Queen of the Fireflies (Aurelia Chronicles Book 1)

by Rinna Ford

  “I’ve had a very strange afternoon,” I finally said staring at the ceiling.

  “Okay…” she said. “Well, what happened?”

  “You’re going to think I’m crazy.” I told her. “But I made plants grow with just my touch and I was petting two wild rabbits when you caught me sitting on the sidewalk. And I swear, the rabbits sent me calming feelings until they hopped away.”

  My eyes moved from the ceiling to my friend to see her staring at me, her eyebrows were raised up on her forehead.

  “Huh. Are you sure you aren’t sick? Or hallucinating?” she asked, trying to explain something that I didn’t think anyone could reasonably explain.

  I stood up and walked over to the ficus plant we had by the patio door. I pointed one finger on my right hand and touched it to a single leaf. The plant grew immediately to at least twice its size, just like the plants earlier that afternoon.

  “Holy shit!” Tessa exclaimed and jumped up out of the chair, backing away. “How? How did you do that?” I sighed and plopped back down onto the couch.

  “I don’t know Tessa.” I put my head in my hands. “I did it last night to Joe’s plant too.”

  “Joe’s dead plant?” she asked, slowly approaching me like I was a wild animal.

  “Yes. I had the urge to touch it and when I did, it sprung back to life and was more vibrant than it had ever been. I told the guys that I watered it. I don’t think Jesse believed me.”

  “How?” she asked again.

  “I wish I knew.” I said. “I feel like I’m going crazy.” I was suddenly thankful that it was Friday and I would have the weekend to try to figure this out. I picked my face up out of my palms and looked at my best friend. She looked a little afraid of me. I cringed because she was my person. I didn’t want her to think I was dangerous.

  “Please don’t be afraid of me,” I began crying. “I’m scared and I don’t want you to be afraid of me.”

  She suddenly looked at me with sympathy and sat down next to me on the couch.

  “Maybe you should tell your mom about this.” She suggested thoughtfully. “She seems to have an affinity for nature like you do. Maybe this happened to her when she was pregnant with you too.”

  I sat back, thinking over what she said. It wasn’t a bad idea and I didn’t have any other ideas myself. But that meant I’d have to tell her about the baby. I still hadn’t told her. I guessed I’d be telling her sooner rather than later, because Tessa handed me my phone from my purse on the floor, and I called her.

  I chickened out and asked her if I could come home for the weekend instead of telling her what was going on with me over the phone. She was so excited, I had to hold the phone away from my ear to talk to her. I told her I’d be there before lunch the next day. Tessa looked at me with approval when I hung up the phone with my mom.

  “I think this is the right thing to do,” she said. “In the meantime, stay away from all plants and animals, okay?” I was glad she could joke about it. I was even more glad that I had her in my life.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  I set my alarm for 4:00 the next morning and was up, dressed, and packed by 4:45. That included the time it took me to eat my morning saltines in bed and drink a Ginger Ale. The nausea was getting a little better, but it was still there. Especially first thing in the morning. Mom had to work that afternoon and I wanted to get there and talk to her before she left for the floral shop, so I left early.

  Tessa and I had said goodbye the night before when I went to bed. She gave me a gentle hug and told me it would be alright. She said to be honest with my mom and tell her everything. I hugged her back and told her that I would.

  I was thinking about my incredible friend as I loaded my overnight bag into the back of the jeep. I was so lucky that we got picked to be roommates our Freshman year.

  I hadn’t had anything to eat besides the crackers that morning and I started getting hungry around 5:30, so I decided to stop. After I passed through Atlanta and was driving down I 75, I looked at the signs to find a restaurant that was open that early. I saw a sign for a McDonald’s and got off the interstate. I turned left and drove about a quarter of a mile down the road when a deer jumped out in front of the large pick up truck that was in front of me.

  The poor deer didn’t have a chance, especially with the size of this truck. I screamed when the two hit and pulled over to the side of the road. The truck drove off leaving the dying deer lying in a ditch.

  I sat in my jeep, the headlights shining on the deer and I watched it struggle to survive. An urge that I still can’t understand came over me and I got out of my jeep. I slowly walked toward the deer, trying to find the best way to approach her without frightening her even more.

  She struggled to get up until her eyes locked with mine. She instantly stopped moving as I kneeled down at her head. I looked over her injuries. From what I could see with only the headlights shining on her, she had at least one broken leg and some other broken bones that more than likely punctured organs.

  I gently lifted the doe’s head putting it on my lap and began to pet her. I cooed softly to her and she calmed even more. As I touched her coarse fur, her broken leg began to mend. The bone that was sticking out of her side moved back into her abdomen, and the cut closed up. I kept petting her and talking to her until it looked like all of her injuries were healed.

  I laid her head back onto the ground and backed away. The deer got up slowly and stood in front of me. She bowed her head in thanks, then darted into the woods.

  I stood there for another minute, processing what just happened. How did I do that? What possessed me to even get out of my jeep and get close to a wild animal? I was pregnant, for goodness sakes. I had another person to think about.

  But I had healed that deer. She was going to die, and I somehow healed her with my touch. And did that deer really thank me for helping her? I tried not to panic as thoughts flew through my head. Mom would know what was happening. She’d help me. I just needed to get to her.

  Shaking my head, I got back into my jeep and drove to the McDonald’s just down the road. I went inside to wash up before ordering my breakfast. I wasn’t at all hungry for obvious reasons, but I knew I’d need to eat before going much further. Bean would be demanding it soon. I took my order to go which included coffee, and got back on the interstate.

  I pulled up to my mom’s cottage a little after 9:00 that morning. She came out onto the porch to greet me like she did every time I came home.

  But, instead of a smile on her face, she looked angry and stomped down the stairs. She stormed over to me and grabbed me by the arm, hauling me inside the house. I didn’t even get the chance to get my bag or lock the jeep.

  She closed the front door behind us with a slam and turned on me. “What did you do?!” she yelled. I cringed back. “How did you break the binding?!”

  Mom began pacing and muttering to herself when I didn’t answer her, because I didn’t know what to say. What binding?

  “What are you talking about, Mom?” I asked. “I don’t have any idea what you mean by binding! You’re scaring me!” She stopped pacing and stared at me intently. “I came home because I need your help. Please, Mom. I’m scared and I don’t know what’s happening to me.” She could see the fear in my eyes because this time her eyes softened and she stopped pacing.

  “Alya, start from the beginning,” she said in a much calmer, but still firm voice. She sat down on the couch and I sat down next to her.

  “Okay, well for starters I’m pregnant,” I blurted out. I waited for shock to cross her face, and it did for only a second until she seemed to realize something. It was suddenly like everything made sense to her. Mom put her hand on my cheek and smiled a weak smile.

  “I’ll be okay. I promise.” I started to ask her how she knew that when she didn’t even know the half of what was wrong with me, but she got up and walked into the kitchen. She got her phone from the counter made a call. “Hey Harlan,” she said into the
phone. “I’m so sorry to have to do this, but an emergency came up with Alya and I need to take off for a couple of days or so.” I stood there, mouth open. Mom was so calm about this. Why wasn’t she more concerned? She was yelling at me only minutes ago.“Yes, I’ll let you know if we need anything. Thanks, hun.” She hung up the phone and placed it back onto the counter.

  Mom then led me to the couch and sat me down. “The baby is Brogan’s, isn’t it?” she asked me. I nodded. “I knew he was Aurelian,” she said softly to herself. I gave her a puzzled look and waited for her to explain, but she just had more questions for me “Are strange things happening to you? Around plants and animals?” I nodded again, dumbfounded.

  “How did you know that?” I asked, tears filling my eyes. My mom knew what was wrong with me. Tessa was right. “I can make plants grow with my touch and I even brought one back to life.” I told her. She slowly nodded.

  “Anything strange happen with animals?” I nodded slowly.

  “Two wild rabbits came to me last night outside of my apartment building and sent me calming vibes when I petted them. Then this morning, on the way here, I saw a deer get hit by a truck. I healed her.”

  She slowly nodded, panic showing on her face again. We were both silent for several minutes before Mom decided to speak. I think she was trying to figure out how to tell me what was going on.

  Mom settled into the chair and started talking. “I should probably tell you about my past before explaining what’s happening to you. Long before you were born, I was married to a man named Stellan. His family was very wealthy, as was mine. It was an arranged marriage and I was happy at first. But it wasn’t long before Stellan became abusive. He beat me, only in places that bruised under clothes, and was verbally and emotionally abusive as well. He cheated on me. I could never prove it, but I knew.” I looked at her in shock. This explained a lot. The moving, the never making attachments to people…

  “His brother, Aidric was the complete opposite of Stellan in everything but looks. Aidric was kind, smart, and just incredible in every way.” She looked at me guiltily. “I had a brief affair with Aidric which ended up with me pregnant with you. I know it was wrong to cheat on my husband, but I wouldn’t change what happened for the world. I have you.”

  “I’m not judging you, Mom. I just want to know why you didn’t leave Stellan for Aidric?” She sighed and looked down at the floor as if she were trying to figure out how to tell me the rest.

  “There’s something else you need to know. We aren’t what you would call human.” My eyebrows shot up in disbelief. “We come from a realm called Aurelia. In the past, humans have called us Fae or fairy folk, but we prefer to be called Aurelians. We have magic and a strong affinity for nature. Other than that and the fact that we’re long-lived, we look a lot like humans.”

  “What?” I asked. She had to be joking. Why would she joke about something like this?

  “Aidric was the King of Aurelia and married when we had the affair, making Stellan his only brother and advisor. I couldn’t leave him. He was just too powerful. And Aidric was king.” She shrugged her shoulders as if to say, what could I do? “I knew Stellan would kill me and you if he were to find out about your parentage, and he would have definitely found out, so I faked my death and hid out at my sister’s cottage until you were born. Aurelian men can sense if a child is theirs or not through a familial bond. An uncle can feel the pull, but a father’s pull is stronger. It’s the magic that binds us together. He would have realized that his pull wasn’t as strong when you were born. So I did what I had to do so that you and I survived.”

  “Wow, Mom.” I gaped at her. What she went through! Everything made so much sense now. “Did Aidric ever know about me?” I asked.

  She wiped a tear that threatened to roll down her face. “I don’t know. I think so, but I can’t be sure. My sister, Orsa is a bit of a recluse, but very powerful. She is also a midwife, so she helped me when I gave birth to you and also with binding your magic.”

  The more she talked, the more questions I had. She seemed to realize that because she motioned for me to let her continue talking.

  “I had to bind your magic because an Aurelian can sense another Aurelian through the use of magic. I decided to bring you to Earth after you were born to hide us, and as a baby you had no control over your magic. An Aurelian using magic on Earth would light up like a beacon because humans have no magic. To keep us hidden, I had to do it. I had no choice. Besides that, your father is the King and the most powerful being in Aurelia. You are meant to be just as powerful as he, if not more. From what you told me with the dying plant and deer, you are already showing great magic. I had to try to keep you from coming into your powers, especially here on Earth.”

  She looked at me to see if I was angry, which I wasn’t. I understood why she did what she did it. I didn’t like it, but I understood.

  We stayed silent for few more minutes. I had so many questions, but there was one that was burning in my mouth.

  “What did you mean about Brogan being an Aurelian?”

  She sighed. “I knew that he was one of us when I met him at the floral shop because his magic use flared around him like an aura. If you remember, I tried to keep you away from him. Do you remember when I was tired and weak at the beginning of summer?” I nodded my head. “I wasn’t tired Alya, I was dying.” I jumped up off the couch in shock.

  She motioned for me to sit back down so she could finish. “The last time I used magic was when I opened the portal to Earth when you were a few days old. Denying magic for Aurelian for a period of time is a death sentence. Magic is what makes us thrive and gives us purpose. At the beginning of summer it had been almost 21 years since I used magic and the lack of use was killing me. That night I promised to go to the doctor, I drove out to a secluded place and I grew a tree from a seedling with magic. That one use of magic rejuvenated me so that I was back to myself again. I thought I was safe, but when I saw Brogan in our shop, I knew he must have sensed my magic use and came to investigate.”

  I put my face in my hands and took deep breaths. He seemed to be looking for something the day I hit him with my jeep. Was he looking for the Aurelian using magic? Was he just using me? It made so much sense.

  “Magic fades from the Aurelian if they don’t use it for several days, so he never suspected me. My guess is that he came to look for me, but he found you instead. I have no doubt of his feelings for you, so you shouldn’t either. He was madly in love with you when I saw him that day. But a relationship between an Aurelian and a human is forbidden. Diluting the magic, or something like that. My guess is that’s why he had to leave and couldn’t take you with him.”

  I lifted my face from my hands and looked at her. She continued.

  “When two Aurelians conceive a child together, the mother starts to experience an extra affinity for Nature that is outside of her magical abilities. That’s how I knew Brogan was the father. If it were a human then your pregnancy would seem like a normal, human pregnancy.” I nodded in understanding. “But when I saw you just now, I saw the aura of magic surrounding you and I panicked. I’m sorry that I scared you. I was worried that you had broken the binding, but I think your pregnancy has definitely put a crack in it. You’re experiencing more that the average pregnant Aurelian does. Healing dying plants and animals is definitely something more.” She got up from her chair and joined me on the couch. “Honey, any Aurelian in the area will be able to sense you now that you’re using magic. I have to take you home to Aurelia.”

  I sat on the couch in a daze. “Wait. What? Why?” I asked. “I need to go Aurelia? I don’t understand. Aren’t you afraid of Stellan?”

  “Daughter, you’re in more danger here, out in the open, than you would be in Aurelia. And I’m not leaving you alone to be snatched up. You need to learn to control your magic. When your baby is born he’ll have magic too. Magic that he can’t control He’ll be even more of a beacon than you will be. Yes, I’m scared of Stellan,
but I’m more scared of trying to teach you how to control your magic here.”

  My mind was completely blown. We had to go back to Aurelia. I’d have to give up everything I worked for. My career aspirations were gone.

  And Tessa! What was I going to tell Tessa?!

  “I need a minute to think about this,” I said and started walking toward the garden in the backyard.

  “Don’t go outside!” she yelled, stopping me in my tracks. “You’ll be easier to sense outside.”

  I sighed. I really wanted to be in the garden, but my room would suffice. Or better yet, a shower. A shower sounded like a great idea.

  “Could you please get my bag from the jeep?” I asked. “I’m taking a shower.” She gave me a little grin and nodded, taking the keys from me.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  I stayed in the shower well after the water ran cold, going over all the information Mom told me. I resolved a lot of my fears. I knew she wasn’t lying to me because everything made sense, especially when I thought about my life so far. The moving around, never making personal attachments, and even the things that Brogan told me when we were together. The way he described his home, Morrell and the fact that he’d never had pizza, among other things… it seemed like he was from a different world. And in fact, he technically was. Huh. How about that.

  I knew that going to Aurelia would be my best option, so it didn’t take long for me to accept it. But I was still worried.

  For one thing, I knew I’d have to tell Tessa the truth. I just had to. I couldn’t live with myself if I disappeared on her or lied to her about it. I’d never do that to her.

  With that settled, I began thinking about school and my internship. What could I do besides drop out? Maybe one day, several years from now, I could come back and finish my degree, but for now it was done. My heart broke with that thought. I had worked so hard and had such a passion for it.