Page 37 of A Dance with the Fae (Mistress of Magic #1)
The walls of Mistress of Magic were no longer enough to protect Faye from Finn Beatha.
Faye wondered if they ever had been; after all, Finn had walked into the shop, the first time she had met him. But she remembered how he had stood at the threshold, how he had asked to be invited in.
Faye could keep Finn away if she tried hard enough; she had to believe that she could.
There was no way that she wanted to be spirited back to Murias at the whim of a decadent faerie king who wanted to use her as a sex slave.
Finn could spin her stories about how important she was to the faerie realms, how she was some kind of saviour, the subject of a prophecy.
But she would never willingly go there again.
What she had seen at the faerie ball had shaken her to the core.
The human bodies in cages – left there to starve to death, kept as entertainment for the faerie ball that never stopped.
Grandmother had told her about the legendary faerie reels: the never-ending dancing, as if it acted like some kind of gyre or engine, powering the whole realm.
Faye would not be a part of anything that enslaved humans and murdered them in the name of entertainment.
So, to protect herself, she returned to Grandmother’s grimoire, just as Grainne had advised her when she sought guidance from the ancient crystal ball.
So far, Faye had enchanted mirrors to turn away faerie enchantments, and drawn banishing sigils on their backs.
Grateful for the pile of hagstones that she and Annie continually brought back from the beach, she strung them into companion charms for the one that Grandmother had hung by the door and hung them around the house – remembering that, somehow, the charm had not been hanging by the door on the day that Finn had walked in.
Was that how he had been able to get to her?
she wondered. Had he somehow been able to influence the charm being taken down, to allow him entry?
She had smudged the house with smoking bundles of rosemary and rue for protection, and spritzed the corners and the doors liberally with blessing oils. But was it enough?
It had been a week since Faye had returned from Murias; since she had dragged herself back down the faerie road, feeling the weight of the human world pull her down and down, until, when she found herself on Black Sands Beach – naked and shivering – she had barely been able to move.
She had been grateful that it had been the middle of the night when she had reappeared, and had managed to drag herself home, unseen.
She had taken a hot shower and wrapped herself in as many blankets as she could find, but couldn’t stop the violent shivering.
It was hours later when she had finally slipped into a fitful sleep.
Since she had been back, Faye had felt the same flu-like symptoms as before: now, she knew that it was the hangover from being in Murias, and the increasingly toxic effect of the human world on her body. It was worse, this time. She had barely been able to work, telling Annie and Aisha she had flu.
She had heard from Aisha that Rav was away on business. She knew that if she saw Rav, it would endanger him. But she wanted to see him, nonetheless. She had texted, aware that she had literally disappeared in front of him when Finn had taken her. But there had been no response.
Faye looked up as some villagers passed by the shop on their way to church. A thick shaft of sunlight sliced through the window and across the dresser where she stacked tarot and oracle cards. Yet, she was still cold.
The protections that she had in place seemed to be keeping Finn from taking her, but he still appeared in her dreams.
Unlike before, where the faerie king had seduced her in her dreams, now, he tortured her.
Every night was the same. Faye would close her eyes when she could not fight sleep any more, and enter a dark room where she lay chained to a black table.
She was naked. Finn Beatha stood over her, smirking, holding a whip with an ornate shell handle and long strips of something like seaweed trailing from it.
But when he struck her breasts with it, and her stomach, and her abdomen, before trailing it wetly up her thighs, watching her squirm in fear and discomfort, she realised that it couldn’t be seaweed, because it cut her skin, hard.
Did you think you could escape your destiny , Finn said, every night, as she flinched and bit her lip, swallowing the cries that she wanted to scream out loud. Did you think that I would just let you go, sidhe-leth? You are mine, forever.
Yet, Faye refused to answer, refused to give him any sign that he was breaking her will, that he was hurting her, though she woke up with the lines of pain still smarting on her skin.
She needed something more. She couldn’t go much longer being tortured every night by Finn Beatha, and while she might be safe from him inside the shop, she hadn’t yet tried going outside.
What if Finn could magic her away to Murias if she left her safely protected home – even without the ring that he had given her?
She had found the strength to cast it away from herself on the ballroom floor, but there was no guarantee that Finn wasn’t able to transport her to the faerie realm, anyway.
Finn had told her – unwillingly – that Levantiana had taught Moddie the faerie magic of Murias, because Moddie had made a bargain with her.
But it was only possible for Moddie to learn the magics after she died and not before.
It was forbidden to teach the magics to a living human, even if she was a witch.
If Faye could somehow learn the faerie magic, then surely she would be able to use it to protect herself from Finn Beatha?
Coughing, Faye picked up Grandmother’s grimoire again and flicked to a section she remembered about the faerie queens.
For the knowledge of and conversation with High Queens of Faerie , Grandmother had written, and to learn their magicks .
Yes. This is it , Faye thought, her heart starting to thrum. If I can summon Levantiana and persuade her to teach me her magic, that might make me powerful enough to resist Finn.
She started to read.
First, remember that making a bargain with the fae is perilous , Grandmother wrote. Be sure that your aims cannot be achieved in any other way. Once you strike a bargain with a faerie – especially a faerie king or queen – they will have a hold on you forever.
It was dangerous, but Faye was desperate. There had to be some way that she could move on with her life and regain control. She was hardly sleeping; scared to leave the house. She couldn’t go on like this.
First, create the environment for the queen of your chosen element , the grimoire began. To summon Her from her home element, you must create a ritual space of high vibration. Ideally, conduct the summoning as close to the right element as possible.
There was a note in parentheses which Faye had to bring close to her eyes to read:
High Queen of Murias = tideline
High Queen of Falias = sacred forest
High Queen of Gorias = mountain or storm
High Queen of Finias = ritual fire
Cast a circle. Summon in only the right element for the faerie queen in question.
Dance or pace out the circle clockwise and then pace into the centre of the circle as if in a spiral.
When at the centre of the circle, call out their full name three times.
In Murias, She is called Levantiana, Mistress of the Cup.
In Falias, it is Moronoe, Mistress of the Stone.
In Gorias, it is Tyronoe, Mistress of the Knife.
And in Finias, it is Thetis, Mistress of the Staff.
Your calling of the queen should be urgent and passionate, from the heart.
Repeat this process, walking the spiral in and out and calling the names, three times.
When you have called their name three times, entreat them to be with you as follows:
Beloved of the Fae, Queen of your Element, Mistress of Magic,
I seek communion with you; I seek knowledge of you and your realm,
Bestow your magic upon me, I am fain to know your secrets,
I am open; fill me with your blessings.
(Name) I call on you.
(Name) I beseech you, enter the space I have prepared for you.
(Name) I would love you with my mind, my heart and my body.
(Name) I summon you from your kingdom.
I offer something of mine that I can give freely;
this is the bargain.
This is the promise between faerie and human that I make willingly.
So mote it be.
The promise between faerie and human that I make willingly , Faye mused, looking up from the book.
Faye’s own magic might be enough for now to keep Finn away, but she couldn’t be sure that it would protect her forever.
Here was a way for Faye to at least talk to Levantiana; she could appeal to her better instincts, beg her to teach Faye the faerie magic, if necessary.
At Black Sands Beach, the moon was on its final waning quarter, and the night was dark.
If Faye hadn’t known the beach so well, she might well have fallen on a rock or a stray branch; as it was, she was careful, and took off her shoes and socks when she was on the sand, placing them on a nearby ledge.
She hadn’t brought the grimoire with her, but had copied out the invocation on a piece of paper and had it in her pocket.
It was still cold on the beach at night, though it was early summer, so she wore flowered leggings under her red-and-white polka-dot dress, with a green cardigan over the top; a mash-up of styles chosen mostly for warmth.
Faye wore a heavy shapeless grey and black coat over the top, like a cloak.
She took a deep breath, nervous about what she was about to do.
Grandmother had hidden this summoning magic for a reason; Faye knew that if Levantiana was anything like Finn, she would be powerful but unpredictable, and vengeful if she perceived she was being wronged.
But she needed to be able to protect herself.
She knew Finn had meant it when he threatened her, and when he threatened Rav.
Faye began the ritual.
First, she traced a circle at the line of the tide, wide enough to contain her with her arms spread out and with ample room on either side.
With her finger, she dug the shallow trench of the circle half in and half out of the sea; the water filled the gap on the sea side of the circle and smoothed it over with the tide as soon as she had done it.
She didn’t mind; a circle of half sea, half land was right for summoning a fae creature of the water to the land.
Faye was meeting her halfway, in a space that belonged to neither of them, an in-between place, a place where magic could be made.
Clouds spread across the black sky, covering the stars until everything above Faye stretched into a blank unity of night. She swallowed nervously, then called out to the sea.
‘Powers of the sea, of the ocean, of water, be with me! Fill my circle with your power!’ She opened her arms as if to accept the power of water, and felt its energy crashing into her prepared space as forcefully as if she had been standing next to a waterfall.
She started to pace the circle clockwise, as Grandmother had instructed; then, making a spiral, she circled in a smaller and smaller circumference, feeling the energy in the circle compress as she reached the centre.
‘Levantiana, Mistress of the Cup!’ Faye shouted at the top of her voice, imbue her voice with as much feeling as she could. She imagined Levantiana as she had seen her at the faerie ball, with roses in her golden hair, and her dress of silver and lilac.
Faye paced an unwinding spiral to the edge of the circle, and felt the energy loosen.
She paced to the centre again and felt it contract, like a wave breaking and building.
She called out to Levantiana again, feeling the energy rising in her and in the circle.
The tide crashed on her feet and ankles as she stood in its shallows; slowly, it advanced into the circle.
This was a much greater magic than she had done before, and Faye could feel its toll on her, especially as her energy was still so low.
The spiralling energy threatened to engulf her, growing in depth with every contraction; she fought with herself to stay in control.
Faye flicked on a mini torch and read the invocation from Grandmother’s grimoire aloud.
Beloved of the Fae, Queen of your Element, Mistress of Magic,
I seek communion with you; I seek knowledge of you and your realm,
Bestow your magic upon me, I am fain to know your secrets,
I am open; fill me with your blessings.
Levantiana, Mistress of the Cup, I call on you!
The tide was coming in, but faster than it usually would; rather than half of the circle being submerged, now three-quarters of it had been erased by the water.
Faye steadied herself, breathing deeply and refusing the rising panic that wanted her to give up, to lose her focus.
She pushed up the bottoms of her leggings and continued the call:
Levantiana, Mistress of the Cup, I beseech you, enter the space I have prepared for you.
Levantiana, Mistress of the Cup, I would love you with my mind, my heart and my body.
Levantiana, Mistress of the Cup, I summon you from your kingdom.
I offer something of mine that I can give freely;
this is the bargain.
This is the promise between faerie and human that I make willingly.
So mote it be!
The tide was much higher now; a cold wave broke and soaked Faye to her thighs, flowing over the last of the circle she had traced in the sand.
She still felt the energy of it there, but there was a shift; the power was no longer balanced between earth and water.
The tide threw her off balance and she fell forward in the freezing salt water.
Gasping, she pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, the taste of salt in her mouth like blood . Grandmother, you should have told me , she thought. You should have taught me. If you had, I would be stronger now.
Levantiana stood before her in the water, a tall silver crown on her head, dressed in black robes that merged seamlessly with the waves.
‘I am here as you request, Faye Morgan. Be assured that I do not take this summoning lightly,’ she intoned, and her voice was like fracturing icebergs.