The Changeling's Fortune (Winter's Blight Book 1)

by K. C. Lannon

  The couple watched him, though they kept their distance. Iain could not fault them for their mistrust. They were smart not to trust.

  “Thank you,” Iain said shakily, tearing his eyes away from the fruit and nodding toward the couple. “I mean it. Most people—they wouldn’t have bothered to open the door.”

  After Iain left a few coins on the table to cover the cost, he began to pack his satchel with a few items. He packed an orange. If he peeled the skin, the fruit inside would be okay to eat and not unclean. His hand hovered over the fruit.

  “Please, soldier, you do not want to take that. I have other food fit for humans.” The woman stood in the doorway, her arm outstretched as if to stop him.

  Iain swallowed hard. He snatched a single ripe, plump berry from the counter and stuffed it in his bag.

  “Didn’t you hear me? I said that fruit is no good for you! You don’t know what you’re doing.”

  “I know exactly what I’m doing.” Iain turned his back to them, heading out the front door and outside.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Deirdre was still running when she reached the first fence around the orphanage’s lands. She vaulted it, but the toe of her boot just caught it, and she sprawled forward on the grassy ground. Promptly pushing herself back up, she wiped her face and kept running; the familiar, old, grey buildings were in sight, beckoning her with promised comfort.

  She knew that Mother Superior liked to walk and pray outside when the girls were in their morning classes, so she searched for her on the outskirts where she usually roamed. A flash of black and white stopped her, and she backtracked, rounding a row of trees and arriving at the enormous kitchen garden. Seated on a stone bench was Mother Superior, rosary in hand, eyes shut.

  “Mother!”

  Mother Superior started and jumped up from her seat, spotting Deirdre. “Deirdre! What on earth are you doing here? Why, you’re filthy!”

  Beginning to sob, Deirdre ran over to her, letting her backpack fall to the ground, nearly tackling the woman in an embrace. She tried to talk but choked on her tears.

  “Good heavens,” Mother said with a sigh, sitting back down with Deirdre, hugging her in return. “I thought I was seeing a vision of you from seven years ago.” A few moments later, when the girl’s sobs began to fade into sniffles, Mother pushed her back gently, arms on her shoulders, and asked, “What happened, Deirdre?”

  “I don’t know! I don’t know what’s going on!” she cried. “I broke a twig without touching it, cracked and ruined my dormitory teacher’s teacup, I made some guy lose his tires, and then I completely ruined a faery circle! The mushrooms were completely rotten, and it wasn’t the faeries!”

  “Wait. Deirdre, take a deep breath. Then another one… And another.” After walking Deirdre through several breaths, each slower and deeper than the last, Mother said, “Deirdre, why don’t you tell me about each of those things, one at a time.”

  “But it all started with the banshee! And I…” She sniffed loudly and shuddered. “I got put in jail and I STILL don’t know why, and then we saw this monster yesterday! And—”

  “Start with the banshee.” Mother interrupted, her voice calm and firm. “Then tell me about everything else, but do one thing at a time.”

  So Deirdre started from entering the city, seeing the banshee on the curb outside Ferriers Town, all the way up to the faery ring. She left nothing out, and Mother Superior did not interrupt, aside from sometimes frowning more thoughtfully than usual.

  Once Deirdre finished, Mother Superior asked, “So why have you come back here? You didn’t just come back to run away from the soldiers, did you?”

  “Well, no…” She rocked back and forth in her seat. “I thought, maybe what happened had something to do with my parents. I mean, what if they were faery cultists or something like that? What if I’m cursed or something?”

  Mother gave her a stern look. “Child, if you were cursed somehow, you would have known before some random twig broke. Faeries like order—when in a faery story did a faery ever do something so random? No, if a faery had cursed you or your family… there would be some significance behind its manifestation. It would have happened on your sixteenth birthday or something such as that.”

  “Still,” she pressed, “is there anything about my parents you haven’t told me? Maybe a note they left or a strange blanket I was in, or—”

  “Deirdre, you know better,” Mother said quietly. “When you turned twelve, we told you everything we knew.”

  Leaning forward, Deirdre buried her face in her hands. “Then why is this happening to me? Did the banshee curse me, after all?”

  “Banshees can’t do anything you’ve described. Their powers are too limited to have caused your troubles.”

  Deirdre’s body shook with a sob. “Then what is going on?”

  Mother put her arm around the girl’s shoulders, saying, “Back when I first came here, years ago… we raised a strange child. She was bright and mischievous and had a knack for connecting with animals in the village. It was uncanny… but she never did anything wrong, so we let her be. It wasn’t until much later we discovered the truth.”

  “That she was crazy or something?” Deirdre asked, looking over at Mother with a humorless smile.

  “She was a changeling.”

  Deirdre shot up, leaning away from Mother. “You’re kidding. I’m not— I can’t be one of them!”

  “I don’t know what you are. But I noticed similarities between you and that child as you were growing up. Still, they could mostly be explained away…”

  “But—”

  Mother gave her a sharp look. “It’s not definite. But the fact is that it is an option, a probable one. And we must always consider all realistic possibilities, whether we like them or not. To not do so is to live in denial.”

  “But, if—IF—I was a faery, wouldn’t weird things, magic and stuff, wouldn’t it have been happening all my life?”

  Mother folded her arms thoughtfully. “Not necessarily. Sometimes changelings have their powers sealed before they are given to humans. And those seals can only be broken in a few ways… such as by the touch of a skilled faery. And you said the banshee touched you, yes? And that was the very first time you came into direct contact with a faery, especially one with her skills. A faery living in the city, telling fortunes… she’d be more skilled than any normal forest or garden faery. She may have unlocked your magic unintentionally.”

  “But…” She thought back to the banshee and the faeries at the ring. “But aren’t faeries crazy or something?”

  Mother hesitated, then said, “That’s not a word I’d use. Deirdre, you remember how I told you that elves live in large stones back in Iceland? When I was very young… I met one.” Deirdre gasped, and Mother continued, “I met one, and she even gave me the small, wooden key to her stone house. We played every day… and I never lost any time playing with her. We’d play for hours, and when I came back outside, only a couple of minutes had passed. Those were lovely times.”

  She sighed, smiling softly. “I learned so much from her, about faeries, about Iceland… about myself. Then one day the key disappeared. I had just turned twelve, and I was starting to grow up. And when I woke up to see it gone… I wasn’t surprised. She didn’t abandon me cruelly… of course I missed her at first, but we both knew it was time for our friendship to end even if we never said so.”

  “I had no idea,” Deirdre whispered, staring at Mother, transfixed.

  The woman raised an eyebrow. “Well of course you didn’t! And you’ll keep your mouth shut about it. If any of the English heard about it, they’d think me a traitor. My point is, Deirdre, there is a fair chance this may be happening because you are a faery. Or maybe you are only half a faery… or even less. No matter what the case is, I ask you to accept whatever life delivers you with open eyes. Never, ever run away from the truth. Will you promise me that?”

  Sucking in a long breath, Deirdre nodded. “I promise.�
��

  “Good.” She patted Deirdre’s hand. “Now, you may go anywhere from here, Deirdre. Where shall you go?”

  “I… I was going to go toward the Summer Court. The banshee said that’s where my parents are. They could know the truth about me.”

  “And if this magic is yours, you will most likely find a way to control it there, at the Court.”

  Deirdre’s mouth fell open. “Really? You think they’d help me?”

  “If you ask them to.” Mother gave her a serious look. “If you go there, a word of caution. The Summer Court is filled with only Seelie, or good, faeries. But they are still extremely dangerous.”

  “You mean they’ll attack me?” She gulped. “Try to kill me?”

  “Well…” Mother began to talk with her hands as she continued, “Elves and faeries… they are like rivers. They are powerful, and we do not fully understand how they work. Something can happen upstream that can make them break their boundaries and harm you. They won’t purposely attack you unless you give them a reason… but they can still put you in danger, and you’ll never know why.”

  “But your elf friend…”

  Mother nodded. “Only when I was older did I realize how many dangerous situations I was put in because of her. At the time, I only found it fun… an adventure. And she was fond of me, so she was somewhat careful. But my life was at risk many times when we played.”

  Deirdre curled up on the stone seat, hugging her knees to herself. “So that makes it bad? You two being friends and playing together?”

  To her surprise, Mother smiled. “My parents would say so, but I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. Not then, and not now.” When Deirdre still looked puzzled, Mother continued, “Just exercise caution, much like you would if you were hiking in a dangerous setting.”

  “Should I go?” Deirdre stood up. “Should I really go? Will it all be worth it?”

  “Only you have the answer to that, child.”

  Deirdre groaned, kicking at the dirt. “I knew you’d say that.”

  “You traveled here with someone else, didn’t you?” Mother asked, also standing.

  “Yes, I was with…” Her eyes widened and her hands flew to her mouth. “James! I left him— I mean, I ran all the way here… Ooh, he might have got lost or something! I need to go find him!”

  Mother placed a hand on Deirdre’s shoulder, stopping her from bolting off. “Deirdre, two things before you go. You are always welcome here… but I do not want to see you again simply because you gave up on your journey. Do you understand?”

  “I do. And I…” She couldn’t finish the sentence, because deep down she felt strangely certain that she would not return to the orphanage, perhaps ever again.

  “Good.” Mother’s expression turned grim as she continued, “Also, I believe I know who is responsible for you being imprisoned. One of the generals of the English army came here yesterday. He sponsors this school… His name is Alan Callaghan. And he asked for and took your files.”

  Deirdre tilted her head. “Why would he do that?”

  “Somehow he heard of your getting into mischief in the city. And so he came here and took your files. He’s as extreme as they come when it comes to faeries… He must believe you are a faery, locking you up like that. Be careful. If he went out of his way to imprison you like that, I doubt he’ll let you go without a fight. He is dangerous.”

  Rocking back and forth on her feet, unsure how to reply, Deirdre tried at a joke. “But is he more dangerous than the faeries are?”

  Mother raised an eyebrow. “That depends. He’s a bit cleverer than they are. They’re mischievous but not always cunning. And he’s as cunning as a fox.”

  Deirdre sighed. “I’ll be careful.”

  Mother walked her to the edge of the garden, accepting a farewell hug after Deirdre had slung her backpack back on. As Deirdre walked away, heading toward where she had left James, she thought, Maybe I should have asked what Alan Callaghan looked like. Hm. Callaghan… why does that name sound familiar?

  She searched her memory for a moment, then shrugged and kept walking. If it was important, she’d probably remember eventually.

  “There you are!”

  She turned to see James approaching, his face red, his breathing ragged.

  “I’m so sorry!” Deirdre hurried over to him. “I was so upset, I just completely…”

  James shook his head, leaning over with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath between words, “I… tried to… follow you. You’re… really fast…”

  She rubbed the back of her head, grinning. “Well, I manage.” But then her expression sobered and she continued, “But I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have run off or snapped at you like that! That was wrong of me. Forgive me?”

  James looked a bit surprised by her quick apology, but he managed a nod. “Sure.”

  She sighed in relief. “Thank you!”

  “About what I said before”—James lowered his voice—“what my mum said in her letter— I didn’t mean to frighten you, or whatever. I just think that what Mum said and what’s happening to you might be connected somehow. Maybe you’re marked by magic too.”

  Deirdre folded her arms, thinking. “But Mother said it wasn’t a curse… but she didn’t mention being marked by magic. It sounds bad though…”

  “Only,” James said contemplatively, “I haven’t used any magic like you have. I figure if I were cursed with magic, I would’ve used it loads of times before now.” He snickered. “The Fancy Prancers and half of Neo-London would probably be turned to toads by now, most likely!” Then his expression sobered. “Or if it’s only used when someone’s in danger, I still would’ve had some chances for something to happen.”

  “But it hasn’t happened to you?”

  “No. Not that I’m aware of.”

  “Maybe that’s not what it is with me then. I don’t know… How do you get marked by magic?”

  James sighed. “I don’t know. I don’t even know what it means. But that just means we’ll have to figure it out, learn something new.”

  He hesitated before continuing, “It— The letter said something else as well. It said that something evil had… claimed me or something.” He looked up at Deirdre, studying her face for a response.

  Her hands flew to her mouth. “You mean, like, an evil faery or something? Like a child-eating evil faery or something like that? That’s terrible!”

  “Child-eating—” James’s eyes widened. “Not necessarily,” he said, holding up his hands. “Evil can be kind of subjective, can’t it? I mean, my mum thought leftovers were evil.”

  Deirdre blinked twice. “What do you mean? Evil is evil!”

  “Umm, yeah. Anyway,” James said, “did you talk to someone? Did you learn anything about your parents?”

  “Yes! I mean, I met Mother Superior, and I learned so much from her, about faeries and everything. But she didn’t know anything else about my parents. But I think…” She took in a deep breath before continuing, “I think I will be going on to the Summer Court after all. I don’t know what’s going on, but something is different about me… She said they can help me there, and I can find my parents too. That’s the only way to be sure that I’m human.”

  Raising an eyebrow, James gave her an incredulous smile. “You really bounce back fast, don’t you?”

  “What do you mean?” she asked, swaying back and forth on her heels.

  “Never mind. Um, so what did she say about faeries?”

  “A lot! But she said they are dangerous.” She leveled a frown at James. “Even the Summer Court will be dangerous. They’re… unpredictable.”

  “You’re still going though, aren’t you?” When she nodded, he continued, “And I’ve still got to… you know, find my mum. So…”

  “We’d best go together then!” She beamed at him, hands on her hips. “So. Where should we go from here?”

  “Um… north.” He pulled out a map and trailed the path with his fingers. I
t went almost right into a wide city area.

  “That’s old London.” She jabbed her finger at it. “We’ll almost be going into it. Shouldn’t we go around? It’s supposed to be full of radiation, right?”

  “My dad taught us that the dangerous stuff was all collected and put in the middle of the city. There’s some radiation around the area, but it’s mostly harmless. As long as we don’t go into the middle of the city or drink any water in the city, I think we’ll be fine.”

  “But why go near it at all?” she pressed, her hands on her hips.

  “Well, faeries mostly avoid it except for the ones attracted to the radiation and pollution, or at least that’s what I’ve heard. But they’ll all be in the middle of the city; I’ve heard they feed off the waste like flies.”

  “Ugh.” Deirdre made a face. “What sorts of faeries would do that?”

  James just shrugged. “None of my books explained much about it. But other faeries usually avoid the city altogether, I think, so if we stay on the outskirts, we’ll avoid the monsters both inside and outside the city.”

  “All right then.” Smiling, she stepped back and gestured. “Lead the way!”

  * * *

  Iain found a well outside. He drew a bucket and scrubbed the dried blood from his hands as best as he could. It occurred to Iain that when he did get back home with James, Philip would no longer be there to plead his case to General Windsor and tell everyone what General Callaghan had done.

  It would be my word against my father’s. The word of an Iron Warden grunt against the word of a celebrated general.

  Would anyone believe him if he started spouting accusations based on something a dead man had told him? He had no proof of anything, and now it seemed like he never would. He’d never done anything to prove himself to his peers or mentors in his training, to make himself worthy of their trust. All he’d done was kept to himself, pushed people away. He was nearly the perfect witness: someone no one would believe.

  Iain slept an hour in the barn, just long enough to restore his strength sufficiently to keep walking. He set off quickly, looking back at the house only once. He kept listening for the sound of whistling.