The Gossamer Gate

by Wendy L. Callahan

  She trembled beneath his touch, but did not back down. “An interesting idea,” she said, “but my problem is that I would rather leave the discipline for fun and games. Not live my life by it, or fear the day you would discard me.”

  “Nevertheless, I believe that is exactly what you need – a structured life of obedience and fidelity to me.” He leaned his head down to hers and kissed her.

  Khiara responded to the kiss, testing her reaction. “No,” she said, and shook her head as he moved away from her. “I could never be interested in staying here with you, and I certainly would not be happy with you in my life. I want a partner, not a dictator.”

  With a shrug of her shoulders, she turned and strode purposefully back to the mirror.

  “Your illusion holds no interest for me,” she threw back over her shoulder, before stepping across the mirror’s frame and back into the plain bedroom.

  To her relief, she was once more in the clothes she had originally worn when Ronan had pulled her into his realm. Her hair felt cleaner, as if the journey through the mirror and the subsequent transformations had erased all the dirt, exhaustion, and hardships of her past week. She smoothed her hands over her blue jeans and black tank top, and then looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was pulled back into an even ponytail. She looked exactly as she had when she had entered the Otherworld. The messenger bag felt as though it had weight in it once again. She reached in to find her wallet and the other usual items she kept in there.

  Whatever enchantments had affected her in the faerie realm had somehow been expunged from her mind, body, and spirit.

  “And earth certainly can’t suffocate fire,” she told herself, raising her hand to call forth her magick. A flame danced on the palm of her hand and responded to her will, becoming first larger than smaller, answering to her commands, but never disappearing as a result of the oppressive earth magick.

  With a renewed sense of energy and determination, she sent her senses throughout the castle, searching for the gate that would bring her home. The same energy pulsed behind the mirror, so she did the only other thing she could think to do. She raised her leg and thrust the heel of her black Doc Marten at the glass. That one powerful front kick shattered the mirror, the reflective pieces crashing to the floor to reveal a door in the wall. Khiara gingerly reached out to turn the handle and open it. To pass through, she had to crouch down and pass through the mirror’s frame. When she straightened back to her full height on the other side, she found herself in the entryway to the palace once more. There was no sign of Sean or the guards who had attacked him.

  The energy of the gate was pulsing to her right, the opposite direction she had originally chosen when she had entered the palace. It became stronger and stronger with each step she took, until she could feel it thrumming all around her body. It ebbed and flowed around her like an insubstantial sea of energy. She could feel it just in front of her, behind a set of double doors.

  Without hesitation, she shoved them open with both arms extended before her, to enter what looked like the ballroom from Ronan’s illusion. This time, however, it was merely a plain, earthen throne room. To her left, a variety of maps showing the mortal world and, she guessed, the Otherworld, covered the wall. There were three globes in varying hues on a long table. To the left, those same red, black, and gold hangings were on the wall, and there were low shelves of books. Before her were two thrones of ebony wood and plush red velvet.

  The energy of the gate was strongest behind them, where the floor to ceiling windows looked out over the land.

  The windows…

  She had not paid attention to them in the illusion.

  There were three altogether. The one in the middle was a large circle of delicate glass with black latticework. The other two were simply rectangles abutting it on either side. The portal, she realized, was the round window itself.

  “So, you made it here after all.”

  She turned to face Ronan.

  “You must know I have kept an eye on you all this time,” he continued as he leaned against the wall, watching her. “You slept with my brother, you naughty mortal. This action violates the terms of the quest, as I’m sure you know.”

  “Regardless of that, I’m going home, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me,” she said, stepping toward the window.

  “Is that what you think?”

  In addition to the threat in his voice, she felt a new, negative energy pulsating around her and froze in her tracks. Drawing on her own power through the element of fire, Khiara sliced through the magick and turned to redirect it toward Ronan. As he fought the flames that engulfed him, she dashed toward the window.

  A strong hand closed around the back of her neck and swung her around, then slammed her down over the table. She gasped in pain and struggled as he held her there tightly, pinning her against the wood, his other hand pressing between her shoulders. She was unable to move as he bent her over the table and trapped her upper body against it. Pressing her hands against the edge of the table, she tried to shove herself away from it, but his weight against her immobilized her.

  “I think you overestimate your abilities,” Ronan hissed in her ear. “Once you finally acknowledge that you belong to me, and nobody else, I can help you become more powerful than your human world allows. If you behave yourself, I can give you power beyond your wildest dreams.”

  “I don’t want power,” she growled in response. “I just want my freedom.”

  “Let her go, brother.”

  Khiara closed her eyes and exhaled with both fear and relief.

  “So, now her lover arrives to rescue her, as always. You’ve been more trouble than help, little brother. Your loyalties have crossed the line too many times. You are going to have to pay for your transgressions.”

  “She is promised to me.” Liam’s voice was surprisingly firm and Khiara perceived the threat in it.

  “Is she?” Ronan’s grip on her tightened, and Khiara cried out in pain as the heel of one hand dug into her shoulders, while the other squeezed her neck. “And in what way can you substantiate this claim?”

  “We made our promises on Midsummer Night.” Liam took a step toward them. “And as she is mine, I choose to let her return to the mortal realm.”

  “This may be against the laws of the fae,” Ronan said softly, “but this is my kingdom, and I’ll do as I see fit.” He raised his other hand and Liam dropped to his knees as death magick pulsed off of Ronan, the waves of dark energy palpable throughout the room.

  “No!” Khiara struggled, her fingers scrabbling along the table in hopes of finding something to dislodge Ronan’s grip from her neck. Her hand closed around a candlestick. She knew she did not have the leverage to cause him much harm, but she had to try to escape while he remained preoccupied. Despite all the duplicity, she knew she could not let him kill Liam.

  She swung her arm back, felt the candlestick connect with something, and heard a crack. Ronan released his grip. Khiara turned and swung again, this time with two hands. The object struck his head with a dull sound. She felt the death magick fade as Liam crumpled to the floor and Ronan raised his hand to her, blood coursing down his temple, over his check, and along his neck.

  To her surprise, Sean slid between them, his arms outstretched. “Don’t even think about it, pixie boy,” her best friend snarled.

  “Do you think you can stop me?” Ronan asked, looking more menacing than ever with the blood running down his face.

  “I’ll die for her if I have to,” Sean answered, staring him in the eye.

  “Are you really willing to do that? Because,” he said calmly, “my dear brother is already dying on her behalf. I have no qualms about killing both of you.” He looked over Sean’s shoulder at Khiara. “Make your choice or two will die because of you.”

  She glanced at Liam’s body on the floor, at Sean standing between her and harm, and at Ronan’s implacable expression. “You’re asking for the impossible,” she said. “But
…” She tossed the candlestick to the floor and stepped around Sean, “if you will spare them both, I will stay with you.”

  “Don’t!” Sean said, grabbing her arm, trying to pull her back.

  “Don’t do it,” Liam groaned.

  “What I don’t want is to need either one of you to save me,” Khiara responded, looking first at Sean, then at Liam. “I realize love is far too precious to give up on after all, but I’m not sure I can give either of you what you want from me. Sean, I loved you with all my heart before I came here, and I still do. But I’m afraid that since you found me, I think about someone else during every waking moment of the day.”

  She looked at Liam, who was struggling to sit upright. “You have done nothing but string me along and betray me, in service to your brother and for your own self-serving ends. You also made it quite clear that you loved me, even when I wasn’t entirely sure that I wanted you. You made me doubt everything I ever thought I wanted. This isn’t something I can decide here and now.”

  “So you’re going to decide to stay here?” Sean asked incredulously.

  “If that’s what it takes to spare both of the men I think I love, yes.”

  “That,” said another voice, “is what it takes to be released from any faerie obligation.”

  “Queen Titania!” Ronan bowed and Liam managed to rise to his knee.

  “If there is one thing that matters in the faerie world above all else, it is honor,” she said as she strode into the room. “Humans seem to lack this quality all too often. When a faerie has a goal, they see it through, no matter what. You have shown such integrity, that I have decided to abolish your debt to Ronan, and the geis he placed upon you.”

  “No, mother, you cannot do this!” Ronan shouted.

  The faerie Queen raised her hand for silence. “She will come back someday; this I know. Let her go, my son.”

  “I am overwhelmed by your kindness,” Khiara said, bowing her head to the faerie Queen.

  “That is as it should be.” Titania smiled at her. “But, in actuality, I just had to stop my boys from killing each other. Faeriekind has enough problems as it is.” She laid a cool hand on Khiara’s cheek. “Go with my blessing, but return quickly, my dear girl, or someone here will be quite miserable.” She leaned forward to leave a kiss on Khiara’s forehead. “Do what you have to do. You will be forgiven.” The mortal girl thought that she only imagined a hint of a whisper as the faerie queen’s breath fanned over her temple. Titania pulled back to hold Khiara at arm’s length, a sad smile on her ethereally beautiful face. With that last look, she disappeared, leaving behind nothing but the memory of her blessing.

  Khiara looked at Sean. “I guess it’s time to go.”

  “Ladies first,” he offered.

  “Wait.” Liam pushed himself to his feet. “Don’t go. Please.”

  “I have to.” Khiara turned to Sean. “Go ahead. I’ll be there shortly.”

  He nodded and walked toward the window, pausing only to turn back and look at her for a moment before stepping through the portal into the human world.

  Khiara looked at the faerie princes. She walked over to Liam, who was leaning against the wall, free of the death magick, but still weakened. “You know where to find me.” She kissed him on the cheek and said, “But I do need some time to myself, to think.”

  Turning to Ronan, she smirked. “As for you,” she said, approaching him. He looked down at her expectantly. She stood on tiptoe and whispered in his ear, “Don’t come near me ever again, or I will finish what I started nine years ago. Then you’ll be one dead pixie.”

  As she turned to walk through the portal, she heard Liam’s shout of warning. She ducked out of the way as the faerie blade shot just past her head. Khiara turned to see Ronan glowing darkly, surrounded by an inky black fog that pulsed around him. With determination, she leapt toward the weapon that had embedded in the throne just behind her, struggling to dislodge it from the wood. It was a long knife, more like a short sword, meant for hand-to-hand combat instead of throwing. Her hand was firm around the faerie knife, but it was still not coming loose. As she struggled with it, something tackled her, pinning her to the floor. Her arms stretched to the limit over her head as she continued to cling to the hilt of the knife. She dimly heard Liam’s cry of protest as Ronan’s hand closed around her throat, and the other pinned her wrist. The suffocating death and earth magick pulsed around her, trying to choke her into unconsciousness. She knew that she had to defeat him, or become his prisoner. If the latter happened, there would be no chance of escape the second time around.

  With all her strength, she yanked the blade free and sank it into Ronan’s back, between his shoulders. He shouted in pain as the knife pressed deep into his flesh. Khiara felt the warm blood on her hands, but ignored the strange sensation, pushing harder on the blade until it could go no further.

  She felt the prince gasping for breath and, for a horrible moment, she remained trapped beneath him as he succumbed to death throes. His hands tightened spasmodically on her throat and wrist. Fear took hold of her as she thought he would choke her or break the bones in her arm.

  And then, mercifully, he died.

  The faerie’s limp, dead body was surprisingly heavy. With a grunt of effort, Khiara shoved him off of her body and to the floor. She sat up slowly, hardly believing what she had just done.

  “Khiara…” Liam was on his knees beside her, breathless and wrapping his arms around her.

  She shook her head and pushed herself to her feet, taking unsteady steps away from the corpse that lay between her and the gate. “I can’t believe I did that,” she finally said as she backed away until she hit the far wall. “I’m so sorry. I know what I’ve done was terribly wrong.”

  “He deserved it,” Liam said, rising to follow her. He moved toward her tentatively, his hand outstretched, as one might approach a frightened animal. “Nobody could doubt that. He was a horrible tyrant and, if anything, the Otherworld should be thanking you. The only reason nobody did it sooner was because of who he was. Even our mother knew he was abusing his power. You were just the first person who managed to stop him.”

  As he spoke, the door to the ballroom opened, and in walked five faeries.

  Ronan’s former wife looked at Khiara with a smile. “You have saved us from his awful spells,” she said, her voice melodic. The lines of middle age had smoothed out, leaving her a beautiful young fae once more. “We are no longer bound to his will. These lands now belong to my sons, and it is my hope that they will be far more just rulers than their father was.”

  She turned and, with a wave of her hand, indicated the people standing beside her.

  “You have liberated these noble families, and now they can tend to the business of making these lands prosperous and productive once more. We owe you a debt of thanks.”

  Closing her eyes in exhaustion, Khiara took a deep breath, then looked at the faeries and shook her head. “I am tired of faerie debts. You owe me nothing. I only want you to prosper. That is thanks enough for me.”

  “You are a good woman.” The princess approached her and took both her hands in hers. “I would be pleased to call you sister-in-law one day.”

  Khiara glanced at Liam, then back at Ronan’s former wife. “I don’t know that I can grant you that opportunity.”

  “You will.” The princess squeezed her hands and nodded with certainty. “Go home for now. We will look forward to seeing you again, my dear friend.”

  With a weary smile, Khiara waved at the faeries, all of whom waved back joyfully. She turned to Liam. “I’m sorry to have to say goodbye again. It seems like we’re always saying it to each other.”

  “Then stay and never say goodbye,” he whispered, taking her hand and leaning his forehead against hers. “Please, Khiara. Don’t leave me.”

  “I have to,” she said, feeling tears prick at her eyes. “I need time to think about everything and to decide what I want.”

  “I felt your hesitati
on with Sean. It was me you spent last night with, not him. You know what your decision should be. You know what it will be.” The conviction in his voice made her heart skip a beat and she held back a sob. “You know you don’t want to leave me,” he said, reaching up with his other hand to cradle her face. “You belong here, and we belong together, forever.”

  “Forever is a very long time,” Khiara whispered. “I’m not nearly as certain as you are.”

  “You are,” Liam insisted. “You just don’t want to admit it.” His voiced sounded like it was on the verge of breaking, a sound that drove itself through her heart like a knife. Khiara looked at the gate. It pulsed with the energy of the mortal world, calling her home. It was a faintly familiar sensation, but alien at the same time after she had spent so long in the Otherworld.

  “I will let you go.” Liam sighed as he watched her. “Only because I love you and I know you have unfinished business at home. But I will come for you, and when I do, you will know what you want.”

  Khiara heard the implied sentiment in that statement as clearly as if he had said it. You will know that you want to be with me.

  She pulled her hand from his and turned to face the window. The last thing she remembered seeing was the green luster diffusing over the once-barren land outside one of the other windows as she stepped through the gate.

  Chapter 20

  “Khiara’s back!”

  “She’s really here?”

  Both Cate and Felisa stared at her, then squealed and tackled her. Khiara looked around, realizing they were standing in her living room.

  “You made it home!” Cate grabbed her in a fierce hug.

  Khiara hugged her friend in return, still dazed from the sudden shift. “Where did Sean go?”

  “I’m right here, and I’m fine,” he said from behind her. “Are you alright?”

  She turned to smile at him and nod. “I think so.”

  “Khiara! We’re so happy to see you!” Felisa stepped up for the next hug. “Oh my Goddess, we missed you so much, and we were so worried about you!” Khiara felt almost choked by the hug, but it was good to know her friends had been keeping an eye out for her. “I know,” the Witch said, backing away from her with a smile. “You need a chance to breathe and get your bearings, and you don’t do hugs.”