Chapter 3
Chapter Three
The sand was cool underfoot and she stretched her toes wide, feeling the power of the earth beneath her pulsing with energy.
The sky was tinged a soft lavender, the sun rising slowly behind her back, over the mountains.
Early morning was her favorite time to come to the beach, when it felt like the rest of the world was sleeping. Even the slimy sea creatures.
There were remnants of a stone circle off to her right, their stone faces worn down by the wind and sand and water.
When they had been little fae, Aerona and Cariad would spend hours digging them out, wondering if there was treasure buried near the base.
They never found any, but it was what spawned Cariad’s curiosity about the monoliths that dotted the landscape in fae.
Salt-tinged air whipped at the tendrils of hair around her face. She closed her eyes and inhaled as the light breeze carried a hint of lilac. She wished she could commit her sister’s scent to memory.
“I’m sorry,” Cariad said as Aerona settled next to her.
“I know. Me too,” Aerona whispered and leaned her head down on Cariad’s shoulder.
They leaned into each other and intwined hands. The waves crept closer, despite the low tide, and crashed by their toes. Water was always pulled toward Aerona as if trying to reclaim her to its depths.
Cariad’s magic was never like that unless she purposefully called on it. It wasn’t like the vines crawled towards her whenever she was around.
Yet, said a small voice in the back of her head. She shook it off and opened her mouth to speak when a sharp tingling on her left hand traveled up to the base of her head.
“My wards,” she hissed as the pain sharpened.
“What?” Aerona asked, eyes scanning her sister’s face. “What wards?”
“Someone’s trying to breech them.” Cariad stood and ran to the nearest tree.
She placed her hand on the bark and sent her magic flowing down to the roots.
Green shimmers flowed from her hands, down to the earth, and she could feel it calling to the dryads who stood watch at the edge of the Deoir Forest. The blurry images of figures in smoke swirled at the boundary.
Achill’s long flowing white hair was unmistakeable as it swirled around him and mingled with the smoke magic pouring from his cloak.
What are they doing here?
Cariad sent more of her earth magic to fortify the dryads as they held the intruders at bay. When she was satisfied that her wards were unbreakable, she let go and fell to the ground, exhausted.
“Cariad!” Aerona tried to catch her sister as she fell. They stumbled down on the dunes. “What happened?”
Cariad slowly opened her eyes, blinking against the bright light of day. It must be mid-morning now.
How long had that taken?
“We’re fine. The wards are holding.” Cariad exhaled and sent a silent thank you to the Goddess. She had poured every ounce of her magic into sealing off the Deoir land. What happened next was up to the Goddess.
“You warded our forest?”
“I had to.”
“What do you mean you had to?” Aerona’s voice was hard.
Cariad gulped. Now was as good of a time as any, she supposed. “I intercepted one of the letters Achill sent.”
Aerona went still.
“In it, he said he was coming to retrieve you and fulfill his father’s plans of bringing the Deoir clan under the Dubh name.
” Cariad waited for Aerona to start laying into her but was met with stoic silence.
“So, I went to the edge of our lands and warded everything. I warded it so that only our blood could pass through.”
Aerona still said nothing but her grip on Cariad tightened. “Then it’s time, Cariad.”
“Time? Time for what? To cancel the wedding? I wholeheartedly agree.” But Cariad knew that wasn’t what Aerona meant.
“You have to leave.”
“Me? What about you?”
Aerona sighed. “Achill will not look upon this kindly. I will meet him at the edge of the forest and leave with him today.”
Cariad sat up straight and turned to Aerona to start protesting. “But—,”
Aerona held up a hand. “No, you have forced plans to quicken. Listen carefully.”
And Aerona told Cariad what she must do if they were going to try and end the war between the fae and prevent an all-out war with the humans.
Cariad was to head to Deoir harbor, find a ship, and sail southward to prevent capture by the fire fae.
Aerona would go with Achill and proceed to live with him until their wedding, thereby creating enough of a distraction that the Deoir lands would be tabled.
It would buy Cariad enough time to get away and establish a connection in the human lands, hopefully turning her presence into an alliance between the Deoirs and the humans before the Dubh dynasty closed in.
“You’ve seen this, haven’t you?” Cariad asked hesitantly.
“Yes,” Aerona answered.
“How long have you known?”
Aerona said nothing but she shifted and refused to meet Cariad’s gaze.
“Since your Rites. That’s why you never talked about it. What else did you see?”
Aerona stood. “I… I can’t.”
“Aerona, please tell me. I can’t help you if you keep me in the dark. What. Did. You. See.”
“Everything,” Aerona’s voice wobbled. “I saw war, I saw death. So much death. I saw our love splitting into tiny pieces, pieces that are scattered all over fae that will never reunite again. I saw Mother and Father. I saw the castle, falling into decay. I saw everything.” Aerona broke down, tears streaming down her face but she continued, “I warded the castle, too, once I was done with my rites. It looks normal to us but to any intruder—,” she said that word softly, as if she was afraid of what it could mean, “it would look like a decaying, decrepit ruin. And it worked because when I brought Achill over…”
This is new, Cariad thought as her jaw dropped open.
“All he saw was a ruin that we had been struggling to live in. His marriage to me is supposed to ‘save us’ and I’m so sorry. It’s why I can’t bring much with me. I lied to you and I’m sorry.”
Cariad’s mind reeled from this new information. Aerona had kept so much from her. And she was angry, but Aerona’s eyes were bloodshot and swollen from crying and Cariad couldn’t hold any of this against her. “What else did you see, Aerona? Let me help you.”
“You have to get on the ship, The Sovereign’s Pride, and sail to the Salonen kingdom. You will meet someone who will help you change the future.”
“Then that’s what I’ll do,” Cariad said, straightening her back and nodding. “I’ll go back and pack and head out tomorrow.”
Aerona shook her head and said, “It has to be today. When I leave, you leave.”
In that moment, Cariad’s heart shattered into a million pieces and she was unsure if it would ever be whole again.