17. Chapter Seventeen Rhowyn
Chapter Seventeen: Rhowyn
What. The. Fuck . Everyone just sat there, stunned into silence at the bomb that Jude had just dropped on us. No one moved as that information sank in, my own mind whirling as I gaped at the elderly man before us. Slowly, my brain started making connections.
Afraid to hope but needing him to confirm, I asked, “Does that mean...” My words got lodged in my throat, unable to voice my question. If I said it out loud and I was wrong, I’d be devastated, but hope swelled inside me despite my attempts to stay grounded.
I'd never had anyone other than my mom, who had barely been around. I'd been alone for so long. To be so close to a family, I couldn't bear the thought of it being ripped away from me if I was wrong. Jude simply nodded at me, tears springing up into both our eyes. “Yes,” he whispered to my unspoken question. “You are my granddaughter.”
I laughed through a sob as he stood, walking over to me in my chair, giving me a bear hug. I cried into his shirt with joy and sadness. Joy that we’d managed to find each other, but sadness over the fact that we’d missed out on so much time together.
He rested his cheek on the crown of my head, his hand shaking as he ran it down my hair, and we clung to each other. No one breathed as we processed this information. Slowly, my tears dried, and my thoughts settled. I pulled away to take a long, hard look at him, searching his features for any resemblance to mine, and saddened when I didn't find any.
As if reading my mind, he smiled at me sadly. “I don't expect that you'll see much similarity between us since your glamor is still holding strong. I imagine that when it's finally gone, we'll be able to see which features you got from him. While Jonathan took after his mother more than he ever did me, I see so much of his personality in you. You both are so strong and steadfast in pursuit of righting the worlds' wrongs.”
“For a moment I'd forgotten that the face I'd known all my life isn't real,” I admitted to him, basking in his affection.
“Let's sit,” he said, gesturing to the couch. “These old bones aren't what they used to be.” Smiling at me, he moved to take a seat. I followed closely, the guys completely forgotten in this moment.
“We'll give you guys a moment,” Arryn said, drawing me back to the fact that we weren’t alone. He stood from the table and ushered the others to their rooms.
Once they'd left, I turned to stare at Jude again in complete disbelief. “So, what made you realize that only my dad could have cast this spell on me?” I asked, needing more answers from him. If I could download all the information he possessed, I would do so in a heartbeat. There were so many questions and things I wanted to talk with him about.
He stared at me as well, smiling proudly at me. “I finally found the spell in one of my old tomes in my personal library, which I assume is how Jonathan got a hold of it in the first place. I' d completely forgotten about it until you started asking questions. I knew I remembered seeing it but couldn't recall exactly where I had. Finally, a couple of nights ago, I was having trouble sleeping. Memories of my family were keeping me awake, so I went in search of a distraction. That's when I stumbled across the tome.”
“So, do you have any idea how to remove the glamor or unlock my magic completely?” I asked, hoping he knew this too.
His face fell as he answered. “Unfortunately, I'll have to research more before I can be certain that it won't harm you in the process. I've only just found you. I don't want to lose you again. I had started the other night but was called away by the start of the trials.”
“Okay. I'm sure if anyone can find out the answer, it'll be you,” I told him proudly. I couldn't have asked for a better grandfather. At that thought, I leaned back in shock again, still not quite believing it to be true.
“I'll get on that as soon as I possibly can. I know how important it is that we get this removed. The Queen has been pressuring me about getting it done soon.”
“Who knows, maybe you won't need to find the answer. I managed to crack the cage around my magic in the maze, and now I can sense a trickle of magic that doesn't belong to any of the guys,” I told him.
“How did you manage that?” he said, concern wrinkling his brow as he leaned in closer to me.
“When I was healing Baer. I was tapped out magically, or so I’d thought. All I could think of was pushing more magic into him, needing to make sure he didn't die. I guess I pushed so hard that it cracked the cage.” I rubbed my chest at the reminder of the pain.
He frowned at that information, not saying anything. “Baer thinks that when I did, I connected us somehow. Something more than the consort bond.”
“How very odd,” he muttered to himself, the scholar coming out now that he was presented with this new development. “I'll certainly keep looking for information on all of this,” he assured me, patting my knee.
I smiled at him, so happy and at peace. “Can you tell me more about him?” I asked softly, unsure about whether he would shut down like my mother always had or not. I wanted to know about the man who should have watched me grow up, but I was afraid of what I would find. Sometimes in life, we discovered things that could change us forever. Things that could never be taken back.
His eyes grew distant as he smiled softly, clearly looking back on fond memories. “Jonathan was always standing up for the underdog, much like I've witnessed from you in the short time I've had the pleasure to know you.” He chuckled to himself softly. “This one time, when he was just a youngling, he came across some boys in our village that were torturing a sprite. Being the forthright boy he was, he marched right over to them and told them to stop. Obviously, being much older and larger than he was, they laughed at him and continued to try to pull the wings from the poor creature.
“Not one to be easily swayed, he didn't give up. Having grown up at my knee, where he'd only ever known me as a Priest, he knew exactly how to teach those boys a lesson.
“He went out and gathered shadow root, grounding it up and sprinkled it into some bushes nearby. Having prepared the area, he went back to the boys, running up to them. Out of breath, he begged them to help him catch the Cat Sith that he'd just come across in those very same bushes. He knew that they wouldn't be able to resist the challenge or the bragging rights of having caught a Cat Sith, nasty little buggers. Sure enough, they all raced off at the chance to snag themselves a more worthy prize, leaving the sprite behind, forgotten in their new quest .
“Jonathan managed to hide the sprite in his jacket because, by this point, the poor creature's wings had been poorly mangled by the other boys’ ministrations before he chased after them.
“Not thinking twice, the boys dove into the bushes in search of their new prey, each of them up to their necks searching everywhere for it. Each time one of them would stop to question Jonathan further, he would point, swearing he just saw it again.
“After about thirty minutes, the boys gave up their search, going home empty handed. That evening, I had three mamas and their sons at my door, asking me to cure the rash that had arisen out of nowhere.” He paused, laughing at the memory with pride sparkling in his eyes.
“Now, I knew what those boys had been doing, having seen the sprite, and helped Jonathan nurse the creature myself. I simply claimed that their afflictions were not easily curable. You see, shadow root is mostly harmless. It can be quite useful when brewed into a tea, but when its oils come into contact with the skin, even when ground into a powder, it causes an awful rash that itches to the high heavens.”
I laughed along with him at the idea of my father’s antics. “For two weeks, those boys were scratching, the powder that Jonathan had left managing to get into contact with nearly every inch of their skin. I chastised them for rushing off into the bushes in order to harm a Cat Sith as we were tasked with the care of all of Avalonia's creatures as High Fae.
“They tried to deny the incident, but the evidence was written all over their skin. After our meeting, their mamas made sure to keep them well in line, horrified that their boys would act in such a way.”
I smiled, proud of the father I had never met, hoping I could live up to the man he’d been. Tears misted my eyes at the thought. “He sounds wonderful.” My words came out wistful .
“He was one of a kind, destined for great things. I only wish I knew what had happened to him,” Jude said, the memory bittersweet for him.
“What do you think happened?” I asked, curious why the man Jude described would abandon his wife and child to another world.
“I can't say for certain. There was an uprising about twenty-six or seven years ago, many fae unhappy with the rule of Queen Titania. Our lands have been failing for several decades now, each year worse than the last. Most blame the Queen for these things occurring.
“What were once predictable and useful cycles in our weather have now become storms and droughts which have ravaged the lands. Granted, most of the damage is in the edges of our lands, but as time has worn on, it has continued to creep nearer and nearer to the heart of Avalon.
“Now, there's no proof that Queen Titania is responsible for what has been happening, but the timing itself is suspicious. Never before have the fae undergone such harsh times to the point that many have had to abandon their homes that they lived in for eons to move closer to the heart of Avalon, where the weather is more stable.”
“That sounds awful, but why would the Queen be responsible?” I asked him, not fully understanding the duties of the queens of Avalon.
“The most imperative responsibility of the Queen is to maintain the balance of the seasons. When Avalon is in balance, the seasons transition as they should, the weather predictable in its patterns. It's usually when this balance is challenged that the Trials are triggered due to the fading abilities of the Queen. A new connection to the land is needed in order to return everything to normal .
“However, despite the signs of needing a transition, no Trials were ever triggered. It's clear the land has been out of balance for nearly a hundred years and yet, nothing ever came of it until now.”
Satisfied that I was following, he continued to tell his story about how my father had disappeared. “Now, because of this instability and the weak connection between Queen Titania and the land, many fae revolted, challenging her right to reign over us. The Autumn court was the biggest supporter of this treasonous act. Being that they were responsible for most of our food sources, their territory was hit the hardest, their people suffering the most as a result.”
He smiled sadly again, pride still in his eyes. “Your father was among them. Seeing such injustices for himself, he couldn't stand idly by while others suffered, so he took it upon himself to work behind the scenes to help further the rebellion.”
“What happened?” I asked, desperate for all he was willing to tell me, needing to know what happened to him.
“I don't know.” He said those words so softly that I had to strain to hear him. “I tried to caution him. I wasn't happy with what was occurring, mind you, but I had pledged my services to the land and the Queen that it chose. To abandon those vows went against everything I stood for.”
He sighed, his shoulders slumping, regret clear in his face as he met my eyes again. “He said that he had put some things in motion and that should they succeed, we would finally have the answers we needed to restore the balance in Avalon. Unable to convince him otherwise, him and his wife set off on their quest, determined to save those less fortunate.
“I can't say I was surprised. He'd always fought battles for Avalonia's creatures. Because while the High Fae were able to relocate, the other creatures were left to suffer in barren lands, many of them starving or dying out completely, unable to adapt to the rapid changes in Avalon.”
Understanding my father better now, I hugged Jude, who seemed like he desperately needed the reassurance. “You did absolutely everything you could. He was a grown man, responsible for his own actions. He fought for what was right, and there's no better way to be remembered than as someone who stood for those who couldn't.”
He chuckled softly. “So wise for someone so young.” He cupped my cheek with his withered hand. “I keep asking myself how I got so lucky as to find you after all this time. Avalonia has surely smiled down upon us.”
I basked in his affection, soaking it all in. “Me too.”
Pulling back, he said, “I wish I could stay longer, but I need to get ready for the evening, as I'm sure you do as well since it is in your honor.” He winked, pride shining in his face again.
I laughed. “Trust me. The last thing I want to do is go to that ball, but I know I must.”
“Indeed, you do.” He stood, and I followed, walking him to the door, a final thought occurring to me.
“What do you think is responsible for the changes in the land?” I asked him. If anyone knew, it would be this man, whose job was to be attuned to its nuances.
He paused next to the door, his face falling in concern. “To be honest, I believe that Queen Titania is responsible. I have no proof, but she has done nothing but try to garner more power her entire reign. In fact, I struggle to understand how she was even chosen in the first place. Surely Avalonia knew what was in the heart of the Queen, so why would she subject us all to Titania's rule?”
“You don't think she did something to effect the outcome of the trials, do you?”
“That's just the thing, child. I want to say that there's no possible way she could have, but the circumstances indicate otherwise. If she was truly the Chosen Queen, then why would the lands now be failing?”
“It does all seem rather suspicious,” I admitted, convinced that the Bitch Queen had indeed done something to manipulate the outcome in her favor both then and now.
“Indeed, it does. Not only that, but I suspect that she's doing the same now.”