Page 28 of A Dance with the Fae (Mistress of Magic #1)

‘Extinct?’ Faye echoed him, in shock.

‘Destroyed,’ Finn said, expressionless.

‘But…you can’t do that. There are billions of humans on the planet. Nuclear weapons. Technology. Chemical weapons. You can’t just…exterminate everyone,’ she protested. The very idea was ridiculous.

‘If I wanted to, dear Faye, I could wipe out every single human with a snap of my fingers,’ Finn said, placing his finger under her chin and tilting her head up to meet his eyes, which gleamed.

‘I command the seas and the oceans. If I will it, tidal waves of such vast proportions you could not even imagine would rise up and flood the land. No one would be spared.’ He stared down into her wide eyes for a moment, then let go of her chin.

‘And, there would be no foe for humans to perceive or attack. The fae will not come to war on horseback or in tanks. We simply command the elements, and the elements are more deadly than you know.’

‘This can’t be true. I can’t believe…’ she began, trying to take in what he was saying, and failing.

‘Believe it, my sweet one. Any one of my fellow kings or queens could rain down fire and raise volcanoes, kill with tornadoes or break and decimate human populations with earthquakes. Do not doubt our power. Presently, the only thing preventing the realms of earth and air from enacting the utter destruction of the human race are the kingdoms of Murias and Finias. Water and fire.’

‘Why do you…why do you think we should be saved?’ Faye asked, terrified at what Finn had just told her. Humanity was unwittingly poised on a precipice of destruction, and it seemed that there was nothing she or anyone could do, if that was what the fae decided.

And she believed him. This wasn’t just some delusional, made-up fantasy belonging to some guy she’d met and had a one-night stand with. Faye knew now beyond doubt that she was in the faerie realm of Murias, and that Finn was the king.

If that was true, then she had to believe that what he was telling her was, too.

‘Finias and Murias believe that we need to maintain the balance with the human world. That is the old way, and the best way. If we lose humans altogether, we will also die: this is what Falias and Gorias fail to understand. They do not fully appreciate how much the fae realms have always needed humans for stock. Interbreeding. Humans may be a blight on our natural world, but we still need them. Our best bet is to re-educate humans about the balance. And if we cannot do that, enslave humans.’

Finn delivered this in such a matter-of-fact tone that it shocked Faye. ‘Enslave us?’ she repeated.

‘Yes,’ he said, standing up and walking to the window that overlooked the vast waterfall. ‘But not you, dear Faye. You have a different destiny. You need not worry about becoming a slave. Other than for pleasure.’ He gave her that slow, maddening smile.

‘Enslaving the human race is still a horrific idea, even if it doesn’t apply to me.’ She stood up and joined him at the window. ‘What would humans do, as slaves? Slavery is inhuman. Evil.’

‘You have no argument from me. But we are fae. We are not human. We do not operate with your…’ He snapped his fingers, as if he was trying to remember the word. ‘Your morality .’

He said it with such a sneering tone that she felt mortified she had ever kissed him, ever done the things that the fae creatures had watched and found pleasurable.

‘You would take them as lovers, like me?’ Her heart sank at the thought that Finn might have brought other women just like her to his bed. It was easy for him to enchant a human woman. They were weak and pliable, unresisting. Like she had been. Like she was.

She refused to meet his eyes. She wanted to cry. She was just the latest in a long line of women plucked from her world to please a bored king. No, not just a woman. Something else; a new identity that she would have to explore. She was half fae – a mongrel. A bitch. A whore. What am I? Who am I?

‘Sometimes.’ He lifted her chin and kissed her softly; he tasted of the fruit he had eaten: sweet and tart.

‘Sometimes, humans wet-nurse our children. Sometimes, we breed with humans. Sometimes, we take them for amusement, for work, to use their skills to build things we do not have, to enrich our world. We would have many uses for human slaves.’

She sat up, her heart beating wildly. ‘Falias. The realm you are at war with now?’ Faye remembered the name now, and Finn nodded.

‘Yes.’

‘My father is the king of the realm you are at war with?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then why am I here? Some kind of…strategic point-scoring? Leverage?’ She put her hands on her hips, furious. ‘I won’t be a part of it! Whatever it is! It’s crazy! All of it!’

‘Not leverage, no. He knows nothing of you and me.’ Finn stared out at the waterfall. ‘There is a prophecy. About you. Connected to another part of the war between the realms.’

‘Another part of the war? You mean there’s something else you all disagree on?’ Faye snorted in disgust. ‘You think you’re so powerful. So high and mighty. And yet your kingdoms can’t agree about anything, it would seem.’

‘Never doubt the power of the elemental kingdoms, sidhe-leth .’ Finn turned to her and put his hand softly around her neck. It wasn’t a tight grip, but the gleam in his eyes suggested that it could be. ‘Is that understood?’

‘I understand,’ she said, and he released his hand. Again, Faye remembered Grandmother’s grimoire: Keep your wits about you at all times when in the realm of faerie. Tread carefully there.

‘What is the prophecy?’ she asked, narrowing her eyes.

‘I cannot tell you.’

‘You will tell me, or I won’t return here. Ever,’ she threatened. ‘I have free will. You can’t make me stay. I know the rules. I can leave whenever I want.’

‘I can keep you here for as long as I like, Faye.’ Finn raised an eyebrow. ‘You are wrong. I am the King of Murias. Within my kingdom, all obey my will.’

‘That’s not true.’ Faye’s resolve wavered, but she tried not to show it. Faeries lie , she reminded herself. I cannot trust him . ‘What is the prophecy?’ she repeated.

He paced the room. ‘You will not understand,’ he said.

‘Try me.’ Faye folded her arms over her chest.

‘You are insufferable!’ he roared suddenly, and Faye jumped. ‘How dare you question me? I am king here!’

‘I am Faye Morgan, of the Morgan witches, and you will answer my question,’ she replied firmly.

Faye had no idea where her certainty came from, because her mind had been so foggy since she had been in Murias.

But it was as if Grainne and all her ancestors suddenly reached across time and held out a hand to Faye. And in that touch came knowledge.

Faye knew, suddenly – perhaps she had read it in the grimoire, perhaps she had heard Grandmother say it once, or perhaps her ancestors were talking to her – that her heritage as a Morgan gave her power.

And she knew that Finn had to answer a direct question if she asked it using his full name, despite the fact that he had forbidden her to call him by his name at all.

‘Fintanaeon of Murias, I demand that you tell me: what is the prophecy regarding my interaction with the faerie realms?’

There was a silence. Finn glowered at her. She raised an eyebrow and waited.

‘Quite the powerful one, I see. When you are not lusting after my touch,’ he said peevishly. ‘I told you that I forbid you from using my name. Fine. I will tell you of the prophecy. Not that you will understand it.’

‘I still want to hear it,’ she said.

‘The prophecy says that a half-fae witch of the Morgan line will govern the Crystal Castle of the Moon, taking over from Morgana Le Fae, who has governed it since the beginning of time. I believe that is you. You are destined to rule the Crystal Castle of the Moon, which is the centre of all our power. Hence, with you as my consort, we will place Murias at the centre of all things.’

‘What is the Crystal Castle of the Moon?’ Faye asked, thinking, Not if I have anything to do with it.

‘In the middle of the four faerie kingdoms, over the four crystal bridges stands the Crystal Castle of the Moon. That is where She who is the Highest Power resides.’

‘I thought there were four faerie realms. The four elemental kingdoms?’ Faye said.

‘There are four kingdoms. The Crystal Castle is not a kingdom. It is the centre of our realms. Morgana Le Fae herself – Mistress of Magic, the Faerie Queen of the Silver Moon – lives there,’ Finn explained mulishly.

Faye was enjoying the fact that, by using his full name, she had the faerie king temporarily under her power.

‘So, you all think I am…some kind of saviour?’ Faye frowned.

‘Not a saviour. The future,’ Finn said. ‘Not all believe in the prophecy, or have interpreted it in the way that I have. But I have seen you there, Faye. I have seen you wear the crystal crown.’ He looked away. ‘I did not wish to say so much. Not yet.’

‘You’re right. I don’t really understand any of that,’ Faye admitted. ‘But thank you for telling me, nonetheless.’

‘I had no choice.’ He frowned.

‘Why is Moddie here? Her spirit, I mean. I saw her here.’ Faye felt more awake and aware than she had since she had arrived in Murias, and she was determined to find out as much as she could from Finn Beatha.

‘I allowed your mother to come here in spirit,’ he answered flatly.

‘Do you allow many humans to come here after they die?’ she pressed him.

He looked away, avoiding her gaze. ‘No,’ he answered, after a pause.

‘Then why Moddie?’ Faye sought his eyes. He stared at her, and she could see he didn’t want to tell her.

‘A bargain was struck. The details are between my sister, Levantiana, and Modron Morgan. I know not what the bargain was.’

Faye paced around the room. Her head was pounding, but now that the veil of illusion had slipped from her a little, she wanted to use her lucidity while she could.

‘What was the bargain?’ she demanded. ‘She’s my mother. I have a right to know.’