Chapter 21
Rowan
Aenan arrived in a flurry of galloping hooves not long after we did.
He dismounted his heaving horse before he had even come to a stop, slapping him on the neck affectionately before marching towards the house.
He looked me over, his eyes softening ever so slightly, then nodded at Caelan, who stood at my back, and ordered us all to his study.
I was dead on my feet. The adrenaline rush combined with the emotional rollercoaster of the ride home had drained me. I collapsed into the first chair I came to, a very plush wingback. Caelan, Orick, and an unnamed guard stood around the desk Aenan presided over, a map stretched out between them.
“This is the last place you tracked them to?” Aenan asked, pointing to the map.
“Yes,” Caelan said. “That is where they stopped yesterday. Today they headed in that direction.” His finger traced a line I could not see.
“Nowhere near Reverran. There was no reason to believe they were heading this way when I left this morning.” He glanced over at me, a small frown between his brows, as if he wanted to check I was still here.
“Maybe they doubled back,” the unnamed guard ventured. “If they’d only just arrived, there would have been time.”
I gathered they were talking about Vaeyl. About the Dark Fae. “He was at the square.”
Four sets of eyes turned towards me.
“What? Who was?” Aenan asked.
“Our uncle. I saw him at the square. Remember, Orick? He was manning the axe-throwing competition.”
Orick’s face turned white.
“He lost the right to be called our uncle a long time ago, Rowan,” my brother said sharply, before looking at Orick. “You didn’t see him?”
“No, milord,” Orick responded. “The male I saw at that stall was old and grey.”
I stared at him incredulously. “What? He had long black hair and was dressed like a travelling merchant. He gave me the creeps.”
“I believe you,” Orick said as Aenan’s gaze bounced between us. Orick shook his head at his raised eyebrows.
“Why he showed you his true face, Rowan, I have no idea. Tell me exactly what he said to you,” Aenan stated. He paused, before adding, “Please?” He seemed to be trying very hard not to interrogate me like I was one of his men.
“He was hawking the axe-throwing competition and asked if I was interested. When I said no, he asked if Orick was interested. He made me feel uneasy, so I declined, and we moved on.”
“What about in the tavern? What did he say there?”
“I didn’t know who he was in the tavern.
He looked like a blond male to me.” I looked at Orick enquiringly and he nodded.
“He asked why he had not seen me in town before, and where I had come from, and when I had arrived. Then…” I stumbled over the words.
“Then he called me Aelyra, and you arrived.” I paused to catch my breath. “How did you know? That it was him?”
“I felt your distress, so went searching for you. My gift allows me to see through glamour; it doesn’t work on me, so I recognised him as soon as I set foot in the tavern.”
“Oh.” I hadn’t known that.
“Now that you have seen his true face, he will not show it to you again unless he wants to be seen,” he warned me. “This is not good. I was hoping to avoid his notice of you for longer yet.”
“Why? Why is he interested in me?” My voice trembled, and I swallowed, trying to steady myself.
Aenan waved the guards away, dismissing them for the night.
Something passed between him and Orick that I was not privy to before the guard left with a nod.
Once they were gone, Aenan poured himself a drink, offered the bottle to Caelan, and sat down.
Caelan poured a small glass and handed it to me before pouring himself one. He perched on the side of my chair.
“It’s because of the prophecy,” Aenan said, resigned.
“What prophecy?” I asked.
“Remember I told you there was no way to break the curse?”
I offered a silent nod.
“Over the years, there have been prophecies told. Prophecies leading people to do weird and wonderful things, thinking they had finally found the solution for how to stop the Dark Fae. They all failed, obviously. But just over half a century ago, a new prophecy was foretold, and this time many believed it was the one. The actual answer for how to stop them.”
He took a sip of his drink, his eyes meeting mine from across the table.
“What does it say?” I asked curiously, sitting forward.
“It’s probably easier if you read it,” he said, retrieving a scroll from his desk and handing it over.
The parchment crinkled as I unfurled it. Straightening it out on my lap, I began to read.
In the Human Realm, where faeries roam no more, an earthborn child shall come to fore.
Fated at birth, destiny’s decree, in the Fae Realm their path shall be.
Raised amidst glamour, in plain sight, the earthborn child shall find their light.
In the Fae Realm, where magick reigns supreme, twin siblings are born to royal gleam.
With faerie blood coursing through their veins, destiny’s choice, their fate proclaims.
One lives amongst humans, one in fae light, their souls entwined, a hidden foresight.
A fae child raised ’neath mortal skies, an earthborn child under faerie guise.
Separated by realms, their spirits shall seek; bound by fate, through dreams they speak.
Before twenty-five years, their paths must cross, or destiny’s pledge, all will be lost.
When love’s embraced, the dark will burst, uniting the fae, banishing the curse.
A trickle of something ancient and otherworldly flowed down my spine. Stealing my thoughts. Emptying my mind. This was about me. I read it through a second time just to be sure.
“I don’t understand. This was written about me? About us?”
“Our parents seemed to think so,” Aenan said.
Confusion clouded my mind, and I stared at him unwittingly – then it hit me like a bolt of lightning. “They… I was deliberately sent to the Human Realm, wasn’t I?”
Caelan, empathy in his eyes, placed a hand on my shoulder, but I didn’t want to be comforted. Not right now. I was furious.
“They threw me away! Like… like trash! Why? For the sake of a bunch of words on a page that they couldn’t even be sure would come true?”
My chest heaved, my blood pounding through my veins. Heat flushed my body, sweeping through me like a roiling river. Aenan wisely remained silent, allowing me to work through my rage.
“Why would they do that, Aenan? Why play with our lives like that? Did they not love me as much as they loved you? What did I do wrong?”
The events from the day caught up to me and I hung my head in my hands, crumpling. Caelan bent down and scooped me up, sitting back in the chair, cradling me on his lap. I stiffened before burying my face in his shirt, dragging his woody pine scent into my lungs. Letting it calm me.
“Nothing,” he said. “You did nothing wrong, Rowan. Nothing.” He ran his hand soothingly up and down my back.
In a flat tone I hadn’t heard before, Aenan spoke, his words weaving their way into my heart. “Our mother was not the same, I was told. After she left you in the woods. She went back, every year at Samhain, and waited. Just in case you returned.”
I lifted my face and peeked at him. “What?”
“It’s why the Dark Fae were able to capture her,” he said, his eyes trained on mine.
“It became a habit, you see. They knew where she would be and when. They took her, right outside the Mystwoods, and she never came home again.” He exhaled a weary sigh.
“Father changed after that. He began drinking. Locked himself away. Sometimes for long periods of time. I’m sure he died of a broken heart, in the end… ” He trailed off, his eyes unfocused.
I could only stare at him in shock. He hadn’t spoken much about our father, but I was starting to see. Starting to realise this was not just about me. More than one life had been affected by false hope in a prophecy.
My family had been fractured.
My brother had grown up without a mother. And by the sounds of it, with an absent father.
Caelan had been removed from his life entirely.
And me… I grew up with a wonderful family. Surrounded by love. A father who adored me. A mother who tried. An amazing aunt. I’d had a life most could only dream of. I’d hardly drawn the short straw here.
With that thought, guilt rushed to the surface, once again threatening to overwhelm me, despite what Caelan had said earlier. Turning my face into his chest, I let that scent once again weave its calming threads.
But even his comforting presence couldn’t ease the turmoil within.