Aeline stopped and glared at Faireth. Sparks seemed to fly from her body, cracking around her like popping fireflies. She looked different, aged somehow. She was pale, but her eyes were the darkest and strongest Serina had ever seen them. They filled with tears as she said, “You mean she loved me. She’s not alive anymore to love me—I killed her. I burned her alive because she wanted to take him away from me. That is not love.”
Serina’s breath caught in her throat. Burned alive? Intentionally? But she could not process the facts in front of her as everything kept rolling in motion.
“You are blinded,” Faireth said in a voice flooded with grief.
Serina wanted to see Faireth, but she couldn’t since she was looking through the older fairy’s eyes. All she could do was watch Aeline open her mouth to shriek an obscenity. The sounds that came out of her made Serina wince. Aeline had become someone she didn’t recognize.
Faireth stepped forward as Aeline’s shrieks died down. “Child, please calm yourself. I think I have guessed your secret. You are without this lover you speak of because you have sought me out for advice, am I correct? You have nowhere else to turn... in this time of need.”
Aeline stared wide-eyed at Faireth. Whatever color was left in her cheeks drained away. “How do you know?”
“I have not entered your mind—I will do no such thing. But I am not blind. You keep placing your hands on your abdomen. You will do anything—even kill your own mother—to preserve the life growing inside of you. Your time here in the human realm has shown you the failings of love—how it invites weakness. I only hope this love of yours is an elf.”
Aeline’s eyes filled with tears as she looked away. “He is a human,” she hissed through clenched teeth. “And I love him more than I’ve loved anyone or anything. I didn’t know I could feel this way, and I didn’t know if it was possible to bond to a human. When we tried, it did not work. I almost killed him, so we stopped. This child was conceived without magic and without a bond. Elves do that all the time with humans, don’t they?”
“Yes, they conceive human children without magic, even though they still often bond as well. An elf’s magic isn’t as strong as ours.”
“Then I have not done anything terribly wrong, have I? Except that I... I... killed her, my own mother, to protect the family I have created. Now I know there are bonds stronger than blood. I love him more than anything, anyone—maybe even this child—and nothing will change that.”
“How many years have passed since you left Lisadar?” Faireth asked calmly as she inched closer to Aeline. Serina could feel her desperate need to comfort her sister. Faireth seemed made of pure goodness and light, but Aeline was not so. More darkness filled her now than had ever filled her in the fairy realm. Even across the stretch of memory, Serina felt that fact deep in her bones. It made her want to weep.
“It has been three of their mortal years,” Aeline said as she sank to her knees and leaned over to bury her face in her hands. “I am one of their queens now—in a land far from here. It happened so quickly. When I met him, I was cold and alone. I couldn’t control my fire, and if he had not found me, I would have wasted into nothing with the world burning around me. I feel mortality in my bones here, like a sweet poison, constantly reminding me of the passing of time. I hated it then, but that has changed. Now I crave it—since I have met him. It is a gift, a reminder to hold on to what I have. He carried me to his kingdom and nursed me back to health. We fell in love. I didn’t know he was royalty, or I would have stayed away at any cost. It invites too many questions and suspicions with so much attention upon me.”
Faireth was close to Aeline now and knelt on the ground in front of her. She placed a gentle hand on Aeline’s shoulder. “He must know you are not human,” she said. “He must have noticed your unique features.” She brushed her other hand against Aeline’s beautifully pointed ears. “You are not trained enough to deceive the humans.”
Nodding, Aeline kept her face in her hands. “Yes, he did. I begged him not to ask questions, but he said he had always believed in magic and magical beings. He promised he would keep my race a secret, as well as my magic. He knows I am not supposed to be in this realm.”
“And yet he made you his queen and keeps you here against all logic, knowing that the elders will eventually find you and punish you—and him, most likely.”
Slowly, Aeline lifted her face from her hands and looked up at Faireth. Her face was streaked with tears, the skin around her eyes swollen. “I told him that. I know that, but I can’t leave, not now.” She looked down at her abdomen. It was only slightly rounded, not enough for Serina to have noticed at first. Aeline’s face clearly showed her desperation to protect the life inside her. “The entire kingdom wants this child to be born, and I want nothing more than to live here and die here with him and our child in the land he loves so much. Is that too much to ask? I am not harming anything here. I did at first, but I have learned I can control my fire if I can control my emotions.”
“And you have sought me out because you think I can protect you from the elders coming to find you?”
Aeline sniffed and nodded. For once, she looked completely helpless, and Serina ached to see her again, if only to try to comfort her. She was in pain, confused and misguided.
“Where I am queen, the people are aware of the growers in this land, but there are none in the kingdom. I traveled back this way in search of a fairy since they are most likely to exist near other magic. If I didn’t find a fairy, I planned to return to the elves in their forest to beg forgiveness for the destruction I caused when I arrived. I hoped they would then help me.”
“It’s no wonder you found me,” Faireth said with a smile in her voice. “I chose to be a grower when I entered this realm, and now I am the only grower who has decided not to live on the royal grounds to end my days. There is always talk of me abroad. Some call me a gentle and good witch.” She chuckled.
Aeline smiled. “I knew what you were the moment I heard of you, and here I am.”
For a moment, the air seemed to change around them. The garden hummed with bees and sunshine, but it suddenly stopped as Faireth’s emotions melted into pain. She pulled her hand from Aeline, who backed away. “What is the matter?”
Faireth shook her head. “You must know that your child cannot live.”
“What do you mean?” Aeline’s hands fluttered to her abdomen. “You will not say what my mother said. Do not say it or I will do something terrible. I wish to repair what I have done wrong, but if you leave me no choice, I will defend myself.”
Faireth’s pain mounted as she moved to her feet and stood. “A human child born with fairy blood cannot live. It would destroy the fairy realm and the balance we exist to create. Ellendia knew this the moment she discovered your secret. She knew what had to be done.”
Aeline’s emotions spun into rage. She stood to face Faireth, and once again sparks flew from her body. “I should have known,” she said in a low voice, “that no fairy except me will ever understand what our realm lacks. A perfect world must have imbalance. It must have darkness. I have tasted sweetness here that I know does not exist in Lisadar and Rodowa. Why can you not see that?”
“You speak of things beyond your understanding!” Faireth shouted as a wind began to blow around them. The sparks leaving Aeline’s body melted into the same streaks of fire that had left Verath’s fingers for Serina’s punishment. It occurred to Serina that Aeline and Verath had learned how to use themselves as fuel for their fire. The very idea made her shrink. The fire snaked outward to the garden, setting ablaze every living leaf and flower and root. Faireth, her pain spiraling into fear, tried to conjure the soil to put out the flames, but she was too late.
Serina’s heart thumped as the memory turned black and Faireth broke contact with her mind.
“Catch her before she falls!” Faireth called out, and a pair of strong arms wrapped around Serina. She opened her eyes to see Lief smiling down at her. It was then
that she saw a brief glimpse of what Aeline had spoken of in Faireth’s memory, of love and a bond stronger than blood.
Upstairs, the three sprites sat on a vanity among jars of lotions and soaps, their whispers like the fluttering of leaves along a forest floor. A fire blazed in the fireplace across the room, and Serina watched the flames as she soaked in a free-standing tub filled with water she kept at the perfect temperature. Lief had fetched enough for her to stay completely submerged up to her neck. She was warm and comfortable, but her heart was racing. The flames danced before her. She swirled her hand through the water and thought of a place inside herself that was as still as a quiet lake, and Lief had sent a stone skipping across its surface. The ripples, she feared, would never cease. Why now? Why, after she had seen Aeline’s story, would Lief affect her in such a way? She had shared more private moments with him in the elves’ forest, but to have him hold her after such an emotional experience was new to her. When she had looked into his eyes, she realized how deeply she loved others. But this was a different kind of love, like spices and something sweet in the back of her throat. It made her guilty and sick and helpless.
“We saw it coming,” Innocence said from the vanity. Her wings fluttered like a hummingbird’s as she giggled. “You weren’t prepared!”
Serina tried not to glare at her, but failed. “What are you talking about?”
Nerida opened a powder box, leaning down to sniff the delicate substance. “You will bond with him soon,” she said matter-of-factly. “It always begins this way, and happens so quickly with fairies—although you are still very young. I guessed it might take a few days longer, but Faireth heightened your emotions, so it’s no wonder. This is exactly why younger fairies are not allowed to mingle with the opposite sex too early. Love can happen so quickly between them.”
“Yes,” Orla chimed in as she flew across the room and sat on the edge of the tub. She dipped her tiny feet into the water. “You are like Innocence, aren’t you? A new bud not yet opened. Your instructors haven’t told you anything about bonding, and yet you assume you know enough to find your sister and save her from something stronger than any force ever created. It is not possible.”
Serina watched Orla’s feet beneath the water. She knew the sprites were entertained by her troubles, and this angered her, but she also knew she would need them at some point. She sensed something terrible would happen with her and Aeline, and it was only a matter of time before it occurred. She only wished it would happen sooner than later.
“I don’t expect to save Aeline, although I will try,” she said as Orla leaned forward to cup her hands in the water and pour some over her tiny knees. “I need to see her again. I need her to know she is not alone. I already told you what I saw from Faireth’s memory. She is desperate.”
“She has her king now,” Innocence said from the vanity, “and a child on the way. What more does she need? She is not alone.”
“But she could die.”
Nerida put her hands on her hips and let out a loud hmph! “There is nothing you can do to stop that,” she said. “Not even our protective magic can prevent Verath or the other elders from punishing her. Besides, there is no reason to stop him. If that child is born, the humans will have fairy magic in their blood—the purest magic there is. It will spread through the human bloodline, growing until it is corrupted, and the fairy realm will fade into nothingness over time. The elves will fade. We sprites will fade. None of us can survive with such corrupted magic in existence. Balance will become something the earth takes over without our help, and it will succeed, but only in a small measure in comparison to now. The humans will only bring destruction and ugliness. Your sister is a selfish, evil being for knowing this and letting it happen anyway. If you will not let Verath stop her, then you must.”
“But does she know any of that?” Serina asked, glaring at Nerida for calling her sister evil. “I never knew any of these things before coming here. Why should she be punished with death for making mistakes? It seems so harsh.”
“Just the sort of thinking that led her here to the human realm,” Orla said from the edge of the tub. She clicked her tongue and looked up at the ceiling. “We’ve seen rebellious fairies before, you know, but nothing this intense. They’re usually taken care of long before things get so out of hand.”
“Orla, shut your mouth!” Nerida yelled.
“Taken care of?” Serina let out a huff and flicked some water in the direction of the fire. It fizzled as soon as it hit the flames. “I suppose you mean executed.”
The sprites kept quiet, and Serina shook her head, frustrated. Everything seemed so black and white. She lifted her hands from the water and noticed her fingertips were wrinkly. She could pull the water from her skin to smooth them out, but the idea made her tired. She was exhausted from sharing Faireth’s memory. Her mind kept wandering to pointless things like her wrinkled fingers, and then coming back to the same image over and over; Lief’s eyes. This made her chew on her bottom lip as she relived Aeline’s story about a king finding her and carrying her away to make her a queen and bear his child. Was falling in love always so destructive? Did it only lead to the darkness Aeline faced now? Or was Aeline’s darkness conjured from something deeper—from the moment she was born when Serina saw it in her eyes?
“There’s no need to cry,” Orla said.
Sniffing, Serina touched her face. “I’m crying?”
Orla fluttered from the edge of the tub, her wings humming as she stopped in front of Serina and reached out a tiny hand to flick away a tear on her cheek. “What else would you call these?”
“I-I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do. Do I stay here with Faireth and let the days slip by while Aeline waits for her death? Or do I try to find her? She’s my sister. I love her. I have to help her!”
“She murdered your mother,” Innocence said as she flew over to the tub and hovered next to Orla. Nerida joined her a moment later, and Serina looked at their wings beating so fast they were a blur. She wished she had wings so she could fly out the window and scour the land for Aeline. She would soak in the moonlight like sugar and taste her mother’s words once again. The stars are fire... what might seem wrong sometimes is not wrong. She would see Aeline dancing among the trees, and she would land and embrace her and smell their mother’s sweetness on her skin. She was all she had left of Ellendia. Except, perhaps, for the child.
It was then that she looked up and saw an object in a dark corner of the room. It seemed to flicker in the firelight—a large wooden wheel, white thread wound tightly around a sharp spindle.
“Does Faireth spin?” she asked, remembering the few fairies she had met in her realm who spun thread for clothing. It was such a fine art form, one that required extreme dexterity to create the right materials for fabric as light and velvety as the fairies liked.
“She must,” Orla said as an annoyed expression flashed across her face. “But you’re avoiding the subject. Your sister murdered your mother. You must face the truth.”
Serina shook her head, entranced by the spinning wheel. Something about it felt essential, and she wondered why. She imagined the thread on the spindle unraveling, flying through the room until it slipped out the window and into the sky where it flitted about and connected the stars in a protective web over the earth. It was what she wished for, she realized, to feel safe under those stars, to know they were connected somehow. A part of her wondered if they had something to do with fairies after they passed away, but the rational side of her brain knew they were nothing but spinning fire in eternal darkness.
“My heart breaks for Aeline,” she said, still staring at the spinning wheel. “She did what she had to do, and I cannot blame her.”
Orla let out a heavy humph! and flew away. “You’ll discover you are wrong.”
“Well, it won’t be tonight. Help me out of this tub.” She lifted her arms and waited for the sprites to fly a towel over to her. A gentle knock on the door made her jump.
“May I come in?”
Her heart leapt into her throat. It was Lief.
“One moment!” she called out as the sprites giggled and flew to a corner of the room. They picked up Serina’s nightgown from the bed, bringing it to her as she dried herself off and inched close to the fire.
“Come in,” she said as she stepped into the gown.
The door cracked open and Lief came inside. The sight of him made Serina smile, and she shifted her feet as the sprites laced the strings up her back.
“Do you mind if we talk for a moment?” Lief asked as he approached her. He wore a shirt the color of leaves in spring. It was one he hadn’t worn before, and she wanted to touch the soft fabric that looked like it had been woven by hands tinier than even a sprite’s. Perhaps the sprites had their own tiny spinning wheels. His gaze was fastened upon her, pulling her attention to the fact that he was now only a few inches from her.
“I don’t mind at all,” she said as the sprites finished their lacing. She made a flitting motion with her hands and they took the hint and flew out of the room. “Is something the matter?”
“No, not exactly. I wanted to see how you’re doing. Faireth showed you a very distressing memory and I’m worried about your reaction.”
“I-I told you,” she said, looking away, “Aeline is in trouble and I must find her. We must leave first thing in the morning.” She shook a hand at the window where rain was beginning to pelt the glass from outside. “Curse the darkness and the rain! We could leave tonight if the conditions were better—like in Lisadar.”
“If this world was like Lisadar, you would have been highly disappointed at not seeing the stars.”
She looked back to Lief. His eyes were so bright. They made her breathe faster. They made her want to touch his face and belong to him in ways that made her blush. She shook her head. Ridiculous. She needed to focus. Stars. Stars. Stars.
Bonded: Three Fairy Tales, One Bond Page 33