I could not think of a response, although I felt my guilt loosen just a little. I would do everything I could to atone for what I had done to them, though I knew it would never be enough.
I would make sure that I never let King Ferchar affect me this way again. I did not expect the humans to forgive me. I just desperately hoped that the Others did not punish the whole of Norbroch for my actions.
I’d face the consequences in the Otherworld, I welcomed them.
“Q ueen Freya,” Nieve greeted me with a respectful nod, her eyes never meeting mine.
I was struck by how much she had changed since that day at the stables. Her cheekbones and jaw were sharper than ever and her hair was tied back from her face, half of it plaited down her back.
She wore her usual plain dress, but had added a leather vest and a scarf. The most noticeable addition was the dagger on her belt. My mind whirled with more questions than I could count. I wanted to know all about our time apart.
What had she been doing? Where had she been? Where did she and her human companions find the leather and wool for new clothes? Why did she carry a weapon? Most importantly, did she miss me?
William nudged me forward slightly and I remembered that this was supposed to be a meeting. I hurried forward to take my seat.
The first time Nieve had laid eyes on me in months and I simply stood there, staring at her. No wonder she didn’t want to see me.
“I am told you are the leader,” I commented, to which she nodded. “The leader of what?”
“We have learned that the humans residing in Culhuinn were stolen from their homes throughout the human kingdoms. I am here to negotiate our freedom,” her voice was completely devoid of warmth, as if she was talking to an enemy.
Did she really think I was her enemy?
“Freedom?” I blurted out.
Berwin had spoken of the humans, and their desire for freedom, just a few days before when he confessed to poisoning us. I had not realised quite how serious they were, despite the King and Queen being murdered.
“As payment for years of servitude we want land in the south. Above the northernmost human kingdom there is place with mountains, forests and rivers. We want this land as our own, where we will be free to build our own kingdom,” Nieve said, pulling out a roughly drawn map and handing it to William, who brought it over to me.
“You don’t need to leave,” I insisted, after studying the rough and inaccurate map. “We will pay a fair amount of coin for your work here.”
“We will not work here any longer,” Nieve said with a shake of her head. “We are not members of this kingdom. I ask that you allow us to leave and spread word that we are our own free and independent kingdom,” her blunt demands sent a flicker of dread through me.
I had no idea how to deal with this.
“And what if I don’t?”
“Then we will simply leave. Even if we have to fight our way out,” Nieve replied, completely unfazed.
“I need time to think about this. There are fairies living down south in the land you are demanding,” I said after a glance at William and Adair, who both looked equally as shocked by their requests.
“You do not have time. Either you grant us this land or we fight.”
A pounding headache began as I realised that she had me backed into a corner. There was no way I could persuade her to change her mind. For a fleeting moment, I almost wished that Berwin’s poison had killed me that night.
If the whole royal family had died, the humans could have left and I would have known nothing about it. The court would have spent weeks arguing over who the appropriate heir was and wouldn’t have been organised enough to prevent the humans from taking their freedom.
I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to deal with this. I just wanted Nieve to stay with me and for these problems to disappear.
“I need time,” I exclaimed, horrified to hear that my voice sounded shaky and choked with emotion.
Nieve sighed impatiently and nodded to her two fellow humans to leave the room.
My mood lifted slightly, distracted by the hope that she wanted to speak to me alone. I quickly gestured for William and Adair to leave us alone.
“What happened to Berwin?” she asked in a quiet voice.
“What?” I spluttered.
This is what she wanted to talk about alone?!
“Berwin confessed to his crime, what has become of him?”
“He is in prison?” I explained, “but I won’t execute him.” I hurried to assure her when she looked pained.
“Thank you, I did not approve of his methods,” she replied dully before turning to leave.
Before I could stop and think about what was appropriate behaviour for a Queen, I was hurrying towards her.
I tried to take her hand in mine, like I had the first day she served us, but she pulled away from me as my fingertips grazed her warm skin.
“Please Nieve, don’t do this,” I mumbled, losing the battle to stop my tears from escaping.
“We need to be free.”
“You can be. They can be. Just stay with me, stay here in Culhuinn. I’ll do whatever you want.”
“My people are more important,” she said simply. “We will meet again to discuss the plans once you have had time,” and without a backwards glance, she left the hall.
My legs stopped supporting me and I crumpled to the floor as the door shut, the love of my life leaving me. I struggled to draw breath as I sobbed.
I should have felt embarrassed, crumpled on the floor, weeping like a selfish child. No doubt the guards outside the door could hear me and thought their Queen was pathetic.
“It’s okay,” William whispered, pulling me into his lap sometime later.
I clutched the fabric of his shirt, anchoring myself to him as I shed the last of my tears. Nieve had grown strong in our time apart whereas I floundered and failed.
If she no longer loved me, the best I could do was be strong as I helped her escape. If I could not make myself happy, at least I could ensure her happiness.
Eventually, my tears dried and I noticed that William was rocking us gently, patting my back in a soothing rhythm.
“You must think I am hopeless,” I whispered.
“I think you are a lonely young woman, forced into a difficult position, one which you have never wanted. I would be more concerned if you weren’t upset.”
His understanding made me feel less alone.
There was nothing he could do to erase my problems, but his unflinching support made all the difference. So often during the last few months he had proven himself trustworthy and selfless.
My heart still ached at the thought of Nieve leaving, but I felt like I could survive it with William there to hold me up when I could not cope.
I had to help the humans escape.
One day my life would be at an end. I would travel through to the Otherworld, my pain and sorrow erased from this world the moment the life left my body.
A new human kingdom, free from servitude and oppressive fairy rulers would survive for centuries after my death.
Generations of humans, free to live their lives without fear, who was I to deny them that?
I frowned at the roughly drawn map in front of me. The area of land we were allowing the humans to claim was much smaller than what they had asked for. They expected to claim the land running from the border with Wulvendach, all the way to the sea in the east, but we could only offer a small area in the south.
The land included part of the forest, where they could hunt, and access to the large river, which would take them to the loch in the human kingdoms.
Wulvendach would trade with them, they hadn’t fought anyone in living memory so we could rest assured that they wouldn’t attack.
After discussions with the Lady of our most southern town, who was luckily still up north after the coronation, it became clear that this was the only land we could spare.
The forest down south was home
to many fairies whom were not part of any kingdom. They practised their magic as they wished and were completely ignorant of our laws. Adair doubted that they even knew they were part of a kingdom, their lives focused solely to their magic.
We could not ask them to leave their homes, and even if we did, they would fight us for them. We didn’t have time for that. Not with Nieve threatening to take the humans and leave as soon as possible.
Once we had the new kingdom mapped out, we had to decide what the humans would be allowed to take south with them. The castle had enough food to feed the hundreds of humans within, so we had to split the food and livestock between our two kingdoms.
The Lady from the south agreed to trade with the humans once they were settled, even offering to aid them in building their first village.
I thanked the Others that their population was relatively small. If there had been more humans it would have been a disaster to organise.
While we worked on the maps and organising the food supplies, William had the job of meeting with humans in the kitchens, the stables, the gardens, the ones who washed the clothes, cleaned the halls, looked after the children, all of them.
He learned that many of those who were old planned to stay. They had lives here in the castle and didn’t want to move so late in life.
Fortunately, there were fairies working in each part of the castle, meaning that once the humans left we would be able to survive on our own.
We would all just have to get our hands dirty for a while.
“This will be where you can build your own kingdom,” I pointed to the pitifully small area of land Adair had marked on the map.
“That’s it?” Nieve looked both baffled and furious.
“The fairies that far south don’t listen to the crown,” Adair explained, pointing to the depth of the vast forest. “If you tried to take that much land you would need to fight for it. You don’t have the strength for that.”
Nieve sighed but she agreed with what he was saying. Adair had been teaching the both of us about the kingdoms, and ruling, for years.
For a moment, I wished that King Ferchar was still alive, so he could realise that he had accidentally raised two queens.
“We will not start our new kingdom with a war. We accept the offered land.”
She didn’t confer with the two guards that were with her again. It seemed that the humans were content to let her lead.
“I will inform the Lairds and Ladies of your new kingdoms shortly, but we will need more time to finish arranging your supplies,” I explained, selfishly wishing she hadn’t accepted so that we could continue delaying her departure forever.
“Will they accept it?” she asked, looking far too young to have so much to deal with.
“Those we have discussed it with have accepted. The others have no choice,” I tried to build up her confidence again.
If anyone could build a new kingdom it was Nieve.
Once she was gone, I returned to my chambers. I was exhausted from the day, first arresting Darach and the Laird and then frantically helping the woman I loved to escape. William left me outside and I made him promise to put someone else on guard that night.
It had been a long day for both of us.
The rain was still pouring down outside and I couldn’t wait to curl up in my bed. Sleep would not come easily, but it would be better than nothing.
I had only just shut the door behind me when Mae appeared and threw her arms around me, pulling me in for a hug.
“I am so proud of you,” she cried and I was instantly worried. I couldn’t ever remember seeing her cry. “You’ve freed us all.”
I couldn’t have stopped the sob that escaped me if I’d tried. I had been so caught up, selfishly worrying about Nieve, that I’d forgotten Mae was also a human.
Mae, the woman who had been more of a mother to me than the Queen ever was, she was also leaving.
I truly would be alone. It seemed like nothing I could do would ever stop the Others from punishing me. Mae seemed to realise that I was not crying out of happiness like she was and tried to reassure me.
Just like she always did.
“I am sure she will visit you once everything is settled.”
“Will you?”
She pulled back from the hug. I tried to turn away so she wouldn’t see me cry, but she didn’t let me.
“Will I do what?”
“Will you come back and visit me? Please,” I managed to choke out.
She stared at me for a long moment, as if she couldn’t believe what I had just asked, before gently taking my face in her hands.
“I have been with you since the day you were born. Not even the Others could make me leave you now.”
With that, she pulled me back into her arms and let me cry, this time out of relief rather than sadness.
“W hat happened?” I croaked, my throat burning.
The last thing I could remember was Glen and I slowly starving to death in a cold stone cell.
Glen was lying on his back beside me so I didn’t let myself panic. I was too hungry and exhausted to worry.
Glen laughed bitterly, “you passed out and I lost it. Decided to try and break down the wooden door.”
“Did you break it?” I asked, astonished.
“I broke my baby toe but not the door.”
“So, how did we get here then? Where even are we?”
“The guards heard me battering the door. Next thing I knew the second Queen of Norbroch opened the door and brought us up here. I think it’s a healer’s room.”
“Oh... that’s not very exciting,” I frowned, which made Glen laugh again, this time in amusement.
“Aye, it won’t make the best story. I’ll have to pretend I did break down the door and fight off a dozen guards to free us.”
“I’ll pretend that I woke up just in time to see the door wrenched off its hinges.”
“Thanks Morven.” He went silent for a moment, debating whether to speak his mind. “I really thought I’d lost you down there.”
I turned onto my side so I could squeeze him tight.
“You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
Before he could say more, the door opened and the most ethereal fairy I had ever seen entered.
Her hair was white blonde which matched her pale white skin. I hadn’t even realised it was possible for people to be paler than us down in Tirwood.
She carried a tray with two wooden bowls of a thin broth and two mugs of weak tea. Wary that this was just another trick, Glen and I made no moves towards the food, despite the smell making my mouth water.
“The food is for you,” she said cheerfully. When we still didn’t eat, she sighed. “What my sister did to you both was unfair and unjust. I promise that you are no longer prisoners here. Once you have regained enough of your strength, you may leave.”
“Your sister?” I asked, confused.
“Queen Euna is my sister, I am Queen Aelwen,” she explained patiently.
I glanced at Glen who looked just as confused as I was. It made no sense. Why would one Queen try to starve us to death, only for the other Queen to free us and brings us food?
Without wasting another moment, we ate our broth. Hunger winning over the fear that it was a trick. I couldn’t tell what was in the broth as I ate so fast I barely tasted it.
When I was finished, I felt my face burn with embarrassment. I’d managed to spill broth down my chin and all over my shift.
The Queen hurried over with a damp cloth and gently washed my face. I stiffened nervously as she approached, but soon relaxed under her care.
“I have three children of my own. I am used to cleaning up after messy eaters,” she smiled.
Once I was clean, and Glen had finished his broth at a much more reasonable pace, she brought us clean clothes from the wooden chest in the corner of the room. She instructed us to change into them and then leave our dirty clothes in a basket to be collected for washing.
“I
’ll send a healer in to you soon. Once you are both rested and recovered we can try and find you the answers you seek.”
With that she was gone, leaving Glen and I feeling baffled but oddly reassured.
How could she be Queen Euna’s sister? The two couldn’t be more different.
I wondered what she knew about the changelings here in the north. A queen, who’d happily wash broth from a stranger’s face, didn’t seem like someone who would allow hundreds of human babies to be stolen from their homes.
“Nothing makes sense up here.” Glen grumbled, and I couldn’t help but agree.
Nighean was a gifted fairy who could use her magic to heal. It took a lot of gentle coaxing from her, and nagging from me before, Glen agreed to let her heal him further.
His fingers and knuckles were bruised and cut after his fight with the door. After a few moments of Nighean holding his hands the bruises receded and the cuts closed over. She then straightened his baby toe and, with a crack that made me jump, she mended the break.
“Can you heal everything?” I asked, awestruck.
“Humans are easy to heal, but there is nothing I can do for fatal wounds, poison or serious sickness. A few cuts and a broken toe is easy work,” she explained with a smile, looking very pleased with herself.
“Are fairies difficult to heal?” Glen asked, once he got over the shock of his bone snapping back into place.
“Well, it’s not that humans are simple, it is just that we fairies are made of much more complex magic. It takes a lot more energy for me to heal a fairy toe than it does to heal a human toe. That is the just the way the Others made us.”
Much to my disappointment, another healer had healed much of my sickness while I was unconscious. I’d be feeling braw once I had more to drink and gained back a bit of weight, apparently. This meant that we didn’t get to see how her magic worked on changelings.
“Do you heal many humans?” I asked.
If I couldn’t see how fairy magic worked on changelings, I could at least try to get some information from her. As a healer, she would know all about the humans here in the north.
The Changeling's Journey Page 24
