by Amy Sumida
“I believe they want me to claim Arawn's territory,” Arach whispered.
“I think you're right,” I agreed. “And I don't know how I feel about that.”
“Where are we, Daddy?” Rian asked Arach.
“Somewhere special,” Arach said as he began to chase after the dogs.
Brevyn had only been walking a few months now, so he stumbled a bit as he tried to run after his father and brother. I hurried over, caught him up, and swung him on my hip.
“Daddy's right; this place special,” Brevyn whispered to me.
“I know, honey,” I said as I followed Arach. “But I'm not sure this is such a good idea.”
“It is,” Brevyn said sagely.
That calmed me. Brevyn had visions, and as much as I hated people telling me about my future, I trusted my son. He could see all sorts of things, and he could also borrow magic. At first, I had hated his visions as much as I had anyone else's. But eventually, I saw the benefit of having a psychic son. Such as times like this, when I was afraid that I was heading into danger, and he was able to console me.
“Do you know what will happen here?” I asked Brevyn.
“Good things,” Brevyn assured me. “Mommy will be happy.”
“I hope I will,” I muttered as the trees closed in around us.
My last two visits to Annwn had both ended badly; once for Morrigan (though that was just an illusion) and once for me (when Lesya had been abducted by Morrigan). Morrigan was truly dead now, and so was her lover, Arawn (the ex-king of this territory). So, hopefully, nothing would go wrong this time.
The walk to the glass fortress was long but uneventful, except for the last leg of the trip; when we passed through the sprawling village surrounding the castle. The villagers came out of their homes and stood along the road, watching us with glittering eyes and empty expressions. It was eerie; especially since I knew that they were dead. These were the souls of Mag Mell; a village outside of Tara where good souls had enjoyed their afterlife. But then they had been booted out of Tara by the Fomorians, and Arawn had taken them in. Their stares were respectful and somber, but they still creeped me out, and I was relieved when we made it past them.
Except we didn't; not entirely. There were more of the dead waiting for us on the castle steps.
Fortress Annwn was built entirely of glass, but there were several types of glass employed in its creation. Quite a few walls were transparent, but they were layered with frosted or etched pieces, strengthened by lead crystal, and adorned with faceted features, in addition to hand-blown details. It was the perfect palace for a faerie, even a fire faerie since fire is necessary for forming glass. But I was uncomfortable there. The palace had the feel of a haunted house to it; empty, but not entirely. Technically, it was haunted; only the dead resided in it now.
“Welcome, King Arach and Queen Vervain of the Fire Kingdom,” a man said as he separated himself from the crowd on the steps. He strode down to us and bowed. “I am Art; your steward.”
“My steward?” Arach asked as he set Rian down on the white cobblestones.
The cŵn annwn surged around Rian and Arach. Rian stroked the dogs affectionately, forgetting all about his father and the new place he'd been taken to. Brevyn bounced until I let him down to play with the puppies too. The twins giggled through loving licks and warm nuzzles. How wonderful to be so comfortable wherever you went.
“The cŵn annwn have chosen you,” Art declared. “They are avatars of Annwn itself, and so, the land has chosen you. King Arach, you are being offered the throne of Annwn. Do you accept?”
The crowd behind Art went still, staring at Arach expectantly, but Arach looked at me.
“Can you rule the Kingdom of Fire and Annwn?” I asked Arach. “It's a lot of responsibility. These people may be dead, but that doesn't mean they won't need your attention.”
“Daddy's not the one the doggies want,” Brevyn giggled as he wandered over to me.
We all stared at my son in shock, even the dead did.
“What do you mean, Brevyn?” Arach asked slowly.
Brevyn just pointed... at his brother.
Rian had each of his arms around a hound's neck, and the rest of the dogs were pressed in around him tightly, like a royal guard. I frowned, thinking back over the past few days, and trying to remember how many times Arach had been with Rian when the hounds had followed him around the castle. The dogs had definitely come first to Arach, but they had seemed even more excited when they'd met Rian. Had Arach been the lure, and Rian the hook?
The hounds weren't trying to lead Arach here; they were trying to get Arach to bring Rian.
“Oh, sweet burning brimstone,” I whispered. “The Celtic Hunt wants its own master.”
Arach's face went blank with the epiphany, and then he started to smile. He laid a hand on Rian's shoulder, and our son stopped playing with the dogs long enough to look up at his father. Rian's dragon eyes, so similar to Arach's, widened as he saw the expression on his father's face.
“Son, this is very important.” Arach knelt beside Rian. “What are you feeling right now?”
“I feel good!” Rian shouted as he threw his arms up in the air. “My fingers tingle, and the doggies tingle too.”
“Do you feel like you need to do something?” I asked him.
“I need to go in there.” Rian pointed to the castle entrance, and then the hounds started moving as one unit, taking my son along with them as if he'd ordered them to do so.
Arach was left behind, to stare after the group in surprise.
“Sorry, sweetheart,” I said as I took Arach's hand. “It looks as if we've got another king in the family.”
“Both of them kings before their third birthday,” Arach whispered proudly, then looked down at me with glistening eyes. “We have strong, powerful children, A Thaisce. This is so much more than I could have hoped for.”
“I'm glad you're happy.” I chuckled. “But one of those powerful kids has just disappeared into a glass fortress full of dead people.”
“Come along, wife.” Arach scooped up Brevyn and then took my arm to lead me forward. “We have another son to crown.”
The dead watched in awe as we strode by them, chasing after a pack of magical dogs and our dragon-sidhe son—their soon-to-be king.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Don't you need Rian to be your heir?” I asked Arach as we wandered through the slick glass halls of Fortress Annwn.
The ceilings rose above us in soaring spires of lead crystal; an architectural masterpiece. Sunlight was magnified through the glass, warming the castle better than central air could have. The open spaces and high ceilings kept it from becoming an oven while adding an ethereal feeling.
“If I die, Rian shall have to give Annwn up or find a way to rule two kingdoms.” Arach shrugged. “But hopefully, that will never become an issue.”
“Hopefully,” I agreed; Arach's death was not something I wanted to contemplate.
Rian was carried forward on the furry tide, through the spacious hallways, and then into the throne room. The last time I'd been to the fortress, I'd spent most of my time in the Great Hall; this was my first foray into the throne room, and I was a bit surprised by it. Unlike the rest of the palace, this room wasn't entirely glass. The walls were paneled in warm, golden wood, and instead of columns, there were trees placed in precise lines down both sides of the room. Not living trees, but polished trunks with thick branches stretching up to the blue-glass ceiling. The branches extended out over the middle of the hall, to form an arched tunnel with those across the aisle. Emerald leaves—as in real emeralds—hung in clusters from the branches. The gemstones clinked together in a slight breeze as we walked beneath them, sounding like wind chimes on a Spring day. The floor was covered in forest-green carpet with a design of fallen leaves woven into it subtly. I was almost surprised that it failed to crunch when we walked across it.
At the far end of the hall, a dais rose from the floor, seamlessly
carpeted in the same green. Three steps ran its entire length, which was also the width of the room, and Rian ran up all of them. Arach followed more sedately, but I remained at the base of the dais with Brevyn, watching as Rian scrambled onto the seat of the single throne set upon the dais.
It was a massive thing of carved dark wood and polished gold, with a mirror set into the center peak of its back. Such a strange thing to use to decorate a throne; it made me wonder if the mirror had a purpose. But then Rian got up on his tippy-toes and stretched his hands to the panel. He laid his palms to the mirror, and it began to glow. Arach and I tensed, but Brevyn clapped as a warm, golden glow spread over Rian's hands and up his little arms. The magic continued up Rian's neck and over his head until it solidified into a band of gold, and then extended further, to shape itself into a crown.
Rian turned to face us, giving us a full view of the child-sized crown. A gold base flowed up into a set of curled horns, with a single, cabochon emerald placed in the center front of the band. The emerald reminded me of the pendant Odin had given me, and my hand strayed to my necklace. But my hand dropped away in shock as Rian settled himself on the thick, green cushion of the throne, and looked out at us with an expression far too old for his young face. He placed his little hands on the armrests and leaned his head against the back of the throne. The cŵn annwn settled around the throne's base and went quiet.
The soul staff members of the fortress had followed us into the throne room. They all dropped to their knees as Brevyn continued to clap for his brother.
“Now, you're a king too, Rian!” Brevyn shouted.
Rian kept up his royal demeanor for one more second before bursting into excited giggles.
Yep; those are my sons.
Chapter Thirty
Like all god territories, Annwn needed a connection with a magical being to keep it alive. It needed a master, just as the cŵn annwn did. Brevyn had claimed Alfheim in my stead, providing it with energy, and now Rian had claimed Annwn.
“Interesting that both of our sons' kingdoms begin with the letter 'A,'” I mused to Arach.
We were in the sparkling great hall now, enjoying a light lunch as a celebration feast for Rian's crowning. Arach had met with Art, the steward, and had assured him that we'd be appointing a guardian to rule Annwn in Rian's stead until our son reached an acceptable age for such things. Art had looked relieved, and I didn't blame him. Nothing good came from putting a child in charge of a kingdom. The young king himself was currently stuffing his face with cake while his twin laughed at him.
“As does their father's name, and our castle,” Arach noted. “It's simply a coincidence, A Thaisce.”
“Another 'A' name,” I pointed out smugly. Coincidence only went so far.
“We have settled things with the hounds,” Arach noted; moving away from my silly topic of conversation. “Are you going to keep stalling, or will you tell me what happened in the God Realm?”
I gave in and told Arach everything. It took awhile; there was a lot to tell, and it culminated in the death of a planet. It was not appropriate lunch conversation in my opinion, but hey; he'd asked for it. The souls of Annwn started to look uneasy as the Fire King glowered at me.
“You told me that this does not affect us,” Arach growled. “Why would you lie to me, Vervain?”
“It doesn't, and I didn't,” I insisted, utterly surprised at his anger. “Eros is on the run, but I doubt he'd head to Faerie. And as far as the geomagnetic field; Earth has nothing to do with the Faerie Realm.”
“Doesn't it?” Arach asked gruffly. “We're connected to it once more.”
“Only via the Aether,” I protested. “It's not like the days when Faerie had direct paths to Earth.”
“I'm not certain that it is much different; direct paths or not,” Arach said, but he did seem to settle down a little. “Still, I have no desire for the Earth to be destroyed.”
“Neither do I,” I huffed. “I have family and friends on Earth.”
“We will have to inform the High King,” he went on. “He'll want to close the tracing point for now.”
“I hadn't thought of that.”
“Or much else, it seems.” Arach grimaced.
“Watch it!” I pointed in his face. “These last few weeks have been rough, and my patience for annoying men is wearing thin.”
Arach regarded me silently and then sighed deeply. “I'm sorry, A Thaisce. I should have asked how you were before I launched into tactics or accusations. How are you?”
“Tired of saving the world, if truth be told,” I whined. “Can't someone else take care of it this time?”
“It sounds as if you have a lot of someones helping you take care of it,” Arach pointed out gently. “As usual.”
“Fine; take the steam out of my rant.” I made a face at him. “You're a horrible Yes-Man.”
“At least you will have lost no time when you return,” he pointed out. “You can take a little break in Faerie, think things over, and then go back to help them feeling refreshed.”
“Arach; I'm in the God Realm right now.”
“Oh, right.” He blinked. “I'd forgotten. This place is so similar to Faerie.”
“I need to get back to them as soon as possible,” I added. “Who knows what's happening while I'm gone?”
Arach looked at our happy sons and scowled.
“What is it?”
“Not to sound heartless,” he said. “But I'd like to get our children back to the safety of the Faerie Realm as soon as possible too. And I don't want them leaving until this magnetic field issue is settled.”
“You're right,” I agreed immediately. “We need to get them home.”
“If I thought I'd have any chance of swaying you, I'd ask you to stay in Faerie with us,” he said softly.
“Don't think that I don't want to. I'd like nothing more than to gather everyone I love and bring them all to Faerie with me, so we could hide there until this thing played out.” I sighed deeply. “But I can't just abandon the world. I like Earth; they have kittens there.”
“And we mustn't let the kittens die,” Arach said gently.
“No; never the kittens,” I said with sincerity.
“A Thaisce,” Arach whispered as he leaned in to kiss me. “Be careful with this magnetic manipulator.”
“I will,” I promised. “I'm always careful.”
Arach grimaced.
“If it looks as if the world will die, you come home to me immediately,” he ordered. “Bring them all with you if you have to; your entire family, your friends, even your other husbands. I will see to their safety as long as you come home to me.”
“Arach,” I said gently. “The God Realm—”
“Is directly connected to the Human Realm,” he cut me off with a meaningful look.
“Oh fuck,” I whispered as the ramifications of the human world ending hit me.
“Yes, precisely.” Arach's jaw clenched. “Now, promise me, Vervain.”
“I swear I'll return to Faerie if it looks like we're going to fail.”
The words left a wasteland in my mouth, just as the loss of the magnetic field would do to Earth... and the God Realm.
Chapter Thirty-One
Using my Ring of Remembrance was tricky sometimes. I could have headed straight to Pride Palace from Annwn, but then the next time I tried to use the ring to jump back to Faerie, I'd be taken to the Great Tree; the last place I'd been in Faerie. To get back on schedule with my time jumps, and put myself in a location where I wanted to be, I did indeed go from Annwn to Pride Palace, but then I immediately turned around and traced to Faerie. This insured that when I returned to the last moment I'd spent in the God Realm, I'd go back to Pride Palace, instead of Annwn. It also provided me with the leeway that Arach had mentioned earlier. I could have spent a few days in Faerie and thought things over before I returned.
But fate had other plans for me.
After I had met up with Arach at the Great Tree, we flew h
ome to Castle Aithinne as dragons while the dogs raced below us. Rian flew on his own, beside Arach and I, while I carried Brevyn within my claws. The boys loved flying, and this was the perfect ending for their outing. The Forgetful Forest swept by beneath us and fey birds scattered as we took command of the sky. The cool air was invigorating and the scent of green things melded with the mineral smell of melted rock, to speak subconsciously to my body, and convey on the deepest level that I was home and safe. But the fun stopped as soon as we got to Aithinne.
First we saw to our children, settling them in the nursery with Grannuaile and Dexter. Then, Arach and I had to decide on a steward for Annwn. We couldn't let the territory flounder in limbo longer than necessary. So, we talked about it, and decided to ask Manannan, the Celtic God of the Sea. High Prince Lugh of Faerie was a friend of mine, and he wasn't on the best terms with his foster father, but I knew Manannan was a good man. He'd done the best he could by Lugh and had divorced his wife, Fand, when her deception (stealing Lugh from his parents) had been discovered. Now that things had settled down between the Formorians and the Tuatha dé Dannan, Bodb Derg (one of Dagda's sons) was ruling both factions of the Celtic gods. So, that left Manannan free to help us out, and I had a feeling that he'd jump at the chance to make a new home for himself that didn't hold memories of his ex-wife and ex-son.
Despite the fact that this was our decision to make, I knew that making it without Lugh's blessing would have consequences to our friendship, and we had just gotten past some crap that he had pulled on me. I didn't want to be the bad guy this time. So, after we decided on Manannan, I mirrored Lugh and asked his thoughts on the matter.
“I'm sorry, did you say that the two-year-old heir to the Kingdom of Fire has just become King of Annwn?” Lugh gaped at Arach and me in the mirror.
