Faye pulled on her own clothes. She unfastened the rose-gold cuffs that still circled her ankles and lay them on the bed. Last, she gazed at the ring on her thumb for a long moment before taking it off and placing it next to the cuffs.
As soon as she took it off, she felt a noticeable lessening of the faerie power on her. Was it some kind of magical tool by which Finn could influence her? She remembered the first time she had put it on; how, even when she was back in Abercolme after that first time in Murias, she was different. She shook her head, trying to clear it. She remembered that she hadn’t had the ring on when she was with Rav, but then, when she had put it on again, she found herself in Finn’s bedroom. It was clearly enchanted.
He wouldn’t change: he couldn’t. He was of the oceans, and every ocean held monsters. Finn’s realm of water held the deepest, darkest places, where humans could never venture, just as much as sunlit bays where warm, transparent seas stretched over white sands. Finn Beatha was the King of Murias; he was Murias, and he was unable to be anything else.
Faye doubted that he knew what love was, at least, what humans considered love. She knew that when he said it, he meant the intense passion they’d shared. There was no doubt that making love with Finn had been unparalleled, otherworldly. But the illusion he had thrown over her, like a glamour, like a net over a fish, had shifted, and she knew she couldn’t go back to him. She could follow the labyrinth back to the faerie road that ended on Black Sands Beach. She could go home.
Heart heavy, Faye walked out of Finn’s bedroom; out of the castle, through the market and followed the labyrinth home. The way was open; no-one stopped her; nothing dallied her. And yet, as she made her way back to Abercolme, the grief at losing Moddie for the second time weighed heavy on her, and part of her longed to run back to Murias to search for her mother.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Faye awoke in her own bed and sat up with a combined sense of disappointment and relief – as she had every morning in the two weeks since she had returned from Murias. She stretched out her arms and looked at them in the morning light that slanted through her normal, floral cotton curtains. No golden cuffs. No elaborate necklace and no ring on her thumb. If she went back to Murias now, it would be on her terms.
She had been busy since returning to Abercolme. It wasn’t enough to have Finn’s permission to be away, or enough that she had discarded the ring he had used to summon her. In the past week, with the waning of the moon, Faye had returned to Grandmother’s grimoire. She had enchanted mirrors to turn away faerie enchantments, and drawn banishing sigils on their backs. Grateful for the pile of hagstones that she and Annie continually brought back from the beach, she strung them into companion charms for the one that Grandmother had hung by the door and hung them around the house. She smudged the house with smoking bundles of rosemary and rue for protection, and spritzed the corners and the doors liberally with blessing oils.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed. Though she had thought about Murias every day, she hadn’t tried to go back. The risk was too great – for her and for Rav. Now that she was back and her head had cleared she realised how dangerous Finn was. And though much of her yearned for Murias, she remembered the pain in the eyes of Glitonea’s lover and felt lucky that she had escaped.
It was Sunday, and the shop was closed. Faye wandered downstairs, thinking that she’d try to catch up on the accounts; being away in faerie meant she’d neglected the business. But, once she was downstairs, she found herself idling by the counter, reading Grandmother’s grimoire from where she had left it the night before.
She hadn’t been to the beach since she got back. She had heard from Aisha that Rav was away on business, and she’d been avoiding him as well as the faerie road. She didn’t know how to explain to Rav that it was for his own good if she didn’t see him. She couldn’t put him in danger.
Faye looked up as some villagers passed by the shop, on their way to church. The sun made the shop windows glow, and a thick shaft of sunlight sliced across the dresser where she stacked tarot and oracle cards. She felt its warmth on her hair like a caress.
There was a thick page at the back of the grimoire that Faye hadn’t noticed before; usually, when she had looked at it, Annie had been with her, and they had spent their time searching for spells they could do, or reading out funny passages about people in the village being cured of the pox or of loneliness or some kind of unusual disfigurement, laughing just like they had at Midwinter.
Faye rubbed the paper between her thumb and finger, and realised that two pages had got stuck together. In fact, as she inspected the pages closely, not wanting to damage the book, she realised that the pages had been purposefully stuck together; there was a light brown line of what might have been glue down one side of the paper.
Carefully, Faye separated the pages. The glue had long since lost its strength and the paper peeled apart. Inside, both pages were covered with Grandmother’s small, crabbed handwriting.
But this section was something different. Rather than Grandmother’s charms for love and fertility, or her record of various cures for ailments that beset the villagers, this was full of unfamiliar signs and symbols. Faye held it close to her eyes and read a section.
For the knowledge and conversation with High Queens of Faerie, Grandmother had written, and to learn their magicks.
Faye swore under her breath. So Grandmother had known the faerie magic too. Why hadn’t she taught Faye? Had Moddie known?
First, create the environment for the queen of your chosen element, Grandmother wrote.
To summon Her from her home element, you must create a ritual space of high vibration. Ideally, conduct the summoning as close to the right element as possible.
There was a note in parentheses which Faye had to bring close to her eyes to read; Grandmother had written:
High Queen of Murias = tideline
High Queen of Falias = sacred forest
High Queen of Gorias = mountain or storm
High Queen of Finias = ritual fire
Cast a circle. Summon in only the right element for the faerie queen in question. Dance or pace out the circle clockwise and then pace into the centre of the circle as if in a spiral. When at the centre of the circle, call out their full name three times. In Murias, She is called Glitonea, Mistress of the Cup. In Falias, it is Moronoe, Mistress of the Stone. In Gorias, it is Tyronoe, Mistress of the Knife. And in Finias, it is Thetis, Mistress of the Staff. Your calling of the queen should be urgent and passionate, from the heart. Repeat this process, walking the spiral in and out and calling the names, three times.
When you have called their name three times, entreat them to be with you as follows:
Beloved of the Fae, Queen of your Element, Mistress of Magic,
I seek communion with you; I seek knowledge of you and your realm,
Bestow your magic upon me, I am fain to know your secrets,
I am open; fill me with your blessings. (Name) I call on you
(Name) I beseech you, enter the space I have prepared for you
(Name) I would love you with my mind, my heart and my body
(Name) I summon you from your kingdom
I offer something of mine that I can give freely; this is the exchange
This is the promise between faerie and human
So mote it be
The promise between faerie and human, Faye mused, looking up from the book. What was that? And why was this hidden at the back of Grandmother’s grimoire? The faerie realm was dangerous; she knew that. It was seductive and shadowy. But it was also bright and beautiful and full of wonder. Perhaps Grandmother and Moddie – if she had known about the hidden pages – had been waiting for the right time to share the knowledge with Faye.
Whatever they had thought, it was time now. Finn had been wrong about humans never learning the magic of the faerie realm. Faye’s own magic might be enough for now to keep Finn away, but she couldn’t be sure that it would be enough to protect her and Rav –
and anyone else that needed it – forever. Here was a way for Faye to at least talk to Glitonea; she could appeal to her better instincts, beg her to teach her, if necessary.
Glitonea was a capricious, unsentimental faerie queen. But she was made of the same stuff as Finn, and if Finn could have his heart broken, then Glitonea might have some weakness, some glint of humanity within her, too.
At Black Sands, the moon was on its final waning quarter, and the night was dark. If Faye hadn’t known the beach so well, she might well have fallen on a rock or a stray branch; as it was, she was careful, and took off her shoes and socks when she was on the sand, placing them on a nearby ledge.
She hadn’t brought the grimoire with her, but had copied out the invocation on a piece of paper and had it in her pocket. It was still cold on the beach at night, though it was early summer, so she wore flowered leggings under her red-and-white polka-dot dress, with a green cardigan over the top; a mash-up of styles chosen mostly for warmth. Faye wore Moddie’s pink coat over the top, fastened with its large round pink buttons.
She took a deep breath, nervous about what she was about to do. Grandmother had hidden this summoning magic for a reason; Faye knew that if Glitonea was anything like Finn, she would be powerful but unpredictable and vengeful if she perceived she was being wronged. The Fae were difficult and dangerous.
But, now that she was home, Faye had returned to the sobriety of the human world and realised that she needed both realms. She was a part of both, and she wanted to continue being in Murias. As intoxicating and incredible as it had been with Finn, she wanted more. She had seen glimpses of the power Finn had, something greater than witchcraft, and the truth was that she wanted it for herself.
And, she wanted to be able to protect herself and Rav. She knew Finn had meant it when he threatened them. Threatened Rav.
Faye traced a circle at the line of the tide, wide enough to contain her with her arms spread out and with ample room on either side. Her finger dug the shallow trench of the circle half in and half out of the sea; the water filled the gap on the sea side of the circle and smoothed it over with the tide as soon as she had done it. She didn’t mind; a circle of half sea, half land was right for summoning a fae creature of the water to the land. Faye was meeting her halfway, in a space that belonged to neither of them; an in-between place, a place where magic could be made.
Clouds spread across the black sky, covering the stars that were visible until everything above Faye stretched into a blank unity of night. She swallowed nervously, then called out to the sea.
‘Powers of the sea, of the ocean, of water, be with me! Fill my circle with your power!’ She opened her arms as if to accept the power of water, and felt its energy crashing into her prepared space as forcefully as if she had been standing next to a waterfall.
She started to pace the circle clockwise, as Grandmother had instructed; then, making a spiral, she circled in a smaller and smaller circumference, feeling the energy in the circle compress as she reached the centre.
‘Glitonea, Mistress of the Cup!’ Faye shouted at the top of her voice, trying to imbue her voice with as much feeling as she could. She imagined Glitonea as she had seen her at the Faerie Ball, with roses in her golden hair, and her dress of silver and lilac.
Faye paced an unwinding spiral to the edge of the circle, and felt the energy loosen. She paced to the centre again and felt it contract, like a wave breaking and building. She called out to Glitonea again, feeling the energy rising in her and in the circle. The tide crashed on her feet and ankles as she stood in its shallows; slowly, it advanced into the circle. This was a much greater magic than she had done before, and Faye could feel its toll on her. The spiralling energy threatened to engluf her, growing in depth with every contraction; she fought with herself to stay in control.
Faye found the invocation from Grandmother’s grimoire, inscribed on a page from her orders notebook in the shop; she flicked on a mini hand torch and read it aloud.
Beloved of the Fae, Queen of your Element, Mistress of Magic,
I seek communion with you; I seek knowledge of you and your realm,
Bestow your magic upon me, I am fain to know your secrets,
I am open; fill me with your blessings. Glitonea, Mistress of the Cup, I call on you!
The tide was coming in, but it seemed to be coming faster than it usually would; rather than half of the circle being submerged, now three-quarters of it had been erased by the water. Faye steadied herself, breathing deeply and refusing the rising panic that wanted her to give up, to lose her focus. She pushed up the bottoms of her leggings and continued the call:
Glitonea, Mistress of the Cup, I beseech you, enter the space I have prepared for you
Glitonea, Mistress of the Cup, I would love you with my mind, my heart and my body
Glitonea, Mistress of the Cup, I summon you from your kingdom
I offer something of mine that I can give freely; this is the exchange
This is the promise between faerie and human
So mote it be!
The tide was much higher now; a cold wave broke and soaked Faye to her thighs, flowing over the last of the circle she had traced with her finger in the sand. She still felt it there, energetically, but there was a shift; the power was no longer balanced between earth and water. The tide threw her off balance and she fell forward in the freezing salt water.
Gasping, she pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, the taste of salt in her mouth like blood. Grandmother, you should have told me, she thought. You should have taught me. If you had, I would be stronger now.
Glitonea stood before her in the water, a tall silver crown on her head, dressed in black robes that merged seamlessly with the waves.
‘I am here as you request, Faye Morgan. Be assured that I do not take this summoning lightly,’ she intoned, and her voice was like fracturing icebergs.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Faye felt Glitonea’s voice rather than heard it; despite its harsh quality, it was hypnotic like Finn’s and drew her into a trance almost immediately.
‘What is your part of the exchange?’ Glitonea faced her across the waves which surged around them both. Faye stood up; she was up to her waist now in the water, and she struggled to stay upright, digging her toes ferociously into the wet sand under her.
‘I… I… don’t know.’ Faye’s teeth were chattering; she was wet through.
‘You summoned me. You should have been better prepared.’ Glitonea cast a cynical eye over Faye’s soaked coat. ‘Why bring me here? One of your kind has not done so for many years.’
‘Grandmother? A– Al– Alice Morgan?’ Faye tried to stop shivering but it was impossible.
‘Yes,’ Glitonea answered crisply. Faye noticed that her silver crown featured a crescent moon which curled upwards on her brow like horns. The rest of the points were made of crystal rather than silver, which reflected milky moonlight as the clouds parted and the waning crescent of the moon appeared in the sky above.
‘I… I want to learn your magic. The magic of Murias. Of the realm of water,’ Faye blurted.
Glitonea laughed.
‘Do you, indeed? Unfortunately for you, it is not permitted. Congratulations on your power in summoning me here. But that is where this ends.’ The faerie queen turned her back and began walking away, her dress merging with the water.
‘Wait!’ Faye shouted. She was losing the feeling in her legs; numbness from the cold was creeping up her body. ‘I command you to wait!’
Glitonea stopped and turned slowly.
‘You have no business commanding me to do anything, sidhe-leth. Just because my dear brother is enamoured with you does not mean I am, or that I will do anything for you,’ she spat.
‘I have something you want. I am willing to make the exchange,’ Faye shouted over the waves, holding out her arms to steady herself, teeth knocking together so hard now that her head ached. Her clothes were heavy. A shadowy temptation to lie down in the
water and never get up crept into her bones; whispered its seductive call in her ear.
‘You have nothing I want,’ the queen sneered. ‘I have my choice of human lovers, Faye. You are not one of them.’
‘I am Lyr’s daughter!’ Faye shouted with the last scraps of her strength.
Glitonea stared at her for a long moment, then laughed.
‘I know that. Is that your great secret? We all know it. You have his look. Lyr is my cousin. I know his ways,’ she laughed loudly, and turned away from Faye. ‘If I see you again, sidhe-leth, it will be when you are naked and jewelled like a whore, on my brother’s leash. That is where your kind belong,’ she called out. ‘If your parentage is all you have for an exchange, then you have nothing of interest to me.’ Glitonea’s voice was receding, and the waves were dropping. Faye felt herself slump, and pulled herself up as straight as she could. No. She had to fight.
‘You are at war with Falias. If you teach me your magic, I can be a weapon against Lyr; I have no love for him. I have never known him!’ She cried out. Moddie’s throwaway phrase, all those years ago: Almost killed me. Her father had clearly tried to hurt Moddie, perhaps in anger at being expected to stay and look after her and Faye; or, perhaps, Moddie had told him to go when she realised he would be a terrible father. She had never known for sure but, ever since that night, the idea of her father as a violent man – a selfish and impatient one, like Finn – had stayed with her.
Faye called on all the strength she had; she reached for the anger she had always kept inside her, a private anger at being left by her father. And she reset her feet in the shifting, freezing sand, and pulled up all the energy she could from the earth below her and from the stars above. It was enough to steady her, but only that: Glitonea was so strong, so powerful. She was the tide: relentless, cold, violent.
Daughter of Light and Shadows Page 18