expected it to be a short wait. Which meant Keir had perfectly timed his arrival into the Human Realm. I guess Danu did speak to him.

  The knights were well trained, Keir's personal retinue; the King's Guard, and they were mounted and ready to leave within moments. Soon, we were rumbling through the night-shrouded forest, on our way to the Twilight Court. I sat back against the purple velvet seats and sighed deeply, going over the last few days in my mind.

  “Could you send someone to intercept Tiernan so he doesn't ride all the way back to the mound to wait for me?” I asked Keir as we sped home.

  “It's already been done,” Keir smiled. “He will be waiting for you at Castle Twilight.”

  “You're way ahead of me it seems,” I shook my head.

  “Well, I have a few centuries more experience than you,” he winked at me.

  “I do need to return to HR and try to speak to my Dad again,” I sighed and focused my attention on the strange scenery outside the window which was becoming less and less strange everyday.

  “HR?” Keir asked.

  “Oh, I mean the Human Realm,” I explained and looked back at him. He had a careful expression on his face and I recognized it as the one he always wore when I talked about Ewan. “We Extinguishers tend to call it HR and Fairy is FR.”

  “Ah, of course,” he gave me a soft smile. “Humans have abbreviations for everything.”

  “We have less time than you do,” I shrugged. “We need to make each second count.”

  “Seren,” Keir frowned. “We talked about this. You'll live a fairy lifespan, remember?”

  “Right,” I felt my face go slack. “I forgot for a second.”

  “I guess you no longer have to use abbreviations,” he said gently.

  “Among other things,” I gave a huffing laugh.

  “Welcome to immortality,” his starry eyes twinkled. “Where we use long words in our long conversations, the longer the better.”

  “Thanks,” I sighed.

  “What is it?”

  “Yet another thing to come between me and Dad,” I shook my head when I saw the expression again. “I know you're my father and I'm even coming to think of you as my Dad but I can't just let go of my entire life. Blood or not, Ewan will always be my Dad.”

  “Yes, I know, Seren,” Keir took a deep breath. “This was one of the sacrifices I chose to make when I gave you into his keeping. I understand but please try to understand how much it hurts me to be reminded that the woman I loved, lived with another man who had the joy of raising my daughter. Those are important years, as you well know, and I can never get them back. They will always belong to Ewan.”

  “Yes but Ewan is mortal,” I whispered. “He'll
die in the blink of an eye for you and then I will have only one father.”

  “I admit the thought has crossed my mind,” he met my sad gaze with his serious one.

  “And I admit that this new life scares me a little,” I said. “I don't know if I can do this; bring peace to Fairy, much less between the realms.”

  “Seren, do you know what the motto of the Extinguishers means?”

  “Yes of course I do; Never fear the darkness,” I answered immediately.

  “But do you know what that means?” He asked again. “Many think it's a play on the name Extinguisher. That one who snuffs out a light, should not fear the dark which they create but that's not it at all.”

  “What then?” I never questioned his knowledge, he'd already proved how much the King of Twilight knew.

  “It refers to the Courts,” he shrugged. “Saying that you have no fear of the Dark can also imply that you have never even considered fearing the Light. So, if as a human you can conquer your fear of both courts, then you should have no trouble with it as a fairy.”

  “Well, after seeing you burn Uisdean's blood tonight, I may have a little less fear,” I grinned.

  “Attempting to kill you was bad enough but then he made the mistake of breaking the law and sending the Sluagh after you,” Keir grinned back.

  “You enjoyed kicking his butt,” I teased.

  “Perhaps a little,” his face fell. “Fatherhood has filled my heart with love but it has also awakened the violence inside me.”

  “I understand,” I nodded.

  “I wanted to kill him, Seren,” he confessed. “My own brother. I wanted to watch him burn till he was only ash.”

  “He's done some horrible things,” I offered.

  “Yes,” Keir swallowed hard, “but I overlooked all of them until he did them to you. How could he betray me like that?” A tear escaped his eye and trickled down his cheek. “To kill Catriona was wicked but it wasn't an unexpected move from Uisdean. I always knew Cat was in danger, I'd just hoped she was strong enough to survive. You, on the other hand, are my only heir and as a childless king, Uisdean knows how important you are to both me and our kingdom. Attempting to murder you is an act so vile, I can't fathom it.”