"How can you be so sure?" Vesta looked into the wise old woman's eyes and saw in them years of experience, heartache, sorrow, happiness, and life. She bowed her head to her beloved great grandmother just as a knock sounded at the door. Both women turned in time to see MacDara come bursting through. Catriona gave a knowing look to him as he came closer to them. Before he could say anything she was already speaking. "And so the past repeats itself with a twist of circumstance." She looked upon the confusion written all over her granddaughter's face then back to Mac. "I know what you have done, more importantly I know who you really are MacDara, son of the Oak. You may fool the young ones, but a true wise woman knows when she sees one of the Fae in her midst. Love's will shall be done, and I will not step in the way, she is yours to love, but also yours to protect. Should any harm come to her you shall feel my wrath for eternity."
"Maimeó?" Vesta questioned.
"Go, now my sweet Gariníon," She looked to the corner of the room, where she had been busy packing before Vesta came to speak to her. "You're things are ready to go." At the questioning look in Vesta's eyes she continued, "I glimpsed the pond this morning when I was about gathering my herbs. She told me of your troubles and showed me what must be done." Catriona smiled up at her great granddaughter and hugged her fiercely. "Go now, child. May your feet be swift as the wind and your lives be beyond the reach of those who seek you."
Taking her great grandmother's blessing and the bags she had packed for them, Mac and Vesta set out to the United States together, running from one family and blessed by another, just as her parents had done so many years before.
Catriona's vision diminished only to be replaced by a new one. This one flashed forward a couple of years in the life of her beloved Vesta. "Mac," Vesta squalled out amidst a hard contraction, "We aren't going to make it, just pull over."
Mac looked at his wife with fear barely concealed in his eyes. "We can get there, just tell her to hang on a little longer. Nika will be able to help you through this better than I can, plus we have to pull a lot of magic to conceal a Fae birth." He said it. The concern they both had through this whole pregnancy. It was forbidden for a child to be born of witch and Fae descent. Throughout history only two such births were known, and they were spoken of as a cautionary tale. In one instance a child was killed by an assassin of the Fae high court when he was born. In another instance a pregnancy between Fae and witch was thought to have happened and so the woman was killed before she could birth the baby. As it turned out the child was not part Fae, she was just a witch, who had been set up by a Fae she had slighted in some manner. In either case the course of action was clear, if you dare produce an heir to both Fae and Witch lineage the Fae will seek the child out and end the matter.
Vesta doubled over in the front seat of the blue station wagon as another contraction hit her. Sweat beads were forming on her head and she was having trouble breathing, despite the exercises Nika had taught her. "Please, Mac," she pleaded, "I don't want to give birth in this car. I never liked the damn thing to begin with, don't let her be born in this hunk of metal."
One look into his wife's troubled eyes and Mac could no longer deny her. He pulled off on an old country road and found a little hidden cove in a copse of trees. He helped her out of the car and left her to lean on it momentarily while he formed a protective circle in the grassy area at the center of the cove. Once the circle was nearly made he picked Vesta up and placed her at its center, then closed the circle.
Mac began to chant an age-old spell that would help conceal the fact that they were even in the field to begin with. He hoped it would be enough to conceal the baby's birth as well. If his family ever found out, there would be hell to pay and he was not about to let his daughter be left to the Fae's form of justice.
Vesta screamed, causing Mac to nearly loose his concentration with the concealment chant. He was going to kick himself for listening to her later. He couldn't chant and talk her through this at the same time. As he continued to chant he helped Vesta sit forward to push each time a contraction hit. Vesta knew the moment the baby crowned because Mac's eyes grew large and clouded with unshed tears. She pushed again several times and fell back to rest as Mac held up their baby girl to the sky. He still continued to chant, but through the chant she heard him name their baby girl. "Caislyn Moira Vadoma." He was blessing her now "A daughter of wood and fire. She will be both the fuel and the flame." Mac proclaimed as he laid the baby on her mother's chest.
Vesta knew full well what he meant, he was MacDara, son of the Oak, and she was Vesta, named for the guardian of the sacred fire. Her daughter would be both Witch and Fae, something far more powerful than either of them separately.
Tears graced Catriona's cheeks as she realized she was watching her future great-great granddaughter playing in a field three years after her birth. Copper strands shimmered amidst the chocolate brown hair on the three year olds head.
Caislyn was playing in the filed where she was born. Her parents managed to buy the property shortly after her birth and they had a small stone cottage, reminiscent of Catriona's own cottage in Ireland. Caislyn was practicing magic again. Of course, she was still too young to understand the consequences of what she was doing. There were twenty small butterflies fluttering around, dancing with her. They were all trying to catch the sun's rays as they were lost behind the billowy cloud cover only to peek out again a few steps from where they had been. It wasn't until Caislyn conjured a hound straight out of Faerie to play with that her parents began to worry about being found out.
"Mac, you have to do it. What if she decides to conjure a person to play with out of Faerie? How do you think it will go over when the Fae Guard shows up to take our baby away?"
"She will live a half life, never being fulfilled if I bind her, Vesta." Mac looked out at his daughter who was still dancing in the field with butterflies. "How do I break such a beautiful little thing?"
"Better a half life, a broken life, than no life at all." Vesta was stubborn and set in her ways. She would not be convinced that the girl could learn to control her Fae side. "She will be raised as a witch, Mac. She will still be better off than a human child. She will know magic." Vesta hung her head low and continued on quietly, "she just won't be able to know the magic of her father's people." Tears began to fall from her face as Mac pulled her in closer.
"Once again, you are right, my beautiful wife. We have no other alternative." As his chin rest upon his wife's head and he looked out at his daughter dancing with butterflies Mac mourned the loss of the her Fae powers, the part of her that was completely him. "I will do it tonight when she falls asleep."
That night as Caislyn slept her father placed a binding spell on her, effectively blocking her use of her Fae abilities. He could not, however; bring himself to fully bind her and so he added a little clause in the binding. "One soul belonging to two worlds, shall forever hide a side. Dreams will reveal glimpses, but locked out of Fae and it's use she will be until comes such a day, as my darling daughter finds another soul like hers, to help her along the way."
A wave of nausea swept through Catriona signaling to her that she was near the end of the journey through her future lineage. Tears still fell down her cheeks as she watched a teenage Caislyn struggling to be normal when she was anything but.
"Come on Gregore, they will never know." Caislyn was pleading with her friend to take her to a party downtown that she had heard about. Gregore, while one of the better looking guys in her school, was strictly friend material for Caislyn. Even though there was a spark of something more in his eyes when he looked at her, she refused to believe it. Caislyn was not, however; above using that to her advantage to get her way.
"Cais, your dad always knows." He snuck a sideways glance at her through his messy dirty blond, too long hair, and continued, "Remember last time, when I took you down to the river for that bash in Camden?" He ignored her giggled response, "yea, I thought your dad was going to fry me up for dinner that night. I'
m still not convinced that he doesn't have a lock of my hair somewhere so that he and your mom can perform some sort of spell on me, give me the pox or something."
Caislyn rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous Gregore, you know my parents don't practice the dark arts."
"Yea, until their only daughter decides to run off with some boy to a rave and then they will change their mind."
"Greg, come on," she pleaded again, "I don't have a car." She put her special pouty face on that she knew always cracked Gregore's resolve. "You can't let me miss the party of the century!" She batted her eyelashes a bit, just for good measure. "Besides, who are you going to dance with if I'm not there? You know I'm the only one from school with any moves that come close to matching yours!"
Gregore was faltering. He couldn't take it when she looked at him like that. His heart was hammering in his chest and he was about to break. If he didn't know any better he would think Caislyn put a spell on him years ago, in fourth grade. Caislyn was only in second grade, but when she saw another witch trying to hex him behind his back she stepped in and caught the spell. The girl trying to hex him was upset because he wouldn't take her to the school dance Friday. Caislyn threatened to turn her into a toad if she messed with him again, then she ran off to catch up to her friends. He had been in love with her ever since. He knew that she hadn't put a spell on him though, because she definitely never felt the same way about him. Still, he couldn't find it in his heart to be upset with her about that.
She was the most upfront person he ever knew. Aside from her sly little stunts to get out from underneath her way too overprotective family's sights he never knew of her to lie, to anyone. She would find ways to sugar coat the truth, but she would never outright lie. Even when her parents found her she was compelled by some part of her to tell them the truth about what had happened. It was one of the things he truly admired about her.
"Alright Case, but this is really the last time. And I am not going to take the fall for this one. You are only 14, your dad will kill me if he finds out I'm the one that took you there." He gave a sheepish shrug of his shoulders and a crooked sideways smile as she began to jump up and down.
"I love you Greg, you're the best." Caislyn was so ecstatic that she was going to be attending her first rave that she completely missed the shocked, excited, and then hurt reaction of Gregore as he went through the motions of hearing her proclaim a love for him and then realizing that it was a friend kind of love. Caislyn continued on with her excited little dance before she remembered that she had to go get ready. "I'll meet you at your house in like two hours. I have to get something else on." She plucked at her dingy T-shirt and her abused jean shorts as she looked up at Gregor. "I owe you big time!" She dashed a quick kiss on his cheek and ran off towards Hidden Dimensions, the bookstore her parents owned down the street. They had moved in the apartments over the shop seven years ago because they claimed they didn't like the commute from their country cottage. They still visited the cottage over summer vacation and for her birthday, and while she missed it, opportunities like tonight's rave did not present themselves so readily to country girls, so she had to be happy with the outcome.
For Catriona the nausea grew worse as she was flung forward through this young girl's continuing life. The moment she stopped the fast forward cycle she was hit with the overwhelming sadness that seemed to consume the child. Caislyn and a short pale brunette girl were standing on the rooftop of what looked like an abandoned building. Fear was intermingled now with the sadness Catriona had first picked up on.
The two of them backed themselves up to the ledge of the building looking to see if they could make the jump to the next rooftop. The brunette looked across to the adjacent roof top and then back at Caislyn, “Uh Uh! There's no way I can make that jump, do you see these heels?” She pointed to her boots and then looked back up accusingly at Caislyn, “what do they want anyway? What have you done?”
“Nothing,” Caislyn began as the roof top door burst open and out flowed an angry looking clan of vampires. “Shit!” Caislyn grabbed hold of girl's arm and looked over the edge of the building to the alley beneath them wishing there was a way down. No sooner than she thought about needing a way down than she blinked her eyes open and the two of them were standing in the alley.
“You can fly,” the brunette shouted, “what was in those drinks?”
“What the hell?” Caislyn looked at the girl wondering if maybe she had something to do with the unusual form of transportation that had just placed them in the alley. “Let's worry about the details later, we need to get out of here.”
Caislyn lead her through the alley and out to the street. They turned right and began to head to Caislyn's apartment over the book store when the brunette chimed in, “but my apartment is the other way.”
“Trust me, we will be safer at my place.”
“Uh, I hope it's not much further because they are right on our ass!”
Caislyn turned to see how many of them were following behind...
Catriona's vision blurred and wavered, she saw a familiar face in the shadows dispatching one of the vampires chasing her Great-Great Granddaughter. She would have to remind him one day about his obligation to her family, but that wasn't what she had come here to see. Catriona had the answers that her family requested. There was something special that happened when those two girls touched. A veil was lifted and each had powers that were set free. After seeing the previous glimpses into Vesta's life though, Catriona understood that she would have to keep that to herself or doom the future. She would report back to her family that Vesta would get well and grow to have a child, a daughter, of her own. She would keep the rest hidden from them for fear that they would all remember the prophecy that was produced so long ago about the two great powers who would change the world in unimaginable ways.
***
Into the World a Secret is Born
The slight breeze rustled the leaves of the old oak tree as Meriwyn stood by the river bank. She had taken a walk to think and try to calm her mind. Communing with nature was the best way to find the answers she needed. Even though she was from a line of some of the most powerful witches of all time, her glamor would not hold much longer. Disguising her body was one thing, but it would not be able to hide the birth of her baby. She knew the rules. The different supernatural species were never supposed to breed. It was strictly forbidden and when the council found out about the baby there would be nothing she could do to prevent her fate. Meriwyn was determined to save her daughter from the inevitable death that would she would find at the hands of the council.
Darren and Meriwyn had broken the laws one too many times. So far they were able to manipulate things to their favor, but this child would not be accepted. She had not even told Darren that she was pregnant. He had already gone through so much and she refused to allow him to take the burden upon himself any longer. The laws claimed they were not allowed to be together, a witch and a vampire, but they had found ways.
The Old Seer's prophecy did more harm than good in her eyes. The Seer's rantings had all the supernatural leaders terror-stricken. They were not fearful because they were worried about their existence, or if their world would change, but because they each wanted to be the most powerful. Greed and power corrupted indiscriminately. Meriwyn didn't have time to debate the politics of the lands. She needed to save her child and hide her away from a world that was on the brink of war. The non-humans were coming out of hiding and the humans were running scared. Some humans chose to fight back and Meriwyn had heard tales of what they were doing to people just like herself. The experiments were fast becoming legend. Tears fell from her cheeks, running in fast hot rivulets as she pictured her daughter growing up in the middle of this mess. Her only goal now was to find a place for her unborn child where she would be safe, loved, and accepted. That place seemed to not exist anywhere any more.
Meriwyn stopped walking. 'Humans,' she thought to herself. 'If she's raised human by people wh
o don't know any better, maybe,' As soon as the thought occurred to her she knew just what to do. The one human person she had trusted in the world, loving, kind, and warm who never feared her, even knowing what she was. The plan started forming in Meriwyn's mind, the plan that had to work in order to save her daughter.
****
"I'm going to put the dishes away and then I'll be right up," Inez told her husband and then she kissed him on the cheek as he turned to walk down the hallway towards the bedroom.
"Alright, but babies don't make themselves you know," he said over his shoulder.
Inez sighed and shook her head. "I know. I'll be there in a few minutes." She walked into the kitchen and turned on the light. She busied herself with the task of putting away the clean dishes as she pondered the thought of having a baby. It wasn't that she didn't want children, she did, very much. They had been trying for a couple of years now, and it just wasn't happening. Lately, Inez began to wonder if Fate had another plan for her. She believed that things happened for a reason, and sometimes those reasons didn't fall into the plans people made for themselves. Her husband wasn't ready to give in yet. He was ready to be a father. 'And a fine one he would make,' she thought. She could try again, for him, maybe this time it would happen.
Inez wiped down the stove and turned off the kitchen light. As she went through the house checking the locks she paused for a moment to look out the paned glass door at the sky beyond. It had been a rainy and windy night but the clouds seemed to be moving out. She turned and started down the hallway when the front doorbell chimed.
"Who in the world could that be at this time of night?" she called out to her husband, who emerged from the bedroom.
Joe's brow was furrowed with concern, "I'm not sure, but nothing good comes unexpected late at night." He walked past her headed for the front door.
Inez followed him, curiosity getting the best of her.
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