Fae (13 page)

“That's my mother,” I told Odin.

“Yes. Her name was Tara and for her time, she was the most beautiful of all Fae.”

I watched my mother dance around a garden and pick flowers and put them in a basket.

“Now look closely, Devilyn,” Odin commanded, “and listen carefully.”

I did as I was told, desperately keeping my eyes on the scene before me. Tara seemed so mystical, so angelic, as she moved. I looked behind her and saw a man watching her from a short distance away. He was tall with dark hair and eyes.

An imposing figure, handsome except for the harshness that was etched on his face. I could see he was entranced by my mother.

He took a step and Tara turned quickly and saw him. From the way her eyes rounded, I knew she recognized him.

“What are you doing here?” she asked him.

“I was hunting.”

“This is sacred human land.” Tara crossed her arms, unafraid. “You of all know the rules.”

He shrugged his shoulders in indifference as he took a step closer. “Will you tell the council?”

Tara watched him for a moment. “No. Not if you leave right now.”

He stood where he was. “Do you come here often?”

“How is that your concern?”

Again, he shrugged his shoulders. “I want to know.”

Tara turned to leave. “I'm leaving now.”

“Wait!” he shouted after her, but he was too late. I heard the next words. “Don't go.”

He walked toward my mother's forgotten basket and picked it up. It was still filled with beautiful flowers. But that wasn't what had him entranced; it was the long string of black hair that was stuck on the basket.

He smiled victoriously and then disappeared.

Moments later the scenery changed. My mother was now in the human world. From the looks of things, it appeared that she was in Ireland—the lush green scenery made it one of the most favorite countries of the Fae. She was in a pub dressed like a human, but looked so beautiful and different from them all. She was by herself, sitting at a table in the corner, and reading a book.

The pub was quite crowded, obviously a favorite hangout. The chime on the door rang and someone entered.

The instant I saw him, my heart dropped.

Tara looked over at the door and slowly put her book down. He was also dressed in human clothes, and all the women in the pub inevitably stared at him with longing, but he only had eyes for my mother. He walked over to her.

“How did you find me?” she asked him.

He reached into his shirt and pulled out the long strand of her hair. Tara seemed quite shocked by this gesture. She took the strand from him and their fingers touched. I could see the electricity. It moved over them both.

Instantaneously.

“I knew it was you,” he told her.

Tara stood abruptly. “No.”

“You felt the call,” he whispered passionately.

“No.” Tara tried to move past him. I could see her fear, but he stopped her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

“You will admit it.”

And with that he grabbed Tara and kissed her. My mother didn't fight it. At first she tried to remain passive, but she gave in to the temptation. Her arms circled him, and she melded into one with him. He finally pulled away.

“How can this be?” Tara asked, confused and clearly shocked.

“I know not. And I care not,” he said as he cupped her face. “All I know is that I will have you as my wife.”

Another scene flashed before my eyes and Tara now stood with another Fae in her room. She was dressed in a traditional wedding gown with real flowers growing from the magical material.

“You cannot do this, Tara,” her friend said to her. “He is wrong for you. Wrong for all of us.”

Tara turned to face her friend. She took her hands in her own and smiled sweetly. My heart stopped at how beautiful she looked.

“Iris, he is my mate. He will change. I will help him change,” she replied with a soft voice. “Please have faith in him. Have faith in
me
.”

“I trust you with my life, dear friend. I cannot trust him or even have faith that he will change. He is evil—” Iris began.

“Shhhh,” Tara told her. “He is to be my husband. Love him the way you love me.”

Iris looked down sadly as she watched Tara open the door to her room.

I looked over at Odin in growing alarm. Even though I was young I began to understand the ramifications of what I was seeing.

My mother had made the decision of her own free will. She had not been coerced. She was so pure, so good, that she hoped that she would be able to change him. She hoped and prayed that he would see the Light.

But she should have known better.

Instantaneously there was another flash. My mother was now lying in Alderon's arms. Pregnant. Enchanting.

He held a hand to her stomach.

“My son.”

“Our son,” Tara said with a smile. “I wonder what he will be like.”

“He will look like me,” Alderon said rather arrogantly. “But his soul will be half of you.”

They entwined hands.

“He will be the King of a new kingdom,” Tara said with a smile. Alderon kissed her forehead, and Tara closed her eyes.

“A new kingdom,” Alderon said to her as he slowly began to rise and leave the room.

Moments later he appeared in another room, and a member of the Light Fae court stood to greet him and then instantaneously kneeled before him.

“Why have you come here?” he asked him.

The messenger handed him a letter.

“What does this say?”

“With the child on its way, the Light court would like to begin solidifying a truce, a union of both kingdoms,” the messenger said as he continued to keep his head bent. “They are proposing an abolishment of all dark, mischievous works and evil.”

Alderon threw his head back and began to laugh.

“Have they?”

The messenger looked up at him as his eyes began to light up.

“Those were the terms of the union. Promised by you—”

“And?” Alderon told him, “I have her now. That's all that matters.”

My father then lifted his hand and hit the Fae with a wave of his black light, pushing him back toward the door. The messenger stood slowly, shaking off the bolt of light that hit him unexpectedly, and quickly disappeared.

Alderon's smile suddenly left his face as he turned.

Little did he know that my mother had watched the entire incident.

My heart hurt for her. I could see the devastation on her face as she held a protective hand on her stomach. I couldn't look anymore.

Odin waved his hand, and the scene disappeared.

“That's my father.”

“Yes.”

“What happened then?” I asked solemnly.

“Your mother was overcome with grief. Your father tried to win her trust back, but she could not bear his betrayal. Once you were born, she took you and your half-sister and brought you both to me. Since Tatiana's mother, Sorai, died during childbirth, Tara was the only mother she had ever known. Tara felt responsible for her and loved her greatly. So she asked that I raise you both as my own and protect you from Alderon,” Odin said softly to me. “She asked that I hide her somewhere Alderon could never find her. And I did.”

Odin looked sad.

“Alderon went crazy with rage, demanding I return Tara, you, and Tatiana. But I refused. And your father's rage could not be abated for centuries, and slowly the love he had for Tara turned into hatred. Fueling his rage and anger and thus the Dark.”

“Where is my mother?”

Odin closed his eyes. “I have promised to never say, my child. She loves you very much.”

“She left me.”

“She had no choice. She knew she wasn't strong enough to resist your father—”

“How could she still love him?” I asked in anger.

Odin had smiled at me and tried to calm me.

“One day you will know such love and longing, and you will understand why your mother made the decisions that she did.”

I never understood until now.

I shook my head and looked back at the beautiful angel sitting before me.

“My parents died so long ago. I was so young. I barely even remember them anymore,” I told Caroline quietly.

Caroline looked almost horrified by my words.

“It's okay, Caroline. This is what life is all about. People come and people go. It is the way of the world. In the end, we all have our own destinies to fulfill.” She brushed her hair back from her face and nodded in passive agreement.

“Shall I go on?” I asked politely.

“Please do.” I could tell that she thought I was callous, but it didn't matter. The less she liked of me, the better. I had slipped so many times with her already that I knew I had major damage control to do.

The instant I played her Toby's CD, I knew I was entering dangerous territory. But for some reason, I just didn't care. Toby, of course was not human, but of the Fae. When he sang, if a human was to really listen to the lyrics they'd feel the light behind his words. But for Caroline, it was something else. Because she had the blood of Fae running through her veins, it spoke to her in a different way. By listening to the lyrics, she was the light. It went past feeling for her.

It was becoming.

She did not get to witness the miracle as I had. With her eyes closed she did not know that she had emitted a light around her body the moment she felt the beauty of the words. It was an incredible moment for me to see. But now, I regretted my hasty actions.

I spent the next hour telling Caroline about my family. I told her some truths, some lies. But overall I could tell that she was entranced by the story I weaved. When I was done, she began. Her memories were much shorter than mine, and the more she spoke, the more she remembered, which I could tell made her happy.

When she was done, I closed my notebook. Caroline stretched her arms.

“What time is it?”

“Half past nine,” I told her.

“Time flew by… I guess we should get going.”

“Yes,” I said, though I wasn't quite ready to leave her company. “Can we do a quick walk through the garden before we go?”

She seemed surprised by my request. I was, too.

“Sure. I'll just text my mom and tell her that we'll be a bit longer.” While she texted I threw out our trash. My eyes caught sight of Violet staring at me from across the way. I smirked. Violet was a Faerie. No doubt, assigned to the gardens by Odin. I wondered what Odin had shared with her.

I turned around and walked up to Caroline. I grabbed her backpack and slung it over my shoulder.

“Ready?”

“Yes.” She put my coat on. “Thanks again for letting me borrow this.”

“No problem.”

I followed her outside, into the gardens, and could feel the souls of the Lost Colony permeate my essence. It had been a long time since I had come here, and now I remembered why. A cool breeze moved through the garden, and the leaves seemed to whisper.

“Can you hear that?” Caroline asked as she lifted her head up the sky and stared up at the bright moon. “Listen to the breeze. The leaves. Isn't it amazing?”

I looked down at her and could not bring myself to move my gaze. She was amazing. In every way. More and more so with every passing minute. She smiled up at the sky then turned a bit to find my gaze on her face. I knew my look was intense, but I couldn't seem to help myself.

I wanted to possess her. Taste her.

If I was honest with myself, I had wanted her from the moment I laid eyes on her. But I would not act upon my emotions. I would stay away from her.

“So what do you think?” she asked shyly.

I think I want to kiss you
.

Her eyes widened, and she blushed. Did she hear me? I couldn't believe it.

“I think it's nice,” I said to her. Her eyes flicked away from me.

“I'm glad you like it.” She hugged her arms around her waist.

“It's getting late, and it's cold. I think I should take you home,” I told her, even though I didn't want to go anywhere.

“Sure,” she said to me, “I just need a moment. Can I meet you back here in a second?”

I nodded and watched as she walked over to the ladies' room. I moved away and stared out on the land. I could feel an energy start to course through my body, pulsating in each of my fingers, and I knew that I was not alone.

My eyes lit up like blue fire, and I easily found what was waiting for me; in the middle of one of the orchards stood Eleanor Dare. I thought she was staring at me, but something seemed to suddenly move through me.

It was Arthur. He resembled a tall, golden god. He was dressed like a typical colonial settler. He made his way toward Eleanor who ran over to him. The two shared a passionate embrace before Eleanor pulled away.

I couldn't understand why I was being shown this tender scene. I looked beyond the meadow and thought I saw Brighid, but I could not be sure.

“Devilyn?”

My body still radiated with light, and I knew I could not turn to look at Caroline.

“Devilyn?” she said again. I continued to ignore her as I stared out on the meadow at Eleanor and Arthur who both turned to look at Caroline.

I could feel her soft touch on my shoulder.

“Are you okay?” It was her tender concern for my well being that brought me back to the reality of the moment. I closed my eyes and then turned around abruptly.

We were very close. Too close. But I couldn't bring myself to move away from her. She did not break my gaze. If I leaned down our lips would be inches apart. And there was nothing more in the world that I wanted more.

“Yes,” I whispered.

“Yes, what?” Caroline seemed confused. Her face turned bright red again as she moved away from me. “I'm ready to go now,” she told me as she drew in a steady breath. I knew she was embarrassed, but I couldn't do anything about it.