Page 25 of A Kiss from the Fae (Mistress of Magic #2)

‘The four elemental kingdoms are as old as time itself. At the creation of the world, we were given our own kingdoms, our territories, our creatures to govern. As the long ages passed, ice covered the world, then water, then earth rose. This world began as fire, as liquid metal and rock in a furnace as hot as the sun. Over time, the elemental realms settled into a harmonious agreement. We needed each other to flourish: the forests need rivers and sunlight and oxygen to grow, after all. For many ages, the natural world was at peace.’

Lyr rose and went to one of the cabinets against the wall. He picked something up and weighed it thoughtfully in his hands before returning to sit opposite Faye.

‘At the centre of the four faerie kingdoms sits the Crystal Castle of the Moon.’ He held out the piece of opaque pink-white crystal he was holding to her.

‘Take it. This is from there. You will feel the magic of the place by holding it.’ Faye took it, and took in a deep breath as its strange and familiar power flowed through her palms and into her heart.

‘The Crystal Castle sits apart from the elemental kingdoms, but is their heart. It is the home of Morgana Le Fae, Mistress of Magic. She cannot exist without us, but we cannot exist without her. She is the centre of all our power, but she is also the beacon that shines between the worlds. She connects the human world and our world together.’

‘Yes.’ Faye nodded and turned the crystal over in her hands.

‘In the human world, Morgana is the moon. Her power is night power. Human imagination and magic are governed by her. She is the mistress of your realm of dreams, and humans can journey to us, to her castle, even, and learn magic because of this connection.

‘But as the years passed, humans became less and less connected to our realms. They have poisoned and polluted the natural world and hurt us. They have stopped honouring us and strengthening us by melding their bodies and souls with ours. Thus, the faerie kingdoms have lost power, and our harmony has been disrupted.’

Lyr held his hand out for the crystal, but she was reluctant to give it back.

‘I know about the war. I’ve seen it. I know that Murias and Gorias want to maintain the balance with the human world, and your kingdom and the fire kingdom wish to overturn the balance altogether and enslave humans forever.’

‘Is that what he told you? Finn Beatha?’ Lyr demanded. ‘That is not the truth! I would never want to enslave humans. They are dear to me. And, more to the point, that is totally unnecessary. We are more than capable of enticing humans into the fae realms as and when we want them.’

‘What is the truth, then?’ Faye frowned. ‘How do you expect me to believe you?’

‘The truth is that Finn Beatha wishes to take the Crystal Castle for himself and rule it, thereby controlling all of the fae realms.’ Lyr stood up and began pacing the room.

‘Not just that. As I told you, the Crystal Castle controls the human imagination. Dreams are made there. Ideas. Creations. If he controls that, he controls all humans.’

‘He could enter anyone’s dreams. Implant ideas in people’s minds. Cause absolute chaos,’ Faye said slowly, beginning to realise what Lyr was saying.

‘Exactly. Gorias supports him for their own reasons; I presume he has made a bargain with the king and queen of air.’ Lyr turned to her.

Faye wondered what that bargain was. Presumably, Finn had offered some kind of power share, like he had to her. She had no doubt that it was a lie, however.

‘So you see why it will be very difficult for me to…intercede on your behalf with Finn Beatha,’ Lyr continued.

‘But you can do it?’ Faye demanded. ‘My friend is dying there. I need to help her.’

‘First, you must tell me the promises you have made to them, and I will tell you what I require,’ he said, picking up a yellow fruit that could have been a pear from the bowl on the table and taking a bite. The juice rolled down his chin into his beard, and he wiped it away.

‘I owe favours to the faerie queen Levantiana,’ Faye said.

‘She helped me escape Murias and bring my human lover back with me when Finn had kidnapped him in jealousy, and she agreed to teach me the faerie magic of the water realm. I promised her…’ She stopped, expecting the horrible choking sensation; dread filled her. ‘I can’t tell you.’

‘What did you promise, daughter?’ Lyr finished the fruit, stalk and seeds included. ‘I can assure you that a promise made to Levantiana is a very serious matter indeed.’

It was the terrible, jagged secret that had sat inside her heart like a grenade all these months. Faye was terrified of it, lest her admission caused her to choke to death. Yet, she longed to be free of its weight, the worry that choked her. Tears filled her eyes.

‘You don’t understand. I can’t tell you. She’s…cursed me or something. If I try and tell you, it’s like I’m drowning.’

Lyr grimaced, and he sat forward, staring at Faye.

‘If she has cursed you, I can remove it.’ He leaned forward and drew a number of shapes under her chin and grunted.

As soon as he did so, Faye had the strangest sensation: as if she’d been wearing a tightly collared shirt all this time, and it had been unbuttoned.

‘Hmm. That should do it.’ He sat back slightly, though he kept his eyes on her face steadily. ‘Now. Tell me.’

‘You’ve…I can tell you? I’m not sure.’ She traced a finger anxiously inside the neckline of her dress.

‘It’s gone. Trust me,’ he said. ‘You should have told me this; I could have loosed the curse before now. Now, speak.’

‘A baby. My…future child,’ Faye stammered, expecting her throat to close, for the hands to reappear around her neck.

But nothing happened, and when she heard herself say it out loud, it sounded surreal.

Faye laughed to hide her anxiety. ‘I mean, I said yes. I had to. But she can’t possibly make it happen…

make me…pregnant. I mean, maybe if I was in Murias, but even then… what would she want with a baby?’

Lyr slammed his goblet down on the low table, jumped to his feet and turned his back on her. He exhaled slowly as if he was trying to control his voice.

‘You offered her your child? For a human lover?’ His voice was low.

‘Yes. But I don’t have one. I might never even have a baby. But if I did, I’d fight her. I wouldn’t let her take it.’ Faye appealed. Her heart was pounding and her face was flushed.

Lyr strode over to her and slapped her face. Faye reeled with the impact, and shock brought tears to her eyes. Like the pinches and tears she made in her own skin, the slap was also a relief.

‘Stupid girl! You made a bargain with the High Queen of Murias and offered her my blood! It is my blood she wants! If she has even a drop of it, she can destroy me, just as Moronoe could destroy Finn or Levantiana with a little of the blood that runs in their veins. Your child will have my blood, just as you do. It matters not what happens to the child after she gets what she wants.’

Faye held her cheek, furious that he had struck her.

‘If she wanted your blood, why didn’t she just take it from me?’ Faye shot back. ‘Surely that would be easier.’

She watched Lyr warily as he paced in front of her.

‘No. You are protected. Your mother made sure of that.’ Lyr shook his shaggy head.

‘She traded her life so that she might learn the faerie magic of Murias in death and lay an aura of protection around you. She foresaw what would happen; that Finn would seduce you; that you would go to Murias. That was why she was taken from you so early.’

‘Because…of me?’ Faye was thunderstruck.

‘She knew that a half-fae child – my child, with a Morgan witch for a mother – would be a very desired asset in the other realms. She knew that she had to protect you.’ Lyr sighed.

‘Perhaps it was my fault. Not since Grainne Morgan did a fae king fall in love with a Morgan woman. I knew that if we had a child, she would be a power like the worlds had not seen for many an aeon. And yet, I pursued your mother. My love clouded my judgement.’

‘You loved her? The fae don’t love.’ Faye shook her head. ‘How can you say that you loved her? You left her alone. Disappeared. You broke her heart.’

‘I loved her, whether you understand it or not. And now, it is entirely likely that you will be with child one day, and when that day comes, they will destroy me,’ Lyr fumed, and punched the wall as he walked past it.

Faye jumped. Just like in Murias, the beauty of Falias had distracted her, and she was reminded that she should always be on her guard in the faerie realms.

‘What will Levantiana do with the baby?’ Faye asked, askance. It was a theoretical, future child, but terror stabbed at her heart.

‘I do not care about the fate of the child that does not yet exist. I care about my own self-preservation, and the preservation of my realm!’ Lyr shouted, pacing the lodge.

He came back to the table, poured another goblet of wine and drained it, then stared suspiciously at Faye.

‘She made no other bargain with you? Levantiana is a Mistress of Magic. I sense that if you were close to her power, it may have been irresistible for you. Yes…’ He looked deeper into Faye’s eyes.

She wondered about lying for a moment, then knew it would be impossible to lie to Lyr.

‘She did offer you something else. You bargained for more than your rescue. What was it? Speak, child!’

Faye looked at her feet, distressed. She wanted to go home and forget all of this. In that moment, she thought of Rav. She’d been wrong to judge him for wanting to forget. For wanting a normal life.

‘I didn’t know you. You were…a distant concept. A father I had never known,’ she protested.

‘What did she offer you, and what did you agree to give her?’ Lyr insisted, and Faye gulped. He seemed to have grown larger and towered over her in the lodge.

‘She said I could help them. To be a weapon against you when the time came in the war. It wouldn’t hurt me. I agreed to that.’

Lyr swore under his breath and kicked the table over. ‘And what did she give you in return?’ he growled. ‘The life of some other worthless human lover?’

Not worthless. The man I love , Faye thought.

The same protective urge that had taken her back into Murias to rescue Rav reawakened and made her angry.

How dare this faerie king lecture her, when he’d done precisely nothing to help her know any better about surviving in the faerie realms?

She’d been desperate there – under threats she’d little way of countering.

Lyr could have known her when she was a child.

He could have taught her the power that she sought now, belatedly – the power that was her birthright.

‘She taught me the magic of Murias.’ Faye met Lyr’s stare and refused to drop it.

‘I refused to be Finn Beatha’s whore. I wanted to go back and forth in the faerie realm as I wished, so she gave me some of her wisdom.

And, yes. I promised what she wanted. I would do it again to save the man I love, and save myself.

’ She heard her voice grow louder like his.

‘I don’t owe you anything, Lyr of Falias.

I don’t expect you to be a father to me now; it’s too late.

But you owe me the respect you should give one of your family, at the very least.’

She turned to go, but he gripped her arm.

‘Stay,’ he commanded, but she pulled her arm free.

‘You can’t command me,’ she spat, and strode out of the lodge and into the village.