Anya was at my side in an instant. “She’s asleep,” she said, then she looked farther into the room. “There are more.”
I crouched down and looked over the sleeping girl. She was breathing, and didn’t appear harmed in any way. “Are the rest sleeping, too?”
“Yes. They’ve been asleep for centuries, I’d wager.” Anya picked her way toward the back of the room, then she pulled aside one of the curtains. “Christopher, there’s a baby.”
I approached Anya, and saw a baby nestled in a cradle, wrapped in turquoise blankets. She looked to be a few months older than Faith, and had round pink cheeks, dark curling hair, and a white flower clutched in her chubby little hand.
The baby clutched a daisy.
“These are Maelgwyn’s children,” I said. “Anya, we found them!”
“I’ll get him,” Anya said, then she was gone. An instant later she returned with Maelgwyn on her arm.
“Anya, Christopher, what—” Maelgwyn’s gaze fell onto Daisy. He fell to his knees and touched her hand.
“Daisy?” He smoothed back her dark hair. The baby blinked herself awake, and smiled at her father. Maelgwyn picked her up carefully, as if he was worried that touching her might make her disappear. Daisy gurgled a smile, and he hugged his daughter for the first time in centuries.
“How did you find her?” he asked, his face buried in Daisy’s hair.
“You’ll have to thank Nicnevin,” Anya said. “She told us that this cave is where Fionnlagh likes to hide those he finds problematic. Christopher and I thought we’d best have a look.”
Throughout the room, the rest of the inhabitants stirred in varying stages of wakefulness. “Maelgwyn, the rest are waking up.”
“The rest?” He looked up, tears coursing down his face. “They’re all here?”
“See for yourself.”
Maelgwyn went to each in turn, reuniting with his long-lost children one by one. There were eleven kids in all, ranging in age from a few months to early teens. Throughout it all he never set Daisy down, not even for a moment.
“Eleven children,” I said, counting them as Maelgwyn made his way around the room. “Six boys and five girls. You will have the most epic sleepovers,” I added, bumping Anya with my shoulder.
“I never realized there were so many, or that they were so young,” Anya said. “I wonder if Mum not telling Maelgwyn about me wasn’t just about Da. Perhaps the wounds from losing his other children were still too fresh, and she worried he couldn’t bear it.”
“For two women who embody winter you’re both rather warm-hearted.”
“We will both do anything for those we care about. In that way we’re the same.”
“You’re like your mother in many good ways.” I draped my arm around Anya’s shoulders. “We did a good thing today, beautiful.”
She leaned her head against my shoulder. “We certainly did.”
Chapter Twenty Five
Anya
A FEW HOURS AFTER MY and Christopher’s wonderful discovery of Maelgwyn’s missing children, all of us were back at the Unseelie Court. The children’s arrival had caused the most tumultuous uproar, and what joyful chaos it was. The court staff—many of whom had served Maelgwyn since his days as the Summer King—leapt into action, and in short order had converted the antechamber of his private rooms into the most well-appointed and largest nursery I’d ever set eyes on. Mum oversaw everything, moving from one of my siblings to the next as she made sure they were warm, and fed, and had everything they could possibly need.
Siblings. I had eleven new siblings.
“Just when you thought you had the market cornered on brothers, here comes a whole new set of them,” Christopher said.
“And sisters,” I added. “I’d always thought Karina would be my only sister. How wonderful it is to be wrong, at least about this.”
Christopher glanced at me. “You consider Rina your sister?”
“Of course. Shouldn’t I?”
“I think it’s great, since she feels the same way.” He grinned, and added, “Bet you never thought you’d have a walker and a gallowglass in your family.”
“I never thought any of this was possible.” Ever since the males in my family had been exiled it had only been Mum and me. I’d grown so accustomed to being a family of two I’d resigned myself to living my life as an only child. But Mum, she never gave up, and even though her methods weren’t always noble she’d spent every moment since Da and my brothers’ imprisonment trying to free them.
Maelgwyn had never given up on his children, either. His struggle had been longer, and lonelier, but at last they were united again. Perhaps he and Mum were quite well-suited for each other, after all.
“Anya, Christopher,” Maelgwyn called as he approached us. Daisy was still in his arms, and I wondered if he would ever put her down. “You must have Karina and Robert visit, and soon. They must meet everyone! Faith and Daisy will be wonderful friends, I’m sure of it! And Anya, you must bring all of your brothers, too. They will all be grand friends.”
“I have no doubt they will,” I said. “They will be as pleased as I am to have eleven new siblings.”
“And you make an even twelve.” Maelgwyn cupped the back of my head and kissed my forehead. He’d never before shown me such affection, and I wondered if he kept himself distant to deal with his pain over losing his children so long ago.
“Anya, my dear heart,” he continued, “none of this would have been possible without you. My biggest regret shall ever be not being there for you to watch you grow. Thank you, for bringing my babies home.”
“It was the least I could do,” I said, tears pricking my eyes. “And now we can watch the rest of them grow. All is as it should be.”
He smiled at me. “Yes, I believe it is. Our family is together, and we will never be parted again.”
Mum called Maelgwyn to her side, and he left us to see what she needed. Once he was out of earshot, Christopher said, “None of them have his eyes, except you.”
“Is that so unusual?” It was true, only I shared Maelgwyn’s iridescent gray eyes. Then again...
“These aren’t all of his children,” I said. “He’s had scores over the centuries, but these eleven were the ones who hadn’t grown to adulthood, and the only ones who still lived under is roof when Da attacked him... and they were the one who most needed his protection. Fionnlagh deliberately targeted the weakest members of Maelgwyn’s family for his revenge.”
“I know he’s your uncle, but Fionnlagh really is an asshole,” Christopher said, and I did not disagree. “Does everyone in this batch have the same mother?”
“I... don’t know.” I’d never once heard of Maelgwyn having a lover. The Unseelie King was famously solitary. “Whoever bore them did so a long time ago. This lot was born when Maelgwyn was still the Summer King, long before I came along.”
“Was Beira their mother?”
“No,” I replied, then I caught myself watching her as she moved from one child to the next, doting on each of them as she’d once doted on me. “She couldn’t be. Could she?”
“All I know is that around here, anything’s possible.” Christopher frowned, then he withdrew the aquila from his chest pocket. It hummed and quivered as if an electric current ran through it. “And Lucius wants my attention.”
Lucius wouldn’t summon Christopher unless it was important. “I’ll tell Maelgwyn we’re leaving,” I said, then I made my way across the room toward my parents.
My parents!
I paused in the center of the room and turned in a slow circle. I was surrounded by family, more family than I ever hoped to have. I felt safe, and loved, and happy. I was content.
I caught Christopher’s gaze, he who was such a very big part of my contentment. He cocked his head to the side, wondering what I was doing. I smiled and shrugged, and continued on my path.
“Mum,” I said. She looked up from her charge—Nuala, a sweet girl only a few years older than Daisy—and gave me an exasp
erated smile.
“Well, now, this is not how I was expecting to spend my day,” she said, surveying the children. “Anya, you have made your father very, very happy.”
“And you?” I ventured.
“I am happy,” she said. She smiled, but as per usual admitted to nothing. “I am honored to help Maelgwyn and his children get to know each other again. And for you to acquaint yourself with your siblings,” she added.
“As am I, but that will have to begin another time. We must return home. The Ninth has news for Christopher.”
“Perhaps they’ve finally located Nicnevin.”
“Oh, we found her,” I said. “She’s at the gallowglass’s home in Crail. Could you tell Maelgwyn we’ll return as soon as we can?”
Mum nodded. “That I shall.”
Chapter Twenty Six
Chris
WHEN ANYA AND I ARRIVED at the Winter Palace, Lucius was waiting for us next to the main entrance. His second in command, Titus, was standing at attention at Lucius’s side. They were both dressed for battle and armed to the teeth.
“Let’s hear the bad news,” I said, since Lucius never summoned me for anything else.
“Angus and the rest of Domina’s brothers have returned,” he replied without preamble; one of the things I appreciated most about Lucius was his ability to quickly pare a situation down to its salient points. “They have disavowed all knowledge of the whereabouts of the Stag Lord’s crown.”
“Interesting. Do we believe they don’t have it?” I asked Anya.
She shrugged. “While Angus is perfectly capable of sneaking into Maelgwyn’s treasury and running off with the crown, we’ve no proof he did so. I will take him at his word unless I learn otherwise.”
“If you believe him then I do, too.” I turned back to Lucius. “You wouldn’t be in full armor juts to tell us that.”
“We have captured one of the fuath,” Lucius, the master of burying the lead, said. “It was skulking about the palace, no doubt spying for its master, whomever that may be.”
“However did you manage to catch it?” Anya asked.
“The Ninth are no strangers to monsters, Domina,” Lucius replied. “We dealt with the fuath often while stationed at the Seelie Court, and we know their tricks. Come, I will take you to it.” Lucius frowned, and added, “We were forced to trap it in your solarium. They don’t do well with bright light, and we had few options for containment.”
“Quick thinking is as valuable a weapon as a sharp sword,” Anya said, and Lucius’s shoulders relaxed. I wondered if Nicnevin had ever had him punished for entering her private space uninvited. “You three go on. I’ll collect Angus and meet you at the solarium.”
Anya went in search of her brother, and I followed Lucius and Titus into the royal apartment and toward the sunroom. They’d cornered the fuath into the only pocket of shadow it could find in the bright, airy room, right behind Anya’s crystal globe.
“You said it was spying?” I asked from the doorway. I had no intention of getting any closer to the creature than I absolutely had to.
“It was in a dark patch of shadow inside the stable,” Titus replied. “We surrounded it, and drove it to this room. It can only move through shadows, and is thus currently incapacitated.”
“Good work.” Before I could say more, I heard Anya and Angus coming up the stairs.
“And all the bairns were asleep?” Angus said.
“That they were, eleven of the sweetest babes you ever did see,” Anya replied.
“Five more sisters,” Angus grumbled. “Getting to be a sorority around here.”
“Imagine how I felt growing up with all of you,” Anya countered. “I suspect you’ll meet them soon. Mum and Maelgwyn are caring for them now.”
Angus grunted. “I wonder what Da will have to say about that.”
I was wondering that, too; Beira seemed rather comfortable caring for Maelgwyn’s children, and if I had to guess she now had many more reasons to stay at the Unseelie Court. I was also wondering if the Winter Palace could withstand Bod hearing what could potentially be bad news. If what he’d done to the throne room was indicative of what could happen to the rest of the structure, Bod could level the palace in a day.
“Any news on the crown?” I asked Angus, once they stepped into the sunroom.
“No, and why does everyone thing I have the manky old thing?” Angus countered. “None of us brothers want anything to do with that Seelie mess.”
“We may have a solution for the Seelie mess, as you put it,” I said. “We found Nicnevin.”
“Where is Domina?” Lucius demanded.
The fuath appeared an inch in front of my face. I looked toward the floor; it had skipped across Lucius’s shadow and was now standing in mine. “Yes, where is Mama?”
To stare into the face of a fuath is to know true fear. I glanced at Lucius, and he nodded. “Tell it, if you wish. The fuath have no reason to harm Domina.”
Not that I would mind Nicnevin being taught a lesson, but I also didn’t want to inadvertently send trouble her way. I have a sense of responsibility, even if the Seelie Queen doesn’t. “She’s at my sister’s house, in Crail.”
The fuath dissipated. “It could have left at any time,” Anya said. “Why did it wait around?”
“Probably not for anything good,” I replied. “Where’s Bod?”
We all looked at Angus, who shrugged. “I thought he was with you.”
“I am sure he will be back soon enough,” Anya said. “If for no other reason than to test Sarmi’s latest batch of ale. I’m going to have another look at what Da did to the throne room, and repair what I can.”
“Good luck.” I turned to Lucius. “Will you and the rest of the Ninth go to Nicnevin?”
“Is she safe?” Lucius asked. “Besieged in any way?”
“Not in the slightest. In fact, she is rather comfortable. She seems to be on a vacation, of sorts.”
“Then we shall await her summons. We remain under your command, Dominus.”
“Maybe I’ll command you to call me Chris.”
A woman’s scream tore the air. Anya. Before I could call out to her or even move, she blinked to me, grabbed my hands, then teleported us to the throne room.
“What happened?” I looked around, and noticed we were standing on the edge of the very large, very deep hole Bod had punched into the floor. “Whoa.”
“Christopher!” Anya pointed into the hole. “Look!”
I did. “I don’t see anything but darkness.”
“That’s just it. Fionnlagh’s gone!”
Chapter Twenty Seven
Anya
“HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?” Christopher crouched down at the edge of the hole, peering into the darkness. “You froze him, and Rina put him in as deep as he could go.”
“However it happened, happen it did.” I linked my hands behind my neck and stared at the ceiling. It bore a second gaping hole, where Mum’s prized possession—the chandelier she’d crafted with her own hands—had once hung.
“Why would Da have taken out his anger on the throne room’s floor, of all places?” I wondered out loud. “I hardly remember him ever setting foot in here, yet when Mum didn’t return home with him, he came to the exact spot where Fionnlagh was imprisoned...” I squeezed my eyes shut as I came to an awful, inevitable conclusion, one that made my heart ache.
“Christopher.” He looked up at me, and the sight of his big summer blue eyes was the only thing helping me hold myself together. “Do you think...”
I cleared my throat, and began again. “Did Da free him on purpose?”
“No,” Angus roared, as he rushed into the room. “No he did not! Da would never...” He swallowed, probably remembering a lifetime of Da’s foolish, failed schemes. “He didn’t, Anya. We’ll prove he didn’t.”
“Doesn’t Bod hate Fionnlagh as much as the rest of us do?” Christopher asked. “It’s not like they were buddies. Why would he want to free a man he despises?
”
“He has no love for the Seelie, that’s for certain,” I said. “But, there is the matter of Mum.”
“You think Beira freed Fionnlagh?” Christopher asked.
“Not that,” I said. “Da will do anything to gain Mum’s favor. Each and every ill-thought plan of his had the sole purpose of increasing his standing in Mum’s eyes.”
“But, how would freeing Fionnlagh impress her?” Christopher asked. “He was already punished.”
A shred of memory came to the surface of my mind. “When we went in search of Crom, Da said that when he was in the ground he could hear the old ones whispering to him.”
“Aye, that’s true enough,” Angus said. “Once you learn how to listen, you can catch all sorts of secrets from below.”
“From below.” As I stared into the icy chasm that had once held my worst enemy, I only saw Da. Maelgwyn and I had followed him around Ireland, where he’d known exactly where the well that led to Crom’s lair was located. Once we were inside that lair Da had known exactly when to push us out of the way so we wouldn’t be hurt by the cave’s collapse. How could Da have known each and every one of Crom’s actions before they happened, unless Crom had warned him ahead of time?
Unless Da and Crom were working together.
I also knew that by claiming Fionnlagh’s court, Da would feel himself equal to Maelgwyn, and therefore once again worthy of Mum. All of Da’s schemes, from the time I’d been born bearing another man’s eyes until now, had been to bring Da up to the Seelie—or the Unseelie—level. He must have felt he’d won after beating Maelgwyn nearly to death, but then Fionnlagh rose to power. Da sought to unseat him, and got himself and my brothers stuck in a hole in the ground as punishment.
And now, Da thought he’d finally found a way to best Fionnlagh once and for all.
“Da has thrown in with Crom.” A hot tear slipped down my cheek. I dashed it away. “I don’t know how Fionnlagh fits in to the equation, but Da has played us all for fools.”
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