Heir of Earth (Forgotten Gods) (53 page)

“No, your majesty, really…I was doing it for us. I only meant to replace Christine. Her power is almost gone and this one would be such a pleasurable addition.” He stumbled clumsily over his own lies. For once, I was glad to see Arabette’s fire turned on someone else.

“Shut up! I have no patience for your lies.” Arabette stormed into our midst with the fury of a hurricane. Garyn cowered against the ground for protection. “She will not remain in LisTirna. I do not want anything to remind me of my brother when I am Queen.”

“Yes, your majesty,” Garyn said. Ara turned to face us.

“Why is he calling you Queen, Ara?” Dayne asked as he pushed me behind him again. “That is treasonous talk while Mother still wears the crown.”

“Because he knows, as does the rest of LisTirna, that I am the only logical choice after mother has learned of
your
treason against our people. Mother will have no choice but to make me queen now that she knows the extent of your disloyalty.”

“Mother would never be so foolish. Even I know that.” Dayne answered glancing from Arabette back to Garyn amazed to see him cower before his sister like a fool.

“Not without a little help she wouldn’t.” She reached out with a foot and kicked Garyn away from the hem of her gown like a peasant. “But you’ve done that all on your own. All I had to do was bring your sins to light.” Ara crossed her arms over her chest and studied her fingernails, the smile of victory on her face. “You see, after Garyn told me about his little…” she looked up as she searched for the right word. “ … run-in with you at the festival, I knew your crown was as good as mine. It was only a matter of time before your weakness for the human made you break our rules. Mother would never forgive your betrayal. Exposing us to an outsider is unforgivable.” Ara sighed and shook her head as she looked at me.

“Loving her does not doom me. Mother will see that she is one of us. I have done nothing wrong.” Dayne’s eyes wrinkled to tiny slits and he glared at his sister before he turned and walked away from her, guiding me along before him, no longer afraid to turn his back on her.

“Oh, please, Dayne,” she yelled out behind us and Dayne turned, shielding me behind his massive back once again. “She obviously isn’t normal, but there is no way she is one of us. Look at her? Cowering behind you? She has no Sidhe blood in her veins if she refuses to face me.” I shook my head and let a little of the steam that had built up in me release in one long gust of breath. Dayne chuckled, slightly amused by my anger and didn’t try to stop me.

“You don’t know anything about me,” I said as I stepped from behind Dayne and faced Arabette. “You don’t have a clue what I’m capable of.”

“Ooooohh…I’m really scared,” Arabette said, cowering in front of me sarcastically. “Look at you, trying to defend Dayne like he is yours. Please, it’s pathetic. You don’t even know Dayne,” she said as she walked over and picked up my bracelet. She laughed before she released it back to my side. “Besides, he is bound by his duty here. He can only promise you forever in LisTirna.”

Her words felt like a slap in the face.

“Dayne, what is she talking about?” I asked, turning my head slightly in his direction, but not taking my eyes off her.

“You don’t know?” Arabette turned on her heel and looked from Dayne to me with utter delight. “She doesn’t know?” She asked as she turned to Dayne again. Dayne’s head hung down, and he shook it slowly. She threw her head back and cackled like an evil queen, haunting peals of laughter escaping from her perfect throat. I wanted to yank every strand of blonde hair from her head, but settled for tearing into her creamy skin with a razor sharp glare. “This just keeps getting better and better,” she said and rubbed her hands together in delight, circling us for effect.

“Dayne is bound to the Queen. At any moment she can call him back. And... POOF!’” She clapped her hands together, and I jumped in my skin. “He’d be gone, leaving you all alone.”

“I don’t believe you,” I said shaking my head, stepping back to Dayne, and taking his hand in mine. “You’re lying.”

“No sweetheart, he’s lying when he promises you forever. That decision is not his to make. His promise to the Queen trumps all.” Her hands were on her hips and she leaned into me to be sure her words struck exactly where she was aiming them.

“Dayne?” I looked at him now. He raised his head to look at me and then hung it down again. “Oh, don’t look so sad.” She reached out and lifted my chin with a finger. Dayne did nothing to keep her away. “All is not lost. You could be the key to everyone’s happiness, Faye.” She came even closer, encouraged by Dayne’s lack of protection and circled her arm around me, pulling me along with her. “If you tell mother that Dayne revealed our secrets before he had any clue you were anything more than human, she will have no choice but to deny Dayne’s succession to the throne for such disloyalty. Once I am Queen, I will gladly banish you and Dayne from ever returning to LisTirna.” She stopped and turned me so I could see Dayne over her shoulder. His head still hung down, shaking slightly like he was trying to forget his promises in this world. “So see?” She smiled at me and whispered in my ear like we were friends as she followed my gaze to Dayne. “We all win. I have my crown, and you have Dayne and the real world. It’s practically perfect, isn’t it?” She squeezed my shoulders in an almost hug, raising one eyebrow as she waited for my answer.

I was just about to agree to her plan. It sounded perfect. Everyone would have what they wanted. Everyone but Dayne. There was no way he could continue to live in my world. He was growing weak, and every day in my world brought him one day closer to the inevitable. I couldn’t love him in my world. I could only lose him.

It was an impossible decision to make, but in the end I really didn’t have a choice. There was no way I could drag Dayne back to my world and watch as he suffered. I loved him too much to do that. There was only one solution.

As I stared at Ara and weighed my options, the sound of bells began to echo through the forest. Every head snapped to attention at once, and cold fear swept all my swirling thoughts away.

Daoine had decided.

“Show time,” Arabette said and winked her beautiful jeweled eye at me. The warmth of Dayne’s hand fell into mine as he walked by, and I thought about how much I would miss his touch. The remorse of everything we hadn’t done settled on my shoulders already slumped in defeat. The thought of having to let go of the future I had planned for us was unbearable. I stifled the sobs in my throat—not wanting to give away my decision and risk him trying to talk me out of it— as we walked back through the woods to the stone alter.

The entire population of LisTirna was gathered to hear our fate. A beautiful congregation of supermodels and animals watched as we approached, some craning their swan–like necks to get a glimpse of me, others leveling dagger–like glares at Dayne. Garyn and Christine fell into line with the others, Garyn’s eyes narrowing to rigid slits as Dayne passed. I reached out for Christine’s hand, giving it a quick squeeze. She continued to stare at Garyn, not even noticing me. I would find a way to take her with me.

I stood staring down at the amethyst stones before the ornate alter, my body curled around Dayne’s strong arm. Arabette posed with a hand on her hip and a haughty stare at our side, eagerly waiting for the right moment to seize her crown. The eagle and fox watched us approach from their perch on the altar, transforming in beams of light when the movement of the crowd silenced.

Daoine walked over to me and picked up the arm that wore Dayne’s bracelet. Her other hand reached out and grabbed the matching key that hung around my neck.

“You did not consult us, Dayne,” her tone was flat, unemotional.

“It’s not your decision to make, mother,” he stared resolutely forward. I tried to mimic his every move at his side.

“How can you promise such things when you haven’t a clue where your fates lie?” His mother’s tone was mocking, taunting him.

“We’ll find a way.” Dayne didn’t waver in his decision, staring through her in rigid obedience.

His mother eyed me coolly, her placid face an emotionless pool. Features a smile would have made utterly breathtaking lay as still as death upon her skin. My eyes shifted behind her to a giant counting glass with sand pouring through the narrow spout too quickly–the balance of the glass nearly gone. I wondered whose time it counted. She caught my stare and turned to watch the sands spill with me.

With a bored sigh she turned back, folding her hands ceremoniously at her chest, the great folds of her sleeves swallowing her slender fingers.

“We have decided.” Her voice rang out crystal clear over the crowd, and her eyes slowly rolled upward, lifting her entire face with them.

“The girl will remain…” she paused, the echo of her words lingering over the crowd. A flicker of hesitation broke her concentration and her head fell back down to me. With squinted eyes she looked at my bracelet once more and I knew she was questioning her decision. The appearance of the bracelet on my wrist had certainly changed the game we were playing. Her son’s soul and happiness were in my hands now. That gave me power over her and over Dayne. I knew she wanted, more than anything, for him to remain and become the son and heir she wanted him to be. Now I had complicated that desire.

I recognized the disappointment he had been greeted with—their obvious defeat in raising a son who could turn his back on the world they ruled over, hidden cleverly behind her delicate features. Most people would never recognize it, but to eyes that knew that look, it was like a neon sign flashing in the dark. I knew she would do anything to force him into the life she wanted him to live, no matter how vile that life was to him.

“…in LisTirna.” Her words sucked the life giving air out of my lungs, and I shrunk in a deflated swoon at Dayne’s side. He held onto me, steadying me beside him. Panic set in, and I had to fight to breathe. I couldn’t stay here. I had to get back. My life was waiting for me. Even if it wasn’t a great life, I couldn’t just disappear. She had to at least give me a chance to say goodbye before I left. I didn’t want my parents and Rose and Phin to go through what I had witnessed with Christine’s disappearance.

Daoine had already turned her back and was beginning her slow and regal retreat back up the few steps to the altar, as if she hadn’t just condemned me to a fate worse than the fiery pits of hell. She folded her arms at her side, in a wing like posture, preparing to change back to her eagle form and leave me stuck for good in this crazy world of hers.

“Dayne!” I pleaded at his side. He looked at me, anger and fear cutting deep crevices into the lines of his face.

“Wait!” He yelled out to Daoine through lips that didn’t move, stopping her transformation. A few feathers that had already appeared on her arms fluttered to the ground at her feet.

“Yes?” She was attentive now, leaning forward and hanging on Dayne’s every word.

“I’ll stay in her place.” The muscles in his arms stiffened like a steel rod in my hands and my mouth fell open as I watched the color drain from his face. I couldn’t believe the words that had just passed his lips. He was bartering his freedom for mine. His head slowly turned down to me, my eyes searched his stony face frantically as I realized the prison his words would build around him.

“Dayne, no!” I babbled through my tears now flowing like a river down my face, clinging to his side, pulling at any part of him I could grab onto. “Don’t do this. Don’t leave me.”

“I could never let anything happen to you, Faye.” He turned to face me, bending down so he was level with me as he whispered in my ear. “Ara was right. My will is not my own in your world. Mother could call me back at any moment. LisTirna is my prison, but I refuse to let it be yours, too. I won’t let them take you when I can still do something about it.” He pulled me to him, tucking me under his chin and squeezing me so tightly I thought I might break.

“But what about us?” I whimpered helplessly into his chest, my tears dampening the front of his shirt.

“I’ll find a way. When I’m King, I will find a way back to you.” His voice was a barely audible whisper in my ear and his kisses continued to find me between his words. I clung to him wishing there was magic strong enough to bind us in a way we could never be separated.

The unmistakable power of Daoine’s presence stifled the air around us, and I knew she could never hear his plans if they were going to work. I hated to do it, but I slowly untangled myself from him and turned to find Daoine staring at us intently, a slight smirk on her face.