Remnants of Magic (The Sidhe Collection (Urban Fantasy))

by S. Ravynheart

  “The war room?”

  “He said he needed space. I don’t know.”

  “Go on, then.” Donovan propelled the lads toward the mat. “But don’t just learn to jump about. Practice combat uses for that tumbling. And you better be able to impress me tomorrow.”

  “Aye, aye, captain.” Kieran gave him a salute before rushing off.

  For a bit, Donovan just watched the gymnastics practice, evaluating the young Sidhe. Like cubs they played at attack and defense, but already their potential shined. Bryce flung himself into the air with more agility than a wood elf, twisting as he performed an aerial and flung out a handful of fireballs at the same time. And even with his acrobatics, all four of the projectiles would have hit their targets, if not for the Sidhe tumbling out of the way. Impressive progress after only a few minutes of instruction.

  They would need every bit of training they could handle if they were to face the wizard threat.

  And then there was Lugh. He’d not hurt the earthborns, but he very well could have. The Seelie was up to something, and anyone who could conspire to murder Danu wouldn’t shy away from slaughtering upstart Unseelie youths.

  Leaving them to practice, Donovan headed down the hall into the war room and paused as he stepped inside. The large conference table that normally centered under the main lights in the round room was shoved all the way to the side. In its place, Malcolm sat cross-legged on the thin carpet under the lights. Before him four objects floated in the air. The highest reaching eye level with Malcolm. Donovan asked, “You found more?”

  “Yeah, just laying around with different ones like heirlooms. I followed the fibers right to them.” Malcolm didn’t glance back. Instead he stared intently at the space between the objects. The lad almost never stopped fidgeting, so much so that seeing him utterly still now was singularly odd. He reached up and twisted the flute, and it levitated slightly higher. “There, that’s got it.”

  Donovan’s foot nudged the untouched tray of food sitting next to Malcolm. “You remembering to eat?” He’d have to get the lad another phone and set the reminder alarms again.

  Without looking, Malcolm reached over and grabbed a sandwich. He munched absently, staring always at the magic with an unnatural awed fixation.

  Donovan circled the collection in a wide arc, so as to not disturb the magic. This new preoccupation of Malcolm’s didn’t bode well for the boy’s stability. He’d cast off his mission in favor of claiming this magic, and not once voiced a regret over the loss of the target he’d been so intent on killing. But then again, Lugh wanted that flute with a powerful will, and if not for Malcolm, he’d have had his prize. “What do you see?”

  “At first it’s like these hairs, reaching for each other. And then when they get close, the magic makes a piece of the puzzle. You gotta put them together just so, or it won’t work.” He reached into the space between the floating objects, his fingers stroking over something, and then his voice going soft. “These all fit together.”

  Donovan tilted his head. Danu’s torc floated before Malcolm. The torc she’d worn in the mural that depicted the creation of the Mounds. He sidestepped the magic, crossing instead to the cluttered shelves. From the collection, he withdrew the picture he’d sketched from memory. Unrolling the paper, he glanced over the image of the creation. Danu stood in the center as around her floated an array of objects. Donovan lowered the picture, and before him he saw Malcolm, and an array of objects floating around him.

  “There’s more of them. We have to find them.” Malcolm stared into the enchantment again with near hypnotic obsession. His voice softened once more, almost as if talking to himself. “It’s important.”

  Under his breath, Donovan added, “More than you know.”

  ###

  Thanks for reading the second half of Season One of The Sidhe!

  If you’ve missed it, the first half of Season One is available in Scattered Magic.

  The Glossary and Name Pronunciation Guide is after the sample chapter.

  Season Two of The Sidhe begins with in…

  Into Darkness

  (Coming Spring 2013)

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  See where Season One of The Sidhe began…

  ~Enjoy a sample chapter of~

  In Whom You Trust

  The first episode in Scattered Magic

  “Celebrating prematurely, aren’t you?” Lugh used his glass to indicate the party filling the grand ballroom of the Seelie Court. It was as spectacular an event as any other victory gala he’d ever partaken in, with the notable exception that this time victory had yet to be secured, and to Lugh’s mind, probably never would be.

  “Have faith.” Manannan offered a handsome smile full of arrogance. The Seelie king cut a dashing figure in his brocade doublet of a color that matched his ocean blue eyes. To gaze upon him, one would have believed nothing could tarnish his confidence, not even the rather inconvenient truth.

  “Faith? I know the Unseelie. They shall never submit, not to you or any other Seelie king. That is at the very heart of the Unseelie, to never surrender their wild ways.” Lugh scanned those in attendance. All Seelie, which rather proved his point. The brightly attired Sidhe danced the familiar waltzes in the center of the rotunda to the traditional songs. The conversation groupings milling around the fringes were in the usual pairings, so much so that Lugh could almost with certainty describe the topics of conversations without even guessing. He knew the ones discussing politics, or domestic trivialities, or the gossip about the latest romances. All of the trappings of civility and pleasantries that the Seelie did so enjoy, and would have sent an Unseelie’s skin crawling.

  Manannan tilted his head back to finish his drink, and then said, “This time, they shall accept our invitation. Danu herself is presiding.”

  That did capture Lugh’s attention. He searched the guileless, even expression on Manannan’s face. Perhaps a shade too controlled. Something lurked unsaid just beneath the surface. To be certain, the king owed him no explanation, but Lugh rather wished he would accept his council in the spirit with which he offered it. Though he did not wish to see Manannan fail, in this matter he saw no conceivable way he could succeed. Save one possibility which could never be. Although it should have gone without saying, Lugh reminded his king, “Danu would not compel the Unseelie to obey her. Not in a matter such as this.”

  “Certainly not,” Manannan dismissed the notion, “But they are the weaker court. Their strength is waning. The time for division is declining. We shall soon embrace our wayward brethren in one united court.”

  Though ruled by their king, the Seelie Court moved by Danu’s bidding. She crowned the king for whatever term she deemed appropriate. Lugh himself had held the crown twice, and served his court with the love and dedication that ruled his life. While each king governed in his own fashion, no other had drawn more controversy than Manannan, crowned only a mere century earlier. Almost immediately the prophetess of the Unseelie Court spoke against him. Aoife predicted a grave doom would befall all fey should the courts be united, and that Manannan would drive them toward that doom with a relentless passion. Before she’d spoken of it, Lugh would have never even suspected such a thing as uniting of the courts would be possible, but Manannan embraced the prophecy as a challenge, as a prediction not of doom, but of his success and the Unseelie fear of it. A legacy no other Sidhe could outshine. The unification of the Sidhe. One people. One court. And, of course, all ruled by one king.

  Ambitious, even for the arrogant Seelie.

  Lugh gave no credence to predictions, Aoife’s or anyone else’s. Too often circumstances changed, defeating the disasters before they even manifested. But there were many that saw conspiracy woven into every action and every utterance,
unconsciously determined to fulfill the very prophecy they claimed to battle. This movement among the fey, this undercurrent of fear, alone should have been enough to defeat the summit’s goal to find peace between the courts. In truth that was probably the very reason Aoife spoke of it, a political maneuver rather than a true vision. How Manannan thought this time would be any different than any other, Lugh could not fathom. The Unseelie queen and her king declined to even attend the last several times Manannan invited them to discuss the issue.

  The king raised his empty goblet in a comradely salute, “Don’t trouble yourself about this tonight Lugh. Let us freshen our drinks and find ladies in need of a dance.”

  As Lugh casually surveyed the room, he noticed one of the wood elf waiters moving too quickly through the crowd. He did not offer the glasses on his tray to any of the guests. In fact, his gaze was fixed on his destination. His target.

  Lugh’s heart nearly stopped, the wrongness struck him that bluntly. Though he had no doubts that the summit would once more fail, there were those who feared it enough to do even the unthinkable to defeat it. It would not be the first time an assassin struck in public.

  Lugh departed from Manannan without taking his leave. He cut through the crowd. Closing the distance.

  The elf headed for Kaitlin, a princess and Manannan’s sister-in-law. The princess saw the elf coming. Her chin lifted. Eyes lit up. She breathlessly froze in anticipation.

  Lugh slowed mere strides before reaching the elf. Had Kaitlin seemed frightened, or even unsuspecting, he’d have quietly detained the elf and discovered his true intent, for serving drinks certainly was not it. The elf removed a folded napkin from his tray. As he moved passed Kaitlin he passed the napkin to the girl without slowing down.

  Kaitlin accepted it and then cast an anxious glance about her. Lugh turned away before her eyes could fix upon him. He murmured a random compliment to one of the ladies and she rewarded him with a musical laugh. When he pivoted back toward the princess she no longer faced in his direction, but rather slipped through the crowd with hast. The silk of her dress flowed about her lithe, dancer’s figure. Her loose hair spilled down her back before curling into soft ringlets that bounced youthfully against her back, too eager to make her escape to depart without noticeable excitement.

  Curiosity sharp, he trailed behind her. The barrier over the castle prevented Glamour as well as teleportation. Not that following the young princess required an inordinate amount of stealth. Once he saw her safely to her private chambers, he suspected he knew her intentions. And the potential dangers.

  ###

  ~We hope you enjoyed the sample chapter of In Whom You Trust

  Read the beginning of Season One of The Sidhe in~

  Scattered Magic

  P.S. - Don’t get confused! The three mini-series that comprises Season One of The Sidhe are also available as individual collections. (Touched, Rise of the Unseelie, Champion of the Sidhe) These three collections contain the same 15 episodes as Scattered Magic and Remnants of Magic. So why do we have the episodes released in two different ways? Some folks only want to read one or two mini-series, while some want to have all the episodes in the recommended reading order. We want you to be able to have the stories YOUR WAY!

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  Glossary and Name Pronunciation Guide

  Names and Pronunciations

  Amon: Pronounced ‘Ah-mun’

  Aoife: pronounced ‘A-oaf-E’

  Bain Greim: Pronounced ‘Bane Grimm’

  Crom: Pronounced ‘krom’

  Danu: pronounced ‘Dan-oo’

  Eircheard: Pronounced ‘ER-chart’

  Jhaer: pronounced ‘Ja-hair’

  Jonathan Wyndracer: Pronounced Jonathan ‘wind-racer’

  Kieran: Pronounced ‘Kear-an’

  Lugh Samildanach: Pronounced ‘Loo Sa-mul-da-knock’

  Leannan: pronounced ‘Lee-an-nan’

  Manannan: pronounced ‘Ma-nan-an’

  Rhiannon: Pronounced ‘Re-on-nan’

  Rehnquist: Pronounced ‘Ren-quest’

  Seamus: Pronounced ‘Shae-mus’

  Tethor: pronounced ‘Tee-thor’

  Tiberius Laven Davort: Pronounced ‘Tie-beer-E-us La-vin Da-vort’.

  Tiernan: Pronounced ‘Tear-nan’

  Willem Phillip Brodie ‘Mac ind Óclaich: Pronounced Willem Phillip Brodie ‘Mac end O’clock’.

  Glossary

  All-Mother: A title given to Danu respectfully acknowledging her connection to all fey connected to the Mounds.

  Aspect of magic: In addition to the Touch and the common magics (Glamour and teleportation), each Sidhe possesses a single aspect of magic, which dictated how their personal magic will manifest. For example, Lugh’s aspect of magic is ‘the sun’.

  Banner: A type of fey highly skilled at using magic to perform construction very quickly, but only when unobserved.

  Beltaine: Pronounced ‘Bell-tane’. Celtic festival celebrated on the first day of May, and marks the beginning of summer.

  Brownies: A type of fey known for being secretive and shy, but very helpful domestically.

  Captivated: Seelie term for humans addicted to the Touch.

  Champion: A title given to respectfully acknowledging someone’s role as defender and ambassador for the their race with other races.

  Changeling: A type of fey that can shape change and that has a reputation for being self-serving and vicious.

  Collapse: Refers to the recent destruction of the Mounds.

  Creatrix: Refers to Danu. The feminine form of the word ‘creator’.

  Cursed: A term used to describe humans who have been Touched by a Sidhe.

  Dark Court: Another name for the Unseelie Court.

  Dark Elves: A type of fey who often lives underground like dwarves, and who tend to possess darker magic.

  Druid/druidess: A human who loyally serves a Sidhe in exchange for the ‘blessing’ of the Touch.

  Earthborns: The term for the Sidhe born on the earth surface in the past few decades who are generally untrained in magic and unprotected from predators.

  Earth realm: Refers to the surface of the earth.

  Elite: The assassins who worked for the Unseelie Queen.

  Enchanted: Someone or something bespelled by magic.

  Enchantment: A spell created by magicraft.

  Exiles: Refers to the Unseelie who left the Mounds after the Seelie gained power.

  Fade: A potentially deadly condition suffered by the fey when their magic is not replenished.

  Fey: A general term for any creature whose race descended from the first realm of fey.

  Ghille Dhu: Pronounced ‘Gell Doo’. A type of shape changing fey.

  Glamour: One of the types of magic all fey can perform and is used to disguise oneself or objects behind an illusion.

  Glamour Club: Owned by Donovan, this fey-only club is a haven for earthborn Sidhe.

  ‘Is your head a Marley?’: Irish slang for ‘have you lost your mind?’

  Lesser fey: Refers to all fey who are not Sidhe.

  Ley lines: The lines of energy that flow through the earth.

  Light Court: Another name for the Seelie Court.

  Lughnasadh: Pronounced ‘Loo-ne-sah’. Celtic harvest holiday, named after Lugh, who was worshiped as the sun god by the Celts.

  Magicraft: Refers to the skill of creating enchantments.

  Meán Oíche: Pronounced ‘Mine O-cha’. The castle where Bain Greim resides.

  Mounds: The name of the second fey realm, which exists in a pocket of magic deep under ground.

  Noble elf: Refers to the Sidhe.

  Nutter: UK slang for ‘crazy person’.

  Parahumans: Refers to those individuals who once was human, but then became a vampire or a shape-shifter,
such as a werewolf.

  Ring of Kerry: Refers to a peninsula in Kerry County.

  Samhain: Pronounced ‘Sa-wane’. The Celtic holiday celebrating the end of harvest and the beginning of winter. Same day as Halloween.

  Scribe: A type of fey who are usually shy and bookish historians.

  Seelie: Pronounced ‘C-lee’. Refers to the Sidhe of the ‘light court’, who value culture, political intrigue, and beauty.

  Selkie: Pronounced ‘sell-key’. A type of fey that can transform into a seal.

  Shielmartin Hill: Pronounced ‘Sh-ill-mar-ton Hill’. A deserted location north of Dublin.

  Shining Court: Another name for the Seelie Court.

  Shining One: Or ‘The Shining One’. Nickname for Lugh because of his sun magic.