She brushes away another tear. “You bit her and gave her your true name, but both of you had a connection before you even realised.”
Now that I think about it, I have always been attracted to Ivy’s scent. Honeysuckle and buttery biscuits, it's indescribable.
“So, Ivy was my mate? This whole time?”
“That is correct.”
“But… I thought only faeries found their fated mates?”
Maghelena runs her fingers through my hair. “They do. But there’s a first for everything.”
I guess there really is.
Now I ask the most pressing question on my mind. “So, will she live?”
She nods. “Yes. Through her act of selfless love. She may just be the one to bring back peace between faeries and humans. Someone needs to fight the darkness that has spread through the human lands like a disease, and she may just be our saviour.”
The word sends shockwaves through my system. So, that’s what she meant by ambassador?
“But she will need help, and that is where you come in,Têr nghalon.”
Maghelena uses my true name, but I’m not surprised she knew it. She must know everything about her children.
In that case, has she seen all the stealing and cheating that I’ve done? Have I brought her shame?
Maghelena shakes her head. “No. You do not bring me shame. You’re my child, and I will always love you. Just as I love all my children.”
Her love wraps around me like a blanket, putting me at ease, and I am utterly speechless.
“But I’ve done bad things. I am not pure by any means. Ivy is good. I’m… I’m corrupt…”
She narrows her eyes. “Only because the humans in your life made you so. Humans are plagued by prejudice and fear. They seldom accept what is different from them.”
Well, that’s not entirely true. My mother was a good human, and my grandpa, too.
“Your human family are an exception to the rule, and maybe there are more humans out there like the one in your arms.”
Silence falls over the glade as songbird continues around us.
“So, what now?” I ask.
Maghelena rises. “You return to the world of the living and help Ivy. From this moment on, you are both ambassadors of your people.”
I don’t care what I have to do. So long as I get Ivy back.
“I’ll do it. We both will. We will bring back peace between our kind.”
There’s also the matter of the political strife amongst the Fae. The Seelie and Unseelie turned their backs on the Rogues a long time ago, around the time the human scourge spread through the lands, and that was when they finally closed the gates to the faerielands forever.
We can’t go back.
But maybe I can make things right for the Rogue Fae and the humans. After all, we share a plane. It makes sense.
No longer do we have to live in hiding.
No longer will we be persecuted.
Shouldn’t be too hard a feat.
