The elves grew close, shielding their eyes from the brightness that filled the clearing. When they could see again, a unicorn stood before Alora, its long horn a slender spiral of glimmering silver.
Awed, the elves bowed in reverence as the unicorn walked around the circle, looking at each of them. It stopped before Zeke and touched him with its horn, then it did the same to Keliatiel before going to Keelie.
“Oh, Alora, thank you.” Keelie looked into the unicorn’s soft green eyes, so beautiful that she wanted to weep from the joy of having him near her.
The unicorn bowed its head to her, touching his horn to her heart. A bubbly happiness fizzed through her, erasing the pain of Jake’s death. She frowned. She didn’t want to forget Jake, but the unicorn had moved on to the other side of the clearing, where the crowd of elves reached out to touch him.
He tolerated their hands, but pushed them gently aside until he reached Elia. The elf girl looked frightened, as if he would stab her with his lethally sharp horn, but instead he looked at her long and lovingly, then he shimmered and dissolved to silvery mist.
A cry of disappointment went up, but from the mist stepped a white-robed man, tall, handsome, and sharpearred… and very familiar.
Elia cried out, holding her hands to her hide her face. He pulled her wrists down and kissed her lips.
He turned to look at Keelie, and winked a bright green eye.
She gave him a thumbs-up. “Welcome back, Uncle Jake,” she whispered, and went to hug a sparkly tree.
epilogue
Keelie sat against the big pine on the ridge and watched the forest below. Gone was the earth-moving equipment, and even the bare dirt. The magic that had flowed down the mountain five months before had erased all signs of human work. Spring was just around the corner, and buds were starting to appear in all of the forest’s trees.
Ariel had caught a thermal and was just a hawk-shaped speck in the sky. She was still dark, but so beautiful that she made Keelie’s chest ache. Her joy in flying and hunting was wonderful, except for when she brought Keelie torn-mousie love presents. Only Knot enjoyed those.
Keelie wondered how the elven spokesmen would explain the forest’s change to the town. Of course, with the Dread’s effect working full force, it was unlikely that any human would want to build this close to the Dread Forest ever again.
She scratched her arm, dislodging the bhata that clung to her sleeve. The fairies really had a thing for her now. They were everywhere, too. Who knew there were this many stick and bug people? The forest was crawling with them.
A giggle sounded from the other side of the tree. Keelie rolled her eyes. Elia and Jake were all over each other again. She couldn’t bring herself to call him Dariel, although he sure looked different now that he was the unicorn lord of the forest.
She will bear a child, a voice whispered in her head. She looked at the bhata that was climbing up her jeans leg, its holly berry eyes intent on her face.
Really? The thought of Elia as anyone’s mom was pretty scary, but it would make her a local hero, and Elia loved attention.
It hit her that she would be Aunt Keelie. She smiled. She kind of liked that. No, wait. If Jake was her uncle, then his baby would be her cousin. Not as cool. She’d hold out for being called Aunt Keelie.
Aunties are cool. The voices of the oaken aunties, the Queens of the Dread Forest, trilled at each other.
I want to be an auntie, Alora said. When are you going to have an acorn, Keelie?
Not for a long, long time.
The bhata nodded in agreement.
Leaves crunched under booted feet, and Keelie watched as Sean jumped over the stream, then waved at her. He wore a Silver Bough Jousting Company jacket, since they were working hard for the upcoming Renaissance Faire season and he was now in charge. Since the trial, Lord Niriel had kept to the forges, working the fires and twisting steel into beautiful new swords. Recently he’d gone to Germany to work with the Black Forest elves on a sword-smith exchange. A new swordmaster would soon take his place in the Dread Forest.
Some of the Dread Forest elves thought that pardoning Lord Niriel had been a mistake, but Sean was so happy and relaxed these days that Keelie knew it had been the right thing to do. For right now, at least. And since Risa’s father didn’t want his little girl involved with Niriel’s family, the wedding was called off. Risa didn’t speak to Keelie, but she had seen the elf girl watch Sean, her face full of yearning. Risa kept busy with her gardens, drying herbs and bottling herbal elixirs. The rumor swirling around the village was that Risa would soon be joining the faire circuit, starting with the Juliet City Shakespeare Festival in California. Keelie suspected that Sean’s relief at being off the hook would soon be ended.
Keelie was going to be at the High Mountain Ren Faire with her father in May, and she knew that her grandmother had plans for them to visit several failing forests. Keelie was now considered an expert in forest renewal. She was going to hold out for getting a driver’s license first, since she’d been taking lessons with Zabrina—a few more dings on Vlad the VW didn’t seem to bother her new friend.
She lifted her hand to return Sean’s greeting, then stood up and brushed off her jeans, deliberately shutting out the tiny voice of the prophetic bhata.
Whatever the stick fairy had to say about her and Sean would have to stay a secret. She ran down the hill toward him. She couldn’t wait to find out on her own.
About Gillian Summers
A forest dweller, Gillian was raised by gypsies at a Renaissance Faire. She likes knitting, hot soup, and costumes, and adores oatmeal—especially in the form of cookies. She loathes concrete, but tolerates it if it means attending a science fiction convention. She’s an obsessive collector of beads, recipes, knitting needles, and tarot cards, and admits to reading InStyle Magazine. You can find her in her north Georgia cabin, where she lives with her large, friendly dogs and obnoxious cats, and at www.gilliansummers.com.
Keelie’s adventures continue!
Watch for Book I of the Scions of Shadow Trilogy.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Praise for the Faire Folk Trilogy
one
two
three
four
five
six
seven
eight
nine
ten
eleven
twelve
thirteen
fourteen
fifteen
sixteen
seventeen
eighteen
nineteen
twenty
twenty-one
epilogue
About Gillian Summers
The Secret of the Dread Forest: The Faire Folk Trilogy Page 21
