As it swung open, I straightened my shoulders. I had expected a large throne room, but instead, we were staring at a long narrow path that led out over the water, barely skimming the surface, to a boulder the size of a house.
“Go now. She’s waiting. I’ll stay here to guide you back when you are done.” Aoife motioned to the path. “Just follow the path and you’ll be safe. Do not step into the water, though, no matter how much you may want to.”
I gave her a hesitant look. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, Morgana waits for you on her throne. Go now.”
I was totally out of my element and I knew it. But I stepped through the doors, onto the path, and the building fell away behind me, like a snake shedding its skin.
I followed the path, which was barely a foot wide, cautious not to stumble. It led through the water, which was just inches below the trail. The path was formed of compacted sand, with bits of shells scattered along the way. Here and there, a patch of sea grass wavered in the breeze, and the sky overhead was seething with clouds that boiled past, heavy with rain. The air was saturated with moisture and it felt almost like I was breathing underwater. I blinked as the scent of brine enveloped me, thick with seaweed and decay.
Halfway there, I began to hear a voice on the wind. It was a woman, her singing so faint at first I could barely make it out. But as I continued along the path, her song became louder, and it sang to me of the open sea, of treasures fair and adventures waiting to sweep me away. I felt a stirring in my heart, a desire to step out onto the water. My feet promised me they could hold me up, that I could race across the surface like running on glass.
Come join us, Ember. You can be one of us. Part of the sea, part of the Ocean Mother. You can live with us forever under the rain-shadowed days. And during the night, we watch as the vast panorama of stars unfolds and they dance with the water, reflecting in its surface. Join us and become one with the entire world, bound together by the rivers and streams and lakes. For we are the chosen ones, we are the singers of songs, we are the weavers of dreams. Come, sister, and we will brush your hair and drape you in pearls and coral.
A crow flew by, startling me with its caw, and I blinked, realizing that I was about to step into the water. I clasped the raven-shaped necklace around my neck, holding tight. Morgana had given it to me as a symbol that I belonged to her.
Focus, I whispered to myself. Focus.
I kept my eyes straight before me, avoiding looking over the depths of the water, and sped up. Before long, I had come to the end of the path. The boulder was huge, shrouded on all sides by trees that grew up out of the briny sea. They towered overhead, tall fir and cedar. A massive willow rose behind the rock. In front, steps, formed from mother-of-pearl, led up to a throne. Formed of seashells, the throne was draped in pearls and seaweed. Stretched along the back of the throne perched a murder of crows, all watching me as I approached.
And on the throne was Morgana.
Pale as alabaster, she waited, her skin luminous against the darkened sky. Her hair cloaked her in a raven shroud, and her dress shimmered, the color that iridescent sheen between twilight and dusk. Every time she moved, a thousand beads shimmered, and the sweetheart neckline was cut low against her breasts. A tiara adorned her hair, aquamarine interspersed with amethyst and pearls.
Morgana raised one hand in greeting, and the sleeve of her gown draped down like a gossamer wing. “Well met, Ember Kearney. Welcome to my realm.”
I stared into her eyes. They mirrored the ancient moon, and I felt dwarfed as I knelt in front of her. “Lady Morgana, I am here at your summons.”
I stood as she motioned me to rise, and waited, my hands clasped in front of me. I was still afraid, but the fear was giving way to a sensation I wasn’t used to—pride. It hit me that I was proud to be here. Proud to be one of her chosen. A smile crept across my face.
“You begin to appreciate your place in my world.” She held my gaze, and it felt as though she was dipping into my thoughts, reading my heart.
I wasn’t sure what to say, so I kept silent.
“Cat got your tongue? Tell me, Ember, what you are thinking. Tell me, what do you want?”
Tripped up by the question, I found myself blurting out the first thing that came to mind. “I want to know what you want of me. What you expect of me. You drew me into your service, but I’m not sure what to do. I don’t know how to serve you.”
“Would you serve me, then? As a full and dedicated priestess?”
I paused. “I don’t know what that entails. My life…” I realized I had no clue of how to answer her. I had never thought much about what I wanted out of my life, other than to make my own way and stay under the radar of the Fae Courts.
“Your life does not have to change in a drastic manner. I’ve been waiting to see how far your powers would awaken. The other night, your potential awoke. It’s time you learn who you are.” She stood, slowly descending the steps of the throne. She seemed overwhelming in her power, and yet when she stood beside me, she was barely taller than I was, but the energy crackled around her, like lightning over the ocean.
Her words made me uneasy. I knew who I was, or thought I did.
“What do you mean?” I gazed into her eyes, mesmerized by the brilliant tides that flashed through them. It was as though I was standing by the ocean incarnate, and her swirling eddies of energy buoyed me up. I wondered, if I were to reach out and touch her, would my hand pass through her like it would the water?
“You knew how to summon the elemental because you carry your mother’s blood within you. No one’s ever told you what kind of Water Fae your mother was, nor what type of Fae your father was. But now, you must set out to explore both of your bloodlines. For they are working together to form a new blend—a deadly mix.”
I stared at her. “And what do you mean, my bloodlines are forming a new blend?”
Morgana reached out to stroke my face. “Ember, your mother came from the line of the Leannan Sidhe, and your father from a line originally known as Autumn’s Bane, a band of Faerie warriors who were descended from the Holly King himself. They are waking up, and you must be prepared.”
Chapter 9
THE LEANNAN SIDHE? Autumn’s Bane?
I felt weak-kneed and dizzy. I looked around for a place to sit. There was a pile of shells next to the throne. “May I sit here?”
“You may. I realize this is a great deal of information to process. If your parents would have lived, no doubt they would have told you by now. At least, I hope they would have. But do you see why you must know what you are, before your powers fully come to fruition?”
I slowly nodded. It was as if I lived in a snow globe and somebody had just picked it up and given it a good shake.
“How…but my mother was Light Fae.” I frowned, trying to puzzle out the onslaught of feelings that were washing over me.
“One thing you must understand: Light is not the same as good. You know very well that the Light and the Dark are merely two sides of the same coin, and good and evil reside within both bloodlines. The Light Fae love the summer months and the waxing half of the year, while the Dark prefer the shadows of autumn and the cold fingers of winter.” Morgana paused, giving me time to take in what she was saying.
“The Leannan Sidhe—are they truly…” My voice dropped away. I wasn’t sure how to ask what I needed to know. Hell, I wasn’t even sure what I needed to know. I had spent my life away from both Courts, and right now, my lack of knowledge felt terrifying.
“The Leannan Sidhe are bloodthirsty. They delight in luring mortal men to their deaths. They’re also incredibly inspiring and not easily forgotten.”
“Ray.” I let out a long breath. “He can’t forget me. And two of my boyfriends died thanks to me, even though I had no intention of harming them.”
“Once you have met me, you’ll never forget me,” Morgana said. “The watchwords of the Leannan Sidhe. You will have to be cautious.
If you develop your mother’s powers, you may be able to drain the life force from someone with your kiss.”
“Like a succubus?” I jerked my head up, now terribly afraid.
“In a sense, but the Leannan Sidhe don’t need to feed on others to survive. They simply enjoy it.”
“Trophy hunters, then.” I set my lips, thinking that it would be better if I needed to feed on energy—at least I’d have an excuse. “Will the hunger overpower me, if I do develop my mother’s powers?”
“It doesn’t have to,” Morgana said. “I can train you to control it, for the most part.”
“That’s good to know.” I looked up at her. She was standing next to me, staring out into the water behind us. “What about my father? What are the Autumn’s Bane?”
Morgana raised her hand to the sky and a bubble formed on it, glistening like a crystal ball. She played with it a moment before suddenly wrapping her hand around it so that it popped.
“The Autumn’s Bane are also known as the Autumn Stalkers, because they send out parties during the autumn to hunt down victims. They’re pillagers. Across the Great Sea, they continue to raid other Faerie bands. They used to raid mortal villages, as well. They took slaves—women and children mostly—and killed the warriors of the tribes they overcame. They have an inborn knack for hunting and tracking. During the winter, they feast and hang out with the wolves, and during the spring and summer, they sleep, regaining their strength for autumn. There are few of the original bands left, mostly across the Great Sea, but their descendants tend to be ruthless, and possess the drive to hunt.”
“Autumn Stalkers.” I tested the words on my tongue, trying to examine how they felt. After a moment, I shivered as a cloud seemed to settle around my shoulders. “And I’m a mix.”
“And your blood mix is a rare type. I doubt if there have been more than a handful quite like you. The Leannan Sidhe are not easily captured, and the Autumn Stalkers are seldom ensnared by any such as the Leannan Sidhe. Since you are only now reaching the beginnings of the Cruharach, your full abilities haven’t come through. We can only surmise what those will be.”
The Cruharach.
“Right.” I didn’t even want to think about that, but it sounded like I was going to have to. For one thing, since I didn’t belong to either Court, there was no one to walk me through it, so I had decided to do the next best thing: just ignore it.
The Cruharach was the point that came in every Fae’s life where they stopped aging. It was like a second puberty. I hadn’t been sure what to expect, so I wasn’t even sure if I had gone through it, but apparently, I hadn’t. I had been hoping that it would just pass by unnoticed.
At around thirty, the aging process for the Fae slowed drastically. I knew there were rituals that most Fae went through, but given my status as an outcast, I had no clue what to do.
“Tell me about the Cruharach. What should I watch for?” I was suddenly feeling desperate, afraid that I wouldn’t know what to keep an eye out for.
Morgana knelt beside me, her gown spreading around her like a sea foam. “You are near the metamorphosis, that much I can tell you.”
She paused for a moment, then continued. “When your mother underwent initiation in my service, she was very young. Before she died, during a ritual she and your father asked if Cernunnos and I would watch after you. Your mother foresaw their deaths and wanted to make certain you would be looked after. Cernunnos and I promised we would take you under our guidance.”
I bit my lip. “My parents knew they were going to die?”
She nodded. “Your mother had a vision of the Bean Sidhe in her dreams. And the Bean Sidhe only appear to a very few who do not seek them out.”
“How did my parents meet?” They had never told me their story.
“We must save that story for another day, but it was fated that Eolin and Breck meet. There are always reasons for why things happen, Ember, even if it seems a remote coincidence, or at odds with all we hold true. Not even the gods can see all of the intersections on the web, but they are there.” She held out her hand. “Stand. You aren’t one to cower.”
I took her hand and stood. “My ability to channel the water elemental, was that part of my emerging powers because of my bloodline?”
Morgana inclined her head. “Yes. That would be the Leannan Sidhe side emerging. Your prowess with weapons, your strength and ability to track things, comes from your father. But the Autumn Stalkers have more powers than those—darker powers, rooted deep within the forest. Cernunnos will be able to help you more than I. Together we will guide you to balance the emerging combination of abilities. And there are some that may not hold, because you are a mix of two such distinct races.”
A thought occurred to me. “Are the Dark and Light Courts aligned with the elements?”
Again, a nod. “To a degree, though there will always be some overlap. Nothing except primal energy confines itself to only one element or season. The Light Fae tend to be connected more with fire and water, and the Dark, with earth and air.”
“What should I do? How do I take control of this?”
Morgana handed me a piece of paper. “I’ve written down the name of a teacher—she’s one of my priestesses. She will guide you. I want you to meet with her weekly. She’ll also watch for signs that the Cruharach is approaching, though I believe you’ve already entered into it. We’ll devise a ritual to lead you through the gate when it arrives. Ember, this is not simply a phase. It’s a gateway through which all Fae must pass.”
“What will happen if I don’t undergo the ritual?”
“You could die. Or go mad. Or the emerging powers could tear you apart. Half-Fae don’t undergo the same transformation, since theirs is gentler on their systems. But you are full-blooded. I imagine that’s why your grandfather contacted you. He knew you were approaching the Cruharach and wanted to get to you first.”
“He wanted me to give up my mother’s side.” I told her what he had said.
Morgana stiffened. “He asked you to do that?”
“Yes.” By the look on her face, she was taking the request worse than I had.
“I’ll have to have a talk with your grandfather. And trust me, he will listen to me.”
Her eyes had grown dark as night and they sparkled and whirled. I cringed, afraid I might be in the path of the rising storm. Out on the water, the waves began to crash over the edge of the boulder and lightning split open the sky.
“What will you do to him?” I whispered, trying to keep my balance as the eddies swirled on the water, creating whirlpools.
“Teach him not to be so arrogant. It’s none of your concern. Not now.” She sighed, then seemed to rein in her power. “Enough. I will save my indignation and apply it where it’s deserved. You may go now. Contact your teacher as soon as you can, because I want you to start in on your lessons next week. I’ll contact her, as well.”
I felt myself calming down. “What happens if I find myself trying to channel another water elemental in the meantime?”
“Resist it. While a number of elementals are benign, there are some who are malevolent. If you contact one of the latter, or if an elemental happens to be controlled by a creature such as a siren or a kelpie, you run the risk of letting their master take you over.”
That was a splash of cold water. “You mean that a siren could effectively take possession of my body if I let one of her controlled elementals…in, for lack of a better word?”
“Yes, and there lies the most danger.” She paused. “Ember, I know you’re frightened, but I’ll walk you through the Cruharach, and together with Cernunnos, we will guide you in harnessing both sides of your nature. It is a deadly mix, but one that you can keep in control.”
I let out a long sigh. “I trust you. I really have no choice, except to trust you.”
“Good. Now you may return to your day, and do not forget to contact Marilee. She’ll be waiting for your call.” And with t
hat, she reached out and touched the raven necklace that hung around my neck.
As her fingers touched the pendant, everything began to waver. I blinked twice, dizzy, and then when I opened my eyes the second time, I was standing on the strip of shoreline and Aoife was there, waiting for me. She reached down and opened a trap door beneath a thin layer of sand and motioned for me to swing down on the ladder. As I began my descent, cautiously making sure my feet were firmly on the rungs and that my dress didn’t get caught up on anything, another wave of dizziness hit me and I suddenly found myself climbing back into the boat. Aoife followed me down through the skylight and fastened it firmly.
“Are you all right?” she asked. “Sometimes people get a little dizzy coming and going between dimensions.”
I actually did feel a bit weak in the knees, and said so. She poured me a glass of apple cider and told me to sit down for a moment. As I sipped the cinnamon spiked nectar, the dizziness began to pass and my head cleared.
“Well. I didn’t expect any of that.” Morgana had revealed so much that my head was spinning. I looked up at Aoife, who was standing beside me with a worried look on her face. “Thank you for waiting for me.”
“It’s my job,” she said with a touch of pride. “Morgana depends on me to do as she asks without screwing up.”
I nodded, thinking that Aoife seemed content with her life. “How long have you been one of her priestesses?”
Aoife knotted her brow, squinting as she counted under her breath. After a moment, she said, “It’s been around six hundred years, give or take a few. I was assigned to this post around thirty years ago. Before this, I guarded a portal in New York City, in a skyscraper. I was getting tired of the unending city, so Morgana transferred me here.”
Feeling revived and ready to head out, I thanked her again and she escorted me to the door of the boat after I changed back into my own clothes. During the time I had been aboard, the tide had receded, so I climbed up a ladder next to the dock and, with a final wave, headed back to the parking lot to where Viktor and the car were waiting.