The Gossamer Gate

by Wendy L. Callahan

  “How long was I gone?” Khiara asked, scanning the room.

  “No more than an hour or so,” Cate said, “but it felt like so much longer than that. Sitting here, waiting, and not knowing whether or not you were going to make it home. It was so difficult to do. We didn’t know if you might get hurt or even killed while you were gone. We were afraid we would never see you again.”

  “It would appear that I am home, though,” Khiara said with a wink. “And you are seeing me again.”

  “Well, you certainly didn’t hurt your smart-ass sense of humor.” Cate hugged her again, grinning from ear to ear. “I couldn’t have lived without you, Khiara-koo! I would have missed you so much!”

  “Alright, that’s enough. We need to give her some time.” Felisa took Cate by the hand. “Let’s give Khiara and Sean some space to get settled. They’ve both been through a lot, and we can hear all about it tomorrow.” She looked at Khiara with a motherly smile. “There’s nice, hot calzones waiting for you in the kitchen. We weren’t sure how long you would be gone, but we ordered some dinner for ourselves and didn’t want to leave you out. We also grabbed some ginger ale for you. Please call us tomorrow, okay?”

  “I will,” Khiara promised with a definitive nod of her head. “I’ll tell you all about it. Thank you both for everything. One of the things I was worried about was never seeing my best friends again, so you can count on hearing a play by play.”

  “Aw!” Cate pulled her into another hug, but Felisa grabbed the other Witch and directed her to the front door. “Okay, we’re going, we’re going.” Cate sighed and added, “But call us!”

  “I already said I would.” Khiara laughed as her friends left. She turned to Sean and tilted her head. “So, what happens next?” she asked.

  “Well, I’m pretty hungry. Why don’t we eat?”

  Khiara nodded and led him into the kitchen. The calzones were from their favorite restaurant in town, and still steaming hot. Khiara pulled two plates and glasses out of the cabinets, and forks and knives out of the drawers. She set the table and Sean served the calzones, while she poured drinks. They ate in companionable silence for the first several moments.

  “I’ll start,” Sean finally said, setting down his fork.

  Khiara nodded and took another bite.

  “I meant what I said there, you know. I don’t think I could live without you and I would die for you. You’re my best friend and I want to keep you in my life.” Sean fidgeted with the flatware. “It’s just that… Well, I’m not sure how to say this after everything we’ve been through together in the past few days. I don’t want to sound like an asshole, but I’m afraid I’m going to anyway.”

  “No, you won’t sound like an asshole, because I agree with what you’re going to say to me,” Khiara said, as she reached for her glass of soda.

  “You do?” Sean looked at her in surprise.

  “I love you, and I always will,” Khiara said, “but I know now that I don’t love you in that way. It’s not a romantic kind of love. It’s the love of a friend and confidante. I love you the way I love Cate and Felisa. I know I can rely on you to be there for me, and that makes you like family. It’s a far different love than I thought it was.”

  “Hmm,” Sean murmured, looking down at his plate. “So, are you telling me that this means we won’t be having sex?”

  With a snort of laughter, Khiara punched him in the arm and shook her head.

  “What about that faerie?”

  “What faerie?” Khiara asked around a mouth of cheese and vegetables.

  “Don’t give me that wide-eyed innocent look,” Sean said with a shake of his head. “You know it doesn’t work with me. You’re both clearly interested in each other.”

  “You can tell that?”

  “I might be a guy, but I’m not an idiot.”

  “Ah.” Khiara wiped her mouth with a napkin. “So I suppose you must have something to say about the subject?”

  “Do you love him?”

  Khiara did not have to consider the question for even a moment. “I’m pretty sure I do.”

  “Does he love you?”

  “He says he loves me. Nobody has ever made it that easy for me, though. It’s weird. I’m not sure it’s supposed to be that simple. But,” Khiara sighed, “maybe I’m due for somebody to make it easy on me, after all the crap I’ve gone through in my love life.” She took a swallow of soda and then continued. “The only problem is he kept doing things just to make sure I couldn’t leave the Otherworld. He wanted to be with me almost constantly, and I couldn’t get him to leave me alone half the time. He kept me safe and helped me to get home, and then he said that he would be coming to find me after I’ve had some time to think about things.”

  “Wow. That sounds like love to me,” Sean said. “If I felt that way about a girl, I would probably do the same thing – try to keep her near me at all times, protect her, and make plans to see her after we spent time apart.”

  Khiara considered his words. “Well, my logical mind tells me to get to know him better, the way I know you. But my heart says… As silly as it sounds, it says this feels right.”

  “It sounds to me as if you’ve pretty much always followed your head,” Sean mused. “What do you think might happen if you follow your heart for once?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Is that what freaks you out about the whole thing?”

  Khiara looked at him across the table and felt realization dawn. “Yes, that’s exactly what freaks me out,” she answered with a grin, as she laughed at herself. “I have no idea what will happen if I just go with my emotions.”

  “You’re a smart girl, but it doesn’t hurt to gamble once in a while.” Sean rose to rinse his dishes and set them in the sink. “He said he would give you time to think. My advice to you, not that you asked for it, is not to think too much. It will only confuse you.”

  He kissed her on the top of her head, a surprising gesture of affection, and then left her alone.

  ****

  The day of Lughnassadh dawned bright and hot. Khiara looked out the window and waved at Cate and Felisa, who had just arrived to begin decorating the back yard. She turned to the mirror to make sure everything was in place.

  It felt strange to have been back in the mortal world for the past month. She was unable to shake the experience of traveling through the Otherworld, no matter how hard she tried to put it behind her.

  But there had been no contact from Liam.

  Sean encouraged her to seek Liam for herself. He seemed to sense that she was pulling away from the mortal world, even as she tried to keep her mind and body firmly in it. Their friendship was stronger than it ever had been, which left Khiara to wonder if adversity was what it took to remind people of what was important in life.

  Both Cate and Felisa seemed strangely disappointed by Khiara’s choice to return to the mortal realm. Once they had heard the complete story, they had pressed her for every detail about Liam. Khiara answered their questions and, from that day forward, they would check with her daily to find out if he had been in touch with her. Her friends’ expectations were almost exhausting.

  “So?” Cate said as she trotted up the stairs to Khiara’s room. “Are you going to see how everything looks?”

  “Sure,” she responded distractedly as she gazed at the mirror.

  “Oh no, there you go again.”

  “What?” Khiara turned to look at Cate in surprise.

  Cate rolled her eyes as she planted her hands firmly against her hips. “You’ve got that faraway look in your eyes, like you’d rather be somewhere else.”

  “I do not.” Khiara studied her reflection.

  “Felisa and I already know very well where you want to be, and who you want to be with. My Goddess, just be honest and let the cat out of the bag.”

  “What cat?”

  Cate shook her head in annoyance. “You don’t really want to be here, do you? I mean, what was that whole thing last week about
making sure your assets were turned over to me?”

  “That was a just-in-case scenario, that’s all,” said Khiara. “Everybody should be prepared.”

  “Felisa suggested it and you went along with it. That means something, Khiara. And, by the way, every time we mention Liam’s name, you look more and more disappointed. He hasn’t come for you yet, and no matter how hard you try to live in this world, you want him to bring you back to the Otherworld.”

  Khiara scoffed and said, “That seems to be what you and Felisa want to see – some dashing faerie prince come and drag me out of here, to take me to my happily ever after.”

  “What we want is for you to be happy.”

  “Excuse me?” Felisa came into the room to stand behind Cate. “It’s time to begin.”

  Cate gave Khiara one final, searching look, then turned and went back downstairs. Felisa came into the room. “Don’t mind her. She just doesn’t want to lose you again, but at the same time she wants to see you happy. She’s probably just as conflicted as you’ve been.”

  “What makes anybody think they could possibly lose me?”

  Felisa pulled Khiara into a hug. “We know you went through a lot. Things change. You were happy and content here, and now you’re not. It’s time for you to move on, and we all know it.”

  “Move on to where?” Khiara asked dazedly.

  “I think you know where.”

  With a shake of her head, she answered, “I couldn’t get there even if I tried. I have no connection, no bond to the Otherworld. I’ve tried to recall every single moment and sensation I felt there, hoping it would somehow bring Liam to me, but it hasn’t worked.”

  “Look, just go do your ritual and think about what I’ve said.”

  Khiara felt tears coming to her eyes. “Is this you and Cate trying to get rid of me, so she can take my place as High Priestess?” she said in an attempt to lighten the mood.

  “No, of course not.” Felisa laughed and hugged her again. “This is us accepting that what you really want isn’t in this world. It’s in the other one.”

  ****

  Khiara ran the ritual as if she were in the middle of a waking dream. It flowed beautifully and raised potent energy. She almost thought she could feel the power of the faerie realm in that energy, mirroring the magick they worked. Games in honor of Lugh followed, and the party lasted well into the night as the coveners and their guests celebrated the first harvest.

  Cate and Felisa were the last people to leave.

  “Do what you were meant to do,” Felisa whispered in Khiara’s ear. “We love you.”

  “I love you too,” Khiara answered as she embraced her friend. Felisa reached up to wipe at her eyes, turning as if to hide the gesture.

  “Thank you for everything,” Cate said as she stepped up to Khiara and hugged her.

  “Stop it. Nothing has changed.” Khiara shook her head. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Cate looked at her with one eyebrow raised, but said nothing else.

  As the ladies departed, Khiara felt tears on her cheeks. She had no idea if they were hers, Felisa’s, or Cate’s. “Goodbye,” she whispered to their retreating forms.

  Khiara turned to see that other guests had already done most of the work of cleaning up. They had returned the yard to its normal state, put the trash and recycling in their proper bins, and the decorations back in their boxes. She looked at the bonfire as she sank down on one of the lawn chairs. She could not understand why everyone was so convinced that she was leaving, let alone wanted to leave them again.

  As she looked into the fire, she could see the Otherworld. It flashed before her like flickers of long-ago memories. She closed her eyes, but the reminiscences were just as vivid beneath her lids. She could almost hear the sound of the raven, Liam’s faithful familiar, which had warned of danger so many times. She could almost feel the mist of the faerie lands that made her skin tingle with ethereal magick.

  Even more potent than that, she could feel Liam’s magick – the mirror image of her own: fire and steel, the sort that forged weapons and passionate, lasting bonds. She opened her eyes to gaze into the fire again, to realize that she actually could see the Otherworld. It was the forest where she had first met Liam. The raven was watching her, cocking its head this way and that.

  “Go away,” Khiara muttered. “You aren’t real, even if I want you to be.”

  “Oh? Have you been looking for me?”

  “No,” Khiara said softly to the fire. “I’ve only been dreaming about you every single night, wondering where the hell you are, remembering everything, wondering if you think about me.”

  “Well, I’ve been looking for you.”

  Before she knew it, she was standing in his arms and his mouth was on hers. As they stood in the glow of the bonfire, Khiara told herself this was nothing more than a vivid memory feeding off the magickal energy that the Witches had raised in the ritual.

  “Khiara.”

  She opened her eyes.

  Liam’s gaze was intense on her face. “Are you ready to go home now?”

  “Have you been here all this time?” she whispered.

  “I’ve been watching you every step of the way since you got back here,” Liam answered. “So I want to know again: are you ready to go home now?”

  “What took you so damn long?” she asked, tracing her fingers over his face, trying to ascertain if she was hallucinating. “I was trying to find you for the past month, and you never came. Didn’t you hear me or feel me looking for you?”

  “It took a while to recover from what Ronan did to me,” Liam said apologetically. “Believe me, I wanted to come for you sooner, but my mother forbade it. She couldn’t risk me getting hurt or lost in the transition from one world to the next. Today is one of those days when the veil between the worlds has thinned, and the old ways bring mortals closer to the ancient people.”

  “What a mouthful,” Khiara laughed, still certain she was imagining him.

  Liam smiled and his arms tightened around her.

  “Should I bring anything?” she asked teasingly.

  He shook his head.

  “What about my friends? Will I ever be able to see them or visit them again?”

  “The magick of the Otherworld is like no other,” Liam said, and then paused and amended, “Well, it was once the magick of the mortal world until humanity waged war on all things that came from the Goddess and Her earth. If you become one of us, yes, you will be able to see your friends. You cannot live in both worlds, but you can visit one from time to time. Your faerie blood ensures that you will never be far from home, no matter which world you choose.”

  “I think the way I feel about you might have something to do with that as well.” Khiara rested her head on his shoulder. “I missed you more than I thought I would.” Slowly, she was beginning to realize that he really was standing in front of her.

  “I’m glad to hear it. A healthy dose of separation certainly works wonders, I found. I couldn’t wait to see you again. I thought about you every moment of the day, and while I was dreaming too.”

  Khiara smiled into his neck. “So, now what do we do?”

  “Well, first we go home and get married. My mother will be pleased to see one of her sons actually marry somebody he loves.”

  “Married?” Khiara pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows.

  “Don’t you want to?”

  “I guess I’m just surprised that you suggested it.”

  “Oh, I’m done looking for my other half,” Liam told her, brushing his lips over her cheek. “I know what I want.”

  “Fine, so we’re getting married,” Khiara said with a nod of her head. A slightly hysterical giggle bubbled to her lips. “I still can’t decide if I’m actually having this conversation with you, or dreaming about it.”

  With a wry chuckle, he said, “We’ll have to get you acquainted with your new home, of course. Do you think you can handle traveling through the Otherworld once more, so
people can meet the honored daughter-in-law of the Queen?”

  “Hmm,” Khiara murmured, rolling her eyes. “I’m not sure. Travel with you? You’re kind of a pest at times. You should also know that you snore. Plus, you have this terrible habit of–”

  Liam pulled her close for a sudden kiss to silence her mockery.

  “Oh, alright,” Khiara sighed as she pressed her hand against his chest and smiled up at him. “I suppose I’ll have to endure it because I love you.”

  “Good.” Liam turned and waved his hand over the fire, which ceased to burn, leaving nothing but a few traces of wispy smoke drifting from the cooling logs. He wrapped his arm around Khiara’s and said, “This is your last chance to say goodbye, at least for a little while. Once you get settled, we’ll return so you can see your friends.” He looked over at the house. “What about your home and your store?”

  “Already signed over to one of my coven sisters,” Khiara responded. “All of my material belongings are now hers.”

  Liam caressed her face. “I promise you, you will have anything and everything that you could possibly want in the Otherworld.”

  “For now, the only thing I want is you.” Khiara took his hand from her face and interlaced their fingers.

  He smiled and said, “That sounds good to me. Are you ready?”

  “I’m more than ready.”

  Khiara felt the pulse of faerie magick around them. The world seemed to slide out from beneath her feet, and then was quickly replaced with a new land.

  She was looking out over a vast field of lush, verdantly green grass and white flowers that glowed in the moonlight. The moon seemed to hang low over the land, like it had on Midsummer’s Night, illuminating everything with a silvery luminosity, including the thin, pale gray mist.

  Trees lined both sides of the field, and then circled around a large house and yard. The house was built with rich, red bricks, reflective of the fire magick of the land, but also white columns and trim that brightened the effect. A white pebble walk led up to the manor door and in a circular drive around the home. Shrubs with white flowers, including roses, lined the front of the house, just beneath the elaborate windows. A soft light glowed from behind the windows.