“But what power enables us to do this? Stuff doesn’t just happen,” she argued.
I shrugged in a carefree way. “What’s the power that keeps your heart beating? What’s the power that wakes you up every morning and makes conception possible so life can go on? Sometimes there just isn’t an explanation,onawilke.”
“Is that a Malovian word or something?” she asked in a sassy way.
“Yes. It meanslittle wolf.” I gave her an affectionate grin, and she turned slightly pink.
“I am not a little wolf,” she grumbled. She seemed irritated by the name, and it only became more endearing to me.
An idea came to me. “You know… I don’t have class until tonight,” I started. “And there’s something I want to show you.”
Her one eyebrow raised. “Then show me.”
I got to my feet and extended a hand. She took it, and as I pulled her to her feet I swear I felt the mating connection spark between us.
We returned to our dorm block and left my hockey gear and her book bag behind. I changed out of my jersey into my school uniform, as I had class later and didn’t want to waste time once we returned.
“Where are we going?” Emma asked as I led her off campus and into the twisting woods of the Malovian landscape, keeping my eyes open for any monsters that lurked.
“Somewhere secret.” Twilight was lighting up the landscape. The shadows and colors loomed against the twisting trees, and I kept Emma close to my side… just in case something was to spring out from behind.
Eventually, the trees opened up to a clearing. Stone ruins formed a circular structure that resembled what was left of an ancient tower. Ivy and other plants had overtaken the ruins, and dead leaves clustered against the crumbling stone.
Within the ruins of the old castle was a giant willow tree. It was an unusual size, over a hundred feet tall, its growth blessed by magic. The trunk of the tree was beautiful. In the bark were the designs of faeries with gorgeous wings, their shifters morphing into the wood with them. The carvings stuck out of the bark, and were delicately designed. There were hundreds of carvings within the bark, and the fronds of the willow tree shifted and moved on their own, as if the very tree had come to life.
“You can relax,” I said to Emma as we walked into the clearing. “This land is sacred ground, blessed by the priestesses. Monsters can’t set foot here.”
Her shoulders slumped. “Why are we here?”
“I wanted to explain to you something of our heritage,” I explained. “The ruins are a faery fort— a place of supernatural fae activity. Our powers are strengthened here.”
“What is this place?” she asked. She nearly tripped over a rock before I caught her last minute. I helped her over a ruin carefully as we made a path to the tree.
“There used to be a chateau here. It was called theZamek Marzenia; the Castle of Dreams. It was where the fae kings used to rule,” I explained.
“What happened?
“The castle was destroyed after the split of the Seelie and Unseelie courts. No fae king has lived in this place since.”
“Seelie? Unseelie?” Her eyebrows knitted together.
“I’ll explain in a moment.” We sat at the base of the tree. I reached out and took her wrist— when I placed her hand against the bark, she jumped.
“It’s okay. It’s not going to hurt you,” I said.
“The tree is warm. I can feel it pulsing— like it has a heartbeat,” she said.
“Because it does,” I said. “This is the Willow Maiden. She’s been here for many years.”
“Are you going to tell me what happened here?” Emma pressed both of her hands to the tree in wonder, her eyes widening as she felt the energy coursing through the willow.
“The first thing you should know is that there used to be two types of fae; two very different courts,” I began. “The first was the Seelie, the day court— they are the court that uses white magic, the court modern-day Arcanea are descended from. The other was the Unseelie— the court of night. They used dark magic. They no longer exist.”
She sent me a puzzled expression. “Why not?”
“There was a great war many years ago, between the Seelie and the Unseelie. It happened after we left Edinmyre. The two sides fought for who would have control of Malovia, and more importantly, what they would do with humans. The Seelie wanted to integrate, while the Unseelie wanted to use humans to grow their power,” I explained. “The Seelie won, and outlawed dark magic. The Unseelie died out because of it.”
“So there are other types of fae besides us?” she asked.
