by Skye Horn
Wings of Fate
A Kingdoms of Faerie Novel
Skye Horn
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2020 Skye Horn
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review. For more information, address: [email protected]
Printed in the United States of America
First Printed, 2020
Cover Design by Levierre at 99 Designs
Editing by Ella Medler
https://ellamedlerediting.yolasite.com
ISBN: 978-1-7345968-0-9
Published by Skye Horn
skyehorn.com
For my parents, who raised me to believe life could be magical.
This first one is for you.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Did you enjoy “Wings of Fate”?
Also by Skye Horn
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Chapter 1
Standing drenched in the rain of a foreign country after over twenty hours of travel definitely made Thea Gilbert’s list of top-ten-worst days. She admitted it probably didn’t rank as high as her parents’ dying in a car accident or finding out she was adopted, but it definitely outranked breaking up with her high school sweetheart, Marcus, after his heartfelt proposal. Apparently, being eighteen and an orphan meant she needed a husband to take care of her. That was one reason she’d left Colorado and fled to Ireland, despite the guilty voice in her head patronizing her and slating her decisions.
“Are you here to see the Faeries too?” a little boy asked from beside her, startling Thea out of her thoughts. He stared at the unextraordinary green hillside with eager eyes.
Sure, Ireland was beautiful, but once she’d seen one rolling green plain, hadn’t she seen them all?
Thea glanced at the boy briefly. He stood with his hands tucked into his red hoodie next to an elderly woman who wore a matching red raincoat. “Granny says they only come out at dusk.”
“Don’t bother the poor girl,” his grandmother scolded, tugging the little boy away from the hill. “Let’s get inside before you catch your death.”
Before Thea could formulate a response they pulled their hoods tight over their heads and hurried down the path to the village, leaving her alone in the rain. She knew this weather was normal in these parts, but by the ominous clouds forming overhead and the shortage of people willing to stand outside, she wondered if this would sooner grow from a sprinkle into a storm.
Regardless, she forced her feet toward the Hill of Knockainey, which was the entire reason she’d chosen Ireland as her destination to begin with. According to her adoption file, this was where her biological parents had abandoned her, wrapped in a purple silk blanket with no hint of who they were. She’d let herself sink into an aching numbness since her parents’ deaths, but it never extinguished the loneliness that constantly plagued her. It resurfaced in the form of a stomachache, twisting her insides until she felt as if she might puke, but she swallowed back the bile, inhaling sharply. Just because she was now an orphan didn’t mean she needed to fall apart at the seams.
Like the little boy who wished to see the Faeries, Thea wished she could see what her biological parents had thought when they left her in this cold, rainy country fifteen years ago. She was grateful for the loving and supportive parents who’d raised her. They’d put her through private school and intended to send her to art school in the fall, but the car accident had changed everything. Thea hadn’t touched her sketchpad since.
The insurance money had made this trip possible, but she knew it wouldn’t last forever. At some point in the near future, she’d have to face the fact that she was alone now. She had no idea how to be an adult, because they didn’t teach you that between social studies and biology classes. Tax season was one of her biggest fears, as was trying to figure out how to pay the mortgage on her parents’ house when she worked as a barista at a coffee shop for minimum wage. Perhaps that was why this trip was so important to her. She knew her parents were gone, but as heartbroken as that left her, she thought maybe finding her biological parents would fix the emptiness she felt.
They at least owed her an explanation, right?
The issue was that she had zero information on who her biological parents were—or had been. It took a few hours of googling to find out that the only real significant thing about the Hill of Knockainey was that in Celtic Mythology, the Goddess Ainé, who was Queen of the Faeries, lived within the hill. Until the late 1800s, the Irish people still held celebrations for the Faeries in the very spot Thea now stood. However, that told her nothing of realistic importance.
As the rain became more intense and her red locks began sticking to her skin, Thea wished irritably that she’d prepared more for this trip by at least packing an umbrella. She reached up and braided the unruly mess into a single braid that fell over her right shoulder. She pulled her hood up over her head and her jacket tighter around herself, but refused to turn back no matter how bad the weather persisted to be. The sun was setting, and Thea thought of the little boy who wanted to see the Faeries at dusk. She wished he were here to make this space a little less lonely, but his grandmother had been right. They’d both catch their death in this storm.
Thea rested the palms of her hands on the earth at the base of the hill, closing her eyes as she wondered what connection her biological parents could have had to this place.
Had they been Irish? Did they, like so many other of the locals in this area, believe in the mythology behind this plot of land and think leaving her here would bring her good fortune? She couldn’t know the answer, but she could imagine their intentions had been good. She could pretend they hadn’t just abandoned her like everyone else seemed to.
Thea knew it wasn’t fair to think of her adoptive parents’ deaths as abandonment, but she also couldn’t lie to herself and say that wasn’t what it felt like. A single tear, mixed with rainwater on her face, trickled its way down her cheek, off her chin, and landed beside the place her hand still rested. Thunder exploded directly over her head and lightning struck the spot just in front of where she crouched. She shot backwards upon the impact, sliding across the damp grass into a shaking heap with the smell of burnt hair in her nostrils.
Despite its wetness, the earth was hard beneath her, and she swore profusely as it trembled too. Her entire body ached from the impact, but she wasn’t reacting the way she should have been. Time moved in slow motion as she checked herself for injuries, whimpering at the sight of her blood-stained jeans.
I’m either dead or hallucinating, she thought, trying to pull herself back to her feet.
She figured that she must be dead, but if she weren’t dead, then she definitely had serious brain dama
ge to believe the earth shook at the very moment lightning struck her.
An ache filled her from head to toe as she struggled to pull herself to her feet, only managing to get to her knees. The place where she’d been crouched before had a soft glow to it now, as if a door had cracked open in the ground itself and light from somewhere else peeked out from behind the door. Thea frowned, crawling toward it as a whisper of noise met her ears.
We see you, Princess. We’re coming, it said, and a prickle of dread clawed its way down Thea’s spine. The whisper crawled across her skin, turning droplets of water to ice, and blinding light escaped the crack in the earth, opening wide enough for someone to step through: a man with wings like ravens’.
Kieran felt her presence before the Threshold opened, not that she could have opened it without guidance. Magic was complicated, and since she’d lived in a world without magic for fifteen years, he doubted she possessed the ability to open a door between realms.
“What is it?” Ethel asked from the log she sat perched on. She stopped playing with the daisies she’d picked miraculously from the snow, meeting his gaze. Flowers hardly grew in this region, but when they did, Ethel did not miss the chance to bring them home or turn them into hairpieces for the other girls in the village. However, whatever expression he’d made distracted her so much that she tilted her round face to follow his gaze toward the empty space between the two massive tree trunks.
It looked completely ordinary to a human eye, such as Ethel’s, but to his trained Fae gaze, the space was ablaze with ancient magic. Kieran knew he shouldn’t leave his post. His orders were to guard the Threshold so that none of King Malachi’s soldiers crossed to the land without magic—to her. However, the pull he felt to cross it rippled beneath his skin, pulsing through his veins in chilling tendrils that tortured him. The little voice in his head that was supposed to help him make rational decisions was being silenced by another telling him she was right there within his reach.
This had never happened before. She’d never been this close to the Threshold, or at least, not while he’d stood guard. He wondered what had changed. Did the magic call to her as it had done to her ancestors, beckoning her to the home that craved her return?
He couldn’t know the answer, but he could imagine in the same way he’d imagined their reunion so many times before. All across the land of Faerie, the people would cheer for the return of the missing Princess of Ivandor. He would stand at her side, a protector of his future queen, the way he’d promised to do since the day she was born. Against his better judgement, he pictured what she looked like after all these years apart, wondering if her gray eyes still mirrored her mother’s, or if she still had a single dimple when she smiled. The last time Kieran had seen her, he’d carried her through the Threshold under her mother’s orders. He’d been only ten years old, but he remembered.
It was likely the princess had no recollection of him, but the agony he experienced in her absence still haunted him daily, as did the regret he felt for leaving her alone that night.
“What is it?” Ethel repeated, now standing directly behind him. He barely heard her speak as his mind spun around the possibility of being reunited with the princess after all of this time. He forgot his duty and his post, he forgot everything he knew mattered about the reason he guarded the Threshold, because all that mattered was her. The pull across the Threshold captivated him, and the whisper he heard beyond its barrier clouded his once rational thoughts.
Come and find me, it sang across the wind to him.
“Do you hear that?” Kieran asked, taking an unstable step forward. His wings felt heavy on his back, as if trying to weigh him down. He ignored even that sign though, listening to her call out again and again. “I hear her.”
“Hear who?” Ethel grabbed Kieran’s arm, catching him off-guard. Some distant part of him realized that in his right mind a human girl would have never surprised him like that. His training prevented mistakes like that from happening, and yet, he continued to ignore the red flags. “Kieran, you need to get away from there.”
She looked toward the Threshold, reminding Kieran of what he was about to do. He decided then, shaking Ethel’s grip from his arm and settling his hand on the hilt of his sword. The wind rustled around his feathered wings, and he tasted the magic in the air. It carried a familiar, sweet scent to his nostrils, a mixture of daisies and pine, and he knew she was there waiting for him. The blinding sensation carried him forward, and his ravenous need to be near her caused his heart to pulse painfully against his chest. He couldn’t leave her again. The regret would suffocate him, and surely, he would die, or rather deserve to die. He knew he was breaking the law by even considering it, but nothing else mattered any longer.
“Tell them I’m bringing the princess home,” he said without looking at Ethel. The musical whisper on the wind became deafening in his ears as he approached the Threshold.
“Kieran, wait—” she said, but he didn’t bother. She wasn’t strong enough to stop him, nor did he believe she’d try. Ethel had grown up with stories of the princess; she idolized her like a sister she’d never had, despite the fact that they weren’t actually related. She wanted her return as much as he did, so when she turned and ran toward the village, Kieran was not surprised. He knew she trusted him; she would do whatever was necessary to prepare for the princess’ arrival. That first meant telling his Aunt Iris he was breaking the law, and he didn’t envy her for that job.
Knowing Ethel was safely away from the Threshold, Kieran summoned the power required to open the pathway to the land without magic and the earth quaked beneath his feet. His wings unfurled behind him anxiously and then folded against his back. Within moments he felt the magic stirring in the air around him and beneath his skin. It throbbed like a life force begging to be released, but dormant until called upon. Her call to him was as clear as the magic in his blood, and as soon as the doorway opened, he stepped through with the reassuring thought that he would finally see her again, too distracted to notice the shadow following closely behind.
Chapter 2
When the unexpected chill subsided from Kieran’s skin, his eyes adjusted to the new darkness surrounding him. He didn’t remember crossing the Threshold being so uncomfortable, but it’d been many years. His training had covered adjusting his senses to this type of change, but by the frightened look on the face of the young woman in front of him, Kieran realized a moment too late that he’d made a terrible miscalculation. He tried to conceal his wings behind him, hoping he wouldn’t frighten her any further, and extended his hand to help her to her feet.
“Hello, Princess.”
Her features became clearer as the magic enhanced his sight, almost as if she were standing in direct sunlight. A long, wet braid of flaming red hair hung over her shoulder, but a few strands had fallen loose to frame her heart-shaped face. She’d grown out of the softness that often existed on children’s faces, gaining a more defined chin and nose, much like her father’s. He watched as her gray eyes stared at his extended hand with apprehension, but there was a sparkle of curiosity in those eyes.
“W-Where did you come from?” she asked. Her voice shook as she glanced at the space where the portal now lay concealed. Kieran took a moment to examine her, unable to wrap his mind around the fact that this young woman was the same as the toddler he’d left on this very spot fifteen years ago. She lacked any visible Faerie traits, which their species often developed as adolescents. He could only assume that was because of the absence of magic in her life. However, despite this, she’d grown to be as tall and beautiful as any Fae he’d ever met, if not more beautiful. The sun had trailed her skin with kisses along her cheeks and nose, and her eyebrows pulled upward in the same way they’d done as a child when he didn’t respond immediately.
“You called for me,” he replied, withdrawing his hand and letting it fall awkwardly to his side.
“Excuse me?”
Kieran watched her facial expression as it shif
ted between fear and confusion, frowning. This wasn’t how he’d imagined their reunion. Her fingers curled into a fist instinctively and he held up his hands, taking a calculated step forward. Her untrained eyes would perceive him as a shadow in the darkness, putting her understandably on guard. He crouched low so that they were eye-level, hoping it might ease some of her tension. This was when he noticed her shiver, although he felt positive she’d attempted to conceal it from him. Without a second thought, he focused on the air around them and used the smallest amount of magic to warm it. Air was his specialty, but he didn’t dare risk using too much magic.
“I’ve gone about this all wrong,” he said, letting the gentle breeze carry his voice across the space between them. She’d clearly noticed the change in temperature, because she lowered her arms slowly from where they crossed over her stomach. Her eyes darted around, as if she could feel the magic surrounding her, but her confusion only increased. Doe-like fear reflected beneath the star light, twisting his insides into agonized knots. He was sworn to protect her, and yet, all he’d done so far was terrify her.
“I think I should go,” she said, hardly above a whisper. She stood unsteadily and took a step away from him, her instincts driving her into the classic fight-or-flight response. It appeared she’d be choosing flight tonight.
