Faye raised her voice and called out the words with as much strength and passion as she could muster. But every time she saidfather, unease twisted in her. Her feelings about her father were a mass of confusion; she needed him now, but she still hated him. But this was for Aisha,Aisha, she reminded herself as she felt the power in her. She was doing what she must.
‘Hail and appear, Lyr of Falias!’ Faye cried, her arms outstretched, coming to the last line of the invocation the book detailed. The same kind of heat shimmer Faye had seen at the Mabon ritual appeared in the middle of the garden that time, it was Morgana Le Fae that had been summoned to the circle. ‘Hail and appear!’ she shouted, louder, feeling power zinging through her arms, her fingers, from the hot core of her body.
Gabriel took her hands in his; together they formed a kind of battery. That part wasn’t mentioned by Grandmother, but when Gabriel touched her, she felt that same explosion of energy as before. Closing her eyes, she saw two poles of energy between them, positive and negative, joining together to create a kind of magical circuit. Only, Gabriel was the negative and she was the positive pole. Faye hadn’t worked magic with a man before, but she’d read about this: that in magical working, the woman was the originator of power, and the man was the receiver. Faye didn’t so much think it was odd – these were modern times, after all – as much as being pleasantly surprised to feel it in action.
Together, they called to Lyr:We command you, Lyr of Falias. We desire your presence. Honour us!They repeated the phrase, over and over, and Faye felt alive with the energy that flowed between her and Gabriel. She threw back her head, laughing in delight with the sheer power that they generated; it felt enough to light up the whole park. Dimly, she worried that it would alert a night watchman.
‘Daughter. You called for me and I came.’
Lyr towered over them both; he appeared taller than when he’d come to them on the heath. He bowed regally to them. Like before, he was extremely civil.
Faye studied her father. This time, he wore a plain golden circlet on his long black hair and two-inch wide plain gold cuffs at his wrists. Instead of black, he wore a green robe belted with something that looked like plaited reeds or leaves; his feet were bare.
‘Thank you for coming. I was…’ She faltered, but Gabriel’s hands in hers gave her strength. ‘I was hasty to dismiss you at the ceremony. I…would like to know you, and the realm of Falias. And…ask for your help.’
Lyr laughed a deep, rumbling laugh. ‘You are my daughter, truly, then. You desire a boon.’
‘Yes.’ Faye stood her ground and looked the faerie king in the eye. Unlike Finn’s, his eyes were the brown-black of the fertile earth, but they regarded her with the same dispassionate regard as Finn and Levantiana’s shifting, cold ocean eyes.
‘You are much like your mother,’ Lyr said, smiling. ‘You have her spirit. Ask, then. What is it you desire?’
Faye wanted to say,Don’t talk to me about Moddie. You deserted her when she needed you.She also wanted to ask Lyr about her mother; about their liaison; how they had met, whether he had truly loved her. But she pinched herself on the inside of her wrist and made her expression neutral.
‘A friend of mine has been taken to Murias. I wish to bring her back.’
‘Murias is not my realm, daughter,’ Lyr rumbled. ‘Ask Finn Beatha to have her back, though I doubt he would concede a lover merely at your request.’ He smiled.
‘I can’t ask Finn. He has banished me from Murias,’ Faye replied. ‘I need you to help me get back in without his permission.’
‘Finn Beatha can be persuaded, child.’ Lyr smiled and arched his eyebrow. ‘I do not need to tell you how.’
‘I don’t want to be his lover again,’ Faye retorted. ‘I’ve chosen a human man and I intend to stay loyal to him. There must be another way.’
Lyr regarded Gabriel dispassionately.
‘This is the object of your stubborn desire?’ A derisive smile lifted the corner of his mouth. ‘Foolish daughter, to choose a human man over a faerie king. Humans are so fragile; they ruin so easily. You will come to regret that choice.’
Faye felt a shadow of truth in Lyr’s words, but she pushed it away. ‘No…Gabriel is just…a friend.’ She shot an awkward look at Gabriel, who gave her a rueful smile.
‘An interesting choice, then, that your chosen one is not the one you picked to help summon me.’ Lyr raised an eyebrow.
‘You can find it interesting all you like. But it’s my choice,’ she argued back. She stood with her feet planted firmly. She hadn’t trembled in front of Finn Beatha, and she wouldn’t in front of Lyr, either.
The faerie king regarded her for a moment. Faye was aware of Gabriel’s hands in hers and the power that still radiated from them both, looping between them in lazy arcs. It might have been awkward for a moment, but that didn’t disrupt the power flowing between them.
Lyr held out his hand to her. ‘Come with me to Falias and we will discuss this further, child. For I have a boon I would ask of you in return.’
‘Are you saying yes? You can help me?’ Faye asked, breathing hard now. She exchanged glances with Gabriel.
‘I can consider it. If we strike a bargain,’ he replied.
‘Go,’ Gabriel said under his breath. ‘You won’t have a better opportunity.’
‘What about you?’ she whispered, confused. ‘I’m not sure if I should.’
‘Go,’ Gabriel repeated. ‘I’ll be here when you get back.’
Faye reached out, and Lyr’s hand enveloped hers.
