A Fey Harvest (9 page)

“I hadn't thought of it like that,” Guirmean was looking at Arach in a similar way, severely impressed. “I appreciate the advice. I, uh, would you mind...”

“
I've often thought it would be nice to be able to talk to another king about the running of a kingdom,” Arach smoothly saved Guirmean from having to ask for help. “Maybe we could get together occasionally or mirror each other and share ideas.”

“
That would be wonderful,” Guirmean looked like he was about to hug Arach, which I didn't think would go over well with my man, so I interrupted.

“
Alright, well save the man talk for later,” I teased, “I wanna see the rest of this place.”

“
Of course,” Guirmean gave Arach one more grateful look before turning and leading us out a doorway and into the other half of the castle.

We passed by a large room filled with laughter, food, and red caps. Arach leaned in and nodded to Fearghal, who was seated at the head of a table, showing off his bloody hat. I peeped in and saw there were several water fey with them, all entranced by whatever it was that Fearghal was saying. Then I spotted the four phookas. One of them was Neala's husband, who waved jauntily at me. I gave him a quick wave back, glad the horses were being fed.

Then we were stopped by a tide of tumbling pixies who came to a rolling stop right before us. One of them jumped up to stand before me and another leapt onto his shoulders. Another went on top of his shoulders and another on that one. This continued until there was a pixie tower swaying in front of me, with a smiling pixie woman at the top of it.

“
Queen Vervain,” she said in a sweet voice. “Tales of your nobility have traveled to us. Our cousins of Earth and Fire are content and treated well. We want to thank you for this and for opening our King's eyes to us. You have brought respect back to the pixies and we are grateful.”

She handed me a gigantic pearl, easily twice the size of her head. It was bright white with pink and blue highlights shimmering all over its surface in waves. I felt a pulse of power emanate from it and I looked back at her with questioning eyes.

“It's magic of course,” she shrugged and then climbed down the tower, which spread out before me again. “It will give you the ability to breathe underwater in case you wish to visit the sea. We each have a small one,” she held up a tiny version of the pearl she'd given me, “to use if we go in the water. We don't have the water-breathing capabilities of our kin but we do have of making up for it.”

“
Thank you,” I cradled the pearl to my chest. “It's a wonderful gift.”

The pixies shouted in happiness and then ran away, tumbling and rolling like a bunch of acrobats. I felt like I should applaud or throw money at them.

“They do love you,” Guirmean smiled, “you've done a lot for them.”

“
Merely what I thought was right,” I shrugged, still clutching the pearl in my hands.

“
Which is different than what we've believed to be right for all of our existence,” King Guirmean cocked his head considering
me. “You have no idea how much you've altered the fey in such a short time, do you?”

“
No,” Arach answered for me, smiling proudly. “No idea.”

I laughed off the compliment and Guirmean must have sensed my discomfort, because he started leading us around once more. There were numerous beautiful rooms, all done in a very dainty, Victorian influenced style with a lot of tapestries and gold details. Guirmean paused beside a few, like the music room and the library, but he obviously had another goal in mind and he steered us steadily toward a staircase and up several flights.

“The décor isn't really my taste,” he spoke as we climbed. “But I haven't got around to changing it yet. After what you said about the painting though, I think maybe I should make the time.”

“
I think that would be wise,” Arach nodded.

At the top of the stairs, a door led into a large room, empty except for a basin of water in its center. The basin was on a thick pedestal that seem attached to both it and the floor. The room was the same shape as the basin, perfectly round, and was completely open, with only five pillars supporting the roof and a simple railing uniting them. There was an unimpeded view of the realm and especially of the Water Kingdom.

I wandered over to the railing nearest the sea and smiled. I may have a paranoia about the ocean but it didn't mean I didn't think it was beautiful. From several hundred feet up, without threat of drowning, I could enjoy its beauty without feeling my usual  panic.

Arach leaned beside me on my right and Guirmean came up on my left, all three of us enjoying the view together. Nothing needed to be said, it was a peaceful moment and I soaked it up, breathing in the salt-laced air that reminded me of home while I watched the waves flow over the faerie sea in strange circles.

It was a deep, clear blue, even more perfect than the Hawaiian waters I was used to. There was no human taint to this sea, no toxic runoff or garbage dumped into this sacred water. Everything in the Water Kingdom was meant to be there, was created to be a part of it, and this resulted in the most magnificently beautiful ocean I'd ever seen.

I knew how deep it was and I knew the vastness of it. I knew there were creatures in there that I found more terrifying than the Hidden Ones had been the first time I'd met them. Water had always scared me a little, funny thing is, I also had a fear of heights and of being buried alive. Three things associated with elements not my own. Suddenly the fears made sense. My humanity had been transforming my natural wariness of the other elements into human paranoia.

But up there, I felt no fear, even when I saw the massive shapes moving through the depths. Yes, that's how clear the water was. I could see the path of the tubes, leading down to the twin cities of Under and Water, Water obviously the one which was more visible as Under was beneath it. It was fascinating, tracking the air shafts that popped out of the surface all over, down to where they joined the glass tubes that had been created with Fire's assistance. The High King had told me that every kingdom in Faerie had been fashioned with help from the other elements. I wondered how we'd helped Earth and Air.

From up there I could clearly see the wedge that was the Water Kingdom, though I couldn't see its end. I was able to see the waterfalls leading into the Earth and Air Kingdoms and I thought about how the water from Guirmean's kingdom and the fire from ours created the Air Kingdom's perpetual mists. Each kingdom separate but connected, each element depending on the others for survival while also being vulnerable to them.

Turning around, I could see a little of the Earth Kingdom far to the left and I could see the mist of Air on the right. Fire was just a glimmer on the horizon directly across from us, with the Forgetful Forest between us. In the center of the forest, the Castle of Eight rose up majestically, not as tall as we were since we had the benefit of being atop a cliff, but still it seemed to rise up above everything like an Emperor surveying his realm.

“
So what's with the basin?” I leaned back against the railing as I looked over the bowl of water in the center of the room.

“
It's a well,” Guirmean grinned and walked over to it. “This is a vein running directly to the heart of my kingdom. Through it I can see all that happens within my waters.”

“
Wow,” I walked over and peered onto the glassy surface. “You can see everything that goes on? Why don't we have anything like that?” I glanced over at Arach.

“
We do,” he grinned into my slack face. “There's a lake of lava in the caverns below the castle. The Hidden Ones guard it.”

“
That's a good place for it,” Guirmean nodded.

“
Why?” I frowned, “Does it need protection?”

“
Vervain,” Arach laughed and shared a look with Guirmean. “King Guirmean has done us a great honor by showing this to us. It was an act of trust which I don't believe has been extended in thousands of years.”

“
Oh,” I was totally confused. “Thanks.”

Guirmean laughed and took over the explanation. “I can give aid to any of my subjects, just by touching them through this well.”

“Conversely,” Arach continued grimly. “If someone wanted to hurt all of Water, they could use this well to do it.”

“
Pollute the entire kingdom through this one conduit?” I touched the rim of the well carefully. “Whoa.”

“
Yes, any magic done here will affect everything within the sea,” Arach gave Guirmean a serious smile. “I will return the trust, my friend,” Arach held a hand out to Guirmean. “Come and visit us at Castle Aithinne and I will show you our lake of fire.”

“
Thank you,” Guirmean shook Arach's hand. “I'd enjoy a visit to your castle, I'm not too sure about going below though.”

“
Nothing will harm you while your under cloak of hospitality,” Arach assured him.

“
Yes, I believe you,” Guirmean shrugged, “it's just a little hard to look upon the Hidden Ones.”

“
That's why they do such a good job guarding our lake,” Arach laughed and although I was a little offended for my people, I understood that this was the reaction they were meant to inspire and Arach didn't look at all offended. In fact, he looked rather proud.

“
Indeed,” Guirmean grimaced, “maybe I should think about guards at the base of this tower.”

“
A few asrai should do the trick,” I smirked when the men started laughing.

Chapter Ten

“
So what do we do about Kanaloa?” Arach asked as soon as we were in our coach and on our way home.

“
I'm going to have to go back to the God Realm and investigate him,” I ran a hand through my hair wearily. I'd come back to Faerie for help with Samantha's infertility and instead of finding answers, I only found more questions.

“
I wish I could go with you,” he sounded frustrated and I didn't blame him. “But now that we've started using the Ring of Remembrance, we've crippled ourselves. I can't go back to the same time as you and if you travel back with me now, we have no way of knowing what you'll know of the situation. It's too risky.”

“
I know,” I dropped my hands to my lap, causing my dress to erupt into fog. “It would be nice to have you with me but it'll be okay. The Intare will help me investigate, there's enough of them that Kanaloa will have a harder time recognizing them if he catches one of them spying on him.”

“
That's a valid point,” he seemed to relax a bit.

“
Hey, by the way, that was really wonderful, what you did for Guirmean,” I decided to change the subject.

“
What did I do?”

“
About the portrait and how he could ask you for advice.” I nudged my foot against his. “That was slick and very thoughtful, saving him embarrassment.”

“
There was no one to help me,” he frowned and glanced out of the window, “when I became king. I was just a child and I had to grow up fast, learn fast, and do the best I could. King Guirmean's a good faerie and if I can save him some of what I went through, I'll happily do it.”

“
That's right,” I thought about the memory I'd once shared with him. It was him as a child, crawling through the wreckage of his home to find his parents murdered. “You were really young when your parents were killed.”

“
I was six years old.”

“
Arach,” I whispered and leaned across to take his hand. “I'm so sorry.”

“
There was so much sorrow then,” he gave my hand a squeeze and pulled me across the coach so I was sitting beside him. “All of the dragon-sidhe died and there was no one to raise me, no one to help me become a king. The Fire Kingdom was chaos for awhile, with a child ruler who mourned his parents and threw temper tantrums daily. I remember sitting in my father's throne, I never thought of it as mine back then, my feet hung off of the end of it and it seemed so large around me. I thought I'd never be able to replace him, never be able to rule as well as he had. I
slammed my fists into the throne, so angry over being abandoned and forced to rule. I pounded and pounded until my hands bled and then I set the room on fire as I cried.”

“
Oh fuck,” I gaped at him, thinking about the poor fire fey terrorized by a six-year-old dragon. Utter mayhem. “So what happened?”

“
Isleen,” he grinned fondly, his eyes far away. “She walked in with some fire-sidhe and put the flames out. Then she picked me up, sat down on the throne, turned me over her knee, and spanked me.”

“
What?” I gasped. “And you didn't kill her?”

“
It was the first bit of parenting I'd had in months,” he shrugged, “and it was exactly what needed to be done. I was turning into a monster. After she spanked me, she healed my hands and hugged me while I cried.”

“
So Isleen raised you?” No wonder he was so close with the leanan-sidhe. She could practically say anything to Arach and get away with it.

“
She did, though she had help from other fire-sidhe as well,” he grinned. “They did as best as they could but still, they knew nothing of ruling and so all I had to go on was the brief memories of my parents. My mother was kind, I remember her holding me and singing to me, but my father was a hard sidhe. I have no memories of him smiling or ever telling me he loved me. I knew he cared about me, I was his son and heir and he made it clear that I was important, but love? I'm not sure if he loved me.”

“
Arach, of course he did, he wasn't evil.”

“
Well,” he shrugged, “there's only six years of memories and it was a long time ago. It was all I had to help me though, my memories of my father as King. So I always believed that a king had to be strong, emotionless, and even a little cruel. From
what I remember of my father, he believed in ruling with an iron fist, maintaining a strict control over his subjects.”

“
Well that explains a lot,” I teased.

“
It does actually,” he looked down at me with a serious expression. “I've had to learn a lot on my own and I think I did fairly well but you were the first person who ever taught me anything about being a king. Until you pointed out to me that I had other responsibilities as king, things that never even occurred to me, no one had ever once given me any direction or advice.”

“
Isleen didn't help you?” I was too overwhelmed to acknowledge the compliment yet.

“
She didn't know how to rule,” he shrugged. “She barely knew how to raise children.”

“
Right, the fertility issue,” I nodded. “You know, no one ever taught me anything about ruling either. I just go with my gut.”

“
Well your gut is very insightful,” his eyes softened and his hand came up to stroke my hair. “I love your guts.”

“
That's disgusting,” I laughed but I kissed him too. “But I love your guts too.”

“
Truly, Vervain,” Arach said after we necked awhile(had to be done, like I wasn't going to make out with him after he gave me a compliment like that). “I've become a better king because of you. I doubt that the man I was before I met you would have offered to help King Guirmean. In fact, I might have enjoyed his floundering, but now I see how we're all connected and how important every one of us is to Faerie. If Guirmean falls, it would hurt all of us, so it's in my best interests to support him. I never would have acknowledged that before. You helped me to see that even though I am the leader of the Wild Hunt, I can still show kindness and mercy without being weak. I can delight in both death and life.”

“
I think it was your willingness to change that made you a
better king, not me.” I leaned into his side. “You didn't have to listen to me, you could have just made me forget the whole thing but you didn't. You listened and you changed. That was you. I could have talked till I was blue in the face and it wouldn't have made one whit of difference if you hadn't wanted to change, if you hadn't recognized the truth of my words on some deeper level. And now that I know how you were raised, how you became a king, I'm even more impressed by you. You have a king's heart, you truly want what's best for your kingdom and your fey. That's not something you can learn and yet it's the most important thing about being a ruler. The Fire Kingdom is lucky to have you.”

“
And I'm lucky to have you,” he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against his chest, where I pressed my ear against him and listened to his king's heart.