by Conn, Claudy
Trevor almost stumbled as he walked away from her, turned, and looked back. No one doubted what was going on there: puppy love.
What a crazy thing, I thought. In the midst of all this terror and gore and blood, puppy love.
* * *
Ete was still, we assumed, closeted with Queen Mab in Daoine, and we hoped that Mab would allow us to join them. Danté and I shifted to Queen Mab’s palace, but we were asked to take a seat in the waiting room.
It seemed forever as the time clicked by, and we didn’t have that much time. Halloween was nearly about to explode. We didn’t have a choice, as we needed Queen Mab’s help. We couldn’t get to Aaibhe’s orb without Queen Mab’s direction. However, a Fae of the queen’s court soon appeared and told us that the queen could not see us just yet and that we were needed in Dublin.
We looked at one another, shrugged, and shifted—I should say, I held Danté’s hand, and he shifted us because he knew where to go. He always seems to know where to go. He is, you see, quite amazing.
Soon we were huddled with Nuad, Breslyn, Trevor, and Chancemont in a pub in Dublin, gathered around a round table talking strategy. We were dealing with a two-front war, and that is never good.
We had Dark Royals with vengeance on their mind at our backs and Gaiscioch holding our queen coming at us from who knew where.
They had ready armies about to pounce, and we had no idea where they would choose as their first battleground.
Thus, without knowing how or where the two armies would converge on us, we decided we knew it was going to happen within hours, and we assumed that Gaiscioch would still stick to his plans outlined on the maps I had seen.
Halloween, as I think of it—or Samhain as the Fae think of it—was only a few more hours away. It was still October thirtieth, but midnight was coming up fast.
None of us had slept, but no matter; I’d been told we Fae didn’t need sleep. I still did, though … human habits died hard.
We were deep in discussion at the table when all at once in sauntered this young thing dressed in jeans and a pretty blue tank top. All eyes turned her way, but it was Trevor who jumped to his feet. “Lana … what are you doing here?”
“Go home, minx,” her brother ordered sharply.
She grabbed a chair from another table and plopped down next to me, and I laughed as I looked at Chance. “She is growing up with a mind of her own—better get used to it.” I was about four or five years older, but I felt ancient next to the bubbly thing.
“Are ye too old to listen to yer dear brother then? Does age make ye forget yer manners, lass?”
“I can’t always take orders from you, Chance. I am going to be eighteen next month, and it is time you realized—I killed a Dark Royal today, and I think that earned me the right to sit at this table.” She turned to Trevor. “Don’t you think so, Trevor?”
Her Irish brogue and her fluttery lashes obviously made Trevor think anything she wanted him to think, and he answered, “I do.”
And we all laughed, but it was Danté that surprised me by saying, “Let her stay, Chance. She is safer near you than not.”
Chancemont’s eyes narrowed, but apparently he agreed. “Right then, sister, stay then if ye must.”
She beamed at her brother. “Aye, so I shall, brother m’darlin’. Now … what is the plan?”
“Well,” I said, “we have drawn our battle strategy, but Danté and I have an additional plan with regards to locating and retrieving the queen. I am only waiting to hear from Ete regarding Queen Mab’s commands.”
Breslyn frowned at this juncture and remarked, “I don’t like it. My wee Ete should have been here by now.”
“Queen Mab is my mother’s cousin, and she turned even us away just a little while ago, Bres, so she must still be busy with your Ete. Don’t worry—Mab has her own way of doing things, and she is extremely methodical. She will make Ete repeat the story of Aaibhe’s abduction a hundred times until she knows every detail as though she had been there, and then she will take action in her own style.”
It was at this point that Ete appeared at the table (which was a good thing because I believe Breslyn was about ready to leave for Daoine and find her). A few people seated at nearby tables had witnessed her sudden arrival and blinked with some confusion, and I giggled to myself. Ete was in too much of a hurry to care—after all, in a few hours if we didn’t get control, humans were going to witness a whole lotta things—and was still in her formal court dress. She saw my expression, looked at herself, and sighed, and then she was in jeans and an earthy-colored sweater. Breslyn pulled a chair over near his own, and she sat, taking a moment to kiss him tenderly and touch his face. Then she turned to all of us who were interestedly watching. “Well … you”—she nodded at me and Danté—“have permission to use Aaibhe’s orb. Queen Mab plans on using her own as well. She will coordinate with you, Radzia … but she wants you to visit her as soon as you can and before you do anything else.”
“My mother? Is it my mother?” Queen Mab wanted to see me alone. I knew—felt—it was because of my mother. I suddenly felt as though the floor had vanished from beneath my feet.
“I don’t know what she wants with you, Z. She wouldn’t confide in me, but I don’t think your mother has had any setbacks.”
“We had better go to Daoine now,” Danté said.
“Danté.” Ete’s voice was gentle, hesitant. “I think she wants to be private with Z.”
“And so she shall be, but my enfant goes nowhere without me during these times.” There was no compromising in his tone.
Ete and I laughed, and I said, “That’s fine. He can walk me to her door, so to speak.”
“Then off with you—we have things under control here for now,” Breslyn said, putting a hand on Danté’s shoulder.
I heard Chance as we left telling his sister in a firm voice, “Father is in Dravo right this minute, and he wants you home—now!”
We stepped through the atmosphere into the foyer hall outside Queen Mab’s private chambers, and I hurriedly blinked myself into formal Daoine court attire, which is a style that looks like the ancient Greek toga short gowns of white with a gold belt. I blinked (I say blinked because it is what I do when I think myself into something—I blink) my hair into cascading curls from the top of my head with a gold thread weaving throughout. Mab is even fonder of formalities than Aaibhe, who had thought or blinked me (whichever makes you more comfortable) into formal dress when I arrived in what she thought was inappropriate attire.
Mab’s private chamber door opened wide just as I was about to knock, and I could see her sitting upright in a hardback chair, her gold gown flowing all around her, her white hair piled high onto her beautifully shaped head, and her lovely face drawn in concern. No one knows how old Queen Mab is, but no one can ever remember another Daoine Queen.
She regarded me with her brilliant eyes, giving away only some of what I knew she must be feeling.
I turned to Danté and kissed his fingers, and he smiled and patted my butt. “Go on then.”
The queen is my mother’s cousin, and I have often visited with her, but this was not social. Everything was so very different at the moment. I went to her and gave her a low, long bow, with one knee on the marble floor, and my other leg extended back in the most formal of gestures.
“Very well, child … up now, and be seated here beside me,” Mab said.
She is totally exquisite, and her silver eyes could slay a Fae into submission with just a look. Her power is unimaginable, and at the moment, her concerns were evident.
I sat and waited. She pyramided her delicate fingers and tapped her silver-painted nails together as she looked at me before slowly saying, “My Council fears for my safety and requires that I remove myself from the palace to a place of safety. After our meeting, I will be … away.”
“What do you want me to do, my Queen?”
“I want you to find Aaibhe. She is my dearest niece and Queen of the Tuatha Dé. She mu
st be found. Her orb will help you. I have unlocked the magic that keeps it from all others. Mark me in this—you, Radzia, are the prophecy. It will be up to you to find her in the end. You must unlock that ability in yourself, for, Radzia, our worlds depend on it. She will sacrifice herself if she thinks it will save us all, and she must not.”
“Unlock what ability? What—how?”
“It is beyond even my scope to see past the knowledge that the prophecy is all about you, Radzia. You are not just a part of it—you are all of it.”
Well, that was just great, I thought. I must have pulled a face, for I saw her smile as she touched my chin. “I have confidence in you, child.”
“Yes, my Queen,” I answered—what else could I say? I mean, I wanted to stamp my feet and scream and tell her that I hadn’t a clue, but instead I hesitated and asked, “May I ask about my mother?”
“You may do more. It is one of the reasons why I brought you here. I want you to visit with your mother and tell her what you are doing. She must hear what you have to say, and she must hear it now.”
“Do you think it will help?”
“I just don’t know, child. But you are the key to entering her mind and pulling her out. She is presently on the edge, with madness around the corner. If she isn’t pulled out, she never will be.”
I felt my heart begin to crinkle and crack, and an overwhelming ache began to constrict in my throat. I thought the dam would burst and I would embarrass myself in front of Queen Mab. Somehow, I restrained myself.
The queen reached out and patted my hand. “Go now then … you may meet with your Danté, afterwards.”
I shifted to my mother’s room, and the dam did burst, and I bawled like a baby.
She lay there with her golden hair flowing about her shoulders. She wore a cream-colored satin gown and a soft smile, but her eyes were closed and I knew she was deep in her illusions.
I went to her and kissed her hand even though my sobs had turned into hiccups of grief, and words gushed out of me. “Mom … please—can you hear me? I need you. I want you to meet my Danté. When this is all over and we have the Realms safe, Danté and I will commit to each other with a ceremony, and I need you there. One day … not yet …” I laughed shakily. “We will even think about making more little Dantés. Please, Mom, don’t you want to be there for that?”
I got nothing-zilch-zero. It made me feel as though my world had just burst into ashes. I squeezed her hand, desperate to reach her. “Mom … for me … just open you eyes for me. I’m here, here is real, and I’m in trouble. They say I’m part of a prophecy, and I don’t know what the heck to do. Mom, I need you, please …”
I tapped her forehead. “I’m not really in there—but here, and Dad would want you to be here for me. Think about it—I lost him too … and now, I am losing you. Mom, you are supposed to be there for me—right?” I poured on the guilt; maybe she would hear, and maybe I needed to get it out. “So do it, put me before yourself. Sacrifice the dream and come back to me …”
I felt her fingers twitch in mine, and I watched as her eyelids fluttered. Something of what I said had gotten through, for she opened those beautiful eyes of hers; I collapsed on her arm and bawled again.
She patted my head, saying, “Shhh, love … shhh … what is it? Tell Mommy, what is wrong?” And then I felt her look at me, really look at me, and she said, “Your hair … you dyed your hair black?”
And I laughed between the sobs, hugged her, and said, “Yes, and I got some tatts as well and have been chasing after Gaiscioch. Stay with me, Mom.”
I watched her face for a reaction as I swiped my tears away from my wet face with my hand. “Everything, Mom, everything is all wrong. Gaiscioch has to pay for killing Dad, but he is a traitor to the Realm … remember? And in this war—they say I’m in a prophecy, but I haven’t a clue as to what to do, and now this Royal Dark Fae, Pestale, is coming after us, and I haven’t slept, and I’m scared and tired and don’t want to show it, and, Mom, I need you to stay with me. Don’t go back in there. Dad would want you to stay here … with me.”
“Have I not been with you? I seem to think we were all together …” she said dreamily, as though I hadn’t said a word about the problems I had.
“You’ve been in a world of illusion for months and months.” Suddenly I was angry. “You lost Dad, but so did I, and then I lost you! How can you do this to me? How? Don’t I count? Won’t you stay here with me? Mom?”
She touched my cheek and frowned. “Radzia … you are crying …”
“Mom! Listen to me—”
“I heard every word—I am trying to stay here with you, but Dad … needs me …”
“No, he doesn’t. He is gone, but I’m here, and I need you … stay with me.”
Queen Mab touched my shoulder; my mother had slipped back into illusion once more. I turned and stood up, trying to contain my anger and my hurt.
Queen Mab said, “That was excellent. Look at her. She is in illusion, but she isn’t smiling. She is disturbed. You got through to her … and perhaps, just perhaps, a few more sessions like this one will work.” She sighed. “We must hope that destiny will be with us, and that you got through to her, because … you are key to all of this, but so then is your mother.”
* * *
Danté was there to catch me and hold me, and while he couldn’t make it all better, he sure did make me feel safe and secure. Furthermore, he always gives me hope when I start to doubt that there is any. Danté shows me possibilities.
When I left my mother with Queen Mab, I thought my heart would just break up into tiny pieces and disappear. Danté made me whole again. He didn’t push me to talk about it but just hugged me close and kissed my eyes, my ears, and my nose while he whispered that he loved me and would be there with me forever.
We shifted to Queen Aaibhe’s private chamber, and in unison we whispered the spell that Queen Mab had provided to dispel the magic curtain that hid her secret room where she kept her orb. It was an orb like no other and normally would not respond to any but her voice. I had my fingers crossed that this would work.
Danté lifted it off the shelf and brought it to her favorite table in her chamber, where we stared at it for a moment before he said on a hushed note, “You are Daoine, my love. Aaibhe is Daoine, and therefore we have a better chance that it might respond to you, more than to me, because of your Daoine blood.”
I took a long drag of air and put my hand over the orb. It immediately responded by offering a warm, inviting glow. Softly I asked in old Danu that it locate the queen.
“Hidden,” the orb said in a low, barely audible voice. I turned to Danté and whispered, “I didn’t know orbs could talk.”
“They generally don’t—but this is the queen’s orb, and this is a time of stress.” He shrugged. “Anything is possible.”
We looked at the black cloud forming in the orb, and I asked, “Hidden where?”
“I am Queen Aaibhe’s orb. I respond only to my queen.”
“Yes, but she is in danger, and we need you to find her.”
A moment went by, and then we were looking at Aaibhe standing with her hands fisted at her waist. She looked serene, so beautiful … and oddly enough, totally in control. She would though to the last breath she took—look regal and self-assured.
We breathed a sigh of relief that at least Gaiscioch had not visibly harmed her yet.
“Where is she?” I pursued, as we still hadn’t a clue.
“Within the magic of the Golden Net. There is no other magic like it. It was created by the Dark King and then forgotten. It has lost its purpose.”
I didn’t know what that meant. If the orb was trying to tell me something, it had missed its mark. I looked at Danté, but he shook his head. He hadn’t got it either.
“Yes, but in what dimension?” I pursued.
“In the world of green and yellow where there are two moons.”
I turned again and looked at Danté. “Do you know where that i
s?”
He frowned and shook his head. “I have to think …”
“Show me how to shift there.” I tried another tactic.
“I cannot.”
In that moment it occurred to me that Rolo, who always had a remark to make, had been strangely silent for hours. He had not said a word while I was with Queen Mab or my mother. I frowned and called him to order. “Hey, Rolo, what about you? Anything you can tell us”
“About what, my beloved Princess?”
He sounded not himself—in fact, he sounded teary? I tried again. “Where do you think it is—the world of green and yellow with two moons?”
“I am not aware of what you speak. I have been elsewhere, as I have been sick for you and the sorrow you feel in regards to your mother. We are bonded, you and I, and I find unexpectedly that your sorrows are mine. The essence that is I has been elsewhere trying to scan my abilities for something that would help your mother. I have not been aware of our surroundings while I worked.”
I stroked the bronze disc lovingly. “Aw … Rolo.”
“For pity’s sake,” interjected Danté, “the queen—may we get back to the queen?”
“Rolo, where is the dimension that is green and yellow with two moons?”
“Ah, that would be Monlow—long forgotten.”
“Will you shift us there?”
“I cannot, as you would walk into a trap. I cannot knowingly put you in immediate danger. Gaiscioch has set a trap for all who try to enter his castle on Monlow. You would be instantly burned with Danu dust and then beheaded with his death sword.”
“Can’t you shift us past the trap he has set?”
“I could shift you into the room in which our queen is imprisoned, but then you would be as trapped as she is.”
“Then find a way to break the Golden Net’s magic thread.”
“A task indeed, since it was put in place by the Dark King,” he scoffed.
“Work on it, Rolo. You are our only hope to get to her safely.”
“I shall try, beloved Princess, I shall try.”
I looked at Danté, and he took my hand to his lips. We returned the Orb to its magic room for safekeeping, and then he shifted us to MacDaun. We took that shower we both felt we needed, and maybe we lingered there a bit longer than we intended.
