She nodded softly. “That’s good. We would like to assist you in dressing, if we may, Sorcha—”
“It’s Synthia,” I interrupted. Sorcha was cool, but I liked my name better. She nodded and a flash of pride showed in her eyes.
“Synthia was actually the name I had hoped they would give you. Lasair, and I had talked about it, but I didn’t know on which name they had decided for you.” She nodded with a watery smile; she looked so sad and full of regret. “Were they good to you?” she asked wistfully.
“They were very good to me. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t miss them.” I tried to hold the tears back. No, no matter what happened, they wanted the best for me. She nodded and it looked like she was fighting tears with the relief that this information brought. My mother abruptly cleared her throat and continued.
“Just to make you aware, the couriers have been sent in preparation of what is going to happen—we can’t delay any longer, without risking more of his wrath for our actions. Tomorrow, there will be a feast held here for the celebration of your return. The Horde King will be welcomed, as will the rest of the castes, to witness the exchange for the gift of peace.” I barked with laughter at her sober words.
“So, I really was the ‘Gift’!”
“Sorry?” She looked confused.
“When Faolán came to get me, he kept demanding to know where the Gift was. For over fifteen years, I have been left to wonder what he had been talking about.”
“For years, that was what the family called you; it just hurt less to think of you that way.” Tears began to run down her face, and my sister rushed to hug her. I felt very awkward for a moment and reached out tentatively to her, and, the next thing I knew, I was engulfed by my tearful mother who cried like her heart was breaking. After a few moments of just holding her tight, she whispered in my ear.
“I’ve read the Blood Oath a thousand times, Synthia. I’m afraid there is no way out of it. You must be presented to the Horde King, but that doesn’t mean you have to stay his.”
I felt my hands tremble. She was trying to tell me there was a way out? “Speak plainly. I don’t like word games.”
“Kill him, and then you can come back to us, or go…home, to the human world. If you can escape after it is done, you will have to decide on what it is you want. He has many sons, as the Horde does not often breed female children. It’s why Alazander wanted the Light Fae in his lineage. It stands to reason that his sons might allow you to live, even if you had killed the king. They need us; The Light is the one breed that usually ensures female children. Your brothers and father can’t know that we plot; to do so, is to go against everything the Blood Fae stand for. Your sister and I have thought long and hard on how to fix what is in the contract. This is the only solution we have found.” I looked at my sister, who nodded solemnly at me, and then back, at our mother. Then, I stepped away, shaking my head.
“You want me to kill the Horde King? Do you have any idea how crazy that sounds? He’s the biggest scariest thing in this world, and my own. He is the only person who can kill the Fae, and make them really dead. I was an Enforcer for the Guild; I did assassinations for a living and even I won’t go down that road of crazy!”
“If you fail, you only lose your life. You will lose it anyway if he keeps you, child.” Her voice was urgent and filled with more tears. She was trying hard to hide the emotion, but, like me, she was failing. “I can’t live knowing that you belong to him, when it should have been me. How was I supposed to choose one child over another? I died the day that I handed you to your father to take away. He ordered the guards to lock me inside my room and guard me, because he knew I’d come after you, and I tried to. I never stopped looking over my shoulder, wondering if I’d see you in a crowd, or wondering if you would find your way back to us. Not knowing if you were okay, or if your family loved you enough, was worse than knowing what was happening to your brother at the hands of that monster. I replaced one hell with another.”
“You tried to stop the trade. Why?” I asked with my throat closing up.
“Because you were mine, and I loved you too much to just let you go, and Lasair knew it. We made the choice together, but when it came time to hide you, I just felt as if my heart was being torn from my chest. Liam knew that I loved him, but you,” she stopped, and cleared her throat. “You would never know that we had loved you. You were just a baby, so sweet and innocent. I had no idea where he was taking you to, or if they were good people. He thought it best that I didn’t know which family he had given you to either, or which country in the human world he’d placed you in.”
“They died protecting me from your son. They gave their lives to keep me safe. I was loved by them. I was cherished until the day they died,” I said, trying to make her feel better, but unsure why I felt the need. She smiled through the tears in her eyes and nodded.
“You seek to give me comfort, while knowing that I have to hand you over to that monster. You must have had a wonderful mother indeed,” she replied squeezing my hand softly.
“I did, until Faolán raped her and turned her mind to mush to do his bidding. She would have shot me, had I not been able to cast magic from an early age. He meant to kill me, and would have if he had found my hiding place. He tried again right before I came out as the Light Heir, and he would have succeeded if it hadn’t been for the Dark Fae warrior who saved me. From what I saw and heard, he isn’t yours or your husband’s biggest fan.” She shook her head in confusion, trying to deny my damning words.
“Faolán tried to collect you when the war started up again. The Horde King kept demanding you and wouldn’t believe you had died. Of course, we fought to buy time, but, in the end, your father had to send him,” Madisyn explained.
“Well, he’s lousy at following instructions. He called the king a weak idiot, and said he would finish this. He wanted war, and, even now, he is working with the Mages who destroy this world. You sent a coldblooded killer to my door; one who wanted me dead.”
“My son wouldn’t do that,” she argued, but I could see the sliver of doubt in her eyes.
“When is the last time he was home? It hasn’t been recently, and I’m willing to bet he reported his findings, or rather lack of finding me, without a hint of what he did to my parents in his story. Even as a child, I could tell he was kind of an evil nutcase. I don’t know what his problem is, but he’s definitely trying to take the Blood King and the Horde down. I Transitioned, and I can’t lie—not that I would make anything like this up, because it was a pretty crappy thing to go through.”
She turned pasty white as she wrung her hands in front of her. I hated telling her everything that happened, because, for some reason, I felt sorry for this beautiful woman and it made me reluctant to hurt her. “I’m sorry. I’m not saying this to upset you. You need to know what he’s been up to. I won’t be the only one after his head if the rest of the Fae find out he’s the one helping the Mages poison this land. I already know of some Fae that have him on video in connection with an attempted mass murder of Fae in the human world.”
“If what you say is true, then Faolán is lost to us. Faery will claim him as a sacrifice to the Goddess Danu. He will pay with blood for his trespass on her children. Only she can pass judgment on her children.”
My sister nodded sadly and moved to hug her again.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A little while later, I was in less clothing, and glad of it, since the other dress made moving near impossible. The shredded, bloody wedding dress was gone, and I’d changed into a more comfortable dress that was made of soft green silk that at least moved and flowed easily and covered me to my ankles. My mother—it sounded weird saying that, had done my hair. She’d smiled the entire time as she and my new sister talked happily around me, as if the Horde King wouldn’t be here tomorrow, and everything was right as rain in their world.
Frankly, I felt like I had leaped from the frying pan and straight in to the fire.
I’d wondered how it would have been if I’d grown up around them. They talked about everything, including the noble my sister had been crushing on. I’d been quiet and had just listened the entire time. They were close, and it made me miss Larissa painfully.
We walked down the long winding staircase slowly, and it seemed like they wanted to treat me as family, not an unwilling guest. My mother and sister didn’t seem to want to sift while I couldn’t do so. Not that I could do it well every time, but, right now, I’d take landing at Ryder’s feet over the Horde King’s. When our feet were firmly on the floor, the entire room hushed around us.
I felt the mask go firmly into place as I leveled the Blood King with an unaffected look. Oh I was pissed, to be sure, but I could play the docile sheep when needed. We walked toward him, and a few blonde haired men moved closer to him, guarding him from any unseen threat; much like Ryder’s men often did.
“Wife,” he said with love shining in his cobalt and violet eyes. It was a true love match that these two had together. I don’t care what Kier said about the Fae having a tough time understanding love, these two had it bad for each other. It made my mind wander to Ryder. Was he even looking for me? If anyone could save me from the Horde King, it would be him.
“Where is Faolán?” Madisyn asked bluntly.
“The messenger could not find him to deliver the message. The rest of our children are home though, and it is known throughout the lands. I had Liam ring the bell of celebration.”
“As it should be. Brenton, Liam, Adaryn, and Cameron, this is your sister, Synthia,” Madisyn said stepping aside for them to see me. No one said anything. We just stood there sizing each other up. The silence was awkward and uncomfortable, and made more so as we continued in silence.
“I don’t understand why we need to do this,” Adaryn finally said.
“Adaryn! She’s making a sacrifice for us all. For our people,” Madisyn said, but no one agreed.
“Not willingly,” I finally said. “If I had a choice, I’d sift the flip out of here, and not look back. I don’t owe anyone here anything.” I surprised myself as I said it, but the smirks from the men around us said they approved.
“She might be related yet,” the one called Adaryn said. He was a few inches taller than the others, and a little more built in the chest area.
“Look at those eyes. Do you still doubt it? Do they not look like mother’s?” The one Madisyn had introduced as Cameron said as he stepped closer. I instantly stepped away from him as he continued.
“I’ll not harm you,” he said.
“I’d harm you. I don’t trust easily, and I really don’t trust the Fae,” I replied carefully, letting him see the distrust in my eyes. They may be family, but I didn’t trust anyone here farther than I could throw ‘em.’
“You are Fae. You’re aware of this, right?” he questioned, narrowing his eyes as he regarded me as if I was slow in the head.
“So I am, but I was raised with humans. I’ve already met Faolán, and he’s on my to-do-list.”
His eyes grew large and round. “What did the humans teach you?”
“They taught me to kill, and I’m damn good at it. Faolán will die by my hand. He killed the humans who protected me,” I said, taking another step back as he stepped closer. He was trying to corner me against the wall; stupid move. “I wouldn’t do that,” I said as he pushed me further, testing just how far he could push me.
“Let’s see what you got,” he whispered, but it wasn’t out loud. It was inside my head.
I lit up my brands and waited for his face to register disgust as the Light King’s had, but, instead, he smiled wider.
“Glow bug; I like it,” Cameron said with a smirk.
“You have my brands,” my father said, lowering his eyes to my shoulders. “Someone tried to change you, though. Why?”
“I was being trained by the Guild when I got them. They enhance Dark Arts, or the magic which it is cast with. The Dark Heir has the same ones as I do.”
“How did you claim the young Dark Heir? It’s impossible to pull an heir to you unless you are an heir of equal powers; let alone claim him, if he is the true heir.”
“And yet, I managed both. I also could glamour on clothing as early as I can remember.” His eyes didn’t flinch, but, inside, he was adding it up. I was his heir. The one he was to hand over to the Horde King.
“That can’t be. Faolán is my heir; he has the markings,” he said calmly, but I could hear the hesitancy in his voice. “He was just slow to use the magic.”
“Or, he played it out as so. He told me he would drain me, and take what was his. I didn’t know what he had meant at the time. It’s getting pretty clear that he wants to be the acknowledged heir, at all cost. I’ve been branded with markings before. It would have been easily obtainable if he was working with the Mages.”
“She’s right, and he’s been hard as hell to find lately,” Liam agreed.
I eyed him carefully. He’d been abused, and it showed. It was hard to hate someone when their wounds were bare to see in their eyes. He was a warrior, and, yet, he had a vulnerability that you could see. I was still trying to wrap my brain around the Horde King being the monster they described. I saw that Dresden seemed to be impressed with him, but, then again, according to my father, the Horde King had handed Dresden the crown. What bothered me was Kier and Ryder were allied with the Horde. At this point, I wasn’t sure what to believe and I wondered how much of a chance I had at killing the Horde King, or how long I’d live if I tried and failed. Would I be broken by his evil, as Liam now was? Probably. I was good, but I’m pretty sure I wasn’t on the same level of badass as the Horde King was.
He caught the worry in my eyes and moved closer, his hands held out as if he was showing me he wouldn’t hurt me. “Please, don’t hate me,” he said softly, his eyes pleading, which made the scar on his face stand out more. Fae normally don’t scar after Transition so what had been done to him must have been beyond horrible. “You, for me. It is one hell of a trade, little sister. If he didn’t also promise to end the fighting this would be going in a very different direction.”
“What does he look like?” I asked curiously.
“He’s a little over seven feet tall, with black wings that make him appear taller when he uses them. He’s pure evil, the worst sort of creature you can imagine. He has long black hair, and blackened eyes of the purest evil in their ancient depths. His power pushes from his pores until you can feel it touching you from the inside. His teeth are razor sharp when he wants them to be. The Sluagh are his warriors, and he is evil enough to rule them. He’s the strongest of the Unseelie, little sister, and he gives no mercy, even when it is begged for,” he said bitterly.
“Okay then, why didn’t you just say he was evil incarnate?” I asked, swallowing down the nerves. They wanted me to kill him!? Seriously; I might as well slap a sticker on my ass that said dead wench walking.
“You must have questions for us, and we have many for you,” Madisyn said and indicated a sitting area that hadn’t been there a second ago. The Fae here used magic a lot more than Ryder ever had when he was around me.
I took the chair that was furthest from the family. They fell easily into them and stared at me expectantly.
“I have no questions,” I quickly skipped the subject. “I didn’t come here for answers. I came, because I was forced to be here. I understand what you did, or some of it anyway. If you would like to ask me something, do so.”
“Your mother, you said she was good to you?” Madisyn asked, wasting no time.
“From what I can remember of her, she was everything a mother should have been.”
“How did the brand on your neck become inactive?” The Blood King asked next.
“I was taken into Faery for the Wild Hunt by Ryder—he’s one of the Dark Princes,” I said, not quite knowing if it was true or not. Nothing was as it seemed to me anymore, so I wasn’t quite sure what to believe.
Han
ds flew to mouths on that answer. I closed my eyes, and expelled a deep breath as the memory of that night heated me from the inside out.
“I’ve heard of Ryder. He was claimed to be the Dark Heir?” Adaryn asked.
I met his piercing eyes, and nodded. “Yeah, I guess that was the impression they gave until they found Cadeyrn, who is the Heir.”
“Were you hurt? I’ve never heard of anyone coming out unscathed from it,” Adaryn asked.
“I was not harmed. I was claimed by Ryder,” I answered honestly.
“So, he took you to his bed, and you allowed this?” My father asked through narrow eyes.
“Yes,” I answered, not thinking he had a right to care.
“You actually slept with one of the Dark Princes?” he growled reminding me of Ryder.
“At the time, I was only a Witch who worked for the Guild. I had no idea what I was when I allowed it to happen, and after that—after coming back to the human world—I started to change. Adam—uh, Cadeyrn the Dark Heir changed faster, as the brand you put on me had affected him as well. It worked so well it stopped his Transition too, but when I came back from Faery, we both began to change.”
“You lived a good life?” Liam asked.
“I prefer to think I did, yes.”
They’d sat listening as I told them my story. Tears fell from the women, while the men listened in silence. When I was finished, I looked around at the faces of my family, some had tears in their eyes, while the men looked proud of what I had accomplished while I’d been assumed to be only a mere Witch.
“I would not change my life for anything. I had amazing friends, and while my life has been anything but simple, it has shaped me in to what I am today.”
“You’re not mad at us, then?” Lasair asked cautiously with a guarded look on his ageless face.