by Mindy Hayes
Chapter Fourteen
To keep from having any more awkward situations with Kai, Declan and I set up a schedule for when he would be in Faylinn. Of course, I didn’t tell him why I wanted to know when he would be around, but I think it was implied. For weeks I went to the clearing to get what I liked to call my Faery 101. It was essentially a question and answer session where I asked all the questions and Declan answered them.
Declan never acted put out by my incessant need to know everything and always answered to the best of his ability. Kai showed up less than half of the time, which left me feeling a million different ways, but I chalked it all up to nerves because he was a wild card. I never knew what to expect with him, so obviously my emotions had a wide range of highs and lows. I didn’t really care whether he was around or not—or maybe I did. Ultimately, I wanted to be prepared for one or the other.
Clearly, the fae didn’t have technology, but it baffled me to think of living in such simplicity: living off of the land and eating only what was grown or lived in the woods. They weren’t vegetarians as I imagined them to be. I learned that they might not sleep on tree limbs, but that some of their homes were in the trees, like tree houses. They were allergic to all things metal. So, everything they built was from nature—all things from their surroundings—wood, bone, clay, animal teeth, and rocks.
“It’s a common misconception that we’re allergic to only iron. Though iron does block our magic, we’re affected by lead, steel, and silver just the same as iron,” Declan explained.
“So, is that why you stay in the forest? You’re invisible so it’s not as if anyone could see if you wanted to leave.”
He nodded. “We don’t have to actually touch metal to be affected; simply being in the proximity of it weakens us. But since you’re only half, I assume you’re immune to it. You are lucky.”
That did make me feel lucky. If I became allergic I would be forced to leave. That was one power I hoped would stay the way it was.
“How about the eyes? Why are they so vibrant?”
“Why are human eyes not?”
I shrugged. “DNA?”
“Who’s to say what is normal? The faded green, blue, and brown might be normal to humans, but it’s perplexing to us. Just as the make-up of a human’s DNA and so forth creates eye color for them, it does the same for us. It’s just in the fae DNA. Maybe it’s what we eat; maybe it’s fae magic. It’s just the way it is.”
I knew being a faery was never going to truly be logical to me. They could teach and try to explain until their cheeks turned blue, but it wasn’t going to make sense. I just had to accept that.
“You two travel from Faylinn every day. How far away is it?”
Declan stood from the roots and began to roam the area. I noticed neither Kai nor Declan could ever stay in one place for long. It made me wonder, if they got restless so easily, how they managed to keep themselves entertained in these trees every day.
“Well, it takes about an hour with our speed. It’s probably about 200 miles away,” Declan replied.
I looked up and saw Kai resting on his usual limb in the trees, a large fig leaf placed over his eyes as his bobbing foot crossed over the other. He remained silent, most likely ignoring us down below.
“How is Faylinn protected? You said there were thousands of you? How can an area that’s inhabited by that many faeries be overlooked?”
“Faylinn is guarded by wards, like an invisible fence. When humans pass by they don’t even see it. In actuality, it doesn’t even take up any part of the forest. Once you pass into Faylinn it’s like passing into another world. The passageway just happens to be placed in this forest.”
I was quiet for a moment, drinking in the knowledge. Once my head wrapped around the idea I threw out the next question.
“Is anyone else allowed to leave? Or is it just you two?”
Declan didn’t answer right away. And he wouldn’t meet my eyes either. “Honestly, we shouldn’t even leave, but it hasn’t been an issue thus far.”
“What if Favner finds out?” The thought of either of them getting into trouble worried me. Well, the thought of Declan getting in trouble bothered me. I might revel in the thought of Kai being put in his place.
“He’ll kill us,” Kai’s voice drifted down from his branch. My head jerked up to the tone in his voice, so straightforward, not a hint of fear or concern.
“You don’t know that, Kai,” Declan lectured, leering up at him.
“It doesn’t mean I’m not right,” he replied with the same casual tone.
“He would really kill you for leaving Faylinn’s boundaries?” My eyes flickered from Declan across the clearing to Kai above.
“No. He wouldn’t kill over that,” Declan confirmed.
Kai mumbled something from his limb. A look of frustration crossed Declan’s face as he glared up into the tree.
“What?” I asked.
“Kai is just being a tyrant.”
Kai scoffed, but said nothing more as if he couldn’t be bothered with us or our conversation anymore.
“Declan,” I prompted. “My dad brought something up the other day that I hadn’t thought of before and it really bothered me.”
“What was it?”
I bit my lower lip. “What happens if a faery from another colony aside from the Nesters gets pregnant?”
Declan pressed his lips together. I’d seen sorrow in Declan’s eyes before, but nothing like the anguish that masked his gaze now. “They’re terminated,” he said softly.
“The faery or the seedling?” I murmured, matching his tone.
“Sometimes both. The termination is meant for the seedling, but sometimes the mother doesn’t survive.” I swallowed and he turned his head away from me, looking to the soil.
“Why?” I asked.
“Declan,” Kai cautioned, but I didn’t understand. “You don’t have to—”
“No, it’s okay,” Declan said, gritting his teeth before carrying on. “You see, the connection between a mother and her seedling is very strong. I’ve heard the bond is like no other sensation. Of course, when a mother is with child she can sense the baby. She can feel its movement and so forth. For fae women that sensation is heightened. They can sense what the seedling wants, what the seedling feels. It has to do with the accelerated process of the pregnancy. So, when a seedling is terminated, the mother feels their pain, their loss and…” he trailed off and I didn’t have to ask him to finish that thought. I didn’t want to ask him to finish. “Most times it’s too much for them to handle.”
Tears pricked my eyes, but I kept them from falling. “But if termination could mean losing a faery, why would Favner risk it?”
Declan peered back at me under that thick gaze of his lashes as if I should know the answer to this by now. “It’s punishment, Calliope. A deterrent from thinking they could somehow hide it. A lesson to be taught to those who think they could get away with it. ‘If death is the outcome, so be it,’ I once heard him say.”
I should have thought better of my question before I asked it, but I didn’t. “Do you know someone that this happened to?”
“Don’t.” Kai landed at my side, finally making an appearance, warning me. I overstepped, but I couldn’t take it back.
Declan answered me anyway. “My mother was passed her seedling bearing years, but apparently the fates didn’t feel she was finished. Favner found out a week before the seedling was ready to come.”
My chest ached, compressed under the weight of his words. Why had I asked? Why couldn’t I keep my curiosity to myself?
“Declan.” I swallowed. “I’m sorry. Had I realized…”
“Calliope,” he murmured. “It’s okay. It happened a few years back.”
“How many?” I asked hesitantly.
“A little over six years.” He looked back to the ground, surprisingly keeping his composure.
I winced. That must have felt like months or less in Faylinn time. I reached out and rested my hand over hi
s. He flinched slightly, but didn’t move his hand. There were no words I could say. I didn’t know loss yet. I’d never lost anyone that close to me before.
The sun started to set, dimming the natural light in the grove of trees. “You should probably get back home, Calliope. It’s going to be dark soon,” Declan encouraged.
I nodded reluctantly. If only I could’ve kept my lips shut. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”
“I’ll be gone tomorrow,” Declan replied, then hesitantly said, “If that’s a factor in you coming or not.”
It was. “The next day then?”
“What am I? Mud beneath a toadstool?” Kai asked, positioning himself against his tree and finally smirking at me, sending my nerves frantically in every direction.
I cleared my throat. “Kai,” I said surprisingly even. “Would you like me to come see you tomorrow?”
Please say no.
It wasn’t because I despised him, but the idea of being alone with him actually terrified me; and not in the I’m-terrified-of-the-things-that-go-bump-in-the-night terror, but because he stripped me of my confidence and relentlessly tormented my vulnerabilities without even realizing it. Or maybe he did and that’s why he did it: to purposefully fluster me.
“I’ll pass,” he said, disinterested in our one-on-one conversation already. “I do have a life apart from watching Declan’s back.”
“Do you now?” Declan asked, humored, pulling himself back together. “Please share. I’d like to know what you do when I’m not here to keep you in check.”
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Kai said and turned his back on us, traveling into the woodlands.
“Yeah, I would.” Declan replied, watching him, but Kai didn’t answer. He once again shot off his feet without as much as a goodbye.
“Why does he always do that?”
Declan chortled and moved his aqua eyes back to me. “Do what?”
“Just walk away without any explanation.”
“He’s all about the dramatic exits. I stopped questioning why Kai does the things he does a long time ago.” Declan scanned the trees around us. “It’s almost sundown, Calliope.”
“Right. I was leaving.” I started to back away and waved. “I’ll see you on Wednesday.”
“You know where to find me.” He offered a small smile and my stomach tingled.
The house was dark when I got home. Mom obviously was caught up at the office, but I didn’t know where my dad was. We hadn’t talked much aside from the casual greetings and polite conversation about our days since the day I told him about Favner. Though we hadn’t spoken, I was comforted by the fact that he wanted to keep me at home. Safe and sound.
I fell asleep that night with the reassurance that no matter what happened I would be looked after. I would be protected.
