Queen of Light (The Forbidden Fae Book 3)

by Linsey Hall

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t even really understand it myself. But this whole thing… the darkness, the curses and the danger… It’s been building for thousands of years. And I’ve been part of it all along.”

  “Whoa, you’ve lost me.” Shouts sounded in the background. Wherever he was, it was dangerous. “I need to go, Cass needs me.”

  “Be safe. We’ll come help you soon.”

  “We’re heading into the Fire Fae territory as soon as the sun goes down,” he said, and I noticed that he referred to it like it was enemy territory instead of his own home. Connor didn’t forgive easily, and once they’d evicted me all those years ago, he’d written them off for good. “We won’t be leaving until dawn, so you have about twelve hours until we can reconnect.”

  I glanced at the setting sun. “I’ll meet you at dawn, our time here, on this side of the world.”

  “At P&P unless you hear otherwise.”

  “Will do. I love you, bro.”

  “Love you, too. And Claire, whatever you find out from the crown… I’ve got your back.” The connection died, and I sagged, staring into the flames.

  They flickered, a tiny haunting tableau of what had once happened on Dartmoor. Because of me.

  “Puka? Are you around?” My voice echoed in the large, silent room.

  A moment later, the fox appeared, sitting between me and the flame. She was russet red right now, blending seamlessly with the fire behind her.

  “Hey.” I reached for her, and she walked toward me, pressing her side against mine. I leaned into her warmth. “What the hell happened in the past?”

  Just like you saw. We were together then, too.

  “Did you die when I did?”

  I don’t think so. You died and I disappeared. When I woke up, I was on Dartmoor again. But it was flowering and alive. It was the present.

  “Why didn’t you come find me?”

  I felt a connection to you when I met you, but I didn’t remember you. Not right away. Not even when we first met. My memories have come back as yours have.

  “What do you remember of the past? What happened to me?”

  Just like we saw. You died, and your heart became the Soul Stone. Your magic is the backbone of the Fire Fae.

  “I had no idea.”

  I don’t know if anyone did.

  “It’s like we’ve woken up.”

  Not yet. The nightmare is still out there.

  I nodded, the flames lulling me. “I hope this crown fixes me.”

  I think you have to fix yourself.

  “Isn’t that always the way of it?” I leaned closer to her, hating to acknowledge the truth of her words. “Do you know how the Fire Fae got the crown?”

  They found it with the Soul Stone, thousands of years ago. Long after your death and long before your second birth.

  “And they must have kept the Soul Stone at the Tor of the Ancients in the Kistvaen. Its magic is meant to be there. But the crown… they put that in the treasures room. And then Count Delevue had someone help him steal it.”

  But it’s yours.

  “Sort of.”

  Does this mean you’re queen of the Fire Fae?

  I shook my head. “No. Definitely not. But I don’t know what I am.”

  13

  Iain entered the room a short while later. My mind had drifted back to the past while I stared into the flames, pressed against Puka for support.

  “Caera. Are you all right?” he said.

  I jerked in surprise, then looked over my shoulder at him, spotting a tray of pasties. The flaky crusts gleamed golden in the light of the fire and my stomach grumbled.

  “Hungry. Stressed. But fine.”

  “We can fix the hunger now.” He strode to me and reached a hand down, pulling me to my feet. I grabbed the crown as I rose. “You need to sit in a chair, not on the cold floor.” He looked down at Puka. “You too.”

  “I’m wet.”

  “It’s fine.” He led me to one of the plush chairs in front of the fire and made me sit. I set the crown on the table next to me.

  Puka didn’t need telling twice, because she leapt up into one of the other chairs and curled up.

  “Eat.” He thrust the tray under my face and I selected a pasty. He turned and held the tray out for Puka, and she nipped the closest one off the tray with her teeth.

  “I’m going to get you a change of clothes,” Iain said. “You’re soaked through.”

  “Thanks.” I bit into the pasty, savoring the buttery crust and hearty filling. Cheese and onion, my favorite. The potatoes steamed almost hot enough to burn, but it was perfect. Puka seemed to have an unerring sense for the Steak and Stilton, which was the one she’d chosen. It wafted fragrantly toward me.

  My mind raced as I chewed, my gaze going to the crown.

  I was so close to answers.

  I was tired, sure. But not so tired that I couldn’t keep going. I needed to know what the crown would do.

  As soon as I finished the pasty, I felt about a hundred times better.

  Iain walked in a moment later, his arms full of clothing that matched mine.

  I frowned. “How do you have some of my wardrobe?”

  “It’s not yours, though it was made for you. My seamstresses have a good eye.”

  “And they’re fast.”

  “They made it before today.”

  “That is both thoughtful and creepy.”

  “Just focus on the thoughtful.” He pressed the pile of clothes into my hand.

  I took them gratefully and stood. “Turn around.”

  He did as I asked, and I changed quickly, making sure to transfer the broken silver brooch to the new jacket pocket. It had been haunted by the dark magic, but I couldn’t let it go for some reason. It felt like part of me.

  Completely dressed, I looked at Iain’s back. “Okay, you can turn around.”

  He spun around, and I reached for the crown. “I’m going to put this on now.”

  “You don’t want to rest first?”

  “I can’t possibly wait. I need to know. And we only have twelve hours until Connor and Cass will leave the Fire Fae realm—hopefully with news of Nix and Del.”

  His gaze flicked to the window, where the sun had set. “So we’ll meet them at dawn. But where?”

  “P&P. I have no idea what’s going to happen when I put this on.” Would I have a vision? Go somewhere? Pass out? “In case I can’t go, will you?”

  “Of course.”

  “Thank you.”

  He strode to me and gripped my arms, kissing me firmly on the mouth. It was chaste, but my heart raced all the same. He pulled back. “Be careful.”

  “I will.” I tightened my grip on the crown. The delicate metal was warm despite the slight chill in the air, and I stared at it momentarily.

  “Well, here goes nothing,” I said under my breath. Then I set the crown on my head.

  It sparked with magic, and my vision went black for one brief, terrifying moment.

  The Oracle’s words flared in my mind. You must become more.

  But more what?

  Until I knew, I couldn’t fight the darkness.

  When my vision returned, I blinked blindly, my surroundings becoming clear. It was so bright here that I had to squint. Sunlight seemed to shine from all angles, making my eyes ache.

  By the time my eyes adjusted, I realized that I was no longer sitting. I stood on a huge slab of white stone, but I couldn’t feel my limbs.

  My body is still back in Iain’s chambers.

  Otherwise I would have felt the ether pull me in and transport me. But it hadn’t.

  Instead, just my consciousness had come here.

  Wherever here was.

  The ground trembled beneath my feet, beginning to move upward. A gentle breeze wafted through my hair, and I spun, realizing that I was rising up through the light. I wasn’t traveling through the sky, exactly—it wasn’t blue and I saw no clouds. Likewise, there was no
earth below me.

  I was in some kind of half-realm, floating slowly upward toward a sense of home and belonging. And duty. It was a heavy weight on my shoulders, and I felt it keenly.

  Finally, the ground below me stopped moving, and I stumbled slightly.

  The light in front of me coalesced to form an enormous temple. It looked as if it were made of glass, but there was nothing solid about it. It was just light—all different shades of it, all different colors. Pale and bright and pure.

  Anticipation shivered through me as I strode toward the temple. The stairs beckoned, and I took them two at a time, determination filling me.

  I was so close to answers. I could feel it.

  Deep in my chest, the darkness vibrated. It struggled to fight free, and I could feel its anxiety. It knew there was a threat here.

  Within me, the darkness roared, rising to try to take control of my muscles. I staggered, nearly going to my knees. Connor’s potion helped me maintain control, but it was like the darkness was putting up one last-ditch effort to take control.

  I gasped, pain surging through me as I forced my muscles to move. I just needed to reach the temple, and I could get rid of this once and for all.

  Finally.

  Aching and out of breath, I entered the temple. The air was hushed and quiet, and a sense of calm belonging filled my soul. I’d definitely been here before. Maybe not my current self, but my past one. It was like walking into my house but not recognizing anything. It was still my house.

  I stood in the middle of the enormous empty room, columns rising on all sides of me. They soared toward the sky, supporting a roof that was made of light. I stopped, spinning in a circle.

  Figures drifted out from the walls. There were five of them, and they looked like nothing I’d ever seen before. The magic that rolled out from them was so powerful that it took my breath away.

  The figure closest to me was nearly transparent, but there was nothing ghostlike about her energy. She seemed to be constantly moving, as if she were made of the wind itself.

  Another figure appeared to be made of water. Her skin was the opaque, deep blue of the darkest part of the ocean, where the water was a thousand feet deep. Pale blue hair flowed from her head, a mane of water that sparkled in the light. Her eyes were brilliant sapphires that cut straight to the heart of me, seeing deep inside my soul.

  I stepped back from her, eying her warily before turning my attention to the figure next to her. He was tall and striking. And he was a… tree?

  Yeah, he was a tree. His skin was rough like bark, and his hair grew as green leaves that matched his emerald eyes. He had to be at least eight feet tall, and built like some kind of super-athlete.

  Air, water, earth.

  These creatures had to represent the elements somehow, but the last two figures were impossible to identify.

  One sparkled as if they were made entirely of golden dust motes, and the other shimmered with the gray light, their form constantly changing.

  “Hello.” I was pleased with how brave my voice sounded. I wasn’t scared of these figures, necessarily, but nerves skated across my skin. “I am Caera of the Fire Fae.”

  “We know who you are,” said the blue figure. Water. “You’re one of us.”

  “One of you? What are you?”

  “Gods of the Elements,” said the tree. “I am Earth, and you Light.”

  I blinked. Light?

  I supposed it made sense, given all that had been happening. But… “What does that mean? I had no idea there were Gods of the Elements.”

  “Of course there are,” said Air. “And you do not know of us because we do not want you to know of us. We aren’t the sorts of gods that require—or want—worship. But we are embodiments of the elements that make up life. And you are one of us.”

  “Is that why the crown brought me to your realm?”

  “This is not our realm,” said Earth. “This is yours.”

  “Hang on. My realm?”

  “Each of the Elemental Gods has one, and it is created exactly in their image.”

  I looked around with new eyes, finally understanding all that was around me.

  Of course.

  Light.

  My gaze dropped to the two mysterious figures. “I think I know who Air, Water, and Earth are. But what are you?”

  “Energy,” said the gold figure, her voice vibrating in a way that made me think of atoms.

  “And I am Time,” said the gray.

  “Wow. Are you also Fae?”

  “We are not Fae,” said Time. “But you are different. Your history makes you different.

  “My history?” My mind raced back over the revelations I’d had recently. “Does this have to do with the fact that I am a reincarnate?”

  Air nodded. “We are immortal beings, here since time began.”

  “You’re welcome for that, by the way,” Time said, his tone cheeky.

  Air shot him a quick glare. Her features were still nearly transparent, but it was easy enough to spot that she was annoyed. “But you are not immortal, Caera. You were Fae in your first life and Fae in this as well. You are the Queen of Light, one of us but also Fae. A god, and yet a mortal. Thousands of years ago, you rose because the darkness rose.”

  “What does that mean? What is the darkness, exactly?” I asked. “I can feel it and see it, but still have no real idea what it is.”

  “It’s the evil that is inherent in the world—the darkness that makes people act with cruelty and greed,” Water said. “Thousands of years ago, when you were first born as a Fae child, the darkness grew too strong. There was an imbalance, and it spread, causing devastation.”

  “The natural goodness in the world was not enough to combat it,” Energy said. “And so we found a worthy supernatural and gave some of our power to her. To you.”

  “There wasn’t already a… goddess of light?” I asked.

  “No,” said Earth. “The sun is the source of light. But we knew we needed more to fight the darkness that was growing. And so we created you, the Queen of Light, a supernatural with the magic to fight the darkness.”

  “But why me?”

  “Because we knew what you would do when you were required to fight,” Air said.

  I frowned. “You’ve lost me.”

  “You would be willing to sacrifice everything,” she said. “As you did the first time, when you fought to your last breath to force the evil back.”

  My hand went to the lump of metal in my pocket. The twisted, broken brooch that I’d destroyed to fight the darkness.

  At her words, dread began to snake through me. When they’d chosen me for this role in the past, they’d done it because they’d known I’d be willing to die for it.

  Were they expecting me to do that again?

  14

  I stared at the five gods who surrounded me, each vibrating with unimaginable power. All around, the temple gleamed with brilliant light.

  This was all too much. It took everything I had to focus on what they were saying. To come up with the questions I needed to ask. There was no way I’d get a second chance at this… I could feel it.

  “I wasn’t successful the first time I fought the darkness,” I said. “Even now, it’s spreading through earth—through the Fae. It’s come back.”

  “And so did you, born again to fight it,” said Earth.

  I swallowed hard. “Yeah, that’s not going so well right now. It’s polluted my mind, and that of the king and queen of the Fire Fae. I’m here to drive the darkness from me so that I can defeat it.”

  “Drive the darkness from you?” asked Air. “That’s not possible.”

  My stomach dropped. “Wait. What do you mean, that’s not possible? It has to be possible.”

  “It’s not,” Air said. “It is part of you now.”

  “No, I don’t want that.” Panic fluttered in my chest. “There has to be a way to get rid of it.”

  “If there is, we don’t know of it,” Earth s
aid. “That’s why we created you. We aren’t the experts in this. You are.”

  What. The. Hell.

  The crown was supposed to give me answers. I was supposed to be able to put it on and come here and figure out what the hell was going on and get rid of the darkness inside me.

  And I had learned some stuff, sure. But not what I really wanted.

  “You and the darkness are one,” Air said. “But that doesn’t make you evil.”

  Oh, hell no. This had taken a turn for the worse. “Can I defeat the darkness?”

  “We hope so,” Earth said. “That is one thing we can help you with. You need to claim the rest of your magic. That is why you are here.”

  “How?” I frowned.

  “You brought the Fibula of Power with you?” asked Water.

  “Fibula? Like, leg bone?”

  “No,” Water said. “A fibula is an ancient pin meant to hold a cloak together.”

  “Oh, the brooch.” I pulled it from my pocket. “I had to bring it. I couldn’t leave it there. It called to me.”

  “That is because it is the original object that gave you our power. It is a piece of ore from the center of the earth, enchanted with our gifts and given to you to make you the Queen of Light.”

  I raised it up and looked at the twisted metal. “And it needs to be repaired?”

  “Precisely.” Earth gestured to the side of the temple, where a large exit loomed. “If you go that way, you will find the god of metal. He is the blacksmith, and he will repair it for you. Once it is fixed, it will allow you to control the magic that is still unformed within you.”

  At least that explained my crappy flying.

  All five of the gods turned to look toward the door, and I realized our chat was basically over.

  Yet I didn’t feel any more prepared than when I’d first walked in here.

  “Wait,” I said. “What about the great battle? A powerful seer named Aethelred predicted one. What do you know of it?”

  “There will be a battle, yes,” Air said. “An enormous one against the army of darkness. It will occur in a half-realm situated beneath the Tor of the Ancients.”

  “The place where the darkness first broke through?” The Tor of the Ancients was holy to the Fire Fae. Of course that bastard had chosen that space.