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CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

T he wide green expanse of Saris Plain was marked by no human habitation save for the occasional simple stone farmhouse and a few footpaths that crossed between the ancient barrows and chalk outlines of horses visible from the air.

Far more than those that existed in the Brightlands, the horse outlines on the Saris Plain showed herds of equines, some big and some small, dotting the hills and overgrown forts they flew over.

“The people of this plain once worshipped the horse goddess.” Dru sat on the opposite side of the coracle, and Duncan sat to his left. The three of them were traveling to Yuten Woods to meet with the dark fae there and convince them not to lend Cian any people or magical creatures.

Carys looked up. “The people here don’t worship horses anymore?”

“They never worshipped the horses; they worshipped the goddess.”

“Who often took the form of… a horse?” Duncan asked.

“Yes. It is an old faith with few adherents in the modern world.” Dru’s eyes danced. “But you knew that already.”

He’s talking about your mother’s cult.

I know. Carys responded to the dragon’s voice in her mind. And please don’t call it a cult.

But that’s what it is.

“My mother revered Epona,” Carys told Dru, “before she left for the Brightlands.”

“I would be surprised if she stopped revering the goddess,” Dru said. “She is an easy goddess to serve.”

Duncan snorted. “As opposed to the gods that are difficult to worship?”

“Agronā used to require a sacrifice of newborn babies thrown into her rivers,” Dru said. “Matunos used to take the form of a rabid bear and eat the high druid who led his worship on the summer solstice.” Dru shrugged. “It was considered a great honor for the druid who was eaten.”

Carys was starting to understand how the old gods lost their popularity.

“And Epona?” Duncan said. “What did Epona want?”

“Offerings of burnt grain and chastity,” Dru said.

“Yes, I can see how that might be more popular.” Duncan’s eyebrows went up. “Then again, if chastity was a requirement, I might take my chances with the bear.”

“How much longer to Yuten Woods?” Carys scanned the horizon through the narrow window; she saw nothing around them but distant green hills.

“Another hour maybe.” Dru looked up. “Your dragon flies swiftly.”

Of course I do. I’m a dragon, not a sprite.

“This looks like good farmland.” Duncan looked out the window. “But there are very few villages here.”

“The soil is thin,” Dru said. “More chalk than living soil. That’s why it’s so resistant to magic. And the trade routes are not good. Sheep and wild horses are the only creatures that like this place. If my brother had to choose a battleground, at least he picked one that isn’t in a populated area.”

“Why here?”

Dru opened his mouth, then waited for a long moment to speak. “I do not know. Perhaps the isolation appeals to him.”

Lie. That was totally a lie.

Every part of this quiet war—from the timing right after Harold’s coronation when there were still foreign visitors in London to the missing children and the army of crows dropping messages—was designed to catch attention. What had Naida said?

It’s theater, but it’s theater that would impress every magical creature in Briton.

If all this was theater, who was the audience?

And what was the purpose of this play?

“Cian chose this place for a reason.” Duncan was looking at Dru, and he clearly thought the fae was hiding something as well. “Maybe the dark fae of Yuten know what it is.”

The ground was green and damp on the edge of the Yuten Woods. Cool light trickled through the dense canopy of beech trees, and the single path into the forest was heavily overgrown with ferns, spring grasses, and the occasional bell-shaped flower peeking out through the green.

Blue wisps—clear evidence of the fae gate nearby—danced in the shadow of the forest, luring travelers into the woods and whispering secrets like a laughing voice in a far room.

Carys stood at the edge of that narrow pathway, her mind flashing back to another path through another forest and the same man who had led her then: the fae prince who stood on the edge of the forest, beckoning her to follow him into the darkness.

Cadell waited on a hillside overlooking the dark fae stronghold. Dru had all but forbidden the dragon from entering unless he wanted to start a fight.

Nêrys, I do not like this place.

She looked up at Cadell in the distance, the light shimmering off his iridescent green skin. I know. I don’t like it either, but at least I’m with Dru and Duncan.

And I trust neither of them.

He really could be a judgmental dragon.

You told me the woods are not warded and that I can call you anytime I want.

They are not. If you need me, I will burn the forest down to find you.

Okay. So Cadell was feeling a little overprotective at the moment. She didn’t want to judge, especially right after he’d carried a fae prince across half of Anglia safely. That’s a little extreme. Maybe don’t make that your first course of action, okay?

There is nothing in this forest but dark fae, trolls, and imps. He was sulking. No one will miss them.

Imps? Had she run into imps yet?

If Carys was going by books, imps were a little bit like sprites or pixies, nature spirits with a surprising amount of magic who liked to play pranks and cause mischief.

Hopefully they were an annoyance more than a problem.

If the situation becomes dangerous, Cadell commanded, you will call.

So you can burn down the entire forest?

Call.

Carys made a mental note to make calling for the dragon a last resort. I will call if I am in danger.

Dru glanced at Carys and Duncan, and the corner of his mouth turned up in the hint of a smile. “This feels familiar.”

“I was just thinking the same thing,” Duncan said. His hand fell on the hilt of the borrowed bronze sword. Dru had warned him that bringing iron into Yuten Woods would get them nowhere but into trouble with the dark fae that made the forest their home.

Carys was carrying her bow on her back along with a quiver of arrows at her waist. Dru said I could bring my bow.

Not as effective as fire, Cadell grumbled.

You can always come with us in your human form.

The low growl she heard in her mind was enough to tell Carys exactly what the dragon thought of that suggestion.

Dru held his hand out to Carys. “Last chance to turn back. I cannot bring any other fae with me when I go into the Yuten Woods, so you have only me to defend you.”

Duncan grunted. “I have a sword, Dru.”

Dru’s eyes didn’t leave Carys. “As I said, you have only me to defend you.”

“Fuck off.” Duncan laughed and started walking. “What’s in there? A bunch of willowy goth fairies I could knock over with a stick?” He looked up at the flashing blue lights that started dancing as they entered the woods. “Wisps? This looks like the woods behind my house except the trees are smaller.”

“Exactly.” The fae did not sound happy about it.

As they walked, Carys felt like the wind that had whipped around them as they flew over Saris Plain was still with them. Cold licked at her neck, and her feet were suddenly chilled despite the fact that they were walking swiftly.

“What’s this cold on our feet?” Duncan asked. “It feels like there’s wind blowing from underneath the ground.”

“The trees here are very old.” The dark-haired fae whispered something into the shadows, and the wind at their feet calmed.

“Seems like they like you well enough,” Carys said.

“They don’t like me—they fear me.” His voice was cold. “But if I need to invoke my father’s name, I will.”

“Your father was a sea god,” Carys said, “wasn’t he?”

“His power covered this land long ago.” Dru reached a long arm out and brushed his fingers over the tops of the ferns that lined the forest path. The fronds bent back as he touched them, cowering from his power. “The trees still remember it.”

As Carys walked behind him, she saw the optical illusion again, a pair of horns that seemed to rise from Dru’s head, branched like a stag’s antlers but twisted and curling at the ends.

When he walked into shadow, she saw a flicker, and the moment he passed into the light, they were gone.

She’d only glimpsed the dark fae in Alba, and she knew they looked quite different than the light fae that were the public face of the fae kingdom in Briton. Cadell said the dark fae were far less human than the light, with sharp teeth and wild features.

Antlers were more of a dark fae trait, which made it even more curious that they had appeared over Dru’s head when he claimed his power.

“Do you want to know how I know that your mother worshipped the horse goddess?” Dru kept his voice low as they walked.

“I don’t know. Do I smell like horses?”

“Your blood smells of magic in the same way that Regan’s did.”

“Regan?” The half-fae sorceress had been the one who helped kill Carys’s Shadowkin. She was also the natural child of Orla and Cian.

A thought suddenly occurred to Carys. “Regan was your niece.”

“Hmm. I suppose she did carry a little of my mother’s blood,” Dru said. “Not much, but a little.”

“My father was human, and so was my mother. Why would my blood have magic?”

“A child smells like magic in that way when their birth was a gift of the gods.” Dru glanced over his shoulder. “There is usually a sacrifice involved.”

“A sacrifice? What kind of?—”

“Hush now, daughter of Rhiannon.” He slowed, then came to a stop. “The Yuten fae are here.”

Carys tried to look around Dru to see the dark fae he was speaking to, but the path in front of them was enveloped in shadows.

“Hello, Ogmi,” Dru said quietly. “It’s been… well, not long enough.”

She was expecting to see tall, frightening figures from a horror movie when she peered around Dru’s back, but the only thing that stepped into the sliver of light that crossed the pathway was a short, pale creature the size of a small child with long black hair that fell nearly to the ground and light green eyes that seemed to glow in the shadows.

The small creature widened his thick-lashed gaze and looked up at Dru.

Then Carys nearly fell over when the creature named Ogmi grinned to show off a row of sharp, serrated white teeth.

“Too many of Aine’s sons trespass in our woods.” Ogmi was sitting at the base of an oak tree whose roots were covered in moss. The small fae lounged against the gnarled wood and plucked grubs from the ground, slurping them into his mouth like delicacies.

The creature had led them into a round clearing in the middle of the woods where they sat on tree roots that had grown into a natural circle under the oak canopy. Tree litter, mushrooms, and moss carpeted the forest floor, and a red fox perched behind Ogmi’s shoulder, watching them with clear and clever eyes.

He seemed particularly suspicious of Duncan.

Dru was tall but willowy, and he stretched his legs out, lounging on the ground.

Carys was taller than Ogmi, but far smaller than Duncan, and her smaller stature seemed to set the dark fae creatures that gathered around them at ease.

But Duncan? The massive blacksmith looked like nothing less than a bear perched on a bicycle.

“I would have preferred not to bother you at all,” Dru said, “but you must know what my brother has been doing.”

“Stealing the wolf cubs.” Ogmi cackled. “Provoking the drakes and their precious humans. What of it? Your brother doesn’t bother us.”

These fae were nothing like the dark fae she’d glimpsed in Alba. They were closer to the Kheta Inwe from the Shadowlands back in California, but their obvious malevolence set them apart.

Short, sharp-toothed fae, all around Ogmi’s size, hung from branches and peered through leafy boughs. They were all dark-haired, and most of them shared Ogmi’s milk-white complexion, so pale that blue-purple veins were visible beneath the surface of their skin, which was marked with black and blue sigils that weren’t unlike the ones that marked Dru’s face.

They surrounded Duncan and Carys, often clicking their fangs in agreement or tapping their long claws against rocks when Ogmi was silent and thinking.

Blue wisps danced in the canopy overhead, and though it was the middle of the day, very little light reached the forest floor, blocked out by heavy spiderwebs that shaded the circular glen where Dru and Ogmi conferenced.

The dark fae have surrounded you. Cadell spoke into her mind.

We’re fine for right now.

She glanced at Duncan, whose eyes swept the clearing, back and forth. He angled his body toward Carys, and his hand never left the hilt of his sword.

Duncan is keeping guard while Dru talks to the… head fae.

Carys was distracted when a round-faced creature landed in the tree over her shoulder.

A pert-faced fae with wings that looked like those of a beetle, she tapped her sharpened claws against the carapace that covered her shoulders, staring at Carys and licking her lips.

Nêrys?

Remember how you said that there was nothing in these woods but dark fae and imps?

Have the imps found you? Cadell’s voice was elevated.

No, but these fae are… not human. Not even close.

“That one reminds me of Auld Mags a bit,” Duncan muttered.

Carys looked to the side, and her eyes went wide. “The one that’s staring at me like she’s hungry?” she murmured.

“Eh, not the beetle bits.” Duncan nodded at the beetle fae, whose eyes were darting between Duncan and Carys with interest. “Ma’am. How’re ya gettin’ on this morning?”

She hissed something at a shadow in the trees, then unfolded two wings from her back and fluttered away with a clicking sound that sent shivers down Carys’s spine.

It was instinctual. Elemental. And Carys suddenly realized why beetles had always freaked her out. There was something feral, predatory, and distinctly insectile about the dark fae in Yuten Woods.

Dru and Ogmi were still talking.

“You said Aine’s sons have trespassed.” Dru ate another grub. “Has my brother already been here, Ogmi Intibus?”

“You’re enough.” Ogmi wrinkled his nose. “You’re enough, son of Lir. You come to this place and threaten our trees?”

The dark fae punctuated the accusation with a sharp yip, and the glen came alive with the sound of clicking and clacking, chattering, and snapping teeth.

“Elatha’s son may not bother you now, but what will happen if he takes over this place?” Dru reached for a grub from the ground and tossed it in his mouth as he and Ogmi chatted. Then he looked around the dark forest glen. “Do you think Cian will be happy to let the Yuten Woods remain independent? You know what he’s done to the fae gates in éire.”

More clicking and a few hisses as the dark fae considered what Dru was saying.

“My power is rising.” Dru sat up and pulled his legs in, sitting cross-legged in the middle of the glen. He lifted his face and looked into the trees around him. “I have returned to Briton with allies. The dragons.” He glanced at Carys. “The human kings and queens.” He nodded at Duncan. “Even allies from the Brightlands.”

A low humming that reminded Carys of cicadas started echoing through the trees.

“You may ignore me,” Dru said. “You may even lend your magic to my brother who comes to rule you.”

More hissing and clicking.

“But know that whatever Cian Elathason may say with his mouth, in his heart, his father’s Fomorian blood is strong.”

The clicking and the humming calmed as the dark fae pressed closer to hear Dru’s words.

“I am Diarmuid mac Lir,” he said firmly, “son of the sea and prince of the light fae.” He looked around the dark woods. “ Aine’s son. I have no desire to rule you or change your ways.” He nodded toward Ogmi. “I honor the Yuten folk. I will not dig under your forests or cut down your trees to construct my barrows. This is the Yuten Woods, not the high court of Temris.”

Did the clicking and the snapping sound… happier? Was that possible?

Carys kept her lips shut and listened.

“In two days, my brother will pass by these woods, coming from the sea to fight me on the Saris Plain.”

A hush fell over the forest.

Ogmi narrowed his eyes. “And you want us to leave our wood to fight with you, fae prince?”

“No.”

Dru’s simple word made Ogmi blink and the forest come alive again.

“This battle is not yours,” Dru continued. “This battle is between Cian and me. All I ask of the Yuten folk is that you do not lend your thanes to my brother.”

Ogmi pressed his lips together and began to rock back and forth in the tree roots. The humming and the clicking started again.

“Leave this battle for the light fae,” Dru said. “He will make promises to you, permissions that the Yuten folk have long sought.”

Cackles in the trees and more chittering as the blue wisps raced over their heads.

“But know that whatever Cian gives with one hand, he will take more with the other.” Dru leaned forward. “My friends and I will leave now and let the Yuten folk decide their fate.”

Dru stood, and Carys and Duncan stood with him. Then Dru reached up his long arms and raked his fingers through the tree branches above as he walked back toward the path leading out of the forest.

“But the Yuten folk would do well to remember that just like these trees” —Dru turned once Carys and Duncan were back on the path and out of Ogmi’s clearing— “the son of the sea carries a very, very long memory.”

Thunder crashed overhead, and a sudden rainstorm opened up in the Yuten Woods, drenching the dark fae and their creatures with rain. They scuttled back into the shadows and the tree hollows, hiding from the downpour.

And when the water dripped down Carys’s cheeks and touched her lips, the raindrops tasted like the sea.