Since we'd come Earthside, I'd noticed that my sisters and I had a tendency to forget that Cryptos and other Fae played by very different rules. Life over here had dulled our senses. At home, the various races were always aware of each other's divergent natures. Here, we'd let that awareness slide. A dangerous—and potentially deadly—mistake.
Smoky was just being true to his nature. No sane person would ever contradict him if they knew what he was. He took it for granted that when he said "Jump," people would jump. Without question. And what a dragon wanted, a dragon always managed to get. And he was dragon, all right, down to the core.
"Whatever you say." I pushed back my chair. 'If you'll tell me where I can find Morgaine?"
"When you leave the barrow, follow the path another quarter mile, and then turn to your left by the giant cedar. You'll be able to find her. Trust me."
Before I left, I stashed the Black Unicorn horn in the slash pocket of my new cloak, in case I should need it. Though I had no idea how I'd use it. Yet. But it had saved me from the Eriskel's lightning, so I figured it probably had plenty of other tricks I might find useful against Morgaine's powers.
Smoky walked me to the door, where he waved his hand and said something under his breath that I couldn't catch. The portal opened. A charm, I thought, to negate the wards. I noticed he'd whispered it low enough so that I couldn't hear the words.
As I moved to go through, he lifted my hand and kissed it again. "Camille—one more warning. Don't even think about going home tonight. If there's an emergency, I will take you. But otherwise, best not to entertain the thought. Do you understand?"
As I met his gaze, our compact hit me full force. I'd given him a week of my life. This was the first night. I owed him obedience.
"I understand," I said, wondering just what the hell I'd gotten myself into with this little adventure.
The woodland around Smoky's barrow was rife with his wards and bindings. Tall sentinels soared into the sky, fir and cedar, maple and birch. They were flush with new growth, the coniferous trees bearing pale green needles that would darken over the summer. Leaf buds lined the branches of the bare maple and birch limbs, preparing to open into a riot of burgeoning green.
As I set out on the path, dusk spread its inky fingers over the sky. I shivered. Living in the city—even on acreage like we did—dulled the senses, too. Out here the land was still wild, and it didn't welcome intruders. I folded my arms across my chest as I walked, more to comfort my nerves rather than ward off the evening chill of the air. The cloak kept me plenty warm.
A noise to my left startled me, and I darted a glance to the side. An elk stood there, a bull, regal in silhouette. As I passed him, he dipped his head, and I saw that he had only one antler. Shedding season, I thought. I inclined my head in return. We recognized each other; he knew I was not fully human, and I knew he was a woodland watcher.
As the dusk spread quickly through the land, the trees began to glow, a faint glimmer surrounding them. Most of their auras were green, indicating healthy growth. Here and there I caught a glimpse of a red aura—the sign of a dying tree. And more rarely, a golden corona. Those trees were home to tree devas, and as fully sentient and aware of the world as I was.
The stars began to appear in the growing darkness, and it seemed to me that I could hear music: a rhythmic drumming, a lute or zither, and a flute. What the .. . as I rounded a bend in the path where the huckleberry and fern overshrouded the ground, I came to a giant cedar. This had to be the tree Smoky told me about. I turned onto an even narrower trail to the left, and as I did, I could feel her. Morgaine was near. The scent of bonfires, the sound of crows calling, the sense of Moon magic was thick around me. I quickened my pace and hurried down the path.
The track opened into a sheltered meadow, surrounded by a ring of oak and rowan. The trees around the clearing were thick with crows and ravens. A holly stood in the center, and the ground was thick with patches of spongy moss.
And in the center of the clearing, I saw Morgaine. She and Mordred and Arturo were there, all three of them, sitting around a bonfire. Two large tents had been raised off to one side, along with what looked like a yurt, only with vinyl tarps stretched over the frame rather than skins or leather.
I entered the grove and slowly approached the fire. Morgaine stood. She was petite, shorter even than Menolly, and she still made me catch my breath, although I wasn't as starstruck as I had been on our last meeting.
Morgaine was wearing a long black dress, similar to mine, and she wore a silver crescent moon around her neck and a silver tiara that reflected the glow from the fire. Arturo, a stately man with grizzled hair and an otherworldly air, quickly rose and bowed. Mordred, her nephew, remained sitting. He stared at me, an insolent smirk on his face.
I gave Morgaine a quick curtsy, not quite sure how to open the conversation. But the sorceress took care of that for me.
"The dragon sent you, didn't he? He doesn't like me much, I think." Her voice lilted over the words. Oh yes, she was half-Fae as well, and her blood ran thick with darker, older magic than my own. And then it clicked. Morgaine's powers strengthened under the dark of the moon, while mine rose to their zenith during the full. She ran crone energy through her veins.
Arturo motioned for me to sit on the log between them. I opted for the end of the long trunk, instead. Easier to get away, if I needed to escape. As I settled down, Mordred squinted at me, then pulled a tin mug off of a makeshift table and filled it with something brewing over the fire. He handed me the cup. I took it out of courtesy, but I sure as hell wasn't planning on drinking anything they gave me.
"We just want to know what you're doing here. This is his land, and he's… curious." I pretended to take a sip, then set the cup down on the ground next to my feet.
"We? So you are the creature's mistress, are you? I thought I smelled the scent of dragon on you. You'd better be careful, child. Do you have any idea what you're doing, cavorting with dragons?" Morgaine slid closer to me.
I automatically scooted away. Though I didn't sense any evil or anything remotely akin to the Demonkin, she gave me the willies. Maybe it was the sheer magnitude of her power, or perhaps I still had a bad case of fangirl-itis… but whatever the reason, she made me terribly nervous.
I cleared my throat. "Who I cavort with is my own business. But tell me, what are you doing here?"
She paused, then glanced at Arturo. He shrugged. Mordred mumbled something under his breath, but she ignored him. "There's no harm in telling you. You and your sisters can't stop me, even if you wanted to. And somehow, I doubt you'll try. We're looking for a cave—"
"For the Merlin?"
"Hush. Mind your manners around your elders, or didn't those teachers in Otherworld teach you anything?"
Her abrupt command shut me up, but I wondered what the hell was going on. Last we'd met, she'd been seeking to find and awaken her mentor. Had her plans changed?
She sniffed. "There's a cave out here somewhere. It contains a far greater ally than that stuffy old lecher. I must find that cavern."
"But why? And what sort of ally are you hoping to find there, if not the Merlin?"
Who the hell was she looking for? And then the thought that my sisters and I had already discussed came creeping back, eating at the edge of my consciousness. What if Morgaine was seeking a way to contact the demons? What if this "ally" she was talking about turned out to be Shadow Wing? Or someone from his army?
She tapped her nose. "Enough said. All will be answered in good time. There was a time when the Fae of this world ruled supreme. We held the world safe in our arms from outsiders and invaders. That day will come again. I give you my word on that."
What a load of crock! The Fae had fought among themselves as long as I could remember—at least it was that way in Otherworld, and I doubted if it had been much different here.
"Of all the closemouthed, pigheaded, stubborn…" Frustrated, I jumped up, knocking over the mug as I did so. "Give it up, Morgaine. What's your purpose? Who are you looking for and why? We know you're up to something. Are you out to join forces with Shadow Wing?"
She rose slowly, with deliberate focus. My heart leapt into my throat. Never anger a sorceress who could make mincemeat out of you. I felt for the unicorn horn, my hand sliding into the inner pocket where I'd stashed it.
"You little fool. Shadow Wing? Pah! I have no love for Demonkin. But I refuse to stand by and watch you and your sisters hand over this world to the demon lord because you're so inept. You want to know what I'm doing? Fine. I'll tell you. I plan on raising the Seelie and Unseelie Courts again, and the Queens of Fae will unite to stop the demon threat. You can join me, or you can stand against me. Which do you choose?"
My jaw must have dropped a mile. Feddrah-Dahns was right.
"But… you mean to set yourself up as the Unseelie Queen?" The thought of Morgaine wielding the title of Queen of Darkness was terrifying. With her at the helm, the Earthside Fae could easily send civilization back to bow and arrow.
She stared at me for a moment, then began to laugh. "You are so earnest and so easily mislead. I know you've been keeping company with the Dahns Prince. Whatever you find to talk about, I can't imagine. But no, to answer your question. I'm not after the Dark Crown. I will rule the Seelie Court and raise it to heights that Titania could only dream of, even in her heyday. I first came seeking her, hoping to gain her aid, but rumor has it she's a drunken sot who's lost most of her powers as well as most of her wits. So I'll do this on my own."
I glanced at Arturo and Mordred. Neither looked happy under my scrutiny, but their expressions backed up her words.
Slowly crossing to the holly tree, I fingered one of the sharp leaves. "So, if you are determined to take the crown of the Seelie Court, then who do you expect to take the crown of Unseelie?"
Morgaine gave me a feral little smile that reminded me all too much of Grandmother Coyote's steel teeth. "Who else? The Queen who held it last. Aeval is rumored to be trapped in a cavern near here, frozen in time. Since the Fae Courts must be balanced here on Earth, why not offer her the freedom to return to what she does best?"
Aeval had been one of the queens of Fae before the Great Divide, as ruthless and terrifying as any modern dictator. She made Lethesanar look like a pouting schoolgirl. I shuddered.
"You seek to return the Mother of the Dark to the dark throne? Are you mad? She's—"
Morgaine let out a short bark of laughter. The fire seemed to spark and grow higher, and Mordred grunted. "She's everything the Unseelie Queen needs to be. There must be a balance, Camille. You cannot have light without dark, clarity without shadow."
She circled around me, her eyes glittering. "Look at your own queen. Lethesanar's reign has festered, and there is no Queen of Light to balance out her actions. Now that the pendulum has swung too far, her sister seeks to take the throne. If Tanaquar wins, if she destroys her sister, you can be certain the same thing will happen in a thousand years unless they find some way of uniting their powers. Take one side away, and you upset the universe. That's when the Hags of Fate step in and rearrange matters, and they make all of us—all the Fae—look like bumbling infants."
"But how can they rule jointly? They're at odds. That's why the Courts of Fae were disbanded here when the Great Divide happened." I shook my head. "There cannot be joint custody over one land—"
"So you think, but you are so ignorant. You know nothing of that time, of the battles that raged," Morgaine said. "Think about it. All of nature hangs in balance. Winter, summer, spring, and fall. Even in the lands of extremes, there's a balance when you take the long view. The heat of the deserts—the chill of the ice caps. Earth is in peril, the balance has been disrupted. Mankind has meddled with it, the Fae have forsaken it. The demons are pounding at the gates. Without returning the great Courts, this world has no chance of survival. The Queen of Darkness and the Queen of Light keep the balance in check."
I blinked. Could she be right? Was the only answer to solving the crises facing this world to return the Light and the Dark to their thrones? It made sense, in a terrifying way.
She was at my side then, in a blur of movement. Taking my wrist, she pulled me down to kneel beside her on the ground, where she clawed up a handful of soil and thrust it in my face. The sour tang of moist earth filled my lungs.
"Breathe deep. This is the world that gave birth to your mother. This is the world that gave birth to the Fae before the Great Divide. Moon Mother watches over us. Mother Earth gives us life. The world is in danger—from within and from without. We know that Shadow Wing threatens to bathe this world in a wall of flame and fire."
"But what can you do about it? What hope can raising the Courts again possibly offer?"
Dropping the soil back on the ground, she grasped me by the shoulders. "You know you can't fight the demons on your own. You need allies. You need more than the Elfin Queen and a dragon to fight off the coming apocalypse."
A tight knot worked its way into my stomach. She was right. We needed allies. Hell, we needed an army. I pulled away from her and stood.
As if she could read my mind, she said, "Aeval and I will raise our armies. We will reunite the Fae of this world. While we may also fight against each other, for a foe like Shadow Wing we will unite. And then we will reclaim our rightful places in this world. Humans hunger for our kiss, for our magic. You've seen the way they opened their arms to you and your kin. It's because they miss their own magical heritage. They were done a terrible disservice during the Great Divide, and the separation of worlds not only destroyed the balance of the world, but it shredded the human race's connection to its own magical nature."