by N. K. Vir
“That is a tale I had not heard until now,” Duncan admitted.
“Tis something that only the oldest Sidhe remember and they rarely speak of it as it was a dark time for the Seelie and the rule of Bres is something we would all like to forget.”
Annie listened in silence. Her mind trying to focus on something that to her was an intangible, alien race of ancient men and women, battling talking stones and other worlds of existence. All of it was so difficult to take in as real, as history opposed to myth.
“Aye, his presence was felt on both sides of the veil and when he left the throne his light faded from the long memory of the Sidhe until he was naught more than a myth to all but the few who knew him.”
“Why are there so few of you who remember him?” She asked.
“That last war between the Formorians and the Tuatha de Danann took many of the elders and even more of the younger Sidhe,” Manny explained sadness and remorse tainting his words.
“But I thought the Fae were immortal?” Annie
Manny shook his head sadly his blue eyes misting over with emotion. Finn seeing his distress answered for him. “When wars are fought with iron death comes.”
Annie began scratching her now scarring wrist the memory of the pain she had felt that morning was still fresh and she shuddered as she recalled the burning sensation. Duncan laid his hand over her still aching arm, his gentle touch soothing the memory. Her imagination ran wild with visions of Sidhe in every shape and form writhing in burning agony after being struck down by and iron sword. In comparison she had been nicked barely punctured. Their wounds must have been horrifically painful. Her mind sought to change topics quickly.
“So if Lugh was so great why did he leave? What happened to him?” She demanded.
“The burden of rule can be great and all things must, at some time, end,” Manny responded. When she tried to question him further he held up a hand to silence her before continuing. “But no one save Lugh himself really knows why he abdicated.”
Annie forced herself to accept the vague answer and decided to pose another question. “Why you?” She had the slightest realization that she was interrogating a very important Sidhe King and should probably give him the respect his title probably deserved. But when she really looked at him all she could see was the doting, yet overprotective, father who would tuck her in tightly at night after telling her a very long story.
A half smile formed on Manny’s mouth. “At first I was arrogant enough to think I was worthy. The Lia Fails beat that thought out of my head.”
“So stepping on the stone is painful?” She asked.
Manny nodded his head in response.
Duncan slammed his fist on the table startling the other three. Annie’s heart pounded violently in her chest, but the Goddess inside her purred quietly in appreciation. “Then she will not go!” he shouted.
“We have to,” the silent Goddess told Annie.
She stayed still and quiet. Although she did not considered herself a coward, actively participating in anything that at best guaranteed pain and at worst resulted in death was not something she was sure she should agree to.
“Calm yourself Duncan,” Manny spoke quietly. “The pain was not physical only my ego was injured. And I would like to remind you that as much as you care for her do not question my love for my daughter. I would cut off my own hand to spare her but a moment of pain.” His eyes grew dark as he stared unblinkingly back at Duncan.
“How was your ego hurt?” She asked attempting to diffuse the tension between her father and Duncan.
A few moments of silence continued as Duncan and Manny continued to glare at each other. Manny broke first and Annie sensed that something rather significant had just occurred. Before she had time to process it Manny began speaking, answering her questions and drawing Annie back to the conversation.
“I thought I was to rule like Lugh. I was wrong,” he said as his eyes fell to his hands. ” I was merely a place holder until the king returned. The stone whispered not only of my future but that of my unborn child.”
In that instant the strong man Annie had known her whole life and the powerful King she had just met seemed to shrink and grow frail before her. His shoulders hunched his head falling forward as if his slumped posture bore a heavy weight and the toil of carrying it had suddenly become too heavy.
“The stone told me my daughter would marry the Lost King,” he whispered answering the unspoken question everyone was ready to ask.
“The Lost King? What does that mean?” Annie asked.
“The true High King who was lost, he who should rule the Sidhe.” Manny shrugged, “Prophecies however seeming clear never are. We are all beings ruled by fate and try as we might to over throw Fate’s rule we can never win.”
“So that’s it?” Annie questioned angrily. “Fate wins and I lose?”
“Annie you don’t understand-“ Manny began but she refused to let him finish.
“I don’t know about the Sidhe but humans,” she said pointing to her chest. “Humans decide their own fate. I’ll step on your stone. I’ll let fate take her and I will come right back here.” Her voice grew louder with each word until the last one was a hoarse shout and her throat burned. Before the battle she had been convinced by others that she and the goddess were inseparable. Now she had been given a small kernel of hope and she seized it willingly.
“Annie don’t do it,” Duncan begged.
She refused to look at him afraid that if she did she would lose the tiny spark of bravery her anger had caused.
She kept her attention focused on her father and on his words that continued to echo in her mind. She needed to believe that she could continue to live as she had before and if stepping on some legendary stone could set her free, well in the end that was something worth dying for.
Without another word she left the men and retreated to the solitude of her room. When she closed the door they began a whispered argument. Her adrenaline fueled heart thumped so loudly that it was the only sound her ears could hear. Her mind raced along with her pulse as she struggled to take deep breaths in an attempt to calm them both. Eventually she regained control over her mind and body and was left with one surprising realization. She was not afraid of the journey that lay before her, she was excited. The bevy of conflicting emotions all melted down to that one dangerous feeling. No matter what happened after today right now in this one moment of time she felt alive.
Come what may, whether she gained her freedom or lost her life right now she was alive and it felt good. She held onto that thought as she packed, held onto it as she lulled herself to sleep, held onto it even as she dreamed of emerald shores and misty lore.
