Over the next week, I practiced my magic and waited to find out if Corine and Drusia could convince Alverdine to meet with me. Progress with my magic was painfully slow. I could call on my magic without assistance, but I could do little more than sprout a seed. When Lorella came by my rooms to tell me Alverdine would see me, I jumped at the chance to leave my rooms and take a break from the tedious practice of magic.
We took one of the glass boats across the lake to the forest beyond. The walk to Alverdine’s cottage was not far. Afternoon light danced through branches, breaking onto the forest floor in patches of space between leaves. The trees were heavy with green leaves, and I wondered how long it would be till winter, till the leaves dropped and Casper was set free. I focused intensely on the path ahead, forcing myself to not think about Casper or the tear in my heart. I must have been on edge, because the sound of a twig snapping behind me made me jump. I whirled around, but only saw the path and the trees. After some time, the sisters stopped in front of a boulder off to the side of the path. It was a huge piece of stone, big as a small house and flecked with bits of moss.
“Here we are,” Corine said, appraising the large stone.
“Your great-aunt lives in a rock?” I asked, feeling that was a stretch even for the fay.
“Our great-great-great-aunt,” Drusia corrected me. “And of course she doesn’t live in a rock. Don’t be so foolish!”
“Drusia!” Corine snapped. Drusia pouted but didn’t say more. Instead, she approached the boulder, hands out as though not sure where the stone lay. As she got closer, her hands passed right through the stone. I gasped, but Drusia kept feeling around. After a moment, she seemed to grasp something inside the stone. She pounded her hand against that internal wall before she turned back and smiled at us. “I found the door,” she declared.
When nothing happened, I wondered if this was some fay prank. I was about to question Drusia when a creaking came from within the boulder. Materializing from inside the stone, a large door swung outward, gray stone on the outside and polished wood on the inside. My mouth dropped open as warm light poured from the interior of the boulder, which I saw was a room of a house. An old fay woman stepped out of the doorway.
“Who comes to my door?” the woman asked as she hobbled toward us. Her movements were slow and shaky, her gaunt frame bent with age.
“Auntie!” Drusia cried, and fluttered over to the woman, wrapping her in an embrace so tight that I feared for the frail woman.
“Drusia, love, what a pleasure to see you. And you, Corine,” the woman said, disengaging herself from the green faerie. She did not seem in the least bothered by the crushing hug, rather she stood taller. “And you have brought me company,” she added, noticing Lorella and myself.
“Alverdine, it has been too long,” Lorella said as she took the woman’s hand. “Your charms are clearly as strong as ever.”
“You flatter me,” Alverdine said, but she laughed lightly. Her laugh reminded me of the current of a river.
“We’ve brought you a princess, Auntie,” Drusia cut in, pulling Alverdine’s attention away from Lorella. “The newly established heir of the Forest Court.”
Alverdine appraised me, and her studied gaze made me feel oddly exposed. “So you are Soren’s daughter.” I nodded. “You look like him, but with something human about you. You have much of Eva in your look, too.”
My chest tightened. “You knew my mother?” I asked, my voice little more than a whisper.
Alverdine gave me a warm smile, one that made her face appear years younger. “Yes, I knew your mother. Your parents came to me for a glamour to keep your father safe in the human realm after they were expelled from the Forest Court. And I met her again each time she was with child,” Alverdine added, giving me a meaningful look. “Did my magic hold in the human realm?”
A memory came to me. Right before my little brother Jacobie was born, my parents left us for several months and we were in the care of our grandfather, my mother’s father. We were told that my parents were visiting distant relatives, though they offered little information as to whom those relatives were. When they returned, my baby brother was with them. Being only nine at the time, I never thought much of it. But now, I understood that my parents must have come here.
With a jolt, I realized I must have also been born here.
“Your charms were strong in the human realm,” I confirmed. “They are still strong,” I added, thinking of my brothers.
“They should be. It was strong magic. I am surprised you were able to remove your glamour without my aid.”
“Elrik forced her to take sitano. It burned it off,” Drusia said before being shushed by her sister.
“No!” Alverdine said, horror written on her face as she came closer to examine mine. “That rash fool, he could have killed you.”
“I know.” I forced my voice to remain calm, though there was heat behind my words.
“I could have taken off that glamour. I have ways that don’t involve such drastic damage.” Alverdine focused on my moonstone cane, and I could feel her pity.
Sharp resentment bubbled up in me. I knew Elrik well enough to understand that not seeking out Alverdine was likely intentional on his part. He preferred me crippled if it meant I needed his protection. I gripped the handle of my moonstone cane tighter, my knuckles turning white.
“Well, come in, come in. I expect you wish to know about your parents.” Alverdine took my free hand, carefully leading me into her home.
As I stepped inside, everything shifted. The area I was standing in was much larger than the boulder should have allowed. It was a vast chamber that felt more akin to a laboratory. Large windows were carved into the stone walls, shining light on the row upon row of shelves that lined the walls. Each shelf was piled high with bottles of every shape and color. There were tall, slim glass bottles in jewel tones, and there were short, fat bottles made from shells, some bottles of clear glass with strange liquids that shimmered and moved on their own. Bottles made of cut crystals sparkled in the light.
“Incredible,” I breathed, taking in the room and its trove of treasures. “How did you—” I started to ask Alverdine, but surprise wiped away the rest of my question. Alverdine was no longer an old woman with deep lines; the faerie now had the smooth, eternal look that I saw in Marasina and the older court fay, though her skin glowed an icy blue. Her hair, no longer shot with gray, was a deep cobalt, and seemed to float around her. Her eyes, still kind, but without any clouding, stared at me. The corner of her mouth twitched in a smile, and I heard Drusia giggle.
“Do I look different to you, Princess? Be wary of believing your first sight in Magnomel. Your mother learned that quickly, and I’ll reckon it saved her life more than once before she and the prince found their way out of the woods. Magia Illustraia is perhaps the simplest magic to see through if you know what to do. Other magics can be trickier to unravel.” She began rummaging through various bottles and potions.
“Your parents came to me over the years for three boys and two girls. Now, are you Rilla or Elenora?” Her tone was casual, conversational, but hearing my sister’s name stopped me midstep and squeezed the air from my lungs.
“Elenora,” I said, my voice flat.
“How fares your sister?”
I shook my head. The pain of losing Rilla, of losing my parents, was always ready to pierce my heart, no matter how many years passed. I could swear I smelled smoke, but it was only in my mind. The fires of the war were never far enough away. “My parents and Rilla died in the Southern War.”
Alverdine frowned and I heard Lorella gasp. I turned away from them, from all the faeries, and pretended to study some bottles. I didn’t want to see their looks of pity.
“Do you know what your parents paid for your father’s glamour? For your glamour?”
The question was so unexpected I turned to Alverdine. “I hadn’t thought about it,” I admitted. “My father was a prince, the heir, so I guess he was wealthy.” I paused, remembering the fay did not use coins, but that the nobles possessed most of the magic. “Wealthy in magic, I mean. Did he offer you a token with life magic?”
Alverdine chuckled. “Now what would an old faerie like me want with some silly life magic?” The reaction to Alverdine’s comment was almost comical. Lorella looked horrified and the maids giggled.
“To grow some plants?” I offered feebly.
Alverdine laughed again, but the sound was warm, like a grandmother. “No child, my garden does plenty fine on its own. What I care about are memories of true emotion. Those keep my magic warm on cold nights and ensure that my gifts are bestowed to those most worthy.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I will show you what your parents paid,” Alverdine said, her back to me as she picked through more bottles. I looked over at Lorella, who shrugged, clearly at as much of a loss as I was. I studied the shelves of bottles and potions. The light shifted, and I thought I caught movement out the window, but saw nothing but the forest beyond.
“Ah, here!” she said, triumphantly brandishing two small, dusty purple bottles. There was parchment attached to each bottle, but the labels were too yellowed and old to read. Stepping closer to her, I noticed that the glass wasn’t colored, as I initially thought, but rather there was something deep violet inside, like a liquid, that moved and swirled on its own.
“What is that?”
“Watch.” Alverdine took the first bottle, deftly pulling out the cork stopper. The violet contents inside began to float, rising out of the bottle and into the air, where it dispersed into a cloud of amethyst smoke that smelled faintly of baking bread. At first, all I saw was the cloud, but soon particles within the cloud began to take shape. The cloud formed shapes, strange, undulating, and moving objects that looked like cotton candy. The shapes slowly became solid, particles coming together till small figures stood in the cloud.
My breath caught in my throat. The figures had transformed into my parents. It was clearly them, as though I were seeing them through violet-stained glass. My mother grinned as my father wrapped her in a loving embrace. With a start, I realized my father’s ears were pointed, his teeth too sharp when he smiled. He was the faerie from the portrait hall.
“Promise to love me forever,” smoke Soren said. Hearing my long-dead father’s voice, crystal-clear in Alverdine’s home, sent shivers down my spine, a stab of longing in my gut.
“Ever and always.” My mother’s voice was warm and sweet.
“And how do I know you won’t change your mind when you find someone more charming?”
“You don’t,” smoke Eva told him, but she was smiling broadly as my father pulled her close to him.
Trapped in his embrace, Soren tickled Eva, causing her to laugh and yelp, pleading for him to stop between fits of laughter as she squirmed in his arms. Eventually, they fell to the ground, both laughing so hard tears streamed down their cheeks.
They sat for a long time, panting to catch their breath, snuggling close to each other. Eventually, Eva turned to Soren. “Tell me a story.”
“What would be a worthy story for the most beautiful maiden in the world?” Soren responded, nipping her ear playfully as he contemplated what tale to tell her. She shrieked, but still rewarded him with a kiss.
“How about the story of how we met?”
“Eva, my love, I think you already know that story. You were there.”
“Yes, but you tell it so beautifully. I think you shall have to tell it to our children someday.” My mother beamed at my father as he acquiesced to her request.
“Once upon a time, there was a maiden who lived in a faraway village. She was the most beautiful maiden in the entire village and had a voice like a nightingale. She would go deep into the forest to forage for nuts and berries. All the while she would be singing her beautiful song.”
My heart seemed to stop in my chest as I watched my father tell my mother the same story he had told me countless times when I was a child. The story of the beautiful maiden and the faerie prince who fell in love with her. It was the same story I had told Pel when he was transforming straw into gold for me in the tower.
Memory Soren finished telling Eva about the prince’s plans to marry the beautiful maiden. Eva wrapped her arms around him, pulling him in for a kiss. They were still kissing as the purple mist started to dissolve, the image of my parents becoming insubstantial smoke that floated in the air for a heartbeat before funneling back into the glass bottle from which it was held.
All too soon, nothing was left of my parents. I stared at the shelves on Alverdine’s walls, blinking hard. No one said anything for a long time.
“What was that?” I finally asked when I could control my voice.
“The memory your parents shared with me to buy your father’s glamour charm. It was a strong one. Only the strongest memory of their love would have worked.” Alverdine busied herself corking the bottle, but her voice was gentle. “They loved you very much.”
I raised an eyebrow. “And how would you know?” My voice was sharper than I intended. “Sorry,” I immediately added, not wanting to offend the powerful faerie. Especially after she had just given me a gift, albeit a painful one.
“This is how I know,” Alverdine said, pulling the stopper off the second purple bottle. Again, the liquid inside flowed out and formed the smoke that became the image of my father. Soren appeared fully human, no fay traits that I could detect. He paced back and forth, a nervous energy pulling him along. At the sound of a door opening, he jerked his attention forward. Instead of seeing an image of my mother, I saw the spectral image of Alverdine. She smiled at my father, though her face gleamed with sweat and she looked tired.
“How is she?” Soren asked.
“She is well. Your wife is strong for a mortal. She did wonderfully, same as the last two times.”
Soren grinned, but only for a moment before worry again clouded his face. “And the child?”
As if on cue, a loud, baby cry sounded. “Also healthy. A girl. Come in, Prince, come meet your second daughter.”
My heart stilled as the image swirled around, dissolving before reforming into a new room. My mother lay in a bed. She looked exhausted, her damp hair plastered against her face, but she smiled down at a small bundle in her arms, cooing at a screaming baby. That’s me, I thought distantly.
“Eva!” Soren cried, rushing into the room. He ran over, embracing Eva, and stared down at the babe in her arms.
“Meet your daughter, Soren,” Eva said, her voice weak with fatigue, but she beamed at him as she held up the bundle to him.
Reverently, Soren took the bundle, treating the child within, treating me, as though it was the most precious thing he could have ever asked for. “She is beautiful,” he said, mesmerized by the child. “Welcome to the world, Elenora Astira Molnár.” He leaned in, kissing the baby, the movement making the blanket slip off the baby’s head. I saw a tiny face and slightly pointed ears. Translucent wings poked out from the baby’s back before Soren rewrapped the child, murmuring to her the whole time. The baby stopped crying, delighted with the attention from her father.
“Oh little Elenora, I promise I will do everything to take care of you. You are so loved.” And he kissed the baby’s forehead once again before that image also dissolved into smoke.
I fought the urge to call out to them, to beg the images of my parents to stay as they melted into smoky shadows that were swept back into the bottle. An aching feeling washed over me, that I lost them again, that I was again an orphan. I dug my nails deeply into my palms.
“The memory my parents shared to buy my glamour?” I guessed, once Alverdine corked the bottle.
“Indeed. As you saw, I was there, so it wasn’t truly a fair trade, but their love was so pure, I allowed it.”
I took the faerie’s hands in mine. Her long fingers were dry and warm, and they wrapped around my calloused hands. I forced myself to meet her eyes, her violet irises the same color as the purple smoke.
“Thank you.”
“It was your right to see that.”
I didn’t know what to say, afraid I might start crying if I thought too hard about what I had just witnessed. I focused on the lines of the stone in the floor, forcing myself to calm my breathing.
“Let’s give her some time,” I heard Lorella whisper, before gently shooing out the others. “We’ll be right outside when you’re ready,” she said to me. I nodded.
Alverdine pulled up two wooden stools, placing one next to me and seating herself on the other. I sank down on the stool, still staring at the floor. In my mind, I wasn’t seeing cracked stone, but my family, alive and whole and together.
“I’m sorry, my dear.”
“For what?”
“For causing such pain.”
I looked up, meeting her eyes, which seemed filled with despair. “I’m reminded that I’ll never see them again. My parents and Rilla are dead. I have lost so much of my family. I don’t even know if I’ll ever be able to get back to my brothers,” I confessed, expressing the fear I had not confided to anyone. “And if I managed to make it back to them, would they even recognize me? I don’t recognize myself.” I examined my fingers, not as long as most fay, but longer than before. They glowed slightly, my sun-browned skin now a burnished copper. “I’m supposed to take care of them.”
“Give me your hand.”
Numbly, I extended my hand, my thoughts still wrapped around my family. But I was immediately pulled back when I felt a sharp pain in my finger.
“By Chace’s den, what did you do?” I snapped, yanking my hand back. A small bead of blood welled up on my finger. I looked over to see Alverdine holding a small pin, the tip covered in golden blood.
“It’s no more than a pin prick dear, don’t overreact,” Alverdine said, as nonchalantly as if she was offering me a cup of tea. “Now look at it.”
“At my finger?”
“Yes, look,” she insisted.
Deciding to humor her, if only to avoid another prick of her pin, I pulled my finger close, examining the small bubble of blood.
“What do you see?”
“A bloody finger thanks to you.” For a cold moment I wondered if Alverdine could do blood magic, and if this was some trick, but she hadn’t moved any closer to me.
“And what color is that blood?” she finally asked, exasperation creeping into her voice.
“It’s gold,” I admitted, feeling a strange sense of loss. Not red, like it should be, I thought.
“Are you so sure?” Alverdine asked, something mischievous in her voice. And before I could ask her to clarify, she stabbed her own finger with the pin. A drop of blood welled up on her finger, mirroring my own.
Except it wasn’t the same. Her blood was lighter, a gold so pale and luminous it was almost silver. It was the same color I had seen when Pel cut his hand to use his blood to heal me when I first rescued him in the woods. It was the same color of the blood of the fallen fay I had seen in the battle at the cathedral when the fay army attacked Casper’s coronation. Side by side with my own finger, it was apparent that my blood was definitely gold, no longer the deep red of human blood, but it also wasn’t the luminous shade of Alverdine’s blood. Instead, mine was a bright rose gold, far lighter than human blood, but not nearly as close to silver as pure fay blood.
My lips pulled into a small smile.
“For such a clever girl, you can miss what is right in front of your face,” Alverdine scolded. “You have always been half fay, but you have also always been half human. No glamour, no matter how strong, can ever change who your parents were or who your family is.”
“Can you change me back? Even if it’s only a glamour, I’ll take it. Can you make me as I was before?” I pleaded with her, grabbing her hands in desperation. “Please, I’ll give you anything.”
Alverdine held my hands but shook her head. “Alas, I cannot. Such a strong glamour can be used only once on a soul. And the sitano still burns in your bones, does it not?” I nodded, reluctantly. She frowned, but continued, “It will most likely stay in your body your whole life. It would tear apart the type of glamour I used.”
Words deserted me. It was all I could do to nod. Revisiting the loss of my family and discovering that I could not even appear human again filled me with despair.
“But perhaps I can provide you with some small comfort. Give me that drop of your blood and I’ll give you a gift.”
“Why do you want it?” And thinking practically, I added, “What will you do with it?” Despite all she had shown me, my habit was to be wary around strangers, and doubly so if they were fay and asking for blood.
Alverdine laughed, a light sound that made me feel a bit more at ease. “You are a wise child, Elenora Molnár. I give you my word that no harm will come to you or your loved ones for this gift. I simply want to keep it as a memory. A reminder that the humans and faeries are not quite as different as they like to believe.”
I nodded, holding out my pricked finger to Alverdine.
She smiled and pulled out a tiny glass vial, seemingly from out of nowhere. The vessel was smaller than my thumbnail, but she deftly scooped up a single drop of blood into the vial, corking it before it disappeared again somewhere in her robes. “Now child, give me your cane.”
“I need it,” I said, pulling my cane closer to me. Even though I was resting on a stool, I could feel the dull burn in my legs.
The faerie shook her head. “It’s not for me, it’s how I shall give you the gift.” And before I realized what she was doing, she swiped my cane. Despite her age, she was strong. Before I could protest, she was speaking some sort of spell.
“Nascondee con monstra.” Alverdine’s eyes were closed in concentration, her long fingers spread over the moonstone. As the words left her lips, the stone glowed, a brilliant, white light illuminating it from within. For a moment, it became so bright I had to shield my eyes. After several seconds, the glow faded, the stone returning to normal. Alverdine opened her eyes.
“May your journeys help you find your path, in whatever form you wish that to take.” She extended the cane to me. Tentatively, I reached for it, the stone slightly warm when I took it back, but otherwise it seemed unchanged.
“What did you do?”
“I gave you a glamour charm. It is in the stone.”
My gaze fell back to the stone as I took in her words. A glamour, that was what my father had used, and it had worked his whole life when he was in the human realm. I moved my hand over the stone, but Alverdine placed her hand over mine, stopping me. I looked up, confused. “But I thought you said I could not be human again,” I started.
“This charm won’t be as strong as the one I bestowed on your father, or even on you when you were but a babe. But here is a temporary one for you. The moonstone is the token for the charm, so keep it safe.” She gestured to the stone. “If the vessel is damaged, the charm will be broken.”
“I will protect it,” I promised. “How do I use the glamour?”
“Tell the stone your true name. That will activate the glamour.” Alverdine looked serious. “And the next time your true name is spoken, that shall break the glamour.”
“My true name? The fay have true names, but I—”
“You are a faerie with a true name.” Alverdine gave me a sly smile. “Have you not figured it out? The name your father gave you.”
“Oh,” I breathed, putting the pieces together. “Elenora Astira—” Alverdine put her fingers to my lips.
“Yes child, but don’t say it before you are ready for the glamour.”
I clamped my lips shut and nodded, considering the possibilities as I held my cane. I had a great gift, a secret weapon at my disposal. So long as I kept the moonstone safe, I could resume my life as a human, assuming I figured a way out of Magnomel. My heart still ached knowing that Casper had cast me aside, but if I could reunite with my brothers, then at least I would be with family. I stood up straighter and thanked Alverdine.
“Your parents would be so proud,” she said, gently kissing both of my cheeks before I stepped out of her cottage.