“Yeah, the one they just found? I was marrying him.”
“The Dark Heir wasn’t missing. I would have heard about it before now.”
“Uh, maybe you should get out more often?”
“So, Kier lost his boy,” he said, shaking his head.
“It seems to me, that you guys seem to lose your children a lot around here.”
“We didn’t lose you. We hid you. It was to protect you!” The woman said, finally taking her hand away from her mouth.
I looked at the woman, but felt nothing from her, but the huge male was definitely connected to me somehow. I could feel him in my bones as if by coming here, he’d awoken my past. We were connected. “From what?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.
“Madisyn, not here my love. In private,” the king said, directing his words to the woman who still openly wept.
“I don’t even know who you are,” I said in exasperation, breaking up their private discussion.
“My name is Lasair, and I am the Blood King. This is my Queen, your mother,” he said kindly.
I felt a rush of emotions. These people knew about the tattoo, and I felt this man before me. I mean, I really felt him, as if he were a part of me. The man who killed my parents said I was his sister, and the man who had taken me from Adam was the one who had tried to stop the Fae from hurting my family.
The Blood King held out his hand, and I hesitated long enough for him to look me over. His eyes went to the wound in my side. “Madisyn, call a healer, now. She’s been hurt, darling.”
“I’m fine,” I whispered.
“Give me your hand. I’ll sift you to a room where we can see how bad it is, and explain why we did what we did; to protect you. You have nothing to fear from us. What we did was out of love. Our only intention was to protect you,” Lasair said, but something in his eyes made me hesitate.
In the end, I gave him my hand, because I was about to collapse. We sifted to a very pink room, and, inside, was a crib, with a blanket that had the name Sorcha sewn in to it. I looked around the room, and noticed it looked exactly like the one I had as a small child. “This room,” I said, but he stopped me.
“I manifested the one they gave you. I wanted you to remember us. It was the least we could do. I need you to know something before my wife comes back. This has not been easy on her. Giving you away was the hardest thing she has ever done; she has been devastated since she gave you over to your guardians. It only became worse when Faolán announced your death. Be kind to her. I can see the hesitancy in your eyes, and we deserve it. I can also feel your need to run from us. Know this, little daughter, I am your father, and our blood is connected. Our bond has been re-established. If you run, I will find you. We deserve your hesitancy, and the coldness you harbor for us. After we tell you why we did it, maybe then you will see it in your heart to forgive us, or at least your mother.”
“She’s a good woman, and, as you can tell from the state of the rocking chair, she is in this room a lot. She has never forgotten the child she had to give up. Have a seat, child. I think you should hear the full story from me, so that you understand why we did this,” he finished.
“You mean the reason you gave me to humans?” I said, eyeing the chair with longing.
“Sit down, Synthia, so I can heal your wound. I only sent your mother to find a healer so we could talk before she came back. It’s deep in the tissue. No organs seem to have been harmed, or you would not be standing upright.”
I sat in the lone rocking chair and eyed the pink crib. It looked as if it had been crafted with loving hands. The carpet was a plush pale green, with a yellow color on the outskirts of the room. It was a beautiful nursery.
I felt his magic pulsing inside the room as he allowed me to feel it. Instinctively, I tensed against it and reached for the magic within me, but he stopped when he felt me pulling my own around me.
“I would never hurt you. I need you to relax and trust me for right now,” he said leveling me with those expressive eyes; where mine were just as blue, his were a beautiful shade of cobalt.
I relaxed, but kept my eyes locked with his. Again, I felt the magic pushing into the torn skin, and further inside of me. He was healing the wound from the inside, and I felt the blood vessels, along with the damaged skin, begin to regenerate as they started to heal. When he had finished, I pulled my first deep breath since the explosion, and found the injury completely healed.
He smiled reassuringly as I nodded my head and thanked him.
“I’m going to start at the beginning. You need to know the entire story to see what we were up against.” He flicked his wrist and a wide, comfortable looking leather chair materialized, and he slowly lowered himself into it.
“Danu prefers balance between all castes. Each of the monarch’s wield power, and the one who holds the most of us all is the Horde King, as he oversees the most dangerous of Faery’s creatures. When Alazander ascended to his throne several millennia ago, he was a powerful yet peaceful king with the other realms. He began taking in anyone who was casteless and his power and realm grew. Unfortunately, as his power grew: he began to abuse his powers and started to attack the other castes. A little over two hundred years ago, my father made a deal with the King of the Horde. My father agreed to not raise arms and going forward he pledged that the Blood Fae would be obedient to the Horde King. He was deceived, and when Father presented his weapon in obeisance, he fell to the treachery of the Horde. The Horde King is the only Fae who can kill another Fae outright, without needing weapons. It makes him the deadliest creature in our world,” he said bitterly and held up his hand as I started to interrupt him.
“Let me tell you this, as it does pertain to why we did what we did to you, Synthia.” I had no idea what the hell anything that happened two hundred years ago would have to do with me.
“I picked up my father’s sword, and struck against the Horde in anger, and we have been at war with the Horde ever since. Now, the Fae fight wars in a very different manner than humans. Skirmishes happen up and down our borders, but actual battle is rare, and I had no fear of my father’s fate unless I faced the Horde King himself in battle. So far, our war has consisted of the Horde attacking and Blood defending—to attack his lands directly would make matters worse.”
“Wait—are you saying that he has pretty much been kicking your ass for over two hundred years and all you can do is just defend?” I was outraged that the Horde King, this badass I had heard of all of my life, the one who accepts anyone, was nothing more than a bully. This idea of the Blood Fae just bending over and taking it was just too much, but if the Horde King were that powerful it made sense; it also made sense as to why the other Fae looked up to the Blood King. The man had serious balls for trying to stand up to the Horde King for over two hundred years. My father nodded grimly and continued.
“Alazander desired your mother to be one of his concubines; he requested that Anise give her as a peace offering to the Horde. He was known to ask other rulers and noble families for their daughters to keep peace between the Horde and their families; he was also not above stealing them. He took what he wanted from people, including their children. Rumors of abuse toward his wife and concubines had reached your mother’s ears, and she begged Anise for an alternative. Anise was a good person and a loving great-aunt to your mother, and she arranged our union, and soon it became a love match.” He shook his head sadly at the memory.
“Alazander killed Anise for her part in defying him. He hadn’t forgiven her for losing the relics and this was just one more mark against her. Now, that pompous little shit Dresden sits on her throne. I cut ties with the Light Fae as soon as he took the throne. Anise was ten times the ruler he is.” I had to agree with him on that point; anyone was probably better than him.
“Over the years, Alazander hounded your mother and I through his emissaries. Even though your mother and I had several children together he persisted—actually it became worse as all of our children were males and this seeme
d to be of particular interest to him. He stepped up his demands and his attacks on our borders and your mother became despondent. I would not allow her to make the sacrifice to save my people. She would have, simply because she would have sacrificed herself to save one single life. I couldn’t allow her to leave our children motherless, or to allow her to be mistreated at his hands.”
I nodded and digested his words. Well, that explained my own loyalty, which could be considered a fault to some.
“Then news came that the Horde was sending the daughters back to their parents in pieces, or broken of mind and body. The Horde King was sending messages to them, reminding them how he was in control of this world and the other rulers were just his puppets. When your older brother joined my army, and rode at my side, I couldn’t have been more proud, but we were separated in the chaos of a skirmish, and he was lost to us.”
I shook my head. That didn’t sound promising.
“He was captured and thrown into the Horde’s prison. Tortured daily, but kept alive so that Alazander could continue punishing him and us. We had a few other boys by this time, but Liam was our first. Eventually, the Horde started sending us pieces of our son as he had done with the others of the realm. For over fifty years, he was sent back to us piece, by bloody piece. I was out on a battlefield when you were born. I should have been beside my wife, but you came too soon, and on your own time schedule.”
I narrowed my eyes, but kept listening. Now, he was getting into the good stuff.
“I came home to be handed this beautiful little bundle that had the blue of my wife’s eyes, and hair the color of the sands of the Fae desert. This new little being that had my blood and bond, and looked at me with so much trust. I was holding you inside the Great Hall when the missive came; one that would change our world forever.” His eyes took on a distant look as his face showed lines of strain. As if the memory hurt him. “The Horde King wanted to strike a deal. He wanted my first born daughter as his concubine, in exchange for our son. Of course, we said no right away. The next day we received a pair of hands delivered to us by a messenger of the Horde. One who explained that if we made the deal, the Horde King would promise no harm to our daughter, and the torture of our beloved son would end the moment we signed.”
“Me, for Liam,” I said, wondering what I would have done had it been my child being cut to pieces.
“Yes,” he said, shaking his tawny head. “You have to understand, Liam had been broken. From the blood bond between Fae father to child, I knew him to be alive and suffering. You, for Liam, and an end to the war; that was the agreement the Horde wanted. I had an entire caste to protect, and a son who had endured far too many years of torture. This wasn’t an easy decision, and, yet, it had to be made.”
“But the Fae play on words, and, for some reason, you worried that inside this was an out clause. One that would allow him to harm me.”
He smiled with pride lighting up his beautiful eyes. “You are very smart, child. Not many would guess that.”
“I made myself understand as much as I could about the Fae after my par…um, my guardians were killed. I tried to find out anything I could that would help me get revenge,” I replied, watching his face, but no guilt marked his bronze skin; only acceptance.
“Well, eventually we agreed to his demands. He had given us five years before we had to hand you over; a show of how magnanimous he could be I suppose. Once we signed the agreement, he gave us Liam, and, as promised, the Horde did cease hostilities to the point that many thought the war had ended already. It was a time of peace and celebration for our people, bought at our family’s expense, the people rejoiced and sons stopped dying for what seemed to be a fruitless war.”
“We took you to the Harvest Festival that year, and you were the most beautiful child there. You were around four months of age at that time. You had beautiful curls that framed your chubby little cheeks. The Dark King sought an engagement to his son, and it would have been the perfect union, except for the fact that you already belonged to the Horde. I couldn’t bear explaining that to Kier, so I had to reject his suit outright.”
“I took Cadeyrn as my familiar that day.”
“I didn’t know that, but you were so small, so innocent, that it would have been impossible to know until you were older that you had. When we returned home, we knew we couldn’t hand you over. Not to a man who abused and killed those of the weaker sex. Your mother grew distant, and eventually I knew it was only a matter of time before she gave in and allowed Alazander to take her from us. We had just gotten Liam back, and the damage he’d endured had taken a toll on his mind. We couldn’t allow the same thing to happen to you. So we worked together, to hide you. I went into the human world and met with a Warlock who owed a life debt to my brother. I explained what would happen if our war was brought to their door.”
He shook his head. “I spun a tale so horrid with what could happen that they had no choice but to take you in, hiding you; not just from the Horde King, but the Guild as well. He was a good man and he and his wife were childless, so this debt became a blessing for them, or so they told me. He was very powerful in the Guild, so we knew you would be safe with them. We had you branded with the triquetra that would hide you in plain sight as a human. The triquetra was supposed to leave you with enough magic to pass as a Warlock’s child, and it would prevent you from going through Transition. The only thing that would break the spell was you returning to Faery, but we’d been ensured that you would never be inside of Faery, or exposed to the Fae. I’m guessing something happened to change it.” I smiled and nodded at his words; yeah, Ryder happened. He had come in to my life like a whirlwind, and set wheels into motion that shouldn’t have been.
“I painted the wards on the walls inside their house for the protection of the Unseelie as a whole as well as anyone seeking to harm, to help protect you, and when I left them, and I broke our bond, we’d thought never to see you again.”
I felt almost relieved to know at least half of the story. I wasn’t some bastard born from a one night stand. I hadn’t been rejected, and I’d actually been wanted. From a parent’s point of view, I could see where they had struggled with the choice. From a child’s point of view, I felt as if I’d been sacrificed. “I watched my guardians being killed by Faolán; it happened as that man Cailean said it did. After that, I put everything I had into getting revenge. My guardians gave their lives to protect me.”
“Faolán would not have done what Cailean says. He was sent to retrieve you, to be given to the Horde to end the war that had started back up soon after we had sent you to the humans. After a few months of you being inside the human world, we reported your death to the Horde King; in essence, that was what it was like when we cut ties with you. You were, in a sense, dead to us when I cut the bond. We took a young child that had recently passed to the Harvest Feast that year, and buried her small body in a grave that was marked as your own. We’d been foolish to think it would work against the Horde, but we were desperate. Somehow, he knew you hadn’t died, and he demanded we find you and bring you back, or give them Liam again, which we could never do. War started again soon after, and there’s only one way to end it now. I can’t let it become a full out war again. I’m sorry, my daughter.”
I swallowed and prepared to say I had understood his dilemma, but before I could answer him, someone sifted in behind me, and a silver torque was placed around my neck and locked in place.
“Sorry, little sister,” a rough voice whispered. “But I can’t go back to him.”
“What the hell is this?” I demanded, whipping around and off the rocking chair to look at a blonde haired man, who had scars marring his beautiful face. Piercing blue and violet eyes met and held mine.
“I’m sorry, little one, but you have to go to him. This will prevent you from escaping until then. This war is a lost cause, and, without you, we will eventually lose to them. The Darkest Fairy still haunts my sleep, and I won’t go back alive. He’s induced sicknes
s into our lands. He’s promised it will stop if he is given what he asked for. You,” the newcomer said softly. I knew that I was looking at Liam; the one I’d been traded for.
Chapter Forty One
I was locked inside the small nursery and left alone. Only minutes had passed since they’d left me in here, but it irked me that I’d been so stupid! I’d felt sorry for the Blood King, and the sacrifices he’d made to save his son. I was such an idiot! I felt hot tears rush to my eyes, but I pushed them away angrily. Tears were useless; I needed to figure out how to escape this place. I was still glaring at the door when I felt a presence behind me. I turned and glared at the Queen of the Blood Fae.
“You look much like I had thought you would, daughter,” she said and stepped closer. Her eyes scanned my face as I backed away warily. Another woman, who looked almost identical to the woman who stood before me, sifted in, and stood behind my mother. “You must hate us for what we did to you,” my mother said softly as she warily tried to get a step closer to me.
“No, I could get past that. It’s the whole ‘you’re still to be gifted to the Horde’ part that is pissing me off,” I snapped as I took a small step back.
“Shut your mouth! You have no idea what we have been through. You will speak to my mother with respect! She is the Queen here.” My mother’s look-a-like snapped back with fire in her eyes.
“No, I don’t think I will. How would you feel if you were the one being gifted to a monster? I wonder if you’d be so quick to be respectful then,” I replied, never taking my eyes off the woman.
“Enough,” the Queen said and shook her head. “My name is Madisyn; this is your sister Caera. She indicated the girl behind her with a small motion of her hand. Your brothers and sister in-law are waiting downstairs to meet you. I was told that you were in a marriage celebration to the Dark Heir. Was it completed?”
“No, I am not married to Adam,” I said, watching pain flash through her ageless eyes. She was trying her best to hold her emotions in, as was I. At this point, I wasn’t sure what to feel or think; the whole situation was rather overwhelming.
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