What under the gods had I agreed to? Father forced me to swear allegiance to Charles, knowing full well his daughter, my half sister, was determined to bring Queen Aine to Cascade.
Fionna was a difficult soul, but she was nothing if not resolute. Her chances to succeed were good, but Aine’s appearance might not go exactly as Fionna planned.
Fionna was certain her mother would put her back on the throne, but if Aine forced Finvarra to submit, she would want the throne for herself.
Even worse, if the rumors of her madness were true, Aine would set out to imprison or murder every child and grandchild Finvarra had produced through one of his consorts. Aine had already killed his consorts. Why not destroy the rest of their line?
Of the four Cascade council members, three were the children of Finvarra’s murdered lovers. Lady Dinestri, Lord Argon and Lady Jorrenn. If Aine returned as powerful as she once was, she might decide to take revenge on all of us, even my sister Korwyn, who’d never had any interest in politics.
Fionna would urge Aine to wrench power away from Finvarra, which she was once capable of doing, and send Charles to Naberia to prevent the war. It wouldn’t prevent the war at all, but it would be another way to wreak revenge on Finvarra, his grandfather. And me, Charles’ father.
Fionna might stand up for me, but never for Charles, which placed me in an impossible situation.
This was Father’s plan all along. The whole reason he’d allowed me to live. Somehow he knew if he took away everything I’d learn to accept and despise my sins, to mourn and move forward for the sake of my child, a precious miracle.
I shuddered at the memory of my capture, almost twenty human years past. Some nights I would dream of the biting, burning cold of the chains. The aching depression that overcame me after only minutes in restraint. The hate-filled gaze Jacqueline struck me with on that night was worse than any weapon.
I shivered and had to sit on the edge of a hidden low stone wall to calm my mind. I’d deserved every moment. Even the torture Isaiah had inflicted. Jacqueline’s suffering was my burden. My shame.
But when Fionna rescued me, the obvious evidence of Jacqueline’s pregnancy was the worst blow of all. It gave me hope, made me long for more. But hope crushed and pounded to sand was a death one doesn’t recover from easily.
Yet against all reason, hope that I might gain the respect of my son one day clung to my battered spirit like a burr. It stuck to me with plans and schemes to make it happen, then burrowed deeper to remind me of the odds. If I took the job as Jacqueline’s assistant. If I became a valued worker. If I managed to speak to Charles at every opportunity. To gain his trust. Then one day I could…
I huffed out a breath. Useless thoughts. Foolish dreams. Forcing my body to rise, I walked to the office. There was work to do.
I mused over my current situation. Would I still protect Charles without the blood spell Father had administered? I wanted to say yes, absolutely, without hesitation. A father would naturally react that way if his son were in danger. But I hadn’t been Charles’ true father. I’d donated sperm in the most violent of ways, disregarding Jacqueline’s lack of consent for the sake of creating an heir. Afterward, I’d blackmailed my way into my son’s life so I could spend bits of time with him, but he’d never warmed to me.
Sliding into the chair behind my desk, I booted up the computer. There were class schedules to work out and applicants to sort through. I would finish my work and spend each evening with Korwyn until Charles or Jacqueline returned. I had no choice but to continue on my path as I always had, to decide on my actions as opportunities presented themselves.
One of our students ran into the office, her face flushed with excitement. “The queen has arrived!”
“We have no queen.”
“The former queen.”
“Which one?” But she was already gone. Had she meant Fionna or Aine?
I raced to the field where we held our festivals only to find it crowded with fae. Four stood on the central platform. Father, looking stern and unhappy, Fionna, once more shining with power. Lord Caelen knelt at his mother’s feet, his face tipped up to meet her gaze. Queen Aine, a female as beautiful and compelling as any who’d come after, smiled at her son. Except for Father’s rather sick expression it would have made a fine portrait of the most powerful family in the three realms.
Caelen introduced his mate, Lady Silvus, his son, Aedus, and his son’s mate, Philladre. Finally, their child, Linn, stepped up to kneel before her great-grandmother.
“You have a lovely family, son. Who is your mother, Philladre?”
“Lady Dinestri, my queen.”
“I see.”
Aine surveyed the crowd and I stepped back into the shadows, searching the area for Korwyn and my niece. We could not under any circumstances allow Aine to see us.
The three remaining council members of Cascade were not as circumspect. They bowed and knelt, and when they rose, Aine spoke.
“You three and Caelen’s son Aedus are the council of four who rule in this sidhe?”
Lady Dinestri stepped forward. “Yes, your grace.”
Aine nodded. “Where are your mates and children? Will they not show me the courtesy of attending?”
“My daughters are in the human realm,” Argon answered. He didn’t know Brina was cavorting with Charles and Isaiah in the Demon Realm.
“As are my children.” Lady Jorrenn’s voice wavered slightly. Farrell and Kellaine had purchased homes in Crescent City. I glanced up at the platform once more. Liam’s human mother was not in attendance. I wondered if Caelen would try to keep Lady Erin and Liam a secret. It was well known that Aine hated humans.
“I insist they return. They have until sunset.” She glanced at the sky. “Two hours. I will meet with every one of my mate’s extended brood.” Nothing in Aine’s smile spoke of acceptance or forgiveness. She turned to the king who’d stood silently watching up until now. “There was one other.”
“Dead.”
“And the children?”
Fionna stepped forward. “Disappeared, my queen.”
She was protecting me. I didn’t think Fionna carried an ounce of loyalty in her veins, yet she was protecting me. Korwyn and my niece as well. I glanced around but no one stepped forward to tell the queen that Korwyn yet lived.
“So this is everyone?” Aine asked.
Fin’s eyes met mine despite the fact I was hidden from view. “Yes,” he told Aine. To me he sent, “Leave as quickly as you can. Take Korwyn, Shannon and her family.”
“Only one place…”
“Remember your pledge to protect. Go to Jacqueline in Crescent City. Guard the Cuvier clan and any of my grandchildren who abide there with your life. Do you understand? You are not protected from my anger even in the Mortal Realm.”
“I understand.”
“You and I shall speak now.” Aine hooked her arm in Finvarra’s, not having heard our conversation.
Father nodded and they disappeared.
I raced to the small home Korwyn had created in a picturesque glen where the trees changed color with the seasons at her whim. She only knew me as Winter, a male who had befriended her. A neighbor she shared quiet meals with. My niece, Shannon, also lived nearby.
Thank the gods Korwyn was there and not in the ceremonial field. “We must leave Faerie.”
“What?”
“Queen Aine has returned and she’s calling back all the descendants of Finvarra and his consorts. I fear the queen will kill or imprison each of them. Pack a few things and send out a call to Shannon to do the same and meet us here.”
“But Shannon and I should present ourselves.”
“Fionna told Aine our family has disappeared.”
“Our family? What do you mean our family? You and I are not related.”
“You must do as I say.”
“But what has this to do with you?”
There was no way to make this easy. “Haven’t you wondered about what happened to your brother?”
“Of course. I think of him daily.”
“Look at me, sister.”
“Si… Sister?”
I made the long explanation quick and to the point.
“You say all this time you’ve masqueraded as Winter?”
“And will continue to do so. If I am discovered to be Kennet in the human realm, they will most certainly kill me. Fionna took the name Autumn after her transformation, but the queen has returned Fionna to her true self.”
“How can I believe any of this?”
I spouted a few facts only I would know, but she still didn’t believe me. I dug through more memories. “When you were small, I called you Winnie. You fell in the lake and I pulled you out, but you were angry with me because you hoped the magic of the lake would turn you into a kelpie.”
At last Korwyn smiled. She touched my face. My hands. She squeezed them hard. “Kennet. Oh gods. I thought you were dead.”
It had been so long since anyone touched me gently. Maybe since childhood. “I should be dead. I deserve to be dead.”
“I have never felt that way. Who else knows?”
“Fin and Fionna. Maybe Aine, now. That’s all.”
Her eyes widened. “But you work with…”
“Yes. With Jacqueline.”
She smiled. “You were always clever.” Her smiled turned down. “You don’t mean to hurt Jacqueline, do you?”
“I find I want her happy more than I want her for myself. Odd, but the transformation has changed more than my appearance. I worked in the fields. Saw buds sprout from the soil where I’d planted the seeds. Ate the food I’d urged to grow with long days of hard work. Lord Rey did not want us wasting our magic on things we could accomplish with our own efforts. It gave me time to think outside my own desires.”
“I can’t imagine the great Lord Kennet working to grow crops like a demi fey.”
“Lord Kennet no longer exists.” I raked thick fingers through my short locks. “Contact Shannon and pack only what you can carry. We are going to Crescent City tonight. You must never call me Kennet again, do you understand?”
“I’m used to calling you Winter, so it will not be a problem. But you wish us to travel to the Human Realm? How is this possible?”
“There is a way. I’ll return after the assembly and we will leave immediately.”
“Where are you going?”
“I need information with which to barter.”
Despite Queen Aine’s threats, none of the children ordered to return appeared on time to show their loyalty. Watching the faces of the council members it was clear they had not called them back. They were safer out of the clutches of the mad queen. I would have done the same.
Queen Aine sent Lady Jorrenn and Lord Argon, and their mates to the Faerie Court, to be held until their children arrived to kneel before their queen. Philladre and Ashlyn, Lady Dinestri’s children, kneeled but were still being held, although in nicer quarters. After prostrating herself before the queen, Linn was spared completely. She wept in the arms of her father, Lord Aedus, as Lady Philladre was led away.
After two hours of talking to servants and hiding in shadows during key conversations, I was able to gather enough information to become a valuable asset to Charles and Jacqueline. They would not send us away.