Khiara fell into step just behind him, her eyes on the ground. “But you saved my life,” she said in a low voice. “So I have to say it. It wouldn’t feel right not to.”
She felt the tension in his body, but ignored it.
“Thank you,” she said.
He stopped and turned to her. His left hand gripped her right shoulder, and his body moved closer to hers until he pushed her up against one of the twisted trees on the side of the road. “What sort of thing do you think I will want from you?” he asked her, his gaze lowering from her eyes to her lips.
“I’m not entirely sure,” she said, feeling her heartbeat quicken, this time not with fear, but with desire. It was a heady feeling to have someone pursue her, even someone as inconstant and capricious as a faerie. Normally, she would have rejected him on the spot, but something about their attuned energies made this feel right. She realized that it was far too easy to indulge in those very pleasures of Faerie that Ronan had told her she must avoid if she was to go home, but she knew that, sooner or later, something might get the better of her.
Just not here, she tried to tell herself. Think about Sean…
Liam leaned in, and Khiara heard a distant “Sean who?” in her mind. For now, the only thing that made sense to her was to give in to the other voice inside of her… The “just one kiss won’t hurt” suggestion.
“I knew from the moment I met you, that you were going to be trouble,” she whispered. Lowering her lashes, she tilted her face up toward his.
“I could say the same thing about you.” Liam moved his hand up to cup her jaw.
She closed her eyes.
There was a rattle that made her jump, though Liam didn’t seem to notice. He only moved away from her as if nothing had happened, and turned to look down the road.
Khiara took a deep breath to regain her balance, both physical and mental. Liam’s presence still surrounded her, and she felt immersed in the need to be closer to him. This is crazy, she told herself. I have to stop feeling like I need him. If I let this go on, I will never get home.
And then there’s Sean…
Right?
When she looked at the road with clear eyes, she saw a horse-drawn coach that was royal purple in color, with silver tassels draped over it, and silver flags waving from the four corners on top. Looking out the silver-lined window was a beautiful woman with strawberry blonde curls gathered atop her head, a silver crown on her brow, and lavender eyes that regarded the two of them with laughter.
“Who is that?” Khiara asked Liam under her breath. The woman in the carriage was the most luminously beautiful person she had ever seen in her entire life.
“That is the Queen of the Faeries.”
“The Queen of the Faeries?” Khiara repeated, her mouth hanging open.
“In your world, she would be most recognized as Titania,” Liam explained, not taking his gaze from the carriage. “It pleased her to take that name for herself. In truth, she has no need of a name. We know who she is. Her mere presence is sovereignty and magick. Even mortals with their lack of connection to the earth and its offspring could feel that.” Liam bowed from the waist as the footman opened the coach door, giving the Queen an unobstructed view of them.
With a glance at her companion’s obeisance, Khiara followed suit by sinking into the most graceful curtsy she could manage in jeans and a tank top. She lowered her eyes to the ground in what she hoped was a respectful expression. Like a dog, she thought, you don’t look it in the eye if you want it to think it’s in charge.
The Queen’s energy felt like a blend of all things: earth, air, water, and fire, darkness and light. But Khiara particularly felt the light in that synergistic fusion of energy and power. Hers was the power of the dawn and creation. Khiara somehow felt safe and secure in the Queen’s presence, even as she was aware of her strength.
“Liam,” the Queen said with mirth in her musical voice. “What a naughty bard you are, out here seducing human maids when you should be on your way home.”
“I was on the road to the capitol, your Majesty, and must admit to succumbing to this lovely distraction. However, even the fairest woman, be she human or faerie, could not rival you in beauty. I am yours to command.”
Raising her gaze to the faeries, Khiara decided Liam’s flowery speech was a credit to his profession. He straightened and looked at the Queen, but Titania was looking at Khiara, her brows drawn together.
“Young lady, would you like to be my guest at my palace tonight?” the Queen asked.
Khiara also straightened up and furrowed her own brow as she responded. “I don’t know if that is a good idea, your Majesty.” She glanced sideways at Liam. “I need to get somewhere, and time is of the essence.”
“After the task to which my son has set you, surely you are in need of rest.” The Queen’s voice was firm, but also kind.
“Your son?” Khiara asked, her voice rising. She realized she sounded more shocked by the revelation than she had intended.
“Ronan is the eldest of my children, and I cannot do enough to apologize for his behavior toward you. Please come and stay the night. It is the least I can do.” Titania extended her hand toward Khiara. “It will bring you a few miles closer to your goal, and you may sleep in a comfortable bed, then continue your journey tomorrow.”
“I thought that was Ronan’s kingdom ahead,” Khiara said, taking a step toward the carriage, reaching her own hand out to place her fingers over the Queen’s.
“Goodness, no. That is mine and Oberon’s domain, the capitol of the Otherworld. Come and you will be our guest. I can assure you that you will not be harmed while in our court.” The Queen curled her fingers beneath Khiara’s to draw her toward the waiting transport.
Somehow, Khiara found herself sliding into the carriage and sitting across from the Queen as if it were the natural thing to do. Liam sat down next to her, the footman closed the door, and the carriage moved along the dirt road once more. This is so surreal, Khiara told herself as the wheels turned, moving them toward their destination. I’m with the Queen of Faerie and on my way to her castle.
“You must be exhausted,” Titania observed as she watched Khiara, compassion in her melodic voice. “Let me offer you some of my magick. It will rejuvenate you.”
“I must not take anything from the realm of Faerie,” Khiara demurred instantly, her skin prickling as a chill passed over her. She wondered if she had fallen into a well-crafted trap meant to lull her into a sense of security. It seemed oddly coincidental to meet up with the queen – Ronan’s mother – during her quest.
“This is a gift, nothing more. It will bind you neither to me, nor to our world.” Titania reached out to take her hand, and Khiara found herself unable to put any space between them. She felt a pleasant, comfortable pulse of life magick, and all signs of fatigue disappeared from her body and mind. “I need you to be in good spirits and high energy for tonight,” the Queen said, releasing Khiara’s hand and sitting back in her plush seat, a smile on her lovely face.
“What’s happening tonight?” Khiara asked, feeling the invigorating faerie energy humming through her body. It certainly didn’t seem harmful, but wariness still edged the sensation.
“We are throwing a ball for our subjects. It is not often that a human guest graces us with her presence, and I would so love it if you would attend. We will take care of all of your needs, but you really must experience the entertainment that the Otherworld has to offer. It will do you no harm. After that, I will provision you for your journey. You cannot continue to travel without some comforts. I’m sure sleeping on the ground has not been to your liking, and then there is the question of…” The Queen’s nose wrinkled as she concluded, “Cleanliness.”
Khiara realized she had not bathed in three days. She turned her head toward her left shoulder to sniff herself surreptitiously. A brief glance at Liam told her that he seemed oblivious to her discomfiture; he was staring out the window on his side of the carriage, his
expression inscrutable. She wondered what he was thinking as she turned her attention back to the Queen.
“I am most humbled and honored by your invitation,” Khiara said carefully, trying to word her response politely, without saying the forbidden words of gratitude. “I will accept any hospitality you wish to offer. It would certainly feel good to get clean and sleep in a proper bed.”
“Very good,” the Queen responded, her eyes shining with delight. “Ronan will be late, but I’m sure that we can find you a suitable dance partner tonight. Don’t worry. You will be perfectly safe in my home. Neither he nor any of my subjects will do anything to harm you.”
Khiara felt Liam shift in the seat next to her, and he appeared to turn his attention even more fully on the passing scenery. She could sense that he was warning her without words. Instinctively, she reached for him, her fingers inching across the plush seat cushion toward the silent fae bard. As her fingertips brushed his hip, he startled her by flinching at her touch. Khiara felt a brief flare of power, a tendril of energy reaching from him to twine around her, and then the sensation vanished.
“It is the least I can do for one of our own kind.”
Khiara nodded at the Queen dazedly, and then blinked as the words sank in. “Pardon me?” she responded, her attention drawn back to the beautiful woman.
“I said that it is the least we can do for one of own kind. Even a part-fae is family. The blood of your faerie ancestors makes you one of us, despite the diminished blood.”
“No, that is not possible.” Khiara shook her head. “I’ve traced my ancestors. None of them could possibly be fae.”
“Do you think you would even know?” Titania asked, arching one delicate golden eyebrow. “There are generations you cannot see – for which you have no photographs or anecdotal evidence to even give you an inkling of what they might have truly been. Tell me, what of those ancestors that you are unable to trace further than a few generations back in time. What is it that the humans call them?”
“Brick walls,” Liam said almost inaudibly, his face still turned to the carriage window.
“Yes, brick walls. You have many on your mother’s side, I believe.” The Queen looked at Khiara expectantly.
“No, I don’t think…” Khiara was still shaking her head as she thought about her family. Her mother’s mother had descended from the Italian side. Her mother’s father…
“He was Celtic Irish, was he not?”
“I don’t know much about him. I have not been able to reach back more than a few generations, but I do know that my great-grandfather came from Ireland to America.”
Titania nodded as if that statement confirmed her words. “We can tell our own kind, you know. And being faerie is certainly something that would not be noted in the humans’ records. Humans haven’t the sense for such things. They lost their magick long ago. Even though you are not related to me or mine directly, we still consider you one of us. Having the human blood makes you particularly appealing to our men. They see our women as weak.” Anger crept into her voice. “We cannot give them as many children as human women give human men. However, this is not our fault. It is the way that all faeries are made, both the male and female of the species. Humans are more durable. Faeries are not necessarily fragile; they were simply not made to procreate as extensively as mortals, because faeries are longer-lived. This is a problem, as our numbers have been decimated by war and illness rather than time.”
“War?” Khiara asked. “It doesn’t seem like war has ever touched this land.”
“Here in the faerie realm, we have not had such wars as the humans do, but the mortal realm’s conflicts affect us deeply. There are many full and half-blood faeries who maintain lives in both worlds. As a result, we have lost many of our men to your world’s wars. The other problem is that it is only natural that contact with the mortal world results in some faeries that bring back illness or disease that we would not normally have in the Otherworld.”
Titania looked forlorn and Khiara felt her throat close up. If this had been one of her friends, Khiara would have reached out to hold her hand to convey her sympathy and support. However, she knew such a gesture would have been out of place in the Otherworld, particularly with a royal, so she kept her compassionate sentiment to words alone.
“I cannot even begin to appreciate or understand the difficulties you have been through, but I am very sorry for them.”
“Even though our realms have drifted apart, what happens in yours still affects us. The Otherworld was once one and the same as the mortal realm. Then people came from different places – not just the Mother Earth – and pushed us further and further beyond the veil. Really, that veil was of our own making. It was a way to defend ourselves against the mortal race.” Titania raised her chin a fraction.
Although the situation in the Otherworld was difficult, Khiara could see that the Queen retained her dignity and her determination.
“Soon that veil became substantial enough to physically disengage our world from yours, so much so that it became known as the Otherworld. Yet the slender threads of material and numinous connections do remain between both worlds. I fear that mortals will not become conscious of their actions until it is too late; before we can completely sever the connection.”
Khiara considered this in silence; the Queen’s words were heartbreaking and her sentiments about the concerns she had for her world were familiar. Khiara felt the same way about her own world and its many troubles. Here she had considered the Otherworld a completely different and foreign realm when, in truth, it was parallel to the mortal world. The denizens of both had their fears and worries, which weren’t so different at all.
As Khiara thought about how she should respond, the carriage clambered onto a harder surface, jarring her into finally paying attention to the landscape. She realized they were in a stone-paved courtyard surrounded by a delicate white, wrought-iron fence that rose higher from the ground with each prancing step the horses took toward their destination. Everything seemed to be awash in a shimmering, silvery glow. Khiara realized the radiance emanated from every piece of faerie-made architecture around them: the road, the fence, and the structure that stood before them. She gazed in awe at the luminous, crystalline castle. The gray-lavender mist that enclosed the capitol city reflected the incandescence back.
Towers rose skyward, their spires appearing to touch the clouds. The material of the palace itself was a shimmering, rough rock that reminded Khiara of many densely packed quartz crystals. On the foremost tower was an enormous clock with a sepia-toned face, and three large black hands. Their movement was completely imperceptible, and she remembered what Liam had said about time running differently in the Otherworld.
There were several windows along the palace and towers, the glass curving elegantly upward to peak at the top, with silver-gilded molding framing them. The entire palace almost seemed frosted and glittering. In any other landscape, it would have been out of place, unless surrounded by snow. However, here in the desolate Otherworld, it did not seem incongruous at all between the dry, drab green grass and the murky gray skies.
The Queen’s mood abruptly shifted to a more cheerful one as the carriage clattered to a halt. “Come, we are here. I cannot wait to put you in the hands of my ladies, and see how you look tonight. We will dress you in the colors of your family. I am sure Ronan will be completely surprised when he sees you.”
“I’m not sure I want Ronan to see me,” Khiara said, struggling to keep a scowl off her face. “In fact, I would prefer to deal with him in my own time.”
“And so you will, but tonight you will at least enjoy the dance.” Titania’s smile was playful as the footman in attendance opened the carriage door for them. “You will enjoy the dance, even if you cannot enjoy the other pleasures that are being offered to you. I assure you, you are safe in my home.” With that, the Queen gracefully exited the carriage and swept along the stone path into the glittering palace.
Liam fo
llowed, so silently that Khiara did not even realize she was alone in the carriage for an entire minute. She saw him standing by the door, waiting to help her down to the ground. As she took his hand, he tilted his head to look at her speculatively.
“You handled that skillfully,” he said, not relinquishing her hand, even though she was standing on solid ground. “You are doing very well in being gracious in accepting faerie hospitality. Your diplomacy and caution do you credit. Two debts to the fae are more than enough.”
Khiara looked at him. “I said ‘thank you’ to you, because I trust you, Liam,” she told him softly.
His hand tightened around hers and she cringed at the crushing pain. “You trusted Ronan too,” he reminded her.
Chapter 10
It had been a little discomforting to strip down and bathe in an unfamiliar place, not to mention a place where the people treated her with hostility and suspicion, but the warm water had been all too inviting. She had sunk down into the claw-footed porcelain bathtub with a sense of relief. With a silver filigree screen between her and the fae handmaidens sent to attend to her, Khiara took her time washing her hair and body. By the time she was done, the water had turned filthy with the dust of the past few days spent on the road. Khiara did not recall ever being so dirty in her life.
After the bath, the faerie maids each performed a different task to prepare her for the Queen’s ball. One ran a silken cloth over her hair until it was dry. She then brushed it and gathered the smooth, straight honey-blonde locks by one section at a time to wrap them around heated curling tongs. Another of the maids sprayed her with perfume – a light scent that reminded Khiara of baby powder – and then applied make-up to her face. The third maid was the one who responsible for clothing her, and Khiara had to keep herself from squirming like a badly behaved puppy as the woman dressed her from head to toe in finery.
After the ministrations of the fae women, Khiara hardly recognized herself when they permitted her to look in the mirror.
The Gossamer Gate Page 8
