by E. Menozzi
“This is plenty. Thank you.” I scooted my chair a bit further under the table and let the morning’s news sink in. Liam had left. He’d gone home and hadn’t even bothered to tell me or say goodbye. I reminded myself that he didn’t owe me anything. A few kisses in front of the fire didn’t make him my boyfriend. Also, I was going to have to tell him it could never happen again, anyway. So what if he hadn’t said goodbye.
“Are you all right, dear?” Aunt Vivian asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“What? Oh. Yes. I’m fine.” I took a bite of scrambled eggs.
“You look flushed. Are you sure?”
“Yes,” I said, swallowing. “Thank you for breakfast, Auntie. Everything is delicious.”
“My pleasure, dear.” She leaned across the table. “Now, we must get out of the house today. With Liam gone, your uncle will probably want me to fetch his files. But I plan on spending the day with you. I was thinking we might do some sightseeing. So, I propose we get out of the house as soon as you’ve finished breakfast. After I show you around a bit, we can drive into town and maybe find some lunch and do some shopping. Then we’ll be home in time for dinner. What do you think?”
I nodded but didn’t respond because I’d just taken a bite of buttered toast.
She continued, “I haven’t forgotten your promise, you know. You said you’d tell me what happened yesterday to make you so upset. But I can always make sure we have enough fun to take your mind off things, if you’d prefer. What do you say?”
“That sounds good.” I didn’t really want to talk about my conversation with Connor. I didn’t want to think about any of that. And of course, I wasn’t going to tell her about kissing Liam. My thoughts drifted back to last night while she continued telling me about the different places where we might stop for lunch. I wondered if Liam would return before my visit ended. It was nearly Christmas, and his mother was sick. He’d probably want to spend the holidays with his family. It was entirely possible that I might never see him again.
My stomach churned, and I lost my appetite. Somehow I kept getting mixed up with the wrong guys. I pushed the remaining scrambled eggs around on my plate while my aunt talked.
“You don’t have to finish it, dear.” My aunt took a sip of tea and set her mug down on the table.
I blinked. “What’s that?”
“Your breakfast.” She nodded at my plate. “If you’re not hungry, just throw it on the compost and let’s go.”
“Oh. Okay.” I stood and walked over to the sink with my plate. Liam’s absence might provide me an excellent opportunity to show Uncle Oscar how valuable I could be to him. A new plan started to take shape.
“Are you sure you’re okay, dear? You’re not getting sick, are you?” She followed me to the sink and held the bin open for me as I scraped my plate.
“No, Auntie. I’m fine. Just a little preoccupied this morning, that’s all.” It was time to snap out of this and get to work.
“Yes, well, I should say you have reason to be.”
Her comment pulled me away from my train of thought. “What do you mean?” She couldn’t possibly have guessed I’d been making out with Liam.
“Deciding where to go to graduate school is a big decision,” she said. “And if you get into Oxford, moving to England, away from your family. It’s a big change.”
“Oh,” I said. I set my plate in the sink and washed my hands. “I didn’t get accepted to Oxford. I got the email last night. I’m on the waitlist.”
“I’m sorry, dear. Have you talked with Oscar yet? Perhaps there’s some way he can help.”
I smiled. “Thanks. He’s been so busy, we haven’t had time to talk. But I’d like to talk to him when we get back.” I turned to face her as I wiped my hands on the dish towel.
“Of course! I’m sure your uncle would be happy to tell his friends at Oxford about his fantastic, intelligent niece. Don’t count yourself out yet. After all, I have a personal, selfish interest in you getting accepted.” She placed her hand on her hip and grinned at me.
I laughed. “All right, then. Let’s get going.” I shook my head as I refolded the dish towel. “I was thinking, there are these stone ruins not that far from here. Liam said it used to be some sort of temple? Maybe we could go there?” If Edric had been a hunter, and everyone thought his wife was the Faerie Queen, maybe there was some connection between Edric and Godda and that temple. I hadn’t been able to find anything in Uncle Oscar’s books last night, but maybe a visit would give me a new lead.
Aunt Vivian nodded. “I think I know the ones you mean. That sounds like a good place to start our tour.” She stood and walked over to stand next to me. “It’s going to be fine, you know.” She slipped her arm around my waist and gave me a hug.
“Thanks,” I said. She gave me another squeeze.
“Go on now,” she said. “Go upstairs and get your coat. Let’s leave before your uncle starts calling for me.”
I retreated up the back stairs to grab my coat and my new hat and gloves from my room. Before leaving, I reached for my phone and sent a quick note to my parents letting them know if they wanted to reach me to call me at Lydbury. Then I shut my phone off and stuffed it into my drawer. No more phone for a while. No more obsessing about the life I left behind or Liam. I needed to focus on my future.
By the time I’d reached the foyer, I was filled with excitement. I followed my aunt to her car and listened to her chatter as we rolled down the driveway under the arched trees. She’d handed me a stack of guidebooks before I’d climbed into the car, and I flipped through them as she talked. Every once in a while, I paused in my skimming to stare out the window and watch the fields fly past or answer one of her questions. By the time I spotted the temple ruins in the field, I’d already absorbed two different entries about the ancient temple and my aunt’s gossip about the local squabbles over the surrounding land. Liam had been right, everything around here came down to some nonsense about faeries or ghosts, or both, at some point.
“When is the winter solstice?” I asked Aunt Vivian.
“The winter solstice? Let’s see…I think that’s two days from now. Why do you ask?” She slowed the car and turned down the gravel drive that led to a nearly empty parking lot near the cluster of stones.
“Some of these stories say that’s the best time for spotting ghosts. Not that I believe that sort of thing.” A few tourists wandered in the grass, laughing and snapping photos.
“Here we are!” Aunt Vivian smiled and reached for her purse.
Yes. I know. I clutched my hat and mittens. I hoped Liam wouldn’t be too disappointed that Aunt Vivian had taken over as tour guide. But what Liam felt didn’t matter. Surely, he wasn’t thinking about what I thought or what I was feeling.
I stared out the window and wondered if Evelyn was awake yet. The train had slowed to pull into the station, and I watched the scenery, wishing I could have at least said goodbye even though there was no way I could have explained where I was going. Now all I could think about was what I would say to our queen when I returned.
Hi, Mum. Didn’t find anything about Lord Edric yet, but I did make some progress winning over Oscar’s niece. Yeah, that conversation wouldn’t go well. Of course, Mother wouldn’t scold me. She’d just remind me about my place in the Court and my sworn obligation to defend our future queen, my cousin, the dazzling and daring Fiona. Subtext: Why can’t you be more like your cousin Ari? Arabella had accepted her place by Fiona’s side as her future second-in-command as soon as she’d been old enough to wield a weapon. Mother probably would have been happier with a daughter. A daughter like Arabella. Or Fiona.
The brakes on the train screeched, and I gathered my things. My cousins would laugh at me if they knew I’d taken the train partway. But I hadn’t been using my magic recently, and I worried I’d end up off my mark if I attempted to transport myself any great distance. After the train pulled to a hal
t, I made my way to the door and walked down the steps to the platform. There weren’t that many travelers in the station, but there were still too many for me to disappear into thin air. I walked around the corner of the station until I’d slipped out of sight of other travelers. Then I let my magic course through me for the first time in months, and I thought of home.
When I opened my eyes again, I was standing outside Mother’s cottage, deep in the woods, far from the station. I breathed a sigh of relief and knocked on the door. A movement in the window caught my eye, and a moment later the door swung open.
“About time,” Arabella said, blocking the doorway. She glared at me, then turned and stomped away down the hall.
“How is she?” I asked, hurrying to catch up.
Arabella shook her head. “She’s been asking for you.”
“So you said.” Was that really all she was going to tell me? I guessed that she’d be mad, but this was my mother we were talking about. The woman who raised us, me and my two cousins. Was Arabella really going to freeze me out now? Over a mortal?
She stopped and spun to face me.
“What were you thinking?” she asked, her voice low and threatening.
Instinctively, I took a step back. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“You know exactly what I mean.” She stepped toward me. “What are you thinking, messing with that human?”
“Ari—” I started to explain, but she cut me off.
“You’re Fae. She’s mortal. Have you forgotten your promise to your family? The promise you made to your mother? The Oath you will swear to our future queen?”
“Of course I haven’t forgotten.” She might as well have punched me in the gut; her words had the same effect.
“Then why, when I come to tell you your mother is sick and asking for you, did I find you snogging that human? There’s a time for that sort of thing, and that time is not now.” She was in my face, poking at my chest, willing me to grovel or fight back.
“I know. I’ll keep my promise. You know I will.” I wrapped my hand around her finger and pressed her hand down and away. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry.” She spun around and stalked down the hall away from me. I followed, several paces behind, toward the faint candlelight coming from Mother’s bedroom at the end of the hall.
“Aunt Flida, Liam’s here,” she called when she reached the open doorway.
“Liam? Liam, my love? Where are you? Come closer so I can see you.” Mother shifted in her bed and reached an arm toward the door. My heart broke. Arabella was right. Nothing else mattered more than this.
I stepped closer to my mother’s bedside and held her thin hand in my own. Her skin felt dry and stretched paper thin over her delicate bones. “I’m here, Mother.”
“Liam. You came.” She pulled my hand toward her face and pressed her lips against my skin.
“Of course I did. How are you feeling?” I smoothed her hair away from her face and bent to kiss her forehead. It was warm. Too warm.
“It won’t be long now, my love,” she whispered. I tensed and she squeezed my hand in response.
“Hold on, Mother. We need you.” She wasn’t just our current queen, Mother was one of the oldest, and most powerful, of our kind. I knew she wouldn’t live forever, but we needed her magic to defend against Edric when he returned. Without her, without the artifact I had been unable to find, we’d be defenseless. He’d pick us off, one by one, capturing us, torturing us for information about my aunt Godda.
“Fiona will make an excellent queen. And you and Ari will be by her side to advise her, and protect her, and keep her safe,” she said.
Even without the threat of Edric’s return, I wasn’t ready to let her go. “But what if I need you, Mother?”
“Oh, Liam, my love. I’m so proud of you.”
I winced, knowing I’d done nothing yet to deserve her praise. I glanced over at Arabella, who just scowled at me in response. So, she hadn’t told Mother about my failure, or my distraction.
“Rest, Mother. I’ll stay here with you.” I pulled a chair closer to her bed and sat. Then I took hold of her hand again and began to sing the songs she’d sung to me as a child, the ones that lulled me to sleep and made me feel loved and protected.
Arabella’s face softened as she listened. I began to relax as Mother drifted into sleep. But an earthy and slightly floral scent followed by a knock at the door caught my attention and made me sit up straight. Arabella was already up and out of her chair, walking toward the door. When she returned, she brought Fiona with her.
Fiona stood tall and strong in the doorway. Her dark skin glowed in the candlelight, and the short, twisted hair that covered her head made her look like she was wearing a spikey crown.
“Liam,” she said with a hushed voice so she wouldn’t wake Mother.
I tucked Mother’s hand under the covers and stood to face my future queen. “Fiona,” I said, bowing my head to her.
“How is she?” Fiona’s wide brown eyes shone with unshed tears.
“She’s sleeping now. She says it won’t be long.” I turned my head and watched the shadows flicker on the walls.
“Liam, I’m so sorry.” She lifted my hand and pressed it between her warm palms.
I turned to meet her gaze again. “At least I had a chance to know my mother, Fi. We will avenge yours. I promised you, and I will not break my vow.”
She dropped her chin to her chest. Fiona’s mother, Arabella’s mother, and my mother were three of Godda’s six sisters. My mother had been Godda’s second-in-command, left to fill in as queen when Godda disappeared after Edric’s betrayal. Their five younger sisters, Arabella’s and Fiona’s mothers among them, had been some of the first Fae to be hunted and killed by Edric. When their capture and torture didn’t lead to Godda’s return, Edric and his Hunters continued their quest. Thousands of Fae had perished over the past centuries at their hands. This was why we needed to stop him. If we didn’t, this war would end with our extinction.
When my mother died, Fiona would become the next Faerie Queen because she was the eldest daughter of the seven sisters. At Fiona’s coronation, I would be expected to swear my Oath, officially binding me to the Fae High Court as one of the Queen’s Sworn. After that, I’d need to take my place at Fiona’s side, helping her rule and, once we’d won this war, rebuild. No more masquerading as a human. My only other option would be to turn my back on my family, give up my powers, and become human. If I couldn’t fulfill the promise I’d made to my cousins to help them avenge their mothers and kin, if I couldn’t put an end to this centuries-old war with the Underworld, that was exactly what I planned to do.
Arabella was right. I’d let myself become distracted. Now I needed to get back to Lydbury and find every artifact that brute Edric had ever touched. My attraction to Evelyn could wait until after I found the artifact binding Edric’s spirit to this world and destroyed it, banishing him and ending this brutal war.
6
After exploring the temple ruins, Aunt Vivian insisted on taking me to town to pick up some things for tea. I left her to finish browsing in the cheese shop and wandered next door to the bookstore in search of more books on local history. A bell chimed as I opened the door, and I inhaled the scent of leather and dust. I wove around cases and displays, browsing the titles, so absorbed that I didn’t see the young, well-dressed guy leaning against the end of one of the bookcases. As I turned the corner, I ran right into him and tripped. He grabbed my arm to steady me and set me back on both feet.
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I didn’t see you there.” I felt my cheeks growing warm as his form came into focus. He looked to be about my age or a little older. Tall and fit, with firm muscles hinted at under his crisp gray button-down shirt. The stylish black wool trousers he wore accentuated his thin waist. He’d draped his coat over one arm and appeared to have been flipping through a thick leather-
bound book when I ran into him. He looked like he’d just stepped out of a Brooks Brothers catalog.
“I’m sorry,” he said in a posh English accent. “I’ve chosen an awful place to lounge about. Are you all right?”
I straightened my jacket and reached up to smooth my hair. That’s when I realized I was still wearing that ridiculous earflap hat. I slipped it off my head and into my pocket. “Oh,” I said. “I’m fine. Are you okay? I think I stepped on your toes.” I looked down at his refined black leather boots.
“I didn’t feel a thing.” He smiled. His teeth and his nose were both slightly crooked, but the overall effect was entirely charming. “I’m Nigel, by the way. And you must be new in town. I’m sure I would have noticed if you lived here.”
“I’m Evelyn,” I said. “I’m just visiting. Staying with my aunt and uncle for the holidays.”
The door chimed and a gust of cold winter wind blew through the store.
“What a pity. I guess I’ll have to make what time I have count, then, shan’t I?”
Aunt Vivian appeared at my elbow. “Oh, here you are, dear!” She caught a glimpse of Nigel and stopped. “Pardon me, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I’ll just be over here while you finish chatting, dear.” She started to turn and walk away, but I reached out and placed a hand on her forearm.
“Nonsense, Auntie, you’re not interrupting. Let me introduce you to Nigel. We just met, and he’s being very polite about the fact I nearly squashed his foot when I plowed into him. Nigel, this is my aunt, Vivian.”
Nigel held out his hand to my aunt. “Pleased to meet you, ma’am. Your niece was just telling me about you. The family resemblance is striking, though I’d have pegged you for an older sister, not Evelyn’s aunt.”
Aunt Vivian shook Nigel’s hand and blushed at the compliment.
“Do you live near town?” he asked. Other than his slightly crooked nose, he was absolutely perfect. I tried not to stare, but I couldn’t help it.
