Page 27 of The Shadow Path (Shadowlands #2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

T here were ten children hidden in the fae mound—two wolves and eight humans. The wolf pups immediately shifted to their animals forms, running toward the adults, who circled them with wagging tails and excited yips.

Minutes after the shifter children ran away with half the pack, the villagers sitting around the green seemed to wake out of their trance and called for their missing children.

“Alfred?” A woman ran to the mound, hesitating only a second before she ran into the gaping cave. “Alfred!”

“Sara?”

“Is Hilda inside?”

Moments later, the humans of the village had crowded into the open fae mound, lifting children from the cave, most of them rubbing their eyes.

They had dirty faces and blinking eyes, but none of them seemed to be harmed.

Carys watched the commotion from the edge of the green, standing next to Dru, who was sitting on the ground with hollow eyes, watching the humans rescue the children.

Carys crouched down next to him. “Your brother did this.”

“I know.”

Duncan walked over, his eyes shooting daggers at Dru. “Children, Dru. Hundreds of children are still missing.”

He turned dark eyes up to meet Duncan’s glare. “Are you asking me for a favor, Duncan Murray?”

“Fuck your favors and your tricks.” The angry Scotsman pointed his sword at Dru. “Fuck all your magic and machinations. Do the right thing, Diarmuid.”

“The right thing?” Dru dug his fingers into the ground. “It’s quite a thing to think you know what that is, Duncan Murray.”

“You could free all of them. You could?—”

“The children of Briton are sleeping.” Dru looked at Carys. “They might be the safest ones on the island right now. War with my brother means human blood spilled. The earth will drink the life of this island, and more children than just these missing ones will be harmed.”

Something tickled the back of Carys’s mind, but just then Godrik stormed over to them, halting when he came close to the fae prince.

“My people are grateful that the children are safe,” he said carefully.

Dru nodded. “I wish that this had never happened.”

“But it did,” Godrik said. “And you freed them.”

Dru shrugged. “They were not in any danger. The magic they used put those within the wards in stasis. They would have come to no harm. No hunger or thirst would have touched them.”

“But they were away from their families. Their clans.” Godrik nodded. “We are grateful.”

“I am pleased that your children are returned to you,” Dru said.

He might have said he was pleased, but the dark-eyed fae looked anything but happy.

Dru stared at the fae fort, whispering as it slowly receded into the ground.

“Duncan.” Godrik turned to the blacksmith. “Can I speak to you for a moment?”

“Of course.” Duncan cast one more angry look at Dru, then walked away.

Dru watched them. “The wolf wants to know where Duncan obtained his weapon.”

Carys sat next to him and put her hands into the soil, feeling the pulse and life of the earth beneath them. “I’m sure he does.”

Duncan wouldn’t tell him. He’d never endanger Cadell or the dragons that way.

“Can you feel it?” Dru asked, his hands still pressed to the earth.

“I feel something. Nothing like what you and Naida feel, I’m sure. Nothing like Laura.”

“Your friend is a very skilled mage for a mundane human.” Dru’s eyebrows went up. “It’s no wonder your mother chose a place such as the Bay-wood. A place where the earth meets the sea. A place where light and darkness sit next to each other like friends.”

Carys smiled. “I don’t remember telling you where I was from.”

Dru smiled. “I imagine she felt right at home there.”

“You called me Carys Morgan, daughter of two worlds.”

“Did I?” Dru watched the children waking and the crying adults who wrapped them in blankets and tried to feed them.

“I met my mother’s Brightkin when I was in London.”

“Did you go to visit Macha?”

“Is that her name?”

Dru leaned back on the grass. “It’s one of her names.” He looked at the forest behind them. “I feel her. She’s not that far from here, is she? Just on the other side of the shadow.” He looked off into the distance, his eyes cast over the dense forest. “I’d say about three miles as one of her crows would fly.”

“What is she doing there?”

“Reliving her days of glory perhaps?” Dru sat up and brushed his hands. “Reveling in memories of battles she fed from and blood spilled in her name? I should go before thanks turns to blame.”

Carys reached out and grabbed his hand before he walked away.

Dru froze, looking at her hand on his wrist. “Be careful. You may be Epona’s daughter, but I’m the blood of Lir.”

“Diarmuid mac Lir,” Carys said. “That is your name. Your proper name.”

Dru’s easy brown eyes turned sharp. “What will you do with it now that you have it, Carys Morgan?”

“This world is suffering because you chose a path that took you to the Brightlands.”

“I had my reasons.”

“You could be king of the fae.”

Dru’s eyes flashed. “I don’t want to be king of the fae. I only ever wanted Naida, and they will never accept her as my queen.”

“So you just opt out?” Carys shrugged. “See ya? Not my problem anymore?”

He narrowed his eyes. “You say you’re not asking me for a favor, but you are.”

“I’m not asking you to do anything.” She let go of his wrist and rose to her feet. “I’m telling you who you are.”

Dru lifted his chin and looked down his nose. He’d never looked more wild. Or more regal. “And who do you think I am?”

“Oberon,” she whispered. “Wandering prince. Beloved of Aine. Blood of the sea god. You’re the one she wanted to rule, aren’t you?”

“My mother returned to the sea with Lir,” Dru said. “It doesn’t matter what she wanted.”

“Doesn’t it?” She looked at the fae mound. “I don’t think you would have done this, would you?”

“I’d never take a consort who would ask it of me.”

“Was this Cian or Orla?”

“Does it matter?”

Carys cocked her head. “I don’t know. Does it?”

“Elf!”

They turned as Godrik shouted across the green.

“I’m not an elf,” Dru muttered. “Barbarian.”

Godrik and Duncan walked toward them.

“We should talk,” the wolf said. “The human had a surprisingly good idea.”

Duncan frowned. “You don’t have to sound surprised.”

“Come to Dafydd’s house,” Godrik persisted. “And bring your small mate.”

Naida leaned against a bookcase in Dafydd’s study. “To be clear, I am not his mate.”

The ellyllon was wearing her usual uniform of a green tunic and leggings but with a human-style overcoat thrown over it and a hood to hide her ears.

Being a fae in Anglia these days was not popular.

“Aren’t you?” Godrik frowned. “I assumed?—”

“You shouldn’t.” Naida looked annoyed and nervous. “Why are we here? I should be traveling back to Cymru.”

“We appreciate your staying.” Dru sat near the fire, his long legs stretched out toward the flames. “I myself am waiting to hear the reason for it.”

He reached out his hand toward Naida, but she stared at it pointedly, shook her head, and kept her hands firmly in her pockets.

Carys sat across from Dru. Since Dafydd was gone, she was effectively the lady of the manor.

Which was… so weird.

Duncan was helping her out, considering he knew about the running of a great house and she absolutely did not. Shooting arrows from a coracle? She was getting pretty good at that. Telling the house manager how much meat the game warden needed to hunt for the week? Not so much.

“You’re here because I am taking you at your word, elf prince, that our children are safe,” Godrik said.

“You shouldn’t take me at my word,” Dru said. “You should never take a fae at their word.”

“I thought fae can’t lie.” Laura was sitting on the sofa next to Cadell.

“That’s a lie we tell humans, and for some reason they believe us.” Dru shrugged. “You’re very gullible.”

“You are,” Cadell said.

Laura shot him an annoyed look.

“You are ,” Cadell repeated. “Why are the fae here? Naida, if you want to return to Cymru, I will take you.”

Naida nodded at him. “Your honor will never be in question, Lord Dragon.”

“Stop!” Godrik said. “I am trying…” He sighed. “I am trying to be… diplomatic.”

A knock came at the door, which cracked open. Lachlan and Winnie were on the other side. “Godrik, it worked. Partly.”

Carys blinked. “What worked?”

Winnie spoke. “We asked a group of sprites in the Kingswood to open a mound. It took some bribery, but they did it.”

“Excellent.” Dru rose. “Then you’ve found a way to thwart my brother and his wife. I’ll be going now.”

“I said partly,” Winnie jumped in. “They were able to open the new mound that had formed in the Kingswood. The old fae fort near Lud’s Hill is still locked up tight.”

Carys waited for Dru to sit, but she could tell the fae was reluctant to stay.

“Dru.” Naida spoke to him. “If you help, I’ll stay.”

Dru immediately sat and turned to Godrik. “What do you want me to do? Ride around to every warded fae fort in Anglia and open them? There are probably a hundred of them. It will take some time.”

“No,” Winnie said. “King Harold has instructed me and Godrik to lend you our official support in your assumption of fae leadership in Briton.”

The entire library sat in stunned silence until Lachlan spoke. “My father, Robb of Sgain, high chief of the clans of Alba, also lends you the support of the Alban throne.”

Dru’s face was carefully blank.

He doesn’t want it, Cadell said into her mind.

And I didn’t want to eat my vegetables as a kid, but I did it.

Vegetables are horrible.

This is really not the time to discuss vegetables.

“I haven’t spoken to my uncle,” Carys said softly. “But you know that if Harold and Robb are both throwing their support behind you, he probably will too.”

Carys looked at Naida, who was staring at the fire. Her expression could only be described as desolate.

She knows that their relationship has no future , Cadell said into her mind.

That doesn’t mean it hurts any less.

Dru took a long time to speak. When he did, it wasn’t what Carys was expecting.

“Crown Princess Finola has taken a fae consort,” Dru said. “I have no desire to usurp him.”

Godrik immediately responded with a growl.

“There’s no reason the fae leadership should be linked to the éiren throne,” Lachlan said smoothly. “That was something that Queen Orla brought in, and there is no historical precedent for it. By its very nature, the fae having such a close alliance with one throne causes an imbalance in the Queens’ Pact.”

Naida added, “None of the other thrones are so close to the fae in their lands. The ellyllon hold no particular special status in Cymru.”

“The fae in Alba are honored residents with their own leadership,” Lachlan added, “but they have the same status of any regional lord.”

“But in éire,” Godrik said, “the wolves have been driven from the island. The fae hold sway over the human throne. The court belongs to Cian, not to Orla.”

Dru stared at nothing, and Carys couldn’t read his expression.

“Your brother and his wife killed my Shadowkin,” Carys said softly.

Dru finally looked at her.

“They killed Seren,” she said. “Regan may have been the glove, but your brother—Regan’s father—was the hand in that glove. And he killed Seren to keep her from revealing that they were creating a land bridge. They killed her with no thought to what it would do to Cadell. To Lachlan. To the entire country of Cymru.”

Duncan had been silent up until then. He’d been watching all of it from the far corner of the library. “Your brother’s not only a murderous bastard,” he finally said, “he’s a shit king. Every fae creature in Briton is in danger now because of him.”

The blank expression that Dru had been wearing cracked just a little bit.

“You don’t have to do this for yourself,” Carys said. “It’s not about your own ambition, Dru. This is about the safety of every brownie, every sprite, and every wild fae in Briton.” She looked at Naida. “Naida is the most peaceful fae I know. She shouldn’t have to hide who she is or run from London because your brother wants more power.”

“This is not about me,” Naida protested. “Do not make this about?—”

“Fine.” Dru’s voice wasn’t rough or emotional. It was smooth, seductive, and commanding as hell. “You want me to take the fae throne?”

He stood, and his presence filled the room. The fire leaped in the grate, the shadows grew deeper, and his voice took on an echoing quality that shot fear directly into Carys’s heart.

“I will take the fae crown.” Dru turned to Naida, then looked at Carys. “But remember that you asked for this blood. Not me.”

The massive fae mound was back in Dafydd’s courtyard—only this time it was nearly as big as the mansion itself.

It didn’t look like a fae mound anymore. It looked like a fortress.

Dragons were dispatched to Alba and Cymru to share the news that Diarmuid mac Lir had returned to the Shadowlands and was claiming his crown.

A pall had settled over Southern Anglia, and the Great Serpent hadn’t been seen in days. The river fae were silent, and the sky was unseasonably cloudy.

Apple trees that had been setting fruit had begun to wither as wild fae and tree sprites fled deeper into the old woods. Flowers fell on the ground and were trampled by the hooves of horses as Harold called every able-bodied soldier from his vassal lords.

Carys sat on a stone bench in the muddy courtyard in front of Dafydd’s house, staring at the bustling activity of the remaining Cymric soldiers as rain began to fall on the ever-rising green mound.

There was a muddy ring around Dru’s fortress where wolves were circling. Every now and then, a cloaked fae or a small group of them would emerge from the woods or the lane, pause at the sight of the wolves before they walked to the fort, reached a hand out, and melted into the earth.

They were tall and short but mostly tall. Slim as willows and furtive as foxes. The fae came at all hours and were often accompanied by animals. Rabbits and dogs were common. Owls were often perched on top of the fort. Ferrets and weasels scampered about, and one small, round fae even came with a bear that trotted behind her, his breath huffing steam in the cool morning air.

“Quite the parade.”

Carys turned and saw Naida watching Dru’s fort in the dying light of the afternoon. The breeze was filled with flower petals from a bright pink hawthorn that had sprung up overnight on the top of the hill. Every time the wind moved, pink petals drifted in the air.

“I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Naida sat beside her. “You’ve never spent time in the court of Temris, the halls of the aes sídhe.”

Carys had done her homework after her first trip to the Shadowlands. Aes sídhe was the éiren name for the high fae—the “mound people”—also known as the race descended from the Tuatha Dé Danann and the old gods of éire.

They were the dominant fae of Briton after they had conquered the legendary Fomorians. They were the most powerful practitioners of magic and the supernatural race that controlled the gates to the Brightlands.

And their capital, not so coincidentally, was in Temris, the same place the éiren kings and queens ruled.

It was these fae—not the ellyllon like Naida or the wild sprites or the humble but powerful brownies—who decided what human souls lived as Shadowkin and which ones became nothing more than magical wisps that congregated by the gates.

These were the fae who had insinuated themselves into the human power structure.

These were the fae Dru had been born to rule.

Carys glanced at Naida. “Have you seen the city of Temris?”

“Once.” Naida blinked. “That was how I met Dru. I had traveled to éire with my mother. We were meeting with court healers.” She frowned. “Something like what you’d see as a conference or convention in the Brightlands. Just a gathering of fae and unicorn healers traveling through the gates to share knowledge.” She smiled. “It was nice.”

“And it was fancy?”

Naida laughed. “It was more than fancy. I had been brought up in the valleys. My people aren’t from the north like yours. My mother was born in the southern valleys of Cymru, maybe the most gentle and beautiful place in the Shadowlands.” She smiled. “I could be biased.”

Carys couldn’t stop her smile. “Just a little bit.”

“It’s a beautiful place, but it’s simple. Very small community of ellyllon and humans. Lots of wild fae. The woods and valleys are thick with sprites and gnomes and all sorts of water spirits. The trees are old, and even the smallest willow tree has a fae spirit attached to it.”

“It sounds beautiful.”

“It is. And peaceful. Going to Temris was like another world. I thought, ‘This is what it must look like to see the sun’ because the magic of the city makes everything glow.”

“It sounds stunning.”

“Yes, it’s wondrous.” She shook her head. “Underground cities and gardens lit by magic. Libraries that are illuminated by sacred fire. Halls so vast you couldn’t see the end of them from the door you walked into. And power.” She shuddered. “So much power it was like the scent of lilac in spring. Power infused everything.”

“And that’s where you met Dru?”

“All this glowing architecture” —Naida smiled— “and right in the middle of all this light, there was this dark, brooding, sulky fae prince who looked like he’d been sucking on a turnip.”

Carys had such a clear mental picture she nearly laughed out loud. “Did you tell him that?”

“I don’t remember what I told him, but I had no idea who he was, and I simply thought he was spoiling the mood. I said something silly to try to get him to cheer up and then something rude when he scowled at me.”

“And he fell in love.”

“I fell in love,” Naida whispered. “And he fell in lust. Or maybe love. I don’t know. But eventually someone told me who he was, and thank the gods, I went home the next day.”

“Did he follow you?”

Naida looked at Carys from the side of her eye. “He pursued me all the way home, and when I told him that our lives were too different, he dug a mound in the middle of the valleys and sulked for nearly ten years.”

Carys blinked. “Ten years?”

“I was weak,” Naida muttered. “I never should have given in so quickly. As soon as I did, my life was turned upside down. Cian caused trouble for my mother. The farmers in the valley had problems with their crops, and the animals became sick.” She shook her head. “It was petty, but I understood. Dru and I are not meant to be together.”

“Says who?”

“The nobles of the aes sídhe. The rulers of his people.” She nodded at Dru’s fort. “The ones who will follow him to claim his throne from Cian would never accept me as queen, and that is why I am here and not in there.”

“Does he want you in there?”

“Yes.” Naida smiled a little bit. “But I know where I belong, Carys Morgan. And it’s not on a throne.”