Weald Fae 03 - The Aetherfae

  “I’m Gavin.”

  The man on the stoop turned white and nodded. “I’m Sean McLoughlin. Please, come inside.”

  Green curtains were drawn across small windows, allowing only small shards of natural light into the cozy but drab interior. Sean motioned for us to sit, and then wrung his hands nervously. It reminded me of Rachel’s habit of twirling her hair.

  “You probably don’t sit, do you? But if you like, please, make yourself at home. I wasn’t expecting four of you—that’s fine though. Just wasn’t expecting it.”

  “They are not Fae,” Gavin said. “Relax.”

  “They’re human? They know about you? I don’t understand—they can’t be here. It’s against the rules, you know. She takes the rules very seriously.”

  Gavin smiled warmly and Sean seemed to relax a little. The worry lines dominating his forehead began to soften. He was handsome, light skinned, and built like a runner. His medium brown hair was cut short, but tousled crazily above his angular features and warm blue eyes.

  “This is Candace, and this is Ronnie—they won’t be going up the hill.”

  “They won’t—oh good. But she…she can’t go up,” Sean said, looking directly at me.

  “I’ll take full responsibility. This is Maggie O’Shea. She’s like you, Sean—she’s a Steward. It will be fine. She’s going to meet an old friend.”

  Sean bit his thin lip and caressed his left elbow with thick fingers. “One of the new ones? I’ve seen them.”

  “Yes. Sara. I promise, it will be okay,” Gavin said.

  Sean nodded quickly, nervously. “Whatever you say.”

  “How long have you been the Steward here?” Candace asked.

  Sean turned red and took a quick breath. He paused and then barked out, “Twelve years.” He seemed angry and resentful.

  I felt Gavin compel him to relax—Sean didn’t seem to realize what was happening. A few minutes later he cordially offered to make tea. Scanning the worn interior, it was clear that not all Stewards were treated the same. Crude repairs to cheap furniture, old blankets tucked neatly to hide dingy upholstery—Sean didn’t live like my family had in the Weald.

  Sean didn’t ask many questions, either. He seemed content to listen to Candace and Ronnie prattle on about Ireland and England, describing things I hadn’t noticed. When he spoke, he said only what was necessary to answer a question. I felt sorry for him. He lurched at every sound, seemed incapable of carrying on a conversation, and was completely oblivious to everything else going on in the world.

  “It’s time, Maggie,” Gavin whispered.

  Candace grabbed my hand and nodded in a silent sign of solidarity and support.

  Gavin and I hiked up the grassy hill from the cottage as I scanned what looked to be a somewhat ordinary landscape. I guess I expected something different. Then again, the Council meeting place at the Weald looked like nothing more than small opening between two bluffs. From atop the hill, I could make out bright green pastures, like quilt squares, connected by lines of trees and hedges, and dotted by small masonry cottages. Under the darkening gray sky, the distant mountains rose from rolling plains. Gavin stopped at a stone marker and turned to the west, facing the setting sun. It appeared as no more than a bright spot behind the clouds.

  “They’re coming.”

  I sensed them moving in Naeshura. One by one they took human form, and among them, I saw Sara. My heart skipped a beat when she solidified and smiled. Each of them had lustrous blond hair and icy blue eyes, even Sara. It was a little alarming. Her glowing blue eyes seemed to peer right through me, and for a moment I longed to see her shark-like black eyes instead.

  “Maggie,” she said, lifting her arms.

  I embraced her. “Oh, my gosh, Sara, I’ve missed you so much.”

  “So Candace was correct, your memories are intact? Despite what she told me, I saw you after Ozara erased your memory. You had no idea who I was.”

  Candace’s version of the story was a little different. No harm.

  “I’m so sorry. I had to act like I didn’t know you. I saw the pain in your eyes…please forgive me. I was afraid if Ozara knew she failed, she would hurt me—my family.”

  Sara’s brow pressed together, wrinkling the skin on her otherwise perfect forehead.

  “Why would you think that?”

  “Yes, child, do explain,” said the most striking blonde woman I’d ever seen. Dana, I assumed, was radiant, tall and statuesque. Donned in silvery-green robes, she looked every bit the part of a fairy tale come to life.

  Besides Sara, I didn’t know any of the Sidhe around me except Devin. He had taken the form of the handsome blond I’d seen in the Earth trial two years earlier. Nevertheless, I felt like it was safe to share with them what I’d seen in Cornwall at Caer Bran a year before. Slowly and with as much detail as I could remember, I played the events back through my mind—Ozara taking shape, killing the first Seelie guard, and turning on Katarina and Meili.

  “That doesn’t make sense,” Sara said, turning to the elegant woman with long golden hair. “Ozara told the Council the Second attacked them—nearly destroyed her.”

  “Evidently, she lied.”

  Sara nodded. “But why?”

  “Tse-xo-be suggested the possibility that Katarina and Meile were in league with the Second,” Gavin said.

  Sara turned to him. “We long suspected Katarina’s loyalty to the Seelie had waned, and some suspected she was the leak on the Council, so that could be possible. It is no secret that Meile was disillusioned with the Seelie.”

  The beautiful blonde strode past Sara and extended her hand to me. “I’m Dana.”

  I took her hand. The subtle power in her grip hid just beneath the inhumanly smooth and perfect skin. “Hi, I’m Maggie…Maggie O’Shea.”

  She didn’t smile—human expression seemed beneath her—but her expression was pleasant and put me at ease. She let go of my hand as quickly as she took it. “Gavin, I am pleased to see you, but once these negotiations have concluded, you must leave Eyr and not return. Even though the Seelie Clan no longer exists, and the Sidhe never agreed to the terms of the edict, your presence here puts my clan in danger. I do not want to bring you harm myself, but I will not risk my clan on your behalf.”

  “Of course. I will leave your territory immediately after we finish.”

  Dana’s speech struck me the wrong way—my temper began to flare. Of course I realized the danger Ozara posed, but my heart and my loyalty belonged to Gavin. I would do anything to protect him, even if that meant taking on the Sidhe. I concentrated on lowering my heart rate and keeping my breathing even. Sara stared at me—I could see her in my peripheral vision.

  Silently, Dana asked Gavin why he had brought me along.

  “Maggie left Talemn Alainn weeks ago to find Sara—long before we planned this meeting. I sensed Maggie and her friends in Dublin last night.”

  Dana didn’t move—she stood silently, all the while giving Gavin a pleasant look. It was apparent to me she was trying to act nonchalant while she directed the next question to Sara. “What business does she have with you?”

  “I do not know. I never expected to see her again.”

  “Take her away and then return to us.”

  “There is something you should know, Dana. She is Áedán’s heir.”

  Without pause, Dana answered. “I have no use of her, Áedán’s heir or not. We have business that does not involve the delusions of a Seelie pet.”

  “Of course,” Sara replied.

  My inner dialog went nuts. What do you mean, of course? She just called me delusional?

  Dana didn’t believe that anything I’d shown her was real. My first instinct was to interject and offer up proof of my skills. I hated it when anyone questioned my abilities, and it infuriated me to be called a liar. Then common sense took hold of me. None of the Fae knew I could hear their private conversations, and I wasn’t ready to play my hand. Besides that, I was only here to see Sara. I
could care less if the Sidhe were impressed with me. At least that is what I told myself. So I kept my mouth shut and played dumb.

  “Maggie,” Sara started, “will you please come with me so that we can catch up a little? Gavin has business with Dana.”

  “Of course.” I leaned to the right, dipping over, until Dana looked at me. “It was nice to meet you.”

  She nodded stoically and then turned her attention to Gavin as if I was painful to look at. She was like Rhonda with superpowers—I really disliked her. Sara moved toward the path down the hill and I followed. Feeling ornery, I threw an Air barrier around us so that the rest of them couldn’t hear our conversation. Sara shuddered and winced. It’s not that I had anything important to say at the moment, but I felt like sending a message.

  “Tell me everything,” she said, twining her fingers in mine.

  Tears welled in her eyes when I told her about Dad, and she pulled me into an embrace. “Ozara knew you were a target. I told her that would happen. Several of us insisted on sending more than three guards, but she ignored us.”

  “I think she intended to send me to a place where I could be killed. She just didn’t realize I had my memories.”

  Sara nodded, a slight crease wrinkled her forehead. “How is your mother? And Mitch?”

  “They’re both dealing with it. I told them everything…I had to. Mom is barely talking to me. She’s really upset that I lied to her.”

  Sara nodded. “Tell me more.”

  I told her about seeing the Second attack the Council, and she frowned.

  “Maggie, are you certain about what you saw?”

  “Yes, I saw the Aether. I’ll show you.”

  She pulled me back into motion as the memory played in my head. “Maggie,” she said, “you never saw the Second?”

  “No.”

  “But you did feel its presence.”

  I started to nod until I realized I had never felt a presence. “Not exactly. It attacked, but I didn’t sense anything at first—I was inside Ozara’s barrier. As I snapped back to my body, though, I felt the energy. I saw where the attack came from, and I saw Ozara’s Aether attack glance off the Clóca barrier over the lake.”

  “Glance off? I don’t know much about either substance, but I don’t think it’s possible for Clóca to repel Aether. The Second was using Aether, so she must have deflected with that.”

  She was keeping something from me. “What’s bothering you?”

  “I’m sorry, Maggie, just deep in thought. I would feel better if the Seelie were still intact, but Ozara has taken a most treacherous and dangerous path by joining forces with the Unseelie.”

  “I’ve never trusted her,” I snapped.

  “We need to determine the identity of the Second. I am frustrated that so much has transpired and we still don’t know who our enemy is. The last two, Ra and Dagda, were far too eager to make their identities known. This Aetherfae is patient and cunning. Dersha’s involvement is critical.”

  “Why?”

  Sara’s liquid eyes settled on something in the distance. “Dersha is complicated and unpredictable, except for two things: her hatred for Poseidon and her hatred for Ozara. You see, Dersha’s original name—“

  “Is Pandora. I know. Gavin told me what happened. When do you think they’ll move on Ozara?”

  “That’s hard to tell. The Second is clever and it has played this perfectly so far. No mistakes. The oldest of my kind know every Fae. Because of that, keeping its identity hidden gives it a powerful advantage. When we learn the identity, we know where to look and how to counter. All of the Rogues we’ve identified so far are loners and mercenaries—it’s a brilliant plan. The Second could be anyone. It wouldn’t surprise me if none of the Rogues know its identity.”

  “Sara,” I interrupted again. “Just before he died, the Arustari said that only Dersha knew the Second’s identity.”

  “You are full of surprises. If the Second has revealed itself to Dersha, that is its first mistake. Knowing where the Second has spent the last two thousand years is the first step. It likely returns to the same place. Getting past the Second’s Clóca should be easy enough—if we can find it.”

  “Well, Clóca is more powerful than you think. It repels Quint.”

  She stared at me, not watching the path in front of us. “And you’ve seen this?”

  “Sara, I can produce both. I know it for a fact. Mara blocked Wakinyan’s Quint attack, and she blocked mine.”

  “Mara? I didn’t realize…so she’s still alive. I’d heard rumors, but I never knew—“

  “Sara,” I interrupted, “How much can I safely tell you?”

  She turned her head back down the hill, her golden eyebrows furrowed in a look of consternation. “I can’t answer that. Ozara is not here to compel my memories, but we all realized, after she destroyed the Ometeo clan, that could change any minute.”

  I made a decision. “I don’t care. She’ll figure it out soon enough. Mara is dead.”

  “Dead? Good. Her kind were the most despicable—“

  “All of the Arustari are dead.”

  She stopped walking again. “How?”

  “Tse-xo-be ripped Naji into pieces in Florida, he killed another—I don’t know his name—in Washington D.C., and Wakinyan destroyed the third with Quint.”

  “There were four of them…and Mara?”

  I exhaled. “Eleven days ago she tracked me to a vacant warehouse in New York. I killed her before she killed me.”

  “You killed Mara? By yourself?”

  I nodded.

  “Oh Maggie, when the Fae find out…”

  “I’m not concerned about that. I’m being hunted by Dersha and the Rogues anyway. I figure it’s only a matter of time before the Alliance gets into the action. And you might as well know this. I killed Cassandra the night I rescued Mitch. I’m sure Ozara knows.”

  Sara nodded. “I suspected as much. The world is a better place with their deaths.”

  “Then why do you look so sad?” I asked.

  “I’m sad because I can’t imagine a way out of this for you, not until you learn Aether, and maybe not even then.”

  I squeezed her hand. “It’s okay. I’ve known for more than two years that I could die before this was over. The most important thing is to win.”

  “To win? That’s such a human expression.”

  “Yes, human, and true. If we can put an end to this, my family has a future. Mitch has a future. And so will my newest sibling.”

  Sara’s eyes bugged just slightly.

  “Yeah, I just found out. Mom is pregnant.”

  “Maggie, that is amazing news, truly amazing.”

  “Okay, you look sad again. What’s up?”

  “Have you asked how you’re going to win, as you put it, without a Seelie Clan to protect the human race?”

  My stomach knotted and I felt my heart speed up. I hadn’t given anything beyond the here and now much thought. “We have to reform the Seelie Clan, or build a new coalition.”

  Her eyes grew wet. “Maggie, I’m sorry, but that’s not possible. The Seelie Clan was crumbling before the Second emerged. Now that Ozara has splintered off and formed a new clan, the support for protecting your species is waning. She paired what was left of the Seelie with the Unseelie. Neither clan could survive on its own now, and as long as they’re together, saving your species will never be on their agenda. The original clans are doing everything they can to avoid catching Ozara’s attention, or the Second’s for that matter. I have a terrible sense of trepidation about what is going to happen to your kind. If you learn Aether, you can defeat the Second, perhaps Ozara, but how can you hope to take on thousands of Fae?”

  A sense of hopelessness gripped me.

  Sara squeezed my hand. “Maggie, forgive me. I don’t want you to despair. I just wanted you to know the truth. Full disclosure, right?”

  I nodded.

  “Oh, Maggie, I am sorry. Ignore me. The dissolution of the Seelie
Clan rocked me to the core—it clouded my judgment and affected my reason. As Billy always says, there is always hope. Are you all right?”

  “Sara, I’m not giving up. There has to be a way to fix this—there has to be.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “I have to be,” I said, not believing a word coming out of my mouth.

  “So, why did you travel all this way to see me?” she asked.

  “I need to find another way to complete the fifth trial. I hoped you might tell me where to begin looking.”

  She studied my face before responding. “I might have a suggestion.”

  I nodded at the first good news I’d heard since we began talking.

  “Do you remember my stories about Bastien?”

  “Of course, he’s the oldest Fae. The historian who tracks human lineage.”

  “Yes. He hasn’t been seen in over two thousand years, allegedly. But there are rumors that he is still in Europe. Dana believes he may have stayed in contact with a small clan of Fae in Holland—Holland is called Tasureel in our language.”

  “Holland? Where in Holland?”

  “Like most clans in the modern world, the Kabouter stay away from humans. You will find them in the forests of Veluwezoom.”

  “The forests of Veluwezoom. That sounds so medieval, so Tolkien.”

  Sara laughed. “It is far from medieval. The Kabouter convinced the Dutch to create a national park, much like the Seelie did with your family at the Weald. The pact with your family at the Weald is older, by the way, by more than a hundred years. But that is where you’ll find them. A Fae named Elegast is their leader. Elegast and Tse-xo-be are old friends. Use that to your advantage. It should help you make contact.”

  We walked down to the gate. Candace, Ronnie, and Sean were inside the cottage a few hundred feet away. The evening light, dimmed under thick rain clouds, cast no shadows—everything was dark. The sensation of being watched came back. It unsettled me.