Blood Moon: Book Three of the Everealm Series

by J. D. Wright

  “Yes.”

  “Rhea, my dear,” Cicilly took the fairy’s hand and held it. “What kind of dreams are you having? That you want to put a stop to?”

  “They aren’t like yours. They’re… happy.”

  “Well, why in the realm would you want to stop having happy dreams?”

  “Because they’re lies!” Rhea was immediately embarrassed to have shouted. But Cicilly hardly seemed to take notice. “Every night I dream of a wonderful life, here in Junacave, with Reeve and Gabrielle. I’ve had visions of waking up beside him. Brushing Gabby’s hair before bedtime...” Rhea looked away, remembering the very dream she had last night. “I’ve even seen myself carrying his child, walking through the gardens.”

  Cicilly heard Rhea’s voice cracking. Clearly, the dreams were indeed haunting, just in a different way.

  “And you want the dreams to stop?” Cicilly asked.

  “Yes.”

  “And you’re sure that once the dreams stop, everything will be fine?”

  “I… yes.”

  “Rhea, I’m not sure if that will work.” When the fairy didn’t reply, Cicilly continued, “Did you ever stop and consider why you are envisioning your future?”

  “It isn’t my future.”

  “But it could be, couldn’t it? Perhaps, the brave thing to do is not to put an end to the dreams, but to embrace them.”

  “Brave, ha!” That’s what Reeve had called her. She definitely didn’t feel brave. She felt foolish. And tired. So very tired.

  “I can’t stop you if you want to take the medicine. I will send word to the village and have a bottle brought here, just for you. But I must stress to you, Rhea, that sometimes running away from your problems will only make them worse in the end.”

  Rhea wiped a tear from her cheek and stood.

  “Thank you for your time, Queen Mother,” she said. And before Cicilly could reply, Rhea quickly left the room.

  ~*~

  Rowan picked up a small piece of white lace and looked at it. Then he placed it back on the table and picked up another piece of lace from beside it.

  “This is ridiculous. Why are you spending so much time looking at lace?”

  “Because I need to choose one, of course, for the tabletops” Bree replied, walking around to the opposite side of the table.

  “But they are all the same…”

  “No, they aren’t.”

  Rowan picked up a second piece and held it beside the other in his hand.

  “They look identical.”

  Finn leaned over the table and pointed to the first lace. “The flowers are the same, but the border is different,” he said.

  Rowan shook his head. “Why don’t you just close your eyes and pick one?” He was met with widened eyes and looks of disgust on Bree and Finn’s faces. “Or not.”

  “Each piece of silkwork requires a skilled hand and many days’ time,” Bree said. “To just pick one would be incredibly rude. You must admire each design, then carefully choose a pattern that will mirror the elegance of the ceremony.”

  Rowan heard her speak, but he didn’t understand a word that she said. It sounded like rubbish created to pass the time. He knew that men typically left wedding ceremony planning to women, so he still didn’t understand why Bree insisted he be there. He doubted she cared for his opinion, anyway. “Perhaps, I should leave the two of you to this matter…”

  “No!” Bree said, reaching across the table to grab Rowan’s arm before he could turn away. “We don’t need to choose lace at this very moment, but we do still need to... discuss the guests.”

  “We already did that, yesterday. And it’s nearly bedtime now.”

  “I meant to say the food. We need to discuss the food.”

  Rowan narrowed his eyes. “Breestlin…”

  Bree let go of his arm and straightened up. She tried to keep her face calm but hearing him say her name that way was a clear sign that he suspected something. If she didn’t convince him otherwise, she might as well kiss her plan goodbye.

  “What? Why are you looking at me that way?” she asked.

  “What did you do?”

  “I haven’t done anything and I am insulted that you would even suggest it.” Her attempt at denial was useless. He could read her like a book.

  “What did she do?” Rowan asked, turning to Finn.

  “Don’t look at me. If she is scheming, it doesn’t involve me this time.”

  “Sidonie,” Rowan said, looking at Bree, again. “Where is she?”

  “Upstairs, I believe,” Bree replied. “With Sarita.” That much was true.

  Rowan stared at her but didn’t say a word.

  “Stop staring. It’s incredibly annoying, Rowan. Stop.”

  “I know you’re up to something.”

  “I am not. And even if I were, it is none of your concern.” She looked down and pretended to brush something off of her skirts.

  “Ha! I knew it. Don’t you remember what happened the last time you interfered in matters that didn’t involve you?

  “How was I to know that the fairy queen would force them to marry!” Immediately, Bree knew that she had told him exactly what he wanted to hear. The smirk he was now giving her was proof. Damn.

  ~*~

  Reeve looked up just in time to see Rhea close the door to their suite behind her. She knew he was there, but she didn’t acknowledge him. Instead, she turned to the right and took a few steps to the door of the room she shared with Gabby. But when she reached the door, she found that it wouldn’t open. She gave it a hard pull, but it stayed shut.

  “This isn’t funny!” Rhea said, rounding on Reeve. “Open the door.”

  “I didn’t lock it, Rhea,” he replied.

  It was the first time she had heard him say her name in months. It almost sounded as sweet as when he said it in her dreams. She wished she hadn’t heard it. Turning back to the door, she started banging on it and yelling Gabby’s name.

  “She isn’t here. She’s staying with the princess, tonight. I thought she would have told you.”

  “She didn’t. But you expect me to believe that she decided to sleep elsewhere and suddenly my door is locked, forcing me to stay out here, with you? And you had nothing to do with it?”

  “I do expect you to believe it because it’s the truth,” he replied. “But if it would please you more, you may have my room for the night. I will stay out here and sleep on the floor.”

  Rhea was surprised by his offer. She didn’t want to appear rude, so she thanked him. Then she walked across the room to his door. To her surprise, it was also locked. Irritated now, she started yanking on the door and stomped her feet when it did no good.

  Reeve stood up and walked over. “Let me do it. It must be stuck,” he said. But even his strength wasn’t enough to open it. “That is incredibly strange…”

  “Strange? No. Rude and uncalled for? Yes.”

  “I already told you. I didn’t lock your door. Or mine, for that matter.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “Suit yourself, but stop accusing me of something I didn’t do. I promised myself I wouldn’t force you to talk to me, and I haven’t.” It wasn’t entirely true as he did force her to speak with him once, at the Winter Ball. But he had been pressured by Gabby to dance with Rhea, so he didn’t feel entirely responsible for it.

  “Promised yourself you wouldn’t… What?” All of this time she thought she was the one avoiding him. But he was avoiding her, too?

  “It doesn’t matter.” He quickly brushed past Rhea and walked to the door leading out to the hallway. The moment he touched the handle, a feeling of dread came over him. That door was also locked. He knew Rhea would be mad before he even turned around to face her.

  “No. I just came through that door. It can’t be locked,” she said. And just to prove her point, she walked over and tried to open it. “Damn it all to hell!” she screamed and banged on the door. Then she reared back and started to kick the door w
ith her foot.

  Reeve grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back. He was surprised to hear her swearing. He couldn’t remember if he ever had, before, and he tried not to smile.

  “Let go of me!” she said, pulling away. The feel of his hands on her made her heart jump.

  He put his arms up to show her he meant no harm.

  “That door is made of Viridian wood,” he said, pointing. “It’s as solid as they come. You’re going to hurt yourself.”

  Her cheeks were red and she was visibly angry, but all he could think about was how beautiful she looked, flushed and furious. He glanced down and noticed that she was wearing the locket he had given her. The green stone in the center stood out against her blue gown which looked a shade darker in the candlelit room.

  “Fine,” he said, shrugging after she didn’t reply. “Stub your toe or splint your shins. See if I care.”

  Rhea narrowed her eyes at him. He obviously did care, or he wouldn’t have tried to stop her.

  “Why don’t you just use your magic?” he asked. “Open the door, that way?”

  She continued to study him. She couldn’t understand how he was speaking so calmly. His relaxed demeanor was making her feel silly for being so agitated.

  “I can’t. My magic doesn’t work that way. I can’t help us to escape,” she huffed.

  Reeve wasn’t sure if he wanted to escape. This was the most that she had spoken to him in months.

  “I don’t understand. Your magic is more powerful than a wizard’s. But you can’t unlock a door?”

  “No,” she replied. “I can’t. My magic is more powerful, but it is used in different ways. I can curse you or heal you, and a few other things. But I’m not Dagan or Sidonie. I can’t just lock or unlo—” Rhea stopped short and shook her head. “No. She wouldn’t have…”

  “You think Sidonie did this?” he asked. “She locked us in here? She wouldn’t do that.”

  “She would if the queen requested it.” Rhea suddenly felt her anger shift from Reeve to Breestlin.

  “I’m not sure you should be accusing anyone,” Reeve said. Especially, the queen. “Maybe the door is just… stuck.”

  “Oh, really?” Rhea said, patronizing him. “And my chamber door? And yours? Are those two doors also just stuck?”

  Even with her hateful tone, he was happy to hear her voice. And he had never heard her speak so passionately. It wasn’t as if they had been lucky enough to enjoy a lot of conversation with each other, though. In fact, Reeve couldn’t understand exactly what it was that drew him to the fairy. Most of what he knew about her was from observing her and small pieces of information that his sister revealed to him. But still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that fate had brought them together in Anestas. And that he was meant to see this through.

  It could have been his mother, speaking to him from the grave. His mother had been a gypsy and believed, heavily, in fate and the power of the three moons of Everealm. Reeve considered most of it to be hogwash, yet here he was married to a fairy that he barely knew. And for some unknown reason, he felt as if it was meant to be. Or at least, he had thought that way. Now, he mostly just wanted the marriage to be over. Looking at her every day, even in passing, was painful and depressing. Failing to fulfill your fate was a curse, in itself.

  Speaking of curses… “Why haven’t you?” he asked, thinking aloud.

  “Why haven’t I, what?” she replied, crossing her arms.

  “Cursed me.

  Rhea just stared at him for a moment. “Curse you? Why haven’t I cursed you?”

  “Yes. I said something to you that I shouldn’t have, in the stables, that night. I’ve heard the tales. My mother used to tell me stories about fairies. Men have done much simpler and less egregious things to fairies and been cursed for it. So why haven’t you cursed me?”

  “Yes, men have been cursed by fairies for a variety of reasons, but we don’t just walk around and trick or curse people all of the time. We aren’t monsters. We aren’t imps.” Just saying the name of those terrible creatures was enough to make her skin crawl.

  “I apologize, Rhea. I didn’t mean to offend you. Again…”

  “You didn’t offend me, Reeve. But, perhaps, you don’t know as much about us fae as you think you do.”

  “Then, tell me,” he said, gesturing to the large chairs in the center of the room. When she hesitated, he added, “It seems we may be stuck in this room for a while. Until someone opens that door.”

  Rhea followed him over and took a seat in one of the two chairs. Reeve sat in the other and leaned back, propping his elbow up on the arm of the chair. Rhea felt her shoulders loosen when she noticed how relaxed he was. How his temperament seemed to calm hers was a mystery to her. Especially, since she was the one with healing powers. Not him.

  “What do you want to know?” she asked, unsure of where the conversation should go from there.

  “To be honest, I don’t know what to ask. What I know about fairies is mostly from my mother’s stories and they now seem more like fairy tales than truth.”

  “Fairy tales often stem from truth.”

  “Why don’t we just start with one of those stories, then? How did Anestas come to be closed off from the rest of the realm? My story says that men mistreating fairies is the reason.”

  “Actually… That story may be true. I’m not entirely sure. I’m younger than the rest of my sisters, so I wouldn’t really know. My mother closed off the trails to our home when I was a baby. I’m the last child she had before she shut us away.”

  “Exactly, how long ago was that?” He had never asked her what her age was. Because of her youthful beauty, he never had reason to. But he knew that fairies often live a long time, longer than wizards, even. She could be twice his age, or older, and he would never know unless he asked.

  “I have lived for thirty-nine years, so far,” she said.

  “Really?” That made her twelve years older than him. It could be worse…

  “Yes. I assume, from your reaction, that you were expecting me to be younger?”

  “Well, actually, I was afraid that you might be twice my age. I’m more relieved to know you aren’t.”

  “Living longer gives you no advantage when you’re imprisoned in a valley.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said, softly.

  Rhea glanced up and met his eyes. He really did seem sympathetic. In a way, she was glad her mother exiled her from Anestas. Even though it had been her home, she was much happier to be living freely, out in the realm.

  “So you must be the youngest of all of the fae, then?” he asked.

  “No, of course not.

  “If your mother closed off the valley when you were a baby, how else would you be able to have more children? Carry on the fairy bloodline?”

  “Well…” She almost didn’t want to answer, fearing he may judge her, cruelly. But from what she knew about him, so far, he seemed to be understanding and somewhat open-minded.

  “You don’t have to tell me,” he said, sensing her hesitation. He could tell her mood was changing. She was becoming more relaxed, but also sad when she spoke about her old home.

  “No, it’s fine. Fairies are always born female, as you probably know. We cannot mate amongst ourselves, of course, and we are required to have many daughters. A few of my sisters have even said that they feel a calling to have another daughter if it’s been many years since the last. So we do leave the valley, a few at a time, to find a suitable mate and… mate.” It was awkward to speak of and she had never shared this with anyone. “I made my first trip out of the valley a few years ago. And… that’s when I was kidnapped.” She glanced down at the floor.

  Reeve knew a little bit about the time that Rhea was with the thieves. And about the iron collar they had placed around her neck, which had only been removed a few months ago, by Sidonie. He still didn’t understand how the collar worked or why it took the Elder Mage’s magic to remove it, but sensing Rhea’s sullen mood, he decided
not to ask at the moment.

  “So fairies go into the realm and… lay with a man? Then, what? They just return to the valley and hope the time was well spent?”

  “More or less,” she chuckled. “I’ve never realized how absurd it has become. It hasn’t always been this way, I’m told. According to my sisters, before I was born, we often married and lived around the realm. Roaming freely, mostly. The fairy queen, whoever she was at the time, would perform the unions. In fact, some refused to return and still do live outside of the valley, but they hide their fairy heritage.”

  “For safety?” Reeve wasn’t sure how any fairy could hide the fact that she was one. Then again, in common clothing, Rhea didn’t look much like a fairy, either. Just a very beautiful, blonde goddess.

  “Yes, from fairy poachers.” Rhea considered the poachers to be the scum of the realm, even worse than the band of thieves that had kidnapped and assaulted her. Poachers would drain fairies of their magic and sell it. The fairies would either die or become so outraged that they turned into imps. Death was a better fate than becoming an imp.

  “I didn’t know that,” he said, intrigued. “That there were other fairies still living in the realm.”

  “Oh, sure. We aren’t the only sisterhood, either. There are fairies in North Everealm and a small sisterhood in the Blackfoot Mountains. We rarely engage with them, anymore. But Anestas does contain the only royal fairies in the realm.”

  “I sometimes forget that you are a princess.”

  “I’m no longer a princess. And I couldn’t care less about my royal lineage. With thirteen older sisters, I would never be expected to rule. Being banished, now, only makes that more true.”

  “You said you have how many sisters?” he asked. He really was curious and found the entire thing to be fascinating.

  “Thirteen.”

  “Wow. I only have the one and it’s exhausting enough.”

  “Yes, but Gabrielle is lovely. My sisters… are not.”

  “So do you have any daughters?” he asked, jokingly.

  “What?” Rhea looked up at him.

  “You said you have to have many daughters. I was just wondering if you’ve had any already.”