Chapter 1 #2
I snorted. It still felt odd how cozy we’d all gotten since I had the girls. They had both treated me well enough when I was still Herne’s girlfriend, but after we got married, the energy between us had taken an interesting shift.
“Well, come in and sit down,” Herne said.
Morgana stayed standing. “In a moment,” she said, the congenial feel dropping away. “We have a serious issue to attend to.”
“The Aqcarians?” I asked, settling down beside Herne. We were facing a potential time bomb, given the new threats from a group of Water Fae who had previously remained hidden.
“Yes, but there’s more to our visit than that,” Cernunnos said, his voice resonating with a rich bass tone.
“Our historians are researching them, by the way. We’ve run into ancient texts that link Jorgununda with the actual Jormungandr of Ragnarok fame.
She’s a distant ancestor of his. And the Aqcarians are her chosen people.
Well, they aren’t exactly people, but... ”
“We get the idea,” I said.
“I hate to bring this up,” Herne said. “But I got a note from the mayor this morning. You know how she promised to keep people away from the open water of Puget Sound as much as possible?” Herne said.
Viktor nodded. “Because of the giant octopuses that were capsizing boats?”
I nodded. “Yeah. What’s happened?”
“The mayor can’t resist the tourism industry any longer. She had to lift the restrictions.”
“It’s like Jaws, all over again,” Talia muttered.
Angel and I had watched that movie. I shivered. “We’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
“We’re going to need a lot of bigger boats,” Herne said.
“Chances are she’s going to get voted out in the next election for ‘destroying’ the summer tourist trade, although frankly, I’m not sure how much Seattle depends on water tourism.
But yes, she lifted the restrictions. The octopuses were never caught; they’re still out there. ”
“Can we ask Ashera to go find them?” I asked. “She’s a dragon.”
“She already went out. They almost dragged her down. She barely escaped,” Kipa said. “It’s going to take more than a dragon to destroy them.”
“Does she have any friends who can go with her?” Herne asked.
Raven shrugged. “We could ask her,” Raven said. “But we don’t even know how many are out there, where they’re hiding, or how the Aqcarians are controlling them.
“If we could enlist the water dragons to help us on this, that would be helpful,” Morgana said. “I have no idea whether they’ll say yes, but at least they work with mortals, not against them.”
“What about recalling Storm from over in the Realms? Could she help us?”
I shook my head. “For one thing, she’s a Hedge Dragon, and an earth one at that.
For another, I last heard she’s taking care of her sister right now.
I don’t want to bother her for the moment.
” After a moment, I added, “But the fact remains that we’ve got a water-based group out to ransack land-dwellers.
Ostensibly at the behest of an ancient sea serpent goddess. So, what else is new?”
“We have another issue—or potential issue. This one is a little closer to home,” Herne said.
“It’s with the Fae Courts,” Morgana said.
I groaned. “When aren’t there problems with the Fae Courts? So, what are Saílle and Névé up to now? Are they still beating each other up? I thought they had agreed to a truce, but apparently, I was wrong.”
“Oh, they don’t have a beef with each other right now, at least not on the surface,” Morgana said. “It won’t last long, of course. They’ve never been able to work together. It’s simply not in their nature. But for the moment, they’ve aligned.”
That little tidbit made me uneasy. “Um…against what?”
“Did Herne tell you about the Elemental Fae?” Morgana asked.
I shook my head. “I’ve been focused on the triplets for the past few months. What’s going on?”
“The Elemental Fae are emerging back into the world,” Cernunnos said.
I stiffened. “What Elemental Fae? Most of the Water Fae belong to either the Light or Dark Courts, don’t they?”
“Yes, as do a number of the Fae belonging to the air, earth, and fire. But there are a few that distanced themselves in the past, so well they’ve mostly been forgotten. And now, at least one branch is coming out of the woodwork,” Morgana said.
“Not only that, but a couple of the Water Fae branches have decided to split off and declare their independence. And that isn’t making either of the queens happy,” Cernunnos said.
“Oh, gods,” I said. “Don’t tell me—civil war among the Fae Courts?”
“Exactly that. And given the emergence of previously forgotten Fae who don’t pay any heed to either the Light or Dark Courts? It’s a volatile time in the Fae Nation.” Herne shrugged. “Saílle and Névé aren’t about to play nice. You know what they’re like.”
“Cripes,” I said. “Yes, I do know.”
Both Saílle—the Dark Fae Queen, and Névé—the Light Fae Queen, were as arrogant and haughty as they come.
They’d both put the stamp of approval on my maternal grandmother and my paternal grandfather joining forces to assassinate my parents.
And once I’d passed through the Gadawnoin, neither wanted to acknowledge my status, although they didn’t dare say a word.
But neither had failed to notice my rising popularity.
Over the past year or so, hundreds of ‘tralaeths’—half-breeds, either part Fae and part human, or part Light and part Dark Fae — had begun to gravitate to my worship.
I felt weird about the very concept of being worshipped, but Morgana helped when she pointed out that I was providing a service to those like me simply by validating their very existence.
“What are we going to do?” I asked. “Better yet, what are they going to do?”
“That’s the problem. They’re starting to send out assassins against leaders of some of those groups breaking off from them.
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that the kelpies suck—they’re a boil on the world’s ass—but it’s going to be worse once they realize the Fae Queens are after them.
They’ll launch their own attacks to retaliate. ”
Herne sighed, looking at his mother. “And you can lay odds that both Saílle and Névé will attempt to discredit the Elemental Fae who make themselves known. We can’t let that happen. The Elemental Fae won’t hesitate to fight back, and…” He rolled his eyes and shrugged.
“Oh boy,” I said. Leave it to the Fae Courts to start a war. “So, what do we do?”
Morgana brushed a strand of her hair away from her face.
She’d pulled the raven locks into an intricate tangle of braids and curls.
She was wearing a designer pair of trousers with a short trench jacket and carrying a Marc Jacobs handbag.
It was so odd to see a goddess dressed in designer wear, but that was Morgana—sometimes she showed up in magical clothing, but usually she looked like she was straight off a shopping trip to Saks Fifth Avenue.
“I’ve talked to the leaders of the Crystal Fae. We’re going to facilitate their emergence by placing one of their best in the Wild Hunt, where she’ll work with you on cases and try to forge diplomatic bonds between the Crystal Fae and the Fae Courts. You’ll help her do that.”
I blinked. “Really?”
“Truly,” Morgana said. “Now, if you’ll give me a moment, I’ll bring her in and she can get started.”
Before Herne or I could say a word, my mother-in-law headed out toward the lobby, and the rest of us—including Cernunnos—sat silent, unwilling to break the silence.