Page 38 of A Dance with the Fae (Mistress of Magic #1)

Faye felt Levantiana’s voice rather than heard it; despite its harsh quality, it was hypnotic like Finn’s and drew her into a trance almost immediately.

‘Why do you summon me?’ Levantiana faced her across the waves which surged around them both. Faye stood up; she was up to her waist now in the water, and she struggled to stay upright, digging her toes ferociously into the wet sand under her.

‘I…I…wish to make a bargain.’ Faye’s teeth were chattering; she was wet through.

‘I see. And what do you offer as your end of this bargain, sidhe-leth ?’ Levantiana cast a cynical eye over Faye’s soaked coat.

‘You hold no appeal to me as a sex slave. My brother is the one you should have summoned. He pines for you, although I have no idea why.’ She raised an imperious eyebrow.

‘In fact, I should bring him here, and the two of you can continue your tryst.’ She raised her hand, as if to snap her fingers.

‘Please. No,’ Faye cried out. ‘Don’t. I can’t go back to him.’

‘You will find that you have little choice in the matter,’ Levantiana replied, but she lowered her hand. ‘Still. One of your kind has not summoned me for many years, and I find I enjoy being back on your land for a brief moment.’

‘Was it my grandmother, E-E-Evelyn Morgan? Who last summoned you?’ Faye tried to stop shivering, but it was impossible.

‘Yes,’ Levantiana answered crisply. Faye noticed that her silver crown featured a crescent moon which curled upwards on her brow like horns.

The rest of the points were made of crystal rather than silver, which reflected milky moonlight as the clouds parted and the waning crescent of the moon appeared in the sky above.

‘Why did my grandmother summon you?’ Faye asked, trying to control the cold that was freezing her from the feet upwards.

‘She wished the same as you. To learn our magics,’ Levantiana replied crisply. ‘She was denied. She had nothing to offer that I wanted.’

‘How did you know that was what I wanted?’ Faye blurted.

Levantiana laughed. ‘It is all you humans ever want. Unfortunately for you, it is not permitted for me to teach our magics to a living human. Congratulations on your power in summoning me here. But that is where this ends.’ The faerie queen turned her back and began walking away, her dress merging with the water.

‘Wait!’ Faye shouted. ‘Levantiana of Murias, Mistress of the Cup, I command you to wait!’

Levantiana stopped and turned slowly. ‘You have no business commanding me to do anything, sidhe-leth . Just because my dear brother is enamoured with you does not mean I am, or that I will do anything for you,’ she spat.

‘I have something you want. I am willing to make the bargain,’ Faye shouted over the waves, holding out her arms to steady herself, teeth knocking together so hard now that her head ached. A shadowy temptation to lie down in the water and never get up crept into her bones.

‘You have nothing I want,’ the queen sneered. ‘I have my choice of human lovers, Faye. You are not one of them.’

‘I am Lyr’s daughter!’ Faye shouted with the last scraps of her strength.

Levantiana stared at her for a long moment, then laughed.

‘I know that. Is that your great secret? We all know it. I know Lyr of Falias’s ways.

That is not a bargaining tool, my dear.’ She laughed loudly, and turned away from Faye.

‘If I see you again, sidhe-leth , it will be when you are naked and jewelled like a whore, on my brother’s leash.

That is where your kind belong,’ she called out.

‘If your parentage is all you have for an exchange, then you have nothing of interest to me.’ Levantiana’s voice was receding, and the waves were dropping.

Faye felt herself slump, and pulled herself up as straight as she could. No. She had to fight.

‘You are at war with Falias. If you teach me your magic, I can be a weapon against Lyr; I have no love for him. I have never known him!’ she cried out, remembering Moddie’s throwaway phrase, all those years ago: Almost killed me .

Her father had clearly tried to hurt Moddie, perhaps in anger at being expected to stay and look after her and Faye.

She had never known for sure but, ever since that night, the idea of her father as a violent man – a selfish and impatient one, like Finn – had stayed with her.

Faye called on all the strength she had; she reached for the anger she had always kept inside her, a private anger at being left by her father.

And she reset her numb feet in the shifting, freezing sand, and pulled up all the energy she could from the earth below her and from the stars above.

It was enough to steady her, but only a little.

Levantiana was so strong, so powerful. She was the tide: relentless, cold, violent.

‘I know that you made a bargain with Moddie, my mother. She gave you something – information, perhaps, that helped you in your war – in return for staying in Murias after death and learning your magic. I know that you taught her. She was Lyr’s lover.

Surely, as Lyr’s child, you can make a bargain with me? ’ she added.

‘Be a weapon how?’ Levantiana’s expression shifted; she was still imperious, but curiosity flickered in her eyes.

Faye coughed as a wave hit her chest and splashed hard into her face, filling her nose and mouth with salt water again. Beware the faeries , Grandmother’s voice echoed in her mind. They are beautiful, but consorting with them is dangerous.

‘Finn told me about the prophecy. That I would rule the Crystal Castle of the Moon,’ Faye said, gasping for breath. ‘I would need to know your magic to do that. And if I do rule the castle, I would have the power to kill Lyr. Or overpower Falias. Or do anything that you want me to do.’

‘Hmph. Why would I care? Why wouldn’t I take on the rule of the Crystal Castle myself and do the things you suggest?’ Levantiana sneered, but Faye could sense something behind her words.

Levantiana was lying. And Faye realised that she knew why.

None of the kings or queens of the elemental kingdoms were able to rule the Crystal Castle of the Moon. It was written in the grimoire.

But was Grandmother right? If she was, then whether Faye believed in the prophecy or not, what she was offering Levantiana could be enough of an appealing bargain to get what she wanted: protection for her and Rav.

The last thing Faye saw was Levantiana, tall and black as the waves themselves, advancing through the waves towards her.

She closed her eyes as strong arms pulled her up out of the water, and let the dark take her.

Too late, Grandmother , she thought before she passed out from the cold. Much too late.