‘No.’ Faye looked out of the plate glass panels at the front of the shop, through the backwards lettering; the simple, traditional font that spelled out Fortune’s in gold letters. It was raining and the strip of grey sky she could glimpse above, between the close terraces on either side of the small street, framed her mood.
No. Rav wanted to forget it all – his abduction, his imprisonment in the faerie ball. Daily, Faye knew that he willed himself to forget the pain he’d suffered at Finn’s hands in Murias. Rav knew Aisha was there, still, but in the way that humans could think two opposite things at once, Faye knew that he’d also almost convinced himself that the whole thing was a kind of communal fantasy, a shared hallucination. Roni and Sumi and the rest believed that and perhaps, because of their influence, he did too.
Aisha was gone, but Rav hadn’t once commented on her absence. Perhaps, in his mind, she’d gone on a long holiday somewhere. Or, perhaps, he believed that Aisha had gone of her own free will, and that it would be all right for her in Murias; a place of magic and wonder.
But Rav had been to Murias, and he knew that even if Aisha had been enchanted well enough to jump willingly with the rest of them, that consent wasn’t freely given. She’d been under Finn’s spell, and Finn had manipulated her to get what he wanted. Rav had danced in the faerie reel, and he knew as well as Faye how brutal it really was. Yet, his own self-preservation was more important.
‘Okay, then. Couldn’t Lyr help you in some way? I mean, he is a faerie king too. He’s as powerful as Finn, right?’ Gabriel asked.
Faye sighed and paced along the far wall of the shop. ‘In the realm of earth, though. I don’t see how he could help in Murias.’
‘But he’s trying to make contact with you.’ Gabriel raised an eyebrow.
‘I didn’t ask him to,’ Faye muttered, knowing she sounded like a child. ‘He doesn’t care about me. The fae don’t have feelings like us. He wants something from me.’
‘Don’t you think you should at least find out what that is, though? You make a bargain with him. You give something, you get something.’
‘Meaning… he gives me access to Murias?’ Faye sat down and rustled a biscuit out of a packet on Gabriel’s desk.
‘Worth a try, right? At least that way you’re not…’ he blushed and looked away. ‘You know.’
Forced to become Finn Beatha’s lover again. Faye filled in the rest of the sentence in her head. Would she do it to save Aisha? Yes, she would, because saving a life was more important than saving a relationship. But it was a last resort. If there was any other way, that would be vastly preferable.
‘You’re right… we should at least ask Lyr if he can help.’ She pushed her doubt to one side; there was fear there, too, but she ignored it. She, at least, was half-faerie. She had some knowledge already, and she was able to resist the weakening of the faerie realm. Aisha had no such power. ‘Can you help me? I think I know a place we can use.’
Eighteen
‘We could have invited the group, you know. Safety in numbers, and all that,’ Gabriel hissed as he held out a hand for Faye, perched precariously at the top of the black iron railings that surrounded Regent’s Park.
Faye reached for Gabriel’s slim, silver-ringed hand and hoisted herself up so that she could reach her foot to the top.
‘I’m okay. Jump down,’ she whispered back; she heard a thump as Gabriel fell into a bush on the other side of the railings. More daintily, Faye engineered herself to the top and lowered herself down the other side.
‘I can’t believe you’re making me break into one of the royal parks,’ Gabriel tutted, dusting himself down. Seemingly not possessing any casual clothes, he’d done his best to be anonymous in black trousers, a black polo neck and a black overcoat.
‘You look like a French detective,’ Faye whispered. ‘It’s not my fault the park closes so early at this time of year. Anyway, it’s good. It means we won’t be disturbed.’
‘There’s nothing wrong with being stylish, dear Faye. We’re like magic detectives, anyway.’ Gabriel helped her onto the gravelled pathway; Faye pointed to where she remembered the garden. ‘Imagine me as a Wiccan Hercule Poirot.’
Faye rolled her eyes at him.
They had waited for a full moon, almost a week after Faye had visited Gabriel’s shop. Full moons were a time of heightened power, and the moonlight lit the park in its blue-white brightness. Unusual shadows suggested themselves at the edges of Faye’s vision; the moon’s reflected light wasn’t enough to cast the sharp shadows she’d walked through before, but its oddly stark glow cast an eerie almost-there lens over everything.
‘It’s this way.’ Faye led Gabriel the way she remembered, keeping to the edges of the pathways in case anyone was patrolling the park. They walked quietly under the close trees, the fallen leaves under their feet. In the dark, with no-one else there, the energy of the park was completely different. Gone was the pleasant drone of activity, gone was the busy human story that evolved there every day. Instead, there was a watchfulness, a humming pause in a low, mournful tone. It wasn’t a threat, but something waited for them. Something was alive in the dark.
They reached the concentric circles of rosebushes. With the moonlight on them the leaves looked waxy and artificial; the white flowers Faye had seen previously were petals on the ground, trodden into the mud. But, tonight, Faye didn’t even have to close her eyes to detect the fae magic, because the mini labyrinth, such as it was, was alive with faeries.
Faye glanced at Gabriel.
‘Are you seeing this?’ she whispered, but the expression on his face was enough to tell her that he was. Gabriel’s eyes were wide with wonder; he met Faye’s eyes with an incredulous grin.
‘I can’t believe it. But yes, I am.’
The rose faeries danced an organised reel somewhat similar to a country dance or an old English dance from something like Tudor times, though it was difficult to completely characterise it. In the circular footpaths, orderly lines of faeries circled and twirled in perfect unison, dipping and bowing in a courtly way to each other. They were the size of small children, but had androgynous human features at the top half of their bodies and rose petal garments that swept to the ground on their lower halves. Their skins were varying hues of yellow, red, white and pink, like roses themselves, and the perfume Faye had smelt before – an intense scent of roses, sweet and earthy – filled the air. As they danced, the faeries sang a simple melody which was surprisingly mournful; in a strange way, it fitted the measured gravity of their dance. It wasn’t sad, but serious and regal.
Like before, the gold dust-light appeared to rise from the rosebushes and float upwards, like bubbles underwater or an upside-down sleet. Gabriel reached out his hand for it, but Faye pulled him back and shook her head.
They stood completely still, watching the faerie dance, knowing that if they moved even slightly, they might frighten the faeries away. Yet when the dance ended, two of the faeries turned to them and held out their hands.
‘We shouldn’t,’ Faye warned, though the sudden wave of temptation that hit her when the fae’s attention diverted to them was difficult to ignore. ‘They’re dangerous. I don’t know where this leads, Gabriel. We might take their hand now and come back in fifty years. Or not at all.’
‘What do you suggest, then?’ Gabriel spoke out of the corner of his mouth. ‘We came here to summon Lyr. We can’t do it now they’re here.’
‘Why not?’ Faye turned to him, thinking fast. ‘These are his creatures. This is the earth realm. They can help us. Lend us their power, like we would ask in calling in the quarters. These fae are partly who we’re calling on every time we do that.’
She crouched down and undid her backpack, taking out Grandmother’s grimoire.
‘I brought this. It’s got a ritual for summoning faerie kings and queens in it. We can do it here.’
Gabriel looked at the rose faeries.
‘It seems a bit… rude, to ask them to stop their danc
ing so we can use their space,’ he whispered doubtfully.
‘It’s not rude,’ Faye whispered back with more confidence than she felt. Yet, she had power, and she could feel it rising up in her already. It was half the electric power of the fae and half her training as a witch; every time she worked magic, now, she felt it growing, an unwieldy, explosive something that coiled in her belly, gold and ready to rise up in her like wings of fire.
‘We could… I don’t know… do the summoning somewhere else?’ Gabriel looked around.
‘Gabriel. Are you scared?’ Faye took his hand for a moment and searched his eyes. ‘There’s no need to be,’ she lied, but she thought she was probably good enough to convince him. Gabriel wanted to be convinced, anyway, she could tell.
‘Look. What point would there be doing it somewhere else when we made all this effort to break into the park? Just look at this, for goodness’ sake.’ She gestured to the golden light falling upwards, and to the rose-skirted fae creatures that had resumed their solemn dancing. ‘This is a place of power. We need somewhere like this if it’s just the two of us; we need the power. On the Heath we had a whole coven. It might not work if we summoned him in some random back garden. So this is the place of power we’re going to use. And this is where we find Lyr again. Okay?’
He nodded. It was strange to see him without his usual affectations and camp swagger.
‘Okay,’ he breathed. Faye squeezed his hand.
‘It’s going to work. I promise.’ She gave him a brighter smile than she really felt.
‘That’s what I’m afraid of, Faye Morgan.’ Gabriel smiled uncertainly.
Nineteen
Grandmother’s ritual had been to summon the different Queens of the four faerie realms – Murias, Falias, Gorias and Finias – to learn magic from them. The summoning had to be done at in-between places: tidelines, forests, in storms and with ritual fires – places where faerie and human could meet halfway between their worlds. Faye hoped that the spell would work for Lyr, and that the rose garden was a good enough place. It wasn’t the enchanted faerie forest, but this place seemed so dense with fae energy that she hoped it would be good enough.
To summon Her from her home element, you must create a ritual space of high vibration. Ideally, conduct the summoning as close to the right element as possible.
Dance or pace out the circle clockwise and then pace into the centre of the circle as if in a spiral. When at the centre of the circle, call out her full name three times. Your calling should be urgent and passionate, from the heart. Repeat this process, walking the spiral in and out and calling the name, three times.
‘Lyr, High King of Falias, Faerie Kingdom of Earth; Master of Stone, Emperor of gnome and dryad kingdoms, come to me!’ she called at the centre of the circle; Gabriel echoed her, his low voice vibrant in the night air. They repeated the process once and then twice.
When you have called their name three times, entreat them to be with you Grandmother’s book had instructed. Faye stood at the centre of the rose garden, drawing power up from the earth and into her body in a meshed haze of rose petal and earth, feeling it fill her, ground her into the earth.
Beloved of the Fae, King of your Element
I seek communion with you; I seek knowledge of you and your realm
Bestow your magic upon me, I am fain to know your secrets
I am open; fill me with your blessings. Lyr, Father, I call on you
Father, I beseech you, enter the space I have prepared for you
Father, I would love you with my mind, my heart and my body
Lyr, I summon you from your Kingdom
I offer something of mine that I can give freely; this is the exchange
This is the promise between faerie and human
So mote it be
Faye raised her voice and called out the words with as much strength and passion as she could muster; every time she said father, unease twisted in her. Her feelings about her father were a mass of confusion: she needed him now, but she still hated him. But this was for Aisha, Aisha, she reminded herself as she felt the power in her. She was doing what she must.
‘Hail and appear, Lyr of Falias!’ Faye cried, her arms outstretched, coming to the last line of the invocation the book detailed. The same kind of heat shimmer Faye had seen at the Mabon ritual appeared in the middle of the room; that time, it was Morgana Le Fay that had been summoned to the circle. ‘Hail and appear!’ she shouted, louder, feeling power zinging through her arms, her fingers, from the hot core of her body.
Gabriel took her hands in his; together they formed a kind of battery. That part wasn’t mentioned by Grandmother, but when Gabriel touched her, she felt that same explosion of energy as before: closing her eyes, she saw two poles of energy between them, positive and negative, joining together to create a kind of magical circuit. Only, Gabriel was the negative and she was the positive pole. Faye hadn’t worked magic with a man before, but she’d read about this: that in magical working, the woman was the originator of power, and the man was the receiver. Faye didn’t so much think it was odd – these were modern times, after all – as much as being pleasantly surprised to feel it in action.
Together, they called to Lyr: we command you, Lyr of Falias; we desire your presence. Honour us! repeating the phrase, over and over, Faye felt alive with the energy that flowed between her and Gabriel. She threw back her head, laughing in delight with the sheer power that they generated; it felt enough to light up the whole park. Dimly, she worried that it would alert a night watchman.
Lyr towered over them both; he appeared taller than when he’d come to them on the Heath. He bowed regally to them.
‘Daughter. You called for me and I came.’ Like before, he was extremely civil.
Faye studied her father. This time he wore a plain golden circlet on his long black hair and two-inch wide plain gold cuffs at his wrists. Instead of black, he wore a green robe belted with something that looked like plaited reeds or leaves; his feet were bare.
‘Thank you for coming. I was…’ she faltered, but Gabriel’s hands in hers gave her strength. ‘I was hasty to dismiss you at the ceremony. I… would like to know you, and the realm of Falias. And… ask for your help.’
Lyr laughed a deep, rumbling laugh. ‘You are my daughter, truly, then. You desire a boon.’
‘Yes.’ Faye stood her ground and looked the faerie king in the eye. Unlike Finn’s, his eyes were the brown-black of the fertile earth, but they regarded her with the same dispassionate regard as Finn and Glitonea’s shifting, cold ocean eyes.
‘You are much like your mother,’ Lyr said, smiling. ‘You have her spirit. Ask, then. What is it you desire?’
Faye wanted to say, don’t talk to me about Moddie. You deserted her when she needed you. But she pinched herself on the inside of her wrist and made her expression neutral.
‘A friend of mine has been taken to Murias. I wish to take her back.’
‘Murias is not my realm, daughter,’ Lyr rumbled. ‘Ask Finn Beatha to have her back, though I doubt he would concede a lover merely at your request.’ He smiled.
‘I can’t ask Finn. He has banished me from Murias,’ Faye replied. ‘I need you to help me get back in without his permission.’
‘Finn Beatha can be persuaded, child.’ Lyr smiled and arched his eyebrow. ‘I do not need to tell you how.’
‘I don’t want to be his lover again,’ Faye retorted. ‘I’ve chosen a human man and I intend to stay loyal to him. There must be another way.’
Lyr regarded Gabriel dispassionately.
‘This is the object of your stubborn desire?’ A derisive smile lifted the corner of his mouth. ‘Foolish daughter, to choose a human man over a faerie king. Humans are so fragile; they ruin so easily. You will come to regret that choice.’
Faye felt a shadow of truth in Lyr’s words, but she pushed it away. ‘No… Gabriel is just… a friend.’ She shot an awkward look at Gabriel, who gave her a rueful smile.
‘
An interesting choice, then, that your chosen one is not the one you picked to help summon me.’ Lyr raised an eyebrow.
‘You can find it interesting all you like. But it’s my choice,’ she argued back. She stood with her feet planted firmly. She hadn’t trembled in front of Finn Beatha, and she wouldn’t in front of Lyr either.
The faerie king regarded her for a moment; Faye was aware of Gabriel’s hands in hers, and the power that still radiated from them both, looping between them in lazy arcs. It might have been awkward for a moment, but that didn’t disrupt the power flowing between them.
Lyr held out his hand to her. ‘Come with me to Falias and we will discuss this further, child. For I have a boon I would ask of you in return.’
‘Are you saying yes? You can help me?’ Faye asked, breathing hard now. She exchanged glances with Gabriel.
‘I can consider it. If we strike a bargain,’ he replied.
‘Go,’ Gabriel said under his breath. ‘You won’t have a better opportunity.’
‘What about you?’ she whispered, confused. ‘I’m not sure if I should.’
‘Go,’ Gabriel repeated. ‘I’ll be here when you get back.’
Faye reached out, and Lyr’s hand enveloped hers.
Twenty
A swirling mist surrounded Faye, and she had the sensation of falling. Flashes of green, yellow and brown surrounded her, as if she flew in a storm of earth and pollen; all the while, she felt Lyr’s hand in hers.
In the next moment, she felt her feet touch earth, and she held out her other arm to steady herself, shaking her head to clear it and look around.
Queen of Sea and Stars Page 11
