Peter should have stopped. The Peter Katy knew would have held the man at swordpoint and demanded an explanation. But from the savage look on Peter’s face in that moment, Katy knew that Peter was going to kill him.
Without thinking, Katy launched herself off the platform and down into the arena. Flying as fast as her wings would go, Katy threw herself between the man and Peter’s diamond-studded sword.
The world around her flashed green as the blade met her palm. Instead of slicing through her hand, however, her power propelled his sword backward.
Please, Atharo! she silently pleaded. Don’t let me hurt him.
They stood that way for an immeasurable moment, locked in combat as though time were standing still. Katy trembled, struggling to keep her power in check. She could feel the raw energy that she’d been suppressing for the last few months come barreling back up to the surface, trying to claw its way out of her. It was all she could to do keep it focused on the sword instead of on Peter. But unlike anything she had ever touched before with her gift, the sword did not rust or disintegrate or even change color. Instead, it matched her push perfectly.
“Peter!” Katy shouted again. “Don’t do this!”
The metallic shine in Peter’s eyes flickered once.
“Please!” she begged. “He was only doing as he was told! I’m in no danger!” She attempted a smile as his eyes flickered again. Then she leaned forward and whispered, “You don’t want his blood on your hands.”
Slowly, so slowly, the glow began to drain from his eyes and the mark on his face. Where blind rage had consumed him, now horror crossed Peter’s features. Slowly, he looked back and forth between Katy and the man cowering behind her on the ground.
“What…” he asked, his voice haggard as he suddenly gasped for air. Katy put a shoulder beneath his arm as he started to slump forward.
“What happened?” he rasped.
Katy shook her head as his breath came too fast against her cheek. “I don’t know.”
“Thank you, Peter,” said a voice behind her.
Katy and Peter looked at Donella, who stood in at the edge of the platform. Her face was calm.
“We’ve seen exactly what we needed.”
22
Potential
Katy and Peter stared up, Katy still supporting Peter as Donella turned and spoke briefly with Ethemu. Then she looked up at the other members of the Higher Chancel. They nodded, and she turned back to face Peter and Katy.
“The Higher Chancel needs a few minutes to discuss your tests. You may return to the tunnel until you are summoned again. You’ll find some refreshments there.”
Peter and Katy looked at one another. She could see her own questions reflected in his face.
“What about my test?” she asked.
Donella turned once more. “You participated just as we’d expected you would.” When she turned away again, Katy knew she was being dismissed. She and Peter made their way slowly back to the tunnel, Katy wishing more with every step that they didn’t have hundreds of people to witness what felt like a sure failure.
When they finally made it back into the dark respite of the tunnel, they found two chairs and a small table. The table had mugs of cool water, and there were several pieces of fruit on plates as well. But eating was the last thing on Katy’s mind. Carefully, she lowered Peter into one of the chairs before collapsing on her knees beside him.
“I remember,” he said, still breathing heavily. “I remember fighting the men. Then I saw one charging you…” He shook slightly. “Did I…”
“No.”
So many questions. Katy had more questions than she could count. But none of them felt right to ask out loud. And yet…
What did they do now? If they failed, should they simply retreat to the Third Isle? Would the others make chase? Her mind spun like a whirlpool. What had just happened to Peter?
“How do you feel?” she asked when his breathing had slowed a little.
He shook his head, still staring at the gravel beneath them. “I’m not sure.”
“Has…has this happened before?”
Peter finally looked at her. The skin beneath his eyes was dark, looking nearly bruised. “No. Well, once.”
“When?” She handed him a mug of chilled water, which he took and drank so fast he spilled half of it on his chin and lap.
Finally, he wiped his mouth with his arm, still panting. Katy took the opportunity to remove the awful heavy leather armor.
“When?” she repeated when she was free of the armor and he was done drinking.
“I was sparring with Karel—”
“Katy?”
Donella stood at the entrance of the tunnel. She smiled hesitantly. “Katy, if I could have a word with you…Maybe we could take a short flight?”
Katy looked at Peter.
“Don’t worry about Peter.” Donella took a step forward. “He’ll have some time to recover first. Then I’ll talk with him, too, when we’re through.” When Katy still hesitated, Donella stretched out a hand and beckoned. “I promise, you’ll have some time alone before the chancel announces its ruling.”
Katy looked up at Peter, and he gave her a small nod. She stood and kissed his temple, her lips lingering on his skin.
“I’ll come back as soon as I can,” she whispered. Then she stood and joined Donella at the end of the tunnel, where Donella took flight and Katy followed.
They didn’t speak until they’d flown high enough to look down on the arena from above. Most of the fairies inside the arena still hovered together in small bunches as the humans gathered to speak beneath them in the same way.
“The chancels are pleased.”
Katy looked at Donella. “What?”
“Come. Let’s head for Spring.” She paused and looked back until she knew Katy was following. Then she continued. “The chancels are pleased with your performance.”
“It…It wasn’t a performance. I was trying to save him…them. The man and Peter.” As she recalled the moment, anger began to simmer in her belly. “Why would you that? Why would you put in him that position?”
They flew over a purple crystalline lake.
“When I was a young woman and first earned my seat on the chancel, about fifty years ago,” Donella said, a smile in her voice, “this lake was twice as big. And there was a small herd of cherry bees that would make their hives in those bushes there.” Her smile faded a bit. “I haven’t seen them in a decade.” She looked out across the landscape they moved past the lake and out toward a plain. “This isle was so vibrant. They all were. But with each passing year, they’ve grown a little colder. A little dryer, or a little browner. There are famines on at least one part of every isle.”
“That still doesn’t tell me why you tried to bait Peter into killing someone.”
“We could have called them off at any moment.” Donella’s voice remained calm. “We needed to see how far each of you would go to save the other.”
“And?” Katy’s voice wavered.
“Peter has proven himself a worthy warrior. One with a heart as well.” She nodded, almost to herself. “That combination is quite rare, even for a rhin.”
“So we passed?” Katy held her breath.
A flicker of something Katy couldn’t identify flashed across Donella’s face. “That is for the chancel to announce when we are through. But I needed to tell you first that the kind of power you exhibited today…rather, all week, is the kind of power I believe we need to make the tree flower once again.”
Katy felt her mouth fall open. “But I ruin things!” If she’d doubted it before, her moment alone with the Tree of Diadems and the crack she’d put in its invisible shield was more than proof enough. “I failed every test you gave me!”
Donella smiled as she moved them over an orchard of cherry trees, their branches full of bright pink blossoms. “We’ve always believed the peoples would be united and the prophecy would come true if all isles were united through the rh
ins. But what if we were wrong?” She locked gazes with Katy. “What if instead, all four seasons were needed?”
“So…” Katy frowned thoughtfully. “If you believed I was so special, why didn’t you come for me sooner?” Why had they left her to be hunted by the humans for so many years?
Donella sighed, and they came to rest on a hilltop overlooking the cherry trees. “That is our foolishness, I’m afraid. The fae who had seen you believed, but the humans did not. Even many fae did not believe. They thought you had died. But we kept watch enough to know that you were a fairy, and that you were in the hands of a man who died attempting to save the life of your parents, fae or not. Here,” she indicated to one of the hills below. If you don’t mind, let’s rest for a minute. My wings aren’t what they used to be. I want to show you something, but I need to rest before making the climb.”
Katy wondered what she meant by about a climb, but she followed.
Donella didn’t speak again until they were comfortably seated on one of the lower grassy hills. “Before a decision can be made,” she said, “the chancels must unanimously agree. And when Peter’s uncle sent for us, we weren’t able to come to an agreement fast enough to help you. And for that, I will always be sorry,” she whispered. “I was very near to going to get you myself. But Ethemu talked me out of it. He said I would cause a war.” Her voice trailed off, and she stared into the distance, as she plucked at blades of grass.
Katy sat quietly, not sure of what she should say.
“We have made mistakes in the past,” Donella said after a few moments of silence. “Mistakes I would give anything to fix. But you’re here now, and we can finally give you the family you’ve always deserved.” Her eyes shone as she leaned in closer and took Katy’s hand in hers. “We can all help each other, just as Atharo intended.” Her hand tightened slightly. “We’re not about to let you go.”
Katy couldn’t deny it. That sounded wonderful. Katy straightened her shoulders and raised her chin. “What is it you want me to do?” If she couldn’t go back and fix the past, perhaps she could at least help change the future. “I can’t promise I can do it, but…I can try.”
Donella gave her a broad smile, the lines at the corners of her eyes crinkling pleasantly. “That’s what I was hoping you’d say.” She lifted off the ground again and climbed higher than Katy had ever even imagined flying. She made the mistake of looking down several times, and finally had to focus only on Donella as they continued to ascend. Higher than the palace, higher than the clouds, until they’d gone up so high that the entire isle below lost all its detail. But just as Katy’s wings began to tire, Donella took her hand and held her stead. Then she beckoned for Katy to look down.
“See that shadow to the north?”
“What is it?”
“That’s the Fifth Isle. And there’s the First. And there’s yours.”
Katy caught her breath as she studied the contour of the miniature shadow in the distance. It didn’t look very familiar. And yet, if she squinted hard enough, she could make out the rugged peeks she knew so well. Then another shape caught her eye. And another. “I can see them all from here!” she exclaimed as she turned in a circle.
“They need you.”
Katy looked back at Donella.
“I’ve discussed this at great length with the others, and we believe that you complete the seasons.”
“I what?”
“You, Katy, are the one who will fulfill the prophecy. By adding Autumn to our ranks, we will finally be free of the curse the High King brought down upon us!”
Katy frowned. “But that’s only the fae. What about the humans?”
“We’ll bring peace to them as well!” Donella’s eyes burned as her excitement grew. “If you join us, we can travel from isle to isle, using our gifts to heal them. With you, we can restore them to what they were. Then, perhaps, Atharo will see our attempts to right what we’ve wronged, and he’ll send the High King!”
“I want to help. But what about Peter? And allowing him to kneel as High King? What if he is the High King? Will you make him wait until we’ve restored the isles?”
“I’m afraid,” Donella spoke slowly, “that healing the isles will take much longer than a few months or even a few years.”
“What about our wedding?”
“Katy.” Donella took her hands. The sun glinted on her hair and wings. “I cannot tell you what to do, particularly as the Higher Chancel has not yet addressed you both. But I ask you…I implore you to please consider a new kind of life.”
Katy blinked. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Marriage to a rhin is a demanding task. One that never ends. Doing the kind of work the Third Isle needs from a queen as well as traveling to restore the other isles…it wouldn’t be possible to do both.”
“But—”
“I’m just suggesting that maybe you and Peter could do more for the isles as friends than you could as spouses.”
Katy felt as though someone had punched her in the gut. She tried to speak but found no air in her lungs to draw from.
“Peter will need someone there by his side helping the Third Isle adjust to the presence of fairies. And the fairies…the isles will need you. All of them.”
“Peter…” Katy’s words came out in gasps. “Peter is my best friend.”
“And he can remain so!” Donella said quickly, taking Katy’s face in her hands. “Perhaps your friendship will even be better that way without emotion and marital obligation clouding your judgment.” She laughed a little. “No going to sleep angry with the man sharing your bed because politics got in the way.”
Katy shook her head and gazed back down at the Third Isle. It was harder to see, as they had slowly been descending as they spoke. “I don’t think I can.”
“You want to help the isles, don’t you?”
“Of course!” Katy refocused on Donella’s face once more, which had become stern.
“You are a fairy. And as long as Peter is present, I’m afraid you will never reach your full potential. And without your full gift, the isles will never heal.” Her face softened, and she took Katy’s hand again and began to lead her down more steadily. It was a good thing, too, as Katy’s eyes had misted over. “Peter and his father have served you well for a long time. So has Katy.”
She had served herself? What in the isles was Donella talking about?
“But what if,” Donella continued, “it’s time to leave Katy behind and to discover Clarisant once more?”
Katy didn’t know what to say to that. So she remained silent.
They flew on in silence. Katy felt as though she’d fallen in a hole with no way to get out. She wanted desperately to deny everything Donella was saying. Of course she could marry Peter and help the other isles. She had to. She would venture out every few weeks to do what they needed to do, but Peter would understand. He had to leave often with the knights as well. As long as they were agreed upon their absences and the necessity of them, they would be just fine.
Until, Katy realized with horror, they had children. What kind of life could she give a child with one parent always gone? She could always take a baby with her, but about Peter? She couldn’t give the child a life without a father, not when he was alive and well and simply someplace else. And yet, she couldn’t deny the Third Isle its king just so he could stay home and play whenever she was home.
They didn’t speak again until they were very nearly back to the palace.
“I know this is difficult.”
Katy could only look up at Donella miserably.
“Believe me,” Donella whispered, her voice cracking slightly. “I understand more than you could know. I remember like it was yesterday.” Then she sniffed and cleared her throat. “I’ll give you some time alone before the chancels meet you both. How about I find Peter for you?
Katy could only nod as she came to rest on a bench in a garden between the arena and the palace. But as soon as Donella was gone, Katy curl
ed up into a ball and cried.
23
A Remnant
Peter sat watching the place where Katy had stood long after she and Donella had flown off. Coming here had been a mistake. He knew that now. His arms and legs still tingled, as did the mark on his face. He had come for answers, and instead of getting answers, he was more a monster than ever. That they had baited him, he had no doubt. They had pushed him to his limit just to see what would happen. Unfortunately, he and Katy now had less control over their lives than they’d ever had before.
And he wasn’t entirely sure there was any way to go back.
He shivered again as he remembered the way the change had felt. He had been aware of what he was doing, of course. He was blocking and slashing and striking. Once in a while he would land a good kick to a man’s ribs or face. He even broke someone's nose. But the sensation of battle had been gone. He’d felt as though someone had placed him inside a cloud, and he was floating up above it all. His body did as it pleased, and he was merely along for the ride. A monster from somewhere deep inside of him had ripped itself from his depths. It had broken loose of its bonds with teeth and claws and had roared with a fury that he’d never known. His tongue still tasted metallic even as he sat, remembering the transformation.
Worse was the look of panic that had been in Katy’s clear blue eyes. Without a doubt, if she hadn’t interfered, he would have killed the man. He could feel it in his blood. Even now, a shred of blind hatred lingered in his bones, the desire to kill. To punish.
What had he become?
The hair on the nape of Peter’s neck prickled. He pushed himself higher in the chair and looked around just in time to see Karel enter the tunnel.
“Well, you gave the chancels exactly what they’d hoped to see. Fantastic job at that.”
Peter glared at him as he came to stand several feet away. “What do you want?”
The Autumn Fairy of Ages Page 20
