The Phoenix Grail

by Helen Savore

  Adhomai eyed the thread in his hands and raised it to his face. He brushed his cheek, but his eyes winced. “Moralynn, is this…”

  “You wanted the ritual, do as Titania asks.” She crossed her arms, hiding the mirth that threatened to burst from her throat. Most did not take Titania’s words so literally. There was something to be said for the clarity of a newborn.

  Adhomai frowned, but did as he was told. He held the thread under his nose and ran it along his tongue.

  Moralynn averted her eyes and let her mind wander. What did thread taste like? Human lives were in the weave, but did not have the luxuries of rebirth and the ritual glimpse. A human’s thread was made of coarser stuff, sturdier, to survive their quick travails, but ultimately ran out. However, it was from those coarser, thicker threads that new ones sprang, continuing to multiply into this day.

  Moralynn heard a gasp and saw that Adhomai had returned. He faced Titania and then Moralynn.

  “Do you understand?” Titania asked.

  Moralynn caught his gaze. It was different now. He saw her in a new light. Mayhap he realized what he was. She caught her breath, trying not to hope.

  “I shall find the Grail.”

  “The Grail Plate?”

  All hope of recognition from a past life left Moralynn’s thoughts. He offered a most fascinating present.

  “Find it? How can you find it?” she asked. “It is under Oberon’s lock and key. There is nothing to find.”

  “It is not here. No, not in the fae realms at all.” Adhomai stepped around Titania and reached an arm towards Moralynn’s shoulder.

  “I shall find it, Moralynn… and place it in your hands.”

  18

  Alexandrea couldn’t focus on the drive home. A cascade of fall colors streamed by her window, but she did not care. Every time she returned to Jamie’s and Rhys’s flat she hoped to be proven wrong. But each time his leg injury improved; it was too far along, much too healed. Even cutting out of med school early, Jamie should know how injuries progressively heal. He should have been the first to notice something was wrong with his injury, that it was too hale.

  She knew she had done too much on the football field. She’d taken care of his head injury first from that damned rock. Who let those get into the field, anyway? Probably kids throwing them. She’d been afraid of what would happen if that didn’t get immediate attention.

  But she must not have slacked off the other injuries in time; he was improving too fast. Or maybe it wasn’t that she did too much then, maybe she was still healing him when she visited, without even meaning to?

  But she couldn’t not check on him. After giving him the brushoff for so long, to suddenly cut him out again, how would he see that? Still how could he not notice how weird his injury was? Perhaps he favored it when he walked? She did a good job hiding her surprise behind sarcastic concern, but she was worried and felt more than a little guilty.

  Why shouldn’t she be happy her friend was improving? Shouldn’t she use her powers for something good? There was nothing wrong with that.

  Except the world wasn’t ready for mystical solutions. Well, most weren’t, and those less scientifically minded probably would have other problems with her powers; miracles should be earned by the worthy, and be few and far between. When… no, not so much when anymore, but if they could summon the Phoenix, that would return magic to the world. Druids could shape life, and people would see the fae and all the mystical things just out of sight.

  Though she wished for it dearly, she couldn’t help but worry how the vast majority of the population would react.

  She was so distracted she reached the pebbled drive before she realized it. After whipping back round, following the bit of driveway, Alexandrea parked and hopped the stone path to the imposing entrance to the Estate. The stones were just a bit farther apart than was comfortable for her small stride.

  There were three stages to returning.

  First, entering her parents’ home. She pushed through the stout wooden doors and placed her jacket in the entry closet before she glanced about the foyer.

  “Phil? Janene?”

  No answer, they may be gone by now. Best to check first, though. Alexandrea muttered as she made her way through the modern space. She gave a couch in the sitting room a brief tap, tapped the corner of a bookcase in the open library, then veered off to the open kitchen. She pressed her palms down onto the granite island.

  “Janene?” She peered along the passage, which led to the pantry, dining room, and still another room dedicated to food.

  Nothing, she was probably alone. She doubled back towards the closed part of the house and her study.

  This was her second stage in returning home. While the library off the sitting room near the front was grand, this, instead, was a niche of a room. Covered in wood paneling, she felt like she was in a sophisticated cave. Though not library in name these walls were filled with more books, resting on hanging shelves staggered about the space. She flopped into the leather tufted chair and stretched. It was safe for her to speak aloud here, though she could think inside her head anywhere.

  The study wasn’t just her retreat but a passage to a hidden courtyard. The same that Boderien used to share, but this was a faster entrance, one that didn’t necessitate a trip into the old wing. While the woods and beyond presented plenty of space to meet Moralynn, this was a refuge they could use in her home.

  She stopped in place, closing her eyes. Boderien always hid, but there was still a new silence within the house, even in the modern sections. She kept finding her feet taking her to the now broken forge. She spoke with the old fae more than she remembered, and she missed him terribly.

  She could use the calm of the fountain.

  She sang out tones in a minor chord. Stone shaping was not a strength of hers, but the music helped her concentrate. The paneling over a section of wall slid behind its neighbor, and the stones pulled themselves away, opening a window to the hidden courtyard.

  An elf knelt by the fountain.

  Alexandrea tried to order the stones shut again, but she panicked, and the elf swept up, and bounded towards her.

  She wailed and jumped. The yell reminded her throat it could help, and she built a chord off the echo.

  The stones fell into place, rotating around. Unfortunately, the elf made the wall before it closed. An alabaster-white fist shot into the room.

  “This is exceedingly uncomfortable.” The rich baritone voice had a strange reverb. “Phoenix Sparked heir, Lady Alexandrea, Moralynn brought me here.”

  Alexandrea wasn’t sure what to do. She had been fooled recently. Would it be better to engage or retreat? “Who are you? Why should I believe that?”

  The fingers on the hand opened. “Moralynn left this. I am an ally.”

  A phoenix figure wrought in copper and gemstones dropped to the floor. A piece from her broken foci.

  Alexandrea picked it up and held it tight to her breast. “Why would Moralynn bring you here and leave you alone?”

  “She looks for you!” The hand twitched. “Now, I am politely not opening this, but I do wish to have my hand back. I am going to withdraw it. Open the enclosure if you wish to speak, or we shall wait for the Phoenix Sparked.”

  She said nothing. She did not want to encourage this one. He had the foci, but that didn’t mean Moralynn had sent him. She would be safer inside the room, locked up.

  The hand withdrew, and the wall closed.

  Now she was alone. With more problems to ponder.

  She did not have to wait long. Fifteen minutes later Moralynn entered her study. “I must have missed you.”

  Alexandrea uncurled from her chair. “I’m here.”

  Moralynn leaned against the doorway. “You were not here earlier. I checked for you at the store.”

  “No. I was in town for something else.” Alexandrea winced. She should have checked on the store cleanup, but after seeing Jamie, she forgot. “Wait, don’t we have other things t
o be talking about? For instance, who is in the courtyard?”

  “Adhomai.”

  “Who is Adhomai?”

  Moralynn motioned towards the fixture and the full passage opened. Light flooded into the study.

  Adhomai appeared to be examining a rose bush preparing for hibernation, but now turned to the door. “Phoenix Sparked, you have returned. Now I shall meet your apprentice. Properly.”

  Moralynn took Alexandrea’s hand and tugged her outside.

  If her mentor wanted her out, it could not be trouble, but Alexandrea was wary.

  “Alexandrea, let me introduce you to Adhomai of House Ehrgreve, also known as Phoenix Herald. Adhomai, this is my apprentice and heir, Alexandrea Morgan.”

  Alexandrea dropped her hand and stepped away. She stared at Moralynn. “Phoenix Herald?”

  That would mean one who announces the Phoenix, but there had been several, and none alive from those times. Could this be the first fae Moralynn reincarnated to break the drought of life? Moralynn had lain in a near coma for centuries. Titania rescued her after Merlin’s death, as someone who might be able to perpetuate the cycle of reincarnation. But the fae were not sure she would ever recover, and, if so, how long it would take. Until one day, Moralynn woke—and along with a new fae.

  Aside from those still alive from the Battle of Camlann, this would be the oldest fae. He was… she wasn’t sure what he was, but he couldn’t be the Smith that Moralynn hoped to find.

  “Why is he here?” she asked.

  Adhomai plucked a dead stem from the nearby bush. It budded and burst into bloom, becoming a cream rose. He tossed it towards Alexandrea’s feet. “I have prophesied to give your master what she wants most.”

  Alexandrea kept her mouth shut, but Moralynn stepped in before she needed to respond.

  “I do not think the theatrics are necessary. Speak plainly. Adhomai has seen himself finding the Grail.”

  Alexandrea’s eyes shot wide. “Finding? How could he?”

  She took Alexandrea’s hands in hers. “There's more. He also saw himself handing it over to me.”

  Alexandrea stood silent. She didn't know how to respond, besides allowing the gears in her head to turn and turn and turn again. It wasn’t just this shot of hope after days of thinking her life in magic had ended. No, the fae liked Moralynn right where they had her; they didn’t care for the human lives. A true Phoenix would have more control, could withhold life, could raise Druids again, could oppose the fae. Why would this one help them? If he had any sympathy for her for raising him first, he took an awful long time to show it.

  “Yes, it is true.” He clapped. “That part of my vision, more than any else, proves the fae realms have been too harsh with the Lady Moralynn. I would not hand over the Grail unless her cause were noble and true.”

  Alexandrea furrowed her brow. So he did acknowledge her unsaid concerns, but there was still something strange about Adhomai. Several somethings. “How have you seen this? You are hardly newborn.”

  “No.”

  Moralynn interrupted with dry, crisp words. “It is an interesting circumstance.”

  Alexandrea did not push further, for the moment. “If you know where the Grail is, why are we here?”

  “That I do not,” said Adhomai.

  Alexandrea looked from one to the other, taking in a deep, cool breath from the fall air. “I thought you saw yourself finding the Grail. How can you not know where it is?”

  “I shall only find it,” he said while pantomiming, “and then give it to Moralynn. The Glimpse was too short. You are in that moment without the benefit of past experience. Or they do not translate after the vision is complete.”

  Alexandrea circled him. “Were there any hints?”

  “We believe it is on Earth.”

  Moralynn strode towards the sputtering fountain. “I do, now, wonder if this was how Merlin meant to break the cycle of reincarnation. If he had the Grail Plate hidden, that, too, could ensure no one would succeed him.”

  Adhomai spun on the stony path. “Except, by some miracle Moralynn survived and recovered from the brutal attacks during Camlann. Things have been limping along ever since.”

  Alexandrea blinked. “So you understand that she is only Phoenix Sparked?”

  Adhomai’s eyelids lowered. “As the firstborn, it was abundantly clear.”

  That confirmed it. She knew the story more from Boderien than Moralynn herself. To her it was a story, but at best, history. Adhomai was part of that legend, just like Moralynn.

  “While possible, I thought Merlin’s final words”—she paused and glanced at Moralynn—“were about Arthur?”

  A smile crept across his lips. “I did not mean those words, but the general promise. Breaking the cycle and promising it would return. The specifics do not matter. What does matter is that the Grail is most likely on Earth.”

  Hope hadn't quite set in for Alexandrea. Glimpses were from Titania’s loom of fate. They would prove true—if you understood what you saw correctly. But if Adhomai had understood, then Moralynn would eventually recover the Phoenix. Alexandrea let out a sigh she didn’t know she was holding.

  The world would eventually turn right, magic would return. She was not convinced yet she would see the Grail in her own lifetime.

  “The Earth is a big place,” she said.

  “Compared to the fae realms?” Adhomai strolled farther away, dipping his hands into the bushes ringing the fountain.

  Alexandrea crossed her arms. “The Earth is larger than you fae think.”

  “If that is what you believe.”

  Moralynn faced her. “Alexandrea, I want Adhomai to remain here while we are searching.”

  “You want him to stay?”

  “It would be safest, and if we must search the Earth anyway, there is no reason for him to risk traversing the Earth Marrow or staying in the fae realms.”

  Alexandrea clasped her hands. “That didn’t turn out—”

  “—I want you to keep your eyes on him. At all times.”

  “No.” Alexandrea threw her arms down. “Not just here at the Estate? You want me to babysit that? An elder fae elf. Wait, no, the oldest fae, right here in my home?”

  “I would like to remind you ladies I am a Master Shaper.” Adhomai stood, stretching and displaying the suppleness of his limbs as if that affected Shaping. “However, an extra pair of eyes would be prudent. I shall need a guide in this land.”

  “Moralynn,” Alexandrea said, facing her, “I cannot be watching him round the clock. I’ve got a store to rebuild, stock to recoup, insurance companies to argue with…”

  It was sinking in that this was a possibility. But it still may not be her. There were more important concerns, though she wasn’t ready to say those aloud in front of Adhomai. Boderien’s duty had not been to just reforge the Grail; she knew perfectly well she held a piece of Moralynn. If they did not find the Grail in her lifetime, would there still be a human who could become a Druid?

  Moralynn took her hands again. “After what happened with Raebyn, I would feel more comfortable if you watched over him.”

  Alexandrea sighed. Moralynn was right, though it was not the work she expected. A step, always another step, but she must do this. If she could not handle this simple task, then she would not be worthy of the Phoenix, if it did come to her in this life.

  Alexandrea tugged Moralynn close and whispered. “If Raebyn shows up, you know there isn’t much I can do.”

  Moralynn squeezed her hands and spoke softly, “If Raebyn shows up, then at least we know.”

  Adhomai interrupted their quiet moment. “That is not a comforting thought. Perhaps we should return to the Tower and explain to Raebyn.”

  “No, he will not understand.” Moralynn dropped Alexandrea’s hands and glared at Adhomai. “I appreciate that you now believe in my cause to return the Phoenix, Adhomai, but the rest of the fae do not. It is not just the Marrow, the fae realms themselves would be unsafe, and the Tower most of all.
”

  Adhomai cocked his head. “I accede to your wisdom, my Lady Phoenix Sparked.”

  Moralynn nodded, to Adhomai and then to Alexandrea. “If that is all settled, I must return.”

  Alexandrea rushed to her. “So soon?”

  “I have already been gone from Annwn for some time.” Moralynn grabbed her by a shoulder, and smiled. “In the meantime, look in your books and histories for what may be some likely locations.”

  “Could it be on Avalon?” There were so many places she wished to visit, and Alexandrea knew they were dangerous places from the stories. Even if it wasn’t where the Grail stood, she could at least witness that holy site instead of the modern Glastonbury she had walked so recently.

  Moralynn’s eyes became cold and hard. “Avalon is no longer the right of the Earth. It will be elsewhere.” She did not look back again.

  Alexandrea whispered to herself. “Sounds like the perfect place to hide it, then.” This was not the time to push the point, though; she had other things to figure out. She turned her gaze on Adhomai. “Perhaps if you share your vision, it’ll give us more ideas?”

  Adhomai bowed his head. “Of course, Phoenix Sparked heir.”

  19

  Jamie panted as he pushed himself a little harder. Each footfall brought him closer to nowhere along the looping path, but if he wasn’t careful, it jarred his leg. He groaned again, knowing he still wasn’t quite in shape.

  “Rhys, don’t let me do that again,” he said, looking around. Then he realized Rhys wasn’t by his side. “Rhys?”

  He stopped, hearing a grumble as Rhys jogged to catch up.

  “That's more like it. We’re not going to get better sitting down.” His hands pumped at his side, helping him keep the rhythm.

  “You know you’re annoyingly chipper for someone with a leg injury.” Rhys gasped. “And fit. What am I supposed to not let you do again?”

  “Get hurt. It’s a pain working through this.”

  “Shove it. Your workouts are a pain for normal people, and for me, too. I’m not sure why I’m here, I could have slept in with Pedr.”