Chapter 41
Chapter forty-one
“I have never entered the realm of the fae, not once. Father says I will go, someday, and I am not sure if that future fills me with excitement or trepidation.” – from the diary of Oren Byrne, age seventeen.
Istood in front of the gate, as impassive as the snow. I was unsure of whether to step forward or demand Aidan to take me back. I wasn’t yet ready to face Abnus, but then again, would I ever be ready to face him? I wasn’t sure.
My emotions were a tangled snarl that I couldn’t unweave. I was happy that I was Abnus’s mate, and yet so furious that he had waited so long to claim me, though it was romantic. He’d wanted me to love him, as much as I desired the same thing.
Aidan smiled at me, leaning against the gate with an ease that I didn’t comprehend or share. Though perhaps my dear brother wasn’t hearing the whispers that so clearly said I didn’t belong here.
He belonged, though. Aidan was both Lord of Sídhetír and half-fae. This was his place, right here, between the passage of the realms. He belonged to both the humans and the fae, while not truly belonging to either.
For the first time in my life, I realized exactly how lonely Aidan must be.
I held out my arms, and he stepped into my embrace without hesitation. I whispered, “I’m afraid. Is he right on the other side?"
“No. Cethin forced him away.”
That didn’t help. “I’m still frightened.”
“Let me help you, as you have helped me.”
Before I was able to form a response, Aidan had me out of his arms and turned around. He planted a firm hand in the middle of my back and pushed.
Crying out, I stumbled forward and lost my balance. The black gate loomed toward me, and there was no escaping it. The whispers screamed that I didn’t belong, that I needed to turn back, but I couldn’t heed their warnings, and I tumbled into the darkness.
I was nowhere and everywhere. A great pressure consumed me and buffeted me around. I couldn’t see; I couldn’t hear; I couldn’t feel. I was shadow and soul, broken down to nothing but my barest self.
Then, without warning, I crashed into perfect, powdery snow that glimmered like starlight on a moonless night. The cold wrapped around me like a lover’s embrace. Head whipping up, I paused, breath harsh.
An expansive and towering castle forged of frosted glass stood in front of me with looming turrets. The impossible structure was surrounded by black trees with silver leaves and the brightest blue apples. Mountains hovered in the background, framed by the cloudless night sky.
It was magical. It was breathtaking. It was undoubtedly the realm of the fae—the Night Court.
A squeak came out of my throat when a sharp blade poked my cheek, the pressure just short of drawing blood.
A dark fae, taller than anyone I’d ever seen, glared down at me with dark red eyes that sparked like coals.
He was spindly, with unnaturally long arms and thin fingers.
His face was flat and without a nose, and his skin was dark purple, leathery in texture.
“Human,” he spat, showing off two impressive rows of needle-sharp teeth.
Aidan had thrown me into the fae realm and abandoned me. That… that wasn’t possible. He would never leave me. Where was he, though? Had Cethin caught him? Please tell me I wasn’t going to die because they were busy fucking.
“Please,” I said, but his blade dug even further into my skin, not drawing blood. Yet.
“Darcel, stop,” Aidan said from behind me. “This is Oren, my younger brother, and Lord Abnus’s mate.”
He blinked, then grinned. “Aidan.” He pulled him into a hug, and Aidan smiled in return, clapping the dark fae on the back.
“I’m just borrowing my mother-in-law’s carriage, and seeing how my gift was received."
Darcel grinned, sending a shiver down my spine. “They are in the garden if you want to see for yourself.”
“What’s going on?” I asked, still lying in the snow.
Reaching a hand down to pull me up, Aidan said, “I sent a retaliatory gift to Carridwen and Enah for the fountain.”
“The fountain that turns everything to gold?” I asked. That hadn’t been a gift, which meant Aidan hadn’t sent something pleasant to his sister-in-law or the crown princess of the Day Court.
He did not respond but lifted his eyebrow. His green eyes twinkled in obvious mischief.
Darcel spoke. “I was the one who secured the hydra blood.”
“What on earth would you need hydra blood for?” I couldn’t even fathom a reason for such a thing.
Still, Aidan didn’t reply and waved me on.
Aidan greeted people as he navigated the palace grounds to a manicured garden that was filled with the most delicate of flowers. When a light breeze blew, some released shimmering pollen and others played light notes that almost sounded like the moonlight itself.
What should be a peaceful scene was interrupted by two swearing women in the center who were chopping and slicing the never-ending clouds.
“It worked,” Aidan whispered, tucked behind the tree.
I looked at the chaos in front of me and asked, “What?”
“I took a cloud from Sídhetír and mixed it with Cethin’s magic as well as hydra blood. The clouds will follow Carridwen and Enah, giving off the same weather as Sídhetír, and when they try to destroy them, they duplicate,” Aidan replied, still keeping his voice down.
His wanting to remain quiet had to be because he was frightened of them finding out he was here, for only Sídhetír magic responded to him. Only Aidan could end their current torment, which he obviously wasn’t going to, if his gleeful smile was anything to judge by.
Aidan snagged my arm and crept away from the furious women. He looked at Darcel and said, “You were quite amazing at securing the hydra blood.”
“I was,” the fae replied.
“A feat worthy of a noble.”
Darcel shook his head. “Too bad you will not thank me, but then again if you did, Prince Cethin would separate my head from my shoulders for daring to trick you.”
“That he would,” Aidan replied without hesitation.
I readily believed that Cethin’s reaction would be that violent. He loved Aidan and had killed for Aidan before. He wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.
Before either of them, or heaven forbid I, had to come up with a response, a man bolted up to Aidan, shimmering blue eyes wet with tears.
“Aidan,” he warbled. “You’re here.”
“Hello, Faolan,” Aidan replied, patting the taller man on his broad shoulder.
The stranger was a light fae with deep brown skin, golden freckles scattering over his nose and cheeks. His rich brown hair fell in soft curls down his back. His wide nose and strong features made him utterly lovely to look at, but his huge eyes and pouty lips gave him an air of innocence.
“Mama sent me here again,” the man pouted, bottom lip sticking out.
I blinked. The light fae had to be old. All noble fae were.
“I’m not shocked,” Aidan replied, crossing his arms, looking almost… annoyed. Who was this light fae?
“Can I come home with you? I’ll behave. I’ll even swear an oath.”
Aidan glanced at me, then returned to the light fae. “I have to help Oren first, and then Cethin is going to find me and be rather… annoyed with me.”
For the first time, the fae looked at me and something in my gut twisted at his helpless expression. I wanted to do everything in my power to make him happy, to soothe every worry or sadness.
“Faolan,” Aidan growled.
“Sorry,” he replied. “I don’t mean to.” He released my eyes, and I took a heaving breath. What the devil had that been?
Aidan slung an arm over the taller and larger fae’s shoulders, dragging him down a tad. “This is Prince Faolan. He is Queen Laoise’s youngest. Faolan, this is my little brother Oren.”
“Hi,” Faolan whispered almost shyly, looking at me through his impossibly long lashes.
“If Enah and your mother are fine with it and Cethin is not too mad at me, you can come home with me,” Aidan said.
Faolan squeezed Aidan, then raced away, saying, “I will ask them right now.”
I watched the retreating figure, unsure of what to make of him.
Darcel remarked, “You have no idea what kind of trouble you are in for.”
Aidan replied, “I do, but someone needs to care about that kid.”
Darcel just shook his head and slunk away.
“How old is Faolan?” I asked.
“Twenty.”
My mouth fell open.
Aidan nodded. “I was shocked too when I met him the first time. To say that he was an unexpected baby is an understatement. Laoise foists him on my mother-in-law all the time, and she in turn, shoves him onto Carridwen, Abnus, or Cethin. None of them know what to do with him.”
“He’s our age,” I said pointlessly.
“But he’s a fae. He is young and he has never been taught to be serious or had to fight for anything.
He is still innocent, but he has his mother’s magic.
He can pull emotions from people, to manipulate them.
It makes people wary. Faolan needs someone, and,” Aidan glanced at me, “we have enough room in our family for another person, don’t we? ”
“We do,” I said with a grin, hugging Aidan.
Becoming lord had changed Aidan, but it hadn’t altered who he was deep inside. He was still my caring older brother.
“Come on, Cethin will be here soon and furious with me,” Aidan said, leading me toward the stable.