Chapter Fifteen
The next morning, after another beautiful night's sleep, Tiernan and I made our goodbyes to our family in the courtyard. Not only did Falcas come out to see us off, but so had Sorcha, Latharna, Gabrielle, and their lover, Kofi—a very handsome Adze.
In Ghana, on Earth, the Adze were like vampires except that they only drank blood in their firefly form.
Yup, they turned into bugs. If you caught one while they were in their insect body, they'd revert to their human form and show you their true selves.
As tempting as that was, it generally wasn't done because after they revealed themselves, the Adze would attack their captor and eat their organs.
So, I guess they were kinda vampire-cannibals.
Even without that lore backing him up, Kofi was intimidating.
He was nearly seven feet tall with more muscles than Raza.
Both Gabrielle and Kofi were from South Seelie, with the dark skin that region was known for.
They had similar features too—full lips and broad noses.
But while Kofi kept his dark hair closely cropped to his scalp, Gabrielle wore her crimson hair long, in glorious, shining waves.
Both of the southern fairies had bright eyes—Gabrielle's green and Kofi's blue.
Standing between the two vibrant fairies, Latharna looked like a fallen star, her silver eyes and pale skin practically glowing. Or maybe that was the pregnancy.
Tiernan couldn't resist rubbing his sister's rounded belly. “Take care of our family, Sister.”
“I always do when you're away.” Latharna kissed Tiernan's cheek. “Be safe, Brother.”
“Wait!” Lady Mariya came running down the keep steps to our convoy.
She stopped before our group, her form going nearly invisible before she condensed and bowed. “Your Majesties, I found something—a note in the histories about Danu and Fairy.”
“What did it say?” Tiernan demanded.
“It was just a couple of sentences, Your Majesty.
But I think they're important. I was reading one of our oldest records.
It recounted the birth of the Gods. When the Gods were born, so was the planet of Fairy—the planet manifesting first to give the Gods a place to take physical form.
Within the magical nexus this created, the Gods found their homes.
Danu decided to stay here and claim Fairy, but Anu did not wish to share it with her.
He left through the first rath to create a planet similar to Fairy.
Due to its similar nature to Fairy, Earth formed ties with our world, mimicking Anu's bond with Danu.”
“Actually, he created three worlds,” I said. “But go on.”
“Yes, well, our historians didn't know about Heaven and Hell.” Mariya inclined her head. “I have already noted the discovery of Anu's other children and their planets in the archives.”
“But what of this planet, Lady Mariya?” Tiernan urged. “Was there anything more mentioned about Fairy?”
“Yes, King Tiernan. The part I wanted to share with you concerns Fairy. It concerns both planets, actually, but the pertinent information is this—the Gods are bound to each other as their worlds are bound to each other, and as they are bound to their worlds.”
“The Gods are bound to their worlds,” I murmured. “So, if you hurt Fairy, you hurt Danu.” In my mind, I added, "If you hurt Hell, you hurt Anu.
Tiernan took my hand. “This just became a mission to save our Goddess.”
The regiment of soldiers Tiernan had chosen to accompany us shifted uneasily.
There were two thousand Seelie soldiers stationed at Castle Seelie, but we were only taking forty with us.
We only had cairs for that many. We couldn't use the raths because we might miss infected land, and traveling by land would take too long.
So, we needed to use the cairs. But as I met Tiernan's worried gaze, I wondered if we'd made the right decision.
“Should we march instead and take more soldiers with us?” I asked Tiernan.
“No. We aren't fighting an opposing army. And I can always scry the castle to send us reinforcements if necessary.” Tiernan looked at Duchess Sorcha. “Keep watch, Mother. If you see any sign of the blight, scry us, and Seren can return to drive it back.”
“We will all keep watch.” Sorcha kissed Tiernan's cheek and then mine. “Save the Goddess.”
“She's saved me often enough,” I said. “I owe her.”
“Thank you, Lady Mariya. We did indeed need to hear that.” Tiernan nodded to the Vila woman. Then he lifted his arm and spun his hand toward our soldiers. “Move out!”
The soldiers, including Tiernan's entire King's Guard, got into their vehicles while Tiernan and I did the same. Sir Riosel and Sir Galleth got into the back of our cair with us. Tiernan was driving again. He knew Seelie better than I. As we rose from the ground, I waved to Falcas.
“I love you, Fally. Watch over our family while we're gone,” I called to him.
“I will, Mother. I love you!” He waved, the sunlight setting the silver streak in his hair to sparkling—a star among shadows.
I blinked. “Shadowstar.”
“What did you say?” Tiernan glanced at me as our cair took the lead position and flew out of the courtyard.
“Huh?” I looked at him. “Oh, I don't know. It just came out.” I glanced back. “Our boy is so handsome.”
Tiernan smiled, but it was strained. “We have to save this world for him, Seren.”
I nodded. “For all of us.”
We rose higher as we sped down the winding road, but before we reached the midway point, Tiernan increased our elevation, and we launched above the trees.
I looked at him askance.
“Following the roads will take too long.” He turned the cair to the east, our convoy settling into a line behind us.
“Won't this use up our fuel more quickly?”
“We'll be at the Licho village before we run out. Then we can refill the stores.”
“All right.” I looked out the window, down at the tree canopy, and then at the glove box, which wasn't a glove box at all but access to the “tank” that stored the Air Magic fueling the cair. I knew any of us could refill it, but if we had to charge an empty tank, it could be draining to us.
“We can each contribute a little,” Tiernan said as if he'd heard my thoughts. “That way, none of us will feel the strain.”
“Oh, all right.” I stared ahead at the horizon, the sun on our right. “So, how far is Pech?”
“It should take us only about three hours to get there. I hope the Licho have fared better than the Anthousai.”
“I haven't met any Licho before. What are they like?”
Sir Riosel made a dark sound and then coughed to cover it when Tiernan shot a stern look over his shoulder.
“What's wrong with them?” I asked.
“There is nothing wrong with them.” Tiernan glared at Riosel through the rearview mirror before adding, “They're not . . . conventionally attractive.”
“Are we talking Dullahan territory?”
“Not quite so bad as that. They tend to be skinny to the point of emaciation and only have one eye.”
“All right. I don't have a problem with that.”
“No, it's not their looks that make other fairies avoid them. The Licho are attracted to happiness.”
“What's wrong with that?”
“They're attracted to it because they feed on it and leave illness, disease, hunger, and poverty in its stead.”
“Ouch.” I winced. “But there must be a purpose for them.”
“Balance.” Tiernan shrugged. “Too much happiness is as harmful as too much unhappiness.”
“Do they need to feed on happiness to survive?”
“Not exactly. The only way they feel happiness is by consuming someone else's.”
“Like the Bergens?”
“The what?”
“Remember Trolls—the cartoon we watched with Falcas?”
“The one with the little pink-haired doll?”
“She's a troll, Tiernan. And their enemies were the Bergens, who could only feel joy when they ate a troll.”
Tiernan scowled. “Yes, I recall it now. Horrid premise for a children's movie.”
I lifted my eyebrows at him.
He made a surprised snort. “You're right. It's similar to the Licho. Except they feed directly on the emotion, sucking it out of humans.”
“I wonder if the person who wrote Trolls knew the Licho myth?”
“Probably.”
Then I jolted upright. “Oh, fuck, Tiernan!”
He flinched. “What?”
“They don't feel happiness. I assume that means they are full of the darker emotions?”
“Oh, dear Goddess,” Tiernan whispered. “They're a feast for the blight.”
“Hurry, babe! The fucking Bergens are about to become lunch!”
“That's what they get for eating trolls,” Riosel muttered.
“These are our Bergens, Riosel!” I snarled. “And if you had watched the damn movie, you'd know that they just want to be happy. They don't deserve to be eaten by the motherfucking blight!”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Riosel bowed his head. “I mean, no, Your Majesty.”