A Fey Harvest (12 page)

“
It was an honor to meet you, Queen Vervain.”

“
Right back atcha,” I laughed. She turned away but I called out. “Caitir?” When she turned back to face me I asked, “Maybe I could come back sometime and meet the rest of your village?”

“
I'd be happy to see you again,” she smiled and it was soft, the smile of new friendship. “My village is just to the right at the beginning of the Weeping Woods. You'll always be welcome.”

“
Thanks,” I waved, “I'll see you later then. Oh and if you make it up to the castle sometime, I'd love to see you, just tell anyone you meet that Queen Vervain asked for you to visit and they'll find me for you.”

“
I will. I've never been to the castle before and I admit, I'd like to see it,” she beamed a toothy grin. “May blood flow and fire burn for you, my Queen.”

“
May blood flow and fire burn for you too, Caitir.”

The way back was much longer than I'd thought. Evidently, I'd run quite a ways in my haste to be an idiotic chickenshit. I
groaned as I shoved foliage out of the way and worked up a bit of a sweat on my way home. I was already dripping from the woods so I actually didn't know what was sweat and what was water but it all just felt kind of miserable now that I'd left the tree-line.

When I saw the outline of Castle Aithinne against the night sky, I felt a surge of panic. It seemed to claw at the air like a dragon, lifting its face in defiance of my opinion on fidelity. It was spotted with light shining through its numerous windows and when I stared too long, they turned into eyes, burning with accusation.

I swallowed hard and called myself a fool again before tromping inside. I remembered what Caitir had said, that I was a treasure and I needed to make sure Arach remembered that. He always called me A Thaisce, his treasure, so maybe he did remember. I was being so stupid, I just needed to go find Arach and-

There he was, coming down the hallway with that woman beside him. They started a little when they saw me(out of guilt?) and Laise gave me a swift nod before excusing herself and making a hasty retreat. I glowered after her.

“What was that about?” I finally found the nerve to ask.

“
What?” Arach looked baffled.

“
You and her,” I gestured after the woman. “What were you talking about?”

His face filled with alarm for just a second before it was smothered in a smooth look of assurance.

“We were talking about the visit to the Water Kingdom,” he shrugged. “She was asking about a water-sidhe she's been feeding from but we didn't see him there.”

“
Is that all?”

“
What else could there be?”

“
I don't know,” I pushed aside my hurt and told myself not
to act upon it until I was certain. I wouldn't mention the hug, that would only tip him off and if there was something going on, I wanted to catch him in it so I could be sure. “I guess nothing.”

My heart hurt from the need for subterfuge. What happened to being honest with each other, huh Vervain? I told myself to shut up, that finding out the truth was more important and from the way Arach had just stumbled about his explanation, it didn't look like I'd get it from him. He'd just make up a plausible excuse and I'd be forced to believe him or call him a god damned liar.

And I happened to know a few gods who could help me with the damning part if he really was lying to me.

Chapter Thirteen

The Darkness is coming.

“Okay, that's enough. You give me one-liners about the Darkness for over a month and then all of a sudden this is what you say to me? Just that it's coming?” I stood up off the rock I was sitting on. “I appreciate that you want me to stop these murders and that you want to be helpful but please stop with the cryptic bullshit!”

Faerie was silent for awhile before she spoke again.
I am as clear as I can be. I had no information for you before. The threat seemed to disappear but now I can feel its approach. The Darkness is coming and you must stop it.

“
Why does it have to be me that stops it?” I sat back down heavily and stared at the unfinished sketch in my sketchbook. “Why can't one of the other royals do it, you know, the ones that actually know about the fey?”

Because they can't see things the way you do. You were the only one who thought to take the blood. You think like a human and that's what I need now. They fey are too complacent, I've told you this before. They have remained unchanged for so long that they've started to petrify. You can change that, change them, and not only stop these murders but bring life back to the fey.

“Petrify?” I considered what she was trying to tell me. “You're saying that remaining the same for thousands of years has caused their bodies to go into a kind of stasis?”

Stasis.
She seemed to mull the word over.
Yes, this word is perfect for what I mean. They are in stasis.

“
But I don't know how to change them.” I was starting to sound whiny, even to myself.

Vervain, you have already changed them. You've seen the changes, the way you speak alone has been a jolt to them. Look what you've done with the pixies, the way you've championed them has made a lot of fey start to view them differently. Your King is one of these who has changed, he's already out of stasis, and even as we speak, there is life beginning in the depths of your castle.

“
Depths of my castle
better not be code for me being pregnant,” I growled. “I'm on birth control. I brought the pills with me.”

Why would you want to control conception?
She sounded confused.
Life is magic. I must admit, you humans confound even I sometimes.

“
I don't know if I want children right now, okay?” I sighed. I couldn't believe I was having this conversation with the sentient magic of an entire realm. “I'm not ready and I have four other lovers to consider. If I got pregnant, I wouldn't even know who the father was.”

So have a child with each of them.

“Oh sure,” I laughed hysterically. “That would solve everything. I'll have one angel baby, one lion baby, one werewolf-” No, I guess I couldn't have a werewolf baby, even had I wanted to. Not with the magic of the Froekn conserving itself.

I feel an entirely different emotion from you than the words you are saying.

“Yes, it's called sarcasm,” I grimaced. I guess my job was going to include updating Faerie on my way of speaking too. “But you haven't answered me. Did you mean that I'm pregnant?”

No. Look to those that hide for the new life.

“Those that hide? The Hidden Ones? Are you saying one of the Hidden Ones is pregnant?” I don't know why my eyes started to water, must have been the smoke blowing out of a nearby
crevice in the ground. I was behind the castle, enjoying the scenery of the lands of Fire and there were several steam vents nearby. It was great for the complexion.

You have changed them. Drastically. Already you have done more than I expected.

“Great Gods of Fire,” I breathed. “One of the Hidden Ones is going to have a baby.”

More than one baby, actually.

“Oh,” I huffed out a laugh and then reduced it to a smile when I remembered how much they'd enjoyed playing with the phooka pups. They were going to be so excited. “Wait, you said Arach is already out of stasis? So we could have a baby if we wanted to?”

Why is it so difficult for you to understand me? Yes, you may give Fire the heir it needs. I don't know why you hesitate.

“Great,” I frowned.

This is sarcasm again?

“Yes, indeed,” I smirked. “Okay, okay, back to the Darkness. We saw a dark magic at the scene of the abductions. It was trapped in the crystal and when I released it, it flew away, sounding a lot like a flock of birds.”

Yes, I saw this.

“Wait, you saw it?” I frowned as a thought occurred to me. “You see everything that happens here, don't you? Why can't you just tell me who's doing this?”

Why do you not listen to me? I have told you, it's the Darkness.

“Right, the Darkness, capital D,” I rubbed a hand over my face, probably smudging graphite all over the place. “So you don't know if it's Kanaloa. He's a god of darkness but I don't get where the birds fit in. Can you at least see if he's working with a faerie? Gruach, the water-sidhe or a smaller fey, a fachan, a trow, or a fir darrig?
”

The Darkness hides that from me. I told you this too. I cannot see past it.

“Oh, right,” I slumped. “I forgot. Well you've been a huge help.”

I stared out at the beautiful, misty landscape of the Kingdom of Fire, trying to work it all out, as Faerie went silent.

Chapter Fourteen

I sat, dejected, watching the unusual birds of the Fire Kingdom hunt their prey while I pondered what darkness could have to do with birds. Nothing came to mind besides that Edgar Allan Poe poem,
The Raven.
Everyone knew the line,
Quoth the Raven, Nevermore
, but there was another line in that poem that my mind kept going back to, over and over, like a sore tooth.

“
Darkness there, and nothing more,” I whispered and the land seemed to shiver beneath me. “But what does it have to do with Kanaloa?”

“
Are you talking to yourself or to Faerie?” Isleen was standing near the cave entrance of the castle, a red garment draped across her arm. I swear she enjoyed sneaking up on me.

“
Oh, this time, it was to myself,” I laughed a little and got up to walk over to her. “If you had come just a few minutes earlier, it would have been to Faerie.”

“
You speak with her a lot, then?” She cocked her head to the side, her long, black hair falling in a straight line over her shoulder.

“
More and more lately,” I sighed, “sometimes it seems like she won't shut up.” Isleen's eyes widened as she straightened. “Did I scandalize you?” I laughed. “Faerie and I have a unique relationship. Don't worry, the ground won't open up and swallow me whole or anything.”

“
Oh,” she blinked her big, dark eyes. “Um, I came to fetch you for King Arach.”

“
What's up?”

“
There are more missing fey,” she glanced up(probably wondering why I'd be asking what was up there) and frowned.
“He's awaiting you in the royal carriage.”

“
Oh, okay,” I followed her back in, rushing through the cave and turning through the tunnels that would take me across the castle and out front to where the carriage was kept. “And it's a figure of speech, by the way.
What's up
, is a way of asking what's going on.”

“
Oh yes, of course,” she nodded as she ran beside me. “Here you might need this,” she handed me a fur-lined, red velvet cloak. “The Kingdom of Air gets chilly and although we fire fey don't mind the cold, we don't particularly enjoy it either.” She flashed me a sharp-toothed grin.

“
Thank you, Isleen. Could you have this sent up to our bedroom please?” I took the cloak and handed her my sketchbook before rushing out into the fey sunlight once more.

Sure enough, there was our royal carriage, door propped open, waiting for me. Behind it was a larger group of red caps than had gone with us into the Water Kingdom. It looked like Arach was starting to get serious about security. I jumped in the carriage and looked over Arach's grim countenance. He shut the door and rapped at the wall behind him. Then we were moving.

“That bad, huh?” I settled the cloak over my shoulders.

Below it, I was wearing a red velvet dress, so the cloak matched perfectly. I wondered if Isleen had taken that into consideration when she brought it to me. Probably, she was kind of like the castle steward as well as the herald and she liked to pay attention to detail. Though now that I knew her history with Arach, I wondered if that stemmed from some maternal feelings she had for him.

“They haven't told me anything of the circumstances,” he kept frowning, “but I was told that a bean-sidhe and an air-sidhe have disappeared.”

“
They've upped their game,” I murmured.

“
It appears so.”

I told him about my recent conversation with Faerie. He was as frustrated as I that Faerie couldn't confirm Kanaloa's guilt but when I told him about the Hidden Ones and himself, his expression changed completely. He leaned forward and took my upper arms in hand.

“Truly? Another birth in the House of Fire?”

“
Looks like it,” I smiled.

“
And she said it's because you changed them?”

“
And I changed you, evidently,” I smirked.

“
Well, you already knew about me,” his hands slid down my arms to take my hands. “I'm not surprised to hear we can conceive if we decided to. I've felt it inside myself, like my body has awakened from slumber.”

“
Stasis,” I repeated the term.

“
Indeed,” he nodded and lost some of his excitement. “So the rest of the fey are in stasis?”

“
It would make sense,” I shrugged. “You said most of the births have been among the lesser fey. Well, seems to me like the sidhe are the most unyielding of all of you. The lesser fey have had to adjust to suit your whims for as long as they've lived, change is probably not such a foreign concept to them.”

“
You may be correct,” he let my hands go gently and sat back into his seat. “And you're supposed to change them.” He gave a sort of huffing laugh. “May the fire burn for you.”

“
Was that your way of saying
good luck with that
?” I laughed as he nodded. “I like it. I think I'll use it.”

“
That would be appropriate, since it's a blessing of the
House of Fire.”

“
May blood flow and fire burn,” I quoted dutifully.

“
Ah, you remember,” he nodded with approval.

“
How could I forget,” I made a face at him. “Oh right, because you
made
me forget.”

“
Are you still going on about that?” He gave me a suffering expression and sighed dramatically. “You humans are so sensitive.”

“
Don't you mean, you triple beings are so sensitive?” I teased.

“
Then I might as well have just said
you
are so sensitive, since you're the only triple being in existence,” he leaned forward and gave me a quick kiss.

“
It's so lonely at the top,” I sighed and fanned myself like a diva.

“
I can knock you down if you like,” he leered.

“
Try me, anytime, anyplace,” I cooed.

He glanced out the window before pulling the curtains shut and pulling me into his lap. I made a sort of squeak which he interpreted as an
Oh please, baby,
and delved into my bodice face first. I had a fleeting thought of him and Laise, which was a bit of a cold shower on his hot ministrations.

“
Arach,” I laughed nervously and tried to push him back, which was like trying to push the Statue of Liberty off its island. “We're on our way to investigate a possible murder.”

“
We have time,” he looked up at me as his hands lifted my skirt and settled me more comfortably on his lap. “I know exactly where we are.”

I bit my lip and decided what the hell. If he was a cheating bastard, I wanted to enjoy my blissful ignorance as long as possible. If you think that's self-delusional and weak, well, you're probably right but at least I knew I was deluding myself and frankly, when it came to my men, I could get kinda wimpy. Don't judge, you should see his abs.

My hands shot between us, to undo his trousers. His face lit up with a brilliant grin and then his mouth was on mine, biting at me till he nicked my lip and was rewarded with a drop of blood. He licked it up, shivering for a second as he connected with me, my emotions no doubt hitting him with a heavy punch. I wondered if he could feel my doubt in him but if he did, he showed no sign of it. He bit into his own lip and I watched the blood bead upon his silky skin a second before slowly licking it from him.

I leaned back under the wave of feeling that was all Arach and he filled my head and body at the same time. I gripped his shoulders as he bucked and lifted myself to help him. The crescendo of pleasure began, spiraling out from where we were joined, as the blood revealed him to me on a deeper level than even my Froekn bond with Trevor went.

I saw clearly the changes I'd made in him, felt the strength of his passion and love for me, as well as his concern for this latest threat to Faerie. The initial excitement over the possibility of another Hunt had passed and the reality of the situation was sinking in. He was worried this wouldn't stop and scared that the Darkness would come for his fey as well. I searched and searched his soul, going deeper than I normally would have, in an effort to find his betrayal but there was none. I sighed as I realized that he was faithful. I didn't know what he was doing with Laise but it wasn't sexual. I was such an idiot.

I brought my face up to kiss him, using our connection to comfort him and maybe make up for my distrust just a little. He took the comfort and gave me back determination, he wasn't going to stop until whoever was doing this to the fey was dead. I pushed away those thoughts, from both of our minds, with my own
determination. I wanted some time for ourselves before we arrived at the latest calamity and had to focus on evil again. Especially now that I knew he was all mine.

“
This,” I whispered, “you and I in this moment, is all I want to focus on right now.”

“
Forgive me,” he whispered, “for letting something other than love join us here. There is nothing else more important to me than you.”

“
You can't help being concerned for the fey,” I slid against him, bringing him deeper inside me. “There's nothing to forgive. I just want us to let go of that for a little while.”

“
As long as I can hold onto you while I do this letting go,” he grinned and tightened his grip as the carriage bounced us.

I smiled as I let the carriage do the work for me, lifting and lowering me with soft jolts as I gripped his shoulders. My lust magic started to gather, pulsing in my stomach before heading to lower territories. I knew the moment it hit Arach, he jerked against me like he'd been struck by lightning.

“What was that?” He whispered.

“
Lust,” I growled and lowered my lips to his. “Just go with it, I promise you'll enjoy it.”

“
Do your worst,” he teased and kissed me.

Lust liked that, it liked that a lot. It shot up through him and burst through his skin and back into mine. I barely stifled my scream and his groan sounded equally labored. Then he was tearing at the laces on my bodice, freeing me from the dress and then lowering his face to suck me into his mouth.

I felt the magic gather beneath his lips, glowing red and pooling in that sensitive flesh, making it even more sensitive.
He moaned around me, his tongue working faster and wherever it touched, I felt the lust rise to meet it, licking him back through my skin. It was a strange feeling but incredibly erotic and he started laving at me like he was kissing my mouth instead of my breast. My eyes rolled back just a little.

Then he was on to the other side, bucking beneath me and reminding me that I was on top, maybe I should help a little. I giggled, feeling a little drunk from the magic, and started moving against him in a maneuver I'd learned when I used to bellydance. His head shot up, his cry loud enough that I was sure the red caps had heard us but at the moment I didn't care.

I moved faster against him, his hands at my hips urging me along. Lust rode us both as surely as I rode him, filling me with a tingling effervescent feeling that started in my chest and spread down to where we were joined together, building in power, more and more, until it exploded within us, shooting through our bodies and flying free of our skin, to fill the carriage with sparkling lights that then exploded once more into tiny specks of magic that went right through the walls.

The carriage lurched and I heard a choking kind of growl come from behind us. Shit, I forgot about that little side effect. I paused, listening, hoping the red caps wouldn't start copulating in the road. With my intent, I felt the magic pull back and the tension around the carriage eased. I called it more firmly then, inhaling it back into myself until it was firmly back where it belonged.

Arach was still shaking through the aftershocks and I suddenly realized that we were on the floor of the carriage. When had that happened?

“
That was fantastic,” he growled.

“
Not bad,” I shrugged and moved to slide off of him but he grabbed my hips and held me firmly in place.

“
I've been waiting for the right time but it never seems
perfect enough,” he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small pouch. “Will you wear these again? At least while you're in Faerie?”

I opened the pouch and out tumbled two rings, one a thin gold band, and the other a thicker gold band with a glittering round ruby the size of a thumbnail set into it. My wedding rings.

“Wow,” I breathed and held them up. “I can't believe I forgot about these.”

“
I never did,” he sat up, finally withdrawing from me with a sigh and a shudder. He discretely slipped himself back in his pants and smoothed my skirts around us. “May I?” He made a motion to the rings and I nodded, handing them back over. He slid the ruby on first, placing it on the ring finger of my right hand, and then the thin band went on next, like a guard. “Like the two of us,” he tapped the rings, “sitting side by side, both made of the same material, but one so obviously more beautiful than the other.”