When Aiden entered the clearing in his dreams, this time there were three people waiting for him. The boy standing next to Nuala looked a lot like Aiden—the same hair, the same height, a similar shape to his face. Oisin’s eyes were light brown though. Dad’s eyes. Aiden’s heart leapt into his throat.
When Aiden got close, he hesitated, not sure if his brother was the hugging type, but Oisin pulled Aiden into his arms. “Brother.”
There was no echo of connection in his magic. Oisin didn’t have magic at all, and they weren’t related by blood. But Aiden knew they were still family. Their tight embrace threatened to squeeze the air out of his lungs, but Aiden didn’t want to let go.
“I have wanted to meet you ever since Mother told me about you,” Oisin said when they finally parted.
“Did you know for a long time?”
Oisin nodded. “Since I was ten summers old.”
“I didn’t know anything until a few years ago when I found out I was fae. But ever since then, I’ve wanted to find you.” And now he was finally meeting his brother. Well, in a dream anyway, but it might as well be the real world.
“Do you feel strange too? I’ve always felt out of place not having magic. I did not understand what was wrong with me until Mother explained I was human.”
Aiden looked between him and Nuala. “Why did you switch us?”
“There is much I need to share with you,” Nuala said.
The dream walker waved a hand, and three large chairs appeared. “I will give you privacy.” She turned and stepped into the forest.
Aiden didn’t know how all this worked. The dream walker might be able to hear everything they said no matter how far away she was, but he appreciated the gesture.
He and the other two sat, a butterfly winging past them. Sitting in high-backed wooden chairs in the middle of a field was odd, but this was a dream. Aiden looked at his birth mom expectantly.
She took a breath and folded her hands in her lap. “I never wanted to give you up, but I had to in order to keep you safe. I was a mistress of the king. In most circumstances, your birth would have been a minor scandal, but all the king’s children perished in the last war, and you are heir to the throne.”
“Wait, what?” Aiden’s head spun. “You’re joking, right?”
“This is no jest. The queen would have killed you to preserve the throne for her next child.”
Aiden let that sink in for a moment. Or tried to at least. “But what about him?” He looked at his brother.
“Oisin has no magic and therefore cannot inherit. As he is no threat, his life is safe.”
I’m the son of a king. That makes me a prince. Holy crap, I’m a prince. “So you hid me in the human world?”
She nodded.
“Okay, I get that.” Although he was reeling from the news, his heart felt lighter at the knowledge he hadn’t been rejected. “But why take him?”
“Ever since the humans closed all the paths between our worlds, it has taken great magic to travel between them. The power from your birth fueled a spell to cross that barrier, but an exchange had to be made to allow you to stay in the human world once that portal closed. The balance had to be maintained—one male child for another.”
“So you just stole him and put me in his place?” She could have asked… but who would trade their child like that? Someone who didn’t want a baby to begin with, and that might have left Aiden with bad parents. Or he would have ended up in an orphanage.
Her jaw set in a determined line, but her eyes were full of sadness. “I did what was necessary to spare your life. The queen would have found you if I had tried to hide you anywhere in Faery.” Nuala closed her eyes. “It was the most difficult thing I have ever done.”
Aiden couldn’t imagine what that had been like. “Thank you for saving me.”
Nuala reached across the space between them and took his hand. “I have thought about you every day, hoping that you were well and happy.”
“I am.” His throat tightened. “You left me with wonderful parents. They love me and support me. They uprooted their whole lives when they found out I was a changeling and had to move to Shadow Valley.” Aiden explained the treaty and how it required him to stay in Shadow Valley or be certified to live in the human world.
“You live in an entire town full of magical people?” his brother asked. “Are there other changelings there?”
Aiden shook his head. “I’m the only one. I guess there hasn’t been a changeling, in America at least, for a long time.” There might be others out in the world. Aiden wondered if he might be able to contact them, maybe set up some kind of support group.
Oisin looked disappointed.
Nuala said, “I do not know of any other changelings in Faery either. There are rumors, and there are a few humans in the court who have been granted long lives, but they came to Faery in the time before the portals were closed.”
“Then how did you know the spell to switch us?”
“I found a very old, very powerful fae and begged her for a way to keep you safe. She told me of the spell and that it was the only way to ensure the queen could not find you. I am sure she must have done it before. There are other humans in Faery,” Nuala said, looking at Oisin, “but I do not know any of them myself. And it is safer to keep your identity hidden, for you and for Aiden.”
“Is that why you didn’t look for me before?” Aiden asked. “Because someone might find out?”
“Oh, child. I have been searching for you since the day I gave you up. I did not have the power to cross realms and had to be wary of who I asked for help. The king has a dream walker in his court, but I dared not contact him. I only recently found Caelan”—Nuala gestured toward the dream walker—“and dared to trust her with my most precious secret.”
Another weight slipped from Aiden’s shoulders. His birth mom had always loved him, had been looking for him all this time.
“We can only meet in dreams though, right?”
Nuala frowned. “The spell your dragonkin friend used to allow the dark fae into the human realm…”
Aiden sucked in a breath. “Blood magic.”
She nodded. “I have found information on this spell. I would be able to use it.” To Aiden’s relief, she didn’t look eager.
“But you don’t want to.”
Her finger traced a pattern on the arm of the chair. “I do not wish to use dark fae magic, but I would give nearly anything to be with you, son.”
His heart swelled, warmth spreading through his chest. Aiden looked at his brother. “Would he come too?”
“Oisin is old enough to make his own choices, but I would not abandon him.”
Oisin shifted, brows drawing together. “If I left Faery, I likely would not ever be able to return.”
Aiden had an idea of what that was like, leaving behind the only world you’d known. But once he graduated, Aiden could go back to the human world beyond Shadow Valley if he wanted to. It wasn’t forever.
Nuala took Oisin’s hand. “We have time to decide such things.”
Right. Even if Aiden started making the potion today, it wouldn’t be ready for three months. The spell Morgan had given Dylan required one drop of blood per day for three cycles of the moon. Should I start it now though, just in case?
If he changed his mind, he could just dump it out. No one needed to know.