Wings of Shadow (The Underground Trilogy) (21 page)

“Thank you, kind lord.”

The lord-and-lady talk brought back the memory of that long-ago first date. So much had happened in the last two months. She had arrived in London, innocent and undecided about what to do in life. In one short week she would be leaving, stronger and more confident. And Meghan had finally figured out what she wanted to study next semester. Her stomach tightened, though, when she thought about leaving.

Kiernan kept watch of the surrounding hills. “Not to hurry you, but—”

She glared at him, not moving.

With a long sigh of exasperation, he disappeared behind the thick trunk with his costume. “I will change over here. I promise not to peek, unless I see you peeking first!”

She scrambled to pull on her “Summer” gown, wanting to be clothed before Kiernan was done dressing. The dress fit as magically as it had the first time she tried it on. She watched the butterflies dance through the fabric meadows and the ripple of waves on the life-like stream. How had Wish woven such magic into the cloth fibers of the dress? The gown closed with silken ribbons along the back. She struggled to tie them herself, but could not quite reach.

She tensed as she felt his fingers running along her shoulders.

“Let me help,” he whispered.

Meghan nodded. She felt him slowly smooth each ribbon, his fingers tracing over the zigzag pattern, forming a bow with the remaining lengths of the ties. His fingers grazed her skin, causing goose bumps to rise and spread across her back.

Warm breath touched the back of her neck. “Even prettier than I remembered.”

Why did his touch affect her so much? Meghan turned to face him. His blond hair spilled over the edge of his mask. Seeing him, caped and costumed, unsettled her even more.

Again, he studied the surrounding fields and knolls. Meghan couldn’t see anything in the advancing darkness. He watched the village boundary, seeming to wait for a time when they could slip in, unnoticed. Finally, Kiernan led her down the hill.

~ 19 ~

The crowd grew, pressing in on them from all sides. Everyone was costumed. While the faeries took great care to cover their faces with masks, several were easily recognized by their uniquely colored wings. She hoped Wish’s costumes would hide their identities tonight.

After looking around for Selena’s lavender-hued wings, Meghan noticed that she did not recognize many of the Fae. Wish had chosen a good time to return, for many visitors were in the village tonight.

Queen Alannah stood atop a tall wooden platform behind the piled logs and brush. She wore a beautiful gown but had not yet donned a costume. “Tonight, we have come together to celebrate, to join together with other Fae during one of our most important ceremonies.”

Selena appeared next to her, dressed entirely in luminescent white. Her lavender wings could barely be seen next to her glowing gown. “Welcome, Fae, both fellow villagers and friends from afar. We are gathered here tonight to celebrate: to pray for the Light, to honor great sacrifice, to remember the lost.”

Pointing to the sky, she continued. “Once upon a long-ago Samhain, our village was invited to partake in a ceremony of peace and celebration—a ceremony that turned out to be a deceptive ruse for darkness to spread.”

Meghan knew this story, the tale of Anya’s Wings. She wondered if Kiernan had grown up with the same tales as the village Fae.

Selena wove pictures with her words, narrating the rest of the story. She then held her hands to the sky. “Anya gave a great sacrifice to save her people. In turn, we honor her. We honor the Light through this bonfire ceremony in which we will create our own source of Light, to dance and celebrate through the dark hours of night.”

Despite the large number of faeries, the Fae waited in complete silence for Selena to continue.

“Please, look up into the night to see the sparkling stars of the Light.”

All eyes watched the star-dotted skies. Meghan spotted Anya’s Wings almost immediately. Kiernan studied the sky, but seemed lost as to where he should look.

She headed off his scowl with whispered words. “I will show you when we are alone.”

Selena’s words rang through the night air. “In the darkness, we remember the Light.”

A long pause ensued. “Against the night, we shall always choose the Light.”

The Fae continued to observe the sky, collectively silent, listening to Selena. “Anya, we thank you for your gift, for your sacrifice. May great wonders be bestowed on others who sacrifice themselves for their people.”

Orin, wearing a robe as white as his hair and wings, stepped in front of the bonfire pile. He held a flint stone in one hand, a piece of shale in the other. Holding his hands high, he struck the flint across the shale, creating a single spark. The Fae waited soundlessly, but Meghan could feel the energy building within the crowd.

“Let there be Light!” Orin lowered his hands to the brush and struck the flint again. Sparks leapt into the pile, becoming fingers of flame that caressed each log with their fiery touch.

As the blaze rushed to reach the highest point of the pile, music suddenly filled the air. The silence of a moment ago was transformed into the harmonic sounds of harp and fiddle playing an ancient-sounding melody. The Fae whooped and shouted, directing their joy to the sky. They grabbed one another and began to dance, celebrating the Light.

Meghan felt her arm being pulled toward the music, and then she was twirling. Looking up, she blinked at the bright rainbow dancing in front of her, clothes aglow with the light of the fire. As the spinning stream of colors slowed, she looked into Wish’s smiling face.

“My beautiful ‘Summer!’” He held out his arms, and she jumped into them for a long hug.

Before she could say anything, he pulled her into a jig, skipping and hopping around the orange flames of the bonfire. Meghan tried to dance the intricate steps, but Wish moved too quickly for her. Laughing, she gave up, allowing him to pull and spin her to the beat of the music. All around her, the Fae danced merrily to the melody.

She was tempted to ignore the possibility of danger, and allow herself to revel in the festivities. Watching the dancing and the laughter around her, she wished things were simpler.

“How did the trip go? Was Avery allowed back into the village?” Meghan asked.

“The queen was so happy to see her son safely home that she didn’t even question my accompaniment.” Wish spun while talking.

“And Kiernan arriving?”

He hopped from foot to foot. “The subject wasn’t even broached. Queen Alannah was furious that Lord Killian broke the treaty, even due to the Sky Tree technicality. She wouldn’t hear another word about the Dark Fae.”

Meghan found herself being spun again. “So, the plan for tonight?”

“Is to hope Selena’s sympathies and the wisdom of the Council are enough to protect you and Kiernan. Queen Alannah is determined to have more rigid boundaries than ever before.” Wish bowed as the dance ended, looking ridiculous as he solemnly performed this formal move in his rainbow-hued tutu.

A group of Fae began playing music at the far end of the meadow on a stage erected from old logs. A wooden flute, fiddle, harp, mandolin, and something resembling bagpipes played a haunting melody that echoed through the clearing.

“I believe you promised me the first dance.” Kiernan stood in front of her, holding out a hand.

She smiled. “Too late! Wish already claimed it.”

He pulled her close and wrapped an arm snugly around her waist. “I should have been more specific. I meant the first slow dance. Wish can have his fast-paced jigs.”

His warm breath tickled her cheek. Blond hair peeked out of the hood of his cape, falling to the edge of his black mask. Blue eyes twinkled through the holes. Between their sparkle and the glisten of the magically falling snowflakes of the mask, she found herself unable to look away.

As she gazed at him, he guided her through glides, turns, and twirls. He held her close throughout the dance until her entire body tingled, as if she had been rolling around in a fresh bed of winter snow.

The music ended, and Kiernan kissed her hand. “Thank you for the dance.”

She realized she should have relayed Wish’s update to him, but a selfish part of her didn’t want to ruin the magic of their dance. And she couldn’t bear to see the hurt return to Kiernan’s eyes over the worry of his mother’s rejection.

The bonfire still blazed high into the night. Meghan watched the wings of the dancing Fae. Each pair bobbed or fluttered in beat to the music, filling the air with rippling rainbows of color.

A pair of tangerine-colored wings caught her eye. Avery was well-disguised in his leaf-covered mask and costume, but nothing could hide his distinctive orange wings. She watched him, in a serious discussion with a wingless costumed man, who curiously, also wore a leaf-covered mask.

The man’s mask differed from Avery’s in that it covered his entire face. Green oak leaves formed the base of the mask, and the lichen eyebrows and beard made it seem life-like. Long streams of lichen hung from the top of the mask, hiding any hair. The man wore a simple green tunic, also adorned with green oak leaves, moss, and lichen. If she hadn’t been at a masquerade, she would’ve thought he had stepped out of nature itself.

Meghan was too far away to hear the conversation, but Avery’s face looked grim. His usual smile had settled into a straight solemn line. She began to approach to find out what was wrong.

But as she took the next step, a line of Fae danced by, pulling her into their ever-moving spiral. She became lost in the crowd, propelled forward by the serpentine dancers. She wasn’t able to weave her way out from amongst the dancers until the song ended. The oak-masked man was gone, and Avery was nowhere to be seen. As the harp began playing another slow melody, she spotted him.

“Avery!” She threw her arms around him. He held her, swaying to the music.

“You made it here safely.” His voice was calm, matter-of-fact. Odd for Avery.

“Who—”

His finger pressed against her lips, stopping the flow of her questions.

“Shh, I just want to enjoy this dance before it ends.” Avery pulled her tight and lowered his head, so his forehead rested against hers.

His curls sprang every which way, tickling and caressing her cheeks. They danced wordlessly. As the last notes of the song were played, tears filled her eyes. She blinked them away, not sure why they had even formed.

Avery stepped back and held her hands. “It is almost time for you to leave England.”

She had been avoiding this discussion. Her heart broke to think of leaving all this behind. She blinked back more tears and nodded, not trusting her words.

“Meg, no matter what happens, I want you to know that this is as it should be, as the forces of nature want it to be.”

“What’s going to happen?” She watched his serious face and noticed what was not there: the grin, the twinkling eyes, the dimple that formed whenever he smiled.

He brushed his lips against her forehead and then retreated into the brush, calling back to her, “I am off to find Selena. It is time.”

She turned and found Kiernan next to her. The normal glare and petty comments which usually occurred after her interactions with Avery were missing.

“It’s time,” she stated, leading him to the narrow path that wound its way to the village.

The glow of the bonfire dimmed as they traveled down the path. Neither of them talked, but as the light faded, he reached for her hand.

As they rounded a bend, the oak-leaf masked man stepped out, blocking the path. She squeezed Kiernan’s hand. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest, overtaking the beat of the music behind them.

The leaves on his mask were fused seamlessly and seemed to move in rhythm with his facial muscles. She wondered if his outfit was another form of magic, like the dancing snowflakes and fluttering butterflies of their own costumes.

He leaned close to her, the lichen strands that formed his beard appearing to vibrate. “Remember, there can be no shadows without Light.”

“Um, okay.” Meghan reached into her pocket and rubbed her amulet. She felt safe. She did not know what to make of the strange man, but she could sense he was not a threat.

The man turned to Kiernan. “Someone selected the wrong costume for you. Winter is not yet your season.”

Kiernan looked baffled. “Wrong season? What do you mean?”

The man was gone. She had not noticed him leaving, and from Kiernan’s puzzled expression, she didn’t think he saw him retreat, either.

“Who was that?” she whispered.

He shrugged. “He probably drank too much of the elderberry wine. Come on, let’s catch up to Avery.”

Nearing the end of the path, they saw the stone cottages of the village looming in front of them. Kiernan grasped her hand as they stepped onto the cobblestone street. She closed her eyes, willing a warm welcome. He must be welcomed home.

~ 20 ~

Keirnan looked around, appearing to examine the details of each cottage. “I cannot believe I once lived here. I remember nothing.”