Page 57 of Fae Tithe (The Cursed Courts #1)

Eleanor watched as the person wearing the hat stood to attention as Goliath clomped onto the grounds, and dropped her dusty gardening tools. Eleanor leapt from the still-rolling cart, landing neatly on the balls of her feet, and sprinted towards Rose.

“EL!” Rose yelled, dashing towards her, Biscuit on her heels.

The Changeling barrelled into her adopted aunt, who she was now taller than, and threw her arms around Rose’s sweaty neck.

Eleanor knocked her aunt’s hat askew, and it fell to the dirt, as the two collapsed to their knees.

Eleanor wept onto Rose’s neck, crushing her into a hug, which the woman fiercely returned.

She felt Biscuit press his nose to her ear, and she giggled. Eleanor pulled back from the hug and patted the dog’s shaggy head. Rose’s eyes met Eleanor’s, and her mouth dropped open.

“What happened to you, my darling?” Rose asked through her sniffles. “You look like you have stars in your eyes.”

“The Fae, they… they changed me and—” Eleanor began.

“Elly?” an excited voice called.

“Is that you?” a second asked.

Eleanor whipped her head around to where Max and Zac stood in the doorway of the shed, identically dusty from their afternoon chores of caring for the ponies.

Joy flooded her from head to toe, her limbs shaking with relief as she saw her adopted brothers, happy tears falling freely.

The two boys broke into a sprint towards Eleanor, bowling her over in their exuberance.

“Ouch!” she gasped, the wind nearly knocked from her. “Be careful!”

The bump made her long hair splay over the ground, revealing her ears, which Eleanor had been hiding beneath her waves. Everyone froze, and she could not help but feel a flush of shame at her new appearance.

Rose’s eyes began to silver again at the sight. The Changeling pushed herself back into a sitting position. Max reached to touch the pointed tip of one of Eleanor’s ears, and Zac gripped his fingers into Biscuit’s coat.

“Does this mean you’re a Half-blood, like us?” Max asked, voice quiet, as he tucked his long, blonde curls behind one of his ears.

Eleanor gently brushed the pointed tip of his exposed ear and gave him a weak smile. “Not quite, but close, I think. You were born with yours, and I was changed into this,” she explained, gesturing her hand to her face.

Zac blinked his hazel eyes at the comparison, before tucking his own hair back, exposing his own pointed ears.

“Has your magic come in yet?” Max asked. “Mine just started.”

He released his curls before waving his grimy fingers over the ground. A daisy sprung into existence for a blink, before withering away into desiccation.

“Mine too,” Zac chimed in.

He removed his hand from Biscuit’s coat and tapped one fingernail to the dirt beneath him. The small pebbles lifted a short distance from the ground, hovered in the air for a moment, and then abruptly dropped.

“I think so,” Eleanor said. “There was a green light from my fingers, and now he listens to me.” She gestured over her shoulder with her thumb in the general direction of Goliath and the cart he pulled.

Rose blinked, turning her gaze between the three of them, before focusing on the direction of the Changeling’s gesture. “Faedammit, El, he’s huge! What did your mother bring home now?”

“It was me this time,” she admitted, pushing herself to her booted feet and dusting off her leggings. “Goliath is special. He can run all day without stopping or tiring.”

Eleanor turned to where Lance had stopped the Seelie Stallion. She smiled and rolled her eyes. Lance insisted on lifting Helena out of the cart and her mother bickered she was more than capable.

“That’s not changed, then,” Rose sighed as she pushed herself to her feet. “Always bickering or love birds, there’s no in between.”

“Aunty Len!” Zac shouted, bouncing to his feet in excitement.

“Uncle Lance!” Max followed.

“Wait!” Eleanor hissed through her teeth. “Mum is… Mum is hurt. Something happened to her when she… she got rid of the King.”

“She… what?” Rose’s jaw dropped open.

“I’m sure she will tell you all about it, but for now, we have to be a bit gentle with her. Got it, boys?” Eleanor said firmly.

The Changeling turned her gaze back to her mother and father.

Helena had conceded. Lance lifted her out of the cart and placed her softly onto the ground.

Her mother’s legs shook for a moment, and she gripped onto the Merman’s side for support.

Lance threw his arm around Helena’s shoulders.

He helped her slowly over to the rest of the family.

“Hey boys!” Helena waved at the twins. The pair had grown in their absence, and they were nearly her mother’s height, their half Fae heritage fuelling a growth spurt. Helena did not have to look down anymore to meet their hazel eyes. “I’ve missed you.”

Zac and Max were well-behaved, just like Eleanor had asked, giving her mother a sweet smile in return.

“We missed you too,” Max grinned.

Eleanor watched Rose closely, her stomach churning nervously, as her aunt opened and closed her mouth at the sight of Helena. Biscuit’s whole body wagged as the dog made his way over to the Merman and sat on Lance’s feet, giving a contented huff through his wet nose.

“I know. I look fantastic, don’t I?” Helena chuckled weakly.

“You really do.” Rose giggled.

Eleanor felt a flutter of relief as the two women embraced each other gently. She watched as Helena let a long exhale out into her friend’s red hair, blowing loose strands around with her breath. Rose leant back from their hug and met Lance’s gaze as he hovered protectively behind Helena.

Rose nodded. “Fish Boy.”

“Red.”

Eleanor’s eyes prickled with tears again, just as her cheeks had begun to dry. She watched as Rose cupped the left side of Helena’s face. She ran her slightly grubby thumb under her mother’s Dragon eye. Helena pressed into the touch and laid her scaled hand over Rose’s fingers.

“I think you could do with a glass of wine. There’s a bottle or two left in the cellar from Winter Solstice,” she offered, her lips plucking upwards.

Helena blinked and grinned. “You have no idea how good that sounds, Rose.”

Helena sat contentedly in the sitting room with her family later that first balmy night back home.

The cart had been unpacked, Goliath settled in, and everyone had bathed and eaten.

The children had brought their pillows and blankets onto the rugs that covered the hard terracotta tiles.

The three of them had quickly fallen asleep, with Biscuit wedged in the middle, under the dim lamplight of the cosy room.

Helena loved the little space – it was where the family congregated around the hearth in the cold depths of winter.

They often played card games together and gathered to open gifts on a birthday and for Solstice or Equinox celebrations.

Helena sat at one end of their lumpy sofa.

A snoozing Lance’s head was nestled in her lap.

His long body filled up the rest of the furniture, his knees bent over the opposite end and his bare feet dangling.

He looked very peaceful as he slept. He had been taking part in their conversation, but the feeling of Helena’s fingers running through his long hair had been enough to let his heavy eyelids close.

A light snore occasionally left Lance’s lips as his chest rose and fell in an even pattern.

Rose sat next to Helena in her own squashed armchair.

Each held a crystal glass filled with red wine.

The glasses were the finest thing that Helena owned and, alongside the villa, were the sum of her inheritance from Great Aunt Nora.

The women spoke, heads close, in hushed tones, as their family slept.

We did it. We brought the Circle back together again.

I like the idea of the Circle, Atlas enthused. I also like your sister’s hair, it is like fire.

Sister in everything but blood, Helena agreed. Atlas, you are distracting me from my conversation with Rose.

I was participating in the conversation. Tell her I like her hair.

Helena sighed. “Atlas likes your hair. He says it remind him of fire.” She tapped her claw onto the crystal glass, and a high resonance rang through the small room.

Rose snorted. “I still don’t understand how this all works, but tell him ‘thank you’.”

The first thing Helena had done once the children had settled down was tell Rose everything that happened since they had left Portson for Solas .

Lance had also explained himself and apologised profusely.

That had not prevented Rose had from giving the High Prince a thorough telling off once he had revealed his identity.

“What will you do now?” Rose asked before taking a small sip of the red wine, her feet tucked under her in the chair.

“I don’t know,” Helena admitted. “Take it day by day. Do the next right thing.”

Atlas gave a hum of approval. That is all we can do, until we figure out more of what is happening with Eleanor, you, and me.

“I want it all,” she said firmly. “I want to be with my family. I want us all to be safe. I want to have fun. I want to read and learn more. If I can help El and Atlas…” Helena ran her fingers through Lance’s hair and twirled the silver streak around her forefinger.

He had shaved his beard and now only stubble clung to his jaw.

“I don’t know what to do with El.” She sighed, furrowing her brow.

“I can’t send her back to school, not in Portson anyway. I am worried the Fae might find us.”

“They could, if you sent her back there,” Rose agreed. “But they haven’t found the boys on the island, and we have been hiding out here since the twins were three. They are eleven now, so, at least eight years and no one has found us.”

Helena closed her eyes and let out a long sigh.

Are we safest staying on Majora? We could move to another island on the Clusters.

Eleanor said that the Fae in Tithe Manor knew we lived on an island out here, but not which island.

She pinched the bridge of her nose. I must be realistic.

They could find us if they wanted to, and they will want to —

Because of me, Atlas interrupted. It may not be safe for us and your family to remain in Seelieland. You have the dead King’s intended Queen with you, and you have ripped the main source of power from the Seelie Court.

We may need to leave, Helena agreed. I don’t know where we could go, but I’m sure Lance has mentioned islands in his territory. He would make a place for us, I know it.

You should discuss this with your Siren.

I will. Let’s have everyone settle back in first, give the family time to be together for a while. Give me time to heal a bit more before we make any big changes.

I know you have been suffering with your injuries, and you have been keeping it as quiet as possible, the Dragon said gently. Why?

There’s so much going on, Atlas, Helena explained. I’m trying not to give everyone more to worry about.

Your Siren would want to know about the pain you feel. Your family worry because they love you.

They do, but I would prefer not to add more to their worries right now. So, this is the plan: once everything has settled down a bit, I will talk to Lance. We will discuss our options, see what he thinks. Then, we will talk to the rest of the family.

Helena opened her eyes to Rose studying her closely. “Were you talking to the Dragon?”

“Yes.” She nodded and sipped the last of her glass.

The red wine went down smoothly, settling in her stomach, and relaxing her aching neck and shoulders as she leant back into the sofa cushion.

The long days in the cart had knotted Helena’s muscles, but she did not want to wake Lance for such a minor discomfort.

Especially as she knew he had been working so hard the past week to heal her and get them home.

“Let me top you up,” Rose said.

She placed her own glass on the small, battered side table between the sofa and armchair.

Rose reached for the green bottle, the dark liquid inside half gone, and topped up Helena’s offered cup.

Her black claws chinked as she brought the crystal back to her lips and took another sip, feeling pleasantly light.

“How’s Willow?” Helena asked, wanting to talk about something else. She was tired of the conversation being about everything that had happened to her.

“She’s great. Fantastic, actually,” Rose enthused. Her cheeks were flushed against her pale skin. Her face broke out into a wide smile. “She told me she loved me the other day, and I told her that back. I actually love her more than I ever thought possible. Will… she’s just amazing,” she gushed.

Helena’s face broadened with a grin. The fine lines at the edges of her eyes crinkled.

She knew Willow from around the village.

She was a lovely, warm woman, who worked as an assistant at the faerie apothecary.

Helena was often served by Willow when she went to buy more contraceptive tea.

Helena placed the crystal glass onto the wooden table with a light tap.

She reached for Rose’s slim arm with her scaled fingers and gave it a comforting squeeze, mindful of her claws.

“I am so happy for you, Rose. No one deserves it more.”

Helena sighed, a feeling of utter contentment fluttering down her limbs as she looked down at Lance with a soft smile.