10
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We flew until my head felt heavy, until my chin pressed against my chest, until Killian wrapped two arms around me and stopped my quick descent down towards the earth.
“Hold on,” he whispered as he leant forward, pushing both of our bodies low until we were laying across Gaoth’s neck.
I should have known what was coming, but I still screamed as Gaoth dropped his weight forward, his wings snapping to his side as he let gravity drag us down towards the ground at a questionable speed.
When we were moments from becoming splattered mist across the sandy-shore, Gaoth released his wings from his side, tilted them, and guided our landing towards the rushing waves that lapped up the side of the beach.
As I toppled off of his side, I released a mouthful of puke onto the grains beneath me.
“You did good,” Niamh beamed as she patted me on the back, forcing another ball of vomit to slide up my throat and burst from my lips before I could stop it.
“I’ve seen worse for first-timers,” Shea grumbled, disdain lacing her words that appeared to be as natural as breathing for her. I managed a meek smile and tossed two thumbs up into the air, just as Raegan and Killian swung down from their mounts.
We were on the sea-shore, several hundred metres from the walkway that I had used to gain access to St. Michael’s Mount only a day prior.
Yet instead of being the same size as the people now walking across the slippery stones, I was no bigger than a large stone placed amongst the granules before the water.
Nodding towards the humans, I turned to Killian. “They won’t see us?”
“You humans have this phenomenal ability to very rarely care about anything beneath your own noses,” Raegan spat as he adjusted the leather chest-plate across his front.
“We’ve appeared far more obviously before them, yet they cannot think about anything other than themselves for long enough to notice. ”
“Easy, Raegan.” Niamh patted the Prince on the shoulder. “One of these days, you’ll let me take you amongst them so you can see what plagues their minds.”
He only rolled his eyes as he turned back towards Rìoghail and stroked his mane.
“You’ve spent a lot of time in our world?” I asked her, finally feeling brave enough to speak to someone other than Killian.
Niamh nodded towards Killian, “Where else would I get Mr. Fussy’s favourite food?”
Killian scowled at her as I chuckled. “What’s his favourite food?”
“Maple Syrup. Puts it on everything. And I mean everything,” Niamh beamed. “But to answer your question — yes, I have. Purely business, though.”
“Yeah, right,” Shea scoffed as she made to change one of the dark-red braids that hung around her face.
~
Crashing waves caused me to jolt as I spun to face them, the mere height of the quickly-moving water making me gasp. Spraying droplets from the collisions rained down on us like pieces of wrathful hail, forcing me to jump to the side and out of their way.
“Now what?” I asked Killian as he finished mumbling to Gaoth.
“Now, we wait.”
The others seemed to understand what that meant, each of them taking to the sand, letting the heat of it burn at their legs as they sat out of the wet-zone.
I found my place at Killian’s side, pulling my knees up to my chest and resting my chin on them. The only one who was still standing, pacing left-to-right, was Raegan as he chatted away to Rìoghail.
“What’s his deal?” muttering, I leant closer to Killian. He lifted his eyes to assess Raegan, took a deep breath, and twisted to face me.
“He doesn’t want to do this.”
“Obviously.”
Killian tried for one of his signature grins, but it didn’t quite meet his eyes.
“Why not?”
“Where we are to go… Raegan has not visited in an age.”
“Speaking of age…” I trailed off, unsure if I truly wanted the answer.
“One-hundred-and-sixty-two.”
Swallowing, I tossed my forehead in Raegan’s direction. “And him?”
“Er,” Killian scratched at his stubbled chin. “One-hundred-and-seventy… eight.”
“Nine,” Shea growled.
“Nine,” Killian laughed.
“So you guys are like… old old.”
“Not at all,” Niamh invited herself into the conversation, crawling her way across the beach until she was in front of us. “By pixie standards, we’re younger than you.”
“And how old do you think I am?”
Shea narrowed her eyes at me just as Niamh spat out — far too quickly — “Forty?”
I nearly choked on sea-salt air.
Shea found the ability to chuckle as she looked between the two of us, her infamous scowl fading and making way for a tense smile. “I think you insult the human, Niamh.”
“Oh!” Niamh squealed like a pigeon. “Sorry!”
Desperate to move on, I looked back to Killian. “Tell me about the Rachainn?”
If I had learned anything about Killian — and his friends — it was that he didn’t like to talk about serious things. Anything that brought a vein to his forehead or creased his brows, he avoided like the plague.
“They’re—”
“Scoundrels,” Shea seethed just as Niamh spat “Idiots.”
“Not really helpful.”
All three of them glared at me.
After clearing his throat only about a hundred times, Killian continued. “They’re radicals. Fanatics who believe in changing the ancient and sacred ways of our people.”
“That’s a bad thing?”
“It wasn’t, at first. They each belonged to their own kingdoms before they took to these ideas.
Before long, they were ostracized, isolated from the rest of us and exiled from their kingdoms. But that only made it worse, gave them more power, fed the hate that they started to have for their own kin.
A couple years ago, it was rumoured that they were planning something. ”
“Planning something?”
Killian shrugged. “None of us knew what that meant. Beneath it all, we’re peaceful beings. So no one took the rumours seriously. We believed it to just be more of their antics to breed fear amongst the kingdoms, to demand a change.”
“But now…”
“Now, we might have been wrong to let the Rachainn run so freely.”
“So what are we going to do?”
All three of them shot their brows to their hairlines as they looked at me.
“We?” Shea spat.
Killian waved her off. “First, we need to spread the word. Notify the other kingdoms of what we have seen. With the allegiances that we form, perhaps we have a chance at containing the Rachainn before they regroup and rally as one.”
Raegan had finally stopped his pacing, pausing at the shoulders of Rìoghail, still whispering in his stallion's ear.
“So the King has sent his son to do the job?”
“King Ronan cannot enter Cluaineach. It has to be Raegan.”
“Cluaineach… That’s where we are going?”
“She catches on quick.” Shea rolled her eyes, earning her a hearty shove from Niamh.
Killian dropped his voice down low, leaning even closer to me. “I hate to admit it, but I think you’re going to love it there.”
“Even more than Choilltean?”
Niamh frowned at Killian. “Don’t you dare–”
Grinning, he swiped an absent hand at her. “Yes, even more than Choilltean.”
“The King would have your tongue for that.”
To make his point, Killian poked his tongue out at Niamh. “Let him have it, then.”
Raegan’s sudden, brisk movement towards the settling waves snatched all of our heads, the two females leaping to their feet. Killian followed shortly after, offering me a hand and dragging me upright as I swiped at the far-too-big grains on my pants.
The pixie Prince took another step towards the sea, letting the first few inches of his legs be devoured by the fury of the ocean.
He waited there for a moment, until he crouched down, pressing one hand into the water.
Mumbling something beneath his breath, he did not move until the blanket of blue before him parted, a tunnel crafted of water where a figure emerged.
Whereas the pixies I had seen so far resembled creatures of the forest, this female did not.
Her hair, permanently wet and heavy where it swung around her waist, was a rich sapphire that somehow was capable of glistening as it continued to soak.
She took quiet, simple steps towards Raegan, her body wrapped in lengths of seaweed that tugged at her figure as she moved.
“Prince Raegan Righ’Fiodh’Rugadh,” she offered a small bow towards Raegan, who dipped his chin in response. Tight, up-turned eyes ran over his body, the pastel hue to them brightening when she returned her gaze to his face. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”
“We seek passage,” Raegan responded, his voice far different than any he had used in our midst. It was regal and poised, sharp and intentional as the strength of it reached the waves. “Our flight above Uisge should take less than a few hours.”
“The Queen would require an offering for such a service.”
I could feel the tension ripple through the four of us, still standing and watching the conversation.
“I offer her my deepest gratitude, of course.” Raegan grinned.
It was obvious to me, even having known him less than a day, that the grin was anything but a genuine gesture.
It was laced with threat and dripping with venom as he watched her drink it all in.
As she did, she tucked some of her vibrant hair behind her ear, only to reveal the elongated tips of them.
Instead of being bent downwards like those of Choilltean, this pixie had tips that curved upwards, looking far too similar to the stretched appearance of wings.
Killian brushed against me. “Notice the ears?”
I nodded.
“She is from Uisge.”
No shit.
“Would that please Queen Tonn?”
All charm melted from the pixie’s face. “It will have to, won’t it?”
My head snapped back at the abrupt change to her tone, and just as she finished her sentence, the sea settled against the land once more and she was gone.
“Pixie politics,” Killian chortled as he began to lead us back towards the pegasus’, who had been watching everything with little intrigue.
I stretched a hand towards Gaoth’s muzzle as we approached, the stallion snapping to alert as he tossed his nose around.
As Killian moved for his side, I lingered at his head for a moment longer, pressing closer to his ear.
“Thank you for keeping me safe, Gaoth,” I muttered, letting my hand drag along his cheek, his neck, and his shoulders as I made to move around his stretched wings.
Gaoth snorted in response, stomping his hoof as he shook some of his forelock free.
“He says he struggles to believe you are human.” Killian smiled as he offered me his hand, launching me up and onto Gaoth’s withers within a heartbeat.
What I wasn’t ready to admit aloud yet was that I, too, was having doubts about that.
Take-off was easier this time, my body becoming more attuned to Gaoth’s and Killian’s subtle, silent commands. We took to the air within moments, trailing behind the others as a mirage of tails swung ahead of us across the ocean breeze.
Once we stabilized in the air, Killian leaned over my shoulder. “Give her a show, Gaoth.”
Gaoth whinnied between closed lips, tucked his wings tight to his side, and began his descent down towards the water.
As I started to imagine us diving deep beneath the sea, Gaoth brought his wings back out to full span and let his hooves drag along the water, leaving a sharp trail behind us as he glided.
The world looked far too small yet far too big as we soared across the surface of that body of water, Gaoth and us reflected back towards me no matter which direction I looked over his shoulders.
Killian had his arms out to the sides, his nose tipped to the sky as his teeth glinted between the witnessing sun, utter ecstasy pumping through his veins just as it did mine.
Laughing along with the pixie, I copied his motions until we were just two bodies with stretched arms. Only then did Gaoth begin to angle his body, adjusting his wings until he was tipped to the side and both mine and Killian’s hands were dragging along the water instead of hooves.
Stealing a long look at the water, I swore I saw faces peering back up at me with the same glee on their face that I saw in my own reflection. They bobbed just beneath the surface, eyes of coral-purple and deep-sea-blue shining between the ripples.
“I love being up here.”
Killian let out a soft grunt as Gaoth twisted himself, returning us to the herd ahead that enviously looked on.
He nodded, his chin grazing my shoulder. “Perhaps Speur would be the place for you, then.”
I liked this. This pretending that this could be my future, the rest of my life. The avoidance of thinking that I only had twenty-nine days left before this illusion would shatter and I would return home.
Just as I thought of that, I began to compile the long list in my head of excuses and lies that I would have to conjure up to my family and my boss as to my unexplained absence.
With the oncoming headache grinding at either of my temples, I shook that thought away and focused on the expanse of blue between Gaoth’s ghostly ears.
“Speur?”
“Up there.”
I turned awkwardly, one hand braced on Gaoth’s neck and the other on my thigh, to see Killian. He had one finger pointed up to the heavens, where a soft cloud started to form above us.
“There are pixies up there, too?” I gasped.
“The Gorm’Rugadh. Pixies in the clouds.” He smiled, though it was distant and not totally belonging to him. “The Kingdom of Speur.”
“Show me, one day?”
Residing in my eyes was the shadowed mourning for a life I could not live, which appeared in his eyes before he blinked it away. “Of course.”
“I want to see it all.”
“It’s a tall order, but I’ll give it my most honourable of tries,” he said just as I turned back forwards, but not before I felt his hand rest against my waist. A shiver traipsed the length of my spine, disappearing only as his hand became a constant against my side.