by Kimbra Swain
Rhiannon seemed mostly unphased except for the flinch earlier. She tapped her fingernail on her teeth as if she were thinking. I waited patiently for her response.
“I’m keeping the book. Do what you will with Anwen,” she said.
Riley latched on to my ankles, and I felt her tears roll over my feet. “Please, Grace, don’t do this to me,” she begged. “I will do anything.”
“I want the book, Riley. Your life means nothing to me,” I said. However, it did. I was once a crying child at the will of a monarch. I once knelt before that king begging for my life. The heart that I pretended that I didn’t have warmed the chill.
“I will give it to you,” she said clutching my ankles tightly.
“No!” Rhiannon said.
“Dear Queen of Summer, as you can see, I am a Queen with all the power of one. The location of my kingdom doesn’t matter, but the devotion of my people does. Riley knows I have a heart. She knows if she pleads this way, there might be mercy for her. I may not rule in this realm, but the fairies who submit themselves to me give me power just like yours. Look at your daughter. She makes me powerful. Jeremiah made me powerful. Each person standing behind me including two of your other daughters make me powerful. The moment I betray them as you have this child, I lose my power. It is a lesson you have yet to learn. Riley, fetch the book, please. You will return with us to Shady Grove,” I said, offering her my hand.
She took it raising to her feet. I could see that her tears were real now and that she shook with fear.
“The book will not leave Summer,” Rhiannon said standing to her feet.
“Riley, she cannot harm you, because you belong to me. Go get the book. If she strikes you, I will kill her,” I said.
“Get out of my kingdom!” Rhiannon yelled.
I nudged Riley who waved her hand above her upturned palm. The songbook appeared in her hand. “We should go,” she muttered.
“I agree. Joseph, lead the way if you will,” I said, as my servants followed the faun out of the throne room. I locked eyes with Rhiannon. “I know we aren’t done, but it can wait. Can’t it?”
“Get out!” she snarled.
“Thank you for your hospitality. Should you ever visit my realm, the favor will be returned in kind,” I said leaving her with the threat.
“You should have bargained for more,” she said as I turned away from her.
“I have what I came for,” I replied without looking at her.
“Perhaps you should have remained for a little while longer. You never know what treasures you will find in my kingdom. Right, Robin?” she said.
“Very true.” Robin’s voice was light and taunting. Tabitha and Luther turned to look at her. The doctor gasped, covering her mouth. Luther rushed toward me with his hands outstretched. I turned to see what danger he was protecting me from. I saw Robin standing next to her mother’s throne. Rhiannon held a Mason Jar in her hand. A Mason Jar full of ashes.
I lost the diplomacy and the poise. “Dylan!” I screamed.
Luther held me by the waist. “No, come away. It is a trick,” he said.
“No, it’s him. Let me go,” I said struggling against him.
Robin and Rhiannon laughed. “You may be a Queen, but you are a fool. You have what you came for, but you don’t have the only thing you actually want.”
“He is the father of my child. Release him. She took him from me,” I said.
“Actually, he went into the jar willingly,” Robin said. “No tricks. He knew the consequences. This isn’t like Levi and the collar.”
“You took my daughter,” I said.
“No, your daughter is too curious for her own good, and found herself in a situation she couldn’t get out of,” Robin replied.
“I will bring this castle down around you if you do not give him to me!” I screamed.
The tattoo on my arm flared a bright blue. The silver filigree around my body flashed with cold. Luther lost his grip for a moment but quickly tightened on me. It didn’t matter. I could bring the place down around us despite his iron grip. The floor iced over, and the nobles in the room screamed, running for the exits. Snow fell inside the throne room piling up around the great pillars and in the floor.
“Grace, don’t do this,” Luther begged. “He wouldn’t want you to do it this way.
“You don’t get to decide that, Luther,” I replied.
“Grace, I could end you,” he said.
“Do it then. It’s the only thing that will stop me from getting my fiancé,” I replied.
Rhiannon handed the jar to Robin, then stood. As she paced toward me, she started to glow with a bright yellow light. The ice on the floor melted around her feet. A great whooshing sound surrounded us, and everyone stood still.
“Have you learned this trick?” she asked as the snowflakes hung in the air between us.
“How could you take my child’s father?” I asked.
“You are right, Gloriana. You are very different from me. You do have a heart for your servants. However, I don’t have a heart for any of my children or my servants. I do what I want because I have the power to do it. No one gives me that power,” she said. As her diatribe continued, I felt my father’s power surging in me. Only instead of the deep cold of Winter, his knowledge swirled in my mind, showing me how to make time stand still. He also showed me how to make it move again. By my will, I directed a spell toward Robin, whose eyes fluttered, but she didn’t move. “My children, especially my girls are always vying for the throne. Riley brought me the book. Stephanie tried to bring me many things including your head. She always was a failure. Such potential. Alas, it was wasted. Robin brought me the ashes of the Phoenix. Your love. Your child’s father. He is dead in that jar. If he ever returns from that place, he will be mad. You can’t cage a wild animal. Robin’s gift I accepted, but she will receive nothing for it. My son will inherit my throne. I would have you marry him and join the kingdoms. You could rule together. What happens to your little fairy town means nothing in the grand scheme of things.”
“Mother?” Robin whined. “I brought you the prize you requested.”
Rhiannon looked annoyed. I tilted my head and shrugged. “Silence. Insolent child,” she said. Robin dropped her head. Her fist flexed as she held the jar with her other hand.
“Give me the jar!” I ordered.
“She isn’t your servant. At least she had the sense not to fall for your charm. I have to admit it is quite endearing. However, I admit that underestimated you. Perhaps you can offer something to me in exchange for the jar,” she said.
“What do you want?” I asked carefully not to fall into a trap. My instincts were to say that I would give her anything she wanted, but I knew that would mean my own doom. I had a child to protect. No matter how much I wanted Dylan out of that jar, I knew I had to protect our child first. That is what he would want.
“I’ll let you know,” she smiled, then opened a portal behind me. With a quick sweep of her hand, we found ourselves in the rainbow sunflower field where we had arrived into this realm.
“No!” I screamed into the air. The power had built up in me that it became painful as my heart shattered into pieces. I shook my hands violently trying to release it, but it wouldn’t go. It was embedded in me. “No. No. No.”
Tabitha came up to us as I sank to the ground. She held my wrists, begging me to stop trying to shake out the power. “Grace, it won’t work. Just take deep breaths. Remember the baby. We know where to find him now. We will get him back.”
“I can’t leave him here,” I said.
“We should move,” Rowan said.
“Why?” Luther asked.
“Something is coming,” Joey said lifting his spear. Rowan grasped her bow, pulling an arrow tight into its string.
Luther’s hand around my arm pulsed with warmth, as his skin formed crags with bright red lava flowing through them. It didn’t burn or harm me, but I could feel his humid breath behind me. He slowly released m
e, standing to full height Tabitha held me in place on the ground. Devin moved closer to me, crouching behind his father. Finley held his sword in his hand, as his cape flipped with the breeze. Jenny and Nelly stood almost identical to each other, but on opposite ends of the circle that surrounded me. Their fingers lengthened to writhing tentacles, while their skin turned a deep green. Our two redshirts pulled what seemed like regular pistols, but through my fairy sight, I could see that the guns pulsed with power.
The sunflowers rustled in the breeze, as we waited for the assault. I imagined that Rhiannon decided to get us out of her castle before she tried to kill us. However, as our assailants stepped into view, my eyes fixed on the tallest male in the group of soldiers that surrounded us. He stood in front of Joey and placed his arm on the faun’s shoulder. Joey’s posture slacked, and he lowered his weapon.
Luther spun around on him with his wings flaring out and embers dripping from his body.
“You will not touch her,” Luther growled. I watched the man closely. Something about his amber eyes calmed me. He did not mean me any harm.
“Friend, I mean you, nor anyone here harm. Please allow me to help the Queen,” he said nodding toward me.
“I am not your friend,” Luther seethed.
“Aye! That you aren’t. Not yet, but you will be,” he smiled. The men with him chuckled.
“It’s okay. He is a friend,” Joey said.
“I’ll be the judge of that,” I managed to say.
NEVER IN MY life had I considered a ginger-haired man to be handsome. They were all hair and freckles. However, this man’s deep auburn hair looked almost brown but glistened with copper highlights in the sun. His face was cleanly shaven. The freckles along the edges of his hairline and across his cheeks were faint and endearing.
“Astor!” Tabitha exclaimed. She ran to him and hugged him. His laughter escaped his lips in a low, warm chuckle. He squeezed her tight. It wasn’t sexual, then it hit me. They were related.
“Sister! It is good to see you. She did not tell me you were here,” he claimed.
“You know how she is,” Tabitha said. Those in my group relaxed their stances, but Luther remained in his fiery ifrit form. He tucked his wings behind him forming a lump of flesh and flame at his back like an incendiary backpack. He held his craggy hand out to me. Pulling up, I stood to my feet with a wobble. Astor’s eyes shot to mine with concern for my well-being. His armor glistened in the sunlight. The tree of life was etched into the breastplate, and the limbs of it stretched around to his back weaving their way in everlasting knots down the arms and legs of his armor. It was a deep blue, almost black. Underneath he wore a pure white tunic with seams of golden thread. A large sword rested at his hip. Golden tree branches made up the guard that sat around the grip. The sheath was a fine leather, tanned and bearing the same knotwork from top to bottom.
He winced to answer Tabitha, “I know all too well.”
“Come meet the Queen,” Tab said, pulling him toward me. He smiled at her urgency. “Queen Gloriana, daughter of Oberon, Queen of the Exiles, I would like to present to you my brother, Astor, son of Rhiannon, First Knight and Guardian of the Tree of Life.”
I bowed slightly to him as the child of a monarch, but to be the First Knight of the Tree of Life was the highest honor in the Otherworld outside of ruling a season. In all actuality, he probably outranked me in the grand scheme. In the past, the tree would have a shared guard of Summer and Winter. I had heard in recent years that the task had fallen to Summer to protect the tree. It should have been Finley’s job, but I knew why he didn’t take the opportunity. The tree guardians were celibate. They never married, because they dedicated their lives to the protection of the tree.
Astor went to one knee, taking my hand and pressing it to his forehead. “It is an honor to meet you, Gloriana.”
I suddenly remembered what Joey had said about Rhiannon wanting me to marry one of her children. I just assumed she meant one of her daughters, then she mentioned that she’d given her heir to her son. Finley also said he was a good man. This virile man kneeling before me was the man they spoke of. The man they wanted me to marry. When I didn’t speak, his amber eyes looked to me. As a wide grin crossed his face, I realized my mouth had dropped open as if I’d never seen a virgin before him. The fact was, it had been a long time since I’d seen a fairy virgin.
“Get your jaw off the ground,” Finley’s voice echoed in my skull. Swiveling my head toward him, I snarled. Astor flinched as if I were going to strike him. It was enough to throw off my anger toward Finley, but not forget it.
“Shut the fuck up,” I responded. Nelly elbowed him in the ribs as if she knew what was going on between the two of us. Siblings.
“Please, Sir Knight, you should not be kneeling to me,” I said, pulling my hand from his. He rose with questioning eyes.
“You are a queen despite what my mother thinks of you. I know all too well that you are,” he said.
“How do you gauge such a thing?” I asked.
“The tree knows,” he said.
“The tree talks to you?” I asked.
“It’s complicated,” he said suddenly anxious. He looked left and right as my party tensed. “We should go somewhere safer,” he suggested.
I wasn’t sure that I should follow this man anywhere. A man that looked like that who was a virgin. I couldn’t trust that he was real, much less trust him enough to follow him.
“I swear on my life and oath to serve the tree. I will not harm you, nor any of your company,” he said.
“I swear it too,” Tabitha added. Her word meant more to me than his. I nodded.
He drew his sword slowly, speaking in fairy tongue. He held it aloft as it glowed in a green hue. A portal opened. On the other side, I could see the towering tree of life. Just beyond it, the cold reaches of Winter. “It’s too close to the other side,” I said.
“I swore to protect you. Besides, your uncle cannot come into the presence of the tree. Not all of your people will be able to follow as you visit the tree. I suggest we talk about this on the other side.” The ground shook beneath us. Over the towering rainbow sunflowers, I saw the treekin guard approaching.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped through the portal making room on the other side for everyone else. Astor was the last to step through, closing the portal behind him. Sweat beaded upon his brow, but he spoke in a clear tone.
“The house there is enough for all of us to gather,” he said pointing to what I would describe as a mansion. It rose between two crests of a hill. The stucco walls reminded me of a hacienda that I had visited in Mexico once. Beyond the tree, I could feel the cold of Winter. I stepped toward it without thinking. Reaching my hand toward the cold, I felt it creep up my arm into my chest. Even now in Summer, I ached for Dylan to warm me. Instead, he was trapped inside a jar in the hands of the Summer Queen who had just banished us from her realm. A sob escaped my lips.
“It’s going to be okay,” Tabitha coaxed me. “You need to rest. Let’s go down to the house.”
“She’s right, my Queen,” Luther urged.
“Yes,” I said softly as I turned my back on the tree and the strange call of a place I had never considered home.
We entered the home as twilight fell around us. I supposed that this close to the tree, away from Rhiannon, night actually fell as opposed to the constant daylight at her castle. It didn’t seem like the house was that far away, however, the walk was longer than I thought. Astor followed behind all of us not speaking as two of his guards led the way. The smell of fresh bread cooking wafted through the house. We entered the house through an entryway with a three-story ceiling. Vines grew up the walls producing orange roses that smelled like sunshine.
“Something smells wonderful,” Finley said.
“We will have a meal soon,” Astor replied. “My men will prepare a table for us. We should eat, rest, and then talk. There are enough rooms here for everyone. If you will follow Callum and Fechin, they will
show you the way.”
Everyone moved to follow the two men except for Finley and Astor. I knew Finley wanted to speak to me. I’d felt his contrition from our earlier argument. I dismissed the urge to be petty.
“Astor, mind giving me a moment alone with her?” Finley asked out of respect of Astor’s vow of protection.
“I will step to the side here and speak to the cook,” he smiled, then moved away from us. A short man with an apron tied around his waist took in all that Astor was telling him.
“Glory, the jar could be a trick. Don’t let it cloud your judgment,” he said. “I know you think I’m not paying attention, but I swear that I am. I hate this place, and we need to go back. I know as soon as we return, you will send me for Levi. Even though, I’m not sure if I can survive Winter this time.”
“I need you now more than ever, Fin. It may look like I’m holding it together, but things are happening so fast. My stomach is bigger than it was this morning. Seeing that jar ripped the heart out of me. What if it is him? Is he suffering? Does he know I’m near? I just can’t…” I said, breaking into new sobs. Finley wrapped me up in his arms.
“I’m sorry, Glory. It will get better. I promise,” I said. “We will find out if it is truly Dylan. I swear to you that I will return him to you if he is alive. However, Stephanie’s evil is only a small percentage compared to her mother’s. I’ve seen it firsthand while I was here. Look at me.” I lifted my eyes to him. “She held me in that castle never allowing me to leave. I believe she only let Levi leave because she intended for him to get captured and die.”
“I can’t lose them both,” I said.
He brushed the hair out of my face. I saw Astor over his shoulder stealing looks toward us. His warm amber eyes brimmed with sympathy. Something deeper there, as well. Sorrow. Despair. I couldn’t pinpoint it, but even though it seemed Astor was content with his life as the First Knight, something plagued him. All I needed was another forlorn fairy to protect.
“You won’t. Levi is alive, right?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I shrugged.
