Empress Unveiled

by Jenna Morland

  “That’s why it’s always been just me and you, kiddo.” She blinked away the tears that were forming.

  “Where was he from?”

  “A place called Empress? I googled it once. I think it’s somewhere in Canada.” She shrugged her shoulders like the information was insignificant. It wasn’t to me.

  “Here.” Linda reached around her neck. “I want you to have this.” She took off her necklace—the one she always wore—the one I had never seen her without.

  “Linda, I couldn’t.”

  She stood up behind me and set the necklace on my chest, fastening the long silver chain around my neck. It was a small silver locket. On one side was a crescent moon with a small goddess laying back into the moon like it was a hammock. The necklace was welded shut. I had tried many times as a kid to open it.

  “Your father gave it to me. It’s the only thing I have that belonged to him. I want you to have it.” She kissed my cheek before sitting back down. Her eyes were sad. I knew she wished she could offer me more.

  I touched my hand to the goddess and heard faint inaudible whispers. “Did you say something?” I asked Linda.

  “No?” she looked confused.

  I wondered where the whispers had come from but shook them from my head, “Thank you, mom. This is…” I searched for the right word.

  “Rad?” She smiled.

  “Rad?” I questioned, skeptical of her outdated word choice.

  Linda always had the ability to transition from a serious conversation to light and fluffy. “I’m thinking about bringing that one back. Like—it’s so rad you’re turning eighteen next week.” She looked at me with hopeful eyes. Her face fell when I raised one eyebrow and bit my lip in disapproval.

  “No?” she asked.

  I shook my head and took another sip of my coffee. I never thought I would make eighteen.

  “Now your turn,” Linda said, tilting her head down, so her eyes looked over the rim of her glasses. “Tell me about last night.”

  I let out an embarrassed grunt. “I don’t even know where to start.”

  “You could start at the ending, like why you and Tyler were practically on top of one another.”

  I could feel my cheeks already burning. “It was all very dramatic. He kissed me, and it was…” I paused trying to think of the right word. “It was awful.”

  Linda furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

  “Not awful in a bad way—” I groaned, throwing my head back in frustration. “I’m so mad at him! What is wrong with him? I hate him. I hate that I liked it.”

  Linda’s lips curled into a smile and nodded for me to continue.

  I buried my face in my hands. “It was so odd; the kiss came unexpectedly but it felt so normal at the same time. It didn’t feel like a first kiss.” My lips stung at the thought of his lips touching mine.

  “But it was your first kiss,” Linda remarked.

  I cringed. “Well, if you must know everything—technically, it wasn’t.”

  “Swayzi Lex Solasta! Who?”

  My cheeks were hot to touch with embarrassment. “I met a boy a couple weeks ago,” I said, looking back up. “A very mysterious, tall, dark and handsome type. We’ve had a few meet-cute’s since and completely hit it off. We saw each other at the grocery store, and then we went for a walk last night.” I left out the part where he told me my father was a faerie from Empress. “And things just kind of… happened.”

  “Things? Oh, my goodness, do I finally have to have the sex talk with you? Should you be on birth control? You know, I was your age when I got pregnant with you.”

  “Linda, no! We just kissed.”

  “Two kisses in one night. Two different boys. Zero to sixty.”

  I laughed, patting the red out of my cheeks.

  Linda shook her head and sipped her coffee. “I told you snow is magical.” She nodded towards the view of our backyard through the patio doors. She was right. The glistening snow surrounding the blooming Empress tree made me wonder what Empress might look like.

  “You know, your father planted that tree before he left,” she said.

  “You never told me that.” I looked at the tree with a new-found appreciation.

  “When your father planted that tree,” Linda said wistfully, “he promised he would be back before it sprouted. He said the tree was a reminder that we can find divine connection in the most unlikely places.”

  “How come you never told me any of this?”

  “I didn’t want to confuse you. To give you this information but have nothing else to give.” She sounded sad. “It felt selfish.”

  There was a jumble of mixed feelings running through me. I understood why Linda never told me any of this, but the irrational side of me was disappointed that she never did.

  She rested her coffee cup on the table. “So who was the better kisser?” Her eyebrows bounced.

  I rolled my eyes but laughed all the same. Another classic Linda transition. I wasn’t sure how to answer because both of them were good in different ways.

  Just then, there was a light knock at the door. My heart sank, terrified at who might be behind it. Was Daylan coming to pack my bags and whisk me away? Was Tyler coming to talk about what happened last night? Or maybe it was Penelope like she promised?

  Before I could decide which visitor I would have preferred, Linda jumped up and ran to the door.

  It was Daylan.

  He stood in the doorway, his body statuesque, unmoving, waiting for Linda to give him permission to enter.

  Wait a second, could Linda see him?

  “You must be the tall, dark and handsome stranger,” she quizzed him.

  “Daylan.” He stood with his hands in his pocket, wearing a confident smile.

  “Linda.” She smiled back, stepping aside so he could come in. “Shoes come off in my house. I don’t like to clean.” She winked at him. “I know I’m supposed to sit you down and lecture you on being good to my daughter, but I’m just going to skip to the important part: If you hurt her, I’ll kill you.” She squinted her eyes at him with her arms crossed. So much for light and fluffy.

  “Linda!” I groaned.

  “I have only good intentions with your daughter, ma’am,” he said unwavering.

  “Ma’am, ick, please, I’m too young to be a ma’am. Call me Linda.”

  “Linda.” He smiled.

  “Well, I have to run some errands.” She looked back at me with a stunned look on her face and snuck me a thumbs up. “It is acceptable to leave my teenage daughter alone in my house with a complete stranger, right?” Linda doubted herself.

  “Yes, Linda, I’m fine,” I assured her.

  “Right, okay,” she said quickly before she swung her purse over her shoulder and ran out the door.

  Daylan approached me. “It’s good to see you. You look well this morning.”

  I put my hand up stopping him from saying anything more. “Three, two, one,” I counted before Linda opened the door and snatched her keys from the entryway table. She waved awkwardly and hurried out again.

  Daylan laughed. It was a light almost innocent laugh, and I realized I had never heard it before.

  “Good morning,” I said, laughing with him. “Would you like some coffee?” I stood up, pulling the hem of my nighty down. I was suddenly very aware of my attire.

  “Please,” he said, sitting down at the table. He looked strange sitting in our kitchen.

  “I trust you’ve had enough time to digest everything.”

  “I don’t think a lifetime would be enough,” I said, “but there’s more I need to know, like how come Linda could see you? Did you show yourself?”

  “Yes, I wanted to meet her. She seems lovely.” He paused, smiling. “She’d have to be,” he added. “After all—she raised you.”

  I laughed nervously. I wasn’t used to being complimented.

  “I spoke with Linda this morning. She mentioned Empress, and she told me about my father. She said he went by ‘O�
�� and that his last name was Alexander. Is that right?”

  I gently touched the necklace, contemplating if I should tell Daylan about it. I decided to keep it to myself.

  “Yes, and Ezra’s right, you do look strikingly similar to him.” He looked me over, making me even more self-conscious. “You’re much more beautiful of course,” he added with a grin.

  I blushed. “Can you tell me about him?”

  “I knew O fairly well. He and my father worked together side by side for four hundred years.”

  Four-hundred-years?! It was impossible to imagine.

  “He was a good man, always tried to do right by our people. There was a radical group torturing innocent faeries. They even put some of them through a portal to Earth that eventually killed them before they could be saved. These faeries did all of this in the name of the Devil, believing they would be rewarded with the kind of powers even angels feared.

  “Some faeries thought our King wasn’t doing enough to stop this radical group, but it was much more complicated than that. Eventually there was so much hate and confusion in Empress, it divided our people. That’s when Medallion rose to power. He took advantage of our weakness and used a group of slave witches and mindless followers we call The Slayers to take over our world.”

  I nodded for him to continue.

  “He put my mother and father into prison because of their allegiance to our King. He is very powerful and uses fear as a method of control. No one has been strong or brave enough to challenge him.”

  I was beginning to understand why Daylan had circles under his eyes. It was near impossible to believe I might be connected to this tragic world in some way.

  “Ezra said I was a game changer. What does that mean?”

  “Like I said last night, you are a rare breed. I’m not sure if there has ever been a human-faerie mix. We know little about what that means. I’m not even sure if you can survive in Empress, and until we can understand the situation more, I won’t put your life at risk.”

  He looked tense and both of us knew he hadn’t answered my question. I wasn’t sure I even wanted to go to Empress. “Fay said you could find a witch to help you contact faeries on the other side. The portal will open again won’t it?” I suggested, surprised to hear myself talking so calmly about such unearthly things.

  He shifted in his seat for the first time since sitting down. He looked very uncomfortable. “I have yet to tell my siblings about this, and I won’t if you don’t want me to. I don’t think we would have to look very far for a witch.”

  “What do you mean? You found one?”

  “Yes. Your friend Penelope.”

  “Penelope?!”

  “Yes, she’s a witch.”

  “No, I think you’re mistaken.” I stood up laughing uncomfortably. “Her parents own a furniture store, she’s the most normal—well, kind of normal—person I know.”

  “I am not mistaken,” he said very sure of himself. “I can’t really explain it, but other supernatural beings can sense each other. That’s why she could see me at the café that day. I’m surprised she didn’t warn you to stay away from me.”

  Other supernatural beings?

  “Why would she warn me to stay away from you?”

  “Faeries and witches haven’t always gotten along.” He shifted in his seat. “That’s not all,” he added.

  “What?”

  “I suspect the fire at the café was a way to lure you away from me.”

  “What? That’s absurd!” I accused.

  “It’s not.” He was so sure.

  “She wasn’t even in the kitchen when it started.” He looked at me, expecting me to come to the conclusion on my own. “You think she used magic? That’s ridiculous.” I shook my head.

  “Like I said, faeries and witches haven’t always gotten along. Her intentions were probably to protect you.”

  I felt the panic bubbling in my chest. I thought I was ready to hear all of this, but my quota for weird had already been surpassed.

  “You need to breathe,” he said, stopping me from pacing. His hands gripped my elbows, he started to breathe deeply, and I mimicked him until we were taking deep breaths in unison. I looked into his eyes wondering how old he really was. He looked eighteen, twenty maybe, but I knew he was much older. Behind the brilliant blue of his big eyes, there was a layer of darkness I could never understand.

  “I think that’s enough talking for today,” he said, moving his hands from my arms down to my hips, pulling me closer to him. “I want to kiss you again,” he said in a whisper, our bodies close enough to touch.

  “Daylan.” I was trying to find the right words. “I want to kiss you, too, trust me. Those lips… I mean—I’m just so confused right now.”

  “Because of everything I just told you—or because of Tyler?” he said with a hint of distain.

  I was taken aback. “What do you mean?”

  “I saw the two of you last night.” He was clearly jealous.

  He saw us.

  I bit my lip, unsure of what to say. I shouldn’t have to explain myself, but part of me wanted to.

  I heard footsteps outside, but before I could pull away from Daylan, Tyler walked through the front door.

  I backed away from Daylan, his hands falling from my hips to his sides. I tried really hard to not look guilty, and for a brief moment, I thought maybe Daylan was using his magic, that he had disappeared, but from the look on Tyler’s face, he hadn’t.

  “Who are you, and why did you have your hands on her?” Tyler’s eyes burned with anger. He strode towards Daylan, his chest up and territorial.

  Daylan reluctantly stepped away from me with his hands up.

  “Swayzi, tell me who this guy is, or I’m going to kick his ass out of here.” Tyler’s fists were already clenched, his shoulders rising and falling with his breathing as he tried to calm himself—waiting for my explanation.

  “Well, I suppose it’s time you two finally meet.” I surrendered.

  “Finally? So, this…that’s where you were yesterday.” He closed his eyes and bit his cheek.

  I approached Tyler and cupped his face in my hands, so he would open his eyes. “Please understand, Tyler, the last twenty-four hours have been absolutely insane. What I need right now is for you to be my best friend, the person I tell everything to. I don’t want to hide anything from you.”

  “What’s going on?” he whispered.

  Daylan quietly cleared his throat, uncomfortable with our intimate exchange.

  I stepped away from Tyler and moved between them. “Tyler, this is Daylan. Daylan, Tyler.”

  They each gave a silent nod of acknowledgment.

  “Daylan, I need you to tell Tyler everything you have told me.” I was never good at lying, especially to Tyler.

  “Swayzi, that is not a good idea. There’s so much you don’t even know, including the rules about telling humans—” He stopped short, realizing his mistake.

  “Humans? What is he talking about?” Tyler asked me.

  “I can’t,” I corrected, “won’t—lie to him. If I’m going to be a part of this, and I’m assuming your siblings want my help, then I need someone in my corner. Someone to keep me grounded,” I insisted.

  “That could put him in harm’s way,” Daylan warned.

  “I can take care of myself,” Tyler objected.

  Daylan scoffed, his eyes suddenly darker.

  Tyler moved toward Daylan, but I put my hand out and pushed him back.

  “Fine,” he said, calming down again. “Sway, tell me what’s going on?”

  “You’re going to want to sit down for this,” I said, leading him to the kitchen table with Daylan in tow. I poured Tyler a cup of coffee and topped off mine and Daylan’s. We sat down at the table, Tyler on my left looking uneasy, his face flushed with anger. Daylan was on my right looking uncomfortable, almost like sitting at a table was strange to him. I could tell they were sizing each other up, as if in a silent duel.

 
“Remember that night at the fisherman docks after Mellie’s party?” I started.

  “Uh, yes, of course.” Tyler’s eyes shifted back and forth, worried.

  “Swayzi, please, don’t,” Daylan pleaded one last time, looking into my eyes, his hand reaching across the table gripping mine. Tyler flinched when our hands made contact. I knew Daylan was silently warning me, but it only confirmed my need to tell Tyler.

  Tyler’s eyes lingered on our touching hands.

  “If you don’t tell him, I will,” I said, not wavering. Tension rattled between the three of us while we waited for Daylan to begin speaking. He refused, his mouth was taut, and his jaw pulsed when he clenched his teeth together.

  “The people on the dock were real,” I continued. “Daylan was one of them.”

  Daylan pulled his hand away mine and looked towards the snow-dusted Empress tree.

  Tyler looked from me to Daylan. “I don’t understand.”

  “When I screamed about the blinding light, it wasn’t from my meds.”

  “Okay… then what was it?” Tyler asked. I could tell he was questioning my sanity.

  “From what I understand,” I said, looking at Daylan for confirmation, “it was a portal—to another world. Right?”

  There was a long pause, the only sound being the quiet clicking of the fridge. “Yes.” He huffed.

  “A portal? To another world?” Tyler slowly enunciated each word.

  “Yes, Daylan and his two siblings are from a place called Empress. They are faeries.”

  “Oh.” He chuckled. “Okay…” His pitch raised with sarcasm.

  “No, Tyler, seriously, they are faeries.”

  “Can you fly?” Tyler laughed again, eyeing Daylan.

  “Stop,” Daylan barked, cutting into Tyler’s fun, and sighed in defeat. “If I were human, could I do this?”

  I looked from Daylan to Tyler. Tyler’s eyes went wide with shock, I could only assume Daylan had disappeared in front of him.

  “What the hell?” Tyler stood up, knocking his chair over. “Where did he go?” he asked, turning in circles looking around the room.

  Daylan remained in the chair next to me, his arms crossed looking mildly annoyed.