Revealed

by Riana Lucas

  There are two guards standing on either side of the doorway. She whispers softly to one of them; he nods to her and opens her door. Then he motions for the other guard to follow him. They walk purposefully down the hall, away from us. “I do not wish for others to overhear and spread rumors,” my mother answers at my questioning look. She then turns, and we all follow her into the room. I enter last, closing the door firmly behind me.

  When I turn back around, my mother has already seated Rowan and Reed on the couch opposite her chair. I am momentarily caught up in deciding where I should sit. If I wedge myself on the couch, it would be between the two males and way too crowded for my comfort. My mother is sitting in her chair, which is the only other seating place in the room. When I make eye contact with her, she smiles and pats the seat beside her. We have not really displayed how close we have become in front of others, but now I am happy to do so. I smile at her and move to sit beside her. As soon as I do, she absently takes my hand in hers as she turns to address everyone.

  She peers at Rowan solemnly, and I can see all of the pleasantries of making a new friend and meeting Reed’s father are now gone. She is the Queen of the Seelie Court, and her next sentence, although delivered nicely, is still a demand meant to be obeyed. “Rowan, tell me all you know about the Unclaimed Fae and the disease that consumes them.”

  Rowan straightens up as all eyes turn to him. He takes a deep breath as if to brace himself, and then begins to talk. His voice is calm and efficient, but I can see how talking about this makes him anxious. I feel terrible for putting him in this uncomfortable situation, but he is our only hope at helping Holly.

  “I know it is a disease within the blood, but I do not know the rhyme or reason any Fae gets it. I do, however, have my suspicions that in some cases it is hereditary, which is why I have kept such a close eye on Reed.”

  Jerking forward in my seat at this statement, my heart begins to beat fast. Reed could get the disease. I open my mouth, but Rowan puts his hand up to stop me. “He will not get it,” he reassures me.

  “How can you know? He is your son and you have it. You said it is hereditary!” I exclaim, near hysterics. When I glance over at Reed to see how he is taking this news, it is to find him watching me in concern instead of his father. He should be more worried about himself, not me. I scowl at him before turning back to Rowan.

  Rowan inclines his head at my questions and statement before continuing to speak soothingly. “Yes, but Reed is a Halfling. The blood of his mother protects him from ever allowing the disease to manifest.”

  Once Rowan has reassured me, my mother tugs at my hand and pulls me back into my seat. I understand what Rowan is telling me, but I still need more information and proof before I can fully believe it.

  “How do you know? How can you be so sure he is safe from contracting it somehow?”

  “I have lived a very long life, and most of that life has been as more of an outcast on the fringes of civilization. In doing so, I have encountered many of the Unclaimed Fae over time. My position as an outcast has allowed me to observe them and eventually befriend some of the lesser affected ones at the beginning of the disease, allowing me an opportunity to study from an outside perspective and watch how it progresses. I have also been able to observe many Halfling children that were parented by an Unclaimed Fae. As you can imagine, because these Fae are so aggressive and uncaring, it happens more than it should.” I shiver at the thought of what those Fae did to the human women, but push it away to concentrate on the rest of what Rowan is telling us. “Over time I began to notice that none of the Halflings ever shared my symptoms. I then turned my attention to what was different about the Halflings. The one obvious difference was their human parent.”

  “So none of the Halflings who were parented by an Unclaimed Fae have ever developed the disease? How many have you been able to observe and for how long?” my mother asks with no hint of disbelief or criticism in her voice. She is seeking answers and believes Rowan has them. As do I.

  “No, not one. I have kept track of over one hundred Halflings spanning over the last two hundred years or so.”

  “Whoa! You’re that old?” Reed bursts out, disbelief and excitement both apparent.

  Rowan chuckles. “My son, I am much older than that.”

  “How old? You don’t look a day over thirty-five.” He does not give his father a chance to answer before he begins shaking his head in disbelief. “No way, there is no way you are that old.” He turns to me now. “Is there? I know I still have a lot to learn, but I would have thought I would know something like that. Right?”

  “Well it has not really come up, and we have been so busy preparing for the upcoming attack on the Unseelie Court, among other things. But yes, there is,” I tell him gently, not sure how he will take the news. “Fae have extremely long lives. They can live to be hundreds of years old, and they will never appear to be much older than their mid-thirties, unless they choose otherwise.”

  “They can choose how old they look?” His eyes scrunch up in thought.

  I laugh. “Well they can use magic to change their appearance.”

  Now he turns to my mother. “How old are you?”

  “Reed!” I jump up, worried he has insulted my mother and wanting to do damage control immediately.

  “What?” he asks, completely oblivious to his rudeness and disrespect.

  “You,” I begin but my mother grabs my hand once more and pulls me to sit back down beside her.

  “It is quite alright, Poppy, Reed is only curious. This is all new to him.” She pats my hand as if I were a small child and turns to Reed. “I am three hundred and forty-six years old.”

  “Whoa! You’re even older than my dad.”

  “No, she isn’t.” Reed’s head flies around to look at his father again, and I cannot help but to laugh again. He looks so comical whipping his head from one person to the other. Rowan clears his throat. “I said I have been doing my research for over two hundred years. I am actually over five hundred years old and have been living as an Unclaimed Fae for almost four hundred of those.”

  “Wow.” Reed breathes out as he falls back against the back of the couch. I can see how it can all be a little overwhelming.

  “I knew you had to be a lot older than I, because I have not heard of a Golden Fae since my birth. But to have lived with the disease for so long is astonishing. How have you been able to accomplish this amazing feat?” my mother asks in awe. It is the only time I have seen her so impressed with someone or something.

  “In the beginning, I didn’t know what it was. I had symptoms similar to what Poppy described of her friend. I would lose control at the oddest moment, and the smallest thing would trigger it. There was a period of time at the beginning that was very rough. Times I don’t recall at all and other time periods of just darkness. During those times, I don’t know what I did or where I was. That scared me. I had seen an Unclaimed Fae a time or two, and I knew what they were capable of and I didn’t want to harm anyone else. So I decided that I wouldn’t. I began to exercise often, trying to get the aggression out of me on my terms. I would wear myself out daily. That helped somewhat. Then I started to observe other Unclaimed Fae. I would follow them and study them, their habits, their routines, and whom they interacted with. Some of it was quite difficult. You see, I could not interfere, so I saw a lot of abuse and a lot of death. I am not proud of that, but I knew it must be done. Eventually I figured out Halflings born of Unclaimed Fae did not get the disease. I knew it had to be the blood.” He pauses and looks up at each one of us. “Please remember that other than the times I do not remember, I have never harmed anyone. I only did what I must and the bare minimum that was completely necessary.” His eyes are looking deeply into Reed’s, imploring him to believe him and trust him.

  Reed nods his head. His eyes hold the same intensity as his father’s. No matter what Rowan may say, Reed trusts him already. We all do.

  Rowan visibly tenses and then blurts,
“I decided to try some of the human blood for myself.” Rowan pauses, but when none of us makes a sound or moves a muscle, he relaxes and continues with his story. “The first few times were not as pleasant or honorable as I would have liked them to have been, but I was desperate and unpracticed in this sort of thing. I went to the human world and convinced a human to allow me to take some of her blood. I had stolen some syringes from a human clinic and tried to be as gentle as possible. I took only as much blood as I thought the human could spare. Once home, I injected the blood into myself, much like the human blood transfusions.”

  My mother raises her eyebrows at Rowan’s ingenuity. It is amazing that no one has thought of this before. Fae like to think humans are just horrid creatures, set out to unintentionally ruin the world. Although much of their technology and development has caused many problems, they are also extremely smart and revolutionized. Who would have thought that some of their medical technology would one day, hopefully, save an entire race of Fae?

  “How long have you been doing this and how often must you perform these transfusions?” my mother asks. The possibility that we can not only save Holly, but all the Unclaimed Fae has me on the edge of my seat and eager to hear his answers.

  “I have been doing this for only about twenty-five years now, just before meeting Anna. I hate to admit that it took me quite some time to figure out the blood part, then to apply it to myself. Even then, I took some time to learn a good balance between how much blood I needed and how often. For the last twenty or so years, I have come up with a nice balance that allows me to do it about once a week.”

  “And have you tried this with any other Fae or only yourself?”

  “Only myself so far. Originally I did not want to endanger anyone else’s life since I knew so little about what I was doing. Then when I finally started to figure it out, I wanted to make sure I had it right. Once I felt I had it under control, I met Anna and she had Reed. Since then I have been doing only a small amount of research. I have been more focused on keeping them safe. I admit that it has been selfish of me, but Anna and Reed have been my only real concern.” He looks a little ashamed of himself, and I hurry to reassure him.

  “No one would think you selfish at all, Rowan. What you have done is absolutely amazing. You have dedicated so much time and research to something the rest of us chalked up as a lost cause. You deserve to enjoy your life and the people in it. I am just sorry there was no one to help you. If so, you may have been able to keep your family.”

  “I agree with my daughter. The sacrifices you have made are very noble. I know what it is like to lose those you love.” She squeezes my hand and pulls it into her lap. “What you have done is a miracle. I will do everything within my power to assist you from this point forward. We will work with what we have for now to help as many of the Unclaimed Fae as possible. Then we will set out to find a cure once and for all.”

  “Thank you, Lily. I appreciate your kind words and offer to help, but I must warn you. I am the only one who has done this, and I had already started exerting a certain amount of control over it by myself. Every Unclaimed Fae may not take to the treatment. They may already be too far gone to care.”

  “Yes, you’re right. But we’ll still try, and we’ll save as many as possible.”

  Reed, who had been mostly silent during the entire conversation — just taking everything in — speaks up. “I think we need to get Willow, Gideon, and Thorne in on this. They’ll be upset if they aren’t told about Holly, and they’ll be furious if we don’t let them help. I think we need to formulate a plan to get Holly back here and get her treatment. Once we get Holly healthy, we can focus on training once more. I don’t want to be surprised by Damien again.” His jaw is set and his body tense. He is ready for action. At his words, I begin to feel the same way.

  The time for talking is over.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Having all agreed with Reed’s idea, my mother sends a guard for the other three as we begin to talk strategy. Holly is our first priority. Finding her and convincing her to return to the Court is going to be a very difficult task. She fled because she was scared she would harm someone; her feelings are not going to have changed. My mother expresses her desire to go with us, but we all agree it is not a good idea. Not only is the Queen of the Seelie Court going into the Faery Forest a horrible idea, it will require more guards and the element of surprise would be lost. She reluctantly agrees.

  That is the only progress we made when there is a knock at the door. When I open it my friends all spill through the doorway. Willow looks anxious; she glances quickly to and from each person in the room while twisting her fingers nervously in front of her. Gideon is next. He is as alert as always, with his expression grim as his eyes immediately zero in on Rowan and do not move. Thorne is last, and I take a quick step back before realizing what I have done. The normal, carefree, joking Thorne is gone. His face is thunderous, his stance determined, and he looks only at me.

  “Where is she?” His voice is soft but menacing. I feel the anger and worry coming off of him in waves.

  Thorne’s question and anger do not surprise me. I had suspected there were some feelings between the two of them, but there was never any obvious evidence. They both remained professional and friendly, treating each other the way they treated the rest of us. But I caught the glances they shot each other when they thought the other was not looking. Seeing Thorne now confirms my suspicions, and my heart breaks a little for him. He is going to be beside himself when he learns what has happened to Holly.

  “I do not know,” I whisper softly, not wanting to lie to him.

  He freezes and his face pales. I panic, not knowing what to say or do. Reed must sense my distress because he is at my side in an instant. His arm goes around my waist and pulls me closer to him, offering silent comfort. “Hey, man, come on in and we’ll explain everything.” He holds Thorne’s eyes and a look passes between the two of them, one that conveys Reed’s need for Thorne to trust him. I am nervous that Thorne will not, but then he finally lets out a breath and nods. We move aside so Thorne can walk past. When he does, Reed claps him on the shoulder in reassurance.

  “Thank you. I did not know what to say. He looked so lost for a minute,” I murmur quietly to Reed so the others will not hear.

  “I know exactly what he’s feeling right now. Don’t worry. We’ll find her and he’ll be okay,” he says back equally as soft as we approach the others. His arm is still around my waist, but I do not even notice as I look at the others. Everyone is looking solemn with equal amounts of worry and confusion. Gideon has positioned himself between Rowan and my mother and Willow. Introductions would be the best place to start.

  “Rowan, I would like you to meet Willow, Gideon, and Thorne.” I point to each of them as I say their names; they all nod in greeting, but remain silent. “They are loyal, honest, and brave. They are three of my best warriors and friends. I trust them with my life.”

  All three of them turn to me, stunned by my words. Gideon and Thorne place their fists over their hearts and bow slightly, wordlessly giving their thanks and re-pledging their allegiance. I do not stop them; I know this means as much to them as my words meant to them. Willow runs over and wraps her arms around my neck.

  I smile as I pull her arms from around my neck and thread my arm through hers, keeping her at my side. Gideon discreetly takes a few steps to the side, putting himself closer to her. I pretend not to notice.

  “Everyone, this is Rowan. He is Reed’s father.” I wait a moment for the news to settle before telling them the rest. Gideon relaxes finally, and Willow smiles brightly at Reed. Thorne still remains tense and still.

  I look at him when I tell them the rest. “Rowan is also an Unclaimed Fae and he is here to help us save Holly.” Before anyone has a chance to ask questions, I tell them of Rowan’s ability to control the feral disease and how this is possible. I do not wish for anyone to think that Rowan is a danger, and I also need them to un
derstand just how important his help will be. Once I am finished explaining, I also tell them what happened between Holly and me this morning.

  Willow gasps softly, and from the corner of my eye, I see Gideon move the rest of the way to her, gently taking her in his arms, but my eyes do not move from Thorne. I see his eyes widen in realization. His hand automatically moves to the hilt of his sword, and he takes a step toward the door.

  Reed and I both move as one, blocking his way. I reach my hand out to touch his arm, but he jerks it away. “Let me go. If I know Holly, she’s left the Court for good. I must find her before she gets hurt.” He tries to step around me, but Reed steps in. He grabs Thorne’s arm this time and holds him back.

  “Yes, she left, and we’re going to find her. All of us. But we can’t just go out there, guns blazing,” Reed says, causing Thorne and I both to look at him in confusion. He waves his free hand at us. “You know…oh never mind. When we finally get a break from all this chaos, I’m seriously going to have to teach you guys some good old American slang.” He rolls his eyes at us then looks back at Thorne. “Anyway, we need a plan. If we go out there now, we’ll search forever for her. She’s smart. She’ll hide, and if she senses us coming, she’ll run again.”

  Thorne thinks about this for a moment, and I can see his indecision. He looks down at me, a question in his eyes. He is not looking at me for approval because I am his princess, but because I am his friend, and I have been in the same spot he is now. I know how he feels. It is the same way I felt when I needed to get to Reed and Rho. It seemed like there was not time to think, debate, or plan. I needed to move, and I needed to move then. I nod my head in agreement with what Reed has said.