Faerie Misborn

by Samaire Provost

  “Oh,” I said, “we’ve been learning in class how putting our wishes into our own words, and making them rhyme, gives them more meaning. Makes the spells stronger.”

  “Well, you’re absolutely correct. Although how you managed such a rhyme on the spur of the moment, I will never ...”

  “Well,” I said, interrupting the headmistress in my rush to explain, “I’ve always liked to rhyme. My Aunt Clare encouraged it when we said prayers every night.”

  “Well, you have a real gift, Miss Ó Cuilinn,” said the headmistress. “As I was saying, the words you spoke in the faerie ring? They summoned ... help. The man you saw placed a charm on the forest, to direct you closer to the cemetery. And he also directed the banshee to you.”

  “That was so weird,” said Liesl. “And a bit scary.”

  The headmistress leaned forward. “You are both in the First Mysteries class, are you not?”

  Liesl and I nodded.

  “And have you learned about the faefolk of the families?” she asked.

  I thought back to my classes. The faefolk of the families ...

  “Ohhhhhh my god ...” I murmured.

  The headmistress looked pleased.

  I stared at her.

  She nodded her head. “Continue, Miss Ó Cuilinn.”

  “It was right after classes started,” I said slowly. “The class taught about faefolk ... who were attached, or belonged, to certain families ... oh my God, the banshee comes to those of her family ...” I stared at the headmistress. “Is that banshee from the cemetery of my family?”

  She nodded, though it seemed she did so reluctantly.

  “The banshee lives in the cemetery near the school, and the cemetery is on school grounds, as is much of the forest. It belongs to the line of the family you are descended from, Miss Ó Cuilinn,” the headmistress explained. “That was why she came to you.”

  “The others,” I said slowly, “they said they could hear her calling, at first. But then she came near, and I saw her face, and something told me she did not mean any harm ...”

  “You are correct,” said the headmistress. “She didn’t. She was there, it would seem, to give you aid.”

  “... And then she started whispering instructions to me, how to get back to the school the fastest. And ... and warning me, too. She told me it was important to get back fast, because the sun was going to set soon, and we’d be trapped another night. And we had run out of food. And Chance was getting worse. Or, actually,” I said, remembering, “she warned that he would be getting worse very soon. It was as if the banshee knew the future ... oh.”

  The headmistress nodded. “That is an aspect of their magic. They can indeed see the future, especially the near future. That is why they warn their family of an impending death. Many times, it’s actually a caution, that an accident is about to take a life ...”

  The nurse stood up then and spoke into the air in a whisper, then turned to headmistress. “He needs to go to the hospital wing. He is ill because the curse is worsening, and he needs the counter curse performed. It should take just a few hours for him to recover after it’s uttered. I’ve called for aid.”

  As if on cue, there was another knock at the door, and two other nurses entered without waiting for an answer.

  Chance was hustled out the door and onto the waiting stretcher the nurses had brought.

  “He should be recovered by the morning, headmistress,” said the nurse.

  The headmistress nodded.

  As he disappeared up the stairs, I asked, “Will he be okay?”

  The headmistress nodded, “I believe so, Miss Ó Cuilinn. But it’s vitally important he be treated immediately.” She turned to us. “Now, I will look into the curse, which made Mr. Mac Craith so ill, and forced the forest to lose you from the school and misdirect you, and also flip time into a hasten spell. I will keep you all posted on my progress. But for now, I think you should go down to the dining hall and eat dinner. Then perhaps an early bedtime would be in order.”

  Normally, I would have protested such a sacrilege, but I felt so exhausted that bed sounded wonderful. In fact ...

  “Headmistress, would it be possible to take our dinner in our rooms?” I asked. “It’s been an awful day and a half, even if we were only gone from the school for half a day,”

  She nodded immediately. “That is a sound plan. Miss Ó Cuilinn, Miss Page, Miss Becker; I will have your dinners brought up to you. Please return to your dorm rooms so you may rest and recuperate.”

  Relief washed over me as Liesl and I walked toward our staircase.

  “I’ll talk to you soon, Holly, Liesl,” said Renée. “I’ve already talked to my sister; she should give you no more trouble. If she does, she knows she’ll have to answer to me.” Renée had a grave look on her face as she waved goodbye and turned to go up the staircase to her dorm room.

  I slowly ascended our own stairs, lost in thought. I could not stop thinking about the banshee, and how she was connected to my family in some way. I needed to learn more about her.

  What an enormous mystery.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Assembly

  The next morning Liesl and I overslept, by about a half hour.

  “Oh, God,” said Liesl throwing me my shoe. “Hurry, Holly!”

  “Thanks,” I said, catching it. I had been half under my bunk looking for the errant footwear. “We still have time.”

  “Classes start in less than an hour,” said Liesl. “We still need to meet Chance and Renée down at breakfast. We’ve got less than ten minutes to get down there!”

  I slipped my shoes on and rose to my feet, stomping them to secure them. “You worry too much,” I said, smiling and walking to the door. “You coming?”

  Liesl grabbed her bookbag and ran out the door, and I followed in hot pursuit.

  “God, I didn’t finish my T and S homework,” she mumbled to me as we hurried down the spiral stairs. “I really thought I’d have the evening to finish it.”

  “It’ll be fine.”

  We hit the ground floor at a run and sprinted to the dining hall.

  “No running!” called a voice.

  We slowed to a speed walk and scooted in the door and hurried over to Chance and Renée, who were already seated with food.

  “Sorry,” Liesl panted, grabbing eggs and sausages.

  “Glad you’re feeling better, Chance,” I said.

  He grinned and gave me a thumbs up.

  Renée leaned forward. “You two are never going to believe what I found out.”

  I was instantly on the alert.

  Liesl froze, her hand, holding a piece of toast with jam, paused midway between her mouth and plate.

  Even Chance was riveted to Renée’s face.

  She leaned over even more to whisper; “I heard the headmistress last night telling one of the other professors: They’ve discovered who laid the curse.” She sat back, folding her arms together.

  Oh my God.

  We waited for her to continue.

  She suddenly leaned forward again, her elbows almost upsetting her plate. We all leaned, too, our heads nearly touching. Quieter than before, Renée whispered, “It’s an enemy of the king.”

  “The king?” whispered Chance.

  Renée nodded.

  “Wait,” said Liesl. “What? You mean ...”

  Renée nodded.

  “Who laid the curse?” I asked in a whisper.

  Renée turned to me, “They aren’t sure. But, I mean, it’s pretty obvious.”

  “To you, maybe,” I said softly, rolling my eyes.

  All three of them looked at me.

  “What?” I put my palms up.

  Renée grinned and shook her head. “Nothing.”

  Chance smiled. “Holly, the enemy of the king depends on what time of year it is, because there are two brothers who share the throne. Right now, it is the winter king, The Holly King, who reigns,” he said. “So in the spring and summer the Oak King reigns. It�
��s a pretty benign and stable monarchy, but only because the older brother has stronger forces, by far.”

  Renée nodded. “So, while the Holly King reigns only half the year, he’s the most powerful, and the Oak King absolutely resents that. The Holly King is happy to share the kingdom, but his brother would prefer not to share.”

  “That’s a nice way of putting it,” Chance chuckled.

  “Yeah,” smiled Renée. “I thought you’d like that.”

  “Now,” said Chance, “The Holly King is not perfect, trust me, but he’s more gentle and laid back than his brother. The Oak King is way more ambitious.”

  “Of course,” said Renée, “I think part of the reason the Holly King is so laid back is because he’s got a lot of power. A lot of allies, and he’s got the elf warriors.”

  “Elf warriors?” I asked.

  “Yep. Just what is sounds like,” said Chance. “He’s got a small army of them.”

  I thought for a minute. “So you think the curse was from ...”

  “The Oak King,” said Renée. “Yes. That’s what I overheard, at least.”

  “But why would the Oak King want to curse us?” I asked.

  “Why would the Oak King want to curse Chance?”” I asked.

  “Not sure,” said Renée. “Don’t know.”

  Chance raised his hand. We all looked at him. “The doctors told me the curse I caught was random. Set on the first person to enter the forest after the curse had been laid on the ground. It was actually the grounds up to the steps that were cursed.”

  “Ooooh, so everything in the area except for the school?” asked Liesl.

  “Exactly,” said Chance. “Remember me falling as soon as I stepped off the from steps of the school?”

  Oh my God.

  “I remember,” I said.

  “Yeah, and while we were gone, weird things kept happening on the lawn, all over the place,” said Chance. “And the time curse was laid on the trees in the forest, so they didn’t notice it on the lawn at first.”

  “Whoa,” said Liesl. “The Oak King did all that?”

  “Well, the Oak King’s people did it. I doubt he did it himself,” said Renée. She leaned forward again and whispered, “The school officials are mad as hell. They think Oak is trying to make an assault on the school.”

  Chance’s eyebrows rose. “Have there been any other attacks on the school?”

  “Not yet, but the headmistress is concerned about Oak recruiting agents among the students,” said Renée. “Apparently, there are real suspicions.”

  Chance looked stunned. He sat back, his arms folded in front of him, slowly shaking his head, saying nothing.

  Renée gave him a significant look.

  A chime sounded in the central hallway.

  “Oh, geez, that’s us.” I grabbed my bag. “Keep us posted?” I whispered.

  Renée nodded.

  Liesl and I ran out of the dining hall and to our class.

  It was three o’clock, and Liesl and I were just entering our last class.

  And we were exhausted.

  Fourth class, which was at one thirty, had been torture.

  It was oral report day, and we’d rushed through ours, both of us, because Jessica and Naomi had sat in the front row making faces at us.

  They were masters of it. The professor never saw them. I don’t think anyone else ever saw them.

  It was as if only we could see them.

  Had they put a spell on us?

  I dismissed the idea as soon as it surfaced. Jessica and Naomi were first-years, just like us. First-years were barely able to cast simple enchantments, let alone such advanced magic as glamour spells.

  Still, they managed to unnerve us, and we both stumbled through the assignment.

  We didn’t flunk, but the professor looked disappointed.

  I felt sick to my stomach.

  “Why do they pick on us so much”? Liesl whispered close to my face as she slid into her desk.

  I shook my head; I had no idea. They were taking this thing wayyy too far. It had been months since the dorm incident on Firstday.

  They’re insane, that’s why.

  Luckily for us, neither nitwit was in our last class, and the professor was off visiting their ailing aunt, so we had a substitute teacher.

  We spent the whole class practicing our Seeing skills.

  Learning to be a Master Seer was difficult at best, and the class, called “Trickery and Sot” was designed to give us a taste of four different ancient topics that faefolk still practiced as professions.

  Although I doubted very many people made a living by divination.

  After the class, we wandered over to the dining hall.

  “I’m so tired,” Liesl said.

  “Probably from all the hiking the last two days,” I answered.

  “Yeah. Phew. I slept so deeply last night,” Liesl said.

  “Me, too. I think I love sleeping more than eating,” I laughed.

  Liesl was looking around as we walked. “Do you think Chance will be there?”

  “Probably,” I said. “You still sweet on him?”

  Liesl blushed.

  “Well why don’t you do something about it?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “Half the girls in the school like him. He doesn’t seem interested in anyone. Not girls, not boys. There’s a fair amount of boys who’re interested, trust me.”

  “You been watching for it?” I asked.

  “As a matter of fact, I have,” Liesl lifted her chin in mock pride. “I haven’t seen him take any kind of interest in anyone. In fact, he spends most of his off time with us and Renée.”

  I lifted my eyebrows, “Maybe he likes Renée?”

  Liesl shook her head. “Renée has a year-five boyfriend. Plus, Chance hasn’t shown interest in her at all.”

  Hmmm.

  “Is there such a thing as keeping an infatuation secret?” I asked.

  “Ha ha ha! Good one!” she laughed.

  We entered the dining hall.

  Renée was seated in a corner, head over a book, her fork idly winding the spaghetti on her plate.

  “Hey, Renée,” I said as we walked up to her.

  “Hey guys, how were classes today?” she said, lifting her head and yawning.

  “Pretty good,” said Liesl. “Except for Transfiguration.”

  “Oh?” Renée sat up more, looking concerned.

  We sat down at the table and spooned spaghetti onto our plates, all the while telling her what had happened.

  “Hmmm,” Renée looked concerned. “I’m going to report this to the headmistress. You’re absolutely right, first-years should not be able to do such advanced magic.

  Hmmm.

  “Now I’m worried,” Liesl said.

  “I talked to my little sister last week,” said Renée. “I thought she’d listened. But then again, it would be more like her to nod and smile and then not let a grudge go, than be honest.”

  “Ooh, here comes Chance!” Liesl sat up straighter and smiled.

  “Liesl, wipe your mouth,” I whispered.

  She grabbed her napkin and hastily wiped some red sauce off her lip.

  “Hi, everyone,” Chance say down next to Renée and grabbed a plate. “I’m famished. We had flying practice in the morning, and then I had my swim class just now. We’re getting ready for a meet this weekend.”

  Liesl choked on her garlic bread. “You’re on the swim team?”

  “Yeah,” Chance said, spooning spaghetti onto his plate. “But I’m not sure how much longer.

  I stared at his tousled wet head. “Problems in paradise?”

  “Eh, I signed up for too much, and I’m falling behind in one or two classes,” he said.

  “Was it last weekend that put you behind?” Renée asked.

  “No, that did nothing to my schedule. We gained a day, remember?” he said. ‘Did absolutely nothing bad, except maybe to my sleep,” he said, yawning.

  I yawned automati
cally, then Liesl yawned, followed by Renée.

  We all chuckled.

  “Renée,” I asked, “do you know if the headmistress is going to give us any information about the curse on the forest? I mean, we were caught in it, that kind of makes it personal.”

  “Mmm, oh. Yes, I think she’s actually going to address the whole school,” Renée said. It’s best if all the students know what’s going on. It’s pretty serious.”

  “Is anyone going to involve the king?” asked Liesl. “He may be able to help.”

  Renée took another bite of potatoes and shrugged.

  “Holly, how do you like your classes so far?” Chance asked.

  I blinked. “Uhhh, the classes? They’re fine, I’m learning a lot.” I glanced behind me. No one was there, as far as I could see. I leaned forward and said in a low voice. “I had no idea there would be so much happening at the school.”

  “What do you mean?” Renée asked.

  “I mean, there’s a lot happening other than the classes,” I said. “The interaction with the other students, the ‘picnic’ that lasted nearly two days, the warping of time, the information about my past that I’ve been given, and not been given, it’s all been a bit overwhelming.”

  “Best thing so far for me is I’ve found a best friend,” Liesl smiled shyly and leaned her head on my shoulder.

  “Awww,” I smiled and felt warm.

  A summoning bell sounded in the distance.

  “What’s that?” Liesl asked, bringing her head up.

  “That’s the call to the student assembly,” said Renée. “Remember? I told you about it? Everyone has to attend.” She got up from her chair.

  We all walked out of the dining hall together and toward the Assembly Hall.

  “What do you think this is going to be about?” Liesl whispered in my ear as we walked. “I mean besides the attack on the school.”

  I shrugged. “Maybe about the upcoming holiday?”

  “Halloween? Hmmm,” Liesl murmured.

  “I’m dressing up as a faun,” said Chance.

  Renée laughed heartily.

  “What?” I asked.

  She shook her head, her eyes merry. “You’ll see.”

  Liesl and I exchanged a look: what could that be about?