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“Are you headed to Grandmother Coyote’s portal now?” I ran over to them and slid my arms around their waists.
“Yes, we go to Otherworld.” Smoky leaned down and kissed my head.
Not to be outdone, Trillian planted a passionate one on my lips. “Be safe, wife. Do not make us fret when we return. We’ll be back tomorrow at the latest.”
Smoky swept me into his arms. “Trillian is right—be careful. I still do not trust the Triple Threat. But Aeval will guard you. She needs you. For what, I do not know, but I recognize the look on her face.” He kissed me again, then set me down.
I touched his arm. “Want me to drop you off? I’m going now.” They looked at each other, then shrugged and nodded. I held up one finger. “Wait right here. I just want to let the others know I’m leaving.”
I peeked into the hall and saw my purse and keys where I’d left them on the hall table. As I grabbed them, I called out, “Leaving for Talamh Lonrach Oll.”
“Be safe!” Iris’s voice echoed from the kitchen.
And so we were off. I dropped Smoky and Trillian at the edge of Grandmother Coyote’s land, then headed out to the freeway. It was going to be a long night, but at least I wasn’t feeling too exhausted. The trance work—both in the bath and in the garden—had recharged me.
All the way there, my thoughts were filled with a vast churning of ocean. All that anger and fury and pent-up rage…what a waste of energy.
If Otherworld was the U.N. of Faerieland, so to speak, Talamh Lonrach Oll was Faerieland over Earthside. Set on a thousand acres of land, northeast of Seattle and buttressed against the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, Talamh Lonrach Oll—the Land of Brilliant Apples—was the Sovereign Nation for the Earthside Fae. Ruled over by Titania, Queen of Light and Morning; Aeval, Queen of Shadow and Night; and lastly, our distant cousin Morgaine, who had been crowned the Queen of Dusk and Twilight, it was a growing, thriving community.
The government had agreed to a treaty with the Fae Queens—the Triple Threat, as I liked to call them. As long as they didn’t incite any antigovernment activities, they had permission to buy up to five thousand acres and claim it as a sovereign nation, where they could make their own rules and lead their nation. The rolls were growing quickly and their numbers already rivaled those of the Supe Community Council, at least for this area.
While most of the Fae did not live at Talamh Lonrach Oll, enough did to make it a thriving community, and the TLO Warriors were also a growing strength. Over one hundred strong at this point, the militia trained vigorously. The Triple Threat knew about the demon menace and had promised their support to us, especially since I’d joined Aeval’s Court.
I parked outside the silver gates that guarded the land. The land was completely warded, and I knew better than try to enter at a place other than the main gate. As I stepped out of the car, I was instantly hit by the rush of energy. Talamh Lonrach Oll was powerful, and its roots were buried so deep in history that no mortal could ever fathom just how aged the foundations of this land were. Not just the actual land itself, but the powers of Titania, Aeval, and even Morgaine—though our cousin was only half-Fae, like ourselves.
A scent wafted by—the smell of oakmoss and narcissus, of violets and newly mown hay, and a dozen other minor notes feeding into it. This was the fragrance of dark magic, the scent of summer passion, of sparkling lights in the forest at midnight, and it was the scent of my destiny.
The guards at the gate recognized me and swung it open, bowing as I entered. I curtsied to them, out of habit, and they waved me toward the horse and carriage that was waiting. The carriage was open, but since it wasn’t raining and the weather was cool but not cold, I didn’t mind.
The driver offered me his hand and I stepped in, carrying my bag of ritual gear and clothing, and then he handed my staff up to me and I balanced it across my lap. I had no idea where we were going; all I knew was that he would take me to where Aeval and Morgaine had bid him drive.
He let out a sound and the horse moved forward. As I leaned back, the evening fell into twilight. The sky was partially overcast, but the last of the sunlight filtered through, glancing off the trees. It was nearing evening.
The cobblestones resounded with the quiet clopping of the horse’s hooves as the path swerved and bent through the compound. Houses, all single-story, had gone up here and there, and more were being built as the population of Talamh Lonrach Oll grew. There were no electrical lines—the power for the nation came from the earth, through magic, and via wind, steam, and sun. The paths were lit with eye catchers, and signs marked the streets. The ES Fae Queens had borrowed the magic of the eye catchers from Otherworld, and in return, OW was borrowing some of the concepts of technology from over Earthside, only to create a new blend between magic and science.
A sadness crept into my heart when I realized that my homeworld was changing, but then again, it had originally been a part of Earthside, and it seemed natural that both worlds should integrate back together.
On one level, I secretly hoped the portals would rip, that the division wouldn’t hold, and that Otherworld and Earthside would reunite, but I also knew that might entail a great disaster. Even though I liked the thought of unification, I realized it wasn’t necessarily best.
We turned down another road, and as the carriage rumbled through a heavily wooded patch, opening out onto a cottage and a grotto beyond, I knew where I was. I’d initiated into Aeval’s Court here, during the winter solstice. As the driver helped me down, handing me my staff, my stomach fluttered. Magic was in the wind, magic was in the very land here, imbued with the elements and the energy of the moon and the sun.
The cedars and firs hadn’t changed since the winter solstice when I’d been here, except for the bright green of new growth. But the deciduous trees had blossomed out, and their young leaves now crowded the branches, creating a tapestry of shadow and light as the last of the sunlight shimmered through them.
Huckleberries were growing thick, as were ferns and brambles, and wild rhododendrons that had somehow become seeded here. Rowan trees, also known as mountain ash, ringed the grove, and their berries were white, not yet ready to turn the brilliant orange that marked them in the late summer and autumn.
The drone of bees and insects hummed in my ears. Overhead, the fading remnants of the day began to give way, and twilight took hold. Morgaine’s time was beginning to fade as Aeval’s rule ascended.
Sometimes I wondered why, though Morgaine had been assigned to train me, it was to Aeval’s Court that I’d been ordered to pledge myself, and why Aeval so often took over the training. But when I approached the subject, no one would answer, and I had come to the conclusion that the more I pressed, the less likely I was to find out, so I had quit asking. I knew when to back off.
I carried my bag and staff into the cottage, which was used as a preparation area. I had begun to sort out my garb for the evening when an acolyte approached. She looked a little scared, and I grinned as she stumbled over her words.
“Lady Camille? I have word…I’m here…they wanted me to tell you…” The poor girl looked so starstruck that I took pity on her.
“Don’t be nervous. What’s your name?”
“Tanya.”
That surprised me. Tanya was a human name and not one found in most Fae families.
